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A medical student elective is offered, lasting two to four weeks, to enhance the understanding of the many aspects of Family Medicine. The elective is designed to be flexible to what the medical student desires with opportunities for patient care that includes outpatient, inpatient, emergency medicine, obstetrics, and pediatrics. The student also has the option to make the elective emergency medicine focused. This option will enhance the student’s emergency medicine skills and broaden their understanding of the role of the family physician working in the emergency room.
To enhance the students skills in patient care across the broad spectrum of Family Medicine while broadening the understanding of the family physician’s role in the health care system. The student will build towards a competency in all aspects of patient care from taking histories, conducting physical exams, building differentials, and developing and implementing care plans.
- Demonstrate interpersonal skills necessary to take a proper history
- Demonstrate clinical skills necessary to perform a proper physical
- Identify anomalies in the history, physical, labs, and tests during assessment and build a proper differential
- Demonstrate communications skills necessary to relate disease process, prevention, and treatment to the patient
- Identify the aspects of the family physician’s role in providing patient care within the overall health care system
- Opportunities in our Family Medicine Clinic as well as specialty clinics from dermatology to gastroenterology are available for the student to take part in.
- An opportunity for students to become part of the inpatient team; rounding, presenting, and discussing inpatient care.
- Emergency Medicine
- Opportunities from our emergency room where all UT resident call is done to our trauma rotation done at the level 1 trauma center at ETMC.
- Obstetrics opportunities at Trinity Mother Frances working with our residents.
- Rounding on the pediatric inpatient service seeing newborns, infants, and adolescents as well as focused pediatric outpatient.
- Sports Medicine
- Our Sports Medicine Track provides additional opportunities for students who wish to enhance their sports medicine exam and assessment skills.
- A resident experiences over 700 lectures during their three-year residency. These presentations are an excellent didactic opportunity for the visiting student.
- Focused ER Experience
- A student may dedicate their elective towards an emergency room experience. The Tyler residency training itself is very ER intensive with two ER rotations and a trauma rotation as part their core experience. This provides numerous opportunities for the student to build an ER elective experience including level 1 trauma and numerous emergency room experiences.
Students may request various experiences to meet their needs and interests.
Students will be given feedback by residents and faculty on their performance during the rotation. Towards the end of the rotation faculty will meet with the student to discuss their experience. Evaluations required by the school will be promptly completed and returned.
Interested students please email Donna Mann. | <urn:uuid:c002141a-8860-4017-944a-c8db94e5d121> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uthct.edu/education/medicaled/gme/family/elective.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937465 | 586 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Prior to hanging his hat here in the administration office of Singularity University (S.U.), Klein produced the film Exploring Life Extension and co-edited the book Scientific Conquest of Death, both of which are pretty self-explanatory. He is reed thin, thanks to strict adherence to a health regimen designed to prolong life (minimal calories, healthy foods, no booze, many supplements) and possibly because of the stress of helping to create and open this, America’s newest and most peculiar institution of higher learning.
S.U., which opened last summer on the campus of NASA’s Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, is the kind of place where you can tell your classmates that your goal is to one day upload your consciousness to a computer and they won’t look at you as if you’ve just announced plans to re-create your father using scraps of DNA salvaged from his corpse. Actually, you can say that too. The school’s chancellor, Raymond Kurzweil, has—and will say it again if you ask him.
Kurzweil is one of the most prolific inventors and radical thinkers of the past half-century. His creations include the flatbed scanner, optical character-recognition software, the first text-to-voice reader, and an electronic keyboard that accurately mimics the sounds of a grand piano, which he built at the urging of Stevie Wonder.
For the past decade, however, the 61-year-old has become best known for synthesizing and espousing a set of controversial ideas that have made him an almost messianic figure to transhumanists, cyborg enthusiasts, nanotech evangelists and others on the fringes of the futurist circuit. As argued in his 2005 best seller The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology, Kurzweil believes that humanity has entered a period of exponential growth in technology that has us hurtling toward the next great evolutionary leap. By 2029, he projects, computers will achieve human intelligence, and by 2045 we should be able to upload our consciousness into machines, providing eternal life. This is the Singularity. Along the way, we’ll build some seriously smart robots, harness nanotechnology to end disease, custom-manufacture organs and limbs, and generally change the world with tools that we plodding proletarians can hardly imagine today.
Certainly, Kurzweil’s specter haunts the halls, but the real idea behind the program is practical and clever: to put together brilliant people who wouldn’t typically interact and get them thinking about how to solve problems and advance technology.
I spent my first afternoon on campus in Melanie Swan’s “Futures Frameworks Simulation Workshop.” Swan, a Silicon Valley hedge-fund manager, is one of the lesser-knowns among a faculty of heavyweights like Vint Cerf, the father of the Internet, and Will Wright, creator of The Sims. On this day, she was demonstrating how to best use prediction models to a group of 10 students, who had already spent the morning buzzing around the Bay Area in a zeppelin to observe cloud formations and witness firsthand the logistics of operating a small aerospace business. (Everything here is viewed through the prism of entrepreneurship.)
Swan clicked through PowerPoint slides of projections of the future as she sees it unfolding. “I predict that the future will merge traditional electronics and molecular electronics, integrating organic and non-organic materials,” Swan said, following one of Kurzweil’s favorite formulations. “By 2018, we should have the ability to do a full human-brain neural simulation. I think it’s possible we’ll be able to do a backup of our mind file before that.” Around the room, students nodded matter-of-factly and tapped along on their laptops, unfazed by the notion.
In truth, S.U. isn’t all about Ray Kurzweil. It wasn’t even his idea. That credit goes to Peter Diamandis, founder of the X Prize Foundation and the annual summer graduate program that S.U is modeled after, the International Space University. ISU is an interdisciplinary crash course in all things space-related that has been attracting the future stars of aerospace since 1987, when Diamandis launched it along with his friends Bob Richards and Todd Hawley.
A few years back, Diamandis read The Singularity Is Near and was inspired to spread its message. He shared it with Richards, who was also fascinated. (“Peter changed his behavior and his diet and started taking the supplements. He drank the Kool-Aid,” Richards says. “I drank the Kool-Aid, but I haven’t had the discipline to execute yet.”) The two began to discuss merging the ideas into ISU but then decided, says Richards, that “the canvas of Ray’s ideas was large enough that this could be a university.”
Diamandis approached Kurzweil in late 2007. “He got it right away,” Diamandis says. By mid-2008, they had hired two S.U. “architects” who, working with Diamandis, organized a founding conference, held that September at Ames. There they recruited sponsors (including Google) and set a general framework. Students would stay on the Ames campus and attend classes just like at college, and the summer session would be split into thirds. The first section would be 10 hours of daily lectures providing an overview of so-called exponential technologies like artificial intelligence and nanotechnology, taught by some of the foremost experts in those fields. In the second section, students would follow specific “tracks,” such as Futures Studies and Forecasting (which is what was going on when I sat in on Swan’s class), and then split into four groups in preparation for the last segment. During the final stretch, each group was to come up with a project that could affect the lives of a billion people within 10 years and that could be implemented almost immediately. The project was dubbed “Ten to the Ninth Power”—scientific notation for the number one billion. S.U. would have no tests or papers. It was to be more intellectual retreat than actual school.
Ismail was hardly a Kurzweil disciple. “I knew just a little bit about his work,” he said while throwing a Frisbee outside the red-roofed hacienda-style building that houses S.U., late on my first afternoon there. “I hadn’t read any of his books.”
Bob Richards says S.U.’s founders were well aware of the “pros and cons of branding with Singularity”—for instance, of “the potential to be branded as the Church of Ray,” which would basically stuff ammo into the musket barrel of any cynic who felt like taking aim. “[S.U. is] not a religion,” he says. “It’s an academic institution,” though not one intended to rival MIT or Caltech, and not one in the traditional graduate-school mode, where a student focuses on an extremely specialized topic for years and emerges an expert. (“People are studying an ion channel on one particular neuron,” Diamandis told me, rolling his eyes.) “The idea,” Richards says, is to “bring in virtuosos and make them generalists.” And beyond that, the idea is to get these virtuosos to focus on turning brainstorms into businesses.
As early as the fourth week, Ismail said, interesting things were afoot. He recalled one session in which students and faculty were discussing ways to geoengineer climate change. Scientists have proposed spritzing seawater into the air to deflect sunlight. The problem is that it’s an expensive proposition and would happen in international waters, and who would fund or manage that? A student who once headed up e-business for the consulting firm Accenture raised his hand when the idea came up in class. “Form the clouds in the shape of a Nike logo or a BMW car,” he said. “Or sell advertising on the clouds so that commercial airlines can see.”
Ismail estimated that at least four companies had been born in the first month, and more were likely to follow. One, in fact, was being sussed out under some trees not far from where we stood. “Yonatan is an adviser to Shimon Peres, the president of Israel,” Ismail said, pointing to a young man standing at a dry-erase board set on an easel. The guy to his left was an A.I. entrepreneur from Canada, he continued, and the young woman in red was an adviser to the prime minister of Canada.
A cool car-sharing company might not seem to be the kind of grand project you’d expect from something as loftily named as Ten to the Ninth Power, but Team Gettaround is quick with a counterargument. Sarah Sclarsic, a University of Michigan medical student who was working on the project, said they settled on transportation because it’s an issue that can be addressed with technology that already exists. “It’s not cancer or HIV or poverty; it’s not this amorphous problem that we don’t really know how to solve.” The way Gettaround will save humanity—if you follow the loose logic trail into the dark and scary woods—is that it makes people rethink their car. It’s no longer a possession but rather a mode of transportation that belongs to the collective. In the future, we will rely on autonomous cars plying robotic roadways that can be summoned—stick with me—by whatever the future version of an iPhone app is. Probably something embedded into our skull and activated by blinking. Correction: by thinking.
One would expect a guy with messianic status to be dynamic and charismatic. One would guess that a man who takes some 150 supplements a day in an effort to extend his life would have great hair and a healthy glow. In reality, Ray Kurzweil is smallish, quiet and not exactly frumpy, but certainly not slick and commanding. He rarely changes expression. He is friendly but not overly so.
It was the final week of the S.U. session, and Kurzweil and I were both back on campus for “graduation.” Chatting with him in a conference room at S.U. HQ, it occurred to me that he doesn’t attempt to carry the air of a messiah. He does, however, very much want to get the point across that things are changing, fast, and that the vast majority of us have no clue what that means. In Kurzweil’s view, most of us are bumbling along in a straight line while the various technologies that enable us are on a rocket ship pointed straight at the clouds. (He likes to illustrate this using exponential graphs; they riddle his book.)
S.U., for Kurzweil, is a way to hammer these points home to influential people in key industries. “The Singularity is an outcome of the exponential growth of information technology,” he said. “That growth is happening. We’re on a fairly steep ramp of that. The telephone took 50 years to be adopted by one fourth of the population. Things are happening faster and faster. The cellphone you have is 100 times more powerful than the computers we shared at MIT when I was a student. It’s a billion times greater in computation per dollar, and that’s going to happen again.”
Kurzweil can be a little pie-in-the-sky. He seems to think we can Singularize our way out of anything using a few exponential growth curves. Should his supplements not succeed in keeping him around long enough to have his consciousness uploaded to a machine, he has arranged to have himself frozen until the technology arrives.
A publicist nudged us to say that it was time for Kurzweil, who was already triple-booked, to move on. Kurzweil bristled slightly at a question that may have been obvious—“How is the Singularity idea important today, as in right now in this world we inhabit?”—and asked if I’d read his books. I said I had read The Singularity Is Near, which was half true (I quit midway through its 672 pages). He stood and walked to a shelf containing rows of his books.
“The Singularity Is Near isn’t just talking about 2045,” he said. “We’re already at a point when future time is influential in affecting us.” What he means is that the future is careening at us like an out-of-control robot car and that we need to start using the tools it’s handing us to their full potential before it mows us down. He grabbed a copy of his latest book, Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever, and signed it. “To Josh,” he wrote. “Keep on Transcending.”
Over in Peter Diamandis Hall, a one-story building renamed for the ISU and S.U. terms that houses the cafeteria and a large ballroom, the jangly chords of Ziggy Marley’s song “Future Man, Future Lady” played. Diamandis stood in front of two screens and a giant globe onto which the school logo had been projected and introduced the team-project concept. “Ten to the Ninth Power,” he said, facing a crowd of Valley luminaries. “Affect a billion people positively over the next decade. Without further ado, I pass it off to our first team to show you what they’d do.”
“Look around you,” said Margo Liptsin, a member of the team known as Acasa and a Ph.D. candidate at Harvard University in the history of science. “Most everything was made using an automated process, with one exception. This building. Construction is still done the slow, labor-intensive way.” Acasa’s plan, she said, was to address the problem of substandard housing around the world. Even the crudest prefab houses are hand-built, relatively expensive and time-consuming. “What if there were another way to build a house? What if we told you we could build a home using 70 percent less energy with virtually no waste? How?” She paused for emphasis. “The house would be printed.”
Acasa’s plan was large-scale commercialization of a fringe technology that had been around for a while—using three-dimensional printing to, literally, print houses. A portable unit that is easily constructed on-site extrudes concrete from a nozzle; a one-story house could be completed in two days. “This is not just theoretical,” Liptsin said. “Today we are building walls this way.” This was a crucial point. While the S.U. students had spent plenty of time in the previous weeks pondering downloadable consciousness and other far-out concepts, a successful Ten to the Ninth Power project had to start with an existing technology to have any chance of fulfilling the whole point of the enterprise—affecting the lives of a billion people in a decade. “Neil will tell you how we realize this mission.”
Neil was Neil Thompson, a tall Canadian with curly blonde hair who is currently getting a doctorate in business at the University of California at Berkeley but who considers himself “cross-disciplinary,” with a particular interest in brain-machine interfaces. He began by discussing the challenges. For now, the technology won’t work with foundations or roofs, for instance. But the inventor of this large-scale printer, University of Southern California professor Behrokh Khoshnevis, had joined the Acasa group and was committed to improving on the idea.In the near future, Thompson said, they hoped to be able to print features of the home’s interior, as well as roofs and foundations. It could be adapted to local materials (adobe, say), and by “leveraging exponential advances”—here he clicked to a graph showing the exponential curve, which appeared in every presentation, the Nike swoosh of the Kurzweil philosophy—it’s not outlandish to apply the technique to space, by melting moon rock and saving future spacemen the burden of lugging sacks of concrete with their luggage.
Back here on Earth, Acasa didn’t need much to start moving. With $10 million and 16 months, Thompson said, they could do proof-of-concept, have a prototype home built, and obtain regulatory approval. He cued up Acasa’s video. Essentially a commercial with an original score set to inspiring images, it had been put together in two days by team members and was every bit as inspiring as the ads for which big companies pay millions.
It was obvious that this was as much a pitch slam to the assembled venture capitalists as it was an end-of-term presentation. A number of people stood up and asked incisive questions about potential weaknesses. For instance, do shantytowns have the sewer and water infrastructure to accommodate a sudden burst of permanent housing? One man sitting several rows ahead of me said he was “awed” by the idea but pointed to the $10-million and 16-month figures. “Both of them struck me as, um, optimistic.”
In the end, S.U.’s association with Kurzweil seemed to be primarily a marketing tool to attract attention and top faculty. It also ensured that anyone who came to S.U. would be open-minded and curious, and motivated to take fringe technologies and move them into the mainstream. The students, at least, were pleased with the result. Almost to a person, the denizens of S.U.’s inaugural class reported that the program “exceeded expectations,” as if they were filling in a circle on a Scantron survey.
Of course, it’s yet to be seen whether the schemes that emerge from S.U. will thrive. Gettaround raised $250,000 in angel funding and hopes to soon begin testing its car-sharing concept on college campuses in the Bay Area. Acasa has a business plan, the inventor of the technology on board, and team members in place but was still chasing VC money as of last fall. Members of the other two teams—Xidar, a disaster-response system based on PDAs, and One Global Voice, which aims to build a platform for application-building on the 2G wireless network (which is far more common in the developing world than faster 3G networks)—would continue to pursue capital and partnerships.
Singularity University’s most lasting influence may turn out to be the alumni network it spawns. Next year, the program will grow as large as 120 students, and shorter programs for business executives began last fall.
Yonatan Adiri, the adviser to Shimon Peres, is charged with overseeing the alumni network. He had never read Kurzweil’s book either until Peres gave it to him. What he took away, he told me in the moments before graduation, was the message that every part of our world is changing, rapidly, and that those who thrive are the people most able to grasp the technologies handed to us.
“I do believe that each and every one of us [S.U. grads] within the next three to five years will have a powerful Singularity moment, meaning a moment in which he or she can impact a large number of people,” he said. “Someone said—and I think it’s a very appropriate way of framing this thing—it’s been more about the science than the fiction.”
Five amazing, clean technologies that will set us free, in this month's energy-focused issue. Also: how to build a better bomb detector, the robotic toys that are raising your children, a human catapult, the world's smallest arcade, and much more. | <urn:uuid:77b0e875-df69-4180-847f-1c64bc318362> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2009-12/feature-greetings-future-camp?single-page-view=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972417 | 4,318 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Here are some frequently asked questions related to breast cancer.
Q: Must I really have surgery to treat my breast cancer?
A: Surgery is the best initial treatment for breast cancer in most women; however, the condition lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) usually does not require surgery. LCIS should be watched carefully, though, since breast cancer may develop over time. In some older individuals, LCIS may be controlled by
Q: My breast cancer was diagnosed early, but my physician says that I need surgery. Which operation is better - lumpectomy or mastectomy?
A: Although lumpectomy (removal of the
Q: Does it matter when I have surgery?
A: If breast cancer has been diagnosed and surgery is proposed, it certainly is advisable to have the operation sooner rather than later. But breast cancer is rarely a surgical "emergency." So it is better to explore surgical options and get a second opinion before scheduling a procedure. Such leeway will permit you to make a more informed decision about your surgery; such as having breast reconstruction at the time of mastectomy, rather than during a separate operation.
Q: I am scheduled to have a lumpectomy. How can I be sure that the surgeon will remove only the lump and not my entire breast?
A: A lumpectomy is - by definition - an operation in which only the cancerous 'lump' is removed, along with a small border of cancer-free tissue (roughly 3/4 in.) and the nearby lymph nodes. This is the surgery to which you have consented. If you still have any questions about surgery - for example, "What will the surgeon do if more cancer than expected is found during surgery?" - discuss them with your surgeon beforehand to avoid any misunderstandings.
Q: What will my chest look like after breast surgery?
A: Many women worry that they will have a "hollow" chest after breast cancer surgery. Fortunately, the operations that are performed these days are not likely to produce that kind of disfigurement. If you have a lumpectomy, you will probably have a small indentation in your breast. If you have a
Q: I am frightened by the idea of radiation therapy. Will I lose my hair or experience any other side effects?
A: Radiation therapy for breast cancer does not affect the hair on your head, although some hair loss may occur in the armpit area. Some women develop sunburn-like redness and/or skin peeling in the treatment area, whereas others do not. You may be able to predict what to expect by your personal tolerance of sunlight.
Q: Because my cancer has spread, my physician says that I should have
A: The medications that are used for chemotherapy mostly affect rapidly dividing cancer cells, but they also can injure normal cells. In particular, the rapidly dividing cells of the hair follicles and the lining of the oral/digestive tract may be damaged, causing hair loss and oral/digestive complaints, respectively. Other side effects - some of which are treatable - include nausea, anemia, repeated infections, bleeding, fatigue, and changes in the menstrual cycle. Side effects usually disappear after chemotherapy has ended.
Q: Is it safe to become pregnant during breast cancer therapy?
A: Most physicians advise women to wait at least 3 years before trying to get pregnant; however, if you are already pregnant or have special considerations, there may be a different answer to this question. There is no overwhelming evidence that pregnancy causes adverse effects in women with breast cancer. But being pregnant while taking the hormone
Q: Is my breast cancer curable?
A: Although a "cure" can't be guaranteed in most cases, the majority of women with breast cancer now can expect to live longer and have a better quality of life. In fact, because of recent advances in breast | <urn:uuid:c1262a9c-dbcb-4e96-806f-a44bb57f8bcd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ehealthmd.com/content/breast-cancer-frequently-asked-questions | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96692 | 800 | 1.773438 | 2 |
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Conservative Senators from Atlantic Canada are mounting a renewed push for a Maritime Union, proposing the merger of the three East Coast provinces into a single political entity to rescue the region’s stumbling economy.
Stephen Greene of Nova Scotia, John Wallace of New Brunswick and Mike Duffy of Prince Edward Island have put together a detailed proposal for a union of their three provinces to be unveiled this weekend, including an idea for the name of the new province and the mechanics of power and representation.
Mr. Greene is set to deliver a written proposal and speech in Halifax this weekend.
“We’re hoping to move the ball forward and have the people in the Atlantic region, those who are thoughtful, talk about this. We need the public to demand that the political operatives here, the elected governments, start to co-operate,” said Mr. Duffy in an interview.
He compared it to retail economics — big-box stores can offer lower prices because they buy in large volume.
“In this highly competitive world, if we’re going to make headway, we have to be able to think big and see what we can do together, to ask, how can we put our small differences aside in order to help build a better Maritimes for our kids and their kids.
“For 1.8 million people we are terribly over-governed. But the bigger part of this is working in concert, together, to try to create economic development.
“How do we make our region more competitive, more attractive and more interesting? Stephen Greene is really going to lead this off,” said Mr. Duffy.
Calls to Mr. Greene and Mr. Wallace were not returned before deadline Tuesday.
However, even before their proposal is released, it’s generating criticism. After speaking publicly in favour of union, Mr. Duffy was criticized in the P.E.I. legislature.
“I have grave concerns that one of our government representatives in Ottawa, who should have the best interest of Islanders at the top of his mind, would say such a thing,” said Robert Mitchell in the provincial legislature on Tuesday.
George Webster, deputy premier, agreed, saying such comments “shocked and dismayed” him, adding: “I take great pride, and most Islanders do take great pride, in who we are as Prince Edward Islanders.”
The idea of a Maritime union, however, is not new. It predates Confederation: the Charlottetown Conference in 1864 was supposed to see representatives from the three Maritime colonies discuss a union but it was reworked to accommodate what is now Ontario and Quebec.
It became a grander union — Canada — and the more modest idea of a Maritime union never happened.
For 1.8 million people we are terribly over-governed. But the bigger part of this is working in concert … to create economic development
The idea periodically gets new wind in its sails.
In the 1960s a commission studied it, in the ’70s renewed debate over the Constitution sparked union talk anew. In 1996, at a conference on the idea by the Institute of Island Studies at the University of Prince Edward, it was referred to as the “always-the-bridesmaid of an idea.”
The concept is experiencing a wave of renewal, said Donald Savoie, a professor of government and public administration at the University of Moncton. He has been a proponent of a union for years.
“At times I have felt very lonely out there on this one. Not many were jumping on it,” he said.
“Whenever there is a force that threatens the Maritimes, it sparks new interest in it, and right now it is really generating new interest and attention.”
He attributes it to economic difficulties in the region.
Politically, it isn’t an easy sell, said Mr. Savoie.
“The three premiers are happy with their jobs. The political agenda is going to be very difficult to sell.”
The three premiers are happy with their jobs. The political agenda is going to be very difficult to sell
John Savage, the late former premier of Nova Scotia, once told Mr. Savoie that the biggest challenge he faced in promoting the province to the rest of Canada or abroad was competition from other Maritime provinces, particularly the energetic premier of neighbouring New Brunswick.
“Wherever I go to sell Nova Scotia, I find that Frank McKenna was there the week before,” the then premier told him.
“Can we have three premiers out hustling for three small provinces?” said Mr. Savoie.
Big Data is now being used by advertisers to test the efficacy of traditional and digital media campaigns, but can it be considered a panacea?
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Steve Jobs, has been one of the most inspiring entrepreneur of this century. The work done by him is always sensational, his inspiring and innovative ideas are at its best. We have also presented some of the best visual videos from the inspiring life of Apple Founder, Steve Jobs.
To Start with, we explain how Steve Jobs rules the world with its simplest Success mantra which is presented in the following video
Steve Jobs explains the rules for success
It has always been an awesome moment anyone to announce something which is a good hit. The same which Jobs did in the year 2001 where he has announced the amazing Apple Store, which has now over 50 Million Apps in it.
Steve Jobs Introduces the Apple Store (2001)
There are many other usual things which we have learned from Steve Jobs and we would like to share with you, which includes the following
What You Can Learn From Steve Jobs
Managing People has always been one of the most hectic and tiresome thing in the entire world. Not just this, when your network grows more and more, its always advisable that we take some expert advice on how to manage your entire network with some short and simple tips.
Steve Jobs talks about Managing people
While if you are also planning to become an Entrepreneur then here are some of the best advices from Jobs for all the budding and emerging entrepreneurs which would take up your Startup to a rockstar booster.
Steve Jobs’ Advice for Entrepreneurs
This is a Special Message which we have learned from Steve is doing what we love. While many don’t watch out for this thing, but lately they realize that it was always best doing what we have always liked to do.
The Only Way to do Great Work is to love what you do
Here we go with the sensational three stories from Steve Jobs life, do checkout the following
Steve Jobs: ‘No big deal. Just three stories from my life’
This is a Special Interview from Steve Jobs hosted on the CNBC live channel. Do checkout the following
Steve Jobs on CNBC
There are Ups and Downs in everyone’s life and as we said, it was also a part of Steve’s Life too where he was been sent out of Apple for some specific reasons, at this point of time, everyone seeks a special inspiration and YES, Jobs did find something like this
Also Read: 10 Ways how Steve Jobs Inspires Us
But then later after 2 years, he made a comeback to Apple as CEO once again with the help of its innovative ideas, although many still criticized him even after coming back, but his innovation were always enough to keep him to the best
Steve Jobs interviewed just before returning to Apple
The Life Journey has been fantastic as Steve Jobs passed away, but we leave you with some of the sensational quotes from this inspiring life
10 Inspiring Steve Jobs Quotes – RIP
Do Give a Thumbs Up to this post on What we learned from Steve’s Life. Do pour your comments with regards to it and do share to spread a word. | <urn:uuid:ad0e0376-a008-4e08-9c9d-bd098a38b43f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://allinfographics.org/10-best-success-lessons-we-should-learn-from-steve-jobs-visual-videos/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971845 | 623 | 1.578125 | 2 |
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama said Friday he plans to withdraw most U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of August 2010.
President Obama talks about his Iraq War withdrawal plan at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, on Friday.
Between 35,000 to 50,000 troops will remain in Iraq, he said. They would be withdrawn gradually until all U.S. forces are out of Iraq by December 31, 2011 -- the deadline set under an agreement the Bush administration signed with the Iraqi government last year.
"Let me say this as plainly as I can: By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end," Obama said in a speech at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
"By any measure, this has already been a long war," Obama said. It is time to "bring our troops home with the honor they have earned." Watch Obama announce drawdown »
Obama's trip to Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base, was his first trip to a military base since being sworn in.
Administration officials, who briefed reporters on the plan, said the remaining troops would take on advisory roles in training and equipping Iraqi forces, supporting civilian operations in Iraq and conducting targeted counterterrorism missions, which would include some combat.
But the ultimate success or failure of the war in Iraq, Obama said, would rest with the Iraqi people themselves. The U.S. "cannot police Iraq's streets indefinitely until they are completely safe," the president said.
It is up to the Iraqis, he said, to ensure a future under a government that is "sovereign, stable and self-reliant."
"We sent our troops to Iraq to do away with Saddam Hussein's regime and you got the job done," he said, referring to the troops.
The U.S. military had also "exceeded every expectation" suppressing the insurgency in the years that followed.
Al Qaeda in Iraq had been dealt "a serious blow," the president added. "The capacity of Iraq's security forces has improved, and Iraq's leaders have made strides toward political accommodation" through steps such as January's provincial elections.
"Iraq is not yet secure and there will be difficult days ahead," he said, but the Iraqi people now have a "hard-earned opportunity ... for a better life."
Obama said he made his decision after reviewing several options presented by key military and civilian advisers. Watch ex-general analyze strategy »
He said that he acted with "careful consideration of events on the ground, with respect for the security agreements between the United States and Iraq, and with a critical recognition that the long-term solution in Iraq must be political, not military."
There are 142,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. During the presidential campaign, Obama pledged to pull out all those troops within 16 months. This plan exceeds that promise by three months.
The administration officials would not say how many of the troops leaving Iraq would be redeployed to Afghanistan.
When asked whether troops might be sent back if Iraq becomes unstable after the pullout, a senior aide said the president has always said he wanted some flexibility on the issue.
The president's troop withdrawal plan is meeting with mixed reviews in Congress. iReport.com: What do you think of the withdrawal plan?
Some Democrats -- including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- have expressed concern that the residual force Obama is planning to leave in Iraq is too large.
Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, however, said in a speech on the Senate floor that he believes Obama's decision is "reasonable" and that he is "cautiously optimistic that the plan that is laid out by the president can lead to success."
McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that a "failing situation in Iraq has been arrested and reversed" due to the "dramatic success of the surge strategy."
He also praised Obama's willingness to leave behind a significant residual force and reassess the situation if conditions change in the future.
"We are finally on a path to success," McCain said. "Let us have no crisis of confidence now."
Next month will mark the sixth anniversary of the start of the Iraqi war.
CNN's Dan Lothian and Suzanne Malveaux contributed to this report.
|Most Viewed||Most Emailed| | <urn:uuid:9f4ce681-5b11-49dc-b891-108da2ae52ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/27/obama.troops/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977893 | 898 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Living with death and a DNR
What's life like when you wear a "Do Not Resuscitate" bracelet?
By Guest Blogger Lisa Calderone-Stewart
I have been in hospice care since November of 2009.
Usually, a patient moves into hospice care when they are thought to have six months or less to live. I received my own "six month" life expectancy (rather, "six months to perhaps a year if they can successfully shrink my tumor") on August 20, 2009. The medical team's one attempt at shrinking my tumor (a chemo-embolization process) in September 2009 was unsuccessful, so I was more than eligible by November.
When you enter hospice care, the focus changes. You are no longer trying to "treat" your cancer; you are not looking for a "cure." Your focus is merely trying to stay as comfortable and pain-free as possible, in this last leg of the journey, as you draw closer to death. It's only about symptoms and how you feel.
So I was given a "DNR" certificate - "Do Not Resuscitate" - for my medical file. When I came to New Jersey, I realized they are actually state-specific. So now I have both a Wisconsin one and a New Jersey one.
I found out that you can also get a "Medic Alert" bracelet. Other people have such bracelets declaring the person is allergic to penicillin or diabetic; mine says, "NJ, WI DNR Order on File. DO NOT RESUSCITATE." It also has my name, my DNR ID number, and a toll-free number someone can call if they are confused about the instructions.
It takes another person to fasten the bracelet. The clip is tricky, so I can't remove it or put it on myself. It won't fall off by mistake. So it stays on, all the time, while I shower, while I swim, no matter what I do. What would be the point of having one if I took if off?
It causes different reactions.
At a chiropractic office, they thought it was a really cool idea. They had never seen one. They immediately understood the need. It's important for anyone who might be with a patient for any time at all, away from her family, to know what the patient's and family's expectations are. Such a bracelet warns everyone. No one is going to rush to a person's medical file for a DNR order - who would even think of such a thing?
At the YMCA, there was a different reaction. When I presented the person at the front desk with the medical card for them to copy for their files (as well as showing them the bracelet), the receptionist paused a moment, open-mouthed and at a loss for words. She might have wondered how could someone so close to death can still manage to swim 6-8 laps in the pool? There are healthy people who can't do that.
And yet, if something happens to me in the pool or in the locker room, the last thing I want is for some EMS team to revive me, just so I can die a more drawn-out death a month or two later! So they alerted the director of risk management and the life guards that a swimmer with a DNR bracelet would be in the pool and locker room every week, and that they should check that before making any attempts at resuscitation.
For my family, it was like taking one step closer to the fuller reality of what is to come. It makes us almost annoying aware, it makes denial impossible. For myself, too. Every time I look down and see that bracelet, it's pretty hard to forget my situation. Not even for a minute.
In some ways, every minute seems to count more. Every "unforgiving minute" seems fuller--or emptier, depending on what I am doing to fill it.
When you know you are dying, it's really just a new way of living.
Guest blogger Lisa Calderone-Stewart is the director of Tomorrow's Present and an author and speaker on youth leadership. Read more about her interfaith youth program in Student Teachers, from January 2006.
Lisa was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer. For more on her story, see "The dying wish of a youth ministry pioneer." You can also read Lisa's personal blog Dying to Know You Better. Her blog posts on USCatholic.org can be found at Final Thoughts.
Guest blog posts express the views of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of U.S. Catholic, its editors, or the Claretians. | <urn:uuid:776c9b87-33c3-461b-b389-a3ce1b2b8a0a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uscatholic.org/blog/2010/08/living-death-and-dnr | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97546 | 970 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Laws, Regulations & Annotations
Business Taxes Law Guide – Revision 2013
Sales and Use Tax Annotations
120.0000 AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING SERVICES AND EQUIPMENT—Regulation 1502
(a) IN GENERAL
120.0510 Sales of Computer Software and Hardware. In making sales of computer software and hardware systems, a company itemized its billings, separately listing charges for hardware, software, and sales tax reimbursement on the hardware charges only. The software was fabricated out of state and shipped to the purchaser directly from the out-of-state developer. The transactions consisted of the company: (1) soliciting the sale of the system, (2) billing the customer for the hardware, software, training, and sales tax reimbursement on the hardware; (3) receiving payment from the customer in full; (4) paying the developer for the software, and (5) receiving a commission on the software sale from the developer. The company claims it always acted as agent for the software developer and that the collection of payments from the customers does not affect its status as an agent for the out-of-state developer.
The fact that the company collected payments for the software does not conclusively show that the company was selling the software on its own behalf, rather than as an agent of the developer. However, it does create an inference that the company was the seller of the software. Therefore, it is necessary for the company to rebut this inference. 11/6/92. | <urn:uuid:cbd9b484-f51f-4595-87e7-57d479713d68> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.boe.ca.gov/lawguides/business/current/btlg/vol2/suta/120-0510.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933708 | 306 | 1.570313 | 2 |
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Teachers refuse 'red-tape' requests
“GIVE us the time to teach”. That is the message from teachers across Oxfordshire who are preparing to take industrial action from tomorrow in response to concerns about what they say are unreasonable workloads.
Members of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers and the National Union of Teachers are set to refuse to carry out what they claim are unnecessary bureaucratic tasks, such as providing lesson plans to senior leaders, chasing up attendance and ordering stationery.
Guidance has been issued by the two unions to between 4,000 and 5,000 teachers across the county, including 25 instructions on actions they should take.
The tasks the unions are taking issue with are not legal requirements for teachers to carry out but are decided on a school-by-school basis.
Gawain Little, secretary of the Oxfordshire NUT, said: “We hope we will see a real impact in terms of work-life balance and an increase in the quality of teaching and learning in schools.
“In some schools it will have little impact because they are already carrying out good practice but in schools where heads are put under pressure which is then brought down to other members of staff, we will be seeking positive changes to allow teachers to focus on core duties.
“The message from us is give us the time to teach.”
The impact in schools is set to vary hugely. Mr Little said he had heard directly from about 50 county schools.
In about a quarter, there will be no action taken as teachers are not required to carry out any of the tasks the unions are taking issue with.
For about half, he said there were one or two small issues which he hoped could be resolved with headteachers so the changes would be agreed with the senior leadership.
In the remaining quarter, there are more substantial issues and teachers will be taking a stand.
Mr Little, a teacher at St Ebbe’s Primary School, Oxford, said union members at his school were happy no action needed to be taken at the school.
But he added: “Still in many schools teachers are being asked to do things they shouldn’t be asked to do.
“People are doing unreasonable and often meaningless tasks due to a fear of accountability.”
The industrial action is not the same as ‘working to rule’ which has in the past seen teachers refusing to take part in after-school and lunchtime clubs.
During the action, which the unions say will continue until Education Secretary Michael Gove makes moves towards improving workloads, teachers will continue to carry out activities outside the timetable – provided they are doing so through choice – but will not participate in “excessive observations” or paperwork which they say takes away from teaching time.
Simon Spiers, headteacher at King Alfred’s Academy, said that all extra curricular activities at the academy would continue as normal.
He said: “I have sympathy with the action the unions are taking.
“We are watching the situation carefully and we will be working with our staff and union representatives to do all we can to avoid any significant impact on the wide range of activities that we offer our children.”
Paul James, headteacher at The Cherwell School, Oxford, said: “We will use this as an opportunity to reflect on our practice but we are not anticipating any major impact.”
Members of NASUWT started action last week and are set to be joined by members of the NUT tomorrow.
- What do you think? Let us know on firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:01ae7427-abcd-41eb-b7a1-689756958070> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bicesteradvertiser.net/news/9961193.Teachers_refuse__red_tape__requests/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972396 | 791 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Chandigarh has second largest rate of Canada Visa Rejection
Recent case of stranding of Canadian Resident in Kenya for three months as her passport was rejected by Canadian consular officials as she was believed to be an impostor is now the subject of internal reviews by the Foreign Affairs and Public Safety departments.
While this may be the case of an overzealous diplomat, the widespread fraud perpetuated against Canada’s immigration and refugee system is also responsible for this mindset. Ask any visitor to Canada Embassy in India, China or other Asian Countries. The persons manning the counter are most rude and lack even basic courtesy which otherwise is hall mark of Canadian way of life.
Ask any Canada Embassy or Consul office, their high commission offices are overly suspicious on account of very high levels of misrepresentation, including identity fraud, which Canadian visa offices have to contend with on a daily basis.
This problem is by no means confined to countries in Africa. Large proportion of immigrants who had recently arrived from Hong Kong had done so fraudulently. In 2002, the immigration office in Hong Kong reported that half of the 33,000 immigration cases awaiting processing involved misleading or fraudulent information.
In case of Immigration or visa applications from China, only about 35 percent of the applications are found bona fide. China is largest source of immigration to Canada and in recent years about 57 per cent of student visa applications from Fujian Province were submitted with fraudulent documents.
In case of India, the second largest source of immigrants to Canada, while maximum number of applications are received in Delhi, maximum rejections are at Chandigarh. While delhi accounts for 19% of the rejections, the rejection rate in Chandigarh is as high as 77% because of the high incidence of fraudulent documents or other forms of misrepresentation …
Nairobi is another centre where Canadian consulate offices are facing major problem of fraudulent representation.
As Collacott said in the case Kenyan Woman; "While Mohamud’s case should be carefully examined to find out what went wrong and how it can be avoided in the future, Canadians should be under no illusions regarding the high levels of fraud that many of our visa offices have to deal with on a regular basis and the difficulty this poses in terms of making fair and timely decisions." | <urn:uuid:99fa1918-f199-4285-a027-a2aed34d94a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.canadaupdates.com/blogs/opportunity_for_non_dependent_children-10073.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959256 | 470 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Morbidly obese inmate’s death sentence commuted to life behind bars
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COLUMBUS, OHIO—The decision by Ohio’s governor to spare a morbidly obese death row inmate on legal grounds unrelated to the prisoner’s weight means executions will likely carry on in the state next year.
Gov. John Kasich on Monday commuted the death sentence of Ronald Post to life without the possibility of parole, sparing him for the 1983 shooting death of Elyria motel clerk Helen Vantz in a robbery.
Kasich’s decision to grant Post mercy mirrored the recommendation by the state parole board, which said it didn’t doubt Post’s guilt but said there were too many problems with how he was represented 30 years ago.
Post, who weighs 450 pounds (204 kilograms), never raised the issue of his size with the board. And Kaisch, who commuted Post’s sentence to life with no chance of parole, didn’t mention Post’s obesity claim in his statement. Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols said the governor didn’t consider Post’s obesity claim.
The governor said all criminal defendants, regardless of the heinousness of the crimes, deserve an adequate defence.
“This decision should not be viewed by anyone as diminishing this awful crime or the pain it has caused,” Kasich said.
Post’s attorneys applauded the decision.
The parole board and Kasich “rightly recognized that, in cases in which the state seeks to execute one of its citizens, our justice system simply must work better than it did in Mr. Post’s case,” said public defenders Joe Wilhelm and Rachel Troutman.
A scheduled hearing Monday on Post’s obesity claim before Columbus federal judge Gregory Frost was delayed and is now moot.
Post argued in federal court that executing him would amount to cruel and unusual punishment. His attorneys said he would suffer “a torturous and lingering death” as executioners tried to find a vein or use a backup method where lethal drugs are injected directly into muscle.
The long-held presumption that Post confessed to the murder to several people has been falsely exaggerated, Post’s attorneys have argued. Post admitted involvement in the crime as the getaway driver to a police informant but didn’t admit to the killing.
“The death penalty should be reserved for cases where proof of guilt is reliable and the legal system produced a just result,” the defence had said. “Neither criteria is met in this case.”
Ohio’s next execution is March 6, when Frederick Treesh of Lake County is scheduled to die for the 1994 shooting death of an adult bookstore security guard during a robbery.
Ohio has 10 executions scheduled over the next two years.
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- Updated Rob Ford like ‘an embarrassing guest,’ says Conrad Black | <urn:uuid:ba1d1847-b14f-47e7-b0d2-301ff273ee54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2012/12/18/morbidly_obese_inmates_death_sentence_commuted_to_life_behind_bars.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942763 | 694 | 1.5625 | 2 |
The latest casualties in the horsemeat scandal have come to light following an alert by the French supplier Comigel, which said that some of its ingredients did not conform to the product specification.
