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warc | 201713 | This week, House Bill 414, sponsored by state Representative Isaac Whorton (R-38), was introduced as the companion bill to Senate Bill 24, the constitutional/permitless carry bill. Both HB 414 and SB 24 would eliminate the requirement to obtain a permit in order to lawfully carry. These bills recognize a law-abiding adult’s unconditional Right to Keep and Bear Arms for self-defense in the manner he or she chooses. Self-defense situations are difficult, if not impossible, to anticipate. Accordingly, a law-abiding adult’s right to defend himself or herself in such situations should not be conditioned by government-mandated time delays and taxes.
HB 414 is currently waiting to be scheduled for a hearing in the House Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security, and SB 24 is currently pending consideration by the full Senate. Please click the “Take Action” button below to contact the House committee members and your state Senator in SUPPORT of HB 414 and SB 24, respectively.
Stay tuned to your email inbox and www.nraila.org for further updates on these bills. |
warc | 201713 | News By Tag
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Congresswoman Lowey Assails Cuts to Nutrition Assistance Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-Westchester/Rockland) came to the Food Bank for Westchester yesterday to publicly protest budget cuts in food aid for thousands of local seniors, pregnanr women, infants and children. June 21, 2011 - PRLog -- She was joined by Westchester County Board of Legislator members Judith A. Myers (D-District 7), John Nonna (D-District 3) and MaryJane Shimsky (D-District 12) and representatives from local food pantries and soup kitchens and staff of the Food Bank for Westchester, including Executive Director Christina Rohatynskyj.
Today’s protest was in response to last week’s passing by the House of Representatives of the Agriculture Appropriations Act, which included:
- $650 million, or 10%, in cuts to the Women Infants and Children (WIC) program that could result in up to 19,500 low-income New York women and children losing assistance next year;
- $38 million (22 percent) in cuts to the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), which provides nutritious food packages to more than 600,000 low-income families, 96 percent of whom are seniors, every month; and
- $51 million in cuts to The Emergency Food Assistance Program, or TEFAP, which provides our nation’s emergency food bank network with food commodities and storage and distribution support.
“We all know we have to get our financial house in order,” said Lowey. “But it is indefensible to make such severe cuts to food assistance, which is critical for thousands of New Yorkers, particularly those who are most vulnerable. These cuts will mean fewer senior citizens, pregnant women, infants, and children will be able to access the nutritious food they need to remain healthy. The Republican majority must stop slashing this lifeline for millions of Americans facing economic hardship.”
Lowey’s comments and concerns were echoed by Myers, Nonna and Shimsky. Nonna described the cuts as shortsighted by people who are not looking at the long-term effects of food deprivation and hunger. Myers said that many people don’t realize there’s a hunger problem in Westchester. Lowey agreed: “People in Washington are surprised to learn that here in Westchester County 9% of households struggled to meet their family’s food needs over the last year.”
Shawn Patterson-Howard, executive director of the Yonkers Family YMCA, which was recently named the 2011 Hunger Hero Service Provider by the Food Bank for Westchester, stated that her agency’s food program served 77,400 hot meals last year and handed out 1,700 BackPack bags of food to food-insecure children. She said she sees a growing need for food in her community and she fears the long-term impact on people’s health if the cuts are sustained. Sherry Wolfe, of the Community Center of Northern Westchester, said that 1,700 people in her “tony” area regularly need food assistance. Nancy Claiborn, of Shiloh Baptist Church, New Rochelle, and Linda Hayward, of Yonkers Community Action Program (CAP), shared similar hunger facts and concerns.
“These cuts could have a disastrous impact on the ability of food banks and food pantries to provide wholesome, nutritious food to people who are most vulnerable, like senior citizens, pregnant women, infants and children,” said Rohatynskyj. “These programs are just a tiny part of the federal budget, but they are critical to thousands of New Yorkers. It is not right to balance the budget on the backs of vulnerable children and seniors.”
Lowey concluded the event by asking that people contact their Congressional representatives and even President Obama to protest these cuts.
The Food Bank for Westchester is located at 358 Saw Mill River Road, Millwood, NY 10546. For more information, visit www.foodbankforwestchester.org or call 914-923-1100.
About the Food Bank for Westchester:
MEDIA CONTACT:
Jeanne Wilcox (914) 923-1100 Communications Manager Food Bank for Westchester Jeanne.wilcox@ |
warc | 201713 | Speech/statement | Date: 2008-02-26
Achieving a world free of nuclear weapons is no less than a historic challenge which involves safeguarding our human future. Future generations will either condemn us for our failure or – as I hope – revere us for our success in achieving this goal, Foreign Minister Støre said in his address to the Conference.
Check against delivery
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
We are gathered here largely because there is no compelling answer to these simple, compelling questions: Why do we need thousands of nuclear weapons? Do they make the world safer? Is anybody out there prepared to do anything about them?
This is not the first time we have raised these questions. When I was a university student in Paris in the first half of the 1980s, these questions were mobilising a whole generation. I remember the heated debates over how NATO should respond to the Soviet SS-20. I recall the long shadow of an arms race that seemed to have no end. And I remember how we asked ourselves where we could find leaders who would turn the tide and reject the logic that demands ever more nuclear weapons and missiles?
I remember being a pessimist. But then came the redemptive promise of Reykjavik. At the height of the Cold War, the “warriors-in-chief” spoke openly and sincerely, I believe, about a world without nuclear weapons. The Treaty on Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) and successive agreements kindled great optimism.
The arms control roller coaster of the 1980s, with its dips of despair and ascents of hope, was formative for me. It propelled my interest in international relations and inspired my personal commitment to advancing the vision of a world free of nuclear weapons. And the bold and surprising move by Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan convinced me that real leadership might be found, even from expected quarters.
So it is not only an honour, but it is deeply fulfilling personally for me to welcome all of you to Oslo. I hope this gathering will add momentum to a new global effort towards fulfilling the vision of a world without nuclear weapons.
It is a particular pleasure – as always – to welcome the Director-General of the IAEA and 2006 Nobel Peace Laureate, Dr ElBaradei.
And it is an honour to be joined by Secretary Shultz, America’s top diplomat during the ‘turmoil and triumph’ of my student days, and by Senator Nunn, who is not only an American hero, but a Norwegian one, too, for his Herculean efforts to curb the nuclear threat.
The willingness of Secretary Shultz and Senator Nunn to co-host this event is a testament to their distinguished brand of leadership – one of vision, of action, of persuasion and of principle. They recognise that our vision must be a joint enterprise –among states, among scholars, among civil society actors, and among peoples. I sincerely thank them for being here and for helping to organise this event.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In the light of the growing threats of proliferation and nuclear terrorism, and of the persistent threats of nuclear war or accidents, we are compelled today to ask again not only: Why so many? but also: Why any at all?
A world free of nuclear weapons has been a longstanding aspiration of my country’s foreign policy, even during the Cold War. Indeed, it has been a core foreign policy priority for many nations for decades. As you all know, it has also been the shared goal of numerous civil society groups in nuclear-weapon and non-nuclear-weapon states alike.
But I believe we are now at a turning point. Today the old calls of the faithful are being joined by a chorus of new voices, especially in nuclear-weapon states. Last summer, Margaret Beckett strongly reaffirmed the UK’s commitment to the elimination of nuclear weapons. Earlier this month, UK Defence Secretary Des Browne announced the intention to host a meeting of nuclear-weapon states with a view to improving technologies for verifiable disarmament. And as all of you are well aware, a growing number of US leaders, led by Secretary Shultz and Senator Nunn, are calling on Washington to recommit itself to leading the world towards the elimination of nuclear weapons.
Achieving our vision will require a powerful coalition, and today we see its outlines. Coming together are realists who comprehend the power of idealism and idealists who understand the force of facts and realities.
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Ladies and gentlemen,
A vision is not the same thing as a dream. Vision has been fundamental for human progress, even when it has invited scepticism, even when it has not been fulfilled.
Our visions of human rights, equality, social justice and protection of the vulnerable, as set out in national declarations or in international agreements, have often been articulated in situations of great adversity. This made them all the more vital.
The story of our vision is not so different.
The failure of the Baruch Plan in 1946 put a stop to the vision of a world free of nuclear weapons for more than two decades. But this changed in 1968, when the NPT was signed. The NPT sets out an alternative path to the serious nuclear threats of the 1960s – the Cuban Missile Crisis, the accelerating arms race and the fears of rapid, uncontrollable nuclear proliferation.
The NPT did not make anyone believe that nuclear disarmament could be achieved immediately. It did not provide for exactly it would be accomplished. But it did contain a solemn commitment not just to contain, but to roll back the nuclear peril. It enshrined a bold vision: a world free of nuclear weapons.
The nuclear threat did not disappear. Mutually Assured Destruction persisted. Moreover, nuclear restraint relied in part on a nuclear umbrella. If it were not for NATO, many more states in Europe probably would have sought to develop nuclear weapons.
But the vision of the NPT reframed the nuclear landscape. States could foresee a future in which their neighbours, their foes, their partners might decide against going nuclear. They inferred that the prestige previously associated with nuclear weapons might be declining rather than increasing. They could consider options for achieving security by other means.
At the end of the Cold War, there was dramatic progress. The Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty transformed European security. The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties initiated deep cuts in US and Soviet strategic nuclear forces. A Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty was negotiated. Kazakhstan, Belarus, Ukraine and South Africa gave up nuclear weapons. Argentina and Brazil agreed that their security was better ensured by a continent free of nuclear weapons.
This momentum contributed to the landmark indefinite extension of the NPT in 1995 and to agreement on the ‘13 steps’ in 2000.
That momentum, however, has foundered on a number of challenges. We are seeing nuclear ambitions in North Korea and Iran, and a darker spectre of nuclear terrorism and competing demands for energy security and non-proliferation. We have seen the ratification of the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty falter, the negotiation of a fissile material cut-off treaty stalled and key commitments made in 2000 broken.
The grim subtext has been a creeping abandonment of our vision of a world free of nuclear weapons. Combined with the short-sighted assumption that, because we have been spared nuclear war to date, because no acts of nuclear terrorism have yet been perpetrated, the status quo is somehow secure.
That, my friends, is our Achilles heel: the false assumption that status quo is less risky than change.
So this should be the purpose of our endeavour: to review and revive our vision; to mobilize the political will needed to move forward; and to arouse those who fallen into pessimism.
At Reykjavik, US and Soviet leaders paved an optimistic way forward. Such political resolve can be mobilised again. We must make this pathway attractive for a new generation of US and Russian leaders – just as we must engage China’s leaders.
I believe we have a powerful case.
Since the tragedy of September 11, 2001, much has been said about the difficulty of addressing low-probability yet highly destructive terrorist attacks. This threat certainly compels us to take urgent action to prevent nuclear terrorism. But why should we not work with equal urgency to reduce the risk of nuclear accidents or inadvertent nuclear war?
Consensus behind our vision is vital if we are to address gaps in the non-proliferation regime. Just consider the challenge created by the expanding use of nuclear energy. I commend the efforts of Dr ElBaradei as well as Senator Nunn and Warren Buffett to establish an international fuel bank, and we should encourage contributions to it.
But at the same time, we must recognise that many states today are facing a critical choice. They have – or are rapidly accumulating – the technology, know-how and infrastructure to develop domestic nuclear fuel cycle capability. Whether they choose to take part in multilateral fuel arrangements, or whether they choose to hedge their bets, will depend not only on economic factors but also on another basic question. Are we facing a future security environment in which nuclear weapons are deemed essential, or one in which their role is diminishing?
It is only the elimination of nuclear weapons that can tip the balance in this equation.
The vision of elimination is equally relevant to the threat of nuclear terrorism. This is a concern for all of us. Regardless of where such an attack might occur, we would all be affected. In addition to reducing the quantity of vulnerable fissile materials, disarmament and elimination will also secure the sustained international cooperation required to address the threat – from UN Security Council resolution 1540 to the minimisation of Highly Enriched Uranium. A viable agenda of disarmament and elimination will spur our effort to strengthen the institutions needed to sustain the vision.
As Senator Nunn put it, our vision might not inspire every determined proliferator to ‘see the light’. But it will inspire more nations to join in concerted global efforts to halt proliferation, to build a sustainable nuclear future, and to prevent nuclear terrorism.
Let us be clear. Very few, if any, non-nuclear-weapon states believe that full nuclear disarmament is possible, or even desirable, overnight. Realists and idealists can agree that nuclear weapon technology cannot be disinvented. International security as we know it is dependent on deterrence postures in which nuclear weapons maintain a pivotal role.
But these postures are neither inevitable nor immutable. Secretary Shultz, Senator Nunn and their colleagues have come to the same conclusion. They have argued that US security interests would be best served by working towards a world free of nuclear weapons.
This also holds true for my own country and for the world.
The path ahead is clear:
We must consolidate the ban on nuclear testing, securing the entry into force of the CTBT and maintaining support for the CTBTO. We must negotiate a fissile material cut-off treaty to help prevent nuclear arms races in the 21st century. We must continue to reduce the operational status of nuclear weapons. We should consider carefully how to move from a world with thousands of nuclear weapons, to a world with hundreds, and eventually to zero nuclear weapons. It will not happen overnight, but the course needs to be set. Confidence in the credibility of the non-proliferation regime is essential. We must find the strength, unity and resolve needed to discourage and punish proliferation. It is not enough for we who are non-nuclear weapon states to call on nuclear-weapon states to fulfil the vision of a world free of nuclear weapons. Progress will require all states to play an active and constructive role. My Government, for instance, has developed, together with the UK Ministry of Defence, ways to enhance confidence in verified disarmament – particularly as regards the verification of warhead dismantlement. We must also responsibly address the challenges of moving toward zero. This means answering questions about the stability of low numbers of nuclear weapons – not with a Cold War mindset, but with one appropriate for the world of today. It means developing confidence in an international security architecture without a nuclear umbrella. It means ensuring that disarmament defuses rather than inflames regional conflicts.
My list is far from complete, and each of these goals and challenges demands its own roadmap. That is why we have invited you to Oslo.
------------
Ladies and gentlemen,
Too often we are presented with false choices: between non-proliferation and disarmament; between non-proliferation and counter-proliferation; between expanded use of nuclear energy and rampant proliferation; between the arguments of ‘realists’ and the arguments of ‘abolitionists’.
We cannot consolidate and maintain the non-proliferation regime while neglecting the bold vision of a world free of nuclear weapons. We will delay and undermine nuclear disarmament unless we demand robust and credible non-proliferation. Abolitionists can be realists, and realists, abolitionists.
In 2005, Norway initiated the seven-nation initiative on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation to show support for precisely this approach. The initiative’s diverse membership – Australia, Chile, Indonesia, Norway, Romania, South Africa and the United Kingdom – demonstrates the need to challenge previous conventional wisdom, and to reach out across Cold War divining lines to create new alliances for change.
Together, these seven nations are calling for ‘practical, systematic and progressive efforts…towards a world free of nuclear weapons’. At the same time, we are calling for tougher IAEA safeguards, for recognition that ‘states may choose to fully enjoy the benefits of nuclear energy without developing a domestic fuel cycle capability’.
We insist that there is common ground for a wide-ranging agenda that is consistent with the vision of eliminating nuclear weapons. And we hope to contribute to a renewed consensus and a renewed vision at the NPT Review Conference in 2010.
Once again, welcome to all of you to Oslo. I hope you will actively take part in this opportunity for creative and bold thinking.
I would like thank all of you for joining us here today. Achieving a world free of nuclear weapons is no less than a historic challenge which involves safeguarding our human future. Future generations will either condemn us for our failure or – as I hope – revere us for our success in achieving this goal.
I wish you a fruitful and rewarding conference and look forward to our discussions. |
warc | 201713 | Is there now equality for women in the workplace? The five leading roles in the UK are now held by women
It’s 2017 and the top jobs in our country are now all held by women. The Queen has reigned for over 63 years, Teresa May was elected as Prime Minister in 2016, Cressida Dick has just been appointed as the new Metropolitan Police commissioner, becoming the first woman to take charge of London’s police force in its 188-year history. The current Home Secretary is Amber Rudd, and Nicola Sturgen is the First Minister of Scotland.
More and more companies are getting wise to the importance of gender equality in the workplace. Studies have shown that more women means better decision-making, more innovation, and even greater financial returns.
However, women occupy less than a quarter of UK board positions. Britain falls short of European average, with just 23.2% of women in board seats last year.
What are your views? Is there now equality for women in the workplace? Is ‘Girl Power’ alive and kicking? Or is there still some way to go? What are your views? We'd love to hear your comments Community Terms & Conditions Content standards
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warc | 201713 | S
ALT LAKE CITY — Doctors in this mountain city are chasing answers that could transform medicine nationwide.
Their quest is unfolding not in a lab or an operating room, but on the screen of an iPad that asks patients a straightforward question: What do you want from your care?
A father with a bad knee might answer that he wants to dance at his daughter’s wedding. A woman with back pain might simply want to regain focus at work. It sounds so simple. But it’s a radical step in a health care system that traditionally defines success by technical benchmarks and government quality metrics — not by the patient’s own goals.
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“That’s the holy grail for me,” said Dr. Vivian Lee, chief executive of the University of Utah Health Care system, a network of four hospitals, a cancer institute, and 10 neighborhood clinics. “Now we’re really going to start to define value in terms that matter to the patients.”
Lee has revolution on her mind.
During the last decade, her health system has repeatedly challenged the conventions of medical care and upended the relationships between doctors and patients.
In late 2012, it became the first hospital system in the country to post unedited patient reviews of its physicians online. Right there, on the official hospital website, patients could, and did, accuse specific doctors of being rude, rushed, or always running late — and rank them on a five-star scale. (They also offered plenty of compliments.)
Two years later, Lee’s staff built a database the size of multiple football fields to track the health care system’s costs to the penny, another unheard-of step in an industry where most hospitals have only a vague notion of how much they actually spend to, say, replace a knee, or deliver a baby, or evaluate a patient rushed in with chest pains.
But Lee says this next step — giving patients the power to determine whether their care has been successful — is the one that matters most. It is also a massive undertaking.
Physicians across the sprawling health care system are now collecting data from patients about how their illnesses affect their daily lives. The reports are instantly uploaded into electronic medical records, so everyone working with the patient can discuss those goals and lay out a plan to achieve them. Whether this effort, known as patient reported outcomes, will significantly improve performance is an open question.
Talking ‘cow tipping’ at Harvard
But Lee is not the type of person you’d want to bet against.
She grew up as one of the few Asian kids in Norman, Okla., where her parents both worked as university professors. Lee said she was not overly ambitious, and did not take Advanced Placement classes. She got into Harvard anyway, because she was gifted in math and a great test taker.
When students in Cambridge asked her about Oklahoma, she indulged them with stories about cow-tipping that they actually believed.
Lee earned a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford, completed medical school at Harvard, and was a rare female surgical resident at Duke. In her first days in Durham, N.C., she vividly remembers an encounter with a woman handing out uniforms in the hospital laundry.
“She gave me this white, triangle skirt — heavily starched,” Lee recalled. “It would have stood on its own. I said, ‘Can I just get some pants?’ And she said, ‘Honey, we don’t have any girl’s pants. You want those, you bring yourself over to the mall.’”
Lee went and bought herself some pants.
She opted not to pursue surgery, switching to radiology before finding her way into an administrative position overseeing research at New York University’s Langone Medical Center.
In July of 2011, Lee took the top job at University of Utah, where she oversees a $3.3 billion annual budget. In addition to the hospitals and clinics, the system includes an insurance plan and five colleges within the university, including the school of medicine.
A slight, energetic woman with a fringe of bangs across her forehead, Lee, 50, is warm and optimistic. She is a rare hospital administrator who easily breaks away from health care jargon to tell an amusing story. When she wants to emphasize a point, she lowers her glasses and looks at a person squarely, as if to chase away any doubts.
Her health system’s flagship hospital in Salt Lake City is a mix of the old and new. A gleaming facade leads into a large atrium where a pianist plays in the corner, next to one of Utah’s busiest Starbucks. Arresting views of the mountains distract from the bustle of cars and ambulances.
Lee’s days there are busy, but time at home is even busier. She and her husband have four daughters, ages 8, 10, 12, and 14.
To clear the way for quality family time, she organizes like crazy. Lee cooks lasagna and curry dishes in bulk. She stocks a “birthday present closet” with books, glow-in-the-dark watches, and rolls and rolls of stickers that her girls can give as gifts when they’re invited to parties. There is no TV in the house, so time together is spent face-to-face.
“I can’t guarantee that their socks match every day or that their rooms are neatly organized,” Lee said of her daughters. “I just try to spend time with them and have fun.”
Lee works 12- to 14-hour days that are typically jam-packed with meetings and begin and end with a flurry of urgent emails. If she has time at night, she reads — about whatever grabs her attention. One of her recent selections was “Drive,” by Daniel H. Pink, which focuses on the art of motivating people. It asserts that certain workers, like those in health care, are intrinsically motivated and don’t need aggressive, top-down management.
It is something Lee believes deeply. Her management style is to set goals and let her employees figure out how to reach them. And she embraces ideas from her staff, too.
At one of her hospitals, for instance, doctors hit upon the idea of building a day care for the maternity ward, so big siblings would have a place to play while the parents focused on their newborn.
While describing it, Lee hopped up from her office chair and sketched the rough outline of the day care. “The guys who run the clinic just came in one weekend, took about this much space, and drywalled it themselves,” she said. “I just love that. They came up with it completely by themselves.”
Message to doctors: Get thicker skin
So far, that management philosophy is working.
Last month, University of Utah Health Care was named No. 1 for quality in a prestigious annual ranking of academic medical centers, beating out Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, Cedars-Sinai in California, and several other top institutions.
Lee’s work has attracted gobs of attention, too. Harvard professors have visited to study the new cost accounting practices, and so has Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the Department of Health and Human Services secretary. Hospitals nationwide have begun replicating her methods to improve doctor performance and patient satisfaction.
Dr. Thomas Lee, chief medical officer for Press Ganey, which administers patient surveys for University of Utah and other hospitals, still remembers his reaction when Vivian Lee told him she was going to start posting unedited patient reviews of doctors: “I said, “You are (expletive) kidding me?”
“I couldn’t believe she was doing it, but at the same time I realized how great it was,” said Thomas Lee, who is not related to Vivian Lee.
“We’re really going to start to define value in terms that matter to the patients.”
Dr. Vivian Lee, University of Utah Health Care
Within a year, Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta and Wake Forest Baptist in North Carolina were also posting reviews. Others soon followed, including Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania, Brigham and Women’s in Boston, and Cleveland Clinic.
“We certainly didn’t have this level of transparency before” the University of Utah began posting its reviews, said Dr. Adrienne Boissy, chief of patient experience at Cleveland Clinic. “The idea that transparency can drive behavior change in clinicians, and in a market that didn’t think that way, was compelling.”
Getting the reviews posted online wasn’t easy. Some doctors thought it was bad business and would undermine their reputations.
“I remember my cellphone just burning,” said Chrissy Daniels, University of Utah Health Care’s director of strategic initiatives, who fielded angry calls from physicians. “I felt like crawling under my desk.”
Lee attended a packed staff meeting to listen to complaints. Her response was direct: “We are going to need to get thicker skin.”
Traffic to the University of Utah’s website has jumped more than 127 percent since patient reviews were first posted. And doctors’ national rankings on patient satisfaction surveys have improved.
“Nobody likes to get negative feedback,” said Dr. Eric Volckmann, a bariatric surgeon. But he couldn’t ignore it: When patients complained that he kept them waiting, he tried to improve — or at least explain the delays to them. “It makes you look hard at your practices and think how you can do things better,” he said.
A quest to track costs, to the penny
The patient reviews grabbed plenty of national attention. But Lee said the decision to post them was the prelude to a more fundamental change. She wanted to shake up the relationship between the hospital’s doctors and patients, and make the cost of care a much bigger part of the equation.
The problem in Utah — and at hospitals nationwide — was that no one knew how much it actually cost to deliver care to patients. Most hospitals calculate average per-patient costs that give them a rough idea of how much they are spending. But such data don’t tell you anything about what is driving the costs, where the waste is, or how to eliminate it without undermining the quality of care.
Lee called a meeting in 2012 to discuss how to track costs through University of Utah’s hospitals. The plan tumbled into place quickly: She rented some office space, put up a cube farm, and assembled a team of the hospital’s top accountants and data managers.
She separated them from their day jobs and gave them six months to figure it out. On late nights, she bought them pizza.
Lee kept a close eye on the project — and everyone in the health system knew it. When the data team wanted answers from medical staff, they got them.
“We could just say, ‘We need you up at research park’ and they would be there,” said Charlton Park, chief of analytics at the University of Utah. “The whole institution knew about the project and that Dr. Lee was sponsoring it. … A roadblock was not something anybody wanted to be.”
The resulting database was enormous: 200 million rows of information, each one as wide as football field.
It documented the cost of every interaction with a patient: supplies used, medication dispensed, doctors consulted. The team determined, for instance, that a minute in the emergency room costs the health care system 82 cents. A minute in the intensive care unit costs $1.43.
After about four months, Lee took the team’s work to a conference sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She was not a featured speaker; she just had a slot on a small panel to present her new data tool.
But her talk stirred so much buzz, the conversation soon took over not just her panel’s room but the large conference room next to it. “All these senior executives were saying, ‘Wow, I can’t believe you guys did that,’” Lee said. Many said they had tried to do the same thing but were told it was impossible.
“It was really embarrassing,” she said. “There was just so much unexpected attention.”
Weeding out wasted expense
Once built, the database could be used to see how much different doctors spent to care for similar patients.
Practices started to change.
Surgeons who perform laparoscopic hernia repair, for instance, noticed a wide variation in costs, from $700 to $1,800. A deeper look revealed that some surgeons were using a $400 balloon dilator that didn’t appear to be associated with improved outcomes — a discovery that could end up saving the system hundreds of thousands a year.
Orthopedic surgeons, meanwhile, noted that getting patients out of bed after joint replacement surgery could make a huge difference. That led to a staffing change to ensure that physical therapists, who typically worked 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., would be available for patients who got surgeries later in the day. They also started discharging a greater percentage of patients to their homes, instead of skilled nursing facilities, producing a drop in 30-day readmission rates.
The hospital also developed a new protocol for treating sepsis. Physicians began looking at the data of patients who developed the infection — and saw that they’d been missing some key warning signs.
“That was jaw-dropping,” said Dr. Robert Pendleton, a hospitalist whose job is to prevent such infections.
Physicians developed a composite index to track signs of sepsis and send an automatic alert to the nursing staff when a patient’s score gets to 7 or above on a 1 to 10 scoring system. So far, the hospital has seen a 4 percent reduction in mortality from sepsis and a dramatic improvement in the timeliness of treating patients, from nearly eight hours to under four.
The next step, said Lee, is to bring patients more directly into the conversation about their care — and their expectations. The hospital plans to add that information to its existing data — and overlay it with quality measures designed by its own doctors and the federal government.
Lee calls the resulting metric the “perfect care index,” a tool to measure which targets are met. Did the patient avoid infections? Did she regain mobility? Can she play with her kids?
And once that’s done, the hospital can redesign its care, make it more affordable — and use the proof of its performance to compete with other top providers nationwide. “Then you would have this market force thing that we’re all looking for,” Lee said, “to drive care higher and better.” |
warc | 201713 | HA NOI (VNS)— Viet Nam should boost its peat land management involving community participation, scientists said at a meeting held yesterday in Ha Noi.
The advisers, coming from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, also recommended Viet Nam to educate the public on the value of peat land and give training courses to peat land managers.
The Viet Nam Environment Administration organised the meeting as part of the project entitled Rehabilitation and Sustainable Use of Peat Land forests in Southeast Asia which is directed by the ASEAN Secretariat.
The project focuses on strengthening institutional capacity and frameworks; reducing the rate of degradation; demonstrating integrated management and rehabilitation at target sites; engaging the private sector and local communities in sustainable peat land management.
Speaking at the meeting, deputy head of the administration Nguyen The Dong said key factors in the sustainable management of peat land in U Minh Thuong and U Minh Ha national parks were the consensus of local residents and co-operation of the parks’ board of management.
Environment ministry statistics show that Viet Nam had about 36,000ha of peat land spread over many localities but mainly in the Mekong Delta’s U Minh Forest with an estimated area of 24,000ha.
According to the Ministry of Environment, peat land had been reduced considerably due to forest fires and exploitation. A forest fire in U Minh Thuong National Park in 2002 had reduced the thickness of many peat land areas by half.
Peat land has high economic value thanks to its forests and it contains important and diversified plants which are important in the ecosystem.
It does not only help to reduce floods during the wet season and maintain river flows during the dry season but also plays an important role in controlling global climate. — VNS |
warc | 201713 | Reading the headlines of outrage after international school maths tests showed Britain lagging far behind Asian countries, you might conclude that our children are bad at maths. But is this the case?
Even if the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) tests decently reflect today's maths standards, I believe that simply trying to climb up the table is wrong.
The problem is not the difference between Britain and Shanghai – which education minister Elizabeth Truss visited on a fact-finding mission last week – but the worldwide difference between maths in education and maths in the real world: everywhere, we are teaching largely the wrong maths.
Here's why. In the real world we use computers for calculating, almost universally; in education we use people for calculating, almost universally.
This growing chasm is a key reason why maths is so despised in education and yet so powerful and important in real life. We have confused rigour at hand-calculating with rigour for the wider problem-solving subject of maths – the necessary hand mechanics of past moments with the enduring essence of maths.
At its heart, maths is the world's most successful system of problem solving. The point is to take real things we want to work out and apply, or invent, maths to get the answer. One example involves four steps: define the question, translate it to mathematical formulation of that question, calculate or compute the answer in maths-speak and then translate it back to answer your original question, verifying that it really does.
The central change in real-world maths of the last 50 or so years is that we automated the hell out of calculating. Computers now do a fantastically better job than people – even well-trained ones – in almost all cases. An example I like to give is to pick up my iPhone, activate its Siri voice recognition and say: "Solve x cubed plus 2x plus one equals zero."
With any luck, back comes the answer – the three solutions, presented with graphs and formulas. This is a cubic which, except in special cases, even further maths A-level students don't get to.
In schools most of us learn the formula for solving a quadratic equation, but not a cubic. You must seriously question why we are spending years of our students' lives failing to be able to compute what my phone did in seconds. Instead, they should be grappling with real problems and applying maths to them. Defining questions and abstracting them to maths are crucial steps that Britain's (and other countries') schools spend woefully little time on, because students laboriously practise obsolete hand calculating skills.
Worse, the curriculum forces the use of toy problems. Real problems tend to be harder and messier, but it's possible to handle such problems only if computers do the calculating.
Indeed, it's the mechanisation of calculating that's powered maths to be applicable to so wide a swath of society. From medicine to mobile phones to finance, to the very computing technology that drives it, maths has become usable and useful because we've mechanised computing answers so successfully.
One of the scariest aspects of maths for many students is how disconnected from anything in their lives it seems to be. After my 2010 TED talk on the subject, a huge number commented to the effect: "This is the first person who's explained why any of the maths I learnt at school has any relevance to my life."
What a waste of human endeavour when the world's population is spending 20,000 student lifetimes a year learning hand-calculating.
Why would they use an equation, what problem would they be solving with it and how do they set it up? Even when our current system tries to give a context for maths, the problems are contrived so they're solvable with weak hand-calculating techniques, so that everyone can see that they are not useful in real life.
In real life the problem leads, and if the computation is messy and complex that's OK, the computer will probably cope. By removing the computer from maths education you remove most of the real context.
Just to be clear. I'm talking about using the computer for doing the computation and changing the subject-matter – which I call computer-based maths – not for replacing the teacher or changing the delivery of the existing content. Of course, we should modernise our delivery too, but however well we deliver the wrong subject it won't make it right.
The real world should be your guide: no one seriously claims computers have made real-world maths less conceptually demanding; quite the contrary.
Indeed, the reason governments around the world are panicked about maths is because of the chasm between students' understanding and real-life needs. It's not so much that maths education is worse than it was; instead, real life is much more demanding and we're running in the wrong direction to catch up.
Instead of rote learning long-division procedures, let's get students applying the power of calculus, picking holes in government statistics, designing a traffic system or cracking secret codes. All are possible, all train both creativity and conceptual understanding and have practical results. But they need computers to do most of the calculating – just like we do in the real world.
One recent direction that will help all of this is the government's new-found enthusiasm for computer coding in schools. Much of the reason given for why it's important is that everyone can understand the insides of the apps they're using.
But I think there's a much deeper point. Code is the modern way in which you express maths and the way to get computers calculating: it's that central. There's one country that pushed coding in schools before the UK: Estonia. It is also the first country to use the computer-based maths education system. There, my company has just finished building a completely rethought probability and statistics curriculum.
School students will be working on problems such as "Am I normal?", "Are girls better at maths?" "Will it rain tomorrow?" and "Should I insure my laptop?" They'll be using real, large datasets with all the difficulties that entails. They'll be doing coding and some of the maths they'll be handling is traditionally taught only at university.
What's really impressive is that Estonia has already come top in Europe in Pisa. And it recognises how being top on today's playing field isn't what's needed for tomorrow. Where Estonia leads, others will follow – not just in the process of learning but in the subject matter. It's happened with coding. Now it needs to happen with school maths or it will go the way of classics. Those who lead the charge will reap the greatest rewards, as Britain did with universal education in the 19th century.
Even better, I believe British culture makes us rather good creative problem-solvers, potentially world-beating if successfully tethered to the power of computer-based maths. Non-conformity, creativeness and looking around the rules is key to British (and Estonian) cultures and a great competitive, opposite to the cultural imperatives in many of the Asian countries doing well in maths tests, countries that may struggle to imbue such characteristics.
Playing the wrong game badly is hardly smart. Let's lead in rewriting the rulebook and succeed at the right game. Visiting Estonia would be a start.
Conrad Wolfram, physicist, mathematician and technologist, is founder of computerbasedmath.org |
warc | 201713 | Why is feeding my horse from ground level best? Less strain on the skeletal system and soft tissue because a horse is designed to eat with the head down. A natural grazing position allows the mandible (jaw bone) to come down and forward in the atlantoaxial and temporomandibular joints. This enables the mandible to move up and down, side to side, forward and back without any restriction; facilitating natural wear of teeth along with optimum mastication and reduction of particle size. Enables nasal passages to drain effectively thereby minimizing the inhalation of dust and particles. A horse’s emotional state is reflected in body position and posture. If we require a horse to eat with their head elevated, we are encouraging an alert and tense mental state. Eliminates the risk of hay and dust falling into your horse's eyes. The Standard and Mini Hay Pillows® do not impair the horse's peripheral vision. If impaired, this can create tension psychologically. Horses are prey animals and depend on sight and sound to detect predators. |
warc | 201713 | COMMITTED TO A CURE OUR CONTINUED FIGHT FOR MESOTHELIOMA VICTIMS
Vogelzang Law is dedicated to furthering the research of mesothelioma through annual donations to several institutions with the same goal. Mesothelioma research often does not receive the funding it so desperately needs. The principle reasons for this is the relative rarity of the disease. Our law firm is dedicated to bolstering the progress of fighting mesothelioma by providing the funding to physicians across the nation.
University of Chicago’s Mesothelioma Program
The University of Chicago sees an incredibly high volume of mesothelioma patients every year from the Midwest; as well as patients from the entire nation and some from different parts of the globe. This is due in large part to the incredible work of Dr. Hedy Kindler. Dr. Kindler has used her personal commitment to fighting the disease to lead the mesothelioma program for many years and has made great strides in increasing survival for victims of mesothelioma.
Attorney Nicholas Vogelzang has been heavily committed to supporting the University of Chicago's mesothelioma program. This commitment first began in 2004 and will continue as long as the mesothelioma program remains in place. Donations have assisted in purchasing new equipment as well as providing funding for hospital staff.
International Mesothelioma Interest Group & Dr. Kindler
Dr. Hedy Kindler also heads up the International Mesothelioma Interest Group, IMIG, under the strong leadership of Dr. Kindler, gathers the world’s leading physicians and scientists in mesothelioma research together every two years. This mighty brain trust shares resources, ideas and individual progress to push global progress toward ending the disease.
Vogelzang Law has supported and attended these groundbreaking meetings. Mr. Vogelzang attended in Chicago in 2006, as well as the 2008 conference in Amsterdam, and Vogelzang Law continues to support the meeting each year. Our attendance and support allows us to stay informed on the cutting edge of the science and medicine involved in mesothelioma. This in turn gives exclusive access to all clients who may need guidance in treatment of this disease.
The Nevada Cancer Institute & Dr. Nicholas Vogelzang
The Nevada Cancer Institute first started seeing patients diagnosed with cancer in 2004 under the leadership of Dr. Nicholas Vogelzang. Dr. Vogelzang saw his first mesothelioma patient in 1975. At that time he was an assistant professor and treating physician at University of Chicago. From that point he was determined to take on this difficult cancer and has committed a significant portion of his career to fighting this disease. In 2003 he gave up his position as director of the cancer center at University of Chicago to lead the Nevada Cancer Institute as its founding director. The NVCI was just starting and in desperate need of someone with the knowledge and experience Dr. Vogelzang could bring to a newly formed and blossoming cancer center.
Dr. Vogelzang has published over 100 articles on mesothelioma, edited a book and has spoken hundreds of times throughout the world to push toward the eradication of mesothelioma. He has brought that fight and determination with him to Nevada. Over the course of the last five consecutive years he has increased the number of mesothelioma patients cared for at NVCI every year. He has brought several clinical trials to NVCI and given mesothelioma patients a chance they might not have received before.
Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation
In 2000, a coalition of patients, families, doctors and other advocates was formed to create an independent source of funding for mesothelioma research. In addition to providing money for grants to fight mesothelioma, it has also grown to be an excellent resource for patients and their families. There are annual meetings where patients and loved ones can share stories and information in fighting the cancer. They also have an opportunity to meet with the nation’s top doctors on mesothelioma, including Dr. Hedy Kindler and Dr. Nicholas Vogelzang, both founding board members.
MARF has now grown to the point that it has a mesothelioma nurse, Mary Hesdorffer. Mary is always available to help with small questions regarding symptoms as well as bigger issues such as which type of treatment to seek and from which oncologist.
Vogelzang Law has supported MARF and their work for many years, both through attending conferences and providing financial support. We are hopeful MARF will continue to grow, enabling it to fill the inequitable funding deficit for mesothelioma research. |
warc | 201713 | Want to help change the world?
You can do so through the kind of projects you take on in your voice acting career.
Discover 3 factors that determine how you contribute and find out why they are so very important.
How Can Your Voice Change the World?
Each day, you are given opportunities to record scripts for projects, and you can pick and choose which are more suited to you and decide whether or not they appeal to you.
Let’s examine the factors that go into whether or not you audition or embark on a project, and if that project is “right” for you. What’s also interesting is that these same factors are critical to achieving your goal of helping you to change the world with your voice. The 3 Factors Are: 1. Qualifications2. Vocal Range3. Personal Beliefs 1. Qualifications
Some projects come with specific requirements such as you must have access to ISDN, speak a particular dialect, or be able to deliver the audio and meet a client’s deadline. Most of this is obvious, but it is important to ensure that you are equipped to fulfill the nuts and bolts of what is expected of you as a service provider.
2. Vocal Range
If you are honest with yourself and know what you are capable of doing as a voice over artist, this shouldn’t be very difficult to ascertain. If your strengths lie in certain areas and you know your comfortable vocal range, make sure that you audition for projects calling for your voice type and only present clients with styles or pitches you are comfortable voicing or replicating for extended periods of time.
3. Personal Beliefs
While this may not be a critical point for all people, I think it is very important to only take on work or audition for projects that align with your morals, ethics and beliefs. How can you make sure you do this? Ask yourself, “Do I feel good being associated with X company, cartoon, concept, etc.?” before stepping forward and making a commitment. An audition, even if it’s only an audition, is still a commitment of sorts so be careful to apply only for jobs you actually want to do.
To Thine Own Self Be True
Whenever you choose to honour your values, you are being authentic, credible, and have a greater purpose for what you are doing or contributing to.
Do you remember what Polonius said in “Hamlet”? “To thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.” In the same vein, if you truly believe in what you are saying and speak with conviction, the read will come across with indisputable veracity and be of untold benefit to a prospective client and to your customers.
Each decision you make affects you and those around you. Just as a raindrop lands on the waters and causes a ripple to spread, so do your actions, making an impact on those around you and on others beyond your community.
How Is Your Voice Changing the World?
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Stephanie ©iStockphoto.com/Dmitry Mordvintsev |
warc | 201713 | Esta página de Internet está disponible sólo en inglés. Sin embargo, tenemos otros materiales de educación financiera en español.
