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- Special Sections
- Public Notices
Owen County lost one of its most recognizable citizens – Dr. Charles Calvin “C.C.” Arnold died Monday.
Dr. Arnold, who was born in Squiresville, served as a dentist in Owen County for more than 50 years. He also served as mayor of Owenton from 1969 to 1973, president of the Owen County Parent Teachers Association and chairman of the Owen County Hospital Board.
Janetta Keith, who went to work for Arnold as a dental assistant in 1977, said Dr. Arnold was a devoted dentist.
“He gave many long hours to his dental practice and Owen County,” Janetta Keith said. “He gave much of his dental work without payment, but it came with the price of advice about healthy eating habits and how much money you could save.”
Owen County Judge-Executive Carolyn Keith said Arnold served his community at little cost.
“Dr. Arnold is an example of what I call the greatest generation,” Carolyn Keith said. “He worked hard to get through school and came back to Owen County and helped so many who could not afford dental work. I think he and his wife Hazel Jo were a great asset to this community.”
Owenton Mayor David “Milkweed” Wotier said he will remember Arnold for his contributions to the city of Owenton.
“He always had the interest of the city at heart,” Wotier said. “He worked very hard on the water issue in Owenton, to bring resolve to the water quality and quantity issues in Owenton. He set an example of how to be committed and love your community.”
Community Health Planner at Three Rivers District Health Department Melody Stafford said her very first job was with Dr. Arnold.
“He gave me my first job at the dentist office,” Stafford said. “He was very tolerant of a 12-year-old girl who had just lost her father and needed a job desperately. He taught me how to be a dental assistant, a receptionist and so many other things.”
Stafford said Dr. Arnold also served on the Three Rivers Health Board.
“Having a dentist on the board is very important and he served us well,” Stafford said.
Janetta Keith said Arnold loved serving his patients and his county.
“Dr. Arnold always loved Owen County and all of his patients who came from far and wide,” Janetta Keith said. “Some thought he was slow, but doing it the correct way the first time saved a lot of teeth. His conversations will be missed by all. He was a great person, father and dentist who loved Owen County to the end.”
Funeral services for Dr. Arnold will be held at 11 a.m. today at the Owenton First Baptist Church with Bro. Jim Craigmyle officiating. Burial will be in Owenton Cemetery. | <urn:uuid:f9b49d1f-d0d9-479a-b5dd-16e9865ec6da> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.owentonnewsherald.com/content/community-mourning-local-leader | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985366 | 623 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Don't have a workout buddy? Find one on your phone. Virtual social circles can help you lose weight—provided the process is fun, says a new study in JMIR Research Protocols.
Researchers asked people to keep a log of their daily fitness habits, requiring some participants to add a social game to their routine. Players earned points for tracking activity or setbacks, which were redeemable for rewards. After 10 weeks, participants who played the game exercised more often and decreased their body mass index more than regular exercisers.
The key to weight-loss success is adding little bit of playfulness to the mix, says lead researcher Marientina Gotsis, director of the Creative Media & Behavioral Health Center at the University of Southern California. Tracking your habits in a diary is effective, but adding in a fun aspect like a game can make your regimen easier to complete, she says.
The game used in the study isn't available to the public, but there are plenty of weight-loss apps that can help you hit your health goals—with a little help from your friends. Here are three of our favorites.
Reward-hungry workout warriors use Nexercise to rack up points—and prizes. Every 2 minutes spent sweating equals 10 points, and if you accumulate enough, you could win goods like Propel Fitness Water and an Amazon gift card. (Free for iOS and Android)
This app hits you where it hurts: your wallet. You set how many days a week you'll hit the gym and choose what you're willing to pay if you don't follow through (for example, you might sign up for 5 days a week, with $5 on the line each day). Every week, the money paid by non-exercisers who missed their workouts is divided and paid out to those who met their goals. You can't cheat, either: GymPact keeps you honest by making you check into your gym via your smartphone each time you go. (Free for iOS and Android)
Got friends and family with dough? HealthRally lets them pledge money toward your success. Designate an end date and a motivating reward—like new running shoes or an iPad—and pick your supporters. The idea is kind of like Kickstarter: You keep your pals updated on your progress, and they pitch in for your prize. But if you don't reach your end goal, all that cash goes back to your donors. (And you start avoiding family reunions.) (Free for iOS and Android) | <urn:uuid:55cd513d-046d-4a12-8c48-3a6879dfb61a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.z104.com/Hey-Dad--Did-U-Get-My-Txt--/11276811 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957058 | 507 | 1.570313 | 2 |
HENRY H. WOY GRAVESTONE PHOTO
The Pleasanton Herald, December 4, 1914
Died: November 29, 1914
AN OLD CITIZEN HAS PASSED OVER.
Col. Henry H. Woy, one of the pioneer and best known citizens of Linn county, died at the home of J. Frank Smith, in this place, Sunday, November 29, at 8:20 p. m. Funeral services were held at the Congressional church in Mound City Tuesday afternoon, December 1, at 2 o’clock, conducted by Rev. E. N. Gause and Col. Ed. R. Smith, a life-long friend, after which all that was mortal of this grand man was escorted to the cemetery by his comrades of the G. A. R. posts of Pleasanton and Mound City. The Grand Army of the Republic service was given at the grave by officers of Montgomery post, Mound City. The pall bearers were members of Jewell post and Eureka chapter, A. F. & A. M. of this place, deceased being a member of both orders.
The principal address at the church was made by Col. Ed. R. Smith who since Col. Woy located in Linn county in 1870 has been a warm friend of deceased. Mr. Smith has delivered many funeral orations on the death of prominent citizens and pioneers of Historic Linn and his intimate acquaintance with the people of this community and his ability to say the good things of a departed friend on such occasions has been a source of much comfort to the sorrowing relatives. The address on this occasion was one of Col. Smith’s best; it was an unusually strong tribute of one friend paid to the memory of another, and the large assembly of friends and relatives of Col. Woy much appreciate the kind words spoken by one who had known the departed almost a half century.
H. H. Woy was born in Carroll county, Ohio, November 17, 1840. He was one of a family of fourteen children. Two of them died in infancy the remaining twelve living until a ripe old age, Col. Woy, second child of the family, being the first to answer the Great Master’s call. The remaining brothers and sisters are scattered to many states of the Union, and only one sister, Mrs. Alice Fox, of Clinton, Ill., could be present, she arriving a week before her brother passed over and gave him much comfort.
Deceased had been married three times-the first union when a young man, his girl wife dying of typhoid fever a few months after the wedding. He enlisted in Co. F, 57th Ohio Inft., and was with Sherman in his march to the sea, and also was in the siege of Vicksburg. After close of the war he went to DeWitt county, Ill., where on November 25, 1865, he was married to Miss Louisiana Hume. Soon after this Mr. and Mrs. Woy came west, locating in Bates county, Mo., living there a few years. In 1870 he moved to Sheridan township, Linn county, locating on the farm near Linton where he resided and which he owned at the time of his demise. He lived in Mound City a number of years and was often honored with the election of mayor of that place, and held many other positions of honor and responsibility.
His second wife, died in Mound City in 1904 and in June 1906 he was married again to Mrs. Lia Marsh. Shortly after the latter marriage they moved to the farm near Linton where they lived until Nov. 3rd when they came to Pleasanton. On July 17th he was overcome by heat while working on the farm and became very ill and was in a critical condition for about two months when he recovered enough to be able to be up and about a little but was still very weak. His age and weakened condition from a complication of ailments made his case such that the physicians gave him no encouragement.
In order that every care and comfort possible could be rendered to him, he and Mrs. Woy came to Pleasanton Nov. 3rd and made their home with Mr. and Mrs. J. Frank Smith. He fully realized for several weeks that his time was nearing the end and talked very freely about it to his wife and near friends.
Col. Woy was one of the pioneers of the county. He was known to almost every resident of this section and had a host of warm friends. All his neighbors respected him and in all his dealings he was fair and square with everyone. He was kind to those about him, very much devoted to his home and home life and was in every way a splendid citizen. His many public acts while three times mayor of Mound City and also for seven years a member of the board of county commissioners will leave their impression on the community for years to come. He was always on the side of the better things, morally and socially, and was held in high esteem by all who knew him. | <urn:uuid:2f1400ed-f8b5-4f25-9d53-50e021eca4fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/civilwar/Henry%20Woy.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.994099 | 1,040 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Connect to share and comment
Japan has summoned the Chinese ambassador after three Chinese fishery patrol boats approached a chain of disputed islands in the East China Sea.
Japan has summoned the Chinese ambassador after three Chinese fishery patrol boats approached a chain of disputed, resource-rich islands in the East China Sea, the BBC reported.
According to the Japanese coastguard, the boats entered Japanese waters around the islands – known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese – early Wednesday.
More from GlobalPost: Japan looks to buy Senkaku islands, disputed by China and Taiwan
Japan said the boats left the area, after the crews initially refused to do so, telling the coastguard: "We are conducting official duty in Chinese waters. Do not interfere. Leave China's territorial waters."
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, Osamu Fujimura, said Beijing's envoy had been summoned by the Japanese foreign minister, in protest, adding: "It is clear that historically and legally Senkaku is an inherent territory of Japan."
In response, the Xinhua news agency reported that the Chinese boats had been carrying out a "routine patrols," in accordance with Chinese law, aimed at "strengthening fisheries management" as the fishing season comes to a close.
The foreign ministers of Japan and China, in Cambodia for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) forum, are due to meet to discuss the uninhabited islands, which are also claimed by Taiwan, Agence France Presse reported.
More from GlobalPost: Banking on Africa's poor
The incident comes amid increasing tensions between China and Japan, after Tokyo last week announced it was looking to buy the islands, which may contain valuable mineral reserves, from their private Japanese owner.
China's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Weimin, hit back at the announcement, warning that "China's holy territory is not up for sale to anyone." | <urn:uuid:a3ef9a78-5a6b-45c6-9f07-88e701573538> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/japan/120711/japan-protest-china-boats-disputed-senkaku-islands?quicktabs_gp5_homepage_timeline=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952483 | 391 | 1.757813 | 2 |
A New Perspective on Medical Missions
Family physicians Maureen Strohm, MD and Noemi “Mimi” Doohan, MD recently returned from volunteer medical mission trips to southern Ethiopia. Unlike missions that only visit remote, underserved outposts where teams must bring their own supplies and equipment, their Ethiopian deployments included time at Adama General Hospital, a beautiful, new, tertiarycare center with highly ranked Ethiopian staff, state-of-the-art equipment, operating rooms, an Intensive Care Unit and key specialty services located in Adama, a modern city.
Dr. Strohm’s former University of Southern California/California Hospital colleague and Ethiopia native Gudata S. Hinika, MD created the humanitarian medical program Ethiopia Health Aid (EHA) that organized these mission trips to Adama General Hospital and rural Ethiopia. The nonprofit’s mission is to support the creation of healthy, self-sufficient communities in rural Ethiopia, with a guiding principle to provide a mutually beneficial platform for exchanging knowledge and experience between American and Ethiopian medical professionals. The EHA trips were underwritten by Adama General Hospital’s owner and general manager Kebir Hussein, who is dedicated to bringing the highest standards of medical care to rural Ethiopia.
Led by Drs. Strohm and Doohan, each respective team included a plastic surgeon, general surgeon, anesthesiologist, nurses, other medical professionals and logisticians. The teams’ primary care physicians, surgeons and nurses worked side-by-side with their
The visitors helped their Ethiopian counterparts become more proficient with the hospital’s state-of-the-art equipment and refine their laparoscopic surgery skills.
Ethiopian colleagues treating more than 50 patients daily for a wide range of illnesses including hypertension, stroke, diabetes, obesity and liver disease.
Both doctors credit the trips’ success to their clear mission — to teach, learn and heal. They further praise EHA’s leadership and volunteers along with Adama Hospital’s gracious supporters and staff for being well-organized and prepared; creating an atmosphere in which bonds of trust and respect formed quickly; and ensuring the medical mission team’s time was spent productively so the mission could be accomplished.
Beyond coming to know and love the Ethiopian people and their culture, the teams learned to “do more with less,” which helped them sharpen their diagnostic, clinical and other fundamental medical skills.
The visitors helped their Ethiopian counterparts become more proficient with the hospital’s state-of-the-art equipment and refine their laparoscopic surgery skills. They also began laying the groundwork for sustainable new systems and procedures to enhance Adama’s overall standard of care. Among them: transitioning to a primary care system that focuses on family medicine; supporting the development of the new specialty of family medicine in Ethiopia; establishing standardized procedures across different environments (city and rural); implementing a code blue protocol; and making medical education more accessible countrywide.
The mission teams also traveled to the rural town of Arsi- Negele in Ethiopia’s Lakes Region, where Dr. Hinika is funding construction of a nearly completed district hospital. Deeper into southern Ethiopia’s mountains, Dr. Hinika has built a thriving high school in Gode, where he was raised by his grandmother. Future missions will include time providing medical services in Arsi-Negele and Gode.
Drs. Strohm and Doohan count their Ethiopian mission trips among the most rewarding experiences of their lives and look forward to participating in future Ethiopia Health Aid missions.
Dr. Strohm directs the Eisenhower Family Medicine Residency Program and is a clinical associate professor at Keck School of Medicine of USC. Dr. Doohan is the director of the Family Medicine Inpatient Service at Eisenhower Medical Center and serves on the Family Medicine Residency Program faculty. Both doctors are Eisenhower Primary Care 365 physicians with practices based at the Eisenhower George and Julia Argyros Health Center in La Quinta. | <urn:uuid:f5bbe08c-9cd4-4675-a381-886527f17702> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.emc.org/healthyliving.cfm?id=855&action=detail&category=359&subcategory=&source=511&issue=659&dataRef=3154&geo= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952927 | 820 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Program Notes: A Christmas Carol (1951)
Every year seems to bring another filmic variation on Dickens’ immortal A Christmas Carol.
Which is not to say that this 1951 rendition is the most faithful to the original story. Among other things, it introduced a not-in-Dickens subplot involving Scrooge and Marley as young men. For that reason this version may offend some purists.
Moreover, the film is in black and white (a distinct disadvantage in an era when many youngsters seem to believe that watching a black-and-white film is a physically painful experience).
And yet the movie – which was released in Britain as Scrooge – feels more authentic (to me, anyway) than any other Christmas Carol.
In part, I think, it’s because this production gives the illusion of having actually been filmed in the Victorian Era (in that regard the lack of color is an advantage).
But mostly it’s because Alastair Sim was simply brilliant in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge.
The Scottish Sim (1900 -1976) was described by one colleague as "a sad-faced actor with the voice of a fastidious ghoul” – perfect credentials for a man cast as literature’s most infamous miser.
Though he appeared in movies from 1935, it was usually as a supporting player – albeit one notorious for stealing scenes from the films’ stars. He was a regular in the popular Inspector Hornleigh film series, playing Detective Sergeant Bingham and regularly upstaging leading man Gordon Harker.
Eventually Sim was elevated to leading roles and in 1950 was named Britain’s most popular film actor in a national poll.
Next stop: Scrooge.
But despite the efforts of a top-notch cast of British thespians, Scrooge/A Christmas Carol was not an immediate success. It did very well in its original British run, but its reception in the U.S. was chilly.
Originally booked into New York’s Radio City Music Hall, the film was rejected by the management as too grim for a big holiday show aimed at the family. (And that’s another reason I love this version...it’s NOT a whitewashed, simperingly saccharine version.)
It opened in a nearby theater, received mixed reviews (a rave from the New York Times, a so-so response from Time magazine) and quickly sank into obscurity.
And then along came television. From 1975 local stations aired the Sim Christmas Carol every December. In the early ‘80s PBS picked it up for national broadcast, and it quickly crept into the public’s consciousness as one of the best (if not the best) version of the yarn.
Sim enjoyed a long career. Among his recurring roles was his wildly popular drag turn as the headmistress Miss Fritton in the St. Trinian’s series of films set in a British boarding school. He appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Stage Fright and in productions like Waterloo Road, Folly to Be Wise, and An Inspector Calls.
Sim lived long enough to get a sense of the enduring popularity of his Ebenezer Scrooge. Only a year after the movie began showing regularly on TV, Sim died at age 76 after a battle with lung cancer.
Other films in the series “A Very Dickens Christmas”
Saturdays at 1:30 p.m.:
- December 1: A Christmas Carol (1951) Not Rated
- December 8: The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) Rated G
- December 15: A Christmas Carol (2009) Rated PG
- December 22: Scrooged (1988) Rated PG-13
- December 29: Scrooge (1970) Rated G
Admission to these films is free.
About the Author
Robert W. Butler is a lifelong Kansas City area resident, a graduate of Shawnee Mission East High School and the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas. For several decades he was the movie editor of the Kansas City Star; he now writes a movie-themed blog at butlerscinemascene.com. He joined the Library's Public Affairs team in 2012. | <urn:uuid:a92c30d5-19f9-4047-ba96-b149a821932a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kclibrary.org/blog/film-blog/program-notes-christmas-carol-1951 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963577 | 881 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Warren Buffett in an op-ed piece in The New York Times (Aug. 14) reports that his federal tax bill for 2010 was 17.4 percent of his taxable income, a starkly lower percentage of income than paid by the other 20 persons in his office whose federal "tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36 percent" of their taxable income.
Mr. Buffett finds this situation intolerable, as should all of us who believe in fairness and equity in supporting the costs of "providing for the common defense, promoting the general welfare and securing the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity," which is what our forefathers in the preamble to our Constitution deemed to be the role of government.
Our current political discourse is so devoid of substance and truth in packaging that the Grover Norquist-led group named "Americans for Tax Reform" can successfully require many elected federal officials to sign a pledge to preserve these inequities in the name of "reform."
I propose that candidates for federal office be presented with the Buffett Pledge: "I pledge to support a federal tax code that requires those most fortunate among us who have benefited the most from the American dream to pay at least the same rate of tax on their taxable income as the secretaries, janitors, clerks and managers they hire; and the policemen, teachers, and soldiers who serve and protect them."
MARVIN BESHORE, Fairview Twp. | <urn:uuid:91e03b83-2e1a-4cd6-a708-33732c13f9a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pennlive.com/letters/index.ssf/2011/08/buffett_makes_good_point_about.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970536 | 295 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Almeric Walter Nancy Pottery Vase, ca. 1890
Appraised Value: $900 - $1,200
IMAGE: 1 of 1
Appraisal Video: (2:17)
Paintings & Drawings, Pottery & Porcelain
Humler & Nolan
GUEST: This pottery was owned by my grandparents, and then my mother acquired it, and then when I was a kid, I didn't see it anymore, so I thought maybe I broke it or my sister broke it. But then my sister happened to be up in the attic after Hurricane Katrina, and she found these boxes, and when she took it down, this was one of the vases that was in the box. I was hoping she would find my train, but she didn't. (chuckling) I got stuck with the vase.
APPRAISER: It is signed on the side. It's signed "A. Walter, Nancy,” and it is a ceramic vase done by Almeric Walter, who is really best known as a glass artist. Walter worked in Nancy, France. Probably this piece would have been dated around 1900, maybe a little bit before. Mostly what we see on the Roadshow are pate de verre pieces, which are actually glass paste that Walter became very proficient at making, and they're multicolored pieces, typically glass paste forced into a mold and some really amazing creations. We see a fair amount of that. I think, from what I can tell talking to my colleagues, this may be the first piece of A. Walter pottery that we've seen on the Roadshow. It's a very typical piece, and the colors, interestingly enough, are very similar to the glasswork that he did. But being a scenic, it’s actually a very charming piece, very soft pastel colors. Now, there are some rather long and deep craze lines in the piece. Typically they all had these long craze lines in them. So it's not something that happened from your sister or from Katrina. It just seems to be consistent with the way the pottery was made. It doesn't seem to affect the value at all. Now, had you had thoughts of value?
GUEST: Well, I thought it was worth between five and eight, maybe, hundred.
APPRAISER: Okay. Well, it’s not too far off. I think probably an auction value on it would be more like $900 to $1,200.
This website is produced for PBS Online by WGBH Boston. ©1997-2013 WGBH Educational Foundation.
ANTIQUES ROADSHOW is a trademark of the BBC and is produced for PBS by WGBH under license from BBC Worldwide.
WGBH and PBS are not responsible for the content of websites linked to or from ANTIQUES ROADSHOW Online.
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Finding a Colorized Quarter
I was doing laundry the other day, and as I was putting quarters into the dryers… I came across one quarter that had a colorful side.
It was a Pennsylvania state quarter, and looks like it was created in 1999. This is the first time I’ve come across a colorized quarter before, and it kind of caught me by surprise. At first glance, I thought it was some kind of a token.
What’s strange is that the coloring layer looks a little off – I’m not sure if this was a minting error, or if it simply got rubbed askew after so many years in circulation. There’s a decent amount of wear in the middle of the coin’s design.
I wasn’t able to find a ton of info in my quick searching, but did happen across a site that was selling colorized quarters. Looks like they’re worth around $3 or $4 a pop. Another site mentions these types of quarters being sold as part of a set, and only end up in circulation because someone decides to spend them (they’re technically real currency, after all). Seems kind of sad.
In case you’re wondering, I did not consign this quarter to the laundry machines. I put it in my pocket, and I’ve set it aside on the windowsill in my bedroom. I don’t know what I’ll do with this guy – keep him for a while, is my guess.
Until the day comes when I decide I’ll just spend it, like any other quarter.
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Making Money By Visiting The Bank | <urn:uuid:bf4a68e7-69cb-48b2-a337-464255d87045> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://avoision.com/2012/08/16/finding-a-colorized-quarter.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946164 | 420 | 1.726563 | 2 |
News 12 at 11 o'clock / Wednesday, March 7, 2012
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Something as simple as a bug bite inspired one GHSU student to go into medicine. Now his story has earned him a finalist position in a national competition.
Hevil Shah is a fourth-year medical student and one of 10 finalists for Take a Trip with Timmy, a group working to improve health conditions worldwide.
In high school, he went on a family trip to India and says his experiences from that trip made him want to become a doctor.
One morning on his trip he woke up with something on his hand.
"I just remember waking up and my hand, it was my left hand that was completely swollen. Couldn't figure out why. It looked like it was an insect bite," Shah said.
So he decided to go to a clinic in India and what he saw there changed his life.
"We are basically seen immediately and then the doctor gives me some medication and we're out the door in 15 to 20 minutes," he said.
Meanwhile in the clinic waiting room, sick children continued to wait.
"The child that I kept noticing was this one about 2 or 3 years old and he was just vomiting and having diarrhea the whole time we were in there," Shah said.
He was there when Shah got to the clinic and was still waiting with his father when Shah left.
"[His] dad was just doing whatever he could to clean it up. He had a couple of towels that people gave him and in the end he ended up having to take the shirt off his own back and wipe it down," he said.
Shah said that's the moment he decided to go into medicine.
"I was upset that that 2-year-old was in much more pain and much more distress than I was," Shah said. "He should have been one of the first people to be seen."
And Shah said the problem still exists in India.
"If you have the means, then it works out really great for you. If you don't, there's still a little bit of a bias," he said.
That story helped make Shah a finalist in a national competition and if he wins, he'll travel to clinics in South America.
"For me, it would be a great honor to work with children around the world, just get that experience and make life a little bit better for them," he said.
Shah says it doesn't matter where you are, pain is all the same.
"A child is sick, a child is sick. The same pain someone here will feel is the same pain they will feel, the same fevers, everything."
And it's those sick children that Shah wants to spend his life helping, all because of a bug bite.
Each finalist submitted an essay and then was selected to make a video entry. Those entries can be found online on YouTube. The judging will take into account the number of "likes" the video has on YouTube.
To vote for Shah, click here to watch his video, then click the like (thumbs up) button.
The winner of the competition will be announced on Monday night.
Have information or an opinion about this story? Click here to contact the newsroom.
Copyright WRDW-TV News 12. All rights reserved. This material may not be republished without express written permission.
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A few Saturdays ago, I went to the Downtown Alliance’s Farmers’ Market in Pioneer Park. That wonderful activity, combined with the Utah Arts Festival and other summer events, make me feel like I live in a real, almost cosmopolitan, city.
About 1:30 p.m., I drove back by Pioneer Park. Within just a few minutes after the yuppies and their high-priced suppliers of delicacies had vacated the premises, the park had been almost totally reclaimed by the homeless. Scores of lost souls wandered aimlessly, either alone or in small groups. And, in what seemed to be the full view of the Salt Lake City Police Department, I saw what appeared to be transactions of herbs probably not as legal as those on sale a few hours earlier.
Every four years over the past few decades, candidates for mayor and the city council have talked about cleaning up the park and its surrounding environment. But nothing ever happens.
The latest hope is that the gentrifying effects of the restored buildings in the neighborhood and the construction of a large number of new residential units will, in the converse of Gresham’s law, drive out the bad influences. Unfortunately, if the past is any guide to the future, that won’t work either.
The reason that homeless people hang out at Pioneer Park is obvious to anyone honest enough to accept the answer'all of the service providers for the homeless are located within a few hundred yards of the park. There is simply no other place for the homeless to go. Feed a stray cat once and it will live with you forever. For a related reason, the homeless will continue to call the park home; it will be a very long time before the service providers will be located anywhere else.
Think about it. Many in Salt Lake City would protest loudly about moving the homeless anywhere else unless facilities and services at the new location were at least as comprehensive as those near the park. On the other hand, everybody who lives within artillery range of any proposed new home for the homeless would protest it more stridently than they would a new Wal-Mart. It’s not as if Sandy is fighting to have the homeless shelter along with the new soccer stadium. Any change in the location of the homeless is years away.
Of course, the police could keep the park clean by rousting the homeless and the small-time drug dealers on a regular basis. But if they took the time to do so, the rest of the city would be wide open to a crime wave and the county jail would be filled to overflowing.
Since I am not smart enough to solve the homeless problem at Pioneer Park, at least not in a way that would have any chance of being adopted by the powers that be, I hereby propose a contest. The readers of City Weekly are pretty smart, and I recently read that collective wisdom is better than individual thought. I therefore invite the readers of this column to come up with detailed suggestions about possible solutions.
But, please, send your ideas to Mayor Rocky Anderson and the City Council, not me. Fortunately, the only time I get near the park is for the market, and driving by on the way to Interstate 15. | <urn:uuid:8853527f-8c33-4ae8-bf3a-65addd4f3eca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/article-63-3160-pioneer-narc.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972214 | 656 | 1.726563 | 2 |
From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
Proposed state rules for oil and gas drilling are getting mixed reviews. While the staff of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission hails them as pacesetting in balancing the needs of industry and affected communities, some environmental groups say the rules don’t do enough to protect homes near drilling sites.
Public hearings will be Jan. 7-9, 9 a.m. each day, at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel, 1550 Court Place, Denver.
Two sets of rules were developed with extensive input from local governments, farmers and ranchers, the environmental community, homeowners, the energy industry, homebuilders, mineral owners, environmental health specialists and business leaders, according to a news release from the commission. The rules define procedures for setbacks, mitigation and notification of drilling activity.
“These proposed rules reinforce Colorado’s role as a national pacesetter in the comprehensive and progressive regulation of oil and gas exploration and production,” said Matt Lepore, director of the commission’s staff. “These proposals contain mitigation standards unprecedented nationally and mark yet another step forward in fashioning a model regulatory framework that strikes a balance that’s right for Colorado.” Environmental groups say the rules are weak.
“After months of hearing from stakeholders and thousands of citizens across the state who want greater setbacks, the governor’s proposal would still allow heavy industrial activity near our homes and families,” said Chris Arend, spokesman for Conservation Colorado, a coalition of environmental groups.
The groups want larger buffer zones and stronger groundwater testing near drilling and fracking sites.
“As local governments act to address drilling impacts near communities, these proposed weak regulations raise concerns of the ability and political will of the administration to properly regulate drilling and fracking in our state.” The greatest drilling activity in Southeastern Colorado is concentrated in Las Animas and Huerfano counties. Huerfano County residents have experienced impacts from drilling activity in recent years.
From The Denver Post (Bruce Finley):
Environmental groups that worked with Shell Oil to develop a tougher before-and-after groundwater-testing rule are calling the state’s proposal a farce. Colorado’s water sampling “would be the worst in the nation adopted thus far,” said Dan Grossman, regional director for the Environmental Defense Fund and a former state lawmaker…
Drilling hotbeds near communities in Weld, Boulder and Larimer counties need “at least as much scrutiny of impacts as the rest of the state, not less,” he said…
This week, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, charged with promoting the industry and simultaneously protecting Colorado’s environment, is set to vote on the new water rule along with restrictions on drilling within 500 feet of homes. COGCC staffers say they designed the water-sampling requirement to ensure that data exist to measure industry impact and to reassure increasingly restive communities.
However, adoption of the rule as currently proposed would mean that sampling would be less rigorous in the Wattenberg Field drilling zones north of metro Denver, where 17,844 wells exist near communities and companies plan to drill thousands more. It would mean water samples are not taken at facilities where, according to state data, companies have reported hundreds of spills each year since 2008 — about 17 percent of these contaminating groundwater with petroleum material, including cancer-causing benzene. For example, a spill was discovered recently by a state inspector in La Plata County — a leak of glycol from a ruptured hose at a gas compressor, which Maralex Resources Inc. covered with gravel…
Yet the COGCC’s proposed water-sampling rule focuses narrowly on deep well-bore casings, where few spills are documented. The spills harming groundwater typically are discovered by oil and gas crews working on storage tanks and pipelines. If the COGCC adopts a weak rule, state lawmakers could step in to beef up environmental safeguards. Some companies oppose mandatory testing at all drilling sites, let alone at production facilities…
State regulators don’t expect to win over all sides, COGCC director Matt Lepore said. He defended the proposed water rule, challenging groups’ assertions that drilling hotbeds north of Denver are “exempted” — because a different sampling program using existing wells would provide data. He noted that Weld County authorities, unlike counterparts in other counties, do not favor a more-rigorous water-sampling requirement. Oil and gas spills at tanks, pipelines and other production facilities usually can be detected by state inspectors, who already have a process for holding companies accountable, Lepore said. (The COGCC has 16 inspectors. Colorado has about 49,236 wells, up 31 percent since 2008.)
From the Aspen Daily News (Dorothy Atkins):
As the state reviews new oil and gas regulations, Pitkin County commissioners and staff argue that the proposed policies are not comprehensive and do not give the local government enough power in restricting development…
Under the most recent draft, which was released on New Year’s Eve, oil and gas wells would be required to be setback 500 feet from buildings, including residential, commercial and public structures. Also, oil and gas operators would be required to take samples from two groundwater sources near drilling sites to be tested for contamination.
Those regulations don’t give enough discretion to the local government, wrote county commissioners in a November letter to the COGCC. Instituting a statewide standard isn’t the best way to regulate development, because it doesn’t give the local government, which has a better understanding of the area, the authority to institute a higher setback in case local conditions demand it, commissioners wrote. If a setback is instituted it should be 1,000 feet or more and that distance could be reduced at the discretion of the local government, according to commissioners…
Kurt Dahl, county environmental health manager, said that the water monitoring regulations give too much leniency to the oil and gas operators and allow them to set their own timeline in testing the area without addressing what should be done if water is found to be contaminated. For example, under the proposed regulations, oil and gas operators can be exempt from testing water if a source can’t be found within a mile of the well.
“The general consensus is that the regulations were written very loosely,” Dahl said.
“ … There is no discussion or follow up of what happens if we do find something wrong.”
Here’s a release from Conservation Colorado (Matt Sura/Chris Arend):
Days before the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) is set to begin a three-day hearing on water quality protection and new rules about oil and gas drilling near homes, two of the oil industry lobby organizations, Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA) and Colorado Petroleum Association (CPA), have filed a motion to block people who live close to existing oil and gas wells from testifying at the hearing. The COGA/CPA motion, filed on Thursday afternoon, complains that the submitted written testimony from impacted residents is “harassing and abusive” to the industry.
“It is height of irony that the oil and gas industry is calling citizens who have had their lives turned upside down by drilling as somehow “harassing and abusive” merely because they want to tell the Commission what has happened to them,” Matt Sura, attorney for three Western Slope community organizations stated. “We call on Governor Hickenlooper and the COGCC to deny these shocking motions and allow these Colorado citizens to tell their stories.”
Twelve people from Garfield and Mesa counties have submitted written testimony. Their health complaints include becoming nauseous from the fumes from nearby oil and gas operations, burning eyes, coughing, and the disruption of living in constant dust and noise from oil and gas drilling. Many also have concerns that their property values have plummeted now that they are surrounded on all sides by oil and gas wells and production facilities.
Tom Thompson, a resident of Rifle stated, “It’s too late to save most of western Garfield County. But if the commission acts responsibly and promptly we may save families and communities on the front range.”
There are also a number of witnesses that are living near oil and gas operations on the front range that have similar complaints of the noise, dust and odors of living within oil and gas industrial operations. COGA and CPA have requested that the testimony from a total of 15 witnesses be barred from testifying.
These witnesses are from a broad coalition of Colorado Conservation organizations including Western Colorado Congress and Conservation Colorado.
Dee Hoffmeister of Rifle submitted written testimony about she and her husband returning from a 50th high school class reunion to find a drilling rig had been erected on the property next door – about 700 feet from their home. “When we got out of our car, we were overwhelmed by a visible cloud of something that smelled horrible and had blown over our home from the well. Shortly after I got into our house, I passed out because of the fumes,” Hoffmeister wrote.
Some gas field residents, frustrated by the lack of action from the state COGCC or the state Health Department, have had to take extraordinary measures to protect their homes and communities. Dave Devanney of Battlement Mesa, started the “Bucket Brigade” that uses adapted five gallon buckets to collect air samples that are then sent to labs for analysis.
“We have been asking for the state to monitor our air quality for nearly ten years. We created the “Bucket Brigade” because we feel the state regulations and inspections are not adequately protecting public health,” Devanney stated.
Another witness, Marion Wells, felt she had to purchase her own noise meter. From her living room, she has documented and recorded industrial noise levels during nearby drilling and hydraulic fracturing.
As part of the rulemaking, the COGCC is considering air quality and noise mitigation requirements when drilling occurs near homes. However, in rural areas (larger than 3.27-acre lot sizes), the 500-foot setback would be waived simply by an oil and gas company demonstrating that they have mitigated their impacts “to the greatest extent economically practicable.”
Mike Chiropolos, Western Resource Advocates, believes the current draft of the rule means industry is dictating the outcome of the central issue in the rulemaking. Chiropolos stated, “Colorado families are getting sick, and they are tired of waiting for the state to act. The homeowner testimony that industry seeks to exclude shows why greater setbacks are needed. Does anybody besides the Colorado Petroleum Association think the State should ignore citizens and base its decision solely on industry’s wishes to continue drilling a stones’ throw from houses?”
Karen Trulove sold her home at a loss in order to move away from the oil and gas operations surrounding her home in Silt, Colorado. Karen is also hoping the COGCC will prevent other citizens in Colorado from having to endure what she and her husband went through. Trulove wrote in her testimony, “The point is, there shouldn’t be any drilling close to any dwellings. It is industrial activity and should be confined to industrial zones. It is inexcusable to put some people’s health
at risk when there is technology available to drill safely.”
More oil and gas coverage here and here. | <urn:uuid:32e16e30-a676-48a2-974c-12d362e59a60> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://coyotegulch.wordpress.com/2013/01/07/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957505 | 2,387 | 1.8125 | 2 |
As Congress and the President rush to re-authorize the dangerous FISA Amendments Act (FAA)—the law shamefully passed after pressure to legalize certain portions of the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program—EFF has been sounding the alarm that Americans’ communications are still being unconstitutionally collected by the government without a warrant. On Friday, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, (DNI) begrudgingly agreed, acknowledging that, “on at least one occasion” the secret FISA court “held that some collection…used by the government was unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment.”
In a letter to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the DNI declassified three statements at the request of the Senator, one of which indicated that the FISA Court agreed with Wyden that the government had “circumvented the spirit of the law.” Wired called it a “federal sidestep of a major section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act,” and the Wall Street Journal confirmed it “represented the first time the government has acknowledged U.S. spy activities violated the constitution since the passage of” the FAA in 2008.
This is vital information, as Congress is in the midst of debate over extending Section 702 of the FAA before it expires at the end of the year. Section 702 severely weakened privacy protections for Americans communicating overseas, and may have swallowed protections against surveillance of our domestic communications as well.
But it’s also important to take a step back here to understand how we know this and why that process is deeply troubling. Apparently, the secret FISA court—at some point—ruled that the government was violating the Constitution. When? We have no idea. How many Americans were affected? We don’t know that either. As CATO Institute’s Julian Sanchez pointed out, these requests can be incredibly broad—a single incident could potentially impact millions of Americans. Were there any remedies or was the NSA just given a slap on the wrist? Again, we don’t know.
And remember, the declassified statement says “on at least one occasion” so there very likely could be more. Previously, the NSA told Sen. Wyden it was not possible to count the number of Americans affected by FAA surveillance. Rather unbelievably, the NSA also stated that even a general estimate of how many people the NSA had spied on would somehow violate the privacy of those same Americans.
Wyden had been warning the American people for months in vague terms that the government was overstepping its bounds in its interpretation of 702. Now, the only reason we’ve learned the barest minimum about of the sidestepping of a public law and the Bill of Rights is because the very same government agency that was responsible for the wrongdoing allowed it.
Congress can and should force the administration to answer all of these questions in public, so that we can allow the democratic process to determine whether 702 should be extended.
Of course, many major news outlets had been reporting since just after the FAA passed (here, here, and here for starters) that Americans’ communications were still being collected by the NSA without a warrant. Yet Congress has steadfastly refused to fix the problem. Both House and Senate committees recently voted down amendments that would have added privacy safeguards and transparency requirements to the law, claiming no such evidence existed.
Sen. Wyden, on the other hand, has been alleging that “section 702 [of the Act] currently contains a loophole that could be used to circumvent traditional warrant protections and search for the communications of a potentially large number of American citizens.” But Wyden’s amendment that would have required a warrant to search the communications of a specific American was voted down 13-2 after Intelligence committee chairman Dianne Feinstein insisted there was no such loophole. Sen. Feinstein’s assurances seem to conflict with the DNI’s statement.
Similarly, when Rep. John Conyers implored his House colleagues to vote for an amendment requiring the government give a general estimate how many times Americans’ communications had been collected without a warrant, Rep. Dan Lungren (R-California) shot back: “What evidence is there that it is being used to spy on Americans?” The amendment failed 11-20.
Congress may be able to ignore reports in the media that the NSA is still collecting Americans’ emails, but it should not ignore the admission from the DNI itself. Congress must now drastically overhaul this law to prevent further abuses of the Constitution or vote down entirely.
- Court Said Wiretap Violated Constitution’s 4th Amendment – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
- NDAA’s ‘Indefinite Detention’ Provisions Unconstitutional, says Judge (prn.fm)
- Ezra Klein – 14 reasons why this is the worst Congress ever (prn.fm)
- Jana Nestlerode – The NDAA Is Worse Than We Thought (prn.fm) | <urn:uuid:88cdbf21-8720-45f8-879e-7aed6bedc4d4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://prn.fm/2012/07/24/congress-act-government-admits-unconstitutional-warrantless-wiretapping-time/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958252 | 1,037 | 1.789063 | 2 |
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Saturday, March 14, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
France. (2)Jean Charles Auguste Follin, b.1779 in St Dominque; married Marie Joseph Hebert.(3)Mathew Firmin Follin,(known as Firmin),b.1789; married Magdeline Victoria Hebert.
well known publisher, Miriam Florence Follin of New Orleans, also known as "Frank Leslie."
Philadelphia, PA. He married Maria Tomasa Bardales of Honduras and they had at least two children: (1) Paulina Follin, b. 1864 ; married Jose Dolores Perez-Gomez.
of Ephraim George Squier,(second husband of Charles' cousin, Mariam Florence Follin), known for his field-work in Central America and Peru in the fields of Archealogy and Anthropology.
Merchant, and later, succeeded his father as the American Consulate for Omoa and Truxillo, Honduras . He was present at the arrival of Confederate immigrants to Spanish Honduras in 1867-68 and facilitated their establishment of the Confederate colony of Medina near San Pedro, Honduras as laison between them and the goverment of the Republic of Honduras.
Of the known children of Charles R. Follin of Spanish Honduras:(1)Paulina Follin, b. 1864, married Jose Dolores Perez-Gomez, a Cuban Patriot and nephew of Generalisimo Maximo Gomez-Baez, who remained in Spanish Honduras after traveling there with his
Uncle to gain support for the Cuban revolution. Paulina Follin was the maternal grandmother of
Elwood R. Coleman, son of John Allen Coleman and Marie Antoinette Perez-Follin.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Occupation: City Marshall, Carrollton, GA.
Married: 24 Dec 1857, Carroll county, Georgia
Wife: Sarah Jane Coleman
1. James B. McClellan, b. 1859
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Name: John Henry Coleman
Married: 15 Nov 1870, Carrollton, Carroll co., GA.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
LAST WILL & TESTAMENT; Michel Follin Charleston, SC, Jun 27, 1812
On the 27th, of June 1812 at Seven O'Clock in the morning before me Barthelemy Vallenet, Chancellor of the Consulate of the French Empire in Charleston, S.C. resident there the undersigned in the presence of witnesses herein after named also undersigned at the request of Mr. Michel Follin a merchant living in said Town I am carried to his residenceon King Street, No. 102, and on arriving there found Mr. Follin in a lower room of the said mansion giving towards the Court seated in an Armchair, sick of body, and sound of mind, memory and understanding and ____________ thus he appeared to me and to the undersigned witnesses by his speech, gesture, manner _____________
his last Will which he himself declared without influence or suggestion from any one and which I have written in my own hand word for word as he said it.
