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Monkeybiz: the art of poverty alleviation
by Marisah Smith
A herd of multi-coloured, lovingly crafted beaded elephants seen grazing at Design Indaba 2013, symbolised the ability of design to truly transform lives. The product of proudly South African non-profit organisation Monkeybiz, these and other beaded creatures provide their makers with a brighter future.
Monkeybiz was started by ceramic artists Barbara Jackson, Shirley Fintz and Mathapelo Ngaka in 2000, in an effort to create jobs and resuscitate the dying art of traditional beading. They started out with one woman artist, growing to the 450 women – often the sole breadwinners in their homes – who work for Monkeybiz today.
Monkeybiz provides them with beads, thread, cotton and skills training, and purchases the artworks as soon as they are completed. Each woman signs the beaded pieces with their name, instilling a sense of pride and allowing would-be buyers to follow the designs of artists that they favour.
The designs were limited to traditional dolls at first and when asked in an interview what her vision for the business is, founder Barbara Jackson responded by saying that she wanted to be “Bigger than Barbie”. This is the name of a documentary about her and the inspiring story of how Monkeybiz came to be the premium, niche beaders in Africa. Some of their art pieces are displayed in the Museum of Art & Design in New York and the Jewish Museum, New York, and the small permanent team are insistent that their bead art earns a place on the shelves of homes, galleries and museums worldwide.
Monkeybiz operates out of donated office space at 43 Rose Street in the Bo-Kaap, as one of the social responsibility programmes of the iconic Carrol Boyes Functional Art company. A design destination in its own right, the shared premises is open to the public and recounts the Carrol Boyes success story that started with the design of a teaspoon 22 years ago.
To arrange a scheduled tour of the Monkeybiz and Carrol Boyes premises for you or your tour groups, or to enquire about retailing their range, please contact Joan Krupp, Customer Relations Manager, telephonically on +27 21 426 0145 or via e-mail at firstname.lastname@example.org.
• Read more about the Design Indaba 2013
• Watch the story of Monkeybiz on YouTube
Cape Town Tourism has over 1000 accredited establishments to choose from. Find your perfect match and get booking now.
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Blueprint Returns on September 9
The Blueprint Program is an easy way to get involved in life outside the classroom. Through a series of engaging workshops you will learn and develop skills that will serve as the foundation on which you will build your experience. All you need is a Blueprint and a desire to get involved!
By registering for the program, you will receive our Ultra-Helpful Weekly Email to keep you in-the-know about upcoming workshops. It’s up to you to choose which workshops fit your interest and your schedule. Finally, once you have successfully completed the program, you will also receive a certificate of completion to include on your resume and in your portfolio.
- STEP 1: Grab yourself a Blueprint tracking card. They are available during Orientation events at the beginning of the year and throughout the year in the Office of Student Life, located on the main floor of the Koffler Student Services Centre (214 College Street).
- STEP 2: Register for the program and take a look around this website to learn more about upcoming workshops and activities to participate in.
- STEP 3: Once registered, you will start receiving the Ultra-Helpful Weekly Email, filled with information about upcoming workshops and activity ideas that will help you complete your Blueprint requirements.
- STEP 4: Record your progress on your Blueprint as you attend the workshops and participate in the experiential learning opportunities.
STEP 5: When you have completed your Blueprint tracking card, write a short reflection (about a page or so) about what you learned from participating in the three activities you chose, and send an e-mail to email@example.com to schedule a Blueprint Review with a Student Life staff member.
- Academic Skills
- Leadership & Civic Engagement
- Career Development
- Health & Well-being
- Personal Interest
- Visit the Academic Success Centre and meet with a Learning Skills Counsellor to develop a study plan. You can drop-in or make an appointment.
- Become an active member of a campus group or student government. Check out Ulife for a complete listing of campus organizations.
- Take part in the Serve & Learn program offered by the Centre for Community Partnerships. This is an excellent opportunity to volunteer in a community service placement of your choice.
- Meet with a librarian to discuss research strategies. Most of the libraries on campus offer this services, you just need to make an appointment.
- Become a Volunteer Note-taker with Accessibility Services. Take a look at the list of courses that require a note-taker - you're likely in at least one of them.
- Join a Hart House club or committee. Hart House isn't just a place to hang out, it also has a vibrant community - and you're welcome to join in!
- Explore a career by taking part in the Extern Job Shadowing Program offered by the Career Centre. This is an excellent opportunity to investigate what a career you're interested in is really like.
- Participate in the Alternative Reading Week offered by the Centre for Community Partnerships. In only a few days, you can make a huge impact on a community in need!
- Join an intramural team. With sports ranging from basketball to rugby, ultimate to tennis, flag football to inner tube water polo, there's something for everyone!
- Participate in a mentorship program. There are a variety of mentorship programs offered throughout the campus - check with your college registrar's office to find out more.
Office of Student Life
Koffler Student Services Centre
214 College Street, Main Floor
Toronto, ON M5T 2Z9
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The Royal Hanneford Circus transforms the Westchester County Center this weekend into a spectacular stage, showcasing tightrope walkers, trapeze artists, acrobats and animal acts. It's that last part that has animal-rights activists up in arms.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has organized a protest outside the County Center prior to Saturday’s afternoon performance to draw attention to what the group says is cruel and inhumane treatment of circus animals.
"Bears, elephants, tigers, and other animals used in circuses do not voluntarily ride bicycles, stand on their heads, balance on balls, or jump through rings of fire," says PETA's website.
The group says that circus animals are forced to learn these tricks with whips, bullhooks, electric prods and other punishments. When the animals aren't performing, they are often kept shackled or in tiny cages, says PETA.
The Hanneford Circus is a frequent target of animal-rights groups. Protesters rallied at the County Center 2008, 2005 and 2004 when the circus came to town.
The Hanneford Circus has defended its treatment of animals, saying they are well cared for and their training is based on "reinforcement in the form of food rewards and words of praise."
The animal-rights activists organized the call to action via Facebook. Local activists from PETA, Animal Defenders of Westchester and other groups plan to educate the incoming crowd about animal mistreatment throughout the history of circuses.
Tickets and Other Information
Show times are Saturday, Sunday and Monday at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Check the web for pre-show information and events.
All seats are reserved with premium seats at $28.50 and regular seats at $22.50. Children over 2 require a ticket, and under 2 are admitted free if they sit on a lap. Groups that are interested in attending should contact Zanzarella Marketing at 914-945-0480. For groups of over 20 people the ticket price is reduced by $3.50.
Tickets are available through Ticketmaster (a service fee is added) or at the County Center Box Office (no service fee applies).
For further information you can call 914-995-4050, or www.countycenter.biz
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Large boule with beer
It's been a while since I mixed up my standard white bread flour formula. I decided to march to a different tune a few days ago and try something a bit different.
I started collecting things from the pantry and this is what I arrived at:
- 850g bread flour
- 150g rye flour
- 25g wheat germ
- 25g sesame seeds
- 460g water
- 250g beer
- 20g salt
- 6g yeast
I decided not to count the wheat germ as 'flour' when calculating the amount of water to add. Not sure what the generally accepted approach is.
The mix (KitchenAid)
- 6min: speed 2
- 45 autolyse
- 3min: speed 2
I used a primary fermentation of 3 hours at 72 degrees and overnight in the fridge (mostly to fit my schedule). The dough easily doubled, I think the sugar in the beer kept the yeast happy.
Shape, Proof & Score
The next day I (for no good reason) decided to shape all this dough as a single large boule. It proofed for about 3 hours at 70 degrees. I needed such a long proof because the dough was still chilled from the time in the fridge. I proofed on a couche and transferring wasn't an easy task. There was no way to flip this over like I do my baguettes. I eventually just did my best to scoop it up with my hands and transfer to some parchment. Doing this really made me nervous, but thankfully it more or less held it's shape. Next time I'll probably proof right on some parchment paper. Looking back I think the proof time was a bit too long (I was out of the house while it proofed and made it back later than I expected).
Scoring was a piece of cake because it had developed a bit of a skin, having proofed for so long. I used to think any skin was to be avoided, but just a little makes scoring so much easier. And I don't think it's the detriment of the final product.
This was unlike any bake I've done before! Into the oven at 500 degrees with 1 cup of water poured into a pan for steam (oh no! did I just use a volume measurement?!) 30 minutes into the bake the crust had developed a nice brown color. I decided to check the internal temperature, thinking it might need another 10min or so. Imagine my shock when the thermometer read 96 degrees!! I couldn't believe it. I wasn't even halfway to my usual 'done' temp of 208 degrees.
So I dropped the temperature to 425, realizing this was going to be a loooooong bake. I lost track of time, but it felt like an eternity. I was nervous I'd eventually burn the crust, but that wasn't an issue. Eventually the temperature crept up while the crust became darker and darker.
When I arrived to 208, I turned off the oven and left the boule in the oven with the door ajar, sitting on a cooling rack. This way it would cooled without the internal moisture 'steaming' the crust (something I've had happen more than once) Can't loose that crunch!
Delicious! I can't stop eating it ;) Because of the long bake time, I ended up with a super thick crust that isn't overly chewy. And while not burned, the dark crust has a flavor I really enjoy. The crumb isn't very open at all, which is fine with me and expected given the rye and wheat germ. I'm not really sure the sesame seeds provided at flavor. I'm making this loaf again without the seeds or the beer.
What about the beer? I used a darker Octoberfest beer I had laying around. I'm really not sure what if anything it contributed to the flavor of the loaf. It definitley doesn't smell like beer, nor can I pick out the taste of the beer. It will be interesting to compare this loaf with another made without the beer (currently in progress).
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Click to enlarge. Queen Elisabeth of Spain by Sofonisba Anguissola. She is holding a Zibellino fur in her right arm.
Zibellino (zibellini is the plural form) is an entire pelt of animal popular in the 15-16 Century. The pelt was originally left plain, but later on they became extremely richly decorated with precious metal and gemstones. The head if the pelt is often replaced with a gold or crystal head.
Some say the purpose of zibellini are worn so fleas would bite into the fur instead of the human, but others point out that fleas are only attracted to blood, therefore a dead animal with no blood would not be attracting much fleas. Not to mention, advertising one's personal hygiene issue back then was as unpopular as it is now, carrying a body-bug repellent would be akin to proudly toting a prescription grade deodorant. The more logical explanation is that they are simply decorations with little purpose other than showing off the wealth of wearers.
I bought some vintage whole pelt mink stoles from ebay. They cost about $15 with shipping included and they usually have multiple pelts attached. Vintage furs in pelt form are generally in better conditions than ones already made into coats. The $15 for 2-6 price tag is much more affordable than the $125 (per piece!) price tag for new garment-grade mink pelts. I am no goldsmith, so I made the head with polymer clay instead. This is the head pre-baking.
Post-baking, painted with gold nail polish (gold paint is so much more expensive!)
The best pelt of the 5, with head amputated ready for head transplant.
I used the glass eyes from the pelts for the eye and a black bead + headpin for the nose.
Head transplant was successful. The vital signs are good.
For decoration, I used some pre-mounted plastic gems and a length of silk ribbon. I decided to do a Gwen Stefanie for the head.
Made two more piece of "gold" for the rest of the body. I sewed the ribbon to place instead of gluing them directly onto the fur in case I change my mind and decide to do something else with the fur.
I decided to survey my overflowing box of supplies and use up some stuff I've had for a long time. I got at least a dozen peacock feathers and a piece of netting with velvet dots that I've saved for some potential epically special project that never really come into fruition. Well damn it, I figured, I will use it this week because that epically special project can only exist if I actually make it. I first made the netting into a bow (it's too small to be made into a veil) and attach that onto a tiny hat base. Then I trimmed 4 peacock feather eyes and covered the end of the feather with a fake ancient Greek gold coin and a gold bow. (The flip side of the coin has the Greek letters Ἀ θ Ε with an owl, which means the face is actually Athena, whose symbol is an owl. Although I feel that the peacock feathers made it looks more ancient Roman/Egyptian since the ancient Greeks had much fewer luxury items such as exotic animals. This page
shows the actual coin, which was made in silver instead of gold.)
Oh I learned this week that 1. both male and female birds are called peafowls, 2. only the male birds called peacocks while a female peafowl is called a peahen, 3. an infant peafowl is called a peachick.
Besides making things, my other hobby is reading about history of fashion and literature. My current obsession is Gothic literature, and after clicking through related articles on Wikipedia, I remembered The Simpsons did their own version of Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven (see below)
This is great for my crafter's block because I bought a copper photo locket that I need to figure out what to make it into. (This is actually a cool concept since you can put anything in there and it will instantly become a necklace that you can wear). After watching the video again I finally decided to draw a picture of a raven's silhouette against a watercolor blue background.
I really like the chain that comes with the locket. I've noticed most Victorian necklaces has very unusual chains made from elongated bar links instead of simple circle links.
This is the best version I can find on Youtube (I can't embed anything else on Weebly). A better quality video can be found here
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Resume Writing Tips For the Western New York Diversity Job Fair
The Western New York Diversity Job Fair is today! If you are looking for a job or unhappy at your current position, you owe it to yourself to check it out!
The first thing you should do is take a look at your resume. A friend of mine who works with retiring military members said that you should never pay someone to write your resume for you. If you enlist a professional to help you, always write the resume yourself first and bring it to them to tweak it. Here are some things to keep in mind when writing a resume:
Put the most important information first
This point is valid both to the overall order of your resume, as well as to the individual sections. Most of the times your previous work experience will be the most important part of the resume, so put it at the top. When describing your experiences or skills, list the most important ones first.
Proofread it twice
It would be difficult to emphasize the importance of proofreading your resume. One small typo and your chances of getting hired could slip. Proofreading it once is not enough, so do it twice, three times or as many as necessary. If you don’t know how to proofread effectively, here are 8 tips that you can use.
Do not include information that might sound negative in the eyes of the employer. This is valid both to your resume and to interviews. You don’t need to include, for instance, things that you hated about your last company.
One resume for each employer
One of the most common mistakes that people make is to create a standard resume and send it to all the job openings that they can find. Sure it will save you time, but it will also greatly decrease the chances of landing an interview (so in reality it could even represent a waste of time). Tailor your resume for each employer. The same point applies to your cover letters.
Finally, come dressed professionally and with LOTS of resumes to the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center today! See the entire list of companies at the job fair and get more resume tips below. Good luck and come by and say hello!!
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Economist: Biotech fine, but Florida needs “jobs for the masses”by Jeff Ostrowski
For all the money spent to transform Florida into a biotech hub, the state really needs something else entirely — positions for unskilled workers.
That’s according to Wells Fargo economist Mark Vitner. While Vitner praised the state’s $1 billion-plus investment in Scripps Florida, Max Planck Florida and other research labs, he also noted that the biotech industry will never employ more than a tiny percentage of Florida workers.
“We have spent a lot of time attracting all these industries of the future,” Vitner said this afternoon in a report on Florida’s economy. “We’ve got a more immediate problem in that we’re not creating jobs for the masses.”
More than 1 million Floridians were officially unemployed in March, and most of them aren’t qualified to work in research labs. Former construction tradesmen and laid-off call center workers make for “a huge skills mismatch,” Vitner said.
“We need to reinvigorate the hunt for companies that are going to bring large call centers and customer service centers to the state,” he said.
Tags: Mark Vitner
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Aim: The purpose of this research was to use metabolomics to investigate the cystic phenotype in the Lewis polycystic kidney rat. Methods: Spot urine samples were collected from four male Lewis control and five male Lewis polycystic kidney rats aged 5 weeks, before kidney function was significantly impaired. Metabolites were extracted from urine and analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Principal component analysis was used to determine key metabolites contributing to the variance observed between sample groups. Results: With the development of a metabolomics method to analyse Lewis and Lewis polycystic kidney rat urine, 2-ketoglutaric acid, allantoin, uric acid and hippuric acid were identified as potential biomarkers of cystic disease in the rat model. Conclusion: The findings of this study demonstrate the potential of metabolomics to further investigate kidney disease. This paper reports on a method for non-targeted metabolite profiling of rat urine, using the approach to investigate the cystic phenotype of the Lewis polycystic kidney rat. The findings of this study demonstrate the potential of metabolomics to investigate kidney disease.
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Mega-dam in Peruvian Amazon Cancelled
The Peruvian government announced that the massive Inambari Dam, planned on a major Amazonian tributary, has been canceled after years of strong community opposition. For the past 36 days, close to 2,000 people in the Puno area had been on strike in an effort to convince the government to cancel mining concessions and the dam project. They blocked access roads to the region and held mass protests.
To appease the strikers, the government established a high-level commission to review the Inambari Dam. After a tense meeting with local communities on June 13, Commission Chair and Vice-Minister of Energy Luis Gonzales Talledo definitively canceled the project, stating that the Brazilian EGASUR consortium’s rights to develop the project had been revoked.
"Although this resolution does not prevent the construction of all dams in the Inambari Basin, it is very important because it clearly cancels EGASUR’s participation. The resolution states that all future proposed projects must be subjected to prior consultation with local communities according to ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, which is an important precedent," said Aldo Santos, from local NGO SER (Rural Educational Services).
For more than three years, affected communities have opposed the Inambari Dam, which would flood 410 square kilometers of forest, including part of the Bahujan Sonene National Park buffer zone. The project would leave more than 15,000 people without agricultural lands and thus their main source of livelihoods. Flooding of 120km of the recently built Inter-Oceanic Highway would sever access to markets and affect the economic development of the district of San Gaban and the province of Carabaya in Puno State.
"This is a great triumph for the communities and the Peasant Patrols (rondas campesinas), and we will continue to defend our lands and our culture. Even though the project is canceled, we know that we have won the battle but not the war. We know there are too many interests behind construction of Inambari, especially the interests of the Brazilians and their energy thirst,” said Olga Cutipa, president of the Front to Defend the Inambari-San Gaban.
The cancellation of the project is a blow to the Brazilian government, which signed an energy agreement with Peru last year committing to purchase electricity from six dams in the Peruvian Amazon. The $4.9 billion Inambari Dam was expected to be financed by the Brazilian National Development Bank and to be built by Brazilian construction companies. The recently-released Brazil Energy Expansion Plan for 2011-2020 includes a total of 7,000 MW of imported hydropower from the Peruvian Amazon. The Inambari Dam, which until now was at the most advanced stage of planning, was expected to produce 2,000 megawatts, equal to about a quarter of the country’s current installed capacity. The second proposed dam under the Brazil-Peru Agreement, the Pakitzapango Dam, was stopped in 2010 by an administrative legal action by the Central Ashaninka del Rio Ene, an indigenous organization.
Earlier this month, Peruvian NGOs demanded a public debate to review the Peru-Brazil Energy Agreement when the new Congress meets in July. In a communiqué, NGOs stated that "with the agreement, we would be choosing to give away our energy to external markets at the expense of serious environmental and social impacts for the country. The approval of the agreement adversely compromises any serious effort to planning for long-term sustainable development of the country."
Monti Aguirre, Latin America Program Coordinator for International Rivers, said: “This is a great day for the Peruvian Amazon and the communities who have fought for so long to protect their rights and their environment. Both Brazil and Peru are rich in alternative energy sources. If Brazil invested in energy-efficiency, it could avoid the need for any dams to be built in the Amazon Basin and save billions of dollars in the process. The Amazon is simply too precious a resource to squander.”
Although it has become clear that EGASUR will not build Inambari, Puno's population is still protesting the issuance of mining and oil concessions in the province.
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Whether it’s How to Form an LLC in Texas, California DUI Laws, The Florida Homestead Exemption Laws, or any of the other thousands of accurate legal articles in the Nolo network, there’s a lot of legal research behind it. So how do we manage so much legislative information and translate it into plain English for our readers?
Early on, Nolo had to come up with some way to organize and maintain a wealth of state specific information for all the charts that appear in Nolo’s books. More recently, that need grew even more as online publishing ramped up. The solution was a unique, proprietary editorial database that allows our editors and researchers to manage all of this information. They can create dynamic charts of state based statutes that can easily be updated when the laws change.
This research is often done in advance of large writing projects that are handled by our freelancers. This way we can produce large volumes of content without the risk of inaccurate information.
This is just another example of the lengths to which we go to produce the best legal content online. Where most online publishers simply use other sites for their research (often Nolo.com), we go straight to the source.
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Windows' speech recognition lacks the bells and whistles available with Dragon, such as the playback facility, the text-to-speech facility and the file transcription facility. The text editing process is clumsier, in that anytime you select and then dictate over existing text, the software reacts as if you had launched the correction process, whereas Dragon will just write over it.
On the other hand, the Windows application makes fewer system demands and there is no slowdown when switching between documents.
Speech recognition also became standard feature this year on Apple computers with the introduction of the Dictation app in OS X Mountain Lion. And both iOS and Android offer voice dictation features on their mobile devices.
Lamont Wood is a freelance writer and long-time speech recognition user who lives in San Antonio.
Read more about desktop apps in Computerworld's Desktop Apps Topic Center.
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People have always wanted to optimize things in their lives. It’s like every single gadget, electronic device and even our interior design items are optimized to give us more room and time for other things. One thing that has annoyed people for decades is the nagging feeling of not knowing if you turned off the lights, the iron or even the stove when you have left your home. I am sure we have all gone back home only to make sure it’s all turned off and safe. It’s not only annoying, but it’s also time consuming. But there are people who are working on a solution for this at this very moment. Soon the days of worrying will be over, and it is all thanks to a new next gen Internet controlled light switch and outlet system.
It’s called the Flip Smart Switch system and is one of those innovations that you wish you had come up with yourself. It enables Internet controlled off and on switches through your smartphone. Yup, it’s awesome like that. For example, if you leave your home and can’t remember whether or not you turned off the lights in the bathroom or the kitchen, the Flip system will allow you to check them and turn them off right from your iPhone. As long as you are connected to the Internet, you will be able to control all the electronics connected to an outlet or a switch in your home.
This Internet controlled switch system will not only allow you to turn on and off gadgets remotely, but you will also be able to dim the lights or have the light switch sensor automatically control the light for you depending on the light in the room. You can even connect it to the TV (if I understand it correctly) so that it will sense if you are watching a movie and turn off the lights completely for example. That’s not all, you could even hook this Internet controlled system up to your local weather forecast to allow the light to be adjusted according to the type of weather outside.
I think with the right price tag on this system, it could be a huge success. The company behind it, Flip Electric, is currently looking for funding through IndieGoGo. They are looking to raise $150,000 in 36 days. Whether they will succeed in doing that is entirely up to all of us. By pledging $100.00 (and if the project is successfully funded) you will get one Flip switch that will instantly make your light switch smart and Internet controlled. This is almost science fiction in the making. I believe Bill Gates has had this in his house for several years, but this system allows us ordinary people the chance to get an Internet controlled and energy saving light switch and outlet smart system in our own homes.
Flip Electric’s Internet Controlled Switch & Outlet System
(Click Images To Enlarge)
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A colour risk worth taking
Lively ... the power of yellow must be carefully harnessed. Photo: callananphoto.com
Grey skies and life challenges last week left me feeling drab. It was the luxuriant golden mimosa by the railway line that lifted my spirits and reminded me of the power of this colour. Yellow, the colour of butter, bananas, lemons, marigolds, saffron and corn.
Yellow is notoriously difficult to use as a wall colour because it is so strong and clear. Wall colours ideally recede. Yellow makes its presence felt.
The trick is to find the right yellow and use it in the right way.
Rikki Stubbs, callananphoto.com
In my 1850s Petersham home, yellow featured inside and out. I used colours that lie either side of pure yellow in the colour spectrum. Entrance halls can take a strong colour. I chose a modern limey yellow. It ran like a vivid thread connecting the colours of the other spaces - the aubergine television room, the lavender guest room and pink and grey striped walls of the main bedroom.
I lived with a neutral wall colour in the kitchen for a while and then painted it a golden yellow. The colour wasn't overwhelming because the walls were broken up by doors and windows and accented by the black benchtop. My cooking may not have improved but my enjoyment of being there certainly did.
It's a common misconception that dim rooms must be painted white. White in a dark room looks sad and grey. Yellow creates light and a sense of wellbeing. But don't use it for bedroom walls, especially a child's room. It's too active. Use it in smaller doses on a fabric for a blind or chair. It's dynamic in geometric fabric prints. Team it with deep pinks, lime, turquoise, rust reds and chocolate.
Cool, sharp yellows are well suited to the clean lines of contemporary interiors. I used an acid yellow in the dining room of a huge 1920s apartment in Potts Point to offset the bold artwork and the white kitchen. Enliven a white kitchen with yellow splashback tiles in glass or glazed ceramic.
Mud at Edgecliff has lemon yellow bowls, plates and platters and across the road at No Chintz are Chinese yellow ceramic side tables that double as stools.
Metallic yellow can look sensational on a front door. I can't wait to see the results of my external scheme for a weatherboard cottage in Balmain - soft grey with sharp yellow window frames and a paler shade on the eaves.
Yellow is so life affirming. Use it with confidence.
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May 24, 2013
Laugh to Lose Weight
Someone once suggested, “Laugh your way through life. You’ll either live longer, or die laughing.” As it turns out, the benefits of have a good belly laugh can extend long after the joke has faded. Not only is laughter a good way to relieve stress and create long lasting bonds between friends, but it can also help you lose weight.
You really can laugh yourself skinny.
Health Benefits of Laughter
Laughter is a powerful way to release the tension you’ve acquired throughout the day. It’s the best medicine for all your woes-and the great part? It’s free and easy to use. According to Paul E. McGhee, Ph.D.:
“Your sense of humor is one of the most powerful tools you have to make certain that your daily mood and emotional state support good health.”
Benefits of Laughter include each of the following:
• It relieves physical tension and stress – A good hearty laugh can leave your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes afterward.
• It boosts the immune system – Laughter increases immune cells and infection fighting antibodies, perhaps there really is a cure to the common cold?
• It releases endorphins – You’ve probably heard about these little feel-good chemicals. Endorphins are your body’s natural pain relievers that can promote an overall sense of well-being.
• It protects the heart – By letting yourself laugh, you can improve the function of blood vessels and blood flow, protecting yourself against cardiovascular issues such as heart disease and heart attack.
• It can help you lose weight – Laughter works the stomach muscles almost as effectively as a few good crunches. Studies have shown that the average adults can burn an average of 1.3 calories per minute while laughing with friends.
Laugh it and Lose it
Before chuckling at this funny way to lose weight, be aware that a new exercise movement called Laughtercising has created guidebooks and laugh-track CDs to heighten the hilarity. Like any other weight loss routine, a solid 10 minutes of laughter a day can help you keep off the weight.
According to some studies, laughter can produce the same benefits as aerobic exercise (so long as you can maintain it for the same amount of time).
Of course, working up to a full 10 minutes can be difficult for those straight-faced critics out there, but Betty Hoeffner (an avid laughterciser) reports:
“You just keep going and going and you work up such a sweat and your abs are aching,” she says. “You get so much energy you’ll be vacuuming your house at 10 o’clock at night. Just try it!
Fake it Until You Make
Although laughing comes naturally for most people, sometimes we can’t find a good excuse to guffaw, chortle, and hyuck to ourselves. But the really great thing about laughter is that your body can’t distinguish between “fake” laughter and real humor. The positive effects are still there.
If you find that you simply can’t get the giggles you’re looking for, try this simple technique: laugh without smiling. That’s right. Keep those lips over your teeth and try to force a laugh. You’ll find the awkwardness of mouth and the sheer ludicrousness of laughing in such a way that the absurdity will have you hooting until your stomach hurts.
Also, it’s always nicer to laugh with a friend. Just for laughs, get a circle of friends to join in this childish game of giggles. Lie down on the floor, with each person’s head resting on the stomach of the friend next in line. Like a stream of dominos, when one person starts to giggle, the stomach motion triggers a wave of hollers and hoots, giggles and guffaws, until everyone is laughing too hard to breathe.
The Last Line
Of course to some, losing weight is no laughing matter. Puns and pranks can only get a person so far when they’re trying to drop a dress size or fit into their favorite pair of skinny jeans. Although laughter is a key element in staying healthy and losing weight, sometimes a little extra help is needed to slim down that stomach.
If losing the weight will get an extra smile of satisfaction out of you, then perhaps Lipofuze will be your solution. With 10 patented weight loss ingredients, Lipofuze is one of the best diet pills that can help you lose more weight than dieting and exercise (and laughter) alone—No joke! So whether you’re trying to live a healthier life or lose those extra pounds, laughter and lipofuze make a great addition to any routine.
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Zeldman has some interesting thoughts on the neutral option often seen in opinion scales:
Let users choose from five stars, and they nearly always pick three. Three is the little bear’s porridge, neither too hot nor too cold. Three is neutral—a safe place to hide. Even in the virtual world, where nothing more consequential is being asked than an opinion, many people would rather equivocate than commit.
He makes some great points, particularly in regards to using the neutral option as a way to avoid offending friends (think “Maybe” in eVite invitations). This is essentially a designer’s critique of the ubiquitous Likert scale, by far the most common type of questionnaire in social science research.
Back in junior high school we had a semester-long class on careers. The class feels like ancient history to me and I only remember two things about it. One is that our teacher had that Southern tendency to overemphasize the “Wh” sound. “Class, remember, whhhat you put down on the whhhite paper should match what you put down on the whhhorksheet.” The second is that a big part of this class involved the administration of an extensive career questionnaire, with scales and question clusters designed to place you at a particular point along eight different axes. Are you a people person? Do you like working with numbers? Creating artwork? Filing things? You get the idea.
It’s been a while, but I believe there were seven billion questions on this thing, all coded using the standard five point Likert paradigm. I remember that when our results came back, my report showed surprisingly few career suggestions, mostly, I was told, because I had picked the neutral option so often. Showing a definitive preference for very few of the questions, the computer didn’t know what to make of me.
The trick here is that neutral doesn’t always mean neutral. I was fourteen years old. Faced with a question like, “I would prefer working with the sick or infirm,” neutral really meant, “I’m fourteen and I don’t know anything about the world or what I want from it. I don’t know.“ In a certain sense, I still don’t.
Consider the Sastisfaction with Life Scale. We use this one as part of our research at the hospital, and judging by the number of citations the scale receives in scholarly journals, we’re not the only ones. I like to think of it as a five question existential nightmare. How can you expect a person to grade a statement like, “If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing,” on a five point agree/disagree continuum? Lots of people get thrown when I ask this in our interviews. After administering this scale over one hundred times, I have a hunch that neutral often means, “I don’t know how to answer that.”
I’d be very curious to see what happens when you delete the neutral option and replace it with, “I don’t know.” Maybe come up with two different variations. In one, the new option replaces neutral’s position. In the other, the new option is listed as a separate entity from the levels of agreement and disagreement. Absolute neutrality is a rarity in real life. Republican? Democrat? Maybe you really are one of those coveted undecided voters, but I’ll bet that if it came down to it, you’d admit to leaning ever so slightly one way or the other. Professing ignorance is qualitatively different from professing neutrality. People generally tend to love the latter and hate the former. Replacing the neutral with the unknown gives people a reason to commit instead of a place to hide.
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Aquarium size for cichlids
Hello all. I currently have 6 african cichlid babies in a 30 gallon tank. Am planning on upgrading them here in a few months as I know they get fairly large. My question is this- what size tank should I start looking for? I've got my eye on an 80 gallon tank- would this be large enough? Too large, could I possibly get a few more fish to put in it? Any advice would be great. My fish are roughly between 1.5" and 2" now, and at the rate they're eating, they'll be outgrowing my tank in a year!!
I have 8 in a 55 gallon tank and they are doing fine.
It entirely depends on which species they are. Some africans stay small, others get huge. Can you post pictures of them to see which ones you have?
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(CNN) -- If your Christmas is too often one of tacky decorations, over-cooked turkey and bitter family feuds, now may be the time to put the baubles back in the attic and plan yourself a yuletide getaway.
To help you along, we offer our top picks for the most Christmassy places around the world.
While legends dating as far back as the 1820's may cite the North Pole as the official home of Santa Claus and his jolly missus, Finns would have us believe otherwise. For them, Rovaniemi, Lapland, located just north of the Arctic Circle, is Christmas headquarters. Here, children can make gingerbread cookies with Mrs. Claus, enroll in Elf School, or take a calligraphy class and learn to compose their Christmas wish-lists with a traditional quill.
Other area attractions include the Ranua Zoo -- home to baby polar bears, wolverines, and moose; Sirmakko reindeer farm, where visitors can take a sled-led reindeer safari; and the Arktikum, a science center where the mystery and the magic of the Northern Lights is revealed.
Those in search of a truly frosty experience can stay in the Arctic Snow Hotel, made entirely of snow and ice, but equipped with saunas and hot tubs in which to thaw.
Strasbourg's series of themed Christmas villages morph the city into a visual and gastronomic wonderland. Hedonists can head to the Village of Alsace Farmhouse to taste prune, apricot, and other holiday-inspired variations of farm-fresh foie gras.
The nearby Village of Bredle is supplied aplenty with its namesake traditional Christmas biscuits and copious amounts of mulled Alsatian wine to wash them down with.
From the Strasbourg Philharmonic, to gospel, to Django-Reinhardt inspired gypsy jazz, Strasbourg's Christmas program is packed with concerts and a special selection of cultural events from Georgia, the guest country of Strasbourg's Christmas celebrations this year.
If you're the type of person who likes to celebrate Christmas around a tree made from recycled sheet metal, with lights powered by the pedaling of nearby cyclists, then Quebec is your destination. A haven for environmentally friendly, outdoor enthusiasts, the city bustles with activity, offering a holiday program for all tastes.
Modern-day Victorians can enjoy a candle-lit evening of stories from Charles Dickens, detailing the Christmas traditions of yore. Sausage and roast chestnut lovers can browse the wares at the German Christmas market, and the more religiously inclined can wander exposition of nativity scenes from around the world.
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Piñatas, posadas and ponche sum up the festivities in this colorful Mexican city, where Christmas is both a solemn and a celebratory affair.
Leading up to December 24, you're likely to stumble upon Mary and Joseph strolling the streets, as locals make pilgrimages from home to home, singing to "ask for posada" or "beg for shelter" as they re-enact the journey to Bethlehem.
Ponche - a mulled fruit drink - and piñatas cap a long evening of peregrinations around this cobblestoned city, which was recently designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its wealth of grand churches, well-preserved architecture, and grand zocalos, or sweeping public squares, replete with romance and old world charm.
Dyker Heights, Brooklyn
Yes, New York City has The Rockettes, the 5th Avenue windows and, the ice rink at Rockefeller Center, all which make it a terrific, tinsel-studded holiday destination.
The more curious, however, should venture out to Brooklyn for a slightly more off the cuff, yet equally ostentatious gander at how New Yorkers do Christmas. The proudly and predominantly Italian-American residents from roughly 11th to 13th Avenue and from 83rd to 86th Street have an unspoken agreement to one-up each other with holiday decorations which, much to the mirth of passersby, often results in two-story Santas, armies of 30-foot wooden soldiers, over-sized animatronic toys, motorized carousels, and enough nutcrackers to make Tchaikovsky twinkle with delight.
Wander this winter wonderland on your own, or with a tour organized by long-time resident, Tony Muia, which includes a cannoli and a hot chocolate from a Brooklyn bakery.
Roughly 200 miles north of Addis Ababa is Lalibela; a small old town of 20,000 residents which is home to 11 monolithic churches. Dating as far back as the 12th century and carved out of striking red-color blocks of volcanic rock, the churches have been excavated from under the ground, and are connected by a complex and sometimes claustrophobic network of tunnels and passageways.
Declared a "new Jerusalem" after the real Jerusalem was captured by Muslim forces in 1187 and Ethiopian Christians could no longer go there, Lalibela remains a very religious place.
Coptic Christmas (January 7) mass at Bet Medhane Alem - the largest monolithic church in the world - is an occasion on which hundreds of priests in white turbans, adorned with red sashes and gold scarves chant, sway, and pray, surrounded by trenches flooded with some 50,000 worshipers, for whom this is a sacred place of pilgrimage.
If you can manage to extend your Christmas holiday until Three King's Day, (January 6) there is no better place to catch up with Melchior, Gaspar and Balthasar than Barcelona. On the evening of January 5, they arrive at the city's port on the the Santa Eulàlia - their very own ship - in bearded and velvet robed splendor.
Canons are fired, fireworks are set off, and as the mayor hands them the keys to the city, the magic of the Magi officially commences. They parade through the streets in a magnificent cavalcade of floats which includes camels, elephants, giraffes, and dazzling costumes
Though spending Christmas on a beach may sound like bliss, sipping an endless supply of cocktails in the sand may soon feel like it's lacking in holiday spirit.
A trip to the Philippines lets you have it all. Known as the country with "the longest Christmas season in the world," Filipinos get the Christmas festivities rolling in September, and extend them well through January.
As the only Asian country with a predominantly Christian population, its cities and islands are festooned with nativities, lantern parades, and Christmas bazaars.
While the Chocolate Hills of Bohol or the beaches of Boracay may prove a more relaxing option, spend at least a day in the capital, where this December, the Manila Hotel is turning its Grand Lobby into a fairytale worthy of Clara and Fritz.
Soak up your share of sugar plum fairies, gingerbread clocks and weekend performances of The Nutcracker by Prima Ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, before escaping to the sun.
Queenstown, New Zealand
The traditional Christmas colors of red, green and white take on an entirely new meaning in New Zealand, where red represents the "pohutukawa" (New Zealand's ruby-red flowering Christmas tree), white represents the pristine sandy beaches, and green? The kiwi, of course! Sun-lovers who want to join Santa in his surf shorts should definitely head to Queenstown, where warm summer temperatures mean you can jetboat, river surf, or paraglide on Lake Wakatipu, or simply set up camp along the lakefront and enjoy a hearty Christmas meal of lamb, seafood, and chicken on the barbie.
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The release of hybrid AMD processors of A series was announced about a year ago, however, their actual appearance in the market was delayed for a few months. It is a well-known fact that a part of those processors for Socket FM1 platform has got idle graphics block; this part of processors has been codenamed Athlon and Sempron. The two processor models from this series Athlon II X2 221 and Sempron X2 198 can be currently found in PCs manufactured by HP company.
Both processors have been observed in the list of specifications of desktop PCs delivered by HP: Athlon II X2 221 is employed in HP Pavillon p6-1169cx and p6-1226cn models, while Sempron X2 198 is employed in HP Pavillion p6-1152cx, 1230cx, 1231cx, and 1159cx models. The major peculiarity of such technological solution is that HP PCs with those processors are delivered only to the Chinese market.
Two-core Athlon II X2 221 operates at 2.8 GHz frequency, and accommodates 1 MB cache memory of the second level. It is furnished with the integrated two-channel DDR3-1600 controller. Two-core Sempron X2 198 operates at 2.5 GHz frequency; all other characteristics coincide with the Athlon processor.
Both models are able to support 64-bit code, AMD-V virtualization and various instructions up to SSE3. The level of TDP reaches 65W.
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Due to the growing number of layoffs that have occurred at companies nationwide over the last few years, severance pay is a hot topic. Severance is a specified amount of money you would receive in the event of being laid off or taking voluntary, early retirement; you'd earn the payment in addition to your salary. If you quit your job, however, you'd be ineligible for severance pay.
Here are three severance pay questions every employee should ask:
Am I entitled to severance if I am let go?
Companies are not required to give you severance. But your employer may offer it if it has a solid relationship with its employees and wants to stay in the good graces of anyone it lays off. A company may also offer severance as a way to negotiate with you to get you to give up your legal rights (this typically means you can't sue the company for firing you or laying you off if you sign an agreement.)
If you are fired for misconduct, however, it is unlikely that your company would offer you a severance package. Still, there are some cases where you are legally entitled to severance. Such as:
- Your employment contract stipulates your entitlement to it.
- Company policy states that employees are entitled to it.
- Your company conducts a massive layoff without giving 60 days' notice (see the W.A.R.N Act)
How is severance calculated?
If your company doesn't have a policy specifying the formula for determining your severance package, you may have some room to negotiate the number. But in general, there are certain factors that go into the calculation:
- Number of years you've worked at the company.
- Your level in the company (such as management or executive).
- Company size.
- Whether you had severance listed as part of your employment contract.
Don't immediately sign a severance package offer; it might be negotiable. While it might seem harsh, pulling the guilt card might help you negotiate a better deal. It's up to you to ask for more.
Is all severance monetary?
