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Q: What exercise should I do for (insert body part here)? I don't know how to do (insert exercise here).
A: Do a Search, please, before creating a thread. Also go here: http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html
Q: Should I use a full body routine or a split routine?
A: Generally speaking, new lifters can benefit more from a full-body routine done multiple times per week, and based around compound movements. Advanced lifters, who have the strength, intensity, and mind-muscle connection to handle higher workloads need more recovery time and so will benefit from a multi-day split. Try this as a starting point:
0-18 months lifting: Full-body routine done 3 times per week based around compound movements.
18-36 months lifting: Upper Body / Lower Body or Push / Pull split done twice per week (4 lifting days)
36+ months lifting: 3 or 4 day split routine
Get more advice here: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=115643271
Q: I want to work out intelligently and make steady progress. How should I proceed?
- Do some research and select your routine (see thread listed above as a starting point).
- If you've selected Starting Strength, HST, or some other established routine, follow it exactly for a least the first time through.
- Keep a journal detailing each exercise, how many reps you completed, and what weights you used.
- Each week, focus on making "progression" from the previous week.
.....Example: If you were supposed to bench press 180 lbs for 3 sets of 8, then note in your log what you did.
.....If you did 180x8, 180x8, 180x5 (you couldn't complete the last set of 8), then the next week try to complete all three sets of 8.
.....Once you have hit 180x8, 180x8, 180x8, then add 5-10 lbs. the next week.
- Every 6 weeks or so, de-load by dropping all your weights by 50% or take a week off entirely. The following week, pick up where you left off. This lets you recover from accumulated fatigue of your muscles and central nervous system.
- Be honest with yourself. If you can't complete a rep with good form, then don't count it. Don't add weight if it only means you're compromising your form. You're only cheating yourself, not impressing anyone else.
Q: What's the difference between Compound and Isolation exercises and which should I do?
A: Compound exercises work multiple muscle groups at once (Example: squat, deadlift, bench press). Isolation exercises work a single muscle or muscle group. (Example: preacher curls, leg extensions, tricep pressdowns). Try to use compound exercises as the core of your routine to add mass, and then add specific isolation exercises to further your specific goals. A common mistake by beginners is to ignore the majority of the compound exercises and focus too much on isolation exercises for their "mirror" muscles (biceps, abs, etc.).
Q: Why are squats and deadlifts recommended so often?
A: Compound movements, which work multiple muscle groups at the same time, promote overall strength and hypertrophy and are very efficient in terms of gym-time. Squats and Deadlifts are the ones most beginners shy away from since they can be "intimidating", but they are very beneficial. The primary compound lifts are:
- Bench Press
- Rows (barbell, t-bar, etc.)
- Pullups, Chinups, & Dips
- Military Press / Seated Overhead Press
You can and will get big by doing these exercises. Please learn and use good form on these exercises!
Q: How many sets and reps should I do of each exercise?
A: There is no perfect answer, and there is a place for a great variety of set and rep ranges. Different people and different muscle types respond to different stimulus, so you should experiment to see what works for you. However, general guidelines are as follows:
Do 3-5 sets of 4-6 reps to build strength
Do 3-4 sets of 8-10 reps for hypertrophy
Do 4-5 sets of 12-15+ reps for muscular endurance
Your best bet is to vary your set and rep ranges, since the above is not any sort of "absolute". You will gain some degree of size and strength by following the rule of progression with any rep range.
Q: How long should I rest between sets?
A: This depends on your goals and the exercise in question. Whatever rest period you choose, try to keep it constant week to week. This will help you ensure strength gains are not just the result of longer and longer rest periods. Very generally:
90-120 seconds for heavy, compound exercises
60-90 seconds for heavy isolation exercises or medium compound exercises
30-60 seconds for medium or light weight endurance type sets
Adjust these based on your own needs once you gain experience.
Q: Is (insert exercise here) necessary?
A: No. No exercise is necessary.
Q: I've been working out regularly and am getting stronger, but I'm not getting any bigger.
A: Eat more. Seriously.
Q: I've plateaued on (insert exercise here) what should I do?
A: If you've been stuck on at a certain weight on a certain exercise for 3-4 weeks in a row then try this:
- Take a week off, either entirely or of any work on the muscle group in question.
- Drop your weight about 20% from where you were stuck
- Each week add back 5-10 lbs to your lift until you've reached and exceeded your sticking point.
- Also make sure you are eating enough and resting enough.
Q: How do I get visible abs?
A: You have to drop your body fat to see your abs. Forget about mindless repetitions of crunches. You can't spot reduce fat, you have to drop your overall fat level through proper nutrition.
Q: What do I do if I can't do a pullup/chinup (or only a few)?
A: Set a chair under your pullup bar and place one foot on the chair. As you do a pullup, assist yourself with your leg just enough to enable you to do the exercise. After you reach the top, stop using your leg and lower yourself with only your arms (this is a negative). Repeat. Lat pulldowns will also help, but are not a complete substitute for practicing with the chair and negatives.
Q: Should I train to Failure? What does that mean, anyway?
A: Training to failure means performing an exercise until you cannot physically complete another repetition. There are many different takes on training to failure. Generally, this technique works better for advanced lifters, and when used selectively. It is not necessary to train to failure to grow. If you are training a muscle group multiple times per week (such as on a multi-day full-body routine), you will be better stopping 1-2 reps shy of failure and focusing more on progressing your weight and reps week-to-week. Leave failure training to those who are advanced enough to know if it works for them.
Q: What's all this stuff about "Overtraining"?
A: When you train too often, at too high of an intensity, and don't allow enough recovery time, you can enter a state called Overtraining. You've essentially over-taxed your system and need to take a break to recover. Symptoms include: stalling out on your progression, no desire to train, illness, fatigue, etc.
If you think you're overtraining...don't worry - you're probably not.
If you still think you're overtraining...don't worry - you're probably not.
If you still, still think you're overtraining and are too tired to even worry about it - maybe you are. Deload.
Q: I may have an injury. (State nature of injury). What should I do?
A: Give it some rest, ask your mother, or see a doctor. Nobody can diagnose you over the internet and you're likely to hurt yourself further by listening to bad advice.
DISCLAIMER: Many people have made strength and size gains with almost any type of program, split, rep range, program frequency, etc. Nothing is absolute, and no strategy is perfect for everyone. Don't be afraid to research, ask questions, and experiment to determine what's right for you.
Thread: Answers to Common Questions | <urn:uuid:84287d54-d6ad-4085-8fbb-e8f30ee9fd9c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=118885421&s=b5155aff62b97bb08017c27d1b2688f3&p=381151581 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951241 | 1,832 | 1.5625 | 2 |
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina Railroad Co. is a strange bird. It's a private corporation whose only shareholder is the state of North Carolina. It owns no locomotives but provides freight and passenger service from the big cities to Down East.
Now legislators closely reviewing the railroad company want the state to become more active owners nearly 15 years after the company's last private shareholders were bought out. A bill being floated at the Legislature would require more oversight of the company and demand the state receive direct cash dividends again.
The company was created before the Civil War and today owns 317 miles of rail from Charlotte to Morehead City.
Railroad President Scott Saylor says the cash dividends could delay rail improvements that benefit economic development.
What's On TonightFull Schedule
does someone have to go | <urn:uuid:f46880b5-7039-4c06-8c50-cbc7be541178> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wccbcharlotte.com/news/local/180755971.html | 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 | 0.961838 | 168 | 1.632813 | 2 |
PCRM Launches a New Web Campaign as Hollywood Film Makers Embrace the Plight of Chimpanzees
Dear PCRM Legislative Focus supporter,
The summer is here, Congress is out and movies are in! Project Nim and Rise of the Planet of the Apes are bringing the plight of chimpanzees used in medical research to cinemas across the country. So we've launched a new petition campaign entitled the "The REAL Planet of the Apes" to build momentum and push the National Institutes of Health to end the use of chimpanzees in invasive research in the U.S. once and for all.
Please ask as many of your friends as possible to visit www.RealPlanetOfTheApes.com and sign the petition to NIH Director, Francis Collins. For those of you wondering, YES, every signature counts! I shall use the petition to show Washington what national support there is to end the use of great apes in invasive medical research.
PCRM recently hosted a screening of Project Nim in Washington, DC. The film's award-winning director, James Marsh, describes, "In the film, we get to know an individual chimpanzee whose baffled reaction to his increasing confinement can stand for the many, many thousands of chimpanzees…who find themselves under our control in the same or worse situation."
Project Nim is the dramatic true story about a young chimpanzee who was raised as a human in a misguided research project and later finds himself in a medial research lab. The film raises important questions about the ethics and science of animal research. PCRM has been working to end this use of chimpanzees through the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act, and we are hopeful that this film could galvanize support for this legislation.
The film and our screening received terrific press coverage. You can read one of the stories here. After the film, I hosted a panel discussion on the themes of the film and how it applies to our legislative work, specifically the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes, is a chilling parable that raises similar questions about animal research. PCRM has been working to expose the real story of what happens to chimpanzees in research labs and again, I ask you to please share our new PCRM web campaign site RealPlanetOfTheApes.com with your friends on Facebook and Twitter (#PlanetOfTheApes & #RealPlanetOfTheApes).
Thank you as always for your continued passion and support of our efforts!
Director of Government and Public Affairs
Marking our Progress: Our Fight to Improve Troop Training and End the Use of Animals in Military Medical Training
This summer PCRM was successful in persuading Congress to hold the Department of Defense more accountable for this cruel and unnecessary animal use for substandard troop training. Language in this year's Defense Authorization Act, a huge bill that authorizes all of the Department of Defense's activities, has instructed the Secretary of Defense to "implement a strategy for the development of future technology to further refine, reduce, and replace the use of live animals in medical education and training."
Earlier this year, we worked with Congressman Bob Filner (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, to re-introduce H.R. 1417, the BEST Practices Act, a bill that requires the DOD to phase-out this terminal use of animals and replace them with high-fidelity medical simulation.
Are you interested in what troops should be learning with, instead of live animals? Watch a video demonstration of these alternative methods here. Please be aware: some of the alternatives are so realistic, the demonstrations can be difficult to watch!
We have seen great progress on this issue in the 112th Congress. So far, the BEST Practices Act has amassed 34 cosponsors, already exceeding the total from all of last Congress. If your member of Congress is not yet a cosponsor, please send an e-mail today and help save goats and pigs from unnecessary pain, suffering, and death.
Legislation Introduced to Eliminate Direct Subsidies!
I know you have been following our campaign against the government’s spending of billions of taxpayer dollars on agricultural subsidies that support production of unhealthy meat and dairy products. We have been sharing our report that demonstrates how the farm subsidy system overwhelmingly favors meat and dairy production on Capitol Hill, and it appears that they are beginning to listen.
Last month, Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) introduced the Reducing the Deficit through Eliminating Agriculture Direct Payments, or REAPS Act (H.R. 2487), which will permanently end direct payments.
Passage of this legislation would end these government handouts for the meat and dairy industries, so please contact your member of Congress today and ask that they sign onto this important legislation.
Victory: 120 Rats Saved, Redundant Tests Canceled
Federal Agency News: The PCRM toxicology team has spared 120 rats from a painful death in a chemical neurotoxicity test with an insecticide called Tau-fluvalinate.
The Environmental Protection Agency regulates pesticides by requesting companies conduct tests on their products, both before and sometimes after a pesticide has been registered. Many of these tests involve large numbers of animals. PCRM monitors EPA testing requests and often submits information or arguments to convince the EPA to rescind the requirements. Comments might consist of existing information the EPA had not found, an alternative test, or a combination of the two that will give the EPA similar information.
In the case of Tau-fluvalinate, EPA was requiring a neurotoxicity test using at least 120 young male and female rats. PCRM submitted information that was similar to what the EPA might have gotten had the producer conducted the test, so the EPA cancelled the test.
We continue to monitor several bills dealing with chemical testing including the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011 (S. 847) and the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011 (H.R.2359). Although both bills contain a promising section on animal testing alternatives, ultimately these bills could greatly increase animal use. We are working to educate legislators on needed improvements for moving science and animal protection forward. With the help of supporters like you, we will work to transform these bills into effective legislation that will keep both consumers and animals safe.
Learn more about this issue here >>
GET ACTIVE WITH PCRM LEGISLATIVE FOCUS!
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Share with Your Friends
Please share this newsletter with anyone you know who might also be interested in learning about how to make a difference on Capitol Hill! | <urn:uuid:583d8f31-5333-4f2e-aaf0-5d682962c472> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://support.pcrm.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=53142.0&dlv_id=56442 | 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 | 0.931601 | 1,474 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Taxes and Time Allocation: Evidence from Single Women
Hundreds of papers have investigated how incentives and policies affect hours worked in the market. This paper examines how income taxes affect time allocation in the other two-thirds of the day. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics from 1975 to 2004, we analyze the response of single women's housework, labor supply, and other time to variation in tax and transfer schedules across income levels, number of children, states, and time. We find that when the economic reward to participating in the labor force increases, market work increases and housework decreases, with the decrease in housework accounting for approximately two-thirds of the increase in market work. Analysis of repeated cross-sections of time diary data from 1975 to 2004 shows that changes in "home production" account for at least half of the increase in market hours of work in response to policy changes. Data on expenditures from the Consumer Expenditure Survey from 1980 to 2003 show some evidence that expenditures on market goods likely to substitute for housework increase in response to a greater incentive to join the labor force. The baseline estimates imply that the elasticity of substitution between consumption of home and market goods is 2.43. The results are consistent with the classic time allocation model of Becker (1965). | <urn:uuid:253c1f6a-1809-45ca-8854-aabc8b5468ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nber.org/papers/w15583 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949521 | 256 | 1.734375 | 2 |
A proposal to cut consumer and family science classes at both of Durango School District’s middle schools next year met strong resistance by most members of the Durango School District 9-R board Tuesday night.
“By going down this road categorically or philosophically we’re saying this program is no longer important or relevant to this district, and I’m not ready to go there,” boardmember Andy Burns said.
The proposed cuts are driven by declining enrollment at the middle and high schools, said Laine Gibson, the district’s chief financial officer. The district expects to lose about 70 students next year and plans to eliminate seven staff positions as a result, Gibson said.
Principals at both middle schools were tasked with identifying areas for cuts.
The fact that both consumer and family science teachers intend to retire made those positions better candidates for cuts because it would save the district from having to lay off other staff members, said Bill Esterbrook, the district’s interim superintendent.
“With the facts and dollars and what we have to do in mind, it wasn’t the best choice but it was probably the only choice we could make,” Esterbrook said.
Both retiring teachers attended the board meeting to voice their opposition to cutting consumer and family science classes. Students need training and skills that address the two-thirds of the day they aren’t in school, said Jan Tuchscherer, the consumer and family science teacher at Escalante.
Consumer and family science classes cover topics such as food, sewing, crafts and independent living.
The district plans to cut about $1 million from its $39 million budget next year, mostly in response to declining enrollment, Gibson said. Even though K-12 funding from the state is expected to remain the same as last year, Gibson recommended the district go on with cuts because spending continues to outpace revenue.
Board members agreed to further discuss and vote on the cuts to consumer and family science at a future meeting. | <urn:uuid:cfa30f1c-bcd3-40af-ad3d-b48befe02500> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.durangoherald.com/article/20120418/NEWS01/704189897/0/Lifestyle/Two-retiring-teachers-object-to-class-cuts | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960927 | 418 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Facebook Blocks Millions of Photos From Instagram-Like App
Today in international tech news: A French developer, whose photo-sharing app is eerily similar to Instagram, thinks Facebook is unfairly excluding it; European telecommunications giants try to break up the Apple/Google smartphone stranglehold; and Huawei pulls even with longtime telecom equipment leader Ericsson.
Step aside, Google: Now it's Facebook's turn to take flak from France.
A few months back, France demanded that Google pay for displaying links to French media's news articles. Next, a French Internet service provider demanded that Google pay extra for bandwidth consumed by YouTube.
Now, in the most recent criticism of a U.S. Internet company, a French studio called Presslite claims that Facebook has unjustly banned members from using its Vintage Camera app.
The app, which has 8 million users worldwide and which provides effects to make pictures look older, has been blocked for what Facebook claims is "strong negative feedback," according to the BBC. Facebook also told Presslite that its app would not be restored on the social network.
Presslite, however, is convinced the move is bogus. Co-founder Antoine Morcos said that upon inspecting data provided from Facebook, he found there was only one negative comment for every 1,000 images shared.
The subplot to all this is Facebook's US$1 billion purchase of Instagram last May. Instagram is, like Vintage Camera, a photo-sharing app, and it also has a feature that makes photos look aged.
For what it's worth, Vintage Camera has a four-star average rating at the Apple Store, the BBC reported. However, some people have complained the app is too similar to Instagram.
Europe Targets Google/Apple Smartphone Stranglehold
European mobile companies have urged regulators to allow rival companies to consolidate in an attempt to break the smartphone monopolies held by Google and Apple, according to the Guardian.
At the Mobile World Congress on Monday in Barcelona, the UK's Vodafone, Spain's Telefonica and Italy's Telecom urged Europe to pass measures -- including lower taxes and granting spectrum licenses -- that would enable them to compete with Google and Apple. The European companies also reportedly want to "redraw the network map" and consolidate down to a few providers per country.
In what is described as "a belligerent call to arms," the CEO of Telefonica said that European telecommunications companies are investing too much in handsets and not enough in developing networks, the Guardian reported. Telefonica is backing a mobile operating system design by browser giant Mozilla.
Huawei Pulls Even With Ericsson
China's Huawei is challenging Ericsson's dominion over the global market for wireless network equipment, according to the New York Times.
Huawei has "pulled even" with Stockholm-based Ericsson, the Times reported.
It's true that each company is different; nearly half of Ericsson's sales come from managing wireless networks, while a big part of Huawei's business stems from smartphones and corporate communications grids.
Huawei's sales, however, have matched Ericsson's. While Ericsson had the first-mover advantage, Huawei's profits nonetheless spiked 33 percent last year. Ericsson's profits dropped more than 50 percent.
Huawei is not yet a player in the U.S., where last year a House Intelligence Committee alleged Huawei and fellow Chinese telecom ZTE were security threats. Those concerns resurfaced recently with the publication of a Mandiant report asserting that the Chinese military has long been hacking the U.S.; Huawei's founder is an ex-military officer. | <urn:uuid:1771e70c-2754-457d-817f-cf2f34b05062> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/77394.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 | 0.944092 | 738 | 1.710938 | 2 |
As California continues it’s spending ways they have realized a new $16 Billion deficit and are turning back to higher taxes on those who have not yet moved.
AP, ‘MD Senate OKs income tax increase for high-earners’: “The Maryland Senate voted Tuesday to increase state income taxes on individuals who make more than $100,000 a year in taxable income and couples who earn more than $150,000 and to start shifting some teacher pension costs to local governments over four years. …
The Senate approved a budget reconciliation measure on a 33-13 vote, mostly along party lines. The Senate approved the income tax increase on a 27-19 vote with a handful of Democratic defections. The Senate votes sent the measures to the House of Delegates, which advanced the budget package toward a likely Wednesday vote in that chamber. The House, which rejected amendments to the measures, could wrap up the session Wednesday if no changes are made to the legislation.
Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley called the special session to avert about $500 million in cuts that the General Assembly approved after lawmakers failed to pass a tax package last month by the regular-session deadline.”
The latest we heard was an effort to eliminate all deductions at these income levels and leave rates as they are. | <urn:uuid:7664056b-4895-4718-aafb-ffef62fe276c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://burstupdates.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/redefining-rich/ | 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 | 0.959615 | 267 | 1.5625 | 2 |
The move is designed to both help save the lives of women in the territory and to make testing convenient and streamlined.
The suite opening in November will offer a convenient and fully-integrated approach to general radiology, mammography, ultrasonography, and bone densitometry all in one central location.
Men using the services in radiology will enter through a separate door so women will have complete privacy.
Dr. Angelo Galiber, chief radiologist at JFL, says early detection and screening is key to surviving cancer.
“These are low-cost, effective tests for detecting problems,” Galiber said. “Early detection saves lives, reduces treatment, and cuts costs.”
He added the hospital has already made the digital transition in mammography.
David Williams, Imaging Services director, said it is recommended women get a bone density screening around age 56. Williams called the people working in the unit "a sensational team of radiologists."
Hospital spokeswoman Xualanda Simmonds-Emmanuel said if cancer is detected in a mammogram at the women's suite they can do the biopsy and pathology all in that convenient location.
“We have put together the whole approach in the Women’s Imaging Suite Mammography Program,” Simmonds-Emmanuel said.
The unit does accept walk-ins, but Dr. Galiber stressed patient must have her own primary care physician for their treatment.
“This imaging suite will fill the gap for low- to moderate-income citizens,” Williams said. “We want everyone to know they can come in and have screening done.”
Velma Vasquez, a bilingual ultrasound technician, is the unit's link to the Hispanic community.
“I'm really excited about offering women the convenience of everything in imaging in one spot,” Vasquez said.
The hospital held an "Empowering Women Through Fashion fundraiser" this weekend, with the proceeds going to the JFL Women’s Imaging Suite Mammography Program. The hospital partnered with the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands and is accepting donations through it. People can also make a donation to the Women's and Children’s Health Center.
JFL offers the community a full array of medical and specialty health-care services to cover needed treatments, including but not limited to: acute, emergency, rehabilitative, and ambulatory care; most medical specialties including internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics, gynecology, psychiatry, physical medicine, acute and chronic hemodialysis and more. | <urn:uuid:051eed7f-f997-410d-9da0-ef2f9a64cf7b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stcroixsource.com/content/news/local-news/2012/10/07/health-beat-womens-health-imaging-suite-jfl | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936431 | 533 | 1.523438 | 2 |
We recently wrote about, what we call, the ChinaDroid. These are low cost, good quality Google Android powered powered phones which we expect to proliferate in the local market soon. At the 2011 World Mobile Congress, Smart Communications revealed it first "Netphone." The unit displayed was the Netphone was a Smart badged ZTE Blade. This is a 3.5-inch touchscreen Android, with a 800x480 pixel resolution screen powered by a 600MHz processor and 512MB of RAM (specifications may vary). The phone runs Google's Android 2.2. The announced retail price is a surprisingly low Php5,000-Php7,000.
However, this is more than just another ChinaDroid. Other than the very decent specifications, the other interesting feature of this phone is that is a WAC platform. WAC stands for Wholesale Applications Community. WAC is an organisation that is trying to create a unified and open platform to allow mobile software developers to more easily write applications usable on a variety of devices, operating systems and networks. At least 48 companies are members of the organisation. The Smart Netphone is powered by Google's Android 2.2 operating system with the WAC software managed by Red Bend Software. The WAC platform will allow users to access widgets pushed directly through Red Bend.
While this may all sound good, I do not high hopes for the WAC platform. Is there really a need for a system of delivering universal widgets when the browser can be that mechanism? In a feature phone world, this would have been a useful service, but with Android devices becoming more and more affordable Smart Communication might be better off focusing on offering localized application through the Android Market or preloaded on Smart branded Android phones. In the end, WAC creates another app store, to compete with the existing Apple, Google and Microsoft app stores.
But you from a carrier standpoint, this is a way to regain control of their market. From the 1990's until 2007, carriers were responsible for most technology innovations like SMS, email via SMS, voicemail, MMS and high speed networks. During the last few years, innovation in mobile services is migrating to the handset manufacturer and software developers. Instead of needing the operators to provide new and exciting services for which they could charge, all smartphone owners really want from a operator now is voice, SMS and data services. With the data services, the user can avail of services which used to be the domain of the carrier.
By way of example, Smart's SMART FINDER service allows you to find the nearest restaurant, ATM, gas station, bank or any other establishment for a fee of Php5.00 through SMS, WAP or the internet. With modern GPS enabled smartphones, the same services are provided by Google through its Places application. All you need to pay for is the data connection. Wide adoption of a web based messaging platform could even threaten income from SMS services. WAC is a way to get carriers back in the game.
Will this initiative succeed? I do not think so. The internet has been successful because of the freedom it offers. No one wants to be given a menu of apps to use and additional software running in the background. As for the Netphone itself. Carrier back low cost Android devices will certainly be a hit provided they are not so hampered by bloatware that it hampers their performance. | <urn:uuid:437d4385-fed2-41c1-a55b-2b8bc7d7bced> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mobileraptor.blogspot.com/2011/02/smarts-netphone-and-wac.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946281 | 693 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Sharing Your Thyroid Cancer Diagnosis at Work
Deciding to tell your colleagues and boss about your thyroid cancer can be a challenge. Learn when and how to share your diagnosis with those at work.
Once you and your medical team decide on your thyroid cancer treatment, you will have an idea of how much time you might need off from work and which side effects could mean missed hours here and there. Fatigue might leave you with less energy on a daily basis for a few weeks; irritability and cramps can result from your synthetic hormone treatment while the best dosage is being determined. Talking honestly with your employer about these possibilities can make it easier for you to adjust your work schedule, if the need arises.
Thyroid Cancer at Work: Your Medical Leave Rights
Depending on the company you work for and its policies and attitudes, you may find the flexibility you need — or not. You have the most protection against any kind of discrimination if you work somewhere that has 50 or more employees, says Greta E. Greer, MSW, LCSW, director of survivor services for the American Cancer Society, because such workplaces must abide by the federal government’s Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) passed in 1993.
“If you’re protected by FMLA, then you can expect that your employer will make reasonable accommodations if, for instance, you need flex time while you are receiving radiation treatments for your thyroid cancer,” she says. At the heart of FMLA is the provision that an eligible employee can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for a medical reason such as cancer.
“If you’re employed by a small business, you may have less job protection,” Greer says. “Still, it’s hard to imagine that in this day and time, an employer would fire you over a cancer diagnosis, especially if you’re just going to be out a few days for thyroid cancer surgery,” she notes.
Even smaller workplaces — those with at least 15 employees — are legally bound to follow the terms of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and not discriminate against employees on the basis of their physical limitations. In many cases, cancer may not be thought of as a disability. Nevertheless, if your cancer or the side effects of your treatment lead to lasting difficulty carrying out activities of daily living (bathing, dressing, grooming, household tasks, and the like), then the protection afforded by the ADA does apply to you.
Thyroid Cancer and Work: Getting Good Counsel
There are many different variables that will affect whether and how you tell your boss about your thyroid cancer diagnosis. Fortunately, there are also many resources you can turn to for advice on your specific situation.
“Call the American Cancer Society toll-free number, 1-800-ACS-2345, any time with questions,” Greer urges. Cancer information specialists are available 24 hours a day to provide guidance about employment and any other issues related to cancer. For information about discrimination, you can also visit the American Cancer Society Web site.
For additional general information and links to other useful sites, visit the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Cancer and the Workplace: Dealing with Discrimination Web page.
If you need to consult an attorney who specializes in employment issues, contact your local bar association; these groups often provide legal referral services, sometimes at no cost.
Thyroid Cancer and Work: An Employee Perspective
Marcella Reed (not her real name), a 36-year-old attorney who works for the federal government in Washington, D.C., was treated for papillary thyroid cancer five years ago. She feels fortunate that she “didn’t have to worry about job security. But for privacy reasons, I didn’t want the entire workplace to know. After the diagnosis was confirmed and I knew what the treatment would be, I notified the absolute minimum number of people at work, those who had to know why I would be gone from the office for one week and then another,” she recalls.
A major reason Reed kept her diagnosis quiet was that she didn’t want her thyroid cancer to alter “the perception others had of my fitness and health,” she explains. In a competitive work environment, cancer can be seen as a liability, even if termination is not a concern.
Thyroid Cancer and Work: An Employer Perspective
Carl (not his real name) is a manager at a major insurance firm on Long Island, N.Y., whose administrative assistant was treated for thyroid cancer two years ago. The assistant was away from work for about four weeks after surgery and radioactive iodine therapy. “She told me that she would probably be quite moody until her [synthetic thyroid hormone] dose was properly regulated, and I understood," Carl recalls. "She was very tired, too, in the weeks after she first returned."
Carl appreciated this level of communication and the fact that his employee made weekday doctor's appointments in the morning or late afternoon to avoid missing a lot of work. "She also told me about them as far in advance as she could, so we could have someone to cover her phone," he adds. "A little consideration goes a long way from the perspective of both the person who has cancer and the one who works with him or her.”
If, after weighing your options, you decide to share your thyroid cancer diagnosis with your employer, consider doing so early in the course of your treatment. That way, you'll be able to devote your energy to getting better. | <urn:uuid:5eb53693-ac10-42b5-b949-f8cdebcb4779> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.everydayhealth.com/thyroid-cancer/thyroid-cancer-work.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969958 | 1,167 | 1.515625 | 2 |
You Can’t Bargain About Global Warming with Chemistry and Physics
The UN’s big climate conference ended Saturday in Cancún, with claims of modest victory. “The UN climate talks are off the life-support machine,” said Tim Gore of Oxfam. “Not as rancorous as last year’s train wreck in Copenhagen,” wrote the Guardian. Patricia Espinosa, the Mexican foreign minister who brokered the final compromise, described it as “the best we could achieve at this point in a long process.”
The conference did indeed make progress on a few important issues: the outlines of financial aid for developing countries to help them deal with climate change, and some ideas on how to monitor greenhouse gas emissions in China and India. But it basically ignored the two crucial questions: How much carbon will we cut, and how fast?
On those topics, one voice spoke more eloquently than all the 9,000 delegates, reporters, and activists gathered in Cancún.
And he wasn’t even there. And he wasn’t even talking about climate.
Barack Obama was in Washington, holding a press conference to discuss the liberal insurgency against his taxation agreement with the Republicans. He said he’d fought hard for a deal and resented the criticism. He harked back to the health-care fight when what his press secretary had called the “professional left” (and Rahm Emanuel had called “retards”) scorned him for not winning a “public option.” They were worse than wrong, he said; they were contemptible, people who wanted to “be able to feel good about ourselves, and sanctimonious about how pure our intentions are and how tough we are.” Consider Franklin Delano Roosevelt, he continued: when he started Social Security it only covered widows and orphans. Medicare, at its start, only helped a relative few. Sanctimonious purists would have considered them “betrayals of some abstract ideal.” And yet they grew.
It was powerful and interesting stuff, especially coming from a man who ran on abstract ideals. (I have t-shirts on which are printed nothing but his name and abstract ideals.) I don’t know enough about health-care policy or tax policy to be sure whether he’s making a good call or not, though after listening to much of Bernie Sanders’s nearly nine-hour near-filibuster I have my doubts.
I do know the one place where the president’s reasonable compromises simply won’t work — a place where we have absolutely no choice but to steer by abstract ideals. That place is the climate.
The terms of the climate change conundrum aren’t set by contending ideologies, whose adherents can argue till the end of time about whether tax cuts create jobs or kill them. In the case of global warming, chemistry rules, which means there are lines, hard and fast. Those of you who remember your periodic table will recall how neat that can be. There’s no shading between one element and the next. It’s either gallium or it’s zinc. There’s no zallium, no ginc. You might say that the elements are, in that sense, abstract ideals.
So are the molecules those elements combine to form. Take carbon dioxide (CO2), the most politically charged molecule on Earth. As the encyclopedia says: “At standard pressure and temperature the density of carbon dioxide is around 1.98 kg/m3, about 1.5 times that of air. The carbon dioxide molecule (O=C=O) contains two double bonds and has a linear shape.” Oh, and that particular molecular structure traps heat near the planet that would otherwise radiate back out into space, giving rise to what we call the greenhouse effect.
As of January 2008, our best climatologists gave us a number for how much carbon in the atmosphere is too much. At concentrations above 350 parts per million (ppm), a NASA team insisted, we can’t have a planet “similar to the one on which civilization developed and to which life on earth is adapted.” We’re already past that; we’re at 390 ppm. Which is why 2010 will be the warmest year on record, almost a degree Celsius above the planet’s natural average, according to federal researchers. Which is why the Arctic melted again this summer, and Russia caught fire, and Pakistan drowned.
So here’s the thing: Just as in Copenhagen, Obama’s delegation in Cancún has been arguing for an agreement that would limit atmospheric concentrations of CO2 to 450 parts per million, and the cuts they’ve been proposing might actually produce a world of about 550 parts per million.
Why have they been defying the science? The answer isn’t complicated: because it’s politically difficult. As chief negotiator Todd Stern said last year in Copenhagen, “We’re very, very mindful of the importance of our domestic legislation. That’s a core principle for me and everyone else working on this. You can’t jeopardize that.”
In other words, if we push too hard the Senate will say no, and the oil companies will be really, really pissed. So we’ll take the easy way. We’ll negotiate with nature, and with the rest of the world, the same way we negotiate with the Republicans.
It’s completely understandable; in fact, it’s even more understandable now that the GOP has increased its muscle in Congress. In that context, even the tepid text drafted in Cancún goes too far. Four Republican Senators sent Obama a letter earlier this month telling him to stop using any foreign aid funds to tackle climate change. If I were Obama I’d want to make some kind of deal, and consider any deal as the start down a path to better things.
The problem, again, is the chemistry and the physics. They don’t give us much time, and they’re bad at haggling. If we let this planet warm much longer, scientists tell us that we’ll lose forever the chance of getting back to 350. That means we’ll lose forever the basic architecture of our planet with its frozen poles. Already the ocean is turning steadily more acidic; already the atmosphere is growing steadily wetter, which means desertifying evaporation in arid areas and downpour and deluge elsewhere.
Political reality is hard to change, harder than ever since the Supreme Court delivered its Citizens United decision and loosed floods of more money into our political world. But physics and chemistry are downright impossible to shift. Physics and chemistry don’t bargain. So the president, and all the rest of us, had really better try a little harder. The movement we’ve launched at 350.org has spread around the world, but it needs to get much stronger. Because this one time, in the usually messy conduct of human affairs, reaching an abstract ideal is our only hope.
Bill McKibben is Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College and founder of 350.org. His latest book is Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet. He recently was awarded the prestigious Puffin Prize. To listen to a TomCast audio interview in which McKibben discusses various kinds of global-warming denial, click here or, to download it to your iPod, here. | <urn:uuid:f3a75dce-7b3a-43df-94ce-a5e629a0cddc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://revista-amauta.org/2010/12/everything-is-negotiable-except-with-nature/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94839 | 1,586 | 1.5 | 2 |
280 Broadway, 4th Fl
Newburgh, NY 12550
The mission of our organization is to assist the Bangladeshi people in uplifting themselves out of poverty. We provide people with opportunities to take control of their future.
By teaching a young boy basic computer skills so he can obtain a job at business after he graduates from college, teaching a young girl how to sew and make her own clothes so that she make an income that will support her parents, installing a sanitary latrine so a mother does not have to wash her clothes in her own excrement in the river or by giving a her easy access to clean drinking water so that she does not have to see her children afflicted with skin lesions caused by arsenic contamination, our aim is to empower people, especially the youth, into taking their lives in their control by providing them with opportunities within their reach that will improve their lives
Children & Youth, Health & Disease, Global Relief, Women | <urn:uuid:f793c97b-912f-4ad3-bcee-454a069e3cc7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.goodsearch.com/nonprofit/maaws-for-global.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971759 | 193 | 1.585938 | 2 |
By Alwyn Scott
SEATTLE (Reuters) - An escalating series of mishaps on Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner has dealt engineers pushing for a new contract a strong card to play at the negotiating table.
The engineers are considered by aviation experts to be crucial to a safety review of the 787 that the Federal Aviation Administration launched last week after a fire, fuel leaks and other failures sparked widespread fears about the new jet.
The safety concerns threatened to turn into a full-blown crisis for Boeing on Wednesday when Japan's two leading airlines grounded their 24 Dreamliner passenger jets when one of the aircraft made an emergency landing after instruments indicated a battery error and smoke. [ID:nL1E9CGFCI] The Japanese aircraft account for nearly half the 50 Dreamliners now flying.
On Wednesday, the union made a "best and final" offer to Boeing, proposing to incorporate areas where the two sides had already agreed into the expired contract and extend it for four more years.
This would end "protracted and increasingly contentious negotiations that appear headed for a strike," the union said, and allow Boeing and its workers "to focus on reaffirming confidence and proving the 787 is the reliable and safe product employees know it to be."
Boeing said it was reviewing the offer and talks would continue Thursday.
The news came as the FAA required airlines to stop flying 787s, and Boeing CEO Jim McNerney said the company would use all of its resources to find answers to the problem quickly.
The FAA action, and its review, come after an extraordinary string of mishaps, including a battery fire, two fuel leaks, three electrical faults, a cracked cockpit windscreen, an engine oil leak and brake problems that have raised safety concerns with the new carbon-plastic composite aircraft.
Experts said a walkout by engineers would impede both the safety review and Boeing's ambitious effort to double production of the 787 this year because key people with knowledge of the aircraft and the clearance to certify that production lines are meeting FAA requirements would be taken away.
"The engineers have to be involved," said R. John Hansman, a professor of aeronautics and astronautics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Nobody at the FAA knows this airplane as well as the engineers who were involved in the design and testing."
STRIKE WOULD SLOW REVIEW
Boeing has said it has engineers in California and elsewhere who can work on planes if the union-represented engineers walk out. Some Boeing managers also have the necessary high-level clearance to certify aircraft, according to officials at the union and industry experts.
However, before it could use replacement engineers either for production or the review, Boeing would need to convince the Federal Aviation Administration that those workers have the same skills as the union members, Boeing and the FAA said.
Obtaining FAA approval would slow the safety review, which is already expected to take months.
"Under the rules, Boeing would need to submit a plan to the FAA to show that any replacement workers brought in to work on certification issues would be as capable as those they replaced, and the FAA would need to approve it, for the 787 review to go on," an FAA spokesperson said.
"Anytime any company has labor issues or is in bankruptcy, we would normally heighten surveillance of the compliance" with FAA certification rules.
Boeing declined to comment further on how it would handle the review or production during a strike, although industry experts said it might have more people in reserve who have the high-level FAA authorization to conduct the review or work on planes.
"We don't generally talk publicly about contingency for a strike because we are focused on getting an agreement," Boeing spokesman Doug Alder said.
For its part, the union says the safety review needs to include engineers who oversaw the original plane certification, or the review will not be credible.
"I don't see how you could do that review without having the key people present to participate," said Ray Goforth, executive director of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, or SPEEA.
PLANE PRODUCTION MIGHT CONTINUE
Boeing may still produce aircraft if the engineers walk out. During a 40-day SPEEA strike in 2000, Boeing produced 19 planes, according to union records.
Boeing made clear last Friday that it could call on contingent workers from its wider operations, which include not just airplanes, but defense, space and security businesses.
"We are the Boeing company and I have access to significant resources across the entire corporation," Mike Delaney, a vice president of engineering and a member of Boeing's labor negotiating team, said during a news conference call.
There also is potential for the two sides to strike a deal.
Boeing made a contract offer on Friday that improved raises for the engineers to between 4 percent and 5 percent a year from 3 percent to 4.5 percent.
But SPEEA said it views the latest offer as making across-the-board pay and benefit cuts at "a time when Boeing is posting record profits and lavishing pay raises and bonuses upon its executives."
The FAA told Reuters it has started to work with Boeing to assemble teams for the safety review. The teams ordinarily would include the relatively few union-represented engineers with high-level FAA authorization to certify the plane is in compliance with FAA safety rules, the FAA said.
If those people are on strike, then the review could not call on those most familiar with the design and manufacturing of the plane. The team likely would draw on some replacement workers, who would need to be approved by the FAA, the FAA said.
Hansman, the MIT professor, who also serves on an FAA advisory committee, said replacement workers who have not dealt with the 787 before could turn to technical records and drawings.
"But that will take them a lot more time," he added.
SERIES OF FAULTS
The FAA, Boeing and SPEEA say the 787 is safe to fly and that minor problems are common when new types of jets first start operating. Airlines and analysts also back that view.
The National Transportation Safety Board has launched a separate investigation into the battery fire that occurred on a Japan Airlines jet in Boston.
The NTSB said on Wednesday it is sending a person to Japan to investigate the smoke and battery issues that grounded the fleets there.
The other incidents are considered normal by aviation experts, but their quick succession on relatively few planes has drawn attention to the problems.
Boeing stock closed down 3.4 percent at $74.34 on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Alwyn Scott; Editing by Patricia Kranz, Edward Tobin, Andre Grenon and Ken Wills) | <urn:uuid:f61ed4ac-331e-41b2-a817-58e7cddd3423> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wifc.com/news/articles/2013/jan/16/analysis-boeing-787-output-review-threatened-if-engineers-strike/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971209 | 1,383 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Helping you successfully deal with specific HR challenges.
Thankfully, these are not an everyday occurrence, but when they arise an outside perspective and intervention can be powerful.
As organisational psychologists, we can bring a wealth of experience and expertise to such issues as bullying and harassment, conflict situations (from shop-floor to boardroom), problematic management styles or serious performance issues.
The importance of good working relationships cannot be overstated. When a relationship is fraught, stress increases and performance drops. When people don’t, for whatever reason, have the resources to rectify the situation themselves then an external mediator is called for. We provide a mediation service that is built on many years of experience as professional counsellors, a deep understanding of the dynamics of relationships and a keen awareness of business needs.
In situations where allegations of bullying and harassment have been made and the situation has not been resolved at local level a formal investigation will be required. We conduct these investigations for our clients, in accordance with best practice and the client’s “Dignity at Work” policies and procedures. (If you do not have such a policy, we can assist.) In addition to objectivity, fairness and natural justice we believe investigations should be marked by sensitivity (it’s a stressful time for all parties involved) and be conducted as expeditiously as possible. Also, our investigation reports are clear, concise and highly accessible.
Support for victims of bullying
The impact of bullying and harassment on an individual can be quite devastating. Self-confidence and self-belief can evaporate. Victims therefore very often need understanding support before, during and/or after making a formal complaint or through or after an investigation process. We provide coaching support so that the victim can not only leave the bullying experience behind but learn and grow through it.
Bullying and harassment cannot be tolerated in the workplace (or elsewhere) yet it doesn’t follow that perpetrators (whether they have ‘pleaded guilty’ or found so by a formal investigation) cannot be re-instated as respected and valuable members of the team. Our service assists the perpetrator to clearly see the impact of their behaviour, accept full responsibility for it and to acquire more effective social skills for working with and through others.
We can facilitate you in becoming an effective coach through learning a positive approach to motivating and facilitating change in others.
Conflict is inevitable in the workplace. It can, if managed effectively, be a source of creative solutions, strengthening of relationships and the reinforcement of trust. If however the conflict is ignored, glossed over or managed ineffectively it can be destructive of relationships, trust and productivity. Negative conflict at senior management level magnifies these destructive forces on the business.
Individualised Performance Management
There are situations where a staff member is a rich resource to the business (e.g. has significant technical expertise) but whose style/behaviour is such that there is much ‘collateral damage’, especially in relationships and team cohesion. The dilemma is this: does the business lose the resource or lose other people? We have devised what has proven to be a highly impactful approach to such situations, essentially a behaviour modification programme. Through focused coaching and support, and an individually designed regular peer feedback system, the person develops new patterns of behaving and relating so that their skills are fully available to the business and negative perceptions of the person are quickly replaced.
Critical Incident Stress Management
In certain sectors and services there is a risk that staff may be exposed to critical incidents with the concomitant risk that they could develop post-traumatic stress disorder (P.T.S.D). If this is a concern of yours we can assist you to put in place a total C.I.S.M. programme and provide the necessary education and training for staff. We can also offer a post-incident Psychological Debriefing Service.
Counselling Skills for Managers
In some organisations counselling skills are a necessary part of the managers’ toolkit. If this applies in your business then we can provide the necessary training in counselling skills, ensuring that people know when it is appropriate to use them and when it is not. In addition, we can provide (or support your own) E.A.P. services. | <urn:uuid:72962141-84f7-4bba-b7f4-af4a4c8d0512> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kinchlyons.ie/additional-services/hr-challenges | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951244 | 878 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Fish and Seafood Sales and Marketing Jobs
As with any other business, aquaculture involves the transfer of goods from one entity to another.
The list of sales and marketing roles in the aquaculture industry is plentiful. To begin, there is the basic role of finding customers for the aquatic species being grown or harvested. There are also a number of opportunities as a supplier to those involved in aquaculture. Fish farms need fish feed, fertilizer and other additives to run their operations efficiently. Lastly, sales and marketing personnel ore often employed at the research centers or associations to seek funding, market their time and abilities in their facilities to corporations or find opportunities to put their learning to practice in real-world situations.
Job titles range from entry level sales and marketing positions to upper level management.
Sales and marketing personnel must be able to meet with customers routinely to ensure their needs are being met and product is being delivered in the required timelines. In addition, aquaculture salesmen typically must provide technical expertise to their customers in their specific areas as well. Generating new customers for both seafood and industry supplies is critical to the sales role as well.
Most sales and marketing positions require a bachelor's degree.
Aquaculture is a global industry, so many of these positions require an individual to speak other languages in addition to English. If the applicant only speaks English, s/he must be able to demonstrate the ability to work well in diverse cultures.
Salary expectations vary significantly based on an almost endless number of possibilities. A general starting point is between US$30,000 and US$40,000 annually. As with other industries, some aquaculture sales and marketing positions are just salaried while others involve significant commissions and bonuses. Experience in either the sales profession or in other aquaculture roles dictates general starting points, but the initiative and abilities of the individual will play a large point in earning potential.
Sales and marketing roles exist in a wide range of expectations and working conditions. Travel to visit customer operations is an integral part of these roles. But these positions also require a significant amount of office preparation time, involved in such activities as generating lists of potential customers, developing and maintaining sales forecasts or marketing plans and working with research personnel to translate their activities into business opportunities. The salesman or marketer must be able to attend aquaculture conferences to interact with industry personnel to stay abreast of the latest and greatest techniques and ideas. | <urn:uuid:b59ca544-3a95-4125-b8b7-5123214f5a12> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jobmonkey.com/aquaculturejobs/fish-sales-marketing-jobs.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95379 | 497 | 1.703125 | 2 |
As ThinkProgress points out, the right-wing hagiography of the Gipper leaves out the fact that he was “a serial tax raiser” and “nearly tripled the federal budget deficit” and “gave amnesty to 3 million undocumented immigrants.”
His overall environmental legacy as President is very poor, as Grist laid out in great deal here. The only real exception was his work in helping to save the ozone layer. But his clean energy legacy is an unmitigated disaster that we are still suffering the consequences from today. Let’s run through the history. | <urn:uuid:641f7927-6812-4d42-93d4-bff15b91e966> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thinkprogress.org/climate/issue/?m=20110206&mobile=nc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983333 | 125 | 1.539063 | 2 |
One of the sessions I most enjoyed when I attended the TestBash on 22nd March was Tony Bruce's talk on testers and negativity. In his fantastic disarming style Tony discussed why testers are sometimes seen as negative by both themselves and the business, and whether that 'negativity' affects their lives outside work. Tony made a great point in that a tester role should be a positive one to provide information, why is that seen as negative?
A comment that I made in the ensuing discussion, that I think is worth expanding on, is how important the subject of perceived risk is to this scenario. I don't see testing as a negative role. Like Tony I see testing as an information provider to furnish the business with the information required to make important decisions. Those decisions will inevitably involve an element of risk adoption by the business and it is inevitable that each stakeholder in those decisions will have their own perception on the levels of risk involved. What I have seen is that in situations where testers are perceived as 'negative' could be more appropriately explained as a difference in the testers perception of the risks involved the development and the level of risk adopted in the decisions taken by the business. If the tester disagrees with the business decision makers regarding the risks of problems such as software bugs, delays in the development process and eventually customer dissatisfaction then this can result in negativity both from the tester in the perception towards them.
I see many reasons why testers and product owners or business decision makers may not agree on the levels of risk being taken in a product development. When testing professionals encounter a situation where there is a large disparity between our own acceptable risk level and that of the business as a whole then our position can feel and appear to be very negative. If this occurs, rather than assuming that we're the only ones with full visibility of the situation and belligerently sticking to our negative stance, I think that instead we might want to ask ourselves some questions in an attempt to explain this disparity in perceived risk.
- Am I overestimating the risks?
- Is the business underestimating the risks
- Ultimately - can I put up with it?
Am I overestimating the risks
In his book 'Risk, the Science and Politics of Fear', Dan Gardner gives an excellent explanation of how thousands of years of human evolution have formed our mental processes regarding risk.
'Our brains were simply not shaped by the world as we know it now, or even the agrarian one that preceded it. They are exclusively the creation of the Old Stone Age'
One consequence of this is how our brains make immediate risk assessments based on our ability to recall relevant experiences. This is a natural part of our 'System one' or 'gut' decision making process that has evolved to make quick decisions in risky situations. This is contrasted with the processes of logical reasoning which forms 'system two' or 'head' thinking which are slower but more accurate. We are pre-disposed to considering a situation to be risky if we are able to recall similar situations where problems have arisen. This recollection can be through our own experiences or through 'stories' conveyed to us by others, a concept known as the Availability Heuristic. As Gardner points out, whilst this mechanism worked well for our ancestors in avoiding danger, the mechanism is flawed when it comes to modern society. The huge amounts of information 'available' to us relative to a situation can provide an unrealistic perception of the actual risks present. To paraphrase Gardner for this context, we are running around testing software with brains that are perfectly evolved for avoiding dangerous animals while hunting and gathering.
Testers work revolves around finding problems with software. We find our own bugs, we read articles on testing and software problems and, when we meet other testers, we share stories of bugs and software problems. We will also typically spend more time investigating and examining problem behaviour than anyone else. An inevitable result is that the experiences driving our own availability heuristics' will be inclined to over-emphasise the likelihood of issues. The examples that are most readily available to us when facing new situations are likely to be based around problems that we have previously seen. We will have a natural tendancy to possess higher levels of perceived risk than other roles. The business, on the other hand, don't see all of the bugs. Their experiences of bugs are often masked behind figures, reports and metrics, which might convey summary information, however the personal experience of issues encountered is absent and so, therefore, is the 'System one' perception of risk.
From a tester standpoint, a rather un-palatable conclusion that we could draw from this is that, in the situation where we have provided excellent status information to the business, they could well be better placed than us to accurately assess the risks involved in releasing the software. This is because they are more likely to be operating in a 'System two' process of logical reasoning based on the facts, whereas we will be strongly influenced by our 'System one' processes to assume problems on the basis of prior experience.
Testers role and experiences will also drive their assessment of risk to be heavily based around software bugs. The business decision makers, if they are doing their jobs effectively, will have visibility of other categories of risk which must be considered when making project and release decisions. Risks such as missing market opportunities, losing investor confidence and missing opportunity for useful feedback are all factors outside of the scope of the quality of the code which must be considered.
The somewhat enlightening conclusion for testers for me is this - we need to be able to let go of the worry. If you have done the best job that you can to provide the business with information, and they are making a decision based on that information, then you have done your job. Understand that your manifold experiences, both personal and second-hand, of failures in software causes your gut to see problems everywhere and you may not be best placed to accurately assess the overall risk involved in a software release. You may reject this idea, claiming that you are aware of biases yet not susceptible. As Gardner points out, this is a common problem
'Psychologists have found that people not only accept the idea that other people's thinking may be biased, they tend to overestimate the extent of that bias. But almost everyone resists the notion that their own thinking may also be biased.'
Sometimes as a tester you have to identify when you've been too close to too many problems to be thinking rationally, and work to providing the information to let others make the risk decisions. The folks making those decisions will hopefully have access to multiple information sources, in addition to the output of testing, which helps to balance biases in the decisions being made.
