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At Shub Niggurath Climate blog, he’s done a follow up to his first essay on the ongoing issues with integrity that the oxymoronically named blog “skepticalscience” has. Excerpts are posted below. I’ll point out the John Cook has not responded to my modest proposal yet, and even today, he allows the denigrating word to be used. It appears he has no scruples in the use of language people see as offensive, nor any scruples when it comes to the keeping the integrity of invited commentary intact.
Here’s Shub’s findings:
“…resist the temptation to reply to [trolls].
Instead, do what the troll hates most — simply remove the comment.”
— John Cook
The recent censorship episode at the skepticalscience.com brings an often overlooked aspect to the forefront. The target of deletion Prof Roger Pielke Sr, runs a blog. The actions of Skepticalscience were revealed because he posted them there.
What if a scientist or a lay person, interacted with websites like Skepticalscience and did not have a blog?
Consider what Skepticalscience did in reader Paul and AnthonySG1′s cases. In 2007, the website had an article explaining Antarctica’s cooling —a thorn in the pitch for a clean story about global warming— as an “uniquely” regional phenomenon. It talked of how ‘Antarctica was overall losing ice’, citing a peer-reviewed paper Velicogna et al 2003 for support.
The response in the comments section from Cook’s readers was simple: ‘Antarctic ice is increasing. You cannot take a paper that has three years worth of data and conclude that the continent was losing ice’. They cited references that Skepticalscience neglected – which showed an overall increase in Antarctic sea ice.
The rewriting that John Cook undertook is now recounted at Bishop Hill.
In the first step Cook changed the entire article, taking off from the criticisms. Next, he deleted his original ‘responses’, and added new ones that made it appear as though these commenters did not know what they were talking about.
The rewriting of Skepticalscience history
After this was openly revealed, John Cook offered explanations for his actions. It went something like this: ‘I accidentally mistook my readers to have responded to my updated article. Thinking that was indeed the case, their comments sounded silly to me. So I ended up adding responses to guide new readers’
A closer examination of the threads on Skepticalscience, reveals a different picture. Let us begin by examining a few examples to get a sense of what these might be.
Let us start with the thread “Climate models are unreliable”. As is known, the website portrays skeptical arguments as such simple statements and offers rebuttals. The article was published sometime late 2007.
In July 2008, ’poptech’ left a comment which questioned assertions made in the article. He quoted scientists at the Realclimate consensus blog:
From mid-2008, Poptech’s comment remained intact on the thread till as recently as Feb 2011 . At some point afterward, the comment was deleted. Another of poptech’s comments upthread, to which three commenters responded (example) was deleted, leaving the responses hanging mid-air.
Take the exchange between ‘Adamski’ and ‘chris’ (comments 36, 37, 38, 39 originally):
What is more: as can be seen from the screen captures above, Cook goes into the comments and deletes commenters’ references to each others’ posts. This is no computer glitch and it demonstrates he knew what he was doing. Nor does this square with the explanations Cook provided at Bishop Hill. . Again, as before, parts of a conversation are deleted and altered in such a way, the end result looks like something that never happened.
Why does John Cook do this?
The deletions carried out by Cook don’t make sense as an exercise in moderation. They seem driven by an ardent need to present a clean and neat view of global warming. Of a need to reassure that no intelligent discussions exist, and all possible questions have (long) been answered.
The structure of Cook’s website appears to push things in his direction. In the beginning, pages are born as undemanding and easy arguments. Cook then seems to realize that the skeptical arguments are more involved and complex than the simplistic picture he presents. He updates the same pages with more detail. But messy comments have accumulated below the line, sticking out like sore thumbs. The ‘broad picture’ that Cook so wants to convey is sullied.
In the meantime fresh readers, oblivious to the confusing mish-mash of claim and counter-claim, arrive in greater numbers on the shores of the global warming debate. Journalists, policy-makers and other influential opinion-makers land up everyday at skepticalscience, looking for a quick grasp on the consensus position in climate issues. How does one protect these newcomers?
Cook’s solution: the inconvenient comments go flying out the window.
One clearly sees that the mission of the website underwent a change ~end of 2009. In the earlier years, Cook seems welcoming to comments. His interest it seemed was to point out findings from scientific papers, that he thought contradicted climate skeptics’ claims. By November 2009, Cook had arrived at a dramatically different viewpoint. He saw ‘global warming skepticism’ as a sort of a mental illness or a psychiatric condition, with the afflicted being beyond any hope. Psychologic diagnoses permeates his thinking from that point on.
Cook voices his thoughts on the shift in a post in November 2009. It is hard to fathom, why, anybody who ran a website and worked hard at attracting and nurturing an online community, would commit the most fundamental of indiscretions with his readers’ comments – deleting and moulding them at his own whim.
As seen in his response above, Cook viewed the comments section of his website topics as a resource, to be used for ‘educating’ the public.
From there on, editing, deleting and moulding the historical record probably did not seem any wrong to Cook.
More here: Skepticalscience – Rewriting History
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The Innovating Social Change Conference explores nontraditional methods for inciting social change
10/20/2009 - Social change isn’t just for nonprofits anymore. Increasingly, for-profit businesses are using innovative methods to address the greater good while satisfying the bottom line.
Those methods were explored in greater detail at the Kellogg School’s Innovating Social Change Conference, held Oct. 14 at the James L. Allen Center. Addressing the theme of “Innovation: A Catalyst for Social Change Across Sectors,” leaders from the public, private and nonprofit sectors shared their strategies for integrating social change into their business practices.
A morning panel session kicked off with a discussion on how the terms “nonprofit” and “for-profit” are becoming obsolete. John Wood ’89, founder and president of Room to Read — an organization that builds libraries and schools in developing countries — explained that many companies are feeling pressure to take a stance on social and environmental issues. Businesses are expected to operate in an ethical way, regardless of their status as a nonprofit or for-profit.
Wood expressed that he was glad to see this shift. “I hate the term nonprofit,” he said. “It defines you not by what you do but what you don’t do.”
Jonathan Greenblatt ’99, the founder of Ethos Water — a bottled water company that supports humanitarian water programs — and founder and president of Our Good Works, agreed that the terms no longer apply. Moreover, it’s important for socially driven companies to think about profits, because that’s what allows you to make a bigger impact.
“There is nothing wrong with making money,” Greenblatt said. “Ethos wouldn’t have worked if it weren’t at a high margin volume. Part of the reason why we sold Ethos to Starbucks is because Starbucks has amazing scale … and the ambition was to help [more] children get clean water.”
At the conclusion of the discussion, Greenblatt urged Kellogg students to think about how they can make a contribution to society regardless of their chosen career path.
“Don’t feel like you need to wait to give back,” he said. “You don’t need to go join Ethos water; you can be a social intrapreneur in corporate environments, at places like Kraft, Clorox or Morgan Stanley. Don’t think that divorces you from doing something responsible.”
During the afternoon “Innovative Investing Panel,” four investors shared their traditional and non-traditional strategies for supporting social change.
“We believe that there are many ways to do good in the world with capital,” said Seth Miller ’98, a partner at DBL Investors, who explained that his venture capital firm invests in companies that deliver capital returns while enabling social, environmental and economic improvements in the low- and moderate-income neighborhoods of San Francisco. “We’re trying to change the way that for-profits work in the world — to direct traditional capital to impact the world in a positive way.”
Dr. Sanjay Sinho, CEO of the American India Foundation, shared how his development organization invests in non-governmental organizations as a means to accelerate social and economic change in India. While the foundation initially had a “welfare approach,” it now works with its partners to implement programs in the sectors of education, livelihood and public health.
“We don’t just think about giving them a fish or teaching them how to fish,” he said, citing the adage. “We think about, do they have access to the lake? Is there pollution in the lake? Can they leave their house to go to the lake? We take a transformational approach.
“When I think of social investing, I think about investing in a high structure of human dignity,” he said.
The Innovating Social Change Conference was organized by the Kellogg School’s Net Impact Club, a student organization that is dedicated to providing learning and networking opportunities to Kellogg students interested in socially responsible businesses and nonprofit management.
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After protests, Vietnam says it will return nunciature to Catholics
Published: February 1, 2008
HANOI, Vietnam (CNS) -- After round-the-clock prayer vigils and protests on the grounds of the former apostolic nunciature in Hanoi, Vietnamese authorities have decided to return the building to the Catholic Church. City officials said the government would return the former nunciature, which the communist government confiscated in 1959, after the Vietnamese lunar new year celebrations Feb. 7-9, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News Feb. 1. Government officials informed the Hanoi Archdiocese of the building's return at a Jan. 31 meeting, but on Feb. 1 Catholics were still occupying the property, reported UCA News. Church sources told the Rome-based missionary news service AsiaNews that civil authorities decided to let the church have the building "to show good will and respect toward the pope." The announcement of the breakthrough came a day after the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, sent a letter to Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet of Hanoi.
Copyright (c) Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .
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A possible MagPi Ada series?
On the 10/07/12 I emailed the editor at MagPi magazine to ask him if he would be interested in a new Ada series to introduce Ada to new Raspberry Pi owners, he seemed up for it, so I decided to give writing the first article. It took a few weeks to knock out and learn Scribus at the same time.
Ada Bare bones port
I have spent today taking my code from previous hello world kernel attempts and updating them as a port of the OSDev.org Bare bones tutorial.
Developing a content management system Part 2
In this part I shall look at the overall system structure of the CMS and what each part is supposed to do.
Developing a content management system Part 1
This site is currently implemented using MODX, and not very well on my end as I wanted something fast.
First simple app for ARM
After managing to update the build scripts for TAMP's compilers, I have managed to build and run a very simple application on an STM32F4DISCOVERY board in Ada.
Bare metal ARM GNAT compiler built
After a multitude of different builds and a few modifications to the GNAT runtime, I have finally managed to build GCC-4.6.1 C and GNAT compilers for bare metal.
The build utilises Newlib as the libc interface that GNAT's RTS builds upon, I've disabled sockets, files and a few other things
TAMP: Some success
After spending about 2 weeks basically compiling compilers pretty much constantly, I've managed to build gnat for arm-none-eabi with tools and without the runtime system, which is the most important part.
This isn't supported by AdaCore in the FSF release so I've had to hack into the makefi
I have been working on getting the basic toolchain created ready for the development of TAMP.
37 reasons to choose Ada over C
I was pointed at a link which goes through a number of reasons to choose Ada over C.
The status of wxAda
After a long break from wxAda, I'm getting back into looking at it. I've decided to start again and generate the bindings automatically using the 2.9.x interface files. Binding is a difficult proces and this could take some time to acheive.
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ASHLAND — A helicopter being used on a logging project in the Ashland watershed will be used closer to town and should finish its share of the job this week, if weather permits.
Chris Chambers, a forest resource specialist for the Ashland Forest Resiliency Project, sent out a project update Monday explaining that people might notice more noise from the helicopter as its crew works near the city limits.
After this phase of helicopter logging finishes, log-truck traffic will continue to be heavy on Granite Street this week. The trucks will carry logs through town and ultimately to Murphy Veneer in White City. As many as 20 to 25 truckloads will come through town per day.
For public safety, Granite Street remains closed weekdays at Glenview Drive near the Lithia Swim Reservoir, as does the Hitt Road trail at the city water tank above Strawberry Lane. Loop Road is still closed from Horn Gap down to Granite Street above the swim reservoir. All trails west of Ashland Creek up to Horn Gap, including the Hitt Road trail, are closed, too.
The project's purpose is to thin trees from the area to decrease wildfire hazards to houses around Ashland. Project officials said they plan to work on 7,600 acres over 10 years.
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Volunteer With Wye Island NRMA
Message from Park Manager, Lt. John Ohler
Volunteers are a key resource for the parks of the Upper Eastern Shore. Camp Hosts, Trail workers and program volunteers help us provide the quality experiences we offer to the visiting public. Many of our volunteers return year after year because they enjoy the friendly atmosphere and beautiful surroundings.
Like to get your hands dirty? Want to look back at the end of the day with a feeling of accomplishment? Volunteer to join one of our Trail Maintenance and Repair crews. Clear Trails after storms (or the winter off-season), collect trash and debris, build water bars, repair trails damaged by storms or usage, and otherwise help to keep our 6 miles of quiet, scenic trails in tip-top shape. A strong back, and the ability to work outside in all weather on potentially rugged terrain, is a must. Familiarity with hand and/or power tools, and/or some experience with trail work, are a bonus but not required. Wear weather-appropriate clothing that can get dirty/muddy and sturdy work or hiking boots; bring water bottle, work gloves, lunch, as well as sunscreen, bug repellent and rain protection as needed. This is an occasional opportunity and days and times will vary – see the park’s calendar of events for specifics or call the park office if you would prefer to organize a workday for your group or individually.
Become a Volunteer Ranger and help protect Maryland's natural resources! The Volunteer Ranger Program is for people ages 18 and above who want to assist the Department's regular work force in state parks with operations, programs and public service. Volunteers are trained and provided with uniforms for their jobs once they have completed 40 hours of volunteer service at a state park. Orientation training helps rangers become acclimated to the state park service. Additional training opportunities, that may include CPR, first aid, search and rescue, and trail stewardship, are offered on a regional basis. As ambassadors of the state parks, Volunteer Rangers serve a vital role to the public. Thousands of visitors to Maryland's state parks look to Volunteer Rangers for guidance and help.
Please help us assess visitor satisfaction with State Parks and the valued economic impact of State Park visitors in Maryland. A survey has been developed to collect data using recognized statistical methods. We need one volunteer to distribute surveys in the park on the dates indicated:
- August 13, 10:00 a.m. & 12:30 p.m. (rain date August 27)
- September 7, 10:00 a.m. & 12:30 p.m. (rain date September 21)
- October 4, 10:00 a.m. & 12:30 p.m. (rain date October 18)
The project goal is to collect completed surveys from visitors enjoying the State Park. As a volunteer, your task will be to request park visitors to take the survey when they return home by either collecting their email address or distributing the survey so that an Internet link to the survey can be sent to them. All volunteers will receive project instructions, talking points to guide your conversations with visitors, record-keeping forms and printed surveys. This is a very important project and the results of this survey will help us make important decisions for years to come.
If you are interested in any of these opportunities, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator, Ranger Jessica Conley at email@example.com or (410) 820-1668.
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Methadone requests spike after OxyContin delisting
Toronto Public Health says demand for referrals to methadone clinics in the city has tripled in the last week, after the prescription painkiller OxyContin was discontinued.
"Normally, we would see maybe five or six people coming in in a week asking for methadone treatment, and now we're seeing about three times that number," said Dr. Rita Shahin, an associate medical officer of health. "It's hard to know how much OxyContin is still out there on the street and whether that demand for services will increase as more people are worried about going into withdrawal."
Shahin says another concern is addicts turning to other prescription painkillers, such as the fentanyl patch. Fentanyl is a much stronger opioid than OxyContin.
"Some drug users are actually scraping the medication off the patch," she said.
That makes it hard for even experienced drug addicts to estimate what kind of a dose they're getting, Shahin said. Guess wrong and a drug user could wind up overdosing or dead.
Officials worry about potential crime increase
Toronto Public Health is also concerned there may be an increase in crime as OxyContin becomes scarce on the street.
Near Queen Street and Spadina Avenue, one pharmacist is already taking precautions. Louis Hanna said his pharmacy is in the heart of a "methadone area" in downtown Toronto. He also has clients who have prescriptions for the new version of OxyContin, called OxyNeo.
Hanna said that since last November he's required prescription holders to show ID and sign for their drugs.
"These medications are locked in a safe place and I have the key. ... I put it in my pocket. I don't leave anything in the pharmacy."
Northern Ontario man dies
Experts say the changeover is causing problems for doctors as well, with the overdose of a northern Ontario man serving as a red flag for those who must switch patients to another opioid to control their chronic pain.
Their training in pharmaceutical equivalents may be inadequate or out of date, they say.
The man who died at some point during the last month cannot be identified for privacy reasons. He had been prescribed OxyContin for chronic pain and the drug was paid for under the Non-Insured Health Benefits program, the government plan for aboriginal people.
But because OxyNeo is also not covered by the program, the man's doctor switched him to another long-acting opioid.
The replacement opioid had been prescribed at too high a dose and the man appears to have died from an overdose, which usually involves respiratory failure.
"There was an apparent inadvertent or unintentional dose escalation," Dr. Michael Wilson, regional supervising coroner for northwestern Ontario, said Tuesday from Thunder Bay, Ont. "I spoke to the doctor and the doctor just basically said that it was a mistake."
Wilson has informed several professional medical bodies in Ontario about the case, with a warning to physicians to be cautious when swapping opioids.
Dr. Meldon Kahan, an addiction expert with the University of Toronto's family medicine department, said doctors have access to tables that show equivalent doses for different drugs, but physicians are not always trained in how to use them properly.
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Heritage Action ("Britain’s Scary Future") discuss the flaws in the idealistic idea some archaeologists apparently have to release the results of detailed LiDAR surveys to allow the public to "discover new sites”.
The website account talks of archaeologists already working on the next project to open up data recovered from projects such as this to “citizen scientists across the globe.” Sounds great. But not in the British context sadly. Here we don’t just have citizen scientists looking to discover new sites do we? Uniquely, we also have a huge army of legalised “citizen artefact hunters” who have repeatedly shown they are more than happy to utilise every last bit of data archaeologists make available to them in order to locate, target and exploit for pleasure or profit every non-scheduled site they possibly can.And not a few scheduled or otherwise protected ones.
Imagine a future in which lots of unselfish developers provide ever-more sophisticated means for thousands of unselfish people to unselfishly help themselves to the contents of the archaeological record! That’s what you get if you leave a dodgy laissez faire policy unchanged for 15 years – technological advances (such as LIDAR and deep-seeking detectors) come along and make your policy look shameful and stupid in the eyes of the rest of the world!
Note the total silence of the British archaeological community about this. They are quite happy to see the archaeological record selectively emptied of the collectable diagnostic material from every archaeological site within the reach of the artefact hunters, just as long as said individuals dutifully bring along a few scraps for them to fondle and say, "ooo-ah, thank you Mr Thugwit".
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- Our Company
- About Us
- Upcoming Workshops
- What People Are Saying About Us
- Tell Us What You Think
- Host a Private Workshop
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- Insider College Planning Information
- 7 Ways To Spot A Scholarship Scam
- Posting on Facebook Can Haunt You
- College Admission Process Made Easy
- 29 Tips For Acing The SAT
- Make The Most Of A College Visit
- College Essay Writing Tips
- College Interviewing In Style
Student Loan Debt Clock
The Smart Track™ Toolkit is a comprehensive, self-directed college admissions and financial aid counseling program. It is packed with expert tips and insider secrets that are designed to give your family the edge in both admissions and financial aid. It is available through us for a fraction of the retail cost and as an added value, we take the time to work with you, one on one, to make sure your specific college plan is a solid one and nothing gets left out or missed.
Being an online application, all of the workshops and modules included in the Smart Track™ Toolkit are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, from anywhere you have an internet connection. So when you wake up at 3 in the morning in a cold sweat wondering what you need to do next, you can log in and check on where you are and set yourself at ease.
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There were no hidden agendas, no gimics to purchase anything, found out where to look for scholarships - Michelle B
Good overview - I have a freshman and had no idea about the financial aid process - Deborah K
Offered actual strategies, workshop was straight forward, the strategies were very helpful, the complexityof this challenge motivates me to learn more; free workshop was key - Stephen M
Good advice, good specific tips, I liked the myth killing and you had some very good information on things I did not know - Doug F
Very casual (no pressure) but very informative atmosphere - Steve L
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Colfer, who plays the Gaga and Britney-loving Kurt Hummel on the hit Fox show, recorded this PSA for the Trevor Project, encouraging LGBT teens who feel overwhelmed or depressed to call for help. When the cast of "Glee" visited "The Oprah Winfrey" show last season, Colfer admitted that he was bullied every day at school. He shares that empathy with LGBT teens in his suicide prevention commercial.
Video: Chris Colfer Speaks Out Against LGBT Teen Suicide
"I know what it's like to be bullied and teased every single day, and I know that it may seem like there is no chance of happiness left," says Colfer. "But I promise you, there is a world full of acceptance and love just waiting for you to find it."
The Trevor Project is a toll-free, confidential 24/7 hotline for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth.
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It gave me, relatively new and relatively weary of sharing in public forums like face-book and twitter an insight into what the benefits of such sharing could mean on a global level. It changed the way I look at global internet sharing of data, stories, information and to what degree I think I need to
Most compelling was the way the argument for more openness was presented.
Openness can make the world a better place
I loved listening to it and am thinking of listening to it again, something I don't often do with an audio book.
I really enjoyed listening to the Eye of the Needle because it's very vivid description of the time and the issues. It brings together a wealth of information.
It's grasp of the complexities of the time and its ability to present them in a way that made them transparent.
No, but I really like the way he reads. Engaging.
Money is at the bottom of most things, even in Early Christianity. Many of my preconceptions about some of the Church Fathers have been modified.
It's a great book and worth the listen.
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If you find this review inappropriate and think it should be removed from our site, let us know. This report will be reviewed by Audible and we will take appropriate action.
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A hundred years from now when historians look back on our times they will ask why people regarded their youngsters as always “at risk,” and how they came to adapt such a suspicious fear of adult motives towards their children. Parental paranoia works in strange and mysterious ways. I am more than baffled by the current wave of anxiety about adults taking pictures of children in public spaces. A couple of weeks ago while visiting Cambridge, Massachusetts, my friend was refused permission to take pictures of squealing kids messing around in a park.
As someone living in the UK, I am all-too-familiar with the current panic about photographing children. Just last week it was reported that an English father, Gary Crutchley, faced a public outcry when he tried to take a snapshot of his sons playing on the slide. One officious lady took matters into her hands and attempted to stop Crutchley from performing this perilous act. And while he pleaded his innocence other parents also rounded on him, called him a “pervert,” and insisted that he stop taking pictures. When he stopped a police officer to help out, he was told that “it was just the way society is these days.”
As a father, probably the ban that I hate the most is the growing tendency to prohibit parents from taking photos of their children during school plays, concerts, and sporting activities. Six years ago, when Edinburgh’s director of education called for a ban on photographic or video recordings of nativity plays and school concerts, there was a huge outcry from parents. Since this incident, the outcry has died down and such bans are routinely adopted by schools and sports centers throughout Britain. Some schools do not even allow the photographer of the local paper to take a picture of their pupils playing sports. When a friend decided to take a photo of his son during a Saturday soccer match, he was accused of gross irresponsibility. How long before we insist that children play football behind closed doors or — better still — ban the sport all together?
Some schools in the West Midlands, Norfolk, and Luton have prohibited the audience from videoing or taking digital pictures of Christmas plays. In 2003, Blackburn Council banned picture-taking mobile phones in swimming pools in order to frustrate would-be pedophile photographers. Numerous schools have decided to take the pictures of their pupils off their websites — in case they are misused. The phenomenon of parents having to sign specific permission slips to allow their child to be photographed is now commonplace; as is the practice of day care centers refusing to provide parents with photos of their own children at their party. Local newspapers are now confronted with the challenge of how to fill the many pages left due to the ban on the publishing of children’s pictures. How long before the school photograph becomes a curious historic relic of a permissive age? Worse still, how long before the possession of a class photo is interpreted as evidence of criminal intent?
The assumption that pictures represent a significant threat to children has acquired a fantasy-like grotesque character. We rarely dare ask the question: what possible harm can come from taking pictures of children playing soccer? Dark hints about the threat of evil networks of pedophiles are sufficient to corrode common sense. Tragically, what the dramatization and criminalization of the act of photographing children reveals is a culture that regards virtually every childhood experience from the standpoint of a pedophile.
Every possible form of interaction between an adult and a child is perceived as yet another opportunity for child abuse. In a roundabout way society has normalized pedophilia. The default position is to always expect the worse — and therefore children should be placed in purdah.
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Activities & Resources
Skirball Cultural Center555in Los Angeles, CA 90049
about Skirball Cultural Center:
The Museum has some 30,000 items representing the richness and diversity of Jewish life in this country and abroad. Gallery exhibits give visitors an opportunity to study and learn, and the landscaped grounds offer an opportunity for sunshine and fresh air in beautiful surroundings.
One of the biggest draws to families, the permanent Noah's Ark exhibit, features a floor-to-ceiling wooden ark play area filled with whimsical animals created mostly from recycled materials. There is space to play, build, climb, explore, and collaborate, with impromptu "happenings" and drop-in craft and storytelling activities. Advance, timed tickets are strongly recommended - particularly for free Thursdays and on weekends.
The Ziffren Discovery Center has been set up to make history exciting for the younger museum visitors; families can view Near Eastern antiquities and enjoy interactive multimedia presentations and environmental exhibits that bring ancient civilizations to life.
The Center has a busy schedule of art and archeology workshops, concerts, and family events; getting on the Skirball mailing list is a great way to stay informed. Toddler Time gives two and a half and three-year-olds a special way to explore the Museum, play, tell stories, and eat a snack.
The Skirball Cultural Center offers dynamic arts and archaeology day camps each summer.
Archaeology Summer Camp should dazzle Indiana Jones wanna-bes, offering kids a chance to spend time in a simulated dig, learning what archaeologists do and how they do it.
The Ark-ventures Art Camp lets kids create art in fun and interesting ways, drawing upon the Noah's Ark exhibition.
Membership offers many benefits to families; $80/year will give two adults and two children free admission, advance notice of events, and discounts at the Center's gallery shop and on special activities.
Zeidler's Cafe, open during Museum hours, offers fantastic views and moderately-priced, healthy fare the whole family can enjoy, including pizza, salads, soups, and pasta - all of it kosher.
All exhibitions are free to the public on Thursdays.
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When work is invisible, a spiral of death builds up. How can we break that cycle?
Apps. Websites. E-commerce platforms. We talk about these things all the time. They’re having a very real impact on our world. Yet they’re all scarily intangible.
Like icebergs, you see only the small percentage that’s on the surface. There’s a lot going on deeper down. Code, libraries, schema, configuration scripts, layer upon layer of infrastructure – all largely invisible.
This hits us in the development cycle, when we’re producing these things. It can be hard to get a handle on what’s really going on in our development teams when so much of what they do results in intangible outputs.
Despite the analogies to engineering, it’s not like building a bridge: you don’t see new beams going up every day.
The same is true in our operations. Web teams create a lot of stuff in order to make the surface elements look good. They spend a lot of time adjusting things that most people only note subconsciously.
Fonts, tone of voice, small shifts of layout: they have a big impact on perceived quality, but many people don't notice them in their own right, so can’t relate to the effort that goes into making them work.
This invisibility leads to a dynamic I see a lot.
A spiral of death builds up along the following lines:
- People can’t really see or understand what’s going on in the web or dev team.
- This lowers their confidence that the team is delivering effectively. (That confidence may already be low, due to past experiences. But even without that handicap, lack of visibility nearly always damages confidence).
- So they ask for status reports, meetings and suchlike, to try to get a feel for what is going on.
- They also increase the amount of work queued up for the team. Because they don't feel confident about what or when the team is going to deliver, they figure they’d better err on the side of putting more of their requirements into the pot.
Both (3) and (4) create more work for the team. They have to write reports, attend meetings, regularly re-prioritise a large backlog of requests, get their head around a large bundle of requirements, and so on.
Above all, they have to manage all the duplication, overlap and conflicts that naturally arise in such a bundle of requirements.
- This all creates delays in the system. So requests take a long time to handle. By the time they're delivered, the situation has changed and they need to be reworked. Analysis gets out of date and needs to be redone. This creates even more work for the team.
- So the team’s capacity to deliver useful work is diverted onto other tasks. Their pace of delivery declines. This lowers people’s confidence in them.
And so we get a spiral of decline, lack of confidence leads to actions that further reduce confidence. This dynamic is incredibly common within some of my clients.
How do you break such a spiral? (Hint: getting the web team to go around saying “Trust Us” doesn’t work).
I think there are some useful clues in the work going on in the Kaban community right now. Three of the things that Kanban emphasises: making work visible, managing work-in-progress, and continuous improvement – can do a lot to break the above dynamic.
Big, visible boards with post-it notes representing the tasks we’re working on make it clearer just how much is going on. People can get a sense of progress by tracking the way tasks shift from “Ready” to “Doing” to “Done”.
It’s easier to keep track of dependencies between tasks when everything is so visible; easier to find and eliminate duplicates. With this in place, we can begin to argue that there’s less need to produce extraneous reports and other add-ons.
The next clue is in Kanban’s emphasis on limiting Work-in-Progress (WIP). It’s a case of doing less in order to do more. Most of us have far too much on our plates at any one time. So we fragment our resources.
We waste effort on context switches. We lengthen feedback loops, making it harder to ensure we’re producing just what’s needed. Trying to juggle too many balls exacerbates many of the problems in the spiral of death.
And then there’s the emphasis on continuous improvement – using the visibility of work flowing across a kanban board to identify glitches and bottlenecks, then taking action to eliminate these glitches.
My experience is that teams really do take this message on board when everything is so visible. Years of exhortations to Total Quality and suchlike may have had little effect, but a bunch of post-its on a board seems to enable real change.
It’s a little ironic that we need physical post-its to manage our ethereal, digital stuff, but their tangibility and ease of movement makes them very powerful.
When we make the work visible, we really do make it easier to manage.
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The coop is built and the birds ordered. There is no shop that one can go to and just pick up 75 live chickens...oops!
The 1 to 3 days old chicks will need an incubator style cage when they arrive Friday or Saturday, sort of like a brick oven, for a few days until they get strong enough to be let loose in the large cage.
After discussing the project further, Maud and I decided it would be best to start with both egg production and meat production to give time for everyone involved to learn about raising chickens and to start marketing for future sales location to see what would be most profitable. 100 lbs of feed costs US $32.50 and will be used in a week by the 50 chicks that will be ready to be sold on the market in 6 weeks.
We have also ordered 25 “prêtes à pondre” hens of the Israelite type because though they are more costly to purchase ( US $ 12.50) they will not only produce a high quality brown egg per day but will retain their resale value as meat hens, selling for $ 8.50 each, once they stop producing in 18 months.
|Day 1 chicken coop foundation|
|Icee hand sawing rafters|
|Day 5 Ready for the last touches|
|Andy, Bellegarde, Icee , RT1 trained, gave up their Sunday to have construction go faster. Today is Wednesday and the coop is done!|
I HAD NO IDEA about the complexity of chicken farming!!!!and I can only guess the remaining challenges.
It will be interesting to follow the evolution of this project.
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By MATT PHELPS
The Totem Lake Malls, lake and surrounding neighborhood have a storied past. The area also has great potential.
The malls’ future is directly tied to the state of the surrounding neighborhood.
Traffic flow and access to the malls from the freeway and surrounding area can hinder or positively impact economic growth. The environmental impacts and potential recreational benefits from Totem Lake could bring in more people to the area on a regular basis or even physically prevent people from being able to get to the malls due to flooding. The expansion of the surrounding business district can take away economic opportunities from a potential redevelopment of the malls or can help to bring more shoppers to the area. These and many more issues cloud the future of the once-vibrant malls.
In this final piece of the ongoing five-part series on the Totem Lake Malls, the Reporter will examine what may lie ahead for one of the most important pieces of retail real estate in Kirkland.
Totem Lake Symposium
The desolate sight of the malls makes it look as if the City of Kirkland is doing nothing to help redevelopment along.
But the city has recently attempted to help move along the process. The city entered into an agreement with the current owners of the malls, Coventry and Developers Diversified Real Estate (DDR), in 2004 that has fallen apart due to Coventry suing DDR and the economic downturn. Still, the city has held many community meetings to discuss the area. One of those meetings was the Totem Lake Symposium held in September at the Totem Lake Courtyard Marriott.
“We ignored the area for so long,” said Kirkland Mayor Joan McBride. “Some of us wanted to do something sooner. We have known for a while that this is the place to work on but we just could not keep up a steady vision and it has been to our detriment … It is the business center of Kirkland. We make over 30 percent of our sales tax from the Totem Lake neighborhood.”
The symposium’s aim was to bring together about 50 property owners and area businesses, regional experts in finance, development design and engineering and city leaders to talk about the issues facing the greater neighborhood.
“We needed to ask the people who do business there what they need,” said McBride.
The symposium brought light to some redevelopment barriers, such as having no sense of place, a lack of public or private funding, prescriptive zoning along with uncertain and slow permitting.
Some of the input given at the symposium has already been addressed by the city or other groups such as a dog park, which will open near the court house later this year, and a city presence in Totem Lake, which will take the form of a new public safety building on the west side of the 405 freeway.
“The ah-ha moment for me as the new person was that there is so much more in the Totem Lake neighborhood than just the malls,” said Kirkland City Manager Kurt Triplett, who started in the position just before the symposium.
The issue of the BNSF rail line that is just to the south of the malls is much like the lake in that there are great opportunities, but many hurdles.
The rail line could bring connectivity to other parts of the city and region with light rail or a pedestrian bike and walking trail. But there are other issues such as how to bridge the rail line with crossing traffic and businesses.
The collective owners of Totem Square, which is located to the south of the malls, want to redevelop, said Triplett. The issue of the rail line, which runs directly through the development, is something the owners are beginning to work with the city on. However, the city does not own the rail line, and no one really knows who ultimately will own the defunct rail corridor in Kirkland and what they will do with it, which leaves the city in an awkward place as far as granting ways to bridge the land.
One of the biggest problems with most of the ideas, though, is they take a massive amount of money. In a good economy, finding the money for such projects was difficult but not impossible. The city could seek state and federal dollars for transportation improvements, create revenue from increased taxes or utilize bonds to improve infrastructure. In this economy, the city will have to get creative.
“You have to take a different look at your capital projects …,” said Triplett. “What we can do is if we have a project coming in the next couple of years that we have set aside money for but may not get federal or state matching funds, we could redirect those transportation dollars. There is no new money, there is no magic money, but if we can get money that is just sitting and put it to work for us we hope that can catalyze the process.”
Another revenue source is the $15 million the city committed to fund road improvements when officials approved the development agreement. One of the biggest issues when talking about the neighborhood is traffic congestion and linkage.
Participants from the symposium and to the Reporter’s survey about the area talked about a north-bound on-ramp to 405 at N.E. 116th Street. The problem for the city is they have no control over that part of the process. The Washington State Department of Transportation has talked about an on and off-ramp at N.E. 132nd Street.
“What we can do … is to build small little connectors in the Totem Lake neighborhood,” said McBride.
One of those is a road that would connect N.E. 120th Street and Totem Lake Boulevard on the east side of 405.
The city has also worked with property owners on regulations to promote mixed-use redevelopment and has taken steps to declare Totem Lake an “Urban Center.”
But some in the business community have not seen the city’s actions as credible.
Stu Vander Hoek, president of Vander Hoek Corp., said the city should not “over-promise” more than it can provide.
Vander Hoek, who participated in the original Totem Lake Advisory Committee for seven years in the 1990s, manages family commercial and residential property in downtown Bellevue and the Parmac Industrial Park in Kirkland.
“Even though the turnout was good, I don’t have a lot of hope for the process,” said Vander Hoek of the symposium. “Until the city realizes they need to bring a few primary stakeholders together who are committed to a common vision, not much will happen in Totem Lake.”
He added a group of committed stakeholders could work with the development community to “create a realistic vision” for the area.
“This is what Bellevue did, and other communities have done previously,” said Vander Hoek, noting that local stakeholders have been successful redeveloping the Bel-Red Corridor in recent years.
Despite his doubt with the city’s redevelopment efforts, Vander Hoek attended the recent symposium to voice his concerns.
He believes Totem Lake holds the potential to become the city’s second downtown. However, the neighborhood’s current demographics are not strong enough to support redevelopment of the malls, said Vander Hoek.
“The basic problem currently is that well established retailers apparently don’t have enough demand from the local market. As long as they don’t have confidence in investing in the area, they won’t,” he said. “And, to try and pull customers from Bellevue, Woodinville, Bothell and Redmond might never happen. The bottom line is there just aren’t enough people living in the Totem Lake area to support a large scale mall. That’s why more housing is critical.”
He said a successful redevelopment of the malls would seek to bulldoze the property, create a park around the lake with housing and office space. Alternatively, the city could work with a developer to create a lid over the freeway between N.E. 124th and N.E. 128 to support an area where parks and recreation with housing could be placed together, he added.
“This could then be tied into future transit-oriented development. The mall itself could then be raised at least one level above the existing grade so that parking wouldn’t have to be buried, given the problems with the soil in that area especially.”
For this to happen, the city should be supportive of new development by simplifying the development process, cost, limitations and requirements, he said.
Several developers that attended the symposium agree that the malls’ redevelopment should include a mix of retail, housing and office.
Andy Loos, development manager for SRM Development, LLC in Kirkland, says this type of mixed-use would strengthen the surrounding neighborhood and provide for better infrastructure and community amenities.
“There is no real attraction to the area,” he told the Reporter. “It’s tough for retail to compete with Redmond and Bellevue. The city must create a niche, an amenity in the area, a draw for residential and retail.”
He said the city, for example, could do something with the lake and its shoreline to make it an amenity.
Symposium participant Jim Tosti, president of Windward Real Estate Services, Inc. in Kirkland, is interested in purchasing property and developing in the Totem Lake neighborhood.