It is understood that horse meat or traces of horse DNA have been found there.
Until now, the horsemeat crisis has been centred on Irish supplier Silvercrest.
But the link to Comigel would mean that the first continental supplier has been caught up in the controversy.
Tesco has hurried out a statement saying there is "no evidence" that its product has been contaminated, but has decided to withdraw the product as a precautionary measure.
Tesco said: "Following the withdrawal of Findus beef lasagne, which is produced by Comigel, we have decided to withdraw our frozen Everyday Value spaghetti bolognese, which is produced at the same site, as a precautionary measure.
"There is no evidence that our product has been contaminated and the meat used in the Findus product is not used in our product. However, we have decided to withdraw the product pending the results of our own tests."
Findus has acted by recalling 320g, 360g and 500g packs of beef lasagne.
Tesco was the first brand to be hit by the horsemeat contamination issue, forcing it to withdraw a number of beefburgers from its shelves after tests showed samples were found to contain horsemeat. Burger King and Asda have also been caught up in the scandal.
Findus was unavailable for comment.Follow @johnreynolds10
This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk | <urn:uuid:a0919f5c-6d33-4303-9746-aa77a428268e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/1169704/Findus-latest-brand-caught-horsemeat-scandal/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983078 | 332 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Serious Eats: New York
Behind the Scenes at Hot Bread Kitchen
Hot Bread Kitchen is so much more than a bakery. This not-for-profit hires and trains low-income immigrant women in the fine art of baking, giving them valuable skills to help them achieve economic security.
We spent some time in the bakery to see what goes into making all those breads, and how Hot Bread manages a thriving business while fulfilling its goal of education. We found, first and foremost, that it's quite possibly the most diverse bakery you will ever find. They bake 35 different breads from eleven different countries, ranging from Jewish challah to German rye, Armenian lavash to Moroccan m'smen. The staff is as diverse as the breads they bake: the women at Hot Bread Kitchen currently range between 19 and 60 years of age and come from ten different countries.
The correlation is no coincidence; preserving multi-ethnic baking traditions is at the core of Hot Bread Kitchen's mission. Many of the breads are inspired or introduced by the staff, and in turn every woman at Hot Bread Kitchen gets the most comprehensive baking education one could ask for.
Exciting things have been happening at Hot Bread Kitchen as of late. It used to be that you could only buy their breads at one of their retail partners or farmers markets, but as of last summer Hot Bread Kitchen opened their first retail space—Hot Bread Almacen in East Harlem's La Marqueta. Now they're hoping to expand to other cities, spreading their good work and good bread to other communities.
While they are currently fueled in part by generous donations, they aim to be financially self-sustaining by next year.
Take a look at the slideshow for a peek behind the scenes at one of New York's most unique bakeries, and how some of their many, many delicious breads are made. | <urn:uuid:41f912e5-a125-461b-8f28-80ead817eefd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2013/01/print/behind-the-scenes-hot-bread-kitchen-harlem.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969209 | 383 | 1.757813 | 2 |
"We were told to trust these institutions, and we did," says Mitch Tuchman. "We trusted Madoff. We trusted AIG. And now we've lost most of our life savings." Tuchman, though, is not an angry victim of some Ponzi scheme or shady subprime lender. To the contrary, the former hedge-fund manager is trying to be part of the solution, starting a company whose goal is to upend the trillion-dollar mutual-fund market by offering cheap, no-nonsense investment advice. Tuchman's MarketRiders is part of a movement of Web-based financial startups creating services that embrace transparency (even in their largely fee-based pricing) and improve the customer experience. These are the same traits that changed everything from music to auto sales, and given the financial industry's woes, it, too, looks ripe for this type of reinvention. Here's our list of the eight most promising "green shoots."
1. Debit with dividends
Debit cards have left cash and credit in the dust for in-store payments, hitting a record-high 37% last year (cash is used 29% of the time; credit, 22%; checks and gift cards make up the remainder). And yet, "debit's last significant development was PIN technology," says Mike Grossman, CEO of Tempo Payments, which has decoupled debit cards from the banks that traditionally provide them. Tempo's cards, branded by MasterCard, can be linked to any checking account. They're also tied to a specific retailer or nonprofit (much like an affinity credit card) so customers can use them to earn rewards or help a cause, such as the Breast Cancer Fund or Greenpeace U.S.A. "This is very disruptive," says Bruce Cundiff, a consumer-payments analyst at Javelin, a financial-services research firm. "The banks will lose out on all that revenue from consumers' use of bank-issued debit cards."
2. Big brand, little banks
In 1994, banks with less than $10 billion in assets held 70% of U.S. deposits. Today, that number has dropped to 31%, mainly, says Gabriel Krajicek of BancVue, because "community institutions lack name recognition, and consumers think they can't deliver big innovations, such as Bank of America's Keep the Change program." Krajicek rolls up a set of incentives -- rewards-driven checking accounts, up to 6% APY interest rate, ATM-fee reimbursements -- for these banks to offer customers who actively use debit cards, e-statements, and online accounts. (Such practices drastically reduce overhead costs, enabling the banks to shell out.) Then he gives the banks an opportunity to join his Intel-inside-style marketing plan, advertising their BancVue services under the brand name Kasasa. "Many customers may still rather bank with Wells Fargo or Bank of America, simply because they're less likely to fail," warns Jacob Jegher at Celent, a financial-services research firm. That said, if BancVue's 620 clients formed just one bank, it would have approximately 4,200 branches, America's fourth-largest network.
3. Allocation, allocation, allocation
During his years managing a $1 billion hedge fund, Mitch Tuchman uncovered two truths: Steady returns come from smart asset allocation, not stock picking, and inevitably, managers will "siphon your money" with fees. Tuchman's lessons underpin MarketRiders, which recommends to customers a variety of low-cost exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for $9.95 a month. The service then tells you when and how to rebalance your portfolio. During MarketRiders' 15-month beta period, Tuchman estimates that the site's 2,000 testers would have saved $3.25 million -- or 1.3% of their $250 million in declared investments (the difference between a standard 1.5% mutual-fund fee and MarketRiders' average 0.2% ETF charge) -- by switching exclusively to this service. With hedge-fund manager brio, Tuchman boasts, "We could do to investment what Craigslist did to classified ads."
4. Banking on the unbanked
At 2008's Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting, brothers Roy and Bertrand Sosa pledged to provide financial services to 5 million of the world's unbanked masses. How? By tailoring services to local markets and making the programs more accessible. In Mexico, they offer prepaid debit cards to workers; in Romania, they enable thousands of cell-phone users to send money via text. Through two of their startups, Mpower Labs and Mpower Ventures, the brothers are funneling roughly $100 million toward their goal. "Any company that's good at getting people to interact with banks," says Avi Karnani, a former Citigroup analyst and cofounder of Thrive, a popular financial-services Web site, "that's a good thing."
5. Build a bull market
With the IPO market on the fritz -- just 20 companies have gone public this year in the United States -- buzzed-about private ventures are locked out from cashing out. Barry Silbert, who brokered the sale of nearly $50 million in Facebook shares last year to private investors, started SecondMarket to help later-stage, fast-growing companies set up their own stock exchanges, where they govern everything from disclosure rules to pricing to market hours. Although there are concerns about liquidity and just how much companies can control the buyers (there are roughly 3,500 in SecondMarket's database), Silbert is undeterred. "Our clients need to practice for the big leagues," he says of their eventual appearance on Nasdaq or the NYSE, "and we're spring training."
6. Rank and file
Hey, Apple employees: Your 401(k) sucks. So say Mike and Ryan Alfred, who have worked with the likes of Lockheed Martin and American Airlines to develop BrightScope, a free site that ranks retirement plans on everything from provider fees to participation rates to match contributions. (Apple scores a troublesome 63 out of 100 points; Microsoft: 79.) "Employers need leverage to demand lower fees from 401(k) providers," explains Mike Alfred, who charges companies to dive into detailed plan data. "But we're also helping employees who want to comparison-shop before accepting a job." The service presently has info on 4,000 retirement plans -- a fraction of the 710,000 available -- but hopes to amass at least 30,000 by the end of the year.
7. Power tools
If you're a bank, it pays to ply customers with Web apps: Almost 70% of online-banking users would recommend their provider to a friend or relative, according to July 2009 data from Fiserv, a financial tech firm. Yet today's most attractive tools -- Mint's expense reports, Thrive's savings calculator -- come from Web 2.0 startups, not financial institutions. Andrew Taylor, a former IBM software engineer, founded Jwaala to sell social-media tools to behind-the-times banks. "We're basically an arms dealer," he says, rattling off his best ammo: updates via text, a Google-style expenses search, and an online safety-deposit box (to store key docs such as tax returns). "Some banks might be scared to do a deal because Jwaala is so small," says Javelin's online banking analyst Mark Schwanhausser. Taylor's retort? "We have deals with 30 financial institutions, and Jwaala has been profitable since early 2008."
8. Wait not, want not
Paging accounts payable: U.S. companies annually exchange $18 trillion worth of invoices, but the average business sweats it out for seven weeks before getting paid. The Receivables Exchange turns this waiting game into an online auction. It enables businesses with at least $1.5 million in annual revenue to sell their invoices to institutional investors for between 97 and 99 cents on the dollar. "We're like eBay," says CEO Justin Brownhill, "except we're auctioning IOUs." Sellers see cash, on average, in one day. Since its November 2008 launch, every deal has gone through without incident, earning buyers a nice return in just a few weeks. "They're all about accessing working capital," says Celent's Jegher. "Companies will be interested." | <urn:uuid:c6777333-4a67-49a9-ab97-b47dd8e55169> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fastcompany.com/1353542/money-changers-eight-startups-brimming-hope-financial-industry | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952131 | 1,759 | 1.617188 | 2 |
What Has Been the Lasting Damage?
by Adam S. Posen, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Op-ed in Eurointelligence
September 21, 2009
Adam Posen is Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England. The views expressed here are solely his own, and not those of the Bank, the MPC, or any of its staff.
The major economies seem to be on their way to economic recovery. But how much of and how long a recovery should we expect? The question is key to setting monetary policy as well as wage and price expectations going forward. This comes down to the assessment of economic potential, the average rate at which we can expect a national economy to grow in real terms sustainably without causing inflation or deflation. Economic potential is difficult to measure even in normal times. Coming out of the worst financial shock in 70 years complicates the assessment considerably.
We have to assess how much lasting damage the crisis has done to our economies. The shock was primarily demand driven, resulting from the financial panic and increase in savings—that is why the policy response of fiscal and monetary stimulus was both appropriate and effective. But the shock still could have done lasting damage both to aggregate supply, the base level of capacity from which our economies will grow once the slack is taken up, and to the trend rate of growth going forward. I fear that it has indeed done such damage, particularly to the latter.
As on many things to do with macroeconomic policy, the United States and the European Union are divided on how to think about this. At a conference I co-organized at the Bank of Italy this month, two American economists gave rather optimistic assessments. They saw the US economy as quite flexible, the share of the financial sector in the US economy to be reallocated to other uses quite small, and the functionality of the financial system for allocating real investment to be relatively unimpeded. Hence, they thought there was plenty of room for demand to run hot, and even for greater stimulus policy, before the slack in the economy was taken up—they also thought that there would be no lasting damage to US trend growth.
A number of European participants in the conference disagreed. Even in the continental economies where the financial sector had not grown so large, there was concern that aggregate supply had shrunk. This would mean less room for catch-up growth (and for stimulative policies) to run and slower growth going forward. The need to reallocate labor and capital across sectors—say from construction to exports in Spain and the United Kingdom, but also away from autos in Germany and France—loomed large. So did fears of what distortions and costs rising government deficits would impose.
This difference arises partly from experience, as my colleague Jean Pisani-Ferry points out. In Europe, growth shocks have tended to be persistent, meaning that recessions had lasting negative effects, whereas in the United States, the economy has tended to bounce back fully after recessions. While that certainly is true of the past, I am not so sure that the difference will be as stark this time. In fact, the convergence across the Atlantic may arise as much out of the United States showing more persistent difficulties coming out of this recession than it did coming out of past recessions, as it will from Europe rebounding better.
On the positive side of the convergence towards full rebound, labor flexibility has certainly increased meaningfully in most of Western Europe. That should speed reallocation across sectors and lead to lower increases in long-term unemployment. The clear commitment by all European governments to reverse temporary fiscal measures, as well as the well-anchored inflation expectations throughout the European Union, is a major improvement over the past. This will bring rewards in terms of limiting the lasting damage to European potential.
The factors that are likely to lead to slower growth as a result of the crisis are daunting, however, and are relatively more applicable to the United States than in past recessions. First, a lot of human and financial capital has been lost or foregone due to the crisis. Some of this investment was specific to sectors—residential construction, financial services, auto production—that cannot be expected to return to the share in the economy or the rapid growth they displayed earlier this decade. People will have to adjust to working in new fields, and find employment in those fields. The capital investment available in those fields to make those people more productive will lag as well.
Second, the financial sector is unlikely to do a terribly good job of allocating financing to new uses and newer businesses for a while. Not only will banks be rebuilding their balance sheets and raising capital, which will restrict lending, but also banks and other funders are likely to make poor choices at the margin about whom to lend to until their government guarantees are reduced and their capital restored. Appetite for riskier investments will be low, putting some brake on innovation. And the sea change in public debt levels for the United States as well as the greater awareness of coming health care costs will crowd out some private investment for at least a few years.
It is worth noting that US potential output growth was already noticeably declining by 2007, prior to the crisis. Fewer women and immigrants were joining the labor force, and productivity growth had slowed, perhaps due to the diminishing returns from applying IT in the economy with nothing to take its place. Europe was doing no better, its productivity had gone up significantly only in privatized industries during the past decade, according to European Commission and European Central Bank analyses. The idea that anything coming out of this would reverse those trends seems to be a stretch. That the crisis will worsen the strains on employment and postpone our next technological leap seems much more likely. I fear the European views about the lasting damage from the crisis will prove right on both sides of the Atlantic. | <urn:uuid:ae1c3073-47a0-4c13-a4e2-3ef0735a38fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://petersoninstitute.org/publications/opeds/print.cfm?researchid=1305&doc=pub | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972692 | 1,198 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Do Your Homework!
Nothing is more frustrating as a personal trainer than having someone come to you asking for help to get healthy and lose weight, you give them all of the tools that will help them, and then they do everything other than what you laid out for them. I give all of my clients homework for the week. Whether they are boot campers or personal training clients. I like to see people succeed in reaching their goals. But I cannot follow everyone around all day, every day to make sure that they are making the right choices and doing what I told them to do. It is every person's own responsibility to monitor their own actions in order to reach their own goals. If you want to lose weight by coming to boot camp twice a week, there is nothing holding you back besides the actions you take outside of our training. Boot camps are only one hour long. If you come twice a week or even three times a week, that only takes three hours out of your week that you are under my supervision. You have to keep your goals in mind and take the proper actions by eating the right kinds of foods and continuing to train for the rest of the week. You get what you give. If you make the conscience choice to become a healthier person and really make healthy choices a part of your every day lifestyle, you will see fantastic results. If not, get ready to not reach your goals. It's that simple.
This is something that I have to keep telling myself. I have to allow people to make their choices. Even if those choices are not in their best interest. But when it comes down to the nitty gritty, there is nothing that I can do besides keep my focus on myself and realize that there is nothing I can do to change certain people's actions. Either you want something bad enough or you want to find an excuse not to. I am the kind of person who loves to see results and the look on a person's face when they see the results in themselves. Because no matter how many workouts, pushups or jumping jacks I do, it will do nothing for someone else. The same rule applies to everyone. I can't do your pushups for you and you can't do my pushups for me. We are all responsible for our own actions or lack of. What actions are you taking to get the results you say you want? Are you ready to change your actions? Are you ready to give up the excuses and really work for what you want? If so, I'm ready for you! Bring it! | <urn:uuid:72c1fcc6-569a-462c-b8ea-2fd50163f54d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tackleitwithtif.com/fitness-and-nutrition-blog/31-the-key-to-successful-weight-loss.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97672 | 519 | 1.609375 | 2 |
WATERLOO — Lauris DaCosta dislikes the harshness of the term immigrant. Even decades after becoming a Canadian citizen, she still bristles at the word, preferring to think of herself and others like her as new Canadians, people who came to Canada eager to start again, though her particular route was a long and winding one.
Leaving Jamaica for the U.S. as a young nurse in 1957, DaCosta was filled with a youthful enthusiasm.
“It was a growing experience for me,” said DaCosta. “I wanted to see and explore new things. I wanted my own independence, to be more confident.”
On March 8, DaCosta will be one of two women honoured at the Focus for Ethnic Women’s Focus on Friends fundraising event. This year, DaCosta and Nicaraguan-born humanitarian Eunice Valenzuela will be recognized (few.on.ca/tickets) for their contributions.
On a grey February day in the Waterloo offices of Focus for Ethnic Women, DaCosta hunkers down over a cup of strong coffee and slice of fresh-baked banana bread to talk about her life and long, circuitous route to Canada.
Raised in a successful middle-class family of 10, DaCosta was educated at the University of the West Indies and though she could have found work in her home country, she was eager for adventure.
“I left for New York, to St. Luke’s Hospital,” she recalled. “They had an exciting program, the first of its kind for registered nurses from all over the world. They taught us the U.S. way of nursing.”
In all, 13 young nurses converged on St. Luke’s, nurses from Australia, India, the Philippines, England, the Caribbean, as well as Britain.
“That one year, I really liked it,” she said. “I would have stayed, but that never was my goal. I wasn’t sure I wanted to settle.”
The hospital program paid the nurses a stipend of well over $1,000, a lot of money in the 1950s, enough cash to pay for passage aboard the famous Mauretania, destined for Britain with a three-month stint working in a hospital in England before moving on to Robroyston Hospital in Glasgow, Scotland for midwifery.
DaCosta admits the hospital in Kingston, Jamaica had a perfectly good midwifery program, but it was home and didn’t offer the type of new experiences she sought. For a young Jamaican nurse moving to Scotland, this new life could have felt isolating, but before her feet hit the ground from the taxi, DaCosta spotted someone she knew, a classmate from home.
“There were six of us from the Caribbean,” she said. “It was a one-year course in midwifery and I decided that was not what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing.” After graduating and working for a few months in a village on the border of England and Scotland, it was time to move on.
“I thought maybe I should try something else,” she said. “My intention was to travel Europe, learn the languages.”
Instead, DaCosta came to Montreal on the request of her younger sister who was entering McGill University and needed moral support.
DaCosta was hired by Jewish General Hospital in Montreal where she eventually became head nurse, though over the years she also worked in other hospitals around the city as her skills were needed. In 1981, she followed her husband, a radiographer, to Newtonville, Ontario when he was transferred, taking the couple’s two younger children with them while the eldest stayed behind for school. In Ontario, DaCosta would have to reinvent herself yet again.
“While in Newtonville, I didn’t want to go back to hospital nursing, so I went into public health,” she said. This small town living was difficult to adjust to after the excitement of Montreal, but then DaCosta had long ago learned to adapt and she wasn’t quite done with moving around.
When the couple retired, they decided to move into the Waterloo house they had purchased a few years earlier and DaCosta immediately immersed herself into this new community, following the tradition of her family who were heavily involved in volunteer work in Jamaica.
“A friend took me to the Caribbean Association meeting,” she said with a deep laugh, recalling how at that first meeting she managed to volunteer to become president, starting by serving the first year as vice-president. “That was the beginning of the end.”
Since then, DaCosta has been involved in all aspects of the association’s work, from raising money to raising awareness and on Feb. 16, they will present Jamaica, Farewell, a touring one-woman show starring Debra Ehrhardt and based on her experiences of coming to America. The play, which has been optioned for a Hollywood film, is directed by Joel Zwick, director of the romantic comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The play has been a tremendous success wherever it tours, she said.
DaCosta is happy there is more public interest in Caribbean culture today, but when asked what she thinks about February as Black History Month, she is introspective.
“It should be every day,” she said. “Blacks have contributed so much to society. It’s a shame the kids have to learn about it through Black History Month. It’s a shame it’s not taught in schools.”
A member of the Kitchener-Waterloo chapter of the Congress of Black Women, DaCosta said her group set out to help black children in the region develop a sense of self, to “change the way they feel about themselves.
“If you see yourself as a contributing member of society, that’s what you aim for.”
Caribbean Canadian Association of Waterloo Region presents
Saturday, Feb. 16, 3 p.m. & 7 p.m.
Knox Presbyterian Church, 50 Erb Street W., Waterloo
Tickets are $30 advance, $35 at the door or call 519-725-2369 for details. | <urn:uuid:57dd5449-f44a-4deb-80cb-7f3ec704ef64> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.guelphmercury.com/living/article/885574--local-nurse-honoured-after-long-journey-from-jamaica-to-waterloo | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979737 | 1,344 | 1.65625 | 2 |
|17 January 2009 – The Al Ashqar Family|
|Tuesday, 17 January 2012 00:00|
“Madleen refuses to sleep by herself; she will only sleep in her parent’s room” says Nujoud, “she’s afraid to be by herself at all. The other day we were in the garden and I asked her to go to the bedroom to bring something. She refused to go without me.”
Sabri with his mother Nujoud Al Ashqar
On 17 January 2009, at approximately 05:30, the area surrounding the UNRWA school in Beit Lahiya came under attack from Israeli forces. The area was bombarded using both high explosive, and white phosphorous artillery; white phosphorous is an incendiary chemical which ignites on contact with oxygen, its use in civilian populated areas violates the principle of distinction, and the prohibition of indiscriminate attacks. Nujoud Al Ashqar, along with approximately 1,600 others, was taking shelter in the school at the time of the attack. Nujoud sustained severe head injuries as a result of the bombing, and also losing her right hand. Two of her sons Bilal, 6, and Muhammed, 4, were killed in the attack.
When PCHR first spoke to Nujoud in the aftermath of the attack three years ago, her life had become extremely difficult, particularly her relationship with her husband, Mohammed. “At first my husband blamed me for the death of the boys. He used to threaten me every day that he would re-marry” says Nujoud, “but things have got better between us since the birth of our daughter Haneen. He loves her deeply and she loves him.”
Nujoud’s daughter Haneen, 1, was both a blessing and a severe challenge for Nujoud, who, despite being thankful she was able to give birth to another child after the loss of Muhammed and Bilal, is faced with extreme difficulties caring for herself, the household and her children given the loss of her arm and other medical difficulties following the attack. “I get most frustrated when trying to care for Haneen” says Nujoud, “I need help form my daughter Madleen all the time to care for her. I always feel sad for her because she sacrifices so much of her education to care for the house and her sister. But I need her to do it” says Nujoud. “Her grades in school have suffered as a result. It’s made worse by the fact I find myself with no patience to help her with her school work anymore since the attack.”
Madleen was herself in the UNRWA school at the time of the attack and faces difficulties with both the memory of that day and the loss of Bilal and Muhammed. “Madleen refuses to sleep by herself; she will only sleep in her parent’s room,” says Nujoud, “she’s afraid to be by herself at all. The other day we were in the garden and I asked her to go to the bedroom to bring something. She refused to go without me.”
Nujoud shares Madleen’s fear of the past and apprehension of the future. “Sometimes when there are rumours of a new war or Israeli incursions Madleen will start asking me about it and speaking of the incident. But I can’t bear to talk with her about what happened and I just ask her not to talk about it.”. The memory of the attack remains so moving for Nujoud that she does not speak with it to anybody. “Sometimes visitors will come over and ask to hear about that night. I don’t talk to them about it though. If I do I will spend the rest of the day and the whole night going over it in my head.”
Apart from the loss of one hand Nujoud has been left with severe pain in her head. When PCHR spoke to her three years ago she would wear her head scarf everywhere, including inside the house, as she had lost all her hair due to severe burns. “Now most of my hair has grown back” says Nujoud, “except for small patches due to injuries, but still when Madleen combs my hair I’m in agony.”
The loss of Bilal and Muhammed is especially painful for Nujoud. “I could never forget my children. If I stayed alive for 200,000 years I would not forget them.” Bilal and Muhammed were always a huge pillar of stability and support in Nujoud’s life. “When I used to get angry with my husband I would want to leave the house and go to my family. Bilal and Muhammed would calm me down and get me to stay. Now, when my husband and I argue, I just go to my room and think of them.” For Nujoud’s husband, Muhammed, who is deaf and dumb, the loss of Bilal, who used to help him communicate with others outside the house, was also devastating.
With another child on the way, Nujoud is hopeful for her health and for another baby boy in the future, who she also plans to call Bilal. “Me and my husband had been waiting for Bilal, he was so dear to our hearts, I hope to have a son so I can name him after his brother.”
PCHR submitted a criminal complaint to the Israeli authorities on behalf of the Al Ashqar family on 18 May 2009. PCHR have received an interlocutory response noting receipt of the original complaint. To date, however, and despite repeated requests, no further information has been communicated to PCHR, regarding the status of any investigation, and so on.
-11 January 2009: The Hamouda Family
- 10 January 2009: Wafa al-Radea
9 January 2009 – The Abu Oda Family
|Last Updated on Sunday, 22 January 2012 09:07| | <urn:uuid:be95a673-8890-4963-bf6e-35d0ca0e366a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8074:17-january-2009-the-al-ashqar-family-&catid=64:aftermath&Itemid=208 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983364 | 1,287 | 1.78125 | 2 |
It’s time to say “No” to any more cuts to older people’s social care services. Local authorities need to make spending cuts from somewhere, but maintaining frontline older people’s services needs to be a priority in 2012-13. There is no slack in the system, many older people already get pooor quality care services and any further cuts could harm vulnerable older people.
That’s what Age UK London and Greater London Forum for Older People have found anyway. We have just launched our research report, ‘Don’t cut care in London’, looking at the impact of the cuts so far and the possible impact in the future. You can download our report from www.ageuk.org.uk/london
Older people’s care budgets have shrunk by 3.4 per cent across London since financial year 2009-10 (it would have been 7.4 per cent without a transfer of £99.85m from the NHS budget this year), while the costs of care provision in London are thought to have risen by above inflation. The picture varies widely between boroughs and there is no obvious pattern in terms of Inner or Outer London, socio-economic deprivation levels etc. What else could account for the differences?
We know that there isn’t an automatic relationship between the size of a financial spending cut and the effect on frontline services. It would be really interesting to hear how well or badly you think services in your London borough have coped with the cuts.
As care budgets shrink, we can see an increase in social isolation coming. Preventive services like handyperson schemes, befriending, welfare benefits advice and advocacy, as well as day centres and resource centres, help people stay active and be part of the community and cutting them looks like a false economy in the longer run. We aim to keep monitoring the impact of care cuts both on older people and other services.
How all of this works out depends on political and funding decisions locally and nationally – we need positive reform of the care funding system. It also depends on practitioners working together to develop new thinking and new service models to support older people.
Watch this space because we’re going to hear a lot more about care in the near future. | <urn:uuid:76f97c87-3519-4754-b572-d1a88c98552e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ageuklondonblog.org.uk/2011/12/05/dont-cut-care-in-london/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956165 | 467 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Dr. Wesley Girod Becomes the Area’s First and Only da Vinci-Trained General Surgeon
Hattiesburg, MS – Dr. Wesley Girod, a general surgeon at Southern Surgical Associates, is taking minimally invasive surgery to the next level with the da Vinci Si Surgical System at Wesley Medical Center. As the area’s first and only da Vinci-trained general surgeon, Dr. Girod is offering his patients robotics-assisted surgical procedures which may result in less pain and scarring, shorter hospital stays and fewer complications.
Wesley Medical Center brought da Vinci robotic assisted surgery to the Pine Belt in 2007. In 2011, their upgrade to the newest da Vinci robot enabled physicians to take a minimally invasive approach for even more complex surgical procedures. Initially, robotics-assisted surgery was most commonly used in gynecological and prostate surgeries. Dr. Girod, who has performed hundreds of laparoscopic general surgical procedures, saw the da Vinci as a way to offer his patients more precise surgical care.
“The da Vinci gives me a greater range of motion than traditional laparoscopic instruments,” said Dr. Girod. “I can see the operative field in far greater detail and I’m using the robot now for everything that I previously did laproscopically, such as colon and gallbladder removal, esophagus repair and surgery for hiatal hernias.”
The da Vinci Si Surgical System integrates robotic technology to virtually extend the surgeon’s eyes and hands. Using the system, the surgeon operates while seated at a console viewing a 3-D image of the surgical area. The system mimics the surgeon’s hand movements in real time, in a smaller scale, within the operating site in the patient’s body.
“The technology is very advanced, and most general surgeons are not trained to perform da Vinci robotic-assisted surgeries,” said Dr. Girod. “I chose to become trained because about 70 percent of the procedures I perform are done laproscopically and I wanted to offer my patients the most precise, least invasive option possible.”
Using advanced technology, the da Vinci Si Surgical System enables physicians to operate through a few tiny incisions, rather than one large incision. Depending on the procedure, up to five small incisions allow access to robotic arms, which are controlled by the surgeon. The nature of the technology makes the system ideal for performing complicated surgeries such as colectomy and cholecystectomy procedures to remove the colon and gallbladder.
“Soon, I will be introducing the single port cholecystectomy in Hattiesburg,” said Dr. Girod. “That means I’ll be using just one tiny incision, about the size of an ink pen, to perform the entire gallbladder removal surgery.”
A traditional open cholecystectomy is a major abdominal surgery in which the surgeon removes the gallbladder through a 5- to 7-inch incision. Patients usually remain in the hospital at least 2 to 3 days and may require several additional weeks to recover at home. Da Vinci procedures typically result in low blood loss and shorter recovery times.
Wesley Medical Center is committed to providing superior care to the Pine Belt and has been recognized for patient safety and top performance on key quality measures. The da Vinci minimally invasive surgical program at Wesley is one of the fastest growing in the state. For more information, call 601-268-8000. | <urn:uuid:5ec15788-f56b-4125-bf93-185e78172b25> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wesley.com/News/Pages/Dr%20Wesley%20Girod%20Area's%20First%20da%20Vinci-Trained%20General%20Surgeon.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932974 | 752 | 1.695313 | 2 |
If you watch The Real Housewives on Bravo TV, chances are you have seen episodes where these rich ladies complain about everything in their lives: their workaholic husbands, their inept assistant, and the stress of having to pack their high end luggage for their next trip to Hawaii.
They whine, they yell and become all unraveled. Fascinating to see how people can be financial wealthy but have a poor mentality — the mindset of dis-empowerment and seeing the glass half empty.
Feeling Sorry for Yourself? Get Over It
Time and time again, we create a melodrama out of our lives that really unfolds like a telenovela. We use labels in our lives to keep us down and allow them to define ALL of who we are: ”I was abused; I am poor; I’m a minority; I’m a victim; I’m a single mom; I’m going through a divorce; I’m unemployed.”
I’m here to
yell at you tell you to: STOP.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself and do something about your life.
If you don’t like your life — change it.
If your husband abuses you — leave him.
If you hate being obese – eat healthier and start moving.
If you’re depressed – get help.
If life has been unfair to you – create a new one.
Question Your Excuses
Have you ever stopped for a moment to question the reasons you give yourself for not moving forward with your life or your goals? Why not? That’s because we have been programmed to feel sorry for ourselves. We’ve learned that we CAN’T, when indeed WE CAN.
Stop Being Lazy and Get Focused on What Really Matters
I understand that feeling sorry for yourself is much easier than working HARD on something you really want.
I know it is much easier to sit and watch TV for hours, than to go to school and get that degree you’ve been dreaming about. [And don't give me that crap that you can't afford to go to college. At two-year colleges, the average price for tuition and fees is $2,963. Take some loans for goodness sake.]
Sometimes we need to face our truth. Perhaps we’re just too comfortable in our sorry state. Maybe we want things to land on our laps. I’m here to remind you: Nothing that’s good in life comes easy, free or cheap. There is just no way around it. It’s a simple formula: You get out what you put in. If you’re not willing to do what it takes to have you want, that’s a choice YOU are making.
So how are you going to transform? | <urn:uuid:a2fa7779-d1c5-4e33-95bf-8942eb1015db> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newlatina.net/real-houswewives-and-feeling-sorry-for-yourself/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94812 | 591 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Stan Oakes taught me to ask Who? before I ask What?.
I’m a Birkman red leader. I’m a strategic thinker and planner. I tend to quickly see a path forward and launch aggressively. I tend to start towards a solution quickly and clean it up as I go. My mind gravitates toward questions like
- What are the success criteria?
- What are the milestones?
- What are the next steps?
- What resources are needed?
When we were conceiving of the Leadership University web project (www.leaderu.com), Stan would always lead by asking questions like
- Who else should we invite into this project?
- Who should lead this part?
- Who can contribute?
- Who has done something like this before and knows the pitfalls?
And I learned a new leadership focus.
Jim Collins addresses this Who? then What? focus in his powerful style. This is worth 3 of your minutes if you are a leader.
Using Who? then What?, Stan went on to re-launch The King’s College in the most famous address in the U.S., the Empire State Building.
What are you leading that could benefit from a Who? focus? | <urn:uuid:33bddcc7-c504-4f83-8fed-3dfd77243b9c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.seabourn.org/asking-who-before-what/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95505 | 257 | 1.734375 | 2 |
|From half-baked to raw
The American Enterprise
Because happiness is knowing that the opposition has gone
looney, we at TAE do our best to keep you filled in on new developments at the frontiers
of political correctness. But, boy, it's getting harder every year to follow the trail.
The latest wrinkle on vegetarianism, the Associated Press
recently reported, is the "Raw" movement. "After giving up meat for
vegetarian cooking...and sugar for macrobiotic cooking, 70 New Yorkers have gathered to
get serious about the way they eat: They've given up cooking." Yup: No boiling, no
baking, no stoves.
These pioneers are devotees of socalled "live"
foods. They refer to the cooked foods other people eat as "dead." A movement
spokeswomen, who goes by the single name Rhio, explains that "foods start losing some
enzymes and life energy at 105 degrees. By 118 degrees, that's it. You've killed all the
life energy. This is the way we're really supposed to eat. This is the way the animals
There are now live-food support groups, a newly opened
restaurant in New York called Ozone, and a raw-food cable TV show. Dr. Ann Wigmore, a
mother of the movement, founded livefood centers in Boston and Puerto Rico before she died
in 1994 (in a fire).
Devotees don't just eat endless carrots out of the bag, mind
you. Raw food chefs (probably best not to call them "cooks") do process food-but
through soaking and chopping instead of using heat. "You could take a drinking straw
to much of the plate, like a vegetable Slurpee," notes Ellen Knickmeyer, a reporter
who attended a live-food potluck in a Tribeca loft. On the menu at the event: A
"lasagna" made of sprouted buckwheat, almonds, mushrooms, tomatoes, and figs. A
"cheese" of pulverized almonds. A "champagne" of "something
sprouted and fermented:'
In an interesting twist, there are livefood omnivores who
have no problem with eating meat, so long as it isn't cooked. Other raw advocates have
gone the opposite direction-there are "fruititarians" (who eat only raw fruit),
and "sproutitarians" (live sprouts solely). There are even non-violent
fruititarians "who eat only fruits off the ground, not those that have been
That may seem to be the final climax of vegetarianism. But
there is one higher twist. Rhio reports there are "breatharians" who aim to get
"all the nutrition they need from the air.... I've met some people doing it
occasionally, but they're not at 100 percent. Yet."
Copyright American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy
Research Mar/Apr 1998 | <urn:uuid:ca8049f9-02ab-45cc-9d34-7075070c963c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://living-foods.com/news/halfbaked.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944887 | 633 | 1.789063 | 2 |
David Dodd 2:53 a.m., May 21
Amid continued debate over the wisdom and appropriate time line for resuming power generating activities at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, now shuttered for over 6 months, plant operator Southern California Edison has set tentative “return to service” dates late this year for both reactors.
According to information reported by the Associated Press, San Onofre’s Unit 2 reactor could be restarted by November 18, while Unit 3, which was sent into emergency shutdown after radiation began leaking from burst tubes in a steam generator, has a potential restart date of December 31.
Edison spokesperson Jennifer Manfre reiterated an often voiced statement that the newest restart dates are not set in stone, and that no formal request for permission to resume operations has been sent to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which has ultimate control over whether or not to allow the plant to attempt to generate power. Edison officials have backed off numerous restart dates in the past, and last April an Edison official predicted that there was a “greater than 50 percent chance” that one or both reactors would have been online again by summer.
While the restart date remains up in the air, John Geesman, counsel for the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility, has petitioned Dr. Robert B. Weisenmiller, chairman of the California Energy Commission, to carefully consider the findings of the official investigation into the causes of generator failure at San Onofre.
“This start-it-up-and-let’s-see approach might be suitable for dealing with a damaged tractor in an empty pasture, but it is inappropriately primitive when applied to critical components of nuclear generation of electricity in one of the world’s most developed population centers,” Geesman writes. “You and Governor Brown should demand that further [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] review of the [San Onofre] steam generators be robustly transparent and empirically driven.”
Meanwhile, Adam Townsend at Poway Patch reports that costs related to the San Onofre shutdown including inspections, repairs, and loss of income from electricity generation have already topped $165 million. Edison has a warranty from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, manufacturers of the faulty generators, though that is expected to cover only a fraction of the eventual cost of the generators’ failure.
Edison reported earnings yesterday, saying that its second-quarter core earnings totaled 32 cents per share, down from 56 cents a year ago. | <urn:uuid:e219b72a-007a-40c1-9769-287dd7a2b043> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/news-ticker/2012/aug/01/will-san-onofre-return-to-service-this-november/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940453 | 511 | 1.8125 | 2 |
|diagnosed with Ghonorrhea
Feb 14, 2007
Today my doctor told me i have Ghonorrehea , gave me 6 tablets of antibiotic and asked me to take it 6 tabs alltogether. i believe i got infected from my gf coz i never doit with else than her. she did HIV 1 and 2 P24 antigen and EIA , and she tested negative 1 month back so did i . the CDC links Ghonorrhea with HIV infection, do u believe she is HIV positive and it seems negative in the test since i got Ghonorrhea? and how both are linked . pls Dr. Frascino i need ur help coz am depressed and afraid that she is HIV positive and not shown in the test . promise u a donation of 200 Canadian Dollars. pls help ..
| Response from Dr. Frascino
Gonorrhea and HIV are two completely different diseases caused by two completely different germs. The correlation between HIV and gonorrhea is that the presence of gonorrhea increases the risk of contracting or transmitting HIV. This is because the increased number of white blood cells at the site of STD infections, like gonorrhea, make it easier to transmit or acquire HIV. I must also point out that it is much much easier to contract or transmit gonorrhea than HIV (thankfully!). Also even if both diseases are present concurrently, that doesn't automatically mean both will be transmitted or acquired.
The mere fact that you and/or your girlfriend have gonorrhea does not automatically mean you have HIV! That you both tested negative for HIV-1, HIV-2 and p24 one month ago is very encouraging.
What you and your girlfriend need to do now is get treated for gonorrhea and then repeat your HIV test three months from the last time you had unprotected sex. Use condoms for sex during this period for protection. You and your girlfriend will also need to have a discussion about STDs and how one or both of you became infected with gonorrhea. If indeed you only have sex with her, it's probably safe to assume she contracted gonorrhea from someone else. Ultimately it is a good idea to always and routinely use latex condoms in the future, girlfriend or not, to provide extra protection against unwanted pregnancy and STDs.
Thank you for your donation (www.concertedeffort.org). In return, I'm sending my best good-luck/good-health karma to both you and your girlfriend that your definitive three-month HIV tests remain negative.
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Articles on the Kosovo Conflict
By Charles Simic
New York Review of Books
December 20, 2007
As the curtain goes up, I'm sitting naked on the potty in my grandfather's backyard in a little village in Serbia. The year is 1940. I look happy. It's a nice summer day full of sunlight, although Hitler has already occupied most of Europe. I have no idea, of course, that he and Stalin are hatching an elaborate plot to make me an American poet. I love the neighbor's dog, whose name is Toza. I run after him carrying my potty in my hand, wanting to pull his tail, but he won't let me.
What would I not give today to have photograph of Toza! He was a country mutt full of burrs and fleas, and in his wise and sad eyes, if we had known how to read them, we would have found the story of mine and my parents' lives.
I had a great-uncle of whom nothing is known. I don't even know his name, if I ever did. He came to America in the 1920s and never wrote home. Got rich, my relatives said. How do you know that? I asked. Nobody knew how they knew. They had heard rumors. Then the people who'd heard the rumors died. Today there's no one left to ask. My great-uncle was like one of those ants who, coming upon a line of marching ants, turns and goes in the opposite direction for reasons of his own. Ants being ants, this is not supposed to happen, but it sometimes does, and no one knows why.
This mythical great uncle interests me because I resemble him a bit. I, too, came to America and, for long stretches of time, forgot where I came from or had no contact with my compatriots. I never understood the big deal they make about being born in one place rather than another when there are so many nice places in the world to call home. As it is, I was born in Belgrade in 1938 and spent fifteen eventful years there before leaving forever. I never missed it. When I try to tell that to my American friends, they don't believe me. They suspect me of concealing my homesickness because I cannot bear the pain. Allegedly, my nightmarish wartime memories have made me repress how much dear old Belgrade meant to me. My wartime memories may have been terrifying, but I had a happy childhood despite droning planes, deafening explosions, and people hung from lampposts. I mean, it's not like I knew better and dreamed of a life of quiet strolls with my parents along tree-lined boulevards or playing with other children in the park. No. I was three years old when the first bombs fell and old enough to be miserable when the war ended and I had to go to school.
