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Does Pakistan's National Pride Hinge on India Considering It a Threat?
Pakistan's perceived need for nuclear weapons may be vastly overstated.
Michael Stimson, co-founder of the Stimson Center, has written a valuable paper Pakistan's Nuclear Strategy and Deterrence Stability, in which he concludes:
Pakistan’s [nuclear-weapons] stockpile is likely to grow as long as key constituencies within the country view their nuclear programs as a success story, domestic critics can be easily dismissed, relations with India remain contentious, and the sense of Pakistan’s international isolation grows.
As for India …
The central purpose of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, as defined by those who set nuclear requirements, is to protect Pakistan from a predatory neighbor that seeks either its demise or its submissiveness. … This widely held view within military circles remains fixed, even as Pakistan has become increasingly peripheral to India’s national ambitions. To acknowledge that a “hegemonic” neighbor has more pressing interests than to punish Pakistan would only magnify a sense of Pakistan’s national decline.
Indian elites resent being compared to Pakistan because, by almost every indicator, Pakistan is receding in India’s rear-view mirror.
Let me get this straight. Pakistan maintains and expands its nuclear-weapons program out of a need to believe that it's a priority of India to invade, or at least retaliate with harsh measures, for extremist attacks, such as Mumbai, that Pakistan has failed to prevent? In other words Pakistan has locked itself into enacting this charade that's not only prohibitively expensive but threatens its own existence because the bottom might drop out of its national pride if it wasn't foremost in the minds of India as a threat?
That's a high price to pay for a case of low self-esteem. | <urn:uuid:eba6db55-86a1-428d-b306-bfddd95d01e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fpif.org/blog/does_pakistans_national_pride_hinge_on_india_considering_it_a_threat?q=Tag%3ANationalism | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959979 | 374 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Entertainment :: Culture
Remembering Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal has died at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 86. Martha Teichner looks back at the author who was able to use his words and wield them as swords to cut down the powerful, and often, other writers and intellectuals.
Copyright CBS News. For more articles, visit www.cbsnews.com | <urn:uuid:d6732f4a-1600-4ee5-bc85-455e40e9058d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.edgeboston.com/entertainment/culture/135683/remembering_gore_vidal_ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975909 | 81 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Although each wish experience is unique, there is a general procedure by which a child is referred, qualified, and granted a wish.
STEP 1 - The Wish Referral
The Make-A-Wish Foundation® accepts wish referrals from:
If the initial referral comes from someone other than those listed above, we always ask that the family be notified to refer directly on their own behalf. We never make the initial contact to families at this sensitive time of coping with a life-threatening illness.
STEP 2 - Determining Eligibility
Any child between the ages of 2½ and 18 with a life-threatening medical condition may be eligible for a wish. The child cannot have received a previous wish from the Make-A-Wish Foundation or any other wish-granting organization.
STEP 3 - Identifying the Wish
Once confirmed as eligible, we assign a team of volunteers to coordinate the wish experience. During their first visit with a child, they will ask “If you could have one wish, what would it be?” We let the child choose exactly what he/she would like for their wish. Usually, wishes are limited only by a child’s imagination.
Most wishes fall into four main categories:
To Have – Examples of this type include wishes to have a computer, a party, or a shopping spree.
To Go – This is our most popular wish. Examples include wishes to go to Disney World, Hawaii or on cruises.
To Meet –Examples of this type include wishes to meet a professional athlete, musician, actor, or other popular celebrity. Sometimes this type of wish also includes meeting relatives that the child has never met before!
To Be – Examples of this type include wishes to be a policeman, ballerina, doctor, or other occupation that the child finds fascinating.
STEP 4 - Wish Approval
After the child tells us what their wish is, the request goes through an internal approval process and the wish is verified with the child’s physician to make sure it is medically appropriate.
STEP 5 - Granting the Wish
After the wish is approved, the volunteer wish-granting team sets out to create a magical wish experience!
Thank you to KSTP and the Channel 5 Eyewitness News team for your engagement in Make-A-Wish® Minnesota’s Season of Wishes® campaign and involvement in this year’s Rice Park Tree Lighting event! KSTP and the Channel 5 Eyewitness News team support our mission by sharing heart-warming wish stories and providing promotion through commercials. We appreciate KSTP and the Channel 5 Eyewitness News team’s continuing support of our mission all year long and especially during the holiday season. | <urn:uuid:aa7aac03-5c41-4092-8cce-4a71e6261c17> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mn.wish.org/wish-stories/wish-process/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939857 | 559 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Ffestiniog Railway
In railway circles, Archer is known mostly for the Ffestiniog Railway, which was the major work of his life, a fiery temper, a large frame and an even larger personality. A few recall his long running but fruitless championship of the various Porth Dinllaen railway and harbour projects.
The Ffestiniog slate industry should be grateful to Henry Archer for being in the right place at the right time. It was at the Penygroes Inn in 1829 that Archer met Samuel Holland Jnr., of Rhiwbryfdir slate mine at Blaenau Ffestiniog who was returning from Caernarfon where he banked with Williams and Co. He had travelled between Caernarfon and Penygroes as a passenger on the horse drawn Nantlle Tramway and had called at the Inn for a cup of tea before collecting his horse and riding home.