Is the business Underestimating the risks?
Of course there are two sides to every disagreement. Business decisions are made on the basis of perceived risk, which is based on the information available to the decision maker. It may be that the decision maker is actually adopting a riskier approach than they think due to poor, or poorly presented information, or their own biases. Underestimation of potential risks by the business will also result in a differential in perceived risk between business/management and testers. In their 1988 paper on "Underestimation Bias" in business decision making "An availability bias and professional judgement", Laurette Dubé-Rioux and J. Edward Russo suggest that underestimation as a bias is again heavily influenced by availability, or the lack thereof.
"After evaluating such alternative explanations as category redefenition, we conclude that availability is a major cause, though possibly not the sole cause, of the underestimation bias"
In summary their findings were that decision makers tended to group risks for which they had low visibility into catch all categories and then underestimate the likelihood of anything in those categories occurring, with the lack of available examples of those risks proposed as the major cause of this underestimation,
If the perceived level of risk adopted by the business is based on low availability, and actually differs significantly from the real levels, then we may be able to help through providing better information to inform risk decisions. It is therefore our responsibility to convey as clearly as possible the relevant information to allow an informed decision. As the perception of risk is heavily influenced by our availability of relevant experiences or stories, it follows that in order to convey risk information then the most effective mechanism would therefore to be through the sharing of experience, rather than the presentation of raw figures. I've certainly encountered the situation when testing poor quality code where simply describing a few of the issues encountered can have a much greater impact on the recipient than the presentation of bug counts. Metrics and status reports can convey a certain level of information, however when backed up with examples of the nature of issues being encountered this creates a much more personal response and will have a much more significant impact on the perceived risk in the recipient. I've been in more than one situation where a "bug story" that I have conveyed to a manager has been subsequently repeated by them when reporting project status externally.
In short - if you want to influence perceived risk, then start telling stories.
Before doing so, however, consider whether it will benefit the business. As I've stated above it could be that our levels of perceived risk are unrepresentatlvely high compared to the actual risk, in which case telling stories of every bug found may simply result in the business moving closer to our 'System one' position away from a more realistic assessment of the situation.
Can I put up with it?
In my list of questions at the start if the post, you may wonder why I've included - 'can I put up with it?' , but specifically haven't included is 'how do I change things?'. The simple answer is that I believe that, whilst improving accuracy of perceived risk may be possible, changing the level of risk adopted by the business is unlikely to be something that a tester can achieve.
In a fascinating experiment, researchers into risk behaviour placed cameras at an open level crossing and then recorded the speeds of cars travelling through and the correlated risk of accident. The researchers then cut back the trees around the crossing to improve visibility and repeated the experiment. The results revealed a huge amount about human risk adoption in that, due to the reduced perceived risk, drivers increased their speed on average such that the same proportion of vehicles were at risk of an accident as before with no net safety benefit from improving visibility.
Behaviour was compared before and after sightline enhancement achieved by the removal of quadrant obstructions. At the passive crossing, sightline enhancement resulted in the earlier preview of approach quadrants. The perceived risk of approach to this crossing appeared to be reduced, resulting in consistently higher approach speeds after sightline enhancement. This performance benefit in response to the intrinsic ,effect upon safety realised by sightline enhancement yielded no net safety benefit
The implication of such results is that people will adopt a predefined level of risk to situations and will adjust their behaviour to reflect this based on new information, a phenomenon known as Risk Compensation. This led to interesting consequences for car manufacture, for example, where safety features don't result in improved safety, but instead result in increased net driving speeds and riskier driving behaviour.
This also has pretty fundamental implications to software projects. Essentially, if this phenomenon applies in business, then every action taken by a testing team to improve testing and the confidence in a product, will result in a change in behaviour by the business to operate faster or implement more features at the same risk level, rather than using the improvement to reduce risk. For example, in the case of introducing test automation, if automated tests are seen as providing an equivalent level of confidence as humans executing the same 'cases' then the response by the business is likely to be to drive for faster development and lower levels of manual testing on the back of the perceived confidence boost. If the improvements by the tester were driven by a disparity between their own acceptable risk levels and those of the business, the outcome is likely to prove very frustrating for them.
Hence the question 'can I put up with it?' - if you as a tester are at odds with your company over what constitutes acceptable risk, get used to it, is unlikely to change and any improvements that you make to try to address it could actually make things worse.
The understanding of risk and personal bias is a complex subject. In the testing world we need to try to ensure th at our risk perception is based as much as possible on "System two" thinking and not 'System one' feelings driven by the availability heuristic. Avoiding such biases is hard, however in any situation we should be asking ourselves if our position is based on evidence arising from testing performed, or whether we simply have a 'gut' feeling that there will be problems. In considering risks are we calling to mind particuarly memorable problems from other projects that could be affecting a realistic assessment?
This problem is not limited to software testing, a 2005 paper discussing the problem of decision making in the medical profession provided these key guidelines for avoiding the availability heuristic:-
- Be aware of base rates (more appropriate for medical diagnosis, however the prevalence of issues arising from live use is an important yardstick)
- Consider whether data are truly relevant rather than just salient
- Seek reasons why your decisions may be wrong and entertain alternative hypotheses
- Ask questions that would disprove, rather than confirm, your current hypothesis
- Remember you are wrong more often than you think
I think that these provide sound general advice. A feeling of constant negativity is not a healthy or sustainable situation for any role. Being aware of your biases and using these guidelines you may find that your negative position eases somewhat in the light of evidence. If you are doing your job and the business are happy then maybe you are overemphasising risks, and you need to lighten up and lose some of that negativity.
If, on the other hand, you are confident in your assessments, you are providing excellent information into your company's risk decisions, and you are still finding yourself in a very 'negative' position relative to the rest of the business, I suggest you think long and hard about whether you are in the right place. As we've seen, your business is unlikely to change.
Risk, the science and politics of fear: Dan Gardner
Risk perception by Lennart Sjõberg
DRIVER RESPONSE TO IMPROVED LATERAL VISIBILITY: EVIDENCE OF USABILITY OF "RISK HOMEOSTASIS THEORY".WARD, Nicholas J.; Husat Research Institute, Loughborough Univ. of Tech., Leicestershire, United Kingdom
Study: Airbags, antilock brakes not likely to reduce accidents, injuries - Emil Venere, Purdue University News
Five pitfalls in decisions about diagnosis and prescribing : Jill G Klein
Wikipedia - the Availability Heuristic
An availability Bias in Professional Judgement : Laurette Dubé-Rioux and J. Edward Russo Cornell University 1988 | <urn:uuid:1cb048ae-bb1f-4a9a-bc4b-c5abcaa2ea1e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.a-sisyphean-task.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958855 | 3,070 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Problem Properties assessed in Boston
DORCHESTER, Mass. (WHDH) -- The effectiveness of Mayor Menino’s problem properties task force was examined one year after it was started in an effort to clean up dilapidated homes.
Nine Inwood Street in Dorchester used to be an eyesore. But problem properties are more than that. Studies have shown they lower public trust and increase crime.
“It’s a lot more than just arresting our way out of the problem. Arrests have to happen when criminal activity occurs in a neighborhood. But things like this quality of life and problem properties really make a difference in a neighborhood that is rising or a neighborhood that is falling,” said Ed Davis, police commissioner.
Today is report card day. One hundred forty-four homes have been investigated and 18 were designated as problem properties. Forty-six are still under investigation. Mayor Menino said it's working.
“Overall, there's been a 55 percent drop in police activities to our problem properties, reducing crime and blight and raising the quality of life in Boston,” said Menino.
This home in Dorchester is a perfect example of the changes that can be made, especially with a cooperating landlord.
"If you're a homeowner and you want help to fix up your property, now the problem properties is taken care of and you’re looking at your own property, we're there to help,” said neighborhood development director, Sheila Dillon.
As part of this initiative, police are arresting problem tenants, security cameras are being installed, and city leaders are removing abandoned cars. | <urn:uuid:9bd5e9f7-98fa-4880-bac8-ff3c3ac446ae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/boston/12008726166377/problem-properties-assessed-in-boston/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965472 | 337 | 1.570313 | 2 |
In the past year I met a few travelers that liked to call themselves “digital nomads”: people who can travel the globe and work remotely from an internet connection, everywhere in the world. However, as I was enjoying some remote mountains and almost missed my weekly deadline, I have a couple things to say about this whole concept of “digital nomadism”. It may work, for sure, as we have seen many successful examples and life stories all over the world. But believe me, it does not work anywhere. It does not work for sure in the mountains of Tajikistan, I guarantee, where it is also difficult for example to find a daily shower or a flush toilet. And it becomes a very excruciating exercise when the speed of the internet connection you are using resembles those dial-up modems I remember using around 1995. It just becomes worst than 8 full hours at the office when outside the sun shines summertime.
When I try to remember such self-proclaimed digital nomads that the world can be slightly wilder than the average location in Thailand or South America, I am generally given a strange look. Kind of like I doubted the universal power of the internet, or I just unknowingly touched a very taboo topic.
Personally, I believe that traveling the world has to be disconnected from the internet. I mean, if we are lucky enough to make some sort of living by leading a nomadic lifestyle, we do not have to limit our movements only to those locations where a good connection is available. Instead, it looks like the internet connectivity may monopolize our movements and make us digital slaves, not nomads. I have seen so many remote places charging deadly high amounts for painstakingly slow connections… so slow it almost hurts to use them. And still, I can see travelers trying to type away at a monitor that never loads, and neither refreshes.
To be able to work and still enjoy traveling to off the beaten path locations the way I want, I generally prepare my writing some weeks before. I schedule the posts thanks to modern technology, and forget about them for a while. However, life is unpredictable and sometimes I am not able to write as much as I would when I have to organize my movements across the badlands of the world. And it is in those cases that I realize that limiting ourselves to the safety net of a fast internet connection is a big mistake. It feels like putting a condom around the travel libido, stopping the opportunities to make great encounters, and just feels plain antiseptic.
Nevertheless, people typing away at fast speed internet points in Buenos Aires or Berlin still like to think they have a different perception of the world, and enjoy some sort of traveling freedom. I certainly do not want to criticize any lifestyle choice, but I feel much luckier when there is scarce electricity, I cannot charge my smartphone, my laptop has a dead battery, and the internet is some sort of invention that still has to reach the part of the world where I am luckily spending my day. Free from the worries of the digital world. Free to make my travel experience the same vibrant moment of incredible enthusiasm that got me out of my hometown first a bunch of years ago.
That feeling still seems to resist when I disconnect from the internet world, and pay more attention to the hidden corners of the real one. What is your opinion? | <urn:uuid:c1970508-4ddc-4115-93e9-77ca8cc5715a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vagablogging.net/the-limits-of-digital-vagabonding.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955001 | 686 | 1.570313 | 2 |
The main changes introduced with effect from 6 April 1993 were
The rate at which ACT was accounted for on a distribution made:
Income arising from distributions other than a FID was the sum
of a distribution and tax credit, and was referred to as dividend
income. Dividend income in the hands of a non-higher rate taxpayer
was liable to IT at the lower rate and not the basic rate. Where
the income was a FID, see
The tax credit carried by a distribution other than a FID was still equal to the ACT rate. However, for the purposes of computing the tax credit for 1993-94 the ACT rate was deemed to be 1/4 of the distribution (being 20% of the sum of the distribution and deemed ACT), although special rules applied in certain circumstances. | <urn:uuid:58ca0d40-0d03-47dc-ab48-d395ff50453d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/ctmanual/CTM20510.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977568 | 165 | 1.8125 | 2 |
On September 26, 2011, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the Secure Remote Payment Council will co-sponsor an invitation-only symposium focused on security issues for remote payments. During this complimentary event, thought leaders from throughout the payments industry, law enforcement, academia and government will convene to discuss the following issues related to Internet, mobile and card not present payments:
- How secure are internet and mobile payments?
- What are the issues associated with using consumer debit instruments for remote payments?
- How can merchants and financial institutions decrease their losses associated with such payments?
Over the past few years, the payments market in the U.S. has experienced a surge in data compromises. Since 2004, there have been about three breaches for every U.S. resident. Some of the stolen information is then used for fraudulent payment purchases, especially through the non-face to face channels (remote) such as Internet and mobile. Fraud management systems have not necessarily been sufficiently upgraded to handle new payment technologies. While payment providers continue to invest heavily in risk mitigation programs for legacy payments, there is an urgent need for upgraded security for these new payment methods as well. These issues are particularly important at this juncture amidst a growing list of threats and compromises announced almost each and every day: RSAs SecurID, Sony’s PlayStation and Michael’s craft stores, among many others. The safety and vitality of the retail payments market is under assault and a wake-up call for market participants is needed. We urgently need to get ahead of the problem if the industry is going to continue to serve customers in a convenient and efficient fashion.
Please check back to this website for the agenda and updates. | <urn:uuid:2f9f147b-0ca7-4c76-bc45-07995319100f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://chicagofed.org/webpages/events/2011/fraud_symposium.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956312 | 345 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Praying in the new year
Thousands of Christians brought in the New Year on their knees in prayer. On New Years Eve believers from all sorts of denominations, and in locations across the UK, came together to intercede and ask God that 2011 would be a year of opportunity and change in the lives of individuals and transformation in communities.
Several hundred Peterborough residents gathered at an ecumenical service earlier in the evening on the 31st at the Cathedral to pray for their city. This annual act of commitment emerged from the city’s heavy involvement with Hope 2008 and is a time for churches of all denominations to come together with a shared vision for mission.
Caroline Cameron, a member of the Hope for Peterborough, said: “We are asking God how he wants us to engage with Peterborough. We committed ourselves to working together across denominational boundaries and making the love of Christ credible through offering practical service to the city. ”
An all-night New Years eve prayer event in Watford saw many young people challenging the usual stereotypes by prioritising time with God over spending the night out on the town with their peers. Led by Mike Pilavachi and Andy Croft, the prayer and worship service went non-stop from 10pm till 6am at the Soul Survivor Watford warehouse.
Watchnight services are held throughout the Black Majority Church on New Years eve and it is a time of celebration. The tradition with roots in the night spent waiting for emancipation on January 1st 1862, has now become the biggest church attendance prayer night of the year, the importance only beaten by Easter and Christmas. Jesus House in Brent Cross held a Watchnight prayer and praise service which ran into the morning and it was packed to capacity.
Pastor Bolanle Ojeh from Jesus House, said: 'Watchnight is a time when we come together to receive direction and thank God for the year that has passed and for the year ahead. We believe that if we listen to His voice and do what he tells us that we can receive strength to face anything that comes at us in the future. There will be an opportunity, as the body of Christ, to see a harvest in 2011 and we will see many getting to know Jesus.'
Roy Crowne, Executive Director of Hope Together said: 'On BBC1’s version of The Nativity at Christmas I was struck by a quote from a Rabbi, encouraging a young shepherd facing a crisis. He said: “Not to believe, is to live without hope.”'
'There have been many situations in families and communities in 2010 that have been desperate and at times have lacked a sense of hope. We look into this new year and things can seem bleak. But we are the ones, through Christ, who can be the people of hope and change things. In order to do this though, we must believe, have faith and it is crucial to pray.
'Visiting Peterborough Cathedral, Soul Survivor and then Jesus House brought home to me the differences in style and traditions that the people of God have. We may differ in the way we do things but we have a lot to learn from each other. Praying together and working together in a united purpose for the sake of those outside the Kingdom would certainly be life changing and community transforming.'
Hope Together is focusing on prayer at the beginning of this year and have provided resources and ideas designed for use at New Year and the week of prayer for Christian Unity, 18-25 January. | <urn:uuid:605fe698-a0a2-4ff2-9eed-8454a7033a66> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hopetogether.org.uk/Articles/238020/HOPE/Media/Press_releases/Praying_in_the.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961555 | 714 | 1.695313 | 2 |
U.S. House Passes Dangerous Unborn Victims of Violence Act
House Passes Dangerous Unborn Victims of Violence Act
H.R. 1997 Undermines Roe v. Wade, Does Nothing to Protect Women
February 26, 2004
New York, N.Y. - Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) President Gloria Feldt today denounced passage of H.R. 1997, the so-called Unborn Victims of Violence Act, by the House. She released the following statement:
"The so-called Unborn Victims of Violence Act (UVVA) is not intended to protect pregnant women or punish individuals who harm them. It is part of a deceptive anti-choice strategy to make women's bodies vessels by creating legal personhood for the fetus.
"Nowhere does this legislation mention the harm to the woman resulting from an involuntary termination of her pregnancy. Sponsors of the UVVA have made their ideological goal abundantly clear: when given the opportunity to vote for a substitute bill that had virtually identical criminal penalties but recognized the pregnant woman, rather than the fetus, as the victim, they voted against this alternative.
"The UVVA was created with the sole aim of undermining the 1973 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision, in which the Supreme Court ruled that 'the word "person" as used in the Fourteenth Amendment, does not include the unborn.' This bill elevates the legal status of a fetus to make it equal to that of the adult woman who actually suffers the primary injury. It is part of ongoing attempts to bestow personhood on the fetus by granting it separate legal rights equal to and independent of those of the pregnant woman.
"Violence against women, including pregnant women, is a significant problem in America, one that should be addressed. This bill does nothing but shift the focus away from real solutions by undermining women's health and reproductive freedoms."
Planned Parenthood Federation of America is the nation's largest and most trusted voluntary family planning organization. We believe that everyone has the right to choose when or whether to have a child -- and that every child should be wanted and loved. Planned Parenthood affiliates operate nearly 900 health centers nationwide, providing medical services and sexuality education for millions of women, men, and teenagers each year.
Hayley Rumback (202) 973-4975
House Passes Unborn Victims Legislation (AP)
Thursday, Feb 26, 2004
By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - The House voted Thursday to treat attacks on a pregnant woman as separate crimes against both her and the fetus she is carrying. Critics say it would undermine abortion rights by giving fetuses new federal legal status
Passage of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act was actively backed by the White House and President Bush's conservative supporters. Following enactment of the law banning "partial birth" abortions last year, the bill is this year's prime measure dealing with the unborn.
It passed 254-163 after the House rejected a Democratic-led alternative that would have increased penalties for attacks on pregnant women in which the fetus is injured or killed without conferring new rights on fetuses.
Backers further highlighted the bill by naming it in honor of Laci and Conner Peterson, the pregnant woman who was murdered in December, 2002, and her unborn child.
"There are two victims in these kinds of attacks," said Rep. Melissa Hart, R-Pa., chief sponsor of the legislation. "That is so clear from the Laci and Conner Peterson case."
Laci's husband Scott Peterson faces double murder charges under California's state unborn victims law. California is one of 29 states that have enacted such laws, and supporters said Congress needs to bring the federal government in line with state laws.
At a news conference after the vote, supporters showed a video in which Laci Peterson's mother, Sharon Rocha, urges Democratic presidential candidates John Kerry and John Edwards, "and every other senator who has refused to support it, to reconsider."
The measure would be applicable only when federal crimes -- such as terrorism, drug trafficking or offenses on federal land or on military bases -- are committed.
The White House expressed strong support for the legislation and opposed any "one-victim" alternatives such as that offered by Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. Her substitute, backed by most Democrats, fell 229-186.
Supporters denied that the bill was about abortion, pointing to language in the bill that specifically protects those carrying out legal abortions from prosecution. But the abortion issue dominated the debate.
"You deny personhood, which is a legal concept, to the unborn," Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., a strong opponent of abortion, said to critics of the bill. "Here's an opportunity to not restrict the liberty of a pregnant woman, but to enhance the sanctity of human life."
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins compared the bill to the ban on partial birth abortion and human cloning, saying it was "another example of pro-life legislation that is supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans" regardless of the stand on abortion.
But Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., said it would be the first time in federal law that a fetus would be recognized as having the same rights as the born. The bill "is not about shielding pregnant women," she said. "It is and has always been about undermining freedom of choice."
The House, said Kate Michelman, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, was "taking advantage of tragedy to promote the far-right agenda of trying to rob women of their right to choose."
The two sides also argued over language in the bill that defines "unborn child" as "a member of the species homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb."
Critics said that under this definition even a fertilized egg would have the same rights as the born, setting the stage for future challenges to abortion rights.
But those behind the bill noted that identical language was used in a 2000 bill that barred the execution of pregnant women. That bill passed the House 417-0 but didn't move in the Senate.
The House has also twice before, in 1999 and 2001, passed unborn victims bills, but in both those cases as well the Senate, where abortion rights lawmakers hold greater sway, did not take up the legislation.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., has pledged to bring up the bill soon, but it's uncertain whether he has the votes to pass it.
The bill also states that an offense does not require proof that the assailant had knowledge that the victim was pregnant. Hart noted that murder is a leading cause of death among pregnant women and in many cases the attack is made with the intention to kill the unborn child.
Related Article: an organization called CRACK pays "drug addicts" to use longterm birth-control or if they get sterilized. not clear how this organization gets someone to prove they are a "drug addict".
"Very little abortion should be tolerated, among our White race, while at the same time, abortion and birth control should be promoted as a powerful weapon, in the limitation of non-White birth. Overt support of both non-White population control and non-support of abortion for Whites, has the same desired effect."
- Tom Metzger, Director of White Aryan Resistance (WAR), from the website. | <urn:uuid:1eb73a34-8be4-410e-a7b4-8491d16250e9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mostlywater.org/node/1048 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952254 | 1,522 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Springfield Leader-Press, 7 August 1961, pages 11 & 12
Centennial week activities underway here
Blue angels are on hand for big show
"With ultra-modern exhibit shelters going up in the public square, the Blue Angels arriving at Municipal Airport and numerous visitors taking a [illegible] [pre]liminary arrangements for the Wilson’s Creek Battlefield Centennial observance Wednesday and Thursday created a lot of interest today.
"At midnight the square is to be closed to traffic except for city buses or emergency vehicles. Barricades will remain up until 10 a.m. Friday. Twenty-seven military exhibits will be on display on the square and in the first blocks of College, South, and St. Louis Streets which also will be closed to traffic.
"This morning work started on special display structures in the northwest and southeast parking quadrants of the square. Members of the Southwest Missouri Architects Association designed the shelters as their contribution to the centennial. Each structure is about 30 x 35 feet, constructed of portable steel framing and covered with polyethylene plastic.
"Most of the exhibits will be of the outdoor type that will not need protection against the weather. Among these will be missiles of the type used by the two United States astronauts in their recent flights. A Civil War Centennial panorama also will be at the Shrine Mosque Wednesday and Thursday.
"Crowds flocked to the battlefield throughout yesterday, particularly in the afternoon. Cars ran bumper to bumper there for some time as sightseers drove around the tract. Some estimated up to 12,000 persons were there during the day and evening some of them out of state tourists.
"About 800 persons were at the battlefield last night for a program sponsored by a group of residents of the area. First casualty of the Centennial observance came when A.R. Chilton member of the Wilson’s Creek Rebels, was hit during a skirmish of that group with the McDonald County militia. Paper wads and powder were used as ammunition and Chilton got a leg wound which put him on crutches today. He suffered a severe powder burn and flesh wound.
"Loyd Evans was MC for the program last night at the battlefield. Mrs. May Kennedy McCord played the guitar and sang. Former weatherman C. C. Williford spoke briefly and Mrs. Williford gave some whistling solos, Clifford Patterson sang several numbers. The bed of a truck was used for a stage and members of the audience sat on blankets or portable chairs they provided themselves.
"There will be free entertainment again tonight and tomorrow night at the battlefield on the Jack Glidewell land adjoining the 37 acre park on Bloody Hill. Preceding the program the Wilson’s Creek Rebels will skirmish at 6:30 p.m. The program will start shortly after 7 o’clock.
"Tomorrow’s activities will include a practice flight of the Blue Angels at Municipal Airport at 2 p.m. Since the airport will not hold all the automobiles expected to be at the exhibition of the Navy’s precision flight team Wednesday at 1 p.m. considerable parking is expected to be [on private land?]
"At least three of the radio stations here will broadcast the narration of the flight as given by an officer over the loud speaker at the airport. This will enable persons parked on the outskirts to tune in on their automobile radios and hear the same announcements as those parked within range of the speaker.
"A limited number of tickets went on sale this morning at the Shrine Mosque for the program there at 8 p.m. Wednesday by the SAC band chorus and drill team and the U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corps and Drill Team. There will be 460 free seats in the balcony at that performance.
"The DeMolays today were assisting the Junior Chamber of Commerce in selling Centennial souvenir booklets. They will continue until 5,000 booklets are sold.
"The Jaycees have posted signs on the Wilson’s Creek Battlefield Road. The signs start at Campbell Avenue at Highway M and continue at one mile intervals on that road and Highway ZZ. They are red and white and read ‘Wilson’s Creek Battlefield’ with an arrow pointing the direction.
"The Jaycees’ ‘Fly the Flag’ committee also urged that residents fly flags at their homes on Wednesday and Thursday."
For more information about the battle see Wilson's Creek : the second battle of the Civil War and the men who fought it by William Garrett Piston & Richard W. Hatcher III. For more information about this years' anniversary see the Park's website.
Find this article at | <urn:uuid:cf82ed46-edf2-46cd-8307-ce57229e56e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thelibrary.org/blogs/article.cfm?aid=1463&lid=62 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949931 | 970 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Can our minds really imagine nothing as in beyond the universe which is expanding alway in evry direction. And beyond that, Nothing. We have no reference for nothing because there is alway Something outside of nothing in our three demential world. Scientist tell use that every star has planets and the stars are countless. Can we really imagine countless? Lastly we are told there must be life because there are so many stars!
But what if we Are the only life. What if we are the only perfect match whereby all the elements along with perfect distance from the sun and a hugh outer planet which sucked in and absorbed countless meteors came together to support this carbon entity we call life. Imagine how truly fragile our life is viruses, molds, insect, poisons, heat, cold, radiation all have to be perfect for life to exist.
I used to be all thumbs now I'm all gums I love dictating my posts! | <urn:uuid:e4828c51-67c8-4865-868b-6b42cd8f8d8a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ipadforums.net/apple-ipad-discussions/off-topic/print/print-69918-can-you-imagine-nothing-there-really-life-out-there.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945061 | 189 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Chief among them was that there are "No homosexuals in Iran." That probably comes as a shock to the homosexuals featured in the three part CBC feature on gays in Iran (below) and homosexuals who are murdered by the Islamic republic.
Iran's treatment of homosexuals is sadly not uncommon. While many in the first world dispute over whether or not rights should be created so homosexuals may marry; very few call for gays to be executed or imprisoned. The third world is different. Just look at the (NOTE: LINK CURRENTLY DOWN) map and read the article about the primarily African and Islamic laws against gays. Gay author and reporter Bruce Bawer is an American who left the United States to escape what he saw as the Christian Right trying to limit his freedoms. What he encountered was a backwards culture which wanted him dead.
It is unfortunate that realpolitik is interfering with those who see themselves normally as the champion of "gay rights." Let all of us unite for the right to life for all people. | <urn:uuid:df33fd7a-a7ce-4fd4-be9b-e1c07488f05e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.geographictravels.com/2007/09/homosexuality-ahmadinejad-and-gap.html | 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 | 0.973409 | 203 | 1.609375 | 2 |
GOP Writer: Women Shouldn't Vote
National Review columnist John Derbyshire has made a name for himself saying really stupid things. Like when he lamented America's Hispanic "invasion," or called affirmative action "hideous," or criticized Virginia Tech victims.
His latest insane claim: Society would be better off if women didn’t vote. No really, he thinks that. The statement comes from the chapter "The Case Against Women’s Suffrage" from We Are Doomed: Reclaiming Conservative Pessimism.
When pressed about this view on a radio show yesterday, he replied:
(The) logic of that chapter, that chapter five in my book, rests on the proposition that women voting is bad for conservatism, and as a conservative, of course, I think that’s bad for society.
A ridiculous statement, of course, and one that does his party zero favors. The GOP is floundering; the last thing it needs is some bonehead publicly suggesting gender inequality as a party antidote.
So why provide him a high-profile platform in a major right-wing publication? News flash, Repubs: What's bad for conservatism is people like John Derbyshire. | <urn:uuid:66d4d181-08c5-41a9-93fa-0eab45f471dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.motherjones.com/riff/2009/10/derbyshires-latest-stupid-comment | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955256 | 249 | 1.523438 | 2 |
It isn’t often that one has the opportunity to create a course about user experience, let alone an entire sequence of user experience courses. My opportunity came when the Internet Professional (INP) program at Washtenaw Community College (WCC) in Ann Arbor, Michigan restructured its curriculum. As a faculty member in the INP department and the resident user experience expert, the task naturally fell to me. During the curriculum development process I was forced to examine my own perceptions of the user experience industry and address a number of important questions about how to teach user experience.
The need for a new INP curriculum
During the 2002-2003 school year, major changes were underway in the INP program. Since 1999 the program had focused on training web professionals in either a Design track (focused on web graphic design, animation, and audio/video) or a Technical track (focused on web programming, databases, and server setup). User experience was taught in one core course included in both tracks. This course teamed user experience with project management concepts; needless to say, this approach was not doing justice to either topic. The curriculum had other problems as well. It took too long to complete and was very rigid in its sequencing, which made it practically impossible for faculty to change or add classes.
Taking those concerns to heart, we designed a new curriculum requiring less time and giving students much more flexibility in choosing an educational and career path. All students complete six courses in the Web Technology certificate, covering the fundamentals of web coding, graphic design, user experience, and project management. Then students can choose to pursue one or more advanced certificates: Web Professional (an advanced generalist in the areas noted previously), Web Graphic Design (Photoshop and graphic communication), Interactive Web Design (Macromedia Flash and audio/video), Web Application Developer (programming and databases), or E-Business. Any advanced certificate, combined with electives and general education classes, can then lead to an Associate degree (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Structure of Redesigned INP Curriculum
The market: understanding industry needs
Every occupational program at WCC has an advisory committee comprised of professionals from the relevant industry. The INP advisory committee has a diverse membership, including web developers and managers from local web design and information technology companies, freelance information architects, and web development staff at the University of Michigan. Periodic committee meetings enable the INP faculty to stay informed about the latest industry developments and employer requirements. A consistent recommendation from the INP advisory committee was the need to train generalists: individuals who could code the front end, work in Photoshop to some extent, and also create site architectures as part of planning a good user experience. What is interesting is that within the information architecture (IA) discipline there has already been discussion about “giving away” IA, in the sense of training other web development team members how to do IA because not all organizations can afford a separate IA specialist. The INP advisory committee was confirming this trend.
The idea of training a generalist led directly to the creation of the Web Technology certificate, which includes the introductory user experience course. Beyond training the generalists desired by industry, the six courses also expose students to various aspects of web development so they can learn what appeals to them and where they might like to extend their training.
The users: understanding student needs
A question I sometimes receive is why an advanced certificate does not exist in Web User Experience. The simple answer is that almost no students would pursue that advanced certificate. Perhaps that sounds harsh, but it reflects a fundamental truth about community colleges and their students: the students want a certificate or degree that will get them a job.
Jobs in the web user experience field typically require at least a Bachelor’s degree. Often a Master’s degree is recommended, if not required. Some students will transfer to a four-year school for a Bachelor’s degree, but others are just interested in earning a certificate or an Associate degree, learning enough to change careers, or just taking some classes for their own personal enrichment. In short, few students are on a track that will take them into a career as a web user experience professional. Students find it easier to gain employment as a programmer, graphic designer, multimedia specialist, or project manager after graduation.
Other complicating factors are that user experience work delves into the abstract and conceptual, requires critical analysis to resolve interface and interaction problems, and involves a number of written deliverables. Taken collectively, those are not enjoyable activities for many community college students. Compare the ambiguity present in resolving a user experience problem to resolving a coding problem or a graphical issue with a Photoshop mockup. The phrase “it depends” frequently accompanies user experience recommendations, while solutions for coding or graphic problems tend to be more clear-cut and obvious. Yet these future coders and graphic designers need to understand the basics of user experience so they can step into a more advanced role or communicate effectively with the user experience professional on their team. Therefore some exposure to user experience concepts is both necessary and valuable.
Structure, organization, and labeling: not just for websites
In structuring the new INP curriculum, we decided to offer three different user experience courses to accommodate learning at each level of the program (certificate, advanced certificate, Associate degree):
- Web Technology Certificate: Designing User Experience I
- Web Professional Advanced Certificate: Designing User Experience II
- Associate Degree: Designing User Experience III (as an elective for the Web Professional and E-Business paths to the Associate degree; E-Business also has Designing User Experience II as an elective)
With this structure every student, regardless of career goals, takes Designing User Experience I. Students pursuing the Web Professional advanced certificate also take Designing User Experience II. If they continue on to the Associate degree, then Designing User Experience III can be taken as an elective. E-Business students can choose both Designing User Experience II and III as electives toward the Associate degree. The Designing User Experience courses must always be taken in the sequence indicated by their numbering.
Choosing a name for these courses proved more difficult than expected. The goal was to arrive at a cross-disciplinary, umbrella label. We needed a label that would encompass the following disciplines:
- Human-Computer Interaction / Usability
- Information Architecture
- Information Design
- Interaction Design
Because the material is inherently interdisciplinary, using a single discipline’s name for the courses was too limiting. We also wanted the label to endure over time; new disciplines should be able to fit under the label. The two umbrella terms given serious consideration were “User Experience” and “Experience Design.” To emphasize the creative, active nature of the work we wanted to incorporate a verb (which would also make the course name more engaging). This eliminated “Experience Design,” because “Design” complicated the phrasing. Ultimately we decided on “Designing User Experience,” a label that is broad in scope and suggests a creative, active process.
Unfortunately, this label is not obvious or descriptive enough for those outside the industry (including most students). This became apparent when the courses went through the WCC curriculum committee for approval. The curriculum committee is comprised of faculty from across the college. None of the committee members knew what “Designing User Experience” meant, although the course descriptions did help them understand what subjects were being taught. Although the curriculum committee recommended that a different course name be used, the members could not come up with any other suggestions. (The INP faculty had already been down that road before, so we were not surprised.) We assured the curriculum committee that employers would recognize “Designing User Experience” and that this was what really mattered.
The fundamental concepts: Designing User Experience I
What user experience information is most essential? What core user experience concepts and skills should be conveyed to every member of a web development team? As I pondered these questions, it occurred to me that I was missing something important. I was forgetting that user experience is not just about concepts and skills, it is also about perspective. I needed to teach the students to think like user experience professionals. In fact, I needed to do that first, because this would make it easier for the students to acquire the necessary concepts and skills.
The course starts by looking at the web user experience profession, its various disciplines, and how user-centered design is conducted. The next topic is user research methods, followed by an examination of user personas and then a look at assessing client needs. While the information provided up to this point is valuable, the students have not really started thinking like user experience professionals yet. That opportunity comes with the first deliverable, a competitive analysis. Students choose one of two fictitious clients and examine three competitor websites in the chosen industry. The students document each site’s content and functionality, and critique it, identifying strengths and areas for improvement. The feedback from students has been consistent from semester to semester:
“I never looked at websites that way before.”
“I didn’t realize there was so much to think about with a website.”
This project is an eye-opening experience and, most importantly, a perspective-changing experience. For most students, it is their first time critiquing and analyzing a website. During the rest of the semester the students create additional deliverables, including diagramming an existing website and redesigning the interface of another website. The redesign entails critiquing the website’s interface and creating home page and sub-page wireframes resolving the current interface issues. These later deliverables help the students continue to evolve in how they perceive websites.
The additional content and activities in the course are mostly drawn from information architecture, as that discipline focuses on fundamental website concepts. The other topics include:
- Card sorting
- Site diagramming (coinciding with the deliverable mentioned previously)
- Interface design (also coinciding with a deliverable)
- Search (within-site and search engine optimization)
- Content design (e.g., writing for the web, link colors/text colors, fonts, etc.)
Choosing a textbook is often a difficult process, but given the emphasis on information architecture it seemed only appropriate to use the second edition of Rosenfeld and Morville’s Information Architecture for the World Wide Web .
The class is scheduled in 3-hour blocks, with one meeting per week for each of the 15 weeks in the fall and winter semesters. The class is split into two shorter meetings per week in the 10-week spring/summer sessions. The class sessions follow a standard sequence, beginning with a lecture that includes concepts, numerous examples, and class discussions. Collectively this first part takes approximately an hour and a half. After a short break, the students spend the rest of the class time working either individually or in small groups on an activity related to the day’s topic. At the end of the class time, we discuss the results of the activity and students informally examine and critique the work of their peers. For certain topics (such as card sorting) the lecture time is quite short, with the bulk of class time given to performing exploratory (open) and confirmatory (closed) card sorts. The materials are prepared for the students ahead of time. This sequence of lecture, activity, and wrap-up is used for the other two Designing User Experience courses as well.
The challenge with this class structure is deciding on the proper scope of material for the lecture (so as not to go past the halfway point of the class session), as well as developing activities that fit into the time available in the second half of the class session. All lectures are done in PowerPoint and I provide hard copies of the slides (three per page) to the students at the start of class to reduce the amount of writing they need to do during the lecture portion. I have found that anywhere from 35 to 40 slides is usually ideal, but it depends upon the pacing of the lecture, the number of screenshots and examples, and the amount of discussion in a given group of students—some classes are quiet, others ask lots of questions. Students have asked to have more time for presenting their work at the end of class and giving each other feedback. Unfortunately, the limit of 3-hour limit makes it difficult to fit everything in and I view the concepts presented in the lectures as the highest priority since they inform the activities. As with many aspects of user experience, such decisions are always a balancing act.
The “methods” class: Designing User Experience II
Although Designing User Experience I contains a fair number of methods and deliverables, I tend to think of it as a “concepts” class because one of its main goals is to communicate fundamental concepts. Designing User Experience II is a different matter entirely. Students come in knowing the fundamentals, so now the focus is on methods and preparing students to be user experience professionals. The analogy I use with the students is that of a repair person with a toolbox: they are filling their user experience toolboxes with all sorts of useful “tools” (skills), to resolve any problem they encounter and meet the skill requirements of any employer.
In selecting specific methods and deliverables I found myself moving away from information architecture and engaging with the other user experience disciplines, perhaps because many of the methods taught in Designing User Experience I were from information architecture. The specific methods in the second course include:
- User testing (usability testing)*
- Usability inspection (expert review or heuristic evaluation)*
- Task analysis*
- Style guides*
- Thesauri and controlled vocabularies
- Facetted classification
- Accessibility inspection (expert review or heuristic evaluation focused on accessibility issues)*
* Students work in teams to complete these as deliverables. Task analysis, storyboarding, and style guides are completed together as part of a comprehensive redesign.
You may wonder why accessibility wasn’t mentioned for Designing User Experience I. The primary reason that course did not include a full lecture on accessibility was space limitations; there was already a lot of material to cover. Since a full lecture could not be devoted to the topic, accessibility recommendations were included in the other Designing User Experience I lectures. In Designing User Experience II, the topic is given two full lectures and placed in the broader context of Universal Design, so any shortcomings from the prior course are addressed.
Since the students are developing into user experience professionals, I also have them research and present on a topic from the user experience field. This could be a method not discussed in class, a variation on a method we have covered, or simply the latest and greatest technique on the user experience block. The process of choosing a topic and researching that topic offers the biggest payoff, as students start reading the user experience blogs, joining the email lists, and interacting with those in industry.
No book on the market did a thorough job of explaining all the methods, so I opted for a book that did an excellent job with one method. That book was Steve Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability—definitely the most enjoyable book I have ever assigned in a class and an excellent introduction to user testing.
Domain-specific best practices: Designing User Experience III
So what is left after teaching user experience concepts and methods? Actually, a fair amount of material remains that is specific to a given type of website or some specialized situation in user experience. These domains and specialized areas include:
- Small interfaces (e.g., hand-held devices)
- Form design
Assignments focus on critically evaluating how existing websites adhere to best practices, finding solutions beyond the current best practices, and prototyping interfaces in a specific domain. As with the second course, I found that it was difficult to locate an effective textbook covering this breadth of topics. With no solid options I decided to use only online readings and to eliminate the textbook entirely.
“Soft” skills and critical analysis: trying to teach what is difficult to teach
One of the biggest challenges in teaching these courses is conveying what it is like to work in industry and what is needed to succeed. I draw from my years of experience as an information architect and freelance user experience consultant, and provide numerous anecdotes and lessons learned. Even so, it can be hard to communicate all the real-life challenges: how to convince stakeholders to fund user experience, get recommendations implemented, and defuse the tensions that can arise between different team members (e.g., graphic designers and user experience professionals) over the website design/interaction.
While professionalism is always stressed in the deliverables, having well-designed and well-presented deliverables only goes so far in getting them accepted and implemented. It is more difficult, for example, to teach students how to approach a given political context in an organization or how to “seal the deal” for user experience work by convincing high-level stakeholders of the potential for a return on investment. I tell students a number of things not to do (e.g., getting buy-in at just one level of the organization, rather than at both the implementation and decision-making/managerial levels), but a list of things “not to do” is never going to cover all the possibilities. Ultimately the best teacher is life experience, so we stress group work for the in-class activities and the Designing User Experience II deliverables. There is also a capstone INP course where students work in teams to develop websites for real clients, which provides a great deal of insight into team processes and how to work with clients.
A final aspect that is difficult to teach in these courses is critical thinking and analysis. Not every student comes in with the critical thinking skills necessary to analyze a website, so the initial deliverables in Designing User Experience I can be quite difficult for some individuals. We are requiring them to change their perspective on websites as well as to become an analyst, which can be a lot to accomplish in a short period of time. To assist with this, I provide sample deliverables in all three courses, but that can only show students what was recommended in that one situation and how those recommendations were presented. Arriving at recommendations for a different website is a whole new challenge.
Related to the critical thinking issue is an understanding of “good” design. Some students intuitively understand what constitutes good design and so the critiquing and recommendation process is easier. Others can learn what constitutes good design by mastering a set of principles and walking through lots of examples. For others, the sense of good design just never comes together. My colleagues in the Computer Information Systems department often remark that some students just aren’t cut out to be programmers, no matter how hard they try; I believe the same is true of user experience professionals.
Good user experience: not just in the course content
Based on my own experience, my research, student results, and feedback from the INP advisory committee, the three courses we developed prepare students well for employment in industry, assuming they have the requisite critical thinking skills and understanding of design noted previously. Knowing information architecture principles and having a portfolio of IA deliverables landed one student an internship (moving towards a permanent position) with a local web design firm. Another student was hired as a web developer because of her usability inspection of the company’s website. (The employer had requested that applicants come ready to discuss improvements to the website; she went the extra mile by preparing a formal report and got the position over another candidate with a Masters degree). There are other examples as well, including students who have moved up in their companies, in part because of the new skills they acquired.
Another positive is that the progression from concepts to methods to domain-specific best practices introduces topics when students are ready for them, thereby supporting the learning process—and contributing to a good user experience in learning. On a personal level, I can attest that developing and teaching these courses has been an enjoyable and rewarding experience. For those embarking upon a similar course creation process, I can assure you that it will be quite memorable.
Prior to entering the teaching field, he worked in industry as an information architect at a web design firm in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In his spare time he works as a freelance information architect and web designer. | <urn:uuid:323041f9-cb17-40a2-940c-1c97878b75cc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://boxesandarrows.com/crafting-a-user-experience-curriculum/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953932 | 4,219 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Medical Blog Alert: Another new (for me, anyway) medical blog -The Bioethics Web Log by the editors of The American Journal of Bioethics. Are they the first editors of a medical journal to have a blog?
Caveat Emptor: Drug company stocks took a dive this week, as an FDA regulator spoke publicly about five drugs he considers unsafe:
The slides followed a claim by Dr David Graham, a regulator at the US Food and Drug Administration, of safety concerns surrounding AstraZeneca's Crestor anti-cholesterol drug and Serevent, an asthma treatment made by GSK.
"I can tell you right now there are at least five drugs on the market today that need to be looked at quite seriously to see if they belong there," Dr Graham told a committee of US senators.
The other drugs were Meridia, a weight-loss drug made by Abbott Laboratories, Bextra, a painkiller made by Pfizer, and Accutane, Roche's treatment for acne.
He said that the FDA, the US watchdog responsible for ensuring drug safety, had "case reports of people dying clutching their Serevent inhalers.
Dr Graham added that the FDA, as currently configured, was "incapable of protecting Americans against another Vioxx".
"It is important that the American people understand that what happened with Vioxx can happen again," he said. "We are virtually defenceless."
The cholesterol lowering drug Crestor has become a new favorite of our local cardiologists, and more than one patient has brought in ads for it asking me for the "best cholesterol medicine." But questions have been raised by the British medical establishment in the past about its safety. (Even though it's The Lancet, they make valid points. If it's safety profile is worse than other statins, why have it?)
Serevent is a problem because many patients with asthma forget or fail to understand that it isn't to be used as an emergency inhaler, but rather as a maintenance medicine that provides long-term, slow-acting asthma relief. I don't know why it's so hard to get that through to people, but I had too many experiences of patients who were using it inappropriately despite my best efforts at patient education, that I gave up on it soon after its introduction.
Meridia is a stimulant for weight loss. It's side effect profile is similar to other stimulants. I've always been wary that it could have the potential for side effects similar to other stimulants such as Redux and Fen-Phen which were removed from the market. (Not to mention, that once a person stops the drugs, they tend to regain their weight.) Long term use is definitely not recommended.
Bextra may end up having the same problems with clotting as Vioxx. (Although you can still make the argument that patients should be given the option of its use if it helps their pain, given the small risk of clotting associated with the class.)
Accutane, we know, has some serious side effects - among them birth defects. Most dermatologists who use it are extremely scrupulous about monitoring for side effects. They make girls go on birth control pills before they'll prescribe it, and they monitor lipid levels and liver enzymes very closely. It is a wonderful drug for treating recalcitrant, cystic acne, a condition which can leave devastating physical and emotional scars. I've never seen it used irresponsibly in any of the communities in which I've practiced. I have seen it used to great effect and with appropriate caution.
UPDATE: Comments from a Serevent user:
I was shocked to read that serevent has been attacked because some people can't, or won't, learn to use it properly. It was added to my preventive routine of albuterol and azmacort several months ago and has been very successful. My doctor wanted to get me off intermittent courses of prednisone in allergy season (suggested by prior physician.) Do you have the same problem with patients on azmacort? That doesn't stop attacks either. Are you suggesting that nobody should get preventive treatment for asthma because some people can't use it properly? That doesn't make sense to me.
No, but I'm suggesting that inhaled steroids are favored over Serevent for preventive therapy. For some reason, people don't mistake inhaled steroids for their rescue inhalers. Perhaps it's because Serevent is a bronchodilator, as are the rescue inhalers, and many people just carelessly figure one bronchodilator is pretty much like any other, despite warnings to the contrary. Acutally, the most popular - although expensive - preventive therapy seems to be Advair, a combination of inhaled steroids and Serevent. People don't mistake that one for a rescue inhaler, either.
Dr. Maher Saqqur of the University of Alberta and his colleagues tested an experimental combination of TPA and ultrasound to treat stroke before brain tissues are starved of a blood supply.
"What we find is that patients who receive the TPA plus the ultrasound do well compared to patients who get the TPA just by themselves," said Saqqur.
The study looked at 126 patients. After three months, 42 per cent of patients who received the experimental treatment were fully recovered, compared to 30 per cent who had TPA alone.
The study was limited to people who had clots in the middle cerebral artery, which is the only kind of stroke in which t-PA is recommended ( and even then, not without some controversy). The study did show improvement in outcome by combining ultrasound with t-PA compared to just using t-PA. But there's another question that needs to be asked. How would ultrasound alone compare to t-PA alone? A doctor in Scotland says he's seen it work wonders:
A SCOTTISH doctor has accidentally found a remarkable treatment to ease the crippling effects of a stroke.
Dr Paul Syme stumbled across the technique during routine examinations of stroke victims at Borders General Hospital in Melrose.
He realised that ultrasound equipment used to pinpoint strokes could also help patients make a recovery.
Dr Syme has used the technique, which sends sound waves through the body, to ease the symptoms of nearly 100 patients.
He is now confident it could help tens of thousands of sufferers in Scotland alone.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Guinea Pigs programme, Dr Syme said: "This is a very exciting discovery, because we are encouraging the body to heal itself."
He obtained an ultrasound machine, called a transcranial doppler, to help him locate the source of strokes. To his surprise, the devastating physical symptoms appeared to improve while patients used the machine and the effects lasted long enough to allow sufferers to lead more normal lives again.
He's planning to collaborate with a couple of stroke centers in the UK to study it. Should be interesting. And it may be safer than using it with t-PA, which has the risk of devastating intracranial bleeding.
How does this work, anyway? An accompanying article in the New England Journal of Medicine offers some theories:
Ultrasound of sufficient amplitude, when applied to a fluid, causes the partly dissolved gases to form small bubbles. These bubbles then vibrate, absorbing the energy, and if enough energy is applied, they literally explode.
...However, this mechanism is unlikely to be responsible for the effect observed in the study by Alexandrov et al., because transcutaneous ultrasound devices are preset to prevent excessive deposition of ultrasound energy. Still, it is theoretically possible, although it is unlikely, that some gaseous bubbles trapped in the thrombus may be the right size and composition to meet the threshold for the onset of cavitation. The local effect would be to create gaps or symmetric "holes" in the fibrin mesh, thereby facilitating the permeation of t-PA into the thrombus.
Other effects depend on the level of ultrasound energy applied. At very low energies, ultrasound has been shown to promote the motion of fluid, an effect called microstreaming. It is possible that the application of ultrasound energy agitates the blood close to the occluding thrombus and promotes the mixing of t-PA, effectively increasing the concentration of the agent that is in contact with the thrombus. The pressure waves that are generated may also increase the permeation of t-PA into the interior of the fibrin network. This phenomenon, however, is unlikely to explain all the beneficial results observed in this study. At slightly higher energies, ultrasound waves can have direct effects on the binding of t-PA to the fibrin mesh that forms the occlusive lesion. The binding of t-PA to the cross-linked fibrin and fibrin elements within a matrix is enhanced, in vitro, by ultrasound energy, and the fibrin cross-links are weakened, further increasing the binding of t-PA. These two mechanisms probably play key roles in vivo.
Some authors have speculated that the heat generated by ultrasound is responsible for accelerating thrombolysis. Experiments have confirmed that the temperature elevation generated by ultrasound of sufficient power can increase the dissolution rate of thrombi.
A Matter of Trust: Arafat's nephew is going to Paris to retrieve his medical records in an attempt to put to rest the rampant rumors about his death. Privacy laws, at least in some societies, don't always work for the best:
The absence of conclusive information on the death has stoked rumors of poisoning. Mr. Arafat's own doctors and aides have helped fan speculation about a plot.
Last week the militant organization Hamas signed onto the conspiracy theory. In Gaza yesterday, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the military wing of Mr. Arafat's Fatah party, circulated a leaflet threatening to avenge his death unless the Palestinian government disclosed the cause within two weeks.
Mohammad Yaghi, a columnist for the Palestinian Al-Ayyam newspaper, said the prevalence of state-controlled media in the Middle East had left ample room for speculation about conspiracy.
"Conspiracy theories have real roots inside the Arab world, not only Palestinian society," Mr. Yaghi said. "Before the electronic media, there was no access to information, and people don't trust the Arab media." posted by sydney on
11/19/2004 06:08:00 AM
A total of 102 soldiers were found to be infected with the bacteria Acinetobacter baumannii. The infections occurred among soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and three other sites between Jan. 1, 2002, and Aug. 31, 2004.
