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West Perth is an inner suburb of Perth, the capital city of the state of Western Australia. This part of the Australian city is made up predominantly of office blocks; there are few residential buildings in the area. One landmark in West Perth is Parliament House. This building overlooks St Georges Terrace and Mitchell Freeway. Other notable buildings in West Perth include Dumas House, the original Perth Observatory, the second location of Hale School, Solidarity Park, Edith Dircksey Cowan Memorial, and the Constitutional Centre of Western Australia.
Western Perth houses a high proportion of miners, consultants, and medical specialists. Most retail outlets in the suburb focus on serving office workers and are closed on weekends. One notable exception to this is the Harbourtown factory outlet complex. The economy of Western Australia and the city of Perth is dependant on local resources and the services sector. The state’s major exports include iron-ore, gold, liquefied natural gas, and agricultural commodities such as wheat, wool, and livestock such as sheep and cattle. Large companies with office space or other facilities located in Perth include Alinta - an Australian energy infrastructure company, Kagara Ltd is an Australian mining company, and Chevron Australia Pty Ltd.
Entertainment And Dining Out
Perth offers an eclectic mix urban and nature activities. You can spend your nights perusing Perth’s vibrant bar scene, and the days taking part in open arts festivals, surfing world-class beaches, or hiking expansive parklands. One of the parks near West Perth is Kings Park, which offers 400 hectares (988 acres) to explore. Or you can snorkel or dive the clear waters at Cottesloe Beach, then stay to watch the spectacular sunsets. Dining options in Perth include Fraser’s Restaurant, Friends Restaurant, Black Tom’s, and the Old Brewery. Miss Maud is a favourite dining location in this part of Perth where there is live music every evening. Although located in the heart of Perth Miss Maud serves exquisite Swedish food well-known throughout the area.
The closest major airport to Perth, Australia is the Perth Airport (PER/YPPH). This airport is 23 km (14 miles) from the city centre. Another airport near Perth, Australia is the local, domestic facility at Rottnest Island Airport – on Rottnest Island, Australia (RTS). This airport is 48 km (30 miles) from Perth. A major junction of the Mitchell Freeway is located in the suburb. City West Station runs regular trains to Fremantle Station and Perth Station.
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Available to all – they can be used by anyone, whether you require 1 or 100+ workstations. Nowadays, many companies use them as a long term alternative to conventional office space. | <urn:uuid:2c4053ea-c2a4-46ea-a3e1-d76c7b2a551a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.searchofficespace.com/australia/office-space/west-perth-serviced-offices.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937734 | 938 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Virginia Tech serving local milk on campus
BLACKSBURG, Feb 03, 2013 (The Roanoke Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
There are Hokie mugs. And Hokie sweatshirts. There have even been Hokie edition sport utility vehicles.
But Hokie cows and Hokie milk
Well, they aren't bred to be maroon and orange. In fact, they are mostly black-and-white Holsteins, with a few brown Jerseys mixed in, and they roam the campus fields along U.S. 460 and Southgate Drive.
Now through a partnership with the Virginia Department of Corrections, some of that milk can now be served to Tech students at Dietrick Hall's D2 food court.
For decades, the more than 1,800 gallons a day of milk Tech's dairy herd produces has been sold to a dairy cooperative. But no more.
The Hokie milk project is part of Tech's initiative to serve foods on campus that have been produced within a 250-mile radius. The project stems from the university's overall sustainability program, said Rial Tombes, university sustainability coordinator.
Local foods is a growing trend around the country, and more and more students are looking to their universities to provide those options on campus. Over the past two years, dining services has offered some meat produced on campus, and now milk has been added to the list.
"It's important to be connected to your milk," said Erica Largen, a Tech senior and president of the campus Environmental Coalition. "Milk was one of the last foods to be globalized."
This semester, milk once more became a local food.
Today about 60 percent of the bulk milk served in D2 is from Hokie cows, Dietrick Hall food production manager Amanda Snediker said.
Prepackaged milk in pints and half-gallons served elsewhere on campus is purchased through a separate commercial contract with PET, dining services director Ted Faulkner said.
Faulkner had been looking for a way to expand the dining services' local foods initiatives into Hokie dairy products but hadn't been successful.
For the past couple of years, the dining operation has purchased meat from the college of agriculture's pork and beef research and education programs. After a newspaper story about the Hokie meat project was published, Faulkner said, Tech's dairy facility manager, Shane Brannock, contacted dining services about doing something similar with the university's milk.
In 2012, Tech's dairy sold about $1 million worth of milk produced by its herd of more than 500 dairy cattle. That revenue covers about 90 percent of the operating costs of the dairy, which exists to provide animals for animal science research and teaching, agriculture college spokesman Zeke Barlow wrote in an email.
Alan Grant, dean of the agriculture college, calls these sales programs salvage operations, and they are common at universities across the country with agriculture programs.
The milk has always been sold, Brannock said. But it's been more years than anyone remembers that milk produced at Tech was served to students. And there was a big hurdle to cross before the raw milk produced at the dairy could be served in the dining hall.
Raw milk, which can harbor a number of disease-causing pathogens, cannot be served to the public under health codes. It must be pasteurized for safety and processed and packaged by fat content, from skim to whole. Tech doesn't own a creamery, and didn't want to build one.
To make the idea of Hokie milk for Hokies work, the university had to find a partner that would purchase raw milk from the agriculture college, process it and then sell it to dining services.
Luckily, Brannock had what he thought was the perfect partner in mind -- his old employer James River Agribusiness, a project of the state's department of corrections.
"They were as eager to help us as we were eager to work with them," Snediker said.
In fact, the manager of James River Agribusiness is a Tech alum with a degree in animal science.
For three decades William Gillette has managed the state's more than 30 prison farm operations scattered across the state. Those operations produce vegetables, meats and milk products, mostly for use within the prison and jail systems.
The dairy operation at what has been known for more than a century as "The State Farm" prison and agricultural complex along the James River west of Richmond was recently granted a license to produce grade A dairy products at its creamery. That license allows the corrections department to sell some of the about 1 million gallons of milk produced annually by its dairy to clients outside the corrections system, including to universities.
Like all other farm businesses run by the corrections department, Gillette said the creamery employs inmates to both reduce the taxpayer's bill for corrections, and to give those offenders work experience that can help them re-enter society when their debt to the commonwealth is paid.
Revenue from the sales of milk to Tech supports the corrections department's dairy operation. And the extra milk brought in from Tech's dairy herd supplements the production of the 140 dairy cows at the James River facility.
The partnership "saved the corrections department from having to spend capital money to expand our own operation" to serve new customers, Gillette said. "Governments are looking for savings wherever they can. I think it's a great relationship."
By July 1, 2012, Tech was selling all its milk to the prison system. Dining services began buying it under a separate agreement with corrections in January. It was served to students for the first time on Jan. 22, Snediker said.
Dining services buys three different bulk milk products -- 1 percent chocolate milk, skim milk and whole milk -- in 5-gallon packages that fit into a refrigerated dispenser that students can return to as often as they like.
So far, D2 has purchased up to 140 gallons a week at a cost of about $400, according to figures provided by Snediker.
The chocolate milk, made from a recipe developed by Tech and mixed at the James River facility, is the most popular so far.
Snediker said students drink it at a rate of up to 60 gallons a week.
___ (c)2013 The Roanoke Times (Roanoke, Va.) Visit The Roanoke Times (Roanoke,
Va.) at www.roanoke.com Distributed by MCT Information Services
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Morris Dees receives American Bar Association’s highest honor
Morris Dees, co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, was recognized Tuesday for a legal career dedicated to seeking justice and equality for all when the American Bar Association presented him with the ABA Medal – the organization’s highest award.
Dees, honored during the association’s annual meeting in Chicago, received a standing ovation from the ABA’s House of Delegates, the association’s policymaking body of more than 500 members.
“I am honored and humbled to receive this award from the American Bar Association,” Dees said afterward. “But this award isn’t just about me. It’s also a tribute to the talented SPLC employees dedicated to ensuring that what began as a small civil rights law firm I helped found four decades ago will always be there for the disenfranchised.”
The ABA Medal, which recognizes “exceptionally distinguished service by a lawyer or lawyers to the cause of American jurisprudence,” is given only when the ABA Board of Governors determines a nominee “has provided exceptional and distinguished service to the law and the legal profession,” according to the ABA.
SPLC Founder Morris Dees accepts his award from the ABA.
“The presentation of the ABA Medal to Morris Seligman Dees Jr. represents our profound admiration for his personal courage and incomparable leadership as one of the greatest civil rights lawyers of our time,” said outgoing ABA President Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III. He said Dees is “an outstanding example of a lawyer who, case by case, is moving our country toward tolerance and equality.”
Previous ABA Medal recipients include Supreme Court Justices Oliver Wendell Holmes, Felix Frankfurter, Thurgood Marshall, William J. Brennan Jr. and Sandra Day O’Connor. Other recipients include Watergate Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski; Judge Patricia Wald, a member of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; and human rights activist the Rev. Robert Drinan.
Dees told the ABA how his civil rights work wasn’t always popular in the Deep South. He was thankful for the attorneys working by his side at the SPLC as well as supporters of the SPLC’s work. He also praised the judges and juries who accepted the task of providing a fair trial to the hate groups the SPLC took to court on behalf of their victims.
Dees’ legal career was shaped by the career of Clarence Darrow, an attorney who left the corporate world to follow his conscience and take cases on behalf of the powerless – cases that made history. Dees read Darrow’s autobiography while delayed overnight at an airport in 1968, and was inspired.
Dees sold his successful book-publishing business and, with fellow lawyer Joe Levin, founded the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., in 1971. Their goal was to provide a voice for the disenfranchised. Though the Civil Rights Movement had ushered in the promise of racial equality, it was apparent to Dees, the son of an Alabama farmer, that the nation’s new civil rights laws had yet to bring real and fundamental changes needed in the South.
“I had made up my mind,” Dees wrote in his autobiography, A Season for Justice. “I would sell the company as soon as possible and specialize in civil rights law. All the things in my life that had brought me to this point, all the pulls and tugs of my conscience, found a singular peace. It did not matter what my neighbors would think, or the judges, the bankers, or even my relatives.”
Dees and Levin took pro bono cases few others were willing to pursue – the outcome of which had far-reaching effects. Early lawsuits brought the desegregation of recreational facilities, the reapportionment of the Alabama Legislature, the integration of the Alabama State Troopers and reforms in the state prison system.
Confronting hate groups
Dees also pioneered a legal strategy to hold organized hate groups responsible for the violence of their members. This strategy has allowed the SPLC to shut down some of the nation’s most dangerous hate groups by winning crushing, multimillion-dollar jury verdicts on behalf of their victims.
It has also made Dees and the SPLC an enemy of extremists across the country. The SPLC’s office was firebombed by Klansmen in 1983, and Dees has received numerous threats against his life during his long career.
The SPLC also has helped to dismantle institutional racism in the South, reform juvenile justice practices, shatter barriers to equality for women, children and the disabled, and protect low-wage immigrant workers from abuse. It has reached out to the next generation, too, with Teaching Tolerance, a program that provides educators with free classroom materials that teach students the value of tolerance and diversity.
Dees’ efforts have earned him several other accolades. He was named one of 100 most influential lawyers in America by the National Law Journal in 2006. He has also been awarded Trial Lawyer of the Year from the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Award from the National Education Association and the Salem Award for Human Rights and Social Justice. He has received more than 20 honorary degrees. In 1991, NBC aired a made-for-TV movie, Line of Fire, about Dees and his landmark legal victories against the Ku Klux Klan.
More work ahead
But Dees noted that awards also serve as reminders that the work of the SPLC is far from complete. The nation is growing increasingly diverse and the changing demographics are fueling the growth of hate groups and creating numerous challenges that demand the work of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
“Our work is probably needed now more than ever,” Dees said.
The SPLC, a leading expert on hate and extremism, continues to monitor a record number of hate groups and extremists across the country. It also provides training to law enforcement officers to ensure they are equipped with the latest intelligence about the threats posed by these groups.
The SPLC’s legal projects also are tackling some of the nation’s most pressing civil rights issues.
Its LGBT rights project is dedicated to defending the rights of this community, whether it’s ensuring students are safe from anti-LGBT bullying at school or fighting discrimination faced by LGBT adults.
The SPLC’s immigrant justice project is leading the fight against vicious anti-immigrant laws as well as protecting the rights of exploited immigrant guestworkers.
And throughout the Southeast, the SPLC has juvenile justice and education reform projects to prevent at-risk children from being pushed into the criminal justice system.
“There’s still a lot of work ahead,” Dees said. “But this award shows that when people come together to create a more just and tolerant society, they can bring much-needed change to this country.” | <urn:uuid:e1ee7418-1fac-4cc7-992a-25079f5d704f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/news/morris-dees-receives-american-bar-association-s-highest-honor | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972313 | 1,470 | 1.726563 | 2 |
In The Country
I’m in southern Vermont, where I don’t know the proper names of any of the plants or animals. But their shapes and the sounds they make are more familiar to me. The trees are a normal kind of big. The birds make pleasant calls that are indistinguishable from one another. For some reason I am less interested in knowing who (meaning what species) they all are. I feel that I know them, because they are East Coast birds, and that’s enough. If I had lived here for decades, as the residents of this house have, maybe I would know who’s who. But when I go to a place, I’m looking for a feeling, mostly of vague belonging. I would much prefer to belong to a place, I’ve recently realized, than to be in awe of all that is unfamiliar about it.
On the West Coast, nature is a kind of multimillion-dollar museum exhibit: look at how big they (presumably God) made these trees, meaning both wide and tall, and stupefyingly so, for us museumgoers! It is not easy to say what the West Coast feels like, but Museum of Earth is as close as I can get. From the very beginning of my time there, nearly two years ago, I wanted to know who was who: who was hanging around my porch day after day, and I soon learned. Mostly: Steller’s jays, black and blue jays with a variety of loud calls that can mimic other creatures, including squirrels, and Anna’s hummingbirds, green and neon pink birds that can hover in place way up in the air, like a police helicopter, in a way that looks like showing off to potential mates, but is really a method of surveying the land.
I have been away, on the East Coast, for three weeks now. Today is the first time I think to ask myself: do I miss the flora and fauna of the Museum of Earth? Before arriving in Vermont I spent two weeks in New York City. I think the city, my former home, lobotomized my fondness for the birds and trees of California from my brain, and left me with gratitude for New York City, and also gratitude for being able to leave New York City and come to southern Vermont. I hardly think about California at all.
This is my future parents-in-law’s home. They bought it and the surrounding 40-acre property 45 years ago for about the price of one of the Kardashians’ lesser cars. The back of the house faces west, toward Haystack Mountain, whose peak and surrounding area happens to look exactly the same as Mount Tamalpais, the sleeping lady, the mountain in Marin that I can see from my apartment in Berkeley. But Haystack is much closer, and so it is more green than blue, its trees all discernible, and in front of it are tall pines that block the view from any of the properties on this hill, which rolls down into the town. Going down that road you pass a few properties and a cemetery. One property is marked by a sign that says FREY, which I use, when running, to let me know that I have run 1.5 miles from my in-laws’ house, and which I only remember to look for because of James Frey. The road out onto that main, paved road, from the house, is a dirt road. Most of the vehicles that come down this road are tractors. The men driving the tractors display a mix of attentiveness and distraction. Sometimes they scan the front of the property, looking out for the dogs, and sometimes, usually on the way home, they tap on their iPhones with one hand and steer with the other.
There are surprisingly few animals here, at least during the day. There are sometimes crows traipsing through the field to the left, which is part of this property, but is separated from it by an old wooden fence. There is the odd turkey, or at least a turkey feather, which my dog will find back in the woods, clench between her teeth, and parade around, even though the other dogs are unimpressed by her find. The loudest animals (turkeys, pheasants) are the least frightening. They make crashing sounds in the woods, which are startling, but then they emerge silently from the brush and skitter away, as if they’ve just broken something and don’t want to be held responsible. Chipmunks cross the road in front of me like scorpions, their tails straight up in the air, immoveable as they run. One night there was a toad on the back lawn, which one of the dogs accidentally stepped on while running in the dark back to the house. This caused the toad to flip in the air like a car upon impact with another car. He landed upright and continued to squat there, frozen, until (I gather) we all went back inside. I decided he was not dead because nothing with such good posture could be dead.
This is not Nova Scotia, which I prefer to call home and where I am headed next. But it’s close enough to it, and just as rural or more so. When I run here I get the same pleasant mix of comfort and discomfort, of familiarity and alienation, that old I am not quite of here that I experience everywhere, but which, owing simply to math, becomes less true over time: when I have spent 20 years in New York, or 20 years in Berkeley, or 20 years in Nova Scotia, I will not be able to say that I am “not quite of” any of these places.
Running, as it always does, makes me feel that I know this Vermont town better than I do, or just in a way that most people don’t. I know that the dirt road in front of the house is cooler to run on than the tarmac or the grass, because there is water just under it, and that to the naked eye, the road is flat, but to legs in motion it has subtle inclines and declines that can feel just as challenging as steep hills if you’re tired. About a quarter of a mile away, on the steep dirt road with the view of the entire valley at its steepest point, the houses feel almost as familiar as if I knew the people who live in them: their mailboxes tell me how far I’ve gone, how far I need to go, how far I could go if I wanted to push myself. What do drivers on this road do, except listen to NPR and watch closely for other cars, because the road is just a little too narrow to fit two comfortably? What they don’t do is agonize over this road’s excruciating hills. To get through them, I count every other step to 90, over and over again (90 is about equal to a minute, so this is an approximate way to know how far you’ve gone). Counting, for us eccentric runners, can be more interesting than thinking.
We sleep in my significant other’s childhood bedroom. I ask him whether he finds it weird that this is the room he spent his entire childhood and adolescence in. “Not really,” he says, and I marvel at the possibilities that “Not really” (as opposed to “No”) leaves. I never spent more than four years in the same room growing up, and I can’t imagine not being haunted by any of my rooms, if I was to sleep in them again now. When I think of each of those rooms — what they look like now, who sleeps in them — my stomach drops.
My desk is a three-legged round table big enough to put a vase of flowers on (or a laptop), but not much else. It can’t fit both a laptop and a mug of tea. The mug has to tip slightly, resting on the lip of the table and against the side of the laptop. My chair is a rocking chair, permanently leaning forward. Today it is 65 degrees and cloudy. I am wearing a thick sweater found amongst the hodge-podge of clothes from various members and eras of this family. But mild weather is charming in summer, because my skin is tanned, suggesting health, and the cold cannot sap me of my apparent vitality because it is only temporary.
Out the window to my left the in-laws hit a tennis ball against the garage door with their two grandsons. When my father-in-law comes back inside through the front door of the house, the dogs, all herding dogs of some type, bark, thinking it’s an intruder, and continue to bark once he gets in the door. He says, “Oh, for god’s sake,” and they stop.
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The best thing about being a young adult right now is that you, more than any previous generation, have the freedom and the resources to create your own religion. So, let’s get started.
The apartment you lived in your first year out of school, the walk-up with a view of the street.
I wanted to quit my job. I hated my boss.
His eyes widened, he became angry, and backed off of me. I told him he could leave now. Now. He said “With you being a good Christian girl, and me studying to be a priest, I think it’s important we not tell anyone what we did.” | <urn:uuid:352876b4-d76a-4883-ae56-a8e8152b7183> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/in-the-country/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973646 | 2,013 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Only a reform movement so radical that it would appear revolutionary within the context of the existing U.S. economic and social order, fundamentally reducing the field of operation of the capitalist market, holds any chance of substantially improving the conditions of most people in society.
These gains will only be made through a reform movement so radical that it would appear revolutionary within the context of the existing U.S. economic and social order, fundamentally reducing the field of operation of the capitalist market, holds any chance of substantially improving the conditions of most people in society. Needless to say, for such a struggle to succeed people will have to have a sense of real things to struggle for that will materially affect their lives.
Over the years, I’ve had conversations with Europeans about gun control. Not surprisingly, they have been very critical of America’s “gun culture” — that is, the widespread ownership of guns among the American people. They have extolled the situation in Europe, where gun-control laws preclude people from freely owning guns, arguing that such laws make for a more peaceful society.
….So this is where we stand: much of local and state government, whole federal departments and agencies, American activities around the world, the world itself--vast areas of great public concern–are either neglected or on the verge of neglect. Politicians and administrators will work increasingly without independent scrutiny and without public accountability. We are entering historically uncharted territory in America, a country that from its founding has valued the press not merely as a watchdog but as the essential nurturer of an informed citizenry. The collapse of journalism and the democratic infrastructure it sustains is not a development that anyone, except perhaps corrupt politicians and the interests they serve, looks forward to. Such a crisis demands solutions equal to the task. So what are they? Free Press proclaims the role of journalism is to serve government. Do you agree?
“vast areas of great public concern–are either neglected or on the verge of neglect”
Court Questions FCC Authority to Impose Net Neutrality
No decision has been made yet, but, if Friday’s arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals in DC are any indication, it doesn’t appear that the FCC will prevail in exerting its authority over Comcast. Losing this battle may be just what the FCC needs to move forward with its efforts to formalize net neutrality guidelines.
by Capitol Confidential In a stunning new development that observers say could significantly impact the ongoing debate regarding net neutrality, Big Government has confirmed that sixteen minority and civil rights groups recently submitted a joint filing to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) raising red flags regarding the policy’s potential effects.
The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) urges the Federal Communications Commission to adopt rules preserving open and nondiscriminatory access to the internet.
The debate about network neutrality is complex and contentious, but we wish to address a specific myth advanced by network neutrality opponents: that this regulation would stifle innovation and create disincentives for investment in next-generation broadband networks.
Andrew Keen of Arts + Labs, twists a Free Press statement about an important speech delivered by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (actual headline: “Free Press Echoes Secretary Clinton’s Call for Internet Freedom”) into an attack. He tries to drive a wedge into the broad alliance of individuals and organizations – Democrat and Republican, innovative companies and consumer groups, churches and libraries – that support the free and open Internet.
Free Press argues Net Neutrality is better than corporate control. Which would you prefer? Corporate control or Government control (hint: corporations don’t have guns)
Net Neutrality Dangers
Net Neutrality proponents argue that this policy will create an open and free internet while opponents cite the mechanisms that will be used to create this ‘open net”, namely centralized government controllers who will have the power to control the web like never before.
CBO Projects 2010 Budget Deficit at $1.35 Trillion
WASHINGTON — A senior congressional aide says the latest estimates put this year’s federal budget deficit at $1.35 trillion.
The Congressional Budget Office figures confirm the massive problem facing President Obama and his Democratic allies just days before his Feb. 1 budget submission. The White House says Obama will propose freezing domestic agency budgets, though the savings would barely make a dent.
The deficit would slide to $480 billion by 2015, CBO says, but only if tax cuts on income, investments and large estates are allowed to expire at the end of this year. Most budget experts see deficits as far higher once tax cuts and other policies are factored in.
But in his appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” the Arizona Republican said that Obama “has got to veto bills that are laden with pork-barrel spending, earmarks.” He also said he’s determined to vote against another term for Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, “because I believe he was the captain of the ship when it hit the iceberg. He was there at the casino when all the gambling went on and he didn’t do anything about it.”
A U.S. government investigator is opening a probe into disclosures made as part of the government’s rescue of American International Group Inc. when the company’s trading partners were paid billions in November 2008.
Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, plans to tell a U.S. House panel Wednesday that he is investigating whether there was any “misconduct relating to the disclosure or lack thereof” surrounding the deals, in which banks who had traded with the giant insurer got paid in full on $62 billion in bets on soured mortgage securities.
For the first time, a new poll shows that Gov. Charlie Crist is losing to former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio in Florida’s nationally watched Republican U.S. Senate race.
Rubio leads by just 3 percentage points — 47-44 — and is well within the error margin of the Quinnipiac University poll. Yet the trend of Rubio’s rise and Crist’s fall is stark. In October, Crist led 50 – 35 percent. In August, Crist’s lead was even bigger (55 – 26) and in June the race looked like Crist would blow out Rubio by 54 – 23 percent.
Gloves off in Kirsten Gillibrand vs. Harold Ford fight
Several Democratic sources told POLITICO that Gillibrand and her team get it — and are now seeking to augment her communications team with a consultant who will more aggressively target Ford, who spent Monday blasting away at the senator and her patron Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on New York Post columnist Fred Dicker’s radio show. | <urn:uuid:0e5c0510-a0c3-48ad-9c13-024d181f347f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.freedomist.info/2010/01/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943828 | 1,417 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Since you are saying "I am the best" and that statement alone carries a bit of ego/arrogance/boast of confidence etc. I would think you'd want to use 俺, 私 sounds neutral/formal. And for the particle, you'd use が since you are pointing out that "I" am the best and none other.
For your second question, both mean relatively the same thing. Though, 一番 is more like, the best, the first (in a series of things or events that can be ranked). 最高 takes a meaning of "the most, the highest, the greatest."
So it just depends on what tone you want to set with your statement.
I hope that helps. | <urn:uuid:62724032-256c-499a-9f76-b9544965359a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/5470/%E4%BF%BA%E3%81%8C%E4%B8%80%E7%95%AA-vs-%E4%BF%BA%E3%81%8C%E6%9C%80%E9%AB%98?answertab=oldest | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952425 | 158 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Editor's note: Amitai Etzioni, professor of international relations and director of the Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies at George Washington University, is the author of "Hot Spots: American Foreign Policy in a Post-Human-Rights World," to be published by Transaction this fall.
(CNN) -- I was walking to my study on the campus recently when I came across the annual ritual: Rows of cars were being unloaded by parents bringing their kids to college. There was a whole beehive of young people, with special T-shirts marked "staff," who helped the parents carry the computers, boxes, and other gear. A generation ago, I had to schlep that stuff myself (with the assistance of my bewildered freshman son).
By the time I walked back home in the late afternoon, about half a dozen parents were lingering, chatting with each other, obviously reluctant to leave. They must have skipped the "letting go" event that my university, like many colleges, organizes to make the parting easier -- as one college dean put it, "to take the gas out of the helicopters."
A couple asked me if I was a college professor. They wanted to know if my colleagues and I would notify them if their kid were to get into trouble. They assured me that they had no special concerns about their daughter. However, she had just turned 18, she had never been away from home for any long period of time, and she sometimes can be swept away by peer pressure, they allowed.
The father also wondered whether the parents of other students would be notified if their children showed signs of mental distress, referring to this summer's shooting by a student at a theater in Aurora, Colorado, and to the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007.
I reassured the couple that if I saw a student in trouble I would help, but explained that notifying parents is a surprisingly complicated matter. Help on the campus is readily available. My university, like most others, has elaborate psychological counseling services, medical clinics, and, of course, a police department. Beyond that, it has a "care network," whose staff members "connect the dots" of information about students from a variety of sources -- including concerned fellow students, staff, and faculty -- and when need be, reach out to troubled students.
But calling the parents of a student -- like so much in our lives -- runs into laws, regulations, and, yes, lawsuits. In 1974, Congress passed the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act . It was enacted to protect students' records by requiring colleges to get written permission from students to share information about them with others, parents included.
Most colleges understood the law as posing a blanket ban on notifying parents, although lawyers found some loopholes; they argued that maybe a professor could share "personal observations." The Higher Education Amendment, passed by Congress in 1998, allowed colleges to share information about students under the age of 21 with their parents in certain cases, including the violation of policies regarding drugs and alcohol.
Following this amendment, many colleges started to notify parents, a change in policy that according to some research had beneficial effects. For instance, one study found that more than half (52%) of the colleges that increased parental notification saw a decrease in alcohol violations. (Critics argue that the main effect of such changes was to make the students more discreet when they abused alcohol.)
The law (by some interpretations at least) limits the disclosure of information to parents who pay the bill for college. My university, for instance, will provide some information to a parent who submits a tax return in which they list the student as a dependent, a return that has to be resubmitted each year.
The sociologist in me holds that family bonds do not suddenly end when a youngster goes to college, that the transition from being a kid at home to an adult on one's own should be a gradual one, and that students need their families' support. Colleges should nurture these bonds -- and benefit from them in promoting good conduct -- whether or not Mom and Pop pay.
As one student told me: "The legal firewall between universities and parents is unnecessarily strict. College life is a period of growth, and the university system does not always provide adequate guidance toward that end. Parents conintue to play a major role and should be encouraged, not dissuaded from doing so. Those students hoping to keep their affairs secret will just have to learn better discretion, which is in itself an important life skill for those hoping to hold on to their privacy in the modern world."
At the same time, I realize that some families are dysfunctional, and some students may have reasons to fear that the parents will yank them out of school (or at least stop paying) if they get less than an A average. Others may load students with so much guilt, or such heavy demands to respect the family legacy, that a student may yield to family pressures and major in law instead of, say, in music.
Hence, it seems that a good way to sustain family bonds while protecting students from undue pressure is to allow the students, as my university does, to indicate from Day One which family members should be contacted. These may be grandparents, older siblings, or a stepmother or father.
Families may have to hover less, but that doesn't mean students ought to be out of sight. The family's continued involvement is a major resource in helping students mature, even if they are no longer minors, as long as colleges also provide ways of protecting students from excessively intrusive parents. This is why the form that allows students to change their designated family contact is so useful.
An assistant dean who is called in the middle of the night because a parent is concerned about Junior's grades, or a parent who loads a student's e-mail with endless suggestions, should be free to work out with the student a change in the approved family contact form. Colleges need to nurture family bonds but cut the hovering.
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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Amitai Etzioni. | <urn:uuid:5a86849d-c0cb-4187-b789-4d2e406a4f84> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/09/opinion/etzioni-colleges-parents/index.html?hpt=hp_t3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974665 | 1,259 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Travel intentions of the inhabitants of Slovenia, yearly report 2011
Before the start of the summer season, the intention to travel or take a trip was expressed by 49% of respondents, while prior to the start of the winter season, the intention to travel was expressed by 28% of respondents. In the summer season, most of them (68%) planned to take a trip with 4 to 13 overnight stays, while prior to the winter season, most of them (54%) intended to go on a shorter holiday with up to 3 overnight stays.
The most popular summer destination is Croatia. Namely, the intention to spend their vacation in Croatia was expressed by 55% of respondents. 19% of them intended to spend their summer holidays, and 37% their winter holidays, in Slovenia. As regards winter popularity, Slovenia is followed by Austria (17%) and Italy (14%).
Travel intentions of the inhabitants of Slovenia - winter season 2009/2010
Trips or excursions in the period December 2009 – February 2010 are being planned by 23% of respondents, of whom 11.5% will go on longer trips with more than three overnights, while 7.7% will go at most on a short trip with one to three overnights. The highest number of respondents, 35%, will spend their winter holiday in Slovenia, while 13% will holiday in Austria. Almost two thirds of respondents (64%) will make their own travel arrangements, while 26% of respondents will leave their travel arrangements to a tour operator. The envisaged amount of spending on trips and excursions averages a little less than EUR 530 per person. Both last year (49%) and this year (48%) almost half of respondents gave lack of money as the main reason for not travelling. The majority of respondents believe that the global financial and economic crisis has not influenced their choice of destination.
Travel intentions of the inhabitants of Slovenia - summer season 2009
In June, July or August, 50% of survey respondents will go on a trip or excursion. Of these, 38% of respondents will go on a longer trip (more than three overnights), while 7% will go on shorter trips (one to three overnights). A total of 5% of respondents will only be going on excursions without overnights.
The intention to go on a trip is influenced significantly by gender, age, education, employment status and the type of location and statistical region. In the period from June to August 2009, it will be to a greater extent males, younger, better educated people, students and those employed, and those from bigger cities who will go on a trip or excursion.
Travel intentions of the inhabitants of Slovenia - winter season 2008/2009
56% of respondets stated as main reason for travel in winter seasons leisure, the next answers in line was visiting friends/relatives (9%) and then sport, skiing (7%). Reasons for non-travaling were money (49%), the lack of free time (17%) and age (7%).
Travel intentions of the inhabitants of Slovenia - summer season 2008
56% of all survey respondents plan their holiday, travel or trip in June, July or August. Holidays (with at least three overnight stays) will be taken by 48%, a break with one or two overnight stays by 5%, and a day trip by 3% of the respondents. The most respondents will spend their summer holidays in Croatia (52%). Holidays in Slovenia are planned by 29%; 7% of the respondents plan to travel to Greece. Less than 5% reported going to other countries for holidays. The majority of those on holiday in Slovenia will plan their holidays on their own, without a travel/tourist agency (90%), and privately-arranged holidays abroad will be taken by 74%.
Travel Intentions of the Inhabitants of Slovenia Comparison Report (2006/2007)
This report presents a comparison of travel intentions of inhabitants of Slovenia in years 2006 and 2007. We have compared the travel intentions, anticipated destination country of holiday, anticipated activities on longer holidays and anticipated expenditure.
Travel Intentions of the Inhabitants of Slovenia - 2007
The aim of the research of travel plans of the inhabitants of Slovenia in 2007 is to follow their travel habits over four time periods: spring (March - May), summer (June - August), autumn (September - November) and winter (December 2007 - February 2008). Here is final report for all four time periods together.
Travel Intentions of the Inhabitants of Slovenia in the year 2007
With the research on travel plans of the inhabitants of Slovenia in 2007 our aim is to follow their travel habits over four time periods: March - May, June - August, September - November and December - February.
The purpose of the research is to monitor the travel intentions over a longer period of time (organisation of holidays, number of overnight stays) and to do a more detailed analysis of the holiday destination countries, the main activities on holidays, anticipated expenditure, and reasons for not going on holidays
With the research on tourist travel we collect monthly data on the travel of the Slovenian population. The questions involve two areas, namely: intentions to travel in the current month (number of overnight stays, destination country of planned holidays, main activities, expected expenditure, reasons for not travelling) and holidays already spent in the current month with at least three overnight stays (destination country of the holiday spent, main activity during holidays, expenditure per person, reasons for selection the destination, reasons for not travelling). | <urn:uuid:7898a677-34cd-44b8-83a2-b5a154bc31ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.slovenia.info/?ppg_potovalne_navade_namere_slo=0&lng=2&viewscale=30 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955209 | 1,129 | 1.773438 | 2 |
August 18, 2011
In an Aug. 17 opinion piece in Australia’s National Times, Senior Clinical Instructor Bonnie Docherty '01 urged the Australian Senate to push back against proposed implementation legislation that would blunt the impact of the international ban on cluster munitions. The Senate is scheduled to debate the bill in the coming days.
“The Australian Senate has a chance to avoid an embarrassing double standard in its approach to international law. But it needs to decide: does it want to ban cluster munitions or not? Is it willing to stand by its signed commitment to eliminate these indiscriminate weapons immediately rather than do the bidding of the United States, which wants to put off a ban until at least 2018?
If the Senate passes the Cluster Munition Prohibition Bill without amendment, Australia will be in the unfortunate position of having arguably the world’s weakest national law to carry out the international ban on cluster munitions. The Senate, which is scheduled to debate the bill in coming days or as early as today, should instead seize the opportunity to strengthen the proposed legislation, increasing protection for civilians in armed conflict and remaining true to the international law Australia claims to support….”
To read the full opinion piece, “Cluster bombs bill is a law of loopholes,” click here.
Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic has worked with Human Rights Watch for several years to push for an international ban on cluster munitions; when the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which codifies the ban, took effect last August, the team shifted its focus to urging states to implement it effectively.
In January, Maria van Wagenberg ’11 and Mona Williams ’11 helped Docherty write a critique of the Australian government’s proposed implementation legislation, which allows for broad exceptions to the Convention’s ban in the event of joint military operations with countries not party to the Convention, such as the United States. The paper (pdf) was jointly submitted—by the Clinic and HRW—to the Australian Senate committee reviewing the bill. In March, Docherty testified before the committee by telephone, arguing against the country’s proposed legislation.
The committee ultimately forwarded the bill to the Senate without changes. | <urn:uuid:cc11ee2a-7958-4d97-8d72-aa435afe65d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/2011/08/18_docherty-cluster-bombs-bill.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935885 | 451 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Last year we started a new Thanksgiving tradition. Inspired by the many variations of this project I've seen around the web, we made a Thankfulness Tree. Instead of just going around the table at Thanksgiving dinner and answering the proverbial "what are you thankful for?" question, we spend the weeks leading up to the holiday itself writing down our gratitudes. Last year I made a huge paper tree that I taped in the front window, and we all wrote down what we're thankful for on paper leaves and taped them up too. Simple, and the end result was quite lovely.
This year I decided to get a little more 3D, and we brought some fallen branches inside to make a Thankfulness Tree that felt, well, a little more tree-like. We anchored them in a large vase with pebbles, and ta-da! An indoor tree.
The kids started right away making leaves and apples to hang on the tree. So far we are thankful for:
and pumpkin seeds. Sowing the seeds of seasonal gratitude early, I tell ya.
I love this project because it harnesses so much that I love about Thanksgiving in general. All of us -- and I certainly include myself in this group -- tend to spend far too much mental energy fretting about all that is wrong in our lives and in our world. Thanksgiving offers us the opportunity to reflect on all that is right, and take a moment to appreciate the gift of that rightness.
And when your household includes a newly-minted seven-year-old who has a tendency to dissolve into a rage when her sock seams can actually be felt, a little perspective can be just what the frazzled mother ordered. | <urn:uuid:618a967f-d759-4bb2-bef9-f5e8c2f0b371> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://chickencounting.blogspot.com/2011_11_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959613 | 345 | 1.65625 | 2 |
June 30, 2012
Let’s hear it for the Red, White and Blue. As the economy continues its sluggish recovery, millions of Americans are hitting the road (or the skies) this weekend in advance of the July 4th holiday. Some 42.3 million will travel 50 miles or more, according to a new AAA survey. That would be a 4.9 percent increase over the 40.3 million people who traveled last year – and tie a decade-high total set in 2007.
Falling gas prices are driving some of the wanderlust. But when July 4 falls in the middle of the week, Americans can “add vacation days to the weekend before the midweek holiday, after it, or even both this year, giving them a lot of options,” says Martha Mitchell Meade, manager of public and government affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic.
