text
stringlengths 211
577k
| id
stringlengths 47
47
| dump
stringclasses 1
value | url
stringlengths 14
371
| file_path
stringclasses 644
values | language
stringclasses 1
value | language_score
float64 0.93
1
| token_count
int64 54
121k
| score
float64 1.5
1.84
| int_score
int64 2
2
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
How the Value-Added Model sucks
One way people’s trust of mathematics is being abused by crappy models is through the Value-Added Model, or VAM, which is actually a congregation of models introduced nationally to attempt to assess teachers and schools and their influence on the students.
I have a lot to say about the context in which we decide to apply a mathematical model to something like this, but today I’m planning to restrict myself to complaints about the actual model. Some of these complaints are general but some of them are specific to the way the one in New York is set up (still a very large example).
The general idea of a VAM is that teachers are rewarded for bringing up their students’ test scores more than expected, given a bunch of context variables (like their poverty and last year’s test scores).
The very first question one should ask is, how good is the underlying test the kids are taking? This is famously a noisy answer, depending on how much sleep and food the kids got that day, and, with respect to the content, depends more on memory than on deep knowledge. Another way of saying this is that, if a student does a mediocre job on the test, it could be because they are learning badly at their school, or that they didn’t eat breakfast, or it could be that the teachers they have are focusing more on other things like understanding the reasons for the scientific method and creating college-prepared students by focusing on skills of inquiry rather than memorization.
This brings us to the next problem with VAM, which is a general problem with test-score cultures, namely that it is possible to teach to the test, which is to say it’s possible for teachers to chuck out their curriculums and focus their efforts on the students doing well on the test (which in middle school would mean teaching only math and English). This may be an improvement for some classrooms but in general is not.
People’s misunderstanding of this point gets to the underlying problem of skepticism of our teachers’ abilities and goals- can you imagine if, at your job, you were mistrusted so much that everyone thought it would be better if you were just given a series of purely rote tasks to do instead of using your knowledge of how things should be explained or introduced or how people learn? It’s a fact that teachers and schools that don’t teach to the test are being punished for this under the VAM system. And it’s also a fact that really good, smart teachers who would rather be able to use their pedagogical chops in an environment where they are being respected leave public schools to get away from this culture.
Another problem with the New York VAM is the way tenure is set up. The system of tenure is complex in its own right, and I personally have issues with it (and with the system of tenure in general), but in any case here’s the way it works now. New teachers are technically given three years to create a portfolio for tenure- but the VAM results of the third year don’t come back in time, which means the superintendent looking at a given person’s tenure folder only sees two years of scores, and one of them is the first year, where the person was completely inexperienced.
The reason this matters is that, depending on the population of kids that new teacher was dealing with, more or less of the year could have been spent learning how to manage a classroom. This is an effect that overall could be corrected for by a model but there’s no reason to believe was. In other words, the overall effect of teaching to kids who are difficult to manage in a classroom could be incorporated into a model but the steep learning curve of someone’s first year would be much harder to incorporate. Indeed I looked at the VAM technical white paper and didn’t see anything like that (although since the paper was written for the goal of obfuscation that doesn’t prove anything).
For a middle school teacher, the fact that they have only two years of test scores (and one year of experienced scores) going into a tenure decision really matters. Technically the breakdown of weights for their overall performance is supposed to be 20% VAM, 20% school-wide assessment, and 60% “subjective” performance evaluation, as in people coming to their classroom and taking notes. However, the superintendent in charge of looking at the folders has about 300 folders to look at in 2 weeks (an estimate), and it’s much easier to look at test scores than to read pages upon pages of written assessment. So the effective weighting scheme is measurably different, although hard to quantify.
One other unwritten rule: if the school the teacher is at gets a bad grade, then that teacher’s chances of tenure can be zero, even if their assessment is otherwise good. This is more of a political thing than anything else, in that Bloomberg doesn’t want to say that a “bad” school had a bunch of tenures go through. But it means that the 20/20/60 breakdown is false in a second way, and it also means that the “school grade” isn’t an independent assessment of the teachers’ grades- and the teachers get double punished for teaching at a school that has a bad grade.
That brings me to the way schools are graded. Believe it or not the VAM employs a binning system when they correct for poverty, which is measured in terms of the percentage of the student population that gets free school lunches. The bins are typically small ranges of percentages, say 20-25%, but the highest bin is something like 45% and higher. This means that a school with 90% of kids getting free school lunch is expected to perform on tests similarly to a school with half that many kids with unstable and distracting home lives. This penalizes the schools with the poorest populations, and as we saw above penalized the teachers at those schools, by punishing them for when the school gets a bad grade. It’s my opinion that there should never be binning in a serious model, for reasons just like this. There should always be a continuous function that is fit to the data for the sake of “correcting” for a given issue.
Moreover, as a philosophical issue, these are the very schools that the whole testing system was created to help (does anyone remember that testing was originally set up to help identify kids who struggle in order to help them?), but instead we see constant stress on their teachers, failed tenure bids, and the resulting turnover in staff is exactly the opposite of helping.
This brings me to a crucial complaint about VAM and the testing culture, namely that the emphasis put on these tests, which we’ve seen is noisy at best, reduces the quality of life for the teachers and the schools and the students to such an extent that there is no value added by the value added model!
If you need more evidence of this please read this article, which describes the rampant cheating on test in Atlanta, Georgia and which is in my opinion a natural consequence of the stress that tests and VAM put on school systems.
One last thing- a political one. There is idiosyncratic evidence that near elections, students magically do better on tests so that candidates can talk about how great their schools are. With that kind of extra variance added to the system, how can teachers and school be expected to reasonably prepare their curriculums?
Next steps: on top of the above complaints, I’d say the worst part of the VAM is actually that nobody really understands it. It’s not open source so nobody can see how the scores are created, and the training data is also not available, so nobody can argue with the robustness of the model either. It’s not even clear what a measurement of success is, and whether anyone is testing the model for success. And yet the scores are given out each year, with politicians adding their final bias, and teachers and schools are expected to live under this nearly random system that nobody comprehends. Things can and should be better than this. I will talk in another blog post about how they should be improved.
|
<urn:uuid:46a6ea42-f4ee-4cd3-a8c7-c412dabedfda>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://mathbabe.org/2011/08/20/how-the-value-added-model-sucks/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.975729
| 1,713
| 1.742188
| 2
|
Care in the Air
LIFE STAR is a critical care helicopter service which responds to and provides air transport for a variety of patients who require care at a tertiary care facility.
The LIFE STAR crew consists of a flight nurse, flight respiratory therapist, pilot, mechanic and communication specialist.
LIFE STAR Facts
The LIFE STAR critical care air medical transport service began operation in 1985.
LIFE STAR is available to all emergency/critical care patients within a 150-mile radius surrounding our bases. All tertiary care centers within this response area are serviced by LIFE STAR and approximately 1,200 patients are transported annually. LIFE STAR has transported in excess of 20,000 patients to date.
has relationships with tertiary care physicians from the EMS/Trauma Department
at Hartford Hospital, as well as specialty physicians at receiving facilities. Consultation on patient management prior to and during transport is available to the flight crew.
The LIFE STAR
service operates one American Eurocopter BK-117 and one American Eurocopter EC-145, 24 hours a day, seven days per week. One aircraft is based on the rooftop helipad at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, CT. The other is based at The William W. Backus Hospital
in Norwich, CT.
Original LIFE STAR 1 BK117, N117HH, 1985
Each LIFE STAR helicopter is identical in the composition of its crew and capabilities, and can transport two patients. LIFE STAR can travel at 155 miles per hour and is airborne within minutes of a request for service.
|
<urn:uuid:4c748420-6b14-4e59-8332-4f58b663d93f>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.harthosp.org/lifestar/AboutLIFESTAR/default.aspx
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.934178
| 314
| 1.789063
| 2
|
Lake Zurich Schools Named to State Academic Honor Roll
Four District 95 schools were given the honor for sustaining high academic performance for three consecutive years.
Lake Zurich School District 95 has been given high honors by the Illinois State Board of Education this week. The district has four schools named Academic Honor Roll and given the 2012 Academic Excellence Award.
Isaac Fox Elementary School , Lake Zurich Middle School South Campus, Spencer Loomis School and Seth Paine are among 454 Illinois schools receiving the award. The schools honored all sustained high academic performances over the past three years.
According to the Illinois State Board of Education, schools who receive the Academic Excellence Award must have at least 90 percent of elementary and middle students meeting or exceeding state standards in reading and math for three straight years. At the high school level, at least 85 percent of the students must meet or exceed standards on the Prairie State Achievement Exam given in 2010-2012.
Editor's note: This article was corrected at 2:53 p.m., Jan. 29, to note that Spencer Loomis and Seth Paine Schools were also named to the Academic Honor Roll.
|
<urn:uuid:f911b374-80e1-42cc-9e52-f37f8dd8a466>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://lakezurich.patch.com/articles/lake-zurich-schools-named-to-state-academic-honor-roll?logout=true
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.963794
| 227
| 1.523438
| 2
|
Daily News Briefs: July 12, 2012
Tesla just opened its 12th dealership, but it's closer to foot traffic than, well, car traffic. The Detroit News reports the electric-car maker's latest store opened at the Third Street Promenade, an outdoor mall in Santa Monica, Calif. The automaker, which just began production of the $57,400 Model S, is "deliberately trying to engage with people when they are not thinking about buying a car," officials said. Tesla will build just 5,000 of the Model S through the end of the year, and all have been spoken for. Next year, the automaker says it will build 20,000. Factory-owned retail stores, as opposed to independently franchised dealerships, allow for better control of the customer experience, one analyst told the Detroit News.
In other news:
- Bill Gates-backed EcoMotors International is developing a diesel engine without traditional valves and cylinder heads that could be 15% to 50% more fuel efficient than today's diesels, Automotive News reports.
- Improving auto sales and shorter summer shutdowns — one week instead of the usual two at Ford, no shutdown at all for Chrysler — have contributed to fewer jobless claims, the Detroit Free Press reports.
- Hammacher Schlemmer's new $130 Roadtrip Video Recorder can record up to three hours of road-trip footage via a suction-cup windshield camera, according to the Detroit News.
|
<urn:uuid:a7bd61df-992f-4637-a776-95d45f956e9e>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2012/07/daily-news-briefs-july-12-2012.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.945102
| 305
| 1.617188
| 2
|
Do you transcribe other players' solos? I find this helps me a lot, especially when I transcribe non-guitarists' solos. The clichés and idioms on other instruments are simply different than they are on guitar, so that can help to see melody from a different perspective. Trumpets and saxophones, in particular, sit in a similar range to the guitar but have completely different styles of play.
To get the most out of transcribing solos, here are some points I think are important:
Choose solos you love, but from which you can learn. For example, I love the playing the blues and I want to expand my repertoire of blues ideas, but I don't transcribe Stevie Ray Vaughn solos. I love Stevie's playing, but I can't learn from it anymore. He played exactly what I would have played, if only I could play better. This is not to take anything away from Stevie, who did in fact play better than I do, but just to point out that I won't learn much from a Stevie solo that I don't already know.
On the other hand, I just transcribed Oliver Nelson's solo on "Stolen Moments", from his record Blues and the Abstract Truth (his solo starts at 4:14 and goes to about 5:54). "Stolen Moments" is also a blues, and Wikipedia describes his solo in it as "contain[ing] 'possibly the most famous' use of the augmented scale in jazz." I didn't know that at the time I started transcribing it (I just looked up the Wikipedia page as I was writing this), but I knew it was beautiful, lyrical, haunting, and entirely different from anything I would have thought of playing.
Get it right. Not just the notes, but the timing and the inflection as well. Get some software that slows music down without altering its pitch and allows you a great deal of scrubbing and looping control. I've used both the Amazing Slow Downer and Capo, and both are very good.
Getting the timing right is especially hard for me, but there's a lot to learn there. I have a tendency to overplay and to rush, and forcing myself to absolutely nail the timing on, say, a Miles Davis solo has taught me a lot about relaxing and staying in and behind the pocket. The inflection isn't as hard for me, but sometimes it's hard for my students. They don't seem to hear things like grace notes, slides, bends, vibrato, etc., the kinds of things that give the solo its vocal-like quality.
Write it down. This is important on so many levels. It will improve your reading, improve your knowledge of the fretboard, and it will really force you to grapple with the timing. Does that phrase really start on the 'and' of 3? How long is that pause? I thought those were sixteenth notes, but if they are, then the notes in this measure don't add up to four quarters. Hm.
Writing the solo out will also help with analysis. Once you've written it down, go back and write the chord symbols over the staff as they occur in the song. Then analyze the solo to see how the notes and phrases work with the chords. If you really want to go nuts with this, listen carefully to the chords that the other players are actually playing rather than the chords in the chart---they may be using alterations and substitutions, and the soloist may be playing off of those.
To be blunt: if you know the solo, write it down. If you can't write it down, you don't really know the solo.
Wisdom from Miles. Miles famously said about soloing, "Play what you hear, not what you know." In other words, when you're soloing, don't think about augmented scales and minor-7th arpeggios. Listen instead to what's in your heart and your head, and play that. Easier said than done, obviously, but this is exactly how transcribing helps the most: it trains your heart and head to hear ideas you wouldn't otherwise have, and it trains your fingers to execute better what you hear.
|
<urn:uuid:65d31c47-9dc4-47fd-a0d3-e786383a5c9a>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://music.stackexchange.com/questions/2060/i-need-help-getting-out-of-my-scalar-rut
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.977197
| 877
| 1.65625
| 2
|
Our current line of products includes three types of products, made in various parts of the world. Currently our products come from India and Spain but we are constantly scouting for more eco-friendly products from other countries, so check back often!
PAPER GOODS AND CARDS
These items are all created from elephant dung, the ultimate in recycling! The dung is collected from shrines in Rajasthan, India, where the animals are used for transportation. Once retrieved, the plant fibers are removed from the dung and turned into paper. Basically, the elephants are used as the vegetation processors. What is leftover is given to local farmers as natural fertilizer. The graphics are developed by Mahima, a designer and handmade paper expert in Delhi, who came across the idea to develop elephant poo paper after a visit to a shrine in Jaipur. She returns 4% of proceeds to the Elephant Welfare Project in Jaipur, a mobile veterinary service endorsed by the Humane Society.
PURSES AND BAGS
Our bags, purses and wallets come from two locations. Items made from recycled kitesurf and vinyl banners are fashioned in Barcelona, Spain by Demano. This company was founded in 1999 in order to find a use for the banners used to promote Barcelona’s festivals and exhibitions. Later they expanded to the kitesurf line as kites with a small tear can no longer be used for surfing but the vast majority of this strong, lightweight and attractive material is still in excellent condition. This kitesurf material makes an excellent basis for messenger bags and totes.
Products fashioned from recycled plastic bags and inner tube are made by the non-profit agency Conserve in Delhi, India. This non-profit developed a method to turn the discarded plastic bags that swarm around Delhi and clog sewers into sheets of material that can be used to create all types of personal accessories. The unskilled workers of the area are paid a fair wage for the loads of plastic bags they deliver to Conserve and gradually work their way up to creating these modern works of art. The unusual names of the products are stars and songs from Bollywood, the uniting feature of a multi-lingual, multi-cultural Indian workforce.
In the southern Indian city of Auroville, these bracelets, necklaces and earrings are created from handmade paper made only from vegetation fibers. The jewelry is free from toxic substances, its manufacture does not require the felling of trees, and no endangered plant species are used for its production. The workforce is pulled from neighboring villages and receives fair wages and a working environment passionate about continous learning and creative collaboration.
|
<urn:uuid:b3271f42-3beb-40fc-af29-97499a9e024d>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.korustreet.com/goods/
|
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
| 0.956168
| 545
| 1.757813
| 2
|
“You are doing what?” “You are crazy.” “You won’t be able to pull off an entire year of work from your phone.” These are just a few of the ‘doubting Thomas’ responses (along with lots of positive ones) I received this past week since publicly announcing going mobile-only. These weren’t malicious responses, rather responses in disbelief of working solely from my phone for the next year. And it is this very disbelief that I want to get out of the way before we move on to more engrossing subjects such as mobile security, management, and productivity. I want to get it out of the way so that as many people as possible can see the potential rather than the hurdles. I want to make as many converts in this mobile-only cause as I can, if only to help speed up the inevitable break from static work experience of the PC.
What is the cause for this disbelief? I argue that the root cause comes from our historical perspective on these devices we hold in our hands. Their lineage derives from a very static technology that was tied to a single fixed location, namely a home or office phone. They were fixed numbers at fixed locations and didn’t travel with us as we went from place to place. Cell phones freed communication from a fixed location and the smartphone took it a step further with its combination of communication and computing. We have emancipated the communication from its fixed roots but we still mentally tie our computing tasks to a single fixed location.
Here is a quick story to tease out our fixed-work thinking. Several years ago a good friend began to question the necessity of the land-line in his house. Over the period of several months he realized more and more how little the land-line was being used as he and his wife transitioned all their communication to their mobile phones. He decided that the expense of the land-line was superfluous and brought up the idea of getting rid of the home phone with his wife. Her response: “If we get rid of the land-line, what is going to be our home phone?” He tried to explain that the paradigm had shifted and no one gets ahold of a home, they just call a person directly. She could see his point but couldn’t let go of living without the idea of a “home” phone. His wife reluctantly agreed but only under the condition that her “cell phone will be the home phone”. Over time she came to realize that the concept of a home phone was obsolete, but not without some mental hurdles and time experiencing life without it.
While my friend’s experience may be something to chuckle at today because it is quite obvious to us now that we no longer call someone’s home – we just contact them directly – we exhibit the same behavior in our approach to work and computing. We are on the same cusp of change regarding computing. This time instead of land-lines it is PCs. Like my friends wife, many people see the point of mobility, but are not able to let go of the idea of the PC. More specifically, they are not able to let go of the idea of how work is accomplished on a ‘computer’ in an ‘office’. We are so entrenched in our thinking of how tasks get executed that we miss the opportunity to push towards a more dynamic experience.
You may not realize how powerful the piece of hardware in your hand is. If I told you that my computer is a dual-core 1.4 GHz with 1GB of RAM, you might think it is a tad bit on the slow side but usable (depending on how much of a resource snob/hog you are). But for most productivity tasks this is more than enough. Yet, in reality this is the specs for my phone. For some further perspective Intel didn’t even come out with its line of Core 2(dual-core) processors until 2006 and now we have them in the phone form factor. Besides not realizing the compute power of the phone, I believe the biggest hurdle we have is visual. We see the small screen and think that is the limit. We have become accustomed to our monitors as fixed points as well, tied to the PC, the office, the desk, that they are connected to. They are the rock of Gibraltar and cannot be moved or used by anyone else but me. We fail to see that they are just resources that could be leveraged by many. But once you connect your phone to a full size monitor and leverage its computing power your outlook on the capabilities of the device is drastically altered. You no longer see a tiny communication device that fits in your pocket but rather an incredibly portable computer.
Instead of thinking that working from a ‘phone’ is crazy, think about all the places you can work now, think about the possibilities with connectivity to the cloud, think about simplified and streamlined apps, think about the ease of sharing data (securely) with others. Mobility offers an entirely new perspective on how we think about work from a what, when, and where perspective. In order to fully embrace this perspective you’ve got to realize that your mobile device possesses all the computing power you need. You’ve got to see the value in work as an activity that can happen anytime, anywhere. Once you do entire new possibilities of what is work and how it is done present itself. Your thinking about mobile working will change from the last-resort to the first-choice. Yes, there will be the awkward teenage years that we’ll have to go through to arrive at enterprise mobile maturity, but we will arrive – you just got to believe.
How about you – are you able to execute anytime, anywhere? When you think about work are you still tied mentally to the office, the monitor, the desk? What would it take to let it go? Are you able to be productive in unusual places? How has mobility changed your thinking about work? I would love to hear your perspective – post a comment and let me know!
Benjamin Robbins is currently a Principal at Palador, a firm that focuses on providing strategic guidance to enterprises in the areas of mobility, apps, and data. Mr. Robbins resides in Seattle and blogs regularly at http://www.remotelymobileblog.com
|
<urn:uuid:ff15f2a5-8746-4c86-a1e7-8c2253aef05b>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://theemf.org/2012/03/15/working-from-%E2%80%98phone%E2%80%99-%E2%80%93-beyond-disbelief/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.976358
| 1,311
| 1.65625
| 2
|
Lisa Bloom Isn’t Impressed by Your ’Swagger’
There’s a lot to be said for Lisa Bloom, the fiery civil rights attorney, television legal contributor, and best-selling author. A tireless advocate for those victimized, Bloom follows in the footsteps of her iconic mother Gloria Allred in taking on institutions that devalue life.
Her first book, "Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed Down World," was met with glowing reviews in 2011. Only one year later, Bloom has returned with the hard-hitting "Swagger: 10 Urgent Rules for Raising Boys in an Era of Failing Schools, Mass Joblessness, and Thug Culture."
She took time out of her intensely busy schedule to discuss the new book with EDGE and talk a bit about the challenges facing boys in the 21st century.
EDGE: Congratulations on "Swagger" becoming the top-selling parenting book in the country! What inspired you to write a book dedicated to boys?
LISA BLOOM: Thanks! Last year I wrote my first book, "Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed-Down World," all about how tabloid media, reality shows and the beauty industry have such a negative influence on women and girls, and what we can do to push back and reclaim our brains. I have spoken to groups all over the country about this. Afterwards, many parents would ask my thoughts about the problems facing boys.
My reaction was, ignorantly, "What problems?" So many people persisted in this question that I began to look into it. I decided to write an article about it. As I continued to research the latest social science - how boys are medicated, disciplined, suspended and expelled far more often than girls... That the majority of our Hispanic and African-American boys drop out of high school, that four times as many young men are incarcerated today than when I was a kid - I was appalled.
I spoke to parents, teachers, administrators, many boys and young men, and kept researching and writing about what I found. The article turned into the book, "Swagger." I wanted to alert parents about how harsh our country has become towards our boys who falter, and give concrete, practical steps any parent can use to raise smart, successful sons.
EDGE: How do you think the culture of "swagger" became so prevalent?
LISA BLOOM: I call the book "Swagger" because "swagger" is the most common song lyric of the last decade, across all genres: rap, hip hop, even the Jonas Brothers are singing about it! It’s also the #1 attitude modeled for boys in movies, TV and games they love. Every boy I spoke to knows all about swagger - but few parents do. Swagger is an attitude of overconfidence, often crossing the line into arrogance.
For example, American kids rank #25 out of 30 developed countries in math. But in one area they are #1: confidence. And the research is clear that overconfident kids do worse in school, have more emotional problems, and are more likely to take dangerous risks, drink and do illegal drugs. In the book, I advocate a return to the lost value of humility. The Bible says, "With humility comes wisdom." And the social science bears that out.
Calling out Justin Bieber
EDGE: You recently called out Justin Bieber for his careless remarks demeaning school and reading. What are some ways parents can make reading a joy for boys who think it isn’t "cool"?
LISA BLOOM: Parents must always model the behavior they want to see in their kids. "Do as I say, not as I do, kid," has never worked, and it still doesn’t. Reading is so critical to your kids’ future it can hardly be overestimated. Parents, you must read for pleasure in front of your kids. Model for them that reading is a pleasure. After dinner, turn off all those toxic screens: TV, computer, video games, "anything with an on/off switch" as they say on planes. Plop down on the sofa with your book, and invite your kid to grab his book and join you. Read the great parts out loud. Groan when you’re called away to do something else. Take family trips to the library or bookstore for author events.
I have a twelve page list of "Books Boys Love" at the end of "Swagger." Connect your boy with books in his area of interest. Your library is bursting with them.
EDGE: Minority males experience illiteracy at a much higher rate than their white counterparts due to socio-economic factors and struggling schools. The consequence are especially dire for African-American males. How can parents and the community help address this problem?
LISA BLOOM: "Dire" is right. In "Swagger" I talk about public school teachers in low income areas who go online to beg for books for their first graders. Shame on us for putting them in that position.
The answers for African-American parents are the same as for all of us: speak out loudly and often about your values; make your home a reading mecca; eliminate the competition (screens) as much as possible in your home; set college expectations early; and all the other rules in my book.
I visited schools in low income areas in New York and California where kids had phenomenal literacy skills. Parents and teachers worked closely together to set high expectations for their kids. It can be done, and is being done, when we make literacy, and numeracy - math literacy. a priority.
EDGE: You quote a disturbing fact most people probably don’t know: More African-American men are imprisoned now than were enslaved at the time of the Civil War. Why is this not talked about?
LISA BLOOM: Probably most people don’t know that, and so many other important facts about what’s going on today. In my research last year, I found that college students could name more Kardashians than wars we are in.
The mass incarceration of our own citizens is a hideous problem. We imprison more of our own people than any other country on earth, and more than any country in human history. Many can’t vote when they get out, so politicians have no reason to care about them. Our incarcerated citizens, 93% are male, come from poor communities who get little attention to begin with.
And we shame them and their families, even after they’re out and have "done their time," by making it next to impossible to get jobs, business licenses, student loans, even food stamps. That’s how punitive we are: not even food stamps. I heard from a young man whose dream of becoming a nurse was blocked by an old marijuana possession conviction. And now he’s unemployed, living on a friend’s couch, depressed and suicidal. Our drug laws are intensely cruel.
|
<urn:uuid:a181e7a2-b5bb-4d9c-b4bd-5022622a9299>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.edgeprovidence.com/entertainment/books/features/non-fiction/133774/lisa_bloom_isn%E2%80%99t_impressed_by_your_%E2%80%99swagger%E2%80%99
|
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
| 0.968286
| 1,464
| 1.609375
| 2
|
About seven years ago my wife and I (who are childless) left our old church and set out to find the best church we could in the area. We ended up in a church that practices paedo (child) communion. They do not practice this because they believe that the children are saved, but because they believe that the children are members of God's Covenant People because they have been baptized, as most presbyterians do. They often point to the passover feast as the similar Old Testament 'sacrament' where the children ate with the whole family. What other evidence both biblical and historical exists for this practice.
Here's what my denomination, the United Methodist Church, says about child communion:
I understand that other denominations have children wait until they have a better understanding of communion. I'm sure they have good, scriptural reasons for their belief.
|
<urn:uuid:773a479d-2ea5-46f1-8df5-020d5cca8131>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/7473/what-biblical-and-historical-support-is-there-for-the-practice-of-child-communio
|
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
| 0.979111
| 175
| 1.828125
| 2
|
Top Entrepreneur, Doug Mellinger, Speaks at Cogswell College
Doug Mellinger began his entrepreneurial career at age 13 when he started a lawn mowing service. Never one to think small, his business quickly grew to encompass a small army of neighborhood youngsters as employees. A few years later he purchased a broken soda machine, fixed it, installed it at a local swimming club and found himself in the concessions business.
Mellinger describes an entrepreneur as someone who will do anything they have to do to keep from getting a real job.
The soul of an entrepreneur requires that you open your eyes and your mind to the possibilities around you and break away from preconceived notions of what "should be" and laser in on what is. What product or service are people willing to part with their hard earned cash to get? When you answer that question, then you could be on your way to a successful business. Of course, it needs to be the right product or service, in the right place and at the right time.
He learned this lesson the hard way. In college he and a buddy noticed that boxer shorts were the "must have" wardrobe item and they decided they could make a killing selling them at spring break in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. They created an impeccable business plan and developed a design so extraordinary it was sure to fly off the shelves. Fate unfortunately had not read their business plan.
First the printer had a problem and delayed their departure for the sunny shores of Florida by a day. This was not in their business plan. The first day in town - it rained. The second day in town - it rained. This was not in their business plan. On the third day the sun finally shone and they were out peddling their wares. Another business plan glitch - either they were politely asked to stop blocking their sun or the people on the beach didn't have money with them. OK, students on spring break should have been a clue to spending power and where they planned to spend their resources, but their plan overlooked that possibility.
The pair decided to try their luck selling their amazing boxers in local hotels but security took a dim view of their enterprise. Finally one hotel gave them permission to sell but the police showed up asking for their sellers permit. They rushed off to city hall but purchased the wrong permit and were informed they needed liability insurance. It was time to cut their losses on the boxers.
But all was not lost. If people didn't want great boxers, what did they want? Sunglasses! They found a supplier in Miami where they paid $0.50 per pair and were able to sell them for $7 on the beach. They managed to make a small profit but learned a second important lesson - your plan needs to be flexible. The third lesson was stick with what you know. They knew college campus needs but knew nothing of the Ft. Lauderdale spring break environment.
His advice to all entrepreneurs:
- Embrace failure. Most entrepreneurs you have heard about probably did not succeed on their first try. The company that made them famous is generally their 5th or 6th attempt.
- Create a business plan but stay flexible.
- Be a keen observer of the people around you. What do they wish they had, what would make their lives easier and what existing products or services might have new applications that would appeal to them?
- You can't ever achieve more than your dream!
Doug Mellinger, Vice-Chairman and Co-founder of Foundation Source, is responsible for development of strategic alliance partnerships and serves as a member of the company's executive committee.
Prior to assuming his role with Foundation Source, Mr. Mellinger was a partner with Interactive Capital Partners, an investor and investment banker for early-stage technology companies. Previously, he founded and served as CEO of Enherent, a global software development and services company. Enherent was twice listed as an Inc. 500 company and was featured on Deloitte & Touche's Technology Fast 500 and Fast 50 Lists.
Mr. Mellinger was active on the campaign and technology committees for Stepping Stones Museum for Children in Norwalk, CT. Additionally; he has served on a number of advisory boards to government agencies, universities and public charities. He was the Chairman of the National Commission on Entrepreneurship, was an Entrepreneur in Residence at Clark University, and has served on boards of The Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and the London Business School.
Mr. Mellinger has served as both the national and international director of the Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs. The organization's scope encompassed students, professors and young entrepreneurs from more than 300 universities in 76 countries. In addition, he helped found the Young Entrepreneurs' Organization and served as its international president in 1997-98. He also holds membership in the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO), where he is the Education Chair for YPO Fairchester and helped establish the YPO Social Enterprise Networks to advance philanthropic discussions and global action. Mr. Mellinger is a graduate of Syracuse University.
September 30, 2010
|
<urn:uuid:73b581f1-5a29-4d47-bb47-36e54c2e2dc2>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.cogswell.edu/news/news093010.php
|
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
| 0.982778
| 1,042
| 1.734375
| 2
|
Today I attended @SeattleCityClub’s #PhilanthropyForward event. It was a discussion full of hashtag jargon like #engagement #collective #collaboration #connect #advocacy #influence #progressive #community #capital #accountability.
I was astonished that an entire conversation surrounding the topic of collective giving did not mention the United Way. In fact, people seemed to think it was a new idea -- just like the power of the $25 donation.
Not so long ago, the United Way spearheaded the concept of collective giving.
Not so long ago at the Pride Foundation we talked about the $25 gift being equal in significance to the $25,000 donation. It’s in no small part this view contributed to the passage of Marriage Equality.
Yet we are continuing to talk about how to impact same problems of 20, no 100, years ago as if we live ignorant of history. It appears to me we’ve simply found a new language to describe our efforts.
Meanwhile, the problems of global inequality and poverty only seem to grow worse.
Not so long ago, non-profits would hold out their open hands with the statistic “lower-income Americans give proportionally more of their incomes to charity than do upper-income Americans” so therefore give.
This statistic is very comforting to charity’s majority stakeholders –staff, leadership volunteers, donors. It gives them an out to not have to look at their own privilege, the paradox of comfort vs. calling.
Have you noticed? All of the progressive, hard working, virtuous people of change have high levels of intellectual, emotional, or monetary capital. They have the time, energy and resources, not to mention responsibility, to invest in making the world a better place for all living beings.
The outsiders of this change process are the tired, the weak, the overwhelmed, not to mention the poor. When your intellectual, emotional and financial capital is depleted, you are too busy trying to make it through the day. You don’t have the resources to think about philanthropy.
This divide is at the heart of the philanthropist’s angst.
Back to collaboration and engagement. Change must happen at the level of the people to move all of America forward. We need all people involved to make significant, lasting change. A large segment of society has not found a way to join the forward movement.
We need to widen our circle. Seattleites are notoriously private, some say unfriendly. I know I feel it anytime I walk into a new group, like today at the City Club.
Aren’t the best parties hosted by the people who welcome you at the door and introduce you to someone new? Why don’t we practice this more frequently in our community gatherings?
We must do more than talk to each other at events and donate to Aunt Suzy when she is fighting cancer.
We must practice intentional, authentic living. (More jargon, it’s true.)
We must strive as individuals to connect to others by our heart strings and
Groups must embrace each individual through common values and human experience.
And, yes, we must organize.
Do we need fresh organizations? New jargon? New methods?
Perhaps the most significant and insightful answers to the questions at hand can be gained by thinking about the United Way omission in today’s Philanthropy Forward discussion. Let your subconscious work on it. The answer is found at the nexus of collaboration.
Were you there? I’d love to hear what you think.
|
<urn:uuid:48fb91ec-a880-4c2b-9952-43924ad4d091>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://freerangemom.blogspot.com/2013/01/philanthropy-group-think-of-privileged.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.940677
| 739
| 1.648438
| 2
|
By the time I was able to see my doctor after receiving my diagnosis in a letter, I wasn't completely ignorant. I'd done some hunting around the Internet, and I think I'd joined one of the online diabetic communities. Because I'd called my insurance company to find out if there was anything they needed me to do, I'd received a blood glucose meter and even tested a couple of times. (The first time had been a bit hard, to tell the truth.) I knew a bit about the disease mechanism, and I knew some questions I needed to ask.
I really expected that this first appointment would be when my serious education would begin. What happened, though, was that I was given a fistful of prescriptions, an injunction to exercise, and an appointment for three months hence. When I asked about diabetes education, I was told that we'd discuss that at the next appointment. (At the next appointment, I was told that the education was for people on multiple medications.)
Huh? Is that all there is?
In my case, being forced back on my own resources may have been the best thing that could have happened. I'm fortunate enough to have received a good education, I'm comfortable with finding and evaluating the quality of Internet information, and I work in a major public library. The lack of "official" information probably just caused me to take my own education all that more seriously.
But type 2 diabetes is not a disease that exclusively strikes educated people with a high degree of information literacy. Here are some of the things I did not learn from my doctor, anybody she pointed me to, or anything she gave me to read:
- What changes to make in what I eat
- How the recommended exercise would help, and when it might be dangerous to do it
- What these medications were supposed to do for me.
- What range I should be aiming for with my daily blood tests
- That my metformin might make me sicker than a dog (as it turns out, I was one of the lucky ones on this)
- What complications I might be facing and that good control would likely help avoid them
- What to do in case of hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia
- How and why to check my feet
- That getting my blood sugar into initial control would initially make me hungry enough to shut down a Denny's
Seems like some important things to know, huh? (To be fair -- the test kit she offered and which I didn't need may have come with pamphlets or something.)
Why was my doctor so stingy with information, and so reluctant to get me into training? Are there so many new Type 2s that there just aren't resources to give classes to us all? Or was my doctor just more concerned with getting to the next patient than she was with giving me what I needed to improve my health? Did she have me labeled as a 'hopeless' patient that wouldn't take lifestyle advice anyway? I understand that patient education takes time and that doctors aren't adequately compensated for it. But if my doctor had the right resources, another three or four minutes could have made all the difference.
And here are the most important questions of all: How typical was my experience? And, if many new patients have the same experience, what can be done about it?
|
<urn:uuid:7bf438ac-31e9-4648-b9c7-3ed47367964f>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://tminustwo.net/2010/01/11/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.987399
| 685
| 1.632813
| 2
|
The climb starts from the top of the U-Notch above the Palisade Glacier. You can find more information on getting to the U-Notch on the North Palisade page.
From the top of the U-Notch, climb up a wide crack to the right. If you need to use a rope here, you'll likely want one later, but if you are comfortable soloing this section, you can leave your rope behind. Secor rates it class 5.2, but I don't think it warrants more than a class 4 rating.
Once above this first short section of about 20 feet, it flattens out a bit, and you can traverse around to the right over large rocks and a thin ledge that skirts the base of the west face (class 2-3 here), to the base of the SW ridge.
There is another class 4 section here that goes up the easier rock on the right side of the west face, climbing up and diagonally to the right where it meets the SW ridge. Leave your rope on the ridge (if you brought it this far), and climb the ridge to the summit. There are some really large rocks to surrmount near the summit, and some interesting class 3 problems. There should be no need to climb more than easy class 4 here.
Some individuals bypass the large summit blocks by traversing around the south side to the SE Ridge, but that doesn't seem to offer any real advantage.
For those that choose to rap down, Diggler offers this comment: poorly placed rap stations (length of rappel fine, but rope runs over rock, and the possibility exists of the rope getting stuck (mine almost did twice!!). Now that I think about it, my rope did get stuck on the upper class 4 section the first time I climbed it, and I ended up soloing back to the top of the section to free it.
Coming from the north side, you will likely need axe and crampons to climb the U-Notch (you can leave them at the top of the U-Notch). If you are comfortable climbing class 4 you can leave your rope at home. If not, bring a standard 50m rope to use for the three pitches along with some slings and a small assortment of gear. We brought only a set of odd-numbered nuts which proved more than sufficient.
If you have information about this route that doesn't pertain to any of the other sections, please add it here.
|
<urn:uuid:b8fc32d6-44d6-4181-ba63-c5fe0f269f11>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.summitpost.org/from-the-u-notch/155706
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.946233
| 512
| 1.617188
| 2
|
Plans progressing for birth center
CHICAGO (AP) – Rocking chairs, birthing tubs and changing tables haven’t yet been ordered, but organizers in suburban Chicago are eager to start furnishing their birth center – which may become the first such facility in Illinois.
The birth center at PCC South Family Health Center needs a permit and a license. But these steps seem within reach after years of work by supporters of options for Illinois women with low-risk pregnancies. Birth centers operate in 37 other states. Organizers said they’ve been a long time coming to Illinois.
A state health planning board is set to consider Feb. 5 whether to grant the first permit to PCC, a nonprofit health center in suburban Chicago that already provides primary care, dental care and behavioral health services. No letters of opposition have been filed about the project.
Illinois once prohibited birth centers, leaving women to choose between giving birth at home or in a hospital. It took two decades of lobbying by Illinois midwives before a 2007 law authorized a pilot program. Their opening was then held back by a lengthy rule-making process that involved negotiations between hospitals, doctors and midwives.
“It nearly brings me to tears sometimes,” said Gayle Riedmann, a certified nurse midwife in suburban Chicago who has led the birth center movement. “It has been a long journey.”
Birth centers can look like homes or clinics from the outside. Inside, women can get prenatal care and deliver their babies in a homelike setting. Trained midwives, rather than doctors, typically monitor the labor and birth, avoiding medical interventions like drugs and cesarean sections when possible and offering alternatives like water births.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists doesn’t endorse home births, but puts accredited birth centers on par with hospitals for safety. The group’s guidelines say either hospitals or free-standing birth centers that meet accrediting standards are “the safest setting” for childbirth.
What’s more, birth centers provide care more cheaply than hospitals can – on average, $2,300 vs. $8,900.
What took so long? For years, legislative proposals met opposition from the Illinois Hospital Association and the Illinois State Medical Society, Riedmann said. To answer their concerns, the bill was rewritten as a pilot project allowing only 10 birth centers in Illinois.
A turning point came in 2007 when state Sen. John Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat who later became Senate president, threw his support behind the bill.
“He took it on and it just shifted the momentum,” Riedmann said. Cullerton’s staff convinced doctors and hospitals to work out an agreement with the midwives.
Cullerton was persuaded by a key aide, Jay Rowell, whose fiancee was a student midwife. Rowell and Annette Payot are now married, and she is a certified nurse midwife at the PCC clinic.
“We won him over on the facts and my wife’s personal experience and her understanding of the issues,” Rowell said, noting that overcoming resistance from the medical society was “extremely challenging.” The society felt “the best type of care (was) through a doctor, period,” he said.
The medical society and hospital group now take neutral positions on the law.
A task force began working in 1985 to change the Illinois law that prohibited birth centers, said Margie Schaps of the Health and Medicine Policy Research Group in Chicago, a nonprofit organization that’s worked on the issue.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Schaps said. “On one hand, I’m thinking how could we not have done this sooner? On the other hand, I’m excited for the women of Illinois that this choice should be available to them.”
If approved, the birth center in Berwyn would be staffed by certified nurse midwives and backed up by physicians who work at the clinic. A nearby hospital, West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, has agreed to take transfers if complications arise during a birth.
The center will have two birthing rooms, said Cecelia Bacom, a certified nurse midwife who has led the planning.
PCC’s birth center will take only women with low-risk pregnancies, Bacom said. In order to ensure the health and safety of mothers and newborns, women who go into labor before 37 weeks of pregnancy must deliver at a hospital. Expectant moms who smoke also must go elsewhere to deliver.
Nearly 80 percent of the current patients at South Family Health Center are uninsured or covered by Medicaid. For women on Medicaid – which pays for more than half of Illinois births – home births haven’t been a real alternative.
“The state pays so little and so slowly” that midwives can’t afford to offer their services for home births, Bacom said. “Out-of-hospital birth was essentially not available for Medicaid women.”
There are 248 centers in the United States, a 27 percent increase compared to 2010, according to the American Association of Birth Centers.
After Berwyn, the state’s next birth center may be in Chicago. Erie Family Health Center is searching for a site near Swedish Covenant Hospital on the city’s northwest side, said Dr. Andrea Lee, an obstetrician-gynecologist at the health center.
Bacom hopes to open the Berwyn center within a year, if all goes well. It’s taken much longer to get to this point than she ever imagined, she said, so predicting an opening date seems unwise.
“I honestly have no idea,” she said.
The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board meets Feb. 5 to review applications, including from the Berwyn birth center.
|
<urn:uuid:7ccdbbd4-8cbc-45ff-959b-e800c1a30682>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.saukvalley.com/2013/01/24/plans-progressing-for-birth-center/aorfo2v/?__xsl=/print.xsl
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.951459
| 1,237
| 1.773438
| 2
|
Bible scholar weighs in on ugly 'Passion'
In its ongoing quest for the ultimate postfilm conversation, Talking Pictures takes interesting people to interesting movies.
Dr. Robert Funk is flabbergasted. That's his word for it. As the end credits finally roll on Mel Gibson's much-hyped The Passion of the Christ, I turn to gauge the final reactions of Dr. Funk, a renowned biblical scholar, historian and author who is best-known as the founder of the controversial Jesus Seminar and as director of the Westar Institute, a nonprofit advocacy group devoted to encouraging "religious literacy."
With a shake of his head, Funk lets out a long, slow sigh and wearily declares, "Well. Gosh, I don't know. I'm just flabbergasted." Five minutes later, as we make our way out to the parking lot, he elaborates a bit, stating, "What in the world has Mel Gibson done in his life that he feels so guilty he has to make a God-awful film like that?" He adds, "Here's my bottom line: this movie will set Christianity back 500 years. I think it's that bad."
Much has been written about The Passion of the Christ over the last several weeks, with interest reaching Ararat heights among Christian and Jewish leaders alike, all curious to see for themselves whether Gibson's self-financed labor of love is as anti-Jewish as originally rumored (Funk feels it is, on a deep, subliminal level). Curiosity has been further heightened by early reports of the film's over-the-top violence, and, according to Funk (author of A Credible Jesus and The Five Gospels), there's been plenty of curiosity among the fellows of the Jesus Seminar.
An international group of boundary-pushing Gospel scholars, the Jesus Seminar was formed in the mid-1980s to shine scholastic light on ancient scripture, identifying those pieces of the New Testament that are historically supportable, and those parts that evidence shows were gradually made up over those centuries in which the Christian religion was first taking shape.
"How close do you think this was to what Jesus actually suffered?" I ask Funk, after we arrive, following a short road trip, at the Westar Institute's Santa Rosa headquarters.
"Well, I don't think it was very close," Funk replies. "But then you have to remember that I think the Passion story is fundamentally a fiction. I don't have any doubt that he was crucified. And I don't have any doubt that the Romans did it, and that it was during the procuratorship of Pontius Pilate. But the Passion story we have today is fundamentally a piece of Christian propaganda, and I think it's very important that we get that straight."
While we're setting things straight, what about the bizarre flashback to Christ's hunky carpenter days, in which Gibson seems to be saying that Jesus (are you ready for this?) was the inventor of the chair.
"That was strange, wasn't it?" Funk laughs. "Do you suppose that was a way to suggest that Jesus had prophetic foresight? Or was it just a spoof?
"If there had been more of that, it might have helped the film," he allows. "It was all pretty serious, pretty heavy."