...A. baumannii, which is found in water and soil and resistant to many types of antibiotics, surfaces occasionally in hospitals, often spread among patients in intensive care units.
The infection was also found in soldiers with traumatic injuries to their arms, legs and extremities during the Vietnam War.
Spread of the infection is often halted when health-care workers wash their hands and those of their patients with alcohol swabs, actively monitor those with wounds to the extremities and promptly identify the infected.
Development of better drugs also is needed to help contain future outbreaks of the infection, Army officials said. In some cases, the only effective antibiotic is colistin, an older drug that is rarely prescribed today because of its high toxicity.
Health-care providers in the United States are urged to watch for A. baumannii infections among soldiers who have been recently treated at military hospitals, especially those who were in intensive care units.
Television Medicine: Caught the season premiere of Fox's new medical drama(?) "House." The protagonist, Dr. House, is a brilliant diagnostician who hates people. The premise is that each week he and his team will solve a baffling medical mystery. It's a hybrid of Becker and the New York Times Sunday Magazine "Diagnosis" column by Lisa Sanders. The show has its entertaining moments, mostly in the dialogue:
Junior Doctor: Isn't that why we became doctors, to treat patients?
Dr. House: No, we became doctors to treat illness. Treating patients is what makes most doctors miserable.
Unfortunately, that's the highest point of the show, which is extremely weak when it comes to medicine, and to human nature. A few minutes with Dr. House and you have to wonder why anyone would keep on staff, even if he is brilliant. Not only does he refuse to see patients, he stomps around insulting everyone and popping narcotics in plain site ("Because they're yummy," he tells a patient who's been unfortunate enough to be forced upon him by the head of the hospital.) Dr. House walks with a limp, supposedly caused by an illness that destroyed his thigh muscles. That's the only clue we have as to why he's a nasty piece of humanity. And truth to tell, you don't have to give a doctor a disability and a drug habit to explain his misanthropy - a beeper and a couple of nights on call would serve just as well.
But Dr. House's personality, as bad as it is, isn't the worst of the show. The entire medical establishment he inhabits will leave viewers familiar with the realism of shows like ER largely disappointed. Dr. House is head of "department of diagnostic medicine," whatever that is. Is he an internist who concentrates on diagnosis at the expense of treatment? Evidently not. He sees children as well as adults, and he prescribes treatment, too. And the entire department seems to be composed of Dr. House and his residents or fellows or whatever. (Their relationship to the great man is fuzzy, other than that their his subordinates.)
Dr. House and his team spend hours thinking over the one problem case they have. They defer diagnostic testing for other less conventional means of diagnosis such as breaking and entering. This week's case turned out to be neurocysticercosis, or tapeworm in the brain. This is certainly an uncommon ailment, and one that would require diagnostic acumen and doggedness, but the show goes over the top for drama. The case patient was allergic to the contrast that was needed for an MRI to make the diagnosis. So, instead of doing a lumbar puncture or performing lab tests that most would use in the situation to make a diagnosis, the team breaks into her house to search for clues. They find some deli ham in the refrigerator and - "bingo!" diagnosis made.
Not all of the show is bad. Hugh Laurie does a surprisingly good job playing an angry white male. It's safe to say he's put Bertie Wooster behind him for a long time. He could even have a future as movie villain. But his performance, alas, is the only good thing about the show.
And, the guy can't even use a cane correctly. Would someone please tell them that while a cane on the ipsilateral side as a defect looks impressive for TV, it's not the physiologically or mechanically correct technique. (See here.) posted by sydney on
11/17/2004 08:21:00 AM
Foot Dragging Mopes: I've had more than a few patients like this (with physical, not psychological, complaints):
When and if they do get therapy, psychiatrists say, people with strong passive-aggressive instincts are usually determined to fail: the therapist becomes the scorned authority figure. The patients will take their medications and then report with relish that they don't work. The patients will follow advice and then complain that it is senseless, useless. "They are not doing this on purpose; it's part of a deep-seated ambivalence about getting better," a determination to expose the authority as incompetent, said Dr. Marjorie Klein, a psychiatrist at the University of Wisconsin.
And I bet this will sound familiar to a lot of people:
The marriage seemed to come loose at the seams, one stitch at a time, often during the evening hour between work and dinner. She would be preparing the meal, while he kept her company in the sun room next to kitchen, usually reading the paper. At times the two would provoke each other, as couples do - about money, about holiday plans - but those exchanges often flared out quickly when he would say, simply, "O.K., you're right," and turn back to the news.
"Looking back, instead of getting angry, I was doing this as a dismissive way of shutting down the conversation," said Peter G. Hill, 48, a doctor in Massachusetts who has recently separated from his wife. Even reading the paper at that hour was his way of adamantly relaxing, in defiance of whatever it was she thought he should be doing.
"It takes two to break up, but I have been accused of being passive-aggressive, and there it is," he said.
I've done some things that are passive-aggressive in my time, such as giving a tie I knew to be ugly as a gift. But, I'm relieved to discover, it's no longer considered a personality disorder. Does that mean it's now considered acceptable behavior?
Real Life: Princeton professor of ethics Peter Singer took his class on a field trip to a neonatology unit where they came face to face with those Singer considers life unworthy of living:
Singer had brought his students to the ward to show them the living faces of a medical debate featured prominently in his scholarship and his seminar: whether it is ethical to end an infant's life when medical data predict she has a low chance of surviving.
The students, excited as they entered the hospital, turned somber as they walked through the ward.
... "Everyone came in very bouncy and energetic, and I thought, 'Wow, these people have no idea what they're getting into,'" said Jennifer Calise, a young mother cradling her one-year-old daughter, a former ward patient who had come for a checkup. "Now they all look a little shell-shocked."
...Calise was forced to confront the viability-of-life issue abruptly in February 2003, when her water broke early and doctors told her the fetus had a low chance of surviving. When Calise gave birth to her first child several days later, the newborn's prognosis was not good.
"What we call viability is 24 weeks," said Dr. Denise Hassinger, who oversees Calise's care. "[Calise's first baby] came out at 23 weeks. And she could move, she could breathe and everything, but it was 23 weeks. So is it a person, is it not a person? There's a lot of legal and ethical issues involved."
Calise had instructed the doctors to resuscitate the baby if it showed any chance of survival, but its premature birth, and a severe prenatal infection, suggested little use in trying to keep the baby alive. The baby, named Simone, died after support was withdrawn.
"[My husband and I] have seen the miracle babies, and everyday we ask ourselves, did we do the right thing?" Calise said.
Calise gave birth again in September 2003 to a baby named Ava. Though her second baby was also premature at 25 weeks, it was relatively healthy otherwise and doctors started care immediately. Calise proudly showed the class her cheerful, healthy daughter.
When Hiatt encouraged students to ask Calise questions, they were hesitant. "I could see with the students, everyone was thinking 'Oh my God, is she going to have a nervous breakdown if I say her first child wasn't a person?'" Calise said later.
After about 30 seconds, the first question came from Faruk Colakoglu '08.
"Are [underdeveloped babies] children?" he asked.
"What makes them a child?" Calise replied. "I mean, is it the fact that they breathe, or is there something else that tells you there's a life?"
The article doesn't say if anyone had an answer to that.
More Race-Based Medicine: Journal Club expounds on the genesis of the heart failure pill for patients of African descent:
Isosorbide dinitrate and hydralazine have been used for the treatment of heart failure in the past. The isosorbide-hydralazine combination pill was patented (in the 1980’s) for the treatment of congestive heart failure, but failed to provide significant benefits in large trials; as a result, the FDA would not approve it as a new medication. Subgroup analysis of the original trials, however, suggested benefit in black patients. The company NitroMed, which had acquired the rights to the combination, then applied for and received a new patent for it specifically for the treatment of heart failure in black patients. Unlike the original patent, which expires in 2007, the new one for the same medication is valid until 2020. Armed with this new patent, NitroMed sponsored the current trial. With the positive results just reported, the FDA is likely to approve BiDil for use in black patients.
My initial reaction to this whole story was that it represents a typical interaction between industry, the patent system and the FDA. There is a one-two punch with the patent system prolonging the drug company’s monopoly by granting a new patent for use in a subpopulation, which the FDA then protects by limiting approval of the medication to that subpopulation.
The other side of this coin, however, is that precisely this system led to a potential profit for NitroMed, which made sponsoring the trial financially attractive. The result is likely to be of benefit to many African Americans. A prime example of the strengths and problems with the pharmaceutical industry’s ties to regulatory agencies.
Attention Sufficit: So this is why I've had a spate of college-age students (and their parents) insist that they've suddenly realized they have ADD:
Kevin Ngo, a Baylor University graduate now studying for the law school entrance exam, isn't leaving anything to chance. He is seeking help from a pill that's meant to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
"There is something about Adderall that makes you concentrate, focus and makes whatever you're studying more interesting," he said.
A Yale University junior said Adderall helped him read the 576-page novel "Crime and Punishment" and write a 15-page paper — all in 30 hours.
Amending Amendments: A judge in Florida has put a hold on the "three strikes and you're out" malpractice amendment that Florida voters passed this month:
The amendment, known informally as the "three strikes for bad doctors" measure, was approved by 70 percent of voters earlier this month.
Circuit Judge Janet E. Ferris agreed in part with hospitals that sued to block the amendment from taking effect until some aspects of it can be clarified, most likely by the Legislature or by the courts.
Ferris barred the amendment from going into effect while she considers arguments presented by the hospitals and the state, which is charged with enforcing the measure, and by a group called Floridians for Patient Protection, which pushed to get the issue on the ballot.
An industry group representing hospitals argued that the amendment's requirements are not clear. It is seeking clarification of questions such as whether its effects are retroactive for doctors who already have had "three strikes," what doctors are included and what agency is responsible for revoking licenses.
Ferris said her injunction will expire at the end of the upcoming legislative session in the spring, meaning that if lawmakers don't pass a law putting more specifics into the measure and if there hasn't been a court ruling in the interim, the amendment could then go into effect.
It should be interesting to see what effect this amendment will have on the supply of obstetricians, neurosurgeons, and trauma surgeons in the state. Those specialties all have high rates of suits not because they're full of bad doctors but because they handle risky situations - situations in which people die no matter how good the care. And no matter how good the care, when someone dies young and unexpectedly, a lawsuit follows.
Will lawyers who justify such lawsuits by saying "well, that's why the doctors have insurance" file fewer lawsuits knowing the consequences will be ruined careers? Of course not. As long as the ruined career isn't theirs. posted by sydney on
11/16/2004 06:29:00 AM
The new warnings to health care providers and consumers include changes to the existing black box on the product to add new information on the risk of serious bacterial infections, sepsis, and bleeding and death that may occur following any termination of pregnancy, including use of Mifeprex. While these risks are rare, the new labeling and Medication Guide will provide the latest available information to all. posted by sydney on
11/16/2004 06:14:00 AM
Children with autism have inflammation in their brains, although it is not yet clear whether the inflammation actually causes the condition, researchers said on Monday.
Tests on the brain tissue of 11 patients with autism who had died and spinal fluid from six living children with autism showed the activation of immune system responses, the team at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore and the University of Milan found.
"These findings reinforce the theory that immune activation in the brain is involved in autism, although it is not yet clear whether it is destructive or beneficial, or both, to the developing brain," said Dr. Carlos Pardo-Villamizar of Johns Hopkins, who led the study.
Bioterrorism Preparedness Watch: Evidently, there are people who think that altered smallpox virus is already out there in the world. Here's one former Soviet scientist on the WHO's decision to consider allowing genetic alteration of the virus to investigate disease treatment:
'It's absolutely the right decision,' said Dr. Ken Alibek, a former top scientist in the Soviet biological weapons program who said the Soviets covertly developed smallpox as a weapon in the 1980's.
Alibek, who defected to the U.S. in 1992 and now teaches at George Mason University, said it's now possible to genetically engineer smallpox to render current vaccines useless.
'The bad guys already know how to do it,' Alibek said. 'So why prohibit legitimate researchers to do research for protection.'
Given the trade in weapons we now know to have existed between the Soviets and Iraq, could it be that some of those smallpox samples made it there, too? If so, where are they now? posted by sydney on
11/15/2004 06:50:00 AM
Good-bye to All That: While I was away, the governor of Tennessee announced he was going to shut down TennCare, the budget eating state-funded healthcare program that bore many similarities to the Kerry/Edwards plan for the nation. The governor is in a show-down with advocates who have fought tooth and nail to keep the benefits generous. How generous is it? Here's a letter from a man that describes one of their forms of generosity. Evidently, once you were on it, they kept you indefinitely, no matter what your income. posted by sydney on
11/15/2004 06:32:00 AM
Ashraf al Kurdi, who was a friend and doctor to Arafat for 25 years, also said he was 'disappointed' in the care that French doctors gave Arafat.
'They did not care even to phone me and ask for his medical history,' al Kurdi told Knight Ridder Newspapers by phone from his home in Jordan. 'They did not even phone. I am very disappointed in their care for him, and I cannot understand this lack of an explanation for his death.
Join the club, buddy. Every primary care doctor who has ever referred a patient to a tertiary care center for further care gets the same treatment.
posted by sydney on
11/15/2004 06:04:00 AM
Reaching Out: One of my patients brought a program to my attention that offers savings on generic drugs for people who make up to 250% of the poverty level. Called RxOutreach, it's run by the pharmacy benefits management company, Express Scripts. I've since recommended it to one of my other patients who lost his insurance coverage. I added their button to the right if anyone is interested in checking them out or recommending them to a friend. Here's a list of the medications they offer. posted by sydney on
11/15/2004 05:57:00 AM
Fruits of Bias: By now, everyone's heard of the wonderful new drug combination that will save the lives of many people of African descent:
A two-drug combination pill dramatically reduced deaths among blacks with heart failure, a landmark finding that is expected to lead to government approval of the first medication marketed for a specific race.
Black cardiologists hailed this form of racial profiling after years in which minorities got short shrift in medical studies. Others complained that the drug also might help whites and should have been tested in them, but wasn't for business reasons.
'At times you can't win,' said Dr. Augustus Grant, past president of the Association of Black Cardiologists, which supported the study. 'Here we have a wonderful trial that shows a clear result and the issue is raised, 'Why was this trial only done in African Americans?''
Good question. If what you were really looking for is a drug that would work better in blacks than in whites, wouldn't you compare the impact of the drug on the two groups? Why, yes, you would. But that's not what the researchers did. Perhaps it was because the researchers know there's a great demand and interest in research that's conducted on people of African descent, and focusing their research on that population is more likely to result in publication. Perhaps it was because the researchers who conducted the study have a genuine interest in only studying people of African descent. Or, perhaps it's because one of the researchers holds two patents on the drug combination used in the study and he had a vested interest in making the combination look good. Or, perhaps it was because the company sponsoring the study, NitroMed, has applied for a patent that specifies the drug for use specifically in patients of African descent. Either way, there's an obvious inherent bias in the study.
And by the way, the results weren't all that impressive. Certainly not "dramatic." The study followed patients for an average of ten months. Of those who took the drug combination, 6.2% died by the end of the trial compared to 10.2% of those who took placebo, for a difference of 4 percentage points. The two groups also differed in the incidence of heart failure exacerbations by about four percentage points. But the incidence of side effects was much higher in the treatment group - 47.5% experienced headaches, compared to 19.2% in the placebo group; 29.3% experienced dizziness compared to 12.3% in the placebo group. You've got to wonder if it's really worth taking.
The idea of finding drugs that work best within a genetic make-up is a good one. An one day, when the science of genomic medicine is better developed, we may be able to choose drugs that will work best for an individual genetic make-up. But this study is no nowhere near that level. And it bears all the marks of spinning the data to fit the researchers - and their sponsors's -best interests, rather than those of patients.
UPDATE: A reader takes me to task:
I agree with the thrust of your comment that we need to watch out for vested interests in designing studies, etc., and in this case, there is an extra angle associated with race. But I think that you have the details of this particular story a bit wrong, despite the fact that you are generally right about such things. I speak particularly of your comment to this effect:
"perhaps it's because one of the researchers holds two patents on the drug combination used in the study and he had a vested interest in making the combination look good."
Now, I occasionally have reason to do things professionally with Jay Cohn, the cardiologist here at U Minnesota whose brainchild is the therapeutic combination of hydralazine and isosorbide compounds.... I don't see where that says anything about his motives for this project.
I would bet my wife and daughters- well, not them, but you get the idea- that his presence on patent 6,784,177 has exactly zero to do with conflicts of interest to get big dollars from the combination drug. For starters, he doesn't need the money- if he was driven by cash, he would not still be in academia as a very well-known practitioner with a CV 8 miles long, he would be in big deal practice out there working for famous and rich CHF patients like Richard DeVos.
Cohn has been crusading for 20 years to find anyone who will test the two drugs together to get the therapy qualified for on-label scripts, but no one had any interest because the compounds themselves were/are generic and out of patent coverage. The patent itself is a method patent- meaning that it is essentially unenforceable; anyone who reads the clinical studies can just go use the therapy with no one paying any attention at all. The only
reason to patent the thing at all is PR for the company that finally took up the cause. Cohn frankly admits that he is in the African-American application solely because it was the only way he could get this tested at all. Anyone who challenged the claims of that patent or was challenged by an enforcement attempt would have it killed so fast your head would spin. In the real world, the patent is about as financially useful as Bayer patenting the idea of women over 50 taking 80mg a day of aspirin to reduce the possibility of MI. Cohn frankly tells anyone that he wants nothing more than for everyone to prescribe those drugs together in appropriate dosages for HF, wherever they get them. If the company makes some money on a convenient single pill, fine.
And I find the motives of those decrying the study on "ethical" grounds pretty suspect; the Jonathan Kahns of the world are more concerned that African Americans will start to see health care redlining or the rebirth of the old IQ controversy as part of the eugenics debate than they are about treating patients.
We Have Met the Enemy, and They Are Us: Dr. John Abramson is somewhat of an anomaly. For starters, he's a family physician on the faculty of Harvard Medical School - an institution not known for its warm embrace of the family medicine concept. (In its place, they have something called the Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention, staffed largely by internists and pediatricians and masters of public health, and oddly enough, funded by an HMO.) Which brings us to his other claim to anomalism - the publication of his book, Overdosed America : The Broken Promise of American Medicine. While other academics and health policy analysts point directly to the pharmaceutical industry as the root of all evil in our current healthcare system, Dr. Abramson correctly notes that the real roots of our problems lie in our culture - from the academic and health policy system to the professional and popular cultural mileau.
Now, as healthcare systems go, ours isn't too shabby. We have the luxury of taking clean water and cheap, unspoiled food for granted. We live our lives free of the threat of death by bacteria. Most of us, no matter how poor, can find a doctor to take care of us in our hour of need. We don't wait for months for CAT scans or heart surgery, or to get an appointment with a doctor. We have a medical establishment that believes strongly in the importance of practicing medicine only with scientifically proven treatments - aka "evidence-based medicine." We have third party payers who monitor the quality of care by our physicians based on guidelines written by experts in their fields. However, as Dr. Abramson points out - an awful lot of the healthcare we get isn't the worth the money we pay. If our healthcare system were a car, it would be a Jaguar - fast, expensive, and beautiful on the surface, but little to offer for the long-haul.
Part of the problem is the elusive nature of this thing called health. Like happiness, it's difficult to nail down. That's why our founding fathers claimed a right to the pursuit of happiness rather than the state of happiness. If only we were so wise when it came to defining our goals for health. Today, health and disease have much broader meanings than they did fifteen years ago. Fifteen years ago, disease meant illnesses caused by a malfunctioning of the body or outside invader, such as cancer or infections; today, disease includes the normal changes of aging, such as osteoporosis and thickening waist lines. Twenty years ago, to be healthy meant to be of sound mind and body; today it means a fine obsession with various biomedical measures of the body - from cholesterol level breakdowns to bone density values. What's more, we have a pill or a procedure to treat each of those biomedical measures of health. Is your LDL cholesterol a smidgen above the recommended guidelines? We can bring it down for just over a hundred dollars a month. Is your body mass index forever over 25? We can readjust your stomach to bring it down. Even better, we have insurance companies who are willing to pay for all of this. And if they don't, we'll pressure them until they do.
Dr. Abramson doesn't spare the pharmaceutical companies any criticism. Our system of drug-financed medical reasearch and medical centers, corporate-sponsored professional organizations and medical education, and consumer advertising corrupts the decision making process of doctors, patients, and expert panels. The evidence central to evidence-based medicine can't be trusted because it's financed by drug companies. The practice guidelines that expert panels such as the American Heart Association publish which are supposed to guarantee we all practice high quality medicine can't be trusted because they're funded by drug companies. But that's only part of the problem. As Dr. Abramson says at one point in his book - "we have met the enemy and they are us."
The problem can be traced back to the late 1980's and early 1990's when Medicare, Medicaid, and the baby boom population reached maturity. There was much hand-wringing at the time about the "crisis in American medicine," just as there is now. Then, as now, the crisis was the cost. The solution, which enjoyed wide support from all sectors of society - from the public, the medical profession, and politicians on both sides of the aisle - was the adoption of managed care, or HMO's. The public loved it because it meant they no longer had to pay for healthcare, at least not directly. For a minimum co-pay, and the price of their monthly insurance premiums, they would get unlimited access to their doctors and all the preventive care they needed - pap smears, mammograms, immunizations, and yearly physical exams, and drugs. The medical profession loved it because they believed passionately in the power of prevention and they also believed that by providing unlimited preventive care they could conquer disease. The insurance companies loved it because it shifted the inherent risk of their business to the medical profession. Politicians loved it because it meant that once Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries were shifted to managed care programs, someone else would make the painful and unpopular decisions about rationing that are inevitably needed to rein in costs. It was win-win all around.
Except it didn't quite turn out that way. The gatekeeping nature of HMO's turned out to be immensely unpopular - so much so that the insurance companies pretty much gave up on limiting benefits, lest they be accused of corporate malfeascence. Instead, they just raised premiums. The emphasis on prevention, and the willingness to pay for it, encouraged doctors and the public to accept expanded definitions of health and disease. Doctors could promote with impunity the necessity of having bone densitometry tests or fasting lipid panels done - and the necessity of treating values outside the defined norm - without giving much scrutiny to the actual benefit. And the public could accept it without much thought, since they didn't have to pay for it directly. Add to this mix the expansion of pharmaceutical advertising directly to the patient - who no longer had to worry about the cost of the product they were consuming, and you've got a recipe for unlimited demand, and unlimited spending. (The drug industry marketing departments knew a golden opportunity when they saw it. What other product has the luxury of advertising directly to a consumer who doesn't have to pay for it?)
At the same time, the shift of Medicaid and Medicare patients to managed care plans meant less money for academic medical centers, who relied on these patients for their operating revenues. To remain competitive, they turned to private industry for funding, which in most cases meant the pharmaceutical industry. This relationship skewed the inherent bias in all research even further toward the positive, and meant that the emphasis would be placed on drug development rather than non-pharmacological management of disease and disease prevention. Those same researchers end up sitting on the expert panels that then write the guidelines that are supposed to guarantee quality care.
It doesn't help that medical journal editors are by and large undiscriminating in the papers they publish. They, too, have their biases, and publishing papers that show positive results is one of them. So is publishing papers that suggest a revolution in treatment - such as reducing heart disease by treating cholesterol. They don't give the data much scrutiny in the process. And they never question the spin the authors give their data. Even worse, they press release that spin to the media for direct consumption by the consumer.
And so we have our current system. A paper is published that suggests taking cholesterol lowering drugs cuts the risk of heart disease by 50%. In actuality, their data find that without the drug, 2 out of 100 people have a heart attack, while with the drug, only 1 out of 100 do. Their claim to a 50% reduction in risk is technically true, but misleading. The majority of people in both categories will do fine without the drug. But the authors have chosen to concentrate on the more impressive sounding relative risk reduction rather than the absolute risk reduction. It gets them more attention that way. The medical journal, and perhaps the author's institution as well, sends a press release to the media about these stunning findings. That week, the news is full of the amazing benefits of the drug. The company makes up television and print ads touting its benefits, too. Within the week, patients are asking their doctor about the cholesterol lowering drug that works saves so many lives. And the doctors? With any luck they'll read the abstract of the paper and conclude the drug must be beneficial, without ever noting the devil in the statistical details. And even if they did, they would have trouble convincing most people of the inadequacy of the drug given all the favorable publicity it's gotten. As a result, new drugs and treatments become accepted much more quickly than they otherwise would - and with much less scrutiny than they deserve.
Dr. Abramson sees the solution to our cunundrum as more government oversight of the healthcare industry. He suggests we set up an impartial body, along the lines of the Federal Reserve Board, to monitor the quality of medical research and recommendations. In addition, he suggests that there be government funded universal healthcare coverage, which would pay only for those benefits deemed worthy by the oversight board. Dr. Abramson puts too much faith in the impartiality of government bodies. Even the Federal Reserve Board comes under criticism for being entirely a creature of the finance sector. The Institute of Medicine, which he also mentions as a model, is no less subject to bias. Their report on racism, for example, was written by people whose careers depend on the presence of racism. Their personal bias was to see racism even where it doesn't exist. Similarly, their report on errors in medicine was written by people who make their living selling safety systems and consulting on error reduction. Not surprisingly, the racism panel claimed racism was rampant (later debunked) and the error panel claimed more errors than statistically reasonable. Imagine what they would do with something like drugs and therapuetics which are much more subject to lobbying influence.
History tells us that there's very little reason to expect our government to be immune to industry lobbying. As we've seen with Medicare spending and NIH research funding, all it takes is a celebrity or a Congressional relative with a disease to earmark money for its treatment. They're even more prone to influence from those advocacy groups and lobbyists who have the money for campaign donations.
A better solution would be to move the decision making process, especially for preventive care, back where it belongs - between a patient and his physician. The only way to do this is for the patient to share at least some of the financial responsibility for their care. As long as someone else is paying the bill, the sky will be the limit. It's just human nature. A patient who has to pay for cholesterol lowering medication is going to be much more likely to question its benefits, and the doctor who has to justify the expense to his patient it is going to be much more willing to critique the evidence. This, of course, flies in the face of all that is politically correct in medicine. But, as Dr. Abramson so ably points out in his book, we aren't really getting very much in return for all of this very costly prevention. Isn't it about time that we all took responsibility for our share of the mess?
ADDENDUM: For another take on the book, click here. Dr. Abramson's blog can be found here.
Bravo to you and Abramson both. Having been in family practice since it was called 'general practice' (I interned in a 'general practice' program; when I got out of the Navy two years later, I went back to the same hospital to do my 'family practice' residency), I'm amazed anyone's even listening to the guy.
Every year I note the 'normal' weight/cholesterol/blood pressure/blood sugar, etc keeps getting defined lower and lower by the stroke of a pen, thus creating a whole new class of sick people. They now are trying to sell 'pre-hypertension'!
My daughter was a detailer for the old Upjohn Corp in the early '90s and quit in disgust after a few years. The relationship between doctors and pharms is way out of line. posted by sydney on
11/14/2004 06:32:00 PM | <urn:uuid:6c0df46c-502d-47ef-a109-4e0dbc91c58a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.medpundit.blogspot.com/2004_11_14_medpundit_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974325 | 9,679 | 1.8125 | 2 |
The Indian society has deeply entrenched patriarchal views against females. Reports of rape are often followed by questions about the victim's behavior, and even accusations that she provoked the assault.
Industrially and economically India is incredible, but still thousands of people leave the country every year. Why? So long as the caste system continues to promulgate this social hang up of 'birth not worth', outdated religious reservations will hinder sociability and India's presence on the world stage. | <urn:uuid:573ad7d7-8f47-4a5f-854d-fb578a10689f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/indian-politics | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954551 | 93 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Theorists Feast on Higgs Data
The popping of champagne corks may have subsided since scientists presented convincing evidence for the existence of the long-sought Higgs boson, but the work has just begun for theoretical particle physicists, who are revelling in the biggest glut of data they’ve had since the 1990s. Many are working evenings and weekends to interpret the results, and they have already generated a publication boom, with dozens of papers about the discovery appearing on the preprint server arXiv.org during the past two weeks.
Some are using the fresh data from the Large Hadron Collider at CERN to eliminate theoretical models. Others are probing for hints of new particles. Most are still hoping that their investigations will produce a grand theory to replace the almost infallible standard model of particle physics, a framework that predicts the behavior and properties of all fundamental particles and every force except gravity
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Starting in late 2007, Jim Davies wrote a series of articles for Strike the Root which attempted to visualize what life will be like in a free society, in each of various respects.
Life in a Free Society
Their premise is that over a period of about 21 years the few hundred who joined The On Line Freedom Academy in 2006 and 2007 graduated and then introduced one friend to it per year, as suggested; and so by that annual doubling, by 2027 the whole US population had well understood what a free society is and therefore desired to experience one. Accordingly, the further premise is that everyone employed by government quit that job, so leaving it incapable of operating. That is "E-Day" when the free society begins, and these articles "report" what happened next.
Here are links to the published articles:- | <urn:uuid:a210c847-ea25-4211-b43f-b9d15f2fe8b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.takelifeback.com/oto/p2.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971648 | 165 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Title: ON CUE, BRITISH, EUROPEAN UNION, AND AUSTRALIAN PROPAGANDA PROPOSALS START FLOWING -- TO PASS STRICTER "ANTI-TERRORIST" MEASURES TO "PROTECT" THEIR CITIZENS
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THE CUTTING EDGE
Copyright © 2005 Cutting Edge Ministries. All rights reserved. See full copyright notice below.
Since the "proof is in the pudding", we felt from the moment the London terrorist attacks occurred, that if our position was correct that this attack was the work of the Illuminati, we would soon be seeing proposals from political leaders on both sides of the Atlantic to pass various laws which would aid authorities in the "war on terror", while at the same time tightening control on domestic citizens.
Prior to the London bombings, Prime Minister Tony Blair was experiencing difficulty with Parliament, as they were holding up his proposals for National ID, for severely dictatorial powers similar to America's Patriot Act, and other measures designed to so invade personal privacy that a national dictatorship might be established.
Therefore, as I wrote NEWS2054 which detailed the heavy Illuminati "occult signature" which undergirded the entire attack, I stated that we should soon be seeing and hearing draconian proposals from leading politicians which would have the effect of restricting freedoms, liberties, and the privacy of individual domestic citizens, all in the name of more effectively "waging war on terror".
We did not have to wait long.
INVASIVE, DICTORIAL PROPOSALS
NEWS BRIEF: "Clarke wants to track email and phone messages", The Guardian (London), July 11, 2005
"The home secretary, Charles Clarke, will make a fresh push to compel internet and phone companies to retain their records of traffic on millions of private emails, text messages and mobile phone calls for up to three years at an emergency meeting of European security ministers on Wednesday. Critics say the scheme will generate such a mountain of data - enough to fill 10 stacks of files reaching from Earth to the moon - that it would take the security services 50 years to run one search."
Now, that is a serious problem: generating stacks of paperwork that voluminous! But, you see, the proposal is likely to go forward, because the real objective is to empower the government to zero in on those specific "dissidents" which they deem a threat to the coming dictatorial government. Just as the Security Services of Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin, the security services of all countries whose governments have been elected for a very long time will be using the authority granted them by these types of laws to "compel internet and phone companies to retain their records of traffic" on specific domestic individuals deemed "subversive" by authorities. At no time will "millions" of private emails, text messages and mobile phone calls be examined.
The next segment of this article contains some very shocking plans for new legislation!
"The government plans to introduce new legislation this autumn, including the creation of a conspiracy offence of 'acts preparatory to terrorism'." (Ibid.)
Can you imagine that? The British government is planning to introduce legislation this Fall which may authorize authorities to arrest people who are merely suspected of "getting ready" to commit terrorism? Why, this is awful! This legal power would give authorities virtually unlimited power to arrest the enemies of the state, those nasty dissidents, merely on a suspicion that they were getting ready to carry out a terrorist attack! Once again, we see the parallel between this proposal and the 20th Century secret services of the dictatorial governments of Communism and Nazism.
But, why should we be surprised? President Bush instituted this very type of program shortly after 9/11. We posted an article on this subject, NEWS1673, entitled, "Minority Report Movie -- Citizens Arrested Even Though They Have Not Committed Any Crimes, Sent To Jail Without Trial and Without Release Date -- Current FBI Guidelines - Citizens Arrested Even Though They Have Not Committed Any Crimes, Sent To Jail Without Trial and Without Release Date".
This dictatorial law of literally "throwing away the key" was enacted by "christian" President Bush and Attorney General Ashcroft, in response to the attacks of 9/11. Therefore, this British proposed "conspiracy offence of 'acts preparatory to terrorism' " bill sounds suspiciously close to the American version! These are the acts of a dictator, the positive public rhetoric about protecting domestic citizens against terror notwithstanding. Remember that most dictatorial legislation in history was originally introduced with the most flowery of rhetoric.
Listen to Christian minister, Richard Wurmbrand, who spent many years as a prisoner in the Soviet Gulag system, explain:
"We did not heed the warning of the Lord to beware of wolves in sheep's clothing. If the clothing speaks to us about doing good to mankind, we get hooked, forgetting that the worst of men can speak beautiful things." (Richard Wurmbrand, "Marx & Satan", p. 130)
May I add: the worst of men can also speak beautifully patriotic things in order to deceive and lead astray an entire nation!
One British commentator adroitly pointed out that this proposed invasion into the lives of British and E.U. citizens would NOT prevent another terrorist attack. We heard this over and over again in the aftermath of 9/11, did we not? We certainly did, but these facts did not sway the Bush Administration and the compliant, cooperative Congress from passing all these dictatorial laws; neither will this excellent analysis by this British journalist prevent England, the E.U., and Australia from passing this type legislation.
Now, let us examine another piece of proposed legislation, put forth in the power of the London bombing aftermath.
NEWS BRIEF: "Body scan machines to be used on Tube passengers", Timesonline, July 8, 2005
"TUBE passengers are to have their bodies scanned by machines that see through clothing in an attempt to prevent further terrorist attacks. The millimetre wave imagers will be used to carry out random checks as people enter stations after services resume today. Police and transport officials are also considering installing the equipment permanently at stations across the network ... The scanners can spot the waistcoat bombs usually worn by suicide bombers and automatically send an alert to nearby officers. Unlike other scanners, they can cover crowded entrances without the need for people to be stopped for individual checks ... the scanners could be fitted to all 270 Underground stations within 18 months."
"Simon Stringer, managing director of QinetiQ’s security division, said: 'We have been asked to deploy some of this equipment. It would certainly assist in preventing this sort of thing from happening again. After today, I expect the traveling public will be more prepared to put up with a greater level of surveillance'. Mr Stringer said."
Yes, after this suicide bombing, the British people will be expected to "put up with a greater level of" government interference and control in their lives -- just as the Plan calls for! The net effect of the attacks of both 9/11 and of London is to prepare the public for greater government control, on the false premise that future attacks would be "prevented".
Since the 9/11 attacks were supposedly carried out with Muslim highjackers skillfully flying huge airplanes into buildings, one of the responses of the American government was to install invasive scanning machines -- and body searches -- at airport check-in counters. Now, London authorities are going to install invasive scanning machines at the entrances to their Tube (Subway) system. What worked in America is expected to work in Great Britain, and it certainly will. The British people are as much "sheeple" as are the Americans -- and just as trusting in their government.
Now, let us examine a story which shows us just how traumatized the British people are because of this bombing. Notice the exceedingly high poll numbers, demonstrating that the majority of people are willing to give up some freedoms in exchange for wispy, flimsy expectation of increased protection against "terrorism" -- from the very powers who caused the attacks!
NEWS BRIEF: "Majority 'back new terror measures' ", This Is London, 12 July 2005
"A large majority of the public would support tough new measures to try to reduce the threat of more terror attacks, according to a poll. Nearly nine out of 10 people favoured giving the police new powers to arrest people they suspect of planning terrorist acts (86%), tighter controls on who came into the country (88%) and security checks and baggage inspections at stations ... Some 70% backed an increase in police powers to stop and search people on the street, while 61% said they supported the introduction of ID cards."
Wow! Can you believe it? Prime Minister Blair is going to get his coveted "National ID" program passed now, which is currently stalled in Parliament! What a huge difference one "government provocateur" operation can make! Adolf Hitler got his dictatorial powers after Nazi agents burned Germany's Reichstag and blamed it on the Communists; President Bush got his dictatorial powers after agents staged the attacks of 9/11, caused the controlled demolition of the World Trade Centers, blaming it on terrorists; and now Prime Minister Blair is probably going to get his dictatorial powers following the London bombings, which he also blamed on terrorists.
Great Britain's government was not the only one proposing restrictive legislation in the wake of the London carnage.
NEWS BRIEF: "Italy official proposes anti-terror rules", China Daily, July 13, 2005
"Terrorism is 'knocking on Italy's door' and parliament should adopt tougher measures, including allowing police to detain suspects longer without charge, the interior minister said Tuesday. Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu unveiled the package to parliament amid increased fears of a terrorist attack in Italy after Thursday's bombings in London. The measures would include giving police greater investigative powers and incentives for those helping investigators bring down terrorist cells. Pisanu proposed that police be able to hold suspects without charge for 24 hours for identification purposes, double the time currently allowed. He also called for greater surveillance of cell phones, suggesting a directory of mobile phone users, as well as the strengthening of judicial provisions for terrorism-linked offenses."
The Interior Minister used flowery, expressive language to spread his message of fear.
" 'Today, after the massacres in Madrid and London, I must say that terrorism is even knocking on Italy's door, as well as on (the door of) other European countries', Pisanu told lawmakers. Although there are not specific indications of a terrorist attack, he said 'the evaluation of converging circumstances and clues pushes us to consider it possible'. (Ibid.)
If this sounds suspiciously like the seemingly endless supply of false FBI terror alerts in the years after 9/11, it should, for so many of them were accompanied by the tell-tale phrase, "No specific intelligence" - a tip off that the "alert" was bogus. We issued a study about one year ago concerning these false alerts and showed how a number of headlines were steadfastly repeated -- NEWS1888.
As Cutting Edge has always taught, no nation which has a long history of electing their officials, and which is protected by laws and/or constitutions from the excesses of officials, will be allowed to enter the coming New World Order. Each of these types of governments have to be collapsed and turned into a dictatorship. When Antichrist arises, all ten leaders of the final super nations have to be absolute dictators.
Remember the warning of General Tommy Frank, who led the American invasion of Iraq? He stated that the American constitution would not survive the next terrorist attack (Newsletter for 11/22/2003, Paragraph II, A). By the way, the drumbeats are beginning warning us of the next American terrorist attack, supposedly to come within the next 90 days.
The official government of the European Union is getting into the act as well. Notice the role the London bombings had on giving this proposal impetus. In fact, notice that the E.U. had already passed restrictive laws after the twin terror attacks of 9/11 in America and the Madrid bombing.
NEWS BRIEF: "EU steps up terror financing fight", The Australian, July 13, 2005
"THE European Union has agreed to speed up its drive to cut off funding for terrorist groups after bombs killed more than 50 people in London last week. British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown said the issue of sanctions against countries that did not act against terrorist financing would be on the agenda of upcoming International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings. After chairing a meeting of EU finance ministers, Mr Brown said the 25-nation bloc was united in its desire to destroy the monetary lifelines used by groups accused of terrorism."
"The EU had already adopted an action plan to combat money laundering and banking secrecy that helped the illegal moving of money following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and the Madrid bomb blasts in March 2004." (Ibid.)
Then, for good measure, the Chancellor of the Exchequer turned his eyes abroad, to other countries, urging them to also pass tough, invasive legislation.
"But he said he was concerned some countries outside the EU and America were not doing enough to combat money laundering. Asked whether such countries should face sanctions, Mr Brown, also chair of the IMF's main policy steering group, said he would take this up with the leading financial institutions." (Ibid.)
For good measure, the fine people of London were kept on tender hooks by warnings that other terrorist attacks could follow. Americans went through those types of warnings for several years after 9/11. (Read our study on false frightening headlines, NEWS1888).
Even Australia climbed on the London attack bandwagon.
NEWS BRIEF: "National identification cards should be back on the agenda in the wake of the London terrorists attacks", The Age, July 15, 2005
"National identification cards should be back on the agenda in the wake of the London terrorists attacks, Prime Minister John Howard says. The controversial plan was raised yesterday by Queensland Premier Peter Beattie, who suggested a national ID card to prevent unlawful detention ... Mr Howard said the idea should be considered although the government at this point had not made a final decision on the matter. 'This is an issue that ought to be back on the table but back on the table as part of inevitably looking at everything in the wake of the terrible tragedy in London', he told reporters today."
So far, in the wake of the London attacks, Great Britain, the European Union, and Australia are proposing new legislation which will tighten controls over their domestic populations. The global dictatorship continues to move closer, but more attacks on more cities will be required. That is also the Plan.
NEWS BRIEF: "London still at risk, police warn", The Australian, July 13, 2005
"As BRITONS reeled from news that last week's attacks on London might well have been the work of homegrown suicide bombers, police warned that the country was still under threat from Islamic militants. An anti-terrorist police spokesman said it would be 'remarkably reckless' to rule out further attacks – despite a stunning breakthrough in the bid to track down those who carried out the killings."
This "stunning breakthrough" in investigating which Muslim extremists were going to pay the price for this bombing, I was reminded how quickly the FBI was able to post the pictures of the 18 Muslim extremists which they said were responsible for the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Isn't it amazing that the internal police services were not able to stop these "extremists", but were able to quickly find out who was responsible?
Because the "proof is in the pudding", the very fact that our prediction that governments throughout the world will use the London attacks as a premise to pass severely restrictive -- even dictatorial -- laws against their own domestic citizens, goes a long way toward validating our original premise that the attacks were as staged as the 9/11 attacks. Additionally, the entire event contained an incredibly strong "occult signature". (NEWS2054)
Keep your eyes and ears open to other countries starting to sound this refrain, and for all countries to start passing packets of legislation similar to the onslaught in America right after 9/11.
Truly, the End of the Age is upon us, as the time toward the Final Birth Pangs War (World War III) designed to produce Antichrist on the world scene draws closer by the hour. Are you spiritually ready? Is your family? Are you adequately protecting your loved ones? This is the reason for this ministry, to enable you to first understand the peril facing you, and then help you develop strategies to warn and protect your loved ones. Once you have been thoroughly trained, you can also use your knowledge as a means to open the door of discussion with an unsaved person. I have been able to use it many times, and have seen people come to Jesus Christ as a result. These perilous times are also a time when we can reach many souls for Jesus Christ, making an eternal difference.
If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, but have been very lukewarm in your spiritual walk with Him, you need to immediately ask Him for forgiveness and for renewal. He will instantly forgive you, and fill your heart with the joy of the Holy Spirit. Then, you need to begin a daily walk of prayer and personal Bible Study.
If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, but have come to realize His reality and the approaching End of the Age, and want to accept His FREE Gift of Eternal Life, you can also do so now, in the privacy of your home. Once you accept Him as Savior, you are spiritually Born Again, and are as assured of Heaven as if you were already there. Then, you can rest assured that the Kingdom of Antichrist will not touch you spiritually.
If you would like to become Born Again, turn to our Salvation Page now.
We hope you have been blessed by this ministry, which seeks to educate and warn people, so that they can see the coming New World Order -- Kingdom of Antichrist -- in their daily news.
Finally, we would love to hear from you.
You can contact us by mail or email.
God bless you.
Copyright © 2005 Cutting Edge Ministries. All rights reserved. This password protected article and its contents are protected under the copyright laws of the United States and other countries. This article is provided by subscription only for use by the subscriber and all other rights are expressly reserved by the copyright owner. Copying and pasting this article, in whole or in part, into e-mails or as attachments to e-mails or posting it on the Internet is strictly prohibited and may subject the offender to civil liability and severe criminal penalties (Title 17, United States Code, section 501 and 506).
Copying and distributing
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During today's stage 8 of the Giro d'Italia, a Spanish racing cyclist by the name of Pedro Horrilo lost control of his bike on the descent of the Culmine di San Pietro (Summit of St. Peter). The poor man went off the road and feel straight into a ravine. Doctors report he is in an induced coma and on a respirator, with multiple fractured ribs, fractured leg, a broken kneecap, a perforated lung and head trauma. The descent of the Culmine is a very technical one. According to paramedics, he fell more than 60 metres down the ravine before being airlifted by helicopter to a nearby hospital in Bergamo. The summit of St. Peter is a pass at 1258 m altitude in the municipality of Cassina Valsassina. In the past this crossing was used by shepherds in the Val Taleggio to conduct trade relations.
To see an example of what this rider may have faced, here's a video from another race last year.
I'm not terribly thrilled to know that mega bike races such as the Giro, for entertainment purposes or otherwise, have to design courses in such a way that riders face such life threatening situations. Pedro is 6ft tall, and sitting on a big bike like that high above the ground, the railings by the side of the road are too short to offer any protection. This is almost like going to war. There is no guarantee that you'll get back in one piece to your family.
So what is the limit for race organizers? When does it get a little bit too much to bear? Feel free to discuss.
Note : All Photos Courtesy Of Roberto Bettini.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
* * * | <urn:uuid:d698e897-da4d-4d42-9a40-51adabaae8d1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cozybeehive.blogspot.com/2009/05/safety-moment-crashing-60m-into-ravine.html?showComment=1242502080000 | 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 | 0.958913 | 362 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Barack Obama is president of the United States, but Dustin Davis is Foursquare mayor of the Oval Office. Mr. Davis, 30, is also mayor of the Pentagon, where he works as an information technology specialist, and of the John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame at Arlington National Cemetery, which he frequently walks past en route to work.
"There are pretty significant bragging rights that go along with being mayor of the Oval Office," Mr. Davis says.
Consumer Democracy The Internet site Foursquare lets users check in at various locations like restaurants, hotels, or the gym. Whoever checks in the most is crowned the mayor, earning bragging rights and, sometimes, a few perks.
Bragging rights are the big prize in Foursquare, a fast-growing online game and social network that gives regular folks virtual status. Using the global positioning service on most mobile phones, users "check-in" at restaurants, stores and other buildings they frequent, giving marketers the opportunity to shower them with discounts and prizes. Users also check in at exclusive places they merely come in close proximity with.
Users of Foursquare—which has signed up 4 million members in its 20 months of existence, including 1 million in the past six weeks—play to earn the title of "mayor" of a particular place by racking up the most "check-ins" during the preceding 60 days. Marketers see a way to encourage visits and reward their best customers. The MarketFair Mall in Princeton, N.J., has designated a prime parking spot as "Foursquare Mayor Parking." On the first Wednesday of the month, the mayor of the W Montreal hotel gets valet parking, a spa treatment or a night's stay at no charge.
Advertising executives are keeping an eye on Foursquare's potential as an avenue for targeted marketing. Right now, though, its membership is too narrow for many brands, says Frank Desiderio, associate director of technology management for OgilvyOne Worldwide. "We think there is a lot of potential but the numbers are not there yet."
Many Foursquare players are dedicated and competitive. They use it to see where friends are hanging out and to avail themselves of special deals. Being largely tech savvy, they are aware they are revealing their consumer patterns to marketers. What's a game to them is metrics and data to others. They play anyway.
Last month, Arby's kicked off a Foursquare promotion in which mayors of 37 locations from Evansville, Ind., to Huntsville, Ala., get reserved seats at "Mayor's tables" and 50% off meals. For Arby's, it's the chance to run a loyalty program and test new products using an infrastructure it hasn't paid to build—and associate with a brand that has Internet cachet. "This represents the intersection of the social-media conversation we want to be a part of and the real-world targetability that larger retail operations desire," says Bob Kraut, senior vice president at Arby's Restaurant Group Inc.
Foursquare users request permission to follow others, the way they do on Facebook and other social networks. They compete to collect "badges," winning, say, the "Gym Rat" badge after 10 gym check-ins in 30 days. The scavenger hunt is incentive to check-in at places all day; you never know what will earn you a badge.
Some badges are sponsored. Players who follow Mazda and check in at participating nightlife venues can earn the Mazda badge and possibly win a new car. The Washington Redskins recently announced that anyone who follows the team on Foursquare and checks in at FedExField or designated "Redskin bars" during games can qualify for a prize: seats, pre-game field passes and a meeting with insurance company Geico's caveman mascot at the Nov. 15 game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Sponsored badges are Foursquare's sole revenue source, says Tristan Walker, 26, a recent graduate of Stanford Graduate School of Business and Foursquare's head of business development. Sponsorships are customized to suit a brand's objectives, he says, declining to say how much they cost. But what's most valuable to small businesses, he says, is the opportunity to cultivate customer loyalty.
Ian Letts, 40, half of a commercial-directing team called the Perlorian Brothers, says he checks in at places in Los Angeles (mayor, Chateau Marmont) and Toronto. "I'm not in it for the free muffin," he says. The appeal is "making your mark. It's sort of like invisible graffiti that only people in this little world can see."
Michael Arrington put effort into his political résumé on Foursquare. The founder of the website TechCrunch (which AOL Inc. recently bought for about $30 million), Mr. Arrington was, until Tuesday, the mayor of Facebook's Palo Alto, Calif., headquarters. He lives in Seattle and hasn't been by Facebook's office in ages. He got a programmer to write code overriding Foursquare's proximity requirements.
Mr. Arrington, 40, says there's a thrill in out-gaming Foursquare, not to mention Facebook. Yet it brought him no perks. "I do feel like I should get employee stock options for being mayor of Facebook," Mr. Arrington said recently.
This week, Foursquare instituted new rules: A company can fire its mayor if it believes the title was won through cheating. On Tuesday, Facebook ousted Mr. Arrington, a Foursquare spokeswoman said.
Told he had been deposed, Mr. Arrington emailed, "LOL." Facebook, which recently introduced a check-in feature on its site, declined to comment.
At the Four Seasons restaurant in Manhattan, a favorite of power-brokers-of-a-certain-age, the mayor is Gary He, a 26-year-old photographer from Brooklyn. "No one else there is on Foursquare so I'm mayor," he says. Mr. He explained the game to Alex von Bidder, the restaurant's managing director. "I had no idea what Foursquare was and still really don't," Mr. von Bidder says. When bartenders learned Mr. He was mayor, they brought him a plate of free cookies. "To the victor goes the spoils," Mr. Von Bidder says.
The mayors of Luke's Lobster's two New York City locations get a 10% discount and their photos displayed on wall-mounted TV screens. "Everyone greets me by name when I come in," says Sara Davis, mayor of the Upper East Side location. "It's fun! I feel like Mayor Bloomberg!"
As for the Obama administration, when asked about Mr. Davis's claim to the Oval Office, White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton said in an email, "I think you'd be better off contacting a virtual spokesperson for this one."
Write to Katherine Rosman at email@example.com | <urn:uuid:31c1260f-ba8d-4956-bafd-be0a9658e1de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704462704575590260880867750.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964186 | 1,468 | 1.523438 | 2 |
February 20, 2013
Claims Conference offers last chance for East Germany property heirs
Jews who owned property seized by the Nazis in what became East Germany have a last chance to receive compensation for it.
For the first time in a decade, the Claims Conference has agreed to review new claims by potential heirs to Jewish-owned properties in the former East Germany.
On Feb. 19, the organization announced that it is establishing a $67 million fund — 50 million euros — for eligible heirs. The Late Applicants Fund will be open to claimants until Dec. 31, 2014.
