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Developing for the iPhone
Sunday, July 8th, 2007 at 3:25 pm #
Why we have just seen the beginning of the iPhone third party application story, and what comes beyond sweet.
First let me describe what I understand to be a real iPhone app (as opposed to a “sweet” iPhone app, which is simply a website):
Icon on the home screen
As long as you cannot access it from the home screen it is not on par with the built-in apps. The launchpad for apps on the iPhone is the home screen, not the bookmarks in Safari.
Access to full screen mode
It should have control over the whole screen, as every built-in app has, and it should react to changes in the phones orientation.
Notifications of UI events
This is most important, but least visible to the user. A real event driven app model. Reacting to taps, zooms, “sleeps” (i.e. user hits home button or phone call comes in), orientation changes, etc.
Finally, which is why real iPhone apps are so ticklish for Apple:
Access to the phones resources
This includes full IP network access (not just fetches of webpages), initiating phone calls, access to the contacts, but also mundane things as access to the filesystem.
Because of this last point there was never a realistic chance of an SDK at the launch of the iPhone. What Apple has done so far in this timeframe is already incredibly much, and I do not see how they would have been able to create a solid, future-proof SDK on top of that. A phone is not a Mac. It needs more security, because it is less clear what it does, and iPhone users deserve something better than “Application X wants to Y? Cancel or Allow?”, where Y may be something the user does not even understand.
But I do not think that “sweet” (i.e. web based apps only) is the final word on developing for the iPhone. I think third party apps will be “one more thing” on a Stevenote in the future, because they add value. Tremendous value. Imagine a Mac with software from Apple only. How lame!
Third party apps could even become another competitive advantage of the iPhone! Why that? Because Apple could make this process very easy, like the rest of the experience with the iPhone, by selling and installing the apps over iTunes. Like they already do with games for the iPod. Like selling songs. Really easy.
Imagine the traditional model of selling software for a phone: Find the software on the web, go to that website, download a package, drag this to a sync application, then sync to install it on the phone. And this is only the install, you haven’t bought the software yet. Compare this to browsing apps inside iTunes, click on a buy button, look at the progress bar, done.
Now if you ask me if I as a developer like this, I am not totally sure, because it gives Apple total control over the sale to the customer. Though this is not as bad as some developers may think, because that is what most sales are like: Normally companies creating the goods do not have direct access to the customers at the point of sale. On the other hand, if this improves the experience for the customer, and it will then lead to more customers, I do like this model!
So what are the things to be solved by Apple before this “one more thing” could become reality? (Except creating a funny punch-line around the words “even sweeter”):
1. Security model
What they need is a security framework that defines access to resources in a way that goes beyond the current model on Mac OS X. This is not only a technical issue, but also an issue of how to expose this to the user in an easy and understandable way.
2. Business model
How will this work from the business point of view? Will Apple test apps before selling them, and will this cost something? Will listing apps cost something, or is Apple’s cut simply a percentage of the sales price? What about freeware and open source applications?
When these two things are defined, the issue of the interface guidelines will be worked out on the way. Don’t expect every app to be perfect. Even Apple included the Notes app that is a duck, don’t expect developers to deliver only brilliant apps, or that any guidelines would guarantee they will.
The kind of developers who could do great iPhone apps are the existing Mac developers. Apple, let us do it, and I am shure we would add great value, that would make the iPhone even more successful.
Oh, BTW. don’t you think that Frenzic would be a wonderful game for the iPhone? Then read this! If you haven’t done so already then download and try it on your Mac today — and then think of how much fun this would be on an iPhone with its touch interface. | <urn:uuid:0c908e73-15da-4751-a065-fdeb9916e1bf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.artissoftware.com/blog/?p=17 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945571 | 1,053 | 1.820313 | 2 |
A digest of important news from sources selected by our local editors. Delivered weekday mornings.
Data released Wednesday indicates that Oregon ranks among the least expensive states when it comes to workers compensation rates.
According to the study by the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, Oregon ranked No. 38 among states and Washington, D.C., for workers compensation rates, with No. 1 being the most expensive.
The study was based on rates as of Jan. 1, when Oregon's rate was $1.58 per $100 of payroll. The national median was $1.88 per $100 of payroll.
The study used a standard mix of the 50 industries with the highest workers compensation claims costs to determine the rankings.
Alaska had the most expensive rates in the nation, followed by Connecticut and California. North Dakota had the least expensive rates. | <urn:uuid:b3128b43-1cab-40a1-9e35-0ab1d42258ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2012/10/10/oregon-workers-comp-rates-among.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968982 | 173 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Why Do Women Always Fall Asleep During Movies?
Fall Asleep During Movies?
"...the Bechdel Test asks three things of a film: Does it include at least two female characters? Do they speak to each other? Do they speak about anything besides a man?"
"There are plenty of men who conk out when the TV goes on," Kennedy counters. To determine which gender conks out more consistently and why, "we'd have to do a controlled study involving chick flicks compared with action movies and using documentaries as a control group. My guess is that it has at least something to do with content."
It's a man's worldOuch again. Popularized by lesbian comic artist Alison Bechdel in the 1980s, the Bechdel Test asks three things of a film: Does it include at least two female characters? Do they speak to each other? Do they speak about anything besides a man?
It's no joke, as revealed by a new study conducted at USC.
According to the study, which examined a random sampling of 122 films, "a higher percentage of females than males (24% vs. 4%) are shown in sexy, tight or alluring attire. Females are more likely than their male counterparts to be physically attractive (14% vs. 3.6%) and portrayed with some exposed skin between the mid-chest and upper thigh regions (18.5% vs. 5.6%). A higher percentage of females than males are depicted under 21 (20.5% vs. 12.5%)."
And that's because men make films.
"Only 7% of directors, 13% of writers and 20% of producers are female... These numbers calculate into a ratio of 4.88 males to every one female in key production occupations."
To keep things fair and keep her awake, the USC scholars would advise selecting more films from among the scant 8.2% directed by women and the 32% scripted by at least one female writer.
More factors Kennedy also suggests skipping alcohol.
"If both partners are drinking the same amount over dinner and then sitting down to watch a movie, the alcohol will affect the woman more."
"Start the movie earlier in the evening. If you got up early and worked a tough day, it will be hard to stay up later than usual to watch a movie. Watching on Saturday instead of Friday can also help if you tend to sleep later on Saturdays... If you find yourself nodding off, pause the movie and stretch or drink a cold glass of water. And don't watch a movie lying down."
be a gentleman"If she falls asleep," Duhon adds, "she needs sleep. The loving thing to do is to let her sleep. To be even more loving, get her up and put her into bed." | <urn:uuid:2ceaadde-f4db-4957-acb0-82ac2f02158a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.askmen.com/sports/health_400/471b_why-do-women-always-fall-asleep-during-movies.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970801 | 574 | 1.773438 | 2 |
21 March 1996 00:00 [Source: ICIS news]
Sandoz and Ciba have grasped the unique opportunity to combine their healthcare and agrochemical businesses. There is a powerful logic behind the merger. It will bring new strengths in key therapeutic areas in healthcare and allow significant resources to be devoted to pharmaceuticals research and development (R&D). The new company, Novartis, will be the world's leading agrochemicals producer and be a strong force in the growing field of nutrition. Shareholders will benefit additionally as the new group moves away from chemicals.
The second Basel marriage certainly completely changes the competitive landscape in pharmaceuticals. Novartis vaults to second place in the global pharmaceuticals rankings with sales of SFr14,000 million ($12,000 million) behind Merck & Co and ahead of Glaxo Wellcome. The company claims that research potential is unprecedented. The research budget of $1700 million compares with the 1994/95 spending at Glaxo Wellcome of $1900 million and the $1500 million of healthcare research spending at Pfizer, and is supplemented by what is claimed to be a unique, worldwide biotechnology network.
The market share of 4.4% gives some idea of just how fragmented the pharmaceuticals business is. The complementarity of the product portfolio is, however, more important than overall percentages such as this. The prime movers of Novartis make the valid point that it is more important to be a leader in particular markets than have a higher market share overall and add that there is an obvious almost perfect fit across 90% of the healthcare portfolio.
Novartis will be particularly strong in oncology, cardiovascular medicines and central nervous system drugs but have products in seven distinct therapeutic areas. The top 10 products are expected to grow strongly with most achieving double digit growth over the next few years. Healthcare will account for 42% of sales of the newly merged company but after the spin off of chemicals in approximately 12 months time this proportion will rise to 69%.
The new company will also achieve critical mass in self medication and rise to something like seventh place in the world ranking by sales. There will be a solid platform in the US and in Europe and the opportunity to boost current sales of $1300 million by rapid growth in Asia. Nutrition, with sales of $3200 million, will be considerably enhanced by the merger.
Novartis will be particularly strong in the agribusiness sector where it will be the front runner in crop protection chemicals and number two in both seeds and animal health. Global leadership is expected in four key areas - weed, disease and insect control and seed treatment - with sales of $4300 million. The company will have the largest crop protection R&D budget in the world with a focus on environmentally compatible and biological products. There are 15 new compounds in an advanced stage of development.
Seed sales of $950 million are likely to be enhanced by the broad investment in breeding and geographical expansion in eastern Europe and the Far East. Strong growth is expected from animal health (sales of $780 million) following the success of a systemic flea treatment product now being introduced in 30 countries. This sector particularly expects to benefit from the research synergies with pharmaceuticals and crop protection.
Key to the merger is the step away from chemicals and construction products and the focus on the life sciences, a move which will be welcomed by the investment community. The speciality chemicals division of Ciba, which comprises textile dyes, chemicals, additives, pigments and polymers will be demerged within 12 months and the construction chemicals business of Sandoz, called Master Building Technologies or MBT, will be demerged or sold. Combined sales of speciality chemicals, MBT, Mettler-Toledo and composites in 1995 were $8700 million.
This demerger and sale add further financial logic to the alliance which sees the partners in the new company gain considerably in market share without having to resort to taking on a crippling debt burden. This had become one of the visions of Ciba chairman, Dr Alex Krauer, who last year commented that the best companies were prohibitively expensive and that mergers represented the way forward. A Swiss merger also provides the scope for both companies to respond to the wave of consolidation activity sweeping through the pharmaceutical industry without compromising their domestic allegiances.
The transaction is structured as a merger of equals and the exchange of shares will give Sandoz and Ciba shareholders 55% and 45% respectively of shares in the new company. The transaction will be tax free, the strengths of the individual balance sheets will be maintained and the existing companies will be absorbed in the new legal entity. The bonus to shareholders of both companies is considerable - the rise in market capitalisation of the two companies immediately after the merger announcement indicates just how much value can be released by deals such as this.
Also, as the debt rating agency Standard & Poor's has pointed out, conservative financing of the deal does not impair the combined group's strong financial position in contrast to most other recent major mergers in the industry. Novartis will have less debt than cash so it will be able to strengthen the portfolio further over the next few years without having to deleverage considerably. In such circumstances, management expects to be better able to shape its own competitive environment.
The merger will accelerate growth but there will be the need for further tuning of the portfolio. Nevertheless, the deal is even more attractive when it is realised that Novartis will set off from a standing start with upwards of $13,000 million in cash and securities in its coffers. Also, it is clear that the portfolio will be driven hard. As it stands, the partners expect to achieve cost savings of $1600 million within three years of approval and 50% of that within the first 18 months. Pro-forma 1995 sales are put at $31,000 million and operating profits $5000 million with a return on sales of 16.0%. The 1995 net income is reported as $3600 million.
The first stages of the merger, from concept to board approval, have been accomplished rapidly but now the really difficult part of the process begins. An integration team has begun to analyse how the two companies can best be brought together but theirs has to be a somewhat thankless task. The success of this integration is essential. On their own, Ciba and Sandoz were looking to growth rates of between 11% and 12% a year over the next few years. Novartis can expect a growth rate of something more like 16%.
The integration process is also sure to highlight areas where further cost savings can be made - the current cost target is something like 9% of the cost base of the new company. Cost reductions at firms like Glaxo Wellcome and Upjohn Pharmacia have been set at something more like 12% so it will be interesting to see whether Novartis believes it can gain any more as the analyses progress.
The implementation of these processes and the development of a Novartis corporate culture will be all important when it comes to achieving the synergy and growth desired by the two companies. Ciba and Sandoz are very different companies and there is nothing to say that they will sit easily together. The senior positions in the new company have been decided upon, and have been evenly split which is a good first step, but there is always a danger of a clash of ideas and of personalities not just at the top. Handling the 'people' side of the merger will be the most difficult part of the whole process.
Dr Krauer, who is 64 years old, will be chairman of the board of the new company and he will be joined by 43 year old Dr Daniel Vasella, currently head of Sandoz' pharmaceuticals division, as president. Dr Vasella, a hospital administrator until he joined Sandoz in 1988, will lead the corporate executive committee which will comprise the four sector heads and the heads of the corporate service functions. Mr Hermann Vodicka will be chief executive officer and Mr Rolf Meyer chairman of the new speciality chemicals group.
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|ICIS Global Petrochemical Index (IPEX). Download the free tabular data and a chart of the historical index| | <urn:uuid:df0d56cf-df35-4d7b-b250-528b95ea980c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.icis.com/Articles/1996/03/21/12146/Powerful+logic+of+the+CibaSandoz+merger.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949704 | 1,781 | 1.601563 | 2 |
I recently set up part of a new Rails project DevCamps installation with a unique Git repo setup and discovered a trick for creating camps from a Git branch other than master. Admittedly, the circumstances that led to me discovering this trick are a bit specific to this project, but the trick itself can be useful in other situations as well.
The Git repo specified in local-config had a master branch with nothing in it but the standard "initial commit." This relatively new project uses a simplifed git-flow workflow and as such, all its code was still in the "develop" branch.
In my case, this empty-ish master branch meant there were no tracked files in __CAMP_PATH__/public directory. This meant that Git did not create that directory when the repo is cloned by `mkcamp`. This meant that apache2 would refuse to start. Camping without a web server makes my back hurt, so I snooped around a little bit...
I discovered two things:
- You can tell `git clone` which branch to checkout initially by passing it a '--branch $your_non_default_branch' switch
- The `mkcamp` command will happily pass that switch (as well as any other spicy options you include) along to the `git clone` system command it executes. To do that, just add it to your camp type's local-config file as part of the 'repo_path_git' config variable. For example:
repo_path_git:email@example.com:somegituser/somegitrepo.git --branch develop
Note that this option means your fresh new camp won't have a 'master' branch checked out. This might confuse some users, but we all know the 'master' branch is nothing but a tracking branch with some convention mixed in. A simple `git checkout master` will create that expected master branch easily enough. It's probably worth giving your devs a heads up about this, lest they think something wonky is afoot with mkcamp.
Now, there are people out there that may try to find fault with my solution. These detractors, these misanthropes, these malingering sluggards might cry "Why don't you just commit an empty __CAMP_PATH__/public/.gitkeep" to your master branch?" Well, I like a clean git history. So, to those people I would say, "David, that's messy and silly and wouldn't make a very good blog article at all. I'm embarrassed for you for even bringing it up, David." | <urn:uuid:2b0984b2-46fd-4a1c-944d-ed9f917a2f77> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.endpoint.com/2012_08_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944739 | 540 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Corporate Social Responsibility writer for Justmeans, Antonio Pasolini is a journalist based in Brazil who writes about alternative energy, green living and sustainability. He also edits Energyrefuge.com, a top web destination for news and comment on renewable energy and Elpis.org, a recycled paper bag/magazine distributed from health food stores in London, formerly his hometown for over a decade....
Sustainable Solar Jobs Growing at Faster Rate Than Other Industries
The Solar Foundation (TSF), an independent nonprofit solar education and research organization, has released the full version of its third annual National Solar Jobs Census at the Interstate Renewable Energy Council's Clean Energy Workforce Education Conference. The census found that more than 8,500 installation jobs were created in the past year, and continued industry wide growth is expected in 2013.
In early November, TSF announced that the Census found that the U.S. solar industry now employs 119,016 Americans, a figure which represents the addition of 13,872 workers and a 13.2 percent employment growth rate over the previous year. Since 2010, employment in the U.S. solar industry has grown 27 percent, or eight times faster than the overall economy during the same period when employment grew by 3.2 percent.
The complete report analyzes employment in the subsectors that make up the solar industry. Installation remained the largest subsector in terms of employment and added the most new jobs. Installers now employ 57,177 Americans, a 17.5 percent increase over the revised 2011 figure. Sales and distribution jobs experienced a 23.1 percent increase, now employing 16,005 Americans.
"The National Solar Jobs Census 2012 illustrates that the solar industry, as a whole, is a dependable job creator and that solar employers are confident about growth in 2013," said Andrea Luecke, TSF Executive Director. "The growth by installers, especially at larger firms, signals that this subsector is heading toward a period of consolidation and maturation on par with other successful industries at this stage of the growth curve."
Although manufacturing jobs decreased from a revised 2011 figure of 37,941 jobs to 29,742 in 2012, many downstream manufacturers are still reporting growth.
Solar employers in all subsectors responded with optimism about future job growth. They expect to grow by 17.2 percent over the next 12 months, representing an addition of 20,000 new jobs.
"Though we have found in the past that employment projections tend to overestimate job growth, the actual growth documented by the Census series has nonetheless been impressive. The fact that such a large proportion of employers anticipate adding jobs despite the difficulties facing the solar industry suggests that solar employment will continue its upward growth trajectory," added Luecke.
The Solar Foundation and BW Research used an improved version of the Solar Energy Industries Association's National Solar Database to refine the methods used in the Census and reach more employers. As a result, the solar employment figure for 2011 was revised up from 100,237 to 105,145. As in previous years, the survey examined employment along the solar value chain, including installation, sales and distribution, manufacturing, and other relevant subsectors and includes job numbers and growth rates. The figures in the report were derived from data collected from more than 1,000 solar company survey respondents, yielding a low overall margin of error of +/-1.5 percent.
The National Solar Jobs Census 2012 was conducted by The Solar Foundation and BW Research with technical assistance from Cornell University.
Image credit: Solar Foundation | <urn:uuid:06e161e9-3ec5-42ef-bd8c-f10d55c6b666> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.justmeans.com/Sustainable-Solar-Jobs-Growing-at-Faster-Rate-Than-Other-Industries/56858.html | 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 | 0.943158 | 719 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Flash mix it up
Young people from the flash group in Plymouth joined
forces with the Take A Part project and Stepping Stones to nature
to produce a ‘cob sculpture’ in Kinterbury Creek.
The sculpture is one of a number across 5 Plymouth
communities.The group were invited to join Efford residents
from a community group called Crazy Glue who had commissioned
artist Alain Pezard to work with them to create cob sculptures (out
of mud and straw) across Plymouth. The purpose of the project
was to start a dialogue with communities about their areas and
about their thoughts on contemporary art. The process of making the
work and speaking with communities was made into a film – The Art
Orbit, which will screen at Plymouth Arts Centre for the duration
of British Art Show 7. | <urn:uuid:deff4d2c-9537-4357-b3fa-4ceb58ae47fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.affinitysutton.com/existing_residents/in_your_area/south_west/news/flash_mix_it_up.aspx?StyleType=BlackonWhite&StyleClass=ColourScheme | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959633 | 172 | 1.632813 | 2 |
The Independent Television Service (ITVS) funds, presents, and promotes award-winning documentaries and dramas on public television and cable. The Online Video Engagement Experience (OVEE) attempts to capture the spirit of community cinema, where audiences come to watch and engage in conversation around a film. Carbon Five designed, built and launched the first version of this innovative platform, and is beginning work on a major new milestone.” Source: CarbonFive
The concept is simple: Gather viewers online in one spot to converse electronically as they watch PBS and local station content. ‘OVEE is like a traffic management tool,’ said [Dennis Palmieri, director of innovation and media strategy for San Francisco–based ITVS]. ‘It lines everyone up so the individual streams on PBS.org are all synched to within three seconds of each other.’
The concept for OVEE sprang from ITVS’s flagship outreach program, Community Cinema, a series of screening events convened monthly in some 120 cities to bring people together to watch and discuss films. Community Cinema continues to expand to more cities, but ITVS has a limited capacity to support more events, Palmieri said. Each month ‘we send out hard copies of DVDs, line up brick-and-mortar facilities for screenings, even supply branded popcorn and postcards.’ When exploring how to offer the experience to even more people, ITVS saw the potential for doing so online.” Source: Dru Sefton, Current.org
The Journalism Accelerator is not responsible for the content we post here, as excerpts from the source, or links on those sites. The JA does not endorse these sites or their products outright but we sure are intrigued with what they’re up to. | <urn:uuid:acd7332b-7969-47ef-b757-53bfb618acca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.journalismaccelerator.com/resources/ovee/ | 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 | 0.937111 | 366 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Tanzania`s Dr Asha-Rose Mtengeti Migiro, who has just completed her five-year term as United Nations Deputy Secretary General, has appealed to decision makers in Africa to draw on recommendations by the MDG Africa Steering Group and design effective national development strategy plans.
The call forms part of the gist of an opinion article she has penned as her own evaluation of her tenure as second-in-command at the world body.
Dr Migiro says that the MDG (Millennium Development Goals) Africa Steering Group, launched by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in September 2007, brings together the leading institutions supporting the continent’s development.
“After five years of dedicated deliberations, the Working Group, which I had the privilege of leading, has produced concrete recommendations and outlined an implementation plan which I strongly recommend to decision-makers in Africa and elsewhere,” she notes.
“If properly applied, this plan could serve as a practical tool-box for the design of effective national development strategy plans,” she adds.
In the article (full text on Page 7), Dr Migiro warns that the time for taking stock of the achievement of the MDGs in September next year was fast approaching, and it is From Page 1
only fair to say that the eight goals have provided an effective framework to improve the lives of ordinary people everywhere and, without any doubt, in Africa.
“We know today that beyond simple empathy, societies are more resilient and successful when there is greater equity among all citizens,” she points out.
Commenting on the role of the UN Deputy Secretary General, she says it has evolved to include system-wide coordination and coherence as the world body grew in size and scope.
She elaborates that this has proved invaluable in providing leadership on implementing the ‘Delivering as One’ initiative, which promotes the conduct of the United Nations’ operational activities for development.
An upbeat Dr Migiro explains that she was leaving the organisation when recent authoritative statistics indicated that global efforts to halve the number of poor in the world are yielding results.
“The fact that this is happening in spite of the negative impact of one of the most severe financial and economic crisis in our lifetime is cause for optimism in our work on development,” she says.
She describes advancing the achievement of the MDGs and other internationally agreed development goals at the global, regional and national levels as having been an essential aspect of her work.
“I drew a lot of inspiration from the remarkable global commitment and support shown by all development partners: governments, civil society organisations, academia and businesses alike. They collectively embraced the MDGs as the premier framework in the fight against extreme poverty,” she notes.
Dr Migiro also recommends the UN Secretary General’s pledge to establish the MDG Integrated Implementation Framework (IIF), which was launched last month.
She sees the framework serving as the first-ever “one-stop-shop” web-based tool to monitor policy and funding commitments to development, hence making all stakeholders more accountable and focused in delivering measurable progress.
Elaborating on her time at the UN, Dr Migiro says it was “a real privilege and a genuinely humbling experience to help respond to some of the most daunting challenges”.
The challenges included extreme poverty, gender inequality, disease and violence against women and girls, as well as the need to contribute to collective efforts to improve the management and stewardship of the UN in a complex international environment.
She has promised to remain engaged in any capacity she may have in the future in support of the work and objectives of the world body, saying “an effective response to the daunting challenges before us will continue to require the committed and collective dedication of all: governments, civil society, business, philanthropic organisations, academic institutions”.
Law graduate Dr Migiro, who turns 56 today, served as Tanzania’s Community Development, Gender and Children minister from 2000 to 2006 and thereafter as Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation minister under President Jakaya Kikwete.
On January 5, 2007, she was named UN Deputy Secretary General on January 5, 2007 but was formally appointed and assumed office on February 1, 2007.
Ban is quoted as having once said of Dr Migiro: “She is a highly respected leader who has championed the cause of developing countries over the years... Through her distinguished service in diverse areas, she has displayed outstanding management skills with wide experience and expertise in socio-economic affairs and development issues.” | <urn:uuid:2c6a6b30-71de-4697-b348-5be4524a095e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php/&tfww.ripAti/KIKX0Dnx/www/le.cfm/?l=43444 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957019 | 942 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Carole Small JET Magazine March 16,1967
While many of us are feeling Carole Small's comment, one of the things we haven't been lucky with is the whitewashing of our stories to the point that the memes that have plagued Black transwomen besides the 'unwoman' one that we share with our cissisters is the 'tragic transsexual' one
We rarely get any positive media coverage for the things we accomplish or do as African descended transpeople, but let a Black transperson commit a crime or through no fault of her own be part of a sensationalized news story and it's splashed all over the news.
A positive Black transwoman character in the fiction world? Unless we create them as author Pamela Hayes has done, they are about as scarce as Cleveland Cavalier wins this NBA season. .
And I haven't even begun to talk about the numbers of my transsisters who are killed and whose names get called every November during the Transgender Day of Remembrance every November. But before they get to that point of being memorialized during a TDOR, they get disrespected by being misgendered in media news stories.
Yes, we're sick and tired of being sick and tired of the 'tragic transsexual' role we're getting saddled with.
One of the major reasons I compiled that first annual TransGriot African American Trans History Quiz was not only being sick of erasure, whether it's inadvertent or deliberate, but to make you folks inside and outside of the TBLG community aware that my chocolate end of the trans rainbow has done much to not only build the trans community, it is doing its part to write trans and African American history as well.
We are more than just 'tragic transsexuals'. We are people who are accomplished musicians, award winning leaders in our communities, bloggers, athletes, DJ's, models, clergy, college professors and teachers, attorneys, business owners, aunts, uncles, parents, and loving spouses.
We can, do and will if given the opportunity to do so achieve anything we set our minds to accomplish. Our destiny as African descended trans people is to do more than just transition or die in the attempt. We deserve and demand something better
It won't be long before I ecstatically see trans African Americans running for and successfully winning public office. Looking forward to seeing the first open African American trans model strutting down a catwalk near you, openly participating in her favorite sport, or making her stylishly dressed way in the business world.
We are more than just 'tragic transsexuals', and it's past time that all the communities we intersect with realize that. We want to contribute to our country and our communities.
All we need is the chance to do it. | <urn:uuid:c65b8ed1-1c87-40a9-8296-b7ab5e4b749e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2011/02/more-than-just-tragic-transsexuals.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962313 | 570 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Indeed, I'd like to see my Muslim friends reject even more commentary from early Muslims, who were in a better position to know what really happened. Let's consider two passages in which Ubayy ibn Ka'b (one of Muhammad's most trusted reciters of the Qur'an) and Aisha (the "Mother of the Faithful") declare that approximately two-thirds of Surah 33 is missing. Both passages are taken from Abu Ubaid's Kitab Fada'il-al-Qur'an.
Ibn Abi Maryam related to us from Ibn Luhai'a from Abu'l-Aswad from Urwa b. az-Zubair from A'isha who said, "Surat al-Ahzab (xxxiii) used to be recited in the time of the Prophet with two hundred verses, but when Uthman wrote out the codices he was unable to procure more of it than there is in it today."
Isma'il b. Ibrahim and Isma'i b. Ja'far related to us from al-Mubarak b. Fadala from Asim b. Abi'n-Nujud from Zirr b. Hubaish who said--Ubai b. Ka'b said to me, "O Zirr, how many verses did you count (or how many verses did you read) in Surat al-Ahzab?" "Seventy-two or seventy-three," I answered. Said he, "Yet it used to be equal to Surat al-Baqara (ii), and we used to read in it the verse of Stoning."
I brought up Aisha's claim in a debate with Bassam, and Bassam, if I recall correctly, confidently proclaimed that the passage had been "fabricated." I hereby ask my friend Bassam to provide evidence that the Muslims in the chains I've presented were inventing false claims about the Qur'an. I would also like Bassam to say that Abu Ubaid (who was called "the ocean of knowledge" by his fellow Muslims) was ignorant and sloppy in his investigation of these passages.
(Note: If you ever wondered what happened to the "Verse of Stoning," which was supposed to be part of the Qur'an but instead came up missing, Ubayy ibn Ka'b says above that it fell out with the other 100+ missing verses of Surah 33). | <urn:uuid:cb1468d0-2520-4412-9058-85618db259a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.answeringmuslims.com/2008/12/aisha-and-ubayy-ibn-kab-on-100-verses.html?showComment=1230559320000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974672 | 513 | 1.804688 | 2 |
I think you're approaching this the wrong way. Your questions are valid but you need to start from the bottom up, not vice versa.
Daily Calorie Needs
The first thing is determining your daily caloric needs. I wrote a quick post about this yesterday detailing what variables are involved and how to calculate your calorie needs. The short of it is: calculate your BMR, then use an activity multiplier to determine your Daily Caloric Expenditure.
Your calorie expenditure will vary day to day so it's a good idea to increase your caloric intake on training days and decrease it on rest days. This is also true if you do any type of unusual vigorous activity.
Once you know how many calories you need to maintain your weight, you have to decide whether you want to gain, maintain or lose weight. So if you want to gain weight and your maintenance is 2200, you can do a 500 calorie surplus and aim for 2700.
Your body is pretty good at regulating calories and will send you signals to tell you if you're undereating/overeating etc.
I like to do +500 calories on training days and -500 on off days. This is a composition shift diet, which means your weight stays about the same but your composition (Muscle/Fat ratio) improves.
As for the macro-split. A high carb diet is great if you are really active. But if you are just doing light/moderate lifting you can keep your carbs at around 30-40% of your total intake.
So your macro-split can be something like 40% carbs, 35% protein, 25% fat.
There is some differing opinions on the subject but from all the research I've done there is no significant relationship between meal frequency and your metabolism or calorie allocation.
I prefer to eat 4 meals a day since I eat every ~4 hours. | <urn:uuid:ad5f9d92-a8af-4ab3-a6a7-26506340b774> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/4469/how-should-i-change-my-diet-when-switching-between-exercises | 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 | 0.939195 | 380 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Feb 24, Colombo: The Pakistani High Commissioner designate to Sri Lanka Major General Qasim Qureshi (Retd) has assured to promote mutual relations between the business communities of the two countries.
The High Commissioner designate has recently met with the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) to discuss bilateral relations between Pakistan and Sri Lanka and explore new avenues of trade and investment, according to a statement released Friday.
During discussions with the Chamber, Qureshi has assured to inform the Pakistani business community regarding trade opportunities available in Sri Lanka for them to benefit and enhance trade ties with Sri Lanka.
The High Commissioner has stressed that more needs to be done for strengthening the bilateral relationship between the two countries, especially in trade and economic cooperation.
Zafar Bakhtawari, president of the ICCI, has noted that Pakistan has a free trade agreement (FTA) with Sri Lanka but the bilateral trade between the two countries is not up to the potential.
He has emphasized that trade relations need to be further enhanced as Sri Lanka and Pakistan are two close, friendly regional countries.
The ICCI president has pointed out that Pakistan needs to promote religious tourism because Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country and Pakistan has ancient Buddhist places.
Bakhtawari has stressed that there is a dire need to enhance direct air linkages between the two countries by increasing the number of direct flights to stimulate mutual relations.
Several Pakistani products, including rice, surgical instruments, sports goods and textiles have good potential in Sri Lanka and Pakistani businessmen are willing to establish direct trade links with Sri Lanka to grab better market share, the ICCI president has said. | <urn:uuid:0b262a98-221b-455f-be5e-8c5dd27d2b3b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.colombopage.com/archive_13A/Feb24_1361693476CH.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965312 | 336 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Muslims Urge Accommodation for Jewish B-Ball Team
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 2/28/08) - A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group today called on the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) to accommodate Jewish basketball players whose faith prohibits playing games on their Sabbath, which is observed on Saturdays.
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) says players from the Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy will be forced to withdraw from a regional championship on Saturday, March 8, unless the schedule is changed. CHSAA officials have so far refused to make that change.
SEE: Jewish Athletes Lose Off Court (Denver Post)
“In a nation as religiously diverse as America, it is important that we all make the extra effort to accommodate the beliefs and practices of others,” said CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin. “Student athletes should not be forced to choose between their faith and participation in sports.”
Rubin suggested that any playoff games that include the Hebrew Academy’s teams be scheduled after sundown on Saturday to accommodate the Jewish athletes.
CAIR, America’s largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 35 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding. | <urn:uuid:816c4aed-0a2c-4afd-bac9-a80dfe76bd1d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/muslims_urge_accommodation_for_jewish_basketball_team | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950864 | 292 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Slow Money: Bringing Money Down to Earth
Brooke: How else can people encourage Slow Money and local food systems?
Woody: Well, to start with the obvious, get a CSA [community supported agriculture] membership. CSAs are such a beautiful and relatively simple thing that it’s easy to overlook how radical they are and how fundamental they are to creating a cultural and economic shift. There are maybe 100,000 people in the U.S. who belong to CSAs right now. But in the city of Copenhagen alone, there are about 15,000 members, so there’s a huge opportunity to expand CSAs in the United States.
Shopping at farmers' markets is a similar activity and also extremely important because you’re buying directly from farmers. Something that’s common to CSAs and farmers' markets is that we’re dis-intermediating. We’re getting rid of many layers of intermediation between producers and consumers—or, in the case of Slow Money, between the businesses and the investor.
Brooke: You’ve hosted Slow Money institutes in various local communities. What are you learning from those?
Woody: We did two at the end of 2008 and three in the first part of this year. It’s funny. The local food movement is very strong in many places around the United States. The Slow Money message seems to be resonating very strongly with a lot of people, pointing them in the direction they already wanted to go and just giving them a little extra energy on their journey.
Ultimately, the success of this is going to depend on regional action, not on some new national intermediary. So that’s why we’re organized as a nonprofit. Our job is to catalyze all of these local regions to do what they want to do and just to help them do it faster, basically—because we’re already a decade or two behind, at least, in terms of the environmental and social issues we’re trying to solve.
Brooke: Do you worry about the danger of money concentrating in areas that are already affluent—building on itself, but only in certain areas?
Woody: Yes. Slow Food faces the same challenge, getting pigeonholed around foodie groups or white tablecloth restaurants. It’s really nice for all these small, boutique, organic farms to serve people who can afford to buy this stuff, but it’s not going to solve the big problems.