Pretty heavy indeed. And the violence, the focus of nearly every scene, is everything it's been said to be, and more. Passion wins the Gratuitous Gore Grand Prix, now officially ranking as one of the most violent movies ever filmed.
"I've never seen a movie that had so much meaningless violence!" exclaims Funk. "As I said before, Mel Gibson must be carrying an enormous load of guilt. You have to measure the violence in that film, in part, by how guilty he feels as a sinner. Of course, vicarious suffering is a very moving thing. It appeals to all of us and to some of our better instincts. It is often associated, in my mind at least, with survivor's guilt, the kind of thing when two people go off to war and one of them gets killed, the other one doesn't, and the survivor feels guilty because he wasn't one of the victims.
"So to say 'Jesus died for us' is to appeal to a very fundamental emotion, a powerful emotion and, I think, quite a good one: to be grateful to people who are willing to suffer on your behalf, or who are victims of tragedies that you've escaped. I wouldn't want to belittle that emotion, but unfortunately it's often hooked up with guilt, and then it really becomes tragic. When it becomes associated with guilt, I think in the end it enervates and destroys the person who feels guilty."
Concludes Funk, "I certainly think this movie tells us a lot more about Mel Gibson than it does about Jesus of Nazareth."
[ | Metroactive Central | ]
From the March 10-17, 2004 issue of the North Bay Bohemian.
|
<urn:uuid:1bc5c7dc-52d5-4530-a367-0382c612a5a5>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.bohemian.com/northbay/the-passion-of-the-christ/Content?oid=2179452
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.982755
| 1,041
| 1.773438
| 2
|
Unblocking drains is never the most enjoyable of DIY jobs, and in many circumstances you may need to get the professionals in, but simple blockages (if there is such a thing!) normally have a fairly straightforward quick fix. In order to be prepared, shown below are three pieces of equipment I always have to hand should a blockage occur, somewhere in my waste and drain system. The good news is that none of these items are expensive, and all of them could save you a lot of money on calling out the pros to deal with your blocked drains.
The humble cup-shaped plunger is still one of the most effective tools for dealing with many blockages.
They are ideally suited to use with basins, showers and sinks, and to see a typical unblocking sequence, take a look at my guide ‘Unblocking a kitchen sink’.
You will also see a few other designs of plunger in the shops, such as those which ‘fire’ a jet of water down into the blockage, but to be honest, the standard original design shown to the right still seems to do the job for me.
It’s also worth bearing mind that for unblocking a toilet, a simple plunger can sometimes be the best option, but you’ll need one with the large cup size in order to span the opening to the trap section of your toilet.
Therefore, your first purchase for any drain unblocking equipment should normally be the plunger.
Drain augers are another essential piece of equipment for me as if the plunger doesn’t work, an auger will get you right down into the thick of the blockage, literally.
Augers are basically long bending springs which can be fed down into your waste, or drainage system, and then by rotating the auger handle slowly, you can burrow into the blockage and break it up.
What is particularly clever is that because they are so thin and bendy, they can often be fed down through plug holes, and around the bends of smaller waste pipes.
The link provided above shows an auger in action when unblocking a sink, but they can also be used for simple blockages in toilets.
Sometimes unblocking drains requires lifting manhole covers and clearing the underground drainage pipes. This is where you will require drain rods to push down into the pipes, locate the blockage and with a little pushing and turning, break the blockage up.
You simple feed the drain rods into the underground pipes by connecting one to the next as you gradually push down into the drainage system. Ensure that you screw each section together tightly and with most (if not all rod designs), only ever rotate the rods clockwise, as going anti-clockwise may unscrew sections and you could end up leaving rods underground, and therefore doubling your problem as you’ll have to dig up the drains to get them out.
Some final thoughts for unblocking drains
- Make sure you wear appropriate protective equipment.
- Whichever tools you use or require, remember that all of them require disinfecting after use.
- Not mentioned above are the chemical cleaners/unblockers. These can be very effective but you must be absolutely precise on following manufacturer’s guidelines, as the chemicals used are normally seriously toxic, and therefore require the utmost respect. Examples of guidelines include never mixing different chemical cleaners, and never use them in conjunction with a plunger. However, you can also find ‘greener’ chemical options now, which are once again another alternative.
- If in doubt when unblocking drains, seek professional advice, and with serious blockages, the professional option may be the only way.
- Finally, try to do all you can to avoid blocking drains in the first place by taking care in what actually goes down sinks, baths, showers and toilets in your home.
|
<urn:uuid:9eb1d0ab-605f-4824-a913-a7f6cd93d40c>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.juliancassell.com/3297/unblocking-drains
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.950136
| 796
| 1.679688
| 2
|
December 29, 2012
Verizon’s attempt — unsuccessful so far — to secure a patent for a so-called ‘snooping technology,’ which in this case would let television advertisers target individual viewers based on what they’re doing or saying in front of their sets, capped another challenging year for privacy advocates.
Verizon’s snooping technology and TV ads
The Verizon technology, which includes a sensor/camera housed in a set-top box, would determine the activities of individual viewers — eating, playing, cuddling, laughing, singing, fighting or gesturing — and then trigger personal advertisements based on the activities.
[...] The U.S. drone law: Eye in the sky
The Federal Aviation Administration Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, signed into law by President Barack Obama in February, was immediately slammed by rights groups, privacy advocates and lawmakers who contended that the law poses a major threat to the privacy of law-abiding citizens.
[...] Warrantless cellphone location tracking: What Fourth Amendment?
Despite a major U.S. Supreme Court ruling in January on the constitutionality of GPS tracking by law enforcement agencies, the overall issue of location tracking of individuals remained as murky as ever in 2012.
[...] Internet and mobile privacy: Or the continuing lack thereof
For several years, consumer rights groups and others have been calling on Congress to create regulations governing how Internet companies, online advertisers, mobile service providers and mobile application providers can collect and use consumer data.
[...] NYC Domain Awareness System: Surveillance city?
A New York City-wide Domain Awareness System (DAS) rolled out by the New York Police Department (NYPD) in July has left groups like the American Civil Liberties Union uneasy about its privacy implications.
The city’s data aggregation and real-time analytics tool, built in collaboration with Microsoft, is designed to combat crime and terror threats in the city.
This article was posted: Saturday, December 29, 2012 at 10:58 am
|
<urn:uuid:0ec5ce2d-9220-4c27-beb2-20473cc810b1>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.infowars.com/drones-phones-and-other-2012-privacy-threats/comment-page-1/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.9407
| 414
| 1.828125
| 2
|
Covington is a historic small town just across the Ohio River from a historic big city (that'd be Cincinnati). While the Greek Revival and Italianate architecture is what draws most people here, Covington is also home to MainStrasse Village, a 19th-century German neighborhood and National Historic District well known for its restaurants, pubs, and outdoor cafés. Many also flock here for Covington's spirited festivals, including Bluegrass State versions of Mardi Gras, Oktoberfest, and Goettafest, named for the wildly popular steel-cut oat sausage made here. The Houses
Most homes were built between the 1840s and 1920s and include Greek Revivals with double-tiered porches, brick Italianates, and Queen Annes. A historic river mansion will run you a cool million or more, but you can get a lovely Italianate townhouse from $200,000. One-story brick Italianate cottages and shotgun-style homes run between $85,000 and $100,000.Why Buy Now?
Houses here are beautiful, solid, and cheap. The federal and state governments are trying to lure artists and small-business owners by offering substantial tax incentives to those who restore older income-producing properties. Covington is a New Urbanist's dream, with shops, groceries, parks, bike trails, and the City of Cincinnati, all within walking distance.
Among the best places for: Waterfront
, First-Time Buyers
, Small Business Owners
, The South
, Urban Suburbanites
|
<urn:uuid:3aee9a9f-2f6a-4b20-b275-fb8e79866253>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20283038_20633861,00.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.950273
| 324
| 1.539063
| 2
|
Mood of the Market
Even when presented with a hypothetical large amount of negative equity, most homeowners state that they would not walk away from their homes.
So, sure -- there's a lot of real estate-related financial decision-making that needs to be studied, continuously, to empower lawmakers to better regulate the mortgage markets and to provide signals as to the market's dynamics, past, current and future.
But it looks like there's a big chunk of big real estate decision-making that is, actually, quite simple to understand. We buy homes because we want to. And that's why we keep them, too -- for better or for worse.
Tara-Nicholle Nelson is author of "The Savvy Woman's Homebuying Handbook" and "Trillion Dollar Women: Use Your Power to Make Buying and Remodeling Decisions." Tara is also the Consumer Ambassador and Educator for real estate listings search site Trulia.com. Ask her a real estate question online or visit her website, www.rethinkrealestate.com.
|Contact Tara-Nicholle Nelson:|
|Letter to the Editor|
Mirrors don't have to be kitschy
What's Your Home Worth?
|
<urn:uuid:10a908ad-b671-4eaa-b05d-16b2e19b9077>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/real-estate/the_real_reason_we_buy_real_estate-123254698.html?page=2&comments=1&showAll=
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.947453
| 253
| 1.59375
| 2
|
Juneau Police Officers Steve Scherrer, left, and Jeremy Weske document a message spray painted at the Brotherhood Bridge Park Trailhead on Monday.
Remember grade school spelling class...
Heck, most of the grafiti seems to be done by dumb thugs looking for attention. At least this individual may have sat through a history class. (Not supporting tagging, just making an observation).
Heck kpawsuh, I have to admit that I missed that mis-spelling (never been my strong suit). I guess my degrees don't mean much:-)
Kpawsuh commenting on other's spelling.
Mine are usually typos. It takes a certain level of stupid to spray paint a message and get it wrong. And what are we supposed to remember about Wounded Knee? That the Souix were mistreated? OK. It was a horrible thing. Next time I find myself in charge of a calvary unit that is contemplating slaughtering hundreds of Souix, I'll remember Wounded Knee and how bad it was and decide to not kill them. Fair enough.
That you spelled Sioux the way you did ... multiple times.
You could also remember that this nation has a long and often horrific history of maltreatment and massacre of Indigenous Peoples. You could take the memories of some of the more egregious atrocities and guard against prejudices in everyday dealings. Or, if you are a Native, being assimilated into a consumer based digital culture, you could remember that your culture own culture has been under attack for a long time, in more direct fashion, and that you should do what you can to hold on to your heritage.
There's a lot you can do when remembering Wounded Knee.
Gess I culdnt rember how tu spel it.
Rember da Alamo!
Rember to buy milk on the way home!
Because one joke just isn't enough.
Bong Hits For Jesus was a banner (personal property) displayed out of the jurisdiction of the confiscator. As stupid a stunt as it was, it was legal and within the displayer's rights. It was not vandalism of public property. BIG difference.
That banner was not displayed out of the jurisdiction of the confiscator, and Frederick had no legal right to display it. I agree with you, though, that the stunt was stupid. Go ahead and check out the United States Supreme Court decision, which you’re obviously not aware of: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/06-278.ZS.html
With regard to the defacing of public property … some people risk penalty for making a statement that’s intended to bring public awareness to an exigent social problem (honoring Jesus by getting stoned seems like a personal problem). So this individual must have thought the message was worth it OR s/he’s a similar idiot to Frederick.
Comparing Bong Hits to Wounded Knee is stupid and dismissive. I’m embarrassed for you.
And the Supreme Court ruling was WRONG. The long arm of the principal can not reach across the street any more than it can reach around the world. I didn't bring up bong hits, but, free speech vs. vandalism is the point of my reply. You can agree with the Court ruling if you wish, but, it doesn't make it correct. I am fairly familiar with this case and I am convinced that this idiot's free speech rights were violated as was his right to privacy when he parked his car at the swimming pool which is also off school property. So my reply to you, robynlynn is Wrong Answer.
As for the vandals, SignPro makes banners and he can spell it right for you.
And as for the message, FREE LEONARD PELTIER!
What do you consider determines what is right? A higher power?
The Supreme Court is the expert body and final word on the Constitution so I doubt you're holding their ruling to the Constitution (unless maybe you believe you are better versed/educated on the ins and outs of it than is the Supreme Court).
My thoughts might always be in the correct spelling. If my spelling is off, so what, Sioux me.
They are infallible. That's why it's called the SUPREME court. So I guess murdering babies in the womb is as right as corporations are persons. They should re-write Bibles and Constitutions. Oh yeah! They already do that. After all, they are SUPREME!
It's fine that this person wants us to remember Wounded Knee...
But I have to say, spray painting the word misspelled is VERY embarrassing and takes away from the message. Spelling counts. It really does.
People are judged by their grammar; no matter if you believe that is right or wrong, it is, indeed, a fact.
And thank you, copenhaver, for your posts. Skirtz, the Supreme Court is not "infallible" - but they ARE the final say in whether something is Constitutional. Part of being an American is recognizing that they (SCOTUS) are the final check of the "checks and balances." You can disagree with them publicly...(Amendment One) but it will take a new court case with a similar issue to overturn their ruling.
It's hard to discern a joke online, so I'm not quite sure if I follow. Are you advocating for Leonard Peltier, or are you mocking his advocates?
No joke. Three were indicted, but Leonard was in Canada when the other two were tried and aquitted. Peltier was extradited and tried separately and was made the sacrificial atonement for the FBI.
Make fun of the vandal's spelling if it gives you your jollies, but, it did make you "REMBER"[sic], didn't it?
Oh, and my post about the SCOTUS being infallible was absolutely sarcastic.
Yep, I'm quite familiar with Peltier's story, and I certainly agree with your assessment of how the FBI handled the whole thing...
Someone painted "2012" on Highland Dr. near the high school. Lets get right on that.
It's a tradition. Like hiding Mac. At least they spelled it right. I saw "SHCOOL CROSSING" painted on a street down south with the correction painted over it. Priceless photo!
"Vows of abstinence break easier than condoms."
First, y'all missed the other misspelling, calvary vs. cavalry. I found others, but I try not to point them out.
Second, I supported the Bong Hits 4 Jesus defendants. The SCOTUS wrongly decided that case, just as they have wrongly decided Citizens United, Bong Hits, Bowers v. Hardwick (which they later reversed themselves 17 years later in Lawrence v. Texas and admitted that Bowers was wrongly decided) and several other cases. Although they are the final word on constitutionality, they are also political appointees many of whom are doing the bidding for the party that appointed them.
As for Wounded Knee, and all the atrocities etc., let me just say this; Every person alive can claim an affiliation with some ancestral or ethnic group which has been victimized by another group. Let's learn from history and move on. Bringing up past atrocities only open old wounds, and old wounds which are continuously re-opened never heal.
Oh, and if you're curious about Bowers v. Georgia or Lawrence v. Texas, it's very interesting reading on the history of states' sodomy laws!
During the American Revolution, Native Americans sided with the British with countless sudden and violent attacks on seaboard settlements in an attempt to help the British defeat the Americans.
In 100 years, during that era, who would be expected to forgive and forget Native Americans did their best to kill the American Revolution. But from out era you can't speak without a political correctness filter.
Native tribes also fought for 2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation to keep their slaves...also something not mentioned by Natives or covered with a ridicuous story about how their slaves were family. Slaves are slaves.
Not one penny has any Native tribe freely given to compensate any of their slaves' ancestors but Native Americans line up in force for free healthcare, college tuition, subsidized low or no qualification mortgages and eagerly sign up for public assistance benefits because they are allowed by law to have higher incomes than other Americans and still qualify for "low income" handouts.
Including the corner on the history book market. Different Native tribes took opposing sides in the war between the English and the French and again between the colonists and the English. Warring tribes were around before any Europeans showed up. The massacre at Wounded Knee happened before any of us were born and there is no doubt in my mind that the slaughter of women and children as well as disarmed men was atrocious. But, I feel no responsibility either way for those events. I do, however, hold a great disdain for Federal actions taken in my lifetime at Wounded Knee and the murders and disappearances of hundreds of people during the "uprising" of the American Indian Movement. These atrocities can be blamed on federal agencies (FBI, BIA, etc) and Indian run Red Cloud agencies that pitted Indian against Indian in the pursuit of power over the reservations. We're talking the 1960's and '70s. Now that brings US shame. It's one thing to be conquered. It's another to be ground into the dirt. So, I'll "REMBER" Wounded Knee
I think the guy might have been referring to the time during a basketball game when he fell down and hurt his knee.
I'm betting he has never been to wounded knee. And he probably doesn't even remember painting that sign.
Not sure why my post was removed yesterday but I still think it fits and is a wonderfully worded quote.
"I did not know then how much was ended. When I look back now from this high hill of my old age, I can still see the butchered women and children lying heaped and scattered all along the crooked gulch as plain as when I saw them with eyes young. And I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud, and was buried in the blizzard. A people's dream died there. It was a beautiful dream . . . . the nation's hoop is broken and scattered. There is no center any longer, and the sacred tree is dead." (Source: Black Elk Speaks, c. 1932)
Skip to News
Juneau Empire ©2013. All Rights Reserved.
|
<urn:uuid:80b0b77c-ff32-4f57-88cb-a0301347074c>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://juneauempire.com/local/2012-07-10/message-ground
|
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
| 0.974554
| 2,221
| 1.515625
| 2
|
By Jill Arnold
An assortment of articles I’ve read recently. Pardon the lack of rhyme or reason.
This ABC News article covers NYU School of Medicine’s new, patient-centric Curriculum for the 21st Century, which has students shadow patients rather than doctors.
NYU’s Abramson said, “It’s very nice to have a doctor that you love and who puts an arm around you, but not if that doctor makes bad medical decisions.
“Compassion is important but compassion without competence is not a virtue.”
A doctor may see up to 30 patients a day. But every visit — no matter how short — is an opportunity to show empathy, Abramson said.
Dr. Zachary Meisel’s article, Googling Symptoms Helps Patients and Doctors, on Time.com attracted the attention of patient advocates and bloggers last week.
But to debate whether patients should or should not Google their symptoms (which a surprising number of doctors seem to enjoy engaging in) is an absurd exercise. Patients already are doing it, it is now a fact of normal patient behavior, and it will only increase as Internet technology becomes ever more ubiquitous. The average Joe has more health information at his fingertips — both credible and charlatan — than all the medical libraries ever built put together. So the real question is, What can professionals do to translate this phenomenon into better health for their patients and the public?
The Leapfrog Group, a non-profit organization that compares hospitals on national standards of safety and quality, asked hospitals to voluntarily report their rate of elective deliveries before 39 completed weeks of pregnancy. The hospital’s rate of elective deliveries is the percentage of non-medically indicated (without a medical reason) births between 37 and 39 weeks gestation, that were delivered by caesarean section or induction.
Hospital rates of elective deliveries are listed by state here.
Childbirth Connection published a new section titled Induction of Labor today, which covers:
How can I make sense of what I hear about induction of labor?
What normally causes labor to begin?
What is the safest point in pregnancy for the baby to be born?
Why are so many women experiencing induced labor?
Dave deBronkart, patient advocate and contributor to Defending Ourselves against Defensive Medicine, blogged “Practice variation”: an essential e-patient awareness topic last month, listing the following as his nutshell version of the issue (Note: I botched his sub-bullets. See original post.):
Very large parts of healthcare are delivered inconsistently from area to area.
In other words, the care you get depends on where you live.
That’s right; very often, care decisions aren’t based on some objective standard of care. The same patient in a different local area might or might not get a prescription for treatment. Very often.
Which one is right? Is one overtreated, or is the other undertreated?
This isn’t a matter of economics: it’s a matter of local medical practice. It cuts across all economic levels.
That’s why it’s not called discrimination, it’s called practice variation.
The people involved – the doctors – mostly don’t know they’re doing it.
Bottom line: depending on where you live, you may be getting care you don’t need – hospitalizations and even surgery.
Since both of those carry risks of infection and even death, e-patients need to be aware so they can make informed, empowered choices.
Someone (thanks, Laura) sent me a year-old post on Slate titled Invasion of the Baby-Snatchers: Our irrational fear of infant abduction could be causing real harm, which is making the rounds again after the recent confession to abduction of a newborn from a New York hospital in 1987. Nestled within the article is a fascinating take on managed care in the 80’s, marketing directly to the consumer and the proposed remedy for a fear of a problem rather than an actual problem.
So if baby-snatching was never much of a problem to begin with, why are health care administrators across the country so focused on its prevention? The history of the panic—with its abrupt beginning in the late 1980s and gradual inflation over the following decade—mirrors a broader shift in the medical industry. Hospitals now advertise their services directly to the public, and their efforts are directed, first and foremost, at the most valuable health care demographic: young, pregnant women.
The idea that patients might be wooed with perks and gimmicks emerged in the 1980s and 1990s with the rise of managed care. The size and scope of HMOs helped insurance companies squeeze lower rates from the providers. (“Cut your prices, or you’re out of the network.”) So the hospitals were forced into a more aggressive posture: They stayed in business by actively recruiting customers.
From the beginning, women of child-bearing age were central to the business plan. Maternity wards provided a steady source of revenue in uncertain times. But it wasn’t the babies the industry was after so much as the moms. Studies showed that women were responsible for 60 to 80 percent of the health care decisions for their entire families. If you could get a young woman into your hospital when she was just starting a family, you’d have a shot at locking down four or five customers for life.
So began the “Maternity Wars.” Birth centers across the country were renovated and ramped up to attract market share, and the maternity ward started to resemble a luxury hotel. Hospitals advertised single-occupancy rooms with flat-screen TVs, plush bathrobes, and deep Jacuzzi tubs. (The unspectacular New York City hospital where I was born in the 1970s now sports Italian glass tile, elegant sconces, and decorative mirrors.) Once all these perks were in place, enhanced infant security was a logical next step. Come for the lakeside views, the fresh-baked cookies, and the motion-activated surveillance cameras …
|
<urn:uuid:af82034d-4876-403d-bab5-796773fdbe18>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.theunnecesarean.com/blog/2011/1/26/article-round-up-early-inductions-practice-variation-and-bab.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.953267
| 1,284
| 1.640625
| 2
|
NEWS: Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation
McGuinty Government Supporting Young Entrepreneurs
Ontario is helping young entrepreneurs develop the skills they need to turn their business ideas into successful companies, supporting the creation of 400 new businesses and close to 2,000 jobs.
Through the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, Ontario’s support will provide mentoring, business coaching, start-up loan financing and other resources for entrepreneurs aged 18-39 as they start and operate their own business. Successful start-ups supported by the foundation include:
- Dual Audio Services, a full service audio-visual company
- Toronto’s eco-chic clothing line, Aime
- Avenir Medical, PelvAssist, which offers a cost effective, improved alternative to traditional hip replacement technology
- Paintlounge, a painting studio and cafe located in Markham
This builds on the support the McGuinty government provides young Ontarians through Ontario’s Summer Jobs Strategy. Through the Summer Jobs Strategy, the government has helps students find a summer job, launch their own summer company, and offers employers a $2-per-hour hiring incentive.
Providing the right climate to attract investment and build business is part of the McGuinty government’s plan to create jobs and strengthen the economy. A strong economy protects the services that mean most to families – health care and education.
“Organizations such as the Canadian Youth Business Foundation are helping young entrepreneurs turn good ideas into successful businesses. This government is laying the foundation for tomorrow’s business and innovation leaders — and with the proven track record of the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, we know we will succeed.” — Brad Duguid, Minister of Economic Development and Innovation
“CYBF is honoured to partner with the Government of Ontario to build a thriving entrepreneurial culture, one that launches new businesses, creates jobs and sustains economic activity across the province for years to come. This partnership will champion and mobilize Ontario’s young and emerging entrepreneurs by providing the guidance, investment, community and voice, which is critical to develop the next generation of job creators in the province, leaving a lasting legacy of prosperity and growth.” — Scott Bowman, Senior Director Ontario, Canadian Youth Business Foundation
“I owe much of my business success to the support of CYBF and their fantastic start-up program. They matched me with an amazing mentor and offered me access to business resources that meant my dream and goal of starting my own business became a reality. Today I successfully run two businesses and employ 46 individuals. The generous funding from the Ontario Government to CYBF means that more young entrepreneurs like me will be able to realize their own goals and dreams of owning their own business.” — Monica Mei, owner of Aime Luxury and founder and CEO WhatImWear.in
- Creating new businesses is an important part of Ontario’s economic future — 30 per cent of small business owners will retire by 2020, with more than half of Canada’s small business owners expected to retire within the next 15 years.
- Since 1996, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation has invested in more than 884 young Ontario entrepreneurs and created more than 4,300 new jobs in the province.
- The Canadian Youth Business Foundation is an accredited member of Youth Business International and is recognized as one of the most effective organizations of its kind globally.
Brianna Ames, Minister’s Office, 416-325-6909
Brigitte Marleau, Communications Branch, 416-325-2479
ontario.ca/innovation-news Disponible en français
|
<urn:uuid:16f7d217-3d90-45e5-ab49-5dd53c7c7a62>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.cybf.ca/cybf_press_media/ontario-helps-create-400-new-businesses-and-nearly-2000-jobs/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.935692
| 746
| 1.6875
| 2
|
Jul, 16, 2012
Many people are interested in getting fit. There is nothing wrong with that. As a matter of fact, it should top our priorities. The reason to this is because with a healthier body, everything seems to follow. You will have better love life, career and family relationship. However, according to survey, there are about 50% of the new members of health clubs who quit in the first six months after they have signed up. The number of reasons why they quit is as much as the number of individuals who quit. The main reason however is the lack of perseverance on the part of the member. Sometimes, when cost of action is immediate while the benefits are still far in the future, individuals realized that the benefits they get was not worth the cost. This phenomenon is referred by economists as “time-consistent behavior”. However, this is the result of not having a motivator behind you. Wherever part of the world you are, you should know the importance of having a support system to push through with your fitness goals. If you are in Riverside, you can easily find this kind of support you need with a Riverside Health clubs personal trainer. If you will get a Riverside Health clubs instructor or personal trainer to work with you, you can be sure that you will be kept motivated towards your fitness goals.
With a Riverside Health clubs membership, you can be sure that your efforts and the costs are all worth it. The Riverside Health clubs know the importance of living healthy and they know how to apply these principles to other’s lives. Riverside Health clubs have specialists in physical education and fitness that does their job better than anyone else. The experts in Riverside Health clubs share the knowledge they have about living a healthy lifestyle in different settings. Most of the Riverside Health clubs have many professionals that can help with varying fitness goals.
Riverside Health clubs have fitness directors. These fitness directors are usually working at commercial health clubs and commercial institutions. They are also known as fitness workers. The fitness workers or directors at Riverside Health clubs not only instruct their clients about the right exercise routines for them but they also motivate their clients so they may reach their fitness goals in the soonest time possible. The fitness directors at Riverside Health clubs also teach their clients the different exercising activities like training, stretching and many more.
Fitness instructors are either employed in public or in private health institutions, resorts and health studios. They may also be employed by their clients or on a personal basis. They are working towards their client’s wellness – regardless of their client’s age. Their job, today, is in vogue. This is because many people all around the world are interested in learning the importance of having a healthy lifestyle.
There are also athletic trainers at Riverside Health clubs. They are the ones that you need to hire if you are working out as an athlete. Riverside Health clubs’ athletic trainers help clients so that they will be able to prevent or treat injuries. Athletic trainers in Riverside Health clubs are specializing in analyzing, diagnosing and treating traumas in the musculoskeletal. These trainers are working under physician’s supervision but it still depends on the setting that they chose.
The Riverside Health clubs also have occupational therapists. It is the job of occupational therapists to help their clients enhance their ability to perform their tasks in life and work. It is their duty to help their clients in developing their skills and in maintaining appropriately their daily living. They also work hard just to improve the reasoning abilities of their clients and so they will not be disabled emotionally or physically.
There are also dance instructors at Riverside Health clubs. Dancing is the passion of many people. However, not everyone is lucky enough to make this passion a career. Those who are very much passionate in dancing may want to become a dance instructor. Riverside Health clubs have dance instructors that teach movements and steps in dancing. They also teach choreograph dance routines to their clients. There are dance instructors that have specialties like ballroom, ballet, modern contemporary and hip-hop. The dance instructors at Riverside health clubs teach their clients the right dancing moves and help them become more flexible and attractive when dancing.
Sports managers are among the most lucrative careers for those who are interested in working in the fitness field. Sports managers are also provided by most Riverside Health clubs. These sports managers are highly skilled professionals. They are experienced in administrating athletes, managing fitness, agenting sports, directing corporate sales and operations, marketing sports and providing academic services. The sports managers at Riverside Health clubs are hands-on in their services.
Joining Riverside Health clubs is one of the right moves that you should take when considering having a healthier lifestyle. Whether you admit it or not, our busy schedules are the hindrance why we are unable to work on our fitness. But with the help of the personal trainers and the other service providers at Riverside Health clubs, we will get the guidance and the support that we need to continue with our goals in fitness. Not only are the service providers at the Riverside Health clubs helpful in achieving our fitness goals but as well as the fitness equipment found there.
Riverside Health clubs provide huge variety of exercise machines and equipment that will help us with our fitness goals – whether it is to lose weight or to gain weight. These equipment works at its best when you are provided with help by Riverside Health clubs trainers and instructors when using them. That way, you will be able to maximize the benefits of using them.
If you are still thinking if Riverside Health clubs membership is worth it, don’t think twice. Considering all the benefits you can get plus all the service providers that will give you the services you need, a membership is really worth it.
Our generation seemed to be one in which time tend to slip away without our notice. And because of the busy schedule that most of us have, it is difficult for most of us to spend hours at gyms for our purpose to lose weight. The situation is true in most parts of the world and even in Riverside. However, this should not be the case especially for those who are interested in losing weight because Riverside Gyms can help with this purpose.
Riverside Gyms have almost all the exercise machines that one needs for their fitness goals. However, not all of these machines can help one in losing their unwanted weight fast. Routines for weightlifting are proven to be more beneficial when it comes to building muscles than in losing extra weight. So, after you have gone to Riverside Gyms, it is also important that you concentrate on Riverside Gyms workout that offers higher fat burning capabilities. There are exercises that will help you get rid of large amount of calories in your body in a short period of time. These exercises are also helpful in accelerating your goal of losing weight. Easy Riverside Gyms workouts are actually proven to help people lose their weight fast in a short period of time. With these workouts that Riverside Gyms offer, anyone can have an enviable physique that everybody is dreaming of.
It has always been said that for losing weight fast, working out daily that consists of cardiovascular exercises is a must. With this being said, it is necessary that you choose equipment that will let you obtain that kind of workout. The Riverside Gyms personal trainers may guide you with your cardiovascular workout. They will teach you how to do it in the proper way. That way, you will surely benefit from the exercise routines you are doing.
Basically, cardiovascular workouts are about exercises that mainly burn fat so as to promote faster weight loss. Among the total Riverside Gyms workout routines are treadmills, stationary bikes, rowing machines and stair steppers.
Treadmill is one Riverside Gyms equipment that may cross your mind when the topic is about losing weight fast. As a matter of fact, it tops the list for Riverside Gyms workout that aimed to lose weight. Workout with treadmill is aimed to lose weight fast. The reason to this is because running the treadmill is very rigorous and works successfully in reducing weight in a short span of time.
As you may have noticed even in movies and television advertisements, treadmills are always used and recommended for overweight people. They are actually advised to run a treadmill for about 25 to 30 minutes a day. That way, they will easily lose their body fat. With this Riverside Gyms equipment, not only is the lower body part in motion but as well as the upper body part. This is the primary reason why it greatly helps in burning huge amount of calories.
The rowing machines are another important Riverside Gyms equipment that greatly help in losing weight fast. It is actually one of the best machines that provide cardio workouts which speed up the process of losing weight. With rowing machine, it is as if you are rowing a watercraft. This is not that easy as it may look. The rowing machine is designed in a way that it provides an overall workout for the entire body. With just 20 minutes per day of doing the rowing machine exercises, you can be sure that your body is turned into a fat burning machine. As compared to the other machines aimed at losing weight, it is not necessary for you to spend 50 minutes a day with a rowing machine. Though you are exercising with this Riverside Gyms equipment for only 20 minutes a day, you are sure that it will work wonder in your goals of losing weight in a short period of time.
Another important weight loss machine that you can find in Riverside Gyms is the stair steppers. To many Riverside Gyms goers, stair steppers are one of the best equipment for fast weight loss. The workout routines associated with this equipment are very healthy. This name implies the simulation of how we climb staircases. It is possible to vary the stair stepper resistance. That way, you’ll reap all the benefits of a totally hard workout. You are not required to use this machine for 50 minutes a day. 25 minutes a day of workout with stair steppers is all you need to lose weight fast and also to maintain a healthy heart.
The last Riverside Gyms equipment that we will discuss here is the stationary bike. This equipment is not only popular in Riverside Gyms but as well as in many parts of the world. These equipment is most often used for the purpose of fast weight loss. Whether your goal is to reduce your belly fat or just to tone up your muscles, stationary bikes is certainly one that you can rely on. This machine is easy to use. With this Riverside Gyms equipment, you will lose weight fast because you will dramatically increase your metabolic rate. 35 minutes of workout with a stationary bike is enough to reduce weight fast.
There are stationary bikes at some Riverside Gyms that comes with features like attachment for arm movements. This will give the user the opportunity to exercise their arms too and not only the lower parts of the body.
Reducing weight fast is possible with the help of the right Riverside Gyms equipment. However, before you start any routine, you need to keep in mind that you should do some 5 minute warm up. This is very important so that you will avoid possibilities of damaging your muscles. Muscle damage is a common problem with exercise routines. So, it is a must to keep this thing in mind. Another point for you to successfully lose your weight fast is that you may choose among any of these Riverside Gyms equipment but make sure that you perform the exercise routines in high intensity.
Another important thing to consider is that reducing weight fast with the use of these Riverside Gyms machines and equipment would only be possible if the exercise routines are done in the right way. For this reason, hiring a Riverside Gyms personal trainer if needed is important.
Jul, 2, 2012
“Fitness” is described in the dictionary as being in good condition physically. In Riverside fitness is one which is able to get you in shape. The concept of Riverside fitness, however, may differ from one individual to another. But for you to understand Riverside fitness better, read on.
It is not only the concept of Riverside fitness that varies from one individual to another but as well as the tools required to achieve one’s Riverside fitness goals. With some of the residences of Riverside fitness is the result of their cardiovascular exercises. There are some, however, who believed that better fitness is a result of proper weight training. The bottom line is that, it is up to you which option you prefer. Read on for the elements of Riverside fitness training which will help you in developing the right fitness training for you.
When you are planning to hire a Riverside personal trainer to help you with your goals, make sure that they have the proper certification. It is also important that you talked to them before hand and make them understand your capacity and your goals in fitness.
The right Riverside fitness trainer shall create the right training program that will help you in building stamina and strength. It shall also make you more flexible and agile. The right Riverside fitness trainer shall help you improve your current level of fitness. To make this possible, it is important that you, with the help and guidance of your Riverside fitness instructor or personal trainer, will stick to your basic principles. What is important to see results for your Riverside fitness efforts is that you incorporate exercises to your program that will help you increase your stamina level, build your strength and also eat the right foods and have enough rest.
Any Riverside fitness experts will tell you that stamina is one of the few fitness parameters. With this being said, it is important that you, again, with the guidance of a Riverside fitness instructor, should incorporate exercises that will build your stamina. There are equipment that you can use for this purpose. In the Riverside fitness gyms, you may need to use equipment such as stair stepper, cross trainer, exercise bike, rowing machine, treadmill and many more. For those individuals who are doing this for the first time, they should start with a lower intensity workout. They should also do it for only 15 to maximum of 20 minutes. They may then increase the intensity later on to 30 to 40 minutes. For those who don’t want to go to Riverside fitness gyms and prefer to workout on their own or at home, they may try swimming or jogging. These two can both increase one’s level of stamina.
Adding variety to your exercise programs is another important thing to remember. That way, there would be no chances of you getting bored. Boredom usually results to discontinuation of your Riverside fitness regimen. There are also other forms of recreation that may help increase one’s stamina level. These may include some dance forms like zumba and joining aerobic classes.
Another relative concept in Riverside fitness is strength training. If you are fit, that means that you can do things that you may come across in your daily routines. As an athlete, the strength that you are required of is more than that of a non athlete. That means that the routine’s intensity varies from one individual to another. If in your lifestyle, you are required to lift things from moderate to heavy weights, then you may need to include more workouts for your lower body in your exercise routines. Your Riverside fitness personal trainer understands this and shall help you in this regard.
Diet and rest are two important aspects to your Riverside fitness success. However, it is also the most ignored aspect. Thankfully, Riverside fitness trainers stressed to us the importance of having enough rest and proper diet. Proper diet will nourish our body. Same with enough rest. These two help us in the healing process and in recovery.
The Riverside fitness instructors and personal trainers are certified nutritionists too. And because of that, they can show you the right foods to eat and the foods that you need to avoid to make your Riverside fitness efforts successful. According to the Riverside fitness experts, for proper fitness, we should avoid or at least cut down on our intake of foods that are deep-fried. These may include chicken and chips. According to them, we should include more vegetables in our diet particularly the green vegetables. These foods will help us gain the optimum fitness level. As much as possible, try to include more foods that are rich in vitamins and whey protein.
Enough rest also plays a big role in the success of your Riverside Fitness efforts. Enough rest is very important for your muscles to recover fast after working out. So, it is important that you take at least one to two days of rest in your routines per week. Training more does not necessarily mean training better. So, as much as possible, take enough rest and don’t push your body to the limit.
It is your Riverside Fitness trainer’s task to devise an effective fitness program for you. This task is quite simple for those who already have the knowledge and experience. So make sure to listen to your Riverside Fitness trainers as they sure know what they are doing more than you do. What you need to do is just to stick to the principles and the program that your Riverside Fitness trainer devised for you.
Don’t expect instant result as fitness doesn’t happen overnight. It takes hard work and perseverance too. What you should do is to listen to your Riverside fitness trainer and trust him. After all, they have the certification which made them worthy of your trust when it comes to your fitness. Keep in mind that your fitness goals should be worked out by you and your Riverside fitness instructor or trainer.
Jun, 27, 2012
Does your family have a longstanding history of high blood pressure, heart disease and cardiovascular failure? It may seem like a death sentence when you first learn that your DNA predisposes you to high cholesterol and blood pressure, especially since heart disease is still the leading cause of death in America. Every day, 2,200 people die of heart disease or stroke, says the CDC, but you don’t have to be one of them.
A new study by the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina found that people who exercised and were physically fit were up to 34 percent less likely to develop high blood pressure than people who rarely worked out. “The results of this study send a very practical message, which is that even a very realistic, moderate amount of exercise — which we define as brisk walking for 150 minutes per week — can provide a huge health benefit, particularly to people predisposed to hypertension because of their family history,” says Researcher Robin P. Shook.
Here’s what the researchers uncovered:
If you know you need to get moving, but you have difficulty finding enough time or gumption to stick with a regular workout plan, then a more structured program is highly recommended. Fitness boot camps are a great way to ensure that you work out at least 3 hours per week and that you have a step-by-step nutrition plan you can follow if you choose.
Jun, 26, 2012
Once you reach your 70s, you’ll want every minute with your grandchildren you can possibly get. You hear about people living well into their 80s, 90s and beyond! In fact, the world’s oldest woman, Besse Cooper, is living right here in America – currently age 115 years and 282 days. Why can’t that be you?
While it may sound pretty obvious, Professor Emily Nicklett of the University Of Michigan School Of Social Work found that fruits, vegetables and exercise are the key to adding more years onto your lifespan. Her findings were published in the May 2012 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Nicklett and her colleagues studied over 700 women between the ages of 70 and 79 who lived independently. The women were asked about their physical activity, chores and pastimes. They also had their blood samples measured to check the total level of carotenoids (which indicates fruit and vegetable consumption.) Participants were tracked for five years, during which time 12 percent of the women died.
During the study, the team observed that the most active women had a 71 percent lower death rate, compared to the most sedentary women. “We’re not talking about dramatic activity when we talk about exercise,” Nicklett said. The exercisers may just walk around the block – which was the most common way most women in the study burned calories. Furthermore, women with the highest carotenoid levels had a 46 percent lower death rate, compared to people with the lowest fruit and vegetable intake. Finally, researchers concluded that women who had both factors — most physically active with the highest carotenoid level – were 8 times’ more likely to survive.
Researchers said that longevity for women in their 70s all boils down to the basics. The study is an important reminder that exercise and healthy eating are good for you, says Lona Sandon, a registered dietician and assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the University of Texas. She adds that it’s not immediately clear just how fruits, vegetables and exercise helped these women most. “Maybe if you stay more physically fit you remain more functional and are less likely to fall and break a leg or hip, for example. Or perhaps exercise and good food keeps your immune system healthier. Or it could be the socialization involved when exercise is done in groups… or maybe all of the above.”
If you find yourself unable to follow a fitness routine, then you needed the help of a Beaumont personal trainer. That is actually the problem with most individuals interested in loosing weight. If you happened to be one of these individuals, then why not try to plan your exercise routines with the help of a Beaumont personal trainer. A Beaumont personal trainer will help you have the right choice of gym to join and program to follow. That way, you will get sure result for your fitness goals. This article provides tips that will not only help you start a workout routine but also to follow it strictly with the help of a Beaumont personal trainer. Personal trainers will make your sessions more fun-filled and interesting.
Many are interested in starting their own gym routines so that they will stay fit or so that they will have the beautiful body they desire. There are varieties in gym routines. Each individual or client will be given a specific exercise program that is designed based on their fitness requirements. A Beaumont personal trainer will create specific exercise programs to ensure its effectiveness on the clients.
There are some people who prefer to join a gym for their purpose of weight loss, body correction, weigh gain or just to stay fit. Well, many people started with the right fitness routine. They then continue it for their first few days of joining a gym but unable to follow up later on. Sometimes, it is their busy schedule that leads them to this problem. Some of them are unable to find time to follow their routine or to even go to their gym. This is what makes many people think twice before they even enroll at a gym. Here are some tips that you may find helpful when starting your gym routine and following it.
The very first thing that you need to do is to find a good gym to join. Wherever you reside, you will surely find a nearby gym that can be included in your list of gyms to join. There are several things that you need to consider when choosing the right one. You need to, first of all, determine the amount of time that you are willing to spend for your workout on a monthly basis or on a half year basis. Finalize this matter before you choose a gym to join. The next thing that you need to do is to visit the nearby gyms and list all the good gyms near you. You may list them based on the timings, Beaumont personal trainer, instructors and facilities. Lastly, pick a nearby gym that can provide you with all the facilities you need and that can offer a good service of a Beaumont personal trainer. Choose the one that will also best suit your budget. Don’t go for the cheapest gym that also offers the cheapest fee for Beaumont personal trainer when a better but costlier gym still fits your planned budget.
Joining a good gym is not enough to start and strictly follow a workout routine. You also needed a good workout plan. Your workout plan needs to be well-designed by an expert Beaumont personal trainer. If your goal is fitness, then a Beaumont personal trainer will suggest mixed workouts for you where cardio exercises do not play a major part. If you are after weight loss, then your Beaumont personal trainer will recommend that you concentrate more on cardio exercises. A suitable and well-balanced workout program based on your requirements is vital in your goal’s success. A Beaumont personal trainer can help you find the right workout plan for you if you don’t find noticeable changes in your previous programs. A Beaumont personal trainer also helps those who find it difficult to restart a workout plan at the gym. With the help of a Beaumont personal trainer, you can have the right routine that is specifically designed according to your fitness requirements. He or she will keep tab on the regularity of your workout and will help you so that you will achieve the best results for your goals.
It is a good idea to engage in other physical activities with your regular workouts. However, make sure that this option will not lead to an excessive workout. One good option is to add aerobics exercises to your simple gym routine to make it more exciting. You may also add yoga or dance to your simple gym routine so it will become more interesting.
If you can’t start a gym routine and especially follow it, a Beaumont personal trainer can help you with it. He will think of ways so you will not be bored with your sessions and throughout your workout. You may also listen to music while working out. This is one motivation to workout and to make your workout routine more interesting. If you think that having a Beaumont personal trainer beside you is not enough to successfully continue with your fitness goals, then you may want to ask your close friends to join the gym and workout with you. This is another trick that will really work. If you have friends to workout with you, you will enjoy working out more.
Aside from hiring a Beaumont personal trainer, designing the right workout schedule is also the key for you to be able to successfully follow your gym routine. When you finally decided to start working out at a gym, you need to know the importance of finding enough time for your fitness goal. This will greatly help you in strictly following it. You may need to create a daily time table and properly prioritize your activities. In the time table that you created, make sure to allot at least one hour a day for your workout. This is so that you will avoid skipping your scheduled workout routine. If you will find a good gym with the right Beaumont personal trainer near your workplace or your house, this will save you more time.