Median spending on travel is estimated at $749, a 7 percent drop from last year’s $807. Travelers say they’ll spend more time with family and on sightseeing, as opposed to wallet-busting activities like shopping and entertainment.
As the holiday heats up, here are some fast and furious Fourth of July figures, courtesy of the Census Bureau:
In July 1776, the estimated number of people living in the newly independent nation
The nation’s estimated population on this July Fourth
Value of fireworks imported from China in 2011, representing the bulk of all U.S. fireworks imported ($223.4 million). U.S. exports of fireworks, by comparison, came to just $15.8 million in 2011, with Australia buying more than any other country ($4.5 million).
Value of U.S. manufacturers’ shipments of fireworks and pyrotechnics (including flares, igniters, etc.) in 2007
Dollar value of U.S. imports of American flags last year; the vast majority ($3.3 million) was for U.S. flags made in China
Dollar value of U.S. flags exported in 2011; Mexico was the leading customer, purchasing $80,349 worth
Number of places with “eagle” in their names; most populous is Eagle Pass, Texas, with a population of 26,248
Number of places with the word “liberty” in their names; the most populous one as of April 1, 2010, was Liberty, Mo. (29,149). Iowa, with four, has more than any other state: Libertyville, New Liberty, North Liberty and West Liberty.
Number of places with “independence” in their names; most populous: Independence, Mo., with a population of 116,830
Number of places with “freedom” in their names; most populous: New Freedom, Pa., with a population of 4,464
Just one lone location has “patriot” in its name, unbelievable as that seems: Patriot, Ind., population 209
Ranking of the frequency of the surname of first president George Washington, among all last names tabulated in the 2000 Census; other early presidential names on the list, along with their ranking, were Adams (39), Jefferson (594), Madison (1,209) and Monroe (567)
Dollar value of trade last year between the U.S. and the United Kingdom; that makes the British, our adversary in 1776, our sixth-leading trading partner today
7.2 billion pounds
Total production of cattle and calves in Texas in 2011 – so chances are good that the beef hot dogs, steaks and burgers on the backyard grill came from the Lone Star State, which accounted for about one-sixth of the nation’s total production. If the beef didn’t hail from Texas, it may well have come from Nebraska (4.6 billion pounds) or Kansas (4.0 billion pounds).
Number of states in which the value of broiler chicken production was estimated at $1 billion or greater between December 2010 and November 2011. So there’s a good chance that one of these states — Georgia, Arkansas, North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi or Texas — is the source of your barbecued chicken.
Almost 1 in 3
The chance that hot dogs and pork sausages eaten on July Fourth originated in Iowa. The Hawkeye State was home to 19.7 million hogs and pigs on March 1, 2012, representing almost one-third of the nation’s estimated total. North Carolina (8.6 million) and Minnesota (7.6 million) were also home to large numbers of pigs. | <urn:uuid:fdb104d5-582f-46be-a45d-2426e8a31c4a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2012/06/30/4th-of-July-Extended-More-Fun-Flags-and-Fireworks.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94997 | 957 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Sculpture and crating specialist, Gene Thompson, brings an extensive and varied background in the arts to Mana Art Center. Thompson has worked in a range of art media over the span of a half of a century and has been involved in art communities on both the West and East Coasts. He also frequently writes art commentary and contributes articles to Mana Log.
Q: You received a bachelor’s in fine arts from California College of Arts and Crafts in 1963 and a master’s in sculpture from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1965. Can you tell us about the arts climate in the early ’60s? Who were some of the artists that influenced your work during that period?
A: I grew up in Oakland, so I was exposed to artists working in the Bay Area. A printmaker named George Miyasaki was one of my teachers. Another one of my mentors was Peter Voulkos, a sculptor who taught at UC Berkeley. He had a studio in Berkeley called the Spaghetti Factory, and many artists hung out there drinking, playing poker and snooker, talking about art, pouring bronze, firing clay/ceramics and making big sculptures. Peter took me under his wing, and I spent two or three days at a time at the studio. We were notorious for partying and working hard. Tio Giambruni and Manuel Neri were friends of Peter’s and they would hang out there, also.
Q: From 1965 – 1975, you developed the sculpture program at California State University and taught sculpture, drawing and ceramics courses. Please tell us about some of your experiences as a teacher.
A: I taught a Materials class where students made 8 to 12 inch cubes in 15 different materials including bronze casting, welded steel, clay slab, plaster and plexiglass. You can have the greatest mind in the world, but if you don’t know about materials, you might not be able to build what you have conceived. One of my students pantomimed a cube and others made cubes out of cake, charcoal, jello and yarn. At the end of the course, I asked students to place their cubes in the environment and to document these pieces. Students learned to translate ideas into materials, and materials germinated ideas.
Q: When did you move from the West to the East? What was that transition like for you?
A: The Vietnam War ended in 1975. The same year, I got tenure and a sabbatical to come to New York. Instead of taking a sabbatical, I decided to give up a tenured position and just move to New York. A colleague and I drove to New York in a moving van with a sign that read, “New York or Bust.” At a gas station in Pennsylvania, an attendant pointed to the highway and said, “See all those vans? Those vans are going west.”
Soho was a dump. It was a junk heap. But moving to New York was the best move for my soul and my intellect. California was about the landscape and open space. New York was about thinking and survival. All these people in small spaces trying to figure out solutions to problems. I took the leap from academia to insert myself into the real art world. The wonderful art world. The scary and disastrous art world. The new, freaky, blundering and enlightening art world.
One of my first jobs was art handling for Nancy Hoffman Gallery. I also moved art for Sidney Janis, George Segal, Paula Cooper, Andre Emmerich, Blum/Helman, Loius K. Meisel, Leo Castelli, among others. Working for artists, collectors and galleries introduced me to New York in a positive way and inspired changes in my own work.
Q: Your website reflects bodies of work in sculpture, watercolor, drawing, photography and video. What do you consider to be some of your most important works? Are you currently working on any personal projects?
A: One of my most important pieces is called American Elm, a graphite and sepia watercolor. It consists of 18 panels and took four and a half months to complete. I painted it looking through binoculars in Prattsville, New York near the Catskills. The dying elm captured my attention because it was standing in the middle of a field–a stately and royal tree.
Another significant piece is Double Helix which is a balloon constructed out of mylar in the shape of a rocket. It is 8-feet in diameter and 85-feet long, and was filled with helium on site. The rocket was launched on the Fourth of July in 1980 at Nassau County Museum of Art in Long Island.
I always try to make work that responds to my environments. Now, because I am working at Mana, I build pieces constructed from interesting things I find in the warehouse like cardboard inserts and Ethafoam. What we throw out is as important as what we take in. As my father said, “A weed is an unwanted plant.” I try to transform garbage, or something not considered, into something formally interesting, transforming shapes from their original utilitarian function and making them more compelling to look at. My work is about material, abstraction and transformation.
Q: When did you start working at Mana Art Center? What are some of the bigger projects you’ve been involved with here?
A: I started working at Mana in December 2009. I was working on and off for Michael Gitlin in SoHo and as a conservator for the Robert Wilson / Byrd Hoffman Foundation. Michael introduced me to his friend, Eugene Lemay, a year before I actually started here. Eugene was looking for people, and I came in for an interview. I was hired to help get things rolling. I totally support Eugene’s vision. Eugene has a passion for the arts, and we all encourage him as he does us.
I was hired to develop a crate shop, but I spent my first few months working with Jake Ehrlund on the basic planning of the sixth floor and its exhibition space. The crate shop got going in mid-2010 as there was a higher demand for crating. I cleaned out my studio at 55 Crosby in Soho and brought my tools here.
Q: Please tell us something about the process of receiving a work of art in your shop, building a crate for it and preparing it to be shipped.
A: A work will come in, say a painting or a sculpture. The client will either want it to be crated for storage here or want it shipped domestically or internationally. There are several types of crates: standard, travel, shell and museum. Most crates are standard wooden crates enclosed all the way around an item packed in Ethafoam. A travel or shell crate is a frame surrounding the work to protect it. A museum crate is a high-end crate made of waterproof plywood sealed with a gasket and steel-bolted closures. These crates have to be durable enough to be re-opened multiple times.
Q: What changes have you seen at Mana Art Center since you arrived and what else would you like to see happen here?
A: The changes have been incredible in such a short period of time. We have a gallery on the sixth floor equal to any gallery in Chelsea. Our climate controlled storage facility is designed with every consideration of the client in mind for the ultimate storage of their precious works of art. The design of the storage space is beautiful, a work of art in-of-itself. I look forward to seeing Eugene’s vision further realized through a sculpture garden and educational programs. I’d like to see even more lectures by guest artists, museum curators, gallery owners and arts professionals. People of intellect, vision and inspiration. People are the leading force of creativity.
Q: A major survey of Photorealist paintings and sculptures, Our Own Directions: Works from the Loius K. and Susan P. Meisel Collection, opens at Mana Art Center on September 18. What are your thoughts about this exhibition?
A: A lot of artists who will be shown are artists who influenced the American art scene in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Photorealism is about America–objects in urban, suburban and rural landscapes. It started by projecting color transparent slides to canvas or paper, tracing and painting the image. Photorealism heightens our perception of the visual reality of these objects or scenes. It changes the way we look at the everyday.
– Tema Stauffer | <urn:uuid:a4151bae-b4e3-4d54-95a7-b962cd263660> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.manafinearts.com/the-mana-log/2011/08/a-conversation-with-gene-thompson/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971118 | 1,776 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Although getting insurance is unlikely to be the most exciting thing you ever purchase, it is an essential - and quite often legally-binding - product to have. As such, it's important to get the cover that is right for your needs, something that will take a little time and effort to achieve but ultimately prove worthwhile.
Of course, you can always try to take out an insurance policy - be it for a car, house or something else - from the first company you come across, either online or in the newspaper, but doing so can leave you with an unsuitable level of protection.
Alternatively, you might be stuck in an unnecessarily expensive contract when there are cheaper options available elsewhere. To be sure of getting insurance that is not just comprehensive, but also competitively priced, you will need to do a little work. There are two main ways this can be done, either by using a price comparison site or enlisting the services of a broker.
Price comparison sites
As their name suggests, price comparison sites are a good way to look at what a range of companies charge, whether it's for travel insurance or building and contents cover. Rather than having to go through the phonebook and call firms individually for a quote, you can often enter your details online and be presented with a list of prices. From here, you will be able to choose the insurer you feel is able to provide you with adequate cover.
Although you might be tempted to automatically pick the cheapest policy, it is important to remember the lowest price might offer the least amount of protection. It could be that - for a few pounds more - you are able to get a more substantial level of cover. You should also bear in mind that not all insurance companies are listed on these sites, so relying on them entirely might not be the best route to finding a suitable level of insurance.
While comparison websites can be a good way to get an idea of what is a fair price to pay for insurance, they are not always useful if you have expensive assets, such as a luxury car or antiques, that you want to cover. As a general rule, the companies on such sites impose limitations on the value of goods they insure, so if your possessions exceed these amounts you're unlikely to find they will give adequate protection. In times like these, it's best to think about seeking out a specialist broker.
Going to an insurance broker can be a particularly useful option not only if you have high-value assets that need covering, but also if you have requirements that often aren't covered by a standard policy. As an example, people who live in a house with a thatched roof are unlikely to get a standard home insurance policy (such roofs are deemed to be at greater risk of suffering fire damage). Of course, you should still look to get cover for your home and, in using expert brokers like Certis Insurance, you can arrange protection that is tailor made for your specific needs.
Companies such as these work with clients on a one-to-one basis to ensure they have a precise understanding of what customers require before sourcing cover from specialist insurers. Using a broker will also provide you with an instant point of contact if you need to make a claim or amend your cover at any time. | <urn:uuid:0647a34b-2600-40ae-a1fe-4f85a6cb55db> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.myfinances.co.uk/companies-directory/certis-insurance-brokers/article/brokers-vs-comparison-sites-which-is-best | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963719 | 658 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Cardiac casualties in Sabarimala is on the rise despite the improved healthcare facilities being provided by the Health department as well as various private agencies like the Kochi-based Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Madurai-based Appolo Hospital at the pilgrim centre during the Mandalam-Makaravilakku festival.
A total of 20 pilgrims have succumbed to their cardiac ailments during the first 28 days of the ongoing pilgrimage season. The number of deaths due to cardiac ailments in Sabarimala during the same period in the previous year was only 17, according to official sources.
Lack of health awareness among the pilgrims can be attributed to this increase in the number of cardiac casualties in Sabarimala. It is noteworthy that the cardiac care facility in Sabarimala has improved with the Health department opening two modern cardiology centres at Appachimedu and Neelimala a month ago.
This is besides the state-of-the-art healthcare facility, with a mobile tele-medicine unit-cum-operation theatre, provided by AIMS at its Ayyappa Medical Centre at Pampa.
Dr. Ganapati Rao, head of the department of General Medicine at AIMS who led the medical team at Pampa during the previous Makaravilakku festival stressed the need for making pilgrims, especially those in the high risk group, aware of the risks involved in the arduous climb of Neelimala and Appachimedu hills on the Pampa-Sannidhanam trekking path.
Talking to The Hindu, Dr. Rao said a slow climb of the holy hillock with pure devotional spirit, instead of some sort of a sportsman spirit, could very well minimise the health risk to pilgrims in all age groups.
Mr. Thanchavur Damodaran, captain of the Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sanghom stretcher unit says the maximum number of heart attacks were reported from Appachimedu and as many as 11 pilgrims died of cardiac arrest at the Appachimedu cardiology centre alone.
Mr. Damodaran said ABASS has deployed its stretcher unit comprising 140 volunteers at Sannidhanam, Saramkuthi, Marakkoottom, Apapchimedu-Top, Appachimedu-Bottom, Neelimala-Top, Neelimala-Bottom and at Pampa, to extend an emergency helping hand to the pilgrims. He said the Sanghom volunteers have shifted 38 cardiac patients to Pampa from Sannidhanam as on December 12.
Dr. Sukumaran, head of General Medicine and Dr. George Koshy, Cardiologist at Pushpagiri Medical College suggest that pilgrims above the age of 50 years as well as patients under medication may undergo a medical check-up before undertaking the pilgrimage.
According to them, pilgrims should adopt a slow climbing technique with relaxation at regular intervals at different points in order to avoid complications.
Dr. Rao said, climbing the hills on an empty stomach is advisable to every pilgrim. Those who are under regular medication for hypertension, diabetes and so forth, should continue their medicines. | <urn:uuid:35df60d8-dfce-41fb-9bf7-c30dab1f2d0c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/cardiac-casualties-on-the-rise-in-sabarimala/article64219.ece | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948337 | 661 | 1.554688 | 2 |
The Anglican church is planning to hand over some of the global duties of the Archbishop of Canterbury to a "presidential" figure, it has been reported.
Dr Rowan Williams, in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, said plans are being drawn up for a role to oversee the day-to-day running of the Anglican communion and its 77 million members, leaving the archbishop free to concentrate on leading the Church of England.
The tenure of the archbishop, who steps down after 10 years in December, has been marked by a war between liberals and traditionalists in the Church of England and the wider Anglican communion over the issue of homosexuality, including the ordination of gay bishops. There has also been a row over female clergy.
Admitting he may not have got it right, he said the top job might better be done by two people. "I don't think I've got it right over the last 10 years, it might have helped a lot if I'd gone sooner to the United States when things began to get difficult about the ordination of gay bishops, and engaged more directly. I know that I've, at various points, disappointed both conservatives and liberals. Most of them are quite willing to say so, quite loudly."
Of the new role, he said: "It would be a very different communion, because the history is just bound up with that place, that office [archbishop]. So there may be more of a sense of a primacy of honour, and less a sense that the archbishop is expected to sort everything."
The role would be for a "presidential figure who can travel more readily".
The 62-year-old, who is to become master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, said the church had treated homosexuals badly. But he reiterated his opposition to gay marriage, saying its legalisation could create a "tangle" between the church and the government.
The paper reported that he also voiced concern that there are not enough Christians in politics and that the relationship between the church and the monarch may change when the "more quizzical" Charles succeeds the current Queen. | <urn:uuid:0418e522-3c1e-4db6-afa7-731db6b6b22c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/07/anglican-church-rowan-williams-presidential-figure | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981414 | 434 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Cover art is more than just a cool pic of your character in an awesome pose, its the first visual advertisement to draw new readers into picking up your book and checking out what's on the back. So, here's the challenge:
Create a cover for your original manga. It doesn't have to be one you're working on or even planning on writing in the future (we all get great ideas, draw a cover, then find it two years later and go...oh yeah....huh.)
It can also be a cover for a fiction book, if you are not a manga writer.
Here are the rules:
It must be an original cover - no Naruto or Inu-Yasha OCs
It must feature your original character or characters.
It must look like a cover to a manga: don't forget the title, volume number, and author/artist name.
All media is accepted: Traditional or digital. And yes, it must be in colour.
In your description in the comments section, write the brief paragraph found on the back of books that sum up the plot inside - the bit that keeps the interest and separates your readers from their hard-earned $8.99.
All types of genre will be accepted: action, comedy, shojo, science fiction, fantasy...
All winners will receive a request and, naturally, the prized gold medal.
Good luck and have fun! | <urn:uuid:dd17ebbe-3c12-4913-81f8-e26f6ee95659> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theotaku.com/fanart/challenges/view/354/narcissus/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94322 | 290 | 1.507813 | 2 |
As a production team we've long been planning to create a program to take a broad view of the Roman Catholic present. When Pope Benedict's visit to the U.S. was announced, it seemed a right moment had come. We wanted, as is our way, to look searchingly, but from inside a perspective of faith. I began to interview a few leaders and theologians recommended as wise and authoritative in the deepest sense of that word.
And at the same time we extended an invitation — on-air, through this newsletter, and via our Web site — for lay Catholics to reflect on the state of Roman Catholicism as seen through their eyes and in their lives. We asked, "What do you take solace in and find beautiful about this faith? What anchors and unsettles you in and beyond current headlines about the church? What hopes, questions, and concerns are on your mind as you ponder the state of the Church and its future?"
We were overwhelmed and moved by the hundreds upon hundreds of compelling, thoughtful, articulate responses that came in to our query, from disparate corners of contemporary lay Catholic experience. Our invitation was extended to wider networks by bloggers and even the National Catholic Register. We called some of those who wrote to us and captured their voices. And, in a departure from our usual format, we've built this program around nine of them. Their experiences, convictions, concerns, and hopes lead us through some of the present story of this tradition of 1.1 billion people globally and one-quarter of the U.S. population.
That this is a dynamic moment in time on many levels for the Roman Catholic Church — globally, nationally, and locally — goes without saying. The challenges of the present are brought into relief, and down to the ground, by the voices in this program. Yet the Catholics who wrote to us, and later spoke to us, rarely began their reflections with the kind of issue-oriented drama that is conveyed in the news. They wrote, overwhelmingly, of their love for the depths of this religion, especially the meaning they find in the sacraments of the Church. They wrote about their sense of the timelessness of the Church, its universality, the transcendent connection it makes possible across the ages and across the globe.
At the same time, the voices you're about to hear, taken together, evoke the vast range of perspective that makes up the Roman Catholic present — spanning profound differences on liturgy, social and gender ethics, and the meaning and makeup of the priesthood. These voices also underscore the fluidity of the very notion of Catholic identity, especially in the West. They illuminate the human impact of the cathartic and still unfolding legacy of the Second Vatican Council.
Listen for yourself, and read from the entire collection of personal essays on our Web site. We've organized them by location and by theme, and they're still coming in. Add your voice, if you would, to this conversation that did not begin and will not end with our radio broadcast. It is a thrilling and revealing experience to immerse oneself in this "lived theology" which, like all discernment about ultimate truth and revelation, will not be tied up with a bow, every "t" crossed and every "i" dotted, in our lifetime. It will continue to show itself, and I'm delighted that we can host a small part of that unfolding.
I Recommend Viewing
Your Stories, Your Voices
Mapping the Landscape of Catholic Voices
Our dynamic map continues to grow as people continue to respond. Read and listen to their stories, and see the developing make-up of the Catholic Church from the U.S. to Chile to Northern Ireland from a first-person perspective. | <urn:uuid:1df5cc14-a7ed-4c45-9b69-1a52c56137c7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.onbeing.org/program/beauty-and-challenge-being-catholic-hearing-faithful/journal/1200 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971704 | 759 | 1.5 | 2 |
Is it allowable to cast a "Wall of Ice" spell in its hemispherical configuration in mid-air, or upside-down? The description of the spell is very explicit about it being anchored when it's in the flat configuration, but does not mention anchoring or direction for the hemisphere configuration.
The spell text says "This spell creates an anchored plane of ice or a hemisphere of ice". That means that the plane has to be anchored, but the hemisphere doesn't. If it had meant that both have to be anchored, it would read "This spell creates an anchored plane or hemisphere of ice." Also note that the word "anchored" appears three times in the plan section and not at all in the hemisphere. Looks to me like the authors were very careful to limit the anchor verbiage solely to the plane.
To me, that means that, yes, you could create that thing in mid-air or upside-down. | <urn:uuid:30da2068-500d-4c79-b238-4fd6f49058fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/22603/pathfinder-wall-of-ice-anchoring-rules | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962818 | 192 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Country of Origin: Tibet.
Size: Height: 35.5 - 43 cm (14 - 17 inches); Weight: 18-30 pounds
Coat: This breed has a long, luxurious, fine topcoat that is either straight or wavy. The undercoat is wooly and dense.
Character: This dog is brave, intelligent, noble, and loyal to its handler. It is cautious around strangers and dislikes being left alone.
Temperament: Provided proper socialization has taken place, this breed gets along fine with other household pets. It is good with children, provided they know when to leave it alone. It may try to dominate other dogs.
Care: Daily grooming with a brush is required to prevent tangles and remove loose hair. Regular baths are recommended. Excessive hair around the pads of the feet must be trimmed and the ears must be kept clean.
Training: The Tibetan Terrier is very sensitive to the tone of its handler's voice, so a calm approach to training is needed.
Activity: This dog has boundless energy. Games of catch and agility skills trials are activities it enjoys.
Tibetan Terrier Puppies for Sale | <urn:uuid:d8e67598-9821-4c1d-a6bc-44a9ce51e00d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.puppyfind.com/breed/?breed_id=107&back= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948825 | 242 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Geese Call Autumn in Formation
Yesterday I sat outside enjoying what may be the last most blissful day of warm weather. Then I heard an odd muffled sound. In a few seconds, a great long V-shaped flock of giant canada geese passed overhead. So many things mark the passing of seasons, but those honking distant birds mark the sound of autumn for me.
Oddly, that wasn’t imprinted on my memory from some early hunting or even just seeing them fly over as child. It was from some 1950s or 1960s phone movie about settlers, farmers—some family on the land. And the flights of geese marked the rhythm of their lives, the passage of time. We talk a lot today about children disconnected from nature. But if it’s done well—whether in a movie, a book or whatever—a story can actually create a link that might not come to life until later. Authentic, firsthand experience may be most satisfying, but a taste of wildness indirectly still seems better than none. At least it stayed with me until I could hear the real thing.
My mother-in-law sat with me yesterday looking up at the birds. “Why do you suppose they’re so evenly spaced?” she asked. And that actually was why I was going to write this blog. You might think the answer isn’t rocket science. But an aerospace website actually held the most interesting ideas on the subject of V-flights in birds. | <urn:uuid:4b72ab63-87d2-4e2c-9550-631ad43ea9cc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mdc.mo.gov/blogs/fresh-afield/geese-call-autumn-formation | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966861 | 312 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Flying used to be a relatively simple process, at least financially. Once upon a time, you would pay for your ticket and never have to open up your wallet again until you reached your destination. However, in recent years, airlines have begun charging fees for products and services associated with flying. It started with charging for checked bags, which was quickly followed by fees for things like snacks, drinks, pillows, and blankets.
According to IdeaWorks, a consultancy that tracks airline fees, the world’s top fifty airlines collected more than $22.6 billion in ancillary revenue last year. Australian carrier Qantas, for example, collected more than $50 in fees per passenger in 2011.
“Air carriers were hit especially hard over the last few years as fuel prices soared, and they have tried to find ways to attract fliers with low advertised fares – but offset their costs with add-on fees,” said attorney Martin Sweet of the legal information website THELAW.TV.
One of the ways airlines have chosen to make some extra money is by charging passengers for what they call “premium” seats. They will charge you $15 or $20 to sit in a particular seat with a good location or a bit more leg room. This can become costly for a family traveling together, and when the airplane is full – as more and more planes are -- due to the airlines’ desire to fly smaller, fuller planes to get the biggest bang for their fuel cost buck, it can be a be a headache for families with small children.
Many families with children are being forced to pay as much as $80 in fees to sit together. When you book your flight online, most airlines will show you the plane’s seating chart and allow you to choose your seats. Often, it’s difficult to find seats together unless you’re willing to pay for premium seating.
John and Amanda Parish booked their trip to Disney World in Orlando seven months in advance so they could sit with five-year-old Megan, but then in July, they were told that American Airlines changed the plane for their return trip and the family would have to be separated. Parish said he had no other recourse but to pay an additional $60 so his daughter wouldn’t have to sit rows away and on the other side of the cabin.
“Separating children from their parents on an airplane can be a huge cause of anxiety, and create issues for passengers seated around any of the separated family members,” says Sweet. “The add-on fee situation could be ripe for abuse, particularly if the airline is dishonest about the availability of particular seats.”
Airline officials say these situations can be taken care of at the gate and that flight attendants will work with surrounding passengers to switch seats, allowing children to sit with their parents. But those other passengers are not always amenable to switching seats, especially if it involves switching to a middle seat.
In July, a Washington watchdog group asked federal regulators to step in and forbid U.S. airlines from separating children from their parents on airplanes. That same month, lawmakers introduced a bill called the “Families Flying Together Act of 2012” that would make it illegal for airlines to split families up. But even the author of that bill, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), admits it could bring up thorny issues such as to how exactly to define a family.
“I’m not sure there is a solution to this particular problem,” says Sweet. “The airlines are trying to turn a profit and if they were to eliminate some of these fees they would probably significantly raise their airfares to compensate.”
Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), recently called on U.S. carriers to voluntarily reconsider their pricing scheme, particularly for families traveling with children. Besides the cost implication for travelers, Schumer raised concerns with the U.S. Department of Transportation over the safety implications of children being forced to sit separately from their parents because of onerous fees. Schumer also questioned whether airlines would assume liability for the safety of a child who wasn’t seated next to their parent.
The Parish family eventually got to sit together free of charge, only after American Airlines received numerous media inquiries about their story.
In this era of high fuel costs, it looks like airline fees are here to stay. If you can pack lightly enough to fit everything into a carry on, take some snacks with you on the plane and avoid flying with young children, you just might be able to afford your trip. | <urn:uuid:d66698cd-1ab6-4201-927b-acf8a1e0c91a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.news4jax.com/news/Airline-fees-making-travel-a-costly-proposition/-/475880/16677060/-/d43484z/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971735 | 948 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Are you one big illness away from bankruptcy?
By Dean Calbreath
San Diego Union-Tribune
June 14, 2009
“The greatest health is wealth,” the classical Roman poet Virgil once said.
But to keep your health can cost you your wealth. In fact, it can drive you into bankruptcy.
A survey this month showed that in 2007, on the eve of the current recession, roughly two-thirds of bankruptcies in the United States involved people who were driven into insolvency because they could not keep up with their medical bills.
Although health care has been eclipsed by overdue mortgages and credit card debt as the primary cause of bankruptcy, it remains a potent driver of debt. And once the current wave of foreclosures abates, it could quickly regain its No. 1 status in the bankruptcy courts, unless something is done to fix the medical system first.
“Unless you’re Warren Buffett, your family is just one serious illness away from bankruptcy,” said David Himmelstein, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard.
“For middle-class Americans, health insurance offers little protection. Most of us have policies with so many loopholes, co-payments and deductibles that illness can put you in the poorhouse,” Himmelstein said.
The study by Himmelstein and a team of researchers at Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School and Ohio University shows that 62 percent of bankruptcies in 2007 were at least partly caused by problems involving health care. That’s up from 55 percent in 2001.
More than three-quarters of the people who were bankrupted for medical reasons had health insurance at the start of the “bankrupting illness,” according to the study, which will be published in The American Journal of Medicine in August. Most of them “were solidly middle class before financial disaster hit.” Two-thirds were homeowners, and three-fifths had gone to college.
“In many cases, high medical bills coincided with a loss of income as illness forced breadwinners to lose time from work,” the study reported. “Often illness led to job loss, and with it the loss of health insurance.”
Even filers who retained their insurance often faced high out-of-pocket medical costs, because of co-payments, deductibles and services that the insurers declined to cover.
Among the health-related bankruptcy cases, the medical debt averaged $17,749 for filers who retained their insurers; $22,568 for filers who initially had insurance coverage but lost it through the course of their illness; and $26,971 for the uninsured.
Hospital bills were the largest single expense for about half of all medically bankrupt families, according to the survey. Prescription drugs were the largest expense for 19 percent of those families.
Of course, if the Harvard researchers were to examine bankruptcy filings today, the results would be much different. These days, bankruptcy courts are crowded with real estate brokers, speculators and home-equity borrowers. But health care cases continue to show up in the bankruptcy system.
“Mortgage problems, job losses, credit card debt and health care bills can all be a part of the economic stew in a bankruptcy filing,” said Barry Lander, clerk at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Diego. “Sometimes a person can handle two or three problems but not all at once, so that if you’re unemployed or facing credit card debt and then get sick, it can push you over the edge.”
Len Ackerman, who heads American Debt Relief, a law firm in downtown San Diego, said one of his clients was pushed into bankruptcy because of her bills from fighting a series of health-related problems. She was already in debt from treatment for diabetes and high blood pressure when she was diagnosed with breast cancer this spring.
“We had to postpone her bankruptcy filing because she was in surgery,” Ackerman said. “She’s been in the hospital for the past month.”
Mark Reed, a bankruptcy attorney in Kearny Mesa, tells of a client who filed for bankruptcy after incurring a couple hundred-thousand dollars in medical bills. Because of her medical problems, she could not find work. But because she was receiving spousal-support payments from her ex-husband, she was making too much money to qualify for government assistance.
“What I’ve seen is mostly people who don’t have insurance or people who have insurance but don’t have enough to cover their medical bills,” Reed said. He worries that the current rise in unemployment will lead to more health-related bankruptcies.
“A lot of people losing their jobs end up with no insurance,” Reed said. “Many can’t afford COBRA (a government-created program that allows laid-off workers to temporarily retain their former insurance at full cost). They end up paying for their health care on credit cards. A lot of the credit card bankruptcies we’re seeing these days include bills related to health care.”
A recent poll by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, part of the Deloitte LLP international consulting firm, shows that 94 percent of respondents believe health care costs are a threat to their personal financial security.
According to the poll, one of eight had serious problems paying or were unable to pay their medical bills. A similar percentage had to choose between paying for health care and paying for other essentials, such as food and rent. Nearly one household in four has a person who has postponed paying their medical bills by 90 days or more.
“The results of this study are conclusive: Consumers want better performance from their health care system,” said Paul Keckley, executive director of the Deloitte center.
“They think (the system) is wasteful, inefficient, complex and expensive,” Keckley said. “They want better value for the dollars they spend and believe fundamental changes are necessary to achieve these goals.”
These studies would seem to provide ammunition for forces in the White House and on Capitol Hill that are now pushing to reform the Medicare system.
But Steffie Woolhandler, a Harvard doctor who helped conduct the bankruptcy study, said that some of the proposed reforms – such as requiring uninsured people to pay for insurance or face a fine – might be worse than the current system.
Woolhandler notes that such a system, as currently envisioned, could include a monthly payment amounting to hundreds of dollars combined with deductions in the thousands of dollars – enough to push some patients into bankruptcy.
“With that kind of system, you may get the numbers of uninsured people down, but it won’t solve the affordability problems in health care,” she said.
Woolhandler, like many other members of the Harvard team, advocates a Canada-style single-payer system. That idea has not gained much traction on Capitol Hill, although Congress has recently begun discussing the idea.
Just last week, at a House subcommittee hearing on health affairs, San Diego registered nurse Geri Jenkins, co-president of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, was on a panel of speakers testifying on behalf of a single-payer system.
Regardless of what form the health care reform eventually takes, the Harvard study should inspire Congress to craft a program that will mean fewer people have to imperil their wealth in order to save their health. | <urn:uuid:f06427d8-2531-4fc6-9c4d-2d20053c6f22> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/june/are_you_one_big_illn.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975953 | 1,574 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Legendary documentary maker David Attenborough has issued a scathing attack on the human race, saying that we are a plague on the Earth. David says that, the sooner we sort ourselves out, the better the Earth will become.
Attenborough told the Radio Times, “We are a plague on the Earth. It's coming home to roost over the next 50 years or so. It's not just climate change; it's sheer space, places to grow food for this enormous horde. Either we limit our population growth or the natural world will do it for us, and the natural world is doing it for us right now.”
He added, “We keep putting on programmes about famine in Ethiopia; that's what's happening. Too many people there. They can't support themselves – and it's not an inhuman thing to say. It's the case. Until humanity manages to sort itself out and get a co-ordinated view about the planet it's going to get worse and worse.”
David Attenborough, who is still travelling the World and making fantastic documentaries at the age of 86, has a new series called Natural Curiosities, which will premiere on the Eden channel in the UK next week. | <urn:uuid:76b5d39d-4e13-4c5b-a521-b558d670a8de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fansshare.com/news/david-attenborough-slams-human-race/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961774 | 252 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Westmoreland State Park lies within Westmoreland County, from which it takes its name. The park extends about one and a half miles along the Potomac River, and its 1,299 acres neighbor the former homes of both George Washington and Robert E. Lee. The park’s Horsehead Cliffs provide visitors with a spectacular view of the Potomac River. In addition to the scenic beauty at Westmoreland, the park offers hiking, camping, cabins, fishing, boating and swimming. Visitors can enjoy the park’s vacation cabins as well.
Overnight facilities: Cabins, camping, group camp, camping cabins, and Potomac River Retreat. This unique abode, which faces the Potomac River, is similar to a timeshare or resort. It accommodates 16 people, adults and children included, and is located in the park on the main road near pool parking lot.
Last Updated: 8/30/2012 10:44 AM | <urn:uuid:49d541e0-0eff-4e18-93bd-b5f3a5bbd34c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.virginia.org/Listings/PlacesToStay/WestmorelandStateParkCampingandCabins/?device=mobile | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953162 | 205 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Our professional health educators provide a variety of single and multiple-session programs for schools, universities, correctional facilities, community groups, churches and parents.
We serve a broad geographic area that covers 23 counties in Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky.
Our education staff maintain offices in Dayton Cincinnati and Springfield.
Frequently requested program topics include:
- Birth control methods
- Breast health
- Date rape prevention
- Healthy relationship skills
- Puberty issues
- Reproductive rights
- Sexually transmitted infections
- The annual exam - what women need to know
Education programs are tailored to meet the needs of each individual group and are age and experience appropriate. Agendas and specific learning objectives can be developed and provided in advance. Age-appropriate handouts are also provided for participants to assist them in their learning.
Some community outreach education programs are provided at no cost. Other programs are fee-based. The fee for most educational sessions (1-2 hours) is $50 - $100.
To schedule a community education program, please contact our Education Department at 513-824-7818. | <urn:uuid:d00f9957-6ec8-472e-831a-14766097fa69> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.plannedparenthood.org/swoh/education-programs-3689.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934289 | 226 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Affordable, portable healthcare has been an issue in American politics since long before the 1990’s. Unfortunately, little, if anything has been done in that time to ensure that Americans have access to insurance coverage, despite a great deal of support for reform. Today NBC News and The Wall Street Journal published a poll stating that 76% of Americans polled support a “Public Option”.
While the debate continues in Congress, and on the airwaves, a bipartisan group of former Senators have come together to promote a plan of their own.
“We’ve come too far and gained too much momentum for our efforts to fail over disagreement on one single issue,”
The plan endorsed by Daschle would give states the duty of establishing “public options”. This may be favored by Republicans, but it creates a serious problem in establishing nationwide portability. Further, as we have seen here in Tennessee, as budgets get tighter, state funds for such programs dwindle and the working poor suffer. Finally, the plan also makes any savings that would come from establishing a nationwide risk pool and throws them out the window.
In short, this is a stupid idea that will likely result in no real savings, or expanded coverage for the 47+ million uninsured, who, like myself, who cannot afford insurance due to sheer cost or pre-existing conditions.
I’ve always liked Senator Daschle. I feel he brings a lot of knowledge and experience to this debate, and I was hopeful about the possibility of true healthcare reform when President Obama nominated him to HHS. In light of his current position, I find myself questioning his motives. You may remember that in the two years before he was nominated he banked some $200,000 from the healthcare industry. I don’t want to sully the man’s reputation, but it raises serious questions about his motivation and intentions.
In the end, there is overwhelming public support for a “Public Option”. If our elected officials in DC are too scared to pass something that has the support of 76% of Americans, they need to get their butts spanked by their constituents. We have the political will to get this passed, the question is, “Will they do what’s right or what’s easy?”. Right now they’re leaning toward the easy.
Most importantly, we can’t let the ghost of a past nominee derail the reform that we, the people are in favor of.
Do what’s right, pass the “Public Option” or suffer the ire of your constituents. This reform is way overdue.
About two weeks ago I wrote about the public option. Around the time I was writing that, I started seeing some discussion of putting a “trigger” into any legislation that included a “public option”.
I could go off and spend a lot of time trying to explain what a “trigger”, but I’ll let Igor Volsky from Think Progress’ The Wonk Room handle that:
Democrats on the Finance Committee said Mr. Baucus was exploring a possible compromise. Under this proposal, the public plan would be created only if private insurance companies had not made meaningful, affordable coverage available to all Americans within several years.
In essence, if Senator Baucus and some Blue Dogs get their way, private insurers will have a couple of years to do what the market was supposed to do way back in the 1990’s, make their coverage affordable and competitive for consumers.
Senator Baucus, this trigger’s already been pulled.