In conversation, Archer expressed an interest in the Nantlle Railway that was apparently quietly seeking a purchaser. Holland, it is said, suggested that Archer should leave Nantlle to its fate and turn his energies to building a proper railway from Ffestiniog to Porthmadog. A detailed discussion followed and Archer became involved with Holland in the promotion of the Ffestiniog Railway Company.
It was left to Archer as the Managing Director designate to raise the initial capital of £24,185 largely on the Dublin Stock Exchange (including £11,905 of his own money). He was the driving force also in steering the bill through Parliament and in managing the company during construction and through its early years when Archer had to persuade a suspicious slate industry to entrust its slate transport to a railway. Archer quarrelled with his fellow directors, with the Oakeley Estate and with James Spooner and was less active in FR company affairs after the railway opened. In 1836 he sued the FR company for his salary and received a substantial settlement. Nominally he remained as Managing Director until 1856 and as a director until 1860, when the FR Co. gave him a pension of £100 per annum as the originator of the FR and for devoting many years to its service.
Philatelists know Henry Archer as the inventor of the first postage stamp perforating machine, which he patented in 1848, to facilitate stamp separation. Following the successful Prince Consort Essay trials in 1853, he sold his copyright and patents to the Postmaster General for £4,000. In early trials, his alternative Archer Roulette machines failed to work well.
Archer died in France in 1863.
- Boyd, J.I.C. (1960). The Festiniog Railway, volume 1. The Oakwood Press.
- Lewis, M.J.T. Lewis (1965). How Ffestiniog Got Its Railway. The Railway & Canal Historical Society. | <urn:uuid:ea02c9e8-a2b9-48af-9016-a620b6c8bdfc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Archer | 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 | 0.975423 | 599 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Tuesday 21st June 2011
Congratulations to Ervin Welsh, owner of the Beyond Timeless Network. He is the winner of the locally held version of the Puente in the Caribbean competition. The object of this contest is to design a logo and create a local name that encapsulates the objectives of the Puente in the Caribbean Program and is related or reflective of our local Kittitian and Nevisian culture and history.
“The Slogan is in the form of an acronym MEND SKN (Mold • Empower • Nurture • Direct, Families in St. Kitts and Nevis). The acronym speaks to the uniqueness of the program, which lies not in what you are doing but how you are doing it. For those that pass through it, the program will:
Mold: The program will mold families into the healthy lifestyles they should be living, this will take most of the effort in the program but it is the first thing to be addressed, identifying the things that constitute a good family and learning, through training, and the other program competences, to fit into that mold as we all should.
Empower: The families will be empowered to maintain the healthy family structure and functions that it was taught via the program.
Nurture: This takes place both with the program nurturing the family and the family nurturing itself. In this phase the program will allow families to put into practice, the skills and lessons it was taught. Naturally a “good” family is a nurturing entity, so once all is going well the family members will be nurturing each other. Where assistance is necessary, the program facilitators will aid with the development of the problem areas – thus this is program’s nurturing phase also.
Direct: The draw to this program (for the Department) was not only the evaluative measures it implements but also the fact that it seeks to enable those that pass through it, to stand on their own two feet and grow in a well structured, functional environment. At the direction phase, the program will allow those passing through it to see their way forward. Having seen the mold they should embody, then being empowered to maintain that mold, then being allowed to make mistakes as we all do and being shown how to develop past them (being nurtured), this phase will pass those within it, into society with the strength not only to maintain their status (maintain the mold) but to deal with positive growth (e.g. increased income which they would be trained to identify as an opportunity for investment whereas during the program they may have been only making enough to pay bills so investing was not a consideration) and with issues that may arise. This phase would also be a consultative one for those that need to and choose to utilize it.”
Learn More >> | <urn:uuid:09872680-2660-4f5e-a3aa-dcad57bf637b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://beyondtimeless.com/puente-caribbean-competition | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968175 | 573 | 1.820313 | 2 |
The park is also home to various cultural institutions. First there is the Houston Zoo, with over 6,000 animals as well as exhibits, encounters and experiences. Feed crunchy leaf lettuce to Masai giraffes, trek through an African forest, watch a 4D film on grizzly bears, crawl into a see-through tunnel to view piranhas up close, watch sea lions perform flips and jumps or meet the many exotic animals around the zoo. Additionally, Hermann Park’s Miller Outdoor Theatre offers free and family friendly performances, the Pioneer Memorial Log House Museum memorializes pioneer men and women and the Houston Museum of Natural Science provides four floors of free natural science halls and exhibits.
Because Hermann Park is very close to Houston’s Museum District, visitors can easily continue their exploration of local art, culture and heritage after leaving.
We don't have any reviews for this attraction – be the first to review it! Simply click Add Review above and share your opinion. | <urn:uuid:d6d63dfb-1220-4663-a199-b75c8155c38f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.viator.com/Houston-attractions/Hermann-Park/d5186-a9387 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93456 | 200 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Chalmers Carr III is active in the South Carolina peach industry, as well as his own business. His efforts have been recognized by the South Carolina Peach Council, which this year named him Mr. Peach.