To start your gym is not easy. Following it is another thing. It requires great amount of discipline on your part to make your goals successful. If you want to achieve your desired result, you need to follow what your Beaumont personal trainer instructs you and strictly follow it. Make sure that your workout plan is well created by a good Beaumont personal trainer. This is the first step towards getting a healthier you.
Jun, 22, 2012
Chady Dunmore is a fitness expert and Bikini World Champion. Yet, even she suffered tremendous weight gain when she had her baby – packing on a whopping 70 pounds! She battled post-partum depression and even considered stomach surgery at one time. Once she put her mind to it, she was able to build her muscles, drop all the excess weight, and now she is training world-class athletes. This is the two-day trim-down plan she used to jumpstart her weight loss goals and get her on the road to fitness.
Try our fitness boot camp to see how you can lose 8-10 pounds this month!
Jun, 21, 2012
You’ll find countless weight loss fads published every year. It can be hard to know what’s legitimate and what’s been fabricated by someone trying to make a quick buck off people who are desperate to lose a few pounds in time for bathing suit season. However, some sneaky little tricks have been proven by research to help you lose weight. Making several small changes each month can lead to dramatic changes in your body composition over time.
Visit our website to join a weight loss program that will revamp your lifestyle!
Jun, 20, 2012
There comes a day when you’re suddenly passing on birthday cakes. You start drinking light beer. You begin eating off smaller plates to cut your portion size. You sign up for a fitness boot camp. This is the least you can do to combat the hormonal changes taking place once you hit the 40 milestone. Fat has a tendency to show up in the belly area, the thighs and the triceps, but there are still ways to combat the natural changes associated with aging.
Visit our site to learn about an effective and affordable program to help you lose weight after 40!
|
<urn:uuid:98193eef-16ab-4f5e-8212-c7a9eff38aa2>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.fitconcepts.com/blog/tag/fitness-fights-high-blood-pressure-genes/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.970968
| 5,984
| 1.71875
| 2
|
“Once you learn to read, you will forever be free.”
-- Frederick Douglass
This past Saturday, I had the honor of addressing the American Library Association Conference. This group is not only important to me because of the work they do in communities across the nation, but also because my mother, Emily, is a retired librarian.
In many communities, libraries are the primary places where people receive digital literacy training. As I emphasized in my speech, knowing how to read is no longer sufficient to be “literate” in the 21st Century. For the nearly 100 million Americans who do not have broadband at home, 22% cite digital literacy as the number one reason for not adopting broadband. Libraries rode the technology wave and recognized the problem of digital literacy long before there was a National Broadband Plan.
My remarks highlighted portions of the National Broadband Plan that support libraries’ efforts to promote deployment and adoption of broadband, including: (1) overhauling the Universal Service Fund, which was successful in bringing voice service to nearly every American; (2) developing a Unified Community Anchor Network for institutions, including libraries, to better use their connectivity to improve the lives of the people in their communities; and (3) creating a Digital Literacy Corps to address digital literacy issues.
During the question and answer session, I emphasized how, from the beginning of my tenure at the FCC, I have made a conscious effort to get input from organizations and institutions who work directly with the American people. In my view, that viewpoint is essential if we are to understand the implications of our actions at the federal level. I noted that I look forward to working with the ALA, as it represents such an important aspect of our National Broadband Plan. Thank to all the wonderful people at the conference who shared with me their thoughts and personal experiences.
|
<urn:uuid:baa3f358-155f-4769-a4bc-0a82ca2d9c1e>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://reboot.fcc.gov/commissioners/clyburn/blog?categoryId=532159
|
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
| 0.957212
| 378
| 1.828125
| 2
|
I'm standing among some of the world's greatest works of art, by geniuses such as Picasso, Pollock, Matisse, Mondrian and Warhol. But the poetry's not only on the walls - it's in the air:
You cannot find his pain inside immaculate lines.
You cannot find the sleepless hours spent alone.
His brush moving non-stop till his fingers blistered;
a pause to double over in dry heaves; when done,
begin again, breath hitching; snot and tears
as unyielding stripes forced order on the primal;
sketched first on the page, each new cage designed
to perfect the prime balance.
From Mondrian's War by Mike Allen (2008)
"That's very moving," says Art Gallery of Western Australia guide Trish Sanders to fellow guide Alan Ruda, who's just recited those words in front of Mondrian's black-gridded, primary-colour crazy white expanse, Trafalgar Square.
Sanders and Ruda are treating me to a Literary Links tour of the Art Gallery of WA's Picasso to Warhol: Fourteen Modern Masters, which features major works from New York's Museum of Modern Art. It's a real eye and ear opener.
"There are some big literary links here," says Sanders. "One of the first people Picasso met in Paris was Max Jacob, who introduced him to avant-garde writers such as Apollinaire. Picasso actually wrote a lot of poetry himself. But he was a much better painter than he was a poet."
Sanders goes on to talk about Joan Miro, who was also a poet; Matisse, who read poetry every morning; and Brancusi, whose sculpture Golden Bird was the subject of a poem by modernist poet Mina Loy, below. Brancusi's similar Bird in Space is included in the exhibition. "It's a very special poem," says Sanders. "It sums up Bird in Space so beautifully and is a wonderful way of explaining abstraction."
As we hit Jackson Pollock I'm reminded of the New York school of poets, such as John Ashbery, Kenneth Koch, James Schuyler and Frank O'Hara. A Literary Links tour is really a tale of two cities - Paris and New York, both of which share the honour of having been the centre of the cultural and artistic universe. Which is almost how Perth feels when you're standing among these magnificent works of art listening to equally magnificent poetry.
Brancusi's Golden BirdThe toy
in gorgeous reticence...
Mina Loy (1922)Literary Links tours run 2pm Mondays and 6pm Fridays. Picasso to Warhol: Fourteen Modern Masters is on until December 3 at the Art Gallery of WA. For more information visit www.picassotowarhol.artgallery.wa.gov.au
'The West Australian' is a trademark of West Australian Newspapers Limited 2013.
All rights reserved.
Select your state to see news for your area.
|
<urn:uuid:5be12cf9-bdc6-4818-9050-f9250bd7be4a>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/entertainment/a/-/arts/15071753/a-tale-of-two-artistic-cities/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.952841
| 640
| 1.789063
| 2
|
This healthy 47-year-old woman developed sudden purple discoloration and swelling of the volar aspect of the right fourth finger with sparing of the finger tip. She complained of an aching pain for an hour before the color change appeared, and the symptoms resolved without treatment within 24 hours. She had no history of heart disease, hypertension and was on no systemic medications. The nonischemic blue finger was described by Khaira HS et al in Ann R Coll Surg Engl 2001; 83: 154-157. There is usually no history of trauma, most patients are women, the volar aspect of the finger is invariably involved, and the finger tip is spared. Laboratory findings are normal or negative, and the changes could not be attributed to underlying systemic disease. The affected digit returns to normal within 4-7 days and anticoagulation is not required.
purple discoloration of the volar aspect of the right fourth finger with sparing of the finger tip
|
<urn:uuid:4d382ba5-aa01-43c5-a9b3-e1b0c8cf7d96>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://dermatlas.med.jhmi.edu/image/nonischemic_blue_finger_5_110201
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.935763
| 199
| 1.65625
| 2
|
The most controversial technology topics in President Obama's second term are likely to be two political flashpoints: piracy and privacy.
When Internet activists allied with an hastily assembled coalition of Silicon Valley companies blocked votes on a pair of Hollywood-backed copyright bills early this year, they didn't end efforts to slap stiffer anti-piracy sanctions on the Internet. They merely postponed the fight.
The Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act are dead, of course. Those names have become radioactive on Capitol Hill, thanks to a broad public outcry that involved millions of Internet users and actually managed to knock some Senate Web sites offline. It was helped along by alerts on the home pages of Google, Craigslist, Wikipedia, and many other sites.
But months later, after the furor had died down, the White House quietly published a report calling for new "legislative" tools in the same vein as SOPA and Protect IP. It reiterated that "combating online infringement" is a government priority "of the highest order."
In an op-ed last month, Chris Dodd, a former Democratic senator who's now the chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, said he doesn't want to fight last winter's battles all over again. But, Dodd added, "intellectual property protection is important and needs to be discussed."
Dodd had said in the spring that he was "confident" Obama was using his "good relationships in both communities" -- that is, Silicon Valley and Hollywood -- to advance a successor to SOPA. And last night, in a statement congratulating the president on his re-election, Dodd said Hollywood looks forward to working with the new administration to protect "creative industries" that rely on strong copyright protection.
Cary Sherman, chairman of the Recording Industry Association of America, sounded a similar note when he testified (PDF) before a House committee in June. Although cooperation with tech firms is happening, Sherman said, "sometimes the Congress must step in to assure that our property rights, and U.S. economic interests, are being protected -- especially against sites overseas whose business model is the theft of U.S. work."
Obama's political challenge is that Southern California remains a more reliable source of Democratic Party funding and support than Northern California. DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and Warner Bros. Chairman Barry Meyer were Obama's top "bundlers," raising more than $4 million for his 2012 campaign, and some film and music moguls reportedly threatened to cut off funds if Obama distanced himself from the Hollywood-backed bills. Approximately three-quarters of Protect IP's supporters were Democrats.
Instead of criticizing the bills and saying he opposed them, as his Republican rivals did, Obama tried to finesse his position in a Google+ hangout in January, saying that everyone should "come together and work with us" to enact legislation.
"Candidly, those who count on quote 'Hollywood' for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who's going to stand up for them when their job is at stake," Dodd said on Fox News a few days after the White House raised modest questions about the implications of SOPA and Protect IP.
Refereeing privacy vs. surveillance
The Obama administration also will also be presented with the unenviable task of refereeing a series of disputes between privacy advocates and law enforcement officials who are hoping to expand their Internet surveillance powers.
During his 2008 presidential campaign, Obama pledged to strengthen U.S. privacy laws. He told CNET at the time that: "I will work with leading legislators, privacy advocates, and business leaders to strengthen both voluntary and legally required privacy protections." And his campaign Web site pledged that as president, he would "strengthen privacy protections for the digital age."
Companies, including Amazon.com, AOL, eBay, Google, Microsoft, Intel, and AT&T, the ACLU, and Americans for Tax Reform have been lobbying to update federal privacy law to do just that: require warrants before police can access e-mail or track Americans' cell phone locations.
Those companies and advocacy groups hope to update the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act, or ECPA, which is notoriously convoluted and difficult even for judges to follow. Under ECPA, Internet users enjoy more privacy rights if they store data locally, a legal hiccup that members of the coalition fear could slow the shift to cloud-based services unless it's changed to require police to obtain a search warrant to access private communications.
But the Justice Department has warned that updating that telephone-modem-era law would have an "adverse impact" on investigations. And last month, federal prosecutors told an appeals court that Americans have "no privacy interest" in records revealing their -- or their mobile device's -- location.
The White House has not, at least so far, taken a formal position on updating ECPA to require search warrants for e-mail or geolocation data.
Two more long-simmering privacy disputes that could boil over at any time: the Justice Department has asked Congress to enact laws that would require Internet service providers to keep track of what their customers are doing, and, as CNET reported in May, the FBI has drafted legislation that would require firms, including Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, and Google to build in backdoors for government surveillance.
|
<urn:uuid:3ac47501-9c05-4cec-b911-cb8cf1886546>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57546170-38/obama-faces-piracy-privacy-tests-in-his-second-term/
|
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
| 0.963272
| 1,092
| 1.742188
| 2
|
Columns: Foreign Intel
Australia’s National Emergency
With troops in Iraq, East Timor, and the Solomon Islands, Australia’s small army is so stretched that the government had to decline a United Nations request to send peacekeepers to Darfur. But now the army is facing a “national emergency” in inland Australia. Why? Spillover from separatist violence in the Papua New Guinea island of Bougainville? Jemaah Islamiah militants from neighboring Indonesia staging raids in the Simpson Desert? None of the above.
The Australian Army is being deployed throughout the vast Northern Territory (NT) to deal with gross sexual abuse of Aboriginal children. “We are dealing with children of the tenderest age who have been exposed to the most terrible abuse from the time of their birth, virtually,” said Prime Minister John Howard, as he stomped over the local government’s objections. “What matters more: the constitutional niceties or the care and protection of young children?”
This was our Hurricane Katrina, said Howard—the humiliating exposure of government incompetence and neglect on a vast scale. Social breakdown in isolated Aboriginal communities was so serious that it warranted immediate action. “Freedoms and rights, especially for women and children, are little more than cruel fictions without the rule of law,” Mr. Howard said. So troops, police, doctors, social workers, and bureaucrats are flooding into about 60 townships in an effort to rebuild Aboriginal society from the ground up.
Although the NT occupies a fifth of the Australian continent, it has only one percent of its people. But it contains more than half of the country’s 1,139 remote indigenous communities, and nearly 30 percent of its population is Aboriginal. It ought to be a showcase of how Australia cares for the disadvantaged and vulnerable. It’s not.
What sparked the federal government into action was a report commissioned by the local government into Aboriginal child sexual abuse, Little Children Are Sacred. It was replete with sickening stories: a 3-year-old girl imitating sex acts; 12 to 15-year-old Aboriginal girls trading sex with mine workers for alcohol and cash; increasing rates of incest; 15-year-olds raping 5-year-olds; mothers prostituting their children; and so on.
Sad as they were, none of the stories was new. Even though the report offered few hard statistics on the scope of the abuse, it was universally accepted. Year after year, government reports on dysfunctional Aboriginal communities have been tabled. Successive governments have given them the vote, welfare, land rights, and a huge bureaucracy to manage their affairs. What was beyond their power to give was successful marriages and happy home lives.
Aborigines have always been at risk. After more than 200 years of white contact—often tainted by violence, abuse, discrimination, and neglect—many have lost their links to traditional cultures and homelands. Some of them have integrated successfully into mainstream Australian society. Many have not. Fringe-dwellers of detribalized Aborigines live in the outskirts of many country towns in ramshackle settlements. In more remote areas, so alien from white Australia that residents speak little English, tiny townships subsist on government welfare payments.
In many (though not all) of these, living conditions cannot be described as third world, or even fourth world. Journalists and government reports paint pictures of utterly demoralized communities, horrifying parallel universes of boredom, pornography, ill health, drunkenness, drug abuse, violence, and sexual abuse:
• One out of eight children is abused or neglected.
• The per-capita rate of sexually transmitted infections among NT Aboriginal people is between seven and 30 times greater than that among non-Aboriginals.
• Drunkenness is endemic. To give you an idea of the problem, consider the town of Borroloola—population about 800. The locals were consuming about eight pallets of beer—960 cartons—a day.
• Pornography is everywhere. Many children in Aboriginal communities are hyper-sexualized as a result of watching blue movies on DVD and pay TV.
• The use of cannabis and kava, as well as petrol-sniffing, is widespread.
There are fears that traditional Aboriginal culture will disappear with this generation. A woman elder from the Yolngu people in Arnhem Land said eloquently: “We can see that the young people are coming out of school and going straight into drinking—this is a very bad habit. . . . It is devastating for us to bury our young people; they should be burying us. But the tide has turned: We the Elders are singing and crying for our young ones.”
Got the picture? Reading Little Children Are Sacred would make you weep with despair. But not just over the horrifying abuse of women and children and the near extinction of an ancient culture. There should be despair, too, over the clueless bureaucrats.
The problem with Aboriginal society is not that it is too different from mainstream Western society, but that it is too much the same. Reeling under the onslaught of modern technology, media, and bureaucracy, Aboriginal culture is fragile—immune-compromised and vulnerable to moral infections. Our more robust culture, with its long Christian traditions, law, and institutions can hardly cope. What chance does Aboriginal culture have? Essentially, how different is the world of Borroloola from the binge-drinking, sex-sodden world of many university students? Just read Tom Wolfe’s novel I Am Charlotte Simmons.
In fact, as the report’s authors found, the problem was that many Aboriginal girls and boys are just copying what they see on their TV screens. Pentecostal minister Djiniyini Gondarra, of the Galiwin’ku people in Arnhem Land, made a shrewd observation last year: Aboriginal youths believe they are “acting within ‘white fella’ law when being abusive, a thinking that began with the systemic undermining of our own law with the colonization of Australia and the atrocities that followed. It is now reinforced by TV, movies, pornography, and drugs brought into our community from wider Australia.”
What makes outback Aboriginal society so sick? The Howard government has highlighted the destructive influence of welfare payments—or “sit-down money,” as it is often called. It is attempting to create a work ethic and a sense of personal responsibility. This will help to curb the drunkenness, idleness, and hopelessness that underlie much of the sex abuse.
But a crackpot welfare system is far from the whole story. The report’s authors heard from many sources that “as traditional Aboriginal and missionary-imposed norms regarding sex broke down, they were being replaced with rampant promiscuity among teenagers.” These tragically vulnerable people, in other words, are living in a moral vacuum.
How do the authors of the report propose to fill it? What is their game plan for changing the hearts of Aboriginal teenagers—to help them treat others with the respect due to them as fellow human beings?
Safe sex. Yup, that’s right. Safe sex. “It is the Inquiry’s view that action must be taken to establish a new set of moral ‘norms’ within Aboriginal communities that do not fetter the freedom of choice but encourage the young to make appropriate and healthy choices in relation to sex and make certain behaviors socially unacceptable.” How about fostering healthy marriages? How about strengthening the family unit? They aren’t even mentioned.
Western individualism has subverted traditional Aboriginal law, which was harsh and patriarchal, but did not sanction promiscuity or the horrific sexual abuse detailed in the report. In one community, the Elders’ efforts to promote traditional marriage were being undermined by the local health center, which was distributing condoms and telling patients that they could have sex with anyone they wanted, and at any time, as long as they wore a condom. “For young people today having sex is like fishing, and they throw that fish back when they are finished,” a Yolgnu Elder said.
The crisis in the Australian outback is a crisis of Western values, not just Aboriginal values. Having lost their confidence in stable marriages and intact families as the natural foundation of their own society, Australian bureaucrats can hardly teach people who are socially and psychologically fragile how to use their sexuality in a responsible way. The best they can do is to surround broken families with a rickety scaffolding of social services and hope the kids will survive.
And when they don’t, you can always send in the army.
If you enjoyed this article from Salvo magazine, please consider contributing to our matching grant fundraising effort. All gifts will be matched dollar for dollar! Thanks for your continued support.
© 2013 Salvo magazine. Published by The Fellowship of St. James. All rights reserved.
|
<urn:uuid:bb06b9d7-9072-4a9c-9896-f0eb553eb994>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.salvomag.com/new/articles/salvo3/3cook.php
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.961581
| 1,861
| 1.820313
| 2
|
Bennie England's 756-pound pumpkin looked like a sure winner Saturday at nearly 200 pounds heavier than its closest competitor.
But just minutes before the cutoff at 1 p.m., Duane Grilli pulled up with a monster-sized squash in the back of his 1946 Chevrolet pickup truck.
"Now I'm nervous," said England, a Ukiah resident who has entered the competition the past five years.
Despite its flashy entrance, however, Grilli's pumpkin weighed in at 565 pounds, leaving England's at the top.
The second heaviest was a 580-pound squash grown by Mike Brock of Boonville, a farmer who said this year's pumpkins were plagued by disease.
"They didn't like the cool nights in Boonville," he said, adding that the late-season heat didn't help, either. "That just makes them split easier."
Fellow grower Ben Filmore usually enters a big pumpkin every year along with Brock, but his best contender rotted.
Luckily, Filmore said he hadn't really intended to enter a squash this year and was originally growing the plants for someone else, so he didn't mind the loss so much.
The journey of raising a champion pumpkin is long and full of risk.
First you give the plant plenty of water and fertilizer and wait for the first squashes to appear. Then you decide which one or two to keep and constantly prune down the rest of the plant, all while still giving it tons of water and feeding it things like fish emulsion and seaweed.
To keep the plant strong and feeding its large pumpkin,
"I measure it every day, and it can grow four to five inches a day," said Brock, describing the process as "miraculous. Every morning it's a surprise. It's addicting."
"A pumpkin can add 25 to 27 pounds a day," Filmore said, and Brock added: "Nothing grows that fast. I don't think even baby elephants grow that much in a day."
But it can all end one morning when you come out to find that a gopher has dug up underneath the pumpkin and started eating it. Or that it split. Or that it just stopped growing.
England said his winner "raced up to 600 pounds in 45 days," then looked like it had stopped growing. But while the plant died off, the squash kept growing.
Last year, he had a 629-pound pumpkin that earned eighth place, and this year he said he added "a lot more compost and things to the soil I needed to."
It costs $5 to enter and money prizes are given to the top 15 entries. First place earns $1 a pound, second place earns $325 and so on. The weirdest gourd and the "largest greenie" are each given $50.
Justine Frederiksen can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org, on Twitter @JustFrederiksen or at 468-3521.
|
<urn:uuid:414abf24-5ae3-4ae2-ae2d-e8646796a81e>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ci_21718829/giant-pumpkins-invade-ukiah?source=most_viewed
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.979578
| 623
| 1.820313
| 2
|
Laws, Regulations & Annotations
Property Taxes Law Guide – Revision 2013
Revenue and Taxation Code
Part 5. Collection of Taxes
Chapter 7. Warrant for Collection of Taxes
3202. Recordation of warrant. The warrant shall be recorded in the county in which the real property is located in such manner as will impart constructive notice of its recordation and shall be directed to the sheriff or marshal and shall have the same force and effect as a writ of execution. The warrant shall be levied and sale made pursuant to it in the same manner and with the same force and effect as a levy of and sale pursuant to a writ of execution.
|
<urn:uuid:30f3003a-f301-43ef-a365-76e0cebf66bf>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.boe.ca.gov/lawguides/property/current/ptlg/rt/3202.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.944195
| 132
| 1.710938
| 2
|
The people of Greece face an unprecedented economic and political crisis (Violence grips Athens, 13 February). They are being driven to poverty and mass unemployment by the demands of the so-called Troika. Hospitals in Greece are running out of medicines, nearly half of all young people are unemployed, workers in some sectors have not been paid for months, the living conditions of pensioners are being severely attacked, and many people are forced to resort to soup kitchens or scavenge from rubbish dumps.
Now the Troika demands a cut of 23% to the minimum wage, the sacking of tens of thousands of public sector workers and further cuts to pensions which have already lost nearly 50% of their value. International capital is asset stripping an entire country and ripping apart its social fabric. Greece is at the cutting edge of the austerity measures that are being introduced across Europe. All the evidence shows that while these measures may protect the interests of the rich, they just make matters worse for the majority of the population. What happens in Greece today we will see in Portugal tomorrow and in Ireland the day after. In Britain, the coalition government is pursuing similar measures which will see workers' earnings reduced, see them working longer for a smaller pension, and the NHS dismantled, along with other public services.
Mikis Theodorakis, famous Greek composer of Zorba's Dance, and Manolis Glezos, veteran resistance fighter against the Nazi occupation, have issued a call for a European Front to defend the people of Greece and all those facing austerity. We have decided to support this call and work with trade unions, campaigns and parties across Europe to establish a European Solidarity Campaign to defend the people of Greece. We will organise solidarity and raise practical support for the people of Greece; they cannot be made to pay for a crisis for which they are not responsible.
Len McCluskey General secretary, Unite
Mark Serwotka General secretary, PCS
Bob Crow General secretary, RMT
Billy Hayes General secretary, CWU
Michelle Stanistreet General secretary, NUJ
Manuel Cortes General secretary, TSSA
Matt Wrack General secretary, FBU
Christine Blower General secretary, NUT
Jeremy Corbyn MP
Caroline Lucas MP
John McDonnell MP
Andrew Burgin Secretary, Coalition of Resistance
Romayne Phoenix Chair, Coalition of Resistance
Imran Khan Co-chair, People's Charter
John Hendy Co-chair, People's Charter
Frank Cooper President, National Pensioners Convention
Lee Jasper Black Activists Rising Against Cuts
Paul Mackney Vice-chair, Coalition of Resistance
James Meadway Senior economist, New Economics Foundation
Rachel Newton Convenor, People's Charter
Sean Rilla Razka President-elect, ULU
Pete Murry Green party trade union group
Peter Allen Convenor, Green Left
Patrick Sikorski RMT
Clare Solomon Co-editor Springtime: The New Student Rebellions
Cherry Sewell Coalition of Resistance
Cat Boyd Chair, Coalition of Resistance Glasgow
• Before I came to Greece in August, nearly everyone I spoke to had some kind of comment to make about the state of the Greek economy. At the time, I shrugged it off. Of course, I'll be fine – the media is exaggerating. Five months later, I've lost the certainty that, while things are hard, they'll get better soon.
Stubbornly proud of my fatherland, I refused to believe this was something we wouldn't survive. I started a blog, where I posted daily snapshots of my life in Athens in an attempt to counterbalance images such as on the NY Times "Pictures of the day", which were not usually positive. But only a cursory glance at the news now indicates this is definitely something that isn't going away. I notice that every week there is a new empty storefront in the shopping area I walk by every day. My colleagues' worries about pay cuts and their children's future are serious and increasing. The number of people homeless on the street seems to be skyrocketing. What I do know is that the average Greek doesn't deserve this. The way the "inflated public sector" is discussed, both inside Greece and abroad, seems to ignore the fact that these employees are people too, who cannot necessarily be assigned blame. Something has to give. I just hope Greece can survive.
|
<urn:uuid:90a3f5e9-5612-43fb-8189-0f29de96446c>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/13/solidarity-campaign-people-greece
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.950239
| 898
| 1.742188
| 2
|
Boycott cRedit: for beginners by Tihan van der Walt
Price: $7.50 USD. 5810 words.
Language: English (South African dialect). Published on May 21, 2013. Nonfiction » Business & Economics » Personal success.
Boycott Credit is a series of books authored and published by Writer Tihan van der Walt, after he found himself in the ultimate credit crunch — over indebtedness. The first edition is primarily aimed at young adults (beginners) who are about to make debt, but everyone can turn their lives around by applying what is written in this book. A life without any debt is very possible ... take charge now
|
<urn:uuid:45e3abf4-c50f-4730-85b9-bfb7402269b2>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.smashwords.com/books/category/2040/newest/0/any/any/
|
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
| 0.942418
| 137
| 1.6875
| 2
|
Kadhafi Receives EU Ambassadors for First Time since 1992
Libyan president Moamer Kadhafi received European Union ambassadors Sunday for the first time since 1992 to deliver messages on "unresolved questions between the EU and Africa," the state-run JANA news agency said.
Libya has spent most of the past decade in international isolation, after the United Nations imposed sanctions in 1992 when Libya refused to turn over two Libyan suspects in the 1988 explosion of a Pan Am airplane over Lockerbie, Scotland that killed 270 people.
The sanctions -- which included a ban on air travel -- were suspended in April 1999 after Tripoli handed over the suspects, who are now being tried before Scottish judges in The Netherlands.
Following the lifting of sanctions last year, most EU countries resumed relations with Libya and sent ambassadors to Tripoli.
In April 2000, Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Shalgham made a first contact with those ambassadors to protest their absence from a ceremony with Kadhafi marking the 85th anniversary of a battle between Libyan fighters and Italy's colonial army.
The ambassadors told Shalgham their absence was not "a coordinated step" and that they had not known Kadhafi would be at the ceremony.
European Commission President Romano Prodi raised the possibility of Khadhafi visiting the commission's headquarters in Brussels in a phone conversation with the Libyan president back in December.
But most EU members balked, saying it was premature to invite a leader accused of terrorism.
Prodi also met Kadhafi in April at a Europe-Africa summit in Cairo, during he berated Europe - TRIPOLI (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
|
<urn:uuid:7a4eb5f7-b05e-44bd-b146-fa7a1a902eda>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.albawaba.com/news/kadhafi-receives-eu-ambassadors-first-time-1992
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.960906
| 350
| 1.695313
| 2
|
By Elizabeth Greene
“From the park you hear the happy sound of a carousel,
You can almost taste the hot dogs and French fries they sell
Under the boardwalk, down by the sea
On a blanket with my baby, is where I’ll be…”
Children screaming and laughing, parents tirelessly dragged from one stand to another, Nathan’s famous hot dogs fill the stomachs of all, and the timeless jingle of the old carousel can be heard from far and wide….it’s summer at Coney Island. The legendary resort destination off the south of Brooklyn has been around for over a hundred years, but sadly, this will be the last summer one can enjoy the childhood innocence and joy that Coney Island offers.
Coney Island opened as a resort after the Civil War. With transportation options growing at the turn of the century, it became a perfect place for New Yorkers to escape to from their hot tenements and enjoy the fresh air and breezes at the beach. In 1915, when the Sea Beach Line was added to the subway system and four years later the opening of the new West End Terminal, Coney Island reached its peak years, with tourists coming to experience Nathan’s Famous hot dogs, the island’s landmark carousel and more.
But shortly after World War II, with modern conveniences making it less necessary to leave the house for summer fun, Coney Island began to face problems that would continue to present day. Arguments persisted over what to do with failing parks and rides, how to make use of available land space and what to preserve and what to tear apart. But despite the challenges, Coney Island has maintained its identity as an all-American amusement park, beach and summer resort venue.
Today, Coney Island brings in fans galore with its minor league baseball team, the Brooklyn Cyclones, at the colorful KeySpan Park throughout the warm months. The famous rollercoaster, The Cyclone (one of the oldest in the country), the Wonder Wheel ferris wheel and the Parachute Jump are all NYC landmarks and are worth a trip in themselves. The New York Aquarium resides on the celebrated Riegelmann boardwalk, the subject of the well-known tune, and a trip to Coney Island wouldn’t be complete without a stroll down its path, hot dog and souvenir in hand. With rezoning issues and numerous changes being made, Coney Island will unfortunately close at the end of the summer.
So before it’s too late, why not make the short trip down the Sea Beach Line and have a day filled with childhood pleasures that any hard working, fun loving gal could benefit from! Eat that snow cone with joy, buy a tacky t-shirt, and relish in some wholesome unadulterated summer delights!
|
<urn:uuid:312ee2a8-f76a-4f10-aa79-815415f00fbf>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.beautynewsnyc.com/city-pulse/under-the-boardwalk-we%E2%80%99ll-be-having-some-fun/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.933076
| 589
| 1.742188
| 2
|
Department of Structural Engineering
The Department of Structural Engineering teaches fundamental courses in solid state mechanics for all engineering programmes at the faculty and NTNU. The department is particularly involved in the curriculum of the following masters study programmes for Civil and Environmental Engineering, as well as the Master of Science in Engineering and ICT. The specialization Industrial Engineering also obtains a significant share of its instruction from the department.
Research activity at the department is quite varied, ranging from computational mechanics, load description, materials engineering, and specialized concrete engineering, to bio and nanoengineering. Our strength lies in the combination of numerical (program controlled) computations and experimental investigations conducted in a large, well-equipped laboratory.
Materials, a Strategic Area
NTNU has selected six areas for intensive focus – one of which is the Materials.
Our collaborative research partners include SINTEF, Norsk Hydro and Statoil, in addition to actors in the building and construction industry, both large and small.
|
<urn:uuid:f97449c2-de6b-4714-b438-32b49aea6171>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.ntnu.edu/kt
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.947509
| 200
| 1.765625
| 2
|
Before I got here, my understanding of Africa was limited to what I heard about it on the news and what I remembered from my freshman History seminar in college. Which is to say that my knowledge of the place was reduced to Poverty, HIV/AIDS, and Colonialism— not an optimistic picture. Blame the journalists, blame the history book writers, blame the continent itself, but it just seemed like the only news coming out of Africa was bad news. If I’m being completely honest with you, Africa sounded a bit scary from where I sat in the suburbs of New Jersey. But then again, most places in the world would sound scary to a young person whose greatest challenge in life was the SAT.
Nonetheless, a lifetime as a Girl Scout, several years in Amnesty International club and an enlightening college education made social justice and service very important values in my life by the time I was ready to graduate last spring. I sought an opportunity to do some direct service overseas, so I applied and was eventually accepted to the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, which placed me where I am today: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. I’m teaching English, Music, Social Science, and Religion at a local secondary school in the city, along with three other American volunteers. I’ll be here until the end of 2013.
I don’t mean this to be self-serving, but this is usually the point in my story when the person I’m talking to will tell me that I’m brave or generous, and that I’m going to change the world, like my service is a noble thing. I feel some shame now when I confess that before I arrived in Tanzania, I secretly agreed with them. Romanticized visions of life in a hut flashed through my distant, starry eyes. I could build a school like Oprah! Maybe I’ll see a lion while I find a way to provide a remote village with electricity! I’ll pave roads! I’ll educate children! I will change the world! Eighteen years as a student had taught me that our society is unfair and broken; at last I was going into the thick of things to do something about it. It was going to be great. And noble. I just knew it.
It definitely has been great, but not in the ways I expected. There isn’t a single Tanzanian who has been delivered justice because I showed up, nor is there an inch of newly paved road that had anything to do with my work. HIV/AIDS still infects about 8% of the population here, and Tanzania’s average life expectancy continues to hover around 55 years. Service here, it turns out, is not as straightforward as I thought it would be, and the Third World is a very complicated place. Even if I make it through the full two-year term as a Jesuit Volunteer, even if I become fluent in Kiswahili and work really hard every day, the mark I leave in this country will still be small and temporary at best.
In the beginning it was a hard thing to accept because there are a lot of improvements to be made here. Tanzania is desperately and tragically impoverished, and the flaws in the country’s government, education system, and economy were glaring to my American eye. I was hungry to do something about it, to fix things and see results, to improve Tanzanians’ quality of life with concrete development and legitimate social change. With time, however, the question “What can I do?” became a better one: “What should I do?”
As a volunteer with good intentions, my work in Tanzania is not going to be the sweeping structural social change I had stupidly dreamt of before I got here. It’s not my place; that kind of initiative has to come from a Tanzanian, who will naturally be far better equipped than I, a white person, a twenty-something, a foreigner. My purpose, and maybe the purpose of any service more generally, is just to be present. Nothing validates a person’s humanity like another person’s humanity, and that is absolutely something I can provide. Unlike the elimination of corruption in the federal government, smiles and kind words to my Tanzanian neighbors, fellow teachers, and friends are definitely feasible. To be enthusiastically, peacefully, and lovingly present is both something that I can and should do. To be fully present to another person might be the greatest service and honor we can give them.
So I’m not living in a hut, and I definitely won’t get around to constructing that school like Oprah did, but I won’t deny that I still fantasize about it from time to time. There are still countless rural villages without electricity and the paved road that is closest to my home here is still a ten-minute walk away. Can my service change the world? Probably not. But I’m content to hope my humanity might brighten a small corner of it.
Caitlin O’Donnell volunteered in the Center for FaithJustice’s LeaderworX program for two summers while a student at Villanova University. You can read more about her JVC experience at http://twoyearsintanzania.wordpress.com/.
|
<urn:uuid:459fdc62-ebc3-41a1-a72e-999e4284d92a>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://centerforfaithjustice.wordpress.com/page/2/
|
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
| 0.967355
| 1,098
| 1.804688
| 2
|
University of California Santa Cruz professor Angela Davis called "outrageous" claims made by UC regent and California businessman Ward Connerly. In a letter mailed to Davis and faxed to reporters, Connerly, also chair of the self-titled "California Civil Rights Initiative" to ban affirmative action in the state, accused Davis of using her position at the university to defeat the CCRI. Connerly insinuated that Davis had encouraged students to harass Connerly at a recent Board of Regents meeting.
Davis, who was told of the letter before receiving it, said that Connerly's claims did not merit response and that she was "shocked he would release a letter of this sort that has so much misinformation." Commenting on Connerly's implication that Davis used "her perch as a member of the women of color research cluster," to organize students to defeat Connerly's bill, Davis said, "I have never in my entire career attempted to incite any student to violence, but I have encouraged students and workers to organize, which I think is a democratic right. It's quite obvious that (Connerly) is using his position as a member of the board of regents to promote this very dangerous and conservative assault on the rights of the people of this state."
Media Resources: The San Francisco Chronicle - March 20, 1996
|
<urn:uuid:177d3fa1-4c8a-4f02-a881-63040b4c49dc>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.msmagazine.com/news/printnews.asp?id=2873
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.982059
| 278
| 1.53125
| 2
|
I believe it is common practice to incorporate both dynamic stretching/mobility work as well as activation movements through a complete range of motion pre workout. Then move to something harder post workout such as static stretching/PNF or other heavy isometric stretches. There is research on both sides of the fence as it pertains to pre workout stretching but I think most experts agree nowadays that static and iso work weakens can weaken muscles when done before heavy lifts.
An example for a lower body training session might be something along the lines of:
high kicks-20-25 per leg
bottom position squats (with bodyweight) sit in bottom position and use elbows to push out on the knees for 2 sec at a time x10
bird dogs and/or some other dynamic hip movement that adequately utilizes a good range of motion for the hips x 20 per side
walking lunges/side lunges-10-15 per side
I have started incorporating this more regularly since starting o-lifting and I can tell you that it is had a very positive impact on my squats. Also doing some static stretching at night helps me to relax and sleep better whereas I used to toss and turn a lot more.
|
<urn:uuid:7eeeff41-dbf2-4742-b0cb-0beb0583abd8>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?action=profile;u=57598;sa=showPosts
|
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
| 0.945271
| 241
| 1.507813
| 2
|
Meditation One: The Revelation of the Son
Even though Psalm 19 says that every day "The heavens are telling the glory of God," nevertheless there is coming a time when the glory of the Lord will be revealed in a way that it has never been revealed before.
It will be revealed, Isaiah says, in such a way that all flesh will see it, and they will see it together. There will not be a person here and a person there saying, "I have seen the Lord, I have seen the Lord."
No more solitary Moses on Mount Sinai. No more solitary Ezekiel with his visions. No more solitary Paul with his ecstasies in the third heaven. But every single human solitary being together will see the glory of Lord.
When? When will this happen? The Lord Jesus tells that it will be at the time of his coming (Matthew 24:29–30):
The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
The Son of Man will come with power and GREAT GLORY. And all the tribes of the earth will see—not just believers—but everyone, all flesh will see it together. Some will rejoice with joy unspeakable as they hear the cry: "Behold your God." And others will mourn and weep and gnash their teeth as they hear the cry, "Behold your Judge."
Think very seriously about this today. If Christianity is anything, it is the promise that Jesus Christ is stronger than Satan, and that his glory will be supreme over all the earth. In the end Satan and all his forces and all who have worshiped him and followed him will be cast in the Lake of Fire.
I believe with all my heart that the day is coming when Jesus will be utterly and totally and gloriously triumphant over all his enemies. This is what keeps me going when I feel sometimes like I am about to drown in a sea of evil.
O that I could persuade every one of you that the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and that when it is, those who have been in love with the world, who have walked in disobedience to Christ, who have played at religion without knowing the power of it, who have taken pleasure in unrighteousness will be so frightened at his appearance there will be nothing but regret and misery for the rest of eternity.
But before the revelation of that awesome glory God planned another revelation first. He ordained that his Son suffer many things. And to suffer many things, he had to become a man. And to become man, he was born of a virgin.
Meditation Two: Isaiah 9:6
The dawn of God's glory was the first coming of Jesus Christ. The high noon of God's glory will be the second coming of Christ. And that is where the sun will stay forever and ever.
The next text that the choir will sing, Isaiah 9:6, describes the glory of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. What we find here is a combination of excellencies that correspond perfectly to needs of our souls.
Consider these four things:
- The Lord is a counselor. And that corresponds to my need for wisdom and guidance.
- The Lord is mighty. And that corresponds to my need for strength and power to live my life pleasing to the Lord.
- The Lord is Father. And that corresponds to my need for firm and gentle care and provision. Especially if I've never known it here.
- The Lord is peaceful. And that corresponds to my need for quietness and rest and freedom from trouble and agitation.
But that's not all. What makes the Lord exceedingly glorious is that
- His counsel is wonderful. The Lord has better advice for your life than anyone. It is amazingly and wonderfully different from the advice of the world.
- His might is divine. (Mighty God!) There is no greater power in all the universe than his. It will prevail over all his enemies. It is full of hope.
- His Fatherhood is everlasting. You will never attend this Father's funeral. He will never get old and senile and leave you like an orphan on your own.
- His peace is maintained by his princely authority. (Prince of Peace!) The government shall be upon his shoulders as a great prince, and his kingdom will be everlasting peace.
The glory of the Lord has risen upon us. The noonday is not yet. But given what we know now, it will come. And we can live and wait in hope.
Meditation Three: Jesus the Savior
"Fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all the people; for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior . . ."
You know what will make this really good news for you this morning? It will be good news of great joy if you feel like you need a Savior. If you are content without him, if you don't feel like you need him, then he is not your Savior.
Or if you feel like you need him, but only as a Savior from a bad relationship, or from a financial problem, or from sickness, but not from sin, then he is not your Savior.
The angel said to Joseph in Matthew 1:21, "You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." We take him as Savior from sins or we do not take him at all.
But we must be even more careful in the way we say it. For there are many who want Jesus as Savior from the penalty of their sins but not as a Savior from their sins. They want to be saved from the consequences of sin, but not from the corruption of sin. But if you don't want Jesus to save you from the pleasures of sin, and give you a new and deeper set of pleasures, then you don't have Jesus as your Savior.
Jesus came into the world to destroy the works of the devil John says (1 John 3:8), namely, sins. If you try to take him only as sin-forgiver and not as sin-destroyer, you don't take him at all.
Jesus Christ is a glorious Savior! A glorious Savior. He said, "It is not the well who have need of a physician but the sick." He came to save us from the disease of sin. To take him as a sin-forgiver and not a sin-destroyer is like being deathly sick with pneumonia and using the precious antibiotic to rub on your skin.
The doctor says, "You're supposed to swallow it! It goes inside of you!"
But you say, "I don't care for the taste. Besides it feels good on the outside; I think it helps."
"But the medicine is made to fight your disease. You're going to die if you don't take it!"
But you say, "I think it will work this way. I feel better already."
Jesus Christ is a great Savior. He will save from hard relationships and financial problems and sickness. He will save from the penalty and consequences of sin. And he will save from bondage to the fleeting pleasures of sin and give you fullness of joy and pleasures at his right hand forever more. But not if we refuse him as mighty sin-destroyer and only try to use him as sin-forgiver.
Our great duty and our great joy this morning is to worship Christ—the whole Christ, the glorious Christ. Come and worship. Come and worship. Worship Christ the newborn King!
|
<urn:uuid:b08ab477-aa1f-4df9-a204-b847102000a4>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/three-meditations-on-the-messiah?lang=en
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.967602
| 1,621
| 1.632813
| 2
|
See how long you might expect to live in retirement. Read more.
When you reach retirement there are a few ways to convert your superannuation savings into an income. This article looks specifically at "managed incomes" and explains how they work. Read more.
See how much savings you may need to live on in retirement. Read more.
New Zealand residents are entitled to receive NZ Super (the old age pension) if they satisfy the eligibility criteria. Read more.
If you have not owned a house or land before, KiwiSaver is a great way to help save for your first home. If you have owned a house before but do not now, and are in a similar financial position as a “first home buyer”, KiwiSaver may also be able to help you. This is referred to as a “second chance”. Read more.
This article discusses the significance of fees in the context of KiwiSaver. Read more.
This article provides details about Housing New Zealand's first home subsidy for KiwiSaver. Read more.
This article provides details about the KiwiSaver first home withdrawal rules. Read more.
This article covers the basics about guardianship including its role in signing up children to KiwiSaver and the different types of guardians. Read more.
This article looks at how you can maximise the government's member tax credits (MTCs). Read more.
This article looks at the features of KiwiSaver as they apply to employees and employers. Read more.
KiwiSaver is designed to help people save for their retirement. This includes employees, the self-employed, beneficiaries, stay-at-home parents and children. Read more.
This article explains the member tax credits (MTCs) that are paid by the government into eligible accounts each year. Read more.
One of the best ways to save for retirement is through KiwiSaver – this article explains why. Read more.
See how the government's free KiwiSaver $1,000 kick-start can grow over time. Read more.
Using an example, this article explains how KiwiSaver works for employees. Read more.
This article looks at what employees can gain from KiwiSaver based on three income levels: $26,000, $40,000 and $52,150. Read more.
This article looks at the benefits for people in KiwiSaver earning $34,762. See also:
The pros and cons of investing in cash, bonds or shares. Read more.
This article discusses, through examples, how someone entering retirement might invest their savings. Read more.
Find out why a low cost, low turnover, highly diversified investment approach probably results in better outcomes for most investors. Read more.
Most successful investors adopt policies based on tried and true investment practices and principles. They do this consistently in both good times and bad times to avoid chasing returns and investing in what is currently “hot”. Read more.
The principles for successful investing are the same as those of life in general. Read more.
This article looks at why we get negative returns from bonds, in particular the key factors of interest rate movements and investment term. Read more.