Let me lay it out to you like this. If I, a self-employed single male who makes more than average for my education level (Source I fall under “Some College”) can’t afford to insure myself, partially because of pre-existing conditions, and partially because I just can’t afford it, then how can any individual who makes less than me?
The reality is, allowing individuals and companies to “buy in” to a healthcare plan that is administered like Medicare, or something similar, will greatly reduce the cost to the consumer and help provide access to people, like myself, who currently pay for regular checkups, etc. out of pocket, which works until you either get REALLY sick, or REALLY hurt.
This is where a lot of the cost to insured individuals comes in. When the uninsured get REALLY sick, or REALLY hurt, they often end up REALLY bankrupt. Over 60% of bankruptcies in the US are related to, or involve a great deal of debt due to medical expenses. 78% of those same people had some form of private health insurance.
When these bills don’t get paid, the doctors and hospitals have to make the money back somewhere. Eventually, that comes out of your pocket.
Further, healthcare costs are bankrupting our companies. Take GM for example
In dollars-and-cents terms, there was another reason the American car companies fell behind the rest of the world in their investments in technology and quality control: health care costs. All through the period of its decline, the U.S. auto industry was forced to spend sums on worker health insurance that were unmatched anywhere else in the industrialized world, because the United States was the only one without a government-sponsored health care system. (Source)
We don’t have time to wait for some arbitrary “trigger”, which could possibly be nothing more than a free pass to current insurers, to bring more affordable, portable, and transparent health insurance to our citizens. We need a solution now.
At the same time, there’s plenty of room for a discussion on what a “public option” plan should look like. It’s telling that Rep. Jim Cooper, a member of the Blue Dog Caucus, supports a plan without any trigger. Clearly, Rep. Cooper, whom I have been critical of in the past, sees the benefit of public insurance for those who can either not afford private insurance, or those who wish to “opt in” to a federally sponsored plan with competitive rates.
In the end, there’s plenty of room for discussion, but people on all sides of the debate need to remember that the ultimate goal is to insure everyone. Over the coming weeks we’ll hear objections from insurers and providers. Many of these objections will focus on the minutae rather than the larger issue of providing affordable healthcare to everyone. In the end, that’s the only real argument they have any more. Americans are tired of suffering a death of 1000 cuts from the insurance industry. The tide has turned. As Nicholas Kristof writes in yesterday’s New York Times, This Time, We Won’t Scare. Hopefully, our legislators in DC won’t either.
When people think about a recession, they primarily identify with purely economic measures. Considering the current economic climate, it’s easy to understand why people are thinking about their financial future. But more and more people in this country are experiencing a “Healthcare Recession”.
What is a “Healthcare Recession”? It is the steady diminishing of the availability of services and the health of a populace due to increasing costs, restrictions, or loss of coverage.
The US spends $2.4t a year on healthcare, or 17% of our GDP, yet we have some 47+ million living with no insurance. Other nations, such as Germany, France, and Canada spend between 9% and 11% of their respective GDP and they still manage to cover everyone.
Healthcare expenses are, at least partly responsible for 50% of all personal bankruptcies in the US. That’s right, 50% of the people who declare bankruptcy aren’t the deadbeats some in government would paint them to be, they’re sick people.
Insurance premiums for employer-based health insurance have increased at least 5% in each of the past 3 years. Imagine the impact that expense must be having on employers as we weather this economic recession.
The average employer-based health insurance plan for a family of 4 is $12,000/year. Multiply that by 25 employees and that accounts for some $300,000 of either raises, or business expansion spending taken out of the economy, and put into a system that is retracting benefits at an alarming rate.
Employer-based health insurance premiums have increased 120% since 1999. This compares to a cumulative inflation rate of 44%.
A survey of Iowa consumers found that in order to cope with rising health insurance costs, 86 percent said they had cut back on how much they could save, and 44 percent said that they have cut back on food and heating expenses. My question is, how many have cut their insurance as the result of a receding economy?
All these statistics come in whole or in part from the non-partisanNational Coalition on Health Care.
As we contemplate the economic recession, we have to consider the impact it will have on the healthcare industry.
Since July 2008 there have been nearly 2.5 million new unemployment claims (Source). Think about how that impacts the healthcare system, and the health of those affected. We now have 2.5 million new people who have either lost, or are about to lose their health insurance. That’s 2.5 million more people who may lose their home, or their savings, or both, as the result of a catastrophic illness or injury. What impact will those losses have on the economy? What impact will those losses have on society? How much of that loss can our current healthcare system absorb?
The long hard truth is that we can no longer afford our current health care system. It was ill considered from the start, making healthcare coverage dependent on employment or affluence. Doing so neglects several segments of the population, including children, who through no fault of their own, may just happen to be the child of an unemployed, or uninsured worker.
What about Medicare or Medicaid? Both have been political footballs since the “Reagan Revolution”, subject to the whims of those who chose to demonize or vilify it for political gain. There’s a misguided sense that people who use these programs are somehow failures, or deadbeats, but that’s hardly the case. Most are retired workers who are no longer or were never covered under employer-based healthcare plans, or the working poor, who are also, by and large, not covered by private healthcare.
Consider this, a minimum wage earner makes $13,000/year, if they work 40 hours a week. What employer is going to double their employee cost to cover them and their children? One of my favorite responses to this “reality” is the retort, “No one only makes minimum wage.” Well, if that’s the case, then what was the big deal about raising it?
In talking to friends in the healthcare industry, they report that they have had to either take on additional costs or staff nearly every year since 1992 to manage the 3 dimensional puzzle that is our healthcare system. The US spends some $480b/year more than other Western nations with universal coverage on ADMINISTRATION ALONE.
The result is that the availability of healthcare and healthcare coverage has become a tool in a class war that is driving all of us further and further down the ladder, both economically, and medically.
I’m not demanding universal single-payer coverage, though some argue that’s the only real solution. I realize that at this time it may be a bridge too far for those politicians too weak to be bold, or to pompous to think beyond their narrow political future. I am asking for people in Washington to stop making the availability of insurance or healthcare a political football to be bandied about like as if it doesn’t affect anyone. I’m asking our elected officials to start treating this like the crisis it really is, instead of the “carrot on a stick” stupidity that it has become over the past 16 years.
Streamline the process. Take away some of the ridiculous hoops that our hospitals and physicians have to jump through to get paid. Take away the barriers to getting care. Build a system where all insurers use a standard form instead of creating their own standard, and by extension, raising the bar on receiving coverage or payment, and lowering the quality of care in the process. Most importantly, do something for God’s sake!
Any reform that may have come has taken a hit by the withdrawal of Fmr. Senator Daschle from his nomination to HHS. I’m not sure that he really was the right man for the job, but his withdrawal, at the very least, delays any progress on reforming healthcare, and at worst, makes the prospect of reform even more of a political football than it was at 8am this morning. I know there are a lot of people out there supporting Howard Dean for the post, but to be honest, I don’t care who it is, as long as they are an honest arbiter of positive change, and have the political skills to make some meaningful reform happen.
We can reform segments of our economy as much as we want to, but if we do not have a healthy populace to support these industries, both with labor and spending, our economy will neither recover, nor grow with any sustainability. It’s way past time to make some sense out of healthcare, and restore our place in the world both economically and medically. | <urn:uuid:d497658c-e793-408e-8c5c-d12df1f0c0a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vibincblog.com/?tag=reform | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96945 | 2,823 | 1.523438 | 2 |
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Thousands, if not millions of dollars that should be in the pockets of people who purchased groceries in York County this year may wind up going to repair bridges and roads.
When the county re-imposed a capital projects tax, it also voted to make unprepared food items tax exempt. Retailers like Walmart, Harris Teeter, BI-LO, Lowes Foods and Compare Foods all charged the sales tax to some degree. BI-LO stopped in March and the others stopped after they were informed of the error by NewsChannel 36.
Samantha Cheek of the South Carolina Department of Revenue said, “While stores may claim that they did not know about the change to the tax law that does not mean they are not responsible. The retailer is responsible for that. They’re the ones who submit their sales taxes monthly to the Department of Revenue,” said Cheek.
Some of the retailers, like Harris Teeter and Lowes Foods, also started to make refunds to customers who have their receipts or used their customer loyalty cards. Walmart said that any customers who bring in a sales receipt showing the incorrect sales tax will be refunded.
NewsChannel 36 asked the Department of Revenue what happens to funds that were incorrectly collected and cannot be traced back to a customer with either a receipt or loyalty card. The SC DOR said in that case the money would still be sent to them as part of the Capital Projects Tax and would then be used to fund bridge and road repairs.
“Excess funds that are collected, those would continue to be sent to go to enforce the capital projects tax in the county,” Cheek said. | <urn:uuid:c1bf4fb3-004d-42a6-8997-ac50c3d2c343> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wcnc.com/news/neighborhood-news/rock-hill/SC-Dept-of-Revenue-says-retailers-responsible-for-tax-refunds-149915645.html?ref=next | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976833 | 345 | 1.695313 | 2 |
The Associated Press is reporting that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military is thus far causing less unrest than, say, allowing them to serve as bishops in the Anglican Communion.
Since the lifting two months ago of a longstanding U.S. ban on gays serving openly in the military, U.S. Marines across the globe have adapted smoothly and embraced the change, says their top officer, Gen. James F. Amos, who previously had argued against repealing the ban during wartime.
"I'm very pleased with how it has gone," Amos said in an Associated Press interview during a week-long trip that included four days in Afghanistan, where he held more than a dozen town hall-style meetings with Marines of virtually every rank. He was asked about a wide range of issues, from his view of the Marine Corps' future to more mundane matters such as why he recently decided to stop allowing Marines to wear their uniform with the sleeves rolled up.
Not once was he asked in Afghanistan about the repeal of the gay ban.
You have lived to see the day on which the commander of the U. S. Marine Corps sounds more irenic about the future of LGBT people within his organization that the Archbishop of Canterbury does about the future of LGBT people within his. | <urn:uuid:d9328d26-f953-4378-8dc7-d018ee5aa365> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/sexuality/top_marine_end_of_dont_ask_don.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989059 | 259 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Pink News carries a story about how the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) has “been accused of rewording a teachers’ code of conduct after faith groups complained they would have to ‘promote’ homosexuality under the code”.
According to the Guardian, a section of the code designed to tackle discrimination has been changed from “promoting equality and diversity” to “demonstrating respect for equality and diversity”.
A briefing document revealed the changes had been made after hundreds of objections from faith groups, who felt the code would require Christian teachers to “promote beliefs and lifestyles at odds with their faith”.
The story quotes Sarah Stephens, director of policy at the GTCE, who says the wording has been changed to relate only to teachers’ actions, and not their values or beliefs.
But isn’t it their actions that are going to screw up kids’ minds if they’re gay and find that any equality and diversity for their kind is merely encouraged while the same for another group is promoted?
It’s not the first time the great and the good – be it among government or other organisations – have licked the boots of demanding and whingeing religions.
A few weeks ago, gay organisations showed how pissed off they were over government plans to allow “faith” schools to teach sex education in line with their superstitions.
Pink News deals with this in the same story:
Under the recommendations of the review, “all schools will be forced to teach sex education. However, faith schools will be allowed to present lessons in line with their own “context, values and ethos”.
This will allow them to tell pupils that homosexuality, sex outside marriage or using contraception is wrong.
It then goes on to quote our own George Broadhead of the Pink Triangle Trust, who wrote to the Schools Secretary Ed Balls, saying, “It is surely unacceptable that a large proportion of our schools should be allowed to tell pupils (in line with the teaching in their holy books) that homosexual relationships are morally wrong, with the inevitable consequence that anti-gay bullying will increase.”
Today, children, we’re going to tell you how evil you are
Good morning, children: some of you are morally evil | <urn:uuid:ea0a2b22-3f4f-4d8a-b428-d7ee200b75ca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ptt-blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/teachers-crumble-under-superstitionists.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961376 | 482 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Kicking off in Assam.
Now in Rajasthan. Group rights at any level below the nation are a bad idea, though I might make an exception for Welsh speakers and Native Americans.
JAIPUR, India, June 1 (Reuters) - A powerful Indian farming community seeking special government treatment clashed with a competing caste on Friday, killing four people and taking the death toll to 22 in four days of riots.
Tens of thousands of people have been stranded on highways or at railway stations in the western state of Rajasthan, a popular destination for foreign tourists, due to the wave of violent protests by ethnic Gujjars.
Millions of Gujjars, spread across north and western India, want to be declared a Scheduled Tribe (ST) which entitles them to job and college quotas.
But Meenas, who oppose the granting of tribal status to the Gujjars fearing they will lose their own quota slice, clashed on Friday in eastern Rajasthan, officials said.
At least four people were killed when Meenas tried to break a blockade by Gujjars, the first sign of a broader caste conflict erupting.
Hundreds of soldiers armed with automatic weapons have been patrolling highways and violence-hit towns. The main highway linking New Delhi to Agra, home to the Taj Mahal, has been hit by the Gujjar protests.
The vessel of Indian peace seems to be springing a leak at every seam - or has it always been like this since 1947, but poorly reported ? The well-meant efforts of Indian administrators to raise the poorest and lowest seem instead to have triggered a 'race to the bottom'.
In the past two decades, more castes and communities under Hinduism's ancient hierarchy have been demanding special quotas to garner government jobs and college places through affirmative action programmes.
The Meenas, a powerful community in Rajasthan, have cornered a large slice of the existing tribal quota for government jobs and college places in the state, and their leaders say they do not want the Gujjars to get reserved places at their cost.
"The strident demand among Gujjars in Rajasthan for ST status is a reflection of the seeming paradox of the notion of caste in today's India," the Times of India said in an editorial.
"The advent of reservations as an instrument to address economic and social inequities ... has promoted communities to go down the caste ladder to take advantages of assured quotas."
There are several groups that benefit from government affirmative action -- Scheduled Castes (SC), made up of "untouchables" and which is the lowest tier, and Scheduled Tribes (ST) made up of tribal groups are the next tier.
The third tier are Other Backward Classes (OBC), made up of a host of lower castes including Gujjars.
"Other backward classes" - I do love the way South Asian people call a spade a spade. We used to once. You'll often find that matters of race or culture are discussed far more openly by Asian writers or on, say, BBC Asian Network than on Radio 4 or 5. They haven't got that terrible white liberal guilt.
Gujjars wanted to be relegated to the ST group, where they believe competition is less fierce for jobs and college places.
Talks between Gujjars and state officials have failed and more negotiations are planned.
"We will not lift our blockade unless we get reservation," a Gujjar protester, holding a big stick, told NDTV television.
In 1990, dozens of upper-caste Hindu students burnt themselves to death to protest against a government plan to widen the quota for lower castes in government jobs.
What with the Sikh strikes and the traditional low-level stuff in places like West Bengal and Nagaland, India seems an interesting (in the Chinese curse sense) place at present. Don't get me started on Pakistan.
Just a second more on that second war
6 minutes ago | <urn:uuid:0a402ca3-9066-42b2-bbbd-1a9cdbd8fa66> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ukcommentators.blogspot.com/2007_05_27_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95242 | 823 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Senator Mike Johanns (R-NE) faced raw voter intensity last week, as news accounts told the tale. At a town meeting in the capital city of Lincoln on Monday, August 8, he heard from a variegated crop of angry Nebraskans venting from the right and the left about America's dizzily declining economic prospects and the political ploys in Washington that provoked the most recent twists and downturns.
But when Johanns arrived at the Lancaster County Fair later that afternoon, the scene was serious and generally sedate. He came to the fairgrounds to talk about the farming outlook for the nation and for Nebraska. Because he is a former Secretary of the USDA (2005-07), and current member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, his words have potential for resonance. But he didn't say much. He was smooth, polished, and adroit at skirting potential triggers of controversy. His main points of information:
- The downgrading of USA debt rating, and the wobbly economy, mean the USDA budget will be drastically diminished. When he was Secretary, he said, about 63% of the USDA budget went to nutrition programs like SNAP and school meals; but now that figure is up to about 83% leaving only about 17% for actual farm programs. "Be prepared for further downgrades," Johanns said. "The weak economy will inevitably have a huge influence on the next ag bill."
- "There will be no sacred cows," Johanns said in reference to impending budget cuts. The USDA ethanol subsidies that have aided and abetted the spread of GMO corn across the Heartland is all but certain to be cut. "There just aren't votes for it," said Johanns, who has been a big supporter of the subsidies in the past. Undoubtedly the decline of support among other Senators is the basic realization that it takes more energy and money to produce a gallon of ethanol than you can get from it. It's a losing proposition.
- The 2012 Farm Bill is on its way, Johanns also noted, but he expects that nothing much will happen this year (2011). As he sees it, there is no momentum for action in either the Senate or the House. The key areas of debate for the 2012 farm bill will be around crop insurance, the safety net for farmers.
The meeting soon gave way to questions. Chuck Hassebrook stood to ask Johanns to take a good look at the Grassley Johnson Rural America Preservation Act. Proposed by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IN) and Tim Johnson (D-SD), if made into law the act would close loopholes and make the existing subsidy limits real.
Hassebrook, who is not only executive director of the Center for Rural Affairs but also a Regent for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a major land-grant institution, said that it’s time to put an end to mega subsidies for mega farms.
He said we need to put effective and meaningful caps on payments to the nation’s largest farms because in his view we cannot afford them, and they harm rural America since the payments are often used to drive smaller operations out of business.
In the late August afternoon at the county fair, though, the most heartfelt and insightful message came from Nancy Packard of Lincoln. She attended the listening session with her elderly mother. Ms. Packard introduced herself as a Nebraskan with deep roots. She noted the Heartland farming efforts of her father, her grandfather, and her great grandfather.
"It takes 10,000 years to make a prairie," Ms. Packard said, "I know that because I have been working on re-establishing the prairie on a piece of our land for 20 years. It's not easy ... Now we are using this resource, this ancient beautiful prairie soil not to grow food but to grow GMO corn with toxic chemicals to supplement fuel for motor vehicle fuel. It's very, very wrong.
"We need to go back to smaller, family scale farms," she told Senator Johanns. "And we need to stop ripping up and destroying the earth for energy. We need to draw our strength from the land and our energy from the Sun." | <urn:uuid:cb3eb76b-b27e-4eb9-8052-2c394de18c2c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.grit.com/blogs/blog.aspx?blogid=4294967412&tag=GMO | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967102 | 860 | 1.664063 | 2 |
At the recent SXSW 2012 conference, Homeless Hotspots, a short-term charity project by New York City-based creative company BBH Labs in collaboration with Austin-based Front Steps shelter was launched. Several homeless individuals (wearing t-shirts that read “I’m a 4G hotspot”) roamed downtown Austin as “Hotspot Managers” and offered 4G wireless service for a monetary donation to a Paypal account.
BBH Labs describes the project on their blog:
This year in Austin, as you wonder between locations murmuring to your coworker about how your connection sucks and you can’t download/stream/tweet/instagram/check-in, you’ll notice strategically positioned individuals wearing “Homeless Hotspot” t-shirts. These are homeless individuals in the Case Management program at Front Steps Shelter. They’re carrying MiFi devices. Introduce yourself, then log on to their 4G network via your phone or tablet for a quick high-quality connection. You pay what you want (ideally via the PayPal link on the site so we can track finances), and whatever you give goes directly to the person that just sold you access. We’re believers that providing a digital service will earn these individuals more money than a print commodity.
There has been a fair amount of controversy around these walking hotspots. In a recent blog post, BBH Labs speaks about this controversy and clears up some false rumors. CNET’s Daniel Terdiman recaps the story and adds in his commentary in his story titled Homeless hot spots at SXSW: A manufactured controversy.
Techli spoke with Clarence, a participant in this unique experiment:
Clarence is from New Orleans, LA. He prefers the term “houseless” to “homeless.” He originally lost his house in Katrina and has had financial trouble since. He considers himself a good guy and tries to be a good friend to people. | <urn:uuid:62092650-b80d-4728-84bc-5f884ecb106f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://laughingsquid.com/homeless-hotspots-charity-project-turns-the-homeless-into-roaming-4g-hotspots/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944035 | 416 | 1.515625 | 2 |
A November fire at The Salvation Army’s Family Store damaged a lot of the new toys and other items stored to provide a head start for this year’s Angel Tree Program, which provides toys and gifts to Smith County children and seniors whose families cannot afford them.
All Saint’s third-grade teacher Ginger Stewart heard about the fire on the radio and decided to do a service project with her students that would benefit the agency.
On Dec. 12, the three All Saints third-grade classes delivered toys they had collected to The Salvation Army in Tyler.
Chantel Millin, community and corporate relations coordinator for The Salvation Army in Tyler, said as many as 2,500 Smith County kids and 500 seniors will benefit from this year’s Angel Tree Program.
During the visit, the students received a tour of the facilities, the chapel, the afterschool tutoring area, and the housing unit, according to an All Saints news release. | <urn:uuid:c6975fbb-f9ad-4546-9872-3ac00c7ef5c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tylerpaper.com/article/20121224/NEWS08/121229884/0/FEATURES06 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951638 | 197 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Day 7 (Tuesday) of the camp.
The intermediate group went over Deniya again and then started a new rhythm (6/8) called Sumalo. This rhythm was composed by Mamady and dates back to 1964. It was part of Ballet Djoliba's first repertoire, created on Kassa Island off the coast of Conakry. The ballet performance was called "The Mother". There was a king called Sumalo who was killed in a war. The king's son went to his mother and said "Give me my father's sword so I can go to the war and avenge his death." The son goes to fight in the war and gets killed as well. The performance piece was quite patriotic, reflecting the recent revolutionary spirit of the time. The woman who played the mother is called Fatadabo and now works in Mamady's household in Conakry.
Another interesting snippet about Ballet Djoliba... Of the 500 people who were originally selected from the regional competitions and moved to Kassa Island, 45 were selected to form what eventually became Ballet Djoliba. (Five of these artists were percussionists, Mamady being one of them). However, Ballet Djoliba had not even been conceived of at that time. Instead, Harry Belafonte was (at least one of) the instigators to use the musicians in a project of his own. However, around that time, Guinea took quite decisive steps toward the left and aligned itself with the communist block, and relations between Guinea and the US soured, and Harry Belafonte lost interest in (or maybe was advised not to proceed with) the project. Ballet Djoliba was formed only after Belafonte's project died.
Mamady taught a few of the original breaks for Sumalo. They are technically very simple to play, but quite surprising because of their placement. Very effective breaks that can be used with many 6/8 rhythms to good effect.
The advanced group finished the solo for Soliwulen and moved on to the solo original for Yankadi. I learned that solo years ago, so it's not particularly interesting to me. Still, I'm picking up bits and pieces here and there, so the time isn't wasted. Mamady told quite a few stories about Yankadi and its history, including a nice comedy performance about the importance of playing Yankadi before playing Macru
The pyramid class continued with Djaa leading into Djansa, and Djanse leading into Macru. We learned a number of cool breaks for the transitions between the rhythms.
It is clear that Mamady has abandoned his initial plan for the pyramid. It took too long to get through the Sira break, so there is now not enough time remaining to learn the pyramid he had initially planned. So, he's making things up pretty much on the spot. That's not to say that they are lacking in interest though. Basically, by falling back on rhythms that most people know, he can save a lot of time and focus on creating interesting breaks and transitions. (I'm a little disappointed though that I'll miss out on learning the original pyramid as Ballet Djoliba performed it in the late seventies.)
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Here are all of the posts tagged ‘Pepsi’.
Mobile internet has grown immensely in 2009 and according to the latest TrendsSpotting report it will be at the heart of social media in 2010:
Mobile social media
In the report, David Armano says “mobile becomes a social media lifeline”: on the basis that nearly 70% of organisations ban social networking in the workplace, mobile internet will be a lifeline for addicted workers and what was once a cigarette break could turn into a social media break.
Dan Zarella predicts that with the rise of augmented reality, the border between the web and reality will become increasingly blurred.
As people trust other people online when it comes to forming an opinion about a product or service, the growth of the mobile internet will mean this increasingly occurs at the point of consumption. Imagine you’re in a shop, hesitating between two vacuum cleaners. What do you do? Do you ask the salesman or you check out independent consumer reviews via your mobile?
With the development of geolocation apps, this principle also applies to restaurants, bars, hotels, etc.. You’re travelling to Paris for business, you’ve just finished your meeting in a neighborhood that you’re not familiar with and you’re looking for a restaurant to have lunch? What do you do? Check out the reviews of the local brasseries on your mobile on Yelp, of course.
Social media goes up the agenda of organisations
The good news is that in 2010 companies seem to have plans to invest seriously in social media. According to BizReport, social media is a priority for marketers: more than half of respondents (56.3%) had planned to include social media in their marketing mix.
This is in line with the TrendsSpotting report where many social media players talk about the growing importance of social media for organisations.
According to Charlene Li, “social media will become part of everyday lexicon for business in 2010″ while for Adam Cohen, “Social media gets smarter”: companies will start using social media more strategically.
For Connie Benson, “social media will shift from being experimental to metrics and the loop will be closed so that social media monitoring is necessary and actionable”.
David Armano highlights that as of today, very few organisations have used social media beyond campaigns. He uses Best Buy as a benchmark of a company that has really managed to leverage social media strategically (Robin wrote about Best Buy and social media a few months ago).
David Armano goes further by predicting the mass adoption of social media policies in companies in 2010: specific rules of engagement across different social networks, rules on how employees’ participation in social media.
I agree with David. This year, companies will understand the importance of investing for the long term in social media rather than just on specific campaigns – as Robin put it, “stop campaigning and start committing”.
What was already important for brands in 2009 becomes crucial in 2010: listening to and participating in online conversations as they have a real impact on people’s opinions. Even more so now that Google and Microsoft have incorporated the real-time social web at the core of their search algorithms: Today, when researching a brand, you’ll surely find tweets about it.
Already this year Pepsi has dropped its Super Bowl advertising spend (after 23 consecutive years) to invest in social media in 2010, which implies these predictions may have some weight…
Happy New Year! Time for the first Monday Mashup of the new decade. Here we go.
‘Best Job’ winner stung by jellyfish
Loosely translated, the German word ‘schadenfreude’ describes the pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.
Which brings me to the news that the winner of Australia’s “Best Job in the World” contest has survived a sting from a potentially deadly jellyfish just days before the end of his dream stint on the Great Barrier Reef.
You may recall that Ben Southall beat over 34,000 competitors to land the six-month job as “caretaker” of Hamilton Island, Australia where he published the Island Caretaker Blog. The campaign gained international notoriety and bagged a number of awards, including two top awards at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival this summer.
Twitalyzer 2.0 Launched
This weekend Twitalyzer shed its BETA status and officially opened the application to the public. This application allows you to analyse an account in detail, and also provides access to a dashboard, which “provides access to great new Twitalyzer features including tracking for multiple accounts, Google Analytics integration, user tagging and segmentation tools.” If you want to get the most out of the app then download and read the Twitalyzer Handbook, a 50 page user’s guide to the application.
Social Media is the New Super Bowl: Pepsi Refresh and What It Means to Marketers
The big marketing news across the pond over the past couple of weeks was Pepsi’s decision to trade Super Bowl advertising for social media activity in 2010:
For the first time in 23 years–23 years!–the brand will not be purchasing a Super Bowl spot. Instead, it is sinking $20M into a Social Media program called Pepsi Refresh. The Pepsi Refresh site will allow people to vote for worthwhile community projects, and Pepsi expects to sponsor thousands of local efforts via this program.
The Forrester Blog for Marketing Leadership Professionals unravels what it means for marketers, and considers the ramifications for the industry. The post is worth a read, and Pepsi’s decision is worth following.
Tories ‘would pay £1m for public policy making website’
Tory frontbencher Jeremy Hunt last week told the BBC that the Conservatives would offer a £1m prize in a competition to develop a website that would allow large groups of people to help develop new policies.
If implemented, this would be a groundbreaking approach to create a platform to crowdsource public policy ideas. Although perhaps they could offer 10 prizes of 100k each for 10 different approaches – after all, that’s still a substantial reward for a lone developer, and how are you going to know what works until you put it in practice?
Wipe The Slate Clean For 2010, Commit Web 2.0 Suicide
If you are looking for an online detox, this is for you. Moddr, a New Media Lab in Rotterdam have developed The Web 2.0 Suicide Machine which effectively disconnects you from social networks completely:
Just put in your credentials for Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or LinkedIn and it will delete all your friends and messages, and change your username, password, and photo so that you cannot log back in.
A light hearted video describes the benefits of committing Web 2.0 suicide, but this is probably not recommended for anyone working in this industry as this ‘will really delete your online presence and is irrevocable.’
You’ve been warned.
Update: Facebook blocks ‘Web 2.0 Suicide Machine’
“Corporate communications have radically changed” says Andy Sernovitz, chief executive of the Blog Council, an organisation for heads of social media at big companies. “It’s no longer just companies talking to the press, and customer service talking to customers. All these other people showed up in the -middle. They may not be press and they may not be customers, but suddenly their collective voice is bigger than the traditional channels.”
The essence of social media is conversation. Rather than a one-way stream of information, where companies make announcements to the press and customers, social media enables a great deal of interaction, where companies are in constant dialogue with the public. “We’ve seen a shift from doing things the old way to now having conversations with our customers,” says Jeanette Gibson, director of new media for Cisco Systems.
The above comes from an article in today’s FT, about as mainstream a business publication as you can get, a sign that perhaps Europe is beginning to hear the siren call of the changes that social media is bringing to business. Again, Twitter is on the agenda:
Companies are using Twitter to douse public relations fires before they erupt. Scott Monty, head of social media for Ford Motors, used Twitter to appease users who were angry after the carmaker sued an enthusiast website that was selling unauthorised Ford merchandise. When fans of the enthusiast site posted angry messages, Mr Monty “tweeted back” to explain the company’s position.
Bonin Bough, who was appointed director of social media for PepsiCo last year, also used Twitter to defuse a brewing crisis after the company released a series of advertisements depicting a cartoon calorie character committing suicide.
We’d not disagree with this – in fact we’ve been pioneering this approach on behalf of Skype since last year (and Scott Monty is a friend of the family, so to speak), but the focus should be on the overall conversation, of which Twitter is yet just a small part – forums and blogs are likely to remain the most significant venues for some appreciable time (this will vary, of course, depending on the sector you’re in – for example, if you’re Sony BMG, MySpace won’t have lost its significance just yet).
However, Melissa Bounoua’s article in Forbes earlier in the week makes a valid point:
Most European companies haven’t even heard of Twitter, and some might think it’s a time waster. A spokeswoman for energy firm Total says that Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie has no idea what Twitter is. British Telecom says it doesn’t have a Twitter account and doesn’t plan to open one. Nestle’s communications manager says using Twitter “just never came up within the group strategy.” In general, experts say Europeans don’t latch on to new social networking technologies as quickly as Americans.
I’d swap ‘Europeans’ with ‘European companies’ – as far as the general population is concerned, Europe is ahead of the US – with a higher proportion of the UK population using social networking and Twitter than the US (and the rest of Europe broadly comparable) and all of Europe but Germany and Austria way ahead in terms of blog readership.
However, despite the FT’s urging, her analysis is sadly correct when it comes to European companies. We are here to help… | <urn:uuid:d3dc57f3-b248-4b08-94e3-ae4022972ff9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wearesocial.net/tag/pepsi/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939108 | 2,215 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Rafael Correa's landslide election victory on 27 April 2009 makes him the first candidate since Ecuador's return to democracy in 1979 to win a presidential vote outright in the first round. With the opposition divided and the resounding vote confirming his already formidable control of the Andean country, this left-leaning nationalist is the most dominant figure Ecuadorian politics has seen for decades.
Guy Hedgecoe is editor of the English-language edition of El Pais. He founded and edited the Ecuador Focus weekly bulletin, and reported the Andean region from Ecuador for CNN, National Public Radio, the Miami Herald and the Financial Times
Also by Guy Hedgecoe in openDemocracy:
"Losing Ecuador" (26 April 2005)
"Ecuador's energy-fuelled politics" (28 June 2006)
"Ecuador's election surprise" (17 October 2006)
"Ecuador: protest and power" (28 November 2006)
"Ecuador's politics of expectation" (1 February 2006)
"Ecuador's hyper-political wave" (30 September 2008)
The early results gave Correa around 52% of votes and his Alianza País party is close to holding a majority of the 124 seats in the newly created national assembly; it also controls many of the regional and municipal posts which were also at stake in this vote. A late surge by ex-president Lucio Gutiérrez - driven in great part by anti-Correa sentiment - saw the former army colonel take around 28% of votes. Ecuador's richest man, the magnate Álvaro Noboa, came in third with around 11%.
"This revolution is on the march and nobody and nothing can stop us", the 46-year-old president said, moments after exit polls showed he was the clear winner. "The people have given us the most splendorous victory of probably the last fifty years."
Correa's first presidential-election win in October 2006 was notable for his comparison of the run-off against the billionaire Noboa to a David vs Goliath struggle - with he as the biblical underdog. Now, the latest phase of a meteoric political trajectory barely four years old makes him the giant striding Ecuador's political landscape.
A path to power
The road to such dominance has been far from smooth for this child of an upper-middle-class yet struggling family in Ecuador's coastal city of Guayaquil. Privilege and entitlement are concepts he has become acquainted with only since his rapid political rise began. Most of the rest of Rafael Correa's life has been the story of a figure of talent and ambition - invariably the outsider - grasping precious opportunities and overcoming the odds.
An early such chance was afforded him by a family friend who paid for the young Rafael to attend an exclusive school in his native Guayaquil, where he excelled among the well-heeled boys around him. The benefactor's gesture was particularly welcome in light of a domestic situation overshadowed by an incident whose details Correa came to know only at the age of 18.
"I had a very tough childhood and when I was 5, my father, who was unemployed, took some drugs to the United States, was jailed and spent three years in prison", Correa recalled in April 2007 (after an opposition politician tried to embarrass him by revealing the story).
Some of the president's harsher critics have argued that this early trauma spawned in the young Correa a lifelong hatred of the United States and everything it stands for. The facts clearly belie this; the way he sought out and warmly talked with Barack Obama at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad & Tobago is but one indication. But his father's imprisonment and the situation it left his family in do appear to have marked his social outlook. "I have suffered [the problem of small-time drug traffickers] first-hand", Correa has said. "These people aren't criminals, they are single mothers or jobless people who desperately try to feed their families."
Correa rose above the experience to win a scholarship to study economics at Guayaquil's prestigious Católica University. After graduating, and while his contemporaries sought lucrative jobs in the relatively vibrant private sector of late-1980s Ecuador, Correa spent a year with a Salesian Catholic mission in the high-altitude, poverty-stricken area of Zumbahua in the central highlands, teaching local Indians and developing small businesses. His time there consolidated his strong religious faith; even today he keeps a photograph of the pope on his desk (next to pictures of Venezuela's leader Hugo Chávez and Brazil's Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva).
Among openDemocracy's recent articles on the Americas:
Ivan Briscoe, "Argentina: a crisis of riches" (17 July 2008)
Celia Szusterman, "Argentina: celebrating democracy" (19 December 2008)
John Crabtree, "Bolivia: after the vote" (2 February 2009)
Sergio Aguayo Quezada, "Mexico: a state of failure" (17 February 2009)
George Philip, "Hugo Chávez, oil, and Venezuela" (20 February 2009)
Julia Buxton, "Hugo Chávez: tides of victory" (20 February 2009)
Adam Isacson, "Colombia's imperilled democracy" (6 March 2009)
Victor Valle, "El Salvador's long march" (20 March 2009)
Kelly Phenicie & Lisa J Laplante, "Peru: the struggle for memory" (8 April 2009)
Juan Gabriel Tokatlian, "Barack Obama's drug policy: time for change" (15 April 2009)
Ivan Briscoe, "The Americas and Washington: moving on" (17 April 2009)
Antoni Kapcia, "Raúl Castro and Cuba: reading the changes" (22 April 2009)
Fred Halliday, "The Dominican Republic: a time of ghosts" (23 April 2009)
The experience also gave him a working knowledge of the indigenous Quichua language and an understanding of the poverty that afflicts most of Ecuador's Indians, who make up around 40% of the population. Almost twenty years later, it was in Zumbahua that the tall mestizo chose to return and - wearing a poncho and indigenous cap - announce before a crowd of local Indians his decision to run for Ecuador's presidency.
Correa continued his economic studies through a scholarship to Louvain (Belgium), where he met his wife, and then by completing a doctorate at the University of Illinois. The market-oriented ideas of the "Chicago Boys" incubated nearby had been applied by Chile's government in the Augusto Pinochet era, but Correa became more interested in exploring the limits of neo-liberalism and how reforms of this type had hindered Latin America's development.
Those who knew Rafael Correa as a hardworking but unremarkable Ecuadorian economics student found his later transformation into a charismatic politician and "firebrand" national leader truly surprising. But some of the themes of his future political career were already visible in these years. Werner Baer, who taught Correa in Urbana-Champaign, remembers a talented and dedicated young man who understood the subtleties of the market but was particularly fascinated by income distribution. "He was always interested in how you can remedy the tremendous inequities in Latin America", Baer says. Indeed, Correa's doctoral thesis focused on how orthodox, market-based reforms - those rooted in the so-called Washington consensus - had increased the region's inequality.
Correa accepted a post at Quito's San Francisco University: once again in an alien environment, he found himself imparting his equality-based view of economics to some of the country's wealthiest and most pampered youngsters. Alongside this, he embarked on a career advising state and international agencies. The moment was fateful: in 2000, Ecuador's economy had started to collapse under a banking crisis reinforced by low oil prices and revenues, which forced the government of Jamil Mahuad to replace the local sucre currency with the US dollar. The titles of some of Correa's many academic papers from this time reflected his increasing political sensibility: "Ecuador: from absurd dollarisation to monetary union" and "More of the same: the economic policy of the government of Lucio Gutiérrez" are but two examples.
In 2005, Ecuador's political tumult saw its third president in less than a decade ousted amid chaos - this time Gutiérrez himself, helicoptered out of a presidential palace besieged by protesters angry at his administration's nepotism, corruption and meddling in the courts. The vice-president, Alfredo Palacio, succeeded Gutiérrez and offered Correa - who had been advising Palacio - the post of finance minister.