"I am named Michel Follin. I am a native of Beauchamps of Picardie and age eighty-one and it may please God to dispose of me in the sickness with which I am afflicted.
I will and declare that my establishment situated at the corner of Berry and Penthieves Streets in the Town of Mole, St. Nicholas, the Island of Saint Domingo, to be and belong to my little daughter Eulalie Times and that my home in the Soucerome to be and belong to the children of my eldest son now living in Phildelphia, Pa.
As for my jewelry, silverware and other little objects which may be found in my apartment in the house where I am actually residing I give them entirely to my wife Francois Juneau in recognition of good service which she has rendered to me.
I declare anew that the mulatto Charles is the legitimate property of my wife and that nobody has any right to free him for less than a sum of One Thousand gourges I being responsible for this sum since my wife (is indebted?) to my eldest son now in Philadelphia.
I declare that what may be found in the house in which I live belongs to my two sons Auguste and Firmin and that it all came from their gains and savings which they have left me to help take care of my subsistence since the first of May _______________________________
I give to my said two sons, Auguste and Firmin my _______________
and as for the Box which contains my papers it shall be sent to my eldest son.
And to execute the present Will of mine I name as my Executors Auguste and Firmin Follin my children who shall render me this last service."
This was done, said, spoken, dictated and named by said Testator before me the Chancellor and by me read and repeated to him which was well understood by him to contain his last Will in the presence of Mr. Francois Gaspard, Etienne LaComb, Jean L. Pezant and Louis Pezant all French Refugees from Saint Domingo actually residing in the City of Charleston, witnesses required who after having read have signed together with the Testator before me the said Chancellor also signed on the minute.
F. Gaspard, E. LaComb, J. Pezant, L. Pezant and Vallenet,
DEATH REGISTRATION (Extract): Translation of original document.
CONSULATE OF FRANCE AT CHARLESTON, Extract from Register of Acts, of births, marriages and deaths, in the Chancellory of France at Charleston, South Carolina.
This day, the twentieth of September, One Thousand, Eight Hundredand Thirteen, Five O'Clock in the evening. I, Louis de Fourcroy, Chevalier of the Empire, Member of the Legion of Honor, Consul of His Majesty the Emporor of France, King of Italy,at Charleston, South Carolina. Upon the information given to me by Sieur Auguste Follin, merchant living in this city that Sieur Michel Follin aged Eighty-Two Years, native of Beauchamp in Picardy, husband of Francoise Juneau, had died this day at a quarter before Mid-day, at Boundry Street where he made his residense, I was hastily carried to said home where I found in a lower room of the said house the dead body of Sr. Michel Follin, all of which I have expressed by word of mouth to the Chancellor of the Consulate, and the said Sr. appearing signed with me above Consul and said Chancellor also signed on Register. Follin, Fourcroy and Vallenet (two words erased).Collated and Stamped B. Fourcroy.
Seal of the Empire here Consul de France Charles Town around the Imperial Eagle.
BURIAL,(EXTRACT): Register of St Mary's Church cemetery, Charleston, SC" Book 11, Page 25: September 21, 1813 - Today there was buried in the cemetery of this Church the body of (?) Francois Michel Augustin Follin, native of Beauchamps in Picardy son of Michel Follin and Lady (dame) Mariam Esambour, age 82 years, 11 months, and 2 days. Merchant and resident of this City, where he had refuggeed from Mole, St Nicholas, Saint Domingo. In presence of _____Benoist, J.L. Pezant, J.J. Lapeune, F.G. Pague (?), J. Cheuman (?), Cloriviere (cure)"
1. Francois Michel Auguste Follin was born October 1731 in Beauchamps, Picardie, France. His wife, Marie Francoise Juneau, was born 1755 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Died December 1813 in Charleston, SC).
2. The name of the Follin family Chateau was "Chateau de Gama," located at St Dominque or Paris Two Lions.
3. The eldest son living in Philadelphia was Auguste-Firmin Follin, His brother Mathew Firmin Follin, was known as "Firmin."
4. Francois Michel Auguste Follin, b. Oct. 1731, was the 4th Great Grandfather of Elwood R. Coleman, Sr., (1921-1998), of New Orleans, Louisiana, son of John Allen Coleman and Marie Antoinette Perez-Follin.
1. Historical and Genealogical Research of the FOLLIN family by Mrs. C. Ritchie Simmons, Charleston, SC (1939): Provided by Mrs. Mary A. Potter, Philadelphia, PA.
2. Last Will & Testament of Michel Follin, June 27th, 1812, Charleston, SC.
3. Certificate of Death, French Consulate at Charleston, SC (French to English translation), Sep. 20, 1813
4. St Mary's Church, Charleston, SC., Church Register, Register of Marriages, Births, Death and Burials.
5. Obituary of Jean Charles Auguste Follin, Ref. "The Charleston Courier," March 15, 1835, Charleston, SC
6. Book of Internments, 1818-1837, St Mary's Catholic Church cemetery, Charleston, SC.
7. Deed, 1839, Marengo county, Alabama, Grantors: Follin family & Davenport family, Grantee: Stewart.
Notes: The Last Will and Testament of Benjamin Register of Sampson co., NC
"In the name of God Amen, I Benjamin Register of the county of Sampson and State of North Carolina being of sound mind and perfect memory blessed be God, do this fifth day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eleven make and publish this my last will and testament in manner and form that is to say.In the first place, I give and bequeath unto my son John Register my negro Penny, to him and his heirs forever my said negro woman Penny being old and somewhat infirm and having been hither a faithful slave to me in consideration thereof and for the taking of said negro woman in case she should become helpless, as it is likely she may and within a few years. I also give and bequeath unto my son John Register ten dollars, to be paid in money, also what property my negro woman Penny has of her own, to wit, a bed _____ and furniture, a chest, a table and two chairsd, etc. I give and bequeath unto my son John Register in care for my said Negro woman Penny, it being my wish she should enjoy them together with a cotton wheel and two pair of cotton cards.Secondly I give and bequeath unto the heirs or children of my son Silas Register deceased the sum of forty shillings to be paid them in money by my executors, and to be equally divided among them.Thirdly and lastly, I give and bequeath the balance of my estate unto my sons Thomas Register, Benjamin Register, John Register, Joseph Register, and my daughter Mary Cook to them and theirs forever to be equally divided among them, and I hereby make and ordain my son John Register and my trusty friend John Bryan, Executors to this my last will and testament set my hand and seal the day and date above written.
Signatures:Benjamin Register signed with his mark which looks like a capital "B"
Signed, sealed published and declared by the said Benjamin Register the testator as his last will and testament in the presence of us who were present at the time of signing and sealing thereof. | <urn:uuid:d9efa089-56df-4b88-b848-f861b5c34a2b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://coleman-young.blogspot.com/2009_03_08_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947197 | 2,499 | 1.828125 | 2 |
According to the Ventura County Star, Naval Base Ventura County threw a party Saturday for visiting warships from Norway, Spain and a newly built U.S. destroyer.
Over the next two weeks, the ships and their newly installed weapons systems will be put to the test during a series of at-sea exercises.
This is the first time a Norwegian warship has docked at the Port of Hueneme, and the first combined Norwegian Navy
, Spanish Navy and U.S. Navy Combat System Ship Qualification Trials.
The crews of the Norwegian HNoMS Fridtjof Nansen, Spanish SPS Mendez Nunez and the USS Gridley will use the trials to train and operate the ships’ powerful cache of guided missiles and torpedoes.
The Norwegian warship is 400 feet long and has 120 crew members. Spain’s SPS Mendez Nunez is 481 feet long and has a crew of 229.
The USS Gridley, the newest of the U.S. Navy’s guided-missile destroyers, is 510 feet long and has a crew of more than 365. | <urn:uuid:514e29a9-3cce-4a5f-b381-085a42bdbea5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marinelink.com/news/article/u-s-norway-and-spain-to-train-warships-together/314036.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944734 | 233 | 1.523438 | 2 |
There are so many things you can do with a webcam or camera hooked up to your computer. You can do anything from take a picture to film a movie. There are many expensive programs that replaces elaborate hardware video and audio mixers but with the power modern personal computers contains, there is little reason to spend the money or learn these applications.
Maybe you want to use your webcam for multiple things at once, maybe you want add graphics, or maybe you want to have the ability to switch between multiple video sources such as a video capture of your desktop. If so, there are applications that can accomplish this.
ManyCam does all of the above. It is a free utility that lets you apply some more advanced features to video capture. If you use a webcam, DV cam, or simply want to capture your desktop, this program can get the job done with minimal fuss. Plug in your devices, make sure they are installed properly, and launch ManyCam. When the program is launched it will populate the notification area/system tray with an icon.
The first thing you are greeted with is the ‘effects’ tab. This tab allows you to add dynamic and static background graphics, cool objects, text, and more which complements your image or video capture. The options are not the most professional and sophisticated but it’s much better than I would expect for a freeware app that requires little setup. ManyCam also allows you to download new effects and graphics from their site.
There is also a ‘sources’ tab. This tab allows you to switch between connected webcams, DV cameras, and video capture devices. It also allows you to stream images, videos, and your desktop to any devices that accept video capture sources such as online streaming services (Ustream.tv, Stickam, Mogulus, etc.) or video chat programs like Google Talk, AOL Instant Messenger, Skype, and ooVoo.
All in all, this program is really cool for adding effects when you are chatting with your friends or when you want to show someone your desktop. It is not, however, a free solution to expensive video editing/mixing software but should be an alternative for simple needs. I find this program most useful for switching between multiple cameras on a computer to change camera angles without moving a single camera around when video chatting with people online. All you have to do is open ManyCam, go to your programs settings and select ManyCam as the video source, then switch between cameras within ManyCam.
Have you ever used video effects or video mixing software? What programs do you use for this and what do you use them for? We want to know so leave your comments and feedback below. We’d also like to know what you use your webcam for so please let us know about that as well.
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Save the Music Department at Cape Coral High School
Petition Background (Preamble):
The administration's reason for removing the program was becasue there weren't enough students signed up for the classes.
The music teacher and her students acted immediately, set up a table in the cafeteria, and got a considerable amount of students to sign up. There were at least 104 students signed up for classes such as guitar, piano/keyboard, musical theatre, drums, and the special education class.
Although they had less than two months to accomplish the task in recruiting more students, they achieved the goal.
The administration claims that there were only around 40 people who signed up.
Every student has the right to learn about different fields which interest them, and removing the music department from Cape Coral High School is denying at least 100 students from that right. Removing the music department would be just as unfair as telling the football players that there wasn't going to be any football next year, or telling painters that art class wouldn't be available to them anymore.
Would you like it if you were told that you were unable to participate in the classes that pertained to your hobbies or possible career? No, nobody would. Therefore, we ask the Cape Coral High School administration to change their decision, keeping the music department part of the school.
The Save the Music Department at Cape Coral High School petition to Cape Coral High School Administration was written by James Gavin and is in the category Education at GoPetition. Contact author here. Petition tags: school, music, students, coral, administration, department, classes, signed, program, removing, available, decision, telling, class, football, coral high, high school, cape coral, music department, school administration | <urn:uuid:4b88447e-dd99-4643-8684-f04d22814831> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gopetition.com.au/petitions/save-the-music-department-at-cape-coral-high-school.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979636 | 378 | 1.601563 | 2 |
North Korea warns nuke test may be imminent; indicates rockets are designed to carry warheads that could strike the United States
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea’s top military body warned Thursday that the regime is poised to conduct a nuclear test in response to U.N. punishment, and made clear that its long-range rockets are designed to carry not only satellites but also warheads aimed at striking the United States.
The National Defense Commission rejected Tuesday’s U.N. Security Council resolution condemning North Korea’s long-range rocket launch in December as a banned missile activity and expanding sanctions against the regime. The commission reaffirmed in its declaration that the launch was a peaceful bid to send a satellite into space, but also said the country’s rocket launches have a military purpose: to strike and attack the United States.
The commission pledged to keep launching satellites and rockets and to conduct a “high-level” nuclear test as part of defensive measures against the U.S.
“We do not hide that a variety of satellites and long-range rockets which will be launched by the DPRK one after another and a nuclear test of higher level which will be carried out by it in the upcoming all-out action, a new phase of the anti-U.S. struggle that has lasted century after century, will target against the U.S., the sworn enemy of the Korean people,” the commission said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“Settling accounts with the U.S. needs to be done with force, not with words, as it regards jungle law as the rule of its survival,” the commission said.
The U.S. State Department had no immediate response to Thursday’s statement. On Wednesday, after Pyongyang’s foreign ministry issued its own angry response to the Security Council decision and said the North would bolster its “nuclear deterrence,” U.S. envoy to North Korea Glyn Davies urged restraint.
“It is important that they heed the voice of the international community,” Davies said Wednesday in South Korea. He was meeting with government officials on a trip that also will take him to China and Japan to discuss how to move forward on North Korea relations.
Davies said that if North Korea begins “to take concrete steps to indicate their interest in returning to diplomacy, they may find in their negotiating partners willing partners in that process.”
North Korea carried out underground nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, both times just weeks after receiving U.N. sanctions for launching long-range rockets it claimed were peaceful bids to send satellites into space.
At a military parade last April, North Korea showed off what appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile. Continued...
Experts say the North Koreans must conduct further tests of its atomic devices and make them smaller before they can be mounted as nuclear warheads onto long-range missiles.
Though it insists its efforts to launch a satellite are peaceful, North Korea also claims the right to build nuclear weapons as a defense against the United States, which stations more than 28,000 troops in South Korea. The adversaries fought in the three-year Korean War, which ended in a truce in 1953 and left the Korean Peninsula divided by the world’s most heavily fortified demilitarized zone.
North Korea has enough weaponized plutonium for about four to eight bombs, according to nuclear scientist Siegfried Hecker, who visited North Korea’s nuclear complex in 2010. In 2009, Pyongyang also declared that it would begin enriching uranium, which would give North Korea a second way to make atomic weapons.
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Stephen Frye has covered the police beat and courts for The Oakland Press and now serves as online editor for www.theoaklandpress.com.
Informs on and discusses current matters of legal interest to readers of The Oakland Press and to consumers of legal services in the community.
Caren Gittleman likes talking cats. She'll discuss everything about them. Share your stories and ask her questions about your favorite feline.
Roger Beukema shares news from Lansing that impacts sportsmen (this means ladies as well) and talks about things he finds when he goes overseas to visit his children, and adding your comments into the mix.
Join Jonathan Schechter as he shares thoughts on our natural world in Oakland County and beyond. | <urn:uuid:b6f8dcc4-e18e-458b-8b8e-eeaaff3b1750> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theoaklandpress.com/articles/2013/01/24/news/nation_and_world/doc5100cf8542b0e759716697.txt | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949928 | 1,220 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Wall Street reform bill signed today will limit excessive speculation in agricultureMINNEAPOLIS – The Wall Street reform bill signed today by President Obama will severely restrict excessive speculation on agriculture commodity futures markets that has harmed U.S. farmers and countries battling hunger, according to the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP).
MINNEAPOLIS – The Wall Street reform bill signed today by President Obama will severely restrict excessive speculation on agriculture commodity futures markets that has harmed U.S. farmers and countries battling hunger, according to the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP).
“This landmark bill is a first step toward preventing the excessive speculation by big Wall Street banks that has created enormous price volatility in agriculture and energy markets,” said IATP commodities expert Steve Suppan. “This is an important win for farmers and rural communities – whose economic futures are so tightly linked to agriculture and energy.”
The bill requires the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to set per commodity limits across all markets on the number of derivatives contracts that can be controlled by any one entity and its affiliates during a trading contract period. Previously, Wall Street firms and others took advantage of the “Enron loophole” and other regulatory exemptions to purchase and then sell off derivative contracts for agriculture and energy without limits – driving prices up and down.
Just as importantly, the bill requires that most derivatives presently traded “Over the Counter,” i.e. in private deals not subject to CFTC rules and reporting requirements, be traded on public and regulated exchanges. The legislation also strengthens enforcement standards and prosecutorial resources for initiating fraud and market manipulation investigations.
“This bill will help markets work for agriculture and all Americans, not just for Wall Street and the transnational corporations that hide their deals in private markets,” said Suppan. “With a return to a more transparent price setting process on public and regulated exchanges, farmers and ranchers again will be able to sell their products in advance to generate the cash flows they require for planting, livestock purchases and other farm management expenses.”
Greater transparency and tougher position limits in the U.S. will also benefit many developing countries. Countries dependent on agriculture imports for their own food security will be able to forward contract at fairer and more predictable prices. Developing countries that rely on agricultural exports will similarly benefit from greater price predictability and stability as they forward contract sales.
The bill also requires a study of proposed mandatory trading of carbon emissions credits under CFTC authority to induce investments to meet greenhouse gas emission targets. The study will estimate the price volatility and trading volume affects of carbon trading under proposed climate change legislation. Last year, IATP reported on the risks of excessive speculation on proposed carbon markets.
“The next critical phase of Wall Street reform comes in the regulatory implementation of this bill,” said Suppan. “Wall Street lobbyists and industry associations fought hard to maintain their insider privileges – this opposition will be at least as vigorous in the rule-making process.”
IATP will continue to work alongside the Commodity Markets Oversight Reform Coalition, Americans for Financial Reform and other allies to ensure effective implementation and enforcement. The implementation process with regards to agriculture will begin at an Agricultural Markets Advisory Committee meeting at the CFTC on August 5. | <urn:uuid:f56bd076-1d79-480a-ab82-3b9bcd6d8f3f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.agweek.com/event/article/id/16793/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932767 | 686 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Well, we come now to the study of the Word of God and to 1 John again, chapter 4, and we're talking about the subject of perfect love...perfect love. Great subject, a great theme, a theme that should be the interest of everyone. I'm not sure that everyone would be interested in the answer to where to find perfect love, but it is the truth that it resides only in Christ.
As we approach this text, just a bit of a big picture, which I usually like to do, realizing there are probably many folks here tonight, as always, who haven't kind of been through the whole series. I was thinking about how we might approach this text in the framework of this tremendous epistle of 1 John we've been going through for months and months now. And I think maybe one way to do it is all of you remember that Jesus taught a parable familiar to all of us called the parable of the wheat and the tares. Remember that? Matthew chapter 13. And Jesus was describing the Kingdom. He was describing Christianity. He was describing this age of the church. And he said that during this age God will sow wheat. That is, God will plant the seed of gospel truth and there will be faith and salvation and fruitfulness. And He's planting wheat in the sense that wheat is true Christianity, there would be real Christians. But the devil will come along, according to that parable, and he will sow tares. One of the ways in ancient times that you hurt your enemy was by sowing tares in his wheat field. In an agricultural society, to destroy someone's crop was the best way to destroy their livelihood and their lives. And so enemies coming along sowing weeds among someone's wheat would not be an unfamiliar concept.
And Jesus said, the enemy, the devil, comes and he sows tares among the wheat. And this particular thing that is sown, known as darnel, grows up and looks so much like wheat that you can't really tell the two apart, except with very close scrutiny. And if you were to go out into your field and try to remove the tares, you would find yourself ripping out the wheat, they're so indistinguishable at certain points in their development. And so Jesus said we're going to have to wait unto the judgment when the Lord sends the reapers, who are the angels, to reap the field and then after the field is reaped, God will sort out the wheat from the tares, the real from the false.
Jesus was saying you can expect within the framework of Christianity, within the life of the church that there are going to be true Christians and false ones living together and sometimes indistinguishable. Now there is no more important matter in all of life than salvation, no important matter than taking care of eternity and knowing your sins are forgiven and you are promised eternal heaven. And that is the matter that occupies the church. This is our great mandate. This is our commission. This is our mission. This is our objective. This is our purpose. This is what we do. We proclaim the gospel to the lost around the world. That is our task. We exist for this purpose in the world. The reason we teach you the Word of God is to build you up so that you'll be a more effective, more impactful witness to the glory of the gospel. Bringing sinners the wonderful news of reconciliation with God, the forgiveness of sin, the hope of eternal life through the person and work of Jesus Christ, that is our message. We are evangels. We are giving invitations to people all the time, calling people, pleading, begging, as Paul said, that people would be reconciled to God, crying out to them to believe the gospel, to escape from hell, to receive an eternal home in heaven, living in the absolute joy of the presence of God forever and ever.
And really, the church has been engaged in this through all of its history. It is really inconceivable when you think about it, how much time, how much money and how much energy has been committed to this task. I mean, there's no end to it. In our day today there are innumerable institutions and organizations and missions and ministries and strategies that have come into existence. Facilities have been built, programs have been designed, plans have been made, operations are carried out involving millions of people and billions upon billions of dollars to engage this very critical task of evangelism. Countless teachers and preachers and evangelists and pastors and missionaries, books, tracts, radio programs, tapes, CDs, DVDs, television programs and on and on it goes, every kind of creative medium known to man, including now, of course, the Internet, everything is used as a tool in this effort at evangelism. One ministry alone in our own country claims to have a 450 million dollar annual budget devoted to its evangelistic efforts to reach people with the gospel. All this money, all this man power, all this time, all this energy directed ostensibly toward evangelism.
But as you analyze it a little more closely, it seems that the most powerful and the most moneyed and the most influential of these ministries, the most wide-spread, the most dominant function outside the church and are flawed with what can be a deadly flaw. And it is this, often the gospel that they preach falls short of being inadequate presentation. It is a minimal kind of gospel. It is a marginal kind of gospel. It is in many cases even an inadequate gospel to make the truth of salvation known enough so that someone can savingly believe. To me that is just a tragedy of tragedies. All that effort, all that time, all that facility, all that money invested, all of the many, many people who engage in this, all the strategies that are involved in it and at the end when the gun is finally shot, the bullet is a blank..cheap gospel, decisionism, invitationalism, insufficient presentation of the essentials lacking in a call for repentance, brokenness, submission, self-denial, cross-bearing and obedience and even lacking in many cases in clarity as to what the gospel actually is.
I said from this pulpit some years ago that I was being interviewed on a Christian radio station by a Christian radio talk show host who did a four-hour afternoon program answering people's spiritual questions. This person was the spiritual counselor. And it became apparent to me in the interview that this person lacked basic knowledge of what I understood as sort of minimal Bible understanding. And so, in the break off the air, I said, "May I ask you a question? How did you become a Christian?" To which the person replied, "Well one day I got Jesus' phone number and we've been connected ever since." And I must have had a stunned look on my face and I didn't quite know what to say and I said, "Well, could you say that again?"
"Yeah, one day I got Jesus' phone number and we've been connected ever since."
And I said, "Well what do you mean by that?"
She said, "What do you mean what do I mean by that?" She said, "If someone asked you how you became a Christian, what would you say?"
And so I launched into an explanation of the gospel. To which this woman host said, "Oh come on, you don't have to go through all of that, do you?" This is not just the man or woman on the street, this is someone responsible to give spiritual counsel in one of the major cities in America on Christian radio. It can be very frightening how much is invested in an inadequate presentation of the gospel.
The results of this are very often half-converted people who are not converted at all but live with some kind of an illusion about their condition, their deluded. They belong in that category of those who say, "Lord, Lord," and the Lord says, "I never knew you." They are deceived about the true spiritual relationship they have to the Lord, or really don't have. They think they're wheat, but it's likely they are tares. And frankly, in the contemporary Christian style of evangelism, very little interest, very little effort, very little emphasis is spent to confront people who profess Christ and call them to examine themselves to see if that profession is genuine. It's almost viewed as an affront to someone who professes Christ, to question the validity of that claim. If somebody claims to be a Christian, that satisfies most. Some minimal claim affirming Christ is certainly enough because there are even people in evangelicalism today who say you don't even need to affirm Christ, and God will accept whatever it is you affirm as enough.
Today if a person is a Roman Catholic or they're a member of a liberal denomination, or some kind of cult or sect or self-styled Charismatic group, and they say they're a Christian and they profess to know Christ, it's really not permissible to question the validity of that profession. And, you know, it's really a head-in-the-sand approach. How can you commit this much energy, this much time, this much manpower, this many dollars, this much effort to an enterprise and never really honestly assess the validity of the results? I actually had an evangelist say to me, one time, if I believed your theology, I'd have to go back and undo all of the converts and the evangelistic messages that I did.
Well, brother, then you better go back and undo them because what do they mean if it was an inadequate presentation? The heads you're counting really can't be counted. I remember when I was in Equador and they had an evangelism in depth conference and 3,000 people were saved. And a year later they found two of them in the churches of the city of Keto(?). Where were the other 2, 998? This kind of superficial evangelism, this kind of reluctance to confront the confessing, professing believer, to see the validity of that person's profession is critical to our evangelism. We must examine, we must question because Satan is always sowing tares among the wheat and sometimes the tares don't even know they are tares. They think they're wheat.
The importance of this matter cannot be overstated. False Christians are in danger of the same hell as rejecters of Christ. False Christians are in danger of the same hell as rejecters of Christ. False Christians need to be rescued from the hell they're headed toward. This has been a major emphasis, as you know, in my life and ministry, trying to get the gospel straight, trying to call people to self-examination. Paul says to the Corinthians, "Examine yourselves whether you be in the faith."
Our Lord Himself was concerned about this issue and that's why He gave the parable about the wheat and the tares. That's why He taught what some have come to call the hard sayings of Jesus. "If any man come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me." "If you're not willing, literally, to hate your father, your mother, your sister, your brother, your family, if you're not willing to reject all that the world offers, if you're not willing literally to give up everything you have, even your life, you're not worthy to be My disciple." Jesus eliminated the superficial. He eliminated the half-committed by the hard truth of gospel commitment. He called for true repentance. He called for self-denial. That's just not common today in the cool communication of contemporary evangelicalism.
Faithful biblical teaching of the gospel divides the truth from the false, and rightly it should. One of the things that a faithful pastor has to do is make sure that he confronts profession and he confronts public confession with a call to self-examination. Jesus did that. Jesus did it with His own disciples. And sometimes He tightened the noose so...so tight around their necks with regard to the true commitment required for salvation, that they abandoned Him permanently.
Now here's what I'm saying summed up. What good is shallow evangelism followed by an unexamined life? What good is it? What good is shallow evangelism followed by an unexamined life? I was criticized by leading evangelicals when I wrote The Gospel According to Jesusbecause it was divisive. I wrote it to be divisive. I wrote it to divide between who's a real Christian and who's not and make that crystal clear so that no one would be deceived. Is that something evil? It seems to me that that's something for which I'm responsible before God. What good is shallow evangelism followed by the unexamined life? Worst than wasteful, it is deadly spiritually and, of course, spiritually.
Now all that brings us to 1 John. First John was written to call us to the examination. First John was written to give us the criteria by which we could do the test of our faith. And I've told you before, and I tell you again, chapter 5 verse 13 is the key to this epistle. It's the thesis of the epistle, all the rest is wrapped around this thesis. "These things...1 John 5:13...I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God in order that you may know that you have eternal life."
The implication there is believing is not necessarily enough. You all say you believe. You believe in Jesus Christ. You believe in the Son of God. I'm writing this epistle so that you can know whether that is saving faith that brings eternal life. Many believe on the name of the Son of God. Many have their view of Christ, but aren't truly saved.
John lays out the tests of true salvation. There are some doctrinal tests. You must have the right view of man in his sin. You must have the right view of Jesus Christ, who He really is and that He came to be the propitiation for our sins and not ours only but the sins of the whole world. There are some doctrinal tests. The right view of man in his sin, the right view of Christ in His salvation. And then there are some moral tests, or some behavioral tests. And really, they break down to two...obedience to the Word of God, and love for the Lord and His people. You can by these tests the validity of your claim.
Go back with me to chapter 1, for a minute, just sort of regripping these truths. Verse 6, "If we say we have fellowship with Him," you say you have fellowship with God, you say you are Christ's and you believe in Christ, "But you walk in the darkness," that is to say you continue in a pattern of sinfulness, "we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus His Son is cleansing us from all sin." So you don't just look at what someone claims, you look at how they walk and that's just a metaphor for how they live their life. You can't deny sin, as we noted, verses 8 to 10, that's the doctrinal test, you have to affirm your sinfulness and you have to affirm Jesus Christ as the righteous advocate, chapter 2 verse 1, the propitiation not only for our sins, but for the sins of the whole world. So you affirm the right anthropology, the right theology about man and the right Christology, the theology about Christ.
But the behavioral then comes back into play. Verse 3 of chapter 2, "By this we know we have come to know Him." How do we know it? Because we profess it, because we confess it? No, if we keep His commandments. Verse 4, "The one who says I've come to know Him and doesn't keep His commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him." I mean, it's just that basic. The moral or behavioral tests are critical.
And then down in verse 9, moving from obedience to love, "The one who says he's in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now." Light being salvation, darkness being outside. Verse 10, "The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there's no cause for stumbling in him." So very early in the epistle you're introduced to the fact that pattern of life in obedience in love is the test of the validity of one's claim to know Christ. It's just that basic.
If you look...well, we could go through virtually the whole of this epistle, we won't do that, but chapter 2 verse 15 is a good one. "Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." So the things of the world are the things of Satan, the kosmos, the society. If that's what you love, if that's what you desire and long for an hanker for, then the love of the Father is not in you. If all you know is what's in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, that's not from the Father, that's from the world and the world is passing away along with its lust. You belong to a corrupt and dying to be destroyed culture. So it's a test then again of whether your claim is genuine.
How do we test it? Do you obey the Word of God? Do you love the Lord and do you love His people? And do you hate the world, even though tempted by it and sometimes unfaithful? It grieves your heart because it's not really what you love. In fact, if you were to go into the third chapter...well, verse 29 of the second chapter, "If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who's practicing righteousness is born of Him." Again, come back to the test of practicing righteousness, obeying the Word, loving the brother, not loving the world. And we've been through all of these.
Just in to chapter 3 verse 6 and 7, "No one who abides in Him sins, no one who sins...that has a habitual unbroken pattern of sin...has seen Him or known Him." Verse 7, "Little children, let no one deceive you, the one who practices righteousness is righteous." Verse 8, "The one who practices sin is of the devil." Verse 9, "No one who is born of God practices sin," that means in an unbroken and continual pattern, "because His seed abides in him," that is the seed of new life, God's seed, God's life, "and he can't sin because he's born of God." Verse 10 sums it up, "By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. Anyone who doesn't practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who doesn't love his brother." Verse 28, "Let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth." And I love verse 19, "We shall know by this that we are of the truth and shall assure our heart before Him." You want to have confidence in your salvation? You're going to have see obedience to the Word, righteousness and love of the Lord and the brethren, the people of God.
Verse 24, ending chapter 3, "The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him and He in him and we know by this that He abides in us by the Spirit whom He's given to us." It's all about that. The whole epistle is about evidence, it's about proof. And we find that even orthodox doctrine, even a good anthropology about sin, even a good Christology concerning Christ while essential to salvation by themselves do not give sufficient proof of salvation. The proof is in the conduct. The proof is in the fruit. The proof is in the behavior. The soul searching proof...obedience to the Word of God, that is to love the Word and long to obey it, even though imperfectly. As little Johnny said, "It's not the perfection of your life, but it is the direction of your life." And to love, not the world, but the Lord and His people.
And so, we come to chapter 4 and we come to verses 7 to 21. And here for the third time in this epistle, the moral test of love is explained to us. The first time, chapter 2 verses 7 to 11, the second time, chapter 3 verses 10 to 23, and now the third time, chapter 4 verses 7 to 21, John has a way of cycling back through the same themes and every time he comes back the circle gets wider and he covers more ground. He enriches it.
Now his theme here is that true believers are commanded to love because they have the capacity to love and this is the evidence that their salvation is real. And the kind of love he's talking about he calls perfect love, verse 12, "God abides in us and His love is perfected in us." Verse 17, "By this love is perfected in us." Verse 18, "Perfect love casts out fear." And then at the end of the verse, "The one who fears is not perfected in love." So four times he refers to this love as perfected love, that is love to the ultimate sense, love to the fullest sense, the maturest sense, the complete sense. We're talking here about a divine kind of love, talking about something that's not simply human affection. We're talking about a perfect kind of love, a mature, full, whole, complete love, teleioo, love to the end, love to the max. And so here we are given a definition of this kind of love.
For the first time his discussions of love broaden to embrace the concept of this perfect kind of love. And he starts out with a command in verse 7. "Beloved, let us love one another." Let us love one another. We are commanded to do that and we should be commanded to do that. Verse 11 is a second command. "If God so loved us we also ought to love one another." There's another injunction." Verse 21, "This commandment we have from Him that the one who loves God should love his brother also." Here's the command for the third time, you're to love one another, you're to love your brother, you're to love your brother. Habitual, self-sacrificing, serving love, you're to love this way with this maximum kind of love, this divine love which God has shed abroad in your heart. And this is the great test of your salvation. If you possess this love, if you can love this way, then it's evident that God is in you because this is not human love. It is not love that only loves because the object attracts it, it is love that loves because it wills to love. That agapelove.
Now he gives six motives for this love, or six reasons we should love this way. We covered three, we'll cover the final three tonight.
Reason number one, John lays out the motives for this perfect love, he says you ought to love one another, we all ought to love one another, reason number one, "Because love is the essence of God." Love is the essence of God. Verses 7 and 8, he says, "Love is from God," verse 8 he ends, "God is love." And since we share His life, we share His life, that's a tremendous truth. You've been begotten again by an incorruptible seed, and that seed, that life seed, that spiritual life seed is the very life of God planted in you, you are right now the possessor of the life of God in your soul, you are the possessor of eternal life right now. You will never die. You possess eternal life. In fact, the greatest change that will ever happen to you has already happened. Your death and your moving into heaven will be less of a transformation than your salvation was. In your salvation you passed from darkness to light, in your death you pass from one dimension of light to the fullest dimension of light. All that death is for the believer is not really transformation. When we die it's simply losing the flesh which inhabits and restrains our new nature. You're already a new creation. Unfortunately incarcerated in the old unredeemed flesh. The biggest change has already happened, the life of God is in you. If the life of God is in you, if God is in you, if the Spirit of Christ dwells in you, if the Spirit of God dwells in you, the Holy Spirit dwells in you, and you are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and God resides in you, this incredible reality is so, then for you to love each other is a very reasonable command because love comes from God, God is love, and God lives in you. It's that simple. You share His life.
The second reason we saw last week, while we are to love one another is because love is manifest by Jesus Christ. Love is manifest by Jesus Christ. The Bible says, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed." Cursed people don't love Christ. Saved people love Christ. We sing songs about loving Christ all the time, don't we? All the time. "I love You, Lord, and lift up My voice," little choruses like that. "More love to Thee, O Christ, more love to Thee," and we literally are carried away in the sentiments of those songs because those are the cries of our hearts. We want to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. And when you look at Jesus Christ, you see that He was the perfect manifestation of love, the perfect model, the perfect example. Verses 9, 10 and 11, we saw last week, "By this the love of God was manifest in us that God sent...has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we love God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." If God loved His Son enough to send Him for us, if the Son loved us enough to go and redeem us, then we certainly ought to love as God calls us to love. God's free, spontaneous, sovereign love revealed in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross demonstrates His love for us and there on the cross Jesus Himself gives the supreme example of love in the most magnificent and glorious terms possible. He loved the Father so much He gave His life because the Father asked Him. His love for God was so great and His love for us so great that He gave His life.
And if you say you abide in Him, 1 John 2:6, then you ought to walk the way He walked. And how did He walk? In self-sacrificing love to His Father and that's how we are to walk, following His example.
So, we're called to love one another because love is the very essence of God and we possess the life of God, because love is manifest by Jesus Christ, God sends Christ, Christ dies on the cross, manifesting His love to the Father and His love to us and establishes such an incredible example, how can we not love when God the Father and God the Son have gone to such extremity to make it possible for us to love?
And thirdly, reviewing again, we are to love one another because love is our testimony, verse 12, "No one has beheld God at any time." Nobody has seen God. We have the dilemma then in evangelism in our ministry of declaring God to people and they can't see Him. No one has ever seen God, so we're trying to convince people that an invisible God really exists.
How are they going to see an invisible God? John says if we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us. I mean, the very simple truth here is this, that the world can see God in the love of the church. That's why Jesus said to the disciples in the upper room in John 13:34 and 35, "By this shall all men know that you're My disciples if you have love for one another." We put God on display by loving each other. There's no human explanation for the level of this affection and love. Love is our testimony. The unseen God is seen in our love for each other. It's evidence that our lives have been transformed, that we love in a way that's not human.
So love is commanded because it's made possible. The love of God shed abroad in our hearts as Romans 5:2 puts it. We are to love then because it is the essence of God who lives in us, because love is manifest by Jesus Christ who gave Himself for us, because love is the key to our testimony and declaring the very reality of our God. In loving each other in a perfect, mature, whole way, as verse 12 puts it, we put God on display.
Let me give you three more, as we work our way through these. And we don't need to go into a lot of detail because much of this we covered in chapters 2 and 3. But fourthly, in my little list, we are to love one another because love is the assurance of our salvation. Love is the assurance of our salvation. And as I said, John's theme in this section is really John's theme in the whole epistle. But he builds a little case here from verses 13 through 16 and he really gives us a sort of sequence here to know we're saved. Here comes the nitty-gritty of this section.
"By this we know that we abide in Him." All right, now we're getting right to the crux of this whole thing. Here's how we know we're saved. Here's how we know we abide in Him and He in us, again emphasizing He is in us. How do we know we're in Him and He's in us? One, because He's given us His Spirit. He's given us His Spirit.
You say, "I can't see the Holy Spirit. I can't feel the Holy Spirit. I don't know that I can say for sure I've received the Holy Spirit. How do I...how can I say that I'm sure I'm saved because He's given us the Spirit? I don't know how to..I don't have any criteria, I don't have any physical means to recognize the Spirit. In fact, John 3 Jesus said the Spirit is like the wind, it blows here and it blows there, you don't know where it's coming from, you don't know where it's going, you just...you kind of see the effect of it. How do I know that?"
Well keep reading. He's given us His Spirit, and verse 14, "And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God." How do you know you've been given the Holy Spirit? How do you know you've received the Holy Spirit? Not because you have some mechanism that causes you to feel His impulses, not because you hear voices, not because you feel promptings. Here is how you know that you've been given the Spirit. "Because you believe the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world and you confess Jesus is the Son of God." In other words, it is your belief in the gospel that is evidence of the ministry and presence of the Holy Spirit, right? Because you couldn't know that apart from the Spirit, is that not so? Sinners are dead in trespasses and sin, as we've been noting on Sunday mornings, they are blind, you have no capacity, it's not of him who wills or him who runs, it's not according to the will of man or the will of the flesh, you can't know God, God is not known by human wisdom. He's not known by human intelligence. "Natural man understands not the things of God, they are foolishness to him. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the ruler? Where is the intelligentsia? They're all fools, unable to discern the truth of God."
How do I know that the Spirit of God has taken up residence in me? Because I believe what can only be believed if it is revealed by God. We have beheld. And John could say that from his own life experience. He was there, he saw. He bore witness that the Father had sent the Son to be the Savior of the world, but he would not have believed that had not the Father in His good pleasure chosen John, had not the Son in His own will revealed John and had not the Holy Spirit opened his eyes.
So how do you know that you have the Spirit? Because you believe the gospel. That's so important, isn't it? Do you believe the gospel? I mean, do you believe the gospel from front to back? You believe all these elements of the gospel, that the Father sent the Son? That is to say you believe in the Trinity and He sent His Son to be the Savior of the world, and you believe that salvation is by faith not works because it's confessing Jesus as Son of God. God then takes up residence, abiding in us and we in Him. That's the evidence of the Holy Spirit.
And that's not all, now he comes to really the point in verse 16. "And we have come to know and believed the love which God has for us." This is just really the culmination of this flow here. How do I know I'm a Christian? Because God gave me His Spirit. And He only gives His Spirit to those that are His. He only takes up residency in those that are His. How do I know He gave me His Spirit? Because I believe the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. And I confess that Jesus is the Son of God. In other words, I believe the gospel which I can't believe apart from the work of the Spirit.
Furthermore, not only do I believe the gospel, but I have come to know and believe that all of this is because of the love which God has for us. I have come to understand the eternal love of God for us. God is love. That's why He, the Father, sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. It all was out of His love. For His great love wherewith He loved us, Ephesians 2. And so verse 16, "God is love and the one who abides in love abides in God and God abides in him.
That's a great section, isn't it? And I had some notes on that but I didn't pay any attention to them because I didn't want to interrupt the flow. The flow here is so magnificent. To chop it up with a sort of smallish look at the details would interrupt the greatness of this incredibly rich passage. There is inserted here a doctrinal test. You have to understand God the Father to be who He is, God the Son to be who He is. You have to understand that He is the Savior of the world and therefore men need to be saved from sin. You have to confess that Jesus is not man, but rather the Son of God, that God abides in Him and He in God. That is He is inseparable from God. And believe that God authored this whole thing out of His love and that it's matter of faith and not works. I mean, all of that is there. All the doctrinal components and elements are there. But in the end, verse 16, the culmination is, you're going to know that you abide in God and God abides in you because you abide in love. You love God. You love Christ. And you do not love the world system. You do love the brothers and sisters in Christ. It's this incredible love. And it even spills over so that we like God love even our enemies, right? If you love your enemies, Jesus said, then you're the children of God because God loves His enemies, too. After all, He loved all of us when we were enemies, right?