When you see a great balance transfer credit card offer or introductory interest rate, your gut may tell you to open a new credit card immediately. However, before you decide to sign up, here are a few things that will help in making sure you’re getting the account that’s right for you:
Look at your current credit cards to see what you’re paying – if anything – in annual fees. If the credit card you’re considering has lower fees, it might be a good time to switch. However, it’s important to also consider what you’re getting for those fees. If the new card has lower fees but fewer benefits, it may not be worth making a move.
Rewards programs allow you to earn flight miles, discounted purchases, hotel stays, or even cash back simply by making purchases. These programs can be complicated, so take a look at how many dollars you’d have to spend on your card for each point you’d earn. Then, see how many points it takes to earn something simple, like a $50 gift card, $100 in cash back, or other rewards that suit your interests.
Keep in mind that opening and closing credit cards too frequently can impact your credit score. Each time you open a new credit card a creditor checks your credit report, which may affect your credit score. Therefore, ask yourself if a new credit account is really worth it before you decide to apply.
We’re committed to helping you build your financial success. Here you’ll find a wide range of helpful information, interactive tools, practical strategies, and more — all designed to help you increase your financial literacy and reach your financial goals. |
warc | 201713 | I follow
Time magazine on Pinterest and so saw the now-infamous cover-shot of Jamie Lynn Grumlet nursing her three-year-old son–mother and child both standing and gazing solemnly at the camera–while my first cup of morning coffee was still cooling last Thursday morning. I took a moment to gaze at their expressions (hers perhaps a tad defiant, his both possessive and nonplussed), then scanned down to read the cover-story title: “Are You Mom Enough? Why Attachment Parenting Drives Some Mothers to Extremes–And How Dr. Bill Sears Became Their Guru.” This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be missing content or contain faulty links. Contact [email protected] to report an issue.
Immediately I thought, “What fresh misogynistic hell is this?”
Understand: I had no problem with the fact that the nursing child in the photo was almost four years old–though that would not have been a workable option for my family. That he was standing on a chair in order to nurse gave me pause, as did the incongruously surreal phrase “God of Cricket” hovering near Mrs. Grumlet’s clear-eyed gaze. However, it was the smug invitation to woman-on-woman judgment in that title that actually sent me screaming over the edge. Motherhood is hard enough work and women judge themselves harshly enough already on how well they’re doing it; we do not need a for-profit media machine standing on the sidelines helping us feel worse about the job that we are doing, pitting those of us on the front lines against each other.
My first son was almost nine pounds when he was born and I gave birth to him without drugs. When push came to really-big-push, I missed my epidural window-of-opportunity and so gave birth “naturally.” For the record: this did not feel beautiful and life-affirming, it felt painful and terrifying–but the experience does put me, however unwillingly, in the “attachment parenting” camp.
Similarly: I nursed my first son until his first birthday and then promptly weaned him. Later, this child would be identified as having multisystem developmental disorder. All I knew at the point of weaning was that, physically, he required about six hours of sleep a day and spent much of his waking time in a state of tantruming terror. At first, our nursing and subsequent co-sleeping gave me an opportunity to rest during our otherwise-frantic days. As the months progressed though, the clerestory window in my bedroom began to take on the look and feel of a prison window, and I really began to believe that if I didn’t get some uninterrupted sleep away from this child I might try to climb the wall and jump free.
When my second son came along, I believed that I was a seasoned enough mother to nurse for the long haul–two or three years, whatever he needed. This one was also a difficult-to-soothe child who didn’t seem to require much sleep–but he was different, too: fewer actual phobias, more life-threatening infections. Breast milk is supposed to promote autoimmune antibodies and this was a kid who seemed to need all that he could get, so of course, at 14 months, after two hospitalizations and perhaps four weeks total good health, my second son weaned himself, cold turkey. He woke up one day, pointed at the solid food that I always offered and that he always adamantly refused, uttered his first clear word (“cup”), and settled in to chow down complacently next to his brother.
So why share all of this? I don’t know about you but I need a strong drink whenever I reflect back on my early years of parenting–and that’s before I think about the additional hospitalizations, the years of arguing with my school district about what educational services and accommodations my children required, the three years of homeschooling, and the fact that parenthood has taken me out of the job market long enough that I am finding it challenging to transition back smoothly…
I share it because, given the option, I would make all of these choices again a second time. Not because of a philosophy, but because now I can see the very-positive results that came from them: I feel blessed to have the two children that I have.
That being (very gratefully said), would I tell someone else that it was a good idea to make the same decisions that I’ve made? Not necessarily. My best decisions for my family are not necessarily going to be the best solutions for you–unless you also have a son with an autoimmune disorder, a son with a developmental disorder, and a problem with anxiety (in which case we should absolutely go out for dinner together sometime).
According to the “What’s Your Parenting Style?” quiz that accompanies
Time’s “Are You Mom Enough?” article, though, I am an “attachment parent,” and “mom enough.” No thanks: I reject the moniker. Yes, I breastfed, co-slept, tried to use a sling (my children abhorred the sling), refrained from hitting my children, and homeschooled–but these decisions were choices I made based not on any philosophy that I was following blindly, but by measuring the options I had available against the dynamic, complex needs of my family. To call me an attachment parent is to change these painstaking decisions into foregone conclusions, thus ignoring the thought and struggle that went into each one.
What’s more, for
Time to imply through its inflammatory title “Are You Mom Enough?” that attachment parenting is some unattainable moral imperative for only the truly committed (or truly mislead), and for Time to then step back from the media groundswell this creates in (one can only assume) the hopes that women will step in and berate each others’ parenting choices–all so that Time can move more product–strikes me as behavior that is both calculating and cruel. After all, every family is its own dynamic, complex, challenging structure. The only message that the media should be sending to mothers this Mother’s Day is that there are many, many ways to raise healthy children, and that what is vitally important is for families to discover, implement, and embrace the solutions that work best for them. |
warc | 201713 | Who doesn't look at Yelp reviews before trying a new restaurant for a nice dinner?
Yet people with ALS who are choosing clinics and organizations and equipment dealers and physicians and clinical trials are expected to do so based on zip codes and blind faith. A poor choice has much larger implications than a noisy hotel room or a rude waiter.
Thousands of people use ALS resources every month yet we've not captured their experiences, thoughts, and impressions to help the next person.
ALS continues to be the disease of reinventing wheels. |
warc | 201713 | How many times have you set a goal, went all guns blazing and then few weeks later feel deflated and lost the drive? We have all done it, and what have we done to ourselves after? Beat ourselves up and branded ourselves a failure and declared that we simply are not cut out for this.I’ve been there a few times, but now I know the key to breaking that cycle. Let me share with you.
Get some passion
First of all, probably the number one reason why most of us don’t know how to set goals and fall by the wayside with any goal set is we simply are just not that passionate about it and you don’t have a ‘Strong Why’
Let’s not confuse goals with tasks and daily errands. Set goals that are going to push you that requires ambition and that will elevate you higher.
If your goals set are based on ideas of ‘ Oh Maybe this is what I think I should be doing with my life right now’ or ‘I kinda like to do this’ etc then your reason for doing it….. your why is simply not strong enough. You will probably find you are always going to fall short in reaching that goal..
Get a piece of paper, a journal/notebook or write a document on your device and evaluate what’s going on in your life right now. Take the time to list things you really feel truly passionate about, what are you grateful for, areas in your life that you want to improve. It sounds cheesy yes but if you feel like a person who is lacking clarity right now and not sure which direction to take in life then this exercise is needed.
First things first set the scene.. How to set goals
Being well rounded is important, there is always going to be one or two goals that shine through but if you set goals for a few areas in your life instead of just one you will feel like a much more rounded person. Your life goals may be a little different to mine but I have set goals for the following areas below.
Work Home and Family life Health and Body Money Friends and Social Relationships Personal Growth
Choose some main goals for each of these areas for the next 365 days… We are setting the scene this it the bigger picture but don’t stop there, this is where people make the mistake. They put the goal out there and fail to dissect it. Let’s get some gumption and let’s start breaking these goals into manageable bites and habits. ( If you follow us on Instagram or Facebook you will have seen me talking about this)
Brainstorm and write down the ways you will need to achieve these goals. Now look.. if we knew everything already we probably wouldn’t need to be setting these goals and we would have already achieved them. When you are passionate about something you will want to know to know every little thing about it, growing your knowledge base is key. So you may need to do a lil research into how you can realistically achieve these goals, how long it will take and what you might need. You may need to apply the good old rule of thumb here and set Smart Goals.
SPECIFIC MEASURABLE ACCONTABLE REALISTIC TIME SET
How to eat a frog … one bite at a time
A lil gross but hey you get the idea. Now we have the main goals set, what can we do in the next 90 days to help us get closer to our goal? What are you going to tackle first? Think about the order these tasks need completing. No sense in steaming ahead with graphics for a website idea if you don’t have the domain name registered etc. Set some mini goals for the next 90 days that require action, these will probably be things that will take up time and need to be tasked into your every day To Do list. Don’t set yourself too many tasks at one time, make it achievable. Setting too many tasks to do in one day is a sure fire way to head to melt down. Set yourself a goal date of when you need to achieve it and you’re off.
Here is where I put my love of bullet journaling to good use. I open it every morning or sometimes I write it in it a night things I need to get done for the day and plan in something daily that helps me get closer to achieving my 90-day goals. ( Read here to learn more about The Bullet Journal Life) Don’t forget to list daily things that bring you joy and you are grateful for as a little reminder of happiness.
Regularly check back to your main year goals and 90-day goals you have set. Some days you may feel a little bit lost and that’s because you may be forgetting the reason why the hell you set this goal or something has happened in your life and you have become distracted. Go back and read the passion and the meaning behind why you set the goal in the first place. Make sure it’s aligned with you, sometimes it’s that little jolt you need to get going again.
Each week evaluate what you got done, why you think you made it a success and why that formula is working for you. Hey sometimes things don’t pan out, you need to address it not let it follow you around like a bad smell so you don’t keep making the same mistakes. How can you change your mindset to make it work, do you need a specific tool to really help you upgrade your task, or maybe it’s as simple as asking or accepting help which you previously was too proud to take.
Let’s go! and tell someone about it
Now that you have that lil mini formula on how to set goals, ‘On Your Marks- Get Set- Go’ Since I have been really taking pen to paper and setting true goals for areas in my life the success rate of me achieving the things I want has skyrocketed. I believe there is definitely something into to writing my goals down on paper ( it’s like a little life note sent out to the universe highlighting my intentions) but if you are a techy why not write it on your phone or computer. I am a little bit of a stationery geek so I love my Leuchtrum notebook and my Daily Greatness journal.Great if you are not into all the fuss of planning it all out and figuring it out yourself then a pre-printed journal may be the one for you. Don’t forget to to tell someone about these goals you have set ( if they are not super personal mind) it will help you stay accountable. This is why I love Instagram great for this kind of thing. p.s you can tag me in your goal intentionS if you like. I love hearing about other people’s journeys.
But what about he said and she said..
People have often said to me….’boy.. you must have a lot of time on your hands if you have time to do that’ Simply I make the time, things I am passionate about I carve out time and get it done. A lot of the time people may be wasting too much of their time on things that are distracting. I don’t watch much tv during the day only for an hour or two at night. I turn the app settings off so I am not on my social media all day long and get on with the tasks at hand I also have family, wife/ mother goals set so they are not neglected ( Always working on this) You may be thinking sure yeah yeah all sounds so simple. I have ‘Strong whys’ to my goals and this in turn and has helped me set structure and give purpose to my day, you need to make sure your goals have strong purpose to.
The other day I was also asked ‘why are you writing this’….again ‘you have a lot of time’ I don’t have any more extra spare time than you I just make time for things I want to get done – I truly enjoy and am passionate about sharing things and motivating people with things I have learnt that can help make their lives easier. Don’t allow anyone else’s thoughts and judgements to cloud the reasons why you are doing things. Blessing and positive vibes always.
If you found this post helpful or recently implemented something similar in your life let me know in comments below. I would love to hear.
Mrs
XX
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warc | 201713 | All women want 5 things...
Psychologists have concluded that women generally need 5 things, not because they are women, but because they are human. Wise husbands will listen closely. Wise parents will read closely. Wise leaders will take careful note of these 5 most basic human psychological needs.
Firstly,This is a powerful insight. If you feel accepted by those in your world, you will feel at ease. If you want people to be attracted to you, be an to be accepted. acceptingperson. If, however, you are a highly picky and confrontational person, you will be seen as an unattractive person. Whether we accept someone or not is tested when they fail and let us down. Because we crave acceptance it makes rejection all the more painful. 2Cor. 11:16¶ I repeat, let no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. Phil. 2:29 So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, Secondly,If there is a condition to being loved, it is not really love, it is a transaction. We crave to be not just accepted, but accepted for who we are and loved despite it! When we are loved it feels like someone is taking an interest in us. It feels like someone has our best interests at heart. When we say, "I love you" (something that a wise husband will say regularly to his wife) we are saying that we accept them, are interested in them, and desire their best interests. In the Hebrew worldview, this is best "said" by what you do. This is why Jesus never to be loved. saidto anyone "I love you" but actually never stopped saying it by what He did. Wise parents will never "disown" their children, or make their love for them conditional. Thirdly,. This involves what a person does. Their performance. Their productivity. The artist is affirmed by the viewer appreciating their art. The musician is affirmed when their audience applauds. The wife is affirmed when her husband thanks her for the evening meal, the washing being done, the house being kept. The husband is affirmed when his wife thanks him for providing. The child is affirmed when they present their finger painting to their parent and hear what a clever, creative artist they are. Wise leaders know that the will get the most out of their team when they affirm them. When a work colleague tells another colleague that they have done a great job, it doesn't carry the same weight as when the boss says it. In a church, when a pastor affirms someone it carries great weight and fosters loyalty. to be affirmed 1Thess. 1:2-3¶ We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. Fourthly,We are nourished as human beings when we love. This is one reason why we have pets. We are created to love. We need to love. Generosity is an act of love. When we give of our time, talent or treasure, we are loving. Of all the things that will be done in Heaven, only loving the way we can here on earth will not be possible. That is, in Heaven we will sing our worship for eternity - thus our time on earth now is a training ground for us to practice our worship of God. In Heaven we will learn from and about God - thus our time on earth now is a training ground for us to practice learning. But in Heaven we will not be able to show love to those without a covenant with God - the unsaved - rather, only now on Earth can we show such love to sinners by sharing with them the Gospel and giving financially to the church to enable the reaching out to these lost, hell-bound-for-eternity, sinners. to love. 1Cor. 16:14 Let all that you do be done in love. Eph. 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Fifthly,Wise husbands never threaten to leave their wife. Wise leaders never talk of quitting on those they lead. Wise parents never threaten to disown their children. We all crave to feel secure. Security gives a person a sense of ease and even a sense of control. The wise leader who leads his people to feel secure will avoid or minimise surprises. They will pre-empt certain decisions and actions so that those around them can securely feel comfortable in the knowledge that they know what is happening. Women are generally less secure than men. Rather than ridicule the women in your life for their insecurity, instead take steps to provide the security they need. This is done by being consistent, reliable, dependable, and practicing the above 4 needs. to feel secure.
When Kim and I arrived at Legana some 16 years ago (we celebrate our 16th year of Pastoral Ministry at Legana this Sunday) we felt strongly that we were to sow our lives into this work. Despite letting people know this, after two years of pastoring Legana many people asked us if we would be "moving on" now? We assured them that we were here to stay unless the Lord clearly said otherwise. People don't ask this of us any more. And we hope that our actions speak for us and that this provides people at Legana with security. When leaders endure and don't bail or quit, they cultivate security.
2Peter 1:10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.
Of course, it's not just women who want these things. We all need these 5 things as well. The more these things are demonstrated in our homes and in our church, the greater the likelihood we have of seeing the Kingdom of God extended in our community of Northern Tasmania.
Father, I need Your help. I want to preach so that people are moved an inch closer to Christ. Help me to lead the kind of life that increases this being able to happen. Lord, when I fail and let Your down, help me to be quick to repent. Give me partners who know that their service is making an eternal impact on the lives of others. And Father, we pray, that in all we do we might be privileged to see people come to Christ as their Saviour, in Jesus' Name, Amen. Eph. 3:21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ps. Andrew |
warc | 201713 | "OK, YOU'VE GOT THREE WISHES"
The offer has been made. The terms are simple. The Genie is waiting. Ask what you will.
1Cor. 4:21aWhat do you wish?
Money? Health? Happiness? Certainly these were the respective wishes of Japanese, European and American parents for their childrenaccording to a recent survey. But I have an advantage over my Japanese, European and American survey respondents. They only got
onewish. I've got three! I could trump them all and wish for all three of their wishes! But should I?
Wishes reveal
hearts. Is my heart driven by money, good health, or the pursuit of happiness? Perhaps. But if it isn't, why should I wish for it? If I could, I'd somehow wish for super-time. But the Genie's already explained the preclusive terms. I must confess though, that when I consider what to wish for, I keep coming back to what I want now. After all, I want my wishes to be relevant.
Who would make
irrelevantwishes? When it comes to all things beneficial, and therefore helpful, relevanceshould certainly be presumed. This is especially true when it comes to wishes. But it's also true when it comes to any claim of helpfulness such as churches which claim to help make life better. Any church daring to make such a bold and public claim would first have to be relevantto its claimants.
Some churches attempt to be relevant by changing their message and the way its delivered and packaged. But this tends to make them irrelevant. Other churches feel their traditions and formal structures and proceedings are the things that make them
relevantto a spiritually hungry world. The spiritually hungry hungry don't seem to agree.
Reading the opening chapters of The Book of Revelation where The Risen-Crucified-Voice speaks to the seven churches clustered in Turkey, we should be jolted to read of His Majesty telling all but one of these churches that they were
irrelevant! Not irrelevant to themselves. Not irrelevant to their communities. Irrelevant to Jesus.
How might a church that despises irrelevancy (and seeks to be relevant to its own community, relevant to its city, and relevant to its Christ) demonstrate that it really can
help to make life better? This is not an original question. Earlier this week someone who saw our current TV ad asked someone in our church how we could possibly make such a claim? Perhaps in their mind, churches should not advertise because churches have nothing relevantto advertise. But we actually have nearly 200ways to answer this question. These are the stories of people who can share how a small seemingly insignificant church in Bridgenorth Road has helped. Heart-broken people have been comforted. Guilty people have found forgiveness. Despised people have been accepted. Confused people have found direction. Sick people have been healed. Despairing people have received hope. Yes, this church on the edge of the Tasmanian Bush can substantiate their advertised claim to: help make life better.
A young man wondered though. He was 'forced' to accompany his parents to church. "Irrelevant!" his body muttered. But then he witnessed his parents marriage very nearly disintegrate. Confused, despairing, fearful, he did not know what he could do to help his parents. What happened next changed his life. It was something the boring and irrelevant preacher said during one his boring and irrelevant sermons in his boring and irrelevant church that totally rescued his parents' marriage. The young man was forced to reconsider how he understood "relevant" and "irrelevant." That same young man grew up to become a preacher!
Each week I have people contact me who want help making their lives better. Some of these people turn up on a Sunday and discover that what they previously thought was irrelevant is now very relevant. From the acceptance shown by those who greet them to the love they experience from those worshiping around them to the strange sense of the transcendent as the music begins to the inner whisper of the Spirit of God they hear as the preacher speaks. Relevant and helpful.
But you must be wondering what my three wishes were? For those who criticise those of us who
wishwith the Pharisaical charge that wishingis unspiritual it might be worth taking a little time to do some of our own rebuking. I rest my case with the Original Genius- John 15:7If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
You don't need an Arabian Genie to offer you 3 wishes when you have a Genuis-Saviour who invites you wish
continually. Not only do we worship a Saviour-Genuis (the French word for "genuis" is 'Genie' by the way) Who invites us to wish, He Himself wishes. (You can read of the record of His biggest wish in Second Peter 3:9.) So what were my three wishes? Ps. Andrew Father, help us to be fresh for You. Fresh in Your Word. Fresh in Your Spirit through prayer. Fresh in Your love through fellowship. Prepare us for eternity with You by helping us to be the kind of people You want us to be. May we wish what You wish. Cause us to give our all for The Christ and His Cause. Amen. Eph. 3:21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. |
warc | 201713 | Working Paper (2013-06) - The female entrepreneurship
Women entrepreneurs are not as numerous as they should. Does it brake specific female entrepreneurship? Is it of socio-demographic factors such as level of education or number of children, or even more contextual reasons as the economy or the national character? Or brake related to gender stereotypes?
This study shows that there is a "woman factor" all things being equal, that resists consideration of the socio-demographic and contextual. This factor is clearly the result of internalization of barriers to entrepreneurship that women move away from such a project.
However, even taking into account the subjective aspects, there is still a "wife factor" in France. To explain this residual difference between men and women, some avenues are being explored, including differences in risk behavior and less willingness to learn from past motivations despite broadly similar to those of men. Also studied the possible discrimination suffered by the women in the access to finance.
Our analysis reveals no differences in this respect between men and women, but provides the explanation come from a funding request weaker when the contractor is a woman (less ambitious). Finally, companies created by women are deemed to be less sustainable in the early years. A detailed analysis of survival according to the profile of entrepreneurs relativizes this result. In addition, once they have reached a certain size, the businesses run by women are on average more efficient.
All these early works militates in favor of a segmentation of female entrepreneurship, highlighting the heterogeneity of our study should be taken into account. exploitation upcoming most comprehensive databases will be more conclusive in a final version of this document stage. However, it is now possible to specify tracks for public policy aimed at increasing the number of women creators.
Keywords: entrepreneurship, gender, entrepreneurship, public policy, boot innovation.
Authors: Claire Bernard, Caroline Le Moign, Jean-Paul Nicolai, Centre for Strategic Analysis, Economics Department Finance No. 2013-06, April 2013 Les ressources Entrepreneurship in France (Policy Briefs 296 and 297 - October 2012) |
warc | 201713 | At the first sign of a cold she takes to her bed and remains there till it subsides. He, on the other hand, goes to the office no matter how hacking the cough, how throbbing the head. She sprains her ankle but keeps her appointments; he throws his back out and cancels everything. He wants chicken soup and conversation during recuperation; she yearns only for isolation and silence.
How people treat themselves and their mates during routine ailments
--those that do not pose any serious danger--varies, of course, according to individual temperament. But physicians say there are some differences related to gender.
``To many men, it is almost an insult to be sick and have to change their routine,`` said Dr. Elliott J. Howard, a New York internist and cardiologist. ``They still tend to deny that they are sick, and when they do give in to sickness they don`t handle the stresses and strains as well as women. Women want to take care of their obligations, too, but are more ready to follow medical advice.``
Some of the differences are superficial, in the view of Dr. Diane Sixsmith, a New York internist. ``Women come to the doctor the first or second time they get symptoms and men do not, but men can be just as anxious, and they will call me and plague me for lab results so long as I am the only one who hears them. They often keep their complaints from their wives, friends and co-workers.``
How do such observations play out in the sickroom at home? When Allan Klepper of Barrington, R.I., a manufacturing executive, had surgery on his foot in November, he was advised to stay home for two weeks and to elevate his foot every half hour. ``He was back at work in less than a week,`` said his dismayed wife, Linda, a remedial reading specialist. ``What`s more, he got annoyed at me when I offered to help him.``
Klepper, who faces an operation on his other foot, said: ``While I appreciated the deference of people, it took a while to warm up to it. My pride kept telling me that I was not that bad off. And why not go back to work? I didn`t have my brain operated on, just my foot, and it didn`t hinder the recuperation.``
In other households, it is the man who gives in to pain and the woman who resists it.
``My husband is a bit of a hypochondriac,`` said a woman who would divulge their differences but not their names. ``We are just the opposite. Normally an affable fellow, he goes right to bed, takes his temperature constantly, becomes cranky and acts much sicker than he actually is. When we were first married and he got sick, I brought him a dish of applesauce and he became hysterical, indicating that I was trying to kill him.`` Her error? The applesauce was cold.
As time passed the woman learned more or less to ignore her spouse`s entreaties for sympathy, until one vacation when he complained of aches and pains. ``I ignored him, until finally I took his temperature,`` she said. ``It was 105. Now I pamper him. I can never be casual again.``
In the household of Nan Miller, a vice president of Chemical Bank, and Dr. Malcolm Gordon, a geriatric psychiatrist, responses to illness differ markedly. ``I don`t mind getting sick,`` Miller said, ``but I hate it if anyone is near me. It is wonderful to be sick, though not too sick, to read that trashy book or watch the VCR, and I can`t do that if anyone is there.``
Figuring out how to tend to Gordon, who says he complains more vociferously about trivial ailments than serious ones, is more complex. Asked what he wants most when he is ill, Gordon said: ``First of all, that no one make demands on me. Then a measured amount of sympathetic understanding, but not an excess. There is never enough sympathy, and if I do get enough, then I feel guilty.``
Perhaps the last word on sympathy comes from Kurt Nash, a food industry executive. Asked if he pampers his wife, Gloria, when she is sick, he said:
``Sure, why not? I love her, so why wouldn`t I be solicitous?`` |
warc | 201713 | | Home | Free Articles for Your Site | Submit an Article | Advertise | Link to Us | Search | Contact Us |
SEARCH ARTICLES OTHER ITA SITES: Perking Up for Caffeinated Treasure in the Caribbean
Possibly the world's most famous coffee-growing location is Colombia, but many countries in and around the Caribbean also produce this flavorful bean. Most coffee-growing islands in the Caribbean, however, do not produce quantities large enough to export on a wide scale, like the plantations in Central and South America, which serve markets all over the world.
Growing History
Coffee was discovered in Africa, but today this drink is popular worldwide. It was passed from the Ethiopians to Constantinople's Ottoman Turks and even to Pope Clement VIII in Italy, who is said to have baptized the drink. There are many variations in the story of how the crop was transplanted to the Caribbean, but, needless to say, the region's land turned out to be ideal for growing this popular bean.
The type of coffee plant most often grown in the Caribbean region is called “Arabica.” It was developed from plants grown in Saudi Arabia, inspiring the name. Coffee can be grown in many different climates, but each climate will create beans with subtle taste variations.
The higher the altitude, the more time the coffee plant will require to mature, but beans grown under these conditions are full and dense and yield the richest flavor. High altitudes are particularly important when growing coffee, which means that mountainous islands are usually better-known for their coffee than those with more level terrain.
Similarly, the geography of many Caribbean islands has played an important part in creating delicious coffee. Warm weather and volcanic soils combine to create perfect growing conditions for these plants, but each island will process the results differently.
Top Island Producers
While the Caribbean islands are known for sun and sand, so some visitors overlook their mountainous interiors while others enjoy hiking and climbing through these rougher regions. But whatever visitors long to do on their Caribbean vacations, they can anticipate a stimulating beverage to enjoy alongside the activity on every island. The most popular brews are found on these:
The U.S. territory of Puerto Rico is also a great island to visit for coffee, but most Puerto Rican coffee is consumed on the island, making it hard to find elsewhere, so aficionados may want to visit in order to try a cup. Some of the more popular Puerto Rican coffees are known for their creamy taste.
Jamaica is perhaps one of the best-known producers of Caribbean coffee. Its Blue Mountain area produces full-bodied and highly aromatic beans. However, if you're visiting Jamaica, be wary of roadside vendors selling impostor Blue Mountain coffee. Still, true-blue coffee makes a great souvenir for those who love the drink.
The island of Hispaniola is home to two countries, the Dominican Republic and Haiti, and each produces fine coffee. The Dominican Republic is one of the Caribbean's largest coffee producers, and Haiti is enjoying a chance to make a name for itself as well. Fans of the dark roast should try the sweet Dominican coffee, while Haitian blends offer a more mellow taste, with plenty of flavors to suit many palates.
For those outside the United States, you may be able to find imported Cuban coffee, which is known for a heavy body and particularly fine dark roasts. However, these coffee products are nearly always exported to Europe and Japan. A word to the wise – don't be confused by Cuban-style coffee, which is not the same thing as coffee from Cuba.
Although these island producers will never have the space to grow as much coffee as you'll find in Central and South America, their island blends each offer something unique. So try a cup of something special – coffee from the Caribbean.
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warc | 201713 | The conversation was hitting me with particular relevance because of an encounter the night before, after showing August To June. It was with a young woman who had previously taught in a small east coast independent school, and was in her first year in a Los Angeles public elementary school. She was close to tears as she explained how nothing she tried seemed to be creating the kind of joyful classroom she had expected. Her students were disinterested and disruptive. The day before she had broken down in class and told them she was at her wits end. When I asked her if she had found any more experienced teachers to ask for guidance, she said she had no one to talk to.
I was now sitting with a group of mostly independent school teachers at the Progressive Education Network Conference in LA, discussing what role, if any, teachers in the private sector have vis a vis public education. Earlier in the conference a speaker had suggested that independent schools should raise money for public schools in their neighborhood, or share specialists free of charge. Others had taken umbrage with that, saying it smacked of paternalism, missed the point of the need for communities to fund their schools.
As this small group talked, it turned out that several of them had been public school teachers earlier in their careers, and had left the public sector wanting more freedom, and a more progressive setting. They talked about how isolated they felt in those conventional public schools. Another person in the group was involved in a progressive teacher training program in LA. She would like to place her student teachers in progressive public school classrooms, but can’t find enough of them, so finds herself using independent schools for many of her students. This has double consequences. It reinforces the idea that if you are a progressive creative teacher, you’d be better off in the private sector. But if her student teachers do chose to teach in a public school, they will not have had a student teaching experience that prepares them for some of the realities: large class sizes, limited funding, the plethora of issues related to poverty, and everyone else so busy with all the mandates, that they have no time to help a new teacher.
A light went on. While it was not enough, my small conversation last night had given that young woman some tools with which to go back to her class. A teacher in a private school wanting to engage might be able to offer a listening ear and some reflections to an individual teacher. But not only those in the private sector. What about the ranks of retired boomers who may have spent an entire career inside the parameters of public schools, finding ways to make school meaningful?
Here’s my tiny start: within an hour I had linked up that young teacher with a woman living not far from her who had been a public school science master teacher. They both had big smiles on their faces. Anyone ready to take this idea and run with it? |
warc | 201713 | Azmi Bishara’s lecture at the opening of the Second Annual Conference of Research Centers in the Arab World: The Palestinian Cause and the Future of the Palestinian National Movement, December 2013:
The Palestinian National Movement: Impasse and Future Horizons
When writing on the Palestinian cause, researchers find themselves torn between their national and humanitarian duty, on the one hand, and the need to adopt a relative standard of objectivity when interpreting events, so as to conduct rational assessments of reality, on the other. This dilemma, in turn, raises questions regarding the optimism or pessimism likely to be the outcome of an objective analysis—should hopes then be pinned on objective scholarly analysis that may push toward the “pessimism of the intellect”? Or, rather, should, )to use the language of Hume, Kant (one wager on the “will to act” and on the “optimism of the will” to search for change, a type of action that is based on understanding reality, while through this “optimism of the will” change it and create new realities. I tend to side with the notion that hope is based on action and the will for change, and that action may be guided by rational analysis, though such analysis cannot serve as a basis for hope.
Ultimately, there is no contradiction between academic knowledge, national duty, and the search for a higher purpose, such as freedom and justice. This is certain, for the main purpose of knowledge in the social sciences and the humanities is in freedom. Even so, one requires a dose of “enlightened optimism” in order to believe that scientific knowledge is the best tool to push societies forward and to seek a more just society. Great events and even greater calamities witnessed since the eighteenth century, a century marking this historical optimism in progress, however, have made us increasingly skeptical about the inseparability of knowledge and justice.
In our strive for progress, according to the standards of freedom and justice, we, as scientists and researchers, must perform our scientific duty with objectivity while simultaneously fulfilling our ethical duty that dictates a national responsibility toward our people, with complete bias. Ethics are, however, dependent on our understanding of good and evil and our belonging to a national and human community. We may disagree over the prioritization of communities, from the smallest to the broader human community or, vice versa, from the wider human community to a narrower, national one. Nevertheless, the ethics of both communities should overlap with a national liberation cause if it were just, for the smaller community in this instance is also the wider one, and the cause of one community is also a humanist cause when the people in question are being subjected to injustice according to universal humanist values. In the case of Palestine, we are discussing an injustice that afflicted an entire people, an ongoing project of settlement that has expelled millions of people from their homeland, whose children have maintained their identity as Palestinian refugees within the so-called Palestinian Diaspora, and millions of others who live in a reality of racist colonial apartheid and occupation.
Much effort has been expended in recent decades to formulate a different label for the Palestinian cause, such the Middle East Crisis (which we never hear anymore) and references to “the Palestinian National Authority in the West Bank,” “Israeli Arabs,” “the disbanded cabinet,” “the peace process,” and talk of Jerusalem and the West Bank as if they were two separate entities, not to mention the fact that the international media lexicon has become rampant with Zionist terms, such as “the Arabs of the Land of Israel,” “Judea and Samaria,” “legal and illegal settlements,” and so forth.
In order to make a clear value judgment over what is taking place in our countries with regards to the Palestinian cause, it is necessary to filter out all these terms and the accumulated layers created by the Zionist hegemony over the political discourse on Palestine, in addition to the ideological battles and the conflicts between Arab regimes, the political negotiations, and the projection of conflict over identity and history in Europe and the US regarding the Jewish Question on us. Only then will we be able to view the Palestinian issue as a cause of a people expelled from their land and whose homeland was stolen.
Moreover, only then will we be able to see that during the establishment of a political entity on the territory of a Palestinian homeland, racist and colonial policies have been, and continue to be, perpetually and relentlessly practiced. These policies can be summarized as confiscation, expropriation or armed theft, starting with the confiscation of Palestinian lands and their distribution to migrants under different justifications to the confiscation of history, memory, and even names, an expropriation that turned into a process of complete displacement.
Here, we do not need to categorize people into “good” and “evil”; those subjected to injustice are not necessarily good, nor are those practicing injustice evil as individuals. Those who fall into the trap of these simplistic generalizations tend to move further away from the concept of justice, and begin to judge Palestinians as morally superior, and other illusions to which some of the best Palestinian intellectuals have fallen victim. Adopting such a perspective also leads to dealing with the other side as “the evil camp,” or as demons rather than oppressors, while remaining oblivious to the social, political, and economic dynamics that are taking place within the occupying power, and ignoring the correct distinction between those who are practicing occupation and those who live under occupation. Those struggling against occupation are indeed defending a just cause, but this does not mean that falling under occupation is a virtue, just as the mere fact of going to prison is not, in itself, a virtue. Struggling against occupation is just even if it leads to prison, and struggling against unjust imprisonment is also a just cause regardless of the nature of the prisoner.
At the other extreme are those who completely abandon moral judgment and fall into the trap of admiring the oppressor because they conclude that progress and development have led to the oppressor’s supremacy, while denigrating the oppressed and viewing their backwardness as responsible for the loss of their national and individual rights. In fact, even the oppressed may come to admire the oppressor if they lose the balance between the knowledge required to diagnose the relationship between the occupier and the occupied and the moral judgment toward this state of affairs.
We do not need to discuss historical rights, the formation of nations, and international law in order to fathom that a clear injustice has been dealt to the Palestinian people or that this injustice is still being practiced, constantly reproducing a colonial reality and a structure of racial discrimination that the world, it appears, has grown accustomed to coexist with.
However, researching the historical claims and the justifications advanced by each side; the question of the existence and the formation of a Palestinian people; the Jewish Question in Europe and its overlap with the Palestinian cause (undoubtedly adding a measure of specificity and complication to the matter); the impact of the Question of Palestine on the Arab peoples and even on the ideological formulation of Arab nationalism; the emergence of ideological Arab regimes in the 1950s; the effect of the Nakba on the liberal Arab phase during the interwar period; and the relationship between the Palestinian Nakba and the emergence of Arab military regimes are all part of a domain of study that requires research knowledge of fact. These questions have been our main concern throughout our research agenda, and should remain our priority in the future, as should producing a documented historiography of the history of Palestine and the Palestinian cause to counter the Zionist narrative. Focusing on these questions, however, is in no way an alternative to “struggle for justice”— i.e. a value-based ethical stance and the actions based on such a stance.
If the Zionist academic establishment has the right to use theoretical and applied social sciences, history, and other disciplines in order to understand and nullify the hurdles facing absorbing Zionist immigration to Palestine, to understand the social and cultural structures of migrations, to learn military sociology, and to understand the history of Palestine and the structure of the Palestinian people—all for the purposes of domination, justification of policies, and formulation of future predictions—then what of the people who were, and remain, the victims of these Zionist practices? It is our right, our duty to be guided by scholarly analysis in the pursuit of a just cause. For these reasons it is fitting to hold an academic conference addressing the “Palestinian Cause and the Future of the Palestinian National Movement”.
Once we agree on the necessity of adopting a rational methodology and a genuine will to learn, we quickly find that one of the main obstacles to research and scientific thinking on the Palestinian cause is the existence of epistemological “idols” that are formed in each historical phase, and that appear sacred and taboo for a certain period of time. These “idols” are, in reality, the mere product of a specific phase, but their sanctification tends to last even after that historical phase has passed. There have been phases during which the Palestinian cause was seen as a question of Jewish immigration at the expense of the Palestinian population, who plead with the colonial powers to make them understand the limited absorptive capacity of Palestine. In another era, the cause was viewed as a question of British ambitions in the Levant. During another, in the midst of a wave of national liberation movements, the Palestinian cause was seen as a case of struggle for liberation from colonialism. During the tide of Arab nationalism, we had interminable debates: what should precede the other—Arab unity or the liberation of Palestine? The Left had its own terms through which it understood the Palestinian cause—a cause of class struggle within Palestine itself, and with the wider region, against Zionism, Arab reactionary forces, and imperialism. The Islamist movement also had its own terms, as did the nationalist movement. All these perspectives led to generalizations stemming from specific perspective; even if these terms may be useful for those holding these viewpoints, they become harmful when they declare themselves as a holistic, exclusivist perspective that explains the totality of reality, eventually subjugating reality to ideology. In such a context, competing perspectives are not content to see each other as flawed, but as political rivals.
Most often, ideology ends up losing the world of scientific knowledge and the world of ethics because ideology does not gaze into reality in order to understand it, but to select from it whatever affirms it, thus judging reality in an unscientific, often pseudo-scientific manner. Ideology, moreover, makes value decisions based on the answer to the questions: “with me or against me?” and “in whose interest”? Thus, ideology loses its ethical quality.
Our mission does not simply consist of breaking down these “idols,” or demystifying flawed perspectives, but of assimilating and surpassing these discourses as well. The class-based perspective is not a complete fallacy, nor is the nationalist perspective, the Islamist religious one, or the liberal. These are all viewpoints that have emerged from reality, and would be useful if we understood their historical sources and their limits; they become, however, an obstacle to knowledge and to the ethical judgment of justice when they insist on imposing themselves as a comprehensive theory that is capable of explaining all. My intention here is not to offer a historical review (despite the need for such critical work), or to argue against different perspectives; instead, I shall attempt to discuss the subject of our conference, one which was not chosen arbitrarily.
The Center had three main justifications for holding a conference on the Palestinian cause: to contribute to the formulation of a research agenda on Palestine that goes beyond what has been offered so far; to send a message from Arab and Palestinian academics expressing dissatisfaction at the marginalization of the Palestinian cause; and to assert the need for examining the Palestinian national movement and its future in the midst of shifting international and regional circumstances. Moreover, it has become impossible to ignore the widespread belief that the Palestinian national movement is undergoing a state of impasse that makes it imperative to think about its future.
Without delving into a historical preface, I posit that the Palestinian national movement has always stood on two pillars: first, that of combating injustice and aggression manifested in colonial settlement and the expansion of this settlement project, starting with passive resistance and ending with armed struggle—in all its forms. The second pillar is that of political action, starting with the communications of the Higher Arab Committee with Arab states and the international community before 1948, throughout the phase of the PLO’s initiatives and their quest to garner international recognition as the sole, legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, and, more recently, with the pursuit of the project of the Palestinian state and the struggle to achieve it since the 1970s.
These two pillars can be traced throughout the cause’s evolution. In fact, modern Palestinian national history can be written through an examination of the overlap, or separation, between resistance and political action. Throughout specific historical stages, the two elements supported each other, while in others they tended to be more distinct, and in still others, resistance and political action became antagonistic and separate. Both pillars of the Palestinian national movement, however, needed a memory of its own and a set of justifications, as well as international and Arab relations for support.
At some stages, resistance and political action coexisted within the same movements, and even within the same individuals, before splitting into separate movements and individuals, who differed in their affirmation of these as the two constitutive elements of Palestinian political action. Differences in perspectives reached the point where some saw one of these pillars as an objective and the other as a tool, or presented one as rightful and the other as invalid, and so forth. Since both pillars relied on different Arab bases of support and policies, they were separated, in many instances, by the inter-Arab conflicts. Moreover, they became embroiled in global policies and conflicts.