This first taste of political office lasted for just four stormy months, but this was long enough for Correa's "neo-structural" ideology to shine through. He cast doubt on the future of the dollar as the country's currency, ended a rainy-day fund for paying off public debt, and launched verbal tirades against multilateral lending agencies.
In the 2006 presidential-election campaign, Correa transformed himself from an unfancied candidate with little political experience into president-elect. The record of success has continued in the two years of his government: his position has been consolidated in four further victories: two referendums, a constituent-assembly vote, and now this overwhelming re-election triumph. The terms of the new constitution ratified in the 2008 referendums in effect cancel Correa's first two years as president, so he now embarks on a fresh four-year term as empowered as he has ever been.
A test to come
Rafael Correa's high-spending, socially-oriented and verbally abrasive style has flourished in the face of those who see him as a dangerous authoritarian. The long period of soaring oil prices has helped keep public opinion behind him, as has his successful campaign to undermine what he disparages as the "partidocracy" - traditional politicians and their parties.
But the next months are likely to be more challenging. The IMF predicts that the economy, which has been growing consistently in recent years, will contract by 2% in 2009. Correa's decision to default on the country's private debt and offer on 20 April to carry out a massively discounted buyback have won support among most Ecuadorians (who blame the debt burden for many of the country's woes); but this approach has riled Wall Street, and credit lines are closing down. The president's policy stance - anti-corporate rather than anti-American - has already hurt investment, especially in the crucial oil sector.
Moreover, as the force of the global economic crisis heads towards the world's biggest banana producer, Correa could well face a jarring clash between his self-proclaimed "leftist, humanist, Christian" ideology and his US-trained market-savvy over the issue of Ecuador's use of the US dollar as the national currency.
Correa sees the greenback's introduction as "a mistake", though he has repeatedly said that he will keep it. In political terms "dollarisation is very popular because it's seen as one of the few things which work in Ecuador", says Ramiro Crespo of Analytica Securities. Indeed, to break the link could carry the risk of hyperinflation and related maladies. At the same time "de-dollarisation" would allow Ecuador power over monetary policy and (perhaps equally important for this overt nationalist) give the country back a sovereign currency.
After a lifetime as the outsider, Rafael Correa is now on the inside. This is above all the product of his extraordinary life and political talent. So far he has had little reason to compromise his radical, single-minded vision. But in the coming months he is likely to have that resolve severely tested. | <urn:uuid:987ff782-6c18-4dd9-983d-c6343f4e13d3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/rafael-correa-an-ecuadorian-journey | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970066 | 2,486 | 1.679688 | 2 |
September 20, 2010
Why Time magazine is wrong
The lobby of the Hyatt Hotel in Sharm El-Sheikh was buzzing with dark-suited officials, press and security personnel from the U.S. State Department, Egypt and Israel, mingling with swim-suited tourists from Finland and Abu Dhabi.
So when the reporter from a major Arabic TV Channel, whom I know and respect and who was there for the international peace conference, earnestly asked me whether Israelis really want peace the question seemed as bizarre as the setting.
Of course, it came in the wake of two major U.S. publications descending on Israel to take the pulse of the people and solemnly diagnosing a terminal case of national hedonism.
I could have told the reporter about my good friends Jeffrey and Irit, a successful couple living in one of Israel’s most exclusive neighborhoods who believed passionately in the Oslo peace process of the 1990’s and then watched as Arafat chose terror over agreement.
Jeffrey and I stood together at Kissufim Junction in the Gaza Strip dusk on 15 August 2005 as the barrier between Israel and Gaza came down, symbolizing Israel’s disengagement. In the following days, every Israeli man, woman and child, citizen and soldier withdrew from Gaza, taking with them the bodies exhumed from the Jewish cemeteries for reburial in Israel.
Some three years later, Jeffrey and Irit’s son Michael was sent into Gaza with his paratroop battalion to put an end to the thousands of deadly rocket attacks fired at Israelis by Iran-backed Jihadi terrorists who were more occupied by how many Israelis they could kill than building a civil society.
Michael returned, but not before watching his sergeant die in battle. Their second of three children is now being drafted into the IDF. Jeffrey reflects on his blog about what will induce Hamas to ever accept the right of him and his family to live in peace.
I could tell the reporter of fearing something as banal as visiting the local shopping mall in my home town of Netanya, frequently blown up by terrorists from the West Bank, a nine-mile drive away. Or of comforting a friend who was in Tel Aviv as the Number 5 bus was blown up in front of her on Dizengoff Street.
All are singular experiences but part of the national psyche: Israelis defending themselves from wars of aggression for the first three decades of the State’s existence. The tension of regular terror outrages that brought unbearable carnage to Israel’s streets and unspeakable pain to so many Israeli families. An unprovoked barrage of Saddam’s scuds, Nasrallah’s katyushas, Haniah’s Kassams and now the threat of Ahmadinedjad’s nuclear warheads barreling their way towards us.
And yet, for anyone who took the time to check, over the last many years, a majority of Israelis have consistently polled in favor of a two-state solution.
Quite remarkable, really.
The Israel Project has polled in the U.S., Europe, Russia and China and the top concern of respondents, every time, in every group, in every country, is the economy. TIP polled Muslims in Paris who are said to be roiling about the situation of Muslims in the Middle East. Their major concerns were jobs and education - they barely mentioned Palestine. TIP has just polled in Ramallah and unsurprisingly, it was the economy. The major, overriding concern of West Bankers is jobs.
There is something ugly about insisting that Israelis must behave differently to the rest of humanity.
In delegitimizing Israel, it is Israelis and not just the Israeli government that is under attack. Israelis are branded as unmoved by peace and motivated only by money. Mr. Karel De Gucht is still the European Commissioner for Trade, despite commenting that most Jews believe they are always right and questioning the point of talking to them at all. The head of Amnesty International in Finland believes Israel is a scum state.
Of course, this embarrasses and infuriates the Israeli government but it is Middle Israelis who are on the firing line. And it is easier to boycott Israeli academics, musicians, directors, tennis players, farmers and concert goers if they can be singled out as people uniquely deserving of opprobrium – in fact, a nation of warmongering, selfish Fagins.
So, why do Israelis teach about peace in schools and despite constant setbacks, send government after government to negotiate? Because, as Jeffrey insists, peace is about our existence. Surrounded by enemies, there is no life for us without it and no alternative to achieving it.
Look beyond golden beaches, designer shirts and Tel Aviv apartment prices made famous by magazine copy. There are millions of Israelis who have not given up.
Marcus Sheff is the Executive Director of The Israel Project’s Israel Office. | <urn:uuid:9d05273b-f302-4b21-8ca3-ef5691121362> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jewishjournal.com/opinion/article/why_time_magazine_is_wrong_20100920 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965615 | 1,019 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Widely renown as a “melting pot,” South Florida’s residents represent many different cultures spanning across the globe. Because of this, the tri-county area is made up of a variety of exotic dining options, cultural attractions, and international businesses. South Florida’s strategic location also lends itself as a popular trade spot, with commodities passing daily through its seaports (Port of Miami and Port Everglades) and airports (Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale International Airport).
South Florida, the City of Miami in particular, lays claim to the title of “Gateway to the Americas,” and as a result, the area has become a popular second-home spot for many international investors to both reside and locate their business. Due to the strong cultural and linguistic ties, as well as its close proximity to Latin American countries, the area also serves as the home to many Latin American corporate headquarters and exudes a large participation in international business. | <urn:uuid:8c713cf7-9c8b-4bb0-a12f-8a44da332df7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.ewm.com/international/page/3/?cat1=5951&dynacat=127 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96042 | 200 | 1.5 | 2 |
Thanks to the recent run-up in gas prices, many of our email accounts have become cluttered with chain emails asking us to boycott major gasoline stations on a certain date in the future. The reason being, we’re pissed about having to pay so much for gas and if we all band together for one day and refuse to buy gas, we’re supposedly going to cost the major gas companies billions of dollars and force them to drop the price of gas.
For those of you who continually forward these emails to everyone on your contact list, please stop. This is one of the most ridiculous ideas out there and it would never work.
There are plenty of extremely logical and obvious reasons why this tactic would never work, yet most of us tend to overlook these as we focus on trying to place blame for the nearly 40% jump in the price of gas since the end of February. As is usually the case, logic tends to take a backseat to emotion.
That being said, I’m going to try my best to explain why this idea won’t ever work in the real world and why you should automatically delete any emails like this that you may receive.
The first (and most obvious) reason is you are simply delaying the purchase of the gasoline you need; we’re not actually decreasing the demand for gas (which might bring the prices down), we’re just shifting the demand to another day in the very near future.
For example, let’s say that 100,000,000 people decide to join this boycott, which causes 1,000,000,000 fewer gallons of gasoline to be purchased on that particular day. In theory, this would cost the major gas and oil companies about $3 billion in revenue.
However, you mean to tell me that during the next couple of days that those 100,000,000 people aren’t going to go back to the gas stations to purchase the gas that they didn’t buy the day they were boycotting? Of course they’re going to; they still need all that gasoline in order to get to work, drive the kids to soccer practice, etc.
There wasn’t a drop in demand, just a shift in demand – which means that the gas companies don’t actually lose the $3 billion in revenue, they just get it within the next couple of days.
The second reason is if for some insane reason this boycott tactic actually worked and did cause the gas companies to lose money, do you actually think that these companies would lower prices to gain back the small percentage of their total annual revenue that they lost? I highly doubt it.
The more likely scenario would be these companies would actually slightly RAISE prices in order to try and collect some of the money that they may have lost.
Hopefully it has become pretty obvious that the only way we’re going to be able to save money on our car’s gasoline is to reduce the demand for gasoline by driving less and driving more fuel efficient vehicles. It’s not going to come by some crazy scenario where we boycott gasoline stations for one arbitrary day.
So on that note, please take me off of your spam list. | <urn:uuid:67f7c6cb-cd9b-47c9-b229-d8fb3b67ed3c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/common-sense/stop-sending-those-dont-buy-gas-emails/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973805 | 661 | 1.679688 | 2 |
In any spiritual path one follows, inevitably, the idea of letting go rears its head. Why is it so important? Why is it so difficult? We can face this conundrum in a myriad of ways. Not only on our own path, but also when dealing with others – for example when we are dealing with other people, we must approach them free of expectations and requirements; in many forms of meditation, we are asked to let our thoughts go as they appear; in counseling sessions, we must let go of preconceived projections and outcomes.
What are some of the things we need to let go of? Well, the list is infinite, but here’s some food for thought: shame, guilt, fear, anger, bad relationships, expectations, grief, resistance, dependency…
And through all of this letting go, the mind is clinging with fierce determination to what it knows. “The devil you know is better (safer) than the devil you don’t!” we exclaim. The dangerous unknown lurks in front of us like an abysmal hole. The purpose of the mind or Ego is to keep us safe – that part of ourselves will do whatever it takes to accomplish its mission of keeping us safe from harm – and what could be more unsafe than the unknown or change? However, a full cup cannot be filled with something new – it must be emptied first. Let go!
If we can allow ourselves to open up with grace (or without, as the case may be) and trust to the unknown and something different, what we find is a whole new world of options and possibilities. The Divine has more in store for us than we can imagine for ourselves, but our job is to have faith and let go!
The question is how? How can we let go when our “monkey mind” is clinging tight to its vine? There are 5 simple steps to easing into faith and “letting go and letting God”:
1. Label that part of yourself that is afraid. Give it a name and make it as real in your mind as possible. This gives you something to focus on.
2. Let it express its fear through journaling or meditation.
3. Speak to it gently as you would a frightened child. Don’t dismiss it – it will only cry louder!
4. Get silent and still so that you can hear the still, small voice within – this is what will tell you your next step, if any.
5. Breathe! It is so important during these times of change to remember to breathe.
By giving voice to your fears, you allow that voice to know it’s being listened to. Only then can it begin to be comforted. Then the monkey can finally let go of that vine – that’s the only way you’ll be able to catch the next vine – much like a trapeze artist, in order to catch one trapeze the artist must let go of the one they are holding and trust that the one they need will be where it needs to be when they let go.
Remember that when a window is closed, a door is opened. Go ahead, close that window! Let go and live life!
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You may, as long as you commit to leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way, and include the following byline: This article was written by Patricia Selmo, an ordained Interfaith Minister, certified life coach, spiritual healer, teacher and guide. She is owner of The Blissful Soul, an organization dedicated to healing and helping people live in peace and joy with themselves and others: www.TheBlissfulSoul.com. | <urn:uuid:e960fb4d-7e6e-4142-8bcd-f5defc2a5fd2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theblissfulsoul.com/2010/08/the-art-of-letting-go-%E2%80%93-5-simple-steps-to-letting-go-and-living-life/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959434 | 782 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Duplicate Windows 7 on the HDD; add Win7-PE, Win XP or Win 8; quickest restore; optimize all and improve the security of your files.
Posted 05 October 2011 - 01:18 PM
Posted 08 October 2011 - 04:28 PM
Concerning this I've modified paragraph 4.6 and added paragraph 4.8 to explain better this convenience.
This post has been edited by cannie: 08 October 2011 - 04:36 PM
Posted 11 October 2011 - 02:26 PM
The whole text has been reviewed after detecting that the previously given link for downloading Knoppix did not download it any more, also opening the way to any similar Linux distro by simply recommending it for improved flexibility and changing as a result of that the name of the thread.
Also paragraphs 5.9 and 5.10 have been improved concerning the use of WinPE pendrives, including attention call.
Link to download EasyBCD didn't work any more and has been replaced, and link to Winrar was updated.
This post has been edited by cannie: 26 October 2011 - 02:22 AM
Posted 27 January 2012 - 02:12 PM
A boot from pendrive option for old computers which don't allow this, by using the start list and EasyBCD, has been included at paragraph 8.
Added some text improvements for a better understanding.
This post has been edited by cannie: 10 February 2012 - 10:09 AM
Posted 11 February 2012 - 06:09 AM
"8.7.- Add the alternative working mode or another Windows 7 version."
- Improved paragraphs 4.3 and 8.5
- Light correction at paragraph 6.3.2
This post has been edited by cannie: 26 February 2012 - 04:55 PM
Posted 17 March 2012 - 05:31 AM
- An important improvement concerning deletion of not used asian language resources when not needed in order to considerably slim the OS at paragraph 4.3.
This post has been edited by cannie: 21 March 2012 - 03:40 AM
Posted 21 March 2012 - 03:42 AM
- Being very important the influence of changing the cloning source the whole text has been reviewed and updated, including some minor improvements.
- Light correction at paragraph 8.2
This post has been edited by cannie: 02 April 2012 - 01:31 AM
Posted 07 September 2012 - 08:23 AM
- Windows XP has been included into the multiboot options, being the name of the tutorial consequently modified.
- Download links have been updated and fixed when needed.
This post has been edited by cannie: 09 September 2012 - 03:48 PM | <urn:uuid:32ea400a-d4d8-49fb-99c5-81d4ce69d082> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/144084-duplicate-windows-7-on-the-hdd%3B-add-win7-pe-win-xp-or-win-8%3B/page__st__60__p__991440 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949408 | 554 | 1.5 | 2 |
I got this idea several years ago while I was substitute teaching, and it never fails. It has to do with clean-up at the end of the day. I've tried having clean-up jobs but the jobs never seemed to get done to my satisfaction.
Here's what I do:
I choose three spots in the room that need cleaning without telling the kids which three spots I have chosen.
I then say "go" and the kids clean everything hoping to hit the spot tht I have secretly chosen.
I don't say "stop" until I am satisfied the room is clean, even if they have already gotten the three spots I had chosen.
Then I reveal the three spots and present the winners with a jolly rancher or other small reward.
Although the kids who didn't win are disappointed they cleaned the wrong spot, that doesn't stop them from trying even harder next time. The biggest winner is of course the teacher who has a clean room with minimal effort and expense.
Another Clean-Up Idea?
Read Classroom Clean Up in the book, Tools & Toys. | <urn:uuid:9f44071e-206e-4fdc-bc7b-53c7d80ea950> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newmanagement.com/tips/cleanup.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981666 | 226 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Everyone knows fireworks can be fun, especially this time of year, but a lot of people don’t take into account the negative repercussions those pyrotechnic devices can bring.
The first problem: They're illegal in New Jersey along with many other states in the U.S. If you’re caught selling, owning or using fireworks within a state in which they’re illegal, you’ll undergo certain penalties determined by your state.
Besides the legal aspect, you always run the risk of someone getting hurt or property being damaged by using fireworks. A few people setting off fireworks in your backyard for summer fun could result in damage to your home, damage to your neighbor’s home or someone in the vicinity getting seriously injured.
If such instances occur, you could be liable for repairs, medical expenses or even legal attorney fees to defend yourself in a personal injury lawsuit case. That, in effect, means that there are a number of things at stake including:
- Your savings
- Equity in your home
- Equity in your business
- Your investments
- A portion of your future earnings
Bottom line: Most illegal activities are not covered by insurance and will cost you a lot of money if something goes wrong.
Unfortunately for fireworks lovers living in states in which they're illegal, you cannot get insurance coverage for this unless you have a pyrotechnic operator's license. But even with that license, coverage is likely very expensive.
Fireworks fans beware... | <urn:uuid:da51727f-8f86-439e-b26f-3b5c7b3d66ac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lacey.patch.com/blog_posts/fireworks-proceed-with-caution-03fb2bec | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961792 | 305 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Reference Library: Lewisohn and his Bible
From: firstname.lastname@example.org (saki)
Subject: Re: Who is Lewisohn?
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 19:30:33 GMT
Previously, M L Gilbert (email@example.com) wrote:
Sorry to bring this up again, but I guess what I really wanted to know
is - What makes HIM so special? Why did he get to "hear almost every
second of every Beatles recording" as opposed to any one else? Is he
part of some inner circle of friends, or did he work for the Beatles at
Lewisohn worked with EMI/Abbey Road Studios (I'm not sure it's accurate
to say he worked *for* them, since it's unclear who paid him for his
research) to finish a cataloguing project of all Beatles-related
recordings at Abbey Road. The project was begun by engineer John Barrett,
who died before he could complete it.
Lewisohn's credientials were impressive, and he was the only natural
candidate for the job. He'd won at least one major Beatles-trivia contest
in the early eighties; worked as a research assistant for Philip Norman;
and had a day-job as an accountant at the BBC (perhaps this was good
training for accuracy. :-)
Lewisohn approached the project much as he did in his own first book, "The
Beatles Live!" which was an impeccably researched tome on the Fabs' live
performances. What made his work so notable was his reliance on documents
and verifiable information to build a comprehensive history of the Fabs on
stage. He used this approach for "The Beatles Recording Sessions", the
book he completed while working with EMI on the Beatles' session material,
and included much heretofore-unseen documentation and session notation.
Lewisohn continued to improve upon this book with "The Complete Beatles
Chronicle", an amalgam of "Live!" and "Recording Sessions", with
corrections as needed.
He's not perfect---he slips up occasionally---but Lewisohn's works are
among the most dependable sourcebooks in the field.
Lewisohn was also asked to work on historical documentation for the
"Anthology" projects, and is generally called upon whenever the Fabs or
Abbey Road needs further research or verification of session material.
"Everywhere I go I hear it said in the good and
the bad books that I have read".
» Return to The Beatles Reference Library | <urn:uuid:a388503c-2365-4596-b21e-c3b139084a07> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.beatlesagain.com/breflib/lewisohn.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96428 | 549 | 1.65625 | 2 |
||Seven months old|
little girl is Isabelle. She is a seven month old Hahns Macaw also
known as a "red-shouldered Macaw." She has not been DNA-sexed, but for
naming purposes we call her a girl. I got her when she was just
three months old, and she's been a joy to have in my life ever since.
She loves to play with our dog, a six-pound Pomeranian. She gives the dog,
Sammie, big kisses, and Sammie tries to lick Isabelle's beak. Isabelle
calls Sammie into the room during dinner time and waits for her to walk
under the cage, and then she proceeds to share her food with the dog.
The dog enjoys it, but I don't enjoy cleaning up the mess it causes!
She's a very bright and intelligent bird. She loves to talk, jabber,
play with her toys, and cuddle! She's developing a pretty large
vocabulary, with her favorite words being "Mom" and "Step up"... she also
loves to mimic our Pomeranian's barking! She gets pretty upset when
"Mom" leaves the room without her... but otherwise she is a very good
bird. I wouldn't trade her for anything! | <urn:uuid:2b68127b-c909-4011-bbbf-e49c178b3d9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://petoftheday.com/archive/2006/August/01.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957789 | 277 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Hilarity is a neuro-chemical weapon.
A drug that can be distributed through a syrup or gaseous form. The drug functions by triggering the laughter response in the body, and not letting up. Thirty or forty seconds after exposure, the subject enters a state of intense laughter, causing suffocation. The drug has a number of purposes, depending on dosage. It can be used as a chemical agent for the military, a recreational drug, or used to sedate patients and give them an enjoyable ride to such a state. This drug works on Nepleslians and Geshrin, however it does not work on Yamataians and Nekos due to their digital brains.
However absorbed into the body, this drug affects the section of the brain that produces laughter. This triggers uncontrollable laughter and a sense of euphoria for no obvious reason. It's effects will last depending on the dosage given. | <urn:uuid:68ee63fd-f92a-4e94-87c1-0a2dd70cb33f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stararmy.com/wiki/doku.php?id=origin:hilarity | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930838 | 185 | 1.820313 | 2 |
I believe that theatre has the power to transform lives. It certainly transformed my life. Theatre's power comes from its immediacy and its vital human connection. There is intimacy and relevancy in sharing the human story through theatre.
In my research as I teach and learn, I found this wonderful video that captures much of what I believe theatre can do. The video can be found at http://www.ted.com/talks/patsy_rodenburg_why_i_do_theater.html | <urn:uuid:afa8f6df-2385-4212-bf1f-714b47da6836> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://adirectorsnotebook.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967867 | 107 | 1.757813 | 2 |
The Voelker Papers
Anatomy of a Murder was the book that gave John Voelker prominence as a writer. It was the fifth book that he wrote, but the fourth to be published (after Troubleshooter, 1943, Danny and the Boys, 1951, and Small Town D.A., 1954). It was the first of his books to make the best-seller lists across the country.
John Voelker was born in Ishpeming, Michigan on June 29, 1903. He claimed to have written his first story, titled “Alone All Night with a Bear in a Swamp,” at age ten, and he always added that after that title all he needed to do was add the “woof!” He began developing his skill as a writer during his years at Ishpeming High School and further honed them at the Northern State Normal School (now Northern Michigan University) under the instruction of A. Bess Clark and James Cloyd Bowman. Following graduation from the University of Michigan Law School in 1928, Voelker began practicing law, first in Marquette with the firm of Eldridge and Eldridge, then in Chicago for three years with Mayer, Meyer, Austrain and Platt, before establishing his own practice in Ishpeming in 1933.
Following graduation from law school, Voelker served briefly as an assistant prosecuting attorney while with Eldridge and Eldridge, and he was elected prosecuting attorney of Marquette County in 1934. He served from 1935 through 1942 and again from 1945 through 1950. He served as Ishpeming city attorney in 1943 and 1944. Throughout his years as prosecuting attorney he also maintained a private practice. After his defeat by Edmund Thomas of Ishpeming in the 1950 election, he returned to full-time private practice.
In 1952 Voelker was asked to defend Army Lt. Coleman Peterson, who was accused of the murder of Mike Chenoweth, owner of the Lumberjack Tavern in Big Bay. After a six-day trial the jury returned a verdict of not guilty by reason of temporary insanity. Voelker turned over the events of the trial in his mind, and in 1953 he began tinkering with the idea of writing a novel based on the trial. He was not able to take the idea very far because he was working on the final draft of Small Town D.A., which was published by Dutton in 1954.
Following the publication of Small Town D.A. he devoted all of his writing time to Anatomy of a Murder. By early 1956 he had completed a revised draft of the novel and began sending it to publishers. The publishers were not impressed, and the rejection slips began to pile up. Sherman Baker, his editor at Dutton, had moved to St. Martin’s Press, so he sent the manuscript to Baker. Baker liked what he read, but also realized that the pre-trail portion of the novel was too long and needed to be substantially pruned. In September 1956 he flew to Marquette and spent the weekend with Voelker cutting and refashioning the manuscript so that the trial was the centerpiece of the novel. Voelker then prepared another draft, the third, of the novel for formal submission to St. Martin’s Press.
On December 31, 1956 St. Martin’s notified Voelker that they had accepted Anatomy of a Murder for publication. Coincidentally, Governor G. Mennen Williams telephoned that same day to offer John a seat on the Michigan Supreme Court to fill the remainder of a vacant term. Mr. Justice Voelker was sworn in as an associate justice several days later. At that time Michigan law required justices to stand for election at the next statewide election following their appointment to an unexpired term, so in addition to his court work and making revisions and corrections to the novel, he had to campaign for his court seat. He was elected by a resounding majority.
Publication of Anatomy of a Murder was scheduled for mid-September, 1957. However, the Book-of-the-Month Club chose the novel for one of its alternate selections and requested that publication be postponed until January 1958. St. Martin’s acquiesced, and the book was published in early January 1958. It was an instant success and quickly climbed the best-seller lists, staying there for over a year. St. Martin’s planned to have the book turned into a Broadway play and then a motion picture, and asked John Van Druten to write the play. Van Druten completed a rough draft of the script before he died in December 1957. Eventually Elihu Winer wrote his version of the play, which had its premiere at the Mill Run Theater in the Chicago suburbs in 1963. Meanwhile, St. Martin’s had made the film rights available, and they were finally acquired by Otto Preminger. All of the filming was done in Marquette County, and the film was very successful.
Now assured of an adequate income, Voelker resigned from the Michigan Supreme Court in January 1960 to devote his time to fishing and writing. He was quoted as saying, “Others can write my opinions, but no one else can write my books.” Some people would dispute that as his opinions have been termed the most literate opinions ever to be handed down from the Michigan high court. Trout Madness, that fourth book, was published in 1960 and was followed by Hornstein’s Boy (1961), Anatomy of a Fisherman with photos by Robert Kelley (1964), Laughing Whitefish (1965), The Jealous Mistress (1967), Trout Magic (1974), and People Versus Kirk (1981). He also wrote several articles, mostly essays on fishing, and, for a brief time, a column in the Detroit News Sunday Magazine. He died in 1991. | <urn:uuid:ad020c2a-3006-4447-bf60-348adea0adf2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nmu.edu/voelker/index.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987492 | 1,198 | 1.640625 | 2 |
More On Tax Planningfrom The Advisor's Professional Library
- IRAs: Eligibility The eligibility rules for contributing to traditional and Roth IRAs are complicated. Learn how to effectively use them in retirement plans.
- Annuities: Variable Annuities Annuities are hot. The tax rules vary with the circumstances. Advisors must be aware of these intricacies when discussing annuities with clients.
This could prove to be one heck of a required minimum distribution. The Wall Street Journal’s Mark Maremont reports that Mitt Romney has between $20.7 million and $101.6 million in his individual retirement account, due mainly to investments in Bain Capital, the private equity firm Romney helped start.
“Experts on estate planning said it is highly unusual to accumulate such a considerable sum in an IRA, an investment vehicle restricted by annual contribution limits,” Maremont writes. “Several estate-planning experts said they know of others with IRAs of more than $100 million, but they are rare. Typically, they said, that occurs when founders of companies invest in their own shares, which then take off.”
Maremont quotes Jonathan Rikoon, a lawyer at New York's Debevoise & Plimpton LLP who advises private-equity-fund executives on estate planning. Rikoon said Romney's reliance on a tax-deferred retirement plan for so much of his wealth “could end up costing him.” An IRA allows a small immediate tax savings, plus deferral of taxes, he explained. But he noted income from the account, when eventually withdrawn, will be taxed at the higher ordinary-income rate, not the lower capital-gains rate that might have applied if Romney had held the investments outside the fund.
"It's probably not a slam dunk" from a tax-efficiency standpoint, Rikoon added, but it is impossible to tell without knowing the rest of Romney's estate plan.
The revelation comes as critics and Republican opponents have pressed Romney in recent days to release his tax returns. In a further twist, ABC News is reporting that Romney “has millions of dollars of his personal wealth in investment funds set up in the Cayman Islands, a notorious Caribbean tax haven.”
A spokesperson for the Romney campaign told ABC that Romney follows all tax laws and he would pay the same in taxes regardless of where the funds are based.
As the network notes, Romney disclosed on Tuesday that he has been paying a far lower percentage in taxes than most Americans, around 15% of his annual earnings. In an increasingly contentious campaign, it has been Romney's Republican rivals who have pressed him hardest on his tax issues. | <urn:uuid:bc88d38f-ae97-4ab5-bf59-b0d030dddd22> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.advisorone.com/2012/01/19/romney-has-millions-in-ira-report-says?t=ibds | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968932 | 550 | 1.695313 | 2 |
is a world where all people on the autism spectrum have the specialist care and support they need to lead fulfilling and rewarding lives.
In this section you will find information about our Community Services. This includes employment, student support, outreach and family support services.
Photo: Child with a puppet at an Autism West Midlands family day
The Page you have requested could not be found on the server.
Please contact the system administrator about the broken link. | <urn:uuid:ba8978d9-3a1c-4ad4-86b8-6a8e74b83c37> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.autismwestmidlands.org.uk/content/675193/community_services/family_support/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931086 | 90 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Mississippi governor bemoans media focus on Louisiana during BP oil spill
The behind-the-scenes jockeying over how money from BP fines should be distributed among Gulf Coast states slipped into public view Thursday as Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour told a House committee about the economic damage done to his state by last year's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Media coverage of oiled pelicans off the Louisiana coast, Barbour told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, had discouraged tourists from visiting Mississippi beaches even while tourism boomed in New Orleans during the 87 days that crude flowed from the BP Macondo well last year.
Barbour's comments came as the Gulf states try to present a united front in Congress to get 80 percent of the BP disaster damages diverted from federal coffers to needs along the coast. At issue is how the money, expected to be in the billions of dollars, should be distributed among the states and whether any restrictions should be put on how the money can be used.
Barbour's point was that while Louisiana became the national focus of the damage done by the spill, his state and others suffered significantly.
Jennifer Day, spokeswoman for the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, said that 2010 was, in fact, a good year for the city, with the largest number of visitors, 8.3 million, since Hurricane Katrina. But she added there's no way to know whether the increase might have been even higher were it not for the disaster.
And Louisiana is making the argument that its already battered coast suffered long-term harm from the spill.
Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., "remains very optimistic that they can strike the right balance that will provide at least 80 percent of the BP penalties paid under the Clean Water Act to Gulf states to restore the coastal ecosystem and its economies" that were damaged by the BP oil spill, spokesman Rob Sawicki said Thursday.
At the same time, Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, sat down Thursday for the first meeting of the newly established Gulf Coast Caucus, which he co-chairs with Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla.
"What was most important was we were able to come to an agreement unanimously with everyone in the room to set aside at least 80 percent of fines," Scalise said. The problem, however, is a continuing "lack of consensus" on how to allocate the money. He said he hopes that will not further delay passage of legislation to target the fines.
Thursday's hearing by the House Oversight Committee included more of the partisan blame game, with Republicans generally faulting the Obama administration's response to the spill and what they said were substantial job losses caused by a moratorium on deepwater drilling and afterward by delays in issuing new permits.
Democrats praised the administration for restoring a more robust regulatory regime to minimize the likelihood of a similar disaster.
Among those testifying was St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro, who said it was a mistake to put BP in charge of the response effort.
It's like allowing the person "responsible for a car accident to dictate the treatment and repairs" provided accident victims, he said.
Rep. William Clay, D-Mo., questioned Taffaro about an April article by the investigatory journalism group ProPublica that reported people close to the local power base, including the St. Bernard president, benefited financially from the disaster.
Clay asked specifically about the leasing of a marina to BP for its spill response operations. A company partially owned by St. Bernard Sheriff Jack Stephens, Clay said, was reported to be making $1.1 million per month in rent, though the company was only paying about $2,000 monthly rent to the marina's nonprofit owner.
Taffaro said he had recommended that BP use another site for its spill operations but the company ignored that recommendation. The company, not him, decided on the rental payment, he said.
Also testifying was Cory Kief, president of Offshore Towing Inc. of Larose, who said he has had to cut the pay of 50 percent of his 110 employees and is beginning to lay off some workers because his company has seen its offshore towing jobs reduced from servicing 25 to 30 rigs per month to 10 or fewer.
Barbour faulted the Obama administration for slowing the offshore permitting process, and said it would have been better if it allowed the states to make the important spill response decisions as it does for hurricanes.
But he didn't go along with the criticism from the committee's GOP members about BP, saying the company gave his state almost everything he asked for.
He also declined a request by a GOP member to give the Obama administration a letter grade for its spill response.
Barbour said mistakes are inevitable during a major disaster.
"That's why I try not assess blame, just try to assess how to do better," Barbour said.
Bruce Alpert can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org or 202.857.5131. | <urn:uuid:446c94ea-d145-4ace-9591-8d6eadd2e5f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2011/06/mississippi_governor_bemoans_m.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974751 | 1,031 | 1.617188 | 2 |
By Doug Palmer
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bill that would upgrade U.S. trade relations with Russia while also punishing Russian officials for human rights violations cleared a legislative hurdle on Tuesday on its way to expected approval in the House of Representatives later this week.
The House Rules Committee approved a plan to combine legislation to establish "permanent normal trade relations" (PNTR) with Russia with a separate human rights measure strongly opposed by Moscow.
The full House is expected to vote on Thursday on the plan to merge the bills and vote on Friday on the combined package, a House Republican aide said.
Representative Kevin Brady, who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee's trade subcommittee, said the trade and human rights package had broad bipartisan support.
"We can't miss any opportunity to create jobs and support our exporters," Brady told the rules panel.
Representative Sander Levin, the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, said he supported the bill and highlighted provisions that put pressure on President Barack Obama's administration to make sure Russia abides by the rules of the World Trade Organization, which it joined in August.
Congress has to approve PNTR to ensure U.S. companies receive all of the market-opening benefits of Russia's entry in WTO.
Doing that requires lawmakers to lift a Cold War-era provision known as the Jackson-Vanik amendment that tied favorable U.S. tariffs on Russian goods to the rights of Jews in the former Soviet Union to emigrate.
The 1974 amendment is mostly symbolic now because Republican and Democratic administrations have judged Russia to be in compliance since the 1990s.
But it remains on the books, at odds with WTO rules that require countries to provide each other with normal trade relations on an unconditional basis.
Many U.S. lawmakers are reluctant to remove the Jackson-Vanik amendment without passing new human rights legislation to keep pressure on Moscow.
The new measure is named after Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian anti-corruption lawyer who died in a Russian jail in 2009.
Russia has denounced the provision, which directs the Obama administration to deny visas to Russian officials involved in the detention, abuse or death of Magnitsky and to freeze any assets they might have in U.S. banks.
The bill also empowers the administration to punish other human rights abusers in Russia and allows certain members of Congress to suggest individuals to be hit with the sanctions.
Although the measure is intended to "name and shame" Russian officials, the president can keep any names secret if he determines that is in the U.S. national security interest.
A similar bill approved by the Senate Finance Committee takes a broader approach that would allow sanctions on human rights violators anywhere in the world.
Congressional aides said they expect the Senate to take up the House version of the bill rather than insist on the broader package. The Senate could vote on the bill before the end of the month, one Senate aide said.
(Editing by Mohammad Zargham) | <urn:uuid:132c3052-13b5-4143-ba81-95856e714d12> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wtaq.com/news/articles/2012/nov/14/russia-trade-human-rights-bill-advances-in-us-congress/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956146 | 613 | 1.578125 | 2 |
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner takes flight after being unveiled. (File)
WASHINGTON (AP) -
Federal accident investigators say a short-circuit and an uncontrolled chemical reaction apparently took place in a Boeing 787 battery before the battery caught fire earlier this month in Boston.
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman says investigators have not yet determined the root cause of the lithium ion battery fire.
Hersman briefed the media Thursday on the board's investigation into the Jan. 7 incident. She says the significance of the fire "cannot be understated" since the expectation is there will not be fires on airliners. She says Boeing is supposed to have built safeguards into the aircraft to prevent that.
The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all 787s operated by U.S. carriers after another 787 battery failure in Japan. There are just six 787s domestically, all owned by United Airlines.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, May 21 2013 2:01 AM EDT2013-05-21 06:01:07 GMT
(RNN) – A day after long track tornadoes devastated Shawnee and Edmond, OK, another round has begun near Oklahoma City.KOCO broadcast a slow rotating cloud that slowly extended down towards the groundMore >
At least 51 have died in a storm the National Weather Service described as large and violent.More >
Monday, May 20 2013 9:39 AM EDT2013-05-20 13:39:04 GMT
A Spartanburg woman says she was the victim of a terrifying attack by three men, just blocks away from an Upstate college. That victim wants to share her story to warn other women about attackers thatMore >
A Spartanburg woman says she was attacked by a group of three men in the city limits early Friday. She believes the attackers are still on the loose and the community is at risk.More >
Monday, May 20 2013 7:15 PM EDT2013-05-20 23:15:16 GMT
Spartanburg Public Safety is investigating a shooting at an apartment complex on Monday.Police said the shooting happened at the Crown Pointe Apartments on Powell Mill Road.Police said officers are notMore >
Spartanburg Public Safety is investigating a shooting at an apartment complex on Monday.More >
Several tornadoes struck parts of the nation's midsection Sunday, concentrating damage in central Oklahoma and Wichita, KS. Two people were killed near Shawnee, OK. More >
Several tornadoes struck parts of the nation's midsection Sunday, concentrating damage in central Oklahoma and Wichita, KS. Two people were killed near Shawnee,OK, and at least 39 people throughout the state were injured. More > | <urn:uuid:6b75c387-887b-4608-89ea-2c27e09d91d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/20676748/ntsb-boeing-787-battery-shows-short-circuiting | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954907 | 558 | 1.5 | 2 |
“Now Gov. Romney believes that with even bigger tax cuts for the wealthy, and fewer regulations on Wall Street, all of us will prosper. In other words, he’d double down on the same trickle-down policies that led to the crisis in the first place.” — President Barack Obama in an ad released Sept. 27.