He’s been a leader in urging growers to become involved in genetic peach research initiatives to advance the nutritional benefits of peaches and lead to improved fruit quality in the peach industry. Carr also urges fellow growers to voice their concerns on legislation affecting their industry. He has devoted a lot of time to the H-2A program, where rule changes this year increased his labor costs some 28 percent—more, if you count all the side effects (see “H-2A provides dedicated workers”).
Carr serves on the board of the National Clean Plant Network. Working with Dr. Simon Scott at Clemson University, he maintains 38 mother blocks of virus-tested, variety-certified trees at his farm from which three, large Tennessee nurseries take budwood each year to propagate new trees.
“When plum pox came into the industry, we got pretty concerned about propagated material,” Carr said.
Growers pay five cents per tree royalty and an additional two cents per tree directly to nurseries for each new tree planted. Those seven cents help fund Simon’s testing program, which involves peach growers in South Carolina and Georgia, Chalmers said. Nothing goes to the growers who contribute the budwood.
Chalmers is also on the advisory council for the RosBREED program, which has received a four-year grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Specialty Crops Research Initiative to deliver improved plant materials more efficiently and rapidly. He was a big influence in getting the peach breeding program restored at Clemson University and gives high marks to the new breeder, Dr. Ksenija Gasic. | <urn:uuid:16b07ba8-f458-44b4-b50b-76fe28a844ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.goodfruit.com/Good-Fruit-Grower/July-2011/Mr-Peach/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967572 | 382 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Recommended Titles and Treatises
To help provide access to the Texas State Law Library's legal resources, the reference librarians have selected the most noteworthy titles in our collection and arranged them here by subject. The titles listed for each subject feature a brief summary written by a reference librarian, and each subject's titles are divided into those that are specific to Texas law and those that aren't.
If you prefer, you can search through the collection of recommended titles and treatises.
Below is a legend of the icons used.
includes legal forms
Homeowners association and you: the ultimate guide to harmonious community living
225 pages. Updated by new edition.
This book discusses how homeowners associations work from the point of view of both a homeowner and a member of the board of directors. Topics covered include community living, the structure of an association, conflict resolution, financial management, communication and procedure for meetings. This book includes a glossary of terms, sample letters, forms and checklists to assist the running of an association. | <urn:uuid:a03113f3-f0d6-49a0-b9b1-4cb12cc6cc96> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sll.state.tx.us/library-resources/collections/recommended-titles-and-treatises/?title=705&subject=76 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941509 | 210 | 1.632813 | 2 |
What are contingent fees?
A client pays a contingent fee to a lawyer only if the lawyer handles a case successfully. Lawyers and clients use this arrangement only in cases where money is being claimed—most often in cases involving personal injury or workers' compensation.
In a contingent fee arrangement, the lawyer agrees to accept a fixed percentage (often one-third to 40 percent) of the recovery, which is the amount finally paid to the client. If you win the case, the lawyer's fee comes out of the money awarded to you. If you lose, neither you nor the lawyer will get any money, but you will not be required to pay your attorney for the work done on the case.
On the other hand, win or lose, you probably will have to pay court filing fees, the costs related to gathering evidence, and similar charges.
Back to Top | <urn:uuid:7469984e-fc6d-450b-99ab-332aa602df51> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.americanbar.org/portals/public_resources/aba_home_front/information_center/working_with_lawyer/fees_and_expenses.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965586 | 175 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Due to the litigious nature of our society and the rising cost of vehicles, car insurance rates are hefty throughout the nation. The bad news is that insurance isn't likely to lessen in price any time soon. The good news is that there are things that you can do to minimize increases and/or lessen the burden on your wallet. Let's take a look at 12 tips you can employ to save your driving dollars.
1. Insure Multiple Cars/Drivers
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Understand Your Insurance Contract
If you obtain a quote from an auto insurance company to insure a single vehicle, you might end up obtaining a higher quote (per vehicle) than if you inquired about insuring several drivers and/or vehicles with that company. This is because insurance companies will offer what amounts to a bulk rate because they want your business, and under some circumstances, they are willing to give you a deal if it means you'll bring in more of it.
To obtain a discount, ask your agent/insurance company to see if you qualify and get a quote. Generally speaking, multiple drivers must live at the same residence and be related by blood or by marriage. Two non-related people may also be able to obtain a discount; however, they usually must jointly own the vehicle.
Incidentally, some companies may also provide an auto insurance discount if you maintain other policies with the firm (ex. homeowner's insurance). Check with your agent/insurance company to see if such discounts are available and applicable.
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2. Keep a Clean Record
It should go without saying that the more accidents or moving violations an individual has, the more he or she will tend to pay in terms of annual premiums. For those unaware, points are typically assessed to a driver for moving violations. Generally speaking, more points can lead to higher insurance premiums (all else being equal).
3. Take a Defensive Driving Course
Sometimes insurance companies will provide a discount for those that complete an approved defensive driving course. Also, sometimes a driver can reduce the number of points he or she has on his or her license by taking a defensive driving, accident prevention or other course.
Make sure to directly ask your agent/insurance company about this discount before signing up for a class. After all, it's important that the effort being expended and the cost of the course will translate into a big enough insurance savings. It's also important that the driver sign up for an accredited course.