So when you look at your own life and you ask the question, am I a Christian? The answer will come, you are if you have the Holy Spirit. Well how do I know if I have the Holy Spirit? Do you understand and believe the gospel in its fullness? That God sent His Son to be the Savior of the world? You understand and believe that? Then you know the Holy Spirit is in you. And if you understand and believe that, you also understand that God did this out of love because God is love and therefore if you are God's, you are characterized by love. And you will love the way God loves. You will love God as God loves God within the Trinity, you will love the Son of God as the Father loves the Son. And you will love those who belong to Him and you will even love enemies the way God does. And so in verse 16 those words, "We have come to know and believe the love which God has for us, for God is love and the one who abides in love, abides in God." This is the behavioral test, this is what so many have called the moral test.
You look at your life, is that what you see? If it is, if you love Christ even though you're not always faithful as you should be, if you love God the Father, and you love to worship Him, and you love to honor Him, and you cherish His glory, and if you find yourself drawn to the brethren and the fellowship, sacrificially serving one another, and even compassionately, lovingly caring for those outside the gospel so that you give them the saving truth of Jesus Christ, this is evidence that God is in you, the God of love because of the work of the Holy Spirit.
So, we're to love one another with this kind of perfect love because God is love, because Christ is manifest love, because love is our testimony and because love is the assurance of our salvation. Number five, we are commanded to love because love is our confidence in judgment. We are commanded to love because love is our confidence in judgment.
Notice verses 17 and 18 where this is given to us. "By this love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgment." When the Spirit has done its work and the eyes of your understanding have been opened and you've been enlightened and your dead heart has been awakened and your blind eyes have been made to see and you've come out of the darkness into the light and the Holy Spirit has caused you to embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ and God comes and takes up residence in your life and your life is flooded with love, going in all the directions that the very love of God goes through you, when that kind of perfected love is in you, you will have confidence looking ahead to the day of judgment. I look ahead at judgment and I would...I might say to myself, "Well I don't have any fear of judgment, after all, I believe in Jesus." Some people would say that. You hear people say that all the time. "Oh, I'm not worried about death, I'm a good guy and I believe in Jesus, God certainly will let me into His heaven."
It's not just the theology that is the issue. Confidence in the anticipation of the day of judgment comes from perfect love being your experience. The day of judgment simply looks at the final reckoning, the final in the broadest sense. In chapter 2 verse 28 it says, "Now, little children, abide in Him so that when He appears we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming." It just looks at the end and says you can live your life with no fear, never fearing the coming of Jesus Christ, never fearing standing before the throne of God, before the judgment. In fact, it says here in verse 17, "You may have confidence," parrhesia, a boldness it actually means, boldness.
Go back to chapter 3 verse 21, "If our heart does not condemn us, we have...same word...boldness before God," the kind of boldness that whatever we ask we receive from Him. If you know you're God's, if your heart assures you by this love and obedience that characterizes your life, you can go into the presence of God with boldness and confidence and ask what you will and receive it. That's chapter 3. Here in chapter 4 you can look ahead at judgment without fear...without fear. How wonderful is that? You can live without fear.
You say why? Well this is the end of verse 17, amazing statement, "Because as He, Christ is, so also are we in this world." What does that mean? What does it mean? It means the Father treats us the way He treats His Son, as He is, Jesus Christ, in the eyes of the Father so also are we who live in this world. We, believers. Well what do you mean by that? Well, do you think Jesus could face the final judgment of God with confidence? You think He can? With boldness? With fearlessness? Of course. Because love is absolutely perfected in Him, obedience is absolutely perfected in Him, righteousness is absolutely perfected in Him. And how incredible is it that we can actually go to the judgment and stand there as confident as Christ, because in reality we've been covered with His righteousness. Jesus is God's beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. And so are we...so are we. We can share His confidence because when we get to that final accounting, in that final day, 1 John chapter 3, you remember this, verse 2? "Beloved, now are we children of God." He's the Son of God, and we're children of God. "It has not appeared yet what we shall be," you can't tell right now what we are, "we know that when He appears we shall be...what?...like Him." We can be confident in looking ahead at the judgment because when we get to that place, we're going to be made like Jesus Christ. Wow. And so, we can live this life with that absolute confidence.
And verse 18 explains it further. "So there is no...what?...fear in love." If you love like this, if you love in this perfect love, this mature, this whole love, there's no fear. You don't fear judgment. You don't fear the return of Christ, you long for it. You say with John, "Even so, come Lord Jesus, come quickly." We have no fear of judgment. We have no fear of standing before the throne of God, the tribunal. We can go there with the same confidence Jesus has there in the presence of God because we are covered with His righteousness. And when we get there, we're going to be received as the children of God, as literally brothers of Jesus Christ who is not ashamed to call us brothers, the Bible says. And we're going to be made into His image and there's no fear because we experience that love and that love becomes our confidence. So perfect love does...what?...casts out fear, it dispels fear, it dismisses fear because fear involves punishment. If you're looking forward to the judgment and all you can do is fear punishment, you've got a problem because the one who fears, verse 18, is not perfected in love...is not perfected in love. Fear connects with punishment. And if you're afraid of that day, and you're afraid of the coming of Christ, and you're afraid of the Rapture, then you are not perfected in love because where this love is shed abroad in your heart, this love exists, there's no fear...there's no fear.
The saint who fears Christ's return may not be a saint at all. It may be that you're just not even a Christian because if...if the Spirit has come, taken up residence, enlightened you to the gospel, you've embraced it, you've believed it, He's flooded your life with love for Christ, love for the Father, Paul says, "Then you're going to love His appearing." You're going to love His appearing. God wants all His children to live in confidence. He doesn't want to make your life miserable here. He doesn't want you to live in terror and fear of the judgment. He wants you to live in love, confidence and hope. He wants you to know that nothing will ever separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Oh I know a disobedient Christian, a Christian who is sinful and fallen into some kind of pattern of sin, even though it goes against the grain of his nature, even though it's contrary to what he longs for and desires in his truest and purest self, it's a sort of Romans 7 battle and he's losing it, that Christian can lose that confidence. But God intends for His children to have the confidence of the perfect love which He has given us by His Holy Spirit in Christ. If you fear Christ's coming, if you do not look at the final judgment, at the throne of God, at the coming of Christ fearlessly, hopefully, joyfully, confidently, boldly, then either you're not saved, or whatever reasons for the time you are failing to express that love. You are fighting against your spiritual nature. And that's created doubts and it will create doubts.
So, you see, we're to love one another with this perfected kind of love, this sacrificial, selfless love that we talked about last week, and we're to love one another because love is of God and God lives in us, because love is manifested by Jesus Christ and in Christ and He set the example for sacrificial serving love. And if we love Him and He is ours, we ought to walk the way He walked. We are to love like this because love is our testimony. People are going to see God when they see His work of love in us. We're to love like this because love is the assurance of our salvation, it proves that the Spirit came and awakened us and opened us to the gospel. And we are to love because love is our confidence, our boldness when we look to the future. And true Christians have no fear of the coming of the Lord, but rather it is our great joy and hope.
Finally, and this is just kind of a summation, we are to love because love is only reasonable...love is only reasonable. This is really a review. If someone says...well, let's go back to verse 19, "We love because He first loved us." That's just the review of the basic principle. We love...we love as Christians because He first loved us. "If someone says I love God and hates his brother, he's a liar for the one who doesn't love his brother whom he has seen can't love God whom he's not seen." It comes down to the same thing. If you love this way, with this perfect love, it's because God first loved you, we love. Some translations say, "We love Him," but that's not in the best original manuscripts. We love because it is characteristic of Christians to love because God has shed His love abroad in our hearts. We love because He first loved us. That's the key word, eternal, sovereign love was granted to us.
And then in verse 20, for the seventh time in 1 John, "If someone says..." Seven times John deals with claims and every time he gives a warning. "If someone says," in this case, "I love God, I'm a Christian, I'm a believer, but is characterized by hate toward his brother, he's a liar. He doesn't love his brother whom he's seen, he can't love God whom he's not seen." You can't claim to love the invisible God and not love the God that's in His people. You can't claim to love the invisible Christ and not love Christ in His people. It's absurd. So it's only reasonable then to say true believers are characterized by loving the way God loves, sacrificial, selfless love.
And then John closes this section with a command, just as he began it, "This commandment we have from Him," John is saying it's not mine, it's His, "that the one who loves God should love his brother also." With an unrequited love, you might say, wanting nothing in return, an unconditional love that accepts and forgives, a vicarious love that bears the pain of others, a self-giving love that practices sacrifice and a righteous love that tolerates no sin.
Listen then, love is not an emotion, it's not a feeling to which we give expression whenever we feel like it. There is that kind of love and it's a wonderful thing. It belongs in human life. But we're not talking about that here. There is the wonderful love that a husband and a wife share, that a family shares, that children share with parents, friend with friend. We're not talking about any of those human loves which are enhanced and enriched by the love of Christ in the heart of believers. We're talking about this kind of love that extends toward anybody that has a need, particularly those in the family of God. It is a perfect kind of love, a different love than the world's kind of love. It is a whole, complete love and it is the essence of God manifest in Christ. It is our testimony, it is the assurance of our salvation. It is our confidence in judgment and it is only reasonable because you could never truly have the love of God in you and not love others with that love. Perfect love is the mark of the true believer.
Lord, thank You for this again, a rich text. The truth of it not unknown to us but often lost in the flow of life. Help us to remember what we're talking about here is not a feeling toward someone, but care, compassion, sacrifice, service, selflessness. Really what we're saying here is humility because only the humble can love. You humbled Yourself to love us who were unworthy and we should be humbled by that, to humble ourselves to show love to those around us, sacrificial, selfless, generous love. This...this devotion, this charity, this compassion, this mercy, this grace that we feel toward other believers, this great love toward You and toward Christ and toward the Holy Spirit, this is the evidence that You are in us for love is from You, You are love. Any claim to love You not backed up by this kind of loving devotion to You and to Your people is a lie and an empty claim. So again tonight we examine our own hearts to see if we're in the faith knowing that these things are written that we might know that we have eternal life, so that we may enjoy its anticipation and even now its presence. Grant us the fullness of this perfected love that we might thoroughly enjoy Your love flowing through us and our love directed again toward You who first loved us. We thank You in Your Son's name. Amen.
You may reproduce this Grace to You content for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Grace to You's Copyright Policy (http://www.gty.org/connect/copyright). | <urn:uuid:c1e474de-af5e-4cad-aac3-916bbd67fcff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gty.org/resources/print/sermons/62-35 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972636 | 10,777 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Cytokines in Human Milk and Late Onset Breast Milk Jaundice
Pediatrics International, 06/12/2012
Apaydin K et al. – IL–1 beta concentration seems to be increased in milk of mothers whose infants had breast milk jaundice (BMJ). Although the effect of these cytokines on BMJ is unknown, it may cause prolonged jaundice via hepatic uptake, hepatic excretion, conjugation and intestinal absorption.Methods
- Breast milk samples were collected from breast-feeding mothers of healthy fullterm neonates, 40 with BMJ and 40 without jaundice. Milk samples were taken between the second and the fourth postpartum week.
- There were significant differences between the study groups in terms of IL-1beta concentrations (p=0.013).
- Not statistically significant but similar trends were also seen for IL-10 (p=0.067) and TNF-alpha (p=0.053) concentrations.
- However, no significant differences were noted in IL-6 (p=0.174) and IL-8 (p=0.285) concentrations. | <urn:uuid:9e648ea0-0b5f-4025-a966-642cf25d3983> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mdlinx.com/physician-assistant/news-article.cfm/4099641/0/cytokines/next/171?source=scroller | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959381 | 239 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Learning Support & Testing
The mission of the Learning Support and Testing Office is two-fold since the office serves two primary functions which are not completely inter-related.
The mission of the learning support component is to provide special assistance to students who have deficiencies in the areas of reading, mathematics, and/or English. The students served fall into two categories: (1) they have been required as a condition of enrollment to participate in one or more of the learning support courses, or (2) they have experienced failure and/or have withdrawn from college-level English and math courses and voluntarily placed themselves in a learning support course. Regardless of the category of student, the Learning Support program strives to assist students achieve a level of skill which enables them to compete in the regular academic arena and make progress toward the completion of their educational goals.
The mission of the testing component is to provide departmental, institutional, and national testing opportunities to students and non-students in an atmosphere which enables examinees to perform to the best of their abilities. This atmosphere relies on test administration practices which (1) adhere to nationally recognized professional testing standards and government regulations, (2) maintain the integrity of the testing process by incorporating ethical standards and security measures, and (3) treat all examinees in a professional yet personable manner. The UWG testing office adheres to the Standards and Guidelines of the National College Testing Association. | <urn:uuid:d5ae6dea-56c4-4f8f-a365-afb67f07a4d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.westga.edu/lst/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949692 | 285 | 1.742188 | 2 |
In the entertainment business, as in the news business, bad people sometimes make good stories.
Griselda Blanco was a very bad person — but good copy, as old-time reporters used to say. The godmother of South Florida’s drug underworld during the Cocaine Cowboys era (roughly the 1980s), Blanco is believed to have ordered the murders of scores if not hundreds of individuals and imported untold tons of cocaine into the United States.
Ultimately imprisoned and deported to Colombia, she died this past week as a result of two gunshots to the head, fired by a motorcycle-borne assassin.
Blanco’s infamy was in part due to University of Miami-trained filmmaker Billy Corben, who directed not one but two films about her exploits, Cocaine Cowboys and Cocaine Cowboys 2: Hustlin’ with the Godmother. At the time of her death, he and his creative partner, Alfred Spellman, were working on a third project on Blanco, a miniseries for HBO.
Corben talked to The Miami Herald about the life and times of Griselda Blanco. The interview has been edited for length.
Q: You did two movies focusing partly or completely on Griselda Blanco. What turned you on to the subject?
A: Well, it began as an exploration of the Miami in the 1980s and the impact that the cocaine trade had on the community. Everyone we talked to in law enforcement and journalism eventually brought up Blanco as responsible for turning Miami into the murder capital of the country. Despite the wide variety of subjects in the first movie, a majority of the correspondences and comments we received were specifically about her. She was clearly a figure that audiences responded to.
Q: The henchmen you talked to for Cocaine Cowboys, were they frightened of the godmother?
A: Her hit men were obviously ruthless assassins. There was very little fear decades on. But Jorge Rivi Ayala, who was her primary enforcer and favorite hit man, had a lot of respect and affection for Griselda still, despite the fact that he had ended up cooperating with authorities making a case against her.
Q: At a time when she was wanted in New York she fled and put down roots in Miami? How openly did she live?
A: One of the many extraordinary things about her story was that the entire time she was operating in Miami and almost single-handedly fueling the cocaine wars, she was a fugitive from justice, and was in fact being pursued by the Drug Enforcement Administration. She was a main defendant in the first major cocaine conspiracy indictment in New York, part of Operation Banshee.
She was living, personally, very clandestinely. Very few people knew where she lived. She would go to various salons, to the Broward Mall. I think she was less concerned about the American authorities than she was one of her enemies catching up with her. But in terms of the enforcement of her business, she acted quite brazenly.
That’s the thing about the cocaine business. It is consignment based. Back in those days a kilo of cocaine would go for up to $50,0000. You would go to someone and say ‘I’m going to give you four kilos. How much time will it take you to get the $200,000?’ They come back in two weeks and they don’t have the money, you are not going to file a lawsuit.
Q: Did she reputedly consume her product a la Scarface’s Tony Montana? | <urn:uuid:5d1c11e1-b157-438c-a04f-d6f0e90f1d63> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/09/08/2991689/griselda-blanco-cocaine-godmother.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986381 | 740 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Man Made Global Warming?
Statement by Congressman Ron Paul before the US House of Representatives, June 4, 2009.
Madam Speaker, before voting on the “cap-and-trade” legislation, my colleagues should consider the views expressed in the following petition that has been signed by 31,478 American scientists:
“We urge the United States government to reject the global warming agreement that was written in Kyoto, Japan in December, 1997, and any other similar proposals. The proposed limits on greenhouse gases would harm the environment, hinder the advance of science and technology, and damage the health and welfare of mankind.
“There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth’s atmosphere and disruption of the Earth’s climate. Moreover, there is substantial scientific evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth.
“Circulated through the mail by a distinguished group of American physical scientists and supported by a definitive review of the peer-reviewed scientific literature, this may be the strongest and most widely supported statement on this subject that has been made by the scientific community. A state-by-state listing of the signers, which include 9,029 men and women with PhD degrees, a listing of their academic specialties, and a peer-reviewed summary of the science on this subject are available at www.petitionproject.org. The peer-reviewed summary, “Environmental Effects of Increased Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide” by A. B. Robinson, N. E. Robinson, and W. Soon includes 132 references to the scientific literature and was circulated with the petition.
Signers of this petition include 3,803 with specific training in atmospheric, earth, and environ-mental sciences. All 31,478 of the signers have the necessary training in physics, chemistry, and mathematics to understand and evaluate the scientific data relevant to the human-caused global warming hypothesis and to the effects of human activities upon environmental quality.
In a letter circulated with this petition, Frederick Seitz – past President of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, President Emeritus of Rockefeller University, and recipient of honorary doctorate degrees from 32 universities throughout the world – wrote:
“The United States is very close to adopting an international agreement that would ration the use of energy and of technologies that depend upon coal, oil, and natural gas and other organic compounds. This treaty is, in our opinion, based upon flawed ideas. Research data on climate change do not show that human use of hydrocarbons is harmful. To the contrary, there is good evidence that increased atmospheric carbon dioxide is environmentally helpful.
“The proposed agreement has very negative effects upon the technology of nations throughout the world; especially those that are currently attempting to lift from poverty and provide opportunities to the over 4 billion people in technologically underdeveloped countries.
“It is especially important for America to hear from its citizens who have the training necessary to evaluate the relevant data and offer sound advice.
“We urge you to sign and return the enclosed petition card.”
Madam Speaker, at a time when our nation is faced with a severe short-age of domestically produced energy and a serious economic contraction; we should be reducing the taxation and regulation that plagues our energy-producing industries.
Yet, we will soon be considering so-called “cap and trade” legislation that would increase the taxation and regulation of our energy industries. “Cap-and-trade” will do at least as much, if not more, damage to the economy as the treaty referred by Professor Seitz! This legislation is being supported by the claims of “global warming” and “climate change” advocates – claims that, as demonstrated by the 31,478 signatures to Professor Seitz’ petition, many American scientists believe is disproved by extensive experimental and observational work.
It is time that we look beyond those few who seek increased taxation and increased regulation and control of the American people. Our energy policies must be based upon scientific truth – not fictional movies or self-interested international agendas. They should be based upon the accomplishments of technological free enterprise that have provided our modern civilization, including our energy industries. That free enterprise must not be hindered by bogus claims about imaginary disasters.
Above all, we must never forget our contract with the American people – the Constitution that provides the sole source of legitimacy of our government. That Constitution requires that we preserve the basic human rights of our people – including the right to freely manufacture, use, and sell energy produced by any means they devise – including nuclear, hydrocarbon, solar, wind, or even bicycle generators.
While it is evident that the human right to produce and use energy does not extend to activities that actually endanger the climate of the Earth upon which we all depend, bogus claims about climate dangers should not be used as a justification to further limit the American people’s freedom.
In conclusion, I once again urge my colleagues to carefully consider the arguments made by the 31,478 American scientists who have signed this petition before voting on any legislation imposing new regulations or taxes on the American people in the name of halting climate change.
The bill was subsequently approved with a vote of 219 to 212. | <urn:uuid:73360159-7938-428e-957f-cbb11b0f7445> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thelibertyvoice.com/man-made-global-warming | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947255 | 1,105 | 1.765625 | 2 |
(CNN) -- Facebook users will soon lose the ability to join a network of friends who live in the same area but will gain the widely desired ability to control who sees every piece of information they post.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, in an open letter to users that appeared on the site Wednesday morning, said the social networking site has outgrown the usefulness of regional networks.
"[A]s Facebook has grown, some of these regional networks now have millions of members and we've concluded that this is no longer the best way for you to control your privacy," he said in the letter.
Almost half of all Facebook users are members of at least one regional network, according to Zuckerberg. Users can specify that some of their posts on the site only go to specific networks.
Other networks like high schools, colleges and places of employment will not be affected by the change.
In place of the geography networks,Facebook will be creating what it calls a simpler network for privacy controls.
The highlight will be the option of deciding which Facebook friends see updates, photos or other posts at the time they're posted -- "something many of you have asked for," Zuckerberg said.
"In addition, we'll also be fulfilling a request made by many of you to make the privacy-settings page simpler by combining some settings," he said.
The letter said that, in the next couple of weeks, Facebook's roughly 350 million users will be asked to review and update their privacy settings. A message on the site will explain the changes and take users to the page where they can update the settings, Zuckerberg said.
In the several hours after Zuckerberg's letter was posted, more than 18,000 users had posted replies to it. Most of the feedback appeared positive.
"Great idea!!" one user wrote. "Privacy is seriously important on Facebook, I got about 800 friends that come from different groups of people and places. Thanks."
Others took the opportunity to write about a persistent pet issue for some users -- the desire for a "dislike" button to criticize other people's posts. Facebook has made no statements about whether that potentially drama-inducing feature will ever be added.
TM & © 2009 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.
Designed by Gray Digital Media | <urn:uuid:54b44b62-d141-4f43-b437-3729141da9a6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wibw.com/home/nationalnews/headlines/78322622.html?site=mobile | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953887 | 466 | 1.601563 | 2 |
-- KP4AA -- W8KTZ -- WB8EXZ -- 5Z4LP -- N8EXI -- W8KTZ!
A proud possession of every amateur radio person is his operator’s license and the
resulting “call sign.” This made a person absolutely unique in the entire world as no on
else would have that identifier. Awarded in the U.S. and its territories by the FCC, it is
proof of being a knowledgeable scientist working with radio waves, generated by
equipment often assembled by one’s own hands, and always made to work by one’s own
skill. The reward of this expertise is the making of a friend and acquaintance thousands
of miles away on another continent or of a buddy down the street --- it is the thrill of
having power at distance.
The SJHRC came to be known as station W8KTZ. This was the license issued to Mike Stimac
when he returned from Puerto Rico, and it was preceded by the colorful KP4AA of the
United States territory. On the island, that call sign had been coveted by the radio
amateurs who were Puerto Ricans and who had capitalized on ham radio to have their
own radio telephone links with the States, as well as with their friends in the fellow
Spanish countries of South and Central America, as well as the islands of Santa Domingo
and Cuba. It certainly was a different world back then.
The KP4AA designation put the owner at the beginning of the list of amateurs in the
region. The way in which Mike received it was simply that during the Second World War
licensing had been suspended and then revised. The new call sign list would be used for
new licensees. The first person to pass the tests and qualify was Mike, for which he
received instant notoriety among the displeased “old timers”. However, the amateur
radio fraternity has always been a band of brothers so the grumbling was good natured.
The ham call signs in those days identified one’s home territory, and so upon arrival in
Ohio, the KP4AA license was lost as the FCC in those days required it to be “traded in”
for an Ohio license, which
began with W8. As dozens and dozens of names begin to be heard over the air from
W8KTZ its identity soon became not just Mike Stimac, but the SJHRC. When Mike left the
states to go to Africa, the call sign was left to stay with the club, and lasted through
the 1960's but at some point, sad to admit, it lapsed due to renewal procedures having been forgotten.
However, the succession of overlapping students kept the spirit of the club and the licensing going,
and prevailed on the administration, --and even though there lacked a specific
licensed faculty member to take over, nonetheless the Call WB8EXZ was obtained. (We would
like to hear from members to reconstruct the duration and details of this call, but we understand
that the Electronics Instructor Lou Pelton, although not licensed, was instrumental in providing a place where the guys could hang out and have a club station, for a number of years starting
somewhere around the late 60's into the 70's.)
But Radio went on. In Kenya East Africa, the British Colonial Office controlled all
communications, and in the ‘60’s they had suspended amateur radio operation due to the
terrorism of the Mau Mau who were conducting a guerilla war for their independence.
However, amateurs were allowed to operate on an Emergency Radio net on the premise
that this allowed scattered farm and bush locations to call for help if attacked by the Mau
Mau. Licensed amateurs were granted local call signs under reciprocity. When history
was written with the granting of independence and self rule, the British communications
setup became the East African Postal Union, and the same civil servants carried on, but
now the Africans declared ham radio open to the citizens and resident aliens. Mike had
already set up the Mango High School radio labs and had been issued the call sign
5Z4LP. In time, Mike had been so sucessful that the programs he established became
self-sufficient, so he left Kenya to manage flight training for the Saudi Arabian Airline
in Jeddah, and there amateur radio was banned.
But after ten years, when Mike returned to the States, he went up to the
FCC testing facility in Detroit, Michigan and took the tests again, and received his general
class call letters, N8EXI. By the late 80’s, Mike found himself back teaching in the Cleveland
area, re-uniting with some of his old students, and active with those call letters on the area VHF
--And that’s how it went at Mike's end --- KP4AA, W8KTZ, 5Z4LP, N8EXI--- with the ongoing
changes in amateur licensing by the FCC and the drifting around in the states, operation was interrupted
and the call signs lost, and then regained. In the new millennium, Mike relocated to Reynoldsburg,
near Columbus, Ohio. The station equipment sits on the desk, often switched on 40 or 20 meters,
where the radio is tuned to the low end of the band and sweet CW brings back happy memories.
And then in the Fall of 2008, inspired by efforts to build the web page, and locate the members, and then
the 2007 Sputnik reunion, --and on the heels of two more in 2008, Mike found out the W8KTZ call was again
available, he quietly applied to get it back!
In December of 2008, he made the announcment by e-mail: --"Dear group, . . . N8EXI is cancelled and W8KTZ
is in place. I hold the call;
but if there is ever a club station again, a small routine of paperwork will suffice to make a
transfer merely dependent on willingness of parties involved. So another piece of our history is safe!" | <urn:uuid:6d56f3de-1e40-482e-9f7d-edd79653f86a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sjhrc.org/license.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970644 | 1,291 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Torture is usually a lazy screenwriter’s way of advancing the plot. The hero needs some information, so he beats it out of whoever has it and then proceeds to save the world. It may be that “lazy” is an unfair term but Hollywood’s usual depiction of torture is similar to its representations of violence in general. It’s very stylized, almost ritualized. A kind of shorthand has emerged as you see the same things over and over again. In real life the retrieval of actionable intelligence is much more time consuming and complicated, but we suspend our disbelief so that the hero can prevail in less than two hours.
Zero Dark Thirty, directed by Kathryn Bigelow from a script by Mark Boal, isn’t supposed to be like that. They talked to agents and SEAL Team members and the people running the search for Osama bin Laden and got as accurate a picture of what went on as they could. The veracity of the result is the subject of some controversy. Bigelow and Boal obviously made this with the (possibly illegal) cooperation of the CIA. Now if you make a movie with the cooperation of one of the branches of the military they have approval over the final script. Whether or not the CIA demanded that, I don’t know. But I imagine that the people running the Company at that time had behinds to cover and axes to grind. They do not want to be seen as having tortured people for no good reason. Because as Bigelow and Boal show us in the first graphic scenes, torture is not a matter of smacking someone a few times and then writing down the unvarnished truth they sputter.
There are three reasons the United States should not torture people. One: it’s wrong. There really shouldn’t be any further argument necessary but I will continue. Two: it’s not very effective. I say “very” because there is some legitimate controversy here and those who say “never” are ignoring it. At the very best it takes just as long as regular interrogation methods. In Zero Dark Thirty, which shows torture working, it takes ten years and the crucial piece of information they got that way had to be verified by sources not obtained by torture. Three: If you torture theirs, they are more likely to torture yours. At the very least you can’t legitimately complain if they do.
Zero Dark Thirty covers the period of time from 9/11 to the assassination of Osama bin Laden on May 2 2011. During that time there apparently was one female agent, whose name we do not know at this time but who is called Maya in the film and is played by Jessica Chastain, who kept the hunt for bin Laden active in the face of indifference and even outright hostility from her chain of command.
This is a film about process. It shows Maya methodically gathering clues and getting closer to her goal. The script tries to give us some idea of the thousands of false leads that had to be run down but of course the demands of proper story structure dictate that the emphasis is on the one that did pan out. This distorts the story since, according to the filmmakers, information obtained by torture was key to this lead. It gives the impression that torture is routine and effective.
I like Kathryn Bigelow. She has made some great films in the past. Zero Dark Thirty is a well-made film with terrific performances; its two and a half hours fly by almost unnoticed. The assault on the compound in Abbottabad is as good a set piece as you’ll see this year. My mind keeps trying to somehow exonerate her for the film’s message. At the beginning of the film, Maya is obviously uncomfortable with the torture. But she gets used to it and eventually comes to rely on it. At the very least she never objects. The last shot is a close up of Maya as she leaves Afghanistan when it’s all over, shedding a tear. Perhaps that shows awareness of how all the things she’s done have changed her and by metaphorical extension the country. But that’s ambiguous. She could just as easily be thinking about the personal sacrifices she had to make in the past ten years or all of her fallen comrades or any number of other things.
Zero Dark Thirty is artful but not art. It is, in fact, propaganda, a justification of CIA’s behavior in the wake of 9/11. Bigelow, Boal and the stars of the film have been claiming that this is as close to the truth as they could get. Plenty of people in a position to know dispute this.
My guess is that Bigelow wanted to use real stealth helicopters and have access to expert technical advice to get a realistic tone to the picture. To achieve this, she cooperated with the CIA and made the picture they wanted made. | <urn:uuid:a6ed066b-38e3-417a-aa2f-d6f54bd9a920> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theotherebert.wordpress.com/2013/01/13/zero-dark-thirty/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974117 | 1,016 | 1.570313 | 2 |
The Capstone Research Project is designed to allow fourth year professional students to apply and integrate knowledge learned throughout the curriculum to the development and implementation of a research-based project. In addition to developing and implementing the project, students will also create a research manuscript suitable for publication and create a poster suitable for formal poster presentation. Capstone Research Projects commence in the beginning of the fourth professional year, with assignments completed throughout the fourth year. Final culmination involves formal poster presentation at the annual CSU-COP Capstone Research Day that occurs in spring.
Capstone research projects utilize a scholarly approach and reflect the diversity of research performed in the profession of pharmacy. Research projects can include, but are not limited to, laboratory research, clinical research, educational research, business plan development, public health and drug utilization review. Capstone Research Mentors, along with the Director of Capstone & Milemarker Experiences, guide and mentor students along the Capstone Experience. Research mentors include faculty, preceptors, employers, pharmacists, and other interested parties. Additionally, research projects involving pharmacy and other health disciplines are encouraged and welcomed. | <urn:uuid:69a367ff-810a-4029-8c1e-2bb2e5fb2645> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.csu.edu/collegeofpharmacy/capstoneexperience.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932076 | 224 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Below is the the final part of a three-part video series with international AIDS activist Stephen Lewis. In this installment, Lewis talks with local AIDS activist Tim McCaskell about the link between HIV/AIDS and homophobia, Jamaica’s human rights record, and Lewis's demand for an apology from Coca-Cola.
Lewis says that Coca-Cola sponsored a concert in Jamaica six months ago that headlined homophobic reggae performer Sizzla.
“Sizzla sang a song from the platform, as everyone could have predicted he would, advocating the killing of gays from the platform,” says Lewis. “The entire concert was sponsored by Coca-Cola. And behind Sizzla was a big Zero Coke sign.”
Lewis wants the company to run a full-page apology in all Jamaican newspapers and sponsor a gay-friendly concert in Washington, DC, during the International AIDS Conference.
If it doesn't, Lewis says he has told the multinational corporation that “we’re going to go after you internationally.”
For previous installments of this interview, click here
for the full Q & A with Tim McCaskell. | <urn:uuid:dc555f24-4b3a-4f3d-89be-0bc18bc19d9f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.xtra.ca/public/National/Stephen_Lewis_interview_part_3-11194.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951535 | 238 | 1.546875 | 2 |
New 'swipe fee' regulations for debit cards to kick inby Martin Moylan, Minnesota Public Radio
St. Paul, Minn. — Starting Saturday, big banks will get a lot less money from merchants who accept debit cards.
Federal regulations are cutting so-called swipe fees for debit cards roughly in half, on average.
The fees generated an estimated $20 billion a year in revenue for the country's largest banks. Some banks are starting to charge customers for debit card use, or will soon do so.
But at this time, US Bank said it has no immediate plans to charge customers for debit cards. Wells Fargo does not assess fees to its Minnesota debit card customers. But the bank will test a monthly $3 debit card activity fee in Georgia, Nevada, Washington, New Mexico and Oregon.
TCF now charges 30 cents for some debit card transactions, depending on which payment network handles the transaction.
Retailers have long complained swipe fees were excessive. The fee cut could save retailers billions of dollars annually and those savings could be critical to many retailers.
"Some retailers may use these fees to stay alive, to stay above water. Some may expand. Some may hire more employees. Some may reduce costs. It's all going to depend on the retailer," said Brian Steinhoff, president of the Minnesota Retailers Association.
Banks say retailers will pocket their savings instead of sharing them with consumers. | <urn:uuid:6630f42a-0040-4de0-9f3f-27852f514d3f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/09/30/swipe-fees | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939704 | 290 | 1.75 | 2 |
People of Northwest Public Radio
Our Northwest Energy
Tue May 25, 2010
Washington's Only Nuclear Power Plant Criticized For Six Unplanned Shut-downs
RICHLAND, Wash. – The Columbia Generating Station in Richland, Washington, has been coming increased federal scrutiny lately. Washington's only commercial nuclear power plant has had six unplanned shutdowns in the last two years. The National Regulatory Commission held a hearing about the plant's performance Tuesday.
It was like a parent/teacher conference. The Columbia Generating Station managers sat on one side of the room and members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission sat on the other. The power plant managers fidgeted with their pens and listened as the NRC regulators told them: you need to improve your performance. The feds have downgraded the plant's performance status from green to white. Mahdi Hayes is the NRC inspector that watches over the plant more than 8 hours a day.
Mahdi Hayes: “It's our job to make sure they are meeting the conditions of their license. We've licensed them to do certain things, to run at a certain power level and we are there every day to make sure they are meeting those requirements.”
The power plant managers say they are trying hard to do better. They say they are improving employee training to make safety a higher priority at the plant. And making sure all their equipment works properly. The plant's next meeting with the NRC will be in November. | <urn:uuid:206352ea-1d54-4e23-a8c4-f309d6ae5482> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nwpr.org/post/washingtons-only-nuclear-power-plant-criticized-six-unplanned-shut-downs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967677 | 301 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Posted by: bubbales
Cast: Peirce (Leontes), Nazim (Antigonus), Thomas (Camillo), Lauren (Hermione/Perdita), Braden (Polixenes), Barbara (Paulina), Trevor (Old Shepherd), Buttercup (bear), Michelle, Ben
Credits: Directed by Michelle, Barbara, Trevor; set design by Nazim, Ahmet, Braden, Peirce; music selection Barbara, Michelle; camera Barbara, Ben, Nazim, Trevor; film editing Barbara; pupeteers Michelle, Lauren, Nazim, Trevor, Barbara; costumes Michelle, Trevor. A Later Shakespeare Production
On the eve of Shakespeare’s birthday, BardBox’s latest discovery is this this delightful, extraordinary, weird and stylistically rich version of The Winter’s Tale. Delightful, because it is an American schoolchildren’s production of the play (in modern language and condensed to 11 minutes) which is done with such happy enthusiasm that it is a cast-iron argument all by itself for introducing Shakespeare to children at any age.
Extraordinary, because there is nothing else out there quite like it. It is unusual among online Shakespeare videos in attempting to express all of the plot of one of the plays in the short space available. It also stands out for its invention, with child and adult actors, video and still images probably employing some sort of software designed for schools projects, interiors and exteriors, with several surprise inventions, including the handy use of a map to show the distance between Sicilia and Bohemia.
Then weird, because in some respects it is a really quite peculiar experience. Seeing young children performing Shakespeare always makes you wonder if they know what it is they are doing, and if the adults involved had really thought it through, with the odd plot, odd names, odd settings, odd everything (except the language, which is not Shakespeare’s). Just what were children of six or seven supposed to make of what they were being asked to do? Except that everyone seems to be enjoying themselves so much, the exercise seems more than justified, certainly to be more than just being ‘cute’ for cuteness’ dubious sake.
And then stylistically rich, because there are so many of the particular tropes that BardBox has highlighted over the years bundled up in one video. Children speaking Shakespeare, school projects, Lego figures (Yoda as the oracle), Star Wars references, puppets, animals (a small dog plays the bear) – they are all there. Coupled with wooden acting (though Leontes expresses his rage rather well), shaky camerawork (some of it by the children) and erratic sound, this is the quintessential YouTube Shakespeare. And it all ends in a happy dance, just as such a play should do.
Happy birthday, William. | <urn:uuid:a19d9013-a242-4ee3-8b5b-323b4cf4bfa7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bardbox.wordpress.com/2012/04/22/the-winters-tale-shakespeare-for-kids/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940389 | 591 | 1.828125 | 2 |
by Sharon Brous
We delve into the world and meaning of the Jewish High Holy Days — ten days that span the new year of Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur's rituals of atonement. A young rabbi in L.A. is one voice in a Jewish spiritual renaissance that is taking many forms across the U.S. The vast majority of her congregation are people in their 20s and 30s, who, she says, are making life-giving connections between ritual, personal transformation, and relevance in the world.
Pertinent Posts from the On Being Blog
Two thoroughly humorous and enriching animated shorts on teshuva (repentance) + slicha (forgiveness) from artist Hanan Harchol
Loving Tablet Magazine's humorous approach to the High Holy Days. A few of our favorites...
Our associate producer reflects on observing the Jewish holidays in new ways, with new people, in new places.
An excellent reflection on the playlist for "Days of Awe."
In seeking out others to celebrate Tashlikh, our producer wrestles with thoughts on community even when being received warmly by a new one.
Apples and honey on Rosh Hashanah? How about carp and gefilte fish and a storybook.
About the Image
In preparation for the Jewish High Holy Days and Sukkot, a public art installation of cardboard figures calls attention to the plight of the poor. The social justice campaign in Tel Aviv is trying to raise money to feed and house the homeless.
Host/Producer: Krista Tippett
Managing Producer: Kate Moos
Associate Producer: Nancy Rosenbaum
Associate Producer: Shubha Bala
Technical Director/Producer: Chris Heagle
Senior Editor: Trent Gilliss
Associate Web Developer: Anne Breckbill
Rabbi Heschel marched alongside Martin Luther King Jr., famously reporting that he felt like his legs were praying. Heschel practiced what he called “radical amazement” in his work with religious others. “The opposite of good is not evil,” he said, “it is indifference.” | <urn:uuid:0b687d9c-b265-4afe-8160-2581110a46ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.onbeing.org/comment/3066 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945509 | 452 | 1.835938 | 2 |
|Uploaded:||February 10, 2010|
|Updated:||February 12, 2010|
Jiraiya was born in a village called “Konoha” and as a child he was a student of the Third Hokage. His team mates were Orochimaru, and Tsunade, and with the two the trio became or were a part of Team 7. For todays first lesson I will be showing you "how to draw Jiraiya”, and I think you will like what I have done. The only thing I like about Jiraiya is his cool looking appearance. His white hair and his customized head protector, really makes his style pop. Another cool part of his face is the cyan lines that run down his cheeks. Yes I know that he is a peculiar character from the Naruto series, but that doesn't change how he still stood by his village even after he left his people to help the troubles they were having when Orochimaru invaded Konoha. He helped them fight off the intruders, as well as offer protection. After the Third Hokage died, the village needed another. That is when he went on a journey to look for Tsunade so that she can take over and become the Thirds successor. Once he found her, he had to make it clear that if she betrayed the village, he would personally kill her without a doubt. The only reason why he threatened her like that was because he heard that she was mixed up with Orochimaru and his evil schemes. Once Tsunade made it clear that she was still loyal to her village, she accepted the her place as Hokage, and from there Jiraiya became her servant, trusted adviser, and a loyal friend that she can confide in. He also aided her as a personal spy to keep his eyes on the activity of the Akatsuki. As for his abilities, Jiraiya is a Legendary Sannin and the reason why this is so special is because there are only three and he is one of them. He is an incredibly skilled ninja, and he is also proficient with Toad techniques. It's inevitable that you guys will like this tutorial, as well as the way I show you "how to draw Jiraiya, step by step". I will be back momentary with some more drawing fun. Who knows what I will upload next. The only way to find out is to stay tuned in to Dragoart.com. Peace out people and happy drawing! | <urn:uuid:d8aee1f8-9c33-40bc-a35a-d272fba7111f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dragoart.com/tuts/4123/3/1/learn-how-to-draw-jiraiya.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.992797 | 513 | 1.710938 | 2 |
CMMI is used to create an organizational process infrastructure by addressing particular domains, such as software and systems engineering. Six Sigma is a top-down initiative that cuts across the entire enterprise, including areas such as engineering, sales, marketing, and research.