One could argue that, after much time, the political pillar ended up replicating the model of the national Arab state (as opposed to Arab unity). Arab states have after all dominated the political scene since independence, even though in some stages Arab nationalist ideology succeeded in establishing dominance. As a result, the political pillar adopted the proposal of a national Palestinian state (i.e., the Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip). Just as the Arab-Israeli conflict ended with bilateral negotiations between each individual Arab state and Israel, due to the dominance of the national Arab state, the leaders of the Palestinian national movement also ended up insisting on separate, bilateral negotiations with Israel.
For a long time, the fact that the proponents of the Palestinian state had a concrete political project turned out to be their source of strength. However, getting international players to accept the principle of the Palestinian state necessitated the abandonment of armed struggle. I must also add that armed struggle was not forsaken solely for that reason; the choice was also aided by structural changes within the Arab world and in the sources of support for armed struggle and their Arab and international extensions. These shifts were apparent, among other events, in the 1982 Lebanon War, the collapse of the old Arab system a decade later with the Second Gulf War in 1991, and the fall of the Socialist camp.
With the Palestinian state project transforming into an objective to be reached through direct bilateral negotiations with Israel, or what came to be termed “the political process,” the immunity of this project gradually began leaning toward the language and the terminology of the West and Israel in their depiction of the Palestinian cause. The state project also became hostage to the balance of powers reflected in separate negotiations and, in a last historical stand, it rebelled against this fate, going back to armed struggle during the second Intifada, which came at a very high cost. Subsequently, the proponents of the state project were forced to make a definite choice between negotiations as a perpetual, irrevocable fate, and armed struggle. Yasser Arafat fell victim to this last insurrection in his attempt to defy both the imposition of power balances through negotiations and settlement, and the attempt to force him to forfeit his stand on Jerusalem. With the death of Yasser Arafat, this duality ended, and the proponents of the Palestinian state project chose negotiations as a final and definitive option.
Armed struggle, or “the resistance,” became a separate option outside the political process, one that does not in reality carry a political project, even if it launched, from time to time, political and diplomatic initiatives to confront the West’s attempts to demonize it. It was not a coincidence for this option to be adopted by forces outside the PLO, which turned in its totality into the Palestinian National Authority. We later discovered that the Palestinian factions chose to continue on the path of armed resistance outside the so-called “political process” would find themselves in the same impasse when the electoral process pushed them to become implicated in a project of rule.
The process of negotiations politically excluded those politicians who were attached to a belief in resistance as an option since both sides declared negotiations as “the only game in town”; the Palestinians were ordered to assert political negotiations as the sole option. This reached a point when even protesting the imbalanced structure of the negotiations and the dictates imposed through them had to take place only through political tools and within diplomatic halls. Going to the UN came to be seen as a “revolutionary step” on the Palestinian’s part because it rebelled against the one-on-one power relationship with the Israelis within bilateral negotiation since any attempt to correct imbalances within the political process takes place through political methods that are subjected to the same power balances that govern the “political process”.
There are multiple facets to this development, including the radicalization of the Israeli Right, and the US’s decision to avoid imposing any dictates on Israel, even on matters that are viewed as constants in the US foreign policy, such as the opposition to Israeli settlement. Also contributing to the current state of affairs is the crisis of Arab fragmentation since the Second Gulf War and the absence of an Arab national project capable of preserving the minimal amount of principles in the face of Israel. Moreover, the Arab political dependence on the acquiescence of the US, the Arab peace initiative, which Israel rejected and Arab regimes remained attached to in order to avoid even thinking about alternatives. Arab regimes have also made a habit of hiding behind the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations under the pretense of respecting the independent Palestinian national decision, the will of the Palestinians, and other excuses.
What matters here is that the Palestinian national project, represented in the Palestinian state, has become hostage to a political process of negotiations that is being accompanied by a staggering expansion of settlement designed to displace Palestinians. On the ground, this results in the sequestering of the Palestinian entity in the so-called areas “A” and “B”, resulting in an entity that lacks sovereignty and Israel does not mind calling a “state”; even so, Israel wants a price in return. This shiold guarantee the separation of the Palestinian entity from the dynamics of Israeli society, so that it does not affect its demographic, economic, and political structure. This Palestinian entity, however, is not permitted to become a sovereign state on its own territory , and no solution is offered to the Palestinian refugees.
At this point, I must say that some of us had predicted this scenario, in detail, from the moment the Oslo Accords were signed, while others among us did not and spoke of a different scenario in which the settlement process was halted, leading to the creation of a national state where the Gaza Strip, alone, would become a new Singapore, assuming that all these analyses were based on pure intentions in the service of the Palestinian national project. On the other hand, analyzing the facts that are currently on the ground is sufficient to convince nearly everyone of the catastrophic scenario that is in play. Ironically, however, once the outcome was clear for all to see, a new difference emerged; one that is unfortunately not based on the interpretation of reality, for everyone can clearly see this predicament, but on a struggle over power. This conflict is leading political actors to lose sight of the unified and unitary Palestinian reality and of the Israeli policies that are also a coherent whole. The problem is that this struggle over power comes before the establishment of the state.
When it comes to armed struggle, I shall once more dispense with the historical background starting with the 1936-1939 revolt, followed by the emergence of the armed factions and their struggle after the Nakba, up until the currently active Islamic resistance movements. Abandoning armed struggle has become a condition for accession to the political process; in this way, armed resistance was turned into an option outside the political process, and is seen as a negation of it, even in instances where armed struggle does not see itself as such.
There is no need to speak at length about the developments affecting the countries that became the core of Palestinian armed struggle; I will not delve into the achievements of the Palestinian armed struggle, beginning with the moral and ethical achievements shown in their refusal to submit to oppression, nor will I talk about the its contribution to formation of a Palestinian national identity, nor about its direct impact that has led to the so-called Israeli “redeployment” in the occupied territories, where the pressures of the armed struggle coalesced with Zionist demographic fears. The latter existed in the academic sense, but the demographic scare became an engine of politics due to the armed struggle, for a quiescent obedient people, or a people that is divided into warring factions, does not constitute a demographic threat.
The real and hard fact today is that Israel has sought—since its unilateral withdrawal from South Lebanon, and four years later the Gaza Strip—to turn the actions of the resistance into a casus belli, a reason for war. This was the strategy of Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon with their unilateral withdrawals from South Lebanon and Gaza, which represented a significant addition to the Israeli military doctrine at the start of the 21st century.
In an earlier phase, armed struggle had been transformed from the sole option for the liberation of Palestine into a strategy for resisting occupation, among others, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and in Lebanon after 1982. Following unilateral Israeli withdrawals, specifically after Israel’s aggression against Lebanon in 2006 and against Gaza in 2008/2009, armed resistance underwent a second transformation into a strategy of self-defense against any prospective Israeli aggression. What is currently being lauded as resistance is not the same resistance of decades past: resistance used to be a strategy of liberation, regardless of its being realistic, until it was transformed into an option for “resisting occupation”. Currently, however, if we were to brush aside all the rhetoric that makes “resistance” a label for a group, a party, or an alliance, as part of the ongoing struggle between Arab axes, we would find that organized armed resistance nowadays is a strategy for the defense of the self and the region that is controlled by the resistance movement, a fact that does not lessen the value of armed resistance. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule, such as individual armed operations that are carried out in the West Bank from time to time against settlers.
The problem is that this option, which has become a defensive one, has been used recently in the service of other purposes, a practice with a long tradition in Arab politics. I refer here to the use of military action against Israel in order to register political points domestically or as part of the competition between factions and regimes. This leads me to a point that must be stressed during this era of struggle by Arab peoples in search of freedom and democracy: if the Palestinian cause is a cause of justice and liberation—as I stressed at the beginning—then it does not contradict the notion of justice for other peoples, especially those belonging to the same nation (i.e., the Arab peoples).
The Palestinian cause has always carried two dimensions: the first is related to justice, but also to Arab identity, transforming the cause into something that goes even beyond values and touches upon the very being of other Arabs. Included in this category are those who reached power in Arab countries while raising the slogan of the liberation of Palestine, for there is no doubt that many of them were true in their intentions. However, it is also true that the sensitivity of the Arab public toward the Palestinian cause has enticed despotic regimes to exploit the cause as a political tool—herein lies the second dimension of the cause. The Palestinian cause was used to justify repression and to combat rivals who were accused of treason, even if they had fought for Palestine. Moreover, the regimes’ acolytes and allies would bestow legitimacy on all those belonging to their camp (even if they were supporters of normalization with Israel or were among those who collaborated directly with Israel) and declare as traitors those opposing them, even if the person in question was a Palestinian fighter.
I can safely say that turning the Palestinian cause into an instrumentalist tool in the hands of corrupt despotic regimes has harmed the cause not only ethically and morally, but also directly and substantively. The same regimes that refrained from directing their resources and energy toward the struggle against Israel have employed the Palestinian cause in their authoritarian lexicon, tainting the Palestinian liberation discourse—just as the terms “revolution” and “revolutionary council” became tainted at a certain stage, until the people “rehabilitated” these terms in the last three years.
There are those, such as the Arab liberals, who became admirers of Israel as a reaction to the corruption of the dictatorial regimes that peddled Palestine as a slogan; however, there are others who sided with the demagoguery of regimes as a reaction to acts of surrender and normalization, becoming themselves tools to engage in Palestinian politics for reasons unrelated to Palestine. Many liberals were oblivious to the fact that these regimes exploited the Palestinian cause to justify their impotence and backwardness, but that the cause is not the reason behind this impotence and backwardness. In fact, Palestine was often the factor that exposed this Arab impotence and backwardness, just as it was often the motive for development. It is not Palestine’s fault that despotic regimes have exploited it in a demagogic manner; on the contrary, this exploitation makes Palestine doubly a victim.
I have stated that the Palestinian political option is in a debacle, and that armed struggle as an option separate from politics is engaged in struggle for survival, and has shifted from a liberation strategy to one of self-defense. Under such circumstances, then, what horizons can be discussed?
The Israeli political establishment, in its academic and political wings, has detected a great threat in the Arab revolutions and the potentials for democratic evolution in Arab countries. In fact, a large number of studies have been published on the threats looming over Israel in light of the liberation of Arab populations, the emergence of an Arab public opinion, and the reinstatement of the Arab dimension to the Palestinian cause. Israel’s political circles, however, have regained their calm following the emerging manifestations of counter-revolution, which might look like a reaction to the outcome of electoral ballots, though, in truth, they represent a reversal against the entire democratic track, including the repression of the freedom of expression, the manipulation of public opinion, and the return of repressive security practices. The resulting Israeli self-confidence is currently exhibited internally through the expansion of settlement activities and, externally, through the return of Israeli security collaboration with some Arab regimes and the exploitation of the division of the Arab world into two axes—one Sunni and one Shiite—in addition to other phenomena that had been almost extinguished by the Arab revolutions.
Thus, it is necessary to reconsider the future of the Palestinian national project based on the following variables: the impasse of the negotiations, the crisis of armed struggle, and the fact that the Arab world will for the time being be occupied with revolution and counter-revolution until matters settle, hopefully, with the establishment of Arab democracies.
Prior to addressing these questions, it is important to stress the following: the option of resisting the practices of the occupation, such as demolishing homes, uprooting trees, or building settlements, was not suspended during the crisis of the two Palestinian options; the Palestinian individual has defended, at every turn, himself, his family, and his land against injustice. Nevertheless, no serious attempts were made to encase this immense potential for resistance within a framework for action, or a national movement that is based on these principles. As a result, leaving aside the media exaggerations of individual instances of resistance (often for reasons of exploitation to draw the attention from despotic oppression against Arab revolutions), the resisting individual, neighborhood, and the steadfast village have all been left to fall prey to the brutality of the Zionist state, without any outside support, or to attempt to seek redress through Zionist courts, despite the fact that Israel judiciary is among the main tools of the occupation.
The second remark is that the world, nowadays, has respect for Arab peoples because they are struggling against injustice in general, and specifically the injustice carried out by Arab regimes, not only against Israeli injustices. These people cannot be expected to acquiesce to Israeli oppression having sacrificed to combat the oppression of their own regimes. The struggle for freedom and justice is integral; those working for despotic regimes and security agencies often criticize those struggling for freedom and justice and equality because they are not fighting for the liberation of Palestine, as if they are doing so.
Any attempt to consider the future of a Palestinian national movement must be rooted in a return to these foundations, which are the existing antagonism between the Palestinian individual living on his land and the ongoing Israeli settlement practices. This is a platform on which we can build. Let us then look around us, and let us gaze away from the tired slogans that have lost their meaning: there is a broad settlement process that is taking place in Jerusalem in order to turn the Arab city of Jerusalem into something similar to Jaffa, which was transformed into a neighborhood/ghetto within Tel Aviv. This is the bottom line; and let us brush aside the slogans and the speeches that take people everywhere except to the heart of the matter, which is this: the transformation of Jerusalem into a Jewish city that includes an Arab ghetto. Parallel to this, there is an intensive settlement effort to annex the region of the West Bank termed “Area C” in the Oslo Accords to Israel. Moreover, an oppressive siege is imposed against the Gaza Strip, and the formulation of a real and effective position to break this siege is prevented by inter-Palestinian discord and domestic conflicts in Egypt over the regime’s nature.
In the Diaspora, Palestinian refugees are being made refugees for a second and a third time, and are being subjected to new Nakbas in Syria and Lebanon, to the extent that some refugees were forced to take further refuge in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, which can hardly accommodate their original population. Some of these refugees have had to go as far as Indonesia. I will not attempt, for a moment, to be poetic about the matter, nor will I attempt to stir your emotions. However, I will content to say that in the city of Nazareth, occupied in 1948, families have held wakes for their relatives who were killed during the chemical massacre in Syria after having fled there for refuge from the Yarmouk Camp.
All this is taking place at a time when Israel declares that the properties of the 1948 refugees will be removed from “the guardian over the absentees’ properties” to the hands of private Jewish individuals and investors, which is in practice the unilateral abolition of the refugee question. We are currently witnessing the liquidation of the cause of Palestinian refugees, which culminated in the Israeli demand to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
It would not be hard for any Palestinian to diagnose these frontlines between the Zionist project and the Palestinian people, or to build upon them a Palestinian national unity that engenders a humanistic democratic discourse capable of speaking to international public opinion, something which has been neglected by negotiations, as they limit Palestinian political efforts to relations with the US administration and, to a lesser extent, European governments. Armed resistance isolated itself in terms of international public opinion the minute it based itself exclusively upon religious discourse, forsaking the democratic dimension that is an essential part of a liberation movement.
It would not be difficult for any Palestinian who wishes to diagnose Israeli vulnerabilities to observe how Israel is strongly affected by boycotts or any attempt to deal with it as a colonial or apartheid state. Israel wants to be depicted as a democratic state (the only one in the region) that is engaged in negotiations over a conflict in which the oppressed and the oppressor are not determined, which is precisely why Israel resorts to the negotiations’ process every time an international boycott campaign or an international condemnation of settlement appears on the horizon.
Israel warns the Palestinian Authority, which is subject to Israeli government dictates and facilities, that resorting to resistance options of any sort, such as boycott campaigns and pressure on Israel, would threaten its privileges. It appears then that any Palestinian national project will inevitably find itself confronting these two options, and it will have to make a decision.
The starting point for the re-formulation of a Palestinian national movement is the reality on the ground; call it what you wish, “settler occupation,” “state of apartheid,” and so forth. The question is not over what it is called, but over what prevents us from holistically approaching this Palestinian national reality, and the reality of the Zionist aggression, instead of viewing them as separate issues. The question is also over the existence of a political heading that deals with the totality of the Palestinian reality and that explains this reality, as a whole, with a language that can be understood globally. Here should the unsuccessful dialogue for unifying the Palestinian Authorities begin, and not in Authority issues.
We are unable to replicate the experience of the African National Congress because there are different notions of state and nation, and the difficulty of Arab-Jewish collaborative action in Palestine , unlike the collaboration between white and black democrats in South Africa in search for a single state. This is also due to the Jewish question on the global stage, and to the ongoing negotiations that are taking place over how to separate, rather than how to coexist. In the same vein, we cannot copy the experience of the national liberation movements of the 1960s, for this is a stage that has passed, with its rhetoric and its international alliances. However, this does not prevent us from learning from the South African experience and the international discourse of the African National Congress, as well as the points of strength of the national liberation movements. Before all that, we must learn from our own experience and from our own history in order to cast a discourse that can effectively pressure Israel and garner the broadest possible support within Arab public opinion and on the global stage.
The difficulty currently lies in the ability to advance toward a political project that perceives the suffering of the Palestinian individual in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Jerusalem, and in the rest of the Palestine as a whole, in addition to Israel’s insistence on being acknowledged as a Jewish state, and its attempts to liquidate the properties of Palestinian refugees in the territories that were occupied in 1948. This is the real challenge of unity.
I did not discuss proposals for solutions, nor did I engage in the debate over the single state vs. the two-state solutions, even though this is a theoretically useful debate that must be conducted, although I have an opinion in this debate and I do believe that Israel is undermining, on the ground, the basis for the two-state solution; but it is not the victim’s duty to propose anymore solutions in this phase. Today, posing these questions as if they were an alternative to political struggle and to the political program of resistance is an escape forward.
What is offered here are ideas and questions to renew the debate over the future of a Palestinian national movement, based on the optimism of the will when knowledge becomes pessimistic. |
warc | 201713 | The Financial Tides Ahead
We ask two faculty members and an alumnus to share their opinions on the financial tides ahead. They are Professor Joseph Cherian, Director of the Center for Asset Management Research & Investments (CAMRI) and Chairman of the CAMRI Advisory Council at NUS Business School; Professor Duan Jin-Chuan, Director of Risk Management Institute at NUS Business School, and Cycle & Carriage Professor of Finance; and Srinidhi Raghavendra (MBA 2006), Chief Operating Officer at Straits Financial Services Pte Ltd.
Read More!
The concept of work-life balance is certainly not a novel one given the hectic pace of life in Singapore. Research has shown that workplaces that champion work-life balance in their employment practices generally have employees that are more loyal and committed because they feel that their needs are being taken care of. What are the positive work-life practices your workplace can implement? What would it entail for both employers and employees? Yeo Miu Ean (BBA 1985), a champion of work-life balance through workplaces, shares.
Tune Up for Success in Work and Life
Family-friendly practices are clearly not just on the wish lists of married mums who need to take care of their children. Executives of all profiles desire them for there are always exigencies of the family or for themselves that may call for flexibility and understanding on the part of employers. Our alumni share their thoughts on the sort of family-friendly practices they currently enjoy and/or would like to see being implemented at their workplaces.
Pathways to Work-Life Success
TITUS YONG (MBA 1999) How does a busy executive who is also a parent find the time to do meaningful things with their children regularly? Besides ferrying children from class to class and bringing them on overseas holidays, what other impactful activities can they share together? Edupreneur Titus Yong (MBA 1999) shares his creative take.
Finding the Fun in Parenting
LEE JUNIOR (BBA 2000) Like other busy fathers, managing work and family life is by no means an easy task for Lee Junior (BBA 2000). He holds multiple challenging roles in life at work, play and home; and yet, is an exemplary master of this juggling act in the circus of life. He shares his philosophy on making his roles rewarding so that he can reap the invaluable dividends of healthy and happy children.
Balancing the Tightrope of Work and Life
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warc | 201713 | Another paper, “Exports: Last Demand Standing,” has claimed the U.S. crude market has reached its “proverbial wall” and only crude exports can save the industry. There frequently is a grain of truth in such studies, but the market is broader and more complex than this report implies. The grain of truth is that there is too much supply relative to demand, NOT claims that domestic refiners have maxed out their ability to use domestic crude oil. In fact, the problem is not just in the U.S. This is a world problem.
As world oversupply has grown, a contango market developed. A contango market is simply one in which prices in future months are higher than today’s spot markets. Even international Brent crude futures are in contango. What crude producer would want to sell their crude $5 less today than they can get in October as long as they have a place to store their oil? In fact, even if crude exports were allowed, we would have expected large stock builds in the U.S. As RBN pointed out, Cushing, OK is the largest commercial storage area in the Midwest, which is where much of the very light tight oil being produced is gathered, and since it is the delivery point for the WTI futures contract, it is well suited for traders to profit from contango storage trades. It is no surprise that inventories here built much more than elsewhere, even when pipeline space was available to move these volumes to the coast.
The report is misinterpreting today’s contango situation for the longer-term “refinery saturation” problem. It ignores the fact that while inventories have continued to build to record levels in 2015, prices have not fallen further, and in fact the gap between WTI and Brent narrowed recently. (Louisiana Light Sweet crude stays in parity with Brent.) The WTI spot price averaged about $47/barrel in January, and was actually up to about $50/barrel in the first week of April as inventories climbed.
The U.S. built much storage in Cushing to accommodate growing production, but after new pipelines opened, many of those tanks were drained until the recent contango market evolved. Much of the current inventory build is likely crude that has been committed to future use and is not available for spot sales. As a result, it is not weighing on the market as heavily as one might expect from inventory levels alone. This cannot continue forever, and market forces will come into play at some point to end the contango storage builds. But this is not the refinery saturation problem.
The recent report also postulates U.S. refiners’ use of domestic crude oil based on qualitative arguments and an assumption of refinery inflexibility that have been shown not to be correct. AFPM’s recent survey of U.S. refiners illustrates that this year, a subset of the industry representing 61% percent of U.S. refining capacity plans to increase its use of U.S. light tight oil by over 420 thousand barrels per day (KB/D) from 2014. This same subset is planning another 310 KB/D increase in 2016. In other words, this sample set of refiners will increase their ability to process light, tight crude oil by over 730 KB/D through 2016. The Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) April forecast is projecting increases in total lower 48 production of only 440 KB/D through 2016 . Furthermore, these same refiners will be reducing imports not just of light sweet crude oil as discussed in the report, but also of medium crude oil to accommodate the increasing U.S. production. Refiners have made and continue to make investments to use growing U.S. volumes.
With storage availability in the U.S. there has been no need for many U.S. producers to sell at today’s low prices, and at the same time, refiners have been able to buy crude oil – both domestic and imports at today’s low prices. Drawing down world inventories (including U.S.) will not happen quickly, even though signs of stronger demand should help. The “proverbial wall” in this case is a world demand wall. U.S. refiners are able to process substantially more volumes of U.S. light tight oil, and exports are not the salvation for U.S. producers in this specific situation. |
warc | 201713 | In a recent report, the VA Inspector General’s office (OIG) found that more than 200 veterans have died while waiting for medical care at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Phoenix, just two years after the facility was under severe scrutiny for a scandal in which patient records were altered to hide the length of their waiting period.
It was found that 215 deceased patients had open appointments at the Phoenix facility on the day they died. The report also found that one veteran never received an appointment for a cardiology exam “that could have prompted further definitive testing and interventions that could have forestalled his death.”
Despite two years of reform efforts since the 2014 scandal and the resignation of then-VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, the OIG report found that the Phoenix hospital still has “a high number of open consults because … staff had not scheduled patients’ appointments in a timely manner (or had not rescheduled canceled appointments), a clinic could not find lab results, and staff did not properly link completed appointment notes to the corresponding consults.”
Consults include appointments, lab tests, teleconferencing and other planned patient contacts.
As of July 2016, there reportedly were 38,000 open consults at the Phoenix VA.
The report also found that nearly a quarter of all specialist consultations in 2015 were canceled, in part due to employee confusion stemming from outdated scheduling procedures that were not updated until this past August.
Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chair of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, said the report proved that the work environment at the Phoenix VA “is marred by confusion and dysfunction” and the problems won’t be solved “until there are consequences up and down the chain of command.”
Arizona Sens. Jeff Flake and John McCain released a joint statement calling the practices described in the report “unacceptable” and “reprehensible.”
“Today’s report confirms that cultural change at the Phoenix VA is still desperately needed,” McCain and Flake said. “There is no place at the VA for managers and employees to engage in such misconduct.”
The VA released its own statement touting its reform efforts and calling for increased support staffing. According to the department, the Phoenix facility has 39 job openings among the support staff responsible for consultation scheduling.
The Phoenix system enrolls about 85,000 veterans and announced last week the hiring of yet another new director since the 2014 firing of Sharon Helman. |
warc | 201713 | October Revolution rally: solidarity message from the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Turkey and Northern Kurdistan Transcribed from the rally held in Southall, London on 8 November 2008 to celebrate the 91st anniversary of the October Revolution..
Thank you very much. It’s a great honour to be with you today delivering the message of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Turkey and Northern Kurdistan.
October is the future of humanity. It has been said that we have called the 21st century with the defeat of socialism, but yet we are here again, discussing socialism and wanting socialism. Because the world today needs socialism, humanity today needs socialism more than ever and more than everything. [Applause]
Look at the world roughly: imperialism’s financial crisis; wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; hunger, poverty and death in Africa; racism in Europe. Alongside this, we see mass unemployment all over the world. Capitalism is unable to solve these problems.
Through looking at the successes of the October Revolution, we can understand why humanity needs socialism, but looking at the countries of the destroyed Soviet bloc – Russia, Romania, East Germany, Poland – will give us the same result. We have all seen how the mafia, unlawful living and working, sex slavery, begging, homelessness and national conflicts have rapidly grown and are continuing to grow in these countries.
This is the general look of the capitalist world, but it is obviously not limited to only this.
However, there are enough resources in the world, enough machines, labour power and factories. All the labourers, all the oppressed people in the world, could live in healthy homes that see the sun; their children could be educated in high quality schools; they could live without the hospital queues which they have to live with today.
We can see that the oppressed people of the world cannot find these conditions in the current society under capitalism.
October brought the world which the oppressed people wanted, because it was directly formed through the will, power and struggle of the oppressed people. October brought peace to humanity, national freedom and equality; it became the name that suits humanity in production to have an education.
October is the future of humanity. [Applause]
The October Revolution clearly shows that the bourgeoisie is extra in this world; it is a weight on the shoulders of humanity; it is unneeded. October showed us that we can get rid of it.
October has shown us that the only way to get rid of the bourgeoisie as a social class is through removing the private ownership of production vehicles.
Palestine, Iraq and Kurdistan are places where the national problems are still continuing, which capitalism is unable to solve. October had the best solution to these types of problems.
The bourgeoisie has a wide propaganda about the violence of the October Revolution and Soviet socialism. What we have to say about this is very short and very clear: if we are to talk of violence and barbarism, the violence October used against its class enemies looks very tiny when opposed to the violence used by the USA against black people in history. [Applause]
If we are to talk about brutality, we should see the 150 wars that have been caused by the bourgeoisie in the 20th century, which have killed more than 250 million people. Unless we take into account the budget put into arms and relate this to the budget put into health and education, we will not be able to understand the real barbarism of the bourgeoisie.
Violence and barbarism are both caused by the bourgeoisie. The violence of October against its class enemies was very innocent compared with the violence and barbarism of the bourgeoisie against the oppressed people. [Applause]
Another world is possible. A world free from wars, occupation, imperialist plunder, racism, and all else that humanity wants to get rid of. This world will be socialism.
October is the future of humanity. We salute this event of the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist) and look forward to working together for another world. |
warc | 201713 | The number of Americans with a weaker credit score continues to rise. High unemployment, foreclosures and a bad economy is leading to more bankruptcies and other credit problems; unfortunately, more employers are requiring routine credit checks as part of their routine hiring processes.
Imagine losing your job and beginning the process of securing a new position, only to discover a tough job market. Then, when you finally snag an interview, you learn you must sign a consent form that allows that potential employer to run a routine credit check. You’ve been unemployed for weeks or maybe months, so you know your credit history has taken a big hit. What do you do? That’s what has million of Americans concerned as they set out to redefine their careers.
The Vicious Cycle
It’s happening everywhere in the country. Job layoffs, company closings and other work-related disasters are adding up to millions of Americans looking for a new way to earn their income. They’re polishing their resumes and sending each one with a hope that it’s the one that lands that new position that will allow them to maintain their families and households.
The competition is fierce, after all, the unemployment rate is still higher than 9% and in some states, that percentage is in the double digits. You finally land an interview. It goes perfectly, you know you’ve made a strong impression and then, as you’re standing up and preparing to shake the interviewer’s hand, she says,
Oh, by the way, as part of our hiring process, we’re now conducting credit checks. I’ll need you to sign this waiver.
Suddenly, the air in the room is heavy with fear. No matter how strong your credit history is, being unemployed all this time has resulted in a few late payments, missed payments or for many, a foreclosure or bankruptcy. You know you’d have kept up the payments if you could, but without a job, it was a struggle. Now, you learn that the one thing that will allow you to rebuild might be jeopardized because of the same thing that’s led to a weaker credit score: a job.
The Laws
Currently, there are around 16 states that are working to ban the use of credit checks as part of an applicant’s selection process. Approximately 47% of all companies in the U.S. use this as part of its hiring process, compared to only 40% who ran credit checks on “some” applicants in 2006. Clearly, the trend is catching on. That’s one of the reasons states are growing more concerned. If the employers in these states are allowing a credit history to play a role in the decision making process, that means many of that state’s citizens are automatically left high and dry, so to speak.
Missed or late credit card payments and medical bills are the biggest culprits that are lending to much lower FICO scores these days.
What to Do
If you’ve found yourself in the job market and are fearing the dreaded consent form that would allow a potential employer to run a routine credit check, the National Consumer Law Center says it’s important to be honest. Also, know your rights. You must be told that the consent form is specifically for a credit check. Then, once that report is run, the potential employer is required by law to provide you a copy of it and if you’re not selected because of your credit history, that company must provide to you, in writing, notification that your credit history played a role in the decision making process. Being honest allows you an opportunity to explain it. No need for in-depth details, but a simple,
I have no problem with that; however, I would like to reiterate that I have been out of work for several months and I believe that may be resulting in a weaker credit overall credit score. My finances are my priority, but securing a position is what will allow me to re-establish that strong payment history I’ve always taken pride in. I have been late with a few credit card payments, but I believe once you look at the overall picture, you will see a consistent payment history.
Contact Creditors
Also, you should have already established communication with your lenders. This is where you can take a potentially devastating event and created a less traumatic end result. Credit card companies already know how difficult the finances are for many families and missing a Visa payment is all too common these days. Being honest across the board allows you to work out a reasonable plan for avoiding a credit catastrophe. |
warc | 201713 | On Christmas 1974, my mother- and father-in-law gave me two wonderful gifts: my first pair of binoculars, and a copy of Peterson’s
A Field Guide to the Birds. I devoured the book, reading every page while thumbing back and forth between the written species accounts and the illustrations, which were on separate plates. Then I discovered another bird field guide out there, even more beautiful and useful, the “Golden Guide.”
This is actually my second copy of the Golden Guide: I found it in hardcover
in a local bookstore right when the pages started falling out of my first.
This second field guide was the book I fell in love with, the one I brought with me on every birding expedition that spring, when I saw my first chickadee and 39 other species, and for the rest of the year, as I saw 80 more new species. It's the field guide that carried me through two ornithology classes and helped me identify more than 400 of the first birds on my lifelist.
Yet unlike the Peterson guide, no author name was listed on the Golden Guide cover, much less embedded into the title. An author credit was given to three men on the title page, and it wasn’t for a couple of years that I learned that the primary author of the book—the one who wrote the text for each species and most of the other parts—was the first one listed, Chandler Robbins. This modest and unassuming man wasn’t the least bit interested in self-promotion or taking more credit than the people he worked with.
I met Robbins soon after learning his part in creating the Golden Guide. I was teaching at St. James Elementary School in Madison, Wisconsin, when the American Ornithologists’ Union met there in 1978. I volunteered to help the curator of the university zoology museum by setting out bird specimens and guiding the visiting ornithologists through the open house. I also wrote a poem for the AOU’s parody journal,
The Auklet(“Happy Traill’s to You, or Ornithologists Take Their Lumps and Split”), and led a field trip to my favorite local birding spot—Picnic Point.
The meeting was held in mid-August, after birds have pretty much stopped singing for the season but before much migration has kicked in. So it felt dreadfully presumptuous for me, an elementary school teacher who’d only been birding for 3 years, to be leading professional ornithologists on a field trip at all, much less in August when there were so few birds to show them. Fortunately, two of my American Redstarts were still singing, allowing me to explain how to tell them apart by slight differences in their songs. I also happened to know where a mother Virginia Rail was still hanging out with two or three chicks. I was shocked that she was a lifer for some of them—I presumed that professional ornithologists would have seen far more species than I had.
We saw about as good a list as was possible at Picnic Point in mid-August, the redstarts and rails like icing on the cake. But this shy teacher was so intimidated by professional ornithologists that my hands holding binoculars were visibly shaking. Fortunately, one older, quiet-spoken man with a crew cut started asking me leading questions right off, and kept that up as we walked along, helping me focus my commentary throughout the field trip, making it a wonderful success.
As our group was breaking up, he told me how pleased he was to have come, mentioning that his brother had told him that if I was leading a field trip at Picnic Point, he should go. I was floored, never imagining that anyone would even think of me as a field trip leader, much less specifically recommend me. And then he then told me who his brother was: Sam Robbins, perhaps the premier birder in the entire state, who was working on his magnum opus,
Wisconsin Birdlife. Sam was kind and gentlemanly just like this warm stranger, so I asked him what his name was, and he said “Chandler.”
Miraculously, I didn’t faint. And fortunately, expressions like “Holy crap!” weren’t in my lexicon at the time, since he was such a proper gentleman. But that left me dumbfounded—utterly tongue-tied meeting the man who had written my birding Bible. I can’t remember what exactly I stammered in response.
I had a free ticket to the banquet because I'd helped with so many events, but going to any social event with strangers was hard for me. When I walked into the huge banquet hall, the tables near the front were all filled, but I didn’t care—I was headed for a dark corner in back where I could sit by myself during the meal and program and then quietly disappear into the night. But I’d only taken a few steps in before Chandler Robbins walked straight up to me and asked if I already had a table—he’d saved a seat for me! On the short walk there, we were stopped by several ornithologists and graduate students, all telling him how much they loved his work and plying him with questions or asking him to review a paper or book for them.
I still wonder what it was about that shy 26-year-old teacher, improbably still wearing braces on her teeth, that made Chandler Robbins single me out as a dining companion when he had so very many better choices. It was one of the most thrilling evenings of my life—he was so fun to talk to, and so interested in my work teaching fourth, fifth, and sixth grade science and music. He asked questions about how I incorporated nature study into the classroom, and how I had started paying such close attention to the songs of individual birds. I of course found him far more interesting than me, and kept trying to work the conversation back to him—his field guide and especially the brilliant decision to include sonograms for each species in it, his field work, and anything else I could tease out of him. Looking back, that lovely dinner was wasted on a woman who was cosmically ignorant of this man’s many accomplishments, especially because he was too modest to call my attention to some of the most amazing things about him.
It was only later that I learned that during the 1950s, he led the effort to save the albatrosses on Midway Island. He did seminal research about forest fragmentation and other habitat issues that helped provide the underpinnings for the conservation work protecting the Chesapeake Bay. He wrote some of the seminal papers about pesticides that inspired and provided the essential information for Rachel Carson’s
Silent Spring—indeed, he was the one who designed important DDT studies at Patuxent, with biologist Rachel Carson serving as his technical editor. And in 1966, to ensure that we’d have a consistent body of data to track breeding bird numbers over years and then decades, he started the incredibly important Breeding Bird Survey. Any one of these accomplishments would have made him a hero—I had no clue whatsoever that the man who invited me to sit at his side during the AOU banquet had done all of them. The closest we got to discussing any of this was when he asked if I had a Breeding Bird Survey route, and I confessed that I didn’t think I had enough experience to do one yet. He told me not to sell myself short, but I figured he was just being nice.
Five or six years later, after Russ and I had moved to Duluth, Russ found out that Chandler Robbins was giving a seminar at the NRRI that very afternoon. Russ took personal leave to come home and stay with the kids so I could attend. I walked into the seminar room with just a few minutes to spare. Instantly Chandler Robbins charged over and said, “Laura, I don’t know if you remember me, but my name is Chandler Robbins.”
Over the years, I ran into him only a few more times. He stayed the same quiet, unassuming gentleman. I spent the most time with him in Guatemala in 2007—the only time I’ve ever had the courage to ask if I could get a photo with him.
We had lunch together one day, and while he was getting his food, I took a picture of his binoculars on the table. I still marvel at those beat-up Bushnells—the same pair he was photographed with back in the 60s. He told me he had been given a better pair, but he usually kept them on a shelf. Why risk them getting lost or stolen when his trusty old pair was still working fine? He had better things to spend money on.
He told me that he could live perfectly comfortably on his government salary, and had donated every penny he’d earned from that huge-selling Golden Guide to support research and, especially, young researchers there in Guatemala and other Latin American countries, to ensure the future of conservation of the birds he loved. Most of us had coffee after lunch, but not Chandler Robbins. He told me he loved coffee but tried never to drink more than a cup a day because the natural habitat where coffee could be grown was so precious.
I mentioned to him that my hearing wasn’t as good as it used to be, and he told me to get hearing aids. He said even his younger brother Sam, considered to have the best ears in all of Wisconsin back when I met him in the 70s, had finally swallowed his pride and bought a pair, thanks to five Winter Wrens that Chandler could hear wearing his hearing aids that Sam couldn’t hear at all. Now when I hear Winter Wrens as clear as tinkling bells through my own hearing aids, I think of Chandler Robbins.
I think it was in Guatemala that I told Chandler Robbins how fixated I’d become on the Cuban Tody, and how badly I yearned to see one. That was of course back when travel to Cuba was highly restricted. This straight-laced, life-long federal employee laughed and said, “Well, Laura, all you have to do is drive up to Thunder Bay and fly from there. You don’t have to worry—they won’t stamp your passport.” Someone who had done all the research throughout Latin America that Chandler Robbins had apparently knew just how to deal with bureaucracy and red tape, at least when it came to birds.
In one of our meetings, I learned that he grew up in Boston and majored in physics at Harvard, where he actually knew John Kennedy, a year or so ahead of him. After college, he became a high school science teacher until the war. Chandler grew up in a religious family—his brother Sam was a minister, and he himself was a conscientious objector. Because he couldn’t serve in the military, he was assigned to clear debris from blocked roadways in national forest land in New England. Then in 1943, he got an opportunity to start banding birds at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, where he soon became a junior biologist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, setting the course for his life's work.
In the early 1950s, Chandler Robbins learned that the Naval Air Station Midway, out on the Pacific on Midway Island, which had been decommissioned in 1950, was re-commissioned in the face of the Korean War. At that point, with planned jet aircraft take-offs and landings for the first time on the island, the military thought it best to exterminate the nesting albatrosses to avoid collisions. Robbins and some of his colleagues thought if scientists could figure out what vegetation the albatrosses preferred, what substrates they avoided, and their patterns for takeoffs and landings, they could perhaps set the runways where the birds wouldn’t affect safety. That was back in the olden days when different government agencies actually worked together to find the wisest long-term solutions for everyone concerned.
So on December 10, 1956, Robbins caught and banded 99 adult albatrosses as they were incubating eggs—they’re quite clumsy on land, so they weren’t all that hard to catch. He put band number 587-51945 on one bird. Those leg bands are sturdy, but affixed to the leg of a bird flying about 50,000 miles low over salt water every single year, they get corroded and wear out. Some birds probably lost their bands altogether, but this particular one was re-trapped five times while her leg band was still legible. Each time the worn out band was removed and a new one put on. Each time, the old number was recorded along with information about the bird’s condition and the new band number. All this data was recorded on cards—banding data wouldn't be computerized for decades.
Bird-banding recaptures happen infrequently, bands are replaced even more infrequently, and replaced bands are virtually never replaced again, so when banding data started being computerized, the system wasn’t programmed to track backwards through such a long line of replacement bands. It was Chandler Robbins himself who started wondering about how far back any birds with replacement bands could be tracked. He’s the one who in 2011 looked at an albatross with a bright red plastic band, number Z333, and dug into the data to find out what her previous band was numbered, and the one before that, and the one before that, to realize this particular albatross was one of the ones he had banded on his first trip to Midway Island! I don’t know if anyone has dug into the data to see if others from that cohort are still alive. As I said, worn bands grow illegible or even wear off entirely, and birds in that situation would be impossible to recognize now.
That particular albatross, who made international news in 2011 as the world's oldest known wild bird, was given the name "Wisdom." This year, she is still alive, and still nesting. Her egg hatched last month. This bird, once condemned to die an anonymous victim of progress, was a mother once again, thanks to the soft-spoken hero who helped find a way for birds and jet aircraft to peacefully coexist.