The first person who told me about the evil in the world was my grandmother. . She died in 1948, but I recall her vividly because she took care of me and my brother while my mother went to work. The poor woman had more sense than most people. She listened to Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, and other lunatics on the radio and since she knew several languages, she understood the imbecilities they were saying. What upset her even more than their vile words was their cheering followers. I didn't realize it then, but she taught me a lesson that has stuck.Beware of the so-called great leaders and the collective euphorias they excite. Many years later I wrote this poem about her:
My grandmother prophesied the end
Of your empires, O Fools!
She was ironing. The radio was on.
The earth trembled beneath our feet.
One of their heroes was giving a speech.
"Monster," she called him.
There were cheers and gun salutes for the monster.
"I could kill him with my bare hands,"
She announced to me. There was no need to. They were all
Going to the devil any day now.
"Don't go blabbering about this to anyone,"
She warned me.
And pulled my ear to make sure I understood.
When people speak of the dark years after the war, they usually have in mind political oppression and hunger, but what I see are poorly lit streets with black windows and doorways as dark as the inside of a coffin.If the lone light bulb one used to read by in bed late into the night died suddenly, it was not likely to be replaced soon. Every year, we had less and less light in our house and not much heat in winter. In the evening, we sat in our overcoats listening to the rumblings of each other's empty stomachs. When guests came, they didn't even bother to remove their hats and gloves. We would huddle close whispering about arrests, a neighbor being shot, another one disappearing. I wasn't supposed to hear any of this, in case I forgot myself in school and got everyone at home in trouble.
This was the first time I heard people say that we Serbs are numskulls. There was no disagreement. Who else among the nations in Europe was stupid enough to have a civil war while the Nazis were occupying them? We had the Communists, the royalists, and at least a couple of factions of domestic fascists. Some collaborated with Germans and Italians and some did not, but they all fought one another and executed their political opponents. I didn't understand much of it at the time, but I recall the exasperation and anger of the grownups.
Of course, the mood was most likely different in other homes where they welcomed the Communists. We were, impoverished, middle-class family that would have preferred that everything had remained the same. My mother and grandmother hated wars, distrusted national demagogues, and wanted the kind of government that left every body alone.
In other words, they were the kind of people, as we were lectured in school, destined to be thrown on the garbage dump of history.
Occasionally, one of our visitors would start defending the Serbs. Our history is one of honor, heroic sacrifice, and endless suffering in defense of Europe against the Ottoman Empire for which we never got any thanks. We are gullible innocents who always think better of our neighbors than they deserve. We sided with England and America when the rest of Europe was already occupied by the Nazis and it was suicidal to go against them.
Yes, my grandmother would say, we did that because we are conceited fools with exaggerated notions of our historical importance. A rabble of thieving and dimwitted yokels who were happiest under the Turks when they had no freedom, no education, and no ambition, except to roast a suckling pig on some holiday.
"Mrs. Matijevic, how can you talk like that?" our visitors would object. My grandmother would just shrug her shoulders. Her husband had been a military hero in World War I, a much decorated colonel who had lost his enthusiasm for war. I recall being shocked when I first heard him say that Serbs should not have kicked out the government that signed the nonaggression pact with Hitler in 1941. Look what the war had brought us, he would say.
I wonder what my unknown great-uncle in America thought about all that. I bet he had his own ideas on the subject as he sat in some outhouse in Kansas or Texas reading in last month's papers how on March 27, 1941, the heroic Serbs walked the streets of Belgrade shouting "better death than a pact" while Hitler threw a fit. I reckon he must have tried to explain to his wife now and then about Serbs.
Ifshe was an Apache, or a member of some other Native American tribe, she may have understood more quickly. Serbs are a large, quarrelsome tribe, he would have said, never as happy as when they are cutting each other's throats. A Serb from Bosnia has as much in common with a Serb from Belgrade as a Hopi Indian does with a Comanche. All together; they often act as if they have less sense than God gave a duck.
On second thought, he probably never brought up the subject. The Balkans, with its many nationalities and three different religions, is too complicated a place for anyone to explain, or begin to make sense of, especially since each ethnic group writes its history only remembering the wrongs done to them while conveniently passing over all the nasty things they've done to their neighbors over the centuries.
When I came to the United States in 1954, I discovered that the conversation among the immigrant Serbs my parents saw now and then was identical to the one I had heard in Belgrade. The cry was still, how did we who are so brave, so honorable, so innocent end up like this? Because of traitors, of course. Serbs stabbing each other in the back. A nation of double-crossers, turncoats, Judases, snakes in the grass. Even worse were our big allies. England, America, and France screwed us royally. Didn't Churchill say to Eden at Yalta that he didn't give a fuck what happened to Yugoslavia after the Communists took over?
Much of this was true. A few sleazy political deals by world leaders did contribute to our fate. We, displaced persons, were living proof that the world is a cruel place if you happen to find yourself on the wrong side of history. Still, I didn't care for all that obsessive talk about betrayals and internal enemies. It reminded me, too much of how the Communists back home talked.
"It's exhausting to be a Serb," my father would say after an evening like that. He was a cheerful pessimist. He loved life, but had no faith in the idea that the human condition was meliorable. He had had sympathies for the chetniks, pro-monarchy Serbian nationalists, at the beginning of the war, but no more. Nationalist claptrap left him cold. He was like his father, who used to shock family and friends by ridiculing Serbian national heroes. Both he and my father went to church and had genuine religious feelings, but they could not resist making fun of priests.
"There is nothing sacred for them," my mother would say when she got angry with the Simic family. Of course, she really wasn't any better. It's just that she preferred that appearances be kept up. Her philosophy was, let the world think we believe in all that nonsense, and we'll keep our real views to ourselves.
After my parents separated in 1956, I left home. I attended university at night and worked during the day, first in Chicago and then in New York City.If someone asked me about my accent, I would say that I was born in Yugoslavia, and that would be the end of it. I saw my father frequently, but though he liked to reminisce about his youth in the old country he had an equal and even greater interest in America, and so did I.
It was only when we went to visit his brother Boris that the eternal subject of Serbian national destiny came up. Boris was a successful trucking company executive who lived in a posh Westchester suburb,where he had a house, a wife, and three German shepherds. He loved to organize large dinner parties to which he'd invite his many Serbian friends, serve them fabulous food and wine, and then argue with them about politics till the next day.
Boris was a lefty in Yugoslavia, and an admirer of the partisans, but as he grew older, he became more and more conservative, suspecting even Nixon of having liberal tendencies. He had a quality of mind that I have often found in Serbian men. He could be intellectually brilliant one moment and unbelievably stupid the next. When someone pointed this out to him, he got mad. Never in my life had I heard so many original and idiotic things come out of the same mouth. He was never happier than when arguing. Even if one agreed with everything he said and admitted that black was white, he would find reasons to fight you. He needed opponents, endless drama with eruptions of anger, absurd accusations, near fistfights. Boris, everyone who knew him said, would have made Mahatma Gandhi reach for a stick. Compromise for him was a sign of weakness rather than of good sense. He was not a bad man, just a hothead when it came to politics. He died before Milosevic came to power, and I have wondered ever since what he would have made of him and his wars.
Listening to Boris and his pals endlessly rehash our national history, I assumed this was just immigrant talk, old water under the bridge. Like many others, I was under the impression that Yugoslavia was a thriving country not likely to fall apart even after Tito's death. I made two brief trips to Belgrade, one in 1972 and another in 1982, had heard about ethnic incidents, but continued to believe, even when the rhetoric got more and more heated in the late 1980s after the emergence of the first nationalist leaders, that reason would prevail in the end. I had no problem with cultural nationalism, but the kind that demands unquestioning solidarity with prejudices, self-deceptions, paranoias of the collective, I loathed. I couldn't stand it in America, and even less so in Serbia.
The few friends and relatives I had in Belgrade were telling me about the rise of a new leader, a national savior.. called Slobodan Milosevic, whom they all seemed to approve of. I started reading Belgrade papers and weeklies and having a huge monthly telephone bill trying to understand what was taking place. After more than forty years in America, I became a Serb again, except, as many would say, a bad Serb.
"We don't want to live with them any more," friends would tell me. They wanted a complete separation from Croats and Bosnians and at the same time a Serbia that would include all the areas where Serbs had lived for centuries. When I pointed out that this could not be done without bloodshed, they got very upset with me since they were decent people who didn't approve of violence. They simply would not accept that the leaders and the policies they were so thrilled about were bound to lead to slaughter.
"How can you separate yourselves when you are all mixed together?" I would ask and not get a straight answer. I could recall the ethnic mixture we had in our neighborhood in Belgrade and could not imagine that someone would actually attempt to do something so wicked. Plus, I liked the mix. I spent most of my life translating poetry from every region of Yugoslavia, had some idea what their cultures were like, so I could not see any advantage for anyone living in a ghetto with just their own kind.
Of course, I was naive. I didn't realize the immense prestige that inhumanity and brutality have among nationalists. I also didn't grasp to what degree they are impervious to reason. To point out the inevitable consequences of their actions didn't make the slightest impression on them, since they refused to believe in cause and effect.
The infuriating aspect of every nationalism is that it doesn't understand that it is a mirror image of some other nationalism, and that most of its pronouncements have been heard in other places and at other times. Smug in their ethnocentricity, certain of their own superiority, indifferent to the cultural, religious, and political concerns of their neighbors, all they needed in 1990 was a leader to lead them into disaster.
How did I see what many others didn't? Or as the Serbs would say, what made me anodrod (renegade)?
The years of the Vietnam War focused my mind.It took me a while to appreciate the full extent of the prevarication and sheer madness in our press and television and our political opinion, and to see what our frothing patriots with their calls for indiscriminate slaughter were getting us into. The war deepened for me what was already a lifelong suspicion of all causes that turn a blind eye to the slaughter of the innocent.
"Go back to Russia," I recall someone shouting to the antiwar demonstrators in New York. So, it's like that, I recall thinking then. You opt for the sanctity of the individual and your fellow citizens immediately want to string you up. Even today our conservatives argue that we lost the war in Vietnam because the protesters undercut the military, who were forced to fight with one hand tied behind their backs. In other words, if we had gone ahead and killed four million Vietnamese instead of two million, we would have won that war.
Milosevic struck me from the beginning, in the late 1980s, as bad news. I said as much in an interview with a Serbian paper. This provoked a reaction. I was called a traitor in the pay of Serbia's enemies, and many other things. This only spurred me on.
After the siege of the Croatian town of Vukovar in 1991, one didn't have to be Nostradamus to prophesy how badly it would all end for the Serbs. I wrote numerous pieces in Serbian and German newspapers arguing with the nationalists. Many others did the same in Serbia, and far more forcefully and eloquently than I did. We were in the minority. As is usually the case everywhere, a craven, corrupt intellectual class was unwilling to sound the alarm that war crimes were being committed, accustomed as they were under communism to being servants to power.
The belief in the independence of intellectuals, as so much of the twentieth century proves, is nothing but a fairy tale. The most repellent crimes in the former Yugoslavia had the enthusiastic support of people whose education and past accomplishments would lead one to believe that they would know better. Even poets of large talent and reputation found something to praise in the destruction of cities. If they wept, it was only for their own kind. Not once did they bother to stop and imagine the cost of these wars, which their leaders had instigated, for everybody else.
Many of my compatriots were upset with me. Serbs always imagine elaborate conspiracies. For them every event is a sham behind which some hidden interest operates. The idea that my views were my own, the product of my sleepless nights and torments of my conscience, was unthinkable. There were innuendoes about my family, hints that for years there had been suspicions about us, that we were foreigners who had managed for centuries to pass themselves off as Serbs.
My favorite one was that the CIA had paid me huge amounts of money to write poems against Serbia, so that I now live a life of leisure in a mansion in New Hampshire attended by numerous black servants.
Incapable of either statecraft or a formulation of legitimate national interest, all Milosevic and his followers were good at was fanning hatred and setting neighbor against neighbor. We now know that all the supposedly spontaneous, patriotic military outfits that went to defend Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia were organized, armed, and controlled by his secret services.
There is nothing more disheartening than to watch, year after year, cities and villages destroyed, people killed or sent into exile, knowing that their suffering did not have to happen. Once newspapers and weekly magazines became available on the Internet, I'd rise early every morning to read them and inevitably fall into the darkest despair by eight o'clock.
Serbs often say in their defense that they were not the only ones committing war crimes. Of course not.If everyone else were an angel, there would not be several hundred thousand refugees in Serbia today. Nonetheless, it is with the murderers in one's own family that one has the moral obligation to deal first.
This, as I discovered, was not how a patriot was supposed to feel. The role of the intellectual was to make excuses for the killers of women and children. As for journalists and political commentators, their function was to spread lies and then prove that these lies were true. What instantly became clear to me is that I was being asked by my own people to become an accomplice in a crime by pretending to understand and forgive acts that I knew were unforgivable.
It's not just Serbs who make such demands, of course. It is not much better in America today, but that, too, is not an excuse. The unwillingness to confront the past has made Serbia a backpedaling society, unable to look at the present, much less deal with difficult contemporary problems. It's like a family that sits around the dinner table each evening pretending that granny had not stabbed the mailman with scissors and Dad had not tried to rape one of his little girls in the bathroom just this afternoon.
The worst thing is to be right about one's own kind. For that you are never forgiven. Better to be wrong a hundred times! They'll explain it later by saying that you loved your people so much. Among the nationalists, we are more likely to be admired if we had been photographed slashing the throat of a child than marching against some war they had fought and lost.
When I went back to Belgrade in 1972, after an absence of almost twenty years, I discovered that the window above the entrance of our apartment building, through which I had kicked a ball after the war, was still broken. In 1982, it was still not repaired. Last fall, when I returned, I discovered it had been fixed after the NATO bombing, which hit the TV studio close by and broke lots of windows in the neighborhood.
The reason it was not repaired earlier is that all the tenants in the building had quarreled and were not on speaking terms. My late aunt did not acknowledge the existence of some of her neighbors for forty years, so it was unthinkable that she would knock on their doors for the sake of a window or many other things that needed to be done. That, to my mind, is pretty much the story of Serbs and Serbia - or so I intend to tell my great-uncle, whomI still hope to run into one of these days.
He'll be more than hundred years old, sitting in a rocking chair at a nursing home in rural Alabama, deaf and nearly blind, wearing a straw hat and a string tie over a Hawaiian shirt, but still looking like a Serb despite all the guises he devised in his long life to not look like one. From time to time, he mutters some words in that strange language which his nurses take to be just old man's private gibberish. "All you ever need is a roof, a bowl of bean soup, and some pussy." | <urn:uuid:a00cb8ee-6956-4fc0-9897-b3b1779926ac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://balkanwitness.glypx.com/simic.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.990651 | 4,707 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Nelson is a former corporate executive who can afford to dine at four-star restaurants. But she prefers turning garbage into gourmet meals without spending a cent.
On this afternoon, she thawed a slab of pate that she found three days before its expiration date in a dumpster outside a health food store. She made buttery chicken soup from another health food store's hot buffet leftovers, which she salvaged before they were tossed into the garbage.
Nelson, 51, once earned a six-figure income as director of communications at Barnes and Noble. Tired of representing a multimillion dollar company, she quit in 2005 and became a "freegan" -- the word combining "vegan" and "free" -- a growing subculture of people who have reduced their spending habits and live off consumer waste. Though many of its pioneers are vegans, people who neither eat nor use any animal-based products, the concept has caught on with Nelson and other meat-eaters who do not want to depend on businesses that they believe waste resources, harm the environment or allow unfair labor practices.
"We're doing something that is really socially unacceptable," Nelson said. "Not everyone is going to do it, but we hope it leads people to push their own limits and quit spending."
Nelson used to spend more than $100,000 a year for her food, clothes, books, transportation and a mortgage on a two-bedroom co-op in Greenwich Village. Now, she lives off savings, volunteers instead of works, and forages for groceries.
She garnishes her salad with tangy weeds picked from neighbors' yards. She freezes bagels and soup from the trash to make them last longer. She sold her co-op and bought a one-bedroom apartment in Flatbush, Brooklyn, about an hour from Manhattan by bike. Her annual expenditures now total about $25,000.
"I used to have 40 work blouses," said Nelson, sipping hot tea with mint leaves and stevia, a sweet plant she picked from a community garden. She shook her head in shame. "Forty tops, just for work."
Freeganism was born out of environmental justice and anti-globalization movements dating to the 1980s. The concept was inspired in part by groups like "Food Not Bombs," an international organization that feeds the homeless with surplus food that's often donated by businesses.
Freegans are often college-educated people from middle-class families.
Adam Weissman, whose New York group Freegan.info has been around for about four years, lives with his father, a pediatrician, and mother, a teacher. The 29-year-old is unemployed by choice, taking care of his elderly grandparents daily and working odd jobs when he needs to. The rest of his time is spent furthering the freegan cause, he said, which is "about opting out of capitalism in any way that we can."
Freegans troll curbsides for discarded clothes and ratty or broken furniture, which they repair to furnish their homes. They trade goods at flea markets. Some live as squatters in abandoned buildings, or in low-rent apartments on the edges of the city, or with family and friends.
In recent years, Internet sites like Meetup.com have posted announcements for trash tours in Seattle, Houston and Los Angeles and throughout England. Some teach people how to dumpster-dive for food, increasing the movement's popularity. At least 14,000 have taken the trash tour for groceries over the last two years in New York. Another site, Freegankitchen.com, offers lessons for cooking meals from food found in dumpsters, such as spaghetti squash salad.
Though recycling clothes and furniture doesn't strike most people as unusual, combing through heaps of trash for food can be unthinkable to many.
One recent night, Weissman and Nelson led a trash tour through New York for about 40 experienced and first-time diggers, including college students, a high school teacher, a taxi driver and a former investment banker. One veteran handed out plastic gloves.
An employee at D'Agostino's supermarket in Midtown Manhattan had carried out the garbage minutes earlier. The clear plastic bags lining the gum-stained sidewalk bulged with bruised peaches, discolored eggplants, day-old poppy seed bagels and imitation crabmeat.
Careful not to rip the bags and risk angering store managers by creating a mess, some unknotted the ties and sifted through the garbage with bare hands. The bittersweet scent of cilantro, bananas and bread drifted into the air.
Two women who worked next door at a nail salon came outside and stared. A few first-time tour-takers stood away from the group, looking self-conscious.
"We encourage people who have never opened a bag before, just try it," Nelson told the group. "Go ahead." | <urn:uuid:a74232f8-5bd2-4507-b04f-2d7102258ad6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-freegan11sep11,1,369366.story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9743 | 1,016 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Adding life to downtown
The downtown, Uptown and Victory Park areas in the city’s core deserve an infusion of lively activities for residents and visitors. Veletta Forsythe Lill answered the call with a proposal to welcome food trucks in the Arts District. Lill, executive director of Downtown Dallas Inc., suggested that food trucks, which are much more than your father’s catering van, could provide additional eating spots where needed. On Wednesday, City Hall made it possible, changing zoning rules that kept food trucks out of downtown except during special events. And Jason Roberts of Oak Cliff sees potential in City Hall Plaza, which has striking architecture but not much activity. The festivities showed that the plaza can host a cool event. Attendees flew kites, listened to music and played checkers, chess and dominoes. Is this a trend? We hope so.
Call E.T. on your own dime
In a tough economy, governments must choose between wants and needs. We need good schools. We want to scan far-off galaxies for repetitive radio signals that might be signs of intelligent life. Well, some of us do, anyway. Hence, it makes sense that the University of California has decided to yank funding for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence projects it has supported for so long. Now, some have joked that if E.T. phones from home, no one will be there to take the call, but the truth is, the active search for aliens is merely in “hibernation” — supported somewhat by private donations and other smaller sources of revenue. If the skeleton crew that remains does make contact with aliens, we hope they will ask E.T. to please return President Barack Obama’s real birth certificate.
Scott ends grade inflation for school ratings
Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott has rightly decided that the state no longer will use the Texas Projection Measure to rank schools. The TPM projects how well students will do in the future on Texas’ achievement test. That data then is used to help calculate whether a school deserves an exemplary, recognized, acceptable or unacceptable ranking. At one level, the TPM is simply a tool to calculate how much a student is likely to grow during a year. But there’s no way the state should use this formula to evaluate schools. Districts trumpet the success of their campuses when some students in them still haven’t passed the Texas Achievement of Knowledge and Skills. The move will probably cause rankings to drop this year. But better an accurate reading of schools than a projected reading.
How is the birther non-issue a state issue?
It’s bad enough that Donald Trump has taken the birther spectacle to new lows, turning the political arena into a pig-wrestling pit. Now we have the same slop flying in the Texas Capitol. State Rep. Leo Berman of Tyler continued yapping after the White House released President Obama’s long-form birth certificate this week. Berman wants more proof, as if his opinion matters. We’d rather Texas lawmakers save their gas for something useful. With just over a month left in this year’s lawmaking session, being useful is important. Berman should find a way.
Smarter funding needed to help fight wildfires
It may be true that where there’s smoke there’s fire, but there’s no telling where you’ll find the state grant money that is supposed to help fight wildfires. That’s what emerged from a thorough Sunset Advisory Board review of the Texas Forest Service’s $128 million grant program for volunteer fire departments. It turns out that 59 of the 74 high-risk counties received less than $1 million each from 2001 to 2009. As thousands of acres go up in smoke, the service has decided it is wise to consider wildfire danger levels when doling out funds. Before, the service looked at only population size, proximity to other assistance and the number of years a department had been established, but none of those factors matters as much as using known measures that can predict wildfire hotspots. | <urn:uuid:725b85d8-b69d-437f-b7bd-5bdf44bb5c7b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/20110429-editorial-hits-and-misses.ece | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952486 | 844 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Starting on 16 Jan 2013, heavy trains triggered extensive flooding in the greater Jakarta area. As of 22 Jan, 29 people had been killed and over 37,000 people had been displaced. (OCHA, 22 Jan 2013)
As the rain intensity decreased and the flood water receded, the number of displaced people dropped to 4,599 by 25 Jan. Most of evacuation sites were closed as people had returned home. (OCHA, 25 Jan 2013)
Heavy rains continued to trigger floods and landslides in February and March, but on a smaller scale. Over 67,000 people were affected, with 22 killed or missing. Over 10,000 houses were damaged. (OCHA, 31 Mar 2013). | <urn:uuid:114fb425-b706-4d1b-bc82-2046f7482a85> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2013-000006-idn | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984119 | 143 | 1.820313 | 2 |
There’s nothing better than crisp-crusted, cheese-bubbling pizza fresh out of a brick oven. But, when that goes into a box only to lose its crispness as each minute passes while being transported to my house, it’s not the same anymore. So, for pizza at home, I’d rather make my own. Every other week or so, on Friday evening, I’ll whip up my usual dough recipe, let it rise while doing other things, roll it into a big pizza-ish shape, and top it with tomato sauce, mushrooms, olives, and maybe spinach, or whatever other vegetables are sitting around and seem like pizza material, and cheese. But, since reading A16: Food + Wine, I’ve wanted to try the method presented in that book. It’s classic Neopolitan pizza, and there are instructions for the dough, the very simple sauce, and just a few topping options. The idea of classic Neopolitan pizza was reinforced when I read April’s La Cucina Italiana. And, that meant it was time to change up my routine.
Following the A16 process, I started the dough a day early. The dough was mixed, kneaded, and then left in an oiled bowl in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning, the dough was punched down and turned in the bowl, and then returned to the refrigerator until ready to make pizza. The second refrigerated resting time can be anywhere from four to twenty-four hours, and I left it for probably nine hours. It was then turned out onto a floured surface and divided into four equal parts. Those were shaped into balls and left to proof for a couple of hours. I could tell right away that this dough was different than my usual. It had a nice, supple, springy feel to it. To shape the dough into pizzas, Appleman suggests flattening the ball of dough with your fingertips and then using the palm of your hand to press in the center. By pressing with your palm and turning with the other hand, you should get a flat circle with a slightly raised edge. Right. I couldn’t make it happen. I ripped holes in the dough and ended up with a raggedy, uneven, odd-shaped mess. I resorted to my rolling pin.
The next step in the process was the sauce. I don’t know why, but it had never occurred to me that the fresh, light sauce I’ve loved so much on pizzas in restaurants was uncooked. To make the sauce as described in the book, you open a can of San Marzano tomatoes and pour them into a bowl. Squish them with your hands until the tomatoes are broken into small pieces, and add a little sea salt. That’s it. If the canned tomatoes are watery, pour off some water before you begin squishing.
For toppings, I decided to try the pizza romana. The dough was spread evenly with some sauce, very thin slices of garlic were layered on top, some chopped anchovies were scattered about, pitted black olives were added, and a sprinkling of dried oregano finished it. This went onto a baking stone in the bottom of a 500 degree F oven for about seven minutes. When finished, it was drizzled with chile oil. Unfortunately, I did not locate good, salt-packed anchovies and had to get by with olive oil packed ones. Also, there were no jarred Calabrian chiles to be found, so I made the book’s version of chile oil with dried chile flakes instead. The last time I cooked from this book, I mentioned the wine pairings that appear with each recipe. This time, the suggested wine was a Falanghina from Campania which I actually did find. I even snapped a photo of the label (above) so I would remember the name.
This was definitely better than my regular pizza. The dough had developed more flavor from the longer, slower rising time. Of course, it lacked that amazing wood-fired flavor of a great pizza, but I’m just comparing it to my typical, homemade version. The chile oil was a knock-out. It was a rare pizza experience during which I didn’t miss the cheese. The simple sauce was perfect. That’s all a pizza sauce needs to be. And, the wine worked very nicely with the spicy, salty pizza toppings. The Falanghina was a balanced wine with a little crispness but also good body. It wasn’t as crisp as a Sauvignon Blanc and not as buttery as a Chardonnay, but it fell somewhere in between and deliciously so.
I may not think to start my pizza dough a day early every time from now on, but I’ll definitely be making this again. The sauce will likely become my new standard. Also, the remaining chile oil should last a few months in the refrigerator, and then it will, without doubt, be replenished. I used the remaining dough to make a few other pizza variations. One of my favorites, not from the book but just a combination I like, was thinly sliced summer squash with mushroom, dill, and mozzarella, and that one is shown below. | <urn:uuid:fef18cd7-9dbf-4583-94ba-a27ef56341a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lisaiscooking.blogspot.com/2009/05/pizza-romana.html?showComment=1242261240000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975676 | 1,110 | 1.554688 | 2 |
I know we all want to conquer the world. Or at least we have a big, long complicated list of things we have to do – the deadline might be this week, this month, this year, this decade – or maybe it’s our “bucket list”. It’s admirable that we set such high standards and expectations for ourselves. Our reach should exceed our grasp, at least in those areas of life that are most important to us. We all feel that if we fail to get these things done, then surely the course of human history will be inexorably altered.
I think we are sometimes sadly mistaken about our importance in the grand scheme of things. It’s not that we aren’t important – I don’t mean to say we don’t matter. We do – and we matter very much – in many spheres of our lives. However, I think many of us are often confused about which of those spheres are of lasting importance, and which are not.
The example I will give is one I have seen over and over – a woman walking rapidly through a public place – a grocery store, shopping mall, down a busy street. With her she has a child, or even several children, trying to keep up with her rapid stride. She is invariably talking on a cell phone, no doubt some urgent earth-shaking business deal, or some critical social arrangement that must be worked out – NOW. Or maybe just idle gossip with a friend. So she is talking almost as rapidly as she is walking, and she impatiently gestures for the child – or children – to keep up. No doubt the errand she is on, and the call she is making, are very urgent. But I would submit those children matter a whole lot more, they are far more important! I think they are being taught that they don’t matter – and I think a priceless opportunity is being missed, and a painful lesson is being taught. Time to that child is priceless – and I mean dedicated time, where undivided attention is being lavished on them. They need time where they matter more than a darned cell phone, or some other distraction. I have seen children placed in actual danger while being neglected in this way – and if the unthinkable were to happen – how much would that phone call matter then?
- Letting urgent things crowd out important things. I have heard that few people on their death beds regret not spending more time at the office, or on the phone working those big deals. Most of our regrets are more likely to involve matters of the heart – our families, friends, unfulfilled passions. We regret wasted opportunities, lost time, poor decisions made. Is getting home a few minutes earlier in busy rush hour traffic really worth all the rudeness, not to mention risking your life, and the lives of others? In kindergarten we learn to take turns, and do it right the first time, even if it takes a little longer. Then we grow up, and we forget these simple principles. We are too busy.
- At the other extreme, we can also be too focused on future goals; we know we will be happy when we “arrive” at these idealized places some day. We often forget to enjoy where we are now, we are so focused on that greener grass way over there. Sometimes happiness is not a destination you get to – sometimes the joy is in the trip itself – maybe the Yellow Brick Road we are on right now is a better place than Oz will actually turn out to be, if and when we ever get there. Maybe we should just enjoy our travelling companions, and sing another song, and skip merrily down the road while the sun is shining.
- Perfectionism can really suck the joy out of things in life. Sometimes we ought to just be grateful for what we’ve got, and not expect it all to be totally perfect like in the movies and magazines. This also applies to ourselves – in fact, I think most of us are hardest on ourselves in this area. Why not cut yourself some slack, in some areas of your life? Sometimes good enough really is good enough. Sometimes it is the best you can do, with what you have to work with right then and there. Sometimes you need to focus not on perfection, but on the progress you have made. Give yourself some credit for heading in the right direction, and for how far you’ve come, even if you haven’t arrived yet! We are all works in progress. Being merciful and gracious to others is a noble thing – and that is something we should also attempt to give ourselves a measure of at times.
- There are a lot of things that are out of your control. Try as I might, I have never been able to “fix” another person. In fact, they have not even appreciated me trying to fix them, and the more broken they were, the more they seemed to resent it. I have also learned to accept that I am not going to solve world hunger, or be the guiding agent of world peace. I can maybe control myself, my attitudes, my reactions, my physical actions. I cannot even control my emotions – not completely. But I can control what I do with them – how I cope, what I do as a result of them. I can give my brain time to kick in, and let it guide my heart a little. I can also do a lot within my real spheres of influence, like in my family, my church, my work position. I can sometimes influence, where I can’t completely control. That needs to be enough – I need to be able to step back, when it is out of my control. Maybe I need to completely walk away. It’s like that old prayer – we need to have the wisdom to know the difference between what we can and can’t control.
- Play to your strengths. Why spend your limited time and energy trying (in an often futile effort) to be things you are not? Okay, so you’re not shaped like a Barbie Doll (see Item #3 if you are still hoping to look like Barbie). So, instead of focusing on the areas where you fall short, why not play up your best features, and be thankful for them? Instead of fighting with your hair, why not work with its natural texture? Why do so many women hate their own hair, anyway? If it’s curly, why not go with that; instead of all the torturous effort to make it (and especially to keep it) stick straight? If it’s straight, why not glory in that, instead of all the time and money spent trying to make it curlier? Why can’t we accept and love ourselves as we are? Why do we not see how unique and lovely we are – and that we are so much more than just a set of body parts and hair, anyway? So you have cankles, or a poochie belly. I bet you’re the main one who notices. And if you have a big, warm smile on your face, and dress in a way that flatters your strong features, I can pretty much guarantee you’re the only one who knows. Ditto on your “internal stuff”. If you’re an introvert, learn to work with the inherent advantages of being that way. Make peace with yourself. If you’re an extrovert, then work that to your best advantage. Just be real, and natural. It is so much easier. It also gives you a lot more time and energy for more important things in life, too.
- Quit whining. Get on with it. Or, as an alternative, make the best of it. Whining changes nothing, and it’s just downright annoying. If the glass is half empty, you can change your attitude, or you can go fill it up yourself, or you can go get another glass of water. Maybe you can even get something better. Standing around whining and waiting for someone else to fix it is futile and lame, and it just stirs up discontent. Sure if things are really bad, you deserve to grieve, or shake your fist at the unfairness of it all. But eventually, you just have to get on with it, unless you want to just stay where you are, being miserable. So if you’re overweight, what can you do about it? If you do nothing, you know where you’ll be a year from now. Right where you are now, or maybe even worse off. Yes, losing weight is hard. But being overweight is just a continual fun-fest, right? So which hard do you choose for yourself? I chose the losing weight hard, and it was a beast. But I have never, ever regretted it, and I am determined to never go back to that other hard place, no matter what it takes!
- If you don’t take care of yourself, you can quickly become practically worthless to everyone else. So take the time to prepare and eat healthy foods. Go out and work that body, and get it into fighting shape. Take up a hobby that works off your stress, and gives you joy. Do things you love, and spend time with people who build you up, and who help you be stronger and better. Make your own health and wellbeing a priority, and let other parts of your life fall into place around it. You are worth it. In the long run, this time and effort will be an investment that results in you being able to do more for others, and it will pay off greatly in your quality of life. You have got to think longer-term at times. Saving a few seconds hitting the fast-food drive through – what is the unseen cost of that? No time to exercise? What’ll that cost you, down the road?
- Avoid passive things in life, or at least limit their place in your life. For me, this includes most television (except for soccer!), all church committee meetings, people who talk all the time and never listen, and anyone who tells me I can’t do something, when I believe I can. Life should not be lived passively. I may be sitting quite still and quiet, but that would be because I’m praying, or knitting, or kicking butt on the New York Times crossword puzzle (the big Sunday one, in pen). Don’t just take life as it comes, or be in reactive mode. Go out and kick some butt in your own way! It doesn’t have to be things of historical importance, but there should be something to show for it, in the end. You watch 3 hours of television, and what does it get you? More dead brain cells. Why not read a good book instead, or engage in a lively debate with someone, or cook some nice healthy vegetables for dinner?
- In all things, moderation. Of course, in my twisted logic, that would also mean that moderation itself…..should be moderated. A moderate amount of excess can be truly glorious (two words: dark chocolate). But only once in a while. The rest of the time Aristotle’s Golden Mean is the way to go. Most of us really do overdo in some areas of life. If your area of overdoing is in housecleaning, I need for you to come to my house, because mine seems to be in moving the universe from a state of order to perpetual disorder (this concept is known as entropy in the physical sciences). When it comes to entropy, I am an unstoppable force of nature. But I am working on moderating this part of myself. Sometimes now I actually stop and try to reverse the swath of clutter, mayhem and destruction I have left in my wake. The rest of the time, I blame most of the mess on the dog.
- Having said that, take responsibility for yourself. If you are in a good place, then give thanks, and give some thought to what it takes to stay there. If you are not in a good place, first of all, no more whining (re-read #6). Do what you have to do – mourn, throw some plates, whatever. Then put on your “big girl pants” and do some hard thinking on how you can get yourself to a better place. Sure, you may be able to get some guidance or help with this. However, in the end, it is ultimately up to you. Even if you did get a totally raw deal – blame and bitterness are self-defeating, no matter how justified they are. You have a problem, and you need to figure some way to make things better. Maybe (probably) you can’t make it all better. But surely you can do some things to move forward, and make some improvements. Things can always change, and they can change faster if you make more effort, and implement some well thought out plans. Sometimes once you get moving, and overcome the inertia, it actually gets easier.
- No top 10 here, I am not David Letterman. Last but not least, after you learn to take care of yourself, take some of your improved energy and higher level of performance, and make sure you use it for the benefit of others. I don’t think I have ever known a selfish, self-centered person that was truly happy. The happiest people I have known were the ones who gave to and did for others their whole lives. This is something you can get better and better at, with practice; it actually sets up a wonderful cycle of giving, and getting back, then more giving, etc. Some people call it karma, others reaping what you sow. It can start in small ways, and grow from there. You can listen more than you talk, you can go to people where they are at, and just be there for them. You can be a true-blue friend, the kind people trust and depend on in the best and worst of times. We learned these concepts of sharing and kindness back in kindergarten, but we got too busy and lost sight of them along the way. It could be volunteer work – or you could cook something for a hurting friend or family. It can be something as simple as giving someone the gift of your time. This is a good time to develop your own creativity. You do only get partial credit for delivering the surplus of your bumper zucchini crop to all your friends and neighbors, and none if you do it at night or by ringing the doorbell and running away (the zucchini dump and run). Getting outside of and beyond yourself has the added benefit of growing and stretching your soul, and helping you to rise above your own circumstances and limitations. Very few of us will ever be a Mother Teresa. But wouldn’t the world be a far better place if we all made at least a little effort to be more like her?
What would you add to this list? | <urn:uuid:2e7f34ab-cd3b-4473-8db3-3d116921e971> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vibrantnation.com/other-topics/spirituality/things-i-should-have-figured-out-a-lot-sooner/comment-page-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969145 | 3,109 | 1.65625 | 2 |
In November 1992, right before Bill Clinton defeated George H. W. Bush, Grover Norquist published a lengthy article in the American Spectator predicting the horrors a Clinton presidency would usher in. Norquist focused his attention not on the usual conservative bugbears — stagflation, big government, liberal judges — but rather on what he was certain would be a massive, sustained Democratic campaign to use the power of government in order to entrench Democratic control. Norquist rattled off a long list of actions he predicted Clinton would undertake: use the IRS to crack down on conservatives, unleash government organizations to engage in politicking, register legions of new voters (“not necessarily citizens”) at welfare offices and prison induction centers, grant Senate seats to the District of Columbia and perhaps Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and, of course, unleash a wave of compulsory unionization.
Clinton never attempted any of these things, of course. But Norquist’s fever dream was a useful window into a poorly understood aspect of conservative thought, which is an obsession with the ways in which the power of government can be used to help the governing party maintain its own power. Norquist’s ill-founded suspicions of the Democrats was merely a failed attempt to mirror-image project his own operational mode, which is widely shared among movement conservatives. It was the driving force behind the Bush administration’s failed 2005 campaign to privatize Social Security, which conservatives widely and gleefully predicted would, if successful, bring tens of millions of Americans into the “investor class” and thus transmute them into allies of capital rather than labor.
This is the same mentality at work in numerous states where Republicans, having gained power in the 2010 off-year election wave, have invested their political capital in legal changes designed primarily to tilt the future playing field in their party’s favor. That is the basic purpose of the wave of laws to make voting less convenient (Democrats being more heavily represented among sporadic voters) and to crush unions. As much as Republicans detest unions as economic actors, they hate them far more as political actors, organizing significant minorities of voters as discrete voting blocs aligned with the Democrats.
This is the best way to understand the Republican party’s sudden attack on unions in Michigan. Last year, the Michigan director of Americans for Prosperity, the right-wing activist group, explained, “We fight these battles on taxes and regulation but really what we would like to see is to take the unions out at the knees so they don’t have the resources to fight these battles.” Republicans understand full well that Michigan leans Democratic, and the GOP has total power at the moment, so its best use of that power is to crush one of the largest bastions of support for the opposing party.
Obviously, one should always be suspicious of theories that attribute malicious will to power to the other side while absolving one's own allies of the same. I don’t think Democrats abstain from this behavior (to anything like the degree the GOP employs it) because it’s made of angels. Rather, the Democratic party comprises an economically diverse coalition, including not just labor but business as well. Even if Democrats could come up with a plan to crush the political power of business — which is hard because business is way larger and stronger than labor, even in Michigan — huge chunks of the party would object. Whereas nobody in the GOP cares about labor at all, so it’s easier to unify them behind the kind of political/class war strategy we’re seeing here. | <urn:uuid:99f8231e-4bed-4e70-8208-bfaff5cf06e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2012/12/michigan-the-republican-will-to-power.html?imw=Y | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960129 | 735 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Medicare's prescription coverage gap is getting noticeably smaller and easier to manage this year for millions of older and disabled people with high drug costs.
There is some good news for many Medicare recipients, present and future. According to new Medicare figures, the cost of falling into the “doughnut hole” is shrinking.
The “doughnut hole,” as many know all-too-well, is the treacherous territory you fall into when you have spent too much of your Medicare Part D benefits to continue receiving full benefits (but not so much of your own money to qualify for “catastrophic coverage”).
It’s an easy hole to fall into, especially if you have a special medication. With the new health law, however, pharmaceutical companies have begun offering a 50% discount on medications to beneficiaries in the gap, and that has meant a great deal of savings.
According to the figures, the average beneficiary who falls into the coverage gap already would have spent $1,504 this year on prescriptions. Yet, with the new law, that cost fell to $901, with each individual doing better or worse depending on which medicines they use.
Reference: ABC News (November 27, 2011) “AP Newsbreak: Medicare’s Drug Coverage Gap Shrinks” | <urn:uuid:825a0af5-e511-4408-b4ee-8984676f5142> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.tesarlaw.com/2011/12/filling-the-medicare-donut-hole.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963523 | 271 | 1.710938 | 2 |
65 Percent of Americans Spend More Time with Their Computer than Their Spouse8 in 10 Americans More Dependent on their Computer than 3 Years Ago
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Jan. 22 -- 65 percent of consumers are spending more time with a computer than with their significant other, according to new independent research commissioned by support.com.
Conducted by independent research firm Kelton Research, the "Cyber Stress" study confirmed consumers' growing relationship with technology in their everyday lives. In fact, more than 8 out of 10 Americans (84%) say they are more dependent on their home computer now than they were just three years ago(1).