This article looks at how often should we expect a negative return over set periods of time based on historical data. It also looks at what we can expect in the future. Read more...
This article looks at the impact that inflation can have on investments and investment returns. Read more.
The term risk means different things to different people. For many, it is something to be avoided. For others, it is an opportunity and and acceptable part of everyday life. Read more.
This article discusses why shares are likely to provide the highest returns long-term. Read more.
For an investor to be successful, they need to achieve their financial goals and have the confidence that they will. Read more.
This article provides examples and tools to help you work out what your insurance costs may be. Read more.
This article explains the concept of an enduring power of attorney. Read more.
This article discusses when to pay off debt, and when to save. It also covers basic practices around debt and mortgages as well as the impact that KiwiSaver can have on your situation. Read more.
This article covers all you need to know about wills including why you should have a will, what is involved in creating a will, and what happens if you don't have a will. Read more.
This article explains the No Asset Procedure for individuals in financial trouble as an alternative to bankruptcy. Read more.
An article explaining what happens with benefit payments when a person dies intestate (without a will) or has not nominated beneficiaries. Read more.
|
<urn:uuid:ce6cf5bd-2b38-4198-b033-c4cf7f514ab8>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.superlife.co.nz/articles.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.953187
| 994
| 1.539063
| 2
|
To help make the visit a bit more fun for children, pick up one of the quiz sheets at the entrance to the castle. They will have to look very closely at the exhibitions to find the answers to the questions, which should keep them entertained while the grown-ups take the chance to read the information on the displays. If you've been to any of the other properties in the Clackmannanshire Tower Trail, it will be interesting for children to compare and contrast the different styles of building. Although the castle’s location in a housing estate does not lend itself to picnics (and there is no cafe on site), Menstrie is a pretty little village worth exploring in its own right, with a couple of suitable places to refuel.
Did you know?
The Holborne family were made Baronets of Menstrie in 1706
|
<urn:uuid:d236f2ed-e3e7-4dfc-a8a5-8e8782e75cd6>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/Menstrie-Castle/Visits/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.970612
| 174
| 1.8125
| 2
|
Remember a shameless Bill Clinton telling us “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is” as he tried to wriggle out of his lies?
He won politically, as he was able to remain Liar-in-Chief. But he lost factually, as he was deemed unfit to practice law, and had to surrender his law license.
There’s a joke that goes, “What do you call a million attorneys at the bottom of the ocean? A good start.” Well, Bill Clinton proved himself to be such a weasel that he wasn’t even fit to pursue the weasel’s favorite profession.
Well, the meaning is considerably more clear with Bill’s wife’s repeated usage of participles. As in, “Iran is becoming a military dictatorship”; as in “Iran is sliding into a military dictatorship”; as in “an ever-dimming outlook for persuading Iran”; as in “Iran is increasingly dominated by the Revolutionary Guard Corps”; as in this increasing decision-making (by the Revolutionary Guard)”; as in “in effect supplanting the government of Iran.”
As in, words and their tenses are actually important. All this “becoming” and “sliding” and “ever-dimming” and “supplanting” is in the tense of the present active participle. Which is to say that it didn’t occur in the past while George Bush was president; it is something that is happening right now, under the failed presidency and the failed foreign policy of Barack Obama.
Clinton: Iran is becoming a military dictatorship
By ROBERT BURNS, AP National Security Writer Robert Burns, Ap National Security Writer – 1 hr 21 mins ago
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday Iran is sliding into a military dictatorship, a new assessment suggesting a rockier road ahead for U.S.-led efforts to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
As the first high-level Obama administration official to make such an accusation, Clinton was reflecting an ever-dimming outlook for persuading Iran to negotiate limits on its nuclear program, which it has insisted is intended only for peaceful purposes. The U.S. and others — including the two Gulf countries Clinton visited Sunday and Monday — believe Iran is headed for a nuclear bomb capability. [...]
Earlier in the day, in Doha, Qatar, Clinton spoke bluntly about Iranian behavior and what she called the Obama administration’s view of Iran as increasingly dominated by the Revolutionary Guard Corps. [...]
The Revolutionary Guard has long been a pillar of Iran’s regime as a force separate from the ordinary armed forces. The Guard now has a hand in every critical area, including missile development, oil resources, dam building, road construction, telecommunications and nuclear technology.
It also has absorbed the paramilitary Basij as a full-fledged part of its command structure — giving the militia greater funding and a stronger presence in Iran’s internal politics.
“The evidence we’ve seen of this increasing decision-making (by the Revolutionary Guard) cuts across all areas of Iranian security policy, and certainly nuclear policy is at the core of it,” Clinton told reporters flying with her from Doha to Saudi Arabia.
Asked if the U.S. was planning a military attack on Iran, Clinton said “no.”
The United States is focused on gaining international support for sanctions “that will be particularly aimed at those enterprises controlled by the Revolutionary Guard, which we believe is in effect supplanting the government of Iran,” she said. [...]
Private U.S. experts on the Iranian regime said they agreed with Clinton’s assessment of Iran’s drift toward military dominance.
“When you rely on the power of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to remain in power it is only a matter of time before the regime becomes a paramilitary dictatorship — and it is about time we realize this,” Iranian-born Fariborz Ghadar, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in an e-mail to The AP. He said the current regime is “beholden to the Revolutionary Guard for its survival.”
Ray Takeyh, a former administration adviser on Iran who now follows Iranian developments from the private Council on Foreign Relations, said by e-mail, “The Revolutionary Guards are increasingly represented in all aspects of governance.”
Clinton told reporters it appears the Revolutionary Guard is in charge of Iran’s controversial nuclear program and the country changing course “depends on whether the clerical and political leadership begin to reassert themselves.”
She added: “I’m not predicting what will happen but I think the trend with this greater and greater military lock on leadership decisions should be disturbing to Iranians as well as those of us on the outside.”
Clinton said the Iran that could emerge is “a far cry from the Islamic Republic that had elections and different points of view within the leadership circle. That is part of the reason that we are so concerned with what we are seeing going on there.”
In her Doha appearance, Clinton also said she foresees a possible breakthrough soon in stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
“I’m hopeful that this year will see the commencement of serious negotiations that will cover every issue that is outstanding,” she said, adding that “everyone is anticipating” progress after more than a year of impasse between the negotiating parties. [...]
And we have a clue as to how “hopey changey” relates to Obama foreign policy:
From Secretary Clinton: “I’m hopeful that this year will see the commencement of serious negotiations that will cover every issue that is outstanding,” she said, adding that “everyone is anticipating” progress after more than a year of impasse between the negotiating parties.
And a Haaretz article provides us with more “hope n’ change”:
We have Vice President Biden: “Referring to U.S.-led effort to force new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, Biden told Meet the Press on Sunday that he hoped to recruit China’s support to the campaign.”
We have JCS Chairman Admiral Mullen: “He added that he still hoped a solution could be found through diplomacy and sanctions, and that there would not be a regional war.”
I am personally very hopeful that magic unicorns will fly over Iran and melt the mullahs’ heart with their rainbow sprinkles. And my hope for change is no less ridiculous than the three above.
The Obama administration’s foreign policy is so desperately failed that they are now incredibly trying to claim credit for the Bush victory in Iraq which they did everything they could to prevent.
Thirteen months and counting, Barry Hussein has still not lived up to his promise of personally sitting down with the Ayatollah without preconditions and discussing why the latter wants to exterminate the state of Israel as a precursor to destroying the “Great Satan” America.
Barry Hussein’s foreign policy was so shockingly bad and so woefully pathetic that even then-candidate for president Hillary Clinton said he was “irresponsible and frankly naive.”
But now “naive and irresponsible” is the law of the land. And Obama’s Good Ship Lollipop is steaming toward a nuclear-armed Iranian rogue regime.
As Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said, “Iran is now a nuclear state.” Which shortly follows their demonstration that they are well on their way to being an intercontinental ballistic missile state to deliver their nukes, too.
French President Sarkozy said that we haven’t gained anything whatsoever from Obama’s “irresponsible and frankly naive” policy of dialogue with Iran “but more enriched uranium and centrifuges.”
He has also said, ““We live in the real world, not the virtual world. And the real world expects us to take decisions.”
But not in Hopey Changey Land.
There wasn’t a single carbon-based conservative on the planet who didn’t say that Obama’s irresponsible and naive policy would utterly fail. And surprise, surprise, it’s utterly failed.
You mark my words. Due to Barack Obama’s irresponsible, naive, and failed leadership, Iran WILL obtain nuclear weapons and the ballistic missiles to deliver them. And as a result of Iran’s successful defiance of Obama, the Sunni Arab world WILL develop their own nuclear weapons and ignite a terrifying new nuclear arms race in the most insane region in the history of the planet.
In addition to that terrifying outcome, Iran will have the capability to do any of the following:
1) Start a global nuclear holocaust in order to force the appearance of the Twelfth Imam. Mutually Assured Destruction may very well play no part in the Iranian leaderships’ apocalyptic worldview.
2) Invade Israel with their nuclear weapons as a protective shield against Israel’s “Samson option.” Iran would have numerous Islamic allies to attack with them.
3) Shut down the Strait of Hormuz and send oil prices (and therefore the cost of just about everything else that requires energy to produce) into the stratosphere.
4) Massively increase global terrorism with impunity. If Iranian-trained or based jihadists manage another massive 9/11, what will we do if going to war will mean the destruction of several U.S. cities and millions of dead Americans?
A President John McCain can assure the Iranians, “We attacked Iraq when we believed they represented a threat to us, and we will do the same to you. You seriously might want to rethink your plans.” A President John McCain can say to Sunni Arab states such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, “We have stood by Iraq even when it was difficult, and we will do the same for you. You don’t need those weapons; the United States will be there for you.”
Barack Obama can’t do any of that. He won’t go to war with Iran to stop their nuclear weapons program (did you notice Hillary Clinton’s “NO” to the question whether the US was planning any sort of attack?). He can’t assure Arab allies that they can completely count on him to protect them. And he is therefore completely powerless and completely useless.
Liberals will naturally (being deceitful, dishonest, and demagogic) want to blame George Bush for not dealing with Iran. But an article from the Los Angeles Times from December of 2007 underscores why Bush was not able to mobilize America against the building Iranian threat. In a word, it was DEMOCRATS:
“DES MOINES — Democratic presidential candidates teamed up during a National Public Radio debate here Tuesday to blast the Bush administration over its policy toward Iran, arguing that a new intelligence assessment proves that the administration has needlessly ratcheted up military rhetoric.
While the candidates differed somewhat over the level of threat Iran poses in the Mideast, most of them sought to liken the administration’s approach to Iran with its buildup to the war in Iraq.”
George Bush believed Iran was a threat that needed to be confronted. Democrats like Barack Obama shrilly screamed him down. This is therefore genuinely Barry Hussein’s mess, and it has become increasingly obvious that doesn’t have the stones to handle it.
America’s failure to wisely choose its 44th president leaves us in the greatest crisis we have ever known, both domestically and internationally.
And when the fecal matter hits the rotary oscillator, there won’t be anybody to bail us out.
|
<urn:uuid:52d4871d-bfff-485e-8555-5b0e23a6387f>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://startthinkingright.wordpress.com/tag/becoming-a-military-dictatorship/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.961318
| 2,510
| 1.828125
| 2
|
Electric acupuncture on Zusanli (ST36) can reduce obesity
The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) ST36 on food intake and body weight in Obese Prone (OP) rats compared to obese resistant (OR) strain on a high fat diet. The influences of EA on mRNA levels of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), transient receptor potential vanilloid type-1 (TRPV1), and neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) were also examined in the medulla regions and ST36 skin tissue.
Advanced EA ST36 was conducted in two sessions of 20min separated by an 80min interval for 7 days. Food intake and body weight were recorded in conscious rats every day. Real time PCR was conducted in the micropunches of the medulla regions and skin tissues at the end of the treatment.
Food intake and body weight were significantly reduced by advanced EA ST36 in OP rats, but slightly decreased in OR strain and sham-EA rats. Advanced EA ST36 produced a marked increase in POMC mRNA level in the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) and hypoglossal nucleus (HN) regions. TRPV1 and nNOS mRNAs were simultaneously increased in the NTS/gracile nucleus regions and in the ST36 skin regions by the EA treatment in OP rats.
We conclude that advanced EA ST36 produces an up-regulation of anorexigenic factor POMC production in the NTS/HN, which inhibits food intake and reduces body weight. EA-induced expression of TRPV1-nNOS in the ST36 and the NTS/gracile nucleus is involved in the signal transduction of EA stimuli via somatosensory afferents-medulla pathways.
|
<urn:uuid:94b02f5e-7474-42ad-bb81-d40241ca6247>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.chinesemedicinetimes.com/article.php/185/electric_acupuncture_on_zusanli_st36_can_reduce_obesity/0d0454419fa43f47429e0efea8c057d6
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.931324
| 382
| 1.6875
| 2
|
Posted at: 10/11/2012 10:04 AM
By: Gordon Severson
Seat Belt Enforcement Starts Friday
_(ABC 6 News)- City, state and county officers are preparing for one of the biggest enforcement waves of the year.
From October 12th- 26th extra officers will be out on Minnesota roads looking for unbelted drivers. Not wearing a seat belt is now considered a primary offense in Minnesota law.
That means officers don't need another reason to pull you over. Not wearing your seat belt is enough to get execute a traffic stop.
Extra shifts will take place both during the day and at night.
The enforcement wave is part of the Department of Public Safety's Toward Zero Death campaign. Olmsted County is still in the top 10 for deadliest counties.
The average cost of a seat belt ticket is $100.
|
<urn:uuid:a71c2269-5c49-48e4-b54b-ef841d1c73df>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.kaaltv.com/article/stories/S2797387.shtml?cat=10219
|
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
| 0.963058
| 175
| 1.84375
| 2
|
Dáil Éireann - Volume 481 - 09 October, 1997
Written Answers. - Child Vaccination Trials.
Mr. Gilmore Mr. Gilmore
36. Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Health and Children if he has received from a company (details supplied) the comprehensive report on vaccine trials involving children, including some in children's homes, which he told Dáil Éireann on 10 July 1997 he was seeking; if so, the main points of any such report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15926/97]
Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Cowen) Brian Cowen
Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Cowen): I confirm that some additional information has been received by my Department from the company concerned and also from various health boards in whose areas the vaccinations concerned are reported to have taken place. I have asked my officials to carry out an evaluation of the information now available in order to establish if it is sufficient to provide a complete picture of the events in question. Following this evaluation, as full a report as possible on the matter will be compiled and a copy of this will be made available to the Deputy. I would again take this opportunity to reassure Deputies that, as I stated to the House on 10 July 1997, the administration of the vaccine to the children concerned was not experimental but that the studies were carried out as part of the normal schedule of childhood vaccinations at that time.
Dáil Éireann 481 Written Answers. Child Vaccination Trials.
|
<urn:uuid:727ef30c-88ff-43b8-9cf5-19b70ec470fa>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.oireachtas-debates.gov.ie/D/0481/D.0481.199710090045.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.973012
| 316
| 1.65625
| 2
|
Is she an African Queen? Well, no, not at all. Ms. Hardin is a native of Lumberton, North Carolina. Which begs the question: Why use her over a black model? Why this obsession with painting white models in bronze/black face?
You may remember another French magazine, Paris Vogue, dipping Dutch model Lara Stone in chocolate in an October 2009 editorial (see it here).
The world erupted with cries of ‘racism’ so strong, CNN addressed the controversy.
But then V Magazine painted Sasha Pivavarova (a Russian model) black in their #62 Winter 2009/2010 issue, shot by Mario Sorrenti.
And then Numéro was at it again (or for the first time) with Constance Jablonski (a French model) wearing bronzer and an Afro, and posing with a black baby (read our story about it here):
Though Numéro’s first go at blackface was ultimately deemed only mildly offensive because Ms. Jablonski wasn’t totally bronzed in ALL the pictures, all other instances of white women being painted black or deep brown has been met with controversy, outcries, and universal head shaking. So why do magazines continue to do this? Why not use a black model instead of continuing to stab the poker in our eyes and twist?
In her article about this latest Blackface instance, Jezebel editor Laura Beck (who isn’t black*) writes, “It’s impossible to look at this and not ache for young women of color who want to pursue careers in modeling (and arguably, fashion by extension). When they don’t see themselves on the runway or in magazines, it could be very easy for them to think, “huh, I guess modeling isn’t for me.” Then the status quo reigns, and the runways remain monotone. If jobs for “African Queen” photo spreads aren’t going to black women, what hope is there?”
I have to agree. We’ve been reporting on Blackface in Fashion since 2009 (which is why I was able to reference past instances so easily. See the full category here). Every time it happens, people hem and haw, but absolutely nothing changes. Things have gotten nominally better in the past 3 or 4 years, but there hasn’t been change in any real way–at least not enough to stop with this blackface nonsense.
Which leads me to wonder: Does The Fashion Industry Care about Black People?
What do you think?
*I included that Laura is not black so that we’re not attacked for being too sensitive as black women writing a multicultural site. Read her full article on Jezebel here.
|
<urn:uuid:0f829e05-8023-4a15-9b9d-7bd02028ba4d>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://fashionbombdaily.com/2013/02/26/white-model-ondria-hardin-poses-in-numeros-african-queen-editorial-what-is-fashions-obsession-with-blackface/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.933939
| 585
| 1.8125
| 2
|
2/12/1939 - 5/20/2013
Celebrity Memorials: Remembering the life, death and legacy of Ray Manzarek
Ray Manzarek, a founding member of the 1960s rock group The Doors whose versatile and often haunting keyboards complemented Jim Morrison's gloomy baritone and helped set the mood for some of rock's most enduring songs, has died. He was 74.
Manzarek died Monday in Rosenheim, Germany, surrounded by his family, said publicist Heidi Robinson-Fitzgerald. She said the musician's manager, Tom Vitorino, confirmed Manzarek died after being stricken with bile duct cancer.
The Doors' original...
|
<urn:uuid:f4ce4b86-1721-4bdc-9b20-7dbfd362a562>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.legacy.com/memorial-sites/celebrities/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.976154
| 144
| 1.648438
| 2
|
As a pioneer in the mobility vehicle industry, the history of VMI dates back to the late 1970's, when the original founders were challenged to build a suitable handicap accessible vehicle for a close family friend. They envisioned a new concept that would elimate the need for the traditional wheelchair lift, mounted on the side of a full-sized van. With the use of simple manufacturing tools and techniques, the three individuals converted an Oldsmobile Toronado, one of the first front-wheel drive cars at that time. The new vehicle, called the FAMCAR, used a wheelchair ramp rather than a mobility lift, and was an immediate success.
The Accessible Minivan Changes the Industry
In 1984, an automotive engineer suggested that the three apply their lowered-floor technology to the new front-wheel drive Chrysler minivan. They introduced the first accessible conversion van based on the Chrysler minivan and in 1987 incorporated as Vantage Mini Vans, later to be renamed VMI (Vantage Mobility International), in Phoenix, AZ.
VMI Today - Wheelchair Accessible Vans and Platform Lifts
Today, as one of the largest manufacturers of wheelchair van conversions, VMI builds, markets and services a complete line of high-quality wheelchair accessible vehicles and platform wheelchair lifts to those with disabilities. VMI takes pride in building leading edge mobility products and is always striving to bring new, innovative solutions to the market.
More than Accessible Vehicles
In addition to the satisfaction we derive from knowing our award-winning handicap vans are helping thousands of people achieve their dreams of greater freedom, we take special pride in the efforts of all our employees for many well-known charities like the Muscular Distrophy Association (MDA), Arizona Spinal Cord Injury Association, and Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Walk..
|
<urn:uuid:e2095781-4df6-4541-99fb-fb9a99d0ed1d>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.vantagemobility.com/about-vmi/vantage-mobility-international-history.aspx
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.934088
| 367
| 1.789063
| 2
|
Interview: Leipzig Gears up for ISC’13
Mr. Uwe Albrecht, deputy mayor of Leipzig
This year the International Supercomputing Conference moves on to a new location in the the city of Leipzig, Germany. To learn more about what this historic city has to offer, insideHPC caught up with Uwe Albrecht, the deputy mayor of Leipzig.
insideHPC: What natural advantages does Leipzig enjoy that has made it a major center of trade and commerce in Europe? During the DDR era, Leipzig remained the primary city for commercial exhibitions in Eastern Europe, continuing its historical legacy as a trade center. How has that shaped the city of today?
Uwe Albrecht: International commerce and trade fairs go back a long way in Leipzig. Being at the crossroads of two major trade routes, the east–west Via regia and the north–south Via imperii, Leipzig began to flourish 850 years ago. In 1497, Emperor Maximilian I passed an edict protecting the Leipzig Fair. Over the centuries, people from different places met up here to exchange not only goods but also ideas, a process which molded Leipzig into a cosmopolitan city.
In the mid-nineteenth century, Leipzig developed into a major industrial centre, chiefly thanks to industrial pioneer Karl Heine. The construction of machinery factories as well as railway lines, roads and canals prompted rapid growth. By the early twentieth century, Leipzig had become the biggest industrial location in Saxony and one of Germany’s key cities.
The end of East Germany was quickly followed by economic collapse in the early 1990s as long-standing markets mainly in Eastern Europe disappeared. Heavy industry largely ground to a halt and industrial jobs declined by about 90pc. Employment in mainly new industries had to be created for thousands of people.
As a result, a massive shift to the service sector took place. Leipzig is now still the foremost financial location in central Germany.
Nowadays, Leipzig is the vibrant centre of a thriving region characterized by innovative processes of transformation and with a population of 1.7 million. With the European Union expanding to the east and south-east, Leipzig suddenly found itself at the centre of the EU and is increasingly acting as a hub between east and west. The roads, rail links and airways have all been improved thanks to foresighted planning – and are now coming into their own.
On the basis of a study carried out by the Office for Economic Development and HHL Graduate School of Management, economic sectors with especially strong potential were identified. Under the motto ‘strengthening the strengths’, emphasis is placed on developing five high-growth clusters: Automotive & Suppliers, Media & Creativity, Healthcare & Biotech, Logistics & Services, and Power & Environment.
There’s been no shortage of good news lately regarding the region’s economy. BMW’s Leipzig car plant for instance is currently being turned into the electromobility hub of the entire BMW Group, creating 800 new jobs in the process. Porsche has decided to build its latest model, the Macan, in Leipzig, which means 1,000 new, high-quality jobs for the region.
DB-Schenker, a subsidiary of Germany’s national rail operator Deutsche Bahn, is expanding its logistics terminal and almost doubling its 800-strong workforce. Meanwhile Haema (Germany’s biggest independent blood donor service), Vita 34 and c-Lecta are all continuing to expand, bolstering Leipzig as a medicine and biotech powerhouse.
Other successes include investments by Amazon, DHL, Aerologic and Future Electronics, the expansion of the German Biomass Research Centre, and the opening of the new technology centre for Yamazaki Mazak – the world’s largest manufacturer of machine tools.
insideHPC: Prior to World War II, Leipzig was also a major center of music, education and publishing. And even though it remained as an economic powerhouse under the East German regime after the war, its cultural importance appears to have declined. What happened?
Uwe Albrecht: Answering your previous question, I mentioned successful examples which put your assessment of Leipzig’s economic development in a different light. But although I’m an official representative of Leipzig, that’s not just what I think! The future of our region has been assessed very positively by external experts, too:
- The latest ranking by prominent business magazine Capital placed Leipzig in first place in Germany for its dynamic economy spanning a decade. The study explored how Germany’s top sixty towns and cities will develop until 2017 in terms of economic muscle, jobs, population and purchasing power.
- It concluded that Leipzig’s economic output will climb by a fifth by 2017. With the population rising by 1.6pc over this time, the number of jobs is expected to increase by 7.2pc, causing spending power per head to rise by a tenth.
- In the Capital ranking in 2011, Leipzig was rated the city with the fourth-strongest economy in Germany, only eclipsed by Hamburg, Munich and Frankfurt. Leipzig has risen 45 places since 2001.
- Leipzig garnered top positions in the Financial Times Group ranking in both 2010/11 and 2012/13.
Leipzig is no longer the city that it once was in the nineteenth century. After all, the world has moved on. But since German reunification, many visitors have come to Leipzig. They want to meet the people who took part in the Peaceful Revolution, to be in the city where Johann Sebastian Bach directed St Thomas’s Boys Choir for twenty-seven years, and to simply enjoy Leipzig’s lively, varied atmosphere. Every year, the city invests a sizeable chunk of its budget in the Gewandhaus concert hall, Leipzig Opera House and Leipzig Ballet, and also supports organizations staging plays, concerts and festivals.
Leipzig was and remains an important centre of education and vocational training. Research institutes and establishments of higher education with internationally acclaimed expertise strengthen Leipzig’s healthy reputation in academic circles as well as among captains of industry and the general public.
As far as internationality is concerned, Leipzig International School including an international preschool and the Reclam School offering the dual Franco–German baccalaureate known as the Abibac are hard to beat.
Leipzig has Germany’s second-oldest university with uninterrupted teaching and has a proud pedigree of science and scientific training. By the way, German Chancellor Angela Merkel took her physics degree in Leipzig.
The written word enjoys special status in Leipzig. Historically rooted in the flourishing publishing sector during industrialization and a pioneering newspaper market, Leipzig’s role as a city of printing and publishing has since changed. In recent years a number of young publishing houses with very different profiles have emerged.
Local training in printing technology, publishing and journalism sets the standard throughout Germany. Literature plays an important part in local education and culture, large printing companies and small firms produce high-quality printed products, and publishers are tackling the challenges of digitization and design. It’s an exciting industry in exciting times!
The high status attributed to the written word by the public is demonstrated every year by the popularity of the Leipzig Book Fair, which was held from 14 to 17 March, accompanied by the festival Leipzig Reads. A year ago, the German National Library in Leipzig and Frankfurt celebrated the centenary of its foundation in Leipzig with a magnificent extension augmenting the main building.
Leipzig became the cradle of the world’s first daily newspaper upon the publication of Einkommende Zeitungen in 1650. Just under 250 years later, local paper Leipziger Volkszeitung was printed for the first time. The Leipzig newspaper market is now facing fresh challenges with the advent of digitization. All publications in Leipzig benefit from well-trained new recruits. The Department of Journalism at Leipzig University and the Leipzig School of Media enjoy an enviable reputation in the industry. And to encourage good journalism, every year the Sparkasse Media Foundation awards the Leipzig Media Prize in a number of different categories.
With establishments of higher education such as the HGB Leipzig Academy of Visual Arts, Leipzig University, HTWK Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, and Leipzig School of Media, the city has developed from the centre of the German-language publishing industry to the foremost centre of training in the world of publishing.
insideHPC: What is Leipzig doing today to reinvigorate its image and cultural heritage?
Uwe Albrecht: Leipzig’s great musical heritage continues to have the biggest international impact. But Leipzig’s cultural image should by no means be confined to its history! St Thomas’s Boys Choir, once directed by Bach, can be heard performing the weekly motet at St Thomas’s Church. The buildings where Mendelssohn, Schumann and Grieg once lived and worked have been painstakingly restored and now also serve as concert venues. Along with five other places, they make up Leipzig’s application to become designated a World Heritage Site. And whenever you walk through the city, you’re bound to see someone carrying an instrument or hear young musicians practicing through the open windows of the municipal school of music. A few years ago, we launched a very successful campaign to get primary school children interested in singing. Leipzig may have a long history, but it’s also a young, vibrant city – with a university right at the city centre.
insideHPC: Bach, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Wagner, and others established a rich musical tradition here. What is the music scene like in the city today and what does the future hold?
Uwe Albrecht: Leipzig is one of Europe’s foremost cities of culture. Highlights include the Gewandhaus Orchestra and St Thomas’s Boys Choir, the city’s vibrant arts scene, and a wide variety of fascinating museums. And this exceptional diversity is continuously fostered by above all Leipzig’s citizenry and farsighted business classes.
insideHPC: Leipzig University, one of Europe’s oldest institutions, has nurtured some great scientists, including Nobel Prize laureate and physicist Werner Heisenberg. What role do you see for science and technology?
Uwe Albrecht: The economic region of Leipzig has enormous R&D potential at its disposal thanks to Leipzig University, 10 other colleges and universities, 3 Max Planck Institutes, 2 Fraunhofer Institutes and a host of non-university research centres. Leipzig University cements its reputation as an important centre of research with its interdisciplinary research activities, including in 5 collaborative research projects, 7 postgraduate research units, 3 international postgraduate programs, 3 international Max Planck research schools and 4 DFG German Research Foundation groups. Particularly important are the almost 450 joint projects with industry, including 72 with regional companies as of 2011, ensuring that research findings are swiftly put to practical use.
BIO CITY LEIPZIG, including Leipzig University’s BBZ Centre for Biotechnology and Biomedicine, thrives on its stimulating atmosphere for young firms and successful start-ups. Six distinctive inter-faculty research departments have been set up Leipzig University to encourage cooperative research projects. They are entitled ‘From molecules and nano-objects to multifunctional materials and processes’, ‘Mathematics and its applications in the sciences’, ‘Molecular and cellular communication: biotechnology, bioinformatics and biomedicine in therapy and diagnosis’, ‘The brain, cognition and language’, ‘Risky orders’ and ‘The changed environment and disease’. And they are joined by concentrated research into biodiversity.
Apart from Leipzig University, various other institutions such as HTWK Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, HfTL Deutsche Telekom University of Applied Sciences for Telecommunications, and HHL Graduate School of Management have made a name for themselves far beyond Leipzig as important research centres. Examples of its internationally renowned research institutes include the three Max Planck Institutes, and the institutes in the Fraunhofer Society and the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Community.
insideHPC: In general, where do you think Leipzig’s future economic growth will come from?
Uwe Albrecht: The future has already been mapped out. Until 2020, we will consistently execute our cluster strategy, which is currently being revised.
- In the automotive industry, Leipzig will become the foremost location in Germany and Europe for premium-segment electric vehicles.
- Leipzig will continue to strengthen its position as a European hub of goods and services. Logistics and Internet retail are set to play a lasting role in the region.
- The Alte Messe biotech campus will be reinforced by additional investment by both commercial enterprise and research institutes.
- Leipzig will be an important centre of excellence for energy – especially renewables – and the environment.
- The new media and above all the creative sector will spark developments in more traditional sectors and become an important driving force for Leipzig and its economy.
Although major investments are important for the city, the backbone of economic development in Leipzig is made up of its wealth of small and medium-sized enterprises. These SMEs drive innovation, account for the bulk of jobs, and contribute the lion’s share of vocational training. Therefore, the framework needs to be improved in particular for this group of companies.
insideHPC: Clearly, with the new Congress Center, Leipzig is positioning itself as a tech-savvy host for conferences such as the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC’13). Can you talk about the role of technology in the region and your views on Silicon Saxony? How important is it that high-performance computing experts from around the world will get to know Leipzig, and vice versa?
Uwe Albrecht: I think that Congress Center Leipzig is a great choice for the International Supercomputing Conference ISC’13. In 2012, the CCL Congress Center Leipzig was voted ‘Best Congress and Convention Centre’ by readers of British trade magazine Business Destinations and corporate travel centre directors of the world’s top 500 companies. And last year it hosted over 100 congresses and conferences attended by more than 100,000 participants.
As the Deputy Mayor of Economic Affairs and Employment, I’m of course proud and thrilled that the main supercomputing conference will be held in Leipzig and that 2,500 system managers, researchers from higher education and business as well as developers from 50 countries will be meeting up to talk shop in keynote speeches, panel discussions and workshops. I see this as a show of confidence in Leipzig.
Saxony has a unique concentration of companies with expertise in the fields of micro- and nanoelectronics, photovoltaics, organic and printed electronics, energy-efficient systems, telecommunications technology and networked sensors. Silicon Saxony, Europe’s biggest network in these industries, links up more than 300 members in Saxony, including manufacturers, suppliers, service providers, universities, research institutes and public institutions.
The dovetailing of research, development and engineering taps important potential for the innovative power of our region. Research working hand in hand with industry goes back a long way in Leipzig.
The latest gratifying example is the press release from HTWK Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, according to which researchers from the iP³ Institute are participating in the Organic Electronics Saxony network, incorporating their expertise in printing technology to develop organic electronics to market readiness.
The conference will address topics such as petascale computing, big data, exascale architectures, cloud computing, network technologies, the state of the art in HPC applications and data management. The Department of Computer Science at Leipzig University explores some of these topics and their usage in business.
The field of service science – researching the service sector – is also playing a growing role in Leipzig. Its task is to develop innovative, knowledge-intensive services supported by high-technology in conjunction with industry. This is an area whose international importance is climbing and it’s ideally represented by the universities and research centres in Leipzig.
Leipzig’s training opportunities are a big advantage for the city. Graduates from Leipzig help their employers keep their business on track. And they’re one reason why the ICT industry is such an important driving force in Leipzig’s economy.
|
<urn:uuid:71a03f41-5dd7-4e8c-9c21-21e373e1dc6d>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://insidehpc.com/?s=Rich
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.93889
| 3,569
| 1.554688
| 2
|
Former UN Ambassador John Bolton believes the security of the United States is at dire risk under the Obama administration. And before a gathering of conservatives in Washington on Thursday morning, he suggested, as something of a joke, that President Barack Obama might learn a needed lesson if Chicago were destroyed by a nuclear bomb.
Appearing at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the nation's largest annual conference of conservative activists, Bolton, one of the hardest hardliners of the George W. Bush administration, spoke at length about Obama's naiveté and how various nations – Russia, North Korea, Iran – will be exploiting the new president. The most dramatic moment of his speech may have been when he cracked a joke about the nuking of Obama's hometown.
"The fact is on foreign policy I don't think President Obama thinks it's a priority," said Bolton. "He said during the campaign he thought Iran was a tiny threat. Tiny, tiny depending on how many nuclear weapons they are ultimately able to deliver on target. Its, uh, its tiny compared to the Soviet Union, but is the loss of one American city" – here Bolton changes his tone subtly to prepare for the joke – "pick one at random – Chicago – is that a tiny threat?"
Bolton wasn't the only one who thought this was funny. The room erupted in laughter and applause. Was this conservative catharsis, with rightwingers delightfully imagining the destruction of a city that represents Obama? Or perhaps they were venting vengeance with their laughter. (Bolton is no stranger to inflammatory remarks. He once infamously quipped
, "There are 38 floors to the UN building in New York. If you lost 10 of them, it wouldn't make a bit of difference.")
At CPAC, the Right's most fevered beliefs about Obama live on, with speakers portraying him as a radical liberal who wants to compromise American values, hand hard-earned taxpayer dollars to the shifty poor, and, as Bolton repeatedly pointed out, weaken America's defense.
Bolton was introduced by Thomas Kilgannon, the head of Freedom Alliance, an organization founded by Oliver North. Kilgannon described the United Nations, an organization that Bolton despises, as a place "where anti-Americanism is outdone only by anti-Semitism" and "where American tax dollars are wasted [and] dictators are exalted."
Bolton received a standing ovation and got off to a fast start, declaring that "President Obama is the most radical president we have ever elected in this country." In Bolton's world, Obama's radicalism is matched only by his lack of backbone. The new president, he warned, simply doesn't have what it takes to go head to head with the world's baddest bad actors. And Obama's pusillanimous posture, Bolton predicted, will result in American becomes a "weaker and less safe nation."
One man that Bolton feels has plenty of backbone is the Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin, who Bolton believes can sense Obama's weakness and is already finding ways to test it. In Bolton's view, the problem isn't merely that Obama isn't man enough to take on Putin; it's that Obama desires the United States to become a second-class nation. "The administration wants to return to an arms control relation with Russia that will put us in a greatly weakened position," Bolton maintained.
Russia isn't the only threat that Obama will fail to confront, Bolton said. North Korea, he claimed, is testing a missile that can hit Alaska and "possibly" Hawaii. With "further development," he added, that missile could someday be used to attack the continental United States. And North Korea is small potatoes compared to Iran. "We have lost the race with Iran on the nuclear front," said Bolton. "They now have complete mastery over the nuclear fuel cycle. And while in the long-term, the preferred outcome would be to change the regime in Tehran and get rid of the Islamic revolution of 1979, we don't have time to do that before they get nuclear weapons capability." Bolton expressed disappointment that the Bush administration did not use force against Iran. Judging from the enthusiastic crowd reaction, there are plenty of conservatives who think that Bush's foreign policy failing was not preemptively attacking enough Middle Eastern countries.
Bolton concluded by saying, "I think it's clear that our national security is at risk in this administration." He received a standing ovation. In a brief Q&A session, he was asked if the American people will "revolt" because of Obama's policies. This question about armed revolution was curious, given President Obama's popularity rating is above 60 percent.
The speaker who proceeded Bolton, Republican Congressman Paul Ryan, highlighted the conflict that runs throughout CPAC. Ryan's proposals for domestic policy were exactly what one would expect. Supply side theories, good! Government spending, bad! Tax cuts, good! European-style economics, bad! He ended by saying, "With CPAC's leadership, we can revitalize this movement." And that's the problem. This year's CPAC is supposed to begin conservatism's comeback. But can rebirth be achieved when the ideas being spouted by Bolton, Ryan, and others are the same as the ones pushed for the last eight years? But at least this much can be said about Bolton: even as he fades into obscurity, he's not going soft.
|
<urn:uuid:8464e67e-0c8d-4ed5-b218-92bb6d5028fa>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2009/02/john-bolton-cpac-benefits-nuking-chicago
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.972989
| 1,108
| 1.726563
| 2
|
When Fire Station #5 opened in Lakewood in 1960, it was the first expansion of the number of fire stations in Durham since 1926, when station #4 had opened on McMannen St. Station #4 had been replaced in 1957 by a new station #4 on Fayetteville St., which appears to have been identical to Station 5.
The station displaced an earlier house on the corner of Ward St. and Chapel Hill Rd., for which I don't have a picture.
Aerial shot of Chapel Hill Road, 1959, showing the beginnings of construction of the fire station (at the intersection closest to the top of the picture.)
The station cost $90,000 to build, and when Durham made the rather strange move to a unified 'Public Safety Officer' rather than separate police and fire departments in the early 1970s, Station 5 was the first to make the switch. The city reverted to separate police and fire departments in 1985.
Station 5 remains in operation, and I think it is the oldest station still in its original building.
|
<urn:uuid:5f273588-b7c1-40c7-92c9-344072d877df>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://opendurham.org/comment/12851
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.979335
| 213
| 1.6875
| 2
|
Kingman State Fishing Lake News
Kingman State Fishing Lake News
As of May 15, 2013, 5,787 Largemouth Bass 6-12 inches; 1,533 Channel Catfish 10 inches; 56,000 Bluegill Sunfish fingerlings; 3000 Northern Pike fingerlings; and 416 Channel Catfish averaging 4 pounds have been stocked. Northern Pike fingerlings are expected in May and Redear Sunfish fingerlings will arrive in the fall. All this adds up to limited fishing opportunities for 2013 and even more limited opportunity to catch legal size fish. These fish should grow very quickly in the new available space in the lake.
Attention Fishermen, boaters, and waterfowl hunters!
Some time in 2002 the aquatic nuisance species (ANS) White Perch were introduced into the lake by unknown means. In the past 3-5 years white perch have had significant reproduction years and now dominate the fish population. Common carp and gizzard shad also make up significant proportions of the current fish population. The game fish population has been largely replaced by these species during that time and this has resulted in increasingly meager fishing success. Fisherman use at the lake in 2011 dropped to about 1/3 of the use seen in 1999.
As a result of these population trends at Kingman State Fishing Lake, the lake was drained and rehabilitated. Starting in August 2012, the lake was slowly drained and the existing fish population eliminated. The lake is refilling and has already been stocked with approximately 6000 Largemouth Bass 6-12 inches and 1500 Channel Catfish 8-10 inches. Bluegill and redear will be stocked in the fall of 2013 with some bluegill possibly being stocked in the spring of 2013. Northern Pike will be stocked somewhere around May or June and more Largemouth Bass will be stocked in the fall. Additional Channel Catfish will also be stocked this coming fall.
As of February 1, 2013, the lake was still 3 feet 2 inches below normal elevation, but authority to take water from the west creek feeding the lake was given about February 5. This additional water will help fill the lake more quickly. As of February 18, water was touching both boat ramps and both boat dock's furthest floats. The new brush piles added to the lake while it was down are now being inundated.
Attention campers and cabin renters!
The Kansas Department of Transportation has closed both State Lake Road and NW 90th avenue detouring traffic to NW 70th avenue north to the new access to Kingman State Fishing Lake.
Coming in 2012-2014!
The Kansas Department of Transportation will be upgrading highway 54 to a 4 lane through the Byron Walker Wildlife Area from 2012 to 2014. With this project, our hunters and fishermen will encounter difficulties with access due to that construction. We ask for you patience through this period! Hunters and fishermen need to understand that there will be significant restrictions on access and normal access points will not be accessible during construction. The construction will result in significant hazards to our users should they try to use historic access points. The entrance to Kingman State Lake will be moved to NW 70th avenue and the entance to the Byron Walker headqarters will be moved to SW 90th avenue. Some access points will be permanently removed! New/improved parking areas will be constructed during this period. During construction, much of the fence bordering the highway will be removed. Unauthorized access through missing fences and the construction site will not be allowed. Vehicles making unauthorized access will be subject to tickets and towing. Hunters and fishermen are advised to use NW 10th street as much as possible for access to the area when significant portions of the highway are closed to side access. If you have questions, call the area office at 620-532-3242.
A side benefit to the highway expansion is that we are in line to receive some of the broken concrete when they remove and replace the existing highway lanes. Plans are to completely surface the entire length of the Kingman State Lake dam as a first priority. Some ponds and marsh dikes may also be armored if material is available. The department has fought erosion problems on the dam since it's construction in the early 1930's. Armoring it with broken concrete will finally alleviate most of the wave induced erosion while providing fish habitat at the same time. Material will probably become available some time in 2013.
Visitors to the lake will see that two new cabins have been added to the lake attractions. The cabins opened September 1, 2010 to the public and have been used by hunters, fishermen, and visitors to the area. Cabin rentals are made online at: reserve.ksoutdoors.com. Rentals are $70 per night with a $12 service charge the first night. These are fully furnished cabins with hot water, kitchen complete with cookware and dishes, shower, and sleeping room for 6. Visitors will need to bring their own bedding, pillows, and towels. For more information, see the website.
The main water control structure that provides water to Kingman State Fishing Lake that was destroyed several years ago by high water was replaced in July 2008. The new structure should improve water availability to the lake and also protect the lake during periods of high rainfall.
Fishermen may have noticed new rip rap on the dam east of the dam jetty. Wave action has been damaging the dam slope in this area since it was refaced in 1995. Highway work east of Kingman made broken concrete available free to be used for this project. The work was completed this winter. This rip rap will protect the dam from further damage and also provide additional fish habitat.
A new canal was completed in November 2010 that will carry water directly to the lake from the main spring located north of the lake. Historically, water had to flood 3 marshes before any reached the lake itself. This canal should make water distribution to the lake more efficient, minimizing evaportation and tree uptake that normally happened when those marshes were flooded. Marshes will still be able to be flooded come fall.
New Handicap Accesible Jetty Available
The Byron Walker Wildlife Area, located seven miles West of Kingman on Highway 54, is one of the great attractions for the city of Kingman and for Kingman County. The Kingman State Fishing Lake, and its associated recreation area, is the focal point of the 4,600 acre recreation area. The west side of the lake is open for waterfowl hunting during hunting season. The lake itself is stocked with crappie, bass, pike, sunfish, and channel catfish for the anglers delight. There are picnic tables, fire pits, camping areas, four fishing jetties, two boat ramps with launching docks, a large shelter house suitable for larger parties or gatherings, and three nice, clean toilet facilities for your families’ comfort. Recently there have been two cabins built on the North East side of the lake that are available for rent. The cabins are outfitted with everything except food and personal items to make a sportsman or a family comfortable in their stay. The cabins are also designed to be handicapped friendly
However, until about a year ago (Nov '10) there was still something lacking. It was difficult for a handicapped individual to be able to get close enough to the waters’ edge to fish. Carl Jamieson, a local disabled fisherman, contacted Troy Smith, the Wildlife Area Manager, to discuss this shortcoming and see if something could be done to help handicapped sportsmen. Mr. Smith discussed having to remove the floating docks a few years earlier because they had become dangerous and had outlived their life span. He also indicated that he had been submitting budget proposals annually to get them replaced, but funding was not available. Mr. Jamieson asked if he might investigate the option of seeking donated materials, and was given the green light to proceed. A design was developed to construct a handicapped accessible surface on one of the existing jetties if the materials could be found at a reduced cost or donated. Mr. Jamieson started making phone calls. The first thing he was able to find was the framework material. Rick Yoder of Jayhawk Oilfield Supply not only supplied 14 lengths of 4 inch by 38 foot long oil well casing, but also delivered it to the lake at the northern most jetty, the site chosen for the construction. A couple more calls and Christy from Arensdorf Lumber dba Kingman Lumber donated 100 feet of ½ inch rebar to be used as bracing for the framework. Once the idea of the handicapped accessible fishing jetty was published in the paper under Letters to the Editor, Dan Hacker of Hacker Brothers Construction stepped forward and volunteered the material that was needed to create a smooth surface for wheel chairs and delivered 25 tons of GE, a compactable gravel, to the site. A couple more phone calls and Terry Schrag of Cannonball donated 300 feet of 1&1/2 inch square stock to construct the safety railings for the project.