I look at all of that as a transition problem. We’re going from an era when none of the true, long-term costs of food production were integrated into the system. If we’re going to make the transition to a real food system that produces healthy food in a way that is less harmful—I’m talking about harm to the environment as well as harm to the people who eat the food—then, there’s going to be a transition, and the transition is going to be uneven. None of us is smart enough to invent the whole system all at one time. The fact that early adopters may tend to be more affluent does not bother me. We have to start moving, and if that’s where we start, that’s where we start.
But the ultimate objective is very obvious. Improving food access for all, improving childhood nutrition, improving preventative health care—these are all part of the same set of issues—and preserving life on the planet while we are feeding current populations. That’s really what this is all about. Just to produce cheap commodity food in order to feed the mouths that are currently here is not a terribly satisfying thing if it’s being done at the expense of future generations.
Brooke: If this movement becomes the catalyst that you hope for, how could our economic and food systems be different, within the decade?
Woody: The wild optimists among us are saying that there’s going to be an enormous swing back towards small-scale, organic agriculture and that there will be millions of new farmers in the United States during the next decade. Some people say many millions.
We’re at the end of the pendulum right now, which still seems like it’s swinging in the direction of consolidation and mega-farms and all the rest. But it’s certainly clear that there is a ferment of activity in many regions of the country around appropriate scale, organic, local food production.
I don’t think you have to be wildly optimistic to expect that that’s going to increase significantly over the next decade. I would expect there to be many, many times more CSAs and CSA members in the United States, maybe 10 or 20 times as many over the next decade. I think having a million members of CSAs in the United States is not at all bombastic, and with a little luck and a little work, we can do that during the next decade.
President Bush Sr., when he was refusing to be part of the Kyoto Protocol, said that the American way of life is not negotiable. I think this is the decade when that attitude will mature, and people will realize that focusing on local, smaller, healthier ways of doing business is not a crunchy granola thing and it’s not a naïve thing. It’s about surviving, it’s a pragmatic thing—it’s what we must do in order to adjust to the new realities of life on the planet.
Exactly what that looks like economically at the end of the next decade, I’m not sure. I could imagine there being a new stock exchange, an entirely new stock exchange—not replacing the NASDAQ or the New York Stock Exchange, but as a complement that would be a place where thousands of slow, small, local, mission-driven companies are traded and invested in by investors who share their values. Some kind of systemic, structural change will emerge in the stock market that will be a place for this growing group of entrepreneurs and investors to work together.
I also think there will be a new generation of foundations that are organized as investors rather than grant makers. Instead of foundations investing the old-fashioned way so that they can make as much money as possible and then use the income to give grants to nonprofits, this new kind of foundation will use the entire asset base, all of the assets of the foundation, as investment tools to support for-profit social entrepreneurs that are building the restorative economy.
Because the task at hand is to build a new, restorative economy, we’re going to need massive amounts of investment capital, and one of the places that will come from is this new generation of foundations.
Brooke Jarvis conducted this interview for YES! Magazine, a national, nonprofit media organization that fuses powerful ideas with practical actions. Brooke is YES! Magazine's Web editor.
That means, we rely on support from our readers.
Independent. Nonprofit. Subscriber-supported. | <urn:uuid:bc9037e5-55e4-47cb-847d-eb8fd7c1e72f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/slow-money-founder-woody-tasch?ica=28_Tasch&b_start:int=1&icl=email_novdec09 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956958 | 1,459 | 1.75 | 2 |
The project took shape understanding the requirements of an ISKCON Centre at Mira Road , through various meetings with the very progressive and active trust. Primary concerns with the planning of the complex were the organization of its various parts as per the requirements as well as according to the dictates of Hindu temple architecture and Vastu Shastra. The campus was planned along with ancillary facilities, three major structures:
Temple Building : The Temple building held the central position as it contained the major religious functions as well as the Congregation areas and offices.
The Temple is on the first floor and has independent and central access from the front side. The first floor is reached by grand steps with statues of Jai and Vijay on its sides. The Stair is seen floating over a pond at the entrance which becomes the main feature as one approaches the temple. The Pond has a four elephants with water spouts as a welcoming gesture for the temple complex. As one climbs the stairs the first deity one sees is Lord Narsinha. Four shops at the entrance if the first level lead you to a 3500 sq ft Prayer hall. This Prayer hall has the capacity of holding XXXX devotees and is meant for major functions. The Hall also holds three sanctums for offering prayers, 1) Sri Gaur Nitai, 2) Sri Sri Radha GiridharIji and 3) Sri Jagannathji Baldevji Subhadraji. These sanctums have individual shikharas which are 26 meters from the ground level and designed in Orrisan style like Sri Jaganathpuri temple at Orrisa. 16 exhibition displays are planned on both sides of the prayer hall which are 8 meters high and viewing gallery around it to give the space a grand look.
A Statue of Sri Prabhupadji with an Umbrella (Chatri) above is placed in front of Sri Sri Radha Giridhariji between two entrances. Walls, flooring and ceiling will be designed artistically to recreate the atmosphere of Vrindavan. The Building will be of RCC construction with Stone cladding to walls from exterior wall from out sides and marble finished from inside. Jaipur style architectural details are used for exterior work. Artistic symbols and motifs of Lord Krishna will be carved in pink stones over these exterior walls. Statue like 10 incarnations of Lord Krishna, Scenes of Vrindavan where Gopikas are dancing, statues of peacocks, cows and dancing elephants will be carved around the prayer hall. In the entire temple is designed as a Triveni sangam (Golden triangle of temple architecture) of temple architectures from North-West style, Jaipur style and Orrisan style of temple architecture.
Two emergency exists are provides for free passage of devotees in crowded functions. Adequate parking area is provided for office staff and pilgrim's vehicles.
Guest house Building with restaurant : This building is located at the rear end of the site giving it a discreet and quite ambience. This housing facility can be used by devotees giving them a view of the temple.
The Facility has 48 rooms with attached toilets on the upper levels and a 75 seater restaurant on the Lower level.
Ashram building : This building has two meeting halls of around 250 square meter and are placed on ground and first floors named Sri Jaganathji Prasadam Hall and Bhakti vedant Hall respectively.
A Grand main entrance gate welcomes all pilgrims into the Temple Complex . Wash rooms and shoes rooms are placed at side of main entry.
We specialize in:
Indian Temple Vastu Shastra | Jain Temple Architects | Hindu Gods Statues | Hindu Temple Architects
Temple Architect And Executor | Temple Architect | Jain Temple Architects | Hindu Temple Architecture
Temple Architects UK | Indian Temple Architects UK | Temple Architects USA | Indian Temple Architects USA
Search Engine Optimization by CGS Infotech | <urn:uuid:ba57b2da-d552-4ff3-b84f-c34c9f6885a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.templearch.com/proj2.htm | 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 | 0.940574 | 807 | 1.65625 | 2 |
A bill approved recently by the Assembly Education Committee would lengthen the school day and school year for as many as 25 urban school districts.
Interested in improving the academic achievement of students in low-performing districts? This is the way.
Students in public schools in New Jersey go to school 180 days. That’s about the norm throughout the country. Students in those countries that score well on international exams have school years that range from about 225 to 245 days (they usually go to school on Saturdays). Comparing the American school year with that of South Korea, for example, the average 15-year-old South Korean probably has the equivalent of almost three more years of formal instruction than his American counterpart.
Where is the Congressional Black Caucus’ reaction to the power grab by President Obama in granting 800,000 illegal immigrants a reprieve from deportation? Where is the concern of these hypocrites for the jobs that young impoverished blacks will lose? Stony silence. It’s all about the votes. Their young people are secondary.
And how does this newspaper countenance the remark of Obama that his executive action is "the right thing to do for the American people"? Tell that one to the whites and blacks who will be the losers in this latest frantic effort for votes. They are "the American people," not the illegal immigrants, no matter how sympathetic their circumstances may be.
Gerald T. Foley Jr., Cedar Run
Christopher Columbus was America’s first illegal immigrant.
Robert DeNezza, Lawrenceville
The "E-ZPass Mystery" is no mystery here. As a traveler of two or three times a year on the Parkway, the yearly membership of $12 works out to $6 or $4 per trip, in addition to the applicable tolls. I do not have a tag. Now, if the monthly $1 charge were imposed only on the months of usage, I might reconsider.
William H. Barton,
The play’s the thing
What does Gov. Chris Christie have to do with Shakespeare? A thought crossed my mind as I watched a recent performance of "King Henry IV, Part I" at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey in Madison.
Henry laments the laziness and debauchery of his heir, Prince Hal, and wishes he had a son like the rebel, Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland — a brave young knight who is an able warrior. What Henry doesn’t know is that the Percy family despairs of their young scion’s hot-headed personality — he’s nicknamed Hotspur. His nastiness is in full view when King Henry’s emissary offers a truce, but Hotspur spurns the advances. Despite the Percys’ support in Henry’s seizure of the throne from his cousin, he feels the king treated them shabbily.
When he shoots off his mouth, the emissary withdraws the offer, much to the consternation of Hotspur’s father and uncle. In the ensuing battle, Hotspur is killed by the former drunk, Prince Hal.
The scenario sounds much like Christie and his relationship with New Jersey teachers. Incensed that the New Jersey Education Association spent a large sum to support his opponent, Christie has gone after them with a vengeance, shooting off his mouth like Hotspur, calling them names and refusing to discuss tenure reform, among other things, like civilized people. The rest of the country looks on and envies New Jersey. Those people don’t really know what a loudmouth our governor is. He can say whatever he wants.
Behavior like this is the reason Shakespeare’s investigation of human nature resonates today. We haven’t learned very much in more than 300 years.
Ruth Ross, West Orange
I’m tired of people who think private industry and the free market, sans government regulations, will solve our problems.
What kind of business could one run today if there were no roads, airports or harbors maintained by the government, so the goods can be shipped? How would a business run without electricity coming via a grid the government provides, or through some dams the government built? If not for government regulations, we’d still have people working and breathing asbestos, and dying from it. A lack of regulation led to the savings and loan bailout in the 1980s, and the recent bailout of Wall Street.
I have no doubt that too much regulation is not good. Too little regulation, however, is much worse, unless you believe corporate profits are more important than human life. I have nothing against the profit motive that drives capitalism. I’m just trying to point out that capitalism cannot exist without government’s help.
J. Danton Smith, Hamilton
Draining the budget
Star-Ledger Editorial Page Editor Tom Moran presents a convincing summary of why "New Jersey is to America roughly what Greece is to Europe," i.e., consuming government services far beyond the means of its taxpayers ("Four reasons we can’t cut taxes," June 17). He commendably blisters the practice of politicians who rely on "one-shot" accounting gimmicks to appear fiscally more responsible. However, his conclusion — that this adds up to "four reasons we can’t cut taxes" — is like saying we can’t stop financing Ponzi schemes.
How can responsible editors look at the records and projections he presents, regarding pension and transportation spending that drain our tax base, and believe they show a need to keep draining?
Leo M. Murray, Belvidere | <urn:uuid:bece5c82-7463-406c-b023-edb84c907688> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.nj.com/ledgerletters/2012/06/reader_forum_june_20_2012.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 | 0.960299 | 1,159 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Every available officer will be on patrol Super Bowl Sunday, looking for partygoers who get behind the wheel after they've had too much to drink.
In Auburn, Officer Richard Blanco started his patrol shift on Sunday at 7:00 a.m.
Blanco said he is a bit nervous about dozens of drunken drivers hitting roadways after the game and causing crashes.
The Auburn Police Department has teamed up with six other law enforcement agencies to catch drunk drivers.
Officers said Super Bowl Sunday can be dangerous because it's a day where people spend all day drinking.
The safety campaign this weekend is called "Fans Don't Let Fans Drive Drunk." Officers are asking partygoers to plan ahead and get a designated driver.
Blanco told KCRA 3 that designated driver is someone who won't drink at all on Sunday.
"Get a taxi. It's cheaper than a DUI, which can cost about $10,000," Blanco said.
Last year in Folsom, three people were killed just hours after the Super Bowl game ended.
Investigators said a drunken driver who was going the wrong way slammed head-on into a car full of people. | <urn:uuid:3a8b71e0-0c4e-43b1-8289-5ec436400b5f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kcra.com/news/Officers-crack-down-on-drunken-driving-for-Super-Bowl/-/11797728/18390778/-/conubo/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97701 | 237 | 1.5 | 2 |
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State legislature approves Cuomo's teacher evaluation plan
Cuomo’s proposal to make teacher evaluations public will become law, now that the Senate and Assembly passed the measure on the final day of the legislative session.
Senate Republicans, after a closed door meeting, agreed to take up Gov. Cuomo’s bill to make all evaluations public, without names attached.
Parents would then be able to obtain the specific evaluations of their child’s teacher. Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos says it’s a reasonable compromise between teachers’ privacy and parents' right to know.
“It’s a good balance,” Skelos said before the vote.
Some GOP Senators were concerned that the bill would inadvertently disclose identities of teachers in small rural schools, Senator Skelos says those concerns were addressed, but the bill might have to be amended later.
New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, an ally of the Senate GOP, opposed the measure.
Skelos admits that the mayor is “disappointed”, but predicted that the two will collaborate on other issues in the future.
Politics and Government | <urn:uuid:6d9e13c8-65c0-468a-9c0c-474d64435830> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wrvo.org/post/state-legislature-approves-cuomos-teacher-evaluation-plan | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946706 | 308 | 1.578125 | 2 |
FAO 2012 Global Fishmeal/Fishoil Outlook25 May 2012
After the 2011 comeback of South America’s fishmeal production, 2012 looks more challenging, according to the FAO Global Food Outloook.
Fishmeal prices can be expected to rise, due to Peru’s lower quotas for anchovy catches in 2012, at a time when demand is high. Peru confirmed its role in 2011 as the major exporter with almost 60 percent of its production going to China. Chile, on the other hand, saw exports stabilize in 2011 as the upsurge in demand from domestic salmon producers took most of the additional output. The EU, still the major player, despite falling purchases from non-European sources, continues to rely on South American sources for a substantial part of its fishmeal needs. However, Norway, Iceland and Morocco are becoming more important with their combined share of EU imports almost doubling from 2009 to 2011, to 22 percent.
Prices of Fish Oil and Soybean Oil
Fish oil market quiet, as sellers hold back in hope of higher prices
The lower-than-expected catch quota for Peru’s May–July
season for anchoveta in the North and Central area will
lead to a tighter market in the months ahead. A reduction
from last year’s quota of 3.7 million tonnes was anticipated,
but the new quota of 2.7 million tonnes took operators by
During 2011, supply of fish oil increased to almost normal levels as South American production returned to market. Peru and Chile boosted their outputs while northern European producers registered lower levels when more of the catch went for direct human consumption. Chile saw shipments up 24 percent while US exports fell back 15 percent because of lower menhaden shipments. | <urn:uuid:3eee1be0-87de-4284-b5fc-95cd61486a9e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thefishsite.com/articles/1373/fao-2012-global-fishmeal-fishoil-outlook | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957192 | 357 | 1.617188 | 2 |
HSE is in Our DNA
We don't just follow regulations. We go beyond what is required for compliance when it’s the right thing to do. From the office to the field, we apply the highest standards of HSE to ensure the health and safety of our people and the communities where we operate. We are reducing greenhouse gases by integrating pneumatic controllers that deliver up to 90% lower emissions, relative to other controller options. We strive to exceed regulations in land use and reclamation. And, we are moving toward smaller drilling pads to minimize our footprint and lessen any impact on the land. But that’s just the start.
Protecting our people
Our dedication to excellence in HSE extends to our contract partners as well. Contractors undergo an ongoing safety performance review to ensure they meet our high standards. This also applies to the on-the-job performance of our contractors using our “Problem Solving Index” which helps establish highly effective corrective actions if an incident occurs. Since 2011, the program has allowed us to see positive results with both our own people and contractors. Moreover, this will enable us to proactively prevent other incidents from occurring.
We’ve also initiated the “Think Before You Act” campaign. The message is straightforward – analyze the task at hand before you take action to protect yourself, the people around you and the environment.
We work here, we live here
We live in the areas where we work and are dedicated to protecting our people, their families and remaining respectful of the environment. As stewards of the environment, we have a plan in place to monitor and track our environmental performance and we’re prepared to take action and to address any environmental issues that may arise during the normal course of our operations. To that point, HighMount is a leading participant in the industry initiative, FracFocus.org, a website that provides factual information concerning hydraulic fracturing and groundwater protection. HighMount began voluntary disclosure prior to regulations being put in place completing our first FracFocus.org posting on April 14, 2011. | <urn:uuid:ef59850b-2fce-4111-8857-7ec94c67e0fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.highmountep.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4&Itemid=13 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93559 | 424 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
The meeting itself drove home the necessity of interpretation.
Outfitted with headsets receiving signals from several interpreters, residents speaking seven languages met in City Heights Friday to coordinate a campaign to improve access to interpreters at doctors’ offices and hospitals.
Speak City Heights is a media collaborative aimed at amplifying the voices of residents in one of San Diego’s most diverse neighborhoods. (Read more)
At the start, members of the Karen (Burmese), Somali, Somali Bantu, Eritrean and Ethiopian communities huddled within arm’s reach of their designated interpreters. By the end, the attendees’ allegiances weren’t to their languages, but to their missions.
Some would circulate petitions. Others would talk to the media or plan lobbying trips to Sacramento.
The alliance grew out of the news that state Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez has introduced a bill that would draw down federal dollars to pay for medical interpretation services. A similar bill failed last year.
AB 1263 doesn’t differ much from last year’s proposal. It would create a system called CommuniCal to certify and register medical interpreters and reimburse their services.
What’s changed is the context in which it’s been introduced.
The Affordable Care Act will extend Medi-Cal coverage to 1.4 million Californians in the coming years, including a substantial amount of non-native English speakers. That expansion will heighten the need for medical interpretation, which providers and patients say is already not being met.
Residents in City Heights, where thousands of refugees arrive each year, drew attention to the issue last year with stories of misdiagnoses and medical complications resulting from language barriers.
Though California and federal laws have long required language services for patients who aren’t proficient in English, the mandate has gone unfunded. That means an unregulated patchwork of trained interpreters, bilingual staff, adult family members and children have filled the gap for patients.
Carmen Chavez, a freelance Spanish-speaking interpreter who attended the meeting, said she’s been unofficially tapped by staff at her mother’s senior care facility to relay private health information for other Spanish-speakers.
“I’m shocked California is so behind the times,” said Chavez. “I just assumed it was part and parcel of what they did.”
California is also behind states like Oregon and Minnesota when it comes to ensuring interpreters are properly trained. While some professional organizations list vetted interpreters, there’s no universal requirement that interpreters prove they’re certified.
And Katharine Allen, who owns a private interpreting company in Bishop, Calif., said national interpreter groups have only recently developed certification tests.
“There’s a certain elite layer of people who are certified and professional, but that’s a minute number compared to the number of hospital staff providing interpreting,” said Allen, who also runs a forum for interpreters called InterpretAmerica. “It’s hugely important we start setting standards.”
AB 1263 calls for the State Personnel Board to develop a new certification test by July 2014. Those who pass would then populate a registry that would alert providers and patients of their eligibility to work under Medi-Cal.
But Allen said she worries that test would prove redundant in an industry already moving toward a national certification process. She said the state once had separate certification assessments for interpreters working on court and worker’s compensation cases, but has since dropped them.
She also doubts a new test would be ready within a year and worries about a bottleneck of interpreters eligible to serve when health reform opens a floodgate of newly insured patients.
The authors of the bill did not respond to requests for comment.
The residents coming together in City Heights haven’t started talking about ways they’d like to see the bill evolve as it makes its way through the legislature. For the diverse group, just talking to one another is the first step.
“Your issue is my issue,” Chavez told the crowd at Friday’s meeting.
After a slight delay for interpretation, the group erupted in cheers.
Update: Steven Maviglio, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Pérez's office, said AB 1263 won't necessarily reinvent the wheel when it comes to certifying medical interpreters. He said the State Personnel Board would be encouraged to utilize existing exams by national interpreter groups. But Maviglio said it's important the state has an independent certification process since the profession deals with patient care.
Maviglio also said a corps of certified interpreters will be ready in time for the Medi-Cal expansion. He said SPB would certify individuals who have already been working in the field for two years or have graduated from a medical interpreter training program at an accredited college or university before Jan. 1, 2014. | <urn:uuid:37917a3e-7ee6-4165-ab33-528712a82308> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/mar/13/state-lawmakers-consider-medical-interpretation-bi/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945575 | 1,030 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Food and Water Watch, Sierra Club Niagara Group and WNY Drilling Defense are sponsoring a Presentation by Chris Burger on the “Economics Myths of Fracking”:
Chris Burger, a Co-Chair of the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter’s Gas Task Force, is a college instructor who has degrees in Chemical Engineering, Economics and Social Psychology. His many activities in environmental issues include his being the Co-founder and Chair of the Binghamton Regional Sustainability Coalition. He was a former Broome County Legislator and Chair of the Cornell University Eco-Justice Project.
This presentation is FREE and open to the public. | <urn:uuid:eca09dd5-eb6c-474b-85c1-e5e8297418cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://niagarasierraclub.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/talk-economic-myths-of-fracking-sunday-feb-26th-4-530pm/ | 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 | 0.947899 | 131 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Across Metro Atlanta school districts have been appealing to Congressional leadership to call on a compromise to be reached before Sequestration including automatic spending cuts for education goes into effect. Well, March 1 has arrived and no action has been taken yet to stop across-the-board federal cuts that can cause a very serious “long term” impact to Georgia. Georgia is estimating a federal funding loss of about $485 million that comes with the challenge of finding replacement, unbudgeted dollars from the state. Federal education programs face an estimated 5.1 percent budget cut this year if Congress continues on this track.
This week Gwinnett County citizens including educators called on Congress to find common ground on spending cuts and loopholes to avoid sequestration. The group Georgia Fair Share teamed up with other organizations to hand delivered a more than 500 signature petition to U.S. Representative Rob Woodall’s office in Lawrenceville on Wednesday. The group told WSB-TV it wants Congress to close corporate tax loopholes, end out dated subsidies for drug an oil companies and put funds back into the economy and job growth.
Donna Aker, President of the Gwinnett County Association of Educators, sarcastically told the crowd outside of Congressman Woodall’s office, that it’s apparently O.K. to loss a few thousand children due to budget cuts.
Aker said, “Of the 1.5 million students in Georgia we just won’t educate 54 thousand of them. That’s just 4 percent. We can afford to not educate 4 percent, right?”
The Clayton County School System is also urging Congress to stop harmful budget cuts. For the Clayton District, a budget cut of 5.1 percent in federal funding could mean larger class sizes, fewer course offerings, less access to intervention programs, summer school and after school programs, less extracurricular activities, and teacher/staff lay-offs. This week the Clayton County Public Schools’ Board of Education adopted a resolution urging Congress to stop these across-the-board cuts.
The resolution adopted during the Monday night school board meeting, urges Congress and the Administration to amend the Budget Control Act and American Taxpayer Relief Act to mitigate the drastic cuts to education that would affect our students and communities, and to protect education as an investment critical to economic stability and American competitiveness.
Interim Superintendent, Luvenia Jackson said, “Given the budget cuts and adjustments our local community has made in recent years, there is simply very little, if anything else left to cut. Any further cuts in education funding could adversely affect the quality of our education programs.”
Nationally, across the board sequestration cuts are estimated at about 85 billion dollars.
Speaking with media, U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson said, “After the reality kicks in he thinks Congress will come back and make some targeted cuts to address the problem.”
The White House and Congressional leaders are expected to Friday to discuss solutions. | <urn:uuid:75e369fe-8877-4dde-908f-83c5039573f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.examiner.com/article/metro-atlanta-reacts-to-sequestration-impact-to-georgia-s-education-system?cid=rss | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950147 | 614 | 1.648438 | 2 |
This is a directory of Metro Manila or National Capital Region (NCR) official candidates who are running for congressman, mayor, vice mayor, and sangguniang bayan (councilor) for the May 2013 elections.
Metropolitan Manila, the National Capital Region (NCR), or simply Metro Manila, is the metropolitan region encompassing the City of Manila and its surrounding areas in the Philippines. It is composed of 16 cities, namely Manila, Caloocan, Las Piñas, Makati, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Pasay, Pasig, Parañaque, Quezon City, San Juan, Taguig, and Valenzuela, and the Municipality of Pateros.
The term Metro Manila increasingly came into use after the creation of the metropolitan area in 1975 and is the de facto name for Metropolitan Manila. Metro Manila is often referred to as simply as Manila. It is very often abbreviated as M.M. or MM.
As proclaimed by Presidential Decree No. 940, Metro Manila as a whole is the Philippines’ seat of government while the City of Manila is the capital. The largest city in the metropolis is Quezon City, while the largest business district is the Makati Central Business District.
Metro Manila is the most populous of the twelve defined metropolitan areas in the Philippines and the 11th most populous in the world. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 11,855,975, comprising 13% of the national population
Metro Manila’s gross regional product is estimated as of July 2011 to be $149 billion and accounts for 33% of the nation’s GDP. In 2011, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers, it ranked as the 28th wealthiest urban agglomeration in the world and the 2nd in Southeast Asia.
Here are the lists of NCR official candidates for the May 2013 midterm elections: | <urn:uuid:7b834af1-e3ba-47d2-b5e1-81914f316237> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ivoteph.com/ncr-official-candidates-for-2013-elections/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932828 | 411 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Car Title Loans
Wed March 13, 2013
Ala. House Panel Oks Bill Regulating Title Loans
An Alabama House Committee has approved a bill that would regulate the issuing of title loans, while allowing most of the title loan businesses to continue operating.
The House Financial Services Committee approved the bill known as the Alabama Title Loan Act Wednesday on a voice vote with only one vote against the proposed legislation. The bill now goes to the full House for debate.
Opponents claimed the bill does not address what they say are the exorbitant interest rates charged by the industry. Title loans are transactions where a person's vehicle is often used as collateral.
The bill's sponsor, Republican Rep. Lesley Vance of Phenix City, says the title loan industry is necessary because many people take out the loans when they're in need of financial help. | <urn:uuid:01af865b-35c5-43bd-9ce0-fb42769ff1a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.apr.org/post/ala-house-panel-oks-bill-regulating-title-loans | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971134 | 172 | 1.515625 | 2 |
What does the Bible say about PREDESTINATION?
Submit YOUR questions, through our easy to use form,
to our team of mature Christians known as the Email Evangelists!
Question: What does the Bible teach about being predestined? Has God already determined who will be saved and who LOST?
Answer: What a wonderful Bible topic is the teaching of predestination! Entire Christian denominations have been built, or broken, on man's misunderstanding of this doctrine taken from Romans 8. John Calvin's father wanted him to study law. If he had listened to his dad we may not have had this doctrinal problem today! The Collins English Dictionary defines the term as the doctrine or belief, especially associated with Calvin, that the final salvation of some of mankind is foreordained from eternity by God. (Dictionary.com. Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition.). Regarding this teaching Calvinism itself states "We call predestination God's eternal decree, by which he determined within himself what he willed to become of each man. For all are not created in equal condition; rather, eternal life is foreordained for some, eternal damnation for others" (Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia).
Now isn't that just wonderful? You could be the saintliest person on earth, yet despite all your goodness you could end up in eternal torment. I, on the other hand, could be the scum of the earth, yet because of God practicing predestination I could spend eternity in the bliss of paradise. We may as well both live a life of hedonism because it won't make one bit of difference in the end. The scripture used to justify this doctrine in the Bible is found in Romans 8:
"For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified." (Romans 8:29-30, NKJV throughout)
So what does Romans 8:29-30 REALLY mean in regard to being predestined? Let David Brollier tell the story:
"God predestined all mankind to be conformed to the image of his son, but that was his desire, his goal. He knew our sinful nature would preclude that, so he extended his grace to all who would accept the sacrifice of his son for our sins. His goal was that we would be exactly like his son in holiness and purity, but knew that without his power reigning in us it could never happen. So he gave to us not only salvation, but power through the indwelling of his holy spirit." | <urn:uuid:1a262717-1a97-4f10-a1a9-77fde2d3442b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biblestudy.org/question/what-is-predestination.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97497 | 581 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Yesterday we received more information about the budget proposal from President Obama. There are some new details, such as his proposal to flat-fund US backing for the Global Fund. His proposal does not add up, I am sorry to say, and it is not consistent with the Hyde-Lantos legislation the President co-sponsored last year. Why does the current economic recession require essentially freezing programs that constitute less than a tenth of one percent of the budget?
We addressed these issues in a conference call for reporters, which you can listen to online here.
And, we issued the statement below, which adds to my earlier posting, “The $63 billion dollar question“ –
May 7, 2009
Global HIV/AIDS & TB Experts Disappointed with Obama Budget
Today the Obama Administration released further details about its fiscal 2010 budget proposal for global health programs, including HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.
An analysis by the Global Center for Health Policy shows that, while some significant increases are promised for later years, the Administration is proposing FY 2010 funding levels for HIV and TB that fall far short of what is needed to address the urgency of these diseases.
Earlier this week, the Administration proposed that the US spend $63 billion on global health over a six year period, including the $48 billion for 2009-2013 already pledged in the Lantos-Hyde legislation passed last year. In presenting his strategy, the President stated, “public health crises abroad can cause widespread suffering, conflict, and economic contraction.”
The Administration said it would give greater emphasis to funding a range of programs, in particular, to address child and maternal health, family planning, and neglected tropical diseases; however, programs to address all of these urgent issues receive only a $93 million increase in the budget proposal for 2010. The Administration stated its budget would reflect an investment in strengthening critically weak health systems, but there appears to be no additional funding for this purpose in 2010.
“The President is right about the urgency of global health, and $63 billion is an impressive number,” said the Center for Global Health Policy’s Director, Christine Lubinski. “However, since HIV and TB are right now killing about 10,000 people a day, the real issue is what the Administration is requesting for 2010, not later in his term,” she stated. “These health emergencies will not wait until 2011, and, since both diseases are major drags on the global economy, it makes good economic sense to aggressively confront them.”
The Administration has proposed that the global HIV/AIDS program, PEPFAR, receive only a $100 million increase for 2010, far too low to maintain a basic level of momentum in the program. This is especially true in the context of the global economic downturn, which means that recipient countries are facing severe difficulties in financing AIDS programs from their own national budgets and treatment shortages have resulted.
“Increases in the PEPFAR budget are needed to continue progress in expanding treatment access and to invest in prevention interventions, like male circumcision, that will save money in the long run,” said Ken Mayer, MD, co-chair of the Center’s Scientific Advisory Committee. “Sadly, this budget is bound to stall the fragile progress made in saving lives with antiretroviral drugs and could force a self-defeating choice between providing treatment or greater prevention.”
As a part of its review process the Administration has stated a determination that every dollar be put to good use. “We welcome this determination,” stated Lubinski. “The Administration has promised a review of prevention approaches to ensure they are evidence based, and we look forward to seeing the results of this review,” she said.
Tuberculosis is also an enormous burden on developing countries, and last year the Lantos-Hyde legislation pledges $4 billion over five years for US bilateral TB programs. However, the Administration has included only an additional $10 million in its global TB budget, a funding level would stall further progress against this killer disease. With a projected authorization level of $650 million for global tuberculosis under Lantos-Hyde, the Administration’s proposed $173 million cannot be viewed as a reasonable down payment on activities ranging from TB control to research to bring new diagnostics and drugs to the field.
Another major disappointment for global health advocates is the Obama proposal for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. Countries rely on the Fund, in particular, for funding for tuberculosis programs, and so far the Fund has also provided over $600 million for health system strengthening. The Global Fund requested $2.7 billion from the US for 2010, but the Administration is proposing only $900 million, the same level as 2009. Unless Congress goes above the Administration’s proposal, the US will miss a major opportunity to use the Fund to leverage more donations from Spain, Germany, and other countries, and AIDS, TB and malaria programs will be stalled.
Regrettably, biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health received only a modest $443 million increase. Research is the engine that drives new drugs, diagnostics, vaccines and prevention interventions to effectively combat HIV and tuberculosis around the world
Congress will now consider the Administration’s proposals. First, they will consider the emergency supplemental budget for 2009 and whether to include global health funding. The Global Fund is facing an overall gap in required contributions of between $4 and $5 billion over this year and next, and advocates are urging Congress to use the supplemental budget to deliver an immediate boost to the Fund. Rep. Dave Obey has proposed $100 million in emergency funds for 2009 for the Global Fund, and health advocates are hoping the Senate will go even higher.
Congress will then turn to the FY 2010 appropriations bills, and Rep. Nita Lowey and Senator Patrick Leahy will lead this process for development aid. Formal consideration of these bills is expected sometime next month, and IDSA will be encouraging Congress to increase funds for these lifesaving global health programs. | <urn:uuid:a5958c0a-e6ea-42bf-aac7-c1142a6c56de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sciencespeaksblog.org/2009/05/08/further-budget-analysis-from-global-center/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95168 | 1,244 | 1.742188 | 2 |
|Krista and Cliff Thiele, Founders
In full time ministry since 1975. Missionaries in Mexico since 2000.
May 2012 Update
January 2012 Update
RESCUE THE CHILDREN is an organization established to provide help to orphaned, abandoned or at-risk children. Our program provides food, clothes and other necessities in addition to educational opportunities, spiritual, and emotional encouragement. We assist other like-minded organizations that are involved in helping alleviate extreme suffering of children, single parents and poverty-stricken families.
GENERAL ONGOING LIST OF SUPPLIES NEEDED INCLUDE:
Personal hygiene products
Shoes, clothes in good condition, blankets
Generic school supplies (scissors, glue, pencils, etc)
Beauty salon type products for the training classes
Sewing materials for the sewing classes, machines
Craft project materials
Small toys in good condition
It is a privilege for us to network with great organizations that bring teams to Mexico and minister in a variety of ways to the people. Mission teams have a great impact on the ministry being done here. Below is a list of some of the ways teams can share the gospel. They strengthen relationships we have developed and open new doors of opportunity to demonstrate the love of God. Everyone who participates, benefits and lives are positively changed. The base of operations is located a mile high in Saltillo, about 45 minutes southwest of Monterrey, Mexico. Saltillo is the capital city of the state of Coahuila. It is surrounded by the beautiful Sierra Madre mountain range and full of history with interesting sights. It has grown to become a modern, progressive city with manufacturing from many parts of the world, but still maintains tradition and pride in its origin. Come see, you will love it!
RESCUE THE CHILDREN ASSISTS FORTELEZA A LOS POBRES
Strengthen the Poor was founded and is directed by Ruben and Carmen Hernandez who have received much recognition from all levels of the government commending them for the excellent job they have been doing for many years in the Saltillo community.