This is Obama’s core message. In one way or another, he says it all the time. It’s his kicker on the stump. You cannot watch an interview with the president or one of his subalterns without hearing it.
And yet, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a TV interviewer, host or pundit ask, “What are you talking about?”
Finally, the Washington Post’s “fact-checker,” Glenn Kessler, (not exactly a darling of the political right) tackled it recently. He found that it’s a lie, giving it three “Pinocchios” out of four. He also found that the Obama campaign has virtually no citations to back up the claim. The supporting material for the ad quoted above cites a single column by the Post’s liberal blogger, Ezra Klein, who told Kessler: “I am absolutely not saying the Bush tax cuts led to the financial crisis. To my knowledge, there’s no evidence of that.”
Klein is right. So is Kessler. “It is time for the Obama campaign to retire this talking point,” Kessler concluded, “no matter how much it seems to resonate with voters.” He would have given it the full four Pinocchios save for the fact that Obama occasionally throws in “deregulation” along with “tax cuts” as part of the explanation. In its defense, the Obama camp says it means all of Bush’s policies, not just the tax cuts it harps on almost exclusively.
The question of what caused the crisis is obviously still controversial. But a consensus seems to be forming around the following narrative: The federal government, out of an abundance of concern for the plight of the poor and middle class, made it too easy to buy a home. Congress, on a bipartisan basis, set unrealistic affordable-housing goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. President Clinton used those goals to expand access to mortgages to low-income borrowers. Then President George W. Bush, with the approval of Congress, expanded the practice, until way too many low-income or otherwise underqualified Americans owned mortgages they couldn’t afford.
A mixture of greed, idealism and cynicism led to the practice of bundling those iffy mortgages into financial instruments that Wall Street didn’t know how to handle and regulators didn’t know how to regulate.
The first bailouts of the crisis were supported by Obama but launched by Bush. The same goes for the first stimulus. Obama simply tripled down on all that while claiming he was breaking with Bush.
Or maybe I have that all wrong. Maybe we could get some clarity by asking the president, “What are you talking about?”
Talk back at Jonahs Column@aol.com . | <urn:uuid:fa37dcfc-14ca-4490-a259-856d1a30235b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bostonherald.com/print/1061166504 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958003 | 672 | 1.78125 | 2 |
As organizations and projects become more global, it is increasingly common for team members to work in different locations. The challenges associated with working across distances can be very different from situations where all team members are at the same location. Establishing common goals, addressing effective communication, creating effective teamwork and taking into account cultural and time zone differences are all important for success. This webinar addresses key principles that increase the likelihood of personal and project success when team members are located in different places. These principles address personal behaviors, organization, leadership, and cultural issues. The webinar will use examples of good and bad practices for virtual teams to illustrate the proper application of these principles.
Whether you are a team member or leader of a team with members in different locations, this webinar will help you to be more effective. This webinar provides you with practical principles that can be applied to increase the success of virtual teams. It applies to industry, academic, and government sectors.
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|AIChE Graduate Student Members||$69.00 Buy now| | <urn:uuid:af5a52a4-e358-46bf-a839-a5002ae3214c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aiche.org/resources/chemeondemand/webinars/working-across-distances-challenge-global-teams | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932697 | 339 | 1.75 | 2 |
|| Email | Full Article (TrendHunter.com/id/144834)|
The World Asthma Foundation campaign shows just how scary an asthma attack can be, especially when completely unprepared for one. Likening the situation to getting jumped in a back alley, the ad campaign particularly highlights the fact that “asthma can attack you anywhere,” as stated in the tag line.
Conceived and executed by United Arab Emirates-based ad agency Bates PanGulf, the World Asthma Foundation campaign does provide a commonsense solution: “Knowing your symptoms could save your life.” It urges people to be aware of the disease and the affect it can have on their daily lives.
Dark and dramatic, the World Asthma Foundation campaign was expertly art directed by Abdul Shafeek, Vidhu Pv and Haja Mohideen with copy by Sheldon Serrao. | <urn:uuid:a60e374c-b47f-4676-a6d3-5d6db587c0b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.trendhunter.com/printView/world-asthma-foundation-campaign | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953492 | 183 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Update – Our Senate Senior Producer Ted Barrett caught up with Sen. McCain after his floor speech:
CNN'S TED BARRETT: You are talking about U.S. pilots flying over Syria….
SEN. MCCAIN: “Sure”
CNN'S TED BARRETT: Shooting at air defense systems?
SEN. MCCAIN: “I think we’d have to take out air defense systems. We’re the only ones who can do that. The war in Libya, we should have learned something from Libya. It would have been over a lot earlier and thousands of casualties could have been prevented if the United States used the full weight of its air power. Instead we decided to lead from behind, the conflict was extended unnecessarily, and thousands of Libyans were killed or wounded because of that. Because of America’s failure to lead.”
CNN'S TED BARRETT: What are your thoughts about a war-wary public, coming off Iraq, coming off Afghanistan, to get behind yet another conflict.
SEN. MCCAIN: “I think the Americans are justifiably and understandably war-wary. But it has been a long tradition of the United States of America to help those who are having their basic human rights violated. We did that in Bosnia; we did it in Kosovo in the nineties under a Democrat president, Bill Clinton. There were some of us who fought very hard for that on the floor of the Senate and there was strong resistance to it. We have an obligation, and that is not to stand by and watch bloodletting and massacre if there are steps we can take to prevent it.”
Update: A senior Pentagon official tells Barbara Starr: "The Secretary is interested in exploring options that could help end the brutal violence in Syria, but he also recognizes that this is an extremely complex crisis. Intervention at this time could very well exacerbate problems inside the country."
Original post: Sen. John McCain is calling for the United States to begin airstrikes in Syria to "establish and defend" safe havens inside Syria where opposition forces could plan and organize their operations against the government forces of President Bashar al-Assad.
The established safe havens would also allow for the flow of humanitarian aid into the country McCain said.
From Senator McCain's prepared remarks for delivery on the Senate floor–
... the time has come for a new policy. As we continue to isolate Assad
diplomatically and economically, we should work with our closest friends
and allies to support opposition groups inside Syria, both political and
military, to help them organize themselves into a more cohesive and
effective force that can put an end to the bloodshed and force Assad and
his loyalists to leave power. Rather than closing off the prospects for
some kind of a negotiated transition that is acceptable to the Syrian
opposition, foreign military intervention is now the necessary factor to
reinforce this option. Assad needs to know that he will not win.
What opposition groups in Syria need most urgently is relief from
Assad's tank and artillery sieges in the many cities that are still
contested. Homs is lost for now, but Idlib, and Hama, and Qusayr, and
Deraa, and other cities in Syria could still be saved. But time is
running out. Assad's forces are on the march. Providing military
assistance to the Free Syrian Army and other opposition groups is
necessary, but at this late hour, that alone will not be sufficient to
stop the slaughter and save innocent lives. The only realistic way to do
so is with foreign airpower.
Therefore, at the request of the Syrian National Council, the Free
Syrian Army, and Local Coordinating Committees inside the country, the
United States should lead an international effort to protect key
population centers in Syria, especially in the north, through airstrikes
on Assad's forces. To be clear: This will require the United States to
suppress enemy air defenses in at least part of the country.
The ultimate goal of airstrikes should be to establish and defend safe
havens in Syria, especially in the north, in which opposition forces can
organize and plan their political and military activities against Assad.
These safe havens could serve as platforms for the delivery of
humanitarian and military assistance – including weapons and ammunition,
body armor and other personal protective equipment, tactical
intelligence, secure communications equipment, food and water, and
medical supplies. These safe havens could also help the Free Syrian Army
and other armed groups in Syria to train and organize themselves into
more cohesive and effective military forces, likely with the assistance
of foreign partners. | <urn:uuid:284bbcc2-1b8c-4441-84fd-669110677462> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/05/mccain-calls-for-air-strikes-against-syria/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960265 | 971 | 1.75 | 2 |
Open Table Ministry, Inc. seeks to provide a faithful response to homelessness in our community and to improve the quality of life for homeless persons by building relationships, meeting practical needs, and connecting with existing resources. By building authentic friendships across traditional social boundaries, we connect with persons who are often ignored, support their efforts to meet personal goals of health and wholeness, and love them in the midst of difficult life challenges. By raising community awareness of homelessness, advocating for equal access to support services, and demonstrating an effective shared effort, Open Table Ministry, Inc. works to build a stronger community of safety and stability for all.
The goal of Open Table Ministry [OTM] is to follow the example and commandment of Jesus Christ to love our neighbors who are often rejected and disregarded by the world. While some define our ministry by weekly meals shared at the roadside with our homeless neighbors, our primary goal is not the meal at all, but opportunities these gatherings provide to form authentic relationships with the homeless persons who live in the woods around Durham. These meals, as well as weekly worship services, are the means through which the basic physical, emotional, spiritual and personal needs of the members of our congregation are identified and met. In the midst of cordial conversations, local church members model a Christian lifestyle while offering encouragement, accountability and caring community to homeless persons who are frequently denied any status or sense of worth. The changes that occur in the lives of those involved are not just stories. They are the narrative of God’s work in the real life journeys of people with complex physical, mental and social challenges where even the smallest steps are significant on a long road toward a new life of stability, health and wholeness. _________________________________________________________________________________
I'm sure most of you are aware of the changes in the City Ordinance regarding panhandling, which makes most of the activities that support our unsheltered community illegal and has driven everyone off the medians and corners.
These changes have driven our friends out of view and have imposed a great financial hardship for those unable to find jobs and unable to work otherwise.
There have been more than 20 cited violations and at least 2 trips to jail, the shortest, for 3 days.To read the full article click HERE. | <urn:uuid:484edf42-d790-477d-8898-dc148544c921> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://opentableministry.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954832 | 459 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Also huffduffed as…
Now, Malcolm Gladwell is taking on success itself, in a new book called “Outliers.” He’s looking at how society and culture determine who we are, and in particular, what accounts for super-success — for the outsized success of superstars.
It’s not what you may think, he says. Not genes or bootstrap grit. There’s a whole ecology to it, he says. Time Magazine calls his new book “a frontal assault on the great American myth of the self-made man.”
This hour, On Point: Malcolm Gladwell, on the ecology of success.
Sometimes the way you conduct science has profound impacts on society as a whole. Malcolm Gladwell says the way we look at who is and who isn’t successful is crucial. He says it’s dangerous to think East Africans are good runners because they have an innate gene that makes them fast. Instead, you have | <urn:uuid:a12d47e6-18ef-46f4-b2e4-70d9378584a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://huffduffer.com/guspim/12778 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941627 | 210 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Have you ever been asked a stupid question during an interview; one that seemed to have no relation to the job responsibilities at all? Tech people are often caught off-guard by these apparently irrelevant questions, but there is a way you can turn these to your favor. Here is one idea.
While chatting with a couple of folks between sessions at SQLSaturday 43 last weekend, one of them expressed frustration over a seemingly ridiculous and trivial question that she was asked during an interview, and she believes it cost her the job opportunity. The question, as I remember it being described was, “What is the largest byte measurement?”. The candidate made up a guess (“zetabyte”) during the interview, which is actually closer than she may have realized. According to Wikipedia, there is a measurement known as zettabyte which is 10^21, and the largest one listed there is yottabyte at 10^24.
My first reaction to this question was, “That’s just a hiring manager that doesn’t really know what they’re looking for in a candidate. Furthermore, this tells me that this manager really does not understand how to build a team.” In most companies, team interaction is more important than uber-knowledge. I didn’t ask, but this could also be another geek on the team trying to establish their Alpha-Geek stature. I suppose that there are a few, very few, companies that can build their businesses on hiring only the extreme alpha-geeks, but that certainly does not represent the majority of businesses in America.
My friend who was there suggested that the appropriate response to this silly question would be, “And how does this apply to the work I will be doing?” Of course this is an understandable response when you’re frustrated because you know you can handle the technical aspects of the job, and it seems like the interviewer is just being silly. But it is also a direct challenge, which may not be the best approach in interviewing. I do have to admit, though, that there are those folks who just won’t respect you until you do challenge them, but again, I don’t think that is the majority.
So after some thought, here is my suggestion: “Well, I know that there are petabytes and exabytes and things even larger than that, but I haven’t been keeping up on my list of Greek prefixes that have not yet been used, so I would have to look up the exact answer if you need it. However, I have worked with databases as large as 30 Terabytes. How big are the largest databases here at X Corporation?” Perhaps with a follow-up of, “Typically, what I have seen in companies that have databases of your size, is that the three biggest challenges they face are: A, B, and C. What would you say are the top 3 concerns that you would like the person you hire to be able to address?…Here is how I have dealt with those concerns in the past (or ‘Here is how I would tackle those issues for you…’).”
Wait! What just happened?! We took a seemingly irrelevant and frustrating question and turned it around into an opportunity to highlight our relevant skills and guide the conversation back in a direction more to our liking and benefit. In more generic terms, here is what we did:
- Admit that you don’t know the specific answer off the top of your head, but can get it if it’s truly important to the company. Maybe for some reason it really is important to them.
- Mention something similar or related that you do know, reassuring them that you do have some knowledge in that subject area.
- Draw a parallel to your past work experience.
- Ask follow-up questions about the company’s specific needs and discuss how you can fulfill those.
This type of thing requires practice and some forethought. I didn’t come up with this answer until a day later, which is too late when you’re interviewing. I still think it is silly for an interviewer to ask something like that, but at least this is one way to spin it to your advantage while you consider whether you really want to work for someone who would ask a thing like that. Remember, interviewing is a two-way process. You’re deciding whether you want to work there just as much as they are deciding whether they want you.
There is always the possibility that this was a calculated maneuver on the part of the hiring manager just to see how quickly you think on your feet and how you handle stupid questions. Maybe he knows something about the work environment and he’s trying to gauge whether you’ll actually fit in okay. And if that’s the case, then the above response still works quite well. | <urn:uuid:d48e3e96-09a9-42f3-a6a8-6ceda92e0b15> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/MARKC/archive/2010/06/15.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981511 | 1,014 | 1.546875 | 2 |
There is something about watching this that makes us wonder what Arthur C. Clarke would be saying if he were alive today. Internet filters, the NBN - we'd imagine he'd have a few views. Also virtual entertainment. It would be interesting to see where he thinks gaming is headed.
This ABC-watermarked video is purportedly from 1974. In it Clarke describes his idea of what home computing might look like in 2001. Read about his Three Laws here.
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Mystery of Snowdon's 'lost art'
Last updated at 10:36 30 August 2005
Amid the Picassos, Rembrandts and Warhols being exhibited at an exclusive London art gallery this week, there are some small - but controversial - works by a more modest artist: Lord Snowdon.
The eight masterpieces by Princess Margaret's 75-year-old ex-husband are prominently displayed in the window of the exclusive Belgravia Gallery in Piccadilly, and offered for sale as part of its summer exhibition.
There's only one problem. The sale is a complete surprise to Snowdon, who tells me: "This is the first I have heard of it. Heaven knows where they got these photographs from. I certainly don't know. I don't have an art agent. I have never heard of this gallery.
"What's more, I don't even ever remember taking such photographs."
They are small pictures of single flowers, including a blue columbine and a white dog-rose, and are being sold as limited editions at a cost of £950 for the set, unframed.
Snowdon - whose daughter, Lady Sarah Armstrong- Jones, 41, is an accomplished artist who trained at the Royal Academy - adds: "It all seems most odd to me. If they are selling photographs of mine at £950 a set, it sounds very expensive.
"Anyway, I'm not an artist - photographers are craftsmen."
When told that the gallery's website also boasted it sold works by the Prince of Wales, he sighs: "Sounds like they are name-dropping to me."
Snowdon - who is still working despite ill-health, including a mild stroke - is off next week to Germany on a photographic assignment for American magazine Park Avenue.
The Belgravia Gallery is owned by art expert Anna Hunter, a friend of Prince Charles. The Prince comforted her after she nearly died 13 years ago when a maniac knocked on her door and attacked her with a knife.
However, this is not the first time there has been controversy over her gallery. In May, she had to remove artwork associated with Nelson Mandela after a legal furore in South Africa over the use of his signature.
No one from the gallery was available to comment on Snowdon's pictures.
Prince Harry's decision to give his 21st birthday interview to Sky is seen as a snub to the BBC. But Clarence House has been snubbing the corporation for years, usually in favour of ITN's well-spoken correspondent Tom Bradby.
But with Bradby moved in a recent internal promotion, Harry's eyes lit up at the prospect of being interviewed by Katherine Witty, Sky's pretty - and feisty - royal reporter. "Katherine is an attractive girl," says a courtier. "I'm sure Harry preferred sitting down with her than some of the old boilers at the BBC."
Polo-mad supermodel Jodie Kidd once branded her godfather Douglas Bunn "an old fart". His crime? Declaring that polo was a "bogus sport", unlike his great passion, showjumping. But the two have since kissed and made up, and now Douglas is throwing open the All England Jumping Course at Hickstead, West Sussex, to host Jodie's wedding reception next week.
Statuesque Jodie, 26, who got engaged 15 months ago to internet entrepreneur Aidan Butler, 28, is having a white wedding at the 16th-century church in the nearby village of Twineham. Douglas, 77 - Master of Hickstead and a close friend of the model's father, John Kidd - tells me: "Jodie is delightful. She's one of my favourites."
It's rough going for golfing Duke
Golf is a respecter of neither reputation nor title. Just ask the Duke of Roxburghe - one of Scotland's wealthiest men, with an £80 million fortune - who has just come to grief on his own course. He had asked for a place in the prestigious Scottish Seniors Open at his beloved Roxburghe Hotel and golf course, near Kelso.
But living out every club golfer's dream of playing against stars including Ryder Cup hero Sam Torrance proved a tricky assignment. Despite playing off a respectable handicap of four, the hugely competitive Duke, 50, came last in the 73-strong field with a total score of 39 over par, 49 shots behind the winner. Barry Hill, recorder's secretary of the tournament, put in a kindly word on the Duke's suffering: "It sounds terrible, but he actually didn't do that badly because the conditions were very bad - there was a 40mph gale."
Kate's domestic pleasures
Life goes from the sublime to the mundane for Prince William's shapely girlfriend Kate Middleton, 23. Having just returned from a holiday - at the invitation of the Queen - at Balmoral, the princess-in-training accompanied her mother on a trip to the supermarket. Locals at her home, Chapel Row, Berkshire, had been hoping she would visit the annual village fete, but she was trundling around Waitrose instead.
I am told: "They bought soup, fruit smoothie drinks and lots of fresh vegetables, as well as a bottle of gin." Kate and her mother, former air hostess Carole, stopped on the way out to flick through a number of glossy celebrity magazines - no doubt coming across plenty of photographs of Kate. "They spent a good 15 minutes standing in front of the magazine rack poring over them," I'm told.
PS That enfant terrible of BritArt Jake Chapman, 38 - half of the shocking Chapman Brothers, whose works include dismembered toy soldiers in Nazi uniforms - is being domesticated by his eight-months pregnant wife Rosemary, 30. The model has got him doing antenatal yoga and playing tennis, although he is complaining that she is still beating him on court despite being pregnant. Now the pair are selling their home in trendy Spitalfields, East London, and moving to Barnsbury, a middle-class enclave in Islington. He'll be doing watercolours next!
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Nonprofit or community organization
Last modified: November 8, 2012, 7:07 AM
KOMAZA is a social enterprise working to permanently end rural poverty by developing sustainable economic opportunities for smallholder farmers living in East Africa's infertile and drought-prone regions. Founded in 2006 and based in Kenya, our innovative grassroots model dramatically boosts household income and wealth for rural families by equipping them with resources, knowledge and market linkages to produce high-value crops on their previous degraded land. Working through a village-based extension network, KOMAZA reduces start-up costs and barriers to market entry by providing poor farmers with crop inputs and tools on credit, ongoing training and support, as well as complete vertically integrated value chain services and market access opportunities.
KOMAZA is a registered 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit organization in the United States and is incorporated in the State of California. Learn more at www.KOMAZA.org. | <urn:uuid:6ac0325d-f4e0-4608-8f75-8b55df37fdb3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.idealist.org/view/org/FxwKjmpmM7SP/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936438 | 200 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Not all video games are bad per se, but playing them to the point of ignoring all other activities (addiction) is going to mean that the child's development and life experiences will suffer. The same problems can be seen with too much social media or texting.
We countered this by planning ahead and arranging as many interesting/fun physical activities as the weather/surroundings would allow - cycling, climbing, hiking, soft play, football, swimming. Inviting their friends/same-aged-relatives along would reinforce the value of the activity.
After expending a bunch of energy with the kids, it was actually useful for them to be able to play games quietly for a while so we could cook, clear up, do paperwork etc. There are a couple of caveats to this, though:
1) make sure the game-playing is done in the lounge - i.e. not the bedroom. We've found that when children have games/DVD/computers in their bedrooms, the battle becomes about territory rather than the particular activity. If the game is portable, establish a rule that it must be played in the lounge.
2) be sure you know what they're playing; games still need to be age-appropriate and not online.
The single fathers I know have used this technique in combination with a daily routine to keep their children's activities balanced. | <urn:uuid:ce6ddb3e-e3f1-4bfb-93bb-a1b91a30a36c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://parenting.stackexchange.com/questions/5926/how-can-a-single-father-prevent-his-child-from-becoming-addicted-to-video-games/5936 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976865 | 280 | 1.84375 | 2 |
AUGUST 5, 2005
(Part Five on ADL director Foxman and the Bloomberg-Independence Party alliance)
The ADL's role in running political interference for the Bloomberg-Independence Party alliance is best understood as reflecting Abe Foxman's longstanding focus on opportunistic fund-raising rather than any kind of principled fight against anti-Semitism. In this context, Foxman's artful effort on behalf of New York's billionaire Republican mayor, Michael Bloomberg, bears comparison with his role in winning a presidential pardon for billionaire tax cheat Marc Rich in 2001. The pardon, which was signed by Bill Clinton on his last day in office at the request of Foxman, triggered a storm of Congressional and media protest.
Advocates for convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, who is serving a life sentence while spies for America's enemies have usually received much lighter sentences, charged that Foxman had sold out Pollard (by presenting the Rich pardon to Clinton as an easy choice that would be a favor to the ADL and would enable the President to avoid making a decision on the much more controversial Pollard case). Rich, a fugitive living in Switzerland, paid back Foxman by making donations totalling $250,000 to the ADL.
Some in the Jewish community called for Foxman to be fired, but there was no one to do the deed--he had already purged his critics from the ADL regional directorships and the ADL national commission.
After the initial public outrage over his role in the pardon had died down, Foxman said of the incident to Forward reporter Rachel Donadio,"I'm not 100% sure that it's so terrible as it's made out to be." Donadio wrote that when she asked Foxman if the ADL would accept money from Rich in the future, he refused to comment.
Meanwhile Mr. Rich, a sociopathic swindler with no loyalty to the United States or Israel, went on to help the Saddam Hussein regime manipulate the UN's oil-for-food program, generating cash that U.S. investigators believe was used in part to reward the families of intifada suicide bombers. He is now, again, under federal investigation.
Next there was the ADL dinner Foxman organized for Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian media billionaire turned prime minister, at Manhattan's Plaza Hotel in September 2003. Three weeks before the dinner, Berlusconi indiscreetly praised fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, Hitler's closest ally in World War Two, saying that "Mussolini never killed anyone. Mussolini sent people away on vacation, in internal exile."
When challenged on this, Berlusconi (whose 1994 government had been the first since Mussolini's day to include former fascists, and whose current government has included them on its highest levels since 2001) said that he had merely meant to say that Il Duce was not in the same league with Saddam Hussein.
This excuse was absurd on the face of it: If you add up all the people Mussolini's regime slaughtered in Libya during two decades of colonial genocide; Ethiopia, where his pilots used poison gas Chemical Ali-style during the infamous invasion of 1935-36; Spain, where his troops fought for Franco; Russia, where Italian divisions participated in the 1941 Nazi invasion; Albania, which Italy grabbed in 1939; and Greece, invaded in 1940--plus all the Italians who died during the Allied invasion and later at the hands of German occupiers--Mussolini was without a doubt a Hussein-class murderer if not quite in Hitler or Stalin's Superbowl category.
The Italian Jewish community was especially appalled by Berlusconi's statement because of the 7,000 Italian Jews deported as a result of Il Duce's policies to "vacations" in Hitler's death camps. The Forward (Sept. 26, 2003) quoted Tullia Zevi, past president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities: "I suggested that he [Foxman] postpone it [the dinner]. To celebrate a man who has said such things is insulting the memory of these people who suffered under these times."
Foxman not only went ahead with the dinner (having induced not-quite-billionaire Leonard Riggio of Barnes & Noble to chair it) but also rewarded Berlusconi with the ADL's "Distinguished Statesman" award. The ADL director justified this by saying Berlusconi was more friendly to Israel than were other European leaders. (Note: Abe Foxman is not the foreign minister of Israel; he is the director of an American nonprofit with the purported mission of combating extremists--including hate groups and Holocaust deniers who doubtless applauded Berlusconi's remarks. Foxman had no business organizing the Berlusconi dinner in the first place, and once the Italian leader's offensive remarks were made public, the ADL should have canceled the event because of the conflict of interest it created with the ADL's primary mission.)
A fitting footnote to Berlusconi's receipt of the ADL distinguished statesman award was his appointment of Gianfranco Fini, leader of the former fascist National Alliance, as his foreign minister in 2004. This is the same Fini who claimed in 1994 that Mussolini was "the greatest statesman of the 20th century."
Now we see a replay of the Rich scandal and the Berlusconi embarrassment in Foxman's attempts to be useful to Mayor Bloomberg. To suggest what may be motivating Foxman, we quote from a New York Post article ("Sweet Charity: Mayor Mike plans to offload media empire," Jan. 11, 2005):
Mayor Michael Bloomberg may be getting ready to sell his financial information giant to fund a mammoth philanthropic effort after he quits public office.
Bloomberg L.P.--the media and financial information company that is the source of much of his wealth--will be sold to finance the charitable binge, he said recently....
Bloomberg said he views the charitable giving of Microsoft founder Bill Gates and wife Melinda as a model he'd like to emulate.
"I've watched the Gateses. Some of my priorities aren't exactly the same as theirs, but they've really gotten involved in philanthropy on a scale the world has never seen before."
Is it any surprise that Foxman wrote to Bloomberg in April to tell him he was the "best of the best" and to offer, in effect, to go to bat for the mayor at a moment when the latter was under attack for his close involvement with the anti-Semitic Newman-Fulani organization? In the months since then, the ADL has avoided any criticism of the mayor's Independence Party ties whatsoever, either direct or indirect, and has fallen into line with the mayor's campaign spin doctors to suggest that Fulani is only one person in a party of basically good people.
The ADL has thus become complicit in the Bloomberg-IP alliance--a sordid deal that has bestowed great political influence on Newman and Fulani as well as providing them with the financial resources to indoctrinate New York's kids on a significant scale (Newman and Fulani leveraged their $8.7 million All Stars loan from the Bloomberg administration into tens of millions of dollars in private donations).
The loan to All Stars could have been easily stopped in 2002 if the ADL leadership had been on its toes and Foxman had himself gone to public hearings of the city's Industrial Development Agency to denounce the proposal. But Foxman, whose organization receives roughly $40 million a year from Jews who expect it to handle this type of problem, ignored the All Stars bond proposal even after the media warned of its provisional (first stage) approval in December 2001.
Although it is true than no other major Jewish organization stepped into the breach at that time, some of these groups are now trying to force the mayor to sever his ties to the Independence Party, All Stars and the entire Newman-Fulani network.
The ADL, however, is playing no visible role in such efforts. Clearly it needs a new national director who will reorder its priorities away from begging money from billionaires and back to its original mission of waging a principled fight against bigotry and extremism. | <urn:uuid:7736adbe-6537-42c9-b8b1-fe290b7c95c5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://denniskingblog.typepad.com/dennis_king/2005/08/from_marc_rich_.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971952 | 1,668 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Policy No. 6900
In order to provide the best possible physical environment for learning and teaching, the following factors shall be considered in the planning of district facilities:
A. Facilities shall accommodate the educational needs of students and be consistent with the educational philosophy and instructional goals of the district.
B. Facilities shall meet or exceed all health, safety and welfare regulations.
C. The district shall seek state and federal moneys to the maximum extent available to supplement its own financial resources.
D. Undesirable environmental impact shall be minimized.
E. Changing demographic factors shall be monitored in order that students' needs are met when the future becomes the present.
Facilities Master Plan
In order to efficiently manage the district's present and future facilities needs, a facilities master plan shall be developed. Such plan shall cover a ten-year period, be developed in conjunction with the local comprehensive land-use plan and other growth management policies, be reviewed annually and include at least the following:
A. A cost analysis of financial ability of the district to implement its facilities program;
B. Existing and projected enrollment figures, including an analysis of the racial composition of the student population;
C. An inventory of the district's undeveloped property and developed facilities, including an analysis of the number of students in each facility and whether the facility is over or under crowded.
D. An analysis of the appropriateness of the facilities to meet the needs of students and members of the public, including acceptability to students of both sexes and those with disabilities, all district services, programs and activities, when viewed in their entirety, shall be accessible to individuals with disabilities;
E. Recommendations as to the sale or other disposition of district property not needed in the future; and
F. Recommendations as to the acquisition, construction or modification of new sites or facilities and of how such shall better meet the needs of students and the educational program.
Enrollment shall be projected for a five-year period using methods acceptable to the state board of education for determining the district's eligibility for state construction grants. This projection shall be reviewed and revised annually and supplemented by an analysis of additional factors that may affect the student population, such as potential zoning and development changes within the district, housing projections and the development of new businesses and public projects.
42 U.S.C. § 12101 et. seq. Americans with Disabilities Act
Adopted: July 28, 2008 | <urn:uuid:8a1bd2e5-2434-41d4-8179-39bf3d7c2881> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.blaine.wednet.edu/bsd/policies-htm/6000-policies/6900.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945971 | 501 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Israel Ambassador to the Holy See Received in Audience
Diplomat Presents Credentials to Pope Benedict
| 1345 hits
ROME, SEPTEMBER 28, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Pope Benedict XVI on Friday received in audience Israel's ambassador to the Holy See, Zion Evrony, on the occasion of the presentation of his Letters of Credence.
Evrony was appointed as ambassador to the Holy See July of this year. Diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Israel began in 1993 with the adoption of the Fundamental Accord by these two States.
An Iranian by birth Evrony emigrated to Israel as a small child. He is married and has three children. With a degree in Sociology and Political Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he later specialized in International Relations and in Business Administration at the same University.
Director of the course for new diplomats in the 70s, he subsequently covered the following posts: Consul in Houston, USA (1978-1983); vice-director of the Department of International Organizations of the Foreign Affairs Ministry (1986-1987); Consul in New York, USA (1987-1991); director of the International Department of the Foreign Affairs Ministry as well as of the Iran Office of the Center of Political Research (1991-1994); Consul General in Houston, USA (1995-2002); Head of the Political Programing Office of the Foreign Affairs Ministry (2003-2006); ambassador in Ireland (2006-2010); Special Adviser for Academic Affairs of the Director General of the Foreign Affairs Ministry (2010-2012). | <urn:uuid:cb13ce0e-d776-4774-ad85-cf43d3639616> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/israel-ambassador-to-the-holy-see-received-in-audience | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932265 | 321 | 1.5 | 2 |
January 25, 2012 |
MUMBAI: Around 15 Indian companies, including Tata Power , GMR Group and Adani Power , are among candidates shortlisted by the Nigerian government to participate in the privatisation of power projects of state-owned National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), sources close to the development told ET. Struggling on home ground with multiple issues which have delayed capacity addition, Indian power companies are...
March 4, 2013 |
NEW DELHI: Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla today complained of country's inconsistency and lack of transparency in business policies. The head of the $ 40 billion Group, Birla said India has the worst inconsistent and uncertain business policies among 36 nations in which the Group has presence. "We are in 36 countries around the world. We haven't seen such uncertainty and lack of transparency in policy...
May 27, 2002 |
MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India has asked bank boards to fix limits for their exposure to different countries by linking their exposure to a percentage of the bank's own net worth. The central bank has also said that countries should be classified within six risk categories and banks should make additional provision for country risk, ranging from 0.25 per cent to 20 per cent of their exposure. The six risk categories are ? insignificant, low, moderate, high, very high and...
February 2, 2012 |
The perceived notion about growing corruption and the policy uncertainties have increased the country-specific credit quality risks for the companies in India, global rating agency S&P has warned. As per Standard and Poor's (S&P), the country-specific risks have increased in India in the past two years, making it harder for the companies to manage their cash flows, make their long-term strategies, and proceed with investment plans. "In India, the...
April 2, 2013 |
Definition: In economics and finance , a contagion can be explained as a situation where a shock in a particular economy or region spreads out and affects others by way of, say, price movements. Description: The contagion effect explains the possibility of spread of economic crisis or boom across countries or regions. This phenomenon may occur both at a domestic level as well as at an international level. The failure of Lehman Brothers in the United States is an example of a domestic contagion. | <urn:uuid:4f4a02e1-e4ae-462c-ae17-db17c1c29e2a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/keyword/country-risk | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946968 | 484 | 1.804688 | 2 |
One I grandi fiumi sono l'immagine del tempo,
Crudele e impersonale. Osservati da un ponte
Dichiarano la loro nullitÆ inesorabile_._._.
The great rivers are the image of time,
Cruel and impersonal. Observed from a bridge
They declare their implacable nullity_._._.
--Eugenio Montale, "L'Arno a Rovezzano"
There is Florence and there is Firenze. Firenze is the place where the citizens of the capital of Tuscany live and work. Florence is the place where the rest of us come to look. Firenze goes back around two thousand years to the Romans and, at least in legend, the Etruscans. But Florence was founded in perhaps the early 1800s when expatriate French, English, Germans, and not a few Americans settled here to meditate on art and the locale--the genius of the place--that produced it. Over the next two centuries a considerable part of the rest of the world followed them for shorter visits--"visit" being derived from the Latin vistare, "to go to see," and, further back, from videre, simply "to see"--in the form of what came to be called tourism. The Florentines are here, as they have always been, to live and work; to primp, boast, cajole, and make sardonic, acerbic asides; to count their money and hoard their real estate, the stuff--la roba--in their attics and cellars, and their secrets. We are here for the view.
But it's so easy to miss so very much. The more you look, the less you see. If something is not after a fashion framed, hung on a wall, stood on a pedestal, monumentalized, encased by columns and architraves, boxed in marble, or dressed in architectural stone, it fizzles into background. If the conjunction of earth, water, and sky doesn't form a landscape--nature on exhibition--rather than mere land, they disappear, recede into the black hole, the gorga nera, the underworld of the unseen.
For example, in late October 2005 I'd already been in Florence two months, gazing at art, gazing at the opaque screen of my laptop, before I noticed the plaque. I suppose we--Carrie, Andrew, and I--had settled into a routine. We were living on the Piazza del Carmine. At one end is the church of Santa Maria del Carmine, to which our elderly neighbor--known to us only as la Signora--shuffles off to mass each day. Within the church is the Brancacci Chapel and its frescoes by Masaccio. History's first art historian, a Florentine named Giorgio Vasari, called them la scuola del mondo, "the art school of the world," the essential work that every other Renaissance artist came to study, the spark that set off the fire. The image that most of us know best is the Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, the harrowed and weeping figures of Adam and Eve stoop-shouldered, clutching their genitals, the shame and the pity that launched the fallen world. You look at them and for a moment it seems that all that too began just here.
At the other end of the piazza is an enormous palazzo I'd heard belonged to the Ferragamo family, the shoe and fashion dynasty from Naples to whom it's said many things in Florence belong. Sometimes you can see into the central garden and its lemon grove through the gate. Once I saw a Labrador retriever gamboling among the trees. I've never seen anyone coming or going, but then Florence seemed to me very much about boundaries and privacy--secret and hidden things. That sense was abetted by the annoyingly narrow sidewalks upon which two people can scarcely pass each other without one of them having to step off the curb. The walls of the palazzi press right up against the street, fiercely rusticated, studded with massive ring hitches and iron sconces for riders and torches that disappeared long ago. The walls ascend beyond your sight and inside the palazzi, I've heard, descend nearly as far in layers of cellars, tunnels, and strong rooms. You're not, of course, meant to see any of this. You're not even meant--so the unnavigable sidewalk seems to intend--to stop here, to consider it.
Between the church and the palazzo with the lemon grove--between the naked shame of Adam and Eve and the veiled upstart pride of the Ferragamos--is a cafe and bar called Dolce Vita. I'm told it was the chicest nightclub in Florence during the nineties and that, after a brief decline at the turn of the millennium, it's come back as il piu trendy place in the city. Unlike its unforthcoming neighbors, it spills outward into the piazza, past the jetty of the outdoor seating area, and, as the night ripens, onto the street, where the police are writing tickets for the double- and triple-parked Alfas, Mercedeses, Lamborghinis, and Ferraris. I've never stopped here--never mind gone inside--but I've pressed through the beautiful throng in the evenings and perhaps squeezed past an Italian celebrity, a soccer star, a Medici or Frescobaldi or, unbeknownst to me, a Ferragamo.
My life, rather more circumscribed, was across the street. Our apartment was on the second floor of what is called a palazzo--as is any large edifice built around a central cortile--but the building is scarcely grand. I suppose it's four or five hundred years old, and the stonework is pitted and frayed. A family of emigrants from somewhere in the Philippine archipelago lives across the cortile, and adjacent to them the multifloored apartment of the aristocratic owners ranges upward to a series of terraces. There's a crest over the door and I've caught a glimpse of the gold-framed paintings inside and the fusty, once elegant furniture that signals the presence of minor nobility or old money in ebb. Then there's la Signora and us. I've never seen anyone else who lives here. In the cortile there is a heap of rubble and broken stucco. Every three or four weeks someone turns up and, unseen, hauls away a fraction of it. I suppose it will all be gone in a year or so.
