text stringlengths 211 577k | id stringlengths 47 47 | dump stringclasses 1 value | url stringlengths 14 371 | file_path stringclasses 644 values | language stringclasses 1 value | language_score float64 0.93 1 | token_count int64 54 121k | score float64 1.5 1.84 | int_score int64 2 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Extremist texts that encourage hatred of gays, Christians and Jews is available at Britain’s mosques.
Researchers for the centre-Right think tank Policy Exchange claim to have found such publications in a quarter of the 100 mosques and Islamic institutions they visited, including London Central Mosque in Regent’s Park, which is funded by Saudi Arabia.
Many of the publications allegedly called on British Muslims to segregate themselves from non-Muslims and contained repeated calls for gays to executed and for women to be subjugated.
Most of the material is produced by agencies closely linked to the Saudi regime, according to the investigation.
Dr Yunes Teinaz, of the London Central Mosque, told the Telegraph: “Any book or literature like this found in the mosque will reflect the views of the author and not at all the view of the mosque.”
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been urged to challenge King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia about the literature when he meets him tomorrow as part of the King’s state visit to Britain.
Later today, the Queen will officially welcome King Abdullah in a lavish ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
The report is the most comprehensive academic survey of its kind ever produced in the UK and is based on a year-long investigation by several teams of specialist researchers.
Many of the institutions mentioned are among the best-funded and most active of Britain’s approximately 1,500 Islamic establishments.
Some have received official visits from politicians and members of the Royal Family.
Anthony Browne, the director of Policy Exchange, said in a statement: “It is clearly intolerable that hate literature is peddled at some British mosques.
“I am sure the majority of moderate Muslims will be as horrified as everyone else that pamphlets advocating jihad by force, hatred for insufficiently observant Muslims, Christians and Jews, and segregation have found their way into the UK’s mosques.”
Mr Browne added: “The fact that the Saudi regime is
producing extremist propaganda and targeting it at British Muslims must also be challenged by our own government.
“It is reassuring that the majority of mosques investigated do not propagate hate literature – but much work needs to be done to ensure that a large number of leading Islamic institutions remove this sectarianism from their midst.”
Policy Exchange said it found the literature was accessible both openly and “under the counter”.
They collected 80 books and pamphlets over the course of the year.
Iqbal Sacranie, a former secretary general of the Muslim Council of
Great Britain, has criticised the report.
He said: “The majority of Muslims will totally dismiss this because it is written by the Policy Exchange, who have an agenda to denigrate the mainstream of Islam in this country.
“If there is any material which falls foul of the law, then the law
should take its course. We cannot accept messages of hate – there is zero tolerance on that.
“But it is irresponsible to target religious texts and take them out of context. These texts can be found not just in mosques but in ordinary bookshops – the report overlooks that.”
The report is entitled The Hijacking of British Islam: How extremist literature is subverting Britain’s mosques.
It was written by Dr Denis MacEoin, the Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Newcastle University.
The report goes on to make several recommendations, including that mosques and other Islamic institutions must act immediately to remove extremist literature from their premises and that the government, local authorities, police forces, other institutions and prominent individuals should have nothing to do with
mosques that continue to sell or distribute extremist literature. | <urn:uuid:5dbe598c-5703-4b11-9534-92bce8550695> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2007/10/30/study-claims-homophobic-literature-is-available-at-uk-mosques/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959079 | 755 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Get involved: Send pictures, video, news and views - text NEWS SHOPPER to 80360 or email us
Young Environmentalist of the Year
12:37pm Saturday 14th February 2009 in Green Awards
Josh Shackleton was crowned Young Environmentalist of 2008.
The 14-year-old pupil at Ravens Wood School in Oakley Road, Bromley, has chaired the borough’s Youth Advisory Panel since 2006, helping the council provide environmental activities for 11 to 19-year-olds.
This has included the initiation of a project to turn a piece of land near Mead Road Infant School in Chislehurst into a wildlife area.
The Beverley Road resident said: “For me to get this award means a lot to the teenagers of my generation, as it gets rid of the stereotype we’re all hoodies with knives and drugs, and shows there are many of us who care about the world around us. Hopefully this award will inspire others.” | <urn:uuid:dac087d3-6154-41c8-a6f7-4797867f7576> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/green_2009/greenawards/4127002.Young_Environmentalist_of_the_Year/r/?ref=rss | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955205 | 203 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Intel and its partners showcsase new motherboards based on the upcoming Intel P55 Express chipset, which supports the new 1156 socket.
At CeBIT, the P55 mohterboards on display include the "TPOWER I55" by BIOSTAR, Jetway's "HI05", Asus' "P7U PRO" and MSI's "G9P55-DC".
Also known as "ibex peak" the Intel P55 Express chipset generally replaces the traditional role of the Southbridge chips the future architecture of Intel.
The P55 Express chispet, which is expected to appear in the end of 2009, will support Intel's quad-core "Lynnfield" CPUs as well as the dual-core "Havendale" processors, both compatible with the new LGA1156 socket or "Socket H". Note that Intel had originally planned the Socket 1160 for the Lynnfield platform, although now it seems that it has droped 4 pins from it.
Compared to today's three-chip solution, (CPU, chipset, I/O), Lynnfield will be a 2-chip solution, with the graphics to move into the ibex Peak chipset.
For the record, Intel's Havendale platform marks the era where the graphics migrate into the CPU itself.
The P55 and the G55 chipsets that will be included in the Lynnfield platform are expectd to allow motherbord makers to make smaller boards at a lower manufacturing cost.
Intel's P55 and G55 chipsets are expected to become mainstream in 2010. | <urn:uuid:285681ff-0995-4b72-a0f1-bd006b78a653> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/Details.aspx?NewsId=24950 | 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 | 0.93308 | 323 | 1.515625 | 2 |
National Sculpture Prize and exhibition 2005
It is five years since the idea was first floated within Macquarie Bank to establish a national prize for outstanding Australian sculpture. The prevailing view at the time was that sculpture lacked the support and recognition it deserved. It was, in effect, the bridesmaid of the Australian arts.
Macquarie took the concept to the National Gallery of Australia which, to its enormous credit, acted quickly to turn it into reality. Within a year, the National Sculpture Prize and exhibition was born.
Few could have foreseen the remarkable impact this prize would have, not only on Australian sculpture but on the art scene generally. Much of that success can be attributed to Australia’s sculptors, who entered the competition in unexpectedly large numbers. More than 480 entries were received for the inaugural Prize in 2001, while a record 636 artists entered works this year.
Sculptors have also embraced the unrestrictive entry conditions attached to the Prize, exploring the limits of their imagination and a diverse range of materials to produce truly innovative sculpture. Artists have used everything from bush turkey feathers to the air we breathe to bring their works to life.
Their contributions have been enjoyed by an appreciative public, making the National Sculpture Prize exhibition one of the National Gallery of Australia’s most popular. Selected pieces are also displayed in public areas of several Macquarie Bank offices, where they attract many visitors. Clearly, the viewing public is keen to embrace sculpture as a uniquely expressive art form.
There is no doubt that the National Sculpture Prize and exhibition has given new prominence to Australian sculpture. In addition, it has initiated many other lucrative prizes, further expanding its scope and dimension, and ensuring sculpture receives the recognition it deserves.
Most importantly, the Prize has given valuable exposure to Australia’s most talented sculptors, both emerging and established, and provided a strong platform on which to build their careers. Ah Xian, the Prize’s winner in 2001, has exhibited his work in New York, while 2003 winner Lisa Roet is due to have the first monograph on her work published this year. Timothy Horn, a finalist in 2001 now has a commercial gallery representing his work in San Francisco, while Alwin Reamillo and Roselin Eaton’s 2003 entry, Jandamarra crossing project, is now on permanent display at the Western Australian Museum in Perth. For many entrants being named as a finalist has marked the first major recognition of their work.
I would like to congratulate all of the finalists whose work has been selected for exhibition in 2005 and wish them all the best.
I also thank the National Gallery of Australia and its Director, Ron Radford, for the strong support and commitment that he and his staff have given the National Sculpture Prize and exhibition.
I hope you enjoy the exhibition.
Executive Chairman, Macquarie Bank
Launched in 2000, the National Sculpture Prize set out to raise the profile of sculpture in Australia. Looking back it is gratifying to see that it has indeed achieved its aim and sculpture, in all its contemporary manifestations, is currently enjoying unprecedented visibility and recognition.
The three Prizes – held in 2001, 2003 and 2005 – have included an extra-ordinary range of works by a total of eighty-three artists from around Australia. The Prize has introduced emerging artists to a national audience and has exhibited their works alongside those of Australia’s leading sculptors. It has provided a vital forum in which artists have presented major new works – in some instances ambitious undertakings that would not have been realised without the stimulation of the Prize. With each exhibition there has been an associated program of public talks by artists and curators, extending the understanding and enjoyment of this art form amongst the wider community. The Gallery has forged lasting relationships with artists around the country and works from each Prize have been acquired for the national collection.
The National Gallery of Australia is proud to present the third National Sculpture Prize and exhibition. This event signals the Gallery’s commitment to exhibiting contemporary Australian art and this year’s exhibition will be the largest to date, featuring works by thirty-nine artists, and extending throughout the Gallery’s temporary exhibitions wing.
Over the past five years the National Gallery of Australia and Macquarie Bank have worked closely together in the presentation of the Prize. I thank Macquarie Bank for their generous and enthusiastic involvement with the National Galley of Australia, and for their initiative in extending the reach of the Prize by touring selected works nationally. The partnership between the National Gallery of Australia and Macquarie Bank has already achieved much, and I look forward to the continuation of this relationship into the future.
I would also like to thank International Art Services for their ongoing support of the National Sculpture Prize by again offering participating artists a generous discount on the cost of transporting their works.
I thank my fellow judges for the commitment and expertise that they have brought to their task, selecting a stimulating and diverse exhibition from the 636 entries received this year.
The exhibition of contemporary sculpture is a complex undertaking and I acknowledge the professionalism and dedication of staff from across the Gallery who have contributed to this project, including coordinating curator Elena Taylor, project officer Kate Buckingham and exhibition manager Beatrice Gralton.
Most particularly I would like to congratulate all of the artists selected for the 2005 Prize, and to thank all of those who entered for their continued support of this event.
Ron Radford AM
Director, National Gallery of Australia
|NGA Home | Introduction | Search | Essay | Judges | Learning | Audio Tour | Visiting | Previous| | <urn:uuid:620923d4-2d6c-4826-ba4a-4613fb0d6a29> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nga.gov.au/Exhibition/SculpturePrize05/Default.cfm?mystartrow=25&realstartrow=25&MnuID=1&GalID=ALL&Order=1 | 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 | 0.972985 | 1,157 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Too many people in this country have formed their opinions based entirely on media and Government propaganda, and this is too important to allow the uneducated masses loose on.
Before this happens, we need a wholesale education programme.
(27 posts) (16 voices)
Well, the thing is that if you are going to have a democracy then it's vital that everyone gets a vote. Most of the ignorant won't turn out anyway. Most of the one's who do turn out will have been reading a paper that agrees with what they thought in the first place, be it the DM, Express, Sun, Windypendent, Times, or Grauniad. A few will have bothered to read all the guff, research it, and sperate the wheat from from the chaff, and the rest will either stick a pin in the ballot paper at random or draw a big willy on the paper as a mark of defiance. Whatever, you can bet that the powers that be will wangle it so it goes their way, unless you go back to the poll tax demonstrations.
I'm not sure whether appointing an impartial team to present facts (such as national cost/benefit of membership and immigration) for education is necessarily better than the prosecution / defence legal model of having two oppositely biased advocates presenting and countermanding arguments.
However, I do think with so many convulted attempts in various countries to avoid or subvert referendum decision making on the EU (eg, You voted no? Well, we're going to ask you again, lets see if you can do a bit better) that I think an in/out vote is a good idea, particularly as it will follow a renegotiation of terms...so giving some bargainning power to the negotiation (ie. no improvement in terms means we're more likely to opt out).
I suspect outcome will be strong national vote to remain in EU upon negotiated improved terms.
It’s refreshing to see people believing that voting actually matters. It doesn’t, of course, for the powers that be will always find a way to nullify any vote that doesn’t give them what they want.
Spot on, sigmund.
The vast majority of people don't and cannot understand whether EU membership is a good or bad thing, or which bits are good. That's not meant to be patronising, and I certainly have only a superficial knowledge of the issues. We only read about the stuff that has problems, so is that really the best basis for throwing away the good stuff ?
Being an old cynic, I wonder if this is about winning the next election. Cameron's support must be less now than it was in 2010, and he is unlikely to be able to team up with what's left of the LibDems, so maybe he's hoping some of the 920,000 UKIP voters will swing his way ... polarising the voters may be a canny trick.
However, considering that the EEC (and subsequent EU) was set up to integrate Europe and prevent further wars, if we leave then will we be allowed to attack France again ?
There’s an idea, Sinnick; raising revenue the traditional way - piracy against the French and Spanish.
Since I am a Briton and a Royalist, I am sure that I will do what any Briton and Royalist would do: vote the way I am told to by newspapers. Because that's my right as a loyal subject.
Otherwise there would be chaos.
I'm with Sinnick on this one.
I like to think I'm reasonably intelligent and able to process information.
But I know absolutely nothing about the + and - of EU membership
Can somebody simply provide two columns
One with the good bits - the posistive
And another with the bad bits - the negatives
Then leave us alone for a few days to think it over
At least we would have something to base an opinion on.
Do people in other EU countries buy our stuff (regardless of quality or price) simply because we are fellow EU members or because it is better stuff than they can get elsewhere?
Mines, steelworks, shipyards employing millions all closed down but farmers employing a handful receive massive subsidies
I suspect this is wholly about winning the election; arrest haemorrhage of votes to Ukip particularly.
Ukip supporters will know that by voting conservative they will get their desire- a referendum whereby if they vote Ukip, they merely register a protest vote.
The only down side is a potential loss of support from anyone so euro-phile that they don't even want the country asked its opinion...but Cameron has already declared he will campaign for a Yes, so they are pretty much covered off; whilst also saying he would bargain hard to improve EU terms (in which he may find a German ally), so can garner euro-phobe support too.
Labour could have (and actually still could) totally covered the position by stating they would stage exactly the same referendum. Miliband came out instantly strongly against, which the spin doctors have already tried to dilute.
Its an admirably arch bit of political scheming and plotting, to be fair.
If Scotland vote for Independence, and the rest of the UK exits the EU, the border control at Gretna Green is going to get messy.
Quaz, the Poll Tax demonstrations were a symptom of the gross unfairness of the system, in this instance, as so many have said, there is simply a lack of general understanding on the subject so few would be likely to protest over it.
Id, you make a very valid point about referenda, if the result is not that which is hoped for will we, like Ireland, just keep having them until the Govt. get the result they want? Possible, but unlikely, as 'Call me Dave' will be seen to have done his bit to unite the two poles of his party, and as is mentioned above, stop, or at least arrest, the loss of voters to UKIP. However, the UK already has one of the strongest bargaining positions within the EU due to the number of block votes we're permitted. I can't remember the exact number, but it's high because of our strong geopolitical history instead of being based on population as it is with most others.
Sinnick, That's my point, too few people have anything more than a superficial knowledge of the EU, and most of that is derived from media coverage of the 'bad' bits. Very rarely do you read or hear news reports about how the EU helps us, because that doesn't suit the agenda of the media.
But since our two traditional foes now seem to be rather worried about us departing the EU, I think it'd be a bit rude to start attacking them. At least for now.
AReader, is that a Daily Mail subscription I see in your pocket?
Gerry, again, that's my point. I am in no way suggesting that people are too stupid to understand the whole EU, but how often do we really find a reason to research it?
I only have the (slightly deeper) knowledge I do because it's a compulsory subject at uni, and I cannot claim to understand much more than the man on the street.
And yes, people from other EU Member States do buy our products based on us being EU members, because unlike the Brits, most Europeans see being a fellow member of the EU as being a good thing and will support fellow states. Plus, there's a long-held perception that British built or produced items are of good quality. Little do they know...
I'm not an EU expert, I have only the knowledge garnered through three and a bit terms of uni, but such a potential important vote needs the electorate to have a deeper understanding of the possible effect.
Wayland, it's interesting that he's chosen a date for the referendum which is after the Independence one. Once I've given thought to the potential ramifications of that, I'll get back to you.
From my experience, the EU makes engineering a whole lot more bureaucratic. And often less competitive. The whole thing needs a radical overhaul, in one direction or the other.
We either need a full federal EU, much like the USA, with standard taxation and benefits. Cross-border differences within the same currency is unsustainable, which is why such a move would probably require the NHS to be scrapped and replaced with something simpler. We'd also have to adopt the Euro.
The alternative is to devolve to more independent nations, with trading agreements and other mutually beneficial controls in place. It would also need the Euro to be scrapped.
I am in favour of either of these ideas. But if nothing changes, I'd vote to leave.
Jeni the poll tax was a good idea but had one fatal floor, there weren't many polls back then to tax, now we’ve got bloody millions of them we should bring it back. I would vote to stay in Europe it just needs some of the stupid laws removing eg let us deport terrorists etc. without having to go to the European court begging for permission.
I think the EU has become flacid and bloated, with regulations obstructive to dynamic enterprise. The euro cannot survive in the half-arsed fasion it is now; countries united by currency need to be united much more closely in taxation, interest-rates, productivity etc- otherwise they will drift apart like tectonic plates with a hell of an earthquake when tolerance limits are exhausted.
The clusterfuck shitstorm pebbledashing Greece, Ireland, Italy, Spain etc etc illustrates that.
So, like Wayland- loose trading agreement with economies of scale but no petty regulations (I'm in) or tightly shackled uber-state with united currency, taxation etc (I'm out) are the only concepts that could survive long-term.
Godly, don't think the European court has anything to do with EU membership. Eh, Jeni?
Since when has people not having a fucking clue what they’re really voting for stood in the way of letting them vote? I present to you as examples every general election there has ever been.
Expecting people to understand the ramifications of their decisions would set a dangerous precedent.
Surely if we left Europe the European court would have no jurisdiction over us?
Yeah but we'd need to be towed at least 200 miles off-shore first
It can be arranged http://direct.asda.com/Playmobil-Large-Pirate-Attack-Ship---5135/000786529,default,pd.html?cm_mmc=ad-css-_-ggle-shop-_-Toys-and-Games-_-000786529&utm_source=ggle-shop&utm_medium=css&utm_term=000786529&utm_content=Toys-and-Games&utm_campaign=ad&istCompanyId=71f4ae42-94c5-4821-aa58-05eff6da2486&istItemId=qiwiwpql&istBid=t
I believe wayland's cock would be subject to cross border controls if we leave the EU.
The BBC is spinning the shit out of this. They reported on R4 that some nations were in favour of Cameron's speech, but others were against. Cue interview with someone against (naturally, who would ever interview someone that agreed with a Tory?).
Unfortunately, the well-informed chap from Finland came across as being rather in favour of Cameron's approach, even offering to send him champagne, should he pull it off. You could hear the disappointment in that Humphries bloke's voice. Hilarious.
I suggest, seeing as we have so many Poles here, that we should leave the EU, reform the Warsaw Pact with our Polish friends, and prepare for the inevitable Franco-German invasion of our two nations.
Sophie from Brighton says the EU is an immportant part of the UKs future, Tony from London belives that England should be as independent as possible. Why not call us etc........
Later in the show some contradicting opinions. Here's Europe, with Final Countdown.
Yes J Vine but what does Rebbeca from 3 miles away think
I think Rebecca is a night worker godly, so I expect she's asleep at the moment.
All I heard on the wireless was "blah blah, 2016, blah blah IF I get re-elected. blah blah, consessions, blah blah, OR a referendum blah blah..." I swiched off at 2016.
I was somewhat underwhelmed. Not so much a statement on Europe but a very early election bribe.
I must confess that I was only just 18 when Ted Heath had the original referendum and it was my first chance to vote on anything. What the fuck did I know about the pros and cons? We hadn't even discussed it at school. I voted "Yes" as it appeared to be what the grown ups were on about. Sorry about that.
You must log in to post. | <urn:uuid:ac7a5038-85f9-4ade-830c-ff81634ee68f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newsbiscuit.com/forum/topic.php?id=55136 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96895 | 2,712 | 1.523438 | 2 |
While there are many items that are more worthy to post here, I choose a mundane thing to post, simply because it requires no effort at exactness of language to make the post. I think that’s part of the reason why I avoid blogging about personal items. It requires such effort to write precisely what I’m thinking, that by the time it is written, the effort put into writing was larger than the effort put into the original doing. Hence my recent focus on living my life, and not committing my life to this most digital of media.
Anyway, the point of this post. I run several PC’s at my house, and the noise is a bit annoying. I’m on a campaign to rid myself of that noise, one moving part at a time. I completely silenced my router/firewall machine this past weekend. I removed the power supply and CPU fans. Then I replaced the harddrive with a 512mb compact flash card ($30 brand new!).
Now the machine is completely silent. It routes my packets and protects the machines in my home from the big bad internet. It makes no noise in the performance of its duties. It’s actually a bit eerie to turn the machine on. It doesn’t make any of the normal noises that a machine makes in spinning up drives and fans when it is given power. It simply boots.
Perhaps it’s something that you have to experience in order to understand. Regardless, tres cool. I suggest the de-fannification of computers to anyone (assuming your heatsinks are adequate for the job using only passive cooling). | <urn:uuid:ea7de896-b9e2-4dc5-9aa8-a7fc3197a927> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://notblog.com/bloggenspiel/?m=200512 | 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 | 0.951635 | 334 | 1.53125 | 2 |
A father and mother traveled a great distance to visit their married son. When they arrived, they were enthusiastically received into their son’s lovely home. Proudly he showed them through the house. They saw each child’s room and its closets which held many toys and ample clothing. They viewed the family room, which was outfitted with the latest electronic equipment for entertainment. Then later, after a sumptuous family meal in the dining room, this thoughtful, gentle father drew his son aside and said, “Son, I see you have filled almost every need a child could have for his physical surroundings and recreation. But I have been troubled by a question—How well are you providing for your family’s spiritual growth and well-being?”
In a materialistic age, when recreation and convenience are the suggested priorities of our society, we might all well ask ourselves, “How well are we providing for the spiritual well-being and strengthening of our families?” Are we clothing family members with “garments of salvation” as anxiously as we provide clothing for their wardrobe? Is our diet of entertainment and recreation balanced with the food offered by Him who said, “Come unto me and ye shall partake of the fruit of the tree of life; yea, ye shall eat and drink of the bread and the waters of life freely.” (Alma 5:34.)
Our families need spiritual food to resist the temptations and overcome the trials of our day. President Kimball has said, “We must be fed and fortified regularly in order to live in the world without being of the world.” (Church News, 26 Nov. 1977, p. 3; italics added.)
Family home evenings and family activities provide two important settings for feeding and fortifying our children. During the past five years a veritable feast of materials has been made available by the Church that can help parents enhance family time and help individuals improve their spiritual direction. (Families who want to obtain these materials will find an order form for that purpose in this issue of the Ensign. Orders may also be placed through meetinghouse librarians for any other materials developed by the Church.)
The LDS edition of the King James Version of the Bible contains many features to help families better use and understand the Old and New Testaments. The new edition contains a Bible Dictionary adapted for Latter-day Saints and a 750-category Topical Guide.
A mother recently told of using the Topical Guide to help her six-year-old. He had received an assignment to give a memorized scripture in Primary. In his class he was learning about courage, so the mother and her little boy looked in the Topical Guide under the word courage. She knew the scripture must be short, and so they found in Ezra 10:4 this phrase: “Be of good courage, and do it.” The boy memorized the scripture and filled the assignment. A few weeks later, when school started and he was faced with separation from his family for the first time, he repeated to himself on the way out the door, “… Be of good courage, and do it!”
The new editions of the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price, and the Bible are cross-referenced to each other. Never before has there been more comprehensive information available on the teachings and the mission of our Savior. What strength can come to us in our families as we follow Christ’s admonition: “Search the scriptures; … they are they which testify of me.” (John 5:39.)
Elder Boyd K. Packer, in speaking of the effect these new editions of the scriptures will have upon the rising generation, said; “There is another generation growing up. The revelations will be opened to them as to no other in the history of the world. Into their hands now are placed the sticks of Joseph and of Judah. They will develop a gospel scholarship beyond that which their forebears could achieve. They will have the testimony that Jesus is the Christ and be competent to proclaim Him and to defend Him.” (Ensign, Nov. 1982, p. 53.)
Materials for Children and Youth
For children and youth, illustrated, simplified readers have been prepared of Book of Mormon, Old Testament, and New Testament stories. Five or six illustrations appear on a page along with an easy-to-read text. A simple, illustrated glossary, an index of people and places, and easy-to-understand maps and time charts are included. Two professionally narrated cassette tapes of the text are available.
A hardbound, illustrated book of Scripture Stories has also been printed. Written on the sixth grade level, it uses a vocabulary and style that will help young people prepare to read the standard works.
Many families are taking turns reading the scriptures for a few minutes before breakfast or dinner when the family members are all together. Others have developed incentive programs for reading a specific number of consecutive days and then having a special family activity together. Some listen to selected portions of the scripture tapes and follow the text in the standard works. There are many approaches possible, but the results of increased understanding, testimony, and spiritual strength are the same.
All of these help parents teach their children to love the scriptures.
Teaching children the basic principles of the gospel is another responsibility of parents. The current family home evening manual should serve as the major resource for teaching our families. For families who would like to expand their library of family home evening manuals, there are several past editions available at Church distribution centers for a reduced price.
In production is a new family home evening resource book that will replace the annual family home evening manuals in preparing family home evenings and activities. It is targeted for distribution some time after 1 January 1984.
Walk in His Ways (Part A, Part B) is a manual which could help parents teach the principles to children from ages seven to eleven. Gospel Principles, though prepared as a manual for new members of the Church, makes an excellent, simplified text for family use. The Latter-day Saint Woman (Part A, Part B) was prepared for sisters in developing areas of the Church, but it is an excellent introduction to the role of the Latter-day Saint woman. Duties and Blessings of the Priesthood (Part A, Part B) was also prepared for the developing areas of the Church, but it will introduce any priesthood holder to his basic duties and blessings.
A Flannel Board Story Kit is also available for use in the home and can be purchased or borrowed from the ward meetinghouse library. The kit contains scripts and figures depicting twenty-nine stories from the Old and New Testaments and Church history. Children love participating in these stories by helping with the figures or by telling the stories themselves.
Has your family tried listening to Church recordings while you work? Every family has work projects that could be more enjoyable if listening and working were combined. Getting the children to husk the corn on the back porch was a real challenge in one family until father brought out a cassette of the testimonies of the Presidents of the Church. The children responded to the voices of these great men and their testimonies. The discussion was lively and the family ran out of corn long before they ran out of questions.
Music appeals directly to our feelings and spirit. Recently, a family began their home evening by singing a hymn together. One of the children then asked if they could sing another one. Soon every family member had made a request and the whole family home evening time was spent singing hymns together. A sweet influence came with the music. The family felt encouraged and at peace. None has ever forgotten that special time together.
Materials to assist families with music include Songs and Hymns for Latter-day Saints—tapes of hymns being sung in unison to help teach the melody. The opposite side of the tape contains the same hymns and children’s songs, but with piano accompaniment only. This allows the family to try singing the hymns on their own. Hymns—Simplified Accompaniments are easy arrangements of hymns transposed to lower keys making them easier to sing.
Video Cassettes, Films, Filmstrips
Over fifty of the finest Church and BYU films have been placed on video cassettes and are available for family use. These films can help teach valuable lessons.
A young man seeking employment was hired by an LDS businessman. More than giving him a job, the employer took the young man into his home. He became exposed to all the influences of a fine LDS family, and after several months he asked to be baptized. During the time of his conversion, the family made good use of the resources of their ward meetinghouse library. On one evening, the father showed his family the filmstrip Worthy Music, Worthy Thoughts. One of the ideas suggested in the filmstrip is that we rid ourselves of impure thoughts by replacing them with hymns. Months after his conversion, the young man revealed that in his struggle to free his mind of nineteen years of pollution, he had used the principle he had learned in the filmstrip. Each day he would have a hymn to sing or a scripture to memorize. It proved to be an essential part of his efforts to strengthen himself and draw closer to the Lord.
The Church provides an impressive variety of periodicals that can bless the lives of individuals and families. These periodicals include the Church magazines and the weekly “Church News.” The Ensign is the Church’s standard for adults 18 years and older, the New Era for youth 12 to 18 and youth leaders and teachers, and the Friend for children through 11 years of age and their leaders and teachers. These periodicals and the “Church News” have helped change and influence many lives with their timely, up-to-date applications of the gospel to our everyday lives. They are available through all ward executive secretaries or ward magazine representatives.
As useful as all these materials may be, however, let us remember that they will not automatically enhance or strengthen our family times together. We must always rely on inspiration to instruct our families. In using these aids, careful selection and a proper setting and application are vital. No audio or visual material can replace the influence of a parent’s love and personalized instruction to a child.
Draw your family close around you. Savor your family times together. President Kimball recalls: “I remember our beloved family activities. Heaven was in our home. When each person did something, whether it was sing a song, lead a game, recite an article of faith, tell a story, share a talent, or perform an assignment, there was growth and good feeling.” (Ensign, Jan. 1982, p. 3.)
Assess your children’s needs. Strive for a balance in your family life and assure adequate spiritual growth for your children. “Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy; … come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted.” (2 Ne. 9:51.) | <urn:uuid:e8163906-dfcf-471c-9da1-c09c72206e18> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lds.org/ensign/1983/02/resources-for-teaching-our-families?lang=eng | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972003 | 2,327 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Hyacinth Robinson hasn't let her fear of water stop her from attending the new water aerobics classes at the Miramar Aquatics Center every week.
"I'm naturally scared of water because I can't swim," said Robinson, 74, of Miramar. "But I love this."
She is one of dozens of people who regularly work out while wet. The classes at the city pool, at 6920 SW 35th St., have been offered since August.
The 45-minute classes begin at 9 a.m. and cost $3. Classes on Tuesdays and Fridays are specifically geared for seniors; the more challenging classes on Saturdays are for all ages.
The heated pool is 5 feet, 2 inches deep and lined with soft vinyl, making it easy on the feet.
During a recent Friday morning class, a lone lifeguard watched as the class worked out to up-tempo music from a portable stereo.
About 10 seniors went through a workout that included walking the length of the pool and back with knees raised high. Other exercises used flotation barbells and noodles for upper and lower body strengthening and toning.
"My doctor recommended this for my arthritis," said Judith Morris, 62, of Miramar, who has been attending the classes for about a month. "The best part about it is it's fun and it works."
Damasa Alvarado, of Miramar, said she also hopes it will soothe her arthritis.
"I know it won't go away, but at least it will help," she said.
Swimmers and non-swimmers of all ages can reap the benefits of aerobic workouts in a swimming pool. The lower level of gravity when surrounded by water is an added benefit. Flexibility and range of motion also are greater in water.
"Water takes away 90 percent of the impact," said Lori Hart, certified personal trainer and water aerobics instructor. "You get the calorie burn of a high impact workout without danger to the joints."
Water aerobics has long been considered the stepsister of aerobics in many health clubs.
"City pools are more receptive to making the pools available to it," Hart said.
Hart teaches water aerobics at other city pools, including in Hollywood, Davie and Cooper City. Some people attend two or three of her classes a week.
"I started two weeks ago," said Louise Satozky, 50, of Pembroke Pines. "It's enjoyable. This is the only exercise I have ever continued." | <urn:uuid:ced19d16-4e4c-415c-8d69-f5b439557eca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2002-09-27/community/0209260185_1_aerobics-city-pools-classes | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967375 | 525 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Working name of American artist Dwight Graydon Morrow (1934-2001). After some brief training in Chicago, Morrow moved to New York in the 1950s and began drawing for Comics, which largely remained the focus of his entire career; among other early assignments, he did some work for Atlas Comics, soon to be rechristened Marvel Comics, and three issues of Classics Illustrated, one being a 1961 adaptation of Jules Verne's Master of the World (1904 as Maître du monde; trans 1911 as Master of the World). His many later projects included work for Warren Publications' Eerie, Creepy and Blazing Western, stories in DC Comics's House of Mystery and House of Secrets, and the first adventures of the Marvel antihero Man-Thing; he also briefly did the Buck Rogers comic strip and, from 1983 until his death, the Sunday Tarzan strip.
Morrow officially moved into sf art with some interior art for the August 1963 issue of Worlds of Tomorrow, and he also painted the cover of its June 1964 issue, showing an explorer on a snowy mountain threatened by a creature represented only by a tiger-striped hand. In addition to covers for other magazines like Fantastic, If, Galaxy, and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Morrow also began painting book covers, first for Avalon and later for Ace Books, Avon Books, and Ballantine Books. Typical Morrow covers would foreground realistically drawn human figures against a misty, more stylized background, though there were interesting exceptions like his 1966 cover for John W Campbell Jr's Invaders from the Infinite (1961), showing an enormous space dragon threatening a Spaceship; he also matched the psychedelic ambience of Chester Anderson's The Butterfly Kid (1967) with brightly-coloured, comic book-style drawings on the wings of a butterfly. Among other covers during this period, he provided Ace's five volume compilation of Neil R Jones's Professor Jameson adventures (1967-1968) with imaginatively diverse covers.
As a sign of his growing prominence in the field, Morrow was nominated for the Hugo as Best Professional Artist in 1966, 1967, and 1968. However, he never received another nomination, probably due to another project he undertook in 1968 – to provide the covers for Ace's series of translated Perry Rhodan novels, which eventually numbered more than 100 volumes. Some of these covers are quite good – he worked especially hard to provide the one-hundredth volume with a memorable cover showing three coloured scenes within a large "100" that included an image of series editor Forrest J Ackerman. But the association with these undistinguished Space Operas could not have helped Morrow's reputation. Still, after abandoning the series in 1976, Morrow did a few more sf book covers before returning to full-time work in the comics, and he completed one widely acclaimed project that drew upon his background in both sf and comics – the Graphic Novel The Illustrated Roger Zelazny (graph coll 1978). [PN/GW]
Dwight Graydon Morrow
born Fort Wayne, Indiana: 7 March 1934
died 6 November 2001
works as illustrator
Previous versions of this entry | <urn:uuid:12b1cbbe-49a4-4114-abb7-0305c0e56c33> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/morrow_gray | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964079 | 642 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Health center proposes new clinic in Tyler
There may be big changes in store for East Texans in terms of mental health care services and access to primary care services if The University of Texas System Board of Regents approves measures proposed by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler.
Regents are on the campus of the hospital for its regular meeting, which began Wednesday and will conclude today. Regular Board of Regents meetings occur in February, May, July, August, November and December. This is the first time they've convened in Tyler since November 2000.
The health science center plans to secure a vacant building at 2235 W. Gentry Parkway in Tyler to be used as a multi-purpose clinic with educational and meeting spaces. The 25,944-square foot building would be secured for 10 years with an option to extend the lease another 10 years.
The lease and estimated operating expenses would cost the center $1.4 million and an additional $3.1 million in renovation costs.
Dr. Kirk Calhoun, president of the health science center, said with pending Regents approval, he expects the clinic to be open within six months to one year.
"We have been looking for an opportunity to better serve the north Tyler community for a very long time," Calhoun said Wednesday. "This property became available, and we're asking the Regents permission to secure a long term lease there. We know we will be providing medical services at that location, but we really want to consult with the community and others before deciding which services will best serve north Tyler."
Calhoun said the center's officials would be talking with community leaders, use in-house surveys and data provided by the Texas Department of State Health Services to identify services needed in that area. He said one of the issues already recognized is the need for community members to have access to primary, urgent and pediatric services.
UT Health Science Center currently has clinic facilities in Gladewater and Overton and a residency training program in Longview's Good Shepherd Medical Center.
"We did not want to go into a community that was already being served," Calhoun said. "We know north Tyler has needs, and we want to be there to help meet those needs."
The health science center also could enter into an agreement with the state health services department as it aims to provide mental health services to Rusk State Hospital patients. The health science center will dedicate 30 beds to care for those patients.
The relationship also will bring more mental health services to the health science center. Calhoun said they plan to expand mental health education for resident physicians in training at the center and open a small unit called the Cognitive Impairment Unit to serve patients with dementia.
"This is another opportunity for two state agencies to come together to address the needs of Texans," Calhoun said, noting he also serves on the State Health Services Council.
Among other changes the health science center will make if Regents approve them is a rebranding, starting with its name. Calhoun noted that the center sees patients from 146 Texas counties, underscoring the need to have a shorter, more straightforward name.
"Our name is and always will be The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, but to give people a simpler handle to attach to us, we've asked the Regents to allow us to use UT Health-Northeast."
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have both used UT Health Houston and UTMB Health, respectively, for business purposes.
The Regents are expected to wrap up business by 1:15 p.m. today. | <urn:uuid:4cfb11af-caab-4152-a4da-4e8e367def63> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20121115/NEWS08/311159990/0/NEWS04 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967948 | 745 | 1.523438 | 2 |
It SHOULD be hard to pull the parent trigger
The failure to enact a parent trigger in Adelanto, California, shows how difficult it is to campaign for the sweeping reform the law allows, as it should be. If the parents at Desert Trails Elementary want to either replace the instructional and administrative staff or convert the school into a charter, it had better have the support of an overwhelming majority of parents. The campaign had boasted that 70 percent of Desert Trails parents supported pulling the trigger, but the Los Angeles Times reported that nearly 100 later backed out of the petition, which the school board on Tuesday threw out.
It should be difficult to campaign for the sweeping reform parent trigger laws allow.
The effort may not have divided the school, as a Times headline asserted earlier this week, but it certainly led a community of parents to splinter into factions, including those who wanted to see change at a troubled school but not a wholesale charter conversion. As more states like Florida and Michigan consider their own trigger laws, they should set the bar high to make sure that transformational change is capable with only a supermajority of parents.