4. Shop Around
If your policy has just been renewed and the annual premium has gone up markedly, consider shopping around and obtaining quotes from competing companies. Also, every year or two it probably makes sense to obtain quotes from other companies just in case there is a lower rate out there.
However, remember that cheap doesn't always mean good and going with the lower-priced company isn't always the wisest decision. That's because the insurer's credit worthiness should also be considered. After all, what good is a policy if the company doesn't have the wherewithal to pay an insurance claim? To run a check on a particular insurer, consider checking out a site that rates the financial strength of insurance companies (such as A.M. Best).
5. Take Mass Transit
When you sign up for insurance, the company will generally issue you a questionnaire. Among the questions it asks might be the number of miles you drive the insured automobile per year.
If you use your vehicle to commute three hours to work every day, you will generally pay more in insurance premiums than someone who only drives one mile a day. If possible, try to use mass transit to rack up fewer miles, keeping in mind that you will usually have to decrease your mileage significantly before incurring a discount. Ask your agent/insurance company about the company's different mileage thresholds so your efforts won't be wasted.
6. Select Your Vehicle Carefully
Buying a huge SUV may sound exciting, but insuring a 5,000-pound, top-of-the-line vehicle can be more expensive than insuring a small (but safe) lower-cost commuting car. Also, older cars are often cheaper to insure than their more modern counterparts. Again, speak with your agent/insurance company to find out the exact rates to insure the different vehicles you're considering before making a purchase.
7. Consider Raising Your Deductibles
When selecting car insurance, you can typically choose a deductible, or the amount of money you would have to lay out before insurance picks up the tab in the event of an accident, theft or other type of damage to the vehicle. Depending on the policy, deductibles typically range from $250 to $1,000. The catch is that, generally speaking, the lower the deductible, the higher the annual premium. Conversely, the higher the deductible is, the lower the premium. Ask your agent/insurance company how your premium might be affected if you raised your deductible. In some cases, it may make the annual premium better by several percent and put some money back in your pocket; other times, the savings may be minimal.
8. Improve Your Credit Rating
A driver's record is obviously a big factor in determining auto insurance costs. After all, it makes sense that a driver who has been in lots of accidents could cost the insurance company lots of money. However, folks are sometimes surprised to find that insurance companies may also consider their credit ratings when determining insurance premiums.
Why is a person's credit rating considered? The theory is that individuals who keep their financial situations in ship-shape condition will tend to be more careful when it comes to driving. Regardless of whether that's true, be aware that your credit rating can be a factor in figuring insurance premiums and do your utmost to keep that rating high.
9. Pay Attention to Where You Live
It's unlikely that you will move to a different location (i.e., state) simply because it has lower car insurance rates. However, when planning a move, the potential change in your car insurance rate is something that you will want to factor into your budget.
10. Drop Unnecessary Coverage
Dropping certain types of coverage can be a slippery slope. After all, nobody can predict if or when an accident will occur. However, if an individual is driving an extremely old automobile that's on its last legs, it may make sense (depending on the cost, the individual's driving record and other factors) to drop collision coverage. The reason for this is that were the vehicle to be involved in an accident, the insurance company would likely total the car. If the value of the car is only $1,000 and the collision coverage costs $500 per year, it may not make sense to but it.
In any case, before making any such decision, consider speaking with your financial advisor and your agent/insurance company. Remember, every situation is different and the decision is up to you.
11. Install Anti-Theft Devices
Individuals have the potential to lower their annual premiums, sometimes by as much as several percent, if they install anti-theft devices. Your agent or insurance company should be able to tell you specifically which devices, when installed, can lower premiums. Car alarms and LoJacks are two types of devices that you might want to inquire about. If your primary motivation for installing an anti-theft device is to lower your insurance premium, make sure to consider whether the cost of adding the device will result in a significant enough savings to be worth the trouble and expense.
12. Question Your Agent
It's important to note that there may be other potential cost savings to be had in addition to the ones described in this article. In fact, that's why it often makes sense for you to speak directly with your agent or a representative of the insurance company to ask if there are any special discounts that the company offers for individuals such as military personnel or employees of a certain company. The insurance company may also offer a "good student" rate or some other special savings. You never know what sort of discount pricing might be available for your circumstances, but unless you ask, you probably won't be able to take advantage of it.
The price of auto insurance is likely to continue to rise in the future. However, there are many things you can do to reduce the sting, and hopefully these 12 tips will have you driving in the right direction. | <urn:uuid:092ea3cc-745c-4511-ac63-f585ad1ce345> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.yahoo.com/12-car-insurance-cost-cutters-070000250.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960933 | 1,767 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Here’s a ray of inspiration for anyone who cares about protecting and restoring our natural treasures. Twelve-year-old Justin Smith, an avid mariner, crossed the Long Island Sound in a small sailboat last fall to raise funds for NFWF’s Long Island Sound Futures Fund. Never having attempted a cross-Sound sail, he made the seven-mile trip in an Optimist, an eight-foot-long boat, on October 20.
Justin has sailed the Sound for the past three years out of the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club, where he’s a member of the race team. He decided to undertake the charitable project for his bar mitzvah, which celebrates, among other things, a personal responsibility to society. Raising funds for a project to restore the Sound is Justin’s worthy deed to acknowledge that responsibility. He's collected more than $4,000 from friends, family and other supporters.