Severance doesn't always come in the form of cash. Many companies will extend health benefits for a period to employees they lay off. This can help cover your medical expenses until you secure your next job and benefits. Your severance package may also include other benefits, like life insurance and career coaching. Many companies work with outplacement consultants to help you find your next role, which is a perk in the current job market.
What You Should Know
You should consider if and how the severance package will affect your ability to claim unemployment insurance. Also consider how the payments (lump sum or continuing salary payments) will affect your tax liability.
It's a good idea to have a lawyer review any document your soon-to-be former employer wants you to sign, especially with regards to giving up legal rights. Never feel forced into signing a document on the spot, especially when you're carrying the emotional weight of being let go. Ask to take the severance package information home and review it when you have cleared your head.
In general, a severance package is designed to ease the pain of being fired or laid off. The money can help tide you over until you find your next job, and can keep you from worrying about how you will pay your bills in the meantime.
Lindsay Olson is a founding partner and public relations recruiter with Paradigm Staffing and Hoojobs.com, a niche job board for public relations, communications, and social media jobs. She blogs at LindsayOlson.com, where she discusses recruiting and job search issues.
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Loving What Is
From "Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life" by Byron Katie and Stephen Mitchell
Posted by: DailyOM
The first time I watched The Work, I realized that I was witnessing something truly remarkable. What I saw was a succession of people, young and old, educated and uneducated, who were learning to question their own thoughts, the thoughts that were most painful to them. With the lovingly incisive help of Byron Katie (everyone calls her Katie), these people were finding their way not only toward the resolution of their immediate problems, but also toward a state of mind in which the deepest questions are resolved. I have spent a good part of my life studying and translating the classic texts of the great spiritual traditions, and I recognized something very similar in process here. At the core of these traditions -- in works such as the Book of Job, the Tao Te Ching, and the Bhagavad Gita -- there is an intense questioning about life and death, and a profound, joyful wisdom that emerges as an answer. That wisdom, it seemed to me, was the place Katie was standing in, and the direction where these people were headed.
As I watched from my seat in a crowded community center, five men and women, one after another, were learning freedom through the very thoughts that had caused their suffering, thoughts such as "My husband betrayed me" or "My mother doesn't love me enough." Simply by asking four questions and listening to the answers they found inside themselves, these people were opening their minds to profound, spacious, and life-transforming insights. I saw a man who had been suffering for decades from anger and resentment toward his alcoholic father light up before my eyes within forty-five minutes. I saw a woman who had been almost too frightened to speak, because she had just found out that her cancer was spreading, end the session in a glow of understanding and acceptance. Three out of the five people had never done The Work before, yet the process didn't seem to be more difficult for them than it was for the other two, nor were their realizations any less profound. They all began by realizing a truth so basic that it is usually invisible: the fact that (in the words of the Greek philosopher Epictetus) "we are disturbed not by what happens to us, but by our thoughts about what happens." As soon as they grasped that truth, their whole understanding changed.
Before people have experienced The Work of Byron Katie for themselves, they often think that it is too simple to be effective. But its simplicity is precisely what makes it so effective. Over the past two years, since first encountering it and meeting Katie, I have done The Work many times, on thoughts I hadn't even been aware of. And I've watched more than a thousand people do it in public events across the United States and Europe, on the whole gamut of human problems: from major illnesses, the deaths of parents and children, sexual and psychological abuse, addictions, financial insecurity, professional problems, and social issues to the usual frustrations of daily life. (Having a reserved seat at all Katie's events is one of the privileges of being married to her.) Again and again, I have seen The Work quickly and radically transform the way people think about their problems. And as the thinking changes, the problems disappear.
"Suffering is optional," Katie says. Whenever we experience a stressful feeling -- anything from mild discomfort to intense sorrow, rage, or despair -- we can be certain that there is a specific thought causing our reaction, whether or not we are conscious of it. The way to end our stress is to investigate the thinking that lies behind it, and anyone can do this by himself with a piece of paper and a pen. The Work's four questions, which you will see in context later in this introduction, reveal where our thinking isn't true for us. Through this process -- Katie also calls it "inquiry" -- we discover that all the concepts and judgments that we believe or take for granted are distortions of things as they really are. When we believe our thoughts instead of what is really true for us, we experience the kinds of emotional distress that we call suffering. Suffering is a natural alarm, warning us that we're attaching to a thought; when we don't listen, we come to accept this suffering as an inevitable part of life. It's not.
The Work has striking similarities with the Zen koan and the Socratic dialogue. But it doesn't stem from any tradition, Eastern or Western. It is American, homegrown, and mainstream, having originated in the mind of an ordinary woman who had no intention of originating anything.
To realize your true nature, you must wait for the right moment and the right conditions. When the time comes, you are awakened as if from a dream. You understand that what you have found is your own and doesn't come from anywhere outside.
The Work was born on a February morning in 1986 when Byron Kathleen Reid, a forty-three-year-old woman from a small town in the high desert of southern California, woke up on the floor of a halfway house.
In the midst of an ordinary life -- two marriages, three children, a successful career -- Katie had entered a ten-year-long downward spiral into rage, paranoia, and despair. For two years she was so depressed that she could seldom manage to leave her house; she stayed in bed for weeks at a time, doing business by telephone from her bedroom, unable even to bathe or brush her teeth. Her children would tiptoe past her door to avoid her outbursts of rage. Finally, she checked in to a halfway house for women with eating disorders, the only facility that her insurance company would pay for. The other residents were so frightened of her that she was placed alone in an attic room.
One morning, a week or so later, as she lay on the floor (she had been feeling too unworthy to sleep in a bed), Katie woke up without any concepts of who or what she was. "There was no me," she says.
All my rage, all the thoughts that had been troubling me, my whole world, the whole world, was gone. At the same time, laughter welled up from the depths and just poured out. Everything was unrecognizable. It was as if something else had woken up. It opened its eyes. It was looking through Katie's eyes. And it was so delighted! It was intoxicated with joy. There was nothing separate, nothing unacceptable to it; everything was its very own self.
When Katie returned home, her family and friends felt that she was a different person. Her daughter, Roxann, who was sixteen at the time, says,
We knew that the constant storm was over. She had always yelled at me and my brothers and criticized us; I used to be scared to be in the same room with her. Now she seemed completely peaceful. She would sit still for hours on the window seat or out in the desert. She was joyful and innocent, like a child, and she seemed to be filled with love. People in trouble started knocking on our door, asking her for help. She'd sit with them and ask them questions -- mainly, "Is that true?" When I'd come home miserable, with a problem like "My boyfriend doesn't love me anymore," Mom would look at me as if she knew that wasn't possible, and she'd ask me, "Honey, how could that be true?" as if I had just told her that we were living in China.
Once people understood that the old Katie wasn't coming back, they began to speculate about what had happened to her. Had some miracle occurred? She wasn't much help to them: It was a long time before she could describe her experience intelligibly. She would talk about a freedom that had woken up inside her. She also said that, through an inner questioning, she had realized that all her old thoughts were untrue.
Shortly after Katie got back from the halfway house, her home began to fill with people who had heard about her and had come to learn. She was able to communicate her inner inquiry in the form of specific questions that anyone who wanted freedom could apply on his own, without her. Soon she began to be invited to meet with small gatherings in people's living rooms. Her hosts often asked her if she was "enlightened." She would answer, "I'm just someone who knows the difference between what hurts and what doesn't."
In 1992 she was invited to northern California, and The Work spread very fast from there. Katie accepted every invitation. She has been on the road almost constantly since 1993, demonstrating The Work in church basements, community centers, and hotel meeting rooms, in front of small and large audiences (admission is always free). And The Work has found its way into all kinds of organizations, from corporations, law firms, and therapists' offices to hospitals, prisons, churches, and schools. It is now popular in other parts of the world where Katie has traveled. All across America and Europe, there are groups of people who meet regularly to do The Work.
Katie often says that the only way to understand The Work is to experience it. But it's worth noting that inquiry fits precisely with current research into the biology of mind. Contemporary neuroscience identifies a particular part of the brain, sometimes called "the interpreter," as the source of the familiar internal narrative that gives us our sense of self. Two prominent neuroscientists have recently characterized the quirky, undependable quality of the tale told by the interpreter. Antonio Damasio describes it this way: "Perhaps the most important revelation is precisely this: that the left cerebral hemisphere of humans is prone to fabricating verbal narratives that do not necessarily accord with the truth." And Michael Gazzaniga writes: "The left brain weaves its story in order to convince itself and you that it is in full control. . . . What is so adaptive about having what amounts to a spin doctor in the left brain? The interpreter is really trying to keep our personal story together. To do that, we have to learn to lie to ourselves." These insights, based on solid experimental work, show that we tend to believe our own press releases. Often when we think we're being rational, we're being spun by our own thinking. That trait explains how we get ourselves into the painful positions that Katie recognized in her own suffering. The self-questioning she discovered uses a different, less-known capacity of the mind to find a way out of its self-made trap.
After doing The Work, many people report an immediate sense of release and freedom from thoughts that were making them miserable. But if The Work depended on a momentary experience, it would be far less useful than it is. The Work is an ongoing and deepening process of self-realization, not a quick fix. "It's more than a technique," Katie says. "It brings to life, from deep within us, an innate aspect of our being."
The deeper you go into The Work, the more powerful you realize it is.
People who have been practicing inquiry for a while often say, "The Work is no longer something I do. It is doing me." They describe how, without any conscious intention, the mind notices each stressful thought and undoes it before it can cause any suffering. Their internal argument with reality has disappeared, and they find that what remains is love -- love for themselves, for other people, and for whatever life brings. The title of this book describes their experience: Loving what is becomes as easy and natural as breathing.
Considering that, all hatred driven hence,
The [mind] recovers radical innocence
And learns at last that it is self-delighting,
And that its own sweet will is Heaven's will.
-- William Butler Yeats
I have waited until now to introduce the four questions to you, because they don't make much sense out of context. The best way to meet them is to see how they function in an actual example of The Work. You'll also meet what Katie calls the "turnaround," which is a way of looking at reversed versions of a statement that you believe.
The following dialogue with Katie took place before an audience of about two hundred people. Mary, the woman who is sitting opposite Katie on the stage, has filled out a one-page Worksheet that asked her to write down her thoughts about someone who upsets her. The instructions are: "Allow yourself to be as judgmental and petty as you really feel. Don't try to be 'spiritual' or kind." The pettier we can be when writing, the more likely it is that we'll benefit from The Work. You'll see that Mary hasn't held back at all. She is a forceful woman, perhaps forty years old, slim, attractive, and dressed in expensive-looking exercise clothes. At the beginning of the dialogue, her anger and impatience are palpable.
A first experience of The Work, as a reader or onlooker, can be uncomfortable. It helps to remember that all the participants -- Mary, Katie, and the audience -- are on the same side here; all of them are looking for the truth. If Katie ever seems to be mocking or derisive, you'll notice that she's making fun of the thought that is causing Mary's suffering, never of Mary herself.
Toward the middle of the dialogue, when Katie asks, "Do you really want to know the truth?" she doesn't mean her truth, or any abstract, predetermined truth, but Mary's truth, the truth that is hidden behind her troubling thoughts. Mary has entered the dialogue in the first place because she trusts that Katie can help her discover where she is lying to herself. She welcomes Katie's persistence.
You'll also notice right away that Katie is very free in her use of terms of endearment. One CEO, before a workshop that Katie gave to his top executives, felt that he had to issue a warning: "If she holds your hand and calls you 'sweetheart' or 'honey,' please don't get excited. She does this with everyone."
Mary [reading the statements from her Worksheet]: I hate my husband because he drives me crazy -- everything about him, including the way he breathes. What disappoints me is that I don't love him anymore, and our relationship is a charade. I want him to be more successful, to not want to have sex with me, to get in shape, to get a life outside of me and the children, to not touch me anymore, and to be powerful. My husband shouldn't fool himself that he's good at our business. He should create more success. My husband is a wimp. He's needy and lazy. He's fooling himself. I refuse to keep living a lie. I refuse to keep living my relationship as an imposter.
Katie: Does that pretty well sum it up? [The audience bursts into laughter, and Mary laughs along with them.] By the sound of the laughter, it seems as though you speak for a lot of people in this room. So, let's start at the top and see if we can begin to understand what's going on.
Mary: I hate my husband because he drives me crazy -- everything about him, including the way he breathes.
Katie: "Your husband drives you crazy" -- is it true? [This is the first of the four questions: Is it true?]
Katie: Okay. What's an example of that, sweetheart? He breathes?
Mary: He breathes. When we're doing conference calls for our business, I can hear his breath on the other end of the telephone, and I want to scream.
Katie: So, "His breath drives you crazy" -- is that true?
Katie: Can you absolutely know that that's true? [The second question: Can you absolutely know that it's true?]
Katie: We can all relate to that. I hear that it really is true for you. In my experience, it can't be your husband's breath that's driving you crazy; it has to be your thoughts about his breath that are driving you crazy. So let's take a closer look and see if that's true. What are your thoughts about his breath on the phone?
Mary: That he should be more aware that he's breathing loudly during a conference call.
Katie: How do you react when you think that thought? [The third question: How do you react when you think that thought?]
Mary: I feel like I want to kill him.
Katie: So what's more painful -- the thought you attach to about his breathing or his breathing?
Mary: The breathing is more painful. I'm comfortable with the thought that I want to kill him. [Mary laughs, and so does the audience.]
Katie: You can keep that thought. That's the beautiful thing about The Work. You can keep all your thoughts.
Mary: I've never done The Work before, so I don't know any of the "right" answers.
Katie: Your answers are perfect, sweetheart. Don't rehearse. So he's breathing on the phone and you have the thought that he should be more aware, and he's not. What's the next thought?
Mary: It brings up every terrible thought I have about him.
Katie: Okay, and he's still breathing. "He should stop breathing into the phone on the conference call" -- what's the reality of it? Does he?
Mary: No. I've told him to stop.
Katie: And he still does it. That's reality. What's true is always what's happening, not the story about what should be happening. "He should stop breathing on the phone" -- is it true?
Mary [after a pause]: No. It's not true. He's doing it. That's what's true. That's reality.
Katie: So how do you react when you think the thought that he should stop breathing on the phone, and he doesn't?
Mary: How do I react? I want out. It feels uncomfortable because I know I want out and I know I'm not going anywhere.
Katie: Let's move back to inquiry, honey, rather than moving further into your story, your interpretation of what's happening. Do you really want to know the truth?
Katie: Okay. It helps if we stick to one written statement at a time. Can you see a reason to drop the thought that he should stop breathing on the phone? [This is an additional question that Katie sometimes asks.] For those of you new to The Work, if you hear that I'm asking Mary to drop her story, let me make it very clear: I'm not. This is not about getting rid of thoughts or about overcoming, improving, or surrendering them. None of that. This is about realizing for yourself internal cause and effect. The question is simply "Can you see a reason to drop this thought?"
Mary: Yes, I can. It would be a lot more enjoyable to do conference calls without this thought.
Katie: That's a good reason. Can you find a stress-free reason to keep this thought, this lie, that he should stop breathing on the phone? [A second additional question]
Katie: Who would you be without that thought? [The fourth question: Who would you be without the thought?] Who would you be, while you're on a conference call with your husband, if you didn't have the ability to think that thought?
Mary: I'd be much happier. I'd be more powerful. I wouldn't be distracted.
Katie: Yes, sweetheart. That's it. It's not his breathing that is causing your problem. It's your thoughts about his breathing, because you haven't investigated them to see that they oppose reality in the moment. Let's look at your next statement.
Mary: I don't love him anymore.
Katie: Is that true?
Katie: Okay. Good. I hear that, and do you really want to know the truth?
Katie: Okay. Be still. There's no right or wrong answer. "You don't love him" -- is that true? [Mary is silent.] If you had to answer honestly either yes or no, right now, and you had to live forever with your answer -- your truth or your lie -- what would your answer be? "You don't love him" -- is that true? [There is a long pause. Then Mary begins to cry.]
Mary: No. It's not true.
Katie: That's a very courageous answer. If we answer it that way, with what's really true for ourselves, we think that there may be no way out. "Is it true?" is just a question! We're terrified to answer the simplest question honestly, because we project what that may mean in the imagined future. We think we have to do something about it. How do you react when you believe the thought that you don't love him?
Mary: It makes my whole life a stupid charade.
Katie: Can you see a reason to drop this thought that you don't love him? And I'm not asking you to drop the thought.
Mary: Yes, I can see a reason to drop it.
Katie: Can you think of one stress-free reason to keep the thought?
Mary [after a long pause]: I think if I keep my story, then I can keep him from wanting to have sex all the time.
Katie: Is that a stress-free reason? It seems stressful to me.
Mary: I guess it is.
Katie: Can you find one stress-free reason to keep that thought?
Mary: Oh, I see. No. There aren't any stress-free reasons to keep the story.
Katie: Fascinating. Who would you be, standing with your husband, without the thought that you don't love him?
Mary: It would be great. It would be fabulous. That's what I want.
Katie: I'm hearing that with the thought, it's stressful. And without the thought, it's fabulous. So what does your husband have to do with your unhappiness? We're just noticing here. So, "I don't love my husband" -- turn it around. [After the four questions comes the turnaround.]
Mary: I do love my husband.
Katie: Feel it. It has nothing to do with him, does it?
Mary: No. It really doesn't. I do love my husband, and you're right, it doesn't have anything to do with him.
Katie: And sometimes you think you hate him, and that doesn't have anything to do with him, either. The man's just breathing. You tell the story that you love him, or you tell the story that you hate him. It doesn't take two people to have a happy marriage. It only takes one: you! There's another turnaround.
Mary: I don't love myself. I can relate to that one.
Katie: And you may think that if you divorce him, then you'll feel good. But if you haven't investigated your thinking, you'll attach these same concepts onto whoever comes into your life next. We don't attach to people or to things; we attach to uninvestigated concepts that we believe to be true in the moment. Let's look at the next statement on your Worksheet.
Mary: I want my husband not to be needy, not to be dependent on me, to be more successful, to not want to have sex with me, to get in shape, to get a life outside of me and the children, and to be more powerful. Those are just a few.
Katie: Let's turn that whole statement around.
Mary: I want me not to be needy. I want me not to be dependent on him. I want me to be more successful. I want me to want to have sex with him. I want me to get in shape. I want me to get a life outside of him and the children. I want me to be more powerful.
Katie: So, "He shouldn't be needy" -- is it true? What's the reality of it? Is he?
Mary: He's needy.
Katie: "He shouldn't be needy" is a lie, because the guy is needy, according to you. So, how do you react when you think the thought "He shouldn't be needy," and in your reality he is needy?
Mary: I just want to run away all the time.
Katie: Who would you be in his presence without the thought "He shouldn't be needy"?
Mary: What I just understood is that I could be with him in a space of love, instead of just having my defenses up. It's like if I notice any bit of neediness, I'm out of there. I've got to run. That's what I do with my life.
Katie: When he's acting needy, in your opinion, you don't say no honestly. You run away or want to run away instead of being honest with yourself and him.
Mary: That's true.
Katie: Well, it would have to be. You have to call him needy until you can get some clarity and honest communication going with yourself. So let's be clear. You be him and be very needy. I'll take the role of clarity.
Mary: Mr. Needy comes in and says, "I just had the best phone call. You've got to hear about it. It was this guy, and he's going to be fabulous in the business. And I had another call. . . ." You know, he just goes on and on. Meanwhile, I'm busy. I've got a deadline.
Katie: "Sweetheart, I hear that you had a wonderful phone call. I love that, and I would also like you to leave the room now. I have a deadline to meet."
Mary: "We have to talk about our plans. When are we going to Hawaii? We have to figure out what airlines . . ."
Katie: "I hear that you want to talk about our plans for Hawaii, so let's discuss this at dinner tonight. I really want you to leave the room now. I have a deadline to meet."
Mary: "If one of your girlfriends called, you would talk to her for an hour. Now you can't listen to me for two minutes?"
Katie: "You could be right, and I want you to leave the room now. It may sound cold, but it's not. I just have a deadline to meet."
Mary: I don't do it like that. Usually I'm mean to him. I just seethe.
Katie: You have to be mean, because you're afraid to tell the truth and say no. You don't say, "Sweetheart, I would like you to leave. I have a deadline," because you want something from him. What scam are you running on yourself and on him? What do you want from him?
Mary: I am never straightforward with anybody.
Katie: Because you want something from us. What is it?
Mary: I can't stand when somebody doesn't like me. I don't want disharmony.
Katie: So you want our approval.
Mary: Yes, and I want to maintain harmony.
Katie: Sweetheart, "If your husband approves of what you say and what you do, then there is harmony in your home" -- is that true? Does it work? Is there harmony in your home?
Katie: You trade your integrity for harmony in the home. It doesn't work. Spare yourself from seeking love, approval, or appreciation -- from anyone. And watch what happens in reality, just for fun. Read your statement again.
Mary: I want my husband not to be needy.
Katie: All right. Turn it around.
Mary: I want me not to be needy.
Katie: Yes, you need all this harmony. You need his approval. You need his breathing to change. You need his sexuality to change for you. Who's the needy one? Who is dependent on whom? So let's turn the whole list around.
Mary: I want myself not to be needy, not to be dependent . . .
Katie: On your husband, perhaps?
Mary: I want myself to be more successful. I want myself to not want to have sex with me.
Katie: That one could be really legitimate if you sit with it. How many times do you tell the story of how he has sex with you and you hate it?
Katie: Yes. You're having sex with him in your mind and thinking how terrible that is. You tell the story, over and over, of what it's like having sex with your husband. That story is what's repelling you, not your husband. Sex without a story has never repelled anyone. It just is what it is. You're having sex or you're not. It's our thoughts about sex that repel us. Write that one out too, honey. You could write a whole Worksheet on your husband and sexuality.
Mary: I get it.
Katie: Okay, turn the next statement around.
Mary: I want me to get in shape. But I am in shape.
Katie: Oh, really? How about mentally?
Mary: Oh. I could work on that.
Katie: Are you doing the best you can?
Katie: Well, maybe he is, too. "He's supposed to be in shape" -- is that true?
Mary: No. He's not in shape.
Katie: How do you react when you believe the thought that he should be in shape, and he's not? How do you treat him? What do you say? What do you do?
Mary: Everything is subtle. I show him my muscles. I don't ever look at him with approval. I don't ever admire him. I don't ever do anything kind in that direction.
Katie: Okay, close your eyes. Look at yourself looking at him that way. Now look at his face. [There is a pause. Mary sighs.] Keep your eyes closed. Look at him again. Who would you be, standing there with him, without the thought that he should be in shape?
Mary: I would look at him and see how handsome he is.
Katie: Yes, angel. And you'd see how much you love him. Isn't that fascinating? This is very exciting. So let's just be there a moment. Look at how you treat him, and he still wants to go to Hawaii with you. That's amazing!
Mary: What's amazing about this guy is that I am so horrible and mean, and he loves me without conditions. It drives me nuts.
Katie: "He drives you nuts" -- is that true?
Mary: No. So far, it's been my thinking that drives me nuts.
Katie: So let's go back. "He should get in shape" -- turn it around.
Mary: I should get in shape. I should get my thinking in shape.
Katie: Yes. Every time you look at him and are repulsed, get your thinking in shape. Judge your husband, write it down, ask four questions, and turn it around. But only if you are tired of the pain. Okay, honey, I think you've got it. Just continue through the rest of the statements on your Worksheet in the same manner. I love sitting with you. And welcome to inquiry. Welcome to The Work.
Excerpted from Loving What Is byByron Katie with Stephen Mitchell Copyright © 2002 by Byron Katie and Stephen Mitchell. Excerpted by permission of Harmony, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
Book Excerpt, Self Improvement
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2 The district court held an evidentiary hearing, lasting three days, and found the following facts.
3 Petitioner was a member of a task force from various federal and state agencies which secured a federal search warrant authorizing a search of a ranch near Garberville, California, the alleged location of an illegal drug manufacturing operation. The task force also obtained a federal arrest warrant for Dirk Dickenson, one of the record owners of the property. A United States Army helicopter transported the task force to the raid site on April 4, 1972. It landed in front of the cabin raising a considerable amount of dust and debris and creating a lot of noise. During the commotion as the raiders debarked one agent (Agent Filben) outran his feet and fell to the ground. Clifton, thinking that Filben had been shot, rushed the cabin and kicked in the door. He did not knock, identify himself, nor announce his authority and purpose before making his forceful entry.
4 As Clifton entered the front door, Dickenson jumped over a bannister into the backyard and began running towards a nearby wooded area. Clifton leveled his pistol at the running figure, called "Halt," waited a few seconds, called "Halt" again, waited a second or two and then fired. The bullet entered Dickenson's back and he died en route to the hospital. Dickenson was unarmed and offered no physical resistance other than flight.
5 Clifton was indicted in the state court for second degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. He subsequently petitioned the federal district court for a writ of habeas corpus and release from state custody.
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Storytelling for Social Change in the South: Social Media Trainings at SPIN & @SEIRN
I just got back from two and half weeks in Georgia and North Carolina where I was part of two great gatherings: the first-ever SPIN Academy in the South and the Southeast Immigrant Rights Conference in Raleigh, NC.
You can check out my Prezis from the conferences here:
- Digital Dinner Party: Using Social Media to Talk about Immigrant Rights in the South
- Audio Storytelling
Above is a video that was recorded by participants in my social media session at SPIN. For four days up on a hilltop in the Amicalola Falls Lodge, we discussed building communications skills and movement strategy development. Not only was the location inspiring and renewing, the activists themselves brought great energy. I grew up in North Carolina so it meant a lot to me to meet amazing activists who are working at the forefront of the struggle for true immigrant rights.
My presentation on audio storytelling got a great reception. And the social media workshop was an excellent opportunity to demonstrate what I’ve been discovering about social media and activism: integration is key! So we integrated content creation into the workshop: participants interviewed each other.
Two weeks later, I presented at the Southeast Immigrant Rights Conference in Raleigh, NC. I was even more inspired by the 150 participants at this conference (NC really represented!). Below is a quick audio file that participants in my workshop made with Opportunity Agenda talking points on immigration reform. (Stay tuned for more samples of audio & video storytelling…)
At both conferences, I lost count on the number of times the word “story” was used or demonstrated. Storytelling is now an integral part of organizing for social justice movements across the country (a la Marshall Ganz’s Public Narrative). If storytelling can be integrated into community organizing, how can we also make media creation part of this work and document our stories? Nonprofits and community groups love flip chart paper: we generate sheets filled with magic marker notes. Why can’t we do the same with digital media?
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It’s early afternoon on the Friday before Labor Day. But Juneau, Alaska, is not the place for that last long weekend of warm-weather fun. The city sits in a temperate rainforest. And this has been about the rainiest summer the locals can recall.
Ask anybody: Andy, a bartender at the Timberline Bar and Grill atop Mount Roberts overlooking the city; Steve, the captain of the Adventure Bound Alaska ships that run the popular cruise to Sawyer Glacier; or Jaye, who manages one of the local bed & breakfasts. They’ll all say the same thing: “This has been one rainy summer.”
Heading north from my B&B on the western edge of Juneau’s historical downtown, the rain comes down in sheets and across in gusts of wind. I initially miss the offices of Earthjustice, which are located in a converted two-story house on a quiet street just a few blocks off Main.
Inside it’s warm and cozy. Six lawyers and three support staff work here full time, and law school clerks pop in seasonally. They are at capacity. One of the younger attorneys, Kate Glover, works at a desk in the type of basement corner where parents tend to store unused toys.
That’s what happens when law firms are busy, and Earthjustice is most certainly busy. The organization’s slogan — “Because the earth needs a good lawyer” — might as well be “Because the earth needs lots of good lawyers.” Based in Oakland, Calif., Earthjustice also has offices in Bozeman, Mont.; Denver; Honolulu; Seattle; Tallahassee, Fla.; and Washington, D.C.
Regular clients include national powers like Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society and Natural Resources Defense Council, as well as local conservation groups, native tribes and citizens.
The conflict between the environment and business interests is historical, timeless and inevitable, in Alaska and elsewhere. But the battle has escalated here because of the Bush administration’s efforts to open more and more of Alaska to development, particularly for the timber and oil industries — controversies that are raging not only in the courts, but also in Congress and in opinion pages across the country.
This is the frontline of the environmental war.
“We have certainly been a little busier since Bush came into office,” says Tom Waldo, one of the senior attorneys at the Juneau office.
Waldo is talking to me about some of the summer’s biggest cases before I go on an afternoon hike with the office leader, managing attorney Eric Jorgensen, who came to the Juneau branch in 1988 and has run its affairs since 1990. Managing Earthjustice’s docket does not allow for many free days; Jorgensen and I spent much time over the phone and e-mail figuring out when he could devote part of an afternoon or evening to the outdoors.
Waldo and I are sitting in a conference room lined with an unlit fireplace and bookcases of law books, untouched for years in the age of Internet research. Outside the window you can see the street corner where Robert Stroud, famously known as the Birdman of Alcatraz, killed a bartender for failing to pay a prostitute for whom Stroud pimped. The crime sent him to the island prison.
Seeing the lands and waters he loves under assault is a bit depressing, Waldo says. In our brief conversation, however, he conveys a simple truth: For an environmental lawyer, this is about as close as you can get to a dream job. It’s a living that blends professional and personal pleasures while skirting the notion that you have to live in the big city to do the most interesting cases. Juneau has a population of 30,000.
“I like being able to live in a small city like this and at the same time also be able to do important, cutting-edge legal work,” Waldo says. “A lot of times, that’s a pretty hard combination to find.”
And, he adds, there’s always a ready solution for dealing with the stress, one you can’t easily find in the urban metropolis: “Sometimes you just have to forget about the work, forget about the issues and the controversies and just go out there and enjoy the wilderness and the wildlife.”
That’s exactly what Jorgensen and I have in mind. Tall and thin with a quiet and friendly voice, Jorgensen comes across as unusually mellow and relaxed for a litigator with a slew of big cases hanging over his head. Or maybe he’s just exhausted.
Our earlier exchanges had raised the possibility of a long hike or even a kayaking trip. But yesterday’s settlement negotiations with U.S. government lawyers stretched until 1:30 a.m. in the nearby federal building.
“Maybe we’ll go on a shorter hike,” he suggests as we get ready to leave.
Earthjustice, on behalf of several clients including Natural Resources Defense Council and Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, is suing the U.S. Forest Service over revisions to its management plan for the Tongass National Forest that would allow logging in previously roadless areas.
With 17 million acres the Tongass takes up a good chunk of Southeast Alaska, where Juneau is located, and holds the largest temperate rainforest in the world. It’s also the biggest national forest in the United States.
Earthjustice claims in the 2003 suit that the plan is invalid because the Forest Service erroneously doubled the estimated demand for Tongass timber, which would be logged by private companies. The Forest Service admitted its mistake but said that the error did not affect how much of the Tongass should be open for logging.
Though a lower court sided with the government, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in an August 2005 opinion written by Judge Ronald Gould agreed with Earthjustice that the Forest Service’s miscalculation over timber demands “fatally infected its balance of economic and environmental considerations.”
The panel sent the matter back to the district court in Anchorage, where it is pending before U.S. District Judge James Singleton. Earthjustice and Justice Department civil lawyers are trying to settle the case while the Forest Service comes up with a new plan for timber sales. By early this morning, the parties could not reach an agreement.
There was little time for sleep. Today Jorgensen has to finish written arguments for two clients, the Alaska Marine Conservation Council and Oceana, who are intervening on the side of the federal government in a lawsuit filed by the Legacy Fishing Company and the Fishing Company of Alaska. The companies are challenging “bycatch” regulations implemented by the National Marine Fisheries Service to limit the amount of fish unintentionally caught and discarded in fishing operations — regulations favored by the environmental groups.
Before the end of the week, Jorgensen has to finish written arguments for the summary-judgment phase of the dispute, which is taking place in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
With the brief on its way, he’s happy to spend the rest of the afternoon outside, even with his fatigue pouring down alongside the rain. After all, Jorgensen spends most of his life protecting the environment, but he
doesn’t always get to enjoy it.
“I guess that’s the irony of my time here,” he says with a smile.
Juneau is only accessible by plane or boat. It rests on the Gastineau Channel, where the giant cruise ships pull in each summer day. Tourists shop in the downtown area and eat at the seafood restaurants on the water; salmon and halibut are big here. Some will enjoy a pint at the Red Dog Saloon, a historical drinking hole with swinging doors and sawdust on the floor. Most tourists who spend the day will take a tour bus up to Mendenhall Glacier, which is just 13 miles from downtown.
That’s where Jorgensen is taking us in his red Ford pick-up truck. We head north from downtown, with the channel on our left. Across the water is Douglas Island. Jorgensen proposed a hike there. He loves hiking under the immense, old-growth trees that shield you from the rain, with abundant opportunities to see both land and marine wildlife. But sensing my interest in seeing a glacier for the first time, he opts for the hike by Mendenhall.
The tall trees of the Tongass and the coastal mountains dominate the region’s topography. Protecting the rainforest and its wildlife from logging and mining has been a pillar of Earthjustice legal work here since the Juneau office opened in 1978. The Tongass forest and its waters are home to thousands of species of plants, fish, animals and birds, including bears, wolves, eagles, whales and sea lions. The 9th Circuit’s decision last summer invalidating the Forest Service’s plans for managing timber sales was an important victory in the decades-long struggle.
This summer has brought other victories, at least temporary ones, for Earthjustice and its clients. The 9th Circuit issued an injunction on Aug. 24 preventing the Kensington Gold Mine, which operates about 45 miles north of Juneau, from dumping its waste, known as mine tailings, into a nearby 20-acre body of water called the Lower Slate Lake.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit allowing the mine to dump millions of tons of tailings into the lake, but Earthjustice challenged the permit on behalf of Sierra Club and other clients. They allege that the plan, which would kill most of the aquatic life in the lake, violates the Clean Water Act of 1972 and waste-dumping standards established by the Environmental Protection Agency in the early 1980s. Coeur Alaska Inc., which runs the mine and has intervened in the case as a defendant, says in court papers that the disposal process would not leave an “adverse environmental footprint” because fish and aquatic wildlife can be reestablished in the lake.
The 9th Circuit enjoined the dumping while it studies the legality of the plan. Waldo says that losing the case would set a dangerous precedent because it might embolden other mine operators to use lakes or streams for disposal sites.
No Earthjustice issue gets more attention these days than the battle over oil and gas drilling in the Arctic region of the northern part of the state, called the North Slope. Most of the public debate over the past 25 years has focused on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR, in the eastern part of the state. So far ANWR has remained closed to drilling. Last December, the U.S. Senate rejected an oil-development provision that was attached to a massive defense appropriations bill. The vote was a major defeat for the veteran Republican senator from Alaska, Ted Stevens, who has long supported ANWR oil development.
The National Petroleum Reserve—Alaska, or NPRA, is another story. It is unprotected federal land, and the Bush administration has been opening up parts of the 23.5-million acre region of the Western Arctic to oil and gas development. Several parts of the reserve are designated as “special areas” due to sensitive wildlife and subsistence activities of local populations, requiring the government to give greater consideration to the environmental consequences of any proposed oil and gas exploration.
The litigation hotspot of the moment is a 4.5-million acre slice that includes the Teshekpuk Lake region, one of the designated special areas. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management opened the area for an oil-development lease sale scheduled for Sept. 27 of this year. The National Audubon Society, Alaska Wilderness League, Sierra Club and others are suing to block the lease sale, claiming the development will harm wildlife in the region. The Teshekpuk Lake area is particularly important to caribou and migratory birds. (Four weeks after my visit, Judge Singleton sided with the plaintiffs and blocked the federal government from leasing the Teshekpuk Lake area.)
During these last days of the rainy summer, Earthjustice’s reach from the small house in downtown Juneau is evident in all parts of the state. Jorgensen summed it up as we drove in the rain: “from the Tongass National Forest here in the South, to the Arctic in the far north and off the shore in the North Pacific Ocean, and a number of wildlife and pollution issues in between.”
Before we take the road up to the glacier, Jorgensen makes a quick stop at his house, located in a quiet residential area just a few miles north of downtown. Because of the late night settlement session with federal lawyers and the brief in the “bycatch” case, he didn’t get a chance to prepare for the hike.
The left side of the garage stores a mix of boots, pants and jackets — outdoor gear of the Jorgensen family, which includes his wife, Amy, and their two teenage children. Jorgensen puts on rain pants, waterproof boots and a fleece jacket to go under his raincoat. I borrow a pair of rain pants to go over my jeans but decline the rubber boots, naively believing that waterproofing my shoes (which I did the day before) would keep my feet dry.
Mendenhall Glacier is a striking sight, immediately visible when you arrive at the visitor’s center run by the Forest Service. The face of the glacier, which has a blue tint to it, stretches about a mile and a half wide on the far side of Mendenhall Lake. An employee of the visitor’s center greets us as we walk away from the truck.
She has known Jorgensen for many years, and she talks to me for several minutes about him. She doesn’t want to be quoted because her employer happens to be a regular litigant in Earthjustice cases. Suffice it to say, she’s a fan.
Jorgensen smiles as we leave his friend behind and make our way to the East Glacier Loop Trail.
“I didn’t plan that,” he says with a smile that hints of self-consciousness. Then he begins our hike with a warning: Amy jogs this route and has been seeing her fair share of bears.
Jorgensen, 49, says that he and Amy knew that Juneau was the right place for them when they visited 18 years ago. A 1983 graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, Jorgensen joined Earthjustice in 1984, after a yearlong clerkship with 9th Circuit Judge James Browning in San Francisco. He started out as a lawyer in the organization’s Washington, D.C., office, where he had interned for a few weeks before starting his clerkship. A position opened up in the Juneau branch in 1988 when an attorney here left for another job. (Back then, Earthjustice was called the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund. It changed its name in 1997.) Jorgensen and Amy had just married.
“We came on a day not that different than this,” Jorgensen recalls. “We kayaked for a while, took a walk and talked to some people. We decided that this was the right place. And it has been.”
As we head away from the visitor’s center, it becomes clear that I should have borrowed some boots. Jorgensen walks through flooded parts of the trail where the rainwater goes half-way up his shins. I have to take a few awkward trips around the side of the trail, occasionally falling on my backside or getting a branch in the face. The good part about the weather is the lack of tourists. We are by ourselves. Not long into the hike the trail elevates along the side of Mendenhall Lake, with a clear view of the glacier.
Jorgensen’s tenure at Earthjustice can be measured by the majestic sight. He extends his hand to a point past the end of the glacier, further down the valley. That’s where the receding glacier used to reach back in 1988, he says. By some estimates, the glacier recedes 50 to 100 feet a year.
There has been a lot of litigation since then. The Bush administration has added to the workload, but the reality is that Earthjustice has always been busy — and always will be. Peter Van Tuyn, an environmental lawyer in Anchorage and an occasional co-counsel with Earthjustice, calls Alaska “ground zero for environmental work.” The state simply has more wilderness than any other and an abundance of natural resources.
Conservationists have a strong voice here, but the political establishment tends to be pro-development and fairly conservative. The situation breeds litigation.
So far, Jorgensen has not been beaten down or burnt out by the process. He enjoys being at “the core of the debates” facing Alaska and the rest of the country. Like Waldo, Jorgensen is occasionally depressed by what he sees as constant threats to the environment. But he is always able to recharge himself, in large part because he knows his work has not been in vain.
“We really have made a substantial difference in protecting the wilderness and wildlife,” Jorgensen says as he stares at the jagged blue face of the Mendenhall. “There are a lot of setbacks along the way, but we’ve made a lot of progress in the right direction.”
Members of the business community, of course, don’t associate the word “progress” with Earthjustice litigation.
“Some of their clients have a very anti-development attitude and are not very selective in the kinds of cases they bring,” says Juneau lawyer David Crosby. “If there’s any development at all, they’re ready to sue, and that’s the sort of thing that gets the Chamber of Commerce and the development community very upset.”
With a busy practice in a small city, Crosby occasionally finds himself on the same side as Earthjustice, but more often than not he’s on the opposing side representing business and development interests.
In the Kensington Gold Mine dispute, Crosby represents Goldbelt Inc., a native company with a wide range of economic activities in Southeast Alaska. His client supports the mine’s plans to use the Lower Slate Lake for tailings disposal, which so far have been halted by Earthjustice.