California’s law demands that a simple majority of parents at a low-performing traditional school can petition for a charter conversion, and most states with trigger proposals follow that formula. Ben Austin, the executive director of California’s Parent Revolution, which helped organize Desert Trails parents, has said it’s hard to meet even that threshold. He’s right. But a successful effort to upend a school community with only 51 percent support has the potential to tear that community apart and can leave the school with a parochial authority of parents who would leave permanent marks long after they’ve divested their social capital.
A parent trigger is good policy. It brings families to a bargaining table that has been the exclusive province of teachers unions and school boards, and it begins to rethink the way we govern public education in ways that meet the unique needs of low-performing and low-income students. As Austin has said, the parent trigger empowers parents to declare, “You haven’t listened to us for years, but now we have the power to fire you, so you have to listen to us.”
The trigger also helps to balance any one monopoly, which is why its first enactment last year in the Compton Unified School District shamefully met with strong resistance from a school board that made every attempt to intimidate the petitioners. And its popularity led to an embarrassing leak for the American Federation of Teachers, which drafted a memo that served as a textbook lesson on how to kill a trigger bill while giving parents a false sense of authority.
But a parent-directed reform with a tenuous hold on support and authority can lead to its own imbalance of power, a problem that can be checked if two-thirds of the families agree to sign up. That’s a threshold required to pass constitutional referenda in many states, and it’s one that can give parent unions an iron-clad tool of leverage to turn around a struggling school.
Category: Charters & Choice
blog comments powered by Disqus
About the Editor
Director, Program on Parental Choice
Adam Emerson is the Thomas B. Fordham Institute’s school choice czar, directing the Institute’s policy program on parental choice and editing the Choice Words blog. He coordinates the Institute’s school choice-related research projects, policy analyses and commentaries on issues that include charter schools and public school choice along with school vouchers, homeschooling and digital learning.
May 16, 2013
Sign Up for updates from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Charters & Choice
- Choice Media.TV
- Dropout Nation
- Ed is Watching
- Education Next
- Getting Smart
- Gotham Schools
- The Hechinger Report
- Jay P. Greene’s Blog
- Joanne Jacobs
- NACSA's Chartering Quality
- National Journal Education Experts
- The Quick and the Ed
- Rick Hess Straight Up
- Sara Mead’s Policy Notebook
- Whitney Tilson’s School Reform Blog | <urn:uuid:9835e8a9-c9ad-421a-882b-f6b7bbcc892c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.edexcellence.net/commentary/education-gadfly-daily/choice-words/2012/it-should-be-hard-to-pull-the-parent-trigger.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 | 0.939598 | 855 | 1.546875 | 2 |
MINNEAPOLIS — Food is the most important aspect of the holiday season and unites families, according to a new survey conducted by Harris Interactive for retail giant Supervalu.
According to the Supervalu holiday survey, 70% of Americans indicated that food brings their families the most joy during the holidays, followed by baking and decorating (both at 49%); gifts (48%); shopping (32%); and holiday movies (28%). Among those surveyed, 59% of holiday meal hosts did everything themselves when it came to preparing the main holiday meal, and only 34% said they asked guests to bring a dish to share.
Supervalu said its survey underscored how food is an integral part of holiday traditions among families, and that its stores would focus on providing customers “with simple, affordable meal solutions, tasty tips and useful ideas throughout the season,” by offering ideas both in-store and online at the company's local stores’ websites. Additionally, news about holiday promotions, events, special offers and coupons can be found on store websites and Facebook pages, and can be accessed by mobile phone. | <urn:uuid:c7e43550-90f7-49f6-8d66-03ea2138e1b4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://drugstorenews.com/article/new-supervalu-survey-reveals-food-brings-families-together?ad=supervalu | 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 | 0.962262 | 227 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Whaler-hunters claim victory as ship limps into port
Sailors return: The Sea Shepherd vessel Robert Hunter enters the port of Melbourne yesterday.
Photo: Craig Abraham
ANTI-WHALING campaigners hope to make their controversial "pirate" ship the Farley Mowat a permanent attraction in Melbourne's waters.
The flagship of the anti-whaling group the Sea Shepherd Society is scheduled to arrive at Docklands on Thursday after three months hunting Japanese whalers.
Sea Shepherd president Paul Watson said he hoped to convert the Farley Mowat into a whale museum and keep it docked in Melbourne.
"We have actually been planning on retiring the Farley Mowat," Captain Watson said.
"If the Government wants to seize the (ship), then they can have it but we would like to set it up as a whale museum and whale education centre."
Captain Watson arrived in Melbourne yesterday aboard the Mowat's sister vessel, the Robert Hunter, just before the deadline stripping it of British registration.
He said that under maritime law, ships without a flag could be confiscated and the crew arrested.
The Robert Hunter must register under a new flag before 11am today (midnight British time). The Farley Mowat's registration has expired and the its future is in question.
Captain Watson said a country he could not yet reveal had agreed to re-register the Robert Hunter.
The two ships have been trying to disrupt the Japanese whaling fleet in the Antarctic since early December. Last week the Robert Hunter and the Japanese whaling ship Kaiko Maru collided.
Captain Watson said the collision caused damage to his ship's bow. The Robert Hunter did not ram the Japanese ship, he said.
"If we rammed the ship, we would tell you we rammed the ship," he said. "What happened was the Kaiko Maru was forcing us into the ice flows and we were trying to get out. They moved right into us and pushed us into the flow."
Customs officers boarded the Robert Hunter within minutes of it docking near the Telstra Dome for a routine search.
But this did not dampen the spirits of the 37 crew members clad in Sea Shepherd T-shirts.
"We are just grateful and happy that no more whales will be killed this year, and that the Japanese only got half their quota," Captain Watson said.
"We are not responsible directly for it but we are happy with the results."
A spokesman for federal Transport Minister Mark Vaile said while the two Sea Shepherd vessels had been allowed to enter port, the Government did not endorse the anti-whalers' tactics.
"While the Government remains strongly opposed to all commercial and scientific whaling, permission for the Farley Mowat and Robert Hunter to make safe landfall is not an endorsement of the methods of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society," he said.
Last night in the Antarctic, Japanese seamen working on the factory whaling ship Nisshin Maru, crippled by a fire that claimed one sailor's life, were preparing to re-start its engines.
Power had been restored, according to Glenn Inwood, a spokesman for the ship's owner, the Institute of Cetacean Research. He said there was a 50-50 chance the ship would be able to resume whaling.
"I think in the very beginning things looked very serious, with the death of a crewman, but the crew are working around the clock and the damage may be less serious than thought," Mr Inwood said.
According to Greenpeace, sea ice continues to gather in the Ross Sea. Expedition spokeswoman Sara Holden said the Nisshin Maru and the rest of the fleet had drifted away from the ice but a change in the weather could leave them trapped.
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said the Nisshin Maru should be moved out of the Antarctic as quickly as possible.
"I think it needs to be towed back to where it came from," she said. "And one would hope that the fact that this season has been so ghastly for the Japanese whaling fleet might give cause for reflection on whether they come back again." | <urn:uuid:e05838f6-c74a-44d8-a4e5-c64c1dfa5c02> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/whalerhunters-claim-victory-as-ship-limps-into-port/2007/02/19/1171733684743.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972766 | 860 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Posted by: Wendy Shalit
Topic: Living together…apart. What do you think of the trend toward committed couples keeping separate residences—or one home with separate bedrooms?
I have also noticed a trend toward couples keeping separate residences—or one home with separate bedrooms. Many married couples tend to blame snoring. Excess weight, poor general health or a deviated septum can all contribute to this bane of domestic life. While it may seem easiest to pick up and take your pillow and teddy elsewhere, in the long term a separation in the bedroom usually spills over onto other areas of married life.
Many years ago, I heard a Rebbetzin (rabbi's wife) chatting with a single girl. The girl was saying how wonderful it was that her friend's husband was studying Torah at night (from 7pm to 9pm) during the couple's first year of marriage. How dedicated they were! And what a sacrifice they were making. Needless to say, this wise Rebbetzin had quite a different take on things: "It's not really a sacrifice"--she replied, much to the girl's shock--"because she doesn't really know her husband well enough, yet, to miss him. It is not good to study in the evening for the first year of marriage."
OK, I realize I'm making a leap here between the religious world and society at large, but I think this woman touched on a universal point: Couples might be "okay" with being separate, and yet this is not necessarily good for them, or the bond that they could develop if they worked through their various issues instead of separating.
I'm intentionally leaving out unmarried yet committed couples, because I think this is a whole difficult kettle of fish which merits, yes, a separate discussion. | <urn:uuid:a6308672-3f68-40d6-8025-ff2fb81072b5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://chemistry.typepad.com/the_great_mate_debate/2007/06/just_say_noto_s.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976721 | 370 | 1.53125 | 2 |
The Virtual Nottingham Treasure Hunt 2006 (VNTH06) is a joint student project initiated as part of a first-year learning requirement of the NTU (Nottingham Trent University) Multimedia programme.
The online arrangement of the project has been designed to unify the collected student works through a manner that is both open and structured. I have used a grid of linked thumbnail images to do this based on the original map sectors used by students to make their projects. I have used this approach in an effort to enforce a single organising strategy for the project as a whole (through the use of a single top-level access point) and at the same time provide an open platform for students to consider the design of the relationships between each of their project elements within their individual presentations. I have also provided the students with the ability to interlink their projects with their peers projects and to the main menu through the use of a single contextual menu (that is available to users on the final screen of each of the student projects).
The publishing features of the project were automated using file-access functions (implemented using PHP server-side scripting) rather than through using the more traditional 3-tier application design approach (HTML forms - operational logic - persistent storage). I chose this method in this case because of its simplicity and its flexibility for facilitating easy reorganisation of content.
VNTH06 integrates multiple NTU Multimedia student presentations into a single interactive work. It is a publishing platform for organising heterogeneous content and a means for students to locate themselves within their local creative practice network. | <urn:uuid:cfb1ceb0-9560-4e0c-897a-f7eef8ef3279> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://folksonomy.co/?permalink=626 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942103 | 319 | 1.710938 | 2 |
I've been seeing that folks have been baking their eggs instead of boiling them in water. What?!? That sounds so crazy! Well, word on the street is that baking your eggs instead of boiling them in water is supposed to make them taste better and the shell is supposed to peal off easier.
So last week I tried it.
All you do is:
• Place your eggs in a muffin pan so they don't roll around.
• Bake at 325 degrees for 25 min.
• Cool eggs in a bowl of cold water for 10 min.
It was so easy. No eggs were cracked like the usually are when boiling. I found the pealing to be normal and they taste just fine. I'll be baking my eggs again.
Let me know if you try it! | <urn:uuid:edd61f8c-34d0-40a3-a947-7bcb31352e5e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.shopdirtylaundry.com/posts/2012/7/11/something-new-for-a-snack.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 | 0.977739 | 164 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Yes, somewhere among the faux presidential scandals of the past, there are real scandals like Teapot Dome and Watergate. Or, in more recent years, L'Affaire Lewinsky. But for the most part, accusing a presidential candidate of something he never did has become just an empty ritual for the quadrennial madness known as an American presidential campaign.
Near the top of the long list of scandals that weren't is Dan Rather's "fake but accurate" exposé of George W. Bush in 2004 as some kind of draft dodger. That charge mainly exposed Dan Rather as the fake, and would soon enough lead to his becoming an ex-anchorman of a national news show.
But there are some close runners-up on this dishonor roll, like the recurrent charge that the current president of the United States isn't native-born but actually hails from Kenya, or maybe Indonesia, or your choice of a foreign land or foreign conspiracy. Which would render his presidency unconstitutional. No matter how many times such a claim has been disproved, or how many certified copies of his birth certificate he's produced, that tale continues to attract true believers.
Also true hucksters like the inimitable (thank goodness) Donald John Trump, financier, impresario, blowhard and maybe the greatest all-around, all-American showman since P.T. Barnum.
Some smears even add new verbs to the always changing American language -- like swiftboating for tarring an opponent, a term that owes its origins to the 2004 campaign to discredit John Kerry's war record. Great year for smears, 2004.
It doesn't even have to be an election year for conspiracy theories to take wing. Dwight Eisenhower, if you'll recall, was a "dedicated, conscious agent of the Communist conspiracy," to quote that most peccable of sources, Robert Welch of the John Birch Society, which may still be around in some suburban storefront. Hey, what a country.
This year's prize whopper has already appeared, though the presidential campaign is still young. It's become an article of faith for the Obama camp. It has to depend on faith since there's no real evidence for it. But by now it's been supported by the president himself, who's made himself a kind of accessory after the (absence of) fact.
The essence of this accusation? It's that Mitt Romney, the Republicans' presidential nominee-in-waiting, was lying when he swore he gave up managing Bain Capital when he left early in 1999 to save the Salt Lake City Olympics. And therefore he's responsible for any and all of Bain's purported misdeeds after that -- like saving Staples and many another corporation in trouble. But no need for his critics to go into all that. Why let mere facts get in the way of a good story?
To back up this story, the president's operatives -- in the great fake-but-accurate tradition of Dan Rather, have produced ... Documents!
Documents that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that official filings list Mr. Romney as -- ta-da! -- managing director of Bain for some time after he left. And what's a managing director do if not manage? Q.E.D.!
It's a sleight-of-word trick, since the essential question isn't what title Mr. Romney retained while his company was looking for a successor but whether he was actively managing Bain during that time. He wasn't. And despite all the smoke and mirrors, there's not a shred of proof he was.
That little detail hasn't discouraged Mitt Romney's more vociferous critics, who keep waving that title of managing director around. And claming that his sworn statements about still being director of the company after 1999 was a lie, which would also make it a felony under federal law (18 USC 1001).
By now a former if impeached president has joined the current one in raising questions about Mr. Romney's veracity. Bill Clinton actually has some standing in this debate, since he's something of an expert at the art and practice of swearing falsely under oath. Which is one of the delicious little ironies of this campaign of character assassination.
Other exercises in irony are doubtless to come, like Barack Obama's assuring the country that the "private sector is doing fine." As if he ever had any connection with the private sector except to tax it and dismiss its more successful exemplars. ("If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen....")
As for this latest accusation against Mitt Romney, any fair-minded observer who examines the evidence for it will have to conclude that there isn't any. Not any that will hold up.
For example: FactCheck.Org, which is scarcely a Republican mouthpiece, looked at the Obama campaign's "facts" and concluded, to quote its scholarly response to Team Obama: "Your complaint is all wet."
And when the Obama people re-issued their smear with new citations, FactCheck examined them, too, and reached the same conclusion. To quote that great political commentator Gertrude Stein, there's no there there.
Nor is FactCheck alone. The fact checkers on this story are legion, and just about unanimous:
Fortune magazine's Dan Primack, who covers Wall Street deals and dealmakers, found that "contemporaneous Bain documents show that Romney was indeed telling the truth about no longer having operational input."
After three days of hearings, an official bipartisan election commission in Massachusetts reached the same conclusion in 2002, when Mitt Romney ran for governor of that state.
Here's the word from the Washington Post's fact checker, Glenn Kessler, on the Obama campaign's accusation: "Just because you are listed as an owner of shares does not mean you have a managerial role."
Brendan Nyhan of the Columbia Journalism Review reached pretty much the same conclusion: "[T]he specific cases cited by the Obama campaign largely concern actions taken by those companies during a period in which Romney was not making operational decisions at the firm. Journalists must be clear about this distinction."
Devin Dwyer of ABC News looked at this now rapidly aging smear and summed it up this way: "Team Obama does not provide any specific evidence to back up claims that Romney was actively managing Bain between 1999 and 2002."
But old smears never die, they just fade away. And some folks will believe them to the end. Or as Groucho Marx might have put it, "Who you gonna believe, the Obama campaign or your lyin' eyes?" | <urn:uuid:a6bf2a12-90d4-4655-8c1d-fa5f712789ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://townhall.com/columnists/paulgreenberg/2012/07/19/anatomy_of_a_smear/page/full/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967795 | 1,362 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Armstrong invented jazz singing as well as jazz soloing, transforming tripe novelty tunes with his humor and peerless rhythmic sense. On their recorded duet performances, Louis and Ella make the perfect couple: he with the tattered vocal instrument, she with the burnished jewel. And yet have two singers ever been more in synch? Listen to Louis play around with the time on, appropriately enough, "Cheek to Cheek," rushing ahead of the beat, then falling back: "And I seem to find the happiness I seek/When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek." Ella has all the notes Louis doesn't, and more; but when they come together in the final verse, they really are a couple on the dance floor, cheek to cheek, hand in hand -- Louis appearing to stand still as he twirls Ella through the final verse, propelling her rhythmic flights by leaning back on his heels, shadowing her lines with his own counterpoint repetitions, punctuating a phrase with a growl. And Ella takes off into high-note ecstasy, spinning arabesques.
Like Armstrong's singing style, Astaire's was deceptively simple, a small vocal range at the service of expressive phrasing. And as Astaire made great dancing look easy, Ella made great singing sound easy. Her tone was light and girlish even into advanced age. She had just a trace of vibrato, and her music lacked the pathos of Billie Holiday, the operatic grandeur of Sarah Vaughan. On Cole Porter's "Night and Day," the static tension of the introductory verse with its beating tom-tom and single-note lines releases into a dream of pure movement. In the choruses, the note substitutions, the melismas and rhythmic displacements, are subtle. "It's no matter darling, where you are." Ella floats up to the note of that emphasized word. In her telling, love couldn't be easier.
Just as Louis had worked magic with novelty tunes, Ella made her first big hit with the Chick Webb band and her rewriting in 1938 of the children's rhyme "A-Tisket, A-Tasket." From swing she moved on to bebop, keeping pace with that music's harmonic and rhythmic complexity via her remarkable scatting. With her many "Songbook" recordings for Verve producer Norman Granz (18 volumes on CD) of composers like Porter, the Gershwins, Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington, and Rodgers and Hart, Ella became "the first lady of song."
"I never knew how good our songs were until I heard Ella Fitzgerald sing them," Ira Gershwin said. The "Songbooks" turned Ella into a monument. In arrangements for her by the likes of Ellington, Buddy Bregman, and Nelson Riddle, the songs became classic texts. Oft-omitted verses like Porter's arioso introductions were restored. A great cabaret singer, known for her cut-up "forgetting" of the words to "Mack the Knife," Ella was also a great concert singer, for whom American classic pop songs became great art songs.
On the Verve collection Jazz Divas: Studio, you can hear Ella with her peers and progeny, from Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington to Abbey Lincoln, Sheila Jordan, and Shirley Horn. For many, the song is an interpretive vehicle through which they tell their own story, and Billie in particular seemed to make every song autobiographical. Vaughan and Betty Carter can subsume a lyric in their ornaments. But for getting across the text as written, maybe Dinah Washington, though temperamentally different, was Fitzgerald's only equal. Ella's unruffled presence stamped the material in her own way. Her readings were never colorless, always authoritative.
"I always thought of Ella's as the `official' version of a song," a friend of mine said a few days after she died. "Next to her, everyone else was merely a stylist." | <urn:uuid:1d8581f2-2a51-4d7a-93ee-6171b6721273> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bostonphoenix.com/alt1/archive/music/reviews/06-20-96/ELLA_FITZGERALD.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969821 | 860 | 1.710938 | 2 |
The AARP Arizona Community Educators Program is kicking off the New Year with a host of volunteer workshops across the state on Medicare, Social Security and the health care law (Affordable Care Act).
See Also: Get to Know the Health Care Law. Watch
The workshop trainings were prompted by a recent article in the AARP Bulletin seeking people who would be interested in speaking to groups in their communities about these important programs.
“The heart of the Community Educators Program means that no community is left behind,” said David Parra, Associate State Director for AARP in Arizona. “We know there are many seniors in Arizona who do not have a clear understanding of the workings of Medicare and Social Security as well as the health care law. The Community Educators Program is designed to bring an understanding of these programs to our local communities with the help of trained AARP volunteers.”
As a result of the resent Bulletin article, more than 100 people across the state volunteered to help give presentations at their church, community center and before neighborhood groups in their city or town. The workshop trainings are the first step in launching the Educators program sometime early this year.
“We’re finding that those who have volunteered for this new program are passionate about wanting to bring information about Social Security, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act to their community,” added Parra. “They recognize that many seniors need help navigating the programs and that many people don’t have a clear understanding of how these programs work.”
Parra hopes to have trained volunteers ready to begin giving presentations within next month and encourages people who have a need for a speaker on Social Security, Medicare or the Affordable Care Act to email him with a request for a presenter.
“It’s very simple, send me an email and we’ll provide a volunteer who can give these presentations to your group,” said Parra. “It’s important that we provide this information so that people can understand the benefits that are offered through Medicare, Social Security and the health care law.”
To request an AARP Arizona Community Educators Program speaker on Social Security, Medicare or the Affordable Care Act, please email David Parra at firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:169c9890-933e-42d3-9890-bb986d11d59d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aarp.org/giving-back/volunteering/info-01-2012/no-community-left-behind-az1612.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95061 | 472 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Flashforward by Robert J Sawyer (ISBN 9780812580341)
It is Tuesday 21 April, 2009 and Dr Lloyd Simcoe is preparing to run an experiment which will result in everyone on the planet blacking out simultaneously….
Right, if you’ve seen the TV series with Jospeh Fiennes then put it out of your mind. The theory is the same but the story is less world conspiracies and more theoretical physics. Now that we’ve cleared that up let’s get on with the review.
Lloyd Simcoe and his research partner Theo Procopides are physicists searching for the elusive Higgs Boson particle by using CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The only problem is, when they press the button to start their experiment everyone on the planet blacks out for two minutes. During the blackout billions of people experience visions of their lives 21 years in the future; their Flashforwards. But some people didn’t. Some people like Theo Procopides.
And this sets out the basic, yet brilliant, premise for the story. What would you do if you knew exactly what you would be doing 21 years in the future? What would you do if you knew you were going to be dead then? And is the future set in stone or can it be changed?
Sawyer explores this theme of the immutability of the future through his main characters Lloyd and Theo. Lloyd, who is engaged to fellow scientist Michiko, has his vision showing him in bed married to another woman whilst Theo’s is of nothing due to his forthcoming death two days before the date seen by people in their Flashforwards.
Lloyd’s belief in the fixed nature of the future plays out wonderfully with his relationship with Michiko. Here is the woman that he loves and wants to marry with all his heart and yet his head tells him he will be married to someone else who he hasn’t met yet. The past cannot be changed in Lloyd’s opinion therefore neither can the future. Why get married if you know it isn’t going to be forever?
Twenty-seven year old Theo is not prepared to accept that the future is fixed and desperately searches to find the cause of his death and how he can prevent it. This is the main story for me as it provides a mystery to engage the reader further which delivers action and tension throughout. It becomes an obsession to him, after all it’s his life and death, and there are good reveals as we go along.
Throughout the book there’s lots of moral and political issues around the ethics of what has happened and this is definitely one of those books to spark major debates amongst friends. Weighing the deaths of those killed due to plane crashes and similar during the Flashforward against the advantages of seeing the future is, for me, the most difficult issue to rationalise and yet Sawyer deals with it well. The clever interweaving of positive and negative sub-plots for secondary characters mixed with a good understanding of the political world we live in is the key to making this work.
Sawyer sometimes goes into too much theory around the physics of time but that’s my non-scientifically minded take on it. Someone with a scholarly passion for this field might get more from it. Saying that, it did get me thinking about, and questioning, the laws of physics and the varying theoretical debates interlaced throughout the book.
For me, there is a marvellous section towards the end of the book which goes very Arthur C Clarke by propelling us into a vastly future world. I loved this with it being so vastly different to anything I’d previously envisaged and I’m sure will appeal to the many geeks out there.
Overall, Sawyer has written a great book which makes a complex scientific debate accessible and, more to the point, entertaining. I cared about the characters, I loved the cynicism layered throughout and I knew the future yet still wanted to find out what was going to happen.
4 out of 5
(3 out of 5 if physics is really, really not your thing)
Review by Phil Ambler | <urn:uuid:32451550-f540-454e-b493-8a05bb4f4299> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://brynntferth.wordpress.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96955 | 866 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Over one million citizens of southern Israel have been subject to repeated rocket attacks by Gaza terrorists in the past few weeks, causing much stress and emotional fatigue.
With the objective of offering respite to the residents of the south, several organizations have rallied to their aid, inviting them to stay at their homes and enabling them to experience a calm atmosphere for the first time in weeks. A special telephone service center has been established for the purpose of coordinating these activities.
The residents of Samaria have made arrangements to host families from the south. Gershon Mesika, head of the Samaria Regional Council stated: “The residents of Samaria would love to host, and to receive with a warm hug and with much love, the residents of the south. The residents of Samaria previously hosted families from bombarded cities during the Gulf War, the Second Lebanon war and Operation ‘Cast Lead’, and we will be glad to do so now.” The community of Neve Tsuf in Samaria has made preparations to host some thirty families. Neve Tsuf is known for the rioting in neighboring Nebi Tsalach, but Yechi Kapach, a resident of the community, stated: “Generally speaking, it is safer here than in many other parts of the country. We are a community that volunteers a lot, and when it’s a national mission as is the case today, we are sure to be a part of it.”
A new Facebook page was established to connect the hosting families with residents of the south. The page, established by Shimon Levy from Meron in the north, has over 1,500 members.
The members of the community of Shadmot Mechola in the Jordan Valley are scheduled to host twenty families from the south. The connection was established through their Facebook page. Yoel Tovina, a resident of Shadmot Mechola told Tazpit that the community’s guest house was open for free to those fleeing the rockets. “This area used to be considered a dangerous area. Now we enjoy the calm; we have become the peaceful center of the country.”
Im Tirzu, a Zionist student movement, has taken a young girl from the south on a Bat Mitzvah trip to the north after her planned celebration was canceled due to the rockets striking her home town. The girl, Romy, from Netiv Haasarah on the Gazan border, was scheduled to celebrate her Bat Mitzvah on November 11th. The celebration was canceled, and her story was publicized. Im Tirzu heard about the story and decided to do something special for her. Tsachi Buchnik, a student at Haifa University and a resident of Alonei Habashan in the Golan, contacted local businesses and asked them for help. They all agreed to host special events for her today. One business donated breakfast. A tour guide will take them on a two hour jeep trip. They are scheduled to have a celebration this evening; and she received a free night at a local guest house. Tsachi explained: “The bottom line is no child should experience what she did. We want to show her that all of the Jewish Nation embraces her and wants to help her alleviate some of her pain.” | <urn:uuid:f81e422e-e849-4e34-b9f2-01b5c49876f1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/11/15/residents-of-north-rally-to-aid-of-southern-israelis/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976898 | 671 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Most Active Stories
- Dr. Jeffrianne Wilder, University of North Florida – Skin Color and Racism
- Boston Bombing Suspect's Body Finally 'Entombed,' Police Say
- Dr. Zlatan Krizan, Iowa State University – Envy and Narcissism
- Dr. Frank Elgar, McGill University – Psychological Health and Family Meals
- Mass. Medical Marijuana Regulations Approved, Communities Prepare For Dispensaries
Wed November 14, 2012
Out of Bounds: High Schools Should Ban Football
Originally published on Wed November 14, 2012 2:39 pm
NEAL CONAN, HOST:
There's been plenty of discussion about head injuries in professional football, new equipment, new lawsuits and new rules as well. Inevitably, the conversation came to include high schools, most prominently when a school board member in - near Philadelphia proposed to end the football program. There's also been, sometimes, angry pushback. Last month, the discussion opened again in Dover, New Hampshire.
We'll talk with Paul Butler, a retired surgeon and school board member there, in just a moment. And we want to hear about the talk where you live or where your kids go to school. Give us a call: 800-989-8255 is the phone number. Email: firstname.lastname@example.org. You can also join the conversation on our website. That's at npr.org. Click on TALK OF THE NATION. And Paul Butler joins us now by phone from his home in Delaware.
Nice of you to join us today.
PAUL BUTLER: Well, thank you for having me.
CONAN: And you said something interesting to the school board there, that if the city does not end football at Dover High, the lawyers will do it for us. Are there any lawsuits pending that you know of?
BUTLER: Not that I'm aware of, and I probably misspoke. I probably should've said either the lawyers or the insurance companies probably will do it for us.
CONAN: And why do you think that?
BUTLER: Well, I'm worried that insurance will - the premiums will become so expensive, that it'll be awfully difficult to both educate the children and also pay the premiums for the potential problems that might be coming down the line. And the reason I'm so worried about this is that in the past 10 years, there's been very well-done research that has indicated that repetitive head trauma is not good for our brains, especially for the brains of children, the developing brain. The brain continues to develop up until - about the time we're 18. And we probably reach our maximal intellectual function sometime around 26 or 27. But the actual structure of the brain actually continues to grow until we're about 18.
CONAN: Now, you played football in high school and college. Did your brain suffer?
BUTLER: Some of my friends would certainly say that it did. Who knows? You know, I'm still functional. I'm 68. I still think I can think. I'm not as sharp as I was 20 years ago, but I'm not sure may 68-year-olds are. I had many hits to the head. I don't remember ever getting knocked out. I had a number of times playing football in which I had, of course, my bell rung, or I was dazed. I also played hockey in high school and college and continue to play hockey now, although I think if you watched me play, you wouldn't think it looked like hockey. It's a pretty slow game.
CONAN: Glacial hockey, perhaps, yes.
BUTLER: Glacial hockey, right.
CONAN: And that's one of the criticisms, I'm sure you've heard it. There are a lot of other sports besides football where head injuries are not uncommon, hockey among them.
BUTLER: That's right. And the injuries can be tremendous in any of these other games, especially when the speeds that are reached in hockey with pucks and sticks and ice can collide. The difference for me - the reason I'm picking on football is that football is the only game in which we use our head as a battering ram and as a spear. And I know it's not taught that way these days, but if you watch a game on any given Saturday or Sunday, you can't help but see it happening over and over again, no matter how well athletes are being taught to tackle with their heads up. It just does not happen.
And, of course, the youth football players and the high school football players watch the college and professionals play, and it's either that emulation or the exuberance of youth or the invincibility of youth or the invincibility of having a great, big helmet on your head. But when you are the last guy that's going to tackle the ball carrier, and he's trying to make that first down or that touchdown and it's up to you to stop him, I think that a lot of the teaching of safe technique goes out the window. So it's hard for me to believe that the safe tackling technique and safe blocking technique is really making a big difference.
CONAN: What was the reaction when you first floated this idea?
BUTLER: Oh, it's very interesting. You know, I don't know if you can imagine. Dover is a town of about 30,000 people. School board meetings are attended by school board members and the superintendent, the business manager and a few principals, and not many other people, except during budget season. They're televised. There was absolutely no reaction, not one word. I brought it up with permission. I had mentioned it before the school board meeting.
We had a non-public meeting, and I had mentioned to the superintendent and the other members of the school board that I was concerned about the danger of football, and I wanted to bring it up and ask if it would be appropriate to bring it up at a section of the school board agenda that's called school board matters of interest. And they said yes, and so I did.
As soon as I finished giving my little talk about it, which lasted about five minutes, another member of the school board had another matter of interest that she discussed, and then that was discussed. No comment on either one. And then the next item was adjournment. We adjourned, and from my recollection, there was not a word in the halls on the way out about it, either.
So I was quite surprised that, the next morning, the headline on the local newspaper was about this, because I didn't even know that there was a reporter in the audience. I could see only maybe two or three people in the audience that were people other than principals or school board members.
BUTLER: I was very surprised. And then what was even more surprising to me was that morning - this was Monday night that I mentioned it - Tuesday morning, my wife and I drove down to Boston. And by the time we reached Boston, we had three or four phone calls from local Boston news media, others who wanted to interview me. And then it went, you know, all over the country.
I think the reason it went so quickly and so far and still has legs is because there's a lot of unease out there about the dangers of football, and specifically the brain. You know, the brain is who we are. It's not just our cognition and our executive function, our intelligence. It's our emotions. It's our hopes and dreams. It's every - you know, it's everything that we are. And if you damage that when you're 13 or 14 or 16, it's going to be a lifelong problem for you.
CONAN: We want to hear about what's going on with the discussion about head injuries in football at your school, or where your kids go to school. 800-989-8255. Email: email@example.com. Let's start with - this is Susan, Susan with us from Kansas City.
SUSAN: Hi. We aren't having the discussion at a high school level. We did have it at a middle school level, and it has stopped, but not for the reasons of health, which are important, but for the reasons of cost. The football program in a little school does not bring in a lot of cash. It costs the school.
And when you don't have enough textbooks for kids, it seems silly to me that you should divert money to something else, especially something where almost everyone I know that's graduated from high school can remember somebody suffering either spinal cord or head injury during their time at the high school.
CONAN: But you're saying, at the middle school level, it's been stopped because of fiscal problems.
CONAN: All right. And I have to say, Paul Butler, that was among the arguments you brought up there in New Hampshire.
BUTLER: That's right.
CONAN: And specifically on the textbooks, I think you would agree.
BUTLER: Absolutely. Not just textbooks, but teachers' salaries. You know, I would like to be paying our teachers a lot more than neighboring towns so that we can have the very best and the brightest. I mean, our job is to try to educate these children, and not only does football cost money, but it also costs valuable time away from the class.
If a youngster has a concussion, currently the treatment is not to let him think for two weeks or so. So he has no homework, no schoolwork. He's not supposed to be on the computer. He's supposed to just sit idly for two weeks.
And I would say that the science of detecting concussions, especially subclinical concussions, is very, very fuzzy. It's very difficult to know exactly when it's safe for a child to go back to full contact in football.
And apparently, from what I'm reading, the second-impact syndrome is really what's critically dangerous. In other words, if a child has a subclinical concussion, doesn't come out of the game, doesn't tell the coach that he's been dazed, and then has another concussion, subclinical or a detectable one on top of that, that apparently is extremely dangerous for a youngster.
I was just reading recently about a young man who was the captain of the football team at University of Pennsylvania, and he committed suicide. His brain was sent to the BU brain center.
CONAN: Where much of the research has been done, yes.
BUTLER: That's right. They found CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy. They found the tauopathy. And his mother, this football player's mother, said that he - she had seen every one of his games in high school and college. He never had a concussion that she knew about.
CONAN: Hmm. Susan...
BUTLER: So it's really frightening to me.
SUSAN: As an emergency room RN, part of our discharge information that we give people who have potential concussions is that it may take as long as a year to recover from the cognitive and the mood issues that they will feel.
CONAN: Thanks very much for the call, Susan.
CONAN: Let's see. We go next to - this is Fabian, Fabian with us from Oakland.
FABIAN: Hey. How are you?
CONAN: Good, thanks.
FABIAN: I honestly believe this argument doesn't factor in low-income students or individuals that use football to get to college. A lot of these players won't go to college and won't get a degree if football is taken off the curriculum. I think this - the idea of stopping football is kind of ludicrous because you just alienate a large numbers of students. And where does it stop? You know, does it stop when - would it transcend to swimming? There a lot of shoulder injuries in swimming. Would it transcend to (technical difficulties)? It's just - I think you have to factor in that a lot of people used football to get out of the ghetto. And I'll take my response off the air.
CONAN: All right, Fabian, thanks very much. And I think we talked about hockey and head injuries in hockey. Shoulder injuries in swimming, I don't think are analogous. But his point about going on to college, Paul Butler, I think you've said your football prowess in high school enabled you to go to college.
BUTLER: Well, I think it probably gave me a leg up, or at least allowed the admissions people to take a look at me. I went to a college that was very competitive, and they easily could have taken every - they could have filled the class - the classes were 240. They could have filled the class with valedictorians. I was not a valedictorian. And so I suspect that my extracurricular activities certainly allowed somebody on the admissions committee to take a look at me.
I would say to that gentleman that just called, football is a great game. I still like to watch it. I still like it very much. It helped me tremendously as a youngster developing the hard work and the team work and the repetitive practice, the self-sacrifice. All that translated to the classroom for me. It, you know, made me understand that if I worked hard, I could accomplish something in any area.
My argument is that you can get those same benefits from other activities, from other sports, from band, from debate club, from math club. You can get those - all those benefits, without risking your brain, from some other activities. And as far as getting out of the ghetto and ending up getting a college education is concerned, if there was no football at all, I think that some of those youngsters in the ghetto would be playing basketball, or concentrating more in basketball or soccer or other games that might also help them to get a leg up getting into college.
CONAN: Paul Butler is a school board member in Dover, New Hampshire. He proposed a ban on high school football at high school level after reading more and more about the problems caused by head injuries. You're listening to TALK OF THE NATION, from NPR News.
And Rachel's on the line, Rachel with us from Dallas.
RACHEL: Hi, there.
RACHEL: Good afternoon. I'm a mother of two teenage boys, both who played rugby and football. My comment is not based on the actual sports, per se, but my oldest has had two concussions this year. And I'd like to comment on something, and this is fact more than comment. He attended - he went to the ER. He was knocked unconscious, went to the ER. They - he have to - by mandate in Texas, you cannot return to school until you have been checked out by a concussion doctor now. It's law. He had a baseline test done, which they do every September in school. His baseline testing was done. He then went to Children's Medical Center to see the concussion doc. He went from 100th percentile cognitive ability to the 49th percentile in 24 hours.
CONAN: Oh, my gosh.
RACHEL: The first week, I called the doctor. I said, I know I'm not going crazy. My 16-year-old son was horrible. His mood - everything was terrible. He spent six weeks of inactivity, like your guest is talking about. And I - again, I love the sport. I just wanted to comment on the effects of them. I'm not anti either of them. I love that I have boys that are into sports, but it is very real. I've seen it. I have had numerous visits to Children's Medical over this year with concussion, and I have seen it.
The other thing that's hugely important that people are not talking about is reaction time. They did a test on their reaction time. Walking around, he's fine. But as a 16-year-old, almost 17-year-old this week, they told him he cannot drive. It could be the difference between stopping at a red light and going through the red light.
CONAN: Rachel, did his cognitive abilities improve over those six weeks?
