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Castro Valley High Journalism teacher Matt Johanson passed on a video get-well card for fellow faculty member Nick Whitaker, who underwent successful surgery for cancer this week.
'Dubb' as he is widely known, is a mentor to many students, especially those who take his Leadership class, which tackles real-world issues like reducing waste at Castro Valley High.
Thanks to Olivia Berden of the Olympian staff who produced this video.
(In a related story, former San Lorenzo High teacher Elliott Schneider, bounced back from cancer to start playing rock -- at age 65.)
Offer Dubb your best wishes and/or recollection in the comments below. | <urn:uuid:1d081a9e-3d90-4c8b-b0f7-8fe380b862d3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://castrovalley.patch.com/groups/around-town/p/video-get-well-soon-mr-whitaker | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962118 | 135 | 1.539063 | 2 |
U.S. 701 Business | U.S. 701-A | U.S. 1 (NCRoads.com) | U.S. 301 | U.S. 401 (NCRoads.com) | U.S. 501 (NCRoads.com) | U.S. 601
< U.S. 178 (NCRoads.com) | U.S. 311 (NCRoads.com)>
|U.S. 701 113 miles|
|The Road:||Enters Columbus County from South Carolina at Tabor City. Ends at I-95 (exit 90); US 301, NC 96 near Four Oaks in Johnston County.
Nationally, US 701 runs from US 17-17 ALT Georgetown, SC to Four Oaks.
|Towns and Attractions:||Columbus Co.: Tabor City; Whiteville (Powell Blvd)
Bladen Co.: Clarkton (College St); Elizabethtown (Poplar St); White Lake
Sampson Co.: Garland (Ingold Av); Clinton; Newton Grove
Johnston Co.: Bentonville Battleground
|History:||US 701 is not an original 1927 US Route. It came to North Carolina in 1932, the same year it was created nationally. In that fateful year, US 701 was placed on most of NC 23. US 701 ran pretty much the way it does now, as it has not seen any major alignment changes since then. In fact, the 1932 Shell Map puts US 701's distance at 114 miles (compared with 113 today), which gives a good indication that not much major has happened with US 701. But a few things have happened...
In late 1934 NC 23 was removed from US 701's route.
Between 1947-50, US 701 received its first bypass of Clinton, to the east of town. This was new construction (and now is partly US 701 Business and partly East Blvd). The old way through Clinton (Lisbon and Beamer Sts) became US 701-A (no longer numbered today).
Also in 1950, US 701 was rerouted in Tabor City to use today's US 701 Business. Previously, US 701 used today's NC 410 to enter South Carolina (US 701 followed all of today's SC 410 as well). The new route from Tabor City had been part of NC-SC 904.
Between 1953-55 US 701 was given its bypass of Whiteville. The old route through town became US 701-A (US 701 Business today).
Between 1957-58, US 701 was given its bypass of Tabor City. The old route became US 701-A (US 701 Business today).
Between 1964-68 US 701 was given its bypass of Ingold, leaving behind "Old US 701"
By the mid-70's, US 701 was moved onto its western bypass of Clinton (The US 421 portion had been there a long time). The previous mainline US 701 bypass became US 701 Business.
No official map shows the Clarkton Bypass, but there is a bypass shown on the 1993 DeLorme. I have no idea how long it has been there. The old route through Clarkton is US 701 Business.
|U.S. 701 Business 3 miles|
|The route:||US 701 Business for Tabor City was created in 1960 as a renumbering of US 701-A. The route through town uses 6th St and Railroad St. The northern half was once original NC 23. Today it is mostly multiplexed with NC 410 and the southern half was once NC 904. US 701 Business is the only Business route in N.C. to cross a state line, but it is NOT South Carolina's only example (US 25 Bus in Augusta-N. Augusta, natch).|
|U.S. 701 Business 5 miles|
|The route:||US 701 Business for Whiteville was created in 1960 as a renumbering of US 701-A. The route through town uses Madison St. and meets US 74 Bus-76 Bus at the town square. This was once original NC 23. US 701 Business is blown off by the US 74-76 freeway. Oddly, Us 701 Business has not shown up on an official map since before at least 1968.|
|U.S. 701 Business 7 miles|
|The route:||The current US 701 Business for Clinton was created in the early 70's as a renumbering of Clinton's original US 701 Bypass. The route mostly uses Pugh Rd. The DeLorme suggests US 701 Business and Bypass on the eastern side of Clinton could've used other alignments as well, such as Raleigh St. The Official Maps do not sort this out sufficiently.|
|U.S. 701 Business 3 miles|
|The route:||US 701 Business for Clarkton goes back to at least 1993 (DeLorme) but could be a lot older, as it never appears on any official maps. The route through town uses College St. and was once original NC 23.|
|U.S. 701 Business disestablished|
|The route:||The first US 701 Business for Clinton was created in 1960. It replaced US 701-A along Lisbon and Beaman Sts This route had once been the original NC 23.
It appears that by 1963, US 701 Business was demoted to secondary status, which it remains today. | <urn:uuid:20b9bdf9-019c-4f71-a14c-836d84530018> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://vahighways.com/ncannex/route-log/us701.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952138 | 1,121 | 1.757813 | 2 |
A Fate Worse Than Death
Ask anyone who suffers from stage fright, and they often equate speaking in public to death and dying. I have even heard someone claim that it is worse than death. Well, here’s the bad news—Stage Fright Call Reluctance can be even worse. Does that mean that Stage Fright Call Reluctance is worse than worse than death?
by Frank Lee
Salespeople with Stage Fright Call Reluctance make quick career decisions. They decide early on in their careers that they will never make a living doing party-type sales or that they will not be making group presentations to sell anything. They compensate for this by concentrating their efforts on other types of sales where selling is conducted one-on-one. Having made this decision, they tend to find sales pretty lucrative. They rarely stop to calculate how much extra money they could make if they would overcome this affliction. They simply resign themselves to avoiding those opportunities. Some even brag about how scared they are of public speaking. Perhaps it’s not bragging—perhaps they are simply warning others not to call on them to address a crowd even if the whole crowd would then buy something from them.
Here’s the good news: it is one of the easiest of the call reluctances to cure. Most salespeople with this call reluctance refuse to believe it. I always get that knowing smile when I tell someone how easy it is to fix. It’s as if they think I don’t know how they feel, and they just know it will never go away.
Stage Fright Is Not One Thing
Stage fright is the general fear of speaking in front of a group of people. In the case of Stage Fright Call Reluctance, sometimes two or more people constitute a group, and this inhibits the salesperson from comfortably addressing them. To compound the problem, it’s not even one thing. It can be one of three separate types, explained below.
A few years ago, the call reluctance pioneers, George W. Dudley and Shannon L. Goodson, noticed that some salespeople with Stage Fright Call Reluctance responded differently to the treatment they had prescribed. Puzzled, they conducted an interesting experiment with 28 salespeople. They subsequently repeated this experiment with many more salespeople after they discovered some important results.
They asked salespeople with high incidences of Stage Fright Call Reluctance to complete a simple questionnaire that contained only three questions. The first question asked them to rate their fear of speaking in front of a group. The second asked them to rate their fear of speaking in front of a group of people who could see them but had difficulty hearing them because they were hearing-impaired. The third question asked them to rate their fear of speaking in front of a group of people who were sight-impaired. They could hear them but they could not see them. They then tabulated their responses.
This experiment confirmed that there were indeed different types of Stage Fright Call Reluctance. If, they reasoned, Stage Fright Call Reluctance was one thing, then the answers to all three questions should be the same. They were not. What they found was that some people became even more uncomfortable when they knew they could be seen but not heard, while others became extremely uncomfortable when they knew they could be heard but not seen. There were a few who reacted badly to both scenarios.
Three Types of Stage Fright Call Reluctance
This led them to identify the three types of Stage Fright Call Reluctance: X, Y, and Z types.
The X types consisted of people who became overexcited and worried a lot. Their primary behavior was worrying. This put them closer to Doomsayers who tend to worry about worst-case scenarios. Speaking in public was just another thing they had to worry about.
The Y types were over-concerned about appearing as if they did not know what they were talking about. Their primary behaviors consisted of making laborious notes and preparing over and over again. Their presentations would be stiff and formal, and they often read their notes verbatim. These salespeople related more to salespeople with Overpreparer Call Reluctance. These are salespeople who are constantly preparing but who never seem to find the time to do the things they prepare for.
The Z types were the show time people. They were more concerned about how they appeared to the audience. Their primary behavior consisted of making sure the image was right, that they looked great. This puts them closer to salespeople with Hyperpro Call Reluctance. These are salespeople who are over-concerned with projecting the right image. They tend to avoid situations where they will look bad even if those same situations can bring in sales or money.
Regardless of the type of Stage Fright Call Reluctance, it impairs salespeople from effectively using audiences to promote themselves and their products or services. In many cases, it results in avoidance behavior—avoiding selling opportunities simply because “I don’t do things like that.” However, in many other cases, it does not always mean they will not do it. It means that when they do, they are far less effective than they could be. Because they are so afraid, they often forget to say something, or they sound lame or stilted, or they simply ignore the audience and just say their piece and then get out of there.
Does It Affect All Salespeople?
Several years ago, I tested a large group of salespeople and found them to be extremely high in Stage Fright Call Reluctance. I wondered if this was a problem since I knew that they did not regularly make group presentations. I decided to ask them how important it was.
A few hundred took a short questionnaire. It asked them if they made group presentations, how many they did, how many they thought they should do, and did they think they should do group presentations because it would help their sales. I then put them into groups and asked them to discuss the issue and present a group consensus on whether or not group presentations could help them make more sales and if they felt, as a group, that they should make group presentations. Individually and as groups, they were asked how many group presentations they did and how many they thought they should do.
The results surprised me. Overwhelmingly, they said that group presentations would help them increase sales and that they should be making them. They also admitted that they did not do very many and wished that they did. There was a huge gap between the number of group presentations they said they did and what they said they should do. This told me that even agricultural implement salespeople needed to overcome this call reluctance because it could lead to bigger and more sales.
Is It Important?
In today’s business world, it seems more and more that salespeople have to present to groups. Sometimes these groups are large; sometimes they consist only of a couple of decision-makers. Often, they are boards of directors or panels of company experts. Salespeople with Stage Fright Call Reluctance will have difficulty in these circumstances.
Again, it does not mean that they will not do them. It means that they will not be as effective in them as they could be. They usually leave these meetings kicking themselves for not saying something or for doing something they feel embarrassed about later. Often they feel they had not been very effective—and they probably were not.
Stage Fright and Telesales
When I worked for Mr. Dudley and Ms. Goodson, we visited with a CEO of a telesales company in Australia. His salespeople were not doing as well as he had hoped. Our representative there had administered the call reluctance test to all the employees. We noticed the high Stage Fright Call Reluctance scores. We asked about the working conditions and found that they worked in a sort of bull pen. Mr. Dudley suggested that they erect walls between the telesalespeople. They did and their sales took off.
Why? In their former situation, they had an audience all around them. Every other telesales person was part of that audience. With more privacy, they were more at ease and less anxious about the calls they were making. I have seen this many times since.
Imagine If You Can …
Whenever I discuss stage fright with salespeople and they tell me that they do not have to make group presentations, I ask them to imagine that they could do it and then ask them to estimate how much additional business they could get if they did. This usually opens their eyes to opportunities that they were habitually avoiding. Once they realize the scope of these opportunities, they sometimes become motivated to overcome their Stage Fright Call Reluctance.
How To Fix It
I often read with some amusement the articles written by stage fright “experts” who tell readers to talk it away. Like many of the call reluctances, stage fright is an emotional problem, not one of logic. If it were logical, one could simply talk it away. Unfortunately, the words we use to talk it away are usually the same words that got it there in the first place.
Mr. Dudley and Ms. Goodson describe a very effective technique in their book, The Psychology of Sales Call Reluctance called "Threat Desensitization." This is a mechanical cure. In other words, it does not require you to understand or even agree with the method. If you simply do it correctly, it will muscle out the stage fright in less than 2 weeks. It breaks the fear-inducing situation down into its component parts and then assigns fear or stress points to each part. It then attacks the weakest part first, which automatically lowers all the rest. By working through the ranks from lowest stress points to highest, it systematically destroys the fear altogether. Does it work?
Ask Annette, an independent sales trainer who had paid other people to teach workshops for her until she dealt with her call reluctance, which took only 10 days. Ask Bob, an insurance salesperson who now regularly does presentations comfortably to boards and makes bigger sales than he had been accustomed to getting. There is a seemingly endless list of people, in and out of sales, who have learned that speaking in public does not have to be like death and dying. | <urn:uuid:94f97834-d7ce-45c2-a6a7-59aa1d9286b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sales-academy.com/index.cfm/fa/category.display/category_id/83/A.cfm&CFID=119702225&CFTOKEN=63257462 | 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 | 0.986943 | 2,127 | 1.828125 | 2 |
| TXSES Annual
Sat. Jan. 8, 2011
Trinity RIver Audubon Center Dallas, TX
Join us at this spectacular facility. Mingle with other solar enthusiasts, drink good beer and hear our guest speaker address the prospects for Net Metering in the state. Read more
TXSES has chapters in San Antonio, Houston, Austin, North Texas, El Paso and recently the RIo Grande Valley. Read what's happening in your neighborhood & hook up with your solar community.
which raises awareness and funds for 70 environmental and conservation minded organizations through workplace donations.
John Gardner/TXSES Chairman
We have had another productive year for the Texas Solar Energy Society. The year started with new Board members (new faces and fresh ideas).
We helped sponsor these events in 2010: Stampede in Salado in April; The Cool House Tour in Austin in June; Renewable Energy Round Up in Fredericksburg; solar tours in San Antonio, Houston and North Texas.
We added two new Texas state chapters in 2010: Solar Austin and Rio South Texas in the Valley. We also revitalized NTREG in Dallas/Ft. Worth.
We provided scholarships to students and grants to high school programs that promoted solar and renewable energy.
See, I told you we were busy! Read more
| Solar and Renewable Energy Bills Are|
Now Being Filed at the
the Texas State Legislature
By Michael Albrecht
The 82nd Texas Legislative session begins on Tuesday, January 11, 2011. Pre-filing for the session began on November 8, 2010. Several solar and renewable-related bills have been filed and more are expected as the session gets underway, including one for a statewide solar rebate program. Though the session is expected to be dominated by the state budget shortfall and redistricting, renewable energy bills will be debated in the State Affairs, Energy Resources, and Technology, Economic Development and Workforce committees. Read more about the importance of the upcoming session relating to renewable energy in Texas.
| Solar America Cities Grant:|
Update and Expansion
By Natalie Marquis
TXSES is now on round two of its SAC grant work. After a number of pathways were explored, we seem to have come to a strong and vibrant scope of work to be carried out, specifically for the Austin Independent School District (AISD). In a recent meeting with AISD, TXSES demonstrated what it has to offer their teachers in terms of both solar training and curriculum. Read more
| The Quest for Net Zero in |
By Mike Renner
It started out in the early 80's with an article in Popular Science magazine. The article showed a detailed plan on how to build a small solar heater that could be mounted in a window to provide heat for a house. I followed the instructions and mounted it in the window of our rent house. I was amazed at how well it worked and from then on I was hooked on solar. Read more of Mike's quest.
| TXSES Welcomes New Chapter|
Rio South Texas
By Lucy Stolzenburg
Think of the Rio Grande Valley and it's hard not to think of sunshine. So it's with great pleasure that TXSES welcomes their sixth chapter, Rio South Texas.
Born out of the desire to retool her plastics molding manufacturing facility to accommodate the production of solar panels, Sue Tseng and other entrepreneurs saw an opportunity to educate Valley residents on the power of the sun. With the help of John Lloyd from the Rapid Response Manufacturing Center at UT Pan American, and Charo Mann at the SW Community Investment Corp & Women's Business Center, the chapter was created in late Summer 2010. Read more
|ASES Solar Tour a Great Success for Three
By Debrah Dubay
Texas Solar Energy Society member organizations participated in the October 2, 15th Annual ASES National Solar Tour, self-guided tours where participants learned the effect of solar energy applications used in over 60 homes and businesses in communities across Texas. TXSES chapters in Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio/Bexar County presented tour goers with a wealth of solar energy opportunities.Read more
| Recommended Reading |
TXSES Executive Director, Natalie Marquis, is intrigued by this article that reviews the premise of a new book by Roger Pielke
, The Climate Fix.
The Solar Reflector is a publication of TXSES
Executive Director - Natalie Marquis
Chairman - John Gardner
Editor - Lucy Stolzenburg
Copy Editor - Susan Tedter
The Texas Solar Energy Society, a 501 (c) (3), was founded in 1976 as a non-profit organization created to increase awareness for the potential of solar and other renewable energy applications and to promote the wise use of sustainable and non-polluting resources.
TXSES is a chapter of the American Solar Energy Society, shining light on the solution since 1954. | <urn:uuid:dd756635-b2c0-4c23-8c2f-a7a01d48230e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs024/1103470437563/archive/1103906728116.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932027 | 1,013 | 1.6875 | 2 |
I’d been forewarned that the art of book for Coraline was not very good, but that didn’t prepare me for the publishing disaster that is Coraline: A Visual Companion. After looking at it in the bookstore recently, I can say with some confidence that this is the single worst ‘art of’ book I’ve ever seen published in conjunction with a major animated release.
For beginners, all of the film stills in the book are pixelated and muddy. I’m not talking just about the full-page frame blowups, even regular-sized images that take up only a third or half of the page look like hell. Beyond the poor image reproduction, they also made an inexcusable editorial decision to print the visual development artwork of only two illustrators: Dave McKean and Tadahiro Uesugi. The book, in fact, neglects to showcase the work of any of the animation artists who worked on the film, including the people who actually designed the look and feel of the movie.
One of the film’s primary character designers Shane Prigmore recently did a post on his blog about working on the film. In that post, he mentions some of the artists whose work shaped the film visually, including visual development artists Dan Krall, Shannon Tindle, Chris Appelhans, Jon Klassen, Andy Schuhler, and Stef Choi, sculptors Kent Melton, Damon Bard, Leo Rijn, Tony Merrithew and Scott Foster, and story artist Chris Butler, Andy Schuhler, Vera Brosgol, Graham Annable and Mike Cachuella. Unbelievably not a single piece of artwork from any of these artists can be found in the book. Instead it is page after page of Tadahiro Uesugi’s work. A lot of it is repetitive because they are costume suggestions that he drew using characters that had already been designed by the artists listed above. The irony is that even fans of Uesugi’s work will be disappointed because of the small print size of his artwork.
For all I know, the writing in the book (and there is a lot of it) may be wonderful. The book, however, is called “A Visual Companion” and on that mark it is a complete and utter failure. I’ve never seen an ‘art of’ book that eliminates the work of every single artist who worked on the film save for one whose work wasn’t even a primary factor in the film’s final look.
I’ve been looking forward to seeing Coraline for a long time and I still am. Unfortunately, with tie-in books like this and the film’s lackluster marketing campaign (the subway and bus stop ads around NYC are a subject for another time), I may be watching the film in an empty movie theater.
(To see a representative sampling of artwork from this film, check out a discussion panel with the film’s key designers on Saturday February 7 at Gallery Nucleus.) | <urn:uuid:586542d9-0ff9-43a3-ad37-524a550a0782> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cartoonbrew.com/date/2009/01/page/2 | 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 | 0.962524 | 637 | 1.515625 | 2 |
CME providers are generally quite adept at conforming to current requirements for development of compliant activities., too, are generally guideline-compliant and when unfamiliar with the rules, they are ready to listen, understand, and comply.
As in any endeavor, however, there are outliers: those faculty who claim they have not been informed about guidelines, or do not agree with them, or simply refuse to comply. That is the problem, one that threatens relationships among faculty, providers, and grantors. For example, some faculty members and attendees refuse to participate in CME activities if they can't bring a spouse or guest and have the tab picked up by the educational grant. Those of us who thought that this practice was a non-issue — one that was addressed years ago — are appropriately surprised by such revelations. Apparently, CME providers, medical institutions, and medical associations have not delivered and reinforced the message adequately.
While the “all-expenses paid” mind-set is still a reality, a more immediate and frequent problem is potential faculty members insisting on adding slides and other material to their presentations without prior approval of the provider. Faculty who are unfamiliar with the guidelines or who object to them may complain to the provider's education partners or grantors that the provider is being rigid and uncooperative. In these circumstances, the faculty member fails to realize that the provider follows, but does not make, the rules. Accreditation Council for CME, Office of Inspector General, and other guidances are foreign to these individuals. Most — but not all — will agree to comply once informed.
Confrontations among all parties to the CME activity most frequently occur when ill-informed faculty insist on using unapproved slides or other information for presentations. It is common practice for providers to approve a core set of slides, for example, for a given activity, and fewer supplemental slides to give faculty the flexibility to customize their presentations within prescribed boundaries. Conflicts develop when a faculty member wants to modify core and supplemental content ad hoc and doesn't give the provider the chance to review the changes. The situation is compounded when such personal, unapproved content then dominates the presentation.
Speakers certainly are entitled to include content in their talks that reflects personal research and experience. Ideally, providers should have advance knowledge of this material, but in any case, such content must be balanced, objective, scientifically sound, must contribute to the learning experience and objectives, and must not overwhelm the approved content. Providers who forfeit this responsibility do a disservice to attendees and violate a basic tenet ofguidelines: content review and approval.
Providers, medical education companies, and grantors must take a strong stand against those who would wrest control of CME content from those responsible for its validation. We must recognize that all who claim to be educators — whether accredited or not — have an ongoing obligation to train faculty and other CME activity participants in the ethical and regulatory aspects of the profession. As with disclosure, those who refuse to comply should be excused from participation.
Robert F. Orsetti is assistant vice president, continuing education, University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark. Orsetti, a 30-year CME veteran, is a member of the AMA's National Task Force on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration. Contact him at (973) 972-8377 or send e-mail to email@example.com. For more of his columns, visit mm.meetingsnet.com. | <urn:uuid:4f6ea8b8-1408-49f6-b89d-17d45231e4d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://meetingsnet.com/medical-meetings/educate-faculty-about-regulations | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950613 | 721 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Anyone know any NOLA-based photographers?
We are working on a project with a 3rd-grade class at Batiste Cultural Arts Academy about how our personal lives fit in the context of a neighborhood and a city. The kids will be receiving disposable cameras to photograph representations of where they’re from, and we want to collaborate with a pro or two to maximize the learning experience. If you or anyone you know would be a good fit, e-mail us at firstname.lastname@example.org.
This one’s easy, yet hugely important. When you purchase your copy of BIG CLASS Volume I: The Animals or receive it in the mail, take a picture with it. We will post it on our blog. The kids will be thrilled to see their work spreading far and wide.
While on a recent trip to New Zealand, our friend Susan sent us a series of postcards that taught us about that country’s culture. It was great to learn about a place we had never really thought about before, and it felt really nice to get some mail from someone who cared about us. So nice, in fact, that we wrote her some postcards telling her about Louisiana.
Send us a postcard! Tell us a little bit about who you are and where you are from or where you’re visiting. We’ll write back.
Our address is:
Lincoln Elementary School
C/O BIG CLASS/Mr. Keller
2115 Oakmere Dr.
Harvey, LA 70058
Our students have just begun writing for the first time and are looking for people to create images for their stories about animals doing things they don’t normally do. Stories like The Zebra and the Unicorn by Destini Oakley (age 6):
The zebra and the unicorn were friends. One day, they went to the farm. Then they saw the old woman in the middle of the road playing basketball. They thought this was funny so they laughed. But then she invited them to play with her, so they did.
Or It Is Your Destiny to Destroy a Monster by Jamiyah Collins (age 6):
Once upon a time there was a cheetah whose destiny was to destroy the meanest monster. The meanest monster had kidnapped the cheetah’s father! He went to the castle and knocked on the door. The monster woke up and the cheetah scratched him. So the monster gave the cheetah his dad back and cried.
Hopefully, you are as astonished by their abilities as we are. Just as exciting has been their enthusiasm for the project that accompanies their writing-and here’s where you come in- a book that will collect their stories and pair each one with an illustration by a grown-up artist- YOU. The book will be a showcase for the talents of the students as well as those of the artists, while giving both students and artists a tremendous and invaluable sense of large-scale accomplishment and a lesson in publishing and creative collaboration. Each kid will get a copy of the book and we will be selling copies in local bookstores to raise money for future projects.
Our friend Kyle Kabel, the best graphic designer (http://kylekabel.com/), will be designing the book and we’re looking for collaborators to lend their talents to the stories. A drawing, a photograph, a painting- whatever you’d like to do. We want to give each artist two stories and the deadline of February 4 to complete their work.
It is our hope that this will be just the first installment of a continuing project, one that will grow based on interest and involvement. To express your interest or learn more, please e-mail us at
Last year, when Mr. Keller taught 5th grade, some wonderful friends of his out in California had a poster-making party. They used the old fashioned tools (construction paper, glue, glitter, etc.) to make posters that expressed encouraging ideas they hold dear. They put the posters in a big box, shipped them down to Waggaman, LA, and enclosed a note to the kids introducing themselves. Months later, the kids were still asking about their mysterious benefactors, and running the wisdom over and over in their brains. Their favorite was probably a banner that read “You Are One of a Kind.”
Create a poster by hand. Just as in Project 2, it can be encouraging, it can be academic, it can be profound, it can be whatever you think a kid would like to or should see in their classroom.
This project (and to some extent, BIG CLASS in general) was inspired by the Learning to Love You More project, which was
both a web site and series of non-web presentations comprised of work made by the general public in response to assignments given by artists Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher.
Participants accepted an assignment, completed it by following the simple but specific instructions, sent in the required report (photograph, text, video, etc), and their work got posted on-line. Like a recipe, meditation practice, or familiar song, the prescriptive nature of these assignments was intended to guide people towards their own experience.
It is one of our aspirations that a function of BIG CLASS is to offer the same sort of experience, with the added bonus of working with the innate creativity of kids.
Schools are usually decorated with laminated posters featuring lame slogans, blocky fonts, poor illustrations- essentially the opposite of anything worthy of a kid’s attention.
Design a simple poster. It can be encouraging, it can be academic, it can be profound, it can be whatever you think a kid would like to or should see in their classroom.
An inspiration to us is the design at Achievement First Endeavor School in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. A great write-up of their project can be found here. Some wonderful examples:
Some good people and designers have already made some great stuff just for us, which will be shared here soon.
Send your product or questions to email@example.com.
In order to immerse kids in a language-rich environment, it is important for them to hear stories being read aloud. We have a listening station in our class where kids can listen to someone reading a story while they follow along.
Record yourself reading a book or story, and send it along with a short bio and picture of you, the reader.
When you record the story, be mindful of punctuation (it is important, for instance, that the kids hear how you deal with a comma) and have fun. Your enthusiasm is infectious.
We have already had friends contribute wonderful readings of Horton Hears a Who and The Snowy Day, which I will be posting here soon.
We will be also be collecting the bios and pictures in a little book where the kids can see who is reading to them and learn a bit about them. Have fun with these. They do not have to be completely factual, though if you present yourself as, for instance, a wizard, we’d prefer it’s a picture of you, just with a fake white beard and silly hat.
Any questions, please e-mail firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:7da2d579-c015-45d1-a634-78a8c7c21e00> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bigclass.tumblr.com/tagged/projects | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964322 | 1,505 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Edison Project Schools Show Positive Test Results, Study Says
Early data show positive test score results for four schools that began operating last fall as part of the Edison Project, an experiment with privately managed public schools.
Kindergarten and first-grade students in two of the Edison Project schools showed significant gains in reading during the 1995-96 school year when compared with control groups. Second-grade students, however, showed no significant differences. The schools are located in Mount Clemens, Michigan, and Wichita, Kansas.
A third Edison school, the Boston Renaissance Charter School, had no control group available for comparison, but its reading results were comparable to those of the other Edison schools and to other schools that use the same reading program, “Success for All.” The fourth Edison Project school, the Washington-Edison School in Sherman, Texas, did not perform as well as its control group, but the control group is believed to be improperly matched.
Edison’s curriculum director, John Chubb, viewed the results as positive and said that the differences in performance “tended to favor Edison.” The results are based on tests conducted by the Educational Testing Service of Princeton, New Jersey. They were interpreted by Robert J. Mislevy, an ETS researcher who acted as a consultant to the Edison Project.
Administrators, teachers, and parents in Wichita all regard the Edison Project school as a success. Wichita Public School Superintendent Larry Vaughn told The New York Times that Edison “promised to educate all kids, to do it to our satisfaction and to do it for the same price we are spending. I can’t think of anything they’ve fallen short on.”
According to Shawn Springer, who teaches first and second grade at the school, “teachers are respected and valued here, and you can see the results. Every parent in my class is glad their kid is here.” The number of students leaving the school during the year dropped from 36 percent in 1994-95 to 7 percent in 1995-96. The school has 320 families on the waiting list, a clear indication that the school is highly regarded by parents.
The Edison Project was started by media entrepreneur Christopher Whittle in 1991. He was joined in 1992 by Benno C. Schmidt Jr., who left the presidency of Yale University to run the program. When Whittle’s company encountered a reversal of fortunes, he was forced to sell the company’s assets by 1995. However, Edison was able to survive by securing an additional $30 million in investor financing to supplement its $45 million in startup funds. | <urn:uuid:ab002a1a-7659-4255-8357-431967e73a95> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/1997/01/01/edison-project-schools-show-positive-test-results-study-says | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975556 | 540 | 1.75 | 2 |
VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese cement manufacturers have been doing a great deal of harm to each other when they try to lower the export prices to scramble for clients.
The cement volume sold in the first six months of the year saw a 10 percent decrease in comparison with the same period of the last year. The oversupply has prompted cement companies to boost exports to earn money and clear the inventories.
In order to boost exports, a lot of cement manufacturers have to accept to slash the export prices. Vietnam’s cement export prices are now 10 percent on average lower than the prices offered by other regional exporters.
The fact that Vietnamese enterprises accept to export clinker and cement at low prices has given foreign importers a reason to force the prices down further. Since some cement manufacturers have slashed the export prices, others have to follow the move, or they would not be able to sell products. As a result, cement enterprises all have reported bad business results.
According to the Ministry of Construction, in the first six months of 2012, Vietnam exported 3.2 million tons of cement and clinker, much lower than the targeted export volume of 7-8 million tons this year.
Cement manufacturers still believe that the modest export volume still should be seen as an encouraging result, because the exports have helped a lot in reducing the inventories, while only 23.8 million tons cement were consumed domestically in the last six months.
Nevertheless, the Ministry of Construction has pointed out that lowering the export prices must not be seen as a right track for cement manufacturers to follow, because this cannot bring profits to them and does not ensure the sustainable growth. While the input material prices all have increased sharply (the coal price has increased by 170 percent, electricity by 19 percent and oil by 40 percent), it is really unreasonable to slash the export prices.
Nguyen Van Thien, Chair of the Vietnam Cement Association VNCA, has pointed out that the cement manufacturers’ problems are not only the common ones existing in the national economy, but also the lack of cooperation among them.
Thien said that in principle, the cooperation would help push up the production and the sales, both in the domestic and foreign markets. However, they still cannot have a common voice for mutual benefits.
VNCA, in an effort to establish the close cooperation among cement manufacturers, has gathered the managers of the cement plants to discuss the cooperation methods to ease the current difficulties.
VNCA has suggested that the cement plants in the northern, central and southern regions should appoint an enterprise, which is powerful and prestigious enough, to act as the leader in the market and step by step, organize an institutional market.
The current export prices of 36 dollars per ton of clinker and 50 dollars per ton of cement would make enterprises take profit, because the prices cannot cover the expenses. Therefore, VNCA believes that enterprises should join forces to raise the FOB (free on board) clinker price to 40 dollars per ton at minimum.
An executive of Fico Tay Ninh Cement Plant also said that the current export prices would not bring the turnover high enough for enterprises “to live.”
However, Deputy Director of Vicem But Son cement company Ngo Duc Luu, has warned that it would be impossible to call for the enterprises’ cooperation in pricing cement products, except the subsidiaries of the Vietnam Cement Corporation. | <urn:uuid:bbeda72c-78d4-4fce-b6a6-0fb9a0fc4403> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.baomoi.com/Info/Lowering-cement-export-prices-businesses-weakening-themselves/5/286162.epi | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957173 | 699 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Download Admission Form Here.
Background: Ujni dam is constructed on the river Bhima, one of the chief rivers in Pune district. The river collects untreated sewage from the urban areas upstream,
Deep reservoirs do not offer favorable habitat for fish breeding, however, the shallow water area of the reservoir could be ideal for fish breeding.
Background :Phaltan is located in the Satara district of Maharashtra. It lies in the rain-shadow region and experiences low and irregular rainfall and high temperatures.
Background: Panshet is located 45 km west from Pune city on the ridge of the Western Ghats. A dam was built on the river Ambi near this village in 1971. | <urn:uuid:21e7046d-6362-48d2-8b8c-ff6d7dd6862c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ecological-society.org/index.php/projects | 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 | 0.953222 | 142 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Kevin Smith, general manager of Cassa Hotel and Residences in New York City, thought he was prepared for anything Hurricane Sandy could throw at him. “I’ve been through severe weather before, as has most of the staff,” he says. “We know the drill.” The hotel followed the disaster plan to the letter, stocking up on water, extra food, flashlights, and emergency supplies. The staff pulled everything off the balconies that wasn’t nailed down and checked the generators several times in the days leading up to the hurricane. “When the storm hit we had about 25 employees stay over at the hotel,” says Smith. They did that because many of the bridges and tunnels were already being closed and there was a good chance the mass transit systems would be knocked out by the storm. “We figured we had all our bases covered and we were in as good a shape as we were going to be.”
Despite all their careful preparations, there was one thing the staff of the Cassa Hotel wasn’t prepared for—an unexpected flood of guests. Two days after the storm hit, the Internet gateway to the Cassa’s internal property management system lost its connection to the cloud-based revenue management system and was unable to reconnect. “That night we didn’t receive a single booking or cancellation,” says Smith. “That’s when we knew something was wrong.” From the standpoint of the outside world everything was hunky dory. People would make a reservation and receive a confirmation, but the reservations weren’t being passed along to the hotel and the room inventory wasn’t being updated online. Smith says that they immediately rebooted the entire system. And once they were able to get everything up and running again, the bookings flooded in to the point that the hotel was oversold. “Soon we were faced with the prospect of a lot of guests coming in expecting a room and us not having one for them,” says Smith.
This isn’t an uncommon scenario. Hotels do their best to properly prepare for the outcomes of any sort of disaster, whether they’re natural or man-made. From fires, floods, and hurricanes, to power outages, earthquakes—and even acts of terrorism—hotels must be ready for anything. General managers, along with the hotel engineering staff, create strategic plans and appoint response teams to ensure every emergency situation is covered. But, as Smith points out, “There’s always something out there that will blindside you.”
When it comes to hurricanes and other hazards, every hotel’s disaster plan focuses on protecting guests and staff, securing the property, and maintaining business continuity. Yet it’s the last item on this list that often requires the most diligence. And network infrastructure has become the most troublesome thing on the list of what to look out for during a disaster. With more and more systems being put up in the cloud, you need less and less hardware in the building. This means that connection to the outside world is more important than ever. “It’s gotten so that you aren’t just dealing with securing the property, managing your external supplies, and making sure you can physically take care of your guests—now technology impacts all of those areas,” says Smith. “If you really want to be protected you need to figure out your highest risk area and invest in it.”
“You have to make sure that you don’t have a single point of failure,” says Bill Schweigart of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Schweigart is a program analyst for the DHS Office of Infrastructure Protection, which is tasked with keeping hotels, stadiums, and convention centers secure. As part of any disaster plan owners and operators need to know the details of the equipment in the building and where everything is located, regardless of the scale of the hotel. This can be as simple as putting together a map that plots where each line comes into the building, where the feeder routes go, where the cable vault lives, and where the operator consoles can be found. From there it’s easier to determine what risks exist that might exacerbate a disaster.
Since certain geographic areas are more prone to certain risks—hurricanes, wildfires, domestic terrorists—the DHS launched an online tool earlier this year that identifies and evaluates a property’s vulnerabilities. The tool was developed in collaboration with hotel chains such as Accor, Starwood, and Marriott. The RSAT tool works for any size hotel, including small and mid-sized facilities and combines DHS threat and consequence estimates with information about a hotel’s specific characteristics and potential hazards and threats. This helps owners and operators identify where more resources, procedures, or staff training might be needed to secure the property.
While the RSAT is primarily focused on security issues, it does provide a broader overview of the particular risk factors facing modern-day properties—and it’s a good place to start when comes to assessing a property’s potential points of failure. Hotels that register for RSAT supply basic information—including the capacity, locations, and potential threats—and receive two complimentary reports in return that they can use to identify the problem areas where additional measures, training, and procedures are most needed. The first report is a a self-assessment that provides detailed information on the facilities’ current vulnerabilities, as well as opportunities for additional protection measures. The second is a benchmark report that shows how a hotel’s infrastructure compares to buildings of similar size and use.
Once potential hazards and vulnerabilities are properly identified by an outside consultant or through a tool such as RSAT, a hotel’s disaster plan can address the best way to mitigate the risks. For hotels, it’s important to know how different systems going down will affect current and potential guests. “One of the recommendations our tool makes is to create a business continuity plan,” says Schweigart. This means determining the most critical processes and what needs to be done to keep them operational. With information on which particular areas have the shortest tolerance for an outage, a hotel can figure out where to make additional investments in redundancy and which areas to pay attention to when disaster strikes.
During the storm, the Cassa Hotel never lost power. It was the phone lines and the primary Internet connection that went down. And Smith says that losing connectivity is something the staff knows how to deal with. “We have a backup Internet system that kicks in for our guests and for our back office,” says Smith. “But when the RMS gateway disconnected from our PMS it was supposed to trigger a series of email alerts to our staff.” This was the crucial thing that failed to happen.
The final part of a disaster plan involves determining which communications equipment needs to be tested for damage immediately following the disaster. If a property knows what’s in use, it will be able to assess and fix those systems when a disaster occurs. Smith says, “We met with the company that maintains our network cables to figure out what kind of redundancy we can build into those systems.”
When something inevitably goes wrong, it’s the hotels that plan the most proactively that end up in a better position than properties that don’t. “This particular problem hit a number of hotels in this city and is one that I’ll be adding to the plan,” says Smith. Luckily the staff was able to find rooms at nearby hotels for many of the guests they couldn’t accommodate. There were even some that they put up on cots for a night. “You’re responsible for all your guests and your employees,” says Smith. “So you need to make sure you’re as prepared as possible to keep them safe no matter what comes down the pike.” | <urn:uuid:2a6d7911-f694-47e7-bbec-f8a1f9d22ef8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lodgingmagazine.com/PastIssues/PastIssues/Calculated-Risks-2678.aspx?email=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966859 | 1,650 | 1.5 | 2 |
The head of the powerful U.S. Intelligence Committee is urging Canadian companies not to do business with the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei as a matter of national security.
In a scathing report released Monday in Washington, the congressional committee branded Huawei a threat to U.S. national security, and urged American telecommunications companies using the Chinese firm to “find other vendors.”
The committee concluded that allowing Huawei to help build American networks could potentially be used by Chinese cyber-spies to steal U.S. state and commercial secrets, or even to disrupt everything from electrical power grids to banking systems in a time of conflict.
But in an exclusive interview with CBC News, committee chairman Mike Rogers warns that Canada is equally at risk.
The world’s second-largest telecommunications equipment supplier, Huawei is already providing high-speed networks for Bell Canada, Telus, SaskTel and Wind Mobile – deals that Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government has openly applauded.
But the next big deal could be helping to build a new super-secure telecom system for the Canadian government, a multi-billion project in part to replace data systems contaminated beyond repair by a massive Chinese cyber-attack in 2010.
Allowing Huawei near any part of that network, says the chairman of the U.S. Intelligence Committee, could be courting disaster.
“I absolutely would not do it,” Rogers said. “The key word there is new secure network; I would not have the faith and confidence.”
Rogers says the information about Huawei gathered by his committee “puts at risk consumer data, and puts at risk security interests certainly of the United States, and I would argue of Canada as well.”
