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Ally's inspiring trek
The right track ... Ally Durr, 16, will walk from Victoria to Tharwa to raise awareness of Lyme disease. Photo: Supplied
Ally Durr, 16, of Queanbeyan, speaks with conviction in her voice when she says ''I love birds and plants''. And it's just as well she loves them because, soon, they will be almost all the company she'll have for five weeks.
From December 8 she plans to walk, alone, the 650 kilometres of the Australian Alps Walking Track.
In the time she expects to take from Victoria to the end at Tharwa in the ACT's bushy backyard, her only guaranteed meetings with any members of her own species will be when her parents make occasional food drops at far apart places along the long trek. She may very well see more wombats and eagles (neither species great conversationalists) on her walk than she sees humans.
She's making the unusual trek to raise awareness of the poorly understood Lyme disease. Her hope is that when people are alerted to the oddity of the walk she's doing, she will be able to talk about the disease - which badly afflicts one of her friends, Hannah Coleman - while she has their attention. Ally says Hannah is her inspiration for the walk (''I'm doing it for her'') not only because Hannah is an inspiring soul but also because her plight with a neurological version of Lyme disease is emphasising for Ally her great good fortune in being hale and hearty. ''Because I can do it [stride the walking track] I should do it.''
But, as well, and already a prodigious hiker (with her father and brother she's completed the daunting Kokoda Track), she's really looking forward to the hike just as a superhike.
''I'm doing it as a challenge, and I like walking by myself and camping by myself,'' she explains, boisterously.
''I like it because you don't have to talk to people and you can go as fast or as slow as you want. Yes, I may talk to myself a lot because [laughing] people tell me that helps to stop you going crazy. And at night I'll have plenty of reading because I'm fond of history and I'm going to put some books on my iPhone.''
Yes, perhaps she'll be able to read, around the campfire, to the wombats.
For someone so at ease on her own and with not having to talk to people, she was also expecting to be fairly at ease this week up on the stage of her school, Karabar High School, addressing everyone at assembly (about 800 souls) about her looming trek and about Lyme disease and its prevention.
After the weeks of talking to herself and reading history books (as bedtime stories) to wombats, Ally Durr expects to arrive at Tharwa about January 12.
There is enlightening information about Lyme disease at the website of the Lyme Disease Association of Australia from which there are links to Karl McManus Foundation website and to Ally Durr's own website. | <urn:uuid:696dc40e-13e3-4931-b1b4-e93a3d84d63d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/allys-inspiring-trek-20121121-29qkg.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978914 | 643 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Often called “the most encouraging homeschool magazine out there” or “the most useful magazine I receive,” Home School Enrichment strives to help you have the most joyful and effective homeschool lifestyle imaginable. You’ll find scriptural insights about the “why” of homeschooling, encouraging tips about the “how,” and down-to-earth help for everything homeschool!
Written by and for homeschoolers, Home School Enrichment offers real-life ideas and perspectives from families who aren’t “perfect,” but have a heart to train, teach, and nurture their children’s hearts and minds with enthusiasm and joy. You’ll find columns addressing everything from early learning to homeschooling highschool, methods for teaching multiple ages simultaneously, and ideas to become more efficient at “getting it all done.” There are even columns to help keep your home and school organized, and helpful product reviews and ideas to help you find the great homeschool resources you need!
Your kids are sure to enjoy columns like “Inventions that Changed the World,” “Adventures in History,” and “Give it a Try!” There’s even a complete Unit Study in each issue, along with our popular “guess-who” column about famous home scholars of the past!
“Just wanted to let you know that your magazine is in my humble opinion the best homeschool resource out there. I have just been going through back issues of all my homeschool magazines, searching for things to aid my teaching this year. I have found three times as much useful stuff in yours than in any other…”—Linda L.
“We have homeschooled for twelve years. I sure didn’t imagine that I needed another homeschool magazine. Now I feel like I can’t live without it!”—Dawn S.
“I am always amazed at how packed with rich articles your magazine is. It is my favorite subscription—hands-down. Thank you!”—Jenny C. | <urn:uuid:f4fb81f4-4ee3-4d9a-8956-00b53146d922> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hslda.org/perx/default.asp?Action=MDoffer&ID=29&Cat=Homeschool%20Resources | 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 | 0.955336 | 448 | 1.570313 | 2 |
I’m a hillbilly from way back, a hillbilly from West by God Virginia. My branch of the Horners had gone West after the Revolution and they settled in western Virginia. They lived in this little town called Lumberport. There were so many of the Horners out there that they tell a story about one Christmas (they were all Baptists) they had a Christmas celebration with a tree and lots of presents for everybody. At the Christmas celebration they were giving out the presents — John Horner, Mary Horner, Jimmy Horner, Paul Horner. Finally some old farmer in the back piped up and said, “Cut down the damn tree and give it to the Horners.” That was typical. They were all over.
James E. Davis
b. 1901 Clarksburg, WV | <urn:uuid:6da223cf-1025-43d8-931b-736ada8246d1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.appalachianhistory.net/2006/12/cut-down-damn-tree-and-give-it-to.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972314 | 172 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Are your new tires really 6-year old ticking time-bombs?
Check the tires on your car. How do they look? Plenty of tread, no bald spots, no wear and tear? If that’s the case, you’ve probably got a great set of tires with years of life left on them, right? Well, maybe not. Those tires could actually be ready to break apart at any moment.
I don’t like buying new tires. Right now, I’m shopping around for a good deal because the quote I got from my local tire store was close to $800. But I’m wary of "deals" on tires because they actually have a use-by date. Most people don’t know that. It’s not advertised and there's no law protecting us (more on that later). And worse still, the consequences of driving on old tires can be deadly. This is not just about getting the best tires for your money…it’s about getting SAFE tires.
In Europe and Asia, tire manufacturers inform customers about the dangers of old tires, and the very real dangers of driving on ‘new’ tires that are actually six years old, or even older. But here in Uncle Sam, we’re being kept in the dark. And that’s hardly surprising, because tires are a billion dollar business, and no company wants to destroy tires and see profits literally go up in smoke. They look new. They smell new. They are new, right?
Well, no. The rubber in the tires dries out over time. This can lead to cracking, greater stress on the tire’s infrastructure and “catastrophic failure.” When that happens, the tire can literally fall apart on you while you’re driving. The tread comes away from the tire quickly and violently. As you can imagine, this can be disastrous; even deadly.
So far, more than 100 deaths have been attributed to old tires, and there is currently a lawsuit against Bridgestone/Firestone for selling old tires as new. It’s alleged that these tires were responsible for a crash which left one man dead and a family without a father.
And yet despite all of this evidence, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has refused to impose a six-year shelf life on tires. All they have issued is a warning . Why? We could speculate, but money talks, and how many tire companies are ready to junk thousands of tires every month that could easily be sold as new?
A hidden camera report by ABC’s 20/20 , aired on May 9th, show revealed some shocking facts about so called ‘new tires’ currently on sale. Some tires were up to 12 years old, and were on sale at Sears, a reputable store. It makes you wander what stores without the big name and reputation will carry. You can watch the complete section below, this is 10 minutes of your time very well spent.
So, what can you do? First, check your tires.
Whether you’re shopping for new tires, riding on new tires, or have tires that are several years old, check the actual age of your tires asap. Knowing where to look and how to translate the code is simple enough, but it does vary depending on the age of your tires. The highlighted section below is the complete information I got from TireRack, the place where I buy my tires and a store that is very forthcoming about both tire age and longevity:
When it comes to determining the age of a tire, it is easy to identify when a tire was manufactured by reading its Tire Identification Number (often referred to as the tire’s serial number). Unlike vehicle identification numbers (VINs) and the serial numbers used on many other consumer goods (which identify one specific item), Tire Identification Numbers are really batch codes that identify the week and year the tire was produced.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) requires that Tire Identification Numbers be a combination of the letters DOT, followed by ten, eleven or twelve letters and/or numbers that identify the manufacturing location, tire size and manufacturer's code, along with the week and year the tire was manufactured.
Tires Manufactured Since 2000
Since 2000, the week and year the tire was produced has been provided by the last four digits of the Tire Identification Number with the 2 digits being used to identify the week immediately preceding the 2 digits used to identify the year. Example of a tire manufactured since 2000 with the current Tire Identification Number format:
e Tire Identification Number is required to be branded onto one sidewall of every tire, current regulations also require that DOT and the first digits of the Tire Identification Number must also be branded onto the opposite sidewall. Therefore, it is possible to see a Tire Identification Number that appears incomplete and requires looking at the tire’s other sidewall to find the entire Tire Identification Number:
The use of a partial Tire Identification Number on the one sidewall (shown above) reduces the risk of injury to the mold technician that would have to install the weekly date code on the top sidewall portion of a hot tire mold.
Tires Manufactured Before 2000
The Tire Identification Number for tires produced prior to 2000 was based on the assumption that tires would not be in service for ten years. While they were required to provided the same information as today’s tires, the week and year the tire was produced was contained in the last three digits. The 2 digits used to identify the week a tire was manufactured immediately preceded a single digit used to identify the year. Rxample of a tire manufactured before 2000 with the earlier Tire Identification Number format:
While the previous Tire Identification Number format identified that a tire was built in the 8th year of a decade, there was no universal identifier that confirmed which decade (tires produced in the 1990s may have a small triangle following the Tire Identification Number to identify the decade).
And finally, hold on to your sales receipt. Most tire manufacturer's warranties cover their tires for four years from the date of purchase or five years from the week the tires were manufactured. So if you purchase new tires that were manufactured exactly two years ago they will be covered for a total of six years (four years from the date of purchase) as long as you have your receipt. If you lose your receipt, your tires' warranty coverage will end five years from the week the tire was produced (resulting in the tire manufacturer's warranty coverage ending only three years from the date of purchase in this example).
For more information, you can also go to ABC here .
So, you have old tires. What next?
If you’re the OCD frugal shopper I am, you’ll have kept all of your receipts from the past few years for your major purchases (and I consider tires to be one of these). Most of us hang on to these receipts because tires come with a warranty, anywhere from 20k to 65k miles.
Contact the store, garage or website that sold you the tires and explain the situation. If your current tires have had plenty of use, you may still be entitled to at least a discount on a replacement set of tires. If you’re a good haggler, you may get a new set free of charge. And if you have just bought your tires, you should absolutely demand a replacement set that were manufactured recently.
I’ll be examining my new tires closely when the arrive from TireRack. I like a deal, but not at the expense of my safety. If the tires are older than 6 years (and I’m hoping they’re much newer than that) I’ll demand free replacements. You should too. Old tires being sold as new are not just an oversight. They’re a deadly deception. Drive safe folks.
UPDATE: My tires arrived today from TireRack, they shipped in just two days and each tire was manufactured within the last 5 months. I can heartily recommend TireRack not just as a way to save money on brand-name tires, but as a reliable source of brand new tires. They'll be getting my business again. | <urn:uuid:573e3cfa-48c9-4f80-844d-ed7cfd5234f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wisebread.com/are-your-new-tires-really-6-year-old-ticking-time-bombs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967196 | 1,716 | 1.585938 | 2 |
November 21, 2010
Does required course content impinge on "Academic Freedom?"
Here's a story that may be particularly interesting to legal writing professors who teach in a "lockstep" program where part, or all, of the course's content is mandated by a director or other administrator. From the popular columnist ProfHacker at the Chronicle of Higher Ed:
Recently, on a discipline-specific listserv, tempers flared and egos were bruised. The subject of this virtual brawl, a brawl that went on for weeks? A department’s (or chair’s) decision to control and standardize course content in that department’s course offerings.
. . . .
Advocates of control in large sections of classes made some very good points. A common syllabus, for example, is often very helpful for large departments when graduate students and adjuncts teach many of the lower division, general education courses. The common assignments and syllabi can help new instructors understand the rigor the department expects for its courses. Common assignments and syllabi can help a new instructor understand the scaffolding that needs to occur for student learning to take place, and these tools can ensure that appropriate course content is being followed (that no one is teaching astrophysics or basket weaving in a first-year composition course, for example). Lastly, the consistency of course content can also help students have a similar experience across sections. This can be particularly important for first-year students.
On the other hand, many listserv members questioned a department’s right (authority?) to dictate to faculty what and how they will teach their courses. To have a common syllabus for first-time graduate student instructors is one thing, many on the listserv argued, but to mandate that tenure-track or tenured faculty also follow the same common syllabus with little voice in how the course is structured, how the learning outcomes would be measured (assignments), or even which textbooks the course would use has gone too far. Many listserv members in this camp of the debate question faculty members’ academic freedom if such departments impose such control. Additionally, many wonder if students would learn to navigate a world of choices (easy / hard professors, one assignment type instead of another assignment type, for instance), if they are given no choices.
You can read the rest of the discussion, along with reader comments, here.
November 21, 2010 | Permalink | <urn:uuid:c3450c9d-42bd-41e2-a53f-796617b98665> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_skills/2010/11/does-required-course-content-impinge-on-academic-freedom.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951404 | 500 | 1.554688 | 2 |
American Medical Association – Physician Select
AMA Physician Select provides information on virtually every licensed physician in the United States and its possessions.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
CMS provides health insurance for over 74 million Americans through Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP. The majority of these individuals receive their benefits through the fee-for-service delivery system, however, an increasing number are choosing managed care plans. Formerly known as the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA)
The Federal Register informs citizens of their rights and obligations and provides access to a wide range of Federal benefits and opportunities for funding.
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations
JCAHO evaluates and accredits nearly 20,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. Accreditation by JCAHO is recognized nationwide as a symbol of quality that indicates that an organization meets certain performance standards.
Medicare is a Health Insurance Program for people 65 years of age and older, some disabled people under 65 years of age, and people with End-Stage Renal Disease (permanent kidney failure treated with dialysis or a transplant).
National Association for Home Care
NAHC is the nation's largest trade association that represents the interests of home care agencies, hospices, and home care aide organizations.
National Center for Health Statistics
NCHS is the Federal Government’s principal vital and health statistics agency. Since 1960, the agency has provided a wide variety of data with which to monitor the Nation’s health.
National Library of Medicine
NLM collects materials in all areas of biomedicine and health care, as well as works on biomedical aspects of technology, the humanities, and the physical, life, and social sciences.
Pennsylvania Association of Medical Suppliers
As an acknowledged leader of the home health care services and equipment industry, PAMS promotes quality of service and the viability of its members through education, advocacy, and communication.
WebMD is the first end-to-end Internet healthcare company connecting physicians and consumers to the entire healthcare industry. | <urn:uuid:2bd6420f-4eab-44d9-a6c6-faf2eadda061> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.intrepidusa.com/resources/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938473 | 421 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Surnames and Family Research Forum
Re: Want to link J.B. Chestang to Chastang Clan of
In Response To: Re: Want to link J.B. Chestang to Chastang Clan of ()
There were two brothers of French ancestory, who lived in Alabama in the 1700's, Joseph Pierre b.1736 and Jean Baptiste b.1739 (Dr. John). It was Dr John who had 10 children by a freed slave name Louison, and had the plantation at Chastang, Al. Dr John was my Gr-gr-gr-gr-Grandfather. I would like to get more information about the Chastangs of later generations.
Messages In This Thread | <urn:uuid:a3c37229-3968-4a2b-bd17-1be7a600fdff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.afrigeneas.com/forumc/index.cgi/md/read/id/12838/sbj/want-to-link-j-b-chestang-to-chastang-clan-of/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94468 | 150 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Click Image to Enlarge
A through-spindle coolant option flushes chips out of the way, reducing downtime for chip removal and enabling lights-out manufacturing.
With the current glut of domestic manufacturing capacity and offshore competition, keeping a job shop competitive, particularly in these tight economic times, is not easy. For some shops, specializing in out-of-the-ordinary parts or niche markets is more lucrative than vying for highly sought after production runs of small parts. For example, Tapemation Machining Inc. (Scotts Valley, California) concentrates on precision machining of large components for the aerospace, defense, medical, scientific, electronic, marine and petroleum industries. Even with this specialization, machine tools must be maintained at peak performance all the time.
“We’re continually investing in the latest model, fastest and most accurate machines, so we operate at peak efficiency,” says Bruce Erickson, president. “Even a 10-year old machine is pretty much in the dark ages. We do high-end, difficult parts that companies are reluctant to send just anywhere or take off shore. Typically, our customers prefer to have their engineers keep an eye on these very expensive parts in a local shop. Most of the time, we do short-run production in lots of four to five. If you take 100 parts at five parts at a time, over a year, it adds up to a pretty good piece of business for us. But you must have equipment that can produce it efficiently; you can’t spend all your time setting up.”
Recently, Tapemation purchased a four-pallet HMC 410 from Giddings & Lewis (Fond du Lac, Wisconsin) with live spindle to increase productivity, flexibility and accuracy. The HMC features a four-pallet matrix, live (quill) spindle, through-spindle coolant, Siemens 840 control and 120-pocket automatic tool changer.
“The HMC 410, as equipped, offers us an HBM for tooling and prototype work and a machining center that allows minimum attendance machining during off hours for our production parts,” says Mr. Erickson. “Since large parts usually have several hour machining cycles, we can run two or three pallets during lights-out conditions several days a week and do other work requiring full attendance during normal shop hours.”
Balancing rush jobs and prototypes that require breaking down the current setup of production jobs is a problem common to job shops and manufacturers alike. It’s expensive enough to break into production runs of small parts, but the costs take on greater magnitude with large parts. The four-pallet matrix allows four fixtures for different jobs to be set up all at one time. Using a hoist, the pallet and fixture can be lifted off the matrix and replaced with another. The HMC 410 allows any of the pallets to be removed, not just the pallets from one station. Conceivably, a rack could be used to hold spare pallets with different fixtures, and it could be swapped in and out as needed.
“By loading and setting up the table off-line, we save about 20 percent over using a horizontal boring mill, which is what we compete against,” says Mr. Erickson. “With a horizontal boring mill, the table has to be cleaned off and the spindle is dead all that time. Since it’s not uncommon to take an hour or more for loading large parts into a fixture, the pallet matrix on the HMC saves a substantial amount of time loading parts while other jobs are running. Also, the 96-inch swing clearance of the rotary table allows the use of large or combined fixturing, which may be used for several parts of different shapes and sizes, reducing tooling costs on short-run jobs. This is significant for this type of work, saving leadtime and tooling dollars.”
Recently, Tapemation machined a large component for airport X-ray machines. The part is a welded steel fabrication that looks like a hexagonal nut welded onto a washer, only much larger. The circular plate diameter is about 54 inches; the hex is 30 inches across measured across the flat areas; and it stands about 30 inches tall. It is all hollow, so it can hold the X-ray tube and related systems and it rotates at 60 rpm in the assembly, so it has to be balanced.
A live (quill) spindle allows machining in tight places without the use of extended tooling. The live spindle on the HMC 410 is 130 mm diameter (5.1 inches), extends 800 mm (31.5 inches) and delivers 4,000 rpm with a 45 kW (60 hp) motor. A through-spindle coolant option flushes chips out of the way, reducing downtime for chip removal and enabling lights-out manufacturing.
“The live spindle makes it possible to machine this part without extended tooling and several extra fixtures and setups, which can be a problem when machining into all the areas of a large part,” says Mr. Erickson. “Without the live spindle, we’d have three or four operations, which is the way we did it before the HMC 410. Now, we have both operations on a single fixture, so the parts run two up. We eliminated a lot of fixturing and two operations because the size of the HMC 410 allowed us to machine all the way around the part, including drilling, milling, back-spotfacing and tapping rigid. So we have knocked four operations down to two.”
The Siemens 840D is a digital control featuring a 32-bit processor with a full-color 3D display and enhanced memory for fast and accurate axis control. Mr. Erickson said, “It has a tremendous amount of power that allows you to get a lot of efficiency out of it. The control requires a lot of training, but it will do more things and it has a lot more short cuts. Once you understand the control, you can really cut your cycle times down.”
When machining large parts, it’s not just turnaround time that’s important. Delivering an accurate part to the customer is equally important, which is why Tapemation has an internal quality control system that meets or exceeds MIL-I-45208A and uses laser calibration every 6 months to ensure the accuracy of its machining processes. As a Code-One flight item vendor for more than 40 years and an approved source for fracture critical, Level 1/Sub-Safe and high-strength steel components, Tapemation has a rigorous quality control program.
“We have the HMC 410 dialed into perpendicularity over the 72-inch cube out by about 0.0005 inch, which is pretty phenomenal for a machine that size,” says Mr. Erickson, “and linear displacement is dead on. We were really surprised at the accuracy of the machine. We have other HMCs in the shop, and we couldn’t get any of them anywhere near as close to the tolerances we can hold with the G&L.”
HMCs tend to be thought of as dedicated machines used by manufacturers for a part or family of parts. The HMC 410 is said to provide the speed, flexibility and accuracy to accommodate the production and quick changeovers required by job shops manufacturing large parts. The four-pallet matrix allows quick delivery of large parts for Tapemation’s periodic customers because the setup is on one of the machine’s four pallets.
“Normally, when somebody comes in with a large weldment or other part, they’re looking at a 4- to 5-week queue. If it’s a job we’ve done previously on the HMC 410, we can usually reduce the queue time to 2- or 3-weeks,” says Mr. Erickson. “The only way you can be competitive today is simply [to] have a piece of equipment that is superior to what the competition has, because the labor costs are pretty much the same across the board. You can get efficiency from equipment that will out-produce the other guys.”blog comments powered by Disqus | <urn:uuid:22dedc1e-4642-4f5b-8caf-0854ae2ac9a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mmsonline.com/articles/hmc-reduces-precision-machining-time-for-large-parts-by-20-percent | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937951 | 1,734 | 1.625 | 2 |
The trial opened on Wednesday of an Egyptian Copt accused of blasphemy after posting on the Internet an anti-Islam video that sparked violent protests worldwide, an AFP reporter said.
Albert Saber, 27, was arrested at his home in Cairo on September 13 after neighbours alerted authorities that he had posted clips from "Innocence of Muslims" on social networking sites.
The low-budget film made in the United States caused outrage for mocking Islam and portraying the Prophet Mohammed as violent and immoral.
Saber faces up to five years behind bars in a case that has sparked condemnation from human rights groups and raised concerns over freedom of expression under Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, the first president after an uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
"Albert has nothing to do with the offensive film but the case was a way to calm down popular anger," Saber's lawyer Ahmed Ezzat, a Muslim, told AFP outside the court.
The trial "comes in a general atmosphere of discrimination and bad management of justice especially when it comes to minorities," Ezzat said.
Authorities had broken into Saber's home while he was in detention.
His mother, Kariman Masih said she was "shocked, terrified" by what is happening.
"I can't believe all that is happening to us and to my son," she told AFP.
"I'm defending my son and his right to expression. Didn't the revolution call for freedom?," she said.
Ezzat said Saber had launched discussions about religion online and "criticised fundamentalist men of religion."
"The problem is with the articles in the law and not what Albert did. The law relating to blasphemy can be interpreted in 100 different ways," Ezzat added.
Copts have repeatedly criticised authorities for what they say are double standards when it comes to cases of blasphemy and offence to religion.
Egypt's Christians, who make up six to 10 percent of the 82 million population, have regularly complained of discrimination and marginalisation. They have also been the target of numerous sectarian attacks.
Ahmed Seif al-Islam, a lawyer and member of the National Council for Human Rights who attended the hearing, said the case "is linked to the charged atmosphere caused by the film."
"We are here to support a fair trial, fairness has nothing to do with religion," said Seif al-Islam.
Saber's case is likely to fuel the fears of Egypt's Copts who fear that the anti-Islam film will lead to further persecution at home, particularly as "Innocence of Muslims" was apparently produced by a Coptic Christian film-maker in the United States.© ANP/AFP | <urn:uuid:d2d67026-55ee-4b95-afa1-fb61841695d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rnw.nl/africa/bulletin/trial-begins-egypt-copt-accused-blasphemy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975839 | 545 | 1.6875 | 2 |
The consequences of a flawed strategic choice unfold slowly, but they carry great weight. Consider IBM, which in 1980 chose to outsource to Intel the 16-bit processor needed for its entry into the...
The unclear language governing termination rights is subject to interpretation and extraordinary financial risk.
How does one determine the value of power contracts under early termination? Given the vagaries of the contracts themselves, the process is neither clear nor standard, and often results in protracted and costly litigation. In a previous article, we had assumed that termination already had occurred (“Mastering the Mastering Agreement ,” May 2005) . But there is an even more basic question: Did the counterparty have the right to terminate in the first place?
Several recent cases have highlighted that termination can be a tricky business and is definitely not as straight forward as it would seem. The cases in-volve not just the valuation of the terminated portfolio but the legality of the terminations themselves. Although the exact details of each case are different, they do share at least one thing in common: the circumstances of each firm prior to termination and the assurances offered factored into the litigations and were central to the disputes. Given the relevant contractual language, this is to be expected.
Whether the applicable contract is the Western Systems Power Pool Agreement (WSPPA), Master Power Purchase and Sale Agreement (MPPSA) or ISDA (International Swaps and Derivatives Association) Agreement, the language governing termination rights is often unclear and subject to interpretation, and relies heavily on the tenets of “good faith,” “discretion,” and “commercially reasonable” behavior.
Although the right to terminate following events such as a failure to pay is often well defined, what is less clear is the right to terminate due to concerns regarding a counterparty’s potential failure to pay. Conventionally, concerns regarding counterparty performance have been addressed by using various forms of adequate assurance. However, the success of adequate assurance as a credit risk-management tool is based upon two prerequisites:
a) Clear contractual definitions governing: a. request of adequate assurance; b. provision and form of adequate assurance; and c. acceptance of adequate assurance.
b) Both parties being committed to ensuring contract performance to expiration and standing ready and willing to do so.
Without a clear definition of suitable adequate assurance and rules governing its request and acceptance, any counterparties not committed to contract performance will attempt to game the system, resulting in adequate assurance becoming more a tool of termination as opposed to its conventional use as a tool of performance. Let’s examine each contract and see how complicated this can get.
WSPPA: Leaves Much to Interpretation
The provisions in the WSPPA provide guidance regarding the use of adequate assurance to manage counterparty default risk. Sections 22.1 and 22.2 deal with events of default and remedies for events of default, respectively. Section 27 on “creditworthiness” describes the conditions under which a dissatisfied party (“first party”) may require additional security from their counterparty (“second party”) to protect against a potential default event and what forms that security can take. The WSPPA lists 5 well-defined reasons for requesting additional adequate assurances: | <urn:uuid:817d5b3d-2a1a-4e11-a2f3-61abe05109e1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fortnightly.com/fortnightly/2006/01/terminal-terminations?page=0%25252C3%252C3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946265 | 681 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Construction managers are the leaders of the design-build process, and work for owners, builders, designers, subcontractors and a multitude of government and technical agencies. They control the “means and methods” of construction, develop the budgets and manage the project schedules. On-time, on-budget completion is a typical CM responsibility which has become increasingly difficult given today’s technically and organizationally complex projects. Owners, designers and construction managers must all work collaboratively to create integrated best value solutions that meet a client’s needs.
To work as a construction manager, graduates need technical, managerial, research and problem solving skills. Our program provides this education with a balanced curriculum which includes engineering, construction, business, mathematics, science and liberal arts courses. Employer surveys regularly report our graduates meeting or exceeding all performance expectations and regularly outperforming graduates from many of our peer institutions.
Graduates find employment with companies in all project sectors: residential, commercial building and heavy highway.
The Construction Management program is accredited by the American Council of Construction Education (ACCE).
SWEEP - RWU Construction Management Student Teams after winning the first place in all three categories at the ASC Regional Student Competition - New Jersey, November 2012. | <urn:uuid:e9b8a3b9-f4e6-411d-8d86-72b9961fd4d2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lcurtis@rwu.edu/academics/schools-colleges/seccm/degree-offerings/construction-management | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93676 | 251 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Bamarang is the creation of Oliver, Marc, and Alexander Samwer, a trio of German brothers who have a wildly successful business model: Find a promising Internet business, in the U.S., and clone it internationally. Since starting their first dot-clone in 1999, a German version of EBay, they’ve duplicated Airbnb, eHarmony, Pinterest, and other high-profile businesses. In total, they’ve launched more than 100 companies. Their Zappos clone, Zalando, now dominates six European markets and is estimated to be worth $1 billion by Financial Times Deutschland. Through their venture capital firm, the European Founders Fund, they also invested in European knockoffs of Facebook and YouTube, which sold for $112 million and $36 million, respectively.
Boldfaced emphasis added by me. Do they have a book business too?
And if they do, is it filled with unlicensed translations of popular American, British, French, Swedish, and other books? And especially ones that have been self-published? How hard would it be to rip off the Top 100 of each Amazon category?
That day is coming: Writers: It’s The INVISIBLE Piracy That Will Kill You. And that Businessweek article has put that day even closer.
It’s already here just in the English language alone:
So an RWA member, the treasurer of the Kiss of Death RWA chapter no less, is found to be plagiarizing. Name is Kristal Singletary aka Kay Manning | K.S. Manning | Payton Bradshaw. The first signs were revealed by a fan of Liz Fielding who reported to her that “La Maison Romance” by Kay Manning, a free download on Smashwords, appeared to be a copy of Liz Fielding’s story “The Cinderella Fantasy”.
How much easier it will be to get away with in another language! | <urn:uuid:80be4432-c4c6-4b61-a195-88d49e5c593e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.the-digital-reader.com/2012/03/03/all-your-books-are-belong-to-pirate-translators/ | 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 | 0.93877 | 404 | 1.5 | 2 |
Curtis (Curt) Allen Hendrix
September 1909 – July 9, 1944
By: Dennis Aslinger
HENDRIX Curtis Allen 4 SEP 1909 9 JUL 1944
Son of John Alfred HENDRIX & Martha Jane WHITEHEAD. When he visited his father (who lived away from his wife & child due to his tuberculosis) he was always given a nickel, some brown sugar and cane seed to feed his pet goose. His mother always confiscated the nickel, threw away the brown sugar for fear of disease, and fed the cane seed to her own geese. As a boy he impressed his first school teacher with his ability to read. When asked where he learned he replied "Maw taught me in the chimbley corner." He eventually completed the eighth grade. When he was a boy, his mother climbed to the barn loft to gather eggs from the hens' nests there. Curt removed the ladder and stranded her in the loft all day before letting her down. Another time when about 12 years of age, and visiting family in Blount County, TN he climbed to a smoke house roof where a heavy sack of corn was drying. He draped the sack around his neck and jumped off the roof. His cousin Ida WHITEHEAD (dau. of John Harvey WHITEHEAD) recalled that he lay on the ground for several minutes, stunned by the impact. He helped half-brothers make moonshine when he was a boy. Curt did many wild things as an adult when intoxicated such as: threw Hugh FREELS through a barroom window (breaking his arm), stole a car for a joyride and got out of jail when his wife paid the judge $50 to lose the paperwork; often intentionally ran his car into the ditch and physically lifted it out to impress onlookers with his strength; once told a gas station attendant to "fill it up quick I'm John Dillinger." Curt was a dedicated Democrat and delighted in annoying his Republican mother. He trained his dog to roll over and play dead when asked "Would you rather vote for Hoover or die?" He was not a tall man, standing no more than 6 feet but was very broad shouldered (36" across). His son Bruce recalled when in his late twenties trying on one of Curt’s shirts and the shoulder seams coming down to his elbows. During the depression Curt worked on building a road for six weeks and received nothing for all that work because the company failed. He followed work where he could find it and boarded near the job sites and came home only on weekends or longer intervals. Worked as a heavy boom operator building TVA's Douglas and Norris dams and possibly others. So impressed engineers with his knowledge when he interpreted blueprints they could not understand that they asked where he attended engineering school. He worked as a fireman in Oak Ridge, TN just before he was killed. One job required him to wear a small leather bow tie and when he would forget it he would come back in the house and ask his wife where was that “chicken shit bow.” Curt lived in the ”flatwoods”, now Hendrix Creek Subdivision in Oak Ridge, next door to his mother. On 14 FEB 1939 Curt and Linda purchased 6A in the 8th district of Anderson Co., TN from his mother for $1 and 1/3 of all growing crops for the rest of her life. Curt was released from the crop provision on 23 DEC 1942. Curt purchased another piece of property on 20 JAN 1941 for $150. Curt paid $1 on 12 FEB 1943 to clear the title on his property, located 0.1 mile north of Gamble Valley in what is now Oak Ridge, TN. Forced off of his farm by the Manhattan Project in 1942, he owned 60 acres, 2 houses and 2 barns and was reimbursed $850. The property was in three tracts, a 1 acre tract surrounded by his mother's property, an 8.5 acre tract just east of his mother's property, and a 50.2 acre tract a few miles to the west in a bend on the north side of Gamble Valley Road. He was particularly angry that he was not allowed to remove a stack of newly purchased cedar fence posts that the government subsequently burned. He wrote the poem below satirizing the event. The deed record showing the government taking ownership could not be found.
Bruce HENDRIX recalled that “Surveyors appeared on our property and wrote down everything that was nailed down. Soon after, we received our notice to vacate within thirty days because of a war emergency.”
After their move to Union County, TN Curt owned an A-Model Ford and their entertainment was a radio. The antenna was connected to the clothesline, which was tied to trees but made of wire. They lived about two thousand feet from the gravel road, the driveway had ruts and Curt got the car stuck. He got out, without asking Bruce to get out, went to the front of the car and put his back to it and lifted the car out of the rut. Then he went to the back of the car and lifted the back out of the rut and finished the drive.
“We vacated and bought a farm in Union county, Tennessee. Our home was beautiful, a veranda, large sugar maples in the front yard, with a creek at the end of the yard and a good size branch on the right side of the yard. The creek had twelve to fourteen inch fish in it. We had bottomland across the creek. I helped my dad build a foot bridge across that creek. The front of the house faced the creek instead of the road and the barn was sitting close to the road. We fenced the thirty-five acres across the road. My dad now had what we later would call a station wagon or van.”
Curt could never get the last word in with Linda. Once he came home from drinking and they argued so he broke a dish. Linda, not to be intimidated, broke another. They took turns until there were no dishes left. Another time he thought he would scare her by setting a corner of their house afire. She responded by setting the opposite corner afire. When he saw she wouldn't budge he extinguished the fires.
The Planned and Organized Society (sponsored by Elinoir)
Come listen to me people,
And hear my tale of woe,
And if you find it tiring,
I'll shut my mouth and go.
I had a home in Robertsville,
They call it Oak Ridge now,
T'was home for all my younguns
and their chickens and the cow.
One day a bunch of men rode in
With papers in their hands
And great big shining badges,
They came and took our land.
They read a lot of great big words
I couldn't understand
But when it was all over
I didn't own the land
I had seen the revenooers
Come search and take the stills,
But I didn't think the government
Would ever seize our hills.
Of course, we had to get right out
And start to paying rent
But now, what can poor folks do
Against the government?
Just sixty acres t'was all I had
Some rich land and some poor.
But the check they sent me
Wouldn't buy a pure bred bore.
Now see I ain't complaining,
It's just my blamed bad luck,
On any deal I ever make
I'm always getting stuck.
Of course, the government was right,
They always are, you see.
T'was just the land looked worse to them
Than it ever did to me.
I moved to Union County,
Once famous for its stills,
And bought another cabin
And a bunch of slaty hills.
For I couldn't keep my younguns
And their chickens and the cow
Without a little pasture
And a piece of land to plow.
But I've done seen me a vision,
And it's one I understand.
In the none to distant future,
Working folks will own no land.
There will be a bunch of planners.
Everyone will live by plan.
Plan our work, plan our religion,
Plan our schooling and our play,
Won't even have to study,
"Now what must I do today."
The thing to do is win the war
And when we end that strife,
Stop electing Presidents
For longer terms than life.
Well I guess I'd better hush,
I could have said some more,
But here just let me whisper!
I'm skeered of Elinoir.
Curt wrote many letters but only a few survive, in the possession of Connie Hendrix PHILLIPS along with his bow tie. The letters are transcribed below as written, with spelling, punctuation, and capitalization errors intact. Notes to the text of the letters are in [ ].
Mrs M. J. Hendrix
[Postmarked MAR 24 P.M. 1944, Andersonville, Tenn, with a 3 cent stamp with “Thomas Jefferson 1801-1809” on it.]
hope this letter finds you feeling good enough to laugh and talk and chaw your tobbacco
hope everything is all ok with you we are abel eat if we could get anything to eat. we have got a red Bull calf three days old at the barn I” have Bought me 2 nice Boar Pigs and we are going to move before long to our new home it is a much nicer Place than this is has a Big garden and some nice creek Bottoms Plenty of hay and some Big appel trees and is rite on the Pike road and there is 65 acres in the Place the house is a good Big one and has a tin roof and is Painted
im going to make garden soon and Plant 2 bags Patatoes. As soon as I” get moved. there is Plenty water on the new Place the hines Creek runs in 50 feet of the front door so we Can drink all the Creek water we want
well I have got Part of my money for my land. I” signed up and hope to get it all soon so I” can spend it on my Place im Buying
it needs repairing the Bldgs and fences so ill Be in a tight sqeese for some time trying to get it straitened out
But I” don’t mind I” cant get By easy like some People no how. This is the Best neighborhood I” have ever lived in in my life. The People here Come and go to see each other and you don’t hear a Pack of tales about your neighbors all the time
They are Poor People and they havent gone money Crazy they no they aint goin to get rich and they have time to spare to sit and talk to you and don’t want to Pry into Your Business
Im so glad that they tore the robertsville gang up ide have given my Place free to see it scattered the lord done that to remove the wicked
My dad said that that Place would Be Builded and they said he was Crazy who was Crazy? I” have a job down there have to wear my suit and a white shirt and a neck tie. Cant tell you what my job is But it is clean and decent. And not hard and I” don’t run around any either havent had so much as a beer in a long time
My Present Job may develop into a Permonont Job and I like it Better than any ive ever had in my life
Im going to Bring the Kids to see you at the first Chance I” get to be off after we get moved [torn]
And ill bring [torn] things when [torn]
And you be Careful of your health and don’t worry about things you Cant help. If you see any Body that wants to Buy there is a good 15 a Place [torn] hree room house [torn] 0.. maybe .$600.. [torn] so rite and let us no how you are getting along say if you Can get any Body to take [torn] to a notary [torn] and have [torn] Birth Certificate notirised and send it to me ill send you the Cash Payday to Pay all the expense ill lose my job if I” don’t get a Birth Certificate soon
[A second letter is in the same envelope, transcribed below.]
Mrs MJ Hendrix
Hope this will find you ok we are still Kicking and im not in the army yet im working down on the job again
I” am a foreman over a bunch of negro women we
We clean houses after they finish building them
Wash the windows and clean the floors and every thing have had that Job two weeks now it Keeps me on the Jump too some are no good the cow has a nice Calf heifer red with white head and [remainder is missing]
Mrs M. J. Hendrix
[Postmarked APR 6 P.M. 1944, Andersonville, Tenn, with a 3 cent stamp with “Thomas Jefferson 1801-1809” on it.]
Mrs Martha Hendrix
Dear ma hope this finds you all right I” have had a very bad cold have the head ache tonite have been trying to get a fence around the garden and a garden made for Linda and the children before I” start over to wind up the war so that they can at leaste have a little to eat through the summer while im gone. linda is not well still has low blood Pressure it is no wonder much as she has to do.. We all have our troubels But sense I” take time to study about it we make about 98 Per Cent of our troubel our self I” Know that I” do myself and evry Body else is the same way Life is just what we make out of it We can be contented and not worry about anything or we can rave and raise hell about things that really don’t matter anyway and make our Life a hell on earth im getting so that I” don’t worry about a thing except not being abel to live the sort of a Life that god requires People to live.. that is unselfish loveing: forgiveing sacarificeing our Pleasures for others that are more in need the Peopel Brought this war on themselves By being Bull headed and not obeying the Bibel that teaches to be Meek and HumBel and not to be a respecter of Persons not to look up to the rich and scorn the Poor But how many follow that rule? So don’t blame it on the President it is the Peopel of the World to Blame they have Been weighed in the Balances and found wanting the Blood of their young men is being spilled as a result.. they cant show the Blood over their door ways so their first Born sons are being slain
he said when I” see the Blood I” will Pass over you..
I” hear from Murray sometimes he has a very easy Job down on the Job I” quit the Job I” had didn’t like Boarding it was easy and Paid good too But I” have Boarded away too much already
Money don’t mean any thing any more you Cant Buy Contentment and happiness no matter how much you have but Peopel will Just have to live in the mess that humanity has made out of the beautiful world that god Created until they die for the Bibel is being fulfilled god forseen they would long for Power riches to rule the Poor and would think them self wise and in doing so become fools now is the time
Hope you are feeling good and there is nothing to worry about it doesn’t change a thing and what is going to be will Be anyway Worry only Brings gray hair..
I” have some onions and Cabbage out hope Perry and Paralee is O.K. am sorry Earl is being taken into service But it cant last much longer too Big and Bad to last long Just a Big thunder storm like one I” mean
Mrs Perry Raby
[Postmarked APR 18 P.M. 1944, Andersonville, Tenn, with a 3 cent stamp with “Thomas Jefferson 1801-1809” on it.]
Mrs Paralee Raby
Thought tonitr ide rite you all a line as so it is raining and thundering to beat the band
I” guess grace is glad Earl don’t have to go to Army he is over 26 aint he?
Is Perry going to make any crop? or is he still in the notion of going to that job? you all Better make you all the truck patch stuff you can for stuff to eat is going to Be hard to get if you [don’t] have Plenty of money for there is nobody to grow it all the men are either gone to war or to a Public job so you can see why..
I” have not worked in a month except here at home been fenceing and making garden got a Bushel onion setts out and 3 ½ Bushels taters Planted and 250 Cabbage Plants set out I” am just Planting What the Kids Can tend to for im going to have to hold a job Until I” get in shape to farm it has Broke me Paying for this Place and Buying wire and trying to get it in shape so I” Plan on getting me another job down there Monday hope next year the war will Be over and I” Can make a crop the Kids are Big enough that they need to have some stuff to hoe and work in and my Place needs a lot of work done on it our cow is not fresh But Linda has to milk 3 gallons of milk a day and Pour in to the sow to Keep her Bag from Busting
Cant remember when she is due to be fresh soon though tell ma that when summer Comes and I” get a car we will all go down and see the old Place and see if it has Changed any and not to let her worries get her down the flat woods are doing their Bit to win the war
I” wouldint trade my Place for the whole shootin match down there But wish theyde Payed me about $800 more than they did we all made a mistake By not waiting before signing up
I” gess lee has Been up to see his ma a lot sense she has Been there he is Closer than I” and I” aint got no way to go home hope to have some time well Linda is still doctoring for Low Blood Pressure she seems to be getting a little better
I” Believe if she would have 3 or 4 babies at once she would get all right some women Just get fat as dogs after having twins or triplets But the sallet Kettel is too little now so I’’ gess she Better not try it.
So rite all the news and tell ma J Harrell smith is still Preaching But no Better than Bill Hightower
And to rite
Curt N Lindy
Mrs M. J. Hendrix
[Postmarked MAY 21 1944, 7 P.M., Oak Ridge, Tenn., stamp is missing except for upper left corner with purple field and white eagle’s wing. Two letters in one envelope, the first is mostly in block capitals, unlike all the others that are in cursive handwriting. The block letters will be transcribed in lower case except where capitalization is in order.]
Dormitory W.V. 37
Mrs M.J. Hendrix
Thought I” would rite a line or so Tonite as Im lonesome my days work is over and Im sitting in my room nothing to do but think.. Some thoughts are very pleasant ones and others are a little bitter That is life.. Evrything cant be pie if so we would soon lose all appetite for sweet stuff..
Now about my new job it is a real headache – I” am a labor foreman have sixteen Negro girls in my charge We clean houses people are going to move into They all like me and do good work for me But there is a lot of things to figure on my job I” miss the book learning I” did not get But I” am not behind the other bosses so Im not worrying
Im boarding on the job so I” can get a little rest Havent got a car now but Ill buy one just soon as I can find one I.. like.. Walking is for horses that have four feet
I” gess you have littel chicks now and maybe some baby geese Is your house done If I ever get anyway going Im coming up Have some things I want you to have for your house
Is your cow milking?
There is a Beasly boy from the valley working on this job He says the valley has not changed much He said Buddy.s. place looked the same
He married Tom Borings girl He said his mother was a Boring before marriage
He is Hardy Beasleys son Do you know him?
Well Im glad the flatwoods Country is helping knock the props from under Hitler and his gang
He cant stand it much longer if whatever they make is as Uncel Bill Chesires moonshine used to be Good By Hitler
Well take care and don’t get too hot and get sick
And my address is Curtis Hendrix
Oak Ridge Tenn-
(Tell Paralee howdy an rite)
Mrs MJ Hendrix
Hope this finds you ok im still kicking Today is Sunday I” have Been on a trip thru the home Place walking around there has Been no changes made in the old Place except that it is grown up in grass a Bit there sure would be Plenty of pasture down there now
Your appel trees look fine they have appels on them as Big as Patridge eggs and there is Plenty of them the Roses are in full Bloom and very Pretty
And things look full of life and Promise
I” Pulled off the weeds and Briars off at my daddys grave and made too Boquets of roses and Put them on his grave I” wonder if he has any way Knowing that I” did so? After the war the People may get Back some of their land I” don’t know im going to try to save a little and look around a Bit after while I” may find a Place I” like Better than the one I” have if I” do I” can change
Have you ever seen anything about getting your pension? You should for it is due you
And later on we all may get more out of our land..
that will help every Body.
I” havent seen Murray in a year or any of the children havent seen my own Kids in a week am going to rite them today too
So you take Care of your self and don’t worry the war soon will be over and Peace again will Come to comfort the heart of men all over the world
As Ever Curt
Mrs M. J. Hendrix
[Postmarked MAY 22 1944, 7 P.M., Oak Ridge, Tenn., stamp is missing. The letter is mostly in block capitals and will be transcribed in lower case except for normal capitalization.]
And Paralee and Perry
Hope this finds all well and happy We have been building fence today around our creek bottom We will pasture it for I” cant plan on nothing but going to war Am afraid they may stop before I” get over there
I” want to just kill nine of them one fore each of the kids and one for me and Lindy
Well I” gess you have your house about done by now I” sold my car to Tommy Haney or Ide come down Too far to walk You ought to write to the valley and have some of your friends that is about your age send you notorised statements about how old you are and sign up and get your pension There is lots of peopel around here that’s got good farms getting it and Im paying in on evry dollar I” make on it and if you don’t get yours its your fault
We have set out 5- gallon of onion setts Paid $1.00 [$100. As written] a gallon for them Have 2-100 Pound bags of taters to plant Soon have got good fence around the garden now and Im fencing more pasture for the cow I sold the calf after feeding it $20.00 worth of hay Got $28.00 for the calf The kids all passed a grade in school All 5 got 50¢ from the teacher because they hadent missed a day in 9-months of school They all took part in the entertainment at close of school All of them said their pieces perfectly but wish you and Paralee could have seen Pete Her fist year you know and she beat evry kid there Her speech was “Ive been playing all day long and Im tired as I” can be Ive kept house and dressed my dolly skipped the rope and played have tea..
She dident miss a word or in her play either That old fashioned Mrs Turner is not like those little hot things down at Scarbro She makes kids in her school learn Pete is her pet tho.. Pete can read good Bruce has been helping me make fence He sticks rite with me I” couldent get anything done without him.. I don’t think any more of J. Harrel Smith than I” do Billy Hightower He preached the Bibel and if peopel had pitched $50.000 or $60.000 [$500 or $600?] a year at him he would have been as well known Billy preached agin church members commiting adultry and the deacons got mad and got him out of his job now aint that so?
These big high paid preachers aint doin like he (Christ) done He took his little bunch of dicipels through somebody elses corn patch on Sunday and they shucked the corn and eat it.. If they had been taking in $5000 apiece I” gess they would have been rideing good nags and stopped at a hotel for dinner Money love selfishness and showing off finery is not Christs way A Christian cant be rich for Christ said if any comes to borry turn him not away As soon as peopel found they could get it he soon would have nothing left to loan unless the Lord gave it back Too many big money preachers not enough humbel God fearing preachers with patches on the ass of their britches that would set down beside the road and divide his dinner with a hungry nigger Too many folks sit at a radio on Sunday too few go to church Clothes are looked at too much the Bibel too seldom.