Crosby also is the lawyer for the Arctic Slope Regional Corp., which represents the business interests of the Alaskan Inupiat people. Among other activities, the Arctic Slope Regional Corp. provides support services for oil and gas drilling and is litigating in favor of oil development in the disputed region of the national petroleum reserve that includes Teshekpuk Lake.
Crosby says that many of the jobs in Juneau are low-paying positions related to tourism, and the Kensington Mine is an opportunity for 250 to 300 good, permanent jobs with benefits. The same is true, he adds, for development related to timber sales. Historically, logging and mining are what brought people here for work in Southeast Alaska.
“There is a lot of resentment when groups represented by Earthjustice repeatedly challenge every project that comes up,” Crosby says.
As for proposed oil development in the Arctic, “there’s no love lost” between native business interests and the big environmental groups, says Crosby.
“These environmental groups are urban-based and national in scope,” he explains. “They have their own agenda, and that agenda does not take into account the fact that indigenous people have to earn a living and that they are familiar with the environment and have coexisted in that environment with the oil and gas companies for a number of years.”
Crosby says that his client doesn’t always support oil and gas development but is siding with the Bureau of Land Management in the Teshekpuk Lake case. That’s because most of Alaska is federal land, he says, and indigenous groups have been “willy-nilly dragged into the cash economy.”
“If there’s not some economic activity up there on the North Slope, there’s a question whether the community can be viable at all,” Crosby says. “The viability of the community depends on developing the federal lands that surround it.”
The Alaska state government, which also intervened as a defendant in the case, makes similar arguments about the importance of economic development in the region. So do the business intervenors, ConocoPhillips and Anadarko Petroleum Corp., which want to expand their oil operations in the North Slope. The lead attorney for the companies, Jeffrey Leppo of Stoel Rives in Seattle, did not respond to inquiries about Earthjustice or the litigation. In their consolidated legal brief, the intervenors argue that technological improvements of the past 20 years have reduced the environmental impact of oil and gas development.
“[B]oth the Inupiat and the State of Alaska have worked closely with [the Bureau of Land Management] and industry to ensure that oil and gas activities take place in an environmentally responsible manner that does not compromise traditional uses of the land or natural resources,” the intervenors say.
It doesn’t take a lot of legal research to realize that a remarkably small number of lawyers and judges are deciding some of the nation’s biggest environmental issues. Earthjustice filed a similar suit in 2004 to block the government’s lease sales in an area of the petroleum reserve called the Northwest Planning Area. Last year, Singleton (who also happens to be the judge presiding over the Tongass Forest case) upheld the decision by Bureau officials to lease tracts of that area. The 9th Circuit also said the leasing plan was legal in a July 26 opinion.
Crosby says his comments about excessive litigation are directed at environmental groups — not at Earthjustice itself. He views Jorgensen’s team as a law firm doing its job by representing clients. He likes the lawyers there.
“I have the highest professional regard for all of them,” Crosby says. “And Eric is not only an excellent lawyer, he’s an extremely nice person.”
I also tried to talk to Bruce Landon, a lawyer who has litigated against Jorgensen in many cases involving the federal government. Landon is a veteran civil attorney in the Justice Department’s environmental division in Anchorage. He said that public affairs personnel in the Justice Department’s Washington, D.C., office would not authorize him to comment for the article.
Eleanor Huffines, the regional director for The Wilderness Society in Alaska, a regular Earthjustice client, disputes the claim that the conservation community in the state is quick to litigate. She says that her organization and others favor development that is environmentally responsible.
“It’s not a matter of ‘Don’t do it;’ it’s a matter of where,” she says.
She says this is true both for the Tongass forest and the petroleum reserve. The Wilderness Society is a plaintiff in the Teshekpuk Lake case.
“There needs to be some protected-area strategies to complement oil and gas development,” Huffines says. “That seems reasonable in a 23-million acre area.”
Echoing something Waldo told me earlier, Huffines says that litigation has picked up during the Bush administration because federal agencies don’t really care about what environmental groups have to say. The groups have less influence in agency decisions these days, and so they end up in court more often. Still, she says the Earthjustice lawyers are good at strategic planning, helping her group decide when to go to court and exhausting all other options first.
“They are very committed to Alaska, and I think that’s what makes them such good lawyers,” Huffines says.
Van Tuyn, the Anchorage environmental attorney, says he admires Jorgensen’s commitment — especially over the long haul. Van Tuyn used to run the nonprofit group called Trustees for Alaska, a client of Earthjustice’s. He said he left for private practice, in part, because he knew he would have to pay for the college education for his two kids.
Jorgensen’s still at it after 22 years. Waldo, who also has two children, joined Earthjustice way back in 1988. Deirdre McDonnell, the third most senior attorney and the lead Earthjustice lawyer on the petroleum reserve litigation, joined the group in 2000.
“These are good folks who are doing this work because they believe in it, in the true tradition of being public interest lawyers,” Van Tuyn says. “It’s really a great thing when lawyers of their caliber make that career commitment.”
The experience is invaluable to clients. Jorgensen is as seasoned a negotiator as they come for environmental cases, says Van Tuyn.
“He’s not going to take a bad deal,” he says, and adds: “Eric is incredibly smart, a very strategic thinker and very deliberate. And he’s obviously been successful. I can’t think of a better lawyer in Alaska, much less for environmental issues.”
Jorgensen does not have any plans to switch jobs.
“This is the perfect job,” he says, as we continue our push into the forest, away from the glacier. “This is why I went to law school.”
We are hiking where the glacier used to be, Jorgensen explains, which is why the trees are young, relatively short and spaced apart. Vegetation grows slowly on the once-barren land uncovered by the receding glacier; Jorgensen points to some growing blueberries.
The climate has changed an hour into the hike. The air, windy and rainy by the lake, is now calmer, dense and muggy. A steep climb causes some serious perspiration. Despite the earlier flooding, the trail is well maintained and easy to navigate.
Earlier in life, Jorgensen says, he was on his way to becoming a scientist. He got his undergraduate degree in biology at Harvard University, then taught middle school science for a few years. He studied biology to satisfy his curiosity of the natural world, which he came to love as a kid through outdoor trips in Wyoming and Minnesota. He was born in Northfield, Minn., a town of 17,000 people about 45 miles south of Minneapolis.
Jorgensen credits his love of nature to the Boy Scouts and his troop leader, who was a college ecology professor. Jorgensen recalls fondly the canoe trips he took in the Boundary Waters bordering Canada. (So does Waldo, another native Minnesotan.)
He says that the “mechanics of law,” the procedural aspects of the profession, held no intrinsic interest for him and still don’t. He went to law school interested in results — to use the degree to protect the environment. The scientist in him still thrives. Part of the reason he has the perfect job is the results-oriented satisfaction of protecting the lands, sea and wildlife. The other part is learning the science behind the cases, talking with the experts who know more than he does.
As we descend to a low point where a wooden bridge crosses a quickly moving stream, Jorgensen talks excitedly about discovering a magazine called “Science News,” which sums up interesting developments in all fields of science.
Private lawyers, especially at big-city law firms, earn huge salaries. The day before our hike, the legal trade papers were reporting that some firms were raising salaries of first-year associates to $145,000, not including bonus. When I mention this to Jorgensen, he laughs. At Earthjustice, which is funded by contributions from individuals and foundations, the rewards are different.
“Once in a while someone will say to me, ‘When I die, I’m going to pass my money on to you guys,’” Jorgensen says. “That’s worth a few paychecks.”
So is knowing that the landscape would look far different if you hadn’t been doing your job. Some cases more than a decade old involve disputed Tongass areas where trees once slated for harvesting remain standing.
Native business interests may resent some of the Earthjustice litigation. But an important part of what the organization does, Jorgensen explains, is represent native tribes and citizens who rely on the environment and wildlife for subsistence. Earlier this year, for example, Earthjustice intervened as a defendant on the side of the federal government in a lawsuit filed by ConocoPhillips.
The company is challenging certain conditions that the National Marine Fisheries Service is putting on seismic exploration in the Arctic waters. Earthjustice is representing the Native Village of Point Hope, a tribe of about 900 members on the coast of the Chukchi Sea. The tribe subsists on hunting and fishing, and its members are particularly concerned about the effect the tests will have on the bowhead whale population. Earthjustice also occasionally represents business owners whose operations are threatened by development.
For Jorgensen, working with tribal entities is one of the most fascinating aspects of his practice.
“Your focus is really on preserving their culture,” he says.
We finish our 2-hour hike with a treat: a stop at Steep Creek, by the visitor’s center. A deck overlooks the water, where sockeye salmon come back from the ocean to spawn. The water’s a little murky from all the rain storms, but you can still see the bright red fish swimming against the stream.
As we drive back downtown, the rain again is coming down in sheets. Jorgensen talks about his 16-year-old daughter, who plays soccer in high school. For a single game, her team had to take a ferry to Sitka, an island that’s a 12-hour ferry ride away. The team slept in a church before playing the next day.
“It’s an adventure just to play high school sports here,” he says.
We say our goodbyes outside my B&B. My jeans are drier than my shoes, and I thank him for the rain pants.
The summer ends well for Earthjustice and its clients. In a 30-page decision that received national attention, Judge Singleton, on Sept. 25, blocked the government’s attempts to lease for oil and gas exploration a part of the petroleum reserve that includes Teshekpuk Lake. Singleton said that the officials “abused their discretion” by failing to “adequately address the cumulative effects of the development.” The next week, the federal government received $13.8 million in bids from Anadarko, ConocoPhillips, FEX LP and Petro-Canada to lease tracts outside of the Teshekpuk Lake area.
A big national victory came in San Francisco federal court. On Sept. 20, U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte reinstated the so-called Roadless Rule adopted by the Forest Service late in the Clinton administration. The rule blocked road construction and harvesting in roadless forest areas. Four states, including California, and many environmental groups represented by Earthjustice sued the Bush administration last summer for repealing the rule.
Waldo worked on the case with Earthjustice lawyers from Oakland, Seattle and Bozeman. The ruling does not apply to the Tongass, which the Bush Administration exempted from the roadless rule in 2003. Still, environmental groups hope a victory in this case will lead to a repeal of that exemption. In any event, the government and intervenors are expected to appeal Laporte’s decision.
Good news is seldom final news for environmentalists. This hit me the day before I left Alaska, on a small boat cruise through the Tracy Arm Fjord to see Sawyer Glacier and South Sawyer Glacier. The cruise is a daylong trip through an amazing stretch of wilderness. The ship passes whales in the water and bears on the shore’s forests until reaching a final stretch of icebergs, where seals watch the passengers stare at the glaciers. Everybody was impressed, yet several on the ship talked as glowingly about other outdoor adventures.
You could spend weeks in Southeast Alaska and not get to do everything you should, nevermind other parts of the state. One shipmate told me about something I had to do: Stay at a National Park Service cabin located near Kenai Fjords National Park. Like many visitors, I vowed to return, making my next trip more rustic and closer to nature.
I was reminded of something Jorgensen told me during our hike in Mendenhall. One of the difficult parts of his practice is that each loss tends to be permanent, because you can’t undo development and make the environment exactly like it was. When Earthjustice wins, the win is just temporary — the land or sea will again be at the center of some dispute.
And there is so much to fight over. Conservation and commerce will always be at odds here. Fortunately for the environmental community, Jorgensen has the skill and personality to pace himself in the perpetual fight. People like to call Alaska “God’s country,” and it’s hard to argue with that. But take a look at the dockets, and “God’s courthouse” sounds right too.
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Apple accessory maker NewerTechnology recently released a specialized electrical outlet, called the Power2U, that includes two USB ports for charging mobile devices. Available in four colors—to match any décor—and coming in at just under $30, it seems like a handy upgrade for the home.
We installed one ourselves to see just how easy it is as a DIY project and to get a feel for the convenience it offers. We came away learning more about installing electrical equipment in a home than we expected, but once installation was complete, the results spoke for themselves.
First things first: if you are in any way uncomfortable with or unsure of proper safety procedures for installing an electrical outlet, hire a licensed electrician to do the work for you. The procedure shouldn't involve anything more than wire strippers and a screwdriver for most installs, but there's no need to risk life and limb if you're not comfortable tinkering.
Secondly, never work on live home electrical circuits. Figure out which breaker or fuse is connected to the outlet you plan to replace, and turn it off before turning the first screw.
Finally, make sure the gang box inside the wall can accommodate the Power2U before installing. Our first attempt at installation ended up not working, which prompted a call to a local electrician. He noted that the common, inexpensive 3x2" "gem box" used in many homes and remodels is just large enough to accommodate the cheapest, smallest outlets. The Power2U, with its USB charging and safety circuitry, simply will not fit.
Replacing the gang box and wiring with appropriate materials would run a minimum of $100 for typical work, according to our electrician, Thomas Sklena. And it would leave a big hole in the drywall that would need to be patched and painted. We're betting that the extra work and expense might not worth it for a lot of home owners, and you should also be sure your significant other is OK with the drywall being torn up for a day or two—it can make quite a mess.
So you want some Power2U?
NewerTech's Power2U outlet is a self-contained replacement electrical outlet that is suitable for home or commercial use. The USB charging ports can output a maximum 5V at 2000mA, enough to charge an iPad. Note that charging an iPad and another device at the same time will have to share the 10W total USB output, so charging two iPads at the same time is definitely going to take longer than usual.
One nice benefit of the Power2U is the addition of shutter doors over the USB ports. Not only do these shutters keep the ports clean and free of debris, they also shut off the USB circuits when not in use. While many chargers only draw a tiny amount of power when no device is plugged in, it's still a non-zero amount that can add up over time. And with the number of mobile devices people have these days, the "vampire" power draw can multiply quickly. (In our house, for instance, we have three iPhones, two iPads, and an iPod.)
Assuming you have a fairly new home or a recent remodel with full-size gang boxes, $30 in your pocket (you can save a few dollars buying from Amazon), and under an hour of free time, you can quickly install a Power2U in the kitchen, in an office, by the nightstand, or any other convenient place where you regularly charge your mobile devices.
Get 'er done
We'll go step by step through the install procedure, which is pretty straightforward, illustrating along the way with photos. NewerTech also has a step-by-step video on its website if you'd like to see it happen in real-time.
Start by switching off the breaker (or pulling the fuse) for the circuit on which your current outlet is located. We repeat: DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP.
With the power off, unscrew the wall plate off the outlet.
Then unscrew the outlet from the gang box.
You should see three wires. A typically black covered wire is the "hot" wire—where 120V, 15A AC power is delivered from your breaker box. The white covered wire is neutral. Finally, a green covered or bare wire is ground. If there is no ground wire, you may have a self-grounded electrical circuit, in which case you can connect ground directly to the gang box (assuming it's metal). If you are unsure about grounding, consult a licensed electrician.
Unscrew the three wires from the existing outlet.
You'll now connect the Power2U to the three wires. The Power2U has three color-coded screws to make this simple: brass for hot, silver for neutral, and green for ground. Depending on the codes in your area, you may be able to simply attach the existing wires to the appropriate screws. In some areas, you may need to attach leads to the device and connect to the existing wires using electrical screw-cap connectors. Either way works fine, though the latter method is considered "proper" technique; it's not necessarily any safer, but it certainly makes future repairs or installs easier and cleaner.
Once the wires are connected, gather any loose wires to the sides and insert the Power2U and wires fully into the gang box. Make sure that the ground wire, if bare, is not touching either of the hot or neutral terminals—this could cause an overload or fire, and none of us want that.
Then screw the Power2U into the gang box.
Screw the wall plate into the Power2U, using the supplied screw caps to complete the finished look.
Once everything is safely inside the gang box and behind the wall plate, it's now safe to turn on the breaker.
Check that outlet is getting power by plugging in a standard device into the plugs as well as a USB device into the USB port. If something is seriously wrong, you'll know right away—the breaker or fuse will trip, you'll smell ozone, or the device won't work. Our install went without a hitch (not counting the two times we almost lost the tiny screw caps) and is still charging devices without fail.
It's Miller—or Mountain Dew—time
The Power2U isn't the only USB outlet out there. FastMac has been offering its U-Socket for about a year. It's built from a standard Leviton outlet, and comes in standard and "decorator" styles in white, almond, and ivory colors. Newer upstart CurrentWerks also offers what appears to be a similar design, though in slightly fewer style and color combinations. (CurrentWerks most original product is a 4-port USB charger that fits into a standard wall outlet box, though we haven't tested it ourselves yet.)
But while both companies' products are claimed to be "tested to UL specifications," only the Power2U is actually UL listed for the complete product. That distinction may not mean much to you personally, though as we noted earlier, it might make a big difference for your local building codes or insurance requirements. FastMac told Ars that the distinction doesn't ultimately matter; its devices are certified to meet National Electric Code standards, and that should suffice. That's not what our other sources told us, so if there is any doubt, consult a licensed electrician or your local building inspector.
We also like the shutters over the USB ports on the Power2U—you'd be surprised what pets and kids can manage to get inside an exposed USB port. And while the white version matched our kitchen install, we like that the Power2U comes in geek-friendly black as well.
With the Power2U installed, you can now charge your iPhone, Android phone, Blackberry, portable speakers, tablet, Kindle, or whatever other device you have that charges via USB, all while reducing vampire power draw. If you did it yourself, you can also pat yourself on the back and enjoy increased geek cred. If you paid an electrician to do the work for you, though, there's no shame in that. Either way, crack open an ice-cold beverage of your choice an enjoy your newfound USB charging capacity.
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When there are hundreds of data points collected for each home and infinite variations of home energy components (and behavioral factors), can we realistically expect the data collection and energy predictions to be accurate?
In addition, quantification is great. But how do home energy ratings make a compelling reason to make home energy improvements when the energy savings is modest and the inherent value proposition of comfort, health and a modern lifestyle are not included in the home summary?
Keep in mind that I am asking about Ratings with software modeling, not Audits that are more subjective but still may use diagnostic tools like a blower door.
lol. Turn off subsidies for oil and gas and I'll be able to sell solar panels without tax credits. Take away subsidy for corn and America's diet gets a whole lot healthier. But then what will our Health Care sector do? Poor big Pharma!!
Every move we make relates to a subsidy.
True performance based incentives are paid later, after the performance is proven.
Show me the proof. Make it easy for me to see.
You may get your wish very soon as the collective political will is turning against government spending. That is why the retrofit industry must find proven metrics in order to survive a "free market". The new construction market has that already.
This is really a crappy BB engine.
Replies are all over the board instead of top to bottom, and since they are not specifically time stamped chronology is nearly impossible to follow.
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For those who hold out hope for real change, this will be well worth your reading, and sharing. We need a New Revitalized Republican Party, and every conservative and libertarian who aspire to run for the Congress and the Senate in 2014 will most likely defeat their counterparts if they include all or most of these positions in their platform. The people want us to run a positive campaign – telling them what we stand for, and what we will do to change the future of America – rather than lambasting our opponents. WE are a people desirous of a limited federal government, but we need a definitive plan: For example, what is our “Plan for reducing the tax burden?” We can advance a plan advocating these first 5 positions:
1. financial responsibility and accountability insuring that all investments made with tax payer funds be examined and decided on the basis of a sound business plan, adequate capital investment of its partners and stock holders, and the expectation of long-term success; and further, that all profits, interest, earnings on property and securities from whatsoever source are proportioned back to the states and the taxpayers;
2. demanding and receiving from all nations to whom we provide security, payment for the expenses incurred by our government and its taxpayers to furnish them with our military personnel, equipment, ordinance, and safe quarters while on their lands; and to further insure the paid medical care of all wounded in action both short term and permanent, coupled with a sustainable monthly allowance to support their families, and paying a delegated amount to the families of all killed in action, or as a result of being stationed on their land;
3. imposing work demands upon all prisoners sentenced to incarceration for more than 90 days, to provide for their detention expenses, daily necessities, and to provide for the welfare of their dependents; actions that will greatly diminish the tax burden on the American people;
4. taxation on the purchase and consumption of goods rather than personal or business incomes, a principle supported by Alexander Hamilton in the 14th Federalist paper;
5. eliminate the Department of Education and restore to the states their proper right to exercise full oversight and controls over the education and curricula of all educational institutions within its jurisdictions;
6. restoration of religious expressions and practice without hindrance;
7. the right to bear arms in every city and state in the union for our self protection without unnecessary restraint and limitation, for the purpose of securing our persons and property from both foreign and domestic terrorism and threats; excepting only the right to disarm those who are, or become, members of known and recognized terrorist groups and gangs;
8. the security as before provided for all generations in the Bill of Rights, and a government transparent to, and accountable to, the people and Congress of the United States.
9. that all laws, regulations, taxes, and restrictions imposed on the citizens must be equally obligatory and enforceable on every member and employee of the federal government and its assigns without exception.
These policy positions are firmly embodied in the duties, obligations, and responsibilities inherent in the laws of fiduciary responsibility and trusteeship which was made incumbent upon the federal government when our forefathers “vested” certain cherished financial trusts, invaluable sovereign and sacred rights, and other “treasures” of great value to the states, they placed under its protections; whose duty it is to protect, defend, and secure these certain and valued rights and trusts committed to them and enumerated in the document we refer to as the Constitution of the United States.
Therefore, I submit to the peace-loving people of this district, and this state that no one entrenched in the foxholes of government domination is going to “give back” the rights they have usurped for their own enrichment. IT BECOMES THEREFORE, ENCUMBENT UPON US, the Common People, TO REPLACE those in the Congress and Senate who have not left their secure foxholes, have not condemned the usurpation of the people’s rights and liberties, have not attempted to restrain the appropriation of additional powers from the states, and have not taken steps to limit the powers of the government, nor have begun to initiate action to restore our sacred rights, even those who have enriched themselves at the expense of the governed.
Of particular mention, we must examine the record of those who profess themselves to be conservative Republicans, and determine if they have STOOD THEIR GROUND in DEFIANCE of these illegal and unconstitutional acts, or caved in to the demands of this administration to further encroach upon and usurp our rights; and if it be determined they have not stood their ground in defense of the sacred trust committed to their keeping, THEY MUST, of NECESSITY, ALSO BE RESPLACED.
I am advocating for the election of individuals committed to supporting and defending the principles and the sacred confidence originally vested by our forefathers in the federal government: individuals who will engage in a strong, determined, yet peaceable means of restoring our government to its proper place of strength in matters foreign and domestic.
Of grave importance, they must immediately begin to create a stable environment aimed at alleviating the fears of the electorate who have begun to question the government’s loyalty to uphold the sacred fiduciary trust delegated to it by the people.
It is reported that our government is preparing the military and police for a national revolt. If this is true, I submit that the fear and apprehension within the hearts of Americans losing hope of a bright and successful future for themselves and their children is well documented by the administration. Otherwise, why the preparation? But should a government wary of revolt prepare to kill its own citizens instead of making the changes necessary to promote the peace and general welfare of its citizens? Is our government going to mimic the insufferable tragedies upon us that King Assad of Syria, is waging against his own people -choosing to kill his own people rather than give way to progressive change? Is this the future we envision for ourselves and our loved ones?
Revolution may be at our doorsteps, but do we welcome it? Do we support an uprising that will devastate our nation and bring death and misery to its citizens; or do we make every attempt to deter violence and put the people at rest? We must breathe the fresh air of a legitimate hope and change policy in an attempt to restore the hope that our government will be restored. That our policies will bring about economic recovery and stability, a definite increase in employment opportunities, lower taxes, and establishing the bond of unity between a people that have been so divided against each other. This is the only way that I know of to avoid the much anticipated bloodshed.
Once again, the weight and burden is upon us, the people, to vote the opportunists out of office and to vote those among us into office who share our core values and virtues, and who desire the blessings of God upon our nation and our children to the third and fourth generations of those who believe in Him.
I have presented a peaceable plan of action that will not advance the violence the government is anticipating. As Congressman Paul Ryan was known to say many times, “WE CAN DO THIS!”
A major portion of this text was taken from a speech I gave before a Republican assembly when I ran for Congress in 1986. It was a message out of time, and will undoubtedly have a far greater influence if I were to give it today. Nevertheless, it is a positive message, and while we may make certain statements to point out the actions of those in government, we must refrain from using names and deliberate personal attacks. This is what we all desire, “Tell me what YOU are going to do to make a difference – We already know what the other isn’t doing, or DID!”
I would be more than honored to see the essence of this message being proclaimed by every candidate running for office in 2014, because I believe this message is timely, impossible to contradict or successfully dispute, and I am convinced if it is included in the platform of the New Revitalized Republican Party, the true Party of the People, it will result in many victories for Conservative Christians, Friends of Israel, and people of virtue of all faiths. If called upon, I would be honored to present this message personally before the citizens of your communities. But, it is far more important, of grave importance, to get this message into the hands of those who would be faithful candidates and elected officials for federal office in 2014. If you believe this is the message for today, then spread the word as quickly and with as much energy as you possess. Let this be our charge, the conviction of our hearts, “We must have the majority in the Senate and in the House!”
Thank you and God bless all your efforts and successes.
Rev. Anthony Mucciolo
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VYSNE HAGYfounded in 1881, 1100 meters above sea level
At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, this community was a site of a hikers training camp. At about the same time, a succession of prominent individuals (including a Prussian count) built hotels, a spa building and other amenities.
The construction of the sanatorium has changed the original character of the settlement. The sanatorium, for treating respiratory conditions, was once the largest in Europe, and today includes a cinema and shops in addition to state of the art therapeutic technology.
The settlement Vysne Hagy is linked to hiking paths, and has good road connection. The closest tourist resort is Strbske Pleso.
Accommodation near Vysne Hagy:
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- Special Sections
BLACKFOOT --Â With recent concerns raised by Stalker Elementary parents after the hiring of a uncertified teacher, officials in the Blackfoot School District spoke out to clarify the process.
Hiring procedures used in the Blackfoot School District aim to have a level playing field for all applicants.
Superintendent Dr. Scott Crane said, “The process tries to be fair and consistent.”
"We try to hire the best qualified candidate who best meets the needs of the district and the school.
"We check into the education of the candidate, how he/she disciplines children and works in the classroom," Crane said. "We check references and the candidate's credentials."
Crane said he was unaware of the circumstances around the teacher hired at Stalker until the parents brought brought it to his attention.
He then investigated.
“For the sake of all the candidates at Stalker, I felt the need to revisit the hiring of the teacher.”
The teacher in question voluntarily stepped down from the position after meeting with Crane and principal Hal Silzly.
When hiring, Silzly said, "I follow the district's hiring procedures as outlined by the district office.
"We're excited to have four first grade teachers for next year," Silzly said. "The classroom size will be more manageable. Class size will be in the low 20s."
If interested in applying for a position in the Blackfoot School District, each applicant fills out an application that can be obtained through the district office and or online, said Administrative Assistant Margaret Contor. After the application is completed, it is submitted to the building principal who is the administrator.
The applications are reviewed by a committee.
“The district suggests the committee be composed of two teachers, an administrator and two parents,” Contor said.
A list of questions is supplied by the district office. Questions are chosen by the committee members. The same questions are asked each applicant.
Committee members then rate the candidates, Contor said. Once the determination has been made, the building principal makes phone calls to check references the individual has given.
Each reference is asked the same questions.
Two or three telephone reference checks are made on the candidate.
If there are no concerns, the principal calls the applicant to offer him/her the position, she said. If the candidate accepts, the candidates name is placed before the school board at the next school board meeting.Â
There are special circumstances when individuals are hired if he or she has not yet completed his/her teaching credential program.
If the individual is working to obtain teaching certification from one area to another, he/she submits a Teacher to New Certification application which includes the candidate's plan of study. Through this process, a person may be completing his/her teaching certification. This must be approved by the State Board of Education.
Another special circumstance is the Alternate Authorization-content specialist approval. This is used by an individual who is getting his/her teaching credential. One way to achieve this is through the American Board Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE) and has been recognized by the State of Idaho for about five years, Contor said.
 ABCTE is used by people who have at least a bachelor’s degree and want to obtain a teaching certificate. The person submits his/her her college course work to the State Department of Education and it is approved by the State Board of Education.
A person without the necessary credentials can be hired if an emergency is declared by the school board.
Generally, an emergency is not declared until possibly August when school is about to begin, Contor said.
“One year, an emergency was declared when a math teacher needed to leave in the middle of the school year,” she said. “The math student intern was hired to fill that position.”
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From Ohio History Central
The Cincinnati Stuff was a professional basketball team in Cincinnati, Ohio. The team was a founding member of the International Basketball League, which formed in 1999. The league played by international basketball rules. The Cincinnati Stuff’s home games occurred in the Firestar Center.
The Cincinnati Stuff performed well during its two seasons of existence. During the 1999-2000 season, the squad finished first in the Eastern Division, amassing a record of forty-three wins and twenty-one losses. The Stuff lost in the second round of the playoffs. The team reached the playoffs again in the 2000-2001 season, but the Stuff failed to win its first round series.
Following the 2000-2001, due to poor attendance, the International Basketball League ceased operations, and the Cincinnati Stuff disbanded.
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GUIDEPOSTS was founded in 1945 by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale and his wife, Ruth Stafford Peale. Dr. Peale was one of the foremost motivational speakers of the twentieth century. He wrote 46 books, including the inspirational best seller, The Power of Positive Thinking, first published in 1952. More than 20 million copies of this acclaimed book have been sold.
The GUIDEPOSTS organization is unified around this mission: GUIDEPOSTS helps people from all walks of life achieve their maximum personal and spiritual potential. Through our award-winning magazines, best-selling books, and Outreach Ministry services, GUIDEPOSTS demonstrates that faith works powerfully in ordinary lives.
GUIDEPOSTS publishes two magazines packed with real experiences and real inspiration. Together, these publications reach close to 7 million readers worldwide. Best known is Guideposts, a monthly magazine featuring first-person, true-life stories that offer practical solutions to everyday problems and inspiration for overcoming personal difficulties.
The GUIDEPOSTS family is a community of like-minded people who want to help others overcome adversity or simply face life’s day-to-day challenges with optimism, determination and joy. If you are seeking ways to enhance your spiritual growth and share your faith with others, we invite you to join us today.
Norman Vincent Peale and his wife, Ruth Stafford Peale founded two vital organizations in the 1940s that have helped and inspired millions around the world. One was the Peale Center for Christian Living and the other was Guideposts Associates. The name of the first began as Sermon Publications since it began publishing the sermons Dr. Peale delivered weekly at the Marble Collegiate Church, New York City. In the passing years it was renamed twice – first, as the Foundation for Christian Living, and, as their ministry grew, to the Peale Center for Christian Living. The Center for Positive Thinking was built and dedicated in 1988, and distributed PLUS: The Power of Faith magazine, filled with the positive messages by Norman Vincent Peale and other inspirational writers, formerly known as Creative Help for Daily Living. This organization resided for over 70 years in 66 East Main St., Pawling, NY, with the building situated on Route 22, Pawling, NY where it thrived and eventually merged with the equally successful publishing enterprises founded by Norman and Ruth Peale called Guideposts.
Guideposts had originated in Pawling, NY in the 40’s, but then moved to Carmel, NY, to house its ever-expanding subscriber based enterprise and book publishing ministries that reach millions annually. The Guideposts editors hold office space in New York City.
As of spring 2011 the main business offices of Guideposts, the Guideposts Outreach Ministries, OurPrayer and Guideposts Foundation hold office space at Suite 2AB, 39 Old Ridgebury Road, Danbury, CT 06810. Main telephone for the Guideposts Foundation is (800) 728-5653, and Guideposts business office (203) 749-0200, and Guideposts Outreach (800) 935-0158.
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Vol 1, No 18
25 October 1999
C U L T U R E:
The Impossibility of Independence
Yugoslav theatre today
Conducting a serious analysis of the current state of Yugoslav theatre is not an easy task, primarily due to the fact that the general political climate in the country influences all aspects of everyday life, including the theatre, which has always been a mirror of society. Bearing in mind that the situation in Yugoslav society is full of tension and suspense at present time, it is quite logical that the current atmosphere in Yugoslav theatre reflects this unpleasant reality. Hence, this short survey of Yugoslav theatre should be observed in relation to this problem.
For a better understanding of the current situation, it is first necessary to look briefly into the way in which the system of Yugoslav theatres is organised.
An age-old regime
Yugoslav theatres are still largely organised along the rigid principles established after the Second World War, which means that they are all financed by the state or the city in which they are located. All the theatres except for one - BITEF theatre in Belgrade - have permanent troupes which, in some cases, consist of several hundred employed actors and actresses, artists and technicians. The money for the preparation of projects is mostly provided by ministries of culture on the level of the state or the city. A large portion of the budget of these ministries is spent on covering monthly costs such as utilities and salaries, which, in light of the large number of permanent employees, are quite high. Thus, very little money remains for investment into the actual production of plays. Whether the sum of money for production is increased through donations from certain sponsors depends on the ingenuity of the theatre administration.
This system, which is too expensive even for more developed and wealthier societies, greatly affects the quality of the productions in institutionalised theatres. Also, there is a specific paradox in this system. Some actors who are permanently employed in institutional theatres are unable to live off their meagre salaries and are very often forced to work in other theatres, where they receive somewhat higher fees for their work. However, this "moonlighting" often takes up so much of their time that they cannot be sufficiently engaged in their parent theatres, which are then forced to invite actors from other theatres and pay them additional fees, thereby creating a specific circulus viciosus.
The repertoire policy creates another big problem. In fact, the majority of theatres cannot claim to have a recognisable and consistent repertoire. The result is a theatrical jumble which confuses audience and theatre employees alike. It often happens that in the same theatre the audience can see one of the classics one night and an ordinary, frivolous, purely commercial piece with no artistic value whatsoever the next. As a result, a very small number of theatres in Yugoslavia follow current world trends in drama. The reason for this is banal: there is simply not enough money to pay royalties for playing the works of living authors. The only exception to this is the Atelier 212 theatre, which is the only Yugoslav theatre that constantly stages world-famous contemporary dramas.
Another phenomenon that deserves mention is the organised sale of tickets. There are almost no theatres in Serbia that operate above profit margins, although some theatres are commercially oriented. Since the price of tickets at box offices is quite high in relation to the average income of Yugoslav citizens, only a few per cent of the total ticket sales are box-office sales. The larger portion of tickets are sold in advance (in secondary schools, to trade union organisations etc.) at prices which are much lower than the box-office prices. For example, tickets for the hit opera Cinderella, staged in the National Theatre in Belgrade, could be bought through such an organised sale scheme for only 7 dinars (less than DM 0.50), although at the box office the price of a ticket was several times higher. Since all the elements that make up a performance - such as the set or the costumes - must be paid for at their real market prices, it is quite clear that theatres are unable to pay back even half of the invested money. Only a few theatres can afford big, expensive projects engaging most of their troupe and are not burdened by the need to earn back the invested money.
It should also be added that the majority of theatres have no interest in changing the current outdated system, which is disastrous for the market and significantly endangers the survival of independent and non-institutional theatres.
A lost generation?
As for the young generation of theatre artists, one can say without any exaggeration that there has never been a worse or more unfruitful period in the whole history of Yugoslav theatre. This is best explained as a chain reaction. The state quite simply does not have the money to support the arts, and the theatres are subsidised by state - yet another circulus viciosus. This paradox results in small productions and a rigid monopoly of the older generation, who protect their own positions, as the non-existent market is too small for everybody, especially newcomers. However, there are some bright exceptions, one of whom is certainly Biljana Srbljanovic, the young Yugoslav playwright whose plays have gained recognition in several European countries.
Even more of an exception are the independent and non-institutional theatres in general. One must stress that to be engaged in a non-institutional theatre in Yugoslavia is an act of supreme devotion to one's work, as the state not only fails to provide support for this form of theatre but often cruelly ignores all attempts to step out of the rigid structures of the system. Artists who make these attempts are not welcome, because they are not easy to control - that is, they are potentially dangerous to the system. In light of everything mentioned above, and especially because of the absence of market structures, it is very difficult for non-institutional theatres to survive in the uneven race with subsidised institutional theatres. The simplest way to illustrate this is with the price of tickets. Since independent theatres sustain themselves through the staging of their performances, and since they are often forced to rent the stages where they play, as well as stage properties and equipment, the price of tickets is generally at least double that of institutional theatres, thus rendering the possibility of making a profit completely out of the question.
Needless to say, it is often very difficult to explain this to the audience, as prices in some institutional theatres are so low that it is impossible to compete with them. Often, members of independent theatre troupes invest their own money into a play in order for it to be produced. However, the problem of finding adequate space for work remains, because in comparison with other European cities of similar size, Belgrade has a comparatively small number of equipped theatre halls, and they are, for the most part, occupied. In addition, institutions demand disproportionately high rents for the venues, which often forces independent theatres to move from one place to another or to work in completely inadequate conditions.
A separate problem is the general reception of theatrical expression that is alternative to the mainstream or accepted notion of theatre. There are very few theatre critics who devote attention to alternative forms of theatre (which are popular and accepted everywhere in the world). This brings about a specific marginalisation of independent theatres within the hierarchy of the Yugoslav theatre. Discouraged by such treatment, many artists engaged in alternative theatres lose interest in the effort to win the favours of the theatrical hierarchy in which they operate and settle for a comparatively narrow circle of devoted fans, never gaining wider recognition.
That is why it should not come as a surprise that the majority of independent plays are performed only a few times in Yugoslavia (mostly at specialised alternative theatre festivals), although many of the theatres producing them are very active and often successful abroad. This is quite paradoxical, especially in view of the fact that for 32 years now, Belgrade has been host to the Beogradski Internacionalni Teatarski Festival (Belgrade International Theatre Festival, BITEF), which was founded with the intention of bringing notice to new theatrical trends. Although BITEF gets attention in the media, when it is over, the troupes pack up and head home, leaving Yugoslavia's stale domestic situation behind until the next year.
Nevertheless, what may be encouraging is the sudden increase in the number of independent theatres evident lately in Yugoslavia. At the moment, there are about ten, which is the largest number since the founding of Yugoslav theatre in 1918. Some of the companies which have contributed and are contributing to modern forms of theatrical expression in Yugoslavia are Dah Teatar (literally Breath Theatre), Plavo pozoriste (Blue Theatre), Omen and the Torpedo Theatre Company.
As has been illustrated, these independent troupes have trouble simply surviving in the very static environment of Yugoslav theatre. The old and outdated institutionalised system has oppressed any new forms of expression and will only continue to do so unless the entire structure is changed. There is plenty of talent in Yugoslav theatre; the problem, however, is that it is not given a chance.
Anja Susa, 20 October 1999
Note: See also Robert Young's review of Belgrade-based band Vrooom's new album in this issue of CER. Vrooom collaborates with the Torpedo Theatre Company.
Copyright (c) 1999 - Central Europe Review and Internet servis, a.s.
All Rights Reserved
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What are the secrets of really strong communities? Here’s what I discovered about one that I know.
Archive | Team Leadership
A fun and easy icebreaker to help people learn some interesting facts about their teammates.
When a team is struggling between two or three reasonable options, there is no better decision tool than a structured discussion.
Culture is formed at the top and trickles down. If employees aren’t demonstrating teamwork, look up the chain of command to see what kind of behaviors are being modeled.
If you don’t like complainers, start by looking at whether you are one of them. And if you are, stop it. Easier said than done.
Saying your are sorry and working to forgive people who have hurt you are two strategies that can have a big payoff.
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On September 15, online retailer Amazon.com will charge sales tax on purchases from Californians.
The agreement between state lawmakers and Amazon.com is expected to raise $316 million in taxes, according to the L.A. Times, money needed to help our bankrupt state.
However, the agreement between Amazon and California may not last long. The Orange County Register reports that the agreement between the two parties was primarily a compromise meant to get a year's reprieve in collecting the tax in exchange for promises to add jobs and distribution centers in California.
This comes as a victory for the brick and mortar businesses that say that they have seen lost sales go to online retailers like Amazon.com.
at Palo Alto Bikes in mid-August to denounce Amazon.com for circumventing California sales tax laws. They argued that these online retailers have an unfair advantage in sales and that these uncollected taxes are depriving educators of their fair share.
"We just want to compete on an even playing field,” said Mike Jacoubowsky, owner of in Redwood City.
Amazon already charges sales tax in six states: Kansas, Kentucky, New York, North Dakota, Texas and Washington. Pennsylvania will join California in sales tax charges in September. New Jersey, Virginia, Indiana, Nevada, Tennessee and South Carolina are all expected to collect state sales taxes from online retailers within the next few years, adding millions to state accounts, according to CNNMoney.
Is charging sales tax on online purchases fair? Let us know in the comments.