After German reunification in 1990, Jewish heirs had until 1993 to file their claims to properties in the former East Germany. All properties for which no heir could be established were handed over to the Claims Conference under a 1990 agreement that made the Claims Conference’s so-called Successor Organization the legal successor to those properties.
The deal has netted the Claims Conference some $3 billion in recovered real estate assets, not including properties that went to heirs who could be found. The Claims Conference has sold most of the properties it received from Germany and spent more than $1.6 billion of the proceeds on home care for elderly Holocaust survivors, grants for organizations that benefit survivors, and Holocaust education and documentation.
Another $940 million went to a so-called Goodwill Fund set up for claimants who missed the Dec. 31, 1992, deadline to file their property claims. The fund enabled them to receive proceeds from the sale of the properties that Germany already had restituted to the Claims Conference and subsequently were sold.
The Claims Conference has come under criticism in the past for not being responsive to claimants who missed filing deadlines, though the Goodwill Fund’s application process was extended several times. The final extension took place in 2004, with amendments made in 2009 and 2010 for certain heirs, according to the Claims Conference.
Detailed rules and applications for the Late Applicants Fund are available on the Claims Conference’s Web site, Claimscon.org. The Web site also features a list of Jews who owned property in what would become East Germany before the beginning of the Nazi era that contains thousands of entries.
Since its Holocaust reparations programs began, Germany has paid out the equivalent of more than $70 billion to survivors and programs to help survivors. | <urn:uuid:fedcfdb6-303a-4ea9-84a1-8a8b8e2816c1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jewishjournal.com/articles/print/claims_conference_offers_last_chance_for_east_germany_property_heirs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971021 | 471 | 1.617188 | 2 |
I'm writing a MIDlet which needs to write file. I'm using FileConnection from JSR-75 to accomplish this.
The intention is to have this MIDlet runnning on as much devices as possible (all MIDP 2.0 devices with JSR-75 support, ideally).
On several emulators and an HTC Touch Pro2, I can perfectly use the following code to get the root of the filesystem:
Enumeration drives = FileSystemRegistry.listRoots(); String root = (String) drives.nextElement(); String path = "file:///" + root;
However, on a Nokia S60 5th edition emulator, trying to open a FileConnection to this path throws a java.lang.SecurityException. Apparently S60 devices do not allow connections to the root of the filesystem. I realise I can use something like System.getProperty("fileconn.dir.photos"), but that isn't supported on all devices either.
So, my actual question: what is the best approach to get a path to create a FileConnection with, that allows for maximum portability?
Edit: I suppose I could iterate over all the roots in the Enumeration, and check for a writable one, but that's hardly optimal for two reasons. First, there aren't necessarily any writable roots. Second, this could be the phone memory or a memory card, so the storage method wouldn't be consistent across devices, which is rather ugly. | <urn:uuid:b0f032d2-1135-4f3e-ac29-64247c368ba5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://facebook.stackoverflow.com/questions/2491412/file-path-for-j2me-fileconnection | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933276 | 305 | 1.539063 | 2 |
The Oakland Standard was a two-year experimental initiative by the Oakland Museum of California. Oakland Standard projects, each of which is represented on this website, took many forms, including blogs, workshops, meals, films, and artist installations.
The projects were designed to nurture inquisitiveness, respond to the interests of our local Oakland audience, and support the creativity of artists and the public.
The Oakland Standard was developed following a year of audience research, and reflected a collaboration of curatorial and marketing expertise. It launched in February 2011 and concluded in June 2012.
Project staff were: Claire Ball, Project Assistant; Stijn Schiffeleers, New Media Producer; Sasha Archibald, Project Manager; and René de Guzman, Senior Curator of Art. Oakland Standard staff worked extensively with other Museum staff, including Adam Rozan, Audience Development Manager, and Cynthia Taylor, Assistant Director of Public Programs, as well as with a long list of esteemed collaborators.
Here's some press about our programs.
The Oakland Standard was proudly produced in Oakland, and generously supported by The James Irvine Foundation.
The James Irvine Foundation is a private, nonprofit grantmaking foundation dedicated to expanding opportunity for the people of California to participate in a vibrant, successful and inclusive society. The Foundation’s grantmaking focuses on three program areas: Arts, California Democracy, and Youth. Since 1937, the Foundation has provided over $1 billion in grants to more than 3,000 nonprofit organizations throughout California. With $1.4 billion in assets, the Foundation made grants of $67 million in 2009 for the people of California.
Web design by Amy Balkin; development by Anthony J. Hall. | <urn:uuid:70fbf5e6-778b-4320-baa3-d687a5c68f69> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.museumca.com/theoaklandstandard/about | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9502 | 342 | 1.804688 | 2 |
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Three-dimensional conjugated poly(azomethine) networks were found to be promising candidates for applications in photocatalytic water splitting. Straightforward synthetic protocols lead to fully organic photocatalysts that showed enhanced long-time stability. Furthermore, the catalytic performance of these materials was correlated to the molecular composition and the optoelectronic properties of the samples.
Fetching data from CrossRef. This may take some time to load. | <urn:uuid:4ee82059-f219-4c75-940d-bc1dac06cb37> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2010/CC/c0cc04057f | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935847 | 150 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Little Pim is a fun, award-winning series designed to introduce foreign languages to babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. Research shows that young children who learn a second language have greater cognitive and verbal skills. Children up to the age of six can learn multiple languages with ease, and Little Pim makes it fun!
Each 35-minute DVD features Little Pim, a lovable, animated panda who is also the teacher, and real kids doing everyday activities. Intro Gift Set includes eating and drinking (Disc 1), Spanish Bop music CD, and a plush panda packaged in a see-through reusable tote. | <urn:uuid:353a84ff-1891-4569-8e01-5961619813ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.drugstore.com/little-pim-spanish-intro-gift-set/qxp334964 | 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 | 0.944652 | 127 | 1.648438 | 2 |
New rabbi says Jewish ‘wonder’ is in his nature
Rabbi Aaron Philmus brings his background in ecology and Jewish education to Congregation Brothers of Israel in Newtown, Pa.
August 13, 2012
Although the study of anthropology and wildlife conservation are not prerequisites for the rabbinate, Aaron Philmus says they are essential to his understanding of the “Sacred.”
“I really believe that when people develop a direct and regular relationship and connection with the more-than-human world, they will naturally feel a sense of awe and wonder, and those parts of them that have been sleeping because of our disconnect will just automatically turn on,” he said.
Philmus hopes to bring that understanding as the new rabbi at Congregation Brothers of Israel in Newtown, Pa., which serves the Bucks County, Pa., and Mercer County communities.
Having previously served as a Jewish nature educator and wildlife ecologist in various settings, including the Teva Learning Center in Connecticut and Camp Ramah in the Colorado Rockies, Philmus said he would consider new projects at the synagogue such as buying local foods and growing food for the needy.
“I tend to integrate nature and ecology concepts and environmental stewardship in a natural way throughout,” he said.
Philmus said he is excited to be on home turf: He grew up in Matawan and served as rabbinic intern at United Synagogue of Hoboken in New Jersey. His relatives still live nearby.
“There’s something really unique and special about this place and also just about being in a smaller community,” he said. “You have a much more multi-generational experience and you also have a real sense of the shtetl and the community, where people really care about each other and they know each other.”
“We are thrilled to welcome Rabbi Philmus to our family,” said congregation copresident Stephen Minsky in a press release. “He brings with him a passion for Judaism and strong background in education and tradition that reflects the needs of today’s Jewish community, across ages, lifecycle needs, and inclusive of interfaith families.”
Philmus said his parents, Irma and Ken Philmus, who still live in Matawan, taught him the value of synagogue life. His parents’ dedication to the family’s congregation, Temple Beth Ahm in Aberdeen, he told NJJN, “helped me feel a strong responsibility and devotion to our people.”
‘Sense of awe’
In high school, Philmus began studying Eastern and Native American cultures, ecology, and environmental justice. At the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, he met his wife and got involved in Hillel, while studying anthropology and wildlife conservation.
He also spent time in Australia, where he studied the aborigines. It was then that he began to realize the roots of the Jewish people are “based in agricultural life and also in the wilderness, where the Torah was received and the prophets received the word of God and experienced revelations,” he said.
After spending time alone in the woods “vision questing” and fasting, Philmus found a spiritual connection to his ancestors and Judaism.
He said he realized he wanted to help people “find a connection to Judaism that really expresses something real for them that is not just in a book, but something that is experiential and that connects with what already inspires them and what the original inspiration for religion was, which is a sense of awe and wonder for creation and life.”
Philmus worked in Jewish nature education, but reevaluated his life after the 9/11 attacks. His father and brother-in-law had offices in the World Trade Center, and it took hours for Philmus to find out they had survived.
As a result, Philmus decided he could use his skills to the fullest by becoming a rabbi and enrolled in the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. He then served as director of congregational life and learning at Congregation Beth Sholom in San Francisco.
Philmus, who plays guitar, also said he believes the Conservative movement can incorporate more music into the synagogue, while maintaining a traditional style and approach to prayer.
At Brothers of Israel, Philmus succeeds Rabbi Shalom Plotkin, who held the pulpit for three years. Rabbi Howard “Zvi” Hersch, who served the synagogue as religious leader for close to a half-century, remains as rabbi emeritus. His continued involvement in the congregation, Philmus said, is an “asset” and a “tremendous blessing.”
Philmus’ wife, Valerie, is a professional chef, and they have two children, Sophie, five, and Aeden, two. | <urn:uuid:629142ad-f5f5-47a4-9c0c-2eb88ad5e9ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.njjewishnews.com/article/14083/new-rabbi-says-jewish-wonder-is-in-his-nature?source=njjnrelated | 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 | 0.973989 | 1,004 | 1.742188 | 2 |
I’m a bit late to this one. Over three months late, to be precise. But I came across this this piece again by accident last week, and was reminded how bad it was, and I had to write something about it anyway. Especially as I just found the follow up post (more on that later). I’m talking about Michael Egnor’s defense of Ann Coulter: In which I take up P.Z. Myers' challenge on Ann Coulter and Evolution. The main thrust of Egnor’s post is to reduce evolution (actually just natural selection) to “stuff changes and survivors survive.” Egnor says this shows that evolution is mere tautology.
Before I start, a reminder of the definition of a straw man argument: it’s when you present a weakened, distorted, over simplified or absurd version of your opponent’s argument, and then you ridicule that weakened, distorted over simplified or absurd version of his argument and ignore the actual argument. When you refute the straw man version of an argument, you may to create the illusion of having refuted your opponent’s argument, but in fact you have only refuted your own weakened version of it. For that reason, attacking a straw man argument is fallacious.
OK, let’s look at Egnor’s post. He writes:
‘Stuff changes and survivors survive' isn't a scientific theory
Well, no it isn’t. But then that isn’t what the theory of evolution says. What Egnor appears to be describing is natural selection (which is part of the scientific theory of evolution). The critical piece he’s missing is the bit about favorable traits getting passed to descendants. That bit is essential for natural selection to work. And it isn’t tautology. Here’s a more accurate, although still simplified, description of natural selection:
- The genetic variation within a population of organisms improve the chances of some organisms to survive longer than others
- Survivors survive long enough to reproduce
- The traits that enabled an organism to survive long enough to reproduce, are passed to its descendants.
This isn’t a comprehensive definition. Point #2 should probably be something like, ‘survivors that survive longer are statistically more likely to reproduce.’ Point #3 should say something about the increased probability of passing on the survivor traits to the descendants – perhaps that relatively more of the traits get passed to descendants. Also, it is not just survivors that are more likely to reproduce. A stronger male might reproduce more than a weaker one by fighting off its weaker opponents. The weaker one might still survive, it just might not mate. But I tried to keep my definition as close to Egnor’s version of it as I could get. That way, it’s easier to see where Egnor is going wrong. I think my definition is good enough. But is it tautology?
A tautology is a formula which is true in every possible interpretation. For example, “all bachelors are unmarried.” So Egnor is right that “survivors survive” is tautology. But consider my more correct version of natural selection:
The genetic variation within a population of organisms improve the chances of some organisms to survive longer than others
Genetic variation also reduces the chances of some organisms to survive longer than others. Sometimes it has no effect. Point #1 therefore isn’t true in every possible interpretation and so is not tautology.
Survivors survive long enough to reproduce
But not all who survive long enough to reproduce, get to reproduce. They might still not find a mate, might get frightened off by stronger competitors, or might be sterile. Also, some organisms that survive for less time (without the beneficial genetic variation) still reproduce. Point #2 therefore isn’t true in every possible interpretation and so is not tautology either. Egnor’s error is to say just “survivors survive” (which is tautology) without the “long enough to reproduce” (or the “statistically more likely to reproduce”) part. The scientific theory requires “long enough to reproduce” or “statistically more likely to reproduce” because without that part, point three won’t follow.
The traits that enabled an organism to survive long enough to reproduce, are passed to its descendants
But some traits are not heritable, and so will not be passed on. Also, those that are heritable don’t always get passed on since descendants get their genes from both parents – only one parent might have the “survivor” trait. It is not tautological that any random variable traits get inherited. Point #3 therefore isn’t true in every possible interpretation and so is clearly not tautology.
None of my three points are tautological. And you need all three for natural selection.
At this point I refer you again to my definition of a straw man argument. Compare “Stuff changes and survivors survive” with my three points, and tell me if Egnor’s version isn’t a weakened, distorted over simplified or absurd version. And we know that Egnor is really impressed with this argument because he repeats it 11 times. So add argumentum ad nauseam to straw man.
But (as the infomercial presenters say), that’s not all. PZ replied to Egnor. He ends with:
Every study of evolution is built around specific hypotheses about mechanisms, not dumb blind counts of nothing but the living and the dead, but measures of differential reproductive success against some detailed parameter of their genetics. All those terms Egnor cluelessly throws around — "natural selection, sexual selection, kin selection, group selection, reciprocal altruism, disruptive selection, diversifying selection, selective sweeps, background selection, adaptive radiation, punctuated equilibrium" — have specific, different meanings, and do not reduce to merely "survival".
PZ doesn’t actually use the term “straw man,” but that’s what he means. But here’s the really funny bit: Egnor replies to PZ in My reply to P.Z.Myers: atheism is a small cup. In this post Egnor really surpasses himself. He has an almost brilliant response to the straw man claim, one I’ve never seen before: he renames it as a colloquialism:
"Differential reproductive success of variants in populations", which means precisely that "relatively more successful replicators relatively more successfully replicate". Colloquially, 'survivors survive'.
It wasn’t a straw man, oh no, it was a colloquialism. Brilliant.
Except, when you think about it, not so brilliant. A colloquialism is a word or phrase that is common in everyday conversation rather than in formal speech. For example, “it’s raining cats and dogs.” The difference between this and Egnor’s “survivors survive” should be obvious. First, I don’t think many people (other than professional creationists like Egnor) use the phrase “survivors survive” to describe evolution. Second, and more importantly, a colloquial expression is not meant to be taken literally. So if “survivors survive” is colloquial then Egnor can’t use it to say that evolution is tautological. It’s as though someone looked out the window, saw it wasn’t literally raining cats and dogs, and concluded that it wasn’t raining. Of course, Egnor wants it both ways. When a biologist points out that “survivors survive” is not what evolution says, Egnor says, well it’s just colloquial. But when he wants to refute evolution, he uses it literally. Egnor needs to make his mind up.
What else does Egnor have? Well, in a masterpiece of cherry picking he refers us to Galton and eugenics (presumably an attempt to link evolution to the Nazis, although who can be sure what he is really getting at?), Haeckel’s faked embryos (irrelevant - early embryos do show many similarities) and Piltdown Man (a known fake from 100 years ago that was uncovered by scientists, not by creationists like Egnor). Egnor just ignores all the evidence collected in the last 100 years or more. I guess on Egnor’s planet, nothing must have been discovered since Piltdown Man in 1908.
Both of these pieces by Egnor are extraordinarily bad – even for him. Usually with Egnor’s posts, you do at least get the impression that there is an intelligent person trying to make an intelligent, even scholarly point. He fails quite often, relying on logical fallacies and ignoring points raised by his opponent (see especially the series of posts by Steven Novella dueling with Egnor on what causes the mind). But you do at least get the sense of an intellect at work, a measured, professional tone, someone who is trying to grasp an argument. But here you get none of that. Instead we have just the juvenile repetition of an infantile misrepresentation of natural selection, as though repetition and assertion were valid arguments if delivered with enough sarcasm. Perhaps that’s understandable when you consider what we now know to be Egnor’s prime source for his knowledge on evolution, namely Ann Coulter:
Well, nobody insults Ann Coulter without a reply from me. I love Ann Coulter (Platonically, of course). Love, love, love. She's basically right about everything, and the only thing I don't like about her books and T.V. appearances is that when she attacks atheists/Darwinists/liberals she's so clever that my sides ache from laughing. I still can't look at a picture of John Edwards without thinking of her name for him: 'Silky Pony'.
I have all of Coulter's books, paper and electronic (so I can always have her insights close). Coulter has more wisdom in one of her neurons than P.Z. Myers and his Pharyngula inmates have collectively in their telencephalons and diencephalons (I know, I know, that implies a materialist reduction of the mind. It's a metaphor).
Read that and consider the caliber of a person who actually believes anything like that. Rational Wiki quotes Scopie’s Law as “In any discussion involving science or medicine, citing Whale.to as a credible source loses you the argument immediately ...and gets you laughed out of the room.” I’d like to propose a new law – call it Skeptico’s Law, or Argumentum ad Coultarium if you prefer: “In any discussion, citing Ann Coulter as a credible source loses you the argument immediately ...and gets you laughed out of the room.” It would certainly save you a lot of time. | <urn:uuid:6ce759c0-975e-4c77-8f9b-4c0968573a04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://skeptico.blogs.com/skeptico/evolution_intelligent_design/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939227 | 2,355 | 1.742188 | 2 |
In 2005, Canada’s current Prime Minister Steven Harper made the comment – “You won’t recognize Canada when I’m done with it.” He was right – the values that have defined Canada are gradually being replaced by values more appropriate to those of a quasi-fascist state. To those of my generation, Canada is indeed, becoming unrecognizable.
Canadians, much like their American cousins, post 9/11; continue to be coerced by government’s trump card – the war on terrorism. As a result, Canadians blindly continue to accept the invasion of their personal lives and, infringements on their right to privacy.
In a statement reminiscent of George Bush’s – “you’re with us or you’re with the terrorists”, Canada’s Minister of Public Safety, in an overreaching attempt to squash dissent on the recently introduced Preventing Criminal Electronic Communications Act – let loose with an outrageous slogan meant to vilify opponents – “stand with us or with the child pornographers”.
In other words, anyone who dares to oppose the Preventing Criminal Electronic Communications Act – which, will allow carte blanche government spying on Canadians’ Internet activities – without judicial oversight – is supportive of child pornography.
Those of us who disagree with the need for this legislation which would, in effect, place Canada in the same company as China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Syria – who subject their citizens to Internet surveillance – run the risk of being classified as criminals, perverts, and low life’s. As Cicero, the Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, orator, and political theorist reportedly said – “When you have no basis for an argument, abuse the plaintiff.”
This attack on reasonable and responsible discourse is hardly surprising, coming from a government intent on stripping away, layer by layer, the fundamental freedoms fought for, and won, by generations of Canadians.
To the historically challenged, and those that are less technology savvy, an intrusion into the sacrosanct ground of personal privacy – to protect children – may appear to be both reasonable, and prudent. After all, society’s protection of children must be part of the driving philosophy of any mature civilization.
But the curtailment of personal liberty – ostensibly for the common good – as this legislation supposedly is – has a rather unpleasant history. A history worth considering.
“The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation.”
- Adolf Hitler (Mein Kampf)
More appropriate perhaps –
“Necessity is the plea of every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.”
- William Pitt (British Prime Minister, 1783)
Equally as appropriate –
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies.
The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated. But those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their consciences.”
- C.S. Lewis
Just one of the many corrosive provisions included in this legislation, would require Internet service providers to hand over subscriber data to the Police - without a warrant. The familiar argument often pushed forward by supporters of this type of regressive legislation – if you have nothing to hide….. – simply doesn’t hold water.
Resistance to this legislation is not about being law abiding, it’s not about protecting children from the .0000001 %.
It is about not having every aspect of one’s life subject to close examination.
It is about not allowing Big Brother to spy on one’s Internet activities.
It is about a disturbing tendency of this particular government’s interest in knowing – and controlling – the Internet activities of Canadian citizens.
Thankfully, privacy and consumer advocates – including Federal, Provincial, and Territorial privacy commissioners – have taken a hard line and, have been speaking out against this proposed thugary. Even so, given the unyielding positions previously taken by this current regressive government – the consensus of opinion seems to indicate; this nonsense will pass into law. Ensuring that Canadians, will get a taste of what was once East German life under the Stasi (The Ministry for State Security).
The sad part of this whole exercise in repression is – it’s pointless as a control against child pornographers. Since the minds behind this abomination appear to be barely computer literate, they seem to be unaware of the following –
VPN applications (Secure Virtual Private Network Connection), commonly used in repressive countries such as Iran, China, and so on – which allow untraceable encrypted data (preventing disclosure of private information), are readily available for download on the Internet. Once connected to a VPN, an ISP no longer has the ability to follow.
I suspect that child pornographers are generally computer literate and, are well aware of the practical methods that can be used to avoid detection. VPN applications are just one such method.
The unpleasant reality is simple – unfettered government surveillance directed at Canadian Internet users.
If you are a Canadian, and you believe that it’s time to fight back against unreasonable control of your rights to access the Internet without censorship, and surveillance, you might consider joining OpenMedia.ca, which describes itself as “a grassroots organization that safeguards the possibilities of the open and affordable Internet.”
Finally, let me say – I considered long and hard as to whether I should post my opinion on this issue. The number of comments on the Net (and, in more than one national newspaper), in which personal fear of this government’s response to criticism was mentioned, weighed on my mind.
I find it stunning, that I’m living in a time in which some Canadians are fearful of their own government. The unfortunate reality is – they may have ample justification for those feelings. | <urn:uuid:8e4dbee3-03b1-4180-9416-6ae5413ea94d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://billmullins.wordpress.com/2012/02/15/canadas-proposed-preventing-criminal-electronic-communications-act-open-season-for-police-to-spy-on-canadians-online/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944577 | 1,317 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Some time ago, Don Little pointed me to this post over on Creating Passionate Users. In a nutshell it says
If you think, you cannot be afraid. If you’re afraid, you cannot think. The mind shuts down. It’s built that way. Fear is a reflex that shuts down rational thought to allow you to move out of the way of danger.
Myself, I’ve been accused of being fearless in my willingness to confront what I see as “the issues.” Well, that’s not quite true, but the process of having to write means I have to stop and think. I have to do the “take a deep breath” thing and consider where to begin the ramble. Once I begin, the rest is easy — sorta.
All this leads me to consider what part fear plays in one’s willing participation in a social space. If you walk into a roomfull of strangers — how do you react?
Fear? (oh my god, i don’t know any of these people what am i going to say who wants to hear what i may be thinking how to i talk to them where will i stand is my fly zipped how am i going to … )
Anticipation? (oh cool. what an interesing crowd! this should be fun … )
Calculation? (Hm. There’s Smithers, she doesn’t know me but perhaps I can stand next to her and people will talk to me thinking that I do …)
Of course it depends on the situation — a cocktail party would generate a different response than, say, a lynch mob. The size of the group, the degree to which you know the people in your immediate sight, and the purpose of the convocation all have a bearing on your response.
Now what happens when you move online?
You don’t know, necessarily, who’s going to be there. You don’t know who might see your work later. You may know that you’re going to be observed by people who intimidate you. Or who have the power to change your life in ways you don’t really want.
Or maybe, you care deeply about something and are willing stake out some turf and see what happens.
My late father always told me, “Life is a risk.” | <urn:uuid:fd690d42-d808-4690-9b42-d8a27a66f4a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.durandus.com/cogdiss/2005/08/think-or-swim/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952287 | 502 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Bible Study: Ephesians
(Part 1-Chapters 1-3)
by Gary T. Panell
Outline: I. Wealth of the Believer (Doctrinal) Chapters 1-3
II. Walk of the Believer (Practical) Chapters 4-6:9
III. Warfare of the Believer (Tactical) Chapter 6:10-24
Key verses: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Key phrase: In Him, in Christ
Background: The letter was written in Rome and the date for the writing of the letter is A.D. 61. It is the first of the prison letters (Acts 20-27; Acts 28:30-31). Paul is waiting for his trial (Ephesians 3:1; 4:1; 6:20).
"Ephesians is in the same chronological group of Paul's epistles as Colossians, Philemon, and Philippians, called collectively 'The Prison Epistles' because they were written during Paul's first Roman imprisonment. Paul evidently arrived in Rome in the spring of 61. The Acts speaks of his living two whole years in his own hired house (Acts 28:30), which would bring him to the spring of 63. He was probably released before the burning of Rome in 64. In Philippians he was expecting such release (1:19-26), a hope to which he refers also in Philemon 22. Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon were dispatched at the same time by the same messengers (Ephesians 6:21, 22; Colossians 4:7-9; Philemon 12, 23, 24)." (The Wycliffe Bible Commentary)
"It has been much disputed whether Paul endured two Roman imprisonments from A.D. 60 to 68, or one. The tradition from Clement to Eusebius favors two imprisonments. It has been pointed out that the leaving of Trophimus sick at Miletus (2 Timothy 4:20) could not have been an occurrence of Paul's last journey to Jerusalem, for then Trophimus was not left (Acts 20:4; 21:29); nor could it have been on his journey to Rome to appear before Caesar, for then he did not touch at Miletus. To make this incident possible, there must have been a release from the first imprisonment and an interval of ministry and travel." (C.I. Scofield, D.D.) Paul may have gone to Spain after he was released for a year. It may be that God had given him a vision that he would go to Spain and this is why he says what he does in Romans 15:24, 28.
Some have questioned whether or not Ephesus was the church Paul was addressing in this letter, the first reason is because the words "in Ephesus" are not in the Codex Sinaiticus (Aleph) and Codex Vaticanus (B), but I personally do not believe these manuscripts are the most accurate. These words "in Ephesus" do occur in the Greek text, presently known as the "Textus Receptus," or Received Text, of the New Testament.
The second reason there have been doubts as to whom the book is really addressed to is because of the letter referred to in Colossians 4:16. Where it says: "Now when this epistle is read among you, see that it is read also in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you likewise read the epistle from Laodicea." I believe there is an easy solution to this question. All the letters that are inspired by Paul, (there may have been some that were not meant for the whole Church) were to be passed from local church to local church. Such is the case with the letter first addressed to the Colossians, and such is the case with the letter first addressed to the Ephesians (the book of Ephesians now). So the letter that was in Laodicea was Ephesians, being read to the congregation in Laodicea after it was read in Ephesus, it was to be read in Colosse.
"It seems unlikely that the Holy Spirit would inspire this command to read the Laodicean epistle, and then allow it to be lost. It is more likely that the Ephesian letter (which contains no personal names) was intended for all the churches of the region. Tychicus would have left it at Ephesus, whence (from where) it was to be circulated to Laodicea and eventually to Colosse." (The Defender's Study Bible, Dr. Henry M. Morris)
These doubts about where the letter was addressed aside, let us see why Paul addressed this very important theological letter to the church of Ephesus. "Ephesus was the capital and chief city of the Roman province of Asia, located on the west coast of Asia Minor, almost due east of Athens. So far as the record goes, Paul spent almost three years in Ephesus (Acts 18:18-21; 19), longer than any other place after he started his missionary ministries. A strong church was established there, and Timothy was eventually sent there by Paul as its pastor (1Timothy 1:3). According to the early church fathers, the apostle John served as senior pastor of the Ephesian church in his later years, while he wrote his five New Testament books. Ephesus was evidently noted as the leading church among 'the seven churches which are in Asia' (Revelation 1:11).
"With such a long time spent by Paul establishing the church at Ephesus, it is noteworthy that, unlike his other epistles, the book of Ephesians contains no references to any individuals there, nor any references to specific problems or situations in the Ephesian church. The Ephesian epistle thus seems clearly designed for use in any church at all, and the probability is that Paul meant it as a circular letter to be shared with all the churches in Asia. It may even be the same as the letter to Laodicea mentioned in Colossians 4:16." (The Defender's Study Bible-Dr. Henry M. Morris)
Ephesians was carried by Tychicus. He also had with him Colossians and Philemon. Ephesians is not meant just for one particular local church, it was written also for the Universal Church (The Holy Catholic Church-The Indivisible Church), and Ephesus was just its first stop, as are all the letters of the New Testament. Yes, they are addressed to one particular church or individual to begin with, but they were meant to be circulated to all the Church. That is of course the reason they are included in the Canon of Scripture, because they are meant to be read and studied by every Christian. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Paul shares with those in the church how they were sought by the Father, saved by the Son, and sealed by the Holy Spirit. As a result of their salvation they need to be filled with the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, and in warfare against spiritual hosts of wickedness. It is also interesting to me that soon after Paul's writing of this letter, only about ten years later, the temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. God was showing the Church through this letter that we are the true Temple of God, and we are inhabited and filled by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22; 5:18).
In chapters one and two Paul addresses the believers "Standing" in grace. In chapter 3 through 5:17 he talks about the believer's "Walk" and "Service." In 5:18 through chapter 6 we find out about our "Walk" and "Warfare" as Christians in this world.
I. The Wealth of the Believer Chapters 1-3.
(1) "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,
To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:"
There can be no doubt about who wrote this book, because it says "Paul, an apostle." Paul was called by Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road. Ananias was told in a vision by the Lord Jesus that Paul was a chosen vessel of His "to bear His name before the Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel." (Acts 9:15)
The book is addressed to the "saints" (saints- means believers). Saints (HAGIOS) "In the plural, as used of believers, it designates all such and is not applied merely to persons of exceptional holiness, or to those who, having died, were characterized by exceptional acts of saintliness. See especially 2 Thessalonians 1:10, where 'His saints' are also described as 'them that believed.'" (VINE'S)
It was first addressed to saints who are in Ephesus. As we saw in the introduction, the letter was addressed to Ephesus first, but was to be circulated to all the churches. Ephesus was a main seaport on the west coast of Asia Minor, near the present-day Izmir. Ephesus was also one of the seven churches that Jesus addressed His letters to in Revelation 2 and 3. Paul was first in Ephesus for only a short time (Acts 18: 19-21), but later in the winter of A.D. 55 he stayed and ministered there for over two years (Acts 19:8-10).
(2) "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
If you will look at all the letters known to be written by Paul, he has this
greeting that is almost identical in each letter: "Grace to you and peace from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." I do not believe this is some "trite"
saying he uses to start his letters. I believe it means that He is saying this
letter is sent directly from God the Father and Jesus the Son by the Holy Spirit
through Paul to us. What does God want to say to His people? He wants to say
to us I give you My grace and peace. How different our God is from the false
gods. They do not give grace or peace to their followers. A Muslim never knows
if he or she will make it to "heaven." This is the way it is with all false
religions, there is no real lasting peace that they can have, nor do they even
know what grace is. For us as Christians the word means:
(3) "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,"
God has abundantly blessed believers with "every" spiritual blessing. For example we have salvation, victory over sin, power for service, etc. "Literally, 'in the heavenlies.'" The same Greek word is used in John 3:12, where "things" is added. In both places the word signifies that which is heavenly in contradistinction to that which is earthly.
"In Ephesians "places" is added and is especially misleading. 'The heavenlies' may be defined as the sphere of the Christian's spiritual experience as identified with Christ in nature (2 Peter 1:4); life (Colossians 3:4; 1 John 5:120); relationships (John 20:17; Hebrews 2:11); service (Matthew 28:20; John17:18); suffering (Philippians 1:29; 3:10; Col. 1:24); inheritance (Romans 8:16-17); and future glory in the kingdom (Romans 8:18-21; 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6; 5:10). The Christian is a heavenly man, and a stranger and pilgrim on the earth (Hebrews 3:1; 1 Peter 2:11)." (C. I. Scofield)
Notice: Whenever words are italicized, it means that they are not in the original language, but sometimes they are helpful, other times as here, it would have been better to use "the heavenlies" without places.
This phrase "in Christ" is extremely important! If you do not understand anything else I am saying, I hope you catch the significance of what it means here when it simply says "in Christ." This is the key to understanding this section, and salvation for that matter. We see the phrase "in Him" or "in Christ" used ten times in this first chapter, and at least thirty times in the whole book. We will see how important this phrase is, and what it means in the coming verses.
(4) "...just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,"
The best way I know how to explain "chose us in Him" is to use illustrations taken from Scripture. Please look at this story taken from the book of Joshua first. Rahab the harlot took in the spies of Israel and hid them so they were not discovered by her king. Then when she sent them on their way she asked that she and her family might be saved when Israel came to attack her nation. It is very interesting what the spies said to her, because it helps us understand this phrase "chose us in Him."
"Then the men said to her: "We will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear, 'unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father's household to your own home. So it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we will be guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him. And she bound the scarlet cord in the window." (Joshua 2:12-21)
You see the "scarlet cord" is one of the many pictures of the blood of Christ in the Old Testament. Rahab had to be inside the house, and her family members had to be inside the house with the scarlet cord in order to be saved. They could have chosen not to believe the spies message, but if they had they would have perished with the rest. So it is with us, God has provided a way of salvation, it is through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Think of it like a circle made on the floor and a big cross in it. Those who choose to get into the circle of Christ, or choose to be saved by His bloodshed on the cross will be saved. Those who do not choose to be "in Christ" will be damned. The choice is ours!
It is important to note though--God chose this circle of salvation, or manner of salvation before the world was created. It is His grace that saves us, then, not our choice. The reason we have a choice is because He made a way for us to be saved. Without grace we would not be saved! God chose everyone who would believe and receive Christ to be His. He did this by His foreknowledge, "elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:2a) He chose us to be holy and without blame before Him in love. In other words, when God sees those in the circle of Christ, He sees them as "just as if they had never sinned, and with the righteousness of Christ added to their lives." Why did He do this, because He loves us, and He wants us to love others!!!
Someone has said, "Salvation is like a gate, on the outside it says, WHOSOEVER WILL, MAY ENTER, but on the inside after a person has entered it reads, CHOSEN BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD."
Another illustration that may help us understand this phrase "as He chose us in Him" is the story of the Passover. You remember that the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, and then they were assured by God through Moses that if they would put the blood on their door and stay inside the house, when the death angel passed over they would be saved from the last plague. We find this recorded in Exodus chapter 12:1-13- what God said to Moses to tell the people. "Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: 'On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. 'Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 'Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month.
"Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.'"
This helps us to see how God chose the method of salvation and He also chose the people who would believe and obey His will. He knew who would believe and obey, but that does not change the fact that they had a true choice. So it is with us and salvation through Christ, Jesus died to provide the way of salvation. He shed his blood on the cross for us, now all those who apply that blood to their hearts will be saved. Just like the Israelites had to apply the blood to the door of their houses by faith. It is first and foremost the grace of God that we can even have a way of salvation, and it is He that chose us before He even created the world. He chose us in His Son Jesus Christ.
Those who He knew would accept Jesus as their Savior will be saved. Those who do not chose Christ will not be saved. Notice also God wants people saved by families, if they applied the blood to the door post (which makes the sign of the cross), the whole family would be saved. When Paul and Silas were asked by the Philippian Jailer how to be saved they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." (Acts 16:31) God wants a people that want to be God's Holy people. He does not want robots that do what He says without a choice, but people who love Him because they choose to serve Him in love and holiness.
(5) "...having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,"
This word "predestined" is taken wrong by people sometimes. They think of it meaning God chooses some people to be saved, and He chooses others to be damned, not on the basis of choice on their part, but as a choice only on His part. This could not be further from the truth. So let us look at the meaning of this word "predestined" in the context of the passage.
The American Heritage dictionary defines this word as: "determine in advance; foreordain." The Greek word used here is PROGN0SIS, foreknowledge, used only of Divine foreknowledge, Acts 2:23; I Peter 1:2. Foreknowledge is one aspect of omniscience; it is implied in God's warnings, promises and predictions. See Acts 15:18. God's foreknowledge involves His electing grace, but this does not preclude human will. He foreknows the exercise of faith which brings salvation." (Vine's)
In other words, God knows who will receive Him, these He commands that they are to be adopted as sons and daughters into His family. He does this because He wants to do this for us. There is no thought here of saying arbitrarily, "OK I save you, but I do not want to save you." No, His choice to make us His adopted children is based on our choice to receive His Son Jesus Christ. When we are "in Him" we are adopted into the family.
(6) "...to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved."
We are accepted into the family of God the Universal Church by God's "grace." We did not deserve it, but it was given to us as a free gift when we received Christ as our personal "LORD and Savior." In fact we deserved just the opposite; we deserved to be separated from God forever in a terrible place of punishment for our sins. But praise to God we were given a way out, and a way up, and that was through the blood of Jesus. He is the One who took our punishment on Himself at the whipping post and on the cross.
All of chapter 53 of Isaiah is about this, but I will only quote three verses, I hope you will read the rest of the chapter. "Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses) and carried our sorrows (pains); yet we esteemed (reckoned) Him stricken (struck down), by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded (or pierced through) for our transgressions, He was bruised (crushed) for our iniquities (sins); the chastisement for our peace was upon Him and by His stripes (blows that cut in) we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:4-6)
(7) "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace"
"Redemption" Greek (APOLUTROSIS) defined as "the forgiveness of our trespasses," (R. V.); so Colossians 1:14, "the forgiveness of our sins," indicating both the liberation from the guilt and doom of sin and the introduction into a life of liberty, "newness of life." (VINE'S) This all happens through the "blood of Jesus." We cannot overestimate the power in the blood of Jesus. This is so well illustrated in the story The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
Jesus gave His blood in place of ours so that we could be let free. God's righteous indignation on sin was vindicated when Christ died in our place. He did this again because of His attribute of grace. God is a Holy, Just, and Righteous God, and He cannot let even one sin go unpunished in His universe, but once that sin in the sinner has been dealt with, the grace of God allows that one to go free. No other religion on earth sees God as the Christian sees Him, a God who is at the same time a God of "Justice," but also a God of "Love" and "Mercy."
As I think about the blood, I remember a time we were having evangelistic meetings in Trinidad, West Indies. There was a drunk that had entered into the tent to disrupt the service. The evangelist, K.K., instructed the group to start singing that mighty old song; There is Power in the Blood. No sooner had we started singing and this drunken man spun around on his heels and left the service. The demon that was energizing this man, at that time, could not stand before the power of the blood of Jesus.
"According to the riches of His grace" Paul wants us to know how rich we are in Christ. You can take all the things of this world, which will soon be gone, and they are nothing in comparison to the riches we have in Christ!
(8) "...which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence"
Again you have to go back to the fact that God does everything according to His attributes. He is not just a God of justice, but he is also a God of love and mercy. God uses all of His attributes in wisdom and prudence to bring us to Himself. (For more detail, look at our article Christian Worldview Part One.) He cannot invite us to come to Him unless He has a way of getting rid of our sin, because He is a Holy God and He cannot have sin in His presence. So He made a way for us to be saved and to be with Him by using His wisdom. Paul says in Romans: "and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?" Romans 9:23-24
(9) "...having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,"
God has revealed to us the "mystery" (something not revealed in detail before) about His salvation and how it is by grace through faith. Also that God already knows who will receive salvation through His Son, but at the same time He does not violate our will. God wanted to do this and it is a pleasure for Him to save us. "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)
(10) "...that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth-in Him."
In the future, when we are with the Lord and everything has been accomplished on this earth, Jesus will be all in all for the believers. There will be no difference between men and women, Jews and Gentiles, we will all be one in Christ. We will be one in the love of Christ because of the salvation that is in Him alone. "And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them." (John 17:26)
(11) "...in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will."
It is in Christ that we have eternal life and heaven coming to us. Why, because that is the way God willed it to be. He willed that whoever receives His Son Jesus Christ will be saved, and will be with the Holy Trinity, one day.
(12) "...that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory."
There will be those who will be saved in the future who will not be in the Church Age as we are in, but we are the first to be saved. Why again? So God could bring glory to Himself for saving us out of the world. We did not deserve salvation, but He gives it to those who put their trust in Christ.
(13) "In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,"
The first part of this verse is reminiscent of Romans 10:13-14: "For 'whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.' How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?"
Then the second part of the verse goes on to assure us that after we believed we "were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." What does this mean? It means just what it says, that God has put his seal upon us. You know that in the time of Christ on this earth that a seal of the king was the sign of the authority, ownership and security of the king. Like when Pilate put his seal on the tomb so no one could open the tomb, he and they did not count on angels breaking the seal. But the seal was extremely important, anyone who had the seal of the king (sometimes a ring) had the same authority that the king had. So too when God puts His seal on us we are His, nobody better "monkey" with us not even the Devil himself. We belong to God!
There are two other verses in the New Testament that make this perfectly clear. "Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: 'The Lord knows those who are his,' and, 'Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.'" (2 Timothy 2:19) "...who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee." (2 Corinthians 1:22) What does this mean, well it means that Jesus "will never leave us or forsake us." (Hebrews 13:5) We have God's Holy Spirit living within us when we are born again. How much stronger assurance of salvation could God give us?!
Notice too that He goes on to say, "Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity." In other words if you belong to God, you better act like it because others are watching your actions! You are to be Holy, like your Heavenly Father is Holy! So we cannot say, "Well since I am saved and sealed in the Church age, so now I can go out and sin all I want." First, Paul addresses this in Romans 6-8. Second, if you think this way, you are not really saved according to 1 John, because Christians do not practice sin!
I personally do not believe this promise applies to Old Testament believers, why else would David pray, "Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me." (Psalm 51:5) I do not believe we will see King Saul in heaven or Balaam, but Ananias and Sapphire from Acts 5 will be there. We have something special in the Age of Grace or the Church Age; something that they did not have under the Age of Law. In this age if we are "in Christ" we are saved and sealed. I know this is a controversial subject and that it has been debated down through the centuries. I also know this debate has divided Christians for centuries and up until the present time. I do not believe God wants there to be division in the Church over this subject.
The problem is that we cannot see the heart of man, only God can do this. He alone knows if a person is "in Christ," so we are not to judge. Yes, we can be fruit inspectors because Christ has said we will know them by their fruit, but beyond this we really do not know if a person is saved or not. We do know that Scripture says that if we are "in Christ" we are His. Let us not be divided over this issue in the Church any longer, we know He has all the answers, and that when we get to heaven He will explain it for us, but right now we know He wants us to love each other and not be divided over this issue because of John 17.
(14) "...who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory." (This is referring to the work of the Holy Spirit.)
We are actually sealed not just "by" the Holy Spirit, but "with" the Holy Spirit. "Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee." (2 Corinthians 5:5) guarantee literally means "deposit," "down payment," or "first installment." The Holy Spirit's investment in us is God's title to possessing us entirely and forever. (New Spirit Filled Life Bible) "Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body." (Romans 8:23)
We were bought with the "blood" of Jesus. "...the church of God which He purchased with His own blood." (Acts 20:28) We are His, so as a result we want to praise Him for saving us, but also others will praise Him for how great He is in redeeming us. This shows His attributes such as love, mercy and especially grace. Also we have a little taste of heaven on this earth as we have the Holy Spirit living within us!
(15) "Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,"
Paul always liked hearing of the progress that other Christians were making, and so should we be. In this case he had had a vital part in starting the work in Ephesus (Acts 18:21; 19:8-10 20:17-38). We should not want to hear about negative things that are happening to Christians, but should be glad when God's work is prospering.
(16) "...do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:"
We should be in prayer for the ministries that we hear about or are involved in. Through prayer we are a vital part of the ministry. Only in heaven will we know how much our prayers did to promote the work in different parts of the world. I remember praying for parts of Russia to open up to the Gospel when they were still under Communism, when there seemed to be no way that God could answer these prayers, but He did.
God is taking our prayers and weaving them into the makeup of the universe. How powerful our prayers are! If we believed this more, we would pray more! We need to pray for those Christians around the world who are suffering for Christ even today. Then too, we should not forget to thank God for His answers to our prayers. We can thank Him ahead of time because we know that if we pray in the will of God, in faith, He will answer our prayers according to His perfect will.
Here is where praying in the Spirit helps as well, because we do not always know how to pray for people, but the Holy Spirit does. "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit," (Jude 20) ""Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." (Romans 8:26) "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit." (1 Thessalonians 5:16-19)
(17) "...that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,"
We do not know Christ as we should so often. Maybe those who have gone through real suffering for the Lord, or those who have experienced real trials do know Him better than most; but for most of us we do not really get to know Christ as we should. That is why Paul wants God to give us the "spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him."
Our whole lives as Christians should be given over to getting to know Christ on an intimate basis. However, so often things of this world crowd out this intimate fellowship with Christ that Paul is talking about. We need to pray as Paul did for this to happen in our lives. It has to come by "revelation," what better place to find this than the revelation of Christ in His Word. As we spend time with Him in His Word we will experience this, but it comes as a matter of choice as well. We must put Christ first in our lives for this to happen.
(18) "...the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,"
The eyes of our heart are being spoken of here; our spirit in touch with His Spirit. When we are in fellowship with Him by the Holy Spirit we know what we have in Him, now and in the future. We see that the things of this world are temporary, but what God has for us are worth more than all the wealth of this world!
(19) "...and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power"
If you think about it, the most powerful thing that has happened in this universe is when God took us out of sin and made us right with Him through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has transformed us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light!
(20) "...which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places"
You see the same power that raised Jesus from the dead and seated Him beside the Father will raise us from the dead if we die, or rapture us up to heaven whichever the case may be. One day we will physically be in the heavenlies, but right now we are seated there positionally because of the predestination that was spoken of earlier.
(21) "...far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come."
Jesus is above all fallen angels, including Satan; He is above all the holy angels and any other name that might be named! He will always be above everyone and everything even for eternity to come.
(22) "And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,"
Christ conquered every enemy when He died on the cross and rose again. There is no pope or any other leader anywhere in the church that is the head of the church, it is only Christ! He alone rules and reigns in the church! It is rightly so, since He is the only One who is the perfect Lamb of God that died for our sins! We are under shepherds, under His authority.
"Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away." (1 Peter 5: 2-4)
(23) "...which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all."
The church is the Body of Christ on this earth, we are His hands, His feet, His heart. "For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free-and have all been made to drink into one Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:12-13) We are the Church, the Body of Christ on this earth now. He fills us as individuals and as a Church by His Holy Spirit. Christ is the head of this body. "For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body." (Ephesians 5:23) He wants us to make Him known to the whole world through this Body, the Church, as we live and preach His Gospel in love!
I. The Wealth of the Believer Chapters 1-3.
(1) "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,"
Before we are saved we are considered dead spiritually. That is why no amount of good works can save us, it is only the blood of Jesus transfused into our lives that can make us new creatures in Christ. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
(2) "...in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,"
The "course of this world," is living just for self and for this lifetime, the here and now. The world says, "You only go around once," and "The one with the most toys wins." The only thing is, we do not just go around once, and I have never seen anyone taking their "toys" with them. There is no getting around it; we were slaves to Satan and sin before we received the Lord Jesus into our hearts and lives. Paul says,"...knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin." (Romans 6:6)
(3) "Among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others."
We were part of the world's system, which belongs to Satan at this time. That is why John says, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." (1 John 2:15-17) Once I was witnessing to a Hindu man in Trinidad, and he said to me, "You Christians teach that I am a child of the Devil." I had to agree with him, even though it seems very strong, and very offensive, but it is the truth of the Word of God. Either you are in God's family or in Satan's family there is no other family than these two.
(4) "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
We cannot comprehend the love that God has for the world, BUT this is what it says in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world." This is the "agape" love of God that is used here and other places when God is speaking of how He cares for us. "In respect of agapao as used of God, it expresses the deep and constant love and interest of a perfect Being toward entirely unworthy objects, producing and fostering a reverential love in them toward the Giver, and a practical love toward those who are partakers of the same, and a desire to help others to see the Giver." (VINE'S)
(5) "...even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
Paul says, "Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:18-21) Jesus took our punishment for us even though we deserved eternal separation from God for our sins. We are now living through Christ. "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Galatians 2:20) It is only the "grace" of God that could do this!
(6) "...and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,"
We now are looked on by God as part of the family; we are joint heirs with Christ. "and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ." (Romans 8:17) All that is His, is ours too! How amazing this is to think that God loves us this much!
(7) "...that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."
As we look at this in the ages to come, in other words in the future, we will see how much God loves us, by seeing our standing in the family as equal brothers and sisters with Christ (even though adopted)! What a wonderful, wonderful family this is! What a great God we have!
(8) "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,"
This is the key to the whole book really, because in these verses 8 and 9 we see in a "nutshell" the whole truth of the gospel message. This was the message that Martin Luther and many of the reformers proclaimed. This is the message of the Old and New Testament. This is the message that we as true Christians must proclaim! "Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith." (Habakkuk 2:4)
This is how everyone who has ever lived in the world that has been saved has been saved. It is by "faith," look what the writer of the book of Hebrews says: "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6)
It is not enough to just believe there is a God; the Bible says that demons believe there is a God, but this does not save them. "You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe-and tremble!" (James 2:19) You must go on to show your faith by actions. If we are really saved people, others will be able to see it in our lives, by the way we live.
We will not be ashamed to confess Christ with our mouth, ".The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the Word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Romans 10:8-10)
(9) "not of works, lest anyone should boast."
So many people think that salvation is by good works, but the Word of God is very clear on this. There are even those who would use what James said to claim that we are saved by works. So let us look closer at what James said, "But someone will say, 'You have faith, and I have works.' Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works." (James 2:18) James is not saying he is saved by works, he is saying that we show our faith by our works or actions. "You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only." (James 2:24)
This seems to fly in the face of the clear statements of Ephesians 2:8-9 and what Paul says in Romans about salvation being a free gift. "For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:17) As we find in Romans, we are made right in God's sight by faith. In James, we are justified in man's sight by works. God can see our heart, but man can only see our actions. We are not saved by works or else we could get to heaven and walk around in our pride. We could say, "See I got here by my good works." God says, it is not of works, but salvation is a free gift that we receive by faith through God's grace.
(10) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."
Now once we are saved we show our love to God and man by doing good works. So the good works do not save us, but they are a result of our salvation. We are to be "little Christs," that is what the word "Christian" means. Saint Peter says of Jesus, ".God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him." (Acts 10:38) This should be the testimony people give of our lives after we have passed from this earthly scene.
(11) "Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh-who are called Uncircumcision by what called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands-"
Gentiles were thought of as the "Uncircumcision" (because most Gentiles were uncircumcised) by the Jews who thought of themselves a little bit better than Gentiles because they had been physically circumcised.
(12) "...that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world."
And really we were not as well off as believing Israelites, because we were not part of Israel and did not have the promises that the Jewish nation had because of Abraham. We had no hope in the world without God as our Savior. That does not mean that there were no Gentiles saved, because both the Old Testament and Jesus mention some were believers. It does mean that Gentiles were not as privileged as the Jews were at that time. The Jews had the covenant between God and Abraham, they had the Law and the Prophets, however, they were also held more accountable before God.
(13) "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ."
Now the tables are turned, God is working specifically with Gentiles. That is not to say that Jews cannot be saved, because they are being saved, but they have to come just as the Gentiles do, through the blood of Christ.