Well when in troubel get your Bibel and read Job..
And rite to us
Long and often
Curt was beaten, shot and killed by neighbors Edgar LOY and Claude DAMEWOOD in Union County, TN. Their excuse was that he was attacking the invalid mother of one of the men. Curt was shot in the right armpit, his body badly bruised, and a dent shaped like a hammer was in his head. His habit was to always sit with his right arm propped up, leading his wife to the conclusion that he was sitting when shot. However, it is more likely he had his arm raised to ward off another hammer blow. Curt is buried in Gilbreath Cemetery in Anderson County, TN. Following is an account of events leading up to the murder with commentary appearing in [brackets].
THE DEATH OF CURTIS HENDRIX (9 JULY 1944)
My name is Bruce HENDRIX. I am the son of the murder victim, Curtis A. HENDRIX, who was killed in Union County, Tennessee on July 9, 1944.
Because of a war emergency, the Federal Government (War Department) took our property in Oak Ridge, Tennessee Ridge in 1942. We purchased a small farm in Union County. Curtis, my father was working as a construction foreman. He provided transportation to work from time to time for several men. I was twelve years old at the time of my father’s death and I remember many details, including the various motives for murder. The first man with a motive; this man (I will leave the names blank because they are a matter of record) [Edgar LOY] had a fight with his brother-in-law [Emert DAVIS, son of Fate DAVIS]. His wife had left him earlier, her brother [Emert DAVIS] was driving her to the local store, and her husband blocked the road and demanded that his wife get in his car. [DAVIS] said, “Only if she chooses”. A fight ensued and [DAVIS] beat up [LOY], left him lying in the road, and went to the store. Shortly after, [LOY] reappeared, having borrowed a hawk-bill knife, sharp as a razor, and started chopping on [DAVIS]. He sliced [DAVIS’s] chest, his face, his head and his throat, over and over. The store clerk hit the husband over the head with a Coke bottle, but he shook his head and continued cutting. Then the clerk put a 38 Special to his head and said “One more slice and I’ll blow your head off” and then he stopped.
[DAVIS] was one of the riders who rode to work with my dad, Curtis, Months. Later, [DAVIS] got out of the hospital and told my dad that he would like to keep riding with him but he was afraid his brother-in-law would pull a knife on him again and my dad told him “You’re under my protection while you are in my car”. Curt told [LOY] “If you pull a knife in my car, I will take it away from you and stick down your throat”.
At a later time, during a ride to work, the man [Edgar LOY] pulled a knife as promised and my dad kept his word. After knocking [LOY] unconscious, my dad placed the knife in his mouth and used his foot to push it inside and left him there on the side of the road.
The second motive: My dad and I put up a fence around 35 acres of our land across the road from our house. My dad then bought a horse and cows for the fenced area. [Claude DAMEWOOD] had plot of land at the back of our thirty-five fenced acres with a one-room shack with windows broken out. A cow got out of the pasture and died on [DAMEWOOD’s] property. My dad was asked to get rid of the cow because it was close to the one-room shack. My dad poured a gallon of gas on a brush pile on top of the cow but there still remained most of the carcass. [Another account says the cow was dragged away some distance before being burned.] Apparently, that wasn’t good enough for the neighbor. DAMEWOOD was a tall and skinny man with dark eyes and dark hair, he reminded me of a character portrayed by Lon CHANEY. DAMEWOOD told the owner of the country store, “If the cow isn’t gone by the time the sun goes down I’m going kill the son-of-a-bitch”.
I witnessed the third motive with my own eyes. My dad was sitting in a straight back chair on the veranda porch. The man [again Edgar LOY] was drinking and walked up and had some small talk, then as he whittled, he said, "Curt, for fifty cents I would take this knife and cut your guts out". My dad put his hand in his pocket, as he sat in a straight back chair, and flipped him a fifty-cent piece. He then swung at my dad with the knife. My dad never got out of the chair but hit the man hard with an upper cut under the chin [another account says Curt had his chair leaned back on two legs but did lower it to all four legs before throwing the punch]. I saw [LOY’s] feet leave the ground and he landed flat on his back. He lay on the ground for what seemed to be about twenty minutes until my dad got up, got a bucket of ice water from the ice box on the porch and poured it on him. [LOY] came to, got up and staggered off in the direction of the road. Later that day, he came back (wearing dry clothes) and apologized, saying “Curt, I would never have done that if I hadn’t been drinking.” Then he said “Curt could you drive me home?” That was the last time I ever saw my dad alive. [LOY] returned at three in the morning and said, “Curt is dead.” The county held a hearing and the group agreed that DAMEWOOD asked him to leave and shot him because he refused.
A neighbor came to my mother and told her that the night before, while passing by, he saw what looked like some people carrying a body into the house, meaning the shack. He said he went back that day and peeped in the window and saw a claw hammer, a straight-backed chair and a sycamore club on a bed. Later, the undertaker also stated that Curt’s chest was black and blue, as if he had been severely beaten. My mother did not report this at that time and no one was ever charged in Curtis’ death.
By Bruce D. HENDRIX
Other accounts say that although Curt drank a lot at times, he had settled down for a couple of years before his death and did not frequent the bars anymore. The day he died Edgar LOY came to his house and stood in the road cursing loudly (on a Sunday) and as LOY probably expected, Curt's wife urged him to get LOY and his foul mouth away from their children. When Curt escorted LOY home he was ambushed. A woman from their neighborhood in Union Co., TN moved to Anderson Co., TN and rented a place from Lee GREGORY, Curt's half-brother. Somehow the topic of the murder came up and the woman said she knew all the facts in the case. But when Lee's wife, Adelaide, blurted out that Lee and Curt were brothers, the woman would not say anymore on the subject.
Curt HENDRIX married on 9 FEB 1930 in Anderson Co., TN to Thelma Lee (Linda) HANEY, W.O. "Woody" DUNCAN presiding.
1. Leon Allen HENDRIX d. aged 6 months, bur. New Hope Baptist Church Cem. (AEC No. 32), Anderson Co., TN, unengraved stone located on west side of cem., northernmost in a row of four graves including half-aunts Susan GREGORY & Uceba GREGORY, and half-cousin Robert RABY
2. Faye Lee HENDRIX b. 4 FEB 1932 m. Lawrence (Biddy) CHILDS b. 21 DEC 1928 d. 21 JUN 1996
1. Steve Dennis CHILDS m. 1st Rebecca Sue "Becky" MCCARROL, m. 2nd Vickie HENSLEY,
2. Randy CHILDS m. 1st Libby DOTSON, m. 2nd Linda DISHMAN, m. 3rd Norma Jean Smith BAIN,
3. Darrell CHILDS m. 1st Eugena JONES; m. 2nd Rebecca ___
3. Bruce Delano HENDRIX b. 27 FEB 1933 m. 1st Lucille CABLE, m. 2nd Vell Rea BARTLETT, m. 3rd Shirley ___, m. 4th Vell Rea BARTLETT, m. 5th Ruth ___, m. 6th Helen ___. Bruce reminisced about his childhood “The thing I remember the most, I got a red wagon for Christmas but I didn’t like using it to haul the firewood. I also remember having the measles and the first time I ever had a pleasure trip. My cousin, Arvil LAW, took me to a Halloween party at his school.” “I recall going to school in a one-room school. We were picked at times to walk about a mile to a house to carry water back to school. I remember a time when I spilled the water and hid under the school steps, which also served as the church, because I was afraid of what would happen.” “I don’t remember learning anything and very little in my elementary years. After dad died, I got one pad of paper at the beginning of the year and a pencil, no books and those were usually stolen the first day. This went on until I finished the second year of high school. Then, the government was required to furnish Books. I developed the drive to learn. I finished my last two years of high school in one year and made the honor roll.”
Children (all by 1st wife):
1. Roger Allen HENDRIX b. 20 MAY 1955 Oliver Springs, TN m. Debbie ___,
2. Anthea Kay HENDRIX m. 1st Dennis MCKAIG, m. 2nd Rife ___, m. 3rd ___.
3. Marshall Rick HENDRIX m. Debbie ___,
4. Scott Dexter HENDRIX m. Cassie ___,
5. Angie HENDRIX d. AUG 1972 Grants Pass, OR
4. Tina Christine (Tiny) HENDRIX b. 8 MAY 1934 m. 1st George R. LINDSAY (son of Robert "Robbie" LINDSAY), m. 2nd John LEAZIER
1. Larry LINDSAY m. Angel MASSENGIL,
2. Joyce Ann "Sissy" LINDSAY m. Bobby MCCOY, children: Lori MCCOY, Shawn MCCOY
3. Mitchell LINDSAY m. Becky WHITE,
4. Jerry LINDSAY m. Kitty WILSON,
5. Donna Sue LINDSAY m. Jerry MOWERY,
6. Jimmy Ray LINDSAY m. Micky PHILLIPS,
7. Cathy LINDSAY m. Gary PROSISE,
8. Pam LINDSAY m. Andy DARNELL,
5. Hazel Mae HENDRIX b. 29 AUG 1935 d. 12 SEP 1999 bur. Batley Baptist Church Cem., Anderson Co., TN m. Anderson Co., TN Caroll G. SMITH
1. Carolyn SMITH m. Charles CRANMORE,
2. Gary Allen SMITH m. Shelly OWENS,
6. Connie Laverne HENDRIX b. 3 DEC 1937 m. Ora Junior PHILLIPS
1. Keith Michael PHILLIPS b. 2 JUN 1956 m. 1st Renee DISNEY, m. 2nd Deana JAMES,
2. Kim Wade PHILLIPS
3. Kevin PHILLIPS
7. Elizabeth Hope HENDRIX b. 29 JAN 1939 m. 26 DEC 1956 Ringgold, GA Kenneth ASLINGER b. 21 DEC 1936
1. Dennis L. ASLINGER
2. Martin A. ASLINGER
3. Brian E. ASLINGER
8. Billy Joe HENDRIX b. 14 FEB 1940 m. 1st 29 AUG 1959 Joan WALLACE at Lafayette, GA m. 2nd 29 DEC 1973 Connie BAUGHN at Jasper, AL
1. Vickie Jo HENDRIX b. 16 JUL 1960 m. Mitch CARLSON,
2. Michelle HENDRIX b. 7 JUL 1968 m. William EVONOSKY,
3. Matthew HENDRIX b. 3 AUG 1978
9. Shollie Jane HENDRIX b. 15 MAR 1945 d. 25 AUG 1994 m. 1st Robert CABRAL m. 2nd ?
1. Sherry CABRAL m. 1st James KILLIFER m. 2nd Kevin THOMPSON,
2. Tammy CABRAL m. 1st Jimmy JOHNSON, m. 2nd Scott FREELS, m. 3rd Tom WATSON,
3. Robin CABRAL m. Preston JONES,
Return to Site Index | <urn:uuid:138ca0f1-5802-4ec1-9b85-f992d80c0818> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.smithdray1.net/curt/biography.htm | 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 | 0.968411 | 8,532 | 1.59375 | 2 |
If you want to continue to learn and build on your digital resume, another great gem in this city of ours is in the Kennedy and Eglinton area. The ProTech Media Centre is steps away from the subway and it’s currently offering members of the public lessons and workshops on Photoshop, Website Design, Animation and Video Editing for free.
The ProTech Media Centre has been around since 2009. It’s another great place that isn’t well known but a must to check out. The centre has a combination of friendly staff, along with access to software and hardware that is expensive and hard to find. Plenty of class time scheduled along with drop in hours for you to practice what you learned and apply it to your own personal projects. And all of it is free of charge.
Workshops that are customize to support customers with none or limited skills with operating a computer, the internet and Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Moderate level lessons on social media sites and more advanced workshops on Adobe Photoshop, AfterEffects and Premiere (video editing). In addition to the computers and software, other tools available in the centre include cameras, scanners and a printer.
The centre currently has 13 computers available to the public and theirs hours vary depending on the time and day of the week. Staff are available during these hours for support. A few members of the Toronto Public Library staff paid them a visit just this week and we’re happy to report that in a short time, the centre is getting rolled out with some new equipment and software, so that’s even more of a reason to drop by.
The centre itself is located in the Kennedy/Eglinton Branch, the centre is an amazing destination that provides youth with opportunities to develop their skills and interests, advance their education, and explore their creativity. Not a far walk from the Kennedy subway station. It’s not run by the Toronto Public Library, but managed and operated by Tropicana Community Services. A great organization that has been providing youth, newcomers, people of Black and Caribbean heritage and others in need with opportunities and alternatives that lead to success and positive life choices.
For more information about the ProTech Media Centre, schedule and classes, click here.
Be sure to check it out. | <urn:uuid:f175f941-6e9e-411b-a31e-9129d5d6d50d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://torontopubliclibrary.typepad.com/digital_design_studio/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958327 | 462 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Despite its 3G predecessor having something of a lacklustre impact on the market, China’s home-grown LTE variant looks like it will fare much better. Guy Daniels reports.
According to a report on yesterday’s Taiwan DigiTimes website
, local handset supply chain makers are expecting demand for TD-LTE devices to take off in the second half of 2013 or the first half of 2014. This reinforces the belief that the China-developed variant of LTE lags behind the more established LTE-FDD by one to two years.
According to the GSA
, of the 80 commercial LTE networks around the world, there are five dedicated TD-LTE ones and two using a combination of both technologies. And of the 417 LTE devices from 67 vendors, 68 are TD-LTE enabled.
Last week, the Beijing News
reported that China Mobile would launch its 4G service later this year. The company’s vice general manager, Li Zhengmao, said that China Mobile will launch more than ten 4G smartphone models by the first half of next year, rising to over 100 by 2014.
China Mobile will also extend its TD-LTE test network, to include over 20,000 TD-LTE base stations.
It is already testing TD-LTE networks in 13 cities, including Shanghai and Beijing.
According to a Xinhuanet report, Li Zhengmao explained that a lack of handsets is a bottleneck in the development of TD-LTE, but that: “the TD-LTE industry chain has become mature and it will have enough models within one or two years”.
Operating licences are another reason for the delay in TD-LTE, as the Chinese government has said it will not issue them for at least another two years. Once China Mobile is able to bring its TD-LTE network into commercial service though, it should lead to a wider uptake of interest in the technology, as economies of scale result in decreasing hardware costs and more vendors move to support China Mobile.
ZTE is expected to launch a TD-LTE phone by the end of this year, which is already being used in trials in Guangdong Province, to be followed closely by a device from Huawei. International manufacturers are not expected to launch TD-LTE smartphones until 2014.
TD-SCDMA was first proposed to the ITU as a 3G technology in 1998, with the first specifications released in 2001. Trials started in China in 2005 in three cities, increasing to 10 cities and 14,000 base stations by 2006. China Mobile was issued a TD-SCDMA licence in 2009 and now has around 61 million subscribers on the network (as of April 2012).
TD-LTE work actually commenced in December 2007, with field trials commencing in China in 2010. The first networks launched in 2011. Commercial TD-LTE networks are running in Brazil (Sky Brazil), India (Bharti Aitel), Japan (Softbank), Saudi Arabia (Etisilat Mobily and STC) and also in dual mode in Poland (Aero2) and Sweden (3 Sweden).
please sign in to rate this article | <urn:uuid:822c979b-f694-4058-b6b7-565ae7f41115> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.telecomtv.com/comspace_newsDetail.aspx?n=48937&id=e9381817-0593-417a-8639-c4c53e2a2a10 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959034 | 657 | 1.554688 | 2 |
On September 27, 2002, Premier Zhu Rongji met Jean-Louis Debre, President of the National Assembly, in Paris.
Zhu conveyed to Debre greetings and an invitation to visit China extended by Chairman Li Peng of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. Zhu said that the Chinese people have always shared friendly and profound feelings towards the French people. They will not forget the contributions of the late General Charles de Gaulle in promoting Chinese-French relations. The friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries have maintained a good momentum in recent years. Zhu noted that French President Jacques Chirac agreed with him on that France and China should further develop their relations during their meeting here on the previous day. As an important part of the relations, the parliamentary cooperation has also become closer, which has helped promote the overall development of bilateral relations.
Debre said that as a supporter of de Gaulle's proposals, he feels greatly honored to welcome Premier Zhu to France at the National Assembly and as the President of National Assembly. Debre said that to develop close and friendly cooperation with China not only conforms to the interests of France, but also will contribute to peace and stability in the world. The French people admire China's rapid growth and great culture, and hopes to continue to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the Chinese people in cultural, economic and other fields. | <urn:uuid:dca1bf47-be8b-4afc-90c3-43a18658f6c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/topics/3746/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970218 | 277 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Pacific Fruit, a Belgium based produce distributor owned by Firma Leon Van Parys NV, is in hot water with the European Union. The company has been implicated in a conspiracy to fix banana prices in Greece, Italy, and Portugal between July of 2004 and April of 2005, and is now facing fines of 8.9 million Euros ($12.1 million U.S.) as a result. Chiquita Brands International worked together with Pacific Fruit in the price fixing scheme – but, by being the whistle blower, has managed to avoid being subject to the same penalties.
This isn’t the first time that the whistle has been blown over banana price fixing – and it’s also not the first time Chiquita Brands has been the mouth behind the whistle. In 2008, Dole Food Co. and Fresh Del Monte Produce were fined 60 million Euros each for conspiring to fix banana prices. Chiquita Brands International was involved in this scheme as well. Once again, however, Chiquita escaped fines and penalties by alerting authorities with the European Union to the activity.
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“Companies need to be aware that the commission takes its anti-cartel enforcement duties very seriously,” said Joaquin Almunia, the EU’s competition commissioner, in an official statement. “There are only two ways to avoid a fine: refrain from joining a cartel or, if you have fallen for it, repent rapidly and inform the commission about it.”
According to another statement by company spokesman Ed Loyd, Chiquita Brands International is simply “pleased to have this issue concluded.” | <urn:uuid:17037670-836c-4407-8d2e-2d7874568e83> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fooddigital.com/production/chiquita-brands-blows-whistle-on-banana-cartel | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955318 | 401 | 1.71875 | 2 |
British songstress Helen Shapiro had an usually deep voice as a young child, earning her a nickname, Foghorn, from her schoolmates. By the time she was 14 in 1961, she had a UK #3 hit with her first single, Don't Treat Me Like A Child.
In 1963, The Beatles were her supporting act during their first national tour of Britain.
Playlist: Don’t Treat Me Like A Child Birth of the Blues Walkin To Happiness Woe Is Me Fever Not Responsible Shop Around Forget About The Bad Things It’s My Party Goody Goody Are You Lonesome Tonight? I Want You To Be Happy He’s A Rebel Will You Love Me Tomorrow My Guy Walk On By St. Louis Blues | <urn:uuid:4496d148-a3ab-42d3-a9a9-f953b66bb10c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kcur.org/post/my-cousin-helen-shapiro | 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 | 0.936463 | 155 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Nine-year-old Izzy Skenazy was fearless when he asked his parents if he could ride the New York City subway alone. Armed with a subway map, $20 and a metro card, they sent him off on his way.
Izzy's mother said the whole thing took about 45 minutes and that her son came home very happy. The pre-teen said it made him feel more grown up, but many people around the globe didn't think his family made a good choice.
It sparked a firestorm of anger directed at his mom, Lenore Skenazy, a syndicated columnist who wrote about it on her blog. Critics called her naïve, dangerous and even the worst mother in the world.
Skenazy, now author of "Free-Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts With Worry," didn't see it that way.
"It turns out a lot of us who love our children listen to them to try and figure out if they're ready for the next stage of their life," she said.
Lenore Skenazy will be on ABCNews.com reading the comments you make below and responding tonight at 6:45 p.m. ET.
Watch Skenazy's story Saturday on "World News." Check your local listings for air time.
Skenazy believes you have to listen when your child tells you something.
"When a kid comes to you and is telling you something like they're ready to try something," she said, "as a grown-up you have to listen and think, 'Maybe he is ready.' And you prepare him and let him try it."
Skenazy doesn't think parents need to constantly worry that something bad will happen.
"You're living in America in 2009," she said. "When you turn on the TV, you're going to see some horrible abduction story -- but you know they'll have gone to Aruba to find that story, or they'll go to Portugal to get a really juicy abduction story."
Bad things do happen to children, but crime statistics show that the world today is no more dangerous for children than it was a generation ago, she added.
Therefore, today's kids deserve the same freedoms their parents had, according to Skenazy.
"You just want them to have some joy in life that isn't being taken one place to another -- and then they're at the soccer game, and then the coach tells them exactly what to do," she said. "Everybody gets a trophy for showing up, and then you drive them home. Then it's homework, then Nintendo, then bed. I don't think that's a great childhood."
Some child psychologists agree with Skenazy's "free-range" approach.
"Confidence doesn't come from telling your kids you're great, you're wonderful, you're very smart," said Dr. Richard Gallagher, an associate professor at the NYU Child Study Center. "Confidence comes from kids accomplishing things, and I think we have to give them these opportunities."
Skenazy said parents are depriving children of one of the greatest moments in childhood. She described it as "the 'I did it myself' moment, when you get yourself to the park, when you ride your bike without your dad holding on to the front." | <urn:uuid:fc97e4cc-47b1-4ec4-ba83-98301d986c81> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://abcnews.go.com/Health/LifeStages/story?id=7551441&page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984853 | 684 | 1.632813 | 2 |
In October, 2008, a van from Oxford University's Bodleian Library pulled into the driveway of Alan Bennett's home in the Camden Town neighborhood of northern London. Library staffers began loading what turned out to be 100 boxes of papers, which included manuscripts and working drafts of plays, television scripts, film scripts, diaries, letters, drafts of his fictional work, and hundreds of inscribed first editions of books by Bennett and his friends. These 100 boxes were the first installment of the writer's archives, which he was donating to the Bodleian; at his death, all remaining papers and his working library will follow.
The library was absolutely delighted to receive the papers of this recipient of the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre, a writer London's Times Literary Supplement has described as "probably our greatest living dramatist." Bennett described the donation "as a kind of small recompense for what I was given" by Oxford and the English educational system, through which various scholarships and awards had educated Bennett for free. Bennett's tremendous gift, which would have fetched hundreds of thousands of pounds or more, had he decided to sell it, and the Bodleian's excitement at getting it, sum up his life's work in one generous transaction.
Bennett jokes that as a child he was deprived of the deprivation that usually prepares a writer for his craft, since his family was normal and his parents were happy together. Alan Bennett was born in 1934 and grew up in a modest home in Leeds, a city in Yorkshire, in the north of England. His father was a butcher. Alan went to public schools and was given a scholarship to Exeter College Oxford, where in 1957 he earned a degree in history.
While he was continuing his studies in order to become a history professor, he began writing sketch comedy with his friends and classmates Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller, and Peter Cook. In 1960 the four became famous when their satirical review Beyond the Fringe was so great a hit at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh that it subsequently had a successful run in London's West End, and then moved to Broadway in New York. Beyond launched the careers of all four men. Moore became a star on TV and in the movies, Miller a theater and opera director, Cook a comedian and satirist. Bennett continued acting, writing sketch comedy for the BBC, and soon began writing in many different genres.
A love of history and theatrical innovation are two of the themes that run through the papers in the 100 boxes headed to the Bodleian. For example, his first full-length play, Forty Years On, produced in 1968, is set in Albion House, a fictional boys' school. In typical self-effacing style, Bennett describes this early comedy, a cross between a review and a history lesson, as "an elaborate life support system for the preservation of bad jokes." Bennett went on to write a large number of innovative monologues and plays for the BBC, screenplays, fiction, non-fiction, and a celebrated biography called Writing Home.
His own life appears more and more in his work over the course of his career. This theme culminated in his play The Lady in the Van, produced in 1999, in which he tells the true story of Miss Shepherd, an eccentric and odd-smelling older woman, who lived in her van in Bennett's driveway in Camden for 20 years. In order to portray his own conflicted relationship with this strange guest, the writer is played by two actors who are both onstage at the same time: Alan Bennett, who is charitable toward his guest and wants to help her, and Alan Bennett 2, a writer who is focused on the literary potential of this odd visitor and looks for ways to exploit her.
Bennett's most commercially successful work includes the play The Madness of George III, the Oscar-winning film version The Madness of King George, and the play The History Boys, which won three Laurence Olivier Awards in London and six Tony Awards in New York, including best play, and was made into an award-winning film in 2006. Throughout his career he also continued to act and do recordings and radio work in his famous Yorkshire accent.
One work not in the Bodleian's van is Bennett's most recent play, The Habit of Art, which is playing at the National Theatre in London through the spring of 2010. The play, directed by Bennett's longtime collaborator Nicholas Hytner, is about the poet W. H. Auden and the composer Benjamin Bitten meeting again at Oxford in 1967, having not seen each other for 25 years. | <urn:uuid:9f3970c3-7227-4fe4-beb7-67818151a6c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chicagoshakes.com/main.taf?p=2,19,3,36,1,2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98517 | 933 | 1.695313 | 2 |
News Media Guidelines
A Guide to Working with the Media for Faculty and Staff
The Office of University Communications (UComm) is staffed by professionals with extensive experience in dealing with the media on a daily basis. UComm works with all media, including on-campus publications, local, national and international, in all formats — print, broadcast and electronic. In collaboration with the appropriate communications professionals at each college and school, UComm staff issues press releases, organizes press conferences and handles the University’s overall media relations. The office assists in publicizing news that has a University connection. UComm also maintains a list of faculty experts whom external media can contact for expertise on timely topics or current events.
If a reporter contacts UComm with a request to speak to a faculty or staff member or contacts a faculty or staff member directly, UComm’s media relations team will help the faculty or staff member prepare for the interview and serve as the media liaison. For faculty who have authored a paper to be published, have a new research project under way, are receiving a prestigious award or grant, are planning a unique event or for any other publicity needs, this guide will them understand the University’s policies on how to reach the media.
A story or event may be very important to its sponsors, but whether it will receive external press coverage depends on many factors, including the nature and significance of the news or event, the timing and even what other news is happening that day. The media relations team will be able to advise on whether to expect coverage. Generally, a story must have some unusual aspect to warrant wide attention. Examples include: a scientific breakthrough, an exceptionally large donation, an appointment of a well-known scholar, or a timely event or development.
Media coverage of any story or event never can be guaranteed. However, most news will often be covered in the campus print and online media, including DrexelNow.
All contact with the media should be coordinated by the Office of University Communications according to University policy. | <urn:uuid:0962c1cf-722a-4a57-95c5-2aed0128213e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://drexel.edu/ucomm/news-media/guidelines/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943167 | 413 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Passport to the World
Sunday, June 1, 2013, 2-4 p.m.
Passport to the World, a series highlighting different countries from around the world, takes place bi-monthly at the Williamson County Library. The series is free and open to the public.
Passport to the World provides an authentic and personal look into the splendor of the continents around the globe. This bi-monthly series takes a walk through the doorways of the world into the seven continents to experience art, music, food, lifestyle, landscape, and heritage of our international neighbors presented through performance, presentation and display. Experience the world without leaving home!
“This series is designed to assist our community in becoming globally competent and passionate citizens of the world,” said Dr. Mark Hilliard, President of O’More College of Design. “With each year that passes, more and more of our local economy will include global ties. An understanding of this global economy as well as global politics, global education, global religion, global conflict, and global art and design are imperative to the total preparation process of making American students and businesses marketable throughout the world.”
Passport to the World is presented by Sister Cities of Franklin and Williamson County and co-sponsored by the Williamson County Public Library and the Townsend Institute for Global Competency at O’More College of Design. | <urn:uuid:770661a7-6f78-41ef-8137-31189d1baa3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sistercitiestn.org/?page_id=78 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937598 | 286 | 1.59375 | 2 |
WHAT if there was a little green being on Mars that sneaks by and throws a rock at ‘Curiosity’ — the $2.5bn capitalist toy made to find life on the red planet. Will the next Curiosity edition be equipped with a weapon? Imagine if Curiosity sends back pictures of a pool of diamonds, surrounded by little green beings who do not welcome ‘foreign’ machines on their landscape. Will the next mission include a drone cover?
Whereas the presence of this little green being on Mars, throwing a rock, living by a pool of diamonds may sound like a far – fetched and hilariously childish imagination. The $2.5bn figure spent on this project is a fact, good for what?
How many lives could have been saved here on earth with this figure? How many starving beings could have been given another morsel, to keep them alive? How many taps could have provided water that doesn’t stench?
What makes the desire to chase an answer to a query worth more than the lives which could have been saved or improved?
What is it that justifies, legalises, obliges pride, and fans competition for such endeavours that billions are spent on it in utter disregard of the fact that the same amount could have been better spent elsewhere?
The answer is capitalism, and man’s opinion that he can exclusively legislate best for himself and the rest. | <urn:uuid:8e086625-5870-4ca5-8244-072370157928> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dawn.com/2012/08/16/curiosity-a-capitalist-toy/print/ | 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 | 0.969526 | 290 | 1.679688 | 2 |
NBC says that 215 million Americans watched the Beijing Olympics, making it the most-watched TV event of all time in this country.
Researchers say viewership soared because Americans were fascinated with the Chinese culture, excited about the opening ceremonies, and captivated by swimmer Michael Phelps's medal chase. The extreme time difference between China and the United States proved to be an advantage that enabled major Olympic events to be broadcast live for NBC's prime-time coverage.
Alan Wurtzel, president of research and media development for NBCUniversal, projected that the London games would fall within the top-five TV events of all time, with total viewership of more than 200 million Americans over 17 days.
The NBC national network has sold $950 million in advertising for the London games, and Lazarus said those national ad sales could reach $1 billion. The comparable number for Beijing was $850 million. NBC-owned local stations, such as NBC 10 in Philadelphia, are expected to generate an additional $150 million to $175 million in advertising for the London games. NBC paid about $1.2 billion for the rights to the 2012 Olympics, and coverage of them could cost $150 million to produce. Based on these numbers, that would mean a loss of about of $250 million.
Lazarus said NBC would not lose as much money as the entertainment conglomerate had originally projected when Comcast, the nation's largest cable-TV and Internet broadband provider, purchased majority control of it from General Electric in early 2011.
NBC Sports executives have sought to portray a more disciplined business management while preserving NBC's broadcasting quality and storytelling capability.
Veteran NBC announcer Bob Costas opened the press event with Lazarus in the Saturday Nite Live studio. SNL's space, which is not used during the summer, has been turned into an area for producing Olympic highlight clips and color — inside NBC, it's called the "highlights factory."
Steve Burke, a former Comcast Corp. executive who is now chief executive officer of NBCUniversal, said the goal with these Olympics is "to stay true to what got us here but do things that are new and different."
Burke said NBC would use the Olympics to promote NBC properties and to revitalize Today, which is facing a challenge to its No. 1 rating in the morning from Good Morning America.
Some think NBC's decision to live-stream every competition over the Internet could drain viewership from NBC's prime-time broadcast-TV coverage. Event coverage on multiple media platforms — tablet, phone, laptop, and TV — should be complementary and boost viewership, Burke said.
"In a really fragmented world," he said, "we think more is better."
Contact Bob Fernandez at 215-854-5897 or email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:7c64c454-dae0-462c-8a83-02ecea820b23> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.philly.com/2012-06-29/business/32458076_1_nbc-sports-group-nbc-s-olympics-beijing-olympics | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966398 | 567 | 1.65625 | 2 |
---- — Walking in the Shadows of 9/11: Part 3
SHANKSVILLE, PA. — The place ... chosen by fate ... holds a powerful silence.
Waist-high grasses and wildflowers sway in the breeze. The sky above the steep, wooded hillsides looks unending.
“There’s nothing more compelling than when the construction is gone and it’s quiet, and it’s just the birds, and the skies are blue, and you see the lone contrail from a plane overhead,” Jeff Reinbold said, standing on the hilltop. “It’s incredibly moving.”
As he spoke, trucks and earthmovers put finishing touches on America’s newest national park, the Flight 93 National Memorial, where Reinbold serves as site manager and a ranger for the National Park Service. Its 2,200 acres embrace the spot where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed at 10:03 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001. It was the last of four hijackings that morning by suicidal al-Qaida terrorists in a broad scheme to inflict death and destruction at American symbols of capitalism, military and government. The three other captured airliners already had hit their intended targets — both Twin Towers at the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., killing more than 2,900 people.
The 40 passengers and crew members aboard Flight 93 rewrote the conclusion of the plot by the terrorists, who wanted to crash the fourth plane into, most likely, the U.S. Capitol.
That’s why it all ended here, in a rural, grassy clearing, just north of the tiny mining town of Shanksville, Pa.
That’s why the first phase of the permanent Flight 93 National Memorial officially opens this weekend — the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
“An act of heroism,” said Bill Sirotnak, who visited the temporary memorial there in July.
Sirotnak, a 69-year-old retired New York State Police helicopter pilot, toured this remote location, where the temporary memorial has drawn an estimated 1 million visitors since 9/11.
Like every person who travels the rollercoaster backroads of southwestern Pennsylvania, Sirotnak came with his own 9/11 memories. Sirotnak lives in Belvidere, N.J., not far from his brother in Phillipsburg. Sirotnak’s brother planned to attend a noontime wedding reception on Sept. 11 in the World Trade Center. Fortunately, his brother did not go early to New York, where the planes crashed at 8:46 and 9:03 a.m., and saw it on TV, just as Bill did. However, one of Sirotnak’s former New York State Police co-workers, who was working inside the towers that day, died.
“That’s my story,” Sirotnak said.
He and others who come to the Flight 93 crash location typically speak in soft, respectful tones. Some voices rise just above a whisper.
“Unlike other places, this is one place where it’s a conversation with our visitors,” said Reinbold, who’s talked with thousands of those people since taking his position in 2002. “It’s not just us telling them what happened. It’s them telling us where they were that day, and what it meant to them, and what they might have lost. So, even though it’s been 10 years, it’s still an incredibly emotional place for people.”
Reinbold, his fellow NPS rangers, and a team of Shanksville volunteer guides known as “The Ambassadors” answer visitors’ questions about Flight 93. Sometimes, their response is, “No one knows.”
Some things are clear
Everyone on the plane perished that day — the pilot, first officer, five flight attendants and 33 passengers, along with the four hijackers. A small number of people witnessed the Boeing 757 streak overhead, upside-down, at 563 mph and crash nose-first into the field at the base of a coal mining operation. The story of what happened onboard emerged from cellphone and airphone calls made by the passengers and crew members to loved ones, airline employees and 911 operators on the ground. Also, the recovered cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder revealed stark details about the terrorists’ thoughts and movements.
Some elements remain a mystery, but others are clear.
At 9:28, the four terrorists, who boarded Flight 93 from Newark to San Francisco along with 33 others, stormed the cockpit, killed or incapacitated the pilots, took control and turned the aircraft toward Washington. Their assault came later than al-Qaida planned. Routine traffic delayed takeoff by more than 25 minutes. And, for unknown reasons, the Flight 93 hijackers waited 46 minutes into the flight to act. Those who plotted the coordinated hijackings purposely chose the four flights because they were coast-to-coast (thus, fully loaded with fuel to cause maximum damage), sparsely populated (to prevent passenger resistance), and simultaneously departing around 8 a.m. (for the element of surprise), according to the 2004 9/11 Commission report. So, the delayed takeover by the Flight 93 hijackers meant the passengers who discreetly made cellphone and airphone calls learned of the three other crashes and deduced that theirs would be steered into some other landmark target as well.
They chose to fight back.
That decision, made with Washington less than a half-hour away, motivates the Rev. Alphonse Mascherino to maintain a memorial chapel honoring “the heroes” of Flight 93, just west of Shanksville. Using his own savings and donated funds and labor, the 67-year-old Catholic bishop bought and renovated a vacant country church in 2002, inspired by spiritual messages hand-written on a “Shanksville Salutes the Heroes of Flight 93” sign posted in the town after the crash. It is unaffiliated with the National Park Service. Since its opening, 300,000 people have toured the chapel.
Mascherino, himself, overcame three bouts of cancer. Chapel guests hear him retell the story, in a raspy yet passionate voice, of the decision by the “heroes” to overcome their captors.
Vote, pray, act
“They were hijacked by 9:30. By a quarter-to-10, they knew full well what was going on. They knew they were part of this plot,” Mascherino said, sitting in a folding chair in front of the altar. “And by a quarter-to-10, they said, ‘We’re going to do something about this.’ [Passenger] Tom Burnett even said [by phone] to his wife, ‘We’re going to do something.’ And she said, ‘Oh, Tom, don’t do anything. Wait for the authorities.’ He said, ‘We can’t wait for the authorities. We have to do something, and it has to be now.’ That’s how urgent this was. So by 10 o’clock, they decided to do something. They rose up in 4 minutes.”
Before the revolt against the hijackers, Mascherino said, passengers and flight attendants did two particularly significant things — they took a vote, and they prayed.
“That’s where they got the courage and the strength to do what they had to do,” the priest said.
In the uprising, according to the 9/11 Commission report, flight attendants boiled water to throw on the terrorists. Passengers repeatedly rammed a food cart into the cockpit door. Sounds of physical confrontations could be heard. The hijacker pilot tried tipping the plane side-to-side to unsettle the passengers. Sensing they were about to be overtaken, the terrorists opted to crash the jet short of their goal in Washington.
That place happened to be the field near Shanksville.
It was less than 20 minutes of flight time away from the Capitol, where Congress was in session. A strike on that historic structure would have “destroyed a lot more lives, and also would’ve been more of a feather in the terrorists’ caps to have attacked the Capitol of the United States,” Sirotnak said, standing by a fence covered with flowers and hand-made tributes near the crash site. “That would’ve been really disastrous, in my opinion. These people prevented that.”
A bronze plaque, expressing appreciation to those on Flight 93, now hangs in the Capitol.
While some details were lost along with those lives, one thing is certain to Ed Root, whose cousin, Lorraine Bay, a longtime United Airlines flight attendant, died.
“The people of Flight 93 wanted to live,” Root said while visiting “Father Al” and the chapel in July. “There’s no doubt in my mind, they didn’t want to die.”
That distinguishes the passengers and crew from the hijackers, in Root’s eyes.
“[The passengers and flight attendants] wanted to try to get control of the plane and, if possible, to survive,” he said. “But they knew from all of the phone calls that if they didn’t do something, it would be far worse. So it really is this comparison of philosophies of a free society versus a terrorist society. One is, their cause is death; the other is, their cause is life. And that’s what makes this worthy of a national memorial. That’s what makes this worth being remembered.
“The physical courage, to me, is amazing and wonderful,” Root added, “but it even goes beyond that — that these people, in a half-hour, got information, sat down together, discussed it, shared information, decided to act and then acted. In a half-hour. We all have to think, ‘What would I have done if I was there?’ And I think that’s one of the reasons that makes this place so moving for people, because I think you can’t help but have that cross your mind.”
The weight of that question seems apparent in the steady stream of visitors to the Flight 93 National Memorial.
Inside the temporary visitors center, more than a dozen people stood silently in July, reading panels depicting a timeline of events on 9/11, reading the cockpit voice recorder transcript and a log of cellphone and airphone calls by the passengers and crew. Though the temperature in the building — a converted mining shed covered in corrugated steel — topped 90 degrees, the sweaty guests patiently thumbed through the documents, signed a guestbook or wrote messages about their visit on cards provided and preserved by the National Park Service.
Then, they would walk out to the hill overlooking the crash site. At its base, construction crews worked on a new memorial plaza gateway. Beginning this weekend, tourists can drive on a new access road connected to the closest full highway (U.S. 30) to a visitors shelter and the black walkway bordered by the white, accordion-like Wall of Names, featuring all 40 passengers and crew members. Beyond a black barrier along the walkway is the grassy spot where Flight 93 went down. Once the FBI and police completed their investigation, the crater created by the collision and explosion was filled in and covered with wildflowers, explained Reinbold, the NPS ranger.
“We treat that area as a cemetery,” Reinbold said. “We don’t allow anybody on there. It is their final resting place.”
Since 2001, more than 1 million visitors have studied the scenery, paid their respects, read the recap or left a written thought or memento.
Many wear contemplative expressions.
Sharon Wane lives 45 minutes from Shanksville in Flintstone, Md. The 53-year-old credit union employee came to the Flight 93 National Memorial with her mother in July. The events of 9/11 enhanced her appreciation of family. “You don’t take things for granted as much,” she said.
Wane also visited there in 2004. Seven years later, the place still stirred her emotions.
“It’s just like seeing the Vietnam [Memorial] wall [in Washington] — you tear up,” she said of the tribute to those aboard Flight 93. “It’s hard to believe something like that was going to happen. And I thank them. And they’re at peace … they’re at peace.”
Nearby, Annie Snyder looked at flowers and photographs left on a fence at the memorial. Snyder directs the North Star Kids choir, a group of 7- to 14-year-olds from Pittsburgh. On each Sept. 11 anniversary, her North Star Kids perform at 9/11 remembrance ceremonies. In 2002, they sang “God Bless America” alongside “American Idol” star Kelly Clarkson in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. Since then, Snyder’s kids have been a fixture at anniversary events at the Flight 93 Memorial and at the chapel down the road. They’re scheduled to sing there today, too.
Each year, the children receive one or two names of the Flight 93 “heroes” and must study their background and tell a bit of their life stories at the 9/11 ceremonies.
In July, bright yellow flowers placed on the fence in honor of Lorraine Bay’s birthday caught Snyder’s attention. Snyder’s granddaughter, a North Star Kids choir member, drew Lorraine’s name one year and left a tin angel on the fence in the flight attendant’s memory. “The children have a new-found patriotism,” Snyder said. “They understand what 9/11 is.”
‘All of her stories ended with a laugh’
Lorraine Bay was “kind of like the big sister I never had,” Root recalled.
They were first cousins, and both grew up in single-child families. Lorraine was 3 1/2 years older and captain of the color guard at her high school. “So I always kind of looked up to her as the ‘cool teenager,’” Root said.
When Lorraine joined United Airlines in her 20s, being a “stewardess was a glamorous thing,” Root said. The women got training for posture and makeup, which “is probably against the federal regulations to do that kind of stuff now,” he added, chuckling. By 2001, she’d served 37 years and mentored young flight attendants. She loved to shop for unique greeting cards for her relatives and colleagues. Two co-workers received cards that she’d dropped in the mail early on Sept. 11 after leaving home in East Windsor, N.J., where she and her husband, Eric, lived.
“When somebody dies, especially a tragic death of this nature, you always want to say nice things about them,” Root said, “but with Lorraine, I can honestly say that. She was a gregarious person. She would always tell us these great stories about people on the planes, and things that happened. And, you know, sometimes you get crabby passengers, or bad weather, or God knows what, but all of her stories ended with a laugh.”
Indeed, the most widely seen photograph of Lorraine shows her in uniform, smiling broadly, seemingly on the brink of laughter.
As a “senior flight attendant” at age 58, Lorraine was able to choose which flights she wanted to work, Root said, and Flight 93, from Jersey to California, suited her schedule.
After the hijackers commandeered the 757, passengers and crew members placed a total of 35 calls by airphones and two by cellphones, according to federal transcripts. Calls by 10 passengers and two flight attendants successfully connected; Lorraine was not among those. Thus, her role in the heroism aboard Flight 93 remains unknown.
“I don’t want to speculate and try not to speculate,” Root said. “I believe in my heart of hearts that, number 1, she didn’t want to call her husband because she didn’t want to worry him, because that’s the way she was. And, number 2, with all of her experience and training, that she was doing whatever she thought she should do — whether that was sitting down with another passenger, or consoling someone, or whether it was boiling water or looking for implements they could use as weapons.”
One of the few intact items found in the wreckage and debris was Lorraine’s flight log book, which was donated by her husband to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, where it is now on display. The manual gives flight attendants instructions on handling various in-flight situations, including the presence of a bomb aboard a plane. One of the Flight 93 hijackers claimed to have a bomb strapped to his waist, though passengers expressed doubts that it was real.
First responders to the scene discovered Lorraine’s log book.
One of the first two Pennsylvania State Police troopers to reach the site was Patrick Stewart. Crews from the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department and emergency medical services were already there. While a fellow trooper headed toward the crater, Stewart searched the edge of the scorched woods, unsure of what exactly had happened. “After that, it didn’t take too long to figure out that we had the real deal here,” Stewart said.
“It was just total devastation,” he added.
The sight contrasted with the climate on that Tuesday morning. Stewart had been on patrol in the mountains, heading to a 10 a.m. appointment at a judge’s office in a nearby town, Boswell. “I remember it being a very beautiful day. Actually, outstanding,” Stewart said.
As Stewart recalled his movements, he sat on a bicycle, talking with friends on John Street in Shanksville on a hot July morning a decade later. The town doesn’t look much different now than it did in 2001. For a motorist descending the steep stretch of Pennsylvania 1007, the first glimpses of Shanksville are of steeples. It’s still home to a handful of churches, about 250 people, a post office, an auto repair shop, a craft store and Ida’s Country Store — the local hangout since the 1940s. Stony Creek trickles through the middle of the village. In the lawn of the volunteer fire department, Station No. 627, stands an I-beam cross pulled from the 9/11 rubble at the World Trade Center in New York. Draped with a flag, the donated cross bears an inscription, paying tribute to the Flight 93 passengers and crew.
“Never forget: We honor those who saw their untimely fate before them and chose to defeat evil to ensure America’s freedom.”
Atop a hill to the east sits Shanksville-Stonycreek School, attended by 500 kids, kindergarten through high school, in this sector of Somerset County. Almost every child in Shanksville enrolls there. On Sept. 11, 2001, the school stood directly in the path of the hijacked airliner. Investigators estimated that if Flight 93 had been airborne just a few seconds longer, it could have struck the school.
Abby Duppstadt was a third-grader, and remembers hearing the sound of the crash, “a big boom.”
“We were working on a project, and our teacher just told us that it was probably that a tree fell. And so, we all believed her because we were so young,” said Duppstadt, now 18 and working the counter at Ida’s, the store owned by her uncle.
Today, a metal sculpture adorns the school’s west-side entrance, featuring the handprints of all 500 children at the school that day. Above the entryway’s right side flies an American flag, bearing the words, “Our nation will eternally honor the heroes of Flight 93.”
Such memorials placed around Shanksville reveal an acceptance by the community of its improbable role during one of the nation’s most trying events.
Asked to describe the townspeople, Jeff Reinbold, the NPS ranger, said, “The best way to answer that is their response to the crash.” The first responders were local people. Once state and federal officials moved in, the community offered the officers meals and even the use of their homes for sleep or showers. Father Al Mascherino remembers a woman who stopped while driving to work and handed the keys to her family’s house to police officers, telling them, “My house is the third one on the left. It’s a brick house. There’s food in the refrigerator. There’s fresh towels. Take a shower. Take a nap. Whatever you want to do, help yourself. And get your friends.”
American flags flew everywhere.
“It would give you chills just seeing all the flags in yards,” said Stewart, the trooper. “Everybody just forgot all about the bad.”
For future generations
Numerous Shanksville residents volunteered to greet and briefly explain what happened to hundreds of curious, concerned visitors in September 2001. Many of those same volunteers continue in that role as The Ambassadors at the Flight 93 Memorial. “They feel a strong connection to the story and this place,” Reinbold said. “But also, [there’s] that kind of down-home hospitality, that if someone comes here, they should be taken care of; we should answer their questions; we should tell them what we know; we should listen to them.”
The town and the families of the passengers and crew feel a kinship, Reinbold added.
“Sometimes, when family members come out here, they’ll stay with some of the volunteers they’ve met over the years,” he said. “It’s an incredible bond that’s developed.”
Many relatives visit the Flight 93 Memorial Chapel. Some have donated keepsakes. That includes Ilse Homer, mother of Flight 93 first officer Leroy Homer. She contributed a shovel from the groundbreaking of the national memorial, a model airplane Leroy crafted at age 11, and a collage of photos showing Leroy as an infant, at first communion, in grade school, high school and military academy, and at his wedding. “She said, ‘This is his whole life,’” Mascherino said of Ilse.
In his July stop at the chapel, Ed Root met Father Al with a warm handshake. Now 64 years old, Root willingly walked outside in the heat to pose for a photograph beside Lorraine’s portrait on a monument to the Flight 93 crew behind the chapel. He wore a ballcap embroidered on its front with a U.S. flag and the words “Shanksville, Flight 93.” On the hat’s back side was the 9/11 date and the phrase, “Let’s roll,” uttered by passenger Todd Beamer, when he and others boldy rushed the terrorists in the cockpit. Root, who lives four hours from Shanksville in Coopersburg, Pa., is the treasurer of the Families of Flight 93, a nonprofit group with nearly 2,000 members, and he served on two juries to select the winning design of the Flight 93 National Memorial. That contest drew more than 1,000 entries, including some from Shanksville.