I worked in the mornings in our living room and I could see la Signora trudge by, a scarf pulled over her head, through the window that looks out onto the common corridor between our apartments. Inevitably she was looking for her cat, who had wandered into the hall. Amore, tesoro. Vieni quÆ a Mama, she'd call, pushing her lips out from the stumps of her teeth as though in a kiss. I went down to the vestibule for the mail each day around eleven, and sorted through the bills--gas, electricity, water, school lunches--each of which would have to be paid in cash at the post office, signed and countersigned, stamped and stamped again. It was on one of those trips that I noticed, above the rank of ten mailboxes, an inscription:
il iv novembre 1966
arrivo a quest'altezza
and beneath it a long red line. The Arno, it said, had reached this height on November 4, 1966.
It was carved in the same squarish, Roman script you see in other inscriptions on walls around the city. They usually seem to be quotations from Dante marking places where he perhaps saw Beatrice; where an eminent family or personage that he later met in Purgatory or, more likely, Hell once lived; or a simple stanza of his heroic melancholy, connected to nothing more than Florence, the glory and pity of it.
The line was well above my head, a good seven or so feet from the floor. I didn't make much of it. I knew about the flood. In Minnesota, where I grew up, we'd heard about it at the time, for weeks, in issue after issue of Life magazine. But there were other such markers around the city, recording not just the crest of the great 1966 flood but those of 1177, 1333, 1557, 1740, 1844, and 1864. I supposed there would, of course, be more floods. Florence proved--in its squabbling and treacheries, its beauties arising miraculously from its corruptions; in all that Dante recorded and that drove him into exile as Adam and Eve went into exile; and in his descent to Hell, circuit of Purgatory, and return--that what goes around comes around.
Most afternoons I worked a little more and then Carrie or I picked up Andrew from school. I generally took him to a park, a large walled expanse that was once the cloistered garden of the church of Santa Maria del Carmine. Andrew played soccer with the Italian kids, and had learned to negotiate his place in the game with relative ease despite his still very basic Italian. What took time was setting up the partita in the first place, even though there were only a half dozen players. Everything had to be discussed, argued, and arbitrated, and it often seemed to me that these arrangements took longer than the game that eventually got played; nearly as long as it takes the kids' fractious elders in Rome to form a government.
So I passed much of the autumn sitting on a park bench while Andrew played, and in that time I managed to work my way through Il Piacere, the masterwork of the self-styled decadent and protofascist Gabriele d'Annunzio. The novel's argument seemed to be that a surfeit of beauty, of the aesthetic, must end in moral and spiritual bankruptcy. But who could believe that, in this city of masterpieces where I had Masaccio's Adam and Eve at one end of my block and the secret lemon grove of the Ferragamos at the other; where the light and trees even then, close on the November anniversary of that terrible flood, had scarcely begun to color?
In the evening we often ate at the Trattoria del Carmine, which is perhaps a hundred feet up the street from our door. Under an awning there is a little terrazza that extends into the piazza and there or sometimes inside we were accustomed to eat our crostini, ribollita, pollo arrosto, and tagliata di manzo, passing an hour or so with a bottle of Morellino di Scanso. It was always pretty much the same--in the mode of la Signora and her cat, of the daily mail, of the debris in the courtyard--and I liked this. So perhaps it was habit that blinded me. In any case, for more than two months I didn't notice the photograph hanging at rafter height in the trattoria's side dining room.
Maybe it didn't bear noticing: at most eleven by fourteen inches, it was faded, off kilter, and muddy in tone. The first thing that caught my attention was a car in the upper left-hand corner. The car was leaning crazily on top of something, and that something was, I made out, an awning, and the awning upon which this car was poised was the awning of this restaurant, the awning I'd been eating under for some weeks.
Of course, you couldn't see the restaurant. What you saw were the upper stories of the surrounding palazzi, cars floating, and, everywhere, water. It was only because I was inside this restaurant and had realized that the photograph must be connected to it in some way that I was able to place its locale, to frame the image it contained within a context. It was a photograph of the Piazza del Carmine, probably taken from the top of the church. You couldn't see most of the piazza. In the lower left-hand corner the frame ended at what must be the tall double doors to our palazzo, only the lintel visible above the water. It was up to the second-floor windows in some of the more modest buildings at the very head of the piazza. In the middle, where the cobbled pavement should have been--where police were just now beginning to issue the evening's parking tickets to the patrons of Dolce Vita--a car floated, apparently in a circle, lazily spinning as though hovering over a clogged drain.
The next morning when I collected the mail I looked at the plaque again, now with much more curiosity, even with a sort of anxious urgency. I tried to imagine myself standing before these mailboxes with a foot of water over my head, paddling back to the landing just below our door while cars drifted by outside, water lapped the feet of Masaccio's Adam and Eve, and carp from the river swam among the lemon trees.
Rereading the inscription, it struck me as odd that this seemingly public monument should be placed in the unfrequented privacy of our unprepossessing vestibule, apparently for the sole benefit of the two dozen or so tenants and their guests. Was the water especially high here? It was easy to establish from a guidebook that the flood crest in this part of Florence had indeed been high, but not as high as in, say, Santa Croce, where Cimabue's crucifix was inundated along with scores of other artistic, architectural, and bibliographic masterworks. It was the fate of those objects that had brought the flood of 1966 to the world's attention. It took place in Firenze, in streets and quotidian spaces as ordinary as the vestibule where I got my mail, and left thirty-three fiorentini dead and five thousand families homeless. But in the eyes of the world it happened to this other city, to Florence, this visible efflorescence of transcendent beauty, of humanity's rarely seen better self, and nowhere more than here. More was at stake than a city, human habitations and enterprises, or even thirty-three human bodies.
Where, exactly, did this place called Florence exist? Surely not just in the imagination. Yet you could say many more people had visited Florence than had ever set foot in Firenze, even if only in their mind's eye. What was its history? Who were its founders? Could a river wash it away?
I remembered a little more. Everything I'd known about the flood came from Life magazine in 1966, when I was fourteen years old. And now it almost seems that everything I knew about the larger world then had been contained in pictures on those pages. Color television and live news reports by satellite scarcely existed, so insofar as you saw things that existed or happened far way, you saw them through photographs, and preeminently so in Life.
Perhaps that is why those years between, say, 1962 and 1968 seem to me not so much a story as a gallery, a series of two-dimensional images set in a line. If they have a theme it seems to be human goodness--or at least the desire to be good--stymied by tragedy, a world a little more optimistic about its prospects than today seems wise.
So there are space launches and supersaturated colors and youth; Selma, Carnaby Street, World's Fairs (Seattle, New York, Montreal), and the Ho Chi Minh Trail; and then the great funerals--Kennedy, King, and Kennedy. There's also a great deal of Italy, Italy being important for its historic art; for its contemporary design, fashion, film directors, and stars; and as home to a Catholic church that just then seemed in the vanguard of the era's idealism. Among the superfluity of photographs I remember from Life are shots of the papacy of John XXIII, the Second Vatican Council, Fellini, Gucci, and Loren; the funeral of Pope John and the accession of Pope Paul; the new pope's travels to America and the Near East; and then this flood. After that for me there was more television and moving images, less print, and--as my childhood ended, my youth became larger than anything in Life--much, much more me. So I stopped seeing things in that particular way, and perhaps that is why those images seem to form a unique strand--especially those from Italy--almost as if they were all by the same hand. Which, in large part, it turned out they were.From the Hardcover edition.
Excerpted from Dark Water by Robert Clark. Copyright © 2008 by Robert Clark. Excerpted by permission of Anchor, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. | <urn:uuid:d7c59dc9-b108-4f05-808d-7dfff0e89129> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.randomhouse.com/book/28448/dark-water-by-robert-clark | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97379 | 3,599 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Here in Tucson, AZ we have a lot of ducts on the rooftop. This is because many older homes are flat roofs and only had swamp coolers when they were built. This leaves no other place but the roof to install ducts for AC. Many of these ducts were never insulated. Many homeowners do not want to replace whole duct systems just to insulate on the inside of the duct - for obvious cost reasons. They always call us as an insulator to take care of this and we have always passed on it.
Recently I suggested that we start using closed cell spray foam to insulate these ducts, but we must protect them from the searing desert sun. My plan is to find out the best roof coating that I can use to cover the spray foam and have a solution for all these homeowners.
1) Do you see any potential problems with this solution?
2) Any recommendations for roof coatings?
Jason - Do you recommend this because that is how foam roofs are done? I am not sure the primer would be necessary in this application as we are not adhering to a roof system, but a duct system which is being encased. Since we are creating a monolithic encased structure, I do not believe strict adhesion to the ducts is important like it may be in the roofing system. Water intrusion of the duct system will be addressed prior to insulating by sealing with mastic.
Hi Craig. It was no glitch. One requirement of coatings is to report annual sales. Or head office failed to do that so the star was removed. There is also a new requirement that emissivity be checked at the three year mark, just as the reflectivity has always had that requirement. Our corporate office also failed to do that/
We are in the process of getting it back but it might take three years. I cannot defend the corporate office on this.
On the products behalf., I will say this;
Many years ago Cerama-Tech's Emmisivity was certified by the Florida Solar Enrgy Center at TE = .90
A few years later we were certified by Surface Optics Corp to have solar reflectivity at SR = .83 and .788 at three years.
In 2010 a white paper study was conducted by Oak Ridge Nationa; Laboratory.Building Envelopes Research Department
Part of that study showed our SR = .812 and TE = .85.
In 2012 test were conducted on Cerama-Tech at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. One of the tests showed TE = .93.
None of these tests will get our energy star back. However, I know of no more prestigious scientists and energy laboratories to prove our products consistency in perfornance over 20+ years.
I have bben applying our coating to rooftop ac units and ducts for over 25 years. I was doing that years before there even was an Energy Star, all ir requires is a 4 foot piece of ac duct and a warm day. If they feel the difference, the job is sold and they dont care about the energy star,.
This is a nosy new yorker pitching in.
I was in Vegas recently and riding the monorail you can see all kinds of ductwork on roofs with foam sprayed on it and covered with various roof coatings. The coatings seem to be picked to match the roof coating. Your idea will work fine in Tucson. But do call SPFA and ask for some guidance. It may be a better choice to use some sort of slip sheet to cover duct joints before you spray it so any thermal expansion/contraction doesn't crack the foam. SPFA has technical data sheets available on their website too. www.sprayfoam.org
A big problem for foam roofs is any holes in the foam tend to pierce the coatings and eventually they pool water. In Tucson, that may not be a rain problem, but it could be a condensation problem. Spraying down on a flat surface, it is relatively easy to avoid the holes, but spraying on a duct with limited room to work is probably going to result in a few holes.
Are these ducts very big? Are they set close to the roof deck, or suspended several inches above the deck?
Foam sprayed on ducting is likely not going to be very aesthetically appealing. In the end you may be better served by spraying the ducts, then installing a sheet of EPDM as a tent over the ducts. EPDM can be bought in white, so you can get the reflective benefit. EPDM is exteremely durable, and it is made for roofing. you would just have to figure out a way to attach it to the existing roof. | <urn:uuid:c96529df-229a-4210-90a9-6f959c6d34f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://homeenergypros.lbl.gov/forum/topics/insulating-rooftop-ducts-with-spray-foam-retro-hot-dry-climate?commentId=6069565%3AComment%3A86944 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977598 | 975 | 1.835938 | 2 |
This creole specialty is a mainstay of New Orleans cuisine. It's a thick, stewlike dish that can have any of many ingredients, including vegetables such as okra, tomatoes and onions, and one or several meats or shellfish such as chicken, sausage, ham, shrimp, crab or oysters. The one thing all good gumbos begin with is a dark roux, which adds an unmistakable, incomparably rich flavor. Okra serves to thicken the mixture, as does file poweder, which must be stirred in just before serving after the pot's off the fire. The famous gumbo z'herbes ("with herbs") was once traditionally served on Good Friday and contains at least seven greens (for good luck) such as spinach, mustard greens, collard greens and so on. The name gumbo is a derivation of the African word for "okra."
From The Food Lover's Companion, Fourth edition by Sharon Tyler Herbst and Ron Herbst. Copyright © 2007, 2001, 1995, 1990 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. | <urn:uuid:7bf0fb70-f817-45a6-8395-49feea7b75f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.foodterms.com/ftrm/cda/encyclopedia_print/0,1001365,FTRM_44547_2540_ENCYCLOPEDIA-PRINT-DETAIL,00.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945481 | 220 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Libertarians Appear to be Only Party to Successfully Petition for President in Connecticut this Year
Source: Ballot Access News
The Connecticut petition deadline for independent candidates, and the nominees of unqualified parties, is August 8. It appears that the only presidential petition likely to succeed in Connecticut is the Libertarian Party petition. The state requires 7,500 valid signatures. The Green Party made a valiant attempt, but seems to only have 7,000 signatures in hand.
The FEC has still not approved the Jill Stein matching funds application, although that approval is expected soon. The Independent Party of Connecticut is ballot-qualified for president, and has the freedom to nominate a presidential candidate. There is some indication that the Independent Party of Connecticut is leaning toward nominating Rocky Anderson.
The Constitution Party did not attempt a Connecticut petition. Petitioning in all the New England states is intrinsically more burdensome than it is in the remainder of the country. The New England states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and Connecticut are the only states that require petitions to be transported to various town clerks, then collected, then taken to the Secretary of State’s office. Because federal law requires all state election offices to have their own statewide voter registration list, there is no rational reason for these cumbersome procedures to survive.
Although the South has the nation’s worst ballot access laws, New England is the second-worst region for ballot access. Massachusetts and Maine have the nation’s most restrictive laws on how a candidate gets on the primary ballot of a small ballot-qualified party. Maine has the nation’s most burdensome procedure for a new party to qualify by petition (the requirement is 5% of the last vote cast, and no one who is a registered member of a qualified party may sign). Vermont is tied for having the nation’s earliest petition deadline for independent presidential candidates. New Hampshire is the only state that requires an unqualified party to notify the state of its presidential nominee in June. Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire don’t permit presidential stand-ins on petitions. Many of these laws should have long ago been held unconstitutional, but the federal judges in the First Circuit seem markedly biased against minor parties.
Click here to read Ballot Access News comments on this article | <urn:uuid:fa4ceb25-a83e-4dc9-8226-6aa956f5e2ac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thirdpartypolitics.us/blog/2012/08/09/libertarians-appear-to-be-only-party-to-successfully-petition-for-president-in-connecticut-this-year/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946191 | 464 | 1.507813 | 2 |
The management of skin and soft-tissue infections caused by multidrug resistant Gram-positive organisms, specifically methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), continues to be a significant challenge for clinicians. Iclaprim is a diaminopyrimidine that has shown potent activity against various Gram-positive organisms, including MRSA, with limited Gram-negative activity similar to that of trimethoprim. Iclaprim has completed two Phase III trials with a submission of New Drug Application to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2008. Subsequently, a complete response letter not supporting the approval of iclaprim was released by the FDA. More recently, Acino Holding Ltd. has acquired the shares and data to iclaprim. Pending final draft guidance from the FDA for future studies, iclaprim may have a role in the management of skin and soft-tissue infections. A Medline search of articles through February 2011 and references of selected citations was conducted. Data from abstracts presented at the International Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy and the Infectious Diseases Society of America annual meetings were also appraised. This article reviews the antimicrobial profile, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties, and available clinical data of iclaprim.
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It is a great pleasure to serve as a reviewer for this awesome journal. Convenient user interface, frequent updates, informative interactions, and manuscripts of high quality have made it a success.
All authors are surveyed after their articles are published. Authors are asked to rate their experience in a variety of areas, and their responses help us to monitor our performance. Presented here are their responses in some key areas. No 'poor' or 'very poor' responses were received; these are represented in the 'other' category.See Our Results
Copyright © 2013 Libertas Academica Ltd (except open access articles and accompanying metadata and supplementary files.) | <urn:uuid:06fc4a8e-00de-4499-8547-2dae6caddbb5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.la-press.com/present-and-emerging-therapies-for-methicillin-resistant-staphylococcu-article-a2718 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934728 | 436 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Our Expandable Bamboo Utensil Tray is good-looking and extremely functional! It's designed to expand to reveal additional compartments for storing large utensils, serving pieces, spoons and spatulas, keeping them organized, visible and accessible.
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Bamboo is a group of woody perennial evergreen plants of the grass family. Some of its members are giant bamboo, forming by far the largest members of the grass family. Bamboo is the fastest growing woody plant in the world: up to three to four feet a day. This accelerated growth rate allows bamboo to be harvested in three to five years, far more often than the 10 to 20 year harvest cycle of most softwoods. Unlike the environmental damage caused by the deforestation of trees, proper harvesting of bamboo leaves the root system intact, creating little or no topsoil disruption. This renewable, sustainable resource produces 35% more oxygen than its equivalent in trees while reducing carbon dioxide gas that is blamed for global warming. With the tensile strength of steel, it's the strongest growing woody plant in the world.
version: 2.38.4 build: 6 timestamp: Thu Jun 13 13:56:16 CDT 2013 worker: worker25 | <urn:uuid:6fca8731-c82a-47db-9d1d-1c2e4c34c0e9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.containerstore.com/shop?productId=10029675&N=1000034 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941376 | 270 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Some people like to go deep. I’m one of them. I’m not sure if it is the times or my reserve that keeps me from cultivating friends who also like to go deep. So, to get my deep fix, I read books. Sometimes it’s fiction, sometimes non-fiction. One of my recent non-fiction finds is Jonathan Haidt’s The Happiness Hypothesis.
If there is controversy about Haidt’s ideas, I don’t know or care. What I do care about is his chapter on the meaning of life. It helped me understand what matters to me.
I’ve shed the idea that we have intrinsic meaning simply because we exist. We may have, but it isn’t the thing that gets me out of bed in the morning. What matters to me is deep meaning. Pleasure isn’t what I’m after, though I don’t turn from it. What I want, what I need, is to create a sense in myself and others that calls forth a particular feeling, an emotion that might be called awe, or wonder, though these are not quite the right terms. No, this emotion– which is centred in the chest — pulls me, takes me, humbles me and includes me as part of a whole. It creates in me a sense of unity. In that moment, I am not outside or separate, I am part of it all—everything.
What sort of things do this? It may be different from one person to the next, but I think that there are instances when a majority of people given the same stimulus will experience this emotion. It is a form of communion, a recognition of ourselves in others who have overcome, who have grown, who have thrived and quietly marked our nobility. For I do believe despite all wretched evidence to the contrary that we have, within us, nobility.
Where do you find this wondrous thing? You hear it in great music, you see it in in Van Gogh’s trees, you feel it when your theorem solves elegantly, and you read it in Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.
This is the meaning of live and though I strive forever I want to create art that will stop the viewer or reader, fill their eyes with tears, and for a moment at least help them feel that they are a worthy and intrinsic part of the universal whole.
So good-bye postmodern cynicism and pop culture triviality. The world hasn’t ended yet. There is time still to go deeper, to mean more. | <urn:uuid:52ff30f4-f859-4266-9fc2-ed989f2a7e6f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tagonist.net/blog/?m=200902 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959787 | 544 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Choosing from the never ending amount of weight-loss programs is a difficult task. There are many weight loss plans that are introduced to the public everyday as a quick, easy, effective way to lose weight. One plan that might work wonders for one person might be completely ineffective for another. The ultimate goal of any weight-loss plan isn’t just to lose weight, but to keep it off.
Too many people who are trying to lose weight jump back and forth from a restrictive diet to their normal, unhealthy eating habits after they have experienced some weight-loss. This sort of “yo-yo” dieting puts enormous amounts of stress on your body and can make future weight loss more difficult. It also makes weight gain far too easy because it throws your metabolism off. For this reason, it is important to select a weight-loss plan that will help you make changes to your eating habits that will last a lifetime.
For you to be able to succeed in achieving your weight loss goals, first you must ensure that your goals are clear and reasonable. Write all the details down in a weight-loss journal. These goals will serve as a contract to yourself to help you persevere until you achieve your goals.
Make yourself familiar with any available weight loss plans. It’s crucial to gather as much information as you possibly can before starting any plans. Research the company or person offering the plan. Make certain that the person or company offering the plan is credible and respectable in the health department. This task is easily done on the Internet, but can be done by asking a relative or friend, consulting your doctor, or a respectable health expert.
Many weight-loss plans are expensive because they require you eat specific foods. It’s recommended to opt for a plan that allows a wide variety of foods if you need a program that works with your low budget. This usually allows you to get a larger variety of nutrients than some strict eating plans. Weight-loss plans that say you can lose 20 pounds in a week are tempting to anyone, but how true will those results be in a month from now? Choosing a weight-loss plan thats provides you with steady, healthy weight loss helps you adapt to the lifestyle change for a long lasting result.
It’s certainly helpful to select a weight-loss plan that offers support groups. Achieving true weight-loss means changing your lifestyle. Being involved with a support group greatly increases your chances of weight-loss success. Support groups are great if you have any questions that you would like to ask, or need some clarification on any information. Anytime you are having trouble with your weight-loss plan, you have someone to talk to. Support groups can offer solutions to your problems because they have already experience what you are going through.
Unfortunately there are no magic drinks or diet pills that can reduce your body fat in an instant. Motivation and dedication are important aspects when you engage yourself in a weight loss and diet program.
My name is Sara and i was born in the USA. For more information visit my weight loss blog. | <urn:uuid:5da9c951-2d05-4f7e-bb2c-a61ca9a8991d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://leaningbirch.blogspot.com/2006/12/selecting-safe-and-effective-weight.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962241 | 631 | 1.664063 | 2 |
|you are: contents > Book Reviews||
Volume II, Issue 1, Jan. 1, 2003
January Book Reviews | 1 - 2
Sheridan, R.L. (2002). Bits and pieces to ponder. Salt Lake City, UT: Bedside Books.
Bits and Pieces to Ponder is essentially a little book composed of bits and pieces. This pocket-sized volume contains 365 short phrases, reflections, and words of wisdom for everyday life. While the phrases are not always wholly original, the book does have a refreshing simplicity. The strength of the book lies in the introductory material. Sheridan prefaces his book with a description of an inspirational gift he received from his parents. That gift was an album containing photographs of his ancestors that were carefully selected from boxes of old pictures. Those “bits and pieces” of his family history (i.e. the individual photographs) were brought together to form a complete photo album in much the same way that Sheridan’s individual phrases are brought together to form his book. Sheridan receives a gift from his parents and then gives a gift to his readers. While the album served as a remembrance of the past, his book serves as a guide to the future.
Reviewed by Rachel Edford, Wayne State University Library and Information Science Program Student and Graduate Student Assistant, email@example.com | <urn:uuid:988da1c8-2842-45f2-b841-822d720f13a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mlaforum.org/volumeII/issue1/review2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971213 | 276 | 1.734375 | 2 |
The Barcelona Ballet
The lights dim at City Center and the audience hushes in anticipation of a Barcelona Ballet world premiere. Tinkling sounds fill the theater, followed by a flamenco singer’s voice that resounds like the plaintive cry of history.
The curtain rises to reveal a comely ensemble clad in caricatured Spanish threads, led by a strutting alpha male in a flowing blouse and tight pants. It’s at that moment that it all starts looking familiar: it’s "Riverdance," but with a Spanish accent.
Such was the disappointment of "Pálpito," with Ángel Corella in the role of an Iberian Michael Flatley and an extravaganza of lace, fans and bullfighter capes replacing the tropes of the Irish troupe.
It’s not that it wasn’t entertaining. It was. But if it is the founding mission of Barcelona Ballet to "provide a place for Spanish dancers to develop their art form," then this is not the way to do it. As the company’s founder and artistic director, Mr. Corella can and must do better with the Spanish talent he champions.
The good news for Mr. Corella is that he seems to have all the resources to realize the company’s mission: charisma, connections, a stable of gorgeous dancers, and a blank canvas on which he has the unique opportunity to define Spanish ballet. His is the only classical ensemble in Spain; in fact, it was his determination to stop the exodus of talent from his native country that prompted him to start the company in the first place.
Additionally, there is a wealth of inspiration to be gleaned from Spanish culture, particularly its dances and music. Folk traditions in general have always influenced ballet, starting with its inception in imperial French courts and continuing right through Ratmansky. But whereas Ratmansky’s folk adaptations serve to modernize tradition while evolving the balletic art form, "Pálpito" choreographers Ángel Rojas and Carlos Rodriguez cheapen the former while ossifying the latter.
What’s ironic is that "Pálpito" was created with the opposite intention. According to a program note, the "new creation denotes the maturity of a generation of Spanish creators and dancers," featuring a main character (Corella) who is "trying to free himself from the strings that have bound him to his former role of a dancer," so that he may "discover new horizons."
In actuality, though, the American Ballet Theater darling seems less anxious to cut strings with the past than to tug at the ones connected to the hearts of his fans. Applause roars following passages of signature bravura, with soaring jumps and crisp pirouettes doing little to suggest his alleged anguish.
Instead, "Pálpito" relies on other production elements to tell the story, notably a dramatic score by Héctor Gonzalez, whose six movements are matched by choreographic passages flavored with flamenco and Spanish classical dance. Combined with black lace unitards, peinetas, fans, and scantily clad seduction, the effect is a PG-rated Spain in Epcot’s Small World - with fouettés, sparkling diagonals and other ballet tricks providing the nightly fireworks.
Tricks also featured prominently in the two other works in the program, reinforcing the impression that the company is treating ballet less as art than entertainment.
Clark Tippet’s "Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1," originally choreographed for ABT in 1987, was all frilly tutus, pretty pointe work, and crowd-pleasing lifts, jumps, turns and balances. Composed of pas de deux in aqua, red, blue and pink, the neoclassical spectacle also featured a corps in yellow that would periodically scurry on stage to perform canons and other elaborate motifs reflected in the music.
On a modern stage, the only purpose the dated and deeply flawed "Bruch" serves is displaying the virtuosity of its dancers. And that it does - particularly for the brilliant Kazuko Omori and the glamorous Carmen Corella. Still, pasted-on smiles reflected discomfort with the sheer artifice of this piece, and though it gave the dancers ample opportunity to demonstrate their athleticism, it begged the question of who they were as artists.
Fortunately, Christopher Wheeldon’s "For 4" shed some light on this question, although at unexpected moments. Originally choreographed for "Kings of Dance" (an annual showcase of the world’s greatest male ballet dancers), "For 4" unfolds like a competitive figure skating program, with its four men together and separately executing a series of challenging technical elements.
Although it’s obvious that the four young dancers are not yet the kings for whom the work was created, their potential to become them is clear. Especially notable were Dayron Vera with his handsome and magnetic stage presence, and Alejandro Virelles with his gorgeous lines and exquisitely controlled turns.
For all the showmanship, though, it was in the piece’s quieter moments - the silhouetted introduction and the more restrained and sensitive passages between tricks - that the dancers were at their most radiant. Wheeldon’s contemporary vocabulary brought out the best in these artists of the 21st century, which is precisely what any sustainable dance company should encourage them to be.
In the future, hopefully Mr. Corella will make wiser programming decisions - so the dancers of Barcelona Ballet can continue developing as artists, and not merely as entertainers.
The Barcelona Ballet ran through April 20 at New York City Center. For info visit http://www.nycitycenter.org. . | <urn:uuid:0b7d5a23-2c58-4d1f-9edb-baa8172ef500> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=entertainment&sc=theatre&sc3=performance&id=131974 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959386 | 1,205 | 1.757813 | 2 |
I'm going to explain why we all think that eating healthy is perceived as expensive. If you're still buying bad food and then you additionally buy healthy food, then of course your bill at the register is going to be higher. If you buy bad foods today, then next week you go and buy healthy foods then your mind sees it as an additional expense. The fact of the matter is that if you don't do a FULL SWAP of your grocery list, you will never see how eating healthy can be cheap. Not to mention the long term fact that eating healthy reduces your health care costs of your life span, so that in and of itself is a major savings.
Also, it is totally counter productive to have healthy food at home and still pick up fast food on the way home because you're tired or it's late and you're "starving" (compensation eating is a farce). Once again that will make you feel like the money you spent on healthy food seems "extra". Yes, healthy foods come in smaller packages and may expire quicker BUT if your still eating in the large portions that you were eating the bad foods in then of course its going to seem like a waste. Invest a few dollars in a serving cup at the dollar store to use to share your food and/or a food scale and this will train you how to expect what ur serving size will look like. If you don't want to do that, then actively split your meal in 2 AFTER you share it out and have the other half three hours later or for a mid morning or lunch the next day.
As I remind my weight loss team every Sunday, if you take a few minutes with pen and paper and plan your meals for the week and throw in a little initiative to pre-cut your veggies and greens (or even buy them pre-cut), then when it comes times to actually prepare a meal, you're already halfway there and you're preparation time is cut in half. Just as you would "burn the midnight oil" on other areas of your life like packing your bags for a flight the night before or studying for an exam and picking out a dress or a shirt a week before a party, the same element of preparation applies here.
Next up is your "stick-to-it-iveness". Flip flopping your buying habits between good buying and bad buying, how can you see the savings or even see that you may even spend the same amount that you are now. Also you will need to re-evaluate your eating out and cheat day expenses. We all have social lives and friends who drag us out on short notice but at the end of the day, none of them put a gun to your head and told you what to order off the menu of gagged you preventing you from asking the server to make healthy swaps on a particular meal that you like.
In concluding, making a full swap, portion control and managing your social eating will prove to be glorious when you see that eating healthy isn't expensive at all. SEE FOOD AS NUTRITION, NOT PLEASURE or a pallet pleasing expose'. You all know the line, "eat to live, don't live to eat." | <urn:uuid:60fc8e32-15de-4036-9c47-d25507707d04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://halfhollowhills.patch.com/groups/andre-fords-blog/p/bp--why-eating-healthy-is-cheap | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978253 | 650 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Canadian torture victim Maher Arar is the first person to mount a civil suit challenging the U.S. government policy of extraordinary rendition. Now his attorneys are fighting the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss the case. We speak with David Cole, the lead lawyer for Maher Arar. [includes rush transcript]
Attorneys for Syrian-born Canadian citizen, Maher Arar, made their first public appearance in a Brooklyn Federal Court yesterday in Arar’s closely watched civil lawsuit against several U.S. officials. Among them: former Attorney General John Ashcroft and former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. In his lawsuit, Arar accuses the U.S. government of violating the Torture Victim Protection Act and his Fifth Amendment right to due process. His attorneys appeared in court yesterday to argue against the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss Arar’s case.
In October 2002, Arar was detained at JFK airport by US officials while on a stopover in New York. He was then jailed and secretly deported to Syria. He was held for almost a year without charge in an underground cell not much larger than a grave, where he was tortured. The Center for Constitutional Rights launched Arar’s lawsuit last January alleging that Ashcroft, Ridge and other officials in the Bush administration knew Arar would be tortured when he was deported. Arar alleges he was a victim of the US government’s "extraordinary rendition" policy of sending people to countries that routinely use torture, instead of holding them in the US where they have certain rights under the constitution.
The US government is attempting to have Arar’s lawsuit dismissed. Invoking the rarely used "state secrets privilege" the Justice Department claims that any release of information on Arar could jeopardize "intelligence, foreign policy and national security interests of the United States." Last year, Time Magazine in Canada named him the country’s newsmaker of the year.
- David Cole, attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights. He is the lead lawyer in for Maher Arar.
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re joined on the phone now by the lead lawyer on the case, David Cole, of the Center for Constitutional Rights. David Cole is a professor at Georgetown Law School and attorney with CCR. Welcome to Democracy Now!
DAVID COLE: Thanks for having me, Amy.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, can you talk about why you were in the Brooklyn court yesterday and the significance of this hearing?
DAVID COLE: Well, this was, as you suggested, the first hearing on the defendant’s attempts to try to get the case thrown out altogether. It was on a motion to dismiss, so, essentially, the government is arguing even assuming that everything that we alleged is true, namely that the government conspired with Syria to have him arbitrarily detained for about a year without charge and conspired to have him tortured and provided the Syrians with a dossier of questions that they wanted the Syrians to ask him and retrieve the information back from the Syrians, even if all that is true, the government is arguing, there is no remedy. The United States is free to do this without any judicial remedy whatsoever for Mr. Arar. So that was really the argument in its sort of baldest form that the government was making yesterday.
AMY GOODMAN: Your response?
DAVID COLE: Well, I — what I said in court is that that position, the notion that government officials can engage in that kind of action without any legal recourse, is flatly inconsistent with the relevant statutes, it’s inconsistent with the case law, but most importantly, inconsistent with our nation’s commitment to the rule of law, one that some members of this administration don’t seem to have a great commitment to, but our history and our tradition and our laws are built upon.
AMY GOODMAN: Where does the case go from here? What comes out of yesterday’s hearing?
DAVID COLE: Well, we have to wait for the judge to issue his decision, and you know, my sense is that he’s not likely to throw out the whole case, that some form of discovery will go forward, and then once that discovery goes forward, then we are going to have to confront this additional argument that the government has made, which is that even if there’s a theoretical basis for getting some sort of a relief, damages or the like, from — as a result of the conduct here, their claim is that the — all of the evidence that they have concerning their treatment of him, or virtually all of it, is covered by something called the State Secrets Privilege and can’t be disclosed. And on that argument, they’re claiming that because their communications with Syria and their communications with Canada, because he was a Canadian, because those are classified and privileged and can’t be disclosed, the entire case should be dismissed. And if they win on that argument, then no rendition will ever be subject to any sort of legal review, because every time the government takes a person from one country to another for purposes of interrogation or the like, it is going to require some sorts of negotiations between the United States and those countries, and if, in every such case, the government comes in and says, 'Well, those communications are secret, and therefore, we can't — the case can’t go forward,’ then it will have a completely free hand. It will have created a law-free zone with respect to this practice of extraordinary renditions.
AMY GOODMAN: David Cole, the government argues that Maher Arar had access to due process and that he failed to appeal his deportation.
DAVID COLE: Yeah, that’s a remarkable argument for the government to be making, because if you see what the government did to him, I mean, they basically made it impossible for him to pursue any sort of legal appeal. He was initially picked up on September 26th, as he was changing planes at JFK. He was held incommunicado for five days, not even allowed to make a phone call outside, interrogated at length. He was finally given the right to make a phone call on October 1. His family found him a lawyer who was able to come see him on Saturday, October 5. On Sunday, October 6, the government interrogates Maher for a lengthy period of time, lies to him and tells him his lawyer doesn’t want to be at the interrogation, notifies the lawyer about the interrogation by leaving a voicemail on her office phone on Sunday evening. When she comes in on Monday morning and retrieves the message, she calls the I.N.S., and they lie to her repeatedly about where Maher is, saying that he’s being transferred from a New York facility to a New Jersey facility. Meanwhile, they are putting him on a plane and sending him to Syria. And only when he is on the plane that night on his way to Syria, do they hand him the final removal orders saying ’You’re deported from the United States.’ And then he sits in a Syrian cell for a year, so the notion that somehow he could have had any access to the courts is a complete fiction.
AMY GOODMAN: The government also says he is al Qaeda.
DAVID COLE: The government does say is he al Qaeda, but one of the things that’s interesting, and that was the ground upon which they excluded him. They did not offer any evidence to support that claim. And the Syrians, after torturing him and interrogating him and holding him for a year, released him, saying that they found no evidence whatsoever to charge him with anything. He is living in Canada, a free man. Canada has said, 'We have no basis to charge him with anything.' And, you know, if the United States actually believed that he was a member of al Qaeda, he wouldn’t be in Syria or in Canada, he would be at Guantanamo, and he is not. So, I think that, you know, yes, they have made that claim, but they certainly have not backed it up in their own actions, and the actions of two other governments contradict it.
AMY GOODMAN: We are talking to David Cole, who represents Maher Arar, was in a Brooklyn federal court on Tuesday. We want to go to just a clip of Maher Arar, who we have interviewed on Democracy Now!, describing what happened to him when he was held in Syria.
MAHER ARAR: Really, I mean, when I arrived there, I just couldn’t believe it. I thought first it was a dream. I was crying all the time. I was disoriented. I wished I had something in my hand to kill myself, because I knew I was going to be tortured, and this was my preoccupation. That’s all I was thinking about when I was on the plane. And I arrived there. I was crying all time. So, one of them started questioning me, and the others were taking notes. And the first day it was mainly routine questions, between 8 to 12.
And the second day, that’s when the beatings started, because, you know, on the first day they did not find anything strange about what I told them, and they started beating me with a cable, electrical threaded cable, and they would beat me for three, four times. They would stop again, and they would ask questions again, and they always kept telling me, 'You are a liar,' and things like that. So, the beating continued for the first two weeks. The most — the most intensive — the intensive beating was really the first week, and then after that it was mostly slapping, punching on the face and kicking.
So, on the third day when they didn’t find anything, so, of course, they — in my view, they just wanted to please the Americans, and they had to find something on me. So, because I was accused of being an al Qaeda member, which is nowadays synonymous with Afghanistan, they told me, ’You’ve been to a training camp in Afghanistan.’ And I said, "No." And they started beating me. And I said — well, I had no choice. I just wanted the beating to stop. I said, "Of course, I’ve been to Afghanistan." I was ready to confess to anything just to stop the torture.
AMY GOODMAN: That is Maher Arar, speaking on Democracy Now! If you want to hear the whole interview, you can go to our website at DemocracyNow.org. As we wrap up with David Cole, his attorney. The significance of this case, David Cole, overall?
DAVID COLE: Well, I think the significance is that it is the first challenge, really, legal challenge, to this practice of extraordinary renditions, in which, as one government official said, 'We don't kick the (expletive) out of them, we send them to other countries so they can kick the (expletive) out of them.’ And what we’re saying in this lawsuit is that that’s unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment. It is — you can’t beat people, nor can you send people to other countries to be beaten, and it’s something that warrants judicial intervention and requires judicial intervention, because, unfortunately, members of the current administration have ignored one of the most basic principles of human rights.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you very much for joining us, David Cole at Center for Constitutional Rights. His latest book is called Enemy Aliens. | <urn:uuid:07c4e275-4a54-474b-98fa-ca3f2a881360> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.democracynow.org/2005/8/10/maher_arar_fights_to_keep_torture | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98188 | 2,435 | 1.703125 | 2 |
GM announced last Friday that its Moraine, Ohio, engine plant — a joint venture between Isuzu and GM — has produced 1.5 million 6.6-liter Duramax turbo-diesels.