Of all the wonderful people I’ve known during my six and a half decades of life, Chandler Robbins has been my North Star: the person I’ve tried hardest to emulate in every way, for his generosity of spirit and his gentle, unassuming manner belying the brilliance of his work. He lived his life in service to others, including the birds he loved. He was like a chickadee—working hard, staying near and dear to his family as he also served quietly as a leader of his flock. If he knew he was the one doing the most work, and the most important work, he never let on even as he kept on doing that work long after he officially retired in 2005. In 2015, at the age of 97, he was still going to work at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center a few times a week. He explained his long career and continued dedication to his work: "When a lot is expected of you, you do as much as you can to squeeze it all in."
Yesterday I learned that the man whose book guided me every step of the way through my first years of birding, the man whose conservation work ensured that there would still be a wealth of birds for me to enjoy today, the man who has been my North Star since I first met him almost 40 years ago and who I most deeply associate with bird song because he dedicated his life to ensuring that springs would never be silent—this beloved man had passed away on the first day of spring. I picture him and Rachel Carson looking down and praying that someone here on earth has the humility and courage to keep their legacy alive. |
warc | 201713 | Gone are the days when people would just not start a new business due to the lack of funds and investment. Now inspiring entrepreneurs can get funds for their projects quite easily from multiple sources and this summary of the webinar By David Drake is precisely about how people around the globe are investing in startups. David Drake is a Crowd Funding and Job Act advocate and the founder and Chairman of Soho Loft, a financial media company.
Most Important Sources of Investment in Startups:Approximately, 565,000 startups are launched in United States each month. Each of these startups raise $78,406 on average that becomes combine annual income of $531 billion. All these startups find funding from different sources or manage to convince larger organization or donor agencies to investment in their business.
Some of the most common sources of funding are personal savings and credit that accounts for $185.5 billion of total investment in startups, , money received from friends and family is equal to $60 of total investment, $22 billion come from ventured capital and Angel investors contribute some $20 billion. Finally, sources like loans from banks and crowd funding are responsible for providing $14 billion and $1.5 billion to the startups respectively.
From the above discussion, we can clearly see that most of the startups are funded largely in part by the personal savings and credits of the entrepreneur. As a matter of fact, the personal savings and credits fund as many as 57% of startups that are launched across the United States of America where $48,000 average amount is invested in each startup in this regard. Similarly, only 38% and 1.43% of the startups and small business are currently being funded by the investment by friends and family and loans obtained from banks respectively.
The Crowd Investors:However, the trend is changing and more and more Crowd Investors are willing to invest in small businesses not only in United States but across the globe. Crowd Funding is not a new concept but it has garnered real popularity in the recent years due to many reasons. The rise of the Global Funders is really an encouraging sign for anyone with the lofty intentions to start his business on solid grounds but has not capital to go about his mission.
In fact, the crowd funding is the fastest growing investment source that totaled approximately $5.1 billion in 2013 and is expected to exponentially increase in coming years. Already, there are 1 million successful campaigns to date that benefited from this particular source of funding.
The Crowd sourcing:Crowd sourcing is the practice of obtaining needed content, services or ideas from a large group of people, both paid and unpaid typically from an online source instead of from traditional sources or employees. The process is often used to subdivide tedious task to charities or fund-raise startups. The process involves a lot of people where everyone contributes according to his skills or experience towards a greater task. There are five pillars of crowd sourcing such as Cloud Labor, Distributed Knowledge, Crowdfunding, Open Innovation and Crowd Creativity.
Here, we are concerned only about the Crowdfunding because the webinar under discussion only deals with various methods of obtaining funds for your startup and Crowdfunding is one of them. It is also an easy way of acquiring some money that is you only need to find a reliable Crowdfunding platform in the likes of kickstarter.com, set the amount and deadline and ask people to donate money for your project. Crowdfunding is further divided into four types such as Donation based Crowdfunding, Equity based Crowdfunding, Loan based Crowdfunding and Reward based Crowdfunding.
Some of the most famous projects launched through Crowdfunding are Star Citizen, Tesla Museum, Ouya Gaming Console, Pebble e-Paper Watch and many more.
The Angel Investors:The simplest definition of the Angel Investor is “ the investor who provides financial backing for small entrepreneurship or businesses.” Angels investors are normally found within the family of the entrepreneur or friends but anyone can become an Angel investor for your startup. They can provide you an ongoing financial support or one time seed money to launch your business or carry the company through difficult times.
The greatest advantage of Angel Investors is that they invest in person not in his business and therefore, offer lenient terms of conditions as compared to other money lenders. They are essentially exact opposite of Venture Investors as they do not seek huge profits but only want your business to succeed. In fact, these investors write 16 times more checks than Venture Capitalists and invest an average amount of $74, 995. There are 268,160 Angel investors in united states right now and they fund as many as 61,900 startups each year that is 0.91% of total startups.
Venture Capital Firms:Venture Capitalists are those investors who provide money to small businesses and startups with perceived long term growth potential. If you do not have access to capital market, this could become one of the most important types of funding for your startup firm. It has the potential for above average returns for the investors but it entails more risks than benefits for them. More venture capitals come from investment banks, other important financial institutions and group of wealthy men and this type of funding is getting popular among people looking to launch their small business.
Currently, only 0.5% of startups are being funded by Venture Capital firms but the number is definitely on the rise. Most importantly, these investors write the biggest checks when it comes to supporting small businesses where the average invested amount is $5.94 million. Total number of venture investors in United States is 462 and they fund 3,700 startups each year.
Finally, we can say that it is very easy for current small business owners to find some funding for their business to grow than it was just a decade ago. An increasing number of people and firms are willing to invest in your startup. However, it is up to you to find, meet and engage such people and learn about new ways of financing available for new setups and set on the journey to success. |
warc | 201713 | As the world of technology constantly evolves, so does its language. Just when we think we can hold our own in a conversation with the office IT specialist, or our tech savvy kids at home, we find that the vocabulary we’re using so authoritatively is now hopelessly obsolete—along with the technology that spawned it.
The good news is that you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter to receive new Tech Terms every Tuesday, we’ll keep you in the loop with technology and terms. For a quick look at the evolution of tech-related terms from endangered to future, see this graphic from Lebara.
Infographic by Lebara |
warc | 201713 | look beyond your 8″ frying pan for success By zubin zack Insights | November 20, 2015
Since I can remember, I always wanted to live a life of significance; a life with a positive impact. I have always believed that things could be made better. While many negative “what if” scenarios cloud our minds, it is true that finding that one particular positive “what if” can help us instead.
It isn’t always useful to dwell on regrets and mistakes from the past. There are times when we believe that life is not playing out as per our plans, but there are also moments when everything unexpectedly falls into place.
Here is a story that perfectly showcases how negative “what if” questions can ruin opportunities at hand. One fine day, two friends went fishing, and while both had their respective catches, one friend kept catching big fish but tossing them back into the sea. Out of curiosity, the other friend asked why he was throwing away such big fish. The answer took him aback. His friend replied that he had to discard the big fish because he only had an 8-inch frying pan, and any fish bigger than that was too big. How he wished he had a bigger frying pan!
Needless to say, his friend was aghast. He could have just cut the fish in half and cooked them! This story perfectly rounds off where we go wrong in life. Just like this person, we may throw away many opportunities in our life when we get caught up in the “what if.” The trick here is to remove the negativity and carefully scrutinize all of our options.
In my role as a leader I always ask positive “what if” questions. It helps me make the correct decisions in the right direction. At times I write the consequences of the scenario at hand and then deliberate over them to arrive at the right conclusion. This helps me strike out all the possible anomalies and believe in the decision that I am about to make.
This is what you can do to make correct decisions.
Always see if the overarching decision will help you in the long run. Don’t get influenced by only the tactical consequences or short term impact. Focus on what is the right thing to do instead of just the easy thing to do. Don’t indulge in insignificant worry. Negative thoughts cloud logical thinking and do not lead to positive results. Learn to understand the difference between what you can control and what you cannot, and accept the things you cannot control or influence. Think about the positive consequences first. No matter what others think, you are the master of your own destiny, and hence should take your own decisions. Just as success breeds success, one positive thought will lead to other positive possibilities. Influence your mind firstly with all the possible positive outcomes of your decision, and then put down possible negative impacts to weigh them logically against one another. Plan and plan well. After all, there is no substitute to future outlook and covering all the bases before taking the plunge. Put to paper what you seek to achieve, and list out the steps to achieve it. Keep asking “what if” at every stage, but at the same time balance it with a “start acting and stop worrying” policy.
So, go ahead ask the constructive “what if” questions, and let the opportunities come knocking at your door. Whatever you decide, stick to it like a postage stamp and don’t stop working until you reach your destination. Make it the right decision! |
warc | 201713 | In the aftermath of the Greek general election, which put SYRIZA, an anti-austerity left wing party, into power in coalition with far-right Independent Greeks, Dimitris Papadimitriou Professor of European politics at The University of Manchester, explores the situation and assess the possible impact.
So, there you have it! Greek bailout politics have come full circle. On Tuesday a new coalition government was sworn in in Athens. SYRIZA has won a landslide victory against their conservative rivals, New Democracy, but have failed to win an outright majority in parliament. The new Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, was in need of a coalition partner and it did not take him long to find one. The right wing populist party, Independent Greeks, will join the new government and will be rewarded with a number of senior ministerial appointments. Earlier hopes of a coalition between SYRIZA and the moderate centre left party, To Potami, were dashed the day after the election. Apparently, To Potami was not ‘anti-bailout enough’ for Mr Tsipras.
In Panos Kammenos, the leader of Independent Greeks, the new Prime Minister of Greece finds a partner with impeccable anti-bailout credentials. Mr Kammenos and his party are indeed a product of Greece’s polarised bailout politics. He broke away from New Democracy in 2012 and since then has been a fierce critic of what he regards as Greece’s “occupation” by its creditors. Last year a prominent member of his party accused the EU of being a “bunch of gays”, prompting a humorous rebuff by the Prime Minister of Luxembourg. Earlier, Mr Kammenos himself had warned Greeks that they were being sprayed with secret chemicals in order to subdue their opposition to the bailout. He is a die-hard defender of displaying paraphernalia of the Orthodox Church in public buildings and believes that Greece’s future lies in a strategic partnership with his political idol, Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
On Monday, Mr Tsipras became the EU’s youngest leader and the first PM in Greek history who refused to take a religious oath when he assumed office. How can these two agendas co-exist in the same government? Why didn’t Mr Tsipras opt for a more moderate partner? Drawing a parallel to Britain, recent developments in Athens are the equivalent of having Michael Foot and Nigel Farage in charge of renegotiating the UK’s membership of the European Union.
In understanding this farce, one has to look at the effects of the bailout programme on Greek politics. The two-party system that emerged following Greece’s transition to democracy in 1974 has been shattered by the austerity of the past five years. In 2009 the collective strength of the Greek Socialists, PASOK, and New Democracy was in excess of 77% of the vote. On Sunday their share of the vote was just over 31%. The old guard has been swept away, discredited in the eyes of ‘indignant citizens’ as corrupt and subservient to the demands of the ‘Troika’. The implementation of externally-prescribed austerity has led to the electoral annihilation of the mainstream. Anti-bailout rhetoric sells. Even if it comes wrapped in homophobia and religious fervour.
The arrival of Mr Tsipras’ colourful coalition in Greece is the shape of things to come across Europe. Above all it reflects the bankruptcy of the German moralistic austerity dogma. Mr Tsipras and Mrs Merkel are the opposite sides of the same coin. If Mr Tsipras succeeds in changing the dominant economic paradigm in the Eurozone, he will expose the shortcomings of German economic thinking over the past five years. If he fails, Greece’s descent into the abyss will remind Berlin what any good history book will tell you: extreme economics breeds extreme politics. Those who set the foundations of the German economic miracle after the war knew this very well. |
warc | 201713 | Last week I introduced you to a list of mistakes businesses make when searching for investment capital. The list came from a book by my friend, Andrew Sherman, titled, Raising Capital. As we learned, there’s more to acquiring capital than a business plan.
So now let’s take a look at the rest of Andrew’s list, and, like last time, each one is followed by my thoughts.
Mistake: Not understanding the investor selection process. Don’t deliver information with a fire hose when a pitcher is preferred. If there is interest, investors will request the full details as needed.
You’ll need three documents: an initial, one-to-three-page executive summary (the pitcher), an intermediate 10-page (+-) model, and a long one with all numbers and research (fire hose). Deliver the last two only when requested.
Mistake: Too little research and analysis. You must have market/industry research and analysis to back up your assumptions and projections. Investors don’t value promises or hunches. Don’t show extensive data until requested, but reference and summarize what you’ve learned in the short models. Mistake: Underestimating the funding chronology. If your funding requirements and the investor’s investment schedule are not in sync, guess who makes adjustments? Remember, to an investor, urgency sounds like desperation. And this will be true for crowdfunding as well. Mistake: Being afraid to share your idea. Sherman says you can’t sell if you can’t tell. Get a non-disclosure agreement that fits your project and use it. Investors not only expect to sign an NDA, they won’t respect you if you don’t give them one. Mistake: Being dollar-wise and investor foolish. Trick question: Which is the best alternative: a) $1 million from investors who know nothing about your industry; or b) $500,000 from investors who have industry background and contacts? Since the value of an investor relationship is usually more than cash, “b” is often the correct choice. Consider all forms of investor participation when evaluating an offer. Mistake: Getting hung up on initial ownership and control. Establishing ownership and control is where most investment negotiations break down. Here’s a handy rule: He who has the gold makes the rules, which usually includes control. Business founders are typically better served focusing more on the investor exit plan and less on initial control.
Accomplishing a successful investor relationship requires thoughtful preparation plus skillful negotiation.
Write this on a rock … Know the rules before pursuing an investor search. |
warc | 201713 | In a report released on Wednesday, January 26, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that 2010 tied with 2005 as the warmest year on record. Land and surface water temperatures in both years were 0.62 degrees Celsius higher than the 20th century average, making this the 34th consecutive year that the Earth's average temperatures were increased in this way.
In the Atlantic Ocean, 12 hurricanes and 19 named storms marked the second highest number of hurricanes and third highest occurrences of storms. Unusually strong jet streams from June to August 2010 led to a devastating heat wave in Russia and massive floods in Pakistan. Record severe weather events have continued into 2011 with flood tragedies elsewhere on the globe, such as in Australia. Meteorology Professor David Karoly (PhD) of the University of Melbourne explained how climate change is behind this established global pattern of such traumatic incidents.
Prof. David Karoly (M): The rainfall we've seen is in fact record high rainfall, not only in Queensland but also in Victoria and New South Wales. We've seen already that these increases in extreme flooding and other extreme weather events not only in Australia but also in Brazil, in Pakistan, in Sri Lanka at present.
They're all indications that the higher moisture levels in the atmosphere, the increases in global average temperatures are already causing increases in extreme weather events around the world. So we're already seeing significant loss of life from these flooding events, but we've seen also loss of life associated with the record heat waves in Moscow in 2010 and in southeastern Australia in 2009. That indicates that action on climate change is urgent.
Supreme Master TV(F): What are the solutions to lessen these types of flooding events and the drier weather and just climate change in general?
Prof. David Karoly (M): So if we want to slow down the increases in extreme weather events and slow down the rate of climate change, we know exactly what we have to do. We know that we can change from using fossil fuels for driving industry to renewable energy sources. We also know that we can reduce agricultural emissions and reduce deforestation by changing to a low-emission agricultural practices, like moving from animal agriculture to moving to crops and vegetarian diets.
VOICE: While such findings are disturbing, we are thankful to Professor Karoly and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for charting the intensifying course of climate change. May humanity awaken to this reality and halt further tragedies by adopting sustainable lifestyles that are more in harmony with nature.
During a May 2008 videoconference in South Korea, Supreme Master Ching Hai expressed her concern for worsening global warming-related disasters as she spoke of steps that could effectively mitigate them.
http://www.france24.com/en/20110112-2010-warmest-year-record-canada
http://www.france24.com/en/20110112-2010-ties-2005-warmest-year-record-us |
warc | 201713 | First things first, you can swim in the sea at any time of the year in Tenerife. However, there are a few things that you need to know about swimming in the waters around Tenerife before taking the plunge.
Sea temperatures around Tenerife’s coastline vary very little between summer and winter, staying around 19/22C. It’s a pleasant temperature for swimming in… as long as the sun is shining.
Whilst sea temperatures change little throughout the year, the temperature above water does. It’s one thing diving into refreshing waters when thermometers are steaming at 30+ in summer, but diving into the same water when it’s winter and 21C on the beach is more likely to result in a high-pitched yelp. When you head to the sea on a sunny January day, the water feels welcoming enough. But if it clouds over and the sun’s warmth is stolen, it can be a very different and goose pimply picture.
The biggest obstacle to swimming in the sea in Tenerife isn’t the temperature, it’s the waves.
For anyone staying in the southern resorts of Los Cristianos, Playa de la Américas and Costa Adeje waves are less of a problem. Resort beaches tend to be man-made with protective breakwaters or even near a harbour which keeps the waves at bay most of the time. Playa Las Teresitas outside of Santa Cruz is the same and perfect for those who like the sea to be like a lagoon.
Head north where beaches are more rugged, dramatic and exposed to the Atlantic and it’s a very different picture. La Orotava’s beaches at Playa Bollullo are some of the most attractive on Tenerife, but swimming there is only recommended if you’re as at home in the sea as the average mermaid. At Puerto de la Cruz, the ferocity of the Atlantic rollers can make a dip in the sea a bit of a lottery. Even if it’s a gloriously sunny day, the lifeguards could be flying a green flag (strip off and dive in), a yellow (dive in but don’t stray too far) or a red (no swimming even if you’re a dolphin).
The worst time for lively waves is during the change of seasons. In October/November and March/April there can be some pretty spectacular displays on Tenerife’s beaches. If you venture onto the beaches without breakwaters during this period, keep an eye on the waves crashing on the sand; more than once we’ve had to leg it up the beach to escape wayward waves that threatened to drag our towels and clothes back into the deep blue.
Compared to some places, sea-life around Tenerife is friendly but occasionally you have to be aware of potential hazards. The last few weeks have seen an invasion of jellyfish in some parts with El Médano, Los Cristianos, Playa San Juan and Los Gigantes suffering from an influx of the stingy, wobbly creatures. Lifeguards post warning notices if there are any dangers, so always take note of flags and signs before diving into the unknown.
In reality, for most of the year the sea around Tenerife is a joy to swim in and anyway, even when it isn’t, there are pools and swimming complexes galore.
Category : beaches
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warc | 201713 | The travel season is upon us, and the trip you are planning is no doubt something you are anticipating with great joy. However, there are a few things you may wish to remember before you pack that last bag. Take along a copy of your travel insurance policywith the emergency phone numbers. If illness should occur on the trip and a claim is to be filed, be sure to seek medical care before returning home.It will probably be necessary to verify the medical condition causing the interruption or return. Allow any emergency transportation arrangements to be made by the assistance companyso payment may be guaranteed. Remember: if there should be a baggage delay, that benefit will only reimburse for those items that have been purchased, so keep all receiptsin order to present with a claim. Baggage loss or theft must be verifiedby airline, police, hotel or some other authority. Keep any receipts that may be reimbursable.Without them the claim will be much more difficult to prove.
If you have questions, please feel free to contact me at [email protected]. |
warc | 201713 | Iowa’s budget is sound. When the Legislature left in April, this years - fiscal year 2009 - budget appropriated $6.133 billion, had an ending balance of $82 million and we have $620 million in our reserve funds that can be used for emergencies.
The fiscal year 2009 budget assumes net revenue growth will be 2.1%. A very conservative estimate, which is not only prudent in light of national economy, but falls in line with the actual revenue increases we have seen so far this fiscal year, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency.
Iowa’s constitution requires a balanced budget. The Legislature and the Governor approved a balanced budget. State government cannot operate without it. To suggest otherwise is just irresponsible.
The majority party in the Legislature has a responsibility to balance the budget and Democrats have not taken that responsibility lightly. Republican legislators irresponsibly sought to add another billion dollars to the size of the budget through amendments they offered over the last two years.
Even financial experts are recognizing our fiscal responsibility as Iowa's credit rating was just upgraded to "AAA." Stand and Poor’s report said: "Other credit factors are, in our view, the state's good fiscal management with a demonstrated willingness to restrain spending and make midyear corrections to maintain fiscal integrity; strong financial operations, supported by quarterly financial forecasts and rainy day reserves; good income levels; and very low debt burden."
It is shameful that Republican leaders are using fear tactics to scare Iowans into believing the state budget is in trouble when this is simply not true. They know it is not true but apparently do not care. Taking a page out of the National Republican playbook, they have decided that lying is a better campaign strategy than relying on their records.
Flood Assistance Provided
Iowa law grants a substantial amount of authority for the Governor and the Executive Council to provide assistance in event of natural disasters. The Executive Council has authorized $37 million to match federal funds to aid in the clean-up and for emergency assistance. These costs have been split between the fiscal year 2008 and 2009 budgets.
Even after considering the Executive Council expenditures, the fiscal year 2009 budget still has an ending balance of $60 million and the reserve funds remain full at $620 million.
Clearly, the State will need to provide funding to match federal funds, but this is not anticipated to come in just one budget year. Rebuilding from this historic natural disaster will take time. Over the next several year, the Legislature will be able to safely budget for these anticipated costs.
The Governor used his transfer authority, provided in State law, to reallocate $40 million within the budget to provide immediate resources for housing and small businesses. Using transfer authority does not jeopardize the state budget. What it does is bring immediate relief to those Iowans who were hardest hit by the flooding and tornadoes.
No amount of money will get these communities back to pre-disaster conditions tomorrow. Now is not the time for political posturing and fear mongering, it is time we work together to get the rebuilding plans in place. |
warc | 201713 | WASHINGTON — The U.S. government would be able to pursue sanctions ranging from a public rebuke to trade and credit suspensions against countries that harbor children abducted by a parent, under a bill approved by a House subcommittee on Tuesday.
The bill from Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., is named The Sean and David Goldman Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act in honor of the Tinton Falls, N.J., man whose five-year fight to get his son back drew international attention.
Goldman knows he’s one of the lucky ones.
His son, Sean, was returned to him in 2009 after his wife took their then-4-year-old home to Brazil in 2004 and never returned. She remarried, then died in childbirth in 2008, and an international custody battle ensued, culminating with the emotional return of Goldman’s son, now a sixth-grader who loves basketball.
“He’s a normal, happy, typical soon-to-be 12-year-old,” Goldman said.
Thousands of parents aren’t as lucky. According to the U.S. State Department, between 2008 and 2010, parents have reported more than 3,200 abduction cases involving some 4,700 children.
One case is that of Paul Toland of Bethesda, Md. He hasn’t seen his daughter Erika since July 2003, when his wife, a Japanese native, moved out of their home on a Navy base in Japan and cut off all contact. She later died but the child’s grandmother won’t relinquish his daughter.
“My daughter is going to grow up not knowing me if we don’t have action,” he said, urging Congress to act quickly.
Nancy Elias of Rutherford, N.J., agreed.
She mourns the grandchildren she hasn’t seen in three years. Her son, Marine Sgt. Michael Elias, returned from fighting in Iraq to find his wife had been having an affair. She took their children to Japan and has refused to allow visits.
“I’m missing out on the most precious gifts of my life — my granddaughter, and my grandson,” Elias said, choking back tears.
Time to act Goldman said it’s time for action.
“When I see these parents who are still struggling, it breaks my heart because I know what they are going through,” he said. “We need to do something. Our government needs to take this seriously. We want our kids back.”
Under the bill passed Tuesday by the Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights, the U.S. State Department would have more tools to enforce the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The 1980 treaty, which has 81 countries as signatories, prevents parents from fleeing with their children until a court determines custody.
Japan is the only G-8 nation not to sign the treaty. Under Japanese law, parental child abduction is not seen as a crime. When a couple splits, common practice is for one parent to take full custody of the children. To date, Japan has not enforced any court order for the return of an abducted American child.
For the first time, the Goldman Act would give the U.S. government authority to deal with countries like Japan through strict sanctions, which Smith said would take “us a step closer” to seeing the first U.S. child return from Japan.
“We cannot allow child abductions to flourish as it is,” Smith said. “It is time for an approach that backs our demands for adherence to international obligations with penalties.”
“The expectation is that the president will use all tools necessary to bring our children home in a timely manner,” Smith said.
The bill is now pending action by the House Foreign Affairs Committee. It also would need to pass both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. |
warc | 201713 | The CTLL acts as a bridge between your business and high quality student interns.
ESTABLISHING INTERNSHIPS WILL: Create the opportunity to recruit future employees. (In one year, Hewlett Packard recruited 70% of its new hires from its pool of interns.) Give the opportunity to evaluate prospective employees virtually risk free. Garner quality candidates for temporary or seasonal positions and short-term projects. Provide an excellent way to find new, energetic, and skilled employees who bring latest industry knowledge fresh from lectures and other campus resources. Convert student interns to full-time employees who can be immediately productive. Strengthen the bond with the university and project a favorable image in the community. Create an opportunity to impact and mold the lives of students. Starting an Internship for your Business or Agency Step 1: Decide what the intern will do Special Projects
If you are like most employers, you have a long “wish list” of special projects that need to be done but don’t have the personnel resources to organize and implement them. Because of the nature of their academic schedules, students often look for internship opportunities of limited duration (generally 15 weeks), so employers find interns to be an ideal solution to this problem. For example, interns can be assigned to organize research projects, plan special events, develop special promotional campaigns, or design web pages. When developing an internship involving special projects, you should identify goals, timelines, and outcomes so that everyone understands the purpose and expectations involved.
On-Going Operations
Certain businesses and organizations routinely experience peak periods where additional staff is needed. Others may operate under very limited budgets and need additional staff throughout the year. Again, interns may be able to alleviate some of these problems. For example, interns may be assigned to serve as facilitators for youth groups, human resource management support staff, public relations assistants or marketing associates. Remember that students are looking for internships that provide them with professional experience with an opportunity to learn.
Step 2: Determine the amount of time needed for the internship How long will the internship last?
Determine how much time it will take to accomplish the goals. Generally, students are available for a semester (15 weeks) or a summer internship and some students will consider longer durations.
Part-time or full-time?
Many students intern full-time during the summer when they don’t have classes. Some local internships are set up on a part-time basis (10-20 hours per week), allowing students to gain experience while maintaining a partial or full load of credits.
Step 3: Establish the necessary organizational support Designate a mentor/supervisor for the intern. Decide whether the intern will work in one department or several. Determine the kind of orientation and training the intern will need. Provide safe working facilities. Make available equipment, supplies, and space necessary for the student to perform his/her duties. Assume liability for work-related injuries sustained by the intern, insofar as the agency may determine the same to be required by law in that state. Step 4: Write a position description Include the following: Brief organization description and organization website Position title Skills and qualifications required/preferred/past work experience/field of study Duties and responsibilities Pay rate Hours per week Location (city, state) Start/end dates of the internship How to apply and deadline to apply PUT A CAHNRS COUG ON YOUR TEAM:
Review the
CAHNRS-Internship-Handbook
Request Customized Recruitment through our Internship and Career Development Coordinator Herb Lengel:
[email protected] or call (509-335-0049). This is your one-stop shop for job and internship postings, on-campus interviews, career and internship networking fairs, employer information sessions and tabling, career development workshops and more.
Follow the CAHNRS Coug Link button below to find a CAHNRS intern. |
warc | 201713 | The prospect of cutbacks has led to agitation and activism in California’s largely agricultural Central Valley, with relatively high poverty rates and a significant number of Trump voters.
California’s health insurance exchange released an analysis showing that Republicans’ plan to trim subsidies, on average, by 40% would fall hard on elderly and very low-income people, especially in expensive areas like San Francisco.
Under the current statute, kids are tested for lead only if they’re on certain government programs or live in older buildings. That leaves many other California children at risk, lawmaker says.
Rand Corp. finds that telehealth encourages patients to seek care for minor illnesses they wouldn’t bother to make an office visit for, raising overall health costs.
Un nuevo estudio en California revela que los padres latinos que sólo hablan español son menos propensos a reportar buenas experiencias con los médicos de sus hijos que los que hablan inglés.
Latino parents who speak only Spanish are less likely to report having satisfactory experiences with their children’s doctors than Latino parents who speak English, a new California study shows.
The number of U.S. Latinos with the memory-robbing disease is expected to rise more than eightfold by 2060, to 3.5 million, according to a recent report — putting a strain on families and health care resources.
Según un informe reciente, se espera que el número de latinos en los Estados Unidos con la enfermedad roba-memoria aumente más de ocho veces para 2060, a 3,5 millones de casos, poniendo presión en las familias y en los recursos de salud.
New advocacy groups like Indivisible California weigh strategies for long-haul political activism, including protests.
California state Sen. Ricardo Lara talks about progress and setbacks in the Trump era. |
warc | 201713 | Phoenix is one of the most rapidly growing communities in the country. People with motorcycles from all over the U.S. aspire to ride throughout Arizona, to enjoy the state’s beautiful weather and scenery. Many of these bikers come into Phoenix and join local motorcyclists in utilization of the city’s roads.
The city of Phoenix is not just increasing in population and urban sprawl. In the five years between 2010 and 2014, the number of motorcycle accidents in Phoenix have also steadily increased, according to the 2014 Comprehensive Traffic Collision Summary. Below is a snapshot of motorcycle accidents, injuries and fatalities in the city: In 2010: 495 motorcycle accidents with 413 injuries and 19 fatalities In 2011: 558 motorcycle accidents with 531 injuries and 25 fatalities In 2012: 587 motorcycle accidents with 478 injuries and 22 fatalities In 2013: 607 motorcycle accidents with 510 injuries and 23 fatalities In 2014: 617 motorcycle accidents with 504 injuries and 26 fatalities
In 2015, there were 199,721 registered motorcycles in Arizona. This is 36,000 more than residents of Arizona owned in 2011. The number of motorcycles on Arizona roads will only increase as popularity of motorcycle ownership continues to grow in the U.S., as well as due to Arizona’s steady population increase that is expected to continue.
There were 1,939 motorcycle accidents in Maricopa County, where Phoenix is located, in 2015. In these accidents, 1,619 motorcycle riders were injured and 86 were killed.
As there are more motorcycles on the roads, there will always be increasing potential for motorcycle accidents to happen. These accidents can happen anywhere and at any time. There is no parking lot, road, highway, crossing or intersection immune to being the scene of a catastrophic motorcycle accident.
Arizona Motorcycle Accident Statistics
The year 2015 proved to be as deadly for motorcyclists on Arizona roads as years prior. Unfortunately, motorists of all kinds in the state will continue to experience injury, property damage and even death in accidents as the state grows and brings in more and more visitors. Arizona is also known for being one of the best motorcycling states in the country, due to its beautiful climate and scenery.
Statistics from the Arizona Crash Facts Summary of the Arizona Department of Transportation detail specifics of motorcycle crashes for 2015:
2911 motorcycle accidents in Arizona 1827 wrecks involved other vehicles 1,084 were single vehicle, motorcycle-only accidents 132 wrecks led to fatalities 2329 injury accidents 134 fatalities 2497 injuries 2704 urban collisions 737 rural accidents 150 motorcycle alcohol DUI accidents 16 motorcycle drug DUI accidents 1 motorcycle prescription medication DUI accidents 1395 motorcyclists were not at fault in their wrecks 71 motorcyclists in every 1000 with registered bikes in Arizona will be fatally injured in traffic Arizona Motorcycle Accidents: Helmet Wear
Riders aged 18 and over do not have to wear a helmet during motorcycle use in Arizona. But wearing a helmet can still improve your chances of surviving a motorcycle crash, as well as not receiving more significant injuries. These are statistics of helmet use in Arizona’s 2,911 motorcycle accidents occurring during 2015:
492 riders were uninjured in all of the state’s motorcycle accidents. Only 85 uninjured riders were indicated to not have been wearing a helmet. 584 riders suffered debilitating injuries. 300 of these were not confirmed to be wearing a helmet. 130 riders were killed. Only 54 of these killed riders were confirmed helmet wearers at the time of their wreck. Motorcycle Accidents Happen Anytime, Anywhere
Phoenix motorcycle accidents are not limited to certain hours of the day, days of the week or months of the year. But during some timeframes, many elements come together to create greater likelihood of a motorcyclist being involved in an accident.
Motorcyclists are just as guilty as other drivers of driving distracted, drowsy and drunk. Everyone must do their part in preventing motorcycle and auto accidents by ensuring they are alert, undistracted and sober while driving on Phoenix roads.
Noon to 6:00 p.m. is the timeframe of greatest danger for motorcycle riding in Phoenix on weekdays. These are the six hours when a spike in motorcycle accident counts occur on working days. The most deadly timeframe during the weekdays for motorcyclists is during afternoon rush hour at 4:30 p.m. More motorcyclist deaths occur from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on these days, than at other times of day during the week.
More motorcyclists are out on weekends than during the week. Most are enjoying their weekend off, without work hour restrictions for their riding. This freedom to ride during more daytime hours shifts the most dangerous time for riding to 9:00 a.m. through noon on Saturdays, when the most motorcyclist fatalities occur on the weekend. There are a greater concentration of accidents from noon to 6:00 p.m. on weekends, but the deadliest wrecks are in the mornings.
Saturday is the worst day of the week for motorcycle accidents. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday are the safer for riding in Phoenix and throughout the state. 41 of the 2015 fatalities occurred on Saturday, while all other days of the week did not exceed 19 deaths of motorcyclists per day. Most motorcycle DUI fatalities also occur on Saturdays. Tuesday is the day on which the fewest fatalities occur among these riders in Arizona.
Causes of Phoenix Motorcycle Accidents
Motorcycle accidents are never predictable. They can occur anywhere and at any time, as well as due to a vast variety of causes. In 2015, the 2,988 motorcycle accidents occurring in the state, including Phoenix, were found to include the following circumstances:
1395 accidents were the fault of someone other than the motorcyclist 846 involved a motorcyclist who was speeding 61 wrecks were due to the rider’s failure to yield to other traffic 99 involved motorcycles following other vehicles too closely 11 riders ran stop signs 51 riders ran a red traffic signal 28 riders executed an improper turn 25 riders drove against traffic in the wrong lane 7 riders failed to maintain their motorcycle to state standards for safety 8 riders did not use required equipment on the bike 8 riders used the no passing zone to pass slower traffic 42 riders unsafely changed lanes 63 riders veered into another lane 22 riders committed unsafe passing 16 motorcyclists were driving distracted
The majority of fatalities occurring as part of motorcycle accidents were due to another driver’s speeding or the motorcyclist speeding. In 2015 there were 137 fatal motorcycle accidents with 33 being due to other driver’s excessive speed and 44 due to the rider’s excessive speed.
Of 1827 multi-vehicle accidents involving at least one motorcycle in 2015, the accidents occurred at the following angles:
446 during a vehicle’s left turn with 26 being fatal 622 rear-end collisions with 18 being fatal 295 at an angle with 19 being fatal 267 sideswipes with 6 being fatal
Of 2015’s 135 fatal motorcycle accidents, 28 of the motorcycle operators were not legally licensed when the accident occurred. Their licenses had expired, been revoked, were suspended or the driver never had a license for driving a motorcycle, at all.
When You Are in a Phoenix Motorcycle Accident
It is always stressful to be in any kind of vehicle accident. But being in a motorcycle accident carries a higher likelihood of injury and fatality than other types of vehicle wrecks. Because motorcycles do not protect passengers or operators in an enclosed compartment, motorcyclists are vulnerable to the elements, other vehicles, pavement and obstacles in the road. If you have collided with a motorcycle or if you were on the bike, yourself, you know how devastating these collisions can be for everyone involved. Accident scenes are often chaotic and motorcycle wrecks are no exception.
When you are in a motorcycle accident in Phoenix, you need to try to remember to gain some information while you are still at the scene. This can be exceptionally difficult for a motorcyclist, as they are more likely to be seriously injured, incapacitated or killed. If you have a loved one or friend who can help gather this information for you, that is extremely helpful when you cannot do it yourself. Try to remember the following:
Note the accident time and date Record observations of weather from the time of the accident Take notes about your observations of the scene Take photos of the scene and vehicle damage Capture contact info for witnesses Maintain your insurance declarations Write down notes of how you think the accident occurred Keep accident records together in one file Gain a copy of the police report Call a Phoenix motorcycle accident lawyer right away at 602.254.2701 Speak to Cantor Crane injury lawyers BEFORE dealing with insurance companies, letting them record you or negotiating a settlement Motorcycle Accident Lawyers Will Provide the Help You Need
If someone else has been at fault or negligent in your motorcycle accident in Phoenix or elsewhere in the state of Arizona, you can gain compensation you need to cover the property damage of your accident, injuries and other costs associated with the wreck. A Phoenix motorcycle accident lawyer is extremely invaluable in these circumstances. Such a lawyer will help you recover costs for all of these areas of expense, as they are applicable to your case:
Medical bills Hospital treatment costs Medications from over-the-counter or prescriptions Imaging studies like X-rays, MRIs and CT scans Injury rehabilitation Motorcycle replacement or repair Auto rental while repairs are being done Lost income or wages Loss of consortium Pain and suffering Auto rental Towing charges Other property damage Wrongful death Other damages
After your Phoenix motorcycle accident, your first call should be to the motorcycle accident attorneys of Cantor Crane. All of the personal injury lawyers of Cantor Crane are exceptionally experienced in motor vehicle accidents, including motorcycle crashes occurring in Phoenix.
As one of Cantor Crane’s clients, our attorneys will help you get through your legal claim process and they will handle many of the case details for you. These include:
Determination of fault Accident investigations Claims process Communications with insurance companies Settlement negotiations Trial preparations, if a trial is needed Damages and injury compensation Government liability Structured settlements
Statues of limitations do apply to your Arizona motorcycle accident. So it is important that you contact the experienced attorneys of Cantor Crane as soon after the accident as possible.
Call Cantor Crane Motorcycle Accident Attorneys for a Free, No-Obligation Consultation
A motorcycle accident is a devastating occurrence and has likely left you shaken. You may also be in physical pain and suffering many injuries throughout your body, that affect how you live your life each day. These are only some of the reasons why you need the help of experienced motorcycle accident lawyers with a solid reputation in Phoenix and throughout Arizona.
A Cantor Crane accident lawyer will handle most of the details for you, helping you start and get through your motorcycle accident claim until a positive settlement or judgment has been received. Insurance companies know the reputation of Cantor Crane’s legal team and know that they will be pressed to settle fairly, providing the compensation you deserve. Never try to handle a motorcycle accident claim alone, especially since you have the skillful team of Cantor Crane ready to help you with your Phoenix motorcycle accident damages.
You will not have to pay any legal fees until the attorneys of Cantor Crane win or settle your case. Call the Law Offices of Cantor Crane now at 602.254.2701 for a free, no-obligation motorcycle accident consultation. |
warc | 201713 | “Sometimes you just need to modify your career path rather than abandon it entirely.”
-Wall Street Journal
“She recommends clients ask themselves questions about the past year: What have I learned? What skills have I acquired? Is what I’m working at still fun? Then, try some queries about the future: What’s the next step? How soon do I want to take it? And what can I do to make it happen?”
-Wall Street Journal
“Regardless of age, the key is to make time for the introspection necessary to grow in understanding of the proper course to take.”
-Charleston Regional Business Journal
“A profound career change…usually takes years. But even small first steps often make people happier. Simply having a plan for long-term change brightens people’s attitudes.”
-Wall Street Journal
“’It makes me cringe when people waste their time pursuing degrees that don’t really matter to them. If you’re driven by ought-to’s rather than want-to’s, you’ll never shine—you’ll just be someone who’s always fighting her way up. Ask yourself, how can I take the skills I’ve acquired so far and apply them to what I care about?’”
-More Magazine
“’ I have clients think back over their lives and write stories about the things they’ve enjoyed doing, and through those stories, their skills and attributes become apparent.’”
-More Magazine
“What Crystal-Barkley seminars aim at is forcing people to understand themselves, their values and desires and plan their careers and their life with these in mind.”
-The Toronto Star
“After undergoing the Life/Work Design process, one manufacturing company immediately saw the value of a male needlepoint enthusiast for a role that required good eye-hand coordination, attention to detail, and the ability to work intricately over long periods of time.”
-Human Resources
“The erosion of loyalty is creating a new style of employee-corporate relations. ‘Call it Me Inc.’”
-Business Week |
warc | 201713 | I find that I use the "Not even trying" test a lot nowadays, in evaluating stuff I come across.
If I come across scientists or a branch of science who are clearly
not even tryingto discover the truth or tell the truth, then I reject their work - because there are infinitely more ways to be wrong than right.
When I listen to or read a modern philosopher, I reject their status as a philosopher if it is obvious that they are not even trying to seek or speak the truth.
When I perceive that government policy is
not even tryingto solve economic problems, then I know that these problems will not be solved (at least not by government).