Six Sigma is intended to be implemented with a focus on problems and opportunities, often with narrow scopes, that will yield significant business benefits. It focuses on the performance of processes and practices as implemented rather than checking for compliance against a definition or model. While these two improvement initiatives are different by design, they are interdependent in their use.
The documents listed below provide guidance and examples for the joint use of Six Sigma and CMMI.
Six Sigma / CMMI Courses
SEMA has developed the following courses to help you better design products and process and improve your process performance.
High Maturity Methods
More and more organizations are striving for and reaching high maturity status, yet there is still an insufficient shared understanding of which measurement and analysis related practices are appropriate for high maturity organizations. SEMA is conducting a series of high maturity workshops to allow high maturity organizations to share best practices and case studies. Proceedings of these workshops will be available as technical notes. The first report has been published: CMMI High Maturity Measurement and Analysis Workshop Report: March 2008.
Reports and guidance for some specific high maturity methods are listed below.
- Process Performance Models
- Statistical Process Control | <urn:uuid:7812ba90-e37f-47dc-b860-91c806a284d3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sei.cmu.edu/measurement/tools/sixsigmacmmi/?location=tertiary-nav&source=201439 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947577 | 290 | 1.640625 | 2 |
San Francisco Carnaval breaks from traditional Catholic roots of the festival and hosts a diverse array of artists, musicians and dancers. Dancers show NBC Bay Area's Brent Cannon some of their Bhangra moves and explain how it's different from Bollywood
One Memorial Day tradition is anything but traditional. San Francisco will host the 33rd Annual Carnaval Festival and Parade this weekend. This year's theme is "Live Your Fantasy," but organizers tell NBC Bay Area News that the event lives up to that theme every year.
"We have a strong Brazilian community, We have a strong West Indian community, as well as the diversity of the Latin community... I think over the years our Carnaval continues to evolve to reflect the diversity of our population," says Jim Sowers.
Sowers adds the event really has a place for everyone. He says many people join a dance group to learn the moves and more about a culture, and parade is there chance to road-test their skills.
Carnaval celebrations across the world are rooted in Catholicism. It's a pre-Lenten celebration that literally means "Fairwell to meat." Many Catholics do not eat meat during Lent. The festivities traditionally happen before Ash Wednesday, but some shift the celebration for chances at better weather. The San Francisco festival happens every Memorial day weekend.
In addition to the parade Sunday morning, three stages will host some of the most diverse dancers and musicians in the bay area. The event is family friendly, but a beverage garden will also serve up drinks.
The Festival takes place on Harrison St. from 16th to 23rd streets. Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 6:30 pm. The parade starts at 9:30 Sunday morning. | <urn:uuid:d7d3c3a9-08aa-4d50-8147-5e60f571ff05> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/San-Francisco-Carnaval-a-Fun-Time-For-All-122737814.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955325 | 347 | 1.726563 | 2 |
You don't have to open a Harry Potter novel to be transported to a magical world of wizards and spells in this city.
Just open the creaky front door to Terrance Merx and Clara Toledo's 120-year-old heritage house in Fernwood and the journey begins. You might even spy one of their pet crows circling the entrance.
This couple never has to decorate for Halloween because their house is always in ghoulish readiness for the festivities, thanks to an extensive collection of reproduction skulls, skeletons, coffins, witching balls, wands, stuffed birds of prey and thousands of dusty old books full of spells and magic.
"Magic[k] is spelled with a silent K that stands for knowledge," states Merx, contradicting most dictionaries. The longtime student of the occult, who confides that one of his treasured possessions is a 1673 copy of Joseph Glanvill's famous book on witches. Merx and his wife Toledo have been renovating their late Victorian Italianate heritage home and carriage house for two decades, and recently won a Hallmark Society Award of Merit for their sterling efforts. He provides the creativity and manpower while she, who works in accounting, is financier and Girl Friday.
They adore old buildings, furniture and antiquities and have one of the most extensive skull collections in Canada - primarily from Tibet. In their blood-red dining room, hundreds are on display, marching around the room like a decapitated army. One large version holds napkins; another contains matches; a third is filled with nuts for the holidays while nearby is a 300-year-old witching ball, to ward off evil spirits.
"I have a gothic nature," Merx admits flatly.
"Ever since I was a kid I wanted to live in an old haunted house. This is as big and old and haunted as I could afford," said the retired commercial artist.
His talent was "discovered" in the early 1960s while he was sitting on the running board of his Model A Ford in San Francisco. Merx was drawing pictures of Allen Ginsberg, who was giving a poetry reading when a man leaned over and offered to buy his sketchbook. He also invited Merx back to his huge old Victorian house to meet his brother, who needed an artist for the Buick advertising department. The chap turned out to be Vincent Price and Merx was offered a job in L.A.
After returning to Victoria, he became a charter member of the Hallmark Society and he and his wife bought their house in 1982. "It was full of hippies who, let's say, had a very casual approach to the house." The previous owner lived back East and sublet the place, but planned to retire here. His wife took one look at the spooky digs and ran.
She may have seen a ghost because a young housemaid called Frances haunts the house.
"For some time after we moved in Frances kept pushing people down the tradesmen's staircase, and once when I was down in my wine cellar bending over to choose a bottle, I was hit on the back on the head. I woke up moments later on the floor."
Merx said he and some friends held a séance and, "she's pretty much exorcized now, though we do sense her sometimes. She was very unhappy, possibly a victim of foul deeds."
Too bad she's not around to help with dusting or chores these days because Merx, 68, says it's a labour of love restoring the old building. "We have to custom make almost everything and I work at this up to 18 hours a day, seven days a week. I just got a pacemaker."
The two-storey home, built in 1890, was in ghastly condition even before they moved in with their skulls and skeletons.
"The carriage house was condemned, standing on sticks and ready to fall over in a high wind. It still had an old privy out back."
First, Nickel Bros. moved the carriage house slightly since it was hanging over into the neighbour's lot, and a new foundation was poured. The building was lowered onto it, then re-roofed, insulated, fitted with 100amp service and put back together with all the details meticulously replicated.
Right: Dusty bottles, feathers, a crystal ball and more line a windowsill.
The main home was an equally hair-raising challenge.
The back porch "lean-to" was falling off and a gabled roof above was about to collapse, so the two storeys were surgically removed. In the process, the original paint colours of sage green, black and burgundy were rediscovered and restored. There is now a new verandah on the main floor and expanded living area above. Both were given matching historic details with the help of carpenters Terry Estell and Peter Danniels.
The 2,300 square-foot home, which has three bedrooms, six fireplaces and 3 1 ?2 bathrooms, was duplexed 60 years ago and they have left it that way.
"We have two of everything: Two stairways, two parlours, two kitchens -"
They live upstairs and preserve downstairs much like a museum, mostly for entertaining. Their current project is turning the drawing room into a library for some of their 30,000 books, including first editions by macabre mystery writer Edgar Allan Poe.
"It's really daunting taking on something like this. One of the worst jobs was removing the old lino. We found 1934 newspapers under a layer of felt, under the ugliest, dismal lino you ever saw, and all that was under more lino tiles that were breaking up."
In one bedroom you can't even see the floor, as these owners are über-hoarders.
Some areas are so jammed it's nearly impossible to walk through. One bedroom contains two large altars - one Tibetan, one Christian - as well as salvaged bannisters from old houses, newel posts, a whole staircase, mantels and old fireplace surrounds.
A huge red-tailed hawk hovers above a tall wardrobe in the master bedroom, and in the attic among other treasures is a large, long wicker basket: "It's the original body bag. They didn't bury people in these, but this is what they used to carry people out of a house in. Perhaps it'll be me one day!"
Their modus operandi is to take on a new project every year. Every Jan. 2, Merx sits at his drawing board and decides what to do. He draws up blueprints, makes working drawings, take them to city hall and lines up a contractor to help.
"We've invested more on improvements than we paid for the entire house 19 years ago," said Toledo with a smile. That's about $300,000 so far, not including labour: $85,000 to redo the carriage house alone. In the main house, plumbing was $7,000, electricity $8,000, a new roof $10,000 - not to mention scores of other things including rebuilding the widow's walk.
"We're very grateful to the Victoria Heritage Foundation for grants that varied from 15 to 30 per cent, and helped with exterior heritage and structural bills," said Toledo, who noted their next project is chimney repairs for about $3,500.
Madrid-born Toledo has enjoyed collecting treasures for decades, but says the challenge now is to de-clutter and as for living in an old house, she loves it despite the constant upheaval of repairs.
"But one has to surrender to that." | <urn:uuid:0f282381-a3b7-40cc-ba28-50f47ee7997b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.househunting.ca/decorating/House+Beautiful+Ghostly+renovation/5632749/story.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978516 | 1,586 | 1.523438 | 2 |
June 5, 2003
Beyond Summit: Chance for Peace?
A double dose of optimism and skepticism led up to this week's summit at the Red Sea resort of Aqaba, but what really matters is what comes next.
Hardened by past failures, Israelis and Palestinians alike recognize that there is still a long way to go, and a lot that could still go wrong after President Bush's Wednesday meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas.
There are, for example, still dozens of warnings of planned terrorist attacks, and a new round of suicide bombings could quickly derail a reactivated peace process.
And even if the parties are able to make the first moves Bush is asking of them, they will encounter major problems down the road: Will they be able to agree on the final size of the Palestinian state, on the extent of its sovereignty, on Jerusalem and the refugee question? And what about the rejectionists on both sides? Will the Palestinians have the power to collect illegal weapons held by Hamas and Islamic Jihad? Will Israel be able to dismantle settlements? In other words, can Abbas face down the fundamentalists and can Sharon deal with the settlers?
One far-right Israeli Cabinet minister, Avigdor Lieberman of National Union, warns that "any attempt to dismantle settlements will lead to civil war."
Despite all the questions, there was a fresh breath of optimism in the air this week. Israeli generals are talking about the end of the nearly three-year-long Palestinian uprising. Palestinians are delighted by Sharon's unprecedented use of the term "occupation" and are looking forward to the occupation's end. And most importantly, both sides have been sobered by what they see as the American administration's newfound determination to put an end to the long conflict between them.
Indicative of the new mood, the Israeli stock market, sluggish during the intifada years, has been skyrocketing.
The Aqaba summit, designed to jump-start a new peace process, was first and foremost a statement about the degree of American commitment. Bush, who had carefully kept his distance from the treacherous Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is now making clear that he intends to play an active role and to exert heavy pressure wherever necessary.
On Monday, Bush vowed to "put in as much time as necessary" to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace. Bush made his comments in France before leaving for the Middle East, where he attended a summit in Egypt with Arab leaders on Tuesday and met with Sharon and Abbas in Jordan on Wednesday.
At the meeting Tuesday with leaders from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the Palestinian Authority at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik, Bush said Israel "must deal with the settlements." Israel must "make sure there is continuous territory that the Palestinians can call home."
At Tuesday's summit, Arab states agreed to Bush's request to back the road map.
The president is also asking Egypt and Jordan to send ambassadors back to Israel as soon as there are tangible signs of progress.
"I hope that as we move forward in this process down the road map, both Egypt and Jordan will see the merit at an appropriate moment to return their ambassadors," Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday in Egypt.
At the Aqaba summit on Wednesday, both Sharon and Abbas made far-reaching commitments: Abbas announced an end to the armed intifada against Israel.
"We will spare no effort, using all our resources, to end the militarization of the intifada, and we will succeed," he declared. "The armed intifada must end and we must resort to peaceful means in our quest to end the occupation."
Sharon came out strongly in favor of Palestinian statehood, and promised to start removing what he called "unauthorized" settler outposts.
"It is in Israel's interest not to govern the Palestinians, but for the Palestinians to govern themselves in their own state," he averred. And he added that Israel was fully aware of the Palestinians' need for contiguous territory on the West Bank for that state to be viable.
Bush carefully listed the major commitments made by both parties, and made it clear that he would hold them accountable.
"These leaders of conscience have made their declarations today in the cause of peace," he said. "We expect both parties to keep their promises."
To underline just how serious he is, Bush is sending in a team of about a dozen monitors, mostly CIA officials, to determine where the parties are carrying out their road map obligations and where they are not. And the word is that any side that creates obstacles will be publicly rebuked.
The president also named John Wolf to be special U.S. Middle East envoy to help implement the road map. A team headed by Wolf, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for nonproliferation, was slated to arrive in the Middle East following the summit. Wolf is relatively unknown, and has little experience in the Middle East conflict.
As far as he went in condemning terror and violence against "Israelis everywhere," Abbas failed to commit to the notion of Israel as a Jewish state.
This led to renewed right-wing criticism of the entire road map approach.
Yuval Steinitz, chairman of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, says unless such a commitment is forthcoming, Israel should refuse to move into the second phase of the road map, which leads to the creation of a Palestinian mini-state.
Abbas, meanwhile, has said it will take weeks before Palestinian security forces are in a position to keep the peace.
Still, the Palestinians have at least three very good reasons to achieve and maintain a cease-fire: The weakness of the post-Iraq Arab world; Sharon's planned security fence, which would leave them only small truncated areas of the West Bank if they don't cut a deal soon; and the fact that a triumphal George Bush is ready to lean on Israel. If the Palestinians keep the cease-fire, and Bush pressures Israel to make major reciprocal moves, Sharon could be the one leader strong enough to make concessions and carry the country with him.
Leslie Susser is the diplomatic correspondent for the Jerusalem Report. | <urn:uuid:3fc3bfc4-ab90-4ecc-aac0-a21fa1616e95> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jewishjournal.com/articles/print/beyond_summit_chance_for_peace_20030606 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962386 | 1,275 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Illinois farmers intend to plant 12.5 million acres of corn for all purposes in 2012, down 100,000 acres from 2011. Many farmers noted that corn on corn acres have not yielded as well as many had hoped for the past few years, leading to increased rotations of other crops.
Planting got under way the middle of March in some locations around Illinois, and is progressing at an above-average pace this year.
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If you are new to the award winning Leader Union and wish to get a subscription or simply gain access to our online content then please enter your ZIP code below and continue to setup your account. | <urn:uuid:d7356c59-0254-406f-a948-4e2d3d6e5fea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.leaderunion.com/content/corn-acres-soybeans-down?mini=calendar-date%2F2013-01 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95656 | 175 | 1.703125 | 2 |
The black-and-white pair had a romantic liaison under a favorite bush back in April and then went separate ways. Now, after weeks of speculation and hope, it was announced at a press conference this morning that Bai Yun, the Zoo’s adult female giant panda, is pregnant. What great news! There is something about a baby panda that captures the heart and just doesn’t let go (well, at least for me!).
Dr. Don Lindburg, head of the Giant Panda Conservation Division, shared this happy information with members of the local media and the dozens of Zoo visitors who happened to stop by. He explained that ultrasound tests revealed the presence of two fetuses, but that one was much larger than the other, and it was likely that only one cub would be born while the other fetus might be resorbed by the mother’s body. It would be nice to have twin giant panda babies, but the important thing is to have a healthy cub born to a healthy panda mom.
I think the best news of all is that we won’t have long to wait for the birth! Dr. Lindburg predicted that, based on the size of the viable fetus, Bai Yun should be welcoming her baby by the middle of next week. My heart is ready to be captured once more!
Debbie Andreen is the San Diego Zoo’s Web site editor.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Comments are currently closed. Pinging is not allowed. | <urn:uuid:956cd681-68fd-4cae-833f-0c1091b59c66> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogarchives.sandiegozoo.org/blog/2005/07/28/shes-expecting/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969283 | 318 | 1.742188 | 2 |
“I could never, EVER home-school.”
“I don’t home-school; I school at home.”
“I’m not the teacher, I’m the learning coach.”
I am embarrassed to admit that all of those statements have come out of my mouth in the past 12 months. They are also untrue.
* * * * * *
One of the aspects of online public school that reinforced by folks associated with it is the need to NOT refer to it as “home-schooling.” Because you see, the state of Ohio will pay for online public school, but NOT for home-schooling. I was totally cool with that because *I* could never home-school. I was not “that kind” of parent. I am NOT a teacher and among my entire family of formally trained educators, I am certainly no expert on education.
Early on in our online public school experiment, Zac Chase (a teacher formerly employed at Philadelphia’s Science Leadership Academy) insisted that I was, in fact, my child’s teacher. He suggested – almost insisted – that I own that particular role. I resisted - vehemently at times, arm outstretched and hand up – but no more.
* * * * * *
I AM a teacher! (There – I said it! Whew!) The state might not recognize me as one professionally, but that doesn’t negate my role. More importantly, it doesn’t even mean I am inexperienced or bad at what I do. In the same way, being certified by the state to teach doesn’t mean someone is experienced or good at that profession.
What is a teacher? We all know the stereotype: a matronly woman with a bun and a prim skirt, glasses perched on her nose, lecturing with little emotion to bored students. Sadly, we’ve probably all experienced some version of that
hell less-than-optimal learning situation. But by-God if the state says that woman is certified, then she must be a teacher, right?
* * * * * *
Think of the best teacher you’ve ever had.
I hope you’ve had many. I know I have. Among them Mr. Leigh and Mr. Shumaker jump to mind (probably because they’ve both passed away in the last year). What made them true teachers in every sense, these men who were state certified in their respective areas of expertise?
First, they had a true passion for their subjects. Mr. Leigh truly LOVED math! Most
sane high school kids do NOT love math, but we all took notice and were even fascinated by his obsession with it. Mr. Leigh could get worked up about the importance of a decimal point or the beauty of an algebraic equation to such a degree that we students would laugh at him. Mr. Shumaker, on the other hand, LOVED English. He was so passionate that he would jump up on top of a desk to make a point – literally. No matter your feelings on English, you did not – could not – fall asleep in Harvey’s class.
These exemplary teachers also cared about their students as people. They cared so much that they refused to accept failure. They pushed us, as individuals, further than we could even imagine being pushed – and they knew we could do it even when we doubted it ourselves. They respected us as the young adults we weren’t but yearned to be, looked with skeptical eye – oh, that arched eyebrow – on our immature excuses for not working to our potential, and gave us the grades we earned instead of the grades we wanted.
This leads to the third characteristics the best teachers shared: we were afraid of them and sometimes, yes, we even hated them. Oh yes, we did. I hated both those teachers with a passion when I had them. They made me struggle. They made me cry in frustration over homework, papers. They made me wish I were anywhere but in their classes at times. When I emerged bruised, battered, and better I didn’t realize the extent of their gifts to me. That revelation would take years to manifest.
* * * * * *
My daughter’s composition “teacher” at the online public school we are trying this year went half of this school year without ever seeing one example of her writing. “How,” my husband asked, “can she possibly assess Emily’s ability without ever ONCE seeing how she actually writes?” When we raised the question at the parent-teacher conference, we were invited to submit writing samples via email each week. Emily was excited – someone new to give her feedback on her work! But the comments took at least a week to come back and they were paltry. “Good job.” “Nice work.” In the whole batch there was only one single constructive comment. One.
Meanwhile, I would insist on writing, revising, re-writing, and re-revising. *My* teacher comments were more along the lines of “can you use stronger verb choices to paint a more descriptive picture here?” and “Can you employ more words of emotion to connect your audience to what you were FEELING in this personal narrative?” Emily enjoyed the compliments from her OHVA teacher, but even she quickly saw that they weren’t going to improve her writing like my constructive criticisms were.
I love the challenge of writing, even though I don’t do it professionally. I have a passion for grammar, word choice, and sometimes (thanks to Mr. Shumaker) the avoidance of passive verbs. My daughter writes better than most 7th graders, but that doesn’t mean she has no progress to make in her writing. I care enough to push her to excel and some days, she HATES it! I don’t know if she’ll look back on me as a good teacher, but I do hope that someday she’ll be grateful that I don’t let her slack. I have too much respect for her abilities to let that happen.
* * * * * *
This past Monday, I was working hard to get some good-weather-dependent work done outside and in our sunroom. When Emily had a question about genetics, I inwardly groaned. That had NOT been my best subject in high school biology. Instead of really digging into the material, I told her – for the first time all year – to just go call her teacher. (OHVA is a public online school, so she actually has four state certified teachers who do online synchronous classes and are available for questions). Later that afternoon, we got an email saying that genetics was an 8th grade topic, so Emily should come to the science tutoring session the following evening where there would be an 8th grade teacher who could help her. What? If it’s in the 7th grade science course, which we are required by law to complete at 90%, shouldn’t the 7th grade science teacher be able to help? And aren’t 7th grade science teachers certified by the state to teach either 7th or 8th grade science?
I was still too lazy to reacquaint myself with Mr. Mandel and his peas, so we BOTH attended the session, which ended up being a synchronous one-on-one. The 8th grade science teacher admitted pretty quickly that she was not familiar with the specific lesson we were doing. (Um…ok.) In reading through some text on the screen which we could all see, she read the word “dominant” as “dormant.” I raised an eyebrow, but figured it was an honest mistake…until she did it again. I may be rusty on my biology, but even *I* know that dormant has to do with seeds and dominant with genetic traits.
In the end, Emily’s question was really one of mathematics and experimentation procedure more than genetics. Participating in the help session did nothing for Emily, but did force *me* to sit down and work out just where Emily’s problem was and how I could help her understand the material. Isn’t that one of the roles of a teacher? Just who WAS the teacher in this scenario – and in the composition scenario above?
* * * * * *
It seems appropriate that this year, Mothers’ Day comes at the end of Teacher Appreciation week. Save for the obligatory public hat-tip today, I’m not likely to get any recognition outside my family for either role. Nonetheless, each role was carefully and deliberately chosen. I own them both and hope I can live up to the bar set in both cases by those who came before me. | <urn:uuid:2a43dfd4-41fd-4859-aaee-edf54154fa06> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://12amusings.wordpress.com/2012/05/13/owning-it/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983046 | 1,860 | 1.507813 | 2 |
In a rather redundant article in Commentary, Jack Wertheimer makes another set of his sweeping – and entirely annoying – statements about how the young folks, they’re just so dumb.
He starts out with a perfectly fine, if not particularly new or startling, laying out of the observation about how expensive it is to live a Jewish life. He then veers off into a bizarre, and only tangentially related, screed about how it’s organizations that encourage young Jews to do “Tikkun Olam” who are to blame for the state of affairs in which young Jews don’t contribute to the Jewish people, and somehow links that to why no one can afford to educate Jewish children adequately.
Now normally I’d just be happy to agree with another Jewschooler who commented offblog that, “Really, the only thing more consistently wrong in American Jewish life than Commentary Magazine is Jack Wertheimer.” In fact, I find his sweeping statements about how women are to blame, young people are to blame, anyone is to blame except people like him doing what he thinks they ought to do at all times so wrong that really I just ignore anything that comes from him nowadays. Normally, I think that he’s just irrelevant. Or perhaps just apoplectic to the point of being unable to do anything but bluster.
And in fact, the organization and one of the people whom he takes direct and inexplicable aim have already articulately responded.
So why am I bothering to comment at all, you ask? Because, while he’s completely inarticulate at saying so, there actually are a few legitimate points to be found in the ranting.
To be fair (and let me hasten to add, every time Wertheimer opens his mouth he says something I find offensive) he doesn’t actually say – as he has been accused – of saying that Jews, young or otherwise, shouldn’t engage in Tikkun Olam. In fact, he begins his – I hesitate to call it essay – commentary by noting,
Well before the recession, the national Jewish population study of 2000-01 claimed that “seven percent of American Jewish households have incomes . . . below the federal government’s official poverty line, and double that proportion, fourteen percent, have incomes that . . . can be considered ‘low income.’” That is below the national average, but the needs of these people are real and should be a primary concern of the organized Jewish community.
In other words, he is saying that Jews should be committed to taking care of their own in need, and that part of our education should be letting young Jews know that there are such people.
He’s certainly correct that by and large, the Jewish community goes out of its way to try not to face the number of Jews who are poor, or just barely struggling along. Except for those few organizations that target the photogenically pathetic elderly, most Jewish organizations are firmly opposed to the idea that there are poor Jews. Or even working class Jews.
It’s all over the place – think about your average program for young adults – they’re often called “Young Professionals” programs. I will never forget hearing from a 20something, “well, I’m not a professional, so I guess I’m not wanted.” And that’s just the beginning – how about the disgusting underpaying of people who work in Jewish organizations – many of whom are Jewish – who are just squeaking by? And then of course there are those who are just regular old poor – working three jobs to make ends meet or not able to work at all.
However, why Wertheimer singles out young Jews, David Rosenn, Ruth Messinger, and organizations like Repair the World for his criticism I’m not sure… After all, it’s the elephants that have set up this particular trend, so why are they now surprised to see it?
Wertheimer is right that “Tikkun Olam” is not a commandment and is in fact a quite modern idea. It’s a kabbalistic – and thus more or less woo-woo idea about how to repair God through ritual acts. It’s not about doing good for others (we do have that, it’s just not called “Tikkun Olam”). It’s also become a largely meaningless idea even if one buys it as a genuine ethical imperative as part of our tradition (what’s in a name? any other rose…) because it’s turned into the kittens and puppies show.
What Judaism has always required is g’milut chasadim and Tzedakah, which makes demands of us and our time and money – and in fact, requires of us to give first to our families, then to our Jewish brethren in need, and then to our wider community. It isn’t about feeling good, it’s not about how you feel at all, or what you want to do. It’s a completely un-American, counter-cultural idea of duty and obligation based on laws. The rabbis are clear about why this is so: If you do something because you feel good about it, then when you don’t feel good about it, you may not do so much. Instead, they set out laws that require every Jew to engage in a rational and reasonable amount of righteous behavior – all across the board, not just in terms of charitable giving – and in a way that won’t beggar your family.
It sounds ickily self-centered, but in truth, it isn’t; it’s a perfectly sensible way of ordering needs in the world. Certainly it’s away of sifting priorities so that we don’t get overwhelmed with the outsize task of fixing everything no matter how far or how near. It doesn’t mean that one shouldn’t try to help those who aren’t Jews, just that one should make sure one’s family isn’t starving first, and in the Jewish community, that means understanding that other Jews are family first. Those who want to read this as racism or some other unpleasant “ism” are not being fair to the Jewish tradition of making rational judgment. It is exactly along the lines of the question of what one does when two people are walking through the desert and only have enough water for one. The rule is, the one who owns the water drinks it and lives. That way, at least one person does.
Luckily, we aren’t in the desert, and there’s plenty of (metaphorical) water. Water can be money, or time, or energy, and we have plenty of it. Mr. Wertheimer seems to be stuck on the idea like a little kid who thinks that Ima’s love is only enough for one, and if we have a sister come along, there won’t be enough. Okay, realistically, that does occasionally happen, but not here. Tzedakah, like love, like, in fact, g’milut chasadim – acts of loving-kindness – grows the more you do it. There is enough for all of us.
I don’t think I have the energy to complain about Mr. Wertheimer’s mis-quoting, or perhaps simple obtuseness, about David Rosenn’s and Ruth Messinger’s comments about not using others’ distress to build Jewish identity, except to say that Jewish tradition itself recognizes that service to others is on a higher level when not motivated by others’ recognition of their act (Rambam, Mishneh Torah, is the most famous, but by no means the only, statement of this).
I think that Wertheimer is (I can’t believe I’m saying this) right to worry about the fact that we’re not creating places where young Jews know anything deeply about Judaism. We are creating Jewish communities where charity burnout is going to come very quickly because we can’t sustain everyone everywhere all the time. And without a grounding in why we are obligated to help others, in a generation or so, we’ll just be a bunch of people with curly hair and big hips whose grandparents cared about making the world a fit place for God.
But blaming the organizations that are channeling genuine Jewish energy and desire to help into channels that actually succeed at helping others is just nuts. All of the people that Wertheimer castigates for being somehow against Jewish identity are indeed helping to build Jewish identity. Of course service to others isn’t all of Jewish identity, but if we can build bridges to people who might not otherwise have had any connection, maybe they’ll come around long enough to learn about the other, equally important parts. And Rabbi Rosenn and Ms. Messinger not only don’t have any problem with that, they’re happy with it; they just don’t think that identity should be the focus of their organization, rather that service, done well, for the sake of those who need it, should be the focus, and it should be done because we’re Jewish. The Jewish part is secondary, but that doesn’t make it either irrelevant or useless. But if it’s not for the sake of those who need the service, what have we become? Should we fail to attack underlying problems just so our identity building can continue? This is like the ridiculous blowing out of proportion that we hear all the time from organizations like AIPAC and AJC where inflating worries about Israel and anti-Semitism is designed to scare elderly Jews so that they’ll donate and the organization can continue to pay people’s salaries. Not that there’s anything wrong with finding work for people – after all the economy is bad, I don’t want anyone out of work, but can’t someone put these folks to work doing something useful?
I suspect that the point he really wants to make is that our priorities of turning outward have lead the American Jewish community to underfund education. He’s certainly right that we don’t spend enough money on education, and that in the very short run, it’s causing a lot of Jews to grow up with incredibly sketchy knowledge of Judaism, and even people who put some effort into it and may be leading community members, are likely not to know a lot. And that’s a shame, but it’s not a problem stemming from service organizations. In fact, as I’ve said before, if we pulled every cent we spend on holocaust museums, pro-Israel settler PR flacking, ridiculous ad campaigns that compare Israel to a small penis, organizations who exist just to exist and do so by scare tactics, well, hell we could probably send every Jew in America to day school. So, Mr. Wertheimer, could you please get cracking on shutting those down and sending the money to education? | <urn:uuid:5c52f163-f6bc-4c95-aaf8-ca83f4bd5760> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jewschool.com/2010/03/03/21461/does-jack-know-jack/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961129 | 2,338 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Seven steps to black belt in theming Drupal 6
This guide is a translation and updating of a Swedish equivalent, which in turn was heavily inspired by the book Drupal 6 Themes written by Ric Shreves. I recommend anyone interested in a deeper dive into Drupal theming to read that book.
A few words about Drupal
Drupal is a powerful system to quickly build websites with quite advanced functionality – which should become apparent for anyone installing Drupal and trying some of its more popular modules. It is not as obvious that Drupal also offers great possibilitites to change the look and feel of your website.
To customise Drupal's look and feel is called theming Drupal, and the parts of Drupal handing this are called Drupal's theme layer. This guide will give you a walkthrough of large parts of how the theme layer works for the so-called PHP engine – a theme framework that helps finding and interpreting functions and files for the theme layer. PHP engine is the de facto standard in Drupal theming (and included in core), but is not the only available theme engine.
The guide is divided into several steps, starting with the basics and ending with things that might not be super advanced, but still will let you do most things when it comes to adjusting Drupal's presentation. (As a matter of fact, the first four steps does not strictly deal with theming, but things you should know about when you theme.)
The outline of this guide
- White belt: Principles and philosophy
- Yellow belt: What you can do with configuration
- Orange belt: Downloading and installing themes
- Blue belt: page.tpl.php and regions
- Brown belt: Other template files
- Black belt: template.php and theme functions
- Bonus belt: Theming forms | <urn:uuid:cfa1a01c-c603-4c3c-8472-c8fc219b250d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nodeone.se/en/seven-steps-to-black-belt-in-theming-drupal-6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940666 | 364 | 1.789063 | 2 |
We all remember how the original story went. All the men, save one, abandoned our Lord at Calvary. Only St. John, and the few loyal women, stood by Him in that place of death.
Sadly, the same story is re-enacted on a regular basis at the modern-day Calvary, the places of death we know as abortion clinics.
Every month, there is a Witness for Life at the Temple of Moloch in lower Manhattan, er, I mean the Planned Parenthood abortion clinic. It is very sad to watch the young women enter that place of death. And it is heartbreaking to see men drop them off and walk away, leaving them alone at Calvary.
We typically hear from the pro-choice crowd that abortion is a women’s issue and that men should butt out. This is the script that’s being fed to them by the Evil One. In reality, abortion is a man’s issue, because in many ways it is the consequence of the abdication of male responsibility. If only men would be who they are called to be, and reject sexual irresponsibility, parental irresponsibility, and fraternal irresponsibility, abortion would be unthinkable — a pregnant woman could be certain that the men in her life would stand behind her, no matter how difficult the circumstances.
This is why a strong male presence at the Witness for Life is so important. When men stand by the Lord at that little Calvary, they give an example of authentic masculinity to the frightened women who come there.
They also can be the catalyst for miracles. Today, we saw one.
The Witness was difficult this Saturday. It was very cold, and we were heckled in a very nasty way by several passers-by. But the prayers continued to rise to heaven.
Our sidewalk counselors were all male today — the men of the Pro-Bikers for Life, and one of my brother Knights of Columbus. As time went by, they noticed one man who was in a parked car, and who was visibly upset. They approached him, and it turned out that his 16-year-old niece was in the clinic and was about to have an abortion. He didn’t want it to happen, and he kept on calling her to convince her to come out.
The prayer warriors kicked into high gear, and the men stood with the girl’s uncle, supporting him and giving him strength. A powerful spiritual struggle was taking place.
At the conclusion of the Witness, we processed back to Old St. Patrick’s for Benediction, but the sidewalk counselors and a few of the Sisters of Life remained behind at Calvary, standing watch and praying for that young woman to come out of the place of death.
Eventually she emerged, having decided not to have the abortion. God is truly great — all glory to His Holy Name.
Her struggle is not over, of course, and she will need a great deal of support. The Sisters will be there to help her, and I’m sure that her uncle will be there too.
We were privileged to see a great miracle today, and we stand in awe of God’s goodness. Truly, wonderful things can happen when men stand by the Lord at Calvary. | <urn:uuid:ef14468f-320e-4645-ac7c-87928c683255> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.archny.org/steppingout/?p=1480 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980268 | 681 | 1.648438 | 2 |
atamagabakkaomae writes "Together with a friend, I am starting up a company in Japan that develops sensors used in motion capture. For these sensors we develop hardware and software. Part of the software development is an open-source toolkit called openMAT. We have some special purpose algorithms that we developed ourselves and that are better than our competitor's technology. I first wanted to publish everything open-source to spark interest in our company and to do development in collaboration with the community. My company partner disagreed and said that we will lose our technological advantage if we open-source it. So I eventually published only a part of the toolkit open-source and closed the most interesting code. How do you guys think that open-sourcing your code-base affects a company's business? Is it wrong for a small company to give away precious intellectual property like that or will it on the contrary help the development of the company?" | <urn:uuid:969c7898-e273-4806-9fcd-930bd5dc8e0c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ask.slashdot.org/story/11/12/11/2211229/ask-slashdot-open-vs-closed-source-for-a-start-up | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953211 | 190 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Having difficulty understanding accounting principles? Having headaches about what you are taught in school? Wondering whether or not to drop Prinsip Perakaunan as a subject for your SPM?
Introducing to you SPM Accounts made simple with specially devised techniques created over the years. Accounting principles may seem very difficult to grasp but with a simplified creative approach designed gradually over the years by an experienced tutor who has tutored a variety of students in small groups, many have found that it is not that complicating after all.
Techniques: mind-blowing self-created charts and formulae you have NEVER seen in books
Estimated number of hours to completion of entire SPM Prinsip Perakaunan syllabus: 50 hours (may vary with different individuals)
Difficult to believe?? You must try it out to believe!!!
EFFECTIVE & QUALITY TEACHING AT ITS BEST
Contact Victor Chee at 016-2188 214. | <urn:uuid:ecc11e6f-3d2d-43b3-9678-a2aa825a7687> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://akaunspm.blogspot.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937836 | 206 | 1.585938 | 2 |
At the EDUCAUSE Conference in Anaheim, I was an invited guest presenter to talk about a national "hot topic"- namely how to create effective IT organizational structure. The presentation entitled, "Avoiding Your IT House of Cards- Building Your Own Solid Foundation" was extremely well received and included a dynamic collaborative discussion on how to build better functional enterprises. The PowerPoint is now available on the EDUCAUSE conference web site. Keys to success include: communication, collaboration, employee satisfaction, being a leader, understanding advocacy, empathy, identifying failure and learning from it, and identifying and eliminating silos.
Understanding each of these core issues will ensure success in your own IT environment. | <urn:uuid:e07107ef-5e24-4219-803e-1c46cb9177ca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jjorstad.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943159 | 137 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Fortune Oil PLC, Hong Kong, said it is starting to see commercial gas flow rates from horizontal wells at its Liulin coalbed methane project in Shanxi Province of northern China (see table, OGJ, Sept. 6, 2010, p. 86).
Field production from three horizontal wells is close to 500 Mcfd of gas and increasing, with the H3 well accounting for half the output, with 2 MPa bottomhole pressure. The three wells average 4,600 m of connected coal. The company plans to reduce bottomhole pressure to around 0.2 MPa eventually.
The company has drilled two more horizontal wells in 2012. The five wells are expected to produce sufficient volumes to meet requirements of the existing gas sales agreement, which is for as much as 3.5 MMcfd at $7.10/Mscf (US).
Initial gas sales from Liulin field will be via a compressed natural gas wholesale station that is under construction and expected to be ready for operation in the second half of 2012. Fortune Oil has completed engineering design of the gas gathering system and an engineering, procurement, and construction contract is in place to install it. Gas sales are to start in early 2013.
The overall development plan is to be submitted in 2012. The 50-50 partnership with Dart Energy Ltd., Brisbane, ensures successful drilling of the wells, Fortune Oil said. | <urn:uuid:2c4a2e6b-752f-4b44-b2ad-21c1c1d44fd4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ogj.com/articles/2012/06/cbm-output-climbs-at-china-shanxi-liulin-field._saveArticle.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953671 | 281 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Parishes Raise Over $750,000 For Haiti, Plus Goods
Published: February 4, 2010
ATLANTA—Emergency shelter and food top the needs of Haitians as the country digs out from its devastating Jan. 12 earthquake.
Recovery from the disaster is expected to take close to a decade as world leaders discuss rebuilding the ravaged country.
Volunteers from Atlanta and development experts have switched focus from emergency assistance aid to sustaining the homeless and tentative steps toward rebuilding after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake.
“We hope that there will be a sustained response. The nation is ruined. The Catholic Church down there is gutted. This is going to be a huge, huge rebuilding effort. We have to keep talking about it,” said Mark Coughlin, a leader at St. Monica Church’s Haiti outreach.
Catholics in North Georgia dug deep into their pockets for a special fundraiser as part of a nationwide response by the church.
“With only a portion of the parishes reporting their collections for Haiti, over $750,000 has been raised for the effort. We expect this figure to rise when all parishes report in,” said Brad Wilson, chief financial officer for the archdiocese.
The money was counted by an e-mail survey with 63 parishes reporting. Parishes were asked to send the funds directly to Catholic Relief Services to ensure the dollars could get into the hands of the aid agency quickly.
In addition, some $21,000 was reported from donations at four archdiocesan schools and more money is expected, according to Diane Starkovich, the superintendent of Catholic schools.
The donations to help Haiti overall have topped some $560 million, the largest contribution for a foreign disaster.
Catholic Relief Services, the relief and development arm of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, took in $23.8 million in pledges as of Monday, Jan. 25. Approximately $12.4 million was donated online, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy Web site.
That doesn’t include money raised during a special collection in Catholic churches nationwide on Jan. 17 to aid CRS.
Some 200,000 tents are needed to shelter the hundreds of thousands of people who are homeless. The rainy season is approaching and public health leaders are concerned without the shelter—which comes in a package of two tarps, 30 meters of rope, nails, blankets, rubber washers—illness and disease could run rampant.
Delivery of supplies is “ramped up” as food and other essential items are handed out to people by the thousands, said Tom Price, a spokesman for Catholic Relief Services.
“We are determined to make it a better Haiti,” he said.
Many archdiocesan parishes have established relationships with churches and villages in Haiti long before the catastrophe. The natural disaster changed the immediate needs, as rural communities take in an influx of refugees from the cities. But people are committed to helping with the new challenges.
“The long haul was in place before the earthquake. So, the answer is yes, we’re there for the long haul,” said Deacon Steve Beers, who serves at St. George Church in Newnan, which has helped at a rural Haitian community for 18 months. The parish in Haiti is Our Lady of Guadalupe in LaBruyere.
Deacon Beers said a big success with the village was establishing a 3,000-gallon water reservoir. That should be enough to keep the nearby villagers with plenty of safe drinking water, he said.
The new issue is residents returning to villages to escape the death and hardship in cities. But the villages aren’t able to take them all in, he said.
People at St. George Church have stepped up with extra donations for supplies and that is the focus of attention, he said.
“The whole thing becomes infectious. Whenever there is a need, I am finding more help is available,” he said.
“The help is continuing to come in,” he said.
St. George was one of five parishes to pitch in on raising a container-load of canned meat, fish, milk and bottled water to be sent to Missionaries of the Poor in Cap Haitien, Haiti. The other parishes taking part are St. Peter Chanel, St. Thomas Aquinas, Corpus Christi and St. Benedict, said Jane Rodgers of the Atlanta-based U.S. office of Missionaries of the Poor.
The parishes packed it up Jan. 31 and Food for the Poor is shipping it free to Haiti, she said. They are starting on a second container and hope to ship it within the week, she added.
“We are going to continue as long as people keep sending money and food,” Rodgers said. “I have been getting calls from all over the country. They are all little donations, but everyone wants to do something.”