You might ask what does it mean when it says, "...brought near by the blood of Christ?" It means that the "blood of Christ will save us if we apply it to our lives. Remember how in chapter one, we gave the example of the Israelites putting the blood of the lamb on the door posts of their houses in order to be passed over by the death angel on the first Passover. So too, today we have to say to God the Father we want the blood of Jesus to take away our sins, and the death angel will pass over us. In other words we do not go to hell, but to heaven when we die.
(14) "For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,"
"Prior to the New Covenant, Gentiles were excluded from citizenship in the commonwealth of Israel and were foreigners to the covenant promises of God. There was no hope in this life and no ability to know God's presence in the world. The covenant sacrifice of Christ's blood took Gentile believers who were far from God and joined them together with the Jews in the new Covenant. Gentiles were grafted in to enjoy the covenants of promise through the New Covenant and were included as heirs with the patriarchs of all God God's promises." (New Spirit Filled Life Bible)
(15) "...having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,"
In other words when Jesus died on the cross as a sacrifice for us He broke down the bad feelings between the Jews and Gentiles. The only way this could happen is through a miracle because the Jews had the commandments from God and the religious services that He had ordained. This in itself would tend to make the Jews proud of what they had and us as Gentiles jealous. To illustrate, sometimes there is confusion as to is this the answer, or is that the answer; is this one right or is that one right? Then comes the answer -- both are right. It is no longer the Jews only but the Gentiles also. By dying on the cross, Jesus brought both Jews and Gentiles together, making peace between us.
(16) ..."and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity."
You see the beauty of this union; it is like a marriage between the Jews and Gentiles. The cross was the wedding ceremony, so the two groups are no longer enemies, but brothers and sisters in Christ. Every truly born again Gentile Christian loves Jews, and born again Jews love Gentiles, because we are now one Body in Christ. The many unsaved Gentiles hate Jews, and the unsaved Jew often hates Gentiles, but it does not have to be this way. The world cannot understand this kind of love, a love that would cause two groups that have been enemies to become close friends.
This love caused Corrie ten Boom and her sister to sacrifice their lives so that Jews could live. "When the Nazis overran Holland Corrie ten Boom, her father and sister, chose to risk death by making their quietly respectable home a haven for refugees." (A Prisoner and yet, by Corrie ten Boom) This love can also cause Christian Jews to love Arabs and vice versa.
In the Church there should be no division between Jewish Christians, and Gentile Christians. One day the whole Jewish nation will become believers in Christ as their Savior. "For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: 'The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.'" (Romans 11:25-26)
(17) "And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near."
This was all prophesied as one of the ministries of the Messiah, and was to bring light and peace to the Gentiles. That is why when Jesus was born the angels said: "Then the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!'" (Luke 2:10-14)
Then Simeon was brought to the Temple by the Spirit of God to hold Jesus in his arms, and to say: "Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel." (Luke 2:29-32)
(18) "For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father."
There is no other way of salvation, only through the name of Jesus for both Jews and Gentiles. "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:16) You will hear some people say, "There are many roads to heaven." This is not what God's Word says. Jesus says: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6) So Jews and Gentiles are saved by Christ alone, and now we both have equal access to God the Father by the Holy Spirit.
(19) "Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,"
We should be excited, as Gentiles, to think about the changes that have taken place between Jews and Gentiles. The thing is, if we have grown up in the Church we probably do not even think about the differences. Suppose, though we were born as a Gentile before the Church was started by Christ, what would it have been like for us then? Thinking about this should make us glad to be part of the Church Age where all are welcome, Jews and Gentiles! We are no longer outsiders or foreigners but fellow citizens in the family of God! This is part of the wealth that Paul is talking about that we have "in Christ."
(20) "...having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,"
The Church is thought of as a building, a Temple, with the foundation being the apostles, the first twelve, and other apostles like Paul. Apostles are the first to go to an area to start a new work; we think of them as missionaries the word is really "sent one(s)." Prophets are those who prophecy and preach the Word of God. (If He were speaking here of Old Testament prophets he would have said that he was speaking of them.) Jesus Christ Himself is that Rock that holds it all together. We as born again Christians are being built up into a Holy Spiritual Temple not made with hands. "Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to off up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 24-5)
(21) "...in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,"
"For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (I Corinthians 3:9-11) We are building this "Holy Temple" in the Spirit just as the Old Testament Jews built a physical temple. What we do with our lives will determine what happens in this temple. One day in heaven we will look back and see how this took place in the Church Age. It is exciting to have a part in this work, but also a serious responsibility as Paul says: "but let each one take heed how he builds on it." (I Corinthians 3:10c)
(22) "...in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."
Paul makes it clear that our bodies are part of that temple: "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are." (1 Corinthians 3: 16-17)
"Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
I. The Wealth of the Believer Chapters 1-3.
(1)"For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles-"
Paul was appointed as an apostle to the Gentiles mainly, but now he is not only their apostle, he has also been willing to suffer prison for Jesus and the sake of getting this Gospel message out to the Gentiles.
(2) "..."if indeed you have heard of the dispensation (stewardship) of the grace of God which was given to me for you,"
Paul says you have probably heard about this important message of the grace of God being bestowed on the Gentiles, because I have been busy getting it out to you. Paul knew God had given him, and him alone this "stewardship" or responsibility concerning the "Gospel of Grace" to the Gentiles. No other apostle wrote like Paul did, probably 13 books of the New Testament, mainly on this subject of grace.
The reason it is important is because many people do not even see the significance of the differences between the "grace" (Church) age, and the work of the Lord in the Old Testament. We see people who over emphasize the importance of buildings, religious robes, and rituals. I am not saying these are wrong, but if Christians think of God's program today, exactly like the worship in the Old Testament, they will be hung up on making beautiful buildings, wearing beautiful religious garments, and doing beautiful religious rituals. If one thinks this is what the New Testament age is about, they have missed the point!
Now there is a difference, Paul is saying. We are no longer concerned about the golden temple, but about our bodies as the temple of God. We are not concerned about religious robes, but about the robes of righteousness that Christ gives us. We are not into rituals, but we are concerned about being filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit, which results in praise, worship, and evangelism!
(3) "how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already),"
Paul had shared before that Christ had revealed to him about the mystery of the Church Age and the stewardship of the Grace of God in Ephesians 1:9. In Galatians Paul goes into more detail how he was given this ministry to the Gentiles, while Peter and the other apostles ministered mainly to the Jews. ".and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised." (Galatians 2:9)
(4) "...by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ),"
Paul wants people to read and understand that Christ has given to him the knowledge to understand and reveal this mystery that was once unrevealed about the "grace" of God.
(5) "...which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:"
You see this was not given to people to understand until Jesus came: "And of his fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:16-17) So now we are in the Age of Grace in the Church.
This message was not given in the Old Testament, because they were under the Age of Law. The New Testament apostles and New Testament prophets have revealed this message of grace. (That does not mean that God was not a God of grace in the Old Testament, but He had not revealed it in detail before. We can see examples of "grace" being applied in the lives of Old Testament saints such as Moses, Samson, David, and so on, but we do not see a Church revealed in detail as it is now by the apostles and prophets.) We do see that God would in the future call a people for Himself from the Gentiles in the Old Testament. "I was sought by those who did not seek Me. I said, 'Here I am, here I am,' to a nation that was not called by My name." (Isaiah 64: 1)
In the Old Testament we see prophecies of the First Coming of Christ as one large mountain in the distance, and we see the Second Coming of Christ prophesied, but we do not see the Church prophesied. The reason for this, I believe, is because Israel had a real choice to choose Jesus as their Savior and King (Messiah). But since they did not receive Jesus as their Messiah, God went to the Gentiles. Did it take God by surprise that the nation of Israel would not accept His Son at this time? No, God knows everything, but He waited until after Israel had made their choice, then God revealed the Church Age, which is in the valley between the two mountain peaks.
(6) "...that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,"
Paul is just so excited about the fact that now God is working with the Gentiles, not just Jews (and so should we be excited too). Oh yes, in the Old Testament times Gentiles could become Jewish proselytes, but they had to in effect become Jews. Now God has started a "program" where Gentiles do not have to become Jews in order to be saved, but are in a new Body where both are welcome just as they are. They have the same inheritance as the Jews, that of eternal life, through receiving the message of salvation in Christ (the Gospel).
(7) "...of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power."
This was a gift of the Holy Spirit that Paul, once a blinded Pharisee, could reveal to the Church, something far greater than the Law. The religious leaders of his day would die for the Law, but now isn't it ironic that one of blinded leaders can be transformed by The Christ so that he becomes a preacher of Grace.
(8) "To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,"
Paul was a walking testimony to the "grace" of God. He should have been killed by God for trying to destroy the Church before he was saved. God knew his heart, that he really thought he was pleasing God by persecuting Christians. Now God takes Paul and turn his life into a "Trophy of Grace!" Now he is sharing with us Gentiles all the riches we have in Christ. How sad it is that so many Christians never even understand what the Word says about this, or even care, for that matter.
No! We should all get excited about grace, and share the good news with others!
(9) "...and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God."
"Paul's duty (and now our duty) was 'to make all men see' the 'fellowship' with God which this mystery reveals. This great plan was made by God 'from the beginning of the world;' but it was kept hidden until the Gospel of grace had come. This most glorious work of God-the building of this temple-is going on before our eyes. We believers are a part of it and we may have a part in it-winning souls to Christ and building them up in Christ. Everything which God has revealed about this great mystery should be taught and known and valued by us all." (Studies in Ephesians by J. Irvin Overholtzer, founder of Child Evangelism Fellowship)
(10) "...who created all things through Jesus Christ;"
As we see in Colossians where it says, "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the first born from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence." (Colossians 1:16-18)
(11) "...to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,"
I do not think here that he is speaking of the fallen principalities and powers in the heavenly places, like it speaks of in chapter six. Here, I believe, he is speaking of the Holy Angels that have their divisions of ranks. There would be no need for fallen angels to understand or learn anything since they are condemned; however it would be very helpful for the Holy Angels to learn more about God's 'manifold wisdom' through the ministry of the Church.
(12) "...in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him."
We are to go boldly now into the throne room of God through prayer. It was not so in the Old Testament, the High Priest went in fear and trembling to the Holy of Holies only once a year, as the book of Hebrews points out. But now, we are told we can go in boldness and confidence by faith into the throne room of God! "Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." (Hebrews 10: 19-22)
(13) "Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory."
Paul was in jail for preaching the gospel and the Christians in Ephesus knew this very well. He was afraid that they would feel overwhelmed by his suffering, since he had been their pastor for about three years. He wanted them to think of how privileged they were to have a pastor that was seen worthy to suffer for the cause of the gospel. Do we look at suffering and persecution this way today?
(14) "For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,"
Paul was praying for them, we pray to the Father in the name of Jesus.
(15) "...from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,"
The family of God is in heaven and on earth. Some have died in the Lord, and others are still living, but they are all part of the whole family. Those who are born again will live together in a wonderful family of God. "And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God." (Revelation 21:3)
(16) "...that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,"
Paul wanted them to be blessed with the blessings of heaven. He wanted them to be given the power of the Holy Spirit in their souls. "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." (Jude 20-21) When we pray in the Holy Spirit He gives us strength outside of ourselves to accomplish the ministry that He wants us to do, and to take us through the hard times.
(17) "...that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,"
This word "dwell" in Greek (KATOIKEŌ) means: "to settle down in a dwelling, to dwell fixedly in a place. Besides its literal sense, it is used of (a) the indwelling of the totality of the attributes and powers of the Godhead in Christ, Col. 1:19; 2:9; (b) ...the indwelling of Christ in the hearts of believers ('may make a home in your hearts') (Vine's) God wants to fill our hearts with His love and His life and power. He wants us to become like His Son Jesus, who was filled with the fullness of God all the time. "For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,...rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith,...For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. (Colossians 1:19; 2:7; 2:9)
(18) "...may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height-"
In Spanish there are two terms for "to know," one is "saber" and it means to know with your mind, and then there is the "conocer" which means "to be acquainted with" or "to know with your heart." That is what Paul is saying here, that we can "know with our hearts" Christ our Savior. Sometimes you run out of words to express yourself, the best Paul could do was to say "the width and length and depth and height-".
(19) "...to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."
We can only know the love of Christ through experience; it is not something that we can have as head knowledge. God wants us filled with His Holy Spirit. This is covered in Ephesians chapter five verse eighteen.
(20) "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,"
This is a doxology of praise closing this section.
(21) "...to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever
and ever, Amen."
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Friday, May 7, 2010
LH: Hi Gillian. Your writing follows a real person, Nell Gwynn. How did you get interested in her?
GB: Quite a long time ago, an actor friend got a lot of notice for a one-man show he was performing. I was very much pursuing an acting career at the time, and thought that writing a one-woman show for myself seemed like a great idea. My father suggested Nell Gwynn as a character, and I started researching her. The more I learned, the more charmed and intrigued I was with her personality and her story. I wrote some of the script and couldn't do justice to her very eventful life. So she sat in my mind and heart for quite a long time until I decided to write her story as a novel instead.
LH: What kind of research did you do? Did you get any grants to help you pay for your research?
GB: Grants! That would be great, wouldn't it? No, no grants. And I have spent A LOT of time and money researching this book.
When I first started researching Nell, I read several bioghraphies of her, one or two of Charles, and other general material about the period. When I started writing the novel, I was in London, so fortunatly I was able to go in person to some of the places associated with her life. And also fortunately there were a couple of new biographies out about her.
From there, the ripples spread. There is really such a huge amount of information out there, in print and on line. I have biographies of many of Nell's friends and contemporaries. I'd always enjoyed Samuel Pepys's diaries, which mention Nell several times and are a great source of information about daily life in the 1660s. There's a site that is publishing the diary entries daily, with annotation (http://www.pepysdiary.com ).
One area that took a lot of research was the theatre of the day. The playhouses had been closed under Cromwell, and one of the first things Charles II did when he was restored to the throne in 1660 was to authorize two acting companies and playhouses, and soon after, he approved the idea of women appearing on stage for the first time in England.
I had to track down the plays that Nell appeared in, and most of them are pretty obscure. I found some on Project Guttenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org ) but I couldn't find many until I discovered the Clark Library (http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/clarklib ) associated with UCLA, which has a huge collection of material from the 17th and 18th centuries, much of it available on line. A really miraculous source is The London Stage, 1660-1800, a multi-volumne set that provides a day-by-day account of performances, who was in them, etc. I also read a lot on Restoration and Carolinian theatre in general.
And in 2008, I spent six week in London doing more research, following in Nell's footsteps, finding the sites of old theatres, and so on.
LH: Yes, I remember reading your online comments from some of the sites you visited in 2008. I could tell that you had her locales down cold! How long has it taken you to write this first novel?
GB: I started writing it in Feburary, 2005, but there were many periods of weeks at a time when I wasn't working on it at all. When I came home from London in June 2006, I decided to make it a priority to finish it and sell it, and after that I worked on it as much and as regularly as aI could, given the need to make money and other interruptions of real life. I went through a couple of drafts, and in July 2009 I had a draft I was happy enough with to send to the agent who had been working with me informally.
LH: How did you find an agent?
GB: I went to a writers' conference and paid $100 extra to have two different agents read my first 20 pages. One of them liked it but thought it was too early to be showing it to anyone. The other one wanted to see the first 100 pages. She liked that well enough to pass it on to a colleague, Kevan Lyon, who had a particular interest in historical fiction, and it was Kevan who ultimately became my agent. So I had a pretty easy time of it, which is not typical.
LH: Did your agent or your editor actually ask you to edit the book?
GB: Before she was officially my agent, Kevan helped me with about three sets of rewrites of my first 100 pages before I had even completed a draft. Finally I told her I thought I needed to get through a first draft before I did any mroe rewriting. When I sent her the completed manuscript, she emailed me when she was halfway through to tell me that she wanted to represent me officially. She did make a few suggestions, and once I had incorporated those, she submitted it to editors. My editor, Kate Seaver at Berkley Publishing Group, only asked for two fairly minor revisions.
LH: You are signed for two books. Did you sell both of them at once?
GB: Yes! when Kevan was submitting Darling Strumpet to editors, I wrote three or four short synposes of ideas I had for my next project. And miraculously, when Kevan sold Darling Strumpet she also sold my second book, as yet completely unwritten, on the basis of a brief outline and what I had done with the first book.
LH: Are the two novels related to each other?
GB: They are related in that they both involve Charles II and significant events during his life, but he isn't the protagonist of either book, and they're not intended to be sequels or prequels of each other. While I was researching Nell Gwynn, I came across the story of Jane Lane, who had helped Charles escape after the disastrous Battle of Worcester in 1651, when the Royalist cause was lost. So my second novel, The Royal Miracle takes place in 1651, when they were traveling together. There is a bit about the years during which Jane was in exile after she was found out and when she went home to England when Charles was restored in 1660, and there there is a bit of story that takes place after that. Nell's story, The Darling Strumpet, starts on May 29,1660, the day Charles returned to London. It follows the course of Nell's life to 1687, and takes place mostly in London. So Nell knew Charles at a completely different time and under vastly different circumstancs than Jane Lane did, and their stories didn't intersect.
LH: Were you a polished writer when you started your novel? Did anyone help you?
GB: I wouldn't say I was polished. All my life I have worked on bits and pieces of creative writing, but for most of my adult life until a few years ago I was focused on the theatre. I've done quite a lot of what I guess I could call utilitarian writing--press releases, subscription brochures, newsletters, editing scripts, etc. And for many years I've made a living off and on summarizing deposition transcripts for attorneys. It's not exciting, but it is very good practice at clear, concise writing that conveys essential information economically. I took a few writing workshops and classes over the years. When I took Kerry Madden's class at Vroman's bookstore in the fall of 2006, that was the first time I'd shown any of the Darling Strumpet manuscript or gotten feedback on it, and Kerry's critique and that of the class was very helpful.
LH: What's the most surprising thing you've learned about the process of publishing a book, as your book nears publication?
GB: I guess one thing that I don't quite understand is why it takes as long as it does to get a
book published once a deal is made. The second thing that surprised me is the somewhat liquid timetables that things seem to operate on in the publishing world. I didn't get rewrite notes from my editor until about three months after she had said she would get them to me. I guess that's just the way it works when editors are swamped handling many books. But in theatre, if a show is scheduled on open on May 1 and 8 PM, it does. The curtain might go up ten minutes late, but the show must go on!
LH: What are your plans to generate publicity for the book? It's coming out in January, 2011, right?
GB: Believe it or not, I'm already deep into those efforts. In January I took a really great class on line called "Buzz your book" taught by MJ Rose. It helped me develop some really good ideas for publicity, including a series of articles hosted by different blogs or website for each month from now until the book is published in January 2011 about the corresponding months in 1660 and 1661. The first of those article actually just went up May 5, on the Hoydens and Firebrands blog: (http://hoydensandfirebrands.blogspot.com/2010/05may-1660-by-gillian-bagwell.html )
You can track all of the posts through different sites from my own web site, http://www.gillianbagwell.com , which has clickable links to all of the historical postings.
LH: Do you have a critique group?
GB:Regular critique from other writers has been invaluable. My first experience was in Kerry Madden's classes. After that, one of my classmates invited me to join a small writing group that she had. It was great, but it only met once a month. So I began meeting with a couple of the women from that group and one or two others. Initially we met every two weeks, but these days we usually meet every week. The Darling Strumpet would not be nearly as good without their input.
LH: Did you have to overcome any disappointments along the way?
GB: One thing that was very frustrating and disappointing was that although when I started working on my novel, and certainly when I first began researching Nell, there were no other novels about her. Then suddenly in 2007, just when I was trying to finish the book and find an agent and publisher, TWO of them were published. I was afraid it might mean that mine wouldn't get bought, but fortunately that wasn't the case. I've just learned of another novel about Nell that will be published the same month as mine.
LH: Do you have any advice for aspiring novelists?
GB: Work at it. Write a lot. Figure out what works and what doesn't. Some of that comes from classes and outside critique, and some of it just from lots of writing. I've learned a lot and become a much more efficient writer as I worked on The Darling Strumpet. I've also learned a lot by reading. I've always been a ferocious reader, and I think part of what I've tried to do with this first novel is write something that I would love to read. Read about writing. Become knowledgeable about the publishing business. Write something that might actually interest a publisher, if you want to sell your book. Once you're going to show it to anyone like an agent or editor, be meticulous about technical things like spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc. I guess maybe the most important thing is to write what you're passionate about. I've been thinking about Nell and carrying her in my heart for so long that this novel was clawing to get out.
LH : Thanks so much, Gillian!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Music and poetry seem to go together, both with rhythm and color inherent in their being. I just recently enjoyed an event celebrating a new book called Chopin with Cherries (available via Lulu) which celebrates the 200th anniversary of Chopin's birth with poetry new and old. I'm pleased that one of my poems, "Goodbye to Poland," was selected for the anthology. The bond between poetry and music was reinforced for me at a reading/performance arranged by the editor, Maja Trochimczyk, at South Pasadena Library. Many of us read our poems, and between poetry sets, an established pianist and a collection of students from Azusa Pacific University played Chopin pieces on the grand piano. The alternation drew depths from the music and from the poetry that I hadn't expected. I plan to listen to music with my poetry reading more often, now. | <urn:uuid:840c7912-b2f7-4524-9c0a-6c68aace4cb6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://westcoastwriters.blogspot.com/2010_05_02_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987757 | 2,667 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Granny Storm Crow has just released the new PDF version of her MMJ Reference List for July 2012, and as usual, it breaks all previous records. This time, it’s a solid 840 pages of links to medical studies showing the positive benefits of cannabis for medical use. Here’s her intro:
2012 is supposed to be a year of change, and the stage is set for the legalization of cannabis! The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has agreed to hear the arguments of the Americans for Safe Access against the Drug Enforcement Administration. While a recent Rasmussen poll of likely voters puts support for legalization at 56%. At PubMed, the number of new studies on cannabis, cannabinoids, and the endocannabinoid system is at an all-time high. Oregon, Washington, and Colorado have legalization on their ballots this fall. And even the conservative religious icon, Pat Robertson, has come out in favor legalizing cannabis!
The repeal of cannabis prohibition is an idea whose time has clearly come!
One by one, the old prohibitionist’s myths are falling by the wayside to be replaced by medical facts based on scientific research. But the things we learn as children are often hard to forget. Many people still believe the “facts” about cannabis that they were told in DARE assemblies in school. They are unaware of the medical potential of cannabis and how cannabis can supplement our body’s own healing endocannabinoids.
This lack of knowledge can be fatal! Women need to know that CBD from cannabis can slow the progress of aggressive breast cancers. Everyone should be aware that when it comes to preventing Alzheimer’s, THC greatly outperforms Aricept. And in the 1950s, it was discovered that a simple cannabis extract kills 100% of drug-resistant Staph aureus germs on contact. Drug-resistant Staph aureus is now called MRSA, the flesh-eating bacteria.
So why is none of this common knowledge? If it had been any other plant that had been proven to slow breast cancer, Alzheimer’s and MRSA, with no serious side effects, it would be hailed as as the miracle cure of the millennium! This prohibition foolishness has to end because it is costing people their lives, their health, their freedom and their peace of mind! I am hoping that my collection of studies and articles will help you educate those around you. We must end the ignorance!
I am not altogether happy with the number of studies in this List that are based on the synthetic cannabinoids, I would prefer to stick with the natural ones. Yet the synthetics are what the scientists prefer to use since the results are more consistent than those with “Cannabis sativa”. However, the synthetics are merely imitations, or modifications, of the natural phytocannabinoids and endocannabinoids, and whatever a synthetic can do, a natural cannabinoid can also do.
The study of the endocannabinoid system and cannabinoids is the future of medicine. This collection provides ample proof of that. All we have to do is keep presenting the facts about cannabis and legalization will happen. Once the medical facts about cannabis become known, the need for legalization becomes obvious!
The truth is, cannabis is a remarkably safe and effective herbal medicine. And if the truth won’t do, then something is wrong!
– Granny Storm Crow | <urn:uuid:1131ab3a-4fa2-4025-86c8-f47be0c784ef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://beyondchronic.com/2012/08/granny-storm-crow-mmj-reference-list-july-2012/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958559 | 700 | 1.539063 | 2 |
You've probably heard that retired couturier Valentino Garavani (b. 1932) will soon launch a virtual museum showcasing highlights from his five decades in fashion. Slated to launch on December 5, the virtual museum will use 3-D technology to create a palazzo with a series of galleries dedicated to garments, images, videos and more. A short promotional video describing The Valentino Garavani Virtual Museum can be seen here.
Many designers keep archives of their designs, sketches, press clippings and other documentation. In some cases, garments or images pulled from these archives will eventually surface in a publication or a museum exhibition. But for the most part, these archives serve only as an in-house resource or a reservoir of primary source material for the outside researcher. Some designers, including Claire McCardell, Christian Dior and Elsa Schiaparelli, made a conscious attempt to document their contributions to fashion by authoring biographies. Until Valentino, however, no individual couturier has comprehensively approached the preservation of his or her legacy. It will be fascinating to see how Valentino presents his extensive career and which garments he chooses to highlight when his virtual museum is open for viewing! | <urn:uuid:92b945b7-aa4b-4c7b-8d74-978376ae5cd5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.fidmmuseum.org/museum/valentino/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946052 | 247 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Given that we are getting a new name, GlobalSensemaking, how about constructing a topic map such as (partial example):
The topic tree forms a basic backbone to guide parsing the global challenges domain. I'm not sure how this might work in other discourse platforms (e.g. IBIS-based) but the structure is more suggestive of ways to think about how we tackle the issues. This is how I have thought about structured discourse in my ConsensUs
These are just a few items at what seem to me to be appropriate levels of analysis, and just for a starting point for discussion. The last one is for those of us thinking about providing the tools to those engaged in the others!
I think it should be clear that the above tree, a topic decomposition structure, suggests cross linkage relations that turn it into a graph (Relational links). I think of this graph as directed with edges possibly going both directions to indicate mutual or circular causality (e.g. global warming and climate change with positive feedbacks like methane release). Additionally, edges can conceivably cross levels (as in population size affecting food challenges and energy production). I imagine a number of edge types similar to what are found in semantic nets. Relations covering things like causes, supports, etc.
In any case the idea is to develop an overall map of the sense making challenges and then attach issues, commentary, and analysis to each node as the work proceeds. What we need is a way to visualize the map so that contributors can add nodes and edges as needed to make links. I've also indicated something Robert suggested: A model can be attached to nodes as support for commentary and issue exploration.
This 'map' is just for example purposes. The topics/sub-topics are just my first pass at trying to establish some kind of structure and in no way represents a complete or correct topic breakdown. I suspect that we can deliberate and make sense of a better parsing to everyone's general satisfaction if there is consensus about taking a direction like this.
I've previewed this with David and Jack Park with encouraging feedback. So let's see where it goes. | <urn:uuid:fd57771e-7dd3-43d1-ad6f-402aea15fac9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://globalsensemaking.net/forum/topic/show?id=2052744%3ATopic%3A2082 | 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 | 0.950392 | 435 | 1.632813 | 2 |
I expected to get a lot more from Wole Soyinka's Aké than I did. It's not every day that the childhood memoirs of a Nobel Laureate come to hand. Expectation demanded something special, something revelatory perhaps, from the formative years of a man who grew up to be one of the greatest writers of all time. What Aké presented was in fact exactly what it said on the tin. It's a childhood memoir. There are no great moments, no previously hidden insights on how to achieve greatness. But there is a life, and perhaps that is our clue.
Born into a teaching family, Wole Soyinka lovingly recalls a headmaster father he calls Essay and a severe mother nicknamed Wild Christian, who certainly is the ruler of the household. But around this potentially unlocatable family, there exists an eclectic mixture of Yoruba tradition, imported educational values and imposed colonial rule.
The young writer's concerns, however, are exactly what might be expected of a growing lad. He chases things, explores, is naughty - sometimes very naughty! He is punished and rewarded. Life goes on. There are local concerns, sometimes wider ones. He eats plenty of good food and, by no means uniquely, but certainly eloquently, describes the multicultural reality of colonial West Africa.
Whether it was the reader or the writer is unclear, but when, about half way through the book, Wole Soyinka starts to relate his school experiences, Aké seems to change into a different, much more vivid book. Recollections become stronger, more deeply felt, more keenly described. What had already been a joy now becomes thoroughly engaging as well.
Wole Soyinka's neighbours did become objects of great interest, and not merely because they figured in this book. Their name, Ransome Kuti, may be familiar. It's a family that produced in successive generations two of Nigeria's most famous musicians. Strangely, their family too lives its life just like the others, with no apparent inkling of the greatness to come.
As Aké progressed and this reader continued to search for what made the author such a great writer, it began to become clear that the only thing that made this man was experience, something we all share. Individually, any experience is unique; it does not need to be dramatic, violent, broken or ecstatic to be special. It is special because it was experienced. And this is what makes Aké, in the end, such a great statement. It's life. Let's get on with it. | <urn:uuid:13aab2a8-8f6b-49fb-844c-82aa295c27fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ake-Years-Childhood-Wole-Soyinka/dp/0413751902 | 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 | 0.974479 | 524 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Health and quality of life in the city depend also on the adequate presence of green areas. Milan’s network of parks includes 54 parks scattered over an area of approximately 14,681,400 metres squared, as well as other green spaces, including 21 splendid gardens, that allow citizens and visitors to pass their free time surrounded by nature. Here you can find cycle paths, sporting fields and outdoor exercise courses, all equipped even for the smallest and youngest of visitors. Otherwise, for those simply seeking to relax and enjoy the green surroundings, there are kiosks and gazebos. That’s not all, however, as these nooks of nature can often be considered outdoor museums. At the Villa Reale, the statues of the Pavilion of Contemporary Art nestle amongst the trees and flowers of the gardens, while the statues Bagni Misteriosi (Mysterious Baths) by Giorgio De Chirico find their perfect location in the gardens of the Triennale. In Parco Sempione, the largest park in the city, all these elements, that is sculptures and monuments, paths for jogging, numerous sporting areas, as well as refreshment and entertainment areas, come together in synthesis, making it one of the Milanese’s preferred meeting places. The park Parco Venezia is framed by the “Bastioni” (the old toll gates), Corso Venezia and Via Palestro and has an elegant garden with lakes and playgrounds for the little ones. It dates back to 1700 and is dedicated to the writer and journalist, Indro Montanelli.
Situated just outside of the centre, the parks Parco delle Cave, Bosco in Città, Parco Lambro and Parco Solari are examples of urban forestation, all worth a visit for long walks, bike rides or a tasty picnic.
Chosen for you | <urn:uuid:64890b2e-ae91-436a-bb44-25afe8dd489a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.turismo.comune.milano.it/wps/portal/!ut/p/c0/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3hzS0O_QGcLEwMLFzcjA08LAz8TH2cnAwMDI_3g1Dz9gmxHRQCFp8TT/?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/en/SITur/HOME/milanodintorni/parchigiardini | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93803 | 391 | 1.671875 | 2 |
The CCIO (CMIO) here in the US, serves to bridge the gap between the IT and clinical sides. More often than not, these members have utilized the systems frequently pushed down to the end-users and experienced the frustrations first-hand. From this frustration they arise to fulifill a much needed role, most often without additional compensation.
It is imperative that health-care organizations, serious about their success in implementing any IT solution, creates a role and fills it with a qualified, competent individual who can guide them through this process articulating the needs of both the clinical and IT technical side. Good Luck EHI! I am behind you too from across the pond.
There is still some way to go to persuade some people in key positions that Health Informatics is a discrete profession. At the same time, information systems are becoming a more complex and interventional part of healthcare. Translation between technical possibility and clinical need is an important role that CCIO CT/IO pairs can provide. This translation is best underpinned with some common training and professional standards. There is no time to lose in uniting the UK's activities in Health Informatics professionalisation and investing in training, including sub-specialist accreditation.
EHI's CCIO Campaign is something we think has the potential to help move things along in NHS IT, by focusing on the central role that end users, clinicians, have to play in ensuring the success of IT projects and use of information. We think that championing the development of more local clinical information leaders will benefit to local NHS organisations.
Too many past IT projects that have disappointed or struggled have suffered from not having adequate clinical leadership or engagement. Similarly, many projects that succeeded have at their heart strong clinical involvement.
Another problem is that NHS IT professionals and clinicians have often been cast as adversaries, rather than partners, and having experienced clinicians leading on information projects should help overcome this divide.
Clinical information champions and eventually CCIOs are not a magic bullet or panacea, but we hope that it will help build up local skills and grow confidence in the full potential of IT and information to deliver significant improvements in the quality of patient care.
As a hospital doctor, I have been treating NHS patients up and down the country for the past seven years.
Along the way, I have been exposed to a variety of IT systems. These systems often leave me and my colleagues with a feeling of frustration. Frustration with their poor reliability, poor user-interfaces and - most of all – with the lack of consideration about the way we actually work in the process of treating patients
I wanted to understand why this was the case. After reading many articles, blog posts and books and holding many conversations, I realised that one factor was consistently identified as a pitfall: the lack of clinical engagement.
When I talked to them, clinicians used engagement to mean the involvement of healthcare professionals in the development of software and in the feedback process after deployment. Hospital managers tended to see engagement as getting the input of clinicians in IT procurement and strategic decisions.
In my opinion, engagement goes much deeper than this. Engagement should mean clinicians and IT professionals working together towards a common goal of improving the value and quality of patient care.
But before this can happen, an open and honest conversation is required. We need to recognise that there is lack of confidence and cynicism towards IT vendors amongst clinicians.
This stems from the well publicised failures of the multi-billion pound National Programme for IT in the NHS, and from that daily experience of using IT systems that fall far short of their potential.
Let’s start engaging
In my first act of engagement, and as part of my call for an open and honest conversation between clinicians and the health IT industry, I will begin by laying out a few of my own observations and thoughts.
1. IT vendors are heavily focused on winning contracts based on a promise of delivering specifications instead of on delivering quality software.
This stems from my observation that a lot of systems promise a lot but their execution can leave a lot to be desired. For example, I have come across a blood result reporting system that had a 30 minute delay between the results being authorised on the laboratory system and their appearing on the reporting system.
I have also heard of an electronic prescribing system that cannot safely handle insulin or warfarin prescription; leaving clinicians to work with a hybrid of paper and electronic prescriptions, with all the resultant risks to patient safety that implies.
2. There is no robust framework for assessing the quality and value of healthcare IT systems.
Business cases for IT systems are often based on arguments about how they will facilitate safer and more effective patient care and potential cost savings. However, there is no recognised governance framework for actually measuring and monitoring whether they do this. As long as this continues, there is no way of holding IT vendors to account for the quality of their software.
3. Not enough priority is given towards enabling easy interoperability and data exchange.
It is not in the interest of some incumbent vendors to make it easy or affordable for other software to interoperate or exchange data with them. This increases the barrier to entry for other developers, which can develop innovative IT solutions to fill gaps in the functionality.
4. Most health IT software is not responsive or flexible enough to serve the ever changing and varying needs of healthcare professionals.
Healthcare delivery is an ecosystem that continuously changes as it adapts to the changing needs of the population and improvements in care delivery. They are not designed to be readily adaptable for the future but are instead focused on the needs of the present. Furthermore, the vendor may choose not to develop a particular change request if it did not align with their business objectives.
We must be clinical leaders
As a member of the clinical community, I feel that we are equally responsible for the situation that we find ourselves in today.
With a few exceptions, we have not actively participated in IT related decisions, either within our hospitals or nationally as a united voice.
Neither have we equipped ourselves with the knowledge or skillset to do this effectively. We must recognise that as the process of healthcare delivery become increasingly digitised, technology will both enhance and constrain the way we deliver healthcare.
A call to action
To my fellow clinicians, it is time to become participants and not just commentators in this process. A good start will be to take part in the NHS Hack Day.
To our employers, it is time to recognise that IT will increasingly influence the way we deliver healthcare. A good start will be to invest in the employment of a chief clinical information officer.
To CCIOs, it is time to come together and influence the national health IT agenda to ensure that it prioritises the quality and affordability of patient care above other interests.
To health IT vendors, the points I make above are wholly my own; but all strong relationships begin with honesty and openness. Then, we can start exploring how you can help us become better healthcare professionals and me, a better doctor.
About the author: Dr Wai Keong Wong is a physician specialising in haematology and a national leadership and management fellow. He is on secondment to Bupa as part of the NHS Medical Director Leadership and Management Scheme.
In addition to this, he is chair of the project board of the joint BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT and DHID project to create user guidance for safe keeping of their electronic health and social care records. He sits on the CCIO Leaders Network advisory board as the representative for doctors in training.
He blogs at blog.openhealthcare.org.uk and he tweets as @wai2k
Register: To add a comment you must be registered. | <urn:uuid:60889367-484f-4502-8014-0c487ec1b2b4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ehi.co.uk/insight/CCIO/892/dear-healthcare-it-community.. | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956404 | 1,580 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Novelist Salman Rushdie was in hiding for fear of his life for many years. Then he showed up onstage with U2. Then he wrote a song with them. In this extract from a piece in The Sunday Times he recalls how it all came about.
In the summer of 1986, I was travelling in Nicaragua, working on the book of reportage that was published six months later as The Jaguar Smile. It was the seventh anniversary of the Sandinista revolution, and the war against the US-backed Contra forces was intensifying almost daily. I was accompanied by my interpreter, Margarita, an improbably glamorous and high-spirited blonde with more than a passing resemblance to Jayne Mansfield. Our days were filled with evidence of hardship and struggle: the scarcity of produce in the markets of Managua, the bomb crater on a country road where a school bus had been blown up by a Contra mine.
One morning, however, Margarita seemed unusually excited. "Bono's coming," she cried, bright-eyed as any fan, and then added, without any change in vocal inflection or dulling of ocular glitter: "Tell me, who is Bono?"
In a way, the question was as vivid a demonstration of her country's beleaguered isolation as anything I heard or saw in the frontline villages, the destitute Atlantic Coast bayous or the quake-ravaged city streets.
In July 1986, the release of U2's monster album, The Joshua Tree, was still nine months away, but they were already, after all, the masters of War. Who was Bono? He was the fellow who sang: "I can't believe the news today, I can't close my eyes and make it go away." And Nicaragua was one of the places where the news had become unbelievable, and you couldn't shut your eyes to it, and so of course he was there. I didn't meet Bono in Nicaragua, but he did read The Jaguar Smile. Five years later, when I was involved in some difficulties of my own, my friend the composer Michael Berkeley asked if I wanted to go to a U2 Achtung Baby gig, with its hanging psychedelic Trabants. In those days, it was hard for me to go most places, but I said yes, and was touched by the enthusiasm with which the request was greeted by U2's people. And so there I was at Earls Court, standing in the shadows, listening.
Backstage, after the show, I was shown into a mobile home full of sandwiches and children. There were no groupies at U2 gigs, just creches. Bono came in, and was instantly festooned with daughters. My memory of that first chat is that I wanted to talk about music and he was keen to talk politics - Nicaragua, a protest against nuclear waste at Sellafield, his support for me and my work. We didn't spend long together, but we both enjoyed it.
Two years later, when the Zooropa tour arrived at Wembley Stadium, Bono called to ask if I'd like to come out on stage. U2 wanted to make a gesture of solidarity, and this was the biggest one they could think of. When I told my then 14-year-old son about the plan, he said: "Just don't sing, dad. If you sing, I'll have to kill myself." There was no question of my being allowed to sing - U2 aren't stupid people - but I did go out there and feel, for a moment, what it's like to have 80,000 fans cheering you on.
The audience at the average book reading is a little smaller. Girls tend not to climb onto their boyfriends' shoulders, and stage-diving is discouraged. Even at the very best book readings, there are only one or two supermodels dancing by the mixing desk. Anton Corbijn took a photograph that day for which he persuaded Bono and me to exchange glasses. There I am, looking godlike in Bono's wrapround Fly shades, while he peers benignly over my uncool literary specs. There could be no more graphic expression of the difference between our two worlds.
It's inevitable that both U2 and I should be criticised for bringing these two worlds together. They have been accused of trying to acquire some borrowed intellectual "cred", and I, of course, am supposedly star-struck. None of this matters very much. I've been crossing frontiers all my life - physical, social, intellectual, artistic borderlines - and I spotted, in Bono and the Edge, whom I've so far come to know better than the others, an equal hunger for the new, for whatever nourishes. I think, too, that the band's involvement in religion - as inescapable a subject in Ireland as it is in India - gave us, when we first met, a subject, and an enemy (fanaticism) in common. An association with U2 is good for one's anecdote stock. Some of these anecdotes are risibly apocryphal.
A couple of years ago, for example, a front-page Irish press report confidently announced that I had been living in "the folly" - the guesthouse with a spectacular view of Killiney Bay that stands in the garden of Bono's Dublin home - for four whole years. Apparently, I arrived and departed at dead of night in a helicopter that landed on the beach below the house. Other stories that sound apocryphal are, unfortunately, true. It is true, for example, that I once danced - or, to be precise, pogoed - with Van Morrison in Bono's living room. It is also true that in the small hours of the following morning, I was treated to the rough end of the great man's tongue. (Mr Morrison has been known to get a little grumpy towards the end of a long evening. It's possible that my pogoing wasn't up to his exacting standards.)
Over the years, U2 and I discussed collaborating on various projects. Bono mentioned an idea he had for a stage musical, but my imagination failed to spark. There was another long Dublin night (a bottle of Jameson's was involved) during which the film director Neil Jordan, Bono and I conspired to make a film of my novel Haroun and the Sea of Stories. To my great regret, this never came to anything, either.
Then, in autumn 1999, I published my novel The Ground Beneath Her Feet, in which the Orpheus myth winds through a story set in the world of rock music. Orpheus is the defining myth for both singers and writers - for the Greeks, he was the greatest singer as well as the greatest poet - and it was my Orphic tale that finally made possible the collaboration we'd been kicking around. It happened, like many good things, without being planned.
I sent Bono and U2's manager, Paul McGuinness, prepublication copies of the novel, in typescript, hoping that they would tell me if the thing worked or not. Bono said afterwards that he had been worried on my behalf, believing that I had taken on an impossible task, and that he began reading the book in the spirit of a "policeman" - that is, to save me from my mistakes. Fortunately, the novel passed the test. Deep inside it is the lyric of what Bono called the novel's "title track", a sad elegy written by the main male character about the woman he loved, who has been swallowed up in an earthquake: a contemporary Orpheus's lament for his lost Eurydice.
Bono called me. "I've written this melody for your words, and I think it might be one of the best things I've done." I was astonished. One of the novel's principal images is that of the permeable frontier between the world of the imagination and the one we inhabit, and here was an imaginary song crossing that frontier. I went to McGuinness's place near Dublin to hear it. Bono played the demo CD to me in his car. Only when he was sure that I liked it - and I liked it right away - did we go back indoors and play it for the assembled company.
There wasn't much, after that, that one would properly call "collaboration". There was a long afternoon when Daniel Lanois, who was producing the song, brought his guitar and sat down with me to work out the lyrical structure. And there was the Day of the Lost Words, when I was called urgently by a woman from Principle Management, who look after U2. "They're in the studio and they can't find the lyrics. Could you fax them over?" Otherwise, silence, until the song was ready. I wasn't expecting it to happen, but I'm proud of it.
For U2, too, it was a departure. They haven't often used anyone's lyrics but their own, and they don't usually start with the lyrics: typically, the words come at the very end. But somehow it all worked out. I suggested facetiously that they might consider renaming the band U2+1, or, even better, Me2, but I think they'd heard all those gags before. There was a long alfresco lunch in Killiney, at which the film director Wim Wenders startlingly announced that artists must no longer use irony. Plain speaking, he argued, was necessary now: communication should be direct, and anything that might create confusion should be eschewed. Irony, in the rock world, has acquired a special meaning. The multimedia self-consciousness of U2's Achtung Baby/Zooropa phase, which simultaneously embraced and debunked the mythology and gobbledegook of rock stardom, capitalism and power, and of which Bono's white-faced, gold-lamé-suited, red-velvet-horned MacPhisto incarnation was the emblem, is what Wenders was criticising. Characteristically, U2 responded by taking this approach further, pushing it further than it would bear, on the less well-received PopMart tour.
After that, it seems, they took Wenders's advice. The new album, and the Elevation tour, is the spare, impressive result. There was a lot riding on this album, this tour. If things hadn't gone well, it might have been the end of U2. They certainly discussed that possibility, and the album was much delayed as they agonised over it. Extracurricular activities (mainly Bono's) also slowed them down, but since these included getting David Trimble and John Hume to shake hands on a public stage, and reducing Senator Jesse Helms - Jesse Helms! - to tears, winning his support for the campaign against Third World debt, it's hard to argue that these were self-indulgent irrelevances.
At any event, All That You Can't Leave Behind turned out to be a strong album, a renewal of creative force, and, as Bono put it, there's a lot of goodwill flowing towards the band right now. I've seen them three times this year: in the "secret" pretour gig in London's Astoria theatre, and twice in America, in San Diego and Anaheim. They've come out of the stadiums to play arena-sized venues that seem tiny after the gigantism of their recent past. The act has been stripped bare; essentially, it's just the four of them, playing their instruments and singing their songs. For a person of my age, who remembers when rock music was always like this, the show feels simultaneously nostalgic and innovative. In the age of choreographed, instrument-less little-boy and little-girl bands (I know the Supremes didn't play guitars, but they were the Supremes), it's exhilarating to watch a great grown-up quartet do the fine, simple things so well. Direct communication, as Wim Wenders said. It works. And they're playing my song.
Read the whole of Salman Rushdie's story at : The Sunday Times. | <urn:uuid:58db0d6a-6e05-4769-b947-e7c552548cb9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.u2.com/news/article/354 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984397 | 2,524 | 1.773438 | 2 |
[Andrew] is showing off his latest creation, an LED matrix clock, which he is calling “DOTKLOK”. The clock is powered by an atmega328 micro controller with a real time clock module keeping the time. The display is made out of a grid of 8×8 LED matrices giving it a resolution of 24×16, and is all housed in an attractive acrylic housing.
The clock animations are inspired by classic video games such as Pong, Tetris, Pacman, and Space Invaders. Since the software is open, it is easy to jump into the Arduino source and add or modify animations to suit your taste, or even use the clock as a custom display for non clock related applications.
Available as a kit or fully assembled if youre needing a gift for that special nerdy someone. If you would like to go it alone, source, schematics, pcb, and enclosure files are available along with a bill of materials.
Join us after the break to see a short video of this fun clock in action | <urn:uuid:cd3329f3-8a40-418a-b2f4-7b61b17f0916> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hackaday.com/2011/02/15/dotklok/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=39eb77acf0 | 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 | 0.94534 | 217 | 1.8125 | 2 |
South Australian grocers push to sell wine in aisles
- From: The Advertiser
- December 12, 2012
A COALITION of South Australian-owned grocers want to sell alcohol in their stores, in a move they are promoting as a boost to the wine industry.
Foodland and the Independent Grocers Association have approached the State Government and asked it to change existing liquor laws and let them sell bottled wine.
They argue that several other states already allow in-store liquor sales and the move would open up new markets for smaller SA wine makers who currently struggle to make sales to the two dominant supermarket chains.
Both Coles and Woolworths already have their own liquor store chains. They stock wine, champagne, beer, liqueurs and spirits.
These stores are often located adjacent to their supermarkets.
Foodland and IGA operators say the cost and bureaucracy of getting a "full-blown" licence is prohibitive and they have no business interest in stocking products other than quality SA bottled wine.
Business Services and Consumers Minister John Rau says the proposal is worthy of consideration and will release a discussion paper early in the new year seeking feedback on issues, including how to prevent sales to minors.
The move has attracted criticism it will increase under-age drinking.
Foodland Group chairman Roger Drake told The Advertiser that selling bottled wine would open up new options for customers, including the ability to recommend pairings with food.
"It makes sense that if South Australia is to be the wine capital of Australia, at least we have wine within our supermarkets.
"It's a tradition right around the world," he said.
"We approached the government, saying that with Coles and Woolworths having huge dominance in house brands, we believe that it is important for SA wineries to have some representation.
"I think it's going to be the lifesaver for South Australian wine."
IGA chairman Joseph Romeo said the move would allow for hyper-local offerings, such as wine from Stirling being sold in Adelaide Hills supermarkets and McLaren Vale products in the city's south.
"Us as locals, and that's who we are, support other locals," he said. "That's what we're about and the consumer will be the biggest winner.
"It's a big snowball effect to keeping more jobs in SA." Victoria, NSW, the ACT and New Zealand all allow in-store supermarket alcohol sales to varying degrees.
Mr Rau said a scaled-down liquor licence could be created in SA, similar to those planned for small bars.
"What we're discussing is a separate class of licence where if all the person wants to do is sell wine and nothing else, then they apply for this class of licence," he said. "I cannot see why Coles and Woolies should be able to have next door, or even in part of their building, a full-blown wine shop with everything from beer to Scotch and these smaller, independent competitors of theirs are not entitled to have anything."
It is expected the licence would also remove current requirements for the seller to prove there is a "need" to grant the licence to cater for public demand in their area, cutting red tape and cost. Australian Hotels Association SA general manager Ian Horne said the move was "tantamount to complete deregulation" and came amid increased costs for traditional pubs and clubs.
"We've seen in so many other industries now that if you open it up to the power of the supermarket, you just eliminate small and medium business," he said.
SA Network of Drug and Alcohol Services executive officer Andris Banders said in-store sales could increase the risk of secondary sales to young people and normalise alcohol consumption.
"Across society, alcohol is extremely freely available and there is no need to extend that further," he said. "There is an increased risk of people buying in-store and then selling to someone outside."
Winemakers Federation of Australia chief executive Paul Evans said the proposal could provide a "valuable route to market" for small producers unable to crack traditional bottle shops.
"Restricting this initiative to wine is a great vote of confidence in Australian produce and supporting regional jobs and local communities," Mr Evans said.
THE owners and operators of a southern suburbs supermarket have been fined $200,000 for breaching national food standards.
PARENTS chose to drop their children at school this morning - rather than let them travel alone - amid fears of a serial predator trying to abduct children.
JAMES Gandolfini, best known as mob boss Tony Soprano in the hit TV series The Sopranos, has died in Italy at the age of 51.
IT'S an essential daily ritual for millions of us and chances are you probably want one now. But it may be doing you harm. | <urn:uuid:02144895-b679-4f1f-89dd-5f65bef0d3ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/south-australian-grocers-push-to-sell-wine-in-aisles/story-e6frea83-1226535698473 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972146 | 989 | 1.507813 | 2 |
A knob placed on your steering wheel allowing you to drive with one hand, leaving the other free to put around your date.
Keith's put a suicide knob on his steering wheel so he could have one arm around Caroline while he is driving.
A knob attached to the rim of a steering wheel that enables a driver to turn the wheel by moving the knob. Very common in the late 1940s and through the 1950s. Illegal in most places since then. Also called a nigger knob.
Ermal has a suicide knob on the steering wheel of his Case tractor. He decided to put one on the wheel of his Pontiac, too, so he could spoon with Ida Mae while he drives. | <urn:uuid:2ba2eb47-c770-46ec-ad09-f01e778e5809> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Suicide%20Knob&defid=2049123 | 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 | 0.975235 | 143 | 1.734375 | 2 |
A digest of important news from sources selected by our local editors. Delivered weekday mornings.
Watershed may not have come into being were it not for volleyball.
Lehman, a 2001 Ohio State University graduate, relocated to Switzerland after school to play professional volleyball. He spent two years in a town where much of the food and drink was produced locally.
“The town I lived in did everything local,” he said.