The telecommunications systems in the two countries, he says, “are so integrated I would urge the private sector to find other vendors.”
The Republican congressman from Michigan says ordinary Canadian consumers have every reason to worry about threats to cyber-security.
“This is your personal data. This could be your medical records, your financial records, everything that you hold dear that you think is locked away in a safe place on your computer that goes across these networks and becomes subject to being gathered by the Chinese government.”
Rogers says the fear is that electronic bugs will be imbedded in telecom systems to secretly transmit data back to China, also known as beaconing or opening back doors.
“There are bugs, back doors and beaconing going on in Huawei gear,” he claims. “We have had lots of reports of that happening.
“I will bet my bottom dollar, as we say in the U.S., that activity is happening in Canada as well.”
While there is little concrete proof to back Rogers’ claim, a former Canadian spymaster agrees it is certainly possible.
Ray Boisvert, who until recently was assistant deputy director of intelligence for Canada’s spy agency, told CBC News: “The threat comes down to…can a company that manufactures hardware embed certain codes that would allow them to back-door a lot of information that goes through the network?
”I have seen it hands-on through my own experience. It is true.”
In the past two years, Canada has been hard-hit by China-based cyber-attacks on government, corporations and even Bay Street law firms.
The latest attack managed to penetrate the computer systems of a Calgary-based company that makes the digital control systems for almost all of Canada's oil and gas pipelines.
Rogers says allowing the Chinese access to American or Canadian telecom networks simply isn’t logical.
“China is the leading cyber-espionage country in the world today,” he said. “Why we would open up our networks, and give them control of our information doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.”
Huawei Canada, which employs about 400 people in Markham and Ottawa, did not respond directly to the U.S. committee report.
“We recognize, that as a Chinese-based telecommunications company, it is fair and reasonable to expect that we would be under some scrutiny from Government,” the company said in a prepared statement.
“For this reason, we have worked to conduct ourselves in a manner that positively reflects our contribution to Canada.”
The Canadian government referred all questions about Huawei to the federal department responsible for building the new secure telecommunications network.
Shared Services Canada issued a statement saying the government “takes cyber-security seriously and operates on the advice of security experts.”
The government has given itself the power to exclude Huawei from the entire network project, but won’t say if it has any intention of doing so.
In contrast, both the U.S. and Australia have simply banned Huawei from bidding on major telecommunications projects, or attempting to take over American companies.
NDP MP Paul Dewar accused Harper of not taking the issue seriously.
“There is a real question of competence with this government if other countries – Australia, the U.K. is wrestling with this issue, and of course the U.S. with this report – if they are taking this seriously, why aren’t we?”
The last time the prime minister addressed the issue, he told the Commons: “…we do not take dictates on security from the United States.”
Huawei’s American spokesperson, William Plummer, had harsh words for Rogers’ committee and its report.
Plummer denied the committee’s allegations, suggesting the report was more about politics than security.
“There are politics and then there are facts. And the facts are this company is globally trusted, and our product is world proven in terms of its security and integrity.
“That is the truth today. Those are the facts today…political distractions aside – dangerous political distractions.”
Hong Lei, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, hinted that the stinging U.S. committee report on Huawei could damage trade relations between the two countries.
“We hope the U.S. Congress will set aside prejudices, respect facts, and do more things that are beneficial to Sino-American economic and trade ties, but not the opposite.”
The issue of Huawei and the threat of cyber-spying in the U.S. and Canada is likely far from over.
Rogers said that during the past year of investigations, his committee was also presented with allegations of corruption and bribery – allegations his office plans to turn over to the FBI today. | <urn:uuid:ebb1e5b5-e6b6-4555-9c0e-23486b54293a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ca.news.yahoo.com/canada-risk-chinese-firm-u-warns-092231152.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961584 | 1,377 | 1.820313 | 2 |
If Google’s great innovation was organizing the Web around editorial votes, or links, Yahoo! went in the opposite direction for many years: analyzing the websites themselves and returning search results based around on-page factors. Today, Yahoo! is powered by Bing, and so it puts much more faith in links than it used to. However, Bing’s technology holds onto this page-based legacy in some important ways. Most optimizers appreciate the fact that on-page factors matter to Bing because it makes optimization easier. Google’s system of needing to essentially ask for other websites’ votes is much more difficult than just following best practices when building your site.
Keywords in content: The biggest difference between Bing and Google is their respective emphasis on keywords within the content of the site. I have already discussed the main ways that keywords matter to Google—namely when they appear in anchor text, the meta page title, and the URL. But Google does not care very much about keywords in the content of your site. That’s why, when optimizing for Google, most people just write their keywords whenever they come up naturally in the site’s content. Aiming for a particular “density” of keywords in your overall word count is a relic of the past and can actually have negative effects with Google.
Bing is much more receptive to keywords written within the text of your pages. Many webmasters report great strides in their Yahoo!/Bing rankings just by using keywords more often. But you might see a bump in your ranking just by leaning a bit more heavily on the keywords you are optimizing for. Playing around with these keywords for maximum effect in this area is a must, especially because Bing is constantly refining its keyword detector. Someday, keywords inside content may matter less than they do. But for now, sprinkle liberally. First-page rankings may blossom.
Meta Page Titles: Another area that Bing seems to care a lot about is the meta page title. You already understand the importance of this bit of code to Google, and it matters at least as much to Bing. Run a search for any popular term on Yahoo! or Bing, and you will notice that most of the first page results will use that exact term in their meta page titles. Google, in contrast, tries to return results whose meta page titles have the same words that the user searched for but not necessarily in the same order. So if you search for best brownie recipe, Google doesn’t differentiate too much between
web pages whose meta page titles are “The Best Darn Brownie Recipe” and “Mom’s Recipe for the Best Brownie Ever” even though neither of those titles contains the exact phrase best brownie recipe. Bing, on the other hand, is more likely to rank a web page at the top if it has that exact phrase in its meta page title.
Meta Description tags: Meta description tags are a factor about which Bing cares a lot more than Google. Meta descriptions are—like meta page titles—text that is written into the code of every web page. They then become the two lines of text that show up underneath the blue underlined heading of every search result. Unlike meta page titles, though, they usually don’t show up anywhere on the web page or browser after you’ve clicked the search result. They exist merely to improve the experience of using the search engine.
Google cares about meta descriptions a small amount. Bing cares about them a good amount more, specifically looking for keywords in the meta description that also appear in the meta page title and on the page itself.
So when you are optimizing for Bing, make sure your page’s meta description includes your keyword at least once and that the same keyword appears in your meta page title.
Headings: Another important on-page factor to Bing is headings. Headings are the text at the top of a page, usually in larger letters, announcing the title or subject of the page. They’re sort of like a meta page title except they’re in the actual content of the page, front and center to visitors. Headings used to provide one of the bases of the early search engines’ algorithms, but as soon as people started manipulating headings so that more traffic would come to their websites from search engines, headings became de-emphasized. Google, for instance, gives headings almost no weight in its algorithm. Bing must not have gotten that memo, though, because it still factors headings into its algorithm quite a bit.
Alt tags: Alt tags are nothing more than little text descriptions of the images on your site. They are a required part of the code because as smart as the search engines are, they are not yet smart enough to look at a picture and identify precisely what it is. If you have ever seen a web page load slowly, you might have noticed a descriptive phrase sitting in the empty box that the picture soon occupies.
Bing shows images in its regular search results as well as, of course, its image search, and relies heavily on the alt tag in its algorithm. Google does the same and also puts a strong emphasis on alt tags. For that reason, I highly recommend that you properly describe all of your images. Searchers click pictures way more than most people realize, and having lots of properly labeled images can bring a ton of traffic to your site.
Outbound links: Outbound links are the opposite of inbound links, or backlinks. Instead of pointing toward your own site, outbound links point out of your site toward other websites. The philosophy behind using outbound linking as a tool for SEO is simple: Acknowledging other authoritative sites is considered good Internet behavior and is the sign of a quality site. Whereas this philosophy is not held by Google in the least, Bing does abide by it.
The practice of liberally linking to other websites is not exactly a crowd favorite among webmasters, who generally want to hold on to visitors at all costs. But many of the same webmasters have found that a few well-targeted links to other sources can help demonstrate mastery of a subject. Also, the Web is very much an open place to explore, and so being too protective of visitors is not a winning strategy. Linking to authoritative sources will not cause a visitor to be lost for life if your site is providing something of genuine value.
Site structure: The final on-page factor that matters to Bing is site structure, or the layout of your pages and the way they are interlinked. This principle is common to all search engines including Google, and if you think about it, how could it not be? A site that is easily crawlable by search engines is usually easily navigated by people as well, and is therefore a good website to present to users in a search. Both Bing and Google favor clean, easy-to-navigate architecture, fast-loading pages, and easy-tofollow links.
Links: Bing actually uses an equation that works like Google’s TrustRank system to determine which sites have earned the credibility of other webmasters. In fact, links are the most important factor in Bing’s algorithm, too, although by not nearly as wide a margin as in Google’s.
Domain age: A final element of SEO that is important to Bing is age. We know by now how important age is to Google, and Bing feels even more strongly about it. Of all the factors that affect a site’s ranking, only links and age cannot be easily controlled by the webmaster, which is why they are so essential to the algorithm.
As with Google, there is no substitute for an old website, and the only way to acquire the credibility that comes with age is to buy an old website, preferably one with lots of inbound links. | <urn:uuid:847e7121-8779-4f86-b248-d9672c79eaad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://webtechsoftwares.wordpress.com/tag/on-page-factors/ | 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 | 0.947647 | 1,615 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Dependence Reduction through Innovation in Vehicles and Energy Act of 2007
From OpenCongress Wiki
Back to main bill page for votes, text and more.
On January 24, 2007, Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) introduced the Dependence Reduction through Innovation in Vehicles and Energy (DRIVE) Act (H.R.670) to "promote the national security and stability of the United States economy by reducing the dependence of the United States on foreign oil through the use of alternative fuels and new vehicle technologies, and for other purposes." The bill attracted 82 cosponsors (as of June 2007), including Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) and several other Republicans. It was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, House Committee on Science and Technology, House Committee on Ways and Means, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. In the 109th Congress, the bill was known as the Fuel Choices for American Security Act of 2005 (H.R.4409), and was sponsored by Rep. Kingston and 87 cosponsors.
Articles and resources
- ↑ "THOMAS page on H.R.670 cosponsors," THOMAS.
- ↑ THOMAS page on H.R.670 (110th Congress), Library of Congress. | <urn:uuid:3c4d2ce2-331f-44d1-b915-07ab173bd0e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.opencongress.org/wiki/Dependence_Reduction_through_Innovation_in_Vehicles_and_Energy_Act_of_2007 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948477 | 270 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Mary Wilson says some people will have to go to the licensing center twice:
The Committee of Seventy, an advocacy group that has been opposed to the state’s new photo requirement at the polls from the get-go, has raised concerns that getting a DOS voter ID won’t be such a simple undertaking for Pennsylvania-born residents.
Why? The answer is somewhat involved.
Remember: the Department of State voter ID, or the DOS ID, as we’ll call it, was created by the state as a “safety net” – an additional ID option for people having difficulty forking over the documents required to get a PennDOT license – like a birth certificate and a Social Security card. The DOS ID requires none of that. Registered voters only need their Social Security number and two proofs of residence.
They also need to sign a paper saying they can’t get the documents they’d need for a PennDOT license.
And therein lies the difficulty, said Committee of Seventy spokeswoman, Ellen Kaplan. Many Pennsylvania-born voters won’t be eligible for the DOS ID at all, because they should be able to get at least their birth certificates – and there’s a process to check the records at the Department of Health. But waiting around for that certification could take two weeks, and would require making a second trip to a PennDOT licensing center. | <urn:uuid:c445208f-c588-4fe2-ada3-05d670e26979> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.keystonepolitics.com/2012/08/some-people-will-have-to-go-to-penndot-twice-to-get-new-voterid/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954483 | 291 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Cyprus will overhaul its failing banking sector and raid state and church coffers in a bid to unlock a €10 billion bailout from the European Union and avoid financial collapse.
The island nation's banks are being kept afloat by emergency funding from the European Central Bank, but that will cease on Tuesday without a deal, threatening Cyprus' membership of the eurozone.
Officials have been scrambling to find ways to raise €5.8 billion since the country's parliament threw out an unprecedented plan to tax bank deposits earlier this week. Without the money, Cyprus can't access the rescue offered by the EU, and two of its biggest banks are likely to fail.
Eurozone finance ministers said Thursday they were ready to discuss a new proposal with Cypriot authorities, and said it should be presented "as rapidly as possible" and respect the parameters of the original rescue.
Lawmakers in Cyprus were due to discuss key elements of the proposal Friday. It was not clear late Thursday if the proposal would include a tax on banks. But the country's central bank said deposits up to €100,000 would be protected, honoring an existing guarantee.
State TV said parliament would also vote on giving authorities the power to limit bank withdrawals to prevent a potentially catastrophic flight of funds when banks reopen for business Tuesday for the first time in 10 days.
Cypriots have been queuing at cash machines since the proposed bank account levy was announced Saturday.
Cyprus has been brought to its knees by the losses that its oversized banking sector sustained on investments in Greece, and a deep recession.
Eurozone policymakers want it to find €5.8 billion as part of a rescue to ensure the country's debt doesn't soar to unsustainable levels. The total funding required to recapitalize the banks and meet government commitments is almost equal to the country's annual gross domestic product.
At the heart of the plan is a proposal to create an "investment solidarity fund," or sovereign wealth fund, that would pool state and church assets, including real estate and pensions. It also includes splitting the country's second largest bank, Laiki Bank (also known as Cyprus Popular Bank), into so-called good and bad banks.
The Open Europe think tank estimated this could reduce the recapitalization bill by between €1 billion and €2 billion, but still left many questions unanswered.
"The cost of financing and winding down the bad bank will be large, who will finance it? Some reports suggest it could be the uninsured depositors -- this may work but is likely to cause outcry amongst foreign investors and some Cypriot businesses," Open Europe noted.
Cyprus' credit rating, already deep in junk territory, was cut further by Standard & Poor's to "CCC" with a negative outlook. The agency cited the acute problems in the banking sector, the prospects of an even deeper recession and the impact on government debt.
The proposed tax on all bank accounts, including deposits covered by the national guarantee scheme, outraged Cypriots and prompted widespread condemnation for undermining the principle that ordinary savers should not pay for bank failures.
But the EU is likely to insist that any deal include a bank levy on amounts above the €100,000 limit on guaranteed deposits because it believes wealthy foreigners who have profited from Cyprus' low tax rates should contribute. More than half of bank deposits are held by foreigners, many of them Russian.
"I still think it is probably inevitable there will be some kind of levy in the final package which we will agree upon," said Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chairs the meetings of eurozone finance ministers.
Russia may ease the pressure by agreeing to relax the terms of an existing €2.5 billion loan. Moscow has been angered by the plan to tax bank deposits but has larger business interests in Cyprus, which would suffer severe damage in the event of financial collapse.
Moody's rating agency estimates that Russian banks have lent $30 billion to $40 billion to Cyprus-based companies of Russian origin, equivalent to up to 20% of the banks' capital base. | <urn:uuid:4426cdeb-b88b-49d7-9808-3f1a43240af9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.clickondetroit.com/money/Cyprus-in-race-for-funds-as-EU-deadline-looms/-/1719116/19407106/-/904biy/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968163 | 829 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Players on both Super Bowl teams say they are confused about which hits are considered clean and which ones could lead to a fine. And it’s not just the guys on defense who are wondering about the future of pro football.
“I think the rules will change a lot,” San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis said Tuesday. “There’s already no helmet to helmet. Might be flag football, maybe.”
Baltimore Ravens safety Bernard Pollard, one of the league’s hardest hitters, warned against trying to take collisions out of the game, as long as they are clean.
“You can’t play this game and not expect it to be physical,” said Pollard, who was fined $15,250 for a hit on Patriots receiver Wes Welker in the AFC championship game that Pollard believes was within the rules. “There will be injuries in football. There’s a car crash on every play.”
His 49ers counterpart, All-Pro Dashon Goldson, says defenders keep this in mind when they take the field:
“Do your best and then hope you don’t get a letter (with a fine) in your locker on Wednesday.”
The NFL has sought to eliminate any hits to the head and neck area of defenseless players, particularly in the last three years. It also has banned players launching themselves helmet-first toward an opponent.
Yet, every week, players are fined for those actions, and there have been suspensions. Baltimore safety Ed Reed drew a one-game suspension this season that was lifted by the NFL on appeal and turned into a $50,000 fine for repeated illegal tackles. The 5-foot-11, 205-pound Reed is not considered a vicious hitter.
Reed admits he can’t be sure what’s a true tackle these days and what crosses the line.
“A lot needs to be done with it. I don’t think every fine is right,” he said. “You have to go back and really look at how guys play the game before you judge them, is what I’m trying to say.”
While still recognizing the importance of keeping games as safe as possible, defensive players have complained for years about the league’s crackdown on hits. The 49ers and Ravens have two of the most physical defenses in the NFL, and they are proud of their violent nature.
“You can’t play timid,” Goldson said.
But even offensive players concede that defenses are at a disadvantage to the point of confusion.
Baltimore’s Anquan Boldin, one of the more physical wide receivers in the league, doesn’t feel sorry for anyone trying to tackle him. But he understands their plight as they close in.
“ All defensive players have to deal with that,” Boldin said. “It’s tough on defensive players on those defenseless receiver calls because they come in and then the receiver drops his shoulder and they hit in the (head). And they get a penalty.
“So maybe they aren’t sure and that’s bad. This game is played too fast to worry about that, but they do have to worry.”
The NFL isn’t going to back down on its emphasis on player safety, of course. It is facing at least 175 lawsuits as more than 3,800 players have sued the league over head injuries as the concussion issue has gained attention in recent years. The total number of plaintiffs is 6,000 when spouses, relatives and other representatives are included.
So the emphasis on eliminating what Ray Anderson, the league’s main disciplinarian, calls “egregious fouls” will remain.
“We will just not let up,” Anderson told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “Get used to it, this will be our mantra: We have an obligation in being relentless in protecting our players.
“If they are in a defenseless position, hitting in the helmet is unnecessary. We said player health and safety is our No. 1 priority from the get-go and we have stuck to it with no apologies and no defensive attitude about it.”
Meantime, as offenses make scoreboards spin with record numbers of points, defenses try to figure out exactly what they are allowed to do.
“We are guys who are supposed to hit,” said 49ers safety Donte Whitner, who is known for his bone-crunching tackles. “We have to bring the element of fear when they come over the middle. We want receivers to think do you really want to keep coming over the middle time and time again.
“We need to make sure they don’t want to, but we need to do it the right way. But we need to figure out the right way.” | <urn:uuid:66707745-2a34-4d11-b1e6-baf7dfb36728> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stmarynow.com/view/full_story/21567018/article-Is-flag-football-ahead-for-NFL- | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976495 | 1,039 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Those about to start house-hunting should check their credit score before things get too serious. There is nothing quite as frightening in the mortgage process as learning that your credit report contains a late payment or other blemishes that can prevent you from buying a property.
The higher your credit score, the better your chances are of financing a home. A credit score of at least 620 will give consumers a fighting chance to secure a home loan; 720 should qualify in most cases.
However, a lower credit score doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t finance a home. Credit score repair begins with your credit report. You can request a free copy of your credit report annually from the Federal Trade Commission at AnnualCreditReport.com. Check the report for errors.
Don’t panic if your report contains blemishes. There are steps you can take to fix negative marks, regardless of whether the marks are in error or if you’ve missed a payment or two. The simplest thing to do if you’ve missed a payment is to call the creditor and ask them to erase the negative listing. You can also do this with a well-documented letter. There is no guarantee that a lender will do this, but if you’ve been a good customer through the years, this method has proven to be successful.
If you are one of the many who have defaulted on a student loan you can enter into a “rehab program,” which will get your account back on track after 12 months. This may not be the quick fix you need when buying a home but the sooner you do this the better.
For disputing a negative mark that was not your fault, you can try disputing the account with the credit bureaus as “not mine.”
One quick fix used by borrowers to boost their credit score is to have an older family member with a sound credit rating add you as an authorized user on a credit card. This can help increase your score and you wouldn’t even need the card in your possession.
With more loans requiring higher credit scores today, it’s never too early to start fixing credit challenges.
Irene Racanelli can be reached at (516) 944-2864. Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate is an independently owned and operated broker member of BRER Affiliates Inc. Prudential, the Prudential logo and the Rock symbol are registered service marks of Prudential Financial, Inc. and its related entities, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Used under license with no other affiliation with Prudential. Equal Housing Opportunity. | <urn:uuid:a3ca3925-a1bc-4329-837f-4ac91d0272ac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://portwashington.patch.com/groups/irene-racanellis-blog/p/bp--improve-your-credit-score | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954229 | 543 | 1.648438 | 2 |
To learn more about maternity services at NCH—or to register for prenatal classes or tours—click here.
Life can change in an instant.
For Brynn Kordik that instant came on October 12, 2011, when nausea, blurred vision and cramping gave way to hemorrhaging. She was just starting her seventh month of pregnancy—and about to discover how critical finding the right hospital can be.
That evening, doctors at Northwest Community Hospital (NCH) delivered tiny 2-pound, 10-ounce Zachary Kordik and immediately admitted him to NCH's Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Staffed with experts in neonatology from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and equipped to care for even the tiniest preemies and multiples, the NICU offers 16 private rooms. In this specialized and comfortable setting, seriously ill newborns and their families can be together 24/7.
Born with a condition called patent ductus arteriosus, or PDA, little Zachary was critically ill. His condition caused his lungs to fill with fluid. Doctors told Brynn and Scott Kordik that their son would need surgery.
The Kordik's subsequent roller coaster ride was NCH's moment of clarity. Joel Barry Fisher, MD, chief of Neonatology at NCH, says the NICU's cardiac surgery team had trained for just this moment. "We developed a team, sent everyone for special training, prepared, and performed several 'dry runs.'" After months of training, the team embarked on its first in-room NICU surgery—performed right in Zachary's private room under the direction of Hyde M. Russell, MD, cardiothoracic surgeon on staff at NCH and Lurie Children's.
Before NCH's designation as a Level III Perinatal facility, babies like Zachary would have been transferred to Lurie Children's at birth—a risky endeavor considering most preemies tolerate very little change in terms of temperature, touch and environment. "It's a safer strategy to have the surgeon come out to where the premature infant is," says Dr. Russell.
Today, Zachary is thriving and his parents couldn't be happier. In fact, they sit on the NICU Parent Advisory Council, a group designed to improve care by including parent-generated ideas into the decision-making process.
In the end, for Brynn, it all comes down to having confidence that your hospital offers the technology and expertise to handle neonatal emergencies—and then the compassion to help parents navigate the long road to recovery. Her advice for prospective parents? "Try to find a Level III NICU. Things can change in a heartbeat. We're glad we're so close to a great hospital that could treat a 27-week-old preemie." | <urn:uuid:e3e27e36-da0e-430f-bea9-b88c4b198052> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nch.org/publications/you/2012/september/feature1.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957981 | 585 | 1.5 | 2 |
- Not long before filming began, Colin Clive broke a leg in a horse riding accident. Consequently, most of Dr. Frankenstein's scenes were shot with him sitting.
- When filming the scene where the monster emerges from the burnt windmill, Boris Karloff slipped and fell into the water-filled well. Upon being helped out, he realized he had broken a leg in the fall. The metal struts used to stiffen his legs (for the famous "monster lurch") helped keep the bones in place until they could be properly set.
- The musical soundtrack for this film proved so popular, it was used again in the Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials starring Buster Crabbe.
- Editing after previews resulted in the loss of a subplot in which Karl imitates the Monster's murderous modus operandi to eliminate his miserly aunt and uncle and direct the blame away from himself.
- When the castle is self-destructing, the Doctor can be seen against the far wall. Yet he is next seen outside in the arms of his beloved, watching the explosions. There were two endings originally: the first had Doctor Frankenstein dying within the castle and this was filmed. But the producers judged this a bit harsh and wanted a happy ending, so they shot the extra footage (too expensive to re-film the explosions).
Please support TCMDB by adding to this information.Click here to contribute | <urn:uuid:631ad3dd-5232-4127-96b8-3aed7b895e49> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/69663/Bride-of-Frankenstein/trivia.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965728 | 286 | 1.84375 | 2 |
U.S. Defense chief Leon Panetta was in Kabul for meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai about what the security picture ...
will look like there after the combat mission ends.
Tags:Panetta and Karzai Discuss a Plan for Afghanistan,reuters,afghan president,Hamid Karzai,Leon Panetta,u.s. defense secretary
Grab video code:
U.S. Defense chief Leon Panetta was in Kabul for meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai about what the security picture will look like there after the combat mission ends. SOUNDBITE: U.S. Defense secretary Leon Panetta saying: "With regards to the number on the enduring presence, that will be an issue that will be discussed by the president (Obama) with president Karzai in consultation with him and then ultimately I assume when they feel it is appropriate that will be revealed to not only the American people but the Afghan people as well." One official told Reuters that options under consideration included keeping as few as 6,000 troops in Afghanistan, compared to the current 68,000. SOUNDBITE: U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta saying: "We are going to maintain an enduring presence in Afghanistan beyond 2014. We will be drawing down our forces, obviously the Afghan army, will assume full responsibility for the security of the country, but we will be there to provide support, to provide training, to provide assistance, to provide help on counter-terrorism and to provide the support for the forces that are here. Whether Afghan forces are prepared to take the lead in their own security is another matter. An attack on a base in Kandahar shortly after Panetta's visit to commanders there is a reminder of how fragile security in Afghanistan remains. | <urn:uuid:f61bde15-0e56-4caa-aa28-dd66d96ce5d4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://on.aol.com/video/panetta-and-karzai-discuss-a-plan-for-afghanistan-517596931 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955235 | 357 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Professional networking site LinkedIn has launched the beta version of its business directory, called LinkedIn Company Profiles, with data provided by BusinessWeek and Capital IQ supplementing LinkedIn's member information. Over 150,000 companies and organizations are indexed in the directory, working it into a Hoovers-esque database that ties into LinkedIn's social features.
A LinkedIn Company Profiles page includes a number of basic statistics pulled from BusinessWeek's database, such as company size and history. But for the most part, the rest of the business' page consists of information from employees of that company who have LinkedIn profiles, like a list of "new hires" (LinkedIn members who have recently added a current affiliation with that company) and recent promotions, other businesses that have seen people hired from that company, and demographic tidbits like median age and education information.
At first glance, LinkedIn's business directory seems like it will be fairly useful for people who are looking to make connections at a given company, dig up information before interviewing for a job or accepting a position, or just looking for interesting facts. Accuracy, of course, is an issue when it comes to the data gathered from LinkedIn profiles--the networking site has 20 million members, but the workforce of one company (or even an individual branch of a larger company) may be represented far more heavily than another. | <urn:uuid:306d1d80-8a01-4039-a14c-a8b7681823e7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-9900383-36.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955962 | 269 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Healthy but overweight women are being rejected by some South Florida ob-gyns… (Getty Images file photo )
In a nation with 93 million obese people, a few ob-gyn doctors in South Florida now refuse to see otherwise healthy women solely because they are overweight.
Fifteen obstetrics-gynecology practices out of 105 polled by the Sun Sentinel said they have set weight cut-offs for new patients starting at 200 pounds or based on measures of obesity — and turn down women who are heavier.
Some of the doctors said the main reason was their exam tables or other equipment can't handle people over a certain weight. But at least six said they were trying to avoid obese patients because they have a higher risk of complications.
"People don't realize the risk we're taking by taking care of these patients," said Dr. Albert Triana, whose two-physician practice in South Miami declines patients classified as obese. "There's more risk of something going wrong and more risk of getting sued. Everything is more complicated with an obese patient in GYN surgeries and in [pregnancies]."
Plantation ob-gyn partners Jeffrey Solomon and Isabel Otero-Echandi turn down any woman weighing more than 250 pounds.
Solomon and Otero don't want to begin seeing heavy women and then have to send them to specialists if they later develop problems, said their office manager, who asked not to be named. The two doctors, like several of the others with weight cutoffs, declined to comment.
"This is not a high-risk practice," the office manager said. "They are not experts in obesity."
Turning down overweight people is not illegal for doctors, but the policy worried leaders of physician groups, medical ethics experts and advocates for the obese, all of whom said it violates the spirit of the medical profession.
"If I had that policy, I wouldn't have a practice. I'd lose half my patients," said Dr. Maureen Whelihan, a West Palm Beach ob-gyn. "We never turn down anyone. We would see them, and if we had to, we would refer them to a specialist."
Leaders of eight local, state and national medical associations said they had never heard of doctors turning away patients solely because of weight. Several said obese people with no other health issues do not need special treatment.
"No doctor should be unable to treat patients just because they are heavy," said Dr. Bruce Zafran, a Coral Springs ob-gyn.
So far, the weight cutoffs have been enacted only by South Florida ob-gyns, who have long complained of high numbers of lawsuits after difficult births and high rates for medical-malpractice insurance. More than half go without coverage.
Ob-gyns for years have declined to see pregnant women who are overweight, typically sending them to specialists. It's new for them to turn down overweight women who are not pregnant, physician groups said.
Several ob-gyn offices said their ultrasound machines do not give good images of internal anatomy in obese women, making it harder to diagnose some medical problems.
The Plantation office manager said weight limits are not uncommon at offices owned, like hers, by the Coconut Grove medical services company VitalMD.
VitalMD treasurer Kerry Kuhn, an ob-gyn in Coral Springs, said he was unaware of his doctors setting weight limits, adding the company has nothing to do with doctor decisions.
"This is individual choice by a doctor," Kuhn said. "Doctors know who they want to treat."
Physicians, like any business, can decline service to whomever they choose for any reason — including personality conflicts — as long as it's not discriminatory. The American Medical Association advises doctors that they cannot reject patients because of race, gender, sexual orientation or infectious diseases.
Doctors also are allowed to drop patients, if they believe they lack the medical skills to properly treat them. They must send notices and refer them to other doctors.
But decisions about patients typically are made after assessing the individual's condition during an exam, not by ruling out an entire group, said Dr. Robert Yelverton, a board member of the Florida Obstetric and Gynecologic Society. He said he would discourage physicians from excluding the obese.
"Do I think it's a good policy? No," Yelverton said. "Overweight people need doctors. I don't know where a patient in that situation would go if every practice had that policy."
The AMA and the ob-gyn group declined to comment on doctors setting weight limits. A spokesman for the Obesity Action Coalition in Tampa said the restrictions sound like discrimination.
"This completely goes against the principles of being a doctor," James Zervios said. "Health care professionals are there to help individuals improve their quality of health, not stigmatize them according to their weight."
email@example.com or 954-356-4526 | <urn:uuid:6642e470-6495-4164-aee3-ebc0d8d59d85> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-05-16/health/fl-hk-no-obesity-doc-20110516_1_gyn-ob-gyn-obese-patients | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974844 | 1,018 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Plano Star-courier > News
Christmas tree causes fatal Plano house fire (updated 11:40 p.m.)
Editor's note: This story was originally published at 9:45 p.m. on Dec. 24
A dry Christmas tree caused a house fire that killed an 87-year-old male Monday evening in Plano.
Plano firefighters responded to the call in the 2500 block of Parkhaven Drive at around 7:20 p.m. The caller told the dispatcher that the "whole home was on fire," a release from Plano FD said.
While four people inside the house were able to escape, firefighters were alerted on their way to the house that the elderly man was still inside, said Capt. Peggy Harrell, Plano FD spokeswoman.
"When they arrived they found quite a bit of smoke in the front of the house and a lot of fire at the back," Harrell said. "They made entry at the front of the house and located the deceased individual."
Harrell said one Plano firefighter suffered non-life threatening burns and was transported to Medical Center of Plano for treatment.
The identity of the victim has not been released, but Plano FD officials confirmed he was visiting his family for Christmas. His son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren were present at the time of the fire.
The fire department press release said family members told investigators they heard a pop before seeing the Christmas tree ignite, and said the tree was "dry and had been a concern." Officials have not yet said what caused the tree to catch fire. | <urn:uuid:3c3f24f3-9e5b-405a-b1e2-ed71aa57b604> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://planostar.com/articles/2012/12/24/plano_star-courier/news/7839.prt | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985582 | 328 | 1.726563 | 2 |
[Betsy Zajko]: I'm Betsy Zajko. It is 3:10 on May 3rd. And this is for the oral history project. And I'm speaking with ...
[Barry Seybert]: ... Barry Seybert. And I graduated Kent in '78. I attended Kent from '74 to '78. So actually May 4th, '70, I was in ninth grade at Roosevelt Junior High in Cleveland Heights. And I was sitting in the library. And a very good friend of mine walked in and told me and made an announcement that there was a shooting at Kent. And I was totally blown away by it, as other people. Then later on that day, I found out that Allison Krause was one of the four killed and I happened to have known her. She ... her boyfriend was actually the brother of my Hebrew school teacher. And I had gotten to know her at several parties 'cause this Hebrew school teacher used to have all these barbecues at his house. And so I had gotten to know Allison. I had just seen her like about a week or two before. And what happened here May 4th was one of the reasons why I decided to come to Kent. I wanted to get involved in commemorating the May 4th event and not let it be forgotten. I wanted to go into architecture or TV/film. And so I was looking at a number of schools and Kent was one of them. And I came down here to campus and liked it. And also the fact of what happened here at Kent, I just decided that, you know, I want to go here.
So, I came to Kent, got involved in student government because nobody else in my dorm on my floor wanted to represent the dorm for KIC. So I got involved in KIC. And all of sudden there was ...
[Betsy Zajko]: What's KIC?
[Barry Seybert]: Kent Interhall Council. I don't know if it still exists. So I was representing the fifth floor of McDowell Hall for McDowell Hall. And then McDowell Hall needed to have representatives represent McDowell Hall for KIC. So I volunteered there and got involved, became security director of KIC. And from that, we were talking about May 4th activities. And a bunch of us got together and we formed the May Fourth Task Force, which was an offshoot of student government until they got thrown out of student government for holding rallies that were not approved by campus. So it became an offshoot organization instead of a part of student government, which is how it started.
[Betsy Zajko]: Interesting. Tell me about the beginnings of it.
[Barry Seybert]: It was just a ... the very beginnings of May Fourth Task Force were those of us who were involved in student government. And then Dean Kahler and Robbie Stamps and Alan Canfora, they were still around campus. When we got kicked out of student government, they ended up joining us. A few other people who lived around Kent who were also wounded at Kent or just very involved having been here in 1970 ended up getting involved with us. And we started having rallies around campus ... well, we actually did plan all the May 4th activities in 1974. We were still a member of student government at that time. I think it was '75 or '76 that we got kicked out of student government. That was also because of the fact that Dean and Robbie and Alan wanted to get very heavily involved with us, as did some other people.
[Betsy Zajko]: And that was frowned upon?
[Barry Seybert]: Well, what really kicked us out of student government and got frowned upon was the Gym Annex. The University Trustees had met with us talking about building the Gym Annex. And one of the sites that was chosen was its present site. And we were against it. Another site that they were talking about was the parking lot across from Taylor Hall. And that was the site that we wanted it on, as did most of the students on campus at the time. And in a secret meeting, the Board of Trustees decided they wanted it attached to the Memorial Gym, and they were going to take away Blanket Hill. And it was a total secret meeting and we found out about it. We started forming protest rallies. So we got kicked out of student government. We did all these illegal rallies which brought around national attention. And from that started Tent City. Actually May 4th of ... I'm trying to remember if it was '76 or '77, which is just before Tent City was formed, Reverend Jackson was here talking about, he was one of the speakers at May 4th. And with his influence, we took over the Administration Building and chained ourselves inside of it for three days, which got us thrown out of student government. And from inside of that meeting, those of us who were inside the Administration Building, we decided when we got out we were going to take over Blanket Hill and start Tent City.
[Betsy Zajko]: What's Blanket Hill?
[Barry Seybert]: Blanket Hill is the, what was the hill in front of Taylor Hall, between Taylor Hall going down to Memorial Gym. Which now most of the hill has been removed because the Annex cuts into it. It was a beautiful, beautiful hill. It was called Blanket Hill because a lot of couples would lay blankets out on it and just lay there and make out or have picnic lunches. It was beautiful. There were major massive old oak trees on that hill. It was absolutely gorgeous.
[Betsy Zajko]: And Tent City went up on Blanket Hill?
[Barry Seybert]: Tent City went up on Blanket Hill. And we stopped the Gym construction for over a year.
[Betsy Zajko]: What do you remember about Tent City?
[Barry Seybert]: Tent City was a lot of fun. I lived out there from its beginning to its end. I was the second tent up on Tent City. I had an apartment. I'd go there to change clothes, take a shower. But basically lived in the tent, as did everybody else. We grew nationwide attention. We had people in camp there who were not students from the surrounding area. When we had our rallies, we drew from all over Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota. A couple of times, people came in from universities in California to show support, in Florida. It was a flashback to the hippies of the '60's almost as far as everybody in camping out and the way everybody dressed. And it was a good time but it was for a good cause. We had a lot of rallies with a lot of nationwide attention. Dan Rather from 60 Minutes actually spent a week and camped with us. They were doing a story on Tent City. I'm trying to remember who some of the other ... there were quite a few news crews out there, of course, the local Cleveland and Akron crews. But we had national crews. As I said, 60 Minutes spent a week with us. And there were constant rallies, probably monthly. The University tried to remove us a couple of times. One of the funny events was when they called in the campus police to ... actually the campus police arrested us a few times. But once they actually called in - it wasn't the National Guard - but it was the, I think it was the State Police, the Highway Patrol, or something like that. And we had all the news crews there, because they actually thought we were going to have another Kent State massacre on our hands. And so the day before the arrest, we sat down with the officers and discussed how the arrest procedure was going to take place and did a practice arrest. Everybody linking arms and the police breaking that apart and carrying us off as a practice arrest so that it would be peaceful. They didn't want another incident happening on campus. President Olds, who was the president of the University at the time -- he's now I think in Oregon or Alaska, I know somebody who's still in touch with him ...
[Betsy Zajko]: So, how did you come to terms with saying, "O.K., you may arrest us" and then rehearsing it? You said, "All right, fine, arrest us"?
[Barry Seybert]: Yeah! Yeah! They were arresting us for criminal trespassing. As I said, most of us were university students. Ron Kovick, who was star of ... who's the movie Born on the Fourth of July about, actually wrote the book Born on the Fourth of July, he ended up living on Tent City and became kind of one of the leaders by force of Tent City. Whether that was good or bad, I don't know. It did bring national exposure having him there. But it kind of made it controlled by a non-student, which created some problems. The majority of us were students. I'd say 95% of us were students who lived there full-time.
[Betsy Zajko]: So, you've seen some things end like Tent City and some things stay. Your May Fourth Task Force, look what it is now.
[Barry Seybert]: Oh, I know. I'm very proud of May Fourth Task Force. 'Cause it started out with half a dozen of us. As I said, it was just a little organized committee of Kent Interhall Council in its humble beginnings. And now, I don't know how big it is. What I'm very happy about is that all the wounded students are still in - I don't know how close they are to each other - but they still seem to come back year after year. They haven't let it be forgotten. The current students hopefully haven't let it be forgotten. And Mr. Krause and I'm sure Mr. Canfora are still involved. And all the parents are still involved. And I mean I know it's probably a very painful time for them. But at least that their children's deaths hopefully have been immortalized and that they're still very involved with it. And keep the memory going and hopefully that gives them some strength that their children are martyrs, I guess -- martyrs, heroes, depends you know, how they're looked upon. But that they didn't ... true, they died, their lives were cut down short of their time. But maybe they didn't die in vain -- the fact that they did help end the war and brought about a change within the government. You know, it's a time, it's a very sad occasion, but hope that at least their names are going on. And hopefully they did bring about something to change the country.
[Betsy Zajko]: Well, death and drama is transformation, really.
[Barry Seybert]: Yeah.
[Betsy Zajko]: Hopefully. What do you remember of the day itself? You know, you said you were in school and ...
[Barry Seybert]: I was in ninth grade on May 4th. I was just in total shock that the Ohio National Guard would shoot students who were just a few years older than I was. And then it was ...