Like any relationship, the test comes not when things are going well but when times are tough. And unfortunately in the case of their computers, things aren't going so well for Americans(2).
-- The average consumer has experienced computer troubles eight times - about every four months - over the last three years. -- The average American is wasting 12 hours per month - the equivalent of half a weekend - due to problems with their home computer. -- A majority of Americans (52%) describe their most recent experience with a computer problem as one of anger, sadness or alienation.
"We empathize with consumers about the emotional nature of dealing with computer problems. As the leader in computer problem resolution for nearly 10 years, we have a distinct advantage in helping consumers quickly and conveniently solve their frustrating computer problems," said Josh Pickus, CEO of SupportSoft. "For these reasons, we will be launching support.com, a service that speaks to consumers without talking down to them and uses proven, patented technology to resolve their frustrating computer problems - guaranteed(3)."
Considering the large role computers play in people's lives today, experts agree that computer problems can sometimes cause significant emotional distress, similar to what happens when a problem occurs between spouses.
"As computers become increasingly pervasive in our lives, our relationships with them can begin to seem almost as important as a relationship with a significant other. When problems then occur with the computer, it often leaves people feeling frustrated or helpless," says Dr. Robi Ludwig, renowned psychotherapist and host of TLC's reality series "One Week to Save a Marriage." "On my show, I teach couples that they don't have to be an expert in resolving tough marital problems, they simply have to know whom to turn to for support. With the introduction of support.com, consumers can have a trusted advisor to turn to for technology relief when they experience frustrating technology problems."
SupportSoft's "Cyber Stress" study was conducted between December 2006 and January 2007 and involved 1001 nationally representative Americans age 18 and older with PCs and broadband Internet access. The survey results indicate a margin of error of +/- 3.1% at a 95% confidence level.
SupportSoft (NASDAQ: SPRT) is a leading provider of software and services that automate the resolution of technology problems. The Company's solutions reduce technology support costs, improve customer satisfaction and enable new revenue streams for enterprises and digital service providers that support 50 million users worldwide. For more information about the Company and its corporate offerings, visit supportsoft.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are detailed in our SEC filings. Statements included in this release are based upon information known to SupportSoft as of the date of this release, and SupportSoft assumes no obligation to update information contained in this press release.
(1) Survey commissioned by SupportSoft and conducted by Kelton Research, an industry research firm.
(2) Survey commissioned by SupportSoft and conducted by Kelton Research, an industry research firm.
(3) If a support.com Solutions Engineer can't solve a customer's problem, the customer will receive a refund. Hardware problems not included in the guarantee.
CONTACT: Jennifer Massaro of SupportSoft, Inc., +1-650-556-8596, or
email@example.com, or Shelley Risk of Ruder Finn for
SupportSoft, +1-415-249-6778, or firstname.lastname@example.org
Web site: http://www.supportsoft.com/ | <urn:uuid:9c3e981c-1509-4be8-a0c1-bd9adeef070b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.support.com/about/releases/65-percent-of-americans-spend-more-time-with-their-computer-than-their-spouse | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956877 | 887 | 1.679688 | 2 |
The Park Street gang rape case of February 2012 is getting weaker. Forensic reports accessed by HT have failed to detect sperm in the vaginal swab and smear of the 37-year-old Anglo-Indian victim.
Experts said instead of 48 hours within which the samples should have been taken, the city police took 10 days, by which time it was too late to establish rape.
The setback, if any, for investigators comes after CCTV footage provided by the hotel did not contain any pictures of the victim and the alleged rapists emerging from the hotel on Kolkata’s signature street.
In the early hours of February 6, five men allegedly gangraped the victim in a moving car in and around Park Street after the men befriended her at a disco and offered her a lift home.
Forensic science expert Dr Parag Baran Pal of Sagar Datta Medical College and Hospital said samples should be tested within 48 hours. Between 48 and 96 hours, DNA tests can be done for confirmation.
“Swab and semen must be sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory for a DNA probe. The DNA from intact spermatozoa could be collected within 96 hours,” Dr Pal said.
But in this case, the samples were never sent for a DNA test, raising questions about the professionalism of the probe. | <urn:uuid:5ce1b67d-994f-4076-a3d1-3b9cbf467156> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Kolkata/Forensic-test-report-rules-out-rape-at-park-street/Article1-1001930.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959311 | 270 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Shots - Health Blog
Thu January 19, 2012
Stories About High Health Care Costs Win Prizes
If you're bugged by cost problems you find in health care, you can draw attention to them (and blow off a little steam) by writing about them. And if you're really lucky your work might help change things.
Who knows? You might even make a little cash. Essays from four people just won them $1,000 each in the second annual Costs of Care contest.
Costs of Care is a nonprofit group that's trying to get doctors and other health professionals to be more thoughtful about health costs. The group gets some backing from insurers Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and the Harvard Pilgrim Health Plan.
Now, with that out of the way, who won?
The patient winners:
Renee Lux of Connecticut explains how a CT scan that she could probably have done without triggered some expensive insurance complications. As Lux was shopping for health coverage for her healthy family of four, a broker told her there was a problem. She'd had a scan and a medicine prescribed within 30 days of applying for coverage, which made her "practically uninsurable." She eventually got coverage but at $189 more per month than she would have otherwise spent, she writes. Next time, she'd ask if the test and prescription were really necessary.
Court Nederveld of Florida, who has only catastrophic insurance coverage, saved money on heart tests and blood pressure medicines by shopping around and pushing doctors to explain their prices. "It will be several years before Medicare is available to me and until that time I intend to challenge every prescription or procedure as to necessity and cost," he writes.
The winners in the health professional category:
Molly Kantor of Massachusetts tells the story of a 65-year-old woman with heart failure and several other condition who didn't want to be admitted to the hospital for treatment. The health clinic where Kantor, a third year med student, works one afternoon a week came up with an appropriate outpatient treatment plan, saving money and hassles.
Andrew Schutzbank of Massachusetts explains how a woman receiving an infusion of a $1400-a-day medicine to treat her pulmonary hypertension couldn't be discharged from the hospital. An internal policy about patients taking the drug prevented her from being moved out of the expensive cardiac care unit, even though she had been using the drug without problems as an outpatient. And a move to rehab wasn't an option because of the particulars about how the drug was paid for. Eventually, the woman's doctors decided it was probably best to stop the medicine anyway. She was stable and having some side effects. While the decision was a valid medical one, he writes, "we would not have considered it if [it] were not for the cost factor of the medicine."
The Costs of Care group says it will post the entries, including the winners, on its blog during 2012. | <urn:uuid:fe0ae354-8fd6-4e6e-ae05-7206ca242cc7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wncw.org/post/stories-about-high-health-care-costs-win-prizes | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979208 | 603 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Fear Of Chavez Is Fear Of Democracy
Bush: If it’s our oil, why do Venezuelans get to vote on it?
GOP panicked that counting votes in Venezuela will spread to Florida
The Family Bush can fix Florida. They can fix Ohio. But it’s just driving them crazy that they can’t fix the vote in Venezuela.
Bush: If it’s our oil, why do Venezuelans get to vote on it?
The Bush Administration and its press puppies - the same ones who couldn’t get enough of the purple thumbs of voters of Iraq - are absolutely livid that this weekend the electorate of Venezuela had the opportunity to vote.
Typical was the mouth-breathing editorial by the San Francisco Chronicle, that the referendum could make Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s President, “a constitutional dictator for life.” And no less a freedom fighter than Donald Rumsfeld, from the height of the Washington Post, said that by voting, Venezuela was “receding into dictatorship.” Oh, my!
Given that Chavez’ referendum was defeated at the ballot box, we now know that, as a dictator, Chavez is a flop. Of course, without meaning to gainsay Secretary Rumsfeld, maybe Chavez is not a dictator.
Let’s get clear exactly what this vote was about. Firstly, it was a referendum to change the nation’s constitution to end term limits for President.
Oh, horror! Imagine if we eliminated term limits in the US! We could end up stuck with a president - like Franklin Roosevelt. Worse, if Bill Clinton could have run again, we’d have missed out on the statesmanship of Junior Bush. While US media called Chavez a “tyrant” for suggesting an end to term limits, they somehow forgot to smear the tyrant tag on Mr. Clinton for suggesting the same for the America.
We were not told this weekend’s referendum was a vote on term limits, rather, we were told by virtually every US news outlet that the referendum was to make Chavez, “President for Life.” The “President for Life” canard was mis-reported by no less than The New York Times.
But ending term limits does not mean winning the term. As Chavez himself told me, “It’s up to the people” whether he gets reelected. And that infuriates the US Powers That Be.
Secondly, beyond ending term limits, the referendum would have loaded the nation’s constitution with changes in property law, work hours and so many other complex economic adjustments that the entire referendum sank of its own weight.
It’s the Oil.
Term limits and work hours in Venezuela? Why was this a crisis for Washington?
Why is the Bush crew so bonkers about Hugo? Is it because Venezuela sits on the world’s largest reserve of coconuts?
Like Operation Iraqi Liberation (”OIL”) - it’s all about the crude, dude. And lots of it. The US Department of Energy documents I obtained indicate that the guys holding Bush’s dipstick figure that Venezuela is sitting on 1.36 trillion barrels of crude, five times the reserves of Saudi Arabia.
Chavez’ continuing tenure means that Venezuelans’ huge supply of oil will now be in the hands of … Venezuelans!
As Arturo Quiran, resident of a poor folks’ housing complex, told me, “Ten, fifteen years ago … there was a lot of oil money here in Venezuela but we didn’t see it.” Notably, Quiran doesn’t particularly agree with Chavez’ politics. But, he thought Americans should understand that under Chavez’ Administration, there’s a doctor’s office in his building with “free operations, x-rays, medicines. Education also. People who never knew how to read and write now know how to sign their own papers.”
Not everyone is pleased. As one TV news anchor, violently anti-Chavez, told me in derisive tones, “Chavez gives them (the poor) bricks and bread!” - how dare he! - so, they vote for him.
Big Oil has better ideas for Venezuela, best expressed in several Wall Street Journal articles attacking Chavez for spending his nation’s oil wealth on “social programs” rather than on more drilling platforms to better fill the SUVs of Texas.
Chavez has committed other crimes in Washington’s eyes. Not only has this uppity brown man spent Venezuela’s oil wealth in Venezuela, he withdrew $20 billion from the US Federal Reserve. Weirdly, Venezuela’s previous leaders, though the nation was dirt poor, lent billions to the US Treasury on crap terms. Chavez has said, Basta! to this game, and has called for keeping South America’s capital in … South America! Oh, no!
Oh, and did I mention that Chavez told Exxon it had to pay more than a 1% royalty to his nation on the heavy crude the company extracted?
And that’s why they have to kill him. In 2002, The New York Times sickeningly applauded the coup d’etat against Chavez. But that failed. Therefore, as the electorate of Venezuela is obstinately refusing to vote as Condi Rice tells them, there’s only one solution left for democracy-loving Bush-niks, the view express out loud by our President’s spiritual advisor, Pat Robertson:
“We have this enemy to our south controlling a huge pool of oil. Hugo Chavez thinks we’re trying to assassinate him. I think we ought to go ahead and do it. … … We don’t need another $200 billion war … It’s a whole lot easier to have some covert operatives do the job.”
But Hugo’s not my enemy. Indeed, he’s made a damn good offer to the American people: oil for $50 a barrel - nearly half of what it sells today. By locking in a long-term price, Venezuela loses its crazy Iraq war oil-price windfall. In return, we agree not to let oil prices fall through the floor (it dropped to $9 a barrel in 1998) and bankrupt his nation. But Saudi Arabia doesn’t like that deal. And Abdullah’s wish is George Bush’s command. (Interestingly, Chavez’ fellow no-term-limits dictator Bill Clinton endorsed the concept.)
I don’t agree with everything Chavez does. And I’ve found some of his opponents’ point well taken. But unlike Bush, I don’t think I should have a veto over the Venezuelan vote.
And the locals’ sentiments are quite clear. I drove with one opposition candidate, Julio Borges, on a campaign stop to a small town three hours from Caracas. We met his supporters - or, more accurately, his lone supporter. The “rally” was in her kitchen. She served us delicious arepas.
The next day, I returned to that very same town when Chavez arrived. Nearly a thousand screaming fans showed up - and an equal number were turned away. (The British Telegraph laughably reports that Chavez’ boosters appear “under duress.”) You’d think they were showing for a taping of “South American Idol.” (Well, the Venezuelan President did break into song a few times.)
It’s worth noting that Chavez’ personal popularity doesn’t extend to all his plans for “Bolivarian” socialism. And that killed his referendum at the ballot box. I guess Chavez should have asked Jeb Bush how to count votes in a democracy.
So there you have it. Some guy who thinks he can take Venezuela’s oil and oil money and just give it away to Venezuelans. And these same Venezuelans have the temerity to demand the right to pick the president of their choice! What is the world coming to?
In Orwellian Bush-speak and Times-talk, Chavez’ referendum was portrayed before the vote as a trick, a kind of “Saddam goes Latin.” Maybe their real fear is that Chavez has brought a bit of economic justice through the ballot box, a trend that could spread northward. Think about it: Chavez is funding full health care for all Venezuelans. What if that happened here?
Greg Palast has just returned from South America. Catch his investigations for BBC Television and Democracy Now! in the newly-released DVD, The Assassination of Hugo Chavez, including Palast’s interviews with Chavez, his opponents - even the man who kidnapped Chavez.
Watch the trailer on YouTube. | <urn:uuid:175df82e-0680-4aea-8b5c-959c271bfcb2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zcommunications.org/fear-of-chavez-is-fear-of-democracy-by-greg-palast | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959162 | 1,850 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Pilates Classes At Your Offices UK-wide
The Pilates classes will consist of the more common floor based Pilates system.
Pilates offers a unique way to develop your suppleness whilst restoring muscular balance and improving your posture. It is a gentle but focused exercise programme, which utilises a series of approximately 500 designed movements. The primary focus in Pilates is on the abdomen, lower back, and buttocks, which comprise the core (`power centre`) of the body, and the rewards are plentiful:
Emphasis is on body awareness, controlling body alignment, and correct breathing through concentration to promote efficient movement. The result is a strong flexible body, with muscles that are lengthened and toned. Through the process of regular Pilates sessions the body`s structure realigns and eventually the body is able to move with maximum efficiency and minimum effort.
With lower backache, often an occupational health problem, Pilates is fast becoming known for its effectiveness in strengthening the muscles that support the back.
"Work-related pain costs the Uk £5.7 billion every year"
"More than 1 million people suffer from work-related pain per annum"
"More than 1.5 million work days are lost to back pain per annum"
"More than 4.7 million work days are lost due to repetative stress injuries per annum" | <urn:uuid:84765754-4703-4636-a7b9-db9f37492482> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.relaxa.co.uk/pilates_at_work.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946235 | 284 | 1.515625 | 2 |
France attempted the arguably impossible on Wednesday by presenting a bill to ban Muslim face veils and asking Muslims not to feel it was singling them out in the process.
President Nicolas Sarkozy made a brave effort of it at the cabinet meeting that approved the government’s draft “burqa ban” that we reported on here. Justice Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie, who Sarkozy’s UMP party always seems to call on when things get tough, did her best in an interview (here in French) that got the part about Mecca wrong. There will be more of this in the months ahead as the bill moves through the National Assembly and Senate.
It’s hard not to single out Muslims when they’re the only ones who wear full face veils. The bill avoids mentioning them as such, saying only that the ban applies to “concealment of the face in public.“ But nobody’s fooled, a fact Sarkozy acknowledged in his comments to the cabinet: “This is a decision one doesn’t take lightly. It’s a serious decision because nobody should feel hurt or stigmatised. I’m thinking in particular of our Muslim compatriots, who have their place in the republic and should feel respected. Laïcité means respect for all beliefs, for all religions.
“But we are an old nation united around a certain idea of personal dignity, particularly women’s dignity, and of life together. It’s the fruit of centuries of efforts. The full veil that fully conceals the face violates these values that are so fundamental for us, so essential to the republican contract. Dignity cannot be divided and in the public sphere, where we meet each other, where we are with others, citizenship should be lived with uncovered faces. So ultimately there can be no other solution than a ban in all public places.”
To critics who say the ban would victimise women who want to wear the veil, Alliot-Marie – seen at left leaving the cabinet meeting (photo: Jacky Naegelen) said: “As we see it, these women are victims. It would be ideal if these sanctions didn’t have to be imposed on them.” | <urn:uuid:d1220d57-a2c3-4170-8501-8b991f48f1ef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/tag/nicolas-sarkozy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948725 | 471 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Marnessa Vital, program director, said the program was proposed, accepted and launched in response to a widespread issue of suspended students "causing problems" in their local communities.
Vital said initially, a roundtable community meeting was held in the city of Fairburn by the city administrator, but the issue of student suspensions and what those students chose to do while not at school during the daytime was a concern of many.
“It was brought to my attention that there are a lot of kids out of school during the daytime,” she said. “What we have found is that a lot of kids have been suspended and don’t have access to the alternative campus on Campbellton Road.”
Parents have to provide transportation for their children to attend the campus and it was a stretch for many, said Vital.
“From Palmetto to Fairburn and other areas, they couldn’t get to the campus,” she said.
So, instead, the students are left to their own devices at home, alone.
“In my research, I went around to apartment complexes in the area and asked if the landlords had issues with students that are on the property in the daytime,” she said.
Many of the landlords, according to Vital, had issues with students destroying property. In those cases, either their parents or the police were called.
Statistics from the city of Fairburn confirmed Vital’s firsthand research.
“The city of Fairburn presented me with a juvenile police report,” she said. “What we found was that from January 2011 to December 2011, there were more than 126 youth that were either charged with burglary, theft or trespassing. There was also one gun incident.”
In order to combat what was becoming a growing issue, both Vital and the city administrator proposed Step by Step, that would act as a local alternative to those students who were suspended from their home schools.
Services include mental health comprehensive counseling sessions and assistance with helping students walk along the path to a college education.
Currently, there are eight students in the program.
“It is our hope that we can bring the community to help students and their families,” she said. “Schools can’t do it by themselves and parents can’t do it by themselves.”
Step by Step will host an open house on Feb. 26 at their office, 149 Broad St. in Fairburn.
Information: (770) 964-2244, extension 450. | <urn:uuid:eab59f49-8ba7-4b44-a6a0-405454f6980c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.neighbornewspapers.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Step+by+Step+alternative+suspension+program+bridging+gap+in+South+Fulton%20&id=21691235&instance=south | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988139 | 529 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Chapter XV.—Of Putting Off Cloaks.
But since we have touched on one special point of empty observance, 8851 it will not be irksome to set our brand likewise on the other points against which the reproach of vanity may deservedly be laid; if, that is, they are observed without the authority of any precept p. 686 either of the Lord, or else of the apostles. For matters of this kind belong not to religion, but to superstition, being studied, and forced, and of curious rather than rational ceremony; 8852 deserving of restraint, at all events, even on this ground, that they put us on a level with Gentiles. 8853 As, e.g., it is the custom of some to make prayer with cloaks doffed, for so do the nations approach their idols; which practice, of course, were its observance becoming, the apostles, who teach concerning the garb of prayer, 8854 would have comprehended in their instructions, unless any think that is was in prayer that Paul had left his cloak with Carpus! 8855 God, forsooth, would not hear cloaked suppliants, who plainly heard the three saints in the Babylonian kings furnace praying in their trousers and turbans. 8856
i.e. the hand-washing.686:8852
Or, “reasonable service.” See Rom. xii. 1.686:8853
Or, “Gentile practices.”686:8854
See 1 Cor. xi. 3-16.686:8855
2 Tim. iv. 13.686:8856
Dan. iii. 21, etc. | <urn:uuid:c2a85ba7-6406-40ee-af33-e6b514786ff6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/003/0030759.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957839 | 352 | 1.546875 | 2 |
George W. Bush on Principles & Values
President of the United States, Former Republican Governor (TX)
KERRY: Once again, Bush is misleading America. I've actually passed 56 individual bills that I've personally written and, in addition to that, and not always under my name, there are amendments on certain bills. But more importantly, with respect to the question of no record, I helped write- I did write, I was one of the original authors of the early childhood health care and the expansion of health care that we did in the middle of the 1990s. And I'm very proud of that. So Bush's wrong.
BUSH: On the big questions, about whether or not we should have gone into Afghanistan, the big question about whether we should have removed somebody in Iraq, I'll stand by those decisions because I think they're right. When they ask about the mistakes, that's what they're talking about. They're trying to say, "Did you make a mistake going into Iraq?" And the answer is absolutely not. It's a right decision. On the tax cut, it's a big decision. I did the right decision. Our recession was one of the shallowest in modern history. I made some mistakes in appointing people, but I'm not going to name them. I don't want to hurt their feelings on national TV. But history will look back, and I'm fully prepared to accept any mistakes that history judges to my administration, because the president makes the decisions, the president has to take the responsibility.
The Bush campaign billed his visit to Beaverton as a chance for ordinary citizens to pose questions to the president. But this was no town hall appearance before a cross-section of citizens. Bush-Cheney re-election headquarters had instructed Oregon campaign officials to distribute tickets, so the school gymnasium was filled last Friday with 2,000 passionate Bush backers.
Kerry's more open approach carries political risks. Sometimes protesters show up and try to disrupt his appearances. Such dissent is never a problem for Bush. When the time came to "Ask President Bush" Friday, none of his 16 questioners challenged him on his policies. Several did not ask questions at all, but simply voiced support.
Bush's parents had not told him how serious her condition was. They were afraid he might tell her. When they drove to his school to tell him she had died, George, in the second grade, spotted them and thought he saw Robin. "I got to the car still thinking Robin was there," Bush said later, "but of course, she was not."
Barbara Bush said in her memoirs, "He asked a lot of questions and couldn't understand why we had known for a long time." George felt an obligation to comfort his mother, who leaned on her son for support while her husband traveled. He would joke and laugh and make her feel better. The loss gave him a sense of how fleeting and arbitrary life can be, contributing to his lighthearted approach. Bush was bothered by the fact that, outside their family, no one mentioned Robin and her death. As he would later in life, Bush liked to confront issues.
On paper, Richard Nixon was one of the smartest presidents, with an IQ of 143, yet he orchestrated the Watergate cover-up, leading to his resignation. Bush had little interest in learning for its own sake. He was goal oriented and prized actions over words. Only if learning helped him to make a decision was he interested. What he wanted, he would say in rare reflective moments, was to "get as much out of life as possible and to do as much as possible." When he retires someday to his ranch, he has said, "I want to turn to my wife and say, My dance card was full. I lived life to the fullest."
In Skull & Bones' house were faded portraits of venerable Bonesmen-Rockefellers, Harrimans, Tafts, Whitneys, and Bushes-posing with skull and crossbones. Members called themselves "good men," a term Bush would use to describe people he trusted and admired.
Bush drank at fraternity parties and engaged in pranks. "George was a fraternity guy, but he wasn't Belushi in Animal House," recalled Calvin Hill, a DKE with Bush. He was a goodtime guy. But he wasn't the guy hugging the commode at the end of the day.
"I think he was far less wild than the media portrays it," his Skull and Bones friend Donald Etra said. "He drank but not to excess. I never saw any drugs."
The entire performance was a manifestation of Bush's intense distaste for acting and pretense. When responding to loaded questions from reporters or an unfair charge by Gore, Bush's honesty impelled him to signal, if ever so subtly, what he really thought. The smirk was not a signal of arrogance but rather an effort to convey his true feelings: that he was participating in a charade. When emerging from sessions with political types, he would roll his eyes and grouse under his breath about the "B.S." meeting he had just had. In debates with Gore, he could not very well say, "That's B.S.," so he would smirk.
"He's a bad actor, a bad pretender," an aide said. "What you see is what you get.. A real actor would not show that."
ANALYSIS: This Bush campaign˙ad is literally accurate, but artfully worded to avoid tipping off viewers to the real controversy over the Peterson bill Kerry opposed-the legal right to abortion. And when the ad faults Kerry for missing a˙vote to fund our˙troops, it leaves out the fact that the bill passed˙both houses of Congress without a single vote against it. The ad is true enough when it says˙Kerry has missed the great majority of Senate votes while campaigning for President. But˙it˙twists the facts in its descriptions of the bills it cites˙to support its˙argument˙that Kerry's priorities are misplaced.˙
From time to time, I fired off flares, hoping to throw a bit of light-if not a warning-on where they were headed. I did so by raising these matters in my regular Find Law column. For one such column, in which I discussed the potential of impeachment if the Bush administration had intentionally manipulated government intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction an editor at Salon, which reprinted the column, used the title "Worse than Watergate"-drawing his own conclusion from the material. I could not deny that it describes perfectly what I have to say in more ways than I had anticipated.
But the lines that divided the two groups [of voters] were not mainly lines of race, nor class, but of family status and religious observance. Bush's strongest supporters were the people most outraged by Clinton's misconduct. What they wanted most from him was simple: They wanted him not to be Clinton. They were pretty much indifferent to everything in his program except the promise to lay off the interns. That was not much of a mandate to govern.
Well, if the country wanted an un-Clinton administration, they had hired the right man. Was Clinton famously unpunctual? Bush was always on time. Were the Clintons morally slack? Bush opened every cabinet meeting with a prayer.
I am honored and humbled to stand here, where so many of America’s leaders have come before me, and so many will follow.
We have a place, all of us, in a long story, a story we continue, but whose end we will not see. It is the American story, a story of flawed and fallible people, united across the generations by grand and enduring ideals.
The grandest of these ideals is an unfolding American promise: that everyone belongs, that everyone deserves a chance, that no insignificant person was ever born. Americans are called to enact this promise in our lives and in our laws. And though our nation has sometimes halted, and sometimes delayed, we must follow no other course.
What you do is as important as anything government does. I ask you to seek a common good beyond your comfort, to defend needed reforms against easy attacks, to serve your nation, beginning with your neighbor. I ask you to be citizens. Citizens, not spectators. Citizens, not subjects. Responsible citizens, building communities of service and a nation of character.
Americans are generous and strong and decent, not because we believe in ourselves, but because we hold beliefs beyond ourselves. When this spirit of citizenship is missing, no government program can replace it. When this spirit is present, no wrong can stand against it.
“He’d just come up [to the big leagues] and gotten a quick look,” Bush recalled painfully. In 25 games, Sosa was batting a meager .238. Who could have predicted then that Sosa would become a superstar, slamming 66 homers for the Chicago Cubs in 1998 and dramatically dueling Mark McGwire for the all-time season home run record?
The team managers recommended the deal and he approved it, Bush remembered. “We were coming down the stretch, chasing Oakland. We were either going to kick in and stay or fade.” The Rangers faded. Oakland won the pennant and the World Series. “It just didn’t work out. Sosa just didn’t kick in.”
This is the fun stuff to talk about, I noted. “Politics is not, not fun,” Bush instantly replied.
Prosperity is not a given. Governments don’t create wealth. Wealth is created by Americans -- by creativity and enterprise and risk-taking. But government can create an environment where businesses and entrepreneurs and families can dream and flourish.
The 2000 election was the messiest and most nerve-racking in 125 years. Bush's reinvention of the Republican Party did not quite work. He lost the popular vote by half a million ballots and had to be carried over the finish line by the Supreme Court.
In the nineteenth century, three presidents received fewer votes than their main opponent. But it has been a long time since it last happened, and in the meantime, the country's attitudes toward voting and democracy have changed dramatically. Bush arrived in office politically crippled.
Many of Bush’s early proposals fit this approach, [such as his support for Charitable Choice], AmeriCorps, and character education in schools. Bush’s inaugural address was full of words like “civility,” “responsibility” and “community.”
Communitarians say Bush has yet to embrace some of their other favorite ideas: workplace flexibility, limits on urban sprawl, campaign finance reform, and having the wealthy pay more for certain government benefits.
We do not accept this, and we will not allow it. Our unity, our union, is the serious work of leaders and citizens in every generation. And this is my solemn pledge: I will work to build a single nation of justice & opportunity. I know this is in our reach, because we are guided by a power larger than ourselves, who creates us equal in his image. And we are confident in principles that unite and lead us onward.
America has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be citizens. Every child must be taught these principles. Every citizen must uphold them. And every immigrant, by embracing these ideals, makes our country more, not less, American.
[Bush concluded by echoing his nomination speech theme], again hitting Gore on the Clinton-Gore administration’s record on Medicare and Social Security: “On all the big issues facing this country, our message on November 7 will be loud and clear: You’ve had your chance. You have not led, and we will.”
My generation tested limits -- and our country, in some ways, is better for it. Women are now treated more equally. Racial progress has been steady, if still too slow. We are learning to protect the natural world around us. We will continue this progress, and we will not turn back. At times, we lost our way. But we are coming home.
Bush’s address was his latest attempt to say “I will be different” as he outlined a series of steps that he said would help de-escalate tensions, encourage compromise, and clean up some of the pork-barrel spending practices that have soured the public on politicians from both sides.
Bush explicitly promises to change the way Washington does business by reaching out to Democrats, sharing credit, and seeking results over partisan gains. But he also promises to restore a sense of moral purpose to the presidency.
Bush became a cheerleader at the all-boys school. He would wield a megaphone at football games and make barbed remarks about spectators and players. The show that he and his cohorts put on overshadowed the game, causing some grumbling. But the school paper came to his defense. "George's gang has done a commendable job, and now is not the time to throw a wet blanket over cheerleading," an editorial said. "School spirit had never been higher," Johnson said.
It goes without saying that it would be best to have neither a scandal nor something far worse. There is, however, only one antidote: an end to the obsessive, unjustified, and disproportionate secrecy that defines the Bush-Cheney White House.
My hope along the way is not to scandalmonger, but rather to spray as much antiscandal disinfectant-called light-as I possibly can.
Clinton had brought in eccentrics, some of them, perhaps, but also powerful intelligences, open to new ideas. The country could trust the Bush administration not to cheat or lie. But could the administration cope with an unprecedented problem? That might be rather dicier.
The reason for the bias toward the ordinary was Richard Darman, the most conspicuously brilliant person in Bush 41's White House. In the 1992 election, he attacked Bush 41 himself. And the lesson the younger Bush took from that experience was: no new Darmans.
The first is ideological. Bush, they say, is a president beholden to something they call the radical right wing. This suffers from an important defect: It's just wrong. Bush is indeed a generally conservative president, and those who oppose conservatism are right to oppose him. But he is nothing like a pure ideologue.
The second explanation for the rising anger against Bush focuses not on his policies but his politics-and especially on his supposedly uniquely ruthless campaign methods. This also falls a little short of the truth. Bush virtually never speaks disrespectfully of the Democratic Party and he rarely criticizes his opponents at all. Bush is certainly a competitive politician, and yes, he prefers to win rather than lose. But that's politics-and by the standards of the recent past, gentle politics.
BUSH: It requires a clear vision, willingness to stand by our friends, and the credibility for people, both friend and foe, to understand when America says something, we mean it.
GORE: I see a future when the world is at peace, with the United States of America promoting the values of democracy and human rights and freedom around the world. What can I bring to that challenge? I volunteered and went to Vietnam. In the House of Representatives, I served on the House Intelligence Committee. When I went to the United States Senate, I asked for an assignment to the Armed Services Committee. I was one of only 10 Democrats, along with Senator Joe Lieberman, to support Governor Bush’s dad in the Persian Gulf War resolution. And for the last eight years, I’ve served on the National Security Council.
GORE: Sometimes people who have great dreams, as young people do, are apt to stay at arm’s length from the political process because they think if they invest their hopes, they’re going to be disappointed. But thank goodness we’ve always had enough people who have been willing to push past the fear of a broken heart and become deeply involved in forming a more perfect union. We’ve got to address one of the biggest threats to our democracy: the current campaign financing system. I will make the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill the very first measure that I send to the Congress as president.
BUSH: A lot of people are tired of the bitterness in Washington. There are a lot of young folks saying, you know, “Why do I want to be involved with this mess?” And what I think needs to happen is to set aside the partisan differences and set an agenda that will make sense. I don’t think it’s the issues that turn kids off. I think it’s the tone.
BUSH: The first question is what’s in the best interests of the United States. Peace in the Middle East is in our nation’s interests. Having a hemisphere that is free for trade and peaceful is in our nation’s interests. An administration is dedicated citizens who are called by the president to serve the country. One of the things I’ve done in Texas is I’ve been able to put together a good team of people. I’ve been able to set clear goals.
BUSH: It’s important for the president to be credible with Congress and foreign nations. It’s something people need to consider. I’m going to defend my record against exaggerations. Exaggerations like only 5% of seniors receive benefits under my Medicare package. That’s what he said the other day. That’s simply not the case.
GORE: I got some of the details wrong last week. I’m sorry about that. One of the reasons I regret it is that getting a detail wrong interfered with my point. However many days that young girl in Florida stood in her classroom doesn’t change the fact that there are a lot of overcrowded classrooms in America and we need to do something about that. I can’t promise that I will never get another detail wrong. But I will promise you that I will work my heart out to get the big things right for the American people.
Q: Does that resolve the issue?
BUSH: That’s going to be up to the people.
A: I know it comes across that way. I don’t think it’s fair. This will be an administration of people well suited to their jobs. I’m secure enough that I want smart people around me. I’m comfortable with people who have high intellects.
Q: So how do you assure folks you’re smart enough to be President?
A: I’m confident of my intellect. I wouldn’t be running if I wasn’t. My job will not be to out-think everybody in my administration. My job will be to assemble an administration full of very capable and bright people.
Q: So getting the smartest people to tell you what to do.
A: No, no, no. Not tell me what to do. Make recommendations. Plus, I’m not going to have a group of people who say the same thing.
Q: So what happens when they disagree?
A: These people don’t decide for me. I’m going to have to decide. I will overrule my advisers. I’ve done that before. My job is to get good thinkers and get the best out of them.
BUSH: My faith plays a big part in my life. Prayer and religion sustain me. When I make decisions, I stand on principle, and the principles are derived from who I am. I believe we ought to love our neighbor like we love ourself, as manifested in public policy through the faith-based initiative. I believe that God wants everybody to be free. And that's been part of my foreign policy. In Afghanistan, I believe that the freedom there is a gift from the Almighty.
KERRY: I went to a church school and I was taught that the two greatest commandments are: Love God, with all your mind, your body and your soul, and love your neighbor as yourself.I think we have a lot more loving of our neighbor to do. We have an unequal school system. And the president and I have a difference of opinion about how we live out our sense of our faith. I talked about it earlier when I talked about faith without works being dead.
"When I left here, I didn't have much in the way of a life plan," Bush told students when he returned to Yale in 2001. "I knew some people who thought they did. But it turned out that we were all in it for the ups and downs, most of them unexpected. Life takes its turns, makes it own demands, writes its own story. And along the way, we start to realize we are not the author."
No one could have anticipated the peril that America would face during the presidency of George W. Bush. Yet no one could have been better suited to confronting that peril. It required vision, courage, patience, optimism, integrity, focus, discipline, determination, decisiveness, and devotion to America.
Goodness had been one of the main themes of Bush's campaign speeches. He often observed that if the government could ever write a law that could make people love their neighbors, he would be glad to sign it. This was, when you think about it, an odd thing for a Republican president to say. If Congress had sent Ronald Reagan a law obliging people to love their neighbors, he would have vetoed it as an impertinent infringement of personal liberty, and unconstitutional besides.
But Bush came from & spoke for a very different culture from that of the individualistic Ronald Reagan: the culture of modern Evangelicalism. To understand the Bush White House you must understand its predominant creed. It was a kindly faith, practical and unmystical.
No matter what our background, in prayer, we share something universal -- a desire to speak and listen to our maker, and to know his plan for our lives.
An American president serves people of every faith, and serves some with no faith at all. I have found my faith helps me in the service to people. Faith teaches humility.
A charge to keep I have,[Hanging in my office is] a beautiful oil painting by W.H.D. Koerner entitled A Charge to Keep. The painting, inspired by the hymn, [pictures] a horseman determinedly charging up what appears to be a steep & rough trail. This is us. [The painting and] hymn have been an inspiration for me & for members of my staff. “A Charge to Keep” calls us to our highest and best. It speaks of purpose and direction. In many hymnals, it is associated with a Bible verse, 1 Corinthians 4:2: “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.”
A God to glorify,
A never dying soul to save,
And fit it for the sky.
To serve the present age,
My calling to fulfill;
O may it all my powers engage
To do my Master’s will!
The Adherents.com website is an independent project and is not supported by or affiliated with any organization (academic, religious, or otherwise).
Such factors as religious service attendance, belief, practice, familiarity with doctrine, belief in certain creeds, etc., may be important to sociologists, religious leaders, and others. But these are measures of religiosity and are usually not used academically to define a person’s membership in a particular religion. It is important to recognize there are various levels of adherence, or membership within religious traditions or religious bodies. There’s no single definition, and sources of adherent statistics do not always make it clear what definition they are using.
The National Governors Association (NGA) is the collective voice of the nation’s governors and one of Washington’s most respected public policy organizations. NGA provides governors with services that range from representing states on Capitol Hill and before the Administration on key federal issues to developing policy reports on innovative state programs and hosting networking seminars for state government executive branch officials. The NGA Center for Best Practices focuses on state innovations and best practices on issues that range from education and health to technology, welfare reform, and the environment. NGA also provides management and technical assistance to both new and incumbent governors.
Since their initial meeting in 1908 to discuss interstate water problems, governors have worked through the National Governors Association to deal with issues of public policy and governance relating to the states. The association’s ongoing mission is to support the work of the governors by providing a bipartisan forum to help shape and implement national policy and to solve state problems.
Fortune Magazine recently named NGA as one of Washington’s most powerful lobbying organizations due, in large part, to NGA’s ability to lead the debate on issues that impact states. From welfare reform to education, from the historic tobacco settlement to wireless communications tax policies, NGA has influenced major public policy issues while maintaining the strength of our Federalist system of government.
There are three standing committees—on Economic Development and Commerce, Human Resources, and Natural Resources—that provide a venue for governors to examine and develop policy positions on key state and national issues.
[Note: NGA positions represent a majority view of the nation’s governors, but do not necessarily reflect a governor’s individual viewpoint. Governors vote on NGA policy positions but the votes are not made public.]
|Other candidates on Principles & Values:||George W. Bush on other issues:|
George W. Bush
Third Party Candidates:
Carol Moseley Braun
|Adv: Avi Green for State Rep Middlesex 26, Somerville & Cambridge Massachusetts| | <urn:uuid:c8a67d0f-bc94-4d8b-bdd3-62fe1f8dd8d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ontheissues.org/2004/George_W__Bush_Principles_+_Values.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973561 | 5,441 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Assault weapons aren't needed, period. Not even in earthquakes. At least, that's what Vice President Joe Biden says.
Answering critics who say assault weapons would be useful as a last line of defense should a natural disaster result in chaos, Biden gave some advice Thursday in a discussion about gun control during a Google+ Hangout.
The vice president, known for his colorful, off-the-cuff remarks, said a double-barrel shotgun would be more practical in such a scenario, adding assault weapons are harder to handle for people unfamiliar with the firearms.
"It's harder to use an assault weapon to hit something than it is a shotgun, OK?" he said, as he mimicked holding a gun with both arms. "So if you want to keep people away in an earthquake, buy some shotgun shells."
Biden's comments came the same day Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced her assault weapons ban bill, a piece of legislation with strong support from President Barack Obama. The president and vice president rolled out their own proposals to curb gun violence last week, and Biden will hit the road Friday to take the administration's case before the public in Richmond, Virginia.
Feinstein's measure would stop the sale, transfer, importation and manufacture of more than 100 specialty firearms and certain semi-automatic rifles.
Along with banning assault weapons, the administration and Feinstein also want to install a 10-round limit for magazines.
"I'm much less concerned quite frankly about what you'd call an assault weapon than I am about magazines and the number of rounds that can be held," Biden said.
One participant in the web discussion--who had initially asked the question about earthquakes--also followed up by asking whether a magazine cap would actually have an impact in a scenario such as the mass shooting at the Connecticut elementary school that left 26 dead, including 20 children.
Biden said that gunman, who had 30-round magazines, had to swap out "four or five times." If limited to 10 rounds, however, the vice president argued the gunman would have had to swap out 25 or 30 times. | <urn:uuid:58db040d-9d27-4e7c-95d5-b46424a7932b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wgal.com/news/politics/Biden-s-gun-advice-for-earthquakes/-/9360314/18267792/-/item/0/-/142q6kwz/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967527 | 431 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Buffalo Museum of Science offers free admission on Jan. 21by jmaloni
The Buffalo Museum of Science and Independent Health will present Independent Health Community Health Day Monday, Jan. 21. All museum guests will receive free general museum admission and may enjoy activities focused on exercise, healthy eating habits and food quality.
The museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with special activities offered from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the museum's Hamlin Hall and new health systems science studio, Explore YOU presented by Independent Health. Diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol screenings will be offered by Catholic Health Systems of WNY for adults 18 and older. A blood drive will be held by Upstate New York Transplant Services from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. | <urn:uuid:f333d787-ef15-46b6-96cc-fcf86b53297f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wnypapers.com/news/article/current/2013/01/17/109360/buffalo-museum-of-science-offers-free-admission-on-jan.-21 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933742 | 166 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Tue August 7, 2012
Enterprise zones extended in Illinois
Governor Pat Quinn toured Illinois Tuesday as he signed legislation that extends tax incentives for businesses within so-called enterprise zones. One of the stops was at the Chicago-Rockford International Airport.