He returned to the U.S. in 2003 and held on to the idea of locally made spirits, which then was a niche even less tapped than it is today.
The idea was just that until 2007, when he and his partner – both with sales backgrounds – decided to see if they could make it a reality. They’d crafted a business plan by 2009 and set out early last year to find investors to help raise $250,000 in startup costs.
“If we can’t sell this idea, then it’s not a strong enough idea,” Lehman said.
They sold it, assembling a group of private investors to buy a 20 percent stake in the business.
Watershed officially opened for business Sept. 1. Its products were on store shelves and restaurant bars by Dec. 1.
Clear spirits were a natural place to start since they don’t requiring aging, like a bourbon does.
“You can make it quickly and get it to market quickly,” he said. “It’d be tough to keep the lights on if we started with bourbon.”
It takes seven to 10 days to make vodka and a few days longer to make gin.
Watershed’s 80-proof vodka is 100 percent corn-based. Most vodka is grain- or starch-based. The goal was a smooth vodka good for drinking straight or mixing.
“It made sense to start with corn since we’re in Ohio,” he said.
Lehman said the company sources as many ingredients as possible from Ohio and the Midwest.
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How do you grade the performance of the current Congress?
The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of American City Business Journals. | <urn:uuid:530eb5d4-c96d-4458-bccd-c51a6a34d960> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/print-edition/2011/03/11/watershed-distillery-opens-to-sate.html?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972257 | 526 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Every year, between one and two million Americans work as interns. They famously shuttle coffee in a thousand newsrooms, congressional offices, and Hollywood studios, but they also deliver aid in Afghanistan, build the human genome, and pick up garbage. Ross Perlin's book is the first expose of the exploitative world of internships, and its hardcover publication precipitated a torrent of media coverage in the US and UK. In this witty, astonishing, and serious investigative work, Perlin profiles fellow interns, talks to academics and professionals about what unleashed this phenomenon, and explains why the intern boom is perverting workplace practices around the world. Insightful and humorous, INTERN NATION will transform the way we think about the culture of work. | <urn:uuid:d86cf4a6-7d53-4b7c-a9df-358595427cfe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intern-Nation-Nothing-Little-Economy/dp/1844678830 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931999 | 148 | 1.515625 | 2 |
After nearly 20 years of courtroom skirmishes, a property owner’s fight with the St. Johns River Water Management District over developing a few acres will be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The outcome could change rules on what concessions government agencies can expect when owners seek permits for construction.
“This case is going to have an impact, either way,” said Michael Jones, a Central Florida attorney who has been part of the dispute since 1994.
In November of last year, the Florida Supreme Court rejected landowner Coy Koontz Jr.’s complaint that the water management district violated his rights by setting unreasonable conditions on a permit he would need to develop family property.
Koontz persisted, and the U.S. Supreme Court agreed in the fall to hear arguments on the case in January. His supporters see big stakes.
“We’re seeing these abuses of the permit process across the country,” said Brian Hodges, an attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation, which is representing Koontz.
The group that has argued excessive permit demands are a form of “taking” of property that’s forbidden under the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment, and said Koontz’s complaint captured an important grievance.
“When we saw this case we thought it was necessary to carry this case as far as we could, to bring a halt to this pattern,” Hodges said.
A water management lawyer sees the case very differently.
“It’s a very normal, run of the mill case,” said William Congdon, the district’s general counsel.
The Koontz family has owned about 15 acres alongside Florida 50 in Orange County since the 1970s.
In 1994, Koontz’s father asked the water management district for approval to develop 3.7 acres next to the highway, where roadwork had shrunk the family land to a little more than 14 acres.
Most of that area was considered wetlands that were part of a special protected zone around the Econlockhatchee River.
To make up for wetlands damage from the development, the district wanted a conservation easement placed on the rest of the property, which Koontz Sr. agreed to do.
But he refused another step the district sought, which was to have environmental work done elsewhere too as more mitigation.
The district had good reasons for wanting more, Congdon said.
At the time, he said, the district followed rules set by the Department of Environmental Protection that said that for every acre of wetlands damaged, there had to be 10 acres of mitigation.
Since Koontz wanted to develop about three acres of wetlands, conserving the rest of his land was only a little better than a three-to-one mitigation, and didn’t meet the state’s minimum standard, he said.
Congdon said a district staffer wanted other work done at district-owned land, but said the agency’s governing board spelled out permit conditions that would allow mitigation work anywhere in the river basin, including paying another landowner to put their property into conservation.
“From the district’s perspective, he’s offering one third of the minimum in a special protection zone,” Congdon said.
email@example.com, (904) 359-4263 | <urn:uuid:b34ff1d1-0611-46fd-9c17-1c8ac452119f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2012-12-09/story/central-florida-wetlands-fight-headed-us-supreme-court?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+JacksonvillecomMostPopularStories+%28Jacksonville.com%3A+Most+Popular+Stories%29 | 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 | 0.964267 | 712 | 1.757813 | 2 |
1. If you do a thorough check of your trailer before hauling, your truck will break down.
2. There is no such thing as a sterile barn cat.
3. No one ever notices how you ride until you fall off.
4. The least useful horse in your barn will eat the most, require shoes every four weeks and need the vet at least once a month.
5. A horse's misbehavior will be in direct proportion to the number of people who are watching.
6. Tack you hate never wears out; blankets you hate cannot be destroyed; horses you hate cannot be sold and will outlive you.
7. Clipper blades will become dull only when the horse is half finished. Clipper motors will quit only when you have the horse's head left to trim.
8. If you're wondering if you left the water on in the barn, you did. If you're wondering if you latched the pasture gate, you didn't.
9. One horse isn't enough; two is too many.
10. If you approach within 50 feet of the barn in your "street clothes," you will get dirty.
11. You can't push a horse on a lunge line.
12. If a horse is advertised "under $5,000," you can bet he isn't $2,500.
13. The number of horses you own increases according to the number of stalls in your barn.
14. An uncomplicated horse can be ruined with enough schooling.
15. You can't run a barn without baling twine.
16. Hoof picks migrate.
17. Wind velocity increases in direct proportion to how well your hat fits.
18. There is no such thing as the "right feed."
19. If you fall off, you will land on the site of your most recent injury.
20. If you're winning, quit.
~ author unknown | <urn:uuid:d49cbf90-dc84-403c-932a-dab2c00193b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blognponyshow.blogspot.com/2008/05/murphys-horse-laws.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933574 | 402 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Posted on 16 September 2010.
Everybody wants to be famous so that they can’t walk on the streets without getting mobbed by hysterical fans. The best part is that it isn’t too difficult!
1. Reality Television
The easiest way to become famous today is by becoming a part of a reality television show. All you need to do is audition for a mind-numbingly senseless show, make some noise or act completely adorable and the next thing you know, you are famous! You don’t need talent or good looks- all you need is some single-minded determination.
2. Have Perfect Timing
If you happen to be at the right place at the right time, there is no way that you will not gain instant fame and recognition. For example- if you save a man from drowning or pick a child up from some railway tracks, the press will find you almost instantly. Jay Leno may contact you personally as well!
3. Break a World Record
If you have unusually long hair, nails or maybe, eyelashes, you can be sure to become famous in no time. Everybody is fascinated by photographs in the Guinness Book of World Records and who knows, if you play your cards right, you may end up featuring in the next one!
4. Plagiarize Something Quietly
If this particular method appeals to you, all you need to do is pick up a song or a book that is not all that famous and copy it. If you deny the allegations till you are six feet under, you will be remembered for years to come!
5. Tap Into your Generous Side
If you give up a lot of money in the name of charity, several newspapers will be knocking at your door and will want to interview you. Let’s put it this way- your conscience will be happy with you and you can look into cameras and smile with great modesty and charm. | <urn:uuid:c05ce390-28b9-434a-941c-90a24001356e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://top-10-list.org/2010/09/16/top-10-ways-to-get-fame/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950279 | 396 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Investing for value
In continuing our examination of different investment styles, this article looks at value investing and outlines some of the opportunities available to Australian investors
Value investing has been in favour for much of this decade after growth was abandoned in the wake of the tech boom and bust and the excessive valuations of the late 1990s. A word of caution, no one investment style - growth, value or variants of these - should be used to the exclusion of one or the other because the investment environment can change making discounting one style in favour of another risky. That said let’s see what’s so intrinsically appealing about value investing beyond its description.
Value investing conjures up the idea of buying assets that truly represent value. In some cases that means searching for bargains – beaten up stocks that are out of favour. In other cases its stocks in areas that don’t attract much attention. Did you know Warren Buffet’s first investment was in a furniture retailer because he understood the business and its value? And on the subject of furniture IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad has just recently overtaken Microsoft's Bill Gates as the world's richest man. So what’s involved in becoming a value investor?
Value investors invest in undervalued companies believed to possess something that could improve their ability and/or unlock value. They also attempt to take advantage of opportunities created by investor overreaction and short-term focus without being put off by these factors themselves eg Oct 1987, Sept 11 2001.
Value Investing Requires Patience
If your investment style is to trade in and out of stocks in the short term then becoming a value investor requires a new approach. Where growth investors might typically hold a stock for six months, value investors hold for three to five years. Value investors don’t try to predict which way interest rates are heading, or the direction of the market or of the economy. They don’t look at stock charts nor pay attention to analysts’ buy/sell ratings or earnings forecasts. Value investors don’t try to determine if all the bad news is already built into the stock’s price, or if further disappointments will drive the share price down further. In short they ignore general market “noise” and instead focus on the company and its ability to execute.
Value investors view all industry sectors as cyclical, meaning that each sector, and hence the stocks making up that sector, will go through periods of out performance. Then inevitably the companies over-expand and growth falters, margins contract in the face of oversupply, and stock prices plunge. Eventually the excess capacity is absorbed, demand picks up, and the cycle repeats. Sound familiar? The TELCO sector is currently working through excess capacity and investors can only wonder when demand and pricing will pick up.
Rather than trying to predict the timing of these cycles, value investors compare a stock’s current valuation ratios (e.g. price/earnings) to their historical ranges, and from that information determine whether it’s time to buy or sell.
Value investing can be defined as investing in companies with high cash flow, low P/E, low p/e/g, low p/b ratios, among other things. In particular value investors have long considered the price earnings ratio (p/e ratio for short) a useful measure of the relative attractiveness of a company's stock price. The price /earning ratio is the price an investor is paying for the company's earnings. In other words, if a company is reporting earnings per share of $2 and it’s selling for $20 per share, the p/e ratio is 10 ($20 per share divided by $2 earnings per share = 10 p/e.) Made popular by the late Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett etc, Graham preached the virtues of this financial ratio as one of the quickest and easiest ways to determine if a stock is trading on an investment or speculative basis.
For example if a particular stock’s price/earnings ratio has ranged between a low of 15 and a high of 40. Value investors would consider the stock a buy candidate if its current P/E is around 20 or less. Once purchased, they would hold the stock until its P/E moved into the high 30 to 40 range. Ask your broker, go to their website or a free site such as Yahoo and look up the p/e ratio for the last 3 years. It’s a valuable check before you consider buying a stock that you’ve read about. Once you’ve got the figure use the p/e ratio to compare your stock with other companies in the same industry, then check out the valuation of the whole sector. If the average p/e ratio of all of the companies in the sector is far above the historical average this could spell trouble. Investors would do well to avoid sectors where the market capitalisations are unrealistic. CSL at one stage traded above $50 giving it a market cap in excess of $10 billion only to fall back at one stage to $11, now $28.
Finding value in unlikely places
Distressed assets such as debt securities or the stock in companies that are out of favour and have been in a slump often allow investors to buy in at very attractive valuations. With the benefit of hindsight ALL- Aristocrat Leisure was a “screaming buy” 12 moths ago. It was not only out of favour with investors for not being upfront about its US operations (there is class action before the courts by disgruntled investors on this very point) but was embroiled in a legal dispute with since ousted CEO Des Randall. Today the stock is back trading around $7.50, a far cry from 90c at its low point.
BPC - Burns Philp Limited is another example of a stock and its debt securities that have benefited from the turn around orchestrated by its biggest shareholder and deputy director Graeme Hart. BPC has had a volatile history, recovering from near-collapse in the late 1990s when its U.S. herbs and spices businesses were pummelled by a pricing war. A word of caution - value investors don’t buy stocks just because they’re cheap, they have to be assured that the problems are temporary, or solvable. Value investors hold these stocks until their prospects once again look bright, and then they sell them back to growth investors.
Not all situations of course rely on “bottom fishing” for stocks on the precipice. Bank stocks were universally discarded in the hype of the tech boom despite posting solid earnings throughout the 1990s and represented exceptional value at the time. Most bank stocks have since doubled as the flood of money moved back in favour of value stocks.
Finding Value in Far Away Places
As the world continues to evolve into a global economy and the Australian market is at or near record levels, more investors are seeking opportunities abroad. With more diverse options, the international stock markets may be able to provide those opportunities. International markets may provide greater value and add a measure of diversification to a domestic-heavy portfolio. Closed end country funds can often trade for less than their NAV- net asset value when the country or region is out of fashion. At the end of 2002, both India Investment Fund (NYSE: IIF) and The India Fund (NYSE: IFN) traded at discounts of around 15% to NAV. They have since benefited both from the rise in the Indian stock market and the elimination of this discount, more than doubling in price during the last 15 months. These and other opportunities are available to Australian investors via their Australian brokers as part of ASX World Link.
Long term view necessary for value to come to the surface
If you aren't willing to buy shares in a company and forget about them for the next ten years, you really have no business owning those shares at all. The simple truth is professional money managers attempt to beat a benchmark such as S&P/ASX 200 yet the majority do not. Rather the way to create long term value has historically been to select a great company, pay as little as possible for the initial stake, begin a dollar cost averaging program, reinvest the dividends and leave the position alone for several decades.
For more information on the role of different ASX products in building a portfolio based on value investing visit the ASX website.
© All rights reserved 2004. This material is educational and it is not intended to constitute financial advice.
ASX is interested in your feedback, please email us any comments on this article. | <urn:uuid:7363a5ab-a65f-4c3c-8fa0-ebcb3f7384b5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.asx.com.au/products/investing-for-value.htm | 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 | 0.955877 | 1,760 | 1.765625 | 2 |
By Adam Fairholm on July 4, 2012 12:52pmTweet
While we're all out celebrating our patriotism in the United States of America today, I thought it might be a good time to direct your attention to the most popular way music videos display their American pride: by putting up a giant American flag and doing something in front of it.
If you think about it, it's a pretty good deal. Everyone knows what an American flag is, it looks good, and you don't have to pay anything for it to appear in your video. Plus you can do it ironically or just regular-style - it's extremely versatile. Put it in front of some bikers - bam! Patriotic. Behind a sad farmer - bam! Deep.
So how do you use an American flag in your videos? Your first option is pretty obvious. Put it up and perform in front of it. The most famous example of this is probably the Paul Hunter-directed video for Lenny Kravitz' cover of "American Woman". | <urn:uuid:02924e17-ca59-43c1-acc5-465f24b33d4d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://imvdb.com/blog/tagged/madonna | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953416 | 211 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Enrolling in Medicare Programs
Enrolling in Medicare Part A or B
Medicare has four parts: Part A, called hospital insurance; Part B, medical insurance; Part C, Medicare Advantage managed care plans; and Part D, prescription drug plans. Most people are eligible for any of these Medicare programs at age 65.
Some people may want to sign up for only one part of Medicare or for several. But each part has a different enrollment procedure, and the processes differ depending on whether she's already receiving Social Security or other federal pension benefits or is a member of a managed care plan and wants to continue. When and how to enroll can get confusing, so the procedures and timing for each situation and Medicare program are described below.
Automatic enrollment in Medicare Part A if the person is already receiving Social Security or other federal pension benefits
If the person is approaching age 65 and is already receiving Social Security, Railroad Retirement, or federal civil service pension benefits -- retirement, disability, or dependents' or survivors' benefits -- she doesn't need to do anything to enroll in Medicare Part A. The Social Security Administration will do it for her. About three months before her 65th birthday, she'll receive an initial enrollment period package in the mail. Included will be notification of her enrollment in Medicare Part A. Because she is eligible for Social Security or other federal pension benefits, she's also eligible for free Part A coverage. That means she won't have to pay any monthly premium for Part A. Her coverage will begin on her 65th birthday. If she doesn't receive these documents by two months before she turns 65, she should contact the Social Security Administration at 800-772-1213.
If she's under age 65 but has been eligible to receive Social Security disability benefits for at least 24 months, she's also eligible for free Medicare Part A and will be automatically enrolled. The Social Security Administration will mail Medicare enrollment documents to her when she reaches her 24th month of collecting disability benefits.
How and when to enroll in Medicare Part A if someone isn't receiving Social Security or other federal pension benefits
If the person isn't collecting Social Security or other federal pension retirement, disability, or dependents' or survivors' benefits, she has to apply for Medicare Part A at a local Social Security office. She should file her application as early as three months before she turns 65, to ensure that the paperwork is completed by her 65th birthday.
If she's eligible for Social Security or other federal pension benefits but hasn't yet started collecting them, she will receive free Part A coverage, with no monthly premium. If she is 65 and a citizen or legal resident but doesn't qualify for Social Security or other federal pension benefits, she can still apply for Medicare Part A. However, she will have to pay a monthly premium for it; the amount is determined by how many Social Security work credits she has accumulated.
If she applies for Medicare Part A within six months after she turns 65, her coverage will date back to her 65th birthday. If she applies more than six months after her birthday, her coverage will date back only to six months before the date she applied. | <urn:uuid:20c68f69-fc30-4365-857f-be1c11f7d40f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.caring.com/articles/medicare-enrollment-application | 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 | 0.964995 | 641 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Bay Area Mentoring Fedorans - BAMF We are a Local Fedora Community in Northern California. We have a growing list of Ambassadors (and various FOSS folks)to help foster this venture.
- IRC: #BAMF on Freenode
- Raspberry Pi fun.
- We have a strong emphasis on making Robots
- Mailing List
- Facebook page
- Google Plus Community
- Calendar HTML version
- BAMF Pi FAD Fedora Pi hackfest and Geeknic
Events are held at members houses as well as hackerspaces. We do basic classes to help recruit our future geeks and contribs. We have group projects to help get anyone involved. Members bring personal projects that benefit from group brainstorming.
Group consensus decides direction. Tech decisions made by Dev Steering Board. 3 devs vote agenda for next meeting. A fourth alternate is available to keep an odd number (and continuity).
There are plans to have elected leadership. No pressing need at the moment. Creating a formal mentoring and teaching process is a bigger priority. We do basic classes to help recruit our future geeks and contribs. At this point it's basic Pi, dd, with ARM viewed as future for many reasons.
- Our first release party
(We sorta took a break. We are really looking forward to F19, as well as the armv6 for Pi) | <urn:uuid:34ee6dbf-27a1-420d-80dd-47d7cbbae773> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/BAMF | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945814 | 289 | 1.671875 | 2 |
December 20, 2005
Enough. Let's Try 'Accountability.'
You may not know it, but we are living in the Responsibility Era.
So said George Bush back in 2000 when he accepted the Republican
presidential nomination. He vowed that he would be the Responsibility
President and, it seems, repeat the word over and over until it
lost all meaning. That one speech, forgettable but retrievable,
contained the following line: ``And to lead this nation to a responsibility
era, a president himself must be responsible.'' Churchill, rest
In his Sunday
night speech to the nation, Bush once again ran up this tattered
rhetorical banner: ``I am responsible for the decision to go into
Iraq.'' It was the exact same phrase Bush had used earlier in
the week at his Woodrow Wilson Center speech. That one prompted
Jay Leno to an outburst of wisdom: ``Yeah, well, I don't think
he has to worry about other people trying to take credit for that
word ``responsible,'' in all its permutations and declensions,
made an occasional appearance in the president's rhetoric, it
would not be worth a comment. But it is a theme, a beat, a tick,
a flat-footed verbal tautology and a way, really, of deflecting
apt criticism. Listen to your president:
responsibility,'' he said Sept. 13 about the botched Hurricane
Katrina relief effort. ``I take personal responsibility for everything
I say, of course,'' he said back in 2003. ``I also take responsibility
for making decisions on war and peace.''
responsibility for putting our troops into action,'' he said a
bit earlier in 2003. ``I take responsibility for making that decision.''
of the obvious is a bit of clumsy rhetorical strutting, but also
a way of ducking the ultimate in responsibility: accountability.
This is something Bush will not accept or countenance. He will
not be trammeled or constrained or answer to any person. He will,
as we recently learned, not give a fig for the law as passed by
Congress when it comes to restrictions on domestic spying. He
asserts, but does not show, that asking for a warrant from the
special intelligence court would endanger the country and -- his
idea of a jolly-good debating point -- shows irritation when pressed.
He's the president, damnit. Look it up.
It was the
same with the intelligence failure that was Bush's prime justification
for the war. The president asserts repeatedly that he's responsible
for that -- but so is Congress. It saw the same intelligence.
But it is the president who runs the spy agencies, not Congress,
and it is he who ought to be accountable for their dismal performance.
Does this occur to him? Does he ask if he was being told what
he wanted to hear? Does he wonder about his aides? Are they a
claque of yes-men and (hello, Condi) women? It's ridiculous to
say Congress is equally responsible for being duped by bad intelligence.
The intelligence, after all, was the president's. He should be
of responsibility without accountability applies in spades to
Bush's personnel policies -- or lack of them. If the president
were truly responsible, then he would fire the bunglers. By failing
to do so, the president shows that he has not closely examined
what went wrong. He works with the same team of happy incompetents
who failed him once (bad intelligence), then again (going to war),
then again (the administration of it) and then again (postwar
reconstruction). A responsible leader would get some people around
him with the guts to challenge him. This is a White House of the
the ``responsibility president'' would understand that his crew
has lost all credibility. He cannot expect a nation, and in particular
its military, to accept the assurances of people who will be mocked
by history or to have faith in leaders whose failures are sadly
obvious in the only ledger that really matters -- the body count
in Iraq. For instance, just the other day in Iraq, Vice President
Cheney said the country had ``turned the corner.'' Who believes
him? He may be right, but by now if Cheney told me that Christmas
will fall on the Dec. 25th, I'd doubt him. The man has been wrong,
wrong, wrong -- and still he is the president's primary adviser.
He should be relegated to state funerals and demagogic speeches
to slow learners in the Republican Party.
wants us to believe that he truly accepts responsibility for what
has happened in Iraq, then he has to act responsibly himself:
End the Responsibility Era. Start the Accountability one.
2005, Washington Post Writers Group | <urn:uuid:cf5aa18d-6096-4d6e-a3e0-325c1f0de6ec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-12_20_05_RC.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959113 | 1,011 | 1.78125 | 2 |
This may be your last chance to save the main architecturally magnificent and service oriented Berkeley Post office and to oppose the privatization of the system. This Tuesday there will be an official public meeting of the United States Postal Service (USPS) to determine the fate of the post office. During the New Deal era of the Great Depression over 1100 post offices were built. Now the postal system and its employees are facing a raw deal.
Post offices around the nation are being closed to cater to the insatiable needs of United Parcel Service and Federal Express.
It is immensely important that you join us this Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013 at City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. We must do everything we can to stop the dismantling of the New Deal and the massive reduction in jobs. About 20 percent of postal workers are African Americans. Across the country over 2700 post offices are at risk of being sold or at least closed and hundreds of thousands of job could be lost. These losses will certainly trigger substantial layoffs in the private sector as well.
Please, please, please attend this Tuesday our rally at City Hall at 6pm and the public hearings at 7pm. But if you cannot attend both, please join us in one of these events. Numbers matter. A low turnout this Tuesday would send the wrong message to USPS.
We are a community! | <urn:uuid:87667270-e8f0-4a42-8a3b-7f18793ffad5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2013-02-22/article/40797?headline=Attend-Rally-to-Save-Post-Office-on-Tuesday-Night-at-6 | 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 | 0.953323 | 277 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Law Office of Tadd Dietz | Tadd Dietz
An employee that is not compensated for the full amount of hours they have worked, may have legal rights to seek compensation from an employer. If an employee is not being paid for what they are entitled, they may have a claim under the Utah Payment of Wages Act, which set forth the requirements for paying wages to employees in Utah. The Utah Labor Commission is in charge of administering this law. An employee working for a private employer may file a wage claim with the Utah Labor Commission to recover unpaid wages. See . The Utah Labor Commission has the jurisdiction in cases involving unpaid wages that are at least $50.00 but no more than $10,000.00. An employee must file the wage claim with the Utah Labor Commission "within one year of the date the wages were earned." See Utah Code Section 34-28-7(1)(e). Additionally, the Utah Labor Commission does not have jurisdiction to handle claims involving independent contractors. Independent contractors that want to recover unpaid wages must file a breach of contract claim in court to recover unpaid wages. The Utah Labor Commission does not handle cases involving overtime unpaid wages Such overtime unpaid wages would have to be pursued in court. If an employee is not being compensated for overtime pay they may have rights to file a lawsuit suit seeking overtime compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The FLSA requires covered employers to pay non-exempt employees a overtime rate of one and a half times an employees regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a work week. However, there are some employment positions that are considered exempt, and employees in such exempt positions are not entitled to overtime compensation. An employee that is seeking to recover unpaid overtime wages may also file with United States Department of Labor.
Answer Applies to: Utah | <urn:uuid:178f17e6-c71e-4239-9649-6cabeaa08fc3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lawqa.com/qa/what-can-i-do-if-i-am-not-being-paid-for-all-of-my-employment-hours | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966366 | 370 | 1.75 | 2 |
To be the 1st Choice for children's health.
To improve the health status of all children through service, education, research and advocacy.
The primary mission of Dayton Children's is to provide quality health care for children from infancy through adolescence. The hospital will be a health care resource to all children of the Miami Valley regardless of their socioeconomic status. We will offer comprehensive inpatient and outpatient diagnosis and treatment in an emotionally supportive setting for our patients and their families.
Education and Research
Dayton Children's will provide pediatric training for a variety of health care professionals at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels. We will, in partnership with affiliated institutions, participate in the support of appropriate research activities.
Advocacy and Community Responsibility
Dayton Children's will be an active advocate for children. We will work to develop local, state and national health policies that reflect the needs of children. We will encourage, support and participate in community programs to improve the health, education and overall wellness of area children.
We believe there are 18 ways we're just right for our region's kids! Learn more and share your story at justrightforkids.org. | <urn:uuid:83a93060-feae-40f3-887f-a49864e4c8e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.childrensdayton.org/cms/site/6c58181b6d417f50/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936215 | 235 | 1.59375 | 2 |
There is an interactive map that provides you with a ton of vaguely rude, or funny, depending upon your sense of humor, place names around the world. The map works very much like a Google map. You may left click + hold to use the grabby-hand to move the map around. Spinning the mouse wheel both directions (or using the + and – in the upper left corner) will zoom in and out. And hovering above the blue icon will give you a pop-up of the name in that location. More…
Ah, yes. Remember the cartoon The Jetsons? The intro shows the family zipping around in their carlike aircraft just the same as we do now in cars, trucks, motorcycles and other types of road transportation. I never imagined that a flight craft would be invented within my lifetime that was small enough and fast enough to be considered as a means of directly from your home to the parking lot at work, or the grocery, or the gym…. And I mean a type of flying “vehicle” that does not need a runway to take off or land, nor require a large amount of space to land (i.e. the blades on a helicopter). Additionally, a creation that also does not necessitate a pilot’s license which costs thousands of dollars of schooling – not to mention having to log enough flight hours to keep a license valid.
We all need to take a break from the obstacles in life we encounter daily. Some are easy while others often threaten ones own life or the lives of their loved ones. A failing economy, sickness, poor health care, and a society full of greed, corruption, crime and selfishness can make every day a challenge.
This is when we all need to see that there is compassion and humanity still in existence. Here are a few good acts done from the heart from one stranger to another.
A lost penguin is getting a lift home to Antarctica on a New Zealand research vessel.
FIGHTING FIT AND cheeky as ever, the world’s most famous emperor penguin is set to leave Kiwi captivity for his Antarctic home. Happy Feet captured the world’s attention in June when he washed up on a beach north of Wellington, more than 3000km from home.
Waterspouts fall into two categories: fair weather waterspouts and tornadic waterspouts.
Tornadic waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water, or move from land to water. They have the same characteristics as a land tornado. They are associated with severe thunderstorms, and are often accompanied by high winds and seas, large hail, and frequent dangerous lightning.
Fair weather waterspouts usually form along the dark flat base of a line of developing cumulus clouds. This type of waterspout is generally not associated with thunderstorms. While tornadic waterspouts develop downward in a thunderstorm, a fair weather waterspout develops on the surface of the water and works its way upward. By the time the funnel is visible, a fair weather waterspout is near maturity. Fair weather waterspouts form in light wind conditions so they normally move very little.
If a waterspout moves onshore, the National Weather Service issues a tornado warning, as some of them can cause significant damage and injuries to people. Typically, fair weather waterspouts dissipate rapidly when they make landfall, and rarely penetrate far inland.
Information from National Ocean Service website
Planking is the action of lying face down with arms to the sides, in unusual public spaces and photographing it. It has become particularly popular on Facebook with thousands of photos of planking in odd places, multiple people, and anything unique and different all trying to outdo one another.
Planking began as the lying down game in Europe and Japan in the late 2000s. The term “planking” was coined in Australia and became an internet meme in 2011.
Planking is also known as an abdominal exercise as seen in About.Com Sports Medicine site.
However, those plankers who are planking for the craze of planking, have now resulted in a death. A young man in Australia was attempting to have his photograph taken in a most extreme planking on the rail of a 7th floor balcony… and plummeted to his death.
I do not quite understand this craze, but in every generation, there is always a fad to follow… So, if you do participate in planking, please do so wisely. | <urn:uuid:239d05f9-be87-41cf-99c7-7b0d13025bd6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://motleynews.net/tag/australia/ | 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 | 0.96325 | 924 | 1.539063 | 2 |
No one would choose a friendless existence on condition of having all the other things in the world.
Existence really is an imperfect tense that never becomes a present.
In the consciousness of the truth he has perceived, man now sees everywhere only the awfulness or the absurdity of existence and loathing seizes him.
Fate is nothing but the deeds committed in a prior state of existence.
The very impossibility in which I find myself to prove that God is not, discovers to me his existence.
The more unintelligent a man is, the less mysterious existence seems to him.
Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.
The best argument I know for an immortal life is the existence of a man who deserves one.
Existence itself does not feel horrible; it feels like an ecstasy, rather, which we have only to be still to experience.
Existence is no more than the precarious attainment of relevance in an intensely mobile flux of past, present, and future.
The fact of God is necessary for the fact of man. Think God away and man has no ground of existence.
With all our mastery over the powers of Nature we have adhered to the view that the struggle for existence is a permanent and necessary condition of life.
The continued existence of wildlife and wilderness is important to the quality of life of humans.
n short, we cannot grow, we cannot achieve authentic discovery, and our eyes cannot be cleansed to the truly beautiful possibilities of life, if we simply live a neutral existence.
Progress is measured by richness and intensity of experience - by a wider and deeper apprehension of the significance and scope of human existence.
The existence of inherent limits of experience in no way settles the question about the subordination of facts of the human world to our knowledge of matter.
God is a challenge because there is no proof of his existence and therefore the search must continue.
We owe our existence to our parents, but we actually didn't have a choice.
It is possible to spend one's entire lifetime without ever experiencing the mystical realms or even without being aware of their existence.
The secret of success is to be in harmony with existence, to be always calm to let each wave of life wash us a little farther up the shore.
Cultivation of mind should be the ultimate aim of human existence.
Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence.
Every moment of one's existence one is growing into more or retreating into less. One is always living a little more or dying a little bit.
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Related QuotesQuotes with Keyword Existence | <urn:uuid:dc317520-4496-4b07-baea-683504fd985a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.finestquotes.com/select_quote-category-Existence-page-1.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931264 | 608 | 1.773438 | 2 |
In the early part of Vayeira, Avraham is visited by three angels in the form of human beings. Although he is still recovering from the circumcision that he performed on himself just a couple of days earlier, Avraham literally jumps at the opportunity to show kindness to his guests. He ministers to them with great alacrity, bounding back and forth (at age 99) to prepare a feast for them. After the "men" enquire as to the whereabouts of Sarah, one of them announces to Avraham that, at the same time the following year (Pesach), she will bear him a son. G-d Himself had informed Avraham of this earlier, when He gave him the mitzvah of circumcision.
Overhearing these words from behind the entrance to her tent, Sarah, the Torah tells us,"...laughed [vatitzchak] to herself, saying, 'Now that I am worn out [from age], shall I once again regain my youth? And my husband is old!'" In response, Hashem addresses Avraham reprovingly, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Can I really have a child when I am so old?' Is anything too difficult for G-d?" (Chapter 18, 12-13; The Living Torah, pp. 80 - 81)
Though Malbim interprets Sarah's reaction as joyful wonderment (somewhat similar to Avraham's own reaction in last week's parsha), Ramban (Nachmanidies) detects a slight disparagement in her "laugh," and is quite surprised by it. It is likely, he reasons, that she did not understand that these visitors were divine messengers, and that Avraham--who was occupied with carrying out the mitzvah of circumcision--had not yet informed her of G-d's recent promise that she would bear him a son. Yet, still, he writes, it was not befitting Sarah, a prophetess of G-d, to laugh as she did. Even though she thought she was hearing merely the personal blessing of a humble traveler (and not a proclamation from on high), she should not have brushed it off; at least, Ramban writes, she should have replied, "Amen. May Hashem do so."
Lekach Tov, a wonderful collection of writings on the weekly Torah portions, quotes Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein, zt'l, who explains that this comment of Ramban is teaching us how great our emunah, our faith in G-d, must be. We must believe absolutely--and keep at the front of our awareness in our actual lives--that "the power of G-d has no limit whatsoever"; all the seemingly immutable "laws" of nature are really nothing but the yad Hashem, the hand of G-d, and He has the power to suspend or overturn them at any time. If G-d does not do so in any particular situation, it is only because we are not worthy of a miracle. We may lack merits, but Hashem does not lack the wherewithal.
Indeed, our faith in G-d's absolute hashgacha (providence) at all times must extend to the most desperate circumstances, lo aleinu. As the Talmud in Berachos, 10a, states: "Even if the sword is placed against the neck of a person, he still should not despair of [experiencing] G-d's mercy." One would certainly have to pour out heartfelt prayers for salvation at such a time; one's essential confidence in Hashem's power to save, however, should never waver.
Rabbi Yerucham Levovitz, zt'l, a towering ethical master of this century, comments along the same lines in the collection of his talks on the parsha, Da'as Torah. We say every day in ourmorning prayers, "Atah hu ad shelo nivra ha'olam, atah hu mi'shenivra ha'olam--It was You (G-d) before the world was created, it is You since the world was created." (Artscroll Siddur, p. 29) Rabbi Levovitz explains these words beautifully: just as before the world was created, there was nothing except Him, so, too, after the world was created...there is nothing except Him. All creation exists, and continues to exist every single second, only because He wills it so; G-d is the only true Existence. At this ultimate level of emunah, Sarah's concern about being past the natural childbearing age--and any notion of "nature" as an indepedent entity altogether--evaporate. As Hashem asks Avraham, "Is anything too difficult for G-d?"
The Midrash in Bereishis Rabbah (48, 19) brings a parable in commenting on Hashem's words:
"A person had in his hands two bolts, and he brought them to a black-smith. He said to him, 'Can you repair them?' He [the blacksmith] replied, 'I was able to create them at the beginning; should I not be able to repair them now? So, too, [G-d says], 'To create them [human beings] at the beginning I was able; should I not be able now to restore them to the days of their youth?"
Nothing stands in the way of G-d's ability: if Hashem so wills it, a
woman long past menopause may be restored to fertility. The Midrash shows that
Hashem held Sarah, one of our greatest spiritual role models, accountable for the
ever-so-slight lapse (if you will) in her awareness of this fact, in her emunah.
Rabbi Yosef Edelstein, Savannah Kollel. Phone: 355-0157; fax: 354-9923; e-mail address: Yosef18@aol.com
Produced and distributed by the Ben Portman Computer facilities of the Savannah Kollel.
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US consumer spending growth slowed in March after a strong February, even as personal income growth picked up pace, government data showed Monday.
Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of US economic activity, rose 0.3 percent in March, the Commerce Department reported.
That undershot the average analyst estimate of a 0.5 percent rise.
Excluding food and energy, spending rose 0.2 percent.
“Real consumer spending lost a little momentum toward the end of the first quarter, but wages rose at a solid 4.4 percent annualized pace between December and March and we expect that consumer spending (will continue) to be supported by improved hiring and wage growth,” RDQ Economics analysts said in a research note.
In February, spending jumped a revised 0.9 percent, the strongest gain since August 2009.
As consumers tightened their wallets in March, personal income rose 0.4 percent, double expectations and picking up from 0.3 percent in February.
After adjusting for inflation, disposable income — personal income less current taxes — rose for the first time in three months in March, by 0.2 percent.
The personal saving rate edged up to 3.8 percent from 3.7 percent in February, the lowest saving rate since December 2007, the beginning of a deep recession.
“A modest rise in the savings rate indicates that American households remain cautious about their spending,” said Inna Mufteeva, an analyst at Natixis.
[Window shopping photo via NemesisINC / Shutterstock] | <urn:uuid:3d816071-cf4f-4b7e-b16a-814456954722> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/30/u-s-consumer-spending-growth-slows-in-march/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939509 | 316 | 1.78125 | 2 |
MAKING IT WORK
The purpose of this newsletter is to provide information, inspire involvement, and make things work in this great city. You can request additional information or comment on the newsletter by emailing email@example.com.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY INITIATIVE LAUNCHED BY COUNCIL
On Monday, April 18, the Council unanimously adopted Resolution 31282, which outlines guiding principles, key priorities and actions for achieving economic renewal and development in Seattle. Our goal is to use this action plan to advance City and regional recovery, as the recession wears on. In previous recessions, Seattle has lagged behind the national recovery - this time, we want Seattle to lead the recovery.
This resolution builds upon Resolution 31135, adopted in May 2009, which restructured the City's Office of Economic Development (OED) and expanded its direct services and financing options for businesses, as well as implementing a series of other actions such as advancing funding for parks projects in order to put people to work and starting a ‘Buy Local' campaign entitled ‘Only in Seattle'. Almost all of the steps recommended in that resolution have been implemented over the last two years.
The Healthy Foods Here initiative is one example. Under our goal of stimulating small businesses in the local food economy, staff work with neighborhood stores to get more fresh produce into the store and community, and assist them in marketing fresh foods to the community. Shakir Mohamud, the owner of West Seattle Halal Market, commented: "I am so grateful for the support my business has received from the city program Healthy Foods Here. Our sales of fresh fruits and vegetables have increased and we have attracted new customers. I am happy to provide my customers healthier food choices."
The new resolution includes policies, strategies and programs that support job retention, job creation, education, training, and placement, with the goal of improving the City's overall economy. The resolution was developed through a community process that engaged representatives of small and large businesses, labor, community based organizations, and economic experts at our educational institutions, including a panel at the University of Washington.
The Council and our community partners identified the following policy priorities:
- Supporting community development that improves neighborhoods, encourages citizen and business engagement, and helps to lift people out of poverty.
- Fostering economic development and renewal that assists in improving the overall health of the City's economy.
- Developing policies, strategies, and programs that support job retention, job creation, education, training, and placement.
- Aligning the City's policies, actions, and budget actions with the principles of economic development.
- Protecting what is working well in Seattle now while striving to increase our ability to create a resilient and sustainable local economy.
- Supporting and encouraging green careers and jobs, a transformation to a more green economy, and climate-friendly, high employment businesses and industries.
- Supporting critical public safety and infrastructure investments.
- Supporting transit and transit-oriented development.
- Creating new partnerships between educational institutions, business, civic organizations, non-profits, labor, funders, and government that assist in short term economic renewal and longer term efforts.
- Supporting existing local and regional economic development strategies and programs.
- Identifying and developing opportunities to utilize flexible voluntary programs based on performance-based standards instead of mandated, prescriptive regulations.
The thirty-one specific actions to be taken in 2011-2012 and eleven longer-term actions are designed to:
- Provide services that focus on the specific needs of small and medium-sized businesses.
- Enhance communications between business sectors and the City on policy issues.
- Identify and implement near-term actions and policies that assist in economic renewal and a hospitable businesses climate.
- Strengthen existing partnerships and build new partnerships that enhance the economic climate in Seattle and the region.
- Support on-going efforts to set the groundwork for green economic development.
Our goal is to make it easier to do good business in Seattle, and put people back to work. We do this through specific, concrete actions to improve Seattle's business climate and create more jobs. The plan also expands the work that other City departments and regional partners take to support and retain businesses, better prepare our workforce, and enhance Seattle's quality of life.
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LEGISLATIVEPALOOZA APRIL 25: SODO ZONING - WAGE THEFT - CHIHULY
On Monday, April 25, the City Council met for over two hours, and unanimously approved three major pieces of legislation - reflecting the wide range of issues that we deal with as a Council. The SODO zoning legislation is designed to encourage good development while protecting the character of our South Downtown neighborhoods. A new ordinance creates penalties for employers who commit wage theft - withholding wages or cheating employees out of what they are owed for their work. And legislation approving an agreement to create a new Chihuly Exhibition at Seattle Center includes a series of public benefits negotiated over the last 16 months since this concept was first proposed.
Council Bill 117140 rezones large areas of Pioneer Square, Chinatown, Little Saigon, Japantown, and the Stadium District (SODO - the South Downtown). The goal is to increase housing and business development and support the livability and health of these neighborhoods. Credit for the new legislation goes to Councilmember Sally Clark, who chairs the Committee on the Built Environment. Her Committee spent many months painstakingly reviewing and analyzing proposals that have been developed through a community process, and ultimately adopted a set of new heights and development standards that balance the need for new development that will enliven the communities with maintaining the character that makes these communities unique and attractive neighborhoods.
The legislation allows additional height for new buildings if developers include workforce-priced housing and use development credits from existing, lower-scale historic buildings. The new rules also change parking requirements, designate new "green streets," encourage breaking up mega-blocks (in Little Saigon), create new development credits for historic buildings to sell to fund renovation, and allow for increased commercial and office space (in the South of Charles St. area).
A companion resolution passed by the Council lays out priorities for further work around small business support, rehabilitation of vacant space in historic buildings, public safety, open space, transit through the neighborhood and pedestrian connections.
Council Bill 117143 creates new penalties for the crime of wage theft — intentionally withholding wages from workers. Over 4,000 wage claims were filed in Washington in 2010. The proposed law adds an explicit reference to theft of wages in the Seattle criminal code and lists circumstances that prosecutors can point to as proof of intent to steal wages.
The legislation was developed by Councilmember Tim Burgess, who Chairs the Public Safety and Education Committee. In addition to amending the criminal code, the ordinance allows the City to withhold or revoke business licenses from individuals found guilty of wage theft, a gross misdemeanor. It also allows the City to withhold licenses from those who have not paid assessed civil penalties for wage claims.
The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries is the primary investigator of wage claims. While this agency investigates and assesses millions of dollars in wages, it often lacks sufficient resources to collect from employers who do not willingly pay. This legislation provides Seattle workers an additional method to seek remedy.
Council Bill 117157 completes a long process involving the possible siting of a Chihuly Exhibition at the former Fun Forest site at the Seattle Center. This was initially proposed 16 months ago, but there was significant community concern about making such a decision without a formal Request for Proposals and evaluation of possible options.
Seattle Center did go through a formal process for accepting proposals, and subsequently Councilmember Sally Bagshaw, Chair of the Parks and Seattle Center Committee, facilitated a discussion and negotiation that led to accepting both the Chihuly facility and a proposed new location for KEXP.
Center Art, LLC will fully finance and develop the Chihuly facility, and will also donate $1 million for the development of a creative children's play area north of the Monorail. In addition, the project includes enhancing 39,000 square feet of public walkways and landscaping around the exhibition site and a community partnership program with a focus on arts and education. There will also be a new public art gallery developed in the Seattle Center House.
April 21, 2011, marked the one year countdown to the celebration of "The Next 50," Seattle Center's celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 1962 World's Fair. Center Art, LLC plans to open its exhibition hall to coincide with the 50th anniversary kick-off event on April 21, 2012.
The Council also approved six other pieces of legislation on April 25, including protecting some 350 acres of salmon habitat on the Skagit River, making several adjustments to the City's personnel titles, saving energy by authorizing a natural gas hookup for the Charles Street City shops, transferring the title for the convention center garage, approving funding for three projects to convert wading pools to spray parks, and renaming a street adjacent to El Centro de la Raza in honor of the late Roberto Maestas. All in all, a very productive day!
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PARKS LEVY MAKING IT HAPPEN: EXPANDING COMMUNITY GARDENS
I led the effort to include more money for community gardens when the Council put together the renewal of the Parks Levy in 2008. We wound up including $2 million, which may sound like a lot, but given how expensive land can be, we were only able to conservatively promise adding four more gardens.
But those of us working on food issues had a plan to get dramatically more results. Here's the plot: we knew that the City owns a lot of land, and that some of that land is only lightly used or is even sitting idle. Rights-of-way on hillsides that will never be roads; open space around reservoirs; property that the City acquired for projects that were later abandoned; parks property that is not developed. Instead of using the $2 million to buy property and develop gardens on it, we proposed inventorying property that the City already owned and seeing if gardens could be sited there. That way we could stretch the money out, developing new gardens while spending only the modest sums needed to cleanup and grade sites or bring in water service.
City staff took this idea and ran with it, and have done an amazing job so far, with more to come. They have committed less than half of the funds, and are working on sixteen new or expanded gardens, adding at least 250 plots. Four are already complete - an expansion at Marra Farm to add 3 market garden plots, and three new gardens - Spring Street in the Central Area, West Genesee in the West Seattle Junction, and Hazel Heights in Fremont. Total City investment for these four: $66,500 for 50 new garden plots.
Nine more projects are underway, including two more costly ones, Unpaving Paradise on Capitol Hill, which required tearing up pavement to convert a parking lot into 36 garden plots, and Barton Street in the Roxhill/Westwood neighborhood, where land needed to be acquired to add 40 plots in this underserved area. Three more projects will be launched this spring.
While City staff have done a great job managing the Parks levy funds, none of this could happen without both those dedicated and hard working staff members, and the great investment of time and resources by the community members who collaborate on the development and take on the stewardship responsibility for these projects.
There's lots more work to do to reach the dream of having a garden plot available for anyone in Seattle who wants to grow food (there is still a waiting list in most neighborhoods!), but we are making progress. Check out the complete report.
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TUNNEL UPDATE MAY 2011
On Thursday, March 31, I and other Councilmembers joined Governor Gregoire, King County Executive Constantine, Port Commission Chair Bryant, and representatives of the legislature in a news conference reaffirming the state and regional commitment to proceeding with the necessary work to implement the plan for the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement program. The program includes replacing the south end of the viaduct (currently underway), constructing a tunnel under downtown (currently in the final stages of environmental review), and developing a new waterfront park and surface Alaskan Way (to be completed following demolition of the existing viaduct).
February 28 marked the ten-year anniversary of the Nisqually earthquake, which was followed by ten years of robust public dialogue. In 2009, the project partners designated the tunnel as the preferred alternative, recognizing that replacing north-south capacity through downtown is critically important to safety, freight mobility, economic vitality, and preserving current jobs and providing new jobs in Seattle and the region. Since then, the tunnel project has proceeded through environmental review and into pre-construction design, with a final Record of Decision (ROD) on the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) scheduled to be completed in mid-summer. If the ROD and SEIS confirm that the project can meet environmental requirements, the project leads (WSDOT and the Federal Highway Administration) can make a final decision to proceed and authorize construction to begin.
Seattle has a once in a lifetime opportunity to enhance our downtown. By moving the majority of cars and trucks off our waterfront, we can establish a welcoming waterfront while enhancing our maritime and local economy and providing safer and faster corridors for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit. The tunnel is the green solution - it clears the streets for transit, bikes, and pedestrians to use, while opening up the waterfront for our future.
Unfortunately, the continued intransigence of the Mayor, despite his campaign promise to not stand in the way of the tunnel, may cause project delays. Delays are the biggest cause of cost overruns on major projects, and these delays could cost approximately $20 million per month, according to WSDOT's estimates.
The most recent action by the Mayor was sponsoring a referendum on Ordinance No. 123542, approved by the Council on February 28. This legislation codifies agreements between the City and WSDOT which protect and indemnify the City and keep the City at the table as the project moves forward, so that we can ensure that the streets, utilities, and other parts of the City are managed efficiently and in conformance with City policy. The referendum would not "stop the tunnel"; it would simply nullify these agreements. This would remove the city from the table and leave the City vulnerable, since this is a State project.
The Mayor had been advised by the City Attorney that this referendum was likely to be deemed illegal by the courts. Nevertheless, with the Mayor's assistance, an estimated 29,000 signatures were gathered in support of a voter referendum on Ordinance No. 123542. City Attorney Holmes has now filed a Complaint for Declaratory Judgment in King County Superior Court to determine whether Ordinance No. 123542 is subject to Seattle's municipal referendum power. I have excerpted below the City Attorney's reasoning from his news release. A complete version of the legal reasoning can be found on the City Attorney's website.
Council action to place the proposed referendum on the August ballot cannot take place until the signatures are validated by King County. As of this writing, it appears that there are between 19,000 and 20,000 valid signatures, which would be enough to require placement on the ballot, if it is a legal referendum. The Council has until May 24 to put it on the ballot, and we are hopeful that a court determination will be made before then. The Court has agreed to hear the case on May 13, and a decision could be issued that day or in the next week.
The State has now joined the City Attorney's suit against the referendum, and has indicated that they consider the agreements binding pending resolution of the lawsuit. At this point, then, the project is proceeding, although the cost of delay will start adding up fairly rapidly.
Summary of City Attorney Legal Reasoning
"The Seattle Charter creates a referendum power, meaning that most-but not al-City ordinances can be subject to a referendum vote… Some limits on the City's referendum power are spelled out in the Charter, while others are found in Washington State's case law…
First, City legislative bodies can take both administrative and legislative actions… The Washington Supreme Court has distinguished between the two types of actions by explaining that a power "is legislative in its nature if it prescribes a new policy or plan; whereas, it is administrative in its nature if it merely pursues a plan already adopted by the legislative body itself, or some power superior to it."…
…Ordinance No. 123542 is actually the third law passed regarding the proposed deep bore tunnel project: The Legislature passed the first law in early 2009… (directing the State to) "take the necessary steps to expedite the environmental review and design processes to replace the Alaskan Way viaduct with a deep bore tunnel under First Avenue from the vicinity of the sports stadiums in Seattle to Aurora Avenue north of the Battery Street tunnel."… In October 2009, the City Council enacted Ordinance 123133, authorizing execution of a Memorandum of Agreement that "outlines the responsibilities of both the City and State and expectations about the role of each in the implementation and funding of the numerous [Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Replacement] Program elements."… Ordinance 123133 also declared that "[i]t is the City's policy that the Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Replacement …
Program Bored Tunnel Alternative…is the preferred solution for replacing the existing Alaskan Way Viaduct."…
… on balance I believe Ordinance 123542 is more likely administrative than legislative. By accepting these three agreements, the ordinance does not "prescribe a new policy or plan"; "it merely pursues a plan already adopted by the legislative body itself [i.e., the City Council], or some power superior to it [i.e., the state legislature]."… administrative acts are not subject to the local referendum power.