View all NFWF videos | <urn:uuid:8280a4de-0e00-4937-b526-b103250bd70b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nfwf.org/Pages/mediacenter/An-Optimist-on-Long-Island-Sound-Video.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944234 | 205 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Swedish carmaker Saab has been sold to an investment firm which aims to build only electric vehicles.
It is not known how much National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) paid for Saab’s assets or what the deal will mean for the 3,000 staff, though recruitment has started for specialist engineers.
The new owner, which was created specifically for this buyout, was founded by two firms: Hong Kong-based alternative energy specialist National Modern Energy Holdings and Japanese investment firm Sun Investment.
NEVS plans to create a new model based on the current Saab 9-3, “which will be modified for electric drive using advanced technology from Japan”, a statement said.
It expects the car to hit the market at the end of 2013 or beginning of 2014… | <urn:uuid:fb37b330-2eff-4dea-b316-f2c322ef5a73> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.jobbook.com/2012/06/saab-saved-but-will-only-make-electric-cars/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96741 | 163 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Explore The Highland region
Towering high above the River Shin, twenty miles northwest of Tain, the daunting neo-Gothic profile of Carbisdale Castle overlooks the Kyle of Sutherland, as well as the battlefield where the gallant Marquess of Montrose was defeated in 1650, finally forcing Charles II to accede to the Scots’ demand for Presbyterianism. The castle was erected between 1906 and 1917 for the dowager Duchess of Sutherland, following a protracted family feud. Designed in three distinct styles (to give the impression that it was added to over a long period of time), Carbisdale was eventually acquired by a Norwegian shipping magnate in 1933, and finally gifted, along with its entire contents and estate, to the SYHA, which has turned it into what must be one of the most opulent hostels in the world. Bring a bike to take advantage of the several miles of mountain-biking trails in the nearby Balblair and Carbisdale woods.
Thirty dorms and some family rooms in this opulent castle hostel, full of white Italian-marble sculptures, huge gilt-framed portraits, sweeping staircases and magnificent drawing rooms alongside standard facilities such as self-catering kitchens, games and TV rooms. You can tuck into a hearty three-course dinner (£11.50) at the restaurant before wandering the supposedly haunted corridors in search of ghosts. The best way to get here by public transport is to take a train from Inverness to nearby Culrain station. | <urn:uuid:efc65785-442f-4aa2-8597-63ee599600df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.roughguides.com/destinations/europe/scotland/highland-region/east-coast/carbisdale-castle/?wpfpaction=add&postid=40536 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968465 | 313 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Over the next few weeks we will see numerous planets float into the watery, empathetic sign of Pisces. Mars already made the move on February 1st. Mercury will dive in on the 5th, the Sun on the 18th, and Venus on the 25th. During the month, we should see our actions, communications, self-expression, and declarations of love become more adaptive, compassionate, and devotional.
What’s especially significant about this influx is that as they enter Pisces, each will connect to Neptune, Pisces’ ruling planet. This Neptune union will further Pisceanize our perceptions as it’s M.O. is to dissolve the hard edges, reminding us that everything is really much more connected than we consider it to be upon first glance.
While this Neptune connection may further spiritualize our senses, calling forth a deep desire for union and an unconditional love connection, it also has the potential of taking us for a swim in a sea of illusion and confusion. If we don’t have a clear sense of who should be responsible for what, a strong Pisces and Neptune energetic can inspire us to overstep our boundaries, which can lead to self-sacrifice, martyrdom, and enabling behavior.
So during this time, it’s important to dive into your heart, finding that feeling of grace that comes through a sense of awe-filled connection, while also maintaining a heightened sense of clarity. Here are some self-care strategies that may be helpful.
* Meditation: Meditation gives you a time-out from swirl of everyday life and an experience of centering. It allows for the bridging of conscious and subconscious thoughts and feelings, further tuning you into your faith and intuition. The practice of meditation can help to catalyze a state of inner peace.
* Pink Yarrow Flower Essence: This elixir can promote a sense of empathetic fluidity while also helping us to strengthen our personal boundaries. It’s great for periods when we find ourselves with a greater tendency to emotionally merge and get lost in another (which may be more of the norm during this heightened Pisces/Neptune period).
* Be Aquatic: Whether you go for a walk by the sea, take dips in a pool, or relax in a bath, connecting with the water can be very healing during this time. Being in the water and/or observing its flow can help you to tune into and more powerfully resonate with the natural energetics that will be so prevalent in February. | <urn:uuid:ba0384c9-6123-4ae0-8491-dd4d558a5947> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.astrology.com/february-astrology-pisces-pool/2-d-d-519859 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942469 | 519 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Friday, December 24, 2010
From The Realms of Glory
One of my favorite Christmas hymns is entitled "Angels From the Realms of Glory," and tells the story of how groups of people throughout the ages would look to the birth of Christ as the singular event in human history, and would see the Christ child as more deserving of their worship than anything else. It speaks of angels, shepherds, sages, saints, and sinners, who would leave all that they had, to come to the Savior and kneel at His feet, to praise Him and love Him and acknowledge His majesty and be healed by His mercy and love.
Angels from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o’er all the earth;
Ye who sang creation’s story
Now proclaim Messiah’s birth.