The Missionaries of the Poor have opened their doors to people fleeing Port-au-Prince and have also trucked relief supplies to the earthquake area.
St. Monica’s is preparing for a trip to its twinned parish, located some 60 miles from Port-au-Prince, which was already planned before the earthquake.
“We have more and more people wanting to go,” Coughlin said. But the logistics and sleeping accommodations limit the number of volunteers who can go, he said.
Coughlin said about two dozen parishioners are heading down there in February.
In addition, some 300 people are following on Facebook the parish’s immediate relief trip to deliver a truck and supplies to Bassin-Zim.
Four members of the Duluth parish, including a doctor and nurse, went down to Haiti shortly after the natural disaster. They carried 1,000 pounds of water purification equipment and 400 pounds of medical supplies.
During a week there, Coughlin saw a transition occur from efforts to rescue the wounded and assist the dying to recovery, with the building of tent cities that have latrines and drinking water.
“People all over Port-au-Prince have no place to go so a tent city grew up. We visited much worse,” he said.
Coughlin volunteered there shortly after the earthquake. He worked as a Creole translator, helping doctors and patients understand each other.
While there are reports of violence around food aid deliveries, Coughlin said he never saw it. Coughlin said he walked away with greater respect for “(Haitians’) courage, their strength, their civility.”
“The way they helped each other blew us away,” he said. | <urn:uuid:d1738d11-18ef-49fc-b72e-19668d8b504e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.georgiabulletin.org/local/2010/02/04/parishesaidhaiti/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970166 | 1,409 | 1.539063 | 2 |
With Yahoo! about to close GeoCities I decided to grab copies of the few sites linked to from Pepys’ Diary. Broken links are an inevitable part of a ten year web project but advance knowledge that several linked-to sites would disappear at once doesn’t often happen. So now, thanks to the wonders of wget and some manual effort, I have a small collection of a few GeoCities sites.
Strictly speaking this is all copyright infringement of course. For the first two or three I tried mailing the authors but the emails always bounced. Eventually I just stopped trying. The sites were generally last updated in the late 1990s or early 2000s and seem long dormant. Should any authors want them removed I’d be happy to do so but I hope they’re still useful to someone.
Here’s what I’ve archived…
If I could only save one GeoCities site, this would be it. In fact, it’s the only GeoCities site I could recall before I started this. Ivor Hoole has visited, researched and described more than 400 neglected pathways in London. I can’t vouch for the accuracy but it seems like an awesome resource that should be much better known. It’s crying out for a modern interpretation with up-to-date mapping.
It was last updated in August, or maybe November, 2004. Emails sent to two addresses bounced and the last activity I can find online is a post (scroll down) from an Ivor Hoole trying to track down an Evelyn Harris in April 2005. There is then an obituary for an Ivor Hoole from August of that year…
Staying in the same “neighbourhood” (The Tropics), this typical GeoCities site by “slcwc” or “Raistlin”. Information about various historical ships, all copied from an out of print book from 1978.
Don’t miss the repeating sound of ocean waves as you browse the site; the midi music files (about half of which still work); the pop-up random quotes; the search page listing Lycos, Yahoo, Excite, Infoseek, Web Crawler and DejaNews; and the GeoCities-standard design of the home page, animated gifs, java water reflections and all.
“The collector’s homepage, dedicated to the coinage during the different periods in the history of Baltic countries - the Livonia Confederation, the Free City of Riga, coinage of Poland in Riga, Duchy of Livonia, Duchy of Courland…” last updated in September 1999 by Girts Eisters. More 20th century web styles and lots of obscure information about a really specific subject — the very best of the web.
An awful lot of information about another subject that’s of huge interest to a small number of people. Excellent.
Removed at the request of the author, 3 March 2010.
Created by Andrew Martin, about his own genealogical research and the Littleport Society which “was founded in 1987 and it is the only non-political, non-sectarian organization in Littleport whose membership is open to residents and anybody else who holds an interest in this fenland town.” Last updated in May 1999.
“Set in hypertext markup” by Anthony Sallis in April 1999, extracts from Evelyn’s diary, a contemporary of Samuel Pepys. Very handy.
Kim wanted to make a new site but didn’t know what it should be about. She thought for days and days and, because she loves “the romance in history”, she “decided to do a site all on famous love letters written throughout history.” All the information is copied from a published book of letters. But I bet the book’s pages doesn’t have a background of repeating love hearts.
I haven’t read through it all but I think it’s about this chap and his descendants. Every page is designed entirely differently. So many colours, so much information.
More history, courtesy of Christopher O’Riordan, written in the 1980s and put on GeoCities around 2001. Includes ‘Popular Exploitation of Enemy Estates in the English Revolution’ and ‘Self-determination and the London Transport Workers in the Century of Revolution’. For good measure I also archived the related site by the same author The Thames Watermen in the Century of Revolution.
A site about (or by?) an actor who died in December 2002, and some bits of historical theatre information. More classic GeoCities design work there, and a site keeping the memory of someone alive.
“A look into the world’s most exciting chapters of maritime history.” Lots and lots of stuff about early twenty century steam ships by a guy in Knoxville, Tennessee called Jason. It must have taken ages to collate all the information and photos. Also includes details of his holiday in London.
So there we go. Little of that could be classed as good, in the sense of well designed, well organised and authoritative material. And yet it’s all the results of people thinking about what they’re passionate about and putting it online. Every site has taken hours and days and maybe weeks of work by its creator. And it’s all a tiny, tiny fraction of what Yahoo! will shortly be erasing from the world. | <urn:uuid:662f7365-6d6d-45c6-a49b-38edc6a896bd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gyford.com/phil/writing/2009/04/29/geocities_archive.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946257 | 1,162 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Fast on the heels of Google’s announcement it would be integrating Google+ results with its regular search results, Twitter released a statement opposing the new changes. Twitter spokesman Matt Graves said that people often rely on Google to deliver the most relevant results when they want to find something on the internet. Often, these results are coming from Twitter: “As we’ve seen time and time again, news breaks first on Twitter; as a result, Twitter accounts and Tweets are often the most relevant results”. This update will affect the reported 62 million users of Google+, making it a major update for them.
In its dissent, Twitter went on to describe itself as a “vital source of real time information” as it has 100 million users who send 250 million Tweets every day. By adding in Google+ results to Google’s search, finding the most relevant and up-to-date results about world news could be more difficult for users. As Twitter puts it, “we think that’s bad for people, publishers, news organizations, and Twitter users”.
Google was quick to respond, saying they were a “bit surprised by Twitter’s comments” as they did not renew their agreement with Google in the summer of 2011. This agreement gave the search engine access to public tweets on the Twitter network. By not renewing the contact, Twitter has already made it more difficult for users to receive results with social media
context, making Google representatives wonder about the outrage.
Since the initial announcement and backlash, though, social media outlets have been silent about the changes. Online news source Mashable reached out to Facebook representatives for comment, but they declined. What do you think about the changes to the Google search? And, more importantly, how will these changes affect your company’s website? SMT can help you navigate these changes.
For a free consultation regarding your online social marketing strategy
or building one, contact us
online or at 407.682.2222 | <urn:uuid:9e336287-4e3b-4545-9015-5ca043df1dca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.smtusa.com/blog/posts/twitter-speaks-out-on-google-search-and-google-integration.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943604 | 415 | 1.640625 | 2 |
By Andrew Segna
Edited by Joey Seiler
In December, my JOLT Digest comment discussed the state of independent video game developers on the iPhone and the Xbox 360. This article discussed how a collective action problem plagued independent developers on these platforms. As the platform holders, Apple and Microsoft were able to foster environments that benefited their needs but often were potentially hazardous to independent developers. These hazards became realized when independent developers pursued short-term individual gains, which they are prone to doing due to their limited budgets that require turning quick profits. In order to avoid this problem, I suggested that a legal aid society should promote actions by independent developers that would benefit the class as a whole. The recent release of the iPad presents another manifestation of this problem. Through the case study of the iPad, I will discuss how this new technology presents potential for both success and failure for independent video game developers. However, this problem is not necessarily a legal one as much as it is a collective action issue. Lawyers should serve as mediators between independent developers to foster a unified strategy for the platform in order to ensure that independent developers succeed on both the iPad and in the industry.
The Announcement of the iPad and Responses to It
The iPad is a variation on a tablet personal computer (PC) and is, crudely stated, a larger iPod Touch. Like the iPhone, the iPad features a touch screen with accelerometer technology and has access to many of the programs and apps designed for the iPhone. Although the base model does not have the ability to make phone calls, every iPad comes with WiFi capabilities, and customers will have the option to purchase one with a 3G data plan from AT&T. However, its larger display (9.7-inch screen) and powerful one-gigahertz processor makes it more comparable to a laptop or a netbook than the iPhone. Jobs at the announcement press conference claimed that his product filled a gap between Apple’s iPhone and MacBook product lines by being “far better at doing some key things.” One of those “key things” was gaming. Apple emphasized the significant role that video games would have as a selling point for the iPad by inviting publishers/developers Gameloft and Electronic Arts to show off games designed specifically for the iPad. Apple targeted the iPad at customers looking for a new gaming experience and developers hoping to take advantage of a new distribution platform for their products.
Much of the positive feedback towards the iPad has come from larger figures in the video game arena. Many large publishers, including Activision, Electronic Arts, and Sega, have launched their iPad games alongside the device. Another supporter is Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games, the studio behind the highly successful Gears of War franchise for the Xbox 360 and whose video game technology may power many iPad games. In regards to the iPad’s viability as a gaming platform, Mark Rein told Kotaku, “I think iPad will be great for gaming and I suspect we’ll see many games that make use of the differentiated form factor of the iPad.” The director of mobile platforms for PopCap Games, whose release of Peggle on the App Store achieved great success, remarked, “From a technical spec, the iPad looks like it could be a phenomenal gaming machine and I would expect games to be the leading revenue category of apps.” The actions of the three major publishers and Rein’s and the PopCap representative’s exuberance demonstrates an optimism that Apple will be able to create a viable gaming platform for the experiences these companies offer.
The iPad has great potential to be a major platform for independent developers. Given Apple’s track record, this could be another device with a large customer base for developers to reach. Early sales have supported this assertion, as Apple sold 450,000 units in the first week of its release. Yet, independent developer opinion regarding the iPad has been guarded and hesitant. Kris Piotrowski, creative director at independent game studio Capybara Games, said he was “hesitant about making big statements about the ‘revolutionary gaming possibilities’ that the iPad may or may not offer for designers.” Piotrowski’s negative opinion arose from what he perceived to be a lack of quality games on the App Store and the inefficiency of using a touch screen as a means to control a video game. Even successful iPhone independent game developers question the benefits of the iPad. Randy Smith, whose studio Tiger Style developed the popular Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor, expressed concerned that indie budgets would not be able to withstand developing for the iPod Touch, iPhone, iPhone 3GS, and iPad in a way that would account for the three products’ technical differences. Indie developer Chaim Gingold, despite his excitement of the iPad’s potential, expressed concerns that the iPad would not have the same strong appeal of the iPhone. Although independent developers recognize the potential of the iPad, they are hesitant to make unqualified positive claims about the device and its impact on their business.
Independent Games versus Traditional Games on the iPad
To account for this discrepancy in opinion, one needs to look at how Apple is positioning the iPad. As mentioned in my previous article, Apple maintains complete control over its platforms and can dictate how it wants developers to respond. In this case, Apple appears to be soliciting a type of game that may not be sustainable for independent developers. At the announcement of the iPad, Gameloft and Electronic Arts showed off, respectively, a new first-person shooter called Nova and a Need for Speed racing game. Coming from two major entities in the mobile game market, both of these video games were high-definition, full-sized video games that could easily be a disc-based product for the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. In that sense, customers and developers would view these products as “traditional gaming experiences.” Apple most likely included these two games at the conference to demonstrate the power of the iPad and to show that a more traditional gaming experience could be had on its new platform. Apple has continued this up to the launch of the iPad. On the Apple website, the featured apps for the iPad include descriptions for two racing games that tout their high definition graphics, multiple game modes, and responsive controls. Such advertisements identify iPad games with qualities that people usually associate with traditional gaming experiences.
The nature of the iPad also dictates a different type of use from the iPhone. By expanding the size, Apple has compromised the portability of the iPad and prevents it from being something that is easily carried in a pocket or a purse. Since it lacks the phone capabilities of the iPhone, the iPad is not necessarily an essential item that someone will carry at all times. People are not likely to form the same constant connection with their iPads as with their iPhones. Neil Young, the founder of iPhone game studio Ngomoco, labeled the iPad “an in-home venue device as much as it’s a mobile device” that will allow Apple to “get into the living rooms.” Peters’ statement exemplifies the popular conception that the iPad is a less portable entertainment device than the iPhone and more likely to be enjoyed in traditional settings like a living room. Before its launch, the iPad was already being implicitly compared to gaming devices such as laptops, desktop PCs, and video game consoles more than mobile devices. To compete with these devices, Apple and the market may encourage iPad developers to attempt to provide similar experiences to these systems with more processing power and different control schemes. The Gameloft and Electronic Arts titles shown off at the iPad announcement event certainly highlight this possibility.
These considerations should concern independent developers. As mentioned in my previous comment, independent developers are small studios with limited resources. They often seek to create a smaller and more unique gaming experience that can be produced with less manpower and capital. However, these types of games have greater potential for success on the iPhone. Since most users habitually carry their iPhones as their primary cell phone, they have easy access to it should they want to play a game for a short period of time wherever they are. Independent developers have tried to fulfill the bite-sized gaming niche. Randy Smith described the games his company makes as encouraging “bus stop play,” meaning that consumers can engage with his products for “3 minutes or 30 minutes.” Also, due to the small screen size of the iPhone, independent developers do not have to devote large amount of resources to the visuals of their games.
The pricing structure of independent games also encourages this trend towards smaller games. Developer Jeff Ward states that independent games on the iPhone must be priced around a dollar in order to encourage impulse buying. Such low prices encourage iPhone users to risk buying a game that they will only play for a short amount of time. This leads independent developers to release smaller games with more simplistic visuals that require a smaller budget. This process is aimed at turning a profit as quickly as possible while operating under the lowest price possible for their products.
One independent game that exemplifies these characteristics is Firemint’s Flight Control. This one-dollar game’s simple mechanic of directing the landing of airplanes has appealed to consumers, helping it sell 1.5 million copies in 2009, making it the seventh best selling game on the App Store. By creating small and inexpensive games that can be enjoyed for short periods of time, independent game developers have created a blueprint for success on the iPhone.
Indie games that have succeeded on traditional gaming platforms are often bigger releases with more money and marketing power behind them. For example, Braid, which has been a success both critically and financially on the Xbox 360, required its creator Jonathan Blow to invest $180,000 of his own money and benefited from a major Microsoft marketing campaign. By comparison, most independent developers do not have similar marketing support from Apple. Ward claims that a developer needs to sell 57,000 copies of a one dollar game per year to support itself, which would generate $39,900 in revenue after Apple’s take. This demonstrates that Blow’s investment would not be feasible for most iPhone developers. Braid also was priced at fifteen dollars upon its release, which caused much debate on Jonathan Blow’s blog whether the price was justified. Higher price points remove the game from an impulse purchase to a product consumers are going to more closely evaluate before purchasing. These are not necessarily a barrier to sales, as both Braid and another fifteen-dollar game, Castle Crashers, were in the top three most purchased downloadable titles for the Xbox 360 in 2008. Both games were critically acclaimed and have gameplay and depth similar to that of more traditional games. If Braid is emblematic of what will be expected from independent developers on consoles in terms of price and quality, then independent developers may no longer be able to rely on their previous strategy of attracting impulse purchases of smaller games with lower price points.
Collective Action Problem on the iPad
Since the iPad does not cater to what made independent developers successful on the iPhone, developers are not assured success by placing their products on this platform. Due to Apple’s positioning of the platform, independent developers have to evaluate what decision will foster the most success for their businesses. Independent developers are left with three choices regarding placing their products on the iPhone: continue their current development strategies, attempt to create more traditional video games, or just avoid the iPad altogether. All of these strategies have advantages and disadvantages due to the aforementioned positioning of the iPad, but their potential harms are increased by independent developers pursuing practices that may benefit them in the short-term and hurt the industry in the future. Since the iPad is a completely new platform, independent developers have no precedents to guide them. How the independent developers react to the iPad will define how future developers approach it. If independent developers do not consider the long-term ramifications of their action, they could prevent the iPad from becoming a viable platform for others.
Avoiding the iPad is a sensible strategy from a financial standpoint. Independent developers still have room for economic growth on the iPad, as Flight Control was the only independent game to make the top ten highest sellers for 2009. Even its 1.5 million unit sales pale in comparison to the 7.4 million iPhones that Gizmodo reported were sold in the 2009 fiscal year fourth quarter alone. Developers could focus solely on the iPhone and maintain a stable business. However, avoiding the iPad completely eliminates a potentially lucrative market for independent developers. Instead of taking risks, future developers may assume that the iPad is a hostile environment and avoid it, depriving them of additional revenue and customers. This could also be short-term plan until independent developers have a better idea of how to approach the platform. A minority of independent developers who want to take advantage of this vacuum could ruin this plan by rushing their products on the market. This situation would force independent developers to choose between following their plan, which would grant these market entrants an advantage, or rushing to the market before they are ready.
Continuing with the current development strategy would involve a low economic risk, but not much chance for gain. Most iPhone apps will be compatible with the iPad, but the platform’s positioning as living room entertainment is less suited for indie titles. Developing a game specifically for the iPad utilizing the same strategies as an iPhone game is risky. If the developer just designs for the iPhone and its smaller screen, the game will either play in a small window in the middle of the iPad screen or it will be stretched and distorted to fit the entire screen. Either solution will make consumers compare these types of game unfavorably to those designed specifically for the iPad. If the majority of independent developers follow this strategy, they may obtain a reputation for having games that are visually inferior to those designed specifically for the iPad. In order to combat this, independent developers could also design new games whose visuals take advantage of the iPad’s increased power and screen size. However, if developers adhere the same simplistic gameplay style they used on the iPhone, improved visuals may not be enough to draw customers away from traditional gaming experiences with more complex gameplay.
If independent developers see more traditional games succeeding on the iPad while their own products stagnate on the iPad or if they are not on the platform, the desire to make such a game may be quite substantial. This step is also fraught with collective action concerns. Several independent developers may then rush their more traditional games to market in order to maximize their profits and avoid the eventual flood of products on the market. Should independent developers attempt to make traditional games for the iPad, they will be positioning themselves directly against the larger publishers and developers. The large amount of manpower and capital these entities have will make it easier for them to produce high-end games for the iPad. A rush to market may further foster a slapdash product whose inferior quality will only be amplified by the products generated by larger entities, whose quality or larger marketing budget could overshadow such attempts by independent developers. Should these first few games fail, independent developers may declare the iPad to be a failed platform and avoid it entirely. Should these first attempts bring success, many independent developers will attempt to follow suit, flooding the market. Since independent developers have limited resources, this focus on iPad-specific games may lead to less iPhone-centric games being made, thus destroying the niche that these studios had made for themselves. Also, if a good deal of these games are of lesser quality, independent developers could still run into the perception issue that their games are not as polished as those from larger studios.
The Role of a Legal Aid Society for Independent Developers
In my previous comment, I mentioned that a legal aid society should help foster more developer-friendly Apple and Microsoft platforms. The concept of a legal aid society invokes images of lawsuits and legal tools actively creating a better situation for the society’s constituents. A legal aid society for independent developers should serve a similar role for independent developers. Should a platform holder like Apple threaten a developer’s free speech, threaten intellectual property rights, or engage in illegal business practices, then lawyers should assist developers in pursuing legal means to establish a more favorable situation. However, the issue presented by the iPad is not a legal one as much as it is a product positioning and collective action issue. Apple’s attempt to market the iPad as a traditional gaming device fosters the potential for self-interested actions by independent developers, which could damage the platform for their peers. This situation can not be solved through traditional legal means or by the main understanding of what legal aid societies do.
A legal aid society could assist independent developers on the iPad by adopting a strategy similar to that of cause lawyering. In their work Something to Believe In: Politics, Professionalism, and Cause Lawyering, Professors Stuart A. Scheingold and Austin Sarat define cause lawyering as “using legal skills to pursue ends and ideals that transcend client service-be those ideals social, cultural, political, economics or, indeed, legal.”[i] The authors assert that cause lawyers can engage in both legal or political strategies, the latter of which includes lobbying or engaging in “social movements-both as movement activists and as attorneys supporting direct political action.”[ii] Although this work is aimed at larger social movements like the pursuit of racial equality, the concept of cause lawyering is applicable to independent game developers. The legal aid society assisting these developers should go beyond just providing legal assistance to the developers; it must actively engage with this community in order to ensure its present and future success. Like cause lawyering, lawyers in this legal aid society should promote the goals of independent developers through non-legal means. The social movement aspect of political strategy is crucial for the purposes of this comment, as it indicates that cause lawyers can help direct how social movements proceed. Such a role demonstrates that lawyers can effectively serve as important figures in guiding movements. It is that role that the legal aid society should play for independent developers.
The iPad provides the most ideal situation for the legal aid society to utilize the non-legal aspect of cause lawyering to help independent developers. Lawyers should take the lead in promoting a strategy for independent developers to follow in placing their products on the iPad. They would serve as mediators among independent developers, helping each studio evaluate its own strengths and weaknesses and determining which of the aforementioned three options each should take. The legal aid society should respect the opinions of the developers as much as possible when helping to construct this strategy. If developers disagree on what path they should take, the legal aid society should present its unbiased evaluation of the developers’ positions and help the disputing parties come to a reasonable agreement. By mediating between developers and coordinating a unified response, the legal aid society can avoid the collective action problems caused by developers acting solely out of short-term interests. This will allow independent developers to operate as effectively as they can under Apple’s positioning of the iPad and give them an opportunity to carve out their own space on the platform.
[i] Austin Sarat & Stuart A. Scheingold, Something to Believe In: Politics, Professionalism, and Cause Lawyering 3 (Stanford University Press 2004).
[ii] Id., at 19.
Andrew Segna is a first-year student at Harvard Law School. He is interested in intellectual property law and the legal rights of video game and app developers. | <urn:uuid:124b512d-5e18-4205-9033-d9ca75c55a6d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jolt.law.harvard.edu/digest/software/digest-comment-how-lawyers-can-guide-independent-video-game-developers-on-the-ipad | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955491 | 3,955 | 1.835938 | 2 |
The dirty little secret behind Indianas budget surplus is exactly how it came to be. Not the bounty of a booming economy but the result of nicks, cuts and downright slashing of programs critical to the safety of vulnerable Hoosiers and to the economic future of all its residents.
In education, mental health, environmental regulation, social services and more, millions of dollars have been struck from the budget and returned to the states coffers.
Nowhere have the cuts been as deep and as dangerous as in the Department of Child Services, where almost $104 million allocated by the Indiana General Assembly was returned unspent in the past fiscal year. The current biennial budget slashed an additional 15 percent from spending on child protection.
The results? Programs intended to prevent and treat child abuse and neglect eliminated. Fewer kids receiving services. And, tragically, some children dying.
Recent investigations by the Indianapolis Star and the South Bend Tribune focused on egregious cases of failed oversight. The Star found that DCS received an astonishing 19 reports of abuse and neglect before 12-year-old Devin Parsons was beaten to death last June and his mother and her boyfriend arrested on murder charges.
In South Bend, the Tribune examined the November death of Tramelle Sturgis. His father allegedly used duct tape to tie up the 10-year-old and beat him with a club and a belt. Tramelle and his two brothers also were burned with an iron and a hot screwdriver before Tramelle collapsed and died. Six months earlier, someone had reported to DCS that children in the house were being beaten regularly with 2-by-4s and that one of the children might have been bleeding internally.
In all, six children died last year after warnings about their care were raised to DCS. The agency charged with ensuring their safety determined the case didnt merit an investigation, investigated and closed the case with no action, or was still investigating. In each case, the children were left at home.
DCS did not respond to phone calls and email requests for comment.
Northeast Indiana has been spared the tragic example of a child killed after a report of abuse or neglect. But the region hasnt been spared the effects of the controversial policy now driving the child protection agency and a statewide neglect and abuse hotline that some claim is screening out cases that should be investigated.
DCS Director James Payne pushed for a centralized reporting system because, he argued, county-level reporting provided 92 different ways to screen out children. Consistency and efficiency were the goals.
But since the programs implementation began in early 2010, concerns are growing that cases that previously would have resulted in an investigation are no longer prompting state intervention or that the intervention is inadequate.
Judge Charles F. Pratt of Allen Superior Courts Family Relations Division, who was among the many child protection officials who questioned the hotline from its inception, points to one obvious flaw. When a young person comes to the attention of the juvenile system because of misbehavior likely related to abuse or neglect, court personnel cant order an investigation.
Even (Allen Superior Court Judge) Steve Sims, as a sitting judge – after having a masters degree probation officer say this kid has CHINS (Children in Need of Services) problems, not delinquency – he cant call the local office and say start an investigation, Pratt said. Hes got to call the hotline, and then the hotline can screen them out.
Contrast that with previous practice: Judges could simply pick up the phone, call local DCS officials and they would go out to investigate.
Sometimes it takes more than a screener, the judge said. You really need to have the investigation.
For child-safety advocates, the very principle on which DCS is operating is troublesome. Safely Home-Families First is based on the philosophy that children should be kept at home whenever possible, given that placement in a foster home or a residential center could be more disruptive.
I dont philosophically disagree with keeping kids home, Pratt said, if we can keep children home safely and make sure trauma is not there, that they are safe and that adequate services are invested, I dont have any problem with that. But there seems to be this default position – this greater weight toward keeping kids at home.
Pratt said there has been an increase in cases in which guardian representatives and Court Appointed Special Advocates representing children have been involved and reported problems that prompted court-ordered removals.
One came from (reporting by) in-home, homebound services, the judge said. They found the home so unlivable and so destructive and endangering that they came to court and insisted that the children be removed, and (DCS) opposed that, because of the whole Safely Home principle.
Pratt said keeping a child in the home avoids federal reporting requirements, but there are long-term potential harms to which these kids can be exposed, he said. The devil is always in trying to get that balance. Thats why its so important to have court hearings – to have Guardian Ad Litems and CASAs and parents represented by counsel. That sort of messy, living-room activity is important to discern and to fetter that out.
Guardian Ad Litems are attorneys who represent a childs interest in the courts, while Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteers are appointed by judges to watch over and serve as advocates for abused and neglected children throughout the legal process.
Another effect is indisputable: Keeping children at home is cheaper than placing them in foster care or in a residential program in which they and their family members will receive treatment and counseling.
Locally, one measure of how the Safely Home policy is playing out is in the number of children served by area providers. Residential care has been the foundation for the childrens home operated on Lake Avenue for 128 years, but Crossroad Child & Family Services Inc. has had to restructure its services over the past five years as its residential placements have fallen by half. Randall Rider, Crossroad president and CEO, said he knows the approximately 35 children there today need to be in residential care.
I also know the 70 children who were here five years ago needed to be here, he said. I worry about those kids who arent here today.
Rider acknowledged that placing a child in a residential center is a dramatic intervention, but said he believes there always will be children for whom placement is needed.
Like Pratt, he believes there is merit in the Safely Home policy, but noted it has limits.
I believe children need to have the right level of intervention at the right time, he said. Theres going to be a cost to society for those who dont receive services.
Offering treatment to children facing complex behavioral issues requires a highly trained and experienced staff of therapists, clinical social workers and mental health counselors. To maintain its services, Crossroad has had to reduce staff, freeze salaries for four years and add more services supported by private-pay, insurance and Medicaid.
At Gateway Woods, a residential facility near Leo-Cedarville, Executive Director Jeff Schumacher said that client numbers have remained stable only because some other programs in the state have closed down and because he has supplemented declining state funds with private donations.
But he said hes aware of the declining number of children referred to agencies by DCS and points to the question of how many cases might be screened out in Indianapolis.
I have seen some families that have been screened out by DCS who wouldnt have been screened out at the local level.
Cathleen Graham is executive director of IARCCA, the umbrella organization representing Crossroad, Gateway Woods and other residential services, home-care and foster care providers. Her agency sued DCS in 2010 over the rates it set for foster-parent care. A settlement was reached with the state, but IARCCA has had to reopen the litigation because it believes DCS has violated the agreement.
Graham, who has worked in child protection since 1977, said her primary concern is that children are not getting the services they need, beginning with cases screened out at the hotline and continuing with the effects from cuts in programs that prevent abuse and neglect, including Healthy Families and foster care.
She also questioned the effect of centralizing decision-making at DCS.
I think it is the local relationships between police, school corporations, providers – its those groups working together with child protection and the juvenile courts that make the difference, she said. To pull everything to the central office, you lose the ability for those relationships to work.
Indiana House Democrats are pushing for an audit of DCS operations, including a study of the abuse and neglect hotline. They attempted to amend the proposals into existing legislation but were blocked in the GOP-controlled Family, Children and Human Affairs Committee.
We believe that we should not leave this session before significant changes are made to improve this system and protect children, said Rep. Gail Riecken, D-Evansville.
Early efforts by Gov. Mitch Daniels administration to improve long-standing problems in child protection looked promising, beginning with separating it from the cumbersome and bureaucratic Family and Social Services Administration. Somewhere along the way, however, an emphasis on saving money overtook the commitment to protecting children. Its past time to reorder priorities. | <urn:uuid:a994df3e-71d0-4452-9c87-6865d309ff51> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120226/EDIT10/302269976/1150/EDIT10 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973275 | 1,904 | 1.8125 | 2 |
the Committee for Purity in the Camp offers a variety of gadgets to limit the field of view and so prevent men from exposure to over-exposed women. The devices have recently gone on sale in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods of Jerusalem and elsewhere.
Two semi-transparent stickers applied to the lenses of the user’s spectacles blur vision of anything beyond the range of a few meters and so diffuse immodestly dressed women to a harmless blot.
If Google Goggles has an open API, perhaps the CPC can develop a plugin that can identify and block out women before their wearers perceive them.
These nicely raise a substantive issue: the degree to which we should outsource self-control to external devices. Jezebel argues, "Outsourcing that willpower to a pair of glasses makes the idea of self-control almost meaningless," but admits it's better than haranguing little girls wearing short sleeves.
On the other hand, you could argue that this isn't substantively different from having an alarm clock that wakes you up earlier than you would otherwise get up (a technology that I use pretty much every day), or carrying a notebook in which you can write down the grocery list. Yes, having the notebook keeps you from having to memorize all the ingredients you daughter needs for the cake she's going to bake; but it also reduces the odds that you'll forget something and be responsible for ruining that surprise party.
These days I tend to feel that technologies that augment or extend my own abilities are good, while technologies that automate are more questionable. I don't write down everything in my notebook, and thus absolve myself of the need to ever remember anything: it only extends my own capacity to recall lists. When you rely too much on technologies to either change you or alter the world to suit your preferences, you're likely to end up weakening, not strengthening, yourself. | <urn:uuid:f5c1ff43-5900-49af-9958-ed485a5b8dab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.contemplativecomputing.org/2012/08/augmented-reality-old-school-glasses-that-make-women-fuzzy.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962746 | 386 | 1.570313 | 2 |
BOSTON (AP) — Mitt Romney may not have set out on the road to the Republican presidential nomination if not for a private meeting between strangers.
More than a decade ago, the 54-year-old Olympics CEO was at a crossroads as the closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Games approached. That's when Kerry Healey, head of the Massachusetts GOP, traveled across the country to meet with Romney. Inside the privacy of his office, Healey pressed the longtime businessman to run for governor. French figure skating judges waited outside as the meeting ran long.
"We had never met before. It was a cold call," Healey recalls.
Romney would soon agree to run, a decision that opened the next phase of his life.
Nine months after that February 2002 meeting, Romney was elected governor of Massachusetts. The post became the launching pad for a national political career that reaches its pinnacle Thursday when he accepts the Republican presidential nomination.
Those who know him well say it was not ambition that pushed Romney into politics anew after a failed 1994 Massachusetts Senate run. Instead, they describe a man driven to lead, likely the result of growing up in a family that emphasized service above all else. They say Romney truly believed in his own unique ability to solve problems.
He ran toward challenges, says longtime friend and business partner Bob White.
"A lot of people who just tuned in this presidential year haven't seen this history of stepping forward," White says. "It's that stepping forward that his parents talked about, not necessarily just public office. It how he's wired."
Indeed, Romney's father, George Romney, served as Michigan governor. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination in 1968, later becoming a member of President Richard Nixon's Cabinet.
It was clear early into Romney's one term as Massachusetts governor that he, like his father, saw opportunities to lead on a larger stage.
Less than a year after taking office, Romney sought and won the chairmanship of the Republican Governors Association. He raised tens of millions of dollars to help elect Republicans across the nation. In 2005, he made his first trip to Iowa, home of the leadoff presidential caucuses, to speak at the state GOP's fall banquet some weeks before President George W. Bush's re-election.
Romney would visit Iowa three times in 2005 and nine times in 2006. That year, he spent 212 days outside of Massachusetts. One trip included a visit to Iraq and Afghanistan to enhance his international credentials as his state grappled with a devastating flood.
His national focus hurt his standing back home. The fall before he left office, two in three Massachusetts residents disapproved of his job performance.
But by that time, there was little doubt Romney would seek the presidency. He already had declined to seek a second term as governor. He announced the formation of a presidential exploratory committee for the 2008 race on his next-to-last day as Massachusetts governor.
Romney quickly proved he was a prolific fundraiser and carved out a reputation that year as the conservative alternative to Sen. John McCain by shifting to the right on key issues after tacking more to the center as Massachusetts governor. He spent millions to win symbolic test votes and millions more to support a bloated staff.
Nearly always perfectly groomed and wearing a suit, Romney ended up struggling to connect with voters. His Mormon faith proved an impediment, especially in Iowa and South Carolina. And his reversals on social issues gave rivals fodder to tag him as a flip-flopping candidate with no core belief system.
Romney, who later acknowledged that his strategy was flawed, would ultimately lose the nomination to McCain.
Ann Romney vowed that her husband would not run a second time.
But feelings had changed around Christmas of 2010 when the Romney family met at the kitchen table to discuss the prospect of another bid.
"I said, 'Is it too late to fix the country? And Mitt said something interesting. He said, 'Well it is not too late yet, but it is getting late," Ann Romney told a Florida audience recently. "And knowing that there was still time, I said, 'There is no question whether we go forward or don't go forward, because it is up to you to save the country, and so we must go forward.'"
Romney was convinced he had to do things differently the second time around.
He worked to shed his buttoned-up image by wearing more casual attire, such as jeans, sneakers and shirts with the sleeves rolled up. Facing a weak Republican field, his campaign's rallying cry became "leaner and meaner." He hired a smaller staff and listened to fewer consultants. He stockpiled tons of cash and an outside super political action committee made up of former staffers did the same. He focused his pitch on the economy and defeating Barack Obama. And he walked a careful line between presenting himself as acceptable to the tea party — a new insurgent group — and catering to it.
Starting in Iowa, Romney and his allies eviscerated his rivals — particularly former House Speaker Newt Gingrich — on TV, burying them in negative ads. Romney was briefly announced the victor by a narrow margin before the Iowa GOP reversed course and declared former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum the winner. But by that point, Romney had cruised to victory in next-up New Hampshire. Gingrich then rose in South Carolina, shellacking Romney after casting him as a job-killer. Then came Florida, and Romney easily overtook the competition.
He clinched the nomination months later, then quickly set his sights on his next goal: defeating Obama.
Now Romney stands at the precipice of formally becoming the party's standard-bearer, and possibly the country's next president.
It's that image that first flashed in Healey's mind after her meeting with Romney a decade ago. By the time she left, Healey — who would become Romney's lieutenant governor — couldn't help but agree with the whispers that had already begun about his future.
Says Healey: "I had no doubt on my first meeting with him that he had the potential to be the president of the United States." | <urn:uuid:f59c4341-d73e-40cc-9b7f-89e1e3d959b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.whittierdailynews.com/politics-national/?third_party=mitt-romney-how-the-seeds-were-planted-for-his-2002-gubernatorial-run | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985554 | 1,248 | 1.515625 | 2 |
22 June 2009
In a brief, but noteworthy article on the Wall Street Journal website (“Sustainable Success”), Prof. Lutz Kaufmann of the Otto Beisheim School of Management in Vallendar/Germany and his research team argue the case for corporate responsibility in the developing world:
A commitment to improving social and environmental conditions in the developing countries where a company operates is the key to maximizing the profits and growth of those operations.
That’s the conclusion we drew after studying more than 200 companies. As a group, the companies most engaged in social and environmental sustainability are also the most profitable.
This may not come as news to those in the CR/Sustainability field that have been making the case for years. But it stands in stark contrast to recent calls to scale back sustainability expectations in light of the recession, particularly in developing and emerging economies. We will try and get some more info on the underlying research.
22 June 2009
The Emerging Markets Disclosure (EMD) Project has released results of an investor survey on environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure practices in emerging economies. While giving credit to Brazil and South Africa for progress made in recent years (including the launch of national sustainability indices), investors hold more critical views on the overall state of ESG disclosure:
The survey shows that at a time when increasing numbers of institutional investors are demanding more openness and transparency, poor ESG disclosure by emerging market companies threatens to undermine investor confidence and could potentially reduce investment allocations to emerging markets.
More details here. Full survey findings will be presented in New York on 25 June.
19 June 2009
The International Labour Organization has recently opened an email helpdesk for managers and workers seeking to understand the application of international labour standards. Guidance is free of charge, and replies are prepared by a multi-disciplinary team, ensuring that users receive a comprehensive response (within two weeks).
To submit a question to the Helpdesk, send an email to firstname.lastname@example.org. More information here.
19 June 2009
Transparency International has just released Transparency in Reporting on Anti-Corruption – A Report of Corporate Practices. The comprehensive study looks at ways in which nearly 500 listed companies from 32 countries and a wide range of sectors report on strategies, policies and management systems to tackle corruption in all its forms.
The bad news:
The average company analysed scored only 17 out of a possible 50 points and was awarded two stars out of a possible five. Only seven companies achieved the highest possible five star score.
The better news:
Half of the companies that achieved a four- or five-star rating came from higher risk sectors where corruption, or the threat of it, is regarded as widespread. This could indicate that companies in these sectors recognise that putting robust policies and systems in place to address bribery and corruption is a form of risk management.
The good news:
Slightly more than one-quarter (26 per cent or 127 companies) of the sample were signatories of the GC. Signatories scored slightly higher in the TRAC report than non-signatories. The average score of GC signatories was 20.4 (a borderline three-star average score).14 For non-GC signatories the average was 15,6 (within the two-star rating). GC signatories are likely, on average, to have slightly more publicly available information in the area of policy and management systems related to anti-corruption and antibribery.
17 GC signatory companies in the sample had little or no information in the public domain, and were on the bottom end of the one-star range. This indicates that some GC signatories may not be compliant with reporting on the GC tenth principle.
We’ll look into that. (TI press release here.)
18 June 2009
Folks at Goodness500 have just launched the … Goodness 500 – a social responsibility ranking of US companies. The problem: measuring charity donations, executive diversity and toxicity produced/released does not really allow for much more than ranking companies by, well, charity donations, executive diversity and toxicity produced/released.
Take charity donations, for example. Spending money is the easy part. The fundamental point is one that we and others have made time and again: corporate responsibility is not about how money is spent, it is about how money is made. There are plenty of companies with big wallets, but poor environmental and social performance.
So, what about human rights policies, labour standards in the supply chain, greenhouse gas emissions, codes of conduct, occupational health and safety, anti-corruption policies, investment principles, water use, third-party verification, and so on? That’s where ESG performance is measured. And it’s also where true responsibility should be assessed (although there are plenty of views on the general validity or CSR rankings). Perspectives welcome.
(Just for the record: Kudos to the Goodness500 people for taking the initiative. Our concerns revolve around the methodology, not the intention.)
9 June 2009
MIT researchers Melissa Dell, Benjamin Jones and Benjamin Olken have looked at the correlation between climate change and economic development. Among the sobering findings:
For example, our estimates imply that global climate change would lower the median poor country’s growth rate by 0.6 percentage points each year from now until 2099. Extrapolated over 90 years, the median poor country would then be about 40% poorer in 2099 than it would have been in the absence of climate change. While this estimated effect of higher temperatures is quite large, it is actually quite consistent with what one would predict just by looking at the cross-section of countries in the world today. Since we find no effects on rich countries, the results imply that future climate change may substantially widen income gaps between rich and poor countries. (Source: VoxEU.org)
(Hat tip: Andrew Sullivan)
5 June 2009
The OECD has recently published International Trade: Free, Fair And Open?, a new book aiming to show how trade contributes to economic growth and job creation. It’s a timely reminder of the need for market openness in times of economic crisis. As Ken Ash, OECD Director for Trade and Agriculture, put it, government actions to discriminate against foreign goods, services, firms or workers “could have a devastating effect in terms of prolonging and deepening the recession.” More specifically:
- Consumers would be hurt by higher prices and reduced choice.
- Domestic industries would face higher input costs, as a huge amount of trade today is in intermediate goods and services.
- Exporters would be penalised twice: through higher costs and through retaliation from other countries. The net effect on the economy would be even bigger job losses than otherwise.