This couple and their team are operating three community centers called HABITATS where low-income single mothers, children and elderly receive food, medical and dental care along with encouragement.
A variety of training classes are offered during the year that includes, cosmetology, sewing, computer, nutrition, child development, breaking abuse cycle, English and Bible. Averages of 120 children are fed a daily meal four or five days a week depending on the supply.
Continuing education classes for adults, preschool and kinder, and tutoring for elementary student are available through the year.
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR RESCUE THE CHILDREN are a combination of professional business leaders and highly qualified individual men and women, who volunteer their expertise and who care deeply about the welfare of children. A board member receives the contributions and deposits them into a business checking account in the USA. We meet on a regular basis to analyze every aspect of the ministry from accomplishing set goals, financial and project wise and how affectively we are meeting the needs of our target groups. All financial data and description of the programs we administer are available through the IRS on form 990 and are accessible by internet. Current lists of the board members and organizations in the USA that we associate with are available upon request.
|© Rescue the Children, 2012||PO BOX 12341
SPRING, TX 77391 | <urn:uuid:b2d25748-f979-4292-9bec-c92c4d581c4e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rescuethechildren.org/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947426 | 720 | 1.515625 | 2 |
The Biggest Energy Saver Campaign, first launched in 2011, was designed to reward consumers who make the most of their smart meter data to reduce their energy usage and potentially lower their electric bills.
Registration is now open for the 2013 Biggest Energy Saver Campaign, which will feature two main components — the Reduce Your Use Contest and the Lighten Your Load Sweepstakes.
The Contest will encompass three monthly contest periods in June, July and August and challenges customers to reduce their electricity usage compared to similar periods in 2012.
The Lighten Your Load Sweepstakes encourages customers to reduce electricity usage during the afternoon on set days when electricity demand is high to ensure adequate supply
Prizes include gift cards, a tablet computer, and a $9,000 grand prize.
The Biggest Energy Saver promotion is sponsored by Grid21. The founding partners include Oncor, CenterPoint Energy, Landis+Gyr and Itron.
To register for this year's contest and/or sweepstakes, or to find more information, visit BiggestEnergySaver.com. | <urn:uuid:814e3522-5e56-4f70-8812-eeafed9ea08a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.centerpointenergy.com/cehe/bus/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936959 | 217 | 1.742188 | 2 |
MCTC Public Safety: Here to Serve
Beyond safety first
Friendly. Helpful. Reliable. These are the qualities the Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC) community values in the College’s Public Safety department.
The MCTC Public Safety department is the primary unit on campus for supporting the personal safety of MCTC students, employees and visitors. Each day, officers work to build positive relationships with the community and to develop a high level of trust among those they serve.
“The best part about my job is helping others,” said Director of MCTC Public Safety Curt Schmidt. “Each person in Public Safety is willing to do what it takes to protect and serve this community.”
The Public Safety department consists of 13 officers, each one dedicated to upholding the department’s goal of providing excellent customer service. Whether it’s providing timely and valuable responses to questions they receive, going the extra mile to follow up with a customer when it’s not required, or working toward a positive outcome in a difficult situation, members of the department demonstrate their commitment to keeping those they serve a priority.
“I like to think of Public Safety as part of a positive and successful educational experience at MCTC,” said Rick Hyde, a public safety officer at MCTC. “Providing great customer service is how we contribute to that experience.”
There are a variety of ways Public Safety helps the MCTC community:
- Personal Safety Escorts to and from anywhere within a two-block radius of campus
- Fast response to emergencies when you call the Emergency line (612-659-6900)
- Medically trained Public Safety officers who respond during medical emergencies and initiate local emergency medical response, when required
- Investigation of theft, vandalism, identity theft and other crimes
- Campus lost and found
- Parking permit registration and distribution
- Personal safety and crime prevention presentations
- Vehicle assistance: lockouts and jumpstarts
Public Safety officers strive to maintain an approachable and friendly style in everything they do. They welcome the opportunity to talk with classes, student groups or individuals about Public Safety services and are available to answer any questions individuals may have. In addition, they encourage openness among the MCTC community regarding the reporting of crimes and suspicious activity, offering help, support and the assurance that information reported is kept confidential.
“We want people to share their thoughts, feelings and experiences with us on an on-going basis,” said Schmidt. “Even the smallest piece of information may help us avert an event that may cause someone harm, undue stress or a negative experience.”
While Public Safety officers may encounter a variety of situations and play numerous roles on campus during the course of a day, the highlight of their job is simply doing what they can to serve others.
“At the end of the day, knowing I’ve been able to help others and resolve issues is the most rewarding part of this job,” said MCTC Public Safety officer Rory Chavez. | <urn:uuid:0a4f681f-bc8e-4c21-968f-316e3c4c48dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.minneapolis.edu/Why-MCTC/Our-Voices/Public-Safety-Department | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947301 | 636 | 1.609375 | 2 |
What to expect when you visit
When you’re referred to Tanner for a cardiac procedure or test, you’ll be in the hands of highly-skilled physicians and nurses throughout your procedure. Our dedicated team of medical professionals has rigorously studied and trained to provide expert care for cardiac patients from initial testing for heart disease through treatment and rehabilitation. We also provide the latest in technologies and facilities.
Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton offers:
Cardiac tests help your doctor evaluate and treat you more effectively
A cardiac evaluation is most commonly initiated in a doctor’s office, a clinic or an emergency room. If there is suspicion of heart disease, the doctor orders tests and procedures to exclude or make adiagnosis of specific heart disease.
When a procedure is performed inside a blood vessel or artery, it is an endovascular procedure. Cardiac tests and procedures at Tanner can include endovascular procedures such as catheterizations, balloon angioplasties or coronary stenting, where patients are often suddenly admitted to the hospital due to a heart attack, as well as non-endovascular procedures performed on an outpatient basis such as stress testing and echocardiography.
When you know what to expect, you’ll feel more assured, and your visit to Tanner will go more smoothly.
Select the test or procedure below to learn more: | <urn:uuid:61d62be7-7bc2-4977-9dc0-ca9e065bc83c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tanner.org/Main/CardiacProceduresandTests.aspx?taxonomy=Womenshealth | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937628 | 282 | 1.53125 | 2 |
THE CASE FOR ENGAGING SYRIA
Alon Ben-Meir –August 7, 2006
Dr. ALON BEN-MEIR – His exceptional knowledge and insight gained by more than 25 years of direct involvement with foreign affairs, with a focus on the Middle East, have allowed Dr. Alon Ben-Meir to offer a unique and invaluable perspective on the nature of world terrorism, ethnic conflict, and international negotiations.
A noted journalist and author, Dr. Ben-Meir is the Middle East Director of the World Policy Institute at the New School for Social Research, and a professor of International Relations and Middle-Eastern studies at the Center for Global Studies at NYU and at the New School. Born in Baghdad and currently residing in New York City, he holds a masters degree in philosophy and a doctorate in international relations from Oxford University.
In addition to his essays on contemporary global conflict oriented issues, Dr. Ben-Meir writes a weekly syndicated column about current international policies and events, which is published by United Press International.
Fluent in Arabic and Hebrew, Dr. Ben-Meir began his career as a journalist. His frequent travels to the Mid-East and conversations with highly placed sources in Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, Israel, and Palestine provide him with an exceptionally nuanced level of awareness of and insight into the developments surrounding breaking news.
Dr. Ben-Meir is the author of numerous books, including: The Middle East: Imperative and Choices, Israel: The Challenge of the Fourth Decade, In Defiance of Time, Framework for Arab-Israeli Peace, The Last Option, and A War We Must Win. He expects to publish his latest book Defeating Terrorism in the summer of 2006.
Dr. Ben-Meir's views on contemporary international affairs are often sought out by major television and radio networks, and he is a frequent speaker before groups and organizations at venues as varied as world affairs councils and town hall meetings. He is a popular lecturer on international relations at a variety of universities besides the New York University and the New School.
In my last weekly article “The Missing Link,” I argued for the need to engage Syria in any future negotiations that may lead to a sustainable ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. Since the reaction to my article was mixed, I thought that, given Syria’s critical importance, I should offer a more comprehensive argument in support of this view. I say this because I believe that ending the war in Lebanon has the potential of changing dramatically the region’s geopolitical landscape in such a way as to lead to a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace. By refusing to engage Syria, the Bush administration will forfeit another historic opportunity to bring to an end the Arab-Israeli conflict, however remote that prospect may now seem.
Although the Syrian government will fiercely deny it, it is entirely possible that Damascus has resorted to many unsavory means to disrupt the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, supported militant groups, especially Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and promoted tensions on Israel’s border with Lebanon. But while Syria can be penalized for its underhanded activities, it cannot be left out of any arrangement involving Israel and Lebanon. Excluding Syria may seem appropriate punishment for its actions; yet the consequences will be far more negative for the United States and Israel.
It is hardly a secret that Syria has a special interest in Lebanon. Washington must accept the reality that, with or without Syrian troops in Lebanon and with or without Hezbollah’s active militia, this interest will not end. To suggest that any lasting resolution between Israel and Lebanon can be achieved without the full support of Damascus is more than utter naiveté: it is a truly dangerous illusion. Even if we assume that Syria is guilty of every charge hurled against it by the United States and Israel, does it not make sense to engage Syria now that it openly and unambiguously wants to join the peace camp? What does it take to engage one’s enemy? Does Syria’s willingness to become part of any future agreement run contrary to U.S. interests? The administration may not like it, but Syria is at the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict. How then can isolating it any further benefit the cause of peace?
The Syrian government knows only too well that the administration is fully committed to a regime change in Damascus. >From the Syrian perspective, this, in itself, justifies any effort to thwart the American design. If the administration wishes to see a real change in Syria’s behavior, it must first assure President Asad that the United States has no intention of undermining his government. It is absurd to think that any government will cooperate in its own downfall. That said, however justified American grievances against Syria may be, Damascus can also compile a long list of its own grievances. Neither side’s complaints against the other can be adequately addressed by public pronouncements or recriminations. Only a direct dialogue provides the clarity to realistically assess each other’s intentions.
For more than six years, the administration refused direct negotiations with North Korea and Iran--the result has been complete defiance by both nations. The American strategy led North Korea to develop nuclear weapons and Iran to successfully enrich uranium, bringing it much closer to mastering the technology for the development of nuclear weapons. How then can the administration possibly think that isolating and refusing direct talks with Syria will be more successful in taming Damascus? So far, Washington’s refusal to deal with Syria’s grievances, however objectionable they may be, has pushed Damascus into Iran’s arms, providing Tehran with a golden opportunity to expand its sphere of influence into the Mediterranean. This, of course, comes on the heels of the disastrous war in Iraq, from which Iran has emerged as the greatest beneficiary. Now, the only way to blunt Iran’s ambitions to become the regional hegemon is to co-opt Syria into the Sunni Arab States’ orbit. This is both wise policy and essential strategy. Iran must be stopped in its tracks: this can be done only by denying it access to Lebanon and making Syria’s national interests align squarely with those of the West and Israel. Bogged down in Iraq and with Lebanon in ruins, the United States needs Syria to neutralize what otherwise will be Iran’s sweeping and for now unstoppable gains.
Syria’s main interest is in regaining the Golan Heights. On two occasions in the past two years, Syria’s President Bashar El-Asad offered to resume the peace negotiations and twice he was rebuffed by Israel and the Bush administration. If it cannot regain the Golan through negotiation or by force, Damascus will refuse to allow the United States and Israel to forget its legitimate claim, as stipulated by U.N. resolution 242, which calls for the exchange of territories for peace. Israel may take comfort in the fact that Syria cannot force its hand militarily, but then no Israeli government should delude itself into believing it can keep the Golan indefinitely. Neither should Israel expect it can maintain calm on its northern borders with Syria and Lebanon while the Golan remains occupied territory. To be sure, the longer Israel holds on to the Golan, the more untenable the overall situation will be. Those Israelis who believed in retaining the West Bank under any circumstances have now come to realize that occupation, at least from a demographic perspective, is simply unsustainable. The same goes for the Golan, although for a different but equally valid reason. While it can be argued that under conditions of hostility between Israel and Syria, the Golan, as a buffer zone, constitutes a security asset, if Syria offers normal peace with security in exchange for the Golan and Israel refuses, the Golan becomes a national security liability. Recent events only illuminate this, and nothing will change the nature of the Israeli-Syrian conflict while the Golan remains under Israeli occupation.
For many years, I have studied and been involved directly and indirectly with the Israeli-Syrian conflict and the peace negotiations. My experience leads me to state with absolute certainty that the Syrians have never once deviated or wavered from their commitment to regain the Golan. Israel recognizes this, and twice, in the mid-1990s and in 2000, both sides came very close to an agreement. Unfortunately, negotiations collapsed in May, 2000, over a relatively minor border disagreement. Whereas Israel insisted on withdrawing to the 1923 international borders, Syria remained adamant on a return to the June 4, 1967, ceasefire line--a total difference of seven square miles--a thin line along the Israeli-Syrian border giving Israel a few hundred feet depth to the east, mainly along the shores of the Sea of Galilee.
Throughout the Israeli-Syrian peace negotiations from mid-1990 through the year 2000, Israel has not once agreed to concede the Golan for less than a full peace of reconciliation. Normalized relations in stages were directly linked to a phased withdrawal from the Golan. Israel insisted, and Syria finally conceded, that peace between the two nations had to be framed as a people-to-people peace, in which both peoples develop a vested interest in its preservation. If Syria refuses to offer such a peace agreement now, it will not secure a single inch of the Golan either by negotiations or war. This much, I believe, Syria fully understands.
Those who claim that the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and southern Lebanon produced neither calm nor peace are wrong! Barely a single act of violence has occurred between Israel and Egypt and Israel and Jordan since they signed peace treaties in 1979 and 1995, respectively. The prerequisite for real peace was then, and it still holds true today, complete withdrawal. Until Israel establishes the same principles with Syria and the Palestinians, various repeats of the tragic war in Lebanon are inevitable | <urn:uuid:6387396e-c4aa-4cf4-8cc1-80f50b724c9e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.middleeastinfo.org/commentary.php?id=2164 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950288 | 1,996 | 1.804688 | 2 |
select your state
This is the eighth edition of Small Business Problems & Priorities. The first edition was published in 1982 followed by editions in 1986, 1991, 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008. The volumes are among the NFIB Research Foundation’s most popular publications and therefore have become a staple. Current plans project a ninth edition to be published in the spring of 2016.
Small business owners prominently rank “Uncertainty Over Economic Conditions” and “Uncertainty Over Government Actions” as their second and fourth most serious problems in the quadrennial NFIB report, Problems & Priorities. The top problem remains "Cost of Health Insurance," which has historically been the No. 1 problem for small employers; 52% labeled it as "critical". Nearly 40% of those surveyed said that economic uncertainty is the most critical problem, followed by 35% who identified “Energy Costs, Except Electricity” as critical for their firms; another 35% of owners named "Uncertainty Over Government Actions" as their most critical issue.
The 10 most severe problems for small business owners (of the 75 business problems assessed) are in order:
Download the Study Read the Press Release See Infographics
Highlights from the study appear in the following charts.
The 10 least severe problems for small business owners of the 75 business problems assessed, beginning with the least severe and moving up the list are:
75. Exporting My Products/Services
74. Undocumented Workers
73. Access to High Speed Internet
72. Employee Turnover
71. Costs and Frequency of Lawsuits/Threatened Lawsuits
70. Using Social Media to Promote Business (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
69. Winning Contracts from Federal/State/Local Governments
68. Competition from Imported Products
67. Protecting Intellectual Property
66. Credit Rating/Record Errors
Exporting, the least severe problem (75th) proves critical for 3% of small business owners, virtually unchanged from 2008. “Undocumented Workers” and “Access to High-Speed Internet” are both a critical problem for 7% of respondents.
Small business owners evaluate most problems in the 2012 survey as they did in 2008, the date of the last Problems and Priorities survey. The major changes that did occur are largely related to the recession and increased regulations. Among problems increasing in importance, “Environmental Regulations” topped the list rising by 20 positions from a rank of 47th in 2008 to 27th in 2012. “Obtaining Long-Term (5 years or more) Business Loans” trailed slightly moving up 17 positions from 73rd to 56th. “Obtaining Short-Term (less than 12 months or revolving) Business Loans” follows moving 14 positions from 72nd to 58th. And “Finding Out about Regulatory Requirements” increased 13 positions from a ranking of 38th in 2008 to its current 25th position. The largest decline in the ranking is “Interest Rates,” falling 30 positions from 32nd to 62nd. “Finding and Keeping Skilled Employees” and “Employee Turnover” both fell 21 positions from 17th to 38th for the former and 51st to 72nd for the latter.
The 75 problems evaluated are organized into 10 problem clusters. “Taxes” takes the top position as the most severe problem cluster in the 2012 survey. Five of the 10 most severe problems are included in this cluster. The most severe problem cluster in 2008 was “Costs.” The “Regulations” cluster comes in second followed by “Costs” and then “Finance” rounding out the top four.
The classifications most likely to yield significant differences among identifiable groups of small businesses are industry, employee size of business, and years of business ownership. Industry produces the most divergent evaluation of problems, though some similarities between industries do exist. The other classifications examined, for example legal form of business, exhibit fewer substantial differences among their components. It is important to note that when they differ, the differences are often functions of variations among groups in the aforementioned classifications.
The findings of this publication are based on the responses of 3,856 NFIB small business owners/members to a mail survey conducted from mid-January through April 2012. A sample of 23,000 members was drawn for a response rate of 17%. Owners evaluated 75 potential business problems individually and assessed their severity on a scale of “1” for a “Critical Problem” to “7” for “Not a Problem.” A mean (average) was calculated from the responses for each problem. Problems are ranked by mean score.
Download the Study Read the Press Release
Overview (left infographic) and problems of greatest concern (right infographic)
Change in ranks (left infographic) and most/least consensus (right infographic)
Get access to exclusive content, free resources, research and so much more!
53 Century Blvd, Suite 250 Nashville, TN 37214 Toll Free in US: 1-800-634-2669 Direct: 615-872-5800 © 2001 - 2013 National Federation of Independent Business. All Rights Reserved | <urn:uuid:5f7c5dd3-bdf7-4273-a7d2-a2e561863d7f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nfib.com/research-foundation/priorities?utm_source=Recover | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945016 | 1,082 | 1.734375 | 2 |
ARE OUR MARKETS BEING MANIPULATED BY "ROGUES" OR FIRMS?
There's New Evidence to Suggest that Crime In The Financial Markets is Rife
By Danny Schechter
Author of Plunder, and director of the forthcoming film, "The Crime of Our Time"
New York, New York: Everyone has heard of the Wikipedia but not everyone knows about the Investopedia, a Forbes website, that monitors finance for market players. One of the issues it is concerned about is market manipulation, actions by rogue and not so rogue players who, working alone or together, unduly influence the way our supposed "free" markets function.
It is a fascinating source of information for the uninitiated who hear the daily reports on the ups and downs of the Dow and believe that somehow it is all part of the natural order of the universe.
Thanks to an even more informative web site, Gamingthemarket.com, we learn that in fact markets are subject to, prone to, and characterized by all sorts of manipulative practices. Here's one you may not have heard of.
"Ghosting: An illegal practice whereby two or more market makers collectively attempt to influence and change the price of a stock. Ghosting is used by corrupt companies to affect stock prices so they can profit from the price movement.
This practice is illegal because market makers are required by law to act in competition with each other. It is known as "ghosting" because, like a spectral image or a ghost, this collusion among market makers is difficult to detect. In developed markets, the consequences of ghosting can be severe." -Investopedia
It looks like we have gone from the age of the trustbuster to the era of the ghost buster as fiction once again turns into "faction."
Last week, the price of oil mysteriously shot up. There were reports of yet another "rogue" trader. The New York Times later reported:
"Reacting to recent swings in oil prices, federal regulators said they were considering limits on "speculative" traders in markets for oil and other energy products." Of course, the big banks and Wall Street firms are expected to zealously oppose more oversight.
Some things don't change. Anyone remember Nicholas Leeson, a one man engine of speculation who lost over a billion dollars and brought down his own bank before going to jail? He later gloated on his website; "How could one trader bring down the banking empire that had funded the Napoleonic Wars?"
On July 4th, Bloomberg News reported:
"Sergey Aleynikov, an ex-Goldman Sachs computer programmer, was arrested July 3 after arriving at Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, U.S. officials said. Aleynikov, 39, who has dual American and Russian citizenship, is charged in a criminal complaint with stealing the trading software. At a court appearance July 4 in Manhattan, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Facciponti told a federal judge that Aleynikov's alleged theft poses a risk to U.S. markets. Aleynikov transferred the code, which is worth millions of dollars, to a computer server in Germany, and others may have had access to it, Facciponti said, adding that New York-based Goldman Sachs may be harmed if the software is disseminated." | <urn:uuid:d0dc6124-ec7a-4475-b72a-ec68144c5404> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.opednews.com/articles/Are-Financial-Markets-Bein-by-Danny-Schechter-090709-731.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962566 | 690 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Jesus, remember me: this would be one of the most recognizable quotes of the Gospel. The text is sung at funerals more than it is proclaimed. I know of at least two adaptations of the Taize refrain, adding verses, to adapt it for the OCF.
When they came to the place called the Skull,
they crucified him and the criminals there,
one on his right, the other on his left.
Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying,
“Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us.”
The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply,
“Have you no fear of God,
for you are subject to the same condemnation?
And indeed, we have been condemned justly,
for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes,
but this man has done nothing criminal.”
Then he said,
“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
He replied to him,
“Amen, I say to you,
today you will be with me in Paradise.”
It could be that the association of this refrain with a death row criminal is a bit much for mourners. Still, this is a direct comfort from the Lord to a dying man. As such, it should give us hope as well: the deepest sinner, if repentant, will be taken up into Paradise. | <urn:uuid:1968a779-f700-4c1b-9359-d98c60a31112> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://catholicsensibility.wordpress.com/2012/07/10/funeral-lectionary-luke-2333-39-43/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=e5382928c8 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959574 | 301 | 1.8125 | 2 |
s-gerber at onu.edu
Mon Mar 15 15:39:47 PST 2004
I thought the attached might be of interest.
National Law Journal
March 8, 2004
HEADLINE: Don't abuse a rare process
By Scott D. Gerber
Special to The National Law Journal; Scott D. Gerber is an assistant
professor of law at Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law. His
books include To Secure These Rights [NYU Press].
Powerful reasons have been offered for and against President George W.
Bush's recent call for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution "defining and
protecting marriage as a union of man and woman as husband and wife." For
example, it is difficult to deny the force of the president's argument
about the need to preserve marriage as a social institution. But it is
equally difficult to deny the power of the principal argument advanced by
those who oppose the president's position: The constitutional amendment he
seeks discriminates against homosexuals.
Separate and apart from the profound substantive questions sparked by the
president's proposal is an equally significant procedural question that has
been largely overlooked; namely, whether now is the time to raise these
substantive questions via the amendment process. I don't think it is.
The president emphasized in his statement calling for a constitutional
amendment outlawing same-sex marriage that he was concerned about
"activist" judges and "defiant" local officials. Of course he was referring
to the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, which recently held that
the Massachusetts Constitution requires that same-sex couples be allowed to
marry, and to the mayor of San Francisco, who mandated shortly after the
Massachusetts decision that San Francisco city officials start issuing
marriage licenses to such couples.
California state law explicitly forbids the mayor of San Francisco from
doing what he did, and the state's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has
instructed the state's attorney general to sue the mayor to force him to
stop. Federal intervention-especially by constitutional amendment-therefore
The more interesting case is Massachusetts. Although government officials
there were, and apparently still are, debating whether to amend their
state's constitution to reverse the Massachusetts high court decision at
issue, such an amendment seems unlikely to pass [or at least become law]
before the court order takes effect. History makes plain that there is
precedent for Bush's call for a federal constitutional amendment to reverse
judicial rulings. Six of the 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution were
responses to judicial decisions that the nation thought were in error.
The 11th Amendment reversed Chisholm v. Georgia , which decided that
a state could be sued in federal court by a person from another state. The
13th, 14th, and 15th amendments reversed Dred Scott v. Sandford , a
decision that relegated blacks to the status of property. The 16th
Amendment overruled Pollack v. Farmers' Loan and Trust Co. , which
struck down a federal income tax. Finally, the 26th Amendment was ratified
in 1971 to reverse Oregon v. Mitchell , a decision that voided a
congressional attempt to lower the minimum voting age in state and local
elections to 18.
Significantly, though, the court decisions overturned by these amendments
had been rendered by the U.S. Supreme Court. The nation's highest court has
not yet ruled on the same-sex marriage question. In fact, the justices
reserved the question for future disposition in last term's landmark gay
rights decision, Lawrence v. Texas. Bush's attempt to pre-empt the judicial
process is therefore historically unprecedented and procedurally premature.
It is also constitutionally unwise.
Judicial process comes first
The amendment process is perhaps the most important part of a constitution,
because a formal mechanism for change is essential to the very survival of
the polity. The amendment process is, in short, a peaceful substitute for
revolution. Abraham Lincoln, who understood the purpose of the Constitution
better than any statesman since it was written, demonstrated an
appreciation of this fact in his first inaugural address. "This country,
with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it," Lincoln
remarked. "Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government, they
can exercise their constitutional right of amending it or their
revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it."
The Framers knew how politically and socially disruptive it can be to amend
the Constitution. That's why they made the process so difficult. James
Madison, the principal architect of the Constitution, maintained that the
Constitution would be deprived "of that veneration" so essential to
political and social stability if the amendment process were too easily-or
What's troubling about Bush's call for an amendment to the U.S.
Constitution outlawing same-sex marriage is, then, that it ignores the
threat to political and social stability that might result if the nation
bypasses the judicial process for the amendment process. The Supreme Court
frequently makes decisions with which people disagree. However, for the
good of the nation, the president should allow the question of whether
same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry to work its way to
the nation's highest court. After all, deciding difficult questions of
personal rights is what the Supreme Court is charged by the Constitution
If the president disagrees with the decision the court ultimately reaches,
he can then invoke the amendment process to try to reverse it. To fail to
wait is to fail to understand the amendment process itself.
Ohio Northern University
Ada, OH 45810
More information about the Conlawprof | <urn:uuid:69b54518-eb82-4aa1-b0df-522e37fb9f0a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lists.ucla.edu/pipermail/conlawprof/2004-March/017945.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946742 | 1,203 | 1.835938 | 2 |
It may seem obvious, but I'll say it anyway: You can't achieve success if you're not willing to take the first step. Sure, I can give you all the tools you need for weight loss, but if you're not willing to get off your butt, you won't get anywhere. You need to find that inner drive to accomplish your goals. Need some inspiration? Check out what this teammate said on the Message Boards:
"Had somebody told me a year ago that I would complete a 5k in under an hour, I'd have told them they were insane. But last fall, I did just that. I jogged and walked fast through my very first 5k and came in at 47 minutes and 53 seconds.
You'll never believe what you can do until you try something and complete it. Making motivational vision boards for yourself and finding a support network can really help. Find somebody who won't let you talk your way out of something difficult. For the 5k, I had my kickboxing instructor. She kept me focused and, though she finished way ahead of me, was right there to cheer me to my finish line! The feeling of accomplishment you gain from succeeding at something you didn't think was possible will motivate you to try something else you aren't sure you can do.
Eventually, your life will change and be marked by these fabulous accomplishments. Each new triumph will lead you further down the road toward living a fearless life. Just get up and go!" – Starfaerie82
With the right attitude, you can meet (and even exceed!) your goals, but it's up to you to put in the effort. What motivation can you pull from within right now that will help get you moving? | <urn:uuid:e06369bc-af3f-427d-9a5d-aee6081bbc77> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jillianmichaels.com/fit/lose-weight/find-your-inner-drive | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983631 | 351 | 1.59375 | 2 |
NC chemical plant fire forces evacuations
HUDSON, N.C. (AP) — A fire at a chemical manufacturer in western North Carolina has forced the evacuation of people living within two miles of the plant.
Authorities say the Chemical Coatings plant near Hudson in Caldwell County caught fire shortly before 4 p.m. Saturday.
Emergency officials say one person was taken to the hospital, but the extent of that person's injuries was not known.
Authorities have shut down U.S. 321 in front of the plant as firefighters battle the blaze. Evacuations were ordered as smoke filled the air.
Chemical Coatings makes dyes, lacquers and other coatings for furniture and other products. Hudson is located about 70 miles northwest of Charlotte. | <urn:uuid:334bcd37-8957-4c43-8c0f-94c6968eb023> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cnsnews.com/news/article/nc-chemical-plant-fire-forces-evacuations | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97421 | 157 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Girls' Hooded Sweatshirts with Drawstrings Recalled by YMI Jeanswear Due to Strangulation Hazard; Sold Exclusively at dd's Discounts
WASHINGTON, May 8, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.
Name of Product: "YMI" girls' hooded sweatshirts with drawstrings
Units: About 500
Importer: YMI Jeanswear, of Los Angeles, Calif.
Hazard: The sweatshirts have drawstrings at the hood that pose a strangulation hazard to children. In February 1996, CPSC issued guidelines (pdf) about drawstrings in children's upper outerwear. In 1997, those guidelines were incorporated into a voluntary standard. Then in July 2011, based on the guidelines and voluntary standard, CPSC issued a federal regulation. CPSC's actions demonstrate a commitment to help prevent children from strangling or getting entangled on neck and waist drawstrings in upper outerwear, such as jackets and sweatshirts.
Incidents/Injuries: None reported
Description: This recall involves girls' sweatshirts sold under the brand name "YMI Jeanswear." The sweatshirts have a front zipper and a fur-lined hood with a drawstring stitched to each side. "YMI" is printed on the label at the neck. The sweatshirts were sold in gray, purple, pink and black, with either a snowflake or a flower design on the front and back. A heart charm with "YMI" engraved on it is attached to the zipper. The recalled sweatshirts were sold in children's sizes six through 16.
Sold exclusively at: dd's Discounts stores nationwide from December 2011 through January 2012 for about $13.
Manufactured in: Cambodia
Remedy: Consumers should immediately take the recalled sweatshirt from their child and remove the drawstrings or return the sweatshirt to a dd's Discounts store for a full refund.
Consumer Contact: For additional information, please contact YMI Jeanswear at
(888) 394-1398 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit the firm's website at www.ymijeans.com.
Photos of this product are available at www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PREREL/prhtml12/12168.html.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about your experience with the product on SaferProducts.gov.
Firm's Recall Hotline: (888) 394-1398
CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908
SOURCE U.S. Consumer Product Safety CommissionBack to top | <urn:uuid:26bb31c8-e86f-468f-99df-3fa5bb68766c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mediawebsite.net/nwcn/story/?catSetID=7012&catID=381112&nrid=150621705&page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935269 | 667 | 1.53125 | 2 |
A number of posts have commented on the Chronicle article and the NPR story on clickers. I really don’t like clickers. I recognize that there are certain classes, mostly large lecture classes, where they seem necessary. Buy why do they seem necessary? Because there’s a recognition that students don’t always learn well in those settings and so the clickers are used to determine if the students are learning and if they’re not, in theory, to go over material again or differently so that they do learn. So rather than deal with the root of the problem, they throw technology at it. This is the worst use of technology in education and unfortunately, it’s the most common.
Bugeja adds in a comment to Soltan’s post linked to above the following:
Cost is the issue. No research to my knowledge documents any learning benefit according to empirical analysis–in this case, raising hands as opposed to clicking keypads in those hands.
Here’s my point:
Unless we stop underwriting any benefit, especially without the above analysis, technology–which promised to democratize academe–will continue to corporatize it, at the expense of the Humanities, I’m afraid.
In the article, he suggests that the idea for investing in clickers came from a few faculty who’d been pitched the technology along with textbooks by publishers. The IT department was simply commissioned to implement the technology after the fact and very little analysis of the costs or benefits was done by either faculty or the IT department. I wonder how many other “educational technologies” came about this way. There’s often an assumption by faculty that the IT department or Teaching Centers cram technology down their throats. But I wonder if it’s not really the case that a few faculty started agitating for something. Where did the idea for CMS’s come from? But really, no matter where it comes from, I agree that before investing in anything, technology or otherwise, one should do the cost-benefit analysis. I had to do this just to purchase a printer in the corporate world. One would think that in academe, which are supposed to be non-profits, that such analysis would be even more important. | <urn:uuid:0ba90825-8980-41ba-ac6c-c6099fad0d10> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.geekymomblog.com/2009/03/03/clickers/ | 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 | 0.96591 | 471 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Maybe it’s the careful, consensus-oriented system that produces them, but China’s leaders in recent years have not exactly exuded personality. President Hu Jintao is famous for his stiff manner and scripted speaking style. Jiang Zemin was slightly more relaxed, and enjoyed showing off his English language skills and knowledge of U.S. history.
Washington on Tuesday will get its first close look at China’s next president, current Vice President Xi Jinping, who has a reputation for being more open and refreshingly direct than some of his predecessors. It may be too much to hope for a “Deng Xiaoping moment,” a 1979 turning point in Sino-American cultural relations when the diminutive Deng, China’s great modernizer, attended a rodeo in Simonton, Texas, donned a giant cowboy hat and wowed the crowd. Deng was then China’s vice premier.
Xi has conflicting needs on this visit. He wants to show peers and the public back home that he can handle the American account, China’s most important relationship. He visited Iowa in 1985 and, by all accounts, the experience affected him. He also wants to strike a good working relationship with the White House and Capitol Hill, which could help both sides handle a daunting array of disagreements: human rights, the South China Sea, China’s currency, and Obama’s more aggressive posture in Asia, to name a few.
But Xi also won’t want to make any waves that could complicate his ascendance to the top of China’s pyramid, still 13 months away. So a jaunty tractor ride when he returns to Iowa later this week may not be in the cards.
Here are our top stories from Washington…
Obama election-year budget aims to spur hiring
President Barack Obama called for new spending to boost growth and higher taxes on the rich, laying out an election-year vision for America in a budget that drew heavy fire from Republicans for failing to curb huge deficits. Obama’s 2013 spending proposal is expected to go nowhere in a divided Congress and is widely seen as more of a campaign document that frames his economic pitch to voters and seeks to shift the focus from deficits to economic growth.
For more of this story by Alister Bull and Laura MacInnis, read here.
For a story on the Arab Spring and the budget by Susan Cornwell, read here.