He said the neighborhood needs an overall conceptual plan “with a commitment from this city for infrastructure improvements to kick this thing off.”
The area surrounding the malls is already a medical hub, says Tosti, but it has the potential to become more. Add a transportation hub, residential, office, retail and “it would become its own little town.”
Johanna Palmer’s biggest concern with the greater Totem Lake neighborhood is land use. Her family business, DeYoung Manufacturing has been in Totem Lake for more than 25 years and employs about 65 people.
“We are located in the last area zoned for light manufacturing,” noted Palmer. “For the last 25 years the city has rezoned and ‘up-zoned’ all the areas that were for industrial uses to commercial, office, or residential uses. Manufacturers and other providers of basic services are being zoned out of Kirkland.”
She said the city needs to make the land-use process more predictable in time and cost.
In addition, a redeveloped mall would provide the area and northern annexation neighborhoods with an “economic and community focal point,” said Palmer. “Many people just drive through Totem Lake on their way to and from work. A good selection of businesses could serve those commuters and these neighborhoods.”
During the final meeting of 2010 the Kirkland City Council adopted the Totem Lake Action Plan. It is a comprehensive guide to revitalizing the Totem Lake neighborhood that directly came from the symposium. The council has made the plan the city’s top focus in 2011.
“We are putting our money where our mouth is,” said Triplett.
The plan outlines things the city can do immediately, in the short term and long term. Some of the immediate things were a dog park and new public safety facility. The dog park is set to open this year and the My Home Wholesale building, located near the current municipal court, was purchased in September to be converted into the city’s new police station, jail and municipal court. The city has also developed a “feet first” walking map of Totem Lake among other things.
Some of the short term items the city plans to work on this year is to evaluate building ahead of mall development, pursue King County Flood Control Zone District funding for the lake issues, advocate for 405 access projects to move forward faster, to identify and pursue new funding sources for transportation and verify specific concerns regarding current zoning with developers.
“That is something that (city planner) Eric Shields actually assigned to himself,” said Triplett. “He is actually going through all the (zoning) codes up in Totem Lake line-by-line. He has been really focused on it and he has already begun to highlight a couple of things.”
Triplett said that so far no one in the business community has come to the city with something that they cannot do thanks to zoning.
“We have let them know that if they are literally stopped by what is currently allowed, let us know,” said Triplett.
McBride said one way residents and businesses can get involved is to lend their ideas to the process.
“I believe we are going to be having an organized neighborhood meeting up there,” said McBride. “… We need to know what they want. Everyone wants action at Totem Lake. Some people want it so bad they don’t even care what it is … We are still developing the action plan and we need people’s input.”
When asked if there was anything residents could do to move along the process of private redevelopment, McBride said that a petition through the city would be preferable to writing the malls’ owners directly.
Totem Lake: The Eastside’s Greenlake?
Shabei Aziz opens a sliding glass door to one of the guest rooms at Carlton Inn that overlooks Totem Lake. It’s a sanctuary of sorts as birds chirp to various melodies.
“There are 88 species of birds,” says Aziz, adding, “Nobody knows this is here.”
Her father, Ali, purchased the property and converted the building to a hotel in 1991. Before that, the structure housed Totem Lake Public Market, where scores of patrons picked through fresh produce, fish, spices or sipped fresh-squeezed orange juice on the lawn overlooking Totem Lake in the 80s. The Carlton Inn still has one of the original staircases to the suburban market.
Ali donated the lake to the city in the 1990s.
Aziz points to an unfinished wooden walkway that surrounds a portion of the lake. She said she is unsure why the walkway was never completed, but she hopes the city will consider finishing the walkway some day to extend around the entire lake. She considers Totem Lake to be a valuable amenity that should not be overlooked with any future redevelopment.
Many others agree.
One of the respondents to the Reporter survey on Totem Lake Malls said: “Why not develop a ‘Greenlake’ of our own with a real walking path around Totem Lake. This could be the draw instead of an anchor store.”
“One of the things we heard loud and clear was how do you create a sense of place …” said Triplett. “It gives us an opportunity to turn the lake into more of an attraction itself and create that sense of place.”
One problem is the lake is brown from silt that has built up. The silt is the root of many problems.
“The lake has actually risen substantially in recent years causing things like Totem Lake Boulevard to flood,” said Triplett.
The flooding during heavy rain storms has been damaging to retail this winter. It has also caused some areas of the malls to sink.
Most people do not even know the location of the lake, thanks to an overgrown area next to Totem Lake Boulevard. Some of the wooden walking path that was constructed around the lake has been repossessed by the environment and the water. The flooding problem with the lake is far reaching for the area and needs to be addressed before any major redevelopment takes place. The lake and surrounding wetlands also have major environmental issues.
The lake, which is located to the south of the malls, is connected to wetlands that extend all the way to the west side of the freeway.
“We are really trying to attack the issue of flooding in Totem Lake,” said Triplett. “It is an ongoing challenge and getting much worse. In the budget the council approved, we have specific funds set aside where we are going to come up with a concrete work program with short- and long-term actions to prevent the flooding … another thing that complicates this issue though is that not all the things affected are owned by the city.”
The lake itself is owned by the King County Conservation District. Environmental impacts must also be assessed.
“In many ways, having that much water up there is not good for the environment,” said Triplett. “… If we can kind of unclog all that and re-channel it we have actually been able to show that it will be a net positive for the environment. But it is not a simple process.”
It seems none of the solutions to one of Kirkland’s biggest issues are simple.
- Part 3: Litigation clouds future of Kirkland’s Totem Lake Malls
- Part 1: The history of Kirkland’s Totem Lake Malls
- Part 2: The fall of Kirkland’s Totem Lake Malls
- Part 4: The current impact of Kirkland’s Totem Lake Malls
- Kirkland Conversations survey: Totem Lake – the ‘sleeping giant’
This article was originally published in the Kirkland Reporter on February 9, 2011.
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Enrich Your Relationship With Dance
Date added to ADN: Fri,
June 03, 2011
Originally Published: Fri, June 03, 2011
by Mike Yevin
(About the Author)
Whether you're happily married, preparing to be wed, or just dating, happiness is the key ingredient to any successful relationship. Sometimes daily stresses or hectic lifestyles can drive us to being unhappy or wanting more than the mundane. Dance is the perfect activity that you and your partner can do together to make you happier and improve your relationship at the same time!
A STRONGER CONNECTION: Dance is much more than just simply remembering a planned routine; it's about making a deep, meaningful connection with your partner. Not only are you physically connected while dancing, you are also mentally and emotionally connected; able to predict when and what moves will come next, without actually saying anything. You both will begin to operate as one, feeling each other's thoughts and emotions, to provide a beautifully elegant performance on the dance floor.
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION: It has been said that over 90% of all communication happens without anyone even saying a word, and this is especially true with dancing. While effortlessly gliding across the floor, there is no time to physically say what you want your partner to do; all communication must take place with the emotion of your body language. When a couple begins to pick up on body language, it will greatly improve the overall communication you will have with each other and lead to a happier relationship for you both.
IMPROVING ROMANCE: It's definitely no secret that dancing is an extremely romantic activity to participate in, and when you are able to share this experience with your loved one it will begin to show through in the time you spend together outside of dancing. You will bring back the spark that you may have lost or help strengthen the romance you already experience.
With a handful of benefits, it's not hard to see that dance can be extremely beneficial to you and your loved one. From improving the connection you two share, to putting the spark back into your lives that might be missing, everyone will see benefits in their relationship and overall happiness. Not only will you receive benefits as a couple, but you will both learn a new hobby that will make others wish they could share the same moment you two do on the dance floor. So step out of your comfort zone, take the plunge and get involved in dance; you will be glad you did!
About the Author:
Mike is a recent college graduate who enjoys the outdoors and artistic expression. He is relatively new to the dance industry but enjoys the new exciting industry he is a part of.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the AccessDance Network. Be aware that imagery is copyrighted and often licensed for use on AccessDance only. Copying of images is strictly prohibited.
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Media Contact: Adam Shapiro
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -OCTOBER18, 2011
HSF Names 12 College Students as Obama Scholars —
Funded by the President’s Nobel Peace Prize
Students Across the U.S. Benefit from Obama’s Gift and They Pledge to Give Back by
Teaching the Sciences
NEW YORK CITY— Hispanic Scholarship Fund (www.hsf.net), the nation’s leading Hispanic higher education fund, announced the second class of Obama Scholars. When President Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, he donated $125,000 of his prize amount to HSF; other non-profits also received a similar contribution.
HSF, in keeping with the President’s call for more diversity in the teaching ranks of high school science, technology, engineering and math classes, decided to invest the money in scholarships for college students studying in the STEM fields who want to go on to teach these subjects in lower grades for part of their careers. The two-year scholarships will continue into the students’ senior years.
“This year’s class of Obama Scholars join last year’s group of 12 students who are now getting ready to fulfill their pledge to give back to the community. Together, all of these students represent the best traditions of America in terms of pursuing higher learning and desire to help the next generation understand math and the sciences. Many of the students are the first in their family to go to college and that also is an important way to create a college-going culture for Hispanic Americans,” says Frank Alvarez, CEO/President, HSF. “We remain grateful to the President and Mrs. Obama for their trust in HSF in making this donation and we feel we have carried out these scholarship choices in a way in which we can all take pride.”
HSF chose the Obama Scholars based on their academic achievements, essays they wrote, community activities and commitment to teaching in the STEM fields after graduation. The 2011 scholars are:
Walaa Abdallah, 20, of Yonkers, N.Y., is majoring in chemical engineering at Manhattan College in Riverdale, N.Y. She’s president of her school’s chapter of theInternational Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers, is helping to conduct research on heparin binding peptides, and is a peer tutor.
- Itxia Acevedo, 19,of Lewisville, Texas, is majoring in biology with minors in chemistry, secondary education, and Spanish at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. He has studied in Africa and eventuallywants to become an English as a Second Language biology teacher.
- Carlos Alas, 20, of Naples, Fla., ismajoring in mechanical engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. He wrote, “I want to become an excellent engineer by working in the aerospace industry. I want to be a great leader by working on projects that benefit developing countries and by representing the Hispanic community to the highest standards.”
- Juan Crespo, 20, ofGranger,Ind., is majoring in atmospheric science at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. His goal is to studyatmospheric phenomena our planet experiences and his inspiration is his 100-year-old grandfather who is still an engineering professor today.
- Rachael Hernandez, 21, of Chanhassen, Minn., is pursuing a double major in biology and Spanish at the College of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn. Hernandez has worked extensively as a summer youth counselor for underserved students where she has developed lesson plans and conducts outdoor trips that help teach the physical sciences. She would also like to attend agraduate program to obtain a genetic counseling license.
- Roberto Jaramillo, 22, of Tucson, Ariz., is majoring in elementary education at the University of Arizona in Tucson. “After teaching for about ten years I would like to become a principal of a low achieving school and help to turn it around. I would work hand-in-hand with the teachers and other administrators to help the students test scores rise and to give them hope for their futures,” writes Jaramillo. He also is an officer candidate in the U.S. Marine Corps.
- Jesus-Mario Luevano, Jr., 20, of El Paso, Tex., is majoring in molecular and cellular biology with a minor in global health and health policy at Harvard University in Boston. He’s an undergraduate member of the Turnbaugh Lab, part of the HarvardFaculty of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Systems Biology, where he studies the complex interactions of intestinal bacteria, and was selected as a Harvard Howard Hughes Medical Institute Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Fellow this past summer.Luevano also plays the violin as a member of the Mariachi Veritas de Harvard.
- Katherine Minaya, 19, of New York City is a biological science major at the University of Chicago. She aims to give back by participating in Teach for America or the NYC Teaching Fellows program upon graduation. “I want to teach high school students and lead them in a path that will get them to where they want to be,” she wrote.
- Eduardo Morfin, 23, of Sylmar, Calif., is majoring in aerospace engineering at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He wrote, “My goal this year is to work for an after school program called LA’s Best. I plan on becoming my school site’s science coach. Having the kids perform science experiments and competing in competitions is only the first step towards having them realize the importance of science in our society.”
- David Rodriguez, 20, of Casselberry, Fla., is an information technology major at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Fla. He wrote,“Throughout school I’ve always been very engaged with extracurricular activities. Whether it’s the Hispanic Student Association international fairs or volunteering with the Student Government Association at the lake clean ups, I always find these activities to be important, worthwhile, and fun.”
- Adriana Ruiz, 19, of Phoenix is a civil engineering major at Arizona State University in Phoenix.“I have become aware that there is an overwhelming need for science and math teachers in the United States and students are ultimately suffering because of this shortage. I want to help reduce this shortage and contribute my knowledge, passion and education within the science and math fields to the students who desperately need it,” she wrote.
- Jenny Salgado, 21, of Charlotte, N.C., is a civil engineer major at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She is vice president of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers at her school and is the first person in her family to go to college in the United States. Jenny says her main motivation comes from the desire to be a great role model to her two younger brothers.
Many of the Obama Scholars will be attending the upcoming HSF Education Summit, presented by Wells Fargo, and the Alumni Hall of Fame, supported in part by Walmart, at The Plaza Hotel in New York City on Oct. 24. The summit will examine the changing demographics of the United States with new insight about how Hispanics think about college. At the evening alumni event, HSF will induct four prominent individuals into its Hall of Fame.
About the Hispanic Scholarship Fund
Founded in 1975, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund believes that the country prospers when all Americans have access to the opportunities a college education can afford. As the nation’s leading Hispanic higher education fund, HSF works to address the barriers that keep many Latinos from earning a college degree. HSF has awarded over $330 million in scholarships over the past 36 years and has supported a broad range of outreach and education programs to help students and their families navigate collegiate life, from gaining admission and securing financial aid to finding employment after graduation. HSF envisions a future where every Latino household will have at least one college graduate, creating an enduring impact on the college outlook of Latino families nationwide, and strengthening the American economy for generations to come. For more information about the Hispanic Scholarship Fund please visit:www.HSF.net.
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North by East
A Falmouth clinic offers a folksy solution to the healthcare crisis, meet the future editor of Down East, age eleven, plus more.
Cartoon by Jamie Smith
Bartering for HealthCare
A Falmouth clinic takes a creative approach to time swapping.
While the politicians have been endlessly debating ObamaCare, RomneyCare, and Maine’s own Dirigo Health, a Falmouth medical clinic has been making some of its services more affordable to uninsured patients for years.
In a twist on the age-old practice of bartering, patients at True North Health Center earn office visits with their doctors by performing services like housecleaning, tutoring, or shoveling snow. It is not a direct swap. Rather, patient and practitioner are both members of Hour Exchange Portland through which they acquire “time dollars” by doing work for other members. They then use that currency to acquire services for themselves.
“We started this collaboration with the Hour Exchange pretty much when we opened our doors about ten years ago,” says Sorcha Cribben-Merrill, marketing manager for True North. “It has evolved with the needs of our patients and practitioners.”
Members of Hour Exchange Portland, which was founded in 1995, offer a wide variety of services, from dog walking to cooking. Jobs are valued equally, regardless of their market value — that is, a member who gives an hour of his time can receive an hour of any other member’s time. True North was the first healthcare practice to participate in the program, and it remains the only one whose practitioners include doctors trained in conventional medicine.
True North is anything but a conventional practice, however. In addition to several MDs, DOs, and registered nurses, its staff includes a healing touch practitioner, a naturopathic doctor, an acupuncturist, and a massage therapist. Moreover, the non-profit practice is not contracted with any insurance companies, which means doctors can spend as much time with their patients as they deem necessary. “A typical initial visit is one to one and a half hours, and there are no external limits on how many sessions are needed for a particular diagnosis,” Cribben-Merrill explains.
True North’s approach to billing is an extension of that philosophy, Cribben-Merrill says. Insured patients submit their own forms for reimbursement. Those who are uninsured or under-insured work out a payment plan with their practitioner; for some, that may mean paying with time dollars.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity to receive good quality healthcare,” says Lindsay Bushnell, of Brownfield, who uses time dollars to pay for her own doctor’s visits, as well as her husband’s and son’s. And what service does Bushnell offer through Time Exchange Portland? Health care. Bushnell is a midwife. “It feels really balanced to me,” she says.
A Maine Public Radio piece about True North’s unusual payment arrangements this past fall produced a ripple of reports by other news media, including the CBS Early Show, as well as a satirical riff on healthcare politics by Stephen Colbert, who suggested absurd ways that terminally ill patients might earn time dollars.
Colbert is right, of course — bartering has limitations — but that doesn’t make us any less impressed with the flexibility of True North’s practitioners and patients when it comes to noncritical care. Too bad their creative practicality isn’t infectious.
Our Future Editor
An eleven year old from Massachusetts has an eye on our jobs.
We at Down East know we’re lucky to be making our living by sharing our love for Maine with you through words and images. Every once and a while, though, a reader comes along and makes us aware of just how special this gig really is. Recently, that reader was eleven-year-old Lindsey Lambert of Paxton, Massachusetts.
“I am writing to inform you that once I graduate from college I am REALLY hoping to work for Down East,” Lindsey told us in a letter neatly handwritten on white lined paper, which, she noted, “could very well be part of my resume when I apply to work for Down East.”
We called Lindsey and learned that she and her family visit Maine every year, staying at an inn just one mile from our office in Rockport. “I like waking up and seeing the same sight and knowing that nothing changes,” the sixth grader says. “It stays as beautiful as it was the year before.” The inn has a grassy path to the beach, where she kayaks with her mom and dad, Daphne and Jim Lambert, her fraternal twin, Kristen, and thirteen-year-old sister, Katie. “They like Maine as much as I do,” she says.
But it is Lindsey’s view of Down East that we find especially rewarding. “Even if I’m not in Maine, I can read Down East and feel like I’m still there,” she says. “The magazine has a Maine feel.”
An all-A student whose favorite subjects are writing and reading, Lindsey hopes to attend Anna Maria College in her hometown or the University of Maine, which, she notes, has the advantage of getting her to the state she plans to call home all that much sooner. As for her letter, Lindsey suggests we keep it handy. “So go right now to your filing cabinet and put me in a file labeled ‘Lambert, Lindsey,’ ” she writes, “because even if you throw this away, I swear that won’t be the last of me.”
We’ll keep a desk waiting, Lindsey.
Million Mile Joe
One Norway man and his Honda Accord reach an automotive milestone.
Were you lucky enough to witness the moment your Subaru’s odometer clicked over to two hundred thousand miles? Did you take a picture to mark the occasion, like one of our editors has? It’s a momentous feat, but one that brings with it the knowledge that the vehicle has likely entered its twilight years. Sure, you may dream the car will just roll along forever, but that’s impossible. Right?
Meet True Blue, a 1990 Honda Accord, and its owner, Joe LoCicero — a.k.a Million Mile Joe.
On October 20, LoCicero’s faded blue Accord crossed the unthinkable threshold from 999,999 to 000,000 miles. It’s an achievement so unlikely, Honda didn’t bother adding an extra digit to its odometer when it designed the car.
LoCicero works as an independent mechanical inspector, which means traveling around the state and evaluating car lease turn-ins for various dealerships. “I sometimes feel like a human Ping-Pong ball,” he says. And our state is large, larger than most realize. There is greater distance between Kittery and Fort Kent than there is between Kittery and Philadelphia, and 90 percent of LoCicero’s travel occurred within Maine’s borders.
“My job is such that the best way for me to do it well was to make sure I didn’t have to buy another car,” he says. “I did everything by the book. I never let it get low on oil or gas. I always warmed up the car before using it, and I checked the fluids weekly.” The car still runs off its original transmission. The relationship between LoCicero and his Honda not only lasted longer than most marriages, but it displayed a similar dedication of love and care. “There can sometimes be a jealousy or rivalry between my car and my wife,” he says, laughing.
When LoCicero finally hit his milestone, he rolled up to the Saco City Hall expecting a small press conference hosted by Honda. Instead, he received a celebration as surreal as the very notion of driving a 1990 Accord the equivalent of forty times around the globe. A band marched down Main Street, accompanied by men on stilts, waving flags plastered with Joe’s face. A plane flew overhead with the message “Way to Go, Joe!” as a human-sized odometer float powered by six people in hamster cages rolled down the street. Miss Maine capped off the celebration by handing LoCicero the keys to a brand new blue 2011 Accord.
With his new car, LoCicero will slowly faze out True Blue. After twenty-one years the stalwart sedan averaged the equivalent of driving across country every two weeks, taking two trips around the world a year, or flying to the moon and back every decade. LoCicero expects to treat his new vehicle with the same care.
So if you happen to see a well-maintained navy blue 2011 Accord Ping-Ponging its way down your road, give a wave and say, “Way to Go, Joe!”
All Fired Up
In Maine, heating with wood is as much about lifestyle as it is about savings.
No doubt you’re familiar with the expression, “Wood heats you thrice — once when you cut it down, once when you split it, and once when you burn it.” Turns out, a surprising number of Mainers take this old adage to heart: For them, the firewood ritual, not cost, is the chief reason they heat their homes with wood.
That’s one of the intriguing findings of a study on wood heat being conducted by the College of the Atlantic (COA) in Bar Harbor. Here’s another: It appears that far more Mainers are heating with wood than census data, which put the number at 11 percent, suggest. A survey of 120 Hancock County households found that 58 percent use at least some wood heat, reports Gray Cox, a COA political economics professor and the director of the Hancock County Firewood Initiative.
“If you ask people if they heat with wood exclusively, then it is 10 or 11 percent,” Cox says, explaining the discrepancy, “but if you ask if they heat with wood ‘almost exclusively,’ or ‘primarily,’ or ‘half-and-half,’ or ‘supplementally,’ then you find a pretty even distribution.” Cox says it’s unlikely that the popularity of wood heating is strictly a Hancock County phenomenon.
The COA study focuses on a variety of issues related to firewood, including forest health and the impact of wood burning on air and water. Cox directs the component that is identifying cultural influences on heating choices. “We have found two patterns that we refer to as the modern consumer family and the self-reliant Yankee family,” he says.
The two groups not only have very different perspectives on the cost of wood heat, but also contrasting expectations of how a home should function. Explains Cox, “The modern consumer type might say, ‘I don’t heat with wood. My time is worth more than that.’ If you ask him what he does for exercise, he may say he has a six hundred dollar membership at the YMCA. By contrast, the self-reliant Yankee’s point of view is that if you split wood, you get your exercise for free.”
Modern consumers want home systems to run efficiently and as invisibly as possible, demanding little of their attention, whereas independent Yankees view heating and other forms of homemaking as activities that are integral to their lifestyle. “They expect indoor temperature differences from room to room and season to season,” Cox says. “And they love to talk about it — how they stack their wood, how they cut their wood, and how they like the smell of burning wood.”
The good news for Yankee types that has emerged from another branch of the study is that wood heat, especially when generated by a modern, clean-burning stove, is much kinder to the environment than oil heat, Cox reveals.
Far from being a disappearing tradition, wood heat clearly has a place in the future of the country’s most forested state.
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So you’ve watched all your friends get up on stage and sing in front of total strangers. You’ve always wanted to do it yourself, but it’s something that terrifies you. But there’s something deep inside that is calling you to the stage, and you can’t ignore it any more. You’ve got an internal battle raging between nervousness and wanting to experience true karaoke in front of a crowd. If you’re ready to tackle your fears and finally give it a shot, you’re in for a great time. You’re about to be rewarded with an adrenaline-pumping experience that makes you a part of the entertainment. Unlike listening to music or watching a movie, this is one of the only forms of entertainment that actually makes you a part of the show. For 5 minutes, everyone’s focus will be on you, and you get to be a star!
Be Brave – it’s important to remember that feeling nervous is natural and anxiety is a regular part of karaoke. Even singers who have been doing it for a long time experience a certain level of stage fright now and again. Anticipation is probably the most nerve-racking thing you’ll have to deal with, but finally delivering your performance is an incredible relief. In fact, you’ll feel a huge difference between before and after getting up on stage. The thrill and excitement is totally worth it.
Pick a Good Song – if you’re getting up on stage for the very first time, it’s important to be armed with a great song. There are various things you need to take into account such as how easy a song is to sing in addition to how popular it might be. Above all else, choose something that you know well so that you don’t have to spend every minute staring at the lyric display. In case of an emergency, it’s always nice to know that you have memorized the lyrics beforehand.
Prepare – being prepared helps to cut down the nerves tremendously and practicing will help your performance. There are many ways to bolster your first performance, and every little step helps. You can prepare yourself by going to the bar beforehand and making sure that you are familiar with the layout. You can ask for tips from other singers or talk to the karaoke DJ as well. If you’re still dealing with nerves, then try visualization as a technique to calm yourself down while preparing you for your first performance.
Have Fun – it’s important not to put too much pressure on yourself or take the event to seriously. Obviously you don’t want to waste your time up on stage, but you have to remember that karaoke is all about fun. This isn’t your job and you are trying to win a recording contract. It’s just a hobby and a chance for you to experience something different. So revel in the moment and enjoy yourself because it really doesn’t last all that long. Put everything you have into your performance and you’ll have the crowd jumping up and down.
Duets – if you’re too nervous to get up on stage by yourself, a duet is a nice option that takes a lot of the pressure off you. You can either staying with a veteran who can help you along or maybe another newcomer who needs support as well. When duets art done properly, they can be hits of the night because they sound great. And at the very least, you can rest assured that you don’t have to stand up there all by yourself.
If you happen to enjoy yourself, then home karaoke is the next logical step. Live singing and home karaoke have a symbiotic relationship that helps to perpetuate one another. It’s hard to tell which one is more popular, but each offers its own benefits. All you need is a quality karaoke machine where it should be incredibly easy to find these days with options that will blow you away. Modern technology offers you iPod compatibility, video recording, and online play it takes things to a whole new level. You can also simplify things with a good set of wireless headphones for TV and enjoy some private singing all by yourself as well. The options are limitless and if you happen to enjoy this hobby, you’ll have a great way to entertain yourself and good friends.
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LOVINGSTON — Fred Wilbur's workshop in Nelson County is littered with what he calls "architecture fragments" -- flowers carved from mahogany, boards that will eventually be part of an organ case and molding samples in several classical styles.
Wilbur calls himself a traditional decorative carver and spends his days adding a unique touch to the frames, mantelpieces and countless other wood products sent to him from all over the country. His latest projects, for example, include a particularly ornate mirror and a table with Corinthian columns for legs.
He does not build furniture, and he seldom creates large-scale wood sculptures. Instead, Wilbur is one of a handful of artisans in America - - about a dozen, he estimates -- who finish pieces sent from mills, churches and private citizens.
"Things come in a box to me, and I carve them, put them in boxes and send them out," Wilbur said.
It is a lucrative business for the Waynesboro native, who got his start carving signs for Wintergreen and the Boar's Head Inn. One of his friezes -- an imitation of those in the Oval Office -- is on display in the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library, and the etched pattern on former NFL great Howie Long's fireplace is his handiwork, as well.
"Craft in general has been growing since the '60s, and there's more interest in classical architecture. It amazes how much of this goes into new houses," Wilbur said. "I put a lot of value on this, but I could never afford to buy the things I make."
Prices for Wilbur's work vary dramatically. A sign costs around $1,500, while an ornate church screen topped with trumpet-blowing angels might run for $30,000.
"What I'm selling is my skill. ... It's hard to make wood look like flame," Wilbur said, gesturing to a fist-sized ornament shaped like an urn with fire erupting from the top.
"What you're paying for is not the piece of material. The wood cost all of 75 cents."
The tools of Wilbur's trade are gouges, or chisels, in a variety of curved shapes. Most can be used for almost any project or pattern, but some are designed for more specific uses, such as carving the "veins" on wooden leaves.
The patterns Wilbur uses in his art are millennia old, and much of his carving cannot be duplicated. Machines, for example, simply cannot navigate the sweeping curves of a spiral staircase banister.
"Because it's done by hand, it is unique. There's not another like it anywhere in the world," Wilbur said. "I don't consider (machine-made) decorations competition for me because what I do is one-of-a-kind, for specific work... The real discerning person knows."
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In recent months, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans have begun cautiously expressing hope that, in addition to recent, hard won victories here at home, we may be on the verge of a little bit of progress abroad, too.
Our community rightly cheered when the Obama administration recently reversed a Bush administration policy and endorsed a United Nations declaration on protecting the world's LGBT people. And we looked on with admiration and pride again as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently said that she and President Obama intend to stand against anti-gay animus on the world stage, too. Speaking in March to a group of enthusiastic supporters in Brussels, Clinton told the crowd that "Human rights is and always will be one of the pillars of our foreign policy. In particular, persecution and discrimination against gays and lesbians is something we take very seriously."
The remark, press outlets reported, brought about wild applause and, for perhaps the first time, sent a clear message to foreign leaders that the United States intends to speak out against anti-gay atrocities abroad. It was, to paraphrase Secretary Clinton's famous words as America's First Lady, intended to put the world on notice that we believe "human rights are gays rights, and gay rights are human rights, too."
But, as noble as the sentiment of both actions were, they gave little comfort to Kathy Gilleran, a mother from upstate New York whose son, Aeryn, has been missing in Austria for more than a year and a half. Because, while Kathy would love to believe that a new day has dawned in diplomatic affairs, she continues to struggle in her heroic efforts to learn the truth about her gay son and continues to meet roadblock after roadblock in her quest to uncover the facts about what happened in Vienna.
As we reported last year here at Bilerico, Aeryn Gillern was last seen in October 2007 in Vienna, where he was working with the United Nations International Development Organization, or UNIDO. He disappeared suddenly, without any prior warning, and for no apparent reason. According to his mother, Aeryn seemed happy and content with his life abroad the last time they spoke, just shortly before he vanished, and there were no indications that anything was amiss.
"Aeryn loved the history and the culture [of Vienna], especially the architecture and music," Kathy writes at the website she has set up to honor her son, where she also notes that she often switches, in her writing, between the past and present tense when talking about him. "I think you will find that I switch back and forth because although I believe Aeryn is no longer alive, he is and he was," she says.
And, by all measures, he had much going for him in life. Aeryn was successful in his career, had a loving, supportive mother and was enjoying his life in Austria. And, he was also openly gay, which, as far as Kathy was always concerned, was nothing close to a big deal. But mounting evidence indicates it may be why his disappearance continues to be shrouded in mystery and why, despite numerous efforts, Kathy can't seem to get Austrian officials to take his case seriously.
In fact, Kathy has now flown to Vienna twice since her son vanished, and has implored local investigators to launch a comprehensive investigation into what happened on the night Aeryn disappeared. She has implored the U.S. State Department to intervene and press Austrian officials to do the right thing. And she has even met with members of the Austrian parliament.
And this is what it has gotten her so far:
A statement from investigators in Vienna to the press characterizing Aeryn as "an emotionally unbalanced gay man."
Charges - to his own mother - that Aeryn likely committed suicide because, as a gay man, he was likely HIV-positive and despondent about his health.
Disproven reports that DNA samples were available to investigators.
And a parliamentary inquest that resulted in local police defending their own actions and concluding, after investigating themselves, that they did nothing wrong.
Meanwhile, Aeryn Gillern is still missing and there don't appear to be enough people who are taking it very seriously. And, more and more, it seems likely that the lack of initiative is being driven by an over-abundance of homophobia.
Several people, Kathy Gilleran told me when I spoke with her yesterday, have recently come forward to give her information on other people missing abroad - missing in Vienna, even - whose disappearances have been thoroughly investigated. Those cases, they point out, have warranted the intervention of the U.S. Embassy and the interest of other diplomatic venues and officials.
The only difference between those missing persons and Aeryn Gillern is that Aeryn happened to be gay.
In a letter sent this week to New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who represents the Gilleran family in the Senate, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) - the only organization, Gilleran says, who has stood by her side throughout the entire ordeal - encouraged the new Senator to push for a full investigation.
"PFLAG has been proud to support Ms. Gilleran in her quest to learn about the details surrounding Aeryn's disappearance, and we support all efforts to discover the details about what happened in Vienna," the organization wrote. "We hope that Congress, the State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Austria will take the case seriously and explore every viable option for discovering the details about what happened to Aeryn. It is simply unacceptable that Ms. Gilleran has been unable to learn the facts about her son's disappearance and disheartening that Austrian authorities appear not to have taken the case seriously."
Indeed, the case of Aeryn Gillern may be an early test of just how LGBT-inclusive America's new foreign policy will be, and how much diplomatic pressure officials are willing to exert to protect, defend and stand up for LGBT people living - and missing - abroad. Because until the search for Aeryn is taken seriously, we cannot truly say that LGBT equality - and respect for the dignity of LGBT people - is a pillar of U.S. foreign policy.
For more information on Aeryn's case, visit www.aeryngillern.com.
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Have you noticed that more and more articles are appearing on the legal press about the importance of soft skills for lawyers? By this I mean skills such as verbal and non-verbal communication (including body language), etiquette, delegation & project management, marketing, public speaking and time & stress management.
It is probably true that during law school we do not really develop all the skills we will need in our careers as lawyers. It seems in fact that the ability to deal with people effectively and politely is just as important as, if not more important than, technical skills.
A comprehensive book on this topic, called "Soft Skills for Lawyers", has also been published. It is written by a qualified lawyer and is available to buy from www.chelseapublishing.com
. A free preview of the book can also be downloaded from that website and I hope it will be of help!
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Provided by Jim Angell
A good domestic worker can help take care of your children, assist an elderly parent, or keep your household running smoothly. Unfortunately, domestic workers can also make your tax situation more complicated.
Domestic workers of all types generally fall under the "nanny tax" rules. First, you must determine whether your household helper is an "employee" or an "independent contractor." If you provide the place and tools for work and you also control how the work is done, your helper is probably an employee.
For example, at one end of the spectrum, a live-in housekeeper is probably an employee. At the other end of the spectrum, a once-a-month gardening service may qualify as an independent contractor.
If your household worker is an employee, then you, as the employer, may be required to comply with various payroll tax requirements.
For 2012, one important threshold amount is $1,800. If you paid your employee this amount or more during the year, you are generally required to pay social security taxes on your worker's behalf. The 2012 social security and Medicare tax for employers is 7.65 percent of your worker's wages. The employee is responsible for a 5.65 percent tax (4.2 percent social security tax plus 1.45 percent Medicare tax) on his or her earnings.
This amount could have been withheld from your employee's wages, or you're allowed to pay both portions yourself.
With these taxes go various deposit and filing requirements, including the requirement that you provide your employee with an annual W-2 form that shows total 2012 wages and withholding by January 31, 2013.
As you might expect, most people need assistance complying with the nanny tax rules. If you need details about the rules or help in dealing with them, contact our office.
ABOUT JIM ANGELL: Jim Angell is a Willits-based certified public accountant.
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Residents asked some enlightening questions at the Randolph County Schools bond proposal meeting at Beverly Elementary School Thursday evening.
One audience member asked about the differences between a levy and the bond proposal. She said voters believed when the Randolph County school bond levy passed in 2010, monies from the levy would cover all of the school system's expenses.
"When I spoke with the people prior to the levy vote, they indicated they wanted money from the levy to go for instructional needs," said Dr. James Phares, superintendent of Randolph County Schools.
The Inter-Mountain photo by Beth Christian Broschart
Randolph County Schools bond call committee chairman Bob Dunkerly speaks with residents during the Beverly Elementary School meeting Thursday evening.
"The levy was for $2.8 million: $1 million went to maintenance, $1 million went to instructional costs and $800,000 was spent for technology."
Phares said the levy costs are spread over five years. The bond call will be spread over 15 years and will use $13 million dollars to leverage $22 million for needed repairs, renovations and additions for the community based schools.
If the bond call passes, the School Building Authority will pay $9 million toward the proposed renovations and additions.
The bond call and the SBA money are contingent on one another.
This discussion prompted another question from the audience, which was if the levy and bond increase taxes, will the taxes decrease as the levy and bond are paid in full.
"If the levy is not renewed in 2015-2016, the amount of that tax should drop," Phares said.
"Another thing to consider is we are advertising the bond at the highest possible rate of 6.8 percent when estimating the cost to the taxpayer.
"Right now the rate on bonds is running three to four percent, which would make the cost less expensive."
"The tax calculator available on www.informationonthebondcall.com only figures taxes for the following tax year," Phares said. "In a year where the levy is not renewed the tax should be less."
The proposed renovations and additions to Beverly Elementary School include an exterior drainage system, interior finishes, HVAC, lighting, wiring, fire alarm, communications system, sprinkler system, asbestos abatement and a new cafeteria/kitchen.
The estimated cost for the project is $3,232,714. A total of $2,063,664 is slated to come from the bond call, with $1,169,050 from the SBA.
The final Randolph County Schools bond call information meeting is slated for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 10 at Elkins High School.
Contact Beth Christian Broschart by email at email@example.com.
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Bachelor of Business Administration with a Major in Management
Do you want to become a business leader? Would you like the flexibility to work in either a profit or not-for-profit organization?
If so, the Management major at St. Bonaventure University is the choice for you. This major will prepare you for a career in the rewarding field of management.
Program graduates have found career success at major firms such as:
Our program is:
- transfer student friendly
Inherent in our curriculum is the emphasis with developing your skills and knowledge in:
Why select our Management program?
Graduates have found opportunities available in a variety of businesses including:
- human resource management
- production and operations management
- small business management
You will have the opportunity to join:
You will be taught by professors who are consultants and award-winning researchers in the field.