[Betsy Zajko]: Do you remember where you sitting when you found out?
[Barry Seybert]: I was in the junior high library. It was during study hall.
[Betsy Zajko]: And an announcement was made?
[Barry Seybert]: No, an announcement wasn't made. A friend of mine had ... I don't know how he heard it. He had heard it on the radio or something and he came ... he was one of my best friends at the time, Ron Cuby, who's now an attorney in Alan Kunstler's office, although I've lost touch with him over the years. But he was, of all my friends, he was very radical. His father was a member of the Jewish Defense League. And he was the radical friend, you know, for being in ninth grade. Now, as I say, he's an attorney with Alan Kunstler, so he's stayed that path. Because Alan Kunstler is considered, you know, the radical attorney. As a matter fact, Alan Kunstler spoke several times here at Kent over the years. We had him speak when I was on May Fourth Task Force. But I noticed that he's been back since.
[Betsy Zajko]: So you were in the library. Your friend came in and told you.
[Barry Seybert]: Yeah and then an announcement was made. I was shocked and a lot of people seemed very shocked that day. It was very much like the experience when JFK was shot. And then later on to find out that somebody I actually knew was Allison.
[Betsy Zajko]: Who told you? Do you remember when you found out?
[Barry Seybert]: Oh, I heard that on ... I didn't hear ... I heard that over, through the press, through a television when they listed the names.
[Betsy Zajko]: Where were you?
[Barry Seybert]: I was home. I was home watching TV with my parents at that point. I mean I was fourteen years old in 1970, May 4, '70. I was fourteen. So I was home that night watching the evening news. And then they listed the names. I don't remember if it was that night or the next day because of after next of kin. But I was totally shocked by the name because I knew her.
[Betsy Zajko]: So you weren't alone when you saw the name and found out?
[Berry Seybert]: No, no. I was with my parents.
[Betsy Zajko]: Do you remember what you did?
[Barry Seybert]: No.
[Betsy Zajko]: You don't remember if you told them?
[Barry Seybert]: I probably told them.
[Betsy Zajko]: Yeah. God, that must be so ... How long do you think it was before the impact, before you realized what the impact this story has had on your life story?
[Barry Seybert]: Well, the impact had a lot to do ... I think that day really made a lot of changes in my life. It brought me to Kent as a student. It brought me to come here to school. It got me involved in student government. One reason why I volunteered for the different positions in student government was because I wanted to be involved in May 4th activities. It has changed my entire life. Not that I'm a major radical, if there is such a thing. But it has changed my outlook on many, many different things about the government, about the country, and just my philosophy and way of thinking. I mean I can be a rabble-rouser. I got that from my experience here at Kent, probably.
[Betsy Zajko]: And you went into storytelling, in a way.
[Barry Seybert]: Yeah. And I went into it with being in the film industry and ...[tape ends] | <urn:uuid:ac5f9eee-df2d-4ee6-bb5b-8d0f88b17fa1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://speccoll.library.kent.edu/4may70/oralhistory/seybert.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.992405 | 3,186 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Quentin Tarantino had been shooting "Django Unchained" for two solid weeks at a plantation outside New Orleans, but a pall of uncertainty hung over the cast and crew: Just what kind of slavery movie was this going to be?
After all, this was a white writer-director with a blaxploitation fixation whose previous film, "Inglourious Basterds," was a wisecracking Holocaust revenge farce. Now it was February in Louisiana, and he had scores of African American extras on set playing field hands, house servants and "ponies" (pretty black girls who served as companions to slave owners), and some racially tinged tension was bubbling up.
Tarantino set up a key scene: Jamie Foxx, playing slave-turned-bounty-hunter Django Freeman, would confront a white overseer who had tortured and punished him and his wife before selling them off to different owners. On cue, Foxx began mercilessly whipping the man. As the realistic lashes intensified, Tarantino quietly began gathering the extras behind his leading man, giving the cast its first direct look at the movie's revenge theme.
"I yell 'Cut!' and they all burst into applause. That's when Jamie turned around and realized that he had an audience: 40 black folk, all dressed as slaves, rooting him on," Tarantino recalled. "That's when everyone saw the movie we were making."
Whether general audiences will embrace "Django" as unequivocally when it hits theaters Dec. 25, though, remains to be seen. The risky $100-million production (minus Louisiana tax breaks), co-financed by the Weinstein Co. and Sony Pictures, zigzags between graphic scenes of bloodshed and slapstick moments, including one in which Ku Klux Klansmen gripe about the design of their hoods before a raid.
Early reviews have been positive, and the film picked up five Golden Globe nominations this week, including best picture, drama.
Part spaghetti western, part operatic love story, part buddy comedy, "Django" wraps in elements from German fairy tales and black folklore and explores racial dynamics that may discomfit some viewers. Unlike several other 2012 movies that deal with issues of slavery and societal division in fairly conventional ways, such as "Lincoln" and "Les Misérables," Tarantino takes on the topics through broad humor and extreme brutality.
In "Django," Foxx's character is freed by Dr. King Shultz (Christoph Waltz), a German dentist who has become a bounty hunter. Shultz despises slavery but is not above using the system to his financial benefit. He initially teams with Django to help locate a trio of outlaws and ends up forming a longer-term partnership with him, helping Django find his wife (Kerry Washington), who has been sold to a brutal third-generation plantation owner, Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio).
Advance interest in the film, which also features Samuel L. Jackson as an opportunistic head-of-household slave, is running very high, according to pre-release surveys, particularly among men and African Americans: 33% of black respondents to a recent tracking survey widely used in Hollywood listed "Django" as their first choice among upcoming films, far ahead of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," which is No. 2 with 14%.
Unlike "Basterds," which earned more than 60% of its $321-million worldwide gross overseas, Sony and Weinstein are expecting to make more of their money domestically on "Django." The filmmakers may need award nominations to help sell the movie abroad, where jokes about the Klan and bloody portrayals of American slavery won't translate as well. Sony is opening "Django" throughout Europe, where Waltz is a major star, in mid-January, following the Golden Globe ceremony and after Oscar nominations are announced.
For the 49-year-old director of "Pulp Fiction" and "Jackie Brown," treading into violent and racially charged waters is hardly unfamiliar territory, and Tarantino said that he's girding for a polarized response.
"I'm expecting the exact same reaction as 'Inglourious Basterds,' if not rougher," said Tarantino, referring to his 2009 World War II revenge film that was criticized for trivializing the Holocaust. "The Jewish community had a long time to get ready for 'Inglourious Basterds.' The black community is not ready for this movie."
Yet with a bit of his traditional swagger, he added: "Even for the movie's biggest black detractors, I think their children will grow up and love this movie. I think it could become a rite of passage for young, black males."
Racial elements aside, fans of Tarantino's gory style are likely to be satisfied with the film, which the Motion Picture Assn. of America rated R for "strong graphic violence throughout, a vicious fight, language and some nudity." "If we could get a triple R rating," Tarantino said, "we would have had a triple R."
"Django" pays homage to both Sergio Corbucci's films of the 1960s and Arthur Penn's satirical, über-violent western "Little Big Man." Tarantino also relied on the German fairy tale of Siegfried rescuing Brunhilde from a mountain, a dragon and a ring of hellfire as a framework for the story, and he throws in a poignant literary reference to Alexandre Dumas and "The Three Musketeers."
Despite the film's lighter moments — Tarantino says he considers the Klan bit in "Django" the funniest he's written since his infamous "color" scene in 1992's "Reservoir Dogs" — the director and his collaborators admit the production was an arduous journey because of the subject matter and the brutality.
"I didn't sleep through the night throughout this whole shoot," Foxx admitted in June. "Quentin was constantly challenging me to get to the slave. How do you leave your persona? You are starting all over again, to be that vulnerable, to not be able to read. For you to be able to let go like that, that's a scary thing." | <urn:uuid:2d9ea368-4310-4209-b05d-d40f3c1d87db> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.portlandscw32.com/entertainment/la-et-mn-quentin-tarantino-django-unchained-20121215,0,1016355.story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970939 | 1,294 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Tobacco use will kill 1 billion people this century -- unless we act now. Tobacco companies must be held accountable for their marketing practices and deception. To pass strong tobacco control laws, we need grassroots support -- we can't do this without you!
Rhode Island: Support HB 5806
Tell your legislators to support a bill that would increase tobacco taxes by 90 cents. Tobacco tax increases have proven time and time again to save lives and raise revenue, a win, win, win for our state.
|Thank you for taking a moment to ask your legislators to stop promising and start acting. Below, you can urge Oregon legislators take action to improve the health of Oregonians and use tobacco settlement money to protect kids from tobacco.|
North Carolina: Preserve local smoke-free air laws
North Carolina's legislature has proposed a bill that would invalidate our current outdoor smoke-free air policies, including smoke-free parks and community college campuses. Tell your legislator to keep these areas smoke-free and allow communities to decide on their own smoke-free air restrictions.
Across the country, youth leaders are stepping up and fighting big tobacco. Check our these clips from our 2012 Youth Advocates of the Year Awards featuring National Award Winner, Gabe Glissmeyer, and Group Winner, Reality Check.
Big Tobacco spends one million dollars every hour to recruit kids as "replacement smokers" for the over 400,000 Americans killed each year by tobacco. Watch "Irreplaceable," a video by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and Y Street, the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth's teen volunteer group.
Sign up today to receive updates and alerts about opportunities to fight Big Tobacco internationally and in your country.
Sign up today to receive updates and alerts about opportunities to fight Big Tobacco nationally and in your own community. | <urn:uuid:b894edf1-fe41-467d-8c86-7f63ffcc070f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/take_action/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932587 | 368 | 1.648438 | 2 |
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Minnesota health officials say four more people have died of flu-related illness.
The Minnesota Department of Health said Thursday the four deaths confirmed last week bring the season's death toll to 180. Last year's flu season claimed 33 lives.
Since October, nearly 3,000 people have been hospitalized in Minnesota in one of the toughest flu seasons in many years. Last year, the flu caused about 550 hospitalizations.
Health officials say one nursing home reported a flu outbreak in week of March 10-16, bringing the number of outbreaks in long-term care facilities to 149 since the start of the season. Four schools reported flu outbreaks last week. So far about 490 schools have reported outbreaks during this season.
(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) | <urn:uuid:5fb77d7c-90e1-4b1d-9446-ff985bfb89de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kare11.com/rss/article/1017593/14/4-more-flu-deaths-bring-MN-season-total-to-180 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968941 | 177 | 1.679688 | 2 |
I am not a lawyer, so perhaps Akimori will chime in, but I have a hard time imagining this as infringing on KFC's trademark. I mean, it looks very different from the Colonel - Obama is not an elderly white man.
Obviously, I am not an American lawyer, but my experience of trade mark infringement in Australia is that whether the mark in question is ruled to be infringing largely depends on what mood the registrar is in on the particular day the question comes before him/her.
Personally, I don't think this one infringes. In Australia, it is not enough to simply show that the competing mark rips off your mark's nifty design work and aesthetic: you must show either that the two marks being allowed to co-exist sows confusion in the market or that the two competing marks are so identical in substance as to be ruled variations of one another.
I will declare my bias: I think intellectual property laws have become too robust and should be somewhat wound back.
If you're interested, what follows is a copy/paste from a memo I drafted to myself a while back. All references to statute are to the Trade Marks Act 1995 (Cth.).
In Australia, a trade mark can be ruled infringing if it is "likely to deceive or cause confusion". Whether a mark is likely to deceive or cause confusion is to be judged as a matter of fact, by reference to the ordinary individual, not a person well-versed in the particular trade in question: Australian Woollen Mills v FS Walton (1937) 58 CLR 641, Newmans v Pinto (1887) 4 RPC 508.
Marks can be held to be likely to deceive or cause confusion in four ways:
(a) the mark suggests that the goods/services are of a particular quality;
(b) the mark falsely suggests a geographic origin;
(c) the mark falsely suggests a particular affiliation; and
(d) the mark is likely to cause confusion vis-à-vis other marks.
The meaning of the word "connotation" in s.43 has caused some difficulty. It seems to suggest that the trademark is deceptive or confusing because of something external to the mark itself, such as the existence of another mark or some affiliation it has.
Whether a mark is so similar to another that it is likely to deceive or confuse involves a different test to that used to determine whether they are substantially identical.
In Shell v Esso, Justice Windeyer stated that the test for whether two marks are so similar so as to deceive or confuse involves: "not abstract similarity, but deceptive similarity […] It is between, on the one hand, the impression based on recollection of [one] mark that persons of ordinary intelligence and memory would have; and, on the other hand, the impressions that such persons would get from [the other mark]".
If two marks share a common element, that element will be important, but not determinative, in making the decision: Chong v Tonka Corp ATMO 27.
In Chong, the fact that both marks included use of the suffix –opoly (which was ruled to be a distinctive and rare suffix in the English language) was enough to render the mark in question likely to deceive or confuse.
By way of contrast, in Cooper Engineering v Sigmund Pumps (1952) 86 CLR 536, "rain king" and "rain master", which arguably denote or connote the same notion, were ruled not similar so as to be likely to confuse or deceive.
In Re Woolworths (1998) 42 IPP 49, Woolworths wished to register a mark consisting of the words "Woolworths Metro". The word "Metro" dominated the mark, but the word "Woolworths" was clearly visible in the upper left of the mark. The appeal court ruled that Australians were not likely to confuse the mark with another bearing only the word "Metro". In that case, Justice Wilcox held that, even accounting for the risk of imperfect recollection, the ordinary person would not discount the word "Woolworths", as it is a word familiar to most Australians.
The cases on this point, taken together, suggest that whether two marks are so similar as to be likely to confuse or deceive is a matter of fact to be judged in the particular circumstances of each case.
In Shell Co v Esso Standard Oil (1953) 109 CLR 407, Justice Windeyer held that, in determining whether a mark is "substantially identical" to another mark, they must be considered side by side and the "total impression" of resemblance or dissimilarity considered. Accordingly, whether two marks are so similar that ownership of one amounts to ownership of the other is a question of fact to be judged in the circumstances of a particular case.
The Act provides mechanisms intended to "catch" marks unacceptably similar to those already registered before registration occurs. As for the situation where two marks which are substantially similar are both registered, s.23 of the Act provides that:"If trade marks that are substantially identical or deceptively similar have been registered by more than one person (whether in respect of the same or different goods or services), the registered owner of any one of those trade marks does not have the right to prevent the registered owner of any other of those trade marks from using that trade mark except to the extent that the first-mentioned owner is authorised to do so under the registration of his or her trade mark."
The effect of this section is that the owners of registered trade marks are barred from bringing infringement actions against each other, that they would otherwise be entitled to bring.
As noted above, there is significant judicial authority as to the meaning of "substantially identical" and "deceptively similar". For the purposes of s.23, it does not appear to be relevant that the registrations are in respect of different goods or services.
In the case of Steps Disability v Southern Training and Employment (2009) 83 IPR 173, an owner of a registered mark objected to the registration of a similar mark it contended was deceptively similar, if not identical. The hearing officer ruled that, in the particular circumstances of that case, it was appropriate to facilitate a full co-existence of both marks on the Register. The hearing officer cited s.23 of the Act in strong support of this proposition.
In Steps, the hearing officer also ruled that no geographical restrictions should be applied to use of the mark the subject of the application for registration. Notably, in that respect, the hearing officer had regard to the fact that the opponent's reputation in the mark was limited, as a matter of fact, only to Tasmania.
Section 230(1) of the Act provides that, notwithstanding the effect of s. 23, the fact that a mark has been registered does not defeat the rights of a person who can show that use of the mark constitutes a misrepresentation actionable as passing off.
Passing off is a common law tort which pertains to diminution of goodwill as a result of misrepresentation.
In the English case of Erwen Warnick v Townend & Sons AC 731, it was said that, in order to succeed in an action for passing off in relation to a trade mark, a plaintiff must show that it has goodwill by virtue of its use of its mark, that the defendant has made some misrepresentation and that the plaintiff's goodwill in its mark has been damaged by that representation. Damage to goodwill includes dilution of goodwill and diversion of trade.
The ordinary remedy for passing off is an award of damages to the plaintiff. Accordingly, s. 230(2) essentially provides a defence to an action for passing off where the requirements of the subsection are satisfied. | <urn:uuid:7806f01d-6707-4041-bcb4-6b968ee95d16> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.orthodoxchristianity.net/forum/index.php?topic=15278.0;prev_next=prev | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960534 | 1,592 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Lorne Park teen can't help but help
Christina Joynt volunteered her time in Kenya in the summer of 2011.
Christina Joynt worked to stop child trafficking in Nepal. She loved Nepal and the beauty of the Himalayas shown behind her.
Staff photo by Fred Loek
Christina Joynt, Lorne Park teen who was awarded a Youth Philanthropy Award on Nov. 16.
Being chosen to receive the 2012 Youth in Philanthropy award may have surprised Christina Joynt, but probably not people who know her.
The Lorne Park teen admits she is "addicted to volunteering" and has been passionate about it since she busked with her violin to raise money for World Vision when she was in Grade 5.
The award was presented to her at a luncheon Friday in Burlington by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Golden Horseshoe Chapter, which recognizes individuals and businesses who have made a difference through philanthropy each year.
Joynt more than fits the bill. While attending Hillfield Strathallan College in Hamilton, she volunteered with the English Conversation circle, teaching young refugees English.
"My client was the first to graduate from high school, and she's going to on to college next year," said Joynt proudly.
In 2011, she journeyed to Kenya for just over three weeks with the Free the Children/Me to We organization to help build a girls' school. Then she headed off to Peru through a program to help poverty-stricken children there.
This past summer, Joynt went to Nepal to help NextGenerationNepal which saves victims of child trafficking. She raised money through selling red plastic 'Stop Child Trafficking in Nepal' bracelets she designed and had made. She also raised money through sponsorships and an initiative that had her climb to Mount Everest's base camp. Since base camp is at 5,545 metres, it takes nine days to hike up, and six days to come down.
"I've always been passionate about Nepal," said Joynt. "Maybe because when I was little, my parents sponsored a boy in Nepal who was the same age as me, Pemba, through World Vision. On my trip this summer I got to meet him. He's amazing, and he wants to be a doctor."
While in Nepal, she fell in love with the country — both the mountainous terrain and the people.
She's currently in first year at Dalhousie University in Halifax and plans to go into law. She hasn't decided yet in which field she'll be an activist, but she's narrowed it down to human rights or environmental causes. The combination of her philanthropy and grades won her Dalhousie's President's scholarship.
Joynt says that someday she wants a family which is why she's leaning toward human rights law.
"I'm passionate about aboriginal rights and long term I want to stay in Canada," she said, adding that would please her parents, Sue and Brian Joynt.
"A large part of why I got all this going is because I want to inspire others to do it," said Joynt.
Yet she insists she’s not that special — just your typical teen who wants to change the world. | <urn:uuid:3cdb8119-0449-46bb-97cc-ebbf32509182> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mississauga.com/community-story/3129986-lorne-park-teen-can-t-help-but-help/ | 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 | 0.977216 | 668 | 1.554688 | 2 |
TWO 17-metre whales have been spotted off East Beach in Port Fairy this morning in the first sighting for the season.
Their arrival brought onlookers to the beach and Department of Sustainability and Environment said it signalled a good start to the whale watching season.
DSE senior biodiversity officer Mandy Watson said she got reports of the southern right whales at 8.30am.
"It can be quite varied where they show up," she said.
"Last year the first sighting was at Logan's Beach in early June.
"They can show up anywhere on the coast. it can depend whether they're calving.
"There have been sightings in Lorne but I would call this the first sighting for the main part of the whale season.
"Other years they've turned up at Portland and sometimes Port Campbell."
Ms Watson said it was difficult to tell the sex of the whales but there was probably a fair bit of social interaction between the two.
"Pregnant females tend not to socialise with others," she said.
"It's exciting. I've basically been waiting for them for a month. | <urn:uuid:85fce566-f5d6-4a44-8b31-0aa0e5274b19> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.standard.net.au/story/71888/our-whales-have-arrived/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979119 | 234 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Factors when choosing Wheeled Carry On Luggage
How to make sense of all your different
A bag that seems simple on
the outside can offer a wonderful variety of added features
when you carefully inspect it.
Inside and outside pockets,
included suit carriers, and many other things make today's
best carry-on bags fully versatile.
.Part 2 of a 3 part series - click for Parts
first part of this series,
we considered some obvious issues such as the size of different
carry-on bags and the not so obvious implications of this, and
the cost of bags and what they actually offer in the form of
In this second part, we look at
more of the factors you need to consider when choosing luggage
that best matches your requirements.
What is the bag made out of?
Leather is expensive and
heavy, and also is more prone to show wear and tear.
Leather is a curious contradiction - it can be both robustly
long wearing, but is also fragile and prone to showing scratches and other
signs of wear.
Leather is also
ostentatious, and some people think baggage thieves are more
likely to open and/or steal bags that look expensive.
Woven nylon or polyester is the most common material in use. This can be
very resilient and resists being punctured or scratched.
If described as 'microfiber' then it is made of thinner finer
strands (usually polyester) than normal woven or 'ballistic'
nylon (which is also used in Kevlar bulletproof vests). It is usually water resistant rather than fully water proof.
Some manufacturers add a Teflon and/or water resistant coating
to the material.
Is the bag a 'squishy' bag?
By this we mean is it possible to squeeze it into a tight space,
or are the external dimensions fairly rigid and fixed, making it
harder to squeeze it into a space that is just a tad too tight?
Solid sided bags can be very
strong, but if/when they lose their strength, they then
transition to being very weak, and are rarely seen on carry-on
How is the general shape of
the suitcase formed? Is it by a thin sheet of plastic
material that is likely to soften and deform, or is it by a more
solid and thicker type of material that will help the bag
maintain its shape and provide a limited degree of protection
for its contents?
Can the bag be readily
repaired? Look for screws, not rivets, holding the bag
together as a good sign of it being able to be conveniently
Few carry-ons comprise
nothing more than an empty case with wheels and a handle.
Apart from the obvious - a divider between the upper and lower
halves, and/or a couple of straps to fasten across the contents,
here are some of the other things you might find inside (or
outside) your bag.
Of course one of the
standard fold-over-in-half suit carriers wouldn't fit inside a
carry-on suitcase, so the designers got clever and designed a
'fold in thirds' type suitcarrier that you can fit inside your
carry-on (usually within its folding lid part). You'll probably only squeeze one suit inside the
carrier, but it provides a convenient and easy way to fold and
carry one suit.
Some bags have a waterproof
pouch - maybe small in size, maybe larger - into which you can
put wet items. Of course, don't leave them there for too
long, or else they may go musty and mildewy.
This compartment can also be
used to store items that may potentially leak. Some sort
of waterproof compartment is an essential item to have in your
bag, either provided as part of the bag, or separately
This is a nice feature -
perhaps the bag includes a smaller bag that can be used for
toiletries - you pack it in place in the carry-on for traveling,
and then unsnap it and take it into the bathroom with you at the
Some bags have several
external pockets, others have one or none. External
pockets can be convenient for putting frequently accessed items
in, and if there are at least two, the small external pocket can
be used to hold your tickets.
Some external pockets work
so that when you put things in them, they expand out, making the
overall bag dimensions larger. Others work so they expand
into the interior of the case, keeping the external dimensions
the same and using up internal space instead.
You might prefer one style
or the other, depending on how often you have size problems with
your bag (or with all the things you're trying to squash into
The bigger your bag, the
heavier it will be (all other things being equal).
You might think that the
weight of the bag is unimportant, because, after all, it is on
wheels. And to a certain extent, it is unavoidable that a
well constructed robust bag will weigh more than a thin flimsy
But, wheels or not, you'll
still end up carrying the bag some of the time - perhaps up and
down flights of stairs - and also when you try and lift it above
your head and into the overhead storage bins on your flight.
There's another possible
problem with the heavier weight bags. Although domestic
flights generally allow you up to 35-40 lbs for your carry-on
piece (note that Hawaiian limits you to 25 lbs), international
airlines are massively less generous.
Check what your
allowance for carry-on items will be on airlines you're likely
to fly, using our page that summarizes this information.
If you're considering flying Alitalia, Finnair, Malaysian or
Varig, your weight limit is only 11lbs. If you fly British
Airways, Icelandair or Virgin, your weight limit is only 13lbs.
Most other airlines will limit you to between 15 - 22lbs.
It is not uncommon to find
carry-on suitcases that weigh more than 11lbs empty, and even
with a more generous 22lb allowance, if your suitcase already
weighs more than half that weight, you're sure to go over your
allowance and find yourself being forced to check the bag you'd
hoped to carry onto the plane with you.
International airlines are
more strict about enforcing these limits than the domestic
airlines. If they see a maximum sized carry-on, bulging at
the seams, and you straining to carry it, they're very likely to
insist on weighing it and then refuse to let you take it on
If you travel
internationally a lot, you might want to have a lighter weight
piece for these flights.
Note that if you're willing
to retreat back to a simple duffle bag type carryon, these can
be found weighing as little as 3lbs.
Fragile External Bits
Look at the outside of your
bag, and ask yourself if any of the parts of it run the risk of
being damaged by rough handling. Are the wheels partially
recessed/guarded, or do they stand well clear of the bag?
Are there any catches or
other pieces that might get caught?
Nearly all zips these days
are of the self-repairing kind (ie nylon rather than metal).
Check also that the zipper pulls are strongly made - when these
break off, the zips can become impossible to use (especially if
they have the self-locking feature that only releases when the
pull handle is tugged).
Costco have a fascinating
feature on their carry-on. Replaceable zipper pulls - and
they provide two replacement pulls with the bag. This is a
very desirable bonus.
Check for reinforcing around
the corners so that the material won't wear through and the zips
Towing Handle Design
Look at the handle you'll
use to pull the case behind you.
Is it solid, or does it
wiggle from side to side? If it already wiggles loosely in
the store, it will only get worse as you use it, and the more it
wiggles, the less stable your bag will be, so that it starts to
get 'speed wobbles' as you pull it behind you.
How high does the handle go?
You want a handle that is long enough so you can have the bag
sloped away from you on a comfortable angle as you walk along -
what looks to be a high enough handle when the bag is stationary
next to you is invariably too short when it is heavy and being
I've measured handle heights
ranging from 37½" to 42½".
For me (fairly tall) the shorter handle heights are too short
bag handles have two positions, making them more convenient
for all members of your family to use.
the handle at the top of the twin poles constructed and attached
to the poles? If this should break, all of a sudden, your
bag ceases to be a towable wheeled bag and instead becomes a
heavy bag you have to carry everywhere.
handle should open easily with one hand, lock in place, and then
retract back to a recessed position where it again locks in
place and is protected
from accidental opening and external damage.
Internal handle assemblies give you the most efficient use of
the maximum amount of bag size. External ones may be
slightly more vulnerable to damage.
manufacturers (such as Travelpro with their Platinum 3 ProGrip
handle) are now offering apparently more ergonomic designs for
their towing handles. If you find a regular cross-bar
awkward to grasp then these other styles might be appealing to
you've looked at the top of the bag, have a look at the bottom -
at its wheels. Those two small wheels, and the axles
they're mounted on, will end up carrying the entire weight of
the bag and its contents.
'cheat' and pull it down stairs or over curbs, the wheels will
be subjected to strong impact forces, and if they are not very
solidly made, they are likely to become the first thing that
fails on your bag. And, just like a broken handle, when
you lose a wheel, your piece of luggage changes from something
you can conveniently tow along behind you to something you'll
have to carry.
manufacturers have easily repairable/replaceable wheels. I
always travel with a spare wheel for my large Delsey hardsided
suitcase, so that should it ever fail again, I can quickly and
conveniently replace the broken wheel in a couple of minutes.
a feature which you probably don't want to see on your bag.
Unless the locks are conspicuously labeled as being the new TSA
compliant type (which the TSA have master keys for) you run
the risk of having the TSA destroy your lock (and perhaps your
bag too) if they choose to open it to check for explosives
(should you check the bag).
carry-on comes with locks, we suggest you throw them away
immediately and instead replace them with TSA compliant locks
such as the
SearchAlert combination locks.
recommend using combination locks on your travels so that
you don't have to worry about losing the keys.
are some other features and issues to look for on bags.
at Both Ends
bags have handles at both ends, to make it easier to shove the
bag into and pull it out of a tightly packed overhead.
Feet on a
Long Side Too
bags have feet on the long side opposite the side with the carry
handle. This is a small but nice extra convenience, so if
you're hand carrying rather than wheeling the bag, when you put
it down on wet/dirty ground, the bag is better protected.
bags are designed better than others for balance and are less
likely to fall over when fully packed.
that when packing your bag, it is a good idea to put your
heaviest items at what will be the bottom when it is standing on
its legs, and your lightest items at what will be the top.
This makes the bag both more stable and also gives it a lighter
perceived weight at the end of the handle.
Hook for briefcase
Some bags come with a sturdy
strap and hook onto which you can hang a briefcase or other bag.
Name and Address Tag
Some bags have a built in
holder as part of the outside of the case, into which you can
place a card with your name and contact details. Others
include a regular style tag holder that loops around one of the
bag's handles, and some bags provide neither.
Some bags have one or two
reinforced 'runners' on their back. When you're climbing a
set of stairs, you can (if you choose) simply pull the bag up
the stairs by the handle, with it sliding up the stairs on these
Some bags can be expanded by
unzipping a gusset, or by opening an internal expander.
This might make the bag go over the legal size limit, but worst
case scenario is that you then check it rather than carry it on.
One bag tested expanded by a
mere half inch - almost a waste of time. But another
expanded by 2¾" - providing a substantial
30% increase in packing space.
or six wheels
typical roll-aboard suitcase has two wheels, at two of the sides
of the wide dimension of the bag. This is only just narrow enough to pull down
the narrow aisle of a plane, and can sometimes be difficult to
bags are available with four wheels on the bottom, enabling them
to be propelled both with the wide side or the narrow side
spanning the width. This can be very helpful in narrow
spaces such as onboard a plane.
bags even have six wheels - two for normal use, and four for
pushing/pulling the bag in any direction at all.
purpose convertible pack/bags
bags can do double duty as either a backpack or a roll-aboard.
This obviously appeals to some people, but makes little obvious
sense, and would seem to result in an object that is both an overly heavy backpack
weirdly shaped carry-on that ill uses the dimensional
constraints available to it.
Combination carry bag/backpack and carry-on
variation on the preceding type of bag is a bag that has both a
traditional carry-on part and a second part which is either
zipped on as part of the carry-on unit, or which can be unzipped
and then used as a backpack.
you could use the backpack as a 'daypack' while traveling each
day. Or you can use it as another way to expand your total
luggage capacity - start off with one piece, then, when you need
more capacity, make it into two pieces that between them now
hold considerably more things than before.
The shorter life, limited
functionality, and probable inconvenience when a low priced bag
fails all encourage one to consider buying an upgraded quality
bag to start with.
Mid priced bags (around the
$200 - $400 price range) seem to be best value for money.
More expensive bags seldom give appreciably more features or
longer life, and less expensive bags often represent false
Most bag manufacturers will
not repair bags damaged by the airlines. But Briggs &
Riley have an unlimited lifetime warranty policy and will repair
your bag, anytime, for any reason, with no questions asked.
Decide the size and weight
limits you'll settle for, and remember that size measurements
may not accurately reflect the true external dimensions of each
Understand the full range of
features that are variously offered by the different bag
manufacturers and make your informed choice accordingly.
Read more in Parts 1 & 3
Part 1 we explain what
to consider when choosing carry-on luggage, including a
discussion of cost, size and capacity.
Part 3 we feature a
range of comments from Travel Insider readers who report on
their own experiences with carry-on luggage.
If so, please donate to keep the website free and fund the addition of more articles like this. Any help is most appreciated - simply click below to securely send a contribution through a credit card and Paypal.
3 Sep 2004, last update
28 May 2011
You may freely reproduce or distribute this article for noncommercial purposes as long as you give credit to me as original writer. | <urn:uuid:9e8a0755-9f92-403f-b4a9-9bc32e4c29d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thetravelinsider.info/travelaccessories/carryonintro2.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935274 | 3,524 | 1.539063 | 2 |
The player who draws the Income Tax curse must discard an item. Each other player must discard an item (or items) of at least as much value as the player who drew Income Tax. If that player discards a Huge Rock, what must the other players discard?
- Since the rock has no value, is that equivalent to 0 gold?
- Can the other players discard zero cards? | <urn:uuid:89b91dd2-497c-4c37-a528-6760081bb055> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/3194/what-happens-if-i-use-the-huge-rock-to-pay-the-income-tax?answertab=oldest | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973361 | 80 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Depression is not due to a deficiency in anti-depressant medications. Magnesium, vitamin B6 and amino acids are the main building blocks of neurotransmitters. If you are low in any one of these, depression can settle in - and for a long long time.
A great start to combat depression is to take 2 capsules of Magnesium Plus by Seeking Health twice to three times a day, take 4 teaspoons of Finest Pure Fish Oil by Pharmax with food and 2 scoops of Whey Slim in the morning and 1 scoop of Whey Slim at night. You may replace Whey Slim with a solid meal containing effective pure forms of protein such as grass-fed meats, beans, nuts and some seeds.
Questions? Post your question at the HealthE Goods' Natural Health Forum. We'll help get you on the right track. | <urn:uuid:233c63f7-a946-4559-a867-32d7258b55e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://healthygoods.com/natural-treatment-products/depression-natural-treatment-products.html?brand=141&food_restrictions=32 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93789 | 174 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Filed under: Democrat Corruption, Economy, Health Care, Taxes | Tags: Massachusetts Health Care, The Economy, Tim Cahill
Massachusetts Care was supposed to be the model for national health care. It has not, however, worked out so well. After only 3 years, Massachusetts health insurance premiums are the highest in the nation. Governor Deval Patrick has called for price controls. Doctors have fled the state. And state treasurer Tim Cahill says the universal health care law is bankrupting Massachusetts, and will do the same thing nationally if Congress passes a similar plan to cover far more people.
Massachusetts state treasurer Tim Cahill recently left the Democrat Party to run for governor as an independent.
State Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill, an independent candidate for governor, today offered a wide-ranging and scathing criticism of the state’s universal health care law, saying it is bankrupting Massachusetts and will do the same nationally, if a similar plan is passed in Congress.
“If President Obama and the Democrats repeat the mistake of the health insurance reform here in Massachusetts on a national level, they will threaten to wipe out the American economy within four years,” Cahill said in a press conference in his office.
Echoing criticism leveled by Congressional Republicans in recent weeks, Cahill said, “It is time for the president, the Democratic leadership, to go back to the drawing board and come up with a new plan that does not threaten to bankrupt this country.”
Cahill said that health care costs have increased by $4.2 billion over what they were spending previously, and income has declined. “We haven’t done anything about driving down costs,” Cahill said. “We haven’t helped small business. We haven’t changed the way we pay for health care and the way we deliver it.”
3 Comments so far
Leave a comment | <urn:uuid:90e8de18-b334-4c6e-8a25-80f6f71cf2aa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://americanelephant.wordpress.com/2010/03/16/massachusetts-health-care-is-bankrupting-the-state-national-health-care-could-bankrupt-the-country/ | 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 | 0.956643 | 395 | 1.5 | 2 |
There were all kinds of songs and jingles that classmates put into my head when I was 10 or so. As I think back, I'm reminded how clueless 10-year-olds can be. Here are the top 5 incorrect things I learned from songs and rhymes in 5th grade.
5: Popeye the Sailor Man neither lives in a garbage can, nor eats worms and germs. Toot toot!
4: When you're swimming in the pool and you feel something cool, it is almost never diarrhea.
3: Milk, okay. Milk, sure. Lemonade? Not so much... Don't even get me started on the fudge 'round the corner.
2: There is not a piece of glass behind the refrigerator. I checked. And even if there were, nobody would sit upon it and cut their big fat ask me no more questions.
1: It turns out that on the other side of France where the naked ladies dance, there is not a hole in the wall where the men can see it all. I've checked it out on Google Maps.
Hope you guys remember the originals (otherwise most of these make no sense and are just gross). If you think of more, we'd love for you to share in the comments or on our Facebook page (where we'd also love for you to like us)! | <urn:uuid:b9892db2-9480-45f4-91fe-6fd229c42a21> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kooztop5.blogspot.com/2012/08/top-5-incorrect-5th-grade-rhymes.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960815 | 279 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Group gathers to become citizens at ConcordiaMoorhead, MN (WDAY TV) -- A group gathered at Concordia College this morning to see friends and family become U.S. citizens.
By: WDAY Staff Reports, WDAY
Moorhead, MN (WDAY TV) -- A group gathered at Concordia College this morning to see friends and family become U.S. citizens.
75 people from Minnesota and North Dakota took the oath of citizenship.
They represented more than 31 countries, including Brazil, Peru, India and Sudan. For many new citizens this was a day they have looked forward to for years.
Chris Linnares Marcil says, "It's such an honor to be here knowing that you are coming after the Fathers, Founders of this Country. I have a 7-year old daughter and this morning she was so happy. She said finally, you're going to be one of us."
The short program included singing 'The Star Spangled Banner', a message by President Obama and the Pledge of Allegiance. | <urn:uuid:5130faf9-7eb4-4233-bd8a-1d0798d3100e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wday.com/event/article/id/76991/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974509 | 216 | 1.601563 | 2 |
April 22, 2004
Long-Hair Music Gets Kid’sBuzz Cut in ‘Beethoven’s Wig’
Move over Baby Mozart and Baby Bach. If you really want your children to learn the classics -- and know the composer's name to boot -- check out "Beethoven's Wig, Sing Along Symphonies." The Grammy-nominated release by Richard Perlmutter adds witty lyrics to some of classical music's best-loved pieces.
The CD's title, for example, is from the lyrics set to the opening notes of Beethoven's 5th Symphony: "Beethoven's wig, is very big." And while the lyrics are fun for children, adults will appreciate the droll humor. Regarding the finger speed of pianist Franz Liszt, Perlmutter croons that Liszt "could play the minute waltz so quickly that he'd end in 30 seconds flat."
Last month, Perlmutter released a follow-up album, "Beethoven's Wig II, More Sing Along Symphonies," which proves equally amusing and addicting. Listen a few times and you'll find yourself singing along with such lyrics as those accompanying Mendelssohn's Wedding March: "Oh, what a wedding cake, it stands over six stories high...." In both CD's, the sing-along versions are followed by orchestral versions without lyrics.
As a child, Perlmutter built his own guitar ("It was pretty bad," he admitted) and later worked as a song leader at Stephen S. Wise Temple and other area synagogues in the 1980s. Perlmutter, who has produced several albums for children, was educated at the business and architecture schools at Yale.
"Music didn't seem like the type of thing you could do as a career," he said. Looks like he's turned that theory on its head.
Selections from "Beethoven's Wig" will be performed at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at UCLA, Reading by 9 Stage, on Saturday, April 24, at 12:30 p.m., and Sunday, April 25, at 1:30 p.m.
For more information, visit www.beethovenswig.com . | <urn:uuid:386e8a0b-df36-4af1-8075-9fb06330e259> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jewishjournal.com/up_front/article/longhair_music_gets_kids_buzz_cut_in_beethovens_wig_20040423 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967466 | 471 | 1.75 | 2 |
Recommended route for visitors
Gabriele Finaldi, Deputy Director of Conservation and Research at the Museum, suggests the ideal way to proceed around the Museum now that the principal part of the rehanging of the collections has been completed.
Visitors approach the Museum according to their particular interests, guided by the pleasure of discovery and seeking out the works that they most wish to see or following the routes suggested by the audioguides. The rehanging and rearrangement of the collections initiated in 2009 offers an ideal route around the Prado in an essentially chronological order. This itinerary takes the form of a loop, starting on the ground floor in the centre of the Villanueva Building in the room dedicated to the Muses (the goddesses that inspired art and hence the mythical protectresses of the Museum) and proceeding towards the north of the building to the Medieval, Renaissance, Flemish, Italian and Spanish collections. The Lower Goya Rotunda gives access to the Upper Goya Rotunda on the first floor which is presided over by Charles V and the Fury, a bronze sculpture of one of the founders of the Spanish royal collection and the work that marks the start of a route that moves from sixteenth-century Venetian painting to seventeenth-century Italian, French, Flemish and Spanish painting, the latter primarily defined by the work of Velázquez. This route concludes with eighteenth-century painting and the work of Goya around 1800. The Central Gallery allows for a perfect grasp of this process of artistic development given that it begins with Titian, links up in the centre with the great Velázquez Room (room 12) and encompasses the majestic works of Rubens before allowing for a final view in the distance of The Family of Charles IV by Goya.