Read the rest of this entry »
3 June 2009
CERES, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Center for Energy and Environmental Security have come out with a sobering assessment of climate risk disclosure by large corporations. Reclaiming Transparency in a Changing Climate, one of two studies on the issue released today, looked at references (risk assessments, strategies, policies) in thousands of SEC filings between 1995 and 2008. Money quote:
While the study finds some modest improvement in climate risk disclosure since 1995, in 2008 75% of annual reports filed by S&P 500 corporations failed to even mention climate change and only 5% articulated a strategy for managing climate-related risks.
(Hat tip: The Guardian)
At the risk of comparing red apples (climate risk disclosure) and green apples (emissions disclosure), it is worth noting recently published research by Yale University, looking at the way in which Caring for Climate signatories are reporting climate data in their COPs or CDP filings.
Update: Check out this Businessweek piece on climate-related shareholder activism.
Yale University, School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and The Center for
Business and the Environment at Yale | <urn:uuid:52552fd3-5a39-489b-b51c-70d97dbffdfe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://unglobalcompact.wordpress.com/2009/06/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946384 | 1,629 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Tampa, FL- January 13, 2013
Retail gas prices are still on an upswing and will likely increase throughout the end of the month. Since January 1, the national average has increased 2 cents, while gas prices in the Southeast have jumped an average of 8 cents.
While pump prices have increased since the start of 2013, both the national average and state averages in the Southeast are less than they were this time last year. Annually, retail gas prices are forecast to be less than they were in 2012. The annual average for a gallon of regular gas in 2012 was $3.60. This year, the annual average is forecast to be $3.44, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
"Gas prices are expected to average less this year because of lower demand and increased domestic oil production," said Jessica Brady, AAA spokeswoman, The Auto Club Group. "While gas is forecast to cost less this year, motorists will see prices inch up in the short term, before they stabilize and/or retreat."
A barrel of oil closed Friday at $93.56 on the New York Mercantile Exchange—47 cents more than the week prior.
The national average price of regular unleaded gasoline is $3.31, 1 cent more than last week. Florida’s average of $3.44 increased 5 cents from last week, Georgia’s average of $3.33 rose 1 cent, and Tennessee’s average of $3.20 increased 2 cents from last week, respectively. Visit AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report to find national, state, and local metro market retail gasoline prices. | <urn:uuid:adad4e34-5bc7-4f3b-8712-4b53852190a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wctv.tv/news/headlines/Gas-Prices-Increase-but-Remain-Below-Year-Ago-Levels--186723881.html?site=full | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966005 | 338 | 1.648438 | 2 |
A better answer might have dismissed the rabbinic exegesis that led to the prohibition, in favor of the simple verse itself: “Let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet and your face is beautiful.” In the past year, those sweet voices seem to have multiplied, producing a soundscape full of strikingly talented Jewish female artists. These range from “Kis Avir,” the album by the utterly secular (but tonally sacrosanct) Israeli singer Roni Alter, to Galeet Dardashti’s solo debut, “The Naming,” on which all the tracks are named for female biblical personalities.
Nowhere is the proliferation of high quality women’s voices clearer than in “The Naming” and in a trio of other albums that explicitly engage with the role of women in Jewish music: “The Bowls Project” by Charming Hostess, Judith R. Cohen’s “Sefarad en Diaspora” (“Sephardic Jews in Diaspora”) and John Zorn’s “Mycale: Book of Angels, Volume 13.”
That two of these albums come from Tzadik’s Radical Jewish Culture imprint solidifies Zorn’s status as a cultivator of thrilling new Jewish music. The first to be released this year, “Mycale” is the 13th album in Zorn’s Book of Angels series, which began as a place for Zorn to record his hundreds of klezmer-style compositions. Unlike other Book of Angels entries, which tend to include avant-garde instrumentals and lean toward klezmer influences, “Mycale” is a lush vocal exchange among four singers. In addition to Gottlieb, Pharaoh’s Daughter frontwoman Basya Schechter, Sofia Rei Koutsovitis and Malika Zarra sing a cappella, inspired by the work of Meredith Monk.
In 1977, Roland Barthes coined the term “the grain of the voice” to describe how you can hear the human body when you listen to singing. The vocals arise from the diaphragm and fill the lungs with air that passes through the lips, teeth, tongue and then the nasal passages. For this reason, “Mycale” sounds very bodily and even sensuous.
“It’s very cool and inspiring that John created a project of four woman vocalists doing work so specifically Jewish,” Gottlieb said. Putting the female Jewish singing body front and center has strongly characterized the work of these artists. Gottlieb’s 2009 release “Up to Here/From Here” and Pharaoh’s Daughter’s 2007 album “Haran” work similar territory, but those albums cannot compete with the volatility of “Mycale.”
“The Bowls Project” draws on the Gnostic history of Babylonian amulet “demon bowls” to chart an elusive Jewish history of women and mysticism. Borrowing from American blues and folk, Charming Hostess frontwoman Jewlia Eisenberg develops a counter-history of Jewish culture, written from the perspective of the domestic household and the stories of apocryphal angels and demons passed on from mothers to daughters. Songs such as “Merduk bat Banai” link a mystical tradition to a matriarchal one, and Eisenberg celebrates these women in her music.
While Charming Hostess’ genealogies are avant-mystical, Cohen’s are literal. On her latest album, “Sefarad en Diaspora,” the ethnomusicologist sings alongside her daughter, Tamar, on about 30 tracks drawn from Cohen’s work with women and Sephardic music. The duo started singing together when Tamar was a child.
“I love singing with her, because she is my daughter and because she is a very fine singer and musically sensitive,” Cohen said. “I value her opinions, and I value her company, both as her mother and as a person.” The two have traveled together for Cohen’s research throughout the world — to Turkey, Greece, Israel and Morocco, among other places — and they have studied crypto-Jewish communities in Spain and Portugal. Cohen, who lives in Canada, traces the globe on her new album.
Other artists have also mapped mothers and daughters across countries and continents. On Clare Burson’s hauntingly beautiful “Silver and Ash,” out this year, she sings about her grandmother’s experiences during World War II, inspired by her own time spent crossing Germany, Ukraine, Lithuania and Latvia. Her folk meditations — gorgeous compositions that deserve to mark her name next to those of Laura Marling and Kathleen Edwards as an essential contemporary folk artist — move by train and boat. In “The World Turns on a Dime,” a woman rides a train “over the border / with suitcases piled overhead,” wondering if “the officer [will] scowl and stop before passing.” The song evokes a distant time when a frightened grandmother traveled across an embattled continent. Burson uses “Silver and Ash” to self-consciously attach herself to a line of mothers following mothers, stretching into the past.
According to the standard Talmudic tradition, King Solomon wrote Shir haShirim, but some people, including Gottlieb, are skeptical. “It’s definitely said to be written by a man, but it’s spoken from a woman’s mouth,” she told the Forward in 2006. These women are not simply reclaiming a musical tradition that has spent much of the past two millennia hidden away and relabeled with men’s names. They are inventing bold new ways to write and sing about being a Jewish woman now and going into the future.
When asked about the future of “Mycale,” Gottlieb said: “We haven’t planned anything specific. This is still really fresh. We don’t know what a new project will be, but we know we want there to be one.” Here and now, kol isha is the sound of the future.
Mordechai Shinefield has written about music for Rolling Stone, Spin Magazine and the Village Voice. | <urn:uuid:332280b2-ea39-4db6-a921-687235974822> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forward.com/articles/134124/i-am-woman-hear-me-sing/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948649 | 1,358 | 1.5 | 2 |
Mildred Dalton Manning, a resident of Jacksonville for 40 years and the last survivor of a group of World War II military nurses known as the Angels of Bataan and Corregidor, died Friday at age 98. Her late husband, Arthur Brewster “Bruce” Manning, was a managing editor of The Florida Times-Union in the 1970s.
Japanese soldiers captured Mrs. Manning and other nurses in the U.S. Army and Navy in the Philippines after a surprise attack on the same day Pearl Harbor was bombed. The Japanese held the nurses in a prison camp for three years until American forces liberated them in February of 1945.
Mrs. Manning was graduated from the Grady Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Atlanta and served as head nurse at Grady after her graduation, according to her son, James Manning of Trenton, N.J. She enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps in 1939, was commissioned a second lieutenant, and was ordered to the Philippines in October of 1941.
On Dec. 7, 1941 (Dec. 8 in the Philippines, which was located across the International Date Line), the Japanese attacked Hawaii and the Philippines, including Clark Field, where Mrs. Manning was serving. With Japanese forces relentlessly bombarding American positions, Mrs. Manning and other Army and Navy nurses treated thousands of wounded soldiers in field hospitals in the jungles of the Philippines, and then in an underground hospital on the island of Corregidor.
A handful of nurses escaped with Gen. Douglas MacArthur, but 77 women were captured by the Japanese, held captive for three years and subjected to severe conditions.
On Feb. 3, 1945, American tanks rammed through the gates of Santo Tomas, a university facility where Mrs. Manning and other nurses were imprisoned, and the American forces overcame Japanese resistance. The nurses were freed and flown back to the U.S.
Mrs. Manning continued supporting the war effort by touring and promoting War Bond sales, her son said. She was promoted to lieutenant and awarded a Bronze Star and a Prisoner of War Medal, among other medals.
Mrs. Manning, a native of Barrow County, Ga., met her husband in Atlanta when Bruce Manning was an editor for The Atlanta Constitution. The Mannings moved from Atlanta to Jacksonville in the 1950s. Bruce Manning served as women’s editor, managing editor and ombudsman for the Times-Union.
Besides her son, other survivors include a daughter, March Price of Atlanta, and several grandchildren.
She was also preceded in death by another son, William D. Manning.
A funeral Mass will be held Friday in West Trenton, N.J., with burial in Newton, Pa. | <urn:uuid:51b16c95-72f8-417e-a700-41f324171d51> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2013-03-09/story/obituary-nurse-jacksonville-ties-was-angel-bataan?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+JacksonvillecomNews+%28Jacksonville+Local+News+%E2%80%93+Jacksonville.com+and+The+Florida+Times-Union%29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976381 | 548 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Cod Liver Oil: Information
Cod liver oil is a popular and economical supplement with decades of use attesting to its benefits. Cod liver oil is really three supplements in one; it provides active forms of vitamin A and vitamin D, and omega 3 fatty acids like those in fish body oils also known as fish oils.
Cod Liver Oil for Brain, Mood and Immune Health
The omega-3 fatty acids in cod liver oil are essential nutrients for brain and cardiac health, and support a positive mood. Vitamin A is a critical immune system factor and essential antioxidant nutrient. Finally, cod liver oil is one of the very few good dietary sources of Vitamin D, which is gaining increasing significance as an immune regulating nutrient that most people fail to produce in sufficient quantities for optimal health.
Using Cod Liver Oil
Use Cod liver oil products as directed. Cod liver oil is available in softgel and liquid form, most of which are mildly flavored. High quality cod liver oils such as those carried by AllStarHealth have a surprisingly mild taste due to their purity and freshness. All cod liver oil supplements have been purified to remove heavy metals and other contaminants.
Side-effects and Cautions:
Monitor your intake of vitamin A from other sources such as multivitamins and avoid taking more than 15, 000 IU per day from all supplement sources combined. | <urn:uuid:8af06a7e-44a0-4b02-8dce-22d067b2ca4d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.allstarhealth.com/lj_c/cod_liver_oil.htm?sort=relevance&pg=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957557 | 271 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Make Roads Safe is an independent UK non-profit. Make Roads Safe advocates for the policy recommendations of the Commission for Global Road Safety, and leads the Zenani Mandela Campaign, including the Long Short Walk.
Since 2006, Make Roads Safe has built the support of a broad-based coalition, including public health bodies, motoring organisations, road safety NGOs and international organisations. The campaign is also proud to have had the support of more than a million individuals around the world, who have signed our petition and/or our Call to Action. Together, this coalition has succeeded in securing the first ever Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, hosted by the Russian Federation in 2009; secured UN adoption of our proposal for a ‘Decade of Action for Road Safety’; and persuaded governments to include road safety in the Rio+20 outcome document, ‘The Future We Want’. Now we are campaigning for road safety to be included in the post-2015 development and health agenda, as part of the ‘Sustainable Development Goals’.
Make Roads Safe is currently funded with a grant from the FIA Foundation, a UK registered charity (No: 1088670) which provides philanthropic grants for international road injury prevention. | <urn:uuid:eb9c970c-7d91-4398-a76f-91e2aa955fc5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.makeroadssafe.org/about/Pages/whoweare.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951505 | 249 | 1.632813 | 2 |
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba — All five alleged co-conspirators in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks boycotted a pretrial hearing Thursday morning, frustrating prosecutors and denying kin of victims a chance to see the men in the flesh.
Prosecutor Robert Swann, a retired Army colonel, argued that no hearing should go forward without the presence of accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his four alleged co-conspirators. Three of the men are acting as their own attorneys.
The hearing was meant to hash out what information would be made available to military defense lawyers for two of the accused — Ramzi bin al Shibh and Mustafa al Hawsawi —as part of an ongoing sanity board to determine their competency to stand trial.
Both men have asked to serve as their own attorneys. Navy Cmdr. Suzanne Lachelier, assigned to defend bin al Shibh, says the Yemeni, who has been accused of helping the 9/11 hijackers find flight schools in America, has been prescribed psychotropic medications given to patients who are schizophrenic or bipolar.
It was not known why Hawsawi may not be competent. His attorney, Army Maj. Jon Jackson, has filed sealed motions in his client's case.
Defense lawyers said the accused men were notified on the eve of the hearing that they would be prohibited from speaking in court.
Nine relatives of Americans killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon watched the proceedings from a special victims' section inside a glass-enclosed and soundproofed booth at the back of the court.
Read more at MiamiHerald.com | <urn:uuid:c76956bd-a4cf-4f07-b30c-baf254bb4a83> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/07/16/71993/five-911-terror-suspects-boycott.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965874 | 342 | 1.625 | 2 |
How a Mobile Payment Service Can Grow Your Business
As more and more smartphone and tablet users shop via their mobile devices, being able to accept mobile payments is becoming more important. But does it make sense for your business? Mobile payment service providers Square, PayAnywhere, PayPal and Bank of America discuss fees, security and which types of business would benefit the most.
Tue, January 29, 2013
CIO — With more than 123 million smartphone users in the United States alone (as of November 2012, according to comScore), and shopping via mobile devices growing by double digits, being able to accept credit cards via a mobile device sounds like a no-brainer. But how does it actually improvie your business? To find out, CIO.com queried mobile payment solution providers Square, PayAnywhere, PayPal and Bank of America about security, fees and which type of business stands to benefit most from deploying a mobile payment solution.
What type of business should consider using a mobile payment solution (i.e., card readers for smartphones and tablets)? Put another way, what type of business stands to benefit most from using mobile payments?
Tracy Metzger, CIO, PayAnywhere: Any business that performs a service or sells a good to people in locations other than retail stores should seriously look at mobile point of sale (mPOS) technologies like mobile credit card readers. mPOS technologies bring the cash register directly to the location where commerce needs to be transacted so that a transaction can be conveniently completed where the customer is, and not handled later in a back office.
Mobile Payment Solution Benefits
What are some of the main benefits of using card readers/mobile payments?
Anuj Nayar, Senior Director of Communications, PayPal: With a mobile payment solution like PayPal Here, businesses without existing POS systems can immediately begin accepting nearly any type of payment -- cash, credit cards, checks, and, of course, PayPal. Merchants also pay lower fees (2.7 percent for swiped and PayPal transactions) and have access to their money almost instantly through their PayPal account and debit card.
Faryl Ury, Spokesperson, Square: One, easy credit card acceptance: A business can get up and running with Square quickly, easily and cheaply. For someone like a cab driver or jewelry maker who has never been able to accept credit cards before, Square opens up a whole new way to get paid and increase sales. Two, analytics: Traditionally, many companies, large and small, have had no way to track important sales information. Square's free analytics give our customers greater insight into their numbers so they can make better business decisions. And finally three, better relationships with customers: With Square Wallet, customers can discover local businesses, pay with their name, participate in loyalty programs, and even send gift cards. This allows businesses to develop better relationships with their clients because people spend less time focused on paying, and more time getting to know neighborhood businesses. | <urn:uuid:37073943-c3e6-45ea-8494-cf8e7f691701> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cio.com/article/727238/How_a_Mobile_Payment_Service_Can_Grow_Your_Business?taxonomyId=3089 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948783 | 601 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Portugal is a country from Southern Europe with a long history and culture having regional Mediterranean and Atlantic influences. You will be able to find within this website sections with background information on equestrian, embroidery, wine and gourmet made in Portugal products. Equestrian Portugal features Portuguese saddles, bridles, other horse tack, riding apparel, horses and horse riding. Horse tack and riding apparel are handmade in Portugal and from the Lusitano brand. Portugal Web has already delivered its Lusitano brand products into 16 countries. Portuguese embroidery focus on traditional embroidery from Viana do Castelo including tablecloths and tray cloths. There are several embroidered tablecloths models made in linen or cotton. Portuguese wine history, wine varietals and wine regions are concisely outlined in the wine in Portugal section. Olive oil and pine nuts are introduced in the gourmet section.
Shopping at Portugal Web is possible at Portugal Shop where there are selected Portuguese made products which are available for sale. The news from Portugal Web are at Portugal Blog.
Within the equestrian section from Portugal Shop, the traditional Baroque bridle, Portuguese saddle and Portuguese chaps are some of the featured Portuguese products. In the embroidery section from Portugal Shop the embroidered bars linen tablecloth and the embroidered cotton tablecloth are featured. Although Portugal Web is a young company, it was established in 2007, the standing Portuguese horse equipment is done by long time experts on traditional handmade saddle-making in Portugal. Equally the embroidery work standing at Portugal Shop follows the long embroidery tradition from Viana do Castelo. Come and have a look at our choice of made in Portugal products. | <urn:uuid:48e540dc-8f44-4d41-a1c2-43277314726e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.portugalweb.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933165 | 351 | 1.671875 | 2 |
The video is an interview with two students from Uruguay prior to the trip.
Most of the students come from low-income areas and have never traveled outside of their country. Having the opportunity to come to the Bay Area on a scholarship is one of the most rewarding experiences they have ever encountered in their lives. The Youth Ambassadors have met with many different organizations around the Bay Area, including Youth Speaks, Oakland Chinatown Youth Center, Youth Together, East Side Arts Alliance, Mandela Marketplace, UC Berkeley Alumni, and many more that even I, as an Oakland native, do not know about.
It’s so heartwarming when they tell me, “Wow! Everything here is great. Clean streets... good food… nice people!” The amount of gratitude and positive energy within the group is astounding.
“AND OMG THEY WOULD JUST WALK TOGETHER AND SING LIKE NATIONAL SONGS OUT LOUD. It was so beautiful seeing how close they were and how much they bonded. They had such a sense of community, I was jealous. In America, we don’t have community. We keep to ourselves more… it was really cool and I hope to see them again before they leave back to their country…” – Geoffrey Dang, Oakland Chinatown Youth Center.
The exchange students I’ve spoken with express how much knowledge they’ve gained on the trip. But I feel like the group has given just as much knowledge and love as they’ve received. The Youth Ambassadors presented the histories of Paraguay and Uruguay, local cuisine, what they enjoy in their spare time, and much more. They bring so much caring and love that is lacking in my community. I watched a peer compliment one of the youth’s pins, and without hesitation, the pin was taken off and placed in the hand of the former.
Santiago, a young man that I interviewed, told me, “I am just so happy to be here. I want to make the most of my experience and meet new friends. In Uruguay, people value friendliness and helpfulness. That describes you!” All this even after the initial excitement of working with the Advanced Spanish class had worn off. He came to find that none of us had sufficient conversational skills.
After my interview, I gave Santiago a red envelope containing a good luck charm and several varieties of candy in honor of the Chinese New Year. I told him, “Although this is not typical, I wanted to share a piece of my culture with you…” and he immediately gave me a hug and an air kiss. “You are so cute, thank you so so much!” He couldn’t contain his excitement and immediately put the charm around his neck, which I appreciated.
The Youth Ambassadors leave me with new hope that even cultural, language, and physical barriers aren’t enough to prevent people from connecting. The smiles and laughter made up for the awkward glances and words lost in translation. It doesn’t matter that we may never meet again.
Learning, growth, and friendship are universal.
I hope to see Santiago again. He told me he plans to move to San Francisco after college to be my roommate. | <urn:uuid:01557a58-be4f-4f7e-85b2-886b3df2c734> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reproductivejusticeblog.org/2012/02/making-friends-with-amigos.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97263 | 673 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Helping moms and babies in Utah
The March of Dimes Utah Chapter funds programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and healthy babies. This includes providing financial support to research and education that will help moms before and during their pregnancies. It also includes working with local medical groups and organizations to improve prenatal care and newborn screening.
Grants and awards are given to projects that address the urgent needs of moms and babies. Grants are generally awarded for one to three years and range from $2,500 to $10,000.
The March of Dimes Utah Chapter uses gifts wisely. We award grants based on a number of criteria, including the group or organization’s ability to accomplish its goals, as well as the potential impact a project will have in helping us prevent premature births, birth defects and infant mortality.
For more information about the chapter community grant program and how to apply, contact your local March of Dimes chapter office at (801) 327-9464.
**2012 RFP Application deadline October 15, 2012 | <urn:uuid:af689a59-9c5e-4254-a613-4ef764a33a82> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marchofdimes.com/utah/grants_main.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968352 | 210 | 1.507813 | 2 |
A beta version of Google Chrome has tied with Safari for last place in tests of how the browsers dealt with password security. The tests - put together by security consultancy Chapin Information Services - ran the most popular browsers against a set of 21 checks. None performed particularly well. Opera 9.62 passed only seven …
Like to see....................
The tests repeated for Firefox using noscript activated.
Never store passwords in the browser
Your favourite motorcycle owners forum or online bank account, they all contain personal information.
If you need to remember a lot of passwords, grab KeePass (Free as in Beer and Speech) and store them all in that. Hell, it'll generate secure passwords for you and let you copy and paste them without ever having to see what they are.
It will run from a memory stick, so no installation required on work / home PCs, and is completely portable.
I'm going to make a browser that passes all categories.
And I shall call it; "Nagfox".
Is that Safari on the Mac, or on Windows?
’cos on the Mac, passwords are stored on the Keychain, and if you don't unlock your Keychain in the first place, Safari can't decrypt squat.
The default configuration is for your Keychain to be unlocked when you log in, but you can change that easily enough, and set it to to auto-lock under various circumstances, which means you'll be prompted for your Keychain password whenever Safari wants to auto-fill a login form. Hit Cancel and it won't auto-fill a thing.
If memory serves, other auto-fill data is stored in the same way.
Given Safari and Google Chrome's common ancestry, it would have been interesting to see how true geeks' beloved Konqueror fared.
"...it is tempting to think that users would be well advised never to save passwords for sensitive websites."
People do that?
Is it me?
"...... form a toxic soup of potential vulnerabilities that can coalesce into broad insecurity,"
For some reason I can only read that as if it were spoken by Gus Hedges from "Drop the Dead Donkey".
"Chapin's tests set a high standard ..."
Not on the evidence of this article they don't. How can completing a form when auto-complete is set to "off" be anything other than "go to fail, go directly to fail"? (Apologies to all, myself included, who regard "fail" as the clear sign of an illiterate fool. It just happened to fit on this occasion.)
"...but looking at the results it is tempting to think that users would be well advised never to save passwords for sensitive websites."
You mean there are people who do? Crikey! That's even *more* embarrasing.
@Mo: Who knows what they tested it on or how? I'm a professional tester and looking at their list of tests tells me that they didn't lock the keychain before performing these tests. It's possible that they don't know how!
It would very be interesting to know which platform(s) these tests were run on (Mac/PC/Linux/all). I believe that they were all run on PC, otherwise the results may have been different (as Mo said, they could lock the keychain).
Suffice to say, there's nothing preventing anyone from coming up with "tests" that prove exactly what they want to prove. If they don't (or won't) tell you how the test was run then the results are meaningless.
My guess is that either this company will soon be selling some kind of "solution" to the problems they've just highlighted OR they only did it for the publicity (Looking at their webpage tells me that they're probably a one or two-man company who need all the publicity they can get).
Pleasantly surprised - IE7 scored 5, which is 2 less than Opera and Firefox, 3 more than Safari and Chrome and 8 or 9 more than I was expecting...
I'd be very interested in the results if some of the browsers had some of the regularly used options enabled - "privacy" modes and Firefox+NoScript for example.
Asking for it / @TeeCee
Quote: "Chapin's tests set a high standard but looking at the results it is tempting to think that users would be well advised never to save passwords for sensitive websites."
'Tempting'? 'Advised'? 'Sensitive websites'?
Jeeze! Anyone who stores *any* password in a browser's password manager needs their head examining! In fact, cautious users never store passwords in cleartext anywhere on a computer.
Paris, cos she's stupid too (allegedly)
@TeeCee. Well remembered! You're right, it's pure Gus-speak :)
Saw that one coming ...
Which is why, over all these years, I've never once saved a password for use in a browser.
Maybe, one day, there'll be a browser password-saving system that meets *my* stringent requirements.
"How can completing a form when auto-complete is set to "off" be anything other than "go to fail, go directly to fail"?"
Because there's a difference between not saving it when autocomplete is off and not completing it when autocomplete is off.
As an example, Firefox doesn't save the password if autocomplete is off, so it'll never get filled in later. But if I go to the effort of modifying the DOM so that it will get saved (e.g. using the Enable Password Manager bookmarklet) then it's obvious that I do want it autocompleted later. Even then, Firefox doesn't autocomplete it automatically, I have to go to the field, hit the down cursor to select the user, and then hit return.
And I'm quite happy with that because I want to decide which passwords I save instead of some arbitrary decision by the website owner. And, in the event of having a keylogger installed, it's probably more secure.
Lock the keychain?
Shoot, no normal user will do that. It's like... like... like not working as root! Not done. Too much work.
But seriously, security != ease of use. Locking the keychain might well be a theoretical solution, but anything that fails to take human nature into account is not security, just mildly entertaining. Or maybe a CMA. Litigation FTW...
"it is tempting to think that users would be well advised never to save passwords for sensitive websites."
Do you write your pin number on your bank card? So why save your online bank password on your browser?
This sort of test
Is only really valid in a default state. So if Keychain is unlocked by default then that's the most appropriate state to test. Same with NoScript on Firefox. All this assuming that the average Joe is dumb (and let's face it, he is).
However, the tests would have been more credible if they had then tested them with the other options that are easily available to the default install.
Just for a flash from the past though, Windows XP was horribly insecure in all tests/attacks largely because its firewall was off by default and that wasn't changed until SP2. XP was appropriatley lambasted for that very reason, so I don't see why other software manufacturer's who have insecure defaults shouldn't be subjected to some derision.
Man + dog report
Makes me want to knock up some report to generate some publicity.
* No, I really don't know -- because I don't use PMs, and I rarely use Firefox.
Try it Yourself
You can put your browser through their tests yourself on their website. I just put FF2 (with NoScript though as Steven Knox said, shouldn't matter) through and still passed 7 though the results were slightly different from FF3's. It passed "Random Name Attr. Prevents Form Fills" but failed "Multi. Schemes Per User Per Authority".
Firefox 3.04 and NoScript
I tried it with Firefox 3.04 with NoScript, and did not allow the site in NoScript. I was unable to get past the 4 step (out of 32).
After allowing the site, I was able to complete the test, and passed on 8 of the 32 tests.
"...users would be stupid to save passwords for any websites."
I fixed it for you.
This title is password protected
>>>Chrome fails to check the location of password requests or the destination to which they are dispatched<<<
What about Firefox? Since anti phishing I would've thought the above requirement would be built, by default, into all browsers. Also, doesn't the master password protect your password list, if not, what's its point?
Admittedly, I don't save passwords to financial or important sites, mainly forums and places like this, and I would never save passwords in IE whatever version, but I thought Firefox's big sell was online security. Is it worth sending a ms to the Firefox team? - they never respond when reporting the crash on exit bug.
Remember my password for me?
Remember the Butlerian Jihad?
When the browser asks to save your password, just say no.
- Acorn founder: SIXTH WAVE of tech will wash away Apple, Intel
- Analysis BlackBerry Messenger unleashed: Look out Twitter and Facebook
- Comment Mobile tech destroys the case for the HS2 £multi-beellion train set
- Nine-year-old Opportunity Mars rover sets NASA distance record
- Things that cost the same as coffee with Tim Cook - and are WAY more fun | <urn:uuid:76ef5cf0-9746-49fd-8d7f-1730c824bd62> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/1/2008/12/15/browser_password_security_tests/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957707 | 2,028 | 1.65625 | 2 |
THOUSANDS of frightened residents flooded makeshift refugee camps in Indonesia's West Papua province today after two powerful earthquakes flattened buildings and killed at least one person.
Residents camped out in yards and streets outside their homes, and there were some 14,000 refugees across the province, many of whom had fled to higher ground, officials said.
"For the time being there are 14,000 refugees," Governor Abraham Atururi said, adding that 17 camps had been set up for the displaced in the provincial capital Manokwari.
As aid started to arrive, hundreds of aftershocks continued to rattle the coastal city which was hit by the 7.6 and 7.5 magnitude quakes early on Sunday, cutting power and prompting a brief tsunami warning.
Atururi said a 10-year-old girl was killed and at least 40 people were injured in the earthquakes, which rekindled bitter memories of similar deadly quakes that hit the town in 2002.
Hundreds of government and private buildings were damaged in the quake, as well as seven bridges, two of which collapsed, he said.
Four central government ministers arrived by plane bringing 1.5 billion rupiah ($A195,900) in aid and to survey the damage, officials said.
Two tonnes of medicine was also flown in by the health ministry to Manokwari's airport.
In Manokwari, many residents were camping outside their homes, but thousands from low-lying areas refused to leave camps on higher ground out of fear of a tsunami.
"I'm half-dead in my tent. I want to go home but I'm scared of a tsunami," said fisherman's wife Mapahai, 35, who fled with her husband and six children.
"Two of my children are sick, I'm also sick. We haven't received any medicine yet," she said.
Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) said Papua had been hit by 842 aftershocks over a period of 29 hours after the first quake, including 54 aftershocks stronger than five on the Richter scale.
"It keeps on shaking," Papua BMG spokesman Mujahidin said.
Some 168,000 people were killed in Indonesia's Aceh province and Nias island by the 2004 Asian tsunami, making it the worst hit country.
Tags: Earthquake, Swarm, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Tsunami, Volcanic Eruption, Volcano, State of Emergency, Yellowstone National Park,
Marked as: approved
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Symptoms of a Bound Life
After spending a decade doing hand-to-hand combat with satanic forces, I have discovered several symptoms of demonic operation. Some of these indicators can be signs of mental illness, which isn’t always the result of demonic attack. But when good psychological care from Christian professionals doesn’t result in a cure, it is often possible that the person’s symptoms could point to demonic operation.
Drawn from the account of the demoniac of Gadara in Mark 5, the first six symptoms are extreme. The man in that passage was controlled by a legion of demons and had been chained in a cemetery because of his erratic and violent behavior. Other signs of demonic activity may be subtler, but they are no less dangerous and shouldn’t be ignored.
1. Incapacity for normal living (see Mark 5:1-5). The actions of legion made him unsuitable for normal social interaction with friends and family. An unusual desire for solitude, accompanied by a deep loneliness, will often set in. The person will often become very passive with no desire to change.
2. Extreme behavior (see Mark 5:4). An explosive temper and extreme uncontrollable anger could be signs of demonic activity. These are dangerous behaviors that control the individual and affect surrounding loved ones.
3. Personality changes (see Mark 5:9,12). Changes in personality, extreme or mild, may be evidence of demonic activity. And though all cases of multiple personality may not be demonic, in most cases demon activity is involved.
4. Restlessness and insomnia (see Mark 5:5). The demoniac cried in the tombs “night and day.” He couldn’t sleep. Insomnia can be a sign of a physical or spiritual problem. God has gifted His children with sleep (see Ps. 127:2). So when you can’t sleep night after night and there is no medical reason, the devil may be tormenting you.
5. A terrible inner anguish (see Mark 5:5). Grief and anguish are normal emotions. Yet persistent unresolved anguish that won’t leave after normal therapies of counseling, encouragement and prayer could well be demonic.
6. Self-inflicted injury and suicide. In Mark 5:5, the demonized man was cutting himself. And in Mark 9:14-29, a man’s son was both deaf and mute because of a demon, and the evil spirit would often throw the boy into fire and water to destroy him. Demons can cause people to injure themselves and even incite suicide.
7. Unexplained illness. When medical testing produces no physical cause for an illness, then we should look to the mind and spirit for answers. Sometimes illnesses are psychological, and good counseling can result in a cure. Other times the battle is with demons. Luke 13:11-16 tells the story of a “daughter of Abraham” who was afflicted by a “spirit of infirmity.” Although she was a child of God, she was tormented by illnesses caused by this class of demons.
8. Addictive behavior. Addiction to alcohol, drugs, sex, food, gambling and other things opens the door to demonic influence and control. I’m not saying demons cause all of these problems. But anything that causes one to be out of control opens that person to infernal control.
9. Abnormal sexual behavior. The spirit of harlotry is mentioned several times in Ezekiel 16:20-51. This spirit infected the nation of Israel with the sins of Sodom and even motivated the people to sacrifice their own children. Homosexuality, adultery, fornication and even infanticide were all inspired by the spirit of harlotry (see Hos. 4:12). And nations and families are sold into spiritual bondage by the witchcraft of this spirit (see Nah. 3:4). When we play around with sexual sin, we open ourselves to this demonic spirit. We must battle this principality that dominates our nation.
10. Defeat, failure and depression in the Christian life. It is Satan’s purpose to rob us of the victorious life that is ours in Christ (see 2 Cor. 2:10-14). This symptom is often manifested by an inability to praise and worship, which is a weapon of warfare. In Psalm 106:47, David asks God for salvation so he could “triumph in [God’s] praise.”
11. Occult involvement and behavior. Occult involvement is clearly a symptom of demonic control. Deuteronomy 18:9-12 catalogs the works of the occult, including child sacrifice, fortune-telling, sorcery and calling up the dead.
12. Speech difficulties. In Matthew 9:32-33, Jesus rebuked a demon, and the mute man was able to speak. Speech difficulties may be physical, emotional or mental, but in some cases they are demonic. Extreme language and cursing also may be prompted by the enemy. | <urn:uuid:11384374-b3f5-41ba-8384-3574e88e45c0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.charismamag.com/spirit/supernatural/11368-help-i-think-im-possessed?showall=&start=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944994 | 1,039 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Medicare regulation revives end-of-life planning
Sunday, December 26, 2010
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new health regulation issued this month offers Medicare recipients voluntary end-of-life planning, which Democrats dropped from the monumental health care overhaul last year.
The provision allows Medicare to pay for voluntary counseling to help beneficiaries deal with the complex and painful decisions families face when a loved one is approaching death.
But the practice was heavily criticized by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and some other Republicans who have likened the counseling to “death panels.”
The “voluntary advance care planning” is included in a Medicare regulation issued Dec. 3 that covers annual checkups, known as wellness visits. It goes into effect Jan. 1.
The new regulation was first reported by The New York Times.
For years, federal laws and policies have encouraged Americans to think ahead about end-of-life decisions and make their wishes known in advance through living wills and similar legal documents. But when House Democrats proposed last year to pay doctors for end-of-life counseling, it touched off a wave of suspicion and anger.
Opponents said end-of-life planning should be left to families, while proponents said doctors’ advice was a basic element of health care.
Prominent Republicans singled it out as a glaring example of government overreach. Palin’s use of the phrase “death panels” solidified GOP opposition to the health care bill.
Although advance planning never made it into the law, few Republicans joined in supporting the health care overhaul, President Barack Obama’s signature domestic legislative achievement. | <urn:uuid:f5b5d221-88df-47e7-881d-9b5ffcc0822e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newstribune.com/news/2010/dec/26/medicare-regulation-revives-end-life-planning/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949575 | 335 | 1.734375 | 2 |
You may not realize that Microsoft has actually been a proponent of the tablet PC for more than a decade. In fact as early as 2002 they were releasing a tablet PC version of Windows. For numerous reasons previous generations of the Windows tablet PC simply didn't work for most people. The interface wasn't particularly tablet friendly, the operating system was too power hungry, and PC hardware ...Read full article
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Telehealth services have been around for several years as an addition to the advancement of health information technology. There are several things the medical office should consider prior to implementing a Telehealth system.
- What types of services does Telehealth consist of?
- How can the medical office get started in providing Telehealth services to patients?
- What are the guidelines that should be followed in order to receive proper reimbursement?
Learn more about Telehealth and some things to consider before implementing a system in your Medical Office. Consider the Use of Telehealth Technology
Sign up for my newsletter!
Don't see the topic you're looking for, have your question answered in an upcoming blog! Email me | <urn:uuid:2eaf06ee-fb5f-4b0b-a740-d6753d044103> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://medicaloffice.about.com/b/2011/10/30/consider-the-use-of-telehealth-technology.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956245 | 139 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
[Given that the 10th day is Eid, one can only fast the first nine days...]
Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
There is disagreement of the ulema about this. The position of the Hanafi school is that, yes, it is permitted and recommended to fast the first nine days of Dhu'l Hijja if one can.
However, it would be better not to fast all the days if one somehow thought that this was legally necessary or binding; or if it would impose physical hardship or difficulty, because a small amount of supererogatory (nafl) works performed with longing, sincerity, love, and thankfulness are better than mountains of stale works; or if it would lead to non-fulfillment of the rights of others, such as contractual commitments or family duties.
And Allah alone gives success.
MMVIII © Faraz Rabbani and Qibla.
All rights reserved
No part of this article may be reproduced, displayed, modified, or distributed without the express prior written permission of both copyright holders. For permission, please submit a request at our Helpdesk.
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, "Knowledge is only through study." While some knowledge can be gained from reading or casually listening to lectures, the best means to gain knowledge is through finding a qualified teacher and then setting up a systematic program of learning. Picking up a book or reading an article and trying to figure things out on our own is no substitute for learning from someone who has a direct link to our living tradition.
Through joining an online class at Qibla, you can benefit from convenient, online courses that will give you access to reliable scholars and our popular curriculum learning tracks. Knowledge gained in these courses will both build your iman and assist you in putting into practice what you learn. Don't give yourself less than you deserve, register today. | <urn:uuid:f36d6f37-709c-4873-9a5e-5da0192f4576> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=4751&CATE=198 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945724 | 412 | 1.757813 | 2 |
I'm in a pickle.
I have to make form controls (buttons, checkboxes, text inputs, etc.) on a semi transparent black background (85% alpha).
Here's what they look like so far:
Notice the difference between the top two and the bottom two. The difference is the bottom and right border is just light enough to give that cool inset look. The problem? All but one of those borders is the same color.
Because it's on a transparent background, the lines appear to your eye as either lighter or darker based on the color behind it! So, that neat inset look will come and go based on what's under it. I always want the neat inset look to be there, how can I do it? Are there any blend mode tricks for this?
P.S. I forgot to mention that this will eventually get to be displayed in Flash, so I get to have a little fun with blend modes and stuff.
Edit: I made another image to better clarify the issue (by 'too dark' and 'too bright' I am still referring to the right and bottom borders). | <urn:uuid:30e3512a-6741-44fb-af11-09ef9a462991> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/2455/how-to-get-a-consistent-perceived-color-on-a-transparent-bg/2459 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939012 | 234 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Christopher Turek - Director of Online and Student Services
December 07, 2012
Free Introduction to Renewable Energy eBook for the iPad!
Solar Energy International has recently announced the release of their eBook for iPad for FREE in support of their end of year giving campaign to help raise funds in support of their non-profit renewable energy education mission. Download Solar Energy International's Introduction to Renewable Energy iPad eBook from iTunes for FREE (normally $19.99).
As a thank you for the outpouring of support on Dec. 4th - Colorado Gives Day and throughout 2012, we are pleased to announce that we are offering the SEI Introduction to Renewable Energy iPad eBook for FREE for the rest of 2012. Download your copy now in iTunes >>
This eBook does require the use of an iPad, so please pass this link onto friends and family if you do not own an iPad. The more people that are introduced to the benefits and technologies found within renewable energy, the better chance we have for a more sustainable future!
The information on this page was created and posted by the company identified above. RenewableEnergyWorld.com does not endorse, edit, or substantiate this information and assumes no obligation for this content's accuracy. | <urn:uuid:9b13cddb-d61e-4a07-9412-63850be58af9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/partner/solar-energy-international-1158/news/article/2012/12/solar-energy-international-releases-free-ebook-for-ipad | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936253 | 250 | 1.796875 | 2 |
The long-awaited Sunset Bill of the Railroad Commission was released late yesterday, and it’s mostly what we’d expected, but not everything we’d hoped for.
- The Railroad Commission will be renamed the Texas Oil and Gas Commission
- It will be headed by one commissioner (down from 3) who will be elected every four years on the same cycle as Governor, Comptrollerm, Ag Commissioner, etc.
- Campaign finance reform: Commissioners and candidates for the commission can only raise money one year before an election and 30 days after.
- Moving contested hearings to the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH).