You will have opportunities for:
- international study
- online learning
- experiential and collaborative learning
- graduate study
Join us in helping you to become an extraordinary leader!
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I don’t think I’ve read a better description or example of sex positivity before. It’s clear and concise and isn’t hinged upon using “positive” speech despite the sex-positive name:
Although fewer people would say that “I think anal sex is amazing” is a sex-negative statement, I consider it to be just as problematic as “I think anal sex is gross.” What makes something like this sex-negative isn’t whether one uses a positive or negative adjective. It’s that saying these sorts of things neglects the diversity of sexual experiences and pleasures.
Simply put, these sorts of things aren’t true. Anal sex is gross for some people and amazing for some people and boring for some people and exciting for some people. No matter what word you use to finish the sentence, you’re leaving out many people’s experiences and that is what makes it sex-negative.
On the other hand, when you say something like “I enjoy/dislike/fill-in-the-blank anal sex,” you’re practicing mindful speech. You’re explicitly recognizing that your experience is your own. You’re not making a sweeping statement and you’re not claiming that anyone else should have the same response that you have. It doesn’t matter whether the word you use is positive or negative in this example, either.
Sex-positivity isn’t about enjoying every possible way to have sex. Sex-positivity isn’t about only using positive words when talking about sex.
Sex-positivity is about making room for different people to have wildly different experiences. And in order to do so, we can practice using language that makes room for that. One of the best (and most difficult) ways to do that is to own our experiences and try to not make sweeping statements. It’s simultaneously quite simple and incredibly difficult, which is why so many people seem to not understand it. Well, that and the fact that there aren’t a lot of examples of mindful speech in the media- it doesn’t make for good soundbites. [emphasis mine]
This is from a post by Charlie Glickman on Good Vibrations Magazine called Owning Your Words: Sex-Positivity, Mindful Speech, and Why Some People Don’t Get It. I highly encourage you to read the entire article to get all of it in context, though what I quoted above is the crux of it. He has other awesome points that are just as important, however, so go read. I’ll be here when you get back.
Why does this matter? I’ve considered myself sex-positive for quite some time and this distinction is an important one. I’ve heard people saying that “sex-positivity” is some sort of trend word, which in some ways I think is true. There seems to be a big trend in those who write about sex and sexuality1 to adopt the term “sex-positive” even when it’s clear they know nothing about what it means.
Of course, being sex-positive and confronting your own internalized sex-negativity2 is a continual process, it’s not something you earn like a merit badge that you can then flash at people to prove that you are sex-positive. Saying you’re sex-positive only gets you so far if you don’t walk the walk. I love his point that it’s not about always saying something positive either, despite “positive” being right in the term itself. I think this is something people get hung up on and a very important point to make.
It may be some sort of trendy word to some, but for others of us it is something we strive for.
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Windows 8 apps store cracks 20,000, most of them free
While 20,000 apps in an online store may seem paltry compared to the more than 700,000 apps in Apple's store and more than 600,000 apps in Google Play, for an upstart in the app trade like Microsoft, the milestone is significant.
Those are worldwide numbers. The total number of apps available within regions vary. For example, the Canadian Windows 8 app store has some 14,000 programs, while the U.S. has 12,675; and the U.K., some 11,000.
What must be heartening for Microsoft is the velocity at which apps are being added to its online market: some 500 new apps appear each day, according to The Next Web.
At that rate, the store could reach 40,000 apps by the end of the year. Moreover, that climb should remain steep as buyers of new Windows PCs during the holiday season hunt for apps for their new computers for weeks to come, and developers feverishly seek to meet that demand.
Comparing the number of apps in the Windows 8 store to the Apple App Store and Google Play can be misleading, though, since those outlets service mobile devices. A more suitable comparison might be made between the Windows store and Apple's Mac App Store. From January 2011 to April 2012, only 10,000 apps were added to that Apple outlet.
Uploads at the Windows 8 app store have been a source of controversy for Microsoft in recent days. The sudden departure of the top dog in Microsoft's Windows division, Steven Sinofsky, was attributed by some Redmond watchers to Sinofsky's conflicts with CEO Steve Ballmer over the pace of growth at the app outlet.
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“Democracy Under Attack” screamed the webpage of Ha’aretz – a popular, left-leaning Israeli broadsheet last week. The event prompting the headline was a proposed alteration to the wording of the Libel Law, submitted this month to the Knesset by three members of its ruling coalition. Having passed a first reading, the change is likely to be accepted. However, public opposition has quickly arisen, opening up an important debate on the limits on free speech in the Jewish state.
Accusations of hyperbole may, at first glance, have some basis. The proposed changes relate primarily to the monetary fine attached to “slanderous speech,” and a seemingly technical rewording of the requirement to prove damage. However, legal experts have suggested that the law could presumably be stretched to include throwaway comments made on Facebook groups and news websites.
“The world of George Orwell is upon us,” lamented MK Shaul Mofaz (Kadima).
Prime Minister Netanyahu hit back, “We are taking proportionate, responsible action…our democracy will be healthier and stronger.”
Behind the rhetoric, there are legitimate concerns that the press’s ability or willingness to investigate government corruption will be hampered by the astronomic fines (NIS 300,000 [$81,000] for unsubstantiated damage and up to NIS 600,000 [$162,000] if the damage is proven).
Supporters of the bill claim that restrictions are necessary. The Israeli press does have a tendency to fast-track dirt on public figures for publication without taking much trouble in verifying it, and the resulting false accusations can often be career-ending. Still, the right-leaning politicians passing the bill generally perceive themselves as victims of an ingrained left-wing bias in the media, and suspicions remain.
Being a South African citizen, I immediately noticed a parallel with news coming out about the Protection of State Information bill, more commonly known as the Secrecy law. The bill has crucially strengthened the government’s ability to classify information, giving any ruling party official the right to declare a document a state secret. The bill predictably passed by a huge majority – no surprise considering the sizable majority that the ANC enjoys in South Africa’s parliament. Pending approval by the National Council of Provinces, the law is expected to be passed in the near future.
Outrage has been immediate from the local media. A protest referred to as Black Tuesday was staged by the National Press Club. Thousands of protesters wore black – a reference to a similar tactic used during the apartheid government’s crackdowns on press freedoms.
The Star, a popular Johannesburg newspaper, echoed the editorials coming out of Tel Aviv, calling the South African law an “attack on open democracy.”
Another daily termed it an “abomination,” comparing it to the previous South African regime’s notorious censorship and intimidation of journalists.
The issue is particularly sensitive in South Africa. In a region where the fall of colonialism has often led to chaotic and brutal dictatorships – with neighbour Zimbabwe a prime example – there is a constant fear that if the leadership is given too much power, there may be no way back. Government corruption is already prevalent, and a vigilant media has played a large role in keeping it under control. Fears remain that the law may leave investigative journalists seeking accountability open to prosecution and create an atmosphere in which whistle-blowers are afraid to come forward.
“Nonsense,” charges ANC spokesman Keith Khoza, claiming that people will still be able to prove public interest through the Access of Information Act.
Although there are parallels between the two situations, the comparisons are a little exaggerated. Israel was founded by left-wing European socialists on the principles of the Enlightenment, and has a tradition of forceful debate and self-criticism. In South Africa, where allegations of corruption are rife, it is easier to see press censorship precipitating a general decline in standards of free speech in the country.
Allowing government officials free rein in classifying documents may also present more of a temptation than letting them sue reporters for libel. Still, there is a large gap between either of the laws and the “draconian” measures “undermining democracy” decried by Reporters Without Borders.
Nor is the issue so cut-and-dried as an infringement on the free availability of information. Free speech is not without limits, as even U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. declared that shouting “Fire!” in a crowded theatre is a classic example of speech not protected by the First Amendment given that it would serve no conceivable useful purpose and is extremely and imminently dangerous.
However, that which we perceive to be useful purpose or imminent danger vary greatly with perspective. Consequences attached to libel and classification of state secrets are definite examples of limits which need to be placed on free speech. But the delicate balance between censorship and freedom should not be changed without a vigorous public discourse.
The debates continue to rage. As always, threats to civil liberties evoke heavy emotions, but the mere fact that such debates are held is a good sign for any country. Whatever the outcome may be, proclamations of the death of democracy are probably exaggerated.
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Fire heavily damages orchid greenhouse on UMES campus
PRINCESS ANNE, MD. - (Nov. 27, 2011) - A fire of unknown origin heavily damaged a commercial greenhouse Sunday on the University of Maryland Eastern Shore campus that is leased by a private company to grow orchids.
Leon J. Bivens, UMES' physical plant director who lives nearby, saw smoke coming from the structure on the east side of campus as he was driving casually through campus around 2:40 p.m. Sunday. After calling 9-1-1 to report what he discovered and then contacting campus security, Bivens circled the building to see if anyone was inside.
Bivens said two employees of U.S. Orchid Laboratory and Nursery Inc. were in a warehouse-type office building adjacent to the greenhouse and apparently were unaware a fire might be spreading through the complex.
Six volunteer fire companies responded to the blaze: Princess Anne, Mt. Vernon, Fairmount, Deal Island, Allen and Crisfield. Crisfield and Princess Anne dispatched two large extension ladder trucks so firefighters could contain the fire by spraying water on the roof.
"We're very fortunate there were no injuries," said Ronnie Holden, vice president for administrative affairs. "We want to thank all those volunteer firefighters who came so quickly and put out the fire. It's impressive to watch them do their job in such a professional and efficient manner."
A plume of thick, black smoke was visible to north and southbound motorists traveling along U.S. Rt. 13 as far away as Pocomoke City and Fruitland.
The building's interior appeared to be a complete loss, but it was unclear as dusk approached Sunday how extensive the damage was to the aluminum-frame and polymer-plastic-walled structure.
K.H. Travers, a Salisbury-based state fire marshal, was on the scene within an hour of the first emergency call gathering evidence to determine the fire's cause.
UMES built and owns the 116,000 square-foot greenhouse that occupies about 2½ acres east of the Food Science and Technology Center. It opened in early 2000 and since 2005 has been leased to U.S. Orchid as part of the university's economic development strategy of serving as a start-up business incubator.
The Rural Development Center at UMES was instrumental in bringing the greenhouse project to campus, where U.S. Orchid's operation involves growing 50 different varieties of orchids - most of them the Phalaenopsis variety. The company sells potted orchids to wholesalers from New York to Atlanta and beyond, according to the Rural Development Center.
Holden estimated that if the complex had to be demolished and rebuilt, the replacement cost could be nearly $6 million, which would include equipment used by the tenant. He said he would be contacting state officials and insurance representatives this week to notify them of the fire.
Holden also said he immediately alerted a U.S. Orchid manager with whom he has regular contact and anticipated the company would dispatch someone to visit the site within a day or two to assess the damage.
For more information, contact Bill Robinson,
director of public relations, 410-621-2355.
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Various contributors share… SISTER STORIES
One of the greatest lessons an individual can learn is how to turn accountability into a growth process. Once you have accepted accountability for unfavorable actions, you have opened the door to the evolution of your life. It’s essential that we as women do this in our relationships with one another. The bonds we form and how we establish them teach those we interact with how we are to be treated. More than we realize, we inadvertently lead others by example. Every word, action, and decision matters when we form connections with our sisters. Why do these things matter? Our relationships with others, particularly women determine our self-doubt. Uncertainties we carry about the lives we lead are mirrored in our interactions with our fellow sisters.
Analyze the most “catty”, hateful, and messy woman you interact with, I guarantee you’ll find her insecurities match those things you are most confident about. It’s important that we pinpoint competitive areas in our relationships with our sisters. Once we have done this we must evaluate our insecurities in that area and work to eliminate them. This will in turn breed healthier relationships with other women.
We have a responsibility to generations that follow us to set examples and lay the foundation for success. The unwarranted dissentions we create between women hinder our personal and professional growth. We cannot teach young women how to carry the torch if we are tearing the sister down walking with us. We have to embody what we want our young sisters to emulate. What example are you setting?
I see so many women who have broken bonds and they blame the other woman, past experiences, or even a man. We are responsible for our own actions. So when you find yourself with broken friendships you have to ask yourself, “What part did I play in the disintegration of the relationship? What unresolved issue do I have that I continue to leave unaddressed, and allow to destroy my relationships? Why have I given a man so much power that he determines how I operate within other relationships? Questioning yourself and answering truthfully helps you develop the accountability you need to lead a healthy and drama- free life.
While it feels natural to look at the roles others play in our lives. We have to realize the difficult truth: that we alone are the determining factor for the direction of our lives. The path to our destiny lies in our own hands. Life is only as difficult as the lessons you don’t learn.
Often women negatively interact with one another because we envy the situation that the other woman is in. We have to understand there are things we simply are not designed to handle. Though we aren’t ordained to experience certain things, some of our sisters will live them and we must remember to uplift and not crucify them. We must teach instead of preach in these instances to create the positive karma that will be the lifeline in our individual struggles. The ties that bind or separate us in our quest of sisterhood are the keys to the path of our destiny.
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By Katharine Houreld
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Elderly men wait patiently, carefully combing their hennaed beards, while a guitar-playing student entertains the long queue of Pakistanis lined-up to be photographed, fingerprinted and questioned inside a crowded office in the capital Islamabad.
This is the unlikely setting for possibly one of Pakistan's few success stories - a massive increase in citizens signing up for government identity cards.
Such things rarely top the agenda of a deeply unpopular government, crippled by daily power cuts, a Taliban insurgency and massive corruption.
But bureaucrats say the successful ID registration has dramatically cut the number of ghost voters and is assisting in the distribution of cash payments for the poor and displaced.
"The database has brought a lot of transparency. We signed up so many people," said Tariq Malik, the 44-year-old chairman of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).
During elections five years ago, less than half of Pakistani adults had a government-issued ID. Now 91 percent have the plastic green cards, said Malik, who previously worked as a county technology officer in Michigan in the United States.
It is hard to verify such a high rate of registration as Pakistan's census data is many years out of date.
Malik said registration spiked after the cards were required for poor Pakistanis to qualify for cash payments from the government.
However, some families, while grateful for the cash, say the flow of aid is sporadic.
"One year ago when I received a card, I got 2,000 rupees. They come after every two to three months and give a little bit of money. Now they come only after six to seven months and only give 3,000 rupees," said Hanifa Meer Beher, 6o, who lives in Karachi's coastal belt Kaka-pir village.
"This money is not enough and it has not made my life any better. I am a poor woman. Whenever I receive this money, I buy a little bit of flour, rice...I am grateful that I am getting something."
International donors like the World Bank, who are using the ID database for cash distributions, say they are happy with the system.
The bank helps fund a program where around 5.5 million poor families who have registered with NADRA get $10 a month.
"More countries are using cash transfers because poor families can choose what to buy and are more likely to get the money on time than aid given in other ways," said a World Bank spokesman.
Neighbouring India helps its poor via subsidized food or fuel, but much of its aid is stolen and ends up on the black market. Recent efforts to link benefits to identity cards there have been chaotic.
GHOST VOTERS, TAX CHEATS
Pakistan's new ID registrations helped eliminate 37 million ghost voters and add around 44 million real people to electoral roles, said Malik, adding voters can now use their ID number to check their registration by text message. A date has not yet been set for the next election, due in the first half 2013.
In future, the ID database may also help in the fight against tax evasion, fraud and crime, but only if the government uses the information, say sceptics like tax expert Ikramul Haq.
In a country where less than one percent of citizens pay income tax, NADRA has identified more than 2 million rich tax cheats, Malik said.
The federal board of revenue estimates tax evasion means as much as US$50 billion is missing from the treasury, money that could be used to upgrade crumbling schools and hospitals.
But so far, Pakistan's wealthy tax cheats remain untouched, yet authorities, mindful of pressure from the International Monetary Fund, are making noises about cracking down.
"We have so many enemies. The rich, who are not accustomed to pay taxes, pension cartels, politicians who want their voters to get benefits they are not entitled to," said Malik.
Registering Pakistan's 180 million population, spread from the Indian Ocean to the Himalayas, meant sending mobile registration vans and skiers laden with bulky equipment to far-flung villages and setting up booths at fairs.
Registration drives were carried out at camps for displaced families who fled fighting along the dangerous mountain regions that border Afghanistan. But registration in the remote and troubled region has been lower than elsewhere.
In conservative towns where women in black or blue burqas scurry through ramshackle bazaars, women-only ID centres were established after the Taliban objected to men taking women's fingerprints.
Corruption is widespread in Pakistan and its ID database registration operation has not been immune. Local newspapers carry frequent complaints that NADRA staff ask for cash to help the poor or illiterate get their benefits.
Around half of the 20 people Reuters interviewed said that cards often contain deliberate errors and corrections are costly.
"My name is Ikram Khan and they mentioned in my ID card as Ikram Gul. It was their fault but they made me suffer," grumbled Khan as he waited in line in the frontier city of Peshawar.
In the ancient walled city of Lahore, housemaid Faiza Biti, 29, said she'd been trying for more than a year to change her place of residence but officials kept telling her to pay $50.
Several interviewees said Afghan refugees can get cards illegally by paying around $800. The daily wage for a laborer is about $2.
Malik admits corruption is a problem, but says he is working on eliminating it and has sacked corrupt employees. "We've already let more than 160 people go," he said.
This year, NADRA personnel had their basic pay raised to about $150 a month, a living wage in Pakistan, and wealthy citizens can now pay $10 extra for fast "executive" service, diverting pay-offs into government coffers.
Most citizens grudgingly say NADRA isn't too bad.
The real question is how the government will use its data. So far, there's little indication it will force through tough reforms, said Haq, citing the government's amnesty on tax cheats which starts this month.
Powerful politicians and businessmen continue to dodge the taxman. Police can theoretically use the database to gain information about suspects, but they often lack the training on how to take fingerprints.
Malik said it is up to the government to use NADRA's information to change Pakistan.
"Our job is to do data analysis," he said. "The rest of it is up to them."
(Additional reporting by Imtiaz Shah in Karachi, Jibran Ahmad in Peshawar and MubAsher Bukhari in Lahore; Editing by Michael Perry)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Check for restrictions at: http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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PSAI participatory and deliberative democracy specialist group Mar 14 2012- Wed, March 21, 2012 - 12:40
‘Breaking the Logjam - expanding the role of the university in promoting civic engagement’, Chris McInerney & Gemma Carney, NUIG
With the publication of the Hunt Report on the future of third level education in Ireland, there has been a renewed focus on the role of Universities and other HEI’s in the area of civic engagement. The purpose of this paper is to explore some elements of how this might take place. Universities either do engage or have the potential to engage in different types of civic engagement, each of which presents different sets of challenges. It is possible to loosely categorise these within three key activity zones. These are: Civic Engagement as democratic renewal; Civic engagement as contributing to social, cultural and economic development; Civic Engagement as broadening the curriculum and encouraging active citizenship amongst students. For the purpose of this paper, we intend to focus on the first zone, civic engagement as democratic renewal. To do so, the paper will firstly set the context within which civic engagement has and currently takes place. It will then identify some of the principal logjams – conceptual, dispositional and skills - that have developed over time that may limit the potential of civic engagement as a democratic activity. In looking at conceptual issues we will suggest how different constructs and understandings of democracy and civic engagement, social justice and public administration may create divergent, frequently competing and occasionally conflicting sets of expectations. Here, questions about what makes a good citizen and who has a stake in constructing our understandings of citizenship emerge as important issues? In looking at issues of attitude and disposition, we in particular pose questions about the readiness of our democratic institutions to embrace deeper citizen engagement and how can they be encouraged to be more responsive. Finally, we suggest that even without the added complexity of concept and disposition, the absence or inadequacy of technical skills to support or mange civic engagement processes can negatively impact on prospects for success.
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Among the many (MANY) benefits of the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare” aka “The End Of America” aka “Romneycare” aka “The Socialist Take Over” aka “Republicans Are Lying Weasels”) is the closing of the so-called “donut hole” in which seniors are left holding the bag for the cost of their medicine.
The donut hole was the brilliant invention of the GOP when they passed Medicare part D. What happens is that when the cost of a senior citizens’ prescriptions pass a set amount ($2,700 in 2009 but the dollar amount fluctuates yearly) they are forced to pay anything over that amount in full with no help from Medicare. Once the costs exceed a second set amount ($6,154 in 2009 and it also fluctuates), that person is considered to be in the catastrophic coverage range and Medicare covers 95% of any further medicine. The space between is the “donut hole” and it’s been costing senior citizens billions of dollars a year.
Obamacare partially closes the hole by mandating that senior citizens that reach the limit are able to get name brand prescription drugs for 50% off and generic drugs for 7% less. The donut will be phased out completely, by law, by 2020. The average savings have been about $651 just in the first 5 months of 2012 alone.
Of course, Republicans don’t like to talk about this. They’d rather focus on non-existent “death panels” and scream about how Obamacare will socialize Medicare. The Supreme Court is due to rule on the constitutionality of Obamacare on Thursday and if they overturn the entire law, millions of seniors will be negatively impacted. One could only hope that seniors will put two and two together by election day and remember who helped them out and who made sure to sabotage that help.
Read more about this story here.
Sign up to have all the AddictingInfo you can handle delivered directly to your email here!
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If you’ve ever had a colonoscopy, you know that the prep is the worst part. You have to drink a liquid laxative. And the taste… Well. Words fail.
Humorist Dave Barry came pretty close to describing the flavor. He put it this way… “A mixture of goat spit and urinal cleanser, with just a hint of lemon.”
And you have to drink LITERS of it!
But all that is in the past now, according to the Mayo Clinic. Doctors there have developed a new laxative in pill form. Easy. Goodbye goat spit!
Unfortunately, there’s a catch. And it’s a HUGE catch.
So here’s fair warning… Don’t fall for it.
Reading the fine print
As I’ve mentioned before, there are two ways to screen for colon cancer. One is colonoscopy, which uses a camera probe. The other is CT colonography (CTC). Here’s how a Mayo Clinic press release describes this procedure… “A CT scan is used to provide three-dimensional imaging.”
This is also known as “virtual colonoscopy.” It’s touted as more appealing because it’s non-invasive.
Now… Here’s the catch. The new laxative pills can only be used for CTC.
Hmmm. Does that seem odd to you? Did Mayo Clinic researchers really make a laxative that’s precisely ideal for CTC, but not suitable for colonoscopy?
Apparently they did. And the solution to this “mystery” is pretty obvious.
The new laxative was developed by the Mayo Clinic Department of Radiology in Arizona. This is the same team that pioneered CTC. They conducted the first studies. They were also the first to offer it for routine care.
Clearly, the Mayo team would like to see this technology take the lead as the first choice in colon cancer screening.
On the surface, there’s nothing wrong with that. Business is business. New technologies overtake outmoded technologies all the time.
But in fact, there are four BIG things wrong here.
1) CTC may not be as accurate as colonoscopy at spotting smaller polyps. And spotting polyps is kind of the whole reason you’re there in the first place.
2) If doctors find a polyp with colonoscopy, in most cases they remove it during the procedure. But if a CTC scan finds a polyp, the patient has to return for a colonoscopy.
3) CTC is supposedly non-invasive. But before it begins, they pump air into your bowels. As an HSI member once told me, “I thought I was going to blow off the gurney.” She says she felt bloated for days.
4) This one is the deal-breaker… A CTC delivers an enormous single dose of radiation. It’s 400 times stronger than a chest x-ray.
The Mayo press release downplays or completely ignores these significant drawbacks. Meanwhile, the chair of the Radiology Department delivers this sales pitch regarding the new laxative…
“Our hope is that this will make people less anxious and more likely to get screened and will ultimately result in fewer deaths from colorectal cancer.”
Translation: Do it OUR way and lives will be saved.
Well… As long as the massive radiation dose doesn’t cause any cancers. (Fingers crossed!)
Here’s the bottom line. This radiological method is potentially very dangerous. Don’t let your doctor talk you into this procedure with FOUR major drawbacks.
And besides… How long can it be before laxative pills are available for colonoscopy prep? I would guess the know-how is already available. But don’t count on the Mayo radiation department to help out with that.
“Four Pills Replace Liters of Laxative for Colonography at Mayo Clinic” Mayo Clinic press release, 8/23/12, newswise.com
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For those wondering about the outcome of the Linux graphics driver development book that was worked on back in September prior to XDC2012
, the book continues to be worked on a bit for those interested in reading it.
If you want to read this basic Linux graphics driver development book, it's being housed in Git and can be seen from this Git repository
. As can be seen from the log, the recent activity to it was pushed just 11 days ago.
This book was originally started by Stephane Marchesin
from the Nouveau project who is now working at Google on Chrome OS.
But before getting too excited about the book, at this week's X.Org Foundation board meeting (the IRC log
), the book sprint was mentioned "kind of fail." This graphics driver book sprint was kind of a failure because as Bart Massey says, "having a bunch of pre-written stuff but not the author made it really hard to work on... I think that if we try again next year, we need more people and better advance planning. In particular more people, [especially] more people knowledgeable about whatever we're going to write about."
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The company is called CrowdStrike (not "CloudStrike"), and most folks attending the NSA session featuring the company Wednesday morning had never heard of it. That wasn't why they were there. The man behind CrowdStrike is George Kurtz, the former chief technology officer of McAfee, and the man widely credited with bringing that company into the realm of seriousness.
During the session introducing attendees to his new venture in a very big way, Kurtz demonstrated the threat of mobile remote access tools ("mobile RATs"), capable of polling smartphones to determine their users' location and scope their transactions. "It's the ultimate spy tool, and it travels around with us at all times... If you haven't figured out privacy's dead, this'll kill it for you."
Kurtz painted a picture of history repeating itself - of the first wave of RATs, akin to the Back Orifice tools of the 1990s. His technology officer, Dmitri Alperovich, conducted a live demonstration of a mobile malware tool that has actually been in the wild for about six months. Its use in the new hack is to deliver an end-to-end "Chinese RAT."
In the re-enacted scenario, Kurtz' associate demonstrated using WebKit, the Web browser engine used by Apple Safari and Google Chrome, also found in the latest versions of BlackBerry OS. Google's Dalvik, which serves as its Java-like virtual machine, runs WebKit on Android phones. The vulnerability targeted is in Android Froyo, version 2.2.x, which is not the latest version but one of the more prevalent.
"We wanted to show what a target adversary could do," said Kurtz. So rather than going bug hunting, the exploit team purchased some 20 low-cost "half-day bugs," for a total price of USD$1,400. Using these bugs, the team developed a set of exploits. Kurtz reminded the audience that if they could not develop these exploits, they were not dealing with retailers willing to give them their money back. They needed to trigger local privilege escalation vulnerability, which is actually a publicly available vuln that required no monetary expenditure.
Alperovich admitted that the "weaponization" of the exploit was not as easy as originally considered. The first challenge was to modify the program counter on the ARM processor, in order to make it point to the malicious shelf code. Then it needed to inject payload into the heap space. Typically in a vulnerability exploitation, you have a minimum of memory in which to inject the Nickispy APK. This is the repurposed "Chinese RAT" that is available in the wild. Reliability was a concern, Alperovich added, so quality assurance processes were employed.
"WebKit is not an easy platform to exploit. It has multiple heaps, so it took a lot of magic," he noted.
The root exploit was used to elevate privileges and activate the malware. This requires a reboot, which must be triggered automatically. If you've ever noticed your Android phone rebooting itself, you might want to take heed.
"We've done this before," said Kurtz, "but not necessarily in this small a form factor."
For the exploit to work, someone sends Kurtz an SMS (not an e-mail, which can be subject to corporate filters), stating there's been a service outage, and asking the user to click on this link to download roaming information to overcome the outage. "For a buck or two, you could send a spoofed SMS message," said Alperovich.
When Kurtz clicks on the link, the delivery mechanism is running on his phone, but it needs to escalate privilege. The method chosen is vold, which is normally used to tell Android that a USB device has been attached and to trigger a driver. After privilege is escalated, Nickispy is triggered.
The next step is to track SMS messages, missed calls, aborted calls, and the geolocation information provided by the phone's internal GPS. A Python script enables the bug to be triggered, which causes the browser to crash. This triggers the phone to execute the remote exploit code. The script then scans for the rest of the exploit code, the "egg." A Python-based command and control server was written to handle the malware, partly due to the discovery that existing code in the wild was poorly written and failed quality assurance tests.
When Kurtz clicks on the fake "Carrier Update" link, the code that's downloaded triggers the browser to crash and the phone to reboot. After the reboot, Nickispy can be spotted in the running apps list - it does not use stealth to hide itself. Immediately, Kurtz's associate was able to demonstrate the phone's location. After Kurtz places a call, his recipient (Alperovich) drops the call and sends an SMS to Kurtz's phone. That enabled the attacker to track the SMS, and from that determine the location of the phone's mic prior to the call being dropped. The attacker could then retrieve the last 15 seconds of the actual conversation prior to the call being dropped.
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I bought Rebecca Stead’s novel for two particular reasons: 1) I saw Fats bought it and 2) It won a Newbery Medal. I wasn’t so sure what it was about, but my copy was sold at roughly 1.5 US Dollars. It was cheap for a hardbound. You can say I impulsively bought it. Having finished it, I realize it was worth the impulsiveness.
The narrative is written by our protagonist, Miranda, as a letter telling the events of what happens to her each day since she and her best friend stopped hanging out together. This letter came about when a mysterious note founds its way into Miranda’s things. The note read: I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own. I ask two favors. First, you must write me a letter.
The mystery itself makes this book interesting enough for any reader. It begs the reader to ask: Who is this note writer? Where do the notes come from? How does the note-writer slip these notes into Miranda’s bag. But Stead doesn’t stop there. She introduces a gamut of characters that create an interesting picture of school life for Miranda. Her characters are engaging, their emotions, back-stories and decisions reveal the various issues individual children can deal with.
Stead does not dwell too much into the various issues, but she touches on them enough to make the reader stop, think and consider. She tackles friendship, crushes, race, epilepsy, single motherhood, discrimination, class difference, and delinquency with a sleight of hand that brings justice to the issues and creates a three dimensional picture of a 12 year old’s life at school.
But this book’s anchor is on Madeleine L’engle’s story A Wrinkle in Time and the whole idea of time travel. This book doesn’t really talk about the title, however, it does mention the story and the characters in many ways it presupposes that the reader has read the book. I haven’t read it, but I’m familiar with the story.
He pointed at my book. Time travel. Some people think it’s possible. Except those ladies lied, at the beginning…They’re time traveling through time right? All over the universe, right? And they promise that girl that they’ll have her back home five minutes before she left. But they don’t”
This discussion between Miranda and Marcus connects them to a story they never knew they were part of, where the theory of time travel is tested and proven. For the older readers who have read the The Time Traveler’s Wife, Stead’s depiction of time travel is almost the same. The time travel cannot bring anything with them, hence they come to one time naked. This even makes the book interesting.
When You Reach Me is a puzzle. The author interweaves the story without forcing anything. Each layer unravels at the perfect time, she lets the reader join in figuring out the answer to all the questions. It is engaging in its layering, it doesn’t prolong nor reveals too soon. I think young and older readers would enjoy this book. Discussions can be endless, as readers touch on the possibility of time travel, the interconnectedness of lives and the cause and effect of things.
With characters that aren’t flat and are complex enough to be real, When You Reach Me does not only lead its reader to revisit L’engle’s book, but also allows the reader to think of their surroundings, the people around them and the possibility of meeting their future selves at present time.
Winner of the 2010 Newbery Medal
Winner of the 2010 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction & Poetry
2009 Parents’ Choice Gold Award winner
AWB Reading Challenge Update: 96 (35)
Newbery Reading Challenge Update: 4 of 12
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There are reasons why you might be dissatisfied with the job Timothy Geithner has done as Treasury Secretary, but his past as a Goldman Sachs banker isn't one of them -- because he never worked there. That's the theme of a rather amusing article in the New York Times today that explains this widespread misconception. Despite article's author Jackie Calmes managing to find numerous examples of people accusing Geithner of working for Goldman, he never even worked as an investment banker or at any other Wall Street firm. So why do people think he did?
The Bank Bailout
Geithner played a pivotal role in the 2008 bank bailout, which leads to the first reason why so many people associate Geithner with Wall Street. At the time he was the president of the New York Federal Reserve, which was in the thick of it. Geithner worked with former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson (an actual Goldman alum) and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke to save the banks and end the financial crisis. This made Geithner appear to be a figure very sympathetic to Wall Street. After all, he helped facilitate a program that resulted in taxpayers loaning big finance hundreds of billions of dollars.
The financial reform battle didn't exactly help to change public perception for Geithner. He was never seen as one of the outspoken leaders who wanted to punish Wall Street. Instead, the Treasury generally advocated sensible, middle-of-the-road reforms that would allow banks to continue to thrive, but hopefully prevent future instability in the financial system. This angered many progressive activists who wanted harsh measures like breaking up banks and prohibiting certain practices entirely. Geithner was even forced to stand back as former Fed chief and current Obama advisor Paul Volcker championed his aggressive approach to limit proprietary trading.
Haven't All Treasury Secretaries Worked at Goldman?
Finally, the financial crisis and subsequent bailout occurred during a transition in Washington from one administration to another. Geithner's predecessor Hank Paulson did, in fact, work as the CEO of Goldman Sachs. Average Americans outside the beltway probably don't as clearly differentiate between Treasury Secretaries as they do Presidents. But even there, nearly half of Americans wrongly believe that Obama authorized the bailout, when really Bush did. So right around the time when people began howling about Paulson giving money to his former bank, Geithner took over and the perception stuck.
Furthermore, the two most prominent Treasury Secretaries over the past two decades were Goldman alumni -- Paulson and Robert Rubin. So it's likely the public associates the role of Treasury Secretary with the bank and Wall Street.
So why is Geithner is always playing "good cop" if has no allegiance to Wall Street? From the beginning he has been more about practicality than politics. That might be one of the reasons why President Obama chose him. Geithner didn't buy into the notion of punishing Wall Street, because he understands that the financial sector is very important to the vitality of the U.S. economy. He didn't go along with the bailout because he wanted to save the bonuses of banker buddies, but because he shared Bernanke's fear of what the world would look like if the financial sector collapsed. Geithner's actions and policies make clear that he's a big advocate of the government helping to shape a healthier economy, but he also believes that the private sector shouldn't be crowded out.
Even if you don't agree with everything Geithner has done as Treasury Secretary -- and I don't -- it's hard to criticize him for taking a practical approach. He's not the kind of partisan hack that one so typically finds in Washington. He's a left-leaning pragmatist. Because he doesn't always follow the progressive anti-business talking points that so many other Democrats do, that makes him appears as an outsider. But his ability to see the value a thriving financial sector doesn't make him a former banker, even though that's what so many Americans have come to assume.
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In late 2008 I proposed that eventually someone would use a legal blog post as an authority in their factum. Here's to one step closer to that goal.
I just noticed that a blog post of mine on Slaw about Ron Livingston was cited in an article by Rebecca Phillips in the Fall 2010 issue of the Campbell Law Review, Constitutional Protection for Nonmedia Defendants: Should There be a Distinction Between You and Larry King?
Phillips discusses statements made by social media users used in defamation cases and its conflict with First Amendment rights. In her conclusion she mentions the Livingston suit,
…because the website’s policy is to not require posters to provide their real name, Wikipedia provides protection to a writer’s privacy unless he or she chooses to identify himself or herself. Because of these protections provided by Wikipedia, it is probable that Livingston’s suit is merely a shot-in-the-dark attempt to vindicate his reputation.
…the internet has provided another method of defaming a person or entity because it permits illegitimate “news” sources to post information on the World Wide Web with ease and a globalized effect. Despite the fact that it may sometimes be hard to point to who exactly the defendant is, it is apparent in situations such as these that the webusers making these harmful statements tend to rashly make posts that have injurious effects without acknowledging the consequences of their actions. Perhaps determining how these defendants will be treated in a lawsuit when and if these issues are presented to the judiciary will alter the way in which we all use the internet; or perhaps it will have no effect at all.
…the courts need to make a decision: Do these average citizen web-users, who are making statements to the entire world, merit the same protection granted by the First Amendment that legitimate media defendants receive? Although the courts have been able to skirt around the issue for decades, in light of the rise of citizen journalists, the time has come for a decision to be made: Is there a distinction between media and nonmedia defendants?
Ted Tjaden has already mentioned the challenges around the legal citation of blawgs, but here I can add one more.
The actual url that Phillips uses is a post on Law is Cool where I mirrored the Slaw post, something I did when I first started here to help my readership transition over. The cross-posting is clearly indicated, and presumably it would make more sense to cite the post where it was originally found.
The format of Law is Cool is also very different – it's based on law student authorship, which is incredibly challenging to maintain as old students graduate and new students begin. There's far less certainty of the site being maintained a decade or so from now than there would be with Slaw.
One explanation could be SEO – the Law is Cool post was just found before the Slaw post was. Another could be a comment on the Law is Cool post which pointed to further resources on the topic, making it a more valuable web reference.
Of course a blog post on online defamation and reputation management, a topic I write about quite a bit, lends itself more to a citation in an online legal journal. The question still arises as to why more blog posts are not cited in legal journals. The uncertainty of stable links is one of the main reasons in my mind.