The restoration of the Museum's galleries and the rearrangement of the collection have created a more natural relationship between the various groups of paintings, schools and artists, while making better use of the architectural characteristics of the rooms (paying attention to whether they are large or small and open or closed, as well as to the sequences of the rooms and the presence of natural or artificial light) and offering the visitor a wider range of more accessible information (wall panels and labels in Spanish and English). Interesting viewpoints have been created, as well as juxtapositions charged with historical and aesthetic significance. Bearing in mind that there are three blocks of rooms that flank the Central Gallery longitudinally, the works on display have been grouped together with the aim of emphasising the relationships existing between them. El Greco is the subject of the first sequence of rooms flanking the Central Gallery, an option that creates a visual relationship with Titian, of whom El Greco considered himself a follower. The next group of rooms houses works by José de Ribera and connects longitudinally with the galleries devoted to seventeenth-century Italian painting at one end and with Velázquez at the other.
Finally, and establishing a connection with Ribera and Velázquez, there is a suite of galleries that runs from Maíno to Zurbarán and includes a room devoted to the Hall of Realms in the Buen Retiro Palace. These galleries offer a survey of Spanish painting of the 1630s, culminating with The Surrender of Breda. Velázquez occupies the central area of the main floor, with six galleries arranged thematically and chronologically, starting with his Sevillian period and moving on to his Italian trip, court portraits and religious and mythological compositions.
In the rooms flanking the Central Gallery in the south part of the building where large-format works by Rubens and Van Dyck are displayed, the visitor will find the ample space of room 16b, which houses works by seventeenth-century Flemish painters together with Rembrandt's Judith. It is followed by the galleries devoted to Murillo, an artist markedly influenced by Flemish art, which in turn connect longitudinally with the final Velázquez rooms. The last group of rooms (to be restored in 2012) will be devoted to Madrid painters of the High Baroque such as Carreño, Rizi and Coello.
This recommended route continues on to the south block of the Villanueva Building where eighteenth-century European painting is displayed, including a thematic room devoted to Bourbon Portraiture (inaugurated in April 2009) in which the highlight is The Family of Philip V by Louis Michel van Loo. The collection of paintings by Francisco de Goya, which is the finest and most varied to be found in any museum or collection worldwide, is presented over the three floors of the south block: the second floor has tapestry cartoons together with the earliest works by the artist; the first floor shows works up to around 1800 including the Majas; and the ground floor presents Goya’s works from the nineteenth century (The Second of May, The Third of May and the Black Paintings). Completing the loop, this suggested route ends with the collections of nineteenth-century painting and sculpture from the Neo-classical period to the dawn of the twentieth century, displayed on the ground floor and taking the visitor back to the Muses Gallery.
- Gabriele Finaldi
- Deputy Director of Conservation and Research | <urn:uuid:95ebfb7f-b76d-45c0-b67e-9066226e8820> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/plan-de-colecciones-2009-2012/evolucion-actual-del-plan/el-recorrido-ideal/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94953 | 1,089 | 1.5 | 2 |
"Man, once surrendering his reason, has no remaining guard against absurdities... With such persons, gullibility, which they call faith, takes the helm from the hand of reason and the mind becomes a wreck." --Thomas Jefferson
This essay examines how Afrocentric Liberation Theology and its message of hate have wedded Obama's anger and ambition and defined his worldview. This radical belief system is, after all, a hybrid of black supremacist doctrine and "social gospel" Marxism.
In advance of the Pennsylvania primary, Obama displayed his disdain for middle America's faith and values at a closed-door San Francisco fundraiser: "You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest ... it's not surprising they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
In other words, according to Obama, their faith is a byproduct of bitterness. While this sentiment might have been a hit with the chardonnay-sipping elite of Marin County, it hasn't played well in Peoria. Or in Pennsylvania, which holds its crucial presidential primary on 22 April.
In the parlance of psychology, this assessment would be classified as projection. Indeed, Obama's "faith" does have bitter origins, and he assumes, errantly, that such bitterness is the root of all faith.
He also alluded to bitterness in mid-March: "We've got a tragic history when it comes to race in this country. We've got a lot of pent-up anger and bitterness.... The anger is real. It is powerful, and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races."
To date, Obama has passed on charm alone, all fragrance, no substance. So little is known about Obama that when it was discovered that his mentor, the man he identifies as most influential in his life, has discipled him in Afrocentric Liberation Theology for more than 20 years, that presented an excellent opportunity to gain real insight into Barack Hussein Obama.
Obama is the protege of Jeremiah Wright, just retired as head holy man of Trinity United Church (TUC) of radical black political theology. Wright officiated at Obama's wedding, baptized their two daughters and is credited by Obama for the title of his book, The Audacity of Hope. In that book, Obama describes Wright and his church as the "vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world."
So who is this mentor, this chief spiritual advisor to Obama?
Here is a portrait of Wright in his own words from the pulpit: "The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color. The government gives [black people] drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strikes law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no, gd d** America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people. Gd d** America for treating our citizens as less than human. Gd d** America for as long as she acts like she is god and she is supreme."
Wright calls America "the US-KKK-A" and says the nation is "controlled by and run by rich white people. Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run. We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in god. And. And-and! God! Has got! To be sick! Of this sh*t!"
"We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought back to our own front yards. America's chickens are coming home to roost."
Lest anyone mistake who he felt was to blame for 9/11, and who he felt deserved punishment, Wright elaborated in 2005: "White America got a wake-up call after 9/11. White America and the Western world came to realize that people of color had not gone away, faded into the woodwork or just disappeared as the great white West kept on its merry way of ignoring black concerns."
How did Obama respond when asked about his pastor's false and vicious tirade? "It sounds like he was trying to be provocative," he said.
On Israel, Wright claims: "The Israelis have illegally occupied Palestinian territories for over 40 years now. Divestment has now hit the table again as a strategy to wake the business community and wake up Americans concerning the injustice and the racism under which the Palestinians have lived because of Zionism."
Perhaps that explains Hamas' endorsement of Obama?
In December 2007, Wright presented the TUC's "Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Trumpeter Award" to a man who "truly epitomized greatness," Louis Farrakhan, head of the Nation of Islam and a consummate anti-Semite. "When Minister Farrakhan speaks, Black America listens," says Wright. "His depth on analysis when it comes to the racial ills of this nation is astounding and eye opening. He brings a perspective that is helpful and honest."
Recently, Wright compared Obama to Jesus, saying, "Barack knows what it means to be a black man living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich white people. Hillary can never know that. Hillary ain't never been called a nigger."
TUC's mission statement, since removed from its website, noted the congregation's "Commitment to the black values system," or as Wright notes, "Similar to the Gospel movement in Nicaragua during the whole liberation theology movement." The statement continues, "Commitment to the black community ... black family ... adherence to the black work ethic ... supporting black institutions ... pledging allegiance to all black leadership who have embraced the black values system."
That is a very dark mission statement.
A current mission statement notes, "Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent. We are an African people, and remain 'true to our native land,' the mother continent, the cradle of civilization."
Wright was, himself, a disciple of James Cone, one of the original champions of Black Liberation Theology, who wrote the following in his seminal work, Black Theology and Black Power: "Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community. Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love."
Wright quotes Cone on TUC's website: "The time has come for white America to be silent and listen to black people. ... All white men are responsible for white oppression. ... Theologically, Malcolm X was not far wrong when he called the white man 'the devil'."
When asked if he would leave TUC (as if that would make everything copacetic), Obama said, "This is somebody who I have known for 20 years [who] led me to Christ. He is a biblical scholar. He is a well regarded preacher and somebody who is known for talking about the social gospel."
In other words, "No."
But when pressed, Obama invoked his own version of Bill Clinton's "I didn't inhale" defense. Indeed, after 20 years of being fed the Wright stuff, Obama said, "I did not hear such incendiary language myself, personally, either in conversations with him or when I was in the pew."
Clinton's disclaimer registers much higher on the truth meter.
Even Wright took exception to Obama's denial: "I've been preaching the same way since I was licensed to preach in 1959, ordained in 1967. Barack was in elementary school when I was ordained. CBS, ABC, MSNBC and Fox News spent $4,000 each buying 20 years of my sermons so they could hear what Barack Obama heard for 20 years."
Wright told The New York Times, "If Barack gets past the primary, he might have to publicly distance himself from me. I said it to Barack personally, and he said 'yeah, that might have to happen'."
Translation: Any distance between Obama and Wright is contrived purely for political expedience. All the bitterness and hatred is seething right under the surface.
Despite candidate Obama's efforts to publicly distance himself from Wright, including disinviting Wright to his presidential announcement in February of '07, in a June '07 campaign speech to black religious leaders convened in Virginia, including Jeremiah Wright, Obama begins his address with "a special shout out" to Wright, describing him as "my pastor, the guy who puts up with me, counsels me, listens to my wife complain about me," and adding, "He's a friend and a great leader. Not just in Chicago, but all across the country." He called on all present to "give an extraordinary welcome to my pastor Jeremiah Wright."
He defended Wright, mockingly asserting, "They had stories about Trinity United Church of Christ, because we talked about black people in church: 'Oh, that might be a separatist church'."
Obama then departed his prepared remarks -- which is to say he let his real perspective on America, the one stewarded by Wright, shine. In a faux-folksy dialect, he described our nation as a racist society in which whites profit by exploiting blacks, and referencing "our" people and 'our neighborhoods," as distinct from white America.
While Obama was proclaiming to the rest of the nation that he was "a uniter not a divider," he pulled a page from the Left's racial disparity playbook and insisted that federal relief efforts in New York after 9/11 where much greater than efforts in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina, because white America cared more about New Yorkers, viewing them as "part of the American family." Obama added, "The people down in New Orleans they don't care about as much!"
Of course, Obama never allows facts to get in the way of his Socialist Democrat ideology. Fact is, American taxpayers funded $110 billion for the New Orleans recovery, and $20 billion for the New York recovery.
Obama even asserted that the "quiet riots that take place every day are born...when a sense of disconnect settles in and hope dissipates," as "with the riots of LA" in 1992.
A prominent member of Wright's congregation concluded, "He has impacted the life of Barack Obama so much so that he wants to portray that feeling he got from Rev. Wright onto the country because we all need something positive."
Clearly had Wright's message of hate not been exposed, Obama would have chosen him for the benediction at his inauguration. Instead, Obama gave that job to Rev. Joseph Lowery, who announced four years later, that he has mellowed since declaring "all white people are going to hell," and now believes "only most of them are going to hell." I am guessing he will not be asked back for a second inaugural, if there is one.
Obama's psyche is framed by abandonment and hatred. But he is very charismatic and his populist socialist message will get him elected unless his opposition boldly distinguishes that failed ideology in the context of Liberty and tyranny.
Quote of the week
"There is [a] class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs -- partly because they want sympathy, and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs. ... There is a certain class of race-problem solvers who don't want the patient to get well, because as long as the disease holds out they have not only an easy means of making a living, but also an easy medium through which to make themselves prominent before the public." -- Booker T. Washington in his 1911 book, My Larger Education | <urn:uuid:57e8a595-e9c4-412e-b98d-57148e6daa1c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2766/print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975919 | 2,599 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Wed December 12, 2012
UNMC Researchers Study Nicotine Dependence
Researchers at UNMC will study the genetic risk for nicotine dependence thanks to a $40,000 grant.
The grant was funded through tobacco settlement funds and LB 506, also known as the Health Care Cash Fund.
UNMC researchers want to know how smokers would respond if they knew they had a genetic characteristic that could predispose them to becoming nicotine dependent.
Julie Houfek, Professor of Nursing at UNMC and lead researcher, says her team hopes the information gained through the study will help smokers decide the best way to quit.
She says the data may be important in tailoring smoking cessation programs to the individual smoker.
"We would know how people are using the information, whether this helps them to quit, whether they are changing any of their thoughts about what might help them quit and what they might want to try. We would also know how they understand the information. How they understand the information is very important to us as we try to develop better materials to really help people use the information in a positive way.”
Houfek says more participants are needed for the study. For information, the number is 402-559-6549. | <urn:uuid:9b3cbf9b-6053-4acb-87e8-df0c37b9f356> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kios.org/post/unmc-researchers-study-nicotine-dependence | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96115 | 251 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Riding Radio WavesBy Larry Dignan | Posted 2004-05-04 Email Print
Are radio frequency identification tags good just for cutting costs in the supply chain? Not hardly. Theme park operators think they can boost sales.As project leaders ponder pilots of radio frequency identification systems this summer, in the rush to meet the mandates from Wal-Mart, Target, the Department of Defense and others, the real action may be at the theme parks where they'll take their kids.
A series of pilots are set to begin at regional and national theme parks. Baseline has learned that Walt Disney Co. is planning to use radio waves to track assets such as laundry, beverages and bus shuttles that ferry visitors around its parks. The Disney pilots are in the early stagesthe company in some cases hasn't even selected a tag vendor yetbut the company does plan to use radio frequency identification (RFID) tagging throughout its parks.
Disney would not comment, and details about pilots by the company and other theme park operators are sketchy. Oklahoma City-based Six Flags Inc., however, did confirm that Memorial Day will kick off pilots at four of its water parks in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Dallas and Jackson, N.J. Six Flags plans to give patrons wristbands with chips that emit radio waves. The wristbands can be loaded up with the digital equivalent of cash. Instead of digging through wet dollar bills, park visitors swipe their wristband past a reader and have an amount deducted from their stash.
This summer will mark the first time RFID pilots are widely deployed in theme parks, one of the sectors on the frontier of using radio-wave tagging for consumer applications. Analysts expect RFID to be commonplace within the next three years.
"The wristbands make it convenient to buy things," says Debbie Nauser, vice president of public relations for Six Flags. "It's a guest satisfaction thing."
And that's the difference between the theme park pilots and the efforts by consumer goods makers to comply with the product-tagging requirements of big discount retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target, beginning in January 2005. Where those retailers are trying to drive down costs, the theme park operators are trying to drive up revenue.
Many of this summer's theme park pilots will be similar to what Six Flags is planning, say industry experts. The goal is to make it easier to pay for food, beverages and souvenirsan issue at theme parks where children may be separated from their parents' wallets and cash can be difficult to handle if it's wet from a water slide.
Aside from the payment benefits, theme park managers will have a better idea where people go once in the park. Theme park officials will know where a person buys popcorn, gets on a ride and how long it takes to get across the facility to grab dinner. Some pilots also plan to include demographic data to determine if a patron is of age to order an alcoholic beverage.
Tom Manning, vice president at consulting firm Bain & Co., says the data provided by tagging could help park managers understand the behavior of customers. Often, says Manning, visitors enter a theme park, get overwhelmed by rides and other attractions, and wander aimlessly or not at alland sometimes don't buy anything. "Kids are random variables," says Manning. "The ultimate benefit will be to monitor the randomness and eliminate downtime."
Ultimately, parks could provide personal itineraries and use the same yield management techniques as the airlines to populate rides and target demographic groups such as boys 10 to 16 years old, says Manning. The best park managers will use this data to document customer behavior such as how customers enter a park and what they do once inside.
Nauser says Six Flags isn't sure what it will discover about its visitors and their purchasing habits since the company hasn't had the means to track this information before. Six Flags wouldn't comment on the back-end system it plans to use to analyze data.
Here is how the RFID pilots likely will work, according to San Fernando, Calif.-based Precision Dynamics, a systems integrator that makes identification tags for theme parks, hospitals and law enforcement agencies.
A visitor to a theme park gets a unique wristband with a chip embedded. On that chip, customers can load debits or purchase prepaid plans, say, three soft drinks, a hot dog and an ice cream cone. The wristbands can also be used to pay for a locker to store items, and money can be added to the tag at kiosks or cashiers.
The money on the tag is then used wherever there is a reader and point-of-sale terminal. Working on the 13.56 MHz frequency, a radio wave ricochets off the chip, picking up a code that identifies the bearer. That information is then sent to a central server that can deduct the amount of the transaction or the item from the person's account.
Collected data such as account-holder demographics and whereabouts in the park can be exported to a database for analysis, or to something as simple as an Excel spreadsheet for manual perusal.
If a visitor buys one more $3 Coca-Cola at the park because of the RFID wristbands, it will go a long way toward paying for the project. Each wristband costs $1 to $1.25 depending on volume, according to Precision Dynamics.
Other necessary items include printers to program the wristbands at roughly $1,600 each, according to barcode and RFID printer maker Zebra Technologies. Tag readers run about $500 each and ride shotgun with point-of-sale terminals. For a theme park running a 50,000-wristband pilot with three printers and 25 readers, the tally comes to $67,300. If a pilot leads to just $1.35 worth of additional Coke per patron, the installation pays for itself.
That calculation omits the analytic software needed to get the most bang out of the data provided by the radio-wave tags. Victor LaRossa, RFID manager at Precision Dynamics, says many theme parks don't include the software component in a pilot because the data can plug directly into their point-of-sale software and then connect to their financial systems. Smaller theme parks can export the pilot data into a spreadsheet.
A larger implementation of tags at amusement parks may require more investment depending on what business intelligence software is already in place, says Frank S. Smith III, vice president of mobility and infrastructure services at Capgemini.
Smith, who can't disclose his theme park clients, says the data analysis will become increasingly important as theme parks move behind their current pilots and eye full implementations across all parks, and potentially millions of visitors. First, a theme park will have to figure out what it wants to knowsay, buying patterns, ride behavior and response to marketing pitchesand filter out other events.
Smith advises theme parks to look to RFID to solve problems beyond their pilots. Many initial pilots are designed to make it easier to spend money, but project managers shouldn't forget efficiency.
Radio tags are being used at a "big West Coast park" to track personal defibrillators, which are used if a visitor suffers a heart attack, says Smith. Instead of tracking inventory manually every day, each defibrillator has a tag and sits in front of a reader. When the defibrillator is removed, park managers know instantly it has either been used or stolen. The park has also tagged its wheelchairs because they were often stolen and operators had to buy several hundred a year, says Smith.
"These implementations can apply anywherehospitals, amusement parks, airports and museumsthere are high-density transitory consumers," says Smith. "RFID was developed in the supply chain, but is rapidly escaping and moving into other areas."
Additional reporting by John McCormick | <urn:uuid:b04f29cd-a622-46c3-98a8-842a5276a9dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.baselinemag.com/c/a/Business-Intelligence/Riding-Radio-Waves/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947445 | 1,595 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Wichita A Sedgwick County commissioner believes prohibitions against carrying concealed weapons in public buildings infringes on the rights of people with permits to carry the weapons and he wants the commission to change the rules.
Concealed guns are prohibited in all 78 of the buildings Sedgwick County owns and leases. Commissioner Richard Ranzau, who is licensed to carry a concealed handgun, said the buildings were put off limits when the state passed its concealed-carry law in 2006 without the county establishing any regulations.
"It's fundamental that I have a right to do it," Ranzau said Tuesday during a meeting with county staff. "That's the rule. To exclude it, we have to have a compelling reason. We need a policy that clearly shows the public we that we take their rights seriously and we're not going to restrict those rights without some form of due process."
The Wichita Eagle (http://bit.ly/qYd5Xi ) reports that county employees are prohibited from carrying guns into their workplaces.
The issue is expected to come up again at the commission's meeting in September, County Manager William Buchanan said.
"Currently there's an informal practice of just tagging all buildings," County Counselor Rich Euson said.
On Tuesday, Buchanan presented a list of 40 county properties that he recommended allow concealed carry, including four health department buildings and 13 facilities used by Comcare, a community mental health center. The list also included the Kansas Pavilions, the extension center, tag offices and fire stations. The county leases nine of the properties on the list and Buchanan said the owner would determine the rules.
The list did not include the county courthouse, although Ranzau wants weapons allowed at the old county courthouse, which includes two courtrooms and the elections office.
Melissa Wangemann, general counsel director of legislative services for the Kansas Association of Counties, said she wasn't aware of any counties that allowed concealed guns in their buildings. But she acknowledged that the law enacted five years ago has left some confusion.
State law says a county can allow concealed weapons into any of its buildings by simply not posting a sign prohibiting them, if the county adopts a resolution that states that.
"The reverse of that is they can prevent it in any county buildings by posting it, which is what we have now," Euson added.
Ranzau said the posted signs give citizens a false sense of security, but Buchanan countered that the signs give the public some confidence that they won't encounter a gun in a county facility.
"The issue is we're trying to make citizens as healthy as possible," Buchanan said. "Why would we want to introduce something that interferes with that process?"
There have been 7,106 concealed-carry licenses issued to Sedgwick County residents as of Aug. 1, according to the state attorney general's office. More than 35,000 have been issued statewide. | <urn:uuid:f71fad99-99e4-490c-95d6-a86bfab1d3cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/aug/03/segdwick-county-official-wants-allow-concealed-gun/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976829 | 599 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Hi, I'm new here and I want to apologize if a similar topic is already around.
When I first heard about the Mars One project a few months ago - at that time I became interested in the question when humans will fly to Mars and heard that maintaining a human outpost there would be possible - I was simply amazed. I spent one and a half day reading through their website and searching the web about it. At that time I also became a member of the forum. Everything seemed so determined that I didn't question all of this.
This changed a few weeks later, when I was reading what critics had to say about it - and they seemed to be right. How can a team of few people, with none of them being a real expert in astrophysics/aerospace engineering/etc., can dare to take on such a huge project? They said they've been thinking through their concept for one year before they made it public, because this was a huge project and needed to be very well designed and thought out. But others, being experts in their field, have thought about it half their lifetime and still haven't claimed that it will be possible very soon? Mars One told us that all of their hardware components would be available - fine, but do they function together? They claim to attempt not only to fly people to Mars (which is an unbelievably huge task by itself) but to let them stay and live there! There are just so many factors determining the success of such a mission, how can they just come up with a few hardware components and say it is possible?
To make things worse, the head of the team, Bas Lansdorp, appears to me not to be sufficiently competent to lead this enormous enterprise. I find the answers he gives in the interviews not satisfying. In short, this seemed to me almost certainly to be a hoax and I was ashamed I trusted this project in the beginning. Then I joined The Mars Society (which I recommend to everyone here) to support a group of people and a leader of the organization I could really trust because of his engagement and competence (Robert Zubrin).
However, my view on Mars One changed again. For me it was because Chris McKay joined the advisors. Just as well could have Robert Zubrin joined! I was irritated and rethought my worries. I came to the point where I would just impatiently wait and see what happens next. And here I am now.
Now my questions are: Can you trust this project and because of what? Let me point to the fact that Bas Lansdorp and his team aim to gather lots and lots of money before anything happens. And at some point they'll even agree to receive funds from people like you and me. What kind of assurance can the team offer its supporters? Now they aim to start with the TV series next year, but that as well might be scripted reality. To be radically critical, even the landing on Mars could be scripted and be executed here on Earth (see the sceptics of the Moon landing).
Don't get me wrong, I'm the last person who wants to destroy any chance to make human life multiplanetary as soon as possible. But if we're not being critical, then we really cannot dare to support such a serious mission as bringing humans to Mars. | <urn:uuid:8b433691-a731-4979-8ee1-14d2edbe0111> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://marsonefans.com/showthread.php/596-Can-this-project-be-trusted?p=3643&viewfull=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988009 | 669 | 1.617188 | 2 |
I had never heard the term "Black Friday" before -- that's because I don't live in the United States -- but apparently the word "black" has a positive connotation here, because it signifies that the shopowners are finally making a profit. Their books are "in the black" on this day, instead of being "in the red". Or so a quick Google tells me. For whatever that's worth.
@peter...thanksgiving and forth of july are always kind of those wierd holidays, you don't think about people in Canada not celebrating.i'm certainly aware of the term...i just think it's kind of fun since black usually has a negative connotation.So if there's no black friday in Canada...when do Canadians get the best Christmas deals? :-)
I call Black Friday "the day after Thanksgiving" and nothing more - I simply refuse to run lemming-like to the super-retailers and fight the crowds. Good Friday though, that I understand. It wasn't particularly good for Jesus, I suppose, but it was good - very good - for us. At least that's how I look at it.
yeah, i'm starting to think the other connotation for black friday might be accurate for those smaller shopkeepers. it seems that black friday has largely become a day for the big box mega-corporations to tighten their vice on the american consumer and their control of the market - effectively shutting down the smaller competition who don't get the benefits of federal tax breaks and sweatshop labor that wal-mart and those companies do.as far as good friday, that is an interesting thing to ponder, since i understand that in the medieval ages, at least, people held negative connotations toward the day of Jesus' death (i.e., the Jews' involvement, the number 13, etc.). so it would be interesting to see a history of naming the day and to line that up with a view of atonement through the ages. like, is that a protestant thing? a protestant and catholic? and what of the orthodox church(es), do they call it good friday too? did the name begin in the Church Father's era? and so on? now you made me curious, rc.
A bit of trivia. Today, this particular Black Friday, is also the 120th birthday of Boris Karloff. It just so happens that in 1940 Karloff starred in a movie called, well, Black Friday...
Post a Comment | <urn:uuid:a70a8c0f-9751-4f4c-aa72-49bb83aad80e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.strangecultureblog.com/2007/11/friday-terminology.html | 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 | 0.968674 | 519 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Without any doubt, the greater and best-known attractive of the Island of Cozumel they are their beautiful reefs, numerous and various as for their formation, location and degree of difficulty to agree to them. It is considered splits them important inside the long barrier coralline (second largest of the world) known as the Great Mayan Reef, that extends since the north of the Island Contoy in the oriental coast of the Peninsula of Yucatan to the Gulf of Honduras in the Central America.
For their dazzling variety and beauty, the reefs of Cozumel deserve their reputationa as among the best in the world. Also contribuiting to their popularity is their easy acces and availability year-round. The water remains clear all four seasons and water temperature fluctuates from 25ºC to 28ºC (77ºF – 82ºF) with an averange air temperature of 24ºC (76ºF) | <urn:uuid:7d48a1fd-0840-4497-81dd-265538ceea0e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hotelvistadelmar.com/brochure/dive/index.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955556 | 193 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Spain's recession deepened in the fourth quarter of 2012, when the economy shrank by 0.6% compared with the previous three-month period.
In preliminary estimates to be confirmed next week, the Bank of Spain said it was the sixth quarter in a row that the economy contracted. It shrank by 0.4% in the third quarter.
The central bank's report today said that economic activity was down 1.7% in the fourth quarter compared to the same time last year. It estimated that it shrank 1.3% for the whole of 2012.
Spain's National Statistics Institute is to announce the official economic growth figures on January 30. | <urn:uuid:a97a9f97-3885-4bec-bba8-63618af4029a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rte.ie/news/business/2013/0123/364088-spanish-economy-sinks-deeper-into-recession/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972279 | 135 | 1.578125 | 2 |
The hard truth: You can’t be too cautious when it comes to participating in social media. According to a 2012 CareerBuilder.com survey, 37 percent of employers check sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter in their research of candidates. And the employer scrutiny of social media takes on a whole new dimension for many once on the job as a growing number of employers are establishing policies about the use of social media on and off the clock for their employees.
The clash between employee use of social media and employers has come to a head with the dramatic rise in the number of legal cases involving employees and their use of the Internet both on and off the job, according to FindLaw.com, the nation’s leading website for free legal information.
“The photos and comments you post on social media websites can follow your career for years to come,” says Solomon Gresen, an employment law attorney with the Law Offices of Rheuban & Gresen in Los Angeles. “When you start posting online, you create a digital trail that’s available for all to see – including current and future employers. And, in many ways, what you post remains forever.”
In one case, an employee was fired when she posted photos of herself dancing and throwing a Frisbee at a festival on her Facebook profile. Why? She was on a temporary leave and claimed she was in severe pain from an old back injury.
“I would strongly urge parents to talk to their high school- and college-age children about the importance of building a reputable online presence,” adds Gresen. “One careless Facebook post or inappropriate tweet could wind up damaging your reputation and negatively impacting your career potential.”
Here are some additional tips from FindLaw.com on how to avoid career-limiting social media mistakes:
Ask about your company’s social media policies. With more companies adopting social media policies, educating yourself is key. If there aren’t any policies at your workplace, it’s best to use common sense.
Search yourself. Want to check out what your potential or current employer may see about you online? Do a search of your name on any of the leading search engines to get a snapshot of how you appear digitally to others. If you see any red flags, manage them right away – or be prepared for the situation should an employer bring it up with you.
Complete your LinkedIn profile. Many recruiters search LinkedIn for candidates. This is one place to put your best foot forward and attract employers. Don’t treat it as an online resume with every career detail – just include highlights of your work history and accomplishments.
Don’t lie or exaggerate your work experience. The Internet offers employers the opportunity to corroborate information you claim about yourself. Therefore, it’s wise to not lie or exaggerate on your resume or LinkedIn profile.
Avoid sharing sensitive work-related information. Don’t share privileged or confidential information about your company or customers. It could put your career and the company at risk.
Don’t vent about work. Don’t complain about your boss. Don’t gripe about how boring work is. Don’t play hooky and then post photos about your incredible day off. Always assume that someone from your company may be watching what you say or post.
Be careful about what photos you share. With smartphone cameras connected directly to social networks, photos can easily be posted without a second thought. Photos of you participating in inappropriate or risky behavior can quickly tarnish your professional reputation. Employers want employees who mirror company values. If they’re looking for ways to quickly whittle down a large pool of candidates, this is one of them.
Be cautious about who you connect with. In the world of business you’re known by the company you keep. The same rule applies to social media. Everything you like on Facebook or follow on LinkedIn or Twitter factors into your online reputation.
Use your privacy settings. Want to limit some of the problems mentioned and put space between your personal and professional life? Adjust your privacy settings. Many social media platforms have controls that allow you to fine-tune how your information and posts are displayed.
To learn more about employment law, visit FindLaw.com. | <urn:uuid:e8a34610-3dd3-4140-ab9e-8e9729864944> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fuquay-varinaindependent.com/matchbin_businesses?state=ID&cat=Legal&ara=Business | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936335 | 895 | 1.65625 | 2 |
WALLY: So you would all sit together somewhere, and you would play in some way, but what would you actually do?
ANDRE: I'll give you a good example. You see, we worked together for a week in the city.. Of course, Grotowski was there in the city, too, and I heard that every night he conducted something called a beehive, and I loved the sound of this beehive, so a night or two before I grabbed him by the collar and I said: "Listen, about this beehive: you know, I'd kind of like to participate in one. Just instinctively I feel it would be something interesting." And he said: "Well, certainly. In fact, why don't you with your group lead the beehive instead of participating."
Well, you know, Wally, I got very nervous, you know, and I said: "Well, what is a beehive?" He said: "Well, a beehive is at eight o'clock a hundred strangers come into a room." And I said: "Yes?" And he said: "Yes, and whatever happens is a beehive." And I said: "Yes, but what am I supposed to do?" He said: "That's up to you." I said: "No, no! I really don't want to do this. I'll just participate." And he said: "No, no. You lead the beehive!" Well, I was terrified, Wally. I mean, in a way I felt on stage. I did it anyway.
WALLY: God! Well, tell me about it.
ANDRE: You see, there was this song. I have a tape of it. I can play it for you one day. And it's just unbelievably beautiful. You see.. it repeats itself over and over again, and this became our theme song. So, at a certain point, it may have only taken an hour to get there, an hour and a half, the people suddenly exploded! You know, it was like a Jackson Pollock painting, you know, human beings exploded out of this tight little circle that was singing this song, and before I knew it there were two circles dancing, you know. One dancing clockwise, the other dancing counterclockwise, with this thumping, persistent rhythm.
Now, you could easily see, 'cause we're talking about group trance, where the line between something like this and something like Hitler's Nuremberg rallies is in a way a very thin line. Anyway. After about an hour of this wild, hypnotic dancing,... Grotowski said: "If it burns, try to change some little thing in yourself."..
And then at a certain point, hours later, we returned to the singing the song, and that was the end of the beehive.
WALLY: Hunh! God! Well, tell me some of the other things you did with your group. | <urn:uuid:1b98fbce-a306-43d8-8e78-9d2389779693> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eplaya.burningman.com/viewtopic.php?p=837579 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983409 | 620 | 1.8125 | 2 |
An alarming report by Sean Kerrigan via Patriot Network shows that the U.S. government is offering private intelligence companies contracts to create software to manage “fake people” on social media sites and create the illusion of consensus on controversial issues.
According to Kerrigan, the contract calls for the development of “Persona Management Software,” which would help the user create and manage a variety of distinct fake profiles online. The job listing was discussed in recently leaked emails from the private security firm HBGary after an attack by an Internet activist last week.
Kerrigan reports that according to the contract, the software would “protect the identity of government agencies” by employing a number of false signals to convince users that the poster is in fact a real person. A single user could manage unique background information and status updates for up to 10 fake people from a single computer.
The software enables the government to shield its identity through a number of different methods, including the ability to assign unique IP addresses to each persona and the ability to make it appear as though the user is posting from other locations around the world.
Included in HBGary’s leaked e-mails was a government proposal for the government contract. The document describes how they would ‘friend’ real people on Facebook as a way to convey government messages.
Contract performance will be at MacDill AFB, Kabul, Afghanistan and Baghdad, Iraq. Is this being used in the propaganda battle against our enemies?
Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs speculates this activity is tied to the re-election campaign for Obama 2012, “and so the propaganda and the manipulation of opinion is full on. His people are creating ‘fake people’ to redirect ‘dialogue’ online.”
We’ll keep an eye on this. Look for developments in future Surfin’ Safari columns.
The Internet is impacting the ability of governments – totalitarian and otherwise – to conduct business as usual, especially as today’s citizen social media informs the rest of the world of unfolding events. No longer can despotic regimes control the flow information and images, which are now easily transmitted via cell phone cameras, Twitter, Facebook and other social network sites.
The novelty cell phone camera of just a few years ago is now the world’s eyes and ears, especially throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
“For some of the protesters facing Bahrain’s heavily armed security forces in and around Pearl Square in Manama, the most powerful weapon against shotguns and tear gas has been the tiny camera inside their cell phones,” wrote the New York Times.
Traditional news organizations are now using those images: “YouTube is using Storyful, a news aggregation site, to help manage the tens of thousands of videos that have been uploaded from the Middle East in recent weeks and to highlight notable ones on the CitizenTube channel.”
The Los Angeles Times provided overall coverage with observations from Iraq, Iran, Israel and the Arab world from its correspondents and the Carnegie Middle East Center in Babylon & beyond.
Michael Ledeen discusses how revolutionaries communicated before the age of social media.
New media outpaces old media in Madison, Wisc.
Closer to home, citizen journalists were quick to capture and upload video and images of physicians signing and handing out “missed work” excuses for Wisconsin teachers who played hooky to demonstrate at their State Capitol.
The new media outreported the demonstrations, and in one instance, Rockford, Ill. tea-party coordinator David Hale caught two of Wisconsin’s state senators who crossed the state line to escape a vote on the controversial public service union vote. The video, uploaded to YouTube and to the Rockford Tea Party’s Facebook website, attracted 46,000 views in its first day and was aired on Rush Limbaugh’s radio program.
After news broke that Hale confronted the senators at the Clock Tower Motel & Resort, I contacted him and invited him to appear on my radio show. During the interview, Hale recounted the event and his involvement in the controversy. During the interview, Sal Russo, chief political strategist for the Tea Party Express and Our Country Deserves Better PAC took the time to call in and thank Hale for a job well done.
The controversial Cybersecurity and Internet Freedom Act that would give Obama sweeping powers to shut off portions of the Internet under cyber-attack has been reintroduced in the Senate. According to its advocates, the 221-page bill will protect critical infrastructures that Americans rely on – the power grid, financial systems and water supply, among other things – in the event of a potentially crippling digital assault. And they say it does not give anyone the authority to choke off the Internet with the flick of a so-called “kill switch.”
And I’ve got a bridge in Chicago that’s for sale. Any takers?
Net-Neutrality funding blocked
Kudos to the House of Representatives, which passed an amendment last week that would bar the Federal Communications Commission from using any funding to implement the network-neutrality order it approved in December.
If the defunding effort fails in the Senate, House Republicans are pursuing a second option: a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act, which gives lawmakers a limited amount of time to try to block the FCC’s net-neutrality rules.
China not pleased with U.S. policy on Internet freedom
“The United States continues to help people in oppressive Internet environments get around filters, stay one step ahead of the censors, the hackers and the thugs who beat them up or imprison them for what they say online,” Clinton said in a speech given last week at George Washington University.
China was not happy, saying it was an attempt by the U.S. to meddle in the internal affairs of other countries. Not surprisingly, Clinton’s speech did not get much coverage in China, and censors promptly removed blog posts on the subject sent out by the United States Embassy in Beijing.
The mysterious closed-door session at the home of John Doerr, a partner at a major Silicon Valley venture capital firm with twelve Silicon Valley technology leaders included Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook; Steve Jobs, the ailing head of Apple; John Hennessy, the president of Stanford University; Carol Bartz, president and CEO, Yahoo!; John Chambers, CEO and chairman, Cisco Systems; Art Levinson, chairman and former CEO, Genentech; Oracle founder and chief executive Larry Ellison, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings; Twitter CEO Dick Costolo; and Steve Westly, managing partner and founder of The Westly Group.
“There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate, they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You had to live – did live, from habit that became instinct – in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.” – George Orwell, “1984″
Congratulations to WorldNetDaily readers Cheryl Townsend of North Attleboro, Mass., and Tom Pickett of Suffern, N.Y., who were among the first to correctly guess actor Marilyn Monroe in her portrayal of Sugar Kane Kowalczyk in the Oscar-winning film “Some Like It Hot.” Directed by Billy Wilder, the film also starred Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis as two struggling musicians who witness the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre and try to find a way out of the city before they are found and killed by the mob.
The quote: “Story of my life. I always get the fuzzy end of the lollipop.”
This week’s quote: “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard … is what makes it great.”
Name the movie, the actor and the character. Send your answer to me at the email address below. Good luck! | <urn:uuid:35a0c267-d697-4c01-a98c-439fa2cb5178> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wnd.com/2011/02/266781/print/ | 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 | 0.950955 | 1,708 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Five cardinals from India to take part in electing Pope
Thrissur: Five cardinals from India will participate in the conclave at the Vatican in the 'Holy Week' beginning from March 24 and vote to elect the next pope. Only 117 of the total of 206 cardinals of the Universal Catholic Church will be eligible to vote in the conclave to elect the 266th successor of St. Peter as they are below the age of 80 years, deputy secretary general and spokesman of the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council Fr Stephen Alathara said.
"This is perhaps the first time in the two-millennia history of the Church that five cardinals from India have qualified to attend the conclave and vote for electing the Pope," Alathara said. They are: Telesphore Toppo (Archbishop of Patna), Oswald Gracias (Archbishop of Mumbai), Mar George Alenchery and Mar Baselios Cleemis, heads of the Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara Churches and Ivan Dias (Roman Curia), former Archbishop of Mumbai, he added.
The maximum strength of the College of Cardinals, with the right to vote, was fixed as 120, he added. The head of the Universal Catholic Church is also known as Successor of St. Peter, The Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, the Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, the Sovereign of the State of Vatican City and the Servant of Servants of God, Alathara said.
Bangladeshi academician Rashiduddin Ahmed has called for the banning of the country's biggest Islamist party, the Jamaat-e-Islami, saying that it represents the wrong face of Islam.
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Will the so-called "carmageddon" really be that bad? If officials took the lessons from the 1984 traffic plan, then things might just be fine. That's because, as two of our commentators have already pointed out, that when the 1984 Olympics occurred here in Los Angeles the "Black Friday" of traffic never surfaced on the streets.
"We were made afraid that the entire freeway system would fail. It didn't," said D.J. Waldie.
"1984 was the year of catastrophic traffic that never was," added Erin Aubry Kaplan.
For some visual proof, this SoCal Rewind feature from SoCal Connected will show you how it worked.