Other stops included Chicago, Peoria, Decatur, Mount Vernon, and the Quad Cities.
In Rockford, the governor said it addresses the most important issue in Illinois, which is economic growth.
"We've gotta have a great American middle-class if we're gonna have a great country. And that's what we're doing right now - protecting the middle-class by making sure we have good employers who make commitments and investments to get more jobs" Quinn said.
The law takes effect immediately and extends the program for 25 years. Businesses within the designated zones essentially get a tax break. The new law also creates a board to oversee the process of determining which companies are eligible.
The program does have its critics. They say there isn't enough monitoring of the zones to make sure they're effective. | <urn:uuid:71252d73-b363-498a-8dfb-e9416c028350> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://northernpublicradio.org/post/enterprise-zones-extended-illinois | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964638 | 218 | 1.546875 | 2 |
A collection of frequently visited links on Hofstra.edu.
Hofstra University is a dynamic private college on Long Island, NY, where students can choose from more than 140 undergraduate and 150 graduate programs in liberal arts and sciences, business, communication, education, health and human services, and honors studies, as well as a School of Law and School of Medicine. | more |
EMARS began with the installation of a Moog Modular Synthesizer and multitrack recording studio back in the fall of 1969. When Hofstra officially opened the studio in the summer of 1970, it was the first of its kind on Long Island and one of few such studios in the nation.
Today, EMARS consists of four studios: One still houses the original Moog and is used primarily for fundamental electoacoustic training and analog sound synthesis. A second is an Instructional Recording Laboratory fitted with nine identical computer-based MIDI stations. Each station is fully functional professional recording studio equipped with virtual analog synthesizers, samplers and MIDI as well as multi-track hard disk recording, audio editing and mixing. This Studio serves as a base for class instruction in areas such as film scoring and commercial music production, sequencing, arranging, and improvisation. A third houses another computer / MIDI setup and is designed primarily for independent composition and for music printing. The forth is a complete multitrack analog and direct-to-disc digital recording, mastering and teaching facility. It features extensive MIDI interconnections, state-of-the-art synthesis modules, signal processors, and is attached to a large recording studio which can accommodate a full chorus or orchestral ensemble.
Hofstra currently offers both historical survey and studio composition-based courses in Electronic Music, beginning and advanced courses in Music Recording Technology and Independent instruction in both areas. In addition, Hofstra offers a regularly scheduled summer course in MIDI, Computers and Technology for Music Educators, which is part of a series of Music Education programs.
Music Department Contact: | <urn:uuid:9a4efcd6-3717-4941-a301-5684a019a3d4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hofstra.edu/academics/Colleges/HCLAS/MUSIC/music_emars_more.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946327 | 408 | 1.625 | 2 |
One of South Africa's newer international grounds, Willowmoore Park is a smaller-sized venue and home of the Easterns provincial team. It first hosted a one-day international in February 1997 when India met Zimbabwe. Sachin Tendulkar celebrated the new venue's debut with a century as the Indians won by six wickets, with over 10 overs to spare. Willowmoore Park remains a one-day international venue; it has not yet hosted a Test. However, it has become a more and more popular choice as an ODI ground. During the Cricket World Cup in 2003 it hosted two matches. It is a multi-use stadium but is currently used mostly for cricket matches. The stadium opened in 1924 and holds the capacity to accommodate 20,000 people. | <urn:uuid:59693853-f68b-4806-98d4-c8e2b19b4ed1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cricket.yahoo.com/ground-profile/Willowmoore%20Park,%20Benoni_172 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969035 | 155 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Published on Brock University (http://brocku.ca)
Dr. Haj-Ahmad graduated from Brock with his honours B.Sc. in 1980 and his M.Sc. in 1982. He continued his studies, earning a Ph.D. at McMaster University in 1986 but soon returned to Brock and now teachs undergraduate courses in molecular genetics and biotechnology as well as graduate courses in molecular virology and immunology.
As a pioneer in the biotech industry, Dr. Haj-Ahmad believes passionately that the 21st Century belongs to biotechnology. In 1998, Dr. Haj-Ahmad founded Norgen Biotek Company, which, among its dozen patents, has created a nucleic acid and protein isolation technology used for isolating and purifying DNA and RNA samples. This technology is helping scientists and clinicians around the world to study, identify and treat disease as well as develop new products for use in medicine and agriculture.
In addition to teaching at Brock, Dr. Haj-Ahmad commits himself to developing young minds through his involvement with the Niagara Regional Science Fair, the FUTURES program, and his organization of workshops for local school teachers. He continually impresses upon his students the notion that there is always a path to make great ideas or better techniques a reality. | <urn:uuid:2ec95c72-0717-4d74-b040-ef38cdf38640> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://brocku.ca/print/5819 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970703 | 263 | 1.554688 | 2 |
New Haven, CT - I was thinking about how 2012 is a good time for liberals to reclaim the rhetoric of patriotism and religion that they ceded to conservatives more than 40 years ago, when an acquaintance invited me to contribute to his publication. It's called The Point and it's a fantastic journal of culture and politics out of Chicago. Its website has a spot for what he and his colleagues call "Points". These are mini-essays that get you thinking about something vital.
As it happened, I was watching YouTube footage of William F Buckley and Gore Vidal tetchily trading views of the Chicago police riots of 1968. They were witnessing a pivotal moment in US political history - the foundational break-up of the Democratic Party. Just before, but mostly afterward, the party was breaking along factional lines we still see today: the anti-war New Left, the flight of white southerners to the Republican Party and the beginning of the Democratic leadership's abandonment of the working class.
What struck me was how different their exchange was, compared with today's talking heads (though they were indeed a pair of proto-talking heads). For one thing, they spoke in paragraphs, not tweets. They didn't use talking points, cliches, slogans or whatever counts for legitimate debate now. And that's the point: They took this seriously. There were stakes.
"Sensibility is almost entirely absent from today's punditry. There's a lot of posturing and preening, but most of it is theatrical and most of that is from conservatives."
They were well-known public intellectuals by this time: Buckley as the founder of the National Review, Vidal as a novelist, screenwriter and essayist. This wasn't a notch in their respective curriculum vitae. TV was still novel to these men. And besides, how could the stakes be higher? The legitimacy of the republic was cast into doubt after the police attacked US citizens.
Back then, politics was not entertainment
The seriousness of the moment was underscored by a brief burst of pettiness. At one point, Buckley interrupts Vidal, who responds: "Shut up a minute." Buckley says he won't shut up and then says that law enforcement has a right to "ostracise" those US citizens who encourage others to shoot US marines. That's when Vidal calls Buckley out: "As far as I'm concerned, the only pro- or crypto-Nazi here is yourself." To which, Buckley gives as good as he got: "Now listen, you queer. You stop calling me a crypto-Nazi or I'll sock you in the goddamn face and you'll stay plastered."
As I say, it was petty, but it was also illustrative of much larger themes. No one is neutral on a moving train, as it were. The texture of US society was fundamentally changing and even figures as sophisticated as Buckley and Gore were not immune to that era's spasms of upheaval. And their ad hominem moment said something else, something about our political moment. They disagreed, but disagreeing didn't prevent them from engaging each other in intimate combat. Face to face. Mano-a-mano.
This sensibility is almost entirely absent from today's punditry. There's a lot of posturing and preening, but most of it is theatrical and most of that is from conservatives. Rush Limbaugh blusters and bloviates behind a microphone. Sean Hannity carps and snipes in front of a camera. Buckley and Gore were a lot of things - Buckley was kind of fascist and Gore, who claims bisexuality, was often an irritating gadfly - but they were not showman. This was not entertainment. Politics was significant. As significant as getting your face pushed in by your ideological foe.
Talking about God and country with heart and guts
That was my "Point" for The Point. They don't make conservatives like Bill Buckley anymore. No matter what you thought, you had to admire a guy who smiled while fighting. As effete and stuffy as he was, there was seamless swagger to Buckley, a rare kind of muted machismo.
While liberals aren't as guilty of showmanship as conservatives (Keith Olbermann is the exception), they are as guilty of not taking politics seriously. Conservatives often resort to name-calling in the absence of debate, but liberals ignore whole categories of discussion. Like patriotism and religion. I suspect the reason is discomfort with talking about them, and I suspect that that's partly because they don't want to risk sounding like conservatives.
"By not talking about patriotism and religion, and by not talking about God and country with heart and guts, liberals needlessly allow themselves to be discredited with accusations of being un-American and godless."
Well, it's time we got over that.
By not talking about patriotism and religion, and by not talking about God and country with heart and guts, liberals needlessly allow themselves to be discredited with accusations of being un-American and godless. Yes, many liberals - especially the educated secular northeast breed - are critical of US hegemony and have little affinity for Christ, but neither precludes fealty to the flag and at least lip-service to God. While liberal ideals such as liberty, equality and justice for all are terribly important, they are terribly abstract. If you want to win people over with your ideas, you have to strike where emotions run hot. That means getting over your quaint discomfort with patriotism and religion, and wrapping your ideals in the rhetoric of red meat.
If pragmatism doesn't sway you, consider this historical moment. Conservatism began ascending partly as a reaction to the 1960s, but also as a reaction to the Democratic Party's and liberalism's crack-up. Now it's the GOP's turn. There is a growing consensus that it is too radical to be taken seriously, making their appeals to God and country sound hollow. This is a good time to reclaim that rhetorical terrain. Here are some suggestions:
Republicans have pledged never to raise taxes. Fine. Then they don't care about America. Schools, roads and other investments in our country don't happen on their own. Those who do pay taxes and want others to pay their fair share are patriotic. Anyone who sends his money off-shore, as Republican Mitt Romney does, is not a patriot. Worse, he has paid $2 million since 2000 in taxes to foreign countries, where he hides his money from the IRS.
|In-depth coverage of the US presidential election
Republicans who scapegoat the poor, the vulnerable and the sick are not Christian (or from any religion that respects the pre-Christian doctrine of the Golden Rule). Christ didn't turn his back on them. Why should we? Most religious arguments in favour of some kind of conservative objective can be countered with religious arguments. Gay marriage? The Sermon on the Mount. Abortion? The primacy of the conscience. Free market theology? My brother's keeper. In general, when a conservative proposal is socially exclusive, dehumanising or otherwise cold-blooded, bring up Jesus.
Otherwise, man up
There was a time when conservatives were the tough guys and liberals the crybabies. Conservatives went to war while liberals stayed home to protest. That was a misconception, obviously, but a popular one. Now conservatives are more likely to cry, literally. Glenn Beck's show of tears became so influential that even House Speaker John Boehner cried. Conservatives are now in the habit of bewailing everything, making constructive debate nearly impossible. So it's time liberals start taunting conservatives for their crybaby ways. Yeah, it's tough living in a pluralist society with competing views and values, but that's life. Get over it. Can the complaints and get to work.
John Stoehr is a lecturer in political science at Yale and a frequent contributor to the American Prospect, the New Statesman, Reuters Opinion and the New York Daily News.
Follow him on Twitter: @johnastoehr
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy. | <urn:uuid:67cbace2-39a5-4bd1-b83e-35a61d4e9e49> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/05/2012511134754283648.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976137 | 1,662 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Coggeshall Abbey and Paycocke’s, Essex
8 October 2008
We visit the historic village of Coggeshall, built on the site of a Roman settlement and home to some of the oldest and most picturesque buildings in England. Originally founded by King Stephen in 1142, Coggeshall Abbey was transferred to an order of French Cistercian monks in 1148. The monks brought with them many skills, including brick-making, the evidence of which can still be seen in the Abbot’s House, Guest House and Cloisters. We are given an exclusive guided tour of these stunning ancient monuments by the present owner who lives in the adjoining sixteenth-century manor house, itself once owned by Sir Thomas Seymour, brother of Jane and guardian of Elizabeth I. We also visit Paycocke’s, one of the finest examples of late Gothic and Tudor timber-framed architecture featuring uncommonly intricate carved woodwork and panelling.
9am–7pm; SOLD OUT | <urn:uuid:962ab484-6767-4023-b320-4bdc25a4e377> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/events/friends-preview-days/coggeshall-abbey-and-paycockes-essex,575,EV.html?action=com.othermedia.webkit.site.UserPreferenceAction&actionToken=aIYWyDTNrSD93&preference=user-size-large | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964206 | 213 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Take a look at these pics taken around my school!!!
2. Tie socks on your arms and put on a bright orange jacket and run around through the downtown area of your town waving your arms around and screaming “walrus walrus walrus cabbage” 125 times.
3. Smile at everyone and when they talk to you just smile even bigger and stare off into the distance.
4. Dress up like a freak and put on a neon safety vest and ride your bike around saying “HI!!!” and wave at random strangers, especially old ladies.
5. Go to a fancy restaurant and order spaghetti and eat it with your feet.
6. Make up your own language that no one will understand and run around insulting people and laughing at them.
7. When your teacher asks a question raise your hand and say “to find the square root of an artichoke you must multiply the monkey pants with the fried hippopotamus and then add lumpy goat chunks subtracted by the fish head with cows eyeballs taste yummy yummy with salted donkeys and chickens eyelashes. Then sprinkle the remains with unicorn tears.” Do this while standing on your desk.
The goals I have for this semester are:
- To average above 80%
- To get a part time job
- To win the divison for my SRSL soccer team
- To get at least 90% or above in at least one class
- to have an awesome time in this class and learn even more about computers
Those are my goals for this semester. | <urn:uuid:420ac323-6ac9-4441-abb9-261b5097efe0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ampitup5.edublogs.org/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936587 | 324 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Associated Press, HAMZA HENDAWI: “Islamic scholars criticize bin Laden’s sea burial” – Muslim clerics said Monday that Osama bin Laden’s burial at sea was a violation of Islamic tradition that may further provoke militant calls for revenge attacks against American targets.
Although there appears to be some room for debate over the burial — as with many issues within the faith — a wide range of senior Islamic scholars interpreted it as a humiliating disregard for the standard Muslim practice of placing the body in a grave with the head pointed toward the holy city of Mecca.
Sea burials can be allowed, they said, but only in special cases where the death occurred aboard a ship.
Bin Laden’s burial at sea “runs contrary to the principles of Islamic laws, religious values and humanitarian customs,” said Sheik Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand Imam of Cairo’s al-Azhar mosque, Sunni Islam’s highest seat of learning.
A radical cleric in Lebanon, Omar Bakri Mohammed, said, “The Americans want to humiliate Muslims through this burial, and I don’t think this is in the interest of the U.S. administration.”
A U.S. official said the burial decision was made after concluding that it would have been difficult to find a country willing to accept the remains. There was also speculation about worry that a grave site could have become a rallying point for militants.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive national security matters.
President Barack Obama said the remains had been handled in accordance with Islamic custom, which requires speedy burial, and the Pentagon later said the body was placed into the waters of the northern Arabian Sea after adhering to traditional Islamic procedures — including washing the corpse — aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.
But the Lebanese cleric Mohammed called it a “strategic mistake” that was bound to stoke rage.
In Washington, CIA director Leon Panetta warned that “terrorists almost certainly will attempt to avenge” the killing of the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks.
“Bin Laden is dead,” Panetta wrote in a memo to CIA staff. “Al-Qaida is not.”
According to Islamic teachings, the highest honor to be bestowed on the dead is giving the deceased a swift burial, preferably before sunset. Those who die while traveling at sea can have their bodies committed to the bottom of the ocean if they are far off the coast, according to Islamic tradition.
“They can say they buried him at sea, but they cannot say they did it according to Islam,” Mohammed al-Qubaisi, Dubai’s grand mufti, said about bin Laden’s burial. “If the family does not want him, it’s really simple in Islam: You dig up a grave anywhere, even on a remote island, you say the prayers and that’s it.”
“Sea burials are permissible for Muslims in extraordinary circumstances,” he added. “This is not one of them.”
But Mohammed Qudah, a professor of Islamic law at the University of Jordan, said burying the Saudi-born bin Laden at sea was not forbidden if there was nobody to receive the body and provide a Muslim burial.
“The land and the sea belong to God, who is able to protect and raise the dead at the end of times for Judgment Day,” he said. “It’s neither true nor correct to claim that there was nobody in the Muslim world ready to receive bin Laden’s body.”
Clerics in Iraq, where an offshoot of al-Qaida is blamed for the death of thousands of people since 2003, also criticized the U.S. action. One said it only benefited fish.
“If a man dies on a ship that is a long distance from land, then the dead man should be buried at the sea,” said Shiite cleric Ibrahim al-Jabari. “But if he dies on land, then he should be buried in the ground, not to be thrown into the sea. Otherwise, this would be only inviting fish to a banquet.”
The Islamic tradition of a quick burial was the subject of intense debate in Iraq in 2003 when U.S. forces embalmed the bodies of Saddam Hussein’s two sons after they were killed in a firefight. Their bodies were later shown to media.
“What was done by the Americans is forbidden by Islam and might provoke some Muslims,” said another Islamic scholar from Iraq, Abdul-Sattar al-Janabi, who preaches at Baghdad’s famous Abu Hanifa mosque. “It is not acceptable and it is almost a crime to throw the body of a Muslim man into the sea. The body of bin Laden should have been handed over to his family to look for a country or land to bury him.”
Prominent Egyptian Islamic analyst and lawyer Montasser el-Zayat said bin Laden’s sea burial was designed to prevent his grave from becoming a shrine. But an option was an unmarked grave.
“They don’t want to see him become a symbol, but he is already a symbol in people’s hearts.”
Associated Press writers Barbara Surk in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Jamal Halaby and Sameer N. Yacoub in Amman, Jordan, and Zeina Karam in Beirut contributed to this report. | <urn:uuid:08bb563b-1b01-4734-91f5-e884193f601c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://israelpalestineanalysis.wordpress.com/2011/05/06/muslim-scholars-bin-ladens-burial-at-sea-violated-islamic-tradition-was-a-strategic-mistake-bound-to-stoke-rage/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961843 | 1,161 | 1.648438 | 2 |
“Anamorphic Typography” is a creative project by Joseph Egan.
Notes about “Anamorphic Typography” (published at Behance Network):
This project evolved out of a brief we had set ourselves as part of the assessment for our Foundation Degree course at Chelsea College of Art & Design. From initially looking into the existing and possible relationship between graphic design and architecture we discovered the process of anamorphosis as used by the fine artist Felice Varini.
After researching and testing the process in our studio we began to search for an ideal architectural space within our college buildings to execute our installation in. When planning an anamorphic installation is it important to consider that to maximise the fracturing of the design, it is best to try and touch as many plains as possible. We eventually decided to carry out our installation in a corridor of our college (as shown in the images) using the long walls to maximise the distortion of the letterforms. All of our work is site specific and we spend as long as possible discussing a choosing the perfect architectural locations for our works.
Photos © Joseph Egan Link via Colossal | <urn:uuid:f2dc55e2-ce46-4902-9c8c-67bdc33f8e92> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://illusion.scene360.com/design/18594/its-definitely-a-point-of-view/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951487 | 234 | 1.632813 | 2 |
One of the things that always generates excitement among authors is the prospect of an “auction” between publishers for their book. But there’s also a mystique surrounding auctions, and many writers wonder how they actually work. So let’s pull back the shroud of mystery and peek at what an auction looks like.
The prospect of an auction means that several publishers are interested in your book. That’s exciting in itself, but more than that, the high level of interest means publishers are confident that they can probably sell a lot of copies, so of course that means a higher advance (than if there wasn’t an auction). Knowing people are excited about the book, combined with the prospect of decent money, is one of the best things that can happen to an author. So the excitement is warranted.
Usually when three or more publishers express interest in making an offer on a book, the best way to handle it is an auction. Contrary to myth, this doesn’t mean the book is guaranteed to be a blockbuster bestseller nor does the author have to be a celebrity. It simply means it’s strong enough that several publishers are interested in publishing it. The auction is held to keep things fair — to give each interested publisher an equal shot — not just to drive up the price.
Auctions are most common for non-fiction authors with big platforms, since those are the most valuable authors from a publisher’s perspective.
There are different kinds of auctions, and the agent decides how each auction will run. They could be via phone or email, often being a combination with offers coming by phone, followed up in writing via email.
In a “best bids” auction, the agent sets a date and time by which all interested publishers need to have their offers in. They’re expected to put their best offer on the table, so each publisher has the opportunity to figure out what they’re realistically willing to pay for it, without having the price driven up by competing bids. Usually a best-bids auction is held if only two or three publishers are expected to bid.
In a “round robin” auction, the agent sets a deadline date for offers. Once all the initial offers are received, the lowest bidder is given the opportunity to outbid the highest or drop out; then the next lowest bidder is given the opportunity to top the highest bid; and it continues until there is one winner standing.
Sometimes before an auction, the author and agent (or attorney) actually sit down with the interested publishers and talk for an hour or so, to get to know one another. This is extremely helpful for both author and publisher in making their decisions. If a face-to-face meeting isn’t possible, there will usually be conference calls in which the author and agent talk with the editorial and marketing staff at the publisher.
Of course, sometimes big celebrity authors cause a feeding frenzy. This usually happens when memoirs become available from big celebrities; or former U.S. Presidents; or people involved in big news stories such as US Airways pilot “Sully” Sullenberger and recently, the formerly imprisoned Amanda Knox.
Is an auction all about the advance?
Surprisingly, an auction isn’t totally “show me the money.” Especially when the author is a non-celebrity, the agent may be looking at the total publishing package, including marketing plans and perks, bonuses, release dates, royalty rates, sub-rights, how excited the publisher seems about the book and how much they seem to “get it,” and who the editor will be.
Sometimes one publisher is especially interested in acquiring the project, and will make a bid they hope is considerably stronger than what anyone else is offering, telling the agent they’re making a “preemptive offer.” If it’s strong enough and the author and agent are excited about the publisher, the project will be taken off the table before the auction has a chance to get going. The book is said to be sold “on a preempt.”
I don’t have any hard data, but it seems to me that auctions are a bit less frequent then they used to be. In addition, where an auction used to imply a “huge” advance, it doesn’t always mean that now. A book could be sold at auction for the mid-five figures to over a million dollars.
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Today on the Books & Such blog:
Old-Style Publisher vs. New-Style by Janet Grant | <urn:uuid:c20f179e-0117-4d9c-bdd3-905bfb1ecb57> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rachellegardner.com/2012/03/how-does-a-publishing-auction-work/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960378 | 965 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Posts tagged with 'Ubuntu'
Microsoft isn't exactly the most-loved company in the world, and part of that arguably has to do with its dominant position in the OS market. Its flagship product, Windows, has improved recently, but frustrations caused by its checkered past are, for some, hard to forget.
For years, many computer industry professionals have hoped that strong Windows alternatives would emerge. Much of this hope was based on the idea that highly-polished GUIs for Linux-based operating systems could offer consumers Windows-like experiences and give Microsoft a run for its money. | <urn:uuid:fea10e6e-073e-4e31-96c9-f2b39cc1b781> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/tags/ubuntu | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977039 | 122 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Nov 8, 2012 / 1:44 pm
An explosion and fire at a plant sent 17 people to hospital, four of them with serious injuries, and produced a dark cloud of toxic smoke Thursday.
The incident occurred in Quebec's Eastern Townships at a facility belonging to Neptune Technologies & Bioressources, which produces health products derived from marine life like Omega-3.
A Sherbrooke police spokesman said the explosion triggered the fire. Police couldn't immediately say if any lives were in danger.
"It's a major fire. There are a number of injuries," said Rene Dubreuil of the Sherbrooke police.
"For now we're trying to secure the area and take care of the injured."
A fire department spokesman said that all 65 employees had been accounted for. In the minutes following the blaze several people were feared to be missing, but they were later found.
Environment Quebec said the toxicity concern stemmed from the plant's 15,000-litre acetone reserve, which was struck by the fire.
Acetone is flammable and, when ingested, can cause irritation.
Officials said they were actually more concerned about the possibility of soil or water contamination than of the risk associated with breathing the air near the blast site.
It's unclear what caused the explosion.
"It's too early to tell right now. Our investigators will have to figure out the point of origin as well as what caused it," said Gaetan Drouin, a local fire chief.
There was at least one large explosion followed by a series of smaller explosions. Drouin said the initial explosion was violent and set a local record for 911 calls.
About 50 firefighters were on scene.
Within minutes, police said, employees were evacuated from the facility and supervisors performed a head count outdoors.
Police then set up a security perimeter, clearing the industrial park.
"We're asking people to stay away from the area. These are possibly toxic clouds," Dubreuil said.
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- Via Rail's new offer represents wage cuts | <urn:uuid:770453ed-7a43-413e-8352-f6451034b617> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-story-83005-4-.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969143 | 536 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Masai Mara Vulture Workshop
Munir Virani— 10 May 2010 — in East Africa Project ShareIt was quite a frantic week planning ahead for the 3rd Vulture Workshop (the second in the Masai Mara) funded by The Peregrine Fund, which took place at Basecamp Explorer in the heart of the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. The Basecamp Foundation and the Explorer Camp were extremely generous to provide subsidized accommodation while Vintage Africa provided a vehicle for participants attending from Nairobi (National Museums of Kenya, Kenya Wildlife Service, and Nature Kenya’s Raptor Working Group) and neighboring Masai villages. The Masai Mara National Reserve provided free entry to workshop participants.
My colleagues and I had planned this workshop months ahead with two principal aims in mind – first to update stakeholders of the Masai Mara (park and conservancy managers, community outreach officers, guides, government wildlife custodians, etc) about the latest results our Vulture Project since its inception in 2003. And second, to get community consensus on the directions of future research, initiatives on expanding vulture awareness amongst the Masai community, and to outline a policy to safeguard rapidly declining vulture populations. We were overwhelmed by the interest and enthusiasm displayed by all the participants especially the Masai community who turned out in large numbers. We had close to 60 participants and they came from as far as the Mara North Conservancy, areas at least 60km from where the workshop was held. They included teachers from primary schools, the local Chief, the Kenya Wildlife Service Senior Warden from Narok District, and elders from Masai villages. The ideal settings at Basecamp overlooking the magical Mara plains with a herd of grazing Topi were perfect for the workshop. Participants started trickling in at about 9 am on the morning of the workshop.
Dr Muchai, Head of Zoology, National Museums of Kenya made the opening remarks which was followed by the official opening of the workshop by Mr Kuiyoni, who represented the Chief Park Warden of the Masai Mara National Reserve. Dr Darcy Ogada opened the proceedings by giving a fascinating lecture about vultures and why we need them. Paul Kirui, who was supported by The Peregrine Fund for his Gold Award Certificate followed by giving a presentation about his work on vultures in the Masai Mara and the major threats facing them. Simon Thomsett talked the audience through a gruesome but highly informative video about how he found 187 dead vultures – poisoned by the deadly carbamate pesticide Furadan in 2004. My presentation after the tea break highlighted how vulture populations of all species in Kenya have declined since the mid 1980s and elaborated on the vulture wing-tagging that has helped to raise the profile of vultures in the Masai Mara area plus provided novel information about vulture movements across the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem. Corinne Kendall who is conducting her PhD studies on vultures (Princeton University and National Museums of Kenya) wrapped up the morning session by providing in-depth results of her vulture work in the Masai Mara. By far, her data on vulture movements based on 14 GSM-tagged vultures (basically vultures tagged with miniature cell phones and send her text messages) had the audience captivated. “I cannot believe that these vultures go as far as northern Kenya near Marsabit and as far south in Tanzania,” said an astonished Jonathan Olkumum from Mara North Conservancy. “We have a moral obligation to protect them,” said Wilson Pesi, a naturalist from Ilkeliani Camp, where Corinne is based.
Immediately after Corinne’s presentation, the skies opened and the rain pelted the grasslands and the camp. Basecamp put on a finger-licking lunch. As I walked around the conference hall, I watched and listened how everyone was engrossed in talking about vultures. “I had no idea that vultures were so critical to the well being of the Masai Mara and wildlife in general,” said Daniel Rutoh, a teacher from Siana Boarding Primary School. “This has given me the opportunity to impart this knowledge to my students” he continued.
In the afternoon, participants broke into three groups to deliberate on aspects of research, education and policy, all with the common goal of ensuring the future survival and conservation of vultures in the Masai Mara. All participants agreed that educating local Masai communities about the need to appreciate vultures would be an important breakthrough in helping to curb poisoning of vultures, predators and other wildlife through retaliatory attacks. Overall, we were extremely pleased with the overwhelming success of the workshop. I am working on a detailed report, which will be made available soon.
I want to particularly thank Corinne Kendall, Darcy Ogada, Simon Thomsett, Paul Kirui, Dickson Ole Kaelo, Teeku Patel, Ashwika Kapur, John Musina, Titus Imboma, Ngaio Richards, Muchai Munane, Peter Njoroge, Seif Abeid, Annette Bulamn, Lars Lindkvist, Azim Rajwani, Jay Sanghavi, Steven Minis, Anne Marie, Mary Kimari, Sospeter Kiambi, Moses Kuiyoni, Simon Nkoitoi, and John Saruni for their help in putting the workshop together. A detailed acknowledgements list will be published in the final report.
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Should Lincoln fail to manifest as a late era triumph for Steven Spielberg, it will not be for lack of preparation. A new book due to be published later this month in the UK, Spielberg: A Retrospective, reveals the film-maker has been planning this forthcoming biopic almost since childhood, when he was taken to Washington DC by an uncle to view the imposing Lincoln Memorial. A longstanding fascination with Abraham Lincoln developed, culminating in a promise made to the historical writer Doris Kearns Goodwin that Spielberg would option her book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln before it was even written. The film-maker has since spent much of the past decade waiting patiently for screenwriters to filter it into the perfect celluloid snapshot of the 16th president of the United States' life.
Goodwin's book is largely about Lincoln's mercurial working relationship with the various members of his cabinet between 1861 and 1865, many of whom had run against him in the 1860 presidential election (hence the term "team of rivals"). The full trailer for the film, which hit the web yesterday, hints that Spielberg may have borrowed his source's view of the president as an arbitrator and reconciler who used his mediating skills to bring about the abolition of slavery and achieve victory in the American civil war. Lincoln has the feel of a project which will present a panoramic version of the period, rather than the more acute take one might have expected when Spielberg cast Daniel Day Lewis in the lead.
There is little hint here of Day Lewis's monolithic performance as the oil baron Daniel Plainview in Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood, for instance. His Lincoln is sure-spoken, but only briefly theatrical in a short but determined speech about the need to abolish slavery "now now now". The famous Gettysburg address is given over to David Oyelowo's Union cavalryman, while a variety of political figures, from David Strathairn as Lincoln's secretary of state William Seward to Jackie Earl Haley's confederate vice president Alexander H Stephens, raise their heads prominently above the parapet as they peck at poor old Abe like snapping ganders.
A sweeping Spielberg epic then, no doubt, with the obligatory grand John Williams score, but one which appears to have an impressive level of detail at its core and an inclusive view of the men and women who helped the president to his greatest triumphs. Just look at that cast list: Tommy Lee Jones as abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens, Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the first couple's son, Jared Harris as Union general Ulysses S Grant, Tim Blake Nelson as New York congressman Richard Schell, James Spader as Democrat William N Bilboe, Walton Goggins, Bruce McGill. Screenwriter Tony Kushner has apparently condensed most of the action down to the turbulent last few months of Lincoln's life, but it feels like a rich maelstrom of political intrigue nonetheless.
Lincoln arrives in cinemas on 9 November in the US and 25 January in the UK. It is clearly being pitched as a serious Oscar-contender – but might Spielberg's fascination for his subject end up weighing the whole thing down a little? Or are you expecting the big man to pick up his fifth Oscar come next February's annual Academy get-together for what may be his most ambitious film so far? | <urn:uuid:126fb782-9a1d-4e65-808f-f6a64c646c86> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2012/sep/14/steven-spielberg-lincoln-full-trailer?newsfeed=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960966 | 689 | 1.789063 | 2 |
View Full Version : Dojo floors
11th April 2002, 06:54 AM
I am thinking of building a "ballet studio" for my wife that can be used for kendo ;) . Given location (partially exposed) I want to make the floor of cedar. Is this what is usually used in Japan? More importantly, what sort of finish is applied to make them shine so? I usually prefer hot linseed oil over varnish and certainly over polyurethane. Anyone familiar with the techniques used in Japan?
11th April 2002, 11:31 AM
Dear Mr. Haly,
I have seen a number of flooring materials and different finishes used here in Japan (including raw, planned and sanded, but unfinished otherwise) floor treatments. So it does not appear that there is a standard. Cedar is indeed one of the favored woods in Japan, but not as common as it once was, and quite expensive. I seem to recall there were some articles (way back?) in Kendo Nippon or Kendo Jidai magazines. I'll search them out. Conincidentaly, my clinic is undergoing an expansion costruction, therefore I am in regular contact with the architect and the construction company. I'll make inquires to both.
You had mentioned that your floor would be "partially exposed." Would you please elaborate on that: Will you have direct weather exposure?
12th April 2002, 09:33 AM
Thank you Komoto san,
I hadn't thought of planning the boards though that usually leaves a very nice surface. Hmmmmm.
By "partially exposed" I mean that there are no walls, only a roof. I plan on putting screens and curtains that can be rolled up on the sides to let sun in or keep it out. Snow will probably blow on it at times but it can be swept off. That is why I was thinking of cedar. Your sources sound very interesting. Please let me know what you find.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.1 Copyright © 2013 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:05751deb-5a0e-4cb8-be18-5064872ed545> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-58.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957649 | 441 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Good conversationalists start by engaging others. They then sit back and listen, understanding that most people really want to talk about themselves. This is especially true of men. When the babble lags, a little prompt is all that is needed to get them started again. If you understand this concept, then talking with old Mr. Tom will be easy. Remember that listen and silent contain the same letters.
Calling in wild turkeys is one of the most difficult tasks in bird hunting. It demands both great patience and restraint. Oddly enough you do not have to be that remarkably accurate in duplicating the exact sound of the calls, but it is important that they be at the right time and at the right level. If you remember that you are trying to get the tom to come to you, most of the time you will be trying to sound like the soft purrs and yelps of the hens rather than the powerful gobble of the toms.
There are a number of excellent calls out there on the market. You will need at least two to make the right sounds. The first is a chalk box call. With this simple device you can make a wide variety of yelps and purrs that could resonate with an eager tom. Many of these calls come packaged with a CD that can help you when you practice. The second is a gobble call that makes the sound of an aroused tom. By far the box call is the most important.
At this time of year the birds have already concentrated quite a bit. The flocks of hens are being serviced by a dominant male. He will pay attention to these hens first. But as the day and season wears on, he can be enticed out to service a shy hen just out of his normal area. This is where the call comes into play.
The the six most important keys to success in hunting turkeys are: 1. Don't Move. 2. Don't Move. 3. Don't move. 4. Don't overcall. 5. Don't overcall. 6. Don't overcall.
You read my column on preseason scouting, so you already know where there are three or four flocks of birds working. In the evening before you go hunting, take your owl call with you and set up on a knoll near where you think a flock is located. At dusk or a bit after, just listen for a while. You may be surprised to hear turkeys talking to each other or the thumping of wings as they roost up for the night. In the absence of that, give a good hoot on the owl call. Wait a few minutes for a defiant gobble. If you don't hear anything try it once more. This may be all you need to do to relocate your roosting flock.
If you still don't get an answer to your call, move to your next possible spot. Keep moving through your scouted areas. If you get one answer, do not overcall. Simply note the roost and move on. Work to get at least a couple answers in an evening in case some other hunter beats you to your favorite spot the next day.
Try to get yourself into the area on opening morning at least an hour before shooting time. This will give you time to do a couple of things that will increase your odds of taking a tom. First, you want to beat the competition to the flock. If you don't, it will give you time to move on and set up for your second choice. Always have a back-up plan in mind. Do not compete with another hunter for the same birds. If he got there fair and square ahead of you, simply move on. Secondly, it will allow you to give an owl hoot early to try to get a more precise location of the roost. In this case, only hoot once, you do not want to overcall.
Once located, move quietly but quickly to a spot on a level with or above the flock, no closer than two hundred yards from them. If you try to move in too close, they will quietly drop out of the roost and beat a hasty retreat to get away from you. Set out three or four decoys, get settled into a hiding place that offers as much unobstructed view as possible while at the same time has enough background vegetation so you will just blend in with your surroundings. Then wait. He will come quietly. He will move slowly a few feet at a time or he will run quickly, but in either case he will be on high alert. If he sees any movement or hears any sound, he will be gone in a heart beat.
Remember that a mature tom will expect the hens to come to him. If he is on fire, you may be able to coax him out of his comfort zone. When you have located the flock, give him a light hen cackle to let him know that there is a possible mate he can't see that is hesitant to come to him. Do not overcall. Let him service the hens in his flock. Often it will be an hour or two before he is ready to explore other possibilities. Most turkeys are killed between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. for this very reason. Maybe a little purr after an hour or so is all you need.
The wild turkey can see a flea move on the squirrel that is chattering in the tree behind you. They have spectacular vision. When I say don't move, I mean keep your head and hands still. Sit quietly and let only your eyes roam. Even those should be concealed behind head netting.
"You are trying to force a tom out of his normal routine," says Stu Bristol, an expert turkey guide and author from Maine. "Under most circumstances you would never get him to do that, but when they are breeding, they will risk such behavior. Once he locates the sound of the hen, let him come on in. The decoys will help him focus, making him less wary."
You can get more hunting tips from Stu at stubristol.com.
Right now you should be devoting a couple mornings a week to finding birds. The big flocks will roam about a bit, but unless really driven off, they will stay pretty much in that area for the next couple of months. Just like when you were in school, spend an hour a day DOING YOUR HOMEWORK! | <urn:uuid:6cc4e4fa-7099-4272-8b6f-057e12fac495> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gloucestertimes.com/sports/x611957878/The-key-to-calling-in-wild-turkeys | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970013 | 1,329 | 1.765625 | 2 |
php search how to change the url? if & is "and" then what is "or"
Alright. I don't know how to program in PHP. I don't currently want to know. All I want to know is if &= " and" then what = "or"?
I'm on a site with a search. the search doesn't work completly. The admin has much more important things to do then fix it. We can tweeak the search to fix the problems by adjusting the url. (note the admin is aware that we players sometimes add stuff to the url to get it to work right.)
Here is an example with the main words replaced for privacy: examplewebsite.com/examplesearch.php?variable1=&variable2=&variable3=&variable4=NAME1%25NAME2&variable5=&examplesearch=Search
Now this is supposed to return data sets where variables1 through 3 and variable 5 is anything and where variable 4 reads "Name1 Name2" However - this doesn't work. UNTIL I add another %25 like this: variable4=Name1%25Name2%25
Then it works. I'm guessing %25 is a wildcard?
Anyway this is just an example of what I'm talking about manipulating the url. I have no access to the program itself. I want to know if there is an "or " command. In other words if & = "and" what = "or" It may not work because she may not have programmed it that way but I want to try it.
One of the variables is a size variable. Instead of varable1=big&variable2= etc. I'd like to do varable1=big (or) large. Though that may be written varable1=big(symbol meaning "or") varable1=large&varable2= etc.
I hope I make sence here. I'm planning to write the admin to suggest how to correct the search for some of the other items... but I want to see if an "or" link is possible as well so I can suggest how to do another type of search.
thanks for your time.
10 Months Ago
Related Article:PHP Search
is a solved PHP discussion thread by Shodow that has 1 reply, was last updated 8 months ago and has been tagged with the keywords: php, search, mysql.
Alright. I don't know how to program in PHP. I don't currently want to know.
Sacrilege! You'll be lucky to get a reply after saying that!
Anyway, you can pass mutiple values for a parameter as an array:
HOWEVER - if the server-side code is not set up to deal with an array, just a single value or '%' separated values (that's your %25), then I don't expect this to work. It all depends on the way the code has been written to query the DB. Just because it works for one field ('variable' in your post above), doesn't mean to say it will work for every field. For example if variable1 was to do with 'image size', it's quite reasonable to expect a single input as ONE of big /medium / small. Using an array or '%' will not work to make an 'OR' clause for the database query.
Breaking the guy's SQL with certain characters in your url could work, but only if he's been lazy. That's not something I would recommend though.
At the end of the day, if the guy's not bothered, there's little you can do, but how about an online petition? Or calls to email en masse?
Thanks for the reply. Oh it's a game and I like it and pay for extras (it's free but you can support the game and get extra stuff.) I certianly don't want to break it!
Oh also I know older HTML and I'm self taught in my sql... but I'm not advanced. Just not interested in trying somethign else right now.
Anyway she introduced a number system - well it's been there but in the background... but she changed the way the game works a bit. It's hard for me to explane without giving away the game. Anyway she made some aspects harder so - she revelied the numbers. So now it's "big (16)" to show the range. We would like to have the search by the number. Because some of the ranges are rather large. So that's partially where the or came in. If she can do that with an array I'd love to pass that on to her. For example I'd love to search between 15 and 20. like if it was sql - where size between '15' and '20' Of course I don't expect to do that with the url - just you mentioning arrays got me thinking of it. I was hoping the (16) was part of the word so I could do a wild car but I don't think it is - I think it's stored seperate.