The joint venture was established in 1998, and the plant started making engines in 2001, with most of the diesel power plants installed in the Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD.
The engine makes 397 horsepower at 3,000 rpm and 765 pounds-feet of torque at 1,600 rpm. It is also available in a down-rated configuration in the full-size Chevy Express and GMC Savanna vans.
The Duramax 6.6-liter V-8 is a four-valve, high-pressure common-rail direct-injection diesel, currently equipped with a particulate filter to meet current emissions requirements. The Duramax engine was a big reason why the 2012 GMC Sierra 3500 won PickupTrucks.com's Heavy-Duty Hurt Locker comparison test.
“Our Duramax diesel is one of the best in the industry,” DMAX Chief Financial Officer Betty Wessel, said. “Duramax has become a great success story and is a world-class engine with superior quality, industry-leading horsepower and competitive fuel economy.”
On May 9, 2007, the plant had produced 1 million Duramax diesels. Around that time, there were many reports that GM was getting ready to release a 4.5-liter "baby Duramax," but later reports noted the project was killed. Whether the small-diesel project is ready for a resurrection with the coming of the all-new GM half-ton platforms remains to be seen.
The Ohio plant continues to produce more than 100,000 big DMAX engines per year in the 584,000-square-foot facility with more than 500 employees. For the full press release, click here.
Other engine success stories include Ford's EcoBoost engines, which will reach well over 500,000 sales from its introduction just a few short years ago. The strategy of making a direct-injection twin-turbo V-6 gas engine that produces horsepower and torque numbers like a much bigger V-8 has been a winner for the Ford F-150, selling more than 200,000 half-tons with the motor underhood since February 2011. And now Ford is making even more EcoBoost engines available for its full lineup of cars and crossovers. And as more people experience the downsized engines, we're guessing the motors will get even more popular.
Ford projects that 90 percent of its vehicle lineup across North America will be offered with one of the four EcoBoost versions (1.0-liter I-3, 1.6-liter I-4, 2.0-liter I-4 and 3.5-liter V-6). For more info, read the press release here. | <urn:uuid:0583178b-8ef4-4919-86fa-8aeff0062d6c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2012/11/gm-and-ford-mark-engine-milestones/comments/page/2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952961 | 609 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Here's another sign of our waters cleaning up. This comes from the North Cove in lower Manhattan...
Mussels Galore - Spring Surprise at the Marina!
Mussels growing at North Cove might be clear indication that harbor is becoming cleaner.
When the staff at Dennis Conner's North Cove marina in Battery Park City pulled up the first dock chain this spring, they were greeted with a surprise - the chain was encrusted with thousands and thousands of mussels.
"I've never seen anything like it," said Arjen Weehuizen, the harbor master who saw the mussels first. "When the chain came up, we couldn't see it at all. It was totally covered with mussels. Not just one or two, but thousands and thousands. It's like a whole underwater city."
"This is our fifth year in charge of the marina," said Commodore Michael Fortenbaugh. "We have never seen anything like this before. I'm not quite sure what to make of it.
"Hopefully it's a good omen which says that the water around New York City is fertile and abundant. Maybe this will translate into our business community as well. Now we need to find a marine expert who can tell us what is going on."
Every spring, the dock chains are pulled up to inspect the links for wear and electrolysis. If a dock chain does not pass inspection, it gets replaced with a new chain. The dock chains hold the floating docks in place.
Dennis Conner's North Cove is located on the Hudson River in front of the World Financial Center in Battery Park City. The marina caters to mega yachts as well as smaller vessels, including the fleet of the Manhattan Sailing Club.
"In the end, we were unable to complete the inspection of dock B's chain," said Harbor Master Arjen. "There were just too many mussels. It would have required at least a day to clear them.
"I'm not sure how other people feel, but I'm okay with eating a dish of 30 to 40 mussels. But having to scrape off and kill thousands and thousands, well that's just a bit much. Battery Park City is just too beautiful a place so after a quick vote, we decided to put the chain back in place as is."
How many mussels were growing on the chain is kind of like guessing how many marbles are in a large container or how many pounds a large pumpkin weighs. No accurate count was conducted before the chain was sent overboard. Maybe in the future, some smart graduate student will figure this out.
"Maybe this will be an economic windfall for the marina," theorized Commodore Fortenbaugh. "If we can find someone who is in charge of the mussels, perhaps we can charge a daily slip rental," he joked.
"Or if no one is in charge, maybe we could begin a mussel harvesting business. Who knows where this might lead. If it does turn into a windfall, I promise to invite all our friends and neighbors down to share in the pot of gold."
"Battery Park City has been leading the green revolution in building," stated Commodore Fortenbaugh. "But I did not know we were also planning to lead the urban revolution in aquatic farming. And if these mussels just arrived here without official approval, well then, their future might not be that bright."
"There must be an economic angel to all of this and we hope some smart entrepreneur will contact us," said Commodore Fortenbaugh. "And if there is not an economic angle, than maybe there is a spiritual angle. Either way, this has been a remarkable spring. One thing is for certain, the waters around Manhattan are more abundant than ever."
Pulling of more chains will continue for a few days next week. Media outlets are invited to send their own photographers. Food critics are invited to bring their own pots and hot plates.
Anyone looking to hold a mussel festival in NYC is welcomed to contact North Cove at 212-786-1200. Maybe the mussels will become a tourist attraction and help bring more business to this community, Fortenbaugh quipped. | <urn:uuid:4bcd7092-302d-4a0c-8d0c-a02ad891da54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.nj.com/boating/2009/05/new_neighbors_in_the_big_apple.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977566 | 857 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Spitzer Sues Four Westchester Dollar Stores For Selling Fake Guns
Attorney General Spitzer announced today that his office has sued four Westchester County "dollar" stores for selling toy guns in violation of state law.
Under state law, imitation guns must have a non-removable orange stripe to clearly delineate them from real weapons. The Attorney General is responsible for enforcing the law.
The case came to the Attorney General's attention based on a report by the New Rochelle Police Department that two students at the Isaac E. Young Middle School in New Rochelle were suspended last fall for bringing the toy guns into school. The guns had been bought at Mitch's 99 Cents store in New Rochelle.
An investigation of ten Westchester County stores by the Attorney General's office found that three other area stores were selling the imitation guns as well.
"The sale of these imitation guns is not only illegal, but constitutes a tragedy waiting to happen," said Spitzer. "Just a few months ago in California, a man with a toy gun at a Halloween party was shot and killed by the police after they thought he was carrying a real gun.
"Just imagine a police officer facing one of these fake guns at night or from a distance, and then having to make a split second, life or death decision as to whether it's real or not. The law is very clear when it comes to the sale of imitation guns and we are going to do everything in our power to ensure that stores obey the law and in doing so, help prevent tragic accidents."
Spitzer noted that there are five schools located within a mile of Mitch's. The stores being sued are:
- Mitch's 99 Cents, 535 Main Street, New Rochelle, (9 guns purchased);
- Everything 99 Cents, Jefferson Valley Mall, Jefferson Valley, (12 guns purchased);
- Dollar Limit, 223 Main Street, White Plains (3 guns purchased);
- $1 Zone, 2500 Central Park Avenue, Yonkers (4 guns purchased).
Under Spitzer's civil suit, the stores are being sued for $1,000 for each gun that was sold to his investigators, as well as $500 for each gun sold under a Deceptive Practices statute, and $2,000 for costs.
Det. Calvin McGee, a firearms instructor from the New Rochelle Police Department, said, "These guns bear a strong resemblance to real firearms and cannot be easily distinguished from actual weapons. If a law enforcement officer or a civilian were confronted with these imitation guns, they could easily mistake it for a real firearm, and such a mistake could result in a defensive action, resulting in death or serious physical injury to the person holding the fake gun."
The case is being handled by Assistant Attorney General Deborah Scalise, under the direction of the head of the Westchester Regional Office, Gary Brown. | <urn:uuid:bce89c5b-fa93-4532-a22e-8df56fa38adb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ag.ny.gov/press-release/spitzer-sues-four-westchester-dollar-stores-selling-fake-guns | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972463 | 585 | 1.515625 | 2 |
JULY 31, 2006
Israel is now at war with an enemy whose hostility is extreme, explicit, unrestrained, and driven by an ideology of religious hatred. But this is an enemy that does not field an army; that has no institutional structure and no visible chain of command; that does not recognize the legal and moral principle of noncombatant immunity; and that does not, indeed, acknowledge any rules of engagement. How do you--how does anyone--fight an enemy like that? I cannot deal with the strategy and tactics of such a fight. How to strike effectively, how to avoid a dangerous escalation--those are important topics, but not mine. The question I want to address is about morality and politics.
The easy part of the answer is to say what cannot rightly be done. There cannot be any direct attacks on civilian targets (even if the enemy doesn't believe in the existence of civilians), and this principle is a major constraint also on attacks on the economic infrastructure. Writing about the first Iraq war, in 1991, I argued that the U.S. decision to attack "communication and transportation systems, electric power grids, government buildings of every sort, water pumping stations and purification plants" was wrong. "Selected infrastructural targets are easy enough to justify: bridges over which supplies are carried to the army in the field provide an obvious example. But power and water ... are very much like food: they are necessary to the survival and everyday activity of soldiers, but they are equally necessary to everyone else. An attack here is an attack on civilian society.... [I]t is the military effects, if any, that are `collateral.'" That was and is a general argument; it clearly applies to the Israeli attacks on power stations in Gaza and Lebanon.
The argument, in this case, is prudential as well as moral. Reducing the quality of life in Gaza, where it is already low, is intended to put pressure on whoever is politically responsible for the inhabitants of Gaza--and then these responsible people, it is hoped, will take action against the shadowy forces attacking Israel. The same logic has been applied in Lebanon, where the forces are not so shadowy. But no one is responsible in either of these cases, or, better, those people who might take responsibility long ago chose not to. The leaders of the sovereign state of Lebanon insist that they have no control over the southern part of their country--and, more amazingly, no obligation to take control. Still, Palestinian civilians are not likely to hold anyone responsible for their fate except the Israelis, and, while the Lebanese will be more discriminating, Israel will still bear the larger burden of blame. Hamas and Hezbollah feed on the suffering their own activity brings about, and an Israeli response that increases the suffering only intensifies the feeding.
SO, WHAT CAN Israel do? It is an important principle of just war theory that justice, though it rules out many ways of fighting, cannot rule out fighting itself--since fighting is sometimes morally and politically necessary. A military response to the capture of the three Israeli soldiers wasn't, literally, necessary; in the past, Israel has negotiated instead of fighting and then exchanged prisoners. But, since Hamas and Hezbollah describe the captures as legitimate military operations--acts of war--they can hardly claim that further acts of war, in response, are illegitimate. The further acts have to be proportional, but Israel's goal is to prevent future raids, as well as to rescue the soldiers, so proportionality must be measured not only against what Hamas and Hezbollah have already done, but also against what they are (and what they say they are) trying to do.
The most important Israeli goal in both the north and the south is to prevent rocket attacks on its civilian population, and, here, its response clearly meets the requirements of necessity. The first purpose of any state is to defend the lives of its citizens; no state can tolerate random rocket attacks on its cities and towns. Some 700 rockets have been fired from northern Gaza since the Israeli withdrawal a year ago--imagine the U.S. response if a similar number were fired at Buffalo and Detroit from some Canadian no-man's- land. It doesn't matter that, so far, the Gazan rockets have done minimal damage; the intention every time one is fired is to hit a home or a school, and, sooner or later, that intention will be realized. Israel has waited a long time for the Palestinian Authority and the Lebanese government to deal with the rocket fire from Gaza and the rocket build-up on the Lebanese border. In the latter case, it has also waited for the United Nations, which has a force in southern Lebanon that is mandated to "restore international peace and security" but has nonetheless watched the positioning of thousands of rockets and has done nothing. A couple of years ago, the Security Council passed a resolution calling for the disarming of Hezbollah; its troops, presumably, have noticed that this didn't happen. Now Israel has rightly decided that it has no choice except to take out the rockets itself. But, again, how can it do that?
The crucial argument is about the Palestinian use of civilians as shields. Academic philosophers have written at great length about "innocent shields," since these radically exploited (but sometimes, perhaps, compliant) men and women pose a dilemma that tests the philosophers' dialectical skills. Israeli soldiers are not required to have dialectical skills, but, on the one hand, they are expected to do everything they can to prevent civilian deaths, and, on the other hand, they are expected to fight against an enemy that hides behind civilians. So (to quote a famous line from Trotsky), they may not be interested in the dialectic, but the dialectic is interested in them.
There is no neat solution to their dilemma. When Palestinian militants launch rocket attacks from civilian areas, they are themselves responsible--and no one else is--for the civilian deaths caused by Israeli counterfire. But (the dialectical argument continues) Israeli soldiers are required to aim as precisely as they can at the militants, to take risks in order to do that, and to call off counterattacks that would kill large numbers of civilians. That last requirement means that, sometimes, the Palestinian use of civilian shields, though it is a cruel and immoral way of fighting, is also an effective way of fighting. It works, because it is both morally right and politically intelligent for the Israelis to minimize--and to be seen trying to minimize-- civilian casualties. Still, minimizing does not mean avoiding entirely: Civilians will suffer so long as no one on the Palestinian side (or the Lebanese side) takes action to stop rocket attacks. From that side, though not from the Israeli side, what needs to be done could probably be done without harm to civilians.
I WAS RECENTLY asked to sign a condemnation of the Israeli operation in Gaza-- a statement claiming that the rocket attacks and the military raid that led to the capture of Gilad Shalit are simply the inevitable consequences of the Israeli occupation: There "never will be peace or security until the occupation ends." In the past, I am sure, some Palestinian attacks were motivated by the experience of occupation. But that isn't true today. Hamas is attacking after the Israelis departed Gaza and after the formation of a government that is (or was until the attacks) committed to a large withdrawal from the West Bank. Similarly, Hezbollah's attacks came after the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon. The aim of these militants is not to create a Palestinian state alongside Israel; it is to destroy Israel. Admittedly, that is a long-term aim that derives from a religious view of history. Secularists and pragmatists have a lot of trouble acknowledging such a view, let alone understanding it.
By contrast, the Israeli response has only a short-term aim: to stop the attacks across its borders. Until that is achieved, no Israeli government is going to move forward with another withdrawal. In fact, it is probably true that the Hamas and Hezbollah attacks have made any future unilateral withdrawals impossible. Israel needs a partner on the other side who is, first of all, capable of maintaining security on the new border and who is, second, actually willing to do that. I can't pretend that the Israeli military operations now in progress are going to produce a partner like that. At best, the army and air force will weaken the capacity of Hamas and Hezbollah to attack Israel; they won't alter their resolve. It will probably take the international community--the United States, Europe, the United Nations, some Arab states--to bring the Lebanese army into the south of the country and make it an effective force once it is there. And it will take a similar coalition to sponsor and support a Palestinian government that is committed to two states with one permanent and peaceful border and that is prepared to repress the religious militants who oppose that commitment. Until there is an effective Lebanese army and a Palestinian government that believes in co-existence, Israel is entitled to act, within the dialectical limits, on its own behalf.
This article originally appeared in the July 31, 2006, issue of the magazine. | <urn:uuid:575ae24a-603c-4872-bc42-641f7df2da44> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newrepublic.com/article/the-ethics-battle | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966442 | 1,863 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Stickman Odyssey: An Epic Doodle
Who doesn’t remember reading the Odyssey back in the day? The many challenges Odysseus and his crew had to face in order to return home from the Trojan battle in such a heroic effort…..well this story shows a whole new visual to this epic. Christopher Ford has gone back and opened up the dusty old pages of the Odyssey to bring you Stickman Odyssey: An Epic Doodle. This story is about a a man named Zozimos who, in the beginning, is lost at sea after a battle that his land had won, but this great victory ended in disaster when he lost his crew and ship when they were trying to return home to Sticatha. Zozimos is save by Athena’s magical power to draw things like a raft and leaves him with these words,”Find your way to Sticatha.” He drifts in the sea until he lands in Marinos Island where his first few sights were ladies bathing and clean water. But after this glorious sight he has seen golems take him away to prison. When he is called upon by the king to hear his story. As for the rest of this tale you’ll just have to pick up the book and see whats in store.
This book had a ton of humor for an epic tale! The drawing are of course all stick figures but who doesn’t love to see QUALITY work like stick figure draws? Other then this factor the story was well written and gave me a few good laughs here and there. If you need a good book to cheer you up a bit, this book would be it. As for a good story read, well, its better to just have it around the house for kids. But a good book none the less. If you need a good laugh pick this book up! | <urn:uuid:2da25eac-1135-45b9-a141-f1e3de9010a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wellreadspartans.wordpress.com/2011/06/10/stickman-odyssey-an-epic-doodle/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98205 | 380 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Comprehensive database for all the known epigenetic genes in human and mouse
Posted 13 June 2011 - 06:41 PM
I am looking for a Comprehensive database for all the known epigenetic genes in human and mouse. Though I did come across some which were specific for certain types of cancers, I could'nt find a list for all known epigenetic genes regardless of disease status.
Any suggestion in this regard would be a really helpful.
Posted 19 June 2011 - 08:32 PM
Posted 19 July 2011 - 10:35 PM
sorry, i meant "imprinted gene", that is those which are mono-allelically expressed.
and i did find a good database for all the mouse imprinted genes,not human. | <urn:uuid:bea12043-cacd-480b-aa09-32aa3f3dfb86> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.protocol-online.org/forums/topic/21628-comprehensive-database-for-all-the-known-epigenetic-genes-in-human-and-mouse/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955569 | 150 | 1.710938 | 2 |
KAH Tequila Blanco
KAH Tequila Blanco contains intense sweet notes of the cooked agave, followed by a spicy white peppery punch. It is silky and delicate, leaving a sachet of spices on the palate.
The KAH Tequila Blanco bottle was inspired by traditional Calaveras (skulls made from sugar) which are used in Day of the Dead rituals to symbolize death and rebirth. Sugar skulls are given to family still living and they are invited to "eat their own death", to acknowledge the belief that death is nothing but the passing from this life into the next. Bolivians celebrate their version of the Day of the Dead by keeping the skulls of their loved ones, calling it the "Day of the Skulls". These decaying heads are brought out each year on November 8th and taken to the cemetery where Bolivians feed them, give them cigarettes and Tequila. Keeping and entertaining the skulls of their deceased is seen as a way for the dead to be immortalized. They believe the skulls of their ancestors protect the living by warding off evil spirits.
KAH Tequila was designed to pay reverence and honor to Mexico and its people. Its bottle and spirit are reflective of Day of the Dead, the 3,000 year-old Meso-American ritual honoring deceased loved ones. KAH's unique packaging, in turn, is inspired by traditional Calaveras used in Dia de los Muertos rituals to symbolize death and rebirth. The word KAH translates to "life" in the ancient Mayan language. Every bottle is an individual, hand-crafted work of art, not two bottles are the same. While the bottle captures that enduring spirit, so does the Tequila inside, as KAH's distillers transform hand-selected 100% Blue agave into lively Blanco, Reposado and Añejo varieties that are both certified organic and Kosher
AVAILABLE MARCH 2011 | <urn:uuid:fbd252b4-6687-4871-a6cc-8ec4e51d24fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wittyswine.com/sku07593.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951712 | 402 | 1.71875 | 2 |
This was a post I made a few years ago on the forum after I was put through the ringer by the Ca. Emissions Nazis. I thought some of you may find it useful.
DISCLAIMER - The opinions expressed below are just that, OPINIONS, and are worth every penny you paid for them.
Use any of the included information at your own descretion and risk.
Through a long and painful process this is what I have learned about California emissions testing and a few things to do that will help get a car certified.
First here is the link to the California Air Resouce Board - (C.A.R.B.)
(I have another name for them but I know this is an all ages site - I will leave it up to your imaginations)
NOTE - This is a collection of all the rules & regulations not just laws concerning automobiles.
This site although geared to engine swaps has the best description of the smog inspection process that one would go through if you have after market parts installed.
This site is the database of approved after market parts and their associated Executive Order numbers.
Executive Orders are issued for aftermarket parts that manufacturers have submitted for testing and that have been proven NOT to increase the emissions. Any aftermarket parts used in CA have to have a EO number or you will fail the inspection. This is where you find what parts you can use on your vehicle when building or modifying your car.
This site is a listing of emissions standards in use for CA at this time.
This is C.A.R.B.'s Smog Faq...simple but slightly useful.
This site allows you to check the smog test history for a particular vehicle using either the VIN or the license plate number. Handy if you are looking to purchase a used car. VIN lookup is usually best.
Personally I find it disturbing since it is another 'Big Brother' tactic of data collection, but handy none the less.
For those of you that still have not gotten your fill of laws this site will give you access to current California air pollution control laws.
Now for the list of things I found that helped get the car into the acceptable emissions range.
1. Most important make sure that the vehicle has no mechanical problems.
2. Change the oil before the smog check. The PCV system of your vehicle is designed to allow your engine to breath fumes located in oil compartments (oil pan, ect.). The fumes are then burned through the combustion process. Contaminated oils are high in Hydrocarbons and will present a rich mixture to the engine chambers(too much fuel). If the oil in your engine is contaminated, it may very well cause your vehicle to fail the inspection.
3. Right before testing make sure you drive long enough for the car to reach full operating temperature.
4. Use a good fuel additive. I have used "Guaranteed to Pass Emissions Test Formula (12 oz.)" for years. In my experience it will reduce the tested emissions levels by about 10 - 15%. If your vehicle is borderline failing this
will do the trick. You need to put the additive in the tank and then fill the tank. Drive the car over a period of days until you empty the tank. Then refill tank and go straight to the testing station.
You can obtain Guaranteed to Pass here >> http://www.autobarn.net/ch05063.html
or from most major parts stores.
There are other good additives such as Blue Sky and PuraGas Emissions Test - Fuel catalyst (fuel additive) for gasoline.
I have no personal experience with either of these products, only the rantings and ravings of my friends.
5. Returned several areas of PCM programming back to factory settings.
(You did make a copy of these before tuning, didn't you??)
I have documented the settings and may be convinced to share these if asked politely.
I also have a original spec factory programming in LT1-edit file format that I can share.
%Power Enrichment vs RPM adjustments
KNOCK RETARD MAX LIMIT vs MAP, non-PE - changes only in the 95 & 100 Kpa ranges - doubt this came into play during testing.
MAF vs Frequency calibration
KNOCK RETARD MAX LIMIT vs RPM in PE - changes only in 4000 rpm and above - again doubt this came into play during testing.
Spk Adv 400-4000 RPM - changes in the 1800 rpm and above ranges.
These changes brought all areas to extremely low readings, except the NO readings. NO was still too high to pass.
The final change was to the temperature the cooling fans turned on.
This snapped the NO readings to acceptable levels.
Instead of the normal 178 / 178 settings which keep the engine temp in the 180 - 185 area I set them to 226 / 235.
This allowed the engine temp to reach an average of 220 during idle and dyno testing.
A catalytic converter works best when it is hot.
Good luck and good testing.
Questions ???? Just ask.
As always I am open to giving my opinion to anyone who will listen. | <urn:uuid:b494fdad-de9e-4581-990a-a3103e02d172> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ls1lt1.com/forum/lt1-%7C-lt4-%7C-l99-engine-tech/56853-smog-fail.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935582 | 1,075 | 1.648438 | 2 |
By Zoe Yabrove
By Bree Davies
By Byron Graham
By Susan Froyd
By Josiah M. Hesse
By Bree Davies
By Susan Froyd
By Kate Gibbons
"I really pay attention to what I have to do less than what the others are doing," he says. "I think that each composer always has to maintain their own personality. . . . Still, everything that's happening in the progress of music, be it that on the high level or be it that on a low level, you need to be aware of. You have to be informed."
Morricone began writing music when he was 6 and enrolled in Rome's Conservatory of Santa Cecilia when he was 12, hoping to master the trumpet, the instrument his father played. But he soon found himself surpassing his professors: He completed a four-year course in harmony in a matter of months. He would end up studying composition by day and playing trumpet in Rome's nightclubs by night, and when he graduated from the school, he left with degrees in orchestration, conducting, composition and, of course, the trumpet. Morricone would go into film composing only after he'd been hired as a session musician on a handful of scores, which he found "ugly"; he was convinced he could do better, especially after having heard West Side Storyand Alfred Newman's score for The Robe. Morricone thought he would put on hold, for a little while, his writing for the concert stage. That was nearly 40 years ago, and decades would pass before he began writing and performing music not intended for film.
For a long time, he felt writing movie music made him "a traitor" to the art of composing music; if it wasn't exactly beneath him, it was, at the very least, foreign and frustrating. He'd been trained by some of the best writers and musicians in Italy, and now he was going to make music for movies? For Westerns, for God's sake? It was unfathomable. But soon enough, he realized movies allowed a different kind of freedom -- the kind that allows a composer to score a Western today, a political drama tomorrow and a horror movie the day after that. Within those confines was a world of possibilities.
"I started from a much higher point [than most film composers]," he says. "I was not a dilettante. A long time ago, I didn't know what I know today, and it's true: Then, writing for cinema seemed to be a frustration. Almost no one goes into this thinking, 'I want to become a film composer,' but people do go into it saying, 'I want to be a composer.' Therefore, when you change paths, you still have the same creativity that you would in making music for concerts. A composer is worthy of this name only if he has his own personality, even if he does films that are completely different one from another. His style has to come out clearly, even though each film is different.
"The reasons for doing cinema is that if one believes in doing it, it can also give you back a lot. First of all, you're in contact with the orchestra very often. You get to listen to your music continually while you're recording it, and you get to hear it very shortly after you've written it. You can experiment privately and listen to these experiments and learn a lot by doing this, and this I owe to cinema. . . . It has improved within me a general sense of composing. Movies have conditions, make demands, and you must find a way to get over these conditions. You must find a new freedom."
Despite his 72 years, Morricone has little interest in cutting back on his workload; only two weeks ago, he traveled to London for the first time to perform his non-film music, along with selections from his best-known scores. And last year, he scored three films: De Palma's Mission to Mars, Joffé's Vatel and Giuseppe Tornatore's Malena, the latter of which earned him his fifth Oscar nomination and his fifth loss. But Morricone was resigned to losing: When his score for The Missionlost in 1987 to Round Midnight, which was nothing more than a collection of jazz standards, Morricone realized it was perhaps never meant to be. Hollywood belongs to the hacks and heathens whose awards are, in his estimation, nothing but "propaganda for the movies." Maybe that's why he stays in Rome and refuses to learn English.
But Morricone may have little say in his own destiny: Now, more than ever, soundtracks are but top-of-the-pops compilations, one more product in the merchandizing business plan. Movie music has been devalued; the larger-than-life soundtrack has been rendered all but obsolete. Perhaps the film composer is not far behind.
"You have touched on the problem with allmusic of this time," Morricone says. "Certainly, the record companies are now trying to take advantage of music that is hot, that is now, that doesn't last for a very long time -- music of the moment. So, the industry doesn't like something that lasts a long time. They like something that's just for the moment, something seasonal, something temporary. It's just the natural evolution of the music industry."
Even though he speaks in Italian, the weariness in his voice needs no translation. Perhaps, then, Morricone can take solace knowing that he, or at least a good portion of his work, is immortale.
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Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city | <urn:uuid:e66cacc4-1ef4-462f-8424-e722f918f9f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.westword.com/2001-03-29/culture/the-maestro/2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984006 | 1,211 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Italy's woes could put Reserve Bank in a spin
Illustration: John Shakespeare.
That high-pitched squeal, accompanied by the alluring aroma of burnt rubber, down in Martin Place yesterday could well have been Glenn Stevens and his Reserve Bank team practising high speed U-turns.
After the sudden note of caution that emerged during the monthly meeting a fortnight ago, Stevens and crew no doubt are on high alert about the possibility of an out-of-control Italy careering down the road and wiping out all in its path.
It has become increasingly likely the Reserve Bank now is shifting its stance on the future of domestic interest rates.
The fragile nature of the global economy, with Europe again in crisis and histrionic financial markets resuming their normal state of mild panic, has all but killed the possibility of an interest rate hike any time soon.
Add to that the unsettling and unsavoury debate within Congress over whether to allow an increase in America's debt limit - where threats of default are now openly mentioned by the President - and the immediate future for global finance markets could only be described as volatile, bordering on flammable.
It would be a courageous central banker, indeed, who attempted to hike interest rates in this kind of environment. And as each day passes, those mad punters who began betting on an interest rate cut two months ago are looking decidedly less silly, although your columnist reckons a rate cut is still a long shot.
It would take a catastrophic event, such as a sovereign default, to jolt the Reserve Bank into cutting rates. Given the drama being played out in Europe right now, a GFC redux certainly is not impossible, particularly now that Italy is causing commercial bankers world-wide to lose sleep. More on that later.
For most of this year, the Reserve has adopted a hawkish tone. It rightly dismissed the effects of the east coast floods and Queensland cyclone as one-off events, highlighting the potential dangers of a massive rebuilding program competing for labour and machinery in a booming mining sector.
It has constantly, and consistently, warned of inflation and kept a vigilant eye on labour markets, ready to pounce at the first hint of a wages break-out.
So adept have Stevens and the crew been about raising anxiety levels of a rate hike, that newly debt shy Australians have decided to spend even less than they'd originally planned.
According to the latest monthly survey by Westpac and the Melbourne Institute, consumer confidence collapsed in July, down 8.3 per cent, hard on the heels of Tuesday's poor business confidence figures.
There is no doubt that uncertainty over the federal government's carbon tax combined with the unrelenting negativity and fear being whipped up by the Opposition - including dire warnings of industry closures and massive job losses - has triggered an almost universal reaction from consumers to snap wallets shut.
On the income side, the recovery in Queensland has taken much longer than expected, forcing the central bank to scale back its estimates for economic growth.
About the only positive for Australia was yesterday's better than expected growth numbers from China, which is still powering ahead at breakneck speed. Its economy grew 9.5 per cent in the second quarter, slightly lower than the first quarter, but at a level that indicates continued strong demand for our raw materials.
Ireland, yesterday, suffered the ignominy of having its debt cut to junk status. Along with Portugal, it already has been the subject of a European Union bail-out while Greece has had two in as many years.
It is said that while the EU cannot afford to let a Portugal, Ireland or Greece fail, the fear is that it cannot afford to save a country like Italy.
Italy is the third largest economy in the Eurozone, after Germany and France. And it is home to the world's third largest bond market which has attracted investors, particularly major banks, from around the globe.
It is for that very reason that our own big four banks carry a substantial exposure to Italy, estimated at more than $3 billion, with a further $4 billion on loan to Spain.
Interest rates on Italian debt have risen substantially in recent weeks as sentiment around the latest Greek bail-out has soured; most believe it is a default in disguise.
Italy is due to refinance a substantial portion of that debt within the next three months, and the premium it must now pay is beginning to look unmanageable.
Given debt markets work in reverse - the interest rate on a bond rises as the value of the bond falls - this is also proving problematic for banks and other institutions that have invested in Italian debt. The value of their investments have fallen sharply.
Those concerns have spilled over into equity markets, which have been retreating rapidly for much of the new financial year after having marked time for the past two years.
Interestingly, commodity markets have remained strong. Normally in an emerging crisis, there is a flight to safety, particularly precious metals such as gold and silver.
That's certainly been evident in the past fortnight with gold threatening to forge new records and silver following in its wake.
But other commodities, including metals and grain prices, have been soaring. Investors, globally, are switching out of stockmarkets and putting cash directly into commodities.
That has limited the hit to the Australian dollar. There is evidence of a flight to safety on currency markets but higher commodity prices have cushioned the blow. | <urn:uuid:370d41a2-04a9-44df-98c7-554a7fdf2717> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theage.com.au/business/italys-woes-could-put-reserve-bank-in-a-spin-20110713-1he4r.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966002 | 1,105 | 1.515625 | 2 |
a cura di Marco SammicheliIl testo che Eduardo Delgado-Orusco ed Esteban Fernández-Cobián presentano in questa colonna è il frutto di una riflessione presentata in occasione del convegno internazionale ‘A Living Presence. Extending and Transforming the Tradition of Catholic Sacred Architecture’ tenutosi lo scorso aprile presso la School of Architecture della Catholic University di Washington. La pubblicazione degli atti del convegno è attesa per il mese di marzo. Gli autori presentano, in anteprima sul sito di Abitare, gli aspetti fondamentali della loro ricerca sull’architettura religiosa spagnola del ventesimo secolo passando in rassegna il ruolo dei dogmi in relazione con lo spirito del tempo, la tendenza al surrealismo tipica del contesto iberico nonchè le correnti principali che hanno attraversato la modernità e toccato la contemporaneità dell’archiettura sacra. Tra le conclusioni la denuncia di un pericoloso ritorno alla nostalgia e alle forme del passato che in questo campo, specie nel contesto nord americano, suona come un monito. Il rischio è che l’appello non venga raccolto dalla comunità scientifica nè da quella progettante. È nostro dovere fare un tentativo perchè questo non accada.
curated by Marco SammicheliThe text presented by Eduardo Delgado-Orusco and Esteban Fernández-Cobián in this column is the result of a thought highlighted on the occasion of the international congress ‘A Living Presence. Extending and Transforming the Tradition of Catholic Sacred Architecture’ held last April at the School of Architecture of the Catholic University di Washington. The publication of the congress proceedings is expected for next March. The authors present, in preview on the Abitare site, the essential aspects of their research on Spanish religious architecture during the twentieth century, inspecting the role of dogmas in relation with the spirit of the times, the inclination to surrealism typical of the Iberian context, as well as the main currents running through modernity and touching contemporaneity of the sacred architecture. Among the conclusions, we find the denounciation of a dangerous return to nostalgia and to the forms of the past that, in this field, especially in the North American context, sounds like a warning. The risk is that the appeal is missed both by the scientific and the planning community. We think it our duty to make an attempt at preventing this to happen. BETWEEN THE DOGMA AND THE SPIRIT OF THE TIMES
Certainly all architecture is a reflection of the man on himself and on its way to being in the world, and therefore a cultural fact with obvious implications in the minds of individuals and societies. For this reason, each society can be recognized by its architecture. But societies change and architecture also.
The idea that times change dragging everything in its path is a typically romantic idea linked to feelings of fatalism and destination that has difficult arrangement in the Christian conception of the world. And however, invoking ‘Zeitgeist’, to the spirit of the times, has been a constant in the justification of religious architecture of the 20th century.
The Constitution Apostolic ‘Sacrosanctum Concilium’ proposed the appropriate framework for «adapt better to the needs of our time the institutions that are subject to change -the architecture, for example-(…) and thus our voices join the admirable concert great men sang the Catholic faith in past centuries» (§ 1 and 123).
The problem for religious architecture arises when thinking currents change too fast or are less than free. Because religious architecture, more than any other, has a symbolic dimension, alludes to belief and in the limit to a dogma. Thus, we could ask us: how to harmonize the various cultural trends with permanent elements of Catholic dogma without distorting the cult buildings? It seems that this is what you want to analyze in this Congress.
Certainly the problem is complex, because it encompasses many disciplines and its ramifications we would too far. With this communication we will only try to explain what has happened in Spain during the 20th century. Explain how the desire to create a new canon that conform to the spirit of the times in the field of religious architecture, often collided with stubborn physical reality a strongly determined by geography and climate, territory and stubborn psychological and cultural reality of its inhabitants. To do this we will support some examples that will enable us to refer to so many topics that filled the debate: the intense debate on the construction of the space in the 20th century Spain.
THE SPANISH TENDENCY TO SURREALISM
Juan Daniel Fullaondo has been one of the critics that has most used surrealism – understood here generically as absurdity, the strange, the unusual, the ridiculous or the extravagant – as hermeneutical key to understanding the modern Spanish architecture. The fascination of the Spanish people for the dream – that could illustrate the unfinished scapegoat Temple of the Holy family of Antoni Gaudí (Barcelona 1886/ss) – is heir to the immensity of the Castilian Plateau and the merciless sun that falls on it, causing hallucinations and mirages; tragic sense of life reflected in bullfighting, «la fiesta nacional»; but also a Catholicism formally very rooted in society and often misunderstood, or simply not understood at all. In fact, the proverbial Spanish anti-clericalism, the taste for the ingenious joke you are trying to balance the bitterness of life with humor, or temporary impersonation of personality, would have its maximum expression in the Carnival.
Gustave Doré, Don Quixote of La Mancha, 1863.This surrealism as ‘modus vivendi’ explicit literature, painting, or film, from Francisco Goya to Salvador Dalí, as well as religious architecture.
Salvador Dalí, Last Supper, National Gallery (Washington DC, USA), 1955.
Note, for example, the case of the St. Michael Seminary (1931/36), built by Victor Eusa in Pamplona at exceptional anti-religious virulence characterized the Spanish Second Republic. Before the ban lifted crosses in buildings, Eusa designed the façade cross, echoing a previous project of Casto Fernández-Shaw, entitled Skyscraper-Temple ‘Dream Cross’ (1930).
Víctor Eúsa, St. Michael Seminar, Pamplona, 1931/36.
Casto Fernández-Shaw, Skyscraper-Temple ‘Dream Cross’, 1930. Project.
Surrealism will allow us to connect attempts to find a new canon, a valid path where tackle without too much effort, a correct and global religious architecture, appropriate to the spirit of the times and could evolve with it. In the 20th century Spain at least three attempts can be traced back: the ideal resource to eternal architecture; recourse to new archaism starting point; and the use of the context as natural and cultural environment. Three trends, the first is classical, modern second and the third organic. All contain some degree of breakdown, and could be organized through the Hegelian dialectical schema: thesis, antithesis and synthesis. Let’s start from the beginning.