When writers, poets, musicians, artists and architects
are not even tryingto create beauty, then their works will be ugly.
In journalism, in the media generally - are they even trying to be accurate? If they are
not even tryingto report the news, obviously they cannot be trusted or believed, obviously they will be worthless at best, more often actively misleading.
*
If people and institutions are
not even tryingto fulfil their stated functions, not even tryingto do good or be good - then they should be avoided.
We should not contaminate our minds with such stuff. We should not be tempted to take them seriously.
They don't deserve it; we owe ourselves better.
***
NOTE:
The above view contrasts with the idea that personal motivations are unimportant in social systems: that bureaucratic systems or selection mechanisms (such as markets) can produce functionality indifferent to motivation, indeed in the teeth of motivation.
This is the standard view in social science.
But I now believe that you cannot produce a silk purse from a sow's ear: that real science cannot come from hypotheses testing working on the output of dishonest scientists; the real art cannot come from selecting among the works of those who regard beauty as
kitsch -and shock, disgust and boredom as aesthetic experiences; that good governance cannot come from a combination of careerism and voting; that real education does not emerge from a system primarily devoted to promoting diversity - even when there is competition.
Markets, democracy, bureaucracy - all
systemsrely on selecting, and are constrained by that which is available for selection.
Good outputs can only come from Good inputs.
Unless at least some people are
tryingto do what is supposed to be done, then it will not be done.
* |
warc | 201713 | The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation has helped to launch a framework that calls for a worldwide sprint toward the end of AIDS in children, adolescents and young women by the time the decade is through.
Innovation
Television drama MTV Shuga tackles taboo topics and offers life lessons to viewers in developing nations. How have its gripping storylines changed behaviors?
UNICEF Ambassador Daniela Mercury takes us on a tour of a unique project that uses a mobile clinic to bring HIV tests to young people in Brazil.
Meet a grandmother in rural Lesotho, who will tell you all about the One Stop Shop initiative that enables citizens to ‘drop in’ on a day-to-day basis to receive a range of health services.
Meet Bizwick, a community health worker in Malawi who works around the clock to prevent new HIV infections in women and their families, and to keep those living with HIV on treatment.
Find out how a telemedicine project is using video conferencing to bring specialized care to children and families in Maharashtra, India.
In Lesotho, a mobile clinic is providing free health services for female factory workers, offering antenatal check-ups and family planning supplies, as well HIV counselling, testing and treatment.
Access to HIV testing services remains one of the major barriers to timely treatment for children and adults. Now, a new partnership aims to introduce Point of Care testing to expand access.
Television soap opera MTV Shuga uses TV, the internet, social media, graphic novels and peer education to improve the sexual and reproductive health of young people, reaching nearly 80 per cent of all countries in Africa.
Telemedicine can change the lives of children and adolescents who live with HIV by making health care more accessible to rural communities. In India, video conferencing is helping to provide specialized care. |
warc | 201713 | You will not achieve your dreams or vision by yourself. To achieve big dreams and significant goals you will have to assemble a team of people that encourage, inspire, and provide honest, constructive criticism. You may think that just because you have a big dream and that it is worthy that people will line up to be a part of it, but this isn’t how it works. You will have to master the skill of casting your vision and transferring that vision to others. The obvious prerequisite to casting a vision is that you have to have one yourself! To convince others of the significance of your dream and vision,
YOU have to be convinced of the significance of it.
For those of you that are convicted of your dream, you will need to learn the skills of casting that vision. John Maxwell in his book, Put Your Dream to the Test, tells us that to get others to connect with your vision that you’ll have to do it logically, emotionally and visually.
1. Transferring your vision Logically:
The ability to communicate your dream logically is the first step in gaining credibility. There are two things needed to pass the first gate of people’s intellect:
First, you need to communicate a realistic understanding of the situation today. Maxwell says,
Every time you communicate your vision to people, the first thing the skeptics ask is, ‘But what about…?’ If they don’t ask it out loud, they say it to themselves. And they will keep asking it until you have addressed all of their concerns. You need to demonstrate that you understand the situation at least as well as they do. That requires being extremely thorough when sharing your dream and not dwelling on its positive benefits to the exclusion of the facts.
Second, you need to provide a solid strategy for achieving the vision. A good strategy always breaks the long term vision down into manageable parts; each given to what Maxwell calls, ‘Individual Champions;’ or the best people for the job.
There is fine line to walk when communicating your vision logically. You don’t want to get bogged down in the details or bore people. You need to give enough information to satisfy most people, but not so much that you lose them. This skill takes practice and if you want your goals and dreams, it is a required.
2. Transferring your vision Emotionally:
To get someone to connect to your vision and dream, you have to connect to them emotionally. What people don’t feel, they don’t buy into. There are three ingredients to an emotional connection:
First, show them the dream from their perspective. People will always want to know “what’s in it for me?” If you want to win people over to your dreams, you need to speak in the language of their interestes, not your own.
Second, show them your heart. Maxwell tells us,
People buy into the dreamer before they buy into the dream. To transfer the dream emotionally, you need to let people see your heart and your hope. Sharing your heart tells your story. Sharing your hope tells the story of your dream and how it will impact the future.
Third, show them the benefits. You have to provide them with every reason for joining you.
You need to help them connect with the opportunities for achieving personal growth, finding fulfillment, and increasing their self-esteem. …If you can’t offer plenty of legitimate reasons about why they should be involved, then you have no business trying to recruit them to your team in the first place.
3. Transferring your vision Visually:
You need to bring your dream to life. What people don’t see, they won’t buy into.
We can do that by painting verbal pictures. We can do it by using photographs or film. We can use music. But the most compelling picture is our living what we are trying to communicate. If we live our dream, practice integrity, achieve a degree of success, people see what the dream has done for us, and that makes them want it too. If you do everything within your power to live your dream, you become a living advertisement for it.”
Being sold out to your own dream and vision of the future is critical for your success in transferring that feeling to others when building your dream team. Maxwell’s book will help you clarify and strengthen your dream. If you want to make a significant difference, make sure to pick it up.
If you want to engage in material like Maxwell’s book that will constantly stretch you personally and professionally in areas of faith, relationships, finances, business, history, freedom, economics or fitness, check out the Mental Fitness Challenge. It’s like P90X for your brain. We need to raise a generation of leaders that have big dreams and want to make a positive impact in this world.
Thanks for reading, and as always, please leave your thoughts below!
God Bless,
Clint Fix |
warc | 201713 | Since primitive times, humans have evolved to use a sixth sense or intuition that alerts us to danger and makes us react. Not True! Rather, each of us has developed a perceptual ability and thinking skills that enable us to make sense of complexity through human behavior pattern recognition and predictive analysis. In fact our ability allows us to sense risks and take actions in a variety of survival situations where there are perceived threats. Our research team is currently determining whether these predictive analysis skills could be trained or improved. If this approach were to show promise, the sense making ability could be adopted to spot risks and respond to them in complex, adaptive systems to improve readiness and defeat an insider threat.
Performance reviews, also known as performance appraisals, is a formal documented meeting where a supervisor provides detailed feedback to an employee about their past performance and suggestions for development. Performance reviews vary from brief informal meetings to longer scheduled yearly or bi-yearly meetings. While most organizations know of performance review processes, few understand their value and importance. For this edition of CPG Basics, we provide you with three important reasons why performance review systems should be a top priority in your organization.
Making decisions – even small ones – can be stressful and daunting. The decision-making process is never easy. So, what are people in the decision-making community suggesting for improving this skill? What are their insights? To answer these questions and gain a global perspective, we turned to slideshare, a web-based slide hosting service that allows users from around the world to share knowledge online. Read this post for the results of our findings.
For this week’s CogBlog post we are excited to share a guest post from Kizzy Parks, PhD; a subject matter expert in leadership development and training. Dr. Kizzy M. Parks is President of K. Parks Consulting, Inc. (KPC), an SBA 8(a) certified, minority-woman-owned small business, headquartered in Melbourne, FL with satellite locations in Orlando, FL and D.C. Founded in 2005, KPC specializes in, analytics and metrics services, curriculum development, training and development, corporate branding, multimedia and workforce consulting to help organizations reach higher results.
CPG would like to welcome Elizabeth L. May as the Director of Marketing and Business Development. |
warc | 201713 | The original Initiative 42 petition which voters signed was accompanied by a statement on how it could be paid for, which asserted that it could be funded over several years out of new revenue only. This is not in the amendment.
Another statement said, "For purposes of the initiative, a minimum standard of contemporary adequate education is described by the funding formula of the current version of the Mississippi Adequate Education Program and an efficient education is one that will, among other things, enable Mississippi's public school graduates to compete favorably with their counterparts in surrounding states." But again, nothing about MAEP appears anywhere in the amendment, and these statements will have no legal effect.
Essentially the people who were asked to sign the 42 petitions were told it would do one thing when the words of the actual amendment say something else entirely.
That’s why we keep hearing people insist that there will be no tax increases; after all, that’s what was in the explanatory statement of the petition they signed. It’s just not in the actual amendment. That’s why we keep hearing that the purpose of the amendment is to fully fund MAEP, even though MAEP isn’t mentioned in the amendment. The poor voters who were tricked into signing the thing were told, in writing, that the amendment was to fully fund MAEP.
As a reminder, here is the actual amendment that is proposed. You will note that there is not one word about it being funded over time only out of increases in revenue, not a peep about MAEP, and that the chancery courts have no limits whatsoever placed on their power. This is just plain English:
Section 201 (Proposed)In 2011 the Mississippi Supreme Court refused to consider objections to the Personhood Amendment on the grounds that the issue was not ripe since it had not yet been approved by the voters. It held that the court should only consider the case if the Initiative was actually approved, at which time it would consider challenges. To protect each child's fundamental right to educational opportunity, the State shall provide for the establishment, maintenance and support of an adequate and efficient system of free public schools. The chancery courts of this State shall have the power to enforce this section with appropriate injunctive relief.
If Initiative 42 should pass it will become ripe for challenge. Opponents will be able to point out to the court that the amendment doesn’t include the provisions that were promised to those who signed the original petition, and therefore the attempt to amend the constitution should fail.
It’s not hard to write a constitutional amendment that will do exactly what an explanation says it will do. There is no excuse for the Initiative 42 that is being laid before the voters to have none of the provision that were in the petition description, unless the omissions were intentional.
This fraud on the public must not be allowed to stand. |
warc | 201713 | This data visualization was created from real flight data. It shows the air traffic which flies on a typical summer day and highlights the intensity of the operation in Europe - an operation which runs 24x7x365.
NATS and the UK are at the heart of the operation. With Heathrow as the busiest international airport in Europe, and Gatwick as the busiest single runway airport in the world, we play a key role in ensuring air traffic under our control in European airspace is as safe and efficient as it can be.
You Can Travel Through Paris Almost Completely Underground Which Countries You Visited in the Past May Undermine Your Ability to Enter the United States England Testing Holographic Employees Climbing the Great Pyramid of Giza Google Street View goes live in Toronto
"Most of what kids currently learn at school will probably be irrelevant by the time they are 40." “There was not only automation but where the suggestion that humans had any control [...] was absent too.” "This very internationalism that contributed to the apocalyptic disaster that ended the Bronze Age." Top 10 Reasons Men Are Scum “It was weeks later that she was at a party and realized she'd been texting with her dead friend's bot for 30 minutes.” Loneliness is Not an Old Friend “The use of AI assistants may dramatically accelerate and broaden what might be looked back on as a global period of cognitive decline.” “That glazed-over look a grandma has at a Vegas slot machine is the same look Facebook chases in its users scrolling the feed.” “You can make spaceships much bigger than anything we’ve seen so far in history.” “It's unbelievable how much energy is released.” “One of the major concerns with asteroid mining is, of course, getting to the asteroids.” “You can think of quasars as lighthouses in the dark of the early universe.” |
warc | 201713 | Next to the art area is the Language/Library area. The computer is our old one, and my kids don't use it much yet (there is one Sesame Street game on it). I have, up until recently, avoided allowing my children do anything on the computer. I think there are so many other things of value that children can spend their time doing (um, like art:). However, a good friend of mine, whose daughter is Izzy's age, made a good point a while back. Our children will be growing up in an age where computers are even more of a part of life than they are now. If they enter school without any knowledge of how to navigate a computer they may be at a disadvantage, perhaps even in Kindergarten. So I dug out our old computer and hooked it up in their play room. But other than putting the one game on it I don't really know how to move forward. It doesn't have internet access (and I don't want it to), and I don't want to spend a lot on computer games. Anyway- my point is at the moment it is taking up space, and I am open to suggestions as to how to utilize it. And the book shelf is self explanatory- it houses about half of their books (the rest are in their room for them to read in bed) as well as puzzles and games (and some paper that didn't fit in their art area). The only comment I have on organizing books- they do not have to be organized as I have mine, upright like a library. They need to be organized in a way that your child can maintain, and putting books back when upright like that is hard. Bins work well, especially for oddly sized board books. Or you could just stack them. There is no right way, as long as they are accessible. The couch is simply our old one- part of me wants to get rid of it because it takes up a lot of space. But when I am tempted I always remember the ECERS scale (Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale), and how the best learning environment for children includes both hard and soft. This is less of an issue in a home, because homes include lots of soft by nature (couches, chairs, beds, blankets, pillows, etc), but still feel like it's of value in the immediate play area, especially in my case when the play area is well separated from the rest of the house.
The above is the block area. It is not strictly for blocks, that's just what I call it (hold-over from child care). It's for blocks (duh), trains, cars, animals... toys that are generally played with on the floor. It's a little small, but that is both a function of the room (it's not a huge room) and my son's personality. Before I applied my knowledge to the arrangement of the room (when we were moving in and I just wanted things out of the box and put away), I just had everything pushed up against the wall, with a large open area in the middle. This was a dissaster. De. Zast. Er. The kitchen toys were too far from the kitchen and got strung all over, cars and trains were always dumped in the middle of the room, then add to all of that Izzy's cut up paper and tiny dollhouse pieces and... well, I already said it. Since I have rearranged the room it has been a massive improvement. Limiting the space were the super messy toys are played with means that they are more likely to limit the amount of toys they play with, and are more willing to clean up.
Also important about organizing this area (or any area that has several types of small toys) is the small bins. You know, those small, clear bins you can buy at big box or home improvement stores for like $1 apiece. They are far superior to any fancy toy box. You don't even need a shelf- you can just stack them on top of each other. They keep toys separate and organized by type, and children can see what's in each box.
And here is our dramatic play area. The colored bins on the left contain food, dishes, pots, pans, and other random home living paraphernalia (once upon a time they were organized by type and food group, but this was too difficult for Oliver to maintain, so now we just put it all in there willy nilly). The pink drawers on the right house doll clothes and dress up (there are also hooks on the wall for bags and dresses). The kitchen I got off Craigslist for $25 (it's the same one I had as a child...). The table and chairs I bought for Izzy years ago from JCPenney.com. And the blue at the bottom right corner is our sand/water table, also a second hand find (the sale!). Not a dramatic play item, but this is where it fits:) I'll do a post another time on sensory experiences and their importance for children.
Dramatic play, home living, "playing house..." whatever you call it, it is just as important as art for ALL children. I say all, because often this is overlooked for boys. Boys need dress up and other role playing devices just as much as girls do. It doesn't have to be princess dresses (although there's nothing wrong with that!)- there are lots of gender neutral dress up options, even if all you can afford is a few dollars at the Goodwill.
And lastly, here is a rough and very not to scale floor plan of the room. Yeah, I drew this a took a picture of it, let's all laugh at my lack of computer skills:) Notice how the space is broken up. As I said before, it's important to have some degree of separation between the areas, especially between areas like Dramatic Play and Blocks. Otherwise these areas tend to get co-mingled and make a holy mess. We have no express rules about toys being transferred from one area to the other, but since they are separate it just doesn't happen much. This also (ahem) slows kids down if you've got a runner. By the way, the same applies to the rest of your house. Strategic placement of a piece of furniture can slow down a runner:) Because some kids look at an open space (or a dining room table) and their gut reaction is "run in circles! run in circles! run in circles!"
Besides what is present in the toy room I also have a low drawer with small manipulatives (toys better to be played with at the table) in the dining room.
In summary, some basic principles:
Separation. Keep similar toys in separate areas. Small, clear bins instead of a large toy box. Accessible for small hands to both get out and put away independently. Keep clean and organized so it appeals to the children (and of course they should do most of this). |
warc | 201713 | Convinced that there’s got to be life on other planets? You’re not alone in the universe — in fact, many NASA scientists agree with you. And a panel convened recently by the space agency (see the video below) believes that could happen soon, too — perhaps “in twenty years” — thanks to incoming telescope technology. Recent projects, like the Kepler Telescope, Dark Energy Survey and the Very Large Telescope have detected the presence of planets and even their atmospheres. But astronomers are even more excited about future projects like the Transiting Exoplanet Surveying Satellite (TESS) and James Webb Space Telescope, set to launch in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
Those devices are purpose-built to find planets, and future projects will search for water and gases like carbon dioxide. Astronaut Charles Bolden spoke for the group when he said “it’s highly improbable in the limitless vastness of the universe that we humans stand alone.” Of course, there are dissenting opinions, not to throw cold water on your alien abduction fantasies. Many think that the evolution of intelligent life on Earth defied dramatically long odds, and may have occurred rarely (if at all) elsewhere.
Source: NASA |
warc | 201713 | In it, she relates twelve answers to a question asked of her long ago: "What is saving your life right now?" She says in the introduction,
What is saving my life now is the conviction that there is no spiritual treasure to be found apart from the bodily experiences of human life on earth....trusting that there is no way to God apart from real life in the real world.Thus, she offers twelve spiritual practices, exercises "in being human that requires a body as well as a soul," and each of which she says helps her live with her "longing for More." The chapters are: The Practice of Waking Up to God (Vision) The Practice of Paying Attention (Reverence) The Practice of Wearing Skin (Incarnation) The Practice of Walking on the Earth (Groundedness) The Practice of Getting Lost (Wilderness) The Practice of Encountering Others (Community) The Practice of Living with Purpose (Vocation) The Practice of Saying No (Sabbath) The Practice of Carrying Water (Physical Labor) The Practice of Feeling Pain (Breakthrough) The Practice of Being Present to God (Prayer) The Practice of Pronouncing Blessings (Benediction) An Altar in the Worldhas already begun to influence me. For example, on the way home today from a meeting, I took a new way, an unknown way, in a conscious effort to make the journey a sacramental experience. The chapters about those practices that are already a part of my spiritual practice (prayer and Sabbath, for example) were no less interesting and helpful, as they also encouraged and enriched me in those experiences.
Some of the portions I highlighted:
Many of the people in need of saving are in churches, and at least part of what they need saving from is the idea that God sees the world the same way they do (pp. 6-7).As I said, a beautiful book. I'm glad I read it. I highly recommend it. All good things cast shadows. Do we build God a house so that we can choose when to go see GOd? Do we build God a house in lieu of having God stay at ours? Plus, what happens to the rest of the world when we build four walls--even four gorgeous walls--cap them with a steepled roof, and designate thatthe house of God? What happens to the riverbanks, the mountaintops, the deserts, and the trees? What happens to the people who never show up in our houses of God? (p. 9) In biblical terms, it is wisdom we need to live together in this world. Wisdom is not gained by knowingwhat is right. Wisdom is gained by practicingwhat is right (p. 14). I have an easier time loving humankind than I do loving particular human beings (p. 27). Reverence can be a pain (p. 32). Deep suffering makes theologians of us all (p. 42). This is the central claim of the incarnation--that God trusted flesh and blood to bring divine love to earth (p. 48). God loves bodies. I mean that in some way that defies all understanding. God means to welcome risen bodies and not just disembodied souls to heaven's banquet table. The resurrection of the dead is the radical insistence that matter matters to God (p. 62). While many of [Jesus'] present-day admirers pay close attention to what he said and did, they pay less attention to the pace at which he did it (p. 66). I learned to pray the way a wolf howls (p. 110). According to the rabbis, those who observe Sabbath observe all the other commandments. Practicing it over and over again they become accomplished at saying no, which is how they gradually become able to resist the culture's killing rhythms of drivenness and depletion, compulsion and collapse (p. 134). The most ordinary things are drenched in divine possibility (p. 201). |
warc | 201713 | Park Trent - information for clients You may have received unlicensed advice from Park Trent If you are/were a client of Park Trent Properties Group (Park Trent)
Park Trent has been found to have broken the law by not having the necessary licence to give financial advice.
You may wish to get independent financial or legal advice about the advice you received from Park Trent.
What has happened
Following an investigation the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) took legal action against Park Trent in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.
On 15 October 2015, Justice Sackville found that from March 2010 to June 2015 Park Trent breached the Corporations Act by providing financial product advice without holding the proper licence or authority. This advice related to setting up self-managed super funds (SMSFs) for the purpose of investing in property.
On 27 November 2015, Justice Sackville made orders that Park Trent be restrained permanently from providing unlicensed financial product advice to clients regarding SMSF's.
On 26 February 2016, Park Trent appealed the decision of Justice Sackville, however on 3 November 2016, the Full Court of the Supreme Court of New South Wales dismissed the appeal.
Park Trent does not hold and has never held the proper licence or authority to provide financial advice. The Court did not make any ruling about the quality of the advice Park Trent provided. Therefore, the case does not mean that your investment is illegal or that you have necessarily made a bad investment. We are however concerned that you received advice without the usual protections provided to clients. What you should consider doing Getting independent financial or legal advice
Because Park Trent does not hold and has never held the necessary licence to give you advice, you should consider getting financial advice and/or legal advice about the financial decisions you made about your superannuation as a result of your dealings with Park Trent.
To find out if you have legal rights connected with the advice you received, ASIC suggests you consider seeking legal advice from a lawyer that is not connected to Park Trent. Finding a licensed financial adviser
Only licensed financial advisers are on the Financial Advisers Register on MoneySmart. This is a register of people who provide personal advice on investments, superannuation and life insurance. You can use this register to find out where a financial adviser has worked, their qualifications, training, memberships of professional bodies and what products they can advise on.
Warning: If the financial adviser is not on the Financial Advisers Register on MoneySmart you should NOT seek financial advice from this adviser. Financial advice and superannuation
Deciding what to do with your superannuation is one of the most important financial decisions you will make. Obtaining financial advice from a licensed financial adviser can help you:
set and achieve your financial goals make the most of your money get any government assistance you're entitled to feel more in control of your finances and your life avoid expensive mistakes; and protect your assets.
ASIC guide ‘Financial advice and you’, sets out:
what kind of financial advice may be useful to you; the best place to get financial advice; and how to get the most from your conversations with a financial adviser.
To access this publication, please use the following address:
For more information on financial advice, including information that may assist you in making decisions about your superannuation, please visit ASIC's MoneySmart website:
ASIC's MoneySmart website also contains information on investing in property via SMSF, and on superannuation more generally. This information can be accessed at the following address:
For more information about how to choose a financial adviser, please use the following MoneySmart address: |
warc | 201713 | Cranial Bone Anatomy
When I treat a patient structurally (I physically make chiropractic adjustments or other soft tissue work), one of the things that is critically important is working on the cranial system.
We have been taught for many years that the skull is one big fused mass in adulthood, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
The skull retains motion at each individual suture (a type of joint). Without this motion, the brain cannot properly bathe itself and pump cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). It is not uncommon for me to have to work extensively on somebody’s skull in order to get them well.
It was one of the most amazing displays of the power of the human body to recover and how bad it wants to survive.
In the video above you can see in under 3 minutes just how complex the skull and
cranial system really are. Just remember…
whenever there are two or more bones joining together there MUST be motion. Without this motion the body will surely start to decay. |
warc | 201713 | The past few days I have made bread twice. Not a packet of yeast in the house. Yet my bread was light and yeasty with a fine texture and a light *crumb*, as they say in baking circles.
I use a *starter*. A good starter is worth it's weight in gold! I know of some families that use starters that date back 100 or even 200 years! I made my starter a month ago. When I made bread, I saved one cup of the dough, put it in a clean jar, added a teaspoon of sugar, 1/4 cup warm water, stirred it up, tightly capped it and stored it in my refrigerator. I shake it a bit every few days and once a week add a teaspoon of flour and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. If it looks a bit dry, I add a bit of warm water. When I make bread, I spoon out about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of starter into the bowl I am going to make my bread dough in. In the *starter* jar, I add 1/2 cup warm water, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 cup (or so) of flour and store it in the fridge for next time. When you use a starter, it can take a while longer for your bread to rise. Some folks recommend letting your dough rise 24 hours, but I never have the time to do that! I generally add an hour or two to the rising time. Now, for sourdough lovers out there, you make your starter an entirely different way! Sourdough starters are usually made by *capturing* wild yeast. I am currently making my own. Step one, boil a potato in it's skin. Yes, you can cut it up to speed things up. SAVE YOUR POTATO WATER! You'll need two cups of potato water. Go ahead, eat the potato, I'll wait. Now, take that two cups of potato water, put it in a ceramic crock or glass jar. Add 2 cups of flour to it and stir well. Add 2 teaspoons of honey and stir well. Now, I use a piece of cheesecloth *rubber banded* over the top of the crock/jar, but some folks leave it uncovered. Just set it on top of your fridge or in any other *sorta* warm place in your house. Some folks set the crock/jar outside (covered with cheesecloth, I hope!). Let it set for 4 to 6 days, stirring it 3 or 4 times a day to aerate. It should begin to smell *yeasty* and get bubbles in it. The yeasty smell will have a bit of a sharp-sour smell to it that is different from regular yeast bread. Store in your refrigerator and treat sourdough starter as you do a regular starter. Use as you would the regular starter. Remember to always *feed* your starters and to replace any used with flour and water with a smidge of sugar or honey! I know...yeast is available as close as your grocery store, but as a *prepper*, I realize that my local grocery store might not always be there! Also, *starters* give bread more *personality* and flavor than commercially available yeast. If you run out of those convenient packets of yeast and don't have the time or inclination to run to the store, it is comforting to know you have starter sleeping away in your fridge, just waiting to wake up and perform for you! Think of your starters as legacies for your family as well. It used to be a tradition for young brides to receive starters from their mothers (or new mother-in-laws) to set up housekeeping.Some starters have been in families for 100, 200 or even 300 years! I know of one family that had such a *legacy* starter, brought into the US by immigrant ancestors from Ireland. It had withstood the uncertainties of time and travel for over a hundred years. In the 1960s, a *modern* daughter, disgusted at the smell and of the mindset that "bread is best purchased at the grocery store", threw it out after the death of her mother! Along with the little hand made crock it was kept in. What a loss! A strain of yeast is gone and can never be reproduced. I think we should bring back the tradition of mothers handing down starters to their newly married daughters (and sons). Bread is known as the "staff of life" and in giving starters, we are giving them our heartfelt wish that they will have a happy and long life! |
warc | 201713 | OK, that was a facetious question. Yet I am probably more deserving of those subsidies than many who receive them. In “The Black Book of Agriculture”, Hans Weiss documented how six of Austria’s 10 richest individuals benefit from the Common Agricultural Policy. At the other end of the spectrum, only 20% of the 2.2 billion euros that Austria drew down from the CAP in 2008 went to small farmers in mountainous areas.
Every few years, the European Commission undertakes to shake up the CAP and learn from past “mistakes”. Its latest reform blueprint will be presented this week. Not for the first time, this will be an exercise in window dressing.
Words like “sustainable” will be used liberally in the hope that the Brussels press corps will present the new recommendations as ecologically and socially responsible. Yet draft versions of the blueprint indicate that little, if anything, will be done to tackle the harmful consequences of industrialised farming.
Fuzzy criteria on environment
In theory, 30% of direct payments under the CAP will be subject to “good practice” requirements. But unless the final blueprint is made tougher, these requirements will be fuzzy. They will not be flanked with rules on preventing soil degradation and erosion. Large-scale monocultures will still be allowed, despite how they reduce the nutrients in the soil.
Drafts of the blueprint do not advocate any increase in support for farmers who manage land within the EU’s Natura 2000 network of sanctuaries for endangered flora and fauna. No incentives are likely to be introduced for maintaining grasslands, even though these carbon-rich areas must be left intact if we are to mitigate the effects of climate change. And penalties imposed on farmers who engage in environmentally destructive behaviour will amount to nothing more dissuasive than withholding 1% of their subsidies.
Why are Dacian Ciolos, the EU’s agricultural commissioner, and his advisers taking a business as usual approach? By giving excessive support to intensive agriculture, the CAP has proven ruinous to traditional family farms and the wildlife found on them. Data compiled by ornithologists shows that 20 out of 36 varieties of farmland birds in Europe are in decline. Overall numbers of farmland birds have fallen by 48% since 1980, with the grey partridge down by 82% and both the corn bunting and linnet by more than 60%.
Mired in scandal
I guess that the plight of these little feathery creatures does not elicit much comment in Brussels office blocks, where a macho culture prevails. This lack of concern is short-sighted. I’d strongly urge those officials to read Jared Diamond’s book “Collapse”, which is packed with case studies of how ecologically reckless practises can imperil human civilisation. (As an aside, I don’t agree with how Diamond has a favourable view of voluntary codes of conduct for big business; legally-binding measures must be introduced and enforced).
The Commission’s blasé attitude is all the more inexcusable when one considers that there have been a number of scandals involving the CAP over the past few years.
In Bulgaria, Dimitar Peychev, a former deputy minister for agriculture, has been the subject of a criminal investigation. His wife and daughter received 1.5 million euros worth of EU subsidies that he had been tasked with distributing in 2009.
The controversy bore some similarities to a previous one in the Netherlands. Back in 2005, Cees Veerman, then the Dutch agriculture minister, was severely embarrassed when it emerged that he had failed to mention his ownership of four farms in France on his declaration of interests. Veerman had trousered at least 185,000 euros in EU subsidies.
Poor oversight
Within the past month, the European Court of Auditors has published two reports critical of different aspects of the CAP. The more recent one pinpointed examples where authorities in EU countries had been slow to act when irregularities in farm spending were detected. More than 250 instances were identified by the auditors, in which the Spanish region of Andalucia waited four years or more before taking any steps to recover money in irregularity cases.
The earlier paper from the auditors examined expenditure on “agri-environment” measures. While 22.2 billion euros has been allocated to such measures under the CAP for the period from 2007 to 2013, the auditors found that the anticipated environmental benefits could not be demonstrated for almost one-quarter of the contracts it examined.
A 2010 study by the whistleblowing website farmsubsidy.org highlighted the intimate connections between the politicians who set agricultural policies and the recipients of the resulting largesse. Twelve of the Union’s 27 farm ministers at that time came from an agriculture or agribusiness background.
“The CAP’s annual 40 billion euros of direct aids are nothing more than a system for delivering taxpayer’s money directly to farm businesses, with as few strings as possible,” the study stated. “No clear objectives, no targets, no indicators of success, no policy outcomes necessary.”
The subtitle for this week’s blueprint is “Towards an economically and ecologically competitive sector”. Such corporate public relations gibberish cannot conceal how the Commission is merely tweaking a hugely expensive policy that puts the interests of the wealthy and greedy above everything else.
●First published by
New Europe, 10 October 2011. |
warc | 201713 | That said, I think even the most charitable observers see the Space Shuttle/ISS combination as basically a 30-year long detour in terms of any real accomplishment. The public -- not unreasonably -- likes to see actual results for their money, and
an important partof that is basically seeing the government doing something new every once in a while. But the SS/ISS combo wasn't really about that, it was bureaucratic circular reasoning made manifest. Why do we need the space station? Because that's where the Space Shuttle will go. Why do we need the Space Shuttle? Because it's the way we'll get to the Space Station. Simple, right?
Of course, the Soviets -- then the Russians -- managed to maintain a much more robust space station program without a space shuttle. But that's just details...
One of the most depressing things about the Bush Administration's approach to space is one of those things I could almost grudgingly praise. Scrapping the Shuttle? Good start! Giving NASA Mars as a goal? I'm with ya. But there's this curious Moon detour. Landing astronauts on the Moon will do basically nothing to really prepare NASA for a Mars landing, given the dramatic differences between the two. It will consume a great deal of capital -- financial and political -- and probably kill any serious attempt at the Red Planet.
So I'm a much, much bigger fan of this idea: a bunch of NASA insurgents, calling themselves the "Asteroid Underground" are trying to push for a piloted rendezvous with a Near Earth Object (asteroid).
An asteroid-bound crew would therefore need to “bring mission control on board,” says Korsmeyer, in the form of highly automated decision-making software. “When something bad happens, which tends to happen quickly, the crew and systems will have to manage it on their own. This is something humanity hasn’t done yet. But that makes it the best of all possible testing grounds for Mars, which, without an asteroid mission, will be like jumping into the deep end without practicing in the shallow end.” In comparison, “the moon is like the baby pool. I don’t mean to minimize that—Apollo 13 showed us you can drown there too.” But, he says, an asteroid “would really be someplace fabulously new. You’re talking 2.5 million miles, more than 10 times the distance between Earth and the moon. You’d be so far away you could cover up Earth with your finger. It would be no more than a beautiful, pale blue star.”An asteroid mission would be a meaningful test of a lot of the Constellation hardware (zero-gravity, deep deep space, long-endurance space flight) that can't necessarily be fully duplicated in orbit of the Earth, no matter how high up you go. It frankly makes a lot more sense to do something like this, instead of going back to the Moon to play around. Ifyou could guarantee it wouldn't detract from the goal of landing on Mars, and ifyou could guarantee long-term political support, I'd say America can easily afford to do both: a full-spectrum space program would cost a tiny fraction of what America is spending to lose two wars, after all. But in the real world, I think any attempt to spend a lot of time on the Moon will come at the expense of a Martian goal.
Plus, NASA's new spacesuits meet the all-important requirement of looking cool. |
warc | 201713 | First of all, it is best that we define three of the words in the heading of this article. The word ‘symptoms’ as used in the medical field can be described as indicators of an underlying health problem. For example, if someone is experiencing chronic fatigue, this may indicate a serious heart problem. In spiritual matters, a member of the church who is habitually absent from the worship assemblies may indicate that there is a lack of love for the Lord which is a real ‘heart problem’. The word ‘society’ is defined as:
“A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations”.The following definition is one of the best that I could find regarding the word ‘secular’ (adjective) but in this case I will use the word ‘secularization’ (noun) to aid in our understanding of the word ‘secular’: “Secularization refers to the historical process in which religion loses social and cultural significance. As a result of secularization the role of religion in modern societies becomes restricted. In secularized societies faith lacks cultural authority, religious organizations have little social power, and public life proceeds without reference to the supernatural. Secularization captures a long-term societal change, but it has consequences for religion itself. In Western countries, where it has been most pronounced, it has made the connection to their Christian heritage more tenuous. Yet secularization is important beyond the formerly Christian West, given that many of the forces that first sustained it there affect other societies as well.”
- Frank J. Lechner
It is generally understood that a structure is no stronger than its foundation. This is true of civil governments and nations. When the foundation has been weakened, society is most likely to crumple, decay and implode. In Psalm 11:3 we read,
“If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?”The foundation of any civilization is the family unit. Someone has rightly said, “As the home goes, so goes the nation.”In our country, the traditional understanding of marriage and the home is under attack by Satan and our secular society. Biblically speaking, marriage is the joining together of a man and a woman as husband and wife (See Genesis 2:20-25; Matthew 19:4-6 & Ephesians 5:22-33). This is God’s design for marriage and the home and believers in His Holy Word are bound by the will of the Heavenly Father in this important matter.
But decisions are being made by governmental officials and judges as well as citizens in various states in our nation to the contrary of what we refer to as a ‘traditional marriage’. Note the following:
“On Tuesday, November 6, 2012, voters in Maine, Maryland and Washington approved the legalization of same-sex marriage in their states. In addition, voters in Minnesota rejected a state constitutional amendment to define marriage as an opposite-sex union. Same-sex marriage is already legal in Massachusetts (2004), Connecticut (2008), Iowa (2009), Vermont (2009), New Hampshire (2010) and Washington, D.C. (2010). In addition, California continues to recognize same-sex marriages that were performed between June 16 and November 4, 2008, the period in which same-sex marriage was legal in California.”The ‘Gay Movement’ is becoming more and more influential in our society. Even some mainline denominations are ordaining ‘gays’ to be bishops and preachers. Some ‘Pastors’ are performing marriages of same-sex couples. The movies and television programs are presenting same-sex marriage as an alternate and acceptable lifestyle. Not a few school systems are using text books to influence our children that ‘two fathers’ or ‘two mothers’ are normal and that parents should not object to such teaching in the classrooms. Biblical passages found in Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Jude 7 clearly condemn such life styles.
We also have learned that married couples are now in the minority. There are more young adults ‘living together’ rather than choosing to go through a marriage ceremony. Again, the movies and television programs are projecting this arrangement as being acceptable in our modern society. The Holy Spirit had the apostle Paul to write in Galatians 5:19-21 that
“fornication” (“illicit sexual intercourse) is one sin mentioned among others as being classified as “works of the flesh”and “that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” “Other signs of cultural decay are accepted with little notice. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 40 percent of babies born in America are born to unmarried women.”
In this ‘secular society’,
“there have been 53 million abortions performed in the United States since Roe v. Wade was decided back in 1973. While the number of abortions is down, on the average, there have been approximately 1.21 million abortions in America each year.”One may call that which is growing in a pregnant woman’s womb a fetus or whatever; but, the fact is, it is a living being, an unborn child. God’s attitude concerning abortion is found in Proverbs 6:16, 17: “These are six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood…” (Emphasis, mine, RE).
Our teens are being taught in many of our schools (even in lower grades) on how to have ‘safe sex’ while the objections of parents are being rejected. Some liberal-minded professionals, including educators and doctors, believe that teenage girls should have the right to purchase
“emergency contraceptive pills, generally sold in the U.S. as Plan B-Step or Next Choice.” “These pills contain a synthetic hormone similar to birth control pills, prevent ovulation – and, therefore pregnancy – about 85 percent of the time when taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex.”John, the apostle of love, was instructed by the Lord to write these word, “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers,(Emphasis, mine, R.E., Revelation 21:8). sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death”
Cal Thomas, a well known columnist writes, “
There is no longer any cultural corrective because we have abandoned the concept of objective truth. Nothing is right or wrong, because that suggests a standard by which right and wrong might be defined. Personal choice is the new "standard," which is no standard at all. One might as well develop individual weights and measures.This is the age of pluralism, inclusivism and tolerance wherein individuals have the right to believe whatever they choose, morally, doctrinally, etc. But this is not anything new. In Judges 21:25, we read, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
A growing number of people, especially young people, no longer believe in God or religion.
“ An October poll from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life drew attention to the rise of the religiously unaffiliated—now 1 out of 5 adults and 1 out of 3 adults under 30.”Atheists, the ACLU and other liberal groups are continuing to make impact on our nation’s scene with their objections to anything pertaining to ‘Christianity’. My friends, America is not a ‘Christian nation’. Believers in God, Jesus Christ and the Bible are in for a real battle against the forces of evil that are prevalent in our nation.
There are other ‘symptoms’ we could discuss that are indicators of the deplorable condition in our country but we shall mention only these presently. In closing, please read carefully the following from the Word of God:
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people”(Proverbs 14:34). “The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God”(Psalm 9:17). The passage in 2 Chronicles 7:14 had reference to God’s chosen people at that time which was the nation of Israel; however, the directives, principles and promises can be applied to the present condition in our country today. “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” WORKS CITED
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thomas, Cal, Newspaper Article, Gay Marriages, etc
The National Law Review, Employment and HR: United States: Results of State Voter Referendums On Same-Sex Marriage: Implications for Employee Benefit Plans, McDermott Will & Emery
Christianity Today, December, 2012
Article by Joseph S. Adams, Jacob Mattinson, Todd A. Solomon and Brian J. Tiemann
Merica, Dan, CNN
Yudell, Michael, Article, Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Bible, New King James Version
Permalink:
http://earlymorningmeditations.blogspot.com/2012/12/some-symptoms-of-secular-society.html |
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Europe is one of the world’s richest regions with a diverse and sophisticated economy that provides a high standard of living. The wealth Europe has generated allows many of its citizens to enjoy good quality healthcare, education and social assistance. Nevertheless, a huge number of people are not able to share the fruits of this success. It is estimated that the European Union is home to about 84 million people who are at risk of poverty and social exclusion. |
warc | 201713 | The world economy throughout history has bared witness to a series of innovations, fluctuations and new concepts created out of what seemed for many, thin air. The way of doing business has continuously evolved, from a commodities market to a goods based economy to a service economy and to the latest, experience economy. Most of human history has functioned by relying heavily on what is known as the commodities, and later goods based economy, in recent history however, most of the developed countries have switched to a service based economy transferring most of the goods production facilities to the developing world.