The design chosen, created by Paul Murdoch Architects of Los Angeles, unveils its first phase this weekend. The latter two phases, planned for completion by 2014, include a 93-foot-tall set of 40 wind chimes, known as “The Tower of Voices,” a visitors learning center, and two memorial walls — the approximate height of the airliner as it passed overhead — creating an entry portal to the site. To finish, an additional $10 million in donations (through the National Park Foundation) is needed. Already, donors have contributed $20 million, joining $14 million in federal money and $18.5 million from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
“When it’s completed, I think people are going to be amazed at what they see,” Reinbold said, “because it’s a very different memorial.”
Some regular visitors to the temporary memorial wished it remained as-is, to keep its simplicity. Root favors the new, permanent memorial. Its lasting elements, he said, will convey to future generations the significance of the actions taken by those 40 people aboard that plane. Along with his cousin’s own legacy, her name lives, too. Lorraine Bay and her husband had no children, but Root has three grandchildren, including two granddaughters. One of the girls is named Lorraine. The other shares her great-aunt’s middle name, Grace.
Likewise, Root sees the Flight 93 National Memorial as a way to ensure that such memories aren’t lost in an idyllic clearing in the Pennsylvania hills.
“This memorial, I think, is for 50 years from now, a hundred years from now, as long as this country survives,” Root said softly inside the chapel. “It’s for long beyond — people, those of us who were here that day, when we’re all gone, it’ll be more meaningful. It’s a peaceful site. It’s a beautiful site. And I think to just leave it like it was would’ve lost that immediacy with passing of the generation that lived through it. So I think it will be a reflective place, where people can go and think about whatever they want to think about. But it’s something where you can really focus in on what happened that day, and the people who did it, and what they all represent.”
Mark Bennett can be reached at (812) 231-4377 or firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:1e766f77-c61b-4cb6-aa0c-49223bf91b7e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tribstar.com/911anniversary/x803551426/True-heroism-Flight-93-rewrote-conclusion-of-the-plot-by-9-11-terrorists/print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962801 | 5,603 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Advocate editorial board opinion: Department needs facility for controlled situations
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Most residents of Victoria are aware of the increased frequency of house fires and other fires that have caused a lot of property damage in 2011 because of dry conditions and the drought.
What many don't know is that these catastrophic fires have been on-the-job training for many of our firefighters because we lack a facility for training them in a controlled simulated situation. This presents a dangerous situation for some of our firefighters.
Fire Chief Tanner Drake said 8,567 calls were made in 2010.
He said the final count is not in for 2011, but it will be in the neighborhood of 9,200 calls.
"Looks to me, right now, we're going to be up at least 600 calls," Drake said.
"Our biggest issue is we don't have anyway to duplicate a fire environment," he said.
With that said, we fully support a proposal to move $700,000 from the city's general fund to the fire department for the purpose of constructing a burn building, a training structure firefighters can learn how to safely rescue in a confined space - and in a controlled situation.
We think this training aid will help our fire department excel in its job. And others, such as volunteer fire departments, county fire department and SWAT teams, can use the proposed structure, too.
"Despite us not having a training burn building, these guys deliver a great job," Drake said. He emphasized the professionalism of the Victoria Fire Department.
However, he said when a new employee is hired, "we won't know how they are going to react in a structural fire. Some people just can't do it. We need to know that up front."
Currently, the department has a 1960s-era building that now can only be used for repelling and other rescue training, but not for fire in a building training.
Like Drake, we see the benefit of having a well-trained department.
We urge the city council, at the proposal's second and third reading, to approve moving $700,000 from the general fund for the fire department to help construct a training burn building.
This editorial reflects the views of the Victoria Advocate's editorial board. | <urn:uuid:b4eb9554-8b2c-48e0-bfd1-1ab0e68b1b6a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2012/jan/03/vp_edit_burnbuilding_010412_163435/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971011 | 471 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
KAUNIS KOTI (Beautiful Home) was first issued in 1948 as a trade magazine for the growing handicraft industry in Finland. It was however also directed at the general public, which in the postwar years had more money to spend on interior decorating. The magazine finally merged with the still existing Avotakka (Open fireplace) in 1972 and a excellent publication was terminated. Over the years people such as J.S. Siren, Yki Nummi, Antti Nurmesniemi, Tapio Wirkkala, Kaj Franck, Olof Ottelin, Ilmari Tapiovaara and many more contributed to the magazine with texts, drawings and photographs, giving their views on the emergence of Finnish design.
The magazine urged for beautiful but cheap everyday goods for the people and reported national news but also international events. With the Finnish success at the Triennales in the 1950's and 60's the magazine became more bold and artistic in it's appearance and the covers are often pieces of art in itself.
There used to be a well organized site on design at www.kotikaunis.fi but it was closed for unknown reasons. Please mail wmhost and ask them to contact the contributor and demand for it to be reopened.
The images show the first and the last issue of Kaunis Koti
Posted by Anna & Jonas at 12:33 PM | <urn:uuid:3a1a73e0-4a52-4a77-ba96-ddb1ed184994> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://designofthecentury.blogspot.com/2006/02/kaunis-koti-beautiful-home-was-first.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967182 | 294 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Track work: During the Spring work weekend, about 600 feet of track was put into service. The spring work weekend also saw the introduction of "Big Joe", a home-made tamping machine with four air-powered tampers attached to a frame, powered currently by a large rented air compressor. Big Joe made another appearance in the fall after additional changes were made, at which time 125 feet of new track was built and 200 feet of new track was put into service.
Total passenger-ready mainline track at the end of 2009: 12,800 feet, or 2.43 miles, plus another 200 feet of track beyond it, for 2.46 miles of track.
Rolling stock: Work on a new Model T railcar progressed during the year with the pressing of wheels on axles and tires on the wheels, work on the running gear of the car, and the beginning of the car's final assembly at the home of the volunteer who is building it.
Locomotive 9: Machining on the frame casting for #9 continued, as well as work on the forward frame, cylinder casting, and cab. The new boiler arrived mid-year and was set up at the entrance of Bay 1 in the car shop extension, where appliances began to be re-applied to it.
Buildings: The southward extension of the car shop was completed, with the finishing of the interior. A large lathe acquired in 2008 was placed at the southern end of the building and will be used for turning wheels among other things. Work continues on rewiring the entire shop building with period-style wiring and lights. The east was was rearranged during the spring work weekend by moving the windows from up high down to normal height. Additionally the eastern, southern, and western walls were all changed over to board and batten.
Grounds: During the winter, volunteers worked at Head Tide, clearing trees from the right of way in order to fulfill the terms of an easement over the property. Crews cleared out the tall grass on museum property in July and August. | <urn:uuid:bf335b36-fdf8-43c7-baf7-3b8cc4fb3f26> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wwfry.org/aboutus/progress/2009.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978712 | 422 | 1.625 | 2 |
Sept. 11 (Source: By George Hostetter, The Fresno Bee, Calif.) - Work is expected to begin soon on a new idea in Fresno — housing built for the homeless.
Citing the needs of a growing homeless population as well as the moral and legal duty to play fair, the City Council has signed off on a $1.5 million loan to help fund construction of a large housing project for people currently living on the streets.
The $11.8 million project near the Poverello House is the first of its kind in Fresno.
The city and a multitude of government, nonprofit and religious organizations have long tried to stem the rising tide of homelessness with stopgap measures such as emergency housing vouchers.
But city officials say the proposed 70-unit Renaissance at Santa Clara marks the first time City Hall has ventured into building new housing specifically designed for the chronically homeless.
With thousands of people sleeping on sidewalks or under bridges every night, the officials add, this historic project will not be the last of its kind.
“We see more and more of our low-income families becoming homeless because of our economic situation,” says Claudia Cazares, manager of the city’s Housing and Community Development Division. The Renaissance at Santa Clara “is a very positive step forward.”
But the project already is sparking debate. That’s because more projects such as the Renaissance are coming, city leaders say, but not everyone is happy about the thought of them in their neighborhood.
Trying to meet the need
The homeless challenge in Fresno has become a hot-button issue. City Hall is in the midst of an effort to end chronic homelessness within a decade, and Mayor Ashley Swearengin has made the success of the “Fresno First Steps Home” housing initiative a major goal of her administration.
Swearengin announced Wednesday that Walmart has donated $100,000 to the program. The money will be used for housing and services, particularly to the homeless living near the Monterey Street bridge, about a block south of the Renaissance at Santa Clara site.
Fresno Housing Authority executive director Preston Prince estimates Fresno has 5,000 homeless people. But government coffers are shrinking because of a recession that also is the perfect breeding ground for more homelessness.
The Housing Authority is one of many agencies tackling the problem. It recently opened the Renaissance at Trinity, a remodeled complex in southwest Fresno with 20 units for homeless people with serious mental illness.
The Housing Authority also has plans for a project called Renaissance at Alta Monte on Blackstone Avenue just a few blocks north of downtown. The renovated site will have 29 units for people with mental health challenges. On-site services will be provided at no cost.
But Housing Authority officials are counting on the Renaissance at Santa Clara to be a game-changer.
Part of the reason is its scale. There will be 69 studio apartments for the very-low income and the homeless, with one apartment for the complex’s manager.
The apartments, each about 340 square feet, will be in six two-story buildings located on Santa Clara Street, between F and G streets. This is the southern portion of a block that includes Kerr Rug Co. in the northeast corner and a fenced lot in the northwest corner that two years ago was the site of a controversial homeless encampment.
Well-known Fresno real estate developer Tom Richards owned a portion of this lot. When the homeless were removed from the lot in January 2010, Richards said he planned to build homeless housing on the site. Prince said Richards’ lot is not part of the Renaissance at Santa Clara site. However, Prince said, Richards did serve as a consultant on the project.
Housing Authority officials say the project will help revitalize a block whose northern border — Ventura Avenue — serves as a gateway from Highway 99 into downtown.
In addition to its size and newness, Housing Authority officials say, the Renaissance at Santa Clara will provide residents with access to all of the services necessary to give them a new start in life and maintain a law-abiding, stable community. For example, the Poverello House is across the street on Santa Clara and will offer medical care.
The project is expected to be finished in early 2013. The residents have yet to be selected, but Housing Authority officials acknowledge that many probably will have the same problems that bedevil so many homeless: No money, mental illness, alcohol or drug abuse.
There lies the rub for policymakers and average citizens. Prince says the Housing Authority hopes to build at least one homeless housing project a year. They’ll be located throughout Fresno County, but, since Fresno has the biggest homeless population, most will be in Fresno.
Where are these projects to go?
Robert Mitchell, a former Fresno police officer and long-time west-side leader, told the City Council on Aug. 25 that, while he supports efforts to help the disadvantaged, it’s not fair that all three Renaissance projects are in Council District 3.
District 3 includes southwest Fresno and downtown.
“This is something that should be spread throughout the city of Fresno, and not simply dropped in west Fresno,” he said.
Mitchell also said it makes no sense to build Renaissance at Santa Clara in the middle of a drug-infested area that will only tempt the residents when they walk out their front door.
“The location will not serve the people you’re trying to help,” Mitchell said.
District 3 Council Member Oliver Baines said he was voting for the project mainly because its planning began long before he joined the council in 2009. But, Baines added, location decisions must change in the future.
“We need to make sure the entire city is a part of the rehabilitation” of the homeless, Baines said.
Council President Lee Brand, who represents northeast Fresno, said he agreed with Mitchell; too many places for low-income and homeless housing in the downtown area will hurt revitalization efforts, Brand said.
Last week, Brand sounded a more cautious note on the future location of homeless housing projects than he had expressed at the Aug. 25 council meeting.
Brand said city officials must be careful about turning Fresno into a magnet for the homeless. He also said City Hall must be careful not to do anything that destabilizes neighborhoods.
City Manager Mark Scott said he supports the spread of homeless housing projects throughout Fresno. He said such projects come in many sizes, and the people they serve often have different needs. He said the projects usually are near commercial centers and public transportation links because of the residents’ special needs.
The city is reviewing guidelines for the location of homeless housing projects while updating its general plan, Scott said.
“We have to accept that this is a community-wide problem that has to have a community-wide solution,” Scott said. “The one thing you don’t want to start with is saying, ‘OK, there are certain parts of town where we just don’t do this.’ I don’t think that is fair at all.”
The reporter can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org or (559) 441-6272.
(c)2011 The Fresno Bee (Fresno, Calif.)
Visit The Fresno Bee (Fresno, Calif.) at www.fresnobee.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
A service of YellowBrix, Inc. Publication date: 2011-09-11
Source: By George Hostetter, The Fresno Bee, Calif. | <urn:uuid:1f05b248-a27f-440b-9c54-19329d28947d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.loansafe.org/fresno-oks-loan-for-homeless-housing-plan | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961208 | 1,574 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Gate Hill is an experience of a lifetime for our campers. We offer programs for children ages 3 to entering 10th grade. Each division of campers listed below allows children to thrive within an exciting and developmentally age appropriate program.
Villagers: Age 3 to
The Villagers are the youngest of the Gate Hill campers. These campers spend their day in a developmentally appropriate program. Junior sized fields and courts, as well as special program areas including, Buddy’s Playhouse (indoor play center), early childhood arts, an introductory heated pool and the Village playtown, are places where the Villagers can use their imagination, make new friends and improve physical skills. Every group is supported by a 1:4 staff to camper ratio, including an Early Childhood head counselor; a parent or young teacher.
Entering Grades 1-2
The Pathfinder program is balanced between creative and physical activities designed to foster independence and build self-esteem. At this age, campers get to choose one weekly program elective, in addition to participating in the daily group and full camp activities. Pathfinders have caring and nurturing staff members chosen for their ability to work with younger children. Jr Pathfinders (ent 1st grade) still benefit from early childhood programs such as our Jr Sports and EC art programs, and an Early Childhood head counselor leads each Jr Pathfinder group.
Entering Grades 3-4
For Pioneers, Gate Hill offers the opportunity to develop relationships with summer friends and engage in new enriching experiences. At a higher athletic level, Pioneers are now able to refine their sports skills as well as develop a lifelong hobby with their two weekly electives. Counselors are now “big brother/big sister” role models and work to ensure that these campers learn teamwork, sportsmanship, and enhance self-esteem.
Entering Grades 5-8
These oldest on-grounds campers are able to participate in all the activities that Gate Hill has to offer. Mountaineers fully experience the freedom of a diverse summer program charged with fun and adventure. Fifth & sixth grade campers take an off-grounds trip three times throughout the summer, while, seventh & eighth graders will travel off-grounds 5 times times in eight weeks, including a special one-night overnight trip at the end of the summer. Groups are led by counselors who campers can relate to, who share a wide variety of interests.
Trailblazers – Teen Travel:
Entering Grades 7-9
Our teen travel program is an opportunity of a lifetime! Through a combination of day trips, one, two and three night overnight trips and selected camp experiences at camp, our Trailblazers experience adventures daily. We help them explore the larger world through carefully planned trips and events, while giving them an opportunity to show leadership, build strong friendships and develop self reliance. Trailblazers’ Staff are trained to work with teens and understand the responsibilities and significance of their role while off grounds.
Entering Grade 10
LIT (Leader In Training) is a specially designed program for our oldest teen campers. The LIT program is divided into three varying experiences.
- Spending time learning to work as counselors with younger campers
- Camp activities, swimming and day trips
- Building life and work skills such as CPR, Leadership, Peer Communication, and Game Facilitation
LIT’s are still campers, although they are trusted with a more flexible daily schedule and greater sense of responsibility.
Explorers: Enrichment and exploration
Entering Grades 3-9
This arts and sciences program is designed for children who want to explore their interests in the creative arts and sciences, yet still want to take advantage of the offerings of a traditional camp setting. Explorers campers spend their morning in exclusive week long workshops of their choice. These are based on 5 core categories: Science and Technology, Creative and Digital Arts, Strategic Games, Music and Theatre, and History and Social Science The balance of their day consists of two swim periods, a traditional camp elective, one group activity, and of course lunch & snack. In fact nearly the whole day is choice periods. (Click here to read more about the Explorers) | <urn:uuid:1277d879-70e8-48b8-b844-cdbfe91d7fcd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gatehilldaycamp.com/programs-activities/by-age | 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 | 0.945691 | 872 | 1.515625 | 2 |
About Remote Gardener
Remote Gardener was established to not only bring down our food bills but to provide excess food that could be given away or sold.
Our plan was to establish a greenhouse that we could grow our own food in. It has not grown into a full entity with a mind of it's own.
With our research we have learned many thing. We provide updates to our blog with detailed information about or quest to build an awesome greenhouse. Along the way we discovered Solexx covering for our greenhouses. With the higher R value and ease of installation not to mention the fact that plants like the cover we knew we were on the right path.
We are now almost completed with our first greenhouse and plan to build several more over the next few years. Fresh food we feel is the basis for longevity and a healthy life.
There is nothing like going to the garden and picking what you want to eat today.
About Solexx Greenhouses
What makes Solexx Greenhouses different than others?
Insulated Solexx paneling is available only on Solexx Greenhouses. The covering is insulated to cut down heating and cooling costs, but most importantly, you get more light diffusion than is available with other types of covering. University tests have shown that plants grow better under diffused light. Another feature that makes us different is our built-in bench frames. With almost all other greenhouse kits, benches are a large additional expense. Also we include full-length hanging rods to overwinter hanging baskets.
Are Solexx greenhouses able to withstand high winds?
Solexx greenhouses perform excellent in wind. Our composite frame (the same material used to make bridges) is extremely strong and durable. As long as the greenhouse is firmly anchored (which we can help you with), you should not have problems. The combination of a strong frame and flexible paneling works very well in adverse conditions. Many of our customers live on the coast and frequently experience winds of 70 mph. One customer in New Jersey has a greenhouse that survived Hurricane "Bob" with no damage from the impacting tree branches.
Are the greenhouses easy to heat?
Solexx greenhouses are easy to heat. The 3.5mm and 5mm twin-walled glazing material provides more insulation than most other hobby greenhouse materials. We offer several different heaters to meet your specific heating needs. The cost of heating your greenhouse will depend on your area and what you plan to grow. Many plants require only a 45-degree nighttime temperature. Many people are able to heat their greenhouse all winter for under $20.00 a month in the coldest months. Heating costs can be reduced by using buckets or plastic jugs of water or by lining the greenhouse with a layer of Visquine or bubble wrap in the cold months. In mild conditions, 5 gallon covered black buckets filled with water will trap the solar energy during the day and release heat for most of the night. Another option is adding rabbits to your greenhouse. Rabbits put out 8 BTU’s per hour, which amounts to roughly 2.5 gal of fuel in 6 months. Rabbit manure also adds heat and makes a great non-burning fertilizer.
How do I prepare the site for my greenhouse?
Very little site preparation is required for your Solexx Greenhouse. You can place your greenhouse on any leveled area such as your lawn, over bare ground, on a gravel base, over a wood deck, on a concrete slab, or a brick patio. We recommend a gravel base for the best drainage.
What tools will I need to assemble the greenhouse?
Assembling a Solexx Greenhouse is takes just a few readily available tools.
You will need a screwdriver, variable speed drill, sharp knife or utility knife,
tape measure, step ladder, GE Silicon-2 caulk, caulking gun, clear PVC glue
and a level.
Solexx Greenhouse Covering
I am interested in your Solexx polycarbonate covering. How do you install it?
Our specially formulated Solexx greenhouse panels are actually a polyethylene blend. They are much more flexible than twin-wall polycarbonate greenhouses panels and can easily be screwed onto an existing greenhouse frame. This covering is available in 4’ x 8’ or 4’ x 12’ sheets in 3.5 or 5mm thicknesses. Solexx greenhouse covering can also be ordered in continuous rolls up to 1000 feet so you can conveniently cover just about any structure.
When designing a greenhouse frame, how much spacing should I leave between supports for the panels? How many screws should I use?
Solexx panels work well for many custom structures. For maximum strength, we recommend support at least every two feet on center. On the perimeter of your structure, we recommend attaching screws every six inches. For your supports, you only need to attach screws about eighteen inches apart. As a general rule, figure that you will need one screw per square foot of paneling. In extremely windy areas, you may want to increase the number of screws you use.
Isn’t the paneling too dark to transmit light?
The unique Solexx greenhouse covering transmits 70-75 percent of the available light. Most plants only need 40 percent light to grow, but 70-80 percent available light is the optimal growing range. Even on cloudy days, your greenhouse has a pleasant, soft glow inside. The panels diffuse the light evenly throughout the greenhouse eliminating "hot spots" and shadows. Also, a bit less light transmission will help to keep your greenhouse from getting too hot during warm weather.
Does the covering break down in the sun?
Solexx panels are treated with a double UV inhibitor during the extrusion process. The covering has an eight-year limited warranty against ultraviolet breakdown and is tested and certified by an independent lab. Solexx greenhouses have been in the field for well over fifteen years and there has been minimal UV degradation. All plastics do eventually break down when exposed to direct sunlight for extended periods of time; however, these panels are easy and inexpensive to replace.
How do you clean the paneling?
Solexx paneling can be rinsed or wiped clean without worry of scratching. The panels are impervious to chemicals so you can wash them with a mild soap. It’s a good idea to do this a couple times a year to keep your greenhouse clean and to maximize light transmission.
How does the paneling hold up in cold or snowy weather?
Solexx panels are very durable. Solexx greenhouses have been undamaged after being covered in several feet of snow and exposed to subzero temperatures for most of the winter. Snow tends to slide right off of the slick paneling material. Unlike many greenhouse materials, our panels will not yellow from the sun or cold.
What is H-Channel and U-Trim used for?
H-Channel is used to join the panels together on the long or you can overlap the panels. U-Trim gives the4’ ends of the panels a nice finished look.
What is the difference between polycarbonate and Solexx panels?
Solexx greenhouses are made with polyethylene. Polyethylene is much more flexible and is easy to cut to any size. Polycarbonate panels tend to be thicker, but have about the same insulation factor as polyethylene. Both materials diffuse light, but polycarbonate diffuses less (because it is more transparent), making the greenhouses much hotter in the summer. Polyethylene is very easy to clean and will not scratch like polycarbonate.
How do you cut the panels? Is it easy to do?
Solexx panels can be cut with a simple utility knife. Because the material is so flexible, it’s also possible to bend it around many curves and corners on a structure.
Should I use 3.5 or 5mm paneling?
Solexx panels are available in 3.5mm or 5mm thickness. The 3.5mm panels are
recommended in most areas because they provide more light transmission. The
5mm panels are used in very cold climates (for added insulation) and for areas
in high altitudes. It is also recommended on many custom structures for added
support. Both varieties are available in 4'1" x 8'1" sheets and 4'1" x
12' 3" sheets or continuous rolls.
What can you do to automate the greenhouses?
Solexx offers many greenhouse accessories and supplies to help make your gardening experience easier. A solar vent opener is available and can be set to automatically help regulate the temperature. The heaters that we offer can be thermostatically controlled to help you heat only when it’s necessary, keeping your costs low. Also, our exhaust fans all come with thermostat controls. This will help push out stale air as your greenhouse begins to get hot.
Which basic accessories will get me growing?
Gardening with a Solexx Greenhouse is easy. Although we offer a full line of greenhouse equipment, we do have a few recommendations that will ensure success. First of all, you want to make sure that your greenhouse is properly anchored. We offer a Deluxe Tie-Down Kit, which includes four anchors—one for each corner of the greenhouse. On longer units, or in areas that have exceptionally high winds, you may want to purchase additional anchors (which are available individually.) Also, ventilation is a key factor. Two base vents (or more on longer units) placed on each side of the door will ensure good cross-ventilation. Eventually, a shade cloth is also a good investment. During those hot summer months, it will keep your greenhouse cooler and also increase the longevity of your glazing.
Where should the heater be placed in the greenhouse?
We recommend placing the heater in the back of the greenhouse, either at the end of the walkway or under the bench frames. It's best to leave some space around the heater so that the heat can fully circulate and so that none of your plants get too warm. Having a small circulation fan is a good way to ensure even heating in your greenhouse.
How should I place the vents in my greenhouse?
Typically, we recommend that you place a large louvered vent opposite the door, towards the top of the greenhouse. If you then place two or more base vents low to the ground (on either side of the door, for example), you get a natural ground- up ventilation. A solar opener can be attached to the louvered vent, in order to better regulate the temperature. We recommend that you close the base vents during cold weather.
Are there books that can help me get started?
Solexx offers several greenhouse books to help you get started. One book that
we see as absolutely indispensable is Shane Smith’s Greenhouse Gardener’s Companion.
It is loaded with information about greenhouses, specific plants, weed control,
planting schedules… anything you would ever want to know. There are many great
ideas that we use in our own greenhouses all the time.
What method of shipping do you use?
Greenhouses and heftier items (including panels) are mostly sent UPS. Small accessories not purchased with a larger item are usually sent USPS.
How will my greenhouse arrive?
The greenhouse is sold unassembled. This helps us to keep both shipping and greenhouse kit costs low. Each kit comes with complete written instructions and computer generated drawings. The framing is color coded for convenience and of course, we’re always here to help.
The greenhouses are shipped in a couple long skinny boxes and an octagonal box for the rolled Solexx panels. The 8' Garden Oasis, for example, comes in five boxes: two 8' x 7.25" x 5" boxes, a box about two feet in diameter and four feet tall for the panels, one 24" x 12" x 12" box, and a small box for the Louver.
Remote Gardener is one of many projects that (Small Business Associates) SBA operates. Check out some of these other websites we have created and operate.
Buy Dice: http://www.gmdice.com
Buy Disc Gofl Discs: http://www.discgolfedge.com | <urn:uuid:6ce7ec10-9518-44e1-bf08-8bbd494730fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://remotegardener.com/store/about.php | 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 | 0.935129 | 2,558 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Kellie Greene can identify with any victims of Delmer Smith III, because their paths might never have crossed with the ex-convict if his DNA had been entered into a national database immediately after federal prison officials collected it in March 2008.
In January 1994, Greene was beaten and raped in her Orlando apartment.
After a suspect was arrested almost three years later, thanks to a DNA match, Greene learned that David Shaw had raped another woman six weeks prior to her attack. DNA evidence had been collected in that case, but it sat untested for two years because at the time, rape kit evidence was not tested if police didn’t already have a named suspect.
Greene believes she might not have been raped if there had not been a lag in testing evidence from the first case.
Greene has spoken out about the DNA backlog as director of Orlando-based Speaking Out Against Rape Inc., or SOAR, an advocacy group she founded for rape survivors.
Greene learned of the Smith case when contacted by the Bradenton Herald on Wednesday. She said efforts to address testing backlogs have suffered because of budgetary constraints.
With unanimous votes in both the House and Senate, Congress last year passed and President George W. Bush signed legislation that reauthorized a grant program under which the U.S. Justice Department assists state and local crime labs in processing and recording DNA evidence. The legislation authorized spending $755 million over five years.
However, up to now, according to Greene, government has failed to spend what it takes to solve the problem.
“It doesn’t surprise me there was a backlog with the FBI,” Greene said. “When legislators pass these types of new laws ... it always creates a backlog because they never fully fund it.”
Greene urged people to pressure lawmakers to provide the funding needed to slash the backlogs in DNA testing. As long as the problem remains, the costs — whether in insurance claims filed by victims, in police hours needed to investigate serial criminals, or in lives injured and lost — will only mount.
“It’s public safety, and it’s lives at stake,” Greene said. “It’s a shame that it takes people being raped and murdered for something like this to come to light.” | <urn:uuid:77fbaa39-f361-4d38-81fa-66d1d6234c65> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bradenton.com/2009/10/08/1762927/rape-victim-backlog-putting-lives.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976972 | 475 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Redwood Area Hospital offers spring classes aimed at providing seniors and caregivers the tools they need to live healthy, fulfilling lives as challenges and care giving roles expand.
“Every person and every illness progresses differently, so it’s important a variety of classes, care options and tools to enable success and a healthy living environment for everyone involved in the aging person’s care,” says Lynn Buckley, Redwood Area Hospital Caring Connection coordinator.
The Healthy Aging education series is a four-part educational program designed for families of someone with memory loss, with the goal of enhancing skills and reducing stress. Session topics include an introduction to dementia and care giving, managing confusion and taking charge, activities and loss of abilities, and providing structure and support.
All classes will be held the third Tuesday of the month, March 20 – June 19 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. in the Redwood Area Hospital education room. In order to provide adequate seating, pre-registration is encouraged but not required.
Care giving is rewarding, but can also be stressful – physically, emotionally, and financially. Powerful Tools for Caregivers is a class designed to provide the family caregiver with the skills needed to take care of themselves. The course will also provide tools to help family members become more comfortable with their role as a caregiver.
Powerful Tools for Caregivers is a series of six 90-minute classes, held once a week. Spring 2012 classes will be held on Thursdays, April 5 through May 10, from 10 – 11:30 a.m. at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Fireside Room, in Redwood Falls. Respite care will be provided by the hospital’s Caring Connection adult day program or Redwood County Volunteer Program. Registration for respite care is required.
To register, contact Lynn Buckley, Redwood Area Hospital Caring Connections Coordinator, at 507-637-4508. Follow the hyperlinks to learn more about “Understanding Alzheimer’s” and “Maintaining Mental Wellness.” | <urn:uuid:c9d4b63f-53d9-489a-bdfc-69f67da1a0eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://redwoodareahospital.org/education-for-seniors-addresses-memory-loss-caregiver-tools/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946414 | 430 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Here are some testimonials of police brutality and abuse from arrestees.
By multiple accounts, arrestees were humiliated, beaten, injured, threatened, and denied their rights to a lawyer. Several accounts say that a man's wrist was broken. Many occupiers were held on misdemeanor charges for over 50 hours. As of today, about 50 of us remain incarcerated.
In South Central Los Angeles, there is a 14 acre vacant lot at East 41st and South Alameda that used to be a farm. In 1994, local gardeners and farmers banded together with a local food bank to form a community garden and, eventually, South Central Farms. They turned an abandoned lot into an urban paradise; to many, it seemed nothing short of a miracle, and it set an amazing precedent for what could be done in Sunny L.A. By some interpretations of adverse possession laws, the farmers may very well have had rights to the land. However, the insurance company that owned that particular parcel bought it back from the city for 5 million dollars in a closed door session. The negotiations have never been released, but what is known is the city got just over 5 million dollars for the property.
Occupy will make your breath fresher and your skin softer! Occupy will give your hair that movie-star glow! I lost twenty pounds in two weeks with Occupy! Occupy will make you more appealing to the opposite (or same) sex! Occupy will make your estranged parents love and respect you! Occupy will will make your teenagers listen to you! Everyone will envy you when you've got Occupy! This product is officially endorsed by Occupy Wall Street. 99% Satisfaction Guaranteed. No substitutions or refunds. | <urn:uuid:cc37ccfc-5953-44e8-b197-ca1cc91d23b5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://occupylosangeles.org/blog/551?page=12 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964858 | 344 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Fenland Poly Insulting Platitudes
Students at a Cambridge's Newnham College want to jettison their traditional Grace before dinner because they believe it “too religious”. “Benedic nobis Domine Deus et his donis quae de liberalitate tua sumpturi sumus per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.*”
The new Grace reads: “Pro cibo inter esurientes, pro comitate inter desolatos, pro pace inter bellantes, gratias agimus”. It means: “For food in a hungry world, for companionship in a world of loneliness, for peace in an age of violence, we give thanks.”
Professor Beard, a Fellow of Newnham, wrote she just “couldn’t stomach it”. She continued: “The undergraduates’ rewrite was a classic case of disguising a load of well-meaning platitudes in some posh dead language, which was actually an insult to that dead language.”
That's the problem with these upstart girly colleges, no sense of history. You let any old riff-raff in and this is what you get. Though I suppose at least they are still discussing Grace before dinner, even though I believe the usual form of words used by Cambridge graduates is "Do you want Fries with that?".
* “Bless us Lord God and bless these gifts which by your generosity we are about to eat, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.” | <urn:uuid:4d0e3ad0-24e6-4c08-b55a-35bdbedf0307> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.anenglishmanscastle.com/archives/007374.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931427 | 327 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Criminalizing Cognitive Enhancement at the Blackjack Table
Adam J. Kolber
Brooklyn Law School
August 29, 2012
Memory and Law, p. 307, L. Nadel & W. Sinnott-Armstrong, eds., Oxford University Press, 2012
Brooklyn Law School, Legal Studies Paper No. 304
Blackjack players who “count cards” keep track of cards that have already been played and use this knowledge to turn the probability of winning in their favor. Though casinos try to eject card counters or otherwise make their task more difficult, card counting is perfectly legal. So long as card counters rely on their own memory and computational skills, they have violated no laws and can make sizable profits. By contrast, if players use a “device” to help them count cards, like a calculator or smartphone, they have committed a serious crime.
I consider two potential justifications for anti-device legislation and find both lacking. The first is that, unlike natural card counting, device-assisted card counting requires cognitive enhancement. It makes card counting less natural and is unfair to casinos and should therefore be prohibited. The second potential justification relies on the privacy of our thoughts. On this view, natural card counting is a kind of cheating that warrants punishment. We do not criminalize natural card counting, however, because such laws would interfere with our thought privacy. Since concerns about thought privacy are less applicable to device-assisted counting, we can prohibit device-assisted counting without violating our rights to freedom of mind. While I do not purport to show that these justifications are hopeless, I present reasons to doubt that they will ultimately prove successful.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 19
Keywords: Cognitive Enhancement, Thought Privacy, Punishment, Neuroethics, NeurolawAccepted Paper Series
Date posted: August 29, 2012 ; Last revised: October 17, 2012
© 2013 Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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He wonders about greatness, about what it takes. As the blue-and-white presidential Sikorsky lifts off from Nantou air-force base, he considers the evolution he must make from brilliant lawyer and astute politician to wise leader, perhaps, and even great man. It is a question raised by the very aspirations of his people and the potential of his state: Is Chen Shui-bian good enough, smart enough, man enough, to take Taiwan where it deserves to go? The helicopter takes flight, pushing the President back into his silver seat. He looks even smaller than his 5 ft. 4 in. You can't help thinking of the mission ahead of him--to lead Taiwan through a treacherous geopolitical landscape while propping up a floundering economy and fending off hostile domestic opposition--and wondering if this retiring, eager-eyed former maritime lawyer can remake himself into a world-class leader. The transformation, he hopes, begins today. "This is a great moment," Chen says. "We're writing the history of Taiwan. This moment, right now, is the most influential in our history. We can decide what our nation, our path, will be."
Taiwan, at this moment, is an island on the brink of embroilment in superpower conflict, of descent into economic distress and of an unprecedented national awakening and cultural flowering. It is on the brink of, dare anyone say it, nationhood--not in constitutional terms but, perhaps more important, in cultural terms. The 22.2 million Taiwanese and the rest of Asia as well have posited a Taiwan that is so much more than a cold war bulwark and superpower pawn. The island that used to be thought of as the un-China, the anti-Mao or, later, the chip fabricator, the hardware producer, is now, in its eyes at least, the bustling cultural center of Greater China. Of course, the mainland still dominates the Chinese world in geopolitical and economic terms, but whose soap operas are they watching in Bangkok? And whose Mando-pop CDs are they buying in Kuala Lumpur? After Japan, Taiwan is Asia's leading pop-culture exporter. And when you're exporting music, movies and TV shows, other countries are interested in what you think and who you are. The upshot is a state that confidently and pragmatically goes about its business--even though much of that business is on the mainland. To wander through Taipei or tour the countryside is to realize that the hoary topic of reunification is not so much an issue as an irrelevance, a political parlor game fraught with linguistic and semantic tricks played out in Beijing, Washington and Taipei.
As he prepares to embark on a state visit to Latin American that will include stops in New York City and Houston, Chen is readying a turn on the global stage. In Beijing, his plan to visit the U.S. has caused barely a blip. China is "firmly opposed" to the visit, of course, but since Chen took office, Beijing's position has been to have no position on him. State-run media have yet to mention his name. And Chen's offer last week to meet his Chinese counterpart, Jiang Zemin, was flatly rejected by the Chinese.
So far, Chen has been more a reactive Chief Executive than an agenda-setting statesman. Although elected as the candidate of a party formally identified with Taiwanese independence, Chen has been trying to soften his position on that issue. Upon taking office, he immediately sought to soothe frayed relations with Beijing. | <urn:uuid:6c327214-5dbd-422c-9b1a-6a57ed7f0e09> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,999975,00.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976728 | 732 | 1.515625 | 2 |
When I wake up and sense my husband's body next to mine, I ask myself if I'm dreaming or if it is true that he has returned to our home.
Eight years have passed since 75 Cubans were uprooted from their homes for thinking differently than the governmental discourse and having the courage to express it publicly. So many days and nights of agony and suffering for their parents, wives, children, and grandchildren; so much accumulated pain. But the important thing is that they couldn't uproot our love. Our love gave us the motivation needed to undertake a tenacious and constant fight for the release of our loved ones. | <urn:uuid:7283000a-c31c-4e0f-9ca9-550c04755a06> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cpj.org/blog/author/laura-poll%C3%A1n-toledo/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971009 | 127 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Submitted by Ann Schmidt, Bethesda, MD
A woman in a supermarket is following a grandfather and his badly behaved 3-year-old grandson. It’s obvious to her that he has his hands full with the child screaming for candy in the candy aisle, cookies in the cookie aisle and for fruit, cereal and soda in the other [...]
GRAND Magazine Editor’s Note: This looks like a fun show to watch to see how grandparent seniors and adult grandchild aged juniors get along when living together.
Ever look at young people today and think, we are way too different to see eye to eye? You’re not the only one. A new reality show called [...]
Submitted by Anne Schmidt, Bethesda, Maryland
At present we are not at home but, please leave your message after you hear the beep.
If you are one of our children, dial 1 and then select the option from 1 to 5 in order of “arrival” so we know who it is.
If you need us [...]
Our friend, Mike Tikkanen, founder of Kids At Risk Action (KARA) has a powerful new video available that you can access here: http://www.invisiblechildren.org/2013/01/17/watch-this/
The toll of childhood trauma on society is incalculable.
Kids At Risk Action (KARA) Kids At Risk Action (KARA) is a non-profit advocacy network focusing on issues related to neglected and [...]
By Nicole Fonovich, author of Luca Lashes and his First Trip to the Nursing Home, from the “Luca Lashes” interactive app and eBook series
Visiting an older parent or grandparent in a nursing home is enough of a challenge for most busy adults today. Add bringing the kids along, and this job just got a [...]
By Lynn Keehan, Ph.D
Diagnoses of ADD/ADHD has dramatically increased in recent years, and now many doctors are not only prescribing the usual drugs (Adderall, Concerta, Ritalin, Strattera), but have added powerful antipsychotic medications to their pharmaceutical arsenal to try to combat the symptoms of ADD/ADHD and other behavioral problems in children and teens. “Off [...]
As you may know, we’ve been running the She Said/She Said column on this website. Now Remy and Blair, the mother/daughter team (Blair Selby, aka Mom and Remy Agee, aka Grand) are now available on Facebook. If you’d like to check them out and “Like” their page, you could win a wonderful DVD for [...] | <urn:uuid:1444ab18-3729-4a48-88f2-369948d6a815> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.grandmagazine.com/news/author/christine/page/2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933812 | 557 | 1.578125 | 2 |
For the tenth anniversary of the September 11th attacks, we asked New Yorker contributors to look back on how their work, and their lives, were changed. Here are Jon Lee Anderson’s answers.
1. What were you thinking about, or working on, the day the attacks occurred?
I was in Andalusia, Spain. I had just packed my wife and our three young children off to England, where we were planning to live for a trial year after spending six years in Spain and three in Cuba. I had stayed behind to tie up loose ends and was going to join them for a few days, and then travel to Sri Lanka on assignment for The New Yorker. It was a country I had last been to thirteen years before; in the intervening time, almost everyone I had met there had died violently, a stark fact that motivated me to reexplore that country’s increasingly toxic ethnic conflict.
It was a strange period of time in which there were no major conflicts in the world, but there many small ones, festering, either left over from the untended proxy battles of the Cold War, or else sparked off by the collapse of the Soviet Union. I was fascinated as well as disquieted by this situation, and since joining The New Yorker in 1998 I had reported on Angola, Liberia, Colombia, Chile, Cuba, and Iraq. Sri Lanka, Burma, and Afghanistan were all on my shortlist—places where I had reported in the eighties and now wanted to return.
A neighbor told me that she had heard news that a plane had hit “a tall building” in New York City, and I switched on the TV. With a sense of rapidly growing horror, I saw the second plane hit and realized that it was a terrorist attack and, when the buildings collapsed, that the attack was akin to a second Pearl Harbor. I knew that my country would soon be at war.Continue Reading >> | <urn:uuid:fff6f72a-9dc0-49be-88b2-1975b4b9e853> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/911-ten-years | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.99207 | 397 | 1.570313 | 2 |
The Collapse of Lehman Brothers
Why did Lehman Brothers collapse so quickly when their reported financial condition a week before had actually been fairly decent? Answer: because they were lying about their financial condition. Economics of Contempt has now read the entire 4000+ page (!) report written by the court-appointed examiner after Lehman's collapse, and it turns out that at the time they were reporting a $32.5 billion liquidity pool they actually had, at most, a $2.5 billion liquidity pool:
Earlier in 2008, Lehman's two main clearing banks, JPMorgan and Citi, started requiring Lehman to collateralize its intraday exposures....Lehman reluctantly agreed, but requested that the banks release the collateral at the end of each day. Why did they care if the banks released the collateral every night if it just had to be posted again the next morning? Because Lehman calculated its reportable liquidity at the end of each day, and if the clearing-bank collateral was released at the end of each day, Lehman considered it part of the "liquidity pool." By the end, roughly $19bn of the $32.5bn liquidity pool consisted of clearing-bank collateral.
In no functional sense was the clearing-bank collateral "unencumbered" — if Lehman requested the collateral back, JPMorgan and Citi would have at the very least required them to pre-fund their trades (which Lehman didn't have the cash to do), and more likely would have just stopped clearing their trades. People at Lehman admitted as much to the Examiner. And once a broker-dealer's clearing bank stops clearing its trades, the broker-dealer is finished. Including the clearing-bank collateral in its liquidity pool was not only inappropriate, but also aggressively deceptive.
Without liquidity — real liquidity, which means money that Lehman could get to within a day — Lehman was doomed. But they refused to report their true liquidity situation, and when their funders started dropping out they went bust almost instantly. This is one of the reasons why the obscure topic of the "net stable funding ratio," which is part of the Basel III negotiations, is important. More on that here. | <urn:uuid:e6856e2a-9e3f-410e-a665-f19074645df0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/08/collapse-lehman-brothers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977717 | 452 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Of raptors and rifles
While Maitland said he never considered the possibility that a fellow rancher shot the bird, Dan Deuel of Free Flight Rehabilitation Center in Bandon, Ore., which now houses the disabled eagle, thinks a rancher is guilty. Sheep ranchers especially, he says, blame eagles for preying on their livestock. Deuel says many people in the area oppose Free Flight's efforts to return birds of prey to the sky; some have even sent death threats to the center.
"There's a lot of manhood being carried around on gunracks around here," said Deuel.
Meanwhile, Maitland, who collects guns and promotes gun shows, says he's glad he helped the injured eaglet, although he hopes he doesn't have to rescue many more. "I don't want to make a habit of it," he said. "Those birds are big." | <urn:uuid:4cd7c136-7317-4d9b-9df0-2ec7ecec69b5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hcn.org/issues/52/1620 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983695 | 187 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Tough conversations, like those on rape, can happen because of and in spite of the Internet.
On various social networks in the final weeks of 2012 I was unfollowed, blocked and called everything from an “assclown” to a “rape apologist.” But that’s not what gnaws at me as I continue to reflect on the drama that unfolded last month.
My repeated efforts to Skype with said name-callers and even with some disappointed friends were all denied. My attempts to listen, learn and perhaps find some common ground all fell flat. “No,” some said bluntly, while “What’s there to talk about? [Insert Article Name] sums up all my thoughts” and “Why would I want to do that?” were the more common responses. “I live in Thailand but am willing to wake at any hour to have a conversation with you,” I told each person individually. Nope. Case closed. On one particular occasion a “No” Tweet came in while Law & Order SVU’s opening line buzzed out of my TV: “In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous.”
Within every Shakespeare Seminar course I teach for Ottawa University there grows a dynamic discussion about what “soliloquy” means and how it shapes Hamlet, Macbeth and drama in general. We often uncover parallels between then and now, between Shakespeare’s work and Modern Family, for example. “Soliloquy” literally means “talking by oneself,” but we go deeper into why a writer chooses this method. Of course it can be to reveal and progress the narrative, but the root of good soliloquy is conflict. Most often the words of a soliloquy are released under specific conditions: when the theater audience/reader are privy but other characters in the piece are not (or at least are not intended by the speaker to be). This leads to communication glitch and therefore conflict – the element that keeps the audience engaged even if they’re in disagreement amongst each other or with the characters. The conflict can result in total hilarity, death or the grays between, but the outcome doesn’t change the nature. It still was conflict purposefully crafted by the writer.
I’ve been thinking lately about how Internet writings – be it tweets or well-written essays – can easily get spun into a soliloquy whereby the curtain is manipulated to exclude certain characters or certain voices or certain words or even the certain feeling of a lack of control present in all worthwhile conversations. Huge issues fit into tiny tweets and then are put into familiar little boxes with neatly tied bows and just like that, a conflict that shouldn’t be pulsates with swelling. Attempts at virtual conversations have against and within them the very elements that make for great conflict. This is frustrating beyond belief. This is beautiful beyond belief.
I’ve taught online college courses for nearly four years, so I’ve watched and even found myself tangled in the conflicts that can arise when meaningful and difficult conversations are had purely through the silence of typed and usually asynchronous text. In the online classroom each post is more of a monologue and meant to be shared with a specific and known audience. In terms of pure textual conversation, this is ideal, but even it can contain a load of problems that can only be remedied by picking up a telephone and working through things. Hearing another human’s voice, feeling their presence of listening and feeling that synchronous energy can at times feel like a miracle amidst text-based conflict. So it’s easy to see then how on Twitter, for example, where thoughts on the whole are usually less crafted and more compacted, and the audience is far less specific and far less known, even the most honest attempt to begin a tough conversation can quickly escalate into, well, what silent little soliloquies throughout the history of drama have been meant to do. Only now we’ve got millions of them swirling around and into each other in all their glorious and problematic silence.
To be fair, the topic of rape is tough to discuss via any form of communication and everyone has their own level of comfort and willingness. Some choose to avoid the conversation entirely or do so only in private areas and with those to whom they are closest. It’s fair to say that others might be okay to share a few things on social media but that their line ends there. This is all fine, commendable even. But in these virtual worlds of text it has become far too easy to throw out a highly opinionated and even hurtful remark, draw a line in the proverbial sand and then completely shun anyone who dares to approach it. And when an influential person does this it can quickly become an unwritten rule – the only way to talk about something. And so we have important conversations simply being repeated rather than built upon. Broken records spinning of the same old voice saying the same old things. Progress isn’t made by what we put after the hashtag; it’s made by everything we put before it.
Meaningful and important discussions are then completely warped into silly memes that are revered but of no benefit to anybody.
In the physical classroom, for example, I’ve never not worked out a conflict through a face-to-face conversation. In the online classroom, I’ve never been unsuccessful at working out a conflict through a phone call. I can say the same with my friends, peers, potential business partners, etc. The Internet community, of course, is wholly different, but reaching out and connecting beyond the limits of Twitter or even email can be of tremendous benefit, necessity even, to people who are engaged in similar conversations and generally agree on nearly every issue anyways. Speaking on the phone often greatly highlights the latter.
But so too is there a serious danger when those who have created their personal rules on how to talk about rape try to belittle or otherwise shame those who don’t take the same prescription.