TrackBack URL: http://www.kcet.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/10094 | <urn:uuid:9efed01c-3dac-46f5-9e87-3f17d08a1bc9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kcet.org/news/carmageddon_la/perspectives/video-a-look-back-to-the-non-traffic-of-the-1984-olympics.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973875 | 169 | 1.8125 | 2 |
HARTFORD — As the sun rose early Thursday morning, majority Democrats in the Connecticut House of Representatives approved a controversial measure that will require to Department of Motor Vehicles to issue valid drivers’ licenses to undocumented immigrants beginning in 2015.
Opponents of the bill said the bill was rushed and, as a result, comes with an assortment of potential pitfalls that could otherwise be avoided. Deputy House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora said he is disappointed the majority party felt the need to force the issue without going through the proper committee and public hearing process.
“Even if one agrees with the concept of providing drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants there are a number of problems and unintended consequences that can arise in the implementation of the law,” Candelora said. “I think it is irresponsible to rush something like this when we don’t have to. There is no emergency.”
Candelora noted that 7 of the 11 states that have implemented the program have repealed it due to the serious problems that arose. In hopes of avoided a similar fate in Connecticut Candelora and his Republican colleagues offered an amendment that would require a task force be created to study the process and procedure of granting such licenses. The amendment failed with all Republicans voting in favor.
During debate it was discovered that the bill would prevent undocumented immigrants who were convicted of a felony in Connecticut from obtaining a license; however, felony convictions in other states would not be a factor. An amendment to fix that arbitrary distinction also failed.
“In light of the recent terror attack in Boston, If we are going to move forward on issuing foreign undocumented immigrants with a state issued licenses, proper public safety measures, like fingerprinting this applicants, should have been included.” added Candelora. “We require fingerprinting for law abiding citizens to exercise their 2nd Amendment right, we should do no less for an undocumented immigrant seeking the privilege of obtaining a license.”
The bill now awaits action by Senate. The 2013 legislative session adjourns June 5. | <urn:uuid:1884fa10-4d3f-4ac5-a0d2-033639a35b2c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cthousegop.com/author/cfryx/ | 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 | 0.960869 | 414 | 1.796875 | 2 |
The Air Force is committed to education, and you’ll have the opportunity to take your training as far as you’d like — on or off base. If you enlist straight out of high school, the Air Force offers exclusive programs and hands-on experience to help you succeed. Plus you won’t have to pay for it on your own. The Air Force offers a number of financial assistance programs to help our Airmen at all levels.
When you join the United States Air Force, you’re automatically enrolled in the Community College of the Air Force. It’s not only America’s largest community college, but it’s also the only degree-granting institution in the world dedicated entirely to Air Force personnel. The Community College of the Air Force is also a unique combination of on-duty and voluntary off-duty courses with classes and times that are flexible to meet your needs.
You'll work toward your associate’s degree in applied science in one of five career areas — aircraft and missile maintenance, electronics and telecommunications, allied health, logistics and resources or public and support services. You’ll be earning college credit just for doing your job while gaining invaluable experience to help your career take off.
To learn more, visit the Community College of the Air Force website.
The Airman Scholarship and Commissioning Program (ASCP) offers active-duty enlisted personnel the opportunity to earn a commission while completing their bachelor’s degree as an Air Force ROTC cadet. Those selected separate from the active duty Air Force join ROTC at a participating college and become a full-time student.
Participants receive a tuition and fees scholarship for up to $15,000 per year, as well as a textbook allowance of $600 per year. They are awarded in a variety of fields, including technical (engineering, meteorology, architecture, etc.), nontechnical, nursing, prehealth and foreign language areas, including graduate studies. Airmen with some or no college credit may apply for the program. If selected, Airmen may use Montgomery GI Bill benefits and also receive a tax-free monthly stipend of $250 to $400 depending on what year of school they are in. Graduates are commissioned as second lieutenants and will then be returned to active duty (typically within 60 days of commissioning) for at least four years.
Leaders Encouraging Airman Development (LEAD) Program allows commanders to seek out outstanding and deserving qualified Airmen for appointments to the Air Force Academy and AFROTC scholarship programs. Learn more in the Air Force Academy section.
Professional Officer Course — Early Release Program (POC-ERP) offers active-duty Airmen (who can complete all bachelor’s degree and commissioning requirements within two years) an opportunity for an early release from the active-duty Air Force to enter the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). This program is open to students in all majors. If selected, you would separate from the active-duty Air Force, join ROTC at a participating college and become a full-time student. You must pursue a bachelor’s degree and will be commissioned as a second lieutenant upon graduation and completion of the two-year program. You will then be returned to active duty (typically within 60 days of commissioning) for at least four years. If selected for POC-ERP, you will no longer collect military pay and benefits.
The Nurse Enlisted Commissioning Program (NECP) offers active-duty Airmen the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing, an in-demand career in the Air Force. NECP students will complete their degree at a college or university that participates in ROTC. Students will commission after passing the National Council Licensure Examination and then attend Commissioned Officer Training and the Nurse Transition Program.
NECP allows Airmen to remain on active duty and continue to receive an income while going to school full time. Airmen selected for NECP receive a tuition and scholarship fees for up to $15,000 per year, as well as a textbook allowance of $600 per year. Those selected may participate for up to three years, depending on their degree programs and previous academics.
The Physician Assistant Training Program offers qualified individuals the advanced training they need to provide expert medical care to military personnel and their families. Only active-duty Airmen are eligible to apply for this program. Download the Physician’s Assistant PDF for more information.
If you’re interested in pursuing a college degree, the Air Force ROTC program gives Airmen scholarships to attend school and train to become an Air Force Officer at the same time. The program is available at nearly 1000 colleges and universities across the country and offers scholarships to high school and college students with outstanding academic and leadership qualities.
Air Force ROTC offers one- to four-year scholarships on a competitive basis to both high school and college students. Scholarship recipients will receive partial or full tuition, as well as a nontaxable monthly stipend. Many colleges also offer an additional subsidy for tuition, fees and books to ROTC cadets.
ROTC programs are frequently changing. To get the most up-to-date information on how the Air Force can help with your college education, contact an adviser or visit the official Air Force ROTC website.
The prestigious Air Force Academy gives students a high-quality, cost-free education in exchange for their commitment to serve in the Air Force. There is one specific program for enlisted Airmen to enroll in the Academy:
The LEAD Program is an ongoing effort to give our best and brightest Airmen the opportunity to excel by offering them appointments to the U.S. Air Force Academy and Academy Prep School (a 10-month program designed to prepare you for the Academy). The program asks Unit and Wing Commanders to nominate highly-qualified Airmen with officer potential. Every year there are slots reserved for Airmen at the United States Air Force Academy. There are 85 slots reserved for Direct Appointment and 50 slots reserved for the Academy Preparatory School.
For more information about Air Force Academy prior enlisted cadets, visit www.usafapeca.com.
The Air Force Tuition Assistance (TA) program is designed to help active-duty personnel pursue voluntary, off-duty educational opportunities. Currently, the program pays 100% (up to $250 per semester hour or equivalent) of the cost of college tuition with a limit of $4500 per fiscal year. Courses and degree programs may be academic or technical and can be taken from two- or four-year institutions on base, off base or by correspondence.
Scholarships for Outstanding Airmen to ROTC (SOAR) are offered to enlisted Airmen who would like to attend college. SOAR nominates up to 50 people for ROTC scholarships, which pay most tuition and all fees. You will separate from the Air Force while earning a degree. SOARs are awarded for two to four years, depending on how many years you have remaining in your bachelor’s degree program. Airmen with some or no college credit may apply for the program. Scholarships are awarded in a variety of fields, including technical (engineering, meteorology, architecture, etc.), nontechnical, nursing, prehealth and foreign language areas.
The Post-9/11 Bill is an educational assistance program that provides eligible Airmen with up to 36 months of benefits for education and training opportunities outside of the Air Force while they are on active duty. These benefits may be used for undergraduate and graduate degree programs, vocational and technical training, tutorial assistance, books, supplies and monthly housing. Generally, benefits are payable for 15 years following release from active duty and may be transferred to spouses or dependent children.
The Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) is an assistance program that provides eligible Airmen with up to 36 months of benefits for education and training opportunities outside of the Air Force. These benefits may be used for degree and certificate programs, flight training, apprenticeship/on-the-job training and correspondence courses. Generally, benefits are payable for 10 years following release from active duty.
The College Loan Repayment Program (CLRP) is for all non-prior-service persons considering enlistment in the Air Force. If you have taken some college courses and have accumulated debt, this program may be for you. Participants must sign up for this program when signing the enlistment contract. Under CLRP the repayment maximum is $10,000 per recruit.
To learn more about any of these educational opportunities, chat with an Air Force adviser. | <urn:uuid:37be6b86-ffe4-44dc-b077-2b1cfd4c9bc1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.airforce.com/benefits/enlisted-education/ | 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 | 0.949169 | 1,804 | 1.710938 | 2 |
More than a thousand took part in the Girls on the Run 5k charity run Saturday morning. The money raised goes to benefit the Girls on the Run scholarship fund.
Girls on the Run (GOTR) Sedgwick County is an organization that works with pre-teen girls. They meet twice a week the girls. Part of the training involves running as well as classroom work where they teach them about different subjects like bullying and how to deal with their emotions.
Organizers say the 5k run is a way to get the girls focused on a having a goal and going for that goal.
You can learn more about Girls on the Run by clicking here. | <urn:uuid:2bcf4413-09df-4b62-be88-bd0ec60d20c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kansascw.com/kscw/news/kwch-news-rmj-more-than-a-thousand-take-part-in-girls-on-the-run-5k-20120512,0,5863820.story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978963 | 135 | 1.773438 | 2 |
SEVARE, Mali (AP) - Mali's government is warning soldiers to respect human rights following reports that the military killed civilians at a bus stop in central Mali.
A witness told The Associated Press that he saw soldiers fatally shoot at least three people and dump their bodies in a nearby well.
A French-based group has cited at least 33 deaths.
A government statement says "the army should be irreproachable."
Mali's military spokesman has called the reports "absolutely false."
Witnesses say the killings took place two weeks ago after the Islamists surged south and seized the town of Konna. France began its military operation to oust the Islamists the following day.
The Islamists rule northern Mali, and human rights groups have warned of retaliatory violence.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Read the original story: Mali gov't warns soldiers amid killings reports | <urn:uuid:e1ed1fbb-a30b-422e-99c1-9290cfc7a6ec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stevenspointjournal.com/usatoday/article/1863723 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958922 | 195 | 1.5 | 2 |
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Allied Health Institute is a post-secondary school that offers a variety of degree and diploma programs in the allied health field. By utilizing the internet, students have the flexibility to earn a diploma which allows them to enter the workforce or change careers from the convenience of their own home. Our virtual classrooms will enable students to attend classes and communicate with instructors and classmates. Blended programs and clinical externships in certain courses offer students hands-on, practical instruction. Our concept is based on providing the opportunity to gain education in the medical field, regardless of the student´s day to day obligations.
At Allied Health Institute the classes are web-based and designed by qualified faculty. Students interact with their instructor and each other utilizing cutting edge technology. We are prepared to support you every step of the way. Our motto is our code: "Closing the distance in allied health."
Please be advised that you may be asked to furnish a background check prior to clinical/externship hours. If you have ever been convicted of, pled nolo contendere (no contest) to, or had adjudication of guilt withheld for any violation of any state or federal law in any jurisdiction, this may adversely impact your ability to obtain a certification/licensure or gain employment in the field for which you are trained. | <urn:uuid:1e7f509d-77f7-4e0f-b507-2bd8fcd8c82d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://alliedhealthinstitute.edu/online_training_courses/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937072 | 321 | 1.539063 | 2 |
As a child, I was surrounded by the mysterious books—both forgotten and freshly read—that lined the walls of the library in our house. My hours were spent curled under the grand mahogany desk in that room, flashlight in one hand, book in the other. On one shelf—until the day my mother decided it should be more safely stowed away—sat a book as thick as a pinewood log. Its goatskin binding was frayed and fragile; its pages were as dry as the colorful leaves of our near New England fall. Anyone who laid eyes on this book realized at once that it was something special, something ancient, and—to the curious minds of a passel of children—something extraordinary.
This special tome was a sixteenth-century edition of the The City of God by Augustine de Hippo. As strange as this may sound, it was like a part of the family. My mother was no Scrooge about it; often she would let us look at it as she scanned the pages, or let us touch it as she was certain that the oils from our hands would benefit the brittle cover. And sometimes, when the moment was especially ripe for such commentary, my mother would quote from the pages in smooth translation to remind us of a certain rightness of living, a dignity of life that she felt Augustine conveyed. Even as I enjoyed this time spent with my mother, in my mind Augustine’s was a standard not easily achieved and presumptuously dictatorial. Furthermore, as a girl I felt like the beggarly exile to Augustine’s patriarchal divine guidance through sermon. Imagine my surprise when I discovered a new understanding and respect for this bewildering theologian through the engaging and accessible biography Saint Augustine: A Life by Garry Wills.
Having served on the faculties of both Johns Hopkins and Northwestern University and having received the Pulitzer Prize for Lincoln at Gettysburg (1992), Wills has built a respected reputation for both his own ability to lead and his deft insight. It is no surprise that he would write such an illuminating biography as this; what is surprising is that Wills takes a man whose status is as iconic as the messages he preaches and makes him as real and reachable as any one of us walking today.
On college campuses across the nation, feminist and rhetorical classes look at the teachings of Augustine and other church fathers with disdain. In this light, Augustine and his brood seem more than a little prejudiced, short-sighted, and—to say the least—antifeminist. Having been reared in such an education, I read this book expecting to have my sour opinion of Augustine reinforced or, at least, unchallenged. What Wills has done so stunningly is open my eyes to the truth of humanity, where each of us—even those mysterious figures of the ancient Church—fashions our beliefs and our approaches out of whatever cloth is available and familiar to us.
Donned in velvet robes of holy royalty, Augustine cannot be expected to see the world in precisely the same way that I, currently disheveled and draped in holey denim, do. However, and this is the clincher, what I find through Wills’s eyes, is that Augustine and I are not cut from entirely different cloth. Politically, we would probably never dine at the same table. But, in the most basic issues of human dignity, Wills has fairly convinced me that Augustine and I may see things very similarly.
It is Wills’s personal approach to this story, his ability to take the icon and make him man, that allows the reader to glean a new insight into Augustine. Addressing issues of current concern about men like Augustine, Wills paints a picture that answers many questions. Issues such as sex in the lives of Catholic leaders, the morality of war, the conversion of the masses through force, and the relevance of women in a male-dominated world are neither brushed quietly under dusty rugs nor explained to fruitless simplicity. Rather, in a very accessible manner, Wills reveals the bigger questions, addresses them with insight and sensitivity, and pleads Augustine’s case without making excuses for his shortcomings. This is no easy task.
Furthermore, choosing beautiful passages from Augustine’s life work, Wills reminds the reader of the beauty of his language and the sophistication of his style. Augustine’s mental dexterity becomes foreground, and his position in a volatile time becomes landscape. Never did I expect to laugh, cry, and ooh-aah at the life of Saint Augustine. Garry Wills and his Saint Augustine: A Life have caused me to do just that. | <urn:uuid:68e20e9c-fd99-49d1-8595-0793a1b368ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.curledup.com/saintaug.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976569 | 957 | 1.789063 | 2 |
The clinical psychology–education in human sexuality program is a partnership between the Center for Education's human sexuality program and the Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology within the School of Human Service Professions. The purpose of this program is to enhance the training in human sexuality for students in the PsyD program who might encounter client problems related to sexuality. The joint degree program prepares clinical psychology doctoral students to teach, consult, conduct research, and provide assessment and intervention services in a variety of settings in the area of human sexuality.
Students spend five years in full-time residence at the Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology working toward the PsyD degree. Within the same time frame, through the addition of summer courses, field practice experience, and electives during the academic year, the Master of Education in Human Sexuality degree can also be completed. Students are expected to earn their Doctor of Psychology/Master of Education in Human Sexuality degrees within the five years; however, some students may be required to take courses beyond the five years, depending on other aspects of their psychology curriculum. In addition to fulfilling the essential requirements of the separate degrees, students are required to participate in a number of noncredit learning experiences that are specifically designed to help them integrate their training and develop unique skills. Examples of such experiences may be content-relevant workshops or mini courses.
The applicant must possess a BA or BS from an accredited institution. A major in psychology is desirable, but not essential. Evaluation of the student's ability to do graduate work will be based on past academic performance and scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE).The Center for Education also requires a writing sample through the Center. Personal character and attributes of emotional maturity, stability, and capacity for relating to and working with other people are major factors evaluated in reviewing applicants. Evidence for these attributes is sought from records of past performance, letters of reference, work history, and a personal interview. Applicants to the joint degree program must submit separate applications to both the Clinical Psychology and Human Sexuality Education programs. Additionally, applicants should send all supplemental materials to the Clinical Psychology program only.
Students pay a total of five years of full-time tuition at the rate set in the Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology. Joint degree candidates who complete the MEd in Human Sexuality courses within the 18 credits allowable per semester (except during the first two years, during which students are allowed to take only 15 credits per semester) will do so without added tuition. All human sexuality courses above the 18 credits, those taken during summer sessions, and those taken after five years in the PsyD program will be subject to additional tuition charges at the human sexuality program semester-hour rate. Tuition per semester is calculated on a per-credit-rate basis and therefore varies as a function of the total number of credits taken. A fee will be charged each semester (fall or spring) in which the student is enrolled in the joint degree program.
The PsyD program, including its exclusively affiliated internship, are accredited by the Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation of the American Psychological Association (750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242; phone: (202) 336-5979). The MEd in Human Sexuality program is accredited under the auspices of Widener University's accreditation by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.
Students who have completed the joint degree program will have met the academic requirements for sex therapy certification through the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT). The practicum HSED 602 (offered through Penn Council for Relationships) will meet the supervisory hours required for certification by AASECT. | <urn:uuid:b6e047f6-8da0-427f-9b1e-46f03cfe8608> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.widener.edu/academics/schools/shsp/psyd/dual/hss.aspx | 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 | 0.934858 | 744 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Volume 46, Issue 5 - June 2007
experts address important questions
All Cracked Up
Expert Addresses Preventing Deck Decay
When customers have questions about sealing their outdoor deck, you need to be prepared to answer the questions. To help answer some deck sealing questions, Shelter turned to Huck DeVenzio, manager of product information, Arch Wood Protection, the licensor of the production of Wolmanized® wood products.
Q: A consumer’s deck is deteriorating. What’s the most economical solution for preventing further decay?
DeVenzio: Properly treated wood has long-lasting protection against damage from termites and fungal decay and the best brands carry a limited warranty that extends for the lifetime of the purchaser. If termites or rot are the problem, the consumer can probably place a claim with the warrantor for replacement material.
More likely, the deterioration is a result of moisture damage, which may show itself as cracking, warping or raised grain. These tendencies are not covered by warranties and are nearly impossible to repair. There is no good way to un-crack wood. However, further deterioration can be minimized by applying water repellent, often called sealant, every year or so. Water repellents do not really seal the wood’s surface, but they slow down the rate at which moisture is absorbed and released, thus reducing swelling, shrinking, cracking and warping.
Q: Does a new deck need to be treated? Or can a homeowner wait several years, since the wood is pressure treated already?
DeVenzio: Preserved wood that meets industry standards needs no subsequent treatment to withstand termites or fungal decay; this wood should remain structurally sound for decades without any maintenance. But, for deck platforms, railings and surfaces that homeowners want to look good for a long time, the regular application of a water repellent coating is highly recommended. Occasional cleaning with a deck brightener and regular spraying with water repellent will have aesthetic benefits.
A common question among homeowners building a new deck is: “How long must I wait before applying a coating?”
The answer is not as simple as it once was, because there are now more options in treated wood and in coatings than previously existed. Some treated wood is sold in a damp condition, still wet from the treating process; some treated wood is re-dried after treatment to remove moisture, and some contains built-in water repellent as part of its treatment. In addition, some coatings are water-based and others are oil-based, and some form a film while others penetrate. The main reason for waiting is to allow excess moisture to escape from the wood before applying a barrier coating such as paint.
In short, unless the wood was re-dried after treatment, it is best to wait at least six months before painting. Stains usually do not require a delay, unless the wood contains water repellent and the stain is water-based. In all cases, the directions of the coating manufacturer should be followed.
Q: What can a dealer do to help customers avoid or postpone deck deterioration?
DeVenzio: The best way to forestall moisture deterioration is by fortifying wood with the defense it needs. Dealers should recommend periodic use of water repellent coatings to contractors and homeowners. This is good advice as well as a sales opportunity. A dealer should also consider stocking treated wood of better quality—that is, wood of a higher grade, wood that contains water repellent and wood that is kiln-dried or air-dried after treatment. Each of these features adds cost to basic treated wood, but they provide customer-pleasing properties and still result in a cost lower than that of artificial wood decking. Homeowners get the attractive appearance of real wood, and they get better long-term performance. Meanwhile, dealers are likely to benefit from fewer exchanges and a better reputation.
© Copyright 2007 Key Communications Inc. All rights reserved. No reproduction of any type without expressed written permission. | <urn:uuid:36e83897-c79b-42c3-9625-c3ac762c9ae9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.usglassmag.com/Shelter/Backissues/2007/June07/askshelter.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954729 | 842 | 1.515625 | 2 |
LOUISA, VA (WWBT) – For the first time in three weeks, Louisa County students were back in class. Back in August, they were at the epicenter of a 5.8 magnitude earthquake that caused major damage to two schools. Students - who started classes the previous week- had no choice but to stay home...until now.
The third graders in Chesney Vesely's class, finally, are back together. Things look a little different...but they're also very much the same.
"Our books. We still have books…" Vesely said to the students during class.
The kids are from Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, which was rocked so badly in the August earthquake that they can't go back this year. So they're using mobile units outside of Trevilians Elementary School. Monday was the first day.
"They're back in school like we never missed a day. And I'm so encouraged by that," said Superintendent Dr. Deborah Pettit, who added that only four of the many trailers on campus were ready in time. Students will have to share classroom and cafeteria space inside Trevilians for now.
Administrators ran the day with purpose...knowing there were 1,100 little pairs of shoes at every turn.
ANDY: "I guess I'm impressed about the precision with which lunchtime is conducted. Have you ever seen anything like that?"
"No. We were talking that it just seems like they've been doing this all their lives," said reading teacher Catherine Collins.
It might be this way for another two years, says the superintendent. All part of the new normal for Louisa County Schools.
"Of course we were a little nervous, but things seemed to have worked out really well for us today," said Thomas Jefferson ES Principal Candace Wilkerson.
The kids will double-up in classrooms for at least a little while longer. As more of the mobile units become ready to go, the classes will gradually move. But that process could take at least another month to finish.
High school and middle school students are also sharing the middle school building on alternating days. Middle schoolers will even attend class on some Saturdays for the remainder of the year.
Copyright 2011 WWBT NBC12. All rights reserved.
WWBT-TV NBC 12
P.O. Box 12
On Your Side
Video and Pics | <urn:uuid:6aa71813-7c56-4ea2-bfe6-ce8bf014497a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbc12.com/story/15444049/for-first-time-since-earthquake-louisa-students-back-in-class | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985608 | 493 | 1.5 | 2 |
The man leading the polls to become Israel's next prime minister has warned that the US-backed peace process will not bring a sustainable agreement with Palestinians, and wants the plan abandoned.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the former Israeli prime minister and the popular head of the opposition Likud party, said moderate Palestinian leaders could not deliver real peace, despite the efforts of George W Bush. Any Israeli concessions would only strengthen the Islamist group Hamas, backed by Iran, he added.
"People want to just have these ceremonies on manicured lawns which they know the other side will not keep," said Mr Netanyahu in a rare meeting with selected foreign newspapers, including The Sunday Telegraph, ahead of Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations next month.
"They know there is no one on the Palestinian side right now besides Hamas, and besides militant Islam. They know, but they close their eyes and they pretend that it doesn't exist. Well, I'm not pretending. I'm not in that business."
He also portrayed Israel as being on the front line in a battle between militant Islam, championed by Iran, and the West, and hinted that he would not hesitate to attack Iran to protect the Jewish state.
"We had Nazism, which has been defeated, a totalitarian creed of race," he said. "We had communism, which has been defeated, a totalitarian creed of class. And now we have militant Islam, which is a totalitarian creed of creed, of religion and fanaticism.
"This too will pass. But the question is, when? And by the time it passes, how many people will it kill? How many terror actions will it have committed? And this is something we face here, simply because we are the front line."
Mr Netanyahu's warnings come at a difficult moment in the fragile peace process launched in Annapolis, Maryland, last year. Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, have just resumed talks after the hostile, month-long pause following an Israeli operation in Gaza that killed 120 and the killing by Palestinians of eight students at a religious school.
Both sides concede privately that nearly five months of talks have produced little progress, despite heavy American pressure and a push for another US-led peace summit with Arab leaders next month.
Mr Olmert's shaky coalition, which depends on an unlikely marriage between Left and Right, is widely expected to crumble, leading to elections, within the year. Given his current poll rating, Mr Netanyahu would take power and the present process would end.
Instead of it, Mr Netanyahu advocates "economic peace" by building trade links between Israel and the West Bank, appealing to moderate Palestinians until a stronger leader emerges.
"We need security, the Palestinians want prosperity," he said. "We can work on both and create different conditions, and then, when you have the Palestinian leadership that can fight terror, that can recognise the Jewish state, then let's negotiate," he said.
Without such a process, the West Bank would merely become another Gaza, where Hamas has wrested full control, or south Lebanon, now a stronghold for the Iranian-backed Hizbollah.
"I think many Arab governments understand Israel is not their true problem. They know that their real problem is militant Islam and specifically Iran. That's the force that they're worried about, and they're right," he said. | <urn:uuid:c0c54355-8196-4bf3-9396-03aed126b913> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1584984/Benjamin-Netanyahu-says-trade-is-way-forward.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97318 | 692 | 1.617188 | 2 |
BEIRUT (AP) -- Russia's foreign minister was due in Damascus on Tuesday for talks with embattled President Bashar Assad amid escalating violence, a day after the U.S. closed its embassy and Britain recalled its ambassador from Syria.
Hundreds of people, some waving Russian flags, gathered in the capital to welcome and "salute" Sergei Lavrov for his country's support of Syria, the state-run Syrian TV reported.
Syrian allies Russia and China vetoed on Saturday a Western- and Arab-backed resolution at the United Nations condemning the Assad regime's crackdown on dissent and calling on him to transfer some of his powers to his deputy. The Syrian government had earlier rejected the Arab plan as intervention in Syria's internal affairs.
Bolstered by the Russian and Chinese vetoes, government troops stepped up an assault on the flashpoint city of Homs, where Syrian government forces, using tanks and machine guns, pressed ahead Tuesday in a push to recover rebel-held districts.
More than 5,400 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising began in March, the U.N. said early last month. Hundreds more are believe to have been killed since then, but the U.N. says the chaos in the country has made it impossible to cross-check the figures.
Syria has blocked access to trouble spots and prevented independent reporting, making it nearly impossible to verify accounts from either side. The Assad regime says terrorists acting out a foreign conspiracy to destabilize the country are behind the uprising, not people seeking to transform the authoritarian regime.
On Monday, troops shelled a makeshift medical clinic and residential areas, killing nearly 70 people, activists said. More than a dozen others were reported killed elsewhere.
The escalating violence prompted the United States to close its embassy in Syria while Britain recalled its ambassador to Damascus in a clear message that Western powers see no point in engaging with Assad and now will seek to bolster Syria's opposition.
"This is a doomed regime as well as a murdering regime," British Foreign Secretary William Hague told lawmakers Monday. "There is no way it can recover its credibility internationally."
President Barack Obama said the Syrian leader's departure is only a matter of time.
"We have been relentless in sending a message that it is time for Assad to go," Obama said during an interview with NBC. "This is not going to be a matter of if, it's going to be a matter of when."
Even as the U.S. steps up pressure on Assad to halt the violence and relinquish power, Obama said a negotiated solution was possible, without recourse to outside military intervention.
Later, however, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the administration was taking "no options off the table."
U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford and 17 other U.S. officials left Syria on Monday, arriving in Amman, Jordan, several hours later. Ford was to travel on to Paris to spend time with his wife, the State Department said. | <urn:uuid:735cdbab-b6d3-432c-af32-849ff19bc2e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.the-review.com/ap%20international/2012/02/07/russian-fm-due-in-syria-amid-escalating-violence | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970774 | 602 | 1.539063 | 2 |
If the Who's Who Are You immediately popped into your head...you're probably a fellow Baby Boomer or a fan of CSI--Las Vegas. Looking beyond the music though---how would you describe you? Historically men have thought of themselves in terms of what they do for a living. Of course, with the majority of women also working outside the home, women may tend to that as well. Do you think of yourself as it relates to family...as a mother, father, sister, brother? Do you characterize yourself with a nod towards how you choose your foods...organic, vegetarian, vegan? I will restrain from using the over-used cliche 'find yourself', but maybe Life has interferred or complicated things too much for your inner you to blossom.
You can step away from the many distractions and demands on you, by stepping onto your yoga mat. Your yoga practice is a time of/for self of just being. It begins with the outer you, your physical body, where you tune back into how your body feels and where you feel things during asanas. Gradually this awareness delves deeper to include your psychological reactions/responses. Your yoga practice is a journey towards self-awareness.
The breath is your key. The breath gives you a bridge to controlling both your body and mind. When you've mastered control over your breath you can simultaneously provide enough oxygen to your body while clearing and calming the mind. Through your practice, you develop an observer of self; an objective assessment that will allow you to see what nourishes and enriches you and, just as importantly, what behaviors or situations should be avoided. When you're able to discern what builds you up, what brings joy to your heart you're able to chart a course for self-fulfillment.
The article 14 Rules for Being You has great tips for becoming the you you were meant to be. It's been my experience the more inward you travel on your yoga journey the more outward it manifests...a natural expression that we're all connected in some way and doing good for others is good for you.
Health, Wellness & CURES!! | <urn:uuid:eee186e5-58d5-493e-a577-815e17ee52c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.embraceactivism.com/blog.asp?catid=1&blogid=226 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962357 | 435 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Abu Dhabi’s main gas supplier has reassured residents that pipelines transporting gas to key consumers do not pose any threat to their safety on the grounds they are far enough from residential areas.
The government-controlled Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Ltd (Gasco) said it was reacting to reports circulated on social networks and mobile phones that gas lines passing near some areas in the emirate are dangerous.
“Residents should fear any thing….all our pipelines are safe and built according to international standards…all the pipelines are at least 300 metres away from residential areas,” Gasco’s CEO Mohammed Al Suwaidi said.
“Gasco has a large gas network supplying to many areas for years, including Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, the Western region and Jebel Ali…there has been no leakage or any other accident,” he told the Arabic language daily Emarat Alyoum.
Suwaidi said Gasco’s gas network is on par with those in advanced countries, adding that fears by residents, mainly Khalifa and Mohammed bin Zayed cities, are unfounded…there are fences around those pipes that pass near residential areas so no cars or any other machinery will come near them.”
Emirat Alyoum said Gasco controls nearly 2,600 km of gas pipelines supplying thousands of clients from its processing facilities on Das Island. | <urn:uuid:f7d04f5a-e7c0-488f-8fcd-ab224857f4b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.emirates247.com/business/abu-dhabi-residents-assured-over-safe-gas-lines-2012-07-09-1.466428 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958172 | 283 | 1.648438 | 2 |
North Korea’s leadership
Disneyland for dictators
Kim Jong Un stamps his own style on his fantasy kingdom
THESE are unsettling times for watchers of North Korea. Scholars who used to pore over rambling documents on the philosophy of self-reliance are suddenly confronted with strange new questions. Who is the svelte young woman seen accompanying North Korea’s new leader, Kim Jong Un? Why were American symbols such as Mickey Mouse, Rocky Balboa and Frank Sinatra featured at a concert that the two attended in Pyongyang this month? And who are the pop stars with miniskirts and electric violins who elicited an elated thumbs-up from the bouncy mini-Kim?
You could almost sense the relief this week when the boffins could get back to Kremlinology and ponder an unexpected overhaul at the top of North Korea’s armed forces. As ever with the Hermit Kingdom, the meaning was mostly guesswork. But the conclusion for the time being is that, superficially at least, Mr Kim is putting a very different stamp on the oppressive regime from that of his secretive and mirthless late father, Kim Jong Il.
On July 18th it was announced with some fanfare that the young Mr Kim had been named marshal of the 1.2m-strong armed forces. The news followed the removal, two days earlier, of Ri Yong Ho from his post as army chief of staff. The reason for his departure was said to be illness, but more probably, experts say, Mr Kim wanted to assert his authority over the armed forces, rather than relying on a 69-year-old general appointed by his father.
The move, though it caused soldiers to dance through the streets of Pyongyang (see photo), suggested to some that Mr Kim may be toning down the “military first” policy that has guided North Korea for years. With the help of his uncle, Jang Song Taek, he may be promoting the primacy of the Korean Workers’ Party instead. So far, the transition seems to have been orderly—previous purges under his father had involved car crashes—but there is enough uncertainty in a nuclear-armed state to leave plenty of concern.
Far clearer is the emerging personal style of the young Mr Kim. Jocular in public, though no great orator, he seems to have no qualms about letting North Koreans gossip about the mystery woman at his side. He is playing on his youth, declaring in a big speech to the party’s gilded children (millions of less favoured youngsters are kept under heel from birth) that they are “treasures more precious than 100m tonnes of gold and silver”. His father barely uttered a sentence in public, let alone released details of his private life.
For now, though, it is purely cosmetic. There are no signs that conditions are improving for North Korea’s repressed citizens. State media still indulges in horrific invective against the South Korean president, Lee Myung-bak, suggesting that, despite its discovery of American schmaltz, the regime’s attitude remains dangerously paranoid. John Delury, of Yonsei University in Seoul, believes Mr Kim may “shift the priority a bit from security to prosperity”, noting that rapidly increasing trade with China and the illicit import of foreign films are familiarising North Koreans with Western concepts such as higher hemlines. Alternatively, though, they may just be sugar-coated ways of distracting a nation starved of everything else. | <urn:uuid:b5bd45d9-df59-465e-9158-4c829dc01f9e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.economist.com/node/21559390/email | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975385 | 731 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Lemnis Lighting is taking a foot-in-the-door approach to LED lightbulbs.
The startup company today announced a new line of bulbs, priced at $4.95 and $6.95, respectively, aimed at getting consumers to try out LEDs for general lighting. The bulbs, though, have some limitations.
The Pharox Blu line comes in 200-lumen and 350-lumen versions, both of which give off less light a 40-watt incandescent bulb's 450 lumens. That means that the bulbs, which consume less than 5 watts and 8 watts, respectively, won't give off enough light for many uses, such as lighting a whole room.
The Blu line also has a one-year warranty, versus a three-year warranty for existing Pharox line. They don't work with a dimmer, a move to save money on manufacturing.
Lemnis is deliberately taking a no-frills approach to get consumers familiar with LED lighting, said Lemnis Lighting co-founder Warner Philips. "Customers want higher-lumen products, but they also want a model that gets them in the game and starts them testing LEDs," he said.
In the past two years, large lighting companies have introduced LED bulbs able to give off as much light as a 60-watt or 75-watt incandescent priced around $35 or $40. They use about 80 percent less power than incandescent bulbs and are designed to last 15 to 25 years, depending on usage.
Based on online reviews, consumers who have bought LED bulbs are generally happy with the performance of the products. And costs have fallen significantly over the past several months, aided in some places by state or utility rebates.
But most consumers are not willing to do the math on how quickly LEDs pay for themselves in energy savings, Philips said. That's causing concern in the lighting industry over how strong consumer demand is for general-lighting LEDs.
Even though they give off relatively little light, Philips suggested that the new Blu bulbs can be used for downward directional lighting in offices or in recessed cans in a kitchen. Both will be sold only through the company's Web site, with sales yielding a low-margin profit, Philips said.
Lemnis is working on brighter LED bulbs too. In the second quarter, it plans to introduce three higher-priced models with a lighting range between 400 lumens and 800 lumens, or roughly from that of a 40-watt to a 60-watt incandescent. Prices for those will start around $10, be dimmable, and have a longer, three-year warranty, Philips said. | <urn:uuid:5617bced-c3cb-4826-8d84-d4d9bcedd1ef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57377473-76/lemnis-unwraps-led-bulb-under-$5/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962617 | 548 | 1.625 | 2 |
A bipartisan group of governors is putting pressure on Congress to authorize the FDA to establish ?an efficient and effective abbreviated pathway for approval of generic versions of biophar-maceuticals.? In their letter to Congress, the governors argued that ?competition from generic drugs is already saving billions of health care dollars each year, but?generics and the savings they provide are not available for medicines approved as biopharmaceuticals??expensive medications that can cost patients as much as $200,000 annually.
There is ?little hope that Americans will have the benefit of generic versions of other biopharmaceuticals until Congress passes legislation authorizing the FDA to create an efficient and effective abbreviated pathway for approval of generic versions of biopharmaceuticals,? the governors said.
The involvement of 18 governors from Vermont to Oregon drew cheers from officials at the Generic Pharmaceutical Association (GPhA). ?Our nation?s governors understand all too well that the high costs of biopharmaceuticals are keeping needed medicines out of the hands of Americans,? said GPhA President and Chief Executive Officer Kathleen Jaeger. | <urn:uuid:fef0d997-a19a-4da1-932d-d6ce3dfb1932> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pharmacytimes.com/publications/issue/2007/2007-06/2007-06-6558 | 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 | 0.938044 | 226 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Nvidia Quadro 5000: Driver Support
It is not only the hardware capabilities of professional graphics cards that ensure high performance in CAD and CAM applications because optimized drivers are an important factor, too. Nvidia supplies special software for its Quadro series which differs from its ordinary gaming card drivers. It must be noted that, despite the similar hardware, the drivers for the Quadro and GeForce series cards are not compatible.
The professional and gaming drivers have a lot in common, though. For example, they have the same interface of the control panel.
Most of the settings are identical, to. In fact, the Quadro series drivers have the same basic options but feature setup profiles optimized for professional 3D applications rather than games.
There are other differences, though. As opposed to gaming cards, even based on the GF100 too, the Quadro 5000 supports higher antialiasing modes, up to 32x. If you combine two Quadro 5000 cards in SLI mode, you will be able to use even higher antialiasing modes, up to 128x.
Besides, the Quadro series drivers have built-in support for the stereo glasses and do not require that you install some additional software as you do with the GeForce series. The stereo technology itself differs somewhat on the Quadro series as the professional card supports stereoscopic vision not only in full-screen but also in windowed mode.
There are also unique options in the control panel of the Quadro driver. For example, you can enable ECC for the graphics memory.
Besides optimizing the basic drivers for CAD and CAM applications, Nvidia provides specialized mini drivers for graphics acceleration in Autodesk 3ds max and Autodesk AutoCAD. The mini drivers provide a substantial performance boost in these applications. | <urn:uuid:d25a5d7b-a9b9-4289-abc0-c71710c4d7ef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/nvidia-quadro-5000_4.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935068 | 350 | 1.609375 | 2 |
- Toyota recall affects 2004-2009 Prius
- Steering defect is to blame
- 670,000 units are affected
Toyota will recall around 670,000 Prius models in the U.S. for a steering defect. Toyota says the recall affects 2004-2009 models and covers 2.8 million units worldwide. It follows another Prius recall earlier this week, which affects the popular hybrid's water pump.
According to Toyota, the recall is due to a faulty steering shaft. If the steering wheel is turned quickly at low speeds, it can begin to wear the shaft. Over time, this could fail and cause faulty steering, risking crashes and injuries.
The recall affects Prius models built between August 2003 and March 2009. That's every second-generation Prius, though Toyota says the first- and third-gen models are not involved. But second-gen Prius drivers concerned about the recall can take comfort in knowing Toyota has not received reports of crashes due to the defect.
Owners of recalled cars will get a notice in the mail next month about the action. As with all recalls, the issue will be fixed for free. Toyota says the fix will take one to two hours. Drivers with questions can contact Toyota's recall hotline at 800-331-4331 or visit www.toyota.com/recall for more info.