RACHEL: Yes. He thankfully - I'm quite a stiff - a tough mom. I don't really care what everybody else says. I care what the doctor says. They went to medical school, not me. And when I have a degree, then I'll argue with them, but not yet. And so he was very persuasive to just not focus on computers. He had to wear sunglasses. He was affected by light. He was getting frequent headaches. But he thought he was still fine. But thankfully, we just trusted what the doctor said and kept going. They monitored - in Children's, he kept getting his testing done. And he went way back up into the 98th percentile, eventually back up into the 100th percentile.
CONAN: That's good to hear. But - well, I am sorry to cut you off...
RACHEL: Yeah. Go ahead.
CONAN: ...but we wanted to ask one more question before we ran out of time, and that is: Will you let him resume those games that you and he both love?
RACHEL: You know what? We don't actually have a choice. He's had two. Law says if he has a third one, he's not allowed to resume, anyway. So - in Texas now. So they're not allowed to, because of, as your guest says, secondary - the syndrome and the danger the doctor said is prior to the age of 23 is when damage is done, not after it.
CONAN: That's what we're hearing from Paul Butler as well. Rachel, thanks very much, and I'm glad your son's doing better.
CONAN: And, Paul Butler, are you going to propose this? We just have a few very seconds left. Are you going to table this and bring it to a vote?
BUTLER: Yes, I will. I - there's been some pressure on me at the school board level to bring it to a vote quickly. And I'm not willing to do that, because it took me quite a while to come to this conclusion, because I resisted it so much, because I like the game so much and it helped me so much. So I'm going to try to give the school board about six months or a year to try to get it figured out. I'll keep sending them literature, and by this time next year, I will bring it to a head. My school board term ends in December of 2013. I'm not running again, not because of this issue. I just decided when I ran that I would give it one term. And so I'll bring it to a head. I'll bring it to a vote by December of 2013.
CONAN: Well, thank you very much for your time today. We appreciate it.
BUTLER: Thank you for asking me.
CONAN: Paul Butler, member of the school board in Dover, New Hampshire. Tomorrow, with the holiday season upon us, we'll take a look at the retail scourge: shoplifting. It's the TALK OF THE NATION, from NPR News. I'm Neal Conan, in Washington. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio. | <urn:uuid:6c3a0d18-19f3-46c1-a624-153ed1e49eed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wamc.org/post/out-bounds-high-schools-should-ban-football | 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 | 0.985424 | 4,050 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Deeply etched into the philosophy of The Sphere College Project are the convictions that all faculty, administration and staff must be engaged in their own personal pursuit of knowledge, and that experience is the best teacher. This implies that I, the president and founder, must be as willing to learn from experience as I expect the students to be.
So what have I learned? One thing is that in our current economic environment holding fundraisers and contests and asking people to contribute money and expertise is not going to sufficiently build the necessary infrastructure for us to become a stable, sustainable entity. I’ve also learned that we’re solidly on the right track. There’s no question of our giving up, even in the face of what may appear to many to be insurmountable challenges. How do I know we’re on the right track? All of my knowledge tells me the structure is right, I look at the progress currently being made by the students, and the fact that 2 1/2 years in, we’re still alive.
What has become clear to me is that we can survive and grow by offering something of value to society—something people will pay for. Virginia Stewart, for example, has been working on her artwork. She is producing new, innovative works that deliver what our lives and times need: insight into self-awareness, and surreal works of beauty that provide fertile ground for interpretation and contemplation. Frank Wolfe is writing and entertaining and producing his artwork in the form of greeting cards and a calendar for sale during the holiday season. His work provides fresh, poignant insights into what it means to be human. Virginia and Frank are both beginning to get paid for doing the work they love to do, too!
So…what do I have to offer? Well, I have developed something called the Sphere Communication Workshop. In the workshop I convey principles of communication and leverage the metaphor of roles played by musicians as they engage in creating music together. Participants in the workshop will gain an awareness of their own individual communication strengths and weaknesses, and to begin to interact more effectively with others.
I am offering these workshops at Steel City Coffeehouse in Phoenixville on two Tuesdays, October 18 and 25 from 6-8pm. Information about the workshops is available by following this link. And Fern Brodkin created this press release. I’m very excited about the workshops. They accomplish multiple goals: they are a way for us to bring in some much-needed funding, and they will also get people communicating more effectively, a critical component of a functioning society. If you are in the Phoenixville area, I hope you will consider attending one or both of these workshops. If you can’t attend, feel free to call Kim Feindt at 610-917-9797 to schedule workshops at other times. If you are not in Phoenixville, I would be delighted to visit your area to perform the workshops. Please contact me via email, richard AT spherecollege DOT org, for more information. | <urn:uuid:e6667f5d-317e-4661-9e59-6cbffb4eb539> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://spherecollege.wordpress.com/2011/10/16/everybody-learns/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964041 | 615 | 1.546875 | 2 |
DENISON, TX - The Denison Chamber of Commerce is holding their fourth annual Kits for Kids school supply drive.
With one school semester over and one to go many, students have either used up or lost most of their school supplies.
Between now and January 14th the chamber will be collecting supplies for those students at their office located at 313 West Woodard. They need basic supplies like paper, pens, pencils, and notebooks.
Chamber Member Belinda Blake says that many children don't tell their parents that they need supplies and a lot of the time that burden ends up falling on the teacher.
"it's extremely important. A lot of parents don't realize that their kids are out of things at school. They don't come home and say I'm out of pencils so teachers give hand outs and even if only one at a time it can really add up for them," Blake says.
For more information you can call the chamber at 903-465-1551
Glue (sticks and liquid)
Markers (Expo and regular)
Spiral Note Books
Scissors (sharp and safety)
Sweatpants and Tops (all sizes- boys and girls)
Socks (white preferred)
Undies (boys and girls-all sizes)
Shoes (all sizes)
Card Stock (colors and white)
Note Cards (3x5 and 4x6)
Ringed Binders (with dividers)
Folders (with pockets and brads)
Toiletries (toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, deodorant)
Designed by Gray Digital Media | <urn:uuid:c58bc81c-36d2-4550-9c46-0e66cc0faac2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kxii.com/community/headlines/4th_Annual_Kits_for_Kids_School_Supply_Drive_113088814.html?site=mobile | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951698 | 341 | 1.5625 | 2 |
I've been holding onto this article about three pervasive wine myths from The Professional Friends of Wine for a few weeks now, reading and rereading it. It's finally time to share it with you, loyal readers. Take a look, learn something new, and then I command you to go out tonight and drink some wine!
October 2010 Archives
It has been said over and over again in a hundred different books and articles about foreign countries: locals everywhere love seeing that you're taking the effort to speak their language. I've heard it repeated that it can be pretty difficult to learn a foreign tongue as an adult, but the benefits are manifold. You will certainly make more interesting friends and learn more interesting things when traveling, but you will also probably save money and hassle by being able to get along somehow.
I firmly believe that we all have the ability to learn additional languages, even as adults. If you are going to travel in a foreign country, you owe it to both yourself and your nation full of hosts to give it your best effort.
Those interested in learning a language quickly might want to take a look at Tim Ferriss' technique for learning a language in three months, or his tips on getting by in a language in an hour. I'm not sure those techniques work, as I tend to be more of the "plod along and hope it sinks in" sort. Another good guide is available at How To Learn Any Language (also check out their excellent list of tips and tricks).
Finding a teacher or others to speak with can be invaluable. There are also a number of websites that can help you learn a language, such as smart.fm (in fact, look me up!). Word2Word has a large list of different language tutorials to explore. Frankly, with some of the cool tools out there, learning a language can be really fun.
Perhaps the key to learning a language is to figure out a linguistic approach that appeals to you. Maybe you're really into geeky linguistics and love breaking language down into parts of speech, but maybe you're really into the beauty of poetry and you just want to read Rilke in his native tongue. Finding an approach that appeals to you may just be the key you need.
I'd also recommend all of the old-fashioned techniques, too. As my Spanish teacher told me at my first class just a month ago: "Ver, escuchar, y hablar." Use flashcards, speak as often as possible to others in your new language, and practice. It really is rewarding.
Finally, I would advise carrying a good phrasebook or knowing of some good translation websites. My favorite German translation site is the LEO Deutsch-Englisches Wörterbuch, and my favorite Spanish site is SpanishDict. I have yet to find a great website for Dutch translation, though, and I haven't even started looking at some other languages I'll be needing in the future.
When I first spotted the small, pink can at the bottom of a beer cooler in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, I was reminded of the atrocity that is Sophia Coppola's horrendous champagne drink, Sophia. I had the misfortune of trying that concoction one day during an impromptu spring picnic. It was an overly sweet, overly fizzy disaster that I don't think either I or my partner could finish. On closer inspection however this can turned out not to be the offender, but a new drink from Hoegaarden, innocently called Hoegarden Rosée. It claims to be a witbier with framboise, or raspberry. It can hardly be called a beer.
I found it utterly delicious none the less. It pours a hazy rose, the cloudiness perhaps from the residual yeast, with lackluster head and minimal lacing. The smell is floral and distinctively fruity, with maybe a hint of the banana esters you would expect from witbiers. Contrary to other disastrous fruit/beer pairings, (Pete's Strawberry Blonde, Blue Moon) this one had an authentic raspberry flavor. More than a beer it taste like a light raspberry cider, a bit like Lindeman's Framboise, but lighter and more effervescent. It leaves a crisp sweetness and you tongue actually tingles after that first sip. In a word, delightful. It may be the first "chick drink" I think I have truly enjoyed. At 3% alcohol, I believe it could use a little more heat. Not a lot, maybe 4.5 or 5% and it would leave you with the appropriate burn to remind you that you are drinking a beer and not a soda. On the whole, however it was very light, very fragrant, and refreshing. I had it for breakfast and it provided a perfect accompaniment to my poached eggs and toast.
Clocking in at ₡1500, or about $3, for 25cL, the cost is extravagant. If you think of similar fruity delights however like Lindeman's Frmboise, which runs about $6 a bottle, even in the states, it is not such a bad price. I prefer to think of it as my special occasion go to drink. Of course, as a wise man once said, "There is never an occasion too small to be celebrated with champagne. Why, one could even say waking up in the morning could suffice!" The same could be said of Hoegaarden Rosée. | <urn:uuid:a9e0acb9-a9df-4064-b013-0835a903a1e9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.leisurenouveau.com/2010/10/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972076 | 1,122 | 1.742188 | 2 |
5T: Help Woburn High's Cheerleaders By Dining Out
Make sure to check in with today's column of news, events, history and more.
Here are five things you need to know today in Woburn:
1) Support WMHS cheerleaders
2) New manufacturing plant to open
Burlington's Coronado Biosciences will open a manufacturing plant in Woburn this year, according to the Boston Business Journal. The Woburn plant's primary focus will be to manufacture a drug made of tiny eggs from the porcine whipworm. These eggs, and subsequent drug, have been used in clinical trials with patients suffering from Crohn's Disease, inflammatory bowel disease and ulcerative colitis.
3) So very cold!
According to the National Weather Service's pinpointed forecast for Woburn, the cold snap continues today! The NWS is expecting temperatures in Woburn to remain in the low 20s before dipping down to 16 degrees after dark. Wind chill values could be as cold as -6 degrees!
4) In case you missed it
We checked in with the Woburn Police yesterday on New Year's Eve and Day incidents. Here's what happened with WPD over the holiday, including the story of a woman who left her car "somewhere in Woburn Center."
5) Historic Headline
Let's take a walk through Woburn's history, shall we? A headline in the newspaper regarding Jan. 3 events in Woburn was:
- 1892—A Woburn Firebug—A man is arrested for setting fires in the Jones Street stables. J. Frank Barrett, about 33 years old, told officials he wasn't sure why he was setting the fires, but admitted to setting two of the seven fires in that area. | <urn:uuid:366702d7-1e02-4e96-978f-f65f5f8f2029> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://woburn.patch.com/articles/5t-help-woburn-high-s-cheerleaders-by-dining-out | 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 | 0.93685 | 380 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Today we visit Denmark's Botanical Garden and Natural History Museum, which houses over 23,000 plants from every corner of the world including the Galapagos Islands, Madagascar, Norway, and Denmark. Denmark is also the birthplace of featured jewelry designer, Susanne Friis Bjorner.
Copenhagen's trendy Pandora charm jewelry is not the only popular jewelry style to come from the city. Having made Brazil a place to call home--a country renowned for its extraordinary gemstones--it comes as no surprise that Bjorner became a gemologist.
Her professional journey would not stop there; for several years she successfully, and anonymously, designed jewelry for a number of jewelry companies. By 1991, she decided to branch out on her own establishing her company, which she named after herself.
Pursuing a legal education Bjorner's daughter, Benedicte, enjoyed following high-fashion trends in her spare time. Offering her mother assistance in setting up the company would prove fateful. Benedicte discovered she could not resist becoming a part of her mother's journey.
Working as a team, Susanne, and Benedicte design baubles inspired by Copenhagen, worldwide travels, art, and fashion. The Bjorners strive to create eye-catching, standout jewelry featuring a spectrum of gemstones that include ethereal, clear diamonds, powerful Mediterranean blue topaz and orange carnelian, as well as pastel crystals. The vibrant stones are set in designs fashioned from 14-karat and 24-karat gold vermeil, silver and solid gold.
The beautiful jewelry is popular in Asia, the United States, and Scandinavia, and has been featured in layouts for Woman and Cosmopolitan magazines.
Photo 1 (top right): Gold Plated Five-Ring Earrings with Rose Quartz
Photo 2 (bottom left): Gold Plated Locket Pendant with Smoky Quartz | <urn:uuid:6380c159-07c1-4164-869c-d9a571243062> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://carlotta-wwwsplendor.blogspot.com/2009/09/susanne-friis-bjorner.html | 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 | 0.948687 | 388 | 1.632813 | 2 |
LUMBERTON — All of the services needed by an individual wanting to start and maintain a business that can thrive and grow in Robeson County are available at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke’s Thomas Center for Entrepreneurship, according to the the center’s executive director.
“Our mission is to do things,” said Carman F. Calabrese, the keynote speaker Tuesday at the annual Robeson County Industrial Appreciation Dinner held at the Holiday Inn in Lumberton. “We educate students in entrepreneurship as well as provide consulting for entrepreneurs and their new ventures.”
About 100 public officials and members of the business community attended the event, which is held to show the county’s appreciation for all that local businesses and industries do to stimulate the region’s economy.
“We can’t say enough about the individuals who are here tonight,” Noah Woods, chairman of the county’s Board of Commissioners, told the crowd during his opening remarks. “They bring a lot of money into Robeson County. We can’t thank them enough.”
Calabrese began his presentation by defining the term entrepreneur, which he said is French for a “person who takes a risk.”
“Our mission is here (at the center) is to create wealth,” he said. “You have to create wealth first and then jobs will follow.”
During his brief presentation, the director said that the center focuses on education, planning and community engagement that provides people the skills needed to get a business up and running and sustain it.
“We offer students the training needed so they can start a business and stay in the area,” he said. “We also have about 40 businesses that we do consulting for.”
As an example of an entrepreneur who has been successful in starting and maintaining a business in Robeson County, Greg Cumming, the county’s industrial developer, pointed to Martin Gibbons, president of Titan Flow Controls and Flo-Tite Inc.in Lumberton. Gibbons was named Tuesday as Robeson County’s “Industrialist of the Year.”
Flo-Tite specializes in the design and manufacture of metal seated ball valves and and automation equipment. It’s a global company that exports and imports products from around the world, including China, Taiwan, and Europe.
“We have been successful and we hope to expand our company,” Gibbons said “We feel very confident that we can do this even as bad as the economy is.”
Cummings said that he anticipates some positive economic activity to take place in Robeson County during the coming year.
“Last year was a tough one, but exciting,” he said. “I think we are going to see some good things in 2013. There’s a lot of activity going on. We just have to hope that we can score on some of these activities.” | <urn:uuid:38e8bd30-bd8b-469e-a9a6-98014787fa47> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.robesonian.com/view/full_story_myown/21025502/article-Thomas-Center%E2%80%99s-business-is-promoting-entrepreneurship | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970705 | 638 | 1.5 | 2 |
Fellow complementarians, try framing the gender debate in three categories instead of two.
Feminists and egalitarians love it when everything to their right is cast as one monolithic "complementarianism." But authentic complementarians need to highlight that there is not only sin to the left, but to the right as well. True biblical complementarity is neither feminism nor misogyny. It’s neither egalitarian nor patriarchal. Jesus plotted another course altogether, a third way that viewed gender “in step with the truth of the gospel” (Gal. 2:14).
Jesus had a different flavor of complementarity than many who try to pass under that sometimes unhelpful label. He didn’t cloak male chauvinism in the guise of complementarity, but had a different way of treating women than his first-century contemporaries.
Watch John Piper reflect on John 4:27 (“They marveled that he was talking with a woman”) and how Jesus treated women: | <urn:uuid:bb2ce2e6-fb2f-442d-ad13-1092d978f8a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/jesus-treated-women-differently?turn_off_admin_bar=true | 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 | 0.939773 | 206 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Spotting ads from space
If you have a large roof and live in a popular part of town, you could be sitting under an advertising goldmine.
Wired News has an article
about a company called RoofShout
that hopes to exploit the emergence of online satellite mapping services like Google Earth and Microsoft Live Local to make money from roof mounted adverts.
Colin Fitz-Gerald, who runs a roofing business in Massachusetts, US, came up with the idea and has started auctioning roof space on eBay. You have to admire his entrepreneurial spirit?
"I'm currently launching RoofShout.com with no money, no real experience running a business on the internet, and no real solid business plan," Fitz-Gerald said. "But I figure there's a lot of blank roofs and a lot of advertising that could go on the roofs." - Wired. | <urn:uuid:9f8bf81e-4438-4eb9-9476-59bad44e8d57> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newscientist.com/blog/technology/2006/02/spotting-ads-from-space.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960461 | 187 | 1.648438 | 2 |
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO -- Terrified Caltrain passengers who were legally crossing the tracks were forced to jump out of the way of a Baby Bullet to avoid disaster, leaving the commuter line scrambling for answers after one of the train operators tested positive for drug use.
No one was hurt in the Aug. 24 incident, which was disclosed to this newspaper for the first time Friday. Caltrain says the "very serious" near-accident was the first of its kind in the modern history of the popular commuter line and has led to major safety changes and left two engineers on leave.
Caltrain spokeswoman Jayme Ackemann said passengers were getting off a northbound train stopped at the South San Francisco station and walking
Suddenly, a two-story tall, one-million-pound express train, that was not scheduled to stop at the station, came hurtling down the southbound tracks at 76 mph. The engineer hit the emergency brake. That slowed the train, but it didn't stop until it had passed through the station.
"There were some passengers that needed to move quickly to get out of the way of the oncoming train," Ackemann said. "And I'm sure that there were some passengers, regardless of where they were, who witnessed this and were extremely frightened by the incident."
The station is old and, unlike most Caltrain stops, does not have a gate or crossing arms
Caltrain has launched an internal investigation and hasn't determined the cause of the incident. But the engineer operating the train stopped at the station has tested positive for marijuana use, Ackemann said.
She would not name the engineers of either train, calling it a personnel issue, but she described both operators as veterans. Both have been placed on paid leave, a standard protocol for such incidents. They could face discipline or be fired depending on the outcome of the investigation.
In response, Caltrain this month instituted new rules requiring engineers and dispatchers to communicate before entering the four stations like South San Francisco that do not have crossing arms to prevent passengers from entering live tracks. The other affected stations, like South San Francisco, are very lightly used: Atherton, Broadway in Burlingame and College Park in San Jose.
"We want to make sure that this kind of thing never ever happens again," said Ackemann, who added that conductors of the stopped train moved quickly to prevent more passengers from getting off once they saw the express train coming.
"Caltrain is an extremely safe system," she continued. "People should feel very confident that when they are in our care, we are doing everything we can to protect and preserve their safety."
Ackemann said officials disclosed the incident during last week's board meeting and to federal rail officials but had not reported it to the general public or media before confirming the details to this newspaper Friday. Caltrain typically publicizes fatalities on its tracks and other incidents that cause delays, but felt it wasn't necessary to advertise last month's near-accident because it did not disrupt operations and no one was injured, she said.
The agency has also apologized and reached out to the passengers who had to quickly get out of the way of the train. Though it's unclear how many were on the ground at the time, both trains were carrying close to the 600-passenger limit. Fewer than 200 riders, however, use the South San Francisco station on a typical weekday morning.
Caltrain in May switched from its longtime operator, Amtrak, to a new company, TASI, but most of the engineers were rehired as part of the switch.
Safety has always been a key issue at Caltrain, where about a dozen people each year are killed by trains -- usually suicides -- between San Jose and San Francisco.
The agency has spent millions of dollars installing equipment and launching campaigns aimed at track safety, constantly reminding riders, pedestrians and drivers that trains can appear in an instant and that colliding with one almost always results in death.
Contact Mike Rosenberg at 408-920-5705. Follow him at twitter.com/rosenberg17. | <urn:uuid:4a036330-9c5c-45c0-adb0-45765dc16828> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.willitsnews.com/news/ci_21552892/terrified-caltrain-passengers-forced-jump-out-way-train?source=rss | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981611 | 840 | 1.53125 | 2 |
China to host Palestine envoy on Gaza tensions
Published Wednesday 21/11/2012 (updated) 21/11/2012 20:04
A private Israeli security guard sits on an armchair as he watches the
fighting from a hill outside the northern Gaza Strip Nov. 20.
BEIJING (Reuters) - China will host an envoy of President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the crisis in Gaza, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday, adding the government had been in touch with all players in the conflict to try and find a solution.
China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council with veto powers, has traditionally had a low profile in Middle East diplomacy, but has maintained close relations with the Palestinians for decades.
In recent years, it has also cultivated good ties with Israel, especially in the field of defense.
The envoy, secretary-general of the Palestinian People's Party, Bassam Al-Salhi, will be in China from Thursday for a three-day trip, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily news briefing.
"China is paying great attention to the present situation in Gaza," Hua said. "China has been in close touch with Israel, Palestine and other countries, and has called on all sides, especially Israel, to exercise maximum restraint and cease fire as soon as possible to avoid the situation worsening."
"We support the necessary steps taken by the international community, especially the UN Security Council," she said. "China will continue to use its own means to work hard to ameliorate the situation between Israel and Palestine and maintain peace and stability in the region."
Hua added that China also supports the Security Council "responding to calls from the international community, including the Arab world, to issue as soon as possible a consistent and beneficial message about the Gaza situation".
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi had called the Egyptian foreign minister "to support efforts of the Arab League and Arab countries to ameliorate the situation in Gaza", Hua said.
China has tried on and off over the years to mediate in the Israeli-Palestinian issue but with little apparent success.
Israeli air strikes shook the Gaza Strip and Palestinian rockets struck across the border as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held talks in Jerusalem in the early hours of Wednesday, seeking a truce that can hold back Israel's ground troops. | <urn:uuid:fc3cdea4-0717-4125-bfcc-2fea22e99cbf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=540498 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95388 | 475 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Despite rumblings from Capitol Hill that the recently-defanged SOPA legislation not see the light of day, Wikipedia has announced that "the Internet must remain free" and that it is joining the blackout protests scheduled for January 18th, nonetheless.
Founder Jimmy Wales made the announcement via Twitter today. The English-language Wikipedia site will be unavailable for for 24 hours beginning midnight EST of January 18th. Instead of entries, users attempting to access the site will be redirected to a page with the "The Internet Must Remain Free" banner above.
Wikipedia is the latest in a growing number of websites and companies, including Minecraft, Reddit, Major League Gaming, and the entire Cheezburger network, that have announced plans to suspend operations on Wednesday to raise public awareness about the SOPA and PIPA bills.
These protests, as well as vocal public opposition, may have already had an effect—on the House's bill, at least. According to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, a hearing on the DNS blocking provisions has been postponed after being the Chairman was assured by SOPA's supporters that the bill would not be put up for vote until a broader consensus is reached.
Chairman Issa stated today,
While I remain concerned about Senate action on the Protect IP Act, I am confident that flawed legislation will not be taken up by this House. Majority Leader Cantor has assured me that we will continue to work to address outstanding concerns and work to build consensus prior to any anti-piracy legislation coming before the House for a vote. The voice of the Internet community has been heard. Much more education for Members of Congress about the workings of the Internet is essential if anti-piracy legislation is to be workable and achieve broad appeal.
Chairman Issa went on to urge the House to instead adopt the competing OPEN act, which does not employ provisions that could undermine the Internet's neutrality or structure. The Senate's anti-piracy legistlation, the Protect IP Act, or PIPA, recently removed its DNS Blocking provisions but could still potentially go up for a vote within the next two weeks. [Tech Radar - TechCrunch - House Oversight Committee]
Update January 17, 2012: Google announced today that it will be joining Wednesday's anti-SOPA protest. It will not (thankfully) shut down operations but will highlight the issue on each of its homepages. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Lamar Smith, called the protests a "Publicity Stunt" and announced that SOPA hearings would resume in February. [PC Mag] | <urn:uuid:a56c319c-f59f-4f31-83ad-958e2dad02c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gizmodo.com/5876660/wikipedia-will-go-offline-wednesday-in-protest-of-sopa?tag=sopa | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963711 | 521 | 1.664063 | 2 |
It is a privilege to appear before the Senate Subcommittee on International Trade and Finance to discuss the report of the International Financial Institution Advisory Commission (IFIAC). Given the Subcommittee's jurisdiction, I will begin with international trade.
As you know, the United States will again run a current account deficit of between 3 and 4% of GDP. This is a large deficit for a mature economy like ours, and it follows a similar current account deficit last year. The size of the deficit shows the willingness of foreigners to invest in our dynamic economy and America's opportunity -- both households and businesses -- to buy quality products at competitive prices abroad.
By running deficits, the United States helped the global economy to recover from the Asian crisis. This was the proper economic policy for the United States to follow. It is my judgment that this policy was far more important for the recovery of the Asian and world economy than any actions taken by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or other international financial institutions. Critics of the IFIAC report often point to the recovery in Asia as evidence of the effectiveness of IMF programs. I believe they should not neglect the important role of U.S. trade policy. Countries like Malaysia, that did not follow IMF recommendations, recovered also because they too benefited from the opportunity to export under the trade rules that the United States has pioneered.
While I applaud our policy and recognize that a more restrictive policy would have been detrimental to us and others, I recognize also that some individuals, companies, and regions have been hurt by the flood of additional imports that we absorbed. Fortunately, our economy was in the midst of a long boom, so the dislocations were less costly than if they had occurred in a U.S. recession.
The lesson that I draw is that the U.S. has a special interest in reforming the international financial system to make the system more stable, less subject to the type of severe contractions that affected Latin America in the 1980s, Mexico in the mid-1990s, and Asia, Russia, Brazil and others most recently. A more stable international financial system would not require the large increases in imports experienced in 1998 and 1999 and at other crisis periods.
Making the system less prone to crises, and making crises less severe, requires changes in IMF practices. IFIAC identified three major reasons that financial crises are frequent, severe, and widespread:
(1) collapse of a country's pegged exchange rates;
(2) collapse of a country's financial system; and
(3) the time required to negotiate conditions on IMF loans.
The Commission's bipartisan majority found solutions to these three problems. Countries would have five years to reform their financial systems by providing adequate capital to protect against large withdrawals, by permitting foreign competition in home country financial markets, and in other ways. Countries would be urged to avoid pegged exchange rates. A country meeting the pre-conditions would get assistance at once, not after a delay of several months.
Critics have claimed that the Commission's proposals would eliminate assistance for countries that did not satisfy the pre-conditions. This criticism misses the point. Countries would have a strong incentive to meet the pre-conditions because capital markets would lend mainly to countries that meet the pre-conditions. Other countries would pay a higher interest rate and would receive less capital, so they would be less affected by withdrawal of foreign lenders. They would be known as more risky countries. Lenders to these countries should expect to take losses if problems arose. By lending to countries that do not pre-qualify for assistance, the lender assumes a risk of default and should not be rescued by taxpayers or international financial institutions.
The Commission proposed that, in the event of a crisis that threatened to spread, loans should be made at a super penalty rate to prevent the spread even if the crisis country did not qualify. If feasible, the loans would be offered to neighboring countries, not to the country that failed to meet financial standards. If necessary to prevent crises from spreading, restrictions would be waived.
Other reforms of the IMF are desirable also. The world economy now depends mainly on private capital flows. The IMF has a major responsibility for increasing the quantity, timeliness, and quality of information to provide lenders with more accurate information. It should release Article 4 reports, improve the transparency of its own accounts, and record votes. It should focus its efforts on crisis avoidance and improving market information, leaving long-term lending and poverty assistance to the development banks.
Several of these recommendations were endorsed at the recent IMF meeting. Mr. Chairman, my time is limited. I will be happy to answer questions about what the Congress can do to make the IMF more effective and more accountable.
Home | Menu | Links | Info | Chairman's Page | <urn:uuid:dd9fce88-0cc3-4e3c-9e6d-fcde11b7f756> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.banking.senate.gov/00_04hrg/042700/meltzer.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963406 | 967 | 1.765625 | 2 |
In my last “Friday Bite,” I discussed how artificial sweeteners may be sabotaging your weight loss goals. However, I didn’t want to imply that you need to commit yourself to a life free of sweets. I mean, what’s the point of living! As the potential side effects of artificial sweeteners are coming to light, there are a few natural alternatives that have become more main stream. Let’s explore the 3 most popular natural sweeteners so you can find which best suits your sweet tooth:
Agave Nectar – Agave Nectar comes from the same plant that produces tequila, but don’t worry, it won’t make you dance around with a lamp shade on your head! Agave Nectar has a consistency similar to honey with a more mellow taste. It has the same calories as table sugar although it is lower glycemic. However, it is not low enough for diabetics, so if you are cutting calories or worried about blood sugar I would go with Stevia (see below). I find Agave Nectar is the best alternative to use when baking or mixing in hot drinks.
Stevia – Stevia has exploded on the scene in the form of TruVia (a Coca-Cola brand) and PureVia (from Pepsi Co.) as well as lesser known brands. Most of these are not the pure stevia leaf but an extract called Reb-A. It can be found in both liquid and powder form. In many cases, the powder form has been enhanced with additives, so make sure to check the ingredient list to ensure it only contains Stevia Extract. Stevia is very potent so you only need to use a small amount. It has no calories and is safe for diabetics. Some brands have a liquorish-like aftertaste so you will have to experiment to find one that you like!
Sugar – Didn’t expect to see this one, eh? I will be the first to admit that sugar is to blame for many of the health problems in our country, however, that is when it’s used in EXCESS. Pure sugar has been around for a long time and our bodies certainly know how to process it. So if you are sweetening your tea here and there and enjoy a sweeter taste, go ahead and add a little sugar. However, if you are adding more than 3 tsp./day or you are diabetic, I would suggest giving Stevia or Agave Nectar a try!
Tara Coleman is a Clinical Nutritionist in San Diego, CA. She blogs twice a month with “Tara’s Friday Bite.” Leave us your comments with ideas for future topics or email Tara directly email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:a85cda9f-a01f-43ab-b0b3-94a880e5b2d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.totalgym.com/2011/07/08/taras-friday-bite-exploring-natural-sweeteners/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958739 | 574 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Reporting from Phoenix — Arizona has made a name for itself as the state with the harshest policies against illegal immigration. But as few as six years ago, this border state was among the nation's most welcoming of illegal immigrants.
Back then, its two Republican U.S. senators and one of its congressmen were among the strongest advocates of legalizing millions of illegal residents in the country. Mexico was the state's largest trading partner, and the governor boasted of her warm relationships with counterparts across the border. Both political parties courted the Latino vote.
Now the state government is fighting an order by a federal judge who last week stayed key parts of a law, SB 1070, designed to drive illegal immigrants from Arizona.
How did things change so quickly?
"The perfect storm occurred," said Mesa Mayor Scott Smith. "There was a combination of demographic changes, the introduction of a criminal element that didn't used to be here and the drop in the economy, which has put everyone on edge."
Now just about every prominent Republican here, including Sens. Jon Kyl and John McCain, backs SB 1070 and opposes legalization for illegal immigrants. Mexican governors refuse to set foot on Arizona soil. SB 1070 author Russell Pearce, a lawmaker formerly dismissed by many as an extremist, is poised to become president of the state Senate.
"The anger is palpable and measurable by candidates for office," said Stan Barnes, a former Republican state senator and veteran lobbyist. "Anyone who wants to hold elected office here will first be questioned on it."
The state captured the national spotlight in April, when Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, signed the law, which requires police to determine the status of anyone they lawfully stop and also suspect is an illegal immigrant. It also made it a state crime to lack immigration papers.
Brewer said it was necessary to protect residents against drug cartels that smuggle immigrants across Arizona's southern border. Civil rights groups alleged the law would lead to wide-scale racial profiling.
SB 1070 polls well in Arizona, winning approval ratings between 55% and 70%. It has garnered majority support in national polls too, and legislators in more than 20 states have vowed to introduce versions.
But SB 1070 wasn't Arizona's first legislative assault on illegal immigration. Since 2004, Arizona legislators have passed measures that restricted illegal immigrants from receiving in-state tuition, made English the official language and dissolved any business that repeatedly hired illegal immigrants.
At the same time, the Republican Party in Arizona has moved to the right on all sorts of issues. Susan Gerard, a former GOP state senator who also worked for former Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano, was one of more than a dozen Republican moderates in the Legislature at the start of the decade. Now, she said, there are none.
"The Republican Party in Arizona, and really throughout the country, has taken giant leaps to the right," Gerard said.
About 8% of Arizona's population is made up of illegal immigrants, nearly all from Mexico, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. (Thirty percent of state residents are Latino.) Though the growth of that population has slowed somewhat in the last few years, the center estimates that about 500,000 illegal immigrants live in the state, up from about 90,000 in 1990.
The population increased after the federal government stepped up enforcement along the California border, slowing illegal crossings with more agents and a massive fence. That pushed traffic east — to the mountains and deserts of Arizona.
The boom in construction in Arizona also brought illegal immigrants, changing the makeup of cities and creating unease among longtime residents.
Smith, the mayor of Mesa, said the mostly conservative residents in his city started to express frustration with the number of day laborers, with the amount of Spanish being spoken and with immigrants working jobs traditionally held by high school students at fast-food restaurants and elsewhere.
"You have whole neighborhoods that have transitioned into primarily Hispanic," Smith said. "Whether right or wrong, people saw things were changing."
There is also widespread fear of crime coming to the state from Mexico, especially as a drug war rages to the south. Arizona has actually become safer since illegal immigrants started streaming in in the late 1990s. Phoenix is one of the safest cities in the nation, and crime has not increased along the border either.
Still, there has been a series of unnerving incidents not reflected in the statistics — gun battles between drug cartels on the interstates, "drop houses" in Phoenix where traffickers hold undocumented migrants for ransom and, in March, the slaying of rancher Robert Krentz on his property in southern Arizona. Footprints from the scene led across the border to Mexico. | <urn:uuid:5801c9e3-6c6d-4551-8b36-824615cf0a5a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug/01/nation/la-na-arizona-immigration-20100802 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975651 | 944 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Henry was at his Vancouver home that morning, researching a new idea they had. They wanted to start a nonprofit to provide sports and fitness programs for blind and visually impaired people, to increase the low rates of physical activity and employment among this group.
"We wanted to do something about it," Henry said.
The next day, he borrowed $50 from another buddy, filed incorporation papers, and the Northwest Association for Blind Athletes was born. At that time, Henry was 15, Wilks 17. They had naysayers but were undaunted.
"People thought we wouldn't last a month," said Wilks, the organization's board president and a volunteer.
"A lot of people told us we couldn't do it," added Henry, its executive director. "People thought we'd stop talking about it and drop it. We haven't stopped talking about it."
The association recently marked its fifth anniversary. This year, it will serve about 1,000 people, up from six in 2007. Its focus is 5- to 21-year-olds, but it also serves adults. Programs enable people who are blind and visually impaired to try a sport for the first time and to participate on regional teams. It also works with athletes, their families, educators and community organizations to adapt sports for those who are blind and visually impaired.
Henry and Wilks met as teenagers when they attended the Washington State School for the Blind in Vancouver. Both were born with optic nerve hypoplasia, the underdevelopment or absence of the optic nerve. Both were physically active throughout their school years -- that shrimping trip for Wilks was nothing unusual. But they realized many of their peers were not as fortunate.
"My biggest thing was there were so many people who hadn't done anything," Henry said. He cites statistics that indicate about 70 percent of blind and visually impaired youth nationwide do not participate in a physical-education curriculum.
Henry said the goal when he and Wilks started the association was to use sports to help people develop confidence, self-esteem and "the tools to live a richer, fuller life."
"We want to provide multiple sports to multiple people," Henry said.
Trophies fill a table in the nonprofit's modest downtown Vancouver office. Several tandem bikes fill a nearby room, a testament to the association's efforts to expand its offerings to include cycling, as well as skiing, track and field, judo, wrestling and goalball. The object of the latter sport is for a team of three to roll a goalball -- roughly the size of a basketball, with bells inside so it can be heard -- past an opposing team and into a goal.
The organization is in the midst of a fundraising campaign to attract $25,000 by June 30 for what it has dubbed its "Summer of Opportunity." It has 15 events planned in its service area of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana: eight in the Portland-Vancouver area.
The association relies heavily on volunteers for the clinics and other events, which are free to participants. Programs are funded with donations and grants from individuals, businesses, service organizations and foundations.
Rachel Talley, 20, who is legally blind, has competed in individual and team powerlifting through the association. She said it has boosted her confidence and led her to pursue her dream of becoming an occupational therapist.
Today, Talley, an Everett Community College student, volunteers as a sports teacher at the association and also helps out around the office on some weekends and during the summer.
Talley said she sees the change in young athletes she works with.
"A lot of them really haven't done sports that much," she said. "When we teach them a sport like goalball, for example, they come to enjoy it, they open up more, and want to learn more about it and play more. They feel like they've accomplished something."
Like many nonprofits, the association had a modest start. Henry and Wilks ran things out of Henry's parents' house in Vancouver for the first three-and-a-half years. In May 2009, it gained nonprofit status, which expanded the pool of grants for which it could apply. A year later, the organization moved to a place northwest of Esther Short Park. And this past December, Henry, for the first time, began drawing a salary: $400 a month.