I just tried your idea - I wasn't sure if it was brackets or parenthsis. When I tried brackets I got nothing... when I tried parenthsis - I got everything. there isn't anythign that is supposed to go between them is there? | <urn:uuid:1269ed0e-af7f-4c7d-89ee-1dc3429dc4e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.daniweb.com/web-development/php/threads/429545/php-search-how-to-change-the-url-if-is-and-then-what-is-or | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965233 | 1,115 | 1.679688 | 2 |
One of my father’s hobbies was collecting firearms, so I’ve been shooting them for as long as I can remember. And he made a point of teaching me gun safety not only so I wouldn’t hurt myself, but also so I wouldn’t hurt others. I have lots of respect for guns as a result, but have to say I am appalled by their abuse in our society. Case in point: all the terrible shootings over the past few years.
From 2011 to today, there seem to have been more mass shootings in the world than I have witnessed in my 41 short years on this planet. I use 2011 as a starting point because that’s when Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik, 33, murdered 77 people in cold blood. He began by destroying the Oslo government headquarters with a fertilizer bomb on July 22nd, followed by the killing of 69 more people during the ruling party’s summer youth camp. And in case you haven’t heard, Breivik just received the maximum sentence for his crimes: 21 years. This alone is pretty disgusting and I have to wonder about the effectiveness of the Norwegian justice system.
On July 20, 2012, 24-year-old former neuroscience student James Holmes entered an Aurora, Colorado movie theater during a screening of “The Dark Knight Rises.” With his hair dyed bright orange and referring to himself as the Joker, he opened fire on the audience, killed 12 people and wounded 58 others. Holmes then exited the theater and immediately surrendered to police. Further investigation of Holmes’ apartment revealed it was rigged with all sorts of explosives, as if he was hoping to kill any officers who entered the premises later. As if this wasn’t bad enough, it now appears there were all kinds of warning signs that could have prevented this tragedy from happening in the first place.
How sickening is that?
A few weeks later—on August 5, 2012—white supremacist Wade Michael Page walked into an Oak Creek, Wisconsin Sikh Temple and murdered 6 people, wounding another 4 in the process. After being shot in the stomach by police, Page turned the gun on himself and committed suicide.
Today, a disgruntled women’s accessories designer named Jeffrey Johnson, 53, murdered his former boss outside the Empire State Building in Midtown Manhattan and injured as many as 9 others. Thankfully, police shot him dead before he could hurt anyone else.
All of these incidents happened in only one year’s time, which worries me because I know there are more shootings to come. Before anything else happens, though, I have a request to make of any would-be shooters out there:
Do us all a favor, grow some balls and just use the gun on yourself. No one else needs to die because you’re too much of a coward to remove yourself from your pathetic life.
Accused Colorado movie theater gunman charged with multiple counts of murder | The Lookout – Yahoo! News
James Holmes, the killer in the Aurora movie theater massacre, was just charged with two dozen counts of first-degree murder as well as more than 100 other violent offenses. This brings his grand total to 142.
Prosecutors have not yet decided if they will seek the death penalty in this case, but here’s hoping they do.
Yes, I am a liberal Democrat, but capital punishment is something I fully support. To me, if you take someone’s life in cold blood, then you should expect to sacrifice your own since let’s face it, that’s the only fair thing to do.
Granted, I don’t necessarily find it best to respond to one death by adding another, but sometimes you just can’t avoid it. And when someone like Holmes so flagrantly disregards the lives of his victims and their loved ones, I certainly feel the death sentence is warranted.
Or should Holmes be forced to live with what he did? There are some pretty good arguments for that side, too. And I can see it’s appeal.
I’m very curious to see how this case plays out. And this seems like a pretty good start. We simply cannot allow people like this to walk among us. The world is a dangerous enough place already.
I guess it was only a matter of time before the residents of James Holmes’ booby-trapped apartment building decided to head for greener pastures. If things had worked out as Holmes planned, after all, most if not all of them would already be dead.
What I find disturbing about this is that the Paris Street building has now become something of a macabre tourist attraction. People keep driving by and taking pictures of a structure that, if this killer had his way, wouldn’t even be standing today.
Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems in bad taste to do this kind of thing while the victims struggle with their losses and the survivors are still recovering from their wounds. There is time for all this once the case has been closed, after all.
As if the murders in Aurora weren’t heartbreaking enough, now comes a story of heroism that brings tears to my eyes if I think about it for too long.
On that fateful night in the movie theater, as James Holmes was strolling down the aisle and shooting everyone in sight, four men acted selflessly and protected their girlfriends from harm.
One such hero was 24-year-old Alex Teves, who blanketed his girlfriend Amanda Lindgren, told her not to worry and sustained injuries that ended his short life. Fortunately, she was unharmed.
People like Alex remind me not only of the brevity of life, but also of the sacrifices we make to protect our loved ones. For every James Holmes out there, intent on hurting as many people as possible, there is someone like Alex who restores my faith in humanity.
Thank you for showing us the true meaning of love, Alex. The world is a much emptier place without you in it, but at least you have given us hope.
In Maine, for instance, a man was arrested when he told authorities he had just seen “The Dark Knight Rises” and was headed to shoot his former employer. The cops searched his car and found a number of weapons, including an AK-47 assault rifle, several handguns and plenty of ammunition.
He also had news clippings of the mass shooting in Aurora.
Several other moviegoers have been behaving strangely and have scared the heck out of the people around them. And the shooting in Colorado always seems to be mentioned.
I am hoping there won’t be any copycats looking to gun people down out there, but if you go to see the new Batman movie, I suggest you sit near an exit, preferably near the main entrance. Since the front of the theater is more crowded and closely monitored, this just might save your life if another James Holmes comes calling.
Bad news seems to come from every turn for presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. And now it’s coming from Twitter.
Over the weekend, Romney’s Twitter account gained an out-of-the-ordinary 135,000 followers. Prior to that, he averaged between 3,000 and 4,000 new followers per day.
To make matters worse, some of Romney’s alleged followers seem to be “Twitter bots” who have no followers of their own and misspell certain words. Basically fake followers.
Romney is being accused of buying followers, which would be a very sketchy move. If it’s actually true, that is.
I started thinking about this weekend, though, and remembered that James Holmes murdered all those people in Aurora late last week. Is there something about Romney that people might be drawn to following a tragedy like this one? Are people indicating that they don’t feel safe and now support a change in leadership?
I hope not.
And for Romney’s sake, I certainly hope he didn’t buy those followers. That could be the proverbial nail in his presidential coffin.
James Holmes, the shooter in the Aurora movie theater massacre, appeared in court for the first time today. It’s been three days since Holmes entered a midnight screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” and open fire on the crowd, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others.
In court and sporting hair dyed red to symbolize the Joker, Holmes sat quietly with a dazed and confused look on his face. It was made clear to him that he is being held on suspicion of first-degree murder, as well as additional offenses that could include aggravated assault and weapons charges.
A discussion about whether or not to employ the death penalty is underway, but no final decision will be made for weeks or even months to come. And if you factor in time for an appeal, it looks as if taxpayers will be footing the bill for keeping Holmes in custody.
This means that aside from killing innocent people, wounding others and instilling fear in moviegoers around the nation, Holmes will now require taxpayers like you and me to pay for his time in jail, as well as his eventual execution (which I’m hoping will come).
Talk about adding insult to injury.
Apparently, Holmes tried to join a gun club last month but never became a member due to some “bizarre” behavior and a strange message on his answering machine.
Sounds like a potential red flag to me.
Of course, people witness strange behavior every day and never report it because, seriously, aren’t our police officers busy enough?
Then something like this happens and people start second-guessing themselves.
Since I’ve been thinking and writing about Big Brother recently, I can’t help wondering where all this could be leading. It’s feasible that we might see a kind of early warning alert system implemented in the future. Think of it as a tip line for potential crime, or even pre-crime like the kind described in Steven Spielberg‘s “Minority Report,” but available through some kind of nation-wide system. People who witness suspicious behavior could report it using this system, which would feed into a national database and be redirected to the appropriate authorities, who would act quickly.
Combine this referral system with the billions of cameras and other surveillance technologies available, all of which can be used to secretly monitor people’s lives, and you should understand why this worries me so much.
It’s bad enough that you can’t do anything without being caught on someone’s camera phone, but how much worse will it be when the government can keep tabs on you every single second? Granted, they can do much of this now, but I assume they focus on the most serious threats and not everyday Americans like you and me.
All this could change once a referral system is established. Now I have cause to worry if, during an off day, I act a little weird in public. If someone reports it, then I immediately become a target for government scrutiny. After all, no one wants things to escalate to the level of James Holmes again, do they?
Privacy is past. Welcome to the world gone public…
The plot thickens in Aurora, Colorado.
Following the largest mass shooting in US history, this one in a movie theater involving 24-year-old James Holmes, police are now faced with another challenge: getting into Holmes’ apartment, which is rigged with an assortment of complex and highly explosive booby traps.
Imagine having a job where even the slightest miscalculation could result in you being blown to smithereens. I know I don’t want to do it.
And this Aurora bomb squad has its work cut out for it. Apparently Holmes was careful to booby-trap the whole place, which means the cops may have to detonate it all.
Say goodbye to any remaining evidence in the apartment. It’s about to be toast.
I suppose this is what you get when a former Honor student and high-achiever suddenly snaps. And I guess there’s no true way of knowing where the next attack will be coming from.
It’s a scary, mad world, peeps. Watch your backs. | <urn:uuid:56565650-5225-4a69-9268-5ba7d662b279> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gnosticbent.wordpress.com/tag/james-holmes/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972077 | 2,547 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Both of the above feminists have repeatedly insisted they do not hate men, they are not sexist and only want equality.
Yet, Professor Unt has claimed in email exchanges that a law enabling rape of men in Mexico is not sexist - it is 'cultural'... Ahh well that makes it ok then.
Oddly, when I pressed the point that she would say such a law was sexist IF we reversed the genders, she ran away and refused to engage in any conversation.
Typical sexist feminists.
Men - How many of you have given in to 'nagging' (verbal pressure) because you were overwhelmed by a woman's continual arguments & pressures?
If you answer 'yes' - the woman you bought something for IS a theif - according to feminist mentality.
At least, some of the moderate ones on Y!A do, judging by their very own words.
Remember folks, these are moderates who claim they don't hate men and only want to see equality in the world - nothing more.
Yet, here are some of their respones to a question posed by another feminist:
In the author's defense, she was quoting (almost) another person's post in which he'd said about slapping anyone who hit him within an inch of their life... Here are the feminists answers...If a man slaps me, is it ok if I beat him to within an inch of his life?
Is it ok if I "set them up with mr and mrs breathing and feeding tube in local hospital"?
What do we see here? Well, we see blaming 'men' collectively for crimes against women-only 'all the time', we see the stereotypical feminist slogan 'you go girl' and what feminist mind-scramble wouldn't be complete without the traditional abuse of male genitalia - to the point of making him pass out (but who cares, right?) while on the flipside of such hateful and excessive aggression directed toward only men, then insists on telling men about 'real men' (typical shaming language of feminists).
Unfortunately, the question author was actually mistaken in her post too. Referring back to the quote she was making, it turns out he was referring to 'someone' not 'any woman', as is evidenced here:-
Question:"I agree. Someone hits me and I'll set them up with mr and mrs breathing and feeding tube in local hospital.
Feminists taught women they could without penalty.
I don't know why men do it." | <urn:uuid:0fbf21cc-ae32-4d2b-beec-b263b1199836> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://antimisandry.com/members/marx/i4.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973809 | 515 | 1.539063 | 2 |
CHICAGO, Dec. 15, 2005 (Church Excutive Magazine)-- Focusing on the theme, "The Hope for Eternal Life," a new round of the U.S. Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue began here, 40 years after the first talks between the two religious traditions began. More than 20 Lutheran and Roman Catholic leaders and theologians participated in the first meeting of Round XI at the Cenacle Conference and Retreat Center here Dec. 1-4.
The topics the round addresses include Lutheran-Roman Catholic differences over issues relating to the Christian's life beyond death, including issues such as purgatory, indulgences, and masses and prayers for the dead. Interest in dealing with "The Hope for Eternal Life" was related to the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ) in 1999, Almen said.
The JDDJ was signed by leaders of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and The Vatican in Augsburg, Germany, on Oct.31, 1999. With the JDDJ the LWF and the Vatican agreed to a basic understanding of the doctrine of justification and declared that certain 16th century condemnations of each other no longer apply.
Dialogue leaders are also aware that leaders of the LWF and the Vatican are talking about the possibility of joint events and observances leading up to 2017, the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's posting of the 95 theses, which started the Protestant Reformation. Also, the 50th anniversary of the Vatican II document, "Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation," is in 2015.
The opening meeting included presentation of papers and discussion on a variety of topics such as the Council of Trent, Lutheran Confessions on the hope for eternal life, biblical overviews, indulgences, and Lutheran and Roman Catholic funeral rites.
"One of the things that I think is most important about this particular theme is that it's talking about being in the presence of God," Kennedy said. The theme of the current round of dialogue can give people "God's gift of hope," he said.
"This is hope not just for Lutherans and Catholics. This is hope for other Christians, all working together," he said. | <urn:uuid:ead68f4f-31e2-4a76-926c-8b800af5a86f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://parishworld.net/con_CatholicNews.cfm?contentUUID=2F9BAAF1-1143-E0A9-590A6D64CAF92988%7C200512&arcView=Dec_2005 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958933 | 452 | 1.695313 | 2 |
|The Water-Type Personality in Chinese Astrology|
Water Element in the Birth Chart
Water-type people are smart, wise, frank, and resourceful. They have good
memories and think before they leap.
There are two types of Water: Floating Water and Still Water. Floating Water makes people active and restless and feel like traveling. Still Water makes people clam and peaceful.
People lacking Water are unstable, cowardly, narrow-minded, and have no stamina. They lack intellect, good sense, understanding, and foresight. They also tend to keep changing their mind.
People with excess Water are smart, sly, tricky and plot dark schemes. They like to move or travel around and have a sensual life. They are likely to dream too much, and keep changing their mind as well. They also are only interested in what concerns them and have no interest in outside world affairs.
Five Element Personality | <urn:uuid:4e8c6a91-5e90-4192-83ed-b3d23d4a77fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/pc/angel/water2.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972565 | 188 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Day two of the IMS conference in Montreal started off well with a great briefing with Ke Wu, the General Chairman of the conference. He is the guy that led his crew of 65+ individuals and IEEE support staff to put together this massive show. An impressive piece of work. He said he was lucky not to have to do it again next year. Our thanks and congratulations go out to him for a terrific job.
Dr. Wu is a professor at Ecole Polytechique Montreal. I asked him to tell me the trends he sees in microwave today that are reflected in the papers and sessions. He said that there is a deliberate movement to close the gap between the microwave and optical parts of the spectrum. This is the region above 300 GHz and below the far infrared (IR) bands. It the so-called Terahertz region that is a large but unused part of the spectrum. Work in being done to close that gap with work going on at both the millimeter wave end and the IR ends. The IEEE's relatively new publication Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology addresses this challenge. The first issue came out last year and the second volume was available here at the show. A seriously interesting but unfamiliar region of the spectrum.
Another trend suggested by Dr. Wu is the development of more multifunction, multi-standard, smart, configurable and frequency agile microwave systems on a chip. One more key trend is advancements in microwave power devices with the growing number of GaAs and GaN power amplifiers and transistors. These continue to replace older devices with ever higher power levels and improved efficiency.
Dr. Wu also indicated a movement to resume development in microwave power transmission. It is not going to be the massive wireless power distribution envisioned by Nikola Tesla in the early 20th century but it will be effective simply because today we have already developed very low power consumption chips and energy harvesting methods. Look for some future developments in this space.
I asked Dr Wu what the show attendance was and he indicated a figure of about 8500 as of today with the expectation of 10K by Thursday. That is just about on par with last year in Baltimore.
Test and Measurement Challenges
Measuring microwaves precisely is difficult. Yet many companies have invested in the wireless testing space and most claim that wireless and specifically microwave have become the bigger part of their business. The T&M business was well represented at this conference. It is tough to cover them all in this short daily log but here is a brief summary of some of the new products I saw.
Aeroflex showed off their entire line of test gear for microwaves. Aeroflex probably has more LTE test equipment than most. Their S-Series of stackable RF generators and analyzers was on display showing the new 802.11ac test capability.
Agilent introduced their new MGX/EXG X-series signals generators. These cover up to 6 GHz and are available in analog or vector generator formats. These are flexible generators that can address radar, receiver testing and consumer devices. The key specifications are a phase noise of -146 dBc/Hz at 1 GHz with a 20 kHz offset, low EVM, APCR of -73 dBc and an output power to 27 dBm. The demo showed simulation of GPS and GLONASS satellite constellations for testing GNSS receivers.
One other notable introduction was a new version of the EXA signal analyzers for millimeter waves. This one covers up to 44 GHz but with external mixers the range extends to 325 GHz. The sensitivity with mixers is -140 dBm/Hz and a phase noise of -106 dBm/Hz with a 10 kHz offset.
Anritsu demonstrated their high end VectorStar Broadband Vector Network Analyzer. The ME7838A has a frequency range of 70 kHz to 110 GHz. It also has four port measurement capability and can be used to develop, characterize and test differential millimeter wave devices. They also announced an extender option for this unit that works up to an amazing 750 GHz.
National Instruments demoed their test solution for 802.11ac. It can perform full receive and transmit testing with configurations with bandwidths up to 160 MHz, modulation to 256QAM and MIMO up to 4x4.
NI also showed off their integration and connectivity between NI's popular LabVIEW system design software and the AWR Visual System Simulator (VSS) software for RF and microwave system design. This is the first major joint development between NI and AWR following NI's recent acquisition of AWR. The new connectivity helps engineers to better use measurements in the design flow by executing LabVIEW code directly from the AWR design environment.
An interesting development was the mention of NI's forthcoming announcement of some new revolutionary RF and wireless design test and measurement system. They plan to show this for the first time at their annual NI Week conference in Austin, TX in August. Should be interesting.
Rohde & Schwarz had a full range of their RF test equipment on display. They introduced a wide range of new products including the FSW-K6 pulse measurement option for the FSW series of signal and spectrum analyzers. The K6 option speeds up pulse radar measurements. The new K17 option for the FSW analyzers measures group delay. Another new option is the option for 802.11ac testing and measuring.
The new ZNB-K4 software option for the ZNB vector network analyzers is designed to speed and simplify measurements on frequency converters and frequency multipliers. The ZNB-B2 option helps speed and simplify intermodulation measurements.
That's it for today. Look for some component coverage tomorrow. | <urn:uuid:bbdf1ba3-3858-4d4b-85eb-fb6c300df1ec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mwrf.com/test-amp-measurement/ims-2012-day-2-closing-microwave-gap | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950044 | 1,163 | 1.75 | 2 |
The last decade (and past few months and days) have seen disaster after disaster—big and small, manmade and natural catastrophes. They are unpredictable and devastating. So the question is, when the next one hits—how will your church respond? Are you positioned to be a light, offering comfort and resources to your community and those afar?
Pray over these ideas, and ask the Lord how He’s leading your church in this area of service…
Create a System: Put in place policies, procedures and people to contact to meet manpower and specific care needs. When the need is urgent, your team should be able to mobilize quickly.
Establish a Network: Create a go-to list of area resources, financial assistance, and like-minded organizations you can partner with. Know who offers what aid, and communicate what you plan to provide. When disaster strikes, host a central space where these organizations can meet with people.
Develop a Response Team: A step down from 911, First Baptist Church for Hammond, Ind. developed a First Response Team mobilized by a simple phone call to meet manpower and counseling needs for personal and city-wide catastrophes. -Outreach Magazine, 2010 Special Issue
Send Supplies: In the event of a distant disaster, your local people will likely want to help. Make it easy, and provide opportunities to be a blessing to others. Send donations to an active disaster area church or organization. Check the ECFA website for a list of Christian organizations that are active in the disaster area.
- Supply Drive: Hold a drive to collect supplies such as food, toiletries, water and clothing.
- Host a Benefit: Host a special event, auction or other fundraiser to raise financial support for disaster relief. Send cash, or collect donations towards specific needs—like pop up shelters, funeral expenses, medical replacements (Rx, glasses, dentures, etc.), .
Provide Training: Provide disaster training or class through one of these agencies. Folks who go through the program could be sent on overseas missions teams or part of a local, on-call team.
Be an Emergency Shelter: Contact your local Red Cross to gain approval as an emergency shelter during disasters. Discuss the requirements needed for space, materials on hand, and your on-call volunteer base.
Offer Shelter Support: If your church isn’t able to be an emergency shelter, get behind one that’s up and running. Provide volunteer services, supplies, counseling and spiritual aid.
Be a Volunteer Center: Create a place where search and rescue teams and clean-up volunteers can come to form teams, rest and regroup. Provide counseling services and a space for refreshment.
Search & Rescue: Contact your local sheriff’s department, and ask about details for joining the local search and rescue team. Attend a monthly meeting or training session to discover how your church could be involved.
Clean Up: Provide volunteer teams to remove debris and work with agencies to otherwise right the community in the wake of disaster.
Provide Childcare: Minister to children (and parents) caught in the disaster by supplying free childcare, respite care, preschool, tutoring, creative workshops, story times, games and other activities. Supply parent education and child counseling as needed.
Get the Word Out: If your church is ready with food, supplies, or services, be sure to post clear and detailed info quickly to your website and Facebook pages, and communicate it to other area relief organizations.
Meet Long-Term Needs: Provide care and counseling to those in need over longer periods of time. Consider arranging housing, rebuilding, childcare or hosting support groups. Assess what other needs might be present, and how your church can help.
The last time a need was felt in your area, how did your church respond? How is your church prepared for the next disaster? | <urn:uuid:cfbb3581-4124-4dd5-a72d-8a61d30daad9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.outreach.com/disastrous-event-god-given-opportunity/comment-page-1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933279 | 794 | 1.648438 | 2 |
The nation's first-ever chief technology officer, Aneesh Chopra, used his keynote address at the CEA Line Shows conference in New York to talk about innovations to health care IT and government IT infrastructure that would allow the United States to compete more vigorously in an increasingly interconnected digital world.
Chopra, the nation's first chief technology officer
, discussed health care
IT, the growth in national bandwidth consumption and digital security at the CEA
Line Shows conference here June 11.
"As CTO, it is incumbent upon me to
achieve on the president's goals that we harness the power of our nation's
innovation to advance the economy," said Chopra, the former Virginia
secretary of technology, who was tapped by Obama for the national position in
April. "I have great confidence we can do some wonderful things together."
Achieving those goals, Chopra added, will depend on "four pillars" of IT.
"The first pillar is to harness the power potential of economic growth," Chopra
said, citing the June 11 switchover to digital television
that will free up
broadband capacity for the private sector to utilize.
Similar policies in the future, he suggested, will help promote economic
growth and innovation. On a per-capita basis, Americans now pull down a
gigabyte of data per year via their wireless devices, a rate that Chopra
expects to increase fivefold by 2013 as more people utilize devices such as
read about security and the new federal cyber-security plan, click here.
The second pillar, he said, is to "bring innovation
platforms" to address issues such as health care IT, and utilize entrepreneurs
to develop new tools that will leverage that technology. Chopra also sees the
cloud as being key to streamlining and innovating health care IT and other
The third pillar, Chopra continued, is security
for IT infrastructure.
"I'm fascinated by the idea that we can interconnect all sorts of things
that we never connected before," he said. However, "we are constantly under
attack by those who wish to undermine our economy," necessitating that the
country "embed in the infrastructure enough security and reliability."
The fourth pillar involves "bringing the concepts of retail 2.0 into
government service itself and government operations." Imagine, Chopra
suggested, taking the online tools that companies such as Amazon.com utilize to
maximize the conversion rate of sales and then applying them to help citizens
Traditionally, Chopra said, the government has engaged on the IT front in
two ways: by investing in basic research and by procuring massive amounts of
various companies' products.
Within these two areas, he continued, "there's not a lot of room for risk."
However, the government can move to occupy space in "the innovation gray zone"
in the middle to accomplish its goals.
Although he's been on the job for a grand total of two weeks, Chopra intends
"to ask the American people to hold me accountable." To that end, he claims,
he's preparing a scorecard with specific milestones to be met, with
three-month, six-month, and nine-month goals and beyond. Time will tell whether
such an ambitious agenda can be achieved within those metrics. | <urn:uuid:bd65231a-a732-45d0-8c9f-918beeb0c5d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Government-IT/Obamas-CTO-Talks-Healthcare-IT-Security-Cloud-167281/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948608 | 694 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Walking in the hilly maze of streets between Istiklal Cadessi and Cihangir in Istanbul in July 2009, Itai and I came across a small shop crammed full of boxes of old photographs, and assorted personal objects, like jewelry, used perfume bottles, souvenirs from trips to other places. It was as if the contents of innumerable Istanbul lives had been dumped into his shop. An old man sat outside of the shop, entirely uninterested in us as we poked around and intruded into the forgotten memories of unknown others. I bought a few photographs from the old man for one lira.
I remembered the walk today when, as I took a book of photographs of the Istanbul bus terminal off the shelf, these photos fell out onto the floor. Picking them up, I felt the bustle and beauty of Istanbul again, its distinguished decay, its fullness and color, its melancholy elegance.
I am not an Istanbullu, and may never be, but I love this city more than I have a right to. In the moment of seeing these black and white photographs I was seized by a longing to return, to know the people in the images, to walk in those places. Despite only visiting once, and for a short time, Istanbul entered my dreams. I search for friends in its hills at night, and always find them, in doorways and courtyards, old friends, good friends. In this way I have never left. What is this longing that infects me, prompting such dreams? Is it for particular people and places? How can these images of strangers and unknown places be as magnetic as friendship?
Orhan Pamuk warns of the dangers of exaggerating his city’s beauty:
Whenever I find myself talking of the beauty and the poetry of Istanbul’s dark streets, a voice inside me warns against exaggeration, a tendency perhaps motivated by a wish not to acknowledge the lack of beauty in my own life. If I see my city as beautiful and bewitching, then my life must be so too. A good many writers of earlier generations fell into this habit when writing about Istanbul: Even as a they extol the city’s beauty, entrancing me with their stories, I am reminded they no longer live the place they describe, preferring the modern comforts of western cities. From these predecessors I learned that the right to heap immoderate lyrical praise on Istanbul’s beauties belongs to those who no longer live there, and not without some guilt: for the writer who talks of the city’s ruins and melancholy is never unaware of the ghostly light that shines down on his life. To be caught in the beauties of the city and the Bosphorus is to be reminded of the difference between one’s own wretched life and the happy triumphs of the past.
– Istanbul: Memories and the City, p.56-57 | <urn:uuid:745533d9-e2b9-429d-9e54-f08aa23d0e32> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://archivingthecity.com/tag/archive/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9615 | 601 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Catching the fireflies could happily occupy an entire
It wasn't odd to have two or three "best" friends.
old referred to anyone over 20.
The net on a tennis court was the
perfect height to play volleyball and rules didn't matter.
The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was
It was magic when dad would "remove" his thumb.
unbelievable that dodge ball wasn't an Olympic event.
Having a weapon
in school meant being caught with a slingshot.
Nobody was prettier than
Scrapes and bruises were kissed and made better.
a big deal to finally be tall enough to ride the "big people" rides at the
Getting a foot of snow was a dream come true.
were discovered because of a "double-dog-dare."
cartoons weren't 30-minute ads for action figures.
No shopping trip was complete unless a new toy was brought
"Oly-oly-oxen-free" made perfect sense.
getting dizzy and falling down was cause for giggles.
The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a
War was a card game.
Water balloons were the ultimate
Baseball cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a
Taking drugs meant orange-flavored chewable
Ice cream was considered a basic food group (and STILL is as
far as I am concerned!!)
Older siblings were the worst tormentors, but
also the fiercest protectors.
If you can remember most or all of these,
then you have LIVED!!!! | <urn:uuid:c082bd41-b4ef-4037-ad1b-5ea800493153> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.whatistruth.info/smile9.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971779 | 333 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Major grant awarded to Hampshire Archives and Local Studies
Monday, 11 February 2013
A nationally important archive collection held in Winchester will become fully accessible thanks to grant funding.
Hampshire County Council's Archives and Local Studies Service, based at the County Council's Record Office in the city, has secured funding to catalogue one of its key collections: the archive of the Bishopric of Winchester.
The project will be funded through the National Cataloguing Grants programme, which is administered by The National Archives on behalf of several funding trusts. The award of £23,809 was made by an independent panel following a demanding and competitive two-stage application process. Hampshire Archives Trust is also contributing £1,000 to the project.
Councillor Keith Chapman, Executive Member for Culture and Recreation, commented: "It is excellent news that Hampshire Archives and Local Studies has been successful in securing funding to catalogue and preserve this key collection, in the face of stiff competition. This recognises the high standard and quality the of Hampshire Record Office. Its reputation is well know thought out the country. This project will open up a largely untapped resource to researchers of all kinds."
One of the largest and most significant collections in Hampshire Record Office, held in the county since 1959, the Winchester Bishopric collection comprises the estate records of successive bishops of Winchester. At its height, the Bishopric estates comprised 60 manors spread across seven counties in southern England.
Chief among the archive's treasures are the celebrated Winchester Pipe Rolls, dating from 1209 to 1711, which detail income and expenditure across the bishops' estates. In 2011 the Pipe Rolls were added to UNESCO's UK Memory of the World register, which raises awareness worldwide of some of the UK's exceptional documentary riches. To open up access to these records to a much wider audience, Hampshire County Council's Archives and Local Studies Service has embarked on an ambitious two-year project to digitise all 192 of the rolls.
The Winchester Bishopric collection is large, comprising 515 boxes and 16 linear metres of volumes, dating from the 13th to the 20th century. Its value has for many years been widely recognised as a rich resource for the economic and social history of southern England. The records contain a wealth of place and family name information, and have informed studies of medieval agriculture, demography, labour and wages, building history, the peasant land market, as well as medieval Winchester and London.
These exciting developments mean that the catalogue - the researcher's key to opening up the collection - can now be upgraded and improved. More descriptive and contextual information will be added to help users of the on-line catalogue, and to open up the archive to a worldwide audience. Fascinating series such as the court papers, which give vivid accounts of misdemeanours such as dumping waste in the streets and allowing animals to roam, and include many lists of tenants' names, will also be catalogued in more detail.
The archive has had many homes over the centuries, and some records are still covered in soot and grime from poor storage at previous locations. The second, and equally important, strand of the project will be to improve the physical care of records at risk. This will be achieved through a cleaning and repackaging programme involving volunteers, a vitally important task if these unique records are to be exploited fully and kept safe for future generations to enjoy. | <urn:uuid:edf3492f-5fb5-443a-a6ab-d631385b87a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www3.hants.gov.uk/hantswebnewslist?d=11&m=1&y=2013&id=574376&stdate=1359102632216&pagetitle=Major%20grant%20awarded%20to%20Hampshire%20Archives%20and%20Local%20Studies | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952291 | 683 | 1.820313 | 2 |
In the world of futures trading, speculators know what they’re getting into as soon as a trade is entered. Go short cattle on strong supply numbers, then a mad cow scare hits, causing multiple limit up moves. Doesn’t matter the scenario, trading involves risk.
But traders never should have to be concerned that their money on deposit with regulated entities might be in jeopardy. Unfortunately, the collapses of MF Global and Peregrine Financial Group (PFG) have caused futures traders to grapple with hijacked segregated funds. Speculators and hedgers alike need not only a trading plan to manage market risk, but also a plan to spot brokerage firm risk.
The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article titled: “True or false: Many Americans don’t understand the basics of investing.” While the majority of futures traders have a higher level of investment literacy than typical retail investors, these same traders — who understand leverage, complex economic analysis and moving average crossovers — have very little knowledge about the realities of segregated funds balances, open trade equity protections and the daisy chain movement of client funds.
To spot broker red flags, you first need to understand better where your money is and just who has it (see “Follow the bouncing money”).
Based on our schematic, where is Trader Bob’s money?
When Trader Bob discussed opening an account with the introducing broker (IB) Todd LLC, he should have asked these important questions:
- Is your IB relationship with a clearing or non-clearing futures commission merchant (FCM)?
- If it is with a clearing FCM, which clearinghouse(s) does the FCM belong to?
- If it is with a non-clearing FCM, who actually is clearing those trades? Who is the clearing FCM (or FCMs) that actually holds Trader Bob’s margin funds when he holds a position?
And because broker omnibus relationships can change all the time without notification made to the client, these questions need to be asked on a regular basis.
Returning to the fictional brokerage firms in the illustration, it is not enough to be told that Larry Co. is a member of a particular futures exchange. The question you want answered is whether or not Larry Co. is a clearing member of a particular exchange.
Now that you have a better understanding of what firm actually is responsible for your seg funds balance, you can begin your own red flag watch.
The first step should be a visit to the National Futures Association’s (NFA) BASIC web page. BASIC stands for Background Affiliation Status Information Center. BASIC is free and available to the public without needing to register or having a password. Searching by firm name or individual name, you can view Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) registration and NFA membership information and futures-related regulatory and non-regulatory actions contributed by various regulatory agencies and futures exchanges. Without giving you the name of one particular FCM searched, I found 11 separate regulatory actions and 167 CFTC reparations cases, including a $75,000 fine for recordkeeping practices. Smoke does not mean fire, but you cannot have fire without smoke.
At the very least, BASIC will let you know if your brokerage firm, commodity trading advisor (CTA) or commodity pool operator (CPO) is registered with the NFA. We read weekly about criminal charges brought by the CFTC against unregistered, unlicensed CTAs, CPOs and retail forex dealers. If someone solicits your account for trading futures or currencies, in any manner of investment vehicle, and the broker and his or her firm is not found on BASIC (or FINRA’s Broker Check), it is best not to proceed.
There are many excellent, well-regulated and well-run investment pools, funds and partnerships, but not all of them are above reproach. In addition to the usual questions you should ask regarding performance, drawdowns and trading strategy, be sure to ask the name of the brokerage firm where the investment is housed and which will be clearing the trades. The first red flag would be when the investment manager refuses to provide the information. The second red flag could be when the investment manager gives you a name of a broker or auditor or anyone else you can call to confirm a legitimate account. Instead, call the brokerage firm directly (you can find contact info on BASIC). If the manager offers individually managed accounts, it is up to you to choose a broker. While he may provide a list of approved FCMs, he should not be steering you to a specific broker, particularly if its commissions are non-competitive.
Multiple levels of checks are better, so it is best to perform due diligence on a broker and manger separately. If you are getting information from only one source on an IB, FCM and manager, you are not doing effective due diligence.
Publicly traded companies like MF Global have numerous reports they must file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and, as a registered FCM, MF Global had to submit monthly segregated account reports to the CFTC. These reports can reveal a lot of information, though many of them, especially SEC filings, can be dense and hard to interpret if you don’t know what to look for. Find someone who does.
The CFTC numbers are more straightforward. They list the amount of customer segregated funds the FCM holds as well as adjusted net capital, net capital requirement and excess capital. Large swings in any of these numbers, particularly customer funds, as MF Global experienced, are one red flag. A more serious flag is a shortfall in the excess net capital. MF Global’s July 2011 report showed it negative $150 million after being forced to adjust this number by regulators. The total seg funds reported by MF Global in July was $8.8 billion; that dropped to $7.3 billion in August (a volatile month that would have required higher margins) so someone was paying attention.
A red flag that has come up in several cases is inadequate auditing. A large futures broker or investment firm should have, if not one of the big four, an institutional level auditor. The Sam Israel Bayou Hedge Fund, Bernie Madoff and PFG scandals all used sole proprietor or inadequate auditors. While the big guys have messed up as well, a large firm managing hundreds of millions of dollars shouldn’t be hiring someone working out of his (or her) garage. If they do, it is a blazing red flag.
Anecdotal red flags
Another red flag perhaps should focus not on the brokerage firm, but on introspection. Boston University Professor Tamar Frankel has studied hundreds of frauds and schemes. Her research has concentrated not just on the scheme and schemer, but also on the gullibility of the victims. She says, “Many con artists make it seem that they are limiting access to their investments, making them available only to a select few. Now, rationally, why would a money manager do that?”
Good question, but Madoff, in particular, used this approach.
We now know that balance sheet and bank balance fraud can be hidden from the self-regulatory organizations (SROs). So with the benefit of hindsight, perhaps we need to be on the watch for grandiose actions of the CEO or chairman. New expensive headquarters can be a red flag as well, particularly when they can’t be justified by growth in business and or profits, as was the case with PFG’s fancy green Iowa headquarters. This bit of conventional wisdom extends to the castles the CEO may be building in his or her mind. Jon Corzine seemed set on recreating Goldman Sachs at MF Global and publicized those plans widely, including here in Futures.
Some internet-sleuthing on PFG’s Russell Wasendorf Sr. would have revealed his firm defaulted on the terms of state loans used to build PFG’s new $18 million headquarters in Cedar Falls. Here was a man who owned a private jet, opened restaurants and engaged in activities to portray himself as a grand philanthropist, yet couldn’t pay his rent.
A web search on Corzine would have revealed a man whose ego and hubris were perhaps a bit too over the top.
Bernie Madoff was a quiet man but he was the exception. SEC and CFTC records are filled with investment advisors who seemingly came up from nowhere, suddenly driving the most expensive cars, buying the most expensive homes and contributing the most to high society charity events. Eventually their Ponzi schemes fall apart and their wealth is discovered to come, not from trading, but from the funds handed over to them by unsuspecting investors. A lavish and flashy lifestyle can be another subjective red flag. If a Google search of your advisor comes up with more hits on society pages than financial articles, it should raise suspicion. A hubris test could be used as a subjective counterbalance to more traditional financial ratio tests. | <urn:uuid:7c705e83-ca4f-4d52-9f76-5d8e4d841795> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.futuresmag.com/2012/11/01/spotting-broker-red-flags?page=3&t=regulations | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954995 | 1,868 | 1.554688 | 2 |
In North Carolina, a single person or married couple who is at least 18 years of age can be an adoptive family. You do not have to own a home or have a certain amount of income to be an adoptive parent. You do need to consider what it will mean to have a child come into your family and how this will affect your life and the child’s life. With a full commitment and realistic expectations, foster or adoptive parents must be ready to give a child or children opportunities to develop to their full potential physically, academically, socially and emotionally.
|You have to be a saint to be an adoptive parent.||You don’t have to be perfect to be a perfect parent.|
|You have to own a home to adopt.||You can own or rent a home, trailer or apartment.|
|You have to be married to adopt.||You can be single, married, divorced, or widowed.|
|It is expensive to adopt a child with special needs.||The cost of adopting a foster child with special needs is provided by the child’s agency.|
Each child is different. Some children need to be with a single parent, some need a two-parent family; some need other children in their family, while some need to be the only child in their adoptive home. Many different types of families are needed to parent these special children.
All children need stability and a family they can count on for the rest of their lives, through good times and challenging times. Children need to stay in touch with people they have loved such as former foster parents, siblings and teachers, so an adoptive family should be open to continuing these important connections.
It is important to remember that the process is child-driven and that the child’s agency is seeking the best possible family to meet that individual child’s specific needs. However, they are not looking for perfection. Keep in mind “you don’t have to be perfect to be a perfect parent!”
If you’re considering adopting a child, stop for a moment and ask yourself these important questions:
If you want to discuss your ability to adopt, please call our hotline at 888-625-4375 or email us at email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:6633ac1b-3634-4919-9c33-4fdad7bbe39b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ncdhhs.gov/dss/adopt/who.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957346 | 478 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Report Writer has been considered by most of the clients as static and bland reporting tool, due to it’s look & feel and it’s rigidity in terms of modifying the reports.
But, Report Writer is an amazing reporting tool, if only people know how it’s structured technically and how to bend it for our requirements. I am not certainly talking about customers. It’s the consultants’ responsibility to convince customers by demonstrating the power of Report Writer.
Over at Kuntz Consulting blog, series of posts are to be read to understand Report Writer as a tool and how to use it for our betterment. Following are the posts that are already been posted:
- Report Writer Demystified – Part 1 – Dictionaries & Launch Files
- Report Writer Demystified – Part 2 – Other Considerations
- Report Writer Series – Formatting Text
- Report Writer Series – Don’t Settle for Ugly Reports – Part 1
- Report Writer Series – Don’t Settle for Ugly Reports – Part 2
- Report Writer Series – Toolbox Tips
- Report Writer Series – Drawing Options Tips
- Report Writer Series – Sections
And it’s only going to get more on this series.
Worth reading for all those who would want to know about this silent performer, that is Report Writer. | <urn:uuid:89d8e9be-d0f9-4ddb-ac65-59e49cd9c653> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://vaidymohan.com/2012/05/19/report-writer-series-kuntz-consulting/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944267 | 284 | 1.5 | 2 |
|Home > News and Events > Speeches|
Progress toward Financial Stability in Emerging Market Economies
|October 4, 2006|
Timothy F. Geithner, President and Chief Executive Officer
Remarks at the W. P. Carey Global Leader Lecture, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, D.C.
We are approaching the 10-year anniversary of the financial crises of the late 1990s. These crises began in the emerging world and caused very substantial damage to the economies and financial systems of a large number of emerging market economies. They also provided the backdrop if not the catalyst to the crisis that hit the major financial centers in 1998.