These are needed reforms and the problems they attempt to correct are huge. For instance, the large influence campaign money has in the election of the Railroad Commission historically, as detailed in our report Drilling for Dollars. Among our findings was that nearly half of all campaign donations were being solicited and received in non-election years. Creating this fund-raising window will help keep at least the appearance of impropriety away from the new Oil and Gas Commissioner for at least 3 out of every 4 years, though we’re fairly certain the money will gush in all the same. This is why we proposed public financing for this important new office, but barring that, at least better disclosure of who is giving the money (specifically the occupation and employer of donors) and putting a cap on how much someone can give.
Unfortunately, this bill also does not offer any new guidance on regulation of fracking and natural gas drilling. Currently fracking regulation is in somewhat of a no man’s land, as Railroad Commission says they do not enforce our environmental laws, but TCEQ says they don’t regulate the operations of drillers. While it’s possible some of these reforms will come from the TCEQ sunset or from separate legislation, the bottom line is that we cannot allow our agencies to play hot potato with this issue.
So, what does this mean that we would get one new oil and gas commissioner from three current railroad commissioners? If passed in its current form, the railroad commission would be abolished- the railroad commissioners would be out of a job. Not a big deal for those like Michael Williams, who has said he will resign next month in order to pursue a run for Senate. Elizabeth Ames Jones has hinted she would do the same. Upon creation of the new Oil and Gas Commission, the first commissioner would be appointed by Governor Perry, but s/he would only serve until 2012, when the first Oil and Gas Commissioner race in the history of Texas would take place. Whoever wins that race would serve for only two years, then be up for re-election in 2014, and then elections would take place every four years after that.
This is many steps forward from where we began, and we’re grateful that both the Sunset Commission staff and Committee members listened to our (the environmental and good government community’s) thoughtful proposals and adopted some of them into this reform package. It’s a testament to the power of people showing up and making their voices heard. But this is the beginning, not the end. So in the spirit of making our voices heard, please remember to join us Tuesday for ACT Lobby Day. This will be an opportunity for you and us to ask for even more needed reforms both at RRC and TCEQ.
By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas. | <urn:uuid:7d2fc7d8-365f-4efe-9968-bab4bf836525> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://texasvox.org/2011/03/10/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968358 | 732 | 1.539063 | 2 |
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Tubal sterilization is one of the most effective forms of birth control. It blocks the egg from being fertilized by sperm. This prevents pregnancy. The surgery can be an outpatient procedure or done after the birth of a child.
If you have tubal sterilization, you most likely will never get pregnant again. Be sure that’s what you want. Talk it over with your healthcare provider and your partner. Surgery to undo tubal sterilization is complicated. It is costly. And it is not always successful. So think of tubal sterilization as a lifelong birth control choice.
Your doctor will choose the best way to block your tubes. Tubes may be closed with heat (cauterization). They may be closed with a clip or ring. Or they may be tied off and cut.
Your doctor will tell you your options for how the surgery will be done. There are two ways of doing surgical sterilization.
This surgery is done without a hospital stay. For the procedure, a laparoscope is used. This is a thin tube with a camera and a light on the end. The doctor makes 2 to 4 small incisions in the abdomen. The scope is put through one of the incisions. The scope sends live pictures of your fallopian tubes to a video screen. Surgical tools are placed through the other small incisions. Using the live images, the doctor blocks your tubes. All tools are removed. The incisions are then closed with sutures or staples.
This surgery is often done right after childbirth. A small incision is made near the navel or at the pubic hairline. The doctor works through this incision to block the tubes. The incision is then closed with sutures or staples. After a cesarean delivery, the sterilization can be done through the existing incision. | <urn:uuid:5cfca051-2bfa-4374-9977-c62ae94e2177> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.einstein.edu/einsteinhealthtopic/?languagecode=es&healthTopicId=-1&healthTopicName=HealthSheets&articleId=82206&articleTypeId=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944364 | 405 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Posted By: wraggster
Heres an excerpt:
This page explores the unique game aesthetic that began with NEC’s PC Engine, continued with the Sega Saturn, and sadly ended with the Sega Dreamcast.
Shown here are all three systems in order of spiritual succession.
Behind the PC Engine on the left we see a Laserdisc, the premium home video format in the PC Engine’s day. A special LD player known as the Laseractive was PC Engine compatible, but unpopular, and the market deemed it unnecessary.
On the right we see the Dreamcast, and behind that a DVD, the current premium home video format. Ironically the lack of DVD compatibility is often sited as a key reason that the Dreamcast didn’t live to maturity.
Between them we see the Sega Saturn, which bridges the gap perfectly.
All of these systems are famous for oddball simulation series, quality ports of arcade fighting, and shooting games, and highly original, and creative first party releases that defined the machines. You won’t find many dedicated gamers that have owned only one of these machines.
Check out the Site HERE and Give us your Comments on the points raised | <urn:uuid:bd1e95ec-c659-4b50-8177-0a9524c4d886> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sega-saturn.dcemu.co.uk/the-white-line-pc-engine-sega-saturn-and-dreamcast-30350.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934283 | 245 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Marijuana-Shaped Candy Alarms Parents, Officials
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Candy shaped like marijuana that's showing up on store shelves around the country won't get kids high, but aghast city leaders and anti-drug activists say the product and grocers carrying it represent a new low.
"We're already dealing with a high amount of drug abuse and drug activity and trying to raise children so they don't think using illegal substances is acceptable," said City Councilmember Darius Pridgen. "So to have a licensed store sell candy to kids that depicts an illegal substance is just ignorant and irresponsible."
The "Pothead Ring Pots," "Pothead Lollipops" and bagged candy are distributed to retail stores by the novelty supply company Kalan LP of the Philadelphia suburb of Lansdowne. It also wholesales online for $1 for a lollipop and $1.50 for a package of three rings.
Company president Andrew Kalan said the candy, on the market six to nine months and in 1,000 stores around the country, promotes the legalization of marijuana.
"It does pretty well," he said.
"This is the first complaint I've heard," Kalan said, "and people are usually not shy. I'm actually surprised this is the first."
An irate parent brought the candy to Pridgen's attention, hoping the city could apply pressure and get it out of stores.
Pridgen and Councilmember Demone Smith displayed the candy, along with fake marijuana known as "K2" that's also sold in some stores at Tuesday's Common Council meeting, where Pridgen said he'd refuse to grant licenses to stores in his district that planned to sell the merchandise and would seek to embarrass stores that carry it. The synthetic marijuana is sold as incense but is smoked.
Synthetic marijuana typically involves dried plant material sprayed with one of several chemical compounds. The products contain organic leaves coated with chemicals that provide a marijuana-like high when smoked. The Drug Enforcement Administration recently used its emergency powers to outlaw five chemicals found in synthetic marijuana.
It appeared Pridgen's message had gotten out by Thursday. A check of about a half-dozen stores in Buffalo, often in impoverished neighborhoods where real drugs are a festering problem, turned up none of the controversial candy.
The bags of "Pothead Sour Gummy Candy," and lollipops shaped like marijuana leaves appear to be a recent addition to the inventory of some corner stores. The sour apple-flavored candy contains nothing illegal, but with its marijuana leaf, the word "Legalize" and a joint-smoking, peace sign-waving user on the packaging, critics say it's not only in poor taste but an invitation to try the real thing.
"It's the whole idea that it promotes drugs and the idea that, here, you'll look cool if you use this – which is what gets these kids in trouble in the very first place," said Jodie Altman, program supervisor at Renaissance House, a treatment center for drug- and alcohol-addicted youth.
Charmaine Rosendary, 36, of Buffalo shook her head when she saw a picture of the package.
"That's not right. It's just promoting marijuana," she said while buying produce Friday at a Buffalo market. She said she wouldn't allow her five teenagers, ages 15-19, to have it.
"I would not buy it or give them money to buy it," she said. "It looks like weed."
It's not the first legal product to come under fire.
In 2008, the Hershey Co. stopped making Ice Breakers Pacs in response to criticism that the mints looked too much like illegal street drugs. Police in Philadelphia complained that the packets, nickel-sized dissolvable pouches with a powdered sweetener inside, closely resembled tiny heat-sealed bags used to sell powdered street drugs.
Candy cigarettes and fruity or energy drink-infused alcoholic beverages have been criticized for targeting young people. And in 1997, the Federal Trade Commission said the iconic Joe Camel cigarette ads and packaging violated federal law because they appealed to kids under 18. The tobacco company, R.J. Reynolds, eventually shelved the caricature.
A spokesman for the Office of National Drug Control Policy said advocates for legalization who claim marijuana is benign are not supported by science.
"Trivializing drug use is a threat to public health because it erodes perceptions of harm among young people," said Rafael Lemaitre.
Kalan said his company carries several products with the marijuana leaf and "legalize" message to accommodate growing demand in the movement to legalize marijuana.
"We don't advocate for a political position. We just look at what the marketplace wants and respond to it," the wholesaler said. "It's just candy... It's sour apple flavor, it doesn't claim to be pot in disguise or anything like that." | <urn:uuid:525e2dc8-db2a-4fde-be4c-63aeff6535d2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/10/marijuana-candy_n_1003184.html?ir=Divorce&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966971 | 1,026 | 1.546875 | 2 |
These sites have tools you can trust to help you make better money decisions.
Best Site: Billshrink.com
With the average bank savings account yielding a pathetic 0.24%, it's no wonder you're on the hunt for a better deal. But interest rates aren't the only thing to consider: "You need to factor in fees," says Schwark Satyavolu, co-founder of BillShrink. Type in your current balance, the features you want (such as online bill paying or ATM access), and other info, and this innovative site coughs up the savings accounts and CDs that will leave you with the most dough in your pocket.
Coolest feature: BillShrink can send you alerts when a better rate becomes available.
Caveat: The site gathers data from 54 banks and credit unions around the country, including most of the biggies. But good ones may slip through the cracks.
Try this too: Visit Bankrate.com, the data supplier for our savings charts, which has a more comprehensive list of the best rates in the U.S. But you'll have to do the legwork on fees yourself.
NEXT: 9. Which neighborhood should I live in?
Last updated February 19 2010: 12:01 PM ET
Note: We didn't assess sites that deliver primarily news and information, such as WSJ.com or CNNMoney.com. | <urn:uuid:878f3b1f-9690-4f40-b02d-9b90f5cc1af1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/moneymag/1002/gallery.Best_money_websites.moneymag/8.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944966 | 293 | 1.601563 | 2 |
“When I was in high school at Huntington North, I was not a very good student,” says Joshua Burkhardt, a 29-year-old sales manager at Pathfinder Services. “That, combined with working half days at Wal-Mart, made me extremely unmotivated to expand my education.”
When it comes to furthering his education, Burkhardt is singing a different tune these days. He is currently enrolled at Huntington University to receive his associate’s degree in organizational management, and then his bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing, both through the university’s adult degree programs.
Huntington’s program is for adults in the community who have not gone to college, or who have few college credits and would like to finish their degree.
Burkhardt moved from Wabash, Ohio, to Huntington, Ind., with his family in December of 1999.
“We moved to Huntington because it was a small town outside of a larger city,” he says. “A great improvement from where we were in Ohio.”
After graduating from Huntington North High School in 2001, Burkhardt went straight into the workforce, moving through several dead-end jobs in factories around town. He began his first “real” job when he was 21, working as a welder on bulk refinery tanks.
Burkhardt landed his next job at Pace Chevrolet.
“This is where I learned about business—money, finance and people in general,” he says.
While Burkhardt was working at Pace, his wife enrolled him in Huntington’s program.
“It was unexpected, but a blessing in the long run,” he says.
Burkhardt has seen the positive effect of his education on his career, and appreciates the timing of his classes and the allowance to learn at his own pace.
“I intend to improve greatly because of my college experience,” he says. “This inspires a new style of thinking and understanding.”
Burkhardt is challenging himself to not only further himself educationally, but to become a better person through the program.
“The ability to self-improve gives you more value in the market place,” he says. “This value increases wages and your ability to secure more demanding positions.”
The most challenging aspect of going back to school for Burkhardt has been managing work, homework and his new marriage, as well as other close relationships in his life. But even with all of these competing responsibilities, Burkhardt says it is extremely rewarding to know that he is continuing to develop as an individual.
Burkhardt has three years until he finishes his bachelor’s, but he is already looking ahead, toward pursuing a master’s degree in the future. | <urn:uuid:7885d8ee-aca7-49e3-b743-cea2f93e3e4a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://huntington.edu/EXCEL/EXCEL-Alum-Joshua-Burkhardt/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989306 | 589 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Menlo Park man killed in fire likely inhaled superheated air, say coroner and fire chief
The Menlo Park man who died in a fire that nearly completely consumed a two-story Berkeley Avenue home on the morning of April 27 was Kelly Brosnan, 46.
Mr. Brosnan, San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault told The Almanac, died as a result of "inhalation of products of combustion," by which he said he meant soot and superheated air.
Firefighters found Mr. Brosnan lying next to a deflated air mattress in a first-floor bedroom in the one unburned part of the house. He may have tried to stand up, encountered superheated air, taken a breath and died, his lungs seared from the heat, Menlo Park Fire Protection District Chief Harold Schapelhouman said.
"One breath and it'll kill you right away," Mr. Foucrault said.
The fire was a furious one, Chief Schapelhouman said at the scene later that day. He noted the absence of a roof and supporting beams and the blackened, skeletal, spindly uprights — studs that, unlike today's lumber, actually measured 2 inches by 4 inches. (The house was built in the 1920s or 1930s, he said.)
"That's really unusual, to see that depth of burn," he added, pointing to what firefighters call "alligator" charring for its scale-like surface texture. "There's nothing (left) there. That's a long time in burning. ... It could have been preheating for hours. I'd say this fire was burning for maybe 30 minutes before anybody discovered (it)."
It was a very hot fire, too, the chief said, pointing out how it had blistered paint on a neighboring garage and blackened a redwood tree and fence. The home's melted aluminum window frames meant a temperature of at least 1,000 degrees, he said.
Because the fire had a head start and a high potential for injury, firefighters fought it from the outside, he said.
"Every fireman wants to go to a fire until you deal with something like this," he said, referring to the fatality. "All of a sudden, you're sort of brought up to the reality of what your job is."
The fire appears to have started accidentally, Chief Schapelhouman said. The blaze was reported at about 1:30 a.m. at 825 Berkeley Ave. in a tree-filled neighborhood.
Firefighters arrived within four minutes and quickly extinguished the flames, Chief Schapelhouman said. The fire was under control by 2 a.m.
Peter Farmer, who lives next door, said Mr. Brosnan rented the house for the past six or seven years and lived alone.
Mr. Farmer was sleeping when he, his wife and their two daughters awoke to the sound of explosions, looked out the window and saw flames pouring from the house next door.
"The flames were intense and probably reaching up 30 or 40 feet," Mr. Farmer said. "It was quite frightening to wake up and see the house completely in flames."
Chief Schapelhouman said the explosions were propane cylinders and aerosol cans that were kept in a wooden shack behind the burning home.
Bay City News Service contributed to this report. | <urn:uuid:f8b1a29b-64c8-44f6-a116-02945df3b940> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.almanacnews.com/story.php?story_id=9559 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983581 | 706 | 1.578125 | 2 |
I was reading another post on “The Innovative Educator” the other morning and in tune with most of the other posts on that site, it advocates for caring about students and making their experiences meaningful. They are hard things to disagree with, especially when you want your classes to care as much as you do about their learning. But somewhere on the way to proving her point, the post’s author implies that a critical essay about literature is not a worthwhile task; at least it seems that those teachers who assign such tasks aren’t doing enough.
I guess the critical essay does sound a bit luddite and wouldn’t really be an example of a meaningful task because when students hand in a paper they are doing for me to grade and not publishing to a wiki or blog or anything for the greater world to see. After all, I am not a real audience for them, just an example of an outdated piece of a machine that ruins any shot they have at real inteligence. At least that’s the impression I got.
Let’s set aside those things and look at the issue at hand, which is that there is still value to be found in a critical literature essay. I’ll make a bit of a switch and call it a “paper” instead of an “essay” because to me, “essay” implies either a piece of personal writing and not analytic writing, and I want to be clear that I am not referring to that scourge of high school English class, the five-paragraph essay. Furthermore, since the literature paper is still a viable form of assessment, then it’s right to consider that the teacher is still a genuine audience (then again, I’ll go out on a limb and say that teachers not being “genuine” is simply a label meant to denigrate the profession and harp on the already-tired “industrial model” talking point).
But why, if said paper may never go beyond the classroom or past my desk, do I consider myself a genuine audience for my students and consider their writing a paper a genuine assessment of what they have learned in the study of literature? I’ve touched on this subject before, but I did want to come back to it here and talk a little more about my experiences with the literature paper this year with my advanced sophomore English class. I know that many of them are considering colleges and having gotten to know a good number of the 25 students in that particular class, I can see several of them going after acceptance from a competitive school like Virginia or William & Mary (if this were my old high school, they would be applying to at least one Ivy). So, their immediate future more than likely involves a classroom or lecture hall and if they wind up taking a class in the humanities, they may wind up doing some sort of critical analysis by way of a paper. So it’s still a relevant way to use a skill that’s been labeled “21st Century,” although to be honest, the lit paper has been around for quite a long time.
And come to think of it, the idea of a “closed” audience, no matter how collaborative an environment you work in, is also relevant as well. I spent quite a number of years in sales support and marketing positions where my work was done for either my boss or someone in another department or a partner and the only people outside our company/firm who saw it were clients. So the idea that you are producing something that’s for a specific audience and not “published” in the sense that it is available for a mass audience is also important and therefore those types of audiences (your clients, your boss, your teacher), are genuine audiences. Read the rest of this entry » | <urn:uuid:d3473fc9-283e-4bc2-bb1d-ba779068da13> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://redlinesandhighlights.wordpress.com/2012/03/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973113 | 793 | 1.84375 | 2 |
View Full Version : Snail Overload
07-30-2006, 07:29 PM
Help!! I have a 10 gallon tank with guppies in it. The pet store suggested that I get a snail to help keep the tank clean. I am new to all this and the snail was cute. Now I have 20+ snails and my original snail has died. Because I have guppies and a 10 gallon tank I didn't think a clown loach would be the answer. I have tried chemicals and the snails are still here, and there are more eggs! What can I do to get rid of them? I really don't want to have to pick them all out....Last time I did that I had a small cut on my finger that ended up with a nasty infection!!! Please help!!!!!
07-30-2006, 08:22 PM
you can try this.
Put a small plate with some food in the middle of it in the tank after dark. the snails will feel the smell head for the food. than you can just remce the plate with the snails on it.
This can help keep the population down. I also recommend that you remove all the eggs you can find.
07-30-2006, 08:41 PM
Thanks for the advice. Any thoughts on what I should do with all the snails I catch on my plate? Somehow throwing them away seems cruel.....
07-31-2006, 03:04 AM
Well you will have to kill them unless you are going to setup a snail tank. "Human" wasy of killing them including putting them into the frezer or boiling water.
08-01-2006, 11:27 PM
Thanks for the advice. I appreciate all the help I can get. :)
08-02-2006, 03:00 AM
A cucumber slice works really well at attracting loads of snails overnight, which I found out when I first offered one to my bristlenose pleco. Now, that is my way of catching a bunch when I want to drop a load into the dwarfpuffer tank before weekends away so they have plenty to hunt while I am gone!
08-08-2006, 08:41 AM
I did not know sainls could breed like that, and all from one snail?
08-08-2006, 10:03 PM
Yes. the snail was fertilized before he got it.
Fun fact. most snails are both male and female
08-09-2006, 08:24 AM
So if I get a little snail to my tiny aquarium I could end up whit the same problem? So sanils can fertilise themself?
08-09-2006, 10:55 AM
Snails breed like crazy....the only things I have found that seem to keep the numbers in check is platy fry and neon tetras....and I don't want to keep their numbers down because I feed them to my dp's. I had snails "breeding" in a tank that I put some platy fry into and their numbers dropped rather quickly, couldn't figure out why until I saw the fry nibbling on eggs. Same thing happened with the neons, and, although I get a few snails a month in the tank they are in, I don't see the population explosion like my other tanks.
08-09-2006, 11:55 AM
Most snails need a partner but they fertilize eachother which means that each mating results in atleast two batches of eggs. And many species can save sperm so that one mating is enough for a long time.
08-09-2006, 03:40 PM
Ok thank you for the information. I was thinking of adding a snail to my aquarium but I think perhaps not then. As a side note by the way, if I do get a snail and it run away, how long can they live outside of the wather?
08-09-2006, 10:39 PM
untill they dry out.
08-10-2006, 12:54 AM
I am certainly seeing a population explosion! My husband cannot believe the number of snails all friom the original one. I have basically given up on reducing the number. I tried "Had a Snail" from my lsf but it did NOTHING! I recently bought a dojo loach and he is eating the eggs, so there is hope that the snails will be controlled. Otherwise I guess I will learn to love them. :)
08-10-2006, 07:12 AM
Well they are cute, but if they breed so fast, woult it soon be no food for them and no room for the fish?
08-11-2006, 12:31 AM
It might, but by the time there are that many I will have my bigger tank set up and the small one can be just for the snails. Or I can get rid of them by tearing down the tank.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.0 Copyright © 2013 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:d39a9a2c-ed36-4683-ab01-dc3f9ee1bef3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/archive/index.php/t-1217.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969505 | 1,064 | 1.78125 | 2 |
A Court’s Judgment is Binding
That is what President Obama’s Attorneys were told on March 3rd, after a judgment ruling against Obamacare January 31st. President Obama brushed off Judge Roger Vinson’s ruling so will he comply now?
On January 31st Judge Roger Vinson made a judgment against Obamacare stating that the mandatory insurance provision was unconstitutional and further declared the entire law void after having received twenty six states bringing lawsuits to the Florida district court challenging the Obama healthcare reform law referred to as Obamacare.
President Obama having been an attorney for a law firm in the past, as was his wife; knows full well how to play the system. Most all attorneys do it to gain ground and force things their way whether right or wrong; they don’t care about the wrong so long as they win.
President Obama seems to hold true to the Attorney format of things when it comes to his namesake Obamacare as the White House called Judge Vinson’s ruling “extreme” and “outlier;” then instructed the nation “implementation would proceed apace.” For those that don’t know the term “apace” means quickly.
Judge Vincent said the delay of two and a half weeks before even requesting a clarification on the courts interpretation of the constitution involving this case may have been calculated. Anyone that has had any dealings with attorneys would know that the delay was nothing more then a stall tactic; no surprise there.
Last week Judge Vinson issued a “stay” to delay the practical effects of overturning the healthcare law and allowed seven days for the administration to request an expedited appeal. President Obama is not the first President to attempt to overthrow a Supreme Court Decision; President Richard Nixon tried it in 1974, President Andrew Jackson in 1819 and President Abraham Lincoln acquiesced in a court’s decision regarding Dred Scott v Sanford in 1857. In short “The court has the final say in any legal controversy.” | <urn:uuid:24b9b86e-ce92-47c7-a318-671568de1276> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newsflavor.com/politics/world-politics/a-courts-judgment-is-binding/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975496 | 413 | 1.601563 | 2 |
New Hanover in state's top 10 list for HIV and AIDS
Published: Wednesday, January 2, 2013 at 12:44 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, January 2, 2013 at 12:44 p.m.
After the New Hanover County Health Department started offering HIV/AIDS screening at the county jail in February, five to seven inmates participated each month.
Living with HIV or AIDS
Top 10 N.C. counties for patients living with HIV or AIDS, through Dec. 31, 2011.
1. Mecklenburg 4,715
2. Wake 2,721
3. Guilford 1,967
4. Durham 1,467
5. Forsyth 1,319
6. Cumberland 1,236
7. New Hanover 584
8. Gaston 500
9. Buncombe 473
10. Robeson 402
N.C. total* 26,168
*Total includes cases with unknown county of residence at diagnosis or cases that were diagnosed at a long-term care facility such as prisons.
Source: N.C. Communicable Disease Branch 2011 HIV/STD Surveillance Report
In October the health department sweetened the deal by giving a free pair of socks to inmates who agreed to be tested as part of the jail initiative. Seventy-eight inmates signed up the first month, said Caree Varughese, the health department's HIV/STD outreach coordinator.
"I'm trying to think of what we can do when it comes to the summer, because the socks won't be such a big deal for that," Varughese said. If a small focus group of inmates is any indication, she said, white T-shirts might do the trick.
During a presentation Wednesday on the health department's HIV/AIDS outreach efforts, Varughese told board of health members that New Hanover County is in the top 10 North Carolina counties for the number of HIV/AIDS and syphilis cases.
When looking at HIV/AIDS alone, New Hanover comes in at No. 7 in the state for the number of patients living with HIV/AIDS as of Dec. 31, 2011, the most recent year for which statistics are available from the N.C. Communicable Disease Branch. New Hanover had 584, while Brunswick had 148, Columbus had 163 and Pender had 60.
When AIDS cases are viewed as a three-year average of rates per 100,000 population, New Hanover ranks No. 53 out of 100 with a rate of 4.8, about half the state rate of 9. Brunswick ranked 49 with a rate of 5.6, Columbus ranked 13 with a rate of 12.3 and Pender ranked 76 with a rate of 2.9, according to state statistics.
Varughese estimated that 15 percent to 20 percent of people who have HIV/AIDS don't know it because they haven't been tested.
Compounding the problem this year is that many symptoms of the disease are similar to the flu, she said, keeping some patients from seeking testing or treatment. Health Director David Rice, in his briefing to board members, said the state is in the midst of its worst flu outbreak in at least 10 years.
Among the groups targeted for outreach by the health department are men having sex with men, and minorities, Varughese said. The latest state report shows black females making up 79 percent of all new female HIV cases in 2011 and black males making up 64 percent of all new male HIV cases.
Heterosexuals in the 13- to 28-year-old age group also are being targeted for health department outreach as they are most likely to become HIV positive, Varughese said.
The health department conducted 19 outreach testing events and tested 365 people for HIV/AIDS from July 1 to Dec. 31, she said.
Jim Ware: 343-2387
On Twitter: @jimware
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged. | <urn:uuid:fdc0ba7c-9402-4ae9-856f-55455c9cf334> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20130102/ARTICLES/130109968/jim.ware@starnewsonline.com | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960817 | 849 | 1.84375 | 2 |
The Archbishop of York has visited Montego Bay, Jamaica in order to bless Richard Branson’s newly opened Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship and find out more about those it aims to benefit.
The centre, with the support of Virgin Holidays, is hoping to create more jobs in the local community through encouraging the work of local entrepreneurs. With practical business skills, access to guidance coaches and mentors all on offer the centre puts an emphasis on linking tourism related business with social, environmental and financial well-being.
“The only way you will lift a country out of poverty and give them true economic freedom is through the creation of jobs,” explains Virgin Unite CEO, Jean Oelwang.
“The Virgin Group has had a long history in the Caribbean and Virgin Holidays, who is our cornerstone partner for this programme, has been a huge supporter of tourism in the area for several years.”
The first such centre opened its doors back in 2006 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Further, smaller, satellite centres will be developed and act as a launch pad to enable entrepreneurs to succeed in business, benefitting the whole community.
Applications for new Branson Centre Caribbean entrepreneurs are now open - you have until February 6th to apply.
For more information on the work of the centre and to find out how you can get involved, visit the Branson Centre website. | <urn:uuid:528f2ba2-16d1-493e-b96e-221c09472928> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.virginunite.com/News/Rest-of-World/Archbishop-blesses-Branson-Centre-Caribbean/?=%2C%2C&%3Bmode=1&pid=95809cef-0498-47b8-a93c-8b263eccea9a&page=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933667 | 285 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Among primary mesenchymal tumours, intranodal palisaded myofibroblastoma is very rare. It was initially described by Deligdish and Katz as neurilemmoma or schwanoma and later classified as palisaded myofibroblastoma by Weiss [7
]. It shares many features of myofibroblasts and smooth muscle cells microscopically as well as immunohistochemically. This mesenchymal spindle cell tumour arises from the lymph nodes. It is most commonly seen in the inguinal lymph nodes, however origins from submandibular and mediastinal lymph nodes have also been reported [3
IPM commonly affects the second to eighth decade, with a peak incidence in the group between 40 and 60 years of age, but occurrence of this tumour in an infant has also been reported [9
]. It is more common in men with a male to female ratio 1.5:1 and is not specific to any race [11
]. The most common clinical presentation is a painless slow growing lump in the inguinal region. With increasing size discomfort, pain and compression of local surrounding structures may manifest various symptoms. It is most often diagnosed clinically as lymphadenopathy and histological diagnosis is established on excision biopsy. Fortunately, this tumour is associated with very low recurrence rate and the recurrence is almost benign in nature. In a series of 30 cases, only 6% was reported to demonstrate benign local recurrence [12
]. Creager et al reported only a single case of intranodal palisaded myofibroblastoma with metastatic bone formation [13
It is essential to differentiate IPM from other soft tissue tumours. These include Schwannoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, intranodal leiomyoma, inflammatory pseudotumour, solitary fibromastocytic tumour, angiomyomatous hamartoma and metastatic spindle cell lesions in the lymph node. The clinical history, examination and typical histological characteristics help in the correct diagnosis of the IPM. Schwannoma is uncommon in the inguinal region and immunohistochemically it is positive for S100 that differentiates it from IPM. Negative immunostaining for HHV 8 along with an absence of EBV DNA and a history of immunocompromised status favours the diagnosis of IPM rather than Kaposi's sarcoma. There were no slit-like vascular channels, no extravasation of red blood cells and no hyaline globules as typically seen in Kaposi's sarcoma. Differentiation of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour (IMT) from IPM can be made by the presence of inflammatory cells and absence of the amianthoid fibers in IMT [14
]. Negative immunostaining for Alk-1 and the presence of amanthoid fibres with absence of inflammatory cell infiltrate, including lymphocytes and plasma cells, favoured the diagnosis of IPM. Furthermore, spindle cell melanoma can be differentiated from IPM by high proliferative activity and marked cellular atypia. Spindle cell melanoma is also positive for S100 and HMB-45 [15
]. The gastrointestinal stromal tumour is positive for CD117/C-kit while IPM is negative. Regarding angiomyomatous hamartomas in lymph nodes, the morphology and immunostaining patterns are consistent with IPM rather than angiomyomatous hamartomas.
Due to the rarity of the condition the precise aetiology and pathogenesis have yet to be defined. Inguinal lymph nodes have a higher concentration of myofibroblasts compare to other lymph nodes in the body due to increased drainage area and function: this might explain its more common occurrence in the inguinal region. This is favoured by positive staining for actin and vinmentin and negative for desmin in myofibroblasts of the inguinal region compared to fibroblasts elsewhere in the body [2
]. However, its appearance in other parts of the body contradicts this hypothesis. As in our case, the origin from the retroperitoneal region has not been reported yet in literature and this again raises the question of the aetiology of IPM.. The positive staining for cyclin D1 suggests the possible role of the cell cycle regulatory genes in the pathogenesis of IPM [16
]; thus reporting of more number of cases is required to get a better understanding of the aetiology and pathogenesis of IPM.
Although rare, IPM should be considered as one of the differential diagnosis in patients presenting with an abdominal mass in the retroperitoneal region. This site of origin may provide an opportunity to reconsider the aetiology and pathogenesis of IPM. | <urn:uuid:f6586dd8-af21-4df1-854b-8165e901dbdc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pubmedcentralcanada.ca/pmcc/articles/PMC3146916/?lang=en-ca | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933924 | 990 | 1.601563 | 2 |
HEAR THE WORLD "Hear the World presents, Afel Bocoum with his band Alkibar from Mali. Alkibar means ‘messenger of the great river’ the Niger, and the band’s songs cover various issues in Malian society. The calabash percussion with the one-stringed njurkel lute and the two-stringed njarka violin produce a unique desert sound. This is followed by Brazilian grooves by the Edu Miranda Trio playing Portuguese fado and Brazilian rhythms like the Chorinho, samba baião and forró choro recorded in February 2010 at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam.
The programma’s Dutch World Music Delight this time are the musical nomads Tarhana. A band formed in 2005 by percussionist Sjahin During. The repertoire of this Dutch band with its clever improvisations stretches from the Balkans to Turkey. The sound is strongly determined by the singing of Turkish singer and saz lute player Ozhan Acikbas.
The show ends with Greek singer Nena Venetsanou accompanied by the Metropole Orchestra. Her performance at the Vredenburg Music Centre in Utrecht was loved by the audience and highly acclaimed in the press. Local daily the Utrechts Nieuwsblad wrote, “When Nena Venetsanou is at her best, she doesn’t sing, she brings her songs to the audience, theatrically and with every fiber in her body.” "
Listen to this week's show: | <urn:uuid:f046d609-3de6-48aa-ad80-68d5de1e1d9b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rnw.nl/english/radioshow/afel-bocoum-alkibar-edu-miranda-trio-tarhana-elena-venetsanou | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94996 | 333 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more
NATO urges allies to reverse defense spending cuts
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged allies on Thursday to reverse damaging defense-spending cuts once their economies improve as U.S. officials warned of the impact that across-the-board U.S. budget reductions could have on the alliance.
"If defense cuts continue, it will have a negative impact on our ability to provide effective defense and protection of our populations," Rasmussen told reporters at the start of a NATO defense ministers' meeting.
He appealed to allies, many of which have slashed defense spending in response to the economic crisis, to stop defense cuts, use their resources more efficiently by working together, and to increase defense spending once their economies recover.
He declined to comment directly on $46 billion in U.S. budget cuts scheduled to take effect from March 1 that would slash nearly every U.S. military program or activity by a flat percentage unless Congress acts to avert them.
"But from an overall perspective it is of course a matter of concern that we have seen and continue to see declining defense budgets all over the alliance," Rasmussen said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta intends to warn NATO allies in Brussels that cuts under the "sequester" - as the mechanism for the across-the-board cuts is known - could impact U.S. contributions to NATO readiness, Pentagon spokesman George Little said.
"We think the alliance's readiness could be diminished if sequestration takes effect," he told reporters during Panetta's flight to Brussels on Wednesday.
In talks with his Italian counterpart in Brussels on Thursday, Panetta warned "how devastating sequestration would be for U.S. defense and national security", Little said.
While the Obama administration is pushing lawmakers to avert sequestration, Panetta formally notified Congress on Wednesday that the Pentagon plans to put civilian defense employees on unpaid leave this year if the cuts go ahead.
President Barack Obama signed the Budget Control Act in 2011 requiring $487 billion in defense spending cuts over a decade. The law also put in place another $500 billion in mandatory, across-the-board Pentagon cuts.
The cuts were never meant to go into effect, but were intended to coerce Congress and the White House into agreeing on more selective budget reductions. That deal never happened.
The United States, which provides the lion's share of NATO's firepower, has been urging European allies for years to pick up more of the defense burden.
Washington has pressed European countries to take the lead in operations like the 2011 Libya campaign but the Europeans still need U.S. help with key capabilities like air-to-air refueling and intelligence.
The threat of U.S. cuts could give Washington another argument to press European allies to increase defense spending by showing the danger of over-reliance on the United States.
Only a handful of NATO's 28 allies - the United States, Britain and Greece - last year spent more on defense than the two percent of Gross Domestic Product target set by NATO.
Britain, which has cut defense spending to rein in a big budget deficit, also urged allies to commit to increase defense spending once their economies improved.
"I don't hear that commitment as clearly as I would like to hear it (from European allies)," British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond told reporters before the Brussels meeting, which is focusing on Afghanistan and improving NATO's capabilities.
British Prime Minister David Cameron raised the possibility on Thursday of diverting hundreds of millions of pounds from foreign aid to defense and security.
(Additional reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek, Francesco Guarascio, Erik Matzen; Editing by Michael Roddy)
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GENEVA, Switzerland — A shooting in southern Switzerland left three women dead and two men wounded, police said Thursday — a case that highlighted the ease of access to firearms in gun-loving nations.
The shooting — which came on the eve of students' return to classes in Newtown, Massachusetts, after a horrific school shooting — also raised questions about why a troubled suspect went on a rampage with an old military rifle.
Police patrol in the village of Daillon after a shooting, in Switzerland, early Thursday. (AP Image)
Authorities in the Swiss canton (state) of Valais say the suspect, a man in his early thirties who was living on a disability pension, fired about 20 shots Wednesday night in the village of Daillon.
Armed with a Swiss military rifle and a handgun, the man then threatened to shoot the elite troops that were sent in, police said.
"The shooter pointed his weapon at our colleagues, so they had to open fire to neutralize him, to avoid being injured themselves," police spokesman Jean-Marie Bornet told Swiss radio. He said the shooter lived in Daillon, and the motive for the shooting was not clear.
The suspect, who police did not identify, was arrested and taken to a hospital.
The suspect was using a military rifle that was once standard issue in the Swiss army during the first half of the 20th century, interim cantonal police chief Robert Steiner said.
Guns are popular among the Swiss — the Alpine country has at least 2.3 million weapons among a population of less than 8 million. Gun clubs are popular in rural areas, with children as young as 10 taking part in shooting competitions.
Authorities say Swiss Army weapons are involved in about 300 deaths a year — many of them suicides — but shooting rampages are rare in peaceful, prosperous Switzerland.
Buying a firearm in a shop requires a permit, a clean criminal record and no psychiatric disability, but buying a firearm from another person is less restrictive. Most types of ammunition can be bought, while automatic firearms generally require a special police permit.
The police said they were still unclear about the shooter's motives — or where he got the guns — but old-style Army rifles are often sold at military surplus markets. Prosecutor Catherine Seppey said the shooter knew several of the victims but "he was not known for making threats."
The victims were three women aged 32, 54 and 79 who died at the scene, and two injured men, aged 33 and 63, who were taken to the hospital, Seppey said, adding that the two youngest victims were a couple with children.
"We have no words to express ourselves after an event like this," Christophe Germanier, head of the Conthey district where the shooting occurred, told a news conference.
The suspect was unemployed and had been receiving psychiatric care since at least 2005, when he was first admitted to a psychiatric hospital, and was under the care of the cantonal agency that provides services to the disabled, Seppey said.
Switzerland's firearms laws are relaxed, but haven't led to a high gun homicide rate. They have, however, raised concerns about a high incidence of firearm suicides.
All able-bodied Swiss men who are required to perform military duty often take their army-issued rifle home with them after completing military service. In 2007, the government began requiring that nearly all army ammunition is kept at secure army depots.
In 2011, voters rejected a proposal to tighten the gun laws.
Many in Switzerland believe that distributing guns to households helped dissuade a Nazi invasion in World War II.
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View Full Version : first hatch!
04-22-2010, 08:09 AM
My buddy works for the conservation corps and he has been doing some burns the last couple weeks and ran across some eggs already is this early and could we get a second hatch with the way the weather has been?:confused:
04-22-2010, 09:56 AM
Surely it is too early for anything like that? Seems to me we should have another couple of weeks to have eggs on the ground, but I'm sure your buddy knows more than I do.
04-22-2010, 10:22 AM
This was in south central mn.I thought it was early but everything he told me about them size color etc. was pretty much spot on of a pheasants eggs!
04-22-2010, 02:18 PM
There could be eggs in a nest, but the hatch could be a long way off. They lay an egg a day and may lay more than a dozen before incubating. Then it's 23 day to hatch.
The dogs busted a hen a couple days ago that appeared to be fashioning a nest. There are certainly some hens that have been bred, so with this accelerated spring we should see nesting activity if not some already.
As has been reapeated on here numerous times, a hen will only lay a second time if she hatchs nothing out of the first nest. There is no second hatch! Only a late hatch.
04-22-2010, 04:02 PM
Thanks BUCK!Good info just seems like it was early to me so i had to ask some others on a opinion!
04-22-2010, 05:41 PM
From what I have read, a small percentage, I mean small, will clutch out two nests. They seem to think they do this when numbers are way down. Check out on Google, " experimental Pheasant Restoration project " scroll down to page 49. I also have read that in N. Dakota , pheasants can start laying in late March, this might be a futile early attempt though. :cheers:
04-26-2010, 10:36 PM
Good info. I've seen baby turkey already in the field. Are they on a different cycle? I thought it was too early to see anything yet.
04-26-2010, 10:44 PM
If I may, I would like to add some biological input. Pheasants undergo a hormonal change once a nest hatches. This change prevents them from laying another nest/egg until going through the complete annual cycle to once again get into breeding and nesting condition. That being said, there is never an actual second hatch.
Nesting follows a natural bell shaped curve with low numbers in the beginning and end of the nesting period and high numbers rising to and falling from a peak during the season. Many of the later nests are from hens that renest after their nest is destroyed prior to hatching. These hens remain in nesting condition and lay a second or third clutch of eggs, having not already hatched a nest. Pheasants are strong renesters and this activity may persist into September some years.
04-27-2010, 12:23 AM
Pheasants definitely have a second hatch, it is called DOUBLE-BROODING. This process is well documented in several states with radio collared hens.
If enough moisture and nutrition is available for the chicks to grow rapidly and the hen is healthy she can lay again.
Hens go into the laying season with over 100 (tiny) eggs follicles, but will only lay (around 11 eggs) if healthy and conditions are right (moisture and nutrients) and nesting cover.
The hens hormonal situation when raising a clutch of chicks can change rapidly if the chicks grow fast and she in not under a great deal of stress, and if nutrients and moisture are available.
As mentioned an earlier thread Google: "Experimental Pheasant Restoration Project" published by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Wildlife. Go to page 49 under the Nesting section. Two hens (in the wild) in that study produced a second brood after successfully hatching the first nest.