Moreover, even legislative acts, if based on a local government power delegated directly to the governing body of a local jurisdiction, cannot legally be decided by a voter referendum. Local governments only have the powers delegated to them by the State. Most of those powers are delegated to local governments generally, but some are delegated specifically to the "governing body," "legislative body," or "legislative authority" of a local jurisdiction. Under state law, powers delegated like this may only be exercised by the City Council (subject to a veto and override) and are not subject to the initiative or referendum powers even if our charter or city law says they are….
… a declaratory judgment now will spare the expense of a campaign overturned post-election…"
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NEIGHBORHOOD DISASTER PLANNING
Three Seattle District Councils and neighborhoods created communications hubs and community outreach on emergency preparedness in 2009, using $21,000 that I secured in the Council's 2008 budget. In 2010, these three groups convened a planning summit for other communities to learn from their experience, and a number of other groups are seeking to develop systems as a result.
Emergency planning at the Citywide level is a critical task that I have focused on in my oversight of the City's preparedness programs. Seattle has also long had an active and effective community education program around emergency preparedness. Adding this community-based organizing initiative is exactly the kind of approach that will strengthen our ability to respond with resilience, especially in the event of a major disaster such as a large earthquake. The goal of these projects is to establish a network of sites around the community to provide emergency communications and resources in local areas. This could be especially important in communities where transportation infrastructure may be damaged or disabled, isolating the community from outside assistance.
Under the first round of this program, the West Seattle and Southwest District Councils equipped nine Hubs around West Seattle with General Mobile Radio Service radios, which allow for two way communications over short distances. Each Hub has a licensed operator and emergency bags, and the locations of the Hubs are publicized in a brochure and in newspaper and web information resources.
The Magnolia/Queen Anne District Council equipped eight Hubs with radios and licensed operators, and performed a similar outreach and publicity campaign. Fremont and Wallingford community members developed seven Hubs and accompanying outreach and publicity.
After the planning summit, a number of other communities formed planning groups to begin work on developing their own networks, including Capitol Hill, Belltown, Green Lake, View Ridge, Montlake, and Phinney. Green Lake is partnering with Wallingford on two Hub sites, and has identified two new ones. Capitol Hill has identified three Hub Locations. Recognizing the success of this effort, the Seattle Police Foundation has awarded the program a grant for $13,000 to purchase equipment for 30 new Hubs. Our goal is to eventually have a citywide network that will be mobilized and connected.
The three existing Hub networks were tested during a 2010 earthquake simulation exercise, and demonstrated their capability and value. The Office of Emergency Management is now working to integrate these networks into the City's overall emergency preparedness strategy.
This new community-based emergency response capability will be an important asset to the City. Expanding it, however, will require additional funding. Even the modest costs will be tough to come by under current budgetary constraints. In the long run, even if the funding is found, maintaining the effectiveness of the network will depend on strong City support and continued volunteer engagement at the community level. Since no one can predict when a major emergency will take place, it will be important to figure out how to keep these networks fresh and able to recruit and engage new volunteers in the future. These are challenges that we must take on as part of our preparedness strategy.
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COUNCIL PROPOSES NEW POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY MEASURES
The Seattle Police Department (SPD) is facing significant challenges. In the last few months, police officers have been murdered in Seattle and other nearby cities. There have been several recent actions by SPD officers that have raised questions about the City's accountability system, including abusive activities towards suspects and the death of John Williams, a Native American carver who was shot by a police officer.
We rely on our police officers to preserve public safety, and the command staff and the police officers on the street are responsible and competent professionals who take risks for us every day as they face challenging environments. Given the violence that they have observed towards police officers, it is not surprising that members of the force are nervous about the situations they have to deal with and are concerned about the level of public support that they have. It is important the community and elected officials give clear and consistent messages of support and confidence to the officers who are doing their duty and providing public safety for our community.
The confidence can only be maintained if it is clear that those few officers who commit acts that are not consistent with their duties and oath of office will not be tolerated. Seattle has worked hard to put into place a strong and sophisticated system that ensures that accountability. While the decision of the County Prosecutor, citing provisions of State law, was not to charge the officer who killed John Williams, the City's Firearms Review Board determined that he had violated four City policies and recommended that he be fired (the strongest consequence that we have the power to take). The other apparently abusive actions are working their way through the system, and we hope that they will be dealt with to the extent of our ability to do so.
However, while the system is strong, it could be stronger. The members of the Council's Public Safety and Education Committee have advanced 11 new accountability measures that they believe will "strengthen public trust and confidence in our police officers which will enhance the effectiveness of the Police Department in accomplishing its mission of preventing crime, reducing the fear of crime and building peace in our city." While the Council will advocate for these measures, it will take some time to implement them, as some of them will and others may be subject to negotiations with our employee unions.
Click here for more information on the 11 proposed new accountability measures.
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TECHNOLOGY SAVES MONEY!
The City Clerk is required to post a number of legal notices, including about all legislation approved by the Council. Some types of legislation are required to be printed in full in a "daily newspaper of general circulation", to be selected by competitive bid. Over time, the two requirements had evolved into the policy of printing in full all legislation in the selected newspaper, which for many years has been the Daily Journal of Commerce (DJC).
While this newspaper is well known in the business community, and has won the contract fairly and squarely, it is not widely read in most households in Seattle, and every so often there were complaints from members of the public that this was a relatively obscure placement compared to a general circulation daily.
However, it would be extraordinarily expensive to print the long texts of all City ordinances in a daily newspaper, so this practice continued despite its limitations.
But even printing in the DJC is expensive, and last year as budgets were being cut, Council Central staff and our new City Clerk took a look at the actual requirements for publication, and came up with a new proposal that saves money, while still keeping the legislative texts widely available. It's called the ‘Web', and many of you have undoubtedly heard of it…
The solution? Except where we are legally required to physically print entire texts, publish titles in the DJC with a link, and put the text on the web (where it is already routinely posted anyway). So simple - and so seemingly obvious, but it required careful review of a whole range of legalese, and then changing a practice that has existed since time immemorial.
Results for the first three months of 2011 are in, and they are dramatic. In 2010, we spent $47,797.91 publishing legislation. In 2011? $1535.64.
For the whole year, in 2010 we spent the staggering sum of $468,706.94. We will save significant amounts of this as a result of this new procedure, but a large part of the expense is associated with required publication associated with the budget, and changes in law will be needed to allow that to migrate to the web. We will try to advance those next year!
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COUNCIL TO ADDRESS GAPS IN CITY-PROVIDED HOMELESS SERVICES
Over the past two years, homelessness in Seattle has decreased by 15 percent - an extraordinary achievement in the face of this recession, and a testament to the success of the Seattle community's ‘Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness'. Of the 1,753 people found outdoors rather than in shelters in the 2011 One-Day Count, many appear to have unique characteristics that are not met by the current system, such as having pets, being in family relationships, or having enough possessions that going in and out of overnight shelters is not workable.
In the 2010 budget process, the Council recognized that there was a need to consider how to serve those who were not entering the current system, and adopted a Statement of Legislative Intent asking the Department of Human Services to report back to the Council with a needs assessment that would guide policies and investments that could serve these populations. This review was due on April 1, but has been delayed until May 25 at the request of the Mayor.
Last month there was a flurry of media attention focused on a proposal from Mayor McGinn to create a homeless shelter on a City-owned piece of property known as the "Sunny Jim" site. Council declined to receive this legislation, because it had not gone through the legally-required environmental review process - the Mayor sending it to the Council was like sending a chapter outline to a publisher and expecting them to print a book.
As articulated in the letter that accompanied the returned legislation, the Council will review options for an integrated set of services for the homeless over the next few weeks. We will begin with adopting a resolution delineating possible approaches, and conclude with recommendations that will be advanced this summer.
Some of the people who are not currently in the shelter system have tents or cars that they live in, and there are a couple of communities of 50 to 100 tent campers that move around the City to various locations. One tent city, called Nicklesville, is temporarily located at Fire Station 39 in Lake City. While these ‘tent cities' have received the most attention and visibility, they are only one part of the problem.
Earlier this year, the Mayor convened a Citizen Review Panel to look at whether a City-sanctioned tent city would be a feasible approach to addressing the needs of those who are currently in the tent communities. This Panel recommended proceeding with such an encampment, and identified six possible locations in various parts of the City.
Without consulting either community members or the Council, Mayor McGinn announced that he wanted to site an encampment at the "Sunny Jim" site in the industrial area, a location that had not been reviewed by the Panel. This site is owned by the City, and is currently unused. The buildings on the property burned down, and the City has just received a $2.4 million insurance settlement. The site is zoned for industrial use, where residential housing is generally prohibited under both the Comprehensive Plan and the City's zoning code. While it has the advantage of being currently a vacant property, it is also remote from services, poorly accessed by transit, has some environmental contamination, and is near the so-called ‘Jungle', an area on the west slope of Beacon Hill where drug dealers and other criminal elements have used homeless campers as cover and created a area that is dangerous and difficult to police.
Opinions are divided as to whether a City-sanctioned encampment is a good idea. Even if that is desirable, the Sunny Jim site does not appear to be a particularly good location. And even if it were a good location, it is not possible to be used unless the site is rezoned. State law requires a set of procedures to complete a rezone, and those procedures include opportunities for public comment and appeals. The Council cannot legally consider the rezone until these procedures are completed, and this is likely to take at least six months, possibly longer.
It may be possible to move forward and meet the needs of homeless individuals with greater speed by implementing alternatives other than the Mayor's plan.
Over the next three to six months, the City Council will develop and adopt innovative alternatives to address the gaps in City-provided homeless services as identified by the Human Services Department. Some of the options for consideration will include: 1) possible renovation of Fire Station 39 as a long term location for a new shelter or housing facility; 2) working with faith-based communities to support shelter space in church buildings or parking lots or on land the City leases to faith-based communities, as appropriate; 3) purchasing another motel, similar to the Aloha Inn, that provides transitional housing; 4) providing additional rent assistance vouchers; 5) considering the siting of an encampment at a location, such as one of those sites reviewed by the Mayor's Citizen Review Panel, that preferably would not require a Comprehensive Plan amendment and a change to land use regulations to accommodate residential use;
and/or 6) modifying the City's existing shelter service contracts to address any specific shortcomings identified in the HSD and Council reviews.
In considering these alternatives, we will examine the legal and policy constraints for each as well as feasibility and costs. Our goal is to approve one or more options by the end of July. In the meantime, the Council will hold the proposed legislation regarding the Sunny Jim site, since it is not legally permissible to approve it before the environmental review is completed. The Council will review the legislation concerning the $2.4 million proceeds received by the City in the settlement from the fire at the Sunny Jim settlement. We will decide whether funds should be spent on environmental remediation at the site, used for other shelter purposes, or reserved for other priority purposes in the light of continuing concerns about the budget.
Homelessness is a complex problem, requiring strategic thinking about the needs and opportunities for unique individuals and families, and the cooperation and engagement of government, community and nonprofit and business organizations. As HL Mencken noted, "For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong." Let's not make the mistake of thinking that we can solve issues around homelessness without putting in the energy to figure out what really works.
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CARBON NEUTRAL SEATTLE, BLOG POST 11: DENSITY AND COMMUNITY
Choices about controlling carbon emissions are shaped by public policies. Carbon emissions are lower in communities that are compact and that provide access via transit and non-motorized travel among jobs, homes, and commercial and recreational activities. New York is the classic example - with great transit connections and many multi-family dwellings, New Yorkers emit much less carbon than other Americans, while enjoying a generally good quality of life.
Density by itself, however, only works with community. Low emissions without high quality of life is not an appropriate answer. Poor, dense urban areas in lower income countries do not have high carbon emissions - but they are not ultimately sustainable, and their residents will strive for better lives regardless of the cost in carbon.
Seattle has already taken great strides in developing communities that are compact and sustainable over time. We are also in a great position to move further in this direction, but it will take careful and thoughtful public policy to ensure that we hit the sweet spot that matches denser communities with high quality of life.
Like most American cities, Seattle lost population between 1960, when it had 557,000 people, and 1990, when it had only 516,000. Most of Seattle is zoned for single family residences, and, except for downtown, most of the rest was dominated by low rise apartment and commercial buildings. Seattle never suffered the wholesale abandonment of neighborhoods that many cities experienced - population loss mainly reflected smaller household sizes, with most dwellings still occupied. With a downtown that never totally lost steam, and a network of thriving neighborhoods with modest commercial hubs at their centers, Seattle was well-positioned for success when the City's leaders embraced the principles of Washington's Growth Management Act and decided in the 1990's to move towards a vision of a more urban community.
Seattle's Comprehensive Plan, adopted in 1994, projected adding 72,000 households over the next 20 years, and called for a major reinvestment in downtown neighborhoods, allowing greater height and encouraging more residential development. And it called for developing the centers of most other neighborhoods into ‘urban villages' with several stories of housing-over-storefront buildings.
Change alarms many people, and this was no exception. Many residents felt their single-family neighborhoods were at risk, and embraced a nostalgic vision that rejected the new plan. Resistance peaked in 1994-1996, when neighborhood meetings drew hundreds to attack City leadership and opposition leader Charlie Chong won a special election for an open Council seat vacated by one of the advocates of the Comprehensive Plan.
Fortunately, there were many who were attracted by this vision, and Mayor Norm Rice's administration came up with an ultimately successful way to attain it. The Mayor and Council approved a program that gave 37 designated centers for population growth the opportunity to develop neighborhood plans. Communities were given guidelines for participation, a toolbox of ideas, and money to hire their own planners. They were asked to determine whether they could meet their assigned growth targets, what land use changes they would need to do so, and what other actions would ensure continued neighborhood livability.
The response was extraordinary. While there were a few rough spots and conflicts, given the opportunity to calmly look at how new density would impact their communities, 20,000 people participated and every one of the neighborhoods accepted the growth targets and zoning changes needed to accommodate them. This was an extraordinary victory for growth management -- and for the Seattle process when run properly.
Neighborhoods also came up with an agenda for the City: some 7000 recommendations for investments, policy changes, and actions. For the last ten years, the City has worked to fulfill these expectations, and has successfully accomplished the majority, focusing on the highest priorities.
The lesson is that density can work, that people will accept it, and that thoughtful engagement and responsive government make the difference.
Seattle now has 55,000 residents living downtown. Most neighborhoods have reached their growth targets, and some have exceeded them. There has been no resurgence of NIMBYism - in fact, communities continue to embrace change, especially those that are now receiving or will soon receive light rail service.
As Seattle thinks about its next moves towards building communities that are not auto-dependent, adding the next increment to our population, a lot will ride on how neighborhoods are engaged in the discussion. Some additional land use changes will be needed - but most of them will increase density on property already zoned for mixed use of multi-family. As neighborhoods found out in the earlier round, there is neither need nor reason to focus on single family areas - density works better in areas that already have some development.
Additional heights? In some cases. Managing heights is of concern - generally, once you get over a few stories, additional heights don't add much to the vitality of the street environment or community, and there are limited areas where tall buildings really work. But in most urban villages, 6 to 8 story buildings work from a street and community perspective, and add significant housing and support for neighborhood small businesses. Some cities that are models of dense urban development - like Paris and Copenhagen - have managed density and transit very well with heights limited to 6 to 8 stories.
The bottom line: there is a remarkable amount of density that can be accomplished while making communities better places to live and without arousing significant neighborhood concerns. And it is a great way to reduce carbon - a way that Seattle can continue to lead on.
These neighborhoods will need parks, libraries, and other community facilities. And they will need jobs and businesses, and developers that are willing to make investments -- and transportation networks that provide real alternatives to using automobiles.
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"When you are writing laws you are testing words to find their utmost power. Like spells, they have to make things happen in the real world, and like spells, they only work if people believe in them. If your law exacts a penalty, you must be able to enforce it -- on the rich as well as the poor..."
-- Hilary Mantel
"For a long time we thought we were better than the living world, and now some of us tend to think that we are worse… but neither perspective is healthy. We have to remember how it feels to have equal standing in the world, to be between the mountain and the ant… part and parcel of creation."
-- Janine Benyus
Citizen participation and engagement are critical for maintaining democracy -- fostering it is a key task of elected officials. It's my hope that this newsletter will inform you about issues, inspire you to get involved, and that together we can make things work better in this great city. Please send me your feedback, so we can keep things lively, interesting, and useful. You can get more information or send me feedback at firstname.lastname@example.org
Your Seattle City Councilmember
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Back to MAKING IT WORK Newsletters | <urn:uuid:fab5546c-05f1-4ee9-bfa2-f9d01f26e20f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.seattle.gov/council/conlin/miw/2011/1104miw.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95942 | 8,173 | 1.59375 | 2 |
But it's been equally clear that a rush job is worse than prescriptions that would be more harmful than the disease. That's why we noted in August that while reforms are needed, it is crucial to get them right. That meant not hashing them together into a last-minute bill without public scrutiny in the rush last fall to pass such bills.
That makes now a good time to start the discussion about how best to revise the important environmental quality law.
There is a renewed effort early in the 2013 session and it is welcome. Gov. Jerry Brown discussed CEQA reform in his State of the State address last month. He noted, as many have, that it's hard to think of a CEQA exemption in recent years -- including the wholesale one for a proposed football stadium in downtown Los Angeles -- that hasn't been necessary if anything is to get done. When regular exemptions are the correct political stance to apply a law, something is wrong.
Enacted in 1970, CEQA has done a lot of good by requiring the proponents of land development and construction projects to document the expected impact on the surroundings and lay out plans to limit damage.
Even when CEQA lawsuits have failed to stop projects, they've too often added delays and costs.
Fortunately, a rush reform effort that did indeed come along late in the last legislative year was not passed by the California Legislature.
But there is a renewed effort early in the 2013 session, and because there is time to properly work through the issue, it's one to be welcomed. Gov. Jerry Brown discussed CEQA reform in his State of the State address last month. He noted, as many have, that it's hard to think of a CEQA exemption in recent years -- including the wholesale one for a proposed football stadium in downtown Los Angeles -- that hasn't been necessary if anything is to get done. When the exemption is at least as often the correct political stance as is the application of a law, something is wrong.
Now, just a few months after the last legislative reform effort was quashed, some of those who have been pushing in Sacramento for reform believe the dynamics have changed.
And one of the leaders of that effort, moderate Democratic state Sen. Michael Rubio of the Central Valley, could be the appropriate Nixon-in-China figure to lead the reform. While the need to reform CEQA has traditionally been a Republican issue, Rubio took it on last legislative session -- and saw his effort put down by the Democratic leadership when Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg declined to advance it.
But Steinberg just appointed Rubio chairman of the Environmental Quality Committee, and the Senate leader has said he will make reviewing updates to the CEQA law a priority this session, according to the Sacramento Bee.
The Sierra Club and other traditional CEQA proponents continue to say that even now is not the time for a total overhaul of the law. But even they allow that some of its "low-hanging fruit" -- particularly egregious bureaucratic language in its latest update to a grand 399 pages just two years ago -- might be ripe for picking.
It is indeed not the time, nor will it ever be, to gut California's environmental protections against inappropriate development. But, given how often CEQA is either entirely thrown out or merely bogs down a process, this legislative session is the time to finally strike the right balance. | <urn:uuid:aa99bc7d-b4b9-4bee-81a0-72ad77c00790> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.presstelegram.com/opinions/ci_22534969/editorial-time-start-talking-about-modernizing-and-reforming | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972245 | 691 | 1.617188 | 2 |
The "October Surprise" turned out to be a monster storm that is forcing President Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney to overhaul campaign plans.
The political calculus for Hurricane Sandy is a delicate balancing act for both.
Obama, who returned to Washington Monday from a campaign trip to Florida, doesn't want to be seen as politicking during a crisis potentially affecting 50 million people.
Yet it's also an opportunity to appear in control and presidential. "I'm not going to be able to campaign as much over the next few days," he said.
Romney stumped in the Midwest on Monday but canceled stops in Virginia on Sunday and in New Hampshire on Tuesday. He does not have as commanding a platform as the president and was tempering criticism of the president while expressing concern for storm victims and support for relief efforts.
"Ann and I are keeping the people in Hurricane Sandy's path in our thoughts and prayers," Romney said. He urged people in a tweet to support the Red Cross.
Four critical battleground states are directly affected — North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio and New Hampshire. Consider the millions of dollars spent on political TV ads that potentially won't be seen because of power outages.
Presidents and hurricanes have had a stormy relationship.
President George W. Bush drew wide criticism for his administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
President Bill Clinton cut short a New Zealand trip in 1999 to deal with Hurricane Floyd.
President George H.W. Bush was blamed for a slow federal response to Hurricane Andrew in August 1992.
The previous November, Bush suffered heavy personal loss when a fierce hurricane-like nor'easter — later memorialized as "The Perfect Storm" — devastated the ground floor of his seaside home in Kennebunkport, Maine.
"The sea won this round," he told reporters as he inspected damage. | <urn:uuid:be46861f-40a4-447b-8776-83ebb1da6b51> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eptrail.com/politics-national/?third_party=hurricane-sandy-sets-up-tricky-balancing-act-for-obama-romney | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970487 | 377 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Departments and Staff
Wamego is governed by a Commission-Manager form of government. The five member City Commission is elected at large by the registered voters of Wamego. The City Commission appoints a City Manager to direct many of the City’s affairs on a day to day basis, although some City facilities are administered through City boards, appointed by the City Commission. These facilities include the Wamego City Hospital, Wamego City Library, Wamego Housing Authority public housing on Chrysler Drive, and the Wamego Municipal Airport.
The City Manager is assisted by an administrative staff, housed at the City Office, 430 Lincoln Ave. The City Clerk is responsible for keeping the City’s official records, prepares payroll and serves as personnel officer. The City Treasurer manages financial accounts and assists the City Clerk in preparing financial reports. The accounts payable clerk insures payment of the City’s obligations. Utility billing and customer service are other functions provided at the City Office, as are Planning and Code Enforcement. | <urn:uuid:bc5a519c-b926-45aa-9c44-15e4e39fd303> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wamego.org/Departments-and-Staff/default.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945946 | 209 | 1.5 | 2 |
WA Land and Sea Council rejects criticism
Category: Headline News Published Date
By National Indigenous Times West Australian reporter Gerry Georgatos
The South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council (SWALSC) has declared it will continue to argue for the rights of Noongars in Western Australia despite claims from critics, including other Noongar representatives, the SWALSC has sold out to the State Government.
SWALSC Regional Team Leader Gail...
Aboriginality key to High Court appeal
The multi-award winning National Indigenous Times is an independent newspaper and receives no government funding whatsoever. Thus, we rely entirely on advertising and subscriptions to survive, and hope you'll consider subscribing to NIT's print edition as well as the online version of our paper. Our new and improved website now contains stories and photos, you can even interact by providing feed back on articles in the your say section. We have a new video module where you can watch relevant videos sourced from all over Australia.
There is also the option of advertising online with high impact positions on the various pages and the ability to "click through" to the advertisers website. Our new website is fast and effective and as always if you advertise in the print edition you will be uploaded to our online jobs section as an added bonus. So contact our sales team now via our website or give us a call on 1300 786 611, we will be happy to structure a package that meets your advertising needs and budget. | <urn:uuid:2b7c9225-0c48-4c5f-97f5-ae93cc788603> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nit.com.au/news/1296-wa-land-and-sea-council-rejects-criticism.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942774 | 300 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Welcome to Temple Israel of Hollywood Day School!
When I walk into school I am greeted by smiling children, ready for a day of learning. Continuing throughout the day, I observe engaged, ambitious minds reading, writing and discussing ideas, creative spirits drawing or performing and compassionate souls caring for each other and the world. TIOH day school is committed to graduating students who are joyful, prepared and engaged learners. Our child-centered focus ensures that minds are academically challenged while we remain grounded in principles of child development as well as holistic education.
We believe that the heart, mind and body need to be engaged to develop life long habits of learning. Designing lessons that are interactive, our faculty plant the seeds for development of habits of mind, heart and practice. Our children graduate and go on to the finest public and private schools in Los Angeles, they bring with them a tool kit of skills which enables them to engage their minds critically and creatively, act with a Jewish values based perspective with compassion and justice; and continue to be joyful, present learners.
Rachel Lewin, Head of School | <urn:uuid:d5a44f7e-17b9-488d-a3e0-8bff4c4c9890> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tiohdayschool.org/index.php/welcome/welcome-page | 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 | 0.948467 | 220 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Elections & Voting
The Electoral Services office is responsible for the proper conduct of elections and the maximisation of voter registration and participation. In this section you will find information about current elections, electoral registration, applying for a postal vote, electoral boundaries, elections staffing, results of previous elections and an online form to request electoral registration or postal vote application forms.
You can use our online form to request one of the following be posted out to you:
In this section you will find the criteria we use when appointing staff to work on an Election. You will also find the relevant application forms for any staff we are currently looking to appoint for forthcoming elections.
Do you find it difficult to get to a polling station on election day? Away on holiday on election day? Would you like to vote in the comfort of your own home? Then a Postal Vote may be the solution.
The Electoral Register is a list of the people who are registered to vote in the City & County of Swansea. To be able to vote in local and national elections you will need to be on the Electoral Register.
The electoral register and your personal details
There are 36 Electoral Divisions (also known as 'wards') within Swansea.
A casual vacancy has arisen in the Office of Councillor for the above Electoral Division due to the sad passing of Councillor Dennis James. | <urn:uuid:b3126343-0e97-4180-9d9e-e96501885078> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://swansea.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=1748 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937259 | 274 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Severe thunderstorms continue to move through Central Oklahoma.
Television footage shows flattened buildings and fires after a mile-wide tornado moved through the Oklahoma City area.
Homes and buildings in Moore were reduced to rubble, and vehicles littered roadways south and southwest of Oklahoma City.
The suburb of Moore, where Monday's damage was concentrated, was hit hard by a tornado in 1999 that included the highest winds ever recorded near the earth's surface.
KGOU is currently airing live coverage from Channel 5 KOCO-TV's First Alert Storm Team. Watch here. | <urn:uuid:5df590bb-bfc2-4b80-9515-5fb421207fe8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kgou.org/?page=3&playlists=&year=2012&month=01&day=01 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9788 | 117 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Summer can often seem busier than other times of the year, with vacation, entertaining the kids while school's out, etc.
In the midst of all this activity, we sometimes forget that not everyone is able to do these things, particularly people who are homebound du to illness or other reasons.
That's why Meals On Wheels and More is so vital to our community, providing meals for people who are otherwise unable to cook for themselves. The organization relies on dedicated volunteers to transport 90 percent of the one million meals it distributes each year throughout the Austin area.
With summer approaching,MOWAM is facing a shortage of drivers to cover its routes, and more cancellations are expected due to summer commitments. 40 of these routes are currently open, which means they don't have regular drivers assigned to them, and are having to be covered by paid drivers. This raises administrative costs, including gas.
Meals On Wheels and More is looking for both regular and substitute drivers, particularly in north Austin and areas east of I35. If you can help, visit their website at:
For many years, scientists have cited many reasons to not drink much coffee: it causes cancer, it's addicting, it's bad for your heart, etc.
Not surprisingly, more recent studies have begun to reverse those myths, and are coming up with reasons why we SHOULD drink coffee. Alex and Terri mentioned some benefits this week on Majic In the Morning, including weight loss among women.
I happened to come across an article in USA Today that touts another excuse to have a cup o' joe: it reduces the risk of stroke, particularly among women. Read the article here:
Things have certainly been interesting here in Central texas due to the extremely cold temperatures: frozen pipes, rolling blackouts, and such. My apartment complex is being affected by the rolling blackouts, but I barely managed to still have my morning coffee and fixed a quick hot breakfast before the power shut off again.
However, especially in times like this, I realize not everyone is able to cook their own meal, particularly those who are ill and/or homebound. That's why I want to take a moment and pay tribute to the wonderful people at Meals On Wheels and More, thank them for their dedication during this cold snap, and to ask for your help on their behalf.
The good news is that meal delivery for today will take place as usual. The agency will continue to make deliveries unless inclement weather or other emergency makes it dangerous or impossible to do so.
However, many of their high-risk clients are in need of heaters and blankets, and the agency currently has none available.
If you have extras of these items and you'd like to donate, Meals On Wheels and More would greatly appreciate it. You can drop them by their Central Kitchen Headquarters at 3227 East 5th Street in Austin. For business hours and other information, call 476-6325, or visit their website at:
Be safe, and stay warm!
I'm filling in for Alex on Majic In the Morning for the next couple weeks, and Friday morning, I talked about an article that has another take on why there is increased problems with obesity in the U.S.
A White House Task Force recently released a report citing a class of chemicals in our food called endocrine-disrupting chemicals, or EDC's, that are making us fat.
See the entire article here:
With increasing concern over obesity among children in the U.S., it's nice to know celebrity chefs like Rachael Ray are getting on board to promote healthy eating among kids.
Find out what Ray did Thursday at a Brooklyn School by clicking here:
A few weeks ago, I posted a story about a girl who made a prom dress out of gum wrappers. Well, thanks to Nolan Cruise, one of our weekend personalities here at Majic (Saturday mornings from 6 to noon), I think I found something to top that: a prom dress made of juice packets!
A California teen made her prom dress from 117 Capri Sun packets, hot glue, and thread. It took her three weeks to make, and her boyfriend even helped by drinking the punch from many of the packets.
They had to have been the sweetest couple at that prom! Check out the story here:
I've been hiding a deep secret for years, as early as my childhood. It was only a few weeks ago that I accidentally let it slip in a conversation with a friend of mine. I'm amazed I kept it hidden as long as I did, but I've finally decided to go public and get it off my chest.
Brace yourself: this could be quite shocking. I CAN'T STAND MACARONI AND CHEESE! That's right: mac and cheese, a favorite of millions of kids and grownups everywhere. Not me; I can't stand the smell, taste, or texture of the stuff. Come on now. How many people do you know who won't eat one of the most popular foods ever?
Oh, and while I'm at it, I might as well reveal another food shocker: I don't like dressing, either. I'm not talking about salad dressing; I mean the kind you have with turkey at Thanksgiving! My mother still recalls the time when I was about six, and she attempted to make me eat some of my aunt's homemade dressing. Without being gross, let's just say it didn't work out too well, and even to this day, I won't touch it.
Is something wrong with me? Do I have Popular Food Deficiency Syndrome, or PFDS? (I'm not sure if there is such a condition; it just sounded appropriate).
My friend thought I was the weirdest person ever upon hearing this revelation. What do you think? Is there a popular dish or kind of food you absolutely despise that would make someone's jaw drop in shock if they knew? I'd love to hear about it.
I do like chocolate. At least no one can pin that one on me. | <urn:uuid:8e295c4a-e482-4b81-bb8a-d36e62f7985e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.majic.com/Stephen-Kerr-s-Blog/11276812?catContentId=698640 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971637 | 1,255 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Governor O’Malley recently called a special session of the Maryland General Assembly which drew to a close yesterday afternoon with the passage of the Budget and Reconciliation Financing Act and the revenue bills. Had these bills not passed, $436 million in additional cuts to the state budget would have gone into effect this year. Make no mistake: These pieces of legislation were far from perfect, but the alternative was far worse.
What would have happened had we not acted? $436 million in cuts with the following consequences:
- Job losses in the private sector. The highly successful $8 million biotechnology research and development tax credit, and the $10.4 million stem cell research program would have both been eliminated; disproportionately and negatively affecting Montgomery County.
- Job losses in the public sector. Approximately 400 state jobs would have been eliminated, and state employees would have been forced to pay an additional $15 million for healthcare benefits.
- Potential downgrade of Maryland’s AAA bond rating. Maryland is one of only three states that has maintained a AAA bond rating since the ratings began.
- A 10-13% increase in college tuition. In Maryland, college tuition is still affordable for middle class families. Keeping higher education affordable is a must if we are to maintain our educated and qualified workforce–a serious economic advantage.
- A 10% cut in community college funding. Our community colleges are some of the best in the country. Maintaining this affordable option is common sense, and the right thing to do.
- A $138 million cut in K-12 education funding through the elimination of the Geographic Cost of Education Index (GCEI) which is a primary reason Maryland public schools have been ranked number one in the nation four years running.
- A $20.8 million cut in local law enforcement funding.
The list goes on and on. To help avoid this we raised income taxes on individuals making over $100,000, and families making over $150,000. 84% of Marylanders did not have their taxes increased.
Was this a difficult vote for me? Yes. Do I think I made the right call? Absolutely. In these fiscal times we are faced with profoundly laborious decisions. But in these times we are also left to answer who we want to be as a people, as a community, as a state. When times are tough do we have the will to buckle down and protect our number one ranked school system, the safety of our communities, our investments in the future, our higher education systems, the safety of those most in need? Yesterday shows that we do. | <urn:uuid:d2454cf2-17c6-4f83-b56b-f633c3f5526d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://delegaterobinson.com/?tag=gcei | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968618 | 531 | 1.679688 | 2 |
A journalist who has written extensively about scarce water resources will be the next speaker in the Florida Lecture Series at Florida Southern College.
Cynthia Barnett will give the lecture, “Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S.,” at 7 p.m. Jan. 10 in the Hollis Room on the Florida Southern campus. The event is free.
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Lakewood Historical Society To Host Vintage Base Ball
Sunday, July 8 beginning at 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., visitors to Lakewood Park will be able to step back through time and enjoy an exciting game of 1860s base ball. The Lakewood Historical Society is sponsoring games between the following teams: Akron Black Stockings; Forest City BBC; Cleveland Blues BBC; and Whiskey Island Shamrocks. Enthusiastic volunteers don old-style uniforms and recreate the game based on rules and research of the early years of base ball (yes, it was two words originally).
Although various forms of ball games were played in America before the Revolutionary War, in 1842 the New York Knickerbockers were the first team to officially adopt rules. And the 19th-century game was considerably different than today’s game.
Most “ballists” had minimal gear—no gloves and just a thin bat. Until 1865, fair and foul balls caught on one bounce were outs. Foul balls were determined by where they first hit the ground, regardless of where they roll afterwards. And the ball was thrown underhand in a shallow arc to the “striker” or batter. The team with the most “aces” (runs) at the end of a match is declared the winner. Considered a gentleman’s game, rules governed players behavior and uncivil language, spitting and wagering were not allowed.
Spectators will be able to purchase candy, popcorn and old-fashioned pop, provided by the Lakewood Historical Society. The Society promotes the heritage of our community through special events, tours of the Oldest Stone House museum and other activities.
Executive Director, The Lakewood Historical Society | <urn:uuid:ad826a86-de91-44ca-b089-b7598d744999> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lakewoodobserver.com/read/2012/06/26/lakewood-historical-society-to-host-vintage-base-ball | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963798 | 362 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Blagojevich tried to downplay the gambling aspect of his announcement Thursday at Oak Park and River Forest High School, noting it in the third page of a four-page news release and only halfway through his prepared remarks.
When asked about his gambling proposal, the governor repeatedly discussed his education plan. The plan would increase the number of required classes for high school graduates and mandate that all students take algebra and geometry.
New graduation requirements would add an additional year of math and science, at least two writing-intensive courses, and English every year of high school. To graduate, students would need 18 credits instead of 16.
"High school graduation requirements in Illinois are among the weakest in the nation," Blagojevich said. "Simply put, we are not preparing our students for college and for the workforce the way we need to."
Illinois hasn't changed its minimum graduation requirements for two decades. Students need at least two years of math, one year of science and three years of English.
Most students, including those in Chicago Public Schools, already face the tougher requirements Blagojevich outlined.
Already, about half of Illinois students must take three years of math to graduate, two-thirds must take two years of science, and three-quarters need four years of English, said State Supt. Randy Dunn. | <urn:uuid:dc2b4c91-301f-4b1b-967c-a50989b08d4b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2005-04-01/news/0504010059_1_table-games-riverboats-casinos/2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972995 | 273 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Last week we noted the one year birthday of the Personal Properties Securities Register. In a Media Release by the former Commonwealth Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon, Roxon welcomed the news that the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) now includes more than 7 million registrations and that more than 6 million searches have been made by users of the Register.
Roxon reiterated the importance of the new Register saying that “No one wants the bank repossessing their boat, car or machinery because they’ve been duped into buying property that someone else owes money on”.
“The Personal Property Securities Register has now been up and running for one year and serves as a one-stop-shop for people to check that the used goods they are buying don’t have a security interest over them.
“The Register gives additional protection for businesses that lease or supply goods, in the event that a debtor defaults or goes bankrupt.”
“Lenders are also more willing to accept different kinds of property as security because this resource makes it easier for them to check the goods and brings the property together under the same law.”
The PPSR has now rendered more than 70 Acts and Registers around the nation defunct, replacing them with a single, centralised, online register of interests in personal property. The online register is publicly accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to consumers, businesses and the finance industry alike.
If you’re unsure if this legislation affects you can refer to the Government’s PPSA Key Facts Sheets, Frequently Asked Questions and Information Sheets and if you have any questions, please contact us.
“Today, 30 January 2013, marks the first anniversary of the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR).”
In the January PPSR Newsletter produced by the Australian Government’s Insolvency and Trustee Services Australia we are reminded that twelve months ago the PPSR became a national online register of personal property securities for consumers, businesses and the finance industry to access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Among the statistics noted in the update is a mention of the PPSR being cited as an example of an initiative taken to strengthen the legal rights of borrowers and lenders in 2011 / 2012 in the World Bank’s report “Doing Business 2013 – Smarter Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises”.
It’s important to note that even though the PPSR legislation has been operational for 12 months many businesses are still getting caught out. Under the legislation, companies must protect the payment and ownership rights of assets that they put in the possession of another person or business by registering them on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR).
If you’re unsure if this legislation affects you please read review the Government’s PPSA Key Fact Sheets, Frequently Asked Questions and Information Sheets and if you have any questions, please let us know.
Personal property includes all forms of tangible and intangible property except land, fixtures, water rights and certain other statutory exceptions. In the case of your day to day business it may include motor vehicles, furniture, artworks, inventory and stock, shares, plant and machinery, accounts receivable, intellectual property and many other things.
Importantly, business owners need to be aware of the changes and may need to take further steps to protect their rights and interests (where previously they did not need to do so). In particular, the changes can affect arrangements such as the supply of goods on:
- consignment, or
- retention of title arrangements.
The ASX has announced its intention to establish an on-market book build service for captial raisings. A key intended benefit over existing book-building by brokers and investment banks is that there will be greater transparency as to allocation of securities.
This may be attractive for companies concerned with fairness and/or the perception of fairness to retail investors. The issue here, as demonstrated by the recent QBE capital raising where the heavily discounted offer was oversubscribed is that particular investors may receive preferential treatment in a book build at the expense of other existing shareholders for whom the value of share holdings is diluted.
However, there are concerns that the issuer company will have less control in an on-market book build including less control in obtaining quality, long-term investors as opposed to opportunistic short-term investors. Further, the issuer may have less control over the process in general and investors may have less incentive to make applications earlier.
The proposed on-market book build service is intended to be a voluntary process and listed companies may continue to use private book builds arranged by investment banks.
The ASX anticipates that its proposed facility will be operational by the end of the year.
Despite the Personal Property Securities Register having come into effect in January this year, the Personal Property Securities Act (2012) is still a mystery to many businesses, who are unaware or yet to grasp the potential risks of the new legislation. Under the legislation, companies must now protect the payment and ownership rights of assets that they put in the possession of another person or business by registering them on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR).
The new regime forces business owners to abandon traditional concepts of ownership and reliance on retention of title clauses in their contracts to adequately protect their interests. While many companies have heard of the radical changes, a significant number are yet to take the required measures to ensure compliance, leaving themselves open to potentially devastating consequences if other businesses that they transact with on a day to day basis become insolvent or on-sell their property to a third party as explained in the article ‘Businesses still in the dark over PPSA’ where valuable practical advice for business owners is offered.
Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia (ITSA) have just released the latest PPS Stakeholder update. ITSA continues to record feedback on the PPSR in an ‘enhancement log’ for future upgrades. Cycle 2 of User Acceptance Testing is due to commence. Testing will be based on Business to Government functionality including enhanced reporting and compilation of multiple search results in a single PDF document.
The following new Fact Sheets have been released:
The above Fact Sheets and other Fact Sheets are available on the PPSR website.
We continue to get a lot of feedback from clients about the confusion surrounding the PPSA generally and also in navigating around the PPS Register. It’s encouraging to see ITSA is actively engaging with industry to improve the Register and provide clear guidance as to the application of the PPSA.
We will endeavour to keep you updated, however, if you have any questions please let us know. | <urn:uuid:4304da26-c90f-41c4-b6f9-b103c634c1e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.tresscox.com.au/category/ppsa/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951884 | 1,394 | 1.742188 | 2 |
By BRUCE ORWALL
Sports architects are often asked to create athletic temples that will last for decades. The new Olympic Stadium that will be on display in London over the next three weeks was designed with a different future in mind: disassembly.
Streaming Coverage: Get the latest Journal coverage of the 2012 Games right here – every story, video, photo or tweet related to the competition and all news off the field.
Read the complete Olympics Preview report.
Hoping to avoid the now familiar trap of building an Olympic Stadium with little future purpose—like Beijing's spectacular Bird's Nest, which these days hosts winter sledding events and not much else—organizers of the 2012 London Games asked sports-architecture firm Populous to design a stadium that could be downsized and remade for a different future use.
The result is a stadium with 25,000 seats that are meant to be permanent and 55,000 that can be easily removed after the Games.
Rod Sheard, senior principal at Populous, says his firm was intrigued and perplexed by the assignment. "Philosophically, when we first heard it, we thought, 'That's really good,' " says Mr. Sheard. "We'd seen Beijing and seen how you do it when money is no object. Quite clearly London wasn't going to be able to do that."
Playing London's Games
Explore the stadium
Architects, however, aren't wired for impermanence. "We're bred with this attitude that your buildings last for 50 years, and the whole judgment of a building in architectural terms is firmness and delight," Mr. Sheard says. "That was the original Greek philosophy."
As a consequence, he says, "we didn't have the foggiest idea of how you go about it."
Populous has built a reputation as one of the pillars of modern sports architecture with prominent projects like the Olympic Stadium in Sydney, a fleet of European soccer pitches including the Arsenal club's Emirates Stadium in London, and U.S. ballparks including the new Yankee Stadium and Camden Yards in Baltimore. But it needed a whole new mind-set for the London job.
"We had to embrace the temporary," Mr. Sheard says. "Not be afraid of the temporary. It wasn't a limitation on what we could do, but an opportunity."
The temporary aesthetic gave Populous the freedom to "start thinking about doing the building in a completely different way from anything we'd ever done before, even down to things like materials and colors," Mr. Sheard says. "Why do most of our buildings not have a lot of color in them? It's because UV light decimates colors. Architects shy away from colors because within five years they look like a faded version of what they were." Freed from that concern, Populous could use a broader palette for the stadium.
It also could save money by using "fabrics that have a very short life span and are very reasonably priced," says Mr. Sheard. Additional money was saved by putting fewer permanent concession stands inside the stadium and instead relying on temporary facilities just outside the building.
A Weighty Debate
The stadium also contains a fraction of the steel used by its Beijing counterpart, making it lighter than any previous main Olympic stadium, according to Mr. Sheard.
The debate over whether all these innovations add up to lightweight architecture surely will outlive the building's original form, if not its very existence.
"The Olympic Stadium here is an almost obvious, in-your-face example of a building that doesn't need to be there forever," Mr. Sheard says. "Some people say, 'This isn't even a real building. It's not an icon.' And other people are saying it's a new kind of icon, a 21st-century icon."
Icon or not, the stadium has an uncertain future. The process of choosing a post-Olympic tenant and a new configuration for the building has been bogged down by an extended and sometimes controversial bidding process.
Four bidders are currently vying to take control of the stadium, including two soccer teams, a soccer college and a company that would stage Formula One auto races in the stadium and on surrounding roadways. A winner will be picked in the fall.
Mr. Orwall is the London bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:12627d5e-5233-43df-8395-03c83ce53233> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444873204577536971299444622.html?mod=wsj_india_main | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965334 | 916 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Title=WELSH TRACT CHURCH AND ELDER JOHN GREEN EUBANKS.
Roberts, Percy WELSH TRACT CHURCH AND ELDER JOHN GREEN EUBANKS.
Easton Economy Printing Co., Inc 1978 8vo. cloth (viii), 47 pages. First edition, limited to 300 numbere copies. Illustrated history of this church that was founded in 1701 near Newark, Delaware. Eubanks was a member of the church that was drafted into the Confederate Army. He was captured and sent to Fort Delaware. Signed and dated by the author on the free endpaper. Price: $ 65.00
Order nr. 74924 | <urn:uuid:8a444d6d-5c8d-4073-83ef-7850378d90ca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oakknoll.com/results.php?s_Title=WELSH%20TRACT%20CHURCH%20AND%20ELDER%20JOHN%20GREEN%20EUBANKS.&s_ShowPics=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954982 | 142 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Return to Transcripts main page
Effort to Get Help to Haiti; Stories of Survival Against the Odds; Haitian Field Hospitals Struggle to Fill Void
Aired January 18, 2010 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, time now for your top of the hour reset. I'm Tony Harris in the CNN NEWSROOM.
It is noon in Port-au-Prince where there is a race to get food to the desperate in Haiti. Still in Haiti, the rubble gives up more survivors. One man says he survived on peanut butter and jelly while trapped in a supermarket. And a survivor's journey through the streets in the hour after the quake strikes. He documents the tragedy on his cell phone camera.
Let's do this, let's get started.
Now to a piece of powerful video from the exact moment the killer earthquake struck Haiti. It is a CNN exclusive. Keep listening after the picture goes black.
Boy, it only took 15 seconds for structures to start crumbling. We are told everyone -- wow -- oh boy. Again, it took just 15 seconds for structures like this one to start crumbling. And we should point out here that we're told everyone in this particular house survived.
And here you are looking at -- look at desperate Haitians taking whatever they can find to survive. The lack of food, water and other essential supplies threatens to push the earthquake-ravaged nation further into chaos. The crowds here will begin to scatter when Haitian police pull up and just start opening fire.
All right. There are reports of people killed. Aid officials fear all-out lawlessness if lifesaving supplies don't get through to survivors. The deliveries are being hampered, as you know, by the sheer scale of the devastation.
The situation in the earthquake zone remains fluid. CNN's Jason Carroll now from Port-au-Prince.
And Jason, you're there. You're seeing it firsthand. Talk to us about the efforts to get help to people who clearly desperately need it.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it's a logistical nightmare. And in some ways, for some of the people here on the ground, because you've got so many relief organizations who are trying to fly into the airport. Then the airport gets clogged. The air traffic control tower is down. The U.S. military has taken that over to try to smooth the flow of resources trying to get into Port- au-Prince. So, the relief organizations are really doing all that they can.
And I want to bring someone in right now to sort of help us explain this. This is Laura Blank. She's with World Vision, a Christian relief organization.
Basically, what everyone's trying to figure out is, there's so much aid that's coming in from folks like -- such as yourself. Tell us about some of the challenges you face in trying to get the aid to the people out there who need it.
LAURA BLANK, WORLD VISION: Well, one of the biggest problems right now, actually, is fuel. Yesterday, we found out in the OCHA cluster meeting -- that's the organization of the U.N. that helps all of the NGOs come together every day and coordinate each sector -- water, health and food. They told us they're estimating about two to three days left of fuel in Port-au-Prince.
So once we're out of fuel, our trucks can't get anywhere. We started trucking in gasoline from our team in the Dominican Republic, but that was yesterday. So you can see when you go around the city long lines of fuel waiting at the gas stations everywhere. That's a big concern.
CARROLL: Yes. And so -- and that's just one of the areas that some of the folks have been telling us about. But explain, if you will, how it's sort of broken down for your organization.
So let's say you want to distribute food...
HARRIS: Oh, shoot. We just lost Jason and Laura. We'll try to get that back.
And Jason was about to ask some very important questions about where the aid is right now and how difficult a bottleneck is there.
Is he still lost to us?
Still gone. All right. We'll try to get Jason back a little later in the program.
Later tonight, we will invite to you join us for a special two- hour edition of "LARRY KING LIVE." You can find out how you can help at that time. Larry has lined up a powerhouse list of celebrities, leaders and activists to tell you how you can take action and be a part of this global outreach effort.
It is, again, a special two-hour edition of "LARRY KING LIVE," tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
Now, amid all the devastation in Haiti, there are survival stories, how rescuers risked their lives to pull people from the ruins almost a week after the quake hit.
We're back in a moment.
HARRIS: All right. We're talking now about stories of survival against the odds. They are certainly emerging from the rubble of the Haiti earthquake, people found alive after days buried beneath collapsed buildings.
CNN's Ivan Watson was there as some of these amazing rescues played out.
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the eerie light of a supermarket storage room, an international team of rescue workers, waiting for a miracle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, guys. Take a breath nice and easy.
WATSON: Rescue teams from Florida and Turkey have been struggling to reach people buried in a supermarket.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's get them right over here.
WATSON: And at 10:23 on Sunday night, after more than five days trapped in the dark, a survivor emerges. A Haitian man, 30 years old, rescuers are withholding his name.
As he comes into the light, he looks around and smiles. Then a wave, and a sign of jubilation. He whispers thank you to his rescuers. Because against all odds, this man escaped what should have been his tomb.
What's one of the first things he told you guys?
LT. FRANK MAINAIDE, SOUTH FLORIDA URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE: I ate a lot of peanut butter and jelly.
WATSON: I guess he was in the snack aisle or something.
MAINAIDE: Well, it is a grocery store so whatever aisle he was, he had peanut butter and jelly. That's probably why he survived.
WATSON: Moments later, a second survivor, this 40-year-old Haitian woman, also a customer of the supermarket.
MAINAIDE: Health-wise, remarkably they look pretty good. I don't know if they had access to water. We did give them water once we made contact with them, and they drank those water bottles, as you can assume, very quickly, and they were remarkably in very good condition, considering they've been in there for five days.
WATSON: Managers say there may have been up to 150 people in the five-story Caribbean supermarket when the building collapsed. Saturday night and Sunday morning, rescuers succeed in digging three other survivors out from under the rubble, including a 50-year-old American woman named Marey Ditmaire (ph). But the rescue operations are dangerous work. Rescuers quickly evacuated when the walls of their tunnel suddenly shifted.
Sunday night's rescue offers a devastated city a much-needed moment of hope. Captain Joseph Zahralban takes a minute to embrace the manager of the supermarket, but their celebration is short lived. As long as there is a chance of more survivors, he says they cannot afford to rest.
CAPT. JOE ZAHRALBAN, SOUTH FLORIDA URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE: We're going to go back in. We're going to do more searches, and the commitment I've made to Samir (ph) is we're going to do this until we no longer find survivors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hopefully we can find more and more people. Hopefully.
HARRIS: All right. That was CNN's Ivan Watson.
Quickly now, let's get you back to Port-au-Prince and CNN's Jason Carroll.
And Jason, good, you still have Laura Blank with you from World Vision.
I'm really interested in where the aid, the World Vision aid, is being housed right now. I want to know where the bottlenecks are and what the plan A, B, C, D, and E, if necessary. is to get around the bottlenecks and get the aid out to the people who really need it.
CARROLL: A lot of questions there, so let me just, sort of, like, start setting the tone in terms of where we're trying to go with here in terms of aid.
So let's talk about, first of all, the bottleneck. A lot of folks trying to get international aid into Port-au-Prince.