There's no reason not to based on content. We have the Law Professors Blog network in the U.S., which provides ample academic insight from scholarly sources. And practitioner sites which focus on specific practice areas can be just as authoritative.
An example of the dead link issue can be demonstrated by the Persuasive Authorities blog, written by several legal academics, which I mentioned in 2009 when the site was first launched. In a post on March 30, 2011, Richard Albert indicates the site will not be posting further. Considering that it's hosted on Blogspot the content and links will presumably continue to be stable, but the issue of continuity of long-term web resources is clearly highlighted.
Internet users have traditionally for the past decade resolved the stable link issue through Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, which archives internet content. But both Internet Archive and Wayback Machine have their own history with litigation, and there is no guarantee that either will exist indefinitely.
Additionally, the Wayback Machine does not archive everything (especially robots.txt exclusions), and did not capture the Livingston post cited by Phillips:
One potential solution is for legal writers to use the url provided by the Wayback Machine archive. This also requires them to submit their blog references to the archive if they have not captured it, as above.
Don't worry Rebecca Phillips, this one is on me. And thanks for the mention.
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People For the American Way President Ralph G. Neas said the reported nomination of White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales as U.S. Attorney General raises serious concerns, particularly over his role in the development of policies governing the treatment of detainees in Iraq and in the war on terrorism.
Neas issued the following statement:
“Alberto Gonzales’s role in the development of policies that ultimately led to the Abu Ghraib prison scandals in Iraq is deeply troubling. Few images have done more to scar our nation’s image at home and abroad than the terrible pictures of prisoners being abused in Iraq. Further, there are many questions that must still be answered regarding the rights and treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere. We expect Senators to question him closely on these matters.
“An even more fundamental question is whether Mr. Gonzales will continue the damaging course set by John Ashcroft at the Justice Department. John Ashcroft’s tenure was marked by a severe erosion of Americans’ civil liberties and a diminished commitment to civil rights enforcement. Would an Attorney General Gonzales continue policies that restrict Americans’ constitutional protections? Would he undermine voting rights by supporting recent Justice Department actions to restrict Americans from turning to the courts to enforce the Help America Vote Act?
“Senators should explore Mr. Gonzales’ support for the excesses of the PATRIOT Act, parts of which come up for renewal in 2005, as well as his central role in the administration’s efforts to pack the federal judiciary with far-right ideologues. Senators should also examine his role in White House actions promoting excessive secrecy, interfering with constitutional checks and balances and demonstrating contempt for Congress’ oversight role, threatening affirmative action, and restricting workers’ rights by executive order.
“America needs an attorney general who is committed to protecting both national security and the nation’s Constitution. We urge Senators to ensure that the next U.S. Attorney General is committed to the protection of Americans’ civil rights and constitutional liberties.”
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Hot answers tagged espagnol
If it is pronounced [oi] as I think, you just have to use a dieresis ¨ (tréma in French). It already exists in French, for instance my first name is Loïc, pronounced [loik], as opposed to Loic [lwak].
In French, this pronounciation often goes along with y in written text (I think of “oyez” and “royal”), you can use that if you want to describe it. It's also the pronunciation of -ille in French, which forces the i out of any bigram it could form with the preceding vowel, as in “paille” (and arguably, in “corbeille”). I have the feeling there's something ...
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
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Be sure to double check that Groupon you received in your e-mail -- spammers are using the popularity of e-mailed advertisements for group discount deals to send more malware.
The rise of malware through fake e-mail advertisements and notifications are on the rise, according to a study released today by security firm Kaspersky Lab.
"They are primarily doing so by sending out malicious e-mails designed to look like official notifications. Kaspersky Lab is seeing more and more malicious spam designed to look like coupon service notifications," the report said.
The firm said it also noted these coupon spam … Read more
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KNOWING the simple things can make a big difference in improving the quality of health care for dementia patients.
A specialist program at Shellharbour and Kiama hospitals helps staff be aware of information such as how playing a patient's favourite music can make otherwise daunting transitions easier.
The hospitals are working with the Clinical Excellence Commission's Partnering With Patients program to introduce the Top 5 project.
This involves carers providing a list of the five most important things staff should know to communicate with and reassure patients with dementia.
Figtree resident Val Fell is a carer for husband Ian, who was diagnosed with dementia about five years ago.
Mr Fell lives in a nursing home.
"I think it's essential from a carer's point of view to know the people looking after your partner or family member have a personal interest in the patient," Mrs Fell, 83, said.
"If the person is upset and the nurse knows they have a particular type of music or composition they like, they can play it.
"A piece of clothing they're particularly fond of can help, or knowing what name they respond to.
"They may seem like little things, but they're important to the patient and carer."
Shellharbour and Kiama hospitals launched the program last Friday, with 20 other NSW hospitals.
It was launched with patients to mark the start of Dementia Awareness Week, which runs until September 28.
Shellharbour and Kiama hospitals' director of nursing, Narelle Gleeson, said when a person with dementia was admitted to hospital, feelings of anxiety could result due to the disruption to normal routines.
"It can be very daunting for both the patient and their loved ones," she said.
"The Top 5 project will see carers contribute to tailoring specific care plans for the individual patient by simply answering a series of questions about their own daily techniques.
"By having carers provide this personal insight into their loved one's daily routine, it enables us to better adapt their care for the hospital setting."
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Subscribe To our E-Newsletter
'New' Opera Restaged
Kurt Weill's massive opera-oratorio, known in English as The Eternal Road, has proven to be a daunting task for any director brave enough to tackle it. The work, which has four acts and deals with persecution throughout Jewish history, calls for a cast of hundreds and costumes in the thousands. Not surprisingly, the 1937 premiere, which took place in New York City, was commandeered by German theatrical wizard Max Reinhardt, soon after he'd fled Nazi Germany.
Also not surprising is that the piece has been revived in its entirety only twice since its debut.
Now Thomas Lloyd, associate professor of music at Haverford College, is set to present a two-hour, self-fashioned version of the work.
Lloyd will lead the Haverford-Bryn Mawr College Chorale and Chorale Orchestra in the performance, scheduled for April 22 at 3 p.m. in Haverford's Robert Marshall Auditorium. (For more information, visit: www.haverford.edu/calendar, or call 610-896-1011.)
The professor, who also heads both chorales, said that he's always on the lookout for new choral pieces, especially outside the Christian tradition -- the bulk of such material -- since so many Jewish students attend both colleges and the surrounding areas have large Jewish populations.
He had heard and read about the Weill piece over the years and became especially excited after listening to the only recording of the music, which was released several years ago -- excerpts from the larger work conducted by Gerard Schwartz.
Lloyd contacted the Kurt Weill Foundation in New York. "I asked them if I could extract portions of the recorded work and make something coherent out of it for concert purposes. They said they'd wanted to do something like that themselves and said, 'So, why don't you do it for us.' "
The foundation had a major stipulation, said Lloyd: Limit the number of characters in whatever piece he designed so that it wouldn't be too cumbersome dramatically and might be used by small choral groups and college choirs.
His version, the conductor said, has a little bit of the original drama -- "there's 10 percent dialogue and 90 music" -- but the main thing is that it uses something from all four acts. "You see, it wasn't clear whether the fourth act was done originally in 1937 because the drama critics had to leave after Act Three to make their deadlines for the next day's paper. It's said that if Act Four was in fact done, the performance would have ended sometime after two in the morning."
The plot of The Eternal Road runs on two tracks (the original libretto was by German novelist Franz Werfel). A group of Jews seeks refuge one night in a synagogue (in an unknown place and time) while a pogrom rages outside. The rabbi at the shul tells stories -- biblical and otherwise -- to those gathered that, in the original production, were enacted on a multilevel set behind them.
Lloyd has kept many of the major parts -- the rabbi, the youth, the adversary who tries to lead the Jews astray. And there are the more recognizable biblical characters -- Moses and Abraham, for example.
Weill's music, Lloyd said, like all of his work, from Threepenny Opera, written in 1920s Weimar Germany, to One Touch of Venus, written for 1940s Broadway, is a blend of styles -- cantorial, operatic, musical comedy songs and jazz, among others.
The work, said Lloyd, even in this shortened version, touches on many themes. "Both Weill and Werfel had been driven out of Germany in the 1930s only because they were Jews -- even though they had little connection to their Jewish heritage. And so this piece that was written before the war and the Holocaust, deals in its way with what leaving Germany meant and what going to America meant -- and what it means to be a Jew."
In Lloyd's opinion, the conclusion is ambiguous and rightly so. "The youth, yielding to youthful optimism, leads the Jews out of the synagogue to follow the Messiah, insisting that the Jews can survive in exile."
But it leaves the question of whether in fact they can survive unresolved, he added.
Lloyd said he has two goals for Sunday's performance. The first would be "to present a convincing performance of the music so it might become part of the repertoire" for choral groups.
"But the drama also asks what it means to be a people, what resources we have in the face of evil, where do we turn when evil arises? And what allows us to go on? There are no easy answers to these questions, but great art never gives you easy answers," he said. "It gives us insight."
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Whether you are using a bounce house for residential or commercial purposes, it is highly important to set up the floor of the bounce house on a piece of ground that is flat and level. This is the first step to be made before a hopefully fun and exciting day with a bounce house, and it is critical that you set up the bounce house correctly to avoid complications, additional set-ups, and possible injury.
When you are planning out the party area for the right place for a bounce house, or are just blowing up a residential bounce house for a weekend, the ground is always the first thing you should be considering. The level of the land you use must be inspected beforehand for any protrusions or unevenness. The best type of land for a bounce house is a flat piece of grass without any trees, buildings or natural objects directly next to the fully inflated bounce house. It is important to give the bounce house the free space it needs to fully inflate, because setting up too close to a tree branch or building can accidentally cause a tear in the bounce house’s frame and structure. However, we don’t always have sizable fields and yards at our disposal; the best advice to give in a somewhat cramped set-up situation is to keep the bounce house as equally far away from potentially harmful objects as best you can. If the bounce house is being rented, the rental crew that accompanies the bounce house will assist you in the set-up process to find the best overall spot.
Using a hilly or uneven patch of grass or pavement can also lead to potential problems because there is a chance the bounce house will topple or break. Children love playing in a bounce house, and sometimes will take playtime to the extreme, bouncing and jumping as much as they can. The amount of children present in a bounce house jumping at the same time can cause friction against the bounce house’s frame, and on a hilly, unsmooth piece of land, the bounce house’s frame can begin to tilt or fall over from the pressure. The spikes that hold the bounce house to the ground will not be able to repair a tilt by themselves. In fact, in the worst case scenario, the spikes may actually be responsible for ripping or tearing a hole in the bounce house should it topple. Likewise, a bounce house pushed to its structural limits that’s been set up on pavement is even more susceptible to ripping and tearing due to the inherently more jagged nature of the concrete. The sandbags that hold a bounce house in place would not be very effective against cracked concrete.
It is recommended that you test out the land you plan on using for the bounce house set-up prior to the arrival of the rented or purchased bounce house. Whether the set-up will be in your yard or a local field, it would be wise to use a level tool to find the patch of grass that is the most even. All bounce house accidents can and will be easily avoided if you work to combat them ahead of time.
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Thursday, April 11, 2013
The Internal Revenue Service says taxpayers who need more time to file don't need to panic.
Can't file your tax returns by the Monday, April 15 deadline? Extensions are available. Those who haven't finished completing their returns can get an automatic six-month extension. The fastest and easiest way to get the extra time, the IRS says, is through this Free File link — use the free service to electronically request an automatic tax-filing extension on Form 4868. Filing this form gives taxpayers until Oct. 15 to file a return and allows individuals to avoid a late-filing penalty. To get the extension, you must estimate your tax liability and also pay any amount due. Can't pay the full amount you owe the government? Click here to find out about setting up payments. You might also be interested in reading: Subscribe to Barrow …
Thursday, February 28, 2013
From shopping around for the highest refund to failing to tell your tax preparer about life changes that could affect your taxes, a CPA shares the most common tax mistakes.
Thursday, February 28
Looking for tax professional in Barrow County? Click here to access the Barrow Patch Directory for businesses offering financial services. DailyFinance has asked Certified Public Accountant Gary Craig to outline some of the most common tax mistakes to help taxpayers avoid making them. Click here to read the full story, and here's an overview of the mistakes you could be making: You might also be interested in reading: Subscribe to Barrow Patch’s newsletters, follow us on Twitter and “like” us on Facebook.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
If you qualify for an exemption, that amount can be deducted from your gross income to calculate your taxable income.
Saturday, February 16
According to a DailyFinance report, exemptions are some of the most uncomplicated parts of filing taxes. Exemptions work in a similar way as deductions by reducing the amount of income on which you are taxed. When filing your 2012 tax returns, for each exemption you take, you can deduct $3,800 from your gross income to determine at your taxable income. Taxpayers are allowed to take exemptions for themselves, their spouses and their dependents. Read more about exemptions and find out if you are eligible to take them. Check out an article on imaginative tax breaks that have been approved by the Internal Revenue Service, including deductions on the cost of oils for a professional bodybuilder, breast implants considered a stage prop and a …
Thursday, February 14, 2013
The Internal Revenue Service reports experiencing high traffic on its online “Where's My Refund?” tool.
Thursday, February 14
Looking for tax professional in Barrow County? Click here to access the Barrow Patch Directory for businesses offering financial services. The deadline to file tax returns isn't until April but taxpayers appear to be filing early and are already asking, Where's my refund?" “Due to the large number of inquiries and to avoid service disruptions, the IRS strongly urges taxpayers to only check on their refunds once a day,” the IRS said, according to a report by Accounting Today. “IRS systems are only updated once a day, usually overnight, and the same information is available whether on the Internet, IRS2go smartphone app or on IRS toll-free lines. While 'Where's My Refund?' is updated nightly, your account will not change that frequently.” …
Friday, February 8, 2013
Here are some indications you should look to someone else to prepare your taxes for filing.
Friday, February 8
According to a DailyFinance post, there are far too many tax preparers out there with good intentions who are too incompetent to do the job. Warnings signs include someone asking you to lie about your charitable donations, the preparer not asking for the proper financial records and someone not giving you their credentials. Read the full list of signs, with details, by clicking here. Looking for reputable tax professional in Barrow County? Click here to access the Barrow Patch Directory for businesses offering financial services. You might also be interested in reading: Subscribe to Barrow Patch’s newsletters, follow us on Twitter and “like” us on Facebook.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
For the most part, the identity theft methods to guard against during tax season are the same ones criminals use during the rest of the year.
DailyFinance.com calls tax identity fraud a "specialized and sophisticated form of theft." According to a post on the site, thieves are stealing year-end statements, W-2s and other income information to file returns on victims' behalf. The report says that during the 2011 tax processing year, roughly 940,000 tax returns were filed fraudulently, and this year, that number will likely increase to 1 million. How do you protect yourself? First, shred any paperwork you don't need for tax preparation. Second, be wary of a slow-running computer or out-of-place pop-ups when filing taxes online. Also, be suspicious of any phone calls or e-mails claiming to be from the IRS, even with the appropriate logos. According to the IRS website: "The IRS …
Monday, January 14, 2013
he time is now that something needs to be done to stop the insanity coming from our leadership in this country.
The question for this year of 2013 might be: “How many wake up calls will America need before we are really awake?” As a young teen, I decided I would sleep until I was ready to get up each morning. That lasted one day. My parents were in charge of our family and as a member of the family I was told there were house rules by which all of us must abide. My parents were not overbearing but they understood the principle of childrearing and the importance of making sure that as a child I understood the limits of my decision making, and that they would be in charge of making the decisions guiding my life. They explained that a time would come as I matured when I would be responsible for my personal decisions. We seem to be a nation caught up in…
Sunday, January 13, 2013
It's tax time again in Barrow County and elsewhere.
Sunday, January 13
On Friday, the Internal Revenue Service announced annual inflation adjustments for tax year 2013, including the tax rate schedules, and other tax changes from the recently passed American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. The tax items for 2013 of greatest interest to most taxpayers include the following changes. Details on these inflation adjustments and others are contained in Revenue Procedure 2013-15, which will be published in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2013-5 on Jan.28, 2013. Other inflation adjusted items were published in October 2012 in Revenue Procedure 2012-41. If you have tax questions and need an expert, use the Barrow Patch directory to locate a CPA or Tax Service near you. Subscribe to Barrow Patch’s newsletters, follow us on …
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
The Barrow Journal reports Winder’s internal auditor found the oversight.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
The cities of Auburn, Bethlehem, Carl, Statham, Winder and Braselton have received checks from Barrow County following an accounting oversight that the Barrow Journal reports cost the municipalities more than $324,000 in sales tax proceeds. According to the Journal, the error was due to a change in the distribution formula set to kick in toward the end of the six-year SPLOST cycle. Find out the amount each city received. Subscribe to Barrow Patch’s newsletters, follow us on Twitter and “like” us on Facebook.
Friday, October 12, 2012
If Congress can't reach an agreement, a number of tax breaks for parents could be on the chopping block.
CNN Money reports that four tax breaks for low-income parents could cease to exist soon. That means thousands of dollars that used to go back into your pocket after filing taxes, won't. For the Earned Income Credit, "low-income" is defined as a married couple with three kids making a little over $50,000 a year. If Congress fails to extend tax cuts before the end of the year, the Child Tax Credit, Earned Income Credit, Child and Dependent Care Credit and American Opportunity Credit would be reduced or chopped, according to CNN Money. This isn't a done deal, but a definite possibility. What do you think about those tax breaks potentially ending? We have a significant amount of national debt -- should we try to plug the hole with more tax …
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Jeri Cartwright had hoped the November election would bring relief from partisan bickering and from health insurance woes that have vexed her since she opened her public relations firm 16 years ago.
She looked forward to 2014, when federal health reform promised to bring fairly priced, affordable coverage within reach of self-employed professionals like herself.
But the path to that coverage virtual insurance marketplaces, or exchanges has become the latest flash point in the battle over President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
Republican states are now refusing to run exchanges or, like Utah, stalling and lobbying for leeway to pursue homegrown reforms.
Whether the political "saber rattling" poses a real threat is hard to say, said Cartwright. But it's misguided and inhumane to be gunning for a fight "under the guise of ... declaring independence from the big, bad feds" when Utahns' lives and livelihoods are at stake, she said.
Utah already has an exchange, known as Avenue H, an online shop where small-business employees can buy health insurance using contributions from their employer.
Gov. Gary Herbert asked Obama earlier this week to declare the 4-year-old shopping portal good enough to meet the Affordable Care Act's standards, even though it is missing key features, such as controls on prices and the ability to enroll residents in Medicaid.
The White House hasn't responded publicly, but is negotiating privately with Herbert, according to Avenue H director Patty Conner.
Precisely what Utah has in store for its exchange isn't known. States have until Friday to decide whether to create their own federal exchange, partner with the feds to run one, or default to having the feds operate one for them.
Conner declined to speculate how or when the White House will rule on Herbert's proposal. She said by the close of business Friday, the governor is expected to release a more detailed blueprint of his plan.
But even conservative health policy experts have been skeptical of Avenue H and its potential as a market-based alternative to federal health reform.
There's no mandate to have insurance in Utah, or tax breaks to make it affordable enticements under the federal law that Herbert dislikes, and that some argue are critical to success of exchanges.
To avoid drawing a disproportionate number of older, sick people, causing prices to spike, states have to entice young, healthy people to the exchange pool, said Judi Hilman, executive director of the Utah Health Policy Project.
That's how it works in Massachusetts, the model for the federal version. Taken to a national scale, it could solve a problem known as "job lock" where unhappy workers are loathe to leave their jobs for fear of losing their health benefits.
That's exactly what happened to Cartwright, who worked in TV journalism and marketing before striking out on her own in 1996.
Her business thrived. She had no trouble affording health insurance, but couldn't find a carrier willing to cover her due to chronic health problems from her childhood.
"My health has never been good," she said, declining to elaborate for fear of losing business.
Right now in America, employers that offer health insurance must cover all eligible full-time employees. But the self-employed, part-time workers and the unemployed enjoy no such guarantee.
"One agent told me that it was highly unlikely that I, as a single business owner, would get insurance," said Cartwright. "His comment was, 'No one is getting approved these days. If you'd even had so much as a broken finger in your lifetime, you wouldn't get insurance.' "
For a while, Cartwright was able to join her husband's plan. He's now deceased, and her only recourse has been Utah's insurer of last resort, its high-risk pool.
The program is quite expensive. Still, Cartwright said she's "very, very grateful" for it.
But the program will likely dissolve in 2014, when access to insurance will be guaranteed for everyone through exchanges.
If Utah succeeds at blocking a federal exchange, where will hard-working, middle-class professionals "like me" turn? Cartwright asks. "What state should I move to, take my ideas and take my business to? Or do I shutter it and take the first job I can find, just for the benefits?"
She hopes it doesn't come to that and that federal exchanges will "bring on a golden age of the entrepreneur."
"Longtime, loyal, overworked employees just might leave their jobs to pursue a dream of their own business," freeing up jobs and boosting productivity, she said. "And it might make employers more cognizant of the potential brain drain, thus more willing to make work conditions better ⦠conditions which have deteriorated rapidly during the recession."
On Friday, Gov. Gary Herbert is expected to release a more detailed blueprint of his plan for an exchange in Utah.
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The call for federal lawmakers to tighten gun laws has intensified following the mass shooting in Colorado, with New Jersey Democratic Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg urging Congress on Saturday to swiftly address a ban on certain weapons.
“Let's stop wasting time and start saving lives,” Lautenberg, D-N.J. said on his Twitter account. “Congress must prioritize a ban on high-capacity gun magazines.”
At least one other lawmaker has already called on President Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney to address the issue.
"Soothing words are nice," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a radio interview, "but maybe it's time that the two people who want to be president of the United States stand up and tell us what they are going to do about it, because this is obviously a problem across the country."
Lautenberg was also among the first on Capitol Hill to comment on the shooting massacre early Friday at a suburban Colorado movie theatre that left 12 people dead and dozens wounded. The alleged shooter, James Holmes, was armed with an AR-15 assault rifle and three other weapons.
“The shooting in Aurora is a horrific act of violence, and our thoughts go out to the innocent victims and their families,” he said Friday. “Our hearts are filled with sadness for the 12 people killed and the dozens wounded in this senseless act. We have to face the reality that these types of tragedies will continue to occur unless we do something about our nation’s lax gun laws.”
A Lautenberg aide has told the Huffington Post, “If reports are correct and a high-capacity gun magazine was used to commit these awful murders, Senator Lautenberg will absolutely renew his effort to limit the availability of this dangerous firearm attachment."
Last year, Lautenberg introduced legislation to ban high-capacity ammunition magazines. He also has authored other gun-related bills including one that would close so-called loopholes on background checks for buyers at gun shows.
Once, every highly publicized outbreak of gun violence produced strong calls from Democrats and a few Republicans for tougher controls on firearms.
Now those pleas are muted, a political paradox that's grown more pronounced in an era scarred by Columbine, Virginia Tech, the wounding of a congresswoman and now the shooting in a suburban movie theater where carnage is expected on-screen only.
"We don't want sympathy. We want action," Dan Gross, president of the Brady campaign said Friday as Obama and Romney mourned the dead.
Ed Rendell, the former Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, was more emphatic than many in the early hours after the shooting. "Everyone is scared of the NRA," he said on MSNBC. "Number one, there are some things worth losing for in politics and to be able to prevent carnage like this is worth losing for."
Yet it's been more than a decade since gun control advocates had a realistic hope of getting the type of legislation they seek, despite predictions that each shocking outburst of violence would lead to action.
In 1994, Congress approved a 10-year ban on 19 types of military-style assault weapons. Some Democrats quickly came to believe the legislation contributed to their loss of the House a few months later.
Five years later, Vice President Al Gore cast a tie-breaking Senate vote on legislation to restrict sales at gun shows.
The two events turned out to be the high-water mark of recent Democratic drives to enact federal legislation aimed at reducing gun violence, and some Republicans said they could see the shift coming.
"The news media in its lather to distort this whole issue may be wrong in their estimation that this will help Al Gore," then-Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said in an Associated Press interview a few weeks after the tie-breaking vote. "As a matter of fact, it may already have hurt him, and it may hurt him a lot more."
By 2004, when the assault weapon ban lapsed, congressional Democrats made no serious attempt to pass an extension. President George W. Bush was content to let it fade into history.
Public sentiment had swung.
According to a Gallup poll in 1990, 78 percent of those surveyed said laws covering the sale of firearms should be stricter, while 19 percent said they should remain the same or be loosened.
By the fall of 2004 support for tougher laws had dropped to 54 percent. In last year's sounding, 43 percent said they should be stricter, and 55 percent said they should stay the same or be made more lenient.
In terms of electoral politics, Harry Wilson, a Roanoke College professor and author of a book on gun politics, said violent crime has been declining in recent years and, "It becomes increasingly difficult to make the argument that we need stricter gun control laws."
Additionally, he said in some regions, gun control "can be a winning issue for Democrats. But nationally, it's a loser ... and they have figured that out." Attempts to emphasize the issue will "really motivate the opposition. And in a political campaign, nobody wants to do that," he said.
At its core, Wilson said, the issue divides rural voters from urban voters.
Often, that means Republicans on one side, Democrats on the other. But not always.
In the current election cycle, the National Rifle Association has made 88 percent of its political donations to Republicans, and 12 percent to Democrats, according to OpenSecrets.org. The disparity obscures that the organization consistently supports some Democrats, a strategy that allows it to retain influence in both parties.
It also reported spending $2.9 million on lobbying last year.
Its clout was vividly on display in 2010 when majority Democrats in the House sidetracked legislation giving the District of Columbia a voting representative in the House of Representatives. Republicans had vowed to add an NRA-backed provision invalidating a city ban on handgun possession as the price for passage, and there was little doubt it had the votes to prevail.
Later in the year, the NRA objected to legislation to require groups airing political advertising to disclose donors. Fearing the fallout, enough rank and file Democrats demanded changes that the leadership had to revise the bill. A revised bill, granting the NRA and other large organizations an exemption, eventually passed.
Gross, head of the Brady Campaign, says Democrats have drawn the wrong lessons for years. "The cultural narrative exists because of the assessment of Al Gore's loss in 2000 and the mid-terms in 1994, and in both cases I think the gun issue was scapegoated," he said. "Those who didn't vote for Al Gore weren't going to vote for him anyway."
At the same time, Gross readily conceded the lingering hold of the issue.
"Look at Kerry when he felt he needed to dress up in hunting gear," he said, referring to the Democratic presidential candidate's well-photographed excursion into a duck blind in camouflage clothing in swing-state Ohio a few weeks before the 2004 election.
Four years later, Obama won the White House despite strong opposition from the NRA.
As a senator from Illinois and state lawmaker before that, he was a strong supporter of gun control.
Following last year's killing of six people and the wounding of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Ariz., Obama called for steps to "keep those irresponsible, law-breaking few from getting their hands on a gun in the first place."
He advanced no legislative proposals then, and on Friday, spokesman Jay Carney said, "The president believes that we need to take common-sense measures that protect Second Amendment rights of Americans, while ensuring that those who should not have guns under existing law do not get them."
Obama isn't the only 2012 White House candidate to adjust his views on gun control.
In a losing Senate campaign in Massachusetts in 1994, Romney said, "I don't line up with the NRA." A decade later, as governor, he signed legislation making a state assault weapons ban permanent.
This year, bidding for support at the NRA convention, he said: "We need a president who will enforce current laws, not create new ones that only serve to burden lawful gun owners."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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The Chief Rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks, is to address next month’s Lambeth Conference, the international convention of Anglican bishops convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury every 10 years.
“It is certain that this is the first time a Jewish leader has addressed a Lambeth gathering at the personal invitation of the archbishop,” said Canon James Rosenthal, spokesman for the Anglican Communion.
“The conference will be looking at the theme of the ‘Covenant’ and we look forward to hearing Dr Sacks on the role of the Covenant in the Old Testament, part of our own Judeo-Christian heritage.”
He said that the Chief Rabbi and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams “work closely with other interfaith leaders in Britain and beyond throughout the year and they are personal friends.
“The Anglican Communion has ongoing official dialogues with Muslim and Jewish leaders as well as other Christian communions,” explained Canon Rosenthal.
Sir Jonathan has also been invited to address the European Parliament in the autumn.
The Lambeth Conference — a three-week period of study and discussion — has been clouded by divisions within the Anglican Church.
A number of conservative bishops are intending to boycott the event in protest at compromises over gay rights and the ordination of women. Instead, they will be attending next week’s Global Anglican Future Conference in Jerusalem.
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Former FBI director Louis Freeh's report revealed that coach Joe Paterno, Athletic Director Tim Curley, Vice-President Gary Schultz (both depicted in the photograph on the left) and University President Graham Spanier acted in concert to cover up Jerry Sandusky's criminal acts.
The report is devastating (read it here). High ranking University officials showed a complete disregard for the well-being of children. Rather than take active steps to end Sandusky predatory behavior, the University engaged in a concerted institutional effort to safeguard the legacy of its football program, coach and brand.
While many their suspicions, Freeh's report confirmed that this seems to have occurred.
What is the fallout from Freeh's report? Here are some things to consider.
1) Penn State Liability
Your basic legal principle is this: an employer can be liable for the acts committed by an employee in the course of his or her employment.
The employer won't be liable if an employee does something that is clearly outside the scope of his responsibilities. However, if an employee is discharging his duties but doesn't do it right or is negligent, liability can follow the employer.
And that's what we appear to have here. Spanier, Schultz, Curley and Paterno appear to have worked in concert to cover up Sandusky's actions. This creates liability for Penn State since its employees were, in part, negligent in discharging their duties. For legal purposes, these 4 people will be considered "Penn State" (although the school would argue that).
Remember up until sometime in September 2011, and despite retiring in 1999, Sandusky still had a Penn State office, email, telephone number and faculty listing, while also enjoying the title of assistant professor emeritus of physical education. So not only did Penn State keep him around, it also legitimized Sandusky on and off campus.
The liability would likely only extend to when Penn State employees knew (or ought to have known) about Sandusky's molestation of children and did nothing. We don't know when that was. We do know that the University was made aware of a 1998 incident which included a police investigation. Despite the investigation, Sandusky was not fired; rather he was barred from accessing the Penn State locker room.
So for plaintiffs suing Penn State for money, that will likely be a starting point. Note that in one lawsuit already filed, a Plaintiff has alleged that Sandusky “had been molesting children since at least the 1970s”.
So when Penn State employees knew or should have known something was going on will become an important issue.
This report is devastating for Penn State and could result in massive - if not catastrophic - monetary damages against the University.
2) Paterno Statue
There is a 7-foot statue of Joe Paterno at Penn State. To the left on a wall are the words “Joseph Vincent Paterno; Educator; Coach; Humanitarian.”
The statue depicts Paterno, running in front of four players and his right index finger is pointed high. On the wall is a quotation from Paterno. “They ask me what I’d like written about me when I’m gone, I hope they write I made Penn State a better place not just that I was a good football coach.”
In light of Freeh’s report, the question is whether the statue, unveiled in 2001, should come down?
Paterno taught his players to do the right thing, to take responsibility for their actions and to admit when they were wrong. Paterno held his players to the highest moral standards and over the years became a symbol of morality.
Now his statue has become a symbol of a wholesale institutional failure to stop Sandusky. It has become a symbol of doing the wrong thing rather than the right thing.
The Paterno statue no longer stands for the right thing and for that reason must fall.
3) The Football Program
Some people are calling for the termination of the Football Program. It is difficult to argue with that demand. However, if the people that are responsible are held responsible - and more precisely criminally responsible - is it then necessary to then deprive the University of its Football Program?
While there is no right answer, there is the argument that terminating the program becomes unnecessary under those circumstances. By removing the program, we would be letting the actions - or inactions - of a small group of people deprive students that have done nothing wrong with the chance to watch and play football.
Football does seem trite when juxtaposed beside this entire affair. As well, punitive measures are critical here. Still, so many people that did nothing wrong would be penalized for something they did not do. This is a tough one.
4) Graham Spanier
Curley and Schultz are facing perjury charges and are headed to trial in the Fall.
But what of University President Spanier?
Spanier testified that Curley and Schultz came to him and indicated that McQueary said Sandusky was involved in actionsthat made him “uncomfortable” and that Sandusky was “horsing around in theshower” with a boy.
Spanier denied that the incident was reported as “sexual in nature” and confirmed that Curley and Schultz did not indicate that they would report the incident to police.
Spanier also denied being aware of the 1998 incident.
Now we have learned that this was not the case. With respect to the 2001 incident, Curley changed his mind and recommended in an email to Spanier that they should not move against Sandusky:
"After giving it more thought and talking it over with Joe yesterday, I am uncomfortable with what we agreed were the next steps. I am having trouble with going to everyone but the person involved. I would be more comfortable meeting with the person and tell them about the information we received and tell them we are aware of the first situation".
Spanier responded with:
"I am supportive. The only downside for us is if the message isn't heard and acted upon, and then we become vulnerable for not having reported it."
So did Spanier lie under oath? This may be examined by the Attorney General to determine if perjury and obstruction of justice charges are appropriate.
This horrific case has many tentacles and is far from over.
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The Congressman said that under his presidential administration, the operation would not have taken place in the same manner. He suggested instead that bin Laden should have been arrested and tried like other high-profile terror suspects in recent times — a strategy that has proved successful and is in compliance with the law.
Watch the portion of the interview below:
Paul made the remark in question during an hour-long interview with WHO Newsradio 1040 on May 10. And since then, the press has jumped all over the statements in an apparent effort to paint Paul in a negative light.
In subsequent media interviews, the recently announced presidential candidate expanded on his views about the raid. During an ABC segment with former Clinton White House insider George Stephanopoulos, who said Paul seemed to be “courting” controversy, the Congressman reiterated his position. But, he also expressed satisfaction that bin Laden would no longer be able to cause trouble.
“More than 90 percent of the American public support it,” Stephanopoulos falsely claimed, even based on the most pro-Obama polls. “Why are you against it?” Paul responded to the question by explaining that he was in fact opposed to the procedure, not going after bin Laden.
“I have no qualms about getting him,” Paul explained, adding, however, that “we could have done it differently.” He also noted that even the worst Nazis after World War II were arrested and tried before being executed. “I don’t know why we have to embark on a whole new system just because the people get riled up.”
Perhaps even more importantly, Paul highlighted another crucial point. “To make a decision on this whole process is a little premature — every day we hear a different story about exactly what happened,” he told Stephanopoulos, who promptly changed the subject.
And it isn’t just small details. As The New American reported last week, the media was left with egg on its face after numerous fundamental changes were made to the Obama narrative. And the discrepancies and contradictions have raised very serious concerns among critics. Former Reagan administration official Paul Craig Roberts pointed out eloquently that within two days, the official story went from claiming an armed bin Laden had resisted in a fire fight to the open admission that he was in fact assassinated while unarmed — a monumental difference that still has not been addressed.
But despite the dramatic headlines about Paul‘s statement, the well-known constitutionalist’s views are in line with American traditions and values — not to mention the supreme law of the land. The open assassination of an unarmed man who had not been convicted of a crime (and was not even indicted or wanted for the September 11 attacks, and which, despite popular belief, he never confessed to) is a new phenomenon in America.
And according to critics of the hit, such as former federal judge and Fox News personality Andrew Napolitano, the illegal murder sets a dangerous precedent. After noting that the U.S. government had financed bin Laden a few decades ago and that Obama is involved in countless violations of morality and the Constitution, Napolitano tore apart the non-existent legal justification for the assassination.
“Beyond the issue of whether the government is telling us the truth or pulling a fast one to save Obama’s lousy presidency is the issue of the lawful power of the president to order someone killed,” Napolitano explained during his Fox show. Citing the Constitution, international treaties, federal statues and their interpretations by the courts, the former federal judge explained that “killing by the government is a crime” — except in self-defense, war, or after a fair trial. “None of those conditions existed with bin Laden,” he noted.
“Justice must be according to the law, not according to the president,” Napolitano correctly explained. Noting that he understood why people would rejoice, however, he warned that “this business of the president deciding to kill people is very dangerous and very unlawful.” And even worse than the obvious violations of the Constitution, U.S. law and international treaties — the assassination will be used as a precedent by Obama and his successors “to kill on a whim,” Napolitano warned. “Where will it stop? Who will President Obama kill next?”
Of course, some neo-conservatives and anti-Paul extremists have pounced on the Congressman's statement with half-baked responses and wild accusations. But because of the naïve notion that an unarmed bin Laden should have been murdered instead of captured, interrogated, and tried, the world may never know now what information he may have had inside his brain — including information that could have possibly saved innumerable Western and American lives. Even worse than the potential lost intelligence, however, may be the loss of any semblance that the U.S. government is bound by the rule of law.
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(AP) Britain's Supreme Court has endorsed the extradition of WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange to Sweden, bringing the secret-spilling Internet activist a big step closer to prosecution in a Scandinavian court.
But a question mark hung over the decision after Assange's lawyer made the highly unusual suggestion that she would try to reopen the case, raising the prospect of more legal wrangling.
Assange, 40, has spent the better part of two years fighting attempts to send him to Sweden, where he is wanted over sex crime allegations. He has yet to be charged.
The U.K. side of that struggle came to an uncertain end on Wednesday, with the nation's highest court ruling 5-2 that the warrant seeking his arrest was properly issued — and Assange's lawyer saying she might contest the ruling.