We urge drivers who bought their Prius used to contact Toyota instead of waiting for a recall notice, as Toyota might not have contact details for drivers who didn't buy their Prius from a dealer. The same goes for drivers of Prius models who have moved since buying their car--especially if they don't often visit a dealer. Shoppers looking for a used Prius can also contact Toyota to find out if a car they're considering is being recalled.
The recall is the second to involve the Prius this week. An earlier recall affects 350,000 second-gen models and relates to the Prius's water pump. Toyota says the pump's failure could cause the hybrid system--and the car--to shut down while being driven.
What it means to you: If you own a 2004-2009 Prius, expect a Toyota recall notice in the mail. Concerned drivers can also call Toyota to find out if their car is on the list. | <urn:uuid:3801db20-a9bd-4465-ae81-e97737f1d5bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.autotrader.com/research/article/car-news/196543/new-toyota-recall-affects-2004-2009-prius-steering.jsp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954023 | 472 | 1.75 | 2 |
Abington plant project will cost about $8 million less
SOUTH ABINGTON TWP. - A project to upgrade the wastewater treatment plant in South Abington Twp. will cost nearly $8 million less than the figure engineers estimated in the pre-design phase.
The significant slash in price will help reduce the projected increases in sewer fees that ratepayers in Clarks Summit, Clarks Green and South Abington Twp. are expected to see in the future to pay off loans associated with the project.
At an Abington Regional Wastewater Authority meeting Wednesday, officials voted to issue a notice of intent to award contracts to the five lowest bidders at a combined price of $26.1 million, a more than 20 percent decrease from the initial estimate of $34 million.
Officials plan to award the contracts to Quandel Construction Group Inc., O&M Multi-Trade Inc., Master Mechanical Corp., G.R. Noto Electrical Construction Inc., and Kriger Construction Inc., in late March.
Construction on what is expected to be a 30-month project is scheduled to start in May.
"Since we started six years ago; we have focused on looking for the most cost-efficient method," board member Stephen Evers said. "The entire authority has done a great job."
Meanwhile, officials say they also saved about $1.3 million by choosing to use a loan from a consortium of local banks headed by Penn Security Bank, rather than a bond underwriter, to cover $10 million of the costs.
The fixed-rate loan holds an interest rate of 2.5 percent for the first three years, 2.75 for the next four, 2.99 for the following four, 3.25 for the next five, and 3.5 for the remaining four years on the 20-year term.
Officials say they will be negotiating the terms of a third loan - in addition to the low-interest $9.7 million through the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority they secured this fall - to cover the remainder of the project.
Contact the writer: firstname.lastname@example.org, @miorfinoTT on Twitter | <urn:uuid:2bbd73f4-73eb-4f60-b149-45e299b6f173> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/abington-plant-project-will-cost-about-8-million-less-1.1444487?localLinksEnabled=false | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940487 | 443 | 1.5 | 2 |
More than 100 Catholics in Maryland are walking from western Maryland to Baltimore City to promote religious freedom.
The pilgrimage started this past Sunday and will end August 5th, at the Basilica in Baltimore.
Father Jack Lombardi, Pastor of St. Peter Catholic Church in Hancock, tells WBAL Radio the walk is a way to show awareness about the First Amendment following the Department of Health and Human Services mandate that is now in effect requiring employers like the Catholic Church to offer insurance coverage to employees for things like abortion inducing drugs and contraception.
The Catholic Church been fighting against that measure.
"It is important for our faith for all Americans to know that we should honor the First Amendment which guarantees freedom of religion and expression of your religious values," says Lombardi.
The Religious Freedom Walk 2012 is made up of people from all across the state and from other states like West Virginia, according to Father Lombardi.
He says says the group is being well received and has been spreading awareness about their cause to people across the state during their walk.
The walk ends on Sunday at the Baltimore Basilica.
Hearst Radio Inc. AP Material ©
The Associated Press.
and Web Development | <urn:uuid:3283b49b-170c-4f4f-bbc4-2420c30b87fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wbal.com/article/92572/3/template-story/Walkers-On-Their-Way-To-Baltimore | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956164 | 241 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Oxfam is appealing for aid after low rainfall, poor harvests and high food prices are driving the Sahel region into a serious food crisis, likely to affect 13 million people.
"The situation is looking extremely worrying for millions of people in West Africa, but the worst is not yet inevitable. The crisis has been identified early, and we know that there are cost-effective measures that can be taken now to protect those most vulnerable. This time we can act before the emergency hits," said Mamadou Biteye, Oxfam Humanitarian Lead in West Africa.
If you would like to make a donation towards Oxfam's relief work, either give £5 by texting CRISIS to 70066 (UK only) or head to www.oxfam.org.uk/westafrica. Thank you. | <urn:uuid:b5d6dae9-bba0-4371-adcc-7c9dd975c11e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/news/oxfams-west-africa-appeal?result_list=60 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964567 | 166 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Less than six months later, the 45-year-old financial wizard shocked Wall Street and the business press once again by dwarfing that deal and, at the same time, vaulting black business to new heights. Lewis orchestrated the unprecedented $985 million leveraged buyout of Beatrice International Foods Companies, a collection of 64 processed food manufacturers in 31 countries, including Europe, Australia, and Asia. In December 1987, he completed the largest buyout ever of overseas assets of an American company. I take great pride that BE gained an exclusive on that coverage. I was the Associate Managing Editor then, and it was the first time I convinced our publisher to “stop the presses” as Senior Editor Alfred Edmond Jr.—today the Editor-in-Chief of BlackEnterprise.com—feverishly reported and wrote this groundbreaking cover story. It was one of those rare, rewarding moments when we scooped competitors Fortune and Forbes on a breaking news story.
In the 1988 June issue in which we unveiled that year’s rankings of the nation’s largest black-owned businesses, TLC Beatrice International Holdings Inc. snared the No. 1 position on our BE INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE COMPANIES list with $1.8 billion in gross revenues. Only three other black-owned companies since have produced gross revenues exceeding a $1 billion: St. Louis-based technology firm World Wide Technology Inc. (No. 1 on the 2009 BE INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE COMPANIES list), Houston-based oil producer CAMAC International Corp. (No. 2 on the 2009 BE INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE COMPANIES list), and Prestige Automotive Group (No. 1 on the 2009 BE AUTO DEALERS list). Even by today’s standards Lewis’ achievements are remarkable, and they continue to represent the summit that more African Americans must climb to reach—and surpass. In January 1993, Lewis’ life was cut short at the age of 50 when he succumbed to brain cancer. | <urn:uuid:6ac63497-754e-4e57-8beb-e9c6e2a3c187> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.blackenterprise.com/small-business/why-reginald-f-lewis-is-important-to-the-future-of-black-capitalism/2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940845 | 418 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Tainan, the ancient
capital of Taiwan, is situated on the southwestern coastal plains of
the island and enjoys a warm climate year-round. It is the
island's oldest and now fourth largest city, with a population in
excess of 700,000. The gentle-natured people of the city are
warmly hospitable, and the relatively tranquil life there seems far
removed from the hustle and bustle of modern urban life. With
its long history, Tainan is rich in historic sites and cultural
Tainan's year-round average temperature is 23 degrees C, the average is
about 25 degrees C in the spring and fall season, 28 degrees C in the summer and
17 degrees in the winter.
Nighttime in Tainan can be whatever you make it. If you like
tranquility, you can go to the Kuangfu campus of National Cheng Kung University
to stroll quietly and enjoy the gentle breezes, the aroma of flower blossoms,
and the chirping of myriad insects. If you like noise and bustle, you can
go to the night market near the Far Eastern Department Store on Chungcheng Road
and buy some gifts for friends and relatives. If these suggestions fail to fit
your fancy, then go for a quiet conversation over a cup of fine tea in one of
Tainan's unique tea houses.
Snacking in the City
Because of the culinary culture that has developed along with this ancient
city, a tour of Tainan not only brings brand-new mental experiences but offers
priceless opportunities to satisfy the palate as well. Among the many
Tainan snacks that are know far and wide are Coffin Cakes, bread in the shape of
a coffin which has been hollowed out and stuffed; nutritious Passing the Lean
Months Noodles, which were developed by the fishermen of former times to help
them get through the slack fishing periods; Pot-side Pancake Soup, made with
rice dough spread on the side of a hot wok and scraped off in pieces; Rice
Dumplings; Rice Pudding flavored with various sweet or savory ingredients; Eel
Noodles; Sweet Potato Pork Dumplings; Crystal Pork Dumplings; and Milkfish
Congee. These delicacies ca be savored wherever snack vendors congregate,
such as the Hsaiopei Night Market and the Chinatown marketplace.
Natural Ecology Area
The coastal areas of suburban Tainan provide excellent bird-watching
opportunities. Traveling northward along the New West Coast Highway, in
the neighborhood of Anping you can see such birds as seagulls, magpies, and
egrets. Along the route from Tainan to Lurhmen you can see more than 40
bird species, including pintail, herons, and egrets, roosting and feeding; among
the most impressive sights in this area is the "egret forest," with
its thousands of birds. Among the salt fields of from September to the
following May, the thousands of sharp-billed sandpipers and other migratory
birds that come to winter here. This is one of the most important stopping
points for birds migrating between Asian and Australia. From October to
the following April the area around the mouth of the Tsengwen River is a haven
for the famous and extremely rare-black-faced spoonbill as well as birds of the
recurvirostridae and egret families. There is also a large mangrove forest
at the mouth of the old salt canal that contains three of Taiwan's four types of
212 Mintzu Rd., Sec. 2
present towers were built on the foundation of Fort Provintia, which
was constructed by the Dutch in 1653 to serve as an administrative
center. The towers now house a small museum containing
artifacts from the Dutch days, and in front of them stand stone
tablets mounted on stone turtles. Beside the towers stands a
"broken-legged stone horse." The story is told how
during the night, in the old days, the horse was transformed into a
demon that harassed the people of the surrounding countryside until
they broke its legs as punishment.
God of War Temple
229 Yungfu Rd., Sec. 2
temple, along with the Confucius Temple, is known as one of the
oldest and best-preserved temples in Taiwan. Just when it was
originally built is not known, but according to legend it was during
the Ming dynasty's Yungli reign, in the mid-17th century.
During the Ching dynasty, this is where government officials offered
sacrifices to the god.
of War (Kuan Ti or Kuan Kung) worshiped here holds a heavy sword and
rides a swift horse. His mortal origin ws as a general of the
late Han dynasty (early 3rd century) who, because of his behavior,
became a symbol of uprightness and loyalty to later generations and
was finally deified. He is said to have been good a managing
finances and to have invented a method of accounting, and so is also
worshipped (by businessmen, especially) as the God of Commerce.
entrance to this temple has a particularly high threshold and for a
reason. In the old days, it is said, women were banned from
the temple and the high threshold was designed to keep them out.
Queen of Heaven Temple
Yungfu Rd., Lane 227
Tien Hou (Great Queen of Heaven) Temple was built in 1684 for the
worship of Taiwan's most popular deity; Matsu, Goddess of the
Sea. Matsu is the patron deity of fishermen, and her birthday
on the 23rd day of the third lunar month (either April or May) is
celebrated each year with frenetic explosions of colorful
activity. The goddess is usually flanked by two guardians,
Eyes that See a Thousand Miles and Ears that Hear on the Wind; these
are said to have once been malevolent spirits who were reformed by
Matsu's example and now use their powers to help her do good works.
secondary diet in this temple is the Old Man under the Moon, a sort
of matchmaker god worshipped especially by unmarried men and
women. The believe that all the need do is pray to the god for
a red "matrimonial thread" or apply their rouge before him
and they will quickly find a mate.
Chungyi Rd., Sec. 2
Commonly referred to as Lord of Heaven
(Tien Kung) Temple, the Altar of
Heaven (Tien Tan) is dedicated to the supreme Taoist deity, the Jade
Emperor. The Chinese people believe deeply in fatalism; so when they
encounter troubles in their lives, they might go to the Altar of Heaven to ask
the Jade Emperor for a change of destiny. This is accomplished by
transferring one's ill fortune to a straw doll and substituting good fortune for
it. The local people go to the temple on the first and 15th days of each
lunar month to worship the god and pray for the well-being of their families,
and solemn birthday celebrations are held for the Jade Emperor on the ninth day
of the first lunar month.
2 Nanmen Rd.
Established in 1665 as the first site for Confucian studies on the island,
this temple is known as the "First School in Taiwan." This large
and tranquil temple encompasses a total of 15 structures and was designed with
the school situated to the left and the temple to the right. Impressive
ceremonies to commemorate the birthday of Confucius are held in the courtyard in
the front of Tacheng Hall on Sept. 28 every year.
Great South Gate
Nanmen Rd., Lane 34
The Great South Gate is one of the few remaining of the original 14 gates of
the Tainan city wall. Built in 1736, it has an outer arched fate in the
shape of a half moon; named (naturally) Moon Gate, it is set at an angle to the
inner gate because of security considerations.
Located near the Great South Gate is the Forest of Tablets, a collection of
ancient stone tablets that were gathered from various places at the time of an
urban reconstruction project during the Japanese occupation.. These 61
different tablets, all of different sizes and ages, are of substantial
Lady Linshui Temple
1 Chienyeh St.
This temple is dedicated to a Lady
Linshui, Chen Ching-ku. Since there
are so many people who need the help of the goddess, she is accompanied by 36
assistants who are positioned in a side chamber. These are all the patron
saints of women, who come in large numbers to pray for sons or good
health. For women and children alike, the goddess is a source of spiritual
Women also come to this temple for a "belly change" which is
believed to change the sex of an unborn child. A Taoist priest performs a
ritual which, it is said, can give the child whatever sex the parents desire.
152 Kaishan Rd.
Cheng Cheng-kung, the pirate-warrior known to the West as
Koxinga, made great
contributions to the development of Taiwan and has been rewarded by a number of
shrines built in his honor. The building that houses this shrine was built
in 1662, and it is the only Fuchou-style temple in Taiwan. The temple
containes the Tainan Cultural Museum, which desplays a number of ancient
56 Chungshan Rd., Lane 79
This temple is dedicated to Chi
Niang-ma, the Seven Maids, who are viewed as
protectors of children; it is to this temple, therefore, that the young folk of
Tainan come for their coming-of-age ceremony at the age of 16. This
ceremony is still practiced, but not nearly as religiously as it was in the old
days when employers used 16 as the dividing age to determine whether employees
were paid as children or as adults.
Old Fort Anping
28 Kuosheng Rd.
The history of Taiwan's development began at the Anping district of
This is where the Dutch built their stronghold in the 1620's, naming it Fort
Zeelandia. Most of the old fort is gone now; the only bit left of the
original is a piece of red-brick wall, elegant banyan roots growing down its
sides. Visitors here like to climb to the top of the observation tower (of
recent vintage) to view the sunset and watch the fishing boats that dot the vast
surface of the Taiwan Straits. In the old days, this was known as one of
the "Eight Great Scenes of Taiwan."
16 Nanwen, Anping District
This fortress was built on the shore to help consolidate Tainan's sea
defenses. Constructed in the late 19th century near the end of the Ching
dynasty, this square structure with high walls and a moat was the first
Western-style fortress on the island. The Armstrong cannon that provide
the fortress's "firepower" today are replicas, manufactured in 1975,
of the English originals.
Anping Local Culture Hall
3 Hsiaochung St., Lane 52
This narrow and winding street, the oldest one on Tainan - therefore in all
Taiwan -- and commonly known as "Taiwan Street" is rebuilt now.
Nearby is a historic building named Haishan Hall, an interesting structure with
an even more interesting collection of implements and charms designed to expel
evil. The building today has been transformed into the Anping Local
Culture Hall and is open to visitors free of charge. | <urn:uuid:9213b860-80d1-4ea5-b6a8-607730b97570> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/taiwan/tainan_tourist_information.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952413 | 2,522 | 1.734375 | 2 |
It’s time for another Wine Blogging Wednesday installment. This month’s topic comes from The Cork Dork, and he’s picked Kosher Wines, to coincide with month’s celebration of the Jewish holiday of Passover. For those of you who aren’t Jewish, please don’t turn away as these wines are not just Kosher, they’re pretty darned good. And with all of them coming in under $15, they’re pretty decent value wines, or good Quality to Price ratio (QPR) wines. And while Kosher wine may evoke thoughts of sickeningly sweet grape juice for some, I assure you none of these wines are of that caliber. The video, which had poor sound so please turn your speakers up, will have my tasting notes on the four wines. I tasted these wines prior to really doing in depth research on any of them. I was hoping to provide more information on each wine in the text part of the wine blog post itself. However, some information is lacking or non-existent, so please forgive me. If I find reliable sources for information, I’ll amend the post.
I am not going to try and educate people on what it means to be Kosher. I will simply say it’s the dietary law that some people of Jewish faith observe. It includes “rules” about dairy and meat products not mixing at a meal, the proper slaughter of animals, and animals that should not be consumed. People of the Jewish religion can observe various levels of “keeping Kosher”, from a complete Kosher diet inside as well as outside the home, to keeping a Kosher home but not eating Kosher outside the home, to not observing at all. There is usually Rabbinical supervision over the processing of foods that are Kosher, including a blessing over the food. That’s about as deep as I care to delve into the subject, and I hope you understand.
The first kosher wine reviewed in the video was the 2007 Alfasi Chardonnay, from Maule Valley, Chile. I’ve been enjoying various Chilean wines recently, and was excited to find a Kosher wine from Chile. Unfortunately, similar to another blog’s review of an Alfasi wine, I find very little information about the wine or the producing winery online. It’s bottled by Carta Vieja, but they do not list Alfasi as one of the wines they offer on their website. This wine is Mevushal, which according to the importer of wine, means it’s fit for even the most Orthodox wine lover. The Alfasi Chardonnay had a very fruit forward palate, with “Tree Fruits” such as pear and apple, though there was certainly some tropical fruits, pineapple perhaps, present. There was a good bit of acid on the back end, and I believe that’s where the citrus flavor I found came from. While certainly a Chardonnay, it reminded me, very much so, of a Sauvignon Blanc with the citrus and acid on the palate. It’s a nice wine, definitely worth a shot at $11 retail. Another good value wine from Chile!
The second kosher wine for the Wine Blogging Wednesday review that I tasted was Ben ami Chardonnay, 2006, from Galil, Israel. The wine was made from 100% Chardonnay grapes and fermented in stainless steel tanks. Another disappointment when it came to searching for producer information. Nothing shows up about the winery. While I was able to find various stores selling the wine, and less than the $13 I paid in a local store, with shipping, it’ll net out to about the same price. You may notice that in the video, I was quite underwhelmed by this wine. The bouquet was uninviting, almost unpleasant and really didn’t start the tasting off on the right foot. This wine had plenty of tropical fruit on the palate, something I don’t normally look for in a Chardonnay. It had a heavy mouth feel, with that buttery quality to it. However, to me, it’s a pretty boring wine. The finish left me wanting something more, and I was disappointed. That being said, when we talk about Kosher wines, and the fact that this is under $14, I would be able to bring it somewhere without feeling like I brought white grape juice. It’s definitely an attempt at a serious, structured wine, just not one that is to my palate. However, it’s inexpensive enough to give a try and make your own opinions of.
This brings us to our third Kosher chardonnay of the evening, The Baron Herzog 2006 Chardonnay. Thankfully, there is a website for Baron Herzog Wine Cellars, with information about their 2006 Chardonnay. I had thought there was perhaps some Viognier blended into the wine to give it the floral component I noted in the video. However, there is no mention of blending of grapes on the website. That leads me to believe it’s 100% Chardonnay, though I am not positive. The producer website says the wine could age well for two to four years, and given the fact that this retails for $13, I may put a bottle in the cellar to open in 2011 and re-review. This wine was certainly my favorite of the Kosher chardonnay wines, as the bouquet was quite inviting and aromatic, with a very interesting and enjoyable palate. The Herzog Wine Cellar website has some very interesting information on it, about the history of the winery, their sustainable wine growing efforts, and even a nice, detailed education on what Kosher wine is. A nice wine with fruit and floral notes, definitely a wine I’d serve during a summer backyard party, Kosher or not. Of course, my tasting notes are in the video, but I’ll say that if you’re looking for a fruit forward, almost floral summer white, give the Baron Herzog Chardonnay a try. I think you’ll find that it’s an interesting wine that offers pretty good quality for the price.
While that wraps up the three Kosher wines I tasted for the Wine Blogging Wednesday installment, it does not complete our world tour. While the mission of finding a well made, enjoyable Kosher wine was successful, certainly in the Alfasi and Baron Herzog wines, how did they stack up to a non-kosher wine? Trying to stay within the price range, I selected a South African Chardonnay, the Graham Beck 2007.
Hailing from Robertson, Cape, South Africa, this Chardonnay has a lot to offer. Definitely my preference of the tasting, it certainly was a high QPR wine. With it’s darker color, approaching a light golden hue, the nose on this chard is typical butter and vanilla. While a portion, about 30% of the wine, is fermented in various stages of French Oak, the balance is in stainless steel with malolactic fermentation not encouraged. This allows some of the butter and vanilla from the oak to show, without making it over oaky or masking the fruit, and offering crisp flavors in conjunction to the buttery nose, and palate. There’s also a nice finish with some acid on it, that balances it all very well, and is a nice finish to a nice wine. This wine is going to be splendid on its own, or great with a nice chicken dish, summer salad selection, and even fish of various types. I wouldn’t hesitate to break out a case of this at my next summer bash, and just might!
The Graham Beck Wines website is also chock full of interesting information. Like many wineries, they’re taking a responsible stance towards conservation and preservation of nature and the lands they use. They talk about their biodiversity drive, and what they’re doing to try and help the environment while still making quality wines. While this is very noteworthy, as is the various technological methods Graham Beck uses to ensure the quality of their wines is up to their high standards, I saw nothing about being a “green” or “organic” operation.
Thank you for visiting, and please let me know what you think of the video, and the blog post itself. I really threw all of this together within the last hour of my day, and apologize for the audio not being so hot, and the lack of techincal data on the wines. Let me know how I can improve my posts in the future, to make your wine experiences better! | <urn:uuid:099a8e01-cdc5-4470-b892-cfa6f250a6c5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://agoodtimewithwine.com/category/video-wine-review/page/5/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96978 | 1,822 | 1.734375 | 2 |
South Carolina Democratic Party Wins Court Order for a Recount of All Votes in State’s Most Second-Most Populous CountyNovember 9th, 2012
On November 8, the South Carolina Democratic Party won a lawsuit against the Richland County Election Commission. As a result, all the votes in the county, which is the state’s second-most populous county, will be recounted. Furthermore, the recount will be conducted by workers from the two major parties, rather than county election employees. See this story. Not all of the many problems mentioned in the story can be cured with a recount, however, especially the problem that many precincts did not have the legally required number of voting machines.
Richland County contains Columbia, the state capital. | <urn:uuid:8e895273-599b-4985-808d-b26346b83a01> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ballot-access.org/2012/11/09/south-carolina-democratic-party-wins-court-order-for-a-recount-of-all-votes-in-states-most-populous-county/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957254 | 152 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Here we go again – the conservative-dominated Supreme Court, one of the enduring parts of the Bush legacy, is messing with a previous Supreme Court decision that most Americans hold sacred: the Miranda warning. From Detroit News:
A Michigan man will continue serving a life sentence for murder after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that he gave up his rights against self-incrimination because he did not explicitly tell police he wanted to remain silent after his arrest.
The 5-4 decision overturns a ruling by the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals and reinstates Van Chester Thompkins’ conviction for a Jan. 10, 2000, murder in Southfield.
Detroit attorney Elizabeth Jacobs, who argued the case for Thompkins, 33, in front of the Supreme Court in March, said the ruling is “very disappointing.” The court is “diminishing Miranda rights as we know them,” Jacobs said.
Miranda rights are the rights of a suspect to remain silent. Police tell suspects about those rights in a statement called a Miranda warning that gets its name from a landmark Supreme Court ruling in 1966.
When police questioned Thompkins, he remained mostly silent for more than two hours, Jacobs said.
But he later answered “yes” when one of the officers asked him if he prayed for forgiveness for “shooting that boy down.”
Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, said Thompkins could have ended the questioning by telling the police he wanted to invoke his right to remain silent.
In a dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the decision “turns Miranda upside down.” It’s counterintuitive, she said, to require a suspect to speak in order to exercise the right to remain silent…
[more from Detroit News] | <urn:uuid:47b6bfd4-a43e-4c1a-ae5d-b7b06b7569ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://disinfo.com/2010/06/u-s-supreme-court-limits-miranda-rights/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960746 | 380 | 1.78125 | 2 |
I'm not sure about anyone else but when I come across something that is boring and repetitive I usually get around to doing some tool that minimizes the amount of time I spend doing it. In this case the task that is boring me is writing the repetitive C# code to call BizUnit to make it run your tests. I'm sure there are lots of different ways you could do this but one day when I was stuck waiting for a while at the airport I got bored and decided to do something to stop me having to do this.
The aim of the tool was as follows:
- Don't write anymore C# code to call BizUnit tests, I want to generate it
- Maintain a simple list of tests which can be easily updated
- Include the tool in the build process so that any newly added tests have the appropriate C# code created
I made the following decisions about the tool I would create:
- I decided to make an MsBuild task so it would easily plug into the build process and also regenerate the C# each time
- I decided to use an xml list of the tests. I could have looked for files which were BizUnit tests but this would probably need to have some kind of file naming convention.
- I wanted to wrap the call to BizUnit with a try/catch block so I could log the error to the event log. This is particularly useful when you run the tests from the command line and you don't see all of the failure details.
- The task would be easily configurable so it could use Nunit or MsTest to run the tests.
Using the Task
Before I get into how I built the task I think if I explain how it is used it should seem simple and easily usable. We have used this task on a couple of projects and it has been quite handy.
To begin with we have the below image from the sample project. In this picture you can see the following things:
- A folder containing 3 BizUnit definition files
- The BizUnitTestDefinitions.xml file which describes the tests within the project and determines the code that will be generated.
- The OverrideBuild.targets file which is imported by the project file and contains overrides for some of the build events (more on this later)
- The BizUnitTests.cs file which is the code file which gets generated
As I mentioned this file is the one that describes the tests within the project. The below picture shows an example of this xml.
The key points of the xml are as follows:
- The TestGroup element allows you to group related tests. Each TestGroup will produce a class containing tests. The Name attribute will become the name of the test class.
- Each Test element will become a method which will run a test. It will be contained within the class from its associated TestGroup. The Name attribute will become the name of the test
- The BizUnitTestCasePath element will point to the file containing the details of the BizUnit test. In this case because the example project uses MsTest I have copied the BizUnit tests to the test results directory using the TestRunConfig so I dont need to worry about the path.
This file is imported by the project file allowing me to specify MsBuild targets to customise the projects build process. The contents of this file are below:
In this file I have a target which overrides the BeforeBuild target. This is because I want to generate the class containing my tests before the project is compiled. The key points of this file are:
- The UsingTask element imports my custom MsBuild task so I can use it
- The use of my task in this case is set to use MsTest, but you could easily use Nunit instead by specifying the appropriate values for the TestAssemblyName, TestFixtureAttributeName and TestMethodAttributeName.
This task will basically take these parameters and inspect the xml definition of the tests then produce the output file containing the C# code.
This file contains the code which is generated. An example of some generated code is in the picture below:
The couple of key points to note are:
If there is any interesting feedback on this post I will probably do a follow up describing how the MsBuild task is build. In the meantime the code for the task, and also the sample project are available at the below location so you should be able to see this for yourself. | <urn:uuid:f031382d-7814-437b-a044-821d9c91c2de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogdoc.biztalk247.com/article.aspx?page=4badc4ba-8092-4d28-8670-ced8c9384e46 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934519 | 923 | 1.601563 | 2 |
The Lie in the Church (Acts 5: 1-11) - Prof. Benne Holwerda
Note about the translator: This sermon was translated by Willem Amoraal of the Free Reformed Church of Armadale Western Australia.
His email address is firstname.lastname@example.org.
Sermon by Prof B Holwerda from the Dutch book 'Tot de dag aanlicht’ Oosterbaan & Le Contre NV Goes 1950
Reading: Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-37
Text: Acts 5:1-11
Beloved of out Lord Jesus Christ,
At Pentecost the most beautiful thing ever seen under the sun, appeared into this world. For at that time Christ built His church through the Holy Spirit. We speak of this and confess it as often as we say: I believe one holy, catholic church, the communion of saints. At that time Christ was going to show the world that the church is His body!
A body means that there are many parts which do not all have the same function. And therefore you will find in the church a wonderful diversity of offices and jobs, of abilities and strength. (needs work) But at the same time it means that all those members are connected into one organism so that one member can never say to another "I have no need of you."
For you know Paul and the way he speaks about the miracle of Pentecost in 1Corinthians 12. He says there that the body has many members and yet remains one body. And exactly like that, so says the apostle, it is here with the miracle of Pentecost. We were then baptized by one Spirit into one body, Jews as well as Greek, servants no less then the free person.
The Spirit makes a connection between people of an entirely different nationality and He also makes into one body people who socially have very different levels of standing in the community. And just as the eye cannot say to the hand ‘I have no need of you’, the head is not allowed to pipe up and pretend it has nothing to do with the feet. Neither is someone in the communion of saints allowed even for a moment, to pretend as if he lives by himself.
Paul says: just imagine that the whole body was one eye, how could you hear still? Or if the whole body was only hearing how could you smell something? It would not be very well if the believers were exactly like that and all had the same office, the same function and task. We cannot all be ministers for the church also needs workers and business people, patrons and laborers, politicians and economists, doctors and officials, Australians and other nationalities.
Yet the unity is just as much a reality for the church. Nobody can or may live as if he was satisfied by himself and satisfied with only his own salvation. There is not one hour in which he is independent of the other members.
Oh no, my eye does not always look at my hands. But if my eyes did no longer see my hands or did not want to see them any more, if the living link between eye and hand was broken, then I would need to see the doctor urgently. My head does not think every moment about my feet; that is not possible and there is no need for that. Yet every second the same blood flows through my head as flows through my feet later.
Every moment those two are connected into one body by the spirit of life. And as soon as that connection is broken I am lamed or dead.
The same goes for the church. Everyone has his own task in life, everyone goes his own way. And yet every second he is member of the church, connected in his whole being with the other members.
Nobody is allowed to think even for a moment "Am I my brothers keeper?"
Because Paul confesses Pentecost, he can also in one breath follow up with the ‘Song of love’! Even if I spoke the language all peoples and of angels, yet I would not have love, I would be like clanging metal and a noisy gong. (check text) Even if I knew all the hidden things and had vast knowledge, yes even if I had faith so great that I could move mountains, yet I would not have love, I would be nothing. You know that wonderful song about love: she does not seek herself, she is not bitter, she thinks no evil and she does not take pleasure in unrighteousness but she rather takes pleasure in the truth. She covers all things, she believes all things, she hopes in all things and she endures all things.
Without such love the church too is reduced to nothing, as would be the deaconry and any Christian undertaking. Then we are finished, even though we may advertise ourselves, we make ourselves very busy, we come out of church saying to one another "what a marvelous sermon and a well paid collection". Even if the membership of our organizations increases with leaps and bounds and with our political parties achieve a great number of votes, even if we see everything flourishing and we speak many good words about standing shoulder to shoulder, as soon as love disappears Paul says, it is all no more then empty vessels, which sound the loudest. Love then is crucial, a love which never forgets or ignores the other; love which is not selfish but endures all things; love which never rejoices in unrighteousness but rather in truth.
When we sing such a song of praise about love we say to ourselves: That is beautiful! But at the same time we think :"a bit idealistic really". You can never bring it out like that! The Christian community too will never achieve it. It is like faint music from heavenly heights which will never become reality on earth. We then become sober and practical people again who every now and then think of 1Corinthians 13 as the ideal situation, but who at the same time settle in on and adapt to the reality which is quite different.
But we should know what we are doing. If this love through the Spirit is the ideal, something which only in our best moments set our hearts on fire but does not fill and permeates us every day, something which will not become reality in our lives and we have more or less given in to that idea, then it is all over! Then the church is gone, the deaconry, the political and social organizations. It is not Christian when all that is left is an ideal of the communion of saints. A communion can only be called Christian when people start to live according to this law of love.!
And if love does not underlie the relationships, there the Spirit will come and rule and shatter appearances. He unmasks the lie and destroys life. For only because of Pentecost where the Spirit founded the communion of saints, only because of that event there is also the story in the book of Acts, about Ananias and Sapphira who did not regard the truth in love.
The Spirit of Pentecost enforces Himself as the Spirit of love Who loves the truth.
Our text then mentions 3 things in this context:
1 The sin which Ananias and Sapphira committed
2 the sin as Peter characterized it
3 the sin as the Holy Spirit judged it
1 Our text is far from easy. Anyone reading the Bible will have some difficulty with it. For Ananias and his wife only told one lie. Yet Peter attacks them strongly and a little while later both accused drop down dead.
When you read that you become uneasy. When in the church things are taken so seriously then you hardly dare to come back again. If today things happened like that still, perhaps none of us would survive this service: for who among us would not have lied at some stage?
And when you were to look up the commentaries you would immediately discover that most of them are not really sure what to do with this text. On the one side they say: This was only a relatively small misdemeanor. Of course, lying is never right. But did Peter now have to react so strongly?
Christ too has been very strong in His preaching. But on the cross His first words were: Father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing. That is Christ: He has prayed for transgressors! Now put Peter over against that: What a difference!
Jesus? Once they brought a woman to Him who had committed adultery. He then drew pictures in the sand as if it did not concern Him. And then He asked the accusers: those among you who are without sin should throw the first stone at her. And to the woman He said: "Neither do I judge you." Well should Peter then not have kept quiet?
Did they lie? Indeed they did. But will Peter then punish them? How many weeks ago was it that one evening, somewhere in Jerusalem, in the palace of the high priest, someone lied thundering lies? He even did so three times: I do not know that Man! He even enforced it with swearing and cursing. That man was Simon Peter!
A gross sin this lying? But I can remember that next to Jesus a murderer hang on the cross. And a murder is still somewhat worse then a lie. Jesus however said to him: Today you will be with Me in paradise. Yet Ananias and Sapphira where wiped away?
Therefore on the one hand they say: this is not the spirit of the Gospel. This is not Christian. And for the rest it is easy for them: they rip this part of Scripture from their Bible. They have used this method before.
But those on the other side can not do that. They want to humbly believe the Bible. And if we were to scrap this story then more would follow. Therefore you will see in those circles a sincere attempt to find the meaning of this report in the Bible. They say then for example: but this was not just any lie. This was very serious because it was a lie against the Holy Spirit!
But if you then ask them: do you mean to say that they blasphemed against the Holy Spirit, and so committed a sin for which there is no forgiveness? you will receive an evasive answer. This sin is then said to have come ‘very close’ to this fatal sin against the Spirit. But it was not really exactly that particular sin.
You will see the difficulty. Where exactly is the line between sin which can and can not be forgiven? If I lie, when do I lie ‘normally’ and when will I do so against the Spirit? When I read this report here then I still find the lie of Peter in the palace of the High Priest many times more gross and serious in character. But for that sin there was forgiveness!
And therefore beloved all we can really do is to calmly and exactly read what is written. And also patiently consider the context in which this text appears.
Now it may be clear from what we read at the start that the context here is the practicing of the communion of saints. Through the Holy Spirit the whole congregation was of one mind, as we read.
That is then exactly the same as what Peter says later on: All organs form together one body.
And therefore this communion of saints was not merely a matter of the Sunday only but for the whole week! On Sunday they came together and met in a building where Peter or someone else preached. But this communion did not stop at the church doors. They did not sit together in order to listen, to pray and to sing. And then at their parting say to one another: See you next Sunday, only to ignore the others from Monday to Saturday. They were one body, on Sunday, but also on Monday!
For had not the Spirit come to live in them? That Spirit would not at the end of the service again ascend into heaven till next week, would He? And the body of Christ would not explode into a collection of little pieces at the end of the Sunday would it?
It is so simple: One heart, One soul, One body. For just consider your own body parts. When you have a tooth ache you do not say: my mouth is really bothering me but for the rest I feel very well? No, but because that small tooth is still connected with all other parts by means of blood and nerves, your whole body feels miserable. You cannot get away from that, you can not sleep either. A patient who suffers from appendicitis does not say: a bit of pain in my abdomen but for the rest I feel great! For that small body part drives up a fever in the whole body and if nothing is done about it not only that one small part would be destroyed, but the whole person would succumb. That shows how vital it is that all members form one body.
That is now how it is with the church also!
Oh yes I know that many will say with a bored voice: Ah, always that church again. But let us be careful: Church is the communion of the Spirit. Church means love. Church means that there is a body here. And when one member is having problems and anxiety, then it touches us all. For when one members suffers, all suffer along.
Once more will I refer to the example of Peter about the eyes and the hands. Here in the church hands and eyes work together. My eyes see the approaching collection bag and my hands help to fill it. My eyes close in prayer while my hands fold at the same time. They cooperate here. But does that stop at the church doors? Tomorrow my eyes will read the paper which my hands are holding up. It is a coordination in a different way then here yet their unity is the same. My hands later on may wave goodbye later on, not my eyes.
That is how the young church experienced it. Sundays they sat together, they listened together and prayed together. Members of one body, adjusted to each other, dependant on each other and tuned in to each other. But then it concerned them when on Monday one of them would have no clothing or if a mother was not able to provide food for her children. They did not then say: that is her problem; we are not in church today. For they knew that a member of the church was suffering, a member of the same body to which we belong. They themselves then also suffered along with the pain and the need. It concerned them all. And just as in the body, the healthy parts react very strongly against sickness which may be festering in a particular body part, and the powers of life muster themselves against the powers of death, so it happened also in church.
Well then you can understand what they did in Jerusalem. There they always had many poor people. Yet the temple was rich and therefore the care for these poor was not a big problem. This changed somewhat when many joined themselves to the church of Christ. They no longer had access to the temple funds and the care of the needy became a bigger problem. But they had a solution.
Those who were a bit better off sold some of their possessions and so everyone still received enough for their needs. That was not communism as is often said. Peter says to Ananias: if it had remained unsold would it not be yours? And even once you sold it, it was yours to with it as you pleased. There is then no evidence that everything was sold and deposited in one central account, making an end of personal stewardship. There was no obligation to sell, neither was pressure applied to have proceeds of a sale made available to the poor. As long as one knew himself connected with the other members and showed this to them in a practical way but the actual way in which this was done everyone had to work out for themselves. Each had to see for himself how best he could fulfil his calling.
Now there had been a certain man in Jerusalem by the name of Barnabas who had been felt the needs of brotherhood. He thought: I still have a piece of land, I will sell it and give the money to the apostles. And his example made others follow.
So also Ananias. He too has a property and he too sees the need of the brotherhood. He talks about it with his wife and together they decide to also sell and bring at least part of the proceeds to the apostles. A part of it they will however keep back for themselves.
Why did they do this? Honestly beloved, I do not know. Were they too much attached to their property? Did they do it out of concern for their own keep in old age? Or, and that is another possibility, did they have other obligations which made it impossible for them to hand over the whole lot?
In any case, it is peculiar that Peter did not admonish them for being selfish, or for being over anxious; he only mentions the lie. We therefore have no right to make them look worse then is shown.
Had they not joined out of conviction? Did they not really love the brotherhood? I would not like to say that. For you must not forget that being a Christian in those days was all but without danger. The Nazarene had been bitterly hated; the apostles had only recently been summoned before the Sanhedrin and it had been very unpleasant. Everyone understood that persecution was in the air. And if you did not accept that risk with stern conviction you would rather keep a safe distance.
That Ananias and his wife had joined themselves to the church when it was dangerous to do so, speaks for them. They too had received the Holy Spirit, they too loved the brotherhood. The only thing which was punishable in them was that they pretended to be giving it all. I do believe that they brought the money with love. But they were a little worried for their good name among the others if they were to find out that not the full amount was offered. They did not want to be seen as misers and they could not really go around and explain the situation to all either.
So that was really the whole issue: not entirely honest because they were scared for their reputation. A little lie!
Do you see this as gross sin? I would ask you, can you not understand them? They were a little sensitive for their honor, well so be it. But it would not be very pleasant either if behind your back you are being gossiped about by people who do not really know the ins and outs of it all? Who among us would dare to say that they were guilty and punishable with death?