Without the compassion and generosity of these people and their companies this project would never have happened. They eagerly stepped forward and supplied all of the necessary materials for the project. They all deserve our appreciation and a huge vote of thanks and support.
Once all the materials needed were acquired, the on-site work began in earnest last fall. The rip rap (rock) that is the main base of the jetty was repositioned around the edges to make a suitable base for the pipe form. The perimeter of the jetty was dredged to allow deeper fishing water close to the jetties edge and to inhibit water lily growth. The framework was finished and placed, the GE rock spread out and compacted, and the railings fabricated and installed. A barrier was put up to prevent vehicles from driving out onto the jetty, handicapped parking signs were installed, and a sidewalk was poured to allow easy access for wheel chairs from the two handicapped parking spots. The new jetty development is located just west of the two cabins at the North East end of the lake to allow easy access. All this new facility lacks is the fishermen, and not just handicapped fishermen. It is open to all.
|
<urn:uuid:602cf33b-4a5c-4174-b37e-21a3c1f2a6dd>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://kdwpt.state.ks.us/news/KDWPT-Info/Locations/State-Fishing-Lakes/Region-4/Kingman/Lake-News
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.964084
| 2,095
| 1.601563
| 2
|
A schoolteacher in Swaziland who was waiting for a bus was detained by police because he was carrying a bag with an inscription of a trade union federation on it.
Wandile Ndlela was approached by uniformed police officers at the Satellite Bus Rank in Manzini, the main commercial city in the kingdom, and accused of carrying a bag inscribed with TUCOSWA – the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland.
TUCOSWA was recently deregistered by the Swazi Government after it called for a boycott of national elections due to be held next year. TUCOSWA is not a banned organisation in Swaziland where all political parties are proscribed and King Mswati III rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.
The Human Rights Centre, Swaziland, said in a statement that police officers led Ndlela to the police post situated at the bus rank where he was briefly detained, before being taken to regional police headquarters in Manzini.
The statement added, ‘There he was interrogated by senior police officers, who wanted to know where he had taken the bag from; and why it had the TUCOSWA inscription.
‘When he tried to ask if he had done anything wrong, they curtly told him that he knew that TUCOSWA was banned by the state, and he should not be carrying the bag. After a lengthy interrogation he was released without any formal charges being laid against him. Before releasing him, the state police recorded his details, his place of residence and place of work and gave him his bag back before warning him never to carry it.’
The Human Rights Centre said the case ‘illustrates the level of police impunity in the violation of fundamental rights’ taking place in Swaziland.
It added, ‘Despite the many cases of police violence and brutality reported almost daily, there is no record of prosecution of any police officer for human rights violations.’
|
<urn:uuid:23af39e7-bd06-4e05-b729-4c3a1e4e1020>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://swazilandcommentary.blogspot.com/2012/05/teacher-carrying-union-bag-arrested.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.985095
| 409
| 1.523438
| 2
|
"Nobody's Boy" is a human document of child experiences that is fascinating reading for young and old. Parents, teachers and others, who are careful to have children read inspiring books, will welcome this beautiful story of Hector Malot, as among the best for them to recommend.
late with the butter and threw it all into the pan. No more butter ... then ... no more pancakes.
At any other moment I should have been greatly upset at this catastrophe, but I was not thinking of the pancakes and fritters now. The thought that was uppermost in my mind was, that this man who seemed so cruel was my father! My father! Absently I said the word over and over again to myself. I had never thought much what a father would be. Vaguely, I had imagined him to be a sort of mother with a big voice, but in looking at this one who had fallen from heaven, I felt greatly worried and frightened. I had wanted to kiss him and he had pushed me away with his stick. Why? My mother had never pushed me away when I went to kiss her; on the contrary, she always took me in her arms and held me tight.
"Instead of standing there as though you're made of wood," he said, "put the plates on the table."
I nearly fell down in my haste to obey. The soup was made. Mother Barberin served it on the plates. T
I read this book at age 10. And I imeadiately read it again and again. It had a profound impact on me. In retrospect it shaped thereafter, how I was to relate to the less fortunate. I am now 68. I highly recommend it to all parents.
good book.. i like it... :)
|
<urn:uuid:2c9fc759-df5e-44c0-ab96-583d5a323004>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://manybooks.net/titles/malothec2510225102-8.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.991657
| 361
| 1.8125
| 2
|
Christina Ray introduced this edition of the annual festival for psychogeography by reminding that it started in 2003 when a bunch of friends decided to set up an event where they would invite other people to come and explore the city with them. Conflux gathers artists and also people who wouldn't call themselves artists such as architects, activists, researchers, etc. This year there are over 100 artists selected. I'm not going to blog everything, just a few projects i particularly liked.
Here's my pick of the day:
Free103point9/31 Down Radio Theater (Ryan Holsopple, you might remember his Pay Phone Murder Mystery project) presented Supplied by the Public which is currently working as Conflux radio station. The content of the radio station is made of calls from participants of the festival.
The calls (from public phones, cell phones, home phones) are streamed in real time over the Internet. The stream is also broadcast on a low power FM transmitter to the local area of the event for people to listen to via a wireless radio. The calls are archived and will repeat when no active calls are being broadcast. The project is inspired by Max Neuhaus's telephone/radio work, Public Supply (1966).
At the Luna lounge a space is provided for artists to come and discuss their work, it's rather informal and some of them only come with flyers and a laptop. Kiera Ormut-Fleishman had more! She came with a prototype of Maintenant, a system designed to make us more ecologically aware.
Maintenant revolves around the Social Pedometer/So-Ped, a device which connects to your mp3 player and auditorily alerts you whenever you're passing through a high-air pollution saturated area.
The So-Ped, equipped with a carbon monoxide and methane sensor, is continually searching the air you breathe as you walk around. When a higher level of gases is detected, the sensor sets off the voice chip and alerts you to this. First the alert temporarily cuts off your music then you get a tip that says how to save up energy, for example.
There is only one So-Ped and it is not for sale. However, you can sign up to test the So-Ped when it becomes available in your area, you will then be able to use it for two weeks.
Molly Schwartz was showing her moving After You Leave... website and animations which document the way trees are struggling and often winning the battle in the street against cement, sidewalks, fences, decorative brick borders and buildings.
Anyone can contribute to Molly's project by submitting their own photo and written observations of the struggle. Besides, a map can be downloaded to guide participants to the key locations of the green battle.
|
<urn:uuid:438844e9-1639-4c36-bf3e-153cd2741c71>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/007261.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.96412
| 560
| 1.664063
| 2
|
Tabb High School
YORKTOWN -- Members of the Tabb High School Naval Junior ROTC are used to looking out for each other.
Now, they're looking out for other students by embracing Rachel's Challenge, a program named for Rachel Scott, who was killed in the Columbine massacre.
Tabb cadets and students join more than two million others across the country, vowing to work to make the world a better place by engaging in random acts of kindness.
"We can use our three core values to help us with Rachel's Challenge. In the Navy, we have honor, courage and commitment and that goes along with a lot of what Rachel had in mind," said one student.
Jennifer Barber is president of Rachel's Challenge at Tabb High School.
"Our job is to stay very active, not just talk about what we're going to be doing but to act on it, just to help out in any way when someone is doing a wrong -- to counteract that and correct it," she said.
Barber says the students really want to make a difference.
|
<urn:uuid:c1ac2c34-e009-45c7-ade5-0078042832d7>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.wvec.com/community/rachels-challenge/spotlight/Tabb-High-School-students-strive-to-make-a-difference-with-Rachels-Challenge-133172903.html?ref=next
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.976023
| 224
| 1.695313
| 2
|
Public image no longer hides private actions
One of the oddest scenes in Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous – an absurdly detoxified study of 1970s rock – finds the jolly band “selling” a groupie to a rival act. Having travelled with the Allman Brothers Band as a teenage journalist, Crowe knew whereof he wrote. The new establishment was quite as willing to abuse power as was the fusty old guard.
Here’s the good news. It does look as if much of that dangerous deference – to both bishops and popular entertainers – has belatedly slipped away. Gary Glitter received no quarter when child pornography was discovered on his computer. Jonathan King, impresario and sometime pop star, was sent to jail for sex offences. We hardly need to detail the scandals that have spread through the Catholic Church over the past decade or so.
The advent of social media has made life that bit more difficult for celebrities intent on abusing vulnerable young people. Within seconds, an accusation can be disseminated to a million hand-held devices throughout the globe. Everybody is his or her own newspaper publisher.
Maybe the downsides to that development outweigh the advantages. For every valid accusation, there are a hundred snippets of misleading gossip. One slightly disturbing aspect of the Savile affair has been the number of people who, noting Jimmy’s odd dress sense and peculiar manner, professed they “knew all along” he was a deviant. (In a spirit of full disclosure, I should own up to thinking something similar myself.)
In the current era, just being an eccentric can inspire a million Twitter users to form themselves into a digital lynch mob.
For all that, we should rejoice that it is now, maybe, just a little bit easier for genuine victims of abuse to level accusations against the powerful. Cynicism about politicians, pop stars, priests, journalists, actors and the rest of the establishment has set us free from destructive obsequiousness.
The incidents alleged in that Jimmy Savile documentary could still take place today. But they would be harder to cover up.
|
<urn:uuid:aaf7c116-00b9-4b5f-af28-2bb4bb7246ad>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.irishtimes.com/debate/public-image-no-longer-hides-private-actions-1.548656?page=2
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.968342
| 438
| 1.578125
| 2
|
The Senate voted 44-6 to approve Senate Bill 2199 Tuesday. The bill calls for all local superintendents to be appointed by school boards, unless voters opt out.
Now, 62 superintendents in county districts are elected. Heads of the remaining 89 city and county districts are appointed.
Proponents say appointment widens the pool of school leaders beyond district residents.
Superintendents could still be elected in any district where voters choose to continue. A referendum would be called if 20 percent of registered voters — or 1,500 voters, whichever is less — sign a petition. Under an amendment by Sen. David Blount, a Jackson Democrat, such elections could only be held in Nov. 2013 or Nov. 2014.
More in Wednesday's NEMS Daily Journal newspaper.
|
<urn:uuid:d15600a1-02a4-4c51-946d-7ffe4cb26e2e>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://djournal.com/view/insideolemisssports_full/21694061/article-Senate-approves-bill-to-appoint-superintendents
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.935664
| 159
| 1.59375
| 2
|
Drone strikes need more oversightWhat’s needed in the debate over the killing of American leaders of al-Qaida is a middle ground. Luckily, a middle ground is emerging, and former Defense Secretary Robert Gates is its most respected champion.
By: Grand Forks Herald, The Jamestown Sun
What’s needed in the debate over the killing of American leaders of al-Qaida is a middle ground.
Luckily, a middle ground is emerging, and former Defense Secretary Robert Gates is its most respected champion.
Congress should adopt policies that broadly reflect Gates’ views.
A secret Justice Department memo “concludes that the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be ‘senior operational leaders’ of al-Qaida or ‘an associated force,’” NBC News reported last week.
The memo “lays out a three-part test that would make targeted killings of American lawful.” But not mentioned at all in the test are constitutional considerations such as the right to a jury trial.
Columnist Glenn Greenwald describes the result: “The president’s underlings compile their proposed lists of who should be executed, and the president — at a charming weekly event dubbed by White House aides as ‘Terror Tuesday’ — then chooses from ‘baseball cards’ and decrees in total secrecy who should die.”
Greenwald is a no-holds-barred critic of the policy and demands that suspected terrorists — like Americans suspected of other crimes — be given full due process rights.
But Greenwald ignores Americans’ almost universal sense that terrorism resembles warfare much more than it does crime. And as former Bush administration advisor John Yoo writes, “U.S. citizenship doesn’t create a legal force field around Americans who treasonously join the enemy. During the Civil War, every Confederate soldier remained a U.S. citizen. In World War II, Americans joined the Axis.
“As the Supreme Court reaffirmed in Hamdi v. Rumsfeld in 2004, ‘Citizens who associate themselves with the military arm of the enemy government … are enemy belligerents.’”
Yoo then takes to the other extreme, saying the memo — toughminded as it is — “reveals how a legal fog threatens to envelop U.S. soldiers” on the front lines.
“The administration has replaced the clarity of the rules of war with the vague legal balancing tests that govern policemen on the beat.”
And with that, it’s Yoo who goes too far, because terrorists aren’t exactly like Nazi or Confederate soldiers. Terrorists don’t wear uniforms, don’t assemble in armies and don’t live in barracks far away from cities and towns.
They’re far harder to identify and isolate than soldiers are, in other words. That’s why different rules must apply.
“I’m a big advocate of drones,” Gates told CNN.
And “I think that the rules and the practices that the Obama administration has followed are quite stringent and are not being abused.”
Even so, Americans are right to be nervous about making one man prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner, Gates said.
So, some kind of oversight is needed: “Whether it’s a panel of three judges or one judge or something that would give the American people confidence that there was, in fact, a compelling case to launch an attack against an American citizen — I think just as an independent confirmation or affirmation, if you will — is something worth giving serious consideration to.”
Gates is right — and Obama himself seems to agree: “One of the things we’ve got to do is put a legal architecture in place, and we need congressional help in order to do that, to make sure that not only am I reined in but any president’s reined in terms of some of the decisions that we’re making,” Obama said last year.
Congress should heed Gates and the president’s concerns.
|
<urn:uuid:3c43f067-5787-4676-9168-7a7cc9f643f9>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.jamestownsun.com/event/article/id/180306/group/Opinion/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.944398
| 870
| 1.625
| 2
|
I didn’t want to move. I was too happy, and the moment was too fragile. My arm fell asleep, but I didn’t want to take it from under her. There are short periods of joy you have to stretch through a lot of empty years, me more than most. You have to make them last as well as you can.— Ann Brashares,My Name is Memory (via texasskyblueeyes)
Two girls, named A and B, are recalling an old story together. They get into this discussion about a picture hanging on the wall of one of the staircase landings in their elementary school. A picture of a girl picking flowers in front of a deep red sunset...
A says, "Oh! how nostalgic. You're talking about the picture of the girl in a pretty yellow dress, right?"
But then B says, "No, the dress she was wearing was red, just like the sunset!"
"No, it was red."
"No, it was definitely yellow."
"All right, then why don't we go see for ourselves?"
The two of them, filled with excitement, reached the old nostalgic school building.
"What color was that girl's dress?"
What color was it?
didn't have a color.
It was just a black and white picture.
The dress that dark silhouette wore was scribbled completely black.
Yet in their memories, both bickering girls were sure that the dress in the picture had a color.
Human memories are too vague. Thinking something has color when it doesn't, making things more dramatic than they really are, glorifying things... It gives new, greater meaning than was actually there. That's why I don't believe any of this talk about "beautiful memories".
|
<urn:uuid:1067ab09-c305-4cef-bed2-31b1026fa9bd>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://uptothemoonandback.tumblr.com/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.986692
| 370
| 1.679688
| 2
|
Two cats are currently housed at the Russellville PetSmart, where they are awaiting adoption. Their journey has been quite a tale, indeed.
In July, a “good samaritan” was flagged down along U.S. Highway 63 outside Conway by a man who said his wife had fallen and needed medical attention. When the passerby entered the home to offer assistance, he found more than he bargained for — more than 100 cats roaming the house.
Both residents were taken out of the home and into medical care, and they signed ownership of the animals over to the Humane Society of Faulkner County (HSFC), Shirley Jarman, an HSFC board member, said.
While HSFC is a “small, nonprofit volunteer organization,” Jarman said they were willing to step up to the challenge. The organization purchased a trailer from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) a few years back, and that was converted to meet the needs of the many cats.
“We took all of our supplies out of that and made it into a cat rescue place,” Jarman said.
Cats taken from the home were vaccinated, spayed or neutered, tested for illness and quarantined for 10 days before being placed up for adoption.
To date, Jarman said more than 100 cats have been removed from the home, and about 20 are still at the house and will be removed when space is available.
“Right now, getting them to the places where they can be adopted in the big push because there are still 20 at the house that have not been picked up because they do not have room for them,” she said.
About 25 cats had to be euthanized for medical reasons, Jarman said.
Most of the cats are friendly and do not act feral. Jarman said feedback from families who have adopted cats that were rescued from the home shows the cats are great pets.
“We know that they’re going out and they’re adapting well to their new homes,” Jarman said.
There are a few cats that are a little more on the wild side, she said, but they would do well as barn cats, as long as their new owners were willing to provide them with food, shelter and a warm place to spend the winter.
In August, PetSmart in Russellville gave the OK for HSFC to place cats, two at a time, in its adoption center. Since then, about 3-4 cats form HSFC have been adopted out.
Time is of the essence to adopt available cats and make room for the 20 still in the home, Jarman said, because the home is currently under the foreclosure process and will be torn down, possibly as early as January. She said HSFC has reached out to other humane societies in the state, but most are operating at full capacity.
“It’s really going to be up to the community and the general public” to step up and provide homes for the cats, she said.
Adoption fees are $75. Current cats available for adoption from the HSFC “100-plus cats, one house” rescue can be found at PetSmart stores in Russellville and Conway and Pet Country in North Little Rock.
For more information about HSFC or its spay/neuter program, email firstname.lastname@example.org.
|
<urn:uuid:e6c72f49-4830-4132-8ee0-e0c2094ce26f>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.couriernews.com/view/full_story/16442163/article-Cats-cross-county-lines-looking-for-homes
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.981308
| 708
| 1.539063
| 2
|
"Sewing With Nancy" Celebrates 30 Years
Nancy Zieman began producing her television show, "Sewing With Nancy", in 1982. Since then, Nancy has filmed more than 800 episodes filled with instruction on garment and accessory sewing, quilting, and machine embroidery, as well as interviews with notable sewing guests. Nancy's show has taught millions of people how to sew over the years. This month (September 2012) marks the show's 30th anniversary, and to celebrate the milestone, Nancy filmed a two-episode anniversary special.
For "Sewing With Nancy Celebrates 30 Years on Television", Nancy was joined by a live studio audience for a retrospective of episodes, guests, and momentous occasions. The special also features surprise guests from the past three decades.
The commemorative episodes will air on PBS stations in November, and will also be available for online viewing at NancyZieman.com. You can also purchase the special on DVD at NancysNotions.com. If your local PBS station doesn't carry "Sewing With Nancy", you can watch episodes online at the Wisconsin Public Television website, www.wpt.org/sewingwithnancy/. iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch users can also download a free app to watch all "Sewing With Nancy" episodes on their devices.
Sewers can also connect with Nancy on her blog, www.NancyZieman.com/blog, where she shares sewing, quilting, and embroidery projects and tips, and keeps followers up to date on her community service program, Quilt to Give.
Congratulations on 30 years, Nancy!
Are you a "Sewing With Nancy" fan? How has Nancy Zieman's show helped you become a better sewer over the years?
Posted on Sep 13th, 2012 in sewing, Nancy Zieman, Sewing With Nancy
|
<urn:uuid:f0bcd541-0172-43ee-b629-5d656bb12a9a>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/27225/sewing-with-nancy-celebrates-30-years
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.939291
| 393
| 1.539063
| 2
|
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Today they had extra time in class to draw pictures of their choosing. Gage drew several things and one was a bus w/the words "baby toy" on the side. Under the picture he wrote "bu bu bu". I asked what this was for and he said "that's the sound for the bus!" He remembers those Learning to Listen sounds from when they were first implanted!! He's right the bus is bu bu bu bus. Also in his paperwork was a sheet in which he scored a 97. The teacher called out words and they had to write down the ending sound they heard (ex. g for egg or x for fox). The list goes on as they have to write the beginning sounds and middle. A 97, w/one implant!!!
Labels: cochlear implants
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Gage is doing well also. He just got report cards a couple of weeks ago and he received a 99 in Math, 93 in Reading, and so far his conduct is improving a great deal! He received his full speech and language evaluation from Children's. His expressive vocab and articulation was at 7ys 8mos. He's only 6yrs 4mos. Even his receptive vocab was above his chronological age. I'm amazed at how well he does! It's gotta be tough only hearing w/one implant. Doesn't bother this little man, he's gonna get his information. He's really good at asking for repeats if he needs them.
Brook is doing great in preschool. She's learned to write her name...ON EVERYTHING!! She is teaching our cats to babble and write also. I heard a peculiar "raaaow" from the cat the other day. When I checked on it, Brook was holding a pencil between it's "toes" teaching it to write!! poor cat. She still asks me daily "mama, when I can have a real baby?" Nanny's concerned that when she figures out "how" to have a real baby...we're gonna be in big trouble! She looks at toy books and shows me what she wants from each one. It's not the toys, it's the real babies photographed w/them.
|
<urn:uuid:5a561dc3-041d-4c3e-9043-9bfd02898ab6>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.deafkidscanhear.blogspot.com/2007_10_01_archive.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.98984
| 457
| 1.679688
| 2
|
Frank Wilczek has received many prizes for his work in physics, including the Nobel Prize of 2004 for work he did as a graduate student at Princeton University, when he was only 21 years old.
He is known, among other things, for the discovery of asymptotic freedom, the development of quantum chromodynamics, the invention of axions, and the exploration of new kinds of quantum statistics (anyons).
Much in demand for public lectures to a wide range of audiences, Frank has been anthologized in the Norton Anthology of Light Verse and twice in Best American Science Writing (2003, 2005). His television appearances include "ghostbusting" for Penn and Teller (2005).
Longing for the Harmonies, a beautiful exposition of modern physics Frank wrote with his wife Betsy Devine, was named a NY Times Notable Book of the Year and has recently been re-issued in paperback. Frank is also the author of Fantastic Realities, a "playful yet profound" (to quote one reviewer) collection of his short pieces on wide-ranging topics, which concludes with a family's-eye view of the Nobel adventures, drawn from Betsy's blog Funny Ha-Ha or Funny Peculiar.
Early reviews have called Frank's latest book, The Lightness of Being, "a lively, playful, and inventive tour de force" as well as "a colorful and masterful treatment of recent developments in fundamental physics." A central theme of this book is that the ancient contrast between celestial Light and earthy Matter has been transcended. In modern physics, all the stuff out there is unified into a "Being" more like the traditional idea of light than the traditional idea of matter.
Frank grew up in Queens, NY and attended the University of Chicago. After getting his Ph.D. from Princeton, he spent time on the faculty there and at the Institute for Advanced Study, as well as at UCSB's Institute for Theoretical Physics, now the KITP. Frank is currently the Herman Feshbach professor of physics at MIT.
> Download a PDF version of Frank's Biography [63Kb]
|
<urn:uuid:7604e032-89f1-4d95-8b9e-61a1e5fb1c94>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.frankwilczek.com/bio.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.970493
| 438
| 1.515625
| 2
|
3. Chapter Three
Olwë saw how weary they all were, and, despite Elwë’s objections, decided they would abide for a time in this placid country, mingling with Finwë’s people. Many welcomed the respite and were eager to renew old acquaintances. Finwë had not been idle in his lingering; his people had crafted many lovely and useful items from local materials, and some of these they gave as gifts to the newcomers. Olwë demurred, being unable to return the courtesy, but Finwë insisted, saying their works were of little use if they could not be shared and enjoyed.
Elwë grew restless with waiting, and went abroad often and alone. This was ill-advised, for shadow-spirits haunted even this land, eager to ensnare those who were careless or unlucky enough to fall into their grasp. But Elwë refused to listen; he could not abide to remain idle while Olwë and others pursued their leisure. He must go out, he said, or go mad.
“You do not think he is foolish enough to try the road to Valinor on his own, do you?” asked Telwë.
“Nay, for he knows not the way,” Nowë told his father, “nor has he asked Oromë to bear him. He might do so, if his need were so great, but I do not think it has come to that.”
“It must be an exceedingly fair place, if he yearns for it so.”
Nowë could not say. He knew only that Oromë did not seem overly concerned over Elwë’s restlessness, yet the Vala had always been unreadable, and Nowë recalled his words, that he could not command the will of any who wished to stray.
And then, Elwë went abroad and did not return.
* * *
In the deepest woods, in the shadows where he had learned to find only silence, he suddenly heard sweet birdsong. And above it, soft at first, a voice singing, calling to him, and he forgot his errand, forgot all else but the voice and the lovely enchantment it wove about him.
He came then to an open clearing frosted by starlight and saw then the source of the spell. A maiden she was, yet unlike any he had ever seen save in the Blessed Realm. He stopped when he saw her, scarcely daring to breathe lest this vision of loveliness vanish.
Then she turned and their eyes met.
* * *
“Nowë! Why are you not coming with us?”
From his seat under the wide beech tree, he looked up at his father. Telwë stood with Olwë and Enel, who was the father of Olwë and Elwë. Long they had searched, as far and wide as they dared. Finwë and his people gave their aid, but to no avail.
At first, fearing the ever-present shadows that might have abducted Elwë, Nowë had joined the search, but as he slept a curious vision had come to him. Upon the path of dreams, he saw how Elwë had forgotten them and his yearning for Valinor, yet of the source that wrought this enchantment Nowë glimpsed only the pale oval of a face whose beauty struck him even in his repose.
“There is no need,” he said softly. “I do not think any harm has come to Elwë, but he is lost to us.”
“What have you seen?” Telwë wanted to know.
Nowë knew not quite how to describe his vision. When he awoke, he had heard a voice in his head telling him that Elwë had found that which he was meant to find. He knew not whence the voice had come, but when he emerged from the trees where he made his bower and met Oromë’s eyes, the Vala answered with a knowing gaze. “He has become enamored of the woods and chosen Lenwë’s path, to stay.”
His fear for Elwë vanished, though he could plainly see others were not so certain. Olwë defended his vision, and his parents, even if in private they did not understand his gift. Such things were not unknown among females, among mothers who had some special insight into the fates of their children; visions did not come with such frequency to males, nor with such power as they came to him.
They think it a strange thing, he thought, and it is passing strange, even to myself. I meant only to ease their fears for Elwë. I should know better than to speak so loosely.
* * *
Olwë led them when they were ready to march again. Finwë and his people, who now called themselves Noldor, unwilling to wait while Elwë’s people searched for him, had already departed. Oromë went with the Noldor on the first part of the journey westward before returning, and this time there seemed to be some urgency in the Vala’s bearing.
Along the shores of a great river they traveled, moving south through thin woods and willow marshes with the rushing of the water on their left hand. Nowë felt a change in the air, subtle at first, and listened for the rise and crash of waves that were the music of his dreams. Oromë confirmed that the river emptied into the Sea, but long before this Nowë tasted the moisture in the air, and it was like the salt of his tears.
As the hiss and crash of the Sea called to him, others noticed how the heavens began to lighten. Twilight lingered upon the land, and the stars were yet visible, yet the colors and shapes of things steadily grew more distinct.
“That light comes from Valinor,” explained Oromë, “where thou shalt soon go to dwell. There thou shalt see with thine own eyes the Two Trees whose waning and waxing give light to Arda.”
Nowë had no thought for Valinor. He wanted only to reach the end of the river, to climb the next hill and cross whatever distance remained between him and the Sea. He knew not what would follow, and cared not.
When Oromë led them from the marshes of the river estuary, Nowë balked, thinking the Vala meant to separate him from his desire, but as the earth under his feet grew soft and sandy and the undulating song of the waters pulsed ever more strongly in his blood, he stilled his protests.
“Look now,” said the Vala from Nahar’s back. “Behold Belegaer, the Great Water that lies between thee and Aman.”
Nahar stood nearly at Nowë’s shoulder; he could feel the great beast’s breath warm upon his neck. It seemed Oromë’s words were for him alone and he turned his gaze down the brow of the hill where the sand stretched to meet a vast horizon of water.
Behind him he heard cries of astonishment and fear. For this was not Cuiviénen, whose waves lapped gently at the shore, but a living thing whose heaving breath rose and fell upon the edge of the land, lashing the rocks with white-frothed spray. Nowë heard the screaming of gulls overhead, and saw more of the birds wheeling and diving above the crest of the water.
“I would venture closer still,” murmured Olwë. When Nowë was able to tear his eyes from the Sea long enough to look at his cousin, he saw Olwë was as entranced as he.
The sand was cool and soft, yielding to their footprints as the two of them drew near the water’s edge; a few others, braver than the rest, followed, but most huddled on the hill behind Oromë, tempted by fear to flight. The water surged up onto the sand, teasing the Eldar with white foam and then retreating. Nowë laughed at the feel of the spray on his face and darted his tongue out to taste the salt water on his lips. Beside him, Olwë was throwing off his shoes to walk through the waves and feel the wet sand between his toes. He tried to persuade Sílarielle to join him, but she hung back, daunted by the crashing foam.
Their laughter was cut short by the blast of a horn from the hill. Turning, they saw Oromë rising tall in Nahar’s saddle, his great hunting horn Valaróma raised to his lips.
“He is not calling us back, is he?” asked Olwë.
And then, from the deep, came an answering call. The music of many horns sounded through the water and set some of Olwë’s followers scurrying away from the foam and up the beach. Olwë looked at his cousin, wondering if they should not also retreat.
The music was both strange and beautiful, terrible and intoxicating. Nowë did not want to move, did not think he could for the longing those horns stirred in him. He turned toward Olwë, urging him to stay, but the waters between them suddenly surged upward, exploding into a column of white foam. The resulting wave knocked him backward into the surf, and as he surfaced, coughing and choking on salt water, he saw a figure bending over him.
A male shape it wore, like unto Oromë, yet its body and face were of the living, moving water. The hand that grasped him and pulled him upright was twice the size of his own; it felt strangely solid, yet he knew he could have put his fingers through it with ease had he tried. Through salt-stinging eyes, he saw Oromë ride to the surf’s edge, where Nahar pawed at the sand as if in greeting.
“Late they have come,” said a deep voice like the crash of a wave. “Already the others have departed.”
“See now,” replied Oromë, gesturing to the hills behind him where the Eldar who had huddled in terror were slowly venturing forward, drawn by their curiosity and something else. “They have heard the Ulumúri; the longing is upon them.”
Nowë knew not what the Ulumúri were, but his ears longed to hear again those horns, and to throw off his wet, clinging garments and dive into the deep. He might have done so, were it not for the hand holding him. Looking up, he saw the spirit glimmering through the curtain of water and wondered what manner of creature it was.
“Are…are you a Vala?” he gasped.
Laughter crashed over him with the pounding surf. “Nay, I am Ossë, servant of Ulmo Lord of the Waters. And what is thy name, Elda?”
“I-I am Nowë, aráto.”
“And thou dost not fear me, Elda?”
Nowë gazed up at Ossë. He heard the crashing of the surf pound in time with his own heartbeat, and the echoes of the sea music that impassioned his blood. The Maia’s hand was still upon him, powerful yet gentle.
“Nay, I do not fear thee,” he whispered, dimly aware he was using the language of love to express his longing. If thou art the Sea, then I love thee.
* * *
Land of many rivers: Ossiriand, with its seven rivers.
Finwë’s largesse is noted in The Silmarillion, Chapter 5, in which the Noldor learn to mine gems in Valinor and “hoarded them not, but gave them freely.”
Nowë’s dream is a paraphrased version of the encounter between Elwë (Elu Thingol) and Melian in Chapter Four of The Silmarillion.
Enel: The first three Elves to awaken at Cuiviénen were named Imin, Tata and Enel. For the purposes of this story, I have made Enel the father of Elwë and Olwë.
Ulumúri: horns of white shell made for Ulmo by Salmar the Maia, “and those to whom that music comes hear it ever after in their hearts, and the longing for the sea never leaves them again.” The Silmarillion, “Valaquenta.”
This is a work of fan fiction, written because the author has an abiding love for the works of J R R Tolkien. The characters, settings, places, and languages used in this work are the property of the Tolkien Estate, Tolkien Enterprises, and possibly New Line Cinema, except for certain original characters who belong to the author of the said work. The author will not receive any money or other remuneration for presenting the work on this archive site. The work is the intellectual property of the author, is available solely for the enjoyment of Henneth Annûn Story Archive readers, and may not be copied or redistributed by any means without the explicit written consent of the author.
|
<urn:uuid:14ce28d0-ab57-4274-8426-3e3531ae3188>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.henneth-annun.net/stories/chapter_view.cfm?stid=2255&spordinal=3
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.98732
| 2,857
| 1.554688
| 2
|
Who is Althouse? * View only LAW posts * Contribute * Shop AMAZON*
The import of the ruling (based only on the article) is that these emails are exempt from FOIA-type requests for public disclosure. At bottom, that's just a ruling about what the WI legislature intended to be covered by its FOIA law -- state records only, which does not include personal emails even if sent over state-owned facilities. It's not a holding that the emails are private for purposes of, say, the Fourth Amendment, or even that the employees had a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Unless, of course, you ask a Democratic candidate for President a difficult questions while he visits your neighborhood. Then it's digital vivisection time.
No, they ruled in favor of less accountability for government employees.
Shouldn't email automatically be covered by the same laws that protect snail mail?
Shouldn't email automatically be covered by the same laws that protect snail mail?Maybe should be, but they aren't. The postal regulations go back over 200 years to the founding of the country, and even though the USPS is quasi-independent, is still treated as a special case under federal law. But if you were to extend the analogy to email, it still probably wouldn't help here. The emails were sent to and from a work account, and so would be the logical equivalent of USPS mail being sent to and from a business - the business owner would have the expectation of privacy, not the employee receiving the mail at work. And the employer could waive that (and would likely be expected to if a government agency).
What is interesting here is that this wall between personal and private appears to be quite different when it comes to politicians. I seem to remember some politicians (Republican, and maybe Sarah Palin) who got in trouble for sending private emails on a government account, and visa versa. The problem was that it wasn't clear what was work and what wasn't. In particular, soliciting for money is private (unless you are crazed sex poodle AlGore). My view, being a small government type, is that if you use a government email account, your email should be subject to FOIA. And, ditto for government paid-for phone bills. If you want to have private communications, don't expect us, the taxpayers, to pay for it.
Of course the legislature could make the emails subject to FOIA.Who wants to bet they will not.(Same legislature that passed recent legislation permitting politicians accused of fraud to be tried in their home counties, rather than where the crime occurred.)
This is nonsense. If I use my work email, I have no expectation of privacy on that. Thus I use web-based email for personal stuff while at work.
Richard, I'm glad for the clarification in your second paragraph, because everything I know about computers and the law holds that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy when using a company computer. That should hold double for government-issued computers connected to networks established and maintained using government money.In answer to Rose, Email is different from a letter sent through the USPS because copies of the message must be saved in persistent storage during the transmission. A letter sealed inside an envelope does not have a copy automatically created and saved the way that Email does.
Shouldn't email automatically be covered by the same laws that protect snail mail?Unless you're using encryption, your email is the equivalent of a postcard, not a letter in an envelope. Every stop along the way in its transmission, whomever owns the computer is perfectly capable of reading it.None of the people who own the computers used in the transmission of email have agreed with you to refrain from reading the data you're transmitting over their computers. This is not stuff being handled by the post office from pickup to delivery, this is stuff being delivered by a daisy chain of private parties. Except for your own ISP, you don't even have a relationship with the people your email is being transmitted by.And note that your email is not guaranteed to be routed through any specific set of computers to your recipient; it could very well cross borders into other countries, so a law would be ineffective.
I agree with Alex. I do not expect my UW mail to be private, and only a fool would.There are plenty of free email accounts out there (I even have a netcape.net (!!) account that is ridiculously hard to access now that aol subsumed it). Why should someone's job pay for email overhead that is 'personal'?The majority who wrote this much send very salacious emails from their wi.gov accounts and they're trying to keep them private. That's my opinion (laugh). Seriously, I think this shows a lack of internet knowledge on the part of the Justices.
This is nonsense. If I use my work email, I have no expectation of privacy on that.Yes, but you if you work in private industry you have a responsibility to the company and its shareholders not to abuse your work e-mail.This ruling, on the other hand, concerned government workers, who have no such responsibility, least of all to the taxpayers, their servants.
My bet is that the postcard analogy is most apt.---I can remember--and, really, I'm not all THAT old, lol--when the niceties of "Personal," "Confidential," "Personal and Confidential" and either/both "For Your Eyes Only" and "For Eyes Only" were a matter to be taken seriously. At least in financial services firms (in the one for which I worked, anyway, in the smack middle of the '80s), and most certainly if you were trusted staff (which I most certainly was, thank you very much).No, no!--Please don't get off of my lawn, I beg of you.; )
I have mixed feelings about this ruling.
If the FOIA allowed the capture and release of all of the private e-mails, then we would see why the government agencies take 3 months to do 3 hour jobs. They only work once every 3 months like the students cramming for a final exam who never cracked a book.
Open records laws are a tremendously good thing for a democracy. I think though that reasonable lines should be drawn so that taxpayer resources aren't wasted on onerous compliance with frivolous requests. ("Please send me the archives of all emails eminating from the Department of Natural Resources for the past five years.")
Post a Comment
|
<urn:uuid:6df49895-a04a-4982-bf9b-f53f44b7eca5>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2010/07/government-computers-government.html?showComment=1279372819148
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.970954
| 1,327
| 1.554688
| 2
|
Part of complete coverage on
Germany's mighty Mittelstand
updated 12:42 PM EDT, Thu May 24, 2012
- The Mittelstand is the German name for the country's 3.5 million small and medium sized businesses
- These often family owned companies currently make up around 60% of the German workforce
- Most Mittelstand companies tend to produce niche products for the manufacturing and engineering markets
(CNN) -- As the eurozone's financial crisis drags past its second year, Germany's powerhouse economy has kept the bloc from sinking into a double dip recession.
A quiet force behind this growth are the country's 3.5 million small and medium sized businesses, collectively known as Mittelstand.
Mittelstand companies can be found behind hard to imitate niche products for the manufacturing and engineering markets. They have played a vital role in the country's export driven economy for over a century.
Read more: Juliet Mann's blog on the Mittlestand
While latest economic data suggests even Germany is being weighed down by the crisis, that could be offset by the Mittelstand's philosophy of longevity, innovation and investment in their workforce.
Such an outlook has helped to foster community loyalty, which has kept the Mittelstand steady through economic fluctuations.
The Mittelstand often have longstanding apprentice schemes, and German universities work closely with researchers at local firms to ensure products are always improved.
Pencil maker Faber Castell is one such company. They do not chase quick profits or high risk investments, and invest in their people.
"Partially it is simply being far-sighted and smart," said Count Anton Wolfgang von Faber Castell, chairman and chief executive of the company which bears his name.
Faber Castell has been making pencils on the outskirts of Nuremberg since 1761 and today they produce one sixth of the entire world's pencils.
"We have a product which causes a yawn, pencils. But we have to stick to it and we have to try within this framework to improve, to constantly optimize the product. If you have the curiosity, you have the right people, you will always find things to improve," he said.
Part of complete coverage on
updated 8:46 AM EDT, Fri April 12, 2013
Turkey is a "source of inspiration" to show how Islam and democracy can go hand-in-hand, the country's deputy prime minister has told CNN.
updated 8:57 AM EDT, Fri April 5, 2013
Bright, shiny and emblazoned with names like Ferrari and Lamborghini -- these brakes are almost as stylish as the cars they're hidden within.
updated 1:23 PM EDT, Thu March 21, 2013
EasyJet's new London to Moscow route is an opportunity to attract more business travelers, according to the low cost airline's chief executive.
updated 1:45 PM EDT, Thu March 21, 2013
If you're a business traveller in Europe, you'll no doubt have complained at length about the regions' airlines, be it the cost of a plane ticket or the quality of the food or the delays.
updated 5:32 AM EST, Fri March 8, 2013
European demands for the steel industry to cap emissions by 2020 are "unachievable" with current technology, according to an ArcelorMittal executive.
updated 1:51 PM EST, Thu March 7, 2013
At Oknoplast's production site outside Krakow, Poland, windows of all shapes and sizes are stacked up ready for delivery.
updated 11:47 AM EST, Fri February 22, 2013
We receive them almost on a daily basis; text messages alerting us that our taxi is outside or our dentist appointment is tomorrow.
updated 11:45 AM EST, Fri February 22, 2013
What happens when you mix detergent, cosmetics and a bucket load of adhesives? You get a multi-billion dollar German corporation called Henkel.
updated 1:24 PM EST, Thu February 7, 2013
It is said that the devil would never dare cross the River Tamar into Cornwall for fear of ending up as a filling in a Cornish pasty. The legend, it seems, could just be true.
updated 1:39 PM EST, Thu February 7, 2013
Europe needs to cut back on its red tape and be more competitive if it is to succeed on a global stage, according to Diageo's chief executive.
updated 12:35 PM EST, Thu January 17, 2013
Booms, busts and bubbles are all jargon you might associate with today's troubled Irish economy. But now you can add "beans" to that list.
updated 12:34 PM EST, Thu January 17, 2013
Multinational companies see Ireland as the "gateway" to investing in Europe, says the boss of the country's largest food company.
updated 6:55 AM EST, Fri January 25, 2013
UK Prime Minister David Cameron's voiced his intentions to let the British people vote on Europe. The mayor of London says it's all part of democracy.
updated 8:26 AM EST, Fri January 11, 2013
It started with one man peddling lavender and rosemary oil at local markets -- now it's a business valued at $4.8 billion.
updated 1:45 PM EST, Thu January 10, 2013
Jaeger LeCoultre CEO Jerome Lambert talks about the benefits of being part of a larger group.
updated 10:07 AM EST, Thu December 27, 2012
CNN's Richard Quest explores how European business leaders have dealt with the financial climate in 2012.
updated 9:51 AM EST, Thu December 27, 2012
CNN's Richard Quest looks at how European businesses have performed amid a cold climate of austerity.
Click here to read more of the top business stories from across the continent brought to you by the Marketplace Europe team.
|
<urn:uuid:ee9ded44-29c3-419b-8d66-4480851c28f4>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/24/business/german-economy-mittelstand/index.html?iid=article_sidebar
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.954801
| 1,214
| 1.585938
| 2
|
For an entrepreneur, having the chance to pitch a business idea to local venture capitalists is a big deal, like a budding actor getting an audition with an independent film director. But having a chance to pitch an idea to Kleiner Perkins--the most prestigious firm in Silicon Valley--is more like a private one-on-one audition with Steven Spielberg. You could walk out a star, or you could walk out having blown the biggest chance of your life.
And that's why twenty-nine-year-old Jerry Kaplan was nervous as he stood in the Kleiner Perkins office in early 1987. His presentation would start in about thirty minutes. Kaplan was a former researcher at Stanford who had quit to work at Lotus in its early days. Lotus, with its bestselling Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet, became a stock market darling. Now Kaplan was ready for the next challenge. He had a vision for a smaller, more portable generation of personal computers.
He hung around outside the conference room as the previous entrepreneur finished his presentation. Watching the other entrepreneur, he felt underprepared. As he observed, his nervousness advanced toward panic. The other entrepreneur wore a dark pin-striped suit with a red power tie. Kaplan had on a sport jacket with an open-collared shirt. The other entrepreneur was projecting an impressive color graph onto the whiteboard. Kaplan was carrying a maroon portfolio with a blank pad of paper inside. This did not bode well.
Kaplan had thought that he was showing up for an informal "get to know you" session, but, standing there, he realized how naive he'd been. He had "no business plan, no slides, no charts, no financial projections, no prototypes." Worst of all, the überprepared entrepreneur in the boardroom was facing a skeptical audience that now peppered him with tough questions.
When Kaplan's turn arrived, one of the partners introduced him. Kaplan took a deep breath and started: "I believe that a new type of computer, more like a notebook than a typewriter, and operated by a pen rather than a keyboard, will serve the needs of professionals like ourselves when we are away from our desks. We will use them to take notes, send and receive messages through cellular telephone links; look up addresses, phone numbers, price lists, and inventories; do spreadsheet calculations; and fill out order forms."
He covered the required technology, highlighting the major unknown: whether a machine could reliably recognize handwriting and convert it into commands. Kaplan recounts what happened next:
My audience seemed tense. I couldn't tell whether they were annoyed by my lack of preparation or merely concentrating on what I was saying. . . . Thinking I had already blown it, and therefore had little to lose, I decided to risk some theatrics.