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Archive for the ‘Spirituality’ Category
A couple of weeks ago, I assigned my students one of the hymns by the Wesley brothers to talk about Protestant challenges to the Eucharist (“Victim Divine, Thy Grace We Claim”). In their journals, many of my students reflected on how refreshing it was to read a hymn, even one that was so richly theological and complex as this one. As one student wrote, “Songs can be theology too.”
Indeed they can. This is one of the reasons I love studying the Medievals like Thomas Aquinas. Although Aquinas is known most for his Summa Theologica (which I think is a remarkably beautiful work even if it is intellectually rigorous), Aquinas also did theology in other forms besides the Scholastic disputational method we see in the Summa. For example, he wrote commentaries on Scripture, sermons, prayers, and yes, even songs. One of the most beautiful and most commonly sung is the “Tantum Ergo”:
Tantum ergo Sacramentum
et antiquum documentum
novo cedat ritui:
praestet fides supplementum
laus et iubilatio,
salus, honor, virtus quoque
sit et benedictio:
procedenti ab utroque
compar sit laudatio.
Down in adoration falling,
Lo! the sacred Host we hail;
Lo! o’er ancient forms departing,
newer rites of grace prevail;
faith for all defects supplying,
where the feeble sense fail.
To the everlasting Father,
and the Son who reigns on high,
with the Holy Ghost proceeding
forth from Each eternally,
be salvation, honor, blessing,
might and endless majesty.
It is uncommon today for a theologian to do more than dapple in such a range of theological genres as someone like Aquinas, as my colleague Jana Bennett bemoans over at catholicmoraltheology.com. There are a lot of reasons for this (which she identifies), including time, ability, and tenure track requirements. One reason, however, that we do not witness the same aesthetic pursuit in academic theologians today as we did in the Medieval period may have to do with the way we think of wisdom.
In our post-Kantian world, wisdom is purely a matter of intellect. The wise person is the smart person, the educated person, the person who can make and win rigorous intellectual arguments. For the Medievals, wisdom is an intellectual virtue, but it is an intellectual virtue with a strong affective component. Take, for example, the following discussion from Denys the Carthusian’s Prefatory Questions on the Sentences:
Just as, then, those heroic men who are perfect in love, through the gift of wisdom that they have according to a perfect degree, are as it were the counselors, and secretaries, and the familiar friends of God, from whom they are strongly illuminated as they stand in a certain contact with the sun of uncreated Wisdom, and who by a supernatural and abundant internal taste know and taste the divine things to be believed and who judge well and certainly about the same things through the conformity and connaturality of their affections for them, so through the gift of understanding by which they are adorned to a perfect degree they understand most clearly, most certainly and most subtly those things that belong to our faith, and they also understand the connections and order of things to be believed and the supernatural reasonableness of the Catholic truth. . . Hence, this illumination is not given only to students in theology and to all of them, or to people who have great natural abilities, but to those who more stand out in their purity of heart and in their charity. One of these is the holy Brother Giles, who did not with say ‘I believe in God’ but rather “I know God.’ And another was the Seraphic Saint Francis.
Wisdom, it seems, is not just based in the intellect, but is based rather in “a supernatural and abundant taste of divine things to be believed.” Denys is appealing here to the etymology of wisdom [sapientia] which is rooted in sapor [to taste].
For Aquinas, wisdom is the gift of the Holy Spirit discussed in the context of his treatise on charity, a virtue rooted in the will. Aquinas treats wisdom both as an intellectual virtue (and intellectual gift), and as virtue with a strong affective component, rooted not just in the activity of the intellect, but also, and primarily, in the loving relationship (a connaturality) with God:
Wisdom denotes a certain rectitude of judgment according to the Eternal Law. Now rectitude of judgment is twofold: first, on account of perfect use of reason, secondly, on account of a certain connaturality with the matter about which one has to judge. Thus, about matters of chastity, a man after inquiring with his reason forms a right judgment, if he has learned the science of morals, while he who has the habit of chastity judges of such matters by a kind of connaturality (II-II, 45.2).
Returning to the quote from Denys, Aquinas would agree that the unschooled St. Francis was wise, not as a result of rigorous philosophical and theological study, but rather, because of the indwelling of grace that had brought him into union with God who is Wisdom himself. For Francis and others who possess such wisdom, their theological writings may lack the intellectual character of a figure like Aquinas, but are nevertheless still works of genuine wisdom. Francis did not need to study to be wise; the source of his wisdom was not learning but love.
What is the lesson here? As a theologian and an academic (like Thomas in kind but not in degree) I am firmly convicted that the study of theology is important for the development of wisdom. It is important to engage in disputation, to explore in depths the principles of the faith, and to deduce conclusions (especially ethical conclusions) from those principles. But it is also important, perhaps even more important, to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” The liturgy is a powerful source of this sapor, where the music and the psalms and the incense and the light infiltrating in through the stained glass all culminate in the reception of the Eucharist as the senses, intellect, and will are all brought into union with Christ who presents himself bodily at the altar. From this sapor, a different sapientia flows forth in poetry and song: “Sing, my tongue, the Savior’s glory, of His flesh the mystery sing,” as we sing with Thomas in the Pange Lingua.
The taste of this wisdom depends also on our ability to let ourselves be passive recipients of the God who offers himself to us. For Aquinas, wisdom is a gift of the Holy Spirit, a free gift of grace. Our inability to taste is often, I think, rooted in our desire to feed ourselves, rather than to let ourselves be fed. In the Anima Christi, we pray, “Blood of Christ, inebriate me,” indicating, I think, that we need to let our guard down, lose a little of our self control, and be rendered vulnerable to the working of the Spirit who offers us a foretaste of that Divine Banquet where “ we shall be drowned, lost in that ocean of divine love, annihilated in that immense love of the Heart of Jesus!”
In the Commentary on Lombard’s Sentences, Aquinas took “prayer” to mean specifically the “petition for the things needed for this life.” In the Summa, Aquinas defines prayer as “an ascent of the intellect to God.” (II-II, Q. 83, art. 17). Both of these descriptions focus on the intellect. It is the intellect, especially as perfected by the virtue of prudence, which discerns what the needs of life are, and the intellect which inclines to God in prayer.
We are accustomed to thinking of prayer as a highly intellectual pursuit, a matter of thinking, discerning, and speaking. Accordingly, prayer is intentional. We might set aside time to pray, or designate a specific part of the house as a spot for prayer. However, more often than not, many of us find our mind racing or wandering to topics often unholy during our intentionally designated prayer times. Even when our minds do not wander, we might fumble around for the right words to say, or worry that our petitions and offerings of praise are inadequate. As a result, we may emerge from our times of prayer intensely dissatisfied.
One solution to this problem is to focus more attention on contemplative prayer. The contemplative Carmelite William McNamara described contemplation as “a pure intuition of being, born of love. It is experiential awareness of reality and a way of entering into immediate communion with reality.” Jesuit Walter Burghardt calls contemplation a “long loving look at the real.”
As a Dominican, contemplation was integral to Aquinas’ spirituality. What is wonderful about contemplation is that it is largely not an intellectual pursuit, but rather, a passionate, emotional, even intuitive endeavor. Aquinas writes, citing Gregory that “the contemplative life is to cling with our whole mind to the love of God and our neighbor, and to desire nothing beside our Creator.” He goes on,
Now the appetitive power moves one to observe things either with the senses or with the intellect, sometimes for love of the thing seen because, as it is written (Matthew 6:21), “where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also,” sometimes for love of the very knowledge that one acquires by observation. Wherefore Gregory makes the contemplative life to consist in the “love of God,” inasmuch as through loving God we are aflame to gaze on His beauty. And since everyone delights when he obtains what he loves, it follows that the contemplative life terminates in delight, which is seated in the affective power, the result being that love also becomes more intense (II-II, Q. 18o, art. 1)
He says later in the same question:
Although the contemplative life consists chiefly in an act of the intellect, it has its beginning in the appetite, since it is through charity that one is urged to the contemplation of God. And since the end corresponds to the beginning, it follows that the term also and the end of the contemplative life has its being in the appetite, since one delights in seeing the object loved, and the very delight in the object seen arouses a yet greater love. Wherefore Gregory says (Hom. xiv in Ezech.) that “when we see one whom we love, we are so aflame as to love him more.” And this is the ultimate perfection of the contemplative life, namely that the Divine truth be not only seen but also loved.
Contemplation is, therefore, a lot like falling in love. Contemplation is the passionate discovery of God’s delightfulness. I say “passionate” because contemplation, like love, emerges from something deep within us, from our appetites which incline us, often unconsciously, toward the good and the beautiful.
Walter Burghardt writes that contemplation, understood as the “long loving look at the real”
means that my whole person reacts. not only my mind, but my eyes and ears, smelling and touching and tasting. Not senses utterly unshackled; for at times reason must temper the animal in me. But far more openness, far more letting-go, than we were permitted of old, in a more sever spirituality, where, for example, touch was “out,” because touch is dangerous. No one ever thought of reminding us that free will is even more dangerous. Or cold reason.
Contemplation is integral to the life of prayer, but it cannot be forced. Rather, we must cultivate a capacity for the contemplative life, even in the midst of our busy activities. Burghardt offers five suggestions:
First, seek out some sort of desert experience. This does not need to be some sort of long, drawn-out ascetic withdrawal from life, but rather, an experience that “brings you face to face with solitude, with vastness, even with powers of life and death beyond your control.” A desert experience is simply something that interrupts the routine of your day-to-day life in a way that makes you slightly uncomfortable and heightens your awareness and perception of the unfamiliar world around you.
Second, cultivate a feeling for festivity, the experience of doing something utterly lacking in utilitarian value. Closely related is the third suggestion: cultivate a sense of play. Both festivity and play are contrary to work. Watch children who spend hours playing dress-up or other games of make-believe and you will understand the spirit of festivity and play. Both are linked to a sense of awe and wonder: “Let your imagination loose to play with ideas–what it means to be alive, to be in love, to believe and to hope.”
Fourth, learn to let go, to not posses, to let experiences and things be ephemeral. Most of us are conditioned when we see something beautiful–a sunset, a flower, a cute puppy, or our own children–to take a picture. The contemplative life savors the moment but lets it pass.
Finally, make contemplative friends, friends who radiate wonder, whose sense of delight is finely tuned. I have a very dear Jesuit friend and colleague who has taught me more about the contemplative life than I could ever learn from study. He does his morning prayer in the woods and though he has seen the same herons lighting on the water in the early morning light for the last five years, he still does not fail to mention each sighting in conversation with awe and wonder. The word I hear most from him is “amazing,” which he usually says in a loud voice, eyes sparking, wide smile on his face. Nothing is too simple to be “amazing” for him, be it a Rush concert, a line from Aquinas or Cicero, a sip of single malt scotch, or a heron searching for fish in the shallow water.
This particular friend offers perhaps the best advice for cultivating the contemplative life: think about your life, think about those moments where you experience the most profound delight and the strongest affective pull towards God, and be more intentional about seeking out those experiences. If you find it in gardening, garden more. In running, run more. In looking at art, get a season pass to a museum. For each of us, the contemplative life will look different. But if we are to have a meaningful life of prayer, a life where we “pray without ceasing,” cultivating the contemplative life is indispensable.
And to my dear friend, Father Nick Austin, SJ, who is now preparing to return to England to continue his career in moral theology and parish life, I give you my thanks for all that you have taught me about the contemplative life. The world is thirsty for people like you whose entire being radiates in love for God. You, my friend, have chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from you (Lk. 10:42).
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What about the men is a common refrain on feminist blogs. It seems speaking about womens issues is considered an affront to patriarchy. It does not matter what feminist blog you decide to read, at some point someone in the comment section will feel the overwhelming need to point out that men are oppressed to. Dear Lord how do these men manage to get by with the burden of owning and controlling over 95% of the worlds wealth? How do they survive daily beating their wives and raping women?
I am the first to admit that social construction is damaging to both sexes but I must question why it is necessary to continually make this an issue on women's blogs? There are so many aspects of sexism that go unchallenged in our society because we have normalized the marginalization of women. Feminists have had to fight, and claw to get the smallest of validation for the difficulties of living life as a woman in this phalocentric world, and yet even in these small spaces, men have managed to continually interject themselves into the debate.
A feminist blog could be a place where men could begin to learn to unpack some of their gender privileges. A man that continually reads feminist blogs would learn how to look at the world with the eyes of a new born babe; not tinted with the social stigmatizations that regularly attach themselves to women's bodies. Instead of seeing this as a learning opportunity, invariably they feel the need to say what about the men.
Well let me tell you about the men. Today they are largely in control of all of the agents of socialization; media, government, education, religion, and the family. Today they rape and batter women. Today they can count on their sex to give them unfair advantages in most situations. Men are not struggling, largely living in poverty. Men are not reduced to their genitals and routinely treated as second class citizens. No, men are like a fine bottle of wine, only growing in value as they age.
The what about the men question, keeps becoming an issue simply because men do not want to give up their male privileges. Equality would mean work, and that is something that they are not used to. It is much easier to act in the maintenance of inequality, than to stand against it.
Equality would mean actually doing 50% of the housework, child care and elder care. That is right, taking care of the house means more than washing the car on Saturday and sitting on the driving lawn mower while you sip away at a beer. It means learning how to speak without invoking male privilege constantly. No more, calling women sluts, bitches, whores and cunts. It further means the unequivocal end of all violence against women. No more taking out your rage on your wife's body. No more raping, while blaming the victim. Equality means owning every single act of misogyny and hatred, and pledging never again to violate women.
The men that enter womens spaces do not seek to learn, or improve the lives of anyone other than themselves when they ask the question what about the men. They are trying to assert patriarchal privilege by insisting that the conversation revolves around them. God forbid, that women have some small corner of the earth where they can gather and seek shelter from the cruelties that patriarchy subjects us to on a daily basis. So in answer to the question what about the men, I respond you have the blood of women, we have been buried alive, set on fire, beaten, raped, denied equal wages and forced to become slaves to our biology, what else could you possibly demand of us?
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("Downshift bike issues, voters say," May 9). Below is a sampling of the opinions we've received.
The Oregonian-KGW(8) poll about infrastructure spending, and other recent articles, have framed the discussion about transportation assuming that bicycles and road maintenance are conflicting priorities and that their interests are in opposition.
I love riding my bicycle around town, and the ability to live here without using the car very much is a big part of why I love Portland. But I think framing the discussion this way is a mistake, for several reasons. Most people who ride bicycles also drive cars, at least sometimes, and a large pothole is even more unpleasant and dangerous on a bicycle than it is in a car; trust me on this. The biggest reason is that bicycle infrastructure may well be the best use of road maintenance money.
Bicycle infrastructure is fairly cheap; pavement repair is expensive. And someone who commutes by bike no longer adds significant wear to the roads. So it may well be that a dollar spent on bicycle infrastructure goes farther to keep the roads in good shape than a dollar spent repairing the damage once it has been done.
Do the numbers work out this way? I do not know. But I think it is a question worth researching before setting people whose interests might actually coincide against each other.
Bikers should realize that they will always be a minority and the city's budget has to reflect that. A budget should take the money we have and allot it where there is the greatest need. A disproportional amount goes for the safety of bikers already, and the surface of our streets shows it.
Yes, it is big vehicles that make the potholes, but that's the way it is, and we need to accept the reality of that.
From the recent Elway Research poll, it appears Portland understands that road maintenance must be a priority for the city. But as a city worker who maintains Portland's streets, I am concerned about the "bike lanes versus potholes" conversation. The fact is that even if the Portland Bureau of Transportation did not invest in bike lanes to improve safety, we would still not have enough money to adequately maintain Portland streets.
real issue is that the gas tax revenue the city gets is simply no longer
sufficient to address our deteriorating infrastructure. We cannot afford to pay
for streets as well as other crucial projects, such as rebuilding the Sellwood Bridge and putting in sidewalks for children to walk on in areas of the city
that lack them.
As a community, we need to talk about how we can adequately fund a transportation system that offers safe options for all of us.
Richartz is a utility worker for the city of Portland maintenance department and an executive board member of Laborers' Local 483.
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Zoo’s Mother’s Day surprise
Friday 8 March 2013
First calf for yak mum aged 11
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo has welcomed its first yak baby in more than a decade, just in time for Mother’s Day.
The four-week-old calf, who keepers have named Zak, was born in the early hours of February 8 and is an extra special arrival for mum as it’s her very first baby at the age of eleven. Female yaks generally give birth for the first time at the age of three or four and reach their peak reproductive fitness at around six.
Zak was spotted standing on his own four hooves within minutes of giving birth and has been busy exploring the Zoo’s expansive Passage Through Asia paddock, where he lives in the company of camels, deer, antelope, and the rest of the yak herd.
Donovan Glyn, Asia section team leader, said: “It was a big surprise that mum gave birth at the age of 11 but she’s doing an excellent job considering it’s her first time and we’re hopeful this could mean more births in the future.
“Zak’s settled into the herd really well, he’s already grown in confidence with the help of mum and his aunties who are on hand to help out with babysitting duties.”
Zak isn’t the only animal at Whipsnade who will be celebrating his first Mother’s Day on Sunday - three-month-old greater one horned rhino, Jamil , will be spending it with his mum, Behan; w hile nine-month-old red panda twins, Yin and Yang , will be spending it with their mum, Tashi.
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My series now reaches the pivotal year 1940 and the world has changed. Another great war has broken out in Europe and many of the leading artists and intellectuals from the continent and England have decided for various reasons to make their way to the United States, where isolationist tendencies and geographic remoteness offer relief from the dangers, oppressions and limited resources of their home countries. Among these expatriates is one Alfred Hitchcock, whose move to the USA might have been inevitable anyway even without the threat of war. His stock had been rising in the British film industry, with films like The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes demonstrating his technical skill and storytelling flair. Already known for his commanding personality, Hitch's first assignment in the states was suitably audacious - he had contracted with Hollywood mogul David O. Selznick to direct the producer's follow-up to Gone With The Wind, the biggest, most lucrative and sensational epic of recent years, or maybe ever up that point in cinematic history. Pretty tall order! I think the consensus is that the Selznick/Hitchcock team did pretty well for themselves here: Rebecca won an Academy Award for Best Picture in 1940 and a star-making launch for the two leads, Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier, not to mention great commercial and critical success. But let's learn a little more about the film and the elements that came together to make it so popular in its time, and so highly regarded even today.
Rebecca is based on a popular novel by Daphne Du Maurier, a woman whose work I have never read or even seriously considered picking up (just being honest, no disrespect intended!) Her books were extremely popular throughout the 20th century and go a long way to accounting for the top-level production values and rigorous talent search applied to the project. Sharing some common traits with Jane Eyre, Du Maurier's books primarily appealed to women but not exclusively so. She pushed back against being categorized as a "romance novelist," and can fairly be likened to the Bronte sisters in her literary achievements, from what I've read. Somewhat like contemporary adaptations of The Da Vinci Code and just-about-to-be-released Angels and Demons, widespread cultural familiarity with the story created a lot of pre-release interest, a huge audience and a terrible potential for backlash if the film failed to meet a range of high expectations.
The DVD package that accompanies this feature film provides as good of a one-stop opportunity for inn-depth study of a film's creation as could be hoped for. The second disc of this now out-of-print (and highly coveted) set is richly loaded with behind the scenes materials including screen tests of many Hollywood stars who tried out for the female lead role, correspondence between producer Selznick and director Hitchcock, and other artifacts that give vivid insight for how motion pictures were created in those days. An excellent commentary track also draws our attention to numerous artistic touches employed by Hitchcock as well as insight on how some crucial scenes from the book had to be adapted to fit into the Hollywood production code (i.e. censorship), homogenizing the novel's provocative psychological and erotic implications into acceptably moralistic scenarios. Despite those limitations, Hitchcock and crew found numerous ways for Du Maurier's gothic sensationalism to come through and connect with their audience, to suitably engaging and creepy effect.
Though the sets, techniques, performances and cinematography are all impressively proficient, they are not beyond critique. Any production involving egos as outsized as Hitchcock's and Selznick's requires concessions that will fail to satisfy at some point when the final product rolls out. Later in life, Hitchcock distanced himself from the film a bit due to its lack of humor and the way his hand was forced by Selznick to rigidly adhere to the source material much more closely than Hitchcock ever had to before or after in his long, illustrious career. This film, for all its accomplishments and gaudy sophistication, was something of an apprenticeship for Hitchcock in how to work within the confines of the Hollywood system. Fortunately for him (and us) this venture turned out so successfully that he was able to gain an unusual degree of independence and control over his films as the years rolled by.
So enough for now about "the making of..." Rebecca's staying power and enduring fascination rests, I think, in its nearly archetypal portrayal of the experience that many women have in marriage - of course, casting the process in larger-than-life proportions in order to drive its points home all the more vividly (something that happens a lot in the movies, you know.) As with the book, the female lead in this film is never given a name - her character in the screen credits is listed as "I." Her voice narrates the opening scene, a slow approach through a shady winding drive to the ruins of a large English country estate - "Manderley." Comparisons could be made to the opening of Citizen Kane, made a few years later, though Kane's opening sequence is much more ambitious. Having established that she could never go back to Manderley again, we jump backwards in time as we proceed to learn just what happened to reduce the once-magnificent house to ruins. Surging waves pound against the base of rugged cliffs, the camera pans up and reveals the dark silhouette of a man who appears poised to jump off the precipice into the ocean below. A woman's voice cries out and breaks him away from the spell. This chance meeting of two strangers in a breathtakingly dangerous and romantic locale, of course, introduces us to the main characters, destined for love, or at least an enhanced degree of shared emotional complication.
Here we see them becoming more familiar with each other, after their first "civilized" encounter in a hotel in Monte Carlo. He is Maxim de Winter, born into aristocracy, heir to Manderley and a widower of one year. "She" is a paid companion to a wealthy and snobbish American woman on holiday in Europe. This scene establishes "her" insecurity about herself and her vulnerability to seduction. Look carefully for all the cues that de Winter (played by Laurence Olivier) delivers establishing the character played by Joan Fontaine as a needy, dependent woman-child:
The end of that scene is, of course, ominous foreshadowing of a terrible secret that will eventually be revealed, and I'll do my best to respect the no-spoilers rule here. From this point, the couple experience a "whirlwind romance" that leads, perhaps implausibly but also captivatingly, to him taking her for his new wife, the second Mrs. de Winter.
They return then to Manderley, which from the outside has the look of "every girl's dream home" but turns out to be rather overwhelming and intimidating for a woman born to common aspirations and unprepared to be the lady of such a great house. Further complications set in when Maxim turns out to be more distant and tormented a soul than she would hope for in a new husband, and especially as she learns more about the attributes of the first Mrs. de Winter, named Rebecca of course.
Rebecca serves as the epitome of "previous other women" that a wife's husband has been involved with - brilliant, witty, beautiful, impeccably mannered, utterly at ease in all circumstances and in control of herself and those around her. Joan Fontaine does a very impressive job conveying a sense of nervous inadequacy and uncertainty about how she will ever be able to live up to the lofty standard set by her predecessor. Her anxiety is not so much based on competitiveness with the ghost of Rebecca, but rather in her concern that Maxim will soon (if not already) find her boring, shallow, incapable... unloveable.
And then there are the tensions with Mrs. Danvers, the domineering servant whose devotion to Rebecca and chilly contempt for the new Mrs. de Winter ramps up the weirdness and morbidity to levels we normally associate with a Hitchcock film. The two women create some powerfully disturbing scenes with all sorts of that are best viewed in context to be fully appreciated. So I won't paste any of their clips in here, but to give you a better sense of the film's cultural impact a few years after it was released, here's a trailer that you might enjoy (I love this style of pitching movies to an audience much better than how its done today - more earnest, I guess.):
I watched this film with my wife last evening - it was literally a dark and stormy night! The perfect conditions for watching a movie like this one, with several very well-timed lightning flashes and thunder rumbles. It also helps that she's quite a bit "jumpier" than I am when watching thrillers - it adds so much to the fun! But more than the thrills of unpredictable entrances and plot twists, Rebecca has a lot to say about the pressures that come to bear on marriages, especially those in which the terms of the agreement are strained and stressed by disappointment, betrayal, mistrust and vindictiveness - in other words, all couplings that manage to last longer than the indefinably brief period we call the "honeymoon." Over the course of the film, we see the new Mrs. de Winter toughen up to meet her challenges. She becomes more assertive, survives relational, legal and criminal disasters, even dresses better! The prospects for her marriage relationship to Maxim remain highly ambiguous at movie's end. For having endured the hardships placed before her, "she" remains married to a self-absorbed, emotionally stunted, prone-to-anger aristocrat who has a hard time returning the love that she longs to show him. The ending remains unresolved in the film; in the novel, the narrator speaks from some place of foreign exile - though there are elements of a Cinderella story to be found in Rebecca, there's no guarantee of a "happily ever after..."
Next: The Proud Valley
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Though no motive has been revealed, according to media commentators, Pistorius may have been caught off guard by Steenkamp. He possibly shot her in their home in South Africa, believing she was an intruder when she tried to surprise him on the special holiday.
Pistorius is a Paralympic champion and was the first double-amputee to take part in the Olympics track and field competition in 2012.
Pistorius is not the only athlete who has gotten in trouble with the law for murder.
NFL superstar O.J. Simpson was involved in perhaps history's most publicized trial, after allegedly killing ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. He stood trial for the double-murder in 1995 but was later acquitted.
Leonard Little, a Rams linebacker, was charged with murder for killing Susan Gutweiler after celebrating his 24th birthday. In 1998, Little got behind the wheel while intoxicated, running a red light and ramming into Gutweiler’s car.
“I think about it all the time," Little told CNN.
"I mean, every day I wake up in the morning, I think about it. It's always in the back of my mind no matter if you're at the Super Bowl or anything bigger than that. It's always there, and I always think about it."
Little was later sentenced to 90 days in a work house and 1,000 hours of community service.
A year later, former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Rae Carruth shot his pregnant 24-year-old girlfriend four times in the back. Cherica Adams was seven-months pregnant with Carruth’s child, and Carruth was not interested in paying child support due to financial issues.
Adams was taken to the hospital but did not make it. Her son, Chancellor Lee, survived, though he was born 10 weeks premature and now suffers from cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair.
Carruth was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder in 2001 and was sentenced to 18 to 24 years in prison.
In 2000, Super Bowl champion Ray Lewis, who retired after playing 17 seasons for the Baltimore Ravens, was charged with two counts of murder and felony murder after Richard Lollar and Jacinth Baker were stabbed to death outside a nightclub in Atlanta hours after the Super Bowl.
His charges were later reduced in exchange for his testifying against two of his friends, Reginald Oakley and Joseph Sweeting.
Lewis was later fined $250,000 by the NFL and served one year of probation.
Back in 2002, Former New Jersey Nets star basketball player Jayson Williams was charged with "reckless manslaughter" in the shooting death of limo driver Contas Christofi. He was found guilty and served an 18-month prison sentence before being released in April 2012.
In 2004, NHL player Mike Danton was charged with conspiracy to commit murder after hiring a hit man to murder his agent, David Frost. The murder was not executed as the hit man was an undercover officer.
Danton reached an agreement with prosecutors, pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire. He served a little more than five years in prison and now plays hockey in the Swedish Division 1 league.
Also in 2004, English footballer Lee Hughes was imprisoned for three years after being found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving. Hughes fled the scene after hitting Douglas Graham, a father of four.
"In running away, you showed a callous disregard for others who were in the other car, one of whom was dead, another of whom was seriously injured and two others who were injured. I am quite certain that in running away you were thinking of yourself and you were attempting to avoid the legal consequences of driving having consumed alcohol," the judge told Hughes after the verdict was read. Hughes now plays for the Oldham Athletics.
In 2005, former pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies Ugueth Urbina was charged with attempted murder after employees at his farm said he attacked them with a machete. Urbina was sentenced to 14 years in prison and served 7 years before being released in December 2012.
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Up until only recently, according to wine journalist Rod Byers CWE, Zinfandel has been presented as “the Oakland Raiders of wine… loud, proud, unruly, and unapologetic.”
But at this past January’s ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates & Producers) Grand Tasting, Byers noticed an increased “sophistication” in the Zinfandels. In a report entitled Zinfandel grape comes of age, published this past March 6 in The Union, the Grass Valley (Western Nevada County) daily newspaper, Byers wrote: “None (of the Zinfandels at this year’s ZAP) seemed overly alcoholic, sweet, or rough. Only one could have been considered moderately tannic. The wines were fruity, balanced, and even elegant.”
Which is cool, since this confirms our own observations. Mr. Byers, a Certified Wine Educator who also teaches at Sierra College, has been moderating day-long winemaker seminars at ZAP’s Grand Tasting in San Francisco every year for the past few years. This has put him in a great position to assess the evolution of California’s Zinfandels over the past 22 years.
ZAP was started up in 1991, says Byers, when “a small band of winemakers were growing increasingly concerned that Zinfandel was in danger of disappearing. Zinfandel, the backbone of the California wine industry for over a century, was falling out of favor with the wine drinking public. Faced with dropping sales growers were yanking out vineyards or budding over to other varieties. Much of what was left was being produced as white-zin. In fact, new wine consumers sometimes thought Zinfandel was a white grape.”
The issue with White Zinfandel, as Lodi’s grape growers were also discovering, was that demand for grapes to produce this pink toned, fruity style of wine was also beginning to drop precipitously. When grape contracts began to disappear, it was sink-or-swim time for all the growers, big and small – some from families who have been farming in Lodi for over 50 years, some for well over 100 years.
So many of them did what you do when it’s time to make lemonade out of lemons: they applied for winery bonds and began producing their own wines. Klinker Brick, Heritage Oak, Harney Lane, LangeTwins Family, Van Ruiten Family, Mettler Family, and Peirano Estate are just some of the outstanding Lodi wineries that have risen out of those circumstances over the past 20 years.
ZAP, in the meantime, began to attract up to 10,000 Zinfandel enthusiasts at a time to its annual Grand Tasting. Stylistically, according to Byers, many of these Zinfandels followed the style of ZAP co-founder Joel Peterson of Sonoma’s Ravenswood Winery, whose motto was “No Wimpy Wines.” More and more Zinfandels were deliberately scaled to be “brash and irreverent” – very popular among consumers, but less so among more and more critics complaining “that Zinfandel was too tannic, too fruity, too alcoholic, too out of balance, and not food-friendly.”
Just three years ago, for instance, the popular wine columnist Steve Heimoff confessed (in Talkin’ Zinfandel blues), “I haven’t gone (to a ZAP) for years,” while decrying the “fat, extracted, high-alcohol sweet style… clumsy, inelegant, and undrinkable with almost anything, except for that all-purpose food group, ‘barbecue’” – ouch…
“The bombastic, frat-party-gone-wild image might have been useful for establishing an identity for Zinfandel,” comments Byers, “but now winemakers like Peterson prefer to talk about balance, elegance, restraint, and food compatibility.”
Another major development signaling the maturity of Zinfandel, says Byers, was the 2013 ZAP’s inclusion of “a Terroir Tasting Area to compare and contrast flavor profiles between different Zinfandel growing regions like Dry Creek, the Sierra Foothills, or Lodi.” In a ZAP Flights seminar, taking place the day before the Grand Tasting, the Historic Vineyard Society – dedicated to the preservation of heritage vineyards throughout the state – put on a terroir-focused tasting of three of California’s major Zinfandel regions (including Lodi, presented by Turley Wine Cellars’ Tegan Passalacqua).
With increased sophistication of Zinfandel lovers comes increased appreciation of the specific vineyards from where the finest Zinfandels are sourced. Says Byers, “Perhaps the two wines that impressed me the most were the McCay Cellars Truluck’s Vineyard Zinfandel from Lodi and the Andis Winery Estate Zinfandel from Amador. Both of those wines broke the mold of their regions. While words like rustic and tannic are often attached to the wines of the Sierra Foothills, and raisined and ripe to those of Lodi, both these wines were fruity, stylish, flavorful, and balanced.”
McCay, of course, is not the only Lodi winery evolving in this fashion. LangeTwins, Peirano, Heritage Oak, and The Lucas Winery, to name just four, have been focused on this balanced, un-Oakland Raider-like style pretty much from the get-go. Although vintage conditions had some something to do with it, even Zinfandels like Macchia’s recently released 2011 single-vineyard bottlings, and Michael David’s 2010 Earthquake, indicate subtle movements towards the balanced style.
One could argue, of course, that Zinfandel came “of age” a long time ago – when wine lovers first began to embrace it wholeheartedly as one of the great varietals of the wine world. But as wine lovers’ appreciation of nuances –especially those related to individual vineyard distinctions – have begun to grow, so has the appreciation of heritage vineyards. This may not keep each and every ancient planting, declining in production, from being pulled out for real and practical reasons. But if anything is going to save them, it’s going to be consumer demand: the willingness to pay more for Zinfandels from vineyards that cost more to maintain.
On the aesthetic side, no longer do Zinfandels need to be “big,” or the opposite of “wimpy,” to be noticed. They just need to be true to their place of origin; or perhaps better, always go great with barbecue!
The featured blog article was first published online at lodiwine.com and is republished here with the permission of ZAP ( Zinfandel Advocates & Producers) and the author, Randy Caparoso, a long time friend of this web site, Wines.com.
Randy Caparoso is a multi-award winning sommelier and restaurateur, founding partner, Roy’s Restaurants and longtime wine journalist, including Sommelier Journal, The Tasting Panel Magazine, San Joaquin Magazine and lodiwine.com. Randy covers the entire West Coast from his home base in the middle of a 50-year old Lodi Zinfandel vineyard.
Caparoso in the recipient of many industry awards, including recognition by the Academy of Wine Communications for Excellence in Wine Writing and Encouragement of Higher Industry Standards, and he is an Electoral College Member for the Vintners Hall of Fame at the Culinary Institute of America, Greystone.
Randy’s blog, Culinary Wine & Food Adventures is one of our favorites. He writes about wine strictly from the perspective of food. To him, wine is a food like a rose is a rose, and his words bring clarity to this concept in new, delicious ways.
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OutreachA schools and community outreach program of practical art workshops is offered through TMAG’s AccessArt program.
Outreach programs support schools and community organisations to facilitate high-quality art education experiences by bringing TMAG’s specialist program delivery staff, tailored programs and resources into host organisations around Tasmania. These programs are offered free-of-charge, and priority is given to schools, communities and organisations that face social, economic or geographic challenges to accessing the State Collection at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery in Hobart.
Each outreach program is tailored to the needs of participants and programs are designed in consultation with client organisations. A professional development component is often incorporated into these programs to assist staff at the host organisation with providing ongoing art education.
Outreach programs require a minimum of two months lead time, for further information please contact the Coordinator of Art Education:
Phone: (03) 6211 4177
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Boeing's global fleet of 787 Dreamliners has been taken out of service after U.S. regulators said they were not safe to fly until a fire risk linked to the aircraft's batteries has been resolved.
With 787s already grounded by heavy users Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered all U.S.-based Dreamliners out of service.
United Airlines, which is the only U.S. carrier flying Dreamliners, said it would pull the aircraft from service, as did Air India, Chile's LAN, Qatar Airways and LOT Polish Airlines.
Ethiopian Airlines' regional manager in South Africa, Yohannes Teklu, told CNN it had also grounded its four Dreamliners.
Boeing shares were barely higher after falling 3.4% on Wednesday. Shares had been resilient in the face of this month's negative publicity over the Dreamliner.
"Before further flight, operators of U.S.-registered, Boeing 787 aircraft must demonstrate to the Federal Aviation Administration that the batteries are safe and in compliance," the FAA said Wednesday. The agency added that it had alerted authorities in other countries to the problem.
Boeing CEO Jim McNerney said in a statement that the company "is committed to supporting the FAA and finding answers as quickly as possible," and is working "around the clock" to address the issue.
"We will be taking every necessary step in the coming days to assure our customers and the traveling public of the 787's safety, and to return the airplanes to service," McNerney said.
Boeing said the batteries in question are made by Japan's GS Yuasa, under a subcontract to France-based Thales.
Kyoto-based GS Yuasa said it had dispatched a team to Washington to help in the investigation -- a task that Hiroharu Nakano, a GS Yuasa spokesman, said should take at least several weeks to complete.
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MSDE has received a federal Race To the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) grant under a program that is co-managed by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Maryland is one of only nine states awarded the grant. Click here for details about the grant award.
NOTE: The Maryland EXCELS program now has its own home page on the DECD website – click here!
New! Maryland EXCELS Video - Learn how Maryland’s new Quality Rating and Improvement System, Maryland EXCELS, supports the needs of families and recognizes the accomplishments of high-quality early childhood and school-age programs. Maryland EXCELS opens for statewide participation on July 1, 2013. Click here to download a video about Maryland EXCELS!
NEW! The MSDE Division of Early Childhood Development has completed a draft of the Early Learning Standards for the Social Foundations Domain. Click here for information about the draft standards and how to submit comments on them. Comments will be accepted through May 15th.
NEW! The MSDE Division of Early Childhood Development has completed the MSDE Standards for Implementing Quality School-Age Child Care Programs. Click here to go to a Division blogsite where you can review the instrument and provide feedback.
Join the Division of Early Childhood’s List Serve to receive notifications of Partners Newsletter publication, child care licensing regulation changes and important notices for the early childhood and school-age child care community at http://listsrv.msde.state.md.us. Select "EARLY CHILDHOOD" from the list and follow the instructions to subscribe.
Online Child Care Licensing Inspection Findings - MSDE has an online child care licensing inspection results site – www.CheckCCMD.org! The site offers detailed compliance findings from child care licensing inspections conducted since January 2011, as well as links to a wide range of information about early care and education in Maryland.
Register your program at Let’s Move! Child Care and do your part to create a healthier Maryland. “The risk of obesity starts early in life. Over half of obese children become overweight by the age of 2, and approximately one in five children are overweight or obese by their 6th birthday.” – The White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity. Get the support you need to give the children in your care a healthier start. Click here to register.
The MSDE Division of Early Childhood Development (DECD) has finalized its 3-year
On January 20, 2012, the MSDE Division of Early Childhood Development presented its 1st Early Childhood Research Forum on the Towson University campus. Click here to read all about this unique and energizing event.
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I wonder if there is a Hitler day ...
That is the reason he is a hero. Either way you have to sit down and ask yourself what would i have done to the white man.
People can argue about the bombings and terrorist activities but those same people i would imagine have very little idea what the blacks went through. Both sides were bad but when the blacks came to power with mandela as their leader he never wanted revenge. Bloody hero if you ask me.
entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem
It still would have costed him nothing to say sorry... when he could. It only means that he has no real remorse for what he ordered to be done (or did himself) even if it had to be done to cause change. A man who has truly reached peace will had to stopped at a time and come to terms for all his actions not just those he want to, because of what has been done.
It takes little or nothing to be sorry for what you have done, in fact imho it would have truly attested to his jesushood. I have nothing against him part this and all those who just runs along with the song of the piper. One should be careful of whom he makes a messiah...
Last edited by Pr⊕phet; 17-07-2012 at 03:16 PM.
"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown" - H.P. Lovecraft
History is told by the victor - Captain John Price, Modern Warfare 2
So that being said, history is not necessarily the truth
Sometimes I talk to myself if I feel like having an intelligent conversation.
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Research in Music
Research in Music at Otago is an exciting array, representing the strengths and diversity of our staff and students, who come from all over New Zealand and the world.
In New Zealand universities the results of research in music are shared in different ways: through books and articles, and also through compositions and musical performances and recordings.
Our staff are involved across the range of research activity, from community music to music technology, from classical music and contemporary music performance to conducting.
We also house the New Zealand Music Industry Research Centre (NZMiC).
Research in Music at Otago takes a number of forms:
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Cargo volume at the port of Baltimore grew 15 percent last year, the largest increase of any major U.S. port, state officials announced Monday.
The port's public and private terminals moved 37.8 million tons of goods from cars to coal in 2011. It all was valued at more than $51.4 billion, a 24 percent increase over 2010.
"The port is leading the pack," said James White, executive director of the Maryland Port Administration.
Longshoremen at the six public terminals managed by the administration set volume records in processing autos, wood pulp and containers. The export coal volume at the port's private terminals surged 38.5 percent to 19.2 million tons in 2011. Those facilities also exported 20.4 million tons of other cargo, a 39 percent increase.