Is this the unpardonable sin of sinning against the Holy Spirit? Not at all! Then we would all be lost in my opinion. They did receive the Spirit and did love the brotherhood. They are not the sort of people that if they could also would again crucify the Christ and make him suffer shame. They do not even think about blatantly trespassing against the blood of the New Testament, the blood that sanctified them.
You are aware of the distinction we make in our talking about sins. There are the secret sins, there falling into sin and there is gross sin. There is sin which we fight against and sin we persist in. And I can assure you that about the sin we are dealing here, not one consistory would have know about. And even if it had leaked out then there would not be a consistory which would consider discipline nowadays. We would think a friendly, brotherly admonition would suffice.
2 Now you may well ask: why does Peter react so strongly here?
Just piece them together those strong expressions: Why has Satan filled you heart, that you would lie against the Spirit? You have not lied against men but against God. And to Sapphira a little later: why have you agreed together to tempt the Holy Spirit? In other words, the matter is far from trivial to Peter.
Yes beloved, you do have to leave all those strong words in the text. But at the same time I warn you no to slip on them.
For let us have a closer look at it now.
First of all: Why has Satan so filled your heart? No doubt that is very serious. But you may not now turn Ananias into a devil!
For what does the bible mean when it says that someone’s heart is filled with evil? Does that means that such a person is devilish, that no a shred in him remains of what is good? Just as well it does not mean that. for just remember the contrast. In the gospel of Pentecost we read: They were filled with the Holy Spirit. Does that mean they were made perfect, that no wrong thoughts entered them any more and no evil desire stirred them? We know better then that!
We confessed with the catechism that even the most pious in this life have only a small beginning of obedience. It is miserable so little they manage to do good. Yet they are filled with the Holy Spirit!
Or just think of the Lord’s Supper form where we read that all of us have to fight daily against the weakness of our faith and the evil desires of our flesh. Yet we believe that we are filled with the Spirit!
The Holy Spirit then can have filled our hearts and yet a lot of evil remains in our lives. Someone has once looked into
that expression in the bible. And he then found to have the heart filled with something happens or comes about when you have come to a certain decision. You know that in a particular matter you may have a real problem. You are tossed to and fro in temptation; the good clashes with the evil. As long as you are in limbo, your heart is not filled. But as soon as you come to a decision, one of the opposing forces gains the upper hand and you step into action.
And it now all depends what in such a case gains the upper hand. Does good prevail then the Spirit has filled your heart even though you yourself are very much aware of all the shortcomings. You only know too well that your motives are clouded and you are ashamed of yourself that even your best works are so imperfect and covered with sin.
But if sin prevails then Satan has at that time filled your heart. It does not mean that you do not partake in Christ any longer and that you are only a hypocrite. It may very well be that you are not at peace because your conscience accuses you.
That is now why Peter says: How is it really possible? That you have given Satan such authority in this matter! But are you of the opinion that it was the intention of Ananias and his wife to allow Satan to go ahead? Not at all. They though about their money and about what people would say. They did not think of the devil at that time. Peter says that they lied against the Spirit! But do you think they deliberately set out to do something so awful? They were concerned about peoples opinions of them. That they might be lying against God did not enter their minds. But that is really what it boiled down to!
Yes indeed Peter can say that they had agreed to tempt the Spirit. And to tempt means to do something to see how the other party reacts. Tempting always has an element of provocation, of challenging. But again: the agreement between those two people was not that they would defy the Spirit, that they would lie to see how the Spirit would respond to that. They did not think about the Spirit but they risked a lie against people.
No beloved I do not say this to take away from the strong words of Peter. But I do so to honestly show you how ordinary and common the sin committed here was. So every day like. Nowadays we would probably not get so worked up about something like this any more. If such a sin was found in someone and the elder went there to admonish him, nine out of ten would say: don’t get so hard on him straight away. Can you not approach him a with a bit more kindness and gentleness? After all he did not really mean it that way.?
What I am trying to say is that we should not be too lofty in our judgment and even think that something like that would never happen to me. For if I read this and see how ordinary this was and how understandable, such a small sin in our opinion, then I do not put myself above it. But then I place myself next to Ananias because I know that I have more on my conscience then he has. And if this is how matters are dealt with in church in cases of such small sins, then I shudder. God can at any time just blow me away out of this life.
And if I now have made you see and agree that you are not a hair better then those two, rather worse then them, then now I say to you: take those words of Peter very seriously.
For we so often approach the matter of sin so psychologically. We find many things so very understandable and consequently no so bad any more. Often times we find ourselves wondering if the person had really intended it that way.
Peter spoke differently. He did not ask what the members of the church intended to do but rather what the real result was. If I do sin, for example tell a lie, it may be very easily explained why I did it. The circumstances, the people, your character, your reputation with the people; all those factors also play a major role in our lives. How then do we explain a little lie in a certain situation? No that is not evil or devilish intent but rather a sin in weakness. But let us call sin sin and understand that at that moment Satan has filled our heart!
Very understandable when taking the circumstances into account? Peter says: How is it possible! For he considers the Spirit which is given us, the Spirit of love Who rejoices in the truth! How then is it possible to make room for Satan in our hearts, Satan who rejoices in the lie? I may not have intended it that way but in reality the devil has come inside and took hold of my heart, even in the smallest of sins.
Did they not really mean it that way? Yes but when they approached the apostles they did not just appear before men but in the first place before the Holy Spirit. Pentecost had come and the Spirit of Christ had come to live in the congregation had He not?
They did not think of it, well ok. But the Spirit was still there wasn’t He? And that lie was in the first place spoken in His hearing. Oh yes I know, they wondered if the people would ever find out. But the Spirit heard it and He was the One Who was forced into action by them. After Pentecost I can never again meet the brotherhood without also meeting God, the Holy Spirit!
Most likely I do not think about that half the time yet He is there, always. And whatever sin I commit within the communion of saints, great or small, hidden or public, it is a challenge to Him. A temptation which I do not consciously address to Him but one that still reaches Him and activates Him.
Who among you gave it a thought this morning, when we greeted one another in the pew, when we passed on the collection bag, when we sang and prayed, who among you gave it some thought that here you meet the Holy Spirit? Perhaps some among you are still in doubt whether they will receive the Spirit or not. Just the Word is in their opinion not enough. They have then no guarantee either that they will not only meet the Word but also the Holy Spirit.
But it is exactly the opposite. Never before have I had more opportunity to meet the Spirit! I cannot pass Him by any more. That is the joy of Pentecost: I now meet Him always in church. At the same time this now becomes very serious. If I now within this communion of saints do something wrong I have done it against Him and not just against people! I will no longer speak proud words against Ananias. I can only pray: O Father, be merciful to me, sinner! Where would I flee from Your Spirit?
Peter says it very pointedly. But even he himself is not far above such dangers. Later on in Antioch, as Paul tells us in Galations 2, Peter one time becomes dishonest himself in the church. First he ate with the Gentiles but when the Jews arrive Peter does not dare to do so any more and scared as he is of being rejected by them, he becomes a hypocrite. And Barnabas, the same man who here, full of the Spirit, sells his parcel of land, lets himself be drawn along by the hypocrisy of Peter. Then Satan had filled the hearts of Peter and Barnabas! Then they too lied against the Spirit and not merely against people. They too tempted the Spirit of the Lord.
That is how human it is, so very understandable! As soon as I forget that in meeting the brotherhood I am dealing with the Spirit, then I too will commit the same sin.
That is how tender this communion of saints is. When I read this, I hardly dare to take that word love in my mouth any more. For love is not a matter of friendliness, kindness and tolerance. It is a matter of utmost importance for I meet the Spirit. Not just on Sunday but also during the week. As you are aware, there is nowadays a lot of discussion about the cooperation in many areas. This cooperation received much attention during the liberation. The question was raised if, and in how far the church crisis has consequences for cooperation all sorts of daily cooperation. I can understand that such things tire you our. The church split is some years behind us and we have become used to it. Everything has settled down. I can understand it very well when someone complains" Does everything have to be broken up? For in such a complaint I hear the yearning for the communion of saints in its previous broadness. In it I also hear the fear as the approaching enemies comes closer, Christian life will be scattered even more then is the case already.
And if someone were to bring up these things out of selfishness, out of bitterness, out of haughtiness or revenge then I say to them they what they want is not from God but from the devil. And we do well do ensure that also in this matter the devil will have no authority over us. But at the same time I say to those who see the threatening powers of Satan approaching, brothers are you still aware of Satan coming from within your own ranks and from within yourself?
If your heart is longing for the communion with all believers of the Christ, is that then motivated from a Babylonian perspective of ‘together we stand strong? Or is it a very serious matter to you, a matter not of men, voters or membership numbers, but of God the Holy Spirit?
Do you still believe that Satan is not only capable of filling the hearts of unbelievers but also of church people?
Do you still believe that in our own Christian actions we could be tempting the Spirit and be lying to Him? That we can even agree together to do so?
Do you still believe that when something unholy works its way into the exercise of the communion of saints, the Spirit is challenged to turn Himself against us?
I do not speak here about our intentions but I do ask how the practical christian communion really is with us. What do the facts look like, not for man, but as the Spirit sees it?
We love a nice atmosphere and appreciate the peace. If it were a matter between people ah well then in the other groups you find people with many shortcomings and much misery but then you find them among us as well. Then I find with others those who hope to be saved and with us it is the same really.
But now a straight forward question: When you seek to cooperate with the others, in the church, in politics in social life and other areas, then you seek them as brothers don’t you? Then you are seeking them in the Holy Spirit are you not?
In our political life we do not work together simply as a number of individuals who on the basis of a platform work together in order to stop communism or so, do we? Also in those things we are baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire aren’t we?
Are we not people who in everything want to resist Satan because and after we have first banned him from our own circles? In no way can we rejoice in unrighteousness. And it is a matter of life and death that we do not tempt the Spirit because of untruth in our mutual relationships.
Oh when I regard these things from a human point of view I would be inclined to say: leave it be, please do not make more fuss over it, no more division; Let us try to bring together whatever we possibly can. But Pentecost has come. The hand cannot say to the foot: I have no need of you. There can not be an excuse for me to say: Am I my brothers keeper? For whatever I do to my brothers I am doing against the Spirit!
If we are not careful we will be lost because we peddle feelings and we forget that all brotherly relations are a matter of the Spirit. So let us take it serious!
What I cannot understand that one marked as a rebel today, tomorrow is greeted by the same people as if he were no rebel. That men today hold up the form of the Lord’s Supper against the same people whom they tomorrow welcome in again as faithful coworkers in the Kingdom of Christ. Or that those whom we declare suitable for excommunication today are tomorrow sought after for work in Christian organizations.
Something is amiss here. Isn’t the truth being compromised here? Does not here the sin of Ananias knock on our door?
I do not say you have to withdraw from everything. All I am asking is: What is happening in our Christian lives? How can all these things be? Does not this question touch the core of every organization as well as the possibility of cooperation? Is it not of the Spirit?
And why can that not be brought up and discussed further? Why can people who want to act in a brotherly way, not dispense with all the nice words and rather do that brotherly deed of clearing away that which prevents cooperation?
For how do you practically work in all those organizations for example when they pray together and at the same time the problems remain? Is that not tempting the Spirit?
Did they not really mean to do that? Scripture says: What does it boil down to? Do we say Yes and do No in the eyes of Him Who will not let Himself be tempted?
Why was Ananias not allowed to bring in the lie when he wanted to contribute for the poor and needy,but we are allowed to bring it in in our prayers? I only wished that we would show show as much reverence to the Spirit as we see to give to these existing organizations.
For it is not at all a matter of someone feeling hurt by something. Rather, what do we really still believe of the Holy Spirit when we start organizations? Can I on Sunday say of the hand: rip her off and cast it into the fire’, and on Monday" that hand would come in very useful’? It is not a matter of people but of the Spirit and of Satan.
Some may say: it is their responsibility what they do. But when we here speak about brothers, does not Cain have responsibility over Abel? If they stumble, can I then leave them lie there because it does not really concern me?
And what about Peter? Has he let Ananias go and so exposed the whole congregation to the invasion of the lie and with it the judgment of the Spirit?
Even if we would not run hot over such things, the Spirit will not be tempted. Peter does nothing more to help them; he has not even had time to look up a form for discipline. And there lies Ananias dead at his feet and a few hours later his wife also.
3 That is how the Spirit punishes the lie in the church. That is terrible. Such a small sin we would say, and not even with such bad intentions. And yet both of them lie dead.
Yes it is very serious. But you have to read what is written. It does not say that the Spirit suddenly flung them in to hellish fire. The first death is in Scripture also a show of punishment which is very different from what is called ‘the second death’.
God in His anger also killed Moses so that he could not enter Canaan any more. Was he then doomed?
Later on in Corinth, Paul would give over to Satan an adulterer for the destruction of his flesh in order that he spirit would be saved. They were taken away from this life by the Spirit. But it is not impossible that they then entered into eternal joy. The question then is not if they were saved after all, for the Bible does not talk about that. But the question is ‘why does the Spirit strike them dead?’
And we can see that again from the contrast a little further on. There Dorcas is raised from the dead. The Spirit made her existence on earth and in this life continue. This sign was proclaimed to the congregation to show that the Spirit makes life flourish through Christ and that he also conquered death. But if He is tempted then He strikes dead and destroys the life here and now. Not to witness that those people are now forever lost but as a sign that He will not tolerate untruth for He will break life to pieces for it.
If we now do not become careful and become afraid also for the ‘small’ sins, then we will never learn.
It was rather tragic. Those two, they wanted to hold back some money for later, they also wanted to maintain a good reputation in the congregation and for the sake of those things they opted for the lie. With one honest confession all could have still been fixed up. But the Spirit wipes both of them out of this life in order that we should hate sin.
He is also merciful; we are not immediately lost for eternity. But He is also righteous. Because of unrighteousness he will turn life into death. That is our lives here on earth. Beloved let us now stand in fear. Fear of eternal punishment? Yes. But also for His judgment in this life! There is so much at stake if the lie enters into the communion of saints.
And therefore I ask you now, what are you now going to do concerning the communion of saints? You speak about love? Yes but that love rejoices together with the Spirit in the truth for she knows that otherwise life with be destroyed.
For this is the question which should keep us all busy: Not that we wonder if others will be saved or not. We should not appoint ourselves as knowers of the heart and should not for a second try to take place in the judgment seat of Christ. For He is so very merciful!
But this concerns us, that God today places us together with others who call themselves Christian. And to all men He says: be truthful in the exercise of the communion of saints. If another does not do that, do not participate in that sin and do not belittle it. Rather admonish him and impressing upon him how serious this is before the Spirit. For if he does not change, the Spirit will destroy his life and mine as well if we would together not respect the truth in love.
And as we then find ourselves busy with this issues of today, we realize that it would be foolishness to go around a hall in which a political or other sort of meeting is held, and to then look around and ask ‘Would they all be saved?" But the question does stand whether or not that cooperation, takes place in the Name of Christ and in adoration of the Spirit, a matter so very serious. A matter not of people but of the Spirit Who was given to us on Pentecost. Of the Spirit Who will not let Himself be tempted and Who will dash to pieces all our personal and congregational achievements if the lie remains.
For some speak much of cooperation and of a combined effort to throw up a dam against the threatening enemy. But I wish that we would still remember even a little of the Spirit in any cooperation we may want to get into.
If I search for the brothers in truth and do not lie against the Spirit of Christ, well then I may still not see exactly how things will come together but the communion will flourish! For if He builds who then will break down?
For I do indeed believe in God the Holy Spirit don’t I?
And therefore I follow up with: "I believe in a holy, catholic church, the communion of saints"
Followed by "the forgiveness of sins, also the sin of lying.
And lastly: " the resurrection of the dead and life everlasting"
If I have so seen the Spirit and loved Him and if I for His sake take the church and the communion very seriously today, then in political and social affairs I am also on the way to eternal life and in doing so I am in truth pulling along all the brothers. | <urn:uuid:bf9e46b3-569b-48a9-954b-97319a794bd4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.spindleworks.com/library/holwerda/Holwerda_Acts_5.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980669 | 8,549 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Advocates accuse Wells Fargo of discrimination
- Published on 04/10/2012 - 10:55 am
- Written by DEREK KRAVITZ, AP Economics Writer
(AP) — A group of U.S. nonprofit housing advocates has filed a discrimination complaint against Wells Fargo, accusing the nation's largest mortgage lender of failing to maintain and market foreclosed properties in black and Hispanic neighborhoods.
The National Fair Housing Alliance on Tuesday filed the complaint against San Francisco-based Wells Fargo and Co. and Wells Fargo Bank with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Wells Fargo declined to comment, saying officials at the bank have yet to see the complaint. The bank services one out of every six home loans in the United States,
The federal Fair Housing Act requires banks, investors, servicers and other parties to maintain and market homes without regard to race or ethnicity.
The advocacy group began investigating the conditions of bank-owned properties in 2010. It looked more than 200 homes in a handful of cities: Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Dayton, Ohio, Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Oakland, Calif., Philadelphia and Washington.
Bank-owned homes in white communities were treated in a "far superior manner," the complaint alleges. Those homes were 33 percent more likely to be marketed with a professional "For Sale" sign than homes in black or Hispanic communities.
Nationwide, about 2.7 million homeowners faced foreclosure last year. | <urn:uuid:e9a6cd8a-92da-493d-bb89-78855e394ee9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thebusinessjournal.com/news/national/1439-advocates-accuse-wells-fargo-of-discrimination | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940103 | 300 | 1.585938 | 2 |
A garden flat which was once occupied by the architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh has gone on the market.
The two-bedroom flat in Strathbungo in Glasgow's South Side is part of a sandstone townhouse and has been priced at offers over £135,000.
The architect lived at 27 Regent Park Square in the 1890s when he was in his 20s and employed with the Honeyman and Keppie architectural practice.
In 1896, Mackintosh designed his most famous work, Glasgow School of Art, the project which helped cement his international reputation.
The architect spent most of his life in his home city but later spent time in Suffolk and the south of France before being forced to return to London because of ill health.
Despite the history attached to the Strathbungo flat, estate agents in Glasgow said it had not attracted a flurry of interest from Mackintosh fans.
A spokeswoman for Rightmove said there had been some interest in the architect's former home but that no offers had been made.
She said the property's legacy had "defnitely" not contributed to the interest.
She said: "It has been steady but nothing significant."
Mackintosh was born at 70 Parson Street, Glasgow on June 7, 1868, the fourth of 12 children.
He was a designer in the Arts and Crafts movement and also the main representative of Art Nouveau in the UK and had considerable influence on European design.
His most famous buildings include Glasgow School of Art, the Hill House in Helensburgh and Scotland Street School.
He died in London on December 10, 1928 at the age of 60.
Strathbungo developed as a crofters and miners village in the early 18th century.
By the end of the 19th century, more than 35 families were living in the village and weaving had become the principal occupation.
In 1859, the development of a residential suburb to the south west of Strathbungo began, when numbers 1-10 Moray Place were built to the design of Alexander Greek Thomson, also a former resident. | <urn:uuid:9250e61b-e42b-49c2-8629-22cc35548e98> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/chance-to-own-flat-where-historic-glasgow-architect-lived-111673n.19827510 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988999 | 436 | 1.804688 | 2 |
I have enjoyed Ernest Hemingway’s writing all my life. My library at home is filled with his works, starting with “The Apprenticeship of Ernest Hemingway,” a little-known biography of his early years as a newspaper reporter at the Kansas City Star. Though out of print, it is a gem.
A favorite that I read with my son is “The Nick Adams stories,” a collection of short stories about the formative years of an adventurous boy, including his experiences fishing and camping (but also helping to deliver a baby in “Indian Camp”). I have visited the Hemingway House in Key West, with the famous six-toed cats, when I worked in Miami. Hemingway’s death was tragic. The L.A. Times has a retrospective 50 years after his death on July 2 called rethinking Hemingway that provides some interesting insights:
Boozy, boorish and self-besotted, the world-famous writer in Woody Allen’s current hit film, “Midnight in Paris,” is kind of a clown. And, as played by actor Corey Stoll, he’s an instantly recognizable replica of the author of “The Sun Also Rises” and “The Old Man and the Sea.”
He is, of course, Ernest Hemingway. Or rather, he’s the Hemingway caricature handed down to posterity: a hard-drinking, womanizing, big-game trophy-hunting, fame-craving blowhard who pushed his obsession about writing in a lean, mean prose style to the point of self-parody.
But exactly 50 years after the Nobel Prize-winning writer committed suicide at his home in Ketchum, Idaho, on July 2, 1961, there’s another, more serious and respectable Hemingway still duking it out with this comic imposter in the ring of public perception. Marty Beckerman says that he had both Hemingways in mind while writing his just-published book, “The Heming Way,” a combination of loving tribute and tongue-in-cheek how-to guide for what Beckerman, 28, sees as today’s Facebook generation of timid metrosexual males.
“I think that everybody knows the Hemingway cartoon character, even guys who’ve never read ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ and ‘Farewell to Arms,’ ” says Beckerman, a writer for Esquire magazine whose book is subtitled, “How to Unleash the Booze-Inhaling, Animal-Slaughtering, War-Glorifying, Hairy-Chested, Retro-Sexual Legend Within… Just Like Papa!”
But Beckerman also wanted his book to remind people of the other Hemingway: intrepid war correspondent, colorful bohemian and virile man of action, whose muscular short stories and novels define modern writing the way Picasso’s paintings define modern art.
“I think there’s a lot of lessons that Hemingway taught that definitely could apply to modern guys,” Beckerman says. “I think that guys today aren’t really living on our own terms and have lost a certain passion. Everything we know comes from Wikipedia, and everything Hemingway knew came from adventure. Get off your iPad and get off your smartphone and go slaughter some bulls and some lions!”
The rest of the article is here. | <urn:uuid:a5a37afe-1b2f-42fd-929e-f2f6b85daf91> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sierrafoothillsreport.com/2011/07/01/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949183 | 748 | 1.523438 | 2 |
The signs of economic downturn are showing up in many places around the United States form large companies laying off employees by the thousands to the bust in the housing market leading to significantly increased numbers of home foreclosures.
The lagging economy is evident in the technology industry as well and shows in the significant layoffs coming from industry giants like Dell and Motorola. The PC industry is feeling the softening economy in the terms of fewer computers shipped in the United States.
According to research firm IDC worldwide PC shipments in Q1 2008 grew by 14.6% to 69.5 million units. Estimates for the quarter were 13.2% growth, so the industry exceeded expectations. Despite growth in PC shipments worldwide, the U.S. market slipped to a year-over-year growth rate of only 3.5%.
IDC reports that the U.S. share of the worldwide PC market fell by more than 2 points to 23% compared to the same period in 2007. This drop is showing that the U.S. is becoming less of an influence and emerging markets in developing countries are becoming more important for PC makers. The top five PC makers in the world according to IDC in order are HP, Dell, Acer, Lenovo, and Toshiba.
At the same time the top five PC makers were seeing drops in shipments in the U.S. Apple was shipping more systems. InformationWeek reports that Apple shipments grew 32.5% to one million units compared to 762,000 Macs shipped in the same quarter last year. IDC also released a report recently showing that Apple was now in the top five U.S. computer makers with a firm hold on the number 4 spot.
The gain in U.S. market share by Apple could be attributed to the often more affluent Apple buyers. With Mac systems costing more than similar PCs, the typical Apple buyer tends to be more affluent and possibly less affected by the slowing economy in America. | <urn:uuid:059db69d-5579-44b1-a1d7-85f99d5495f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=11524&commentid=283192&threshhold=1&red=457 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971856 | 396 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Image: Underside of the head of an Australian Cownose Ray
The underside of the head of an Australian Cownose Ray caught near Wattamolla, New South Wales, April 1999. The fish was brought to the museum by D. Reid of NSW DPI Fisheries.
- Mark McGrouther
- © Australian Museum | <urn:uuid:94a09ecb-fed2-4de8-a472-e787d7324322> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.australianmuseum.net.au/image/The-underside-of-the-head-of-an-Australian-Cownose-Ray/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950239 | 68 | 1.640625 | 2 |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Calif. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) announced the introduction of Senate Bill 5. The bill would allow undergraduates to qualify for a teaching credential by earning a bachelor’s degree in education. The bill would also allow graduate level teaching programs to expand from one to two years.
“Allowing students to earn a teaching credential as an undergraduate will help well-prepared teachers enter California’s classrooms sooner,” said Senator Alex Padilla.
“SB 5 will provide aspiring teachers more time to develop effective teaching skills,” said Senator Padilla.
Since 1970, California has mandated that aspiring teachers earn a bachelor’s degree in a specific subject, and then take a one-year graduate level program to qualify for a teaching credential. State law currently prohibits a bachelor’s degree in education from being used as a qualification for a teaching credential and also limits the graduate level programs to one-year. Unfortunately, more than forty years later, these policies serve as a barrier to aspiring teachers.
Specifically, SB 5 would remove both the prohibition on bachelor’s degrees in education and the one year cap for graduate level teacher training programs. This change would provide students the time necessary to meet the rigorous academic and training requirements to become a certificated teacher in California.
“The state’s future economic competitiveness depends upon qualified teachers who can educate our diverse student population. Better prepared teachers will improve the academic success of students,” added Padilla.
Senator Alex Padilla, 39, graduated from MIT with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He currently serves on the Board of MIT and is President of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. He is Chair of the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee and represents the more than 1,100,000 residents of the 20th State Senate District in Los Angeles.
Copyright © 2013 California Newswire. This content is copyrighted under U.S. and international law and may only be used for non-commercial purposes by news aggregators or under license of the Neotrope® News Network (www.neotrope.net). . | <urn:uuid:9b2ca658-0712-461e-b9f9-6bf492ebf0b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://enewschannels.com/2013/02/15/enc16650_163828.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948063 | 457 | 1.617188 | 2 |
EU Agrees to Self-Regulation Principles, But Doubts RemainBRUSSELS/WASHINGTON - European negotiators have agreed to accept the concept of self-regulation as the basis for "adequate protection" of private data sent from European Union countries to the United States.
As a result, the U.S. believes it can reach agreement with the EU in the long-running privacy dispute in time for the next EU-U.S. summit to be held in Washington Dec. 17.
Sources at the European Commission in Brussels, however, are less sanguine. They said EC officials in the Directorate General XV, which handles privacy issues, want "to know precisely" how self-regulation would be enforced.
"We need to see the teeth," one said, "and to make sure the teeth are there if required. Member states are not going to agree unless they are satisfied that there is truly effective enforcement."
Still, another source said, "there is a desire on both sides to come to an agreement in time for the summit," but he cautioned that under no circumstance could the deal "be sealed, signed and delivered" in time.
Under Secretary of Commerce David Aaron, the chief U.S. negotiator, conceded that "the devil is in the detail" and that a lot of issues need to be worked out first.
He told a press briefing in Washington last month that working group meetings had been scheduled in October and November. "More consultation is required," he said, to follow up on his September meeting in Paris with John Mogg, his EC counterpart.
But he called European willingness to put more responsibility on the US self-regulatory system a "promising concept" in solving differences over enforcement of privacy rules.
Europeans have been "favorably impressed" by the U.S. self-regulatory proposals, especially by the appeals mechanism.
Both state and federal law have provisions to crack down on deceptive business practices. "If a company signs on to the self-regulatory principles and is found not to live up to them, the FTC and the state attorneys general could get into the act."
But Europeans don't know how far the FTC's jurisdiction would reach or what other authorities would take over in cases beyond FTC control.
"It is essential that some kind of intervention by the public authorities take place if that proved necessary," one official said. "It is not sufficient for the privacy organizations to police themselves."
"We're looking for clarification," another said, "about the mechanism of the teeth. At the very least we want to know which authority would be responsible in which situation.
"If a problem occurred in such and such a sector, what would actually happen to rectify the situation? We want the i's dotted and t's crossed."
Aaron said US law would apply in handling any violations of the safe harbor provisions - seven principles companies must agree to honor if the flow of their data from Europe to the US is not to be interrupted.
That's fine with the Europeans so long as the laws punish companies guilty of violations. But if "at some future date" the EU found that enforcement was not working it reserved the right to ditch the safe harbor agreement.
One unresolved American concern is whether European data protection authorities would be involved once US law was invoked to punish safe harbor violators.
"My concept is that they would not be but we have a question about that. We want to avoid a situation where there are in fact two layers of enforcement," Aaron said.
Europeans concede that the Americans are looking for clarification on this point, but insisted there would not be two layers of enforcement, although they conceded it was possible, but not likely, for individual data protection commissioners to participate.
Previous negotiations had stumbled over the role European data protection people would play in the self-regulatory process.
If they were involved, Aaron said, "we want to be sure that interpretation of these principles was the same on our side and among all the 15 member states of the EU. We want to be sure they treat us no differently than any other country."
Working party meetings are being held in Washington and Brussels to iron out contentious points. Mogg and Aaron may meet again next month "depending on how things are going at the lower levels," one European said.
Aaron also made these points:
The Europeans will not cut off the flow of data from the EU to the U.S. so long as "good faith" negotiations continue. "The Europeans have not set a time limit."
No agreement has been reached on implementation time. The Europeans wants six months. The U.S. insists on two years.
The new initiative came from one of the member states Aaron would not name, and not from the EC. The UK, Aaron said, supported the proposal. | <urn:uuid:37d967ef-1d41-418a-ba84-f1d8939b26dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dmnews.com/eu-agrees-to-self-regulation-principles-but-doubts-remain/printarticle/63090/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973467 | 988 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Need a reading recommendation? Check out these and many more new titles the next time you visit the library. Happy Reading!
Accelerated: a Novel By Bronwen Hruska, October 2012, 336 pages
Single dad Sean Benning begins to question the ethics and motives behind the administration at his son’s school for the gifted and talented, when he is being pressured to put his son on medication for ADD.
What happens when the pressure to not just keep up, but to exceed, takes hold? When things take a tragic turn, Sean realizes that the price of this accelerated life is higher than he could ever have imagined.
This debut novel is a compelling read and is sure to give readers something to think about in regard to the high pressure of academics.
The Secret Keeper By Kate Morton, October 2012, 480 pages
Withdrawing from a family party to the solitude of her tree house, 16-year old Laurel Nicolson witnesses a shocking murder that throughout a subsequent half-century shapes her beliefs, her acting career, and the lives of three strangers from vastly different cultures.
This new novel from the New York Times and internationally best-selling author of “The Distant Hours” is a spellbinding mix of mystery, murder and love.
It is a must-read for book discussion groups looking for a great new title to discuss.
The Revenge of Geography: What the Map Tells Us About Coming Conflicts and the Battle Against Fate By Robert D. Kaplan, September 2012, 256 pages
In this provocative, startling book, Kaplan offers a revealing new look through which to view global turmoil and to understand what lies ahead for continents and countries around the world.
The author builds on this insights, discoveries and theories of great geographers and geopolitical thinkers of the near and distant past to look back at critical moments in history and then to look forward to now.
Kaplan traces the history of the world’s hot spots by examining their climate, topography and proximity to other embattled lands.
History and geography buffs will definitely want to check out this well-researched and interesting new book.
Adult Services Supervisor
Strongsville Branch Library
For more information on available materials, visit cuyahogalibrary.org or these area branches:
Strongsville, 18700 Westwood Drive, 440-238-5530North Royalton, 14600 State Road, 440-237-3800 Brecksville, 9089 Brecksville Road, 440-526-1102 | <urn:uuid:f59547a7-873f-4d35-ad83-11cbac32f2f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cleveland.com/strongsville/index.ssf/2012/10/new_at_the_cuyahoga_library_9.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930098 | 518 | 1.757813 | 2 |
As the government prepares to roll out the direct cash transfer scheme, the public sector banks have been asked to focus on branch network expansion to bring all rural households under the banking net, without which the Centre’s efforts would yield limited results.
According to finance
ministry data, India has 24,66,92,667 households, of which 58.7% are covered under the banking net.
Over 40% of the households in states such as Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand still do not have a bank account. In the east and north east states like Manipur, Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal and Meghalaya, over 50% households are unbanked.
“The 51 districts that have been identified in the first phase for rolling out the scheme are fully covered and banks are ready; however, we are gearing up in other states too,” said TM Bhasin, chairman and MD, Indian Bank.
Under the direct transfer scheme, the subsidy amount would be directly deposited in the bank accounts of the beneficiaries to plug leakages. Besides, the Centre is also looking at a proposal to mandate all LPG connection-holders to have a bank account to claim the subsidy.
Meanwhile, banks have also been asked to feed in the Adhaar number of beneficiaries in their accounts for smooth implementation of the subsidy scheme.
“Banks have been asked to take up the project on urgent basis so that there is at least one bank account per family,” said a senior finance ministry official.
© Copyright © 2013 HT Media Limited. All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:0d21660d-cacc-4f82-9e1b-558a3e2ca2fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/967456.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957217 | 342 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Niagara This Week - St. Catharines
“Not bad for a two-day call out.”
That’s what Idle No More Niagara organizer Jamie McGean said Wednesday afternoon as a crowd of about 100 people, native and non-native, gathered at the GO Transit Park lot adjacent to Stanley Avenue to take part in the Idle No More movement’s Day of Action.
The Idle No More movement, which began a few months ago and really started gaining traction in December, is a grassroots initiative amongst the native community which seeks to open new dialogue with the government over First Nations issues. Across the country, plans are underway for action by aboriginal leaders to continue the protest of the federal government’s Bill C-45, and while some were expected to be major blockades of highways and bridges, Niagara’s was continue with a peaceful tone.
The initiative picked up steam when Theresa Spence, chief of the remote Attawapiskat reserve went on a hunger strike, demanding a meeting be set up between Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Governor General David Johnson and First Nations chiefs.
Harper met with First Nations chiefs Jan. 11 but Spence refused to attend because Johnson was not a part of the meeting.
“I believe in what Theresa is doing,” McGean said. “She’s an elected official. She’s willing to give her life for what she believes. She has my complete support.”
Having the event in Niagara Falls holds a special meaning for Aboriginals, McGrean said.
“The Niagara River was a meeting spot for all nations to come to,” he said. “It’s extremely important to us.”
Looking on were law enforcement officials from the Niagara Regional Police, the Ontario Provincial Police and Niagara Parks Police.
“Our goals are the same as their’s,” Insp. Chris Cincio of the NRP’s 2 District said. “We want to make sure this happens safely. There’s been a lot of dialogue between us.” | <urn:uuid:4235185f-0c3f-44e1-b356-f1aea310ff14> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.niagarathisweek.com/news-story/3272441-idle-no-more-march-comes-to-niagara-falls/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959476 | 442 | 1.71875 | 2 |
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — There may be some relief for those who can't keep to the speed limit of 65 mph.
A state lawmaker from Hartford is pushing to increase Connecticut's maximum speed limit on state highways to 75 mph.
Rep. Minnie Gonzalez, a Democrat, has proposed a bill that increases the limit and also increases fines for speeding violations by 15 percent.
The General Assembly's Transportation Committee is scheduled to hear testimony on the proposal during a public hearing on Monday morning at the Legislative Office Building.
In 1998, Connecticut became the last state in the continental U.S. to increase the maximum speed limit on state highways from 55 mph to 65 mph.
At the time, critics of the speed limit increase warned it would lead to more fatal crashes. But advocates said the new limit was more realistic. | <urn:uuid:62e69234-a9ff-4d5c-9a04-b97356fec310> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.shorepublishing.com/article/20130204/NWS12/130209945/1070/SPORT10 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953695 | 171 | 1.679688 | 2 |
An Addiction So Severe Even Obama’s Unicorns Can’t Heal It
What do you do with a friend who’s self-destructive? Someone who maybe overindulged for whatever reason, and is now addicted to their drug of choice? Do you ignore the problem, hoping it’ll go away on its own? Maybe confront the person, and risk losing a friend, hoping to save a life, but in the end losing the friend and the life because they refused to even admit they had a problem to begin with?
If for example the person has a spending problem, now they find themselves out of money and unable to pay their bills. The answer they seek is just one more loan, just another advance. Next week, next month, next year they’ll make it up. They might know, in the pit of their stomach that they have a problem, but what if they don’t come face to face with it? Help them out with a loan? Give them a credit card? Trust them?
If the person doesn’t eventually face the fact they have a problem to begin with, there’s no reasoning with them. No facts you can present, truth you can tell, to get them to see the light. In fact, they’ll often turn things around saying the ones trying to get them to face their demons are the bad guys. They’ll resent, demonize, and even hate the ones trying to get them back on a less destructive path.
If the person with the problem befriends others with the same problem, they begin to prop each other up in their addiction. They rationalize and support one another in their false assumptions that they have things under control, all the way to the very bitter end.
And when the bottom is hit, homes are lost, families broken, lives destroyed? It’s someone else’s fault it happened it couldn’t be them. They had the best of intentions, in the fog of their addiction they just needed a little more money to get by, a “bridge” loan to clear the next hurdle. Can you even begin to imagine a state government full of people like this? Run by them, controlled by them, led by them?
Welcome to California! In the fog of their addiction, the State of California now thinks it just needs a “little” more money from the Feds, a “little” more tax money from us. Never stopping to think that the reason they’re finally crashing is because We the People are crashing from our own overspending problems. But yet they want more from the very people who are very nearly with their own backs to the wall. February 1 is almost here folks;
The state will suspend tax refunds, welfare checks, student grants and other payments owed to Californians starting Feb. 1, Controller John Chiang announced Friday.
Chiang said he had no choice but to stop making some $3.7 billion in payments in the absence of action by the governor and lawmakers to close the state’s nearly $42-billion budget deficit. More than half of those payments are tax refunds.
….But California is projected to be $346 million short of the funds it needs to pay all its bills in February. By March, the state would be so far in the red that even continuing to suspend payments would not cover the shortfall. California would be insolvent, making the issuance of IOUs likely.
Will California fall off the cliff?
The economic stimulus plan being written by President Barack Obama and Congress could cover a third of California’s projected budget deficit and give Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state legislators a way out of their political dilemma — but the governor says it would be foolish to count on it.
California’s share of direct spending in the package has been calculated at $21 billion-plus, and Jed Kolko, an economist for the Public Policy Institute of California, told an economic seminar in Sacramento Monday that about $14 billion of that could underwrite state education, medical care and other spending programs over the next two years.
However, Kolko noted that California’s share of the package is no larger than its share of the nation’s population and warned that because of its short-range nature, it would not resolve the state’s enormous structural budget problem.
Billions won’t fix it
Minutes later, Schwarzenegger echoed that caveat. It would have, he said, “no effect on the structural deficit,” adding, “We don’t want the federal government to fix our problem. We have to fix our problem.”
It is still possible that enough Republicans ignoring their own “No Tax Pledge” would supply enough votes for new taxes if Democrats gave in to GOP demands for changes in environmental and labor laws and a constitutional cap on spending growth, but Democrats, under pressure from environmental and labor groups, have so far refused to consider such an option. Clearly the State of California is still living in the made up world of dependency. The old computer field phrase of “Garbage In, Garbage Out” applies when voters return the same tax and spend legislators every two years. So now what? People are going to be hurt by the Great California Fiscal Implosion; the only question remaining to be answered is when? Do we string it out; delay it by months, or years? Or try for yet another “Essential Bailout” from the Feds, hastening their demise as well? Some 12 step groups believe when a person is so deluded by their addictions that no help or reason will prevail, they have to hit bottom first in order to face the fact they have a problem to begin with, and thus be willing to take a different direction in their lives. Even though I won’t be immune from injury caused by its collapse, I say let it hit bottom. | <urn:uuid:6b2e3c6c-6368-4ba0-9c44-f4ee62cdc6dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.redstate.com/towdogincal/2009/01/29/an-addiction-so-severe-even-obama%E2%80%99s-unicorns-can%E2%80%99t-heal-it/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96939 | 1,236 | 1.578125 | 2 |
| || |
June 14, 2012 - Kim Collette
Ahhh....It's definitely that time of the year. Wind in your face....sun beaming down.....It is indeed motorcycle season. Listen, no one needs to tell you that riding is tons of fun. And, yes, it is at times a risky behavior. There have already been a lot of accidents this year, so I thought this would be a good time to blog about some safety tips for everyone on the road.