The world today looks considerably different than it did on the eve of those crises, but the episode still looms large in the minds of policymakers and financial market participants. The damage and fear of that time had a substantial impact on behavior, both in terms of the policies of governments and how market participants think about and manage risk. And those changes in behavior have been important contributors to the period of stable real growth and financial sector resilience that has characterized much of the world since.
Despite this progress, the causes and implications of the crises remain the subject of contentious debate. In fact, if you'd fallen asleep in early or late 1998, and awakened in the IMF boardroom yesterday, you would find officials discussing many of the same questions.
Were the crises the result of fundamental economic and financial weakness at the national level, or the result of forces largely beyond the control of governments in emerging market economies? Can small open economies grow and prosper with open capital markets and floating exchange rates? Did moral hazard induced by the success of the Mexican package earlier in the decade cause the buildup in lending that led to crises that followed? Did the initial response of the IMF and its creditors make the crises worse? What level of insurance, in the form of reserves or debt structure, is adequate to protect against crises? How should the IMF differentiate between conditions of illiquidity and insolvency, and decide when it should help a member country restructure its debt obligations?
Even among people who probably agree on the most important issues in economics and finance, you can still find stark differences in their answers to these questions. The diversity in the circumstances of the countries involved, and in the policy responses adopted, makes it easier for people to find evidence to support fundamentally different views. But even if we don't have enough experience or enough distance from the crisis to resolve these questions definitively, we know a lot more about these questions than we did a decade ago.
I want to talk about two dimensions of this broad policy debate. How much progress has been made toward addressing the factors that made emerging market economies so vulnerable to crises in the past? What are the most important policy challenges ahead for those governments? These are my personal views.
I should start by noting that your view on what constitutes progress is naturally shaped by your view of the factors that rendered emerging economies most vulnerable to crisis in the first place. While no broad characterization can do justice to the different conditions at play, I believe the available evidence supports the view that the crises were generally most acute where there was a large buildup in short-term external debt, encouraged by the presence a fixed exchange rate regime and perverse incentives in the capital account, tax, or supervisory regimes.
In most cases, these balance sheet weaknesses left the economies concerned acutely vulnerable to adverse shifts in confidence and the inevitable break in exchange rate regimes, with little flexibility for macroeconomic policy to cushion the damage. As domestic and foreign investors rushed to reduce exposure to the country, the exchange rate fell further, increasing losses for the banks and corporations that had borrowed in dollars and magnifying fear of default. Monetary policy did not get traction quickly, in part because the authorities were worried that producing higher real interest rates to stem the decline in the exchange rate and offer a higher return to attract flows back into the country would exacerbate the confidence problem, by causing a deeper contraction in growth.
In some cases, a history of high inflation, fiscal profligacy or default magnified the difficulty of restoring confidence. In almost every case, this dynamic was exacerbated by political conditions, a looming election or leadership succession that raised uncertainty about the competence and credibility of future economic policy.
Things look dramatically different today. If you compare an aggregate or typical emerging market balance sheet today with the equivalent from a decade ago, the improvement is striking in a number of dimensions.
Current account balances have gone from substantially negative to positive. External debt has fallen as a share of GDP. Reserves have grown to remarkable heights and are now a substantial multiple of short-term external debt, annual external debt service, or other traditional metrics of the scale of potential claims on reserves.
Public debt burdens are higher, but the composition of debt is less risky, with longer maturities, a greater share denominated in the currency of the sovereign, and more fixed rather than floating interest debt. Fiscal balances have improved, with the median deficit the lowest it has been in three decades, and the high public debt countries are running primary surpluses large enough to stabilize if not reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio.
Exchange rate regimes are more flexible, removing the implicit guarantee in a fixed regime and providing greater independence for monetary policy. Monetary policy frameworks have matured, with greater institutional independence for central banks. Better monetary policy, along with improvements in fiscal balances, have helped to bring about a dramatic reduction in inflation and the volatility of inflation rates in emerging economies.
It is hard to look at this record and find support for the argument that the financial resources deployed by the IMF and the major economies in the crises produced a damaging degree of moral hazard—moral hazard in the form either of governments more prone to profligacy or investors prone to excess risk-taking in lending to banks and sovereign in emerging markets because of the expectation of financial resources from the IMF. Of course, those interventions must have produced some increase in moral hazard, but the effect on incentives does not seem to have been powerful relative to the countervailing effect of the economic and financial losses incurred in the crises.
These changes in policies, and the reduction in external vulnerability that they have brought about, make it less likely that financial market shocks will trigger the types of acute, broad-based crises we saw in the late 1990s. The combination of less balance sheet exposure to exchange rate changes, less refinancing risk in debt structures, stronger fiscal and financial cushions, a large stock of reserves available to absorb shocks, and more flexibility for policy means that future sudden changes in financial flows should not precipitate the damaging runs on the financial assets of the country that they have in the past.
Ultimately, this should mean that volatility in capital flows will cause less damage to real economic outcomes in emerging markets. The declines in real GDP associated with emerging market financial crises have been alarmingly large. In the crises of the late 1990s, the ensuing contraction in real GDP exceeded 10 percentage points in some economies and approached 20 in others. If the progress we have seen over the last several years is sustained, the incidence of financial crises in emerging markets will be lower, and the dynamics significantly different. Where these balance sheet improvements are most advanced, future financial distress will look more like what we typically see in instances of financial stress in the major economies—substantial asset price volatility and the potential for substantial financial losses, but less in the way of a significant disruption to either short-run or long-run real economic growth.
This is of course a probabilistic judgment, not a certainty. The strong growth performance and greater financial resilience of emerging market we've seen this decade provides some support for this judgment. But, some of this progress was undoubtedly facilitated by the relatively favorable economic and financial conditions of the global economy and only time will tell whether it will prove robust in circumstances of greater macro adversity.
Of course, these broad trends in balance conditions mask substantial differences across countries. There is wide dispersion around the typical or average balance sheet I have described, and some important areas of vulnerability remain. Many countries still face daunting fiscal problems and are only beginning to be able to issue debt in their own currency at longer maturities. The political consensus that provided support for these improvements looks vulnerable to challenge in many countries. For a number of countries, improving financial strength will have to remain at the top of the hierarchy of policy priorities. And even where progress has been most impressive it could be eroded quickly.
Where progress has been made in reducing important sources of financial instability, policymakers in emerging markets have the opportunity to focus more effort on reforms that can help achieve and sustain higher growth in the future and on developing an institutional infrastructure strong enough to serve as the foundation for further integration into the global economy. This shift in focus brings with it of course a daunting array of complex economic policy challenges.
These challenges lie less in the types of things that can be captured in a financial ratio or balance sheet, or in changes to the risk premiums attached to the financial claims on the country. They lie more in the realm of improving how markets work and how efficiently resources are allocated. These factors include the development of the types of institutions that are the subject of DeSoto's work or the World Bank's Doing Business reports. They involve the development of the legal system and its ability to ensure that property rights can be established and that the protections they engender can be enforced. They are about creating the conditions for more competitive domestic financial and product markets by reducing barriers to starting and building a business, and by building better transportation, power and telecommunications infrastructure. And they are about broadening access to and improving the quality of public education.
Allowing competitive pressures to operate is undoubtedly the best way to foster the investment, innovation and risk-taking that is central to raising an economy's long-run sustainable growth rate. But markets can't solve all problems, and they don't always function perfectly. This means that the policy imperative isn't simply to reduce regulation; it is to improve the design of the regulations that are important to dealing with market failures. Finally, future growth outcomes will depend importantly on the success of governments in fostering the development of the domestic financial system. This requires not only stronger financial intermediaries and better supervisors, but deeper and more liquid capital markets that provide greater access to capital for firms and greater freedom for households to borrow and to invest their savings.
Certain features of today's emerging economies, notably the size of current account surpluses and the high levels of reserves, tend to be seen principally as sources of comfort against future crises. But you can also look at these phenomena as measures of the incompleteness of the institutional changes achieved in the monetary and financial arena, and as a sign of the persistent ambivalence in the emerging world about financial integration.
The current account surpluses are, of course, the mirror image of the high rates of savings relative to investment. There are a range of factors that affect the flows of goods and services across international borders, but the sustained outflow of funds from some emerging economies witnessed in recent years may have as much to do with the limited intermediation capacity of the local financial systems as with the scarcity of profitable domestic investment opportunities. And in this sense you can read a large current account surplus as a sign of financial sector under development rather than of financial strength and maturity.
The pattern of intervention in exchange markets and the scale of reserve accumulation provides a similar perspective on the challenges ahead. Policymakers in many emerging markets still reveal a substantial degree of reluctance to allow the exchange rate to adjust to market forces. Part of this is aversion to appreciation, and part of it aversion to variability in the exchange rate. In this sense, the high level of reserves today could be read less as an indication of fundamental strength than as an indication of the need for more progress toward completing the transition to a modern monetary policy regime. Even though reported inflation in most emerging economies has been moderate, the observed preference for nominal exchange rate stability suggests a monetary policy regime with less independence to sustain price stability over time.
Emerging market economies have retained controls on cross-border capital flows, some quite comprehensive, some more selective. These come with a range of different justifications, from insulation against volatility and speculation, to protection of the domestic financial system, to limiting variability in the exchange rate or maintaining a specific objective for the level of the exchange rate.
By design, these controls limit the degree of integration with the global economy and they necessarily distort incentives in ways that affect all economic and financial activity. Their appeal as a source of durable stability has diminished over time, and we now have a greater understanding of the effects they can have in lowering long-run growth potential. For policymakers in many emerging economies, the question is not whether to remove controls, but when and how to do it without significantly raising short-run vulnerability to financial instability.
When it comes to undertaking reform in the areas of financial system development, the exchange rate and monetary policy regime, and liberalization of the capital account, there is more consensus on the importance of the efforts than there is on the appropriate pace and sequencing of policy changes. These initiatives are all closely related, and designing sensible reforms in one of these areas requires careful consideration of how to proceed with the others. Progress in one requires progress in the others. And market participants and policymakers need to have the chance to adapt to change and learn as reforms are implemented.
This is the classic and persuasive argument for care and for gradualism. But it is possible to move too gradually. There is risk in inertia as well as in change. The policy challenges in occupying the middle ground—the middle ground of trying to allow some but not too much variability in the exchange rate, some but not too much freedom for capital movements with the inevitable increase in leakages around the remaining controls, and some but not too much competition in a still fragile domestic financial system—may be harder during a protracted transition. The more protracted the process of agreeing on and initiating change, the greater the costs for the economy as a whole of the distortions left in place. By outlining a path for reform, governments can dispel uncertainty about the overall strategy and enable market participants to begin to adjust, mitigating some of the concern about moving too quickly.
Governments, perhaps governments everywhere, are probably behind the pace of integration that the market is driving in terms of further integration. This should provide a powerful incentive for greater speed and ambition in developing the institutional infrastructure that can accommodate the challenges that come with integration.
Overall, however, the direction of change in the emerging world seems fundamentally reassuring. After a crisis that was in a sense the result of a failure to manage the early stage of financial integration, governments in emerging markets have established a record of credible fiscal and monetary policy management, built more substantial cushions of insurance against potential shocks in external reserves, restructured the currency denomination, maturity and composition of their debts to make them less vulnerable to volatility, and begun to build deeper and stronger domestic financial systems.
These changes make it more likely that the progress now underway toward further financial integration—as they move to more open capital markets and more flexible exchange rate systems—will bring substantial benefits in terms of growth and fewer risks in terms of financial stress. The stronger foundation now in place will make the next wave of financial integration more successful.
The policy achievements of the last decade are enormously consequential for the people who live in emerging markets. If the progress is sustained, the reduced vulnerability to financial crisis and the enhanced efficiency of resource allocation have the potential to dramatically increase long-run growth and living standards in these countries.
And of course the United States, and the rest of the world, has compelling strategic and economic interests in the success of this endeavor. A more complete and successful integration of the emerging economies offers the prospect of a more prosperous and stable global economy.
I would like to thank Matthew Higgins of the Emerging Markets and International Affairs Group and Margaret McConnell of the Research and Statistics Group at the New York Fed for assistance and comments. | <urn:uuid:6bf815c1-1bcf-4401-af86-e3e9fd64ea90> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ny.frb.org/newsevents/speeches/2006/gei061004.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948627 | 3,270 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Charles Murray asks in the pages of New Criterion:
Given what we know about the conditions that led to great accomplishment in the past, what are the prospects for great accomplishment in the arts as we move through the twenty-first century?
Although I take issue with his dark hints about "problems associated with increased secularism" [such as lower crime, higher education, and longer lives?] and his "strongest conclusion that ... Religiosity is indispensable to a major stream of artistic accomplishment," this article functions as an intriguing appetizer for his 2004 book Human Accomplishment: The Pursuit of Excellence in the Arts and Sciences, 800 B.C. to 1950. | <urn:uuid:be99c194-e68d-4484-a187-e40639608a49> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cognitivedissident.org/2012/05/artistic-accomplishment.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975507 | 137 | 1.789063 | 2 |
As an apparel design student, my all time favorite classes are always my clothing studio classes. You usually have one of these studios each semester and each one revolves around various basic skills and different techniques that are necessary to become a proficient designer and seamstress. A few of these skills and techniques that you will learn include: flat patterning, pattern drafting, fashion illustrating, computer aided design, draping, research, etc. Student services and your individual academic adviser (http://design.umn.edu/current_students/advising/) will talk you though these different classes and how they relate to each other, semester to semester. You will also get a semester-by-semester schedule of what studio to take when.
The studio I am in right now is "Tailoring and Knitwear". I really love it! We just wrapped up the tailoring portion where I created the fitted jacket/pea-coat pictured below. I used wool and leather as well as matching buttons to create visual interest.
As a class, we have now moved on to knitwear. Inspiration for projects can come from anywhere, but it always involves the "ideation process", with many many sketches, one of which will become your final design. For this particular project my inspiration is coming from my fabrics and the colors combination. Here is a photo I took of my work space as I was sketching different designs inspired by the pictured fabric:
In my next blog I will continue to document my process while completing this project! | <urn:uuid:b8129aee-3b97-461f-be1d-b68705429dc4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.lib.umn.edu/design/studentblogs_clone/2011/10/from-inspiration-to-completeion-part-one.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961037 | 311 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Surviving as a car manufacturer these days requires more than just strong domestic sales. Today, auto companies must be multinational powerhouses if they hope to stand a chance in the auto industry. Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: TSLA ) is no exception. If the electric-car maker wants a real shot at success, it needs to expand its global footprint.
The road less traveled
Tesla has gotten a lot of attention lately thanks to its disruptive retail strategy. Unlike traditional automakers, such as Ford (NYSE: F ) and BMW, Tesla doesn't distribute its cars through existing franchise dealerships. Rather, Tesla is opening stores in malls around the world to display its new zero-emissions Model S.
However, Tesla is discovering that changing the rules of retail for a century old industry won't be easy. At the end of last year, auto-dealer groups in New York and Massachusetts smacked Tesla with lawsuits for violating so-called state franchise laws. Fortunately, for Tesla, a Massachusetts judge denied the dealers' request to stop Tesla from operating its Boston location.
This was a big win for the EV maker as it gets ready to open new stores, not only in the United States but also worldwide.
The Silicon Valley-based company finished 2012 one step closer to its goal of worldwide distribution for the Tesla Model S. In December, Tesla pulled the curtain back on its new European Distribution Center in Tilburg, the Netherlands. The facility is now Tesla's European service and distribution hub. According to a company press release, general production of European left-hand drive Model S cars is on schedule to begin this month.
As for retail locations in this region, Tesla currently has nine stores in major European cities, including Milan, Paris, and Frankfurt. In fact, international orders now make up about 25% of Tesla's Model S reservations. Not to mention that Tesla plans to expand its operations in Asia this year. The company currently has just two stores up and running in the Asia-Pacific market, one in Hong Kong and the other in Tokyo.
Tesla should see strong sales of its gas-free cars abroad, helped in part by soaring gas prices and rich government incentives for drivers of electric cars. In the Netherlands for example, EV drivers benefit from a laundry list of local encouragements, including use of bus lanes, free parking and charging, no road tax, no BPM tax, 136% flexible corporate write-off, MIA-regulation -- to name a few. Besides government incentives, Tesla's awe-inspiring showroom stores shouldn't have any trouble attracting visitors.
New market opportunities
One of the masterminds behind Tesla's controversial retail strategy, George Blankenship, confirmed last month that Tesla will open its first store in China this spring. As the world's largest market for auto sales, China is an important piece of the puzzle for Tesla.
If these new stores attract even a fraction of the attention they have in the U.S., it will be a success for Tesla. To that end, 1.6 million people visited a Tesla store in North America during the fourth quarter. This is impressive, considering Tesla had only 22 locations open during that period. This compares with literally thousands of Ford or General Motors dealerships in North America.
Not only do traditional automakers benefit from economies of scale -- something Tesla does not -- but they also have massive dealer networks to help market and distribute their cars and trucks. Ford sold 5,695,000 vehicles worldwide in 2011 through such dealership channels. That's a level that Tesla can't even dream of reaching at today's rate. However, widespread distribution overnight is not Tesla's intention at this stage in the game.
Tesla, which owns its sales and service network outright, is betting on a new car buying experience that centers on the customer. By calculatedly placing its stores and galleries in high foot traffic areas, such as shopping malls Tesla is inviting people to learn about and interact with its Model S in a no-pressure type of environment.
Having visited several of their store locations in Miami, D.C., and Chicago, I'd say Tesla's strategy looks to be paying off. During each of my visits, the stores were packed with potential customers whom seemed eager to learn more about Tesla's high-tech cars. This is a good sign for the company as it expands its reach overseas in the year ahead.
In addition to doubling their stores count in 2013, Tesla is also on track to boost production of its vehicles by 25% this year. In one sense this will help Tesla reservation holders get their new zero-emissions cars faster. In another, it should help the company reach profitability sooner than previously expected.
All of these factors bode well for Tesla's stock performance going forward as well. Shares of Tesla are up more than 5% year to date and trade around $36 apiece. Moreover, I suspect the stock will climb higher in the quarters to come, as the company's retail strategy begins to play out.
Near-faultless execution has led Tesla Motors to the brink of success, but the road ahead remains a hard one. Despite progress, a looming question remains: Will Tesla be able to fend off its big-name competitors? The Motley Fool answers this question and more in our most in-depth Tesla research available for smart investors like you. Thousands have already claimed their own premium ticker coverage, and you can gain instant access to your own by clicking here now. | <urn:uuid:bfc9483f-8f7c-4aaf-bb3e-33d5ce7514cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/03/05/tesla-test-drives-world-domination.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95749 | 1,108 | 1.539063 | 2 |
With Godzilla becoming a hero for children, Toei decided adults needed some giant monster entertainment. They crafted Kyôryuu: Kaichô no densetsu (Dinosaurs: Legend of the Strange Bird). They failed miserably, creating two dinosaurs so phony, so fake, that audiences back in the 1930s would have picked out the flaws. Not all the violence and gore in the world disguises that this is an awful, miserable attempt at a giant monster movie.
This is one of those real oddities dinosaur and monster fans have to deal with. It's not very well known, and there are multiple reasons for that. The movie is, most obviously, a dull rip-off of Jaws. The Plesiosaur is a stalking beast, emerging from the water whenever someone is dumb enough to come close enough. There's a plodding, lumbering pace at work, and that has nothing to do with the dinosaur's immobility.
The science is absolutely hilarious at times. There's a classic line as a scientist attempts to explain just how the dinosaur is still alive after years of hibernation:
"We know that dinosaurs can only be brought back to life with a level five earthquake."
That folks, is brilliant schlock. As if the movie doesn't seem to care what it does, there's some brief nudity, and an amazing amount of blood. The few deaths would be otherwise mundane if it wasn't for the gore. The way it's directed is so odd it's almost calming. As the Plesiosaur begins to rip a girls leg off, he drops her, only to stand there and watch her bleed to death in the water, spliced with slowly panning close-ups of the gaping maw.
That's how all the deaths are handled, with varying degrees of blood. It seems as if there are two dinosaur models at work here. One is full size, and used for graphic close-ups of bodies being carried off. The other is used for poorly done rear projection sequences and the film's heinous finale.
There's nothing here for the actors. It's a bland attempt to make them interesting, with the lead conveniently being the descendent of paleontologist interested in suspended animation. Plot devices are stolen right out of Jaws (like the fake scare attempt using false fins out of the water). It doesn't have an original idea.
The above-mentioned finale is easily one of the most unintentionally hilarious sequences ever put on film. It was good enough to land on an early Mystery Science Theater episode, and that should be enough to tell you how bad this is. The flying bird, an unpronounceable species, is suddenly tossed into the mix just to make a fight happen as Mt. Fuji erupts. The on-wires marionette falls and flops all over the place as the puppeteers struggle to keep the wires from becoming tangled in those used for the Plesiosaur. It's not cringe worthy when the bird plants his face into the ground only to propel himself back upright with out a single flap of his wings. It's embarrassing to watch.
To break in from that gripping action, the two lead actors struggle to escape a fabricated fiery grave, complete with Japanese pop music blaring in the background. That's how the entire soundtrack works, dating the film even more so then the "special" effects. It's grinding noise mixed in with incomprehensible beats all the way through, and it doesn't let up to give the viewer a break.
It's hard to imagine a kaiju film worse than some of the output from Toho at the time, but this is it. There's some real garbage out there that Japanese monster fans can tolerate; this just isn't included. No one should be forced to suffer through this, and if they do, it should be for pay as part of some scientific study to prove that pathetic movies do cost people intelligence points. (No stars out of *****)
Someone obviously cared enough to make sure this junk was preserved or restored every frame. There's not a scratch on this 2.35:1 transfer. Grain and dirt are the only noticeable flaws, along with being soft and slightly out of focus. If this were a classic, there would be something to complain about. It's hardly in that category, and that makes it all the more impressive. (****)
The only audio option is a 2.0 mono mix. It's not special in any way other than the dialogue is perfectly clear. The treble-filled soundtrack doesn't strain the speakers. That's an achievement. (***)
This region 2(*) release comes with a plentiful amount of trailers. You can watch those and see the entire film, or at least the only decent parts. Actually, that's not very true either. There is nothing worth watching here. Anyone involved in making this was likely too embarrassed to say anything for a making of documentary. (*)
If you were a child and had an interest in dinosaurs, then you likely watched this one as a kid. Multiple bargain VHS copies are available, censored of course, with the title Legend of the Dinosaurs. The blood still remains, just not measured in gallons. It's still enough to traumatize a small child.
Finally, don't get this confused with The Last Dinosaur. Both came out in the same year. This one starred Richard Boone trying to hunt a Tyrannosaurus that looked quite similar to Gorosaurus from the Godzilla universe. It was also Japanese produced, and scheduled for a theatrical release in the US. Someone made the right call and it languished on TV for years.
*Note: This disc does not contain subtitles or dubbing. | <urn:uuid:55f7dd1d-e272-4485-b748-d91524497872> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://breakingwindows.com/2005/07/legend_of_the_dinosaurs_region.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966523 | 1,163 | 1.609375 | 2 |
WASHINGTON — The top U.S. military officer cautioned Monday against comparing the Pentagon’s renewed focus on Afghanistan to the Vietnam War, citing terrorism and a nonoccupation strategy as "dramatic differences” between the two conflicts.
"Afghanistan is much more complex,” said Navy Adm. Mike Mullen. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff added: "I certainly recognize — and having been in Vietnam myself — that there are those who make comparisons. I would be pretty careful about that though, for lots of reasons.” Mullen’s comments came as the Pentagon prepares to deploy an additional 15,000 Army and Marine troops to Afghanistan this spring and summer in the Obama administration’s military campaign to shut down the Taliban and al-Qaida. Ultimately, an estimated 60,000 U.S. troops could be in Afghanistan over the next year. There are currently about 32,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Speaking to the Reserve Officers Association, Mullen stopped short of predicting how long American troops would remain in Afghanistan. He said the main difference between Afghanistan and Vietnam is that "we are not an occupying force.” Chief among the concerns, Mullen said, is making sure Afghanistan never again becomes a haven for al-Qaida leaders who moved to lawless Pakistan tribal regions in the post-9/11 hunt for Osama bin Laden. | <urn:uuid:7173e1f1-bcd8-405d-b3c7-e7164116a0b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newsok.com/article/3342809 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960517 | 286 | 1.703125 | 2 |
This “security” robot is based around the Lego Mindstorms NXT platform. As shown in the video after the break, this robot is capable of firing a “popper” at any intruder the owner of the robot sees fit. It takes a decent amount of force to fire a popper, so this is pretty impressive with a Lego components by itself. If you’ve been looking for components to build your next robot, Lego might be worth a look.
This bot also features, according to the 14 year old Australian that built this, an HD webcam person ID system that sends him an email when it sees someone. It uses bluetooth for control. Lego designs have come a long way since the grey castles some of you may have built in the 80s and 90s. Be sure to check out the video after the break. | <urn:uuid:518744a2-3933-47d6-bb93-1c694930f7ae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hackaday.com/2011/06/19/the-party-popper-security-robot/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947355 | 173 | 1.578125 | 2 |
At the end of 2011, there were rumblings about a startup bubble ready to burst. While no one really heard a big pop, it's been more like a hissing sound of a balloon deflating.
Investment in US venture-backed companies fell in the fourth quarter of last year as startups raised $6.6 billion from 733 companies, down 20% in capital and 17% in number of deals in the same perios the year prior, according to a newly-released report from Dow Jones. The quarterly amount is the lowest level since the third quarter of 2010.
Overall, venture capital investments tallied $29.7 billion for 3,363 deals, down 15% from 2011 when $35 billion poured into venture capital deals - the highest amount raised since 2001, and the third straight year of year-over-year growth.
The decade between has seen VC investments range from an average of $22 billion up to 2005, and then $29 billion from 2006 to 20012. So last year's range isn't particularly alarming.
Interestingly, the number of seed-stage deals as a percent of total deals was the highest its ever been (at least in the data collected since 2000). The ratio was 11.9% in 2012, up from 11.6% in 2011 and well north of the ratio in the last decade, which was roughly around 5%.
Another interesting tidbit, the stage of investment that saw the biggest drop was in what Dow Jones calls "second round" deals, which are Series B and C. Those deals saw a 27% drop to $4.9 billion in investments. The first round, or Series A rounds only saw a drop of 7% to $5.6 billion. Seed stage deals saw an 18% drop in investments, down to $287 million, while late-stage deals saw a 17% drop to $16.5 billion invested.
Also corporate investments saw its best year since 2000. Eight corporate deals received $200 million in the fourth quarter, a 32% increase in capital, despite a 50% drop in deals compared to year-ago levels.
(image source: leadingchangegroup) | <urn:uuid:307c28bd-130e-4673-a03b-5df5fb075f47> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://vator.tv/news/2013-01-18-vc-investing-sinks-snaps-3-years-of-annual-growth | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971315 | 441 | 1.59375 | 2 |
As the ink dries on the Supreme Court’s health care ruling, advisors are figuring out how the law will add to their clients’ as well as their own costs. Considering the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s broad reach, one simple thing is true of the PPACA’s potential tax and investment consequences: it’s complicated.
Doctors, for example, can expect individually to be socked with at least 20 new taxes over the next 10 years, according to Jeffery Van Wart, manager for the Houston branch of national broker-dealer and RIA Cantella & Co., which manages nearly $1 billion and serves both physicians and medical groups.
From an investment standpoint, Van Wart said, both doctors and medical groups are staying liquid and in securities such as safer tax-free municipal bonds while they wait to see how the PPACA shakes out over the next few years.
“They’re not willing to take on a lot of risk because so much is so uncertain about how this is going to affect their income both individually and in the industry as a whole,” Van Wart said in a phone interview with AdvisorOne on Thursday. “We’re living in a world of negative uncertainty. The bill is so cumbersome that you have to be a political scientist and legal scholar to understand it all. What we do know is that there are a lot of new taxes because the law has to be paid for, and that’s never a positive for a business.”
Health Law’s Costs May Strike as Bush Tax Cuts Disappear
Van Wart said he has been experiencing a sense of disbelief that the PPACA’s requirements may hit him in the wallet at the same time that the Bush tax cuts fall off the fiscal cliff on Jan. 1. Already, he said, as an independent contractor he pays $1,400 per month in health insurance premiums for his family policy.
People will quickly find ways to undercut the law, Van Wart predicted. As a hypothetical example, he said, if he made $500,000 a year and paid the 1% penalty tax instead of buying insurance, that $5,000 cost would be substantially less than what he pays now for his health policy. “And if something bad happened to me, they couldn’t refuse me, so I’d just go get some insurance then and get coverage,” he said. “So it would be cheaper for me not to have insurance, pay the tax, and then go get insurance [after getting sick] because they’ve got to take me. It’s absurd.”
Van Wart still hopes that the PPACA will be overturned – and he is not alone. Republicans in both houses of Congress have sworn that they will take up a vote to put an end to the health care law, and presidential candidate Mitt Romney has promised to put a repeal into motion if he wins.
At issue for many advisors is the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling that the health care law is a tax. Indeed, the historic ruling written by Chief Justice John Roberts says that the PPACA’s mandate for individuals to buy insurance falls under lawmakers’ power to levy taxes. Republicans are now accusing Obama administration officials of forcing the bill through Congress in 2010 while lying that the mandate wasn’t a tax.
“Look, reconciliation is available because the Supreme Court has now declared it a tax,” Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told “Fox News Sunday” on July 1. “They have unearthed the massive deception that was practiced by the president and the Democrats, constantly denying it was a tax.” (Romney, meanwhile, has faced charges that his Massachusetts health care plan also amounts to a tax.)
Democrats, for their part, have declared the June 28 Supreme Court decision a victory. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee raised $2.5 million in the three days following the ruling, according to a Huffington Post report, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said it had raised another $2.3 million. However, the report also said that the National Republican Senatorial Committee has witnessed a significant uptick in donations because the ruling confirms that the PPACA constitutes a massive tax on small business.
Preparing Clients for Income Taxes as High as 43.4%
Politics aside, one thing is certain: the PPACA gets the majority of its funding through tax increases on the highest earners. Individuals must pay a 3.8% tax on investment income if they earn more than $200,000 annually, and couples likewise must pay the investment income tax if they make more than $250,000. In addition, the act imposes a 0.9% tax increase on wages for people who earn that much.
According to Tim Steffen, director of financial planning at Robert W. Baird & Co., the most obvious repercussion of the court ruling is that some investors may trigger capital gains they were thinking about taking in 2013.
“High earners may accelerate income from stock options or bonuses into this year to avoid the additional 0.9% tax on their wages above the thresholds scheduled for 2013,” said Steffen in a statement, but he cautioned investors not to overreact as months remain before year-end to consider market performance and make investment decisions. The results of the presidential election in November also may change tax policy, he noted.
Gavin Morrissey, director of advanced planning at Commonwealth Financial Network, said in a blog post for AdvisorOne that the PPACA 3.8% surtax coupled with the expiration of current tax rates “could lead to a federal marginal income tax rate of as much as 43.4%” for advisors’ highest-earning clients.
“A few safe havens from the new surtax are available,” Morrissey added. “For example, distributions from IRAs and qualified plans are not subject to it. But investment income is, including interest, dividends, capital gains, nonqualified annuity distributions, rents (if passive income) and royalties.”
What can advisors do to prepare their clients? For those who already contribute the maximum amount to their qualified plans, Morrissey recommends a Roth conversion of IRA balances. “Your clients could pay tax on the converted amount at today's lower marginal rate while building an account from which future distributions would not be included in MAGI,” he said.
Investments in Belly of the Health Care Beast
Or, investors can head straight into the belly of the beast and invest in health care stocks and bonds.
Frank Fantozzi, CEO of Cleveland-based Planned Financial Services, which offers securities through LPL Financial, said on the day of the court ruling that he expected to see market movement in subsectors such as hospitals, medical devices and pharmaceuticals. The overall health care sector is expected to benefit from about 32 million additional insured customers phased in from 2014 to 2019.
“From a business standpoint, when you understand how insurance companies work, theoretically, if you can insure the entire population, then you can get a truer measure of your costs and risks and a lower cost of insurance,” Fantozzi said. “Long term, this all gets baked into the economy, just as past legislations have come to fruition.”
And S&P Capital IQ ETF Analyst Todd Rosenbluth wrote on May 21 that in light of the pending court ruling on health care reform, he believes that the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) is worthy of scrutiny. XLV is the largest health care ETF in the United States, with more than $4.5 billion in assets.
“Year to date through May 18, XLV was up 4.6%. This was near the 4.3% increase in the Health Care sector of the S&P 500 Index and ahead of 3.0% gain for the S&P 500 Index,” Rosenbluth wrote in “A Bottom-Up Look at a Key Health Care ETF.”
On the day before the Supreme Court ruling, the ETF was up 9% year to date, driven by an improvement in Pharmaceuticals, and as of Friday, it was up 11.02% versus 10.47% for the S&P 500 Index.
Jeff Loo, head of S&P Capital IQ’s health care equity research, said in a phone interview the day before the ruling that the sector was outperforming the broader markets by about 40 basis points year to date.
“Depending on how the Supreme Court decides, I think if they overturn the mandate and keep the rest of the law intact, I would expect some downward pressure on the health care sector,” Loo said. “If the entire law is kept intact, I would expect some appreciation in the health care sector, although modest, because I think some of that is already priced into the marketplace.”
For more about the PPACA and taxes, read William H. Byrnes and Robert Bloink’s Unintended Consequences of the HIT: Eliminating Health Coverage in Small Businesses at AdvisorOne and Alson Martin's blog at Tax Facts Online. | <urn:uuid:335b1137-0241-48b1-bf7a-c50884f4a5bd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.advisorone.com/2012/07/06/what-obama-health-law-means-now-that-its-called-a?page=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967371 | 1,912 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Most Active Stories
Valley Public Radio Staff
Thu August 2, 2012
They Take The Cake in Boise, Idaho
Originally published on Thu August 2, 2012 11:02 am
This month we are collecting your stories about the good things Americans are doing to make their community a better place. Some of your contributions will become blog posts and the project will end with a story that weaves together submissions to make a story of Americans by Americans for Americans.
As Kathy Plaisance drapes blue fondant over a freshly baked chocolate cake, she explains that no child should have a cake-less birthday. Plaisance oversees Community Cakes, a group of 50 volunteer bakers who deliver homemade birthday cakes to people who might otherwise not have one — in veterans' homes, hospice centers and foster homes across southwest Idaho.
Plaisance tears up remembering the time she delivered a Superman cake to a boy in foster care.
"He was ecstatic. He had never had a cake like that before," she says. "Those are the ones that get you, and make you want to keep doing it." | <urn:uuid:f551e969-c5c2-49be-a017-355967e49fef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kvpr.org/post/they-take-cake-boise-idaho | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956776 | 226 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Mobile CAD, the Cloud, and Management Mayhem25 Apr, 2012 By: Robert Green
Will the big changes in store wreak havoc with your workflows? They don't have to, if you keep a few basic principles in mind.
In issues 277 and 278 of the CAD Manager's Newsletter, I explored some of the trends associated with using CAD files on mobile devices (such as tablets and smartphones). The topic has proved to be a popular one; I've received a lot of comments, questions, and opinions on the subject.
In this issue, we'll explore the managerial uncertainty that mobile CAD and cloud implementations will bring us by responding to some reader feedback on the issues. Here goes.
A Cloud Is Integral
One e-mail I received asked this question:
"Does mobile CAD mean that all my CAD information must be on the cloud?"
While this question is open to interpretation, I'll say that for mobile CAD to work, at least some of our companies' CAD information must be available via an easily accessible Internet location. This statement prompts two related questions:
- Does this mean that all project models, drawings, and calculations need to be available online?
- Does this mean that the company must provide its mobile employees with the capability to view models, drawings, and pertinent design information via mobile devices?
The answers are No and Yes, respectively.
The unstated assumption in using mobile CAD devices is that the user will easily be able to find the CAD files (or other supporting files) that they need. This almost certainly means that the mobile device will pull required information from a server-based information repository — most probably a cloud server. (Let's not be too specific yet about where the cloud server is located; we'll tackle that in the "Public Cloud or Private Cloud" section.)
Remote tasks, however, such as marking up construction drawings, don't require putting an entire building information modeling (BIM) model online, but rather just the construction documents that need to be marked up. The point is that mobile CAD doesn’t necessarily mean that all files are made available to all mobile workers.
File Management Mayhem
Another reader voiced this concern:
"I don't want to think about the management hassle that mobile CAD is going to be!"
Pondering what cloud-based mobile CAD could mean in terms of file management is enough to cause insomnia, but this approach may cause you fewer headaches than you expect. Consider the following scenario:
A mobile worker downloads project files onto a tablet and proceeds to mark them up and/or edit the files in some way. The worker never tells the project team at the central office, so nobody knows what changes have been made.
The natural result of this scenario is that parallel revisioning (two groups of workers making changes to two increasingly divergent sets of master CAD files) begins, and loss of project control quickly takes root. Conversely, if the mobile worker had created markups and changes in a cloud-style work environment, there would be only one master CAD file, and everyone would know what changes had been made.
So in this case, we can make the argument that a cloud-style work topology actually prevents mayhem.
Does Security Kill Mobile CAD?
I've received a number of e-mails from readers saying, essentially:
"All this mobile CAD/cloud stuff will never happen in our office, because we only store files on our own servers."
The users who responded in this manner are employed by hospitals, government agencies, military bases, and a variety of private companies as well. Clearly, the perception is that releasing files to a cloud-style environment is the equivalent of not having secure file control.
But is that perception accurate? It depends on what you think the cloud is.
Public Cloud or Private Cloud
There have been some well-documented cases of security problems with cloud file storage providers; last summer's DropBox security breach is one recent example. Given these sorts of security lapses, I can fully understand how companies become anxious about using an external provider to host their sensitive CAD information, or reject the idea altogether.
But who says a cloud has to be controlled by a storage provider? Why not create your own private cloud for file storage?
Most companies have a way for remote workers to log in to the corporate network with secure credentials by using virtual private networking (VPN). In these cases, your mobile workers could access the VPN from their iPad at a job site just as they would from a laptop in a hotel lobby. The private-cloud approach negates security concerns, or at least renders them equal to any other type of remote access.
So will private clouds will become the norm? It's too soon to tell, but for sensitive data the outlook is positive.
The more I think about what mobile computing means for CAD managers, the more I've come to believe the following:
We're in for some big changes. The challenge of having our CAD information more widely available — available to more users, in more places, on more types of devices — is going to change everything. We'll have to put more thought and effort into work processes, security, and file management.
We're becoming IT people. To contend with delivering CAD information to phones and tablets (and their users, who may have no clue about using a CAD program), we'll have to learn new operating systems and apps, and provide technical support for them. We also have to think about remote data security, much as our IT brethren think about internal data security today.
Training will expand. Users with no CAD experience operating on mobile devices will provide a totally new training requirement for CAD managers. As an additional challenge, these users are mobile by definition, so we'll never get them all in one place for training.
We don't know the answers. The reason we don't know the answers is simply that mobile CAD is still in its infancy. And as with any brand-new software/hardware environment, we can expect to see various mobile CAD apps and cloud topologies come and go.
If it seems like understanding how to manage mobile CAD is vexingly complex, that's because it is! But with uncertainty comes the chance to learn new skills, implement new technologies, and solve problems in creative new ways. The best we can do at this time is to explore new apps, keep our eyes on the cloud, and remember that if we don't manage the transition, nobody will.
As new mobile CAD innovations appear, you can be sure I'll keep you updated in future editions of the CAD Manager's Newsletter. Until next time.
Autodesk Technical Evangelist Lynn Allen guides you through a different AutoCAD feature in every edition of her popular "Circles and Lines" tutorial series. For even more AutoCAD how-to, check out Lynn's quick tips in the Cadalyst Video Gallery. Subscribe to Cadalyst's Tips & Tricks Tuesdays free e-newsletter and we'll notify you every time a new video tip is available. All exclusively from Cadalyst!
Autodesk Gallery Powers of Design Exhibit: 10**15 Cat's Eye Nebula 23 May, 2013
Load ‘Em Up! Stackers, Conveyors, and Advanced Assembly 23 May, 2013
Excel Hyperlinks & Document Management Tricks 22 May, 2013
New Certification Logos And Certificate Designs Available 23 May, 2013
Cool Tools of Doom n’ Stuff: Episode 22 23 May, 2013 | <urn:uuid:5a118e64-c38e-484a-ba1e-c0fd95728511> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cadalyst.com/collaboration/file-sharing-publishing/mobile-cad-cloud-and-management-mayhem-14454?page_id=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939931 | 1,530 | 1.5 | 2 |
800% rise in homeless families housed in B&Bs for over six weeks
Published by Max Salsbury for 24dash.com in Local Government and also in Communities, Housing
'Unique' B&B-style accommodation for rough sleepers to open in London
The amount of homeless families being housed in B&Bs for over six weeks has risen by 800% since 2010's general election, new figures have revealed.
Freedom of Information requests by the Labour Party to 325 councils discovered that 125 had placed families in B&Bs for six weeks or more.
It is illegal for local authorities to use B&Bs to house homeless people for longer than six weeks.
Of the 325 councils approached, only 242 responded.