"The port has been able to endure tough economic times and demonstrate levels of success even greater than other ports thanks to long-term contracts with major shipping companies, unique job-creating business partnerships, and shrewd infrastructure investments," Gov. Martin O'Malley said in a statement.
Last year for the first time, Baltimore was ranked No. 1 in the nation in handling cars, a goal set in 1996 "that took us some time to get there, but we did it," White said. "We processed 551,000 autos."
In 2005, Mercedes-Benz signed a 20-year lease with the Maryland Port Administration for its waterfront vehicle-processing center. Baltimore is Mercedes' busiest U.S. port, with 125,000 vehicles imported annually. In 2010, BMW signed a five-year agreement to ship 50,000 cars through Baltimore.
In December, one of the world's largest container companies chose Baltimore over other East Coast cities as its first U.S. stop for direct shipping from Northern Europe after a long courtship by Maryland officials and private business leaders. The first ship from the Hapag-Lloyd AG fleet arrived in February, a connection that is expected to increase the port's container traffic by roughly 10 percent.
"It's all about making contacts and following through, building trust and a relationship," White said.
In 2011, Baltimore was ranked 11th among 360 U.S. ports for dollar value of cargo and 12th for tonnage, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics. Businesses at the port are responsible for 14,630 jobs, $3 billion in wages and $300 million in state and local taxes, state officials said.
White said he hopes to build on the auto and other roll-on/roll-off businesses and expects to pick up more container traffic after the expanded Panama Canal opens in 2014. The four super-sized cranes that will move cargo from the larger post-Panamax ships have left China and will be assembled at Seagirt Marine Terminal this summer.
He acknowledged that other ports will try to pry business away from here, but added that with the help of the International Longshoremen's Association and the state's business and political leaders, Baltimore will prevail.
"I don't look at other ports and wonder how we can keep them from taking away our business," White said. "I look at our business and ask myself how we can do better so they don't want to leave."
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C'est la mere Michel arranged by Armelle Cocheril. For piano with lyrics. This edition: French Edition. Comptines Collection. Comptine (Counting Rhyme). 3. Sheet music. 2 pages. Published by Editions Bourges (BU.EBR-058).
About Comptines Collection
The Comptines collection consists of transcriptions of children's songs and traditional songs for the Piano, along with lyrics. These music sheets are made by a teaching staff gathering several piano teachers. They are graduated in levels of difficulty (from 1 to 9). The music sheets are printed on rigid paper of great quality and are conditioned in a small plastic pocket.
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ELLSWORTH, Maine — Municipalities, businesses and even homeowners will be happy to know the market for natural gas in eastern Maine, and beyond, is about to get a lot more competitive.
For years, the most practical way for a community to bring natural gas — renowned as a low-cost alternative to crude oil or electrical heat — to its residents and businesses was to extend a pipeline from the existing Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline. That’s fine for communities near the line, but access grows exponentially more expensive the farther away the customer.
Now, a Massachusetts-based company is poised to extend natural gas access to municipalities and industries far removed from the pipeline by delivering compressed natural gas by truck.
Xpress Natural Gas won approval from the Maine Public Utilities Commission to build a compressed natural gas facility in Baileyville in Washington County. The company said that from that point, truckloads of compressed natural gas can be delivered to towns and businesses.
“This holds the promise of opening up gas for a lot of Maine,” said Matt Smith, executive vice president of sales and marketing for XNG. “Compressed gas is a solution for places where it’s not cost-effective to run a pipe.”
Compressed natural gas is essentially the inverse of liquid natural gas. With the liquid product, gas is cooled to cryogenic levels, lower than minus-238 degrees, but is pressure neutral, and expensive equipment is necessary to use the fuel.
Compressed gas is stored at room temperature, but under high pressure. And there’s no need for the costly machinery required to store and use its frigid counterpart.
“It’s basically like a large scuba tank,” Smith said, noting the technology has been used in Maine for years, including the Metro bus system in Portland. His company has been providing compressed natural gas by truck to paper and tissue mills in Maine for about two years.
Smith said the company is proud of its record of success with the mills, which require about five times more natural gas than an average Maine town.
“I think our ability to stand up a paper mill without tripping is what will give towns the confidence that we could bring up their system without disruption,” he said Friday.
Bangor Gas Co. — which currently provides natural gas to parts of Bangor, Brewer, Veazie, Orono, Old Town and other Bangor-area communities — also plans to build the state’s first public compressed natural gas station on Maine Avenue in Bangor.
But that facility is of a much smaller scale than the one being built in Baileyville. The Bangor station, which will be open to the small number of private vehicles that run on natural gas, will be used mostly to fuel the city and company’s fleet of natural gas-powered vehicles.
“The facility in Bangor is a lower-pressure, smaller scale,” said PUC Chairman Tom Welch. “It does appear that the XNG facility is a little more expansive in what markets it can serve.”
Bangor Gas Co. was closed Friday, and representatives were unavailable for comment.
Smith said the company is engaged in preliminary conversations with about a dozen municipalities in Maine interested in trucked natural gas. A town opting for this delivery method would build an isolated pipeline to service its community, which would be replenished by XNG in regular deliveries. Smith claimed trucked natural gas will save the average customer 25-30 percent compared to fuel oil.
There are no plans in the works, yet, to deliver compressed gas to isolated residential customers, Smith said, because it’s not yet cost-effective for the company.
But there’s already a growing interest from some towns in Hancock County for natural gas solutions that don’t involve a pipeline. Bucksport, after years of fruitless negotiations with Bangor Gas to extend a pipeline into town, admitted recently that it is “pursuing other options” if plans with the Bangor utility continue to flounder. One of those options is XNG, said Town Manager Mike Brennan on Friday.
And Ellsworth is in the early stages of exploring possibilities for bringing natural gas to the city, which Economic Development Director Micki Sumpter said is crucial to attracting businesses. The city’s go-to engineering firm, Woodard & Curran, gave a presentation on natural gas at the last City Council meeting. Compressed natural gas was one option on the table.
Sumpter said she suspects that with Ellsworth’s municipal, residential and commercial core so far away from the pipeline, trucked natural gas may be the most cost-effective option.
Xpress Natural Gas still must get one more round of PUC approval before it can begin filling trucks, but Welch said he didn’t expect any regulatory hiccups. If everything goes according to plan, the company says it could have its first off-pipeline municipal operation up and running next year.
Welch, the PUC chairman, said that trucked natural gas may not be competitive in areas already served by the pipeline. A trucking infrastructure will always be slightly more expensive than pumping gas directly into a home or business, if both options are available.
But the option of trucking will surely be alluring to potential customers far from the pipeline.
“This does introduce some competition,” he said. “It’s very encouraging to see the creativity people are bringing to the market in Maine.”
Follow Mario Moretto on Twitter at @riocarmine.
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|A map of the copper and iron ore ranges of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. One of many maps and illustrations contained within this special issue Gazette.|
The geographic location and period of operation made it a perfect fit for Mid-Continentís mission of preserving the equipment from those railroads which operated in the upper Midwest from 1880 to 1916. And when the opportunity arose in 1963 to acquire Copper Range combination car No. 25 for our newly established passenger service in North Freedom, the museumís leadership had an easy decision to make.
Copper Range coach No. 60 became part of Mid-Continentís collection in 1982. Its restoration by museum members was completed in 2003 and it has been on display in our Coach Shed since that time.
One year later Copper Range steam locomotive No. 29 was acquired in a trade, giving Mid-Continent the opportunity to eventually create a complete Copper Range passenger train once all three pieces have been fully restored.
|Historical photos provide a glimpse of life along the Copper Range Railroad. Several pieces of railroad equipment captured in these images, like the 2-8-0 steam locomotive #29 pictured here in 1945, would later come into Mid-Continent's collection.|
The acquisition of No. 29 also brought into our organization George A. Forero, Jr., a new member, who had served as a fireman on board the locomotive during its final years of operation as the steam motive power for a tourist rail operation known as the Keweenaw Central. His interest in the history of the Copper Range Railroad presented us with the content we needed to publish a second special edition Mid-Continent Railway Gazette in order to follow-up on our success with the Iron Mining Gazette published in 2003.
|A sample page from the issue showing the Copper Range Railroad's Houghton roundhouse during its heyday and again in the railroad's waning years.|
Once again Paul Swanson, volunteer editor and member, did a great job of encouraging other museum members to share their knowledge and private photograph collections to supplement Foreroís text. Chief among them was Clint Jones, a long-time Mid-Continent member who also managed that Michigan tourist railroad operation and ran No. 29 during those final years. Most of the photos in this attractive and informative magazine are from Clintís private collection.
This second special edition Gazette has proven to be our most popular. Copies are available as a result of a decision to do a second printing after the first one sold out. You can purchase your own copy of the Copper Range Railroad special edition Mid-Continent Railway Gazette the next time you are in our gift shop or by clicking through to our webstore.
All webstore purchases support Mid-Continentís mission of preserving a unique aspect of railroad history. We are extremely grateful for your participation in this way.
Don't miss out on any further issues by becoming a museum member! A subscription to the Mid-Continent Railway Gazette is one of numerous benefits of membership to the Mid-Continent Railway Historical Society.
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by Carl C. Holmes
Great debate has taken place in the past few years
about the decrease in crime statistics. Some say that crime is down because of "three
strike" laws and greatly enhanced prison terms. Others say that crime is down because
of a simple change in demographics. Whatever the argument, hard evidence suggests our
society is solving its "crime problem" by locking up poor people in alarming
It has been said that a civilized society is best
measured by how it treats the poor. If such is the case, we Americans are abject failures.
Nationwide over 20% of our children live in poverty. In Los Angeles 30% of all children
For these impoverished children, death is 1.5 to 3 times
more likely than for their affluent counterparts. They are 2.7 times more likely to suffer
stunted growth, and twice as likely to suffer serious physical or mental disabilities. For
ages 3 and older, poor children are likely to score between 11-25 percentiles lower on
achievement tests. If thats not enough, the level of illiteracy among our poor is a
What produces these horrible effects of poverty? Is it
lack of family bonds? Low IQs, lack of appropriate parenting? According to the Children
Defense Fund, which has collected and studied this data for over a decade: "Recent
academic studies demonstrate that the effects of poverty cannot be explained away as mere
side effects of single parenthood, race, parents low IQs or lack of education."
To the contrary, poverty itself spawns this waste and desolation.
If poverty were a disease it would be the most insidious,
devastating, and life threatening disease that Americans suffer. The poor suffer not just
economically, but they also suffer lack of opportunity, lack of education, lack of health
care, and significantly more violence than others better situated in the community. They
suffer higher disease rates, death rates and imprisonment than their affluent brethren.
They are imprisoned at much higher rates and they are executed for capital crimes more
often than any other group. In fact, they are almost the exclusive recipients of the death
And though white Americans constitute the majority of the
impoverished population, minorities are likely to be over represented in this population.
Though it is true that minority status in this country will not necessarily make you poor,
if there were a formula for a "poor quotient," minority status would be the
heaviest contributor. Historically, this has been true for almost every minority in
America and includes African Americans, Italian Americans, Jewish Americans, Irish
Americans, Asian Americans, and Latino Americans.
Unfortunately, Census data strongly supports the idea
that racial and ethnic status are connected with poverty. According to U.S. Census figures
20.5 percent of all children under age 18 were poor
11.1 percent of White children were poor
39.9 percent of Black children were poor
40.3 percent of Hispanic children were poor and
19.5 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander children were poor
If poor people are more likely to commit crime, and if
minorities are more likely to be poor, are they also more likely to commit crime?
Deductive reasoning would say so. Data produced by prosecutors tends to confirm this
notion. This is another of the cruel and devastating effects of poverty.
In Washington D.C. and Los Angeles more than 30% of young
black men are in jail, on probation, or on parole for the commission of crime. The vast
majority of these young men are poor. African American and Hispanic communities have
understandably become alarmed. Concerned community leaders complain that entire
generations of young minority men are being put at risk by incarceration.
There is good reason to fear that minority men are
severely at risk in the criminal justice system. 71% of all "3 strike" offenders
in California prisons are African Americans or Latino Americans. What is worse, these men
are all serving 25 to life sentences. Unbelievably, many of these men are serving these
life sentences for petty theft and minor drug offenses. Offenses such as these are common
among the poor. So common in fact that minority people suffer imprisonment wildly
disproportional to their numbers in the general population.
For example, while previous studies have shown that
African Americans and white Americans use drugs at about the same rate, African Americans
are charged at nearly five times the rate of whites, and in "3 strikes" cases at
17 times the rates of whites in Los Angeles.
Alex Schiraldi, Director of the Center for Juvenile and
Criminal Justice made this astute and somewhat caustic observation about the
disproportionate prosecution of African Americans and other minorities for drug use:
"If you sent the police into white neighborhoods
with the same concentration, you would draw a much different conclusion".."I am
not accusing judges or District Attorneys of being Ku Klux Klan members
I am talking
about a subtler form of institutional racism. And the difference to me is that if four in
10 young white men were under the control of the criminal justice system, we could not be
passing "three strikes" laws or building more prisons, we would be funding
education, jobs and drug treatment."
Minorities are treated differently in the courts. They
are viewed with suspicion, they are held in custody longer, they are presumed guilty,
their defense is poorly funded compared to the prosecution, and they are often treated
abusively by the people who are charged with enforcing our laws.
In August and September of 1993 a survey was conducted by
a private consulting firm which had been commissioned by the California Judicial
Councils Advisory Committee on Racial and ethnic bias in the Courts
committee appointed by Chief Justice Malcom Lucas. Here are some of the findings:
In a survey of 1,338 members of the public on a scale of
1-10 for "fairness," the public rated the California courts at 5.3. In the same
survey Blacks gave the courts a 4.0 rating for fairness. Strong majorities of Blacks,
Indians, and Hispanics, felt that a minority defendant will be treated more harshly than a
white defendant for a crime against a white victim.
But of 828 judges, lawyers and court employees, lawyers
gave the courts only a 3.5 rating in fairness to minorities. More than 4/5ths of the
judges in the same survey were white and they gave themselves a 7.7 rating on fairness.
In this same survey, lawyers were more than twice as
likely as judges to agree with statements that minority lawyers are often treated as
second-class professionals by judges; that judges tend to favor the prosecutor over the
public defender in cases involving minority defendants, and that judges and prosecutors
are members of an "old boy" network that excludes minorities.
Even though we are the most affluent country in the
world, we continue to commit a greater proportion of our citizens to prison than any other
civilized country. The vast majority of these people are poor.
In the past several decades we have increased punishment
for hundreds of crimes. We increased punishments for drug use, theft, burglary, robbery,
rape, and car jacking. You name the behavior. We increased the punishment.
We enacted new laws; 3 strike laws, one-strike laws, and
career criminal laws. For good measure, we increased the number of crimes allowing life
sentences and death penalties. We became punishment delirious. We doubled the number of
people in prison but did very little to stop serious crime. And who are the people going
to jail for these newly enhanced crimes? You have seen the data. Poor people are going to
If crime is on the decrease, someone neglected to talk to
the caretakers of our prison system. Prison population in California is about 160,000 and
is over twice the prison population in 1987. Most of these inmates are poor minorities and
So, even though it is very clear that our criminal
justice system is broken, and many within the system have lost confidence in it, we keep
chasing the same solutions. More punishment for longer terms seems to be our only
response. Why do we persist in addressing the symptoms rather than the causes? I believe
because we have sufficiently isolated the poor who are not like "us", and
sufficiently demeaned them, that we have become indifferent to their plight. It is a
matter of insensitivity and arrogance. It is our arrogance. We are more concerned about
our status, our houses, our cars and our vacations than we are about taking care of each
Our unwillingness or inability to educate ourselves about
poverty and do something about it is astounding. Our failure in this regard, may
ultimately be very destructive to our democracy. There is already a perception in this
country that giving up a few Constitutional rights is a fair exchange for personal safety.
There are other less drastic solutions however; solutions
which do not exact increasingly severe jail sentences, solutions that do not further
isolate poor minorities, but solutions which reach the causes of poverty and crime.
60s icon, Angela Davis, noting the alarming rates
of imprisonment of young black men, and the need for new solutions said this; "Prison
should not be the catch all solution to all of the social problems that we have from
mental illness to homelessness, to lack of health care, to the lack of
education....Were saying we need different kinds of institutions. We need drug
programs that are accessible from the street and that are free. We need better
schools. We need schools that dont look and function like prisons."
Ms. Davis is on the right track. We know drug courts
work. In countless communities across the country, drug users are being rehabilitated. We
know feeding pre-school children works. We know that education and health care make a
So, before we destroy ourselves in our quest for personal
safety and protection from street violence, we should reflect on this observation by
" There is another kind of violence, slower but
just as deadly destructive as the shot or the bomb in the night. This is the violence of
institutions: indifference and inaction and slow decay. This is the violence that afflicts
the poor, that poisons relations between men because their skins have different colors.
This is the slow destruction of a child by hunger, and schools without books and homes
without heat in the winter."
We as lawyers need to challenge indifference, the poison
of racism, and the devastation of poverty. We have a unique opportunity to refocus our
society on these issues. We need to insist on meaningful dialogue on the important issues
relating to poverty and its effects. We need to challenge prosecutors, judges and
legislators to find new solutions. We need to challenge ourselves.
[Top of page][Back to Previous Page]
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Copyright © 1999 - 2002 Orange County Public Defender. All Rights Reserved.
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Striker Ray Kennedy was a pivotal member of the 1970/71 Double-winning side.
A former sweet factory worker, Kennedy famously headed home the title-clinching goal at White Hart Lane in 1971.
|Arsenal Career||1968 - 1974|
|Appearances||212 (206 starts, 6 as a sub)|
He joined as an apprentice from New Hartley Juniors in May 1968 before turning professional six months later.
The striker made his senior debut as a substitute in the Fairs Cup against Glentoran in September 1969 - the competition in which he would later have a significant impact.
Arsenal reached the two-legged final that season and, trailing 3-0 in the first leg to Anderlecht, Kennedy headed a late goal which would prove crucial. The Gunners won the trophy on aggregate with a 3-0 victory at Highbury six days later.
Kennedy had scarcely played that season but was a huge part of the 1970/71 campaign in which Arsenal claimed league and FA Cup honours.
He finished as Arsenal's top scorer the following campaign with 19 goals but could not help the Gunners avoid defeat to Leeds in the 1972 FA Cup final.
Kennedy moved to Liverpool in 1974 and changed position from striker to midfielder. He won 10 major honours in six years on Merseyside.
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Focus trade on emerging markets, Carney urges
Last Updated: Friday, June 18, 2010 | 2:04 PM NT
Canada must shift its trade focus toward emerging economies, Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney told East Coast oil executives on Friday.
Canada has long been dependent on the nearby U.S. economy to drive exports. But emerging markets account for two-thirds of global growth and are key engines of the worldwide economic recovery, Carney said.
The central bank head said in St. John's that countries such as China, India and Brazil are becoming growing centres of economic power. Their rapidly growing economies also have a big impact on the price of oil, metals and other commodities, the motors of Canada's resources economy.
Carney said that slow growth in the United States and ongoing economic restructuring in North American industry means Canadian companies have to find new global markets to thrive and grow.
Carney made the remarks to the Newfoundland and Labrador Oil and Gas Industries Association.
The text of his speech was very similar to one he gave a Halifax audience earlier this week, in which he warned of a coming "age of austerity" as governments and citizens the world over struggle to bring down debt levels.
On Friday, he took the opportunity to again bang the drum on productivity — Canada's low rate being a frequent source of angst for central bankers and economists.
Productivity fell in the latest recession, the first time this has happened in three decades, Carney noted.
"Despite the availability of capital, relatively strong balance sheets and improving economic conditions, business investment has been subdued compared with past downturns," Carney said.
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On May 21, 2000, at 1150 central daylight time, a Piper PA-31T1 twin-engine airplane, N301TA, was substantially damaged when it taxied into a parked airplane on the ramp at the William P. Hobby Airport near Houston, Texas. The private pilot and the two passengers were not injured. The aircraft was owned by TAR Air Corporation, of Bedford, Massachusetts, and was leased to the pilot. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an IFR flight plan was filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The proposed destination for the cross-country flight was Lufkin, Texas. Use your browsers 'back' function to return to synopsisReturn to Query Page
According to the 2,600-hour pilot, the parking brake was set, the left engine was running, and he was starting the right engine. After the right engine started, the pilot checked the engine instruments. The pilot was unaware that the airplane was moving forward on the ramp. According to witness statements, the airplane traveled approximately 75 feet, and the right engine impacted the propeller of a parked, unoccupied Beech Bonanza single-engine airplane, N9968P.
According to the pilot and the FAA inspector, who examined the airplane, the parking brake was not completely engaged. The right engine's outboard lower mount was pulled from the firewall and the left side of the firewall was buckled.
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TREASURY INSPECTOR GENERAL
FOR TAX ADMINISTRATION
OPPORTUNITIES EXIST TO IDENTIFY UNREPORTED TAXES FROM EMPLOYER'S QUARTERLY FEDERAL TAX RETURNS
Reference No. 2000-30-146
There are significant unresolved differences between the tax information employers reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the information they reported to the Social Security Administration (SSA). These discrepancies bring in to question the accuracy of many Employerís Quarterly Federal Tax Returns (Form 941), including taxes employers are reporting and paying to the IRS as well as refunds they are receiving.
Employers file Forms 941 with the IRS when they pay wages subject to income tax withholding, social security, and Medicare taxes. There were approximately 23 million Forms 941 filed in Tax Year (TY) 1998. Of these Forms 941, nearly 1.5 million resulted in refunds totaling approximately $1.5 billion. The payment of employment taxes accounts for over $500 billion of the federal budget and is a large part of our voluntary tax system.
We conducted this audit to identify ways the IRS can improve its compliance efforts to help ensure accurate reporting of employment tax information on Forms 941.
The IRS can increase compliance efforts and identify potential unreported taxes from Forms 941 by using data received from the SSA and from the Forms 941 themselves. We believe that there is a unique opportunity under the new Small Business/Self-Employed Division and Large and Mid-Size Business Division for the IRS to focus its compliance efforts to ensure accurate reporting of employment tax information on Forms 941.
The Internal Revenue Service Can Identify Potential Unreported Taxes by Using Available Data
The IRS can use data it receives from the SSA and from Forms 941 to identify potential unreported taxes in the following two areas.
The 491 employers we identified potentially claimed nearly $300,000 more in advanced EIC on Forms 941 than on Forms W-2. Employers can deduct a dollar-for-dollar credit against their Form 941 taxes for advanced EIC payments made to their employees. While only 1 percent of employers claimed advanced EIC on their Forms 941, these employers received 19 percent of the Form 941 refund dollars issued by the IRS.
The IRS has not focused its efforts to ensure the accurate reporting of employment tax information on Forms 941. Some examples include:
Limited compliance efforts combined with the results of our tests indicate there is a high risk of unreported employment taxes and erroneous refunds.
Summary of Recommendation
We recommend that the Commissioners of the Small Business/Self-Employed Division and the Large and Mid-Size Business Division, and the Chief, Criminal Investigation, increase Form 941 compliance efforts. We believe that under the new IRS Business Divisions, the CAWR program and the Examination function can work together to ensure that employment tax information is accurately reported on Forms 941. The CI should follow through with its plan to expand its involvement in employer-based refund fraud schemes.
The IRS should initially focus on the 491 employers identified in our review that received refunds on TY 1998 Forms 941. These taxpayers potentially reported significantly less wages and more advanced EIC on their Forms 941 than they reported on their Forms W-2. If these efforts identify significant noncompliance, additional compliance efforts could include reviewing all taxpayers that report significantly less wages on their Forms 941 than they report on Forms W-2.
Managementís Response: Managementís response was due on September 11, 2000. As of September 12, 2000, management had not responded to this draft report.
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New Edition's early, Jackson 5-inspired material made them the forerunners of two generations of teen pop (most of which was geared to white audiences). As they matured and progressed, they laid much of the groundwork for the fusion of hip-hop and R&B known as new jack swing. In fact, after New Edition drifted apart, all of its members had at least some significant success outside the group as part of the new jack movement, which helped ensure that their original incarnation would be remembered for much more than the bubblegum urban soul that made their name.
New Edition was formed in the Roxbury section of Boston, MA, by Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, and Bobby Brown, who began singing together in 1978 while still in elementary school, hoping to perform for pocket cash. They eventually recruited friend Ralph Tresvant as a fourth member, and after winning a talent show in 1980, also added Ronnie DeVoe. More talent show victories followed, including a prestigious gig at the local Strand Theater, where they performed the Jackson 5's "The Love You Save." They were discovered by writer/producer/impresario Maurice Starr, who signed the group to his small Streetwise label in hopes of launching a Jackson 5 phenomenon for the '80s. "Candy Girl," a song Starr co-wrote for the group, was released as their first single in 1983, when the members ranged in age from 13 to 15. Despite a lack of major-label interest in the group, "Candy Girl" was a smash, topping the R&B charts. Their debut album, also titled Candy Girl, spawned two more R&B hits in "Popcorn Love" and "Is This the End?," and MCA offered the group a deal. Starr, however, wanted the group to remain with Streetwise; New Edition summarily fired him as their manager and signed with MCA. Starr attempted to sue the group for their name, unsuccessfully claiming that "New Edition" actually referred to a whole new style of pop music he'd created. Starr, of course, would go on to strike it rich with a similar concept, assembling a quintet of white teenagers he dubbed New Kids on the Block.
New Edition, meanwhile, released their eponymous MCA debut in 1984 and scored their biggest pop hit with the Top Five smash "Cool It Now," which ended with a short rap section. The Ray Parker, Jr.-penned "Mr. Telephone Man" soon became their third R&B chart-topper, and the group had reached full-fledged teen idol status. Yet they were growing up fast, as demonstrated on their next album, 1985's All for Love. Not only were their voices changing, but their material was becoming more adult, with harder-edged funk and more mature romantic ballads. Later that year, they also released a holiday album, Christmas All Over the World, and struck an endorsement deal with Coke. However, rumors of Brown's growing dissatisfaction proved true and he left for a solo career in 1986. Temporarily down to a quartet, the rest of the group recorded the covers album Under the Blue Moon, a set of vintage doo wop and R&B numbers from the '50s and '60s; it produced a hit revival of the Penguins' "Earth Angel."
Brown's replacement came in the form of Johnny Gill, a deep-voiced friend of the group who'd been recording as a solo artist without much luck. Gill made his debut on the 1989 album Heart Break, which found New Edition working with star producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The move paid immediate dividends, as they scored several R&B hits from the album, including the number one "Can You Stand the Rain." Meanwhile, Brown had become a superstar with his second album, the new jack swing landmark Don't Be Cruel. Feeling vindicated by Heart Break, New Edition split up to work on other projects. Gill returned to his solo career, with considerably more success this time around, and Tresvant also went solo. The remainder of the group teamed as Bell Biv DeVoe and wound up having greater success than anyone save Brown; their debut album, Poison, was another new jack style-setter and Bivins' interest in developing new talent gave Boyz II Men their big break.
By the mid-'90s, new jack swing was giving way to new fusions of hip-hop and soul that were alternately more organic or aggressive. Although their status as innovators was secure, many of the New Edition splinter acts had a hard time keeping up and maintaining their career momentum. Thus, given their individually positive reputations, it made sense for the group to announce its triumphant reunion, with all six members participating in what was essentially an R&B supergroup. The public loved the idea; when the comeback album Home Again was finally released in 1996, it debuted at number one, and the first single, "Hit Me Off," was a smash, hitting number one on the R&B charts. The follow-up, "I'm Still in Love With You," was another big hit, and the group embarked on a blockbuster tour that, while popular, found relationships between some of the members fraying. After the tour, New Edition returned to their various prior projects, with the prospect of any future reunions looking dim. Those prospects increased significantly when it was learned that P. Diddy had signed the group to his Bad Boy label for the release of another comeback, 2004's One Love. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
Click here to search songs by New Edition
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For 25 years, the military defined Kelly Frazier’s life9:15 am | October 9, 2012
By Nick Shepherd Star Correspondent
As Kelly “Joe” Frazier approached the checkpoint, his convoy stopped.
The convoy was heading north from Kuwait on its way to deliver supplies to troops in Iraq, but an Improvised Explosive Device had been spotted by the scout vehicle. Frazier, as the company’s commander, called the convoy to a stop while preparations were made to set-off the IED.
Another unit was in the same area. For an unknown reason, the other unit drove right over the IED and detonated the device. The explosion blew the vehicle’s doors off.
“It also signaled to the enemy to start their ambush,” Frazier said. “It started with small arms but soon a couple of RPGs were fired.”
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Lovely allotments situated in a tranquil country setting close to Douglas in County Cork. Grow your own vegetables, fruit and herbs. Experience the fun, fulfillment and health benefits of growing your own fresh produce.
Posts Tagged ‘Cork City’
Amberley Allotments allows you to reinvent the skills of your forefathers through growing your own vegetables, fruit and flowers. The other idea behind setting up Amberley Allotments was, besides growing your own, to create a community where people exchange seeds, plants and advice and a have a bit of craic! Amberley Allotments are situated in Rochestown and are convenient to everyone who lives at that side of the Cork city.
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All Tech Considered
Fri June 22, 2012
Tesla's New Electric Sedan: Five Passengers, 89 MPG, And No Engine
Originally published on Fri June 22, 2012 10:46 am
The Tesla electric car company has high hopes for its new Model S, which it calls "the world's first premium electric sedan." The new car, which is being delivered to customers Friday, is priced at around half the cost of the only other Tesla model, the svelte, two-door Roadster.
The new car's sticker price starts around $57,000; a $7,500 federal tax credit drops the starting price just below $50,000. But like its gas-powered cousins, this electric vehicle has so many options available that its price can soar to near $100,000.
"It's certainly not mass market by General Motors or Toyota standards," Edmunds.com senior analyst Michelle Krebs tells Morning Edition co-host Renee Montagne. "Tesla says they're going to make 5,000 of these this year, and then increase the production next year. So it still really is a niche vehicle."
The base model's battery can be upgraded from a capacity of 40 kilowatt-hours to either 60 or 85 kwh. According to Tesla, the performance version of the Model S can propel itself from a standing start to 60 miles per hour in 4.4 seconds.
Those larger batteries also bring the ability to drive farther on a single charge — about 265 miles, says the Environmental Protection Agency, which beats all other electric vehicles on the market. The EPA performed its tests with an 85 kwh version of the car, with an estimated sticker price of about $70,000.
Expressed in the EPA's "miles per gallon equivalent" used for electric vehicles, the Model S gets a combined 89 mpg — which the federal agency equates to about $700 in annual fuel costs, if you drive 15,000 miles in a year.
In the cabin, a Wi-Fi-capable 17-inch touch screen is mounted on the central dashboard to the right of the steering wheel. Its display options include a running tally of the car's consumption and real-time data on miles remaining.
"There is what's called in the industry 'range anxiety,' " Krebs says. "And that's where people are leaning more towards hybrids and plug-in hybrids, because it eases that worry."
As the Model S hits the streets, the California-based Tesla finds itself in an improving car market — sales projections for new vehicles in 2012 now stand close to 12 million, according to a new report by J.D. Power and Associates.
And Krebs tells Montagne that by Edmunds.com's count of electric and hybrid vehicles, "50,000 were sold in the month of March."
But there's a danger that the market's momentum might leave Tesla in its dust — because so far, at least, demand for electric and hybrid cars has moved in lockstep with gasoline prices. And over the past few months, gas prices have fallen.
Sales of electric and hybrid vehicles peaked at 4.6 percent of the market in April, when gas prices were higher, according to J.D. Power. That number has now fallen to 3.4 percent.
Speaking with shareholders earlier this month, Tesla founder Elon Musk — whose enterprises also include PayPal and SpaceX — reportedly told investors that the company had taken deposits from more than 10,000 customers for the Model S. He also said that Tesla needs to sell about 8,000 of the cars to break even, according to Bloomberg.
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Stormy conditions to continue
Storm-force winds are expected to batter the west coast again tonight, continuing several days of strong gales and flooding.
The interpretive centre at the Cliffs of Moher in Co Clare was closed today and visitors were warned to stay away from the area because of “extremely dangerous” gusts.
The strong winds experienced in all coastal areas overnight and today are expected to ease everywhere by early this evening and showers will become isolated, but wet and windy conditions will sweep eastwards across the country again overnight, with storm force gales expected along the west coast, with gusts of up to 110km per hour expected.
Lightning storms and gale force gusts have brought down power cables and left thousands of homes and businesses without telephone and broadband services in recent days.
A spokesman for Eircom said more than 4,500 faults had been reported, and all available staff are working to repair the lines in an effort to restore service to customers as quickly as possible.
AA Roadwatch has advised drivers travelling in windy conditions to be prepared for sudden gusts, to keep both hands on the wheel, reduce speed, and give a wide berth to cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians.
Motorists have also been advised that wind-blown debris is causing obstructions on many secondary roads around the country.
The N3 Cavan/Belturbet Rd is still closed between Butlersbridge and Belturbet following flood damage yesterday. Driving conditions are particularly wet and blustery in Galway City this afternoon.
Storms are also battering the UK, with flood warnings and alerts in place around the south coast of England.
A six-month-old child narrowly avoided drowning after being blown into the water from the docks in Somerset, while a 35 metre high wind turbine collapsed in Devon after being hit by gale force gusts.
Met Éireann is expecting the strong winds to continue tomorrow, with heavy rain forecast for northern counties. It will be cool, with temperatures ranging from 7 to 10 degrees.
Rain and sleet will push southwards across the country on Friday. Temperatures will drop to minus 3 degrees on Friday night, with frost and ice expected. The weekend will be cold and bright, with blustery winds forecast again for Sunday.
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Humiliation? Yes. A fitting punishment for the crime? No.
A man who shot his Great Dane in the head – and then left the dog to die (the neighbor’s heard his cries) received 180 days in jail for animal cruelty. But the man’s sentence was shortened if he agreed to wear a dog costume and go to schools to teach kids about traffic and drug abuse.
First, I wouldn’t want some man capable of shooting a dog in the head –and by the way the dog did die — to be at my kids school or anywhere near a kid. Second, where does he learn the lesson about animal abuse? How does teaching about drugs and traffic safety help future animals he might encounter?
It’s proven that people who injure or kill animals are capable of doing the same to people. Thirty-eight states now consider some forms of animal cruelty a felony crime. While few people ever do jail time, most of these states require psychological counseling–and that is what this man should have received at the very least–counseling and a ban on ever owning an animal again.
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"How can you trust a man who wears both a belt and suspenders? Man can't even trust his own pants."
--Henry Fonda, "Once Upon a Time in the West"
After Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone's success with the Spaghetti Westerns "A Fistful of Dollars," "For a Few Dollars More," and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," he wanted to do a few big-budget films in the United States, but not necessarily another Western. However, he had done so well in the Western genre, it's what the studios involved insisted upon, and, thus, in 1968 we got "Once Upon a Time in the West." Leone had done his previous films with relatively small-name stars (he did make a major star of TV actor Clint Eastwood, who would go on to become a megastar a few years later), and for the new film he sought out bigger names like Henry Fonda, Claudia Cardinale, Jason Robards, and Charles Bronson. He also wanted Eastwood, Robert Ryan, and James Coburn in the new film, but they were either uninterested or unavailable.
In any case, Leone had a dream team of writers contributing to the script: himself, Italian horror director Dario Argento ("Deep Red," "Suspiria," "Tenebre," "Phenomena"), and Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci ("The Conformist," "Last Tango in Paris," "1900," "The Last Emperor"). Moreover, Leone assembled a supporting cast that included Woody Strode, Jack Elam, Keenan Wynn, and Lionel Stander; he again got composer Ennio Morricone to do the musical score; and he filmed in Monument Valley, Arizona, Utah, Spain, and Italy. Nevertheless, despite all the film had going for it, it didn't fare well in the U.S., possibly to do with the editing the lengthy film saw (distributors cut the movie's original 175-minute running time to 165 minutes for international viewing and even to 137 and 140 minutes in some parts of the world) or possibly to do with the film's extreme length itself; who knows. The present Blu-ray disc provides a 166-minute "restored" version and a 165-minute theatrical version. Don't ask.
Like Leone's other films, this one moves at a slow, quiet, lyrical pace, some scenes more graceful than others, the director's high melodramatic style occasionally bordering on parody. Almost as important as the direction is Morricone's background music, which is for me actually the best thing about the movie as it alternates spare, melancholy moods with sweeping, inspirational ones. While it's true the musical track sometimes appears on the edge of veering off into "Scarborough Fair," for the most part it underscores Leone's lingering silences nicely. Indeed, it is the silent or near-silent moments that make the film as powerful as it sometimes is.
Leone obviously borrowed a little something from every Western he'd ever watched, including the opening scene at the train station from "High Noon," with echos of John Ford and Howard Hawks in practically every shot thereafter. Interestingly, too, although Leone filmed much of the picture in America with American actors, he filmed even more of it in Spain using a large European cast, and most of the movie appears as though he later dubbed everything in English.
The movie tells the story of nothing less than the winning of the West and the coming of the railroad, with money, land, strong-willed men, and an equally strong-minded woman in on the equation. It's an ambitious project, with Leone conjuring up every iconic image he can muster, including plenty of shots of those natural architectural giants in Monument Valley. We practically wait for John Wayne to ride by.
The film stars four characters in interrelating roles. The first person we meet is Frank (Henry Fonda), whose appearance in the story Leone meant to shock us. Fonda, playing against the good-guy type he portrayed in almost every film of his career, here plays the meanest, most low-down, nasty varmint in the history of mean, low-down, nasty varmints. He gets the narrative started by gunning down an entire family in cold blood, shooting Brett McBain, a former widower newly married, and his three children, the last one a child, point-blank.
The second major character is Jill McBain (Claudia Cardinale), the beautiful woman from New Orleans who has come to meet her new husband and family out West in Sweetwater, Arizona, only to find them dead when she arrives. Needless to say, she vows revenge. Or at least get a little monetary retribution.
The third character is Cheyenne (Jason Robards), an escaped prisoner and full-time tough guy wrongly accused of the murder of the McBain family. He's the odd man out in the story, not quite important enough for the lead but in any number of scenes, nevertheless.
And the fourth major character is Harmonica (Charles Bronson), the movie's incarnation of Eastwood's "Man with No Name," a mysterious, flinty-eyed stranger, cool and calculating. "Instead of talking, he plays," says Cheyenne. "He not only plays, he can shoot, too." Bronson is good, but he's no Eastwood.
How long is the film? It takes Leone the first hour just to introduce us to his characters and set up the plot. From there it may be a long haul for some viewers and a total delight for others. The fact is, if you cut every long, lingering glare by half, you'd probably have a film only twenty minutes long; yet it's those long, lingering shots that remain indelibly in memory.
In "Once Upon a Time in the West" Leone tells a mythic tale in mythic proportions, with bigger-than-life, mythic characters. If it all gets maybe a little too reverential at times, just think back on Jack Elam's travails with a pesky housefly early on, and you maybe wonder just how serious Leone intended you to take it.
Heroes, villains, desperados, ladies of the evening, and the inevitable shoot-outs: You'll find them all in what a lot of fans consider Leone's best film. For me, it's at least one of his better offerings.
A preface tells us that the Film Foundation and the Rome Film Festival in association with Sergio Leone Productions and Paramount Pictures made possible the restored version of the movie. I thank them. The video engineers, using MPEG-4/AVC encoding and a dual-layer BD50, reproduce the restoration in all its 2.35:1-ratio glory. We find wonderful detail and definition in the close-ups and more than adequate clarity in medium and long shots. Colors, of which browns, yellows, and blacks dominate, look vibrant. And the cinematography is often stunning. A thin, light, natural print grain is visible throughout, especially in outdoor footage, although it is never objectionable and gives the image a realistically film-like presence.
You can listen to the English track either in a restored monaural in Dolby Digital or a remixed 5.1 in lossless DTS-HD Master Audio. I listened in 5.1, which provides a very clean, very clear midrange, a deep bass, extended highs, and a strong dynamic punch. What you won't find, however, is much activity in the surrounds, nor even a very wide front-channel stereo spread. Nevertheless, Morricone's background music often takes on a pleasant ambient bloom, and there's no denying that those big locomotives sound impressive in multichannel.