An incredibly rare post from GMP, a post attempting to learn from the mind of a rapist, was equated with condoning rape. Hence assclown. Hence rape apologist. It’s the same leap (and it is quite a leap) latched onto by writers from Feministe, The Independent and several other blogs. They’re following the directions on the label. But who created the label? Who shaped the directions? When the how of a conversation is prescribed and manipulated before it even begins we are setting ourselves up for a conflict that has no chance at being resolved, a conflict that leads to no further insights.
Enter fiction. With prescribed rules on how to talk about rape we end up gleaning the majority of our insights on the topic from some fictionalized TV – Law & Order: SVU, CSI, etc. Countless shows and movies and books open with or otherwise contain a fictionalized rape and then we follow, we rearrange our lives and our sleeping schedules and even our meals so we can follow. It’s no wonder many of the most watched shows in history contain rape. It’s no wonder shows containing rape have the highest ratings. As humans we are drawn to the mixture of violence and sex, but so too are we wanting to learn. What’s inside the mind of a rapist? What’s a rapist like? Why did they do it? How did they do it?
It’s out of interest that we ask, but it’s also for armor. The more we know the more we can protect ourselves. Still, are the hundreds of shows around the world that are highlighting rape or a rapist’s point of view called rape apologists or attacked for their use of fictionalized rape in order to roll in the cash? Of course not, it’s fake. Sometimes it’s easier to pretend the fake is real rather than to know the real is real.
Something sad happens each time we pull the curtain on important global conversations and instead reach for our remote. Remote. Control. | <urn:uuid:f699eacb-903b-4de3-918d-75662eb2dac7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cameronconaway.com/a-million-little-soliloquies/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958111 | 1,697 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Tue November 27, 2012
'The Last Refuge': Yemen, Al-Qaida And The U.S.
Originally published on Tue November 27, 2012 2:47 pm
In December 2009 a would-be terrorist boarded a plane for Detroit with a bomb in his underwear. While the explosive failed to properly ignite and the man was arrested upon landing, the ensuing investigation revealed the bomb in question had been made by al-Qaida leaders in Yemen.
This attempted act of terrorism heralded both the small Arabian country's re-emergence into the international consciousness as a refuge for al-Qaida and the ascendance of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), developments that have grown only more pronounced since.
According to Gregory Johnsen, a journalist who has covered Yemen and Islamic insurgency in the Middle East extensively, al-Qaida's presence has tripled in size within Yemen over the past three years. Johnsen charts this growing influence on the country in his new book, The Last Refuge: Yemen, al-Qaeda, and America's War in Arabia.
Al-Qaida's approach to gain support in Yemen has been to pit the country's interests against those of the West, particularly the United States.
"The argument that AQAP has been making for the past several years has been that just like Iraq and just like Afghanistan, Yemen, too, is a legitimate theater of jihad," Johnsen tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "That is, Yemen is under attack from a Western military force and therefore all Yemenis need to group together, need to fall under al-Qaida's banner and fight back in self-defense."
This argument, says Johnsen, has been at least partly buoyed lately by U.S. drone attacks in Yemen. The attacks have targeted al-Qaida leaders and other militants, but the civilian casualties have been significant.
The deaths of women, children and non-al-Qaida tribesmen have radicalized many Yemenis who might not otherwise support al-Qaida's terrorist agenda, and led to questions regarding the effectiveness of on-the-ground U.S. intelligence. The civilian casualties, says Johnsen, are "exacerbating the problem and expanding the organization."
On changes felt in Yemeni daily life after the fall of President Ali Abdullah Saleh
"The one thing that I think I know is that the rules of the game have changed within Yemen. So, it used to be the case when President Ali Abdullah Saleh was in power and, for all his flaws and all the negative aspects of his regime and there were many, people who knew the rules of the game and they knew what to expect: If they did X, Y would be a result, whereas now, with the breakdown of law and order, with the different factions that have resulted after the uprising and the fall of Ali Abdullah Saleh, I don't think anyone really knows the rules of the game within Yemen and, I think, that makes everyone uncertain. I know it makes me uneasy, and many of the Yemenis I spoke with had the same sense of uneasiness."
On why the geography of Yemen is favored by al-Qaida
"The title of the book takes ... what is purported to be a saying of the Prophet Muhammad. This is at the very beginning of Islam. It looked as though the Muslims, who were outnumbered at the time, were about to be slaughtered and Muhammad gathered everyone together, his followers together, in the desert and gave them what some believe to be his last words before battle. And he essentially said, 'When disaster threatens, seek refuge in Yemen' because Yemen then, just like Yemen today, was a place of very diverse geography, a place of wild, very rugged mountains, a place where small groups of men could easily go and hide. And of course with Muhammad they turned out not to need that refuge, whereas al-Qaida today, after really suffering a lot of losses in Afghanistan, certainly needs the refuge that the geography of Yemen provides, as well as a broken government within Yemen that has really opened up a lot of space for an organization like al-Qaida to operate."
On the assassination of Osama bin Laden
"One of the things that we've seen is that Osama bin Laden, contrary to much of what we were being told by security officials, ... was actually in pretty close contact with a lot of different organizations, whether it was the branch in Yemen or other branches ... whether or not he actually had control, I think, is a bit debatable, but he was certainly writing letters and certainly acting as though he was still the head. The difference, I think, in Yemen is that the individual who's the head of this organization, he's a really short, short guy, very low spoken, very soft voice, he has sort of facial hair that juts out from his face, almost like a billy goat, that this guy who spent so much time with bin Laden these four years as sort of his secretary, his aide-de-camp, he really knew what it was that bin Laden wanted or what he would want and, I think, he's been able to implement that blueprint. And so certainly bin Laden's death was a blow to him personally ... but for the organization itself, the organization, AQAP has had a certain amount of operational independence so that the death of Osama bin Laden didn't affect [it]; so it had much more of an effect on the U.S. psyche than it did on the psyche and the minds of those individuals within Yemen themselves."
On the issues with on-the-ground intelligence gathering in Yemen
"The U.S. soldiers, the U.S. operators that we have are trained particularly well. They are some of the best in the world at what it is that they do, but all of this is dependent upon the human intelligence on the ground and this is where the U.S. seems to do very bad both in the special forces in the shadowy part of the world where they are attempting to collect intelligence for targeting purposes, as well as on the political and on the State Department side where they're attempting to get out and speak with a lot of people and find out what's actually happening on the ground so that they can inform policymakers in Washington. ...
"[T]he Achilles' heel for the United States in Yemen is that too often it just doesn't know what's taking place on the ground. The CIA doesn't know what's taking place, it doesn't know who is in a particular car, it doesn't know who is really a member of al-Qaida. The State Department and diplomats, they're very, very good, very talented people and they tend to know a lot about Yemen but, as we've seen, there are very real security concerns, and the regional security officers often limit their movement and so they can't get out in the country and find out what's taking place. ... So both the CIA and policymakers in Washington tend to be operating more on assumptions than on hard facts. We know that the organization is still bent on attacking the United States and that despite all the defenses that the U.S. has built over the past decade that al-Qaida is still able on different occasions, as we've seen, able to infiltrate those and it's very, very difficult for the U.S. government — whether it's a Republican or Democratic administration — to have a perfect batting average when it comes to preventing terror attacks." | <urn:uuid:5c89ca13-30a1-4ba5-9d0a-3badbb64bc5b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tpr.org/post/last-refuge-yemen-al-qaida-and-us | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983094 | 1,521 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Parks Department Releases Plan To Rebuild Parts Of Rockaway Beach Boardwalk
The Parks Department announced Tuesday it will rebuild three sections of the Boardwalk in the Rockaways in time for summer. NY1's Michael Herzenberg has the story.
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The Parks Department calls its three stages of recovery Clean Up, Safe Up and Open Up. They plan to complete these stages by Memorial Day.
Hurricane Sandy took out the Rockaway Boardwalk from 88th Street to 126th Street, but the city plans to have three sections -- which it calls islands -- rebuilt in time for the start of summer.
They would center around three severely damaged buildings, each nine blocks apart, which the parks Department will repair.
The plan got a positive response at Community Board 14's meeting Tuesday night.
"I think they're trying to do the best they can for us and I was very impressed that they're trying to get us up and running for the summer season," one meeting attendee said.
In addition to the three buildings and soon to be boardwalk islands at 86th, 97th and 106th Streets, builders will add bathrooms and lifeguard stands at 116th Street.
"We're doing our best efforts to create various areas so the public can still use the beach," Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewadowski said. "We'll have bathrooms and comfort areas as well as concessions."
In the public comment period after the Parks Department presentation, most seemed pleased.
But not everyone agreed.
The Parks Department says it's still working on a timeline for a complete boardwalk rebuild, but that's not likely to happen even by the summer of 2014.
"This can be done tomorrow. Run one road down one side of the boardwalk, one road down the other side, fill the middle in. Now we have a protective barrier to protect us," one man said at the meeting.
Lewadowski told the crowd that the city is cleaning and returning washed away sand as well as buying new sand to help repair the beach, but they need community input moving forward. With this the crowd concurred.
"We need everybody to really get involved here," a man said at the meeting. "This is our community."
There is also concern about beach repair, jettis and storm damage prevention. The Army Corps of Engineers will address those issues at next month's meeting. | <urn:uuid:03aae8fe-d4f7-4e81-8677-82ea5746275c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ny1.com/content/175167/parks-department-releases-plan-to-rebuild-parts-of-rockaway-beach-boardwalk | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967058 | 515 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Penetration Testing Methodology: Fact or Fiction?
NIST 4-Stage Pen-Testing Guideline
FoundStone's Pen-Testing Methodology
Now, what the reader was hoping for was a succinct, clear cut, answer. "Go here, download this, print it out, done, etc.". As you might have already guessed, I'm not going to give that level of satisfaction. And, I'm asked this question almost weekly, so now I'll be able to point people to this blog posting for the long winded answer. Ok, on to the answer.
In a nutshell, I firmly believe that any penetration testing methodology, no matter how well thought out, has limited usefulness. Why? Well the goal behind penetration testing is to try to find as many serious vulnerabilities as possible. In order to do this, you must develop the "mindset" of your attacker. You should look at your assessed system or application in all of the possible ways you think it could be misued, abused and exploited. You should then take a break, drink some well-deserved coffee, and then think of entirely new "misuse cases" for the system under review. Using a cut and dry methodology runs counter to the basic and essential premise of penetration testing; that a penetration test is an exercise in system abuse and cannot be readily scripted.
I realize that if you have never performed a penetration test, and don't have the faintest idea where to begin, you might get some value of out a methodology. However, I would venture to say that your time would be better spent hacking away on some dedicated lab equipment, writing your first Metasploit module, or writing a proposal for your boss to send you to a decent penetration testing course.
I also realize that the other (and in my eyes, more legitmate) reason to use a penetration testing methodology is the CYA factor. Most managers don't like the idea of employees willy-nilly hacking into things. The idea that an "industry standard methodology is being applied in accordance to best practices" sounds a lot better to the person in the corner office. Then, the methodology becomes more of a documentation tool, which I do see real value in.
Before I get too positive on documentation, remember what we have seen with vulnerability scanners. Generating lots of documentation can equally as dangerous. Everyone knows what has happened in the last 5 years with "vulnerablity assessment reports" generated out of nessus/internet scanner/etc. We all know the process:
1. Your boxes are rooted by 16 yr old dude in norway, he uses them to serve phising bait to 100 million paypal users.
2. High priced consultants run nessus for you, charge your company $50,000, take you out for drinks one night, generate a monster 500 page report.
3. So many false positivies and false negatives in the report no real vulns are ever acted on
4. Next month the same kid has your Oracle production E10000 serving PsyBNC to half of the norweigan underground.
Documentation can be paralyzing. It can be useless and point people down the wrong path, with end effect of people losing faith in the entire assessment process.
To sum up: Don't use a methodology unless you need to for documentation purposes, if you do, make sure the reports you generate deliver actionable intelligence on the security posture of the asssessed system. | <urn:uuid:b192e3b6-6a5a-4a38-859a-4f25a6dcc113> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.infosecinstitute.com/blog/2005/10/penetration-testing-methodology-fact.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943402 | 714 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Showing up for Kids
The White House Office of Public Engagement and Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships honors 10 individuals who are doing tremendous work in the fields of fatherhood and low-income men and boys. Because of his work in this field John Sowers is being recognized as a Champion of Change.
A couple years ago, I was honored to hear President Obama speak on fatherhood at a White House town hall meeting. I was moved as he shared his heart – reminding us of the grim realities of fatherlessness.
“Children without fathers are more likely to drop out of school and wind up in prison. More likely to have substance abuse problems, run away from home and become teenage parents themselves. I say this as someone who grew up without a father in my own life.”
As the President shared his experience of fatherlessness, I thought of my own story. My dad moved to Texas when I was two and became an infrequent visitor. Once a year or so, he drove up from Texas to Little Rock. I wanted him to stay longer than two days. Every time he left, my heart would break. I would die again.
Something stirred in me as I heard the President call us to change. He was standing with us – arm in arm – commissioning us to step up, to do something for the fatherless generation. I left that room with fresh resolve, ready to take his call and shout it from the rooftops. It was a galvanizing moment for me. Since that day, we at The Mentoring Project began asking bold questions:
• What if every young person in America who needed a mentor had one?
• How would that change our communities and our country?
• How would that change us?
We moved forward in boldness, targeting cities with large “waiting lists” for mentors. These waiting lists are filled by fatherless youth, put on the list by single moms asking for help. We launched the ‘End the List’ Campaign in Portland, with the goal to recruit and train a mentor for each child on the waiting list. We serve several other cities, helping them do the same thing. We just launched DontBuyTheTie.com, challenging people to give Father’s Day away to a child in need, and have seen a tremendous response.
We believe that we win by showing up in the lives of these kids. We must show up and care for them. We believe mentors are the silent heroes of the movement. And we believe the movement begins with you.
John Sowers is the President of The Mentoring Project.
White House Blogs
- The White House Blog
- Middle Class Task Force
- Council of Economic Advisers
- Council on Environmental Quality
- Council on Women and Girls
- Office of Intergovernmental Affairs
- Office of Management and Budget
- Office of Public Engagement
- Office of Science & Tech Policy
- Office of Urban Affairs
- Open Government
- Faith and Neighborhood Partnerships
- Social Innovation and Civic Participation
- US Trade Representative
- Office National Drug Control Policy | <urn:uuid:66d99925-945e-4b1d-bf47-2dbd5be73f34> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/06/11/showing-kids | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971134 | 643 | 1.625 | 2 |
Was Armstrong's Apology Sincere?
Originally published on Fri January 18, 2013 3:00 pm
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
I'm Michel Martin and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. Coming up, ahead of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday and inauguration date both being observed on Monday, we will hear about some of the less well known speeches made by the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.. And some of the less well known bits of history around presidential inaugurations. That will all be later in the program.
But first we are kicking off the program with the Barber Shop. That's where the guys talk about what's in the news and what's on their minds. Sitting in the chairs for a shape-up this week are writer and culture critic Jimi Izrael, civil rights attorney Arsalan Iftikhar. He's also the managing editor of the Crescent Post. That's a global news portal that aims to showcase diverse voices of the Muslim street.
Sports editor for The Nation and host of Sirius XM's Edge of Sports, Dave Zirin. They're all here in Washington D.C. And joining us from member station KUT in Austin, Texas, is Mario Loyola. He's a writer for the National Review - that's a conservative magazine - and a director at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. That's a research and policy group, a think tank that espouses limited government. Take it away, Jimi.
JIMI IZRAEL: Hey. Thanks for that, Michel. Hey. Welcome to the shop, everybody.
DAVE ZIRIN: Hey, hey.
ARSALAN IFTIKHAR: What's happening?
MARIO LOYOLA: Hey. Que pasa?
MARTIN: Hey. We're doing it, man. So check this out. Anybody check out "Oprah" last night?
IZRAEL: I mean...
MARTIN: As if you don't watch her all the time.
MARTIN: Don't try to front.
IZRAEL: You curl up with some truffles and a half pint of ice cream. You know, of course Lance Armstrong sat down and he - it was more like a monkey bath. He really didn't come clean with the talk show queen last night. You know, about the whole issue of doping. And we've got a clip, right, Michel?
MARTIN: I don't know what you mean by he didn't come clean right now.
IZRAEL: It was like a monkey bath.
MARTIN: I'm sorry. He went right there. I don't know what that means.
MARTIN: Let me just say Oprah went right there. She went right there.
MARTIN: And started off with a list of banned practices like blood doping or EPO. Here's a clip.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SOW, "OPRAH")
OPRAH WINFREY: Yes or no. In all seven of your Tour De France victories, did you ever take banned substances or blood dope?
LANCE ARMSTRONG: Yes.
WINFREY: In your opinion, was it humanly possible to win the Tour De France without doping seven times in a row?
ARMSTRONG: Not in my opinion.
IZRAEL: Thanks, Michel. Clearly Oprah went to the Atticus Finch school of prosecutorial interviewing, (unintelligible). But along the way, you know, Armstrong did admit to using EPO, human growth hormone, cortisone - everything but Pop Rocks, really - to win at cycling. Dave Zirin, you're the sports guy. Earlier this week you said Lance Armstrong was done. Career over. Anything you heard last night change your mind?
ZIRIN: If anything, even worse. I think we might look at last night at the time where Lance Armstrong's career in the public eye, other than being brought into court on civil suits from the multiple people he's defamed, is done. He had two goals going into last night. One was to show the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that he was contrite and willing to play ball and agree with their findings.
And the other was to try to restore a measure of public respect, remind people what they liked about him. I would argue he failed spectacularly at both those tasks. He actually disputed the center of USADA's report, which was not that he used PEDs but that he actually facilitated...
MARTIN: Performance enhancing drugs.
ZIRIN: Yes. That he facilitated people on his team using them and threatened to fire them if they did. He said absolutely not when Oprah asked him that question and that's at the heart of USADA's report. And on the other side, reminding people what they liked about him, I mean, I thought he came across as positively reptilian.
IZRAEL: Right. That's why, for my dollar, Michel...
IZRAEL: ...he didn't come clean. He didn't come clean.
MARTIN: Well, coming clean and crying are two different things, right?
IZRAEL: Well, yeah. I mean, he's yet to have his Oprah moment where he's (makes crying sound) he tears up.
MARTIN: I just...
IZRAEL: You know, but there's certainly a B part to the interview. You know, but...
MARTIN: We have to talk about that because from the standpoint of, like, what it is that people are expected to show in terms of emotion is such a broad range of continuum of what it is that true contrition is. I mean, I don't need to point out how many public officials have cried all day long in public and aren't contrite about anything they do.
LOYOLA: But he made jokes.
MARTIN: But that's another...
ZIRIN: You know, he made jokes about the number of people he sued.
MARTIN: Well, I don't think that that was...
ZIRIN: That's the opposite.
MARTIN: OK. Let's hear from other people.
IZRAEL: Let's hear from Super Mario.
MARTIN: But what about Mario? Right. Because you're down there in Austin.
IZRAEL: Right. Right.
MARTIN: Which is where he lives and where the interview took place, you know, and where he founded his cancer charity.
IZRAEL: Right. What are folks saying out there, man?
LOYOLA: Well, I mean, it's going to really hit home here, because, you know, he's such an icon and a hero locally. I mean, I don't want to pass judgment on him, personally, but it didn't really seem like he regretted the doping itself. It seemed like he really regretted getting caught. You know?
LOYOLA: And he even said as much. I mean, he regretted his comeback in 2009 because, as he told Oprah, we wouldn't be sitting here today talking about him. I mean, that's what he really regrets. And I think, I mean, two things really strike me when you take a step back and look at it broadly. Is that this is not just another superstar athlete doping. This is like the Al Capone of dopers.
I mean, he's lucky he's not being prosecuted under the RICO Statute for racketeering activities. I mean, you know, he seems to think that it's so normal. I mean, he seems to really think that nobody could've gotten to the top of that sport without engaging in this vast, complex conspiracy to dope.
And to me it just - what that indicates to me is that this is another professional sport that has become completely infected with this culture of corruption that is doping. I mean, Michel made a comparison to public officials a moment ago.
You know, this reminds me of how politics were in this country a hundred years ago when there was absolutely - practically no politician wasn't corrupt. You couldn't get anything done without bribing people.
LOYOLA: And I think that it has to go the way that that went, that Tammany Hall went where the program, you know, where the stigma is such and it's so damaging that nobody will go near it. And that's what has to happen in this sport.
IZRAEL: Thanks, Mario. Arsalan, for my dollar it wasn't so much about him being contrite as him setting up a rationale for his deception. What do you think?
IFTIKHAR: Yeah. You know, to me watching the entire 90 minutes of that interview it made me feel like it was a hit man, you know, sitting in front of a district attorney, you know, going over very coldly and in a calculating way what he did. Again, not showing any contrition, you know. After watching that I don't know who would be more unpopular in America today, Lance Armstrong or the rock group Nickelback.
IFTIKHAR: But, you know, for me what was interesting and I think, you know, has been underscored throughout this whole thing is that he ruined people's lives.
IFTIKHAR: You know, going about this whole thing. You know, you have Frankie and Betsey Andreu, you know, who he sued for telling the truth. You have Emma O'Reilly who was the former masseuse of the team, who, after, you know, she essentially served as an international courier for these illegal drugs, he accused of being a prostitute and being an alcoholic.
I mean, you know, he was defaming people who were telling the truth and, you know, that takes it to a whole new level. I mean, he lied repeatedly. He distorted the facts. And he showed a complete disregard for other people's safety. And so, I think he would have a great second career as an NPR spokesman.
MARTIN: Well, he - oh. OK.
MARTIN: All right. OK. You went there.
LOYOLA: The boogeyman. Thank you.
MARTIN: You went there. Well, I don't know. Dave, I mean, obviously I think you've reported on the kind of legal jeopardy he could be facing now but if you all don't mind my saying, I thought, you know, with - I hadn't thought about or spent any time thinking about what his strategy was going into it or any of that because I just didn't care. But I think he told the truth as he understood it.
And I think it was very useful because he unpacked his mindset and the mindset of the people around him and the mindset that he brought to the enterprise, number one. I thought Oprah was genius. I didn't need any fake anchor outrage. I didn't need any fake anchor empathy. I just wanted to hear what he had to say, hear what the questions were. I thought it was a very interesting thing and I think we learned a lot about the mindset. I don't know. But you're saying...
ZIRIN: All right. That I agree with, about the mindset, but the mindset was something very disturbing that was on display. I mean, it bordered on the sociopathic. Remember what's most important is even less what the public thinks, less what USADA thinks, less what we think. It's what do the people who he wronged think? And the universal reaction of the riders he fooled, of the people he defamed, of the people he sued today, was utterly unimpressed with what he did.
Utterly unimpressed with his level of contrition. Utterly unimpressed with what he was willing and not willing to admit to. And I've got to tell you - the line that he drew in the sand where he said, yes, I was a bully when it came to defaming people, but I was not a bully when it came to facilitating drug use in my team, I mean that's a line that's going to get him, I think, in a lot of trouble.
MARTIN: What trouble? You've reported on the legal issues, because it's not just what the people - because that's an interpersonal issue, but when it goes into the legal process, what legal ramifications might there be from this?
ZIRIN: Well, we're already seeing it, but there is going to be a conga line, a Macy's Thanksgiving day parade of lawyers outside of his compound waiting to sue him for a portion of that $100 million fortune that he has, because everybody who he defamed can actually try to claim compensatory and punitive damages.
Now, it's interesting, referring to him as Al Capone in that regard. It's like he also admitted last night, really, to breaking a ton of laws, but he only admitted up to 2005. The statute of limitations just ran out, so he's also admitting to the actual things that he could be legally prosecuted for when he's not in that kind of legal jeopardy, but he's definitely in jeopardy in civil courts.
MARTIN: You know, can I ask you this, though, David? I don't mean any disrespect to this, because obviously there are a lot of - I know how any of us would feel if somebody as powerful and important as Lance Armstrong came down on us like a ton of bricks for telling the truth about something that was wrong. I mean I know that a lot of journalists have had the experience of being hounded and, you know, by, you know, important entities, both personal and corporate, for telling the truth.
But beyond that, Dave, I mean you're one of the people who've talked about, like, let's tell the truth about the sport itself, and he makes the argument you couldn't win at that level if you didn't...
MARTIN: ...dope, and guess what? Everybody was doing it. And I want to ask you, is that true?
ZIRIN: Yeah. But that's also something we knew before last night, because Lance Armstrong had all seven of his Tour de France titles stripped. The reason why they haven't given those titles to the people who came in second in those races is that every single person who's come in second in those races has also been found to have used performance-enhancing drugs. So we knew that there was this problem in the sport before he sat down with Oprah.
MARTIN: And anybody else? Does anybody else here bike? Any of you bikers? Mario, do you bike? Are you a biker too?
LOYOLA: Yeah. I mean, I have. Not as much as...
MARTIN: Yeah. Do you think that's true?
LOYOLA: Austin's actually pretty dangerous to bike in compared to Madison, Wisconsin, where...
LOYOLA: ...I went to school, but anyway...
MARTIN: OK. But do you think that that's true? Do you credit what he says, that you could not compete at that level if you weren't doping?
LOYOLA: Yeah. I mean I think - well, I mean all that's - all you're really asking is whether the sport has been infected with the corruption of doping or not.
LOYOLA: I mean if everybody's - you know, I mean if it hasn't been, then of course you can compete without doping.
MARTIN: We need to take a short break, but when we come back, we're going to talk about one of the other really interesting and really strange sports stories of the week, one of the strangest, most complicated stories I've ever heard. Jimi Izrael, Arsalan Iftikhar, Dave Zirin and Mario Loyola are all with us in our weekly Barber Shop roundtable. We'll talk about, you know, what else? Manti Te'o's story. Please stay with us. This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MARTIN: This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin. We are continuing our Barber Shop conversation. And now we want to talk about this very strange story involving Notre Dame football star Manti Te'o and the girlfriend that didn't exist. And in a few minutes we are going to hear from the well-known Mormon blogger and essayist Joanna Brooks, author of the popular Mormon Girl blog. We're going to speak to her because you made have heard that Manti Te'o was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Mormon church, and Joanna's going to talk about the importance of the story in the Mormon faith.
But first, back to the Barber Shop. In this week, writer and culture critic Jimi Izrael, civil rights attorney and editor Arsalan Iftikhar, sports editor for The Nation, Dave Zirin, and Mario Loyola, writer for National Review.
Back to you, Jimi.
IZRAEL: Thanks, Michel. You know, this whole story with Manti Te'o started out really inspirational, kind of turned a little shady.
IFTIKHAR: A little shady?
MARTIN: A little shady.
IZRAEL: Don't we have some tape?
MARTIN: We do. Here, just for people who haven't followed this, he was a runner-up for the Heisman Trophy and part of what made his story so inspirational is that he talked about the tragic deaths of his grandmother and his girlfriend, who he says died on the same day. It turns out the girlfriend didn't exist. Now, here he is doing an interview with ComCast Sports Network last November and he's talking about still feeling the spirits of his grandmother and his girlfriend.
MANTI TE'O: I, like, specifically, you know, sense my girlfriend around me whenever I say hi to another young lady. I feel somebody just saying, who is that? Why are you saying hi? And I sense them. You know, I feel them whenever I'm alone. I feel them, you know, telling me everything's going to be OK.
IZRAEL: Thanks for that, Michel. You know, Dave, I've started calling him Manti Dynamite. You know, he's got the - he's got the...
ZIRIN: He's kip(ph).
IZRAEL: Yeah, yeah. He's got the pretend girlfriend - a picture of his pretend girlfriend in his wallet. You know, the website Deadspin broke the story. You're the sports journalist, obviously. How did all the other bigwigs like ESPN and Sports Illustrated - how did everybody drop the ball on this?
ZIRIN: Well, that's a great question and it's pretty much just simple as this. In the Internet age, a lot of these publications whose, you know, reputation rests on this idea of checking facts and being right and you can count on them, they've become more obsessed with being fast than with being right. And when you read - I read an interview with Pete Thamel, the person who wrote the article for Sports Illustrated, and he talked about, like, the fact that after the interview with Manti Te'o, he needed to get it done in two hours. And he - so you have to get something in in two hours. That's very different from the old method of doing things where it's not that you would - as one ESPN writer who got it wrong - he said derisively, what was I supposed to do? Ask for her death certificate?
It's like, well, no. You don't do that, but the first thing you learn to do in journalism school is, if you hear about a death, you look up the obituary, and you're not doing it to check if the person's alive or not. You're doing it just to make sure you have dates right, you have facts right. There's an understanding that when someone talks about a loved one who died, there may be some things they got wrong, so an obituary is a good place to start.
ZIRIN: And both writers said they couldn't find an obituary, but that didn't raise a red flag for them.
IZRAEL: I think we live in this Internet age and Internet journalism, where people would rather have it quick than right and that...
IZRAEL: ...disturbs me as an editor, as a writer. You know, I don't want writers working for me that are just getting it in quick. I want them to get it in right.
IFTIKHAR: Yeah. You know, I might be alone on this island, but I think that Manti, you know, could very well have gotten duped. You know, I think that...
IZRAEL: Arsalan Iftikhar, a true romantic.
MARTIN: Well, no.
IFTIKHAR: I know. Right?
MARTIN: That's what they say. Notre Dame hired private investigators to look into this and they say he was himself the victim of a hoax.
IFTIKHAR: Right. And...
MARTIN: A very cruel and sick hoax.
IFTIKHAR: And, you know, we saw Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick in a very emotional press conference basically not only, you know, doubled down. He pushed all their chips in - their green and gold chips in, you know, for Manti Te'o.
You know, at then end of the day, he is ultimately going to be judged on how he performs on the football field. Let's not forget, you know, we have, you know, Ray Lewis, who is retiring after this season, who was acquitted of manslaughter charges in the year 2000, and now, you know, he's...
MARTIN: It was obstruction, I believe. It wasn't manslaughter. It was obstruction of justice and the people who were ultimately - who had the primary charges in that case were acquitted.
MARTIN: So - OK.
IFTIKHAR: But either way, you know, we have football players who have been convicted drug dealers. You know, at the end of the day, I think that this too will pass for Manti, but ultimately I think he's going to have to come clean. He's going to have to do a press conference of some sort to, you know, fill in some of the gaps here and, you know, hopefully he can put this behind him before April's draft.
MARTIN: Can I ask Mario if...
MARTIN: Mario, can I just ask you, kind of - do you care?
LOYOLA: Well, what's been interesting to me about this whole situation is - you know, I try to be an understanding person. I can totally understand why you would have an imaginary girlfriend if you're a freshman in college.
LOYOLA: Now, as a senior in college, that's the mystery to me. As a senior in college, why would you need or want an imaginary girlfriend, especially if you're a superstar football player and, like, famous on campus? I just don't get it.
IZRAEL: I took her to get glamour shots on her birthday. I'm sorry.
MARTIN: Oh, stop it.
ZIRIN: "Napoleon Dynamite" jokes.
MARTIN: That's terrible.
IZRAEL: Yeah, that is terrible.
MARTIN: You know what? Let me posit, let me posit a theory. Dave, I am interested in what you have to say, but let me posit a theory. Let me posit a theory and the theory is that this was an emotional affair. I mean if any one of you - the married guys, especially - if you had an intense email relationship with a woman, I guarantee - and you never met her - I guarantee you your wives would think it was an affair.
ZIRIN: That's certainly true.
MARTIN: So I find it plausible that you could have an intense email relationship with somebody that you never met.
ZIRIN: I would...
IZRAEL: In the age of wireless, though, really?
LOYOLA: Yeah. In 2013 I would just posit, in response, that it would involve Skype or it would involve face time...
IZRAEL: Yeah, I was going to say - yeah.
LOYOLA: It wouldn't be this sort of like written relationship where you're just talking on the phone. I have to say something to my friend...
MARTIN: Go ahead.
LOYOLA: ...the romantic, Arsalan over here. Arsalan, you really only have two choices here. Either Manti Te'o is the most trusting, kind, amazing person, the sort of person who would nurse his girlfriend through leukemia to her death without ever having met her, in which case he should be removed from society and studied in a lab for the greater good of humanity...
MARTIN: OK. Or?
LOYOLA: That's one choice. Or he was either part of this in order to build up his reputation for whatever reason, either because of his personal life or because of his push for the Heisman Trophy. Or it was the sort of thing where he started to be duped and then he realized it and he took the story and he ran with it.
MARTIN: Or being, or being - having a story like this is just, you know - because you're excellent at one thing doesn't mean that you have character in other areas of your life.
MARTIN: I mean that you are a great football player, does that mean that you are emotionally coherent in every respect?
LOYOLA: Or you raise money for cancer and...
IFTIKHAR: No, but...
IZRAEL: Can I just also say - go ahead, Mario.
LOYOLA: Well, I was going to say, it doesn't mean that you're emotionally coherent in every area, but it probably means that you have a girlfriend at Notre Dame.
IZRAEL: Well, and can I just say for the record, I'm disturbed that we're talking about it, because there are not enough facts yet for me, for my meat and potatoes, you know, so I need more facts to come out.
MARTIN: But there are facts. The fact is she doesn't exist. That is a fact. The fact that he talked about her extensively in great detail, members of his family talked about her extensively and in great detail - I mean reporters who did these interviews have taped conversations with family members where they give great details about these meetings and how they met and why they dug each other and all these other things, and none of it was true.
LOYOLA: That's true.
IZRAEL: So for me...
MARTIN: So those are facts.
IZRAEL: So for me as a reporter, that sounds more like sizzle. That doesn't sound like the steak. That doesn't sound like the meat of the story.
MARTIN: No. I think the larger question is why do we care about a 22-year-old's personal life that has nothing to do with why we're actually interested in him. That to me is one issue.
LOYOLA: Well, one reason is - and that's very valid. One reason is college football is second only to the NFL in terms of viewership and attention in sports in the United States. Number one story in college football - Notre Dame's rise this year. Number one star in Notre Dame - Manti Te'o. Number one narrative of Manti Te'o's season was this tragedy, and I think that's why we care because it's like the rug's been lifted out from under us.
IFTIKHAR: Well, and finally I think the biggest tragedy of all this is that when we hear feel good stories from now on when it comes to sports, I think that we're going to have a much more skeptical eye moving forward.
MARTIN: Maybe we should anyway.
IZRAEL: Yeah. Superman is dead, bro. I mean, there are no supermen anymore. You know, Clark Kent, Lance Armstrong, the sports figure as mythical, you know, god - I mean that's done.
ZIRIN: Well, what about Tim Tebow?
IZRAEL: What about Tim Tebow?
IFTIKHAR: I was just going to say the same thing. What about Tim Tebow?
MARTIN: Don't mess with Tim. Leave Tim alone.
IFTIKHAR: And that's hate week.
MARTIN: That's right. Hate week. (Unintelligible) hate week. We'll leave it there for now. Writer and culture critic Jimi Izrael. Civil rights attorney and editor Arsalan Iftikhar was with us. He's managing editor of The Crescent Post. Sports editor for The Nation and host of Sirius XM's "Edge of Sports," Dave Zirin. All here in our Washington, D.C. studios, and from member station KUT in Austin, Texas, Mario Loyola, a writer for the National Review and a director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Thank you all so much for joining us.
IFTIKHAR: Thank you.
LOYOLA: Chow, chow.
IZRAEL: Yup, yup.
MARTIN: And remember, if you can't get enough Barber Shop buzz on the radio, check out the Barber Shop podcast in the iTunes store or at NPR.org. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio. | <urn:uuid:e7b98efe-ec18-4725-be27-66d96bda05de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wutc.org/post/was-armstrongs-apology-sincere | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979157 | 6,347 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Engineering prof cries foul on student grade change
By Peter Vogt
After a professor in the Faculty of Engineering refused to change two of his students’ grades, the faculty administration decided to make the changes itself.
Last winter, Professor Jeremy Cooperstock gave two graduate students in the bottom quarter of his Artificial Intelligence course a grade of C+ for the term.
The grades were based on Cooperstock’s own grading scale, which does not directly correspond to the University’s guidelines.
The students complained that numerically, they deserved a higher grade. Cooperstock was then asked to change the grades to a B, the passing grade for graduate students.
Cooperstock refused to change the grades, on the grounds that professors in the faculty can legitimately determine their course grading scales without notifying the students or the administration.
“I have never posted this scheme on the course outline as I wished to retain the flexibility to modify it subject to the final marks distribution,” said Cooperstock in defence of his grading method, which he explained allows for an overall evaluation of students, rather than one based solely on examination marks.
He was angry that Dean of Engineering John Gruzleski overrode his initial decision, with little consideration for those students who worked hard for their grades.
“This is both unfair to the remaining students in the class, whose grades were not similarly inflated, as well as to all students who took the course in previous years,” he said.
In a move unusual for faculty administration, Dean of Engineering John Gruzleski asserted that the students had the right to be graded according to University guidelines.
“Because of the way this course had been marked, I took an executive decision to change the grades and pass them in the course, because I felt that they had not been told what the equivalency was going to be,” said Gruzleski. “They had every right to expect the published equivalency to apply to them.”
The rationale for this decision lies in the ambiguity of grading rules for 500-level courses in the Faculty of Engineering, in which both graduate and undergraduate students can enrol.
Traditionally, grading at the undergraduate level in Engineering is based on individual evaluations such as “good” or “fair,” rather than numeric marking. Graduate courses, on the other hand, follow the grading equivalence scale described in the Graduate Studies and Post-Doctoral booklet.
Gruzleski felt that, in this case, the graduate students had a right to expect that they would be graded according to the graduate studies booklet, not Cooperstock’s scale.
“I just felt it was the fair thing to do under those circumstances,” he said. “Normally, when a grade is changed, it is the professor that does it – this was a very exceptional circumstance. It was one that I did with reluctance. I felt that justice was best served by following the course I did.”
But Cooperstock defended his grading scale, pointing out that most professors of 500-level engineering courses deviate from the grading system described in the graduate handbook, and that none inform students of their grading scales.
The faculty is now trying to clear up the ambiguity in grading 500-level courses. David Frost, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs in the Faculty of Engineering, says that the administration hopes to pass a resolution on the matter before the exam period. | <urn:uuid:9747f9d6-be68-4783-9931-895e80f4cda0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.degradingmcgill.ca/mcgilldaily.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976229 | 713 | 1.59375 | 2 |
These poems are bright islands in the black of the back-wood highways that still criss-cross our country. They are the thin blue notes of jazz that circulate under the neon signs of all-night diners. And, yes, they are postcard messages across time and space to a simpler and more vital period of American life when a young man might follow his hopes and sensuality forever into a younger country lost in the promise of its destiny. Jack Kerouac put an American landscape of the post Eisenhower years into his own words, making that landscape his own for generations to come—a long scroll into the passions, loves, and loss of our poor small bones. That landscape has now departed and fallen beneath the bulldozers of the most powerful nation in human history…the two lane, three lane, four lane interstate highways scattered in the rubble of superhighways of indifference. But there is a time and space still for postcards to that inner world that Jack wrote of, and our survival as a civil and progressive society may well depend on our ability to write and read those postcards. Albert DeGenova has found the right notes to sing in this volume of the open road.
Terse imagery, tightly expressed, and tautologically complete . . . DeGenova weaves his poetic language into poems that are tough. They express what the world needs to hear form the dark shadows and raw alleys of 21st century America. Haibun. Fresh haibun like the off-tune remark getting swiftly punctuated by the soft, warm open palm slap from a scorned woman. Yes, his haibun and short poems are fresh. Expertly wrought and forged form the authentic iron of experience. Postcards to Jack is wonderful. Kerouac would have been jazzed to read them. | <urn:uuid:6774dd8a-42f9-44b3-9835-8fddf0b24750> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nakedmannekin.blogspot.com/2010/11/postcards-to-jack.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956192 | 368 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Mumbai formerly known as Bombay, is the capital of the state of Maharashtra, and the most populous city of India. It is a city filled with excitement being home to India's Hindi film and television industry, known as Bollywood. Mumbai is the commercial and entertainment capital of India and has attracted migrants from all over India because of the immense business opportunities, and the relatively high standard of living, making the city a potpourri of various communities and cultures.
The city has a deep natural harbour and the port handles over half of India's passenger traffic and a significant amount of cargo. Mumbai is also one of the rare cities to accommodate a national park, the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, within its city limits.
Port Location - The port is located in downtown Mumbai.
Transport Links - The closest airport is in Bombay. Once you get off, you can take a train, bus or cab to get to Mumbai.
There are two train lines running through the city and buses, taxis and auto rickshaws are available. | <urn:uuid:ce87f8ca-4f9f-4d1c-b992-ba56f72a5b03> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cruiseabout.co.nz/destinations/mumbai | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962354 | 210 | 1.695313 | 2 |
I wanted to post about this since I saw the picture of that building (which became my desktop wallpaper), but it took some time to find more information and to find the time to write it up. The sources that I used provide somewhat conflicting information, but that’s mostly because the articles were written at different points during the construction.
First you’ve got to see it. The links keep failing, but this google search will lead you to at least some articles with pictures.
I’ve obtained permission from Nikolai Gernet aka nixette to use this recent picture:
Nikolai also has a nice collection of old examples of wooden buildings in Archangelsk.
So here’s what I was able to find out about the building and the builder. The builder and architect is Nikolai Sutyagin, an owner of a lumber yard and a small construction company. He was brought up by a single mother in a crappy communal flat. At 14 years old he was sent to a youth correctional facility for “hooliganism” (probably a fight). When he came back he started working as a construction worker to help support his mother and younger brother. Turned out that he was a pathological workaholic. His supervisor advised him to try his hand at “shabashing”. “Shabashing” was a free market anomaly in a planned socialistic society. Because of the shortage of productive workers in the land of fixed salaries jeopardized the completion of five year plans, collective farms and factories were allowed to hire freelancers and offer pay based on performance. This meant that a skilled workaholic such as Sutyagin could earn about 2000 rubles a month when a college educated engineer’s salary was 200 rubles. Teams of shabashniks were universally hated by collective farmers and factory workers (as well as all other salary men and women), but were tolerated.
When Perestroyka came about Sutyagin used his money to start a lumber and construction business which brought him a substantial fortune. Now he needed a suitable residence. At first he planned on building a huge two story wooden house. Wooden structures are limited by law to two stories for fire safety reasons. At first he built a refrigerator sized wooden mock up. He liked the scale, but didn’t like the proportion of the roof. He decided to elongate it to achieve a more pleasing proportion. Then he started building working with his team like in the old times, but using the timber from his own company. When he was about done with the roof, he decided to build it up a little higher so that he could see the White Sea from the very top. Even though his building has two stories, the roof spans 11 more (some articles estimate the structure to have 12 stories, others – 13 and even 15).
The government and his neighbors hated Sutyagin’s masterpiece. Fire hazard or not, it stands in the middle of a rather poor village, yet it’s higher than the tallest cement building in the city of Archangelsk itself. The city government ordered the structure to be torn down, but the order was never realized as far as I know. But Sutyagin was accused by one of his employees (who supposedly stole $30,000 from Sutyagin’s company) of beating him up and imprisoning him in a shed. True or not, Sutyagin got 4 years of prison. He was let out in 2 years. While he was away his company was looted like Baghdad after the war. Now he and his wife and daughter live in the unfinished skyscraper that he built.
Now, here are some of my thoughts. I am deeply disgusted by the messages on Russian bulletin boards. There are three most common attitudes there: mocking the unfinished structure as a glorified barn, lamenting about the “mysterious Russian Soul” and gloating about the fact that the builder was sent to jail presuming that the source of the money used to build the skyscraper is stealing. Most of the press coverage concentrates on the eccentricity of the builder rather than his genius, strength of will and work ethic.
Sutyagin’s skyscraper takes up a very special place in my heart, right next to the AIG building, the Flatiron (Fuller Building) and all my favorite skyscrapers, remaining, gone and those that were destined never to be built.
I’ve used a number of articles as sources, but they all went offline. You can use this google search to find new ones though. | <urn:uuid:95c96bd6-7d75-47aa-bc33-d6fd69c3ddc5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.deadprogrammer.com/wooden-skyscraper | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98397 | 951 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Eric P. Slade (12/95) "An Analysis of the Consequences of Employer Linked Health Insurance Coverage in the United States."
In the U.S. labor market it is commonplace to observe individuals for whom job changes have resulted in increases or decreases in health insurance coverage. Simple inspection of the job changes and changes in health insurance coverage experienced by individuals would reveal that individuals commonly experience different types of job and health insurance coverage transitions. Some workers leave jobs that offer health insurance coverage for ones that do not, while other workers leave jobs that do no offer health insurance coverage for ones that do. Some workers work many years in the same job receiving their employer's health insurance coverage plan as a benefit throughout their tenure, while others work many years at the same job only to have their employer's offer of health insurance coverage withdrawn. Still others might be observed to change employers often and never receive health insurance coverage through an employer.
The usual arrangements for health insurance coverage in the U.S. today links health insurance policies to employers. Recently, a few economists have suggested that this arrangement is inefficient, insofar as individuals pass up opportunities to work in preferred jobs due to a fear that their current level of health insurance coverage would be reduced in a new job (e.g. Madrian (1994) and Cooper and Monheit (1993)). These authors term the inefficiency "job-lock", they conclude that employer linked health insurance coverage does substantially reduce the frequency of job changes and that the negative effect of health insurance is stronger for individuals with pre-existing medical conditions. They recommend increased regulation of employer linked health insurance coverage. One set of proposals would prohibit insurance companies from excluding a new employee's pre-existing medical conditions from policy coverage. A second set of proposals would require employers to offer a new employee the option of continuing the same health insurance policy which he had been receiving at his former employer.
This paper analyzes the arguments and evidence presented in existing job-lock studies, and offers new evidence regarding the effect of health insurance coverage on job mobility. It begins with a lengthy critique of existing studies. The second part of the paper presents a new model of job changes and health insurance coverage. The final section reports the results of an empirical analysis based on data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY).
Last Modified Date: July 19, 2008 | <urn:uuid:47989fa8-5796-4648-8a5d-f4645e908a5d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/print.pl/osmr/abstract/nl/nl950100.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968441 | 479 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Helping people with computers... one answer at a time.
New words and concepts come along at a frightening pace and we're all somehow expected to know what words to use to ask for help. Here are some ideas.
This may not be a very straight forward question, but how does one even begin to find a solution to a problem, when they have no idea what's causing it, or even the terminology to describe what is happening? Are there any concrete ways to narrow down a search, or steps to follow? It would seem that much of the time, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack, pretty hit and miss, and many times if you find an answer at all, it's by sheer luck that you have stumbled upon it at all, and then many times, it's only after days and weeks of searching. Some times months even.
I love this question because I think it represents exactly where a lot of people are. I know I get a lot of questions every day where people try to describe their problem but have no idea what, or even how to ask the question. The result is that I'm often left scratching my head wondering just what the heck they're talking about.
It's not their fault or problem. It just is. But it also makes dealing with these issues all that much more difficult.
Now, re-read the question and the response I've written, imagining that I were an on-line car advice guru instead of a computer geek. It all still applies, doesn't it?
And as complex as cars are, computers are worse.
You really don't need to know the difference between a carburetor and a catalytic converter if your car breaks down; you just need to know the phone numbers for tow truck and repair shop. From then on in exchange for some of our hard-earned cash, (hopefully) well-trained professionals take care of the rest.
Computers are different.
While you don't need a tow truck, the number of repair shops you might take it to are much fewer than you'll find for your car. Even if you find one, the costs can be comparatively high. And unlike a car, which you hope never breaks down but accept that it can, the expectation is that your computer will "just work". The expense of a technician or repair shop is something that you never expected and try very much to avoid.
And just like a car mechanic, a trustworthy technician is difficult to find.
By and large, we're still in the stage where "normal" people are expected to do most of their own maintenance, diagnosis, and often their own repairs.
Much like the early days of automobiles, actually.
And that means that in some very practical ways, you do need to get educated about the computer you use, if only to be able to ask the right questions when you do need help.
And for the record, "I'm too old", "I'm not techie enough" or any of a hundred other excuses don't cut it; they are just that: excuses. I've received wonderfully appropriate questions from several folks in their 80's and older as well as folks from all walks of life. All that's required is a willingness to learn.
First off, I'm a big believer in learning by doing. That means don't be afraid to do, ask, try, and even occasionally break things. By far the best education we get is that we get from practice.
It's great to have a tech savvy friend or family member, but be sure to "use" them in the right way. Don't just expect them to fix things for you - it's much more important that you learn from them so that you can go on to fix things yourself later. They're especially great because you can point to something on your screen and say "what's that gizmo called?"