The association has an $87,000 budget for its current fiscal year and envisions serving 1,000 to 1,200 people for the foreseeable future. It is working to ramp up fundraising to make its programs sustainable.
"We're cognizant of not growing too fast," Henry said. "We're working on building capacity. We're expanding. The community in Clark County and the Portland area is amazing, and we wouldn't be here without them."
For more information on the Northwest Association for Blind Athletes, go to http://nwaba.org.
-- Barry Finnemore, Special to The Oregonian | <urn:uuid:93531634-fea3-447f-8fd5-84c48a8a02f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oregonlive.com/clark-county/index.ssf/2012/05/northwest_association_for_blin.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980625 | 1,019 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Submitted by Daniel A. Freeman on June 21, 2010 - 9:33am
Reader participation in a blog is like a community's engagement with a public library--it's impossible to have too much involvement. The ALA TechSource blog is a place for perspectives, opinions, news and discussion of library technology trends. While the first three are obviously important, librarianship is a profession where collaboration is essential, and without discussion, its impossible for librarians to take full advantage of the new technology that is transforming our profession. We want our readers to be more than readers. We hold your comments in the highest regard, and we're always looking for more perspective, insight and criticism from those who enjoy the material on this blog.
Unfortunately, as anyone who has ever had an e-mail account knows, spam finds its way into just about every corner of the Internet, and blogs are no exception. Many readers who've recently attempted to comment on posts on this blog may have run into some difficulty getting their comments posted. As part of our effort to help corral the endless stream of spam, we've installed the Drupal spam module. Unfortunately, while the spam module is excellent at blocking spam messages, we're still have some work to do on getting it to more effectively recognize legitimate comments.
We're working to find a better way to monitor our comments, prevent spam and ensure that legitimate comments are posted promptly. We appreciate your patience as we work to resolve this issue, and of course we would appreciate any suggestions our readers have. | <urn:uuid:070b9775-dc72-40a9-84ff-d4d312d771a7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.alatechsource.org/blog/2010/06/comments-on-the-blog.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961559 | 312 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Last Saturday night in Pueblo, Our Lady of Mount Carmel church sat nearly empty. The priest earlier in the week had called a vigil for his immigrant parishioners, families who come by the hundreds to weekly masses.
But that evening, just three days after Pueblo's most wrenching raids in recent memory, the red brick church was quiet.
Three dozen people, only a few of them Latino, walked in as the sun went down. They passed by a white placard at the entranceway that read "STOP THE RAIDS!" in colored marker.
One congregant stood before the group and prayed for the community that had been "rent asunder" by the incursion. Earlier in the week, federal immigration police had apprehended at least 18 undocumented people from their homes.
The priest walked in as worshippers mumbled the "Our Father" in Spanish. Rising to the red and white pulpit, he addressed the tiny assemblage.
"I am the pastor, and people listen to my voice," said Fr. Marco Salinas. "When I invite people to come, we have close to a full church. People didn't come because they are afraid."
Though the raids ended May 23, the immigrant communities of Colorado Springs and Pueblo are still shot-through with trepidation.
Rumors circled in the days after: Immigration police are outside the laundromat; they're in the Mexican grocery store; they'll show up at the public schools. And to the sorrow of Fr. Salinas they will be at the Mount Carmel vigil.
Actually, though, businesses and community centers went untouched. The immigration police entered only private homes. That fact alone might explain the panic; if you're not safe in your own house, then where are you secure?
One family lost an uncle to the raids. The Mexican national had lived in the United States illegally for 14 years and worked as a roofer. Though immigration officials told family members that he had defied a decade-old deportation order, the family says he was just three months away from entering the legalization process.
Officers came to his home at 5:30 a.m. on a Tuesday, when he was still in bed. He was taken to the Aurora detention center, leaving behind three sons. The youngest, a 17-year-old, should have had his high school graduation party last weekend. But the family canceled it in the wake of the raid.
Now, dread is swelling among extended family members. Many of them came to the country illegally. One 17-year-old at the vigil, the niece of the apprehended man, was only 2 when her parents carried her over the border. Her 12-year-old sister was born here; if her parents are taken, she'll be left behind.
"I was scared and I came to pray," said the girls' mother as they sat on the steps outside Mount Carmel. "We are scared they'll take us and take our life away."
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Carl Rusnok, the latest raids targeted people who already had been instructed to self-deport by a federal judge; of the 18 arrested immigrants, 10 were these so-called "fugitives." (There are 600,000 people with that status in the United States.) Thirteen came from Mexico, and one each from Poland, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Jamaica.
The Mexican Consulate and immigrant advocates in Colorado Springs and Pueblo contest the federal count, saying 27 people were apprehended. At least two of them brothers with wives and children of their own were arrested in Colorado Springs.
The recent raids indicate a stepped-up effort to remove fugitive immigrants from the country. The number of fugitive operations teams has more than tripled in recent years, as a result of the Patriot Act. There are currently 57 teams in the Department of Homeland Security; Rusnok says another 13 will be added soon.
While last week's raid into private homes is thought to be the first of its kind in Southern Colorado, the state has weathered repeated incursions over the past several months. In December, a meatpacking plant in Greeley was raided and 261 people were arrested. That was part of a six-state sting that ended with 1,282 immigrants apprehended.
In April, federal immigration police entered a potato processing plant in the San Luis Valley and detained 19 individuals.
"It is like a humanitarian crisis following a natural disaster," says Julien Ross of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition. "You have the same needs, like children left without a mom or a dad. Sometimes the person making a salary to support the family is suddenly detained. The family is left in financial crisis as well."
Immigrant advocates don't yet know how many children have been affected in the latest raids. If both parents are deported, the Mexican Consulate in Denver takes custody of the children and may repatriate them.
At a recent meeting in Pueblo, consulate officials explained this and other procedures to a group of immigrants in Mount Carmel's basement. The workshop, planned for a month, happened to coincide with the end of the raids.
Consulate representatives spoke to the frazzled crowd, dodging "What now?" questions from immigrant advocates. Consul General Juan Carlos Mendoza criticized the feds for failing to tell their detainees that they had the right to contact his agency for legal advice.
Another Mexican official recommended submission in a raid. If immigration police come to your door, he told the audience, you should open it to avoid further trouble. An immigration lawyer disagreed, saying immigrants should keep their doors shut to anyone without a warrant.
Now, immigrant advocates are addressing the closed-door question and other matters with their constituents. Catholic Charities in Pueblo is busy briefing immigrant parents, telling them to identify next-of-kin caretakers in case a raid rips them from their children.
The immigrants themselves have settled into an uneasy calm.
"Everything that happened is finished," says Fr. Salinas, who fielded 100 nervous phone calls over the three-day raid. "I think there will be no more of this kind of visitor. Everything will stay calm."
Yet for the 18 or more people who were detained, some of them locked up in the Aurora detention center, the tribulations have just begun.
And until Congress passes meaningful reform, these individuals and all paperless immigrants in the United States are left only with questions.
"Why can't the government come up with a process?" asked Luis Campos, an immigrant, at the Mexican Consulate meeting. "Why is it taking so long?" | <urn:uuid:3e69147f-594d-416a-9227-1acd541274d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.csindy.com/coloradosprings/raid-to-nowhere/Content?oid=1138646 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979341 | 1,365 | 1.515625 | 2 |
BA (Honours) Social Work (Wales)
On this page
Social workers support and protect some of society’s most deprived and vulnerable people. It’s immensely challenging and rewarding work, requiring a high level of motivation and commitment. You also need a qualifying degree.
The Open University in Wales offers a work-based distance learning route to the BA (Hons) Social Work (Wales) for students working in social care in Wales. The degree has been approved by Care Council for Wales (CCW) and once you’ve successfully completed your studies, you’ll be entitled to register with the CCW as a social worker. This degree course is available to you if you’re working in a social care agency in Wales (paid or unpaid), whether or not you’re being funded by your employer. The Open University provides study materials and tutorial support, organises workshops and manages the assessment procedures. Practice learning opportunities are arranged between your employer (if you are sponsored) and the OU in collaboration with a Local Authority.
If you are Welsh speaking, you will be encouraged to use the Welsh language in your studies and you may submit your assignments in Welsh.
Studying through work-based and distance learning, you’ll develop the knowledge and practical skills that underpin effective practice, and the ability to deal with difficult and sensitive issues while working within a complex professional system. Towards the end of your studies, specialist options will enable you to focus on particular service user groups and practice areas.
Fees and facts
Where will you be resident whilst you study?
If your country isn’t listed here, visit our
Choose country above to see fee and ways to pay.
Flexible, part-time study through
Undergraduate or bachelors degrees are nationally recognised qualifications consisting of academic study designed to that help you gain a thorough understanding of a subject.
For a degree in a named subject, such as business studies or humanities, you'll study mainly in your chosen subject, although you may be able to include some modules from other subjects.
With The Open University you could also study an Open degree where you can combine a range of modules from similar or different subjects to suit either your particular career or personal interests.
You can use a degree to:
change careers or progress your current career, gain an in-depth knowledge and understanding of a subject you are interested in, gain professional recognition, go onto postgraduate study, such as a diploma or masters degree.
This degree course is restricted to students working in social care in Wales.
For sponsored students entry has to be made through the employing agency.
Non-sponsored students must apply via The Open University in Wales on 029 2026 2728.
To study this degree you must:
have a qualification in Maths and Welsh or English (this must be equivalent to grade C at GCSE)
show that you can communicate clearly in spoken and written English or Welsh
demonstrate that you have the appropriate personal and intellectual qualities to be a social worker
take part in an interview
have an acceptable Enhanced Disclosure from the Criminal Records Bureau and a medical check – this will be arranged by the University following a successful interview
(if you are a non-sponsored student) have successfully completed the
Certificate of Higher Education in Social Care (Wales) (T04). Following selection you then enter the degree at Stage 2.
Career relevance and employability
The degree will prepare you for practice as you begin your career as a qualified social worker. You’ll have gained the skills needed to work with individuals, families, carers, groups, communities and other professionals, and be able to demonstrate to employers your professional competence in social work practice. Employers sponsoring staff on this degree have commented that:
OU graduates are enthusiastic social workers who are well equipped to provide high quality interventions with clients
a very high percentage of their OU qualified staff remain within their organisation and progress to more senior roles.
There’s more information about how OU study can improve your employability in the
OU’s Employability Statement from our Careers Advisory Service. You can also read or download our publication and look at our OU study and your career subject pages to find out about career opportunities.
Once you’ve successfully completed this degree course, you’ll be entitled to apply to register with the
Care Council for Wales as a social worker.
Choose a pathway and register
It is not possible to apply online to study for this qualification. For more information, read
our entry requirements for this qualification.
Credit for previous study elsewhere
If you have already completed some successful study at higher education level at another institution you may be able to transfer credit for this study and count it towards this qualification. If you wish to apply to transfer credit you must do so as soon as possible, and before you register for this qualification.
If you are awarded credit for study completed elsewhere, you may find that you need to study fewer OU modules to complete this qualification. This may also mean that the next start date and the maximum time limit for this qualification are different to those shown above.
Credit Transfer site for more information and details of how to apply for credit transfer.
The learning outcomes of this qualification are described in four areas:
Knowledge and understanding
Practical and professional skills
Read more detailed information about the learning outcomes, and how they are acquired through teaching, learning and assessment methods.
Classification of your degree
On successful completion of the necessary modules, you will be awarded a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Social Work (Wales) degree. You will be entitled to use the letters BA (Hons) after your name, and to apply to the Care Council for Wales for formal registration as a social worker.
Your honours degree will be classified either as first-class, upper second-class, lower second-class or third-class. The class of degree is determined by the grades you achieve in 240 credits from graded OU modules above Level 1, of which at least 120 credits must be from modules at Level 3.
You will have the opportunity to attend a degree ceremony.
As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the following regulations:
These regulations are also available on our
Essential Documents website.
If you have a disability
Choosing the qualification that’s right for you is very important. Depending on your disability, long-term health condition, mental health disability or specific learning difficulty, you may need to consider any challenges posed by:
the learning objectives: for example, to gain an honours degree in a language you must be physically able to speak the language
how the modules are taught: for example, some of our science qualifications require that you complete laboratory work
any work-based competency requirements.
Choosing the right qualification can be a complex mix of the subject requirements and the support you may need. To help you assess whether the qualification you are interested in will work for you, further advice is available from:
You will need a computer with internet access to study for this qualification. For most OU qualifications a Microsoft Windows (new since 2007),
Apple Mac (OS X 10.6 or later) or Linux computer should be adequate. However, some qualifications require more specific IT equipment, in which case you
will need additional software to use an Apple Mac or Linux computer. A detailed technical specification for your modules will be made available when you
register. Please note, technical specifications do change over time to match computer developments and the way we teach.
The Open University is the world’s leading provider of flexible, high quality distance learning. Unlike other universities
we are not campus based. You will study in a flexible way that works for you whether you’re at home, at work or on the move.
As an OU student you’ll be supported throughout your studies – your tutor or study adviser will guide and advise you, offer detailed
feedback on your assignments, and help with any study issues. Tuition might be in face-to-face groups, via online
tutorials, or by phone.
For more information read
Distance learning explained. | <urn:uuid:3aa5a439-991b-4c52-a516-9c4df099ab82> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/qualification/q42.htm | 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 | 0.93525 | 1,697 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years 1969-1979 (original 2006; edition 2007)
Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years by Michael Palin (2006)
References to this work on external resources.
Wikipedia in English (9)
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0312369352, Hardcover)
Michael Palin has kept a diary since newly married in the late 1960s, when he was beginning to make a name for himself as a TV scriptwriter (for The Two Ronnies, David Frost, etc). Monty Python was just around the corner.
This volume of his diaries reveals how Python emerged and triumphed, how he, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, the two Terrys---Jones and Gilliam---and Eric Idle came together and changed the face of British comedy. But this is but only part of Palin's story. Here is his growing family, his home in a north London Victorian terrace, which grows as he buys the house next door and then a second at the bottom of the garden; here, too, is his solo effort---as an actor, in Three Men in a Boat, his writing endeavours (often in partnership with Terry Jones) that produces Ripping Yarns and even a pantomime.
Meanwhile Monty Python refuses to go away: the hugely successful movies that follow the TV (his account of the making of both The Holy Grail and the Life of Brian movies are page-turners), the at times extraordinary goings-on of the many powerful personalities who coalesced to form the Python team, the fight to prevent an American TV network from bleeping out the best jokes on U.S. transmission, and much more---all this makes for funny and riveting reading.
The birth and childhood of his three children, his father's growing disability, learning to cope as a young man with celebrity, his friendship with George Harrison, and all the trials of a peripatetic life are also essential ingredients of these diaries. A perceptive and funny chronicle, the diaries are a rich portrait of a fascinating period.
"Michael Palin is not just one of Britain's foremost comedy character actors, he also talks a lot. Yap, yap, yap he goes, all day long and through the night . . . then, some nights, when everyone else has gone to bed, he goes home and writes up a diary."
"This combination of niceness, with his natural volubility, creates Palin's expansiveness."
---David Baddiel, The Times
"A real delight to read."
---Saga Magazine (UK)
"His showbiz observations are so absorbing. . . . Palin is an elegant and engaging writer."
---William Cook, The Guardian (UK)
"A wealth of fascinating stuff about Monty Python."
---The Independent (UK)
"Our favourite TV explorer shows us the workings of an unstoppable machine."
---Daily Express (UK)
"A riveting commentary to a remarkably creative decade."
(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:52:27 -0500)
"Michael Palin's diaries begin in the late 1960s when, newly married and struggling to make a name for himself in the world of television comedy, he began writing for hugely popular programmes, such as The Frost Report and The Two Ronnies. But Monty Python was just round the corner." "In this first volume of his diaries he tells how Python emerged and triumphed. Enjoying an unlikely cult status early on, the group then proceeded to tour in the United States and Canada, appearing, like pop stars, at sold-out stadiums coast to coast and on national chat shows. They even stayed in hotels newly trashed by Led Zeppelin, later investors in Monty Python and the Holy Grail." "With this growing fame in the United States came the move from local public broadcasting to national television there and battles over censorship followed as up to one line in four was cut from the Python sketches, rendering them incomprehensible. Eventually both Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin took the stand in the Federal Court in New York to defend the Pythons' position." "As their popularity grew, so Palin relates how, individually, the Pythons also went their separate ways. John Cleese wrote and acted in the now classic Fawlty Towers, while Michael Palin acted in an adaptation of Three Men in a Boat as well as creating, with Terry Jones, the memorable Ripping Yarns series. But, at the same time, Michael and the others were working to help keep the group together so they could reform for stage shows and the now celebrated series of films including The Holy Grail and The Life of Brian, many of whose lines are known by heart by a considerable proportion of the English-speaking world." "The birth and childhood of his three children, his father's growing disability, learning to cope as a young man with celebrity, his friendship with George Harrison, living through the three-day week and the miners' strike, and all the trials of a peripatetic life are also essential ingredients of these diaries."--BOOK JACKET.
(summary from another edition)
Is this you?
Become a LibraryThing Author. | <urn:uuid:c9953254-ba36-47ab-838a-3264e8aa2b88> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.librarything.com/work/1666482/92204362 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954949 | 1,097 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Physical therapists working in the State of Kuwait are at risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). However, prevalence rates and risk factors are not well documented. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence, characteristics, and impacts of WMSDs among physical therapists in the State of Kuwait.
A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 350 physical therapists. The questionnaire gathered demographic data as well as information on occurrence of musculoskeletal complaints in the previous 12 months. Descriptive statistics, frequency, and Chi-square analyses were used.
The response rate to the questionnaire was 63% (222/350). Of the 212 responders included in the study, the one-year prevalence of WMSDs was 47.6%, with lower back complaints as the most common (32%). This was followed by neck (21%), upper back (19%), shoulder (13%), hand/wrist (11%), knee (11%), ankle/foot (6%), elbow (4%), and hip/thigh (3%) complaints. The frequency of WMSDs was not gender related (except lower back, neck, and shoulder complaints) nor was it related to age (except lower back complaints), working venues (except hand/wrist), working hours, area of specialty, or exercise. WMSDs' impact on work was minor.
WMSDs among physical therapists in Kuwait were common, with lower back and neck affected most. Lower back and neck WMSDs were related to the participant's demographics. Hand/wrist WMSDs were related to work settings. Further research is needed to investigate the effect of risk factors as physical load, psychosocial load, and general health status on prevalence musculoskeletal disorders. | <urn:uuid:65a6131f-428d-482a-8eba-9bf5c87dd5f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pubmedcentralcanada.ca/pmcc/solr/reg?pageSize=25&term=jtitle_s%3A(%22BMC+Musculoskelet+Disord%22)&sortby=score+desc&filterAuthor=author%3A(%22Aljadi%2C+Sameera+H%22) | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96401 | 359 | 1.679688 | 2 |
LANSING, Mich. – Two laws that would weaken union power in the labour stronghold of Michigan awaited the governor’s expected signature after the Republican-dominated House of Representatives passed them Tuesday, a devastating and once unthinkable defeat for organized labour in a state considered a cradle of the union movement.
The House passed the anti-union bills Tuesday as hundreds of protesters shouted “shame on you” from the gallery and huge crowds of labour backers massed in the state capitol halls and on the grounds. Gov. Rick Snyder says he will sign the laws — one dealing with private sector workers, the other with government employees — as early as Wednesday.
Foes of the laws, including President Barack Obama, are trying to keep the spotlight on this latest battleground in the war over union rights. Democrats offered a series of amendments, one of which would have allowed a statewide referendum. All were swiftly rejected.
“This is the nuclear option,” Democratic Rep. Doug Geiss. “This is the most divisive issue that we have had to deal with. And this will have repercussions. And it will have personal hard feelings after this is all said and done.”
Once the bills are enacted, it will mark another defeat for the labour movement in the industrial Great Lakes region, known as the Rust Belt for its once-booming manufacturing sector. Michigan, the centre of the U.S. auto industry, will become the 24th right-to-work state, banning requirements that nonunion employees pay unions for negotiating contracts and other services.
“This is about freedom, fairness and equality,” Republican House Speaker Jase Bolger said. “These are basic American rights — rights that should unite us.”
In recent years, legislatures in states like Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin have been taken over by an aggressive Republican majority that vowed to curtail union rights. Even with the outcome considered a foregone conclusion, the heated battle showed no sign of cooling as lawmakers prepared to cast final votes.
Hundreds of protesters flooded the state capitol hours before the House and Senate convened, chanting and whistling in the chilly darkness. Others joined a three-block march to the building, some wearing coveralls and hard hats.
Sen. John Proos, a Republican who voted for the right-to-work bills when they cleared the state Senate last week, said opponents had a right to voice their anger but predicted it would fade as the shift in policy brings more jobs to Michigan.
In an interview with WWJ-AM, Snyder said he expects the bills to be on his desk later this week. He said the intention is to give workers a choice, not to target unions.
“This is about being pro-worker,” Snyder said.
In other states, similar battles were drawn-out affairs lasting weeks. But Snyder, a business executive-turned-governor, and the Republican-dominated Legislature used their political muscle to rapidly introduce and force legislation through the House and Senate in a single day last week. Demonstrators and Democrats howled in protest, but to no avail.
On Tuesday, asked about the speed at which the legislation moved forward, Snyder said the issue wasn’t rushed and that the question of whether to make Michigan a right-to-work state has long been discussed.
For all the shouting, the actual benefit or harm of such laws is not clear. Each camp has pointed to studies bolstering their claims, but one labour expert said the conclusions are inconclusive.
“Very little is actually known about the impact of right-to-work laws,” Gary Chaison, a professor of labour relations at Clark University in Massachusetts, said Monday. “There’s a lot of assumptions that they create or destroy jobs, but the correlation is not definite.”
Democrats contend Republicans, who lost five Michigan House seats in the November election, wanted to act before a new legislature takes office next month. In passionate floor speeches last week, they accused the majority of ignoring the message from voters and bowing to right-wing interest groups. But they acknowledged there was little they could do to stop the fast-moving legislation.
Obama highlighted the issue during his visit Monday to an engine plant in Michigan.
“These so-called right-to-work laws, they don’t have anything to do with economics, they have everything to do with politics,” Obama told cheering workers. “What they’re really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money.” | <urn:uuid:8ac0f228-dd8f-4ffe-91b2-d28926323864> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.canadianbusiness.com/business-news/michigan-legislature-gives-final-approval-to-laws-limiting-unions-in-huge-defeat-for-labour-2/ | 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 | 0.96775 | 941 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Nearly every article that I have read in The Linux Gazette has been technical and/or practical, so let me apologize if this seems a bit "off topic." I am primarily an anthropologist, and as such have always been a bit more inclined to write about things more generally. Instead of the technical and practical, I want to wax philosophic for a bit on the subject of free software in general, and the Linux kernel in particular by "porting" a bit of my philosophy of life to the computer. I have tried to write these articles for both the newcomers to the Free Software Community (FSC) as well as for those who have been around a lot longer than I. I will not waste time on the definition of free software except to say that it is free as in freedom. For a definition, I would have the reader visit the GNU/Free Software Foundation website. The few facts that I intend to present will only be news to those unfamiliar with free software, while the philosophy- at least as seen from my vantage- will probably be new to all. My idea is to present what for the lack of a better term I call The Four Cornerstones to the Foundation of Free Software. These are the four main things that I consider vital to the Free Software Movement (FSM) in general, and to the Linux kernel in particular. They are, in no particular order: Doubt, cooperation, non-control (read: Freedom), and rebellion. I have chosen to break these up into a series, because it would be a bit long as one article. In each case, I will give an explanation of what I mean by the idea and an example of how it pertains to the FSM. I also offer the opportunity for discussion/argumentation if anyone cares to explore "Free Philosophy" further. To those few I invite the use of my email address at the beginning of these articles.
The first cornerstone that I will discuss is that of doubt. It is a very powerful and useful word, unfortunately, doubt has gotten a bad rap for no-good reason. When one thinks of doubt, they are almost certainly consumed with thoughts of lies, fear, and uncertainty. It is a dark word, and one that we rarely use in association with someone or something that we love. This is wrong. I believe that doubt, often pure, serious doubt, is absolutely necessary for any true love and exploration of a subject. I also think that if it were not for doubt- and the admission of self-doubt- we wouldn't have free software.
The FSC has a large share of doubt, and this has been one of its main strengths. We doubt that software will work properly, we doubt that it will work at all. We doubt that the code was written efficiently, we doubt that it couldn't be better. Most importantly we doubt that we, ourselves, have written it the best way it could have been written. This doubt, about our product and about ourselves, is the main strength of all free software. Do not misunderstand me on this point. I am in no way suggesting that we are "suspicious" of every program that we use, or that we build binaries expecting them to fail. What I am suggesting is that we do not consider the program "complete," in the sense that the code is unable to be improved or changed.
I'll give you two scenarios to illustrate my point:
Scenario one: I'm a guy who has been programming since I was twelve. I know that I'm a damn good (if a bit arrogant) coder. One day I finish a big program that is my masterpiece. I cried when I compiled this baby. Hell, I almost got divorced because of it! I have no doubt in my mind that this program is perfect! I would immediately punch anybody who said otherwise. So I market it. I box the binary and I ship it, knowing that I'm going to be the next Bill Gates. Soon, I find out that I am the next Bill Gates, after a fashion. My program locks computers from here to New Jersey. Not all of them, mind you, but enough to hurt sales and make people wonder. The bad thing is that I can't figure out why. Certain people didn't like it in the first place because it's big. Now, nobody want's it because it's big and buggy. Even though I tested the hell out of that program.
What I don't know is that some geek in Indiana has figured it out. He has two computers, and the program only crashes on one. It's the Pentium II with the BX chipset on the motherboard. It also crashes his friends LX chipset computer. I have a Pentium Pro, but everyone wants a Pentium II these days, and they all want that extra speed on the board. Suddenly people start realizing that my product (and probably my programming) isn't worth its salt. My masterpiece has failed.
Scenario two: Same guy, same program, same long fight with his wife. Is very sure that his program is perfect, but has just enough doubt (read: wisdom) to know that there is always somebody better. He has just enough doubt to realize that a program can be written in so many ways that his chances of using the best one in this situation are not 100% and his chances of using the only good one for every situation are pretty near 0%. So he offers his product as free software. He gives everyone the right to use it and modify it, hoping that no-one needs too, but knowing that many will do so anyway. Unfortunately, the program creates a nightmare for him by crashing every computer from here to New Jersey. In this scenario, however, there's a geek in Indiana who figures out the problem and writes a patch. Within weeks the patch has fixed the problem, and within months his program is ported to Alphas and Macs, something that he didn't even consider. His program is a success because he realized that he wasn't the one and only "God of programming." He had just enough doubt to temper his delusions of perfection.
Granted, this is a very simplistic situation, but it does highlight my main point. A lack of doubt, in every situation in life, leads to problems. Admission of doubt allows the possibility of another option, it is an opening, of sorts, to different ideas. To have absolutely no doubt is to become fanatical, and when one becomes fanatical, all options- all doors- close. All possibilities for change, or consideration of other methods are destroyed. Ironically, the fanatic's love for a subject eventually becomes its downfall. In the long term, and more radical situations, the very subject of the fanaticism is itself destroyed, because all thought that improvement or change could even be necessary are anathema to the fanatic's beliefs. Eventually, the subject of the fanaticism becomes something wholly different, and often counter, to its original purpose.
It's easy to see this closing of doors, options, and thought by looking at the worlds of politics and religion. It is also easy to see by looking at the world of proprietary software. Corel recently released its version of WordPerfect 8 for Linux, and has since been touting that the Linux community has a "desire for proprietary software," both on it's website and in the press. The company is so sure that its product is perfect, that it is just what the Linux community wants, that it was patting itself on the back just days after the program's release. I can only assume, knowing what I know about people and bureaucracy, that it laughs at any notion that the majority of the Linux community could possibly be silly enough to consider its program big and buggy, despite all the evidence to the contrary. The fact that, in the Linux community, "proprietary" is often a derogatory word, has never crossed their minds. My prediction is that they will continue to measure their "success" by the number of downloads, and not by the number of people who continue to use it on a regular basis. I suspect that many (myself included) downloaded it and almost immediately discontinued its use. The likelihood of a decrease in users is increasing because of good free software word processing programs and the continued growth in the appreciation of existing ones such as Emacs.
The FSC keeps doors open by holding on to that most important resource: Doubt. We are never happy or completely certain that something is "perfect," or that no-one else is able to improve on something. If it works, it is used and respected, but if someone, anyone, thinks that they could improve it- that's admired. We are also protected from the follies of proprietary software in another way. In the world of free software, KISS is the name of the game. The idea is often to Keep It Small and Simple (or my preferred version, Keep It Simple, Stupid). Here, the doubt is that a program that is a behemoth, with a lot of unnecessary fluff, is better than a small one which performs the same function, often more reliably. This is inherent protection from the delusions of grandeur that taint so many proprietary programs. Free software tends to keep its feet on the ground, instead of becoming the bloated dreams of a few hungry individuals.
Netscape recently learned of some of the benefits of the Free Software Movement when it released its code. Apparently, within days (perhaps hours) there was a group of Australian hackers who improved the code, increasing its security. This event was not only good for Netscape users, who have benefited from the increased security, but to Netscape as well. The company now has a better product to offer the consumers. The free software method offers a no-lose situation, and it guarantees success. The reason for this is the next cornerstone that I will be discussing: Cooperation. I will return next month to expound on that idea from the vantage point of my favorite linux soapbox. | <urn:uuid:71a44802-6c9a-4bec-a08b-c343e363a64f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.linuxgazette.net/issue37/pennington.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 | 0.978292 | 2,041 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Defense and National Security
I am opposed to restricting law-abiding citizens' ability to acquire or possess firearms, and have consistently supported efforts to protect our Second Amendment rights. The problem is not a lack of laws about gun ownership, but the lack of enforcement of the current federal and state gun laws that are already on the books. We must also make mental health a higher national priority so that those who need help are able to get it quickly and successfully.
Following the events of September 11, 2001, the United States took military action to remove the Taliban government in Afghanistan for its support of Osama bin-Laden and al-Qaeda. This action, known as Operation Enduring Freedom, began on October 7, 2001. By the end of 2001, the Taliban had been overthrown. Elements hostile to the United States had been cleared from the country and a new government was sworn in.
A decade later, thousands of casualties and hundreds of billions of dollars later, the U.S., NATO and the Afghan state are still fighting elements of al-Qaeda, the Taliban and other forces that are still attempting to overthrow the democratically-elected government in Kabul.
Though many have expressed concerns about the reasons for our engagement abroad, I believe it is our obligation to give those who have sacrificed so much to serve our nation all they need to ensure their safety and ability to complete their mission. I am concerned about the growing cost of the wars abroad, as well as the expanding Pentagon budget, given our current budgetary difficulties. I believe we must ensure that we are guarding taxpayer dollars while meeting our nation’s defense needs. | <urn:uuid:be903319-1811-4ef9-abcc-fa2beb5f3f7b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://green.house.gov/issue/defense | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975071 | 325 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Here you will find information that will assist students and members of the public who wish to file a formal complaint to the Commission about one of its member institutions: ACCJC Complaint Process
2009-10 Accreditation Reports and Letters
Dr. Rocha's Letter to PCC, July 8, 2010
Final Evaluation and Recommendations, May 15, 2009
Dr. Paulette J. Perfumo Letter to PCC, July 13, 2009
Accreditation is a system by which every six years an institution evaluates itself in accordance with standards of good practice regarding goals and objectives; the appropriateness, sufficiency, and utilization of resources; the usefulness, integrity, and effectiveness of its processes; and the extent to which it is achieving its intended outcomes. It is a process by which educational institutions provide students, the public, and each other with assurances of institutional integrity, quality, and effectiveness. It is a continuing process designed to encourage planning for institutional improvement in quality and effectiveness.
A major part of the accreditation process involves an in-depth self-study by the institution and then a visitation by a group of experts who examine the college and validate the self-study.
Each institution affiliated with the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) accepts the obligation to undergo periodic evaluation through self study and professional peer review. The heart of this obligation is the conducting of a rigorous self study during which an institution appraises itself in terms of its stated purposes. A Comprehensive self-study is required every six years following initial accreditation.
For questions regarding the accreditation process, you may contact Institutional Planning & Research, at 626-585-7759. | <urn:uuid:8bdd0786-ebe9-4b00-94ac-f89138f47339> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pasadena.edu/IPRO/Accreditation/index.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950968 | 342 | 1.71875 | 2 |
You need to replace the water valve, part # 3979346
Here is how it work. If you click on the part number I listed above you will see a photo of the water valve.
On the end that is black there is a thermistor that helps control the temp of the water coming into the washer.
Even when you have a hot water wash selected the water valve is going to pulse cold water to mix with the hot water. Same on a warm water wash, it just pulses the cold water at a different rate.
The washer only uses cold water during the rinse cycle.
All water inlet valve come from the factory with screens in them as JW's photo shows. If your valve no longer has screens in them at some point in time someone took them out.
The screens stop a lot of crap from getting into the water valve. It does not matter if you have soft water or not.
What I often find when screens are missing is that someone else took them out because they were plugged and instead of cleaning them (they are stainless steel screens) and putting them back in they throw them away.
With out the screens there to stop stuff from getting into the water valve the valves plug up and run slow or stop working all together.
Of coarse water valve can fail for other reasons to.
In either case it sounds like you need to replace the water valve.
Sometimes you can find screens in the other end of the fill hoses too, would not hurt to remove both the hot and cold fill hoses to check for screens there too. | <urn:uuid:ad42fe81-96a8-4cd3-9407-aa451f382444> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://appliancejunk.com/forums/index.php?topic=7942.msg37436 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968445 | 324 | 1.585938 | 2 |
The truck driver was happy to talk about his Mormonism. One of the tenets of his religion is the importance of bearing witness to wonders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"It's a wonderful religion," he said. We were standing by the road as he talked; there was a strong wind from the west and little sand eddies at our feet. "It's so inclusive."
By that he meant that everyone had a chance to be an LDS, as the members of that denomination prefer to call it. That's why the Mormons are baptizing dead people - to give them a shot at the Celestial Kingdom. Even dead gentiles - that's what LDS folks call non-Mormons - have a chance at heaven.
We are offered another chance to convert after we are dead. This seems an easy call to me; if I die and wake up in Mormon heaven, you bet I'm going to convert. "Turns out you guys were right all along. I would have bet against it, but what did I know? OK, in LDS heaven it's good to be a Mormon. Count me in."
No other religion I know of has that fabulous option. I'll keep being a nonbeliever in this life while holding my options open on all decisions to be made after I die. If I turn out to have an opinion, I will reassess. I don't believe in the fiery pit of hell, either - I may regret that.
But I doubt it.
Sister Thomas and Sister Carter were also blissed out by the idea of the Celestial Kingdom. "We'll be there with all our families," said one. "I hope they have food there." "How could they not have food there?" said the other, veering perhaps a little far afield from orthodox theology.
Sister Thomas and Sister Carter were on a mission, and at the moment we were their mission. In Salt Lake City, tours are offered of Brigham Young's house from when he was governor of Utah. Noting the federal government's prohibition on polygamy, he kept one wife there and the others scattered about the valley in rural townships.
I had hoped to have a nice history lesson from a knowledgeable docent (I do love docents, don't you? Always so perky and filled with facts), but I got the sisters asking me about my reasons for being there and answering all questions about their religion.
How about that whole "mark of Cain," black-people-can't-be-bishops thing? "That was never official doctrine," one of the sisters said, as the other one shook her head mournfully. I didn't know enough to pick that nit.
That religion is of interest right now because one of the candidates for president belongs to it. It holds some pretty incredible views - American Indians are remnants of the lost tribes of Israel, who somehow made it across the water and changed their religion while doing so.
More to the point: The Mormon Church has been funding anti-same-sex-marriage legislation across the country. They strenuously and generously back antiabortion laws of whatever hue. They are a playah, as they say, and with a president in the White House, they will undoubtedly become even more influential.
As I've said before, I don't think the LDS is a cult - or all religions are, take your pick. Religion minus time equals cult. We doubt the LDS more because Joseph Smith was a historical figure who left a trail of paperwork, legal proceedings and newspaper clippings. But who knows what scam artists were involved in the founding of anything 15 or 20 centuries ago?
Brigham Young was the St. Paul of the LDS; he took these people across the wilderness and settled in Salt Lake, which no one else wanted, it being in a dry, harsh climate. It's a wonder what faith and a little irrigation will do.
Brigham Young wanted to found the nation of Deseret, a theocracy that would stretch to the Mexican border and out to California. He wanted to be president of the United States, too, and make that country a theocracy too. This eradication of the line between church and state seems burned into LDS doctrine.
I know that when Jack Kennedy ran in 1960, his Catholicism was defused as an issue by talk of tolerance being a hallmark of the American electoral system. That was brought up again when Obama ran. Surely we should extend the same courtesy to the supernatural beliefs of Mitt Romney.
Maybe this will all be moot. If not, watch and wait.
In my post-dead life, I hope to make decisions informed by the tenets of whatever.
Soon her eye fell on a little glass box that was lying under the table: She opened it, and found in it a very small cake, on which the words "EAT ME" were beautifully marked in email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:34f71245-aa40-4218-b340-0b21f8482b78> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/carroll/article/They-just-wanted-to-convert-me-4001681.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985141 | 1,011 | 1.507813 | 2 |
The issue raised in the article is about littering, not violent crimes. There are violent crimes in almost every minor to major city in the US. The issue at hand is that people thing throwing cigarette butts out the window isn't considered littering.
If you smoke cigarettes and can't deal with empty butts in your car and getting rid of them in a responsible way, then you shouldn't smoke cigarettes - like taking on anything, you take on the accommodating responsibilities. One of those is disposing butts the right way. Otherwise, pay the consequences.
More information about formatting options | <urn:uuid:c0fe9625-ddee-4763-990d-bff86fcb1de5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wwaytv3.com/comment/reply/8485/173258 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959381 | 120 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
This verse got me thinking:
Understanding is key. One of the most important things about the Savior is how well he understands us. He has felt our pains. He knows our trials intimately so he understands why we do and think and say the things we do, even when we’re making the wrong choices.