Shepherds, in the field abiding,
Watching o’er your flocks by night,
God with us is now residing;
Yonder shines the infant light:
Sages, leave your contemplations,
Brighter visions beam afar;
Seek the great Desire of nations;
Ye have seen His natal star.
Saints, before the altar bending,
Watching long in hope and fear;
Suddenly the Lord, descending,
In His temple shall appear.
Sinners, wrung with true repentance,
Doomed for guilt to endless pains,
Justice now revokes the sentence,
Mercy calls you; break your chains.
Though an Infant now we view Him,
He shall fill His Father’s throne,
Gather all the nations to Him;
Every knee shall then bow down.
Christmas is a time of rejoicing at the good tidings of great joy delivered to all people by an angel millenia ago. It is a time of singing with the heavenly hosts, proclaiming, "Glory to God in the Highest." It is a time to re-dedicate ourselves to "peace on earth, goodwill to men." It is a time to leave our contemplations, to bend before the altar, to be filled with wondering awe. For the Savior, the Lord of heaven and earth, condescended to be born into the world He had formed, to walk among us as a humble child. He, who is King of kings, and Lord of lords, was born to a young girl and her betrothed, laid in a feeding trough, visited by shepherds, and sought by kings. At Christmas we remember that Christ came to sanctify not only the great houses of worship, not only temples and cathedrals and palaces, but also, and ever, the simple, humble places where the pure in heart dwell. He came to redeem. He came to exalt. He came to heal. He came as Emmanuel--God with us. May God be ever welcome in our homes and in our hearts.
For God with us is now residing--Mercy calls you, break your chains.
Picture from http://cdn.elev8.com/ | <urn:uuid:7f648b96-ea0a-42ca-bf9c-12292068ede4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://amy-gordon.blogspot.com/2010/12/from-realms-of-glory.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 | 0.943952 | 634 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Traveling the nation and the world - sharing a story of overcoming obstacles,
breaking barriers, seeing what's on the inside and doing and being more than
you think you can. Contact us about speaking at your event!
Not your usual talk/powerpoint presentation.
Patrick's musical performances are magnificent!
|We support our men and women in uniform. God bless you all!
What's holding you back?
What's keeping you from reaching your full potential?
Patrick is a remarkable young man who was born without eyes and
without the ability to fully straighten his arms and legs, making him
unable to walk. Additionally, two steel rods were surgically attached
to Patrick's spine to correct scoliosis.
Despite circumstances that may seem overwhelming, Patrick has
overcome these physical issues to excel as a musician, student,
performer and public speaker. Patrick started playing the piano at
the age of only nine months, and also plays the trumpet and sings.
He even participated in the University of Louisville Marching Band for
five seasons with help from his father, Patrick John Hughes, who
tirelessly maneuvered his wheel chair through the formations with
the other 220+ members of the Cardinal Marching Band. Patrick is
usually a straight 'A' student, having received only 3 'B's' during his
entire primary/secondary educational experience and graduated from
U of L magna cum laude. Patrick is a Spanish language major and
speaks Spanish fluently.
A virtuoso pianist, vocalist and trumpet player, Patrick has won or
finished very high in numerous competitions, as well as winning
awards acknowledging the circumstances he has overcome to
achieve these heights. He has been featured on ESPN, ABC-TV,
Oprah, CBS-TV, The Ellen Show, Extreme Make Over Home Edition,
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Patrick has made appearances from California to New York and
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performing in Asia, Canada, South America and Europe. His first
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country and world in different languages. He has recorded 2 CD's.
Are your obstacles real or imagined? See and hear how Patrick`s
parents focused on their son`s abilities. Learn how to accentuate
the positives in your own life.
Are you willing to step out of your comfort zone? See and hear how
Patrick Henry Hughes (blind and a wheelchair user) became a full
participating member of a 220-person college marching band. Learn
how he takes everyday challenges in stride and seeks opportunities
to excel and break through preconceived notions of what can be.
Witness Patrick`s extraordinary talent as a pianist and vocalist
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Enjoy seeing first hand how Patrick Henry Hughes came to be
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Hear what motivates Patrick Henry Hughes � how he graduated
from the University of Louisville magna cum laude with a BA in
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past everyone`s expectations of what he can do!
Witness first hand how Patrick Henry Hughes has motivated
millions of people around the world to reach their full potential and
know why those who attend his presentation never forget his
message of overcoming obstacles and carry that message with
them in their daily lives. This presentation touches all people. | <urn:uuid:43053f81-d3ba-47af-afc8-9be2dc7bee41> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://patrickhenryhughes.com/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956468 | 784 | 1.507813 | 2 |
University Threatens To Nix Sponsorship Of AIDS Conference
As a protest against a U.S. immigration law which restricts the travel of those infected with the AIDS virus, the University has threatened to withdraw its sponsorship of an international conference on AIDS scheduled for 1992.
In a June 13 letter to the president of the International AIDS Society, the Harvard professor who is slated to chair the Eighth International Conference on AIDS said that it will not be held here unless the federal government changes a policy which bars foreigners who have tested positive for the AIDS virus from entering this country without a special waiver.