Tell me about the special challenges you face just getting the aid here.
BLANK: Well, one of the biggest challenges for us right now is the lack of fuel. You can see long lines everywhere, at every gas station you go to in the city, traffic jams, hour-long waits, people bringing even small containers to get any kind of gasoline they can.
Yesterday, we were told that there was an estimate of two to three days left of fuel in the city, and that was yesterday. We've actually had to ask our staff from the Dominican Republic to bring in gasoline for us, sometimes on a daily basis.
CARROLL: And how is that being done? You caravan that in, I would assume.
BLANK: Exactly. We bring it in on big trucks. And we have a tanker at the office where we can fill up our trucks. But without fuel, we obviously can't get anywhere to begin the distribution.
CARROLL: And just explain for us, and in just some basic terms, how an organization such as yourself, with so many challenges out there on the streets, how do you begin then to set up the office and distribute and get it to where you need it to go?
BLANK: Well, I think one of the things that benefits us is that World Vision has been in Port-au-Prince and in Haiti for more than 30 years. So we have an infrastructure, we have several hundred staff. We know the local governments and we know who to talk to, and I think that's a big benefit.
Then to begin the assessment and make sure we're not duplicating efforts, there are two things that we do. One is that all of the non- governmental organizations that are working here are meeting on a daily basis to discuss all of the sectors. Those are things like water and health.
CARROLL: And that's every morning.
And Tony, what they're basically doing, as Laura will tell you about this, but they meet every morning with a U.N. organization called OCHA.
And they're the ones who are basically coordinating all of these relief organizations to make sure you guys aren't duplicating in terms of how you're distributing the aid. Yes?
BLANK: Exactly. Everyone is responsible, and some different groups are often in charge of a certain sector.
So, one group may be in charge of water, and then we are representatives who work with them. Another may be in charge of health.
So, each morning we're talking about an update, getting new facts and trying to figure out how we can best work together. But the other thing we do is we don't go into a camp unannounced. We go in days before. We talk to them and we say, has anyone else already been here, just to make sure someone else isn't already planning a distribution, and that way we can start to work with the people, find out their needs and then get to them quickly.
CARROLL: And another example, you know, this makeshift camp that's sort of behind us here, Tony, where we are, Laura was telling me before that when what they do is when they get to some of these camps, sometimes there's a de facto leader there, someone who's an elder or a pastor.
So, sometimes what you do is you approach those sort of tent or camp leaders, talk to them about some of the special needs that men or women might have as well before you head in there. Right? BLANK: Exactly. A lot of times these people are finding and creating camps in their neighborhoods. So, just like you know your neighbors, they know theirs. And their family and friends, they may come together. It may be a pastor or another leader.
So, when we go in, we want the people in the camps to feel empowered to help us with the distribution. So, they often help us coordinate as we're doing the food distribution or water, help us to organize, help us to register the families so we can start building some consistency with them. We really rely on the camps to help us with a little bit structure.
CARROLL: OK. Finally, I just wanted to wrap it up here, but I also want to make sure that in terms of that challenge you're facing in terms of getting fuel and gas, are you worried that you're not going to be able to get what you need in order to keep doing what you're doing?
BLANK: Yes, it's very worrisome, because we've requested that the Haitian government help us to try to work on some work-arounds to bring more fuel into the country. We're also going to continue to rely on our staff in the Dominican Republic.
We do have our camps that we're working with that are fairly close to the office, but we certainly can't walk these supplies there. So we feed gas to be able to do the relief work.
HARRIS: Jason, don't let her go. Don't let her go. I've got a question.
From the grid work that they're doing, can Laura tell us, from the airport south, from the port sort of east, are they five miles into that grid? Are they 10 miles into that grid? How far are they into Port-au-Prince in terms of aid and supplies?
CARROLL: OK. Well, I can tell you straight off the bat -- he was asking where are you in terms of aid and supplies, where are you sort of housed and what specific parts of the city are you responsible for.
BLANK: We are housed not too far from here. Actually, it's a neighborhood called Petionville. There are two neighborhoods that we're focusing on, Petionville and Canapay Ver (ph). They're neighborhoods that we've worked in for a long time anyway, so we know a lot of the local staff and the people there.
CARROLL: So, just to give a point of reference, north, south, east of Port-au-Prince?
BLANK: It's slightly north, in the northern part of Port-au- Prince.
CARROLL: OK. BLANK: And that's where we're going to focus our operations. We've got three distributions scheduled today. We've been distributing since Saturday.
OK. So I hope that was able to answer some of your questions there, Tony.
HARRIS: Yes, that helps.
CARROLL: And you understand sort of how the city is broken into sections, how OCHA is doing this so these various relief organizations aren't stepping on each other and getting too much aid to one spot and not enough to another. But still, obviously a lot of challenges in terms of getting fuel. And for some organizations, not World Vision, but for others, just in terms of getting here, still a challenge in some ways.
HARRIS: Right. Terrific.
My thanks to Laura, if you would, for me, Jason. And thank you, as well.
Jason Carroll in Port-au-Prince.
Thank you both.
Florida Congressman Kendrick Meek is from -- he is actually in Haiti right now. He talked about some of his security concerns surrounding the aid, the recovery, the rescue mission that's going on in Haiti right now. He talked about some of the security concerns on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. KENDRICK MEEK (D), FLORIDA: If we don't get water, if we don't get shelter, if we don't get security right behind me, it's going to end up being a situation. I know because we've seen it before here in Haiti, and now it's exacerbated by the fact that folks don't have homes and they can't get out to provide for themselves.
So, right now, they need some serious, serious assistance. And I know that the 82nd Airborne is grouping themselves to be able to provide that security. But you have the U.N. here, you have the 82nd, and so it's important that they come together to be able to make sure that they bring about not only security, but also humanitarian -- meeting humanitarian needs of thousands of people that are living on the streets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: U.S. doctors at the center of aid efforts trying to make do as best they can. A look at the challenges straight ahead.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Let's do this -- very quickly now, let's get to our top stories.
We have new video just into CNN out of Kabul, Afghanistan. Let's take this video full here and give it a listen.
Whoa! Video of Taliban fighters launching a wave of bold attacks, obviously, in Kabul today.
The video you're looking at now from an Iranian press TV crew which caught that moment there, the moment of one of the explosions. The reporter -- I'm not sure if this is the reporter or if this is a member of that reporter's crew. And I think maybe we could -- is this the explosion about to take place again?
Let's take a look.
So the reporter was filing a piece to camera at that moment. A huge ball of fire, as you can see here, erupted, just, what, a few feet behind them. We understand the correspondent was injured in the blast. No word on the crew. The reporter injured and taken to an area hospital.
In Massachusetts today, Senate hopefuls Martha Coakley and Scott Brown are giving it one final push. Both are hoping to fill the seat left vacant by the late Ted Kennedy. Tomorrow's election extremely critical because it decides whether Democrats will be able to stop a Republican filibuster over health care.
And today is the federal holiday marking the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. Live pictures now from the King Center.
Services were held at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. President and Mrs. Obama are honoring King by participating in a community service event today.
We will get another check of our top stories for you in 20 minutes.
Field hospitals are desperately trying to fill the void for badly needed medical care in Haiti, but they are facing some very difficult challenges right now, as we heard earlier on CNN's NEWSROOM with Kyra Phillips.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth is there. She's joining us from a hospital in Port-au- Prince.
Elizabeth, I was listening to your reports. And it's frustrating for doctors as they're saving people, but they're not always able to keep them alive.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Exactly, Kyra.
They're so frustrated. These people come out of the rubble, and the problem is within a couple of days their wounds develop gangrene unless they get the treatment that they need.
I'm at an extremely rudimentary hospital where they're forced to deliver very basic care. These doctors and nurses work so hard. They're sleeping on the floor with the patients.
And the question that's on their lips now is they want to know where is that American government hospital? When will it be built so that they can take patients to it?
COHEN: They're desperately looking for a place to get this young man to have surgery. Because he needs much more than what they can do here. So we lend the Dr. Prust (ph) our satellite phone so that he could try to call some people. He's calling anyone he can think of to get to a more sophisticated hospital.
If you don't get him to a better hospital tonight, what's going to happen to him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. He would die.
DR. JENNIFER FURIN, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: Families are obviously going to be upset. They've been sitting here with their loved ones who they were so excited to see alive, only now to watch them die a slow, painful death from their rotting flesh because the infections are out of control and they need surgery. I've been here since Thursday. No one except the Israeli Hospital has taken any of our patients.
COHEN: I'm just amazed at what's here. This is like another world compared to the other hospital. Imaging department. I mean, imaging. My god, they have machines here. They have actual operating rooms and it's just amazing.
What's the machine?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a (INAUDIBLE) machine.
COHEN: It's a ventilator?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ventilator and monitor. Ventilator, monitor, suction and oxygen.
COHEN: I mean, they don't have this at the little hospital that I came from.
So the Israelis have set up a field hospital. Have the Americans? Has the American government set up a field hospital?
FURIN: Currently, not yet.
COHEN: The Israelis came from the other side of the world.
FURIN: It's a frustrating thing that I really can't explain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It makes you almost embarrassed to be an American.
FURIN: The situation is beyond desperate at this point. The disaster was the quake. But this is the disaster that's following in its wake.
These patients were so thankful to have lived through the quake. And now they're slowly dying in these hospitals. We're desperate.
COHEN: Now, I've been texting back and forth with the spokesman for this American hospital that's supposed to be up. They've been saying for days that it will be up anytime. And the last text I have from them says we hope to have the hospital on the road soon. In other words, they hope to have the hospital up and operating soon -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Wow. What about the supplies there where you are now? Do they have enough to get by at the moment? What's the need?
COHEN: No, Kyra, they have a lot of supplies. But they don't have everything they need, and they don't always have the right supplies.
For example, doctors here tell me that for about 200 patients they have two blood pressure cuffs. So they were sort of excited when they found three boxes. These are blood pressure cuffs. We've all seen them before.
Then you'll notice that there's no pump. You know, the thing they pump to get the blood pressure. There's no pump. These are completely useless to them.
They also were sent this. This is a kit to do open heart surgery. They're not doing open heart surgery at this hospital. No way.
So this is useless to them. Plus, it expired last year. So they don't quite have what they need. They're also missing oxygen, which is huge.
PHILLIPS: Wow. Well, that's definitely great information to know as people are sending supplies, Elizabeth. You need to double- check everything to make sure that needs are met properly. You don't want to waste any time, money, energy into things like that, that's for sure, when they can use other things.
Elizabeth Cohen, great job for us. Thank you so much.
HARRIS: And once again, back at the International Desk, because this is quite literally where all of the action is right now. Want to give you a quick update on the story we brought you as breaking news last hour.
Three Americans wounded in Haiti. I'll just read it to you.
A military official in Port-au-Prince is now reporting that three Americans were injured and treated in an incident near the airport. We have no idea at this point how these people were injured, what actually happened. No further details were immediately available. We can tell that the injuries are not considered life-threatening.
We will continue to follow this story and all the news coming out of Port-au-Prince.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Haitians now in survival mode. Many are taking whatever they can find as they struggle to endure another day without food, water and other essential supplies.
Aid officials fear all-out lawlessness if lifesaving supplies don't get through to survivors. Deliveries to Port-au-Prince are being hampered by the sheer scale of the devastation.
Getting food and other supplies to those most in need takes lots of time and extreme coordination.
Our Brian Todd went on a delivery mission with a flight crew from the USS Carl Vinson.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The call comes shortly after 1:00 p.m. Helicopters squadron HS 15 has to get to Port-au-Prince now. We're with the four crew members as they quickly lift off from the deck of the aircraft carrier Vinson. We shuttle 10 miles into Port-au-Prince to get the mission orders.
The airport's a swarm of choppers, cargo planes and personnel scrambling to get supplies on to these birds. Dozens of boxes of MREs are piled into this small rescue helicopter that's not made for this kind of flight. It's a tight fit for everyone, but we're airborne minutes later. We peer down into one devastated neighborhood after another in the capital, then find our landing zone. The chief crewman relays the tension of these moments.
PETTY OFCR. KENNY ROWE, U.S. NAVY: Some people might try to start stealing other supplies from other people and then that could turn into a riot.
TODD: Not this time. Hundreds of people are ringing the landing zone, but members of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division have secured the perimeter and help off load. It's all on the ground in minutes, but the pilot knows this is just a tiny slice of what's needed.
LT. NATE SCHILLING, U.S. NAVY: Definitely our heart goes out to them. You definitely can see the need in their faces. I think as an air crew, we sympathize with their plight and want to do everything we can to help them.
TODD: We drop off one more load at a diplomatic compound. Then it's back to the carrier. In less than two hours, one chopper crew has dispersed hundreds of meals directly to victims.
TODD (on camera): These crews are exhausted. They're trying to pace themselves and they're flying in shifts. But they also know that this relief effort is not where it needs to be and that their operations are likely only going to accelerate from here.
Brian Todd, CNN, aboard the USS Vinson, off the coast of Haiti.
HARRIS: Certainly aid is getting into Haiti. But once it's there, tons of food and water and medicine have to be moved from point a to point b and that is the real challenge. Roads are blocked, there is little heavy machinery and there are all kinds of security concerns. Bettina Luescher is a spokeswoman for the U.N. World Food Bank Program in New York.
Bettina, thanks for your time.
Let me start with this. That logistical problem that we're describing here, maybe you can come up with a better visual picture for us of just how difficult it is to get supplies once they're all on the ground, once they're at the airport, from point a, being the airport, to point b, c, d, and e.
BETTINA LUESCHER, WORLD FOOD PROGRAM: Well, that's, of course, the really hard dilemma that we are facing, that the infrastructure after the earthquake has been so severely damaged. And the roads are clogged with people. The roads are often destroyed. The roads have to be repaired.
But we have some good news also. The World Food Program, together with the U.S. military, with all of the U.N. partners and NGOs, we've really scaled up our operations. WFP has used its own rations and U.S. military rations to feed, by now we have delivered 250,000 ready to eat rations. So we're massively scaling up. Three quarter of that in the capital, a quarter outside of the capital. And we are massively scaling this up. We think that within the next week we're going to be able to deliver 10 million ready to eat rations around the affected are. So help is on the way. It's a massive effort. But we are cranking it up as quickly as we can. HARRIS: Bettina, how are you able to get aid to areas outside of the capital, that you just mentioned? I would circle back to the areas east of -- in the city, in Port-au-Prince. How are you able to get -- get relief, materials to those who are east, say, of the port? How are you doing that? Because we keep hearing that roads are blocked and damaged and it's making it impossible to get supplies through.
LUESCHER: With trucks. We're using trucks. That's one of the methods of how we are getting the food to the people. And basically the strategy is to flat four hubs with distribution points, with food, that's being in coordination with the Haitian government so that then we can spread out the food to the various people.
It's very important that those kind of food distributions are going in an orderly way. That's why we have to rely on security from the peacekeepers and they are helping us. As of today, they are also among the ones today that will help get our food out to various areas. It's very important that the hungry women and children get the food first. We have to make sure that those are taken care of, that they're not being run over by some guys.
HARRIS: OK. Forgive me here. I want to have you do a little bit of work for us and so that you can maybe help us with our mapping of this effort here. You mentioned four hubs. Where are the hubs?
LUESCHER: It's spread out in various places of Port-au-Prince. And then it goes out to the other areas. And we're working on setting up even more distribution centers in close cooperation with the Haitian government, which, of course, you know, has been severely weakened.
This is such a crucial aid operation where really the whole world has to come together. And that's why it's so important that our folks on the ground are closely coordinating with the various partners to make sure that the food reaches the people who really need it.
HARRIS: OK. And I'm going to push you on this. If you don't know, it's OK. We're just trying to figure out where the hubs are as we try to better illustrate for folks. Do you know where the hubs are?
LUESCHER: We are going to have some in -- I have to -- hang on one sec. It's probably Karfur (ph), Garsere (ph) and other ones. I have to give you the exact location.
HARRIS: OK. Can you get -- you can get back to us.
LUESCHER: You can -- we can give the exact locations to you so your guys can see it. And I know that we are in close contact with your folks on the ground.
LUESCHER: And you have been coming with us. So we thank you also for raising so much awareness about this difficult situation. If the folks on the television sets want to make a donation, wfp.org/haiti and you can help because the needs are huge. We've made an appeal for over $279 million to the world. What we need right now from the various governments all over the world is, we've asked for 100 million ready to eat rations. It's very important that the militaries of the world bring the stuff in also so we can get it out on the ground.
HARRIS: Are you happy right now with the coordination? My understanding of kind of the flow chart that is handling the organization of this effort is that the U.N. is at the top of the flow chart here and the other organizations are coming together on a conference call, in many cases, sort of meeting together to plot out a strategy to work the various areas of the grid, I guess a couple of times a day?
LUESCHER: Yes, they're in constant contact. They're joined logistic centers. We are providing the coordination together with the various others, U.N. agencies and NGOs, partners and together with the Haitian government. So we do our logistical part, then there is coordination going on. What you try to do in a situation like this is, that all of the actors are working together. Everybody knows what the other one is doing. Everybody is doing something slightly different. It's tough. It's not always pretty, but it's working. The aid is coming in. We're cranking up as fast as we can.
HARRIS: We need to hear that it's working. Bettina, appreciate your time. Thank you.
LUESCHER: Thank you.
HARRIS: We're going to take a quick break and come back. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: We are getting some new pictures here into CNN of former President Bill Clinton. I understand arriving in Port-au-Prince. Do we have -- there we go. On the ground. The former president in Port- au-Prince, Haiti, right now. As you know, the former president is the U.N.'s special envoy to Haiti. Is he expected to meet with Haiti's president, Rene Preval. Is that Chelsea with -- OK. All right. Chelsea Clinton with her dad, as well. You'll recall that over the weekend, President Clinton and former President Bush met with President Obama to establish the Clinton/Bush Haiti fund. If you're interested in making a donation, it is clintonbushhaitifund.org.
Let's get you caught up on our top stories now.
We have new video just in to CNN out of Kabul, Afghanistan. It is scary. It is dramatic. Taliban fighters launched this attack as part of a wave of really bold attacks on Kabul today. An Iranian press television crew caught that moment. One of the explosions as it hit. I think we've got it queued up once again. You can see the reporter hurt here. But the reporter was actually filing a piece, as you saw there, to camera when there was the explosion. The huge fireball erupted just a few feet from where they were filing this report. You're going to see it again here in just a second. Again, the correspondent was taken to the hospital and is being treated for his injuries from that blast.
New warnings reveal the about the Christmas Day bomb plot against the U.S.-bound jetliner. "The New York Times" says U.S. intelligence intercepted a message in November about a man named Omar Farouk. Those are the two first names of the jetliner suspect. More intercepts the next month mentioned the date of the attack, December 25th.
The Associated Press reports President Obama will appear today in a new television ad for Massachusetts Senate Candidate Martha Coakley. The Democrat is trying to win Ted Kennedy's former Senate seat, but she is facing a surprisingly strong challenge from Republican Scott Brown. The special election is tomorrow.
The moment the earth shook in Haiti all capture by one of -- one reporter's camera crew. We're back in a moment.
HARRIS: All right. We just got some new images in of President Obama. On two, I'm sorry. On President Obama and the first lady participating here today in a community service event to mark the MLK holiday. This is in Washington, D.C. This is the SOME organization, SOME, in Washington. Let's see here. It describes itself as the only interfaith community-based organization in the District of Columbia that offers a comprehensive, holistic approach to caring for the homeless and extremely poor citizens of the city. The District of Columbia, the president and the first lady participating in MLK community services events. And one of the first daughters, as well.
Getting back to our top story now, Haiti. Christine Webb, a reporter for CNN affiliate Central Florida News 13, was in Haiti when the quake hit. She was on a personal trip with the Orlando-based outreach group New Missions. She spoke with CNN's Larry King and brought along some incredible video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE WEBB, QUAKE SURVIVOR: I was actually at the New Missions compound on the Leogone plain when the earthquake hit. We were actually inside the eating area when just the earth kind of just started to shake. The roof -- I looked up and the roof was moving. And just quickly grabbed the girl that I was with, we ran out and the force just shook us hundreds of feet to the ground and I actually saw the earth split into two.
LARRY KING, CNN'S "LARRY KING LIVE": Wow. You were with what group?
WEBB: I was with New Missions group. They've been serving Haiti since -- for 27 years. They actually have -- they're based in Haiti, but they also have an office here in Orlando, Florida.
KING: Did you have trouble getting out? WEBB: Yes. We did have a lot of trouble getting out. But thanks to a huge collaborative effort from many churches, parents, politicians, we were able to make it out OK with a very dramatic rescue.
KING: Were any of your party injured?
WEBB: Luckily, Larry, no. And that is a true blessing in all of this because just hours before, we were actually inside a school. A school that I had actually gotten to take a tour of the area. And just hours before, all of us had been at this school delivering shoe boxes to all these little children. And just hours later, that school was no more. So we could have all been in there, all the children could have been in there. So we were really lucky.
KING: Last thing you'd expect in a tropical island nation is an earthquake, right?
WEBB: Last thing that we ever expected. I think the last time Haiti had an earthquake was 200 years ago. We never ever thought anything was going to happen like this. And when it was actually happening, none of us really knew what was going on. I mean, it was almost like a wave. You actually saw like the earth kind of move like a wave. It was nothing I had ever experienced and we were -- we were all in shock and very scared.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: All right, join us tonight for a special two hour "Larry King Live." Find out how you can help a powerhouse list. Celebrities, leaders and activists will join Larry to show you how you can take action and be a part of the global outreach. A very special two-hour "Larry King Live." That's tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
Overhauling the nation's health care system. One of these two people could be a deciding factor in whether it comes to pass. We're back in a moment.
HARRIS: The stakes are high in Massachusetts. Tomorrow, voters hit the polls to decide who will fill the seat of the late Ted Kennedy. And for the first time in decades, it looks like Democrats could lose this seat. If that happens, they lose the ability to stave off a Republican filibuster over health care. Here's what some voters are saying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need health care. We need help for people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It would be devastating for Massachusetts to lose a Democratic vote in the Senate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope he does this. I'm confident that he will.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you like about Brown as opposed to Coakley?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think his honesty and integrity. I don't think he's tap dancing. He's telling us the truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Wow. CNN's senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash joining us from Washington.
Dana, got some real drama here it appears. How did Demes get themselves into this situation?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a combination, Tony, of what's going on nationally and there are specifics to this race. First of all, nationally.
BASH: The mood is such. And we certainly know this by talking, at least I do, by talking to members of Congress who go home to their districts all the time that there's frustration. That it's been a year since Barack Obama has been president. The economy has not gotten better for many people. It has gotten worse. Job loss is worse. And then they see Washington spending a lot of money and certainly spent a lot of money last year to bail out Wall Street and they seem to be doing pretty well. So that is one factor in this overall very bad situation for Democrats in Massachusetts.
And the other is specific to this race. The Democrats I have been talking to up there and here have -- many of them have daggers out for the Democratic candidate, Martha Coakley. They say that she's just simply not been a very good candidate. That she seems aloof. She's made some gaffes and that is not helped her. And on the other side, Scott Brown, the Republican, seems to have really tapped into that voter anxiety and frustration and is really been hammering it home on the issue of health care, which seems to be kind of the vessel for all of that.
HARRIS: Well that segues me perfectly to -- let me ask you about health care and the implications of this vote on health care.
BASH: Wow. I mean, the options simply are not good for Democrats if Scott Brown actually does take that seat because, of course, there was not one vote to spare. Sixty votes needed and used to pass health care in the Senate the first time, of course. The process right now is such that Democrats in the House and Senate, they're trying to meld the bills, but it would have to go back through the Senate to get to the president's desk.
And they have been talking very quietly, but they certainly have already been talking about plan b, the what if scenarios. What if a Republican takes that seat and they only have 59 votes. And again, no options are very good. The most viable I'm told, and this has actually been floated from the White House, Tony, is to try to push through the Senate bill in the House. But there are big problems with that, namely there are differences and many House Democrats say we don't like a lot of what's in the Senate. So it's not an easy situation, the what ifs.
HARRIS: To say the least.
All right, Dana, appreciate it. Thank you.
We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, CNN's Anderson Cooper with new information on the relief effort in Haiti.
HARRIS: And let's go, let's go, let's go. Very quickly we want to get you back to Port-au-Prince right now and CNN's Anderson Cooper with some breaking news.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE), I can tell you right now in downtown Port-au-Prince, in sort of the market area where there's a number of old shops that had food supplies and supplies. There is widespread looting now in downtown. I'm literally in the middle of a -- of what can only be described as a frenzy of looting. Several hundred people have broken into a supply store. They've climbed in through the damaged roof. And they are just taking candles, actually, taking boxes of candles.
There are a number of store owners who are on the street with machine guns and pistols and two Haitian police officers who they have given machine guns to who occasionally fire into the air to try to steer the crowd. Literally the crowd will run off for perhaps a minute and then as soon as the police officer turns his or her back, they run back into the store, climb back onto the roof and it continues.
And I'm told by a store owner by the name of Tony Bennett (ph), who owns two stores here and he's standing right next to me trying to guard these stores, that this is happening just around the corner, as well. He says it's happening in many parts of this district in Port- au-Prince. But I've only seen what's happening on this street.
You know, what's interesting is, this is not food that, you know, that hungry people are trying to take. This is -- this is -- these are candles that some of them will use because their homes don't have electricity, but often, a lot of this is for profit. People are actually stealing this will then sell it later and then they'll use that money to -- for their families. It's just one of those opportunities in the wake of this disaster that people try to take advantage of.
HARRIS: And, Anderson, this is a situation that we have long feared. We have been concerned that, as it continues to take for many people too long for the supplies, for the aid to get to them, that eventually we would begin to see scenes like this. Is this the first scene of this scale that you have seen?
COOPER: It is. You know, I should say, I've not (ph) been down to this market are really since the day after the earthquake. I actually came down here to try to find a little girl who I saw being rescued six days ago. Then we heard shooting about a block away.
We, of course, ran straight towards the shooting and found two Haitian police officers firing into the air and a scene which I just haven't seen before. I mean I've seen it in Haiti in other years, in past situations, and I've been in plenty of riots. But what is frightening about this for the store owners is that this can quickly become something else. This can quickly escalate as word spreads in a neighborhood that items are available, more people will come. Larger crowds will come. And I can tell you already the crowd in the 20 minutes that I've been here is much larger than it was initially, despite the fact that now police have fire into the air (INAUDIBLE) now 20 times over the course of the last half hour.
I talked to the store owner, Tony Bennett, who actually went to the University of Miami, an American citizen, who told me here, the Haitian police, there's no one you can really call at this point. I mean he has two Haitian police officers here. He says he gave them their weapons. He is providing them with water. I, you know, I didn't ask him. I'm guessing maybe he's, you know, paying for them to be here for the day. But there's not a Haitian police force that one can just sort of call and dial 911 for.
I asked him, what are you going to do? He said, look, you know, he understands these people are hungry and that they're trying to survive the best they can. He doesn't want to hurt anybody. He's not going to shoot anybody. But he does want to just try to protect his property as best he can. So really all he can do right now is just fire into the air and hope that the looters go somewhere else.
HARRIS: And, Anderson, I just want to remind everyone watching us that you're not looking at video now. Obviously this is video from Saturday. But you're not looking at video from Anderson's location right now.
But, Anderson, once again, is this a situation that the buildings that we're talking about are not necessarily housing food or water. You mentioned earlier that the people are taking candles and I understand that to keep them warm at night.
ANDERSON: Well, yes. And people will take whatever they can get. I mean, frankly, there is -- there is food in some buildings in this area. There are there's a whole lot this is a very this is a commercial district. | <urn:uuid:8842525a-c8cc-42b6-b511-942bcb59ec3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1001/18/cnr.04.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97459 | 10,493 | 1.65625 | 2 |
The psychology of Christmas
As Delia says, it's time to stop burying your head in the sand over Christmas cooking! So get organised and you'll find that it's all a lot easier than you think...
If you want an easy Christmas, the first thing you’re going to have to do is face up to its imminence. It’s coming quicker than you think, and it’s not going to go away. So, why not just give in and stop playing psychological games with yourself, pretending you have more time than you do? I’m saying this because it takes one to know one, and I’ve spent my entire life thinking I have more time than I do.
This is a grown-up, adult decision. So why not decide right now to use the time you have wisely? Good. Together we can now move ahead and, this year, sit down, make a proper plan and not be the frazzled human beings who have to ‘do’ Christmas.
Instead, we are going to be utterly organised and in control, and follow a carefully constructed plan, so that the entire Christmas holiday from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Eve, will be done and dusted in the space of just seven days. That means six preparation days ahead of time, plus some time on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve for the final touches. These days will be cool, calm and collected, with absolutely no stress, so that you, the cook, can then relax and enjoy the entire holiday just as much as everyone else.
Begin right now by getting hold of your diary and blocking out six whole days that will be totally devoted to shopping and food preparation. I promise you it’s not a big deal; in fact, on my test run, I found it hassle-free and, quite honestly, I really enjoyed it. And then, just imagine – a Christmas filled with peace and joy, including the ‘goodwill to all’ bit, instead of the waspish, tired grump of yesteryear!
This online content will include my own personal menus – in other words, this is how my own Christmas will be planned and executed. For me Christmas will be home-made, but with a few shortcuts. Home-made can seem daunting because there’s a whole lot of ingredients involved, but it’s really deceptive – if you can organise the shopping properly and use the time in a planned way, it will turn out to be quite easy.
However, you have a choice: you can follow the plans to the letter or you can dip in and out as you will. My own choice of menus now has an older and wiser edge. I don’t need to impress anyone, so no ego-cooking here. Instead, I’m keeping it simple and very traditional. I’m not interested in what the Chinese serve or what happens in the south of France. It’s the one time when I want to be very British and enjoy all those wonderful Christmassy aromas, flavours and special treats that happen only once a year.
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Have you looked at the Delia Online Cookery School
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In Jenga, when you are moving your block out and another block next to it moves, are you allowed to push the other block(s) back?
Does Jenga have any specific strategies for block placement and removal that can be employed? Are there certain moves or ideas I could employ to (for example) increase the likelihood that the stack ...
Specifically, we are running into the following points of contention: When a piece is removed, do you have to place it neatly on top to build a new complete layer, or can you build incomplete ... | <urn:uuid:b900fa88-8868-444a-815c-9e9e6c4f34fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/jenga | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951852 | 233 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Plain packaging for cigarettes delayed for five months
A mock-up of a cigarette package with the branding removed and health warnings displayed. Photo: AP
THE introduction of plain packaging for cigarettes in Australia has been postponed for five months after delays in the passage of the necessary legislation.
Health Minister Nicola Roxon will today announce that the world-first plain packaging measures will now be implemented on December 1 next year, not July 1 as planned.
The move follows the government's failure to get the legislation through the Senate in time to enable the industry to comply with the packaging changes.
The legislation had passed through the House of Representatives in August but has been held up in the Senate by the opposition stalling on other legislation.
The tobacco industry has claimed the legislation has flaws that would have been spotted if the government had not tried to rush the legislation through originally, bypassing consultation with the industry.
An industry spokesman said companies had told Ms Roxon that the short lead times were unrealistic.
Ms Roxon said that while she did not agree with tobacco companies on most things, ''I think that it is important that industry gets a reasonable time frame to make an orderly transition to plain packaging''.
''I know that many public health groups have advocated for this legislation and I would ask them to urge the Senate to ensure that there are no further delays,'' she said.
Plain packaging would remove the last channel for the marketing of tobacco in Australia and was part of a strategy to reduce the toll of 15,000 tobacco-related deaths a year. | <urn:uuid:3ab1780f-4cbc-470e-8cae-51129e748861> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theage.com.au/national/plain-packaging-for-cigarettes-delayed-for-five-months-20111101-1mtuv.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977303 | 313 | 1.664063 | 2 |
The School of St Jude was established by Richard and Gemma Sisia in 2002. The original two acres of land on which the first classrooms were built was granted to the school by Richard and his family.
The name “St Jude” was given to the school because St Jude is known in Christian circles as “the patron saint of hopeless causes”. Trying to build a school from scratch with no real expertise or resources surely qualified as a “hopeless cause”! However, nine years later, The School of St Jude not only educates approx 1650 students across three campuses (with over 1000 of them boarding), but also gives employment to over 400 local Tanzanian staff.
Over 95% of the students get a totally free education, thanks to the thousands of supporters around the world. These supporters not only give financially to the school, but they also give their personal time at the school, thereby allowing more Tanzanian children the opportunity to receive a free, quality education.
St Jude's loves visitors, so there is a staff team available who are solely dedicated to hosting guests at the school. As part of your overall East African holiday, consider staying 2-3 days at the school.
1. Visit the home of one of the students
2. Eat with the students and staff at lunch time
3. Participate at a school assembly (or two!)
4. Assist with simple jobs which help the school (for example, covering library books) and extra curricular activities
5. Travel on the morning and after school buses
6. Travel to local markets with the school purchasing officer to buy fresh food and materials
7. Observe operation of the boarding complexes
8. Observe over 350 staff working together to educate hundreds of St Jude's students.
There is guest accommodation at the school which is basic but comfortable. Each room has its own bathroom with a flushing toilet and hot water shower. Your meals will be determined based upon the agreement you make with the school prior to arrival and the number of guests visiting at that time. The two options are: eating with the western staff in their common kitchen (photo below) or having private meals provided by a cook in a separate kitchen. | <urn:uuid:72e8fcfd-7bfc-4610-9074-7bbc78b05d54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.safaris-r-us.com/safari-destinations/tanzania-destinations/school-of-st-jude.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976046 | 455 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Dean and I have started an online lecture series. Here’s the information from Dean’s blog:
For some time now I have been mentioning that we will be starting up a lecture series at WMG Publishing. Well, we have the first three lectures done and will be adding in new lectures almost every week from now on out.
You can get full information at any time on the Lecture Series on the tab above. I will announce new lectures as they come live and put them under the tab above and also on the sidebar list.
Right now there is a long lecture by me on Heinlein’s Rules and two regular lectures by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, one on how to Read Like a Writer and another on How to Write a Short Story: The Basics.
Some Basics About the Lectures
— Each lecture is on a topic that might interest writers in one fashion or another.
— These are video lectures. And each lecture is made up of a number of videos each about seven to ten minutes long. (A couple of the videos get much longer, however. But we tried to keep them in the ten minute range so that you could go and come from the lecture as you wanted and had time. Similar to what we are doing in the online workshops.)
— You can come and go and watch a lecture at your own pace. And come back as often as you would like for as long as you like.
— The passwords for each lecture will change on the first of each month, but if you have paid for a lecture, simply write for the new month’s password if you would like to come back and watch part or all of the lecture again in the future. (If you sign up during the last week or so of a month, we will give you two month’s passwords.)
The Available Lectures
More lectures will be added onto the list every week or so by a varied number of professionals on a varied number of topics. Check back regularly.
15 videos by Dean Wesley Smith (who follows Heinlein’s Rules)
Robert A. Heinlein, in 1947, in an effort to help new writers coming in, gave what he termed as his “business habits.” He basically said that if followed, his rules will make a want-to-be writer into a professional writer.
But Heinlein acknowledged that the simple five rules seemed almost impossible to follow. Heinlein said,“…they are amazingly hard to follow–which is why there are so few professional writers and so many aspirants…”
USA Today bestselling writer Dean Wesley Smith talks about each of the five rules, why they seem so difficult, why they work for writers when followed, and how to follow them even in this new world of indie publishing. Dean started following all five of Heinlein’s Rules in 1982 and since 1987 worked as a full-time professional fiction writer. He still follows the rules to this day.
You may not end up following Heinlein’s Rules, but you will learn a vast amount about writing from these 15 videos.
Read Like A Writer.
8 videos by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, award-winning writer and editor.
Award-winning and bestselling writer, Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about how aspiring writers read in the wrong fashion and for the wrong things. Then she goes on to explain how professional writers read to enjoy books and keep learning from other writers. And she tells you how to make that switch from reading poorly to reading to help your writing.
For a writer hungry to keep learning, reading becomes critical. But reading in the wrong fashion can set back your progress. A critical topic for all writers.
These eight videos may change how you look at books as a writer, and they certainly might help you bring back the fun of reading again.
How to Write a Short Story: The Basics.
7 long videos by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, award-winning writer and editor.
Kristine Kathryn Rusch won a Hugo Award for both her editing and her short fiction, the only person in history to do so. She is the only writer in history to be in all four Dell Magazines (Asimov’s, Ellery Queen, Analog, and Hitchcock’s) in the same year. And she accomplished feat that in numbers of years now. Nominated for every major award in short fiction in varied genres for both editing and writing, she won a number of them.
In these videos, Kris lays out the basics of how to write a short story.
If you have questions about something in a lecture…
— If you have a question about something in the lecture, there are two ways to get an answer. First, at the bottom of each page is a comments section. Everyone listening to the lecture will be able to see the question and the answer, so that will turn into a FAQ area for each lecture.
— If your question is more private in nature, simply e-mail us and we will do our best to respond.
How to Sign Up
— The prices are on each lecture in the list below as well as the number of videos included in the lecture. Again each video is about eight to ten minutes long, with some being longer.
Write Dean at email@example.com and give him the following information.
2… E-mail address
3… Name of lecture(s) you are signing up for.
Please put “Lecture Series” in the subject line to help the spam filter bypass.
Pay for the lecture by either…
— PayPal to firstname.lastname@example.org
— Send a check made out to WMG Publishing to WMG Publishing, PO Box 479, Lincoln City, OR 97367.
Once payment has been made, we will send you the password for the lecture(s) and from that point forward you are free to come and go with that lecture and watch each video as many times as you would like for as long as you would like.
#1… Heinlein’s Rules… Dean Wesley Smith 15 videos… $75.00
#2… Read Like a Writer… Kristine Kathryn Rusch… 8 videos… $50.00
#3… How to Write a Short Story: The Basics… Kristine Kathryn Rusch…. 7 videos… $50.00
Watch for more lectures coming each week.
And if you have a request for a lecture topic or any questions at all, please e-mail Dean and put Lecture Series in the subject line.
We’re pretty proud of these. I hope you enjoy them. | <urn:uuid:4574248f-a55b-4265-bb22-b4d1e3185779> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kriswrites.com/2013/02/12/online-lecture-series/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955345 | 1,381 | 1.609375 | 2 |
With all the media attention focused on Microsoft's not-so-friendly takeover bid of Yahoo, a below-the-radar acquisition target proves why social commerce is the future of search.
Google is in talks to acquire Facebook competitor and global social network, Bebo. Along with Hi5, Google social network Orkut dominates the South American social networking landscape. Adding Bebo, which owns 65 percent of the UK market, would fit nicely in the growing Google puzzle of acquisitions and partnerships (YouTube, MySpace, Urchin).
Google and The New New Thing
Google's buying into social networking and social search in a big way even though monetization remains problematic.
Despite social network traffic increasing eightfold in 2007, social search engines still account for less than 1 percent of total Internet traffic, according to Hitwise. There's huge upside potential.
Google continues to struggle in its partnership with MySpace. Generating robust revenue streams from its $900 million deal with NewsCorp has been a challenge. Many insiders believe Google is losing money on the deal. Even Google co-founder Sergey Brin admitted, "I don't think we have the killer, best way to advertise and monetize social networks yet."
It's probably no coincidence News Corp's Rupert Murdoch may trade MySpace for a 20 percent stake in Yahoo.
Some Web pundits aren't sold either. "What you have with social networks is the most overhyped scenario in online advertising," said Tim Vanderhook, CEO of Specific Media.
So, if Google and others are struggling with social networks, why would Google waste its time and resources by acquiring Bebo?
Socialommerce and Twitter's Death by Facebook
Socialommerce™ is the next big thing. Google product guru Marissa Mayer recently told The New York Times that social search would be a key component in the future of search. Social commerce deserves Google's unbridled attention. What is socialommerce exactly? Social commerce harnesses the simple idea that people value other people's opinions. Nielsen reports 78 percent of people trust their peers' opinions. This is neither a new concept, nor new to the Web (e.g., epinions.com).
What is new: social networks make so much easier to disseminate the information. And people want to disseminate information. How else can one explain the popularity of Twitter? Twitter is a product that enables users to text their group of friends daily to indicate what they're doing every minute of the day (I'm having an ice cream cone, I'm studying for an exam, etc.). Twitter's popularity, currently relegated to teens, is gaining popularity with adults.
Facebook's status updates are far and away one of its most popular features. Status updates enable everyone to brag, boast, and tell people what's going on in their lives. It helps them stay connected (duh, the social piece of the network).
The need for Twitter? Facebook will make it obsolete shortly. RIP, Twitter.
Facebook allows people to update their activities in real time and informs everyone in their network instantly. Facebook's mobile application makes it even easier to do this.
That's one reason 100 billion stories per day are processed through Facebook's Newsfeed servers.
Socialommerce in Action
Let's take a look at a couple examples of how socialommerce works.
Online Retail: Karen (age 48) just received her IRS refund check for $170. She feels like treating herself by buying something, but doesn't have anything particular in mind. Karen quickly taps into her social networks to see what other people she respects (friends/peers) are buying and whether they like or dislike their choices.
Within five minutes, she decides to purchase an iPod Nano since her friend Sally bought one and she loves it. The fact Sally has one and likes it assuaged Karen's fear of technology since Sally is even more of a technical neophyte than Karen. Knowing this drove 95 percent of Karen's decision process in minutes.
The big social networks will eventually dominate this portion of socialommerce. Sites like ThisNext, Kaboodle, and WishPot, are taking advantage of this market opportunity in the short term by enabling the buyer to quickly share their purchases and reviews with friends.
Travel: Suzy (age 34) has set aside a budget of $1,400 to take a trip this year with her husband. The only thing she knows at this point: destination, South America. In the past she would've performed a search on Google, which would have taken her to some helpful sites like Travelzoo, Tripadvisor, Lonely Planet, and others. She probably would've narrowed down her choices after hours of research. From there, she would then begin the arduous task of finding the best deal that accommodates her schedule and desires.
This process becomes much simpler for Suzy in the near future. She'd simply go to her social network of choice and search for South American vacations. The results would pop up: five of her friends have traveled to South America in the last year. They list their itinerary, hotels and resorts, as well as prices and recommendations.
Suzy sees two of her friends both took a trip to Chile through GoAhead vacations and rated it highly. It's within her budget, and the same package is available. She quickly snatches it up before it's sold out. She saved hours of painstaking research and the fees of a travel agent. Socialommerce gave her peace of mind and the anticipation of an enjoyable adventure.
So you can see why Google is interested in social networks. They just might become the first place where people perform their searches
Have you used social networks to plan vacations or buy gifts? Click here to tell me how it's working out for you.
Next up: Social search transforms social networks. Big brands, you've been warned.
Introducing SES Online
Want to view one of the sessions you missed or listen to an especially informative presenter a second time? SES New York sessions are available for purchase on ClickZ Academy's new e-Learning site. SES is now Online! | <urn:uuid:be117aae-5272-4f1e-856f-f5cb05a29969> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2067506/Social-Media-and-Online-Commerce-Birth-of-Socialommerce | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952708 | 1,253 | 1.515625 | 2 |
ABSTRACT: The ACCESS trial examined the 12-month effectiveness of continuous therapeutic assertive community treatment (ACT) as part of integrated care compared to standard care in a catchment area comparison design in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders treated with quetiapine immediate release.
Two catchment areas in Hamburg, Germany, with similar population size and health care structures were assigned to offer 12-month ACT as part of integrated care (n = 64) or standard care (n = 56) to 120 patients with first- or multiple-episode schizophrenia spectrum disorders (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders criteria); multiple-episode patients were restricted to those with a history of relapse due to medication nonadherence. The primary outcome was time to service disengagement. Secondary outcomes comprised medication nonadherence, improvements of symptoms, functioning, quality of life, satisfaction with care from patients' and relatives' perspectives, and service use data. The study was conducted from April 2005 to December 2008.
17 of 120 patients (14.2%) disengaged with service, 4 patients (6.3%) in the ACT and 13 patients (23.2%) in the standard care group. The mean Kaplan-Meier estimated time in service was 50.7 weeks in the ACT group (95% CI, 49.1-52.0) and 44.1 weeks in the standard care group (95% CI, 40.1-48.1). This difference was statistically significant (P = .0035). Mixed models repeated measures indicated larger improvements for ACT compared to standard care regarding symptoms (P < . 01), illness severity (P < . 001), global functioning (P < . 05), quality of life (P < . 05), and client satisfaction as perceived by patients and family (both P < . 05). Logistic regression analyses revealed that ACT was associated with a higher likelihood of being employed/occupied (P = .001), of living independently (P = .007), and of being adherent with medication (P < . 001) and a lower likelihood of persistent substance misuse (P = .027).
Compared to standard care, intensive therapeutic ACT as part of integrated care could improve 1-year outcome. Future studies need to address in which settings these improvements can be sustained.
clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01081418.
The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 03/2010; 71(10):1313-23. · 5.80 Impact Factor | <urn:uuid:87f6a061-bf20-46eb-85ec-1f463a90b1df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.researchgate.net/researcher/35795779_Marietta_Frieling/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934881 | 506 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Annan in Geneva. (Reuters)
New York, Aug. 3: With UN peace envoy Kofi Annan walking out of his mission yesterday, hopes of a diplomatic resolution to the conflict in Syria may have been dashed, but the unfortunate turn of events has raised India’s stock at the UN.
New Delhi’s vote in the Security Council last month in support of a western resolution that sought to give teeth to Annan’s mission in Syria has been vindicated by the former UN secretary general’s decision.
Annan, who had been embraced by all sides in the Syrian conundrum early on in his mission because of his impartiality, said yesterday that he had come to the conclusion that “it is clear that President Bashar al-Assad must leave office”.
Writing an adieu to his five-month peace efforts in The Financial Times, Annan said “while the Security Council is trapped in stalemate, so too is Syria…. Instead, there has been finger-pointing and name-calling in the Security Council”.
In a rare step, the General Assembly today overwhelmingly echoed Annan’s frustration and passed a resolution ‘‘deploring the Security Council’s failure’’ to act. It is unusual for one arm of the UN, its General Assembly, to criticise another, the Security Council.
The resolution was passed with 133 UN members voting in its favour and only 12 voting against, reflecting dwindling support for Assad within the international community. India was among 31 countries which abstained.
Unfortunately for the people of Syria, trapped in a cycle of violence, General Assembly resolutions, unlike those in the Security Council, cannot be enforced. But they have moral weight and reflect views of the majority of nations.
Speaking at a news conference in Geneva explaining his decision to abandon his mission at the end of August, Annan blamed “most of all… the Syrian government’s intransigence and continuing refusal to implement (his) six-point (peace) plan” but he also blamed “the escalating military campaign of the Opposition”.
The Security Council resolution which India voted for on July 19 would have invoked Chapter 7 of the UN Charter to demonstrate to the combatants in Syria, but especially to the government in Damascus, that failure to respond to the Annan peace plan would have consequences.
It demanded compliance under Article 41 of Chapter 7 which rules out “the use of armed force” and not under Article 42 which allows for military solutions. All the same, the Indian government’s decision to vote for the western resolution was criticised by sections of opinion within the country.
It is now clear that this resolution was the only chance for continuing the peace efforts in Syria, but it was vetoed by Russia and China. Unable to get the Security Council behind him, Annan threw in the towel, but India can have the satisfaction that it has no blood on its hands as a non-permanent member of the Council.
In a passionate appeal to the General Assembly before it voted on the resolution today, UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon warned that “the conflict in Syria is a test of everything this organisation stands for. I do not want today’s United Nations to fail that test”. | <urn:uuid:a4b209c0-e6d6-4d23-9821-85f2613d8fbd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120804/jsp/foreign/story_15812187.jsp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964524 | 683 | 1.75 | 2 |
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. ALTMIRE. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank my friend, Congressman Poe, for his strong leadership on this issue and for again working with me this year to highlight the critical importance of expanded mobile communications along our southern border.
Last year I had the opportunity to visit the district of our former colleague, Gabrielle Giffords, in southwestern Arizona, where I met with customs and Border Patrol agents, examined construction of the border fence and spoke with ranchers and residents who live and work in the remote areas along the U.S.-Mexico border. In rural areas along that border, cell phone service is virtually nonexistent, and where service does exist, it's often unreliable. Some ranchers even have to resort to communicating through the use of two-way radios.
The lack of cell phone service presents an obvious safety issue for ranchers, as my friend, Congressman Poe outlined, and it's a safety issue for residents and the National Guard troops who patrol that protected area. If a rancher feels threatened, he cannot currently call for help or alert law enforcement to the situation.
To address this issue, our amendment adds $10 million to the general account for border security fencing, infrastructure, and technology to expand mobile communications in remote areas along our southern border. These funds may be used by the Department of Homeland Security to enter into public-private partnerships which will provide a more reliable communications link between law enforcement officials and citizens who live and work in our border areas.
Last year, Congressman Poe and I offered a similar amendment that passed with a strong bipartisan vote of 327 93. Despite its inclusion in last year's omnibus funding measure, little action to date has been taken by DHS to implement stronger cell coverage along the U.S.-Mexico border. I urge support of our amendment to show DHS that the safety of our southern border is a priority for this Congress.
This is a problem we can and must fix. Supporting this amendment will not increase spending, but what it will do is protect the public and increase the effectiveness of law enforcement in rural border areas.
I ask my colleagues to support this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT | <urn:uuid:35c46750-ea8e-4449-bcdb-a18489bb1b4b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://votesmart.org/public-statement/705951/department-of-homeland-security-appropriations-act-2013 | 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 | 0.953122 | 457 | 1.796875 | 2 |
A heavy dump of warm spring rain tomorrow may reduce the thick cover of snow in the Alpine region, but it won't stop resorts extending their bumper season.
Alpine resorts have capitalised on the extra-long snow season this year, some closing up to a week later than normal; however, warm late-spring rain on Friday will reduce snow depth.
Sean Carson, from the Bureau of Meteorology, says 50-100 millimetres of rain is expected to fall tomorrow afternoon in the Australian Alps, cutting the current natural snow depth of two metres. Five to 10 centimetres of snow is expected to fall on Saturday so resorts ''shouldn't be too worried,'' he said.
Thredbo too has stretched its opening dates, utilising grooming machines for late season. But from next Tuesday, only the Basin and Karels area will be open for riders.
According to Andrew Watkins, manager of Climate Prediction Services at the BoM, the great snow cover was due to a ''neutral winter'' (neither El Nino nor La Nina).
''The most favourable condition tend to be in the middle - neutral conditions … these are generalisations of course . . individual weather events at the right time can make or break a season,'' he said.
Neil Thew, public relations manager of Perisher said, ''We still have a good cover for this time of year, but it's spring conditions given the days are now warmer.''
The resorts weren't the only ones busy this ski season.
The Snowy Hydro SouthCare helicopter attended 18 call-outs, 10 from Thredbo eight from Perisher, more than doubling the rescue missions last year. Fractures were the most common injury. Costing $3000 per hour to run, the helicopter takes 20-30 minutes to reach ski fields.
Mr Carson said Canberrans could expect 20-40 millimetres of rain later this week. | <urn:uuid:044f1d51-c677-4c21-8a50-caebf8136342> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.naracoorteherald.com.au/story/362299/resorts-hail-the-white-of-spring/?cs=34 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934655 | 390 | 1.546875 | 2 |
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