For a story on proposed dividend tax hike by Kim Dixon and Patrick Temple-West, read here. | <urn:uuid:a96fd56d-1e0d-4efd-9257-8571b7ad8bff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.reuters.com/talesfromthetrail/tag/catholics/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958704 | 524 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Some 401k programs let you borrow against the money you’ve accumulated in your 401k. Generally speaking, the programs allow you to borrow up to 50% of your vested account balance, or $50,000 — whichever is less. You then pay yourself back with interest, which seems like a great idea. After all, why pay creditors interest when you could be paying that money to yourself instead? Well, there are a couple of very good reasons why doing so isn’t smart.
You’re not going to change overnight
If you borrowing money from your 401k, you’ve got to pay it back — generally within five years — and you’ve got to make substantially level payments on the loan at least quarterly. So let’s say you borrow $10K to pay off a credit card, and you’ve got 5 years to repay it. That means you’ve got to come up with $500 + interest every 3 months in order to pay the loan off on time.
By being in credit card debt, you’ve already proven that you have trouble planning for upcoming expenditures. Especially irregular ones. You’re not going to magically change overnight just because you now owe your 401k instead of VISA. Instead, you’re going to feel proud of yourself for “paying off” your credit card (even though all you really did was move it around.) And just like with debt consolidation, you’re likely to end up even deeper in debt.
If you want to pay off debt, stop borrowing money. Including from yourself.
You’ll be in trouble if you lose your job
Do you want to be locked into your job for the next 5 years? No? Well, you probably will be if you borrow from your 401k.
That’s because if you leave your job, the entire loan usually comes due immediately. And if you can’t repay it, it gets treated as a distribution. This is the case even if you leave your job involuntarily — such as if you get laid off or fired.
That’s bad, because distributions are subject to a 10% tax rate PLUS your normal tax rate — which may then be abnormally high if your distribution kicks you into the next tax bracket.
Suppose you borrowed $10,000, your normal taxable income is $32,000, and your normal federal taxes are $4375. Then you lose your job now, and are lucky enough to quickly find another one making the same amount of money. If you aren’t able to comply with the rules about repaying that distribution, your taxable income would shoot to $42,000. That’d make your federal taxes + penalty $7625. So you’d have to come up with an extra $3250, which I’m guessing you wouldn’t have if you were borrowing from your 401k. I don’t know about you, but I have zero desire to owe the IRS money.
Yeah, I know, you don’t think it will happen to you. But it can. And then not only will you owe even more money than you owed to begin with, you’ll have lost money that could have made an enormous difference in retirement. Ignoring risks and failing to plan for the worse are actions that cause debt in the first place.
If you want to get out of debt…
Don’t go for the “easy” way. That usually turns out to be the hardest way. Instead, change your habits. Stop borrowing money. Start using the debt snowball method. Yes, it’s frustrating to have to wait to get your debts paid off, and to have to work for it.
But it’s also awesome, because taking the time to make a permanent change like that improves your life for the better in so many ways. It’s worth it. And it usually ends up being faster, too. | <urn:uuid:86ab48d0-5541-4059-8f44-f62845c43e47> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thedebtmyth.com/should-i-borrow-from-my-401k-to-pay-off-debt/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961876 | 834 | 1.75 | 2 |
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With all the animosity between Bike Commuters, Rollerbladers, Mopeds, Pedestrians, Car, Trucks, Buses, and Trolleys encountered on my daily commutes, I’m surprised that others haven’t realized how far a little Aloha can go! In past weeks, presidents galore have been abounding in Honolulu, clogging up the streets, protesting, making front-page headlines, and creating extensive roadblocks in Waikiki and Ko’Olina thanks to APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Craziness). Here are some tips for the world citizens to help keep their sanity in traffic: Ride Aloha, Live Aloha!
1. Bike V. Pedestrian - Cyclists, a bell or a shout out is helpful here. If you start getting bike path rage along Ala Moana beach park, consider RL’s advice and take it slow… If auditory warnings are being blocked by impenetrable headphones and Lady Gaga earwaves, wait for a large enough opening and zip past without giving them the finger! Pedestrians, “on your left” does not mean jump direcly in front of the bike. Just one-two step to the right to allow the cyclist to pass you on the path! Courtesy shaka as you pass for good measure!
2. Bike V. Car – I’m going to share my all-time favorite bike commuter Aloha move that seems to put traffic-angsty drivers at ease. It’s like a Bike Side-Step. So you’re riding in the right lane (I like to ride aligned with the back right tire of cars, a tip I LGRAB’ed from Dottie) and you come to a stop at a red light. You are first on the line with cars behind you. I turn around, do some attmpeted sign language to determine if the driver wants to turn right (blinker, what’s a blinker in Honolulu?) and then move over to the left side of the lane to allow the car to pass. Wave and smile to encourage the driver to pass through… Even if they cannot make the right turn before the light turns green, this move is like when your grandma gives you candy in church – an unexpected surprise that makes church tolerable and makes you adore your grandma! Strangely enough, my grandma was diabetic and I had ADHD, so I’m not sure if it was a good idea for everyone else, but I thought it was awesome.
3. Bike V. Bus: Some people tell me horror stories of drivers of TheBus in Honolulu, how they intentionally persecute cyclists up hills, or honk and scare the living sh*t out of you when they zoom past. Some people tell me stories about a-hole cyclists who almost ran them over on the sidewalk as they stepped off the bus. Well, Some People, have I got news for you: some cyclists are a-holes, and some bus drivers are a-holes. Major Digression/Minor Rant: I don’t think I am an a-hole cyclist, so don’t tell me this story expecting apologies. Similarly, I would not tell stories about terror-children on 8-hour international flights to my friends with kids expecting airline vouchers. So, lovely Bike Commuters, consider several options to deal with the Bike V. Bus scenario. I often avoid streets laden with bus thoroughfares and opt for the back roads. Or, you can just slow down a bit to avoid bus-frogging all the way to your destination. As for the honking, this can’t be avoided! Apparently it is a local rule that buses honk twice to alert cyclists that they are passing. Hold on to your spandex for that one, Honolulu commuters, HBL already asked the Dept. of Transit to delete that rule from the training book when we met with the cartoon mayor… TO NO AVAIL!
I had a great ride in today, where I stopped (yes I stopped, and put down my goofy foot) at the last 4-way stop intersection before my office. There was one car and one truck, and they both gave me extra Aloha and let me cruise through first, waving me on by. Thanks lady in the big silver pick-up, I will remember you the next time I feel like flipping the bird at some a-hole driver. A little goes a long way! No reason for road rage when we only have first-world traffic jams! I don’t think I could ever go back to the motherland: | <urn:uuid:3edbc58d-935b-4e9b-9376-142a338cea86> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bikecommuters.com/2011/11/18/us-v-them-more-aloha-please/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947239 | 966 | 1.757813 | 2 |
The Home Ministry’s Annual Report states this about its counter-Maoist strategy: “While it is necessary for the State Governments to conduct proactive and sustained operations against the extremists, and put in place all measures required for this, it is also necessary to simultaneously give focused attention to development and governance issues, particularly at the cutting edge level.” This is based on “the belief of Government of India that through a combination of development, security and Forest Rights related interventions, the LWE problem can be successfully tackled.”
The development front comprises the well known flagship programmes and the INR 1500 crore Planning Commission monitored Integrated Action Plan in the targeted 78 districts. However, the kidnappings of the district administration heads of Malkangiri, and more recently, Sukma, suggest that the development prong may be laudable in intent but the state lacks capacity for implementation. The Annual Report admits to the inability, stating, “the process of development has been set back by decades in many parts of the country under LWE influence.”
There is no doubt that security needs have to be met first. Towards this end 74 battalions of the Central Armed Police Forces have been deployed including 10 Cobra battalions for offensive tasks, and 34 India Reserve units have been raised. However, the nature and culture of central police forces rule out proactive operations that can vacate ‘liberated zones’. Therefore, at best, what the forces can achieve is self-preservation through force protection and showing the flag.
Their incapacity, particularly in training and leadership, have to be removed over the long-term. 21 counter-insurgency and anti-terrorism training schools are being set up for achieving this objective. A reduction in the 16 per cent deficit in the IPS cadre has been achieved through innovative measures such as absorbing 150 officers from the military and paramilitary after special tests by the UPSC, augmenting the vacancies from the civil services exam to an intake of 130 per year, and having UPSC exam separately for IPS cadres.
The interim nevertheless has to be tidied over.
Although Operation Green Hunt is officially denied, slow motion operations continue to take place. Confidence is being gained incrementally through actions, such as the recent foray of forces into Abujhmad for the first time this year. The reliance on militias and proxies tends to compensate for the capability deficit.
However, this practice has been viewed adversely by the Supreme Court in its judgments on the Salwa Judum and on the employment of Special Police Officers. These irregular forces, intended as eyes and ears of the forces, end up acquiring greater power and impunity. This has the potential to disrupt the social fabric of the tribal societies. Therefore, even though they may fill a critical gap in terms of terrain knowledge and the interface between the community and intelligence, their use is counter-productive.
The third prong of strategy – though unacknowledged - is decapitation. The killing of Cherukuri Rajkumar, alias Azad, is an example. The Supreme Court has ruled out a judicial inquiry into the killing. This strategy has accounted for the arrest of Kobad Gandhi and killing of Kishenji in West Bengal. The home secretary has owned up to it on camera, telling the parliamentary committee that the policy is to ‘capture or kill’..
The last prong of strategy is related to peace talks. This has been sabotaged by Azad’s reported killing when he was in the midst of peace negotiations with the government’s unofficial intermediary, peace activist Swami Agnivesh. Also, there is a gain for the state after the lapse of peace talks as happened in Andhra Pradesh and last year in West Bengal. It is fairly obvious, then, that the Maoists are unlikely to resume peace talks.
The upshot of strategy contradictions is that tribal people will be torn between pro and anti-Maoist camps, and a culturally and ethnically alien forces in the form of central police forces will be in their midst. Irregulars will be empowered further. Perception management will be resorted to to air brush the fallout.
The areas controlled by the Maoists will be cauterized with the onus of its under-development laid at their door. The Annual Report states, “This needs to be recognised by the civil society and the media to build pressure on the Maoists to eschew violence…” The opprobrium Maoists attract through their non-military actions such as abductions and so on will further marginalize them, enabling opinion-shaping along the hard line.
The peace plank has not found mention in the Annual Report. Chidambaram has changed his line, stating, "They (Naxals) are not misguided. They are guided by their own objectives. We are misleading ourselves by misreading their objectives." The problem of how to distinguish between Maoists and tribals remains.
Since going after Maoists imposes inordinately on tribal populations, there is a tradeoff to be made. The peace process alone offers a way out in terms of prioritizing human interests over elimination of the Maoists. The state must realize that it has little choice. | <urn:uuid:844cc123-1988-455c-9423-fdecc2258eaf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ipcs.org/article/naxalite-violence/the-missing-elements-in-the-counter-naxal-strategy-3617.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962993 | 1,067 | 1.570313 | 2 |
TD Bank says it was hit by a ‘targeted’ cyber attack, affected online banking
TORONTO — TD Canada Trust (TSX:TD) says it was hit by a “targeted” cyber attack, forcing its banking website and mobile banking service to go offline for several hours.
The bank says the denial-of-service attack occurred mid-morning and prevented its customers from logging to its website and mobile site.
Bank spokeswoman Barbara Timmins says the attack had no effect on clients’ personal information or accounts and that most of the services are now up and running.
She says business customers may still be unable to login to their online accounts.
The breach did not affect branch banking, telephone banking or ATMs.
“We will work diligently to get service restored,” said Timmins. “This was a service disruption issue. There was no compromise to customer data.”
She says the bank has been cognizant of similar attacks on financial institutions elsewhere, particularly in the U.S.
“We’ve seen activity and you may be aware that unfortunately, it’s frequently been the case in other countries, in the United States, that large financial institutions have been targeted,” she said.
TD says it will be monitoring the situation closely in the coming days, and expects all of its services to resume in the next few hours. | <urn:uuid:c4611073-6f86-4951-9f04-6890348cfe58> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fftimes.com/node/258349 | 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 | 0.978544 | 293 | 1.5625 | 2 |
May 15, 1996
Madison Couple Gift Biology Professorship
An endowed professorship in biology has been created at UW-River Falls through the gift of a Madison couple.
Dr. A. Duane Anderson, the retired chief of staff for Meriter Hospital in Madison, and his wife Phyllis, were recently recognized as Distinguished University Benefactors for their gift.
They were honored during a ceremony at UW-River Falls by Dr. Katharine Lyall, the president of the 26-campus University of Wisconsin System, and Chancellor Gary A. Thibodeau.
The Anderson's donation of $50,000 will be used for the Kettelkamp-Lineman Endowed Professorship in Biology. Money earned from the endowment will provide discretionary funding for a faculty member for professional development, travel support for attendance and presentations at academic conferences, supplies and equipment, student assistance support, and research.
It is named for the late Professor Catherine Lineman and Professor emeritus Benny Kettelkamp.
Anderson, who is a native of Gilmanton, attended the University from 1937-40, before leaving to complete medical school at UW-Madison, and surgical training at the University of Minnesota-Mayo Foundation. He went on to a distinguished surgery career, including serving as president of the Madison Surgical Society, president of the Dane County Medical Society, and more than two decades as a clinical professor of medicine at the University Hospital in Madison. In 1982 he was named a Distinguished Alumnus for UW-River Falls.
His academic career was delayed for two years after high school because of his lack of funds. Anderson says he learned of River Falls from friends who convinced him to attend there.
At college he was befriended by Professor Lineman, who hired Anderson as a student assistant in the botany lab. He noted that he was in "dire need" of the money to continue on in school, and the position allowed him to trade his work milking dairy cows before school each morning for science.
"We used to talk a lot, and she was very friendly to me," he recalled of the late Dr. Lineman. "I had no idea what I wanted to do when I graduated, and she suggested that I should become a doctor."
Anderson, continued: "I owe a lot to River Falls and especially to these two people to whom we dedicated the professorship. That's as good as any reason for making the gift," he said.
Mrs. Anderson noted that she had the opportunity to meet Professor Lineman many years after her husband's graduation and was struck by her personal friendliness and warmth.
She added that the couple also was inspired to make the donation because of their strong religious faith and commitment to others. She noted that the couple have been immersed in their Lutheran faith and in Masonic activities throughout their lives. Dr. Anderson has served as a past grand master of the Wisconsin Masonic Fraternity, and serves on the boards of the Wisconsin Masonic Foundation and Wisconsin Masonic Medical Foundation.
The donation to UW-RF, Mrs. Anderson said, was a continuation of their Christian belief in sharing with others.
Said Chancellor Thibodeau of the Andersons' gift, "This is an example of an individual who left and went on to prominence who, when he looks back at a distinguished career, says that two people had a particular influence and helped to direct him.
"When we talked, the things that Dr. Anderson conveyed personally to me on the depth of his feelings for these persons was very touching.
"I think he and Phyllis wanted to do something in a concrete way to honor them, and were pleased that they could do this through the professorship."
The Andersons' donation is the second to create an endowed professorship since the University launched a formal capital campaign in January. The purpose of the capital gifts campaign is to raise major gifts from individuals and corporations to support three separate targeted areas: technology, faculty development, and scholarships.
It will continue over the next several years to coincide with UW-RF's massive "Reach for the Future" strategic plan that is reorienting the institution's academic disciplines and administrative support services for the year 2000. | <urn:uuid:bc197fa1-c388-4a39-98c2-9932935fe0c7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www2.uwrf.edu/news_bureau/517961.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982937 | 861 | 1.601563 | 2 |
|Trust Officers and Program Directors|
|California Attorney General's Report|
|The J. Paul Getty Trust Home Governance|
The board of trustees is the governing body of The J. Paul Getty Trust. The trustees, as a board or through board committees, set policies relating to spending, management, governance, professional standards, investment, and grant making. They also oversee the internal and external auditors, select the president and officers, and review the performance and set the compensation of all the officers. Trustees are elected for four-year terms, and may serve no more than three terms.
As of July 1, 2012, the trustees are:
James Cuno joined the Trust as president and CEO in August 2011. A national and international museum leader and scholar, Cuno was president and Eloise W. Martin Director of the Art Institute of Chicago before joining the Getty. Prior to directing the Art Institute of Chicago, he was the director and professor of the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, from 2003-2004; the Elizabeth and John Moors Cabot Director of the Harvard University Art Museums and professor of the history of art and architecture at Harvard from 1991 to 2003; director of the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, from 1989-1991; director of the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, UCLA, from 1986-1989; and assistant professor of art, Vassar College, from 1983-1986. Cuno received his A.M. and Ph.D. in the History of Art from Harvard in 1980 and 1985, respectively; an M.A. in the History of Art from the University of Oregon in 1978; and a B.A. in History from Willamette University in 1973.
FRANCES DALY FERGUSSON
Frances Daly Fergusson was elected the ninth president of Vassar College in 1986 and retired from that position as president emeritus in 2006. Dr. Fergusson is a graduate of Wellesley College with special honors in art history, and earned her masters and doctoral degrees in art history at Harvard University, where she served most recently as president of the Harvard Board of Overseers. Among many other responsibilities, she is a member of the board of trustees for the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, The School of American Ballet, Second Stage Theatre and the National Humanities Center. She is on the boards of directors of Mattel and Pfizer. Dr. Fergusson is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
MARIA D. HUMMER-TUTTLE
Maria Hummer-Tuttle joined the board in April 2009. She practiced law for approximately 20 years and was a partner and chair of the management committee of Manatt, Phelps and Phillips in Los Angeles. Hummer-Tuttle has served on a number of boards including The Music Center of Los Angeles County, The Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center, Los Angeles World Affairs Council, Children's Institute Inc., Pitzer College, Mount St. Mary's College and Scripps College. She recently co-authored the book Winfield House, published by Thames & Hudson, and serves on the board of the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies. She received her B.A. from Scripps College and her J.D. from UCLA School of Law.
JOANNE CORDAY KOZBERG
Joanne Corday Kozberg joined the board in June 2005. Since 2003 Ms. Kozberg has been the Principal in charge of the Los Angeles office of public affairs firm California Strategies, LLC. Kozberg serves on the board of the California Community Foundation and is a Regent Emeritus of the University of California, completing a 12-year term in 2010. From 1999 to 2003 Kozberg was president and chief operating officer of the Music Center of Los Angeles County. From 1993 to 1998 she was California's Secretary of State and Consumer Services under Governor Pete Wilson. She was chair of the California Arts Council from 1988 to 1991 and served as its executive director from 1991 until 1993. Kozberg holds a B.A. in history from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.A. in public policy from Occidental College.
Paul LeClerc was appointed on July 1, 2012 as Director of the Columbia
Global Center | Europe, at Reid Hall in Paris. His previous positions include: President and CEO, The New York Public Library (1993-2011); President, CEO, and Professor of French, Hunter College CUNY (1988-93); Provost, Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Professor of French, Baruch College CUNY (1984-88); University Dean for Academic Affairs, CUNY (1979-84). Prior to these administrative positions, he was successively Instructor, Assistant Professor, and Associate Professor of French with tenure at Union College (1966-79), where he also served as Chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures and Chair of the Humanities Division. LeClerc was an undergraduate at Holy Cross College and earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in French literature at Columbia University. His academic specialties are Voltaire and the French Enlightenment and he is the author, editor, and co-editor of five scholarly volumes on these subjects. He serves on the Boards of the American Academy in Rome, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Voltaire Foundation.
David L. Lee is a co-founder and managing general partner of Clarity Partners, a private equity firm that invests in communications, media and related technology companies. Dr. Lee started his professional career with Arthur Andersen & Co. in Los Angeles in 1975. In the 80s and 90s, he held executive positions at Comsat, TRW and Pacific Capital Group. In 1997 he co-founded the telecommunications firm Global Crossing and served as its president and chief operating officer until early 2000 when he left to launch Clarity Partners. In 2007, he also co-founded Clarity China which focuses on private equity investments in Greater China. Dr. Lee is a graduate of McGill University and holds a doctorate in Physics with a minor in Economics from the California Institute of Technology. He chairs the Board of Overseers of the Keck School of Medicine at USC, is a Trustee of Caltech and USC and a director of Trust Company of the West. The Lee Family Foundation supports higher education, and has provided grants to establish centers for advanced networking at Caltech and the National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan.
THELMA MELÉNDEZ DE SANTA ANA
Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana joined the board on July 1, 2012. Dr. Meléndez de Santa Ana is the superintendent of schools for the Santa Ana Unified School District, the largest school district in Orange County. As superintendent, she oversees a district with 56,000 students at 61 schools sites and 4,500 educators and staff members. Prior to this position, she worked at the U.S. Department of Education, where she helped to develop the Blueprint for Reform. As Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education, she led the office as it administered billions of dollars in grant funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. She earned a BA cum laude in sociology from UCLA, a Ph.D from USCs Rossier School of Education, and an Honorary Doctorate from Pepperdine Universitys Graduate School of Education and Psychology. Awards received by Dr. Meléndez de Santa Ana include an Alumni Merit Award from the USC Alumni Association (2012), National Hispanic Woman of the year (2011) by the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation, and the American Association of School Administrators named her the California Superintendent of the year in 2009. She is married to Otto Santa Ana, a professor in the Department of Chicano Studies at UCLA.
STEWART A. RESNICK
Stewart A. Resnick joined the board in September 2005. He is chairman and owner of Roll Global, a Los Angeles-based holding company, and has developed and owns a number of companies, including Paramount Agribusiness, POM Wonderful, Teleflora, FIJI Water, and Suterra. Resnick is a member of the boards of UCLA Medical Sciences, Bard College in New York, and Conservation International and is a trustee of the California Institute of Technology. Resnick and his wife, Lynda, have been featured in Art & Antiques magazine as two of the nation's top art collectors. Major galleries have been dedicated in the Resnick's name at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Resnick holds a B.S. in business administration from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a J.D. from UCLA School of Law.
NEIL L. RUDENSTINE
Neil L. Rudenstine joined the board in 2007 and is the current Vice Chair. Dr. Rudenstine currently serves as chair of ARTstor, a nonprofit organization created by the A. W. Mellon Foundation that develops, maintains, and distributes digital resources for the study of art, architecture, design, and related fields in the Humanities. Dr. Rudenstine was president of Harvard University from 1991 until he retired in 2001. He received his undergraduate degree at Princeton University, a B.A and an M.A. from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and a Ph.D. in English from Harvard University. He was a member of the Harvard English Department prior to becoming a professor and senior administrator at Princeton University. He is an honorary fellow of New College, Oxford University, a member of the American Philosophical Society, the Committee for Economic Development, and serves on the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a published author, and among many other accomplishments is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a trustee of the Barnes Foundation, the Courtauld Institute of Art (London), the New York Public Library, and chairs the board of the Rockefeller Archive Center.
WILLIAM E.B. SIART
Bill Siart is the chairman of the board of ExED (Excellent Education Development), a non-profit corporation which he founded in 1997 that develops and manages charter public schools. He serves as a trustee and chairman of the finance committee of the University of Southern California, and is a member of the board of directors of Camino Nuevo Charter Academy. Mr. Siart is also on the board of the Catholic Education Foundation. He is the chairman and a director of Western Asset Funds, Inc. Mr. Siart is the former chairman and chief executive officer of First Interstate Bancorp, a $60 billion banking company with offices in 13 western states and more than 40,000 employees. A native of Los Angeles, he earned a BS degree in economics from Santa Clara University, and an MBA in finance from the University of California at Berkeley. Mr. Siart is active in Los Angeles and nationally in K-12 education reform.
MARK S. SIEGEL
Mark S. Siegel joined the board in November 2005 and was elected Chair in June 2010. He is the founder and president of ReMY Investors and Consultants, Inc., and chairman of the board of directors of Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc., an energy services company. Previously, he was president of Blockbuster Music and executive vice president and managing director of Shamrock Holdings, Inc., and Trefoil Capital. Siegel also practiced law for 12 years in the entertainment and media industries. Most recently, he was chairman of the board of trustees at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center from 2007 through 2010, and continues to serve as a member of the board and its governance committees. He has also served as a member of the President's Advisory Committee on the Arts and a Trustee of MOCA (The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles). A native of Los Angeles, Siegel earned an A.B. in philosophy from Colgate University and a J.D. (Order of the Coif) from the University of California, Berkeley.
RONALD P. SPOGLI
Ronald P. Spogli joined the board in July 2010. He is CEO of Freeman Spogli & Co., Incorporated, one of the leading middle market private equity investors in the United States. The former United States Ambassador to the Italian Republic and to the Republic of San Marino, Spogli received the 2008 Sue M. Cobb Award for Exemplary Diplomatic Service. Currently, he serves on the boards of Trustees of Stanford University and Public Storage. He became a member of the Investment Committee at the California Institute of Technology in July 2011. In addition, Ambassador Spogli also serves as the Chairman of the Advisory Board of Innogest, a venture capital fund based in Turin, Italy. With his business partner, Bradford M. Freeman, he endowed the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford's primary center for research on international issues. Ambassador Spogli received an A.B. in history from Stanford and an MBA at Harvard.
PETER J. TAYLOR
Peter J. Taylor joined the board in November 2005. He is the executive vice president and chief financial officer of the University of California system. Prior to this appointment, he served as a managing director of public finance at Barclays Capital. In that role, he served as the lead banker on the State of California's $10.9 billion Economic Recovery Bond issuance in 2004, and again on the follow-up transaction in 2008. Previously, Taylor was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the California Performance Review Commission and also served on the California Student Aid Commission as an appointee of Governor Gray Davis. Taylor has been the executive director of the nonprofit Coro Foundation in Los Angeles. He is a past chair of the board of directors of the UCLA Foundation, and he currently serves as Chair on the board of directors of The James Irvine Foundation and on the Boards of Edison International and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.
JAY S. WINTROB
Jay S. Wintrob joined the board in January 2004 and served as vice chair from 2006-2010. He is president and CEO of SunAmerica Financial Group and executive vice president retirement services of American International Group, Inc. He also serves as a board member of Bet Tzedek Legal Services, California Institute of Technology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles World Affairs Council and the Skirball Cultural Center. Wintrob received a B.A. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, and a J.D. from the Boalt Hall School of Law at UC Berkeley.
Dates in parentheses indicate periods of service.
Lewis W. Bernard (1998–2004)
John H. Biggs, Chair Emeritus (1999–2006)
Louise H. Bryson, Chair Emeritus (1998–2010)
John F. Cooke ( 1995–2000)
Ramon C. Cortines (1996–2008)
Lloyd E. Cotsen (2002–2006)
Robert F. Erburu, Chair Emeritus (1987–2000)
John T. Fey (1979–1992)
David I. Fisher ( 1995–1999)
David Gardner, Chair Emeritus (1992–2004)
Gordon P. Getty (1955–1966; 1973–1998)
Vartan Gregorian (1988–2000)
Agnes Gund (1994–2006)
Helene L. Kaplan (1992–2004)
Herbert L. Lucas, Jr. (1988–1999)
Luis G. Nogales (2000–2012)
Rocco C. Siciliano (1982–1995)
J. Patrick Whaley (1977–1998)
John C. Whitehead (1989–1995)
Harold M. Williams, President Emeritus (1981–1998)
Blenda J. Wilson (1993–2005) | <urn:uuid:b7251145-19ec-40fb-be63-3a41ca0ab76a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://getty.edu/about/governance/trustees.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955752 | 3,295 | 1.742188 | 2 |
from nypost: Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe the federal government had warnings about 9/11 but decided to ignore them, a national survey found.
And that's not the only conspiracy theory with a huge number of true believers in the United States.
The poll found that more than one out of three Americans believe Washington is concealing the truth about UFOs and the Kennedy assassination - and most everyone is sure the rise in gas prices is one vast oil-industry conspiracy.
Sixty-two percent of those polled thought it was "very likely" or "somewhat likely" that federal officials turned a blind eye to specific warnings of the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
Only 30 percent said the 9/11 theory was "not likely," according to the Scripps Howard/Ohio University poll.
The findings followed a 2006 poll by the same researchers, who found that 36 percent of Americans believe federal government officials "either assisted in the 9/11 attacks or took no action" because they wanted "to go to war in the Middle East."
In that poll, 16 percent said the Twin Towers might have collapsed because of secretly planted explosives - not hijacked passenger jets flown into them.
And what hit the Pentagon? Twelve percent figured it was a US cruise missile.
Anger at the federal government and skepticism in general by younger Americans is fueling the popularity of crackpot conspiracy theories.
fair use notice: this site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. we are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, & social justice issues, etc. we believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US copyright law. In accordance with title 17 usc section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. | <urn:uuid:ec33e43a-9d2d-4d7f-b218-75054e7955f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mediamonarchy.blogspot.jp/2007/11/poll-shows-62-believe-us-had-911.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943703 | 411 | 1.5625 | 2 |
242 women raped by FDLR and Mai-Mai, says NGO
Suspected rebels have raped at least 242 women within a few days in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's Nord-Kivu province, according to an American
medical charity. Rapes and beatings took place at the end of July and the beginning of August.
"Two hundred and fourty two women have been taken into medical care," said Cris Baguma, a local Congolese doctor with the International Medical Corps (IMC) at Walikale.
Most of the rapes were in Luvungi, a settlement of some 2,160 people, and in surrounding villages, the IMC said.
The IMC blames the attacks on Hutu rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and local militias.
"The most striking cases were those of two pregnant women and another who had given birth two weeks earlier," said Baguma, adding that the eldest of the victims was 75 and the youngest 16.
"Women told us they were stripped and left naked, some had their breasts pulled, almost all were beaten, and some were bitten," said Christophe Nyembo, an IMC psychologist.
Nyembo added that the territory around Walikale "is a crossroads for mining sites. The aggressors thought the women were hiding gold in their genitals and pushed in their fingers."
Both doctors said that in the cases of some women raped in front of their husbands, the men told their wives to seek medical attention, which is rare in eastern DR Congo, where men tend to cast off raped spouses.
IMC staff stressed that there could be other victims who have not yet been treated and others in health centres that the charity has still to visit.
The United Nations on 23 August reported that at least 179 women in Nord-Kivu were raped between 30 July and 3 August by the FDLR, which has denied it, and by local Mai-Mai militia.
On Tuesday, UN Special representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Margot Wallstroem, threatened to have people suspected of these rapes prosecuted for war crimes.
The FDLR has been active in eastern DR Congo since the mid-1990s and is feared for its brutality. Its older members are accused by Rwanda of taking part in the 1994 genocide of 800,000 people, mainly minority Tutsis, in the neighbouring country. | <urn:uuid:b58883ef-ee33-42e0-9b44-93075bbcd4d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.english.rfi.fr/africa/20100903-242-women-raped-fdlr-and-mai-mai-says-ngo | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986555 | 501 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Children and assets from a previous marriage are often of frequent concern to persons planning their estate. These children and assets can be addressed through the signing of pre-nuptial agreements, also known as premarital and ante-nuptial agreements. These documents allow the prospective spouses to settle certain property rights before the marriage and insure the proper disbursement of assets in the event of divorce or death of one spouse. The prenuptial agreement's provisions attempt to keep certain or all property brought into the marriage completely separate from the new spouse. For example, if you decide to make certain that the bulk of your estate goes to your children from a previous marriage, the prenuptial can allow that, provided the title to those assets remains solely in your name. Prenuptial agreements may be modified or revoked; however, these changes must be in writing and signed by both parties. If no pre-nuptial agreement exists, a married couple may elect to draw up a post-nuptial agreement, a document created after the marriage that may contain the same terms and conditions of a prenuptial agreement. Be aware that if you and your spouse place all your assets in joint ownership, the surviving spouse will take the property, regardless of what the prenuptial agreement states. To ensure that a prenuptial agreement remains valid, it's often best to hire an attorney to draft the agreement. Also make certain both parties disclose all assets and liabilities; otherwise, the agreement may be challenged in court and declared unenforceable. Each potential spouse should also consider hiring his or her own separate attorney to either draft or review the document. Your own will takes precedence over any prenuptial agreement as it waives any right to elect against the other spouse's will. Also, in cases where there's no will, the prenuptial agreement will specify that each spouse waive any right to any share in the other spouse's solely owned property. | <urn:uuid:d5577bf1-53a8-4c6f-bd52-56ca4a2dd546> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cbs47.tv/guides/legal/elder/story/Children-assets-from-a-previous-marriage/3gKsHD8Y3USD_nnhLI4xjQ.cspx | 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 | 0.951349 | 399 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Although it felt somewhat contrived and overdramatized, I think this chapter was inevitable. Somehow, we had to witness the shift from the frozen and uptight Sophie that said “Oh really?” to a woman composed of courage and passion. Even on the newspaper, she was unable to stand up for what she believed in or express any anger, she just sort of rolled over. The only roles that she had found before were the roles of seeker and victim.
Archive for the ‘ 5th Letters ’ Category
Yarostan’s Fifth letter is a strong argument against the institution of work. It is a criticism of the role of the knowledge worker in particular, and predates a body of work around these topics while maintaining a human touch around the topic. Bob Black (in)famously wrote an essay (which was also a presentation as provocation) called “The Abolition of Work.” While the author (and other people with a certain kind of fixation) might take the article as a literal argument against work, its real power is in asking orthogonal questions about the nature of labor and the project of Marxists who valorize labor itself, beyond any recognition of the (cough) use-value of the product of labor. The pro-work ideology is to assume work first of all – before the product of the work, before the worker, and before the impact (environmental, social, psychological, etc.) of that work. And the reactions to “The Abolition of Work” gave this thesis more energy than it probably should have had.
This chapter was my first introduction to the book, brought in as an excerpt to an anarchist reading group. I read this letter that time without any real context to the rest of the story. I remember not really understanding why the people in the garage – Sophia especially – were having such dramatic responses. I might make a similar critique even upon this read, and I’ll expand later on that.
Although some of this letter recounts present-day events, most of it is a recollection of a time eleven years prior, in the garage where Sabina and Tina were living. There are two points I want to make in regard to Sophia’s present-day description before delving into the meaty substance of the garage days.
Lately, I have been reading books about happiness and money. I suppose that I would classify them as self-help books, but they are less pop psychology and more of a cross-section of case studies and personal experience. In many cases, the topic of these books is a person’s “rebirth” when they wake up from chasing a material oriented life.
These are generally pretty wealthy people, but one thing stands true, money really never does make anyone happier. In many of the cases, it takes some moment of awakening in which they realize that they must reprioritize.