Loving thy neighbor as thy self is one of the greatest commandments we are given (John 13). Trying to understand each other, especially when we don’t see eye to eye is one of the best ways to nurture love. (Remember: Charity never faileth. [1 Corinthians 13]) | <urn:uuid:33c46bc0-4421-4a6e-943c-ee0533f956b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://becauseihavebeengivenmuch.tumblr.com/archive/2012/7 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937678 | 146 | 1.671875 | 2 |
In case you haven’t heard already, Facebook went public yesterday. For $38 a share.
(Check out this infographic to get a grip on how huge this is.)
Many people, and one man in particular, will become very, very rich because you and I (and hundreds of millions of people all across the world) have taken our friendships online.
There is a kind of irony here. We so often use financial language to talk about our friendships: ”He really made a huge investment in me,” we say; or, ”That friendship paid huge dividends for the rest of my life.” Today, this financial jargon, applied via metaphor to our friendships, becomes very real as Mark Zuckerberg and his colleagues literally reap huge dividends (of literal money) from our friendships with each other.
I listen to a lot of public and talk radio, and Facebook’s IPO is the talk of the technological town; yet, it’s good to know that there are other people out there who doubt the virtues and use of Facebook. Amidst the flurry of praise for Facebook this week, General Motors announced that it would no longer be buying ads on Facebook because they aren’t sure it’s worth the money.
So what then shall we say? Will the money people across the globe invest into this social media giant secure its future? Or is time a respecter of no price tag? Will Facebook go the way of MySpace and slowly disappear? Who can say?
Here is what we can say: fifty years from now, when Mr. Zuckerberg and friends are still living off today’s ridiculous sum of money, will they care if our friendships are better because of what they created? Will they be disappointed to hear that, in the end, the relationships we experienced on Facebook were knock-offs at best, and that we have had to re-learn what it means to be a friend?
No, my “friends.” They won’t care.Kyle Tennant, author of “unfriend yourself“, challenges our culture’s views of social media, and its place in our lives. See more articles from our conversation on social media. | <urn:uuid:5cda40b5-f616-4a00-9826-6fe6328a702b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thrive80.com/2012/05/the-day-friendship-made-someone-rich-facebook-goes-public/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955515 | 457 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Romanian charged with hacking NASA systems
- By Kathleen Hickey
- Nov 18, 2011
NASA’s computer systems seem to be a playground for hackers, particularly Romanians.
In the most recent case, the Romanian Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism announced Nov. 15 that it had arrested Robert Butyka, 26, in Cluj-Napoca, a city in Western Romania, for hacking into NASA’s servers and causing $500,000 in damage.
A DIICOT spokesperson said Butkya, who goes by the name “Iceman,” is unemployed and does not have a higher education, Network World reported.
Butkya is charged with hacking into several NASA servers, destroying and restricting access to protected data, starting Dec. 12, 2010. Charges include unauthorized access, severely disrupting a computer system, modifying, damaging and restricting access to data without authorization and possessing hacking programs.
Authorities seized several computers at his home during a raid, reported Network World.
NASA has been a repeated hacker target and Butkya is not the first Romanian to break into NASA’s computer systems. Earlier this year another Romanian hacker, who goes by the name TinKode, broke into NASA’s Goddard Center, GCN reported.
In 2006, a federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted Victor Faur for hacking 150 government computers, including systems at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Goddard Space Flight Center, reported GCN in December of that year.
Butkya will be tried in Romania, which has no extradition treaty.
Meanwhile, the United States has been trying for nearly a decade to extradite British hacker Gary McKinnon, who in 2001 and 2002 allegedly broke into 97 military and NASA computers. | <urn:uuid:9bc83b0b-0436-4dde-86a9-df64010a6867> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gcn.com/articles/2011/11/18/nasa-hack-romanian-arrested.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939627 | 361 | 1.59375 | 2 |
NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas (AP) -- When it comes to new laws, Texas usually saves its bewilderment for ones from Washington. But this scorching summer, it's a single city ordinance on the popular Guadalupe River that is stirring frustration and confusion.
So, just to clear things up: Boozing while tubing is still legal.
Drinking beer while lazily floating through New Braunfels is a heat-beating tradition for hundreds of thousands of vacationers each summer, but turnout is down and businesses say the reason is clear: a new ban on disposable containers that has heightened tension between businesses reliant on tourism dollars and residents weary of rowdy partygoers who leave behind truckloads of trash.
The so-called can ban doesn't prohibit alcohol, but that message hasn't been sticking.
"People are calling saying, 'You can't drink in New Braunfels, so why am I coming?'" said Shane Wolf, general manager of Rockin' R River Outfitters, the city's dominant tube rental company.
Beer and liquor are still allowed on the river if poured into reusable containers, and neon plastic Chug-a-Mugs that hold up to three beers are now ubiquitous. But while the New Braunfels Convention and Visitors Bureau has yet to release figures, director Judy Young concedes that business has been slower since the ban.
It doesn't take data to see the effects. At one Rockin' R store this week, Ross Purdy stared quizzically at a cold six-pack of Miller Lite in one hand and a $20 empty plastic "Bubba Keg" in the other.
"So will all this fit in here? Is this what we're supposed to use?" Purdy, 40, said aloud to himself, before again scanning the store coolers for his options.
After a few seconds of uncertainty, he gave up and went to the cash register for help.
"No one understands it," the cashier said glumly.
Local businesses hope that a new city marketing campaign will clarify the ordinance, although it will barely stem their indignation. Fifty-eight percent of New Braunfels voters approved the can ban, not swayed by hotel owners and river outfitters who warned that a can ban would sock the local economy.
Prevailing instead was a campaign that on its face was about curbing litter and environmental stewardship of the Guadalupe and Comal rivers. But motivating a not insignificant bloc of the city's 58,000 residents was an appetite to clamp down on what many saw as an alcohol-fueled floating frat party with public nudity, sex, fights and loud music.
Finishing a can of Bud Light in a parking lot before heading into the water where it's verboten, Dana Austin said that at 24, he doesn't mind the rowdiness. But he said he supports the law's environmental aims after years of watching tubers chuck cans into the river and along the banks.
"You'd see a frat boy floating up a little bit ahead of you, and they'd sort of do a free throw into the woods," Austin said.
The Guadalupe and Comal rivers are among the state's most visited natural attractions, and tubing is the bedrock of local tourism that pumps $469 million each year into the New Braunfels economy, according to Young. But the last three years have been a bumpy ride: Massive flooding in 2010 demolished buildings and buses of river outfitters, and last year's historic Texas drought left tubers scraping against rocks in shallow water.
As far as trash and rowdiness go, can ban backers are already claiming victory. City data show that 1,800 pounds of litter was collected in and around the river in May -- about 15 percent of the amount that had to be cleaned up in May last year.
Other unruly behavior also seems to be on the downturn. New Braunfels police Capt. Michael Penshorn said that on a recent June weekend, police patrolling the river issued 26 citations and arrested four people on charges ranging from minors in possession to public intoxication. On the same weekend last year, police wrote 42 citations and made 17 arrests.
Mike Kubelka, 50, patted his wet bathing suit with a towel before driving back to College Station with his two kids after they practically had the whole Guadelupe to themselves on a slow Monday. Now that he's a parent, Kubelka said, he doesn't mind seeing less beer on the river.
"But," he said, "it gets kind of long out there with nothing to drink."
Follow Paul J. Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/pauljweber | <urn:uuid:6ebef6a4-539a-4673-af84-97d5111846a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.the-review.com/ap%20travel/2012/07/04/to-beer-or-not-to-beer-can-ban-slows-tourism | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96425 | 965 | 1.5 | 2 |
Sexting Leads To Cheating
Sexting, or sending nude photos or salacious texts over the Internet, has become a very popular practice among people around the world.
According to sociologist Diane Kholos Wysocki, the study’s lead author, sexting in the United States is “alive and well.” Although this practice cost the former Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner his job, sexting has become part of the whole extra-marital mating ritual. According to Wysocki, all people who engage in such acts follow the same patterns and it actually seems that people who are more prone to cheating are the ones to turn most to sexting. “People meet, then they send pictures, then they send naked pictures, then they proceed and ultimately meet if they find that they’re compatible,” Wysocki said in a statement. This would be the pattern to which all people who turn to sexting engage in.
For the study, about 5,200 users of a website devoted to extra-marital dating called ashleymadison.com, were surveyed. Given that only those people who were already on the website were the ones to agree on taking part in the survey, the study does not say anything about the habits of Americans. It only looks only at a certain group of people. “Any time you get a group of people on the Internet, we can’t say it’s representative,” said Kholos Wysocki. But, she also said that the study gives some insight into why people choose to stay married and yet, engage in affairs at the same time. According to the results of Wysocki’s study, out of all the people who took part in the survey, 60 percent of the women said they would engage in sexting at any time. Even for older people sexting was a good alternative. Still, the ones who would engage more in this kind of practice are people between the age of 19 and 24. Furthermore, it seems that about one third of the people involved in the study acknowledge they had cheated on their partners and more than 8 in 10 women and two-thirds of the men said they would meet someone after talking to them online. According to Jeffrey T. Parsons, professor of psychology at Hunter College in New York City, people who turn to these sorts of websites are also more willing to go as far as such a relationship can go and they would also cheat on their partners if they had the opportunity. He also said that people who go online on these websites are always looking for something more than cybersex. Furthermore, according to Wysocki, even though the Internet can not be blamed for so many people cheating on their partners, it has had a big share to the whole situation. Although there are still people who cheat without the need of Internet, this way is… faster.11 | <urn:uuid:6ab6a285-338f-4889-85f6-3021f3b59f94> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.metrolic.com/sexting-leads-to-cheating-171519/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985486 | 607 | 1.617188 | 2 |
By Sarah N. Lynch and Kim Palmer
WASHINGTON/CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Senator Rob Portman became the most prominent Republican lawmaker to back gay rights when he reversed his opposition to same-sex marriage on Friday, two years after his son told him he was gay.
In a newspaper opinion piece on Friday, shortly before the Supreme Court is to hear arguments in two key cases on the issue, the Ohio senator said he now supports gay marriage.
"I have come to believe that if two people are prepared to make a lifetime commitment to love and care for each other in good times and in bad, the government shouldn't deny them the opportunity to get married," Portman wrote in an op-ed piece in Ohio's Columbus Dispatch.
"That isn't how I've always felt. As a Congressman, and more recently as a Senator, I opposed marriage for same-sex couples. Then, something happened that led me to think through my position in a much deeper way."
Portman's 21-year-old son, Will, told the senator and his wife in February 2011 that he was gay and had been "since he could remember."
It was the latest show of public support for gay rights. President Barack Obama announced last year that he approved of gay marriage, and in his inaugural speech in January, he equated gay rights with civil rights.
The Supreme Court hears oral arguments later this month in two cases related to gay marriage. One challenges the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. In a related case, the court will also hear arguments that question a California law, known as Proposition 8, banning gay marriage.
Portman was quoted by the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper as saying he now believes same-sex couples who marry in states where it is legal should be eligible for the same federal benefits granted to heterosexual couples.
Portman served as trade representative and then White House budget director under former President George W. Bush.
He was among the front-runners to be Mitt Romney's vice presidential pick during the 2012 election, but budget hawk Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin eventually got the nod.
The Republican Party has become increasingly split on the gay marriage issue, with some arguing that socially conservative positions such as opposition to same-sex marriage are contributing to the party's election losses.
An early Republican favorite for the 2016 presidential race, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, staged a defense of traditional marriage in a high-profile speech to a conservative conference on Thursday.
"Just because I believe that states should have the right to define marriage in the traditional way does not make me a bigot," the 41-year-old Cuban-American told the Conservative Political Action Conference.
But Republican strategist John Feehery said Portman's announcement could change attitudes in the party.
"I think so. The fact of the matter is Dick Cheney has been out there on this. Ted Olson, Rob Portman. And what's becoming clear is if you know somebody who happens to be gay, you feel much differently about this issue. The fact is we all know somebody who is gay. So I think this is going to be another indication that times are changing on this issue." he said.
In his op-ed piece, Portman wrote of how he has "wrestled" with reconciling his Christian faith with the desire for his son to have the same opportunities as his siblings.
"Ultimately, for me, it came down to the Bible's overarching themes of love and compassion and my belief that we are all children of God," he said.
Keith Cottrell, 40, an IT professional who lives in Cleveland, said he didn't "see much nobility" in Portman's decision because he only lined up behind gay rights after learning of his son's sexuality.
"I mean I'll gladly take his vote but would we applaud someone who constantly voted against women's rights if they changed their mind after having a daughter?" Cottrell said.
Portman said he consulted clergy members and friends including former Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney, who has an openly gay daughter, has reiterated his support for gay marriage over the past several years, despite his deeply conservative views on many issues.
Bob Vander Plaats, president of the Family Leader, an influential group of social conservatives in Iowa, said Portman had been "short-sighted" for changing his views.
"I don't see the Republican Party any time soon abandoning his stance on marriage. I see more than anything it is emboldened in their stance on marriage," he said. "The last time I checked, God's word was the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow," he said.
Portman's new position was supported by former opponent David Axelrod, who was Obama's senior campaign advisor.
"Courageous decision by Rob Portman to endorse same-sex marriage, guided by the love of a parent rather than by party ideology," Axelrod tweeted.
(Additional reporting by Alistair Bell and Samuel P. Jacobs; Editing by Vicki Allen and Bernadette Baum) | <urn:uuid:f6542be6-81fc-43fa-8697-c0af2630f490> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kelo.com/news/articles/2013/mar/15/senator-portman-reverses-gay-marriage-opposition-reports/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98441 | 1,047 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Your Ultimate Source for Asian Kitchenware & Home Accessories Since 1997
It took centuries for Korean potters to perfect the craftsmanship that Korean celadon garners to this very day. Inlaid designs, consisting of an image made by hand or mold and imprinted in the surface of the clay, were the first of their kind and opened up the possibilities for pottery as a thing of beauty. But that's just the beginning of what makes Korean celadon pottery so inimitable.
The amazing features of Korean celadon include:
* Refined semitransparent glazes of emerald to bluish-gray color, executed with unmatchable perfection.
* Precisely painted designs, from playful to formal, portraying depictions of nature with expression, simplicity, and grace.
* Careful baking and firing that result in a unique base on each vase, with the presence of sand particles.
* A range of shapes and forms, from long to short, wide to thin, that are all hand-made.
Read our October 2003 newsletter to find out more about Korean celadon. Though this artform is 1,500 years old, it continues to be appreciated far beyond the time of the Koryo Dynasty. Today, the art of making Korean celadon pottery is only found as a cottage industry in two small South Korean villages. But you can own your own hand-made Korean celadon lattice vase through an exclusive purchase here at Mrs. Lin's Kitchen. Enjoy our selection. | <urn:uuid:7c1f74f8-70cc-4d3a-aed2-a0140af655a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mrslinskitchen.com/asian-home-decors-korean-celadon-vases.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951681 | 316 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Congressional Oversight Panel Releases Oversight Report on TARP Repayments and Repurchase of Stock Warrants
So Far Treasury Has Sold Warrants Back at 66 Percent of Panel's Best Estimate of Fair Market Value
July 10, 2009
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) released its July oversight report today, "TARP Repayments, including Repurchase of Stock Warrants."
In late 2008, the economy faced an exceptional crisis, and Congress created the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in an effort to stabilize the financial system. When Congress authorized the commitment of $700 billion to rescue the financial system, it decided that taxpayers should have the opportunity to share in a potential upside if the banks returned to profitability.
The opportunity to profit from TARP investments comes through special securities called warrants. Banks that received financial assistance were required to give the government warrants for the future purchase of some of their common shares. If the value of the bank stock rose above the warrant price, Treasury could make a profit for the taxpayers.
Currently many banks want to exit the TARP program by repaying their financial assistance and repurchasing their warrants from Treasury. Any exit from the TARP system implicates an important policy question: If the banks give up federal support prematurely, will the economy suffer as a result? The Panel discussed this issue in its June report examining whether the stress tests were rigorous enough to test the strength of the banks.
Now that Treasury has decided that some banks can repay, it is the Panel's mandate to determine whether the taxpayer is receiving maximum benefit from TARP. Because the warrants that accompanied TARP assistance represent the only opportunity for the taxpayer to participate directly in the increase in the share prices of banks made possible by public money, the price at which the warrants are sold is critical. To determine whether Treasury is valuing the warrants in a way that maximizes the taxpayers' investment in the financial institutions, the Panel conducted its own detailed technical valuation of the warrants Treasury holds.
The Panel report offers a range of estimates based on high, low, and best estimate assumptions for certain key variables and it compares its estimates with other valuations. The Panel was aided in its valuation efforts by three renowned finance experts, Professor Robert Merton, Professor Daniel Bergstresser and Professor Victoria Ivashina, all of the Harvard Business School. The professors independently reviewed both the mathematical model and the assumptions that were built into the model; they concluded that the Panel's approaches were reasonable and produced reliable estimates.
The Panel first applied its model to the warrant repurchases that Treasury has already approved.
Eleven banks have repurchased their warrants from the Treasury for a total amount that the Panel estimates to be only 66 percent of its best estimate of their value. If the warrants had been sold for the Panel's best estimate of their current market value, taxpayers would have recovered $10 million more.
Treasury is just beginning its warrant repurchase program. Banks have bought back only a fraction of one percent of all warrants issued, and the prices paid thus far may not be representative of what is to come. The report further analyzes how Treasury is constrained by the provisions of the contracts governing the TARP investments in the banks and recognizes that the Panel's valuations do not include the liquidity discounts and other adjustments contemplated by Treasury. In reaching a judgment with the bank supervisors to allow a particular bank to repay its TARP assistance and in determining the price, time and manner at which it will sell the warrants it holds in that bank, the Panel found that Treasury must balance the public interests in financial stabilization and economic growth. The Panel emphasized it is critical that Treasury make the process – the reason for its decisions, the way it arrives at its figure, and the exit strategy from or future use of TARP – absolutely transparent.
The full report can be found at www.cop.senate.gov. The Panel held a hearing on June 24 with Herbert M. Allison, Jr., Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability that further informed the analysis and findings of this report. Materials from the hearing can be found on the Panel's website.
The Congressional Oversight Panel was created to oversee the expenditure of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds authorized by Congress in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA) and to provide recommendations on regulatory reform. The Panel members are: Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Richard H. Neiman, Superintendent of Banks for the State of New York, Damon Silvers, Associate General Counsel of the AFL-CIO, former U.S. Senator John E. Sununu (R-NH) and Elizabeth Warren, Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. | <urn:uuid:e9d1f21d-3327-459d-98b1-124f77a317d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dfs.ny.gov/about/press/pr090710.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956611 | 971 | 1.5 | 2 |
Now that's something I never really paid a great deal of attention to, but I've seen both designations on different forms. So in which cases is it deliberate, and in which is it a lack of clarity or understanding?
JFTR, when the form queries sex, I always answer in the affirmative.
That's jiust it - he doesn't say it's bad... he says homosexuality is not a sin.
How nice of His Holiness to throw gays and lesbians a bone. But, he goes on to claim that homosexual acts are a sin. Why? Because one assumes that such acts occur out of wedlock? Well, golly gee, if those gay sinners were married, then said acts wouldn't be sinful at all! Oh wait... same sex marriage baaaaaaaaad. Oh well, painted into another corner. And judging by all the superlatives in your post, you sure seem to support the position.
Yet you label a call for understanding and tolerance "baloney" — all the while demanding retractions and dissociations from those who label you what such remarks only prove you to be — anti-gay!
2684-429 — that's your number, dude. We've all got it now.
No kidding. I thought this new pope would be a step backwards from the last one who gave the only good pope a heart attack but this is ridiculous. He is the dark ages. The bright side is that he will speed yet another organized religion into irrelevancy.
My question would be why isn't it irrelevant already? People actually listen to this guy? Creepy.
Unless one is Catholic, the Pope can babble all he likes and it amounts to nothing more than a Page 2 story. I suspect that you post the link to support your view that gay is bad ~ any Pope in a storm.
Stop and consider ~ a group of people don't hem and haw in the back ground of their social construct and arbitrarily assign prejudices to one another. They come to conclusions on an individual's bigotry or tolerance based on that individual's behavior over a period of time.
OK, rather than beat around your bush, the majority believe you to be homophobic because you've come off that way for a very long time. It's not as though there's been some kind of conspiracy to label you so. poly is an avowed and often rabid atheist, matt is a devoted, often delusional conservative and your are homophobic.
That you deny it so strenuously is especially laughable in light on the original subject of this post and your support of the Pope's views on the issue. Please note my civility. I do not want the Moderators involved in my response to you again.
_________________________ I always deserve it. Really.
Mummer's Day Parade is on life support this year. Philly has cut back its subsidy (because the city is on the verge of bankruptcy . . . so what else is new) and the parade is going to be like a dog this year (cur-tailed).
_________________________ MACTECHubi dolor ibi digitus
Pope Benedict scored a double hit with just one shot in his end of year address at the Vatican when he blew wide open the fallacy of 'gender theory' whilst demolishing the US led 'tolerance' baloney that supports it. The only thing he didn't do is nail the intolerant backlash that will inevitably follow.
What do you mean "debunks". He doesn't do that at all. What he does is give his opinion based on his religious thinking. While I might tend to agree with some of what he says, he certainly is not an authority that I give a single credence to. Just a guy selected by a bunch of people to be the head of their group. Not my group so what he says is nothing to me.
To say he "debunks" something is to say he disproves something and he just is giving his opinion. Again, not important to me at all
There are 10 kinds of people. Those that understand binary and those that don't.
Xplain's use of MacNews, AppleCentral and AppleExpo are not affiliated with Apple, Inc. MacTech is a registered trademark of Xplain Corporation. AppleCentral, MacNews, Xplain, "The journal of Apple technology", Apple Expo, Explain It, MacDev, MacDev-1, THINK Reference, NetProfessional, MacTech Central, MacTech Domains, MacForge, and the MacTutorMan are trademarks or service marks of Xplain Corp. Sprocket is a registered trademark of eSprocket Corp. Other trademarks and copyrights appearing in this printing or software remain the property of their respective holders.
All contents are Copyright 1984-2010 by Xplain Corporation. All rights reserved. Theme designed by Icreon. | <urn:uuid:c6458400-e918-467d-82f6-09cbf913ab2f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forums.applecentral.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/404410/Re_Pope_debunks_gender_theory | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962178 | 996 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Aging Body, Unchanging Spirit
Integrative medicine expert Andrew Weil talks about what we have to gain by embracing the aging process rather than fighting it.
BY: Lisa Schneider
Andrew Weil, M.D., a graduate of Harvard Medical School, serves as director of the Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, and is the author of "Spontaneous Healing," "Eight Weeks to Optimum Health," among other bestsellers. In his latest book, "Healthy Aging," Weil encourages readers to embrace, rather than deny or fight, the aging process (and explains why he believes so-called "anti-aging" products do not work anyway). He spoke with Beliefnet about the spiritual virtues of aging, why no one should be afraid of getting older, the benefits of meditation, and how he feels about his famous white beard.
You write that aging can be "a catalyst for spiritual growth." How?
|Aging as path to spiritual awakening|
In the book, I used an example of the legend of the Buddha's enlightenment. When he was the young prince Siddhartha, he was kept by his father in a fantasy palace where he wasn't supposed to see anything that suggested aging and death or anything unpleasant. Then he goes out of the palace and the first thing he sees is an old man. Subsequently, he sees a corpse, a sick man, and a monk-these four sights or visitations are what really stimulated him on the path of enlightenment. So I think there is a way in which awareness and mortality and aging are certainly the most powerful reminders that we're moving in that direction; it can be a profound spiritual awakening.
I also quoted Carl Jung, who said that he thought that the major focus of the second half of life should be mortality and that anything that took away from that was in the direction of not being mentally healthy. I think in our society we see so much denial of aging and ways that people try to pretend to themselves that aging is not happening and I worry about that being a not-healthy direction. I think a common correlation we see as people become older is that they have greater interest in things spiritual or non-physical.
What do you think is at the heart of our fear of aging?
I think the root is the fear of death, which is the great mystery; it's what we don't understand and I think that's really why people turn to religion, turn to spiritual paths, to come to grips with mortality. And aging is a constant reminder that we're moving in that direction. So I think that's the root fear. Then on top of that, I think there are more specific fears: the fear of losing independence, losing pleasure in life, things of that sort.
How can we overcome these fears?
Well, I think by facing them squarely and being honest about them, that's the first step. It is very helpful to seek out people who are examples of healthy aging and see what they have to teach us. Information is a very powerful antidote to fear, having truthful information.
In terms of spirituality, are there particular things that people can do?
Well, I think there are a lot of things that people can do to attend to their spiritual health and well-being. Some of the suggestions I've made over the years include bringing fresh flowers into your house, listening to music that elevates your spirits, reading spiritual literature-inspirational literature that has that effect, seeking out the company of people in whose presence you feel more elevated, spending more time in nature. I think there is an endless list of what people can do.
On a personal level, what does aging mean to you? Is it something you look forward to?
Well, I certainly am not going to deny the aging process. I really want to think about its challenges, particularly how I want to spend my last years, and I'm in discussion with some contemporaries. We've had a lot of thoughts about trying to custom-design some kind of living facility for ourselves in which we all have our private spaces but will be able to do some things communally. That's one example of some ways I'm thinking.
Your beard is such an iconic part of your image, and you write that you have no interest in dyeing it. Do you think of it as a way to keep you mindful of the aging process?
|Why I like my white beard|
I think so. I started getting white in my beard long ago, I think maybe in my late 30s, the first gray hairs showed up in it so it's something I've lived with and watched for a long time. But I rather like the way it is now. It's a white beard-I think it gives me more authority, and I think a lot of people look at me as a Santa Claus figure. That's fine with me.
You write about many things that become better with age. Can you share an example?
|Aging is like whiskey|
I had a lot of fun writing about that since I hadn't seen it in print before. The examples I used were whiskey, wine, cheese, trees, violins, antiques. If you look at whiskey, aging of whiskey smoothes out rawness and greenness, it adds depth and complexity and smoothness, it adds flavors, it concentrates what's desirable. At the same time, there is the evaporation of what's less consequential and I think it's fairly easy to see analogies in human life with that process. Aging can increase value by concentrating what is most worthy and by allowing what's inconsequential to dissipate. It can smooth out roughness, add depth of character, so I just find it a useful exercise to think what aging brings out in these other areas of our experience that makes us willing to pay more money for old versions.
So you would recommend that people concerned about aging should explore these positive aspects?
Absolutely. I think in this culture especially, we are so programmed to see aging as a catastrophe and to look only at the negatives and I think it would be extremely helpful if we could look for the positive aspects as well. And I think it's exactly these positive qualities for which elders are revered in other cultures, in many traditional cultures. I think we've just got way off the beam here.
A few weeks ago I had lunch with a scientist-a very hardcore scientist who surprised me by saying that he was 80. I would have guessed his age at 62, so he was doing it very well. He said that one of the qualities that he had observed in himself that had gotten better with age was pattern recognition. When something new came by, he was better able to recognize it and know how to deal with it. And the reason he said was obviously that he's got more stored in his memories, so when something happens, he's got more against which to compare it. Therefore, he knows how to maneuver through the world better than he did when he was younger. That's just an example of something that gets better with age that we just don't hear discussed. | <urn:uuid:d896cfc3-09d7-48fc-8343-3e7ab0cf5efc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.beliefnet.com/Health/2005/12/Aging-Body-Unchanging-Spirit.aspx?p=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985817 | 1,463 | 1.640625 | 2 |
The protesters have a distinct ideology and are bound by a deep commitment to radical left-wing policies. On Oct. 10 and 11, Arielle Alter Confino, a senior researcher at my polling firm, interviewed nearly 200 protesters in New York's Zuccotti Park. Our findings probably represent the first systematic random sample of Occupy Wall Street opinion.It's obviously risky for Obama to identify too closely with these people, but there are also risks in distancing himself. If you look at the various statements by Obama and his advisers, I think you'll see that they have positioned themselves in the middle ground with the message: We understand the protests as an emotional expression about current economic conditions. There's no identification with the protesters' abstract ideology or policy proposals — which Schoen's polling may reveal, but which are not that apparent in the protests. So Obama may have the right strategy: Characterize the protests as inarticulate cries of pain about problems that are real and that affect all Americans.
Our research shows clearly that the movement doesn't represent unemployed America and is not ideologically diverse. Rather, it comprises an unrepresentative segment of the electorate that believes in radical redistribution of wealth, civil disobedience and, in some instances, violence. Half (52%) have participated in a political movement before, virtually all (98%) say they would support civil disobedience to achieve their goals, and nearly one-third (31%) would support violence to advance their agenda....
Sixty-five percent say that government has a moral responsibility to guarantee all citizens access to affordable health care, a college education, and a secure retirement—no matter the cost. By a large margin (77%-22%), they support raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans, but 58% oppose raising taxes for everybody, with only 36% in favor. And by a close margin, protesters are divided on whether the bank bailouts were necessary (49%) or unnecessary (51%).
Schoen cites the 1970 elections — the midterm of the Nixon administration — when Democrats should have gained ground but lost by "aligning too closely with the antiwar movement hurt Democrats [as] many middle-class and working-class Americans ended up supporting hawkish candidates who condemned student disruptions." The Democrats who won, Schoen says, were the ones who acted enthusiastic about law and order. So Schoen — who was a pollster for Bill Clinton — recommends that Democrats eschew the "huge new spending programs and tax increases" that the protesters would like and please moderates by "opposing bailouts and broad-based tax increases."
But let's examine the 1970 analogy. The antiwar protesters pushed a very specific policy: ending the Vietnam War. A politician couldn't characterize their noise as an inarticulate cry of pain. If you sided with them, you were opposed to the war.
So I'm not convinced that moderate voters will punish Obama for taking his "I feel your pain" approach to the protesters. The rest of America also feels that pain, and Obama is good at performing empathy. Make it all very general and emotional, and let that emotional fuzz further obscure the already vague policy notions in the mushy heads of the protesters.
True, moderate Americans dislike disorder, but how hard is that to deal with? Up to a point, merge it with the "expression of pain" interpretation. And if it goes too far and there is actual violence, you do what all the moderate folk do when there is violence: Deplore it. | <urn:uuid:f242be9b-4d6b-410f-8654-ff1f23563805> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://althouse.blogspot.com/2011/10/president-obama-and-democratic.html?showComment=1318955443047 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963714 | 706 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Reason #1,666 why Amerika is broke.
Dennis Cauchon reports for USA Today, Aug. 15, 2012, that more than 21,000 or 1.2% of retired federal workers receive lifetime government pensions of $100,000 or more per year. Of these, nearly 2,000 have federal pensions that pay $125,000 or more annually, and 151 take home $150,000 or more. Six federal retirees get more than $200,000 a year.
By comparison, here are the percentages of other retirees who get pensions of $100,000 or more:
- 0.1% of military retirees
- 0.2% of the New York State and Local Retirement System
- 0.4% of the New Jersey retirement system
- Comparable private figures aren’t available.
Federal retirees receiving 6-figure pensions spread across a broad swath of the federal workforce: doctors, budget analysts, accountants, public relations specialists and human resource managers. Most do not get Social Security benefits. Those receiving $100,000 or more in federal pensions icnlude:
- Law enforcement, the most common profession receiving 6-figure pensions, including 326 Drug Enforcement Administration agents, 237 IRS investigators and 186 FBI agents.
- 714 from the U.S. Postal Service.
- 444 from the Social Security Administration
- A retired Smithsonian zoologist has a $162,000 annual lifetime pension.
- The six $200,000-plus pensions include a doctor, a dentist and a credit union regulator, plus three retirees whose occupations weren’t listed.
Pensions are a growing federal budget burden, rising twice as fast as inflation over the last decade. Pension payments cost $70 billion last year, plus $13 billion for retiree health care. Taxpayers face a $2 trillion unfunded liability — the amount needed to cover future benefits — for these programs, according to the government’s audited financial statement. (Read: The Truth About the Post Office’s Financial Mess.)
“These people are highly trained, highly skilled and often put their lives on the line in law enforcement,” says Julie Tagen, legislative director of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees. “It’s a very, very small portion of retirees at that ($100,000) level.”
“Government pensions are vastly more generous than those in the private sector,” says economist Veronique de Rugy of the market-oriented Mercatus Center. “It’s no coincidence that if there is a good plan, it’s available to federal employees rather than in the private sector.”
USA TODAY and the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press— both owned by Gannett — analyzed the Civil Service Retirement System database, obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request. The Office of Personnel Management withheld some information, including names, ages and length of service.
The records cover 1.9 million federal civilian pensions. Congress members were not included, nor were military retirees.
The average federal pension pays $32,824 annually. The average state and local government pension pays $24,373, Census data show. The average military pension is $22,492. which has one of the best remaining private pensions, pays an average of $18,250 per retiree, Labor Department filings show.
The federal government has two retirement systems: one for those hired before 1984 and another for those hired after. Under the older system, employees did not participate in Social Security. The older system covers 78% of current retirees and accounts for 96% of 6-figure pensions. All federal retirees receive health benefits. | <urn:uuid:04e0a8ca-7916-407c-a829-bbf11355ef73> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/2012/08/16/thousands-of-federal-retirees-get-6-figure-pensions/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930563 | 766 | 1.648438 | 2 |
The hair collected Monday afternoon will be sent to the nonprofit Matter of Trust to be used to help absorb the oil out of the ocean.
Oil has been leaking into the Gulf of Mexico since a Deepwater Horizon rig exploded April 20, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The explosion killed 11 workers, eventually sank the rig and has left an estimated 5,000 gallons of oil leaking into the ocean every day since, the Times reported.
"It's really going to destroy the whole ecosystem in the area," said Nick Cicchetti, 17, co-assistant editor of the paper.
Nick was the first to have his head buzzed in a small corridor next to Gatorade machines as a crowd of students began to form.
The journalism class has been closely following the oil leak and organized the hair drive. Co-Assistant Editor Paige Turner, 18, spearheaded the event and cajoled three hairstylists from her mother's salon, Main Moves & Body Works, 7171 Warner Ave., to come to the school on their day off.
Journalism advisor Mark Kamei said he is trying to make his students aware of the issues and take ownership of them through writing or action. By doing so, "they take control of their own learning," he said.
The idea that anything will really help fix the problem doesn't seem likely to 17-year-old Joe Chiccarelli. The oil has ruined the water, killed animals and affected the entire ecosystem, the senior said. Despite the "helpless" situation, Joe still wanted to do what he could and donated his hair.
"I think everyone should take it upon themselves to step up," Joe said. | <urn:uuid:3cf02c73-bda0-496e-a371-60a7b0328d80> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.hbindependent.com/2010-05-27/news/hbi-hbhs052710_1_oil-leak-leak-cleanup-student-newspaper | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982285 | 342 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Harrow High School expects good attendance. We celebrate and acknowledge classes which have excellent attendance. Please see the homepage for up to date information.
What the law says?
By law, all children of compulsory school age (between 5 and 16) must get a suitable, full-time education. As a parent or carer you are responsible for making sure this happens, by registering your child at a school.
Once your child is registered at a school you are responsible for making sure he or she attends regularly.
Children must attend school every day and it is your responsibility to make sure they do.
Please contact Mrs. Hamlin on 020 8861 7303 if you have any concerns about your child's attendance.
For the full document follow this link - Attendance and the Law
Harrow High School is only responsible for children between the hours of 8.15am and 3.50pm Monday to Friday, term time, unless the children are at an organised school activity supervised by school staff. Outside of these hours, children are the responsibility of their parents. We ask that parents ensure their child arrives punctually at school but not before of the published hours.
Harrow Council has brought to the attention of every school in Harrow the powers in the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 to tackle poor school attendance.
These came into force from the 27 February 2004 and include Penalty Notices, which mean that for learners with unauthorised absence from school (i.e. any absences for which the school has not given permission) their parent(s) or carer(s) may be subject to a fine of either £50 or £100 and failure to pay the penalty notice may result in prosecution.
Penalty Notices will be used as a deterrent to prevent a pattern of unauthorised absence developing. They will be issued simply by post to a learner’s home after possibly just one warning and cases of absence without acceptable cause will also include learners taken on excessive holidays in school term time and persistent late attendance after the School Attendance Register has closed.
At Harrow High School & Sports College we consider that regular attendance is so important and these new powers so significant, that we are now bringing this change in the law to the attention of every parent or carer with a child in this School.
It means that any parent or carer of a learner with a level of unauthorised absence may now have a potential liability in the form of a Penalty Notice issued by the Council. If you believe at any stage that your child’s absence record from school may leave you liable to receive a Penalty Notice it is extremely important that you take action without delay to secure their regular attendance.
Support and guidance on attendance is always available and if you have any questions about this or if you need any help to achieve an improvement then please contact us to discuss the situation.
Advice and support can also be made available to you through the Education Welfare Service by contacting the Service at:
429 – 433 Pinner Road,
Telephone: 020-8863-5544 or Fax 020-8861-1816 | <urn:uuid:4af82797-bf56-41bc-971c-24b7b4dde251> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hhsweb.org/ess_attendance.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957448 | 646 | 1.695313 | 2 |
In fact every day, we response to the events in our lives based on our conscious or unconscious beliefs. When is the last time you have a new belief? Or create a belief for yourself? Were you aware when you adopted or created that belief? Or just let the new adopted belief dictates what and how you suppose to be?
Are you the master of your beliefs or the beliefs dictate who you are?
Chances are high that we all had one or many heart breaking experiences with our ex-lovers. When the relationship ended, amongst all the negative feelings and thoughts we had, we took up new beliefs unconsciously while we were making statements like, “all men/women are the same, they are selfish and only care about themselves…”, “I shouldn’t have believed him/her, whoever cheated before would cheat again…” or “I can never trust man/woman again, it’s just full of lies and excuses…” and many other more. So we enter our next relationship with these new beliefs and hoping the outcome of this new relationship will be somehow different from our beliefs. We in fact having contradicting beliefs to what we really want to believe; at the same time, these contradicting beliefs are limiting us to give 100% of ourselves to this new relationship.