"This policy imposes a discriminatory burden on those infected with the AIDS virus," Max Essex, who is a professor of microbiology at the School of Public Health and chair of the Harvard AIDS Institute, said in the letter. "In doing so it threatens the free and open exchange of information which is critical to international efforts to conquer the AIDS epidemic, and it undermines the international conferences which have been so important in coordinating efforts to combat AIDS."
Lifting the travel restrictions would require a vote of Congress, which in 1987 added the AIDS virus to a list of "excludable diseases," according to Richard Kenney, a spokesperson for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
"There is no sound public health justification for these restrictions," Essex said in his letter.
Although a repeal of the law--which was sponsored by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.)--is unlikely, AIDS Institutes affiliates said Harvard's withdrawal from the conference would be an important symbolic gesture.
"We have a tradition of free and open access to scientific meetings in this country," said Harkness Professor of Biological Chemistry Elkan R. Blout, who sits on the institute's policy board. "Unless we maintain that tradition, we're not living up to our code as scientists."
Blout said the 1992 conference will likely be held in a foreign country with a freer entry policy.
According to Kenney, all foreigners applying for entry visas at American consulates abroad are required to reveal whether they are infected with a number of diseases, including AIDS. Those who reveal they are infected are forbidden from entering the U.S. without a waiver, Kenney said.
The Sixth International Conference on AIDS, which ended yesterday in San Francisco, was boycotted by some scientists and organizations protesting the law.
Besides withdrawing its sponsorship of the conference, Harvard is exploring other ways of urging that the restrictions be lifted, according to University spokesperson Peter Costa. Costa said Vice President for Government and Community Affairs John Shattuck is coordinating an effort to put pressure on officials in Washington. And Essex promised in his letter that "we will continue to try to effect change in U.S. policy through all avenues available to us."
Essex's letter was written with the approval of Harvard's top administrators, including President Derek C. Bok, who is chair of the AIDS Institute's policy board, Costa said. | <urn:uuid:fca669cf-ea57-4b64-a6d4-018a2b76fb18> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1990/6/25/university-threatens-to-nix-sponsorship-of/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959624 | 602 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Ronald A. Wirtz - Editor, fedgazette
Published November 1, 2009 | November 2009 issue
Jennifer Weil is a person with a lot on her plate.
A first-year graduate student at Minnesota State University-Moorhead, she’s studying counseling and student affairs. She’s also state chair of the Minnesota State University Student Association, and she works in the academic affairs office as a graduate assistant.
Immediately out of high school she attended the state university in St. Cloud, Minn., but left after one year after getting married and then starting a family. She returned to college several years later in the belief that having a degree would better provide for her two boys. That decision was a prescient one after her marriage ended in divorce. A mother with two small boys, Weil fits in motherhood, classes and an estimated 40 hours of work per week.
If that feels like a heavy load for one person, she’s got a financial burden to match, coming out of her undergraduate studies with $42,000 in debt—about twice the level of the average four-year graduate; much of the debt difference for Weil came from private student loans to pay for day care while tending to class and work.
So you might say that Weil has a unique perspective on the college experience—and particularly its costs—having firsthand experience and as the voice of students statewide.
“It’s ridiculously expensive,” said Weil. Among her peers, Weil said her level of debt “is fairly common.”
For Weil, her debt means different choices, both now and in the future. She has always worked at least part-time to help pay for school—from being a Mary Kay beauty consultant to various gigs in student government and now the Student Association. But working during college is a fact of life for many students.
“Almost everybody I know has at least one job. Students have to work significantly more hours a week just to pay for tuition.” And despite all that work while in school, Weil understands it will take still more work after graduation to pay off her debt, requiring further sacrifices. For example, she said, “because of the number of years it’ll take to pay that [debt] off, I’ll have to wait to purchase a house. It’s very difficult.”
Weil might not exactly be the poster student for college today, but she represents part of the growing angst over the rising cost of higher education. According to the annual Measuring Up report by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, average college tuition and fees have risen by 439 percent (in current dollars) since the early 1980s, outpacing medical care inflation by almost 200 percentage points, and triple the rise in median family income.
Families are worried about the cost of college. Weil said she helped at a booth at the Minnesota State Fair sponsored by the Minnesota System of Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) in late August. Cost, she said, “was a huge topic for families” because parents have been laid off and investment portfolios have shrunk. “The money that was set aside or planned for [for college] is gone now. People feel the crunch of the economy,” Weil said.
College has never been cheap, exactly; but its cost used to be heavily subsidized for students. Over time, costs have risen steadily, and a larger portion of that growing bill has been laid on students and families. For the first time in history, tuition this year at the University of Minnesota is expected to contribute more revenue to the operating budget than state funding. South Dakota State University crossed that threshold two years ago.
This trend didn’t come quickly or by surprise. It’s the result of many colliding factors, from fickle state support to rising enrollments to escalating higher education expenditures—each of which is similarly driven by a variety of factors.
Over time, a mentality has evolved that college is too expensive. For the better part of two decades, university officials, policy wonks, students and their families have criticized the slow evolution of a higher-tuition, higher-aid model as unsustainable.