If you're near a community college or other institute that offers them: beginners classes will not only help, but could put you in contact with others that are learning along with you. In fact, those contacts after the class could be more important than the class itself!
Q&A services and forums like Ask Leo! are a great place to start on line. I try to be, but not all are friendly to newbies, so definitely spend a little time looking at the on-line archives that you find to see if the tone of the answers is appropriate for your level of knowledge and confidence.
Not all forums and services will work for everyone. I've had people complain because Ask Leo! is too technical, and I've had people complain later that same day that Ask Leo! isn't technical enough. Make sure you spend some time really reading the ongoing conversations. That'll not only tell you if the conversation is appropriate for your needs, but you'll probably learn a lot just by following along.
When you do ask a question, try not to make too many assumptions about what you think the answer is. For example just this morning I was asked something along the lines of "what do I need to change in Internet Explorer to fix the Start Menu?". Well, the two items are unrelated: IE doesn't control the start menu, Windows does. I realize that it's often difficult to tell where one program begins and another ends; that's why symptoms and data are much more important than guesses as to what might be broken.
Don't be disappointed if you don't get an answer your first try. Speaking just for myself, I get way more questions every day than I can actually answer either here in print or in email. I know that the same is true in many of the various other support services as well. The bad news is that you may need to be patient or try again. The good news, if you want to call it that, is that you are most definitely not alone. A lot of people are asking questions.
I'll include a couple of the "ask a question" sites like mine that I personally trust and I know do very well with beginner and basic questions. If you know of a resource yourself that might also be appropriate or friendly towards folks just starting out, add a link to it in the comments to this article - everyone can benefit. There are thousands of possibilities out on the internet, and word of mouth is perhaps the best referral source of all.
Comments on this entry are closed.
If you have a question, start by using the search box up at the top of the page - there's a very good chance that your question has already been answered on Ask Leo!.
If you don't find your answer, head out to http://askleo.com/ask to ask your question. | <urn:uuid:92fc7072-bf4a-45f5-a729-32196caa8138> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ask-leo.com/how_do_you_ask_a_question_when_you_dont_even_know_the_right_words_to_use.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980541 | 1,377 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Oct. 20, 2010
In debate, Obama critic says president's actions mirror what McCain would have done
In a debate Oct. 18, shortly before the midterm elections, two experts clearly did not see eye-to-eye on whether President Barack Obama's foreign policy has been a success or a failure.
"There is good news and bad news about President Obama. ... The good news: He has not kept his promises. The bad news: He has not kept his promises," said Max Boot, a Jeane J. Kirkpatrick senior fellow for national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a former John McCain senior political adviser.
He spoke as part of the 2010 Lund Critical Debate in Foreign Policy Series. Sponsored by Cornell's Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, the debate in Kennedy Hall's Call Auditorium also included Fred Kaplan, the national security columnist for Slate magazine and a Schwartz senior fellow at the New America Foundation. Peter Katzenstein, the Walter S. Carpenter Jr. Professor of International Studies at Cornell, served as moderator.
Boot argued that while Obama said he would approach issues in an unconventional way, in the end he has produced conventional results.
In rebuttal, Kaplan said, "If every president had to live up to their campaign rhetoric, no president could be seen as a success." He further argued that Obama had actually lived up to many of his campaign promises and that he was approaching his foreign policy differently than presidents before him.
The two disagreed on many issues, including the Iraq war and withdrawal of troops in Iraq. Boot said that the 50,000 troops left in Iraq is another unfulfilled promise. Kaplan noted that Obama never said he wanted to get all the soldiers out, but that there would be "no more combat brigades." The troops that are left are peacekeepers with orders not to initiate conflict, he noted.
As for how Obama has handled Israel and the Middle East, Boot dismissed Israel's unwillingness to freeze construction on new settlements as a non-issue. Kaplan, responding that Israel's unwillingness to freeze construction was in fact a very big issue, described the moratorium on new construction as "a critical piece" of how Obama has handled the conflict.
During the question-and-answer period, Boot didn't rule out voting for Obama in the next election, saying, "It depends on who the other candidate is." He said he has agreed with most of Obama's decisions so far, because he hasn't varied much from what McCain would have done. Kaplan quickly chimed in that the difference between Obama and what McCain would have done is huge.
Graduate student Grady Brimley is a writer intern for the Cornell Chronicle. | <urn:uuid:d71970b3-75b6-43cc-a3ea-88f7073aebe2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2010/10/two-experts-debate-obamas-foreign-policy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980699 | 548 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Law Offices of Charles D. Naylor
839 S. Beacon Street, Suite 311
San Pedro, CA 90731
The sea has attracted people for work, play and transportation from the earliest of times. Seamen, fishermen, and other maritime workers such as off shore oil workers spend much of their lives at sea earning a living and supporting their families.
Cruising on passenger ships is a popular vacation activity for people of all ages. Recreational boaters love the freedom of setting their own course, and the smell of salt air. Ships operating as ferries, service boats and supply boats provide a vital transportation function in many parts of the world.
But there are dangers at sea that the most careful and experienced seaman, traveler, or boater can't always avoid.
People die at sea from many causes:
The remedies that are available for death at sea depend in part, on whether the person killed was a seaman.
Families of Cruise Line passengers and other non-seamen, where death was caused by an incident at sea, may be relegated to the limited remedy available to dependent survivors under the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA); or they may be able to sue for wrongful death or even punitive damages under state or other federal maritime laws. When a death is caused by a negligent act or omission which occurs on the "High Seas" (three nautical miles (5.56 U.S. miles) from the shore of any state, or the District of Columbia, or territories or dependencies of the United States) DOHSA will ordinarily apply.
Under DOHSA the personal representative of the decedent may file a lawsuit for damages in state or federal court for the exclusive benefit of the decedent's spouse, parent, child, or dependent relative. Damages under DOHSA are limited to the pecuniary loss only of the eligible survivors. No recovery is allowed for loss of society, love and affection, companionship or for mental anguish. Recovery is allowed for the monetary value of loss of nurture to children and loss of services provided by the decedent.
Where the negligent act or omission causing death occurs in the territorial waters of any state, maritime law allows the application of state wrongful death laws to supplement the remedies available under DOHSA. Many state wrongful death statutes allow a monetary recovery for loss of society and other non-pecuniary damages precluded by DOHSA.
The Jones Act and the Death on the High Seas Act apply to seamen, and both acts provide the family of seamen with a right to sue for damages for wrongful death. For seamen, however, these federal statutes preempt state wrongful death laws, with the result that the families of seamen are allowed to recover only for their pecuniary loss. Recovery is allowed for the monetary value of loss of nurture to children and loss of services provided by the decedent.
Maritime wrongful death law is a patchwork of federal statutes, regulations, and state laws.
Statute of Limitations for Seaman's Injury / Death Claims
Whether filed in state or federal court, the statute of limitations for maritime injury/death claims is three years from the date of the injury/death. If, however the United States is a party defendant, the statute of limitations is two years from the injury/death. In cases where the United States is a party, and the seaman was employed by the Maritime Administration (MARAD), the Clarification Act requires the filing of an administrative claim at least 60 days prior to the expiration of the 2 year statute of limitations.
LONGSHORE INJURY HOTLINE
CHARLES D. NAYLOR
Admiralty & Maritime Law
PETER S. FORGIE
GEORGE M. JONES
Admiralty & Maritime Law | <urn:uuid:e769eb12-d979-41ea-8221-eb20ff90f3a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.naylorlaw.com/practice-area/death-on-the-high-seas-act | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935725 | 790 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Jazz saxophonist Gene Walker has played with some of the most important musical figures over the past half century, Hall of Fame names like Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Brook Benton, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Neil Diamond, Brenda Lee, Elvin Jones, The Isley Brothers and dozens of others. The 72-year-old Columbus native has been a critical element of the state capital’s vibrant Jazz scene as a solo artist, a bandleader (he fronts both the Cotton Club Orchestra and the Generations Band) and an educator (he taught Jazz saxophone and combo classes at Ohio State University, the Jamey Aebersold Jazz Camps and does outreach to area schools through the American Jazz Experience Program, among other educational programs).
Walker was born in 1938 in one of Columbus’ most musically and culturally fertile black neighborhoods, an area that actively supported nearly 40 Jazz and R&B clubs and, as such, was a frequent tour stop for artists traveling between Chicago and New York City.
After two decades of playing with the highest profile artists in the business, Walker returned home to care for his ailing parents. In 1983, a friend asked him to substitute in his classroom at Ohio State, and within weeks Walker enrolled as a student, graduating in 1988 and taking a teaching position in OSU’s Jazz program the following year while continuing to pursue his performing career.
Gene Walker has said his job is entertaining people, but that job is a close second to mentoring his students over the past three decades. Filmmaker John Fraim is working on a documentary detailing Walker’s life and the Columbus Jazz scene that nurtured him, but it’ll be difficult to get it all in a single film. Gene Walker might have been in backing bands during his career, but he’s been bigger than life to everyone he’s taught.
(The Gene Walker Quartet plays at 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Blue Wisp. Get event
and club details here.) | <urn:uuid:2c192164-d10c-44d9-82a2-8acac0cb0649> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-21238-gene_walker.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970294 | 418 | 1.757813 | 2 |
What happens over the next few weeks is highly important for the future of Answers in Genesis. I think you’ll catch my excitement as you read on!
If you’ve been following our web updates, you know that we took a step of faith in wanting to open our Creation Museum debt-free. At the same time, we believed very strongly that it needed to open in Spring 2007.
As we head towards this exciting time, we remain busy with many other Bible-upholding, evangelistic outreaches that provide answers against attacks on the authority of the Word. We constantly strive to proclaim the gospel to a lost world. That’s one of the goals of our award-winning, popular website.
In a ministry like this (and in our own lives), there’s always that tension on how to draw the line between man’s responsibility and God’s sovereignty. Naturally, we do trust God to provide our needs as a ministry (and individually).
In 2 Chronicles 24:9–10, the Israelites were reminded of the voluntary gift Moses asked them to give for the service of the Lord:
And they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring to the LORD the collection that Moses the servant of God had imposed on Israel in the wilderness. Then all the leaders and all the people rejoiced, brought their contributions, and put them into the chest until all had given.
I also believe it’s my responsibility to share our needs with you, a ministry friend.
Would you please prayerfully consider the following?
We need to complete the museum. There’s only $2 million to raise of the initial $25 million budget, plus the added $2 million for the necessary expansion (to accommodate a nice “problem” we will be facing: larger-than-expected crowds that our research over the past year has forecasted).
Through the end of the summer, museum giving was phenomenal … and we appreciated the generosity. But we also had to make the decision to expand the lobby and the parking lot because of the exciting potential of larger-than-anticipated attendance.
You see, our projection when we first started to design the museum was that we would have over 100,000 visitors each year. Recent research is showing that 250,000—at a minimum—should be coming annually!
A recent poll conducted by one of America’s leading researchers/pollsters, commissioned by AiG and sponsored by a generous donor, clearly showed the reasons we have been losing young people from the church:
Pastors are not making the Bible relevant and are not giving answers so desperately needed by our young people in this skeptical age.
I believe we must continue to provide answers for the church, and disseminate information throughout the culture to uphold the authority of God’s Word. (We will be releasing details of the poll in the near future, including a major article on our website.) The museum will be a key to offering answers.
Right now, here’s the bottom line: if you and everyone receiving this letter were to give $50 to the museum fund and $50 to the general fund, the museum funding would be almost fully funded, and the general fund would be balanced before the end of the year!
Now, I’m aware that not everyone will send a gift. But we’ll praise God for any donation we receive from someone who has benefited from a visit to our website and from reading some of the more than 5,000 free, faith-building articles we offer.
December is a vital time for all ministries. It’s when many of God’s people consider what they can sacrificially give to proclaim the gospel (and also benefit from certain national tax laws). Generous giving right now can have a great impact on ministry. God has built this ministry mostly by gifts under $100. (Of course, the larger gifts we occasionally receive greatly enhance the outreach potential of AiG.)
As we are coming to the end of the year and people consider their year-end giving, it’s a time most of all to think about the One who created the world and became the Babe in the manger so that He could pay the penalty for our sin.
As I walked into an Ohio church recently, a man came up to me and declared: “I became a Christian after you spoke in this church two years ago about the Bible truly being God’s Word, starting with Genesis—then it was my wife and my son. And now we’re working on our other son.” That’s what AiG wants to see!
The more I see the construction progress with the museum, and the more I hear wonderful comments from Christians and even secular reporters who have visited the construction site (a national ABC-TV correspondent said during his visit that he would be surprised if the museum didn’t attract up to 1 million people in its first year!), the more I’m convinced that God will bless this center as one of the greatest tools of evangelism in this century. I can’t wait!
By the way, we just learned some thrilling news: for the second year in a row, AiG has been named on the “Shining Lights ‘Top 30 List’ of Exemplary Ministries” by the financial watchdog group MinistryWatch.com.
These ministries are called “Shining Lights” because they are models of letting their Christian light shine before men so that the gospel may be proclaimed and so that God may be glorified.
Given the large number of wonderful Christian ministries throughout America, we praise God for this recognition. (MinistryWatch.com is an independent ministry-rating organization which helps donors be good stewards of the resources God has given them.)
We want our museum doors to be open during the family vacation season of 2007, because the goal of our ministry is to share the gospel—especially with young people—through the window of the book of Genesis. Contracts need to be signed now so that the opening date will not be jeopardized.
A museum gift of $50—and a gift of $50 to the general fund—are needed right now. Can we ask for your financial support and prayer this week? As you give, please know that lives will be changed as God uses the powerful creation/gospel message.
So many opportunities to proclaim the gospel! Whether it’s through my witnessing booklet that we’re offering to you this month, or through our website or a large museum, there are so many ways to share our faith. Please partner with us—to get out the Word—with a gift right now!
Help keep these daily articles coming. Support AiG.
“Now that I have updated, revised, and expanded The Lie, I believe it’s an even more powerful, eyeopening book for the church—an essential resource to help all of us to understand the great delusion that permeates our world! The message of The Lie IS the message of AiG and why we even exist! It IS the message God has laid on our hearts to bring before the church! It IS a vital message for our time.”
– Ken Ham, president and founder of AiG–U.S.
Answers magazine is the Bible-affirming, creation-based magazine from Answers in Genesis. In it you will find fascinating content and stunning photographs that present creation and worldview articles along with relevant cultural topics. Each quarterly issue includes a detachable chart, a pullout children’s magazine, a unique animal highlight, excellent layman and semi-technical articles, plus bonus content. Why wait? Subscribe today and get a FREE DVD download! | <urn:uuid:0cb699aa-6810-4309-bf27-3ea7935b57ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2006/12/26/get-word-out | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954259 | 1,600 | 1.609375 | 2 |
We have a new article from the Mannian school, this time involving supposedly “independent” NAS panelist, Doug Nychka, and geologist Caspar Ammann, who is very enthusiastic about calculating covariances using Mannian proxies. The lead author is a statistician, Bo Li. The article purports to use MBH99 proxies and says
we do not critically evaluate these proxies but simply apply them as the best available set at the time of 1999
They then proceed to use what appears to be Mann’s PC1, plus no less than 4 different time series from Quelccaya (Core 1 dO18 and accumulation, Core 2 dO18 and accumulation) with each different core remarkably and mysteriously teleconnecting in different ways with “climate reconstruction fields” such that mere covariances are interpreted as having physical meaning.) But more on the statistics on another occasion. The article concludes by saying:
The authors thank Dr. Michael Mann for providing the proxy data.
Jean S observed that the proxy series do not match the MBH versions that he had. I checked this as well. The figure below compares MBH99 Quelccaya Core 2 accumulation (with its characteristic pattern that Hans Erren figured out a few years ago) and the Quelccaya Core 2 version used by Li et al. The two proxy series are clearly not the same; the correlation is 0.70. Correlations of about this value are typical. It’s hard to say what Mann has done this time. I checked the a.c.f’s of a couple of versions to see if Mann had given them smoothed versions, but, in the examples that I looked at, the new series did not have additional autocorrelation. The correlation of the original version to the new version was consistently about 0.70 for all of the series – which is close to the square root of 1/2 – but why? All these proxies could have been obtained from WDCP so I don’t know why they didn’t use original data. Pretty mysterious.
Here’s another example:
UPDATE: The above surmise that noise was added to the data has proved correct. Bo Li has confirmed that noise was added to the proxies and that they archived a sample of synthetic data and did use original proxies. She has accordingly corrected the description of the data sets on her webpage to “synthetic” instrumental and “synthetic” proxy and responded cordially, apologizing for any inconvenience. This resolves the proxy issue, which was an odd one. When I get a chance, I’ll look at the statistics.
The data sets that I posted on my website are not the real Northern Hemisphere temperature and the MBH99 proxies. They are generated by adding white noise with unit variance to the standardized real data. The pseudo data sets on my website only serve as a toy example to try the R code that I used in my paper. However, the results in Li et al. (Tellus, in press) are based on the real data instead of the pseudo data. I am sorry that I did not explain very clearly what the data set on my webpage is and also sorry for the confusion that I brought to you as a consequence. I have modified my webpage to make the point more explicitly.
In our paper, we looked at the residuals in calibration (14 proxies against not PC1 of instrumental, but full N-Hem average) and found that there is enough serial correlation that an AR2 process is warranted to represent the “noise”. Then, the approach was to simulate a set of ensembles that fulfill the criterion during calibration so that the explained variance is the same but that the noise is different (using that AR2). Then, because we wanted to establish a method to study the maximum decadal values, we then simulated all series. Simulating time-evolving series was necessary because we have serial correlation, and thus decadal maxima can be computed. The goal was not to be producing the best reconstruction that is currently possible, but to demonstrate a way of how one could go and address the decadal max question. This question was not well addressed in the NRC report, and thus this work is a followup as collaboration between stats and geoscience to show how one could better answer the significance question for the old MBH99 framework. | <urn:uuid:393f7a59-8d7f-4ec4-be06-f12b4fb800b7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://climateaudit.org/2007/08/29/did-mann-punk-bo-li-et-al/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=317f4d0876 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960523 | 913 | 1.609375 | 2 |
An important stumbling block to the growth of the life settlement industry is the lack of consumer awareness that the option of a life settlement even exists. For a number of years, The Lifeline Program, one of the providers that we offer policies to for sale in the life settlement market, has used the well-known actress, Betty White, in its advertising. Recently, at the LISA (Life Insurance Settlement Association) Annual Spring Meeting, two of the company's chief officers addressed the conference about a change in their advertising strategy.
In order to bring greater awareness of life settlements to the general public, The Lifeline Program decided to refocus its marketing efforts with Betty White. To that end, it created a music video (to see the video click here) with Betty, "I'm Still Hot," that has gone viral on YouTube. The video has also been honored with a 2012 Communicator Award of Excellence from The International Academy of the Visual Arts.
Inevitably, someone at the meeting raised the question, "What does Betty know about life settlements?" Although 90-year-old Betty White is an iconic and beloved figure, she is an actress and not a financial planner. The speaker said he asked her that question himself and her answer was, "Isn't it nice to have options?" Interestingly, in one brief sentence, Betty shows she "gets it." Unfortunately, a number of life insurance companies and broker-dealers still don't "get it." Their restrictions on their producers could effectively deprive senior citizens of the option to sell policies that are no longer wanted or needed on the secondary market.
Betty understands that people deserve to have the same options with their life insurance policies as they would have with any other property. This is the same view espoused by Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. more than 100 years ago in writing the landmark opinion in Grigsby vs. Russell:
“So far as reasonable safety permits, it is desirable to give to life policies the ordinary characteristics of property . . . To deny the right to sell . . . is to diminish appreciably the value of the contract in the owner's hands.”
Without the knowledge that the option of a life settlement exists, consumers are effectively deprived of that option. We applaud The Lifeline Program and Betty White for trying to raise consumer awareness of life settlements, as once the decision has been made to lapse or surrender a policy, “isn’t it nice to have options?”
For more from Robin S. Weinberger, CLU, ChFC, CLTC, and Peter N. Katz, J.D., CLU, ChFC, see: | <urn:uuid:c85fd29b-9fca-47e9-a524-9b20e1906eca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lifehealthpro.com/2012/06/18/what-does-betty-white-know-about-life-settlements?t=ltcitlife-productstestate-planning?t=life-settlements | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959846 | 544 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Wiluna, WA, Australia
Malcolm Merchant and his wife run a farm in Wiluna. Their original plan was to grow grapes, but that turned out to be unsuccessful. They were unable to keep the vines alive due to the continued drought.
Before embarking on this adventure, Malcolm had collected all the available meteorological data for the past 100 years. He intended to use these as a basis for predicting patterns in rainfall in the Wiluna area. ‘It turned out that the rainfall here was completely unpredictable. Nobody knows when it’s coming, and nobody knows how much will fall. And it’s very local. Sometimes we get nothing at all, while they could be having a 60-minute downpour just 10 kilometres from here.’
To support themselves, Malcolm and his wife now rent out the simple rooms originally intended for grape pickers and other seasonal workers. Their initiative has been successful. People travelling from the extremely isolated Gunbarrel Road, in particular, jump at the chance to sleep in a real bed in an air-conditioned room for the night.
Malcolm is a sensitive man. He talks about literature and expressively recites a poem about the beauty of life in the Outback, with tears in his eyes. ‘This poem so perfectly describes the blistering heat of a summer day in this area. The sultriness and the total stillness, with maybe just a hint of a slight breeze. I love it!’ | <urn:uuid:baceab74-b0cc-4622-8bc5-33bb68cc3a37> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thijsheslenfeld.com/frame.php?itemId=298930 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968005 | 304 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Chilly day after cold air settled in overnight
Published: Thursday, December 27, 2012 at 10:22 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, December 27, 2012 at 10:22 a.m.
Today is set to be chilly but sunny as a new mass of cold air settled in overnight, according to the National Weather Service.
The high temperature today is forecast to be 61 degrees with another cold night to follow.
National Weather Service forecast
Today: Sunny, with a high near 61. Light northwest wind increasing to 5 to 9 mph in the morning.
Tonight: Areas of frost after midnight. Otherwise, mostly clear, with a low around 33. Light and variable wind.
Friday: Areas of frost before 8 a.m. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 67. Calm wind becoming southeast 5 to 8 mph in the morning.
Friday night: Showers likely after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 52. Southeast wind 3 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent.
Saturday: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before noon, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Cloudy, with a high near 74. Windy, with a south wind 9 to 14 mph becoming southwest 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent.
Saturday night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 45.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 62.
Sunday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 42.
Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 69.
Monday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 49.
New Year's Day: Mostly sunny, with a high near 74.
Tuesday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 53.
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:4de1af5e-65f5-46ab-bc6c-de44d2e96b44> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ocala.com/article/20121227/ARTICLES/121229747/-1/swirkoc@gvillesun.com | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950349 | 409 | 1.554688 | 2 |
In U.S. politics, the Republican presidential contenders for 2012 continue to hammer away at President Barack Obama’s economic record. But some of the Republican candidates are also taking shots at the president’s foreign policy agenda.
The latest salvo on foreign policy came from former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty.
Pawlenty told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York that the Obama administration was slow to embrace democracy activists in Iran and slow to offer encouragement to the democracy movements that makeup the so-called ‘Arab Spring’.
Pawlenty also criticized the president’s approach to the Middle East peace process involving Israel and the Palestinians.
“The president really does not have a policy toward the peace process. He has an attitude. And let us be frank about what that attitude is. He thinks Israel is the problem and he thinks the answer is always more pressure on Israel. I reject that anti-Israel attitude. I reject it because Israel is a close and reliable democratic ally.”
But Pawlenty also offered thinly veiled criticism of some of his fellow Republican presidential contenders who would like to see a quicker drawdown of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
“What is wrong is for the Republican Party to shrink from the challenges of American leadership in the world. America already has one political party devoted to decline, retrenchment and withdrawal. It does not need a second one,” he said.
Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman has talked about quickening the pace of the U.S. troop withdrawal, and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney warned against future nation-building efforts at a recent Republican candidates’ debate.
Pawlenty is hoping to reignite some enthusiasm for his campaign after a recent poll in the early contest state of Iowa showed him well down the list of preferred Republican contenders.
Near the top of that list was Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who officially joined the presidential race on Monday.
“Together we can make a better America if we stick together. Together we can bring the promise of the future. Together we can! Together we will!,” she said.
Bachmann is running neck and neck in Iowa with the national Republican frontrunner, Mitt Romney, who has been campaigning in New Hampshire and focusing on the economy.
“President Obama had said that if he had not turned the economy around in three years that it was a one-term proposition. Well he is absolutely right,” Romney said.
The pace of the Republican nomination battle is likely to intensify in the next few months even as two other potential contenders are deciding whether to the join the field -Texas Governor Rick Perry and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin. | <urn:uuid:2daef89a-c968-452e-9c5a-84357cab48fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.voanews.com/articleprintview/174770.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964924 | 558 | 1.5 | 2 |
Alboum and town clerk Patricia Dow reported to the board and attending residents on their conversation with licensed surveyor Malcolm Moore and on Dow’s queries to the secretary of state’s office. A plat is required, but, Dow said, “A plat does not require a survey.” A plat is any “map of a small local area.” It may show only a portion of the property, and could be a drawing made by the property owner.
Some board members had questioned whether a subdivision can be officially recorded without a survey. It can. “I spoke with the secretary of state’s office,” said Dow, “and found out that I am required to record any drawing, plat, map, survey or document presented to me with the appropriate recording fee. However, if it is not a valid survey, signed and stamped by a licensed surveyor, I am to make a notation regarding that fact, and it cannot be used to record acreage.”
Absent a survey, how do the listers determine acreage for tax purposes? “The listers,” Dow said, “put that question to their district advisor and learned that they have to use the acreage on the deed.” When asked how the acreage on the deed is determined, Dow replied, “That’s up to the lawyers (who prepare the deed).”
Dow also gave the board her opinion on whether permit requirements should be revised to include an official survey. While there are some advantages to the town and the landowner if a survey is done, Dow stated strongly that she thinks it should remain optional. She recommended including a statement of the pros and cons. An official survey assures an accurate statement of acreage and that there will be no “cloud over their deed for possible future generations.” But it is expensive.
Using a plat instead of a survey is far less costly, but is more work for the landowner, who must measure and mark the proposed subdivision as accurately as possible. It also could result in boundary disputes in the future.
Zoning administrator Rick Gay will do a site visit to determine if the two-acre plot is marked accurately as drawn on the plat provided by Sumner. The board made its decision on Sumner’s application in a deliberative session held after the public meeting was adjourned.
In other business, Alboum announced that as of November 1, 2012, Halifax has been officially enrolled in the National Flood Insurance Program. The vote to apply for membership was held at Town Meeting last March.
Board member Linda Smith told her colleagues that she has received an offer to get all the demographic information in the town plan updated on a pro bono basis.
“If the town is awarded the planning grant it has applied for,” Smith said, “this would allow the board to use the funds for expert advice on actual substantive planning.”
If, for example, demographic projections showed that the school-age population is likely to drop drastically, “How do we plan for that?” If the average age of townspeople is projected to be over 65, “How do we plan for the services we will need?”
“The board could,” Smith concluded, “brainstorm how we literally move this town forward.” | <urn:uuid:957aae07-183a-4863-9f56-3ad9237ac1e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dvalnews.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Planning+board+questions+surveys-+subdivisions%20&id=20849058&instance=news_special_coverage_right_column | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969986 | 702 | 1.71875 | 2 |
After replying to a request from an Ancestry.com message for some information on a shared ancestor, I started doing a little more digging on that particular line. In my web searching, I happened to stumble across a county history/biography/genealogy that I thought might cover the family. It wasn’t anything Ancestry had, so I thought I’d make a quick check of the Family History Library catalog on familysearch.org. I was thrilled to see that not only was a microfilm copy available for request, but there was also a digital copy that could be downloaded.
What I ended up with was a PDF of an 880 page volume that had been published in 1883 and had information that went back in some cases to the late 1700s. It had information about who held various local government offices, church boards, historical information on companies that served in the civil war, and family histories. It was immediately obvious, that just extracting information that was pertinent to my family was going to be a project.
In 20 years of doing genealogy/family history, experience has shown that these kinds of finds are more the exception than the norm. However, with the rate at which various collections are being digitized, I’m hopeful this will start to happen a little more frequently.
For me, the moral of the story was that with all the focus on doing research online, it pays to still look in the old card catalog. Of course, the old card catalog is an online database, and instead of finding an old book to request, you just might get lucky and find out that some organization has scanned it for you. | <urn:uuid:39453e73-09b8-475d-8c59-4072456e9084> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://familyhistoryalive.wordpress.com/2012/02/19/dont-forget-the-card-catalog/?like=1&_wpnonce=f652223489 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984279 | 338 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Mon July 2, 2012
Finally, 'Some Good News' About Colorado Springs Wildfire
As we said earlier, millions of people in mid-Atlantic states and Ohio are starting a third day without power because of damage from Friday's "land hurricane."
But in Colorado Springs, "it's nice to finally have some good news," Steve Cox, chief of economic vitality and innovation for the city, tells the local Gazette.
As the newspaper reports:
"Sunday was a day of homecomings in Colorado Springs, with thousands of Waldo Canyon fire evacuees allowed back in their homes permanently and others, in the fire-torn Mountain Shadows subdivision, allowed to see what was left of their neighborhood for a short while.
"As of 8 p.m. Sunday night, all but 3,000 evacuees — less than a tenth of the number at the height of evacuations — were allowed back into their homes."
About 350 homes in the area were destroyed by the fire, which began on June 23 and is now about 55 percent contained. At least two people were killed.
The Denver Post today tells some of the stories of residents — both those who returned to find nothing and those whose homes escaped the blaze. "As residents of the Mountain Shadows neighborhood returned to their homes Sunday morning, they came face-to-face with the cruel, capricious nature of the Waldo Canyon fire," the newspaper says.
Among the strange sights the residents found: melted bowling balls. You wouldn't think bowling balls would melt," C.J. Moore told The Associated Press. But she found her family's had done just that.
Related news from Colorado Public Radio: "Wildfire Losses Likely To Impact Colorado Insurance Market." | <urn:uuid:97880983-629e-4ae7-8166-cbb6a618c6ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wvxu.org/post/finally-some-good-news-about-colorado-springs-wildfire | 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 | 0.977025 | 354 | 1.773438 | 2 |
George W. Bush
's head appeared on billions of TV sets during his time as US President, but never
Covered in a bushy wig, a prop of Bush's head on a stake appears in HBO's hit medieval series Game of Thrones, the show's creators revealed on the season one DVD commentary.
"People may not have noticed this but back up ... the last head on the left is George Bush," one writer said.
"George Bush's head appears in a couple beheading scenes," the other said. "It's not a choice. It's not a political statement. It's just we had to use whatever heads we had around."
In episode ten, King Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) shows his bride-to-be Sansa (Sophie Turner) the severed head of her father and other men killed under his reign at King's Landing. Watch above for Bush's blink-and-you'll-miss-it "cameo".
Images: Game of Thrones/Getty
Republicans complained about the beheaded Bush. Craig Eton, the chairman of the Brooklyn Republican Party, called for Americans to boycott the show, and wanted the "despicable" image to be removed.
"As a country, Democrats, Republicans, we have to have respect for the office and the individuals," he told Mail Online. "Once we lose that respect, the United States looks weak."
"They didn't intend it to be political, but now that it is, they should remove it."
The creators of the show, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, have since issued an apology.
"We meant no disrespect to the former President and apologise if anything we said or did suggested otherwise," they said in a statement.
HBO released their own statement calling the incident "unacceptable, disrespectful and in very bad taste", adding that it be will be removed from future DVDs.
Related gallery: All the pictures from Game of Thrones season two | <urn:uuid:4961d7cf-198d-4c66-b21e-6da4c86b810b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://entertainment.msn.co.nz/article.aspx?id=8483595 | 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 | 0.96934 | 409 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Little Lamb Nursery offers upscale child care services designed for children ages 6 weeks to 2.5 years. Normal operating hours will be 8:00am to 6:00pm, Monday through Friday - with observance of all major legal holidays. Early drop-off service and late pick up service will be offered as needed, as well as occasional overnight care. Little Lamb Nursery exists to provide premier child care services that are aimed at enhancing traditional day care methodologies and integrating extracurricular interests (such as arts and crafts, dance, imaginative play) into one comprehensive program. Our activity based curriculum is specifically tailored for infants and toddlers. Finally, our developmental programs reinforce basic social, listening, independence and motor skills and prepare toddlers for future related interaction.
The founder of Little Lamb Nursery will be supported in daily operations by the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC), the Adults & Children's Alliance, USDA’s Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), and other various professional child care provider organizations, all with extensive experience in child care fields.
Child and Adult Care Food Program
Little Lamb Nursery will be participating in the CACFP program! Health and safety standards, training, and monitoring make CACFP an important component of quality child care, especially in family day care homes.
Infant Meals Good nutrition is essential to the rapid growth and development that occurs during a baby’s first year. CACFP provides infants with the right foods that will promote good health and give them the opportunity to enjoy new tastes and textures as they establish good eating habits.
It is the goal of Little Lamb Nursery to provide nutritious meals and snacks to all children in our care, as it is a vital part of a child's growth and development. It is a well known fact that children need to eat well-balanced meals to help them build a strong body and mind as well as to give them the energy they need throughout the day.
We know that the good food habits a child develops will help them prevent cavities, iron deficiency anemia, and obesity, etc - all common nutritional problems in young children. It is our hope that both you and your child will be as enthusiastic as we are about our nutrition program
Opportunities vary, but include, reading to children in our Child Care Program, helping with feeding, supervising playtime, distributing/ feeding food during snack or feedings, cuddling, or presenting a special talent or skill to the children.
A place for your child to grow....
Infants and toddlers alike are sensory motor beings. This means that they explore the world using their developing senses and motor skills. Doing this helps them develop concepts of the physical world that is around them as they grow. Because of this, Little Lamb Nursery has chosen to use a curriculum that has been developed to provide infants and toddlers with a rich learning environment that will provide maximized exploration for; large and small motor skills, sensory exploration, cognitive experiences, and personal expression.
As it is the first year of life that is the most critical time for development, it is a responsive, language-rich attention that is used at Little Lamb Nursery to help optimize the child's development. Recent studies have demonstrated that both the psychological and neurological development depend on responsive stimulation. At Little Lamb Nursery, the caregivers work with the parents to ensure that responsive caregiving for each child is being provided.
The Little Lamb Nursery programs is comprised of five main components; Personal Care plans, You are special, Parents are Key, Teamwork, and Listen to This. Personal Careplans:This is where the Parents and Caregiver works together to establish a personal care plan for the child. The plan is to be continually updated to ensure that the child care routines are personalized to fit the child and family. You are Special: Each day very young babies and infants spend time each day "heart to heart" with their caregiver. During this time each sound and movement the baby makes is met with a warm response. Either by a touch, a smile, response, or word that signals "You are Special". Parents are Key: Little Lamb Nursery caregivers understand that the parent-child relationship is key and that parents are encouraged to call anytime they would like with any ideas, questions, and or concerns that they may have. Teamwork: Caregivers at Little Lamb Nursery systematically observe and share observations to ensure that each baby's needs, cues, and strengths are being recognized and that they are being understood and that the baby's care is responsive. Listen to This: Infants benefit from the joys of sharing a book in the caring arms of an adult long before they understand the words and pictures of a book. Reading begins with young babies and gains momentum as they mature into children and adults. Infants and toddlers experience the magic and wonders of books on laps, the floor, and as they lay down and are drifting off to sleep.
Toddlers... At Little Lamb Nursery, we use a hands-on exploration and social interaction based collegiate curriculum to help your child learn about the world in an engaging and safe environment. Through the guidance of the caregiver, toddlers learn to succeed in a program that has been designed to meet their individual "ages and stages". To promote the toddler's growing independence, the learning experiences are planned to enhance social skills, and to build confidence that is needed for the child to reach their individual potential and to prepare them for preschool and beyond.
Our colligated curriculum for toddlers promotes the development of age-specific skills by targeting the changing needs of children. Our hands-on toddler program offers age-appropriate learning opportunities that encourage individual skills and independent choices. We present age-appropriate learning that includes language and reading, fine motor skills, sensory exploration, construction, math, science, and outdoor learning. Little Lamb Nursery is enthusiastic about providing activities that help develop motor skills such as by throwing and climbing, and by establishing a relaxed environment to accommodate the individual disposition of the age group while fostering the toddlers self-help and self-confidence skills.
The caregivers at Little Lamb Nursery take the well-being of you child very seriously, and we work hard to provide and environment that is as healthy as possible. Keeping our home and the children in it as clean as possible is one of our main commitments to you and your child. This will help minimize and/ or prevent the spread of germs. Hand Washing has been proven to be the single most effective practice in preventing the spread of germs. Because of this we wash our hands many times throughout the day, as well as the children's hands before and/ or after engaging in a through list of activities. At the age of 15 months we have the children start to brush their teeth every day after lunch time. We do this to help the child develop a life long habit of oral hygiene.
Our home is kept clean and disinfected at all times. We thoroughly clean surfaces that children come in close contact with using soap and water, or Lysol, etc. The high chairs are cleaned between each use, and the diaper changing tables are cleaned and disinfected between each diaper change. Toys are cleaned and disinfected often, and set aside to be sterilized after they are mouthed by a child. | <urn:uuid:a1480668-4008-4b27-9b8d-a2384821e302> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://littlelambnursery.net/2352.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957791 | 1,488 | 1.5 | 2 |
Rurrenabaque (or simply Rurre) is a small town (population 15.000) in the Beni Department on the banks of the Río Beni in the Bolivian Amazon Basin. Trips to the jungle in the nearby Madidi National Park and pampas are the main attraction.
To get to San Buenaventura across the Río Beni take one of the water taxis at Calle Santa Cruz for 1 Boliviano.
There are daily buses to and from La Paz. The journey takes 20 hours. There are generally more people on the bus than seats and there isn't much space to put your legs. You can break the trip in Coroico, which is only 17 hours away. On a part of the road from La Paz to Coroico a new highway has been opened at the end of 2006, and the old 'death road' is now only for bikers. The new road only avoids a part of the 'death road' or Yungas Road. From Coroico (Yolosita) to Caranavi is another two to three hours on the death road, with the roadside canyon just a few hundred feet deep instead of a few hundred metres.
There are also daily buses to Riberalta and Guayará-Mirim. Inquire about departure times at the bus terminal; they vary wildly. During the rainy season, this road is virtually impassable, and trips may take up to six days. When the road's in good condition, Rurrenabaque-Riberalta should take about 20 hours, and Guayará another four.
There are two offices on Avaroa offering jeep services to nearby towns and even La Paz (US$25 and only 12 hours). Also you can see all the information about bus travel in a travel guide is very useful for travel in Bolivia.
A tarmac strip outside town is the main airport. In case it's flooded companies use the landing strip at Reyes, about 45 mins. away. There are daily connections to La Paz, but cancellations are common, especially in the rainy season.
Their website doesn't seem to work correctly (April 2012), you can book an fully booked flight. Better to go to the office or a travel agency. Don't forget to reconfirm your flight on the day before, and also on the day you fly.
See & Do
Events, festivities: The 2nd of February: Fiesta de Rurre - Anniversary of Rurrenabaque - The day of La Virgen de Candelaria.
There are about 20 tour companies offering jungle and pampas trips, the main attractions around Rurre. The official price which every visitor has to pay now is 600 BOB (around 80 US-$, April 2009). Nevertheless it's possible to bargain, either in a travel agency in La Paz or directly in Rurre. The best time to visit is in the dry (and high) season when most wildlife is attracted to the river for water, the walking trails are less muddy and there are fewer mosquitoes.
Choosing who to go with is not easy as most offers sounds more or less the same, and much is up to the guide, cooker and boat driver that happens to work during your tour. A piece of good advice is to choose one of the community based options such as San Miguel del Bala, Berraco del Madidi, Chalalán, and Mapajo, all in the rain forest. As you stay in one of these community based Eco-Lodges you are sure to do true eco-tourism and at the same time help the indigenous people to survive economically and culturally, and to protect the natural resources where they live.
It's possible to stay between one and 30 days in the jungle. Mostly tours have lodging facilities along the Beni and Tuichi Rivers, but you can also go for a trekking and camp in the jungle. Good guides can tell you about the properties of the different plants and trees and let you taste some of the fruits. To spot wildlife you have to be lucky, most of the animals prefer to stay hidden in the dense forest. A night walk to reveal the nocturnal life is the best chance to see some. Tour prices usually don't include park entrance (Bs80) and a fee to stay in a community (Bs50). For a perfect combination of culture and nature stay in one of the community based Eco-Lodges, such as Berraco del Madidi (Quechua-Tacanas), San Miguel del Bala (Tacanas), Chalalán (Quechua-Tacanas) or Mapajo (Tsiman-Mosetén). La Magdalena Ecolodge`is another option to take contact with nature in a private ranch with a comfortable hostal in the middle of jungle, see: butterflymadidi.com. Tucan Ecolodge is another option to take contact with nature in a tours in the Tuichi Rivers.
If you're interested in seeing conservation work first hand, check out Serere Sanctuary, a private reserve operated by Madidi Travel. The team behind it was instrumental in establishing Madidi National Park in the 1990s. They’re now using Serere as a strategic point for establishing legally protected zones to the north to save the rainforest from the same fate faced by Madidi 20 years ago. Madidi Travel opened the 4000 hectare park in 2003, to allow visitors to appreciate the restored biodiversity, while generating income for their conservation work to continue. Before the reserve was opened an extensive rehabilitation project was carried out involving; reforestation and the recovering of lakes from invasion plants, the creation of infrastructure to support sustainable tourism, agroforestry, and reintroduction of rescued animals. Now the group works with the neighboring indigenous community to ensure the continued protection of Serere, and community lands, from on-going threats such as logging and hunting. As a result of their conservation efforts, abundant fauna can be found in Serere, including endangered species such as jaguars, black caimans, anacondas, and many varieties of birds. Touristic operations at Serere are maintained at a small scale, there are eight lodges which house an average of 15 – 20 tourists, and guides handle a maximum of six tourists to minimize thier impact. Madidi Travel also accepts volunteers for short or long term stays, to assist within a variety of aspects of their operations, or specific projects.
For watching wildlife opt for a pampas tour. Among animals you might see are six different species of Crocodilian (more species than any other region in the world is home to), including the giant black caiman. There are turtles, all three species of anaconda, pink dolphins, capybaras, monkeys, giant ant-eaters, porcupines, toucans, blue and yellow macaws, and even jaguars. A number of native guides in the Pampas region are known for their snake-wrangling skills, and will catch poisonous snakes barehanded while on an excursion. Bird watchers are attracted equally to the Pampas and the Jungle, whereas entomologists tend to prefer the jungle tours, which offer a better selection of insect life, most notably butterflies. One of the unique experiences to be had in the Pampas region is swimming with pink river dolphins. The dolphins are very sociable, and will often approach the sound of a motorboat, eager to interact with the people. Because the water is darkly stained and impenetrable by sight, many people experience anxiety when touched by the dolphins, because they can't be seen underwater. For most, however, it is a thrilling experience. The dolphins greatly enjoy interacting with humans, and will each behave according to its own unique personality. Some are very gentle, and others enjoy the reactions they elicit by gently nipping a toe, or forcefully splashing the water directly behind a person. the pampas tours have become very popular and touristic during the high season and have the potential to cause damage to the wild life in the small river Rio Yacuma. The tours are usually done by motor boats that can cause fatal injuries to pink river dolphins. Competent and ethical guides will know which sections of the river be extra careful in. Also, you should make sure that your guide is not showing you pre-trapped animals kept in inhumane living conditions, or letting anybody wearing sunscreen or repellent touch the animals.
A New ATM has just opened but like everywhere don´t count to much on the machine because it sometimes will run out of money. Prodem (commercio s/n) gives cash advances on Visa and Mastercard credit cards with 5% commision.
There are several places to change dollars or cash travellers checks. Moskkito also change euros and claim they have the best rates in town.
Fantastic Tunesian ! cook create French, Italian and Arab cuisine. Main courses round 50-70 Bol
Fantastic Tunesian ! cook create French, Italian and Arab cuisine. Main courses round 50-70 Bol
There are a number of laundry services in Rurre, none of which are particularly recommended. (Lavanderia Number One has previously been recommended as being friendly, but they are known to have miscoloured their customers' clothes.)
There are around 10 establishments offering internet facilities in the town, all of which charge Bs8 for a fairly slow connection (chat clients and Skype can be used however).
Be aware of the guides - there have been many incidents of theft and physical abuse on the pampas and jungle tours. Some of them are professinoal thiefs and liars. Do not lend or give anyone money - there will be no way of getting it back. They usually invent a story about ill family members that need medication or something similar to make the Gringos feel guilty. Single girls beware of "nice" guides - they spend one night with you and find a way of sqeezing out the money.
There are three main ways to enter and exit Rurrenabaque. Buses travel south to La Paz from the bus terminal on a daily basis, usually leaving around 10AM. It is wise to purchase tickets at least a day in advance. The price is approximately $US10 and the journey to La Paz, stopping at Caranavi and Corico can take over a day depending on weather conditions. It is advisable to take food and water supplies, although meal stops do take place.
The more expensive ($US50-$US80) way to enter or exit Rurrenabaque is by flying. There are two airlines both of which have ticket offices in Rurrenabaque town center. The airlines are Amazonas, which operates numerous daily flights, and TAM, who have one to three flights weekly. TAM, run by the Bolivian military, operates slightly larger planes and are on the cheaper end of the scale, where as Amazonas tend to be slightly more expensive but more regular. The flight to La Paz takes between 40 minutes and 55 minutes.
It is worth noting that various atmospheric conditions often lead to the delay of flights, including smoke from forest burning, low cloud cover and heavy rain which saturates the grass runway. Services are more reliable out of the rainy season. | <urn:uuid:f76b65c0-13cb-47f1-a9c4-4c40560e5e88> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wikitravel.org/wiki/en/index.php?title=Rurrenabaque&oldid=1961816 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950592 | 2,357 | 1.671875 | 2 |
The proposal for “Jackson Row” includes 80 condominium units totaling 225 beds, along with retail, restaurant and other commercial space, including a gym and fitness center that Ashley described as “high-end.”
City ordinance requires 222 parking spaces for such a development. A proposed two-story underground garage will give it 232 spaces, about two-thirds of which will be reserved for residents.
“Even though we do provide enough parking spaces, we want to encourage walking,” architect Michael Jones said, noting the project lies a few blocks from both the Square and the University of Mississippi campus.
Commission member Watt Bishop congratulated the developers for their underground parking and their thought of pedestrian transportation.
“All these condo developments done in the last 10 years have used the prime ground-level retail space for parking instead,” he said. “This is a major step in Oxford development to develop spaces where people can go somewhere without a car. Right now, almost everything … requires getting in a car.”
The development’s first hurdle was a special exception to allow multi-unit residential development within the General Business zoning of the Conservation Overlay District. In the immediate neighborhood on Jackson Avenue, just east of the Depot, are a convenience store, two churches, a liquor store and other businesses, along with four condominium buildings of Adelaide Place. (Three of those will be incorporated into Jackson Row, and one, which is only a shell, will be razed.)
Despite the four- and five-story designs, Ashley did not request a variance from the 38-foot height limit for the conservation overlay district because of the site’s steep slopes.
Jones said each of the buildings will have a different façade.
“The look of the architecture – we wanted it to reflect both the old and the new,” he said. “Even the new-looking buildings, though, we wanted to have classical proportions.”
City planning officials supported the special exception, saying it “does not adversely affect the public interest.”
Oxford’s land-use plan requires that no more than 60 percent of any developed property be covered with impervious material to minimize runoff. Developers have asked to delay their stormwater plan and submit it with the overall design later.
In addition to its ground-level greenspace, Jackson Row’s design proposes several innovations to deal with runoff, including two “green” roofs, one “green” wall and the collection of rainwater for irrigation. Other environment-oriented elements proposed are solar panels and ground-source heating and cooling.