The question might arise however, why would countries willingly give up goods production and therefore the job comes with them. In the simplest terms, countries that are considered first world simply aim for their economy to be based on what is most profitable and what is considered to be cutting edge. Technology which incorporates both hardware and software elements are at the forefront of those types of business activities there with computer knowledge becoming the norm for even the simplest of service providing companies.
There is no doubt that the IT incorporates much of the skills required for individuals to be successful and competent at the workplace both in the world of today and that of tomorrow. One only needs to look at the number of both young and seasoned individuals who choose to pursue a bachelor’s in IT science as it provides certainty when it comes to the job market. And if there is still any doubt, one only needs to open a job search engine and look at the available listings in any developed country, and see for themselves that the competences required are most if not all dependent on an IT background. If you are looking for more information on IT related industry, visit ecommerce-innovation.com. |
warc | 201713 | The 9th Kenneth J. Arrow Lecture
November 10, 2016 - 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location:
The Teatro, Casa Italiana
1161 Amsterdam AvenueNew York, NY 10027
United States
Credit Surfaces, Leverage Cycles, and Doom Loops Delivered by John Geanakoplos, James Tobin Professor Economics, Yale University
The American financial crisis of 2007-09 and the ensuing Great Recession proved that macroeconomic and financial booms and busts can be driven by credit conditions like leverage. The European crisis of 2010-2012 showed that they can also involve a feedback between sovereign debt, corporate debt, and bank debt. Geanakoplos will present a collateral general equilibrium model of credit, default and macroeconomic activity, and argue that to prevent future crises, central banks must end their obsession with riskless interest rates and their refusal to forgive unpayable debts.
Discussants: Kenneth J. Arrow, Joan Kenney Professor of Economics and Professor of Operations Research, Emeritus, Stanford University, Stanford University Tano Santos, David L. and Elsie M. Dodd Professor of Finance, Columbia University Joseph E. Stiglitz, University Professor, Columbia University About the Kenneth J. Arrow Lecture Series: Kenneth J. Arrows work has so deeply shaped the course of economics for the past sixty years that, in a sense, every modern economist is his student. His ideas, style of research, and breadth of vision have been a model for generations of the boldest, most creative, and most innovative economists. His work has yielded such seminal theorems as general equilibrium, social choice, and endogenous growth, proving that simple ideas have profound effects. The Kenneth J. Arrow Lecture Series highlights economists, from Nobel laureates to groundbreaking younger scholars, whose work builds on Arrows scholarship as well as his innovative spirit. The books in the series are an expansion of the lectures that are held in Arrow's honor at Columbia University. Speaker Biographies Kenneth J. Arrowis the Joan Kenney Professor of Economics and Professor of Operations Research, emeritus at Stanford University. He is a Nobel Prize-winning economist whose work has been primarily in economic theory and operations, focusing on areas including social choice theory, risk bearing, medical economics, general equilibrium analysis, inventory theory, and the economics of information and innovation. He was one of the first economists to note the existence of a learning curve, and he also showed that under certain conditions an economy reaches a general equilibrium. In 1972, together with Sir John Hicks, he won the Nobel Prize in economics, for his pioneering contributions to general equilibrium theory and welfare theory. Professor Arrow has served on the economics faculties of the University of Chicago, Harvard and Stanford. In addition to the Nobel Prize, he has received the American Economic Association's John Bates Clark Medal. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine. He received a BS from City College, an MA and PhD from Columbia University, and holds approximately 20 honorary degrees. John Geanakoplosreceived his B.A. in Mathematics from Yale University in 1975 (summa cum laude), his M.A. in Mathematics and his Ph.D. in Economics under Kenneth Arrow and Jerry Green from Harvard University in 1980. He started as an Assistant Professor in Economics at Yale University in 1980, becoming an Associate Professor in 1983, Professor in 1986, and the James Tobin Professor of Economics in 1994. From 1996-2005 he was Director of the Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics. He was a co-founder in 1992, and is still currently co-director, of the Hellenic Studies Program at Yale. He was elected a fellow of the Econometric Society in 1990 and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1999. He was awarded the Samuelson Prize in 1999 for his work on social security, and was awarded the first Bodossaki Prize in economics in 1994 (for the best economist of Greek heritage under 40). In 1990-1991 and again in 1999-2000 he directed the economics program at the Santa Fe Institute, and was chairman of the science steering committee from 2009-15, and remains an external professor. He spent terms as visiting professor at MSRI in the University of California, Berkeley, at Churchill College, Cambridge, at the University of Pennsylvania, at Harvard, at Stanford, and at MIT. John Geanakoplos’ research is characterized by a unique blend of abstract economic theory and applied problems motivated by personal experience in financial markets. The scope of Geanakoplos’ research is unusually wide, ranging from general equilibrium theory to game theory to macroeconomics and to finance. In 1997 and 2003 he created collateral equilibrium and a theory of the leverage cycle that explains the recent subprime mortgage crisis. From 1990-1994 he was a Managing Director and Head of Fixed Income Research at Kidder, Peabody & Co. He was one of the founding partners in 1995 of Ellington Capital Management, where he remains a partner. In 1970 he won the United States Junior (< 20) Open Chess Championship. His mother, Effie Vranos, was among the first three women to graduate from Clark University, in 1943. Tano Santosis the David L. and Elsie M. Dodd Professor of Finance at the Columbia Business School. Professor Santos' research focuses on two distinct areas. A first interest is the field of asset pricing with a particular emphasis on theoretical and empirical models that can account for the predictability of returns, both in the time series and the cross section. A second interest of Professor Santos is applied economic theory, specifically, the economics of financial innovations as well as theory of organizations. He teaches options markets. Joseph E. Stiglitzis University Professor, founder and Co-president of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue, and Faculty Associate at the Center on Global Economic Governance, at Columbia University. He also served as the Chair of the Commission of Experts on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System, appointed by the President of the General Assembly of the United Nations, in 2009. He earned his PhD from MIT in 1967, became a full professor at Yale in 1970, and in 1979 was awarded the John Bates Clark Award, given biennially by the American Economic Association to the economist under 40 who has made the most significant contribution to the field. Professor Stiglitz was a member of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) from 1993-95, during the Clinton administration, and served as CEA chairman from 1995-97. He then became Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President of the World Bank from 1997-2000. In 2001, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics for his analyses of markets with asymmetric information, and he was also a lead author of the 1995 Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
This event is co-sponsored by the Center on Global Economic Governance, the Program for Economic Research, Columbia University Press, and the Initiative for Policy Dialogue. |
warc | 201713 | India is home to about 20 million orphaned children and a nearly equal number of infertile couples. And yet, as per the Central Adoption Resource Authority’s (CARA) records,
there were only 3011 in-country adoptions in the year 2015-16.
Twenty million and three thousand – there is a sizeable chasm between the two figures. So, where are we going wrong?
There is a stigma attached to adoption in India. Socially,
we have always viewed the ability to have children as a reflection of a man’s masculinity, and a barren woman has always been looked down upon. Moreover, adoption is not favoured because one is not sure what caste/religion/background the adopted child comes from.
Of course, a lot has changed over the years, but,
unfortunately, a lot has also remained the same.
It is also worth noting that
out of the 20 million or so orphaned children, at least 50,000 are adoptable, yet only about 1600 are legally “up for adoption”.
Apart from all this,
there is just a general lack of awareness about child adoption in India. While the detailed process can be found on this website, below is a list that I have curated of little-known, but very important, facts about adopting a child in India. Only a fraction of orphaned children are legally adoptable.
Children (below 6 years) whose care-takers are unable to care for them can be relinquished at an adoption agency after following the required procedure. Likewise, a child found abandoned and whose caretakers cannot be traced, if eligible, can be declared ‘legally free for adoption’ by the Child Welfare Committee. A court-committed child can come into adoption through the Juvenile Welfare Board.
Your registered religion decides which legislations regarding adoption will be applicable to you.
For Indian citizens who are Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, or Buddhists the adoption is under the
Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act of 1956. Under this act, a single parent or married couple are not permitted to adopt more than one child of the same sex.
Foreign citizens, NRIs, and those Indian nationals who are Muslims, Parsis, Christians or Jews are subject to the
Guardian and Wards Act of 1890. Under this act, the adoptive parent is only the guardian of the child until she reaches 18 years of age.
There is also a
Juvenile Justice Act of 2000, a part of which deals with adoption of children by non-Hindu parents. However, this act is applicable only to children who have been abandoned or abused and not to those children who have been voluntarily put up for adoption. Prospective Adoptive Parents (PAPs) are allowed to give preferencesas to what kind of child they wish to adopt, as crass as that sounds.
They may ask for a child of a certain age, gender (if it is the first child in the family), skin colour, religion, special features, health condition, etc. However, greater the specifications, more difficult it is to find a child who conforms to them.
Single men cannot adopt, especially not a girl child.
Live-in couples and couples who have been married for less than two years are also not eligible for adopting a child. While the former is a rule meant to avoid cases of sexual abuse of female children, the latter is to make sure there is a minimal chance of the couple splitting up after adoption.
Many people oppose this, insisting that there should be an evaluation on a case-by-case basis rather than having a blanket rule which decreases the probability of an orphaned child getting a home.
You can now adopt children online.
As part of the new rules, Maneka Gandhi’s ministry has brought all adoptive parents and children together in an online database managed by the CARA.
An adoptive parent can choose a child from any part of the country without getting stuck with one adoption agency. It is a transparent system, with parents given a seniority number instead of being put on indefinite wait.
We need to normalize the idea that adopting kids is a valid course of action even for parents who could conceive a child themselves. To see it as merely an inferior backup option for infertile couples is extremely regressive. The only way to normalize something which goes against society’s most basic conventions is to spread awareness about it.
If people understand the process and read success stories, they’ll be more inclined to accept the concept. And that’s what we are striving towards.
So, if you are an adoptive parent, or know someone who is one, do share your story with us in the comments below!
Image Source: Google
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If you liked this, you might also be interested in:
Views presented in the article are those of the author and not of ED. |
warc | 201713 | 5 How to Negotiate
Once graduation nears and the college student is thinking about job interviews, he needs to research what starting salaries typically are for the job in that geographical area. If a nice, sweet job offer comes, eager recent grads should not jump on the offer if it's significantly below what research indicates should be the starting salary. Recent college grads need to learn that it's OK to tell a potential employer that they'd love the job but not at that salary, and then they need to counter.
4 How to Manage Money
College students need to have a plan for their money, such as knowing how much they receive per month, so they'll have an idea regarding how much they can spend. Calling or, worse, texting Mom or Dad each time they're broke before month's end should not be the M.O. And besides just knowing how much extra spending money they have, college students should keep track of how much they spend.
3 How to Plan for the Future
If a college student would ever ask a person nearing retirement what financial advice he'd give, he'd be likely to say to start saving now for retirement. Once you hit your 50s and are just starting to save, the government lets you save more in retirement accounts and calls that "catch-up contributions," meaning that even the Internal Revenue Service is trying to give those poor souls a break. But, really, if you haven't started saving by 50, you are unlikely to catch up, not like if you started in your 20s. If you can save $250 a month and put it into an IRA while you're in your 20s, you will have almost half a million dollars when you're 65.
2 How to Use Credit Wisely
College kids are notorious for racking up credit card debt. If they want something, they want it now, YOLO style, and if they have plastic to get it, they will. They think that because they can handle the minimum payment at the end of the month, everything's cool. But college students who get themselves in credit card debt are more likely to have financial problems after they graduate, according to a 2006 conference by the Eastern Family Economics and Resource Management Association. Their credit will likely be shot, which means they'll probably have difficulty renting an apartment and finding a job because landlords and employers often check credit reports. Then, they'll have to move back home.
1 How Much Should College Cost?
Student loan debt, at around $1 trillion, is now larger than credit card debt and auto loan debt, but many college kids think that after graduation they'll land a job right away, which will take care of it. They need to think again. College tuition continues to rise, but job prospects don’t. Something is wrong in Dodge. Delinquency rates are up with student loan debt, and no wonder: According to the "St. Louis Business Journal," 40 percent of student borrowers owe $10,000 after graduation, 30 percent owe $25,000 and 0.6 percent owe an unbelievable $200,000.
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warc | 201713 | One of President Trump’s primary goals for America is improving the economy and our trade relationships around the world — something desperately needed after the mess made by the White House’s former occupant.
Trump has already done wonders for the state of our economy simply by encouraging many big businesses to invest millions of dollars here, and open factories, thus creating jobs.
From Allen B. West
Perhaps one of the biggest contributions to securing our economic success was an executive order requiring the repeal of two regulations for every new one the government attempts to put in place.
Well, the president recently stated that he would be going to work on the current trade agreement we have with Canada, stating he’s going to be “tweaking” it.
According to Reuters:
President Donald Trump said on Monday the United States will be “tweaking” its trade relationship with Canada, unlike its trade ties with Mexico where it faces a more severe situation.
“We have a very outstanding trade relationship with Canada. We’ll be tweaking it,” Trump said at a joint news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House.
“It’s a much less severe situation than what’s taking place on the southern border. On the southern border, for many, many years the transaction was not fair to the United States.”
There will be changes to make a good deal better, which means more winning for everyone — something President Trump promised the American people they’d be sick of by the end of his term.
What kind of changes could Trump have in mind? At this point it’s anyone’s guess.
One has to wonder what benefit these “tweaks” will have for Canada. Trump is a smart businessman, so no doubt he’ll know where to make some concessions to help bolster our neighbors to the north.
Trump was right about the situation with Mexico being much more dire, as we have a strained relationship with them at the moment. The president is calling for taxing imports to pay for a wall to secure the border.
For now, baby steps: working to better our relations with Canada can only be a good thing. |
warc | 201713 | President Donald Trump has instructed the State Department to slash its $10 billion budget for funding United Nations programs by as much as 50 percent, Foreign Policy is reporting.
The article said the move is “signaling an unprecedented retreat by [the] administration from international operations that keep the peace, provide vaccines for children, monitor rogue nuclear weapons programs, and promote peace talks from Syria to Yemen.”
From Breitbart
FP used three unnamed sources for its report, which also called Trump’s directive “draconian measures” taken ahead of the planned release on Thursday of his 2018 federal budget proposal.
The budget “is expected to include cuts of up to 37 percent for spending on the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign assistance programs, including the U.N., in next year’s budget,” according to the report, which went on:
It remains unclear whether the full extent of the steeper U.N. cuts will be reflected in the 2018 budget, which will be prepared by the White House Office of Management and Budget, or whether, as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has proposed, the cuts would be phased in over the coming three years. One official close to the Trump administration said Tillerson has been given flexibility to decide how the cuts would be distributed.
Richard Gowan, a U.N. expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told FP these budget cuts would create “chaos.”
The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR), for example, received nearly 40 percent of its budget from the United States in 2016. Cutting the U.S. contribution would “leave a gaping hole that other big donors would struggle to fill,” according to Gowan.
The left-leaning FP cites Trump’s intention to cut diplomacy and foreign assistance programs will help him increase the funding for the U.S. military by $54 billion, a “shift” from the Obama administration’s approach to the federal budget.
“State Department officials, for instance, were told that they should try to identify up to $1 billion in cuts in the U.N. peacekeeping budget, according to one source,” FP reported. “The United States provides about $2.5 billion per year to fund peacekeepers.”
Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, cautioned against “slash-and-burn cuts” during her Senate confirmation hearing but is said to be reviewing the U.N.’s 16 peacekeeping missions for possible cuts.
The United States pays over 22 percent of the U.N.’s $2.5 billion yearly administrative budget, including money “to battle climate change.”
FP reported that “U.N. diplomats and foreign dignitaries say they expect the United States to seek to eliminate funding for some agencies unpopular with conservatives — including the U.N. Population Fund, which receives about $35 million a year from the United States for family planning programs, and the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.”
Also, “the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which provides aid to Palestinian refugees, has long been the target of Israeli and congressional criticism on the grounds that it has a pro-Palestinian bias.
Read Full Story At Breitbart |
warc | 201713 | and some remain so We were not civilised To get back, if I may, to the point I was making
I'm glad you asked that question. At the end of the day, at this point in time, the matter of the fact is that, it is what it is, unless it can be proved to be otherwise.
Let me be absolutely clear, we are comfortably going forward, but the situation is such that there are no easy answers – even the questions need to be questioned before the answers can be answered.
We are where we are; the devil is in the detail. The fact is, in my opinion, all the heavy lifting has been done.
At this moment in time, a package of measures has been launched - a forwarding policy, all the elements of the hallmarks are there.
Let me be absolutely clear, this is a no-brainer, we have achieved a great deal but there is still much to be done.
The ground is now firm and the quicksands of danger are nowhere to be seen.
We must be mindfully aware of the pitfalls. Indeed, these canyons are all around us and, additionally, we must navigate a safe path through this perilous terrain.
With all due respect, it is not, in any way, shape or form; a one size fits all agenda.
The fact of the matter is that, difficult decisions are never easy to make. It is fairly unique.
There are things outside this sphere of influence; these ‘unknown unknowns’ pose undetermined comprehensions.
To reiterate the point I was making - we are not trying to reinvent the wheel, the elephant is in the room, but hearts and minds think alike, one cannot cherry pick.
Indeed, the low hanging fruits, that were once in abundance, have already been picked.
The reality is, it is a learning curve, from pillar to post.
Nevertheless that winning post is in sight, though mist blurs its contours.
Let us not harness doubt, this mist must be dispelled, and shape and form will replace it.
However, fundamentally, all is not what it seems, we must recognise that storm clouds are gathering, and uncertainty abounds.
To get back, if I may, to the point I was making...
Más información sobre Moya Clarken
Sección: 20 Domingos de Arte Contemporáneo Irlandés |
warc | 201713 | Ethnographic Writing
Experience and representation in anthropologic knowledge-production
What kind of narrative entity is an ethnographic report? What are its linguistic and epistemological characteristics? What kind of knowledge does it impart? An ethnographer's work, according to its canonical conception, is structured in three phases: field data collection, data analysis and interpretation, report writing. Critical concerns surrounding the ethnographical practice have often excluded the writing aspect due to its supposed neutrality in relation to its object. Writing, however, is not an unbiased tool: it is impregnated with ideological, political and cultural meanings. Posing that individual worldviews and understandings of knowledge underpin each ethnographer's writing, this book explores the connections between cognitive structuring (knowledge production), linguistic formulation (text production) and external reality (the empirical context of the ethnographical practice).
Vincenzo Matera is associate professor in anthropology at the Department of Sociology of the UniversitÓ di Milano Bicocca. His research interests focus on the anthropology of communication, cultural processes, identity and imagination. Matera is the author of numerous scientific papers and he recently completed a project on immigrant artists working in Milan (www.etnografiadellaperformance.it). |
warc | 201713 | Coast live oak woodlands are common in the Elkhorn Slough watershed. At Elkhorn Slough NERR, the overstory is made up exclusively of coast live oak, and common native understory plants include poison oak, sword fern, California blackberry, hedge nettle, snowberry, coffeeberry, beeplant, and miner’s lettuce. The California Wildlife Habitat Relationships System lists over 200 animal species, including mammals and a wide range of birds, that live in or otherwise use coastal oak woodlands in Monterey County. In the Elkhorn Slough watershed these include nesting white tailed kites and golden eagles, and seasonally, Santa Cruz Long-toed Salamanders. According to California Partners in Flight and the Point Reyes Bird Observatory (2002), oak woodlands have the richest wildlife species abundance of any habitat in California, and may rank among the top three habitat types in North America for bird richness.
While oak woodlands are the dominant trees in the watershed, eucalyptus, conifers and riparian woodlands can also be found.
We are currently featuring the following slough life from this habitat: |
warc | 201713 | Are you contemplating selling your home? Has your home been sitting on the real estate market for months with no action? Have you tried sprucing up your home to sell but it just didn’t work? Encore Home Staging and Redesign can change that “For Sale” sign to “Sold”. As professional home stagers, we specialize in assessing the latest design trends and are trained to look at your home from a buyer’s perspective. We can prevent you from making expensive renovations that might not appeal to a buyer. When staging, we not only remove unsightly clutter but also artfully arrange your existing furniture and accessories for a quicker, more profitable sale of your home. In addition, our recommendations include advice on closet and garage organization as well as curb-appeal landscape improvements. You only have one opportunity to make that first great impression. In a relocation situation, for example, the buyer may only have a few days to find that dream home. The house must be picture perfect to “clinch” the deal. The cost of staging is relatively small when you consider the huge dividends in the increased selling price and speed of the sale of your home. It’s much less than a price reduction. Based on a National Association of Realtors ‘survey of selling price versus asking price, homes that sold in the first 4 weeks averaged 1% more than listed price. On the other hand, homes that sold after 24 weeks or longer averaged 10% less than listed price. According to the National Association of Realtors, for every dollar sellers put into staging, they get back $4.00. The average increase over the listing price is 6.32% enough to cover your realtor fees. These statistics and others prove that staging is the solution to selling your home quickly for the right price. |
warc | 201713 | Australia is home to some of the highest electricity bills in the world and politicians are doing nothing about it. They would rather experiment with renewable energy than make policy decisions to keep our energy sources secure and accessible.
Whether it’s blackouts in South Australia or the loss of critical jobs in Queensland, the nation is suffering from the inaction of our political leaders.
It’s time for Australians to demand affordable and reliable energy today. |
warc | 201713 | This is a common question asked because there are some essential oil companies who are touting their oils as “food grade” and they insist that if the essential oils offered by another company are not listed as “food grade” then they aren’t “therapeutic grade.”
“Therapeutic grade” oil means the same thing as 100% pure, 100% therapeutic, or any combination of those terms. It just means the oils are pure of contaminants, pesticides, synthetics, and other adulterants, and can be used therapeutically. Any pure essential oil is therapeutic grade. Most of them can be ingested, and all of them are therapeutic.
“Food grade” oil, however, refers to any oil that can be used in food. So that also applies to cooking oils like Olive, Canola, Vegetable, macerated oils, linseed oil, as well as some mineral and motor oils. Most essential oils CAN be used in food but because the definition of food grade oil is so loose and open, I would really hesitate to use it for essential oils because the implication is that all the other food grade oils are as good as essential oils, which is just not so.
The important thing is are the essential oils pure? Are they free of contaminants, fillers, synthetics, pesticides, and other adulterants? Then it doesn’t matter if they are called 100% pure, 100% therapeutic, 100% pure therapeutic, or other forms. |
warc | 201713 | Five signs that you need a new job
Find yourself hating your boss, or not working to your full potential? It might be time to move on
If you want to be happy and engaged at work, you are better off finding a job that entices you to perform at your highest level
People often stay in a job despite having negative job attitudes, low engagement and failing to identify with their organisation’s culture. Why? They probably fear change, and never consider the benefits of a career switch.
In order to help you decide whether it may be time for a career change, here are five critical signs, based on psychological research, that you would probably benefit from a career switch:
1 You are not learning Studies have shown that the happiest progression to late adulthood and old age involves work that stimulates the mind into continuous learning.
2 You are underperforming If you are feeling stagnated, cruising in autopilot, and could do your job while asleep, then you’re almost certainly underperforming. Sooner or later, this will harm your resume and employability. If you want to be happy and engaged at work, you are better off finding a job that entices you to perform at your highest level.
3 You feel undervalued Even when employees are happy with their pay and promotion prospects, they will not enjoy their work unless they feel appreciated, especially by their managers. Further, people who feel undervalued are more likely to burnout and engage in counterproductive behaviours, such as absenteeism, theft and sabotage.
4 You are just doing it for the money Although people tend to put up with unrewarding jobs mostly for financial reasons, staying on a job just for the money is unrewarding at best, and demotivating at worst.
5 You hate your boss As the saying goes, people join companies, but they quit their bosses.
Of course, these are not the only signs that you should pay attention to. There are many other valid reasons for considering a job switch, such as work-life balance conflicts, economic pressures, firm downsizing and geographical relocation. But these reasons are more contextual than psychological, and somewhat less voluntary. They are, therefore, less likely to lead to decision uncertainty.
–
(Copyright Harvard Business Review 2015)
Previously published in The Irish Times. _______________________________________________________________
Check out Ireland's leading jobs here |
warc | 201713 | There are many myths and folklore surrounding childbirth and young infants, one of the most prevalent was that un-baptised children would be stolen by the faeries to replenish their failing stock. Changelings will be left in their place who would neither grow or flourish. Witches often collude with the faeries in return for payment. One story by Lady Wylde tells of a man who passing a remote house late at night overheard two women talking. One said ‘ I have put the dead child in place and have carried away this one. Wait until the moon rises and then take it to the Faerie Queen and you shall have the payment I promised.’ The man stood outside the window and waited until both women left the room then reaching in, took the sleeping child and carried it quickly home. In the morning there was a great lamentation in the village for the Lord of the Manor’s beautiful baby, who had just been born, lay dead in his cradle. The man went to view the the little corpse laid out in the Lord’s hall and laughed aloud when he saw the little shrivelled corpse. He quickly explained before the parents took offence at his behaviour , and suggested to the Lord that he light a fire. He then went up to the cradle and said to the still form lying inside ‘If you do not get up I will throw you on the fire.’ The changeling, for that is what it was, grinned, opened it’s eyes and shot out of the cradle. But the man was too quick for it, he caught it and threw it onto the fire. As soon as the flames touched it, the changeling turned into a little black kitten and shot up the chimney. The man hurried back to the village to collect the real child and restored it to the grateful parents. Nursing mothers who had not been churched would also be at risk from being taken, they would be carried away to faerie land to suckle faerie babies. Human milk is much prized by the fae as they believe it might give their faerie babies the chance of a human soul. A nursing mother was visited by a faerie who was carrying a small baby, she begged the mortal woman to give her child just one suck of her milk. The mother did so and was blessed with good luck for the rest of her life. Midwives are also stolen by the faeries; it would seem that the fae babies cannot be delivered without human aid. However, they are always returned after the birth, with payment of a kind. The women are deluded into thinking that they have been given gold as payment but on inspection when they have returned home will find it just a handful of leaves. There is a well known tale from Scotland about Eilian of Garth and the midwife. Eilian was a poor servant girl who worked long hard hours for a local midwife, When one day she disappeared it was agreed by her mistress and those about her that Eilian had gone off with the Faeries. The servant girl was not seen for some time until the midwife was called out one stormy night by a stranger to attend his wife, who was about to give birth. She was taken to a fine looking house and inside to a richly furnished room where a woman lay on a bed. After a while the baby was delivered and the father asked the midwife to rub an ointment onto the baby’s eyes, this she did but also accidentally smeared some onto one of her own eyes. Instantly the beautiful room disappeared and instead there was just a damp dark cave and on a bed of bracken and dry grass lay the servant girl Eilian. The midwife was seemingly paid well with gold coins but by the time she had hurried home they had disappeared and just dried leaves lay in her purse. Several months passed before she saw the father again, strolling through the market place. He was very surprised that the midwife could see him to enquire after Eilian and the baby. He inquired with which eye did the midwife see him with and when he discovered which one, that eye went blind. First we bought the porridge-crock And then we bought the ladle, And then we bought a little cheeld, And had to buy a cradle. In some parts of Cornwall a cake was made after the birth called a groaning cake, ( I wonder why!) and every visitor to the house was offered a piece. It was regarded as ill mannered to refuse. A ginger haired child was thought to be undesirable. If the birth took place between mid-night and cockcrow the next morning on a Friday the child would have special powers, enabling it to see spirits, to be beyond the power of witches and to possess knowledge only reserved for a chosen few. A child born between the old and new moon would have a short life and those with a blue veined nose would not reach its 21st birthday. No baby’s hands were washed during the first year for it’s riches would be washed away and cutting it’s nails during this time would make it a thief. Hair was also allowed to grow until the moon waned, thus preventing baldness in later life. A left handed child will never do any good so it must at once be made to use the right hand. Baptism is the most important event after birth, it was believed that if the child died before being baptized it’s spirit was doomed to flutter for ever as a ‘Spunky’ and would be seen as a ‘Will of the Wisp’ and flutter about lanterns at night in the form of moths. So it was thought necessary to get the child christened as soon as possible, especially if the child was sickly. In south Somerset the journey to the church was nearly as important as the ceremony. Everybody in the party would be dressed up in their best and the leader of the procession would carry bread and cheese, which would be offered to any stranger that they met upon the road. It was slightly different in Cornwall, a large currant cake would be carried known as ‘the cheeld’s fuggan’ or ‘christening crib’. In return for the food the stranger was obliged to give a penny for the baby which would bring good luck to the child. The coin would be saved as a good luck token. It was thought to be a good sign if the child screams during the ceremony as it was believed the Devil was being driven out of the infants body. After, however, the child would hopefully be more calm and happy as it was believed that if they frowned the wind might change direction and their faces stay stuck being miserable. So many childhood rhymes were encouraged to make sure the child stayed smiling! Tap-a-shoe, that would I do If I had but a little more leather; We’ll sit in the sun till the leather do come Then we’ll tap them both together. This would be accompanied by the baby’s feet being lightly tapped together. |
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Due to the increased rate of natural disasters in USA during last decade and expected economic crisis because of increasing deficits of the country, family survival experts are agreed that it is must for every individual to get proper education about taking care of their family in crisis.
There are hundreds of courses and guides available in market that claim to give you helpful and practical information on how to survive in crisis but unfortunately most of the guides are not practical and implementable. Due to the sensitivity and importance of the subject I’ve decided to review the top family survival guides to find the most appropriate one for you and your family.
Based on my research, I’ve come to a conclusion that Family Survival System by Frank Mitchell is on top of the list because of the following reasons.
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Here’re just few of the topics Frank has covered in this system.
- All possible threats we could have faced in today’s America to expand the reader’s knowledge of what kind of survival techniques they should learn
- The types of families and the kind of preparation they need using the tools for assessing the needs of the family
- Top Three Skills that every prepper should master to survive in major crisis
- Top Ten Knowledge Checklist to expand your information about the survival. You must teach these to your family as well.
- Guide on gathering, stocking and preparing the right food for crisis using cost effective food techniques
- Helps you identify the situation where you should stay at one place and one that demands keep moving. Also provides an information on choosing the right place to stay with your family during crisis
- What self and family defense skills you must master to survive
Here’s What I Like About Family Survival System…
- It is created by an ex-army man who have years of experience in helping families with their survival
- Survival tips and techniques explained in this system are easy to understand, practical and implementable
- Allow you to keep check on your accomplishments
- No Prerequisites. No Special Skills are required. Anyone can benefited with this system
Here’s What I Don’t Like About Family Survival System…
So far the only thing I didn’t like about this system is that it isn’t available for free. I personally think government should provide free survival training to individuals and families. Unfortunately such training is not available at the moment. By this time Family Survival System is the most comprehensive survival education system for families therefore worth your money.
Is Family Survival System For You?
Let me ask you something. Why do you spend in insurance policy? Why do you purchase a first aid kit? Why do you pay for health?
You do so for the safety and security of your family ofcourse. Purchasing Family Survival System is just like spending for the safety of your family. If you care for your family then you must invest in this system. |
warc | 201713 | Masquerades and masked balls are linked to the celebration of Carnival and
mardi gras. Originally part of a cycle of pagan festivities celebrating the advent of the spring planting season, in the Middle Ages, Carnival began after the winter solstice as part of the Feast of Fools, for which the congregation elected abbots and bishops from among the junior clergy who masked and dressed in women's clothes and performed a mock Mass that ended with dancing in the church and streets, and the coronation of an Abbot of Misrule. With the Reformation, Protestant countries banned Carnival, while the Feast of Fools moved into the street. The result was that in Catholic countries, Carnival revelry and masking took over the streets of towns and cities between Twelfth Night and Ash Wednesday, in anticipation of giving up all carne-meat and sex-for Lent. Carnival thrived in Paris, Venice, and Rome, among other cities. The last six days of Carnival were called les jours gras (fat days) lasting from feudi gras, the Thursday before Ash Wednesday through the night of mardi gras. Les jours gras were celebrated with masked balls, obscene dancing, and eating, drinking, and sex. On the morning of Ash Wednesday, this orgiastic explosion ended in a parade of exhausted, masked revelers. Early European Masquerades
Masquerades also existed in eighteenth-century London, but it is Parisian Carnival and its masked balls in the nineteenth century that have produced the most commentary, gossip, and visual images. Many European and American observers published memoirs describing their experiences at the masked balls in Paris, while lithographs of the masked balls at the opera and at other Parisian theaters and dance halls proliferated during the nineteenth century, producing countless imitations. Indeed, in popular culture masked balls and the French were so closely linked that an early American silent movie (1908) is titled
At the French Ball-the story, of course, of adultery at a masked ball. Bals Masqués
Court theatricals with masks and a ballet were initially introduced at the French and English courts in the seventeenth century. By the early eighteenth century, masquerades and
bals masqués (the French term for masked balls) were attracting large crowds at the newly opened public dance halls in London and Paris, at the aristocratic balls at the Paris opera (as of 1715), and in private Parisian mansions that welcomed the masked public during Carnival. Public Dance Halls
During the eighteenth century, the masked balls in public dance halls were the height of English fashion, while the French celebration of Carnival was increasingly politicized and used to attack the monarchy. In this world turned upside down, women dressed as men, frequently as soldiers, sailors, or stevedores; men as women; the poor disguised themselves as bishops, lawyers, and aristocrats; and the rich disguised themselves as beggars, peasants, fishmongers, in Oriental masquerade, and
in domino, the classic Venetian costume of a hooded black cape and mask. Regardless of a persons gender and class, sexual license was tolerated at masked balls so that men and women were free to indulge their sexual proclivities with persons of whatever sex and class they chose. With the French Revolution, Carnival and masking were temporarily banned, while in England such permissiveness died. In 1800 Napoleon reintroduced Carnival, although by 1830 Parisian Carnival was said to be a thing of the past. Aftermath of July Revolution
Nonetheless, from a mere three authorized public masked balls during Carnival in 1830, by 1831 Parisian Carnival exploded in the aftermath of the July Revolution (1830). The combination of a new revolutionary generation disaffected with the conservative government of the July Monarchy and the spread of romanticism infused new life into Parisian Carnival. The fashion press and the new satirical dailies, benefiting from the introduction of cheap lithographs illustrating the masked balls at the opera and at other theaters. The introduction of gossip columns and cheap newspapers, paid for by advertising instead of subscription, provided Parisians and readers everywhere a blow-by-blow account of the masked balls during Carnival after 1830. The satirical daily
Le Charivari coined the catchwords of Carnival, "Down with the Carnival of our ancestors! Hooray for the carnival of romanticism and politics," and published lithographs by Honore Daumier and Paul Gavarni depicting the Carnival masked balls in all their glory. Hundreds of pamphlets, satires, illustrations, and fashion magazines supplied a running commentary on the pleasures to be found at the Carnival masked balls at their height in the 1830s and 1840s, including the masked balls that took place in the middle of the Revolution of 1848. It is not surprising, then, that although these balls continued until the end of the century, it was this period in the 1830s and 1840s that was mythic and that was depicted in Edouard Manet's famous painting Le Bal masqué de l'Opéra (1873). Pleasure and Desire
What made this Carnival and its masked balls so remarkable was the confluence of political discontent and the emergence of a consumer society that fanned the flames of pleasure and desire. Many of the costumes reflected a rejection of traditional roles and a yearning for the exotic, suggesting a widespread ambivalence about the values of emerging capitalist society and its imposition of middle-class culture and domesticity. The most chic costumes of the moment worn to masked balls in eighteenth-century London were Oriental masquerades, while in nineteenth-century Paris, Spanish dancers, or couples dressed as stevedores were the most fashionable. None of these fashions lasted beyond their moment, although designers in the early twenty-first century have looked at illustrations from the masked balls of nineteenth-century Paris as an inspiration for clothes.
Technological Inventions
However, what is significant about Parisian masked balls in the nineteenth century are the technological inventions that made the balls fashionable and accessible to an expanding literate public. The introduction of the lithographic process and the rotary press made it possible for newspapers and magazines to print more newspapers with cheap illustrations, while advertising, a new capitalist invention, reduced their cost. The preeminence of Paris fashion, made more accessible through beautifully illustrated fashion magazines and the introduction of department stores and costume warehouses, offered this new consuming public fashionable disguises and cheaper clothes. Serialized novels in newspapers and gossip columns fed the aspirations and desires of increasing populations and an expanding middle class, especially the women, who now had more money to spend and places to spend it, including the masked balls during Carnival. Most of these elements already existed in England in the eighteenth century, when masquerades were the height of fashion. Missing was the French genius for publicity and seduction, which made the special pleasures and intensity of Parisian masked balls legendary and guaranteed their immortality in print and visual culture, both high and low.
Bibliography
Alter, Ann Ilan. "Pursuing Pleasure at the Masked Balls at the Opera during the July Monarchy."
Laurels: The Magazine of the American Society of the French Legion of Honor 60, no. 2 (1989): 101-118.
--. "Parisian Women at the Opera Balls." In
Masquerade and Identities: Essays on Gender, Sexuality and Marginality. Edited by Efrat Tseëlon. London: Routledge, 2001.
Burke, Peter.
Popular Culture in Early Modern Europe. New York: New York University Press, 1978.
Castle, Terry.
Masquerade and Civilization: The Carnivalesque in Eighteenth-Century English Culture and Fiction, Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1996.
Cohen, Sarah R. "Masquerade as Mode in the French Fashion Print." In
The Clothes That Wear Us: Essays on Dressing and Transgressing in Eighteenth-Century Culture. Edited by Jessica Munns and Penny Richards. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1999.
Flaubert, Gustave.
L'Éducation Sentimentale. Paris: Éditions Garnier, 1984. |
warc | 201713 | Q. I know there are catch-up contributions for retirement plans. I’ve heard there’s also something called a “lifetime catch-up” contribution. How does that work? — Saver A. Catch-up contributions were added to the tax code by Congress in response to a fear that baby boomers were not saving enough for retirement.
They allow taxpayers turning 50 in a calendar year to make an additional contribution for that year — and subsequent years — to certain retirement plans, Cynthia Fusillo, a certified public accountant with Lassus Wherley in New Providence, New Jersey, said.
“The plans that potentially offer these catch-up contributions are 401K, 403B, 457 plans — all of which we will refer to as employer-sponsored plans — as well as IRAs,” Fusillo said. “Currently the catch-up amount is up to $6,000 annually for the employer-sponsored plans and up to $1,000 annually for IRAs.”
Fusillo said that employer plans are not required to permit catch-up contributions, although statistics show that over 90% of them do.
Check with your benefits department to see if your plan allows catch-ups or not.
Now, lifetime catch-up contributions are also called 15-year catch-up deferrals or the special 403B catch-up deferral.
These are available for some 403B plans, Fusillo said.
This contribution allow employees with 15 years or more of service, but who are not yet age 50, to contribute an additional amount annually.
“This will apply if the employee’s average, annual contribution was less than $5,000,” Fusillo said. “You can then contribute an additional $3,000 annually for a lifetime maximum of $15,000.”
Once you turn 50, the regular catch-up contribution rules apply, she said.
You can learn more about retirement plans from your benefits department, tax advisers and in IRS Publication 571.
[Editor’s Note: You can monitor your financial goals, like building a good credit score, each month on Credit.com.] More Money-Saving Reads: Image: shapecharge
The post I Need More Money for Retirement. Are There Ways to Catch Up? appeared first on Credit.com. |
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Saturated Fat 7g
Monounsaturated Fat 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0g
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 20mg
Sodium 260mg
Total Carbohydrate 49g
Dietary Fiber 2g
Sugars 33g
Sugar Alcohol 0g
Protein 4g
Vitamin A 4%
Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 8%
Iron 6%
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Fat 9 Carbohydrate 4 Protein 4 |
warc | 201713 | Improving forest governance through independent monitoring – Moabi-DRC pilot project The Moabi-DRC project piloted a community-based REDD+ safeguard monitoring system within Maï Ndombe Province (previously ‘District’) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Through developing a network of local observers, it was possible to increase the frequency, breadth and cost-effectiveness of data gathering compared to that carried out by external, officially mandated monitors, and to increase local participation. The use of both paper-based methods (by community members, to collect data) and digital smartphone technology (by one external coordinator, to verify and transmit data) meant that the benefits of technology were harnessed, while excessive cost and complication associated with technology were minimised. The initiative proved that stronger REDD+ safeguard and grievance monitoring is possible in Maï Ndombe, but also that effective national legal frameworks are needed in the country in order for safeguards monitoring to be fully enabled.
This initiative piloted a community-based REDD+ safeguard monitoring system in an area within Maï Ndombe Province, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the company Wildlife Works is implementing the Mai Ndombe REDD+ project, also known as the ‘ERA’ project. This contributes to a jurisdictional REDD+ programme covering the whole province.