Beliefs in relationship is just one aspect of our lives. There are beliefs related to family, health, work, personal development and money. Not to mention if you have a religious background and associated beliefs.
We need to realize that WE HAVE EVERY POWER TO CHOOSE WHAT WE WANT TO BELIEVE!
Beliefs that have been given to us as a child can be further embraced, modified for better or removed. Human beings are social animals, sometimes compromising in beliefs could happen (just to make others happy). If you CHOOSE to compromise, be happy about your compromising. No complaints or back firing afterward. Be responsible! If you really don’t want to compromise, MAKE A DECISION to adopt a new belief that will give you self-assurance on your beliefs. A belief like the below might be helpful:
“THERE CAN BE DIFFERENT BELIEFS BETWEEN YOU AND ANYONE; AND IT IS PERFECTLY OK. NO JUDGEMENT, NOTHING GOOD OR BAD, RIGHT OR WRONG ABOUT IT. IT’S JUST LIKE WEARING DIFFERENT STYLE OF CLOTHES. SAME TASTES YOU SHARED WITH OTHERS; SOME YOU JUST DON’T. THE CLOTHES YOU WEAR HIGHLIGHT THE BEST IN YOU; SO DO YOUR BELIEFS. YOU DON’T HAVE TO AGREE WITH OTHERS’ BELIEFS, PERHAPS YOU MAY TRY ACCEPTING THE DIFFERENCES. THIS SHOULD APPLY TO OTHERS TOO!”
Once you take on the above belief, ‘compromising’ will not appear as the only way; and you will need the courage to stand firm for what you believe in and make it clear to others.
I believe: “Everything is possible, as long as I give my very best.” There is a hard truth that it is just not the case in some circumstances; however I am always encouraged by this belief to go an extra mile, to find more alternatives, options and not to stop or give up at the first obstacle. And I still choose to stand firm on this belief.
The limiting aspect of a belief
There are always two sides of a coin. Beliefs that I take as positive influence may have their negative aspects too.
Just take the belief I have above as an example, “Everything is possible, as long as I gave my very best.” when I don’t achieve my goals, I start to judge myself on not giving ‘my very best‘; otherwise I would have achieved the goals. I lash myself to give more efforts (normally on the same actions which I have been doing already, instead of smart thinking and find other solutions). I become more and more stubborn in achieving the goals and start blaming myself for still not achieving the goals! It’s all just because I believe I am not giving ‘my very best‘! The belief has limited myself from being open-minded about my results, from seeing a new possibility of alternative solutions, as well as recognizing and appreciating ‘my very best‘ efforts.
And yet, I have not mentioned when I impose the same beliefs over others and start thinking they are not giving their very best… Just try not to copy what I did, imposing own beliefs over others… life will be much easier if we just accept others’ beliefs which we are not necessary agree.
Our Beliefs are Our Perceptions
Our beliefs reflect our perceptions which sometimes might not be true and may be distorted according to our own past experiences and unconscious wishes. We need to fully understand the source of our perceptions and make a clear distinction on if the source is factual or based on emotions and past experiences. To drill down to the source of our perception enables us to release ourselves from false perception we had, hence to alter our beliefs.
The main message of this article is:
to know our own beliefs, the limiting aspects of the beliefs and to make new choices. So that we may grow strong with the beliefs we consciously choose and at the same time not to be limited by these beliefs! How to Examine and Challenge Your Own Beliefs?!
Join us with our weekly challenge, Challenge Your Beliefs and find out more about our own beliefs!
“Belief Works” by Ray Dodd (A book that I am currently reading)
Examining Your Beliefs
Changing Core Beliefs
The First Step in Changing Your Belief System
Remove a Limiting Belief in about 20 Minutes
Make A Choice – Stand Behind It And Believe In Yourself
“ReCreate Your Life” hosted by Morty Lefkoe
(I go through his free online materials and find it quite useful as it gives step-by-step guidance.) | <urn:uuid:16b37d1c-850f-4e93-b47e-1bbdfc39af47> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bucketlistchallenges.com/2011/12/09/be-the-master-of-your-own-beliefs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935231 | 1,276 | 1.648438 | 2 |
When you hear “java,” you might think of the pesky window that pops up on your computer desktop every few months, begging you to close all browser windows so you can install vital security updates — or maybe your morning coffee, expertly brewed by your favorite neighborhood barista — or, an image even more lovely, the lush greens of Indonesia’s third largest island.
Whatever it is you’re thinking of — we’ve got a talk for you. So pour your cup of joe, save all tabs, and take a break from your vacation planning to watch these 5 TEDx talks in honor of the word java:
All your devices can be hacked: Avi Rubin at TEDxMidAtlantic
Lately reports have been popping up all over on a vulnerability in Sun Microsystem’s Java plug-in, which has prompted what PC Mag has called a “Java-based hacking spree.” Recent attacks have affected companies such as Facebok, Twitter and, now, Apple, prompting concern over who will be next and how these attacks will be stopped. Computer scientist Avi Rubin is no stranger to hacks, and at TEDxMidAtlantic, he explains how hackers are compromising cars, smartphones and medical devices, and warns us about the dangers of an increasingly hack-able world.
Hacking the city with fun: Irwan Ahmett at TEDxJakarta
Sometimes the smallest things make your day so much better. A funny road sign. Clever graffiti. Free cookies. Part-way through his career, artist Irwan Ahmett realized this and decided to run with it. Using spinning umbrellas, a human monorail, fruit baskets, and a secret lumberyard Internet cafe, he hacked his city, Java’s largest, with random acts of playfulness. At TEDxJakarta, he explains the story behind the hacks.
The human cost of food: Rebecca Scott at TEDxCanberra
Rebecca Scott wants you to know what goes into your morning coffee — and that’s not just how much cream or sugar you like. She says that when we buy a cup a coffee, we should think about more than just taste; but consider the treatment of the people behind the bean — the farmers, harvesters, packagers, and coffee shop employees involved in providing our caffeine fix. In this talk, she reveals some of the astounding stories behind the things we consume, and introduces her project, STREAT, an effort to create cafes and coffee shops staffed by homeless youth serving ethically-sourced food and drink.
Muljadi Pinneng believes that the biodiversity under Indonesia’s waters is an indispensable part of its national heritage, and it’s an imperative to visit. At TEDxJakarta, he shares photographs from stunning, surprising and often funny moments swimming in some of the most beautiful coral reefs on the planet.
Each week, we choose four of our favorite talks, highlighting just a few of the enlightening speakers from the TEDx community, and its diverse constellation of ideas worth spreading. Browse all TEDxTalks here » | <urn:uuid:8f2a65aa-643b-4254-ae54-1e960bcae34a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.tedx.com/tagged/indonesia | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939506 | 647 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Human Cognitive Models in Systems Design
The leading thinkers from the cognitive science tradition participated in a workshop sponsored by Sandia National Laboratories in July of 2003 to discuss progress in building their models. The goal was to summarize the theoretical and empirical bases for cognitive systems and to present exemplary...
Published November 8th 2005 by Psychology Press
Series: School Psychology Series
For the past 20 years, rational-emotive therapy (RET) has been employed by consultants to help bring about changes not only in the way parents and teachers manage mental health and educational problems of school-age children, but also within organizations and families. This is the first book...
Published October 31st 1993 by Routledge | <urn:uuid:a8f77cd6-63e4-448e-a55c-d0df449fe7d3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.psypress.com/books/search/author/michael_l_bernard/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962993 | 137 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Community Discussion Forum
Info and Media
Autism Talk TV
WP Members: > 70,000
Wrong Planet Autism Forum Index
Health, Fitness, and Sports
Post a reply
View more Emoticons
[quote="Delphiki"]Most of what you listed is junk. I am also skinny, if I want to gain weight then I am able to do that by exercising and eating more (healthy!). I don't eat chips, candybars, pancakes, sugar cubes!?!, donuts, etc. A year ago to gain weight I ate 2 protein bars and about half a gallon of milk a day. Over about 5 months I gained about 10 lbs. But like I said I was working out while I was doing that. There is no point in gaining weight just to weigh more. I am into basketball right now (shot hoops for around 2 hours today) so I won't see weight gain as quickly, but I need to get more in shape aerobic wise. Just wanted to clarify that the 2 protein bars and milk was added to what I ate, not the only thing I ate.[/quote]
Disable BBCode in this post
Disable Smilies in this post
All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 12:32 am
Weight gain can do with a perfect plan. Use healthy and full of fat foods. Use fish, chicken, meat and milk, these foods are healthy as respect to gain weight. save more energy because these saved energy are use in build body mass.
Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 11:58 am
I used to have that trouble. First, get your thyroid checked. If that's normal then you can try other things to gain.
Don't just eat junk and sit around, that will just make you fat. You don't want to be fat or flabby you want to gain muscle. Make sure you work out along with eating and suppliments. Don't work the same areas of your body two consecutive days. Upper body one day, lower the next, abs every day. High weights, low reps for six weeks to build, then low weights, high reps for' six weeks to cut.
When you are in a building cycle, eat whatever you want that isn't junk. As much as you want. Plenty of protein such as red meat, also carbs and dairy. I'll add a shake recipe as well to drink every day during the bulking cycle.
During the cutting cycle, you still eat a good bit of protein, vegetables, but not so much carbs and dairy. Have a serving of carbs and dairy every day of course, but just don't carb load like during the bulking cycle.
The cutting cycle is there to work off the layer of body fat that's over the muscle you have built during the bulking cycle. It gives you definition. Without it you just look like a 50 year old who has done a lot of physical labor.
Heres the shake;
Weider powder (or other protein powder for bodybuilders) - the amount the can suggests
instant breakfast - 1 envelope
1/4 cup powdered milk
1 or 2 scoops your favorite ice cream
2 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tablespoons honey
mix all that up in a blender and drink it down. Then be still for about thirty minutes or you will throw that right back up. It's very filling.
Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 4:26 am
Are you talking about lean gains OP? Or, something else?
A good rule is to eat as balanced a diet as you can afford, but to monitor your protein intake and try to incorporate at least one gram of protein per pound of body weight into your diet every day, then train every other day rotating push and pull based resistance exercises which are targetted at specific areas of the body. I find dumbells to be the better option, for me they're much better than any of the machines or large bars. Don't worry too much about abdominals, abdominal development will happen naturally as a result of the push and pull exercises. Eat well, eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, avoid refined sugars and sweetners (use honey or unrefined sugar instead) and white carbs, use wholemeal variants as much as possible as they release energy slowly. Keep your fat instake to a minimum and rest regularly,
This is something I feel that you can maintain for life.
Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 10:54 pm
eat three balanced meals and three ensure or boost shakes in between. i wish i had trouble gaining weight.
Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 9:51 pm
Lift weights and eat a healthy, balanced diet. That's really the only viable plan I can see working for you. Good luck!
ps Constant snacking on junk food will boost your metabolism. Look at what novice sumo wrestlers do in Japan: they skip breakfast, work out in the morning, then have a huge lunch followed by a nap. This shifts the metabolism into weight gain mode. Not that I am advocating a sumo lifestyle for you.
Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 9:47 pm
As stated above, it's about protein.
A high carbohydrate intake actually fires up the metabolism, so if you make sure you mix proteins with them you will cetainly slow down your metabolism, and end up gaining weight.
My recommendation would be lots of free range eggs and various nuts & nut butters, combined with potatoes, rice, etc.
(I don't recommend meat and dairy because it's not healthy in the long term, and especially not in large amounts, but it will work for weight gain too, and should be healthy enough if consumed in moderation as an adjunct to other protein sources.)
Edit: Stimulants increase metabolism, so best to avoid those too...caffeine, theobromine..
(But if you are used to a lot of coffee/tea/chocolate, cut it down gradually, otherwise withdrawals are too strong and you will end up taking them again whether you really wish to or not.)
Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 9:27 pm
... sugar cubes!?! ...
I try to avoid sugar, but occasionally I crave something sweet for dessert and eat three or four almonds with a brown sugar cube. Yummy
That's much less sugar than a slice of cake or a candy bar has. Or a soda, for that matter. I read that a single can of Coke contains the equivalent of 10-15 sugar cubes (some sources even say 20 cubes).
Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 8:28 pm
Drink 1% Milk, eat brown rice, fruits of many kinds, protein filled food or protein powder with milk for muscle mass, have a fillet or so of meat every day, potatoes(butter optional), honey, don't forget other vegetables, perhaps cook some in oil for extra fat... This is the cleaner and healthier way mind you, potato chips and all that in the long run will probably just make you skinny fat, and give you health problems down the road. I would recommend lifting weights, even if it's just 20lb dumbell work outs (they do work to gain mass believe it or not, and judging from your pic you have a bodytype that gains lean mass easily once you get into working out consistently. The food and everything should cover the amount of protein you need to gain mass. I recommend you check out some bodybuilding articles on bodybuilding.com, even if you don't plan on working out, there is tons of good information regarding how to gain size without killing yourself with potato chips and other junk you listed.
Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 8:16 pm
Most of what you listed is junk.
I am also skinny, if I want to gain weight then I am able to do that by exercising and eating more (healthy!).
I don't eat chips, candybars, pancakes, sugar cubes!?!, donuts, etc.
A year ago to gain weight I ate 2 protein bars and about half a gallon of milk a day. Over about 5 months I gained about 10 lbs.
But like I said I was working out while I was doing that. There is no point in gaining weight just to weigh more. I am into basketball right now (shot hoops for around 2 hours today) so I won't see weight gain as quickly, but I need to get more in shape aerobic wise.
Just wanted to clarify that the 2 protein bars and milk was added to what I ate, not the only thing I ate.
Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 8:12 pm
Post subject: Weight gain diet
I'm much too skinny, sometimes underweight. In the last week, - I ate five bags of crisps, several litres of a local product called 'vla' and yogurt, several candy bars, fries, pizza, one or two smoothies, a lot of milk, chocolate milk, pancakes, even sugar cubes, cookies and a lot more. Yet I haven't gained any weight (thought I had at one point, but I was wearing heavy clothes). I know several people who have the same problem, although less severely.
Is there a diet that can make me gain a lot of weight? It doesn't have to be immediate, but this has been my diet for several months now, and I seem to have lost weight.
Read more Articles on Wrong Planet
Wrong Planet is a Registered Trademark.
Wrong Planet, LLC and Alex Plank
. Alex does
public speaking for Autism.
Advertise on Wrong Planet
Terms of Service - You must read this as a user of Wrong Planet
Wrong Planet News
Wrong Planet Forums | <urn:uuid:2821373a-6243-458d-9cf4-fc41f995d608> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wrongplanet.net/forums-posting-quote-p-4641555.html | 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 | 0.962778 | 2,011 | 1.59375 | 2 |
- THE MAGAZINE
- FOOD MASTER
A commercial jet and a jar of salsa are inverted images of the supply chain: Millions of parts come together to make a relative handful of passenger planes, while only a few raw ingredients may be needed to produce millions of jars of salsa.
But just as fingers are pointed at production because of the long delays in delivering Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, manufacturing takes the fall when not enough product is on the shelf or too much is in the warehouse. Poor demand forecasting is the real culprit, but production is the easy target.
“Manufacturing gets blamed for the variance, when in fact it is caused by sales,” grimaces Joe Bermudez, senior director-planning product strategy for Oracle Corp.’s Demantra unit. “Retailers tend to be brutal to manufacturers who shortchange them on product for a promotion, and manufacturing gets blamed.” When the job is to make the finished goods or source copackers to meet demand, there’s nowhere to hide when forecasts miss the mark.
Manufacturing has been whipsawed for so long by cranky forecasts, it seems like a normal state of affairs. The age of ERP was supposed to change matters, but that hasn’t happened. An independent study commissioned by the Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA) concluded the error rate on monthly item level shipments in 2002 was 34%, 44% on a location level. Six years earlier, the error rate was 23%.
Food production scheduling and forecasting software has been widely used for more than 20 years, points out Olin Thompson, food industry strategist at St. Paul, MN-based Lawson Software Inc., but older programs were oriented toward the plant and were separate from companies’ business systems. In a marketing masterstroke, SAP bundled those plant systems with business programs to produce headquarters-oriented ERP. The problem, Thompson explains, was that the programming was oriented more toward business needs and failed to keep up with evolving needs on the production side.
“What SAP did was brilliant,” agrees Darryl Landvater, cofounder of RedPrairie Collaborative Flowcasting Group. “Creating a complete suite of integrated products was a very appealing message. The bad news is that the integration of the system was extremely complex.” A bigger failing, adds Oracle’s Bermudez, was that the programs couldn’t produce forecasts, only estimates. That shortcoming created the opportunity for a host of demand-forecast “point solutions” that are cobbled onto ERP systems.
The recession has made the supply chain an inviting target for inventory optimization. Unfortunately, distribution patterns are becoming more complex, making it more difficult to avoid starving the pipeline. Retail out-of-stocks are in the 5-8% range, experts say, and the ratio can balloon to 15% during promotions. Add to that the varying needs of retail and foodservice accounts and product returns for perishable items, and the food and beverage challenge becomes particularly daunting.
Access to store-level sales data could improve matters, and projects like a Kraft Foods-Sam’s Club collaboration that gives the manufacturer visibility to inventory levels in the stores and DCs help cut replenishment from weeks to days. But examples like this are few and far between. Working with Wegmans Food Markets and seven food and beverage companies, GMA and the Food Marketing Institute quantified the mutual benefits to manufacturers and retailers from “data synchronization” three years ago. A celebratory “synchronization summit” was staged, awards were passed out, and GMA has not uttered the “S” word since.
In fact, today’s sales don’t answer the more pertinent question of tomorrow’s volume, points out Lora Cecere, vice president at AMR Research Inc. Retailers do a poor job of forecasting, she adds, and when they involve their suppliers, they often hamstring them. Vendor-managed inventory is back in vogue, says Cecere, but grocers are apt to limit the supplier’s role to warehouse management while retaining the critical order-development responsibility.
Retailers can’t produce accurate forecasts because often they lack granular SKU data, seconds Jerry Shafir. His products are a case in point: Chelsea, MA-based Kettle Cuisine makes meals-to-go soups sold in supermarkets. More than 50 varieties arrive in bulk bags, and retailers place them in self-service bins. At the end of the day, the bins may be empty or half full, but in either case, they are sanitized and there is no record of which ones customers loved and which they ignored.
A former manager at Boston’s Legal Seafoods, Shafir founded Kettle Cuisine in 1986 and relies on slow cooking and fresh ingredients to produce his soups. Managing perishable raw materials is complex, he says, but it’s child’s play compared to demand forecasting. “You get a few cold, wet days, and demand changes dramatically,” says Shafir. “It’s disruptive.”
Syndicated scanner data provide useful insight into item movement, though it can be fairly dated and comes at a cost prohibitive to many companies. Welch Foods Inc. spends up to $10 million a year to review IRI and Nielsen numbers, and a glimpse at promotion results in 2008 can be less than illuminating when forecasting a 2009 promotion. It also can be overwhelming: “The problem with scan-based data is the same as it was 15 years ago: the sheer magnitude of it,” says Bill Harrison, president of Demand Solutions.
Multi-source data managementVisibility to inventory and movement through the supply chain usually requires multiple technologies. Both Demantra and TAKE Supply Chain (formerly ClearOrbit) claim Welch’s as a client, with both relationships tracing back five years. At that time, Welch’s had just scrapped a decade-old ERP system and deployed Oracle, former CIO Larry Rencken explained at Food Engineering’s 2004 Food Automation and Manufacturing Conference. Welch’s wanted to establish “very collaborative relations” with 30 key customers, rather than trying to be “all things to all people,” Rencken said. To do that, the right merchandise had to be in stores such as Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart at the right time, price and quantity, and that would require “supply chain excellence,” he said.
Demantra, which was independent of Oracle at the time, was charged with developing a forecasting model to meet those objectives. Forecasts based on inaccurate information on shipped and received product, inventory levels and finished goods location would be worthless, however, and TAKE supplied the bar-code scanner and other hardware and software to address that. “We empower the user on the floor and in the office to have confidence that the data are being validated,” says Solutions Architect Pat Anderson of TAKE. “Something as simple as data collection is crucial to the process.”
“Data integrity,” says Ray Gosselin, Welch’s chief information officer, “led to better accuracy, timeliness and visibility across our warehousing and distribution operations.” The automated order fulfillment and inventory system is in place at three of the cooperative’s four plants/distribution centers, though not at its copacker network.
Without accurate information on inventory levels, production scheduling and run rates, forecast programs are dangerous tools, reflects Lawson’s Thompson. But if the basic numbers are correct, “computing power and software engineering can deliver what we always knew was possible,” he says. In that event, “the data should go to tons of decision-makers throughout the organization, including guys on the line in the plant.”
In a previous life, Thompson headed Marcam Solutions, an ERP firm providing a plant-oriented system called Prism. The software was used in 130 Kraft plants to schedule raw material deliveries and deal with operational constraints in producing finished foods in the quantities and locations needed to meet sales forecasts. Tying the demand forecast to the production forecast wasn’t practical a decade ago, but programs like Lawson’s M3 Analytics now deliver that kind of business. “Taking the mountain of information and delivering it as something meaningful to all the organization’s decision-makers” is a major advance, he says.
The shortcomings of front-office ERP opened the door to point solutions for supply chain and warehouse management, according to Demand Solutions’ Harrison. These modules are strapped onto a company’s central ERP system to manage forecasting data and crunch the routine numbers while kicking out the exceptions that require human review. “You’re smarter than the software,” reasons Harrison. “We give you a number but also tools to evaluate it.” Many organizations develop their own models and crunch the number in a spreadsheet program, “but at some point, the house of cards falls in on you,” he adds. His forecast-management module incorporates moving averages, time series and a score of other forecasting tools, and then lets users select the model that best predicts demand, based on historical data.
A moving average drove forecasting at Brea, CA-based Ventura Foods until 2008, when management determined a point solution was necessary. Ventura’s manufacturing network sprawls across 12 sites plus a major sunflower oil refinery in Mankato, MN. It has a foot in private-label and branded retail, foodservice, ingredients for other food manufacturers and copacking, producing shortening, margarine, salad dressing, mayonnaise and sauces. Production is a hybrid of constrained lines that make to stock and flexible lines that make to order, according to Prashant Sanghvi, director of logistics.
A hybrid approach also is taken to forecasting, resulting in “a best of breed system that has its own challenges,” Sanghvi says. Although he formerly worked with another supply-chain software firm, he opted for Demand Solutions’ software as a compromise between cost and functionality. “Sometimes you can get by with 80% of the functionality and customize the remaining 20%,” he explains. Besides, “complex solutions don’t work in industries with short lead times like food.”
A make-to-inventory model is a pipedream in food, he believes. Ventura’s foodservice orders have to be filled in multiple plants to minimize distribution costs, while retail orders must be made to stock. “It’s physically impossible to make to order for retail promotions,” he insists. While the new forecasting system has only rolled out to two plants, the early returns are encouraging: an 8-10% improvement in finished goods turns and 10-12% gain in raw material turns, plus fewer inter-plant transfers and fuller truckloads that are delivering seven-figure cost savings. “We’re getting better flow through the warehouses and have gone a long way in removing obsolescence and inventory damage,” Sanghvi says.
Go with the flowFor manufacturers selling exclusively through retail outlets, replacing traditional forecasting models with “flowcasts” based on daily store-level sales could virtually eliminate out-of-stocks and magnification of forecast miscalculations through the supply chain, particularly during promotions. Landvater and his partner, Andre Martin, pioneered the integration of distribution centers, factories and raw material suppliers for Abbott Labs in the 1970s into a forecasting system they called flowcasting. “It was never our objective to start a software company,” says Martin, but a program had to be developed to bring the concept to consumer packaged goods. The two recently created a joint venture called RedPrairie Collaborative Flowcasting Group with warehouse management specialist, RedPrairie Corp.
Customer orders and warehouse withdrawals leave manufacturers vulnerable to “the bullwhip effect,” according to Martin. A dip or up-tick in retail sales gets magnified over a period of several weeks, resulting in demand forecasts that overstate the change by a factor of as much as four.
Flowcasting requires “a completely different relationship between the manufacturer and the customer,” Landvater concedes, though he insists one has been forged by Sam’s Club and Kraft, which piloted flowcasting in early 2008. The retailer enjoys fewer out-of-stocks and more reliable forecasts, while Kraft has less safety stock and has integrated production planning with future demand.
Martin predicts retail-based forecasts could supplant demand calculations at every point in the supply chain, extending to the manufacturer’s raw material ordering. That sounds utopian, particularly to food companies that don’t deal exclusively with retail distribution. Still, knowing what actually was purchased in a store yesterday has value. AMR’s Cecere points out it takes five times longer to determine what sold off the shelf when relying on DC shipments than when a DSD sales rep captures that information.
Regardless of how reliable demand forecasting models get, they must be translated into a production schedule, argues Mike Gay, industry manager-CPG at Milwaukee’s Rockwell Automation Inc. “Manufacturing is just a black hole to ERP,” he says, “and the genealogical records of food products can’t be handled by ERP.”
Siemens PLM Software’s Daniel J. Staresinic agrees. Just as parts management drove the aerospace industry to marry manufacturing systems to ERP, food manufacturers are migrating to product-oriented systems that address the “transactional complexity” of production and complement demand forecasting. “One little error in production assumptions magnifies,” says Staresinic, worldwide director-consumer products and life sciences at the Milford, OH business unit, “and then you have a massive reconciliation at the end of the month.”
Forecasting errors are everybody’s headache, and whether they result in lost sales or excess inventory, manufacturing has a stake in better demand forecasting tools.
For more information:
Lora Cecere, Bill Harrison, Olin Thompson, John Bermudez, Andre Martin, Mike Gay, Daniel J. Staresinic, Pat Anderson.
Masters of the chainWith manufacturers of all types struggling with a sour economy, the value of demand-driven forecasting and supply chain visibility is at a premium. If those cylinders are firing, production schedules can be fine-tuned, and excess inventory and product returns can be minimized.
Electronics companies are the leaders in this area, according to AMR Research Inc., which issues an annual ranking of the top organizations in supply-chain execution, based on revenue growth, ROA, inventory turns and other criteria. The best of the rest in AMR’s top 50 list includes seven food and beverage companies. Those firms, and their ranking in the overall list, are:
1. Pepsico (9)
2. Coca-Cola Co. (13)
3. Unilever (22)
4. Nestlé (28)
5. Kellogg (36)
6. SABMiller (42)
7. General Mills (50)
For more information:
Lora Cecere, AMR Research Inc., 617-542-6600
Bill Harrison, Demand Solutions, 314-333-5918
Olin Thompson, Lawson Software Inc., 651-767-4397, firstname.lastname@example.org
John Bermudez, Oracle Corp., 781-744-0000, email@example.com
Andre Martin, RedPrairie Collaborative Flowcasting Group, 450-437-3616, firstname.lastname@example.org
Mike Gay, Rockwell Automation, 414-382-2000
Daniel J. Staresinic, Siemens PLM Software, 513-576-2184, email@example.com
Pat Anderson, TAKE Supply Chain, 512-231-8191 | <urn:uuid:5d65a688-7de8-4ff3-a658-c92bfd03c306> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.foodengineeringmag.com/articles/forecasts-to-believe-in | 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 | 0.937834 | 3,406 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Most Active Stories
KRWG.ORG-The Region's Home Page
It's All Politics
Mon April 23, 2012
Romney Backs Extension Of Student Loan Relief
Originally published on Mon April 23, 2012 1:08 pm
Mitt Romney on Monday endorsed the idea of extending a law that curbs interest rates paid by some recipients of federal student loans, a cause that President Obama has made a campaign issue.
"Particularly with the number of college grads that can't find work or that can only find work well beneath their skill level, I fully support the effort to extend the low interest rate on student loans," Romney told reporters before a campaign event in Aston, Pa., NPR's Ari Shapiro reports.
"I support extending the temporary relief on interest rates for students as a result of student loans in part because of the extraordinarily poor conditions in the job market," Romney said.
Obama is scheduled to talk about student loan interest rates Tuesday during visits to the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and the University of Colorado, Boulder, and Wednesday during a visit to the University of Iowa in Iowa City. North Carolina, Colorado and Iowa are all important swing states in the general election.
"This is a question of values," Obama said in his weekly radio address on Saturday. "We cannot let America become a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of people struggle to get by."
Without congressional action, interest rates on subsidized federal Stafford loans for undergraduates would double on July 1, from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. In 2007, Congress voted to temporarily cut the rate, and that cut expires in July. | <urn:uuid:e90f6f42-7c9f-4a90-9187-2ff1500b56f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://krwg.org/post/romney-backs-extension-student-loan-relief | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968173 | 342 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Ann Hill of Chalfont, Pa., displays her Belmar, N.J., beach badge on July 23, 2012. / Bob Bielk, Asbury Park (N.J.) Press
ASBURY PARK, N.J. - While officials in oceanfront towns wait for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to decide whether it will foot more of the bills for beach cleanup and reconstruction after Superstorm Sandy, residents can expect to see bigger tax bills.
Tourists and townspeople also might see a rise in the cost of beach badges.
Most towns say they have no plans to raise beach badge prices in 2013 to help pay for post-Sandy restorations and upgrades, but others haven't ruled it out.
In Belmar, N.J., daily badges are going up by a dollar if significant federal financing isn't approved. Badges were $7 a day this past summer, in the middle of the range of towns that charged $5 to $9 daily. Atlantic City and Wildwood in the southern part of the state had free access.
FEMA already has approved a 75% reimbursement rate in disaster areas to pay for cleanup and reconstruction, so municipalities must cover the remaining 25%. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has a pending request for the agency to pickup 90% to 100% of those costs, agency spokesman Chris McKniff said.
"There still will be 10% or 25% out there that the taxpayers are going to be on the hook for," said Mayor Bill Akers of Seaside Heights, N.J.
Where will towns get the money? Raising the price of beach badges is an option, but so far only Belmar has embraced the idea publicly as a means to helping finance reconstruction.
With portions of towns tax bases wiped out, budget gaps are imminent. Budget season looms, so number-crunching could lead to about-faces on beach badge rates, some towns have acknowledged.
"I'm not going to back myself in a corner and say we won't," Akers said.
Beach badges have long been a thorny issue for residents, who say it is a double tax. They shell out as much as $100 a year for season-pass beach access and also are taxed for beach restoration and replenishment efforts throughout the year.
All that, and they get loathsome traffic, too.
New Jersey is one of a few states that lets towns control the price of beach access, but legislation introduced by state Sens. Stephen Sweeney, a Democrat from Gloucester, N.J., and Michael Doherty, a Republican from Morris, N.J., could change the face of beach regulation.
The bill would require beaches replenished with state and federal money to provide free access and bathrooms. If the proposal becomes law, it would force towns to choose between beach fees or federal aid.
Officials now are counting on that 75% contribution from FEMA. McKniff said the agency was "looking to expedite" Christie's request but as of last week had no time frame for a decision.
In the meantime, many New Jersey towns including Belmar, Point Pleasant Beach and Seaside Heights are issuing millions of dollars in bonds to pay for reconstruction. The bonds will be paid over time to keep the impact on taxpayers minimal, several town officials said.
Seaside Heights is hoping to avoid a beach badge rate increase by "going with the volume" - encouraging droves of tourists who will spend cash to lay down a towel on the borough's internationally known beaches, Akers said. Borough Council approved a $14.7 million bond, is seeking bids to rebuild its boardwalk, and anticipates the bill will be paid on a five-year note with no penalty for paying it off early.
Belmar also is banking on a robust summer but, like Seaside Heights, needs cash now to rebuild.
Its Borough Council awarded a $6.6 million bid last week to reconstruct 1.3 miles of boardwalk. Add in another $3 million for cleanup, and the borough anticipates bonding for about half of its original $20 million approval, Doherty said.
The council likely would approve a short-term bond and use the FEMA money to pay it back. Any remaining balance would be put into a long-term bond to be paid from the beach utility budget, which is separate from the municipal budget, Doherty said.
But with no word from FEMA on what the reimbursement rate will be, local officials face financial uncertainty.
"It's not as if we made an extra $1.4 million in 2012," Doherty said. The town has that surplus in its beach budget now, but it was accumulated over several years.
If FEMA approves financing of 90% or more, Belmar won't have to raise the price of its beach badges, Doherty said.
If tourism is the lifeblood of New Jersey beach towns, then beach badges are blood cells.
â?¢ In Long Beach Township, 2012 beach badge sales represented $1.8 million of the $22 million budget.
â?¢ In Surf City, about $450,000 of $5.9 million budget came from beach badges.
â?¢ In Sea Bright, beach badge sales accounted for $400,000 of its $6 million budget, said Joseph Verruni, acting administrator.
â?¢ In Harvey Cedars, beach badge revenues came in at about $235,000 of a $4.67 million budget, clerk Daina Dale said.
â?¢ In Barnegat Light, they were $210,600 of the $3 million budget.
Other towns are not so reliant on badge sales, so they either have no reason to raise rates now or have not had those discussions, officials said.
Administrator Paul J. Shives of Toms River, N.J., said revenues in 2012 were about $720,000, a very small percentage of the town's $100 million budget. Brick, which has three beaches on the barrier island, took in $472,000 in its $86.5 million budget in 2011, according to documents.
In Deal, N.J., Conover Pavilion on the beach was destroyed. Because its reconstruction is a capital improvement, taxpayers will foot the bill for that and wait to see how much the federal government will reimburse the town, said Richard Rogers, the borough clerk and administrator.
In Allenhurst, N.J., borough officials passed a $1.5 million emergency appropriation for repairs to some of its 1/8-mile boardwalk and other beach features, clerk and administrator Lori Osborn said. The total estimated damage is $5 million to $6 million, but Allenhurst is taking things a step at a time. The $1.5 million will allow the borough to make the beach operational.
Long Branch, N.J., lost nearly all of its boardwalk, but city officials said it will not be rebuilt for the coming summer season.
The value of that loss of the boardwalk and related structures is $7 million to $8 million, said Howard Woolley Jr., the city's business administrator. But the replacement of the boardwalk will cost much more, because it will include improvements to allow it to withstand future storms.
Whether those improvements are made and what the cost to taxpayers will be remains to be seen, he said.
City taxpayers should expect to shoulder at least a bit of the cost down the line, but officials have no plans to increase beach badge fees, Woolley said.
Beachgoers can secure sand on the cheap in 2013 by paying now. Several towns from Sea Bright to Barnegat Light, N.J., are offering discounts at off-season rates.
In just the first two weeks in December, Belmar sold more than 1,000 badges. Last year in that time, the town sold 600, Doherty said.
"So even though we don't have a boardwalk, people have such faith and confidence in us that our seasonal beach badges are up by 40%," he said.
Copyright 2013 USATODAY.com
Read the original story: N.J. beach towns face big budget deficits | <urn:uuid:c6c6df79-c2ea-4022-9793-c1b226285504> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.democratandchronicle.com/usatoday/article/1775041 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959112 | 1,684 | 1.507813 | 2 |
New Facebook Page: Save the West
Tuesday, 26 February 2013
Rolling Stones Mock Pro-Palestinians and Honour Israel's 65th Birthday
I've always loved the Rolling Stones. Now I know why.
The Rolling Stones openly taunt pro-Palestinians.
Despite a barrage of attacks and even threats from European and American anti-Israeli groups, Mick and co. maintained their planned concert in Jerusalem for Israel's Independence Day on 15 April 2013.
Mick Jagger said that they received many criticisms and provocations, but that only made them resolve to have two concerts rather than one.
A pro-Palestinian activist retorted that this was a huge mistake by the Stones, and threatened that they would lose much money and fans, many of whom support the boycott of Israel.
When Jagger was asked if indeed this move could damage the Rolling Stones' image or career, he answered that he is not a businessman.
It is an important gesture because they are prepared to lose fans over this, and they are a role model to many. If many more people in the West had their courage or at least defiance for group-think, things would get better.
There have been accusations that the above picture has been photoshopped with the addition of the Israel flag, but the news remains true. | <urn:uuid:f1cf1867-4ea0-48ea-b5aa-288c06b32262> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.enzaferreri.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/stones-mock-pro-palestinians-honor.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974123 | 267 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Received Illinois Historic Preservation Certificate of Rehabilitation
This listed historic Evanston residence (c.1891) required substantial interior restoration work. The room layouts on the first floor were juggled to accommodate the needs of the new owner. At the second floor, a new master bedroom suite was designed from two adjacent rooms, and the existing third floor was renovated into a kid’s retreat.
The kitchen was built in its new location from the ground up: custom cabinets, high-end appliances and a culinary quality pewter island top were carefully integrated with recycled materials (including an old laboratory base cabinet used as the island base and a tin backsplash that used to be part of the basement ceiling!) to create a kitchen space that feels as if it always was there.
Repurposed laboratory base cabinet used kitchen island
Reclaimed ceiling tiles used as kitchen backsplash
High efficiency zoned HVAC systems
Kipnis Architecture + Planning | 1642 Payne Street Evanston
IL 60201 | 847-864-9650 | email@example.com | <urn:uuid:d5582948-a80e-46a2-925e-f057dbe10dc6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kipnisarch.com/projects/residential/single-family/rehab/east_evanston_historic_residence.html | 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 | 0.95548 | 222 | 1.507813 | 2 |
The look of taxidermy art has always been intriguing. The idea of viewing an animal as more of a trophy is a rush for some as it provides a feeling of control; for others, however, this idea is horrifying and cruel. Faux taxidermy is created with the latter thought in mind, allowing animal rights activists to enjoy the look without sacrificing morals.
Faux taxidermy can also allow for more creative freedom, as seen with knitted taxidermy, patterned paper taxidermy and the DIY cardboard taxidermy that allows for consumers to add their own creative twist to the piece. Some animal art can even be worn, allowing the style-conscious to incorporate the look into their wardrobe. Though taxidermy art in its original form is not for everyone, its more eco-friendly sister is.