Ashley said most contractors with whom he is negotiating estimate construction time at 18 to 24 months, with one estimating as just 15 months. | <urn:uuid:23a85c26-5e37-4a73-baee-557f12ca0fd1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://djournal.com/view/full_story/21103038/copyright_policy | 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 | 0.947764 | 574 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, speaks at the International Eucharistic Conference in Dublin, Ireland, June 13. Photo courtesy of Saltandlighttv.com.
Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, delivered this speech on day four of the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin.
Dear friends in Christ gathered this afternoon at this truly magnificent Eucharistic Congress:
The Eucharist, as we have been hearing throughout these grace-filled days, is a gift that the Lord continues to give to us, so that we might have “life, and life in abundance” (Jn 10:10). Without the Eucharist, we would die of hunger, for it is through this saving sacrifice of Christ made present on our altars that we enter into communion with him and with one another in the Church.
This afternoon’s catechesis focuses on ordained priests, those chosen instruments (cf. Jn 15:16) whom the Lord has delegated to feed his people with the Bread of life (cf. Jn 6:35-59). I begin by affirming that the ministerial priesthood is born from the Eucharist, is directed to the Eucharist and bears fruit because of the Eucharist. In this presentation I will make three major points about the priesthood: first, ministerial priests are at the service of the priesthood of all the faithful; second, priests are men of communion called to foster unity and healing in the ecclesial community; and third, priests, as servants of the Eucharist, provide the laity with the strength to carry out their mission in the Church and in the world.
I. The Ministerial Priesthood Serves the Common Priesthood 1. One Priesthood Shared in Different Ways
In the Church all the people of God are priestly; they are called to holiness of life, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to the Father through Jesus Christ, and to proclaim to the world the greatness of the One who has called us out of darkness into his marvellous light (cf. 1 Pet 2:5,9). Baptism initiates us into this one priesthood of Christ, giving to each of the baptized a share in his priestly, prophetic and kingly mission. But a question arises. Does the ordained or ministerial priest have a distinct role in Christ’s mission and, if so, how does this role relate to the Eucharist?
The Fathers at the Second Vatican Council – that providential event of grace whose opening the Church will celebrate this October by launching a “Year of Faith” – put the distinction this way: “Though they differ essentially and not only in degree, the common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood are nonetheless interrelated; each in its own way shares in the one priesthood of Christ.”
In order to understand this affirmation from Lumen Gentium, which has subsequently been frequently repeated in papal teaching, two clarifications are in order. First, we need to put aside associating the word “hierarchical” with “domination” or “power.” The real meaning of the word “hierarchical” refers to the fact that whatever authority an ordained priest exercises does not come from himself, but from God, who confers it through the sacrament of Holy Orders. Ordination entails subjection, to be sure, but it is that of the priest to Christ; it makes of him a servant, not an autocrat.
Second, let there be no mistake about who is to serve whom through the priesthood. The ministerial priesthood emerges from within, and is sustained by, the wider faith community. Christ, “with a brother’s kindness . . . chooses men to become sharers in his sacred ministry.” The ordained priesthood is, therefore, “a particular gift” which God provides for the good of the Church, so that it “can help the people of God to exercise faithfully and fully the common priesthood which it has received.”
The distinction between the common and ministerial priesthood can never justify antagonistic divisions among members of the community. Differing gifts and functions in the Church are simply that: different; they are complementary, not adversarial. In fact, we can say that “the more the laity’s own sense of vocation is deepened, the more what is proper to the priest stands out.”
2. Different Roles in the Eucharist
Now let’s describe the distinctive role of ordained priests in the celebration of the Eucharist.
In virtue of their royal priesthood, the faithful, as Vatican II teaches, truly “share in the offering of the Eucharist.” But is there a unique – even an absolutely necessary – role for the ministerial priest whenever Mass is offered? Yes, there certainly is: “the Church teaches that priestly ordination is the indispensable condition for the valid celebration of the Eucharist.” This intrinsic relationship between the Eucharist and the sacrament of Holy Orders clearly emerges from Jesus’ words at the Last Supper in the upper room: “Do this in memory of me” (Lk 22:19). Thus, as Blessed John Paul II beautifully summed up the Church’s great tradition, “there can be no Eucharist without the priesthood, just as there can be no priesthood without the Eucharist.”
With his ordination, a priest becomes capable of acting, as we say, in the person of Christ, in persona Christi. Why is he given this authority? Not for himself, but so that he can offer the Eucharist on behalf of all the people. Because he has received a participation in divine authority, the priest becomes “a sacramental representation of Christ, Head and Shepherd” of the Church. As the recently published Youcat expresses it: “Through his ordination, the transforming, healing, saving power of Christ is grafted onto him.”
On account of his ordination, a priest can speak with the “I” and the “me” of Jesus himself – something truly awesome. At the consecration of the Mass, the priest says, “Do this in memory of me.” He speaks Jesus’ words with a power that comes from on God. Likewise, in celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation, he says, “I absolve you.” In both instances it is as if Jesus were speaking with the priest’s voice.
Note carefully, however, just what this teaching means: that a priest “represents” Christ. In ordinary language, to “represent” someone usually means to be delegated to speak and/or act on behalf of someone else, someone who is absent. But, the priest does not represent the Lord in this way. Why? Because in the Church Christ is never absent; the Church is his living Body, and he is its Head (cf. Col 1:18), always present and ever active in a way that is unlimited by time and unconfined space.
When a priest offers the Eucharist, remember that it is always the Risen Christ who is acting through him as merely his representative. He, the Lord, is the one and only high priest of the new covenant (cf. Heb 5:10) who brings about what the ordained priest can never do on his own. In proclaiming the word and celebrating the sacraments, the ministerial priest always represents and speaks for Christ.
II. Priests Called to Live and Foster Communion
Now I will offer a few observations on the ordained priest as a man with the mission of fostering communion, a man called to promote unity and healing in the Body of Christ.
Here’s what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about the Church’s vocation to further communion: “In her whole being and in all her members, the Church is sent to announce, bear witness, make present, and spread the mystery of the communion of the Holy Trinity.” As an icon on earth of the Trinity, the Church has the mission of fostering our communion with the Triune God and with one another. It is therefore the ordained priest’s responsibility to be a man of communion, himself “in communion with Christ the Head, (and) leading others into this communion.”
1. Communion with Christ: Foundation of the Priestly Ministry
In the rite of priestly ordination the Bishop lends his hands to those of Christ, so that the Lord himself can take possession of the newly ordained, claiming him as his own by placing his hands upon his head. At the Last Supper, Jesus explains the meaning of this traditional gesture, which dates from the apostolic community, when he calls his disciples his “friends,” because he has made known to them everything that the Father has revealed to him (cf. Jn 15:15). To be ordained as a priest is an invitation, even more, it is a command, to live a profoundly personal relationship with Jesus which is “a knowledge of the heart.” A priest’s friendship with the Lord is not, then, just knowing about him. It is, above all, a communion with him based on wanting and willing the same things that Jesus wants and wills.
If the priest is to foster in those he serves communion with God and among the faithful, his own friendship-communion with Christ must be nourished daily by the Eucharist. This Eucharistic intimacy with the Lord is the critical factor which enables his ministry to bear fruit for the Kingdom. That’s why prayer and adoration are not wasted time or a shirking of pastoral duties. On the contrary, they enable the priest “to be really in touch with the Lord, and thus to speak of the Lord to others from experience.”
To the extent that he assimilates the truth of the Eucharist in his own life, the priest likewise learns to love, to give away his life as Jesus did when he offered himself on the altar of the Cross. St. Thomas Aquinas expressed this truth very well when he wrote: “One cannot in fact be a good pastor, except by becoming one with Christ and with the members of his Body, through charity. Love is the first duty of the good pastor.”
2. Leading Others to Communion with God
From this personal communion with the Eucharistic Christ flows a priest’s energy to lead others to that same Heart. Those ordained lead by example. Priests don’t just preach about Christ; they are to model the Christian life for everyone they meet, wherever their ministry takes them. They are “walking billboards” that say, “this is how a Christian lives.”
At the end of the day, what do people really want from their priests? Again and again we hear that, above all, they want them to be “specialists” in the search for God; they want priests to bring them to know the person of Jesus Christ, who “gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.” Pope Benedict often points out that the faithful neither ask nor expect a priest to be an expert in finances, construction, social services, or politics. Rather, they want him to be an expert in the spiritual life, a master of prayer. They come to him with questions about the meaning of life. They want to get closer to God, to pray better, to feel God’s presence and know his forgiveness in their daily lives. They want their faith to be relevant to their families and their work – and they often don’t know how. People want their priests to point out to them the path to Jesus Christ, who is the way that leads to the Father, the truth that sets them free, and the life that fills them with gladness (cf. Jn 14:6).
How can a priest ever meet such expectations? I daresay, on his own, he cannot. But, whenever he celebrates the Eucharist with his people, he opens the way to communion with the very life of Jesus. Indeed, we receive him in Holy Communion. As is so often the case, St. Augustine helps us to understand the profundity of what this reception of the Eucharist means. In his Confessions, the great Doctor of the Church refers to a vision he had about the meaning of Holy Communion, in which Jesus said to him: “You will not change me into yourself like bodily food; but you will be changed into me.” What is Augustine getting at? While ordinary food is assimilated by the body and nourishes it, the Eucharist is completely different; it is the “living bread . . . from heaven” (Jn 6:51). We do not assimilate it. On the contrary, it assimilates us; so that when we receive Holy Communion we abide in Jesus Christ and with members of his Body. This is decisive: it is Christ who, in Eucharistic communion, transforms us into himself. By receiving his Body, we gradually acquire his attitudes and his sentiments; we learn to see people and judge events through his eyes. Our way of thinking and acting is gradually freed from its self-centeredness and placed in the Heart of Jesus, who in turn is himself immersed in communion with the Triune God.
3. Leading Others to Communion with One Another
A priest is called to lead the people entrusted to his care to God, to be the instrument through which “by partaking in the Body and Blood of Christ,” they “may be gathered into one by the Holy Spirit.” In order to guide them into this communion, he must strive to establish authentic relationships with them, knowing his people “by name” as does any good shepherd (cf. Jn 10:3). His role as a man of communion is to be, as the Holy Father has written, “open to all, capable of gathering into one the pilgrim flock which the goodness of the Lord has entrusted to him, helping to overcome divisions, to heal rifts, to settle conflicts and misunderstandings, and to forgive offences.”
Insofar as he unites the family of God through his ministry, the priest is a bridge between his people and God, serving them as a brother and shepherd. He builds up the Church by fostering harmony in the wonderful diversity of vocations, charisms and services among his people, some of which might well be far outside his “comfort zone.” Ever the reconciler, the priest calls the faithful to unity around the Eucharist that the community celebrates together and over which he presides.
Whenever factionalism, grumbling and bitter divisions get the upper hand within parish or other communities and local Churches, the ecclesial communion which the Eucharist should manifest is weakened. It is to be expected, of course, that healthy tensions exist within the Church-communion. But when acrimony replaces charity, and diatribes take the place of listening, the priest, as the man of communion, must remind his community that they are one body, for they all partake of the one Eucharistic Bread (cf. 1 Cor 10:17).
To preserve and strengthen ecclesial communion is a priestly responsibility. He accomplishes this, at least in part, by serving as the “memory” of the community, recalling for it that the Eucharist sows in the minds and hearts of believers the desire for authentic communion.
As men formed by communion with Christ and leading others to share in that communion, priests are also acutely aware of instances where they have failed, thereby causing untold suffering and disorientation, and betraying the fundamental obligation of the priestly ministry itself.
The Church of our own day is everywhere urgently appealing to her priests and bishops to work towards healing “the wounds inflicted on Christ’s body,” by fostering “unity, charity and mutual support in the long-term process of restoration and ecclesial renewal.” We are being admonished to be “spiritual physicians” who mend not only the souls of others but also their minds and hearts. In a word, the present moment in the Church’s life calls for priests to be men of reconciliation. Moreover, I believe that we can effectively accomplish this ministry of healing because we know ourselves to be “wounded healers,” burdened by our own failures and sins, but buoyed up by confidence in the forgiveness offered by the Lord who is “rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4).
The healing of broken relationships of trust is a lengthy process of re-establishing communion. Reconciliation always remains a work in progress: a mission to be carried out in order to strengthen communion where it is weakened and surmount the divisions that impair it.
The strength to accomplish this will only come from women and men who are profoundly rooted in friendship with Christ and find their nourishment in the Eucharist.
Indeed, as the Pastoral Reflections prepared for this International Congress put it, the Eucharist “enables us and invites us to live out this communion in our lives. This implies a logic of reconciliation, forbearance and mutual being for one another.”
III. Fostering the Vocation and Mission of the Laity
Now I would like to move to the third point of today’s catechesis: how do priests fulfill their role as men of communion by fostering the mission of lay women and men in the Church and the world?
Since apostolic times, and following our Lord’s example, those called to lead others in the community are “to exercise their responsibility by serving.” The Church is called and commits herself to exercise authority as service. Moreover, she exercises it not in her own name, but in the name of Jesus Christ, who received from his Father all authority in heaven and on earth (cf. Mt 28:18).
Integral to this ministry of serving is the priest’s mission “to see to it . . . that each member of the faithful shall be led in the Holy Spirit to the full development of his [or her] own vocation in accordance with Gospel preaching, and to sincere and active charity.”
1. Priest as Servant
Priests are servants of the Eucharist. As such, any preoccupation with power, prestige or privilege contradicts the call to a ministry of service. In all their activities they are to imitate Christ, who made “servant” his highest title of honour. Pope Benedict could not be clearer: “Jesus does not come in the guise of a master of this world, but the One who is the true Master comes as a servant. His priesthood is not dominion but service.”
St. John’s narration of the Last Supper does not record Christ’s words over the bread and cup as do the three synoptic evangelists. Instead, we have the account of Jesus’ washing his disciples’ feet, an act which sheds light on how we are to understand the Eucharist. Not only were the disciples to transform bread and wine into his Body and Blood “in remembrance of him” (cf. 1 Cor 11:25), by washing one another’s feet (cf. Jn 13:14-15) they were to imitate their Master’s example as one who “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life [as] a ransom for many” (Mk 10:45; cf. Mt 20:28).
By stooping down to wash the dirty feet of his surprised disciples, Jesus embodies the kind of transforming effect he has in mind when he instituted the Eucharist as the sacrament of love: “For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you” (Jn 13:15). The Eucharist is a gift of his love which, in turn, calls forth a response of love from those who receive it.
Whenever he offers the Eucharist, the priest is fulfilling the primary act of his being a servant. In doing so, he carries out a service which immerses the faithful in communion with God and with one another. He does this as Christ’s humble servant, imitating his bent-over Master in the upper room.
To Christians gathered for the celebration of Mass, “Be what you can see,” St. Augustine said, “and accept what you are.” These strong words invite us to respond vigorously to the appeal to “be Christ” for those around us. We are now his Body in the midst of the world. To paraphrase a famous saying attributed to St. Teresa of Avila: we are the eyes with which Jesus’ compassion looks at those in need; we are the hands he holds out to bless and to heal; we are the feet he uses to go and do good and we are the lips through which his Gospel is proclaimed.
Moreover, it is important to realize that when we share in the Eucharist, we are not paying tribute to the memory of a dead hero by merely prolonging what he has done. On the contrary, through the ministry of the ordained priest, Christ becomes alive within us, his Body, the Church, his priestly People. “By nourishing ourselves with him in the Eucharist and by receiving the Holy Spirit in our hearts, we truly form the Body of Christ that we have received, we are truly in communion with him and with each other and genuinely become his instruments, bearing witness to him before the world.”
2. Serving by Fostering Co-Responsibility with the Laity
In the Church today, it is vitally important that priests and laity base their relationships with one another on their shared understanding of the Eucharist as an impetus to communion and service. Concretely this means that teamwork, complementarity and mutual respect should mark their interactions. More than ever, the priest’s role of shepherding entails listening to what “the Spirit is saying to the churches” (Rev 2:7); that is, calling forth and affirming the charisms and gifts from those whom he serves.
Three years ago, the Holy Father, talking to a gathering of clergy, consecrated persons and laity in his own Diocese of Rome, posed a question which each of us priests and bishops this afternoon would do well to address: “In living my ministry, to what extent do I recognize and encourage the pastoral co-responsibility of all, and particularly of the laity?” Besides encouraging a renewal in the spiritual life, the Pope said something very important that all of us clergy should take to heart:
it is necessary to improve pastoral structures in such a way that the co-responsibility of all the members of the People of God in their entirety is gradually promoted, with respect for the vocations and for the respective roles of the consecrated and of lay people. This demands a change in mindset, particularly concerning lay people. They must no longer be viewed as “collaborators” of the clergy but truly recognized as “co-responsible,” for the Church’s being and action, thereby fostering the consolidation of a mature and committed laity. This common awareness of all the baptized of being Church in no way diminishes the responsibility of parish priests. It is precisely your task, dear parish priests, to nurture the spiritual and apostolic growth of those who are already committed to working hard in the parishes. They form the core of the community that will act as a leaven for the others.
I daresay that every local Church and every parish community must answer this question of pastoral co-responsibility for itself. Compared to the number of baptized in our parishes, lay people who are encouraged to lead various initiatives are still too few and far between.
Every priest is an instrument through whom the Risen Christ himself loves, instructs, guards and guides his people so that, according to their abilities and gifts, “they may zealously participate in the saving work of the Church.” As a man intent on building ecclesial communion, a priest expresses his love for the Lord and for the Church by his positive and encouraging rapport with the lay faithful and consecrated persons. Aware of the profound communion which binds him to them, since he offers the Eucharist with them and for them, he makes every effort “to awaken and deepen co-responsibility in the one common mission of salvation, with a prompt and heartfelt esteem for all the charisma and tasks which the Spirit gives believers for the building up of the Church.”
A servant-priest “should uncover with a sense of faith, acknowledge with joy and foster with diligence the various humble and exalted charisms of the laity.” He inspires his people to discern and use their gifts, to assume their own responsibilities and initiatives. Neither authoritarian nor paternalistic, he offers his fraternal accompaniment and his counsel, as they journey together, seeking to live in communion with God and their neighbour.
3. Fostering Christ’s Saving Work in the World
Because the Eucharist unites us with Christ, whereby we become “one body, one spirit” in him,40 it strengthens us for a life of spreading the Gospel and imbuing society with its values. The Eucharist contains within it this call to action and co-responsibility. “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life” is one of the dismissals now proclaimed at the end of Mass. After the celebration is over, this injunction beckons all of us – clergy, Religious and lay faithful alike – to become “Eucharist” for others, to identify with them, “to share their joys and sorrows, to learn to think with their heads, to feel with their hearts, to live their lives.”
Participation in the Eucharist bids us who welcome, adore and receive the Lord to give ourselves to our brothers and sisters, just as he did. Together with Jesus, we are called “to be bread broken for the life of the world”: to nourish others as we have been nourished. While the Eucharist unites us personally and intimately to Christ, at the same time it opens us up to others, drawing us into deeper communion with them. As Pope Benedict wrote in his first encyclical,
Union with Christ is also union with all those to whom he gives himself. I cannot possess Christ just for myself; I can belong to him only in union with all those who have become, or who will become, his own. Communion draws me out of myself towards him, and thus also towards unity with all Christians. We become “one body,” completely joined in a single existence. Love of God and love of neighbour are now truly united. . . . “Worship” itself, Eucharistic communion, includes the reality both of being loved and of loving others in turn. – And then the Pope concludes with words that are truly staggering: – A Eucharist which does not pass over into the concrete practice of love is intrinsically fragmented.
A community of faith, gathered around its priest at the Eucharist, recognizes their brothers and sisters who are suffering, who are hungry and thirsty, who are strangers and naked, who are sick, imprisoned or unjustly treated in any way (cf. Mt 25:31-46). Those who celebrate and receive the Eucharist receive an impulse of the Spirit to become a promoters of communion, peace and solidarity. From the gift of Christ’s love made present in the Eucharist offered by a priest comes the responsibility of all Christians to build together a just and fraternal society, a culture of life and a civilization of love.
Allow me to conclude with one last thought. The ministerial priest is called to live intensely the Eucharistic mystery. This is at the heart of his mission of serving the faithful: to draw them into an intimate and personal relationship with the Lord and to build up the Body of Christ as a holy communion of people united with one another in service of the wounded Church and restless world which the Lord is drawing to himself from the Cross lifted high above the earth. | <urn:uuid:be3b07bd-0512-432b-ab4a-80135672d9ca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bcc.rcav.org/opinion-and-editorial/1747-homily-there-can-be-no-eucharist-without-the-priesthood | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975164 | 5,963 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Written by Bill Hanks
Extreme sports has added a new type of game. UTB (Ultimate Taser Ball) actually lets you injure other players on the opposite team legally. This article examines this new type of extreme sport game.
Ultimate Taser Ball lets you pass an electrical current with a stun gun through your opponent. Stun guns slow or stop the progress of the ball runner. A large ball that looks like a beach ball is used for scoring purposes.
How the game is played
The rules of the sport are not very complicated. You have two teams with four players each competing for getting the ball into the opposing team's net. Only the player who is carrying the ball can be given the shock treatment. When the player loses possession of the ball, the other tam can pick it up and play it. Ā Well, that's about it.
A player runs carrying the ball towards the other teams goal. The player can be tackled or attacked. The taser is used to stop the player before he scores. The game is very similar to the sport of rugby.
The stun guns used are only about one tenth of the power used in police stun guns. Still, they are strong enough to prevent a player from scoring a goal. The average game player gets stunned 35 to 40 times a game. The zap is strong enough to disrupt a players muscles. Only the player carrying the ball is allowed to be zapped. Zapping a runner can get the player to drop the ball or stop his running progress.
Canadian Eric Prumm invented the sport. He organized a four team tournament to be played in Bangkok this March. The four teams are all from the USA and Canada. They come from the cities of Philadelphia, San Diego, Los Angeles and Toronto. The UTB is looking to add 8 more teams in the future. Prumm has said that the league is already in negotiations for a small television contract.
Although this is the newest in extreme sports, I think that I will pass on it myself. | <urn:uuid:64b195c1-1ead-416e-882d-f87f41f28e60> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.firehow.com/2012041433576/how-to-play-ultimate-taser-ball.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970636 | 410 | 1.609375 | 2 |
On April 20, an explosion and subsequent fire damaged a deepwater drilling platform approximately 50 miles southeast of Venice, Louisiana. The rig capsized and sank on April 22, after burning for hours. It is unclear how much of the estimated 700,000 gallons (approximately 16,700 barrels) of #2 fuel onboard burned before it sank. The rig is owned by Transocean and under contract to BP. This page is designed to provide background information and resources.
For updates on the incident, please visit:
NOAA Gulf Spill Restoration — NOAA has more than twenty years of experience restoring wildlife and habitats impacted by oil spills, hazardous waste sites and vessel groundings. Restoration efforts for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill are part of broader, long-term Gulf Coast recovery efforts. NOAA is involved with 380 planned, ongoing, and completed restoration projects in the Gulf states, as well as other efforts such as research and education programs. These projects have restored wetlands, freshwater habitat, coastal beaches, and fragile Gulf shorelines.
NOAA Deepwater Horizon Archive — As the nation's experts on oceanic and atmospheric science and the lead science agency for oil spills, NOAA was on-scene at the Deepwater Horizon oil spill since the earliest moments of the crisis. Our satellites in space, planes in the air, ships and buoys on the water, gliders under the sea, and scientists on the ground provided mission-critical information to guide the emergency response and now the long-term restoration of the Gulf Coast. Much of that information is now centralized on this website.
RestoreTheGulf.gov — the official federal portal for the Deepwater BP oil spill response and recovery. This site provides the public with information on the response, current operations, news and updates, how to file a claim and obtain other assistance, and links to federal, state and local partners.
NOAA's Office of Response & Restoration home page.
Spill-related situation updates, public advisories, and press releases.
Many offices within NOS are contributing existing expertise to response efforts.
Deepwater Horizon: NOAA Roles
NOAA is a vital part of the massive response effort on the Deepwater Horizon incident. This page describes the roles of the many personnel that are on-scene or engaged remotely.
NOAA Deepwater Horizon Spill Response Websites
As response to the Deepwater Horizon incident continues, many offices within NOAA have websites offering information and resources related to the the spill response.
Interview with the Commander of the NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson: Making Waves
This June, 2010, audio podcast features and interview with the commander of the NOAA Thomas Jefferson about the ship's role in conducting research in support of the ongoing oil spill response effort.
Spill of National Significance - Preparing for Oil Spill Disasters
In March 2010, a two-day Spill of National Significance (SONS) exercise was held that featured a hypothetical collision between two vessels (a car carrier and an oil tanker) approximately 16 miles off the coast in the Gulf of Maine. The U.S. Coast Guard develops "practice" SONS exercises to sharpen the nation's ability to respond when a major oil spill event does occur.
Oil in the Ocean
This short video explores the impacts of oil spills on the environment, humans, and marine life and also looks at how responders clean up oil spills.
Prince William's Oily Mess, NOS Education
This online student tutorial uses the Exxon Valdez spill as a case study to explore how ecosystems recover following a major oil spill.
Oil Spills: Learn More
This page provides quick information about oil spills and oil well blowouts, spill response, and the effects of oil on wildlife, as well as photos of major oil spills.
Gulf of Mexico at a Glance (pdf, 8Mb)
The Gulf of Mexico at a Glance presents information on selected social, economic, and environmental attributes in the Gulf of Mexico, with the intent of building public awareness about the linkages between the Gulf of Mexico region's ecological health, the high quality of residents' everyday lives, and the economic vitality of the region. | <urn:uuid:abf5cb1b-1885-4b7a-b25f-e6fb03e8fb9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/deepwaterhorizon/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930998 | 850 | 1.84375 | 2 |
The Bears and the State of the Housing Market
Of all the uncertainties in our halting economic recovery, the housing market may be the most confusing of all.
At times, real estate seems to be in the early stages of a severe double dip. Home sales plunged in July, and some analysts are now predicting that the market will struggle for years, if not decades.
Others argue that the worst is over. As Karl Case, the eminent real estate economist (and the Case in the Case-Shiller price index), recently wrote, “Buying a house now can make a lot of sense.”
I can’t claim to clear up all the uncertainty. But I do want to suggest a framework for figuring out whether you lean bearish or less bearish: do you believe that housing is a luxury good and that societies spend more on it as they get richer? Or do you think it’s more like food, clothing and other staples that account for an ever smaller share of consumer spending over time?
If you believe housing resembles a luxury good, then you’ll end up thinking house prices will rise nearly as fast as incomes in the long run and that houses today aren’t terribly overvalued. If housing is a staple, though, prices will rise more slowly — with general inflation, as food tends to.
The difference between these two views ends up being huge, and it’s become the subject of an intriguing debate.
After digging into it, I come down closer to the luxury good side, which is to say the less bearish one. To me, housing does not rank with unemployment, the trade deficit, the budget deficit or consumer debt as one of the economy’s biggest problems. But you may disagree.
No one doubts that prices rose roughly with incomes from 1970 to 2000. The issue is whether that period was an exception. Housing bears like Barry Ritholtz, an investment researcher and popular blogger, say it was. The government was adding new tax breaks for homeownership, and interest rates were falling. These trends won’t repeat themselves, the bears say.
As evidence, they can point to a historical data series collected by Mr. Case’s longtime collaborator, Robert Shiller. It suggests that house prices rose no faster than inflation for much of the last century.
The pattern makes some intuitive sense, too. As people become richer, they spend a shrinking share of their income on the basics. Think of it this way: someone who gets a big raise doesn’t usually spend it on groceries. You can see how shelter seems as if it might also qualify as a staple and, like food, would account for a shrinking share of consumer spending over time. In that case, house prices should rise at about the same rate as general inflation and well below incomes.
Here’s the scary thing, at least for homeowners: if this view is correct, house prices may still be overvalued by something like 30 percent. That’s roughly the gap between average household income growth and inflation over the last generation.
It’s also the overvaluation suggested by Mr. Shiller’s historical index. Today, it is around 130, which is way down from the 2006 bubble peak of 203. But it’s still far above the 1890 to 1970 average of 94.
In effect, the bears are arguing that housing was in a multidecade bubble and has now entered a multidecade slump.
The second, less bearish group of economists doesn’t buy this. This group includes Mr. Case, Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics and Tom Lawler, a Virginia economist who forecast the end of the housing boom before many others did. They say they believe that house prices rise nearly as fast, if not quite as fast, as incomes, and that real estate is no longer in a bubble.
This side can also make a case based on history. Mr. Case points out that all pre-1970 housing statistics are suspect. By necessity, Mr. Shiller’s oft-cited historical index is a patchwork that relies on several sources, like Labor Department surveys. These sources happen to paint a more negative picture of past house prices than some other data.
For example, the Census Bureau has been asking people since 1940 how much they think their houses are worth, as Mr. Lawler noted in one of his newsletters. The answers suggest that house values rose faster than general inflation — and about as fast as incomes — not just from 1970 to 2000, but from 1940 to 1970, as well.
Likewise, Mr. Case has dug up sales records for houses in the Boston area that were built in the late 19th century and are still around. The records show prices rising 2.5 percentage points a year faster than inflation, which is just about what income has done.
Perhaps most persuasive is a statistic that Mr. Shiller sent me when I asked him about this debate. It shows that the share of consumer spending — and, by extension, of income — devoted to housing has not fallen over time. It has hovered around 14 or 15 percent for the last 60 years. The share of spending devoted to food, by contrast, has dropped to 13 percent, from 25 percent.
These numbers make a pretty strong argument that the post-1970 period is not one long aberration. As societies get richer, they do spend more and more on housing.
Some of this spending, Mr. Shiller notes, comes in the form of bigger, more expensive houses. These houses don’t do anything to lift the value of a smaller, older house — which is what matters to individual homeowners. But McMansions are not the only factor.
To see this, you can look at the share of consumer spending devoted to things inside houses, like furniture. As with houses, they have become fancier. But they haven’t become so much fancier that they make up anywhere near as large a share of consumer spending today as in the past. That’s a strong clue that the upgrading of houses themselves isn’t enough to explain the increased spending on housing.
What is? The value of the underlying land. Those Boston-area houses that Mr. Case studied did not change much over time. Yet their value did.
For a house whose location has any value — in a major city or a nearby suburb, where a builder can’t simply put up a similar house down the street — the land is a big part of the equation. Over time, Mr. Zandi says, the value of that land should grow almost as fast as the local area’s economic output or, in other words, with incomes.
The best advice for homeowners and would-be buyers may be to think of a house not as an investment, first and foremost, but as a place to live. If there is a good chance you will move in the next three years or so, you should probably rent. The hassles of buying and the one-time costs are just too big. Plus, house prices are not low in most places today.
The ratio of median house price to income is about 3.4, compared with a prebubble average of about 3.2. Given the economy’s weak condition and the still high number of foreclosures, prices may well fall more in the next year or two. They look especially high in places where rents are comparatively cheap, like San Diego and San Francisco. And maybe income growth will remain weak for years, holding down home-price growth.
But if you can imagine staying much longer than a few years, you should take some comfort in the fact that the bubble seems mostly deflated. Sometime soon, prices should begin rising again. They may not quite keep up with incomes, but they will probably outpace the price of food and clothing.
Now, if only it were possible to be as sanguine about the economy’s other problems. | <urn:uuid:b3c0ba3e-41c9-4af1-ba53-d5f595b14fc8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnbc.com/id/39055252 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970075 | 1,654 | 1.671875 | 2 |
PULLMAN, Wa. — The civil war in Libya is about to inflict new casualties far from the battle zone – Libyan students studying abroad whose stipends are about to dry up as a result of the U.N. Security Council’s freezing of Libyan government assets.
More than 2,500 Libyan students studying in North America and Canada are facing an end to their funding next month.
Among them is Talal Amara, a 36-year-old graduate education student at Washington State University in Pullman, Wash.
“To have enough money to stay here, I will have to sell my car,” said Amara, who lives with his wife and two young children. “It will only allow to me survive here another two to three months, but it is the only option for me.”
Some 40 Libyan students at WSU have been at the forefront of the issue, traveling to Washington, D.C., drafting letters to President Barack Obama asking for the release of the frozen funds, and organizing students nationally.
“We are going to do whatever it takes to stay strong for our families,” said Mohamed Elcataani, the spokesman for the university’s Libyan Student Union and a graduate student at WSU.
Earlier this month, the Canadian Bureau for International Education, which helps oversee an international scholarship program, said it received $1.3 million this year from Libya, but that those funds are not sufficient to sustain the program after May 31. In March, the U.N. froze billions of dollars in Libyan assets in an attempt to keep Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi from using them to wage war on the Libyan opposition.
The Libyan-North American Scholarship Program is a joint collaboration between the Libya, Canada and host universities in Canada and the United States. The program provides the students with tuition fees, living allowance and medical insurance.
Candace Chenoweth, director of the Office of International Students and Scholars at WSU, said university leaders are meeting with students to discuss options that would allow them to remain in the U.S., if the funding remains frozen.
“No one knows if it will, but we want to discuss options in case it does,” Chenoweth said. “This isn’t just a WSU problem - it’s an American problem.”
Elcataani, a 34-year-old graduate student in education, said his efforts have been stymied at every attempt.
“The university has given up, so I am feeling lost and I have no options,” he said. “I told them, ‘this is shocking me.’ I was trying not to lose my temper.”
The students say that if do not have enough money to stay in the US, they will face returning to a volatile political environment. Several of the students have publicly criticized the Gadhafi regime and fear retribution if they return. Last week, WSU students held a fundraiser for anti-Gadhafi rebels.
“All my family are pro-Gadhafi, (so) they don’t have problems,” said Abdalhamid Alkar, a graduate student at WSU. “I am not pro-Gaddafi. I told them at the beginning of the revolution and my father was so mad. I’m not sure how they would be with me if I went back.”
In the 1990s, Elcaatani was detained in a Libyan prison for two years after he and his brothers collected money for the poor in his hometown of Benghazi. He said Libyan officials were angry that the brothers had highlighted poverty in the region and arrested them in 1995. One brother died in prison, and a second suffered a brain injury from beatings by prison guards, he said.
Human Rights Watch, which interviewed Elcaatani in 2009, has accused Libyan officials of a long list of human rights abuses in the country.
Elcaatani said many of the Libyan students may attempt to seek asylum if their funding dries up.
“We need all the time possible to try and help this situation,” Elcataani said.
In the meantime, the Libyan students say they are scrambling to stay afloat. Elcataani, shuttled families to the state’s Department of Social and Health Services to appeal for food stamps. The program can only provide help to children born in the U.S., not to the students, an agency official said.
“I took families there who don’t have children that were born in the USA and they were rejected,” Elcataani said. “Because my daughter was born here, she got the benefits, but this is only $88 in food stamps per month.”
The Murrow News Service provides local, regional and statewide stories reported and written by journalism students at the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University. | <urn:uuid:536b9d05-26a8-47ce-a2f4-eab9916ee134> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42933451/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970674 | 1,039 | 1.507813 | 2 |
If yes, then you should be doing compound exercises involving more than one muscle group.
Whether it is weight loss, muscle tone or muscle gain, compound exercises will burn more calories and give you a greater training effect than isolation exercises. So stop doing those bicep curls and get into some real life compound movements!
A bread and butter movement for the lower body. Anyone looking to gain strength and burn calories should be doing squats.
You can’t get any more real life and functional than the deadlift. Whenever you are standing and go to pick something up off the ground and return to a standing position holding the object, you essentially have completed a deadlift. Hopefully you have kept a straight back and bent your knees as we all learnt in primary school.
A great full body exercise that covers legs, back, core, shoulders and arms.
A great compound exercise focusing mainly on the chest as the prime mover, but also incorporating your triceps.
Sometimes called the upper body squat. If there was only one exercise you were going to do for your upper body then dips should be it! A great compound movement focusing on the triceps but also incorporating chest as you lean forward into the movement.
Mainly a back movement but by using a palms up grip you will bring in your biceps as well. So stop doing those preacher curls and get into a compound movement that will leave your back and biceps ready for a well deserved rest.
All these exercises are functional in life and will help you with everyday activities as well as getting closer to the results you may be looking for.
These exercises are for those with previous exercise experience, some maybe too difficult for beginners. If you would like to know more about how to perform these exercises safely please enquire at reception. | <urn:uuid:b2276424-29c6-44d1-a75e-da18da9102f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bpmfitness.co.nz/tag/deadlift/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963672 | 364 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Many times the "Cheers and Jeers" editorial column is accurate and timely. Jeering the Warrior Run Area Education Association for recommending that teachers adhere to the time mandated under their contract is not one of such times.
Teachers regularly spend time conferring with students, colleagues, and administrators beyond the scope of their defined duties. In addition to these extra hours, a good deal of time is spent during non-school hours preparing lessons, grading papers, designing bulletin boards, entering grades in computers and communicating with parents.
Thus, "cheers" are in order for each hard working teacher.
"Jeers" should be reserved for the Board of Education that has been unable or unwilling to negotiate an acceptable contract to replace one that has been expired for 18 months. Perhaps those jeers will motivate the board to negotiate in good faith.
The community is urged to contact board members to encourage them to negotiate and bring this process to a conclusion. May the season of Love and Peace be a good motivator!
Priscilla Lanks, Lewisburg | <urn:uuid:ce8bd8f7-3e35-4143-9bfa-ab565f598313> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dailyitem.com/0111_letters/x1839365925/Jeer-school-board | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959647 | 214 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Coeur d’Alene’s partnerships, which have created and continue to sustain the Education Corridor project, were honored with a City Achievement Award at the 2012 Association of Idaho Cities (AIC) Annual Conference in Boise.
In 2002, Coeur d’Alene leaders believed that the area’s evolving population would need living wage jobs that would be best supported by a strong educational infrastructure. This belief was shared by leaders of local higher education institutions. In May 2002, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the City of Coeur d’Alene (CdA), North Idaho College (NIC), the University of Idaho (U of I), and the Lake City Development Corporation (LCDC) to develop a master plan for an education corridor along the Spokane River. Lewis-Clark State College later joined this planning effort. After years of collaborative work, a Master Plan was created with this collective vision:
“To establish a multi-institution campus that is built on strong partnerships and provides high quality academic opportunities, joint student services, and shared facilities and management responsibilities for the residents of Northern Idaho by capitalizing upon pooled demand and opportunities for synergy and efficiency. Future development will improve multi-modal access, circulation, and parking for the Coeur d’Alene Education Corridor, adjacent neighborhoods, and the waterfront.”
On Wednesday, June 27, 2012, at 3:00 p.m., a ribbon cutting ceremony for Phase 1-B of the Education Corridor Project will take place at the intersection of Military Drive and River Avenue. The completion of this phase includes the extension of River Avenue through to Northwest Boulevard and will include a new signal at that intersection.
There has been over a decade of cooperation and collaboration between the original partners (CdA, U of I, NIC, and LCDC). Another partner, The Mayors’ Institute on City Design (MICD), awarded CdA a grant to further study the project through the MICD Alumni Technical Assistance Program in 2009. After listening to a broad spectrum of community members and stakeholders, urban planning experts with the MICD unveiled a comprehensive design of the education corridor, linking it with CdA’s downtown (http://lcdc.org/ePage/MICD/MICD.html).
During the 2009 Mayors’ Institute on City Design, collaborators included representatives from the Museum of North Idaho, Fort Ground Homeowners Association, Kootenai Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Governor’s Office, CdA Downtown Association, Jobs Plus, Inc., Kootenai Health, the Idaho State Legislature, and the Idaho State Board of Education.
The AIC City Achievement Award Program selects winners for its competition based on whether the nominated program improves quality of life, if it reduces the costs of resources, or solves a community problem. For more information, please call 769-2204. | <urn:uuid:b0c54e77-d3e0-4335-8e61-b7d4e7def39c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cdacity.blogspot.com/2012/06/education-corridor-wins-city.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932392 | 599 | 1.507813 | 2 |
I think that joy is the sign of God's presence. It is the reliable indicator that He is a part of what we are thinking, doing, or being. Thus joy is a vital sign that we are doing as He would have us do.
Some of the times that I feel joy are predictable. When I come to the sacrament hymn and prayers humbly and earnestly, I feel joy. Sometimes I sit and weep during most of that sacred ordinance from the sheer joy of it.
When people tell stories of conversion or transformation, my joy circuits light up. When people pay tribute to Jesus, I feel it.
But joy also comes unexpectedly. Sometimes I am just walking down the hall at work with nothing particular on my mind and suddenly I feel the warmth of joy. I have wondered if God is seizing on the break in my doings to walk alongside me, put His arm around me, and convey His love.
At times I have wondered how to respond. When I try to turn to Him to enter into conversation, the joy sensation seems to diminish. I have concluded that I should respond in the same way I would if Nancy came alongside me. I would simply continue walking, hold her close, and be grateful for her company. At such times, nothing needs to be said.
Trying to Understand Joy
C.S. Lewis' relates an experience of joy that was quite unexpected. While standing beside a flowering currant bush, he remembered a time when his brother had brought into their playroom a miniature garden — a biscuit tin filled with moss ( Surprised by Joy , 1956/1984, p. 16).
We might well ask what it was about remembering a simple, homemade, miniature garden that would inspire joy. Was God allowing Lewis to look down on the miniature scene much the way He looks down on us? Was it a testimony of order and the miracle of life?
Often we cannot express in simple words just what joy seemed intended to convey. Maybe the common message of joy is not a group of words. Maybe God's recurrent message is that life is good and He presides. Maybe He wants us to know that we are safe in His able and loving hands. Maybe He wants us to know that He is mindful of us.
Even though we often cannot reduce joy to a simple message, I believe that its arrival is not random but is richly purposeful. God is not just randomly throwing candy like clowns in a parade. He is sending clues and reminders. It seems to me that if we note and seek to understand and apply each twinge of joy, we travel more directly to God.
A Growing Science of Joy
I have been surprised to find that even respected psychologists are interested in something very much like joy. Jonathan Haidt, a remarkable psychologist, studies scientifically something he calls elevation. See if this definition doesn't sound suspiciously like the workings of the Spirit — and something we call joy:
How Do We Get Joy?
Some would say that joy is the fruit of righteous living. I suppose that is true — except that none of us is righteous, as Paul said to the Romans (Romans 3:10). All of us have sinned and do sin. We regularly come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). So it does not seem natural to say that joy is the fruit of righteousness. If it were, none of us would have it.
I believe that joy is the fruit of being open to God. What do I mean by openness to God? I think it includes a combination of faith, humility, and mindfulness. Consider each of these elements:
Faith : The stubborn resolve to see God and His goodness in everything that happens
Humility : Living in a spirit of repentance, acknowledging our dependence on Him in all things
Mindfulness : Being filled with awareness and gratitude
These three elements are not really independent of each other. When we have soul-filling faith, we are naturally humble and mindful. They form one great whole. They open us up to God. Then comes joy, the heavenly signal that we are walking with God.
Bruce Hafen tells the story of a young man who had glorious gospel experiences but then, in college, ran up against questions for which he did not have full answers. The questions burdened him and threatened to swamp his testimony. Finally he simply chose to have a believing heart. He chose to honor what he already knew ( Broken Heart , p. 80). Big truths should not be at the mercy of small questions.
Making sense of a lifetime of joys may be somewhat like assembling a jigsaw puzzle. We may have a hard time seeing the picture taking shape, but we have the assurance that God sees the big picture. And He gives just the right puzzle pieces at just the right time.
The art of JoyMapping
Capturing joy is a little like approaching squirrels. When one of our grandkids spots a squirrel, he lunges toward it. Inevitably the squirrel runs away. If we can get the grandchildren to sit peacefully and watch quietly, the squirrels will settle in nearby. They will gather and eat seeds closer and closer. But they are exquisitely sensitive to any move to capture or control them.
When we chase joy directly, it eludes us. When we peacefully and faithfully watch God work, joy comes closer and closer. So joy isn't something we seek directly. Joy is the natural byproduct of being connected with the Divine.
Joy is also unique in that it operates on a spiritual economy where abundance rather than scarcity is the natural state. And joy is contagious. Your joy does not rob me of mine. Just the opposite. Seeing your experience of joy can fill me with joy.
So, how do we increase our joy? The simple answer is probably the one that emerges from the parable of the talents. If we want more joy, we should make good use of the joy He has already given us. We should not bury it in the ground.
Who would bury joy in the ground? I think we all do. I cannot count the times that I have felt filled with joy in Sunday meetings only to find that, by evening time, I could not remember the ideas and instructions that accompanied the joy. God had delivered a priceless gift and I had lost it the same day.
As my friend Barbara reminds me, we also bury joy when we have a joy experience, appreciate it for a brief moment and then quickly default back to nursing our annoyances and grievances with life. Kind of like children on Christmas morning who are sitting amidst a mountain of wondrous presents and yet spend the bulk of the day pouting because they didn't get one more thing — the one additional gift they thought they were going to get. | <urn:uuid:9fe476a5-6cbb-4914-8171-bf5798867a37> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ldsmag.com/1/article/9750 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964877 | 1,390 | 1.75 | 2 |
Staff Photo: Frank Reddy Kristie Chamlee designed the mural outside a reading room at Riverside Elementary, which is dedicated to the Late Brandon Woyce: a student with special needs who passed away about one year ago.
SUWANEE -- A freshly-painted mural adorns the wall between the special education department and the media center at Riverside Elementary School.
The brush strokes of a local artist brought to life a dozen dog-eared children's books, a soft blanket dangling from the shelf and a stuffed animal in a wheelchair named "Brandon Bear."
Between the pastel depictions of childhood artifacts, an actual door opens to reveal a room with a striped, multicolor rug and real wooden bookshelves. Inside the space, the principal, three students and a teacher look around, admiring the area. A woman wearing a purple shirt wipes away a tear, but she smiles.
This is Brandon's Room.
Eight-year-old Brandon Woyce passed away on Oct. 2, 2011, after medical complications. A student with special needs who struggled with health issues, Woyce had difficulty speaking. But Riverside Elementary teacher Nancy Dick said the bright-eyed boy had little trouble conveying emotions.
"He didn't talk, but boy did he smile," Dick said. "I'd wait for him in the morning when he was getting off the bus, and that look on his face just made my day. He liked to share that smile with everybody he met."
It's that spirit of sharing that Principal Craig Barlow hopes to continue through use of the reading room.
"His family was very kind about setting up a memorial fund for the school," Barlow said. "We thought this room would be a great way to remember Brandon, a great way to remember his contribution to this school."
Barlow said he hopes Brandon's Room will provide an inviting environment for all students to relax with a good book or share a friendly conversation. The furniture is bare now, but he said there will soon be hundreds of tomes filling the bookshelves, including many books that cater to students with special needs.
"We're going to use part of the money from the family's fund to buy books ... a lot of children with special needs like books that involve touch and sound, so a lot of what we'll buy will be touch-sensitive and books with audio."
Added Barlow: "It's our hope that children like Brandon will feel comfortable here."
To design a room that honored Brandon, who died just shy of his ninth birthday, Barlow enlisted the help of boys his age.
Faxon Childress, 10, Ethan Dawidowicz, 11 and Parker Everson, 11, served as "architects," designing the room's interior. They picked out the big, plush chairs, a rainbow-striped rug and the maroon color on the walls.
When planning what would go inside the space, Childress said they aimed to "give the room color ... something that would make you happy."
The bookshelves in the room came from Lamon Luther, a business that employs homeless men to build furniture. Business owner Brian Preston said the shelves were designed and constructed after talks with those who knew young Woyce.
"We wanted to build furniture that conveyed the feelings of purity, of kindness, happiness and safety," Preston said.
Barlow said the bookshelves, the rug, the chairs and the mural outside the door all seemed to come together like clockwork. "It's one of those things that felt meant to be," he said.
Brandon's mom, Debra Woyce, stood outside the room Monday morning. With a sleeve of her purple shirt, she wiped away the tears that welled in her eyes.
"He was my son, but he brightened the lives of others too," Debra said, eyes moving across the mural.
When Artist Kristie Chamlee set out to paint the wall artwork she hoped to "make something that would remind people of Brandon."
Chamlee accomplished that goal, Debra Woyce said.
"This captures the spirit of who Brandon was," Debra said. "It's beautiful." | <urn:uuid:00b6d3e5-ab2d-4a5e-9541-4958b8afe3c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/news/2012/nov/05/reading-room-honors-the-life-of-riverside-student/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976273 | 865 | 1.539063 | 2 |
From now until 2013, we’re going to take a look at some New Year’s Resolutions and a Gear Diary way to help you keep them.