Supreme Court President Nicholas Phillips, reading out the verdict, acknowledged that coming to a conclusion in the high-profile case had "not been simple."
Assange's story has been shot through with international intrigue, online activism, and scandal. But the case before the Supreme Court hinged on a narrow technicality: Did Swedish officials properly order his arrest?
His lawyers say "no." A prosecutor, not a judge, issued the warrant, a practice they've described as arbitrary and unfair. Swedish officials say "yes," arguing that, in Sweden as in other European countries, prosecutors carry out a quasi-judicial function.
The Supreme Court came down on Sweden's side Wednesday, with Phillips ruling that "the request for Mr. Assange's extradition has been lawfully made and his appeal against extradition is accordingly dismissed."
But scarcely had Phillips finished speaking before Assange lawyer Dinah Rose was on her feet, complaining that the court's ruling largely relied on a treaty whose interpretation she says she never had the chance to challenge.
In a surprise move, she requested extra time to study the judgment with an eye toward trying to reopen the case.
Phillips gave Rose two weeks to present her case, meaning an extradition wouldn't happen until the second half of June at the earliest.
Such a maneuver is practically unheard of, according to attorney Karen Todner, whose law firm handles many high-profile extradition cases.
"It's very unusual," she told The Associated Press. "I've never known them to reopen a case."
Any eventual extradition of Assange could, however, be much later. Even if the Supreme Court refuses to revisit its judgment, Assange could appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, although Todner said he was unlikely to make much headway there unless he could argue that his physical safety or psychological well-being would be at risk in Sweden.
Assange, a former computer hacker from Australia, shot to international prominence in 2010 with the release of hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. documents, including a hard-to-watch video that showed U.S. forces gunning down a crowd of Iraqi civilians and journalists that they'd mistaken for insurgents.
His release of a quarter-million classified U.S. State Department cables in the final months of that year outraged Washington and destabilized American diplomacy worldwide.
But his work exposing government secrets increasingly came under a cloud after two Swedish women accused him of molestation and rape following a visit to the country in mid-2010. Assange denies wrongdoing, saying the sex was consensual, but has refused to go to Sweden, claiming he won't get a fair trial there.
He and his supporters have also hinted that the sex allegations are a cover for a planned move to extradite him to the United States, where he claims he's been secretly indicted for the WikiLeaks disclosures.
Those allegations, paired with the ponderous progress of Assange's appeals, have caused irritation in Sweden.
Claes Borgstrom, the lawyer who represents the two Swedish women who accuse Assange of sex crimes, expressed support for the verdict, but said he found it "difficult to understand" why the defense had been given the opportunity to try to reopen the case.
He dismissed suggestions that the underlying motive behind the extradition was to hand Assange over to the U.S.
"He is not at a greater risk of being handed over from Sweden than from Britain," he told the AP.
Borgstrom wasn't the only one expressing impatience. Ola Lofgren, of the Swedish prosecutor general's office, said it was in everyone's interest that the judicial back-and-forth "is shortened as much as possible."
Australia's government also weighed in, saying in a statement that it would "closely monitor" any proceedings against Assange in Sweden.
Unusually, Assange did not appear in court Wednesday; he was reportedly stuck in traffic. The WikiLeaks chief has spent much of the past 18 months living in a supporter's mansion in rural England.
Although his website has languished amid legal and financial issues, he's moved on to other projects, including a WikiLeaks-themed social networking site and a talk show on the Russian government's English-language broadcaster, RT.
Attempts to reach him for comment on the verdict weren't immediately successful.
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OAKLAND, CA.- The Oakland Museum of California
(OMCA) will present PIXAR: 25 Years of Animation, a major exhibition of over 500 works by the artists at Pixar Animation Studios, including drawings, paintings, and sculptures that illustrate the creative process and craftsmanship behind Pixars wildly successful computer-animated films. This will be a significantly enhanced presentation of the exhibition, which is returning home to Oakland after a successful worldwide tour that began at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2005. A number of significant works will be on public display for the first time, including art from Ratatouille, WALLE, Up, and Pixars latest feature film, Toy Story 3. PIXAR will also include an updated, awe-inspiring version of the Pixar Artscape, a widescreen media installation. On view from July 31, 2010 through January 9, 2011, the exhibition will be accompanied by screenings of Pixars feature and short films; a special program of lectures, talks and workshops with Pixar artists; and a new and expanded exhibition catalogue.
The Bay Area, has emerged as the global center for animation today, making OMCA an ideal venue for this comprehensive exhibition of Pixars achievements, said Lori Fogarty, Executive Director of the Oakland Museum of California. This Museums mission is to connect communities to the natural and cultural heritage of California, and we believe that Pixar is in many ways a quintessential California enterprise. Not only does Pixar carry on the extraordinary legacy of animation in Californiaand particularly the pioneering creativity of the Walt Disney Studiosbut it represents the dynamic marriage of art and technology that is a hallmark of California innovation.
Were thrilled to see this greatly enhanced version of the exhibition come to the newly reopened Oakland Museum of California, our hometown museum and practically a neighbor, adds John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer, Pixar and Disney Animation Studios. Most people dont realize that many Pixar artists work in traditional mediadrawing, painting, pastels, and sculptureas well as in digital media. This artwork plays a particularly important role in the process of concept design, story, and character development. OMCA celebrates the breadth of California creativity through its collections and it is wonderful to revisit the craftsmanship of Pixar artists in this context.
At the heart of PIXAR are the concept drawings, sketches, paintings, and maquettes created by Pixar artists over the past 25 years to bring to life the compelling characters and stories that have enchanted moviegoers of all ages around the world. Drawing on work from Pixars eleven feature films and many of its short films, the exhibition spans some of the studios first short films created in the 1980s; its first feature-length film, Toy Story, the first fully computer-animated feature film ever produced; Pixars recent Academy Award®-winning feature Up; and its latest film, Toy Story 3, to be released this summer. PIXAR will showcase more than 500 artifacts, including many of the pencil drawings; paintings in acrylic, gouache, and watercolor; and sculptures that form the backbone of the computer-generated images (CGIs) for which Pixar has become internationally recognized. The exhibition also includes video interviews with artists and behind-the-scenes footage of Pixar's creative process.
Walt Disneys arrival in Los Angeles in the 1920s established California as a magnet and training ground for future generations of animation artists. Home to a number of leading studios, the San Francisco Bay Area has today emerged as a creative hub and global center for computer-animated film. PIXAR provides an unprecedented look at the artistry, creative process, and technical advances pioneered by the renowned Emeryville-based studio, located just a few miles from the Oakland Museum of California.
From its founding in 1986, Pixar has been at the forefront of a revolution in animation by creating films that have pushed the limits of traditional animation artistry and groundbreaking computer applications. PIXAR invites visitors to trace different stages in animation production, from early concept design and character, scene, and story development to finished film sequences that transport the viewer into the world of the imagination.
A highlight of the exhibition will be two special media installationsArtscape, an immersive, wide-screen projection of digitally processed images that gives the viewer the sensation of entering into and exploring the exquisite details of the original artworks; and the Pixar Zoetrope, a three-dimensional device that displays a rapid succession of images, creating the illusion of motion.
PIXAR will feature storyboards, a tool to guide scene-by-scene narrative progression, from several of the studios short films. The exhibition will also showcase colorscripts created during the making of many Pixar feature films. Colorscripts are used to express the production designers vision of the story through color and emotion. They can be produced in a variety of mediums, from marker to pastel to paint and collage.
PIXAR will be installed in approximately 11,000 square feet of temporary exhibition galleries and expand into common spaces such as hallways and the museum store. Mural size graphics and video projections will be used throughout OMCAs newly renovated landmark facilitylinking the exhibition to the Museums collections and encouraging visitors to explore the work of Pixar artists as part of a continuum of creativity and innovation in California.
One of our goals is to connect PIXAR to the legacy of California's pioneering role in imaging technology, including early photography by artists such as Eadweard Muybridge, who was instrumental in developing the moving picture, says René de Guzman, senior curator of art at OMCA. We also have amazing collections of daguerreotypes, albumen stereographs, nineteenth-century photographic panoramas, and new media that illustrate how California has been at the frontier of how images are created.
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In response to the Cayuga Indian Nation’s recent purchase of yet another parcel of land in Seneca Falls, State Senator Mike Nozzolio is calling on the area's federal representatives, officials at the United States Department of the Interior and the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs to visit Cayuga and Seneca Counties and see for themselves the amount of land that the Cayuga's have purchased. If all of the land that has been purchased by the Cayuga Indian Nation is granted trust status it will destroy the tax base of Cayuga and Seneca Counties.
In letters to United States Congressman Michael Arcuri, United States Senators Kirstin Gillibrand and Charles Schumer, United States Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs Director Michael Black and Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs Larry Ecohawk, Senator Nozzolio has demanded that they come to Cayuga and Seneca County to meet with property owners and businesses who will be directly impacted if the Trust Application is approved.
“With their recent purchase of another property in Seneca Falls, the Cayuga Nation now owns 29 parcels of land in the town of Seneca Falls. If the Cayuga Indian Nation’s application for Trust Status is granted, Cayuga and Seneca County will lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes and the taxpayers of these two counties will be forced to assume the tax consequences of this action,” said Senator Nozzolio. “It is not possible for Washington bureaucrats living hundreds of miles away to make fair and appropriate decisions which affect the lives of our citizens. Before any decisions are made, I am demanding that our representatives in Congress and at the Department of the Interior come and meet firsthand with the residents who are deeply concerned that they will lose their homes and all they have worked for.”
Over the past several years, Seneca and Cayuga Counties have already seen the negative impact resulting from the sale of hundreds of acres of land to individuals who later disclosed that they were actually agents of the Cayuga Indian Nation. The Cayugas opened gas stations, convenience stores and other local businesses that drained local sales tax revenues sorely needed in this struggling economy.
In addition to contacting officials in Washington, Senator Nozzolio has also started an online petition calling on Congressman Arcuri and Senators Schumer and Gillibrand to demand that the federal government deny the Cayugas’ land claim application. Hundreds of local residents have already signed the petition which is accessible at www.SenatorNozzolio.com .
“As a resident of Seneca County with my home in the Indian land claim area, I am appalled that the federal government continues to uphold the demands of the Cayuga Indian Nation over the rights of residents in our region,” said Senator Nozzolio. “We must continue to keep the pressure on our federal representatives in Washington and let them know that this is not acceptable !”
“The stakes have never been higher – the more land in our community the Cayuga Nation grabs, the more devastating the impact will be on generations to come if they are granted trust status,” concluded Senator Nozzolio.
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Exercises To Do At Your Desk
Many individuals whose main line of work revolves around sitting glued to the same chair, day in and day out, are fronted with a similar dilemma – Extreme Weight Gain (particularly from the lower body), Poor Posture, Back Pain, Muscular Pain and Stiffness!
Here is what you need to do, in order let your mind run a little wild towards the side of creativity maybe and give yourself and your body a chance to experience a workout session in a rather unconventional, nonetheless, an interesting way! Yes, we are referring to desk exercises to your rescue! Desk workouts may not command high-intensity, but they do gather some benefits, and well, something is better than nothing - agreed?
Splurge on these desk exercise ideas, and exercise at your desks if you can’t find the time to sign up for a gym, or better yet combine the two together, and stay at your fittest!
Chair squats are a rather simple and quick to-do desk exercise! All you have to do is face your back towards the chair, hold it by its arms rests on either side, and dip low bending your knees. Once you’ve bent enough that your buttocks are touching the chair, slowly rise and get back into standing position again! Do one set of 12 squats, and repeat the set at least 4 times to get better toning for the legs and the butt!
Dip It Low!
If you want to work on your triceps, then dips off your desk table is the best desk exercise you will ever find! To get this desk workout going, face your back to the desk, hold the edges of the table with your arms straight, and stretch your legs out. Now, bend your elbows and dip low towards the ground, and then back up to starting position! Yes, it is just that easy! Dip at least 12 times the same way in one set, and repeat the set around 4 times to build those triceps and get your arms in good shape!
Push It Up!
We all know the best exercise to work your chest muscles is push-ups! Now, you can do push-ups at your office as well, in a rather discrete, not so awkward and attention drawing manner! For this desk exercise, facing your desk put your hands on the edges of the table. Now, lower your chest towards the desk as much as you can and stay for a second or two, and then move back up to starting position! A set of 12 push-ups done at least 3 times, should do the job for you!
Another very simple yet effective desk exercise that can really help you tone your thighs is leg extensions! This one has to be the least effort exerting and potentially the simplest of all desk workout exercises! All you have to do is, while seated on your desk chair, extend your legs out straight till they are in level with your hip. Hold them there for as long as you can, and then relax them back to the ground! Voila!
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Sudanese churches’ leader calls for Obama’s help over referendum
September 23, 2010
The head of the Sudan Council of Churches has urged U.S. President Barack Obama to help ensure that the January 2011 referendum on self determination for southern Sudan is fair.
The Rev. Ramadan Chan Liol, the general secretary of the council, which includes Orthodox, Protestant and Roman Catholic churches, stressed that a credible process presented the highest chances of southern Sudan and the Abyei people’s verdict being respected in the Jan. 9 poll.
“I urge him [Obama] to help ensure an internationally monitored and protected, transparent, free and fair referendum,” Chan told ENInews in an interview on Sept. 13.
He was speaking from Khartoum days after the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the situation between the north and south was “a ticking time bomb with enormous consequence,” and independence of the south was “inevitable.”
Chan said Clinton’s assessment of the outcome of the referendum was clearly based on the situation on the ground. He said Obama’s government could send international monitors and technical experts and put pressure on the two parties of Sudan’s 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement to carry out the process on time.
The treaty that put an end to a decades-long civil war stipulated that the south should be able to vote on choosing independence from its former protagonists in the north.
Chan said Obama could also ensure that United Nations peacekeeping troops are used to safeguard the process.
“There is no doubt that the south and Abyei will vote for secession if given a transparent, free and fair chance in the referendum. Any result contrary to secession will not be the opinion of the southerners and the people of Abyei,” said Chan.
Still, some Sudanese church leaders warn that the north, a region with many Arabs who are Muslims, may not accept the independence of the south, an area with many Christians and followers of African traditional religions. One reason is that the south hosts most of the oil wealth, which Khartoum uses to run its governmental resources.
Most churches are backing plans by the government of southern Sudan to repatriate nearly two million internally displaced persons from the north, a move being questioned by international relief agencies due to the limited infrastructure in the south.
“The people will be more productive in the south than in the north, where their living conditions have deteriorated much. They will be safer in the south and will be able to participate in the referendum process,” said Chan.
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The oil lobby American Petroleum Institute weighed in on President Obama’s corporate tax reform that closes an array of tax loopholes, including $4 billion in subsidies for the oil industry. Not surprisingly, API is unhappy. API President Jack Gerard played victim, calling the plan “discriminatory” against an industry that “receives not one subsidy”:
One day after the Obama administration unveiled a sweeping corporate tax reform plan, the oil and gas industry’s top lobbyist went on the attack against the president’s proposal.
Calling it “discriminatory,” Jack Gerard, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, said the administration’s outline was more of a “Swiss cheese approach that we’re trying to get rid of in this country.”
“The industry receives not one subsidy,” Gerard claimed. “It takes tax deductions the same or similar to what all other American companies get to recover their costs of doing business.”
Here’s a fact for Gerard: tax deductions are subsidies, as API has previously admitted. In one API document, the organization discussed “subsidies for alternative fuels” including “preferential tax treatment.”
Here’s another fact: the industry receives a whopping $7 billion in tax breaks each year.
Gerard also claimed big oil pays one of the highest effective tax rates, and yet Exxon Mobil – the most profitable oil company – paid a 17.6 percent federal effective tax, lower than the average American. The company paid zero taxes to the federal government in 2009. The oil industry is fighting to keep its handouts, despite posting record-breaking profits of $137 billion in 2011.
So far, it seems like it’s American families who are being discriminated against, in favor of Big Oil.
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Here’s a great gift idea, because everyone can get better at sharpening.
Grind, Hone & Get Back to Work
- Learn how to grind straight & curved edges
- Hone perfect micro-bevels
- Pick the right stones for you
- Achieve polished edges like a professional the first time out
Dispelling the Myths
Sharpening an edge has one purpose – allowing you to quickly get back to work. Christopher Schwarz has devised a system of sharpening that is simple and intuitive. By following his clear instructions, you will be able to sharpen your edges quickly and get back to your bench.
What is Sharp?
Understanding the answer to this simple question will clarify a lot of the misinformation about sharpening. Chris walks you through the life cycle of an edge, and teaches you the techniques of sharpening so you achieve excellent and consistent results. You’ll learn the different types of systems for grinding, honing and polishing so you can choose the best system for your needs and budget. Plus, you’ll learn how to sharpen both curved and straight edges, and the best angles for grinding your edges for woodworking. Christopher Schwarz is the former editor of Popular Woodworking Magazine, and is the author of several books on hand-tool use and workbenches, as well as many DVDs on using traditional hand tools in the modern shop.
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After touring Jewish homes and communal institutions in the New York neighborhoods of Crown Heights, Borough Park and Brooklyn Heights, as part of her new “Oprah’s Next Chapter” show on the Oprah Winfrey Network, the popular host appeared impressed by what Judaism had to offer the people of the world.
Winfrey told Chabad.org that reliance on popular entertainment has caused society to lose focus on what really matters. In stark contrast to that trend were families like the Ginsbergs of Crown Heights, who, Winfrey notes, were not only not “plugged in,” but were just as happy as their secular counterparts.
“It’s amazing to me that you can raise children in this world and not” let them consume hours and hours watching television or texting friends or playing videogames, said Winfrey. “What’s gonna happen when people see this family and see that it’s possible that in the United States of America, in Brooklyn, you can have nine children and none of them are watching television, and none of them are on computers all day long, and none of them are sassing their parents, and they’re well-mannered and live in harmony with their families.”
During her visit to New York Winfrey sat down with two Jewish families, enjoyed a traditional meal, discussed communal affairs with five women and toured a Chabad-Lubavitch run Jewish ritual bath, known as a mikvah, in Brooklyn Heights.
“The moment I walked into the Ginsbergs’ home, I felt welcomed and I felt a sense of warmth, and I felt a sense of family and comfort and values,” explained Winfrey. There’s a “sense of reverence for acknowledging that there [is] the power of God that is greater than yourself.”
About the Author: Tibbi Singer is a veteran contributor to publications such as Israel Shelanu and the US supplement of Yedioth. Invite Tibbi to visit your blog. The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of The Jewish Press
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Several readers have passed along word that Alan Shenker, aka Yossarian/Yo, a legendary figure in the underground comics world in the late 1960s and beyond, died on Jan. 14. He was 67.
Among many other endeavors, he created illustrations and comics for the East Village Other, Gothic Blimp Works, The Rat, Kiss and the New York Ace.
He lived on St. Mark's Place the past 35 years.
There are features on his life here at The Comics Journal ... and at The Paris Review.
There is also a new Facebook page for him. Per the description:
A Page dedicated to the spirit of Alan Shenker/Yossarian: Son of Levittown, Revolutionary, Mordant Wit, Illustrator Par Excellence, Imbiber of Spirits, Flâneur, Haircutter, East Villager, Crank, Soul Man & Friend.
You can find an array of his artwork here at Babylon Falling.
From The Comics Journal yesterday:
His friends described his lifestyle as a “flaneur” or a “downtown habitué.” “He did what all New Yorkers do,” said [longtime friend] Maryann. “He complained about everything. He sat around drinking coffee at cafes. He talked to everyone. He was totally righteous and he never sold out.”
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Same-sex marriage (SSM) & domestic partnerships in California
Polling data about Prop. 8
Field public opinion polls about SSM -- 1997 to 2008:
California Field Polls have shown that support for SSM among California registered voters has steadily increased in recent years. In 2008, most voters favored SSM for the first time:
The California Field Poll survey for 2008 cited above sampled 672 likely voters during the week of July 8 to 14.
They found that:
This survey was conducted between MAY-17 and MAY-26, after the court decision legalized SSM. 1,052 registered voters were contacted over the phone. The margin of error is about ±3 percentage points.
Anything over 50% support for the Proposition would would pass it. However, there is a debate whether Prop 8 is a simple amendment to the Constitution or represents a more major change -- a revision. Proponents of Prop. 8 believe that it is a minor amendment. Those supporting marriage equity generally believe that it is a revision. If it is the latter, then the California legislature would have to approve the change.
Prop 8 did narrowly pass. Its future will undoubtedly be determined by the Supreme Court of California.
Additional polls taken during 2008:
* Public Policy Institute of California.
It is difficult to compare data from different polling agencies. The pollsters phrase the question differently; this can easily sway the results. Some highly biases questions might be:
No reputable polling agency would phrase questions like this. But we have seen polling questions almost this bad.
2008-OCT-04 poll shows shift in favor of Prop 8:
SurveyUSA conducted a poll of 670 likely voters. Each was asked: "Proposition 8 would eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry. It changes the California Constitution so that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid in California. On Proposition 8, are you ... Certain to vote yes? Certain to vote no? Or not certain." The margin of error is ± 3.9 percentage points.
Asians and Blacks were more likely than Whites to vote yes; Hispanics were more likely to vote no.
Republicans, conservatives, and religious service attendees were more in favor of Prop 8; Democrats. liberals and those who never attend religious services were opposed. 2
2008-OCT-09 poll shows approval of Prop 8 likely:
Geoff Kors, a member of the Vote No on Prop. 8 executive committee reported on his group's survey that indicated 47% of likely voters favor the proposition and 43% oppose it. He said:
"Our most recent polling data shows us four points behind. And unless we raise significant new dollars, we will not be able to compete with the proponents on television."
Steve Smith, the senior campaign strategist for the group said:
"While our poll didn't surprise us, it did confirm that we were starting to lose ground because we simply cannot match the proponents dollar for dollar on television, We wanted to let the LGBT community know that there is a level of complacency and false sense of security, and we wanted to set the record straight. Public polls have given everyone the impression that this campaign is over--it's already won. Nothing could be further from the truth." 5
Are these polls accurate?
If the polling questions are unbiased, the poll data are generally accurate within the margin of error to a 95% level of confidence. That is, if the poll were replicated 20 times with different subjects, the results would probably be within the margin of error about 19 times.
However, there may be a discrepancy between polling data taken just before the election and the results of the election for a variety of reasons:
"In the 2000 primary election, Proposition 22 passed with a margin eight points greater than predicted by one polling organization. The Field Poll immediately prior to the election showed 53% of likely voters in favor. Other polls conducted in the same month showed 57% of voters supported the measure. The actual vote in favor was 61.4% of votes cast (of all ballots, 58.6% voted yes, 36.9% voted no, and 4.5% did not vote).
An analysis by Patrick J. Egan [an associate professor of politics at] ... New York University suggests that such gaps have been falling steadily over recent years. Seven of the states that voted on marriage bans in 2006 have polling data available. In those, the average gap between polled support for the measure and the final outcome was under one percentage point. 3,4
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
Copyright © 2008 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
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In addition to becoming one of the biggest exporters of technological know-how in the form of... Read More
Whistle Stop Tour Planned for National School Choice Week
2013′s National School Choice Week, looking to improve on last year’s growth, is taking the “national” part seriously. To promote the adoption of school choice policies around the country, advocates will be going on a whistle-stop train tour all over the country that will visit both coasts and everywhere in between. In addition to the [...]
2013′s National School Choice Week, looking to improve on last year’s growth, is taking the “national” part seriously. To promote the adoption of school choice policies around the country, advocates will be going on a whistle-stop train tour all over the country that will visit both coasts and everywhere in between.
In addition to the tour, over the course of the week 3,000+ independent events have already been scheduled, all with the aim of winning over more people in the fight to make the best educational options available to all American kids. The spotlight will shine especially brightly on organizations and schools that have embraced the school choice ethos and used it to start and grow a revolution in the US educational system.
The National School Choice Week Special — a historic railcar — will depart Los Angeles Union Station on January 25, 2013 and arrive in New York on February 2, 2013. Parents, students, community leaders, education organizations and elected officials of both parties will host 14 very special events along the tour’s route.
Those interested in following along, or those who wish to meet the tour at a local event, can check out the schedule and the route map on the School Choice Week website. The tour will kick off in Los Angeles, California on January 25th, 2013, and after making 14 stops including Albuquerque, New Mexico, Chicago, Illinois, Cleveland, Ohio, Erie Pennsylvania and Albany, New York, it will conclude on February 2nd at New York City’s historic Pennsylvania Station in Midtown Manhattan.
But one doesn’t have to greet the School Choice train as it pulls into the station in order to contribute to the celebration of broader academic access. Those who wish to attend a National School Choice Week event can organize one of their own. Those who simply want to contribute to the cause in some small way can get tips by following NSCW on Facebook and Twitter, advertise on the event website or even submit an opinion piece on the importance of giving parents the freedom to make the best educational decisions for their children.
With bold strokes, our generation can — and will — make its mark on the tapestry of our national experience. Social change isn’t just something we read about in history books. It’s something we can make a reality, and in the process, secure for ourselves not only a place in history books yet unwritten, but secure for our country a brighter and more prosperous future where no child is denied the opportunity to attend the best schools possible.
We will do this together, but only if we’re all on board.
Upon United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s trip to Mozambique, he was impressed with the... Read More
In Oregon, newly passed House Bill 2995 will allow students faculty and staff to identify their... Read More
More groups are saying that the time and expense dedicated to standardized testing is having... Read More
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[E]ven in most of the worst tyrannies, those who are content with the status quo and who refrain from meaningfully challenging prevailing power systems are free of punishment. Rights exist to protect dissidents and those who challenge orthodoxies, not those who acquiesce to those orthodoxies or support state power; the latter group rarely needs any such protections. The effect, and intent, of this climate of fear is to force as many citizens as possible into the latter group.
The true measure of how free a society is how its dissidents are treated, not those who refrain from meaningful anti-government activism and dissent. To apply that metric to the US, just look at what the American citizens quoted in this Times article this morning are saying and doing.
Laptop seizures by US government highlight 9/11-era climate of fear
I can't think of anything to add, other than that if I had ten dollars for every American who doesn't understand this, I could buy my own island, and not have to worry if there weren't enough who give a damn anymore.
I think the rest of the article is worth reading, by the way, because it shows how our government tries to intimidate dissenters into being quiet nowadays. It's an object lesson in why the Bill of Rights exists, and why when "the people" cannot "be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures", there really is no such thing as freedom any longer.
And I will note that the things Greenwald describes in that article have almost exclusively happened during the Obama Administration. This is yet another reason when people tell me what responsible adults they were for voting for Barack Obama this year, that I am not always successful in suppressing the urge to tell them to go screw themselves and the brain-dead horse they rode in on.
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JRUBY-1214 the behavior of File.flock was changed to silently convert LOCK_EX locks on files opened in read mode into LOCK_SH locks. This was because some operating systems allow setting LOCK_EX on files opened for read only. However, this is not specified in POSIX. In fact, on Solaris, when trying to get an exclusive lock on a file opened only for read, the OS will return EBADF. So this isn't really a MRI vs JVM issue, but an OS issue. Any code that depends on this behavior in MRI is not portable.
All of that aside, this violates the principle of least surprise. No one asking for an exclusive lock is going to be happy when their lock is silently converted to a shared lock, and this could very easily lead to silent data corruption.
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ESET researchers Aleksandr Matrosov and Eugene Rodionov just gave a talk on Defeating x64: Modern Trends of Kernel-Mode Rootkits at the seventh Ekoparty security conference, which took place at its traditional location of Buenos Aires, Argentina between the 21st and 23rd of September.
The presentation described new trends in bootkit/rootkit development for x64 Microsoft Windows operating systems, and one of the main issues it addressed was the techniques used by the malware in the wild (Win64/Olmarik and Win64/Rovnix) to bypass kernel-mode code signing policy. (Code signing is the major obstacle in the way of rootkits targeting the 64-bit Windows platform.)
Interestingly, their talk has some overlap and intersection with a presentation by Nicolas Economou, from Core Security Technologies, on “Deep Boot”: in this presentation he proposed a new Proof-of-Concept bootkit technique making use of the processor’s debugging facilities. Essentially, what we’ve seen in Win64/Rovnix, and what the researchers from ESET discussed at the conference, was simplification and customization of the technique for the Microsoft Windows Platform.
It’s also worth mentioning the presentation on “BEAST: surprising crypto attack against HTTPS” by Thai Duong and Julliano Rizzo, which has recently attracted a lot of attention in the research community. They demonstrated in real time how they were able to decrypt authentication cookies in a PayPal HTTPS session. These were then used to get access to a PayPal user’s account.
The ESET presentation will be available shortly on the ESET white papers page at http://go.eset.com/us/documentation/white-papers.
David Harley CITP FBCS CISSP
ESET Senior Research Fellow
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Tracey White's initial impression of "Django Unchained," Quentin Tarantino's new slave-era shoot-'em-up extravaganza, could be summed up in three words: smart, funny and ugly. Sitting through a recent screening in Beverly Hills, the L.A. costume designer was mostly absorbed and found herself laughing aloud at particularly outrageous moments.
But White, who is black, said her feelings evolved significantly. Two days after reflecting on the matter of slavery and Tarantino's treatment, she pronounced the movie mostly ugly.
"He [Tarantino] gets a good product out of it in terms of wit and a visual look," said White. "But when it was over I found myself wondering, 'What is he trying to do?' I enjoyed the movie when I was in there, but I still have a problem with Tarantino when he deals with our race."
White will certainly not be alone among African Americans in her ambivalence about the gleefully outrageous film. While "Django" has nabbed almost uniformly warm reviews and four NAACP Image Award nominations (including for best picture), the fact is that it is an extremely Hollywood-ized vision of a critical black American experience.
Some blacks are already calling the revenge-fantasy movie, especially its graphic and highly stylized violence, insensitive, exploitative and ahistorical. Filmmaker Spike Lee, a longtime critic of Tarantino, said this month that he refuses to see the movie, and calls his spaghetti-western approach to slave history "disrespectful."
Many moviegoers will know something of what they're getting into. Violence and the liberal use of black idioms and so-called urban culture are Tarantino hallmarks, notably in early films such as "Pulp Fiction" and "Jackie Brown," and they've always stirred controversy. But this movie is different because it mines slavery, the complicated source material for so much black culture and fountain of violence in American history.
It is an institution whose horrors need no exaggerating, yet "Django" does exactly that, either to enlighten or entertain. A white director slinging around the n-word in a homage to '70s blaxploitation à la "Jackie Brown" is one thing, but the same director turning the savageness of slavery into pulp fiction is quite another.
Barbara Chennault, another costume designer who attended the Beverly Hills screening, could do without it. Like White, she admits to being conflicted about Tarantino. "I don't think that slavery is something you can make light of," she said. "Overall the movie was jarring and unsettling, but the humor totally distracted from the depth."
Tim Cogshell, an African American movie critic for KPCC-FM's "Filmweek," says the issue is not Tarantino riffing on slavery but the fact that blacks are still living out its painful legacy. That makes Tarantino's broadly comedic aims fall flat where they hit the mark in "Inglourious Basterds," his first historically specific revenge fantasy, in that case enacted against Nazis.
Where "Basterds" arguably works as both social commentary and entertainment, he said, "Django" doesn't because blacks as a group are still so compromised by racism. "The surreal liftoff that happens at some point in 'Basterds' doesn't happen here, because of the weight of what's still real," he said. "For example, there's a certain racial backlash to Obama that's still going on. Quentin wants this to be a dark comedy, but with [black] history the way it is, you can't get from here to there in a movie. There's no ill intention on his part, but it doesn't work. The movie can't rest."
But Eric Deggans, a black television and media critic for the Tampa Bay Times, gave "Django" a thumbs up, suggesting in his review that the film's brutal depiction of slavery makes up for its shortcomings — that is, its over-the-top approach to a subject that's generally swept under the rug is aesthetically justifiable, even necessary.
Of the prolific use of the n-word, Deggans writes that "such baldfaced profanity does obliterate the tentative, halting attitude other filmmakers display in depicting how black people were treated in the Old West — either refusing to feature black characters at all or pretending they were treated as equals to white people."
Todd Boyd, professor of critical studies at USC's School of Cinematic Arts, agrees that Tarantino, whatever his shortcomings, does us a favor by bringing a unique, pop-culture sensibility to the small canon of film representations of slavery that tend to be overly solemn or sanitized. "Both Oprah [Winfrey] and [Steven] Spielberg have both made movies about slavery," said Boyd, "and neither of them have done well."
Tarantino has said in promoting "Django" that America has never dealt honestly with its history of slavery — true, but general enough to be almost entirely uncontroversial. In a recent interview with The Times, however, he assigned meaning to his new film in a way that he typically resists. "Even for the movie's biggest black detractors, I think their children will grow up and love this movie," he said. "I think it could become a rite of passage for young black males."
The presumptuousness of that sentiment is striking to some — passage from what to what, exactly? Watching somebody getting blown away in nearly every frame hardly seems like indoctrination young black men need, if they haven't been indoctrinated into such violence already.
But the deeper problem is the backdrop described by Cogshell and Boyd, namely the fact that Americans of all colors are still clashing over the scope and historical meaning of slavery. Consider: Education of its history is minimized in public schools, particularly in the South. In such an atmosphere, "Django" is a free-floating vision unattached and unaccountable to any fundamental national consensus about what slavery was and how its effects live on.
True, the movie abounds with disturbing details of slavery — face masks, Mandingo fights, killer dogs, "hot boxes" into which runaways were thrown as punishment. But details alone do not argue anything. The most disturbing detail is the emotional violence and degradation directed at blacks that effectively keeps them at the bottom of the social order, a place they still occupy today. And critics maintain it is this sort of violence that, like the endless gunplay, "Django" revels in more than it critiques.
White predicts that reveling will offend many and split black opinion. "I think black people will be 50/50 on this movie," she says.
But Cogshell says the relevance of message in a movie so emphatically about slavery is unavoidable. "You can't get away from the issue of, does this advance black progress?" he said. "That's why I hated 'The Help,' for what it showed. The truth is, if Quentin Tarantino had never made this movie, I'd be a perfectly happy black man."
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For most people, the words Palestine or West Bank won't shout holiday destination. But set aside stereotypes: Foreign Office bars on travelling in the West Bank were lifted several years ago, and visitors to Palestine will be met with a warm and enthusiastic welcome. This tiny area packs in more historical, religious and cultural heritage than perhaps anywhere else in the world, and its small size means it's completely feasible to visit a good proportion of its sights in a fairly short trip. Several new community tourism and hiking or biking holiday operators also make experiencing Palestine's stunning scenery and great food increasingly easy.
The vast majority of travellers to Palestine visit over Christmas, when Bethlehem sees thousands of visitors for Midnight Mass. Leaders of the various Christian denominations lead processions from Jerusalem, and Manger Square fills with boy scout bagpipe bands. For religious travellers Christmas and Easter will be major draws, but prices are lower and accommodation easier to find at other times of year.
Getting around the West Bank is pretty simple, on the informal but extensive shared taxi (or service taxi, pronounced "serveece") network. The longest journey you're likely to face is between the administrative capital, Ramallah (with its cosmopolitan restaurants and nightclubs and official arts centres), and the northern city of Jenin. That trip can take just an hour and a half if Israeli checkpoints en route are open. Foreign visitors are still rare enough that shared taxis are a great way to meet local people; many Palestinians speak at least some English and are very happy to practise on you – a conversation that often ends in an invitation for sweet Arabic tea or a set of helpful phone numbers.
Recent years have also seen new hotels, guesthouses, hostels and home-stay programmes opening across the West Bank. This makes it easier to stay in Palestine without being tied to the pilgrimage hotels of Ramallah and Bethlehem, and for visitors to make a real contribution to isolated rural economies.
Granted, tourism to Palestine still faces many challenges, not least the Israeli border authorities who control all routes into the West Bank. For international travellers, crossing the checkpoints into the West Bank at Qalandia and Bethlehem is usually straightforward. Declaring your intention to visit the West Bank at Ben Gurion airport or the land crossing from Jordan will often, however, result in questioning which can last for hours. Travellers with stamps from countries such as Lebanon, Syria or Iran may well face long interrogations or a complete refusal from Israeli border controls. Gaza is another matter; the Foreign Office currently advises against all travel here, and visits require journalistic or diplomatic accreditation to go via Israel.
The impressive Hellenic watchtowers, ruined Samaritan palaces and crumbling Byzantine churches of Sebastia are a fairly well-known destination for whistle-stop Israeli tours. But a new community tourism project in the Palestinian village of Sebastia makes staying on in this picturesque region a delight. The elegant little Sebastia Guesthouse serves up breakfasts of fresh bread, olive oil, herbs and fruit sourced literally yards away; eat on a terrace with views over miles of olive groves or in the renovated rooms of Byzantine- and Mamluk-era homes. Young locals have been trained up as guides for hikes from the information centre to the Ottoman railway station or the ancient maqamat – Islamic shrines – that dot the surrounding hilltops. Both the information centre and guesthouse are located just on the edge of the village's main square.