The disc comes fully loaded with extras. The first is the fact that the disc includes both the restored and theatrical versions of the film in high def. Next, we get an audio commentary with contributions from directors John Carpenter, John Milius, and Alex Cox, film historians Sir Christopher Frayling and Dr. Sheldon Hall, co-star Claudia Cardinale, and other filmmakers. After that, there are four featurettes that combine to produce a lengthy documentary on the making of the film, featuring various of the people involved in the commentary (Ms. Cardinale still looking as lovely as ever): "An Opera of Violence," about twenty-eight minutes; "The Wages of Sin," about nineteen minutes; "Something to Do with Death," about eighteen minutes; and "Railroad: Revolutionizing the West," about six minutes. "Locations Then and Now" is a four-minute segment comparing locations in the movie with how they appear today; and a production gallery provides about five minutes of black-and-white still shots from the film.
The extras conclude with a healthy thirty-three scene selections; bookmarks; a widescreen theatrical trailer in high definition; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages; English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese subtitles; and English captions for the hearing impaired. The disc comes housed in a flimsy Eco-case, further enclosed in a cardboard slipcover.
After watching "Once Upon a Time in the West" again after an absence of many years, I'm fully prepared to say, unequivocally, that it is either the greatest and most-profound Western ever made or the longest and most boring. Yeah, it's that kind of film. Parts of it are brilliant, unforgettable; parts of it meander hopelessly and indulge in what can seem like violence for violence's sake. It's that kind of film.
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On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I congratulate the people of Estonia as they celebrate 92 years since the founding of their republic on February 24. Estonians can be proud that despite fifty years of occupation, the democratic flame lit in 1918 was never extinguished. It lived on in the hearts and minds of brave Estonian men and women who never gave up on their country or its future.
Today, the United States and Estonia enjoy a broad and dynamic partnership. We are working together to bring peace and stability to troubled parts of the world, to promote wider prosperity, and to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities of the 21st century. As a valued NATO ally, Estonia has been a strong partner in the international mission in Afghanistan. Our troops serve side by side in the fight against violent extremism and to support the Afghan people’s aspirations for a more peaceful future.
We honor their service and sacrifice. On this National Day, let me offer my warmest wishes and reaffirm the commitment of the United States to working together to further deepen and strengthen our partnership.
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Ironically, Brian Williams said it best: in an interview on MSNBC last night, the anchorman noted his network's "concerns" in airing portions of the "manifesto" from mass murderer Cho Seung-hui.
"This was a sick business tonight, going on the air with this," Mr. Williams observed.
We couldn't agree more, and after watching only a few seconds of Cho's tirade from the grave, we have a question for Brian Williams and his bosses at NBC:
Why was it necessary to broadcast that garbage?
In today's edition of The New York Times, Bill Carter details the events that led to the airing of portions of the Cho "package," which consisted of a DVD and a 23-page file with text and photographs. From Mr. Carter, we learn about its arrival in the NBC mailroom; the "special" handling of the enclosed materials--everyone wore gloves--and the network's (correct) decision to contact law enforcement and give the originals to investigators.
But Mr. Carter's account suggests that there was less concern about actually televising the rants of a psychopathic killer. Toward the end of his story, Carter reports that "details of dealing with law enforcement and trying to decide what could be used on television accounted for NBC’s not covering the story until Mr. Williams’s newscast." Note the term "what could be used." Not "should it be used?" In fairness, NBC was not alone in taking that approach. Similar discussions apparently took place at the other broadcast and cable networks, which greedily snapped up (and aired) excerpts provided by NBC.
The folks at NBC (and First Amendment purists) would argue that it's a reporter's obligation to publish or broadcast news and images that are disturbing, even distressful. Refusing to do that, they contend, places the media on a slippery slope, providing a pretext for withholding information simply because it might upset or offend someone.
However, that argument only goes so far. Truth be told, there are a number of news images that broadcasters refuse to air, and rightly so. We don't see the bodies of dead soldiers in Iraq. We don't see the mangled corpses of Americans who die in traffic accidents. And, with rare exception, we don't see faces of women who testify against rapists. Broadcasting such images would be an affront to our collective sense of decency, and a violation of the victim's right to privacy.
There's also the (slightly quaint) notion that broadcast journalists shouldn't air video or images that only titillate, and don't advance the story. Meeting that goal is difficult in a visual medium which dictates that some video--any video--is preferrable to a talking head. Anyone who watches local TV news has seen the pointless helicopter shots of a "breaking" story (which only prove that the station has an expensive chopper), or the endless video "loops" of the cable news channels, aimed at placating the audience until they can arrange a live shot, or air a finished report.
By those elementary standards, the Cho diatribe was not newsworthy, nor suitable for broadcast. When NBC Nightly News aired in Blacksburg last night, there was genuine shock and horror. A community consumed by grief and mourning was sent reeling again because a TV network received--and elected to air--a killer's multi-media opus. That sense of shock and outrage is still reverberating across the Virginia Tech campus, the state, and the rest of the nation.
We can only imagine what the families and friends of the victims felt when they saw Cho Seung-hui posing with his weapons and ranting against the "rich kids" that sparked the rampage. Their pain was exacerbated by the knowledge that the killer mailed his package to NBC during the interlude between the dormitory shootings, and the mass murder at Norris Hall; one final, calculating act to firmly secure his place in infamy. To deny Cho's final, twisted desire--and out of respect for the victims and their families--NBC had solid reasons for not airing the video and still shots from his "package."
Likewise, the clips and images broadcast by NBC (and the other networks) did nothing to advance the story, or shed new light on events at Virginia Tech. NBC News President Steve Capus, who led the network's decision-making process, told Bill Carter that Cho's written material was dominated by "threats and gibberish." The video segments were much the same, as millions of viewers can attest. "It was incredibly difficult to follow," Capus observed. Simply stated, we learned nothing new by watching the material--it only heightened our national sense of revulsion and outrage.
Which brings us back to our original question. Why was it necessary to broadcast (and rebroadcast) this material? You don't need to see Cho's "manifesto" to understand that he was a sick, demented individual, consumed by hatred and rage. And he did not deserve a national platform to spew his venom; the senselessness of Cho's actions speak for themselves, without a post-mortem commentary from the killer.
Sadly, NBC's decision to air the manifesto (and share the material with its competitors) had less to do with journalistic standards, and everything to do with ratings. The dominance of its early-morning Today show is fading a bit; Mr. Williams' Nightly News has been eclipsed by ABC, and cable outlet MSNBC remains mired in last place. Matt Drudge's morning headline tells the real story: "Ratings Blowout for NBC." With the Cho package leading his newscast, Mr. Williams easily outpaced his rivals last night. I'm sure that Today and MSNBC are racking up some impressive numbers as well.
When that package arrived in the mailroom yesterday, NBC and its news executives had a tough call to make: cave to the pressure of ratings by providing a posthmous platform to a madman, or take a principled stand, and refuse to air the material. The decision of NBC--and its competitors--speaks volumes about the current, deplorable state of American journalism.
Similar thoughts on NBC's editorial decision from Hugh Hewitt and forensic psychiatrist Dr. Michael Welner.
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Panel: Avoid 2 Chinese tech giants
WASHINGTON — American companies should avoid sourcing network equipment from China’s two leading technology firms because they pose a national security threat to the United States, the House Intelligence Committee warned Monday.
The panel said in a report that U.S. regulators should block mergers and acquisitions in this country by Huawei Technologies Ltd. and ZTE Corp., among the world’s leading suppliers of telecommunications gear and mobile phones.
Reflecting U.S. concern over cyber-attacks traced to China, the report also recommends that U.S. government computer systems not include any components from the two firms because that could pose an espionage risk.
“China is known to be the major perpetrator of cyber-espionage, and Huawei and ZTE failed to alleviate serious concerns throughout this important investigation. American businesses should use other vendors,” the committee’s chairman, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich, told a news conference.
He said the Chinese companies could not be trusted with access to computer networks that support everything from power grids to finance systems.
The recommendations are the result of a yearlong probe, including a congressional hearing last month in which senior Chinese executives of both companies denied posing a security threat and being under Beijing’s influence.
Rogers said they are clearly tied to the Chinese government, and that allowing Huawei and ZTE to provide network equipment and services in America risks confidential consumer information and undermines core national security interests. He said the committee was not concerned about the sales of handsets that make up the bulk of their U.S. businesses, but rather network infrastructure where they have made fewer inroads.
William Plummer, vice president for external affairs for Huawei, said his company, a private entity founded by a former Chinese military engineer, was being victimized because of U.S. government concerns about China’s government.
“Huawei is Huawei, Huawei is not China,” he told reporters. “My company should not be held hostage to someone’s political agenda.”
Ahead of the report’s release, China’s foreign ministry said investment by telecommunications companies is mutually beneficial. “We hope the U.S. will do more to benefit the interests of the two countries, not the opposite,” spokesman Hong Lei said at a regular briefing in Beijing on Monday.
The panel’s recommendations, however, will likely hamper Huawei and ZTE’s ambitions to expand their businesses in America. Their products are used in scores of countries, including in the West.
The bipartisan report could also become fodder for a presidential campaign in which the candidates have been competing in their readiness to clamp down on Chinese trade violations. Republican Mitt Romney, in particular, has made it a key point to get tougher on China by designating it a currency manipulator and fighting abuses such as intellectual property theft.
Rogers said its release had nothing to do with politics, and was motivated by the need to alert U.S. companies of the risks. The committee’s top Democrat, C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, said U.S. companies should proceed with “their eyes wide open.” He cited an estimate from the U.S. Cyber Command that more than $300 billion in U.S. trade secrets was stolen last year.
The committee says it received information from industry experts and current and former Huawei employees suggesting that Huawei, in particular, may be violating U.S. laws. The allegations include immigration violations and an alleged “pattern and practice” of Huawei using pirated software in its U.S. facilities.
Rogers said that information of alleged bribery by Huawei to gain a contract in the U.S. would be forwarded Tuesday to the FBI, and he was confident it would lead to an investigation. The committee also planned to forward information on allegations of “beaconing” from Huawei equipment to China — that is the unauthorized transfer of information from a computer network.
Huawei, founded in 1987 has grown rapidly to become the world’s second-largest supplier of telecommunications network gear, operating in more than 140 countries. ZTE Corp, which is partly state-owned, is the world’s fourth-largest mobile phone manufacturer, with 90,000 employees worldwide.
The report says the companies failed to provide responsive answers about their relationships and support by the Chinese government, and detailed information about their operations in the U.S. It says Huawei, in particular, failed to provide thorough information, including on its corporate structure, history, financial arrangements and management.
Plummer said it wasn’t clear what Rogers was referring to in the allegations of “beaconing.” He said Huawei had provided “endless data” to the investigation, which he contended was not objective. He said its recommendations could create “market-distorting trade policy” and risk the tens of thousands of American jobs Huawei helps to support through procurement from U.S.-based suppliers that totaled $6.6 billion last year.
The recommendations “undermine competition, which undermines innovation which drives up the price of your broadband,” he said.
ZTE said a Sept. 25 letter to the committee, released Monday, that China’s government had never requested access to ZTE’s equipment.
“Direct exclusion of one or two identifiable Chinese companies is an obvious unfair trade practice and, as a practical matter, would not provide meaningful security for US telecom infrastructure systems,” the letter says.
The committee contended that Chinese intelligence services often recruit those with direct access to corporate networks to steal sensitive data.
It warned that malicious hardware or software implants in Chinese-manufactured telecommunications components and systems could allow Beijing to shut down or degrade critical national security systems in a time of a crisis.
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Plague of flies making Cumbrian officer workers' lives a misery
Published at 09:02, Friday, 16 July 2010
Swarms of flies are infesting offices on a Carlisle industrial estate and making the lives of staff a misery.
Workers on the Rockliffe Industrial Estate have called in environment officers after finding the insects crawling over their desks, blinds, phones and even up their legs.
The Environment Agency confirmed it is investigating the problem after a series of complaints.
One of the businesses worst affected is Andidrain, which has about six office staff based in portable buildings. They say they have to disinfect their desks every morning because they are littered with dead flies, keep coffee cups covered with cardboard to stop them falling in and fight them off while eating lunch.
The firm, which specialises in drain clearance and sewerage services, has even brought in electric fly-killing lamps to try to stop the infestation, but say they fill up daily.
Team member Dawn Harmse said: “It’s in the last month that it’s become a problem. When you come in you find them dead everywhere.
“Then as the day goes on they come back in force – it’s non-stop.”
“We have fly swatters but we cannot control the situation. They are crawling over us, our computers, the blinds, the desks and it is not a pleasant atmosphere to work in.”
Sheila Eccles, who works for another business on the estate, said their offices are also infested. On Monday they cleaned up the dead flies from the weekend and filled an entire tray.
She said they are using fly sprays to try and kill them but they keep coming back.
“The flies are just getting everyone down. They are all over your computer screen and you can feel them crawling up your legs,” she said.
“It may sound like just a few flies but the numbers are huge and it goes on all day.
“It’s not until you have to live with it that you realise how much it affects morale.”
Environment officer Ruth Evans visited the estate on Tuesday to listen to concerns.
She said: “The Environment Agency is investigating a number of complaints with regard to fly and other issues at Rockcliffe Industrial Estate.
“We understand the concerns of residents and businesses, and met business representatives and the parish council to find ways to resolve the issues.”
It has been widely reported that the recent humid weather has led to an increase in fly numbers nationally.
But Mrs Harmse said: “Normally at this time of the year we do have more flies but this year we’re being plagued.
“We’ve been told that there is a problem this year, but if this is the case then why don’t we have the same problem when we’re not at work?”
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk
Have your say
ive read all the letters, really there isnt much you can do about it. yes its the way of life its the country. mechanical devise would be ideal thing.
alan: seagul muck wont help the matter, but its rotten waste that attracts them - the refuge tip is ideal. they veture from there looking for new sites, which is why them offices have a problem.the seagul muck needs reporting to environmental health - its full of bacteria, and i understand its a danger to anyone with respiratory probs.
View all 8 comments on this article
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May 26, 2009
Healthcare is constantly growing and changing in many ways, making it one of the most interesting fields to enter as a career. Even people who don't plan to devote their lives to health professions often find themselves following medical advances with interest. A major step in the evolution of healthcare in coming years will be the adoption of medical software that will allow for more universal recordkeeping and hopefully better patient care. This week's Scholarship of the Week gives current college students an opportunity to research this topic in depth for the chance to win $2,500.
To encourage college students in all disciplines to think and write about this topic, Claricode is sponsoring a scholarship essay contest asking students to discuss the potential of medical software in essays of 500 to 1,000 words. Essays will be judged on the following criteria: idea development, clarity of vision, creativity, practicality, and spelling and grammar.
Prize: First place: $2,500; Second place: $1,500; Third place: $1,000
Eligibility: Any U.S. citizen or resident age 18 and up who is currently enrolled full-time in an accredited degree program and will remain enrolled full-time when the scholarship is awarded in January 2010. Applications are welcome from students in all areas of study.
Deadline: October 31, 2009
Required Material: Completed scholarship application and scholarship essay of 500-1000 words addressing the question, "How will medical software improve the future?"
Further details about the application process can be found by conducting a free college scholarship search on Scholarships.com. Once the search is completed, students eligible for this scholarship award will find it in their search results.
June 7, 2010
by Agnes Jasinski
If you’re a basketball fan who has been following the NBA playoffs the last few weeks, you should know that many of the professional teams you’ve been watching have foundations associated with them that raise money for youth and the college-bound. The Pacers Foundation is one such group, and their Linda Craig Memorial Scholarship is our Scholarship of the Week.
As the award is presented by the St. Vincent Sports Medicine Center, applicants must be more than sports fans, but majoring in medicine or a related field as well. (It’s always best to contact the scholarship provider about eligible majors before applying for such an award.) You may have also already guessed that the award targets those enrolled at Indiana colleges or universities, including two-year junior or community colleges. If you meet these requirements, you could have a shot at this award. If you’re interested in other medical scholarships or even athletic scholarships, browse our listings on those pages or make sure to check those criteria off on your user profile.
November 13, 2009
One thing has dominated the news and the world of politics for weeks - the health care-reform bill. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill, which would cover about 96 percent of Americans, last weekend. It now awaits a vote from the Senate side, with a good amount of compromising expected if the bill has a chance to pass at all.
But what does this mean for education? A focus on health care recently has highlighted the need for more primary care doctors, and any legislation that would expand access to health care would obviously lead to an increase in the number of medical professionals to care for that influx of patients. An article in the Chronicle of Higher Education this week describes discussions that were being had among medical professionals at this week's Association of American Medical Colleges annual meeting. According to most, the equation is simple: more patients require more doctors, and more doctors require more residency programs to accommodate the kind of growth that would be needed with any expansions in health care access.
Despite the call for more doctors, medical school applications increased by just 0.1 percent this year according to that same association, even though four new medical schools opened at Florida International University, Texas Tech University, the University of Central Florida, and the Commonwealth Medical College. Another at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University will open next year. Many other schools added massive expansions to their medical school campuses. It also isn't just the possibility of expanded health care access that could spread doctors thin. The association worries about the impending wave of retiring baby boomer-physicians, and claims there would be shortage of as many as 159,000 doctors by 2025.
Obviously, not everyone can go to medical school and become a doctor. And not everyone can stomach the costs of going to medical school. According to the association, most medical students graduate medical school with about $156,000 in student loans, and primary care doctors make less money after they leave school with all that debt than other medical specialties.
If you're set on becoming a doctor, you do have options in reducing your student loan debt. Apply for scholarships. There are medical scholarships out there, including our own Scholarships.com Health Scholarship. The deadline for that one isn't until Nov. 30, so you still have time to fill out a profile and conduct a free scholarship search. If you qualify for that or other medical scholarships, those results will appear in your scholarship search results. Know your options, because even though there might be a job waiting for you once you graduate, you may be looking at quite a bit of debt post-college.
August 5, 2010
Few programs are as competitive as medical school programs. You need stellar grades, a host of science-based courses on your undergraduate transcript, and impressive scores on the MCAT to be a contender. Or do you?
One New York school is taking a different approach, in part to graduate more sensitive and people-friendly doctors. The Humanities and Medicine Program at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine requires that its students major in the humanities in college, not chemistry or biology, and doesn’t require those enrolled to prove their worth on the MCAT, the standardized test score typically used to rank applicants to medical school.
A recent article in The New York Times took a look at the program and a possible shift nationwide to programming that gives equal weight to not only the science behind medicine, but the social skills needed to be more effective in communicating with patients. The Mount Sinai School of Medicine program saves 35 slots per year to undergraduates with degrees in fields like political science. Applicants are asked to provide two personal essays, high school standardized test scores, and transcripts of grades from both high school and college. Once they’re in the program, the students attend a summer “boot camp,” according to the article, where they receive some instruction on science courses they may have missed in college. According to a recent study published by the Association of Medical Colleges, those students did as well if not better in the program than their peers who got into medicine the traditional way. The humanities students were also more interested in disciplines where they had more interaction with patients, such as psychiatry, pediatrics, and obstetrics.
Despite the success of the Mount Sinai program, if you’re interested in medical school, most of the programs out there will ask for MCAT scores and transcripts that boast a good GPA in a science-related major. According to the Times article, it may be tough to get the most elite medical schools to start admitting humanities students because so much of their rank depends on how students at those schools did on their MCATs. Wherever you go to enter into a health-related field and whatever you decide, make sure you know about the medical scholarships out there. Medical school is one of the more costly endeavors you could choose to pursue, so you’ll need all the help you can get to cover the costs of that professional degree.
July 12, 2012
by Kara Coleman
As many as one-half of America’s college campuses are preparing to become smoke-free. Though some schools currently ban indoor smoking or smoking within a certain number of feet from a dorm or academic building, new regulations would discourage students from lighting up even in open air on campus.
As would be expected, students are divided on the issue. Some feel that since college students are adults and smoking tobacco is legal, schools are overreaching their boundaries. Smoking is a stress reliever to many students, is less addictive than chewing tobacco and less dangerous than smoking spice or illegal drugs. Advocates of the no-smoking-on-campus rule cite secondhand smoke exposure as a big reason to bring about this change; they also say it is the responsibility of colleges and universities to encourage healthy habits.
As a non-smoker myself, I am very much in favor of not allowing students to light up on campus. I am not bothered so much by secondhand smoke at the university I attend now as I was at my community college, however: All the buildings were so close together on that campus that there really weren’t very many places to go outside and not inhale smoke. Some people (students AND faculty) would even light up as they walked down the sidewalk, leaving a trail of cigarette smoke wherever they went.
Some campuses are set to become smoke-free as soon as this fall, while other schools don’t plan to enact the rule until the 2013-2014 academic year. Is your school thinking about becoming smoke-free? If so, how do you feel about it? Do you think not permitting students to light up on campus will discourage them from doing it elsewhere...or are schools just blowing smoke?
This past summer, Kara Coleman graduated from Gadsden State Community College with an Associate of Arts degree and she is currently studying communications with concentration in print journalism at Jacksonville State University. Kara's writing has also been featured in Teen Ink magazine and she is a children's author through Big Dif Books.
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How often do criminals evaluate the pros and cons of their criminal acts? 'Rarely' would be a fairly appropriate answer. But when we are dealing with 'pirates', there seems to be a certain mode of rationalisation that may appear prudent to even the most conservative amongst us.
Take for instance a scene from the film in which a prolific pirate, who has downloaded an exhaustive collection of films, music and videos, when asked whether he understood that what he did was against the law, responds by saying: “These haven’t come easy. I have worked hard to collect them. I know the value of what I have.”
We've discussed the issue of piracy several times on this blog, and we've gone back and forth on the issue in the comments section. But the film Partners in Crime, directed by Paromita Vohra, a documentary film-maker, probes in depth those issues that we've only just fleetingly touched on in the past - Is piracy organised crime or merely a class struggle? How should we perceive artists who treat piracy as a natural part of the game, instead of a force to be reckoned with? How has aggressive copyright protection affected archiving efforts of individuals and perhaps most importantly from a socio-cultural point of view, are individuals who download material for free from the internet merely living out a brand new cultural freedom or are they criminals?
These are questions that those involved in the movie have outlined and successfully explored in the course of the film. Take for instance the segment featuring my favourite Indian rock band Thermal and a Quarter, where the film-makers elicit their opinions on piracy and how its affects them from a commercial point of view. Their response is a welcome departure from the Metallica-esque position of aggressively protecting works, to the extent of suing their own fans for illegally downloading their music. To explain their stand quite simply – they treat their CD's like visiting cards, most often distributing them for free after their shows, in order to draw more people to their live shows. They also allow their songs to be downloaded for free from their website. “Then how do they make money?” one may ask. Some fans buy their CD's anyway. Others buy merchandise like caps, t-shirts and sweatshirts. Their shows are always sold out. I can vouch for that. It's this kind of philosophy that I've always admired and spoken about in this blog previously, the emphasis being that it's not that people are unwilling to pay for good content, it's just that artists need to let go of the idea of copyright as an instrument of protection. The message is straightforward: The money will come, but let that not be the focus or objective of one's creative efforts.
The film gives its viewers an opportunity to understand and contemplate the positions of stakeholders on either side of the copyright debate. Short crisp interviews with those who download movie illegally, a salesman of pirated DVD's, an independent blogger who investigates the gray area between inspiration and plain plagiarism by pursuing Bollywood songs that are 'inspired' by foreign songs, an amateur archivist, and a young entrepreneur who understands how to derive commercial benefits from the complex copyright system set up in the country instead of beating it down.
Moving on to another example in the film that hit home with me, was the tireless pursuit of an Indian blogger who charts songs that claim to be 'inspired' from foreign tracks. And no, he's not talking about Anu Malik. But he very well could be. While not strictly a piracy issue, his efforts, whether conscious or unconscious, do throw up the question of whether it is permissible to draw inspiration from a song, make slight changes and repackage it to derive commercial gains. While we do have provisions for cover versions of songs under the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 we all know of instances where due credit has not been given to the original artist or musician. Without entering into the murky legal waters of what exactly is legal and what isn't, issues that even the best intellectual lawyers of the country embark upon with floats, the segment captures the essence of a culture in which creativity is borne out of persistently adding to previous works, something which the copyleft movement strongly advocates.
I don't want to give away too much by way of specific illustrations and segments in the film, so I will end by saying that this film portrays a new cultural phenomenon that may be looked at negatively by several sections, but at the same time, must be accepted as a legitimate expression of this generation's aspirations and ideals about creativity and innovation, the ethos that is marked by the phrase 'openness and collaborative production of works', hallmarks of the copyleft movement. While piracy is certainly still a problem that affects content providers, it must be looked at as a phenomenon that has naturally occurred, not having arisen purely out of human greed, but rather one that is a natural outcome of industries being unable to adapt to changes in distribution models and the demands of a generation that resides on the Internet. A 'love story', if there ever was one, between the pirates and the content that they pirate, as the film so poignantly demonstrates.
Replete with fascinating animation pieces and infographics that trace the history of copyright and a beautiful soundtrack to add, Partners in Crime is everything that I hoped a documentary on piracy would be. As an unapologetic supporter of the copyleft movement, I was pleasantly surprised to find perspectives that I was unfamiliar with and stakeholders' views that drive home the point better than any of us have been able to on this blog. Here's hoping we have several such films in the future.
We would like to thank Deepika Sharma for sending us a copy of the film to review and we wish the film-makers great success in their future endeavours.
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Hook, Line and Sinker: How the Enemy Is Dividing and Destroying the Christian Family
Hook, Line & Sinker by Cary Schmidt is a Sunday School curriculum written for teens and their parents. I have personally found it to be a phenomenal resource in my teen boys' class, and would highly recommend it to any youth director.
Schmidt begins by drawing an analogy between a fisherman trying to use lures, hooks, and bait, to catch fish; and the devil who is using the same to "hook" teenagers. He then begins to explain in detail the four most common hooks that the devil uses in our teens lives, how they can identify and avoid these mistakes, and what parents need to be doing to make sure their children stay protected.
This curriculum contains a lot of practical application and wisdom drawn from years of experience in the ministry, and clearly shows Schmidt's dedication to helping teens through their journey to adulthood.
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Every email, phone call and website visit is to be recorded and stored
From the London Telegraph; By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Editor; 20 Oct 2010
Any suggestion of a central "super database" has been ruled out but the plans are expected to involve service providers storing all users details for a set period of time. |
That will allow the security and police authorities to track every phone call, email, text message and website visit made by the public if they argue it is needed to tackle crime or terrorism.
The information will include who is contacting whom, when and where and which websites are visited, but not the content of the conversations or messages.
The move was buried in the Government's Strategic Defence and Security Review, which revealed: "We will introduce a programme to preserve the ability of the security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies to obtain communication data and to intercept communications within the appropriate legal framework.
"This programme is required to keep up with changing technology and to maintain capabilities that are vital to the work these agencies do to protect the public.
"Communications data provides evidence in court to secure convictions of those engaged in activities that cause serious harm. It has played a role in every major Security Service counterterrorism operation and in 95 per cent of all serious organised crime investigations.
"We will legislate to put in place the necessary regulations and safeguards to ensure that our response to this technology challenge is compatible with the Government’s approach to information storage and civil liberties."
But Isabella Sankey, director of policy at Liberty, said: "One of the early and welcome promises of the new Government was to ‘end the blanket storage of internet and email records’.
"Any move to amass more of our sensitive data and increase powers for processing would amount to a significant U-turn. The terrifying ambitions of a group of senior Whitehall technocrats must not trump the personal privacy of law abiding Britons.”
Guy Herbert, general secretary of the No2ID campaign group, said: "We should not be surprised that the interests of bureaucratic empires outrank liberty.
"It is disappointing that the new ministers seem to be continuing their predecessors' tradition of credulousness."
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Dr Megan Clark, Chief Executive and CSIRO Board member.
Global megatrends: driving new connections between science and industry
This presentation 'Global Megatrends – driving new connections between science and industry' was delivered by CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Megan Clark. Provided here is an adapted transcript of the speech, which was addressed to the Australian Business Foundation in Sydney, New South Wales, on 21 July 2010.
2 September 2010 | Updated 14 October 2011
Good afternoon to you all.
This is an important opportunity to meet with business leaders, researchers and practitioners and I would like to thank Narelle Kennedy, CEO of the Australian Business Foundation, for inviting me to speak with you.
Narelle has asked me to address a few things with you today.
First, what are we seeing about the future trends that will affect Australian Industry.
The world is changing fast.
I want to share with you some work CSIRO has done to assess the megatrends that will affect the future. It will be a challenge for Australian business to stay competitive.
Second, how are we positioning ourselves to interact with industry?
I will outline our strategy for positioning CSIRO's focus on 10 Flagship programs, and how we are engaging through these Flagships, building new alliances with industry and our aspiration to build profound impact for our partners.
And last, I want to share candidly from the perspective of Chief Executive, what I and the organisation are doing about addressing the real issue that CSIRO is sometimes difficult to deal with and sometimes impossible.
As a leading applied research organisation in the world, CSIRO has a proven track record of delivering innovation and solutions into the market place.
We have the most active licences for technology in the nation. We have had 54 spin-off companies with an enviable record of success and resilience, and we have inventions such as Wireless LAN that are having global impact – this technology will be in 4.5 billion devices.
CSIRO can do a lot more to engage with industry and we aspire to make profound impact for our partners on their competiveness on the world stage.
Talking about track record, one of the remarkable things in CSIRO is finding out about some of the impact CSIRO has had.
I received a delightful email from one gentleman who said: 'I have loved CSIRO since you put a crease in my pants,' signed Norm the pensioner.
And it's true we put the permanent press and washability into wool pants and the school uniforms of the nation.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2004. Australian Social Trends [external link]. Cat No. 4102.0, Canberra.
Boeing. 2010. Current market outlook for 2010-2029 [external link].
Hajkowicz SA, Moody JB. 2010. Our Future World: An analysis of global trends, shocks and scenarios.
Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council (PMSEIC). 2008. Science and Technology-Led Innovation in Services for Australian Industries [external link]. Report of the PMSEIC Working Group, 3 April, Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council, Canberra.
World Economic Forum. 2009. Global Risks 2010: A Global Risk Network Report [external link]. World Economic Forum, Geneva, Switzerland.
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The UK's busiest airport is a vital gateway to the rest of the world not just for mainland Britain but Ulster too, explains Hudson Institute's Dr Irwin Stelzer
Northern Ireland, not just London, suffers because of the UK's current connectivity crunch.
It is not true that economists are incapable of learning anything new, even when we have been mugged by reality. In recent months we have learned three important things.
The first is that overly indebted countries are doomed to a downward spiral if we rely on austerity alone to pay off our debts. Spending cuts reduce growth, which makes it more difficult to reduce deficits, which leads to more austerity, lower growth and ... Well, you get the picture. If not, think Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy. Sensible budget reduction must come with measures to help economic growth.
Second, we have learned that increasing exports can be an important contributor to overall growth. In the US, half of the approximate 2% growth comes from an increase in exports. In Britain last year, the rise in exports made the difference between 0.9% growth and another recession.
Third, thanks to studies commissioned by the Mayor of London and BAA (whom I serve as an adviser), among others, we have learned that connectivity - the ability to connect with trading partners - is key to export growth. And also a key to much more. It is vital to increase tourism, to increase foreign direct investment and to maintain the UK's role as a leading financial centre. And that this is crucial for Northern Ireland's businesses as well as for those elsewhere.
Which is why it is so worrying that the UK is increasingly unable to connect with emerging markets. The world is changing and at an unprecedented rate. Wealth is shifting to India, China, Brazil and other emerging markets.
Meanwhile, my country, the US, is wrestling to maintain a modicum of growth and many European markets are in turmoil. The absence of growth in the EU periphery countries has morphed into severe recessions, financial stress and floundering political classes. Britain cannot look to the EU as a growing export market.
Which is where connectivity comes in. Heathrow airport is unable to realise its full potential because of regulatory restrictions on existing capacity and the commitment of all political parties to prevent the construction of a third runway. Regional airports are important. But their value depends in good part on the existence of a hub that can pool demand, providing sufficient traffic to support routes to important destinations.
Some day the UK may have one of the new airports that are now being proposed. But that some day isn't going to happen in this decade or the next, and perhaps never if the £50bn plus in required capital can't be raised from private sources - the taxpayers are out of cash, and unable to finance such a project.
As new research from Oxford Economics demonstrates, for the Northern Ireland economy to grow, a speedier solution to the connectivity crunch is required. Up to £1bn of Northern Ireland's exports move by air, 60% of them via a hub. One in 10 jobs in Northern Ireland depend on foreign investment - half of these via a hub. Around 1,000 Northern Ireland jobs in the tourism sector alone depend directly on Heathrow airport.
Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Madrid and other cities are providing new airports and runways, creating easy connections for investors deciding where to locate headquarters and factories.
Heathrow cannot now match those facilities. But unleashed, Heathrow can do more to keep Britain competitive. It can create capacity to keep connecting flights between Belfast, London and the world. And it can do it before new trade routes are formed that relegate the UK to the second division among trading countries.
If that happens, it will be considerably more painful to dig out from under the debt that now weighs so heavily on all of us.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Barack Obama pledged Monday to make good on his promise to transform the Department of Veterans Affairs, and said he would "dramatically improve" mental health aid.
Flanked by Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, the president said his budget calls for a $25 billion increase in funding for the VA over the next five years - a commitment that will be tested by the needs presented by veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
"With this budget, we don't just fully fund our Veterans Affairs health care program, we expand it to serve an additional 500,000 veterans by 2013," he said.
He promised that the VA would "dramatically improve services" related to mental health, post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury - and said homeless veterans would be targeted for support.
"Those heroes have a home," he said. "It's the country they served, the United States of America, and until we reach a day when not a single veteran sleeps on our nation's streets, our work remains unfinished."
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At fifty, you know what your life wants to be like. You know how to stay fit in a good mind and body. It is also the time to remember what you want to do.
The computers have memories,
so do human beings,
because they use intelligence,
to decide of all their acts.
It is important to know,
what you are doing,
why you are doing that,
and where you want to be.
That is the question of the time,
and that is how it is,
you have to know how to do,
what you want and when.
Time is about going for leisure,
developping a hobby,
and of course being part
of the most important moments.
You have to like to see movies,
to love sports and to like music
as well and also play an instrument.
Welcome to Authspot, the spot for creative writing.
Read some stories and poems, and be sure to subscribe to our feed!
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These materials, collected by Jack Denslow, document the life of Henrique Vivian Messetti, a writer, performer, and member
of a vaudeville-circus family active during the 1920's-1940's. Messetti was born on September 5, 1918 in Spain where his parents
were performing. Upon the family's return to the United States, Los Angeles became their permanent residence. Messetti began
appearing on the stage at the age of four. Most of his work was in vaudeville/circus productions although he also claimed
to have performed in a few motion picture serials. In later years he dropped his first name while continuing as a female impersonator.
He was with, among others, the touring Messett's Great Road Show, Little Eva's Temptation Company, and F.A. Cunningham's Kick
High Musical Circus. The majority of the collection contains Messetti's incoming and outgoing correspondence.
Jack Denslow (1944-) was born in Tacoma, Washington and spent his early years in Hawaii and his high school years in Oklahoma.
He earned a B.A. in Psychology, a B.S. in Computer Science, and an M.A. in Mythology, and has spent his career working in
the technology field.
Copyright is protected by the copyright law, chapter 17 of the U.S. Code. All requests for permission to publish or quote
from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf
of Special Collections, General Library, University of California, Davis as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.
Collection is open for research.
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Doug Oster, our friendly gardening guru/blogger (check out Digging with Doug and don't miss his fresh gardening videos each Saturday during the growing season) sent a press release my way the other day about Cafe Phipps "Meatless Monday and Meat Free Monday." Besides going for better health via veggies, taking meat out of the equation reduces your meal's carbon footprint.
According to our friends at the Phipps (and many other sources by the way) meat production is responsible for a large chunk of global greenhouse gas emissions. So less meat, less emissions equals better environment and if you need your protein fix sub out meat with tofu.
Going from eating green to shopping green, the PG's China Millman goes into bags in a big way. Everywhere you go now, stores have their own reusable shopping bags for sale. Thing is you want to look for certain things when buying your bag; I've had some that once you put anything heavier than a jar of pickles in to them, the bottom feel right out. And if you have extra canvas bags about, consider donating them to the Food Bank or maybe a local food pantry.
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Obama Rocks Granite State
October 30, 2012
by Richard Weir
New Hampshire offers the puniest haul of electoral votes among the nine battleground states but President Obama yesterday campaigned throughout the state, a sign of just how exceptionally tight the race for the White House is, political experts said.
"They are remembering 2000. Those four electoral votes in New Hampshire are the difference between winning and losing," Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said of Obama's strategists. "If Al Gore had won New Hampshire, he would have been president. Forget about Florida."
Mitt Romney wasn't forgetting about Florida - or its 29 electoral votes, the most among the nine swing states. The former Bay State governor courted Florida's undecided voters yesterday during a stop in Pensacola.
Meanwhile, Obama crisscrossed New Hampshire, ending a three-stop tour by delivering a stump speech to 8,500 supporters at a Nashua elementary school.
Mindful of the state's aversion to taxes, the president suggested Romney pledged to fight for middle class families when running for governor of Massachusetts but once in office hit them with $750 million in taxes and fees.
"He raised fees to get a birth certificate, which would have been expensive for me," Obama said at the outdoor rally in Nashua, alluding to his "birther-movement" critics.
Romney campaign spokesman Ryan Williams called Obama's criticism of the former governor's record "laughable," charging, "President Obama is the only candidate in this race who has raised taxes on America's middle class."
Romney, who has been striking a more moderate tone as he courts women and independents, campaigned across Florida with a pledge to "build bridges" with the other party. He coupled that message with digs at Obama for an agenda that lacks vision.
With 10 days to go, Obama is ahead in states and the District of Columbia representing 237 electoral votes; Romney has a comfortable lead in states with 191 electoral votes. The rest lays in nine states that are too close to call, among them New Hampshire.
"This thing is most likely to come down to the wire. So you can't take any state for granted, " said Peter Ubertaccio, political science professor at Stonehill College. "New Hampshire plays an important role because you don't have a predetermined result there."
For more information, contact Communications and Media Relations at 508-565-1321.
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Summi Kaipa is a doctoral student in psychology at The Wright Institute in Berkeley, California, and she's looking for Indian Americans who can fill out her online survey - anonymously, of course. She sent us this note:
This study examines the relationship between acculturation and substance use among Asian Indians. The data gathered from this study will help to understand whether drug and alcohol use is a problem among Asian Indians, what groups are most susceptible, and some factors that predict or prevent drug and alcohol use. It will also to educate health professionals about substance abuse problems in the community and to tailor prevention and treatment strategies to helping Asian Indians.
The survey is only meant for adults who live in America, and should take you about 15-25 minutes to fill out. Here's a link to the survey. Even if you only have the occasional drink and have never done drugs, your participation in the study would help.
Also, check out a previous survey we posted, on Indian-American couples; it also has a useful rundown of earlier research on the community.
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It was a sadly typical meeting of the Board of Collier County (Florida) Commissioners in the late nineties. As the meeting droned on, I tuned it out and fell into deep concentration, obsessively rewriting now long-forgotten remarks I would deliver to the Commission about conservation in Southwest Florida on behalf of The Conservancy of Southwest Florida where I was president and CEO. Our environmental policy director, Michael Simonik, suddenly elbowed me, “Can you believe this?” he gasped. As I looked up, Commissioner Barbara Berry was on her soapbox delivering a monologue, and like Michael, I was stunned to hear what she was saying. She soared into hyperbole to sing the praises of the land developers, declaring Southwest Florida far better than when she arrived, and with a look of disgust tinged with horror, told us how awful it was before the developers came, with all of these unsightly “tangles” of trees and messy vegetation. Nature run amok. Thank god the developers came along and made Southwest Florida a better place, with the neatly manicured lawns of its gated communities (not to mention highest number of golf courses per capita in the world). But as I gazed around the room, there were heads nodding. And I learned something. [Read more...]
Big news in shark conservation from our sister organization, Shark Advocates International: EU Officials Sign UN Migratory Shark Initiative, Propose Stronger Finning Ban
Bergen, Norway. November 21, 2011. The European Union (EU) today became a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Sharks, just as the European Commission announced a proposal to strengthen the EU ban on shark “finning” (slicing off a shark’s fins and discarding the body at sea). An EU representative signed the Shark MoU at a ceremony at the 10th Conference of the CMS Parties which opened today in Bergen while the announcement on the finning proposal came from Commission headquarters in Brussels. [Read more...]