New Year Resolution: Get in Shape in 2013
It’s a new year and you’ve decided to make it a new you! So you’re really going to buckle down and get fit, but before you pick up a new gym membership or start downloading “Map My Run” to your iPhone, you need the right gear– starting with your feet. Even if you aren’t going to head out for a run, footwear matters. You need a good shoe for anything athletic, whether it’s a walk, a hike, the elliptical, or yes, heading out for a nice run. No matter what you do,when it comes to your feet it all starts with the right shoe.
We want to make sure you’re educated and prepared before you head to the running store or your local Foot Locker. If you don’t know a stability shoe from a neutral one, or can’t wrap your head around the idea of a “barefoot shoe”, don’t worry! Just keep reading for our athletic shoe cheat sheet!
Like any gear, there’s a whole new set of words and definitions to learn. It’s important to understand them, because there is a lot of marketing-speak out there, and buying the wrong shoes can lead to injury or at least discomfort. Being educated means you won’t be at the mercy of someone else’s advice, and it gives you the chance to ask the right questions instead of start with “Uh…what did you just say my feet do when I run?”
Pronation: this is the rolling motion your foot and ankle take when making contact with the ground while running or walking.
Over-pronation: Occurs if your foot or ankle rolls excessively inward during pronation.
Under-pronation (supination): Opposite of overpronation, where your foot and ankle roll outward.
Medial Post: This is a hard plastic piece that sits in the mid foot of a shoe and prevents overpronation.
Heel-to-toe drop: Measure of how high the heel of a shoe is versus the forefoot. Ex: a shoe may be 24mm high in the heel and 12mm high in the forefoot, giving it a heel-to-toe drop of 12mm.
Zero-drop: A shoe that has no heel-to-toe drop and is instead equidistant from the ground at both the heel and forefoot.
(Note: for visual learners, Running Warehouse has a great video about stack heights in shoes and what it means)
Forefoot strike: Landing on the front area of your foot and toes first, with your heel just touching down at the end of the motion.
Midfoot strike: Your midfoot comes into contact with the ground first.
Heel strike: The heel of your foot touches down first, and the toes come down last
(Note: again, the folks at Running Warehouse have a great video on this.)
(Image courtesy Dicks Sporting Goods)
Traditional running shoes:
The traditional running shoe market is simple on the surface. You have three choices; stability, motion control and neutral. If you head to a running store, you’re likely to see three color coded sections along the shoe wall giving you choices within these categories. You also may have the option of someone watching you walk or run barefoot on a treadmill to help determine which shoe type would work best for your feet.
Neutral: This means you have normal pronation, and shoes that are neutral generally don’t have a medial post or other technologies to control pronation heavily.
Stability: Usually suggested for some overpronation, and depending on the shoe they generally have a medial post to keep your feet from rolling too far inwards.
Motion control: Generally suggested for severe over and under pronation.
At many running stores, they may have you run on a treadmill or do a lap around the store to help determine what sort of shoes will work for you. A good store will show you a video of your foot action, so you can see for yourself what they are describing. Bear in mind, though, that studies over the last few years have torn apart many of the traditional shoe-to-person matching programs. The arch test has been used to determine if someone needed stability shoes to improve upon issues like flat feet, but that’s been. There’s also the assumption that a heavier person needs a heavier, cushioned shoe…also not true! Then there’s the whole area of footwear that breaks from convention entirely…
Chances are you’ve seen someone walking around in Vibram Five Fingers. Maybe you laughed, maybe you asked them about it, or maybe you shuddered and called the fashion police. These shoes took off in popularity because they let wearers feel closer to the ground and allow the foot to function normally. There’s no medial post or heel-to-toe drop, all the work is done by the foot.
You don’t need monkey shoes to try the minimalist shoe market though. Merrell, New Balance, Saucony, Altra, Vivo Barefoot and Nike have all jumped on the minimal market, with more shoe companies releasing more every year. Within these, though, there’s quite the holy war over what makes a shoe minimal.
Some say anything with a zero-drop can fall into this category, while others say only shoes designed to allow proprioception should count. And then there are shoes like the Nike Free line, which have a moderately low heel to toe drop of 4mm, but due to the design of the sole the wearer gets a better feel for the surface underfoot.
One of the major drivers behind the push for minimal shoes is running form; proponents argue that your whole body braces for running in a more natural way when your shoes are as minimal as possible. The argument for natural form says that heel striking is a byproduct of overbuilt shoes, and when you don’t have a thick heel underfoot you land on your fore or midfoot. Some evolutionary biologists have argued that’s why our feet have tendons and ligaments that act as springs and shock absorbers, that we are designed to naturally land on our forefoot, not the heel. It’s worth noting that if you were to take off your shoes and run barefoot, you’d likely naturally land on your forefoot, since landing on your heel with no padding is less than pleasant. Some studies have even begun to determine that you can be more efficient in a minimal shoe; Runblogger has a great rundown fo the report and explanation of what it means for a regular runner.
Transitioning to minimal footwear requires an adjustment period. If you’ve been using regular shoes, you probably are used to a higher heel, which puts less pressure on your Achilles tendon and usually transfers the force of hitting the ground up towards your knees. Landing on your forefoot or midfoot means that force gets absorbed by your Achilles and calf muscles, so it’s best to start slowly and let these muscles adjust to the new workout over time. Otherwise, you run the risk of injury, or at least waking up one morning wondering why someone stabbed you in the calves with a fork!
Finally, there are those who say you should toughen up and just run barefoot. No one at Gear Diary regularly runs barefoot, but if you are interested I strongly suggest doing some reading at sites like the Barefoot Runners Society.
How To Choose a Shoe:
I said in the traditional running shoe section that many stores will have you run on a treadmill for them. That’s how I bought my first pair of shoes after coming back from a long running layoff. I tried the traditional running shoe route, and obediently bought the stability shoes the salesman declared I needed. I lasted all of one month in those shoes, ditched them for lighter shoes, and never looked back. Here’s how I choose shoes, but you should obviously go with what works best for you. I firmly subscribe to the idea that we are all an experiment of one; what works for me may not work for you. And no matter how fancy your shoes are, if they aren’t right for you, they aren’t going to turn you into a track star!
Like I said, I tried stability shoes. I have feet so flat the salesman actually recoiled at the sight of them, and conventional wisdom says that’s an automatic stability shoe suggestion. I also have two screws in my left knee from ACL reconstruction surgery (the reason for the extended layoff) and my knee hates stability shoes. My theory is that with a stripped down basic shoe, my feet and lower legs are able to land in such a way that lets my knee function well without putting excess pressure on the weaker parts. Stability shoes force my footstrike into a specific fashion, and that conflicts with what makes my knee feel good.
So now I choose my shoes by what feels best for my knee. I’ve found that if my knee feels good on a short run, it means the rest of my body will still be feeling ok as the miles build. If my knee feels stiff or off, and that happens nearly instantly in a stability shoe, I know it’s a recipe for pain down the line. The main point is that I try to stay in tune with how my whole body feels when I walk or run in a shoe; if something doesn’t feel right in the first few minutes, it’s not going to get better later.
Now, when people ask me about how to pick out shoes for themselves, I suggest they start with a neutral shoe. Preferably one that falls into the minimalist category, but at the very least neutral and stripped of any medial posts or any other bells and whistles. This allows your feet to become strong, your body to find a comfortable form and rhythm, and for you to start simply. If issues come up and it becomes clear the extra support is needed, then you try to move up in the stability categories. But too often, people are taught to rely on outdated tests or the short term fix of excess support over strengthening foot and leg muscles.
Don’t just take my word for it on my choice of footwear…all of Gear Diary’s editors opt for lightweight, minimal footwear in our endeavors. Judie swears by her Merrell and Vibram Five Finger shoes, Dan likes Vibrams but has fit issues that are driving him to check out offerings from Merrell, and Mike loves his Nike Frees.
In the end, take your time, read some shoe reviews, educate yourself, and pick what works best for you. Don’t let someone force you into the wrong choice because “that’s just how your feet are”, and remember: if you’re comfortable, that’s what matters, not the shoe category or label! | <urn:uuid:a4ef5c0a-5999-4e7a-8de1-f7e8dbed5fe7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://geardiary.com/2012/12/27/get-in-shape-for-2013-with-the-right-footwear/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942448 | 2,341 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Her moniker may carry a generic John Smith quality, but JANE KIM is anything but. The civil rights attorney last November pulled off a stunning upset victory in the race for the San Francisco District 6 supervisor seat—and she did it sans major endorsements from media, labor and her own Democratic party.
At just 33, Kim, a former Board of Education president, is the first Asian American candidate to win a non-historically Asian district in San Francisco. How did this young, hip politico do it? The old-fashioned way: one conversation at a time.
Story by Bernice Yeung
Photographs by Shane Sato
Make-up by Grace Kim
LAST MONTH, after an upset victory in the November elections, San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim moved into her second-floor digs at City Hall. A civil rights attorney, and a former community and arts organizer with an impressive pedigree—Stanford University followed by law school at UC Berkeley—Kim spruced up her office by hanging edgy, graffiti-inspired paintings by a local artist on the walls.
It was classic Jane Kim, who’s an unlikely mix of wonky and cool. As the past president of the city’s school board, she’s the unabashed policy geek who conducts business in designer 4-inch heels and drives to appointments listening to old-school hip-hop. Though she has a black belt in taekwondo, Kim’s not an aggressive shouter like her predecessor on the board; she’s poised and confident, but when it’s an issue that she cares about, she can be searing and tough.
For the next four years, Kim, a 33-year-old Democrat, will oversee the political machinations of San Francisco’s District 6, which is home to a wide swath of the city’s population, including immigrant families, high-tech professionals, hipsters and low-income residents. (It is also the district where Kim currently resides.) It’s an area that some view as a political challenge because it features some of the greatest diversity and disparity of the city—from tony South Beach with its gleaming high-rise condos, to the Tenderloin, a grittier, low-income neighborhood populated by single-room occupancy hotels.
Winning the District 6 supervisor slot took a fight, and Kim was perceived as an underdog because she didn’t receive endorsements from major media or political organizations. In what has been dubbed the “Fifty-Nine Precinct Strategy” (where the campaign pledged to outreach to every distinct corner and constituency of the district), Kim borrowed from her experience as a community organizer in Chinatown, and pounded the pavement harder than her opponents. It worked.
With her campaign victory, Kim became the first Asian American candidate to win a non-historically Asian district in San Francisco at a moment when Asian American politicians are charging the halls of power. Here, the Manhattan-born Kim, who has lived in San Francisco for 11 years, talks about what motivated her to seek public office, her city’s growing Asian American political presence, and the sacrifices she’s willing to make for the job.
BERNICE: How would you describe yourself as a politician?
JANE: The reason I wanted to run for office and why I’ve enjoyed serving is that, one, I’m passionate about being part of making change that brings more equity. There are many ways to go about it. I was able to do it as an organizer, and I enjoy the challenges of doing it from a legislative and elected position.
The second reason is that I really believe in connecting public resources to constituents. I definitely come into politics with a progressive vision about how politics can provide more equity in cities.
BERNICE: Why are you interested in issues like equity?
JANE: Having grown up in a variety of neighborhoods in New York City, I was very aware of racism; it was much more in-your-face when I was growing up. The tangible experience of watching your parents get treated disrespectfully is hard to understand as a child. Then in eighth grade, I first learned about the hate crime [by Detroit autoworkers] that killed Vincent Chin, and that was when there were growing tensions between African American communities and Korean American businesses, and it moved me. The 1992 Los Angeles riots also made an impact. In high school, I got involved in community service groups, and I had teachers that picked me out and put me in leadership development programs. Then before I knew it, this kind of work was all I wanted to do.
BERNICE: You ran a campaign where you purposefully sought to have a presence in every neighborhood of your district. What are the ways that you brought something new to how campaigns are run?
JANE: Our campaign was not innovative at all. What we relied on was really old-fashioned. The basic premise of our campaign was: Out of any candidate, we were going to meet the most voters. We were going to knock more doors, be on more street corners on more days, and I, as a candidate, was going to be out that many more hours than any other campaign. Because we had nothing else. When I decided to run a year ago, I made the decision knowing that I would not get any major media endorsements, or endorsements from labor or the Democratic Party.
One of the things that inspired me before I announced my run was [New York chef] David Chang’s cookbook, Momofuku. It’s so funny that I got inspired from a cookbook. He talked about what inspired him to start Ko, that little eight-person restaurant. He was at a restaurant in France and had the most perfect meal he’d ever had. What struck him about the restaurant was that anyone can do what this restaurant did—the meals were super-simple, the service was impeccable. Anyone can do it, but it’s so hard to do. What we did was very similar, and what we did, anyone can do. But the attention to detail and the perseverance to do it well are very hard. We do see campaigns like that, but a lot of times people depend on the formula of endorsements and money. And we decided to do it without that.
BERNICE: Given the perseverance that was necessary, how did you keep people inspired and motivated?
JANE: I had an amazing campaign team [that included campaign manager Sunny Angulo, campaign consultant Enrique Pearce and campaign coordinators Viva Mogi and Jen Low]. If you bring on good people, then people will join the campaign because they trust the principles of the organizers.
Lillian Sing, a judge in San Francisco, once said in a speech to young Asian Americans to “always remember your true north.” That’s really important, but being in politics, what my true north is has been challenged a lot. And what has kept me true to my principles are the people who I surround myself with—people who share your true north because they’re the people that keep you centered and hold you accountable. And because I had so many of those people on the campaign, others were inspired. It’s not me; it’s a larger community that [the campaign] is part of. People don’t realize it, but the candidate is only one person on this team.
BERNICE: What do you think is the takeaway in terms of being able to win despite not having endorsements? How did you overcome those challenges?
JANE: It was the personal connection we were able to make. Being highly engaged with voters is important, and you can’t take for granted actually meeting somebody for five seconds. It makes me hopeful that grassroots [efforts] do work. We also did a good job of bringing on people who had never been involved in electoral politics before—seniors and young people, in particular. And nobody had the linguistic capacity that we had. We had people speaking Russian, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Arabic, Spanish. We were the only campaign to have dedicated literature to each of these communities.
BERNICE: Describe a typical day during your campaign.
JANE: My day would usually start around 7:30 a.m. I’d pick transit stops and pedestrian corners, and would start out my morning greeting commuters. Then it’d be a mixture of meetings, campaign work and phone banking. In the evenings, we’d go back out for evening commute. At night, we’d go to events. My day would end at 11:30 p.m., and then I’d come home and respond to emails.
BERNICE: That sounds grueling. How did you personally stay motivated?
JANE: I was hyper-vigilant about taking care of myself. The campaign was pretty good about making sure I slept. They didn’t sleep, but I did! I went to a boot camp class once a week. I had to work seven days a week, and boot camp was the thing on Friday night that would reset me for Saturday so it was almost like I had a weekend.
What I love about politics is meeting people. I love the organizing aspect, and I’ve always loved the field. So in a way, not getting endorsements and not having to do the political wrangling made this the most enjoyable campaign that I’ve had. That’s what energized me—my time spent out in the field.
BERNICE: Describe your district.
JANE: It’s a district that is changing, that is very young and energetic. It has neighborhoods that didn’t exist 10 years ago, but it also has historic areas that have long been ignored or disenfranchised. It’s a very diverse district, and a very hopeful one, too. And it’s not as entrenched along political lines as other neighborhoods might be.
BERNICE: How did you connect with such a diverse constituency during the campaign?
JANE: I feel very comfortable around tenant and housing issues because that’s the work I came from as an organizer. There are a lot of immigrants and seniors and youth in the district, and low-income tenants in single-room occupancy buildings. In some of the newer neighborhoods, there are a lot of young professionals that are liberal leaning, and I went to Stanford and Berkeley. ( Laughs.) I very much identify with the breadth of District 6.
BERNICE: How has your political and arts organizing background influenced your campaign and who you will be as a supervisor?
JANE: I have tremendous respect for organizing. It is the one thing I will always support and fund in this city because [community-based] organizations can really bring about change. Helping found the Japantown arts space Locus [now merged with Kearney Street Workshop] in 2000 really taught me the importance of having spaces for people to get together and build community, and that was also a big part of the campaign. As little time as we had, we carved out time for social dinners. I never wanted to downplay the importance of social community building because it makes the team stronger. It’s important for people to truly care about one another, and that bond will outlast the stress and tension and disagreements that always occur on campaigns.
BERNICE: How important was it that you were an Asian American candidate in this election?
JANE: I’m almost amazed at what has happened in the last 10 years for Asian Americans in San Francisco. Even though we haven’t had a population increase, the flex of political power for the Asian American community has catapulted. And it’s also diverse. It’s not just one type of Asian American. You have Ed Lee, Leland Yee, Fiona Ma, David Chiu, Phil Ting. These Asian American elected officials in San Francisco represent a diversity of political perspectives that I think is healthy.
Even seven years ago when I was working on campaigns, campaigns wouldn’t go to Asian American communities, and the response was that those communities didn’t vote, so why bother? Now I doubt that there’s any campaign that doesn’t have an Asian strategy.
BERNICE: Do you think what’s happening in San Francisco in regard to the emergence of Asian American political leaders and voting presence is an indication of what will happen nationally?
JANE: I don’t see that yet. I do think it’s really exciting, and there is a sense of wariness, excitement, awe or respect for what Asian Americans are accomplishing politically in San Francisco. It’s a mix of, “This is kind of cool, but what does it mean?”
BERNICE: There was some grumblings on blogs and the internet during the campaign that you were playing the race card. Did you play the race card?
JANE: I don’t think so. I don’t think we ever thought about [using my race during the campaign]. I found that having an immigrant family experience allowed me to connect with a lot of different communities, whether it was Filipino, Vietnamese, Central American or Mexican. I do think being a daughter of immigrants [helped voters relate to me].
BERNICE: Public service holds some level of sacrifice. What have you given up in order to serve?
JANE: Politics is emotionally grueling. It’s a really tough job because being subject to public scrutiny—while an important aspect of being an elected because it holds you accountable—is wearing. And people start to forget that you’re a real person.
It’s also a huge time commitment and I haven’t seen a lot of elected officials who are successful at managing families and spouses. You don’t see a lot of young women in politics—this is a time when you might want to have kids or get married. A lot of women in politics got into politics later on, after they had kids. Carving a way for women to be in politics is important. That was definitely something I thought a lot about. I haven’t really figured out the answer to it all. But it will all work out. (Laughs.)
BERNICE: Do you think being an Asian American woman in public office has a positive impact on younger people?
JANE: I try not to overemphasize identity politics because, at the end of the day, issues matter more. I’m not for supporting a candidate just because they’re Asian, a woman or a person of color if I disagree with them. But you can’t discount identity either. I do think it matters for young people to see Asian Americans and women in office.
BERNICE: How do you deal with the demands for your attention as an elected official? Do you consider yourself an extrovert?
JANE: More than most electeds I know, I need downtime. I need to be alone, and I enjoy being alone. I do thrive off of people; I wouldn’t do this if there wasn’t also something in it for me, and I love being part of something. Most people want to feel they’re a part of something, and that’s what I learned as a youth organizer: To get young people who may feel apathetic engaged, [you need to give] them the opportunity to be a part of something larger. People crave that connection, and I definitely do, too.
BERNICE: Do you foresee a long-term career in politics?
JANE: I love it, and I would not have run if I weren’t passionate about serving and figuring out how to harness public resources to make change and create a level playing field of opportunity for all people. But there are a lot of ways to make change, and electoral politics is just one of them. It’s the path I’ve chosen for now. I’m enjoying it, and honored to be in it.
* * *
A district supervisor is responsible for the needs of the people in his/her district. In San Francisco, which is both a city and a county, the Board of Supervisors, made up of 11 elected representatives, comprises the legislative arm of the city. To ensure a diverse body of legislators, the supervisors are directly elected by the constituents of their respective districts. As supervisor of District 6, one of the largest in San Francisco, Jane Kim oversees the budget, can pass and repeal city policies and ordinances, and manages/appoints public staff. “She’s a young supervisor, so the new feel of the district being at a crossroads in its development really vibed with her campaign,” said Sunny Angulo, Kim’s campaign manager. “It was a beautiful and diverse campaign.”
* * *
The Campaign Trail: Jane Kim‘s Political History
2004: Ran for a seat on the S.F. Board of Education (lost).
2006: Ran again for a seat on S.F.’s Board of Education (won).
2007: Sworn in as the first Korean American elected in San Francisco, as a commissioner on the Board of Education.
2009: Graduated from UC Berkeley School of Law.
2010: Unanimously elected as the president of the San Francisco Board of Education.
2011: Sworn in as the District 6 Supervisor for San Francisco and the first Korean American Supervisor nationwide. | <urn:uuid:186a0bcc-9244-42b2-843b-3c11a372239a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://iamkoream.com/jane-kim-following-her-true-north/?cat=22 | 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 | 0.975413 | 3,682 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Thanks everyone, I appreciate it
Very nice ... that's a lot of paper and patience to go through. Good for long car trips when you're not driving
What books did you find them in? I'm pretty sure I have one of them, or at least something similar.
A good number of the models come from the various books written by Japanese author Tomoko Fuse. She is one of the authorities on modular origami polyhedra as well as other sorts of things like box origami (you can see those at the very front of the picture). Others come from trying to imitate what I have seen on other websites or just from attempting to build a model of some of the various uniform polyhedra/duals. And I have actually made quite a few while in a back seat of a car...
They're beautiful! Are they your own patterns?
Although most came from Fuse's book, some of the bigger ones are variations on her patterns. Once you can make a basic unit, adding an extra crease in various places can transform the look of the unit significantly and change the resulting pattern. Also, she provides the units and the instructions for a basic shape such a stellated hexahedron, and I used the units to make something bigger, such as a stellated icosidodecahedron. Some of the larger shapes are not so structurally sound and tend to collapse in on themselves over time.
There is one that looks like a huge Alexander's Star what is that.
I'm not sure quite which one you are referring to. If you could try to point it out in the second picture where it's easier to see everything, I could tell you what it is. | <urn:uuid:e8c75a94-4575-4e82-b97a-9f245b9ad611> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://twistypuzzles.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=7866 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97677 | 353 | 1.835938 | 2 |
As an avid linux user I have watched with some amusement the conversation among linux users about how or if linux will ever become
a mainstream computer desktop platform. Well I can now tell you the answer is NO, and Yes.
If my Yes answer turns out to be correct it not only will become mainstream, it may just blow Microsoft windows out of the game, at least for some while.
If this happens it will take mucho investment, a huge change, and time for Microsoft to reamerge.
I know you’re thinking I’m nuts to think linux could overtake Windows. This is where the no and yes part comes in.
The consumer won’t know it’s linux, In fact they will fall for it almost immediately , like the warm embrace of an old friend.
The OS will be linux under the hood, but the user will see it as the OS they have learned to love on their cell phone and tablet, yes Android.
Android with all the apps they have grown fond of, with quickness way beyond the tablet or phone, and an ease of use for daily computing that can hardly be matched.
How do I know this? Because I am using Android on my pc to write this. It all started the way many things in the open source world start, with just a notion
to see how Android would look and feel on a desktop platform and thanks to the folks at Android X86 it is becoming reality.
When I first checked in on the Android X86 project back around Android 1.5 it was really just an amusement, but now running Android 4 Ice Cream Sandwich
on my Lenovo laptop, all I can say is wow! It screams with speed, is easy to use with a wheel mouse and after collecting the right set of apps from the Google Play store
does everything I need for daily computing and being app based makes it easier and more intuitive to use.
Yes there are still some apps that won’t run on this platform and there are a few bugs, but I think once Google decides to make this work, it will
and the rest will be history as they say. Want to give it a test drive yourself? surf on over to androidx86.org and check it out.
Caution, you need to know what you are doing and have supported hardware at this stage, but soon I predict you will see this OS on many a users desktop. | <urn:uuid:77eda52a-1310-4412-ab6b-dc8cfc1bfaa3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://92zew.net/wordpress/watch-out-microsoft-there-is-a-new-computer-desktop-on-the-horizon/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946621 | 499 | 1.75 | 2 |
China shows off latest high-speed train
ONBOARD THE BEIJING-SHANGHAI EXPRESS, June 27 |
ONBOARD THE BEIJING-SHANGHAI EXPRESS, June 27 (Reuters) - With its fully reclining airline-style business class seats, a strict no-smoking policy and designed top speed of 350 km (220 miles) per hour, the new Beijing-Shanghai express embodies China's race to the future.
The new line's launch is coordinated with the 90th anniversary of the ruling Communist Party to highlight the "scientific development" slogan dear to the heart of Chinese president and party secretary Hu Jintao.
It is the latest and most feted portion of a network the government hopes will stretch 45,000 km (27,960 miles) by the end of 2015.
"This is the pride of China and the Chinese people," Ministry of Railways chief engineer He Huawu told reporters at the Beijing South Station before a trial run on Monday.
"It took just 39 months to build such a high-standard and world-renowned high-speed rail line, which is a gift for the 90th anniversary of the Party."
The sleek white and blue train -- dubbed "Harmony" after President Hu's "harmonious society" slogan -- zips along its elevated track at 300 km (185 miles) per hour, bypassing flat fields and rubble-strewn villages. It cuts travel time on the 1,318-kilometre (820-mile) route to under five hours.
It would go faster but for safety concerns, after revelations of corruption led to the downfall of the rail minister earlier this year.
The line is designed to carry 80 million passengers a year, providing heady competition for the airlines on a route notorious for delays.
For 1,750 yuan ($270), business class travelers are waited on by uniformed stewardesses.
It is also a non-smoking ride.
"That's hard for some passengers. Even though we only stop for one minute in Nanjing they race out to the platform and puff as fast as they can," said Wang Zongyue, who handles safety culture training for the new line.
WORKING ON THE RAILROAD
China's ambitious high-speed rail programme is designed partly to shift passenger traffic off existing tracks, allowing for faster and cheaper transport of coal and grains.
The investment comes none too soon for the creaking freight rail system, which proved a major bottleneck as China's economy took off over the past decade.
But building a top-of-the line passenger system is controversial. Critics say affordable seats are needed more than luxury commuter lines.
Regular trains are so crowded during peak times that passengers stand or sleep in the aisles or even bathrooms, and poorer Chinese still queue for hours or even days to get tickets.
The heavily indebted ministry may have to cut back on some plans, analysts say.
"They might cut some of the far west lines and inter-city lines, some of the more ambitious plans don't make much sense," said Jerry Lou, chief strategy officer for Morgan Stanley Huaxin Securities.
He believes the new lines will spur demand for everything from real estate to instant noodles.
But Lou shrugged off allegations that the line, at a cost of 220.9 billion yuan, amounts to a high-speed vanity project.
"If you look back in history, very few high-profile projects actually did make money in the beginning ... They (the government) are certainly not naive about the high-speed rail being immediately profitable."
(Additional reporting by Michael Martina; Editing by Ben Blanchard and Sugita Katyal)
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A Visual of Current Major Market Clusters
Here is a cluster representation of some of the major markets that are traded internationally. The groupings were formed using data over the past year with a clustering algorithm that is proprietary (correlation is used as a distance metric). What is interesting is that this particular cluster grouping has persisted without much change over the past 4 years. Notice that oil has behaved more similarly to equities than it has to gold. This divergence coupled with the fact that the US Dollar has behaved as a distinct cluster suggests that the market is pricing fears of currency debasement as being more likely than commodity inflation (in which case commodities and gold would be grouped together). Another explanation might lie in fact that market sentiment is currently dominated by shifts in the perception of economic growth which outweight the perceived risk of inflation. The grouping of all of the equity indices and even real estate suggest that their risk is being dominated by one or more common factors. Regardless of the explanation, I find it interesting to group clusters and then reverse-engineer a story for market expectations. Interestingly enough, using a 20-day lookback Oil has detached and formed a separate cluster apart from gold, equities and the us dollar….. not sure what to make of that! | <urn:uuid:847c9c57-051a-4baa-be23-7f5ea630c296> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cssanalytics.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/a-visual-of-current-major-market-clusters/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975882 | 253 | 1.65625 | 2 |
When my husband and I watched the second Presidential debate this week, and Republican candidate Mitt Romney described his effort to include women in his former Massachusetts Governor’s cabinet as receiving “binders full of women,” my husband immediately turned to give me a wildly bemused look.
“What the heck is he talking about, ‘binders full of women’?”
Honestly, I’m not entirely convinced that I watched the debate to gain any substantive facts on the candidates’ policies. Rather, I wanted to be in at the ground floor of whatever inevitable internet sensation took off as soon as the words left the candidates’ lips. As I left the office on Tuesday, I dwelt happily on the fact that there were only a few more hours to go before a fresh campaign meme torched my online feeds. It was pleasant to wonder what it would be, and to know that all I had to do to be in on the joke with all the other cool kids was put on my pajama pants and watch ninety minutes of political blather.
The meme was born when the candidates took a question about ensuring women’s equal pay for equal work, since a significant pay gap still exists between male and female workers in the US.
Obama pointed to the first new bill he signed upon assuming office in 2009, which amended the 1964 Civil Rights Act to say that those who have experienced discrimination in the form of reduced wages can file a lawsuit up to 180 days after the receipt of any paycheck that shows the unfair pay rate, rather than 180 days after the initial payment decision is made by the hiring manager – basically, making it easier for women to address gender-based paycheck discrepancies in court.
(The recently departed Senator Arlen Specter was one of very few Republicans to support the bill; Romney’s running-mate voted against it).
Romney had a tougher time with his answer, which devolved into a curious narrative on searching out women for his Governor’s cabinet – women he claimed were totally absent from the apparent crop of potential candidates. As Romney told it, he was perturbed by the lack of female applicants, had no idea where to find any, and asked his staff what could be done.
“And so we took a concerted effort to go out and find women who had backgrounds that could be qualified to become members of our cabinet. I went to a number of women’s groups and said, ‘can you help us find folks,’ and they brought us whole binders full of women.”
Romney wrapped up by urging employers to provide more flexible working hours for women, so that they can still be home to make dinner for the kids, and explained that he’s going to bring about such a strong economy that employers will be clamoring to hire women.
Fortunately, because the internet can spot a fruitful meme faster than Republican politicians can come up with new classifications of rape, my husband and I ignored the post-debate pundits to guffaw over the Binders Full of Women tumblr that was crackling even before the debate’s final question.
Memes Photoshopped at the speed of light borrowed enthusiastically from Beyonce (put three rings on it), Lord of the Rings, Dirty Dancing, Trapper Keepers and much more, and, of course, quickly cannibalized other, older memes.
(The red-hot tumblr was apparently started by a 23-year-old woman who had been laid off from her social media manager job that very day. She’s reportedly considering several new offers.)
The internet is already awash in articles.
Some writers immediately bridled at the implication that a male partner couldn’t make dinner, or that women are second-rate employees who can expect to be considered only during boom times.
Others complained that the “binders full of women” moment shows Romney’s dismissive and condescending attitude toward women in general.
Political writer David S. Bernstein of The Phoenix pointed out that Romney’s version of events isn’t even true – a bipartisan coalition of Massachusetts women’s groups, troubled by the lack of women in government in both political parties, assembled the fateful Qualified-Lady Binders themselves, without being asked, and presented them to Romney when he assumed office – a version of events that doesn’t exactly jibe with the former Governor’s contention that he anxiously asked the women’s groups for help in boosting the cabinet’s estrogen levels (especially as Bernstein points out that the overall percentage of female appointees actually declined during Romney’s tenure).
But I like Bernstein’s last line best.
“Note that in Romney’s story as he tells it, this man who had led and consulted for businesses for 25 years didn’t know any qualified women, or know where to find any qualified women. So what does that say?”
I have to say, in the four and a half seconds that elapsed between Romney’s saying the words and – like a delayed sonic boom – the birth of the meme, I felt a flash of sympathy for the Governor.
As a journalist, I, too, have been faced with the problem of locating qualified women.
This year, one of my editors assigned me a series of articles on entrepreneurship in Pennsylvania with several different angles, including “green” business, socially responsible ventures, and MBA graduates who launched start-ups (you can read some of them here, here and here).
Because I wanted to feature a diverse range of business-people, I discovered that my early research and networking for interviews fell into two waves: one which returned an all-male batch of interview candidates, and a second in which I scrambled to find women to include in the articles.
I could have used those binders.
I followed up with several of my leads to inquire about female founders/executives. They shrugged. One prominent male faculty member of Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business told me he couldn’t think of a single woman who would qualify for inclusion in my story.
Fortunately, I followed up with one of his female colleagues, who had many suggestions, despite admitting that women do indeed make up a very small percentage of entrepreneurs in our state.
As I pursued these articles throughout the year and grew my network in the field, I found out a surefire way to discover the female executives.
Ask other female executives. (Perhaps we just subconsciously prefer to refer the press to members of our own gender?)
So my sympathy for Romney was short-lived, especially when I learned that he hadn’t commissioned those binders at all, and that they did not, in fact, lead to better female representation in his administration.
If one little journalist with zero business experience (outside of managing my own career) and a tiny business network can track down several articles’ worth of noteworthy female executives to interview, with nothing but the internet and her cell phone, I refuse to believe that a career businessman and politician couldn’t figure out how to get some ladies on board without the help of his staff and a state-wide coalition of concerned women’s groups.
However, even though I’ve personally discovered that finding qualified professional women is just a matter of some earnest networking, don’t be too hard on Romney – not because his ideas are ok, but because he shouldn’t be singled out as the only one entrenched in them.
The words of that Carnegie Mellon professor, and other prominent businessmen who told me that they didn’t know a single woman who would fit into my articles, are still too fresh in my mind for me to put all the blame on Romney. So I hope the binder meme can be more than a hilarious flash-in-the-pan, and become a chance to consider the fact that not only are women underrepresented in business and politics, but that many people don’t even realize they’re there at all. | <urn:uuid:aa66c6ec-053b-45e5-b20b-53d8900f9b05> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://alainamabaso.com/2012/10/17/dont-bind-the-blame-to-romney-hes-not-alone/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979822 | 1,672 | 1.554688 | 2 |
A Clean Slate
A Clean Slate
Until the amount of distressed inventory returns to a normal level, under 5 percent, real estate pros face the unenviable task of clearing these sales as efficiently as possible.
Distressed listings typically sell for 15 to 20 percent below market value, which can cause a drag on home prices overall, according to data assembled by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.
The sharp price discount on today’s distressed sales is a symptom of an imbalanced housing market. In better times, a distressed property might be snapped up at market value. Consequently, the market needs stronger home sales volumes to reduce the number of homes on the market and to stabilize prices. As rising prices allow troubled and underwater home owners, who account for roughly 22 percent of mortgaged home owners, to refinance, their hopes are raised. Robust home sales and home price growth also breed confidence in the market for would-be buyers.
By far the best remedy for the ailing housing market is a stronger economy. Job growth and stock market gains are closely tied to consumer confidence, with consumers commonly citing concerns about jobs as the main reason for not purchasing a home.
Behind the Drag
Ongoing concerns that Europe’s debt crisis could spread and reduce domestic economic growth, a lack of consensus in Congress over the deficit reduction plan, and a major revision to economic growth in the first half of 2011 combined to send stocks on a roller coaster ride in the second half of 2011. In August, consumer confidence fell to its lowest level since the recession began in 2007, and neither businesses nor consumers appear willing to drive the economy. Indeed, job creation has averaged less than 150,000 jobs per month over the last year, below the amount needed to absorb college and high school graduates entering the workforce.
The economy isn’t the only factor restraining the demand for housing. Credit standards and down payment requirements have been ratcheted up in recent years at the FHA and government-sponsored enterprises, but banks have raised their standards even further in an attempt to limit potential lawsuits. As a result, FICO scores on loans backed by Fannie Mae rose from an average of 719 in 2005 to a peak average of 756 in the second quarter of 2011. Likewise, FICO scores on loans originated through the FHA averaged 632 in the second quarter of 2007 but reached 700 in the second quarter of 2011. And anecdotal evidence suggests that down payments greater than 20 percent are the norm outside of the FHA. Although traditional credit standards are a good thing, the pendulum has swung too far in this direction. Punishing quality borrowers for the mistakes of the past is not good for the health of the markets or the economy.
Another factor keeping the level of distressed properties high is the so-called “shadow inventory,” the cache of homes not yet on the market but already—or likely to end up—on the balance sheets of banks, the FHA, Fannie Mae, or Freddie Mac and thus for sale.
On the bright side, both MLS inventories and shadow inventory showed signs of easing in 2011. In September 2011, an estimated 3.5 million homes appeared on MLSs across the country, 13 percent fewer than a year earlier. Meanwhile, from February 2010 to July 2011, the shadow inventory dropped from 1.9 million to 1.6 million, according to calculations by NAR researcher Selma Hepp. The reduced inventory was partly a result of firming home prices and employment growth that carried into 2011. Taken together, these factors lowered the national 90-day delinquency rate from 5 percent of all mortgages in the first quarter of 2010 to 3.5 percent in the third quarter of 2011. However, the foreclosure rate remains historically high. Not only that, the temporary moratorium on foreclosure sales by many large banks in the latter half of 2010 and early 2011 to correct processing problems held up the sale of a large number of properties that will eventually be sold.
In all, short sales rose by 26,000 last year while foreclosures fell by 255,000, according to Hope Now, a mortgage industry alliance. September 2011 marked the 12th straight month in which foreclosure activity decreased on a year-over-year basis, according to RealtyTrac. In October, however, filings spiked 7 percent from the previous month, and the month-over-month activity was much higher in the housing markets of California, Nevada, Arizona, and Florida, where the downturn was sharpest, as well as in markets where the judicial process held up foreclosure sales. In a Nov. 10 press release, RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio said, “The October foreclosure numbers continue to show strong signs that foreclosure activity is coming out of the rain delay we’ve been in for the past year."
Government programs aimed at helping struggling home owners haven't had the effect many hoped for, but some retooling is underway. In November, the Home Affordable Refinance Program program was revised with relaxed criteria that observers hope will double the number of home owners who’ll eventually benefit. Meanwhile, private loan modifiers have shifted their strategy to focus on reducing monthly payments; the share of loans that are six or more months in default 12 months after modification has improved, from 58.1 percent in 2008 to 26.6 percent in 2010.
It’s not too late to make distressed sales part of your repertoire. This special report looks at how these sales have changed since the wild, wooly days of 2008 and provides insights on how to run a successful short sale or foreclosure operation. | <urn:uuid:4ae7cc96-4ffb-4430-826e-72802002cbd8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://realtormag.realtor.org/news-and-commentary/feature/article/2012/01/clean-slate | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955755 | 1,147 | 1.757813 | 2 |
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The idea of a school of public affairs at Harvard was born in the midst of the Great Depression and on the eve of World War II. As government grappled with historic challenges both domestic and international, Harvard alumnus Lucius N. Littauer backed his vision of a school for a new professional governing class with an unprecedented $2 million gift, then the largest single gift from an individual donor ever given to a university.
For the past seven decades the Harvard Kennedy School has strived to place itself at the vanguard of studying public policy and preparing its practitioners. Today the Kennedy School has evolved into one of the world’s most eminent social science research institutions – housing 15 research centers and institutes and more than thirty executive education and degree programs – with worldwide reach and influence. More than 46,000 Kennedy School alumni reside in more than 200 countries and territories and serve in a wide range of positions in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. | <urn:uuid:d26bfaf3-07e8-4f31-8775-60133d73ffb8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hks.harvard.edu/about/history | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942263 | 197 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Someone that loves BEETS, must be pretty smart! My grandmother always had beets in her garden, and all of my family learned to eat Grandma's pickled beets from an early age on!! Great fiber and beautiful on a plate!! Becky
03/04/2010 - 5:24pm
Excellent article! I think there are a lot of things that in moderation are o.k. Portion sizes in America and fast food on every corner are the real culprits. I'm glad to see that eggs made the list. Eggs are the 'backup' dinner for my 5 year old when he doesn't like what I've made. He always has to try what I've made, but if just doesn't like it, I'll make him a scrambled egg. I am wondering how many he can have in one week?
03/04/2010 - 6:15pm
How can someone who has a master's in nutrition and whose focus is weight management, with good conscience, be addicted to ice cream and pizza? Next to chips and soda they are two of the most fattening foods, not to mention high in cholesterol, that i can think of? What happened to apples, oranges and other fruits to satisfy the sweet tooth. Too much pizza is too hard on the arteries.
03/05/2010 - 1:05am
Was told by my Grandmother never to serve Rubarb and pineapple pieces together as a dessert as it is a poison that can make you sick or kill you. Is this true.
03/05/2010 - 6:10pm
A myth my grandmother told me and I ask if it is true. you must never eat rubarb and pineapple together as it becomes poisonous.
03/05/2010 - 6:16pm
My Grandmother told me that I must never mix Rubarb and pineapple together as a dessert because it is poisonous. Is this true.
03/05/2010 - 6:39pm
any kind of pasta makes you fat
03/05/2010 - 11:23pm
Thanks so much for your article. I had a heart attack 2+ years ago, and while trying to maintain a "heart healthy" diet, have been depressed by the foods I had to "give up". I believe all the bad rep foods you mentioned were on my "don't eat" list, especially eggs and red meat. I will gladly add them back into my diet (in moderation, of course).
03/07/2010 - 1:24am
Now that I've been diagnosed with Celiac Disease, I have to say good-bye to all good-tasting food unless it's been over-processed, wrapped in shrink wrap or in a box, and hiding in the 2-shelf "health food" section of your grocer's freezer.
03/07/2010 - 10:39am
I put very little stock in these reports. My wife is a doctor of medicine annd does cancer based research related to CAM. I know that if you torture the numbers long enough they will confess to anything. First you have to look at who is paying for these various studies. There is no magic bullet....but it isnt beef and potatoes I can tell you that. I wonder why you dont list sweet potatoes.if any at all...instead of regular potatoes.....according to many reports they are about twice as healthy as regular ones....and despite the name sweet potatoes are better for diabetics. | <urn:uuid:1a7446a1-8f72-4687-a621-1aee64226e3b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eatingwell.com/blogs/health_blog/5_bad_foods_you_should_be_eating?order=timestamp&sort=asc&page=2§ion=comments | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971723 | 714 | 1.625 | 2 |
Tattooing is quite an ancient form of body art, which has been tried by people for many years. It tends to have a lot of cultural significance attached to it and helps individuals to reveal their unique personality. There are a variety of intricate tattoo pics available on the internet and you can choose the one that suits your individuality. But when choosing a particular tattoo image or design, be very careful, since once you have a tattoo made on your body, you cannot remove it, unless it’s a fake tattoo. Tattoos are generally drawn on various parts of the body, like arms, legs, stomach, back and hip, but recently tongue tattoos have become a popular trend.
However, tattooing images on tongue is quite an unusual and painful practice. In majority cases tongue tattoos are decorated with pins, pigments and studs. When going for tongue tattooing, it is strongly suggested to have it done from a specialized tattoo artist, who possess adequate knowledge about tongue tattooing, piercing and holding. Good tongue tattoo artist should also be able to provide his clients with suitable tattoo ideas.
Moreover, since tongue tends to be one of the most sensitive sense organs, of human body, one needs to take several precautionary steps, when drawing tattoos on it. First of all, prior to going for tongue tattoos, you need to clean your tongue and ensure that it is free from infection or ulcers. Check whether your tattoo artist is using sterilized equipments and disposable gloves, so as to avoid infections. After the completion of the tattoo, you need to give your tongue at least a couple of week’s time to heal completely.
People, who have poor immune system, are strongly recommended not to opt for tongue tattoos. | <urn:uuid:e5713d42-e38c-463f-9816-976cfcf2d2a2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tattoo-teez.com/tongue-tattoos-an-innovative-way-of-displaying-art-on-your-body/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961313 | 353 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Category Archives for Latino & Latin America
After years of organizing, Uruguay was the first country to ratify ILO Convention 189, guaranteeing domestic workers the same basic rights as any other workers. This includes a guaranteed minimum wage, regulated working hours, access to social security and legal … Continue reading
Looks like Mitt Romney might have to try a different angle. Contrary to popular political generalizations, Latinos may not all be against abortion. According to a Lake Research Partners survey conducted with 600 participants, a majority of Latinos believe that … Continue reading
Some of my favorite photos from Brazil’s Slutwalk “Marcha das Vadias.” These photos are from the Brasilia faction, but there were marches in Rio, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte and more cities. I wish I could have been there! 1) The … Continue reading
Have you heard of Chocquibtown? I recently laid my ears on some of their music, and I’m addicted to the sound of this Afro-Colombian band, mixing hip-hop beats with sounds of salsa, cumbia, and Latino America. But what I love … Continue reading
So I’ve posted on my travel blog about the work that I’m doing in Bahia, Brazil recently, but I thought that this bit of news was worth sharing here too. For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been interning … Continue reading
Love this. Subheading reads: “The bottom has “In Puerto Rico, 1/3 of the women of child-bearing age – sterilized/ In the U.S., 20% of Black married women – sterilized/ In India, men and women sterilized by law./ Too many people … Continue reading
I wish I looked as patient as this teacher when I try to explain this concept. | <urn:uuid:68dd839a-c014-413b-ab5b-6b5d17fba179> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://julianabritto.com/category/latino/page/2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947238 | 388 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Trip Start Nov 14, 2011
131Trip End Feb 28, 2013
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Our drive back from Paris to Gite Couleau took us past Versailles – the centre of political power in France in the late 16oos until 1789 when Louis XVI was forced to give up his throne at the start of the French Revolution. It is a symbol of a time that will never again return to France – monarchy rule or what is referred to as the Ancien Régime. Today these gardens and palace are enjoyed by many for its grandeur and beauty. I had visited these gardens and palace many years ago but France has done a magnificent job in restoring and cleaning up its monuments. It was an overcast day with grey skies but the Versailles palace was aglow with its golden rooftops reflecting a brilliance that stood out in the distance. As we had a 6 hour ride back to Gite Couleau, we couldn't stay to visit the palace – something to do the next time we’re back in this area.
Another stop that we did make was to visit the Martyr town of Oradour. This town is a permanent exhibit of how the town was left when the Nazis came on June 10th, 1944, rounded up the people of the town and then shot and killed everyone. They then pillaged the town and set fire to the buildings making sure that no one was left alive to bear witness to the atrocities that occurred that day. Over 640 people (women, children and men) lost their lives without any clear indication as to why this obscure town in the Limousin region was targeted. The townspeople who were not there on that fateful day came back to find their town destroyed and the burnt remains of their family members, neighbours and friends. The remains of the victims have been buried at a memorial gravesite located at the town cemetery. Jeff and I walked around the remains of this once bustling town taking note of where its boulangeries, garage, seamstress, doctor, dentist, wine shop, pharmacy and other businesses previously existed. It was sad to go through these streets and think about the extreme loss of these families. This loss however horrific was not something unique that only occurred in Oradour as this type of terror and loss was prevalent throughout Europe and Asia during World War II. One only has to think about the millions of Jewish families that perished in Auschwitz, Treblinka and other concentration camps, the complete destruction and bombing of cities such as Warsaw, Dresden and Hiroshima. It would be nice to think that we have learned something from history and these acts will never be repeated again where innocent lives are lost. However if we did, we would not have other memorials and events to commemorate the victims of Srebrenica, Rwanda, Cambodia and Kurdistan to name just a few. I can only hope that with each generation having access to more education and knowledge that shows the fruitlessness of such destruction, these events will decrease. For now, Jeff and I came, we saw and we will remember. Lest we forget. | <urn:uuid:64123bd8-0b05-4c21-b52b-a5d66de94de0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/maryandjeff/1/1338634856/tpod.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981035 | 634 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Posted on Wednesday, December 5, 2012
in Emotional, Relational, Social, Values
Believe in people.
Yes, believe in people, but not too much.
Beware “relying on human beings”, wrote C.S. Lewis.
(They’re) going to let us down.
The best of them will make mistakes;
all of them will die.
We must be thankful to all the people who have helped us, we must honour them and love them. But never, never pin your whole faith on any human being: not if he is the best and wisest in the whole world.
There are lots of nice things you can do with sand; but do not try building a house on it.” | <urn:uuid:6d4f11b3-e0bd-4b0b-987b-99eddadcc68d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mysilentscream.com/tag/c-s-lewis | 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 | 0.952332 | 161 | 1.609375 | 2 |
You might be excited to purchase a new vehicle, but at the same time, question how to handle the sell of your current vehicle. Different options are available, such as trading in the car and selling the vehicle yourself. There are pros and cons to both options. And if you need to act fast, you need to consider what it takes to sell a car.