It is sort of funny to see this theme pop up in Letters. Of course, Yarostan and Mirna do not take their pursuit of material possessions very far and they are not wealthy. A pair of curtains, a bedspread and a baby carriage with a couple of swanky outfits do not exactly make them big spenders.
In Sophia’s 4th letter we see that the letters between the two are beginning to concretely alter Sophia’s perspectives. In Yarostan’s 5th letter we see the change in him as well. His tone softens somewhat and he mentions “critical appreciation,” telling Sophia that he sees these letters as an expression of friendship and not an attack.
Read the rest of this entry | <urn:uuid:28f475d5-2120-4561-a047-4b4a2558a83f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://insurgentsummer.org/archives/category/5th-letters | 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 | 0.973042 | 759 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Department of Mathematics, Indian Institute of Technology, Powai, Mumbai 400076, India
The ATCM conferences are international conference addressing technology-based issues in all Mathematical Sciences. The 17th ATCM December 16-20, 2012 was held at SSR University, Bangkok, Thailand . About 400 participants coming from over 30 countries around the world participated in the conference. For more details see http://atcm.mathandtech.org/
The TIME conferences are national (Indian) conferences held every two years . TIME conferences serve a dual role: as a forum in which mathematics educators and teachers will come together to discuss and to probe major issues associated with the integration of technology in mathematics teaching and learning, and as a place where they can share their perspectives, personal experiences, and innovative teaching practices. | <urn:uuid:9e9eef3f-b540-4dfb-a955-6f000f11090e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://euro-math-soc.eu/node/3235 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933005 | 163 | 1.789063 | 2 |
The best way is paper, natural media, and a scanner. It's not as efficient but if you want the effect to look really good, this is going to net the best results.
Of course, you can also follow that method to create your own brushes or pick up the work of others who have done the same (see John's links). The more you stretch the brush artwork from it's original scale, the less convincing the effect will be.
This is my workflow when creating a custom natural media brush (in Illustrator or Photoshop).
- Set up the basic layout with scale and proportions as you want them
- Print it out at roughly the right scale
- Overlay it with a sheet of layout paper (like Graphics 360)
- Experiment on a few sheets with various implements until you get the effect you want
- Scan the best results
- Create brushes -OR- just use the sketches as positioned objects/layers
That is obviously more time consuming than (1) downloading a brush set and (2) using it. But, when done well the results are noticeably improved ... and unique to your project! | <urn:uuid:f3623057-c988-485b-b6dc-8d418e529907> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/13664/draw-pencil-stroke-like-line-in-gimp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940152 | 231 | 1.6875 | 2 |
U.S. News Rankings
|Ranking score and category|
Otterbein University is a private institution that was founded in 1847. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 2,575, its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 114 acres. It utilizes a 4-1-4-based academic calendar. Otterbein University's ranking in the 2013 edition of Best Colleges is Regional Universities (Midwest), 16. Its tuition and fees are $30,658 (2012-13).
|School mission and unique qualities (as provided by the school):|
The mission of Otterbein University is to educate the whole person in a context that fosters the development of humane values. Otterbein University is a private, church-related, coeducational college that sponsors traditional and continuing education programs of liberal arts and professional education at Baccalaureate and Master's levels. Our commitment is to the liberal arts as the broad base of all learning.
Campus: Otterbein's 140-acre campus is accented by the historic Towers Hall, which was constructed in 1872 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Renowned for its Department of Theatre and Dance, Otterbein students perform plays for the community in the Fritsche Theatre at Cowan Hall, which was renovated in 2005. The Department of Art operates three galleries. Otterbein's Art and Communication Building was renovated in 2006, and is home to the Miller Gallery, the student radio station (WOBN), student newspaper (Tan & Cardinal) and the student-run Westerville television station (WOCC). Classes began in fall 2009 at both the newly built Center for Equine Studies and the Science Center, which completed a $20 million renovation and addition.
Arts: Otterbein University Theatre and Otterbein Summer Theatre stage nine shows a year. Plays range from classical Shakespearean dramas and British comedies to musicals and experimental works. The music program at Otterbein includes the concert band and concert choir, opera theatre and musical theatre, a marching band, a vocal jazz group and several instrumental ensembles. Otterbein students also perform with the Westerville Symphony at Otterbein. Three galleries feature art by students, faculty and guest artists, as well as pieces from Otterbein's permanent collection. The Otterbein Signature Series has hosted notable visiting artists including acclaimed independent filmmaker Gus Van Sant and Joel Meyerowitz, whose photography of Ground Zero after September 11, 2001, has traveled the world.
Athletics: Men and women compete in the Ohio Athletic Conference, NCAA Division III. There are nine varsity sports each for men and women, including varsity women's lacrosse, which takes the field in March 2012. A complete intramural program is available to all students.
Community Service: Otterbein's Center for Community Engagement has been honored by the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor roll for five consecutive years. Every year, more than 70,000 hours are donated by Otterbein students through our Center for Community Engagement. Approximately 80% of the student body participated in community service in 2009-10. In addition, 90 service-learning courses enrolled over 1,000 students that same year.
|School type||private, coed college|
|Religious affiliation||United Methodist|
When applying to Otterbein University, it's important to note the application deadline is rolling. Scores for either the ACT or SAT test are due April 15. The application fee at Otterbein University is $25. It is selective, with an acceptance rate of 79.3 percent.
For more information about the tests, essays, interviews, and admissions process, visit the Applying to College knowledge center.
|Fall 2011 acceptance rate||79.3%|
|SAT/ACT scores must be received by||April 15|
The student-faculty ratio at Otterbein University is 11:1, and the school has 69.2 percent of its classes with fewer than 20 students. The most popular majors at Otterbein University include: Business Administration and Management, General; Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse; Art/Art Studies, General; and Psychology, General. The average freshman retention rate, an indicator of student satisfaction, is 76.0 percent.
|4-year graduation rate||49|
|Five most popular majors for 2011 graduates|
Otterbein University has a total undergraduate enrollment of 2,575, with a gender distribution of 37.4 percent male students and 62.6 percent female students. At this school, 46.0 percent of the students live in college-owned, -operated, or -affiliated housing and 54.0 percent of students live off campus. Otterbein University is part of the NCAA III athletic conference.
|Student gender distribution|
|Undergraduate men who are members of a fraternity|
|Undergraduate women who are members of a sorority|
|Collegiate athletic association||NCAA III|
Campus Info & Services
Otterbein University offers a number of student services including nonremedial tutoring, placement service, health service, and health insurance. Otterbein University also offers campus safety and security services like 24-hour foot and vehicle patrols, late night transport/escort service, 24-hour emergency telephones, lighted pathways/sidewalks, and controlled dormitory access (key, security card, etc). Of the students at Otterbein University, 50 percent have cars on campus. Alcohol is not permitted for students of legal age at Otterbein University.
|Students who have cars on campus||50%|
|Health insurance offered||Yes|
|Students required to own/lease a computer||No|
Paying for School
At Otterbein University, 78.3 percent of full-time undergraduates receive some kind of need-based financial aid and the average need-based scholarship or grant award is $15,206.
Paying for college doesn't have to be difficult or devastating. Go to the Paying for College knowledge center to get advice on raising cash and reducing costs.
|Tuition and fees||$30,658 (2012-13)|
|Room and board||$8,684 (2012-13)|
|Financial aid statistics|
* Overview details based on 2011 data | <urn:uuid:a831664f-d3ec-4aee-b78b-74fb5763023a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/otterbein-university-3110 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936631 | 1,339 | 1.5 | 2 |
|© UNICEF video|
|These three boys in Za Hla village, Zakpota District, Benin, were trafficked for hard labour in Nigeria. They were returned after eight months when their case was reported to the police.|
By Sarah Crowe
ABUJA, Nigeria, 7 July 2006 – A multilateral accord against the trafficking of women and children was signed here yesterday, as UNICEF and its partners spearheaded a joint ministerial conference of 26 West and Central African countries, representatives of European governments, the International Labour Organization and the UN Office against Drugs and Crime.
“No country in West and Central Africa can claim not to face the problem of human trafficking,” said UNICEF’s director for the region, Esther Guluma, at the opening of the two-day conference.
“Only a holistic approach can successfully stop this exploitation of children that is a violation of their human rights, dignity and freedom of movement,” she added. “One of the most efficient ways is the connection of a regional partnership. This conference is a milestone in building this collaboration.”
The historic new accord – signed at a joint conference in Abuja by regional bodies, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) – aims to reinforce cooperation in areas like the repatriation of victims and the extradition of traffickers. The regional agreement is legally binding on all ECOWAS countries and on the 11 members of ECCAS.
Three sons sold for labour
The agreement will target cases like that of a father in Benin who negotiated a “good price” for his three 10-year-old sons. He received 10,000 Centrale Franc Africain (about $20) as a down-payment from a trafficker for the boys to leave their village to go to work in Nigeria, and was told he would get 90,000 CFA ($180) for his sons’ labour for a year.
The money was about enough to keep the man’s large family of 4 wives and 20 children fed for a month. But his three sons had no idea what faced them in Nigeria.
“They told us we were going to work with chickens and collect eggs,” said one of the boys, “but when we arrived in Nigeria, we had to work like adults crushing stone at the quarries. It was terrible work, really tough. We got very little to eat and we were not allowed to go anywhere.”
For his part, the father explained: “It is what is done around here. I was promised good money for the boys for one year. We are very poor.”
|© UNICEF Benin/2006/Crowe|
|Fourteen boys at this small school in Za Hla village, Benin, were trafficked to Nigeria to work.|
Children exploited and abused
Each year, hundreds of thousands of children are trafficked across porous borders throughout West and Central Africa. In Nigeria, for example, where the borders with Benin and Cameroon are 773 km and 1,690 km long, respectively, it is difficult to control trafficking.
Now widely considered a form of modern-day slavery, this practice has its roots in an old tradition based on the quest for a better life. Children would be placed with relatives in cities to receive an education, in return for helping out in the home.
Often, parents don’t know – or don’t want to know – what happens to their children who end up being exploited, physically and mentally abused as domestic workers or forced into prostitution.
An end to trafficking
“You are not a human being if you do that to your own children. People have to take responsibility for these crimes. It has to be punished,” said UNICEF Child Protection Officer Alassane Biga.
The three boys trafficked from Benin were lucky. After eight months of hard labour in Nigeria, a countryman reported their case to the police and they were taken home. Their school fees are being paid by UNICEF and its partners to ensure that their father is not tempted to re-sell them.
Financial assistance for the poorest families and other initiatives – like mobile cinemas that screen educational films for people living in remote villages – help to inform vulnerable families about the reality of child trafficking. There’s hope that the joint ministerial conference now wrapping up in Abuja can go one step further toward putting an end to this illicit and dehumanizing practice.
6 July 2006:
UNICEF Correspondent Sarah Crowe reports on child trafficking in Benin.
VIDEO high | low
video on demand
from The Newsmarket | <urn:uuid:6265d7f1-d308-48c4-a7b8-3b08a74a086a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unicef.org/protection/nigeria_34868.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973958 | 985 | 1.796875 | 2 |
from the what-a-waste-of-effort dept
Techdirt has been following the worsening censorship situation in Russia for some time. Back in July, the country's parliament passed a new law ostensibly designed to "protect the children". It took only a couple of weeks before it was used to shut down the whole of LiveJournal for part of the country. That was apparently because a neo-Nazi blog had been found among the thousands of others hosted there -- an indication of just how blunt this new instrument of censorship is.
Now another popular site in Russia has been taken down, as Rick Falkvinge reports:
This Monday, the Russian Government placed a Russian Wikipedia clone on a censorship blacklist. The Russian Government maintains such a kill switch for "harmful sites" – motivated with protecting children from drug use, child porn, or suicide methods. In reality, as usual, give anybody such a switch and they’ll shut off things they plain don’t like.
Presumably there is something among the thousands of articles there that someone, somewhere has taken a dislike to, causing the entire site to be blocked. However, an article on the site Lenta.ru (original in Russian) says that the people behind Lurkomore still don't know what that was, and intend to appeal against being placed on the censorship blacklist in this way. In the meantime, they have moved the site to a different IP address, at lurkmore.to, where it can presumably be accessed even by Russian children -- thus neatly demonstrating the futility of this kind of hamfisted censorship.
The Russian Wikipedia clone Lurkomore has long been a Wikipedia-on-steroids in Russia. With the notability requirement for articles relaxed, Lurkomore had become an "encyclopedia of contemporary culture, folklore, and subcultures, as well as everything else". | <urn:uuid:83d76476-8b85-426c-9976-6b9f47cdf401> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.techdirt.com/blog/?company=lurkomore | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962525 | 386 | 1.671875 | 2 |
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Seattle rental vacancies about as low as they can go
Seattle area landlords are breathing a sigh of relief these days due to dropping rental vacancies. Real estate appraiser Richard Hagar tells KPLU's John Maynard that two forces are driving this.
Why the low rental rates?
- The first reason for the low rental rates of five to six percent in the Seattle core has to do with more people moving to Washington. (Historically, he says, the lowest rental vacancies go is four to five percent.) Hagar says recent population studies show that about 65,000 people moved to Washington in 2010 and that number is expected to increase in 2011. He says that speaks well of our relatively stable economy.
- The second reason for the low rental rates is not so rosy: Hundreds of people are pouring into the rental market after losing their homes due to foreclosure. Meanwhile, their homes can't be rented because they're owned by the bank.
Hagar says there are also places outside of Seattle that are experiencing a low rental rates, including Puyallup, Marysville and North Bend.
According to The Seattle Times, Washington grew faster than the nation as a whole and two-thirds of the states, based on recently released census figures. The state is now home to 6.7 million people, nearly double its population 40 years ago. | <urn:uuid:06a080ae-2f58-499b-82af-637e9c0412a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kplu.org/post/seattle-rental-vacancies-about-low-they-can-go | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963742 | 289 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Wall -- An upright structure of wood, stone,etc., serving to enclose, divide, or protect.
This is my neighbor's wall. He made it himself. His wall runs down all their property next to the road. There is an opening in front of their home.
My neighbors are very talented. If they can dream it they can make it happen. They are both artists. If you ever get an invite, be sure to go. My eyes can never take in all the interesting, beautiful, things they accomplish. | <urn:uuid:e21c6c3f-1c92-4293-86d4-241b2ea09722> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://everlastingmercy.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968985 | 108 | 1.84375 | 2 |
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September 07, 2010
The naming of Michael Norman as director of the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) last week was long overdue. SDSC has been without an official director for more than 14 months, with Norman filling the spot as the interim head since last July. The appointment could mark something of a comeback for the center, which has not only gone director-less during this time, but has been operating without a high-end supercomputer as well.
DataStar, an aged 15-teraflop IBM P690 system was retired in October of 2008 and the center's relatively small Blue Gene/L machine was mothballed in June 2009. But Trestles, a new 100-teraflop supercomputer funded by the NSF, is scheduled to be up and running before the end of the year. And with the addition of Gordon, a 245-teraflop supercomputer slated for deployment in mid-2011, SDSC will again be a relatively FLOPS-happy place.
You might say that our FLOPS profile looked like the Dow Jones," laughed Norman. "It really swooned in 2008 and 2009. With the Trestles system coming at the end of 2010, we'll be back on the board."
A Little History
Norman, a computational astrophysicist, got his start at Lawrence Livermore in the 1970s, where he was able to combine his love of astronomy (his major at Caltech) with his interest in all things computational. "And then basically, I was a gypsy, going after supercomputer cycles where ever I could find them," said Norman.
After his stint at Livermore, Norman did a four-year tour (1980 - 1984) at the Max Planck institute for Astrophysics, owners of the first Cray 1 system in Western Europe. It was during his time at Max Planck when he collaborated heavily with Larry Smarr, currently UC San Diego's director of Calit2.
"I have worked closely with Mike for over 30 years, since he was a grad student at Livermore," said Smarr. "He brings a wealth of experience from working at multiple national and international supercomputer centers, as well as being a hands-on pioneer in computational astrophysics and cosmology."
It was also during this period at Max Planck that he and Smarr conceived of the idea of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). Two years after Norman had left the the institute, NCSA was born. But in the interim Norman went to Los Alamos to work as a staff scientist, before rejoining Smarr at NCSA in 1986. He stayed there for 14 years, before coming to San Diego.
There, he got involved with SDSC, first as a researcher from the UC San Diego physics department, then as a member of the center's Executive Committee. Toward the end of 2007, Norman jumped into the NSF funding fray to help SDSC win one of agency's Track 2 supercomputer procurements. The first attempt was not successful, but the second one was, resulting in the award for the Gordon system, with Norman as the principle investigator. In the summer of 2009 Norman became the interim director of the center after Fran Berman relinquished her directorship, moving to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as the VP of Research.
Norman's ascendance at SDSC ratifies the center's new focus on data-intensive supercomputing. He, more than anyone, wanted to make San Diego a place for HPC and HPD (high-performance data), a term that he coined to draw attention to the data-centric model. The idea is to support the whole scientific enterprise, and that requires a more highly integrated storage infrastructure supporting the supercomputers.
"There are these two cultures: the HPC culture and the culture of data-intensive science, or fourth paradigm, whatever you want to call it," explained Norman. "They seem to be living in different worlds. I'm hoping to bring them together at SDSC."
Part of that goal will be served by the upcoming Gordon supercomputer, which will feature a quarter of a petabyte of flash memory and virtual shared memory software. At 245 teraflops, the machine delivers only moderate performance by today's elite supercomputing standards. But a lot of today's applications are I/O bound, rather than compute bound, and would really prefer to have their big datasets sitting in main memory. Since RAM is rather expensive, flash is turning out to be the next best thing. Because of its unique memory architecture, Gordon is expected to do exceeding well at dealing with terascale-sized databases.
The driver for all this is the so-called "data deluge," which is flowing across multiple disciplines -- in traditional technical computing areas such as physics, astronomy engineering, bioinformatics, and medicine, as well as in less traditional realms, such as social sciences, arts, and economics.
Terabyte streams coming from ocean observing sensors, astronomical CCD cameras, and genome sequencers are just a few examples of how data is outrunning the computing infrastructure. Some of these, like the astronomical data streams, can require their own dedicated supercomputer.
The problem is even more acute for genome sequencers. Genome biologists are accustomed to doing their work on a workstations, because that used to be perfectly adequate. But the throughput on these machines has increased so rapidly that sequencers have gone from generating gigabytes to terabytes in just a couple of years. Even bigger improvements on the horizon. "They're really at sea right now," said Norman, "and they're realizing they can't do this work in their labs anymore."
The centerpiece of the data-intensive remodel at the SDSC will be something called Data Oasis, a very large scalable file store designed to serve multiple HPC clusters as well as data-intensive machines. Basically it's an extensible disk farm that will have high connectivity through a very large 10 gigabit switch. From Norman's perspective, this basically turns the datacenter inside out, with the compute machinery and data generators at the periphery and the data storage in the center.
Industry Partner Program Reboot
Once the new infrastructure gets in place, Norman hopes to revive the center's industry partnership program. Since retiring their capacity supercomputers over the last couple of years, SDSC hasn't been able to attract a lot of commercial collaborators. After DataStar was switched off, the center used internal funds to buy Triton, a 20-teraflop Appro cluster. According to Norman, they garnered a few industrial partners with that system, but it really doesn't have the capacity to support a large program.
The Trestles supercomputer, true to its name, will act as bridge system, until the larger Gordon machine is installed next year. (Trestles, by the way, is also a the name of a famous surf break in San Diego.) Shell Oil is very interested in the Gordon architecture, said Norman. Currently, the oil company is employing Dash, a smaller flash memory-accelerated prototype of Gordon, for an undisclosed project, and they are hoping to grow that work once its more capable successor comes online.
According to Norman, they're also active cultivating the biomedical informatics business, starting with work at the local USCD medical center. They intend to tap faculty working at the university's School of Medicine to help build up some of this expertise, with the hope that this work could spill into commercial relationships.
With it's data-centric focus, SDSC has chosen not to be part of the latest petaflop-to-exaflop race. While that gives the center an interesting niche, it's generally at odds with the funding model the NSF uses to fund supercomputing nowadays. Tighter budgets have convinced the agency to spread the money in a more piecemeal way. So you might get money for a supercomputer, but not for the data store or the network infrastructure that's needed by the whole facility. "In the old days when we had true supercomputer center funding, there was enough money to create an integrated environment," explained Norman.
In that sense, the centers are no longer funded as such. They're funded as places where the agency can plop down a resource. From Norman's perspective, that's not a workable long-term strategy for supercomputing centers. "It's possible we'll get back to a more sustainable model," he said. "I certainly hope so."
Jun 18, 2013 |
The world's largest supercomputers, like Tianhe-2, are great at traditional, compute-intensive HPC workloads, such as simulating atomic decay or modeling tornados. But data-intensive applications--such as mining big data sets for connections--is a different sort of workload, and runs best on a different sort of computer.
Jun 18, 2013 |
Researchers are finding innovative uses for Gordon, the 285 teraflop supercomputer housed at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) that has a unique Flash-based storage system. Since going online, researchers have put the incredibly fast I/O to use on a wide variety of workloads, ranging from chemistry to political science.
Jun 17, 2013 |
The advent of low-power mobile processors and cloud delivery models is changing the economics of computing. But just as an economy car is good at different things than a full size truck, an HPC workload still has certain computing demands that neither the fastest smartphone nor the most elastic cloud cluster can fulfill.
Jun 14, 2013 |
For all the progress we've made in IT over the last 50 years, there's one area of life that has steadfastly eluded the grasp of computers: understanding human language. Now, researchers at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) are utilizing a Hadoop cluster on its Longhorn supercomputer to move the state of the art of language processing a little bit further.
Jun 13, 2013 |
Titan, the Cray XK7 at the Oak Ridge National Lab that debuted last fall as the fastest supercomputer in the world with 17.59 petaflops of sustained computing power, will rely on its previous LINPACK test for the upcoming edition of the Top 500 list.
05/10/2013 | Cleversafe, Cray, DDN, NetApp, & Panasas | From Wall Street to Hollywood, drug discovery to homeland security, companies and organizations of all sizes and stripes are coming face to face with the challenges – and opportunities – afforded by Big Data. Before anyone can utilize these extraordinary data repositories, however, they must first harness and manage their data stores, and do so utilizing technologies that underscore affordability, security, and scalability.
04/15/2013 | Bull | “50% of HPC users say their largest jobs scale to 120 cores or less.” How about yours? Are your codes ready to take advantage of today’s and tomorrow’s ultra-parallel HPC systems? Download this White Paper by Analysts Intersect360 Research to see what Bull and Intel’s Center for Excellence in Parallel Programming can do for your codes.
Join HPCwire Editor Nicole Hemsoth and Dr. David Bader from Georgia Tech as they take center stage on opening night at Atlanta's first Big Data Kick Off Week, filmed in front of a live audience. Nicole and David look at the evolution of HPC, today's big data challenges, discuss real world solutions, and reveal their predictions. Exactly what does the future holds for HPC?
Join our webinar to learn how IT managers can migrate to a more resilient, flexible and scalable solution that grows with the data center. Mellanox VMS is future-proof, efficient and brings significant CAPEX and OPEX savings. The VMS is available today. | <urn:uuid:ea2437b6-4b69-4bef-b399-4fa1b204317f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hpcwire.com/hpcwire/2010-09-07/sdsc_puts_data_at_center_stage.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958049 | 2,470 | 1.625 | 2 |
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Indiana’s NewsCenter) - Multiple infant deaths are prompting change for one Indiana prosecutor. Delaware County Prosecutor Jeff Arnold says his county has seen more deaths where co-sleeping is the problem.
Arnold says he's seen 9 infant deaths in just over a year. In many of those cases he says the parents were sleeping with their babies.
"I'm not going to overlook that anymore as stupidity, I'm going to try to prosecute those cases,” said Jeffery Arnold, Delaware County Prosecutor.
Arnold's ideas may be controversial but health officials agree.
"Babies need their own safe sleep area and we can not be co-sleeping with our babies,” said Heather Henry, Community Based Registered Nurse, Parkview Health.
As Arnold is pushing for prosecution Parkview Health in Fort Wayne is educating new parents about the danger of co-sleeping. The Parkview Health class teaches parents about safe sleeping and shows them how to put together a pack and play that they also get to take home.
"It's something so simple as getting the information out there, teaching people what they need to know,” said Henry.
Arnold says under current state law he can, and will prosecute parents of babies who die in co-sleeping situations in Delaware County. But he does say he will only go that route if other factors are involved, like alcohol or drugs.
"I'm not prosecuting that parent who just lacks the education or the knowledge to not co-sleep,” said Arnold.
Parkview offers these classes regularly but Tuesday was the first day they had a community-wide class. They plan to continue offering the community-wide class free to residents.
What are your thoughts CLICK HERE to leave us a "Your2Cents” comment.
© Copyright 2013 A Granite Broadcasting Station. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | <urn:uuid:a26b2f17-7b52-4577-bc27-eee08aa6a49c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.indianasnewscenter.com/news/local/Prosecutor-Pushing-For-Change-After-Infant-Deaths--140789783.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968296 | 408 | 1.5 | 2 |
The problem with this whole new culture of texts is that people take these texts out of context, publish them and then turn them into gospel. This is especially true when these statements were made in a certain era (the 1970s, for instance) and yet people try to apply them to 2011.
Case in point: I recently read some excerpts from Questions & Answers: Thursday Nights with Rabbi Avigdor Miller which were simply horrific. Horrific, I say. And to prove that to you, I produce them below.
From pages 70-71:
Q: Is college muttar for parnassah?
A: I'm not going to pasken any sha'alah. I'll tell you this. I had to go to college recently. I went to Brooklyn College to help protest against making this shelter in our neighborhood. [The City was trying to establish a shelter in the neighborhood, which would have brought undesirable elements into the community-Ed]. It was a protest meeting. As I walked in, I smelled a terrible odor. The place poshut had a Reiach Ra. It stank! The whole college had a terrible odor. It smelled bad. You really need a gas mask when you go into college! There's no place in America that smells as bad as a college. If you go to a place of the Mafia, a Mafia den, the Mafia den is perfume compared to a college! I mean it. It's not an exaggeration. Therefore, if a person has to go to a college, let's say he's a plumber, and he's going to a college to fix the plumbing there, and he has to walk in, he should hold his nose. He can't help himself. It's his Parnasah. He has to go there. But to go there and allow yourself to be dunked in their toilet, that's a different story. You want to be dunked in their toilet for Parnasah, I'm not telling you what to do. Go to your rebbe. He knows you better. Let him pasken for you. I wouldn't pasken that. I should pasken if you should dunk your head in a full toilet for Parnasah? It's too much, that I should be able to tell you that! (#852)
From Page 170:
Q: The Rav said a person shouldn't look for a shidduch with a girl who has a career. What's the reason for that?
A: A "career girl" is not the best shidduch, and let me explain. If a girl tries to learn some kind of an Omanut to make a living to support a ben Torah, yes. That's not a "career girl." She's looking for a zechus of having a husband who will devote himself to learning. I don't say how long he should learn. Whatever it is, it's a meritorious thing. But if a girl is interested in a career for herself, you should know, there's always a probability that she's going to be a very self assertive kind of a girl, a girl who thinks she's very important. And too much importance nobody should have, not even a man. Therefore, I know from experience that "career girls" are not the very best matches. If a girl tries to learn some kind of an Omanut for the purpose of supporting a ben Torah, that's not a "career girl." (E-209)
From page 174:
Q: Is it worthwhile to go to speeches by frum psychiatrists on Chinuch HaBanim?
A: If you want advice on Chinuch HaBanim, go to Mechanchim, go to Talmidei Chachamim. Don't go to a psychiatrist or a psychologist. They get paid for it and they will welcome you, and you keep on coming and coming. One visit is followed by another visit. As long as you have insurance, they are willing to welcome you. Go to people that know the subject. The truth is, marriage counselors are of no use if they're not elderly Chachamim or elderly rebbetzins. Only they can help you. But regular marriage counselors only have a diploma and no experience. Many of them are divorced themselves, by the way. Many are divorced. Emily Post, who wrote for years and years in the newspapers about advice for marriage things, she was divorced and never got married again. So it's a waste of time and a waste of money. There are people who can advise you. Find out who they are, and ask people who are in chinuch: roshei yeshivos, people who were once Mechanchim. They will be able to tell you real practical advice (#E-206)
If I wish to be charitable, I will say Rabbi Miller's points of view are limited by the time period in which he wrote them (the 1970s). But whether he intended it or not, I am sure there are people who are going to take them to heart today because plenty of people just follow whatever they read in some book with a picture of a man in a beard on it.
So let me say the following:
1) For the pure of heart, college need not be something to fear
2) Career girls are often the best girls
3) Therapists can do amazing things and really heal the soul that was damaged and irreparably hurt by mussar and by cruel religious people and Rabbis, and marriage counselors (including and sometimes especially secular ones) can transform marriages, sometimes specifically because they are young/ relatable
And anyone who takes R' Miller's view in such situations is aligning himself with the side of repugnant nonsense. And also possibly of actual harm. | <urn:uuid:e274e634-f4aa-41fd-8172-9eaba38990f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://curiousjew.blogspot.com/2011/08/repugnant-nonsense.html?showComment=1313283086310 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980148 | 1,205 | 1.78125 | 2 |
CESVIMAP BUY A MITSUBISHI I-MIEV FOR TESTING
CESVIMAP want to study electric vehicles, their driving and recharging, as well as the commitment to the environment. So, a Mitsubishi i-Miev was the electric vehicle (EV) chosen, which doesn´t emit harmful pollulants as CO2 along its running. Driving the i-MiEV is equal to stop emitting a tonne of CO2 per year, compared with similar gasoline vehicle.
This vehicle is powered by a lithium ion battery that is
recharged by connecting to the electric network or
partiality when the motor acts as generator during
This car is the first 100% electric vehicle to be tested in crash tests by Euro NCAP, getting 4 stars.
CESVIMAP is now studying various suppliers of electricity for recharging, as well as where to locate the charging station.
The Mitsubishi i-MiEV is a four-seater utilitarian vehicle which is totally electrically propelled. 3.47 metres long, 1.47 wide, 1.61 high, it has a 166 litre boot. Its unladen weight is 1,110 kgs.
This is an urban vehicle, extremely agile and easy to handle, with a comfortable interior and giving a smooth and silent drive.
Among its equipment there are: six airbags, ASTC (active stability and traction control) ABS with EBD and power emergency braking, fog lights with integrated daytime lights, led rear illumination, air conditioning, CD and radio with Bluetooth and USB connection, electric windows for all passengers, automatic headlights and fifteen-inch alloy wheels. | <urn:uuid:ccef369b-4c3a-4e11-8a6e-abb204752ddc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mapfre.com/wcesvimap/en/cinformativo/MitsubishiiMiev-001en.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952617 | 344 | 1.617188 | 2 |
MAKING the best of a bad job, Philip Hammond, Britain's defence secretary, today reversed, as expected, the decision of his predecessor to buy the carrier (C) variant of Lockheed-Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter instead of the short take-off and vertical landing (B) variant. The embarrassment was compounded by the fact that it was only 19 months ago that the prime minister, David Cameron, had announced that as a result of the coalition government's defence review, Britain would buy the F-35C rather than the F-35B ordered by the previous Labour government.
Back then, Mr Cameron went to some lengths to explain why Labour had got it so wrong: the C was a much more capable aircraft, with twice the range and able to carry three times the payload of its STOVL sister; its through-life operating costs would be 25% less; the clincher was that by putting the catapults and arrestors on one of the two new carriers under construction (the other was to be mothballed or sold), Britain would be able to conduct joint operations more effectively with its most closest military allies, America and France. A further factor, though given less prominence, was that the F-35B's development programme had run into trouble and doubts were being raised in the Pentagon about whether the plane would overcome its problems.
It all looks very different now. The B variant has surmounted its teething problems: it came off “probation” a few months ago, whereas the F-35C is now considered the ugly duckling and needs a time-consuming re-design to move its arrestor hook to the right place. Mr Hammond said that sticking with the C variant would have meant that Britain would lack carrier-strike capabilities until 2023 at the earliest. By contrast, the B variant should be flying from the deck of a new carrier, the Queen Elizabeth, by 2017. Mr Hammond's other main argument, that the estimated cost of fitting “cats and traps” to one carrier had more than doubled to £2 billion ($3.2 billion), is a bit harder to explain. Britain had opted for the untried electro-magnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) destined for America's new Ford-class carriers, but America is absorbing all the development costs of the EMALS so it is unclear why the price should have shot up by so much.
By far the best reason for the U-turn, however, is that it restores the possibility of Britain having two carriers—the minimum needed to have one carrier always operationally available. Mr Hammond said that a decision on the second carrier's fate would be taken as part of the 2015 defence review, but that keeping the second ship ready and crewed would cost would cost about £60m a year. That sounds cheap at the price compared with the total programme cost (including planes) of about £15 billion. | <urn:uuid:ac24091a-f0fa-4035-8903-90e35dae917c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.economist.com/blogs/clausewitz/2012/05/britain-and-joint-strike-fighter | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981147 | 599 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Kate Hagan November 27, 2012
Proposed laws would ban smoking in outdoor dining and drinking areas.
THE Victorian government is facing renewed pressure to introduce statewide bans on smoking in outdoor dining areas with the Greens set to introduce a private members bill in Parliament this week.
Greens MP Colleen Hartland said the government was taking too long to introduce bans that were now in place or under way in every other Australian state and territory.
Both the opposition and government yesterday declined to say whether they supported outdoor smoking bans. A spokeswoman for Health Minister David Davis said the government was ''considering further options for regulatory reform in consultation with key stakeholders'', after banning smoking at patrolled beaches.
In addition to banning smoking in outdoor dining and drinking areas, the proposed laws would also ban smoking within 10 metres of children's playgrounds and within four metres of entrances to public buildings and public transport stops.
The move comes eight months after a coalition of Victorian health groups including the Australian Medical Association, Cancer Council, Heart Foundation and Quit recommended the government adopt such bans as a matter of priority.
During the 2010 state election campaign, then opposition leader Ted Baillieu said he would consider banning smoking in public places if health groups recommended it.
Last month, the government announced it would ban smoking on patrolled beaches, with fines of $140 for anyone who lit up between the flags or within 50 metres.
Health groups said the measure did not go far enough. It also clashed with existing bans by local councils including Surf Coast Shire, where smoking is banned on beaches, including Torquay and Anglesea.