"If I were carrying a portable PC right now, you would sure as hell know it. You probably didn't realize that I am holding a model of the future of computing right here in my hands."
I tossed my maroon leather case in the air. It sailed to the center of the table where it landed with a loud clap.
"Gentlemen, here is a model of the next step in the computer revolution."
For a moment, I thought this final act of drama might get me thrown out of the room. They were sitting in stunned silence, staring at my plain leather folder--which lay motionless on the table--as though it were suddenly going to come to life. Brook Byers, the youthful-looking but long-time partner in the firm, slowly reached out and touched the portfolio as if it were some sort of talisman. He asked the first question.
"Just how much information could you store in something like this?"
John Doerr [another partner] answered before I could respond. "It doesn't matter. Memory chips are getting smaller and cheaper each year and the capacity will probably double for the same size and price annually."
Someone else chimed in. "But bear in mind, John, that unless you translate the handwriting efficiently, it's likely to take up a lot more room." The speaker was Vinod Khosla, the founding CEO of Sun Microsystems, who helped the partnership evaluate technology deals.
Kaplan said that from that point on he hardly had to speak, as partners and associates traded questions and insights that fleshed out his proposal. Periodically, he said, someone would reach out to touch or examine his portfolio. "It had been magically transformed from a stationery- store accessory into a symbol of the future of technology."
A few days later, Kaplan got a call from Kleiner Perkins. The partners had decided to back the idea. Their investment valued Kaplan's nonexistent company at $4.5 million.
What transformed this meeting from a grill session--with an anxious entrepreneur in the hot seat--to a brainstorming session? The maroon portfolio. The portfolio presented a challenge to the boardroom participants--a way of focusing their thoughts and bringing their existing knowledge to bear. It changed their attitude from reactive and critical to active and creative.
The presence of the portfolio made it easier for the venture capitalists to brainstorm, in the same way that focusing on "white things in our refrigerator" made it easier for us to brainstorm. When they saw the size of the portfolio, it sparked certain questions: How much memory could you fit in that thing? Which PC components will shrink in the next few years, and which won't? What new technology would have to be invented to make it feasible? This same process was sparked in Sony's Japanese engineering team by the concept of a "pocketable radio."
Concreteness creates a shared "turf" on which people can collaborate. Everybody in the room feels comfortable that they're tackling the same challenge. Even experts--even the Kleiner Perkins venture capitalists, the rock stars of the technology world--benefit from concrete talk that puts them on common ground.
How do we move toward concrete ideas for our own messages? We might find our own decisions easier to make if they are guided by the needs of specific people: our readers, our students, our customers.
General Mills is one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer products. Its brands include Pillsbury, Cheerios, Green Giant, Betty Crocker, Chex, and many others. One of the largest brands in the company, from a sales perspective, is Hamburger Helper. Melissa Studzinski, a twenty-eight-year-old from Michigan, joined General Mills in 2004 as Hamburger Helper's brand manager.
When she joined the team, Hamburger Helper had been in a decade-long slump. The CEO, frustrated by the decline, announced that his number one goal for 2005 was to fix and grow the Hamburger Helper brand. Studzinski, the newest person on the team, was eager to tackle the challenge.
When she started the job, she was given three huge binders full of data and stats: sales and volume data, advertising-strategy briefs, product information, and market research on the brand's customers. The binders were difficult to pick up, let alone absorb into memory. She called them the "death binders."
A few months later, Studzinski's team decided to put the data aside and try something new. They made plans to send members of the Hamburger Helper team--marketing, advertising, and R & D staffers --out into the homes of Hamburger Helper customers. The idea was known informally as "Fingertips," because the General Mills employees needed to have a picture of the brand's customers at their fingertips.
A call went out for mothers (the predominant customers of Hamburger Helper) who were willing to let strangers come into their homes and gawk at them while they cooked. The team visited two to three dozen homes. Studzinski visited three homes, and the experience stuck with her. "I had read and I could recite all the data about our customers," she says. "I knew their demographics by heart. But it was a very different experience to walk into a customer's home and experience a little bit of her life. I'll never forget one woman, who had a toddler on her hip while she was mixing up dinner on the stove. We know that ‘convenience' is an important attribute of our product, but it's a different thing to see the need for convenience firsthand."
Most of all, Studzinski learned that moms and their kids really valued predictability. Hamburger Helper had eleven different pasta shapes, but kids didn't care about different shapes. What they did care about was flavor, and moms just wanted to buy the same predictable flavor their kids wouldn't reject. But Hamburger Helper had more than thirty different flavors, and moms struggled to find their favorites among the massive grocery-store displays. Food and beverage companies constantly push to develop new flavors and packages, but Studzinski needed to resist this push. "Moms saw new flavors as risky," she says.
Using this concrete information about moms and kids, the team convinced a diverse collection of people across the organization--in groups ranging from supply chain and manufacturing to finance-- to simplify the product line. According to Studzinski, the cost savings were "huge," yet moms were happier because it was easier to find their families' favorites on grocery stores shelves. The insight to simplify the product line--along with other key insights concerning pricy and advertising--sparked a turnaround for the brand. At the end of fiscal year 2005, Hamburger Helper's sales had increased 11 percent.
Studzinski says, "Now when I've got a decision to make about the brand, I think of the women I met. I wonder what they would do if they were in my shoes. And it's amazing how helpful it is to think that way."
This article is excerpted from the book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, written by Chip and Dan Heath. Chip Heath is the Thrive Foundation of Youth Professor of Organizational Behavior in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, and Dan Heath is a Senior Fellow at Duke University's CASE Center, which supports social entrepreneurs. The Heath brothers' new book, Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, was released in 2010 and debuted at #1 on The New York Times bestseller list. For free resources related to both books, see heathbrothers.com .
|
<urn:uuid:c49ad0b9-8f6c-478b-9f1f-1566dd51a1d8>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.fastcompany.com/print/1716337
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.973626
| 2,151
| 1.835938
| 2
|
The economic downturn might have stalled marketing efforts for the 225-acre former Tennol ethanol plant but property owners are keeping the Jasper, Tenn., site active with a small firm making fuel products.
Renewable Fuels LLC, which purchased the site in 2009 for $2.6 million, has a small operation in residence using chicken parts to make products used to manufacture biodiesel, officials said.
Renewable Fuels and SunsOil LLC, of Athens, Tenn., merged to form the operation, according to Sonny Kyle, one of Renewable Fuels' eight investors who ponied up the cash to buy the Tennol plant property in 2009.
The $72 million plant was built in 1984 by Tennol Energy. The company was projected to manufacture about 25 million gallons of fuel a year but production never got off the ground, and the plant went into bankrupted in 1988.
In 1994, AG Processing Inc. of Omaha, Neb., bought it for $10.5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy, newspaper archives show. Community Bank acquired the property in a later bankruptcy.
County officials said in 2009 that Renewable Fuels was among the last of 15 to 20 groups which eyed the site over the years.
The economic downturn came at a bad time, Kyle said. But the merger with SunsOil LLC led to a functioning plant at the site that turns chicken parts into a commodity called "fat" which is used to make biodiesel, he said.
"We're actually making the 'fat' and selling it to biodiesel companies that are up and running," Kyle said.
As the economy recovers, the company could begin fuel production as well. "We do have the capabilities of adding a little bit to our process to make biodiesel fuel, but we just haven't done it at this point," he said.
In 2009, word of the site's revival under new ownership caught the interest of a Memphis-based company called Biofuels America that was studying a $62.3 million biofuel plant at the site. But Biofuels American did not make the move to purchase, records show.
Marion County Mayor John Graham said he has visited the current operation since it started. He said there were six to eight employees working when he visited.
Graham said the operation could be dismantled or shifted if a prospective buyer wants to move in.
"We have it as what we describe as a 'tier 1' property," he said. "Tier 1 means it's got most every utility you'd need to operate any type of industry."
Add to that the proximity to the Nickajack Port Authority, interstate highways and rail access on the Tennessee River, "it's a prime site," Graham said.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at 423-757-6569 or email@example.com.
Ben Benton is a news reporter at the Chattanooga Times Free Press. He covers Southeast Tennessee and previously covered North Georgia education. Ben has worked at the Times Free Press since November 2005, first covering Bledsoe and Sequatchie counties and later adding Marion, Grundy and other counties in the northern and western edges of the region to his coverage. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Tenn., a graduate of Bradley Central High School. Benton ...
related articles »
Olin Chlor Alkali Products, a major employer here for almost 50 years, broke ground Friday on new manufacturing facilities valued ...
The Hamilton County Commission opened its wallet Wednesday, with commissioners verbally agreeing to use short-term loans to buy the empty ...
Targeting suppliers to Volkswagen and other companies, Bradley County economic developers plan to seek $6 million in public funds to ...
With VW expecting U.S. sales to power up by 20 percent in 2011, dealers continue to grow operations with Chattanooga's ...
|
<urn:uuid:d3415b3f-04fe-48ec-9cd9-950a6176988a>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://timesfreepress.com/news/2011/jul/22/former-tennol-site-slightly-active-as-buyer/?business
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.971528
| 791
| 1.546875
| 2
|
A recent memo from the West Virginia State Treasurer’s office regarding check conversion was received by all state offices. In part, the memo reads:
“Beginning in March 2009, consumer checks that are received for deposit in the Treasurer’s Office will be converted to electronic debits from the consumer’s bank accounts. The paper checks will be imaged and then destroyed…”
“When you provide a check as payment, you authorize us either to use information from your check to make a one-time electronic fund transfer from your account or to process the payment as an image transaction. For inquiries, please call 1-866-243-9010.
“When we use information from your check to make an electronic fund transfer, funds may be withdrawn from your account as soon as the same day you make your payment, and you will not receive your check back from your financial institution.”
West Virginia Archives and History
|
<urn:uuid:d88f3b55-c8d0-4324-af51-bd0c55fe8152>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.wvculture.org/history/checkconversion.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.943079
| 194
| 1.625
| 2
|
This report should shed some light on the hero of the Jewish left — Richard Goldstone. The man is to be feted by Tikkun and has been defended by J Street, but he had quite a track record as a judge in South Africa:
It turns out, the man who authored the Goldstone Report criticizing the IDF’s actions during Operation Cast Lead took an active part in the racist policies of one of the cruelest regimes of the 20th century. During his tenure as sitting as judge in the appellant court during the 1980s and 1990s sentenced dozens of blacks mercilessly to their death. Yedioth Ahronoth’s findings show that Goldstone sentenced at least 28 black defendants to death. Most of them were found guilty of murder and sought to appeal the verdict. In those days, he actually made sure he showed his support for the execution policy, writing in one verdict that it reflects society’s demands that a price be paid for crimes it rightfully views as frightening. …. In another verdict, in which he upheld the execution of a young black man convicted of murdering a white restaurant owner after he fired him, Goldstone wrote that the death penalty is the only punishment likely to deter such acts.
Alan Dershowitz, who has thoroughly debunked Goldstone’s fraudulent report, doesn’t buy Goldstone’s defense that he was merely applying South African law. (“You know, a lot of people say we just followed the law, German judges… That’s what [German SS officer and physician Josef] Mengele said too. That was Mengele’s defense and that was what everybody said in Nazi Germany. ‘We just followed the law.’ When you are in an apartheid country like South Africa, you don’t follow the law.”)
There are a few issues that this raises. First, as Jeffrey Goldberg points out, it certainly provides the motive for Goldstone’s vilification of Israel:
The most serious charge leveled against Goldstone — one of the most serious, anyway — is that he is a man without a moral compass, who did what he did at the UN because he wants to be remembered as an avatar of human rights, and he knew that one way to become a favorite of the human rights community would be to lead the charge against that community’s most favored target. This new report suggests not only that Goldstone is at best intermittently principled, but that he knew his old hanging-judge record would one day catch up with him.
This, of course, is the endemic problem of the UN — they always get their man — i.e., Israel — because the “investigators” are selected for the express purpose of dummying up evidence to defame and delegitimize the Jewish state. It’s no accident Goldstone reached the conclusions he did, and it’s no accident that the UN selected him.
Second, will the left repudiate its heroic figure? Tikkun is set to give Goldstone an award next year for ethics. Perhaps it should reconsider. J Street helped mount Goldstone’s defense. Will it repudiate its association with him? I think both are unlikely, and we shouldn’t expect too much daylight between members of the anti-Israel Jewish left and Goldstone. For the enemy of Israel is their friend, be it NIAC or Stephen Walt. They aren’t too picky when it comes to those willing to go after Israel. (It is no coincidence that the anti-Israel left and the Gaza souvenir-buyers share a hero worship for Goldstone.) So no doubt, all will be forgiven. By defaming Israel, Goldstone has earned the eternal gratitude of the anti-Israel left.
|
<urn:uuid:db72ef05-0c31-4bed-a3d1-c0bee9c46391>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/topic/german-ss/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.974755
| 786
| 1.617188
| 2
|
By Sam Smith | Maryland Reporter
ANNAPOLIS — Maryland needs to lower its corporate income tax to offset possible massive job cuts from the fiscal cliff, said economist Anirban Basu to the members of Maryland’s Chamber of Commerce.
Basu said the Free State is three times more vulnerable to the impact of federal reductions than any other state. The number of Americans that work for the federal government is 2.1 percent, while 5.2 percent of Marylanders get a federal paycheck.
With extensive cuts scheduled for the Department of Defense and National Institutes of Health, both staples in Maryland’s economy, Basu said Maryland is in for a “world of hurt.”
“We need to change our economy and position ourselves to attract more private capital. How do you do that? By having one of the worst business tax climates in the country? No. That is, actually as it turns out, not the way to do it,” said Basu, CEO of the Sage Policy Group Inc., economic policy and consulting firm.
Basu cited the Tax Foundation’s 2013 State Business Tax Climate Index, which ranked Maryland as the 10th worst business tax climate in the country and should be concerned with staying competitive with Virginia in attracting potential businesses.
|
<urn:uuid:f16ab3bc-ed97-490d-8c75-355015279fe5>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://watchdog.org/61947/md-free-state-facing-a-world-of-hurt-top-economist-says/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.944788
| 263
| 1.65625
| 2
|
Today's headlines point to more sophisticated and large-scale and malicious online activities. For some folks, therefore, the consensus seems to be that the cloud computing model and vision are not up to the task when it comes to security.
But at the RSA Conference earlier this year, a panel came together to talk about security and cloud computing, to examine the intersection of cloud computing, security, Internet services, and Internet-based security practices to uncover differences between perceptions and reality.
The result is a special sponsored BriefingsDirect podcast and video presentation that takes stock of cloud-focused security -- not just as a risk, but also as an amelioration of risk across all aspects of IT.
Join panelists Chris Hoff, Director of Cloud and Virtualization Solutions at Cisco Systems; Jeremiah Grossman, the founder and Chief Technology Officer at WhiteHat Security, and Andy Ellis, the Chief Security Architect at Akamai Technologies. The discussion is moderated by Dana Gardner, Principal Analyst at Interarbor Solutions.
Here are some excerpts:
Grossman: An interesting paradigm shift is happening. When you look at website attacks, things haven't changed much. An application that exists in the enterprise is the same application that exists in the cloud. For us, when we are attacking websites and assessing their security, it doesn't really matter what infrastructure it's actually on. We break into it just as same as everything else.Listen to the podcast. Find it on iTunes/iPod and Podcast.com. Read a full transcript or download a copy. View the video. Sponsor: Akamai Technologies.
Our job, in the website vulnerability management business, is to find those vulnerabilities ahead of time and help our customers fix those issues before they become larger problems. And if you look at any security report on the Web right now, as far as security goes, it's a web security world.
What's different [with cloud] among our customer base is that they can't run to their comfort zone. They can't run to secure their enterprise with firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and encryption. They have to focus on the application. That's what's really different about cloud, when it comes to web security. You have to focus on the apps, because you have nothing else to go on.
Understand your business
Ellis: The first thing you have to do is to understand your own business. That's often the first mistake that security practitioners may make. They try to apply a common model of security thinking to very unique businesses. Even in one industry, everybody has a slightly different business model.
You have to understand what risks are acceptable to your business. Every business is in the practice of taking risk. That's how you make money. If you don't take any risk, you're not going to make money. So, understand that first. What are the risks that are acceptable to the business, and what are the ones that are unacceptable?
Security often lives in that gray area in between. How do we take risks that are neither fully acceptable nor fully unacceptable, and how do we manage them in a fashion to make them one or the other? If they're not acceptable, we don't take them, and if they are acceptable, we do. Hopefully we find a way to increase our revenue stream by taking those risks.
... There's a huge gap in what people think is secure and what people are doing today in trusting in the security in the cloud. When we look at our customer base, over 90 of the top 100 retailers on the Internet are using our cloud-based solutions to accelerate their applications -- and what's more mission-critical than expecting money from your customers?
At Akamai, we see that where people are saying, "The cloud is not secure, we can't trust the cloud." At the same time, business decision makers are evaluating the risk and moving forward in the cloud.
A lot of that is working with their vendors to understand their security practices and comparing that to what they would do themselves. Sometimes, there are shifts. Cloud gives you different capabilities that you might be able to take advantage of, once you're out in the cloud.
Hoff: I like to say that if your security stinks before you move to the cloud, you will be pleasantly unsurprised by change, because it’s not going to get any better -- or probably not even necessarily any worse -- when you move to cloud computing.
What we're learning today is that if we secure our information and applications properly and the infrastructure is able to deal with the dynamism, you will, by default, start to see derivative impacts and benefits on security, because our models will change. At least, our thinking about security models will change.
We in the security industry in some way try to hold the cloud providers to a higher standard. I'm not sure that the consumer, who actually uses these services, sees much of a difference in terms of what they expect, other than it should be up, it should be available, and it should be just as secure as any other Internet-based service they use.
Those cloud providers -- cloud service and cloud computing providers -- are in the business of making sure that they can offer you really robust delivery. At this time, they focus there. We have a challenge to take everything we have done previously, in all these other different models, still do that, and deal with some of the implementation and operational elements that cloud computing, elasticity, dynamism, and all this fantastic set of capabilities bring.
So we get wrapped around the axle many times in discussions about cloud, where a lot of what we are talking about still needs to be taken care of from an infrastructure and application standpoint.
Ellis: That’s the challenge for people who are moving out to the cloud. That area may be in the purview of the provider. While they may trust the provider, and the provider has done the best they can do in that arena, when they still see risks, they can no longer say, "I'll just put in a firewall. I'll just do this." Now, they have to tackle a really sticky wicket. Do you have a safe application wherever it lives?
That’s where people run into a challenge: "It’s cloud. Let me make the provider responsible." But, at the end of day, the overall risk structure is still the responsibility of the business. Ultimately, the data owner, the business who is actually using whatever the compute cycles are.
It's not yours
Grossman: To piggyback on what Andy said, something has been lost. When you host an application internally, you can build it, you can deploy it, and you can test it. Now, all of a sudden, you've brought in a cloud provider, on somebody else’s infrastructure, and you have to get permission to test it. It’s not yours anymore.
Actually, one of the big things [to attend to] out there is a right to test. You have no right to test these infrastructure systems. If you do so without permission, it's illegal. So, you have lost visibility. You've lost technical visibility and security of the application.
When the cloud provider changes the app, it changes the risk profile of the application, too, but you don’t know when that happens and you don’t know what the end result is. There's a disconnect between the consumer, the business, and the cloud computing provider or whatever the system is.
Hoff: Cloud computing has become a fantastic forcing function, because what its done to the business and to IT. We talked about paradigm shifts and how important this is in the overall advancement of computing.
The reality is that cloud causes people to say, "If the thing that’s most important to me is information and protecting that information, and applications are conduits to it, and the infrastructure allows it to flow, then maybe what I ought to do is take a big picture view of this. I ought to focus on protecting my information, content, and data, which is now even more interestingly a mixture of traditional data, but also voice and video and mixed media applications, social networks, and mashups."
The complexity comes about, because with collaboration, we have enabled all sorts of fantastic interconnectivity between what was previously disparate, little mini-islands, with mini-perimeters that we could secure relatively well.
The application security and the information security, tied in and tightly coupled with an awareness of the infrastructure that powers it, even though it’s supposed to be abstracted in cloud computing, is really where people have a difficult time grasping the concepts between where we are today and what cloud computing offers them or doesn’t, and what that means for the security models.
Ellis: There's a great initiative going on right now called CloudAudit, which is aimed at helping people think through this security of a process and how you share controls between two disparate entities, so we can make those decisions at a higher level.
If I am trusting my cloud provider to provider some level of security, I should get some insight into what they're doing, so that I can make my decisions as a business unit. I can see changes there, the changes I am taking advantage of, and how that fits my entire software development life cycle.
It’s still nascent. People are still changing their mindset to think through that whole architecture, but we're starting to see that more and more -- certainly within our customer base -- as people think, "I'm out in the cloud. How is that different? What can I take advantage of that’s there that wasn’t there in my enterprise? What are the things that aren’t there that I am used to that now I have to shift and adapt to that change?"
Hoff: What's interesting about cloud computing as a derivative set of activities that you might have focused on from a governance perspective, with outsourcing, or any sort of thing where you have essentially given over control of the operation and administration of your assets and applications, is that you can outsource responsibility, but not necessarily accountability. That's something we need to remember.
Think about the notion of risk and risk management. I was on a panel the other day and somebody said, "You can't say risk management, because everyone says risk management." But, that's actually the answer. If I understand what's different and what is the same about cloud computing or the cloud computing implementation I am looking at, then I can make decisions on whether or not that information, that application, that data, ought to be put in the hands of somebody else.
In some cases, it can't be, for lots of real, valid reasons. There's no one-size-fits-all for cloud. Those issues force people to think about what is the same and what is different in cloud computing.
Previously, you introduced the discussion about the CSA. The thing we really worked on initially were 15 areas of concerns, and they're now consolidated to 13 areas of concern. What's different? What's the same? How do I need to focus on this? How can I map my compliance efforts? How can I assess, even if there are technical elements that are different in cloud computing? How can I assess the operational and cultural impacts?
Awareness of break-ins
Grossman: What I've seen in the last couple of years is that what drives security awareness is break-ins. Whether the bad guys are nation- or state-sponsored actors or whether they are organized criminals after credit card numbers, breaches happen. They're happening in record numbers, and they're stealing everything they can get their hands on.
Fortunately or unfortunately, from a cloud computing standpoint, all the attacks are largely the same, whether one application is here or in the cloud. You attack it directly, and all the methodologies to attack a website are the same. You have things like cross-site scripting, SQL injection, cross-site request forgery. They are all the same. That’s one way to access the data that you are after.
The other way is to get on the other half of web security. That’s the browser. You infect a website, the user runs into it, and they get infected. You email them a link. They click something. You infect them that way. Once you get on to the host machine, the client side of the connection, then you can leverage those credentials and then get into the cloud, the back-end way, the right way, and no one sees you.
Breaches make headlines. Headlines make people nervous, whether it's businesses or consumers. When a business outsources things to the cloud or a SaaS provider, they still have this nervous reaction about security, because their customers have this nervous reaction about security. So they start asking about security. "What are you doing to protect my data?"
All of a sudden, if that cloud provider, that vendor, takes security seriously and can prove it, demonstrate it, and get the market to accept it, security becomes a differentiating factor. It becomes an enabler of the top line, rather than a cost on the bottom line.
Ellis: I like to look at security as being a business-enabler in three areas. The obvious one, we all think, is risk reduction. How can I reduce my risk with cloud-based security services? Are there ways which I can get out there and do things safer? I'm not necessarily going to change anything else about my business. That's great and that's our normal model.
Security can also be a revenue-enabler and it can also be a protection of revenue. Web application firewalls is a great example of fraud mitigation services. There are a lot of services available through the cloud that can be used to protect your brand and your revenue against loss, but also help you grow revenue. As you just said, it's all about trust. People go back to brands that they trust, and security can be a key component of that.
It doesn't always have to be visible to the end user, but as you noted with the car industry, people build the perception around incidents. If you can be incident-free compared to your competition, that's a huge differentiator, as you go down into more and deeper activities that require deep trust with your end users.
A lot of what we try to do is build a wrapper in a sandbox around each customer to give them the same, consistent level of security. A big challenge in the enterprise model is that for every application that you stand up, you have to build that security stack from the ground up.
One advantage cloud does give you is that, if you are working with somebody who has thought about this is, you can take advantages of practices that they have already instituted. So, you get some level of commonality. Then, if a customer sees something and says, "You should improve this," that improvement can affect an entire customer base. Cloud has a benefit there to match some of the weaknesses it may have elsewhere.
Historically, in the enterprise model, we think about data in terms of being tied to a given application. That’s not really accurate. The data still moves around inside an enterprise. As Jeremiah noted, the weak point is often the browser. Compromise the client, and you get access to the data.
As people move to cloud, they start to change their risk thinking. Now, they think about the data and everywhere it lives and that gives them an opportunity to change their own risk model and think about how they're protecting the data and not just a specific application it used to live in.
As we noted earlier, a large fraction of the Internet retailers are using cloud for their most mission-critical things, their financial data, coming through every time somebody buys something.
If you are willing to trust that level of data to the cloud, you are making some knee-jerk reaction about an internal web conference between 12 people and a presentation about something that frankly most people aren’t going to care about, and you are saying, "That’s too sensitive to be in the cloud." But your revenue stream could be in the cloud. Sometimes it shows that we think parochially about security in some places.
Grossman: What's interesting about security spending versus infrastructure spending or just general IT spending is that it seems security is diametrically opposed to the business. We spend the most money on applications and our data, but the least amount of security risk spend. We spend the least on infrastructure relative to applications, but that's where we spend the most of our security dollars. So you seem to be diametrically opposed.
What cloud computing does, and the reason for this talk, is that it flattens the world. It abstracts the cloud below and forces us to realign with the business. That's what cloud will bring in a good way. It's just that you have to do it commensurate with the business.
You may also be interested in:
|
<urn:uuid:6c399ae4-449b-4b09-a683-b669a514f7a4>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://briefingsdirectblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/curity-in-emerging-cloud-models.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.966515
| 3,549
| 1.75
| 2
|
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston — a good read overall and I loved what it revealed of the Jim Crow era South. And oh golly, the beginning of the novel has moments of positively soaring writing:
She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees, the gold of the sun and the panting breath of the breeze when the inaudible voice of it all came to her. She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight. So this was a marriage! She had been summoned to behold a revelation. Then Janie felt a pain remorseless sweet that left her limp and languid.
Home by Marilynne Robinson A deeply spun character study, masterfully crafted and tenderly observed. I love her writing, you can feel the vastness of her character and life experience in it — I don’t think that a young woman could have written it. Different glories for different ages.
The Guernsey Potato Peel and Literary Society: A Novel — the epistolary format is really fun to read and the characters are all charming and lovable. It is punctuated by stories of life under German occupation in the Channel Islands. It gave me the shivers to consider how close the mainland came to occupation and what that might have looked like. The harsh realities are expertly couched in a heartening ensemble tale which surprisingly makes it at once more poignant and less heavy.
It’s funny that I happened upon this novel so soon after watching Island at War which covers the same subject. Seeing as it’s such a hot theme for me right now, perhaps it is high time that I read one of the biographies written by my my mister’s dearly loved, late Granny, Barbara Stoney, Sibyl, Dame of Sark. Sibyl Hathaway was the 21st Seigneur of the island, whose commitment to remain and expertly lead her people through the years of occupation was much lauded. Sounds like a tale worth hearing to me! (Put that in your pipe and smoke it Spice Girls!)
|
<urn:uuid:65226e49-2172-417d-82f8-5072fad64fa7>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://thethinks.com/recent-recommendations-books/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.964577
| 482
| 1.546875
| 2
|
Archive for February, 2013
While there’s little question that electrical cars receive a lot of promotional material than they ever have before, there’s growing concern that the world could also be losing momentum within the short to medium term. As a consequence governments and automotive makers round the world square measure currently watching new ideas to kickstart the revolution and attract the eye of customers across the world. therefore what is going to kickstart the electrical automotive revolution?
BYD automotive vehicle may be a Chinese auto manufacturer that began production in 2003, together with their rechargeable-battery producing branch. Since then, they’ve slowly gained attention within the spotlight for manufacturing reliable cars and perfecting their own technologies. these days we’re planning to remark the BYD E6, a fully-electric crossover automotive that’s quite well-liked round the world. This automobile was in developing ever since 2009, however testing solely began in 2010, once forty BYD E6s were used as taxis in Shenzhen, the town wherever the company’s headquarters area unit.
The cars were discharged for mass purchase over a year later, in October 2011, however the launch was already 2 years later than the corporate had hoped. Since then, over 2,000 cars were oversubscribed in China alone, however after you consider their accomplishments you’ll perceive why. The BYD E6 would have for sure oversubscribed in additional units, however the makers delayed emotional it within the u. s. and, evidently, in alternative elements of the planet. till maybe the tip of the year, eager consumers can got to anticipate the BYD E6 to succeed in them, or a minimum of visit Shenzhen and get one there.
Based on associate analysis by freelance analysis cluster, Shrink that Footprint, Asian nation has been classified because the least inexperienced country to manufacture and drive the electronic cars. The significant coal based mostly power generation in Asian nation has resulted in immense emission from the cars like that from the cars running on gas.
It was found from the analysis of the Impact of the grid steam-powered electrical vehicles operated within the leading twenty countries of the planet that the absolutely electrical operated automotive generates the fuel emission up to twenty MPG as compared thereto of gas vehicles.
|
<urn:uuid:1058ae4f-e3bc-4261-921d-b2ec4a8f3698>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.inebrialatina.org/date/2013/02
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.96941
| 467
| 1.585938
| 2
|
A 16 year old from Oxfordshire gave up all his presents last Christmas, getting friends and relatives to send gifts to Africa through charity World Vision.
He did it through World Vision's Great Gifts web site, which allows you to send gifts on someone else's behalf for Christmas.
The money purchased both of his targets from World Vision Alternative Gifts - a children's playground and a tube well...plus a toilet block, a goat, some birth certificates for new babies, and lots of chickens!
"A huge thank you to everyone who supported me", says Kieran. "I was amazed by everyone's generosity, not just friends and families but complete strangers too. Banbury is a very generous place in which to live. I hope that by sharing my enthusiasm for alternative gift catalogues this Christmas others will be encouraged to add an Alternative Gift to their Christmas lists for 2007
Fiona Cole, PR Manager for World Vision commented, "We were both delighted and encouraged to hear of Kieran's 'no presents, no poverty' campaign and greatly appreciate his tremendous efforts in raising such a fantastic sum of money for World Vision, which will benefit a number of the communities in which we work worldwide. Alternative Gifts have become very popular in recent years, but for Kieran to give up receiving any Christmas presents in order to benefit others in greater need is a truly wonderful and admirable act."
|
<urn:uuid:c9b0a90a-2887-4878-ae1a-6060bc7c021c>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/lifestyle/charity_gifts/world_vision_charity_gifts_for_christmas
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.959487
| 277
| 1.789063
| 2
|
In the last eight years, many of the tasks formerly associated with the U.S. military have been privatized and outsourced in a wholesale way—from guard duty for U.S. diplomats to peeling potatoes and delivering the mail, not to speak of building and maintaining the U.S. bases that now dot the Middle East and Afghanistan. Without its private crony corporations, the Pentagon might, in fact, be on something like life support.
Maybe, in the end, Blackwater, under pressure from the Iraqi government, can be separated from U.S. operations in Iraq, but—it's a guarantee—some similarly outfitted private contractor will simply fill in. This is one of the more entrenched legacies Barack Obama has inherited from the Bush years. It doesn't matter whether you're talking about those security firms or KBR, the former Halliburton subsidiary that does just about everything the U.S. military needs to survive but actually fight, separating them from the Pentagon would involve an almost inconceivable set of operations at this point.
No one has done more striking work on this question than the managing editor of the website Corpwatch, Pratap Chatterjee, who has traveled the world, visiting U.S. bases and spending time with KBR's employees (who make up a hidden "U.S. Army" in Iraq and Afghanistan), just to see how the largest of these crony corporations actually functions. Now he's written a remarkable new book, Halliburton's Army: How A Well-Connected Texas Oil Company Revolutionized the Way America Makes War, on just how it all works, up close and personal.
If only his book were history. Unfortunately, it's evidently going to be our military future, as well as our past, as long as the American "mission" in the world isn't downsized. So don't miss either Chatterjee's book or his report on KBR below, including "Welcome to McArmy!," a special feature on the food KBR serves at one base in Iraq. It follows the main piece below. While you're at it, catch a TomDispatch audio interview in which Chatterjee discusses KBR World by clicking here. Tom
The Military's Expanding Waistline
What Will Obama Do With KBR?
By Pratap Chatterjee
President Obama will almost certainly touch down in Baghdad and Kabul in Air Force One sometime in the coming year to meet his counterparts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he will just as certainly pay a visit to a U.S. military base or two. Should he stay for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or midnight chow with the troops, he will no less certainly choose from a menu prepared by migrant Asian workers under contract to Houston-based KBR, the former subsidiary of Halliburton.
If Barack Obama takes the Rhino Runner armor-plated bus from Baghdad Airport to the Green Zone, or travels by Catfish Air's Blackhawk helicopters (the way mere mortals like diplomats and journalists do), instead of by presidential chopper, he will be assigned a seat by U.S. civilian workers easily identified by the red KBR lanyards they wear around their necks.
Even if Obama gets the ultra-red carpet treatment, he will still tread on walkways and enter buildings that have been constructed over the last six years by an army of some 50,000 workers in the employ of KBR. And should Obama chose to order the troops in Iraq home tomorrow, he will effectively sign a blank check for billions of dollars in withdrawal logistics contracts that will largely be carried out by a company once overseen by Dick Cheney.
Questions for the Pentagon
If Obama wants to find out why KBR civilian workers can be found in every nook and cranny of U.S. bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, he might be better off visiting the Rock Island Arsenal in western Illinois. It's located on the biggest island in the Mississippi River, the place where Chief Black Hawk of the Sauk nation was once born. The arsenal's modern stone buildings house the offices of the U.S. Army Materiel Command from which KBR's multibillion dollar Logistics Civilian Augmentation Program contract (LOGCAP) have been managed for the last seven years. This is the mega-contract that has, since September 11, 2001, generated more than $25 billion for KBR to set up and manage military bases overseas (and resulted, of course, in thousands of pages of controversial news stories about the company's war profiteering).
Even more conveniently, Obama could pop over to KBR's Crystal City government operations headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, just a mile south of the Pentagon and five miles from the White House. On Crystal City Drive just before Ronald Reagan National airport, it's hard to miss the KBR corporate logo, those gigantic red letters on the 11-story building at the far corner of Crystal Park.
Many people who know something about KBR's role in Iraq and Afghanistan might want Obama to question the military commanders at Rock Island and the corporate executives in Arlington about the shoddy electrical work, unchlorinated shower water, overcharges for trucks sitting idle in the desert, deaths of KBR employees and affiliated soldiers in Iraq, million-dollar alleged bribes accepted by KBR managers, and billions of dollars in missing receipts, among a slew of other complaints that have received wide publicity over the last five years.
But those would be the wrong questions.
Obama needs to ask his Pentagon commanders this: Can the U.S. military he has now inherited do anything without KBR?
And the answer will certainly be a resounding no.
Keeping a Volunteer Army Happy
Tim Horton is the head of public relations for Logistical Supply Area Anaconda in Balad, Iraq, the biggest U.S. base in that country. He was a transportation officer for 20 years and has a simple explanation for why the army relies so heavily on contractors to operate facilities today.
"What we have today is an all-volunteer army, unlike in a conscription army when they had to be here. In the old army, the standard of living was low, the pay scale was dismal; it wasn't fun; it wasn't intended to be fun. But today we have to appeal, we have to recruit, just like any corporation, we have to recruit off the street. And after we get them to come in, it behooves us to give them a reason to stay in."
Even in 2003, the U.S. military was incredibly overstretched. For the Bush administration to go to war then, it needed an army of cheap labor to feed and clean up after the combat troops it sent into battle. Those troops, of course, were young U.S. citizens raised in a world of creature comforts. Unlike American soldiers from their parents' or grandparents' generations who were drafted into the military in the Korean or Vietnam eras and ordered to peel potatoes or clean latrines, the modern teenager can choose not to sign up at all.
As Horton points out, the average soldier gets an average of $100,000 worth of military training in four years; if he or she then doesn't reenlist, the military has to spend another $100,000 to train a replacement. "What if we spend an extra $6,000 to get them to stay and save the loss of talent and experience?" Horton asks. "What does it take to keep the people? There are some creature comforts in this Wal-Mart and McDonald's society that we live in that soldiers have come to expect. They expect to play an Xbox, to keep in touch by e-mail. They expect to eat a variety of foods."
A quarter-century ago, when Horton joined the Army, all they got was a fourteen-day rotational menu. "We had chili-mac every two weeks, for crying out loud. What is that? Unstrained, low-grade hamburger mixed with macaroni. Lot of calories, lots of fat, lots of starch, that's what a soldier needs to do his job. When you were done, you had a heart attack."
Today, says Horton, expectations are different. "Our soldiers need to feel and believe that we care about them, or they will leave. The Army cannot afford to allow the soldier to be disenfranchised."
When I visited with him in April 2008, Horton took me to meet Michael St. John of the Pennsylvania National Guard, the chief warrant officer at one of Anaconda's dining facilities. St. John led me on a tour of the facility, pointing out little details of which he was justly proud—like the fresh romaine lettuce brought up from Kuwait by Public Warehousing Corporation (PWC) truck drivers who make the dangerous 12-hour journey across the desert, so that KBR cooks have fresh and familiar food for the troops. Stopping at the dessert bar St. John explained, "We added blenders to make milkshakes, microwaves to heat up apple pie, and waffle bars with ice cream." The "healthy bar" was the next stop. "Here," he pointed out, "we offer baked fish or chicken breast, crab legs, or lobster claws or tails."
"Contractors here do all the work," St. John added. He explained that he had about 25 soldiers and six to eight KBR supervisors to oversee 175 workers from a Saudi company named Tamimi, feeding 10,000 people a day and providing take-away food for another thousand.
"They do everything from unloading the food deliveries to taking out the trash. We are hands off. Our responsibility is military oversight: overseeing the headcount, ensuring that the contractors are providing nutritional meals and making sure there are no food-borne illnesses. It's the only sustainable way to get things done, given the number of soldiers we have to feed."
Horton chimes in: "I treat myself to an ice-cream cone once a week. You know what that is? It's a touch of home, a touch of sanity, a touch of civilization. The soldiers here do not have bars; all that is gone. You've taken the candy away from the baby. What do you have to give him? What's wrong with giving him a little bit of pizza or ice cream?"
Between a chili-mac military and a pizza-and-ice-cream military, the difference shows—around the waistline. Sarah Stillman, a freelance journalist with the website TruthDig, tells a story she heard about a PowerPoint slide that's becoming popular in Army briefings: "Back in 2003, the average soldier lost fifteen pounds during his tour of Iraq. Now, he gains ten."
Stillman says that the first warning many U.S. troops receive here in Baghdad isn't about IEDs (improvised explosive devices), RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades), or even EFPs (explosively formed projectiles). It's about PCPs: "pervasive combat paunches."
Privatizing the U.S. Army
KBR has grossed more than $25 billion since it won a 10-year contract in late 2001 to supply U.S. troops in combat situations around the world. As of April 2008, the company estimated that it had served more than 720 million meals, driven more than 400 million miles on various convoy missions, treated 12 billion gallons of potable water, and produced more than 267 million tons of ice for those troops. These staggering figures are testimony to the role KBR has played in supporting the U.S. military in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries targeted in President Bush's Global War on Terror.
And in the first days of the new Obama administration, the company continues to win contracts. On January 28, 2009, KBR announced that it had been awarded a $35.4 million contract by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the design and construction of a convoy support center at Camp Adder in Iraq. The center will include a power plant, an electrical distribution center, a water purification and distribution system, a waste-water collection system, and associated information systems, along with paved roads, all to be built by KBR.
How did the U.S. military become this dependent on one giant company? Well, this change has been a long time coming. During the Vietnam War in the 1960s, a consortium of four companies led by the Texas construction company Brown & Root (the B and R in KBR) built almost every military base in South Vietnam. That, of course, was when Lyndon B. Johnson, a Texan with close ties to the Brown brothers, was president. In 1982, two years into Ronald Reagan's presidency, Brown & Root struck gold again. It won lucrative contracts to build a giant U.S. base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, a former British colony.
In 1985, General John A. Wickham drew up plans to streamline logistics work on military bases under what he dubbed the Logistics Civilian Augmentation Program (LOGCAP), but his ideas would remain in a back drawer for several years. In the meantime, Dick Cheney, as Secretary of Defense in the administration of the elder George Bush, loosed the American military on Iraq in the First Gulf War in 1991, and hired hundreds of separate contractors to provide logistics support. The uneven results of this early privatizing effort left military planners frustrated. By the time Cheney left office, he had asked Brown & Root to dust off the Wickham LOGCAP plan and figure out how to consolidate and expand the contracting system.
President Bill Clinton's commanders took a harder look at the new plan that Brown & Root had drawn up and liked what they saw. In 1994, that company was hired to build bases in Bosnia and later in Kosovo, as well as to take over the day-to-day running of those bases in the middle of a war zone.
By the time Donald Rumsfeld took over as Secretary of Defense under the younger George Bush, he had embraced the revolution that Wickham had begun, and Clinton and Cheney had implemented. At a Pentagon event on the morning of September 10, 2001, one day before three aircraft struck the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, Rumsfeld identified the crucial enemy force his assembled senior staff would take on in the coming years:
"The topic today is an adversary that poses a threat, a serious threat, to the security of the United States of America. This adversary is one of the world's last bastions of central planning. It governs by dictating five-year plans. From a single capital, it attempts to impose its demands across time zones, continents, oceans, and beyond. With brutal consistency, it stifles free thought and crushes new ideas. It disrupts the defense of the United States and places the lives of men and women in uniform at risk. You may think I'm describing one of the last decrepit dictators of the world. The adversary's closer to home. It's the Pentagon bureaucracy.
"We must ask tough questions. Why is DOD [Department of Defense] one of the last organizations around that still cuts its own checks? When an entire industry exists to run warehouses efficiently, why do we own and operate so many of our own? At bases around the world, why do we pick up our own garbage and mop our own floors, rather than contracting services out, as many businesses do?"
He outlined a series of steps to slash headquarter staffs by 15% in the two years to come and promised even more dramatic changes to follow. While the invasion of Afghanistan the following month was conducted by military personnel, Rumsfeld's ideas started to be implemented in the spring of 2002. Indeed, the building of bases in Kuwait in the fall of 2002 for the coming invasion of Iraq was handled almost entirely by KBR.
Today, there is one KBR worker for every three U.S. soldiers in Iraq—and the main function of these workers, under LOGCAP, is to build base infrastructure and maintain them by doing all those duties that once were considered part of military life—making sure that soldiers are fed, their clothes washed, and their showers and toilets kept clean. While many stories have been written about the $80,000 annual salaries earned by KBR truck drivers, most of the company's workers make far less, mainly because they are hired from countries like India and the Philippines where starting salaries of $300 a month are considered a fortune.
Outsourcing the Kitchen Patrol
The majority of KBR's labor force, some 40,000 workers (the equivalent of about 80 military battalions), are "third country nationals" drawn largely from the poorer parts of Asia. In April 2008, I flew to Kuwait city where I spent time with a group of Fijian truck drivers who worked for a local company, PWC, doing subcontracting work for KBR.
My host was Titoko Savuwati from Totoya Lau, one of the Moala Islands in Fiji. He picked me up one evening in a small white Toyota Corolla rental car. The cranked-up sound system was playing American country favorites and oldies. Six feet tall with broad, rangy shoulders, short-cropped hair, and a goatee, Savuwati had been a police officer in Fiji. He was 50 years old and had left at home six children he hadn't seen in four years. When he got out of his car, I noticed that he had a pronounced limp and dragged one foot ever so slightly behind him.
We joined his friends at his apartment for a simple Anglican prayer service. Deep baritone voices filled the tiny living room with Fijian hymns before they sat down to a meal of cassava and curried chicken parts and began to tell me their stories. Each had made at least 100 dangerous trips, driving large 18-wheeler refrigeration trucks that carry all manner of goodies destined for U.S. soldiers from Kuwaiti ports to bases like LSA Anaconda. They sleep in their trucks, not being allowed to sleep in military tents or trailers along the way.
Savuwati had arrived in Kuwait on January 14, 2005, as one of 400 drivers, hoping to earn $3,000 a month. Instead, his real pay, he discovered, was 175 Kuwaiti dinar (KWD) a month (US$640), out of which he had to pay for all his food and sundries, even on the road, as well as rent. Drivers were given an extra 50 dinar ($183) allowance on each trip to Iraq.