Some may argue that it’s quicker to trade in a vehicle. This is when a dealership purchases your old vehicle. It’s a straightforward and simple transaction, but not necessarily the best choice. Talk to anyone who has traded in a car and they’ll tell you that dealerships don’t give top dollars for trade-ins. And if the dealership’s offer is less than what you owe on the car, the negative equity is attached to your new car loan.
Selling the car yourself in one way to avoid this hassle. Sure, it’ll take longer and you’ll have to meet with several people. But in the end, this can equal more cash in your pocket. But don’t sell a car without knowing a few tips and tricks. Educate yourself on how to sell a car to increase your chances of a quick sale.
What Is Your Car Worth?
Knowing the actual value of your vehicle is the first step to selling your car. Whether you decide to sell yourself or trade in the car, you’ll sell yourself short if you don’t understand the car’s value. Granted, this isn’t easy to determine. However, several tools can help you acquire an accurate figure.
You might go online and check websites like www.kbb.com and provide basic information about your vehicle. This includes your make, model, year, mileage and condition. This website also provides information on trade-in value – in case you decide to go this route.
Additionally, you can contact dealerships to learn the value of your car. Several dealership websites, such as www.kengarffused.com, feature online forms where you can request a trade-in appraisal. If the resale or trade-in value of your car is less than expected, understand that cars depreciate differently. Certain cars hold their value longer than others. These include Hondas, Toyotas, Cadillacs and Acuras.
Tips to Maintain the Value of Your Car
Your car’s worth determines how much you’ll receive from a sale. The more you profit, the better. You can put this extra money toward the down payment on your new car, or save the cash.
Here are a few tips to help your car hold it’s value.
- Limit customizations. Make the car your own, but don’t go overboard. A custom interior and exterior might suit your taste, but not others. This not only turns off future buyers, but lowers the value of your vehicle.
- Fix repairs. Scratches and dings can hurt your car’s value. Make needed body improvements before selling the car, and only use trusted auto body repair shops. Preferably shops that can provide factory parts.
- Keep it clean. A nice exterior wash and a detailed inside can add value to your car. Besides, people are more likely to purchase a car that’s been well maintained.
The decision to sell yourself or trade in the car also depends on your availability and desire. If your schedule doesn’t allow constant test drives, or if you don’t want to handle the transaction on your own, a trade-in is your best bet. | <urn:uuid:48b33f36-0b99-461f-acaa-76cdb43eb5b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/miscellaneous/depreciated-value-for-your-vehicle/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931996 | 756 | 1.632813 | 2 |
From Times Online: "The Bishop of Stafford, the Right Rev Gordon Mursell, an expert on Christian spirituality and near the bottom of the hierarchy of Anglican bishops, said that people who ignored global warming were, in effect, locking their children and grandchildren into a world without a future and throwing away the key.
"Bishop Mursell, who spoke last year at a conference organised by the ultra-liberal Modern Read More...
CHURCH OF ENGLAND BISHOP CONDEMNED BY HIS OWN FOR ADVOCATING THE CONVERSION OF MUSLIMS TO CHRISTIANITY
From the Telegraph: "The Rt Rev Stephen Lowe, the former Bishop of Hulme and the newly appointed Bishop of Urban Life and Faith, said: "Both the Bishop of Rochester's reported comments and the synod private members' motion show no sensitivity to the need for good inter-faith relations. Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs are learning to respect one another's paths to God and to live in harmony. This demand for the evangelisation of people of other faiths contributes nothing to our communities."
A Church of England spokesman added: "We have a mission-focused Christian presence in every community, including those where there are a large number of Muslims. That engagement is based on the provisions of Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Read More...
Scotland has become more Roman Catholic than Protestant. Scotland's Roman Catholic congregations now outnumber the Church of Scotland for the first time since records began. This in a Nation that once hunted down priests for the crime of saying the Mass. Although it is certain that God will one day avenge the blood of the martyrs, it is nevertheless nice to see temporal justice.
From Scotland on Sunday: "Figures compiled by the independent group Christian Research reveal that in 2005 the number of Catholics who went to Mass surpassed those who attended Church of Scotland services."
"The change is due to the huge numbers of Catholic Polish immigrants who are boosting church attendance, raising numbers by some 50,000 people since the last time figures were published in 2002."
This calls to mind a wonderful outspoken Scottish martyr of the Reformation, John Ogilvie, who made it his mission to restore the Catholic Faith to Scotland.
He was born into a respected Calvinist family in Keith, Banffshire c. 1579. He was exposed to the religious controversies of his day and became impressed with the faith of the martyrs. He decided to become a Catholic Read More...
"For those whom God to ruin has design'd, he fits for fate and first destroys their mind." Dryden
"The LORD will smite you with madness and with blindness and with bewilderment of heart." Deut 28:28
A teenage boy is facing criminal prosecution for holding a sign identifying the Church of Scientology as a "cult". The boy is part of a group, known as "Anonymous" which regularly protests against Scientology outside the church's London headquarters.
Excerpts from Telegraph: "The boy, who is described only as a minor, was taking part in a demonstration outside the church's central London headquarters on May 10 when City of London Police officers ordered him to remove the placard.
It read: "Scientology is not a religion, it is a dangerous cult."
When he refused, he was issued with a form of summons for an alleged Read More...
Berlin/Excerpts from Earthtimes: "It's not simply that fewer people are going to religious services - that has been evident for years - but more and more are leaving the church to avoid paying church tax.
"Since the early 19th century, Catholic and Protestant churches in Germany have enjoyed the constitutional right to levy taxes - a privilege that once helped them become relatively wealthy.
"But now, with tax revenues tumbling, churches are hard pressed to finance their not inconsiderable number of schools, kindergartens and social programmes as well as missionary work in Africa, Asia and Latin America."
"Whereas in 1990 the two churches boasted 28 million members, today the figure is less than 22 million, with the Catholic Read More...
Excerpts from Telegraph.co.uk: From "They have been urged to use examples from the programme in their sermons in an attempt to make Christianity more relevant to teenagers.
"At a conference last week, vicars watched Doctor Who clips that were said to illustrate themes of resurrection, redemption and evil.
"It analysed the similarities between the Doctor and Christ, and whether daleks are capable of change."
When will liberals learn that when they attempt to adapt Christianity to the culture they will fail miserably, and always end up looking absurd to youth. It is precisely the counter-cultural message of Jesus that is attractive to young people who are immersed in a culture of hedonism and nihilism.
"The Rev Andrew Myers, vicar at St Aidan’s in Leeds, attended the course and said that he would use Doctor Who in future sermons.
The Rt Rev Tony Porter, Bishop of Sherwood, said it was vital that clergy adapt to the culture around them.
"And the people will be like the priest..."(Isaiah 24:2)--it is no wonder that so many are perishing when their foolish leaders have altered Christ's message to fit in with the world.
Excerpts from washingtonpost.com:"Catholics don't argue about abortion or the death penalty nearly as much as they argue about what music is sung (or not sung, or used to be sung) at their local Sunday Mass. It was ever thus -- at least since the 1960s, when Sister first shortened her habit, strummed a G7 chord and, to hear some Catholics tell it, all heck broke loose.
"Among his more fastidious devotees, Pope Benedict XVI is valued most for the fact that he is not Casey Kasem, and Mass is no place for a hit parade, and church is most relevant when it is serious. ...Do not hold your breath waiting for "One Bread, Read More...
I believe this to be true despite the abysmal shape of American culture. Our world has shrunk due to the internet and globalization, and now faces problems and questions which are unprecedented historically, and often involve the very survival of civilization as we know it. The world needs a voice to counter the lies of the culture of death and the religion of death--Islam.
No single Protestant denomination --no matter how large, no matter how influential-- can match the voice and authority that the Pope possesses when he speaks. No Protestant denomination no matter how orthodox or conservative in their interpretation of scripture, can match the ability to identify and enunciate the Truth as that of the Catholic Church-- which has made it her business to seek and decipher God's truths for 2007 years. It is indeed the only voice remaining in the wilderness that possesses the full truth and delivers it in all of its unpopularity. This is of course no accident since the Catholic Church is the only Church that possesses Jesus Himself --in the Eucharist.
From Mercator.net: In America, "[t]he Protestant market share is shrinking Read More...
The Vatican and Saudi Arabia do not have diplomatic relations. However, Archbishop El-Hashem said that moves towards diplomatic ties began after an unprecedented visit to the Vatican last November by King Abdullah. This would involve negotiations for the “authorisation of the building of Catholic churches” in Saudi Arabia, he said.
"But, speaking to the news agency Agence France-Presse, the Lebanese prelate, the Pope's envoy in the Gulf, added: "There are around three or four million Christians in Saudi Arabia, and we hope they will have churches."
At the Vatican, the Pope's spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said: "If we manage to obtain authorisation for the construction of the first church, it will be an outcome of historic dimensions."
The opening last Friday of the Read More...
"There is and always has been the Church, and various heresies proceeding from a rejection of some of the Church's doctrines by men who still desire to retain the rest of her teaching and morals. But there never has been and never can be or will be a general Christian religion professed by men who all accept some central important doctrines, while agreeing to differ about others. There has always been from the beginning and will always be the Church, and sundry heresies either doomed to decay, or, like Mohammedanism, to grow into a separate religion. Of a common Christianity there never has been and never can be a definition, for it has never existed."
Belloc goes on to state, "[t]here is no essential doctrine such that if we can agree upon it we can agree to differ about the rest: as for instance to accept immorality but deny the Trinity. A man will call himself a Christian though he denies the
unity of the Christian Church; he will call Read More...
An employment tribunal has ordered an Anglican bishop to undergo equal opportunities training after losing a discrimination case against a homosexual who sought a position as a youth worker.
The Bishop of Hereford, the Right Rev Anthony Priddis, is alleged to have discriminated against John Reaney, 42, by failing to appoint him as a church youth worker. The tribunal also ordered the Bishop to pay Reaney £47,345 in compensation and stated that the staff in the diocese of Hereford should also receive equal opportunities training.
Ben Summerskill, the chief executive of Stonewall, the radically pro-homosexual organization that funded the claim against the bishop, said that this would involve helping the Bishop to develop an understanding of how to deal with people from minority communities as well as explaining to him that asking intimate questions about people’s private lives is not an appropriate thing to do during a job interview.
Mr Summerskill also said: “Normally training would take half a day or a day but [the Bishop] might need Read More...
"We ought to immolate to God the daily sacrifices of our tears, the daily offerings of His Flesh and Blood. For this Victim peculiarly preserves the soul from eternal death, as it renews to us in a mystery the death of the Only-Begotten; Who, although being risen from the dead He dies no more and death shall have no more dominion over Him, yet while in Himself He lives immortal and incorruptible, for us is immolated again in this mystery of the sacred oblation. For it is His body that is there taken, His flesh that it is divided for the salvation of the people, His blood that is poured, not as before into the hands of unbelievers, but into the mouths of the faithful. Hence let us estimate the importance of this sacrifice for us, which for our absolution ever imitates the Passion of the only-begotten Son. For what Christian can doubt that at the very hour of the offering, at the words of the priest, the heavens are opened, the choirs of angels are present in that mystery of Jesus Christ, the lowest things are knit with the highest, the earthly things are united with the heavenly, the visible and the invisible are made one." Pope St. Gregory the Great (6th cent)
Just a reminder of the infallible teaching of the Catholic Church at the Council of Florence in 1438:
"The Most Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that none of those existing outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews, heretics, and schismatics can ever be partakers of eternal life, but that they are to go into the eternal fire 'which was prepared for the devil and his angels,' (Mat. 25:41) unless before death they are joined with Her; and that so important is the unity of this Ecclesiastical Body, that only those remaining within this unity can profit from the sacraments of the Church unto salvation, and that they alone can receive an eternal recompense for their fasts, alms deeds and other works of Christian piety and duties of a Christian soldier. No one, let his alms giving be as great as it may, no one, even if he pour out his blood for the Name of Christ, can be saved unless they abide within the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church."
Maybe if we took seriously these words and stopped explaining away and undermining this infallible and unchangeable teaching we would not be in the current state of mass apostasy from the Faith throughout the West.
So many "Christians" have come to hold the view that it does not matter what one believes but rather that one is simply sincere and a "good person". But without a firm creed and an authority established by God Himself one is open to compromise with the world, the devil, and the flesh. Surely Christ will not abide with those who compromise and strip His word of all hard teachings--we must either accept or reject Him, we are either for or against Him. Compromise is incompatible with a firm faith that Christ is God, whose word is true and whose promises are as sure as God is sure.
Protestantism's rejection of authority has scattered souls by forcing them to fend for themselves to determine what the essential revealed truths of Christ are. Instead of confidently grasping hold of truth, Protestant Christians must agree to differ as to what truth God intended to reveal. Without the confidence that can only be found when authority is recognized, Protestants are inexorably driven to compromise due to the eternally endless divisions. How ironic it is that "bible believing" "sola scriptura" Christians are on the whole more unsure of truth and the requirements of salvation than prior to the Reformation. As a result Christians have never been so lax, and so lacking in faith.
Many Protestants have come to reject the ten commandments and even baptism as necessary Read More...
We are all witnessing the growing persecution of the Church in what were once Christian nations. These nations are slowly taking on a fascist character that seeks to stamp out religion and religious expression. In Canada a so-called human rights commission is in hot pursuit of truth teller Mark Steyn for Islamophobia and Catholic Insight Magazine for homophobia. In Spain a Protestant is being investigated by the government for attempting to "cure" homosexuality while a Catholic cleric is likewise being investigated for comments that are seen as offending homosexuals.
The pace at which religious hatred is growing is alarming. But this was all prophesied by good and holy men and women throughout the centuries. They all hauntingly repeat that a great chastisement will occur due to the loss of the Faith. The Catholic Church in particular will have much to suffer. Islam is predicted to be used as one instrument of chastisement. But the enemies of Christ Read More...
From Dailymail: "The Pope has ordered his bishops to set up exorcism squads to tackle the rise of Satanism.
"Vatican chiefs are concerned at what they see as an increased interest in the occult.
"They have introduced courses for priests to combat what they call the most extreme form of "Godlessness."
"Each bishop is to be told to have in his diocese a number of priests trained to fight demonic Read More...
With statements such as the one made this past week by Rowan Williams, the leader of the Church of England, that Christmas is merely a legend-- is there any wonder why the death of this church is near? When the leaders of a church have lost their faith in the word of God, and invite homosexual leadership into its ranks --death is inevitable.
FROM Telegraph: "This means that the established Church has lost its place as the nation's most popular Christian denomination after more than four centuries of unrivalled influence following the Reformation.
"The statistics show that attendance at Anglican Sunday services has dropped by 20 per cent since Read More...
A recent article focusing on the return to tradition in all religions appeared in U.S. News and World Report. It seems that it is not just Catholicism that is returning to tradition-- every major religion is undergoing "a return to tradition and orthodoxy, to past practices, observances, and customary ways of worshiping".
One could have guessed that this would eventually take place since the last 50 years have seen Christianity stripped of all mystery tradition and even orthodoxy. From Catholicism, to the store front inner city Baptist church, to the mega churches that resemble stadiums, we see a "Starbucks effect" where Christianity has became homogenized. The focus has been on feelings and emotions of congregants rather than the sacrifice of Jesus.
But the generation that ushered in the fad of barren and individualistic Christianity is aging and its rebellion against tradition seems like nothing more than an ugly trend to the younger generations. This elderly generation however will not concede loss quietly...
"Some liberal Catholic clergy are completely skeptical about the scope and meaning of the traditionalist turn. "It's more hype than reality," says the Rev. Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest and political scientist at Georgetown's Woodstock Theological Center. Reese thinks the church should focus less on the Latin Read More...
"The leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics suggested that fears over man-made emissions melting the ice caps and causing a wave of unprecedented disasters were nothing more than scare-mongering.
"The German-born Pontiff said that while some concerns may be valid it was vital that the international community based its policies on science rather than the dogma of the environmentalist movement."
"The 80-year-old Pope said the world needed to care for the environment but not to the point where the welfare of animals and plants was given a greater priority than that of mankind."
This comes on the heels of many environmentalists proclaiming the necessity of foregoing Read More...
As reported by Zenit earlier this year, the legislation originally stipulated "that there will be juridical protection for doctors willing to permit death to occur by withholding basic necessities, such as food and water".
This is only the latest challenge to life in the capital of the world's second-largest Roman Catholic nation. In April Mexico City voted to legalize abortion. Mexico City has also led the way in legitimizing homosexuality in Latin Read More...
THE WAR ON THE CATHOLIC CONSCIENCE--PORTUGUESE GOVERNMENT ISSUES ULTAMATUM TO DOCTORS WHO REFUSE TO PERFORM ABORTIONS
From Rueters: LISBON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Portuguese doctors have rejected a government ultimatum to remove an ethical ban on performing abortions after this deeply Catholic country approved Read More...
federation of Christians is inconceivable in which
each member retains his own opinions and private
judgment in matters of faith.
Pope Pius XI.
From Independent Catholic News via Michael Kelly, Deputy Editor The Irish Catholic: "Three Church of Ireland parishes have asked to be received into full communion with the Catholic Church The Irish Catholic newspaper reports this week.
The parishes, in counties Down, Tyrone and Laois are members of the 'traditional rite' within the Church of Ireland.
The Irish Catholic newspaper, has learnt that the members of these parishes, along with traditional Anglicans from twelve other countries, have signed a letter to the Vatican seeking "full, corporate, sacramental union" with the Catholic Church under the authority of the Pope. The dramatic move would see the entire parish communities received in to the Catholic Church.
While only a few hundred Anglicans
lady doth protest too much, methinks."
William Shakespeare, Hamlet.
of militant atheism actually portends well for the
Church. I am hopeful that as a civilization we have
finally climbed out of the depths of our lukewarm
apathy toward God and have entered a new era where
man has become either HOT or COLD for Jesus. It may
not bode well in the short term for believers in the
wordly sense because the result is persecution. But
the battle has begun and this fire will test the
sincerity of our faith and ultimately prove the truth
of Christianity to Christ's enemies. After
hard for [atheists] to kick against the
When an unbeliever becomes angry in discussing the faith it may mean that they are actually closer to conversion than if they display "toleration" and a distant and withdrawn "respect". Toleration reveals one's apathy while intolerance the opposite. Witness how very tolerant so many atheists are of Buddhism, Hinduism or even Islam while they condemn Christianity. In this intolerance lies something very meaningful and mysterious--that at
Betrayal Blasphemy and Sacrilege: San Francisco Catholic Archbishop George Niederauer Gives Communion to Blasphemous ‘Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence’
"He who has dipped his hand into the dish with Me is the one who will betray Me. The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born." Matthew 26:23-25
"Twenty years ago, televangelist Oral Roberts said he was reading a spy novel when God appeared to him and told him to raise $8 million for Roberts' university, or else he would be "called home."
Now, his son, Oral Roberts University President Richard Roberts, is facing lurid allegations in a lawsuit that threatens to engulf the 44-year-old University in scandal.
"Richard Roberts is accused of illegal involvement in a local political campaign and lavish spending at donors' expense, including numerous home remodeling projects, use of the university jet for his daughter's senior trip to Read More...
From Timesonline: Dr Williams will celebrate the eucharist at St Peter’s, Eaton Square – the Church of England parish that is known as the spiritual home to some of the country’s most liberal and wealthy Anglican elite. There he will give an address titled “Present realities and future possibilities for lesbians and gay men in the Church”.
How about the present reality and real possibility that one's church is on the brink of having no future at all due to an unbiblical and anti-Christian embrace of homosexuality?
The event has been organised under Chatham House rules, which prevent any disclosure of the discussions. The event will take place at 10am on November 29. A list of the names of those who will be present will be seen only by Dr Williams. It will be shredded afterwards.
The disclosure of the event could not have come at a time more likely to destabilise Read More...
From Lifesite: "The homosexual political movement in Britain was dealt a rare setback this week as a Northern Irish court ruled to curb some parts of notorious regulations. The Sexual Orientation Regulations of the Equality Act, that came into effect in January, would have allowed gay activists in Northern Ireland to prosecute people expressing religious oppositions to the homosexual lifestyle. The judge struck down the harassment provisions appearing in the legislation for Northern Ireland but supported the Regulations in general.
According to the ruling, Christians or other religious people will now be allowed to "express their disapproval" of homosexuality in Read More...
Randy and Paula White are a husband wife team of pastors who attracted tens of thousands to Without Walls International Church--a 22,000 member mega-church. The White's built their multi-million dollar evangelical empire by offering what they called "the perfect church, for those who aren't."
"[T]he perfect church for those who aren't" message catapulted Paula White to international stardom as a televangelist and author.
But at Thursday night's service, they announced plans to end their 18-year marriage.
Both have been divorced Read More...
A relative of mine began attending the tapings of the show "The One True Faith" at St Michael's Media in Detroit and has truly enjoyed them. Here is a sampling of their work. They are committted to the Church and seem dedicated to re-evangelizing the fallen away.
Unfortunately, Larijani's criticism is not entirely without merit. Due to the mass apostasy from the Christian Faith in the West, the Vatican and more importantly the Church, has become no more than an old discarded decoration and a vestige of the past. Only when our Faith becomes more than mere decoration, will our eyes be opened to the devastation that Islam poses to our civilization.
'The US cannot by force impose the American way of life on Islamic societies, as democracy on the basis of secularism would not work (in the Islamic world)...Islam is not just a decoration in our lives, contrary to the West where the Vatican is decoration,' Ali Larijani, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, said in a meeting with religious scholars in Tehran. | <urn:uuid:472bc08e-b58d-455e-a47b-e1b6a070575d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://realclearreligion.com/index_files/tag-church.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965092 | 5,132 | 1.640625 | 2 |
On backlinking (or “internal linking”)
Today Louis Gray wrote a very interesting and critical story about Engadget’s backlinking practices — backlinking is what we (and some others) call linking back to previous editorial. Louis seems like a smart guy and makes some very good points, but I think he might have been under some false impression when he wrote his post, which led him to make a lot of generalizations about the differences between internal and external links that aren’t necessarily true. But it’s an interesting topic given my stance on keyword popovers and the like, and it’s definitely worth addressing.
To start, the thing that stuck out to me most is this:
“Engadget, an unquestioned leader in gadget and tech news, should feel confident enough to send readers off site and expect them to come back. … I believe the practice of hotlinking keywords instead to internal stories is sneaky and doesn’t serve readers who are looking for the true sources of information.”
I got the impression after reading those bits that he wasn’t paying too close attention to how our stories are actually structured. On every single post (that we find from another news source, forums, or elsewhere that’s linkable) you’ll find that the story image and read link both direct readers to that source story (we also have a via link if we found that source story somewhere else). This isn’t new — we’ve done this since day one, and it’s like this on every single post. Our outbound links are never buried in the midst other links like on many other sites, because our ultimate goal is to provide a consistent (and consistently good) experience.
Even if you didn’t want to read Engadget’s editorial at all, you could just click read link after read link (or image after image) and find where we sourced our material from. The sad fact is most sites still make it hard to find their source link. So to say we are making some concerted “effort to keep the reader locked into the site as long as possible” couldn’t get much more inaccurate.
Of course, some may argue that the practice of backlinking is annoying. That’s debatable, but the thing that’s important to remember here is that at Engadget, our MO is to offer a compressed, editorialized edition of technology news. Sometimes we can go as long (or longer) as any big-name newspaper on an important story, but because we do (and must!) have greater respect for our readers’ intelligence and attention, generally speaking we expect them to understand the gist of what we’re talking about when we start to geek out.
In your average AP / Reuters article, for example, you’ll often spend a good chunk of your reading combing through the backgrounder paragraphs, which are there to help prepare you before the article gets to the heart of the matter. The primary goal of backlinking at Engadget is make use of previous news content as the backgrounder, letting people delve deeper into the subject without demanding everyone parse all that backgrounder text to get to what they want. This has worked really well so far, in my opinion, because I think we make great content.
It’s pretty easy to guess that no one — myself included — would want to click the backlinks if their payoff might not be that relevant. So I’m not going to say we’re at all perfect with our backlinking. In fact, I’m sure we could use additional fine tuning in what and how often we backlink, which I’ll be evaluating closer starting today. But the bottom line is we don’t consider backlinking some form of advertising or reader lock-in; our goal there is to provide additional context, plain and simple.
But I do disagree with Louis’s statement that he would “expect links to take him to those [topics'] respective sites” (paraphrased); we wouldn’t link the term Xbox 360 to xbox.com because everyone already knows how to find that site — and if you don’t, it’s an easy Google. We believe there’s more value for the average Engadget reader to be found in an easily parsed list of recent news involving that company or product — that is, after all, why one comes to Engadget, isn’t it? As a reader, I’d prefer instant access to that site’s news on the topic, not a link to a page that represents some company’s PR agenda.
So to sum it up: do we backlink our content? Yes, and we have since day one, way back in 2004. Do we think it adds value? Absolutely. Do we think it’s a substitute for external links? Obviously not, that’s why the majority of links in our content point outward, not inward. | <urn:uuid:c795ea4c-dac3-4ae8-982f-cadc2320c8c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ryanblock.com/2007/09/on-backlinking-or-internal-linking/ | 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 | 0.948127 | 1,073 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Restrictions of freedom
Involuntary internment is covered by the Law on Non-Contentious Procedure (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 30/86-ZNP) (the LNCP). Article 49 of the more recent Law on Medical Activity (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 9/92, 37/95 and 8/96-ZZDej) also deals with involuntary internment. However, the two laws are not in complete accordance with each other, especially with regard to the conditions for involuntary admission.
The conditions for involuntary internment
Under article 70 of the LNCP, a person can be involuntarily admitted to a mental institution or other institution (e.g. a social care institution) by a court of law on the following grounds:
- S/he is suffering from a mental disorder or mental illness AND
- S/he presents a serious danger to the life or health of him/herself or that of other people OR
- S/he represents a serious danger to the property of him/herself or that of other people.
The Law on Medical Activity does not stipulate that admission to hospital must be urgently necessary to prevent causing harm or damage.
The procedure for involuntary internment
The courts must be informed within 48 hours of the involuntary internment in the closed section of a mental health institute. Information must be provided about the interned person, his/her medical condition, the reasons for internment and who brought the person to the mental health institution (LNCP, art. 71). Such notification is only necessary in the case of people who are detained in a closed department without their consent and does not cover voluntary hospitalisation even in a closed department.
The court then immediately informs the social welfare office, the mental health institution and a spouse or next of kin that a court procedure has been started.
Within 3 days, the court visits the person who has been interned and interrogates him/her (unless this would be damaging to the latter due to his/her medical condition). Doctors involved in the course of treatment and other people who can give information about the person’s mental condition are interrogated. The person is also examined by a psychiatrist from another mental health institute. (LNCP, art. 74 and art. 75)
On the basis of this information, the court decides whether to prolong the internment or dismiss the person from the institution. This must be done within 30 days of notification that a person has been detained against his/her will. During this time, the mental institution can move the person to an open ward or dismiss him/her if it feels that the reasons for internment are no longer valid (LNCP, art.76).
The Human Rights Ombudsman points out that deadlines are often not respected and that there are considerable inadequacies regarding the hearing and decision-making process. For example, despite the fact that detention is only admissible in cases where the person, due to his/her mental state, represents a danger to him/herself or others, the court often decides simply on the basis of the opinion an expert witness who confirms the person’s mental state and not the danger (and hence urgent need for hospitalisation). Although the detained person is briefly questioned by the court, in practice, this has little influence on the decision.
Duration of involuntary internment
If, on the basis of the evidence given, the court decides to further retain the person in the institution against that person’s will, it defines the period of involuntary internment which cannot be longer than 1 year.
If the institution judges that further treatment will be necessary, it must request a prolongation of the involuntary commitment at least 15 or 30 days before the initial period of involuntary internment expires (LNCP, art. 79).
The right to appeal and suspension of the ruling
The interned person, his/her patient advocate or guardian, the social welfare office, a spouse or relative and the mental health institution can appeal against the internment decision. This must be done within 3 days of the court decision (LNCP, art. 77).
Deprivation of liberty
Article 143 of the Penal Code deals with false imprisonment. It states:
(1) Whoever unlawfully incarcerates another person or keeps him/her incarcerated or otherwise deprives him/her of the freedom of movement shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than one year.
(2) If the offence under the preceding paragraph is committed by an official through the abuse of office or of official authority, such an official shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than three years.
(3) Any attempt to commit the offence under the first paragraph of the present article shall be punished.
(4) Whoever either deprives another person unlawfully of his/her liberty for a period exceeding one week or acts so in an aggravated manner shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not less than six months and not more than five years.
Restraint and other coercive measures
According to the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia (2007), the conditions governing the implementation of restraint in psychiatric hospitals (e.g. straitjackets, isolation and bed straps) are not regulated by law and there is therefore no court supervision of such measures. Nevertheless, the use of forcible protective measures and restrictions should be used for the shortest possible time, under supervision and be recorded in the patient’s medical file.
Mistreatment and abuse within the family
The Family Violence Prevention Act (ZPND) of 2008 covers various forms of violence inflicted by one family member against another. Family violence is the term used to refer to any form of physical, sexual, psychological or economic violence exerted by one family member against another irrespective of age, sex or any other personal circumstances of the victim or the perpetrator of the violence (article 3). Detailed definitions of the types of violence are provided. They focus on the results of the various acts of violence such as pain, fear, shame, feelings of inferiority, endangements and anguish. Economic violence is defined as:
...undue control or setting of restrictions of any family member concerning disposing with one’s income or in other words managing teh financial assets with which the family member disposes or manages and it can also mean undue restricting of disposing or managing the common financial assets of family members.“ (Article 3 (6))
The provisions of the act also cover “disregard“ which is defined as a form of violence in which a person does not provide due care to the family member who is in need of it due to illness, disability, old age, developmental or any other personal circumstances.
Article 4 states that special care must be taken when considering violence and providing aid for older and disabled people as well as for people who, due to personal circumstance, are not capable of taking care of themselves. According to article 2 of this act, such people do not have to be related to the perpetrators of the violence as the definition of family member includes “persons living in a common household“.
The act gives victims of violence the right to have an assistant to protect their integrity and represent them in all violence-related proceedings as well as a legal representative. The victim’s assistant can be any adult person who is not considered to be the perpetrator of the violence. Measure can also be taken to remove the perpetrator of the violence from the home or to enable the victim to safely gather the belongings they need for their basic vital needs.
General provisions relating to mistreatment or abuse
Articles 133 to 135 of the Penal Code deal with actual, aggravated and grievous bodily harm.
Whoever violates the physical or mental integrity of another by maltreating him/her shall be punished by a fine or a prison sentence of up to six months. Prosecution is only initiated if a complaint of mistreatment is filed (article 146 of the Penal Code).
It is considered a crime, under the Penal Code, to expose another person to danger. Article 138 states:
Whoever leaves another person helpless and in a life-threatening situation which s/he himself has caused shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than two years.
Whoever abandons a person who has been entrusted to him/her or whom s/he is bound to take care of in circumstances which endanger the life or health of the entrusted person shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than two years (article 139)
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(Added 6/8 : Palin’s rambling sentence was obviously not a technical report on the “night of Paul Revere’s ride” more an unfocused summary of Paul Revere’s world. It’s all there. As to the objection that He did not warn the British;)
Here is the night of Paul Revere’s ride in his own words;
…I observed a wood at a small distance and made for that. When I got there, out started six officers on horseback and ordered me to dismount. One of them, who appeared to have the command, examined me, where I came from and what my name was. I told him. He asked me if I was an express. I answered in the affirmative. He demanded what time I left Boston. I told him, and added that their troops had catched aground in passing the river, and that there would be five hundred Americans there in a short time, for I had alarmed the country all the way up. He immediately rode towards those who stopped us, when all five of them came down upon a full gallop. One of them, whom I afterwards found to be a Major Mitchel, of the 5th Regiment, clapped his pistol to my head, called me by name and told me he was going to ask me some questions, and if I did not give him true answers, he would blow my brains out. He then asked me similar questions to those above. He then ordered me to mount my horse, after searching me for arms. He then ordered them to advance and to lead me in front. When we got to the road, they turned down towards Lexington. When we had all got about one mile, the major rode up to the officer who was leading me and told him to give me to the sergeant. As soon as he took me, the major ordered him, if I attempted to run, or anybody insulted them, to blow my brains out. (History.net)
I’m sure Palin wishes she had taken a moment to think through her meandering sentence – been there. But clearly Revere, and others, set in motion the warning bells and call to arms to end any British hopes that the colonies would lay down their arms. Revere showed real courage that night, not afraid to defy the British in what was certain to be a long dangerous fight.
Let me guess, the media geniuses (public schooled I presume?) based their criticism of Palin on the rhyme by Longfellow thinking it was a historical account. Brilliant. | <urn:uuid:b1b2a144-1929-4e27-8081-ef5226e1c70b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mbauer.wordpress.com/2011/06/05/media-wrong-about-paul-revere-palin-right/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987976 | 532 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Monday, February 25, 2008
When it comes to issues of morality - obeying the law, and so forth - the core problem is one of character. If it is in a person's nature to abide by the law, they will. If it is in a person's nature to flaunt the law, they will.
The story that is on this link (link) is a great example. The poor person arrested in that story is a leading educator on the very topic in question. The person knows the subject inside and out. The result? The person still apparently (and the person has not been convicted) disobeyed the law.
This, of course, flies in the face of the very raison d'etre of the rahibilitation program that the person headed up. Education doesn't rehabilitate. That's why recitivism rates are so high. It is not nurture that is the root of the problem but nature.
It may make those prone to break the law more careful in how they do so, or more clever at avoiding arrest/conviction. It will, however, generally not alter a person's attitude toward the matter.
The causal basis for law-abiding or law-flaunting behavior is deeper - it resides in heart. Only God can change the heart. That's why God's grace is the solution for those who are involved in crime of one sort or another. When we break the law, we ought to pray to God for grace to overcome sin. When our brothers and sisters break the law, we ought to pray to God for them. And to those outside the faith, we ought to preach the gospel, and pray for its success.
Let us so do,
Friday, December 28, 2007
My child has been complaining about the quantity and complexity of his homework lately, and I'm beginning to sympathize. I mean, I'm not sure I could handle many of the subjects he's working on, and some of the teacher's requests (such as requests to memorize the multiplication tables up to 12) seem to be outdated. Don't we have calculators for these things?
The Reformed Boor answers:
Tables up to 12? That's nothing. Compare what your child's mind may be capable of (link). Of course, not every child that plays soccer ends up Pelee, not every child that plays football ends up Brett Favre, not every child that plays hockey ends up Wayne Gretsky, not every child that learns the piano ends up Mozart. There are exceptional people in every category of achievement, whether athletic, artistic, or intellectual. Nevertheless, you should encourage your child to try to excel, working unto God in all that they do.
Or consider this remarkable (and completely different) achievement (link).
Thursday, November 8, 2007
I never fell in love with my husband. I made a good choice on paper, but I don't feel intrigued or stimulated emotionally or intellectually by him. I just don’t really care that much about him. I never have, even though we get along well.
I am bored, lonely and don’t feel I can ever manufacture what I want with him. I just don’t think we connect that way, or that he can really fulfill what I need emotionally. I am depressed and hopeless. We have been married five years and don’t have children. Please help me decide what to do.
The Reformed Boor responds:
The answer, of course, is that no - your lack of love is not an excuse to leave.
Let's dig in a bit more, though.
You stated: "I never fell in love with my husband."
So what? "Falling in love" is not a requirement for marriage. On top of that, according to your own testimony, you've only been married five years. That's a pretty short time to say "never." In other words, if you are holding out hope of falling in love, don't give up after such a short time.
You stated: "I made a good choice on paper."
The key thing is that you are married. It's not really a question of whether that choice was particularly voluntary on your part, the result of societal or family pressures, or the result of your husband to be's pestering. You're married.
You don't have to defend your choice - what's done is done.
You stated: "but I don't feel intrigued or stimulated emotionally or intellectually by him."
So what? Maybe those are areas where he can improve (and I'm not letting him off the hook), but what does that have to do with you staying in this marriage? Of course, we know the answer: you're dissatisfied with his performance. If he was a mutual fund, you'd sell. You, however, are no longer a free woman. Leaving him (absent some extraordinary circumstances) is not an option simply because he dissatisfies you.
You stated: "I just don’t really care that much about him. I never have, even though we get along well."
Shame on you! If this follows on your last comment, double-shame! It is your duty to care about your husband. You are not business partners, you are one flesh. You have a marital duties and responsibilities. One of those duties is to care about your spouse. Husbands have the duty of loving their wife, but wives have the duty of submitting to their husbands. How can either of you accomplish such a thing if you do not care for the other person?
You stated: "I am bored, lonely and don’t feel I can ever manufacture what I want with him."
So what? Did the marriage brochures advertise bliss? Are you asking for a refund? If so, you are confused. Stop thinking about yourself, think about your husband. Your desire is to be to him. Is he bored? Entertain him. Is he lonely? Provide companionship. Does he have needs? Fill them. But don't think that I would let him off the hook either. He ought to be engaging in the same calculus. He should be trying to entertain, accompany, and satisfy you. Nevertheless, his failings in those areas neither erase your obligations or provide you with any excuse.
You stated: "I just don’t think we connect that way, or that he can really fulfill what I need emotionally."
That is one of the most selfish statements imaginable, which is why you began by trying to use "we." The second half of the sentence is more honest and yet more despicable. Maybe your husband is awful at fulfilling your needs: perhaps he does not even care to try. That is changeable, and the number one way people change that is by adjusting their needs. Am I suggesting that his failures are your fault? Certainly not. Nevertheless, you can adjust your emotional needs, and you can assist your husband in fulfilling them. He needs your help in this area. Help him!
You stated: "I am depressed and hopeless."
You are clearly not "hopeless," you have the hope of breaking your vows, betraying your husband's trust, and leaving him. Furthermore, you are clearly considering that option.
You are depressed, though, to be sure. Why? In part it is because you recognize that your behavior and attitude is wrong. In part is because your husband has come up short. In part it is because you care a lot about your own satisfaction. I don't know you. Ask yourself, though: do you suppose you are the perfect wife? Have you felt depressed because you were unable to please him? I'm not trying to add to your depression, but to change your perspective.
No one is perfect. No marriage is perfect. For some people the marital life is easier than for others. For you, it's not going great so far. Still, work on it, and chances are it will improve. Buck up! Deal with the fact that you may not have Prince Charming as your spouse.
I am sorry that you are feeling down. The solution: Cheer up!
You wrote: "We have been married five years and don’t have children."
Five years is not that long. It's too bad you don't have children. If you can have children, have some. Be fruitful and multiply. That's part of marriage, and a very important part. Some women find solace in the love and attention of their children, even if their husbands fall short. When you are worrying about keeping your children satisfied, it will be harder for you to wallow in self-pity.
You wrote: "Please help me decide what to do."
Hopefully by this point you have the answer to that question.
To everyone else that may be reading, consider this: marriage is the joining of two human beings, both of whom have faults. Both are sinners. Both make mistakes. Both have fingers to point. When you are tempted to do so, try to restrain yourself. Try to forgive.
If you are a Christian, you have been forgiven. If you have been forgiven, why should it be so hard for you to forgive others! And if you have forgiven your spouse, you can stop wallowing in self-pity and start trying to help your spouse, among other things, to be a better spouse to you.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
It seems Iran may have hired a relative of that propagandist.
"11,000 Rockets a Minute" (link)
That's the claim by Iran's propagandists. They claim that if Iran is attack they will fire 11,000 rockets within a minute at enemy bases, and "This volume and speed of firing would continue." It's a wholly incredible claim. There are no enemy bases close to Iran.
Long range rockets cost money, long range rockets that are capable of targeting and harming military installations cost considerably more money. Nevertheless, let's suppose that each rocket costs only $100.
Firing 11,000 rockets per minute would cost $1,100,000 per minute. There are 60 minutes in an hour, and about 12 hours of daylight. That's a cost of more than $700 Million a day or more than $4 Billion a week, assuming only daylight missions and taking off one day a week.
Iran may be rich, but there is no way that such a volume and speed of rocket attacks is credible.
And frankly, the cost of $100 is way too low. By way of comparison a FIM-92 Stinger Missile (surface-to-air, portable, infra-red homing) costs more than $30,000 per unit. If we figure that there is a good chunk of markup in that for Raytheon, we could still more accurately estimate the cost of a single rocket at $10,000.
That would increase the first minute cost to $100 Million, they daily cost to $70 Billion and the weekly cost to over $400 Billion.
The GDP of Iran is about $600 Billion.
Moral: Don't lie. If the propagandists had provided reasonable information, it could be believed. These lies are likely simply to make the world think Iran is hiding nuclear weapons and provoke a coalition attack.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
I am a Dutchman married for seven years to a lovely American girl. All is well, unless we visit my family in Holland, which we do one week each year. Apart from the typical in-laws issues, there is a certain language barrier. Everybody in my family speaks decent English, and as long as the group isn't bigger than four or five, we all talk in English (well, OK, at least 90 percent of the time), but when bigger groups meet, like at dinner with my parents, three sisters, and their husbands, then the "only speak English" rule is quickly forgotten. My wife thinks this is rude, and if the others cannot always speak English, then I, at least, should translate for her. I find this an impossible task, as it entails translation and explanation (who is Uncle Sjoerd?), which means that I can't talk with my family. I have asked—begged—my wife to please learn some Dutch so she can follow the discussions. She can talk back in English, nobody would mind. She feels that, being over 30, she is too old to learn a foreign language. She has tried a few times halfheartedly, but a language is simply not something you acquire by listening to tapes in the car for a couple of weeks. Am I being uncaring, and should I keep translating, or could she make some more effort to learn some Dutch?
The Reformed Boor responds:
The answer, of course, is both. In an ideal world, your wife would take an interest in your family and express that interest by attempting to learn the language. It is somewhat boorish of your wife to insist that conversations be held in English or that translation be provided at someone else's effort. Learning a new language is a challenge for someone over 30, but she ought to make an effort to learn, if she wants to know what is going on. In this case, the language barrier is lower than it might be in other situations. For example, in some cross-cultural families, she would not be able to respond in English and expect people to understand what she is saying. Picking up conversational Dutch is not going to be an easy thing, but she should not give it a half-hearted attempt and then expect you to serve as her translator.
That is your position.
On the other hand, speaking in front of your wife in a language that she doesn't know is nearly the equivalent of whispering. Surely you can imagine how uncomfortable it would be if you sat a table where everyone was whispering so that you could not hear what was being said, or talking in a code that was incomprehensible to you. It is great that you are all willing to listen in English, but accomodating your guest's weakness is part of being a good host. It is a sacrifice, but as a matter of protocol it is a sacrifice a good host should make.
That is your wife's position.
On the whole, consider that your wife is the weaker vessel. Nurture and care for her. If you can assist her with translation, consider doing so, even while you try to encourage (gently!) her to study a little more Dutch so that she can begin picking up words and phrases at the annual get togethers. If she is up for it, start using a little Dutch around the house so that she can become accustomed to common words and phrases, and so she will feel less like everyone around her is talking in code when she goes to your family gatherings. You cannot fairly require that all your relatives speak a foreign language to accomodate your wife, but you might try to lead by example, replying to their Dutch in English (since you say that they will understand) as a gentle reminder that your wife otherwise is left out of the conversation. And, of course, if they continue to speak in Dutch, you should offer your wife the assistance you can provide, even though it is inconvenient for you.
May God give us clarity in our communication with others,
Thursday, August 23, 2007
I've got an etiquette question because I can't decide if I'm being cheap and greedy or thoroughly modern. Here's the deal. I have found the man I plan to spend the rest of my life with. We are very much in love and committed to each other, but we don't want to get married. It's just not important to us. We are, however, buying a home together. For me, it's a huge step and a statement of our relationship. It's a major commitment ceremony all its own. To mark and celebrate the occasion, I would like to host an elaborate housewarming party, with cocktails, supper, and formal dress. And I want all my friends and family to buy us gifts. My reasoning is that this is as close to a wedding as I will ever have. My sister and brother both got married and got to register for gifts. My grandparents gave each of them a substantial sum of money, which each used as a down payment on a house. Am I not entitled to the same, or do I get penalized because I'm not actually walking down an aisle? Would I be able to register and communicate to people that I want gifts? I'd appreciate your advice, as one modern woman to another.
The Reformed Boor responds:
Obviously, this writer is neither "modern" nor a "woman," nevertheless, as usual, this boor's opinion will be provided. Yes, as your conscience tells you, you are being greedy. Worse than that, though, you are not ashamed to celebrate your violation of the seventh commandment.
Fie! For shame!
Surely, many have fallen into temptation and have sinned sexually - but to suggest that one would celebrate one's shame by holding a party, and further to suggest that one's relatives might be expected to come and shower you with gifts for your open rebellion against the Creation ordinance of marriage is abhorent.
Even strictly as a matter of protocol, it is in poor taste for one to expect gifts, even at one's marriage. Accordingly, regardless of how you present your arrangement, you should not do so for the crude purpose of eliciting gifts.
Nevertheless, one traditional occassion for gift-giving is the house-warming party. If the house-warming party is to be a formal affair, polite guests are likely to bring nicer gifts. You could reasonably anticipate that your move to new quarters will be celebrated with relatively modest gifts by your friends who share your moral views.
And don't expect your grandparents to give you money: if you were "entitled" to it, it would be your wages, not a gift.
May God restrain his judgment on this adulterous generation of ours,
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
My manager is extremely sensitive, the sort who borders on being self-involved. I can honestly say she's been a very good boss professionally, but personally she is driving me crazy. She and I are friendly, but she's pushing for us to be best friends. I enjoy her company, but want to keep it business-friendly; after all, she does my performance review! If I'm not overly animated and happy to see her, she assumes I'm mad at her. She then asks around about whether or not I'm mad at her and what she did to make me mad. If I see people from the office on the weekends, she'll sniff out all the details (which I do not broadcast), and then ask me about it, informing me about how much she can drink or how late she can stay up or how she would have added to the fun. She cried over not being invited to my birthday party. She does this to many other people, not just me. We all feel the same way but don't want to upset her. But on the other hand, doing constant damage control ("Oh, no, Susie isn't mad at you, really") is exhausting. How do I salvage this situation?
The Reformed Boor responds:
From a standpoint of protocol, you could politely decline your bosses' overtures of friendship. If you believe that your boss is genuinely interested in friendship, you might try pointing out that you do not want to create the appearance that you are being obsequious in order to attain "teacher's pet" status in your workplace. Indeed, you may be able to find an opportunity to explain to your boss that you are concerned that your friendship will be misinterpreted by your coworkers, who will become jealous.
As a matter of practicality, of course, to receive the favor of one's boss is a boon. The present boor is inclined to scold you for complaining too much: the situation where you are underliked by your boss is much worse than when you are overliked.
The root problem, though, may be that you have not compartmentalized your work/social life. Although you may not broadcast that you fraternize with other coworkers, it's bound to come out in water cooler conversation from time to time. Thus, you can hardly tell your boss that you want to keep your work and personal life separate.
Your comments mention that you are concerned because your performance review is at stake. Surely this is not the real reason: if you were concerned that your out-of-work behavior would be negatively reflected on your performance review, you would not include your coworkers there either, as comments regarding what "you know who" did at last weekend's party are likely to become office gossip - especially in a workplace such as you have described. On the other hand, a positive image from your out-of-work behavior would not harm your performance review - and could actually be to your professional advantage.
However you choose to proceed, you may want to consider that - from what you have described - your boss just wants to be one of the gals. The fact that she is the boss - an authority figure - is probably the reason that it would be a downer to have her at your parties. Maybe you should consider having less wild gatherings - grow up a little. There's more to life than weekend innebriation.
Consider how rarely Scripture speaks positively about partying - though there is a time and place for recreation. Soon enough you will have more responsibility: consider acting more responsible now in preparation.
May God give us wisdom that we may enjoy the good things He has provided, with thanks and moderation, | <urn:uuid:e5729c89-d8f3-452f-b819-e0882a35f4c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://reformedboor.blogspot.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978213 | 4,499 | 1.820313 | 2 |
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