Ms Hartland said statewide laws were needed to avoid confusion created by local councils striking out on their own to introduce various outdoor smoking bans.
West Gippsland's Baw Baw Shire is the only council that has introduced bans on smoking in outdoor dining areas after a year-long trial.
Boroondara Council has banned smoking near playgrounds, taxi ranks, bus and tram stops and sportsgrounds, and Monash Council has banned smoking at sportsgrounds, reserves and public swimming pools.
Smoking near playgrounds is also banned in the cities of Melbourne, Yarra and Hobsons Bay.
Quit Victoria executive director Fiona Sharkie said a high number of Victorians supported bans on smoking in outdoor dining areas, which had helped attract more patrons and encouraged smokers to quit in other states.
She said outdoor smoking bans would prevent exposure to secondhand smoke for other people, help people who had quit smoking avoid relapsing, and ''de-normalise'' smoking, including for children.
About 4000 Victorians die each year from smoking-related illnesses. | <urn:uuid:0dd5b187-6046-4c42-bef4-d3a12dfd1d7d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://m.theage.com.au/victoria/smokers-may-face-new-bans-20121126-2a3lf.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973983 | 547 | 1.625 | 2 |
One of the things that I really love about Roman Catholic traditions is the way that we have divided the entire year into phases or chapters that center around Jesus of Nazareth. Part of the year prepares for his coming. That is Advent. Part of the year marks the time when Christ was present among us. That is from Christmas Day until fifty days after the Resurrection. The third chapter and the longest begins with Pentecost and continues until Advent begins again. It is really a wonderful system where throughout the year we are constantly reminded of the need to have our lives centered on Jesus of Nazareth, to know him better, to love him profoundly and to motivate ourselves to walk in his footsteps.
I love Pentecost because on this day the spotlight swings away from the life of Jesus of Nazareth and shines squarely on us. Jesus came to be our savior, to be our redeemer and he accomplished that, but He wanted to have the human family involved in its own salvation. He wanted us to be partners with him in preaching the good word of God’s love for the human family.
Regretfully, sometimes we don’t get as much out of the Scripture readings as we should when we are at Sunday Mass. I would suggest that you take three or four minutes and open up your bible to Acts of Apostles 2:1-11. The story related there is short but awesomely dramatic. It provides a jump start for this little band of battered, confused men who now have the responsibility of carrying forward the work of Jesus and, believe me, they do well. Next week we will see that Peter gave one of the most successful homilies in the history of the Church. Following the reception of the Holy Spirit, Peter and the apostles go out into the streets of Jerusalem and Peter preaches to the crowds and the text says that, “There were added that day three thousand souls.” That would certainly have been the shortest RCIA in Church history.
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Most of the time, I just comment on Sacred Scriptures for Sundays but occasionally I see something in the weekday readings that makes me want to share it with others via this blog. Last Thursday, March 15th, was such a day, so I’d like to take a small step back and revisit a portion of the message. The first reading was from the book of Jeremiah and, as is so often the case in Jeremiah, it is a warning! Yahweh is condemning the people for their sinfulness, their lack of faith, their inconstancy and their foolish disregard of his law. He reminds them that time after time he has sent prophets among them to call them to faithfulness, to direct them on the right path and to remind them of the suffering that would be ahead if they continued on that unfaithful road.
Here we are late in Lent and you don’t have to go back to the Sinai desert to be conscious of the fact that warnings come into our lives as well. A close friend dies very suddenly and a very important thought catches our imagination and we are reminded of the need to recommit ourselves to utilizing this holy season. We experience disappointment when a friend lets us down and we have to concentrate on the fact that Jesus Christ is our faith long friend, and that we are journeying with him and we need to stay close to him and on the road. We don’t want to have applied to us what Yahweh said to the people in the 6th century B.C.
This is the nation which does not listen to the voice of the Lord its God or take correction. Faithfulness has disappeared.
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January 29th, Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Most viewers of this blog are probably familiar with the fact that I only post them six times a week. On Saturday, I make some comments on the Scriptures of the following day and then take Sunday off. I hope that you also have an easy Sunday!
This is always the easiest day of the week for me to post a blog because I have my choice of three different readings. The first and second readings are usually drawn from the Old Testament and from one of the Epistles while the third reading is always from one of the four Gospels.
Today, I am passing all of those over and going to the Responsorial Psalm which I think is beautiful, optimistic and a guide for anyone’s life. The first refrain tells us, “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” Oh, my friends, what a wonderful challenge. Each of us has experienced temptations to do something that our conscience warns us against and, on the other hand, we sometimes see an opportunity to do good and yet feel that it wasn’t our job or our responsibility. When we have those thoughts and we don’t give the right response, what we are doing is exactly what the psalmist calls us not to do. We are hearing his voice but we have hardened our hearts.
This particular psalm comes from the 95th psalm and it is so beautiful. The psalm tells us:
Let us sing joyfully to the Lord
Let us greet him with thanksgiving
Let us bow down and worship
He is our God and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides
These few words are both a challenge and a source of joy and confidence. We are part of the flock. He does shepherd us and we should endeavor to be open constantly to the various invitations to be better, to walk in his footsteps.
Once again, if today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
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26th Sunday (September 25th)
The Church year is beginning to wind down. For many weeks, the Scripture texts presented for our consideration each Sunday morning have provided us with material for thought, self evaluation and, hopefully, self improvement. Occasionally, some of them jump out at us with really startling concepts. Today, is such a day.
The theme of today’s Mass is obedience and the Gospel narrative gives an excellent example of that, but the most important for me personally, is the second reading from the second chapter of St. Paul in which he talks about the obedience and humility of Jesus Christ. St. Paul is writing from prison to his friends and converts in the city of Philippi. The apostle urges them to be united in faith, not to quarrel or fight and pointing out that they can avoid conflict by being humble and generous to each other. Then he referred to Christ’s attitude in those areas.
Christ, “though he was by nature God, did not deem the equality with God something to be grasped at. Rather he emptied himself, took the form of a slave and born in the likeness of men.”
In his preaching, Paul frequently urges us to walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ – “For me to live as Christ.” He never asserted that it was going to be easy and in today’s world, such a path is truly challenging.
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20th Sunday of the Year: August 14th
This Sunday is all about the mystery of the Jews in the Christian story. There is no way that I can deal with it effectively in the few paragraphs to which I am limited by my editor. All three scripture texts touch on the mystery of Judaism and the new dispensation brought about by the life, the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In the first reading, Isaiah says with great optimism and hopefulness that God’s love and justice reaches out to non-Jews if they love the name of the Lord and become his servants. In the second reading, St. Paul, in writing to the Romans, identifies himself for the first time as the apostle to the Gentiles and explains why he is still vitally concerned about bringing Jewish friends into the community that is united by its faith in Jesus. Those first two readings are essentially gentle and encouraging, but today’s excerpt from the Gospel seems harsh because it shows that Jesus is still coming in a very special way to call God’s chosen people to listen to his word and he wants to specialize in that. He will get around to the Gentiles later on but then, of course, the text does take a happy turn. Because of the great faith of this Canaanite woman, her wish is granted and her child is cured. This text tells us many things; first of all, the importance of the Jews in salvation history and secondly, the power of prayer.
Remember that sad line in the prologue of St. John’s Gospel? “He came into his own and his own received him not.” That text is offset by John, a few lines later, when he says, “But to those who did accept him, he gave the power to become children of God who are born not of natural generation nor human choice nor a man’s decision, but are born of God.”
And so we are!
Share on Facebook | <urn:uuid:19bf2621-80b6-49ed-bfeb-033fe3a2687c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bishopjohnmccarthy.com/tag/scripture/ | 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 | 0.97659 | 1,871 | 1.710938 | 2 |
"Accepting something just means you are willing to let it be the way it is. After all, what other choice do you have, since it is the way it is?"
"How can your thoughts be your own voice when you don’t even like much of what this voice says and, in fact, this voice often makes you to feel bad? Who is it that is aware of not liking some of your thoughts? This voice in your head is not your voice, and it doesn’t have to be your voice. You are what can choose to believe those thoughts and speak them and act on them. What is it that is aware of thought and can choose this? This is a great mystery, isn’t it? We are all a great mystery and part of the Great Mystery."
Sign up for the Radical Happiness monthly newsletter and receive a free ebook:
What About Now?
Being in the
On every page of this 170-page ebook by Gina Lake is a quote from her other seven books that will inspire you and help you remember to be in the moment. These quotes will bring you more in touch with your true nature and help you live from there.
You will also receive Radiance, a 50-page ebook, which describes how to experience the Divine in the world in simple ways by being present.
“Choosing Essence is simply a matter of putting our attention on Essence’s qualities—love, peace, joy, acceptance, and contentment.”
"There are facts and there are stories we tell about facts: Fact: He was late. Story: All stories, beliefs, and self-images belong to the ego and create the ego’s version of reality and the false self. Meanwhile, something else is here living, breathing, moving through life in a different way. It uses facts and the intellect, but it moves according to deeper drives and intentions that relate to the role we came here to play within the Whole."
”We use words like stillness, silence, peace, and love to describe Presence not only because we become still, silent, peaceful, and loving when we are in Presence, but because when we become still, silent, peaceful, or loving, we drop into Presence. Thus, many of the words that describe Presence are both a description and a prescription for experiencing it.” | <urn:uuid:6f201f12-e37b-4a2c-8298-9b4aaf063dea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.radicalhappiness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=56:video&catid=1:articles&Itemid=85 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958856 | 486 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Fellowship in Medical Humanities and Bioethics
Each year, the Division offers a competitive award of one Fellowship in Medical Humanities (FIMH). This one-year fellowship provides medical students the chance to study an area of the Medical Humanities that may interest them considerably, but that cannot be explored adequately within the constraints of the regular curriculum. The program encourages medical students to research aspects of healthcare within George Engel's medical framework—to consider their places and those of their patients in relationship to self, family, community, nation, and biosphere. To do this, students will use materials and methodologies of humanities disciplines, including literature, history, fine arts, theatre, cultural, disabilities and gender studies, or philosophy, ethics, and law.
The fellowship is intended to provide an intellectual opportunity and funding for substantive and innovative humanities-focused projects on medical topics or issues. FIMH hopes to nurture a balance of humanistic and scientific perspectives. The fellowship does not support completion of degree programs at other institutions. The fellowship cannot be deferred from the year in which it is granted.
Fellowship application due date is February 4, 2013.
Medical Humanities Summer Research Student Grants
Co-sponsored by the Student Enrichment Program, the Division offers several summer grants to eligible students with summer research proposals whose topic, objectives and methodology are more appropriate to humanities or social sciences than clinical basic sciences. Contact Adrienne Morgan, firstname.lastname@example.org for further information and deadlines.
Rochester Academy of Medicine Awards for Essays on a Medical or Historical Subject
Every year the Rochester Academy of Medicine (RAOM) offers a number of awards from $300 - $750 to medical students, physicians, and other health care professionals for essays on a topic in medicine or medical history. These awards are available in the fields of geriatrics, nursing, adult primary care, trauma and emergency medicine, surgery, occupational medicine, medical history any medical subject. Further information is available on the RAOM website or from Mary Fisher, email: email@example.com.
Faculty-Staff-Student Creative Excellence Award Contest
Sponsored by the Interdisciplinary Cluster for Human Values in Health Care and the Center for Ethics, Humanities and Palliative Care.
2012 Creative Excellence Award Winners
We would like to thank everyone who submitted entries and are pleased to announce this year’s winners. Each first-place winner receives a cash prize of $200 and an award plaque. Honorable mention recognition receives a $100 cash prize.
Both written pieces will be added to this website by June 8. They will also be on display along with the quilted wall hanging at the entrance of the Miner Library during the month of June.
Student Award: Pete Capucilli
Winning submission: A story written as a gift to his hometown Rabbi Read the story
Pete Capucilli is a third year medical student at the University of Rochester and a native of Hastings-on-Hudson, NY. He graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in Child Development and Cognitive Studies and spent time in San Francisco and Philadelphia before moving to Rochester. Pete comes from a very artistic family; his mother is a children's book author and his father works in film. As such, he has always been dedicated to the creative arts. Before coming to medical school, he considered accepting an offer to graduate school to study fine arts and photography. In addition to creative writing, Pete is actively involved in music composition. His recent work, a full length original musical entitled "25th Med School Reunion" was performed live at the medical school featuring the vocal talents of several other students.His winning entry was written as a gift to his hometown Rabbi who began each of his stories with the same two words that begin Peter’s story, “A Story.”
Staff Award: Karen W. Frutiger
Winning submission: Quilted wall hanging entitled “Sense of Self”
Karen is an RN who has worked at URMC since 1999. She is the Clinical Coordinator of the University of Rochester Pulmonary Hypertension Program with expertise in the management of PAH and heart failure, use of infused prostacyclins, and coordination of clinical research. In the 1980’s Karen was part of a team that participated in a federal demonstration project for hospice under the leadership of Tim Quill. This experience continues to have tremendous positive influence on how she approaches the care of patients and their families.Recently she wrote an article for the PH Pulse, the PH professional network newsletter on the topic of compassion fatigue. She described her personal experience with compassion fatigue and outlined strategies she uses to maintain a positive outlook as she cares for a group of seriously ill patients with life threatening illness. Art including painting, drawing and quilting continues to be her joyful creative outlet. Karen’s winning entry is a quilted wall hanging entitled “Sense of Self.”
Faculty Award: none this year due to lack of submissions
Honorable Mention: Haleh Van Vliet (formerly Kadivar)
Winning Submission: Poetry about experiences at Holocaust sites Read the poems
Haleh Van Vliet graduated from the URSMD on May 18th, 2012, and is now a first-year resident in the Emergency Medicine Department at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. During the transition between her third and fourth year of medical school, Haleh participated in the Fellowship at Auschwitz for Study of Professional Ethics Medical Program. This two-week program took Haleh and thirteen other medical students from across the United States to New York City, Berlin (Germany), Krakow (Poland), and Oswiecim (Poland) to study the role that physicians played in the implementation of the Holocaust. Her poetry submission is a poignant reflection of that experience. | <urn:uuid:861f3894-995f-476b-8d1b-071ccfbc6ab3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/medical-humanities/about/awards.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953679 | 1,214 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Commute By Bike!
Why should you consider bicycle commuting?
There are many reasons to commute by bicycle. For starters, bicycle commuting exercises your commuting options and your body! It can also save money, reduce stress, improve air quality and it is often faster than driving (depending on your commute, of course).
Save Money Automobile ownership adds up fast - think of your fuel costs, insurance, auto maintenance, parking fees and car payments! If you replace your car or secondary vehicle with a bicycle, you can save up to 25% of your income.
Improve Air Quality Did you know that short auto trips are up to three times more polluting than long trips? Each time you substitute a four-mile round-trip auto commute with a bike, you can prevent nearly 15 pounds of auto air pollution from contaminating your air. Bicycle commuting also reduces the water and noise pollution that are associated with driving a vehicle.
Stay Healthy Bicycle commuting offers an abundance of health benefits. Studies have proven that bicycle commuting can reduce stress and the risk of heart disease, maintain or reduce weight, tone muscles, and even improve cardio-vascular fitness.
Cycling works for some, walking for others, or perhaps a combination. For added convenience, Mountain Metropolitan Transit offers bike racks on all buses through its bike-n-bus program.
Call Metro Rides at (719) 385-7433 option #2 to get started! We even offer a free bike partner match to connect you with others near you that are interested in cycling to work. What are you waiting for? Get in gear today!
Please visit our Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services site for more information on bicycling in Colorado Springs! | <urn:uuid:d992e120-d13c-4cda-891e-2706c0cda98d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://springsgov.com/Page.aspx?NavID=1528 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940003 | 346 | 1.828125 | 2 |
CONSIDERING the amount of coverage in the past century given to the sinking of the Titanic, it is unlikely there are many people in the developed world (or elsewhere) that don't have at least rudimentary knowledge of the events surrounding this incident, it being one of the most famous disasters.
I was therefore pleasantly surprised upon reading this book in finding such an amount of information of which I was previously unaware. This is in large part due to the fact it is taken mainly from the words of those who either survived the sinking (passengers and crew) or those involved in rescue efforts.
These accounts, collated from testimonies from the two separate inquiries spanning the Atlantic, are absolutely riveting, giving quite an insight as to how the situation unfolded, and the ship's demise along with the majority of souls on board.
Given 2012 marks a century since the sinking, this book is an especially fascinating look at not only the incident but also the differing standards of the day in comparison with ours.
Titanic On Trial | <urn:uuid:17da420a-8313-4e5b-8b44-1d65f237b3bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.couriermail.com.au/entertainment/books/book-review-titanic-on-trial/story-fncali0o-1226407896699 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974802 | 207 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Italy police make arrest in Pompeii investigation
ROME (Reuters) - Italian police arrested a former restorer of the ancient city of Pompeii on corruption charges on Tuesday and are investigating five others, including the former special commissioner appointed to deal with the increasing degradation of the historic site.
Italy declared a state of emergency in 2008 at Pompeii after archaeologists and art historians complained about the poor upkeep of the crumbling site, pointing to mismanagement and lack of investment.
A special commissioner, Marcello Fiori, was also appointed for the UNESCO World Heritage Site, an ancient Roman city which was buried by an eruption of the Vesuvius volcano in AD 79.
But investigators say Fiori and the director of restoration at the time, Luigi D'Amora, awarded irregular contracts to the restoration services company Caccavo and paid inflated prices for its work.
Collapsed walls and columns since 2008 have renewed concerns about the condition of the site.
Prosecutors say the officials broke the terms of the state of emergency, overspent on various restoration projects and agreed to non-essential work on Pompeii, one of Italy's most popular attractions, visited by some 2.5 million tourists each year.
They have accused Fiori of abuse of office while D'Amora is being investigated for fraud.
Police have put Caccavo official Annamaria Caccavo under house arrest and are investigating her for aiding abuse of office, corrupting a public official and fraud.
The company has been banned from doing business with public administration and police have ordered the seizure of 810,788 euros worth of its assets. Three engineers are also being investigated for fraud and corruption.
The accused parties were not immediately available for comment.
(Reporting By Catherine Hornby and Massimilano Di Giorgio; Editing by Oliver Holmes)
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Elvis' first engagement in Las Vegas was a two-week run in the Venus Room of the New Frontier Hotel. April 23 - May 6, 1956. Perhaps in deference to the atomic testing sites in the nearby desert, he received billing as "The Atomic Powered Singer". A cutout of Elvis standing 24 feet high greeted guests outside the casino.
On the first night of the engagement Elvis' set was the closing act after the headlining Freddy Martin Orchestra, which consisted of seventeen players and twenty-eight singers, dancers and ice skaters. The little four-piece group of Elvis, Scotty, Bill and DJ had become used to performing in front of hundreds of screaming teenagers and often being unable to even hear one another on stage. Suddenly they found themselves in a quiet showroom of older, more reserved listeners - no youth allowed. The audience didn't quite know what to make of the young singer and his musical style.
Elvis didn't let the less than enthusiastic crowd get the best of him. Memphis reporter Bob Johnson wrote, "Elvis, who has played hard audiences before, kept right in there busting guitar strings and shaking his legs and the rafters..... And the ice began to break."
Visitors to the shows included his friend Judy Spreckels, Hal Wallis (who had just signed Elvis to his first movie deal) and entertainers Ray Bolger, Phil Silvers and Liberace. Elvis and Liberace were photographed cuttting up with each other for the press.
Even if Las Vegas hadn't yet come to love Elvis Presley, Elvis loved Las Vegas. The city that never closes and the many lounge acts he could see there suited Elvis very well. He and his friends visited the local amusement park almost daily, went to movies and flirted with showgirls. One of the acts Elvis saw a number of times was Freddie Bell and the Bellboys. He was fascinated with their male-perspective performance of the Leiber and Stoller composition, "Hound Dog", which, with its original female-perspective lyrics, had been a hit for Big Mama Thornton. Elvis quickly added the song to his own act and, in July 1956, made his own recording of it.
Elvis' manager Colonel Tom Parker arranged for a Saturday matinee for teenagers at The New Frontier on April 28,1956, the very same day that Elvis' recording of "Heartbreak Hotel" hit #1 on the Billboard pop singles chart. The show was, of course, a "screaming" success and the $1.00 admission charge raised funds for lights in a youth baseball park. One of the casino owners gifted Elvis with a watch with diamonds.
His first engagement in Las Vegas brought mixed reviews. Although he didn't return to perform there again until 1969, Elvis enjoyed visiting Las Vegas in the years after his 1956 engagement. In the years following resounding triumph of his 1969 engagement, Elvis and Las Vegas became permanently linked in the public consciousness.
Elvis's first appearance in Las Vegas was was an engagement at the New Frontier Hotel in 1956. It was not until 1969 that he performed in the city again. Elvis was ready for a change by then. His movies had been less than fulfilling for him creatively. His TV special in December of 1968 had been successful and exciting, giving Elvis a needed energy recharge, a chance to refocus his career goals. His manager Colonel Parker worked out a deal for Elvis to perform at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. The hotel, which was still under construction, would become the biggest hotel-casino in Las Vegas in that era. It would have a 2,000-seat showroom as compared to the typical 1,200-seat showrooms at other properties in the city.
The Colonel asked $500,000 for four weeks, one show per night and two shows on the weekends with Mondays off. He also wanted to be able to record albums and TV specials using the hotel's facilities. The International countered with $400,000 for four weeks ($500,000 if Elvis would be the first star to play the showroom), two shows a night, suites for Elvis and the Colonel, and recording facilities. The Colonel declined the offer of having Elvis open the showroom, preferring that another act endure the working out of any bugs in the new sound and lighting systems. Not getting the extra $100,000 was not a worry because the Colonel felt he would be in a position to renegotiate their deal once Las Vegas saw Elvis perform.
Elvis auditioned musicians and put together a great band, including James Burton (lead guitar), Larry Muhoberac (piano), Jerry Scheff (bass), Ronnie Tutt (drums) and John Wilkinson (rhythm guitar). He also hired two of his favorite singing groups to provide backing vocals - The Imperials, a male gospel group, and The Sweet Inspirations, a female R&B group. For his costumes Elvis engaged designer Bill Belew, with whom he had worked on the 1968 TV special.
Elvis and the band planned and rehearsed. When they arrived early in Las Vegas to continue rehearsals, Barbra Streisand, who was the showroom's first headliner, was still playing her engagement there. Elvis spent time visiting the other shows on the Strip, watching the acts and gauging the audiences. Meanwhile, the Colonel was plastering posters and banners all over Las Vegas. He had radio, TV and print ads running daily. In reference to his promotional blitz the Colonel told Elvis, "......the gophers in the desert will know you're here!"
Elvis began his 4-week, 57-show engagement on July 31, 1969. Opening night attendance was by invitation only and the room was full of celebrities and music critics. It has been said that, from the moment that Elvis appeared on the stage to the strains of "Blue Suede Shoes", the room "exploded". This engagement broke all attendance records in Las Vegas. The International gave Elvis a special gold award belt in commemoration of this feat.
In the hotel coffee shop after the opening night concert, Colonel Parker and International Hotel president Alex Shoofey renegotiated Elvis's contract, writing the new deal on the tablecloth that covered the table where they sat, effectively raising Elvis's salary to $1 million a year for two four-week engagements each year through 1974. Between 1969 and his final Vegas engagement in 1976, Elvis played approximately 641 shows at The International Hotel (renamed The Hilton in the early 1970s) with great success, including breaking his 1969 attendance record again and again.
RCA recorded a number of his Las Vegas shows over the years. A particular performance in one of the shows of 1969 has gotten a lot of attention over the years. During his midnight show on August 26, 1969, shortly after beginning to sing "Are You Lonesome Tonight", Elvis became amused by the antics of a man in the audience. Once Elvis started laughing about the guy, he just couldn't stop. He continued to laugh his way through to the end of the song while Cissy Houston of The Sweet Inspirations continued to sing her soprano obligato. RCA has, to date, released this much-requested recording on three albums: the "Elvis Aron Presley" silver box set, "Elvis: A Legendary Performer, Volume 4" and the "Collectors Gold" box set. Certainly, there are more important recorded moments, but we can't resist including information about this one because there's a non-stop flow of inquiry about it. Once in a while, a disc jockey somewhere will play it on the radio and we'll get messages from people who want to know how to find it. To answer a typical second question - no, unfortunately, the performance can't be found on video. The only formal filming of any of Elvis's Las Vegas engagements took place in the summer of 1970 when MGM shot several shows to include in that year's theatrically released documentary "Elvis, That's the Way It Is". | <urn:uuid:589e6499-cf6f-490e-ab9e-28c09c3f459f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tcb-world.com/threads/11111-Are-you-lonesome-tonight-(Laughing-version)?p=98064&viewfull=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975868 | 1,655 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Letter: This gun owner, hunter wants reasonable talk about gun violenceAs a psychologist, I take issue with the notion that ‘good people with guns are the solution to bad people with guns.’
By: Jeff Horner, town of River Falls, River Falls Journal
As a psychologist, I take issue with the notion that ‘good people with guns are the solution to bad people with guns.’
The difference between ‘good’ people and ‘bad’ people all too often is the result of unexpected circumstances. Bad things happen to good people, and often the results are tragic.
The likelihood of any of us ‘going postal,’ ‘snapping,’ ‘losing it’ is pretty equally distributed across the population, with the exception that males are far more likely to turn it into homicidal violence.
As a hunter, gun owner and typical American male, I respect gun ownership, but, of course that is not the issue. Nobody is questioning gun ownership.
Having a rifle, shotgun or sidearm to hunt or to protect oneself seems reasonable.
Yet reasonable people question the relative value of allowing assault weapons to be purchased by anyone for any purpose.
Automatic weapons capable of multiple deadly assaults provide little real protection for one’s family, while posing a serious and real risk to our family, friends and selves as we go about our daily lives.
So, can we discuss gun violence, mental health and personal safety in a reasonable way?
Without weapons manufacturers setting the agenda?
Without Democrats and Republicans blaming the other guy?
With normal citizens, you and me, talking about our families, our friends, our community? | <urn:uuid:9621e819-0d8e-47d3-85c9-a7c5c4be774d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.riverfallsjournal.com/event/article/id/103982/group/Opinion/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957963 | 351 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Despite remaining well off the Southeast coast, Sandy still threatens to impact some people in Atlanta early next week.
Heavy and gusty rain squalls will graze the Southeast coast into this weekend before Hurricane Sandy slams into the Northeast Monday into Tuesday.
The sun will shine brightly in Atlanta Monday and Tuesday as a gusty and chilly breeze blows.
That breeze alone could lead to a minor flight delays, but many airline passengers at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport may actually find themselves stranded with Sandy to blame.
The Northeast is bracing for a historic event Monday and Tuesday as Sandy moves onshore with widespread damaging winds, flooding rain, severe coastal flooding and high-elevation snow.
The severity of the situation is sure to force airlines to cancel flights throughout the Northeast, including at the heavily-traveled airports around New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
The ripple-effect from these cancelled flights threatens to create a travel nightmare in Atlanta with airline passengers waiting for planes that are held up in the Northeast.
The flight backlog created by Sandy may take extra long to fix since the storm (which will no longer be a tropical system after Tuesday) may not fully exit the Northeast until next weekend.
Those flying to and from Atlanta next week, especially from Monday to Wednesday, should consider trying to reschedule their flight to this weekend.
Thumbnail photo courtesy of Photos.com.
NOAA released its 2013 Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast Thursday, predicting another active season.
This holiday weekend, a rare astronomical phenomenon will occur that will not be seen again until October 2015.
San Antonio is getting hit by heavy thunderstorms on Friday afternoon and evening.
A few days after a chilly storm departs the Northeast, warm weather will make a strong comeback in parts of the Midwest and the East later next week.
Severe weather and drenching downpours will affect parts of the Plains and Midwest over the Memorial Day Weekend.
"This pup was literally singing when he saw his family," Michelle Karolicki, relocation program manager of the Central Oklahoma Humane Society, said about a reunion that took place on Thursday.
Tornado swarm in Iowa, Illinois and Michigan; 74 killed.
New York City (1861)
Snow was reported.
Wesley, LA (1991)
Heavy rain (25th-26th) resulted in widespread flooding. One hundred-sixty homes -- 80% of the total number of houses in town -- received structural or water damage. A total of 6.5" of rain fell in 2-1/2 hours. | <urn:uuid:ad5ae15f-81f7-4ee9-b11d-b7625aede41d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/atlanta-travel-nightmares-poss/704419 | 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 | 0.944857 | 532 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Photo by Rick Gush
I spotted the colorful grub shown above on my office windowsill the other day, and apart from marveling at the wonderful coloration of the creature, I was disappointed in myself that I didn’t eat it. We in the West are culinary wimps in regard to eating insects, and that’s a part of my psychological heritage that I don’t like very much. I wish I was a bug eater, but I’m not. Oh sure, like everybody from California, I’ve eaten a few chocolate-covered grasshoppers, but there is some weird uncertainty that keeps me from putting morsels like this grub in my mouth.
This situation is doubly frustrating because I know where to find a lot of potentially tasty bugs. Feeding hawks and robins with grubs has been a hobby of mine for many years. I’m good at digging around under leaf accumulations in the garden and woods, finding big fat grubs. These grubs can then be placed on a tall post or similar in an area known to contain sparrow hawks or robins. Once the grubs are wiggling, which is attractive to their eaters, I step back out of the way and wait for a bird customer for my offered snack. It doesn’t usually take too long for the birds to swoop down and scoop up the treat. I now find it annoying that I don’t chew on the succulent little creatures myself. I’ll bet they’d be great with a bit of miner’s lettuce or some wild asparagus.
I do think the bug-eating phobia Western society created will fade away in the upcoming decades. I predict that, in the future, many people in the Western world will cultivate worm and insect colonies that turn kitchen waste into edible worms and insects.
I know some farmers here in Italy who raise snails as a crop. Raising insects doesn’t seem like it would be that difficult, and I have raised mealworms. A plastic box filled with sawdust was the basis and then I added some fresh potato or apple and then some grains like oatmeal or birdseed for food. I’ve also raised crickets, and their culture is about the same, but they like a layer of dirt, some egg cartons to give them housing, and fruit and vegetable scraps for feed. I haven’t tried raising worms and crickets together, but it seems like a natural combination. I have raised a lot of worms, and I have a big box full of them now that I use to process our kitchen waste. Perhaps one of these days I’ll use some to make a casserole.
Click here for a nice list of various edible bugs:
Read more of Rick's Favorite Crops »
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Give us your opinion on Eating Bugs. | <urn:uuid:99792b3c-47a6-4050-af84-961a51cf35c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.urbanfarmonline.com/community-building-and-resources/urban-farm-bloggers/urban-farmer-rick-gush/eating-bugs.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957659 | 603 | 1.765625 | 2 |
MOWING down child abuse one place at a time is Claude Harvey's business.
Well, he makes it his business, like it or not, and sometimes he even faces staunch opposition when he pushes his lawnmower into town.
For 14 years, he's been walking to raise money for Bravehearts, a national organisation that strives to protect Australian children from sexual abuse.
He's well known at the Gold Coast, where he is based at Varsity Lakes, for walking 120km every year along the Queensland and northern New South Wales coast to raise money.
To date he has raised in excess of $400,000 for the organisation and the kids of Australia.
Taking his charity venture up another notch, Mr Harvey is now walking the east coast of Australia, stopping at every town between his home and Mt Isa. And just for kicks, he's pushing a lawnmower all the way. The mower engine won't turn over, but it still gets plenty of attention.
Mr Harvey embarked on his latest journey at the beginning of April and three months later arrived in Gympie. While he stayed for a couple of nights, promoting his cause at shopping centres to an accepting and generous public, he told The Gympie Times he didn't always get such a good reception.
He said in 2010 he walked a different way, somewhere in Queensland that he refused to name and shame, when he was warned by folk that if he continued along to the next town he would be shot.
"I have been mentally and physically attacked on these journeys. At one place around 20 to 30 people told me and my partner that if I went through the next town there was plans to shoot me," he said.
"While I avoided it at the time, I later learned 10 (people listed on the sexual offender registry) live in the town so I've got every intention to make a special trip to push my mower through there now."
Mr Harvey's current 77-day, 2260km adventure will generate exposure and funds for Bravehearts as it endeavours to make Australia the safest place in the world for children, with every cent raised going towards prevention, education and counselling programs. | <urn:uuid:5c79e133-8091-4c98-8688-312b56dd342b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.noosanews.com.au/news/mowing-down-predators-gympie/1442043/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981792 | 448 | 1.570313 | 2 |
However, as you know from part one, this has a much broader application than just an earthly father and his earthly son. Because, if you have received Jesus Christ as your Saviour, God Almighty is now your heavenly Father. And as a good Father, he has given you explicit instructions, he’s given you his words; and what God is looking for, from his children, is for us to make his heart glad. But now, how can we do that? Look at the verse again – he says: “My son, be wise…” Now, let’s follow the same analogy I was using just a minute ago, of me, Joshua and Jordan. Do you know what God’s adversary says to him about you? The same thing your adversaries say, about how you’re raising your kids. Why are you doing that? What’s so wrong with that? Why don’t you want them around those people? Don’t you know that all that separation is going to make them anti-social and peculiar? But here’s the problem: When God the Father does for his children, what the Bible says he does – and yet those children are not wise – do you know what that does? Well, first of all, it doesn’t make God’s heart glad. And second, it gives him no answer when his adversary reproached him. For example, the devil says: “Now, why’d you go through all that trouble to inspire, and preserve your words? It looks like to me, that your children care so little about what you think, that they don’t even read that Book you’ve given them!?” Now, when the Father’s adversary says that to him – have you personally given God the Father an answer back? In other words, can he say: “Oh yeah, have you considered my son ‘So ‘n’ So’? Because, even though I’ll admit, I do have a lot of black sheep in this family of mine – he or she is an exception! “They read my words, and they study my words – and they care about what I think!” In other words, can God think of you, have his heart glad, and answer the devil upon those charges? Read the verse again – it says: “My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me.” In spiritual application, that means that the devil is questioning God on how he’s raising you. He’s saying to God, what the world and the worldly says to you; you know: “What’s so wrong with that? Why all that separation?” The devil looks at God the Father, and he says: “What’s so wrong with Hollywood? What’s so wrong with the worldly TV and movies? What’s so wrong with secular music? What’s so wrong with being a sports junkie? It’s just harmless entertainment – don’t you want them to have any fun?” And do you know what God is forced to do, when it comes to many of his sons and daughters? Because they’ve not come out from among them, and because they’re not clean and separate from this present evil world… With a heavy heart, God is forced to bear the devil’s reproach, because of a bunch of sottish children, proving the devil right! I hope you’re not like that; I trust you’re not. Moreover, I’d ask for your prayers, that I’d not be that kind of foolish son myself! Instead, I want to be wise; I want to make my Father’s heart glad; I want him to have an answer, when the devil reproaches him. I want my Father to be able to respond: “Oh, it doesn’t work, does it? I’m just wasting my time, am I? I’m just old-fashioned and don’t let my children have any fun, do I? Satan, have you consider my son ‘So ‘n’ So’? Because, while I’ll admit that many of my children are anything, but wise – that’s not true of all my children.” The question we must ask and answer, is: Can God point to you, as being an exception to this devilish rule? Can God point to you, and say: “My method of child-rearing sure worked with him / it sure worked with her”? What’s God looking for from his sons and daughters? He wants us to be wise. And if we’d be wise children, walking in his counsel and admonition, two things would happen:Number 1: We would make God’s heart glad, and Number 2: We would give him an answer, when the accuser of the brethren, brings against him his railing accusations. And let’s add two last passages of instruction to this, and then wrap this up:(Proverbs 2:1-9): “My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.” (Proverbs 4:1-7): “Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding." And so, plainly and simply, God says to us, his children, tonight: “My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me.” And this is how you can make glad the heart of God.