August 9, 2010: You’ve experienced Shark Week, now learn the compelling conservation story behind these incredible animals and why it matters with Shark Advocates International president, Sonja Fordham. Where’s the oil? The Ocean Doctor’s Spin Alarm is triggered by the Administration’s misleading sound bytes. How OtterBox saved The Ocean Doctor’s Gulf sampling program on Tools of the Trade.
The Ocean Doctor airs weekly on WebTalkRadio.net. Want to listen on your iPod, iPhone or mp3 player? Download the mp3 file or subscribe on iTunes and don’t miss a single episode. See the complete list of episodes.
Submit a question and I’ll try to answer it on the air. Even better, record your question or comment on our special message line and I might play it on the air. Call: (805) 619-9194. You can also leave questions and comments for this episode below.
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Maryland is one of a limited number of states in the country with the At-Risk, Afterschool Meal Program! This program reimburses afterschool programs for nutritious meals served to children age 18 and under during the school-year (including weekends and school breaks).
Schools and child care centers are eligible to participate if they are located in an attendance area of a school in which at least 50 percent of enrolled children are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Afterschool providers and schools interested in the opportunity to participate in the Afterschool Meals Program should contact MSDE.
At-Risk Afterschool Meal Brochure
Maryland Hunger Solutions Guide to the Afterschool Meal Program
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WEDNESDAY HOMILY: Do Bishops Need a Year of Faith?
A bishop shares in the fullness of the priesthood of Jesus Christ
HYTHE, KENT, UK (Catholic Online) - "Be not afraid! Trust Jesus." This is what Archbishop Harry Flynn told me before I began to confess my sins to him in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I had been away from the Catholic Church for five years, and so I was a bit frightened to come back. After I went through six pages of sins scribbled on sheets of paper attempting to confess my sins in kind and number, with tears in my eyes I looked up to see him mingling tears with me. After giving me a penance and listening to my act of contrition, he held out his arms and embraced me. For me, this was the embrace of God the Father made present on earth, and his prodigal son had come home.
I was very moved when he asked me if I would like to become a priest after hearing my confession. "Yes!" I joyfully responded, although I had been discerning this for a while, I hadn't yet taken the final plunge. Within a few hours, I began the entrance dialogue with the vocation director, and well, I think you can tell what happened after that.
A bishop shares in the fullness of the priesthood of Jesus Christ. We believe that each priest acts in persona Christi, but bishops in a deeper way are "in loco Dei Patris, the place of God the Father" (Bl Pope John Paul II's exhortation on Bishops, Pastores Gregis, 34). This is what each bishop ought to remind us of, the embrace of God the Father, his provident care for his people, his gentle fatherly direction and correction, his tenacious and protective watch over his children, and above all, his supreme fatherly love.
In the readings for today's Mass, speaking of the servants in charge of his household while he is away, Jesus tells us, "Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more." And St Paul in the first reading, speaking of those who are chosen to preach the Gospel, says, "I became a minister by the gift of God's grace that was granted me in accord with the exercise of his power." These of course can be applied to bishops in a preeminent way.
Do bishops need a year of faith?
They have such a lofty calling, one that is not easily fulfilled, not without much prayer and suffering on their part and the part of the faithful. Let us make a commitment to pray for our shepherds, who are beset on our age by many fears, temptations, foes, and battles.
The Second Vatican Council says: "The bishops themselves, however, having been appointed by the Holy Spirit, are successors of the Apostles as pastors of souls. Together with the supreme pontiff and under his authority they are sent to continue throughout the ages the work of Christ, the eternal pastor" (Decree on Bishops, 2).
In this Year of Faith, we ought to have a special commitment not only to understand the role of bishop in the Church, since we believe that it is God the Father's way of caring for us. There are two dimensions that the mystery of faith brings out in the faithful with regard to the bishops:
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More Year of Faith News
- FRIDAY HOMILY: Is It Lawful or Just a Lower Standard?
- THURSDAY HOMILY: Becoming Salty Christians in a World Without Flavor, Rotting from Within
- True and False Spirituality: Beware the Friends of Job or How to Deal With Fair-weather Friends
- WEDNESDAY HOMILY: Finding God Where You Would Rather Not Look
- TUESDAY HOMILY: Holy and Unholy Ambition
- SUNDAY HOMILY: The Happy Priest - Come Holy Spirit
- MONDAY HOMILY: I Do Believe, Help My Unbelief!
- We Need a New Pentecost: Come Holy Spirit, Come With Your Fire!
- Peter and John, Two Pillars and Two Paths
- Fr. Paul Schenck: Finding Living Faith on Catechetical Sunday
- The Movie Yellow: Incest as 'Normal' and Cassavates's Slides Into the World of Woes
- The Chicago School Teachers Strike Reveals the Need For School Choice
- The Sexual Barbarians and the Dissolution of Culture
- The Happy Priest Challenges Us to Ask: Who is Jesus to Me?
- Michael Coren on Canadian Public Schools: Teachers, leave those kids alone
- We Cannot Ignore Our Consciences: Cardinal Dolan On Religious Liberty
- In the Face of Danger, Successor of Peter Travels to Lebanon as a Messenger of Peace
- Reflections on the Dignity and Vocation of Women: Who or What?
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My wife is a substitute school teacher. After 10 years of teaching public school in Fort Worth, she took off 20 years to raise children. With our youngest in college, she has returned to the classroom. She told me a story this weekend about an incident in her classroom last week.
There was a second grade boy in her class who just could not get with the program. He spoke out instead of raising his hand. When he did raise his hand, he made all sorts of pained noises. He was always talking to a neighbor, getting out of his seat, fidgeting and dropping things. My wife has a special tolerance for this sort of thing. Our own son was like this. She home schooled him for 5 years to make sure that no one mistook him for a bad kid and crushed his tremendous creativity, affectionate self-confidence and passion for learning.
As it turns out, the class she was teaching needed to borrow rulers from another teacher. My wife is very serious about taking perfect care of borrowed things. She is loathe to lend her carefully maintained property and frustrated when people return it damaged. She stressed over and over to her little second grade class that they needed to be careful with these borrowed, plastic rulers.
The active boy I mentioned was happily working away on this assignment, talking up a storm and bending the ruler constantly as he worked. As could be foreseen, he broke it in three pieces. With dread visible all over him, he brought the broken pieces to my wife.
With a voice full of compassion, she informed him that he needed to do the right thing and take the ruler down the hall to the owner and tell her that he was sorry but he’d broken her ruler. He beseeched my wife, with tears in his eyes, to not make him do this. She asked him if he knew what the word “gallant” meant. “It means to be brave and do the right thing. I need you to be gallant and tell the teacher what happened.”
Slowly he walked down the hall with the pieces of ruler in his hand. With shoulders stooped, he explained to the teacher what had happened. She listened with a soft heart and thanked him for telling her, then sent him back to his room. My wife thanked him for being gallant and had him return to his desk. She saw little second grade hands reaching out to him as he worked his way back to his desk. Everyone wanted to express their admiration for the brave boy who did the right thing.
When the project was completed and the rulers were collected, my wife asked the active (gallant) boy to take the rulers back to the teacher who lent them. She received them from him warmly and thanked him by name. She did not know his name before that day but since returning the broken ruler, she knows his name and his reputation is fixed in her mind as a brave boy who does the right thing.
Maybe you find yourself looking for a new job because your reputation was not everything it should have been. If some of your past life is alive on the internet, social media is a great way to move it off of page one and to page 15 of Google search results. Take some classes, learn some new skills, work on your greatest weaknesses and update LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc to reflect the new person you are working to become. Become involved in causes that help other people and promote those organizations via social media. Now is the right time to be brave and do the right things. The people who meet you now will know you for who you are and not who you were.
Good Luck and Godspeed!
Learn about TFX:
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Quarantined TB patient apologizes to fellow passengers
Insists he was told by health officials he was no danger
DENVER -- The Atlanta lawyer quarantined with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis apologized to fellow airline passengers in an interview aired yesterday, and insisted that he was told before he set out for his wedding in Europe that he was no danger to anyone.
"I've lived in this state of constant fear and anxiety and exhaustion for a week now, and to think that someone else is now feeling that, I wouldn't want anyone to feel that way. It's awful," Andrew Speaker, speaking through a face mask, told ABC's "Good Morning America" from his hospital room in Denver.
Meanwhile, questions arose as to whether the wedding even took place. The mayor of the island of Santorini in Greece, Angelos Rousso, told the Associated Press: "There was no wedding. They came for a marriage but they did not have the required papers." He said the couple stayed in a hotel for three days and then left.
In Denver, Speaker's doctors said he could be in the hospital for up two months, and if antibiotics fail to knock out the extremely drug-resistant infection, he may have to undergo surgery to remove infected lung tissue.
Surgery to remove pieces of the lung was a more common practice before the advent of sophisticated drugs in the 1960s. But surgery is coming back as a treatment because of the development of strains resistant to those drugs.
Speaker is the first infected person quarantined by the US government since 1963. In the TV interview, Speaker, wearing street clothes, repeatedly apologized to the dozens of airline passengers and crew members now anxiously awaiting the results of their TB tests.
"I don't expect for people to ever forgive me. I just hope that they understand that I truly never meant to put them in harm," he said, his voice cracking.
Speaker, 31, said he, his doctors, and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention all knew he had TB that was resistant to front-line drugs before he flew to Europe for his wedding and honeymoon last month. But he said he was advised at the time by Fulton County, Ga., health authorities that he was not contagious or a danger to anyone.
Officials told him they would prefer he didn't fly, but no one ordered him not to, he said. Speaker said his father, also a lawyer, taped that meeting.
"My father said, 'OK, now are you saying, prefer not to go on the trip because he's a risk to anybody, or are you simply saying that to cover yourself?' And they said, 'We have to tell you that to cover ourself, but he's not a risk,' " Speaker said.
Speaker was in Europe when he learned tests showed he had, not just TB, but an especially dangerous, extensively drug-resistant strain.
"He was told in no uncertain terms not to take a flight back," said Dr. Martin Cetron, director of the CDC's division of global migration and quarantine. Cetron said Wednesday that in conversations between health officials and Speaker before the flight, "they clearly told him not to travel," but "there were no legal orders in place preventing his travel, and no laws were broken."
Speaker, his new wife, and her 8-year-old daughter were already in Europe when the CDC contacted him and told him to turn himself in immediately at a clinic there and not take another commercial flight.
He said he felt as if the CDC had suddenly "abandoned him." At that point, he said, he believed that if he didn't get to the specialized clinic in Denver, he would die. If doctors in Europe tried to treat him and it went wrong, he said, "it's very real that I could have died there."
Speaker's new father-in-law, Robert C. Cooksey, is a CDC microbiologist whose specialty is TB and other bacteria. But he said neither he nor his CDC lab was the source of Speaker's TB.
Yesterday, CDC director Dr. Julie Gerberding said that Cooksey was "extremely helpful" in tracking down the couple during their honeymoon in Europe by providing cellphone and other numbers.
She also said Cooksey may have been involved in preparing one of the lab tests that determined what type of TB Speaker had contracted. But she declined to provide more details on Cooksey's involvement in the case, and would not comment on the propriety of his actions, which included flying to Europe himself to be there at his daughter's wedding.
"We're not privy to any conversations that he might have had with his family, so we're not going to comment on that," Gerberding said.
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Supreme Court Copyright Case Will Decide Fate Of Millions Of Once-Public Works
Lecturer Anthony Falzone is mentioned in the following Washington Post article by Robert Barnes covering the case of Golan v. Holder which will determine if copyright laws will apply to foreign works in the public domain.
Another school year has begun at the University of Denver music department, renewing a familiar pattern for professor Lawrence Golan.
He instructed a nervous young conductor on the proper way to grip her baton. He patiently guided the orchestra through its second rehearsal of Jean Sibelius’s Symphony No. 5. He prepared for the season’s first concert.
But the fall also marks a culmination for Golan, whose 10-year trek through the legal system on behalf of fellow conductors, academics, film historians and others ends Wednesday at the Supreme Court.
“This case raises the question, ‘What is copyright really for?’ ” said Golan’s attorney, Anthony Falzone, of the Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society. “Is it just something that benefits authors, or is it something that benefits society?”
Falzone said Congress went beyond its powers in 1994 when it extended protection to works that the public had come to rely on.
“For 200 years, there was no question that once something entered the public domain, it belonged to the public,” he said. “They can never be taken back.”
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Dare 2 B UFind wisdom written about music and the positive impact it has on all of our lives. Also, thoughts on being a winner and success. Be encouraged by the words of wisdom in these thoughts.
Dare 2 B U
Author: Catherine Pulsifer
A few months ago I wrote an article featuring Jennie Emery. The article is titled Positive Music.
As a result of writing that article I was contacted by Chris S. Salazar, from Dare2BU. I must say I was very pleased when I reviewed his website and found more positive music.
"The mind grows by what it feeds on." Those words of wisdom are so very true. Our minds take in everything we read and listen to. Books we read, music we listen to, it all influences our lives.
There are a lot of positive books available, however, positive music is not as plentiful. So needless to say I was delighted with the Dare2BU website! I now have two of the CD's from the site:
Songs of Success (my favorite!)
Dream Big (also good)
I agree with the thoughts on the Dare2BU website. Below is info taken from the website:
"There are numerous examples of people throughout the world who have overcome handicaps to achieve great success. One thing separates these winners from those who fail: they disregard any and all obstacles. These people-and all winners-possess the will to win. It's a will that starts with a belief in our ability to achieve the goals we dream of accomplishing.
Unfortunately, the world does not provide much inspiration on a daily basis. From the reporting of mostly negative news, to a "20% chance of rain" mentality, to music that tells us that love must be a painful experience, most people have few daily reminders that they can obtain personal and professional greatness without having to win the lottery.
Music is by far the most wonderful mthod we have to remind us each day of the power of personal accomplishment. And now-finally -the music industry has a new type of record company, one that is intensely dedicated to producing songs that inspire us all to accomplish great things."
Editors note: it is with regret that I update this thought to advise that unfortunately the website http://www.dare2bu.com/ is no longer live on the internet, but we feel the message they were conveying are still a valid ones!
Below find thoughts about the differences of being a winner and being a loser.
It all comes down to attitude and action. Which attitude do you display - winning or losing?
We hope the words of wisdom here will remind you to be a winner.
The Difference Between Winning and Losing
by Catherine Pulsifer
Some of the significant differences between winning and losing are:
Hanging on, persevering,
Accepting responsibility for your actions,
Taking the initiative,
Knowing what you want and setting goals to achieve it,
Seeing the big picture, and setting your goals accordingly,
An interesting and intriguing title to this poem, The Workings of a Successful Mind.
Read the words of wisdom written by Devin McMillan and see if you find the answers to how a successful mind works.
Our thanks to Devin for sharing his wisdom in these verses.
The Workings of a Successful Mind
by Devin McMillan, © (2010)
The powers of the mind are not fixed
and science can never explain
What makes a person a success
yet leaves another so mundane
For whatever the mind can conceive
with enough thought it will deliver
There is no goal too extreme
when your mind is a benevolent giver
Take risks in your daily life
or you can conform like the rest
Since rewards are only granted to
those who have passed this test
Know that you have the power
to succeed in numerous ways
Or you can play it safe
being mediocre for all of your days
So keep positive in all you do
wielding your list of goals in hand
Fear not what others say
just focus on your plan
Enjoy every breath that passes
and every task there is to do
Since your actions will only play
the goals you have placed in cue
And always remember to gift
a little of everything you make
For life is defined by giving
and never by what you take.
Inspirational Words of Wisdom | Short Stories | Words of Appreciation | Inspiring Quotations | Inspirational Stories | Thought For The Day | Proverbs | Inspirational Messages | Inspirational Poems | Motivational Links, Inspirational Links |
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Lincoln Medical Center's pediatric critical care team is committed to providing state-of-the-art emergency services to children and adolescents. We provide critical care services 24-hours a day. Each year we treat approximately 43,000 pediatric patients.
Lincoln's Pediatric Critical Care Team
Our team includes board-certified surgeons, physicians, nurses, radiologists, social workers and pediatric health professionals who provide emergency care to children seven days a week, 24-hours a day. Certified child life specialists are available to support and prepare children and families for difficult procedures.
When it's an Emergency
When a child is seriously injured in an accident, seek emergency care immediately. You should bring your child to the Pediatric Emergency Department if the child is having an asthma attack that you cannot get under control. If the child is experiencing a seizure that lasts longer than five minutes or does not wake between seizures, this is considered a medical emergency, come to the hospital.
If a child has sustained serious injuries and child abuse is suspected, bring the child to the hospital. If you are unsure and do not know what to do, contact our Child Advocacy Center. The Center's team of health care specialists can help evaluate the child and report your suspicions.
If there are any other emergency health concerns about your child, you can also call our telephone triage, which is available 24 hours a day.
Our Pediatric Emergency Department is designed to ease the fears of young patients and their families. We take pride in providing our patients with culturally competent, comprehensive emergency care in a safety and patient-friendly environment.
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Over the last month I've been focusing on involving my children in the cooking process. Right now they are not much of a help to me in the kitchen. In fact they make it much much harder. The 2 year old mostly makes a mess. She'll get food all over the counter, the floor, her clothes, her face.... My 4 year old does a decent job of completing a task like chopping vegetables but he's sooooo sloooooooow. It takes him about 25 times longer than it would take me to just do it myself.
However I've come to realize that if I want them to love cooking real food and help me when they are older I need to make it a pleasant experience. That's where patience comes in. I need lots of it when the kids are in the kitchen.
This doesn't come naturally to me. I want to get in there and get dinner on the table as fast as possible. Sometimes I find myself saying "Hurry up! Let's get this done!" But for my children the enjoyment is in the process.
I've found things go much smoother if we start dinner early. This way we are not rushed and no one is overly hungry. It also helps to give everyone a job so there's no bickering and fighting.
I have to slow down. Sometimes I take deep breaths. I am learning to enjoy the process.
You may also like:
This post was entered in:
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Nepal's government has nationalized the Kathmandu palace where the king and his family live, the latest in a series of steps that have undercut the power and dismantled the royal trappings of the world's last Hindu monarchy.
The royal family will be allowed to live in Narayanhity Royal Palace -- the site of the 2001 massacre that left nine royals dead and brought King Gyanendra to power -- until a special assembly is elected and decides whether to keep the monarchy, Labor Minister Ramesh Lekhak said on Thursday.
The election, now scheduled for November, has been repeatedly delayed.
But for now, the message is clear -- the interim government is running the country, not the king.
The downtown Kathmandu palace, an ungainly sprawl of glass, steel and cement that is covered in a coat of peach-colored paint, remains one of the main symbols of Gyanendra's turbulent reign.
Another six historic palaces were also seized by the government on Thursday and will be handed over to the state's archeology department, Lekhak said.
Gyanendra assumed the throne in 2001 after the palace massacre, in which the crown prince apparently gunned down his older brother, the late King Birendra, and much of his family -- and then killed himself.
Four years later Gyanendra seized absolute power, saying he would bring order to a chaotic political scene and quell a communist insurgency that killed nearly 13,000 people in the past decade.
But the insurgency worsened, the economy faltered, and Gyanendra's heavy-handed tactics helped forge an alliance between the usurped political elite and communists. By April of last year, widespread discontent erupted into mass protests that forced Gyanendra to cede power.
Gyanendra was soon after stripped of all his power by an interim parliament, which is governing the country until the special assembly is elected, to write a new constitution and decide what role, if any, the monarchy should play in Nepal.
While the political parties and communists, who are now part of the government, hammer out the details of how the special assembly should be elected, a government committee has been trying to catalog the king's property and assets -- which are said to be substantial and well-hidden. The plan is to nationalize whatever can be found, Lekhak said.
To diminish the royal family's grandeur, last month, the government cut off the king's annual allowance of 2.7 million Nepal rupees (US$500,000).
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United States Senator
October 14, 2009
Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.),
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee,
Hearing On "Prohibiting Price Fixing And Other Anticompetitive Conduct
In The Health Insurance Industry"
October 14, 2009
Today, we focus on an issue that has had my attention for many years -- the insurance industry's exemption from the Federal antitrust laws. This exemption, since it was enacted in 1945, has served the financial interests of the insurance industry at the expense of consumers.
For the past several months, our Nation has debated how best to reform our healthcare system. Three House Committees and two Senate Committees have spent countless hours trying to answer the question of how best to introduce competition and make health insurance affordable for all Americans. Amid this debate, it is important to remember that under current law the health insurance industry does not have to play by the same rules of competition as do other industries.
The lack of affordable health insurance plagues families throughout our country, and the rising prices that hospitals and doctors pay for medical malpractice insurance drains resources that could otherwise be used to improve patient care. Antitrust oversight in these industries would provide consumers with confidence that insurance companies are not colluding to raise prices artificially.
There is no justification for health insurers engaging in egregious anticompetitive conduct to the detriment of consumers. Price fixing, bid rigging and market allocation are "per se" violations of our laws precisely because there is no procompetitive justification for them. Health insurers should not be accorded immunity to engage in such otherwise illegal conduct. Our bill will fix this anachronism in the law once and for all and should lead to more competition and lower insurance costs.
The insurance industry has used its enormous influence to maintain a special, statutory exemption from Federal antitrust laws and the protections they provide. While the insurance industry hides behind its exemption, patients and doctors have continued paying artificially inflated prices, as costs continue to rise at an alarming rate. The cost spiral is just fine for insurance companies, but it punishes patients, American businesses large and small, and taxpayers. No wonder the insurance companies dearly want to keep their antitrust exemption. But where does an antitrust exemption fit into the picture at a time when we are debating reform efforts to check spiraling costs and expand Americans' access to quality, affordable health insurance? The obvious answer is that it is an anachronism that does not fit into the picture of what the American people want and need their health insurance system to be.
Last month, I introduced the Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009, which will repeal the antitrust exemption for health insurance and medical malpractice insurance providers. The Majority Leader is a cosponsor of this legislation, as are six other Members of this Committee - Senators Feinstein, Feingold, Schumer, Durbin, Specter and Franken.
Our legislation will ensure that the basic rules of fair competition apply to insurers in the health industry, as part of the reforms that the larger healthcare bill will enact. Our Nation's antitrust laws exist to protect consumers, and it is vital that the health insurance companies are subject to these laws. These laws promote competition, which ensures that consumers will pay lower prices and receive more choices.
Last Congress, Senator Trent Lott, the former Senate Republican Leader, and others on both sides of the aisle joined me in introducing a much broader repeal of the insurance industry's antitrust exemption. The bill we have reintroduced this year is a scaled-back version directed at health insurance. Surely we can all agree that health insurers should not be permitted to fix prices, allocate markets, or to rig a bid.
Insurers should not object to being subject to the same antitrust laws as everyone else. If they are operating in an appropriate way, they should have nothing to fear. It is time for Congress to stick up for consumers, rather than roll over for the insurance industry.
I feel strongly that we need a public insurance option as part of our health care reform package. I agree with President Obama that a public insurance option would provide competitive pressure on private health care insurers and should have the effect of lowering prices. I also think we need to strengthen our anti-fraud laws and enforcement in connection with health care. However Senators feel about those matters, the initiative we are considering today - eliminating the health insurance industry's immunity from Federal antitrust laws -- should move forward as a key element of health care reform. I intend to work with the Senate Majority Leader to provide the opportunity for all Senators to vote against price fixing and market allocation and bid rigging and for fair competition among health insurers.
American families, doctors and hospitals rely on insurance. It is important to ensure that the prices they pay for this insurance are established in a fair and competitive way.
# # # # #
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Dailymotion Partners with One Laptop per Child To Bring Video to XO Laptop
Dailymotion has announced a partnership with the non-profit One Laptop per Child (OLPC) that's intended to bring media-rich, educational content to underprivileged children worldwide.
The partnership will utilize Dailymotion's technology and infrastructure, including their content management and user account systems, making it possible for children to create and share video using OLPC's XO laptop and built-in Web camera. Other tentative plans for the partnership include Dailymotion assisting in the development of additional XO programs, as well as helping to debug video applications designed specifically for the laptop.
"We at Dailymotion truly believe in OLPC's mission to empower the populations of developing nations with access to educational and technological tools that many of us take for granted," said Mark Zaleski, chairman and CEO of Dailymotion, in a prepared statement. "We are proud to lend our support to this noble and worthwhile project, and look forward to contributing to the brighter future of millions of children around the world."
According to the announcement, Dailymotion has created a special group for children to access customized educational content through the XO laptop. Non-XO users will also have access to the content through Dailymotion's Web site. Content developed through the program will also be included in appropriate Dailymotion channels.
Get daily news from THE Journal's RSS News Feed
About the author: Chris Riedel is a freelance writer based in Illinois. He can be reached via e-mail here.
Proposals for articles and tips for news stories, as well as questions and comments about this publication, should be submitted to David Nagel, executive editor, at email@example.com.
Chris Riedel is a freelance writer based in Illinois. He can be reached here.
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Barbara Slavin's new book Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies complicates this commonly held view of the Pasdaran.
In our interview in 2006, [Mohsen] Rezaie [a former Revolutionary Guards commander and number two in the Expediency Council] disputed the notion that the Guards had increased its political power dramatically since 2003. He said that military veterans had long played a major role in the Iranian government, and the only difference was that "sometimes the media talks about it more." A crucial test of the Guards' power could come in the transition period following Khamenei's passing as supreme leader, when the Guards could be a kingmaker.29The Guardians of the Revolution, upon closer examination, are as complex as the rest of Iran, harboring contradictory tendencies within itself. Moreover, cultural contradiction is compounded by class contradiction. Many of the rank and file of the Revolutionary Guards, like other young working-class people in Iran and many other nations in the South, probably favor changes that broaden their cultural horizon and yet at the same time remain opposed to changes that open their country's political economy to more exploitation by capitalists, not only Iranian but also multinational, to say nothing of changes that make their country vulnerable to the empire's military attacks.
Many outside observers assume that Guards members and veterans are all conservatives opposed to liberalizing the regime or improving ties with the West, but, as so often is the case with Iran, the situation is more nuanced. Like the American military, the Guards leadership tilts to the right while the rank-and-file are more moderate. In 1994, local Guards commanders refused to use force to put down riots in the city of Qazvin, northwest of Tehran. In 1997, 73 percent of the Guards -- 4 percent more than in the general electorate -- voted for Khatami when he scored his upset victory for president.30 . . .
Guards members seem more overtly religious than many Iranians, but that actually reinforces diversity within the ranks, because in Shiite Islam believers can choose the cleric who will be their personal spiritual adviser. For example, Grand Ayatollah Montazeri, the moderate dismissed by Khomeini as his designated successor, retained a strong following among Guards members even after he became Iran's most prominent dissident cleric.33 According to Paul Pillar, a CIA veteran and former Middle East chief on the National Intelligence Council, which advises the U.S. president, it would be hard to identify a Guards position on issues such as reconciliation with the United States. "You've probably got debates within the Guards just as in other Iranian organizations," he said.
29. Ali Gheissari and Vali Nasr, "The Conservative Consolidation in Iran," International Institute for Strategic Studies, Survival vol. 47, no. 2 (Summer 2005), pp. 175-90.
30. [Wilfried] Buchta, Who Rules Iran? [The Structure of Power in the Islamic Republic] [Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2000] p. 125.
33. Buchta, Who Rules Iran? p. 93.
(Barbara Slavin, Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies: Iran, the U.S., and the Twisted Path to Confrontation, St. Martin's Press, 2007, pp. 96-97, 237)
Iran can use a leader who thinks like Ahmadinejad on economic and foreign policies and thinks like Khatami on cultural policy, speaking to the Third World like Ahmadinejad and speaking to the West like Khatami, and is immensely more charismatic than either, for the purpose of wresting power from the Leader and the Guardian Council. Because of many historical reasons, all these virtues cannot be found in one political figure in Iran.
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(extended version of a guest column that appeared on November 5. 2007 in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/337917_firstperson05.html)
Thousands of anti-war protesters marched in Seattle last Saturday, including many co-signers of this essay. But can this war be stopped? The anti-war movement must contend not only with the Bush Administration and its loyal Republican supporters but also with moderate Democrats, who seem resigned to keeping American troops in Iraq for at least the near term. The three Democratic front runners for president refuse to promise that they can bring the troops home by 2013. Moreover, this month's Mother Jones has an article saying that leaving Iraq suddenly would likely be disastrous, both for Iraq and for America. Although Al Qaeda wasn't active there five years ago, they are active there now, and if we left suddenly, it says, Al Qaeda, Iran, and other parties hostile to our interests may take over. An article by George Packer in the September 17 issue of the New Yorker says similar things. Closer to home, Retired Major Gen. Paul Eaton, who spoke as a guest at a recent Eastside Democratic dinner in Bellevue, was highly critical of Republican handling of the war but warned against immediate withdrawal.
On the other hand, even supporters of the war aren't claiming that America can actually “win” in Iraq.
At best, a lengthy and debilitating occupation awaits us. Prolonging the war is likely to merely postpone the day of reckoning, with an even greater loss of lives and money. Already our troops are exhausted and understaffed, but Turkey is threatening to attack the Kurds in northern Iraq and the war may spread. Meanwhile, Pakistan is in crisis, oil is over $90 a barrel and President Bush (who just vetoed the SCHIP health insurance program for kids) is asking for another $200 billion for the war. Incredibly, the Administration is even beating the drums for war with Iran and threatening to start World War III.
In short, the Bush administration has made a huge mess, while ignoring the real terrorists responsible for 9/11 and failing to address the Palestinian-Israeli conflict or the high demand for oil that are the root causes for the war and for terrorism.
For these reasons and more, Congress needs to hold the Administration accountable, by investigative hearings leading to censure or (better yet) impeachment. . The fact that we can't safely leave Iraq is all the more reason to bring them to justice.
Some people argue that pursing accountability would be a distraction from the real things that matter. But Bush, Cheney, and their supporters are the real problem. It's not as if Congress is accomplishing all that much now anyway. Until Bush and Cheney are stifled, things will continue to be bad -- and will get a lot worse if Bush attacks Iran.
Some people argue that the populace has no patience for drawn-out hearings. But according to a recent Reuters/Zogby poll, Bush's approval ratings are 24%; according to polls this summer by American Research Group, 45% of Americans favor impeachment of Bush, and 54% favor impeachment of Cheney. We know of many Democrats who would love to see Bush and Cheney in jail but who believe that pursuing impeachment is a waste of time; we beg to differ. One of the reasons Congress' approval ratings are even lower than Bush's is that Congress hasn't stood up to the Administration. Worldwide, many people would be thrilled if Congress tried to hold Bush and Cheney accountable.
In contrast to Bill Clinton, whose "crime" involved lying about sex, Bush and Cheney are responsible for misleading the country into a disastrous war based on falsehoods; for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians and nearly 4000 US soldiers; for displacing several million Iraqis; for promoting torture and rendition; for illegal wiretapping; for signing statements that thwart the will of Congress; for revealing the name of a CIA agent; for politicizing the Justice Department; for denial of fair trial at Guantanamo; for obstruction of justice in the Valerie Plame case and in the firing of federal prosecutors; for suppression of inconvenient evidence; for obsessive secrecy; and for gross incompetence and corruption in the management of federal agencies, federal contracts, the Hurricane Katrina disaster, the war, and veterans' care.
Democrats have a clear majority in the House and so impeachment (indictment by the House) is a real possibility. Even if the Senate is unable to convict, investigative hearings would embarrass and weaken the Administration and its supporters. (Some people argue that the Democrats would lose the next election if they pursue impeachment. But the Republican impeachment of Clinton led to the defeat of Gore in 2000.) Most of all, hearings would reveal the truth, reestablish the rule of law, and demonstrate that Americans defend their Constitution and hold criminals accountable.
We have an obligation -- to the Constitution, to the world, to Justice, and to posterity -- to at least try to hold Bush and Cheney accountable for their crimes and for their incompetence. People who say "it won't succeed" are engaging in a self-fulfilling prophesy.
What High Crimes are more odious than promoting torture and misleading the country into a disastrous, mismanaged war based on lies? Please, America, bring these men to justice.
Donald A. Smith, Bellevue (ThinkerFeeler@yahoo.com – email me to add your name)
Eric Oemig (State Senator, 45th District) Marilyn Bode, Kingston Richard Borkowski, Seattle Justin Bott, Taylors, SC Linda Brewster, Port Townsend Paul Carr, Seattle Libby Carr, Seattle Melissa Chasan, Mercer Island Daniel Decker, Olympia Dianne J. Diamond, Port Townsend Darlene Durfee, Port Hadlock Kevan Hagen, Olympia Ellen Hanley, Kirkland Jennie Johnstone, Port Arthur Sue Lahti, Seattle Kim Loftness, Shoreline Kevin McManis, Auburn Daniel Molnar, Redmond Allene Rollier Niehaus, Seattle John Olds, Normandy Park Richard Osoborn, Renton Pat Resende, Woodinville Dr. David R. Schwartz, Bellevue Maura Sermeno, Mercer Island Jerry Stockman, Bellevue Chris Struble, Renton William A Taylor, Renton Dave Thomas, Bellevue Bob Thoms, Seattle Chris Tombrello, Bellevue David Vicks, Edmonds Nancy H. Wagner, Bothell Sherry Weinberg, Bellevue Randall Winn, Mercer Island
Back to http://www.conservativethought.org
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I. van Laere, M. de Wit and N. Klazinga
Health and Social Care in the Community, vol. 17, 2009, p. 1-8
In order to prevent homelessness, it is essential that early indicators of risk of eviction are recognised and tailored assistance provided in response. The city of Amsterdam has two separate assistance networks that work to prevent evictions on grounds of rent arrears and housing-related nuisance. This article aims to evaluate their functioning. It is concluded that, to prevent evictions, housing associations should conduct more home visits to identify underlying problems, and should refer more households for medical assistance. Nuisance control care networks should refer more households to social assistance.
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Article from Bindu no 8
Like circles on the water
Intestinal Cleansing - Shankprakshalana
by Shanti 1996, revised and expanded in May 2009
A cleansing process that sharpens the senses. Five simple exercises are practised and the entire intestinal tract is rinsed with warm salt water.
Harmony between the experiencer and the experienced
by Swami Janakananda
An article about the Tantric meditation Antar Mauna (Inner Silence) - and its ancestors and cousins.
A pearl of a meditation - the most basic and advanced at the same time. It opens with methods that make you independent in relation to influences - inner as well as outer.
The Lotus pose - a classical meditation pose
by Joachim Rodenbeck
Why is this pose the most important yoga exercise? Read why, and see what medical research has to say. Archaeologists also verify this, through their discovery of various yoga pose sculptures throughout the world.
Håå Course Center in southern Sweden
“more awake and inspired in daily life...” Rikke and Dennis recount what a stay in Håå has meant for their daily life.
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I remember reading somewhere, some time ago about scientists working for NASA who regularly receive proposals for new space craft from what I respectfully refer to as "amateurs". One of those NASA scientists told an interesting anecdote, about how all of these amateur schematics have a big, white, empty section at the back of the ship, labeled "warp drive goes here" - with no details on that rather crucial little element.
These proposals for a free, ad-powered version of Windows always remind me of these stories from the NASA scientists. How would an ad-powered version of Windows work? Where do the ads go? How long would they appear? Can you click a close button? Are they text-only? Can they use Flash/Silverlight? Can they enlarge my pen1s?
It's an intriguing concept to ponder, but I'm just not really sure if there is an acceptable, yet profitable way of presenting ads all throughout an operating system. It's the big, white, empty section at the back of the operating system labelled "ads go here".
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Next: The retail frontier.
These are the voyages of Cupertino, California.
Its 36-year mission,
To explore promising new markets,
To seek out new users and new areas of growth,
To boldly go where only some Macs have gone before.
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL ) has no official retail stores in India. The company's retail stores have been an incredible success, boasting incredibly high sales per square foot, since they were launched in May 2001 despite naysayers and critics. It's about time to address the former.
Currently, prospective buyers within the world's second-most-populous nation have to go to an authorized Apple reseller, shop at the Apple Online Store, or visit small "Apple Shops" that are small stores within stores, similar to those found in Best Buy (NYSE: BBY ) and Target (NYSE: TGT ) domestically. Best Buy has been helping retail the Mac maker's wares for years, a smart move on Best Buy's part, while Target and Apple just recently took their existing relationship to the next level.
India has an estimated population of roughly 1.18 billion, trailing China's top-dog 1.33 billion inhabitants. Apple has been focusing a lot on its recent explosive growth in China, albeit with the occasional retail misstep. Recent developments in India are now laying the path for Apple to potentially open up its own retail stores within the country.
Source: Apple.com, Apple Retail Store in Pudong district, Shanghai, China
India's Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has recently changed its foreign direct investment (FDI) policy, which had previously limited ownership of single-brand retail stores to 51%. The revised FDI rules now allow ownership up to 100%, although any proposal exceeding the prior 51% threshold is required to source at least 30% of the total value of products sold from Indian industries.
The change opens up the country for other global retailers to move in and expand their presence. Apple had been reportedly in discussions with the Indian government for quite some time, with an anonymous official saying, "They have not told us how many stores they will open. We have made the policy. The doors are now open."
On the possibility of the 30% sourcing rule presenting an obstacle, the DIPP official said, "Let Apple finalize its business plan and the investment it wants to make. If they tell us that the 30% sourcing is a problem, at that stage we will look into it." With much of Apple's components coming from Asian electronics suppliers, the rule could potentially present a problem, but the official's comments at least make it seem as if the department is willing to make concessions.
Within Asia, Apple has retail stores in Japan, China, and Hong Kong. A potential retail expansion into India adds another reason why Apple is still a buy.
With Apple leading the mobile revolution, some winners are hard to see -- because they're buried inside the gadgets. The proliferation of mobile gadgets is going to be breathtaking, and a handful of companies stand to rake in the profits as consumers snap up each year's latest and greatest models. We've just released a new special free report on "3 Hidden Winners of the iPhone, iPad, and Android Revolution." In it, you'll find three companies that supply crucial components that virtually every mobile device relies on. Check it out now -- and it's free.
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" alt="Community food growers can feed schoolchildren" />
21 August 2012
Graeme Wilkinson, a CSI Programme Manager at Tshikululu Social Investments, considers a scenario in which community food growers supply schools in poor communities – integrated development at its best. This article was first published in the 2012 edition of “CSI: The Human Face of Business”, distributed by “Financial Mail”.
The South African government has committed to providing every school-going child from a poor community a cooked and nutritious meal every school day of the year. The objective is clear: no child should learn on an empty stomach.
" alt="Seek social returns on enterprise development investments" />
29 August 2011
The focus on enterprise development (ED) is given impetus by the fact that companies can earn points on their BBBEE scorecard by supporting such initiatives. But, says Jane Woodhouse, Business Development Manager at Tshikululu Social Investments, becoming involved in ED for the right reasons is more important than the pure financial contribution.
" alt="Creating jobs in South Africa by learning from America" />
3 August 2011
Written by Yvonne Pennington, CSI practitioner at Tshikululu Social Investments.
In an article which appeared in Time magazine on 30 May 2011, the journalist Fareed Zakaria welcomed an end to the financial crisis, but introduced an important caveat: in the United States, the rebound has come at the expense of jobs. Though the U.S. gross domestic product has returned to where it was in 2007, it has reached this point with seven million fewer workers.
South Africa is facing an employment crisis too. A quarter of South Africans were reported as unemployed in the first quarter of 2011; a figure which does not include those who are not working but who are actively seeking work. This places us 174th out of 200 countries ranked in the CIA World Factbook. President Jacob Zuma, in his State of the Nation address in February this year, recognised the crisis, declaring 2011 a year of job creation.
" alt="Avoiding a “Tunisia Day” in CSI" />
9 March 2011
Written by Vumisa Mayisela, client relationship manager at Tshikululu Social Investments.
Businessman and sometime political analyst Moeletsi Mbeki has caused waves by warning that South Africa could see a “œTunisia Day” in 2015 or 2020.
He argues that current social models and BEE perpetuate a culture of non-entrepreneurship and entitlement – black people who want to go into business believe that rather than building enterprises from the ground up, they should acquire assets for free, and that somebody is there to make them rich.
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Tax tips for those serving in the militaryAre you or a loved one serving in the military? If so, you may be aware that there are many tax laws generally designed to make it easier to meet your tax obligations while serving your country. The Minnesota Society of CPAs (MNCPA) provides an introduction to some key tax regulations affecting those in the armed forces.