• Reach Sebastia by shared taxi from Nablus. Sebastia Guesthouse (+972 9 253 2545, tinyurl.com/sebastiastay) costs from £85 for a double room
Haram ash-Sharif, Jerusalem
The great golden Dome of the Rock may be an internationally recognised symbol of Jerusalem, but actually getting into the "Noble Sanctuary", Islam's third holiest site, can be a bit of an enterprise. The entrance for non-Muslims is tucked away behind the security gates for the Western Wall Plaza. Get there early in the morning, and be prepared to queue, because it's worth every second of the wait. As well as the soaring gold-and-blue Dome of the Rock (Qubbat as-Sakhra) and the sombre splendour of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the sanctuary complex houses many other smaller, but equally beautiful, structures. Especially worth looking out for is the Mamluk-era Sabil (drinking fountain) of Qait Bey, with its elegant carved stone dome, one of the few of its kind outside Egypt.
• Official hours (though these are subject to change) are Sun to Thurs 7.30am–11am, 1.30pm–3pm. Usually closed for Islamic holidays, Jewish holidays, Fri/Sat (except Muslim worshippers), and whenever the Israeli authorities consider there to be a security risk. Visit early in your stay, so you can come back if it is shut
Readers of Mourid Barghouti's I Saw Ramallah will be familiar with Deir Ghassaneh. His autobiographical account of growing up in this small village, north of Ramallah, evokes the brooding atmosphere of its old stone houses, grouped defensively around narrow passages and courtyards. Built for the most part in the 18th century, when the village was the base for one of the families who ruled over small parts of Ottoman Palestine, many of these homes still have wells for storing water, olive oil and grain to withstand sieges. Now, the local women's association offers a way into the village, running a small museum of rural bits and pieces, where they also serve splendid banquets of local food and give afternoon lessons in authentic Palestinian cookery.
• Visit via service taxi or private car from Ramallah, or contact the women's association via the Palestinian Association for Cultural Exchange (+972 2240 7611, pace.ps), traditional meals from £5-£10
Jenin's Old City
Being woken at 4.30am is rarely a plus. But heard from the Cinema Jenin guesthouse in the city centre, in a cool, clear dawn, the haunting musical waves of the azan, or call to prayer, roll along Jenin's hills. It's a moment of calm beauty in this bustling town, sadly better known for the Israeli army's massive 2002 attack on the refugee camp. But in the ancient, dust-coloured Old City, staff at the Palestine Fair Trade Association's Al-Dabbeh Street offices in a stone Ottoman home explain the difference their fair trade olive oil make to the lives of thousands of farmers. Or Umm Imad, whose journalist son was shot dead by an Israeli soldier in 2002, smiles as she shows off piles of meticulous embroidery for sale in the courtyard of the Women's Cultural Society a few yards up the street. As well as making a living for local families, her society continues her son's mission to keep Palestinian culture alive.
• Reach Jenin by shared taxi (1.5 hours) from Ramallah's central bus station. Cinema Jenin Guesthouse (+972 4250 2455, cinemajenin.org) has doubles from £44
Hiking and biking
As Guardian Travel reported last year, organised walking and cycling tours are an increasingly accessible way to see the Palestinian countryside and meet local families in small towns and villages such as al-Fara'a and Aqraba, which are only just beginning to open up to international visitors. Bike Palestine's itineraries span the lush hills of the northern West Bank, the eerie Judaean Desert in the south and historical cities such as Jericho and Bethlehem. The Abraham Path and Nativity Trail treks, inspired by the wanderings of the Prophet Abraham and Jesus Christ respectively, are hiking trails through the northern and central West Bank which are open to walkers of all faiths or none.
• A seven-day bike tour of the West Bank with Bike Palestine (+972 2274 8590, bikepalestine.com) costs $1,400, including meals, accommodation, guides, bike hire, transfers but excluding flights. A four-day hike along the Abraham Path with Walk Palestine (+972 2 274 8590, walkpalestine.com) costs $620, including accommodation, meals, guide and transfers, but excluding flights. For more information on the trails, see the website of the Alternative Tourism Group, Palestine (atg.ps)
Hammam ash-Shifa, Nablus
After all that walking and cycling, some serious relaxation might be in order. Nablus is home to two Ottoman hammams, which offer the traditional mixture of hot steam, cold water, locally made olive oil soap and bruisingly thorough massages. The 17th-century Hamman ash-Shifa is the best known; the staff are welcoming but if going it alone seems a little intimidating, some local volunteer organisations and hotels offer organised trips which, as well as the Turkish bath experience, include tea, sweets and shisha in the bath's luxurious, cushion-lined outer room. The ash-Shifa also occasionally hosts Arabic music concerts and even book readings during the PalFest literature festival.
• Hammam Ash-Shifa (+972 9238 1176) is open 8am–midnight Mon, Wed-Sat, 5pm–midnight Tue, Sun for men, 8am-5pm Tue, Sun for women. Hammam Al-Hana (also known as Hammam al-Sammara or Samaritan Baths, +972 9238 5185) is open 6am–11pm Wed-Mon, 6am–8am, 5pm-11pm Tue for men, 8am-5pm Tue for women
The picturesque hilltop village of Taybeh is home to perhaps the world's most unlikely Oktoberfest. Every autumn, the Taybeh Brewery – run by a local family who learned their brewing skills in Germany – hosts a bustling festival. Oompa bands and lederhosen are thin on the ground, replaced by the likes of Toot Ard (protest ska from the Golan Heights), political hip-hop groups from the refugee camps or troupes of traditional Palestinian dabka dancers. But the beer is excellent, and if the crowds are too much the ruins of the 5th century church of St George are close by, with spectacular views across the river into Jordan.
• Reach Taybeh by bus or shared taxi from central Ramallah. For information on next year's Oktoberfest and other visits to Taybeh, see taybehbeer.com
Hisham's Palace, Jericho
The ancient, sleepy desert city of Jericho has a very different vibe from much of the rest of the West Bank. Summertime visitors will find that the residents turn semi-nocturnal to escape the heat, so at night the broad, flat roads fill up with silent cyclists. The "garden restaurants" along Ein As-Sultan Street, confined to indoor tables during the winter, spread out under the jasmine and bougainvillea for late, leisurely Arabic barbecues. Qasr Hisham – Hisham's Palace – is one of Jericho's most spectacular sights; intricate carved stonework gives an impression of the palace's glory before it was destroyed by an earthquake, and the famous Tree of Life mosaic shows off the skill of the 8th century Umayyad craftsmen. Plans for a new protective structure, to be built in 2013, mean that the palace's dramatic "carpet mosaics" may also go on permanent display, instead of having their sand coverings removed only on rare occasions.
• Qasr Hisham, (+972 2232 2522) is open 8am-5pm
Just inside the main entrance to Hebron's ancient souk is a small, cramped shop, stuffed with beautifully-embroidered materials and with chequered scarves from the West Bank's only remaining keffiyeh factory, based just up the road. This is the HQ for Women in Hebron, an indomitable little co-operative that is one of the few surviving shops in the souk. Many have closed, shut by Israeli military order to protect the settlers who have occupied parts of the city, or because the settler threat makes business unviable. But with support from the nearby Hebron Rehabilitation Committee and small groups of travellers, a few survivors from what was once the main economic centre for the southern West Bank remain. On the benches across from the shop, you can sit with a falafel sandwich (done in oily, salty, delicious Hebron style with fried potatoes and aubergine) and drink tea with some of these remarkable women.
• Women in Hebron, womeninhebron.com
The new Bradt guide also covers areas of Israel that are home to large numbers of Palestinians and where their culture survives. Not to be missed is the old city of Akka (also spelled Acre), a small port on the Mediterranean which is one of the oldest inhabited sites in the world, was the capital of a Crusader kingdom, and whose fortifications put paid to Napoleon's Middle Eastern ambitions. It's a popular day trip with tourists to Israel, but it's worth staying to explore its Arabic heart, away from the "official" tourist complex near the main gate in the city walls. The sleepy port is home to the famous Abu Christo fish restaurant, which serves the fresh catch from the adjacent port. Just yards away are several of the city's imposing khans, huge caravanserais whose rows of stone arches housed Silk Road trains for whom this was the end of the journey. They are mostly half-derelict, and visitors are free to wander round; local fashion photographers looking for scenic settings and gangs of small boys playing football blithely ignore the warning signs under the crumbling walls.
• From Jerusalem, the quickest route to Akka is by shared taxi and train via Tel Aviv, taking 2.5-3 hours if the connections are good. Abu Christo restaurant (+972 4991 0065, abu-christo.co.il) is located at the start of the sea wall by the port, mains £5.50-£13
• This article was amended on 15 December 2011. The original said the Israeli border authorities controlled all routes into the West Bank and Gaza. This has been corrected.
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LA South Bureau Continues to Fight Violence, Homicides Down City-Wide
He was leaving a football game at Compton High School in November 1995 when other passengers in the car shot him. She recalled, without a waver in her voice, that he choked on his own blood and died before reaching a hospital. No one was charged in his death.
Violent deaths have struck down other people close to Lindsey. After her cousin’s friend was killed in 1988, she founded Project Cry No More (PCNM), a support group for murdered victims’ families, primarily working with victims’ mothers. Just one year after founding the group, Lionel’s father was killed by someone he knew.
PCNM is one of many Los Angeles support groups and community organizations created in response to violence. The South Bureau Police Department has engaged some of these groups as well as former gang members to keep tensions from escalating. Activists and law enforcement have varying reasons for why South LA has so much violence but typically attribute it to gang activity, narcotics and a lack of job opportunities.
Hundreds of people are killed in LA each year. Though the number has drastically decreased over the past two decades, South LA continues to see the most violence.
Los Angeles Police Department statistics show that there have been 50 homicides this year as of Feb. 25. Half of those occurred in South Bureau.
“The violence in South Los Angeles is not new,” said Deputy Chief Patrick Gannon of LAPD’s South Bureau. “It’s a historical problem. Every year, a small portion of the city, which is the 30 square miles at the most which constitutes South Los Angeles, accounts for nearly 40 percent of the murders that occur in a city that’s over 470 square miles.”
Gannon has been with the LAPD for nearly 34 years, spending the majority of his career in South LA. His bureau consists of Harbor, 77th Street, Southeast, Southwest and South Traffic Division.
Seventy percent of murders in South LA are gang-related, Gannon said. The phenomenon began about 40 years ago with the creation of two gangs; the Crips and the Bloods. Hispanic gangs had been around for generations.
Gangs formed primarily to identify neighborhoods and for protection, the deputy chief said, and with the introduction of narcotics and synthetic drugs they seized upon making money.
“As they began to make money and glorify that money or their status, it created tensions and competition for drug markets and other things that really, in the late ‘70s and into the early ‘90s, created an epidemic that was more of a war out here,” he said. “People were vicious over the drug trade and who was going to control it, especially in South Los Angeles.”
The LAPD was facing high levels of homicides and violence. Not knowing another solution, the department responded by increasing arrests.
“It created a backlash against the police department where we were resented for the tactics we used to achieve that,” Gannon said. “That kind of spurred on the ’92 riots. Since then, we’ve really worked hard to be more collaborative with the community, to work through problems and to use different techniques and groups of people to achieve the same goal - which is to reduce the level of violence in the community.”
In the early 1990s, LA saw an average of 1,100 homicides annually. In 2011, there were 298. In 2010, there were 297. The city hasn’t had that low of a homicide rate since 1967.
Gannon attributed the lowered rate to gang member imprisonment, community prevention, the falling out of crack cocaine addiction and community and police intervention.
Lowering that number further is not just a police issue, he said, but a societal problem. He attributed the violence partially to the area’s high unemployment rate and a high school graduation rate below the city’s average of 50 percent.
Host of radio show “Gang Talk” on AM 1460 and member of PCNM, Sister Lita Herron, agreed that there’s a lack of opportunity. She said the community has been neglected and left to violence, causing a sense of hopelessness with no exit.
“How can you encourage kids to come out of something if you don’t have a place to deliver them to?” Herron asked. “All we’ve been doing is telling them is to stop the violence and leave them right there in the violent place. There has to be viable measures put in place to put them on a path to something, as opposed to sitting here. This is what they do every day, watching their life pass. And if we have nothing to offer them, then what do we expect them to do?”
Herron has spoken to youth, some as young as 13, who have told her the only thing they plan for in the future is their funeral.
“What am I supposed to say to them?” Herron asked. “What is the answer for them? Who have just been turned and cast aside? You’re just a fall out from a nightmare, nobody cares about you, just go away. Every time they’re ignored by this city, puts another nail in their casket. So if nobody’s going to help us but us, we’re going to help us because they deserve it. They’re the innocent.”
Gannon’s and Herron’s sentiment of a lack of opportunity was echoed by U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. The top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles served as LAPD’s inspector general for six years.
“When you talk about crime in general, some of it is fueled by a sense of despair,” Birotte said. “Young people feeling they have no avenues, no hope. When young people feel they’re not going to live beyond 25, it’s difficult to ask them to plan for their future.”
Lindsey, however, didn’t cite unemployment, high gang activity or financial reasons as the primary cause of violence, but a cycle of pain that becomes anger.
“It’s a lot of hurt and pain inside people and mainly, I think, because of murder, because of homicides of their fathers, their mothers, sisters, brothers, their friends,” she said. “Those kinds of things are not normal. They say it’s a new norm but it’s not. It’s a pain.”
She said the decreased number of homicides was not achieved by law enforcement suppression but by partnerships among law enforcement, communities, clergy, victim’s services and intervention.
“[The number] is good for paper, but it’s not good for that family that’s been affected by it,” Lindsey said. “Until we get to zero, and people say we’ll never get there because killing has always been. I believe we can. We are a collective unit of individuals making a difference - that’s what made a difference.”
Lindsey encourages people to join PCNM to get involved by choice, not by force because “this happens from the top of the hill to the bottom of the hood.”
“We’ve taken it to the next step to be very candid where the killers go after they’ve committed murder: they go home,” Herron said. “They don’t go to Mars. They don’t go to Paris. They don’t leave the planet or the city - they go home. And when they go home, guess what they do? Eat their dinner, take a bath, change their clothes, get the remote control and sit in their lounge chair and watch Laker games or anything else they want to do. And as we allow them to go back to their safety, we allow them to come back and kill somebody else’s child the following night. We’re trying to encourage the community to help us help them by getting the killers out of our neighborhood.”
Reach senior news editor Agnus Dei Farrant here.
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Several local restaurant managers say they opened their doors as usual and handed bottled water to customers, instead of the usual from the tap.
Brenda Haro, manager at Orlando’s at 24th Street and Avenue Q, said her location, another Orlando’s and Caprock Cafe are serving bottled water and tea only — tea because the water is boiled in the process.
The restaurants weren’t serving drinks because of the boiled water notice from the city.
“We’ve got a lot of bottled water, tea or juices,” Haro said.
During the power outage earlier Saturday, the water pressure across the city dropped, and officials advised consumers to boil their water before using as a precaution.
Orlando’s locations and Caprock Cafe are also boiling water to wash vegetables in food preparation, Haro explained.
David Cea, a partner in the Orlando’s and Caprock restaurants, said the four locations couldn’t afford to close on a Saturday.
“That’s a $60,000 hit for us,” Cea said. “If this had happened on a Sunday or a Monday, we could have closed and gotten through it.”
Because city sanitarians told them to not use the dishwashing machines, all four locations used up all their clean plates and silverware, then switched to paper and plastic service.
The restaurants were selling only beer and wine, and “we told our GMs that when you run out of frozen schooners, start selling beer in red Solo cups,” he said, adding customers seemed to enjoy the connection to country singer Toby Keith’s 2011 song “Red Solo Cups.”
Over on University, the IHOP, open 24 hours, didn’t lose any power during the outage around 2:15 a.m., but continues to observe the boil water notice, said Amber Jones, the manager on duty Saturday afternoon.
“We’re doing fine,” she said. “We have paper plates, paper cups and bottled water.”
As soon as the city issued the notice Saturday morning, employees dashed to a local Wal-Mart to pick up the needed water and paper items. Later, Jones said, she went to Sam’s Club to shore up the restaurant’s supply.
The Avalanche-Journal received reports of some Starbucks closing because of the boil water notice. Calls to several Starbucks locations went unanswered.
At least one other coffeehouse stayed open. An employee at J&B Coffee on Boston Avenue in Tech Terrace explained that any drinks made with the espresso machine were safe because the water is heated to a boil before it is dispensed into the ground coffee.
However, no iced drinks were available because those usually involve adding water.
Calls to several other restaurants also went unanswered Saturday.
The boiled water restriction affected any business that offered soft drinks via soda fountain because they are directly connected to the water lines.
At the McDonald’s restaurant on 19th Street near West Loop 289, customers at the drive-through were told, before they placed their orders, that there was no coffee or fountain drinks, only milk and bottled juices.
Stripes convenience stores, which have varying menus of food prepared in the store, halted sales of fountain drinks, food, slush drinks and other items connected with the drinking water supply.
(Avalanche-Journal reporter Walt Nett contributed to this story.)
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|
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Green lawns are almost impossible to get in this drought, especially for Coupland ISD's football team.
The area's water restriction only allows two days a week to water, which the superintendent says isn't enough. They've asked the water company for an exception. But the water company says rules are rules.
In almost any little town in Texas there's a football field and Coupland doesn't want to be any different. But this year they say the watering restrictions are holding them back from being like everyone else.
Coupland is a small Texas town east of Austin and about 8 miles south of Taylor. Its home to the Coupland Cowboys.
The school district only has one elementary and one middle school, a total of 104 students. When it comes to sports they can't always compete with other schools because of their size.
But this school year, the superintendent says the school board decided to invest in the football field.
"Well our football field was really sloppy and full of holes and it was kind of a dangerous situation," said Coupland ISD Superintendent Gary Chandler.
The one thing standing in their way is the drought.
A Manville water spokesperson says Coupland has been under a stage two water restriction since June of last year. That means watering is only allowed two days a week.
"I'm just in a situation where we need an opportunity to water more often in the first month or so and then taper off to be like everyone else," said Chandler.
The company spokesperson says the school district was warned about the restriction earlier when they applied for a new meter this year. They were even told that their only options are either to water the field by hand or use a spray rig.
"We understand they have regulations," said Chandler.
The football coach and the superintendent are hoping the water company will make an exception.
"We're in a time when we can use it. Hopefully we can come to some kind of agreement and they'll be able to help us out," said the football team, Jeff Kirby.
If not, they fear students might go elsewhere to play football.
"We don't want our kids to leave to go to Elgin or Taylor or Thrall to play we want them to stay here," said Chandler.
In the meantime, these Cowboys aren't letting the water woes keep them down they're hoping for an undefeated season.
The football team will play their home games in Taylor where they've played for the last three years.
Manville water tells FOX 7 they will not make an exception for the football field. School officials are hoping Manville water will re-consider or that more rain will come to the area.
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LL wrote about that experience in his 1998 autobiography I Make My Own Rules.
Oprah Winfrey does it again.
During a sit-down with rapper LL Cool J and the interview queen for an upcoming episode of Oprah's Next Chapter, the entertainer opened up and talk about a dark period in his life when he struggled with child abuse.
LL wrote about that experience in his 1998 autobiography I Make My Own Rules, sharing that a man named Roscoe, who lived with his mother, beat him and tormented him psychologically.
"You call it abuse, but it was torture," Winfrey told him when addressing the topic.
"Yeah, a friend of my mother's, you know it wasn't sexual, it was just beatings, take all your clothes off," the rapper explained, "kicked out in the snow, stay outside."
But that's not all. LL Cool J continued to say that he would get, "beat with vacuum cleaner pipes, strip naked, 'Put your hands on the bunk bed,' and when you fall down, 'Stand up, get back up.'"
"Torture," Oprah replied.
Catch the full interview this Sunday at 9 p.m PST on OWN.
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The AZA Lion Species Survival Plan (SSP) is committed to the management and welfare of lions in captivity, but we also believe we have an obligation to lions in the wild. In 2013, the Lion SSP, with support from the Houston Zoo and Denver Zoo, partnered to launch this conservation campaign. Our goal is to raise awareness among the zoo community about the threats lions face in the wild and offer a simple but impactful way to help. Thank you for visiting this page and we hope that you will consider supporting one of the important projects highlighted here. We also want to thank all the zoos that have supported lion conservation and continue to do so.
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://www.houstonzoo.org/lionssp/
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|By PR Newswire||
|November 9, 2012 01:00 PM EST||
CALGARY, Nov. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - On November 11, at 11 a.m. local time, all Canadian Pacific trains will safely halt across its 14,700-mile network , observe two minutes of respect in silence, then sound a long train whistle in tribute to Remembrance Day and Veterans Day.
A special service will also be held at CP's headquarters in Calgary.
"Let those who come after see to it that their names be not forgotten," said Scott MacDonald, senior vice president operations. "We hope when CP train whistles blow across our North American network, the sound will unite our thoughts of remembrance and remind us all that our freedom should never be taken for granted."
Canadian Pacific has been touched by the tragic impacts of World War I and World War II. More than 33,000 CP employees served in the last century's two world wars. Sadly, 1,774 employees died in battle. In the two world wars combined, 24 of 74 CP ships were lost to enemy action. In the air, CP pioneered the trans-Atlantic delivery of bombers to Britain. At home, Canadian Pacific's efforts included transporting troops, supplies, and equipment, in addition to making its shops available for the output of Valentine tanks, engines for frigates and landing craft, naval-vessel power equipment components, naval guns, anti-submarine devices, and fire-control equipment.
CP recognizes the contributions employees, both past and present, have made in times of conflict and through its more than 130 years of railroading has employed tens of thousands of men and women who bravely served Canada and the United States.
These brave men and women will be honoured at CP's Remembrance and Veteran's Day ceremony. Canadian Pacific executives, employees (including active members), Police Service officers, pensioners, and members of the public will recognize their service at a special ceremony at CP's Calgary head office, on 9th Avenue SW next to the steam locomotive.
About Canadian Pacific
Canadian Pacific (CP:TSX)(NYSE:CP) operates a North American transcontinental railway providing freight transportation services, logistics solutions, and supply chain expertise. Incorporating best-in-class technology and environmental practices, CP is re-defining itself as a modern 21s century transportation company built on safety, service reliability, and operational efficiency. Visit www.cpr.ca to learn more.
Editor's Note: Canadian Pacific's Remembrance and Veterans Day ceremony will begin at approximately 10:40 a.m. (Mountain Time) in front of CP Headquarters, Gulf Canada Square, 401 9th Avenue SW.
SOURCE Canadian Pacific
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David L. Cooperrider, Honored as Peter F. Drucker Distinguished Fellow, Connects AI Management Strategy with Drucker School Students
Selection Recognizes Weatherhead School of Management Professor’s Prominent Role Establishing and Enhancing Appreciative Inquiry
David L. Cooperrider, Case Western Reserve University’s internationally renowned organizational behavior professor known for his strengths-focused Appreciative Inquiry (AI) strategy and research, is fulfilling his role as the third and current Peter F. Drucker Distinguished Fellow for the Peter F. Drucker & Masatoshi Ito School of Management, part of Claremont Graduate University.
The school in Claremont, Calif., bestowed the honor in April shortly after a lecture and program Cooperrider provided there on "The Discovery and Design of Positive Institutions."
As distinguished fellow, Cooperrider is a valued resource for students, and he plans to teach a special graduate level seminar at the Drucker School on "Appreciative Inquiry and the Design of Positive Institutions" during the summer of 2011.
Recently, he advised six Drucker students who came to Cleveland to personally experience Mayor Frank Jackson’s Summit 2010: The Global Engine, held Sept. 22-23. They took part in the one-year follow-up to 2009’s three-day summit, Building an Economic Engine to Empower a Green City on a Blue Lake.
The goal of Sustainable Cleveland 2019 is to make Cleveland a model of sustainability and a leader in the emerging green economy over the next nine years. This effort is focused on using AI to support business growth, protect the environment and create opportunities for prosperity.
Peter F. Drucker (1909-2005) had a career as a writer, consultant and teacher spanning more than six decades. Cooperrider is fond of discussions he recalls having with Drucker, whom he regards as one of the greatest thinkers of the past century.
Cooperrider says Drucker advised him that the essence of leadership “is to create an alignment of strengths in ways that make a system’s weaknesses irrelevant.”
“Too often our shell-shocked bureaucracies and negative political systems drain our energy, deplete our resources, and focus our collective attention on the worst, not the best, in life,” Cooperrider says. “But strengths-based organizations and societies are different — they’ve learned that human systems excel only through dedicated inquiry and positive public dialogue into our collective strengths, never by simply fixing weaknesses.”
David Cooperrider, the Fairmount Minerals Professor of Social Entrepreneurship at Case Western Reserve’s Weatherhead School of Management, and Suresh Srivastva jointly wrote the 1987 classic Appreciative Inquiry Into Organizational Life. The research shifted management attention from “a problem to be solved” to the importance of innovation spawning a “universe of strengths.” The end result is creation of new and sustainable value.
His book series Advances in Appreciative Inquiry (Emerald Publishers) and academic works, such as The Organization Dimensions of Global Change, have been drawn upon by scholars, executives, and leaders from all walks of life. Appreciative Inquiry is being called upon in the corporate world and in economics, public service, urban renewal, international development, and in faith-based institutions.
Cooperrider travels extensively to speak about positive change. His newest frontier, shared with professors Ron Fry of Case Western Reserve’s Weatherhead School of Management and Peter Senge of MIT, is the application of AI and large scale strengths-based approaches for the creation of sustainable cities and green economic design.
“David Cooperrider is building on and extending the work of Peter Drucker in an exciting and highly beneficial way,” said Vijay Sathe, a professor at the Drucker School. “Drucker said the best way to predict the future was to invent it. Cooperrider and his methods are helping businesses and people around the world to invent a better future for all sectors of society.”
Cooperrider joins only two others who have been named as a Peter F. Drucker Distinguished Fellow: Ikujiro Nonaka, author of The Knowledge-Creating Company, was named in 2008 and Charles Handy, author of The Age of Unreason, was named in 2009.
Cooperrider serves as faculty chair for the Fowler Center for Sustainable Value at Weatherhead, where he created the Global Forum for Business as an Agent of World Benefit in collaboration with the United Nations Global Compact and the Academy of Management. He has taught and lectured at Harvard, Stanford, Cambridge and many other business schools and organizations worldwide.
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App design & mobile web design
Design is one of key factors in an app’s success. Nothing beats an aesthetically pleasing UI (user interface) that delivers a smooth flowing user experience (UX). Our award winning design team is filled with original thinking creatives who can come up with trend-setting and unique design patterns while maintaining a perfect user experience.
This initial brainstorming phase is where we throw all the ideas in the pot and start to ask a number of the question to help build a creative brief for the application and ensure the app has the right foundation to be built upon.
It’s important that the ideas and wish list of functions for the app are clearly defined and have a purpose. We will recommend which features should be in your initial app release and help to clarify the reasons behind some features being within the scope of the project or outside of the scope. Small changes to scope can have a dramatic effect on the overall project costs so we will make it clear where the projects costs are and what part of the functionality they represent. There may be a number of rounds of scoping as we refine the app definition and modify project timing to suit both the objectives of the app and the constraints such as initial budget.
The architecture is the logic of the app, by that we mean how does the user navigate around, what’s the flow of information and the overall experience we are offering. navigation.
Art direction and user Interface design
In this stage, the initial design of how an app looks and feels to use is considered. Peek will develop sample screens that capture the overall style and character of the project. Once agreed a complete set of user interface (UI) assets are created. With this set of designs, all screens and components for the app will be defined and a full library of screens is provided for your approval.
We will develop the app virtually showing the user interface in the app and it’s interaction, design functionality. This along with any required interface specifications will provide a step through of the complete application before a line of code has been written. This is a valuable process, changing a button or adding a form once the app is built costs a lot more than getting it right in the first place. A strict project specification process results in reduced costs for our customers and a more refined app experience for your consumer.
Call Steve or Sarah-Jane to discuss your next app or mobile web project on 01223 900121.
- App development questionnaire
- Consumer features for smartphone apps
- What is an app?
- A look at how tablets are being used in the workplace
Mobile thinking & strategic consultancy for app development
Building a mobile strategy is more than just having your own application. Click here to read more
App design & mobile web design
It’s important that the ideas and wish list of functions for the app are clearly defined and have a purpose... Click here to read more
Content creation for apps
Some of the greatest web success stories come from apps and communities that have enabled people to create, customise, and share their content rather than just purchase content that is prebuilt for sales. Apps that encourage interactivity give a more customised user experience, which is more satisfying to the user. So if you can make [...] Click here to read more
App testing and usability reviews
Peek offers a full testing facility that not only confirms that the apps will function on the devices, but we can help with a risk assessment of the security of the apps and their data... Click here to read more
App marketing services
It's all very well having an app in the app store. But without the support of traditional marketing it will just be taking it's chances at getting found... Click here to read more
App development and building
From concept to completion Click here to read more
Private Enterprise App Stores for business
The App Store and Android Marketplace work well for consumers. Search for whatever apps you want or need and buy or download them with one-click shopping. But that system starts to break down when it comes to mobile devices in the workplace, particularly for companies that create internal apps that need to be rolled out [...] Click here to read more
At Peek we have worked on a wide variety of mobile app analytics packages as well as developed custom made analytics application for some of our clients... Click here to read more
App deployment for iphone, android and blackberry
App deployment is a delicate process where a single error can get your app rejected...that's why we're here to help every step of the way... Click here to read more
Apps for your business
Peek develops mobile applications for businesses. We can help your company make the most of your mobile devices. Click here to read more
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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|
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A couple of weeks back when I posted a piece about the baby boomers who don’t plan to leave any inheritance to their children, I came down rather hard on that generation. Many boomers could (rightly) argue: “But we’re not all like that!” As Mother used to say, “It takes all kinds to make a world,” and she would be correct, no matter which demographic group she might be describing.
In the last while a couple more “grandparent” stories have come to my attention; if only I’d waited and written about them all together, for a more complete trifecta of the good, the bad and the ugly.
I tend to think that retired boomers who plan to spend every cent on their own enjoyment, without thinking of their own families are, well, bad. On the other hand, many good-hearted boomers are stepping up and giving their families a great deal of help.
Less frail and more involved, today's grandparents are shunning retirement homes and stepping in more than ever to raise grandchildren while young adults struggle in the poor economy. […] "We help out in terms of running errands, babysitting, taking the grandkids to doctors' appointments, and for back-to-school shopping," said Doug Flockhart of Exeter, N.H., listing some of the activities that he and his wife, Eileen, do for their five kids and seven grandchildren. But that's just the start.
They also pitch in with health care payments for family members due to insurance gaps… […] Flockhart's situation is increasingly common, demographers say.
"Grandparents have become the family safety net, and I don't see that changing any time soon," said Amy Goyer, a family expert at AARP. "While they will continue to enjoy their traditional roles, including spending on gifts for grandchildren, I see them increasingly paying for the extras that parents are struggling to keep up with — sports, camps, tutoring or other educational needs, such as music lessons."
Moreover it is estimated that currently about 5.8 million children live with grandparents who identify as household heads. This is up from 4.5 million in such households a decade ago. Ironically, this “granny state” spending has come about mainly because the punitive tax regimes of the nanny state (largely brought upon western society by the boomer generation) make it all but impossible for ordinary families to survive financially on a modest income. As the article states: “The middle class is so much less well-off than it used to be.” It might be worth asking why—indeed it ought to be an election issue in the US.
Is there any irony, or is it just poetic justice that the catastrophic failure of the nanny state has forced families back to what they'd been since the dawn of time -- a mutually dependent community of (pardon the phrase) caring and sharing? America, welcome back to what much of the world never gave up on. Don’t get me wrong, however. The economy in the West still needs fixing.
And so does the institution of the family. Which brings me to a story from British Columbia, Canada, which sort of fits the “ugly” category. It almost defies credence, but evokes plenty of pathos all round:
Shirley Anderson, 73, is suing four of her children, asking that they each provide her with $750 a month.
The children, who are now all grown, claim they don't owe their mother anything because she abandoned them when they were teens.
[Anderson] claims she receives $1,500 a month from the Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security, but can't afford her medications and has to rely on the food bank to make ends meet. […]
One of her sons, Ken, 47, says he has no intention of paying more. He says his upbringing was awful and that he was "basically abandoned" at age 15. He says he and his siblings left home in their teens and rarely saw their mother again after that.
He said he and his wife Sherry need money for their own retirements and their children's education. […] "We're getting older and we've got to retire soon. We've got two kids that we've got to put through post-secondary school, and having to pay her just takes it away from my kids. It's just not right," he said.
Interestingly, the comments on this Canadian story (many from seniors) overwhelmingly side with the children. As more than one respondent declared: “You reap what you sow.”
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This post will mostly be pictures, some of the replica, some of the original Oseberg ship. The last post left a board steamed, bent fitted and riveted or klinked on to the hull. As the hull takes shape each point is measured and set to ±5mm. It can be adjusted slightly by pressing up from underneath with props or by adding heavy rocks inside. These rocks look randomly scattered but they are very precisely placed to get exactly the right shape into the hull. Once it is dried and the ribs fitted the shape will be set.
One of the iconic features fo the Oseberg ship are the carvings. These
are some close ups of the original taken in the Viking ship museum in
Oslo in 2004.
and some images showing the replica
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http://greenwood-carving.blogspot.com/2011/11/building-worlds-most-iconic-viking-ship_4172.html?showComment=1321485332572
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Biogas provider gets a lift from business mentorship
Nothing had prepared him for what would come out of the business plan writing competition. After all the entries in the Enablis Business Launch Pad business idea competition had been evaluated, Samson Gichia emerged winner in the Green and Ecological solutions category.
This award, recognising the huge potential in his biogas project of providing clean and renewable energy, was sponsored by Inoorero University. This gave him the motivation he needed to grow his business in provision of energy from his biogas business at his Ruiru-based premises.
And when the business started gaining speed, Gichia found himself back to Inoorero University for mentorship at the Regional Centre for Enterprise Development (RCED), which builds capacity for startups and existing businesses through professional business mentoring.“The cost of energy in Kenya is always going up and thus people are seeking alternative and affordable sources of power,” says Gichia, the Managing Director of Cobitech Biogas Ltd, which he started in November 2010 to provide affordable and eco-friendly energy solutions.
The company specialises in the construction of fixed dome biogas systems for domestic household clients with livestock waste as feedstock and institutions like schools and water and sewerage companies, where human bio-waste is utilised as feedstock for biogas generation.
But before long, there was too much to do with his limited knowledge base and capacity in this field. “I was getting overwhelmed as I was doing everything as I sought to satisfy clients’ needs,” he said. “It became so difficult to an extent that the business was just mark-timing.”
Gichia was lucky to be picked as a business mentee under RCED’s business mentorship programme, which marked a turning point for the businesses. Here, he received lessons from his mentor, Pius Kamau Ng’ang’a, who guided him on setting up management structures, book-keeping and most importantly, market specialisation encouraging him to focus on three key business lines: domestic, institutional and industrial energy services.
Through business mentorship, entrepreneurs get insights about the viability of their businesses and learn how to remain focused on their core activities without losing grip of management and operational activities as well as their personal growth.
“Mentorship helped me to deal with challenges such as managing a very general and un-segmented business,” he said at his office in Ruiru. With the help of a mentor, who is often an experienced and knowledgeable person, an entrepreneur is able to find his/her footing and take huge strides in building the enterprise through improved management, strategy planning and execution, as well as marketing and human resource management.
Gichia enrolled in the RCED business mentorship programme in June 2011. He is still under Ng’ang’a’s tutelage until he is strong enough to stand on his own. “Before mentorship, everything in the business was mixed up but after the mentorship, operations are more streamlined,” said Mr Gichia. “No entrepreneur is perfect and at some point one goes wrong in business. After few months of mentorship, I improved my marketing and networking skills.”
Gichia says mentorship has helped him to develop an effective marketing strategy for his business, mainly through follow-ups on existing customers who recommend the company and its services to potential customers through word-of-mouth, thus cutting his marketing budget. He says he has learnt that to succeed, entrepreneurs need business mentorship for continuous guidance and capacity building.
Daniel Huba, the Coordinator of RCED, says business mentorship unlocks an entrepreneur’s potential and been credited with the success of many entrepreneurs. Mr Huba says for mentorship to be effective, the mentor and mentee agree on specific goals and targets.“They should take time to learn and understand each other, and clearly establish their roles to nurture commitment,” he says. “Cobitech’s success is a result of an excellent relationship between Samson and Pius and that’s how it works with most of our mentees in the programme. The mentor views his or her role as an adviser, encourager, analyser and never a decision marker.”
Gichia targets peri-urban regions and rural areas where electricity supply is limited and cooking gas unaffordable to many. One plant costs up to Sh80,000, a pricey amount, so Cobitech allows its clients to pay in installments. “In the course of the year, the company will introduce biogas technology for cooking and lighting in schools,” he says.
The 35-year-old economics and sociology graduate from the University of Nairobi says he has in the past been invited to Netherlands and South Africa to marketing forums. The company has also participated in various competitions such as the Enablis Chase Bank Business Launch-pad Competition, Start-up Open Business Plan Competition, Climate Technology Initiative – Private Financing Advisory Network (CTI-PFAN) Clean Energy business plan competition and Scholarship certificate programme in management and innovation of Agri-business entrepreneurs.