“Making Glad the Heart of God” I remember, about a year or so after starting the church which I pastor, it was a typical Wednesday night, and as we were getting ready to take up the offering, I asked a very simple question…...[ abbreviated | read entire ] | <urn:uuid:39eddd66-90b3-45b6-af1b-02d3cca39e5f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sermonaudio.com/source_news.asp?sourceid=mbl | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970536 | 1,536 | 1.617188 | 2 |
The Salvation Army is recruiting young volunteers like never before as it works to reshape its public image.
Updated: December 12, 2012 - 5:32 AM
Tyler Schmidt doesn't know it, but he's a trailblazer for the Salvation Army.
Schmidt, a senior at Roseville High School, was among the first to download the nation's first iPhone app recruiting Salvation Army volunteers. Facing 100,000 hours of bell ringing this holiday season and an aging pool of volunteers, the Minnesota Army last month launched the app to recruit a cooler, younger crowd.
Not only could Schmidt sign up from the comfort of his couch, he watched a video on his phone offering such vital teen tips as, "Don't bring your iPod and plug it into speakers."
"I think it's a good idea," said Schmidt on his first day of bell ringing outside Cub Foods. "I always thought you had to work for Salvation Army to do it."
The iPhone app reflects a major national strategy for the 130-year-old charity, which is fighting to reshape its public image from old folks in stodgy uniforms to hip young people in Santa hats.
It's not just bell ringers. The transformation is taking place in Army headquarters across the country, as well as in the volunteer ranks, on Web pages and in social media.
"Ten years ago if I were taking a photo for publication, it would be, 'Let's make sure we have an army officer in there ... and the shield,'" said Annette Bauer, spokesperson for the Salvation Army Northern Division.
"Now it's, 'Do we have anyone with a nose piercing? Or a tattoo?'"
The Salvation Army was widely known to veterans and their families during World Wars I and II, when young "lassies" delivered coffee and doughnuts to soldiers near the front lines. But later generations didn't know what the organization did, said Major George Hood, its national community relations secretary.
As the "greatest generation" and their children pass away, it's critical to recruit a fresh wave of employees, volunteers and eventually donors.
"We lost several generations because we weren't talking to them," said Hood.
"The digital age is here and kids are willing to receive information. It doesn't cross their mind that we're a 150-year-old Victorian organization." And now that the dark blue uniforms are not required, "We've taken away the fear factor," he said.
Next Saturday is the Salvation Army's biggest youth-courting event of the year, the third annual Rock the Kettle concert. The free concert in Los Angeles last year drew 10,000 people. It features Owl City (Owatonna native Adam Young) and other popular musicians who will host their own online kettle campaigns. The concert will be streamed live on the Salvation Army's Facebook page. Supporters will be asked to text donations of $10 or more.
Armed with surveys of how and why 13- to 30-year-olds want to volunteer, Salvation Army groups nationwide have launched other programs. High school students are starting "red kettle clubs" to recruit bell ringers. "Echelon" groups of slightly older youth are getting involved in various volunteer projects. Young professional groups are taking shape, including one formed last year in Minnesota.
Jeff Peterka, one of its leaders, said he was invited to join by a Salvation Army committee member. Peterka had no preconceptions of the group; all he knew was they helped the homeless. So he checked it out, and was hooked.
"I see it as a small start-up," said Peterka, 25, an accountant from Minneapolis. "You want to start a business plan and grow. But we needed to find a niche. The one that struck us was teen homelessness."
So twice a month, he and a group of a dozen or so recent college grads head to a Salvation Army shelter for homeless teens and help them write résumés, learn business etiquette "and other things to help them find jobs," he said. As the group gels, more ideas will be in the works, he said.
Service credits -- and fun
Meanwhile, Minnesota teens such as Schmidt and his classmate Jane Becker, who rang bells with him last week, think they've discovered a great way for high schoolers to earn community service credits needed to graduate.
It helps that the teens aren't required to wear the navy blue uniforms of old -- just red aprons. Last week, they added red Santa hats. They're thinking of coming back, having a bit more fun with their "uniform" and bringing some friends.
Minnesota also has a new "Shield Crew," college students recruited to do random acts of kindness. Their first job was at the State Fair this year, said Bauer. They wear smiles on their faces and bright red T-shirts. But not just any T-shirt.
"It needs to be fitted and it needs to be prewashed," said Bauer with a smile.
Some other glitches come with the youth territory, she said. A group of volunteers were looking for a meeting place, and someone suggested a happy hour.
"That's not exactly Salvation Army," she said.
While it's relatively easy to change clothing rules for staff and volunteers, or to offer rock concerts along with Christian choirs, it's critical not to erode the core values of the organization, said Hood.
"You have to look at what are the sacred cows and what is expendable," he said. "We don't want to be so Victorian that people can no longer relate. But we have to protect who we are."
Even as the Army grapples with maintaining that balance, its leaders say there is no turning back.
"We're already making inroads," said Bauer. "People are talking differently about us. This is going to stick."
Jean Hopfensperger • 612-673-4511
© 2013 Star Tribune
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If a California web designer gets his way - Til death do us part? – will mean just that. John Marcotte, who runs the comedy website Badmouth.net, is attempting to put a measure on next year’s ballot that will ban divorce in California. The effort is meant to be satirical. The thought process behind the idea is that if California can pass Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage, allegedly to protect the sanctity of marriage, than what prevents California from going one step further and banning divorce?
So far Marcotte has not collected the 694,354 signatures necessary to put the proposition on the ballot, but with a grass-roots movement and use of the Internet, he may achieve his goal – although it would be highly unlikely to pass. And even if it did pass, it would certainly be found unconstitutional if challenged in court. But the proposition does raise an interesting question – does the State have an interest in protecting the sanctity of marriage?
Often opponents of same-sex marriage cite the sanctity of marriage as the reason same-sex couples should not be allowed to marry. On December 14, 2006, the New Jersey Legislature passed the Civil Union Act, providing for civil unions, which was signed into law by Governor Jon Corzine on December 21, 2006 and came into effect on February 19, 2007. Same-sex couples who enter into a civil union are provided almost all of the rights granted to married couples under New Jersey state law. However, under the provisions of the federal Defense of Marriage Act or DOMA, same-sex couples in marriages, civil unions, or domestic partnerships do not have any right or entitlement to the 1,138 rights that a married couple has under federal law.
In New Jersey, Governor Jon Corzine has stated that he would sign a bill legalizing same-sex marriage if it comes to his desk before he leaves office in January. While Governor-elect, Christopher Christie said he would support a New Jersey constitutional amendment, similar to Proposition 8, that would ban same-sex civil unions.
In a study released on November 25, 2009 by Quinnipiac University, New Jersey voters now oppose a law that would allow same-sex couples to marry by a slim margin of 49 – 46%. This reverses the 49 - 43% support for same-sex marriage in an April 23, 2009 survey by the independent Quinnipiac University. The poll taken by the university shows some interesting trends in who are the strongest supporters of same-sex marriage: Women support same-sex marriage 53 – 41%, while men oppose it 57 – 38%; Democrats support same-sex marriage 60 – 34%; Independents support same-sex marriage 49 – 45%; Republicans are against same-sex marriage 69- 25%; White voters split 49 - 47 %, while African -American voters oppose the measure 61 - 28 %.
The legalization of same-sex marriages is certainly a heated debate with proponents on both sides. But does California’s satirical proposition to ban divorce change your opinion? Does the State have the right to regulate who gets married – or gets divorced? If the State can tell you who you can and can’t marry – why shouldn’t they be able to tell who you can and can’t divorce? And will New Jersey’s next governor enact New Jersey’s own Proposition 8? Its obvious that from the West Coast all the way to here in New Jersey, the same-sex marriage debate will continue…………. | <urn:uuid:370c4ab4-8184-4008-bf0e-24f90fe686cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://njfamilylaw.foxrothschild.com/2009/12/articles/civil-unions-and-domestic-part/will-california-ban-divorce-will-new-jersey-ban-same-sex-civil-unions/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958674 | 714 | 1.773438 | 2 |
You may have heard that Chas Saunders, the original inventor of Godchecker, died a few weeks ago.
Although he was no longer directly involved in the website (having decided to devote his attention to the equally vital subject of Real Ale), Chas was the original Godchecker-in-Chief and will be sadly missed by all the Gods. Particularly the ones he never got around to illustrating.
We’ve had many glowing tributes and kind remarks sent to Godchecker HQ – thanks to everyone who has blessed us with their thoughts. Hopefully we will find a suitable way to honour Chas’s memory on the website in due course. Meanwhile, here is the brief tribute which Peter read out at the funeral of this tremendously missed man…
“Chas was pretty much my closest friend for fifteen years. I first met him while working on a local arts magazine. I think I was trying to cadge freebie illustrations. Of course he was delighted to oblige. He found it very hard to refuse those in need.
“That probably explains one incident early in our friendship. One night Chas was woken by strange noises coming from downstairs. Fearing the worst, he crept down the stairs in the dark clutching a big stick, and discovered a scruffy bloke skulking in the shadows of his studio. It was me using his photocopier at 2 o’clock in the morning.
“When I first met him, he was immediately likeable, a beaming genius with an eccentric twinkle in his eye. Yes, Chas really did have an actual twinkle in his eye. Maybe it sounds odd to say it, but he always seemed just that little bit more alive than everyone else. He had that magical spark of puckish curiosity. He was like a cross between Gandalf the wizard and the four Marx Brothers. He even had magic powers. For example, his miraculous ability to catch houseflies backwards while playing the drums.
“I discovered early on that it was impossible to stop him talking. For the next fifteen years I gave up trying. His mind was constantly bubbling with ideas and anecdotes and the invention of personalised board games. It never stopped. If no-one was around, he would scribble it all down instead. And usually post it through my letterbox the next day in an envelope marked URGENT SPIBBLE. Strangely enough I loved every second of it.
“Chas was interested in pretty much everything – provided it was invented before 1965. Or made of wood. He was a tremendous source of offbeat knowledge. His tales of disreputable jazz-drinking voutaroonie beer cartoonists struck some kind of bizarre chord with me. We spent the next ten years joined at the creative hip producing weird and wonderful projects — and having tremendous fun doing it. Happy memories of prototype Godchecker games tested to destruction over a bottle of cheap wine I will cherish forever.
“Chas was a wonderful human being: warm-hearted, generous, and totally loyal. He was always willing to lend a hand — or in extreme cases help shove an iron-framed piano up a flight of stairs, and he gave his friendship one hundred percent. He only asked in return that everyone around him be happy, fulfilled and as merry as possible. That’s quite an appropriate philosophy for a man who drew cartoons for a living, I think.
“I’m terribly sorry he’s gone. Chas was a huge influence on my life. He inspired me, made me laugh and introduced me to real proper ale. Most importantly, he helped me realise that it’s perfectly acceptable to be yourself, no matter how many people stare at you on the bus. Luckily he has left us with rich memories and a lasting legacy of the entire human condition in cartoon form.
“So farewell to the world’s one and only Grimblemaker. You did the Gods of Beer and Jazz proud. Cheers Chas.”
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|New International Version (© 2011)|
Then the LORD opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.
King James Bible
Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.
American Standard Version
Then Jehovah opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of Jehovah standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and he bowed his head, and fell on his face.
Young's Literal Translation
And Jehovah uncovereth the eyes of Balaam, and he seeth the messenger of Jehovah standing in the way, and his drawn sword in his hand, and he boweth and doth obeisance, to his face;
Numbers 22:31 Additional TranslationsTreasury of Scripture Knowledge
Numbers 24:4 He has said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:
Genesis 21:19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.
2 Kings 6:17-20 And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray you, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man...
1 Chronicles 21:16 And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the earth and the heaven...
Luke 24:16,31 But their eyes were held that they should not know him...
Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God...
Exodus 34:8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.
Psalm 9:20 Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.
John 18:6 As soon then as he had said to them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.
Fell flat on his face. or bowed himself
Numbers 22:31 Parallel CommentariesAngel Balaam Balaam's Bowed Boweth Drawn Eyes Hand Head Low Messenger Obeisance Opened Prostrated Road Standing Sword Uncovereth WayAngel Balaam Balaam's Bowed Boweth Drawn Eyes Hand Head Low Messenger Obeisance Opened Prostrated Road Standing Sword Uncovereth WayTHE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica®.
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Genesis 21:19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
Numbers 22:30 The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?" "No," he said.
Joshua 5:13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?" | <urn:uuid:5c537e5e-0544-49c3-96da-b2e17e730f49> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://biblehub.com/niv/numbers/22-31.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972522 | 762 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Sully points us to an interesting blog post on the decline of St. Louis courtesy of the interstate highway system. There is, unfortunately, a whole lot of truth to this.
St. Louis is a fascinating town. It is very old, considerably older than most other cities west of the Mississippi. Geographically it's almost a southern city but no one from the area would dare refer to St. Louis as a Southern town. It has a long standing history of sharp racial divisions. The city itself (the city and county are entirely separate entities) has a political system from when it had 3,000,000 residents, not 275,000 - which leads to almost total political gridlock. I could go on and on, someone should write a book. | <urn:uuid:ef5e2c2b-099c-4ea0-a0fb-213c6c98a0d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://steampoweredopinions.blogspot.jp/2010/07/decline-of-my-hometown.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976965 | 153 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Discussion Questions for TRUE BELIEVERS by Kurt Andersen
“Kurt Andersen’s best yet. The man is operating on some far-out level that bends time and space to his will. True Believers hits all the right notes and reads like a goddamn dream.” — Gary Shteyngart
In True Believers, Kurt Andersen—the New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed author of Heyday and Turn of the Century—delivers his most powerful and moving novel yet. Dazzling in its wit and effervescent insight, this kaleidoscopic tour de force of cultural observation and seductive storytelling alternates between the present and the 1960s—and indelibly captures the enduring impact of that time on the ways we live now.
Discussion Questions and Topics for Discussion
1. The epigraph of True Believers contains the following lines from Wordsworth: “Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, But to be young was very heaven,” which encapsulate the sentiments of empowerment and enthusiasm driving idealistic supporters at the dawn of the French Revolution. How does Karen’s own Vietnam-era experience — one distinguished by a widespread dissatisfaction and social unrest among youth — mirror the emotions fueling these words?
2. The blurring of fiction and reality is a major theme throughout the novel, both in terms of how the characters define themselves and how they interpret the world around them. Karen makes an interesting point that the emergence of modern entertainment and its obsession with turning events of the recent past into salable media commodities created a phenomenon in which “the people who lived through the events were tricked into believing they had experienced the fictions and docudramas.” In what ways has this manipulation and glamorization of the facts influenced the characters and period that Andersen explores? How does this continue to be an issue today?
3. Alex, Chuck and Karen’s infatuation with the works of Ian Fleming led them to believe that the extreme and outrageous happenings in the world of government and at large meant that life was imitating — and even anticipating — art. Do you think this made it easier for them to justify their own extreme behaviors, perhaps by creating a dissociation between the severity of their actions and a world they began to see as phantasmagorical?
4. Waverly says of her involvement as a twenty-first century Occupy activist that “most protests seem like cover versions of old songs. Like we’re all in a sixties tribute band.” Does this seem accurate? In what ways have the circumstances and impetus for change either altered or remained the same from half a century ago to the present day?
5. How does Karen’s view of her father change after learning that he cooperated with the Nazis by providing the names of several Communists to avoid being sent to an internment camp? Do you think she should have more empathy for his predicament given her own late-1960s experiences? Based on the observation that “People in extreme circumstances make choices they don’t expect to make,” what does the novel seem to be implying about the accountability of those forced to act in impossible situations? How have Karen and her father similarly managed to cope and assimilate back into normal life in the aftermath of their guilt and blame?
6. After the conversation Karen has with Alex in which he speaks almost entirely in borrowed phrases from The Third Man, she comes to see him as a “walking, talking real-time remix of fictional midcentury villains.” She asks, “Is his entire life a nonstop work of performance art that only he fully appreciates?” Later, she observes the tendency for twenty-first century dwellers likewise to adopt personas and pseudonyms through alternate realities and cosmetic surgery, or by referring to themselves in the third person. Do you think that unlike Alex and unlike Waverly’s friend Sophie, Karen has succeeded, as she claims, in abandoning her inner Bond girl and living entirely as herself? Is it possible to assume an identity that is completely independent of pre-existing stories and metaphors and fictional characters?
7. Having abandoned the Roman Catholic religion of her childhood, Karen instead places her faith in the “unholy power of chance, good luck and bad luck, in governing human affairs. Luck became my subject, the animating mystery of my life,” she says. Did this make her more prone to engage in risky behavior? What do you make of her need to confess and spend years of her life — both personal and professional — repenting for her perceived sins?
8. Looking back on the tragedies of the 1960s — the slaughter in Vietnam, the televised killings, the civil rights battles being fought at home — Karen admits that there were certain misrepresentations and misinterpretations of facts that fueled the fire of American upheaval, which is why she has been “allergic ever since to groups of people with single-minded visionary passion and without any doubt that they possess the one truth.” How does this type of tunnel vision — the blind and unshakable devotion to a single cause with imperfect or incomplete knowledge — seem to manifest itself throughout the novel, as well as in the present day, and what are the consequences?
9. Examining the spirit behind Operation Lima Bravo Juliet, Karen says that “For those first three months of 1968, we embodied the part of the American character that has troubled and scared me ever since”; that is, the America that promotes visionary risk-taking, dogged determination, and fearlessness in the name of freedom and justice. “For better or worse, in 1968, I think we were very American. Terribly American,” she says. Do you agree that the motivation driving Lima Bravo Juliet epitomizes a version of what it means to be American? In what ways is that mindset dangerous and in what ways is it inevitable or necessary?
10. Andersen has said he chose to tell the story from a woman’s point of view because the changes in women’s lives during the last half century have been consequential and dramatic. How did making True Believers one woman’s story as opposed to a man’s shape it?
11. After Chuck’s death, Karen refers to the Bible story in which God ordered Abraham to murder his son, Isaac, in a test of faith, but ultimately sent an angel to prevent the sacrifice from taking place. She questions whether in the madness leading up to Operation LBJ, she acted as Abraham or God, and whether Chuck fulfilled the role of Isaac or Abraham. What do you think?
12. On writing True Believers, Andersen said he opted for a first person account because he “wanted the characters to walk away from their conspiracy scot-free and keep the secret for decades. In order to convey the unnerving impact of living such a lie, I decided that one of the co-conspirators had to tell the tale.” Did you find Karen to be a credible narrator? How was your reading affected by the idea of her writing a work of nonfiction, and how did this contribute to the sense of anxiety and inexorability that Andersen was driving toward?
Based on Karen’s recounting of her teenage years in the late 1960s and her grand-daughter’s experience of being a teenager today, in which era is it easier or harder to be young? Forty or fifty years from now, how will today’s teenagers have been shaped by their youth?
13. After reading, how would you characterize a “true believer?” | <urn:uuid:e88a463a-b10e-4bf4-a45f-e91e059aa5a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://random-house.atrandom.com/2012/07/11/discussion-questions-for-true-believers-by-kurt-andersen/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969578 | 1,575 | 1.820313 | 2 |
The Dutch conductor and organist, Hendrik Timmerman, studied from his sixth year piano and organ with Jac. Kort and Cor Kee respectively. He studied organ-UM school music, choir and orchestra conducting at the Academies of Music in Amsterdam and Hilversum. He also received his first degree qualifications as a Church Musician (Cantor-Organist).
Hendrik Timmerman has specialised in the authentic vocal performing practise of the Baroque, and as such he, with boy's and young men's voices, regularly performs all major vocal works of J.S. Bach, such as Matthäus Passion (BWV 244), Mass in B minor (BWV 232), motets and many cantatas.
Hendrik Timmerman frequently makes choir and organ concert trips throughout Europe and America, and is further active as: Cantor of the "Grote- of St. Laurenskerk" in Alkmaar, Leader of the Scola Cantorum of the "St. Laurenskerk", Conductor of the Noordhollands Jongenskoor, and Concert organist and composer. | <urn:uuid:3c65f8d1-3652-4779-9bb8-feafacb80412> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Timmerman-Hendrik.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960643 | 237 | 1.515625 | 2 |
By Pablo A. Tariman, Vera Files
Catanduanes, the country's 12th largest island of the country's 7,000 or so islands, is observing its 67th founding anniversary with street dancing, a beauty pageant for both sexes (a Binibini and Ginoong Catanduanes), and with obligatory speeches from both local and national politicians.
This is the home province of former senator Francisco "Kit" Tatad and the famous political clans, the Albertos, the Verceleses and likewise the land of birth of the Sarmiento brothers, Rep. Cesar V. Sarmiento; Jorge V. Sarmiento, president and chief operating officer of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation; Rene V. Sarmiento, commissioner of Commission on Elections, and Juan V. Sarmiento of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The island is also the home province of kundiman queen Carmen Camacho and the home province of Anna Bagadiong, the mother of Germany's top rapper, Kay One, who is Kenneth Glöckler in real life.
Some 67 years after it was founded as a province separate from Albay, Catanduanes has seen a cycle of birth and death, growth and destruction and three generations of worthy sons and politicians.
Catanduanes musiciansThe poets who recorded the island's idyllic past and present were the late José Tablizo and Benito Bagadiong (the German's rapper's grandfather). The fictionist of Catanduanes was Romulo Lofamia.
It is said that the Albertos brought in the first wave of infrastructures and the Verceleses introduced the island's first cordless phones and cellular gadgets. Indeed, Rep. Jun Verceles and his Filnet 2000 surely brought in the TV sets and the cellular phones in the early 90s and in between, the movie stars and basketball teams. Tatad was a favorite patron of would-be priests in need of ordination sponsors and this sat well with the island and first and last cardinal, Cardinal Sanchez.
Congressman Sarmiento comes from a family of non-politicians and his lifestyle shows it. He moves around without bodyguards (the status symbol of the old politicians) and is keen on changing the face of politics in the island on top of preserving the province's cultural heritage.
At a glance, surviving musicians in Catanduanes and music mentor Nestor Publico still tutor young musicians literally for a song. The island's "national" dance is the pantomina, and it is a common sight during town fiestas and election period. The most active and versatile theater group used to be Efren Sorra's Hablon Dawani, which toured the island with no regular funding but with lots of passion and dedication.
The Center for Catandungan Heritage Inc.-- founded by Estrella Sarmiento Placides and Dave Templonuevo -- has given due recognition to the island's surviving musicians, among them Nestor Publico and his famous father, maestro Teodulo (a UST graduate).The Publicos started formal music lessons in the island in 1933, and virtually for a song. Among the violin students was actor Dindo Fernando, who also hails from Catanduanes.
Meanwhile, Minerva Morales, president of Catanduanes State College, is trying hard to give the performing arts a decent venue by recommending that the former Catanduanes Cultural Center, built by former Rep. Leandro Verceles Jr., be rehabilitated. It became a rice bodega even before it could be inaugurated and now the ceilings are about to give way and the entire venue, including a battered upright piano, are threatened by wind and floodwater.
Rep. Cesar Sarmiento in Macutal FallsRightly or otherwise, progress has caught up with this island's 232,757 people (as of 2007) inhabitants. Pres. Aquino turned over a new PAGASA Doppler Radar for the typhoon prone island, internet cafes have sprouted in all the eleven towns, a fast food chain (Jollibee) finally invaded the island and the provincial government is working hard to promote tourism , among them, the favorite surfing destination in barrio Puraran in Baras town.
Even with progress setting in fast with the advent of cyber age, the Catanduanes that the old timers prefer to remember is the island untouched by bad politics and illegal logging.
Former Virac Vice-Mayor Ariston Sarmiento — whose house reverberates with the music of Mozart and Vivaldi — remembers the idyllic Catanduanes of his youth. "In the days of yore, the mountains of Catanduanes were virtual rainforest. During the island's first road construction project, I remember the nights when deers would casually peep into our tents. There were no tricycles, just horses and carabao carts. Our house was filled with recordings of famous orchestras and opera singers and piano lessons were a must in most families. What I really want my fellow islanders to acquire is a taste for the finer things in life even with the regular onslaught of natural calamities."
The late island poet Jose Tablizo sums up the old Catanduanes before the advent of cell phones and internet cafes:
"There are many things we do not have —
A few things we do have.
We have no hustling, wide, cement boulevards
With glittering streetlights; no sinful women
on the boulevard under the street lights,
We have no traffic jams, no ticket fixers,
We have lazy narrow roads — and lazier streams
We have devastating typhoons and generous seas
For what we do not have, we are proud:
For what we do have we are humble.
(VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for "true.") | <urn:uuid:4645b39d-c388-4fcb-b04c-4e3f12a737ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ph.news.yahoo.com/blogs/the-inbox/look-strangers-island-now-084324251.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945426 | 1,250 | 1.734375 | 2 |
The wheels on my skateboard aren’t spinning well anymore. Is there anything I can do to fix them or do I have to buy new wheels?
Slow Joe, Tampa, Fla.
We feel your pain, Slow. We have the same problem, so we asked our friend Andy Macdonald, eight-time world champion skateboarder, for the lowdown on your slow down:
“New wheels are not going to help in the least if your wheels aren’t spinning. Chances are you just have to clean and lubricate your bearings. Remove your wheel and pop out the bearings with the edge of your axle. Bones Bearings pretty much set the standard in the skateboarding world as far as bearings go. They recommend picking up a Bones Bearings Cleaner Unit at your local skate shop ($15), but a clean plastic yogurt cup and a few cotton swabs will work, too.
“You’ll need to remove the bearing shields if your bearings have them. Just poke them out with a paper clip. Then soak your bearings in acetone, nail-polish remover or rubbing alcohol. Spin them dry and make sure all the dust and dirt are out. Now you’ve removed all the dirt as well as all the lubricant from your bearings. It’s important to use a silicone-based lubricant. WD40 or others like it will dry out your bearings and attract dust and dirt. You can pick up a bottle of Bones Speed Cream at the skate shop, or try some Prolong from the auto parts store. It doesn’t take much, and the excess will just spin out when you replace your shields, pop your bearings back in your wheels and start shredding. Skate safe and enjoy your new-found speed.” | <urn:uuid:122a602a-404e-4dff-a002-e071fe9a30c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://boyslife.org/outdoors/askgearguy/1183/ask-the-gear-guy-3/comment-page-2/ | 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 | 0.930875 | 370 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Here is a really interesting story of how a 9-year-old school girl created a blog which within a few months has had nearly 5 million hits and raised over £60,000 for charity.
Helped by her father, Veg set up a free Blogger account and decided to document her school meals everyday. She would take a picture and then describe the meal, including a rating system that indicated, health value of the food, number of mouthfuls, price and worryingly, number of hairs.
For anyone who is familiar with UK dinners, then you will know that celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has been campaigning for school dinner awareness for years. He has campaigned for better dinners and suggests that most of what is served is pretty poor.
So, school dinners could be described as a hot topic, but not one that has been adequately explored online.
Veg, however took the bull by the horns. She started blogging and immediately caught the interest of other parents who were interested in what their school was actually serving their children. Pretty cool idea.
Veg was very honest in her reviews and they were all short and sharp reads with a good picture of the actual food on the tray.
The school had supposedly given its blessings to the project and Veg’s blog, with help from her father began to gain traction. Naturally word spread around the school via her friends and through to their parents, who seemed to take an active interest. She was said to be clocking up 50,000 hits a month and lots of comments on each blog post before the local council decided mid-week that her blog should close.
Closing her blog however made national news. It was everywhere, from newspapers to online news sites such as the BBC. Veg’s site traffic rocketed.
People gave her a lot of support and there were a few choice words said about the council’s decision to shut her blogging project down. Her last post has over 600 comments on it.
On Friday however, the council did a u-turn and agreed to let the site continue! Not only can she go on doing what she had intended, but all the palaver has earned her thousands of extra visitors and lots of new supporters.
Fantastic work from a 9 year old supported by her father.
However, there are some business lessons we can learn from her great adventure:
1) The name of the blog itself is alluring
The name of the blog ‘never seconds’ is a very interesting one. When you hear it is about school dinners you immediately want to take a look at what could be so bad about them.
It creates interest.
2) It’s a hot topic with a unique angle
School dinners have been a hot topic within the UK for a number of years. Backed by celebrity chefs and school dinner champions there is a growing wave of influence to make school meals healthier.
Veg taps into this market in a very unique way. Most people only hear about school meals from their children or from other sources, however Veg let you see what the children see. You saw their plate, you saw their portion sizes and you saw how much love went into its presentation.
3) Veg’s rating system creates interest
Veg has a rating value which states ‘ number of hairs’. One’s immediate reaction is WHAT! Is this really such an issue?!
It creates shock value and it temps the user to click through all her posts trying to find one which actually contained a hair. It’s almost like a mini game which helps engage users and increase her page views.
4) Never seconds encourages readers to contribute
Veg encourages her readers to send in photos of their meals so that they can compare pictures and health values of food from schools around the globe. This creates interaction and allows her to grow her following with like-minded people.
5) She had an immediate captive audience
Whilst many sites struggle with an immediate audience, Never Seconds had it covered. All parent of children within the same school would have an interest in what their children were eating, so just by word of mouth within her school she was able to create an audience for her blog. Of course this spread as other parents wanted to take a look, alongside children from other schools who wanted to compare meals.
It all however started from a captive audience.
Of course the issues with her project being closed down helped tremendously in giving her efforts media coverage, however she had already made her blog successful by doing so many business things right. She may not have even known she was doing it right, but there is a business lesson here for many of us out there.
Well done Veg and daddy Veg too. | <urn:uuid:07fc87a1-2d98-4e06-8443-1fb800b12ff8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.venturetothetop.com/how-a-young-girl-racked-up-over-5-million-hits-to-her-blog-in-a-few-short-months/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989074 | 971 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Scott Page is the founder of Interface Studio, a collaborative design office based in Philadelphia.
Just to keep everyone updated on the continuing development of Wi-Fi, Muni-wireless released a new report
on the state of the Wi-Fi market. The long and short of it is the market is expanding rapidly with just about every city looking to get in on the action.
On the flip side, the Philadelphia Inquirer last weekend ran a story
about the uncertain future of wireless as a city-led initiative.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - 12:03pm PST
When recently working in a distressed community in Philadelphia, we were thinking of the best ways to communicate what we were planning for the area and guide residents toward local resources that exist but are rarely used. As a cost effective solution, we worked with the Klip Collective
to implement a video installation within a vacant storefront. The installation runs every evening. Besides providing some valuable information, we used the installation to instill some street activity along what was once an active commercial corridor.
Friday, September 23, 2005 - 10:48am PDT
Interesting idea under development at the University of Cambridge
"Printed maps can be designed and printed to show fine detail and yet remain easy to take in at a glance. They are also simple to use in group discussions. However, a new map needs to be printed whenever information changes. Computer-based maps on a screen can change dynamically to represent a changing situation, but are not as easy to use. Dr Tom Drummond, Dr Gerhard Reitmayr, and Ethan Eade are combining the benefits of printed maps with the benefits of computer based dynamic maps, creating a dynamic high resolution map by augmenting printed maps with digital graphical information.
Thursday, August 4, 2005 - 8:49am PDT
The "trace", as some designers and planners refer to them, are marketed and annotated tours that cover specific topics including waterfronts, historic districts and parks. Traditionally, they've been undertaken through marketing efforts and physical improvements such as signs, markers and designated trails. Until recently, they have been developed top-down with funding and the identification of historic markers and sites by specific organizations. Ken Snyder's excellent post
Friday, July 29, 2005 - 11:55am PDT
Just an added note on personal rapid transit. Some years ago, Bruno Latour wrote "Aramis" which documents the French government's attempt to create a PRT system for Paris (later killed by the government itself). Written as a cross between a socialogical study and a mystery novel, its worth a look for those interested in the subject.
Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 10:58am PDT
In Adam's spirit of "tweaking" fellow bloggers, (Hi All) I'd like to emphasize Adam's last point - "Is it still a utility if no one utilizes it?"
For all of the talk about municipal wireless, particularly in my hometown of Philadelphia, I've always been concerned about the ultimate use of the investment despite the fact I agree that anti-municipal broadband laws are detrimental to the flexibility of any City to serve their population. I'm reminded of an interview posted on Muniwireless
Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 8:03am PDT
Less a cool application and more of an example of the power of information put in the hands of neighborhood groups. The Philadelphia Inquirer
a month or two back put together this interactive map showing the frequency of shootings in the City (which Charlie's map reminded me of). Illustrated like a topographical map, many neighborhoods reacted quite strongly to the information. The unfortunate trends, represented and placed on the front page, has further inhibited any ability to market specific neighborhoods as improving and/or attractive places to live.
Tuesday, June 7, 2005 - 6:28am PDT
One of the best travelogues of pictures i've seen. Escape Route
provides a unique method for organizing and viewing photos. The site also offers dphoto - a kind of ophoto with pizazz. This is one step away from what could be a great application for organizing and documenting change at the scale of a neighborhood, city and region.