"I came to Iraq because of the large amount of money they promised me," he said, sighing. "But they give us very little money. We've been crying for more money for many months. Do you think my family can survive on fifty KWD?" He sends at least 100 dinars ($365) home a month and has no savings that would pay for a ticket home at a round-trip price of roughly $2,500.
I did a quick calculation. For every trip, if they worked the 12-hour shifts expected of them, the Fijians earned about $30 a day, or $2.50 an hour. I asked Savuwati about his limp. On a trip to Nasariyah in 2005, he told me, his truck flipped over, injuring his leg. Did he get paid sick leave? Savuwati looked incredulous. "The company didn't give me any money. When we are injured, the company gives us nothing." But, he assured me, he had been lucky—a number of fellow drivers had been killed on the job.
The next day, I stopped by to see the Fijians again, and Savuwati gave me a ride home. I offered to pay for gasoline and, after first waving me away, he quickly acquiesced. As he dropped me off, he looked at me sheepishly and said, "I've run out of money. Do you think you could give me one KWD [$3.65] for lunch?" I dug into my pocket and handed the money over. As I walked away, I thought about how ironic it was that the men who drove across a battle zone, dodging stones, bullets, and IEDs to bring ice cream, steak, lobster tails, and ammunition to U.S. soldiers, had to beg for food themselves.
This, of course, is the real face of the American military today, though it's never seen by Americans.
Pentagon commanders often speak of a "revolution in military affairs" when summing up the technological advances that allow them to stalk enemies by satellite, fire missiles from unmanned aerial vehicles, and protect U.S. soldiers with night-vision goggles, but they rarely explain the social and logistical changes that have accompanied this revolution.
Today, U.S. soldiers are drawn from a video-game culture that embraces computers on the battlefield, even as the U.S. Army bears ever less relation to the draft armies that did the island-hopping in the Pacific in World War II or fought jungle battles in Vietnam. Indeed, the personnel that Obama will soon visit in Iraq and Afghanistan is generally supplied with hot food and showers around the clock in combat zones in the same way they might be on a Stateside base—by workers like Savuwati.
Undoubtedly, an Obama administration could begin to cut some of the notorious fat out of the contracts that make that possible, including multi-million dollar overcharges. Obama's potential budget trimmers could, for example, take whistleblowers inside KBR and the Pentagon seriously when they report malfeasance and waste.
But could Obama dismiss KBR's army, even if he wanted to? Will Obama really be willing to ask American volunteer soldiers to give up the bacon, romaine lettuce, and roast turkey that they have come to expect in a war zone? And even if he could do so, those are only the luxuries. Keep in mind that, on U.S. bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, every single item, from beans to bullets, is shipped using contractors like PWC of Kuwait and Maersk of Denmark. In the last two decades, the U.S. military has even divested itself of the hardware and people that would allow it to move tanks around the world, relying instead on contractors to do such work.
The White House website states that "Obama and Biden support plans to increase the size of the Army by 65,000 soldiers and the Marine Corps by 27,000 Marines. Increasing our end strength will help units retrain and re-equip properly between deployments and decrease the strain on military families." As part of the same policy statement, the site claims the new administration will reform contracting by creating "transparency for military contractors," as well as restoring "honesty, openness, and commonsense to contracting and procurement" by "rebuilding our contract officer corps."
Nowhere, however, does that website suggest that the new administration will work toward ending, or even radically cutting back, the use of contractors on the battlefield, or that those 92,000 new soldiers and Marines are going to fill logistics battalions that have been decimated in the last two decades. What we already know of the military policies of the new administration suggests instead that President Obama wants to expand U.S. military might. So don't be surprised if the new LOGCAP contract, a $150 billion 10-year program that began on September 20, 2008, remains in place, with some minor tinkering around the edges to provide value for taxpayer money. KBR's army, it seems, will remain on the march.
Pratap Chatterjee is the author of Halliburton's Army: How A Well-Connected Texas Oil Company Revolutionized the Way America Makes War. He is the managing editor of CorpWatch. A TomDispatch audio interview in which Chatterjee discusses KBR World can be heard by clicking here.
|
<urn:uuid:87f6f9a9-5072-4ed3-b0af-6d46c5f4bbf5>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/02/inheriting-halliburtons-army
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.970864
| 4,959
| 1.679688
| 2
|
Anyone who has ever watched the TV show "Hoarders" is probably drawn by the sheer shock of how those "filthy" people live. But the truth of the matter is, none of us is clean as a whistle.
While we may not live like the folks on "Hoarders," we aren't clean freaks, either. There are horribly disgusting things we live with every day, we just don't notice them.
In fact, if you thought about it too hard, you'd stay in a hot shower, scrubbing yourself until you were raw, and you'd never eat a hot dog again. But that is the goal of this article -- to gross you out.
Sure, there's some educational merit to knowing the kinds of germs and filth in which we exist, but, really, we just want to make you uncomfortable in your own skin.
And there's plenty of reason to be grossed out by your skin ...
No. 5: Your body is crawling with bacteria
What kind of filthy animal allows himself or herself to be covered in bugs? Even if your dog brings them home, it reflects badly on the pet owner who is covered in the parasites. But that's only lazy, dirty people, right?
Not so fast. You may not be crawling with bugs but you yourself are -- at this very minute, in fact -- covered in bacteria.
We're coated, from head to toe as a matter of fact, in the stuff. That's the bad news. The good news is that those bacteria serve a purpose. They're there to improve health and defend against disease.
So the argument is that if we didn't have those critters living on your skin -- and again, to be clear: every... single... solitary inch of it -- we'd have far more health problems, because the bacteria acts as a defense against disease.
Does that make you feel any better? Us neither, but we're just getting warmed up ...
No. 4: Dust is dead skin
One of the cliches of the Army drill sergeant is wiping the tops of lockers and other furniture with white gloves looking for dust. If Sgt. Pain finds even the slightest hint of dust, it's non-stop push-ups for the whole platoon.
But even after you dust something, it doesn't take long for a fine layer of the stuff to accumulate. And if you wait too long between dustings, the stuff really builds up.
The bad news is it's not just dirt that's coating your stuff -- it's you, too.
Household dust is make up of such delightful things as dead skin, hair, waxes, pollen, mold, fungi, particles of fabric, insect parts, and even tiny bits of metal debris from anywhere metal touches other metal (think hinges, for instance).
Mmm! Breathe deep!
|
<urn:uuid:9fbd9526-15c3-416f-82ec-5a772874cfbb>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.news4jax.com/health/Gross-everyday-facts-you-don-t-want-to-know/-/475590/1764878/-/item/0/-/gegx15z/-/index.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.966971
| 590
| 1.8125
| 2
|
5 posts • Page 1 of 1
:twisted: me and my family moved into a ground floor flat 4 weeks ago. we are currently at a loss for what to do. our problem is that we currently rent from local housing (NLC). we thought the flat was brilliant to start off with. the walls were smoothe and all done with backing paper. we decorated and carpeted straight away. we were moved in a week after getting the keys. but it was too good to be true. within days of the heating being set up mould and black damp patches were showing through the wall paper and paint and the windows get really bad condensation. it is in the bathroom. throughout the entire kitchen the hall cupboards and in the bedrooms. the worst room is my 9month old daughters room. i'm scared to let her sleep in there incase she gets a chest infection or worse.
i requested the local authority housing inspector to look at it and arrange for it to be fixed. all he said is it won't be fixed and that i should keep the windows open when the heating is on.
we spent a lot of money on this flat and the paint and carpets are ruined. the concrete floors are also damp.
is there anything we can do? i'm not brilliant at diy but i'll do anythin? [color=red]please help?[/color] :cry:
See our project on condensation this may help. You can also look on the left of this project in our related projects list where you will find one on treating timber decay. If you click through to this one and then contact our sponsors in there ( Property Repair Systems) they will give you free, no obligation advice over the telephone.
Black spot mould (aspergillus niger) is genrally associated with condensation. The common cause is a heating and ventilation imbalance. The mould does not come through a wall, it forms on the surface. Imagine breathing on a cold mirror and the mirror steams up as the warm air cools and the moisture condenses, then imagine that the water cant dry, it will then go stagnent and bacteria will form (the mould). thats the effect the walls may be having. its a common problem in flats as all areas that contribute to airbourne moisture are on the same level. for example, the bathroom, and kitchen where lots of condensation occurs due to the steam caused by cooking and washing, can quite easily move around into an adjacent cooler room where the warm moisture filled air cools and the moisture condenses on the cold surfaces (usually the colder walls i.e. the base of externall walls or behind stored items).
does this mean that it is a surface problem? would it be resolved by removing the plaster and replacing it? i had someone in to see what has caused it and they think the condensation is so bad because the windows are only single glazed and the previous tenant didn't ventilate properly.
if the affected plaster is replaced and the windows get replaced by double glazing would this solve my problem?? i am also investing in a dehumidifier. :?:
providing condensation is the only problem then its an atmospheric problem. in other words, yes the problem is in the room and not a problem on the other side of the wall.
Dehumidifiers will help. This works by drawing in the moisture filled air within the room and passing it through cold louvres to cool it. This process will cause the molisture in the air to condense, this will run down in to a tray ready for you to empty. In other words it takes the moisture out of the air. But it will only do this if it is operated correctly. A dehumidifier will state the room size its designed for so a small one may not be adequate for use in a whole property.
Opening windows as often as possible and keeping a low background heat is equally as good.... and cheaper.
As for the plaster, if a wall is subjected to condensation for a long period of time then potentially it may become damaged. However, before spending money on plastering try removing sections of wall paper to see if the plaster is sound underneith and wash the mould down with a bleachy/water solution.
Renewing the plaster on its own will not solve the problem. The problem hasnt been caused by the plaster (unless its salt contaminated) its caused by the temperature of the wall.
5 posts • Page 1 of 1
|
<urn:uuid:5b9771ee-61e2-4a04-bf44-c82d0c2cf94f>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/forums/dampness-in-external-walls-around-the-house-t1107.html
|
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
| 0.962238
| 926
| 1.664063
| 2
|
The first miracle in Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala’s life happened when he was just a few months old. During a military raid on his village in southern Sudan, soldiers entered his family’s house and killed his mother and sister. They left baby Eduardo unharmed and didn’t burn down the house.
Now, 47 years later, he is the Bishop of the Diocese of Tombura-Yambi, and he continues to devote his life to bringing peace to Sudan and to South Sudan which becomes an independent nation on 9 July.
Caritas member Catholic Relief Services (CRS) will be hosting a live chat with Bishop Kussala Stay with Sudan. Build a future on Wednesday, June 15 at 1 p.m. eastern time in the United States. Bishop Kussala will answer your questions about his life, the current situation in Sudan and his vision for the future of a new nation.
Find out how to join in with the converstaion on the CRS blog.
|
<urn:uuid:c5378044-7c09-41df-9d2e-80c9874ac208>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://blog.caritas.org/2011/06/10/live-chat-with-bishop-from-southern-sudan/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=756b7883e4
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.974208
| 211
| 1.773438
| 2
|
Plano Star-courier > News
Plano ISD makes list of Top 10 highest-debt school districts
Plano ISD ranked ninth on a list of the Top 10 highest-debt school districts released last week by the office of Texas Comptroller Susan Combs.
The rankings are a part of "Your Money and Education Debt," a study of the growth of public and higher education debt over the past 10 years.
According to the study, Plano ISD carries $976.6 million in total outstanding debt.
But Steve Fortenberry, associate superintendent for business and facilities services for Plano ISD, said ranking by overall debt does not provide a complete picture of the district's debt situation since the size of the district -- it is the 14th largest in the state -- impacts the amount of debt it accumulates.
Fortenberry pointed to the district's per-capita debt -- $3,014 -- as a more accurate measure of how much the district owes. If this metric was used to rank districts instead of total outstanding debt, Plano would rank 266th out of more than 1,000 Texas school districts, he said.
Most of the district's debt comes from general obligation bonds, which are used to pay for new construction, building maintenance and technology. Portions of these bonds are paid off every year with the debt service portion of the property tax rate, which has been at 33 cents per $100 of valuation for the past two years.
Of the debt the district had at the end of 2011, 34 percent will be paid off in the next five years, and 61 percent will be paid off within the next 10 years, Fortenberry said.
"When we sell new bonds, they're no more than 25 years in length," he said. "A lot of districts are going to 30 and 35 and 40 years, so generally ours have been sold much more conservatively so it pays off more quickly."
Nancy Humphrey, Place 3 on the Plano ISD board of trustees, said since bonds are approved by election, it is up to the will of the voters as to whether or not they want to approve new debt.
"We continue to be a growing district but not at the rate of growth we've seen at the past," she said. "We have an assertive maintenance and renovation program where we keep our facilities updated, and a lot of money that we spend in bonds is geared toward technology."
Humphrey said the board has two primary considerations when planning a debt election: whether or not the growth supports the needs, and whether there are assets that have "aged out." Plano has replaced two buildings, Memorial and Menden Hall elementary schools, over the past year.
"There is a certain pride that students have when students walk into a facility that isn't aging and decrepit and the learning that takes place tends to improved," she said. "The environment itself provides for better learning."
The district has saved $41.8 million over the past nine years refunding bonds and he district also maintains a AAA from Moody's, Fortenberry said.
"Most of our new bond needs, or future bond needs, will be more for renovations and replacements and not for opening new campuses," he said. "There may be a few, but not like there has been [in the past]."
The study also points out that the statewide growth of outstanding public school debt has outpaced both population and inflation by more than 125 percent between 2001 and 2010.
According to data provided by Plano ISD, Plano's debt increased by 37 percent between 2003 and 2012. When taken on a per-student basis and adjusted for inflation, Fortenberry pointed out, the district's debt at the end of 2003 is $18,030 -- a few dollars more than this year's per-student debt level of $18,011.
Dallas ISD tops the study's list of high-debt districts, owing more than any other district in the state with $2.6 billion in outstanding bonds.
The only other Collin County district on the list was Frisco ISD, who took the No. 5 spot with $1.2 billion in outstanding debt. Enrollment in FISD increased by 412 percent between 2001 and 2011.
Combs' office has released two similar studies this year, one exploring taxation by local governments and the other examining city and county debt.
The office has been promoting the studies as an informational campaign to provide residents with a closer look at how their local tax dollars being spent.
Each study also recommended changes to current taxation and debt practices to increase transparency. The education study proposes districts be required to disclose the amount of outstanding debt, existing debt service, amount of new debt, debt per capita and the length of proposed debt obligations on ballots and public websites prior to and during bond elections.
Public school debt: The statewide picture
-Total public school debt in Texas: $63.6 billion.
-Portion of statewide local debt: One-third.
-Rate of increase, 2001 to 2011: 155 percent. The comptroller notes this has outpaced enrollment growth and inflation by more than 125 percent each.
Source: Texas Comptroller's Office
|
<urn:uuid:c2f3c144-7124-49ba-ba37-73f68403ed73>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.friscoenterprise.com/articles/2012/12/10/plano_star-courier/news/7931.prt
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.965635
| 1,079
| 1.695313
| 2
|
Fly In Fishing Lodges - Rivers
Canada's fly-in river fishing lodges mainly focus on Pacific steelhead & salmon, arctic char and Atlantic salmon. British Columbia has many river fishing options located long the very remote northern BC coast. Steelhead and salmon are the focus, and the milder climate and multiple seasonal runs ensure the river fishing trip of a lifetime. Whether fly fishing or using gear, you have to experience fishing for Pacific steelhead or salmon on a gin clear BC river. Trout and dolly varden live in BC's rivers all year and provide great action also. Coastal lodges in British Columbia offer the angler access into BC's untouched wild river systems, in stunning locations with accommodations and meals that are beyond expectations. Most of these trips are fully guided by expert locals fishermen who help to put you onto the fish and offer tackle suggestions.
Arctic Char can be found in Canada's coastal arctic rivers inhabiting the clean, cold arctic waters of Nunavut and Northwest Territories and the Ungava region of northern Quebec. Arctic char are among the best fighting fish in the world. As an added bonus in Ungava, Atlantic salmon are also found here. While the season is short in Canada's north, it is well worth the trip. Packages are usually all-inclusive with regional air transfers, meals, comfortable accommodations and guide services.
The Northwest Territories
Starkly beautiful, powerful and immense, our northern world is still wild and pris-
tine. Nature rules here, in
a diversity of landscapes ranging from towering mountains to rolling tundra. MORE INFO
This Saskatchewan wilderness eco lodge package located in the heart
of the Boreal Forest in Northern Saskatchewan. The log buildings and the surrounding gardens have been lovingly
carved from the Precambrian rock over the last 3 decades. MORE INFO
|
<urn:uuid:ac8e88c0-898b-467c-8da3-15d7deca4c1d>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.adventures.ca/gasnet/frf.htm
|
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
| 0.935184
| 377
| 1.609375
| 2
|
Required Minimum Distributions Suspended for 2009 - Congress passed a bill that suspends required minimum distributions from IRAs, 401(k), 403(b), and other defined contribution plans during 2009. Please contact your tax advisor for further information.
Charitable IRA Rollover Extended in Financial Rescue Bill - Congress passed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 on October 3, 2008 which included an extension of the Charitable IRA Rollover for 2008 and 2009. The bill makes the extension retroactive to January 1, 2008. The rollover allows individuals to make qualified charitable distributions from their IRAs tax-free.
Charitable IRA Rollover May Be Renewed - Several pieces of legislation include language to extend the Charitable IRA Rollover. The bills are in varying states of debate in the House and Senate but would extend taxpayers' ability to make qualified charitable distributions tax-free by one or two years. As the bills move through the legislative process, we will post updates here. 11/30/07
Section 529 College Savings Plans Comparison - Since Section 529 college savings plans were made permanent in 2006, several tools have been created to help families determine which plan makes the most sense for them. The College Savings Plan Network, a non-profit group, has created an online tool that helps each family sort through the taxes, fees and investment options of the various state-sponsored plans to determine which plan best meets the family's goals. Use the "Compare 529 Plans" link on www.collegesavings.org to access this tool.
Don't Rush To Do Your Taxes - Several brokerage houses requested extensions to mail Form 1099s (usually mailed by January 31) and warned some may have to be corrected after their initial mailing. In addition, Congress extended several tax deductions too late in 2006 for the deductions to be included on this year's printed tax forms. With those issues in mind, many accountants have suggested that their clients not rush their taxes this year.
Charitable IRA Rollover Allowed Under the Pension Protection
Act of 2006 - The new law allows for "qualified charitable distributions"
of up to $100,000 per year made directly from traditional and Roth IRAs
to be excluded from gross income for plan owners age 70½ and older
during 2006 and 2007.
Kiddie Tax Age Limit Raised - The age limit for the kiddie tax on unearned income has been raised from age 14 to age 18. The new rules are retroactive to January 1, 2006. Unearned income over $1,700 for dependent children under the age of 18 will be taxed at their parents' income tax rate. (TIPRA 5/17/06)
Special Capital Gains Tax Rate Extended - The 15% tax rate for qualified dividends and long-term capital gains has been extended by two years. The special rate will now expire in 2010. (TIPRA 5/17/06)
Roth IRA Conversion - Previously ineligible taxpayers will be allowed to convert traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs in 2010. (TIPRA 5/17/06)
Roth 401(k) Made Permanent - The Roth 401(k), originally scheduled to expire in 2010, has been made permanent under the Pension Protection Act of 2006.
ALL Beneficiaries of Qualified Retirement Plans Now Allowed to Roll Over Assets Into An IRA - Under the old law, only spouses were able to roll over their deceased spouse's interest in a qualified retirement plan (401(k), IRA, etc.) to an IRA, forcing all non-spouse beneficiaries to take lump-sum payments and pay income taxes on those payments immediately. Under the Pension Protection Act of 2006, ALL non-spouse beneficiaries will be able to roll over those assets into an IRA.
Section 529 College Savings Plans Made Permanent - Section 529 college savings plans have been made permanent under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 with more stringent rules for operation to prevent abuse.
Virginia's Estate Tax Repealed - On August 28th, Virginia's General Assembly voted to repeal the estate, or "death," tax on estates valued at $2 million or more. The repeal takes effect July 1, 2007.
Enhancements Made to Virginia's Conservation Tax Credit Program - The cap on annual conservation tax credits has been raised to $100 million and restrictions based on geographic location have been repealed.
The information contained here is general in nature and is not intended as legal, tax or investment advice. Furthermore, the information contained herein may not be applicable to or suitable for the individuals' specific circumstances or needs and may require consideration of other matters. The information contained herein should not be used in any actual transaction without the advice and guidance of a professional tax advisor who is familiar with all the relevant facts.
|
<urn:uuid:75aba23a-0920-4f2b-ae1f-10462fbda2b1>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.waypointadvisors.net/NewsYouCanUse.php
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.941304
| 968
| 1.523438
| 2
|
Chief Justice Robert appears to have recovered from a seizure that put him briefly in the hospital. Thank goodness.
In a Supreme Court as divided as the present one, the health of Justices is front-page news. The viciousness of fights over Court appointments arises in part from Congress and the President having injected federal law into every nook and cranny of life, thereby placing everything we do within the court's scrutiny. Additional fault lies with the courts, which over the last 50 years have taken an increasingly aggressive posture vis-a-vis the states and the other federal branches. Some might say this trend slackened with the Rhenquist and Roberts Courts, while others will argue that this aggression simply took a different turn.
Whether you like the trend or not, another fact is that greater life expectancies have substantially increased the tenure of the Justices. Old age brings inevitable mental decline, and can also bring emotional instability. Long service on the bench also triggers a condition known to the bar as robe-itis, where a judge has lost perspective on his relative importance in the world. Too often justices believe themselves to be the special guardians of particular segments of the population. This is bad for the law and for our republic.
I don't think the founding fathers, when they provided for unlimited judicial terms, anticipated people regularly serving on the bench for decades, and they certainly could not have expected widespread service by people in their 70s and 80s. As much as I admire the work of Justice Thomas, for example, I don't think it's good for the country to have him on the court for 40 years.
The time has come for service limits for Supreme Court Justices, somewhere in the 12-18 year range. If the reach of federal law and the aggressiveness of modern judging make nominating and confirming a Supreme Court Justice inevitably contentious, we can reduce the harm to the law and the country by lowering the stakes. Term limits will do this by increasing the frequency and regularity of appointments. Limits will also force the Justices to think more seriously about continuity in their jurisprudence, since they won't be able to cement a legacy simply through long service.
|
<urn:uuid:0833a6c2-14f2-440d-9449-a7360f425fa2>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://carolliebau.blogspot.com/2007_07_01_archive.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.969729
| 440
| 1.820313
| 2
|
The last time you were at the circus did you gasp as the trapeze artist swung through the air?
Even though his antics might be scary, there’s a strong safety net catch him in the event of a fall. Hopefully, the trapeze artist won’t ever need to use it. But it is always there – just in case.
Even the world’s best acrobats have safety nets to catch them if the unfortunate occurs. So what does that say for the rest of us, who aren’t the world’s best?
Even if you’re not a trapeze artist, you need a safety net. As long as you have dependents, you need a safety net to save you from fiscal free fall.
Sometimes, the “fall” can be the result of poor financial planning and decision-making, but often it’s due to circumstances that are beyond your control.
For this reason, it’s important to make sure you have a safety net in place. In terms of personal finance, this is a two-pronged approach: making sure that you have adequate insurance and having an emergency savings account.
If you have young dependents, insurance is absolutely vital. What would happen if your family’s breadwinner(s) died or was seriously injured? While insurance won’t solve every problem, it definitely helps alleviate some fiscal concerns.
And in a situation that is far less drastic, but still costly, emergency savings can make all the difference between being unable to put food on the table or repairing the car.
Review your insurance portfolio to make sure that your family is covered in the event of a possible disaster, and evaluate your bank accounts to ensure that you have an emergency savings plan in order to catch you in case you fall. And like the trapeze artist, let’s hope that you never actually need to use it.
About the Author: Douglas Goldstein, CFP®, is the director of Profile Investment Services, Ltd, a financial planning firm located in Jerusalem. He specializes in working with clients in New York, Florida, and Israel and is a licensed financial professional both in the U.S. and Israel. Securities are offered through Portfolio Resources Group, Inc., Member FINRA, SIPC, MSRB, SIFMA. Accounts carried by Pershing LLC., Member NYSE/SIPC, a subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation. Neither Profile nor PRG gives tax or legal advice. Before immigrating to Israel, it is advisable to consult with a tax attorney who is knowledgeable about Israeli law. Doug’s newest book The Expatriates’ Guide to Handling Money and Taxes is available at www.expatguidetomoney.com. He hosts a weekly finance show, Goldstein on Gelt, on internet radio. Listen live or download podcasts. Toll-free from U.S. 1-888-327-6179, Jerusalem: (02) 624-2788. Follow on Twitter: @DougGoldstein or contact at firstname.lastname@example.org.
You might also be interested in:
You must log in to post a comment.
|
<urn:uuid:8fca774e-a9c7-4e21-bb0c-63d5e32b409a>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.jewishpress.com/blogs/goldstein-on-gelt/the-safety-net-you-need/2012/10/28/comment-page-1/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.953819
| 669
| 1.59375
| 2
|
While chatting on the phone with a friend, Katrina Uhls had a startling realization: her kids had been playing video games for hours. She discovered that by effectively “unplugging” her kids, she could steer them toward more creative, introspective pastimes.
Now, as the owner of Unpluggits Playstudio, she fosters a safe, welcoming space where all kids can "unplug" and explore their artistic sides. Kids will find shelves stocked with play-doh, stamps, stencils, and other craft supplies. They can don smocks and wield nontoxic paints at miniature easels. Paint’n take projects give them personalized crafts to take home, such as picture frames and piggy banks useful for saving up to buy new toys or a gold-plated piggy bank. For more active playtime pursuits, kids can gambol toward the indoor playground, which features slides, a pirate ship, and air-hockey tables.
As kids explore the 3,000-square-foot studio, parents are welcome to cruise free WiFi or monitor tykes from the snack bar, which serves freshly ground organic coffee, juices, and soda. Special workshops open the space for toddler-specific activities, adults-only craft time, and parents' nights out.
|
<urn:uuid:e2a49a66-457c-4a86-9d07-d67c7992ab64>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.groupon.com/local/stillwater-ok/things-to-do
|
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
| 0.942275
| 265
| 1.578125
| 2
|
Who says that we live in a secular age? I’ll have you know that a recent U.N. climate change conference began with a prayer that the delegates would receive divine inspiration as they went about saving the planet.
Of course, the deity being prayed to was not the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ but, rather, a goddess who demanded regular sacrifices, including the occasional human one. Given what is going on at Cancun, this invocation seems oddly fitting.
The “invocation” was given by Christiana Figueres at the start of the conference in Cancun, Mexico. Perhaps inspired by the setting, Figueres invoked the Mayan goddess Ixchel.
Noting that Ixchel was the “goddess of reason, creativity and weaving,” Figueres “prayed” that the jaguar goddess would “inspire” the delegates.
This is the kind of self-parody that even the U.N.’s biggest critics couldn’t make up. Ixchel is often depicted as a “fierce hag” who, in her capriciousness, is just as likely to cause devastating floods as gentle rains that make crops grow.
It’s self-parody, but it’s consistent with the whole out-of-touch atmosphere of the conference. For instance, as delegates met in Cancun, Europe is enjoying the start of its coldest winter in decades—what German meteorologists fear might be the “winter of the millennium.”
It’s not just Europe: the first three days of the conference saw record lows in Cancun. Activists will no doubt say “weather is not climate,” at least when the weather outside is frightful. When it’s hot, they cite as evidence for their argument.
Unfortunately for them, one of their number has let the cat out of the bag. Economist Ottmar Edenhofer, a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, told a Zurich newspaper what many climate change skeptics already knew: what is going on Cancun, and for that matter, in Copenhagen and Kyoto before that, has little to do with climate.
Edenhofer told the paper that climate policy “has almost nothing to do with environmental policy anymore.” Instead, meetings like the one in Cancun are about “global trade and financial policies.” They are about a redistribution of the world’s resources from the industrialized world to the developing world.
There is nothing per se wrong about talking about how to make poorer countries more wealthy. And there is certainly nothing wrong with discussions about more equitable trade and financial policies. What’s wrong is doing under the guise of “climate change” with all the fear-mongering associated with the subject.
Not only is it dishonest —it’s counterproductive.
Well-known environmental writer Bjorn Lomborg isn’t a climate-change skeptic, but he convincingly argues that for a fraction of what activists propose we spend on curbing CO2 emissions, we could make a significant dent in truly-pressing problems like HIV/AIDS, malaria, malnutrition, clean water and sanitation. These kinds of investments could save hundreds of millions of lives.
But there’s no indication that the U.N. climate change officials lifted up these concerns before their Mayan goddess.
|
<urn:uuid:5e732645-ba46-4a15-a28c-c31b76c93140>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.doingtherightthing.com/bpcommentaries/entry/13/16082
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.957071
| 725
| 1.695313
| 2
|
Scholarships for Leadership Studies Students (pdf)
Learning experienced in a classroom setting is key to developing future leaders. Within the classroom, students are challenged to think critically about leadership theories and traditions, to explore their own values and to articulate new leadership paradigms in our increasingly diverse and global world. The leadership studies minor is at the heart of the Center’s comprehensive approach to developing leaders. It is an interdisciplinary exploration of leadership history and theory, emphasizing the need for 21st century leadership to develop ethical, integrated solutions to complex issues.
The minor became a permanent part of the college curriculum in 2002 and has grown from offering one course to 10 courses. Students are challenged to study leadership through the lens of an interdisciplinary, global perspective while bolstering an understanding of ethical leadership. This is coupled with developmental experiences that feature conversations with nationally and internationally recognized leaders in public life, former African Heads of State, as well as key players in the corporate, scientific, philanthropic and humanitarian communities.
The importance of this minor is reflected in the Fall semester 2009 leadership studies course enrollment of 122 students, the highest number since the minor was introduced. A new course, HLS 475 - Social and Political Change in the Latter Half of the 20th Century, was developed and offered for the first time last fall. In addition, the Leadership and Civic Engagement course serves as a pilot for the Bringing Theory to Practice Program, a two-year grant awarded to 55 schools in partnership with the Association of American Colleges and Universities.
Faculty and scholars teaching these leadership studies courses represent a broad spectrum of experience and training from former U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young, internationally recognized scholar in political science Dr. Preston King, Dr. William Bynum, vice president of student services at Morehouse College to Jochen Fried, director of Salzburg Global Seminars. The minor also calls upon experts in relevant fields as guest lecturers to augment the curriculum. Students are encouraged to become involved with the programs at the Center as an opportunity to apply the hypotheses that were studied in the classroom.
"The Leadership Center at Morehouse College has transformed my thinking and developed my character like no other place. As a student, I was challenged to look for ways to learn about ethical leadership. As an alumnus, I now see the value of practicing ethical leadership, and continuing to strive for excellence in all that I do."
- Justin Houser
Class of 2010
"The Leadership Center offers every student regardless of background the oppertunity to test their wings and fly globally. My passport, perspective and first time leaving the country are all accredited to the support and education I received from the Leadership Center at Morehouse College."
Class of 2011
|
<urn:uuid:3d70c4a6-bfe5-4b72-ab58-1a9b6ca8d2de>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://morehouse.edu/centers/leadershipcenter/leadership-studies.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.958969
| 554
| 1.679688
| 2
|
Best Known For
Joe Strummer was a British singer, songwriter and guitarist best known as the co-founder and member of the punk rock band The Clash.
Think you know about Biography?
Answer questions and see how you rank against other players.Play Now
They signed with Mercury Records and released an album called Rock Art and the X-Ray Style. In 2001, the group signed with Hellcat Records, a punk label from California, and released the band's second album, Global A Go-Go. The band toured and garnered a devoted following of both old and new fans.
Shortly before what became his final performance in London, Strummer and U2's Bono wrote a song called "46664" for Nelson Mandela as part of a campaign against AIDS. Joe Strummer suffered a heart attack and died on December 22, 2002, at his home in Somerset, England. He was 50 years old. His final album Streetcore was released posthumously. It features a tribute to American music icon Johnny Cash—"Long Shadow," and a cover of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song." The Clash were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. A documentary film by Juien Temple called Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten premiered in January 2007.
Strummer was married twice. The first marriage was to Pamela Moolman. The marriage of convenience allowed Moolman to obtain British citizenship and financed the purchase of his signature Fender Telecaster guitar. He was in a relationship with Gaby Salter for 14 years, and with whom he had two daughters, Jazz and Lola. The couple never married. Strummer married Lucinda Tait in 1995. After his death, his family and friends created the Strummerville Foundation for the promotion of new music. Besides influencing countless rock and punk bands that followed The Clash, another legacy Strummer left behind is Future Forests, an organization dedicated to fighting global warming by planting trees.
© 2013 A+E Networks. All rights reserved.
profile name: Joe Strummer profile occupation:
Sign in with Facebook to see how you and your friends are connected to famous icons.
Your Friends' Connections
Included In These Groups
When musicians land big fame, there typically comes a moment of reinvention in which the "rock star" identity is born. This new persona often requires a new name, a way to differentiate between the private and public versions of themselves. Musical monikers take different forms, from the simple, last-name changes aimed at boosting celebrity appeal—like Steven Tyler—to the glamorized version of a childhood nickname—like Jay-Z. Musicians' nicknames and aliases tend to take on an identity all their own over time, often becoming as full of personality as the artists they represent.
Musical Monikers 108 people in this group
In entertainment, where the line between fiction and reality is often blurry, names are a crucial part of a celebrity's image. Stage names are often chosen to make an actor or musician's name easier to pronounce or remember, or simply to make it sounds more attractive. Here are famous celebrities who have changed their names.
Name Changers 236 people in this group
Following the "Swinging London" era of the 1960s, a new group of cultural icons arose. The 1970s saw the emergence of the punk rock movement, built upon the wave of psychedelic and folk rock music introduced in the '60s. In the post-hippie era of the early '70s, rock 'n' roll had a new glam image, pioneered by outrageously dressed rockers like David Bowie and Marc Bolan. Soon other acts followed, most notably young performers like Siouxsie Sioux and groups like T.Rex and The Clash. The music of the '70s inspired fashion as well, in particular designer Vivienne Westwood, whose punk designs for the Sex Pistols helped define the decade's London style. Biography.com looks at the various icons who defined London in the '70s.
London Punk- Cultural Icons: 1970s 16 people in this group
|
<urn:uuid:c977342d-e760-4647-a2fe-d7085952ebb6>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.biography.com/people/joe-strummer-248525?page=3
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.962056
| 844
| 1.53125
| 2
|
(Redirected from Bellow, Saul)
- Goodness is achieved not in a vacuum, but in the company of other men, attended by love.
- Dangling Man (1944) [Penguin Classics, 1996, ISBN 0-140-18935-1], p. 84
- There is only one way to defeat the enemy, and that is to write as well as one can. The best argument is an undeniably good book.
- Quoted by Granville Hicks in The Living Novel: A Symposium (Macmillan, 1957; digitized version in 2006), p. ix
- Conquered people tend to be witty.
- Mr. Sammler's planet, (1976), p. 98
- All human accomplishment has the same origin, identically. Imagination is a force of nature. Is this not enough to make a person full of ecstasy? Imagination, imagination, imagination. It converts to actual. It sustains, it alters, it redeems!
- We are all such accidents. We do not make up history and culture. We simply appear, not by our own choice. We make what we can of our condition with the means available. We must accept the mixture as we find it — the impurity of it, the tragedy of it, the hope of it.
- Great Jewish Short Stories, introduction to the Dell paperback edition (1963)
- We mustn't forget how quickly the visions of genius become the canned goods of intellectuals.
- Herzog (1964) [Penguin Classics, 2003, ISBN 0-142-43729-8], p. 82
- I think that New York is not the cultural center of America, but the business and administrative center of American culture.
- BBC radio interview, The Listener (London, 1969-05-22)
- Everybody needs his memories. They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door.
- Mr. Sammler's Planet (1970) [Penguin Classics, 2004, ISBN 0-142-43783-2], p. 156
- Once you had read the Psychopathology of Everyday Life, you knew that everyday life was psychopathology.
- I never yet touched a fig leaf that didn't turn into a price tag.
- Humboldt's Gift (1975), p. 159
- No realistic, sane person goes around Chicago without protection.
- Humboldt's Gift (1975), p. 452
- Writers are greatly respected. The intelligent public is wonderfully patient with them, continues to read them, and endures disappointment after disappointment, waiting to hear from art what it does not hear from theology, philosophy, social theory, and what it cannot hear from pure science. Out of the struggle at the center has come an immense, painful longing for a broader, more flexible, fuller, more coherent, more comprehensive account of what we human beings are, who we are and what this life is for.
- Nobel Prize lecture (1976-12-12)
- A novel is balanced between a few true impressions and the multitude of false ones that make up most of what we call life. It tells us that for every human being there is a diversity of existences, that the single existence is itself an illusion in part, that these many existences signify something, tend to something, fulfill something; it promises us meaning, harmony, and even justice.
- Nobel Prize lecture (1976-12-12)
- Our media make crisis chatter out of news and fill our minds with anxious phantoms of the real thing — a summit in Helsinki, a treaty in Egypt, a constitutional crisis in India, a vote in the U.N., the financial collapse of New York. We can't avoid being politicized (a word as murky as the condition which it describes) because it is necessary after all to know what is going on. Worse yet, what is going on will not let us alone. Neither the facts nor the deformations, the insidious platitudes of the media (tormenting because the underlying realities are so large and so terrible), can be screened out. The study of literature itself is heavily "politicized."
- To Jerusalem and Back: A Personal Account (1976) [Viking/Penguin, 1998, ISBN 0-141-18075-7], p. 21
- For the first time in history, the human species as a whole has gone into politics. Everyone is in the act, and there is no telling what may come of it.
- To Jerusalem and Back: A Personal Account (1976), p. 38
- A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.
- To Jerusalem and Back: A Personal Account (1976), p. 127
- There are evils, as someone has pointed out, that have the ability to survive identification and go on for ever — money, for instance, or war.
- Psychoanalysis pretends to investigate the Unconscious. The Unconscious by definition is what you are not conscious of. But the Analysts already know what’s in it. They should, because they put it all in beforehand. It's like an Easter Egg hunt.
- The Dean's December (1982), ch. 18, p. 298
- Human beings can lose their lives in libraries. They ought to be warned.
- "Him with His Foot in His Mouth," from Him with His Foot in His Mouth and Other Stories (1984) [Penguin Classics, 1998, ISBN 0-141-18023-4], p. 11
- A good American makes propaganda for whatever existence has forced him to become.
- "Cousins," from Him With His Foot in His Mouth and Other Stories (1984), p. 263
- I discovered that rejections are not altogether a bad thing. They teach a writer to rely on his own judgment and to say in his heart of hearts, "To hell with you."
- Quoted in "Feeling Rejected? Join Updike, Mailer, Oates..." by Barbara Bauer and Robert F. Moss, New York Times (1985-07-21), section 7, page 1, column 1
- Any artist should be grateful for a naïve grace which puts him beyond the need to reason elaborately.
- In the greatest confusion there is still an open channel to the soul. It may be difficult to find because by midlife it is overgrown, and some of the wildest thickets that surround it grow out of what we describe as our education. But the channel is always there, and it is our business to keep it open, to have access to the deepest part of ourselves.
- Foreword to The Closing of the American Mind by Allan Bloom (1987)
- California's like an artificial limb the rest of the country doesn't really need. You can quote me.
- "Saul Bellow: Treading on the Toes of the Brahmans," interview with Lawrence Grobel in Endangered Species: Writers Talk about Their Craft, Their Visions, Their Lives [Da Capo, 2001, ISBN ISBN 0-306-81004-2], p. 21
- The late philosopher Morris R. Cohen of CCNY was asked by a student in the metaphysics course, “Professor Cohen, how do I know that I exist?” The keen old prof replied, “And who is asking?”
- Humboldt’s Gift (1996), p. 163
The Adventures of Augie March (1953)
- I am an American, Chicago born — Chicago, that somber city — and go at things as I have taught myself, free-style, and will make the record in my own way: first to knock, first admitted; sometimes an innocent knock, sometimes a not so innocent.
- Ch. 1 (opening line)
- Everybody knows there is no fineness or accuracy of suppression; if you hold down one thing, you hold down the adjoining.
- Ch. 1
- As for types like my own, obscurely motivated by the conviction that our existence was worthless if we didn’t make a turning point of it, we were assigned to the humanities, to poetry, philosophy, painting — the nursery games of humankind, which had to be left behind when the age of science began. The humanities would be called upon to choose a wallpaper for the crypt, as the end drew near.
- Ch. 6
Introduction to The Closing of the American Mind (1988)
- As a scholar [Allan Bloom] intends to enlighten us, and as a writer he has learned from Aristophanes and other models that enlightenment should also be enjoyable. To me, this is not the book of a professor, but that of a thinker who is willing to take the risks more frequently taken by writers. It is risky in a book of ideas to speak in one’s own voice, but it reminds us that the sources of the truest truths are inevitably profoundly personal. … Academics, even those describing themselves as existentialists, very seldom offer themselves publicly and frankly as individuals, as persons.
- p. 12
- The book of the world, so richly studied by autodidacts, is being closed by the “learned,” who are raising walls of opinions to shut the world out.
- p. 15
- People reserve their best thinking for their professional specialties and, next in line, for serious matters confronting the alert citizen—economics, politics, the disposal of nuclear waste, etc. The day’s work done, they want to be entertained.
- p. 16
- In the greatest confusion there is still an open channel to the soul. It may be difficult to find because by midlife it is overgrown, and some of the wildest thickets that surround it grow out of what we describe as our education. But the channel is always there, and it is our business to keep it open, to have access to the deepest part of ourselves—to that part of us which is conscious. … The independence of this consciousness, which has the strength to be immune to the noise of history and the distractions of our immediate surroundings, is what the life struggle is all about. The soul has to find and hold its ground against hostile forces, sometimes embodied in ideas which frequently deny its very existence, and which indeed often seem to be trying to annul it altogether.
- pp. 16-17
- The university, in a society ruled by public opinion, was to have been an island of intellectual freedom where all views were investigated without restriction. … But by consenting to play an active or “positive,” a participatory role in society, the university has become inundated and saturated with the backflow of society’s “problems.” Preoccupied with questions of Health, Sex, Race, War, academics make their reputations and their fortunes. … Any proposed reforms of liberal education which might bring the university into conflict with the whole of the U.S.A. are unthinkable. Increasingly, the people “inside” are identical in their appetites and motives with the people “outside” the university.
- p. 18
It All Adds Up (1994)
Viking/Penguin, 1995, ISBN 0-14-023365-2
- There is no need to make an inventory of the times. It is demoralizing to describe ourselves to ourselves yet again. It is especially hard on us since we believe (as we have been educated to believe) that history has formed us and that we are all mini-summaries of the present age.
- "Mozart: An Overture" (1992), pp. 13-14
- The principles of Western liberalism seem no longer to lend themselves to effective action. Deprived of the expressive power, we are awed by it, have a hunger for it, and are afraid of it. Thus we praise the gray dignity of our soft-spoken leaders, but in our hearts we are suckers for passionate outbursts, even when those passionate outbursts are hypocritical and falsely motivated.
- "Literary Notes on Khrushchev" (1961), p. 36
- When we read the best nineteenth- and twentieth-century novelists, we soon realize that they are trying in a variety of ways to establish a definition of human nature, to justify the continuation of life as well as the writing of novels.
- "The Sealed Treasure" (1960), p. 60
- Anxiety destroys scale, and suffering makes us lose perspective.
- "The Sealed Treasure" (1960), p. 62
- It seems hard for the American people to believe that anything could be more exciting than the times themselves. What we read daily and view on the TV has thrust imagined forms into the shadow. We are staggeringly rich in facts, in things, and perhaps, like the nouveau riche of other ages, we want our wealth faithfully reproduced by the artist.
- "Facts That Put Fancy to Flight" (1962), p. 67
- It's hard for writers to get on with their work if they are convinced that they owe a concrete debt to experience and cannot allow themselves the privilege of ranging freely through social classes and professional specialties. A certain pride in their own experience, perhaps a sense of the property rights of others in their experience, holds them back.
- "Facts That Put Fancy to Flight" (1962), p. 68
- Apparently the rise of consciousness is linked to certain kinds of privation. It is the bitterness of self-consciousness that we knowers know best. Critical of the illusions that sustained mankind in earlier times, this self-consciousness of ours does little to sustain us now. The question is: which is disenchanted, the world itself or the consciousness we have of it?