55 Examples of Faux Taxidermy Art
8,420 clicks in 9 w
More Stats +/-
Animal Rights Activists and Vegans Can Now Enjoy the Look
Published: Mar 22, 2013 | <urn:uuid:4191c999-18ba-40cf-84a4-e78481f34710> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.trendhunter.com/slideshow/taxidermy-art | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953456 | 209 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Ask the Doctor
Questions about kidney disease? Risk factors? Signs and symptoms? Are you concerned about yourself, a friend or family member? Ask Dr. Spry.
New York, NY (February 28, 2013) – Jeffrey S. Berns, MD of Philadelphia was named President-Elect of the National Kidney Foundation, Inc. (NKF).
Dr. Berns is currently Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania where he is Associate Chief of the Renal, Electrolyte, and Hypertension Division, Director of the Nephrology Fellowship Training Program, and Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education.
Dr. Berns is the Vice Chair of Guideline and Commentaries for the NKF's Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (KDOQI). He also served on the KDOQI workgroup that developed clinical practice guidelines to treat anemia. Dr. Berns' research interests include chronic kidney disease treatment, anemia of chronic kidney disease, glomerular diseases, and critical care nephrology.
Dr. Berns attended Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and completed his Internal Medicine residency at University Hospitals of Cleveland. This was followed by a nephrology fellowship at Yale University and Yale-New Haven Hospital after which he was in private practice for 12 years before joining the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) is the leading organization in the U.S. dedicated to the awareness, prevention and treatment of kidney disease for hundreds of thousands of healthcare professionals, millions of patients and their families and tens of millions of Americans at risk. For more information, visit www.kidney.org. | <urn:uuid:73ebd05d-95b7-47c8-a39f-67f8b4d329eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kidney.org/news/newsroom/nr/NKF-Appoints-New-President-Elect.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948968 | 354 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Individual Savings Account
UK tax-free account for savings and investment in the United Kingdom, a tax-free savings or investment account. Both cash ISAs and stocks and shares ISAs are available. The maximum that can be invested per tax year is capped, at £11,280 for 2012–13, up to £5,640 of which can be saved in cash. Formerly, Mini ISAs allowed investment in either cash or stocks, and Maxi ISAs investment in both together.
Related definitions of "Individual Savings Account"
- Abbr ISA | <urn:uuid:a0486117-eae0-45ea-bc33-348a5dc9a30a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.qfinance.com/dictionary/individual-savings-account | 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 | 0.946309 | 115 | 1.570313 | 2 |
(Photo: AP Images / Chitose Suzuki)
The season of holiday cheer and armed robberies is upon us. Law enforcement officials nationwide are telling people to be careful as they do their holiday shopping because of the surge in theft and armed robbery this time of year.
Salvation Army bell ringers are also targets for thieves during the holiday season. The well-known red kettle that sits outside of shops during the holidays is kept locked and hangs from a 5-foot metal stand. The stand is meant to keep thieves from running off with it, but it doesn’t deter everyone.
This week a Salvation Army bell-ringer was robbed at a Kmart in North Canton, Ohio. Police report that four youths with a knife took a kettle of money from the bell-ringing volunteer. They were dressed in dark clothing and hooded sweatshirts.
"He (the volunteer) wasn't able to give us a very big description except that there were three black males, one white male. They threatened to use a knife. He did see a knife clip," Sgt. Frank Kemp told Cleveland’s WJW-TV. He also said it was impossible to know how much money was taken since the kettle had been outside the store for 8 hours. The robbers left the scene on foot.
Last year in Pottsville, Pa., Capt. Adam Hench of the Salvation Army Pottsville Corps was robbed by two men as he was returning to the Salvation Army's local headquarters. The men robbed Hench of an undisclosed amount of money, according to Pottsville police.
A similar robbery took place in Charlotte, N.C., last year when two men forced Salvation Army employees to the ground at a location where workers gathered to count the donated money from the red kettles. The robbers stole more than $4,000 in donated cash.
There are an estimated 25,000 bell ringers that participate in the Salvations Army’s kettle donation drives each year. Although the organization doesn’t track how many robberies take place because of how decentralized they are, they do make sure volunteers know not to engage in any altercations if they are robbed.
While there are some security measures, like locking the kettles and transporting them to secure locations at night, there is no national safety policy for volunteers.
Shelley Henderson, director of Communications for the greater Charlotte area Salvation Army in North Carolina, told The Christian Post that for volunteers in her area they have three procedures in place. “We reassure our bell ringers that if someone makes you feel uncomfortable, go inside. Your life and well-being are more important than money,” she said.
They also make sure that the bell ringers and their kettles are placed in well-lit locations, like grocery stores or Wal-Marts that have their own security officers. And finally, the kettles are picked up each night and put in a secure location to be redistributed in the morning.
The Salvation Army’s kettle campaign began in 1891 when Joseph McFee, a Salvation Army captain in San Francisco, Calif., decided he wanted to provide free Christmas dinners to 1,000 of the poorest people in the city.
During his time as a sailor in England, he saw a large iron kettle at one of the shipyard docks where people walking by would toss a coin in for the needy. This provided McFee with the idea to place a pot at the Oakland Ferry Landing, with a sign that read, “Keep the Pot Boiling."
Word spread quickly, and by Christmas the kettle had raised enough money to feed the poor. The success of the San Francisco campaign spread to other American cities, and evolved into the program we have today. Each year, the Salvation Army serves more than 4.5 million people during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
This year’s campaign kicked off on Nov. 19. Last year, the organization raised $142 million, breaking its red kettle record for the sixth straight year. Eighty-five cents of every dollar goes directly to Salvation Army programs, with the rest covering administrative costs. | <urn:uuid:ede3b9a5-a9a7-4a6b-9c2b-362c34ea4db8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.christianpost.com/news/salvation-army-kettle-robbed-in-ohio-dangers-of-holiday-season-62916/print.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974402 | 851 | 1.695313 | 2 |
What Were Some of the Other Key Results from Election Night?
All eyes were turned towards the presidential election Tuesday, but key ballot measures — including the legalization of gay marriage and marijuana — were also decided upon in individual states. Here's a roundup of some of the other results from Election Night that may have been overlooked:
Election in Photos: Look back at the highs and lows of the 2012 campaign
Which states legalized marijuana? Residents in Colorado and Washington voted to legalize and regulate the production, possession, distribution and recreational use of marijuana for people 21 and older, becoming the first two states to do so. A similar question was on the ballot in Oregon, but got struck down. Also on Tuesday, voters in Massachusetts elected to legalize medical marijuana, while voters in Arkansas narrowly defeated a medical marijuana initiative, with 49 percent of voters in favor and 51 against.
Four states voted in support of gay marriage. Maine, Maryland and Washington all passed measures legalizing gay marriage. Same-sex marriage is now legal in nine states and the District of Columbia, but Tuesday marked the first time it was legalized through voter referendum and not legislation. (Marriage equality had previously been struck down on ballots 32 times.) In another victory for the LGBT community, voters in Minnesota rejected an amendment that would add language to the state constitution specifically banning same-sex marriage.
Can controversial comments lose elections? Republican Todd Akin, whose comments about "legitimate rape" sparked controversy this election season, lost his bid for a U.S. Senate seat in Missouri to Democrat Claire McCaskill. Akin was considered a front-runner in Missouri, a traditionally conservative state that went red in the presidential election, but it seems his comments may have cost him the campaign. Likewise, in Indiana, Republican Richard Mourdock, who described pregnancies resulting from rape as "something that God intended," lost his Senate race to Democrat Joe Donnelly, allowing Democrats to pick up an extra seat in the Senate.
Presidential Election: The 20 best celebrity tweets
Democrats retain control of the Senate. Democrats maintained their majority in the U.S. Senate, and even picked up a couple of seats (in Indiana and Massachusetts), but ...
Republicans retain control of the House. Since gaining control of the House in the 2010 election, Republican representatives have done everything in their power to block initiatives proposed by President Obama — a key reason some voters who supported Obama in 2008 changed their vote this time around. Speaker of the House John Boehner has already said that representatives will not support Obama's central policy position of raising taxes on those making more than $250,000 a year. Congress returns from its election recess next week. Here we go again?
Michelle Bachmann re-elected. Primary season seems so long ago, but remember Tea Party presidential contender Michelle Bachmann? The Minnesota congresswoman retained her seat in the House for a fourth term, narrowly defeating Democrat Jim Graves. As recently as July, Bachmann spoke publicly about her belief that the Muslim Brotherhood had infiltrated the federal government.
Florida still undecided. Well, this sounds familiar. The day after the election, Florida's results in the presidential race are too close to call. (Fortunately, unlike in 2000, the results of the swing state's tally won't affect the overall outcome.) Wednesday morning, officials were working to count absentee ballots in the state. As of Wednesday at noon, President Obama was leading Gov. Romney by about 46,000 votes, with 97 percent of precincts reporting, according to CNN.com.
Barack Obama re-elected as president of the United States
Wisconsin elects first openly gay senator. Democrat Tammy Baldwin became the first openly gay candidate to be elected to the U.S. Senate, thanks to voters in Wisconsin — which, despite being the home state of Romney's running mate, Paul Ryan, went blue in the presidential election. (She's also the first female Senator from the state.) But Baldwin apparently has more things on her mind than her gender and sexuality. "I'm well aware that I will have the honor to be the first woman Senator from Wisconsin. And I'm well aware that I will be the first openly gay member of the United States Senate," she said in a series of tweets Tuesday night. "I didn't run to make history. I ran to make a difference."
Elizabeth Warren becomes first female senator from Massachusetts. Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard professor who gained national recognition after speaking at the Democratic National Convention this summer, defeated Republican incumbent Scott Brown to recapture for Democrats the Massachusetts Senate seat that was held for more than 40 years by the late Edward Kennedy. Brown will also be the first woman to ever represent the Bay State in the U.S. Senate.
Puerto Rico voted to become the 51st state. A majority of Puerto Ricans (about 54 percent) supported changing the island's relationship with the United States, with 61 percent of those saying they favored making it the 51st U.S. state. (Those numbers are as of Wednesday morning, when 97 percent of precincts had reported, according to CBS News.) The measure is a non-binding referendum that will require approval from Congress in order to pass.
Assisted suicide measure narrowly failed in Massachusetts. A measure that would legalize physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients was struck down 51-49 in Massachusetts. Dubbed the "Death with Dignity Act," the initiative, which was modeled after a similar law in Oregon, would have allowed patients with less than six months to live to seek life-ending medications from their physicians, but did not require the patients to undergo psychiatric evaluations or notify their families that they were doing so. | <urn:uuid:23f04a4c-3193-429c-8620-b6c0e32ff07b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tvguide.com/News/Key-Results-Election-Night-1055667.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975382 | 1,143 | 1.546875 | 2 |
(People's World) Demands to address the country's jobs crisis are accelerating with the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) joining a growing number of groups calling for federal action. The CBC will be hosting a "For the People Jobs Initiative" in several urban areas stricken by high unemployment.
The first stop will be Chicago and will be hosted by Congressman Danny Davis. The date has not yet been announced.
According to The Root, the tour will take the form of a jobs fair along with town hall meetings to focus attention on the challenges faced by job seekers.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus along with labor groups is also sponsoring public hearings this summer in an effort to help shape the public debate.
Republicans in Congress turned a deaf ear to jobs legislation even before winning a majority in last fall's election. The tea party majority faction instead is fixated on cutting government spending and preventing corporate tax increases.
With African American unemployment twice the national average, the Black Caucus thinks that immediate steps must be taken. The jobs fair component of their For the People Jobs Initiative is aimed at addressing this concern.Black Caucus demands immediate action on jobs | <urn:uuid:e2b6794c-acb1-4cae-aad6-b0b968bc6435> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ethnicmajority.com/wordpress/tag/danny-davis | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93619 | 226 | 1.695313 | 2 |
We’ve all heard the news. Europe is sliding back into a recession as its economic elites continue to slash any spending that benefits the average citizen. In America, the Republicans have voted consistently to end Medicare and may gain enough power in the 2012 elections to achieve their aims. And Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party has floated the idea of slashing retirement benefits for future generations (though not, it should be noted, for Members of Parliament). Meanwhile, corporate profits hit record levels – as the wages they pay their employees stagnate and unemployment continues unabated. Their gain is your pain.
It’s nothing personal, mind you; the simple fact is that the interests of the top elites don’t align with yours. To you, a job might be the difference between shelter and homelessness, but to a corporate CEO, it’s an expense to cut. To you, a stable retirement fund like Social Security might seem like a natural undertaking for society, but to a Congress half-full of millionaires who will never need it, it might well seem like economic dead weight.
It’s gotten so egregious, even Nobel prize-winning economists agree: the age of trusting our elites is over. This is not your grandpa’s world of pensions and social responsibility.
In the face of this onslaught, you’ve got very few choices. You can play by the rules and hope they nobody pulls the rug out from under you. You can give up and slog through difficulties and debt, hoping you aren’t next on the chopping block.
Or you can fight back.
As one age draws to a close, another inevitably dawns. As you regular readers already know, I call it the age of PIE – personal, independent earnings. And as the headlines amply demonstrate, it’s never been more important to secure your own slice. When you take control of your earnings, you profit directly from your labour, rather than handing over the proceeds and settling for whatever portion your boss or employer decides to give you. When you need more money, you simply work harder – when your earnings are personal and independent, your wages are directly connected to your labour. Your work. Your income. Your call.
We’ve all played the game before, and it’s a game with a few very winners and all too many runners-up. You can try to win that race, but it’s a long, tiring marathon – and some of the runners start twenty-five miles in. You have another choice. You can play your own game. Make your own rules. Find and build your own personal, independent earnings.
And then, you can do anything you want. | <urn:uuid:2ddd6352-709b-4e86-bc91-1431c5c6a360> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.davidtrosen.com/2012/04/27/freedom/ | 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 | 0.952636 | 560 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Ghost Election: Obama, Romney and The Future of the U.S. Supreme Court
FlaglerLive | October 27, 2012
The Supreme Court has remained a largely unspoken topic on the campaign trail — even though the Court plays a critical function in Americans’ lives. (This past June’s Affordable Care Act ruling, anyone?)
The next president could very well appoint one or two new justices. And who steps down first could also depend on who’s elected.
Mitt Romney hasn’t said much about the Supreme Court, apart from expressingdisagreement with the Court’s ruling on Obamacare. But hiswebsite states the candidate would nominate judges “in the mold of” the Court’s conservatives — Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts (the last two of whom a then-Sen. Obama voted against confirming). It also says Romney would like to see Roe v. Wade overturned.
President Obama, of course, has appointed two liberal justices, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, the nation’s first Hispanic justice. His past remarks indicate a preference for nominees who bring “common sense” and “pragmatism” to the table, who’d blend constitutional analysis with “a sense of what real-world folks are going through.”
Legal challenges to such key social issues as same-sex marriage, gun rights, immigration and separation of church and state are likely to be heard by the Supreme Court in the coming years. One justice is all it may take to tip the scale in these cases.
So what exactly have the candidates said, and why hasn’t the Supreme Court been a bigger issue? Let’s take a look.
Romney has spoken out against the president’s first-term Supreme Court picks.
In April, Romney told the National Rifle Association that he’s opposed to judges “who view the Constitution as living and evolving, not timeless and defining.”
“In his first term, we’ve seen the president try to browbeat the Supreme Court. In a second term, he would remake it,” Romney said. “Our freedoms would be in the hands of an Obama Court, not just for four years, but for the next 40. That must not happen.”
Romney has occasionally embraced recent Supreme Court decisions. He praised the Court’s unanimous January 2012 ruling in a religious liberty case that allowed for a “ministerial exception” to employment discrimination laws. He favorably cited another unanimous March 2012 ruling that made it easier for property owners to challenge compliance orders from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The candidate has been vocal about abortion. In June 2011, Romney wrote that he felt Roe v. Wade was a “misguided ruling that was a result of a small group of activist federal judges legislating from the bench.” Early this year, Romney repeated that position, and again in April during an interview with ABC News’ Diane Sawyer.
His running mate, Paul Ryan, also touched on the Court’s role when it comes to abortion. “We don’t think that unelected judges should make this decision; that people, through their elected representatives and reaching a consensus in society through the democratic process, should make this determination,” Ryan said in the vice-presidential debate.As Vice President Joe Biden pointed out during this debate, one of the people heading Romney’s panel of advisers on judicial appointments is Robert Bork, a Reagan Supreme Court nominee who failed to win Senate confirmation in 1987 over fearshe would vote to strike down a range of issues, including Roe v. Wade.
(Biden, then the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, helped lead the opposition. The vacancy to which Bork was nominated eventually went to Justice Anthony Kennedy, typically the Court’s swing vote.)
On another note, Romney would have a deep bench from which to select judicial nominees, given Republicans’ vigorous focus on this area. (CNN has compiled a list oflikely nominees, including former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement — who argued the Affordable Care Act challenge — and an assortment of conservative federal appellate judges.)
“Romney would appoint people with a more conservative judicial philosophy, who are not transforming the Constitution, not sticking up for the rights of any particular group and are very neutrally interpreting the law,” said Curt Levey, president of Committee for Justice, an organization that promotes conservative judicial candidates.
If Obama is reelected, there is strong speculation that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Court’s oldest member at 79, will retire to make room for a replacement. In that event,argue some, the president would likely nominate another woman (two other justices are also approaching their late 70s: Scalia and Kennedy are both 76.)
“[Obama] would place value on racial and ethnic diversity, but it wouldn’t be determinative,” said Tom Goldstein, co-founder and regular contributor to SCOTUSBlog, which provides news and analysis of the Court’s decisions. “President Obama hasn’t really pushed for very liberal nominees.”
Back in 2008, Obama shed light on his thoughts about the subject.
In remarks to the Detroit Free Press, then-Sen. Obama said he would seek Supreme Court nominees who recognize “that one of the roles of the courts is to protect people who don’t have a voice,” for instance, “the vulnerable, the minority, the outcast, the person with the unpopular idea, the journalist who is shaking things up.”
That same year, Obama, who taught constitutional law at University of Chicago Law School, praised former Justice David Souter and current Justice Stephen Breyer — both considered liberal votes — as “very sensible judges.”
“They believe in fidelity to the text of the Constitution, but they also think you have to look at what is going on around you and not just ignore real life,” he said.
In 2010, shortly after Justice John Paul Stevens announced his retirement, Obama toldSenate lawmakers he’d apply no “litmus test” to potential nominees.
“But I will say that I want somebody who is going to be interpreting our Constitution in a way that takes into account individual rights, and that includes women’s rights,” the president said, eventually nominating Kagan for the vacancy.
In February 2011, Obama spoke out against the Defense of Marriage Act, which seeks to impose a definition of marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman, andinstructed the Justice Department to stop defending the law in court. (A second federal appeals court recently struck down the law as unconstitutional; some predict the issue could next be headed to the Supreme Court.)
Although the president has been criticized for taking his time with judicial appointments in the lower federal courts — a gateway to the Supreme Court — he’s also named more ethnic minorities to the bench than any of his predecessors.
So, why hasn’t there been more discussion about the Supreme Court on the campaign trail? It’s a question that’s been raised again and again, especially since justices, who are appointed for life, serve on average about 30 years.
“[The issue] would have played out a little differently if the Supreme Court had struck down the health care act,” SCOTUSBlog’s Goldstein said. “It’s really hard for the president to run against the Court that has just upheld his signature legislative achievement by a whisker.”
But the silence could also just convey a perceived lack of interest among the public.
“I think the candidates realize that the Supreme Court doesn’t move independent voters,” said Goldstein, even though “the president makes a radical difference in the composition of the judiciary.” | <urn:uuid:8a3ee0fe-f8f3-4673-b98f-93c86696d79b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://flaglerlive.com/45969/romney-obama-supreme-court/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966361 | 1,661 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Our skill of conversation.
Our skill of conversation, is like the initial attraction between two people. Except your looking at my words and not my figure, critiquing my spelling & punctuation, instead of my hips and thighs. Observing my choice of words & re reading the full and partial sentences I write you. Our skill of conversation has a hold on me as it would be your grip on my waist line, I read between...
Lack of better words;
or some would call it a “Writer’s Block”. Preferably I try and not use that term because i find it hard to believe that a writers’ ideas could ever be blocked from being expressed- but instead they are in lack of better words. I go through these phases sometimes, I will sit on an idea for about a week until I have perfected it enough to put down into writing, and even...
Is it possible to love something you know nothing about ?
Wink Wink ; Nudge Nudge
Ever heard of ’ Take a hint. ‘ Why is it such a hard concept for people to grasp ? 90 percent of the times, no one wants to step up & say what’s really on their minds - so they drop ‘Hints’ with hopes that the other person will eventually just get the point. The hypocritical thing about being a Hint giver is that we usually complain that people don’t...
It's not me, it's you. No, your right - It's me.
Should I have to censor myself because others are over sensitive? No. I shouldn’t but unfortunately there are times when my mind let’s my mouth slip & the truth will come out in my words. I don’t mean to be rude, & some may feel that I am trying to be. Beyond more serious reasons, I simply can’t help it. I know some things are better left unsaid, but not...
I see you steadily approaching ; just approach a little fucking faster. Thanks, Neena.
their everywhere. They are the random people we pass everyday and know nothing about. We see their faces, hear their conversations, critique their physical attributes, maybe even make eye contact & then we never see them again. Think about all the people you see on a daily basis that you don’t know. I find it amazing how we could go an entire day surrounded by strangers & not even...
"Home Wrecking" is a tad overrated;
fighting for the one you ‘love’ or fighting for what you want is a primitive instinct we have as human beings. if I love you, or desire you - & if I am convinced you love me/ desire me the same - why should I settle for anything else? You can’t wreck a happy relationship ; if it’s wreck-able then I wasn’t the problem to begin with. - just saying.
Cold-blooded murderers, universal ; Hood to hood, blowin smoke, state of...
Nas - Purple
I'm cool with Hello & Goodbye,
Never been a “Small Talker” , & I doubt I’ll ever become one. We all know Small Talkers, the people you’d never expect to run into, the ones who never really gave a damn how you were doing up until the ‘unexpected reunion’. I CONSTANTLY run into small talkers, & because I am super easy going I have a hard time telling them, “shut the fuck up, we...
Just when you think,
you have something all figured out ; life surprises you with something else. Be prepared for the unexpected, being unprepared is one the biggest mistakes people make.
A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link,...
Nicely put; my defining weakness would be my pride. I have too much of it & more times than none it gets to my head - i hold high expectations of myself & feel i have to live up to them, no matter the cost. Ask me what you can’t to my face
Jacque Derrida or John Locke?
John Locke, i’m a big fan of his abstract theories on personal identity & self consciousness. Ask me what you can’t to my face
How long have you been growing your dreads they...
Not dreads just yet, i plan on dreading them at the end of the month. Ask me anything
When the situation is tainted, love is always free” - Slum Village
The fear to forget ;
We as people will continue to ask ourselves the age old question: Who am I ? Many go an entire life time without ever finding a solid answer to this, but what if that answer doesn’t exist? What if this question is unanswerable because at any given moment we can simply become someone entirely new. Locke explained that the only thing needed in order to sustain a continued identity is...
On & On - Erykah Badu
kickpusher: Kanye West - Diamonds From Sierra...
Sade lets her hair down.
My Lovely covers the March issue of Ebony Mag. The notoriously private superstar gave EBONY an exclusive peek into her world outside of the studio. “I’ve had my ups and downs in the years between these albums, said Sade. “That’s partly why I’m able to write songs that people in some way can hear. I express feelings, real feelings.” ♥♥♥
' Are you comfortable sweetheart? '
To step out of your comfort zone is a big step no one is really ready to take. You leave behind all that is comfortable to explore something you know nothing about. Our souls crave this sense of adventure but minds think rationally. Majority of the time it is all about, routine. What you do on a daily basis makes you comfortable with the life you are living;you find a sense of empowerment...
Basement Jaxx -Where’s YOUR head at
I never asked if any of my Tumblr followers have...
follow me ; @NeenaLeee
The things I do,
to let my mind think straight. I hope no one holds a judgement about me although, IDGAF.
“Tragedy : a form of art based on human suffering that paradoxically offers it’s audience pleasure.” What is more tragic than falling into the deep hole of love & being left to climb out alone ? What is even more tragic is the audience that enjoys mimicking the heart broken. The same audience that mimics the poor, the weak, & the vulnerable. Tragedies are...
To whom it may concern,
I understand you want to hide your feelings from everyone, purposely making your reactions complex ones, just for your own personal amusement of fooling the foolish.. But I am no fool, Mr. Stranger. I know that Love is nothing more than just another experience for you ; you are a person of constant change although your demeanor remains calm & composed. I can see the compassionate lover...
I Wayne - Book of Life One of my fav. songs to...
Get comfortable in your shoes
“put yourself in someone else’s shoes”, but what about your own ? being comfortable with who you are is the first step to understanding other people. you have to be able to walk your own path in a pair of shoes that fit you perfectly. i’ve always preferred chuck taylors, those are my comfortable shoes.
As valued as it is,
i find marriage somewhat pointless & very superficial. love can’t be labelled ; commitment isn’t something you can force on someone, it’s gained over time. | <urn:uuid:d250b0ae-8976-42d2-9ad1-ce3c59c4396b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://neenajane.tumblr.com/archive/2010/3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945598 | 1,629 | 1.53125 | 2 |
The Venezuelan president said on state television that he had eluded an assassination attempt in El Salvador where he was due to attend the swearing in of its new leader, a Left-wing ally.
"I am not accusing Obama. I think the American president has good intentions," Mr Chavez said. "But over and above Obama, there is the CIA, and all of its tentacles. I have no doubt US intelligence services are behind this."
The plot was revealed by Mr Chavez's friend and ally, the Sandinista revolutionary President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua.
El Salvador's security minister, Manuel Melgar, said that were "strange movements" and that the visit of the Venezuelan president could not be given "full security".
According to Mr Chavez, the Cuban plane that he and President Evo Morales of Bolivia were to travel on was going to be shot down by a rocket as it approached San Salvador airport.
Behind the plot, according to the Mr Chavez, was former CIA operative, Luis Posada Carriles, who is currently under house arrest in Florida, but wanted in Venezuela for the downing of a Cuban airliner in 1976 in which 74 people were killed.
He was also sentenced to eight years in prison in Panama for planning to kill Fidel Castro of Cuba, another Chavez ally, in 2000, but granted a surprise presidential pardon in 2004, which analysts insisted was the result of pressure from the US, perhaps the CIA.
Mr Chavez was ousted from power in April 2002 by a coup that was allegedly known to the CIA. Washington was one of only two countries to recognise the coup government, which was overthrown by popular protest after just 48 hours. | <urn:uuid:1c84aab1-3140-45fa-b718-7a0726ea99a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/5437251/CIA-plot-to-kill-Hugo-Chavez.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989908 | 338 | 1.539063 | 2 |
One in seven couples aged over 40 have never talked about money fearing rows, embarrassment and awkwardness
As many as one in seven British couples over the age of 40 admit they have never discussed their finances with each other, a new survey has found.
Fears of sparking an argument, embarrassment and awkwardness are the main reasons why men and women in relationships shy away from talking about money with their partners, researchers said.
They discovered that 15 per cent of the 2,000 people surveyed, for insurance firm Prudential, felt uncomfortable about talking about their financial future or plans for retirement with their spouse.
Research has found men and women in relationships shy away from talking about money with their partners
Nearly one in four said money was one of the main causes of arguments and rows, coming third only behind household chores and family disputes.
Even for the those couples who did talk about their finances, discussions on their long-term plans were likely to be side-lined in favour of everyday money worries, the survey said.
Daily living costs and household bills were the biggest talking point, with more than half of couples discussing these on a regular basis, followed by the cost of home improvements, large purchases and luxuries (34 per cent).
Only 22 per cent said they talked about their savings and investments, while just 16 per cent discussed their retirement income and pension planning.
Some 15 per cent of these couples also said they never intended talking about it in the future.
Vince Smith-Hughes, a retirement expert at Prudential, said couples who refuse to talk about their finances would lose out in the long run.
Nearly one in four couples said money was one of the main causes of arguments and rows, coming third only behind household chores and family disputes
'Money can be a tough topic to discuss at the best of times,' he said.
'Many couples prefer to steer clear of conversations about finances, and especially discussions about longer-term issues like retirement which might feel light-years away.
'Yet it really pays to be honest about your financial situation. Being open about discussing long-term financial planning as early as possible will help couples to ensure they can enjoy a comfortable retirement together.'
The survey also found that just 13 per cent of couples questioned had seen a financial adviser to discuss their retirement in the past five years, with the vast majority - 66 per cent - having never consulted an expert to talk about their financial future.
Mr Smith-Hughes added: 'A joint conversation with a financial adviser should help couples make the right pension savings decisions during their working lives, so that they'll have the right income to support their lifestyles in retirement.' | <urn:uuid:b2e8b91f-1052-435e-a631-e95583927590> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2240732/One-seven-couples-40-talked-money.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974452 | 543 | 1.625 | 2 |
PO Box 52 Keystone Heights, FL 32656 USA ~ 561-906-9014 ~ Lynne@TreasuresInWriting.com
Otto Soglow (1900-1975) - $125.00
“Little King” & Self Portrait Sketch
Otto Soglow (1900-1975). American Cartoonist. Best known for his comic strip “The Little King.” He published his first cartoon in 1919. In the 1920s he published them in numerous magazines, a frequent contributor to The New Yorker, where his character “The Little King” first appeared in 1931. William Randolph Hearst lured Soglow away for his King Features Syndicate, but contractual obligations to The New Yorker prevented “The Little King” from appearing immediately, so Soglow produced a knock-off strip called “The Ambassador” from 1933 to 1934.
“The Little King” debuted on September 9, 1934 and ran until Soglow’s death in 1975. Soglow was a co-founder of the National Cartoonists Society and served as president for the 1953-1954 term. He received their Reuben Award in 1966 for the strip, and their Elzie Segar Award in 1972.
On this 3.25″ x 5.50″ manilla post card,dated June 5, 1944, postmarked Ossining, NY, are DUAL VINTAGE sketches drawn by Soglow in black ink : his LITTLE KING & a self-caricature adding in his hand “With best wishes-” and signing “O. SOGLOW”.
The post card is in EXCELLENT condition, with each sketch as crisp & clear as the day it was drawn! A FINE & UNIQUE Example of the Cartoonist & his famous creation! | <urn:uuid:25830882-8949-4ee7-86fc-8b80f3f6dd8d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.treasuresinwriting.com/products/otto-soglow-1900-1975/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957529 | 385 | 1.796875 | 2 |
APPEARANCE OF AN ATTORNEY AS WITNESS FOR CLIENT – TRIAL CONDUCTED BY ATTORNEY’S LAW PARTNER –An attorney may not ethically represent a client in a litigated matter in which the attorney’s law partner will appear as a material witness.
Is it unethical for attorney A to represent the proponents of a will and beneficiaries of a deed and contract in the following situation?
A’s law partner, B, drafted a will, deed and contract for a client. After death of the client, the instruments were attacked on the alleged grounds of fraud, undue influence and mental incapacity of the deceased client when the instruments were executed. B’s testimony will obviously be important in establishing the mental capacity at that time and to establish the circumstance surrounding the execution of the instruments. B will not appear in the case as attorney.
It is improper for a lawyer to accept a case knowing he will be a material witness, even though he may testify in a case in which he is representing a party provided the necessity therefore arose during trial. See Texas Canon 16. B is a material witness in this situation. Generally speaking, one member of a law firm can perform no act which his law partner cannot ethically perform. See A.B.A. Opinion 33 and Texas Opinions 187, 195 and 197. Therefore, the majority of the committee members are of the opinion that it is a violation of Texas Canon 16 for A to accept such employment in this situation. See A.B.A. Opinion 50, involving a very similar fact situation. And cf. Texas Opinion 208.
A minority of the committee believes the limited modification contained in A.B.A. Opinion 220, involving a similar situation, to be applicable: although B is disqualified, his partner, A, is not disqualified because (1) B’s testimony is not inconsistent with the client’s position, (2) B’s testimony relates to matters occuring during the course of his professional duties, and (3) to forbid A to represent the client would deprive the client of the knowledge and experience of a firm having intimate familiarity with the details of the matters in litigation. Accordingly, the minority would hold that A is not disqualified and acceptance of the case should be left to the good taste and judgment of A. (5-4.) | <urn:uuid:9f9d1de2-e83d-408e-a50d-e03f45497b7e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.law.uh.edu/libraries/ethics/opinions/201-300/O234.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954806 | 486 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Over at the DailyBeast, Stefan Theil has a really great write-up about rich nations interacting with poor nations, using a comparison of Texas/Louisiana/Florida & Greece/Italy/Spain.
Imagine 27 Barack Obamas and John Boehners trying to get a debt and banking crisis under control. That, in essence, is what the Europeans are facing now.
Now the north is belatedly trying to impose radical spending cuts on the south, which has not only plunged countries like Greece and Spain into recession but has made the citizens in those countries very angry, in particular toward paymaster Germany and Chancellor Merkel. Greek newspapers liken Merkel to Hitler and accuse her of turning Europe into a “financial Dachau” with her limits on deficit spending. EU officials dispatched to Athens this summer to help reorganize Greece’s corrupt tax-collection system are nicknamed “the gauleiters”—the title of a Nazi occupation governor. One of the most powerful officials involved in extricating Europe from the crisis, speaking on background, says one of the reasons the crisis has been so difficult to resolve is that in Europe, ancient hatreds and mistrust between countries always lie just below the surface.
I had a recent write up in the Cornell Review comparing the EU to the Hanseatic League. This was my doomer take on what I saw in the EU:
The economic integration of the euro zone is subject to the same faults as any other cartel. When they don’t face competition, they become sloppy. When they have a free insurance buy-in, they become sloppier.
History suggests that this brand of autarky is only successful insofar as it remains unchallenged by outsiders. During the Middle Ages, merchants seeking secure methods of trade retreated from the governance of local nobles to work in cities aligned with the Hanseatic League. The League functioned as a network to protect commercial interests on the Baltic Sea in a time when it was particularly risky to trade. It provided a common market to build wealth by insuring its pursuit.
Yet as the League adopted protectionist measures to sustain trade exclusively among its membership, such as blockading Norwegian ports to prevent commerce with rising British and Dutch merchants, its success dwindled. As the modern nation state caught up to the technological progress and prosperity of many Hanseatic cities, the League dissipated. To the modern reader, the Hanseatic League’s reaction is not unlike the EU’s high tariffs on processed goods from developing nations, or the current rumor that Brussels is considering a raise in tariffs on Chinese goods. The alternative to this protectionism is a market for government – not its reinforcement.
To paraphrase F.A. Hayek, competition is a process of formulating opinion through diversity, creating the views people have about what is best. This does not require the creation of new nations or the demolition of old ones. It requires political diversity. Switzerland was born of dissent from the Habsburg empire and slowly grew to a plurality of states with their own autonomy and cultures. After the demise of Napoleon’s Helvetic Empire, the Swiss cemented their government as a confederation of states at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, only to reassert this sentiment in 1848.
Today, Switzerland boasts 26 distinct cantons, each with their own constitution, parliament and courts. Through their autonomy, every canton is able to attract commerce from across the world by voting themselves into competitive tax brackets within the same monetary system. Pfaffikon, a village outside of Zurich, recently changed its reputation from a small town speckled with dairy farms to a hedge fund incubator. It aims to compete with Zug, once one of the poorest cantons in Switzerland, which attracted more than 180 regional headquarters of large foreign companies between 1998 and 2008. Appropriately, the nation was recently ranked ‘most innovative economy’ by INSEAD Business School. [...]
To its credit, the European Union has not been void of decent proposals to promote competitive government within its borders. Legislation, such as the Shengen Agreement, made travel, schooling and work relatively hassle-free for EU passport-holders. These sorts of windows allow for practical competition, like the tenfold increase in applications from British students to Maastricht University in the Netherlands after their government raised tuitions at universities.
The European story is torn between a history that rewards competitive governance with prosperity and local autonomy, and politicians who see the continent as opportunity for centralization and cartelization (so-called “solidarity”).
Today they seem to be headed in an untenable, but unified, path. | <urn:uuid:1f2f6bc8-4702-4b7c-b418-d76a5eac4a5a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://legalinsurrection.com/2011/11/an-apt-eu-comparison/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961051 | 959 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Recently I had an interesting discussion with a colleague of mine.
His stance was: As time passes you need higher insurance cover.
While my stance was: As time passes you need lesser insurance cover.
Even after a lot of brainstorming and even exchanging excel files, we both think we are right. Hence I decided to publish the gist of the debate.
My logic: Your ideal insurance cover is the net present value of the all the expenses your family (sans you) would incur in the foreseen future. (Say next 70 years) One should deduct the wealth one already owns/would inherit and the future income from your spouse’s occupation/business. By this logic, every extra year you live and provide for the family this value would decrease (because now only the next 69 years have to be accounted for). Also you would save some capital and build some assets for the rainy day which would again reduce the value of the cover required.
So effectively one would require a very high insurance cover at the beginning of family life which would taper down gradually to zero by the retirement year.
His stance: Lifestyle is downward sticky. As your income and wealth grows, so does one’s standard of living. A refrigerator might be a luxury for the middle class 20 years ago, but now a bare necessity. So the luxuries and habits of individuals tend to move up as time elapses and it is very hard for someone to go back to the age old Spartan days.
This compounded by inflation results in rupee losing nine tenth of its value every 20 years results in one needing to increase the insurance cover each year. Simply said there is never enough of money and people would even find ways to spend kuber ka khajana (with a sly reference to the recent treasure found in a Kerela temple) | <urn:uuid:0c1e5de3-77aa-44f0-a6a5-8cdecaaeadc7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://enagar.com/2011/07/30/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967179 | 373 | 1.804688 | 2 |
PennDOT Secretary Discusses Lifting Gas Tax Cap to Fund Road and Bridge Projects
The move would increase the price of gasoline, but would bring in billions in new revenue to Pennsylvania.
PennDOT Secretary Barry Schoch has a blunt assessment about the state’s aging transportation infrastructure and the government’s new plan to upgrade it.