Monday, May 9, 2005 - 6:09am PDT
One of students was kind enough to forward this to me. The Cool Space Locater
is designed to match innovative and creative firms to spaces that may not traditionally appeal to businesses looking for office space. I could have used this in Philadelphia when I really needed office space that wasn't overpriced nor in Center City. The only resource we really had was Craig's list as there are few coordinated resources for finding office spaces for rent - particularly small, non-traditional spaces.
Thursday, May 5, 2005 - 12:14pm PDT
is one of those inexpensive but creative ways of combining technology with space. to me, its exciting to see public art move into this realm - dealing expressly with communications rather than focused solely on physical beautification. potentially so much more than a mural....
"[murmur] is an archival audio project that collects and curates stories set in specific Toronto locations. At each of these locations, a [murmur] sign will mark the availability of a story with a telephone number and location code.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005 - 6:00am PDT | <urn:uuid:35cb3fb1-81cc-4d5c-b3c3-0041d009b4c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.planetizen.com/blog/10277?page=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956139 | 1,097 | 1.695313 | 2 |
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Where did Stuntman first gain
his fame? At South Plainfield High School where he was
a quarterback for the football team in the early to mid 1970s. He
would later go on to Potomac State College in West Virginia,
and West Virginia University.
What made him decide to go into
show business? After watching his friend, Dennis Madalone,
appear on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson back in 1979,
and taking a lot of punishment from the first string defensive
unit on the West Virginia University Football team, Mark thought
it would be a great way to make money.
What show did STUNTMAN first
appeared on? Mark's first big break was in 1980 when he
appeared in a stunt on a show called The Great American
Who are the South Plainfield
Threesome? In addition to STUNTMAN, there was Dennis
Madalone, who was already finding fame and fortune in Hollywood,
and, another friend from his high school days, Irving Lewis
became known as the "South Plainfield Threesome". They all
became friends during their high school years where they excelled
as athletes on the high school football, track, and baseball
teams. Their athletic talents were very important skills that
they would need for their line of work.
After his first television appearance,
where did STUNTMAN appear next? Mark appeared on such t.v.
shows as Quincy, The Hulk, Ten Speed and
Brownshoe, Today's FBI, and Strike Force.
Then, in 1982, he made an appearance on the show The Greatest
American Hero. He also appeared in such movies as Eye
For An Eye starring Chuck Norris, in 1982.
What was STUNTMAN's next big break?
When he became the stunt double for Johnathan Frakes on the television
series Star-Trek: The Next Generation. He would then
follow it up with appearances on the other Star-Trek series, Deep
What was the biggest film STUNTMAN
was in? Although Mark has had numerous hits in Broken
Arrow, The General's Daughter, Get Shorty, A
Civil Action, Primary Colors, Phenomenon, and The Thin Red
Line, but his biggest success was in the movie Face-Off, in
How can I find out what projects
and appearances STUNTMAN will be making next? Two
ways. One way is to visit the What's
New page on this website, or subscribe to
our monthly electronic newsletter. | <urn:uuid:3580aacf-28c4-4b56-b9be-e1b9173db241> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stuntdble.com/FAQ.htm | 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 | 0.969271 | 548 | 1.5 | 2 |
Nearly 350,000 public school students in Chicago went back to school on Wednesday after the Chicago teachers’ union ended their one-week strike Tuesday evening by tentatively coming to terms on a new contract agreement with Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
The contract, which still must be ratified by the 29,000 teachers and support staff that make up the union, calls for 10 more school days a year and a single calendar for the school system.
According to CNN, teachers also agreed to a pay structure that would give them a “3% pay increase for the first year of the contract, 2% for the second year and 2% for the third year. If a trigger extends the contract to four years, teachers will get a 3% pay increase.”
In addition, teachers’ union members “would no longer be compensated for unused personal days, health insurance contribution rates would be frozen and the ‘enhanced pension program’ would be eliminated.”
Chicago's public school teachers also agreed to adopt an evaluation system based on the performance of their students on standardized tests. Teachers did not agree to adopt a merit pay system. According to the Chicago Tribune, the school district is still considering closing 120 of its schools.
The Chicago public school district is the third largest in the nation. This was the first teachers’ union strike since 1987. And the average salary for Chicago public school teachers is $67,974. | <urn:uuid:1ad41107-026e-463f-bdfc-4f3aa8029144> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/09/19/Chicago-Teachers-Union-Ends-Strike | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973094 | 293 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Germany rejects subsidies for energy projects, says market can provide
Almost a year after Germany decided to shift away from nuclear power and sharply raise production from renewable sources, critics doubt that the move will go ahead as scheduled. The government has so far failed to present a plan for filling the gap in its future energy capacity, as the switch has proven more difficult than initially thought.
June 5, 2012
by Beate Preuschoff and Franziska Scheven
BERLIN--Germany's economy minister and environment minister Tuesday rejected demands for more state subsidies for the construction of new power plants and grid expansion in Germany.
"The market alone is best suited to handle a task of that size," Energy Minister Philipp Roesler said during an energy conference in Berlin.
The ministers are developing a framework to promote alternative energy without relying on government subsidies.
"We have to combine both, an understanding for markets and political responsibility," said Environment Minister Peter Altmaier, a senior ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, who took over at the ministry last week.
Almost a year after Germany decided to shift... [continue via Web link] | <urn:uuid:1b21f225-c932-4921-a5f0-9e0aaed39403> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.windaction.org/news/35142 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949689 | 228 | 1.5 | 2 |
Monogamy works well for some but not others. Social status, religion, race, sexual orientation, and political philosophy don’t matter. Honesty, openness, love, commitment, communication, patience, and egalitarianism do.
Here I pass along what I’ve learned and teach at events on common challenges polyamorists encounter and their practical remedies, along with thoughts on related subjects such as community organizing, activism, and sexual freedom. Feel free to comment – and welcome! | <urn:uuid:2b027558-176b-48ca-b726-3d478c8328fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://practicalpolyamory.blogspot.com/p/resources-for-secondary-partners.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938645 | 101 | 1.601563 | 2 |
The Republican Party’s soul searching needs to focus on policy issues, rather than window dressing.
It is a stunning example of political hubris and hypocrisy. Karl Rove, the chief architect of Republican dreams and Mitt Romney’s archangel of fund-raising, announced that President Obama got re-elected only because he “suppressed the vote” of Americans who opposed him.
That takes some gall. Rove is a leading figure in a Republican Party that championed efforts in several states to make it difficult for African-American and Latino voters to cast ballots. His review of the election results point to a glaring blind spot that he shares with several of his fellow Republicans.
Like Rove, many Republicans are missing the important lessons of the presidential election of 2012. In the aftermath of the historic re-election of Barack Obama, they have largely taken to two explanations for Mitt Romney’s loss.
One tact is to do what Rove has done, that is, to concoct some delusional scapegoating that doesn’t approach reality. The other is one has been more widely employed: That the American demographic landscape is shifting so quickly that Republicans must take steps to better appeal to the growing brown and black electorate.
It is true that America is becoming increasingly diverse and that Republicans must take communities of color into account in their planning. But the Republicans need to recognize that their lack of appeal to the expanding communities of the American electorate is based on policy, not window dressing.
President Obama was so enthusiastically supported by an electorate – many of it Black, Latino and Asian – in part because he championed a health care reform that would allow most Americans to get medical care, as opposed to Romney extolling the virtues of the emergency room.
People of color appreciated a strategy to increase jobs and enhance economic growth by investing in refurbishing the nation’s infrastructure. They liked the idea that the government should do more to provide grants for college students, rather than the Romney position that collegiates need only go to their parents for financial assistance.
People of color decided to vote for a president who has championed the concept of equal pay for women – a bedrock economic issue for many American families – rather than a challenger who remained silent on his own position on the topic.
They liked the idea that women are the best judges of how to deal with their medical and reproductive decisions. They turned their back on a party whose positions on reproductive rights bordered on the medieval, a party that promoted the idea of invasive vaginal ultrasounds for women seeking abortions.
In short, the Republicans have to do some soul-searching about the very issues that they have championed. Black and Latinos did not vote overwhelmingly on the Democratic line because of some genetic predisposition. They have strongly held views on everything from health care and job creation to the economy and global warming.
Republicans now are talking incessantly about the need to reach out to voters who, for the moment at least, are considered minorities. But it will take more than propping up Marco Rubio, Artur Davis or Condoleezza Rice at a Republican convention. Unless the Republicans revisit their positions on the issues that are so important to Americans of color, they will condemn their party to growing and unavoidable irrelevance.
The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of BET Networks.
BET Politics - Your source for the latest news, photos and videos illuminating key issues and personalities in African-American political life, plus commentary from some of our liveliest voices. Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.
(Photo: Matthew Cavanaugh/Getty Images) | <urn:uuid:f56111d1-b106-4ab6-8c75-1bf5ce8f4892> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bet.com/news/features/vote-2012/news/politics/2012/11/09/commentary-the-challenge-facing-republicans-after-obama-s-victory.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964151 | 729 | 1.820313 | 2 |
|Link to web site|
"... Commentators and campaign groups criticised mayoral hopefuls for 'lacking vision' for transport projects for London.
"Since Labour candidate Ken Livingstone, the main challenger to the current Conservative mayor Boris Johnson, announced his 'Fare Deal' - a 7% cut - the two have locked horns time and again over the issue.
"Liberal Democrat Brian Paddick cast doubts on Labour's promise, saying it would eat into funds meant for investment. ... Green Party candidate Jenny Jones said Transport for London 'is up to its ears in debt... which is why the other parties aren't promising even more brand new unfunded schemes'.
- Campaign for Better Transport said it wanted the new mayor to make £98m available over three years for improving bus and rail links and promote cycling in outer London.
- Passenger watchdog, London TravelWatch, also called for more buses for outer London, making streets more pedestrian-friendly and the removal of gyratory systems and one-way roads.
- Lianna Etkind, from disability charity Transport for All, said: 'More than big flagship projects, disabled and older Londoners simply want to be able to use the trains and buses that are already there'." | <urn:uuid:1d2d29c4-3aa8-4c6e-a10b-eb58c258d7f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://brentcrosscoalition.blogspot.com/2012/05/bbc-mayoral-hopefuls-lack-vision-on.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937444 | 254 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Cyclists railed that there is no California Vehicle Code prohibiting a cyclist from riding a bike on the sidewalk or on the extending crosswalk, in spite of the common misconception, pointing out that if there were prohibition, it would be based on local municipal code, not CVC. A review of Glendale Municipal Code reveals that there is a prohibition against sidewalk cycling in a business district.
10.64.025 Bicycle riding on sidewalks. No person shall ride or operate a bicycle upon any public sidewalk in any business district within the city except where such sidewalk is officially designated as part of an established bicycle route. Pedestrians shall have the right-of-way on sidewalks. The prohibition in this section shall not apply to peace officers on bicycle patrol. (Ord. 5116 § 1, 1996)
This started a debate over what constitutes a "business district" because the cyclist, Gerardo Ramos, was hit as he rode through the crosswalk at the intersection of North Concord Street and Milford Street. It appears to be a residential neighborhood but that's when things get murkier. The CVC defines a business district and it also defines a crosswalk.
Business District 235. A "business district" is that portion of a highway and the property contiguous thereto (a) upon one side of which highway, for a distance of 600 feet, 50 percent or more of the contiguous property fronting thereon is occupied by buildings in use for business, or (b) upon both sides of which highway, collectively, for a distance of 300 feet, 50 percent or more of the contiguous property fronting thereon is so occupied. A business district may be longer than the distances specified in this section if the above ratio of buildings in use for business to the length of the highway exists.
Business and Residence Districts: Determination 240. In determining whether a highway is within a business or residence district, the following limitations shall apply and shall qualify the definitions in Sections 235 and 515: (a) No building shall be regarded unless its entrance faces the highway and the front of the building is within 75 feet of the roadway. (b) Where a highway is physically divided into two or more roadways only those buildings facing each roadway separately shall be regarded for the purpose of determining whether the roadway is within a district. (c) All churches, apartments, hotels, multiple dwelling houses, clubs, and public buildings, other than schools, shall be deemed to be business structures. (d) A highway or portion of a highway shall not be deemed to be within a district regardless of the number of buildings upon the contiguous property if there is no right of access to the highway by vehicles from the contiguous property.
Crosswalk 275. "Crosswalk" is either: (a) That portion of a roadway included within the prolongation or connection of the boundary lines of sidewalks at intersection where the intersecting roadways meet at approximately right angles, except the prolongation of such lines from an alley across a street. (b) Any portion of a roadway distinctly indicated for pedestrian crossing by lines or other markings on the surface. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, there shall not be a crosswalk where local authorities have placed signs indicating no crossing.
I mention the CVC definitions only because that is what the Glendale Police Department talked about during the four phone conversations I had with them, each time trying to find somebody who could speak authoritatively about the Glendale Police Department's reported 50/50 assessment of responsibility in the traffic collission that took the life of Gerardo Ramos. It was an obtuse and cumbersome journey, resulting in my simple request for a formal investigation.
I initially spoke to the reporter who wasn't interested in a retraction or a correction, saying "He's a Detective, I thought I could trust him." She was wrong as was the detective. There is no state law prohibiting cyclists from riding on the sidewalk. It may not be a good idea, in fact it's typically a terrible idea, but it is not a violation of state law. I was at least able to confirm that the reporter stood by her quote of the Glendale Police Detective who said the prosecutors would be filing misdemeanor charges against the motorist. They determined that the cyclist was partially to blame. “They agreed that it’s 50-50,” Mankarios said. “He violated the vehicle code, but in essence had she stopped, he would have gone right through and in front of her.”
I spoke to Officer Metz who was pleasant and helpful, unfortunately also completely misinformed as to the law and its application for cyclists. He referred to a California Vehicle Code ban on cyclists and other "coasting devices" which he repeated a couple of times in during our conversation. I've heard of cyclists and pedestrians being inappropriately grouped but never cyclists and skateboarders. Sure enough, there is a Glendale Muni Code that refers to coasting devices but it's all irrelevant to the incident that resulted in a motorist running a stop sign and hitting a cyclist, causing his death. Officer Metz explained that the crosswalk was an extension of the sidewalk and therefore a cyclist would be prohibited from the crosswalk. He then tired of our conversation and begged off.
I tried again, this time calling for the Chief and when that failed, asking for the Chief's Adjutant. Somehow this sounded like Public Information Officer and I ended up chatting with Sgt. Lorenz who was quite officious and touted the City of Glendale's commitment to safety, requested my query in writing, and aggressively steered the conversation in the general direction of "Move along now! There's nothing here for you to look at!"
I spoke to the Watch Commander, Sgt. Fernandez, who was very helpful and seemed as interested as I in digging through state code and local code and I was encouraged, not by his knowledge of the laws as they apply to cyclists but by his open and enthusiastic approach to my questions. Ultimately, he was a pleasure to talk to but we had a hard time determining if the location was a residential neighborhood or a business district. He gave me his best understanding of the law and the Glendale PD policy but suggested that I should talk to someone else.
I pressed on, this time determining that Sgt. Dennis Smith was in charge of Detective Ashraf Mankarios and I called him to discuss the Glendale Police Department's policy on cyclists on the sidewalks and the 50% determination of fault that Mankarios referred to in the Glendale News Press article. He was slippery!
Smith quickly threw up the first defense saying "We don't litigate in the newspaper and I'm not going to litigate on the phone." I pointed out that we weren't litigating and that repeating this protest three times was a simple straw man argument that completely avoided my simple question. I again asked "Did he stand by the 50-50 responsibility determination that Detective Mankarios referred to in the newspaper?"
This set Sgt. Smith off on a commentary on journalists, interviews, quotes, accuracy, and the fact that it is possible that Detective Mankarios was misquoted or misunderstood. I pointed out that I had confirmed the quote with the journalist but that, nevertheless, my question wasn't regarding his confidence in the article but on his personal and professional opinion on the 50-50 determination. He settled down and said the Glendale Police Department would not make a recommendation such as the 50-50 determination.
Now we were getting somewhere but not for long. He quickly pointed out that we had nothing more to talk about since there the GPD had no 50-50 position on the traffic colission that took the life of Gerardo Ramos. I pointed out that we were just getting started and that the larger issue here was the simple fact that out of five Glendale Police Department officers, four of them had misquoted the law, all stating that to ride a bike on the sidewalk is a violation of state law. It isn't, they are wrong and as to the Traffic Supervisor of the Glendale Police Department it was his responsibility to address the failure of his department to understand the law.
Sgt. Smith was good, he knew the code(s) for business districts, for crosswalks (marked and unmarked) and the muni code for sidewalk cycling. He also knew that I was asking him for an investigation, not just a conversation. He didn't let on immediately but he gave me instructions on how to file a complaint if I thought the Glendale Police Department had failed to perform its duties. His instructions amounted to an obstacle, not a solution. "Come down to the station and file a complaint if you think we should investigate this matter further." I pointed out that since I had him on the phone, he could simply take the complaint telephonically. He then instructed me to "go online, I'll direct you to the proper forms and you can download them, print them out, fill them out, then mail them to the Glendale Police Department." I thanked him for the suggestion but again pointed out that since I had him on the phone and since it was department policy to take complaints and reports telephonically, I would prefer to proceed with my request for an investigation telephonically. He acquiesced, asking if he could finish up with somebody at the counter and then call me back. I agreed, he called me back, and we proceeded with a request that he indicated would go to the supervising Lt. and then the Captain.
We now wait on the Glendale Police Department and their determination on what constitutes a business district and where a cyclist may ride a bike. Personally, I'm not advocating for sidewalk cycling but I understand it. Most importantly, I'm advocating for a police force that not only understands and enforces the law, but that also serves and protects those on the street who are most vulnerable.
This is Bike to Work week around the country. Gerardo Ramos simply wanted to ride his bike to work and his life ended because he crossed the street at the same time as a motorist who failed to stop at that stop sign. All the bike maps and Clif bars and patch kits celebrating Bike to Work week are just salt in the wound if the City of Glendale's Police Department can't clearly and cohesively communicate and defend a cyclists' right to travel safely and free of fear.
It's Bike to Work week and the City of Glendale has a lot of catching up to do! | <urn:uuid:1c1cf025-ed13-4129-be4e-c24a1716f98d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://soapboxla.blogspot.com/2010/05/glendale-police-department-says-circle.html?showComment=1274398166331 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977552 | 2,148 | 1.625 | 2 |
I was invited to tour one of the growing facilities for Proven Winners plants, in Bonsall, California at EuroAmerican Propagators to learn how their plants are developed.
It all begins with testing...lots of testing.
Every plant that is introduced by this company undergoes a STRENUOUS trial period where the plants are planted in the ground, in containers, in hanging baskets, you name it.
Although these plants are well cared for, they aren't "babied" during testing in order to assess their "survivor" potential under average garden care.
A trial plant undergoes many years of testing and once selected for development, thousands of dollars are invested to produce and market the plant to both the trade industry and the home gardener.
Proven Winners selects a handful of plants every year from a pool of thousands of hopefuls!
Plant trials are a combination beauty pageant/Olympic games where only the most beautiful and most vigorous plants make the cut for development.
Some of the improved traits include, longer bloom times, improved disease resistance, lower watering needs, less maintenance and of course, designer colors and patterns!
Once selected as a "Proven Winner" plant, the plants are given memorable names such as "Snow Princess," (alyssum), "Señorita Rosalita,"
(a thornless cleome) and "Supertunia Vista Bubblegum," among the select.
Watch the video to see what Proven Winners
does to improve common plants such as alyssum and witness the step by step process from "research and development" to when plants are shipped in preparation for garden centers.
I hope you find it to be informative and entertaining.
Next time you're at the garden center and see a plant in a branded container, you'll understand what makes it different from the other plants with "no name" distinction!
Yes, they cost a few more dollars than non-branded plants but they also promise a lot more.
Garden World Report Show | <urn:uuid:5283fdaf-0606-4bd3-873a-7e80f3d845a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gardencentertv.ning.com/profiles/blogs/how-plants-are-bred-to-become-proven-winners-plants-video | 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 | 0.959704 | 421 | 1.664063 | 2 |
PORTLAND – Complaints from transgender students at Grant High School prompted administrators to create new restrooms.
Some students weren’t comfortable going into the men’s or women’s restrooms, so Grant became the first high school in Portland, and one of the first in the nation, to have unisex bathrooms for transgender students.
The four restrooms for students and two for staff are all single stalls. They are available for everyone to use, no matter their gender or sexual orientation.
Administrators converted the bathrooms after concerns were raised by students. Grant has at least ten students who openly identify as transgender.
Among them is Scott Morrison. He said going into a men’s or women’s restroom at school became so uncomfortable he stopped drinking anything during the day.
“I definitely got some really weird looks in the women’s restroom. It is just not comfortable,” he said. “I just don’t feel safe in the men’s restroom…And in the women’s restroom, I just get funny looks.”
Administrators said the renovation didn’t cost much. They just changed some locks and got new signs.
KGW reporter Kyle Iboshi contributed to this report. | <urn:uuid:6c9a2baf-f711-4cb4-9c43-6b904531535f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.krem.com/news/199691721.html?ref=next | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970328 | 260 | 1.84375 | 2 |
INTERNATIONAL IDEA EXCHANGE
Pulse of the City
Richard Kirby, CPEng, MIPENZ
Assets Group Manager, Manawatu District Council
Fielding, New Zealand
Sailing on Auckland harbour (photo courtesy of Tourism Auckland)
The Association of Local Government Engineering New Zealand (INGENIUM) held its 2006 Annual Conference in Auckland, the "City of Sails," 8-10 June. The theme was "Pulse of the City" and this report outlines the key messages embracing this theme and puts them in the context of managing infrastructure within New Zealand.
Pulse of the City
Over recent years it seems that the pace of life is increasing. There are greater demands on our time, our skills and our relationships. Stress levels frequently peak and our energy levels increasingly drop. There comes a time when refreshment and revitalisation are needed. The conference theme "Pulse of the City" certainly invoked thoughts of energy, enthusiasm and activity—things that are important to us even though they are not normally personified in engineers! Despite this the exciting and varied conference programme gave all delegates an opportunity to be extricated from the rut of routine and revitalised with a new passion by allowing their energy levels to be raised, the dwindling embers of their enthusiasm reignited and the blurred images of their vision refocused.
Although the conference included technical papers outlining recent local government engineering projects undertaken within New Zealand it also focused on coaching and the softer and more emotional issues related to health and relationships. Engineers can be very stoic and divorced from their emotions, so these sessions provided motivation and inspiration.
Coaching is more about asking the right questions
Sir John Whitmore, motor racing champion, successful businessman and one of the founding fathers of coaching addressed the conference as a keynote speaker. Sir John's insight into coaching was a tremendous inspiration to all. He identified the two key principles of leadership as awareness and responsibility, and that the skills required by leaders were effective questioning and active listening.
Sir John outlined the difference between a leadership coach and an instructor. "The definition of coaching is a broad one," he said. "The behaviours of coaching will be somewhat similar because they are drawing out of the person the potential and the capabilities that that person has, rather than putting some in from the outside which is what an instructor will do."
This difference was aptly demonstrated in a short video clip comparing Sir John's coaching style with that of a professional golfing instructor. Both had beginners who hadn't played golf before and, while the instructor utilised the traditional "command and tell" approach to coaching, Sir John utilised a style that simply involved asking questions of the beginner each time the ball was hit. The outcome was astonishing as the latter learnt much more about her abilities as a golfer in a natural and encouraging manner, compared to the awkward and unnatural manner with the traditional "command and tell" approach. To confirm the power of this new style of coaching, Sir John revealed that although he had coached golf, he confessed that he didn't like the game and had never played a round.
Sir John went on to say that leaders must have four qualities and that these qualities are extremely important. All of them come from within and therefore not quickly learnt; they are more about who you are rather than what you know:
Hurricane Katrina — an overview of damage to infrastructure
Mr Bob Freudenthal, President APWA, gave a very insightful address on Hurricane Katrina's impact on infrastructure. Bob had recently visited the devastated area with the APWA Executive Committee and gave a brief overview of the devastation and recovery. The presentation included very graphic images of extensive devastation some six months after the event. The scale and extent of the devastation could result in some areas not being recovered—very sobering for us New Zealanders. The main lesson that we learnt from Bob's address was the clear need for resilient infrastructure, which can only be achieved with ongoing investment to counter the effect of deterioration. Although there would still have been significant damage with an event the size of Katrina, it is evident that prior investment in levees and infrastructure may have minimised the impact and extent of the devastation. Thanks Bob for the salient reminder in the importance of infrastructure!
The conference was notable for the number of international delegates. Presidents from three organisations attended:
There were also delegates from Australia, Canada, United States and the United Kingdom. The following papers were presented by international delegates:
ese international links have certainly added a new dimension to INGENIUM annual conferences and it is our hope that in the future more links will be made with kindred organisations around the world.
The Challenges facing Local Government Engineers
The presidential address focused on the main challenges facing local government engineers now and into the future. The three key challenges are:
The "Pulse of the City" conference certainly was inspirational and refreshing. The programme had variety; there was technical content, social content and motivational content. Most delegates took the opportunity to be extricated from their rut of routine, they were revitalised with a new passion, their energy levels were raised, the dwindling embers of their enthusiasm reignited and the blurred images of their vision refocused. We all look forward to the INGENIUM Conference 2007 which is to be held in the southernmost city in the world, Invercargill.
Richard Kirby is the President of INGENIUM and was elected to the position June 2005. He is currently the Assets Group Manager for the Manawatu District Council. Kirby's engineering career in Local Government spans over 20 years and he is currently responsible for roads, water supplies, wastewater schemes, stormwater and solid waste activities. From 1999-2005 he chaired the NZ National Asset Management Steering Group, which has been responsible for the development of several guidelines that have enhanced the management of asset infrastructure in New Zealand, Australia and around the world. He is a Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng), Member of the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (MIPENZ), and has been a member of the INGENIUM Board since 1998. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org.
"A tree never hits an automobile except in self defense." - American Proverb
"Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade?" - Benjamin Franklin
"The hammer shatters glass but forges steel." - Russian Proverb
"If the metal is not good, you cannot take it out on the blacksmith." - Ekonda Proverb
"A forest cannot be cut with a broken axe." - Bantandu Proverb | <urn:uuid:b2d0658f-0824-4f62-a558-dc5d79dcbd72> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cthompson@apwa.net/Resources/Reporter/Articles/2006/8/International-Idea-Exchange | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967753 | 1,357 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Chronicle of Philanthropy
February 10, 2013
by William A. Schambra
Philanthropy's standing with the policy makers in Washington, D.C., has reached an all-time low. A prime reason foundations have earned that status is that they have lost sight of their primary obligation to support the poor.
Philanthropy, for instance, regards the charitable tax deduction as the sine qua non of its work. And yet President Obama, in spite of his service on several foundation boards in the years before he ran for president, has repeatedly attempted to reduce that deduction.
Likewise, during the recent presidential election, the Republican candidate Mitt Romney proposed a general cap on tax deductions that would no doubt have fallen particularly hard on charitable giving.
Adding insult to injury, during the recent negotiations over the fiscal cliff, policy makers treated the charitable deduction as a mere pawn in the political chess game, as if it were just another pesky loophole for the wealthy that should be closed so the federal government could collect more tax revenue.
This is a far cry, indeed, from the almost hallowed status the deduction enjoyed until recent times.
Only after wealthy and powerful foundations had spent substantial sums on wealthy and powerful K Street lobbyists was Congress reminded that in fact philanthropy isn't at all about the wealthy, it's about the poor.
After all, the argument went, the poor and their nonprofit representatives would suffer most directly from a diminished deduction.
How could Congress have forgotten this? I would suggest it's because philanthropy itself has forgotten this.
For all the diverse and worthwhile purposes it pursues in America, philanthropy should ultimately be about the poor. But it recalls this truth only when visions of revenue windfalls begin to dance in Congressional heads.
Both conservative philanthropy and liberal philanthropy have lost sight of this truth in their fierce and unrelenting ideological struggle over the issue of big vs. small government—a struggle that shows no sign of abating.
Ironically, both sides insist that the well-being of low-income people is at stake in this struggle.
Conservatives, for instance, argue for a smaller federal government. They do so because it would sustain not only a more vigorous marketplace but also a more robust civil society. Civil society, not government, is the best instrument to meet the needs of low-income people, in this view.
For poverty all too often results from the breakdown of the critical civic institutions like family, neighborhood, and voluntary associations that shelter and nurture the most vulnerable among us.
When big government begins to assume that function, conservatives argue, it only further erodes civil society, while doing a woefully inadequate job as a substitute.
But if this argument is valid, then conservative philanthropy should accompany its opposition to big government with a massive commitment to big civil society. That is, it should devote itself first and foremost to supporting and strengthening the nonprofit organizations that serve low-income people.
Yet conservatives frequently forget their responsibility for nurturing civil society.
Another argument for smaller government—that it will liberate the energies of entrepreneurial individuals within the marketplace, thereby producing greater wealth—tends instead to dominate conservative discourse.
That argument brings with it a formidable array of allies: wealthy individuals and corporations and their libertarian-leaning think tanks, journals, and activist nonprofits.
Civil society tends to disappear from the libertarian perspective, because once government is reduced, the marketplace can take care of the rest. There is no intermediate layer between oppressive state and free individual.
So philanthropy, in this view, needn't be wasted on civil society. Rather, it should be devoted entirely to winning the intellectual and political battle for smaller government and freer markets by supporting activist nonprofits deeply engaged in electoral warfare.
This was the brand of conservatism fully on display in the 2012 election. No wonder a majority of the voters felt that conservatism cared only about the wealthy and not the vulnerable.
As for progressive philanthropy, it supports big government because it believes that is the best way to meet the needs of low-income Americans. But it, too, has taken its eye off the ball.
Government today is big and getting ever bigger not because we're spending more to meet the needs of the poorest among us. Rather, our bulging domestic budgets are increasingly devoted to Social Security and Medicare for the swelling ranks of the elderly, many of whom are by no means poor; to interest on a rapidly growing public debt; and to massive retirement and health-care benefits for government employees.
Entirely aside from the allegedly mean-spirited fiscal doctrines of conservatism, indisputable budget realities themselves are eroding discretionary spending for the poor while we struggle to meet our entitlement obligations.
Liberal philanthropy has, over the past decade, devoted itself more and more to advocacy on behalf of greater government spending. Limited foundation dollars can't do much to solve problems directly, so the reasoning goes, but they can mobilize the much more substantial resources of government for that purpose.
But indiscriminate support for more spending only means that foundations end up carrying water for wealthy elderly Americans, powerful labor unions, well-paid government employees, and other distinctly nonpoor constituencies that have powerful vested interests in federal and state spending.
For liberal philanthropy to be true to its professed end of serving the poor, it should not lobby generically for more spending. It should instead become much more discerning and demanding about where that spending goes.
It should seek ways to redirect government dollars away from the professional providers of services to their impoverished recipients.
When President Obama recently asked progressive foundations and nonprofits to support his proposed tax increase on the wealthiest Americans, for instance, they should have taken that opportunity to ask for a serious conversation about who would benefit from enhanced revenues.
But to undertake that conversation would mean challenging the prerogatives of some powerful traditional political allies, who tend to elbow aside the poor in the struggle for shares of government spending.
It seems, then, that conservative philanthropy has lost sight of the poor in its struggle for smaller government, while liberal philanthropy has done the same in its struggle for larger government.
So when philanthropy argues that Congress shouldn't reduce the charitable deduction because it would harm low-income citizens the most, it should rightfully feel a pang of conscience. For it seems to recall its obligation to the poor only in moments of political crisis.
Behind these failures, though, I think there's an encouraging possibility.
Over the years, I've been struck by the degree to which many of my progressive friends tend to admire the same sort of nonprofit leaders I do: scrappy, self-sacrificing, outspoken grass-roots champions of low-income communities who organize their neighborhoods to work on their own behalf, doing for themselves what they can and applying political pressure where necessary for the resources to do yet more.
I tend to emphasize what such groups can do for themselves, while my progressive friends tend to emphasize what such groups should claim from others.
But there is, I would maintain, a remarkable degree of overlap.
If, as I suggest, the needs of the poor demand that conservative philanthropists challenge their libertarian, free-market allies, while progressives challenge their well-heeled government allies, perhaps the stage is set for an alliance.
Such an alliance would not require abandoning core principles. Conservative philanthropy will always be more sympathetic to the market, and liberal philanthropy to government. But on the critical importance of vigorous, aggressive, grass-roots civic groups for low-income communities, I think we can agree and work together.
Senior Fellow William A. Schambra is the director of Hudson Institute's Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal.
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By MOHAMED OSMAN | AP
KHARTOUM: Sudan’s government confirmed Wednesday it will expel a number of international aid workers from the restive western region of Darfur, without specifying how many.
Reports from earlier this week said that six foreign staffers, including employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the UN’s refugee agency, had been verbally told to leave the country.
Foreign Ministry spokesman, Muwaia Khaled told the Associated Press the aid workers were being deported individually, and the deportation does not reflect on the organizations they work for.
“Any organization that abides by the regulations and code set will be respected,” Khaled stressed. “There are indeed some violations committed and this is the reason why they were expelled.” He did not elaborate on the nature of the offenses and said the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs would disclose more later.
The reports come at a time of strained relations between international aid groups and the government of Sudan.
At a recent gathering, Sudanese President Omar Bashir told local Darfur officials that they can act independently “to expel and order out any international organization or agency or any quarter that exceeds its stipulated mandate or tries to obstruct the work of the local authorities.” The UN has said constraints on aid agencies operating in the vast Darfur region have been steadily increasing since March 2009, when 11 international aid organizations were expelled following an indictment of the Sudanese president for crimes against humanity in Darfur by the International Criminal Court.
Samuel Hendricks, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan, said the recent orders have larger implications than just the state of international staffing.
“It’s not about the individuals or the organizations, the point is these people are working in a humanitarian capacity and trying to help the population of Darfur,” he said.
Fighting in Darfur began with a 2003 rebellion by groups who accused the government of neglecting the desert region.
The ongoing conflict has left up to 300,000 people dead and forced 2.7 million to flee their homes, according to UN figures.
Several rebel groups have negotiated peace agreements with the government but two major armed groups, the SLA and the Justice and Equality Movement, have refused. The UN Security Council on July 30 called for an immediate halt to the escalating violence in Darfur and demanded that all rebel groups to join peace talks. | <urn:uuid:dd0286cd-022b-42c2-aa51-46ba63441962> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://actforamerica.wordpress.com/2010/08/19/sudan-says-will-deport-foreign-ngo-workers/ | 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 | 0.956972 | 511 | 1.625 | 2 |
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