After a long cold winter, here are a few simple things bikers can check out. Test the lights, brakes and turn signals. Check oil and fuel levels. Check your mirrors. Check cables to make sure they aren't worn or frayed. When you are out on the road, let's be honest, there are a lot of stuff out there bigger than a bike. But, here are a few things you can do to help keep yourself safe this summer. Always wear a helmet. Drive the speed limit. Don't tailgate. Use turn signals. Be a respectful driver, don't weave through traffic or drive on the shoulder. Definitely make sure other drivers can see you. Don't ride in blind spots. Always use headlights. And brake smart.
For my non-bike riding friends, I found this post on Facebook and have to share. Instead of telling someone who rides a motorcycle how dangerous it is....Look twice before switching lanes, making turns or pulling out of a driveway......Stay on your side of the road, especially in corners....Don't follow too closely....Keep your eyes on the road and off your cell phones...this truly is life or death!!!
So in honor of summer. Let the bikers enjoy the freedom of the road and the ride. Let's keep all riders safe. They are our friends, family members, neighbors, and co-workers. Follow motorcycle safety tips, share the road, drive safely and have a great summer!
No comments posted for this article.
Post a Comment | <urn:uuid:f26d07c8-0181-447f-95ea-a082d505cedb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://timesleaderonline.com/page/blogs.detail/display/1187/Motorcycle-Season.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95088 | 411 | 1.773438 | 2 |
COLUMBIA, MISSOURI, MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1912
FINEST CAPITOL IN
THE UNI, HE SAYS
E. V. Stephens Tells of The
Selection of Architects
and the Plans Made.
FOUR YEARS TO BUILD
Will Have Five Stories In
cluding Basement All
Material from State.
Missouri's new state capitol build-
ing is to be the finest in the United
States, excepting none, according to'ask,nB for I),ans for tlie "uilding was
E. W. Stephens of Columbia, chair-
man of the state capitol commission from thoge competInK in the first con blue-jackets and the revolutionary
which selected the plans for the struc- test were asked to submit detailed forces under General Zedelon in Nica
ture. Mr. Stephens drove to Colum- plans. I ragua.
hia In an automobile with Br. Guy I..
Noyes yesterday afternoon and left
this morning for St. Louis.
"I uo not mean mat me structure $.-,n.000. The plans for the capitol
will compare with the big buildings wjII ,,,, ,wo 1(j wapons
in size." said Mr. Stephens here today, i Tracv and swarthout. the architects
"but I think it will be more imposing wi10 wilI construct the building, are
than any other capitol building. V. aIso building the new Denver post
It. Ittner of the advisory board of ar-onjC0
chitects, which helped the commis-1
sion select the plans, thinks the same
thing. Mr. Ittner says that he did
not know there was a firm of archi
tects anywhere that could design such
line plans as have been selected as
the plans for Missouri's capitol build
ing. "The building will be 420 by 220
feet in size and the dome will rise
2.12 feet above the ground floor. The
main part of the building will be SS
feet high. It will be in the exact
geographical center of the capitol .
ground and the main entrance will .
face south. The rear entrance will)
be on the north, facing the river. j
Four Times Bigger Than Old One. !
"The new capitol will be more than
four times the size of the old one.
It will have a sub-basement, base
ment and three stories above. It is
much smaller than buildings called
for by some of the other plans sub
mitted. "The architects estimate that the
cost of the building will be about $2,
200,000. It can be built very eco
nomically, considering its size and
"A 30-foot stairway leads up to the
building and a flood of light from the
dome will attract the attention of the
visitors as soon as he enters. The
executive offices are on the first floor,
while the legislative halls are on the
second. The governor's office will be
on the north side of the building, fac
ing the river.
Mr. Stephens savs that the capitol '
commission is mnkinsr nlans for a bis-!
torical museum to occupy the base
ment of the building. "It will be a
fine place to exhibit Missouri's re
sources and to preserve relics of its
past." he said.
A drivewav will run under the " "em TO i.owung i.reen by ran
lwiiding and automobiles and other 'roa(1 Friday and spent two days at
plliolps rim to unilnt. if witlinilt rlifTi- t
The main floor of the building will
be fifteen feet above the level of the )
ground The nnnrnnrli will be verv !
imposing, according to Mr. Stephens
To I'se Missouri Limestone.
Missouri limestone will be used in
the construction of the building, but
it is not known as yet where the stone
will come from. One object of Mr.
Stephens' triu to St. Louis is to find
out if St. Louis capital can be inter
ested in developing what appears to
be a good quarry.
"The building will be built of Mis
souri materials throughout." said Mr.
Stephens. "There will be engaged
columns between the windows all
around the building and all the way
up. The structure will be in the
shape of a rectangle.
"The architects seem to have pro
vided for everything imaginable. I
am almost led to believe that the
Plans are too good to be carried out.
The railroad tracks back of the build
ing are to covered with concrete, do
ing away with all the dirt and noise.
This will enable one to get off a
steamboat at the river bank and walk
up to the capitol. A series of walks
and drives around the grounds has
already been planned and the sur
roundings of the building will be as
beautiful as the structure itself.
"I think the edifice will be com
pleted within four years and that it
'll be occupied before the close of
the next state administration."
Who the Architects Are.
The plan for the building was se
lected Saturday by the capitol com
Mission, who met with the advisory
FKOST HERE AGAIX TOXIGHT
Cooler Weather is the Prediction of
the Weather Bureau.
A slight frost is predicted for to
night in low places. The forecast is:
"Generally fair tonight and tomor
row; cooler tonight with frost in
low places. The temperatures:
7 a. in ."0 11 a. in CO
S a. in 31 12 (noon) G3
0 a. m 32 1 p. m G3
10 a. in 34 2 p. in 63
architects, V. B. Ittner of St. Louis,
It. C. Sturgis of Boston and T. B.
Kimball of Omaha. The commission
went over all of the ten plans entered
in the final competition and unani
mously selected the one chosen. The
advisory architects also agreed upon
the same plan. The first competition
i held August 1. Only rough sketches
i were renuired then and ten architects
Each of these firms was given
$1,000 for their work and the winning
architect will receive fi per cent of
the total cost of the building, about!
m:AT 0F FOrmeR COLUMBIA
Four Children Sun he William White,
u Merchant Here Once.
William White, known to many of
the older inhabitants of Columbia as
'Uncle Billy," died at his home in Ba-
! x . . w
iuwu. a. i.t yesieraay. lie was ;.
i l-n. 1,1 Al- 1M.S 1
"-"' "'"' -"' """v uils 'ieny m
, tIle mercantile business in Columbia.
"l "'""-" '" --"- uuu.u ,au aim
later went to New York,
He is survived by four children:
Shannon White of Kansas City; Le
noir White of Victoria Falls. Canada:
and Mrs. H. C. Prentiss and .Airs.
Harry Graham of Batavia. He was
married in 1S73 to Miss Cornelia
Shannon, the youngest daughter of
President James Shannon of the Uni
versity of Missouri.
Four Columbians are relatives of
.Mr. White. They are Mrs. J. W. Wal
ler, who is a niece; T. O. and Walter
Kobinson, nephews; and Mrs. .1. C.
Oenhani, a grandniece.
FAST TRIP OX A 3IOTOCYCLE
University Student Conies From Bow
line Green in Six Hours.
An eighty-five mile trip over all
kinds of roads is the record made
yesterday by Orson H. Lee. a student
in the School of Engineering, on a
motocycle. He came from his home
at Bowling Green to Columbia. He left
home at '' o'clock in the morning and
arriving here at :: o'clock in the af-
Bowling Green is the county seat
of Pike county and is only twelve
miles from the Mississippi River. Mr '
Lee made the trip by way of Mexico.
TALK TOO FAST FOR JAPS
Fhc Students Here Have Difficulty in
There are five Japanese students in
tlie University. They are distributed I
evenly in Agriculture. Engineering, j
.Medicine. Arts and Science and Jour
nalism. They say that it is compara
tively easy to read and understand
the Knglish books but to understand
and use the Knglish language is much
more difficult. Particularly is it hard
to talk Knglish in an ordinary con
versation. "The students here talk as though
they did not want us to understand
them," says one Japanese. "Any way
to understand books is one thing and
to talk is another thing."
RILEY'S ROOKS OX EXHIBIT
Inlversitv Will Distribute Posters
This Is Riley Week.
II. O. Severance, University libra
rian, has ordered a complete set of
the works of James Whitcomb Riley.
They will probably be here tomorrow.
He will place them on a table in the
card index room. This is Riley Week
all through this country and the Uni
versity, in addition to putting his
books on exhibit will distribute pos
ters bearing a picture of the author,
his birth place and his home in In
dianapolis. Progressives Will Meet Tonlcht.
The Progressives will hold a meet
ing at the Y. M. C. A. at 7:30 o'clock
MIL STUDENT KILLED
Victim of Conflict Saturday
Was Ralph Victor Bob-
bett of Nevada, Mo.
WAS HERE LAST YEAR
Enlisted "in St. Louis After
Closerof "School Three
Ralph Victor Bobbett, of Nevada,
i Mo., a student last year in the College
of Arts and Science of the University
of Missouri, was killed Saturday in a
battle between American Marines and
J It required thirty-seven minutes
fighting for the American troops to
drive the insurrectoes from Coyotepe
and Barranca Hills, near Masaya and
in the action four privates of the Uni
ted States Marine Corps were killed.
A number of others were wounded.
Bobbett was one of the four privates
to meet death.
The victory of the American troops
opened the way for the Nicaragua!!
! troI,s t0 assault the town of Masaya
and relieve the starving inhabitants.
Bobbett enlisted in St. Louis. He is
a son of William H. Bobbett of Ne
.Mr. Bobbett was a freshman last
year and lived at SU Virginia avenue.
He was a graduate of the Nevada
High School. He was entered in the
College of Arts and Science here and
has a cousin. Paul Manes, who is at
tending the University this year and
who lives at Sll Virginia avenue.
jr. E. BIBLE CLASS STARTS.
Hoy Hart Was Fleeted President of
the Students Organization.
The Young Men's Bible Class of the
Methodist Church was re-organized
yesterday with 123 members. Roy
Hart was elected president. P. C.
Sprinkle secretary, and W. E. Hall
treasurer. This class is held in the
chapel during the Sunday school
hour. The class is already larger
than last year.
Dr. F. F. Stephens, the present
teacher, is assisted by Rush Lim
baugh, an assistant secretary of the
Y. M. C. A., who is particularly inter
ested in the Methodist men of the
University. Mr. Limbaugh is from
Cape Girardeau where he was secre
tary of the Y. M. C. A.
WALTER MILLER 'DRY" ELECTOR
University Professor Is a Candidate
mi Prohibition Ticket.
Prof. Walter Miller, of the College
of Arts and Science of the University
of Missouri has been named as candi-
date for Presidential elector from the
Eighth District of the Prohibition
ticket. Tlie list of Prohibition candi
dates was filed last Saturday.
"I did not know until today that
I had been nominated," said Profes
sor .Miller, "but I am willing to ac
cept. I have been a Prohibitionist
ever since I have been old enough to
CONCRETE OX OTHER STREETS I
I .... l.. .1 I., nil. . ! -
mn- .'i.iik- iij iij r.uifnirer lor 1 av-
inir a Mile and Half.
The city is planning to put in about
a mile and a half of concrete paving,
including Sexton Road. The other
streets included are Williams and
Hockaday street and West Broadway
West Broadway is being paved by tlie
property owners. Resolutions for
paving Williams and Hockaday street
have not yet been published.
TO AID ST. LOUIS XEWSPAPER
Miss Armstrong of the School of
Journalism Will Do Reporting.
Miss Amy V. Armstrong, a senior in
the School of Journalism, left Colum
bia today for St. Louis where she will
assist in covering the Veiled Proph
et's Ball for the St. Louis Republic.
The ball is an annual affair and quite
an event in St. Louis society.
Engineers Inspect a Bridge.
The senior class in bridge design
ing of the School of Engineering went
to Brushwood Lake Saturday. The
purpose of the trip was to measure
Parker bridge which spans Perche
creek. From these measurements the
class was able to get an idea how the
bridge was constructed and of what
SENTENCED TO PEN
Wingo Pleads'Guilty In The
Circuit Court This
TO TRY FOR PAROLE
Twenty Report on Their Be
havior'to Judge Harris
Grand Jury Selected.
Charles Wingo who stabbed Dr. D.
W. B. Kurtz across the face and in
the side Friday afternoon, following
a dispute over a bill, pleaded guilty
today to the charge of assault with
intent to kill. He was sentenced to
two years in the penitentiary. Wingo
will try to get a parole today.
Tlie trouble Friday was over a bill
that Doctor Kurtz was trying to col
lect from Wingo. The fight occurred
in Kurtz's officer over Penn's Phar
macy. Wingo came to the office and
abused Kurtz, calling him names.
They were resented and Kurtz start
ed to take off his coat. Wingo then
used his knife.
Prosecuting Attorney Anderson
swore out a warrant charging Wingo
with assault with intent to kill im
mediately after the fight.
At the opening session of the Boone
County Circuit Court this morning
the grand jury was sworn in; three
criminal cases were called, the whole
parole docket, consisting of twenty
two cases, was disposed of; and Lee
Walker, a graduate of the School of
Law of the University of Missouri,
was sworn in as a member of the bar.
The members of the grand jury
are: J. H. Hill, foreman; J. F. Challis,
G. M. Christian. .1. C. Short, J. II.
Lyon. R. P. Price. M. F. Thurston.
W. P. Palmer. J. E. Bedford, J. W.
Elkins and J. II. Whitworth.
All the prisoners on parole report
ed that they were "conducting them
selves orderly." No charges were
brought against any of them and none
of them was sent to jail. "
The case against Charles and Al
for Baldwin, charged with assault,
was dismissed by the prosecuting at
torney. In the case against Willie
Rybolt, charged with criminal as
sault, the defendant waived formal
arraignment, and entered a plea of
"not guilty." The case was set for
Friday. October IS.
a man with
This was the advice given to James
Turner by Judge David II. Harris this
morning when Turner appeared be
fore him to tell bow he was behaving
himself under his parole. Turner has
had a few troubles lately, family and
otherwise, which can be traced back
to his fondness for drink.
"You are a good man otherwise,'
said the iudge. "Do try and exert
your manhood and quit drinking. I
warn you it will take some will
power. The only thing the matter
with you is that you like your dram
and it always gets you into trouble.
Stop that and you will be alright."
BIBLE TALK SERIES TO START
Lcrtiires Eacli Thursday at Y. 31. C.
A. by Dr. W. W. Elvvang.
Beginning next Thursday the Rev.
W. W. Elwang will give a scries of
lectures in f. 2 Y. M. C. A. Auditor
ium. These lectures will be in the
form of a regular series of talks on
the Bible at 3 o'clock each Thursday.
While these talks arc primarily in
tended for the students of the Uni
versity, all the citizens of Columbia
are invited, both men and women.
The subjects for the lectures are:
(1) By Way of Introduction, (2) The
Ancient Jew and His Bible, (3) The
Origin of the Old Testament, (.",) The
New Testament. (6) The History of
the Bible in Early Christian Times,
(7) The Bible Today. (S) What does
the Bible Mean for Modern Men?
TO HEAR FELICE LYXE SIXG
Columbians Will Attend Concert In
Kansas City Tonight.
J. A. Hudson and Mrs. Hudson, and
Mrs. James Patterson McBaine of
Columbia are the guests of Colonel
Hez. Purdom and family at the con
cert by Felice Lyne in Kansas City.
Sanford Howard, a student in the
University, will attend the concert
He is a cousin of Miss Lyne.
WILSON SPEAKS .IX CEXTKALIA.
Many From Columbia Are Expected to
Hear the Candidate's Address.
Governor Woodrow Wilson will
speak five minutes at Centralia to
morrow. His special car will be at
tached to Wabash No. 3 due at Cen
tralia at 12::;:; o'clock in the after
noon. Hugh B. Pankey, president of
the Woodrow Wilson Club of the Uni
versity,1 said that he expected many
students would go to hear Governor
Wilson. It is the nearest the Demo
cratic candidate will get to Columbia,
it is believed.
So far no arrangements have been
made for students to go to St. Louis
Wednesday when Governor Wilson
speaks there. On account of the large
crowd expected there the city com
mittee of St. Louis has not been able
to provide any special arrangements
for the University students. How
ever, quite a number are going.
C. W. Loomis, chairman of the
Boone County Central Committee of
the Progressive Party, returned last
night from Jefferson City where he
filed petitions for the placing of the
Progressive nominees on the county
ticket. The Boone County petition
contained about eighty signers. Sev
enty was the required number. Some
of the other counties in the eighth
congressional district were not ready
with their petitions and had to file
by certificate. The validity of the pe
titions will be passed on in the cir
cuit court next Thursday,
Urgent request has been sent to the
state speaking bureau of the Pro
gressive party for speakers for Colum
bia. Gifford Pinchot will speak here
next Thursday evening. F. M. Xay
sniith, secretary of the Boone County
Progressive Committee, has asked for
Jane Addams, Governor Hiram John
son, Victor Murdock, Henry Allen,
Albert Beveridge, and the party's
nominee for governor, Albert D. Nor
toni. Curtis B. Rollins. Jr., and several
of the Republican students in the Uni
versity are arranging for a re-organization
of the students' Republican
Club. The meeting will be held one
night this week.
The students' Woodrow Wilson Club
will meet Tuesday night. A poll of
the Democratic students in the Uni
versity will be taken soon and ar
rangements will be made with their
home county committees for getting
the men home to vote.
The students' Progressive Club
meets tonight at the Y. M. C. A. .Mor
ton Pemberton, Progressive nominee
for congressman from this district,
will probably speak. In addition there
will be several student speakers.
STCBEXT WRITES OF -ESCAPE"
Book by Isidor Sarinsky, Who Had
Trouble in Leaving Russia.
Isidor Sarinsky, a senior in the
School of Kngineering, has written a
book, ".My Escape from Russia." It
has not been published yet. Sarinsky
tells of his escape from Russia in
1!101. when only 15 years old. He de
scribes the Russian peasant life,
prisons, and the corruption of the
Russian army officials. He relates
how he came to think of coming to
America and the series of events that
took place when trying to escape
from Russia. The following extract
is taken from his story and told in
"Before me was the river, which
lay between Germany and Russia.
From bank to bank it was l."0 feet
wide. We peeped out from behind
our covert in search of the sentinels.
Upon the Russian side were many
small hills reaching down to the edge
of the water. Across in Germany
stretched a low, level bottom, thick
grown with underbrush. It was an
anxious moment. I could feel my
heart beating. I could not draw a
deei breath. Presently the man
seemed satisfied. He seized me by the
hand and exclaimed, "Come."
"Cautiously we picked our way to
the edge of the water. Suddenly
shots cracked in the still, morning
air. Without waiting we plunged into
the river. The cold water closed oer
my head. I let loose my bundle and
struggled gaspingly to the surface.
My guide seized me; and together, I
know not how, we floundered on
through the rushing water and the
drifting smoke of the Russian rifles,
and the uncanny zip of the bullets,
until we gained the opposite bank. My
escape was successful, I was no
longer on Russian soil. Thus ends
the story of my escape from Russia."
Girl For Dr. and 3frs. Meriam.
A girl was born this morning to
Dr. and Mrs. J. L. Meriam, 213 South
WILL BUILD HOMES
FOR FACULTY MEN
Ten New Houses To Be
Erected On Stewart Road
Within a Year.
TO START THIS YEAR
Judge J. A. Stewart Will
Construct the Residences
All of Brick.
A new row of buildings is planned
on Stewart Road by J. A. Stewart.
They will be an addition to the hous
es now at the disposal of the faculty
members in Westmount.
From eight to ten houses are
planned for the row, and each will
cost at least $3000. Mr. Stewart ex
pects them to be finished within a
year. He will not try to rent them,
but intends to sell them.
Ground has already been broken
for one of the houses. It is being
built for I.. S. Parmer, instructor in
the College of Agriculture of the Uni
versity, who will occupy it when It
THEY EYEX -DID" THE DISHES
An entertainment Friday XIpht at the
University High School.
Boys and girls of the University
High School, at the first social gath
ering at the school this term, re
ceived their guests .acted as waiters
and after the entertainment retired
to do the dishwashing. The hall of
the high school building was
crowded. Friday evening, with old and
new students, teachers and graduates.
The formal part of the entertain
ment was in charge of Miss Laura
Searcy, the assistant principal. It
consisted of charades, the singing of
old songs and a novel contribution by
Carl Gentry, a student this year. This
was a rapid sketching of pictures on
the blackboard suggesting titles of
some of the books intended for sup
plemental reading during the year.
Following this was an hour de
voted to getting acquainted. The
guests went to the domestic science
room where ice cream and cakes, pre
pared by the girls of the department
at their homes were served.
(HAS. READ, $250 HORSE, DEAD
Dentil Result of Pneumonia Taken af
Charles Read, a horse owned by a
company of Columbia men, died last
night at the Davis livery barn. He
was taken to the State Fair last week
where he took second prize for the
time since he has been on the track.
He took pneumonia while at Sedalia
which caused his death. The horse
was 26 years old and has been in Co
lumbia for a number of years. He
was sold the last time for $2,2."0.
SO DIirXK HE DOESXT KXOW
George Allison Is Fined $13.25 Today
"So drunk that I don't know" is
the way George Allison of North Sev
enth street lifelessly describes his
part in a fight Saturday night. Alli
son says all he knows about the
quarrel is that he came down town
drunk and when he became sober
was in the "holdover" and he is still
there. His fine was fixed at $13.2:;
A. T. 3Iiinihy Weds 3Hss Stewart.
Miss Lillie Stewart and Arthur T.
Murphy were married at 3 o'clock
yesterdav afternoon by the Rev. C. W.
Tadlock, pastor of the Methodist
Church, at the parsonage. They will
live at 411 Williams street. The bride
is a Columbia girl, having lived with
her mother at 409 Williams street. Mr.
Murphy's home was at Ashland until
he came here four years ago to take
a position at Levy's shoe store. He
met his wife a year ago.
3Nss Self a Teacher at Eureka Colleee
Miss Dorothy Self, who received the
A. B. and B. S. degrees from the Uni
versity of Missouri last year, is
teaching this year at Eureka College,
A Xew Kappa Pledge.
The Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority
has pledged Miss Mary Margaret
Shore of Columbia.
Mr. Babh Bark to Work.
J. G. Babb, secretary of the Uni
versity, returned to his office today
after a brief illness.
xml | txt | <urn:uuid:4dea55fd-9520-4ca3-9be1-c35b4cd27438> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89066313/1912-10-07/ed-1/seq-1/ocr/ | 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 | 0.935619 | 6,107 | 1.71875 | 2 |
We live in a fearful world where chaos reigns. Sometimes it seems as if everything around us is falling apart. We may feel that we are the only one who has to suffer and struggle with life; others around us seem to have everything together, and are on top of the world. Not true! Each person has their share of problems in this life, whether they are poor and unknown or rich and famous. No person is immune to the trials of life which cause fear, and gives a feeling of weakness and helplessness. Sometimes it seems that all we are able to do is just survive. I’m like you. I get up in the morning and put my pants on the same way you do. I’ve experienced fear and weakness. But this I know; there is a better way!
What if there was a way to conquer fear, overcome weakness and live in peace? Would you like to discover it? There is a true story in the Old Testament of the Bible that shows how one man did by believing God:
In Judges 6:11-16 we read, “And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.”
Gideon was a person like you and me. His whole world seemed to be falling apart. The enemy had over run and destroyed his country. He was fearful and weak, and hiding out in the winepress trying to gather the scraps that the enemy had left behind just to survive. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him and said unto him, “The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.” I imagine Gideon had to look around to make sure that it was he that was being addressed. He was probably thinking, “man of valour”, no way, not me; I’m scared to death, and too weak to do anything about it. He probably thought, Lord you’ve come to the goat house looking for wool if you expect me to take on the enemy and save Israel. He said, my family is the weakest of which I am the least. What he meant was, go look somewhere else; I’m not your man because I’m fearful and weak.
So here’s the deal: The choice we have to make is the same as Gideon, who by the way choose to obey God and fulfill His will, and as a result overcame his fear and weakness and discovered the peace of God. Just as Gideon we must choose; do we want to continue to live in the winepress of fear and weakness, or do we want to live in the power and peace of almighty God? God said in Deuteronomy 30:19-20, “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days…”
A new way of living
Gideon needed what many of us need, and that is a new way of life. There was a time when the disciples of Jesus needed a new way of life also. At the time of the death of Jesus his disciples were fearful and weak and ran and hid. But after the resurrection of the Lord, when they realized that the same power that resurrected Jesus from the grave was also with them, they became mighty men of valour, living in the power and peace of God. The Apostle Paul said, “We were buried with Him (Jesus) through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father even so we also should walk in the newness of life.” (Romans 6:4) The newness of life means that we no longer have to fear and tremble in weakness.
That word newness in the scripture above means renewal. We are renewed that we should walk in newness of life. This isn’t a onetime event that just happens every now and then. Renewal becomes a new way of life. The same resurrection power that raised Jesus is given through the Holy Spirit to every believer. If we accept, it will flow through us as a mighty river of life bringing victory over fear and power over weakness. Paul said, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:11) Once again, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is in all believers.
The power to conquer fear and weakness is the resurrection power that is in you through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the source of our power and our peace. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. “And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die…” (John 11:25-26) Jesus is not only talking about the power to live this life but also the power over death, or the gift of eternal life.
Living in peace
I don’t claim to have all the answers. Many of the problems we face in life are very complex, and extremely difficult to deal with. But this one thing I know: There is peace in God. No doubt Gideon longed for peace, but he had no idea of how to get it, and he sure didn’t believe that the source of peace was right within his own heart, until God reminded him through the angel of the Lord, “The Lord is with thee.” To live in peace is the wish of most people who live on this earth, but few there are who learn the source of it. God is the source of all peace. God has many names in Scripture to convey his various attributes. One of those names is “Jehovah Shalom”, which means “God of peace.” “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7)
Here’s a question for you to ponder: If you had a choice; you could either have all the money you wanted, but you would have no peace, or have no money and live in perfect peace; which would you choose? Of course anyone in their right mind would choose peace. Many of those who are wealthy would give it all just to live in peace. Peace is available to all who will seek it in Christ the Lord.
ConclusionIf you are weary in heart, and walk in fear, and feel weak, and unable to do anything about the circumstance in your life, I have good news for you; Jesus is waiting; He wants to come into your life and be your strength and your hope. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life…” It is your choice, choose life!
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that frightens us. We ask ourselves ‘who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” –Maianne Williamson
Written by Jimmie Burroughs | <urn:uuid:1ef2fee8-8bdd-42f4-8de9-88a562b56035> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://otobefree.com/?p=900 | 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 | 0.97648 | 1,910 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Speaking in Ankara yesterday presenting a report titled “Are the Lights Turning Off?” Zachau said if $3 trillion in investments in the energy sector in Eastern Europe and Central Asia are not made within the next 20 years, then the region will be faced with a severe energy bottleneck.
Speaking about Turkey’s energy investments, Zachau stated that Turkey had taken many important steps in terms of investment in the energy sector within the past few years and that Turkey is in much better shape than many European and Central Asian nations. Showing his support for the nation’s energy strategy, Zachau stated that Turkey was also flourishing in the renewable energy industry and has been successful in developing renewable energy sources for its economy.
World Bank raises East Asia growth forecast
The World Bank raised its growth forecast for developing East Asia this year by almost a full percentage point to 8.7 percent on Wednesday but said the region’s high-flying economies must make structural reforms to sustain their rapid expansion.
East Asia’s developing economies have recovered from the global crisis, driven by a robust China, export demand and government stimulus, the Washington-based bank said in its semiannual report. It said industrial output, exports and employment were largely back to pre-crisis levels. But the bank said countries must implement reforms “with vigor” to keep the rally going over the next decade. For China, this means rebalancing the world’s third-biggest economy to reduce reliance on exports boost the service sector and private consumption, the bank said. It said China’s gross domestic product should grow by 9.5 percent this year. For countries like Thailand and Vietnam, this means boosting investment in physical and human capital, the bank said. | <urn:uuid:617b6108-bba8-44db-ab4e-c00d9a30571a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=206786 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960002 | 360 | 1.59375 | 2 |
When first introduced, Triumph's GT6 was promoted as being developed from the company's Le Mans racing programme. That claim may have been bogus but will the racing stripes on today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe MK3 have you racing for your check book?
The Triumph Motor Company had a long and storied history over the course of the last century, one that was strangely begun and ended in Germany. The company's origin can be traced back to the 1880s, when Siegfried Bettmann and Moritz Schulte, two krazy krauts, began a business importing bicycles into Great Britain. Upon the bolting of the new fangled internal combustion engines to those two-wheelers, the name changed to the Triumph Cycle Company Ltd. Later, the purchase of the assets of moribund car maker Dawson compelled another change to Triumph Motor Company, where a young Donald Healey became Experimental Manager.
Following WWII, Triumph was bought by the Standard Motor Company, creating Standard-Triumph, which later was engulfed by Leyland, itself changing to British Leyland in the late sixties. Eventually, the major British automotive industry fell into ruin and brands were sold off to the highest bidder. The Triumph name, a decade or so after having last appeared on a production model (and a Honda at that!), went to BMW as part of the Rover Group package deal, and the brand, founded by Germans, was eventually, quietly, put to grave by the very same.
Thing of it is, along the way Triumph built some pretty cool cars - not particularly durable ones - but cool nonetheless. Serving both family man and sports-seeker, the company offered the economical and upright Herald series and its sexy two-seat sister, the Spitfire. And just as the four-pot Herald had its six cylinder Vitesse edition, so did the Spitfire gain a GT sibling with the very same 1,998-cc inline six.
Michelotti penned both the Spitfire and the GT6, and his 1970 facelift creating the MK3 remains a stunningly beautiful shape to this day. This 1972 GT6 has seen few modifications to that shape, losing only its Snidely Whiplash mustache rear bumper and gaining some garish chromed 60-spokers. The English white with blue accent paint looks serviceable but a little tired, and noticeable in the video there are some chips on the cowl when the clamshell hood rests.
Under that amazing forward hinged front clip sits Triumph's smooth and surly two-litre straight six. The seller claims that four grand went into its rebuild, embiggening its horsepower to twice its stock 105 ponies. That's dubious, but the trio of 40DCOEs are worth a grand at least. He also says it's a stroker but doesn't say just how much the engine has been punched out.
Behind that six is a 4-speed manual, which unfortunately here isn't fitted with the laycock de normanville overdrive which makes these cars wonderful cruisers. In fact, the shift knob where that feature's switch might reside has been replaced by a large black knob that looks a little out of place. Other interior foibles are a ragged dash pad in front of that knob, and a completely eff'd up center dash with no apparent heater controls.
The GT6 MK3 wasn't just a six cylinder version of the Spitfire with a roof bolted to it, as it also employed a fully independent rear suspension in place of the swing axles of its cheaper and more open topped sibling. This one has been somewhat lipstick pigged but there doesn't seem to be anything that can't be easily rectified, and the work done to the engine seems of value. It's also claimed garage-kept and rust free which is always a plus.
The rest of the ad is filled with more hyperbole than info, but you can't blame the seller as he's trying to, you know, sell the car. The question is, would paying his $6,500 asking price be a triumph? Or, does that price push this GT6 over the edge of excess?
San Francisco Craigslist (although the car appears to be in Dallas) or go here if the ad disappears.
Help me out with NPOCP. Click here to send a me a fixed-price tip, and remember to include your commenter handle. | <urn:uuid:124422bd-ca50-42f9-ad4b-9f9fd7a672a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jalopnik.com/5943652/for-6500-is-this-triumph-a-rock-and-roll-machine | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972362 | 898 | 1.640625 | 2 |
estate during coverture
- From: Michael Snyder <msnyder@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:55:10 -0800
Handbook On The Law Of Real Property", by Earl P. Hopkins. Also available from Amazon: Handbook on the law of real property.
Estate During Coverture
42. The estate during coverture is the right which the husband acquires at common law to the CHATTELS REAL [Note by snyder -- CHATTELS REAL is by distinction from ordinary CHATTELS or personal property] of his wife which he reduces to possession, and to the use and profits of her realty. Qualification-this right of the husband is qualified by:
(a) The doctrine of separate property.
(b) By statutory changes in nearly all the states.
By the rules of the common law, a husband acquired an interest in his wife's LANDS then owned or acquired during their joint lives, which was called an "estate during coverture"3 This interest gave him complete ownership of her CHATTELS REAL, provided he appropriated them to his use during his wife's life.4 They were liable for his debts,5 and he could sell, mortgage, or dispose of them without her consent;6 but, if no such disposition of the chattels real was made, and she survived him, then they were hers absolutely.7 As to her real estate proper, except future estates,8 the husband had a right to the use and profits of it 9 until the marriage was terminated by death or divorce;10 and this right excluded any control by the wife during his life. The husband could collect the rents and sue in his name for any injury to the profits,11 but for injuries to the corpus of the estate it was necessary to join the wife.12 He and his lessees were entitled to emblements.13 At common law, although the husband, being a tenant for life, could not commit waste,14 still the wife's remedy was imperfect, because she could not sue him.15 But he might be restrained by injunction.16 When waste was committed by the husband's assignee, this difficulty as to the remedy did not exist.17 Full power of alienation, including liability for debts, resided in the husband to the extent of his life interest,18 but he was not allowed to prejudice his wife's inheritance in any way.19
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- Next by thread: Re: estate during coverture | <urn:uuid:de1e7e50-3cfe-4d99-ab3e-6902f0790668> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Alt/alt.true-crime/2010-01/msg01221.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987326 | 561 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Here is a sentence I never thought I would see in 2013:
Peasants, many of whom still long for absolute rule, remain remarkably subservient.
I know only the vaguest outlines of Bhutan’s recent history, but I’m instantly suspicious of any claim that a large group of people longs for absolutism. As the article describes, Bhutan has experienced a lot of political and socioeconomic disruptions in the past decade, and many of those changes have directly not benefited the small farmers who comprise a substantial share of the country’s population:
Karga Lama, a journalist who has covered Bhutan, wrote to me that he wonders whether “people at the grassroots [are] really enjoying and benefitting from the process of democracy, or [if] the few people at the upper echelon of political structure [are] taking the cream.” Indeed, 40 percent of the population are still subsistence farmers, crowded on the country’s small portion of arable land. Seeking better opportunities, many young Bhutanese are moving to Thimpu, the capital, but few are finding gainful employment. Cheaply constructed commercial and residential buildings have been erected to house new inhabitants and the city is losing its unique architectural character. Traffic jams and petty crimes have also become more frequent.
I read that passage and I think: Maybe it’s not “absolute rule” these “peasants” long for but the relative assurance of the life that came before these developmental push of the past 10 years. I think of pensioners in the former Soviet Union who are often described as yearning for tyranny because they vote for the Communist Party and talk wistfully about the benefits they enjoyed in the old days. A distaste for uncertainty about one’s ability to produce or afford food and shelter should not be conflated with an affirmation of all aspects of an old order that predictably delivered those things. Maybe it isn’t absolutism these farmers want so much as freedom from the intrusions of the developmental state those “few people at the upper echelon of political structure” are attempting to construct for their own aggrandizement.
More generally, I wonder about the premise of the series of which this essay is a part. You see this kind of “best practices” logic a lot in writing about development—find the cases that are doing something you’d like, see what’s making them tick so you can try to replicate or emulate it elsewhere. In the case of economic growth, though, this approach is almost always going to be misleading. Economic growth is measured as a percentage, and as Charles Wheelan writes in Naked Statistics,
Percentages don’t lie—but they can exaggerate. One way to make growth look explosive is to use percentage change to describe some change relative to a very low starting point.
The countries at the top of the IMF’s 2012 list nicely illustrate this principle in action. According to the IMF, the five fastest-growing economies in 2012 were Sao Tome and Principe, South Sudan, Guinea, Bhutan, and Mongolia. What does that set of cases tell us about the causes of exceptionally rapid economic growth? Just start from a low baseline—in other words, be poor—and possess copious natural resources that are currently in high demand! (In Bhutan’s case, that natural resource is hydropower,which it sells to its power-hungry neighbor, India). Or, if you’re not especially poor now, you can always knock output down and set yourself up for a nice rebound effect with a civil war and state collapse, like #8 Libya did. Lessons learned, indeed. | <urn:uuid:367cda33-7044-4536-b8bf-82cebed50314> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dartthrowingchimp.wordpress.com/tag/charles-wheelan/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956898 | 778 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Book Review - Epic
John Eldredge's books have become wildly popular among Christians. The Sacred Romance and Wild at Heart have sold millions of copies and have firmly established Eldredge as one of the most-read Christian authors. Wild at Heart has been studied in men's groups across the world, giving Eldredge a wide reach and his teachings great acceptance. In Epic he changes his emphasis from a Christian audience to an unbelieving audience, as this book is clearly primarily targeted at those who are not Christians.
Conservative Christians have long been suspicious of Eldredge's writing, and with good cause, for he does not appear to understand human depravity. In previous books he has taught that the human heart, after it is regenerated by God, becomes intrinsically good. He says that the words of Jeremiah which teach us that "the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked" no longer apply to Christians. With such a vast misunderstanding of the human condition, it is no wonder that his teachings often stray. Many of his teachings are also nearly indistinguishable from those who teach Open Theism, though he denies that he holds to this theology. I give this information as background since it is relevant to our examination of his newest book, Epic: The Story God Is Telling And The Role That Is Yours To Play.
Epic tells us that life is a story which unfolds like a grand drama. It seems that humans have an obsession with stories. From the time we are tiny children we love to hear stories about heroes and villains, good guys and bad. The reason we love story so much, Eldredge writes, is that there is something in the human heart that tells us there is an epic going around us, where God is the central character, but where we also play an important role. We love stories about the conquering hero who arrives at the last possible moment to save his lover, because that is exactly what Jesus has done for us.
The book, then, revolves around stories. The author supports his claims with example after example from popular movies. A few of the movies he references are Apollo 13, Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, Saving Private Ryan, Pinocchio, Finding Nemo, Titanic, Braveheart, Gladiator (no surprise if you have read Wild at Heart and Star Wars. He relies heavily on quotes from other writers such as G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, Phillip Yancey, Gerald May, Soren Kierkegaard, George MacDonald and William Shakespeare. The book also contains plenty of Bible verses, most taken from solid translations.
And herein lies the greatest problem with the book. Because Eldredge misunderstands the human condition, he believes that some sort of goodness inherent in the human heart causes us to seek after stories the way we should seek after God. The stories we all know and love are an expression of the human heart that tells us that we are all really part of a great, cosmic epic. While we may not consciously realize this, the heart somehow does. When Jack Dawson sacrifices his life for Rose in the movie Titanic, that is an expression of the human heart's desire to be saved by Jesus.
Despite that problem, I will reluctantly admit that this book was not as bad as I was expecting it to be. I realize I should begin reading each book with an open mind, but having disliked his previous books so much I just couldn't do it. While there is some poor theology in Epic, there is not nearly as much as in Eldredge's previous books (though perhaps that has to do with the fact that this book is a mere 104 pages long). There are, however, a few problems. For example, he uses the standard argument that God gave humans absolute free will since only with free will could we truly love Him. He provides no Scriptural support for this, relying instead on a lengthy quote from Phillip Yancey. Also, many of the unbiblical teachings of his previous books find their way into this one, as we continually come across the language he uses in The Sacred Romance and Wild at Heart.
Epic, then, seems to be an effort from John Eldredge to take his message to unbelievers. It is geared as a tool for evangelism. I see little reason to believe that it will succeed in that, for there is no clear presentation of the gospel. Furthermore, he cheapens the gospel story by equating it with the message of movies such as Titanic and The Matrix. At the same time, the book is well-written and can easily be read and digested in a mere couple of hours, so I have little doubt that many will read and enjoy it. I do not recommend this book or any other of Eldredge's writings. | <urn:uuid:a2ac54e3-9269-43e8-8650-5b512253fa15> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.challies.com/book-reviews/book-review-epic?quicktabs_1=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97376 | 969 | 1.554688 | 2 |
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