“Every year we duck this issue and every year the bill becomes bigger,” Schoch said. “It doesn’t go away.”
Schoch spent Wednesday afternoon meeting with reporters at PennDOT’s District 11 headquarters to outline Gov. Tom Corbett’s plan to uncap the state’s oil company franchise tax, which would increase the price of gasoline, but would bring in billions in new revenue.
“There are a lot of questions of the cost about doing this,” Schoch said. “There’s also a cost if we don’t do anything.”
The cap on tax at the wholesale level would be lifted over five years in unison with a 2-cents cut in the state flat tax. That could add more than a quarter to a gallon of gas, although Schoch said the exact increase would fluctuate and not be completely passed on to consumers.
“If we don’t address the problem it gets more expensive or we face the prospect of closing roads and bridges,” he said.
Lifting the cap would inject $1.8 billion in new annual revenue that could be used to repair unsafe bridges, rebuilt roadways, invest in transit and construct new routes.
Some of the “hundreds of projects” Schoch envisions in the Pittsburgh area include reconstruction of I-376 near the airport and rehabilitating the Birmingham Bridge in Pittsburgh. He added that the state hopes it will be able to complete the Southern Beltway from Route 22 to Interstate 79.
PennDOT plans to launch a website that shows all the projects that would be completed over the next 10 years.
But Schoch said all of these projects would be on the backburner if new funding isn’t found. It’s not known if the state legislature, which must pass the wholesale gas tax increase, has the political will to make the change.
Other changes drivers night see are annual registration for cars would be instead every two years. PennDOT would also discontinue sending registration stickers drivers put on their license plates. A driver’s license would be renewed every six years instead of every four.
The administration’s plan would also look at ways to streamline mass transit by investigating whether merging services between counties or consolidating into regional agencies would be more productive.
“Efficiency and modernization are the hallmarks of what we’re trying to accomplish at the department,” he said. | <urn:uuid:7f4112b0-2498-46e7-bd57-6b7e48702637> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://peters.patch.com/articles/penndot-secretary-discusses-lifting-gas-tax-cap-to-fund-road-and-bridge-projects-f5cdd7c4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955627 | 594 | 1.507813 | 2 |
WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH GRANT PROPOSAL
Title: Director's Office, Information Transfer and Student Projects
Focus Categories: M&P
Descriptors: Information transfer, Education, Water quality management
Duration: March 1, 2000 - Feb. 28, 2001
FY 2000 Federal Funds: $6,500
FY 2000 Non-Federal Funds: $28,065
Principal Investigators: Keith S. Porter, Director, NYS Water Resources Institute
Congressional district: NY 26
The Director and staff of the NYS Water Resources institute carry out numerous public service activities each year. Most of them are done in conjunction with multidisciplinary projects funded outside of the Water Resources Research Act context. In order to cross-link the WRRA activities in this program to many other NYS WRI activities, a small portion of WRRA resources are devoted to information transfer and student training functions.
Information Transfer to and from New York State Entities
NYS WRI staff participate in several New York State agency work groups and committees related to water quality management. Some of these are:
· New York State Soil and Water Conservation Committee - statutory body that oversees and funds certain activities by County Soil and Water Conservation Districts. Among many other functions, this body coordinates activities by New York's County Water Quality Coordinating Committees that deliver several State water quality management programs to municipalities and businesses.
· NYS Nonpoint Source Coordinating Committee - an interagency committee of State and local government representatives who advise about delivery of New York's nonpoint source management program through local government. Since its founding, NYS WRI has been a member of the steering committee of the body and NYS WRI staff serve on several standing work groups.
· NYS DEC Water Management Advisory Committee - a cross section of private and non-profit interest groups that advises the NYS DEC Water Division about all programs within the Division, primarily related to the Clean Water Act. NYS WRI originally represented New York's higher education community when the committee was founded and now co-represents with a colleague from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
· New York State Health Department Safe Drinking Water Advisory Committee - a body that advises this water supply regulatory agency about all aspects of public water supply supervision under the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act. This was reactivated in 1998.
Besides presenting many opportunities to link university research work to agency staff, the committees are invaluable means to ensure that NYS WRI's public service projects and WRRA activities are as close as possible to New York's higher priority water management needs.
WRRA funds cover a portion of the travel, communication, and staff salary costs for NYS WRI to participate in these committees.
Student Public Service Activities
Besides the financial assistance to graduate and undergraduate students within projects, NYS WRI interacts with students in several ways:
· NYS WRI routinely employs three to eight undergraduate student assistants to work on projects. Project assignments balance project needs with student career and academic interests. Most of NYS WRI's student staff remain in environmental science fields or go on to graduate school in such a field. One or two of these students within a "vintage" are paid from WRRA funds to offset the fact that none of NYS WRI's primary sponsors (typically regulatory and planning programs of US EPA and New York State agencies) have student education as a goal. The most successful recent student activity was a 1998 demonstration of how county entities could perform Source Water Assessments effectively and efficiently; four WRI student staff and a student from Juniata College in Pennsylvania performed all of the technical work on four pilot assessments with coaching from County staff and water suppliers.
· NYS WRI staff create opportunities for Masters level students in professional programs, such as the Master of Engineering Program in Cornell's School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, to perform public service projects to help fulfill their curriculum requirements. The students typically work in teams of two to four on a project topic negotiated among a NYS WRI governmental cooperator, the student faculty advisor, and the students themselves. The government agency cooperator provides data and acts as the "client" to whom the students report results. NYS WRI staff coach the students on project operation tactics, data interpretation, diplomacy with the client, and other aspects that a realistic project requires. NYS covers incidental costs such as travel, telephoning, and copying. Typically these projects match with an activity NYS WRI staff are already performing for a grant project with the governmental cooperator, so the students can take advantage of the larger mass of related activity.
· In 1999 NYS WRI staff catalyzed a class project analogous to the professional masters projects, with Cornell's Department of Landscape Architecture. The students performed an environmental land use design project for a municipality in the New York City watershed. This is likely to be repeated in subsequent semesters.
WRRA funds cover salaries for one or two student interns, student project expenses, communication and travel costs, and a small amount of NYS WRI staff salaries. | <urn:uuid:1b1999d1-e08a-461e-a0a0-b46becbc5146> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://water.usgs.gov/wrri/00grants/NYdirector.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955628 | 1,041 | 1.523438 | 2 |
The gallery of the De Pree Art Center at Hope College will feature an exhibition of Jill Hartley's and Teresa Villegas's variations on the traditional Mexican game Loteria, beginning Monday, Sept. 29.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
Mounted in collaboration with the Tulipanes Latino Art and Film Festival, the exhibition will feature an opening reception on Friday, Oct. 3, from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. with a children's program including a game of Loteria. The event will also feature a lecture by artist Teresa Villegas, "La Loteria: An Exploration of Mexico" at 5:30 p.m.
The traditional Loteria originated in Italy, moved to Spain, and finally came to Mexico in 1769. Initially played by the colonial Mexican elite, it was eventually embraced by all social classes. The game is very similar to American Bingo, with some differences. In Bingo, a number with an associated letter is randomly chosen from a rotating drum, while in Loteria, a card with a colorfully illustrated image is drawn from a special deck.
The board (tabla) has a random pattern of images matching those found on the cards. The announcer gives an improvised short poem or familiar phrase alluding to the image on the card. Satire and references to contemporary events and politics are often a part of the word play involved; in fact, the linking of images to social commentary has existed since the inception of the game.
Jill Hartley is an American photographer who resides in both Paris and Mexico City. She has produced a series of photographs that are based on the traditional list of Loteria themes but draw images from contemporary life as she has encountered it in her travels in Mexico.
Teresa Villegas received her education in the fine arts at the University of Arizona at Tucson, where she continues to live and work. She has created a series of paintings that are variations on the traditional Loteria images. Her themes reflect contemporary Mexican icons.
The exhibition will run through Saturday, Nov. 8. The gallery's regular hours are Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The gallery will be closed Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 11-12, because of the college's Fall Break.
The De Pree Art Center is located on Columbia Avenue at 12th Street. The gallery is handicapped accessible.
Additional information may be obtained by calling (616) 395-7500. | <urn:uuid:aff56999-b7e7-42a6-a299-1f5296a65e37> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hope.edu/2003/09/15/depree-gallery-exhibit-loteria | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969935 | 525 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Following an attack in early January on a merchant vessel 260 miles off the Somali Coast, twelve men suspected of committing an act of piracy, were today transferred by EU Naval Force warship FS Surcouf to the Mauritian authorities for prosecution.
When the attack happened on 5th January, the master of the merchant vessel sent out a distress call reporting that he and his crew were coming under attack by six men in a fast moving boat, armed with rocket propelled grenades. Thankfully, having employed avoidance tactics, the merchant vessel was able to repel the attack.
Upon hearing the distress call, NATO warship USS Halyburton, operating as part of NATO’s counter piracy operation – Ocean Shield, and on patrol 80 nautical miles away, launched her helicopter and was able to quickly locate a suspect boat – which was by now towing another vessel, with several men on board.
EU Naval Force French Frigate Surcouf, operating as part of the EU’s counter piracy mission – Operation Atalanta, made best speed to the area, as a German EU Naval Force Maritime Patrol Aircraft kept watch overhead. Upon arrival, and in full cooperation with the NATO warship, the boarding team from French warship Surcouf boarded the two suspect vessels and apprehended twelve men in total.
|| Soo Booqo Mar Walba Raad Raac News oo ku Darso Face Book si aad u Hesho
Saacad kasta Warar iyo Warbixino Xiisa Leh ||
— Nagala soo xariir : email@example.com — | <urn:uuid:982798fd-259a-4b2a-840d-765f5191bb92> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://raadraacnews.com/Raadraacnews/2013/01/eu-naval-force-transfers-twelve-suspect-pirates-to-mauritius-for-prosecution-after-attack-on-merchant-vessel-off-somalia/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953979 | 331 | 1.632813 | 2 |
The Journal - a proposed syslog replacement
Posted Nov 23, 2011 22:42 UTC (Wed) by cas
In reply to: The Journal - a proposed syslog replacement
Parent article: The Journal - a proposed syslog replacement
Here's an idea that I had a while ago: make a USB dongle that appears to be a USB-to-serial converter. Data that is sent to it is recorded in its flash; you configure your system to send log messages to it like a serial console.
This bit of the idea is good
You could make this relatively secure by not allowing a transition from logging mode to read mode without re-plugging.
but this bit isn't. It would make more sense and be far more usable if the USB dongle presented two devices.
The first device being a (perhaps serial) output device for writing log entries with maybe a control option for rotating log files by YYYYMMDD or whatever. each line sent to the device should have a "filename" (or syslog facility, or some other identifier) as the first word/field, with the remainder of the line being the log entry
The second a *read-only* USB storage device for reading the logs whenever you like.
so, the one device would provide write-once/append-only logging, and random read access to those logs
such a device could be made dirt cheap, too. it's just a USB flash disk with a slightly more capable processor & USB interface
to post comments) | <urn:uuid:aba31ce8-caf9-4a43-b628-8204cd43fafd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lwn.net/Articles/469065/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937982 | 315 | 1.5 | 2 |
Article Archive >> Community
Points to Ponder: Truth or Consequences
Points to Ponder
Truth or Consequences
Have you heard the myth, usually applied to our leaders, that private conduct has no effect on public performance? We like that idea when we want to excuse ourselves or someone we admire from the admonishment certain immoral, unethical, or at least questionable conduct deserves. We figure that what that person (or I, myself) do in private is no one's business and it has nothing to do with their role at work or as a leader in the home or in the community.
Several pastors including myself are preaching a series of sermons designed to address the crisis of teen pregnancy in Washington County. This county ranks #3 out of 23 counties and Baltimore City. It's a spiritual issue and as I reflect on all the influences that compel our teens to dabble in risky behavior, I thought of our public leaders. Does their conduct in private somehow influence the cultural standard their leadership lifts up - or lets down?
Consider in the time just before September 11, 2001 and then following: Our President had just been caught a few years before in an affair with an intern. Then the U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives, and his heir apparent as well, were exposed as adulterers. "America's Mayor," who came to prominence because of his leadership on 9/11, had been seen with a woman, not his wife (now she is). Our governor at the time, also married his mistress. Recently, we had a U.S. Senator caught in a Minneapolis airport restroom allegedly soliciting sex. He's not sure he's guilty; whatever would get him out of trouble, he was ready to plea. No matter which way he ultimately decides to go, the original guilty plea or the recent claims that he's not guilty - he lied or is lying.
I recall watching a "Biography" program about the life of a prominent, now deceased, actor who was a big box office hero when I was a kid. In this portrayal of his life, it was shown how he worked constantly. He had affairs with actresses. His marriages were obviously compromised, then ruined. But in the end, the narrator capped off the story of this actor's life saying that he was a loving husband and a good father. How, I wondered?
Does the character of our political and cultural leaders influence the well-being, even the security, of our society? In ancient Israel, it did. Maybe it still does in our nation.
Their notorious enemies, the Philistines, attacked Israel, killing 4,000 in battle. The Israelites wondered why God allowed their defeat. (I Samuel 4:1-3). Eli, the high priest, had two sons who were corrupt and immoral. They were the leaders on hand. They turned to their religion.
"Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh to us that when it comes among us it may save us from the hand of our enemies." (I Samuel 4:3)
So the sons of Eli (Hophni and Phinehas) brought the ark into the battle. When all Israel saw it, they let out a shout so loud it shook the earth. The Philistines were initially scared and confused. They remembered the stories from centuries before when Moses led the Israelites through the Red. Sea. "Woe to us!" they said.
"Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. Be strong and conduct yourselves like men, you Philistines, that you do not become servants of the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Conduct yourselves like men, and fight!" (I Samuel 4:8-9)
The Philistines killed 30,000 Israelites and captured the ark. Eli's sons were killed.
Israel had been under their corrupt leadership. These priests, Hophni and Phinehas, engaged in immoral behavior (I Samuel 2:22) and also took more than their fair portion of the offerings (2:12-17), despising their position before the Lord.
The people relied on their religion, the ark, not a real relationship with God - to save them from their enemies. There was no prayer, no humble confession or inquiry of the Lord regarding the sin, which had made them vulnerable to destruction.
It should make us wonder whether the Lord will allow us to be vulnerable before our enemies because of the corruption of our leaders.
One NPR (National Public Radio) commentator reflected on how all of the typically reliable sources are lying to us. From the Olympic athletes who use performance-enhancing drugs, to business leaders who "cook the books" to puff up a favorable-looking financial statement, to religious leaders who claim to stand for the righteousness of God while denying certain portions of scripture which oppose the social agenda they want to pursue in the name of God. Where is the truth? Many will parade the facade of faith while they live a lie behind it. And they cannot blame God for the consequences, though they try it.
"The foolishness of a man twists his way. And his heart frets against the Lord." (Proverbs 19:3)
In the battle between Israel and the Philistines, we can ponder this: the power of those with faith in false gods can prevail over those who have a false faith in the real God. Woe to us if that's how the Lord has to get our attention.
Points to Ponder is a series of occasional articles written by Rev. Dennis Whitmore, Pastor of Hilltop Christian Fellowship of Clear Spring, MD. www.HilltopChristianFellowship.com.
<< back to Articles on Community
<< back to All Articles | <urn:uuid:42ed4ae5-4bb1-4108-a349-08ff3f5f2dc9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.picketnews.com/archiveDetail.asp?cID=3&id=6704 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976663 | 1,211 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Content farms and the ongoing democratization of journalism
#SuryaRay #Surya If you follow online sports at all, you’ve probably come across at least one site or story from Bleacher Report, the massive sports-writing network that was recently acquired by Turner Broadcasting for an estimated $200 million. Much of the content that draws the 10 million unique visitors BR gets every month is generated by an army of about 6,000 non-professional (and in many cases unpaid) writers, and this has led to criticism that the network is a “content farm” that fills the internet with low-quality writing. But is that true? In a sense, it is — but it’s also a very real example of how the internet has lowered the barriers to entry and democratized journalism.
The latest attack on Bleacher Report came last week in a long SF Weekly article, which said that the network “floods the web with inexpensive user-generated content” and is “a long way from any quaint notions of journalism.” The story includes a number of examples of what it says is the kind of sloppy writing that comes from BR’s volunteer contributors, and the author criticizes the network for focusing on cheap SEO (search engine optimization) tactics, such as “reverse-engineering content to fit a pre-written headline” that is stuffed with popular keywords in order to attract clicks.
Unpaid writers “competing for virtual crumbs?”
The SF Weekly piece also spends a lot of time talking about how a majority of Bleacher Report’s traffic is driven by unpaid writers — like the 19-year-old who admits to author Joe Eskenazi that even he doesn’t really buy the headline on his post. The obvious implication is that the network is nothing but a content farm filled with day laborers who churn out posts to fill a quota, and are encouraged by the “virtual badges” they earn for posts rather than an actual salary. As the piece describes it: “Unable to earn actual crumbs, they compete for virtual crumbs.”
Ryan Chittum at the Columbia Journalism Review characterizes the network in much the same way in a post based on the SF Weekly piece, saying Bleacher Report is engaged in a “race to the bottom.” As he puts it:
“Bleacher Report is a sort of Demand Media of sports, a content farm engineered to get search engine visits with lowest common denominator clickbait.”
These criticisms about Bleacher Report aren’t really a surprise — after all, they have been made about virtually every other digital-media entity from Demand Media and The Huffington Post to BuzzFeed: the idea that user-generated content is just a sop to readers in an attempt to bolster SEO-driven metrics, and that it is an endless rush towards the bottom with little or nothing of actual value to add to either media or journalism.
And as the SF Weekly story notes, even Bleacher Report insiders to some extent acknowledged this: the magazine quotes from a speech given by King Kaufman, who was hired last year by the network to upgrade its editorial standards, in which he says that BR had gotten a reputation for “lowest-common-denominator crap.” Of course, the article also fails to mention that Kaufman and his team have spent a considerable amount of effort on boosting the quality of the network, to the point where it is actually more stringent about things such as plagiarism than mainstream outlets like ESPN.
An alternate route to a career in writing
Not only after the SF Weekly article appeared, someone else added an interesting — and I think important — perspective to the picture: Matt Miller, a senior writer for Bleacher Report’s NFL unit, described how he went from being a would-be sports writer with no experience to a member of the senior team at the network, based solely on his contributions to the site. As he put it:
“Fast-forward to today. I’m no longer in marketing, I now work full-time for Bleacher Report as an NFL Lead Writer. I have benefits and vacation time. I have a salary. I have these things because I was able to work my way to the top at B/R. I wasn’t handed a job based on my résumé.”
This is part of the problem with the traditional media response to “content farms” or user-generated media sites like Huffington Post and Bleacher Report — the sense that they can’t possibly be as worthwhile as a regular content operation because people are writing for free, and therefore the only possible value has to be the creation of low-quality content for cheap traffic purposes. But what about the writers? Why do they do it? And isn’t there value there as well?
Miller’s account makes it clear that there is value: unlike the old days of traditional media, where writers had to toil for years in dead-end jobs with newspapers or magazines or trade publications before some of them could be “discovered” and elevated to the higher ranks of the profession, sites and networks like Bleacher Report, Huffington Post and BuzzFeed give anyone the ability to rise to whatever level their writing ability justifies.
Is the content produced by places like Bleacher Report the equivalent of a mainstream outlet like ESPN or the New Yorker? In most cases, no — but does that mean it is of no value? Of course not. Readers seem to like it, and who are we to say they are wrong? Not only that, but Miller makes the point that he and many other writers see a lot of value in what they have done, even if that value isn’t recognized by members of the mainstream media, because it allows them to bypass the traditional barriers that used to encircle journalism. And isn’t that ultimately a good thing? | <urn:uuid:6817b4fb-4c37-4db5-8275-bf2101929bef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://suryaray.tumblr.com/post/33169842442/content-farms-and-the-ongoing-democratization-of | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962201 | 1,232 | 1.671875 | 2 |
The hawkish Abe, who took office promising to boost Japan's global security profile, had seen his clout dwindle after a drubbing in upper house elections in July, but the announcement came as a bolt out of the blue.
"I determined today that I should resign," a weary-looking Abe told a news conference.
Senior officials said health was a factor in the decision but Abe said he was going because a new prime minister would be better able to resolve a deadlock over extending a controversial mission to support US military efforts in Afghanistan.
Abe, at 52 Japan's youngest prime minister since the end of World War Two, reshuffled his cabinet only last month to rekindle public approval, but a poll this week showed support was stuck below 30 percent.
"There are many things I reflect on," the soft-spoken grandson of another prime minister said. "It is my responsibility that my old and new cabinet could not secure the public's trust."
Japanese stocks fell and the yen dipped briefly on concerns about political uncertainty. Chief Cabinet Minister Kaoru Yosano told reporters that Abe's health was one reason for the departure, but did not specify what the health issue was.
Abe aides were not available to comment on speculation that an article was about to be published in a tabloid magazine on suspicions that Abe had evaded taxes, and that this had dictated the timing of his departure.
Abe will stay on in a caretaker role until a successor is chosen from his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in a party election that officials proposed be held on Sept. 19.
LDP Secretary-General Taro Aso, a close Abe ally who shares most of his hawkish views on security policy, is seen as frontrunner to become the new prime minister.
Other names floated include former finance minister Sadakazu Tanigaki and former chief cabinet secretary Yasuo Fukuda.
The LDP and its junior partner have a huge majority in parliament's lower house, which picks the prime minister.
Abe had indicated that he would step down if he failed to extend a Japanese naval mission supporting US-led operations in Afghanistan, but the timing of his move was unexpected.
"It is the worst possible timing," LDP lawmaker Gen Nakatani told Fuji Television on Tuesday.
Five facts about Taro Aso, possible successor to Abe
Taro Aso, Secretary-General of Japan's ruling coalition and a close ally of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is widely seen as the frontrunner to replace Abe after he announced on Wednesday he would resign. Here are five facts on Taro Aso:
* Aso, 66, served as foreign minister in Abe's first cabinet, before taking the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)'s number-two post as Secretary-General in an Aug. 27 reshuffle. He has also served as minister for economic planning and for posts and telecommunications.
* Aso came in a distant second to Abe last year, in his second bid for leadership of the LDP. Coming from a venerable political family, Aso has been open about his desire for the top job. His grandfather, then-prime minister Shigeru Yoshida, negotiated the peace treaty ending World War II. Aso's father-in-law was also a prime minister and his sister is married to a cousin of Emperor Akihito.
* Aso shares Abe's goal of a bigger global security role for Japan. Last October, after becoming foreign minister, Aso said there was nothing wrong with discussing whether Japan, the only country to suffer an atomic bombing, should possess nuclear weapons. But he has also said that he would stay away from Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, seen by many in Asia as a symbol of Japan's past militarism, if elected prime minister.
* A rarity among Japan's mostly staid politicians, Aso appeals to fellow fans of manga comics, and can work a crowd with amusing patter. He recently authored two books, one of which -- "Tremendous Japan," about Japan's tremendous potential -- has become a best-seller.
* His brash manner has provoked controversy. Aso was recently forced to apologize over a flippant remark about Alzheimer's disease, and he stirred anger in the two Koreas in 2003 for remarks seen as praising Japan's 1919-1945 colonization of the peninsula. Earlier this year, he criticized US policy in Iraq and said Japanese with their "yellow faces" would be more successful at Middle East diplomacy than "blond, blue-eyed Westerners" since Japan had never exploited the region. | <urn:uuid:d15fa1d3-b516-4a07-9d07-866478162eee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?load=detay&link=121972&newsId=121877 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981583 | 941 | 1.625 | 2 |
August 8 2012 : Occupy , Fat Man, Little Boy, and the F Bomb
The “Two Countries, One Voice” concept and protest is on full display this week outside of Saks Fifth Avenue, where demonstrators protest the ownership stake of the Mexican Telecom giant, one Carlos Slim. New yorker
Those wishing to stay on top of the protest directed at “the one percent of the one percent” are referred to the new cross-cultural group's facebook.
Jeff Rosenblum stakes out slightly different ground, speaking from inside the advertising industry as a modern-day “mad man” who says the protest needs to move from Fifth to Madison and that – get this – the advertising industry is willing to help.
Rosenblum says corporations are eager to change their behavior from "unethical to ethical" as the modern communications world – and the advertisers who help corporate America navigate/leverage it - prevents consumers from believing advertisers' bullsh-t any more. So cigarettes are not healthy after all. Fast Company
File Under : Wow, that's...so awesome The F bomb is set to become a staple of public discourse. It shows up these days mostly around discussions related to the US Economy. So Neil Barofsky, former Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Fund makes headlines with his response to whether the US Economy is “totally f—kd.” Barofsky - while making the media rounds for his latest book Bailout – says it's not quite that bad, as he downgrades our long term outlook to a mere “pretty f—kd.”
Other "public servants" make similar leaps, including none other than Fed Head Tim Geitner, who apparently got there first, naming himself the “most transparent head of the Federal Reserve in the history of the f—king country.” Right on!
Geitner's choice of language is considerably less forceful when gathering with Lords Blankfein and Dimon, where he employs more indirect language, such as “pretty please” and “thank you sir, may I have another.” huffpost
“Money spent on nukes is irradiating social programs for the 99 percent,” warn Occupy Nukes. It's 67 years since Fat Man and Little Boy did their dirty work, destroying the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in an awesome display of super-power mass killings of civilians. At the time, the reason for the mass bombing was to force the surrender of the Japanese people, a theory since challenged by historians such as the late Howard Zinn, himself a World War Two bombardier (video, above).
In commemoration, Occupy Nukes, consisting of 50 protesters from multiple Occupies, stages a protest outside the Los Alamos Laboratory, where secret weapons experiments are conducted to this day. 6 are arrested. At the same time, 20 miles West of Seattle, members of the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Direct Action symbolically shut down U.S. Naval base Kitsap-Bangor in the Puget Sound, the group including anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan.
“Those submarines could wipe out an entire continent,” said Leonard Eiger with the Ground Zero Center. “They don’t discriminate between civilian and military targets, a violation of international law.” opposingviews.com
Some attack the notion that OWS has changed anything at all, breaking down how effective bank transfers to smaller locally-base credit unions have been. The results are, so far, mixed, according to Rick Smith of the Motley Fool who analyzes where the Big Bank earnings are at these days. Dailyfinance.com
Smith observes the numbers, not the human side. Some express an altogether different view, particularly in communities where Occupy Homes has been active, expressing editorial support mndaily.com
Along the same line, the Register of Wills for New Castle County says it's time to thank Occupy Delaware for their work in the community and their focus on renewing a government by and for the people. DelawareOnline.com
Ciro Poppiti III says he could view the group from his office at their now vacant spot in Spencer Plaza plaza and that their presence has served as a reminder that he has “an obligation to act with integrity and honesty, rather than gaming the system to my own benefit and to the benefit of those who can help me politically.”
Blogger Chris Weigant dives in with a thoughtful Occupy vs.Tea Party analysis, contrasting the paths taken and comparing the results achieved. huffpost
File Under: Can't you just like, jump around like an idiot at the Mavs' games and leave it at that? Occupy has a long list of bogey-men and haters they deal with on a regular basis. There's the over the top cops that make up Bloomy's “private army,” non-stop DHS and local surveillance, District Attorneys, endless court cases, high summer temps, the establishment media, rodents - you name it. So-called conservative Blogger Andrew Briebart used to be one too.
Prior to his death, Briebart put together Occupy Unmasked a film that purports to expose the “sinister, organized, and highly orchestrated nature of [Occupy's] leaders and their number one goal: Not just to change government, but to destroy it.” (It will never cease to amaze how a few kids and concerned citizens in the streets means the end of the world.)
For awhile, the project was dead in the water but NBA owner Mark Cuban to the rescue. Cuban's company Magnet intends to pick up the slack, and release the “controversial” film, according to Cuban, just in time for the November elections.
Finally, today's Olympic yacht coverage turns to the RS-X, where Dutchman Dorian Van Rijsselberge wins gold in a dominating fashion. Spain's Marina Alabau takes the top spot on the podium in Women's RS-X, cruising to a 27-second win in the final race. The racing ends on a somewhat bittersweet note however, as Olympics Rio 2016 is said to move on from wind to kite surfing. However, medalists and other participants will mount a legal challenge to block such plans. Bleacherreport.com
Updates for this space should be sent to UWS Press | <urn:uuid:c34f5a30-9f2d-4180-8c4b-2eb263ce98d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unionwebservices.com/all_news/uws_digital_news_content/occupy_news/1473 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946497 | 1,333 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Podcasts & RSS Feeds
Most Active Stories
Mon January 30, 2012
Government steps up Jeep Liberty air bag probe
DETROIT (AP) - Federal safety regulators have stepped up their investigation into Jeep Liberty air bags after 50 people reported they were hurt when the air bags inflated without a crash happening.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration started investigating Liberty SUVs from the 2002 and 2003 model years in September. It was upgraded to a full engineering analysis last week.
Documents on the agency website say Chrysler and regulators have gotten 87 complaints of air bags going off by surprise. Nearly 387,000 vehicles are under investigation.
Drivers reported burns, cuts and bruises.
Safety regulators say the air bag computer may fail due to an electrical voltage spike.
The company says no incidents have happened in vehicles made after March 19, 2003. But regulators say Chrysler can't explain that. | <urn:uuid:fc3147a7-53c6-4218-8746-6d49fa062df9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://michiganradio.org/post/government-steps-jeep-liberty-air-bag-probe | 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 | 0.940566 | 182 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Applied tips dielectric etch tool for 3-D NAND production
6/27/2012 7:31 AM EDT
SAN FRANCISCO—Chip equipment vendor Applied Materials Inc. Wednesday (June 27) launched a dielectric etch system targeted specifically for three-dimensional memory architectures.
Several NAND vendors have established pilot lines for building NAND devices with vertically integrated, 3-D cell strings, according to Arvind Sankaran, senior product manager at Applied. The company expects some NAND vendors to be in volume production on 3-D NAND devices beginning sometime next year, he said.
"All of the leading memory manufacturers are looking into migrating to 3-D NAND," Sankaran said. "It's inevitable. It has to be done sooner or later."
Applied (Santa Clara, Calif.) said its Centura Avatar dielectric etch system uses a proprietary plasma source to address the challenges associated with etching deep, narrow features required for 3-D NAND production. According to Sankaran, the plasma source is the result of years of source development within Applied.
The Avatar system was newly designed from the ground up, according to the company. Applied said it has 30 Avatar chambers already out in the field, including some in use in NAND vendor pilot lines.
According to Applied, the Avatar system can etch holes and trenches in complex film stacks with aspect ratios as high as 80:1—eight times deeper, relatively speaking, than the Washington Monument is high. The tool also performs simultaneous etching of features with greatly varying depths, a critical requirement in fabricating the "staircase" contact structures that connect each layer of memory cells to the outside world, Applied said.
"Cumulatively, we are looking at a very, very complex set of challenges not seen before," Sankaran said. "None of the etchers available on the market are going to address this." | <urn:uuid:3f5515b6-c3de-4f47-be87-ce739e91839e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4376121/Applied-tips-dielectric-etch-tool-for-3-D-NAND-production- | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934848 | 402 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Short Commit Cycles
How often do you commit? Once a week? Once a day? Once an hour? Every few minutes? The more often you commit, the less likely you are to make a mistake.
I used to work with a guy who reckoned you should commit at least every 15 minutes. I thought he was mad. Maybe he is. But he’s also damned right. I didn’t believe it was possible: what can you actually get done in 15 minutes? At best, maybe you can write a test and make it pass. Well good! That’s enough. If you canwrite a test and make it pass in 15 minutes, check that sucker in! If you can’t: back it the hell out.
But I’ll never get anything done!
Sure you will, you just need to think more. Writing software isn’t about typing, it’s about thinking. If you can’t see a way to make a step in 15 minutes, think harder.
Chase the Red
One of my oft-used anti-patterns is to “chase the red”. You make one change, delete a method or class you don’t want – and then hack away, error by error, until the compiler is happy. It might take 5 minutes. It might take a week.
It’s very easy to get sucked into this pattern – you think you know where you want to get to: I have a method that takes a string – maybe it’s a product SKU from the warehouse; I want to replace it with a StockUnit which has useful functionality on it. Simples: change the signature of the method to accept StockUnit instead of string and follow the red, when the compiler’s happy: I’m done.
Trouble is – how do I know that every calling method can change? Maybe I think I know the code base and can make a reasonable guess. Maybe I’m even right. But it’s unbelievably easy to be wrong. I might even check all references methodically first, but until the code’s written – it’s just a theory. And you know what they say about the difference between theory and practice.
Is there a different way? What if I add a new method that accepts a StockUnit and delegates to the original method? I can test drive adding the new method, commit! I can go through each reference, one by one: write a failing test, make it pass by calling the new method, commit! Step-by-step, the code compiles and the tests pass every step of the way.
What happens if I hit something insurmountable half way? Where I am is a mess, but it’s a compiling, green mess. If I decide to back out I can revert those commits. Or refactoring tools can inline the method and automatically remove half the mess for me. But the critical thing is, every step of the way I can integrate with the rest of the team, and all the tests pass in case I hit something unexpected.
The trouble with long running branches (and I include in that your local “branch” that you haven’t committed for two weeks!) is that the longer they run the harder they are to integrate. Now sure, git makes it easier to manage branching & merging – but you still have to do it. You still have to push & pull changes regularly – let others integrate with you and integrate with others as often as you can.
The likelihood of you having merge problems increases rapidly the longer your branch is open. If it’s 15 minutes and one test, you know what? If you have a merge problem, you can throw it away and redo the work – its only 15 minutes!
Just keep swimming!
But if you’ve been working for days and you hit merge hell, what do you do? You’re forced to wade through it. What you’re doing is chasing the red in your version control system. You’ve adopted an approach that gives you no choice but to keep on hacking until all the red merge conflict markers are gone from your workspace. If it takes 5 minutes or 5 days, you’ve got to keep going because you can’t afford to lose your work.
The kicker is by the time you’re done merging and everything compiles and works again, what’s the betting some other bugger has jumped in with another epic commit? Off we go again. You’re now in a race to try and merge your steaming pile before anyone else gets in. This is a ridiculous race – and who wins? Nobody, you’re still a loser.
Instead, if you adopt the 15 minute rule, you write a test, make it pass, check it in and push to share with everyone else. Little and often means you lose little time to merge conflicts and instead let your version control system do what it’s good at*: merging changes!
* doesn’t apply to those poor suckers using TFS, sorry
An interesting side effect of a short cycle time is that you limit the damage periods of brain fade can do. I dunno about you, but there are times when I really shouldn’t be allowed near a keyboard. The hour after lunch can be pretty bad – a full belly is not good for my thinking. The morning after the night before: it’s best if you keep me away from anything mission critical.
The trouble is, if I have a multi-day branch open I’m almost guaranteed to hit a period of brain fade. Because I’m not committing, when my head clears and I realise I’ve screwed up I can’t just revert those commits or throw my branch away entirely – I have to try and unpick the mess I just made from the mess I already had. It’s incredibly hard to be disciplined and tidy when you’re wading in excrement.
We all make mistakes – but version control gives me an overview of what I did, without relying on my flaky memory. Maybe I’ve gone completely the wrong way and can unpick parts of what I’ve done, maybe I got lucky and some commits were half-way decent – I can cherry pick those and start a new branch. Without version control I’d be flapping around in an ungodly mess trying to figure out how to keep the good bits without just binning everything. All the time trying to explain to the project manager how I’m 90% done! No, really! Nearly there now!
Version control is an invaluable tool that we must learn to use properly. It takes discipline. It doesn’t come naturally. If you’ve never worked in such short cycles, work through a kata committing regularly. Our natural instinct is to type first and think later. Stop! Think about how you can make an increment in 15 minutes and do that. If you can’t: revert!
(Note: Opinions expressed in this article and its replies are the opinions of their respective authors and not those of DZone, Inc.) | <urn:uuid:9ede5981-6626-48c3-809b-56b07abb27f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://architects.dzone.com/articles/short-commit-cycles?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+javalobby%2Ffrontpage+%28Javalobby+%2F+Java+Zone%29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942308 | 1,517 | 1.695313 | 2 |
"The scientist Leonardo Vetara smelled the scorched flesh and knew it was his own. He looked horribly upon the dark image that leaned over him. 'What do you want?!..' 'In the name of all the saints!....' screamed Vetara. But it was too late."
There is no doubt about it, much can be said about Dan Brown's best seller "Daemons and Angels": it is contrivasioul, things written in it did not really happen, and that all the information in it was concocted inn Dan Brown's mind. But above all these speculations- it is simply a fascinating book. Robert Langdon (main character) is a university professor and symbolist expert. A modest man, whose shrewd thinking leads him threw the plot. The story begins with a phone call from Maximilian Kohler, a crippled physist who is head of European Nuclear research committee. In the ENRC a secret scientific discovery is being kept, which if found out would constitute one of the most important and thrilling scientific discoveries in the history of science. And sure enough, it reaches very evil hands and is used as an awesome and powerful weapon. Now, Langdon must retrieve the discovery and finds himself in the Holy See, in the eve of the election pf a new pope.
As time pushes on, Robert Langdon has but 24 hours to find the missing discovery-"Rome... where Julius Cease ruled and where St. Peter was crucified. The birth place of modern society and in its core- a time bomb..." Angels and Demons is a feisty plot with many twists and turns. It is a diverse book, as are the characters in it, and it a book guanrteed to attract readers of all ages. It includes love, murder, struggle and many surprises. And yet it is a book which raises many philosophical and historical related questions, such as- what caused the advancement of humanity-religion or science? The book incorporates elements of many fields, such as information about the "Illuminati" society and its symbols, information about the election of the pope, about the Catholic Church and Christianity in general. This is the second book of 4 best sellers written so far by Dan Brown. Now (late 2005) he is working on a 5th, "The Solomon Key", due 2006. | <urn:uuid:4afe991d-f3e9-4982-a63e-83b599b4fbab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.shvoong.com/books/mystery-and-thriller/27181-demons-angels/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964783 | 480 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.