Last week it was revealed that Westminster City Council is paying over £1,500 per week to house homeless families in West End hotel rooms. | <urn:uuid:b9b9dcf6-23ad-4984-830b-077f9978dcb4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.24dash.com/news/local_government/2013-02-18-800-rise-in-homeless-families-housed-in-BandBs-for-over-six-weeks | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961904 | 176 | 1.546875 | 2 |
downthetubes is sorry to report the death of San Francisco cartoonist Phil Frank, whose cartoons graced the pages ofthe city's The Chronicle and other newspapers for more than 30 years. He was 64. Paying tribute to Phil, The Chronicle reports he died on Wednesday night in West Marin, a place he loved, only a few days after he announced his retirement from drawing his well known and much loved strip Farley because of illness.
Frank's alter ego was a newspaper reporter on The Daily Requirement and sometime park ranger named Farley, the central character in his Farley comic strip, which he once described as "really a horizontal column, documenting the life and times of the characters in the Bay Area." It was the only local comic strip in the United States, and included a cast of characters that included politicians, bears that ran a restaurant called the Fog City Dumpster in San Francisco and were rabid San Francisco Giant fans, a raven named Bruce, feral cats and assorted humans like Velma Melmac, a female camper who spent her time trying to make nature just like her suburban home.Fellow cartoonist and close friend Michael Jantze, who draws The Norm, describes Phil as "one of the brightest stars in our Northern California cartoonist galaxy. A friend, a mentor and about the nicest guy on Earth to so many of us. He'll be missed."
Phil Bronstein, editor of The Chronicle says Phil Frank was one of those rare artists whose work really defined and articulated the spirit of San Francisco.
"Like his main character, Farley, Phil was a consummate and devoted journalist and proved that great reporting on this unique place can take many forms. We'll sorely miss Phil, the characters he made us feel so connected to and the way in which he saw the world."
• Update 8 October 2007:
• Grief, whimsy converge at send-off for Farley cartoonist Phil Frank
San Francsico Chronicle, 25 September 2007: Led by a brass jazz band, creatures from the life and times of the late cartoonist Phil Frank paraded around San Francisco's Washington Square - 40 uniformed park rangers, seven horses, Giants mascot Lou Seal and hundreds of people dressed as creatures from Frank's imagination celebrated his life.
• Phil Frank, Honorary State Ranger
16 September 2007: Dan Winkelman celebrates the life and times of Phil Frank | <urn:uuid:464db282-7ca3-41dc-9261-c08cf39f128a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://downthetubescomics.blogspot.com/2007_09_09_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969302 | 491 | 1.648438 | 2 |
HONG KONG — China is expected to be a centerpiece of the third and final U.S. presidential debate on Monday night, and my colleague David Sanger, in a curtain-raiser, calls China “perhaps the most important long-term subject of the debate.”
Mitt Romney, the Republican challenger, has charged that President Barack Obama has not pressed China hard enough on its trade policies, to the detriment of American firms and jobs. Mr. Obama has countered by calling Mr. Romney “a pioneer of outsourcing” and noting that his administration has brought twice as many trade cases against China as the previous administration.
The United States scored a victory in one of those trade cases last week, as a World Trade Organization panel ruled against China for imposing unfair tariffs on American-made specialty steel. The steel in question was manufactured at two factories — AK Steel of Ohio and ATI Allegheny Ludlum of Pennsylvania.
The W.T.O. ruling could well help Mr. Obama’s electoral chances in those key states.
“This is a victory for the United States as well as for American workers and manufacturers,” said Ron Kirk, the U.S. trade representative, adding that “China’s unfair duties choked off nearly all” of the U.S. exports of the special rolled steel.
“The Obama administration,” Mr. Kirk said, “will not stand by and allow China to break international trade rules.”
James L. Wainscott, the chairman, president and C.E.O. of AK Steel, said in a statement that the company was “very grateful” to Mr. Kirk’s office for “this excellent defense of the rights of U.S. manufacturers and U.S. workers.”
The administration filed the case in 2010, and the W.T.O. ruled against China in June of this year. The Ministry of Commerce in Beijing quickly appealed that decision, but the latest ruling effectively settles the matter.
“We are pleased that China at this point has no further avenue for appeals,” Mr. Wainscott said.
Derek Scissors, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, the conservative policy-research group, said in a Reuters report that the ruling was “a small benefit for the Obama campaign because it can advertise ‘beating China’ in Ohio, but it’s not a benchmark for anything.”
In the second of the three debates, Mr. Romney slammed China for currency manipulation and “stealing our intellectual property; our designs, our patents, our technology. There’s even an Apple store in China that’s a counterfeit Apple store, selling counterfeit goods.”
Indeed, there have been numerous fake Apple stores operating in China, and knockoff Apple products, which Rendezvous addressed this year.
At least 25 stores in the city of Kunming alone were discovered last year after an American health-care worker began photographing, videotaping and blogging about the phony stores.
The blogger, Jessica Angelson, who has since moved to New York to attend nursing and midwifery school, was contacted by the China Real Time blog of The Wall Street Journal after Mr. Romney’s debate remarks about the Apple store.
Mr. Romney used the Apple-store example, she said, “as a shorthand to generate outrage about trade practices in China and as a shorthand that he will be quote unquote ‘tough on China.’ It’s a somewhat meaningless shorthand. I’m not entirely sure he knows what he’s referring to at this point.”
Her blogging from Kunming — she has links to those posts here — drew submissions of other fake Apple outlets around the world, including one in the New York borough of Queens. That shop, according to the Journal blog, was “shut down after she posted a photo of it online.”
“It is more of a global issue,” Ms. Angelson said, “but it doesn’t create as nice a story as China ripping off Apple stores.”
Meanwhile, on Saturday, Apple opened an authentic store in Beijing, a gleaming three-level place, the company’s largest in Asia.
The store, Apple’s third official outlet in Beijing and its sixth on the Chinese mainland, has a first-class address — the renowned shopping street of Wangfujing, near the Forbidden City. The store employs about 300, local news reports said, and encompasses nearly 25,000 square feet, or 2,300 square meters.
Apple also has three stores in Shanghai, and there are two here in Hong Kong. | <urn:uuid:8f3dc894-1946-4f5d-8f2b-46d5df1f01f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/22/obama-could-be-buoyed-by-victory-over-china-at-w-t-o/?ref=presidentialdebates | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957581 | 991 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Podcasts & RSS Feeds
Tue January 31, 2012
Grumbling, Excitement Build For London Olympics
The last time the British did this, they had a king: George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth, was on the throne.
George was so often tongue-tied, yet he proclaimed open the 1948 London Olympics flawlessly.
It was late July. The sun shone down on London from a cloudless sky. The BBC had acquired the TV broadcasting rights for just $4,000 and made the most of them.
People packed Wembley Stadium, eager to forget the horrors of the second world war.
The 1948 Olympics are known as the austerity games. London was rebuilding after being bombed to smithereens by Hitler. Food and gas were still rationed. The athletes had no luxurious Olympic Village. They slept in military barracks, or colleges.
The Olympics are back — and, despite these difficult economic times, this time, they'll be far grander.
The scale is breathtaking: 23,000 athletes and officials — double that, if you add the security people, not to mention 20,000 journalists.
An industrial wasteland in one of London's poorest areas has been turned into a giant Olympic Park with a stunning new stadium as the centerpiece. Most of the games will be concentrated in the park — but not all. The beach volleyball is just a hop, skip and a jump from Buckingham Palace.
The Brits are breaking records even before the starting gun. They're erecting their biggest piece of public art — a twisted steel sculpture, taller than Big Ben, their answer to the Eiffel Tower. Visitors can dine at the world's biggest McDonald's in a capital with record-breaking surveillance.
"Within London we have probably the largest network of CCTV cameras anywhere in the world," says security expert Tobias Feakin. "I mean, just walking down Whitehall, I will be filmed approximately 300 times per day — by different cameras."
The British, who love a good moan, have been griping a bit about all this.
Getting tickets online has been pretty chaotic. Security costs are rocketing. So far, though, the grumbling has been subdued.
"Excitement is beginning to build," says Jules Pipe, mayor of Hackney, which contains part of the Olympic Park. "I have always said, by the time we get to the Olympics, everyone's going to be a fan."
There were riots on his patch only last summer. Don't be alarmed, says Pipe.
"There wasn't a single building set along in the borough of Hackney," he says. "Yes, there was some rioting in the streets but that was in common with many other places in the country."
In a down-at-heel east London market, close to the Olympic Park, you find mixed opinions about playing host.
Carol Porter won't be budging from the vegetable stall where she has worked for the past 16 years.
"I shall just be serving here anyway, whether they are doing high jump or frog jump or whatever," she says. "I shall just be here."
But for all that, I have a sneaking feeling she's looking forward to it. | <urn:uuid:e8aa3406-9d2a-424e-8295-aebd1bd37fe3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kbia.org/post/grumbling-excitement-build-london-olympics | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976279 | 664 | 1.695313 | 2 |
In the summer of 2010, photographer Eirik Johnson adventured to the most northern stretch of the United States to capture several hunting cabins in Barrow, Alaska. He returned in winter 2012 during the frigid Arctic Winter Solstice to photograph the same cabins at the precise angle and position, as he did that one summer. With only a brief four hour window of dusk-like light during this recent winter trip, he still managed to succeed in a complete visual contrast, especially when the images are viewed side by side. The structures are used by native Iñupiat families who travel from Barrow to hunt for waterfowl in the summer and seals in the winter. "The cabins are situated along the shores of the Chukchi Sea, part of the larger Arctic Ocean. Each structure has been fashioned out of whatever makeshift materials are on hand, from weathered plywood to old shipping pallets collected from the nearby-decommissioned Navy Base. Seen together, both the summer and winter series are a meditation on the passage of time and seasonal shift along the extreme horizon of the Arctic."
Scrapile—Pull up a chair to one of Scrapile’s impossibly elegant dining tables and you’d never guess that the materials used to create it had once been destined for a landfill. Founded in 2003 by Carlos Salgado and Bart Bettencourt, Brooklyn-based Scrapile repurposes cast-off scrap wood to create crisp modern furnishings. Salgado and Bettencourt met in the mid 1990s, doing installation work at the now-defunct SoHo branch of the Guggenheim Museum. “We were both appalled by the waste at the Guggenheim,” says Salgado. “Between exhibitions everything got demoed, and it was still good material. It just sat on our consciences.” Years later, they found themselves at a studio staring at a pile of wood, wondering what could be made from it. The query yielded two benches—the seeds of Scrapile. The collection has been growing ever since. | <urn:uuid:12993181-a36e-473f-a012-b2d859f6ab35> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dwell.com/people/eirik-johnson?tab=photographs&c=y | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957274 | 431 | 1.695313 | 2 |
In the final push before Election Day, President Obama has been traveling the country criticizing Republicans for favoring tax breaks for U.S. companies that supposedly ship U.S. jobs overseas. It’s a bogus charge that I dismantle in an op-ed in this morning’s New York Post:
The charge sounds logical: Under the US corporate tax code, US-based companies aren’t taxed on profits that their affiliates abroad earn until those profits are returned here. Supposedly, this “tax break” gives firms an incentive to create jobs overseas rather than at home, so any candidate who doesn’t want to impose higher taxes on those foreign operations is guilty of “shipping jobs overseas.”
In fact, American companies have quite valid reasons beyond any tax advantage to establish overseas affiliates: That’s how they reach foreign customers with US-branded goods and services.
Those affiliates allow US companies to sell services that can only be delivered where the customer lives (such as fast food and retail) or to customize their products, such as automobiles, to better reflect the taste of customers in foreign markets.
I go on to point out that close to 90 percent of what U.S.-owned affiliates produce abroad is sold abroad; that those foreign affiliates are now the primary way U.S. companies reach global consumers with U.S.-branded goods and services; and that the more jobs they create in their affiliates abroad, the more they create in their parent operations in the United States. If Congress raises taxes on those foreign operations, it will only force U.S. companies to cede market share to their German and Japanese (and French and Korean) competitors.
I unpack the issue at greater length in a Free Trade Bulletin published last year, and on pages 99-104 of my recent Cato book, Mad about Trade: Why Main Street America Should Embrace Globalization. | <urn:uuid:eb5f716e-af1b-4cca-9335-a3873bf50d0c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cato.org/blog/bogus-charge-shipping-jobs-overseas | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955178 | 392 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Mark Tarner talks as passionately about the portion of a Titanosaurus tooth he found with his family during a trip to rural Nebraska as he does about making Christmas crunch and candy cane fudge.
Most people associate Tarner with chocolate.
Who knew the founder and owner of the South Bend Chocolate Company spends his vacation time roaming ranches in the American West excavating dinosaur and other bones?
Everyone will now.
Several days ago, Tarner, an amateur paleontologist, debuted the Dino Store, a tiny storefront tucked behind his downtown chocolate cafe on South Michigan Street.
It contains bones, fossils and rocks the Tarner family has found while vacationing in South Dakota, Montana and Nebraska, as well as some items Tarner has purchased over the years and some commercially packaged bones and fossils.
"Welcome to our nerdy dinosaur world," he says. "We want to find a whole dinosaur, but we come across all this in the process."
The Dino Store feels like a page out of a museum shop or Dinosphere at the Indianapolis Children's Museum.
In fact, Tarner says, he has trailed behind real paleontologists, picking up their unwanted bone fragments. He says the store contains many of the things he doesn't have a use for that others could find interesting.
The Dino Store contains unique mammal jaws that belonged to squirrels and camels more than 21 million years ago. Pieces of petrified wood are sold by the pound. Old turtle shells and a Hadrosaur femur can be viewed in a display case.
The store is much more than Tarner, the candy man. It more accurately represents his entire family. Tarner, his wife, Julie, and their four children met at the store Thursday to talk about their hobby and joint venture.
Emily, 18, and Anna, 10, are the most vivid in their descriptions of family vacations spent on microsites -- small areas that are loaded with ancient teeth, turtle shells and other findings.
While they have never visited Disneyland, no one is complaining.
"If Dad puts me on a microsite for a day with some water, I'm content," says 18-year-old Emily, whose fascination with rocks started the family excavations in the early '90s.
"That's when I caught the bug," Tarner admits.
His vocabulary is impressive to the nonpaleontologist. His knowledge about dinosaurs seems as extensive as his understanding of confections.
Not long after the family started collecting bones and fossils, Tarner and his kids incorporated a company called PaleoPartners.
Items in the store range from petrified wood that starts at $1.49 per pound, to mammal jaws that run from $30 to $100, all the way up to an Oviraptor egg (Tarner bought this) from the late Cretaceous period, priced at $2,000.
The hottest seller so far, however, has been the $3 mystery bags. Anna, 10, has already had to restock them.
"You don't know what's going to be inside," Anna says about their popularity, as she straightens a couple dozen lunch-size brown paper bags that fill a table.
A homemade sign indicates how each bag may contain an ammonite (an extinct group of marine invertebrate), crystal, ancient turtle shell or crinoid fossil.
Elizabeth, 8, has been nicknamed "Eagle Eye" by her siblings because she is so good at finding fossils and bones. Her older brother, Sam, admits he enjoys the end result of their finds more than "the hunt."
His dream is to find a Tyrannosaurus rex.
In a separate nearby room called "the lab," Tarner shows off a couple of dinosaur heads, all kinds of bone fragments and a table filled with dozens of sequoia seeds.
The seeds don't look like anything special, until Tarner explains they are somewhere between 65 million and 83 million years old. He hopes to open the lab for tours in the future.
"Everything is an education," he says, noting how the Dino Store is open during South Bend Chocolate Cafe hours. "We hope this draws families who visit downtown. And I hope it gets kids more interested in science."
His wife nods.
"Mark is such a good teacher, so I know he will stop and talk to the kids about his hobby," she says. "I'll make fun of him, but I think it's cool. I'd be bored in someone who didn't have so many hobbies."
Have you heard?
Van Horne Jewelers, 7145 Heritage Square Drive, Mishawaka, is celebrating its 86th anniversary with an open house from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. ... Garcia's Mexican Family Restaurant is now under construction at 110 N. Main St., downtown South Bend. ... Golden Corral is still on track to open its doors Monday at 135 E. Douglas Road, Mishawaka, on the southeast corner of Main Street. ... Dunkin' Donuts opened its doors Monday at 52931 Indiana 933, South Bend. ... Cambodian Thai is scheduled to relocate in early January in downtown South Bend. The locally owned restaurant, currently located at 229 S. Michigan
St., is moving to the former O'Sullivan's building on the corner of Michigan and Wayne streets. ... Join our next live online chat at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Heidi Prescott's column runs in the South Bend Tribune on Fridays and Sundays. When she's not shopping, contact her at firstname.lastname@example.org or 574-235-6070. You can also talk retail at Facebook.com/thebasket and at Twitter.com/marketbasket. | <urn:uuid:1f371c42-ab9b-4ebc-92f6-4f67635500b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.southbendtribune.com/business/sbt-market-basket-south-bend-chocolate-owner-opens-dino-store-20121129,0,2741799,full.column | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972582 | 1,186 | 1.773438 | 2 |
With the release of the draft mineral resource rent tax (MRRT) legislation in June, debate continues over the merits of the commodity tax and the effect it will have on Australia's booming mining industry. According to the Government, the reforms will boost national savings, cut company tax and provide investment in infrastructure, particularly in the mineral rich-states of Western Australia and Queensland. A further issue is the way small miners and junior explorers, who make up a significant portion of the mining industry, were left out of the MRRT's design process.
Replacing the resource super profit tax proposed by the former Rudd government last year, the MRRT was negotiated between Prime Minister Gillard and the three big mining companies, BHP, Rio Tinto and Xstrata, before a policy transition group (PTG) was chosen to finalise its design. Small miners were not included in those discussions - the Prime Minister herself explained earlier this year how the MRRT was shaped: "...there was the agreement struck between the three big miners, and we had the PTG with Don Argus [ex-BHP chairman] and we've accepted every recommendation". With such disregard for the inclusion of small miners throughout the process, it is no wonder they have little confidence in the MRRT as an equitable approach to tax reform.
"They have been sidelined right from the start," says Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources Ian Macfarlane. "They [the Federal government] have a consulting process that lacks involvement particularly of Australian-owned, small [mining] companies - this is particularly disappointing and grossly unfair." Simon Bennison, CEO of the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) agrees, stating that the big three mining companies had "no mandate to act on behalf of AMEC and its members".
Small miners are claiming that Treasurer Wayne Swan stacked the PTG with biased industry members who are or were employed by the big companies, to help the Government devise the tax scheme. "In the end people in those situations tend to represent their own companies, so it's hard to imagine that a company like BHP or Rio, for instance, or Xstrata would take up the issues in relation to smaller competitors," explains Macfarlane. "This is a competitive game - they compete against each other - even when markets are strong they are still competing for tonnage."
Reg Howard-Smith, chief executive for the Chamber of Minerals Energy of Western Australia, whose membership includes the big three miners as well as smaller ones, admits it wasn't involved in the negotiations, nor was it involved in the creation of the PTG. He says that the chamber "understands the concerns of some of our members who were excluded from this part of the process".
Fortescue Metals executive director Andrew Forrest, a very vocal proponent of the abolition or redesign of the MRRT, has not been so polite. "It's a precedent that should not be supported. Taxation policy should be broad-ranging, it should be fair and it should be based on the constitution of being equal among states and equal among companies. That hasn't happened. BHP has literally written a tax for everyone else to pay."
"Mr Forrest's assertion is incorrect," states Martin Ferguson, Minister for Resources and Energy, adding that PTG members were chosen for their expertise and experience across the industry. "The government afforded small miners and junior explorers the same opportunities for consultation as others in industry throughout the duration of the PTG process. I completely reject any suggestion that small miners were sidelined during the policy transition group consultation process."
According to the government's Future Tax website, the PTG undertook wide-ranging consultation with the mining industry and provided two reports to the government on December 21 last year - the first making 94 recommendations regarding the technical design of the MRRT and the extension of the petroleum resource rent tax and the second making four recommendations on mineral and petroleum exploration. With all 98 recommendations accepted by the Government, it would appear that the politicians are in fact listening to industry concerns.
"We've got the agreement of the industry for the MRRT, which will raise $7.4 billion to cut taxes for small business, to invest in infrastructure and cut the corporate [tax] rate among other things," says Treasurer Wayne Swan. "The reason they [mining companies] have made the agreement is they do understand there is a case for resource rent taxes."
Why then the negative discourse among small miners? "There are significant points of difference between emerging mining companies and the large multinational, multi-commodity conglomerates that ‘negotiated' the MRRT framework with the Gillard government," says Simon Bennison, CEO of AMEC)
"Suggestions by treasurer Wayne Swan that industry has agreed with the MRRT are incorrect, as agreement was only reached with three large [miners] and not the other mining companies that will be affected by this additional tax."
Ferguson disagrees. "The PTG considered over 80 written submissions from a variety of stakeholders and held detailed face-to-face consultations around the country, which were well-attended by industry, including small miners." Additionally, Ferguson claims that PTG members were not appointed to represent any particular sector within industry. "Collectively their previous experience extends across the entire industry, including small miners."
Macfarlane disagrees. "What we saw was a compromise worked out between the big three multinational miners and the Government," he says. The "losers", he says, are the Australian-owned, Australian-based companies. "They weren't involved in the initial compromise, they haven't been involved in the consulting group [PTG] that went on from there, and I suspect they won't be involved in the implementation group either."
However, Simon Bennison, who has been lobbying government to have the MRRT discussed at the tax summit this October, has no intention of being sidelined in future consultations - even accepting, along with several other bodies, an invitation to participate in a sub-committee that is attempting to work through some of the complexities of the MRRT. "AMEC is involved in that confidential process in an attempt to obtain some clarity and certainty for emerging miners and their investors - who are still not completely clear on the full extent of the tax on their business and investment profile," he says.
Although the Government has committed to continue its engagement with the mining industry throughout the legislative process, in particular adopting the PTG's recommendation to develop a resource tax implementation group, Bennison, as well as other industry representatives, has expressed his dissatisfaction with the Government's decision to exclude the MRRT from the tax summit later this year. "It is extremely disappointing that the summit has been deferred to October," says Bennison, who remains determined to see the MRRT put on the table. "AMEC will continue to liaise with its members, and take these concerns to Government through direct involvement in the proposed implementation group, and the legislative process. In the meantime, we insist that the MRRT is discussed at the October tax summit."
Macfarlane agrees, accusing the Government of trying to avoid close scrutiny of the MRRT. "I mean it is quite ridiculous to have a tax of this magnitude not included in the summit," declares Macfarlane. "I assume the reason for the tax summit is to review taxation. [The Government] appears to not want to explain to anyone exactly what it's doing."
Perhaps surprisingly, other industry representatives are not convinced it is a good idea either, with CME chief executive Reg Howard-Smith believing that the inclusion of the MRRT would be a backward step in the process. "Raising the resource rent tax at the summit would be a retrograde step, because it's very possible that proposals which would do even greater harm to our industry's international competitiveness would be flagged by some third parties."
"The big three mining companies had no mandate to act on behalf of the mining association and its members"
The Government says the MRRT is not being included in the tax summit because it doesn't want to delay the legislative process any further. "As the Treasurer has made clear, the timetable for this reform has been long established, and there have been months of public debate as well as an extensive consultation process with the industry and other stakeholders," says Ferguson. "We don't intend to put our whole economic reform program on hold until the tax forum."
In this light, small miners and junior explorers have little option but to abide by the Government's plan and take advantage of its promise to include them in future consultations. According to Ferguson, "the Government will undertake public consultation on the draft exposure legislation later this year and we encourage small miners and junior explorers to engage with this process". | <urn:uuid:b25c3d21-31c6-45b2-b35a-8cd9390aacb6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.miningtechnologyaustralia.com.au/upfront | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979311 | 1,778 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Kristen French to moderate discussion on the future of education
Kristen French, Director of The Center for Education Equity and Diversity at Western Washington University, will moderate a panel discussion Aug. 16 as part of the Seattle Center Next 50 events.
What is the future we hope to realize for our children 50 years from now? What are the skills today’s children need in order to become the architects of a better world tomorrow? How are new advances in areas such as technology and brain research opening up exciting new pathways for teaching and learning? How will we make innovations in education meaningful and accessible to all children in the Next 50? How will the investments we make in educating very young children today profoundly affect our community - for better or for worse - in the next 50 years?
National leaders whose work shapes new ideas in education will discuss these questions at the 7 p.m. event, which will take place at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle.
- Jane McGonigal, Ph.D., Creative Director of Social Chocolate, Director of Game Research and Development at Institute for the Future, best-selling author of Reality is Broken, named by The New York Times as one of 10 scientists with the best vision for what’s coming next.
- Milton Chen, Ph.D., Director Emeritus of Edutopia/The George Lucas Educational Foundation
- Bette Hyde, Ph.D., Director of Washington State Department of Early Learning
- Roger Weissberg, Ph.D., Psychology Professor at University of Illinois and CEO of Collaborative for Academic, Social & Emotional Learning (CASEL)
Admission is $10 for students and educators, $16 for general admission, $37 for premium seating and post-event reception. Tickets available at ticketmaster.com. Those who are unable to attend may go to the Next Fifty Global Channel (seattlecenter.com) later to watch the recorded broadcast. | <urn:uuid:d32cac7d-b019-45f1-a3cf-aa517e091ba9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://onlinefast.org/wwutoday/news/kristen-french-to-moderate-discussion-on-the-future-of-education | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933862 | 392 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Publication Date: April 01, 2012
Binding: Paperback Book
Availability: 7-10 Days
Please note this is the time it takes for stock to reach our warehouse. Please allow a few extra days for delivery.
Charles Saatchi founded the Saatchi & Saatchi advertising agency in 1970, which grew to become the largest of its kind in the world. At the same time he started collecting art and, later, opened his first gallery in London. He championed young British artists, such as Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst, and became a major figure on the international art scene. For someone so influential, he's surprisingly quiet. Charles Saatchi almost never gives interviews. However, he's a man with a view on everything - from movies to morals, superstition to suicide - and in this fascinating new book he answers nearly 300 questions from readers and journalists. What is the most valuable life lesson you can offer? Are you a believer that good is the enemy of great? What is more powerful - money or knowledge? How would you describe yourself if you did not have art in your life? How many of the seven deadly sins are you guilty of? This is the definitive read for those in search of answers. | <urn:uuid:e084d01a-a9bd-4b1b-a785-7ed6fa872611> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.collinsbooks.com.au/Be-the-Worst-You-Can-be/p/9781419703737 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957077 | 253 | 1.539063 | 2 |
In Musharraf’s Shadow, a New Hope for Pakistan Rises
By DAVID ROHDE and CARLOTTA GALL
Published: January 7, 2008
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Over the last several months, a little-known, enigmatic Pakistani general has quietly raised hopes among American officials that he could emerge as a new force for stability in Pakistan, according to current and former government officials. But it remains too early to determine whether he can play a decisive role in the country.
In late November, the general, Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, took command of Pakistan’s army when the country’s longtime military ruler, Pervez Musharraf, resigned as army chief and became a civilian president. At that time, General Kayani, a protégé of Mr. Musharraf’s, became one of Pakistan’s most powerful officials.
The Pakistani Army has dominated the country for decades and the army chief wields enormous influence. Over time, as General Kayani gains firmer control of the army, he is likely to become even more powerful than Mr. Musharraf himself.
“Gradually, General Kayani will be the boss,” said Talat Masood, a Pakistani political analyst and retired general. “The real control of the army will be with Kayani.”
But within weeks, General Kayani’s loyalties — and skills — are likely to come under intense strain. The two civilian political parties that oppose Mr. Musharraf are vowing to conduct nationwide street protests if Mr. Musharraf’s party wins delayed parliamentary elections now scheduled for Feb. 18.
The parties already accuse Mr. Musharraf — who is widely unpopular according to public opinion polls — of fixing the elections. If demonstrations erupt, General Kayani will have to decide whether to suppress them. What he decides will determine who rules Pakistan, according to Pakistani and American analysts. The decision also could affect whether the country descends into even deeper turmoil.
They predict that General Kayani will remain loyal to Mr. Musharraf to a certain extent. But they say he will not back Mr. Musharraf if his actions are viewed as damaging the army.
“He’s loyal to Musharraf to the point where Musharraf is a liability and no longer an asset to the corporate body of the Pakistani military,” said Bruce Riedel, a former C.I.A. and White House official and a Pakistan expert.
As he has ascended, General Kayani has impressed American military and intelligence officials as a professional, pro-Western moderate with few political ambitions. But the elevation to army chief has been known to change Pakistani officers.
Mr. Musharraf was seen as uninterested in politics when he became army chief in 1998. A year later, he orchestrated a coup and began his eight-year rule.
General Kayani has become an increasingly important figure to the Bush administration as Pakistan’s instability grows and Mr. Musharraf faces intensifying political problems, according to American and Pakistani analysts.
Mr. Musharraf’s declaration of de facto martial law in November was widely seen in Pakistan as an effort by him to crush his civilian opponents and cling to power.
At the same time, many Pakistanis blame Mr. Musharraf for failing to prevent the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto last month. They contend that the government did not provide adequate security.
General Kayani’s personal views are difficult to discern. Since taking command of the army, he has continued his practice of never granting interviews.
In one of his first acts as army chief, he declared 2008 the “year of the soldier,” an attempt to improve the weakening morale of the Pakistani Army, a gesture that was praised by American military officials. The army has struggled in combating militants, with more than 1,000 soldiers and police officers killed since 2001. Last summer, several hundred soldiers surrendered to militants, causing intense concern among Pakistani military officials.
The battle against insurgents continues to be intractable. A security official said Monday that suspected Islamic militants killed eight tribal leaders involved in efforts to broker a cease-fire between security forces and insurgents in northwestern Pakistan, The Associated Press reported. The men were shot in separate attacks late Sunday and early Monday in South Waziristan, a mountainous region close to Afghanistan where militants allied with Al Qaeda and the Taliban operate, the official said.
General Kayani’s early political moves as commander included two small gestures that were interpreted as attempts to ease tensions between the government and civilian opposition parties. After the assassination of Ms. Bhutto on Dec. 27, he sent soldiers to place a wreath on her grave and privately met with her husband.
On Thursday, General Kayani led the first meeting of Pakistan’s corps commanders — the dozen generals who dominate the military. It was the first time in eight years that Mr. Musharraf had not attended. During the meeting, the general stressed unity.
It is the harmonization of sociopolitical, administrative and military strategies that will usher an environment of peace and stability in the long term,” the state-run news media quoted him as saying. “Ultimately, it is the will of the people and their support that is decisive.”
The son of a junior officer in the Pakistani Army, he is from Jhelum, an arid region in Punjab Province known for producing Pakistani generals. Raised in a middle-class military family, he attended military schools and is seen as loyal to the army as an institution above all else.
His appointment was popular among army officers, some of whom believe the Pakistani army should withdraw from politics, as it has intermittently in the past.
His career has included repeated military education in the United States. He received training in Fort Benning, Ga., and graduated from the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. He also took an executive studies course at the Asia-Pacific Center of Security Studies in Hawaii in the late 1990s.
In an army deeply enmeshed in Pakistani politics, he has declined to ally himself with any political groups, according to retired Pakistani military officials. As a junior officer, he briefly served as a military aide to Ms. Bhutto during her first term as prime minister in the late 1980s, but has stayed away from politicians since then.
“Kayani throughout his career has shown little in the way of political inclination,” said a senior American military official who has worked extensively with him but did not wish to be identified because of the sensitivities of Pakistani politics. “He is a humble man who has shown a decided focus on the soldier.”
When he was appointed deputy army chief last fall, his first move was to visit the front lines in the tribal areas. Spending the Muslim holiday Id al-Fitr with soldiers prompted American military officials to praise him as a “soldier’s soldier.”
The senior American military official predicted that the Pakistani Army would perform better under General Kayani than Mr. Musharraf, who was often distracted by politics while serving as both president and army chief.
But any progress General Kayani achieves militarily could be undermined by continuing political turmoil, according to Pakistani analysts. To end that instability, he might have to strike a “grand bargain” with Pakistan’s civilian political parties that would end the army’s dominance.
“If Kayani, in a way, tries to promote democracy and becomes the protector of democracy,” said Mr. Masood, the Pakistani political analyst and retired general, “then I think Pakistan has a chance.”
Mr. Masood and other analysts said General Kayani would be more able to strike such a bargain than Mr. Musharraf, who is distrusted by the country’s political parties. But to do so he and civilian leaders would have to compromise and share power, something that has happened rarely in Pakistan's 60-year history. | <urn:uuid:0b09fbe6-0591-44a7-99c4-cc0b62c8a47e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.defence.pk/forums/strategic-geopolitical-issues/8995-musharraf-s-shadow-new-hope-pakistan-rises.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976498 | 1,683 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Sail-World.com : Captains Calamity - the dilemma
Captains Calamity - the dilemma
Why is it that would-be adventurers without the first knowledge of seamanship think they can go out on the ocean with a sailing boat under their command, and not run the risk of perishing? Apart from gross ignorance, the answer may lie in the proliferation of rescue authorities and volunteer rescuers around the world meant to be called upon by those who suffer from genuine misfortune, but sadly also by those who are simply careless.
Here is yet another incident which occurred this week, with the places and names suppressed, but the story otherwise completely true.
Emergency service crews rescued father and son sailors on Monday this week after they were stranded on their 36-foot boat for more than 13 hours about 20 nautical miles from land.
The two sailors left their home port on Saturday for an intended passage of around 200 nautical miles but headed for shelter behind an island when wind conditions picked up.
The men dropped anchor but soon noticed it had dragged them closer to the rocks on the island.
They tried to start the boat's motor but realised it wouldn't work so they headed to a nearby resort to see if anyone had a spare battery pack.
'We had to cut the anchor chain at about 9pm and put up our jib to try to get away from the island,' the skipper said.
'The wind was so strong it ripped our jib, so then we had no sail.
'We had to use two little tarps to sail with.'
The men's radio was also playing up, but luckily Mr Chappell had enough phone battery charge for them to phone the water police for help.
A local Water Police sergeant acted as the men's eyes, guiding them away from the rocks and into a safer passage of water where a Volunteer Marine Rescue vessel was able to reach them and tow them to safety.
We didn’t know it would be like this - .. .
The two men hadn't eaten or slept since Sunday morning.
'The rescue crews were absolutely terrific, we would have been gone without them,' the skipper said.
Their boat was then moored safely in an appropriate place, with the men brought back to dry land on Monday afternoon.
'We only bought the boat two weeks ago and it is still in very good condition. We're not sure what went wrong,' the skipper said.
Well, as you have been reading this, as an only mildly competent sailor, you could have told them what went wrong.
Still reading the directions... - .. .
1. They obviously underestimated the effects of, or didn't know, the weather forecast when they set off.
2. They left port with a motor with a flat battery
3. They somehow anchored on a lee shore, and would therefore have been better off to stay at sea if that was the only alternative
4. They then abandoned their yacht while it was on a lee shore and was getting close to rocks
5. They had anchored in such a way that they couldn't get their anchor chain up and had to cut it.
6. They had gone to sea with a jib only and no main, so they had little or no ability to go to weather.
7. The had gone to sea without a reliable radio, and without a back-up.
8. The water police had to act as 'the men's eyes' so it is obvious that they had no ability or navigational equipment on board
9. They had little or no food supplies on board
10. They had not had any watch-keeping arrangement for an overnight sail, so were both exhausted
11. When it was all over, they still believed that the boat was 'still in very good condition' and they were 'not sure what went wrong'.
In short, according to the description, they never should have set to sea at all.
This is an ongoing dilemma for the sailing fraternity as a whole. The ocean is well known as 'the last great freedom' but if there is not serious responsibility taken by the sailing world for its own self-regulation, the day may come when one is not allowed to leave port without undergoing stringent checking by government-appointed authorities.
In addition, why should rescuers be asked to potentially risk their own lives because irresponsible sailors risk theirs?
by Des Ryan
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3:20 AM Sat 24 Mar 2012GMT
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Customised news feeds -Marine Industry companies, Clubs and Associations have their own customised version of our news feed on their website. | <urn:uuid:e43c6705-b44d-4002-84e4-5e3ca03f7d65> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sail-world.com/cruising/index.cfm?nid=95219&rid=11 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977372 | 1,168 | 1.523438 | 2 |
- The Perfect Application - a rough guide to saving your time and money
- Article Post Date: Sunday 28.03.2010
Your demo is as the word states, a demonstration of your work and so should represent what the band/act is currently about. In my opinion, demos take many different shapes and sizes but sticking to some basic rules when putting the demo together always proves worthwhile and creates a professional image.
Make sure there are no more or less than 3 tracks on your demo. The listener will be able to make a decision on your music in this space of time, any less than 3 isn't enough and more than 3 will bore them to tears. Remember, no matter how great the band is, your music is completely new to them, less is most certainly more in this case.
Always put your best track first. Why put it last and risk have the listener not even hearing it?
Don't spend a fortune on packaging but make your "label copy" clear and easy to read with the band name in large bold letters, track listing and most importantly, your name and numbers/e mail address.
Also put your details on the body of the CD. You would be surprised at how easy it is to lose the cover/case and then listened to the CD to find great songs and no way of getting hold of the act.
If you applying for a gig or showcase and they have specific requirements then you should adhere to these. If they ask for CD, photo, weblink and biog then you should send just that.
The biog should be one page and try not to make it too wordy or flowery. Basic facts about the bands achievements with gigs played and some quotes from local promoters, journalists, other artists or anyone you think will make a difference.
The photo should a basic shot. Nobody will expect you to be arty at this stage.
Finally, maybe most importantly, before you send the demo off………..make sure it plays in a regular CD player as well as a computer as more and more people listen on their computers these days though some may prefer to use the car CD!
AND don't forget your contact details ...
Article produced by ASCAP | <urn:uuid:3fd16795-57e1-4195-9b5f-28941d72db6e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cityshowcase.co.uk/features/show/the-perfect-application-a-rough-guide-to-saving-your-time-and-money?symfony=235fb3ef54e4f986a7eb31a93e75c7ca | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957288 | 452 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Photo: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images News/Getty Images
Got breakage? If so you know that every time you brush, style and shampoo a little bit more of your hair gives up and slides down the drain. Hair prone to breakage can withstand very little tension, and perms are all about tension. Hair on the back of the head usually starts breaking first because of contact with pillows, clothing and necklaces. If your hair is breaking off in the back now, it will only get worse if you perm it. A perm of any sort is out of the question. If you leave the perm on the shelf, you'll keep more hair on your head.
You may not know what's causing your breakage unless you can pinpoint exactly what happened -- too many color jobs back to back will send your hair packing. Chemical services are among the main causes for breakage followed by tight hairstyles like microbraids or the perpetual ponytail -- you know you're guilty. It's easy, right? If you haven't the slightest idea why your hair is punishing you, the cause might be internal. Certain health conditions, such as thyroid disease, and some medications can cause brittle hair. Brittle hair cannot stretch and bounce back like healthy hair, so instead of stretching it breaks when faced with tension.
Perms place a great deal of physical tension on the hair. For one, perm rods aren't feather light. Each rod places weight on your hair, and the simple act of wrapping the hair also causes tension. When you rinse, the water adds more weight. And then there's the process of blotting away excess moisture before applying the neutralizing solution -- all of this adds up to a lot of tension.
Chemical tension is where most people run into problems. Although the chemicals are liquid and don't weigh that much, when they go to work on your hair, the tension becomes unbearable. Perm solution causes swelling of the hair shaft. When the diameter of each hair swells, the tension placed on the hair causes weaker hairs to snap. Not only does chemical tension cause you to lose hair immediately, weakened hairs continue to fall out for several weeks after the perm.
Creating a Permable Future
So, a perm is out of the question now, but that doesn't mean you can never get one. First, you need to get your hair in shape. Take care of any underlying medical problems that may be affecting your hair. Start babying your hair. Deep conditioning treatments and regular trims will remove the damaged portions, making it possible for you to perm. To know if your hair is ready, pull on a single wet strand in the affected area. If it stretches, you're good to go. If it breaks, your hair needs more time. | <urn:uuid:b26ce476-c3fe-4fe5-b703-e7b9d3bb9514> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.typef.com/article/should-still-perm-hair-breaking-off-back/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939904 | 565 | 1.8125 | 2 |
During his State of the Union address, President Obama pledged to further cut America's nuclear arsenal. The exact figure wasn't specified, but it's been reported that the goal is to reduce the force from the current 1,700 "deployed weapons" down to 1,000, provided some kind of deal can be reached with Russia.
While China's nuclear arsenal is tiny in comparison, it has been undergoing a process of modernization and C. Raja Mohan argues that China will continue to stand aloft from any disarmament talks for the time being:
This approach leaves Beijing much leeway in responding to Obama's latest nuclear initiative. It allows Beijing to hold the high diplomatic ground on supporting the long-term goal of global zero, promising to join multilateral talks on nuclear reductions when it is convenient, and leaving room for its nuclear weapon modernisation in the interim.
Mohan argues that while most of America's close allies in Asia may be worried that America's "extended deterrence" would be weaker with a smaller arsenal, one major player is likely to be heartened by Obama's reductions:
In contrast to some in East Asia, India has every reason to welcome Obama's plans to negotiate deeper nuclear cuts with Russia. Like China, India has seen deep cuts in the US and Russian arsenals as an important first step on the road towards nuclear disarmament. | <urn:uuid:8851de2a-fc96-4467-bd7e-6a8bfdac2bea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.realclearworld.com/blog/2013/02/how_will_obamas_nuclear_cuts_play_in_asia.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948009 | 278 | 1.703125 | 2 |
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