- "A Matter of the Soul" (1975), pp. 75-76
- Americans must be the most sententious people in history. Far too busy to be religious, they have always felt that they sorely needed guidance.
- "The Jefferson Lectures" (1977), p. 139
- In an age of enormities, the emotions are naturally weakened. We are continually called upon to have feelings — about genocide, for instance, or about famine or the blowing up of passenger planes — and we are all aware that we are incapable of reacting appropriately. A guilty consciousness of emotional inadequacy or impotence makes people doubt their own human weight.
- "The Distracted Public" (1990), p. 156
- Can we find nothing good to say about TV? Well, yes, it brings scattered solitaries into a sort of communion. TV allows your isolated American to think that he participates in the life of the entire country. It does not actually place him in a community, but his heart is warmed with the suggestion (on the whole false) that there is a community somewhere in the vicinity and that his atomized consciousness will be drawn back toward the whole.
- "The Distracted Public" (1990), p. 159
- Pointless but intense excitement holds us in TV dramas. We hear threatening music. A killer with a gun steals into the bedroom of a sleeping woman. More subliminal sounds of danger, pointlessly ominous. The woman wakes and runs into the kitchen for a knife. The cops are on the case. We watch as the criminal is pursued through night streets; shots, a death; a body falls from a roof. Then time is up, another drama begins. Now we are in a church. No, we are in a lecture hall; no again — a drawer opens in a morgue. A woman is looking for her kidnapped child. Then that ends, and we are on the veld with zebras and giraffes. Then with Lenin at a mass meeting. And suddenly we flash away to a cooking school; we are shown how to stuff a turkey. Next the Berlin Wall comes down. Or flags are burning. Or a panel is worrying about the rug crisis. More and more public themes, with less and less personal consciousness. Clearly, personal consciousness is shrinking.
- "The Distracted Public" (1990), pp. 159-160
- Writers, poets, painters, musicians, philosophers, political thinkers, to name only a few of the categories affected, must woo their readers, viewers, listeners, from distraction. To this we must add, for simple realism demands it, that these same writers, painters, etc., are themselves the children of distraction. As such, they are peculiarly qualified to approach the distracted multitudes. They will have experienced the seductions as well as the destructiveness of the forces we have been considering here. This is the destructive element in which we do not need to be summoned to immerse ourselves, for we were born to it.
- "The Distracted Public" (1990), p. 167
- There is simply too much to think about. It is hopeless — too many kinds of special preparation are required. In electronics, in economics, in social analysis, in history, in psychology, in international politics, most of us are, given the oceanic proliferating complexity of things, paralyzed by the very suggestion that we assume responsibility for so much. This is what makes packaged opinion so attractive.
- "There Is Simply Too Much to Think About" (1992), pp. 173-174
- One naturally regrets not being an expert or one of those insiders who thoroughly understand. It's hell to be an amateur. A little reflection calms your sorrow, however. The experts in their own little speedboat, the rest of us floating with the rest of mankind in a great barge — that is the picture.
- "The Day They Signed the Treaty" (1979), p. 224
- In politics continental Europe was infantile — horrifying. What America lacked, for all its political stability, was the capacity to enjoy intellectual pleasures as though they were sensual pleasures. This is what Europe offered, or was said to offer.
- "My Paris" (1983), p. 235
- There's something that remains barbarous in educated people, and lately I've more and more had the feeling that we are nonwondering primitives. And why is it that we no longer marvel at these technological miracles? They've become the external facts of every life. We've all been to the university, we've had introductory courses in everything, and therefore we have persuaded ourselves that if we had the time to apply ourselves to these scientific marvels, we would understand them. But of course that's an illusion. It couldn't happen. Even among people who have had careers in science. They know no more about how it all works than we do. So we are in the position of savage men who, however, have been educated into believing that they are capable of understanding everything. Not that we actually do understand, but that we have the capacity.
- "A Half Life" (1990), pp. 302-303
- We take foreigners to be incomplete Americans — convinced that we must help and hasten their evolution.
- " A Second Half Life" (1991), p. 324
- Much of junk culture has a core of crisis — shoot-outs, conflagrations, bodies weltering in blood, naked embracers or rapist-stranglers. The sounds of junk culture are heard over a ground bass of extremism. Our entertainments swarm with specters of world crisis. Nothing moderate can have any claim to our attention.
- "A Second Half Life" (1991), p. 326
A Jewish Writer in America (2011)
- Part I: New York Review of Books October 27, 2011
Part II: The New York Review of Books, vol. 58, no. 17, November 10, 2011
- A millennial belief in a Holy God may have the effect of deepening the soul, but it is also obviously archaic, and modern influences would presently bring me up to date and reveal how antiquated my origins were. To turn away from those origins, however, has always seemed to me an utter impossibility. It would be a treason to my first consciousness to un-Jew myself.
- Part I, p. 26
- Reading Decline of the West I learned that in Spengler’s view ours was a Faustian civilization and that we, the Jews, were Magians, the survivors and representatives of an earlier type, totally incapable of comprehending the Faustian spirit that had created the great civilization of the West. ... What Magians were to Faustians, Faustians might very well be to Americans.
- Part I, p. 26
- One’s language is a spiritual location. It houses your soul. If you were born in America all essential communication, your deepest conversations with yourself, will be in English. ... Your English is the principal instrument of your humanity.
- Part I, p. 27
- What is imposed on us by birth and environment is what we are called upon to overcome.
- Part I, p. 28
- We are free to withdraw (to withdraw our minds where we cannot withdraw our bodies) from situations in which our humanity or lack of it is defined for us.
- Part II, p. 29
- All a writer has to do to get a woman is to say he's a writer. It's an aphrodisiac.
- Take our politicians: they're a bunch of yo-yos. The presidency is now a cross between a popularity contest and a high school debate, with an encyclopedia of cliches.
- What is art but a way of seeing?
- Whoever wants to reach a distant goal must take small steps.
- You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write.
- Bio at the Nobel Prize official site
- Featured Author archive for Bellow at The New York Times
|
<urn:uuid:a3d15ca0-e8c3-4523-851a-b78f79d582ae>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bellow,_Saul
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.955357
| 4,580
| 1.65625
| 2
|
Several of the recent Marlon Brando obituaries mentioned Montgomery Clift as one of the actor's contemporaries. But Clift was more than a contemporary. He, along with John Garfield, opened the door for the likes of such Method actors as Brando, James Dean, Paul Newman and Steve McQueen. Clift made his Broadway debut nearly a decade before Brando and was a full-fledged movie star by the time Brando appeared in his first film, 1950's "The Men."
Sensitive, broody and introspective, Clift was probably one of the most striking men ever to appear on screen. Clift could express every emotion with his startling blue eyes. But his film career lasted less than 20 years. Clift made only 17 films -- receiving four Oscar nominations -- before his personal demons finally overtook him.
Like Brando, Clift hailed from Omaha. He made his Broadway debut at 14 in the comedy "Fly Away Home," and over the next decade, he appeared in such respected plays as Robert Sherwood's "There Shall Be No Night," Thornton Wilder's "The Skin of Our Teeth" and Lillian Hellman's "The Searching Wind."
Hollywood came knocking in the early '40s when MGM wanted him for the role of Greer Garson's son in "Mrs. Miniver." But Clift turned down the offer. He was finally lured to Hollywood in 1947 when he was cast as John Wayne's rebellious adopted son in "Red River." The classic Howard Hawks western opens the LACMA festival.
Clift was a new kind of leading man -- sensitive, shy and not afraid to show his emotions on screen. And he wasn't worried about playing a villain, like the charming but conniving fortune hunter in William Wyler's 1949 film "The Heiress," which screens Sept. 18.
He quickly achieved heartthrob status, though Hollywood kept it under wraps that its latest sex symbol was gay.
Like the majority of his characters, Clift was an outsider in Hollywood. He didn't sign a seven-year contract with any studio and was picky about his projects. He turned down such classic films as "Sunset Boulevard" and "Shane."
The LACMA festival highlights several of Clift's best-known films. The Sept. 11 double bill, in fact, features two of his Oscar-nominated performances. In 1951's "A Place in the Sun," he gives an indelible turn in George Stevens' drama as an ambitious but ill-fated young man. His love scene with Elizabeth Taylor is one of the most erotic moments on film.
He perhaps gives his most nuanced performance in the multi-Oscar-winning 1953 war drama "From Here to Eternity," as an honorable Army private who sticks to his code no matter what.
Peaks and valleys
Also included in the festival are such rarities as "Terminal Station" (Sept. 10), a 1953 melodramatic love story he made in Italy with Jennifer Jones for director Vittorio de Sica. Jones' husband, the producer David O. Selznick, cut 17 minutes out of the movie for American audiences and retitled it "Indiscretion of an American Wife." Though Clift is miscast as Jones' illicit lover, he brings great passion and conviction to the project.
Despite his professional success, Clift suffered from chronic colitis -- it had kept him out of the service during World War II -- and had a severe drinking and pill problem. He spent a great deal of time and money in therapy.
After a three-year absence from the screen, he went to work in 1956 on the lavish MGM Civil War drama "Raintree County" (Sept. 24), which reunited him with good friend Taylor. One night after leaving friend Kevin McCarthy's house, Clift was in a serious auto accident, which destroyed his face. With his jaw wired and in severe pain, he finished the film.
Though the accident exacerbated his dependence on alcohol and pills, Clift gave some of his best performances after the crash. He's utterly heartbreaking as a battle-scarred rodeo performer in 1961's "The Misfits" (Sept. 25). And he received his fourth and final Oscar nomination as a victim of the Nazis in 1961's "Judgment at Nuremberg."
Frail and looking far older than his 45 years, Clift returned to the screen one last time in the embarrassingly inept 1966 spy thriller "The Defector." He was set to join Taylor in "Reflections in a Golden Eye" when his companion, Lorenzo James, found him dead of a heart attack on top of his bed in his New York brownstone.
Wrote Hollywood columnist Sheilah Graham: "He was only forty-five when he died. It would have been better for this sensitive man that he had never come to Hollywood, never heard the shrill trumpet of success and the canned laughter of this desperate insecure society."
|
<urn:uuid:bec3d5a4-45e4-4ba6-8f8d-d19bd533b11d>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.latimes.com/topic/la-montgomery-clift-walk-of-fame,0,5950336.story
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.983249
| 1,027
| 1.671875
| 2
|
The 2009 Report on Manufacturing Innerspring, Box Spring, Non-Innerspring, and Waterbed Mattresses: World Market Segmentation by City Description
This report was created for global strategic planners who cannot be content with traditional methods of segmenting world markets. With the advent of a “borderless world”, cities become a more important criteria in prioritizing markets, as opposed to regions, continents, or countries. This report covers the top 2000 cities in over 200 countries. It does so by reporting the estimated market size (in terms of latent demand) for each major city of the world. It then ranks these cities and reports them in terms of their size as a percent of the country where they are located, their geographic region (e.g. Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, North America, Latin America), and the total world market.
In performing various economic analyses for its clients, I have been occasionally asked to investigate the market potential for various products and services across cities. The purpose of the studies is to understand the density of demand within a country and the extent to which a city mig
|
<urn:uuid:3c4ef135-cab2-4a2f-88ba-157ab2796fa2>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://identi.ca/attachment/55942926
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.952844
| 228
| 1.664063
| 2
|
Helping people with computers... one answer at a time.
I occasionally get funny videos as attachments to email and I download them and scan them with a virus scan package (Norton) before playing. There has not yet been one with a virus detected. But I notice when I play them with Windows Media Player I see a "connecting" message at the bottom of Media Player even though I selected the option to not communicate with Microsoft about my playing history when I installed the Media Player software. Can a WMV or similar file have any scripting in it that might be dangerous in terms of transmitting information on my PC to the author of the funny video?
I've always assumed that the "connecting" message was just Windows Media Player using a generic term that could be used both in cases where it truly connects to remote, streaming video, as well as opening a local, downloaded free video file. In other words, I assumed it's just "connecting" to the media, wherever it is.
But rather than assume anything, I decided to ask my friend Jake Ludington, who's particularly conversant in media issues, for his thoughts.
The short answer to your question turns out to be "yes".
"The answer to whether WMV files can contain scripting is definitely yes, with or without DRM. I have a tutorial on how to make "Windows Media enhanced podcasts" using exactly this concept."
"A neat theory, but useless in practice because porn sites have abused that feature to no end and scripting is turned off by default to protect users."
"One innocuous possibility [for the connecting message] not mentioned here is album art acquisition. The media player does hit the Internet for that from the boxes checked in Tools > Options > Privacy > Enhanced Playback and Device Experience"
Jake also mentioned an accusation that one vendor was using the DRM support to install spyware on people’s computers by way of file sharing sites. While it's unclear if that actually was ever proven, it certainly could happen. "In terms of what DRM actually communicates, it varies widely by exact implementation, but it typically checks to make sure the user has rights to view and if they do not have rights to view one common action is to launch a Web page to register and/or pay for content (the other common one being to simply tell you the file won’t work)."
The good news is that DRM support is licensed from Microsoft - so should a vendor be 'caught' behaving unethically, that support can be revoked.
The bottom line appears to be that, as with everything else, it pays to be cautious. It sounds like your taking fairly reasonable first steps by scanning the files first.
|
<urn:uuid:544fcab1-2543-4cf2-a2af-f56d14f8ff79>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://ask-leo.com/can_i_get_a_virus_or_spyware_from_a_free_video_download.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.959362
| 553
| 1.585938
| 2
|
May 20 2013 Latest news:
By Lauren Everitt
Thursday, January 24, 2013
A CAMPAIGN to tackle loan sharks in Suffolk is to be officially launched next week.
Suffolk County Council and Ipswich Borough Council have teamed up with the England Illegal Money Lending Team for the week-long campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of loan sharks.
Through the initiative, numerous agencies hope to encourage both adults and young people to turn away from loan sharks and to report the crime if they have been a victim.
Colin Spence, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for public protection, said: “It is important to remember the very real dangers loan sharks pose to our communities.
“A moment of debt relief can quickly turn into a lifetime of financial misery and distress.
“Loan sharks never have your best interests at heart so I would strongly urge anyone considering using them to avoid them at all costs.”
Other agencies involved with the project, which will start on Monday, include Suffolk police, the East of England Co-operative Society, Ipswich and Suffolk Credit Union and the Salvation Army.
An integral part of the campaign is promoting the credit union as a safe and legal alternative to loan sharks.
Suffolk Trading Standards has put forward £5,000 of proceeds of crime money to encourage people to join up and save with Ipswich and Suffolk Credit Union.
Throughout next week, representatives from the agencies involved, as well as Sid the Shark, will be out and about visiting communities and primary schools offering advice.
An estimated 310,000 households across the country are in debt to a loan shark. Tony Quigley, head of the England Illegal Money Lending Team, said: “Illegal money lending is a despicable crime which causes nothing but harm to our communities.
“These lenders may appear to be offering a community service, but borrowers are often forced to pay back far and above what they have borrowed and can afford.”
Nationally the Illegal Money Lending Teams have secured 220 prosecutions for illegal money lending activity, leading to more than 150 year’s worth of prison sentences.
They have written off almost £40million worth of illegal debt and helped more than 19,000 victims.
If you have been the victim, of a loan shark, you can report the crime to confidential hotline 0300 555 2222.
|
<urn:uuid:ff5f1e91-a3f4-4218-b51c-5a13fe9cbaee>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/suffolk_crackdown_on_the_loan_sharks_menace_1_1805693
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.958917
| 493
| 1.546875
| 2
|
In Our View: Seek a waiver from NCLB
States want more flexibility in education,and feds are willing to grant it
Monday, February 27, 2012
For more than a decade, critics have not-too-inaccurately assailed the title of the No Child Left Behind Act as one of the greatest euphemisms in the history of our federal government. Defenders, though, say the title merely presents a goal and, however unreachable, one worth pursuing.The federal education reform act was scheduled to be reauthorized by Congress in 2007 but, as we all know, Congress has locked itself in a partisan paralysis that prevents any meaningful reform. So states have continued to move haphazardly toward the elusive goal presented by the outdated NCLB.
Recently, 11 states embarked on a new journey allowed by an Obama administration that refuses to wait on Congress. The states were granted waivers that allow them to operate free of many NCLB requirements, under strict conditions. Washington state is correctly trying to join those states, and Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn is leading the waiver-application process.
Dorn has taken a commendable stance as he seeks a waiver from federal officials. “If they come back and say you didn’t go far enough,” he noted recently, “we’ll say, ‘No, we’re not going to do that. We’re going to do what’s best for Washington students.’” In other words, Washingtonians ultimately will decide what’s best for our own public schools.
The waiver would allow Dorn and administrators statewide to stop obsessing over the unreachable NCLB goal, specifically: Every U.S. student must show grade-level proficiency in math and reading by 2014, and when a student does not, that school will be declared a failure and subject to severe penalties from the feds.
Well, that’s just silly, and the missed opportunity of reauthorization in 2007 continues to haunt school districts across America. Here in Washington state, students’ proficiency has improved dramatically in reading, but not so much in math. Dorn believes a waiver can be granted if our state sets a goal of cutting the achievement gap at every school in half by 2017. According to a blog entry last week by Michele McNeil at edweek.org, the feds want to see improvement districtwide: “Subgroup accountability a big point of contention among states, the feds and civil rights’ groups will be a chief focus of monitoring for the department.”
It’s also encouraging to see the feds recognize that teacher unions must buy into the concept of radical reform. The U.S. Department of Education “wants states to consult with stakeholders, namely teachers’ unions, as they implement their plans,” McNeil wrote. “Collaboration was a make-or-break part of the original (waiver) application process. But how the department will enforce this now that the flexibility is already out of the barn is a whole ’nother matter.”
Requesting a waiver is the right strategy, but if close monitoring is not maintained at the state level, the flexibility granted by the feds will be wasted. With a waiver, the pressure on Dorn and other state officials would still be intense, but they could pursue higher proficiency levels with more autonomy and less meddling from inside the Beltway.
|
<urn:uuid:7cbbfb53-dd3a-433c-9a6b-90c5faa95461>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.columbian.com/news/2012/feb/27/seek-a-waiver-from-nclb/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.959617
| 712
| 1.75
| 2
|
Have you looked at your health insurance documents lately? If not, you might want to do so. Your health coverage could end your debt-free adventure at any time.
I have an Aetna policy with a $5,250 in-network deductible. So far this year (fortunately) SMB and I haven’t had to visit a doctor or hospital. But if either of us gets sick, we have to shell out money from our pocket up to this maximum. (I am not discussing the ways to choose a health plan, so don’t get distracted.) The point here is, whatever your out-of-pocket maximum may be, are you prepared to pay it off? Do you have that money?
You have worked very hard and now you are debt free; a big congrats! Now the next big hurdle is to remain debt free and continue to build wealth till you become financially independent or till you die, as simple as that! Pundits will suggest don’t use credit card and you will remain debt free, what if you are on low income and can not cough up emergency cash without borrowing money?
An illness is just one of the ways your debt-free life can be cut short. There are thousand of other ways you can find yourself in debt again. You will be fortunate if you get some time to build wealth before any of the following happens.
1. Natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, or landslides can destroy your wealth if not you aren’t prepared.
2. A financial disaster like a stock market collapse, housing collapse, or basically any kind of collapse can be just as harmful as a natural disaster, if you haven’t planned for it.
3. Not having adequate insurance coverage (any kind) could force you to pay for whatever is not covered.
4. A theft or fire at your home or business.
5. Your financial stupidity and buying what you don’t need
6. Job loss
You can come up with many more but, If anything like this happens to you and you don’t have capital to compensate for the loss, you will likely incur debt.
I recently read a CNN Money article that says 64% of Americans do not have even $1,000 in emergency cash!
Dear reader, ask yourself honestly, do you have the cash required to compensate for an emergency like those listed above? Next time you brag about your debt-free situation to your friends and family, stop bragging and ask yourself this important question! You better be concentrating on building wealth and increasing that emergency fund cushion.
Since you are debt free, it can be assumed that you know basic money principles, or at least most of them. I don’t need to tell you how to use credit cards or the benefits of setting automatic deductions from your checking account.
The fact that you are debt free but don’t have enough emergency saving leads to only one scenario – you have a limited income. Remaining debt free on a smaller income is a big challenge probably greater than the challenge you faced to become debt free. If you lose your job and suffer from an illness at the same time, what will you do?
I will suggest you act now and be prepared for this scenario. A cushion of 3-6 months of expenses in your savings account is not the most appropriate solution. In order to remain debt free, come what may, you need to be prepared for hardship. Going by human psychology, facing hardship willingly is probably 100 times easier than facing hardship forcefully.
Imagine yourself in hardship now. Imagine what comforts and luxuries you may have to give up if disaster strikes. If you could give them up in case of emergency, you could give them up now!
Cut your internet costs (access the net from the library, work, or a friend’s place), phone (either cell or home), cut TV (other options are there), completely stop eating out (cook your own food), downsize your home, sell clothes and furniture, stop buying things other than food and other life essentials.
Basically, take all the steps you would otherwise need to take in our imaginary disastrous situation. Maintain this almost minimalist lifestyle for 6 months to 1 year (or 2). I can tell you for sure that at the end of it, you and your family will have sufficient savings at hand even if you are living on a paltry income. You can go back to your usual spending habits after this self-imposed hardship period is over and thank me that day, for you read it the first time on this blog.
Financial implication on Self imposed hardship vs forced hardship
|In a forced hardship you borrow money from a lender, most probably drawing from credit limit. Requiring at a minimum 7.5% interest on the borrowed money. For calculation purpose let’s assume you need to borrow $5000 for your emergency.At forced hardship of 24 months, you need to pay $225 per month which will mean you need to pay $5400 back to the card issuer. Where as, in self imposed hardship you need to save only $209 per month. Remember , this calculation is based on lowest interest on credit card possible and only 2 years of forced hardship, if you can not save the required amount per month you will have to eventually pay a significant amount towards interest.|
|SB is a husband and working as a software professional for a Fortune 100 corporation in Florida. Thanks for visiting the blog.
You can receive free full-text articles from One Cent at a Time in your email inbox, on the days we publish fresh content, by entering your email below. Your email will only be used for subscription, and each email will include a link you may use to unsubscribe at any time. You can also become our Facebook fan or follow us via Twitter
|
<urn:uuid:97956fda-3a6e-4eb7-90cc-795a56f0dd6f>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://onecentatatime.com/you-are-debt-free-can-you-remain-debt-free/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.946926
| 1,205
| 1.601563
| 2
|
EBay Welcomes Under-18 Crowd — How to Keep Tabs on Your Child’s Account
|July 31, 2012|
By the middle of next year, kids under 18 may be able to open their own eBay accounts and start to bid on everything from baseball cards to jewelry, with parental supervision.
That brings a new load of challenges in terms of privacy and protecting kids from scammers and inappropriate content. And, for parents, it could mean finding ways to keep tabs on their kids’ spending — spending they are ultimately responsible for.
Young people already using eBay
In its user policy, eBay explains why the company currently requires account holders to be 18. “When eBay members agree to buy or sell items,” the policy reads, “they are entering into contracts with each other. In most countries, you must be at least 18 years old to enter into a contract.”
Yet minors are already part of the eBay community. Some are piggybacking on adults accounts — which is allowed, as long as the adult gives permission. Other minors are lying about their ages to set up their own eBay accounts and using PayPal to make purchases (PayPal allows minors 13 years or older to get PayPal debit cards with a parent’s permission).
Young Internet users have a history of finding ways around the rules. Take Facebook, for example. Consumer Reports found in a 2011 study that about 7.5 million Facebook users in the U.S. are under 13, which is in violation of Facebook policy. About 5 million were under the age of 10, the study found. Meanwhile, in April 2012, MinorMonitor (a website that lets parents monitor their children’s social media activity) surveyed 1,000 parents of Facebook users under 18. Responses indicated more than 38 percent of the users were 12 and younger.
Challenges for parents
Welcoming minors into the eBay community would allow young users to set up legitimate accounts of their own — and help eBay grow its community. But parents, who already have to be fierce protectors of their kids’ identities and social network presence, will now have to add online shopping to their scope. After all, if eBay opens the door to this group successfully, other online marketplaces are sure to follow — and it’s parents who will be ultimately responsible for any damage control, if their children bite off more than they can chew (or pay for).
EBay has yet to explain exactly what kind of access kids will have to the site as buyers and sellers. Yet some possible challenges facing parents include:
- Protecting their own wallets: If your child is using your credit card to shop eBay, keep in mind that whenever your child wins an auction, he (ultimately you) is “obligated to purchase the item,” according to eBay’s policies. In other words, if your child is new to eBay and starts bidding on every item that catches her eye and wins several auctions, you could be on the hook.Prepaid cards can be a useful budgeting tool for young people– and a way for parents to control how much money their kids have to play with. Consider requiring your child to use a prepaid card (that you load with a limited amount of funds) when shopping on eBay.If you decide to go the PayPal route (which is becoming the norm for many eBay buyers and sellers), keep in mind that PayPal will not allow you to link most prepaid cards to your account. You can, however, get PayPal’s branded prepaid MasterCard (and link it to the PayPal tied to your child’s eBay account). PayPal allows parents to add their children (age 13 and over) as secondary cardholders and top off the card online.
- Protecting their children’s identities: With financial and contact information being entered into the site, eBay has become a target for identity thieves. Users have also reported scam emails (designed to look like they are coming from eBay) that ask for debit and credit card details.Explain these risks to your kids. Instruct them not to give out personal or financial information to sellers over the phone, through the mail or online, unless they are certain the contact is legitimate.
Although eBay hasn’t released specific details about how it will protect its youngest users, limited access and parental guidance will be key, Devin Wenig, eBay’s president of global marketplaces, told The Wall Street Journal.
“We wouldn’t allow a 15-year-old unfettered access to the site,” he said. “We would want a parent, an adult as a ride-along.”
EBay could consider taking a page out of the financial services industry’s playbook. Protections have already been established in the banking world for those under 21. Under the Credit CARD Act, consumers under 21 can’t get credit cards unless they can prove they have steady income to pay monthly bills or have an adult co-signer on the account. And banks often require adult consent for a minor to set up a checking account.
|
<urn:uuid:02cadc2e-c0b8-49f3-a92a-cc2a86f37721>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.creditcardguide.com/credit-cards/ebay-welcomes-under-18-crowd-how-to-keep-tabs-on-your-childs-account.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.954816
| 1,051
| 1.796875
| 2
|
What Google's settlement with FTC means for users
Ralph Orlowski/Getty Images
On the issue most important to Google, Google won. The most potentially damaging line of inquiry undertaken by the FTC concerned accusations that Google's search results were unfairly biased in favor of its own products. Some critics wanted to see mandated changes to Google algorithms. But after considering a number of approaches, FTC commissioners decided unanimously that Google was not violating any antitrust laws when it comes to search results. For Google, this is a major victory.
- Google settles with FTC over antitrust issues
- Google set to settle FTC antitrust probe, report says
- Yelp calls FTC deal with Google a "missed opportunity"
Search results are going to look more or less the same. A handful of companies may choose to stop showing their results inside Google products like Google+ Local, Google Shopping, and Hotels. But otherwise Google can continue operating as normal.
Competitors are upset with the decision. FairSearch, which represented many of the Google competitors pressing for stronger action, was among those who predicted that the FTC's decision would allow Google to further consolidate its power. "The FTC's inaction on the core question of search bias will only embolden Google to act more aggressively to misuse its monopoly power to harm other innovators," the group said in a statement. Yelp, who has been among the company's most vocal critics, called it "a missed opportunity to protect innovation in the Internet economy, and the consumers and businesses that rely upon it."
Google will have to license some of the patents it acquired from Motorola more liberally. The FTC found that Google's use of some of the patents it acquired from Motorola to be anticompetitive. Google can no longer file injunctions against competitors that make use of those patents, which are needed for complying with technical standards. In the settlement's only binding agreement, Google agreed to allow competitors access to the patents, "on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms."
The victories won by Google's critics here are minor and technical. In response to the investigation, Google said it would allow creators of vertical search products like Yelp and travel-booking services to opt out of having their results "scraped" and displayed on certain Google results pages. To opt out, companies must fill out a Web-based notice form to be made available within 90 days. In a separate agreement, advertisers won a concession from Google on its AdWords platform; Google will modify the product to let advertisers more easily manage ad campaigns that run both on AdWords and competing platforms.
All eyes now turn to the European Commission, which has mounted a separate antitrust investigation into Google's business practices. Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt and the European Union antitrust chief Joaquin Almunia met last month in Brussels, Belgium. At the time, Almunia said he expected an offer from Google this month to settle its additional antitrust probe.
Popular on MoneyWatch
- TGI Fridays nailed for doctoring booze
- Reverse cell phone lookup service is free and simple
- Amy's Baking Company could face legal 'nightmare'
- The Donald prevails in fraud suit
- Top 10 professional life coaching myths
- Amy's Baking Company: Post-meltdown PR campaign
- How Bernanke's testimony affects investors
- Turn off Windows 8 with one click
|
<urn:uuid:cb9264d9-478e-45cc-878d-6ae32a060b2a>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505124_162-57561937/what-googles-settlement-with-ftc-means-for-users/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.946217
| 684
| 1.75
| 2
|
Author: Kary G PM
'There's something you need to understand. When we kill is because we should do it, and we are prepared to live with it. Because we never killed a stranger, we kill just for what we love'Rated: Fiction T - English - Tragedy/Crime - Words: 3,335 - Reviews: 2 - Published: 07-19-11 - Status: Complete - id: 7198303
|A+ A- Full 3/4 1/2 Expand Tighten|
By: Kary G.
Chapter: Sydney, jealous
Disclaimer:I do not own the characters of Walker Texas Ranger.
A/N: The story is A/U some of you may disagree with the content [the situation, plot] but I had to post it. The quote I used is from a TV Show in Mexico called 'Mujeres Asesinas' (Killer Women) I DO NOT OWN THE QUOTE.
'There's something you need to understand. When we kill is because we should do it, and we are prepared to live with it. Because we never killed a stranger, we kill just for what we love'
"How do you deal with the betrayal of your loved one? How do you deal with the pain that consumes your body every minute? How do you heal your heart? How? That's the only question that has been killing my head. How? How? How? He might know the answer to that…too bad he cannot answer my question.
The rug is soaked with that beautiful scarlet color…and he is there floating in his own blood. He looks so beautiful and peaceful. I even walk around him quietly as if he was going to wake up soon... ha, ha…too bad he can't. There's not a drop of sadness neither in my heart nor love, just pure hate... He should've known better than to do that to me…Did I do something wrong to deserve this? No, I don't think so. He was the one who messed up, everything was perfect.
Until she came to invade my space, until he let her be a part of his life when he had a life with me. I looked at him lying on the floor. His face has a horror expression, his eyes…those blue eyes are now closed, and his lips are dark, thanks to the fire dancing all over his body, and my tears fall to my delicate hands mixing with the blood…my husband's blood."
****2 days ago*****
Sydney Cooke couldn't be happier with her life; she had everything a woman could ask for: a fantastic job, an excellent economic status, a beauty that other women envy, and an awesome, handsome husband. Until she decided to love him…until he let her love him.
Sindel, a beautiful, petite, and blond lawyer sat in the patio enjoying the beautiful view the large gardens on her property provided her. Today was a celebration day. Gage, Sydney's husband was promoted from a normal employee to a vice-president position of one of the largest company in Sacramento, California.
Sydney stood in the kitchen looking at all the people from her husband's work place. She wasn't a stranger around them, most of the men tried to flirt with her at first until they knew who her husband was, but Sydney was now more interested in her husband, and "her" friend Sindel.
After 3 years of marriage and no kids, Sydney noticed that Gage was not the same man as before. He was getting late at home, he wasn't that much of a loving husband with her, every time she called him to his cell phone or work, and he was either in a meeting with his boss or was on a business trip. Deep inside her knew Sindel had something to do with him.
The way Sindel looked at her husband…her eyes were eating him from head to toe, and the way she smiled to him… Sydney shook her head, and tried to not to think of that…this was all in her head. "Stop being jealous!" her mind screamed at her, but the way those two were laughing…she decided to walk and join her husband. Sydney embraced her husband from behind putting her hands on his waist, he tried to move, but instead of letting him go her hands became tighter around him, in return he smiled…a fake smile that his wife recognized very well.
"I'm tired Gage. I want to go home," Sydney said trying to convince Gage.
"Sydney, the party is just getting started." Sindel spoke, she hated Sydney so much, she felt the need to just push Sydney away from Gage.
"Sindel is right. Why don't you go home and rest? I'll wake you up once I get there. I need to go to the office for some papers," Gage told Syd.
"Are you sure?" Sydney asked Gage not believing what she was hearing.
"Yes," Sydney hearing this smile, and kissed him deeply. Sidnel's blood boiled, she looked away from the happy couple. Her fingers tightened around her drink. Sydney noticed her knuckles white from her tight grip on the glass of wine.
"Sindel, are you ok?" Sindel turned her attention to Syd.
"Yes, I'm fine," Sindel reply.
Sydney said goodbye to her husband, and went to her hummer truck and drove away from the residence. Halfway of driving on the road, she began to ask tons of questions, she shouldn't have doubts, she trusted Gage a lot, but then why was Sindel flirting like that with Gage and he didn't even notice. Did he? She parked her truck at the side of the road, and putting her head on her hands. "Come on Cooke, you need to stop thinking like that. Your husband is NOT cheating on you," after various minutes of thinking the same thing over and over again, she start the engine and drove home.
The dark sky gave light to the gardens of her home. A beautiful fountain sat in the middle of the entrance surrounded by green plants, flowers of all kind. Sydney parked her truck, and got out. She stood there inhaling the clean air, everything around her was quiet, just the sound of frogs singing in the night. She took her cell phone out of her purse, and look at the time. 9 PM was what the phone had on the screen.
Somehow the sound of frogs reminded her of a lullaby, she kept hearing the frogs sing their melody endlessly, and she sighed. She couldn't keep out of her mind the laughter of children; she was so jealous of how other wives came to tell her how their son or daughter tried to say "dad" or "mom", how their children began to crawl or walk. All of this was a torture to Sydney.
Sydney talked to Gage about having kids, but Gage seemed not so sure about the idea. Both, Syd and Gage were responsible people, but Gage felt that he wasn't ready for a baby.
** A week ago**
Sydney sat in the living room with her laptop on a small table. The sound of lullabies could be heard within two feet from her. Gage got home from work and was greeted with the sound of baby laughter….
"I'm home," Gage said entering the living room.
"Hello honey," Sydney reply kissing Gage on the lips.
"Did I miss something?" His curiosity was killing him.
"I'm just looking for some things," she simply say.
"I can see that. What's this all about?"
"My sister Sarah called. I'm going to be an aunt, and I'm looking for something special to give her," her excitement was written all over her face.
"Come on, Sydney. Say it" Gage told his wife looking straight to her eye.
"Say what?" She asked trying to avoid Gage's gaze.
"This isn't only about your sister. Is it?" he tried one more time.
"Well…I just…I was…you know Gage that I've always wanted kids," Gage had to approach more to hear the last word. Her fingers played nervously with the keyboard of her laptop.
"Syd, I want kids too is just that I want to wait a little bit more, I was just changed to a vice-president position on the company, and I want to wait a little bit more," he tried to convince her.
"Gage, we've been married for three years and you said that exact same thing the past couple of years…I mean, are you afraid to become a father? Are you sure you want to wait more? Do you even want to have kids with me? Honey, I miss you, and I feel lonely at night without you next to me," her voice reveal sadness, and anger.
"Of course I want to have a family with you, I love you more than you'll ever know, I'm just asking you to wait a little bit more, please?" he looked at her with those puppy-sad eyes.
"All right," she gave him a sad smile. He kissed her so tenderly that she thought was going to melt right there. He broke the kiss, and went to change to the restroom, taking all the magic away that she felt in that moment.
The cold wind began to touch her skin making Sydney snap out of her thoughts; she hurried inside to the warmth of her home. She walked to the living room, to where a chimney was located at and placed her delicate hands not too far, not too near on the fire, but the fire couldn't make her hands warm. She needed his hands, but Gage wasn't there.
A tear rolled down her eye, and she brushed it away with the back of her hand. Slowly, she sat on the luxurious rug in front of the chimney and cried like a little baby rocking back and forth. She loved her husband so much, but at the same time the love was disappearing not because of Syd, but because of him.
Sydney sniffed a few times, and focused her gaze on her wedding picture. If only he knew how lonely she felt…she stood up from the floor, and went to her bedroom. She went to the restroom and changed her clothes for her silk pajamas. She then lay on her bed, alone like the past three years. Sydney curled up and embraced Gage's pillow to her breast.
"What are you doing Gage?" she asked, but received no answer. Finally, she gave up and fall asleep wondering about her husband…
the mansion was empty; there was not a single person in the house. The room was filled with expensive paints, beautiful sofas, and a humongous closet. The walls of the room were covered with beige and gold color, but it wasn't visible very well because of the candles that gave light to the room, the rug was perfect, and the mattress was covered with red silk sheets, the perfect place to shed a moment of love, and lust…that same lust was being shared between them…
Sindel's body moved underneath him, his hands caressed every single place on her body, her blonde hair was spilled just like water on the pillow covered with the same silk sheets as the mattress, every caress that he did to her send electricity through every nerve…his mouth bit her ear lobe gently making her moan in pleasure, her body ache and demanded more, and more each second.
His lips then moved to her neck biting her gently, leaving strawberry marks on her skin. He kept moving torturing her each second, her breath caught on her throat, she wanted him so bad, and felt she was going to die if he didn't do something about it. "Please.." she said to him over and over again, moaning until he decided to make her wish come true, and finally they became one, following the rhythm, screaming each other's name revealing the pleasure each other felt…
Sindel buried her face on his chest grinning…at the end, Sindel won…not a new man in her life, but Sydney's husband.
Sydney woke up; the clocks' light shone in the night, four AM in the morning and still no sign of Gage. She put some clothes and went to the living room to wait for him, before she sat on the sofa she took a magazine that was on a small table in the center of the living room, and she began to flip the pages, gossip, and more gossip was all that Syd could find in those 55 written pages. She threw the magazine to where all other papers were stack together and just sat there with the silence and loneliness…her best friends.
Gage woke up smelling lavender; he opened his eyes and noticed Sindel next to him, the red sheets of the bed covering her body. In that moment he realized that this whole love-making with one of his co-workers was a mistake, but how did he go to bed with Sindel? His head was full of questions. His hands covered his face not noticing Sindel's smile. Gage, without turning back went to the restroom to add some clothes to his muscular and nude body, leaving his cell phone in the bed.
Inside the bathroom, he decided to take a shower trying to find a way to tell HIS wife the biggest mistake that he ever did in his life, it was not going to be simple, but she deserved the truth.
Sydney's face revealed some dark bags underneath her eyes, where was her husband? Was he okay? Did he have another meeting? An accident?
Gage's phone rang a few times, the water made it impossible to hear his cell phone that was lying on the bed. Sindel took the cell phone and answered the call. Not looking at the screen to see who it was.
"Hello," Sindel's sweet voice greeted the other person waiting for an answer.
Sindel waited for a response but the other person was silence. Suddenly, the phone went dead. Sindel just hung up the phone not telling Gage who called him, as he opened the door all dressed up, and leaving Sindel on the bed, not even saying 'goodbye'.
Sydney hung up the phone, as the tears ran down her cheeks. Her sobs were impossible to choke back, and her body slid down until she was curled up in a ball on the floor rocking back, and forth like a baby. "Why Gage? Oh, god. Why?" she asked, and asked, her voice mixing with the sobs, and the tears.
She stayed there for a few minutes on the floor, and slowly stood up. She ran to her bedroom and started to take all of her clothes out of her closet and began putting them in a suitcase, she had enough of his behavior, and that confirmed his infidelity. How could she be so blind?
The door was open and Gage came in, he closed the door and heard a few sniffs, he hurried to his bedroom and saw Sydney taking clothes out of her closet, and then her eyes travel to the suitcase. "Sydney, what are you doing? Where are you going?"
Sydney didn't look at him, and kept putting clothes in the suitcase. "As far away from here as I can get,"
"Sydney, talk to me," Gage pleaded.
"What do you think it was going to happen Gage? Do you think I wasn't going to discover my own husband, the man I thought I married was unfaithful?"
"I'm sorry I… I don't know what the hell happen to me! Sindel did this… she began pouring drink after drink..and.." Sydney's voice cut him off.
"…And you couldn't stop her, and call me! You couldn't say "No" to a woman specially Sindel. You always gotta be the good guy, can't let anybody down, not even your mistress!"
"Sydney, she's not my mistress!"
"Really? I called you and she answered the phone. I hope you had a really good one night stand,"
"Sydney, you don't wanna go," Gage said.
"I'm sure as hell don't want to stay! For what? Three years Francis! Three damn years married! I gave you my love, everything of me! IF you needed sex I was here that's why we are husband and wife! What did you see in her to go to bed when you had a wife waiting for you every night crying herself to sleep because you weren't home! Trying not to imagine the worst thing!"
"I'm so sorry please forgive me," the tears began to show in Gage's eyes.
"You already did what you had to do. You don't need my forgiveness! Go back with her! Marry her if you want. I want a divorce, and I don't want to see you again. I'm done with you so please go!"
Sydney began to walk away, but Gage took hold of her arm and spun her around so she was in front of him. "Let me go, Gage!"
"I'm not letting you go until you listen to me. I love you Sydney, this wasn't right… it was all Sindel's thinking, I love you damn it!" Gage pleaded with her over, and over again.
****The phone rang a few times until a woman answered "911. What is your emergency?" the woman said at the other end of the line. ****
****"Is anybody home?" A Dallas Police Officer walked inside the door with gun in hand, his partner behind him. Each officer checked the downstairs area. Both officers still holding their guns ready to shoot. They began going upstairs, and checking each room until they heard sobbing from the master room. One of the officers opened the door slowly revealing Gage's dead body floating in his own blood.
The sobs were coming from inside the bathroom, and that wasn't the only sound….the sound of water mixed with the desperation. Sydney's body shook with the sobs that were coming out of her throat. Sydney felt disgusted she scrubbed her hands harder, the water appeared pink in the white sink, then clear, and again pink, her nails dug in her arms trying to get rid of the blood, and once again the clear water became a bright red, her own blood oozing from her arms.
One of the officers opened the door of the bathroom. "Put your hands behind your back!" minutes and forensics arrived giving the opportunity to DPD to take Sydney down to the station.
A detective sat across from where Sydney was. Her gaze focused on her shaky hands playing with her fingers.
"What happened to your husband?"
"He messed up. He should've known the consequences. I had to kill him,"
"How did you kill him Ms. Gage?"
An evil smile spread across her lips. "It was a piece of cake," madness took over as she detailed the murder.
"I'm not listening to you. What are you going to say that it was a stupid mistake? That you love so much? Why don't you say it? That you slept with her because you loved HER, and not ME. I don't want to see you again. I hope you get married to that bitch so she makes your life miserable" she turned around with her luggage in hand, she was almost out when he stopped her.
Fury shot through her system, her eyes searched wildly. Her hand reached for the object, and in seconds the object made contact with Gage's head, and he fell. Sydney kept hitting him over, and over again, until the blood began to stain his shirt, her hands, the rug.
She took a small alcohol bottle placed on a small table a few feet from her. She poured the content to his lifeless body, and took a lighter letting the flames consumed him. Slowly she walked to the bathroom of the master bedroom.
"I'm finally free…" She said over, and over again as her wedding ring dropped to the ground.
|
<urn:uuid:143ed354-b433-47c0-a4ad-5a94e20c784f>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7198303/1/Madness
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.989983
| 4,233
| 1.523438
| 2
|
UN human rights chief calls for fair Guinea-Bissau presidential election Jamie Davis at 9:11 AM ET
[JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official website] urged the people of Guinea-Bissau [JURIST news archive] Friday to ensure that the country's upcoming presidential election is free and fair and warned that any violence during the election would be a violation of human rights. The presidential election, to be held on Sunday, comes after Guinea-Bissau's former president Malam Bacai Sanha died in January. Pillay's concerns for a fair election [UN News Centre report] stem from the country's history [BBC news archive] of being ridden with coups and unruliness after breaking away from Portugal and gaining independence in 1974. Pillay also applauded the people in Guniea-Bissau for their peaceful participation is the election process so far. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also issued a statement [text] calling on the country to maintain order during the elections. Nine people are reportedly candidates for the presidency.
Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news service, powered by a team of 30 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible, ad-free format.
|
<urn:uuid:704d6313-24bd-4701-90de-13a7c1253070>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://jurist.org/paperchase/2012/03/un-human-rights-chief-calls-for-fair-guinea-bissau-presidential-election.php
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.950868
| 300
| 1.78125
| 2
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.