Are you or a loved one serving in the military? If so, you may be aware that there are many tax laws generally designed to make it easier to meet your tax obligations while serving your country. The Minnesota Society of CPAs (MNCPA) provides an introduction to some key tax regulations affecting those in the armed forces.
Who is affected?
First, it’s important to understand how being “in the military” is defined. Under federal tax law, the U.S. Armed Forces includes officers and enlisted personnel in all regular and reserve units under the auspices of the Secretaries of Defense, the Army, Navy and Air Force, including the Coast Guard. The U.S. Merchant Marine and the American Red Cross are not included, but people serving in these organizations and other support functions may qualify for some tax deadline extensions if they serve in a combat zone. Some of the rules discussed here also apply to those in the foreign service or various intelligence functions, so consult your CPA if you have questions about your eligibility.
Homebuyer credit extension applies for 2011 return
The popular homebuyer credit tax benefit provides a credit against your tax bill worth up to $8,000 for first-time homebuyers and for certain long-time home owners who are purchasing a new principal residence. Although the deadline for most taxpayers expired in 2010, members of the military and some other federal employees received an extension. For them, the credit is still available if they bought or committed to buy a principal residence on or before April 30, 2011, and closed on that purchase by June 30, 2011. It applies to those who served on qualified overseas duty for at least 90 days beginning after December 31, 2008, and ending before May 1, 2010. Married taxpayers qualify even if only one spouse served overseas during the period. In addition, the credit repayment requirement that applies in some cases is waived in many cases if the taxpayer sold or stopped living in the principal residence after December 31, 2008, because he or she received orders to serve overseas. If you are in the military or have a loved one who is and you believe this credit may apply, be sure to consult your CPA for more details.
Another benefit for homeowners in the military
As a general rule for most taxpayers, if you lived in your principal residence for two of the five years before selling it, then up to $250,000 of any gain on the sale is not taxable (or up to $500,000 if you are married and filing jointly). Members of the military, however, are allowed to suspend the five-year period for up to 10 years of qualified duty time as a special exclusion. This benefit applies when the taxpayer is stationed 50 or more miles from home or is required to live in government housing. The point of the law is to prevent members of the military from losing out on this benefit because their service involves living away from home for long or recurrent periods. Be sure to ask your CPA for more details if you believe you are eligible.
Special tax deductions and extensions
There are many other large and small breaks for members of the military. Were you aware, for example, that they are eligible to deduct moving expenses when they are restationed? Members of the military may also be eligible for extended deadlines on filing returns, paying their taxes and claiming their refunds. It may also be possible to deduct some of the costs of job hunting when leaving the armed forces.
A boost for military job seekers
When seeking work, veterans can also remind potential employers of two new tax benefits available to businesses that hire them. Companies that offer jobs to unemployed veterans can receive a credit of up to $5,600 per veteran under the Returning Heroes Tax Credit. The Wounded Warriors Tax Credit gives employers a maximum credit of $9,600 per veteran if they offer jobs to veterans with disabilities connected to their military service.
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Railroad Commission faces name change, more oversight
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A name change and additional oversight could be coming to the Railroad Commission.
Texas’ Sunset Advisory Committee has been reviewing the commission and looking at ways to make it more efficient and transparent.
Some of the recommendations include changing the name of the commission to help curb confusion.
The way that commissioners finance campaigns was also addressed. A number of people testified that more than just disclosure is needed to clean up the process.
"Studies have shown that 80 percent of the money raised by candidates in the Texas Railroad Commission comes from oil and gas interests, and we think that creates a huge conflict of interest,” Craig McDonald with Texans for Public Justice said.
The committee also addressed additional pipeline safety measures to avoid crude oil spills.
Lawmakers are expected to debate a number of the committee's recommendations in the upcoming legislative session.
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In job descriptions, I often see positions called "Gameplay Programmer". What do people in that position do, and what are some good starting places to learn what I would need to know to do that job?
I always find it helps to illustrate by example.
The key distinction is that of who the 'customer' is. For gameplay programmers, it's the design team - their task is to make the design into a reality. For engine programmers, it's generally other programmers. Engine programmers make technology and systems, which gameplay programmers and content creators can then use to realise the design.
Engine programmers write code which is largely game-agnostic - the same technology can often be used in multiple games. Gameplay programmers tend to write code which is very specific to the game being made. And there's always overlap - sometimes to implement the gameplay you need some new engine code.
Gameplay coding isn't any harder or easier than engine coding. It is however definitely a slightly different skill-set; you often need to be more creative, and be able to bodge solutions. Your goal is not to create the perfect re-usable system (the ideal for engine programmers), but to create the best game implementation. So what can be an asset in engine programming (attention to detail and well engineered structures) can be a hindrance in gameplay programming (where adaptability and iteration time are more important). A good gameplay programmer knows when to do it right (when the design is solid and the code will be used in many places), and when to do it quickly (when the design is still being worked out, and your code has a good chance of being discarded once tested).
Most of all, gameplay programmers need to be able to collaborate with the design team on a level that engine programmers do not. Aside from the obvious communication skills, that means you need to be familiar with other game designs much more than engine programmers do, so that when a designer says "make it work like Zelda," you know what they're talking about.
To learn to be an engine programmer, you'd drill down on a technology and learn how it works, and maybe implement your own version of it; the game would just be an arena in which to show the technology.
To learn to be a gameplay programmer, you'd take someone else's engine, and use it in as many different ways as you can. In other words, if you want to be a gameplay programmer, make games, not technology.
When companies talk about hiring a gameplay programmer, what they are talking about is a programmer who will be responsible for code that directly touches on the game experience. That is, the programmer will be responsible for actually constructing the games, rather than engine or larger game systems. But beyond that, things vary a lot:
Some companies expect gameplay programmers to implement the user interface. Some don't. Some companies expect them to implement AI code, some don't. Some expect them to implement audio code, some don't. To be honest, the "gameplay" in gameplay programmer is an industry shorthand for "everything that we haven't hired a specialist to do". So these programmers need to be very versatile, and need to be able to learn new disciplines quickly.
I spent almost fifteen years being a gameplay programmer in the commercial industry, across five different companies.
My experience was that in some companies, a gameplay programmer is considered to be a junior or entry-level position; programmers who are only working on an individual game, after all, don't need to be as sophisticated as those who are working on systems that need to support lots of different games simultaneously, the way that engine programmers need to. In this sort of company, if a gameplay programmer does really well, he might be promoted into the engine team someday, if he can prove his worth. Or he might become a specialist, if he shows an aptitude for a particular area.
In other companies, a gameplay programmer is considered to be a medium-level position; programmers working on an individual game need to have some useful experience and be dependable. Inexperienced programmers might be given undesirable jobs to cut their teeth on (data pipelines, tools, etc), and eventually be allowed to move up into a "gameplay programmer" job. In this sort of system, a gameplay programmer who continues to do quite well might move up into a project leadership role, or else onto the engine team.
In still other companies, a gameplay programmer is considered to be a senior position, and to be a half-design position as well; these programmers are expected to be excellent, proven programmers, but also to have strong design sensibilities and qualifications, since they're directly touching the code that most strongly affects the player's experience with the game. In this sort of system, a really good gameplay programmer will likely remain a gameplay programmer forever -- this is considered to be the most valuable position which he can fill.
As a general rule of thumb, the better the company's games, the more senior a position they consider gameplay programmer to be (and therefore, the more difficult it will be to actually land such a job).
Exactly what it sounds like, a programmer who implements and maintains game play mechanics.
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UNITED STATES, Petitioner, v. Florence Blacketter MOTTAZ, etc.
476 U.S. 834 (106 S.Ct. 2224, 90 L.Ed.2d 841)
UNITED STATES, Petitioner, v. Florence Blacketter MOTTAZ, etc.
Argued: April 22, 1986.
Decided: June 11, 1986.
- opinion, BLACKMUN [HTML]
Respondent inherited interests in three Indian allotments, title to which was held in trust by the United States. In 1954, the Government sold the allotments to the United States Forest Service despite the lack of express consent from every person who held an interest in the allotments. In 1967, respondent expressed an interest to the Bureau of Indian Affairs in selling her inherited Indian lands, and the BIA provided her with a list of her allotment interests but did not mention the three allotments that had already been sold. In response to a specific inquiry in 1981, the BIA informed respondent that the allotments had been sold. Respondent then filed suit against the United States in Federal District Court, claiming jurisdiction under, inter alia, the General Allotment Act of 1887 and the Tucker Act, and alleging that the sale of her interests was void. She sought damages equal to the current fair market value of her interests. The District Court ruled that her claims were barred by the general 6-year statute of limitations governing actions against the United States. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that that statute does not bar claims of title to Indian allotments but that since the statute of limitations question depended on resolving several preliminary issues the case would be remanded to the District Court. The Court of Appeals denied the Government's petition for a rehearing wherein the Government claimed that the suit was barred, not by the general statute of limitations, but by the 12-year limitations period of the Quiet Title Act of 1972.
Held: Respondent's suit is "a civil action . . . to adjudicate a disputed title to real property in which the United States claims an interest," within the meaning of the Quiet Title Act, and therefore is barred by that Act's 12-year limitations period. Pp. 841-851.
(a) The relief respondent seeks confirms this characterization of her suit. What she seeks is a declaration that she alone possesses valid title to the interests in question and that the title the United States asserts is defective, and an order requiring the United States to pay her the value of her interests today in order properly to transfer title. The provision of the Quiet Title Act that it "does not apply to trust or restricted Indian lands" operates solely to retain the United States' immunity from suit by third parties challenging the United States' title to land held in trust for Indians. Thus, when the United States claims an interest in real property based on its status as trust or restricted Indian lands, the Quiet Title Act does not waive the United States' immunity. But when an Indian plaintiff challenges the United States' assertion of title in its own behalf, the Act applies. The limitations period is a central condition of the consent given by the Act. By 1967, at the very latest, respondent was on notice that the Government did not recognize her title to the allotments in question; this satisfied the provision of the Quiet Title Act that for purposes of the 12-year limitations period that commences on the date upon which the action accrued, an action shall be deemed to have accrued on the date the plaintiff "should have known" of the United States' claim. Pp. 841-844.
(b) Respondent cannot avoid the Quiet Title Act limitations period by using the General Allotment Act for a quiet title action against the Government. The General Allotment Act grants federal district courts jurisdiction over suits seeking the issuance of an allotment and suits involving an Indian's interests and rights in his allotment after he has acquired it. The Act's structure suggests that it waives the Government's immunity only with respect to the former class of suits. That federal courts may have general subject-matter jurisdiction over claims to quiet title to allotments brought by Indians does not therefore mean that the United States has waived its immunity in cases where an Indian challenges the United States' claim of title in its own right. To permit suits against the United States under the General Allotment Act would not only permit plaintiffs to avoid the Quiet Title Act's 12-year limitations period but also could disrupt ongoing federal programs. Pp. 844-848.
(c) Respondent's action does not fall within the scope of the Tucker Act, and thus her appeal to the Court of Appeals was proper. Pp. 848-851.
753 F.2d 71, reversed.
BLACKMUN, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.
Edwin S. Kneedler, Washington, D.C., for petitioner.
Derck Amerman, Minneapolis, Minn., and Leonard A. Zolna, Minneapolis, Minn., on brief, for respondent.
Justice BLACKMUN delivered the opinion of the Court.
The question presented by this case is whether respondent's suit against the United States is time barred. In 1954, the Government sold respondent's interests in three Indian allotments to the United States Forest Service for inclusion in the Chippewa National Forest in Minnesota. Respondent claims that the sale was void. We hold that respondent's suit is an action "to adjudicate a disputed title to real property in which the United States claims an interest," within the meaning of the Quiet Title Act of 1972, 28 U.S.C. 2409a(a), and therefore is barred by that Act's 12-year period of limitations. See 28 U.S.C. 2409a(f).
* In 1905, pursuant to the General Allotment Act of 1887, 24 Stat. 388, as amended, 25 U.S.C. 331 et seq. (1982 ed. and Supp. II), and the Nelson Act of 1889, 25 Stat. 642, three Chippewa Indian ancestors of respondent Florence Blacketter Mottaz each received an 80-acre allotment on the Leech Lake Reservation in Cass County, Minn. 1 Title to each of these allotments was held in trust by the United States. Respondent eventually inherited a one-fifth interest in one of the allotments and a one-thirtieth interest in each of the other two.
In the early 1950's, some holders of fractional interests in Leech Lake allotments petitioned the Department of the Interior to permit them to sell their lands. 2 On April 30, 1953, the Department's Office of Indian Affairs sent respondent two forms, captioned "Consent to Sale of Inherited Lands." App. 42, 43. 3 Accompanying the forms was a letter which read in part:
"As stated before, some of the owners have requested the sale of this land. Both land and timber, if any, have been appraised; and as soon as we get the consent to sell, an effort will be made to obtain a buyer by advertising for sale bids. This land will not be sold unless the high bid is equal to, or more than, the appraised value. If no reply is received from you within ten (10) days, it will be assumed that you have no objection to the sale." Id., at 15.
The consent forms indicated that one of the allotments was appraised at $420.50 and the other at $605.75. Respondent neither replied to the letter nor returned the consent forms. In 1954, despite the lack of express consent from every person who held an interest in any of the three allotments, the Government sold them to the United States Forest Service.
Respondent visited the regional office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in May 1967 and expressed an interest in selling her inherited Indian lands. Later that month, the realty officer sent her a letter informing her of her allotment interests. The letter did not mention the Leech Lake allotments. Id., at 17. Respondent in 1981 again requested a list of her interests. In its reply, the Bureau set forth the allotments currently held in trust for her and, in addition, noted that she once had held interests in the Leech Lake allotments which had been sold by the Secretary as part of the so-called "Secretarial Transfer" program. Id., at 44-45. 4
In 1981, respondent filed suit against the United States in the Federal District Court for the District of Minnesota. She claimed jurisdiction under 25 U.S.C. 345, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1346, 1353, and 2415, and the Fifth Amendment. App. 7. She alleged that the sales of her three Leech Lake allotments "made without her consent or permission . . . were, therefore, illegal sales and transfers and are void." Id., at 8. In addition, respondent raised four other claims regarding the sale: that the United States had breached its fiduciary duty in selling lands held in trust for her without first obtaining her consent; that the United States had acted negligently in selling her lands; that she had been deprived of property without due process; and that her property had been taken for public use without just compensation. Id., at 10. Respondent also sought to represent both a nationwide and a Minnesota-based class of similarly situated Indian claimants. Id., at 8-9.
Respondent originally sought either "damages in a monetary sum equal to the current fair market value of each parcel illegally transferred" or "rescission of the illegal sale or transfer and the vesting of title of each individual parcel in the names of the appropriate descendants, heirs and assigns." Id., at 10. After a preliminary hearing, she voluntarily dismissed, without prejudice, her claim requesting rescission. Id., at 12.
The District Court ruled that respondent's claims were barred by 28 U.S.C. 2401(a), the general statute of limitations governing actions against the United States. That section provides, in pertinent part, that "every civil action commenced against the United States shall be barred unless the complaint is filed within six years after the right of action first accrues." The court held that respondent's cause of action first accrued when she learned of the sale of the lands. Since respondent's deposition "clearly revealed that she had knowledge of the sale in 1954," App. to Pet. for Cert. 10a, her suit, filed 27 years after the sale, was barred. 5
The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded. 753 F.2d 71 (CA8 1985). While it recognized that respondent's complaint was somewhat opaque, it rejected the Government's claim that respondent was seeking, not simply to establish title to the allotments, but also to obtain damages for alleged negligence and breach of fiduciary duty: the complaint "must be read as raising the one essential claim that her land was sold without her consent, that she did not receive payment for her land, and that accordingly the sale was void and she retains title to the land." Id., at 75. The claim for damages equal to the current fair market value of the land "must be construed as equivalent to a claim for return of the land itself." Ibid.
The Court of Appeals ruled that such a claim could not be time barred. This Court in Ewert v. Bluejacket, 259 U.S. 129, 42 S.Ct. 442, 66 L.Ed. 858 (1922), had held that the sale of an allotment to a Government agent in violation of federal law is " 'void and confers no right upon the wrongdoer,' " id., at 138, 42 S.Ct. at 444, quoting Waskey v. Hammer, 223 U.S. 85, 94, 32 S.Ct. 187, 189, 56 L.Ed. 359 (1912), and had refused to apply principles of laches to bar the Indians' claim against Ewert. Although Ewert v. Bluejacket did not consider whether federal statutes of limitations apply to land claims brought by Indian allottees, the Court of Appeals found that § 2401(a) "does not bar claims of title to allotments because Ewert is based on the principle that, if the underlying sale of land is void, the concept that a cause of action 'accrues' at some point is inapplicable because the allottee simply retains title all along." 753 F.2d, at 74.
Thus, the Court of Appeals concluded that the statute of limitations question depended on the resolution of several preliminary issues. It therefore remanded the case to the District Court to determine whether the Secretary lacked the authority in 1954 to sell respondent's lands without her consent, and, if such a sale would have been unauthorized, whether respondent either had consented or had actually received payment following the sale, in which case her consent could be inferred. If respondent proved on remand that the sale was illegal, then, "in light of the land's inclusion within the Chippewa National Forest and the thirty years which have passed since the sale, . . . she may force the government to pay her the fair market value of the land rather than to simply return the land itself." Id., at 75.
The Government petitioned for rehearing and rehearing en banc. In its petition, the Government claimed, apparently for the first time, that respondent's suit to recover land currently held by the United States was barred, not by the general 6-year statute of limitations in § 2401(a), but rather by the 12-year limitations period established by the Quiet Title Act. 2 Record 16. In addition, the Government argued that the Court of Appeals' holding that respondent could compel the United States to pay her the fair market value of her property involved relief "of the type typically provided by the Tucker Act," ibid., but a Tucker Act claim would clearly be barred by the 6-year statute of limitations. The Court of Appeals denied the Government's petition. App. to Pet. for Cert. 13a. Because of the importance of the issue, we granted certiorari to consider whether respondent's claim was barred under either § 2401(a) or § 2409a(f), the limitations provision governing Quiet Title Act claims. 474 U.S. 994, 106 S.Ct. 405, 88 L.Ed.2d 356 (1985).
When the United States consents to be sued, the terms of its waiver of sovereign immunity define the extent of the court's jurisdiction. United States v. Sherwood, 312 U.S. 584, 586, 61 S.Ct. 767, 769, 85 L.Ed. 1058 (1941). In particular, "when waiver legislation contains a statute of limitations, the limitations provision constitutes a condition on the waiver of sovereign immunity." Block v. North Dakota, 461 U.S. 273, 287, 103 S.Ct. 1811, 1819, 75 L.Ed.2d 840 (1983). Neither the District Court nor the Court of Appeals discussed the precise source of its jurisdiction and the parties at various times before this Court have identified the jurisdictional basis of respondent's suit as the Quiet Title Act, 28 U.S.C. 1346(f) and 2409a; the Allotment Acts, 25 U.S.C. 345 and 28 U.S.C. § 1353; and the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. 1346(a)(2). Thus, we must decide which, if any, of these statutes conferred jurisdiction on the District Court and the Court of Appeals, and then determine whether respondent's suit was brought within the relevant limitations period.
In Block v. North Dakota, 461 U.S., at 286, 103 S.Ct., at 1819, this Court held that "Congress intended the QTA to provide the exclusive means by which adverse claimants could challenge the United States' title to real property." Here, respondent contests the United States' claim that it acquired title to the allotments in 1954. We think that respondent's suit falls within the scope of the Quiet Title Act, 28 U.S.C. 2409a(a), which governs "civil actions . . . to adjudicate a disputed title to real property in which the United States claims an interest." Respondent's description of her claim clearly brings it within the Act's scope:
"At no time in this proceeding did respondent drop her claim for title. To the contrary, the claim for title is the essence and bottom line of respondent's case. Her position is simply that the land remains in the name of Mottaz and the other heirs of the property despite what some pieces of paper executed by petitioner without her consent and without a court hearing purport to do." Brief for Respondent 3.
See also 753 F.2d, at 74, 75. The relief respondent seeks confirms this characterization of her suit. Respondent does not seek recovery of her share of the proceeds realized by the United States from the 1954 sale but allegedly never distributed. A claim for monetary damages in that amount would involve a concession that title had passed to the United States Forest Service in 1954 and that the sole issue was whether respondent was fairly compensated for the taking of her interests in the allotments. Rather, respondent demands damages in the amount of the current fair market value of her interests. What respondent seeks is a declaration that she alone possesses valid title to her interests in the allotments and that the title asserted by the United States is defective, and an order requiring the United States to pay her the value of her interest today in order properly to transfer title.
Nonetheless, respondent claims that her suit is not governed by the Quiet Title Act because, by its own terms, that Act "does not apply to trust or restricted Indian lands," § 2409a(a), such as the lands in which she asserts an interest. Respondent misconstrues this exclusion, which operates solely to retain the United States' immunity from suit by third parties challenging the United States' title to land held in trust for Indians. See, e.g., S.Rep. No. 92-575, p. 6 (1971); H.R.Rep. No. 92-1559, p. 13 (1972), U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 1972, p. 4547; Dispute of Titles on Public Lands, Hearing on S. 216, S. 579, and S. 721 before the Subcommittee on Public Lands of the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, 92d Cong., 1st Sess., 19 (1971). Thus, when the United States claims an interest in real property based on that property's status as trust or restricted Indian lands, the Quiet Title Act does not waive the Government's immunity. 6 Here, however, the United States claims an interest in the Leech Lake lands, not on behalf of Indian beneficiaries of a trust, but rather on behalf of the United States Forest Service and the Chippewa National Forest. Thus, the Act provides the United States' consent to suit concerning its claim to these lands, provided, of course, that the plaintiff challenging the Government's title meets the conditions attached to the United States' waiver of immunity.
The limitations period is a central condition of the consent given by the Act. See, e.g., Block, 461 U.S., at 283-285, 103 S.Ct., at 1817-1818; H.R.Rep. No. 92-1559, supra, at 5, 7-8. The Act provides:
"Any civil action under this section shall be barred unless it is commenced within twelve years of the date upon which it is accrued. Such action shall be deemed to have accrued on the date the plaintiff or his predecessor in interest knew or should have known of the claim of the United States." 28 U.S.C. 2409a(f).
The District Court expressly found that respondent knew of the sale in 1954. Moreover, the list of interests provided to respondent by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1967 did not include any of the three Leech Lake allotments. Thus, by 1967, at the very latest, respondent was on notice that the Government did not recognize her title to the allotments. Whether respondent actually knew that the allotments had been included within the Chippewa National Forest and thus were claimed by the United States, her undisputed knowledge that the Government no longer recognized her as having a valid claim to the allotments satisfies the "should have known" prong of § 2409a(f)'s accrual test. 7 Her claim is therefore barred.
Respondent, however, seeks to avoid the carefully crafted limitations of the Quiet Title Act by characterizing her suit as a claim for an allotment under the General Allotment Act of 1887, 24 Stat. 388, as amended, 25 U.S.C. 331 et seq. (1982 ed. and Supp. II). That Act grants jurisdiction to the district courts over suits "involving the right . . . to any allotment." 25 U.S.C. 345. 8 Respondent claims that the general 6-year statute of limitations governing all civil actions against the Government, 28 U.S.C. 2401(a), does not apply to cases brought under the General Allotment Act, and that her claim therefore cannot be time barred. We need not reach the question whether § 2401(a) applies to claims brought under § 345 of the General Allotment Act, and, if it does, when a cause of action begins to run, since we conclude that respondent cannot use § 345 for a quiet title action against the Government.
Section 345 grants federal district courts jurisdiction over two types of cases: (i) proceedings "involving the right of any person, in whole or in part of Indian blood or descent, to any allotment of land under any law or treaty," and (ii) proceedings "in relation to" the claimed right of a person of Indian descent to land that was once allotted. Section 345 thus contemplates two types of suits involving allotments: suits seeking the issuance of an allotment, see, e.g., Arenas v. United States, 322 U.S. 419, 64 S.Ct. 1090, 88 L.Ed. 1363 (1944), and suits involving " 'the interests and rights of the Indian in his allotment or patent after he has acquired it,' " Scholder v. United States, 428 F.2d 1123, 1129 (CA9), cert. denied, 400 U.S. 942, 91 S.Ct. 240, 27 L.Ed.2d 246 (1970), quoting United States v. Pierce, 235 F.2d 885, 889 (CA9 1956).
The structure of § 345 strongly suggests, however, that § 345 itself waives the Government's immunity only with respect to the former class of cases: those seeking an original allotment. In those suits, § 345 provides that "the parties thereto shall be the claimant as plaintiff and the United States as party defendant" (emphasis added), while, as to the latter class of cases, no mention of the United States' participation is made. 9 Accordingly, in Affiliated Ute Citizens v. United States, 406 U.S. 128, 92 S.Ct. 1456, 31 L.Ed.2d 741 (1972), this Court held that, to the extent that § 345 involves a waiver of federal immunity, as opposed to a grant of subject-matter jurisdiction to the district courts, that section "authorizes, and provides governmental consent for, only actions for allotments." 406 U.S., at 142, 92 S.Ct., at 1466 (emphasis added). See also Naganab v. Hitchcock, 202 U.S. 473 (1906) (sovereign immunity precludes suit against United States regarding disposition of Indian lands).
That federal courts may have general subject-matter jurisdiction over claims to quiet title to allotments brought by Indians, see n. 9, supra, does not therefore mean that the United States has waived its immunity in cases where an Indian challenges the United States' claim of title in its own right. As the Court already has noted, Congress intended the Quiet Title Act "to provide the exclusive means by which adverse claimants can challenge the United States' title to real property." Block, 461 U.S., at 286, 103 S.Ct., at 1819. In Block, the State of North Dakota sued the federal officers responsible for supervising a riverbed within the State which both the State and the Federal Government claimed to own and sought an injunction barring them from exercising privileges of ownership over the bed. The Court held that such an "officer's suit" was precluded since it would circumvent the "carefully crafted provisions of the QTA deemed necessary for the protection of the national public interest." Id., at 284-285, 103 S.Ct., at 1818. To permit challenges to the Government's claim of title to be brought under other jurisdictional provisions might mean that "the QTA's 12-year statute of limitations, the one point on which the Executive Branch was most insistent, could be avoided, and, contrary to the wish of Congress, an unlimited number of suits involving stale claims might be instituted." Id., at 285, 103 S.Ct., at 1818. Moreover, to permit officer's suits might thwart Congress' determination that the Government be given the option of paying just compensation and thereby keeping land even after an adverse judgment, see § 2409a(b), in order to avoid disruption of ongoing federal activities involving the disputed property. 461 U.S., at 285, 103 S.Ct., at 1818.
To permit suits against the United States under the General Allotment Act poses similar dangers. Not only could it permit plaintiffs to avoid the Quiet Title Act's 12-year statute of limitations, but it could also seriously disrupt ongoing federal programs. The remedial clause of the General Allotment Act provides that a judgment in favor of an Indian claimant "shall have the same effect . . . as if such allotment had been allowed and approved by the Secretary of the Interior." 25 U.S.C. 345. Thus, if plaintiffs were permitted to sue under the General Allotment Act, they would be entitled to actual possession of the challenged property. This would pose precisely the threat to ongoing federal activities on the property that the Quiet Title Act was intended to avoid. That the plaintiff in this case claims the right to elect a remedy that would not require the Government to relinquish its possession of the disputed lands is irrelevant: the Quiet Title Act expressly gives that choice to the Government, not the claimant. 28 U.S.C. 2409a(b). In light of Congress' purposes in enacting the Quiet Title Act, we cannot conclude that Congress intended to permit persons in respondent's position to avoid that Act's strictures. 10
At oral argument, respondent claimed that her case is based solely on the General Allotment Act. See Tr. of Oral Arg. 23, 26. Nevertheless, at various times during this litigation, both parties have identified the Tucker Act as providing a source of federal jurisdiction over respondent's claims. Although respondent and the Government apparently agree that a suit based on the Tucker Act would be barred by the general 6-year statute of limitations, 28 U.S.C. 2401(a), we must address the possibility that the District Court's jurisdiction rested on the Tucker Act because, if it did, the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit may have lacked jurisdiction over respondent's appeal. 11
Prior to the passage of the Quiet Title Act, adverse claimants had resorted to the Tucker Act to circumvent the Government's immunity from quiet title suits. Rather than seeking a declaration that they owned the property at issue, such claimants would concede that the Government possessed title and then would seek compensation for the Government's having taken the property from them. See Block, 461 U.S., at 280-281, 103 S.Ct., at 1816; H.R.Rep. No. 92-1559, at 9, 12. In light of the Quiet Title Act's explicit statement that § 2409a(a) does not "apply to or affect actions which may be or could have been brought under sections 1346 . . . or 1491 . . . of this title," 12 we cannot conclude that Tucker Act-based suits, like the officer's suit at issue in Block, are clearly precluded by the passage of the Quiet Title Act.
But regardless of whether other claimants may invoke the district courts' Tucker Act jurisdiction to hear their claims, it is clear that respondent has not brought a case falling within the scope of the Tucker Act. In Healy v. Sea Gull Specialty Co., 237 U.S. 479, 480, 35 S.Ct. 658, 59 L.Ed. 1056 (1915), Justice Holmes, writing for a unanimous Court, stated that "the plaintiff is absolute master of what jurisdiction he will appeal to," and noted that "jurisdiction generally depends upon the case made and relief demanded by the plaintiff." Thus, since the "essential features," id., at 481, 35 S.Ct., at 659, of Healy's case involved allegations of patent infringement and a request for the relief characteristically provided by patent law, Healy could invoke federal patent law jurisdiction despite the fact that the measure of damages was fixed by contract.
Respondent now invokes federal jurisdiction only under the General Allocation Act and its jurisdictional counterpart. Moreover, the case she has made, and the relief she seeks, do not fit within the scope of the Tucker Act. A Tucker Act-based lands suit would seek damages equal to just compensation for an already completed taking of the claimant's land. See, e.g., Block, 461 U.S., at 280-281, 103 S.Ct., at 1816; H.R.Rep. No. 92-1559, at 7, 9, 12-13. As we have noted, however, respondent is not seeking whatever compensation she allegedly was denied in 1954. Rather, she claims she still owns her interests in the allotments, and she seeks to force the Government to buy those interests. She claims, in essence, that no legally cognizable taking has yet occurred. See Brief for Respondent 3-4. Respondent and the Court of Appeals view payment rather than return of the land as an appropriate remedy because respondent's allotments now lie within the Chippewa National Forest. But neither views this payment as representing damages for the Government's past acts, the essence of a Tucker Act claim for monetary relief. See, e.g., United States v. Mitchell, 463 U.S. 206, 103 S.Ct. 2961, 77 L.Ed.2d 580 (1983). Since this Indian respondent's claim was not based on the Tucker Act, her appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit was proper.
Federal law rightly provides Indians with a range of special protections. But even for Indian plaintiffs, "a waiver of sovereign immunity 'cannot be lightly implied but must be unequivocally expressed.' " United States v. Mitchell, 445 U.S. 535, 538, 100 S.Ct. 1349, 1351, 63 L.Ed.2d 607 (1980), quoting United States v. King, 395 U.S. 1, 4, 89 S.Ct. 1501, 1502, 23 L.Ed.2d 52 (1969). Congress has consented to a suit challenging the Federal Government's title to real property only if the action is brought within the 12-year period set by the Quiet Title Act. The limitations provision of the Quiet Title Act reflects a clear congressional judgment that the national public interest requires barring stale challenges to the United States' claim to real property, whatever the merits of those challenges. Accordingly, the judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed.
It is so ordered.
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For a general discussion of the allotment program, see F. Cohen, Handbook of Federal Indian Law 612-632 (1982).
By the Act of May 14, 1948, ch. 293, 62 Stat. 236, 25 U.S.C. 483, the Secretary of the Interior "is authorized in his discretion, and upon application of the Indians owners . . . to remove restrictions against alienation, and to approve conveyances, with respect to lands or interests in lands held by individual Indians."
No contemporaneous document concerning the third allotment appears in the record.
In the late 1970's, the Bureau sought to identify potential land claims that might be affected by the statute of limitations set forth in 28 U.S.C. 2415 (1982 ed. and Supp. II), which pertains, among other things, to certain contract and tort actions brought by the United States on behalf of Indians. (In 1982, § 2415 was amended to apply, as well, to contract and tort claims brought by individual Indians and tribes.) The Bureau identified as "Secretarial transfers" those sales made without the consent of all the heirs. See H.R.Rep. No. 97-954, p. 7 (1982); see generally County of Oneida v. Oneida Indian Nation, 470 U.S. 226, 242-243, 105 S.Ct. 1245, 1255-1256, 84 L.Ed.2d 169 (1985) (discussing § 2415 claims).
The District Court also rejected respondent's arguments that § 2401(a) does not apply to suits by Indians for breach of fiduciary duties, and that § 2415's special provisions dealing with Indian land claims override the general statute of limitations established by § 2401(a). With respect to the former claim, the court stated: "By its very terms 28 U.S.C. 2401(a) applies to 'every civil action commenced against the United States. . . .' " App. to Pet. for Cert. 10a (emphasis in District Court opinion). With respect to the latter claim, the court held that § 2415 "applies to actions brought on behalf of a recognized tribe or individual Indian" by the United States (emphasis in original). App. to Pet. for Cert. 10a. It does not, however, "permit claims against the United States." Id., at 10a-11a (emphasis in original).
In urging that such an exemption be included in the Quiet Title Act, the Solicitor for the Department of the Interior noted that excluding suits against the United States seeking title to lands held by the United States in trust for Indians was necessary to prevent abridgment of "solemn obligations" and "specific commitments" that the Federal Government had made to the Indians regarding Indian lands. A unilateral waiver of the Federal Government's immunity would subject those lands to suit without the Indians' consent. See H.R.Rep. No. 92-1559, p. 13 (1972).
Our finding that respondent's cause of action accrued more than 12 years prior to her filing suit does not rest on the fact that the letter sent by the Government in 1953 informed respondent that the failure to reply within 10 days would be deemed a consent to the sale. That letter expressly noted that the land would be sold only if a bid of at least its appraised value were received. App. 15. It therefore was entirely possible that no sale would occur even if respondent expressly had consented to the sale. Respondent's cause of action accrued only because she in fact knew that a sale had been completed and knew, or should have known, that the Government was the purchaser.
Title 25 U.S.C. 345 reads in full:
"All persons who are in whole or in part of Indian blood or descent who are entitled to an allotment of land under any law of Congress, or who claim to be so entitled to land under any allotment Act or under any grant made by Congress, or who claim to have been unlawfully denied or excluded from any allotment or parcel of land to which they claim to be lawfully entitled by virtue of any Act of Congress, may commence and prosecute or defend any action, suit, or proceeding in relation to their right thereto in the proper district court of the United States; and said district courts are given jurisdiction to try and determine any action, suit, or proceeding arising within their respective jurisdictions involving the right of any person, in whole or in part of Indian blood or descent, to any allotment of land under any law or treaty (and in said suit the parties thereto shall be the claimant as plaintiff and the United States as party defendant); and the judgment or decree of any such court in favor of any claimant to an allotment of land shall have the same effect, when properly certified to the Secretary of the Interior, as if such allotment had been allowed and approved by him, but this provision shall not apply to any lands now held by either of the Five Civilized Tribes, nor to any of the lands within the Quapaw Indian Agency: Provided, That the right of appeal shall be allowed to either party as in other cases."
A corresponding provision governing district court jurisdiction appears in 28 U.S.C. 1353. Respondent invoked jurisdiction under both § 345 and § 1353 in her complaint. App. 7.
In fact, § 345 has been used by Indians to sue parties other than the United States to quiet title to land originally given under various allotment schemes. See, e.g., Begay v. Albers, 721 F.2d 1274 (CA10 1983); Vicenti v. United States, 470 F.2d 845 (CA10 1972), cert. dism'd, 414 U.S. 1057, 94 S.Ct. 561, 38 L.Ed.2d 343 (1973) (plaintiffs sought recovery of title from private parties; suit against the United States for damages held barred by sovereign immunity). To hold that in all cases brought under § 345 the United States must be named as a party defendant would restrict the access to federal courts afforded Indians raising claims or defenses involving their land entitlements because the United States would obviously not be a proper party in many private disputes that relate to land claims originally granted by various Allotment Acts.
The Indian Claims Limitation Act of 1982, 96 Stat. 1976, which amended 28 U.S.C. 2415(a), essentially tollsfor a time the general 6-year statute of limitations for many damages actions that may be brought by the Federal Government on behalf of Indians. Respondent claims that § 2415 also shows that Congress did not intend the general 6-year statute of limitations for damages actions brought against the Federal Government, 28 U.S.C. 2401, to apply to her claim. But § 2415 is expressly inapplicable to actions "to establish the title to, or right of possession of, real or personal property." 28 U.S.C. 2415(c). In County of Oneida v. Oneida Indian Nation, 470 U.S., at 240-241, 105 S.Ct., at 1254-1255, the Court concluded that Indian land claims not subject to any federal limitations period were presumptively exempt from state statutes of limitations as well. Respondent's claim, however, is based on a particular federal statutethe Quiet Title Actthat contains its own limitations period.
Under 28 U.S.C. 1295(a)(2), the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit possesses exclusive jurisdiction over an appeal from a district court's decision
"if the jurisdiction of that court was based, in whole or in part, on section 1346 of this title, except that jurisdiction of an appeal in a case brought in a district court under section 1346(a)(1), 1346(b), 1346(e), or 1346(f) of this title or under section 1346(a)(2) when the claim is founded upon an Act of Congress or a regulation of an executive department providing for internal
revenue shall be governed by sections 1291, 1292, and 1294 of this title [the provisions granting jurisdiction to the regional courts of appeals]."
Thus, if the District Court's jurisdiction here depended on the Tucker Act, § 1346(a)(2), then the Eighth Circuit lacked jurisdiction over respondent's appeal, and we would have to vacate its judgment and remand the case with directions to transfer the appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1631 to the Federal Circuit. See, e.g., Ballam v. United States, 474 U.S. 898, 106 S.Ct. 222, 88 L.Ed.2d 222 (1986); Pacyna v. Marsh, 474 U.S. 1078, 106 S.Ct. 844, 88 L.Ed.2d 886 (1986).
In light of our conclusion that the District Court's jurisdiction was not based on the Tucker Act, but instead rested on § 1346(f) (Quiet Title Act claims), we need not reach the difficult and unsettled question of how an appeal raising both issues committed to the Federal Circuit's jurisdiction and issues outside its jurisdiction is to be treated. See, e.g., S.Rep. No. 97-275, pp. 19-20 (1981); H.R.Rep. No. 97-312, p. 41 (1981), U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 1982, p. 11; Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit1981, Hearings on H.R. 2405 before the Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties, and the Administration of Justice of the House Committee on the Judiciary, 97th Cong., 1st Sess., 90 (1981) (testimony of James W. Geriak); Cihlar & Goldstein, A Dialogue About the Potential Issues in the Patent Jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 10 APLA Q.J. 284 (1982); Drabiak, Jurisdiction of the New Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 73 Ill.B.J. 218 (1984); Newman, Tails and Dogs: Patent and Antitrust Appeals in the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 10 APLA Q.J. 237 (1982) (all discussing the issue in the context of patent appeals that also raise antitrust claims).
In particular, we express no opinion on the question whether, since § 1295(a)(2) explicitly disclaims Federal Circuit jurisdiction over claims based on § 1346(f), and the Federal Circuit is a court of limited jurisdiction, see H.R.Rep. No. 97-312, supra, at 39, an appeal in a case raising both Tucker Act and Quiet Title Act claims would have to be bifurcated and sent in part to the regional circuit and in part to the Federal Circuit. Cf. S.Rep. No. 97-275, supra, at 20.
The broad reference to "sectio[n] 1346" is somewhat opaque. Section 1346(f), in fact, grants the district courts "exclusive original jurisdiction of civil actions under section 2409a." The exclusion in § 2409a therefore cannot be read to include all suits that can be brought under § 1346. We think, however, that the exclusion of suits brought under § 1491the Tucker Act provision granting the Claims Court jurisdiction supports finding a similar exclusion of suits brought under § 1346(a)(2)the analogous district court provision.
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http://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/476/834
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s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.947475
| 9,131
| 1.6875
| 2
|
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