FIRST path: IDEALISM
One of the first projects of Luis Moya – the so-called ‘Architectural dream for a national exaltation’ (1939) – was born in the trenches of the Spanish civil war. He found a church dedicated to the memory of the unknown hero, formalized through a difficult cataloging, perhaps that has emerged from a fever dream mixed Roman and Egyptian elements with other absolutely modern and anticipates the Italian metaphysical movement architecture. This line of work won’t continuity in his career, though in his later religious production pieces will be found.
Luis Moya, Architectural dream for a national exaltation, 1939. Project.
Scholar and extremely gifted architect Moya claimed during his lifetime clear guidelines to build the House of God, but not found it. Such architecture could not be to the whim of the fashion artistic movements – he thought – at least in an absolute manner. Obviously, it should be able to incorporate technological advances, responses adjusted thousand problems posed by the construction of the great religious spaces in each historical moment, but without leaving determine by them. For example, Moya fought the constructive immediacy – one of the core budget of modernity – confronting to good education, courtesy, which leads to architecture to provide a variety of records according to the circumstances.
Formal determinism of modern technique not convinced you, and even less for religious architecture. Therefore that is perhaps his masterpiece, St. Augustine (Madrid, 1945/59), Moya searches on the elliptical shape a site layout synthesis between the perfect central space and directional basilica space; and simultaneously, clothe that way with a very complex facade featuring in society that has been made to create space. So come to constitute a doctrinal corpus illustrated with seven or eight more refined churches which make up that code that repeatedly claimed to the Holy See and the Spanish Bishops.
Luis Moya, St. Augustine, Madrid, 1945/59.
But Moya, in spite of all his influence, failed to balance the strength of the spirit of the times in Spain. Too intellectual for some and too wondering the tradition for others, his legacy would be collected many years later by an indirect disciple, Rafael Moneo.
Reading that Moneo makes the history of the catholic church in the Cathedral of our Lady of Angels (1996/2002), docility which assumes the ecclesiastical entries, how to adjust the programme and do evolve without hardly forcing, all that has been learned from Moya. But at the same time, the surrealist tradition traces can track there: a plant superimposed façade and apse; a car park and a cemetery under the ship that are beyond the control of architect – the same as the three main liturgical elements, altar, ambo and seat-; and especially the image projected on the highway, which undoubtedly refers to Fernández-Shaw.
Rafael Moneo, Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles (EEUU), 1995/2002.
SECOND path: ARCHAISM
Although Moneo preferred link his work to the Basilica of our Lady of Arantzazu (Oñate, 1950/55), a building that certainly marked the beginning of a new Spanish architecture. The currency was then understood as archaic, as the zero grade culture from which could underpin a new tradition. Leaving aside the independentist political dimension that at the time you wanted to give, the charm of the site, the power of the forms and the concerns of the Holy see to accept an iconographic program certainly novel at the time, the process of reconstruction of the old shrine became a kind of initiatory itinerary for the Spanish architecture, a long and intense full of romantic drama where the forces of nature coalesced with the energies of the artistic violence of abstract informalism exercise.
Luis Laorga y Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oíza, Shrine of Our Lady of Arantzazu, Oñate, 1950/51.
Apparently, the work of Arantzazu had no followers in Spain. We say ‘apparently’ because there is a ridiculous – but deeply rooted – custom among the Spanish architects does not recognize any paternity. Miguel Fisac, for example, never referred to Arantzazu to refer to its religious architecture. During the 1950s, this architect caused a real revolution.
A revolution that was to do without any formal imposition preset in the sacred architecture to reflect from scratch, so that the form of the churches would be a direct consequence of the use of space. Invented a new concept, ‘dynamism’, developed three variants: the convergence of walls, double dynamism using geometry and color, and dynamic wall.
Miguel Fisac, Chapel of the Apostolic College of the Dominicans,
In the Arcas Reales church (Valladolid, 1952/54), dynamism was achieved using tilt on the bare side walls, floor lift the roof and the floor to the altar, and a gradual increase of light reaching a presbytery flooded by light intensity.
Miguel Fisac, Church of the Theological College of the Dominicans, Alcobendas, 1955/60.
Through double dynamism or light in color escape single – which only example was the church of the Alcobendas Theology Seminar (Madrid, 1955/60) -, Fisac doubled this effect by adding a color grading in light. But the program of this temple was too specific, and needed a more generalist solution. Thus arose the concept of ‘dynamic wall’, i.e. a curved and flat wall that produces an instinctive sliding the gaze towards the altar available uninterrupted and surround. This effect is balanced with the opposite wall of rough texture. The best example of this system was the parish church of the Coronation of Our Lady (Vitoria, 1957/60), without a doubt, one of the masterpieces of contemporary Spanish architecture.
Miguel Fisac, The Coronation of Our Lady, Vitoria, 1957/60.
Martín Lejárraga, Chapel of Los Camachos, Cartagena, 1995/2002.
The archaic Fisac variant also ended in a relative failure. For many years his work is read as a very personal work, a creator that had interesting findings plastic, but not as a way of deepening in the Christian architectural tradition. However, lately have begun to appear architectures whose filiation seems clear and that prefigure, if not a new canon, at least one path design used in fact, this is not some. Due to the popularity that the architect returned to enjoy during the last years of his life, the simplicity of his architectural work has become a reference and his naive theoretical approach returns to be attractive for young architects such as Martín Lejárraga and others (Chapel of the Camachos, Cartagena, 1995/2002).
THIRD path: CONTEXTUALISM
It is unquestionable that after the Second Vatican Council, worship spaces were made in Spain more modern and multi-purpose. Relations between the participants and the priest changed, or at least wanted to see. Own Fisac of studying the issue with various liturgists, told: «dynamism has died: now we must to do a ring». But also note to disappear the traditional model of church as outdated began to emerge free and grotesque architectures of dubious liturgical adequacy. In addition, quickly sprang a feeling of euphoria and a global innovative zeal, which resulted in the conviction that anything was likely to be changed. Therefore soon the renewal of the religious architecture lost much of its interest and modernization efforts were applied to fields related to sociology or the social care, when not to own dogma.
The sanctuary of our Lady of the Angels of Torreciudad (Heliodoro Dols Morell, El Grado, 1963/75), perhaps the last modern temple of some importance in Spain, was built at that time. A first approximation, the most relevant characteristic appears notable eclecticism of the language. Indeed, promoter board refused to assume the excesses of the formal prevailing confusion after the crisis of the modern movement, but also wanted a tourist and folkloric postcard, but an architecture born land, culture and local customs. By expressed desire of Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei and driver of the initiative, Dols left to soak the popular architecture of this mountainous land, then filter on the characteristic wrightian-expressionist sieve of his generation. It was materialize in a not too dated modern architecture, the desire for harmony, order and tradition that soon after, Kenneth Frampton popularized entitled ‘critical regionalism’, but that some years earlier had already sensed in various churches built for the Spain villages of colonization.
Heliodoro Dols, Shrine of Our Lady of the Angels, Torreciudad, 1963/75.
But Torreciudad is first and foremost, a traditional church in the best sense of the word. The interior is a grotto, a Romanesque space, but also a structural display almost Gothic. And its altarpiece, Baroque pure. The program crashed front and intentionally with many aspects of a liturgical renewal converted into fashion: the Tabernacle located in the Centre of the altarpiece, very high presbytery to the ship, the linear arrangement of the faithful, the great place to kneel… Before the gross misunderstanding of the Spanish Church, developers had to explain the internal provision as an evolution of traditional aragonese architecture. But for many years Torreciudad was a rarity, an eccentricity, an extemporaneous and not publishable example, even within the own Catholic Church. To the extent that in some tourist guides became say dam hydroelectric power that had built at his feet had tiling in blue to enhance the landscape on the other hand, truly magnificent.
The image of Torreciudad returned twenty-five years later in the Church of Our Lady of Cana (Pozuelo de Alarcón, 1997/2000). Built by Fernando Higueras Díaz, a controversial architect of the same generation that Dols, perhaps the most consistent example of what should today be a new temple if you judge by its Sunday influx of faithful. Here the initial will of the architect was subject to the parish priest, his nephew, requested an architecture that is clearly recognizable as religious, putting expressly to Torreciudad as reference. And he did so. However, could argue that in this case the language does not respond at all to the context – Pozuelo is a new town in the Madrid periphery-; it aims to build a monument, an image. Where is the logic of all this? We are dealing with a new case of proverbial Spanish surrealism or attending the birth of a new constructive canon?
We would like to conclude our speech quoting two unusual architectures will be as an example of general disorientation our country today. On the one hand, the chapel built in his house by Manolo Sanchís, Real Madrid football player (Juan Carlos Sancho and Sol Madridejos, Valdeacerón, 1997/2000), most published Spanish religious space over the past years.
Juan Carlos Sancho y Soledad Madridejos, Private chapel, Valdeacerón, 1997/2000.
On the other, the so-called ‘Cathedral’ of Our Lady of the Pillar in Mejorada del Campo (Madrid), built by himself with material tombstone for more than 40 years by the farmer and old monk Justo Gallego, and famous, inter alia, by having starred in a spot of refreshing drink Aquarius.
Justo Gallego, Our Lady of the Pillar, Mejorada del Campo, 1961/ss.
All this is seems little more than nonsense. But most striking the case is that these two works have been the only pieces of Spanish religious architecture have recently exhibited at MoMA New York (www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/86).
Therefore we think it is necessary that in Spain, the Catholic Church again raise the promotion of a new architectural canon with rigor and seriousness. Should be religious architecture, then, an architecture of promoters that architects, as claimed some years ago the Cardinal of Milan, Carlo Maria Martini? Perhaps. Because we must not forget that architecture is a fundamental means of evangelization at all levels – cultural use and media- and that their currency or its archaeologism, as its constructive apathy, its projection into the future or his homesickness for the past, will be the distinguishing features of each community of believers.
Eduardo Delgado-Orusco, Ph.D., is a practicing architect in Madrid (Reset arquitectura), a member of School of Architecture at the Polytechnic University of Madrid and author of several books and articles.
Esteban Fernández-Cobián, Ph.D., architect, Contract Professor at the School of Architecture at the University of La Coruña (Spain) and author of several books and articles. | <urn:uuid:c4ec7db9-76a6-4f40-83e2-8299d64b669c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.abitare.it/en/architecture/in-cerca-di-una-nuova-tradizione-evoluzioni-nellarchitettura-religiosa-spagnola-del-20%C2%B0-secolo/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933985 | 4,370 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Wisconsin Teachers Heading to Chicago
Posted at: 09/14/2012 12:17 PM
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Teachers from Wisconsin plan a rally Friday night at the state Capitol in Madison and then head to Chicago on Saturday to show solidarity with those on strike there.
Milwaukee Teachers Education Association President Bob Peterson said Friday that he expects a couple hundred Wisconsin teachers to head to Chicago. The event is being billed as a "Wisconsin-style" rally.
Wisconsin was the center of the national fight over union rights last year when Republican Gov. Scott Walker proposed effectively ending collective bargaining rights for teachers and other public workers.
Many Wisconsin schools around the state shut down for days in February as tens of thousands of people, including many teachers, descended on the Capitol to protest Walker's proposal that passed and has been in effect for more than a year.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) | <urn:uuid:08209540-a37d-4df6-a09c-32f0eee595da> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wdio.com/article/stories/S2766009.shtml?cat=10359 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938233 | 202 | 1.601563 | 2 |
REUTERS MAGAZINE-The Swiss turn on the super-rich
Jan 21 (Reuters) - In February 2008, Thomas Minder, a Swiss businessman whose family-owned company is best known for its old-fashioned herbal toothpaste, attacked his banker, UBS Chairman Marcel Ospel, as if he were a form of stubborn plaque. At a shareholders' meeting in Basel, he stormed the podium as Ospel addressed the crowd. Ospel's bodyguards grappled with Minder and wrestled him away before he could land his symbolic blow - he was trying to hand the embattled head of Switzerland's largest bank a bound copy of Swiss company law, which codifies corporate temperance.
"Gentlemen, you are responsible for the biggest write-downs in Swiss corporate history," Minder had railed just a few minutes before, referring to UBS's loss of $50 billion during the subprime meltdown that prompted it to seek a government bailout. "Put an end to the Americanization of UBS corporate philosophy!"
The bodyguards marched Minder out of the hall amid a chorus of boos and jeers. Two months later, Ospel was gone, taking the fall for UBS's recklessness, but Minder's campaign against big bonuses had only just begun; shortly after Ospel was ousted, Minder filed the 100,000 signatures needed to launch a referendum to impose some of the tightest controls on executive compensation in the world.
Of the top 100 Swiss companies, 49 give shareholders a consulting vote on the pay of executives. A few other countries, including the United States and Germany, have introduced advisory "say on pay" votes in response to the anger over inequality and corporate excess that drove the Occupy Wall Street movement. Britain is also planning to implement rules in late 2013 that will give shareholders a binding vote on pay and "exit payments" at least every three years. Minder's initiative goes further, forcing all listed companies to have binding votes on compensation for company managers and directors, and ban golden handshakes and parachutes. It would also ban bonus payments to managers if their companies are taken over, and impose severe penalties - including possible jail sentences and fines - for breaches of these new rules.
Despite strong opposition from the business elite, Minder's initiative is given a good chance of passing when it goes to a vote on March 2. Even if his referendum fails, the country will automatically adopt a counterproposal put forward by parliament that would compel companies to hold votes on executive pay, although the results would not be binding.
This is a stunning turn of events for the land of secret bank accounts and carefully calibrated neutrality. Even though most Swiss enjoy a very high standard of living, Minder's campaign has struck a chord in a proudly egalitarian country increasingly unhappy with a growing class of super-rich unafraid to flaunt their wealth. Combine that with an undercurrent of xenophobia - many of the top-paid executives in Switzerland are foreigners - and you have a volatile mix. In another sign of discontent, parts of the country are also considering scrapping the tax breaks that have lured wealthy foreigners such as Formula One driver Michael Schumacher, pop stars Phil Collins and Tina Turner, and Switzerland's richest man, Ingvar Kamprad, the Swedish founder of Ikea. "There is severe inequality that one really senses, even if there is no abject poverty in Switzerland," says economist Hans Kissling, former head of the Zurich statistics office, who has written a book warning that the growing influence of the super-rich carries the risk of turning Switzerland into a feudal state by undermining a tradition of direct democracy that dates back to the Middle Ages.
Statistics say the Swiss are the richest people in the world, with net financial assets of nearly $148,000 per capita. That is a third more than the average for the next two wealthiest nations-Japan and the United States. And when it comes to distribution of income, Switzerland is one of the most equal societies.
But the ownership of that wealth, including stocks or physical assets such as land and housing, is much more unequally shared in the nation, as is the trend elsewhere. The top 1 percent in Switzerland control more than a third of the nation's wealth, which is slightly larger than the share owned by the richest 1 percent in the United States. Switzerland also has the highest density of millionaires in the West, with 9.5 percent of all households having $1 million or more, and the greatest number of ultra-rich families - 366 households worth more than $100 million. Ten percent of all the world's billionaires live there.
This astounding concentration of wealth riles the Swiss, although their economy has held up relatively well through the financial crisis. For all its prosperity and success in international banking, Switzerland is a country still firmly rooted in its farming past, a nation with no history of monarchy or even aristocracy. "Even though Swiss people earn good money and have an average high salary, we also have a strong traditional feeling about what is good corporate governance," Minder says as he sucks one of his company's herbal throat lozenges. "You can have your second home, you can drive your Ferrari, you can eat your beef every day, but Swiss people are middle class, with no extreme highs or lows."
Minder is the epitome of the Swiss entrepreneurs whose small businesses are the backbone of the country's economy. They chide big banks and other homegrown multinationals - like Roche, Novartis, Nestle and ABB - for adopting an American-style get-rich-quick corporate culture. That, in their view, contrasts with a Swiss business ethos that favors sustainability and long-term relationships, one that has helped build a reputation for high-quality products like watches and other precision instruments. Minder took over the family business, Trybol, from his father in 1999; his grandfather bought the company in 1913. Founded by a dentist in 1900 in the northern town of Schaffhausen, Trybol produced one of the first toothpastes in Switzerland and is also known for its herbal mouthwash and natural cosmetics.
Minder blames bankers like Ospel, a Swiss national who spent several years in investment banking in London and New York, for infecting Swiss business with a high-pay culture. "He was working for Merrill Lynch in New York - Wall Street - and there is where the music was playing. (Big bonuses) came over, and now (they're) not only in the financial industry: (They're) also in productive industry, pharma, Nestle and others. There's a lot of bullshit coming from America. There's no sustainable feeling of how managers lead a company. It shouldn't be for the money, it shouldn't be personal gain - it should be for the customer."
In 2001, just two years after Minder took over at Trybol, it was threatened with ruin when Swissair reneged on a $530,000 contract. In a blow to national pride, the debt-ridden airline had to ground its fleet for two days in October 2001. That same year, Swissair paid Mario Corti $13.4 million, even though he had failed to keep the company aloft. "It was nearly the grounding of Switzerland, not only of Swissair," says Minder, who saved his company by begging the new head of the airline, which was taken over by Lufthansa, to honor the contract. But his rage over Conti still burns. "That guy is now in America. He has not given back any money. He was working for one year. I would say it is even criminal."
Minder spent several years venting his outrage to newspapers before deciding to go to war. He spent two years raising funds to force a referendum on executive compensation and another two years gathering signatures. It took him another five years to actually put the issue to the people as the Swiss Parliament wrangled over alternative proposals and tried to get Minder - elected to parliament as an independent in 2011 - to drop his initiative.
The influential business federation Economiesuisse, which represents 100,000 companies, says Minder's proposals could undermine Switzerland's position as the world's most competitive economy, a title awarded to it this year for the fourth year running by the World Economic Forum because of its low taxes, stable politics and business-friendly laws. Swiss companies accounted for five of the top 10 best-paid chairmen in Europe in 2011, but only the heads of Novartis and Roche made it into the continent's top 10 for chief executives.
While Minder expects Economiesuisse to spend up to $16 million to defeat his referendum, a poll conducted in May showed that 77 percent of Swiss voters back his proposals. Even the Swiss monthly business magazine Bilanz has criticized high pay for CEOs and chairmen. "Too powerful, too expensive," it scolded in a recent cover story, noting that the board presidents of Novartis and Roche earn more than 10 times the compensation of their counterparts at British pharma companies.
Few top executives have dared speak out on this land-mine issue. Nestle Chairman Peter Brabeck, an Austrian who has accumulated a fortune of up to $215 million, is one of the few. "If the Minder initiative were to be adopted, Switzerland would unnecessarily give up one of the world's best company laws," he wrote in an opinion piece in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung daily. "No well-advised company would chose to set up headquarters in a country where an infringement of corporate government rules can lead to imprisonment."
Many believe support for Minder's initiative is driven by a national allergy to high achievers. The Swiss seem to feel the need to cut their stars down to size, such as former Swiss central bank chief Philipp Hildebrand, who was long vilified as too proud even before a currency-trading scandal forced him to resign in January 2011. One exception to that aversion is tennis player Roger Federer, who has managed to stay popular, in part by retaining a down-to-earth image despite his wealth and success with a racket.
Experts attribute the Swiss aversion to star culture to a long history of consensus building between the German-speaking majority and French- and Italian-speaking minorities, and between Protestants and Catholics. Apart from folk hero William Tell, Swiss history is thin on great figures, perhaps because, having stayed out of the continent's major wars, the country has not needed strong leaders. "Switzerland has no kings, no emperors, no preeminent president, no one person upon whom everything is focused," says Karin Frick, an economist at the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute, an independent research body. "Egalitarian thinking and behavior is in the DNA of Switzerland, which means that people who are richer or more successful than others tend not to show it. The name of the game is understatement."
Communicaid, a London-based business consultancy specializing in cross-cultural awareness, cautions executives visiting Switzerland that its business leaders tend to be modest about their role and discreet in their exercise of authority. "People expect others to be on an equal level, and from someone in leadership or senior management they expect a certain amount of modesty and frugality in the way they approach money or material goods," says Cora Malinak, an intercultural specialist from Communicaid.
In his campaign, Minder, the vice president of his local soccer club and a keen birdwatcher and Alpine sports enthusiast, has repeatedly jabbed at the growing number of foreign CEOs, tapping into simmering resentment of outsiders in this tight-knit nation of just eight 8 million. The highest-paid chief executives in Switzerland in 2011 were all foreigners: Americans Joe Jiminez and Joe Hogan at Novartis and ABB, Roche's Severin Schwan from Austria, and Nestle's Paul Bulcke from Belgium. Minder regularly pillories Credit Suisse's American CEO, Brady Dougan, who has drawn fire for the $75 million stock windfall he received in 2009. "The moment you have the guys like Brady Dougan and all the foreigners, if it's not working, they're on the next plane back to New York," Minder says. "Swiss guys in my position, usually they're accepted in the village. They don't only have their work, but they have something besides their work - they cannot manage a company the same way as Brady Dougan." (The ill will is compounded by the fact that Dougan still can't speak German, even after five years leading Switzerland's second-biggest bank.)
Regardless of which reform plan the Swiss adopt, David Roth, the leader of the youth wing of the Social Democrats, says it won't do much to address Switzerland's deep inequality of wealth. Roth, 27, who organized the "Occupy Davos" camp of igloos in Davos in 2011, is pushing for a much more radical reform: Limit the annual compensation of top executives to just 12 times that of their lowest-paid worker. Both World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab and French President Francois Hollande have called for top pay to be capped at 20 times that of the lowest pay-tier. "If the shareholders vote on executive pay, it is still the rich voting about the rich," Roth says. "This whole cartel needs to be broken." His initiative is likely to be put to a vote in late 2013.
A separate campaign to end special tax deals for wealthy foreigners who live but don't work in Switzerland has also been driven by the growing wealth divide and taps into Swiss hostility to immigrants. The annual list of Switzerland's wealthiest 300 people published by Bilanz names 131 foreigners, with Ikea founder Kamprad in first place, at $38 billion.
Special tax deals for foreigners were first introduced in 1862 by the canton of Vaud along Lake Geneva (where Kamprad lives) in a bid to boost the tourist industry in poor rural regions by encouraging wealthy pensioners to move there. The deals were later adopted nationwide in rules dubbed Lex Chaplin after Charlie Chaplin moved to Switzerland in 1953, having fled the United States as a suspected Communist during the McCarthy witch hunt.
The number of super-wealthy foreigners lured to Switzerland has doubled in the last decade, to more than 5,000. Their taxes are based on the rental value of their property rather than their income or wealth, on the condition that they do not work in the country. The influx is blamed for pushing up housing prices, particularly in desirable areas around Lake Zurich and Geneva as well as the more glitzy Alpine resorts. Many of the tax exiles come from neighboring France, and more French could be scuttling across the border soon due to a 75 percent super-tax on income above 1 million euros ($1.29 million) proposed by Socialist President Hollande. Bernard Arnault, France's richest man, was pilloried last year for his decision to seek Belgian nationality.
The cantons of Zurich, Basel, Schaffhausen and Appenzell Ausserrhoden have already scrapped their special deals for foreign tax exiles, but others have upheld the current system, albeit raising the taxes levied on foreigners. Roth's Social Democrats are campaigning to force a national referendum on this issue too. "The system has an extremely damaging impact on the housing market, on Switzerland's image, and international tax justice," he says.
The Swiss government, which saw revenues of $716 million in 2010 from the special taxes on foreigners, is seeking to head off the Social Democrat campaign by increasing those taxes by about 40 percent. Economiesuisse is campaigning to uphold the current system.
Both Minder and Roth fear their campaigns could be scuppered. "It is going to be a battle of money," says Minder. "It's the classic battle between the small guy and the huge Economiesuisse establishment."
He's right to be worried. Zurich economist Kissling says money has increasingly determined the outcome of Swiss referenda, especially since billionaire industrialist Christoph Blocher started funding campaigns by the right-wing Swiss People's Party. He argues that the only way to tackle wealth inequality is to increase the inheritance tax, another issue the Social Democrats want to put to a vote, although that would likely face even more entrenched opposition. Swiss inheritance tax varies from canton to canton but is generally low - another draw for foreigners.
The 1 percent may be outraged by these assaults on their wallets, but they are already adjusting. Back at that UBS shareholder meeting from which Minder got the bum's rush, another chiding stockholder offered Ospel a string of sausages. "In the future you will have to live a little more modestly," he told the UBS chairman. Forewarned of the stunt, Ospel whipped out a tube of mustard, as though he were ready to tuck into them right then. But he got the message. Later that year, Ospel and other ex-board members agreed to return $35 million in bonuses and other payments from the bank. Credit Suisse has not paid top executives any cash awards for the last four years, in favor of stock-based schemes linked to the bank's share price. Dougan's pay was cut in half in 2011 as the bank's stock tumbled, although he still took home $6.2 million.
Ethos, an influential group of shareholders that makes recommendations to Swiss pension funds, says managers' total pay at financial firms dropped 23 percent in 2011, although remuneration in other sectors rose 5 percent.
UBS drew howls of outrage again last year over the $4 million signing-on fee for new chairman Axel Weber, prompting more than a third of its shareholders to reject the bank's pay plans. Weber, who is German, refuses to comment publically on the debate around the Minder proposals. That might be caution, or it might be a smart tactical decision. "It is a matter for the Swiss people," he told the SonntagsZeitung newspaper. "At the moment, we generally see that the more bankers publically wish for something, the less likely it is to be fulfilled politically." | <urn:uuid:efdc7862-1c64-4b95-bd47-043b75edf123> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnbc.com/id/100394300 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971686 | 3,739 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Today's RED Hearts Update: Entertainment
The Art of Emoji
by Zoe Mendelson, 22, reporting from New York, NY, on amazing, long-form storytelling (Lolita! Beyoncé!) via emoji
Texting is an unfortunately flat method of communication; it fails at transmitting tone. This is why emoticons are important. “Let me now what you're up to tonight.” and “Let me know what you're up to tonight :P” are completely different messages. The first could come off to a friend as needy or awkwardly bossy, or to someone you're dating as a bit overbearing, even. The second would require external circumstances to read like the first or be misinterpreted. So, I think in the beginning simple smileys served this purpose.
Then they became something of a cultural phenomenon. There was even a song about them (LOL :) by Trey Songz). By the time emoji came around, smileys had taken on an irony, an element of retro kitsch. Besides, their intended use as shortcuts to replace words seemed senseless. It would take a lot longer to sift through four precariously devised categories looking for a car than it would to type c-a-r.
So we started using emoji for fun, because they were so random.
But then something more fun happened: attempts at long-form emoji storytelling. People I text with and I either got very bored or were procrastinating very hard, and we realized the full creative potential of the little ones. We started to construct actual stories with them, in a form of modern hieroglyphics.
Here's one by my boyfriend (a clearly very serious law student) called “A Relationship”:
Then we started to animate song lyrics. Here's my best friend's rendering of "Survivor" by Destiny's Child:
And here's my Lolita in sixty seconds:
Challenge your friends. Take emoji to the next level. This is a medium a lot more intriguing than Instagram built right into your phone. And even when you hit a moment that calls for some serious emoji compromise or innovation—like who plays Beyoncé?—at least you don't have to cast her as : ).
Get the full set of RED Hearts posts-in Fashion, Beauty, Entertainment, and News. | <urn:uuid:1db4dbb2-cffb-4169-baa4-f93c36196e6a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://redthebook.com/cs/redhearts/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95825 | 482 | 1.5 | 2 |
I can hardly believe it is still February when I look outside. While much of the country, and even the panhandle of Texas, is buried in snow, we are rushing headlong into spring.
Iris and snapdragons are blooming.
The Carolina jessamine, Gelsemium sempervirens, is in full flower and beneath it the gopher plant, Euphorbia rigida.
Even the chocolate daisy, Berlandiera lyrata, is blooming. This one, growing in between pavers in the sunken garden clearly likes the spot. It has been there for more than 6 years.
When we took down a cedar tree outside the walls of the English garden, to bring in more sun, I suggested to D that we might cut off the trunk and put the English bird house on the top. This week the wrens were busy making a nest in there. One of many I am sure.
But the nights are still cool with a threat of frost so I still worry about all the trees and plants that are leafing out. Blankets are at the ready for the most tender of my plants.
Gardens on Tour Stop #4 - Lounging
45 minutes ago | <urn:uuid:2897576e-93f6-46cf-83ea-c0fd08aef7d3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wwwrockrose.blogspot.com/2013/02/spring-is-in-air.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966401 | 254 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Knowing what the weather is and is going to be at our next destination is important to us.
We have tried many ways to monitor the weather, none of which were bad but none were very handy either. . The latest tool we have tried is the "WeatherBug.com". We like it very much. It is a free application download (PC or Mac) that puts the weather at out fingertips. By entering the desired zip code, the live temperature is displayed on the taskbar.
Clicking on the temp opens a window that allows you access to more weather information.
We monitor our home weather as default. However when we decide to move, we change to the new destination zip and monitor the weather there. Changing the zip code is very easy.
It's a tool that we like very much.
Bob and Julie
"Be nice. Everybody is fighting some kind of battle"
We have used Wunderground.com for years and find it meets our needs perfectly. You can establish favorites for locations you want to follow. One click on the favorite and that weather page is displayed. We have some favorites set for places where relatives live and others set for places we plan to travel. Wunderground has loads of information available at local, regional and national levels. While it is free, it does display some banner ads, but you can dispense with them by paying a $10 annual fee and becoming a member (we did).
You should also check out www.my-cast.com I like this better than the others I have used a it let's me set multiple locations and one click moves me between locations. I do also use Weather Bug so I can have a live temperature on my desktop but I usually use my-cast for the best weather information. Scan down to the bottom of the page to get "weather on the web" and not on your cell phone.
-------------------- Bill Adams Winegard Company Posts: 15681 | From: Traveling the Western US | Registered: May 2003
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I have used WeatherBug for several years and keep it running in the system tray for my current location. However, if you use Firefox, check out the ForecastFox extension. You can have multiple location profiles and switch between them in a couple of mouse clicks. Very configurable and you can have it display in various places in the browser. | <urn:uuid:79a50d67-42a1-4adb-a47e-c97b90b90769> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.datastormusers.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=000168;p=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949364 | 485 | 1.53125 | 2 |
ATLANTA (AP) - Executives with the health website WebMD say the company will cut dozens of jobs in the Atlanta area as part of a broader plan to trim about 14 percent of its workforce to reduce costs.
WebMD Health Corp. officials say 62 of the 250 jobs being cut are in metro Atlanta.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the cuts are aimed at reducing costs after a drop in advertising and sponsorship revenue.
The New York-based company said it expects to reduce annual operating expenses by about $45 million. Most of the job cuts will take place by the end of the year, while some of the other cost-cutting measures will extend into the first three months of 2013.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) | <urn:uuid:9a3fed63-0f03-4f0d-817e-25cd8e1ab6c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.13wmaz.com/life/community/iswth/article/207808/193/WebMD-to-Cut-62-Jobs-in-Metro-Atlanta- | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943725 | 171 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Women empowerment-A A +A
Stand Up for Life
Friday, March 15, 2013
THE Mass Communication Society (MCS) of the University of the Cordilleras takes a more active role in the campaign for women empowerment and gender sensitivity in celebration of International Women’s Month.
MCS Adviser Assistant Professor Katrina Mamaril said a series of activities were already done within the campus for the month long celebration dubbed “Babae ka” which were all organized by the officers and members of the said club.
“The activities created awareness among the students and enlightened them on the issues regarding women and gender,” Mamaril said.
The implemented activities include a seminar on gender sensitivity and issues on March 4 with speaker Jade Leung, Femmes Photo Exhibit: Wonders of a Woman on March 5-6, Zumbathon: “Dance Works for Women”, and Docufest on March 12.
The Docufest showcasing documentaries produced by students of the Communication Department held at the theater was attended by students from Baguio city National High School-Main who witnessed short films focusing on women empowerment, understanding the real essence of a woman, and defining what womanhood is.
MCS believes that the value of women before is not as much as what it is seen today. The thought about womanhood has also changed in different aspects like emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. It is for these reasons that they feel that there is a need to promote women empowerment, boost confidence, and eliminate inferiority complex among women by making them aware of their rights and value.
By involving and touching the hearts of the youth MCS hopes that the perspective of the young generation about women will be widened thus, they will gain more love and respect.
For as long that there are reports about violation on the rights of women there is a need to have a continuous program for women empowerment. The annual celebration of Women’s Month is a reminder that everyone should take part in making efforts to support the call and know the value of the essence of a woman.
The youth like the communication students of UC doing a very active role on this undertaking should be emulated by others to achieve the goal needed for the advocacy for women empowerment. Their command filled with love for this endeavor will surely aroused support from the other sectors. The youth taking an open expression on women empowerment and gender sensitivity will surely leave an impression.
For comments and suggestions email email@example.com
Published in the Sun.Star Baguio newspaper on March 15, 2013. | <urn:uuid:0beef7b0-bae5-4871-9d6f-08c1ee8b9594> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sunstar.com.ph/baguio/opinion/2013/03/15/sungduan-women-empowerment-273019 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962889 | 529 | 1.773438 | 2 |
We on the Main Streets throughout the Eastern seaboard have been hit up particularly with snow this season. Snowstorms do affect retail as well as restaurants, which affects our local economy. Main Street traditionally relies on customers that are out and able but when the weather poses risks, like slipping on the sidewalk or skidding with the car, we err on the side of safety.
The Town of Barnstable works well with the Hyannis Main Street Business Improvement District to ensure the flow of business here in the center of activity on Cape Cod. The day before a storm, Mark Ells, the director of the DPW, is in contact with Chief Paul MacDonald of the Barnstable Police. This week, what we heard was either we would receive a 2- to 3-inch duster or a full-blown blizzard.
Of course, to err on the side of safety is always the best way to proceed with the public in mind. We at the Hyannis Main Street BID are in contact with both parties to see how we should respond to a storm. Main Street BID would tell all members, for instance, if a parking ban is issued. In this case, our maintenance and operations person, Zack Hirschfield, is on the street by 7 a.m. hand shoveling the path around the JFK museum and watching to see if there is a flow of traffic along the street. He next checks that the sidewalks are either cleared or being cleared and that there are access points through the resulting snow banks to the stores. He looks at the very west and east ends to make sure they also have attention.
Salt is spread if it is icy. We tell our members to call if they need special help. We also know that businesses are responsible for their own pathway to their doors. They also are aware that they need to make sure it is safe to enter their store. Recent litigation brought out that property owners are responsible for making sure customers do not slip on their property.
As the DPW has 249 miles of roads to take care of, and 140 of these miles are considered primary or of high importance, everyone has to exhibit some patience with the process. I don’t speak for myself here, as I would be the first one to call before Christmas and try to make sure holiday shoppers can park and enter stores. We know, of course, that the DPW also does the parking lots, sidewalks and important bike paths. All this and then the major business districts.
If you were traveling at Christmas, you would have experienced cancelled flights and hotels, office parties and shopping nights. It was tough on business, but a natural part of living in the northeast. We all do our parts to keep it safe for the public to go out. Please think of all the work by our local population that goes into making sure the customer can do business. They are out sanding and plowing, shoveling, standing in stores so they would be open for business. If you can't go out today, go out next week. Shop Local, Eat Local, Go Local. | <urn:uuid:6bdaa85c-113c-4ab3-b55f-c15815e62f58> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.barnstablepatriot.com/home2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=23465&Itemid=111 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978204 | 625 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Alex Salmond said much had been achieved north of the border since the advent of devolution, but much more could be done with the powers that full independence would bring.
Mr Salmond said: "With the partial independence the Scottish Parliament has in health, education, justice, business support and social services, we have achieved much - and with the full measure of independence we get by voting Yes, we will achieve much more for Scotland."
The conference in Inverness comes just two days after he said that voters in Scotland will decide the country's future in an independence referendum to be held on September 18 2014.
Nationalists will use the gathering to set out their arguments for leaving the UK, with Mr Salmond stating: "Conference will set out the 'why of independence' to the people - what won't happen in an independent Scotland will be getting dragged into illegal wars, having Trident nuclear weapons dumped on the Clyde for another 50 years, or the imposition of bedroom taxes.
"And what will happen will be the mobilisation of the human and natural resources of Scotland to build a prosperous economy and just society."
Mr Salmond said that in the six years the SNP has been in power in Scotland it had "taken trust in the Scottish Government to a high of 71% - four times more than trust Westminster".
The First Minister used his conference speech this afternoon to argue Scotland would be better off economically if the country was independent.
He also sought to contrast policies north of the border with those in England, highlighting the provision of free personal care for the elderly, the increase in police numbers since the SNP came to power and the abolition of university tuition fees for Scottish students.
Meanwhile, his deputy opened the event by saying the next 18 months will be the most exciting in Scotland's history. Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon declared the crucial ballot would be Scotland's "date with destiny".
She told activists: "The next 18 months will be the most exciting in our history. Let's make sure we seize that opportunity, let's make sure that we win the referendum for ourselves and future generations."
She added: "Over the next 543 days we have the opportunity to persuade people right across our country not just that we can be independent, but that we must be independent, that Scotland would be better off independent."
She held up a copy of the Scottish Independence Referendum Bill published on Thursday, which she said would "give the people of Scotland the right to choose our own future, the right to choose independence".
She read out part of the Bill, which states: "A referendum is to be held in Scotland on a question about the independence of Scotland.
"The question is: Should Scotland be an independent country?"
Ms Sturgeon continued: "I joined this party when I was 16 years old. When I joined the SNP I of course imagined Scotland being independent, but I never ever imagined putting my signature on the Bill that will help make independence a reality.
"The Bill will set September 18 2014 as the date, Scotland's date with destiny."
She said the SNP had "shown beyond any doubt that Scotland can afford to be independent" as she hit out at "disgraceful welfare cuts being imposed on Scotland by a Tory government we didn't vote for".
Ms Sturgeon argued: "Why should Scotland be independent? Because that way we will always get the government we vote for.
"Because if we are independent, when we are independent, we will use Scotland's resources to build the better country that we want to live in."
Contextual targeting label: | <urn:uuid:d3c1bc36-482e-4f55-b27d-b5da39598c36> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/sturgeon-next-18-months-will-be-most-exciting-in-scotlands-history.1364046023 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962971 | 732 | 1.609375 | 2 |
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