The Moabi-DRC pilot monitoring project was a collaborative effort of Moabi, a nonprofit organisation that develops technology to map and monitor natural resource use; local communities; Observatoire de la Gouvernance Forestière (OGF), a Congolese NGO that monitors rainforests in DRC (and at the time of publication was the national mandated forest monitor); and the Central African Satellite Forest Observatory (OSFAC).
It uses a hybrid arrangement of pen and paper in combination with limited, efficient use of open-source smartphone technology. Community observers use paper forms to collect important data relating to deforestation and the status of social and environmental safeguards in the REDD+ project zone. These data are then collated and transmitted to the Moabi online platform by an intermediary focal point based in Inongo (Maï Ndombe’s administrative centre) using a ruggedised smartphone and GeoODK software. They are then shared with Congolese government authorities, REDD+ project partners, and independent observer organisations in the capital, Kinshasa.
In the pilot project, participants gathered data monthly for six months, and the results have been used in a report that was under review by the responsible authorities and other stakeholders at the time this case study was published in December 2015.
Policy context
DRC is one of eight countries that share the Congo Basin, home to the world’s second largest continuous tropical rainforest after the Amazon. DRC has by far the largest share, at about 60%. Its deforestation rate is lower than many other tropical countries, but could rise significantly without preventative action.
Among the Congo Basin countries, DRC’s REDD+ policy arrangements are relatively advanced, with its National REDD Strategy having been published in 2012. It also has relatively strong connections with REDD+ donor countries, having chaired the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) from 2009 to 2012, and led its involvement in international REDD+ meetings. Much of the national legal framework for REDD+, however, remains to be developed, and at the time of this pilot monitoring initiative DRC did not have a REDD+ grievance redress mechanism system.
The country’s early engagement with REDD+ included the initiation in 2010 of WWF’s large-scale REDD+ initiative in Maï Ndombe Province, where the Moabi-DRC project is also based. This province covers a 12.5 million hectare area north of the capital, Kinshasa. The WWF-DRC work provided many of the foundations for the current jurisdictional REDD+ programme in Maï Ndombe. The REDD+ jurisdictional programme functions as an umbrella for REDD+ activity in the province (see the WWF-DRC case study for more infomration on the jurisdictional REDD programme). Subsequently, in 2012, Maï Ndombe saw the validation of an REDD+ project developed by Wildlife Works Carbon and Ecosystem Restoration Associates (ERA-WWC), covering an area of 300,000 hectares, incorporating over fifty villages. The project is now solely owned by Wildlife Works, but is still known as ‘ERA’.
The size and remoteness of Maï Ndombe Province make it a challenging environment in which to monitor REDD+ social and environmental safeguards and grievances. Concerns were expressed by some stakeholders that this was not being done adequately in the ERA project area, to which teams were being flown in at high expense from Kinshasa for only a few days of data gathering every two or three years. The Moabi-DRC initiative aimed to improve this by training local people to carry out monitoring.
Community participation
Community members participated in the Moabi-DRC pilot primarily by gathering data using pre-designed forms and delivering their data to a focal point (a member of an intermediary organisation), who was based in Inongo. The project can be categorised according to the monitoring typology proposed by Danielsen et al. (2009) as ‘externally driven monitoring with local data collectors’.
To initiate the project and select community monitors, meetings were first held with the chief of each participating village and their council, to discuss the project and obtain the consent of the village. Monitors were selected either through a vote by the meetings’ participants, or through designation by the village chief in the presence of village members. Efforts were made to ensure that those selected were known by their peers to be honest and capable, and to have no direct ties with either the ERA project or the Congolese government.
The recruited community observers received training, through a series of workshops, on how to record observations of deforestation and safeguard infractions using easy-to-use reporting sheets, which had been designed by Moabi.
Each of the observers worked within of their own village, gathering data on drivers of deforestation and forest degradation, ERA project activities, and national social and environmental standards. They carried out this work in the course of their everyday activities, and received compensation of 4500 FC (about US$5) per month for their time collecting information.
They were each visited every two months by the external, Inongo-based focal point, who went on mission every month for up to two weeks at a time. They would present their forms to and discuss their observations with the focal point, and take the focal point to the location of any reported safeguard infractions for verification.
At the time of publication of this case study, the final project report on their observations was under review by the responsible authorities and Wildlife Works, and plans were being made to present the information back to the communities.
The monitoring methodology, meanwhile, was defined by a multi-stakeholder working group comprising experts from the national REDD+ Coordination body in DRC (CNREDD), the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development in DRC (MEDD), DRC’s civil society-run REDD Climate Working Group (GTCR), local company Novacel, ERA-WWC, WWF and OGF.
Monitoring methodology
Due to the size of the ERA project area, the large number of villages within it (more than 50), and the constraints of the monitoring project, a sample of villages was selected for monitoring, according to four criteria. They had to i) be accessible by a road vehicle, ii) have more than 50 inhabitants each, iii) have past or present REDD+ activities, and iv) be spatially representative of the project zone’s ethnic and environmental diversity.
Paper forms were used for data collection. To allow REDD+ safeguard-related activities to be more easily held accountable, the forms were designed to record quantifiable information on the status of the activities, such as whether a community agriculture project had created employment and produced expected yields, or whether the construction of a schoolhouse was progressing as planned. The forms also provided space for reporting complaints relating to land tenure conflicts, lack of consultation, or benefit sharing disputes.
The data recorded by the observers in each village were collected, checked for consistency, and verified every two months by the Inongo-based focal point, who would alternate every month between two circuits of villages. The verification process involved discussions with community members (lasting from 30 minutes to several hours) and joint visits by the focal point and the observer to the sites of any reported safeguard infractions, where the focal point would take photographs and record GPS locations.
The data on the forms, and the information gathered during the bimonthly meetings, were recorded by the focal point using the GeoODK application on a ruggedised smartphone provided by Moabi. Upon returning to Inongo at the end of each mission, the focal point transmitted the data via the internet to Kinshasa for further validation and discussion with the nationally mandated monitors at OGF. These data were then processed and made publicly available on Moabi’s online mapping platform, where additional Moabi map layers (such as REDD+ project boundaries, forest cover data, and regional infrastructure) could be added to provide additional context to the monitoring project.
Digital technology
A single ruggedised smartphone (a Samsung Galaxy Xcover GT-S5690), with one backup, was used by the focal point. This was equipped with the GeoODK application, which could be used to record and upload the data to the Moabi website.
Because GeoODK requires some knowledge of programming in Excel, Moabi staff designed the monitoring form on paper and then coded it using Excel to appear automatically upon opening the GeoODK application.
Cost-effectiveness
This initiative aimed to increase the amount of useful data gathered and reported on REDD+ safeguards and grievances, and to do so in a more cost-effective way than existing alternatives involving infrequent, costly visits by external monitors, and large numbers of high-tech devices (only two smartphones – one of which was a backup - were used in the project).
Through the engagement of community members and a locally-based focal point, the project has indeed succeeded in reducing the need for external, mandated monitors to travel, while also avoiding the high costs of equipping each community observer with digital monitoring equipment instead of paper forms. To date, no comparison between the community monitoring approach and other methods has been undertaken; REDD+ safeguard and grievance information is not systematically collected in DRC.
Source of funding
The Moabi-DRC pilot monitoring project was funded by Norad, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation.
Achievements and challenges
During this pilot phase, the Moabi monitoring system has provided an extensive georeferenced database of social and environmental safeguards activities in the ERA project zone, as well as instances of deforestation, while also documenting community grievances and concerns about REDD+ project activities.
The project’s first monitoring report has been produced and, at the time of publication of this case study, was under review by the authorities and Wildlife Works. See the Moabi website to access this from early 2016 and to follow other developments and efforts by Moabi and partners in DRC.
Due to the limited use of digital technology in this monitoring system, data is not transmitted to Moabi’s online platform in real time (it can have a lag period of several days to weeks). However, the system nevertheless succeeds in allowing safeguards and instances of deforestation to be observed within a meaningful timeframe by stakeholders and the wider public. It also enables safeguard and grievance information to be overlaid with data from third parties such as the REDD+ company, the government agencies, or other NGOs.
This trade-off between cost and speed of data transmission is considered worthwhile, given the greater potential for project sustainability afforded by avoiding the need for large numbers of expensive smartphones to be distributed among remote communities unaccustomed to such devices, and the associated training and maintenance that this would require. This relatively low-cost, low-tech system makes it both affordable and also replicable for future projects dealing with a wide range of land use activities.
The engagement of community members and traditional leaders has allowed local communities to have a greater sense of ownership and involvement in the safeguard monitoring process than they would otherwise have had. Meanwhile, the employment of a locally-based focal point further reduced the need for mandated monitors to make costly missions from Kinshasa.
One challenge for the pilot project was the difficulty in collecting data from Wildlife Works, which related to the fact that, although OGF and Moabi had official permission to carry out the project, they were operating without an official government mandate to monitor REDD+ safeguards and grievances.
Finally, despite the successes and advantages of the monitoring methods piloted by Moabi and OGF, there remain major hindrances to safeguard monitoring by organisations with or without an official mandate to do so. This is due to the lack of a suitable national REDD+ grievance redress mechanism system, as well as other important gaps in the national REDD+ legal framework, related to issues such as the implementation of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), the treatment of high conservation value (HCV) forests, sustainable funding mechanisms for independent monitors, concepts of permanence, leakage and additionality, and participation and benefit distribution. Addressing these gaps will be crucial for enabling effective monitoring of - and response to - safeguards and grievances. |
warc | 201713 | By: Nate Delesline III
The Daily Progress
RUCKERSVILLE — Although a compromise might be in the works, Virginians should be prepared for and work to minimize the potential economic fallout that will accompany drastic cuts to federal defense spending, a member of Gov. Bob McDonnell’s Cabinet said this week.
Unfortunately, Terrie Suit, Virginia’s secretary of veterans affairs and homeland security, said the Old Dominion is seen by some as a “Thanksgiving table” that’s loaded with valuable military installations.
Suit spoke Thursday at a luncheon hosted by the Central Virginia chapter of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association.
Albemarle County is home to Rivanna Station, a sub-installation of Fort Belvoir that houses operations of the National Ground Intelligence Center, Defense Intelligence Agency and National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. The base employs about 2,000 people, mostly civilians.
When changes mandated under the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission came into effect, Suit said Virginia escaped relatively unscathed, but legislators and the leaders of communities with military facilities took notice.
“We learned through that experience — and our local communities learned through that experience — that it wasn’t a burden to have a military installation in your backyard; it was an economic bonus, a huge benefit to have a military installation in your backyard,” Suit told the group.
Asked later if Charlottesville-area residents should be concerned about the possible reductions, Suit said she’s assuming the worst but hoping for the best.
“I have to look at every single military operation in the commonwealth of Virginia as though it could be taken away from us,” she said. “That’s the frame of reference that I come from. Everything is subject to change. Therefore, we need to be doing all we can to protect all that we have.”
Suit, who also served as a member of the House of Delegates from the Hampton Roads region, was appointed to the newly created position by McDonnell in 2011.
Although the election is over, Geoffrey Skelley, a political analyst at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, said the issue of the so-called fiscal cliff and sequestration is sure to remain a hot topic on Capitol Hill.
“Given how the fiscal cliff could impact defense spending, it’s sure to be a particular point of emphasis during negotiations between the president and the GOP leadership in the Republican-controlled House,” Skelley said by email. “There are serious disagreements about the resources we allocated to defense so it’s difficult to say how exactly all this will play out.”
In a statement, Rep. Robert Hurt, R-5th, said he and his House colleagues intend to make sure President Barack Obama keeps his promise to prevent sequestration from happening.
“I remain optimistic that for the sake of the American people, those in Washington will come together to keep taxes low for all Americans and replace these devastating cuts with responsible spending reforms — as the House has proposed,” Hurt said in an email in response for comment for this story.
Former Gov. and Democratic Sen.-elect Timothy M. Kaine also struck a similar tone of bipartisan optimism.
“We won’t resolve this important issue by each party drawing the same ideological lines that got us into this mess,” Kaine said in an email. “Instead, both parties need to come together to find a compromise that accelerates our economic recovery and strengthens the fiscal stability of our country.”
Army Lt. Col. Robert Pettit, head of the military science department at James Madison University, was among those to attend the luncheon. He said Suit’s remarks and insight are applicable to him, as well as the approximately 165 cadets he leads in JMU’s ROTC program. Pettit has served nearly 22 years and is about a year away from retiring from the military.
“As I look to transition out of the military, there is hope that I’ll be able to secure employment in a military-friendly state and hopefully … I’ll have an opportunity at home.”
Pettit also said some cadets may find themselves in the same situation once they’ve completed their military service, as many are choosing to serve with Virginia-based guard and reserve units.
According to the Center for Security Policy and the Coalition for the Common Defense, conservative-leaning Washington-based think tanks, Charlottesville and Albemarle County could see a potential loss of $46.5 million in defense-related spending if all the cuts come to fruition. The figures are based on publicly available information from Department of Defense.
In the meantime, at the state level, Suit said they’ll continue to prepare, collaborate and communicate.
“When you have an operation that’s bringing people and expenditures and tax revenue to your community, you want to protect that operation,” Suit said. ‘It helps every single citizen in the Charlottesville region.”
This article can be read here: http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/business/article_c9d86d40-2ace-11e2-a1fe-0019bb30f31a.html |
warc | 201713 | Utah’s wildland fire agencies have brought in representatives from the National Wildland Fire Prevention and Education Team to help prevent another human-caused wildfire.
Utah is currently in a moderate to severe drought with some areas at extreme drought levels. Current predictions indicate the conditions will continue throughout the summer, possibly extending into the fall.
Wildland fire agencies throughout Utah have been reinforcing prevention efforts for their respective agencies.
"By bringing a National Wildland Fire Prevention and Education Team to Utah we will be able to unify these efforts across the state," said Loren Walker, U.S. Forest Service communities assistance and prevention coordinator.
This year, 90 percent of all Utah wildfires have been human-caused and most are related to recreation on public lands.
The statewide wildland fire prevention campaign will assist people in participating safely in their favorite outdoor activities.
For more information visit Utah Fire Info. |
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warc | 201713 | New greenhouse design: UAE farmers benefit from 90% water reduction
Source: thenational.ae
A greenhouse using water evaporated from plants to cool the crops could lead to farmers using 90% less of the precious resource.
Unveiled by Dubai’s International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture, the system would mean enormous savings for a country in which 56% of water used goes on agriculture. The greenhouse, being built on a farm in Al Dhaid, has been designed by a team of local and international scientists.
“Ninety per cent of the water we give to the plants is absorbed by the roots and transpired in the form of vapour,” said Dr Redouane Choukr-Allah, head of the project at ICBA. “It serves as a way of reducing the temperature of the plant otherwise it will get burnt, like when people sweat to cool down. So what we are planning on doing is recover that water and re-use it.”
The project is a collaboration between the ICBA, the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the Ministry of Environment and Water, and the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, or Icarda. The greenhouse is due to be completed next month and operational in November.
It prompted great interest from Mohammed Sulaiman, a farmer of 30 years, who uses 1.9 million litres of water each day to cool his 500 greenhouses. “I am interested in what’s new and if there is anything we can learn about water,” Sulaiman said. “Any new technologies can help us to profit.
“We live in a very hot area so I only grow my vegetables 10 months a year when the weather is cooler, to avoid wasting so much groundwater,” he added.
The scientists say that, apart from the amount of water saved, the system would produce five times more food than could be grown in open fields. A desiccant, such as magnesium chloride, is used to reduce the humidity during the day, allowing the plants to transpire more water.
“At night, we heat up the desiccant to bring that water back to the greenhouse through evaporation,” Dr Choukr-Allah said. “The water will then condensate on the plastic of the greenhouse and go back down to the roots of the plants.”
“This type of protected agriculture will help save the UAE a copious amount of water and energy, while producing five times more food than in open fields.”
Dr Ahmed Moustafa, Icarda’s regional coordinator for the Arabian Peninsula, said the system was “essential for GCC countries and many dry areas”.
Experts from the FAO, Icarda and ICBA started drafting a 10-chapter paper in February to document new technologies in greenhouse cultivation that could cut down water use.
“It will tackle the vision for the future of agriculture in the GCC, the outlook of protected agriculture in the GCC and the new generation of greenhouses, as well as prospects of agricultural development in the GCC,” said Dr Wilfred Baudouin, a senior officer at the FAO. “It will end with recommendations for public and private-sector decision-makers.” |
warc | 201713 | Getting Accreditationfrom Jessica Weizenbluth, Esq. “Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.” — Salvador Dali
Settled in 1845, the city of Sumter rests in the bucolic middle of South Carolina and boasts the only public park in the United States containing all eight known species of swan. Originally named Sumterville, this sleepy, rural Southern town has for nearly one hundred years been home to the Tuomey Healthcare System (“Tuomey”), an acute care hospital also providing a 36-bed nursery, 10 operating suites, Cancer Treatment Center, Tuomey Home Services and a subacute skilled care program. As of 2013, and affirmed in June 2015, Tuomey also faced a record-breaking $237,454,195 judgment for violating federal law.
The path leading up to this verdict was a crooked one. As it attempted to hedge projected losses of more than $15 million at the turn of the millennium over the next fifteen years, Tuomey knew the treacherous landscape into which it entered, and from the outset had no intention of navigating the federal physician self-referral prohibitions (commonly known as the “Stark Laws”) or the Federal False Claims Act (“FCA”) alone. To secure its end, Tuomey consulted with a former Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, a prominent health care law firm, and its longtime counsel, Nexsen Pruit, who in turn sought assistance from a national consulting firm. While implementing new contracts with local physicians, Tuomey’s lone hold out, Michael Drakeford, M.D., filed the qui tam action in 2005 that resulted in the record-breaking outcome. … Read more →
This article,
The Decay in Regulating California’s Corporate Practice of Medicine, first appeared in the Business Law News (Issue 2, 2015) of the State Bar of California on June 24, 2015.
“
There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.”[1]
In the 1990s, dentists in North Carolina[2] began to whiten teeth.[3] A decade later, nondentists across the state began to provide the same services, but at a lower price.[4] In 2006, the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners (the “N.C. Dental Board”) responded by issuing more than 47 cease-and-desist letters to parties whitening teeth without degrees in dentistry, and in 2007 the N.C. Dental Board enlisted the aid of the North Carolina Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners to issue similar warnings, specifically to cosmetologists[5] Their combined efforts were successful, and North Carolina nondentists soon stopped offering teeth whitening services.[6]
The United States Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) took exception to the actions by the N.C. Dental Board, and in 2010 the FTC filed an administrative complaint, alleging the N.C. Dental Board acted deliberately for the benefit of North Carolina dentists and to the detriment of North Carolina nondentists.[7] According to the FTC, these anticompetitive and unfair tactics violated the Federal Trade Commission Act, and in particular Section 5.[8]
After multiple hearings before an administrative law judge, followed by the FTC’s internal oversight and a review by the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit[9] in February 2015, the United States Supreme Court[10] agreed with the FTC’s 2010 allegations, namely that the anticompetitive conduct of the N.C. Dental Board violated antitrust law, and in particular the Sherman Act.[11] The Supreme Court also held that sovereign immunity did not protect the actions of the N.C. Dental Board.[12]
In its 6-3 decision referring to the roles of dentists and nondentists in North Carolina, the Supreme Court reached a far greater audience than those concerned with tooth color in the Tar Heel state.[13] In point of fact, the Court’s ruling did much to undermine most if not all authority held by professional organizations in California, including in particular the Medical Board of California (“MBC”).[14] This article explores how and why such change came about. … Read more →
“God hates violence. He has ordained that all men fairly possess their property, not seize it.”[2]
Modern American health care affords every hospital patient the inalienable right to emergency treatment,[3] although this same system has yet to create any parallel infrastructure beyond the clinical delivery of such care. While today’s emergency department physicians across the nation have access to cutting-edge, integrated technology-based tools[4] designed to improve patient outcomes by combining advances in medicine with evidence-based clinical guidelines,[5] the science of overseeing managed care patients often appears to be light years removed from the era in which it was born.[6] As a result, American health care has become a system of fundamental brilliance that finds itself limited by gross inefficiencies,[7] a combination that has led to a symbolic, if not actual, nationwide revolution.[8]
At their core, the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act[9] and the amendments set forth in the 2010 Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act[10] address the concept of
patient access, one of health care’s greatest challenges in recent years.[11] Notwithstanding the 961[12] regulatory pages known as the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare,”[13] the relationship between the patient and the entity responsible for covering the cost of care has received surprisingly less attention in comparison.[14]
In California, the recent decision in
Children’s Hospital Central California v. Blue Cross of California[15] has been seen by many as the culmination, and by some as the resolution, of conflict between providers and payers within the managed care system.[16] This article focuses on events preceding the Children’s Hospital Central California decision, how the managed care system of private payers has evolved over the past 40 years, and the challenges faced by payers and providers simply trying to coexist. … Read more →
Last week the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued its proposed final rule for Accountable Care Organizations (“ACOs”) participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (“MSSP”), a program designed to promote accountability for a patient population, foster coordination of items and services under Medicare Parts A and B, and encourage investment in infrastructure and redesigned care processes for high quality and efficient health care service delivery. CMS issued its proposed rule on December 8, 2014, expanding the original rule from November 2011 (76 Federal Register 67802).
The final rule focuses on the following areas:
The final rule also addresses some of the 275 comments CMS received in response to the December 2014 proposed rule. In response to concerns about the program’s integrity, CMS commented as follows:
“In 2011, Medicare made almost no payments to providers through alternative payment models, but today such payments represent approximately 20 percent of Medicare payments. Earlier this year, the Secretary announced the ambitious goal of tying 30% of Medicare fee for service payments to quality and value by 2016 and by 2018 making 50% of payments through alternative payment models, such as the [MSSP]. . . . With over 400 ACOs serving over 7 million beneficiaries, the [MSSP] plays an important role in meeting the Secretary’s recently articulated goal.”
The following e-Bulletin was published by the California State Bar, Business Law Section, on May 21, 2015.
CMS issued its proposed final regulations for accrediting organizations, revising the survey, certification and enforcement procedures relating to CMS oversight of entities such as the Joint Commission and the Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program. These revisions implement provisions under the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA), as well as clarify CMS’ oversight of these accrediting organizations.
In general, providers and suppliers of health care services must be substantially in compliance with certain statutory requirements before participating in the Medicare program. These obligations are known as “conditions of participation” (CoPs) for hospitals and most providers, “requirements” for skilled nursing facilities, and “conditions for coverage” (CfCs) for ambulatory surgical centers. Failure to meet the standards set forth by CMS may compromise a provider’s ability to participate in the Medicare Program.
Following the April 5, 2013 proposed regulations, the final regulations accomplish, in part, the following:
The text of these final regulations can be found here.
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Secrets, silent, stony sit in the dark palaces of both our hearts: secrets weary of their tyranny: tyrants willing to be dethroned.” – James Joyce, Ulysses
Codified in American Law through Article Three of the United States Constitution and evolving through changing times by way of the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments, the right to trial by jury remains a sacrosanct keystone of our nation’s legal system. Even so, there exists a degree of delicacy with which the judicial system evaluates the facts of any given case, and all involved must remain mindful that at times pertinent information may not be available for consideration. Significant violations of judicial filtering may result in the end of deliberations, known more abrasively as a “mistrial.”
The judicial system understands all too well that information cannot be honestly disregarded or ignored once heard, and does its best to account for the imperfections of the human mind. To enforce the Constitutional tenets of trust and truth upon which the faith of a jury must rest, today’s health care providers find themselves held to a unique standard of scrutiny when dealing with issues of privacy. … Read more →
This e-bulletin from the Health Law Committee of the Business Law Section for the State Bar of California, published on April 20, 2015, summarizes recent proposed regulations by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) for the Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2016 Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems (“IPPS”) for Acute Care Hospitals.
Every spring CMS issues its proposed regulations to modify the inpatient prospective payment systems for acute care hospitals, as well as other facilities. Sometime in August CMS issues its final regulations in anticipation of the new fiscal year starting October 1. This year like all others, the 1,526 pages of regulatory guidance (reduced to approximately 800 triple-columned-pages in the Federal Register on April 30, 2015) provide hospitals with the most important revenue information for the year, especially as these institutions try to navigate through the current climate of health care reform.
The proposed regulations cover the gamut of Medicare reimbursement concerns, including the types of hospitals that must adhere to the 2016 changes as well as what’s new with the already established Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (“VBP”) Program, the Hospital-Acquired Condition (“HAC”) Program, the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (“HRRP”) and disproportionate share hospital payments. One new additions to CMS’ annual encyclopedia of regulatory modifications includes a recoupment adjustment to account for changes in Medicare-severity diagnosis-related group (“MS-DRG”) documentation and coding that do not reflect real changes in case-mixing, totaling $11 billion over the next four years.
As the Medicare program continues to swell in ranks and hospitals become more dependent on revenue therefrom, just about any of the 382,000 words in the proposed regulations may hold the key to unlocking the mystery behind Medicare in 2016. For more information, the proposed regulation can be found here.
The following Health Law E-Bulletin was published by the Business Law Section of the California State Bar on March 27, 2015.
The following summarizes recent instructions from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) for disclosures of noncompliance arising
solely from a violation of 42 C.F.R. § 411.362(b)(3)(ii)(C) (physician-owned hospitals: website and advertising disclosures).
As part of the Affordable Care Act, Section 6001, physician-owned hospitals and rural providers must disclose on any public website for the hospital, and in any public advertising, that the hospital is owned or has physician investors.
See 42 C.F.R. § 362(b)(3)(ii)(C). CMS has determined that for providers to comply with the requirements in section IV.B of the CMS Voluntary Self-Referral Disclosure Protocol (OMB Control No.: 0938-1106), physician-owned hospitals disclosing non-compliance with this very specific part of the regulation need only provide the following information:
The complete instructions appear online here. Other disclosures, including those that include website and advertising concerns, must follow the Voluntary Self-Referral Disclosure Protocol.
This Health Law e-Bulletin, published on March 20, 2015, summarizes the 2015 National Impact Assessment of CMS Quality Measures Report (the “2015 Impact Report”) (as mandated by section 3014(b), as amended by section 10304, of the Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”)).
What if one day the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) changed the ways in which the Federal Government taxed individuals? For example, rather than assessing tax liability on the basis of income, what if the IRS assessed taxes on the basis of an individual’s contribution to society, or on his or her general demeanor or overall perception as “good” or “bad”? Under the ACA, Medicare has started to transform in such an historical manner, reimbursing hospitals now (and physicians soon) on the basis of performance, efficiency, and patient satisfaction, gradually replacing the previous system that structured reimbursement on the costs involved in the delivery of health care. The 2015 Impact Report represents the second assessment by CMS since the ACA became the law in 2010, this time focusing on 25 CMS reporting programs and nearly 700 quality measures (using data from 2006 to 2013).
The ACA mandated a push toward high-quality, evidence-based care for patients, with top priorities including (1) making care safer, (2) ensuring that each person and family are engaged, (3) promoting effective communication and coordination of care, (4) promoting the most effective prevention and treatment practices, (5) working with communities to promote wide use of best practices to enable healthy living and (6) making quality care affordable. The 2015 Impact Report provides a 262-page scorecard for those who may be interested in the ACA’s success during its first few years.
CMS is committed to quality measurement as it transforms the very nature of modern American health care. The 2015 Impact Report illustrates how providers, private payers, and communities can work together to achieve the greatest impact on quality. As stated in the 2015 Impact Report: “Everyone receiving healthcare in the nation is likely to benefit from CMS programs and initiatives, as healthcare professionals engage in delivery system reform to achieve better care for patients, better health for the U.S. population and lower costs through quality improvement.” The complete 2015 Impact Report can be found here. |
warc | 201713 | Roundup: Canadian River Vanishes, Plants in the Himalayas and Pakistan’s Villages Glacier retreat in Canada causes Yukon river to vanish.
From CBCNews: “It’s been the main source of water into Yukon’s Kluane Lake for centuries, but now the Slims River has suddenly slimmed down — to nothing. ‘What folks have noticed this spring is that it’s essentially dried up,” said Jeff Bond of the Yukon Geological Survey. ‘That’s the first time that’s happened, as far as we know, in the last 350 years.’ What’s happened is some basic glacier hydrology, Bond says — essentially, the Kaskawulsh Glacier has retreated to the point where its melt water is now going in a completely different direction, away from the Slims Valley. Instead of flowing north 19 kilometres from the glacier’s toe into Kluane Lake (and ultimately, the Bering Sea), that melt water is now draining eastward via the Kaskawulsh River towards the Pacific Ocean off the Alaska panhandle. It’s a reminder that glacier-caused change is not always glacial-paced.”
Read more about the effects of glacier retreat on the Slims River here:
The world’s highest vascular plants found in Indian Himalayas.
From Microbial Ecology: “Upward migration of plants to barren [just below the snowl areas is occurring worldwide due to raising ambient temperatures and glacial recession. In summer 2012, the presence of six vascular plants, growing in a single patch, was recorded at an unprecedented elevation of 6150 m.a.s.l. close to the summit of Mount Shukule II in the Western Himalayas (Ladakh, India). Whilst showing multiple signs of stress, all plants have managed to establish stable growth and persist for several years.”
Learn more about the role of microbes in the process of plant upward migration here.
Local struggles in Pakistan show adaptations to glacier thinning.
From Erdkunde: “Framing adaptation as a process of assemblage-building of heterogeneous human and non-human [actors], two village case studies are investigated where glacier thinning has dried up a source of irrigation water, turning cropland into desert. While in the first case case, villagers were able to construct a new and extraordinary water supply scheme with the help of external development agencies, in the second case, several approaches to utilize alternative water sources over three decades were unsuccessful. An account of the adaptation assemblages shows how a diversity of actants such as individual leaders, community, external agencies, construction materials, landslides and geomorphological features play variable and contingent roles in the success or failure of adaptation efforts, thus co-defining their outcome in complex ways.”
Learn more about the adaption efforts to glacier thinning in northern Pakistan here. |
warc | 201713 | George Walford: Conclusion to An Outline Sketch of Systematic Ideology
Let us assume the reader has found this outline sketch acceptable, that he has moved on to some of the studies which undertake to establish various parts of the theory and has found those also acceptable. Let us assume that he accepts, provisionally at least, the theory of systematic ideology. What effect will this have upon him personally? How will it influence his political views, his attitudes and expectations? It will produce a change more revolutionary than any he has previously experienced. He will not “change sides” as he may have done in the past. Instead, he will reject the conception of politics as a field in which one chooses a side, accepts this or that view and repudiates the others.
He will recognise that the field of ideology, and of social and political belief and action connected with ideology, is not a field which is dominated by arbitrary subjective choice. Neither is it a mere reflection or superstructure, governed by the events occurring in some other field; ideology is not merely an epiphenomenon of economic processes. Ideology is, like economics, psychology, biology and other such fields, a relatively independent area. It exhibits phenomena peculiar to itself, entities and events which are systematically related one to another, and processes which follow recognisable laws. All of these require, for their full comprehension, study of the internal relationships of the field itself, as well as study of the influence exercised by adjoining fields.
The study of ideology is still in a very early phase; the systematic ideologist is still able, for the most part, to speak only in general terms, and there are wide areas of activity which have not yet undergone even a preliminary ideological survey. But one conclusion which has been solidly established, receiving further confirmation from each study of particular areas, is the presence in our society of an ideological structure, exercising an influence which is not yet generally recognised.
I have tried to outline this structure, presenting, very briefly, each of the major ideologies, mentioning some of the more significant relationships between them and indicating that there is reason to regard each of them as a necessary functional constituent of modern industrial or post-industrial society. In the broadest terms, a society which is to endure must be supplied and maintained, and with these functions the eidostatics are concerned. If the society is to endure in the face of accelerating technological development then it must not only be supplied and maintained, it must also be constantly reformed and, on occasion, revolutionised, and with this the eidodynamics are concerned. If a modern society is to endure it needs eidostatics and eidodynamics, and when one enquires more closely then it is found that not only these two great ideological classes but also each one of the major ideologies is a necessary functional constituent of a modern society.
This is not generally recognised. Among all the different major political parties, movements, positions and theories there is not one which presents the others as being equally necessary with itself. Present systems of government vary, but they all have one thing in common. They all operate on the exclusive principle, they all assume that one ideology must prevail to the exclusion, more or less complete, of all others.
This assumption produces the greater part of the conflict, national and international, which not only deprives us of the benefits which modern society, with its productive systems, is capable of providing, but even puts our continued existence at risk. It does so because it ignores the ideological structure. The major ideologies, and the groups identified with them, being functionally necessary constituents of our society, cannot be eliminated. They can, for a time and to an extent, be suppressed, (at least in their overt political expression), but the effort involved produces stresses which become more unacceptable as our society becomes more integrated and the power of weapons increases.
The theory of systematic ideology indicates that we have to accept the range of major ideologies, and the groups identified with them, as enduring features of our society. This points to the conclusion that an adequate political structure would be one in accordance with the ideological structure, one which recognised that the major ideologies, and the major ideological groups, are complementary, rather than merely opposed, one to another. It is a conclusion which amounts to nothing more – and nothing less – than the recognition that if we are to survive we shall need to adapt our political system to the ideological realities.
In closing, let us recall what underlies the polysyllabic abstractions we have been using. “Ideological groups,” “negative identifications,” “economic individualism;” these, and similar terms, are only shorthand descriptions of ways in which people behave. It is people who form ideological groups, and it is people who form society and its ideological structure. When we speak of establishing a political system consonant with the ideological structure this is only to say that an adequate political system would be one that works with, and not against, the way in which people in our society behave.
Continue reading
An Outline Sketch of Systematic Ideology (1977): The Walsby Society | Introduction | Ideology and the Left | The Field of Ideology | Assumption and Identification | Definition of an Ideology | Ideological Groups | The Major Ideologies | Ideological Development | Intellect | The Group Situation | The Cosmic Situation | Political Individualism and Collectivism | Economic Individualism and Collectivism | Personal Ideological Structure | Social Ideological Structure | Conclusion | Papers on Systematic Ideology Other posts Last posts PSI Circular Number Two (February 1979) PSI Circular Number One (January 1979) Joshua Feldman: Reconceptualising (systematic) Ideology in the Wake of Political Psychology George Walford and Ike Benjamin: The Sad Case of the SPGB Linda Sloane: Systematic Ideology and Identity / The Triangle of Society, Ideology and the Individual Their “Operation Utopia” George Orwell Letters to George Walford George Walford: The New Magic George Walford: Exploring Ideology George Walford: Sciences |
warc | 201713 | Annie Altizer is trying to remember what it was like to run.
She is 18 now, and it has been five years since she was able to streak down a soccer field, something she started doing when she was 4 years old. In fact, the night before she woke up unable to use her legs, she played in a game.
The match was uneventful. So when she’s asked about it today—whether there was a last-second goal or a shootout or any daring defensive maneuvers—she can’t say much. But then she thinks back to aiming her head down and seeing her outstretched shadow gliding a few feet ahead of her as she sprinted, her ponytail whipping back and forth.
“That’s what I remember best,” she says.
That night, after the game, Annie’s muscles cramped, and she had trouble walking around her two-story home. She lost her balance a few times and tripped over her legs, which didn’t seem to be processing the orders her brain was sending them. In the morning, she awoke with her lower extremities feeling as though they were on fire. “A horrible pain,” she says, her voice quaking. She tried to stand up and crumpled to the ground. Then numbness set in, blotting out the feeling in her toes, her calves, her thighs.
“I picked her up off the ground and was trying to make her stand and bear weight,” says her father, Jeff Altizer. “I didn’t tell her I was going to do that. I just kind of lifted her up and then I let her go. She didn’t stand up.”
The rest of her life began in a hospital room packed with balloons at Children’s Medical Center at Legacy. After a flurry of baffled doctors, in walked a towering man wearing blue jeans and a pair of cowboy boots. Dr. Benjamin Greenberg had only been in Texas a few months. Children’s had plucked him from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore to start the second transverse myelitis center in the United States. As he eased into a rocking chair, he stared into Annie’s eyes and delivered the diagnosis to his 13-year-old patient.
Transverse myelitis is a rare inflammatory disease that attacks the spinal cord, damaging the connection between the brain and the nerves that control muscles. It strikes seemingly at random; researchers have not established a solid genetic or environmental link.
“Some people gain all their function back, but some don’t gain any function back,” Annie remembers being told. “I know that if you work really hard at PT, then you’ll definitely make some gains.”
There are about 1,400 new diagnoses each year, according to the Transverse Myelitis Association. Many of the specialists who treated Annie had no knowledge of the disease before Greenberg approached them.
“We focus on the underlying processes that cause the disease and identify the experts who don’t realize that they have a major contribution to make to these patients and bring them into the fray,” Greenberg says.
That’s how Dr. Jonathan Cheng found himself rewiring Annie’s nervous system 10 months after her diagnosis. A nerve that controlled her ankle was injured. She was taking steps by then, but she couldn’t move her ankle vertically. She tripped over her toes. Cheng made a 6-inch incision on the side of Annie’s leg, just below the knee, and restored the nerve supply to the paralyzed muscles that lift her foot. Now Annie doesn’t drag her toes on the ground. She can jog about 20 feet. She drives. A senior at McKinney Boyd High School, she plans to apply to the University of Texas later this year.
“Most patients who get this disease and are not in Dallas get told by doctors over and over again that whatever recovery you get at six months to a year, maybe two, is all the recovery you’re going to get,” Greenberg says. “That is one of the worst lies in all of medicine.”
In July, Annie’s big toe tingled. It was the first time she had felt it in five years, just another stride closer to seeing her shadow ahead of her in the field again. |
warc | 201713 | Exercise Programs for Inactive Older Women With Lower-Back Pain
As women get older, it becomes more important to take certain practical matters into account when choosing an exercise program. You might have increased episodes of pain, or you might not have the same level of flexibility or strength you had when you were younger. If you suffer from chronic lower-back pain, you may have to limit or avoid certain exercises that place excessive strain on your lower back. Yet certain exercise programs can also improve your posture and reduce lower-back pain by strengthening the muscles that support your lower back.
Older Women and Lower-Back Pain
Osteoporosis is a primary health concern for many aging women. As you age, your body stops producing estrogen, resulting in decreased bone density. Older women are particularly susceptible to injuries and lower-back pain caused by osteoporosis. Although osteoporosis is a key reason for lower-back pain in older women, other possible causes include arthritis, tumors of the lumbar spine, congenital disorders and infections, according to the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.
Benefits of Exercise
Older women can take certain proactive steps to reduce or improve symptoms of lower-back pain. Engaging in a regular exercise program that includes strengthening exercises, resistance training and aerobic exercise can provide a number of benefits, including increased bone density, improved flexibility and range of motion, and less pain. Combining exercise with education on pain management can provide additional benefits. A study published in the December 2008 issue of the "Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing" found that older women with lower-back pain who engaged in an eight-week program consisting of lumbar stabilization exercises and education on pain management showed a significant reduction in lower-back pain and improved flexibility, life satisfaction and lumbar muscle strength scores.
Types
Certain exercises that are used to increase muscle strength can improve your posture and reduce lower-back pain. Suggested strengthening exercise programs for your lower back include hydrotherapy, a type of water exercise therapy, and the Alexander technique, a postural strengthening program, according to the National Osteoporosis Society. Aerobic exercise, such as walking or swimming, is recommended to keep the lower-back muscles nourished and to promote healing. Additionally, practicing modified yoga may provide benefits for seniors with lower-back pain by reducing pain and improving flexibility and strength, according to the American Senior Fitness Association.
Try These Exercises! Considerations
Your doctor or physical therapist can educate you on specific pain management techniques for your condition. Consult your doctor before starting an exercise program, especially if you've never exercised before or suffer from a medical condition that may affect your ability to perform certain exercises. It's best to learn the proper form and modifications for certain exercises from a qualified instructor. Stop exercising if you experience increased pain or any additional troublesome symptoms and seek medical attention as soon as possible.
References Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies: Low Back Pain Spine-Health: Lower Back Pain Treatment National Osteoporosis Society: Exercise and Osteoporosis Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing: Effects of a Strengthening Program for Lower Back in Older Women with Chronic Low Back Pain American Senior Fitness Association: Yoga for the 50+ Photo Credits Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images |
warc | 201713 | Exercises to Break Down Carbs
When working out, your muscles burn carbs and fat. When you perform low-intensity workouts, you burn fat, and when the intensity is higher, you burn more carbs. Since there is no way to know precisely how many carbs you burn, the breakdown of carbs is measured by calories. Calories are a combination of carbs and fat and are used by your body for energy.