04-27-2010, 06:59 PM
Preston, ran your response by the state pheasant biologist and he agrees with me. It is extremely rare and usually doesn't happen how you project. Usually they only renest if they lose their clutch within days of hatching, and then it comes immediately. The longer after hatching, the less likely the attempt would be. the resulting additional birds would never be noticeable in a population as a second hatch. Their numbers would be insignificant.
04-30-2010, 04:17 PM
Wouldn't surprise me. Everthing seems a bit early this year and it's been warm. We did have a second hatch last year as well. Hens were on the nest in mid-august.
04-30-2010, 07:09 PM
Kurts, hatching histograms from almost every year show some hens nesting in mid august. Rarely is it due to "double brooding". Most of the time it is due to hens making renesting attempts after one or more failed nesting attempts. Often, it is due to a severe weather event during the nesting season that slows or halts the nesting for a time, then improved conditions promote a continuation of nesting
04-30-2010, 09:14 PM
For the last 30 years farmers in the Texas panhandle would swear to me that their pheasants would have a second hatch, in wet El Nino spring and summers.
These are hard working responsible citizens, you just can't dismiss their observations as old wives tales. The farmers would notice chicks in June and again in August. One can only assume that that those are re-nesting hens with late clutches and not second hatch hens.
Histograms are just guides that depicts the peak hatch, based on field observations, of course it would occur in the first part of June in prime pheasant country.
We are still learning new things about these great bird, the truly wild pheasant, I would call them a work in progress.
I was also skeptical of their report of a second hatch. But when I read the 2001 publication "Experimental Pheasant Restoration Project" which documented Double-Brooding second hatch, on radio tagged hens, I quickly became a believer.
All this means is that the farmers were partly right and on the right track from the start.
04-30-2010, 09:20 PM
Preston, you've picked 1 article out of hundreds, many that contradict the one you believe. That article only found 2 instance where it could be documented. Further, you want to believe farmers seeing chicks as evidence of the activity of the hen. Wouldn't stand up as "evidence" of anything except they had late chicks. A simplistic answer to a complex question often falls short of a reasonable answer.
05-04-2010, 11:49 AM
PD, from everything I have heard from various biologists I have to support your information in helping to attempt to separate myth from fact here. This is one instance where the biologists are the go-to guys on the subject.
Here's the horse sense side of the issue: How in the heck is a hen that hatches 6-14 chicks going to possibly go through the process of taking care of those chicks and do a whole nother mating/breeding/nesting/hatching cycle? As they say on ESPN Monday night Football......"C'mon Man!!!"
This would also explain why there is no re-nest if there is even 1 chick that hatches and that hen is going to raise it and it is a full-time job.
The illusion of the "Second Hatch" may be possible but the myth is basically just propogated by the overly optimistic uniformed hunter that wants to project good things about the upcoming pheasant hunting season or remain in denial about the level of conservation really required by their state to cause real change in their state relevant to increasing native bird numbers.
PS. I have also heard reports of farmers finding pheasant nests with eggs in them. Not surprised at all considering early spring conditions.
06-28-2010, 10:33 PM
Any way, I was cutting some trees and brush, weeds basically, this weekend and flushed a couple hens again with big broods. The one had at least 10-12 chicks. All flushed at once right at my feet. The chicks I could tell just from raising them for years, were about 5 weeks - 6 weeks old tops. After seeing a bunch this size over a month ago, who really knows. There is most likely truth to both sides of the discussion. I am just happy to see the chicks. These were certainly healthy birds. I forgot to look at the hens feet for our band because so many flew at the same time, and I paid more attention to the little ones. The hen I saw with chicks early, had the band. My chance to learn something again and I blew it.:mad:
06-29-2010, 07:45 AM
06-29-2010, 11:31 PM
Right now as far as the year goes for right in my area, the year has been perfect. We did not get the brunt of the stoms yet, that bad killer storm went right over and did nothing.Not even much rain. So I am causiously opptimistic that I will end up with just as many birds as last year before the bad winter. Should be a great bounce back here. Some of the guy's sond like the situation is not as good with all that darn rain.
vBulletin® v3.7.5, Copyright ©2000-2013, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. | <urn:uuid:8b608c14-222b-4725-92c0-66383436b551> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ultimatepheasanthunting.com/forum/archive/index.php?t-4098.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968022 | 2,060 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Olive Oil: Virgin, Extra Virgin, and Delicious
Here is what I learned about olive oil in Italy. It carries the flavor of where the olives grow…sometimes peppery, sometimes herbal, sometimes floral, mild or sharp. It is a flavoring in and of itself. Actually, I knew that. The most memorable olive oil I ever tasted was the oil made from olives that Drew and I helped pick in Yugoslavia way back in the old days. We helped our landlord harvest his trees and took the olives to the local mill, where they were pressed into beautiful green, flavorful oil. It tasted alive.
Olive oil pressed on the farm where we stayed in Abruzzo was so peppery and sharp we were shocked. Serra Gambetta produces a golden amber oil, with an aroma of herbs and a slight taste of bitter almond. Stir it into some cooked greens or some boiled beans, drizzle it on bread or a bowl of chopped tomatoes…you have something good.
There are “ordinary virgins” and “extra virgins “in the world of olive oil. “Extra virgin” is made from the first pressing of raw olives and is the most flavorful. It’s useful to buy a few jars and do a side-by-side taste test to get an idea of the range of flavors. .”Ordinary virgin” is produced from a subsequent pressing and has less distinctive flavor (sometimes that’s what you want). Many extra virgin or virgin olive oils found in the supermarket are mild-flavored and affordable–I use them all the time for cooking. Really great olive oil is expensive, so I use it when it will really be tasted.
This is how you take care of good olive oil. Store it in a cool place–not next to the stove where it is handy! Air is the enemy, so if you buy it in a large container, pour it into several smaller jars (dark glass, please) once it is open.
Making an Ordinary Extra Virgin into Something Special
”Ordinary extra virgin” sounds like an oxymoron, but there is a lot of it around. Infusing ordinary extra virgin olive oil with other flavors can transform it into a drizzle-worthy condiment.
*The easiest way to bump up the flavor of olive oil is to infuse it with olives. Fill a jar half way with unpitted olives and fill the rest of the jar with olive oil. Screw on the lid and store in a dark, cool place. The oil will soon taste more interesting, and the olive are wonderful, too.
*Pour oil over sun-dried tomatoes and let them impart their flavor and color to the oil. I like to use this to drizzle on pasta, pizza or focaccia, make a tapenade, or dress a salad or cooked vegetables.
*Flavor oil with lemon zest and garlic: Make a paste with 1 garlic clove, the zest of 1 lemon, and a pinch of coarse salt. Gradually stir in 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil.
*Infuse oil with tender herbs such as basil, chives, mint, or tarragon: Finely chop the herbs and pound them to a coarse paste in a mortar or small wooden bowl. Gradually stir in the olive oil. Use about 1/4 cup herbs for 1/2 cup oil. Infuse 30 minutes or so before using.
*Infuse oil with strong herbs such as rosemary, sage, thyme, or savory: These woody herbs need a little heat to extract their flavor. Use 4 to 6 Tbs chopped fresh leaves, singly or in combination, to infuse 1 cup extra virgin olive oil. Heat the herbs and oil together in a small pan over low heat until small bubbles rise around the leaves. Cook 3 minutes over very low heat. Remove from heat and infuse 2 to 12 hours. Strain before storing in the refrigerator.
*My favorite: Rosemary, thyme, red chile, and garlic. Chop the flavorings. Heat them gently in olive oil and steep 1 hour or so before using. Drizzle on grilled, roasted or steamed vegetables, pasta or polenta, bean salads, bread or pizza. I usually make this in small amounts and don’t bother to strain it. | <urn:uuid:cb534bcc-cf04-42f9-8593-b920a312ad5b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://louiselangsner.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/olive-oil/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940741 | 906 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Skip to comments.Feds fund $100,000 video game featuring female climate change 'superhero'
Posted on 01/10/2013 12:05:09 PM PST by lowbridge
A new video game featuring a black alien female superhero delivered to Earth to fight global warming is about to hit the market thanks to a $100,000 grant from the Obama administration.
The National Endowment for the Arts is funding the Spelman College of Atlanta, Ga.'s multi-episode game called "HERadventure." In the grant announcement made last year, the NEA said the story "focuses on a young female superhero sent to Earth to save her own planet from devastation because of climate changes caused by social issues impacting women and girls."
The game is set to debut on March 8 on International Women's Day.
The college's digital newspaper described the project this way: "What would happen if the societal issues affecting women put other planets at risk? Well, of course, HER, a black female superhero, would swoop in with a plan to save the universe.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
"Women and Minorities hardest hit"
Hahahahahhhaaaaa... Spelman College...who’da thunk it there were so many game programmers there just itching to get that superbigdaddy popular video game out there?
What a frigging joke.....They can’t even pay their damned bills. I can’t tell you how many times someone I know has told me “If I don’t pay them bribes, they won’t have me come work on their stuff.”
This will end up stuffing some adminstrator’s and instructor’s pocket with a some kind of lame-ass game in basic being the product.
It’s a good thing our government has no debt and can afford stuff like this.
I bet she is beautiful, has large knockers and wears a skin tight suit with high heeled boots and if that is the case I might just take a look : )
Try diagramming that sentence. So social issues impacting females cause climate change? Here I had been brainwashed into thinking that it was SUVs.
And you pay taxes to these criminals?
But does the game address the overriding issue here?
Does the stupid burn?
Ye!. Yes the stupid burns. Like white phosphorous.
“I bet she is beautiful, has large knockers and wears a skin tight suit with high heeled boots and if that is the case I might just take a look : )”
That’s her “superhero” look. Her secret identity is Summer S. Eve, a white dyke with hairy armpits and Birkenstocks.
YO YO WAZZUP YO I IS HERE TO KOOL THA PLANITT!!
“I bet she is beautiful, has large knockers and wears a skin tight suit with high heeled boots and if that is the case I might just take a look”
She makes Rosie O’Donnell look beautiful, has saggers, and dags like Sheryl Crowe and for the same reason.
Cue in picture of Lisa Jackson!
Dudes, take a look at the picture of the character included in the original article:
Let's just say a picture is worth 1,000 words...and that, IMHO, she bears a strange resemblance to a certain 44th President of the United States, right down to the "Now you've had an independent idea and pissed me off" expression on her face. It's as if someone said, "How can we make out metrosexual President into a shower cap-wearing female Zabrak from Star Wars?"
Leave it to government to produce a butt-ugly, nappy-headed “female” superhero ...
Um, no. she’s not hot. She looks like a cross between Obama and...well somebody from Parliament Funkadelic, not sure who. See post 14.
Oh, and stormdog, you owe me a new keyboard.
I hope they paid for stuff like this by minting a few coins. I’d hate to have my taxes paying for it...
She isn’t nappy-headed...I think those are sex toys of some sort sticking through a swimming racer’s cap...
You're right - the US has money to burn... or money's burning a hole in Obama's pocket, or it's 'burn baby burn' ... whatever.
Also nice to know liberal elites at the National Endowment for the Arts got their cut. Gotta spread that money around among the chosen ones...
I hope its multiplayer so we can all take turns killing her. Maybe do a Call of Duty mod and use some heavy artillary.
Is this like Medal of Honor where we can also play as “the enemy?” Can we spatter her brains on the concrete wall with a good clean head shot?
Same thought, different game....
I was under the impression that video game making was a profitable business.
Since this needs federal welfare to develop, that means that they are not expecting to sell many copies.
That all may be so, but the important thing is, would Laz hit it?
If I got that game for my kid his friends would beat him up every day.
It will come standard on the Chevy Volt...
I actually wouldnt mind a Skyrim mod.
I have never played a video game. I would be tempted to play this one for the opportunity to kill her.
Anyone want to bet she has muscular arms, wide hips, and wears a superhero boob belt?!
Didn’t something like this happen one time before?
This is causing a vague itch in my severely limited long term memory but I can’t scratch it.
Such is life.
And how are we supposed to be able to help her? Is their an elderly knight living in some out of the way corner of our planet who is her only hope?
How convenient. Those who complain about this can now be labeled as racist.
How does this crap happen? Who’s in charge of this stuff? We’re broke, borrowing money out the wazoo from the Chinese, considering minting trillion dollar coins, taxes just went up and the RAT’s are getting ready to ask for more and some fool thinks that this video game is a good idea. We’re screwed folks!
Oh, good! Do we get to shoot her??
I’m still trying to figure out whether “her own planet” is the one she came from or Earth? That other stuff is beyond absurdity, it is truly in a class of insanity all to itself. All the more amazing is that those who came up with this garbage undoubtedly consider themselves to be brilliant scholars.
Speaking from 68 years of experience I estimate that the average sharecropper with a sixth grade education sixty years ago was smarter than the average recent college graduate simply because the sharecropper was exposed to far more real world experience and maybe one percent of the MISINFORMATION.
IIRC, in MOH you don’t actually play as the enemy, you play as a deep cover operative in a terrorist cell.
You must...and I do mean must...see this:
The whole thing is amusing, but if you’re short on time start at 0:55 and go to 1:20 or so.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works. | <urn:uuid:886150f3-d283-493f-b8c0-da853ce4332a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2976849/posts?page=45 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955197 | 1,623 | 1.53125 | 2 |
In a critique of Obama's inaugural address, John Cohen writes:
To suggest that anyone who'd like to see less heavy-handed government regulation thinks one person can do everything alone is a straw-man argument. It indicates a lack of understanding of how the private-sector economy works and how libertarians or conservatives actually think about economics. The private sector isn't just a bunch of people "acting alone." As Matt Welch pointed out in his critique of the speech, making and selling an object as basic as a pencil is such a complex endeavor that it takes lots of different specialists. No one person has the knowledge to accomplish that seemingly simple task; that's how decentralized knowledge is in society. And with a truly complex product, like a computer or movie, the need for people to work together is even greater still. The private sector isn't fundamentally about everyone being secluded and isolated from each other; it typically involves many people working together.
With markets and private enterprise, cooperation occurs voluntarily, for mutual gain. With government, "cooperation" occurs at the point of a gun, via coercion, generally solely to improve the interests of some third party who has clout with the political class. | <urn:uuid:e987fc59-d239-4eee-88c0-2d7e48c16c4c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/tag/john-cohen | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965954 | 239 | 1.648438 | 2 |
The country has lost a national treasure with the death of Tareque Masud.
From the Editor
There are some mornings that a nation awakes with a large chunk wiped off the value of its currency, or its stock market. On some mornings it awakes to the loss of important infrastructure or natural resources after some natural disaster. Sometimes it awakes having lost a war, and with it, territory and prestige. None of them are happy occasions, but Bangladesh today awakes definitively poorer, and it’s not due to some dip in share prices, or the rage of some cyclone along the coast, or some skirmish along the border. It is because nothing quite impoverishes a nation like the loss of human endeavour, and in Tareque Masud and Mishuk Munier, tragically killed yesterday along with three others in a road accident in Manikganj, the country has lost two of its most shining examples of men pushing their boundaries, and in doing so, constantly redefining the breadth of their potential. With the state of Bangladesh as a nation, the evolution of its society, and the stories of its people so intrinsic to the work both men leave behind, the scale of the tragedy that has befallen the country can hardly be overstated.
Yes, we’ve had far worse days, and accidents as well, if by worse you mean merely the number of lives lost. And yes, the families of Wasim, of Jamal and of the driver Mustafizur Rahman should never be made to feel as if their loss is any less than that of those near and dear to either of the two names that made the headlines. But there is something to the potential in death of those who have done justice to the potency in their lives that presents lesser beings with the opportunity to look within, to start afresh, or to right what is wrong. They are our national treasures, and if life wasn’t enough for them to achieve all they could, death still can be. So if the deaths of Tareque Masud and Mishuk Munier were to spur a movement that finally manages to draw the focused and effective attention of the authorities to the atrocious state of our transportation system, from the poor infrastructure and outdated vehicles to callous owners and careless drivers, we can at least console ourselves that as deep and demoralising as our grief might be, their deaths were not in vain.
And lest we forget, this was quite the most heartbreaking end to not just one, but two of the greatest partnerships that we’ve witnessed in the cultural arena in Bangladesh. Tareque Masud was always insistent that he could never have achieved all that he did, without the contribution, both professional and personal, of his wife Catherine, who was also in the accident and sustained injuries, but is now said to be out of danger. The graceful way in which she moulded a Bangladeshi life for herself out of the love she harboured towards her husband, is second only to the fortitude she then showed, in carving out a name for herself to the point that you know there is nothing remotely patronising about it when each of the films they worked on together is described as a truly collaborative effort. They might be seen to reflect, from the choice of subject matter to how it got treated on celluloid, a Bangladeshi’s battles. But Catherine had adopted these battles as her own a long time ago.
Mishuk Munier was often referred to as the most talented man to operate a camera from his generation in Bangladesh. It was fitting that in tandem with his great friend, he was involved in conjuring the gentle ambience within which the story unfolded so subtly to mark inarguably the greatest cinematic achievement in the history of Bangladesh- the post-modern, neorealist masterpiece that is Maatir Moyna. It was the zenith of a partnership that was set to leave its indelible mark on a fourth decade before the recklessness that is too common on our roads and highways put paid to their aspirations to reach even higher, in keeping with the thirst that chafes the great from the merely good.
Finally, at a time when the fervour of nationalism can often get blindingly discomfiting, what we lost yesterday can hardly be quantified through numbers, or a roll call of awards and achievements. As a nation, the ultimate tribute we can pay to the lives they lived, is a recognition of how they handled their identities as Bangladeshis. The patriot in them was not the kind to set its store according to the wind, and impose itself like a flag. It was imbued in their spirit, and the spirit shone through in their work. They were authentically, and assuredly, patriots. And that has always been rare, in the Bangladesh they lived, and the one they leave behind.
developed by avocats | <urn:uuid:2bb6ca56-0686-4f39-8857-f22ece93f128> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dhakacourier.com.bd/?p=864 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980493 | 1,001 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Every industry has its own effective way of displaying content and information on websites. For some reasons you will find that websites belonging to the same niche or category have same things in common. In sports websites for example, you will see that most have colorful layouts and big images on them. This is especially true to personal websites of athletes.
For the websites of sports teams and leagues on the other hand, the trend is towards the use of magazine or news layouts or as you will see below photography website templates. This is because they need to handle more content than personal websites. It must be able to show game schedules, updates and reports about the players, and other information about the players if it is a team, or it if is a league, about the competing teams. The same is true with sports oriented news networks.
As for corporate websites of sports brands, still you will notice that they tend to use large pictures, thus focusing the attention of the readers towards their product. Also, you can observe that most of sports websites have sliders and galleries that display featured content and photos.
Here, you will find different beautiful sports website designs that you can take inspiration from. If you are a web designer, you can take a look at these websites closely and get ideas that you can use in your project. If you like this article, please share this to your friends. Enjoy!
Sports Teams and Leagues
Sports Networks and Magazines
Sports Brands and Sports Related Businesses | <urn:uuid:aa800c7d-c49d-4d63-a38f-cb341f1efd9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://creativecan.com/2012/02/sports-website-designs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937734 | 298 | 1.742188 | 2 |
A Public At Risk: A look at South Carolina's Broken Probation and Parole System
A project of the Center on Media, Crime & Justice
and Criminal Justice Journalists
University of Mississippi
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Crime Reporting Case Study: Probation and Parole
Deb Halpern Wenger, University of Mississippi
“Criminals free on probation or parole kill, rob and rape all too often in a state where repeat offenders routinely are released into a system that is too under-manned and ill-equipped to maintain control.”
Doug Pardue, Glenn Smith
The Post and Courier
It’s estimated that two-thirds of America’s criminals under correctional supervision are living in the community, not in prisons. According to research by the Pew Center on the States, one in 45 American adults is on probation or parole.
More than a year before the Pew Center’s study was released; investigative reporters Doug Pardue and Glenn Smith of The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina began looking into why their state seemed to have so many cases of violent crimes being committed by people who had been paroled or placed on probation.
Pardue, who also edited the five-part series, “Law and Disorder,” said the first thing to overcome in tackling this story was the “it’s not new” bias. Stories on individual crimes often note that the accused person was on probation or parole, but journalists rarely take a systemic look at how the justice system decides who should be in custody and for how long.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve started to look at something and a reporter says, ‘We’ve already done that.’ Lots of people touch on lots of issues, but often there’s not a thorough look. We saw very few cases where journalists took on all the contributing institutions to really investigate the issue,” Pardue said.
Pardue and Smith spent more than six months trying to determine what was at the heart of what appeared to be a serious breakdown in South Carolina’s system for handling people on probation and parole. They found those tasked with supervising inmates in the community to be dealing with overwhelmingly large caseloads and a lack of sometimes basic resources, judges struggling to balance the need to alleviate the strain on overcrowded prisons and a desire to protect citizens, and story after story of victims who paid the price for the system’s failures.
Too many to monitor
Probation and parole agents are on the front lines of the battle to control those inmates whom the state has returned to the community under supervision. In South Carolina, the newspaper reported that each agent has an average caseload of more than 109 offenders – that’s 34 more than the recommended national average. In one instance, the reporters found two agents who each must keep track of about 181 people – 106 more than the national standard.
“These poor officers; in most cases, they don’t get to help people break the cycle of crime – the reason why they got into the business in the first place,” Smith said.
Through multiple interviews with agents, Smith found that the social worker function of the position – the opportunity to connect offenders with jobs and services that might help them avoid a life of crime – is largely a thing of the past. Agent Kescia Holmes told the paper she took the job hoping to make a difference, but her heavy caseload has offered a brutal reality check.
“I know I can’t save 150 people,” Holmes, 36, said. “I used to be real hard on myself, more than anything. But then I just came to the realization that there’s no way a person comes in and sits with me for a period of, at the most, 15 or 20 minutes and all of a sudden I can change their world. I can’t do that.”
Smith said the state’s top probation and parole officials were reluctant to cooperate on the project, so the rank and file agents were invaluable in fully reporting the story. Smith says their anecdotes made the series.
The Post and Courier’s stories placed little blame on police and probation agents for the role they play in trying to handle problem criminals, but the reporting was somewhat less sympathetic to the judiciary.
The paper reported that “between 2003 and 2007, less than half of the 64,970 criminals arrested for violating the terms of their releases had their probation revoked by a judge.”
At the same time, Pardue and Smith made it clear that the sheer volume of cases makes it difficult for judges to be thoughtful and thorough. The paper noted that often, “in just minutes, [judges] must decide who gets another shot at probation and who should be shipped off to prison.”
Factor in the very real obstacles presented by the state’s overcrowded prisons and the annual cost of incarceration versus probation (in 2007, $14,093 per inmate in prison vs. $1,080 per offender on regular probation), and it’s not difficult to see why judges often err on the side of giving offenders another chance.
It may also be that the judges are just playing the odds. According to the paper, “state officials boast an overall 65 percent success rate for people completing their supervised release time without repeat criminal activity, but that leaves 35 percent who might continue to prey on their communities.”
“I live in fear all the time of not putting someone in jail who should be put in jail and then having them go out and commit one of these horrible crimes,” Circuit Judge Thomas Hughston said.
Throughout the series, the system’s inability to protect the public adequately was made apparent through the stories of more than a dozen victims. One of the most compelling was that of Julianne Blakeley. The 63-year-old woman was found dead, raped and murdered by a man who had been released on parole two months earlier. It was the third time in five years that the suspect had been freed on probation or parole, and each time he went on to commit more and more serious crimes.
“It was very easy to see early on there are great human stories to tell,” Pardue said.
The series strove to go beyond simply outlining the problems and tried to offer potential solutions as well. For example, the reporters looked at states that had abolished parole in an attempt to tackle the problems inherent in the system. They talked with Professor Ronald Wright at Wake Forest University, who says approximately 20 states have abolished parole. Most have also adopted sentencing reform to prompt judges to impose shorter and more equitable sentences. Without that, Wright says prisons would all too quickly become even more overcrowded.
In addition, the reporters spoke with South Carolina’s attorney general, who advocates allowing most non-violent criminals to go free under the control of a judge who could lock them up at any time for violating the conditions of release. They talked with others who simply recommended more funding for the probation and parole agency.
Pardue says the series had immediate statewide impact. In the aftermath of their reporting, the state’s two top legislative officials--the leaders of both the senate and the house--said that the stories provided a roadmap for what needed to be done to solve the system’s problems. Pardue says they promised they would push through bills to correct the situation.
But the economy took a nosedive soon after the series was published in August 2008.
“The budget crisis killed the desire to make changes. Probation and parole are in worse shape now than when we reported the series,” Pardue said.
How they did it
Smith and Pardue worked together on the project, in and around other stories. After about 30 years of investigative reporting and editing, Pardue says he finds team reporting is generally the best approach. For example, Smith is a veteran crime reporter.
“It’s often good to have a beat expert plus a pure investigative reporter, and that way the two can work together from their strengths,” Pardue said. He also points out the added benefit of having someone to keep your spirits up during a sometimes tedious investigative process.
Though the series was fairly data rich, both Smith and Pardue commented on the difficulty of finding sources for statistics on this topic.
“We mined what we could out of federal sources, (such as) the Bureau of Justice Statistics, but there doesn’t seem to be a central clearinghouse for information,” Smith said.
At the state level, Smith found some of the key data were online. For example, the probation and parole board provided information on the inmates under its supervision, as did the corrections department, but Pardue was frustrated by not being able to say exactly how many people on probation commit more major crimes. In the end, that forced the two reporters to focus the series on people vs. statistics.
“What I liked best about the series is that it really took you out to the front lines to the people doing the work and the people affected by the work,” Smith said.
That desire to show and tell led Smith to produce a video story which detailed a new strategy probation and parole officers were using to crack down on violators. The approach involved pairing police with agents on warrant sweeps and home visits. The video was published on the paper’s Web site and promoted in the paper along with a map showing where all the inmates under supervision in the city were located.
“It’s always helpful to hear from a few people in their own voices, helpful to see people in action trying to do their jobs,” said Pardue.
Pardue says the paper’s investigative team has a commitment to continue reporting on this topic. “Follow up is the most critical thing to make sure you accomplish what you set out to do. Investigative reporting is trying to fix things,” Pardue said.
Pardue also believes this story can and should be done in other markets. He suggests starting with a search through your newsroom archives for stories that indicate a criminal got out of prison and victimized someone innocent. “You have to shock yourself first, make yourself realize this really is a problem. Not a bureaucratic problem of how many officers per inmate, you have to start seeing it in the eyes of innocent victims.”
A day in court
Smith believes a strong story could be done by simply spending a day or two in court watching how probation violations are handled. The paper’s series included an anecdote about a police officer who sat through 43 probation hearings one day to see what happened. All but three violators remained on probation or were set free with no additional reporting requirements.
Another idea comes from one of the prosecutors interviewed for the series. Seventh Circuit Solicitor Trey Gowdy said, “You would be hard-pressed to find a serious violent crime in your jurisdiction or my jurisdiction where you can’t find the point on the suspect’s rap sheet where he or she should have been in prison and not on the street to commit a crime.” It would be easy enough to take five or six high-profile crimes in your area and do just that to help illustrate the impact of a faulty system.
Scrutinizing second chances
Smith says one thing he would have liked to do for the series they produced is to track over time some of those on probation or parole. “The idea is to look at someone who gets a second chance, follow them for several months to see what happens,” Smith suggests.
That idea dovetails with something Pardue wants the investigative unit to pursue – a deeper look at the corrections system as a whole. For example, Smith will be exploring what impact the corrections department has on inmates – what are they like when they’re released from prison, what kind of rehabilitation actually occurs inside and how hard is it to make a life when you have to deal with issues such as carrying an ID that says “released prisoner?” In addition, reporters might check on how states and localities use aid under a new federal law called the Second Chance Act, which supports programs that help former inmates re-enter society successfully.
Smith says reporters who tell these stories are doing important work.
“Why tell the story? People’s lives depend on it. As state budgets shrink, there’s more pressure to take people out of prison and put them on the street. If the state can’t handle them effectively, people are going to get hurt,” Smith said.
Crime Reporting Case Study: Resource Guide for Reporting on Prisoner Reentry, Probation and Parole
Kendra Gentry, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Alexander, M., & VanBenschoten, S. (2008). Evolution of supervision in the federal probation system. Federal Probation, 72(2), 15-21.
Petersilia, Joan (2004). What Works in Prisoner Reentry? Reviewing and Questioning the Evidence. Federal Probation, 68(2), 4-9.
Taxman, F.S., Young, D. & Byrne, J. (2004). Transforming offender reentry into public safety: Lessons from OJP’s Reentry Partnership Initiative. Justice Policy and Research, 5(2),101-128.
The Pew Center on the States (2009). One in 31: The Long Reach of American Corrections. http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/report_detail.aspx?id=49382
Travis, J. (2000). But They All Come Back: Rethinking Prisoners Reentry. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice.
Lynch, J., and Sabol, W. (2001). Crime Policy Report: Prisoner Reentry in Perspective. The Urban Institute. http://www.urban.org/pdfs/410213_reentry.pdf
Solomon, A. L., Kachnowski, V., & Bhati, A.(2005). Does Parole Work? Analyzing the Impact of Postprison Supervision on Rearrest Outcomes.
American Correctional Association
American Probation and Parole Association
Association of Paroling Authorities International
National Institute of Corrections
New York State Parole Project – Vera Institute
Reentry – U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs
Serious and Violent Offender Re-Entry Initiative
United States Parole Commission
OTHER RESOURCES (cont.)
Prisoner Reentry Institute, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
“Oakland Police Shootings Stoke Criticism of Parole Oversight”
Los Angeles Times
March 24, 2009
by Andrew Blankstein and Maria L. LaGanga
“Allegations of Impropriety Surround Parole Commission”
May 26, 2009
by Joe Stephens
New York Times Op-Ed
October 28, 2007
by Jeffrey A. Meyer and Linda Ross Meyer
Quinnipiac University School of Law professors
Joan Petersilia, Ph.D.
Professor, Criminology, Law & Society
University of California, Irvine
Co-Director, UCI Center on Evidence-Based Corrections
University of California, Irvine
James M. Byrne, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology
University of Massachusetts - Lowell
A copy of the study can be accessed here.
Crime Reporting Case Study: Mortgage Fraud
Deborah Potter, NewsLab
“This was happening all over and everybody was in on the scheme.”
--Patrick Scott, business editor, The Charlotte Observer
For years, it seemed the sky was the limit for real estate in Charlotte, N.C. The second largest U.S. banking center after New York City was one of the nation’s fastest growing areas in the early 2000s. But the boom in home sales was driven in part by subprime loans that resulted in a wave of foreclosures.
In 2007, a year-long investigation by The Charlotte Observer found the surge in foreclosures “had as much to do with the builder as it did the borrower,” said business editor Patrick Scott.
The builder was Atlanta-based Beazer Homes USA, at the time one of the ten largest home builders in the country. The newspaper found it had aggressively sold starter homes in the Charlotte area to low income buyers in ways that made a high rate of foreclosures inevitable. A Beazer subsidiary arranged larger loans than many buyers could afford and sold homes for more than they were worth. The paper uncovered falsified mortgage documents and apparent violations of federal law, as well as federal and state lending rules.
The sales strategy was a financial success for the home builder, the paper reported, but the new neighborhoods fell apart. At the time the series ran, almost one in five buyers in Beazer’s Southern Chase subdivision had lost their homes to foreclosure, more than six times the national rate.
That neighborhood was not an exception. The paper’s investigation found that in dozens of newly-built developments of low-priced homes around Charlotte, foreclosure rates were 20 percent or higher.
“Prices fell. Renters moved in. Crime sometimes rose,” the paper reported. “But as the foreclosures piled up, authorities were unaware.” The investigation revealed that no one was tracking foreclosures at that time—not the city, the county, the state or the federal government.
“Nobody ever had shown the public officials that there’s an issue here that needs to be recognized, and a problem in the growth of Charlotte, which has been pretty lax in any sort of regulation,” said Scott.
“We knew immediately that we had written something profoundly powerful,” said lead reporter Binyamin Appelbaum. “What was less clear for a while was what difference it was going to make.”
Faces of foreclosure
The newspaper’s four-part series, Sold a Nightmare, put a human face on the subprime meltdown as it pinpointed who was to blame. Beazer marketed its homes at apartment complexes, taking people like 20-year-old maintenance worker Chris Wood on tours of its new developments.
“I went in thinking, ‘I don’t make enough money. I’m making $9 an hour,’ ” Wood recalled.
He was startled when a Beazer employee told him he could afford a home. He borrowed $500 from his grandmother to make the deposit.
As it turned out, he didn’t make enough money. Wood’s final loan application misstated his income and debts. Without the misstatements, he did not appear to meet FHA’s requirements for the loan he needed.
He was suddenly spending 45 percent of his income on debt payments each month. He was in trouble almost instantly.
While the paper repeatedly noted that buyers like Wood share responsibility for loans they accept, the series “explored how the bad actors operate,” said database editor Ted Mellnik, who developed an interactive online map of the neighborhood that vividly illustrated the scope of the problem. The map highlighted every foreclosed home in the Southern Chase neighborhood and linked to background information and a photograph.
“What I liked about that map was it really let people visualize this neighborhood and see what kind of houses they are, and kind of in a way see what kind of people they are,” Mellnik said. “People could see this isn’t a crummy slum somewhere and this should be sort of a normal neighborhood.”
The online package also included video profiles of two couples who owned homes at Southern Chase. “They were really critical to hearing the stories of the homeowners and seeing…how these people really were bright, average, ordinary people,” said business editor Patrick Scott, “It’s not like [Rick Santelli of CNBC] on the floor of the stock exchange talking about loser homeowners who took on the bad loans knowing that they shouldn’t have. This wasn’t the case.”
The series provoked an immediate outcry from local and state officials. “There was a tremendous amount of outrage about the facts we were reporting,” Appelbaum said. During the reporting process, however, “the FBI had made it very clear to us they were not interested in mortgage fraud, they were busy preventing terrorism,” he said; the US attorney for the Western District of North Carolina[Preferred1] was equally uninterested. After the stories ran, federal and state agencies announced investigations.
“The FBI basically told us that they were investigating this because they couldn’t ignore it,” Appelbaum said. “We had detailed a case that was so blunt and clear in its particulars and massive in its implications that they had to deal with it.”
North Carolina wound up passing legislation “ensuring that lenders can’t make loans without understanding whether the people have the ability to pay them,” said Scott.
Beazer eventually admitted that some employees had violated federal lending rules and got out of the mortgage lending business. The company fired its chief accounting officer for attempting to destroy documents.[i] It remains under investigation by the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Housing and Urban Development for possible criminal violations. The North Carolina Real Estate Commission is also investigating the company's lending practices.
“It’s always extremely gratifying when you can do a project that is a public service that has a wide reach and a broad scope and you did before almost every other newspaper in the nation,” Mellnik said.
“We surprised some people,” said reporter Lisa Hammersly, who also worked on the series. “It woke some people up. I don’t think enough change came out of it, but it may yet. It’s not over.”
How they did it
“Sold a Nightmare” was the third major housing investigation The Charlotte Observer had published in less than three years. In 2005, the paper discovered that minorities were more likely than whites to get risky, high-priced loans. The next year, the paper looked at the result: a pattern of foreclosures never seen before, concentrated in brand new suburban neighborhoods built for lower-income buyers. The unanswered question was, why?
“We knew there was something smelly going on,” said Mellnik. “It was just a question of whether it could be nailed down.”
Appelbaum, one of the Observer’s banking reporters, worked alone on the project for months while also reporting other stories. He knew he was onto something criminal very early on, after seeing that one Southern Chase homeowner’s income had been inflated on his final loan application. “That was mortgage fraud plain and clear,” Appelbaum said. “Who was guilty was a different question.
“My concern was to build up a pattern of evidence that would show that this had happened broadly and systematically and that people had been taken advantage of.”
Eventually, Appelbaum was assigned to the project full time, with help from Mellnik and Hammersly. To nail down the numbers, they examined county property records, building permits, court bankruptcy records and Federal Housing Administration data. Mellnik created a map of Southern Chase by “scraping” data from county government Web sites, including photos of each house, parcel maps and an ArcView shapefile. Appelbaum and Hammersly also spent countless hours in Southern Chase.
“Much of the information you need is not in public records at all, either print or electronic,” Appelbaum said. “You had to knock on enough doors and convince enough people to trust you with their personal, confidential financial records and you had to know what you were looking for when you got those records, and you had to believe it was worth doing that 200, 400, 600 times before you were sure you saw a pattern.”
Just seeing a pattern wasn’t enough, Hammersly said. “When you can gather the documents, then what you need is sound experts who can walk you through it, look at the documents and say, ‘Here’s a problem,” Hammersly said. “It took some looking to find people willing to do it.”
The reporters consulted forensic appraisal experts as well as the state banking commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission. “You have to look at who the regulators are [and talk to them],” said Hammersly. “The banks did not want to talk about what it was like to be left on the hook.”
Getting through to Beazer was even more difficult. The company insisted Southern Chase was just an aberration, so the paper collected data showing that half the builder’s other neighborhoods around Charlotte had even higher foreclosure rates. “They stopped talking to us after that,” said Scott.
By the time the series was ready for publication, the Observer team had grown to 20, including researchers, photographers and designers. The project included eight stories, which ran over four days, along with buyer profiles and “how to” information that Appelbaum described as “a guide to the perplexed, a set of instructions for helping yourself.”
Using graphics and break-out boxes, the paper explained in simple terms how no-money-down loans and teaser rates can hurt buyers, and how foreclosures damage people and neighborhoods. “We used the pages inside to do explanatory journalism on a really confusing thing,” said Scott, “trying to break this down into components that were clear and meaningful.”
Foreclosures in many other areas have been well documented by journalists since the Observer’s series ran. But[Preferred2] the Charlotte journalists believe there is still fertile ground to be explored.
Low-down-payment mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration account for nearly a third of all mortgage loans now being made, according to an investigation by The Washington Post, which found signs that the program is being seriously abused.[ii]
“That agency is really ill equipped to be providing or backing and overseeing loans,” said Scott.
The toll of foreclosures
When a community is riddled with foreclosures, “the pain is just extraordinary,” said Hammersly. She urged reporters to examine the issues on an extremely local level. “The closest look in your own neighborhood can be more telling that all the ‘suits’ holding news conferences across the country.”
For Appelbaum, the important question is what happens next to communities like Southern Chase all over the country, and to the people who live there[Preferred3] . “Those are now our new slums, our new forgotten places,” he said. “There’s a real chance the solution to this crisis is just to walk away from too many of those people and it’s a topic that deserves more coverage than it’s gotten.”
Access a resource guide on mortgage foreclosures | <urn:uuid:ac999528-022d-4ad8-acb3-f3a179189edb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thecrimereport.org/resources/reporting-case-studies | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966275 | 5,747 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Conformity is a weakness, says PM Lee
"...We are so capable, we are so efficient, we are so comfortable that we stick with what we have tried and tested and found working and we are reluctant to take risks and try new things. And that is a weakness. It's a weakness which we have to overcome. The key to overcoming this is a mindset change. We have to see opportunities rather than challenges in new situations, we have to be less conventional, we must be prepared to venture and you've got to do this as individuals, we've got to do this as a government and I think we have to do it as a society. "
- Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, National Day Rally 2004
Diverse views, unconventional ideas are welcome, says PM Lee
“We will continue to expand the space which Singaporeans have to live, to laugh, to grow and to be ourselves. Our people should feel free to express diverse views, pursue unconventional ideas, or simply be different. We should have the confidence to engage in robust debate, so as to understand problems, conceive fresh solutions, and open up new spaces... We must give people a second chance, for those who have tasted failure may be the wiser and stronger ones among us. Ours must be an open and inclusive Singapore.”
- Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Inauguration Speech Aug 12, 2004
Let's be rebellious, minister urges youth
"I would prefer your generation to be rebellious. If you are just conforming to the social norms, then you are merely following our footpath, which may not be relevant to you."
- Singapore Minister Khaw Boon Wan, AP (click here for report)
You break the rules, we break your heads, says MM Lee"I can assure you that in Singapore, when we decide that they are breaking the rules of the game, the unspoken rules as to how we survive, how we have prospered, then either their head is broken or our bones are broken."
- Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew issuing warning to SIA pilots at the World Brand Forum, CNA, Dec 2, 2003 | <urn:uuid:8b1ce3f6-0339-4ddf-ab46-9059d81d7470> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://singaporerebel.blogspot.com/2004_11_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963502 | 451 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Crack open that futuristic piggy bank, Hill Valley nerds: There's an original prototype of the hoverboard used by Griff Tannen in 1989's Back To The Future Part II listed on eBay. It's not the hoverboard used on screen, but it's an exact replica, and it's desirable enough to have a buy-it-now price of a mere $12,995.
The wooden hoverboard sits at three feet in length and comes equipped with rocket blasters, heat shields, towing rings, and anti-gravity plates that don't work but look awesome. Get in an offer while you still can here. [via Mashable] | <urn:uuid:5bd58e82-075a-4002-87d5-184b23fd8f2b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.avclub.com/articles/buy-an-original-prototype-for-the-hoverboard-from,92583/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939449 | 134 | 1.703125 | 2 |
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