Cobitech has two employees and six contract workers. Gichia worked at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) as a research assistant between 2000 and 2007. He left and established a family maize milling business, which he still runs. He says he raised capital for his business through personal savings.
The company has installed biogas systems for many clients including Naivasha Water and Sewerage Company, Wildfire flower farms in Naivasha and Gachoire Girls High School. He dreams of being the leading technology provider of biogas solutions for clean energy in the region. “If you have a business idea but do not know how to take it to the next level or you are already in business but experiencing difficulties,” he says, “professional business mentorship is definitely the best way to go.”
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Two important reports on the U.S. economy were released on Friday September 14th. They came one day after a precedent-setting policy statement from the Federal Reserve.
Let’s talk about the numbers first. According to the Census Bureau, U.S. retail sales in August increased 0.9% from July and 4.7% versus August of last year.
Both numbers were improvements over July when the month-to-month change was +0.6% and the year-over-year figure was +3.9%.
Consumers are continuing to make a significant contribution to overall U.S. economic growth despite the sluggishness in the jobs numbers.
The other report referred to in the opening sentence sets out the latest inflation rate. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the year-over-year change in August’s all-items Consumer Price Index (CPI) was +1.7%. That’s a little faster than July’s +1.4%.
The “core” rate of change, which omits the most volatile elements in the CPI – specifically food and energy – was +1.9% in the latest month. In July, core inflation was higher at +2.1%.
Food prices were +2.0% year over year in August and energy costs were -0.6%. The price of gasoline was +1.8% relative to August 2011.
The bottom line on inflation is that it remains well under control. The Federal Reserve has a double mandate, “to foster maximum employment within price stability”.
The latter doesn’t mean “no increase” in prices. Rather, the Fed – similar to most other central banks around the world – has chosen +2.0% as its target rate for inflation.
So where does this leave the Fed? Clearly too-rapid price inflation is not a problem at this time. It must focus on the second of its directives, employment.
Employment depends on the state of the overall economy.
On that score, it has recently seemed as if the economic outlook is being left up in the air until there is a resolution of who will occupy the White House after November 6th.
That isn’t good enough for Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Fed.
At the September 13th meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which sets monetary policy, the stance turned more aggressive.
The Fed will begin buying an additional $40 billion per month in mortgage-backed bonds, with no specified expiry date.
In essence, this is QE3 (Quantitative Easing Three). More money will be injected into the economy. The Fed will go into the closet and dust off the printing presses.
That might not take much elbow grease. It wasn’t long ago that QEs 1 and 2 were tried and the supply of money in the system was augmented enormously.
The Fed will also extend “Operation Twist” to the end of this year, a program designed to bring down long-term interest rates.
The Fed is also lengthening its termination date for nearly zero interest rates (0.00% to 0.25% for the federal funds rate) until mid-2015 from mid-2014.
The expectation is that the ultra-low interest rate environment will continue past when the economy is showing clearer signs of being on the mend. It’s believed the Fed would like to bring the jobless rate down to 7.0% from its current level of 8.1%.
Mr. Bernanke’s far more aggressive approach takes a leaf from the book of Mario Draghi, head of the European Central Bank (ECB).
Super-Mario, as he’s referred to overseas, has stated he will do whatever it takes to save the Euro. And that means buying the bonds of nations that are in financial distress.
Speculation about the imminent demise of the 17-member currency has driven up interest rates to an alarming degree. Already-distressed nations are being further burdened with interest charges that bear “to Mr. Draghi’s mind” an unwarranted extra risk premium.
He wants to put an end to such game playing.
He made his bold statement, well aware that Germany’s bundesbank might not approve.
His gamble appears to have paid off. German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has sanctioned the move. And the yields on Spanish and Italian bonds have fallen dramatically, at least for the moment.
The tone of Mr. Bernanke’s press release is an echo of Mr. Draghi’s tough talk. The three key passages in the Fed’s statement read as follows.
1. The Committee (also) anticipates that inflation over the medium term likely would run at or below its 2 percent objective.
2. The Committee is concerned that, without further policy accommodation, economic growth might not be strong enough to generate sustained improvement in labor market conditions.
3. If the outlook for the labor market does not improve substantially, the Committee will continue its purchases of agency mortgage-backed securities, undertake additional asset purchases, and employ its other policy tools as appropriate until such improvement is achieved in a context of price stability.
It’s as if central bankers are becoming fed up with their politician counterparts. “If they’re not going to do anything about our economic situation, we will,” seems to be what they’re saying.
Meanwhile in Canada, a media interview with Prime Minister Harper elicited his opinion that we are now in an era when economies can only expect to muddle through.
Prior to the Fed’s most recent meeting, North American stock markets were already factoring in a QE3-type initiative.
They can only be expected to react with glee to the latest announcement.
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Help Vanderbilt win EPA Game Day Recycling Challenge at Homecoming Oct. 23
Posted in NEWS on Thursday, October 14th, 2010
At the Homecoming Game on Saturday, Oct. 23, Vanderbilt won’t just be taking on South Carolina. While the Commodore Nation is gearing up to cheer for Vandy on the field, we can also be helping Vanderbilt score off the field in the Environmental Protection Agency Game Day Challenge.
Vanderbilt will compete with other universities around the country, and as part of the Southeastern Conference against other conferences, in the EPA’s Recycling Challenge.
The goal: be the university and/or division with the least amount of waste generated per person at the game.
As a way to reduce the overall waste produced at this game, the VU Sustainability and Environmental Management Office (SEMO) will be recruiting extra volunteers to supplement the recycling system that is already in place for home football games.
We are also asking fans to be aware of the waste they are producing and to try out some of our waste reduction tips, such as:
- Bring reusable food containers, plates, and cups for your tailgate
- Buy plastic cups and plates with recycle symbols #1or #2 for your tailgate
- Buy items that have as little packaging as possible
- Bring only what food and beverages you need for your tailgate, and take home the leftovers
- RECYCLE all plastics # 1 and 2 and aluminum cans in recycling bins located on the concourse, at the gates and near every tailgate area
After the game, the total waste and recycling generated will be calculated and submitted to the Game Day Challenge organizers. The schools that generate the least amount of waste per person in attendance at the game will be announced as the winners at the beginning of November.
If you would like to volunteer to help with this effort, please contact SEMO at email@example.com or call 3.7881. More information about Vanderbilt’s recycling and sustainability programs can be found at the SustainVU website.
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Children are brought up in families where often times some religious faith is practiced. In our current day where there are many openly practiced religions sometimes children are brought up attending two different religious services or being taught two different religious dogmas. In homes where no formal religion is practiced, children are still taught to have faith even if it is only in themselves.
We Christians raise our kids to believe in the God of the Bible, we take them to Awana, Sunday School, and Vacation Bible School. We put them in Christian school, they memorize Bible verses, and we pray with them and for them from the moment they are conceived. An abundance of them "get saved", "Pray to receive Christ", "ask Jesus into their heart" before they are adults.
So how come so many of our kids reveal through their lives that they have not ever truly made that transition from death to life (Ephesians 2:1-3)? I fear many of us are delusional in our felt beliefs that our children are truly regenerated when so much of the evidence we see points elsewhere.
The hard truth is that being a good Christian parent and raising them "right" guarantees nothing. No one is grandfathered into the kingdom of God, and no one chooses to enter without the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
Each of our children must be drawn to God by God and then each of them must decide what they are going to do with this Jesus and the salvation He offers them. Our children have to make our faith their own. They must decide what theological truths they will accept and embrace. Will they become more Reformed or Catholic or Lutheran or Orthodox, or Armenian? Will they decide to believe that sign gifts are for today or that a person can "lose" their salvation?
Our faith is just that- our faith. Our faith leads and guides our children while they are young, but there comes a time when that is just not enough, when our kids have to acquire their own faith with Jesus Christ. Our prayers may protect them and be used by God for seasons of their lives but we cannot promise them our salvation. This walk of faith is something each of our kids has to do alone, with the Lord.
At times it will be difficult to watch them sink under the murky waters of sinful decisions but that is what is sometimes needed for our kids to begin to see their need to grow and change. Their very trials and hardships and questions of faith will help them to better trust Him, even when their questions create more questions than answers and even when they come upon some very dark and lonely periods of time.
While our faith is a beautiful thing, it is no more useful to them than a precious and fragile china tea set. Nice to look at but impractical for our purposes. Real faith is grabbed with both hands and used like that travel coffee mug you may take with you each day. But even that mug is useless unless you fill it up and take it along.
May we never believe that we are enough for our children. May we never believe that our faith is enough for their salvation. May we never protect them from things that will bring them to regeneration through Christ Jesus.
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EMMITSBURG, MD - The United States Fire Administration (USFA) announces the theme for the 2009 Arson Awareness Week: "Arson for Profit". USFA and its partners will use the week of May 3rd to the 9th to focus public attention on the alarming statistics about Arson for Profit and hopes to expand the resources and support necessary to reduce this crime.
Arson for Profit, or economic arson, is when businesses or individuals set fires to reduce financial loss, recoup initial investments, or dispose of depreciated assets usually for a payout from insurance companies. The USFA is partnering with the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI).
"Each year firefighters and innocent civilians are needlessly put in danger, injured and killed as a result of arson fires," said Glenn A. Gaines, Acting United States Fire Administrator. "We are pleased to partner with the law enforcement community on efforts to reduce the crime of arson."
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), in 2005 an estimated 323,900 intentional fires reported to U.S. fire departments resulted in 490 civilian fire deaths, 3 firefighter onduty deaths, 1,500 civilian fire injuries, 7,600 firefighter onduty injuries and $1.102 billion in direct property damage.
"Arson is a costly crime that's being fanned by the flames of recession. Firefighters and innocent families are endangered when desperate people illegally torch their homes, businesses and cars for insurance bailouts," according to Dennis Jay, Executive Director, Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. "Arson also is raising insurance premiums at a time of great stress on honest people's pocketbooks. All Americans are victims of arson, and we all must work to ensure fewer arson matches are ever lit."
The Federal Bureau of Investigation's 2007 Uniform Crime Reporting statistics showed the average dollar loss for all types of arson was $17,289. For structures, arson damages were $32,364 on average and $7,890 for motor vehicles. Arsons of industrial and manufacturing structures resulted in the highest average dollar losses--an average of $114,699 per arson.
"Arson is one of the most heinous crimes imaginable. When the arsonist unleashes fire, he does so with a callous disregard for what the outcome will be. He cares not a whit about the firefighters that will risk their lives responding to the fire, the innocent victims that may be disfigured or killed, the neighboring residents or businesses that may suffer damage or destruction, the blight his deeds will leave on a community or the financial costs that burned property imposes on society," said Ken Finley, IAAI-CFI, President, International Association of Arson Investigators. "Please join us in our never ending fight against those who use fire as a vicious tool for their own gain."
The USFA's National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) states the two leading causes of civilian deaths are arson, at 28 percent, and smoking, at 18 percent. Arson is, by far, the leading cause of property loss, at 26 percent. Arson is an enormous problem in the United States, especially to outside and nonresidential structure properties.
David M. Wulf, Chief of the ATF's National Center for Explosives Training and Research adds, "In view of the economy and uncertainty within the housing market, arson for profit presents an increased concern to both fire service and law-enforcement agencies."
For more information, including a media kit for the 2009 Arson Awareness Week campaign, go to http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/aaw/
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Daniel T. Arap Moi, CGH
Daniel Toroitich arap Moi was born on 2 nd September, 1924 in a small village of Kurieng'wo in Sacho Location of Baringo District. He was named after his father Kimoi arap Chebii a sot clan herdsman whose ancestors had migrated from the slopes of Mt. Kenya. They settled in the Tugen Hills to avoid intermittent skirmishes with the Maasai in the 19 th Century.
Moi was the 5 th child of Kabon, Chebii's senior wife. Moi was named Toroitich which means welcome home the cattle ' espousing how central cattle were in their existence. At the age of four, Moi's father died and his elder brother Tuitoek played a guardian role. It was Tuitoek who influenced him to go to school at an early age as a way of running away from poverty and injustices that characterized colonial rule.
In 1934, Moi started school at the African Inland Mission School, Kabartonjo where he had to walk 28 miles away from home. On October 20 th 1936 he was baptized Daniel. In 1938, he was transferred to African Inland Mission School, Kapsabet where he was a school captain and a captain of the football team. He took menial jobs in and out of school to meet his basic needs.
In 1945 he was selected to join Alliance High School but to his disappointment he was not allowed by the colonial administration. Instead he was sent to a teacher's training college. His character was greatly moulded by Christianity which he had embraced at a tender age. He demonstrated inexhaustible patience and tolerance which later helped shape his political career.
On completion of his course, he was posted as a Head teacher at Kabarnet where he studied privately and passed London Matriculation Examinations. He was promoted in 1949 to the rank of P2 after attending a brief course at Kagumo College and transferred to the Tambach Government African School as a Teacher Trainer.
President Moi married Lena Bommet in 1950 and they were blessed with 8 children; 3 daughters and five sons, (Jennifer, Doris and adopted daughter June; Jonathan, Raymond, John Mark, Philip and Gideon). In 1950 he attended a course at the Jeans School (Kenya Institute of Administration) and was posted to Govt. African School, Kabarnet where he taught Teachers upto 1955 when he joined politics. His entry into politics followed a meeting with a group of freedom fighters under the command of Brig. Daniel Njuguna who visited him in June 1955. He was sympathetic to their cause and after feeding and protecting them for two weeks he gave them food and money to further their cause.
In October 1955 the Electoral College selected Moi from a list of eight nominated candidates to fill a vacancy left by Joseph ole Tameno who resigned from the unofficial benches of the legislative council.
Moi immersed himself in politics with resistance. As he sat as a member of the Legislative Council with only other four African members on October 18 th 1955 Moi did not know what was in store for him. He however swiftly adapted to the new challenges and in the following year he moved a motion in the Legislative Council (Legco) demanding that African teachers be allowed to form their own association. Thus Kenya National Union of Teachers was formed and registered in 1957.
Brought up in strong Kalenjin culture, Moi is a firm believer in justice, honesty and fairness to all. He worked alongside other leaders like Eliud Mathu, Ronald Ngala and Masinde Muliro in agitating for the release of Jomo Kenyatta and greater African representation in the Legco.
In 1959, he led a group of leaders to visit Jomo Kenyatta in detention in Lodwar. Subsequently, Moi was among the Kenyan delegation under the auspices of Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU) who went to the London Constitutional talks of June 1960.
Just before independence (1961), Moi was appointed Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Education and later served in the ministries of Education and local Government in the coalition Government. He served as minister for Local Government at age 37. As all-conference Chairman of KADU, Moi saw the intricacy of politics and opted for a united and nationalistic approach leading to the dissolution of KADU in November, 1964.
In January 1967, Jomo Kenyatta appointed Daniel Toroitich arap Moi, now aged 41, as his Vice-President following the resignation of Mr. Joseph Murumbi. Moi became president following the death of Mzee Kenyatta on 22 nd August 1978.
Since independence in 1963, Moi has won all elections as a Member of Parliament for Baringo Cenral and as President in both singleparty and the multi-party era.
His leadership has seen many ups and downs. The major test was in August 1982 when a detachment of Airforce soldiers attempted to overthrow his government but they were defeated by loyal forces.
Moi served as chairman of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) for two consecutive terms 1981 and 1982. He has also been involved in mediation between various conflicting sides in Uganda, Congo, Somalia Chad, Sudan, Mozambique, Eritrea/Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi etc. He served as Chairman of Preferential Trade Area (1989-1990) COMESA (1999-2000), E.A. Co-operation (1996-2002) and Inter-Governmental Authority on Development IGAD (1993-1998)
He has travelled widely in search for peace in Africa and the world. Many a times he was called upon as a President to provide peace keeping forces in troubled parts of the world like Chad, Uganda, Namibia, Mozambique, Iran/Iraq, Kuwait, Yugoslavia, Liberia, Morocco, Angola, Serbia/Croatia, D.R. Congo, Sierra Leone and East Timor.
At various for a, Moi has stressed that unless Africans cement their unity and solidarity, solution to the many internal and external hazards afflicting Africa will remain elusive. He has argued that the hard won independence stands in jeopardy unless Africans embrace co-operation as a means of faster and more diversified economic development. Moi has supported the formation of regional economic bodies to increase trade as a means for the developing countries to have a united voice in the global economy.
On 30 th December 2002, Moi handed over the reigns of power to Mwai Kibaki in a peaceful transition that followed the National Rainbow Coalition's (NARC) victory over KANU in December 2002 General Elections.
Now in retirement, Daniel Moi has dedicated his time to his long cherished vision; to bring hope to the needy and suffering people of Africa. From 2003, he has worked towards the setting up of Moi Africa Institute (MAIN), an undertaking which hopes to transform the lives of many through education, health and conflict resolutions.
Summary of former President Moi's public life.
1924 Born, Kurieng'wo village Sacho location, Baringo District.
1934 Started school at Kabartonjo
1936 20 th October, Baptized
1938 Joined Government African School (G.A.S), Kapsabet
1945 Technical Training College (T.T.C), Tambach
1948 Posted to Kabarnet as Head Teacher
1949 Promoted to P2.
1950 Married Lena Bommet.
1955 Entered politics by NOMINATION TO Legislative Council (LEGCO)
1959 Led a group of leaders to visit Jomo Kenyatta at Lodwar detention camp.
1961 Appointed Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Education.
Minister for Local Government.
1967-1978 Vice-President of the Republic of Kenya.
1978-2002 President of the Republic of Kenya
2002 Retired from Presidency.
2003 Establishment of Moi Africa Institute (MAIN) Launched on 30 th March 2004.
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About the Feminist eZine
The Feminist eZine collects and archives feminist articles, essays, editorials and writing on all sorts of topics for research purposes. If you have written an article or know of a good historical article we should have on here please contact the editor Suzanne MacNevin. All of our staff are volunteer. If you are interested in volunteering we WANT you.
The Feminist eZine has been active (in one form or another) since 2000. When it started it was known as "1001 Feminist Links" but some of the links died and we decided that we should start archiving the feminist articles we found (in addition to writing our own) rather than see them disappear over time into non-existence and be forgotten about. Thus our site has evolved over time so that by 2007 we registered as a .com, in combination with the Lilith eZine (a feminist / liberally minded general purpose online magazine).
The site is advertising and donation supported. Most people seem to prefer advertising, but both donations and advertising are equally welcome. Please enjoy your stay and feel free to send us comments and feedback on the site!
If you still want to support the Feminist eZine (but lack the funds to do so) please tell your friends about us, post links to us or better yet, volunteer and write for us. The Feminist eZine is a community for all feminists and we look forward to what you have to contribute!
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Commonly known as Double Jeopardy being both black and a woman exposes a person to racism, sexism and cross-racial sexism. We live now in an era of people like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and we are sometimes forced to make decisions not based on race or sex, but on what we actually believe in.
Suggested Readings for Black Feminists
As technology expands our identities (both physical and virtual) change what it means to be a woman. We can present ourselves differently online and promote grrl power online in a way never before seen in history, but we can also modify our bodies using technology - becoming more and more like cyborgs. The cellphone in your pocket may not be wired to your brain, but its become part of your identity and the way you communicate.
The life of a homemaker is often fraught with confusion about the role women play in modern society. Who does the chores and housework? Who raises the kids? Is domesticity a type of slavery? What makes a good wife? The modern homemaker thus makes feminist decisions every day and forever questions their role in society.
"Women have been taught that, for us, the earth is flat, and that if we venture out, we will fall off the edge."
Environmentalism and feminism unite when ecofeminism is introduced. Part science, part nature, part religion to some ecofeminism explores the way women relate to the natural world and the way women are naturally. Toss in some animal rights, tree hugging and veganism and you begin to see the bigger picture.
Nature = Woman?
Education & Feminism
When choosing an education and a career, women who go down the path of becoming a "working girl" make some interesting choices. Should they try and tackle a career and children at the same time they will have to make choices between traditional women's work and more male dominated careers like engineering. The only real challenge is having the guts to do it.
Working Girls, Broken Society?
Fashion can be both a tool and a lead weight to feminists. On one side we want to look professional and on the other side we still want to have our fun too. Its all about making choices and having the freedom to wear the pants when we want to and still have the choice to wear feminine clothing when we want to.
The Ugly Side of Beauty
"Never let the hand you hold, hold you down."
Activism is the avant garde of what feminism is all about. Activists push people's buttons, take controversial stands and raise awareness by forcing people to talk about women's rights.
Anarchists have a bad reputation, but its largely undeserved. Anarchy is all about freedom from oppression and rebelling against oppressors. Taken in that context George Washington was an anarchist for rebelling against the British. This doesn't imply lawlessness, merely that anarchists are rebels and freedom fighters.
Feminism and Anarchism
Featured Article - Suzy's Pepperspray Recipe
By Suzanne MacNevin - December 2012.
"If every woman in the world carried a secret bottle of pepperspray on her there would be a lot less rapes." - Suzanne MacNevin
I have a hunch that between 1890 and 1910 the number of rapes dropped a bit in various Western countries due to women wearing hats that required hatpins. The reason? Because in a pinch the hatpin could be substituted as a self-defense weapon. See my blog post Hatpins as Self Defense Weapon for Women for more details.
Over a hundred years later, when such hats have gone out of fashion, we may have changed our fashion sense, but rape statistics continue every year. Usually its someone you know, someone you thought was a friend, a co-worker or even a relative with a sick obsession. But sometimes it can also be a stranger.
Either way, when people go outdoors to go to work, go shopping, run errands they typically carry their wallet and other things with them. I personally carry a Swiss Army Knife with me and am confident in its use.
But I also carry a small bottle of homemade pepperspray, using the recipe found on the right.
And I live in a big metropolitan city (London, UK) so the chances of muggings, rape, etc are slightly higher... but in reality I am none too afraid of rapists. I don't look scared and mousey enough for them to see me as a target. No, what I am really doing is waiting for my chance to be a superhero (aha, Radioactive Girl strikes again!) with nothing more than Pepperspray (and the Swiss Army Knife, of course, but that is more of all purpose tool - I usually use it for slicing oranges when I am out hiking).
Call it my own personal fantasy, but I really want to be a crimefighter who appears and saves the damsel in distress. If guys can do it, why can't I?
A friend of mine once speculated that if high schools taught a mandatory class in St John's Ambulance First Aid training that there would be a lot less people who die after an accident due to lack of medical attention, because the chances are more likely there would be someone nearby who remembers their training.
My concept of every woman in the world carrying pepperspray (and possibly another self defense item on their person, whether it be a taser, Swiss Army Knife, etc) would so discourage rapists that we could eradicate rape in a generation.
I also firmly believe that we could make a more foolproof lie detector test so that we can absolutely and truly determine who is lying and who is telling the truth. Combine that with higher prison times for rapists (or just sending them to a penal colony off the east coast of Greenland) we could eliminate rape.
And I think it is a realistic plan. Britain sent over 165,000 criminals to Australia during the 18th and 19th centuries. While it certainly speeded up the colonization of Australia, it rapidly decreased crime in an overpopulated and largely unemployed London. The plan worked. Crime dropped off dramatically because nobody wanted to be shipped off to Australia. Crimes of desperation still happened, but you get the idea.
Anyway until our governments get their act together and start finding ways to raise the conviction rate of known rapists, please share this Pepperspray Recipe with your friends.
Suzy's Pepperspray Recipe
2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
Step 1. First you will need to put the 2 tablespoons cayenne pepper into a small glass and then pour in rubbing alcohol until it is about 2 cm (0.8 of inch) above the pepper.
Step 2. Stir the alcohol and pepper for three to five minutes.
Step 3. Add an ounce of baby oil to the glass and stir for two minutes.
Step 4. Place the small thin cloth over the top of the glass and pour the contents through the cloth into the 2nd glass, allowing the cloth to catch any large pieces of pepper that remain. This filtering will keep the spray bottle (or watergun) from becoming clogged.
What is in the second glass is your homemade pepper spray. See? Pretty easy to make, isn't it?
It is usually a dark brownish red color and doesn’t have a pleasant odor. Once you have completed this process you need to pour the liquid into an empty spray bottle. You can use an old perfume bottle or even a watergun if you have such a thing handy. Just make sure whatever you use it doesn't leak. Put the cap on and then you are ready to use your pepper spray whenever you feel the need to protect yourself.
This pepper spray recipe works well because it is not water based. Water based products generally don’t work as well as the cayenne pepper breaks down in the water. The oil and the alcohol ensure that this does not happen and also ensures that when the substance gets into the eyes of the attacker that it will sting bad enough that they will be stopped in their tracks. Water-based pepper spray recipes don't work as well and lose their effectiveness with time.
It’s important to take steps to ensure that you can not spray your homemade pepper spray accidentally. This is a substance that needs to be used only under the most extreme circumstances because when it comes in contact with the eyes, the nose and the mouth, it is very painful and uncomfortable.
Please understand that these effects can last for up to 45 minutes, even an hour.
Accidentally spraying yourself or someone else would not just be inconvenient, it could be painful. If possible, ensure that the spray bottle that you use has a protective cover or cap so that it cannot be discharged unintentionally.
Support the Feminist eZine: Advertise here for $30 / year. Banner ads only $50 / year.
Art is the most basic form of visual communication because it is readily understood by the people seeing it. Thus feminist art has a direct and immediate impact on people and the ability to influence minds. In a world inundated with advertising selling sex feminist art takes a stand for women's rights and freedom of choice.
Feminist Art History Archive
"If all men are born free, how is it that
The right to 'Topfreedom' is fundamental. Regardless of whether you argue it using religion (God meant for us to be naked in the Garden of Eden) or flat out equality (If men can go shirtless, why can't we?) the fact of the matter being topless has nothing to do with obscenity and everything to do with how our culture views and treats the female breast.
Fight for Topless Rights
Women, Movies & Film
How women are treated in films like "My Fair Lady" versus films depicting kung fu vigilantes like "Kill Bill" is the subject of Feminist Film Theory. Because frankly Scarlet, men don't give a damn so its up to women to analyze these films for their feminist content.
"Most women are one man away from welfare." - Gloria Steinem
Women & Poverty
Being poor can bring anyone down and make it very difficult to find equality in a culture which despises the impoverished. Especially when you are a single mother because the father isn't there to help. Women suffering in poverty often have to make the most difficult choices because they have so few options.
Poor White Women
"How good does a female athlete have to be before we just call her an athlete?"
Women & Sports
It is true that women are physically smaller than men, but that doesn't mean we are weaker. Estrogen promotes muscles quality, not size like testosterone does. As such women are often stronger than they first appear. Women athletes therefore can often surprise you with their strength, speed and skill. (And contrary to stereotypes female athletes are not dykes. They're women with a strong backbone.)
Women's Magazines / Blogs / Journals / Whathaveyou
There are a lot of feminist magazines, blogs and journals out there. Here is a short list of some of the many websites we recommend checking out.
Sample posts about Feminism from Suzanne MacNevin's personal blog.
"I myself have never been able to find out precisely
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Britney, The Professor, Teflonso: What’s in a nickname?
Rather a lot, actually. F1 driver’s nicknames tend to tell us something about their skills, their physical appearance – or how often they get into trouble.
Here are ten memorable and revealing F1 driver nicknames.
The significant thing about this nickname for Juan Manuel Fangio is not just that it’s a mark of extremely high praise for the man who ruled F1 in the fifties.
This wasn’t just a term used by fans and pundits – this was how fellow drivers referred to their greatest rival. It shows the high regard the five-times champion was held in by his peers.
Can you imagine any of today’s drivers referring to the opposition in such terms?
In an era of unpredictable fuel and tyre consumption, one man stood out as the best at playing the long game. Alain Prost was an expert at restraining the urge to drive at ten-tenths, preserving his car until the end of the race, and above all, making sure he did not run out of fuel.
This was easier said than done in the turbo era, when the maximum fuel limit was cut several times, forcing drivers to be ever more canny with their boost levels.
It made for a fascinating rivalry between himself and Ayrton Senna, master of the flying lap in qualifying.
Prost’s calculating style served him equally well outside of the cockpit. His astute political manoeuvrings landed him a seat in the best car in F1 in 1993 – with a veto preventing Senna joining him at the team.
Nicknames can be compliments or criticisms. This early appellation belonging to Michael Schumacher is clearly the latter.
But what’s particularly telling about the phrase is that it was applied by his own countrymen in his native tongue.
The word ‘schummel’ carries connotations of cheating and deviousness. It first appeared in German tabloid newspapers during the 1994 season, when Schumacher was repeatedly accused of bending or breaking the rules.
The charge sheet included the hidden ‘option 13′ menu on his Benetton, alleged to activate a banned launch control system; his disqualification at Silverstone and two-race ban; his team mate’s pit fire following the removal of a filter from Benetton’s refuelling rig; his disqualification at Spa on a technicality; and driving into Damon Hill to clinch the world championship at Adelaide.
It was with this cloud hanging over him that Schumacher eventually decided to leave Benetton and join Ferrari. But despite seven world championship titles and 91 wins, to some he is still Schummel-Schumi.
On similar lines to ‘Schummel-Schumi’, Fernando Alonso’s proximity to the two biggest F1 scandals of recent years has earned him the nickname ‘Teflonso’.
Polytetrafluoroethylene – better known as Teflon – is commonly used as a non-stick coating on kitchenware. It also has a rich tradition of being used to describe people tainted by allegations but never directly implicated in them.
One of its earliest uses was in reference to gangster John Gotti – the ‘Teflon Don’ – who escaped punishment in a series of trials in New York in the eighties.
In Alonso’s case it refers to his involvement in ‘Spygate’ in 2007, where emails revealed he discussed McLaren’s use of confidential Ferrari information, and ‘Crashgate’ in 2008, where his Renault team mate Nelson Piquet Jnr was ordered by his team to crash to help Alonso win.
It was after the latter that the name entered widespread use. BBC F1 commentator Martin Brundle used it during the 2009 Singapore Grand Prix after the real story behind the previous year’s race became public knowledge.
The charges may not have stuck, but the nickname has.
We’re back in the realm of more positive nicknames.
The quickest way for a new Ferrari driver to win over Italy’s passionate Tifosi is to win for them first time out.
That’s exactly what Nigel Mansell did for them against the odds at Brazil in 1989. In a year of McLaren domination, he added a second triumph at Hungary, racing through the field from 12th on the grid.
Though he only spent two years with the team his charging, battling style earned him the nickname ‘il leone’ – the lion.
Hunt the Shunt
Many are the drivers who’ve earned a nickname for their propensity for crashing.
The shunt-prone Andrea de Cesaris was dubbed, somewhat predictably, ‘de Crasheris’ for his efforts.
A young Jody Scheckter earned the more obscure nickname ‘Fletcher’ following a series of crashes.
This is one for more literate F1 fans – Fletcher is the name of a bird in the book Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, who persistently tries to fly before he’s ready and keeps crashing as a result.
But the best example of its type has to be the short-but-sweet Hunt the Shunt. Like Scheckter, James Hunt overcame his crashing ways to claim a championship win in the seventies.
The Pampas Bull
A sub-species of nicknames are those which are more like titles, or something you might imagine being used to describe a wrestler.
The stocky frame of Jose Froilan Gonzalez, the first driver to win an F1 race for Ferrari, earned him the name ‘The Pampas Bull’. This was at least more complimentary than the name those closest to him used – El Cabezon, ‘Fat Head’.
Other examples of this type include The Monza Gorilla (Vittorio Brambilla) and The Abruzzi Robber (Luigi Fagioli).
Not the most flattering of nicknames, but Niki Lauda was dubbed The Rat more for his appearance than his personality.
This was less to do with the damage his horrific crash of 1976 did to his face than the profile of his head and bucked teeth.
As he amassed wins and championships, so the name became more adulatory, progressing to ‘Super Rat’ and ‘King Rat’ before he retired at the end of 1985 with three titles and 25 wins under his belt.
Jack Brabham had a reputation for his uncompromising driving on the track.
But the nickname ‘Black Jack’ owed more to his personality – he had a reputation for not being very forthcoming.
Like Lauda, his appearance was also part of it – Brabham’s dark hair matching his quiet personality.
And so it is today for Nico Rosberg.
His golden locks have led to him being dubbed ‘Britney’, in reference to Britney Spears, since his days as Mark Webber’s team mate at Williams.
Following last year’s season finale in Abu Dhabi Rosberg turned up at Dubai airport to discover someone had substituted the photograph in his passport for one of Britney Spears.
Who says modern F1 drivers don’t have a sense of humour?
Over to you
Which are your favourite F1 nicknames? What about the ones not in this list such as ‘Iceman’ Kimi Räikkönen and ‘Mike the Bike’ Hailwood?
Other names have been applied to more than one driver, like ‘The Flying Finn’ and ‘Rain-master’.
Which other drivers on the grid do you think deserve nicknames? Have your say in the comments.
F1 top tens
- Top Ten: Pit lane blunders
- Top ten winning starts with a new team
- Top ten great races you should have seen in 2012
- Top ten: Schumacher comeback moments
- Top ten: Suzuka showdowns
- F1′s brushes with disaster: Top ten lucky escapes
- Top ten greatest Formula 1 designers (Part two)
- Top ten greatest Formula 1 designers (Part one)
- 2002 to 2012: Ten ways F1 has improved in ten years
- Top ten… Curious F1 coincidences
Read more top tens
Image © Daimler, Ford, Ford, Patrick Tercier, via Twitpic
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Eating Out Gluten Free
A basic “how to” guide
Eating out for Celiacs can be stressful. You have a lot on your mind with everything you cannot eat, and then you are throwing into the mix the worries about cross-contamination, what restaurants you can eat at, the options available, and so much more. It is liable to give you a headache just thinking about the possibility of going out.
The wonderful news is that many restaurants have made great headway in accommodating people with Celiac DiseaseCeliac disease is a condition that damages the lining of the small intestine and prevents it from absorbing parts of food that are important for staying healthy. The damage is due to a reaction to eating glutenthe tough, viscid, nitrogenous substance remaining when the flour of wheat or other grain is washed to remove the starch, which is found in wheat, barley, and rye. by implementing glutenthe tough, viscid, nitrogenous substance remaining when the flour of wheat or other grain is washed to remove the starch-free menus and training staff members on how to take orders and work with customers who have special dietary needs. We are able to go out with friends and family and enjoy any number of cuisines thanks to these restaurants. Likewise, if you plan ahead a little and are willing to politely work with the staff, it is fairly easy to get a good gluten-free meal at just about any establishment.
Here’s a basic guide to get you through most restaurants:
1. Do your research before you leave your house
Cards on the table, you have special dietary needs. Unfortunately you cannot simply walk into any restaurant and plop yourself down and go hog wild on the menu. Sorry, but your genetics decided to take your gut a different course. That’s okay. There are a lot of us.
All this means is that you need to do a little thinking before you drive down to your local diner. Do a little web searching, phone calling, etc. and make a list of restaurants in your area that have gluten-free menus or are willing to work with you. You might be surprised how many there are. If you are traveling, order TriumphDining’s Gluten-Free Restaurant Guide, get on UrbanSpoon (in the features section of each restaurant, look for “Gluten-Free Friendly”), or Yelp and start finding gluten-free friendly restaurants where you are heading.
I keep lists of gluten-free restaurants for my city and the cities around me handy so I’m always prepared in case friends call up and want to go out to eat. I also do a routine check-up on every one of the restaurants—a quick phone call works best—to make sure their menu hasn’t changed or they haven’t moved locations.
2. Call ahead
This works especially well for high-end restaurants. My grandmother, for instance, loves to take the family out to Pappadeaux’s, but they do not have a gluten-free menu. Of course I’m the only one with Celiac DiseaseCeliac disease is a condition that damages the lining of the small intestine and prevents it from absorbing parts of food that are important for staying healthy. The damage is due to a reaction to eating gluten, which is found in wheat, barley, and rye., so I always offer to make the reservation. I make sure that whoever takes down our name puts a notation that I will need to speak to the manager on duty or sous chef when I arrive because of “food allergies” (see number 9). To this day I’ve always been met at my table by a manager or chef ready to go over the menu with me take my order and never had a problem.
3. Know the cuisine
Not every cuisine is the same. You cannot go into a Thai restaurant and assume that they use the same ingredients as a French or Mexican restaurant. You have a wide range of food out there and need to know what to avoid depending on what type of cuisine you are eating. Do a little reading before you venture out into the world of food. Pick up some cookbooks, watch the Food Network, or take a cooking class to learn about different cooking styles and types of cuisine.
4. Bring a dining card
TriumpDining has a wonderful selection of dining cards for Celiacs to use. I bought the set a while back and carry them with me wherever I go. They have helped me out in more situations than I can count, and I know they will come in handy for years to come. I love that they are tailored for various cuisines and come in multiple languages. So when I go to my favorite Thai restaurant I know I can just hand them my card, and they can read the card in their native tongue and whip me up a delicious dish with no gluten!
5. Be kind!
You know the saying, “you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar”? It certainly rings true when asking for special dietary needs. If you are super kind to the wait staff, they will be super kind to you and treat you and your needs with dignity and respect. You are much more likely to get exactly what you need if you ask for it with a smile and a please and thank you.
6. Ask to speak to the right person
Naturally the “right person” varies depending on the type of restaurant you are eating at, but just about any place you walk into you can usually spot them almost immediately. They look authoritative and have an air of “busy bee” about them.