Swimming
Swimming burns calories and protects your body. Your body is better protected in water because water is several hundred times denser than air and can neutralize gravity. You will carry less body weight because of the decrease in gravity, which makes you less susceptible to injury. According to "Women's Health" magazine, this is one of the best workouts for people with arthritis because swimming is a lot easier on your joints and gives you the opportunity to work out stiff muscles. When you are in water, the more submerged you are the more calories you will burn because of the constant resistance. By swimming laps, you are increasing your heart rate and using more muscles than the average workout, allowing for the breakdown of carbs. Research from the Mayo Clinic shows that an average 160-pound person can burn up to 511 calories in one hour of lap swimming.
Cardio
Exercises such as running, walking and cycling are examples of cardio workouts. These exercises mostly use the same muscles but in different ways. The primary muscles include the hamstring, quadratic and calf muscles. As you use muscles to perform the activity, your body burns calories that it needs for energy to perform each task. According to the Mayo Clinic, in one hour, a 160-pound person can burn 606 calories while running, 314 calories while walking and 292 calories while cycling. If you are performing these exercises at a high intensity, you have a better chance of burning more carbs than fat.
Dancing
Dancing gives you the opportunity to work all of your major muscle groups while improving coordination. You can literally shake off the calories while shaping up your physique. A 160-pound person doing ballroom dancing for one hour can burn 219 calories. Other dance workouts such as hip-hop, salsa and jazz dancing are more intense forms of exercise that burn more carbs than fat. Performing these types of dance for an hour allows you to burn 200 to 400 calories. If you are interested in your own form of dance, you can still burn 200 plus calories by dancing for one hour.
Kickboxing
Kickboxing is a high-intensity, carb-breakdown and calorie-burning workout. For this workout, which incorporates kicks and punches, you can use light weights. Kickboxing works your arms, shoulders, abs, thighs, hamstrings and butt. This is a stimulating way to burn a high number of calories -- 500 to 800 per hour. When you do an interval workout by incorporating punches and kicks, you give your body a new way to work its muscles. The muscles have to break the habit of routine -- from workouts like running -- and learn a new way to work, which allows your body to burn more calories.
References Mayoclinic.com: Exercise for Weight Loss: Calories Burned in 1 Hour Womenshealthmag.com: Best Swimming Workout: Lose Body Fat in the Pool Fitness Magazine: Kickboxing Workout: Sculpt Muscles and Blast Fat Health Status: Health Benefits of Swimming Sciencedaily: Burning Fat And Carbohydrate During Exercise Sciencedaily: Burning Fat And Carbohydrate During Exercise Photo Credits Goodshoot/Goodshoot/Getty Images |
warc | 201713 | Published on May 20th, 2016 |
by Henri Replacing a water heater Q. After how many years should one consider replacing a water heater? I have a 10 year old water heater, which seems to be just fine, but I don’t want to wake up some morning with a flood in my basement. Would you recommend replacing the hot water heater now? A. Glass-lined water heaters typically have a useful life of about 10 years. Stone-lined heaters should last considerably longer (mine lasted 20 years). Water heaters start leaking slowly, so, if they are set on a concrete floor in an easily visible area, the leakage will become apparent early. But you are wise to think preventively.
For those who have electric water heaters, a replacement well-worth considering is the Marathon plastic water heater; it cannot rust. It does not have or need sacrificial anodes since there is no metal to be protected from corrosion.
I replaced my 25-year-old leaky stone-lined heater with a Marathon that I purchased through my power company. The installation must be made by specially-trained people, as soldering the connections is tricky since copper is connected to plastic.
Any licensed plumber should be able to get one and install it.by |
warc | 201713 | Throughout the country, speed limits are increasing. From highways to city streets, drivers are getting the luxury of getting to their destination a little faster. In one instance, there was an article in
Time magazine that highlighted the issue of speed traps – or those stretches of road that were prone to attracting speed tickets – in the United States. In response, politicians and law enforcement started weighing their options for how to handle those speed traps. And, a solution was to increase the speed. But, all of this leads to the question: will the increase in speed limits all through the country, and especially Louisiana, lead to more accidents, or even accident-related fatalities? Should Politicians Set Speed Limits?
A politician may want to appease his or her constituents, but they need to also consider the safety repercussions of increasing speed limits? Speed limits, ideally, should be set by engineers or scientists along with law enforcement, as well as transportation and safety professionals. Only these individuals could fully assess if an increase in speed is safe. Also, speed limits should be set using data and studies from researchers.
Will Increased Speed Limits Lead to More Accidents?
A study conducted by the National Motorists Association determined that raised and lowered speed limits in urban and rural access highway areas showed that 85 percent of motorists followed the posted speed limit – and the number of accidents did not increase. The study concluded that:
Posted speed limits were set on average at the 45 thpercentile speed or below the average speed of traffic. Speed limits were posted on average between five and 16 miles below the 85 thpercentile speed. Lowering speed limits by five, 10, 15 or 20 miles per hour had a minor effect on vehicle speeds. The average change in any percentile speeds during the experiment was less than 1.5 miles per hour. When speed limits were lowered, there were no changes among high-speed drivers. When speed limits were raised, there was an increase of less than 1.5 miles per hour for drivers traveling at or below the 75 thpercentile speed. After speed limits were altered at experimental sites, less than one half of the drivers studied complied with the newly posted speed limits. Accidents lowered by 5.4 percent where speed limits were experimented on and lowering speed limits more than 5 miles per hour below the 85 thpercentile speed of traffic did not reduce the number of accidents. Speed Can Cause Accidents When a Driver is Reckless
While speed is a common cause for auto accidents in the state, as well as the country, many drivers who are speeding are doing so at a reckless rate. When the speed limits increase and other drivers are also following similar speeds, the National Motorists Association study shows that the likelihood of an accident goes down. Also, other factors contribute to auto accidents and speed – such as distractions, drunken driving, or even weather conditions.
Were You Injured in an Auto Accident?
Whether it is due to a high speed area or simply a driver’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation under the law. In order to determine if your case is eligible, you must first speak with a personal injury attorney. Contact Herman, Herman & Katz, LLC today regarding your case. We offer free case reviews, so schedule yours at 844-285-0251 or fill out our online contact form with your questions. |
warc | 201713 | It has become fashionable for various internet gurus to decry the unreliability and/or onerous maintenance requirements of this gizmo:
What you see here is a Shimano LX rear derailleur, "Rapid-Rise" (i.e. low-normal or reverse-action) version, from about 3 years ago. It started as HC inventory way back when, but came to me this time in used-condition (from a coworker's bike?) and is now installed on the Pugstigator. At HC, we occasionally use road derailleurs (Tiagra, 105, Ultegra, Dura-Ace, Campagnolo, etc), but for the types of bikes we usually build and fix, mountain bike parts generally make more sense, and for various reasons, Shimano is the brand we use the most. From the economical Alivio/Acera all the way to bling-bling XTR, I have used them all on personal bikes and customer bikes, and I think it's safe to say that Shimano makes rear derailleurs that work well, are easy to adjust, and that take the use, abuse, and neglect that folks tend to heap on them. Anytime you read an opinion that derailleurs are inherently unreliable or require tons of maintenance, you should immediately question the credibility of the author of that opinion. Of course, derailleurs get a bad rap from people who haven't used one made in the last 20 years, or from those who attribute minor mis-adjustments to an inherent design flaw. Of course, a legitimate case can be made that the derailleur, being exposed/dangling as it is, is subject to getting bent, say, if you back your car into it or slam it in the trunk (this happens A LOT). The case could also be made that derailleurs can't shift while coasting or while the bike is stopped, which is a real drawback in certain applications (especially cargo bikes). And, last but not least, it's a strange-looking mechanism, and not every cyclist understands how it works, how to adjust it, or how to keep it reasonably well-maintained. (if you are a local customer of ours, and don't know these things, we will be HAPPY to give a free hands-on lesson - just ask). Regardless of whether the problem is with the equipment or with improper use/abuse, it seems clear that much of the trend of the past 10+ years toward single-speeds, fixed-gears, and more recently, internal gear hubs (IGH) is the result of folks being frustrated or intimidated by derailleurs. Personally, I think single-speeds make a lot of sense for a city bike in mostly-flat Minneapolis, and I really enjoy riding fixed-gear. I could also list a number of applications where the IGH has some real advantages over derailleurs, primarily: you can shift at a dead stop (imagine riding a loaded Big Dummy up to a stoplight only to realize you're in a too-high gear) and often there are benefits to having a chainline that doesn't change. If you come to HC looking for a bike for which an IGH is the best choice, I will certainly suggest that option, but I will also make sure you understand not only the advantages, but also the drawbacks (yes, there are drawbacks, and they are significant). Yesterday I received a call that started with some words that are now familiar to me: "I really like the idea of an internal gear hub..." Of course, the "idea of an internal gear hub" that the caller was talking about is the mythical drivetrain that requires almost no maintenance, is guaranteed to be reliable under even the most extreme circumstances imaginable, and almost never needs to be repaired or even adjusted. This is simply not a realistic expectation of any IGH system, though the fantastic (and fantastically expensive) Rohloff comes close. Anyway, he went on to tell me about a lengthy bicycle tour he was planning, much of it through some pretty remote places. Would, he asked, the popular Shimano Alfine 8sp hub be an appropriate choice under those circumstances? My answer is no, probably not. He suggested to me that, while he planned to stay mostly on paved roads, there was the chance that he would go offroad, and that he didn't want to risk mud jamming up his derailleur. Well, I ride offroad quite a bit, and I have had problems with mud jamming up my wheels, but I never had mud jamming up my derailleur. In fact, if mud somehow gathered around the derailleur, it most likely would also jam up the tiny, somewhat delicate parts that comprise the Alfine cassette joint, which is the external moving part that shifts the Alfine hub. Even if this wasn't a wildly contrived scenario, unlikely to really happen, I'd much rather wipe mud off a derailleur than try to extract mud from the recesses of the Alfine cassette joint... Of course, when I hear "long bike tour", I also hear (in my head) "50 flat tires in the dark or the rain". With derailleurs and quick-releases and a little practice, fixing a flat is EASY and FAST and generally requires NO TOOLS (aside from the pump and maybe a tire lever). With the Alfine, fixing a flat is relatively difficult, time-consuming, likely frustrating, and is best accomplished with a 15 mm wrench, a 2 mm allen wrench, and a small flat-bladed screwdriver (plus pump and maybe a tire lever, of course). If I thought it likely that I'd have to repair more than one flat on a tour, I would trade all the alleged advantages of an IGH for the ease of fixing a flat on a derailleur bike. But maybe that's just me. |
warc | 201713 | It really is an incontrovertible fact associated with canine possession that someone’s canine will almost certainly want to chew. As soon as a young puppy’s jaws are itching as the result of his growing baby teeth to that day that your dog shuts his own eyes for his last moment, dogs will certainly chew. Chewing is really a major existence attribute pertaining to puppies. Chewing is really a standard as well as wholesome exercise, providing that it truly is directed toward suitable as well as risk-free objects for example canine chews, appropriate bones and even their personal indestructible dog toys. Any time someone’s puppy chews a person’s shoes or boots, nonetheless, or maybe home furniture legs, or books and even branches along with rocks from the yard, then harm comes.
The damage which will hails from unsuitable canine chewing isn’t held to losing the thing itself, either. Often it truly is your pet that’s damaged. Chewing upon stones damages teeth. Ingesting stones and other items not created to become consumed often leads to expensive surgeries. A wise pet owner sees that his own puppy incorporates a primal desire to chew, and gives the dog tough dog toys that are for chewing in the hopes that your dog might prefer these products rather than the particular knobs of the cabinets or maybe the piano table legs. An indestructible dog toy supplies many hours of risk-free and also relaxing chewing delight for one’s canine plus is not going to break your savings account or result in the canine to suddenly have to see the vet.
One of the better strategies to interest your dog in wanting to be using durable dog toys is to often buy them and make use of these products whilst playing with your dog. Canines often want those items that their people enjoy. Additionally they come back over and over again for the exact same products, consequently in choosing a particular gadget if jamming with your puppy, you obtain both your current aroma and the animal’s fragrance about the product, which both may very well lead him to come back to that toy when he will feel the urge to gnaw. Dog proof your home as much as possible by simply putting away unsuitable belongings you don’t want chewed, like shoes, and next, leave an array of the particular toys and games you do wish the pup to munch inside the particular places that he has a tendency to invest the most time. |
warc | 201713 | Idaho law provides people injured in car crashes, or through other negligent acts, a claim for compensation for a variety of damages they incur. Included in the claims are things like medical care, car repair and pain and suffering. Often one of the most complex areas to try and calculate a fair value for a …
Category Archive: settlement Permanent link to this article: http://holzeredwardsinjurylawyers.com/2013/08/lost-income-claims-in-personal-injury-cases-can-be-complicated/
Jun 11
It is fair to wonder what it is that personal injury attorneys do.For good attorneys, the answer is we get cases ready for trial. That does not mean your case is going to trial, just that it will be ready to go. The difference between a good personal injury attorney and one who is just a …
Permanent link to this article: http://holzeredwardsinjurylawyers.com/2013/06/what-is-it-that-injury-lawyers-do-anyway/
Jan 25
There are many, many, questions that we discuss with people who call us to talk about their Idaho personal injury case. Below are a few that we hear regularly and some basic answers. We are always happy to discuss these issues further so do not hesitate to call us about your injury claim. How fast …
Permanent link to this article: http://holzeredwardsinjurylawyers.com/2013/01/some-frequently-asked-questions-we-hear-as-accident-injury-lawyers/
Jul 30
There was a an R& B hit called Somebody’s Watching Me by a musician called Rockwell in the mid-1980s. It always comes to mind as I warn injured people that they need to be aware that the insurance companies will be snooping around their lives and even videotaping them at times. Anyone needing to assert …
Permanent link to this article: http://holzeredwardsinjurylawyers.com/2012/07/video-surveillance-of-injury-claimants-in-idaho-big-brother-is-watching/
Jun 11
We often talk with clients about a settlement offer they receive or the risks of trial versus the potential for proving their injury case. After discussing this issue today with a client, I sat down and came up with a list of the things people do that cause insurance companies and juries to reduce …
Permanent link to this article: http://holzeredwardsinjurylawyers.com/2012/06/10-things-people-do-that-reduce-the-value-of-their-injury-claim-actually-34/
Nov 17
Idaho personal injury law involves civil claims (as opposed to criminal claims) in which a person is injured through the negligence, recklessness or intentional misconduct of another person, a company, or property owner. Personal injury claims and lawsuits usually relate to physical injuries, although there are some for emotional injuries. The social role of …
Permanent link to this article: http://holzeredwardsinjurylawyers.com/2011/11/idaho-personal-injury-law-summary/
Oct 18
If your case is settled with the bad guy’s insurance company, (and most do settle without a trial) Idaho law gives you the right have your own insurance company share the cost of legal representation you obtained to help you. Your own insurer usually has a claim of some sorts for amounts it paid on …
Permanent link to this article: http://holzeredwardsinjurylawyers.com/2011/10/did-yo/
Oct 03
When a person is injured by another person’s negligence the injured person has the right to recover all the damages incurred. Damages include both economic losses (lost income-medical expenses etc.) and non-economic losses (loss of enjoyment of life, disfigurement, pain and suffering etc.). A more complete discussion of damages can be found in this …
Permanent link to this article: http://holzeredwardsinjurylawyers.com/2011/10/a-bad-idea-lives-in-idaho-limits-on-non-economic-damages/ |
warc | 201713 | Tinkering for success Tinkering for success
Kate Lim was a flight stewardess for several years, before she also spent a year in a pharmaceutical sales role.
However, she had always maintained a long-term interest in technology, and software coding in particular.
In February last year, she became part of the first cohort of “TechLadies”, a ten-week coding bootcamp for women.
There she met Jaryl Sim, Chief Technology Officer of Tinkerbox Studios, a software development firm, who was serving as a coach.
Following the conclusion of TechLadies, Lim was accepted into an internship programme with TinkerBox. And after completing that intensive five-month training, she was offered an ongoing role with the firm, and is now a full-time product manager.
Encouraging software careers
While TechLadies is not the brainchild of Tinkerbox, the firm does actively participate in a wide range of career development initiatives for the software industry. As well as its mentorship efforts, its industry engagement includes sponsorship and participation in various technology conferences.
This is part of a strategy to engage with the software development community in Singapore, and to convince budding developers that local firms are serious about cultivating technology talent, says Kelvin Tham, Chief Operating Officer.
He says Singaporean graduates of engineering and computer software courses have typically not favoured careers as software developers.
“For example, they prefer to work in banks and be analysts, while the talented developers also prefer to work in Silicon Valley,” he says. “They don’t view Singapore as a place to practice their craft,” he says.
“This is something we want to improve,” he says.
Multiple hiring touchpoints
Besides conferences, Tinkerbox actively engages with universities, particularly the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and Singapore Management University (SMU), the alma mater of Tham and Sim.
For example, Tinkerbox took in several interns from SUTD’s maiden intake of software engineering students.
“It was well-received and we now have a mini cult-following among SUTD students,” says Tham.
While Tinkerbox participates in recruitment fairs with universities, most of its hiring centres on those who have completed its internship scheme, as well as through employee referrals and the firm’s outreach programmes.
Tham says Lim is a prime example of how participating in coding bootcamps can lead to the recruitment of promising coding talent.
Overall, Tinkerbox’s recruitment strategy encompasses various strategies,” he says.
“We have multiple touchpoints with people through conferences, universities and clients.”
Thirst for knowledge
Tinkerbox has also implemented a strong learning culture across its 22-strong workforce.
“We believe that learning and growing as a developer doesn’t come from lecturers, reading, or online courses,” Tham says. “You learn when you have a mentor and when you work on a project together.”
Hence, the organisation tries to inculcate this form of co-learning on all of its projects, with junior employees being afforded opportunities to work on client projects under the guidance of their assigned mentors.
At a basic level, every code written by an employee is reviewed by their peer before it is approved and integrated into the application.
Learning and development is also undertaken at every opportunity, even after the conclusion of a client project.
Aptly termed “Post-mortem”, this entails a reflection session held within teams to sum up what was done well, what were the mistakes made, and what could have been done better during each project.
Tinkerbox’s inquisitive learning culture has also led to it building its own internal software tools, including a proprietary web-based project management application that helps manage projects, clients, and manpower resources.
“We used Google Sheets, but that is not translatable to clients and developers. Since we’re software writers, we decided to do something for ourselves,” says Tham.
The “Tinkerdex” platform has also become a tool for employees and management to manage basic HR matters, such as leave applications.
Tham firmly believes these learning and development initiatives are assisting employee retention efforts.
“Our belief is that if we give opportunities and continue to grow people in the company, they won’t then find a reason to leave, unless there are external reasons that we can’t control,” he says.
Fika sessions
It’s not all work and no play for Tinkerbox employees.
The company encourages employees to let their hair down and step out of their work zones on a daily basis, by partaking in its regular “Fika” sessions.
Fika is a Swedish term meaning “coffee break”.
These sessions were championed by Ted Johansson, Tinkerbox’s Swedish-born Technical Lead.
“Ted encouraged everyone to stop staring at their computer screens and to use these Fika sessions to talk to each other in a casual setting,” says Tham.
The daily 15-to-30 minute break sessions take place in the mid-afternoon, and employees can engage in conversations, grab snacks, or play board and table games.
“It has evolved to become one or two games of the card game Uno or foosball,” adds Tham.
TinkerThursdays
Tinkerbox’s Studios’ desire to continuously broaden its horizons in the software development space has led to the creation of “Tinker Thursdays” within the company.
According to Kelvin Tham, Chief Operating Officer, TinkerThursdays is a fortnightly event where employees stay back after work to share knowledge and update each other on the latest developments in the software development sphere.
To add a fun element into it, employees participate in coding, design and website challenges, with dinner ordered into the office.
“We work on different client projects, and teams are often fragmented. Hence, we wanted to have an activity that brought everyone together,” says Tham.
“It’s about understanding what new technologies are out there, what some people may have tried, and to help those who aren’t aware of new developments.”
Kate Lim, a product manager with Tinkerbox Studios, says TinkerThursdays has been a huge hit with employees.
“Even though it’s held every fortnight, we feel sometimes that we have to wait too long for the next session,” she says.
Sandeep Aggarwal, Chief Financial Officer of Aon-Hewitt Asia-Pacific, shares his thoughts on the Workday finance and HR analytics platform. He says the cloud-based system is intuitive and easy-to-use, but still provides powerful insights across the functions. |
warc | 201713 | Young children love to go for nature walks and collect autumn treasures. This collection from the outside can then be brought inside for some fun indoor activities. The following article provides some suggestions on how to use leaves (nuts and other fall finds) in an early childhood curriculum to encourage the development of math skills in young children.
Sorting Autumn Leaves
The best way to start this activity in a preschool or daycare setting is to go for a nature walk with the group of children and allow them to collect the leaves. If this is not possible, then a collection of real leaves, or even paper or silk leaves, can be used. In small groups or in a large circle, the teacher can ask the children how these leaves can be sorted into groups. She/he can ask questions such as:
How could we put these leaves into groups?" What makes these leaves the same and what makes these leaves different?" What colors do we see? Are some leaves bigger or smaller? I wonder how many leaves we have all together? I wonder which group of leaves is the biggest?
Simply stating these questions allows children to think about size, shape and color differences and begins the steps towards basic math concepts such as categorizing.
Depending on the age of the young children, they will need more or less guidance in their sorting choices. Once the groups have been decided upon, then the categories can be counted. For instance, if the children decided to sort the leaves by color, then all the red leaves will be counted and so on. Perhaps, the children will decide to sort the leaves by design or size. This decision can be left to the children or given by the teacher. After the small groups of leaves have been counted then a graph can be drawn on a paper by the teacher and this illustration posted in the room.
The following picture is a pin from my Pinterest Fall Board
Felt Leaves on a Flannel Board
Another way of teaching children about sorting leaves is to use felt leaves on a flannel board. Each child can be given a leaf to bring to the board to place into the appropriate category or row at circle time. Afterwards, the children can then be asked to come back to the flannel board to remove a leaf according to the teacher's request, such as "please hand me the biggest red leaf on the board". This latter activity works well as a transition out of circle time. When the leaves are coming onto the board, the teacher can remind the children of the words used for sorting size: big, bigger and biggest as well as small, smaller and smallest. A further step is to ask the children to repeat these words to encourage language development.
Sensory Table for Fall Collections
Placing fall collections into a sensory table provides children a hands-on activity with the autumn leaves, nuts, pinecones and so forth. By placing containers with small compartments, such as muffin tins or ice cube trays, the children are provided opportunities to sort and collect. Finding opportunities in this free time activity to ask open ended questions further develops math skills in young children. Asking a child to count how many nuts they have found, for example, fosters math skills.
Math opportunities are abundant in an early childhood setting during all seasons through planned activities which encourage the development of basic math skills. |
warc | 201713 | Recumbent exercise bikes are among the most popular pieces of exercise equipment out there, and with good reason. They are designed so that people at every fitness level can exercise comfortably. Even if you are recovering from an accident and need physical therapy, a recumbent exercise bike can help you reach your fitness goals. Recumbent bikes help you lose weight …Read More »
Bike by Budget
A lot of exercise equipment is made for indoor using to burn a calorie. But the spin bike is one of them, that is contained high-quality and also for using. These are included in the different price and different quality. Same as these spin bikes are also added to the best spin bikes under 500. Anyway, are you searching for …Read More »
In order to come up with the most appropriate decision as to which is the best recumbent exercise bike under 200, you will surely need to keep in mind certain factors which are crucial in making the choice. IndoorBikeReview.com has highlighted some of these bikes so that you can be able to choose one that best that suits your needs. …Read More »
Most men and women aim at a healthy lifestyle without breaking their bank. Recumbent bikes make a great choice when it comes to indoor exercise equipment. Buying one will definitely cost less than an annual membership in the local gym. When you choose to do your exercise in a smooth manner, recumbent bike are the best choice. You can pedal …Read More »
Maintaining a healthy, fit and stable body needs extra work and investments rather than delicious meals only. You will have to spend some time and energy in exercises and workouts in order to maintain your body in perfect shape. Choosing the best recumbent bikes can be very challenging considering the variety of models which are currently available in the market. …Read More » |
warc | 201713 | So, the next time you drink tea, remember this pointers:
Drinking hot tea, 65-69C - twice the risk of oesophageal cancer Drinking tea within 2-3 minutes of it being poured - five times more risky Drinking very hot tea, 70C and more - eight times increased risk
The findings were from a group of Iranian scientists. They studied and researched based on these interesting reasons:
Most cancers of the oesophagus especially in USA and UK are linked with smoking and alcohol consumptions. There are other places in the world with much higher level of cancers of the oesophagus although lower in alcohol and cigarette consumptions. OSCC) in the world. OSCC is the most common form of the oesophagus cancer. 300 people that were studied were diagnosed with OSCC and most of the people studied drank black tea everyday, on an average over 1 litre a day.
However, this does not proof that drinking tea at temperature 70C can cause cancer but there is a connection. The best advice is to drink your tea with milk which then tends to cool it enough to reduce the risk.
The main risk factors for oesophageal cancer are smoking and alcohol consumptions. People who want to reduce the risk of such cancer should stop smoking and reduce their alcohol intake.
Related Video thanks to BMJmedia: |
warc | 201713 | Posted on February 15th, 2010 by Kelley Luckstein
It is known that eating a Mediterranean diet similar to Italians or Greeks is beneficial for the heart…
Now, the February issue of Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource has covered key components of this diet as well as reasons why this approach is known as a heart-healthy eating plan.
Times of India, 2/11/2010
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warc | 201713 | Hedgehogs should be fed with nutritional food so that they will be active and you will contribute to the enhancement of their lifespan as well. The natural diet offered to the hedgehog includes slugs, caterpillars, worms and ground beetles. You can also offer combination food to these pets which include meat-based cat food or dog, sunflower hearts, and dried meal worms. As hedgehogs are lactose-intolerant, you should not offer bread and milk.
What to feed hedgehogs?
You should be aware of the right kind of hedgehog food so that it will be active. If the hedgehog lives in wild, its diet comprises of insects. Even though hedgehogs love insects, you will not want to feed them when you domesticate them. You will want to feed one to two tablespoons of food per day so that you can understand the fact that hedgehog food is very inexpensive. The primary food of a hedgehog is plainly simple.
You should follow the hedgehog food list and guidelines so that its needs can be fulfilled in a very efficient way. You can take a printout of the overview of hedgehog food items so that it will be very convenient to feed the animal with right kind of food items.
Food bowl should be positioned in the cage near the entrance and the food should be offered at the same time on each day. The bowl should be cleaned and maintained on regular basis so that it will not contact any disease. You should be aware of hedgehog diet restrictions as well so that wrong food items will not be served and its health condition will not be compromised.
By offering the best hedgehog food, you will not overload the sensitive digestive system. If right kind of food is not served to the pet, it will become obese and there will be many health issues. Dairy products should be avoided, but you can offer small quantities of yogurt and cottage cheese not more often than once a week.
Hedgehogs are dependent upon low-fat diet. Even though they can eat meat, it should be limited and excess amount of red meat should be avoided. Hedgehogs are used to insects when they live in wild. However, you should avoid bait shop insects as they contain toxic elements. Fruits such as grapes and raisins should be avoided. Nuts are not easily digested by hedgehogs and they feel difficult to digest as well.
There are many nutritious items which you can use to feed hedgehog. Hedgehog likes a variety of food items. Hence, you can offer various foods items as snacks apart from regular meals. The main portion of hedgehog’s diet should be dry foods and they will have right amount of fat to protein ratio. Hedgehog nutrition is very much important so that you should take special precautions to make the most of your time, effort and money.
As the food is already inexpensive, you should consider buying food offered by reputed brands which is specifically prepared for hedgehogs so that they will get the nutrition without fail. Our top recommendation for hedgehogs is Spikes Semi-Moist Hedgehog Food, as it contains every necessary ingredient to keep your hedgehog healthy. However, you should still change food sources for your hedgehog from time to time.
In case you are out of specialized hedgehog food, you can offer high protein, low fat dry cat food for hedgehogs as the fat ratio will be in the same level as that of insectivore’s diet. You should not choose baby cat food as it contains high amount of fat. You should always choose low-fat food so that the pet will be able to digest it very easily. You should choose hedgehog food which offers healthy food to enhance the health of the pet.
If you choose to provide food yourself, the food should contain 30% protein and 15% fat. Some breeders recommend mixing of few different types of at food so that there will be great nutrition. Feeding a hedgehog will not be a gigantic task if you are aware of its requirements. Variety of items can be served during the meal time and in between meals. Some special food items can be served once in a week so that the pet will be very active and its lifespan can be enhanced successfully.
Occasional fruit treat should be offered so that the pet will be healthy and happy. However, remember to avoid grapes and Large amount of fruits should not be offered as they contain high amounts of sugar.
Most types of meat can be offered to hedgehogs. However, you should follow certain guidelines. You should never offer raw meat to hedgehog. Processed or canned meat should not be offered to the pet.
The following insects can be offered to the pet:
Crickets Silkworms or mealworms
You should ensure that insects are farm-raised. Farm-raised insects are free from chemicals and insecticides. You should not feed insects that are available in your garden or the bait shop.
Hedgehog dietary needs can be fulfilled by offering baby food makes. They contain required amount of fruits, vegetables and meats so that the hedgehog can digest it very easily. Hedgehogs enjoy banana, biscuits and chicken leftovers. You should not feed fish-flavored cat or dog food, pork, bread and milk.
You should want to buy the right kind of hedgehog feeding bowl. The bowl will be convenient for the pet as well as caregiver. It can be cleaned very easily and you can keep the surroundings clean.
8in1 Ultra-Blend Select Hedgehog Diet is a product which can be suggested for hedgehogs. The product is designed to feed all ages groups. It contains high animal proteins and amino acids. The product has exact amount of vitamins and minerals as well.
‘Sunseed Company-Vita Prima Hedgehog Treat-Wigglers & Berries’ is another product which comes with delicious mealworms and berries. The product comes with high protein content so that it will serve the needs of hedgehogs without any issues. If you are looking for high quality hedgehog food, you can offer the treat occasionally. The product has natural foraging instincts.
‘Pretty Pets Premium Headgehog Food 3LB’ is another treat for hedgehog, prepared with wholesome vegetables. You can use it as a training treat as well.
If you choose to go for different product, before placing an order online, you should be aware of the brand and the ingredients used for the preparation of the product. There are certain kinds of products which are suitable for specific species of hedgehog only. Hence, you should go through the complete information so that the most appropriate hedgehog food can be selected so that your pet’s needs are fulfilled in the best possible way.
Hedgehog will be your best companion when you take care of your needs. The lifespan of the pet will double in captivity as you will be able to provide better food and living conditions. The cage and various accessories that you provide with it will certainly enhance the activity and there will be great satisfaction.
If the hedgehog is sick, you will want to take additional care. The food should be chosen selectively so that it will recover very quickly and regains its health. The food quantity and varieties should be changed as per its whims and fancies so that the pet will maintain the normal activity. You can also follow the latest and best practices as suggested by experts so that the hedgehog will be active and healthy. You should offer the food as per the advice given by the veterinarian in case it gets sick.
In addition, you could read even furthermore about your hedgehogs needs and deeper insights about its behavior by reading Kate Pellham’s complete book “Hedgehogs: The Essential Guide to Ownership & Care for Your Pet” |
warc | 201713 | American mothers as a whole do not breast-feed their babies as much as health experts would like, but African-American moms have the lowest rates of all — by some measures, they are half as likely to nurse as whites and Hispanics.
KellyMom is sponsored this month by THERALOGIX, maker of TheraNatal Lactation One – the first postnatal supplement that eliminates the need for infant vitamin D drops – formulated specifically to meet the unique nutrient needs of both mom and baby during breastfeeding.
Use promo code “KELLYMOM” during
Amazon checkout for 10% OFF until 3/31/17 Our sponsors are not responsible for and have had no influence over the creation, selection or presentation of evidence-based or other information or resources provided on this site. |
warc | 201713 | Galvanic Corrosion
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AUSTRALIAN
STAINLESS STEEL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION T E C H N I C A L FA Q s No1 METAL CORROSION What it is and how to avoid it Contact between dissimilar metals active galvanic effects as the liquid in the When two metals are connected and in occurs frequently but is often not a crevice under a bolt or clamp becomes contact with a conducting liquid the more problem The aluminium head on a more concentrated Water may be active metal will corrode and protect the cast iron block the solder on a excluded by design or the use of adhesive noble metal Zinc is more negative than copper pipe galvanising on a steel sealants steel and so the zinc coating of and the steel fastener in an steel will corrode to protect the steel at aluminium sheet are common Metal to metal contact scratches or cut edges The stainless Galvanic corrosion can only occur if the including 304 and 316 are more positive dissimilar metals are in electrical contact than zinc and steel so when stainless steel The contact may be direct or by an is in contact with galvanised steel and is What causes galvanic external pipe or wire or bolt If the wet the zinc will corrode first followed by dissimilar metals are insulated from each the steel while the stainless steel will be corrosion protected by this galvanic activity and will other by suitable plastic strips washers or For galvanic or dissimilar or electrolytic sleeves then galvanic corrosion cannot not corrode The rate of galvanic attack is corrosion to occur three conditions must occur Paint is not a reliable separator from governed by the size of the potential be met direct contact although painting all of the difference the metal join must be wet with a noble metal is quite effective Painting the As a rule of thumb if the potential conductive liquid active metal causes drill holes at coating difference is less than 01 volt then it is there must be metal to metal contact defects unlikely that galvanic corrosion will be the metals must have sufficiently Potential differences different potentials If all three conditions are met then All metals dissolve to some extent when galvanic corrosion is probable and the rate Wetting the join they are wetted with a conductive liquid of corrosion will be influenced by the The degree of dissolution is greatest with relative area and the current density The conductive liquid or electrolyte could active or sacrificial metals such as delivered by the noble metal be rainwater or even water from magnesium and zinc and they have The greater the conductivity most negative potential In contrast noble the more severe the galvanic effects Salt or passive metals such as gold or graphite Relative wetted or industrial pollution the conductivity of water so are relatively inert and have a more surface area positive potential Stainless steel is in the galvanic effects are normally more severe If a noble metal like stainless steel has a middle although it is more noble than near the coast or in heavy industrial areas large surface area in contact with the carbon steel The potential can be Low conductivity pure rainwater will only electrolyte while the sacrificial metal such measured with a reference electrode and cause slight galvanic effects One as galvanised steel has a very small used to construct a galvanic series is that during evaporation surface area in contact with the shown on page 2 ASTM Standard G82 water films become more conductive so electrolyte then the stainless steel benign water may cause TECHNICAL SERIES ASKED QUESTIONS Australian Stainless Steel Development Association ACN 061 226 051 Level 15 215 Adelaide Street Brisbane Q 4000 Telephone 07 3220 0722 Facsimile 07 3220 0733 PAGE 1 Email Website TECHNICAL SERIES ASKED a large corrosion current which Available current density In the water industries galling between will be concentrated on a small area of stainless steel threads and nuts has metal The galvanised steel will Stainless steel has an effective passive film avoided by using aluminium bronze nuts corrode quickly first the zinc then the so the available corrosion current is quite on stainless steel studs or bolts steel and so galvanised low If the behaviour of a coppersteel and aluminium bronze is more active in stainless steel are not a stainless steelsteel couple is compared stainless steel the conductivity of However a stainless screw in the coppersteel coupling is a more water and hence the corrosion rate is galvanised steel is frequently used significant galvanic problem despite the generally quite low The nuts will a mound of zinc corrosion similar potential separation of 035 volts replacement but only at times of major product will accumulate around the Examples of acceptable galvanic pairs This is because the ratio of include One unacceptable case was a gasket with wetted noble fastener in an active metal Galvanised steel pipe hangers are used to a carbon black loading so high it was might change from a 150 ratio to 11 hang stainless steel piping externally conductive and caused severe drying after a rainstorm If around chemical plants The surface area attack of a 316 stainless lug are significant this means ratio is bad with large area of stainless gaskets have caused similar avoiding dissimilar metal pairs may be steel to small area of active zincsteel but a preferred option to prevent galvanic the rainwater is usually of quite low attack conductivity and 20 year service life is As a rule of thumb if the wetted area of normal the corroding metal is 10 times the wetted area of the noble metal then are not serious although the larger the ratio the less the effect T E C H N I C A L FA Q s PAGE 2 No1 Australian Stainless Steel The technical contained in this publication are necessarily of a Development nature and should not be relied on for specific applications without first ACN 061 226 051 securing competent advice Whilst ASSDA has taken all reasonable steps to ensure Level 15 215 Adelaide Street Brisbane Q 4000 the information contained herein is accurate and current ASSDA does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of the information and does not accept liability for Telephone 07 3220 0722 Facsimile 07 3220 0733 errors or omissions Email Website
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warc | 201713 | The majority of my early childhood memories are consumed by my grandma and thinking about her still makes me teary this day. Regardless of how long ago she passed, I remember her perfectly. We would always do girly things together like bake; look at old photos and artworks from before I was born. She also helped me write my first little book which was just some squiggly drawings and strange looking letters, but it has so much value and I still have it. She bought me my first and precious stuffed Pink Panther toy (that I admittedly still sleep with). I think we got along so well because we loved each other’s company, therefore we bonded. We had so much in common and she treated me like I was the only person in her life.
She was around 62 when she died, so she was young for a senior. I felt confused and lonely and didn’t understand why she would just suddenly ‘
disappear’. Hardly a year later things got worse. My mum and dad were constantly fighting for many personal reasons and they eventually separated.
I lived with my dad. We moved away and I started school out in the western suburbs. I still visited my mum and sister on the weekends, but grew up not knowing either of them very well.
We originally lived around Wiley Park, but moved out into the Western Suburbs. It was just my dad and I for a long time. It’s awkward talking about girly things like hormonal changes and boys with your dad. Sometimes a girl just needs a female in her life.
Growing up without a mother around, I grew up more quickly than most and had no choice but to become very independent at an early age. I was often the one looking after my younger sister when dad went out. I thought I knew everything.
I didn’t seem to fit in to mainstream school and was often the class clown. I got in-trouble a lot. I got sent to detention mainly for not taking cooking classes seriously or for wearing purple socks. I was suspended from school and from public transport.
Aside from the craziness, I was bullied. The older girls would make fun of me because I wasn’t as pretty as them and make nasty comments about the way I dance and draw. I fell off my bike in front of everyone and they laughed in my face. During an assembly, a boy pulled my chair away from behind me so when I went to sit down; I fell straight to the floor. Everyone laughed. I laughed with them but I was fighting back the tears.
I became negative and rebelled. I had no self-control and didn’t care about anything. I climbed out windows to escape class, wore the wrong uniform, talked back to teachers, didn’t do my work and came to school a mess. Even when the principle referred me to the counsellor, I didn’t feel comfortable because I don’t open up easily to strangers. Despite my wild behaviour, I suffered in silence. I’d lost my self-belief. No one understood me.
The counsellor knew about the SISTER2sister program which is about girls like me. Girls who want to make a change for the better. I thought it was perfect. It was exactly what I needed. I had an opportunity to have a Big Sister as a girl for me. I was accepted and was introduced to Kathy who saw my potential from the very beginning and we hit it off.
It was a fresh and positive start to 2010. The program had different outings each month where we got to spend time with other Little and Big Sisters doing fun things such as Butterfly Bootcamp, dancing, art classes and others things. It taught us how to live a healthy life style and my outlook on life was changed. With Kathy’s guidance, I started to find myself again. If I wanted to pursue my dreams of becoming an established actress, I had to go out and get it myself. I had to learn to accept the things I had, even if it’s not a lot and stop living to impress people.
Because I couldn’t fit in with mainstream school, Kathy thought a good idea was Bradfield Senior College which is more flexible, it’s independent and you can be yourself without fearing judgement. The subjects were more on the creative side which suited me perfectly.
It opened my eyes. I became close with my mum; finally receiving that mother daughter time I’d always desired. The college made me closer to my mum as it gave her a deeper insight to what type of person I am, what I want to do and how hard I’m willing to work to achieve success. I’m being a role model for my sister, my life was mending itself, and things only got better.
Because of the program, I’ve made new friends, gained a friend for life, started taking responsibility for my education and never lost hope. It’s also made me a more confident person.
I can proudly say I’ve turned my life around. I am now 20 years old and have completed my HSC. I’m in a happily relationship, took a gap year to work and travel overseas. I have a certificate in Sound Engineering, work casually as a children’s entertainer and photographer, moved into my own house and have almost completed my first year at Acting College. I’m a happier person and gained what I’ve always longed for; self-belief.
Self-belief is something everyone needs. Without it, you can lose yourself. For all those girls out there who feel lost or down about themselves or feel like they’ll amount to nothing; self-belief. There are two meanings in self-belief. You is the first and love is the second. You can’t love until you love yourself and belief comes from that. Everything else flows from there.
I still see Kathy regularly and thank her for changing my life for the better. |
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