If you are in a fine dining restaurant, you’re most likely looking for the maître d’, head chef, or sous chef. In a more local, mom and pop restaurant, you’ll be more inclined to speak to the owner or general manager. In either situation, you are looking for the person who knows the ins and outs of their restaurant and has the pull to get you what you need.
7. It is okay to ask questions and answer them
Do not be afraid to ask questions about anything and everything you are about to order. From what ingredients are going to be used to how they avoid cross-contamination, nothing is “off limits” in terms of questions. Remember, be polite!
The flip side, be prepared to answer questions. Your waiter will probably have a couple of questions for you too, so don’t balk at answering. I’ve had waiters ask me general questions and very specific questions about ingredients in a dish that someone at another table wanted to order, but didn’t know if they could have.
8. Avoid Celiac and gluten “proselytizing”, for the most part
I’ve falling into the trap of trying to correct every fallacy about Celiac Disease and educate every restaurant owner about gluten-intolerance. And, I’ve learned from experience that it just creates more headaches for me and more confusion for the staff. Yes, I would love for everyone to understand what I go through, but it just isn’t feasible. It is much easier to focus on the meal in front of me and avoid gluten “proselytizing”.
However, there are certainly situations where I can give a stump speech about Celiac Disease, and in those instances I am more than happy to go into an in-depth exposé on what gluten is and what it means to be gluten-free. I do, though, save those conversations for when I have the time to explain everything and answer questions.
9. Cringe…use the word “allergy”
You and I know that we don’t have an allergy, but trying to explain what an autoimmuneTerm describing cells and antibodies arising from and directed against the individual's own tissues. disease is to someone in 1 minute or less is nigh impossible. Sometimes it is just easier to bite the bullet and use “allergy” for our selfish purposes of getting what we want—an edible meal. I know you want to explain to the world what Celiac Disease is, but in a busy restaurant when your waiter has 5-10 other tables to deal with, you might just be shooting yourself in the foot. Saying you have an allergy gets an immediate response of “okay, we’ll keep your food separate from everything”.
10. Never assume anything!
Sadly just because a chef was professionally trained doesn’t mean they know the first thing about gluten or Celiac Disease. The same goes for the entire restaurant industry. Many restaurants are doing better with training, but that doesn’t mean they don’t make mistakes. Don’t assume that just because something is on the gluten-free menu that it has been handled properly or ordered from a gluten-free vendor. Check everything and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
11. Double and triple check everything
For your own health, politely ask for your order to be checked, rechecked, and triple checked. If need be, politely ask for the person who cooked your meal to come visit your table before you take a bite, so you can go over your meal with them. If you are nice and explain that you are extremely sensitive, the staff should have no problem helping you double or triple check your plate to ensure you are well cared for.
12. Have patience (especially when something isn’t quite right)
Not everything is going to be perfect. You cannot expect someone who in all likelihood doesn’t understand your condition to get your order 100% correct, so take a deep breath and politely ask for [blank] to be fixed. Giving your waiter and the kitchen staff a little patience and politely explaining why something wasn’t right with your order helps them learn from their mistakes. Yelling at them and demanding comped food doesn’t help anyone. The staff doesn’t learn what went wrong and Celiacs just got recognized in a terrible light.
13. Say “Please” and “Thank you”, often!
You would be surprised how little people say “please” and “thank you” today. For someone to say those simple words, especially in a service industry like restaurants, is an amazing boost. It differentiates you from the hundreds of other customers your waiter saw that week and helps keep you, and more importantly gluten-intolerance, on their mind.
14. Tip Generously!
I know that handling my food can be a pain in the keester, and I’m not the waiter’s only table. They have a ton to do and they are taking extra time to make sure I don’t get sick. I always start with a 20-25% tip. If the staff was exceptional and the service and care was through the roof awesome, I most definitely go higher in tip. I remind myself that the staff worked extra hard to try and understand my disease and made sure I had a fantastic meal. I also like to leave thank you notes with my tip to let my servers know how special their service made me feel.
15. Build relationships
This is a combination of most everything above. Basically, leave a good impression with a restaurant that treated you right and keep going back. They will learn who you are and start to learn more about Celiac Disease. This is great for when you are building your list of local restaurants where you can always eat.
I have a few restaurants here in town that know me by name and know automatically to give me a gluten-free menu, no bread on the table, and always tell me when there is a new special that can be made gluten-free. It is great to be able to just walk into those restaurants and know that I don’t have to think about explaining what I need.
16. Spread the word
Find a fabulous gluten-friendly restaurant? Tell everyone! Write a review, call your gluten-free buddies, shout it from the roof tops! The rest of us want to know about your find and how awesome it was. And, the restaurant is more likely to expand their gluten-free menu if they get flooded with Celiac sufferers and we all give them stellar reviews!!
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First, you'll explore the skills you'll need to become a successful fundraiser. After that, you'll discover where the best corporate and foundation fundraising jobs are and how to apply for them.
Next, you'll delve into every area of nonprofit fundraising—annual funds, special events, corporate relations, foundation relations, major gifts, and planned giving. You'll also learn about capital campaigns and find out why they're a crucial element of nonprofit fundraising.
Along the way, you'll view real-life examples of writing projects, from gift acknowledgment letters to proposals, and you'll hone your own writing skills. In addition, you'll explore fundraising software tools you can use to track your efforts and enhance your results.
By the end of the course, you'll have a wealth of new nonprofit fundraising ideas, and you'll be well on your way to success in this exciting career field. For complete course details, please visit the ed2go Online Career Training web site.
Course Start Dates (downloadable pdf)
The University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education is pleased to offer this course in partnership with Education To Go. To register, please visit the ed2go Online web site.
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Another question from Facebook: Gregg Chamberlain asked about the “benefits and drawbacks of keeping a dream journal as a source of ideas?”
A deceptively simple question, because this topic actually comes up a lot. Do writers dream about stories? Do we get great ideas from dreams? If dreaming is our subconscious mind talking to us, then it ought to be just full of strange and beautiful images, ideas, connections, and characters.
Alas, I’ve found it isn’t so. I kept a dream journal for awhile when I was in college, but this was mostly to keep track of my intensely bizarre and detailed dreams for my own edification. Because I do have intensely bizarre and detailed dreams, filled with medieval wars and alien invasions, magical powers and deep conspiracies. But I’ve never knowingly based any of my writing on my dreams. Because my dreams don’t make a whole of sense, and trying to make them make sense, enough to build a story out of them, isn’t a project I’m willing to take on. I like writing about the world as I see it.
Dreams — even my long, detailed ones — are not narrative. They’re chaotic, they jump around in space and time, characters change identities in the middle of them. So while dreams may be a rich source of images or feelings, or snippets of ideas, they’re not actually a good source for stories. An idea gleaned from a dream would have to be adjusted and manipulated until it was unrecognizable for it to make sense as a story. And if that process works for you, that’s great. But ideas aren’t stories, not by themselves.
So, that’s my answer, but I know other people have different experiences: do you remember your dreams? Do you write them down? Do you mine them for stories?
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Nothing a Coat of Paint Can’t Fix
Is it legal to wear nothing but body paint in public?
Photo by Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images
The clothing retailer American Eagle posted an advertisement for spray-on jeans on its website this week, calling the product “our skinniest jeans ever.” The ad appears to be a prank, but painting models is now old hat. Is it legal to appear in public wearing nothing but body paint?
It’s a gray area. Most anti-nudity laws are silent on body paint, leaving police to make judgment calls. A decade ago, body painters were arrested with some regularity. In 2000, for example, a Chicago woman who painted herself to resemble a tiger in protest of a circus was arrested for public indecency, even though she was also wearing panties and pasties. But as early as 1995, Entertainment Tonight aired an interview with a model wearing nothing but paint and faced no repercussions. Local police are also showing increased restraint. Recently, officials have stood by as body-painted (or even completely nude) environmentalists rode their bicycles through American cities in protest of our dependence on oil. In 2011, New York City officials allowed artist Andy Golub to paint otherwise nude models in public spaces as long as his muses wore bikini bottoms during daylight hours. Public officials can still be pushed too far, though, and rampant body painting in a locality often leads to a tightening of laws. Following a proliferation of nearly-nude or body-painted coffee baristas, the city of Federal Way, Wash., amended its laws to make clear that “body paint, body dye, tattoos, latex, tape, or any similar substance applied to the skin surface, any substance that can be washed off the skin, or any substance designed to simulate or by which by its nature simulates the appearance of the anatomical area beneath it” would not be considered equivalent to clothing.
The Federal Way ordinance is an exception; state and local anti-nudity laws are usually deliberately vague. Many statutes use the word expose to define what constitutes nudity. San Francisco’s 2012 anti-nudity law, for example, notes that a person “may not expose his or her genitals, perineum, or anal region.” It doesn’t make clear whether body paint is an acceptable covering, giving police broad discretion in deciding when to arrest, when to caution, and when to ignore painted exhibitionists in the city. Other anti-nudity laws are more specific, seemingly giving body painters a pass. The Code of Federal Regulations, in banning public nudity in certain national parks, notes that nudity is the failure to “cover with a fully opaque covering [the] genitals, pubic areas, rectal area or female breast below a point immediately above the top of the areola.” Several states, including Idaho and South Dakota, use similar definitions of nudity. (It should also be noted that many states prosecute public nudity only if paired with lewd or lascivious behavior, which would likely trigger an arrest with or without spray-on clothing.)
There’s not a lot of public opinion data on this issue, but small-scale surveys suggest that people perceive body paint a form of clothing. In 1995, a student at Missouri Western State College showed study participants a series of nude, painted, and lingerie-clad models. The subjects made no distinction between the painted and clothed models when assessing the picture’s propriety. Five years ago, after officials at a Washington Nationals game told a shirtless man he had committed “indecent exposure,” an ESPN columnist surveyed Nationals fans about their attitudes toward scantily clad peers. While completely bare-chested men were judged acceptable by between 54 and 82 percent of the respondents, more than 90 percent felt that men who covered their otherwise bare torsos with paint should be allowed at baseball games.
Got a question about today’s news? Ask the Explainer
Explainer thanks Brett Lunceford of the University of South Alabama, author of Naked Politics: Nudity, Political Action, and the Rhetoric of the Body.
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October 6, 2012
Environmental Racism, Endangered Species and the Biotech Nightmare
The threat of Scripps Florida reveals a new tentacle, as the Hawkeye biotech development plans unfold before us. The Palm Beach County Commission is scheduled to make a final vote on the road expansion, which is needed for the development to move forward, on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 9:30am, at 301 North Olive Ave (6th Floor).
[Help mobilize for this hearing, and educate yourself by reading the information below.]
Last week, the South Florida Times reported that dispute between a developer and residents of a historically black neighborhood in Jupiter has sparked a charge of environmental racism over a proposed new road—the southern extension of Island Way, off Indiantown Road.
No one, thus far, has attempted to refute the charge of racism. But the attorney for the developer was arrogant enough to say residents are wrong in believing the road would run through their Limestone Creek community.
Allen Ciklin, attorney for Hawkeye Unlimited said the road would not run through Limestone Creek but would be “built adjacent to Kennedy Estates.”
Residents at a September 11th County Commission hearing responded loud and clear that the Kennedy Estates neighborhood is part of the 100+ year old Limestone Creek community. It has only become so severed from the northern remnant of this historic community as a result of the racist road-building plans and real estate speculation schemes that now define modern Jupiter. Read the rest of this entry »
Where: from I-95, Exit 83 (Donald Ross Road). The address is 130th Scripps Way Jupiter, FL. , in front of the Scripps facilities, adjacent to the Florida Atlantic University campus.
The March will be 5pm-6pm, marching out 3/4 mile from the Scripps facilities and ending at the intersection of Donald Ross Road and Parkside Drive in front of Briger Forest.
(Note: parking will be limited. Try parking in visitor parking on campus.)
Why: Scripps Biotech, FAU, and the Palm Beach Gardens City Gov. are all colluding in an attempt to expand Scripps operations onto the Briger Forest, a 600+acre pine flat-woods/wetland mosaic ecosystem Read the rest of this entry »
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He attacked every human other than his owner. But that was before meeting the Dog Whisperer.
Cesar Millan, aka the Dog Whisperer, has built a reputation by training extremely wayward pooches like Nunu. Now in his second season on the National Geographic Channel, Millan also shows viewers that much of the blame gets placed at the wrong end of the leash.
Rather than allowing dogs to be dogs, Mexican-born Millan says Americans have created children in dog costumes. That's what happened to Nunu. Now Millan is spreading his message in a new book called "Cesar's Way: The Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding & Correcting Common Dog Problems," which goes on sale Tuesday.
The book elaborates on Millan's philosophy for creating a well-balanced dog.
"Exercise, discipline, affection -- in that order."
Millan visited Atlanta recently and answered questions about his form of dog psychology.
Q: Are you saying that Americans project human qualities onto their dogs?
A: Well, this is a country that's controlled by children and dogs. In Third World countries, nobody questions that the older person is the authority figure. If the parents are not playing the authority figure role, then you get to see them on "Super Nanny" or "Nanny 911." They are no different from dog whisperers. The people who come to me, they are experts at affection, affection and affection.
Q: So, don't believe that you can save the dog cowering in the back of the cage?
A: When you go and rescue a dog because you feel bad, you're just going to nurture a whole bunch of issues.
Q: What advice can you give someone who's picking a dog from a shelter?
A: The greatest thing we can do for them is to stay quiet. This way you aren't going to provide more energy than they already have. Also, don't show sympathy, because you become weak. That places them into a different state.
Q: What happens once you find a dog that you think matches your energy?
A: Go to the crate, but you don't let the dog ambush you. From that point on you've lost control. The dog has to wait in the kennel, then you put the leash on. It's very important because it all happens in 10 seconds. Those 10 seconds are going to dictate who is going to run the show. If the dog comes out of the kennel first, he controls. ... And you're not going to the kennel to find your soul mate. You're not going to the kennel to find your baby. You're not going to the kennel to fill the empty space from losing a loved one. That's not what they're for.
Q: Is it a tough sell, telling people to walk their dogs?
A: It is, but you say, "If you really love your dog, would you do what is best for the dog?" ... What a dog calls love is not what we give. If a dog is OK with just love, I would not be in business. Americans know how to love dogs better than anybody else. This is the country that will throw a birthday party for a dog, and spend $15,000 to $20,000 on a dog to get cured. Third World countries don't do that stuff, but the dogs do listen to people.
Q: Is that why you told Denise Richards, an actress featured on his show this season that the dog didn't care who paid for the dog walker?
A: That's right. ? Sophie, Oprah Winfrey's dog, doesn't know she's Oprah. Everybody around Oprah was surrendering. Whatever Oprah said, bam, bam, bam. But Sophie didn't make a move until I told her, "Sophie, this is what we're going to do." It was not verbal communication that I had with Sophie, it was energy. So what Oprah represented for Sophie was fear and tension. In the animal world, who you are is energy. ? The first thing dogs do is they smell you and they pick up your energy. They don't ask you, "How much money do you make?" They don't care about that.
Q: In the 20 years that you've been doing working with dogs, have U.S. dog owners/clients been getting better or worse?
A: Better. The people who come to me are rock bottom. Those people work harder than people who are in the middle. I'm trying to prevent rock bottom from happening by showing the mild symptoms of a dog with issues. ? You can prevent people from getting killed. In Third World countries, people don't get killed by dogs.
Q: Why do you think that is?
A: It's because dogs in the United States keep energy from Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday ? and then one time a week it gets walked. Then owners let him do whatever he wants. So what he learns to do is to be excited-dominant when he goes for a walk with a human. It's not the breed. If it were the breed, homeless people would not be as successful as they are with pit bulls. Homeless people can walk pit bulls because the dog is in the back and always moving forward.
Q: What do you think of pit bulls?
A: It's a powerful breed, that's it. They're all dogs. The human being created the breed. They didn't create themselves. There weren't a bunch of pit bull males that said, "Let's get together with that girl." It was a whole bunch of men, because women were not involved with that era of breeding aggressive dogs. They were created to be the toughest fighters. They're misused from the beginning for the selfish purpose of human beings.
Q: You use a pit bull named Daddy quite a bit on the show. What's his background?
A: Daddy is the most popular dog on the series. The owner is a rapper named Redman. He grew up around the hard-core environment, but he said, "I don't want to get sued." Redman did the right thing. ? At four months old, I raised Daddy with a pack of Rottweilers. At that time I was known as the Mexican guy who could work with a pack of Rottweilers. Daddy is a good example of how -- if you do everything right -- dogs never develop issues. Daddy has never faced an issue. He has a normal life, a dog's life. That guy goes everywhere, he's a great ambassador to break the stereotype of pit bulls.
Q: What happens after you've rehabilitated the dogs, trained the people and turned off the cameras?
A: They can't blame the dog anymore.
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On April 5, 2012, President Obama signed into law the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (the “JOBS Act”). The JOBS Act includes amendments to both the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) that significantly impact public company registration, periodic reporting, and other regulatory requirements for banks and bank holding companies. The JOBS Act includes modifications designed to facilitate access by private companies to capital in the U.S., as well as reforms to the initial public offering process. This alert focuses on provisions of the JOBS Act that are most applicable to banks and bank holding companies, including the increase in the thresholds that require public company registration and permit deregistration with the SEC, the creation of a new class of issuer (the emerging growth company) that is subject to a more streamlined IPO process and less stringent disclosure requirements, and the expansion of Regulation A of the Securities Act to increase the offering amount for certain exempt small issues. The provisions of the JOBS Act discussed below apply to all companies, not just banks and bank holding companies (although there are separate registration and deregistration thresholds applicable to non-bank and non-bank holding company issuers).
The JOBS Act will have the greatest impact on banks and bank holding companies with fewer than 2,000 shareholders and with annual gross revenues of less than $1 billion; however, additional provisions will benefit a broader range of companies.
The JOBS Act raises the threshold that triggers registration with the SEC under Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act based on the number of shareholders of record of a bank or bank holding company. Pursuant to Title VI of the JOBS Act, a bank or bank holding company will now be required to register only when it has more than $10 million in assets and a class of its equity securities is held of record by 2,000 or more persons. Prior to enactment of the JOBS Act, Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act required a bank or bank holding company to register with the SEC if it had more than $10 million in assets and a class of its equity securities was held of record by 500 or more persons. The increased threshold is effective immediately without further action by the SEC.
The JOBS Act also amends the Exchange Act to raise the threshold that permits deregistration for banks and bank holding companies from 300 shareholders of record to 1,200 shareholders of record. As a result, some banks and bank holding companies may consider the cost benefits of deregistering or “going dark.” The amendments that increase the threshold to permit deregistration are effective immediately, and the JOBS Act requires the SEC to issue final regulations to implement these amendments within one year of enactment of the JOBS Act.
The JOBS Act further amends the Exchange Act to revise the definition of “held of record” to exclude persons who received securities pursuant to an employee compensation plan in transactions exempt from the registration requirements of Section 5 of the Securities Act. The JOBS Act requires the SEC to adopt safe harbor provisions that issuers may follow when determining whether holders of their securities received such securities pursuant to an employee compensation plan in a transaction exempt from registration.
Emerging Growth Companies
Title I of the JOBS Act amends the Securities Act and the Exchange Act to create the emerging growth company (“EGC”) as a new category of issuer. An EGC includes any issuer that had total annual gross revenues of less than $1 billion (indexed for inflation) during its most recently completed fiscal year, other than an issuer that completed an initial public offering on or prior to December 8, 2011. All EGCs will be granted the option to pursue a streamlined IPO process and, following completion of the IPO, will have up to five years to achieve full compliance with certain disclosure regulations and accounting and auditing standards that are currently applicable to all U.S. public companies.
During this “IPO on-ramp” period, an EGC will be permitted the following exemptions from, or modifications of, currently-required disclosures and accounting and auditing standards.
- Audited Financial Statements and MD&A – An EGC will be required to provide only two years of audited financial statements in its IPO registration statement rather than the three years currently required (and the management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations need only cover two years). Additionally, an EGC will not need to present selected financial data for any period prior to the earliest audited period presented in its IPO registration statement.
- Application of New Accounting Standards – EGCs will not be subject to any newly adopted or revised accounting standards until such standards are deemed to apply to companies that are not “issuers” within the meaning of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
- Internal Controls Audit Attestation – EGCs will be exempt from the requirement that an independent registered public accounting firm attest to an issuer’s internal controls over financial reporting.
- Audit Firm Rotation – EGCs will be exempt from any future mandatory audit firm rotation requirement and any rules requiring that auditors provide additional information about the audit or financial statements of the issuer that the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board may adopt.
- Executive Compensation – EGCs will have the option of complying with disclosure requirements applicable to smaller reporting companies with respect to executive compensation.
- Say-on-Pay; Frequency of Say-on-Pay; Golden Parachute Exemption – EGCs will be exempt from the requirement that issuers seek shareholder approval of an advisory vote on executive compensation arrangements, including golden parachute compensation.
- Investor and Analyst Communications – EGCs will have a greater ability to communicate with certain potential investors (qualified institutional buyers or institutional accredited investors) with respect to offerings of securities. Analysts will also have an increased ability to communicate with management, including attending meetings with management in certain instances.
- Confidential Registration Statements – EGCs will be permitted to submit IPO registration statements and subsequent registration statements for SEC review on a confidential basis, so long as a public filing is made at least 21 days prior to the roadshow for the public offering.
An EGC would retain its status as such until the earliest of (a) the first fiscal year after its annual revenue exceeds $1 billion, (b) the first fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of its IPO, (c) the date when the company has issued more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt securities (over the previous three-year period), and (d) the first fiscal year in which the company becomes a large accelerated filer.
A company may choose to forgo any of the exemptions provided to EGCs under the JOBS Act and instead comply with the requirements applicable to non-EGCs. However, if an EGC elects to comply with the timing requirements that apply to non-EGCs with respect to new and revised accounting standards, it must make such election at the time the company is first required to file a registration statement or report with the SEC and must continue to comply with such standards for as long as the company remains an emerging growth company.
Expansion of Regulation A
The JOBS Act creates a new exemption under Section 3(b) of the Securities Act, which will be implemented by rule to be adopted by the SEC, to permit offerings of up to $50 million in aggregate offering amount in any 12-month period, as compared to the current $5 million limitation under Regulation A. The amendment requires an issuer that relies on the exemption to file audited financial statements with the SEC annually and permits the SEC to include other terms, conditions, or requirements in connection with such offerings that the SEC determines to be necessary for the public interest and for the protection of investors. The JOBS Act also permits the SEC to adopt a rule or regulation requiring the issuer to make available to investors and file with the SEC periodic disclosures regarding the issuer, its business operations, financial condition, corporate governance principles, and use of investor funds and other appropriate matters.
If you have any questions about the JOBS Act, please contact one of the attorneys in our Banking and Financial Services Practice Group or in our Corporate and Securities Practice Group.
BABC Attorneys Involved in Legislation
During the drafting of the JOBS Act, members of BABC’s Corporate and Government Affairs practice groups met with staff for the House Financial Services Committee to discuss certain aspects of the Act. BABC attorneys provided their input on ways to generate additional capital investment and other aspects of the legislation. The members of the BABC Government Affairs practice group provide advocacy services at the federal, state, and local levels. Our members routinely work on legislation, such as the JOBS Act, and regulations for our clients. If you have questions about our Government Affairs Practice Group, please contact David Stewart (205-521-8368) or
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8 Mitt Romney lines that drew a firestorm
Mitt Romney’s Friday birth certificate remark marks another entry into times in which the Republican candidate expressed himself in ways that drew sharp criticism:
1. “No one’s ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place that we were born and raised.” — Aug. 24, 2012, while campaigning in his home state of Michigan. (Romney aides said he wasn’t making a “birther” reference, but the Obama campaign and Democrats immediately pounced on the remarks.)Continue Reading
2. “I’m not concerned about the very poor.” — Feb. 1, 2012, in an interview with CNN’s Soledad O’Brien.
3. “Corporations are people, my friend.” — Aug. 11, 2011, to a heckler at the Iowa State Fair.
4. “I like being able to fire people.” — Jan. 9, 2012, while speaking about holding insurance service providers accountable.
5. “You know, it’s hard to know just how well it will turn out. There are a few things that were disconcerting, the stories about the — private security firm not having enough people — the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials, that obviously is not something which is encouraging.” — July 25, 2012, speaking about the London Olympics in an interview with NBC’s Brian Williams that sparked a firestorm in the UK press.
6. “I should tell my story. I’m also unemployed.” — June 16, 2011, after listening to a group of unemployed Floridians talk about their difficulties find a job.
7. “I know what it’s like to worry whether you’re going to get fired. There were a couple of times I wondered whether I was going to get a pink slip.” — Jan. 8, 2012, speaking at a rally about sharing the anxiety of workers worried about losing their jobs.
8. “Rick, I’ll tell you what — ten thousand bucks? Ten thousand dollar bet?” — Dec. 10, 2011, to Rick Perry during a presidential debate trying to settle a dispute about health insurance.
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I have been thinking of this formula for a while. To me i don't think this type of application would work to well in a formula car but maybe work to an advantage on a gt car. I agree with what a commenter(just_a_fan) posted early on, the tools and accessories needed would take up space and add extra weight which would mean the car would have to produce more torque to move at the same speed it currently did(before this mod).
my idea behind using frequency processing in an aerodynamic way is to follow the process of "energy dumping" which is a slang term for releasing the energy load in a stored medium. where i'm trying to go with this is, When a car is increasing its velocity it also increases drag. This drag works as a stored energy or weight on the car, so if you where to use sound frequency(particularly low FQ) to resonate the frequency position of the car to release the drag or disturb the drag flow(which would separate the load away from the car), in practice the car should create a Vacuum seal or bubble in its air space where it decreases or eliminates drag in the surrounding area.
where i see this being put into place is with the use of KERS in passing situations or a defensive situation to subdue overtakes(dangerous outcomes). KERS in current regulation(FIA GP) can only be used in a designated strait of a track. This is where most cars pick up the most drag while increasing speed, but also this is when a driver is increasing speed before making a PASS,in this "slip stream" approach they are behind the back wash of the car in front which is good in decreasing there cars drag. but as soon as they leave that stream the car instantly picks up that drag on the frontal portion of the car creating instability(loss of downforce, uneven tire load) and can lead to an unsuccessful pass.now this slip stream technique isn't much of a value in most formula cars simply because they don't have a large drag area(oppose to a GT,DTM,Nascar or truck), so a Grand Prix or prototype car cant really take advantage of this technique to actively.
But it is in this occasion where the overtaking or defensive car can deploy a kind of "energy bump" i would like to call it a subsonic bump or drag release, where in a frequency pattern can eliminate or diffuse that drag so for example the overtakers car stability is undisturbed as if they never left the slip stream of the car in front of them, which would result a increase in strait line stability, increase of velocity for the pass and still being able to keep down force in the front of the car for the braking at the end of the strait. This design should mimic the exhaust blow which was created to decrease drag. But it should work even greater because the drag decrease is not limited to only the rear of the car but instead the front and central gravity allowing the ENTIRE car to reduce drag.
So with that i try to make clear this is attended to work along side of KERS and could be a replacement for Exhaust blowing.This feature would not likely be useful for any other area besides the straits. In corners you need down force. The energy bump would not increase downforce, In most cases it would upset the aerodynamic load, and in my estimates this was the problem with exhaust blowing,when exiting corners and other instability issues.
i think all in all the idea of using sound is, to mimic the thermal dynamic aspect of "exhaust blowing" or pressure diffusing. but cons of this style is much more likely to happen then the positive aspects. thus my reason why it wouldn't work in F1.
MZIVTNS - sound waves can be reflected, but the sound wave from the sound origin does not reflect it is diffused through mass, one of the reasons why the sound wave extension is measured in spl db's. from the point of origin the sound is moved across the mass area within its zone.
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The Transcontinental Disability Choir: Popular Songs That Get Disability (Mostly) Right
Since my last post on the Bitch Social Commentary blog was a (rather long) analysis of Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" video and the problematic representation of disability contained therein, I thought I'd take this post to focus on some popular songs that get disability and representations of persons with disabilities (mostly) right. There are, of course, some issues with these songs, but overall, I'm of the opinion that the musicians profiled in this post are doing something right with their respective songs. One caveat: This is by no means a complete list of songs that portray disability and people with disabilities in a positive light.
First, we have Morrissey's 1990 song "November Spawned a Monster," the video for which features Moz, in a see-though shirt, dancing around in the desert and hiding near some awesome rock formations:
Lyrics are available here; of course, there are some issues that come with this mostly positive portrayal of a young woman with a physical disability. The first few verses seem to fall into some well-worn ableist traps--namely, that this young woman will never find love because she's "just so ugly;" that she is to be pitied; that she is a monster with "useless limbs"; in some live performances, Moz later replaced the lyric "this frame of useless limbs" with the assertive "YES, I am a freak," thereby instilling some disability pride that seems a bit more progressive. However, I would argue that the traps that these lyrics fall into early in the song are refuted by the end; though the protagonist will "never be rich or beautiful" (which probably describes many of us), she has made a conscious decision to be in the world as she is, "people discussing" her be damned.
The Dresden Dolls are a Boston-based "punk cabaret" outfit famous for their high-energy live performances, Marcel Marceau-meets-M.A.C.-inspired makeup, and usually surreal song subject matter. One of their b-sides, "Ultima Esperanza," [lyrics here] released on their 2008 demo/b-side compilation No, Virginia, was described by one reviewer as "compassionately depict[ing] a legless woman who tries internet dating."
Here is a somewhat consistent YouTube clip of the duo performing the song in 2008:
At first listen, the issues with this song seem rather obvious, particularly to a feminist audience: It seems to implicitly reinforce heterosexuality as the norm with all of the references to fairy tales and marriage, and most of the lyrics address Ultima's would-be paramour rather than Ultima herself. Ultima, in some sense, seems to be the object of her potential "rescuer's" affections, rather than a subject. At the same time, she uses the internet in her attempt to find love, though "she doesn't get around much"; she is not entirely a person to whom things happen, though she may be "waiting for someone to take her away." Though much of the song seems to set her up as somehow "trapped" and wanting someone to take her away (potentially reinforcing the cultural trope of the disabled person/person with a disability as pathetic), Ultima still has the power to act and influence her own life in some ways--it's just on her own terms, and exists within power structures that are already there; some feminist scholars have termed such a complicated, perhaps contradictory capacity to act "embedded agency." In short, this song--like Ultima herself--is complicated; it also seems to embrace its own complications and contradictions.
Antony and the Johnsons' "Epilepsy is Dancing" (link goes to lyrics) is a song off of their most recent album, The Crying Light (2009). Here is a clip of the band performing the song--with a different instrumental arrangement than the studio version's--for France's Canal Plus:
Usually, I am highly suspicious of songs or other pop culture artifacts that seem to presume, from the outset, that disability is somehow magical. Title (and Jesus name-check in the first verse) aside, however, this is an incredible song that is more subtle than the dichotomous thinking that pervades so many attitudes about disability; in particular, the line "I'm finding my rhythm" seems to suggest that disability, for some, is part of the "rhythm" of life rather than a defect or tragedy (as popular cultural myths about disability might have us believe). Antony's voice has the perfect balance of vulnerability and toughness, and this comes through rather spectacularly. [If you're so inclined, you can also download the song for free from this page.]
Next up is Alanis Morissette's 1995 song "Mary Jane," which seems to be about a woman with severe depression (please note that I am talking about depression as a long-term psychiatric condition here). Lyrics are available here. There isn't an official video for it, but here is a fairly recent live performance with awesome Spanish subtitles:
In the interest of full disclosure, I am a huge Alanis fan (even though some people think she's so 1995 or something equally ridiculous) and have been for a long time. "Mary Jane" is one of those songs that, I think, gets things right, and is pretty damn powerful in its execution. Although the fact that Mary Jane does not speak for herself--she is spoken to by the song's narrator--could be construed as problematic, this narrative is also notable for what it lacks: significantly, Mary Jane is not blamed for her condition, which is a powerful rebuttal to the cultural myth (at least in North America) that people with depression should just get over it because they are, somehow, to blame--as if a psychiatric condition like depression is just something that can be turned on and off like a light switch! Interesting, too, is the narrator's encouragement of Mary Jane to "be honest" and, effectively, not hide her illness or its effects.
Again, this is definitely not a complete list of songs that get disability "right," so to speak; feel free to discuss your selections in comments.
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Here they come: The anniversary stories of Hurricane Katrina, giving the New York Times and other media outlets a precious opportunity for extraneous Bush-bashing.
"When the nation records the legacy of George W. Bush, 43rd president and self-described compassionate conservative, two competing images will help tell the tale.
"The first is of Mr. Bush after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, bullhorn in hand, feet planted firmly in the rubble of the twin towers. The second is of him aboard Air Force One, on his way from Crawford, Tex., to Washington, peering out the window at the wreckage of Hurricane Katrina thousands of feet below.
"If the bungled federal response to Hurricane Katrina called into question the president’s competence, that Air Force One snapshot, coupled with wrenching scenes on the ground of victims who were largely poor and black, called into question something equally important to Mr. Bush: his compassion.
"A year later, he has yet to recover on either front.
"Mr. Bush has prodded Congress to approve tens of billions of dollars for rebuilding and victim assistance, delivered a much-publicized fence-mending speech to the N.A.A.C.P. and made repeated trips to the Gulf Coast, where he plans to observe the anniversary of the storm Monday and Tuesday."
But Stolberg insists: "Yet his public persona remains that of wartime president -- the man standing in the Manhattan rubble -- flying by as desperate and vulnerable Americans suffered.
"His approval ratings have never rebounded from their post-hurricane plummet. A New York Times/CBS News poll conducted this month found that 51 percent of those surveyed disapproved of the way Mr. Bush had responded to the needs of hurricane victims, a figure statistically no different from last September, when 48 percent disapproved."
And here along we thought it was the Iraq War that was hurting Bush politically.
Stolberg flips through her Bush-bashing Rolodex and finds a liberal professor to criticize Bush: "'This is a real black mark on his administration, and it’s going to stay with him for a long time,' said James A. Thurber, director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University. 'It will be in every textbook.'
She insists: "The storm is generating a powerful undercurrent in this year’s midterm elections as well, as Democrats invoke it as a catchphrase for what they regard as mismanagement on a number of issues, including the war in Iraq and the economy. Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, who runs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said his candidates mentioned the storm at every turn."
When Karl Rove suggested Republicans run on Bush's aggressive response to 9-11 in this year's Congressional elections, the Times lambasted Republicans for playing politics. So why is it OK for Democrats to take advantage of a national disaster for political purposes?
For more examples of New York Times bias, visit TimesWatch.
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|HOME | SPORTS | OLYMPICS | NEWS|
September 15, 2000
Osaka challenges Beijing's 2008 Games ambitions
The Japanese city of Osaka on Friday pressed its claim to stage the 2008 Olympics against current favourite Beijing, saying it could outdo the Chinese capital in experience and facilities.
Osaka Mayor Takafumi Isomura said the city had staged many international sports events and already had three-quarters of the facilities needed for the Olympics, as well as boasting a well-developed public transport system.
"We know that China has never had the Olympic Games in the past and we understand that there are people that favour Beijing's bid because of this reason," he told reporters in Sydney.
"I feel the Olympic Games should be held in the city which is best prepared at that given time and we feel that, as far as 2008 is concerned, we will be better prepared to host the Olympic Games."
The International Olympic Committee last month included Osaka on a shortlist of bidding cities, along with Beijing, Istanbul, Toronto and Paris.
Isomura said the city believed it would have to invest up to $2.1 billion to stage the Games, with about $745 million reserved for the remaining facilities.
Osaka, which will host matches in the 2002 soccer World Cup being staged jointly by Japan and Korea, is promoting itself as a "sports paradise", with shared facilities for elite and grass-roots events.
The bid team said key Games venues would be sited on three man-made islands on Osaka Bay, named The Olympic Islands, and that nearly all sports could be staged within a 20-kilometre radius.
They are also hoping the Olympics could bring their city out of Tokyo's shadow, arguing that while the Japanese capital might be the country's political centre, the Osaka region could claim to be a cultural and economic hub.
"In fact, this area is the cradle of Japanese culture," Isomura said. "By welcoming the Olympic Games in Osaka, Japan will be showing a different face...from Tokyo, to the rest of the world."
The IOC will announce the winning bid next July at a congress in Moscow.
TRAVEL | NEWSLINKS
ROMANCE | WEDDING | BOOK SHOP | MUSIC SHOP | GIFT SHOP | HOTEL BOOKINGS
AIR/RAIL | WEATHER | FREE MESSENGER | BROADBAND | E-CARDS | EDUCATION
HOMEPAGES | FREE EMAIL | CONTESTS | FEEDBACK
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Ahmedabad: The state government has admitted that the water crisis looms large over Saurashtra region. Even in January, a total of 74 villages in three talukas of Junagadh faced severe crisis. The government said that atotal of 216 dams in Rajkot and Kutch have gone dry.
In written reply to a question from Somnath MLA Jasa Barad, the state government said that Junagadh city was being given an additional 50 lakh litres of water every day. In far off villages in Sutrapada, Junagadh and Veraval, the water was being supplied through water tankers. In Junagadh, the number of villages where water was supplied with tankers was 42, followed by 26 in Sutrapada and six in Veraval taluka.
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