But its dogged survival has demonstrated the opposite, as students streamed through college doors because they saw a favorable value proposition: Go to school, maybe have to take out a few loans, but graduate and get a much better job earning a lot more money than without a degree. Tuition’s also not as expensive as it often looks, thanks to a lot of grant aid in myriad forms. (For an analysis of the value proposition of college education, see Is College Unaffordable? in the December 2005 Region.)
Enter the recession. While recessions are nothing new, and college enrollment typically grows during such events, the scale of this recession has sent a shock through consumers and intensified much of the existing cost tensions between higher education systems and their customers.
As in other areas of consumer spending, this recession will likely test the implicit assumption that (net) tuition and student debt can rise with little consequence to enrollment or higher education generally. Already, even amid growing enrollments, there are signs of subtle shifts in choice. What remains unknown is whether college preferences will reset along traditional lines once the recession is over and job growth resumes, or if the higher education model is in for a more fundamental shake-up.
You have to go back a few decades to see how higher education got to this position. In virtually every way, higher education was a smaller, simpler endeavor. A narrower slice of (only) young people attended college, and the cost of attendance was kept artificially low through state appropriations to colleges. Slowly but steadily, the system evolved: More students started going to college, and state and higher education budgets both got swamped by additional spending priorities. The cost to go to college rose progressively higher as a result, and an increasing share was passed on to students.
As costs climbed, students sought more financial aid to fill the gap between the expense of college and their savings and work income. And many were successful in finding grant money to help buy down the cost of tuition. An array of grant programs has meant that net tuition (after grants are subtracted) has gone up less steeply; in fact, according to the College Board figures, net tuition has gone down at two-year colleges this decade. But it’s risen by 32 percent at four-year public universities.
Comparable net tuition and fee figures over time were not available among all district states, and they likely vary widely because published tuition and grant levels, and their change over time, differ significantly across states and institution types. For example, published tuition rates at two-year schools run 20 percent to 90 percent higher in district states compared with the national average. In much of the district, net tuition and fees are higher: For the 2007 school year, net tuition and fees at Minnesota’s public two-year colleges were 194 percent higher than the national average, and they were 85 percent higher at the state’s four-year universities, according to information from the Minnesota Office of Higher Education.
At the same time, many students are either not eligible for or cannot find grant aid, and in general, the supply of grant money has not kept pace with the rise in tuition. So students have increasingly sought loans to finance college, and average debt of graduates has risen substantially. (For a detailed discussion of these historical trends in the Ninth District, see College finance 101: A history lesson.)
Fast forward to today. Even in recession, higher education institutions have had difficulty reining in tuition. At the University of Minnesota and MnSCU schools (the latter comprised of seven universities and 25 two-year colleges), tuition for the current school year was upped by 7.5 percent and 5 percent, respectively. Thanks to federal stimulus funds, those rates were subsidized down to 3 percent and 2.8 percent. (See Chart 1 for changes in tuition this decade.)
Among Wisconsin’s technical colleges, “realistic” growth of FTEs this year is 10 percent, according to Morna Foy, vice president with the Wisconsin Technical College System. She added that growth “could be much higher,” given that half of the state’s 16 technical colleges are expecting increases of at least 15 percent this fall. Last year saw an FTE rise of 5 percent.
Four-year universities do not expect to match that growth, but many are expecting higher-than-average enrollment this year. Brad Eldredge, director of institutional research for the Montana University System (MUS), said via e-mail that it was too early to confirm this fall’s enrollment, but added that “our sense from preliminary numbers is that enrollment growth will be strong.” Preliminary figures from the University of Montana-Missoula estimated a 5 percent increase over last year’s enrollment—which was itself a record.
Credit for the enrollment surge, according to Foy, Eldredge and other higher education officials across the district, is given almost universally to the recession. As one source put it, “It’s a socially acceptable form of unemployment” as young adults and unemployed workers seek better skills in hopes of becoming more marketable in the future job market. It’s even attractive to employed workers interested in greater job security or flexibility, knowing that they could be next in the unemployment line.
Of course, the recession comes with an ugly side for students and higher education institutions alike. For example, parents still fund a significant portion of college costs, and when one or both lose a job, it strains their ability to afford tuition out of savings or income. The same goes for students; over the past decade and a half, and particularly in this recession, teenagers and other young adults have had a rough go of it in the job market, which means they also do not have much savings or regular income to pay for college. Such circumstances imply that student debt is likely to continue climbing, possibly steeply.
Adding salt to this wound is the fact that, even before the recession, incomes had not kept pace with college costs, and prices for other basic student needs also have outpaced inflation by a large margin. According to the College Board, average room and board costs have increased by 23 percent above inflation during the past decade. From fiscal year 2004 to 2008, tuition and fees at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse rose by 17 percent, housing costs rose by 12 percent, and the most popular meal plan rose by more than 7 percent, according to this year’s UW System Fact Book. (All figures are adjusted for inflation.)
For existing and prospective students, the challenge for many is finding the necessary means to pay for college. Getting a firm handle on the extent of financial need in the district today is tricky for two reasons. First, state-specific data on financial need—the number of aid applications, amounts requested and approved, and the financial gap between approved aid and demonstrated need—typically lags at least a year.
Second, compounding the matter is the fact that financial aid packages are based on the previous year’s income. So even last year, some sources said, financial aid trends didn’t appear dramatically different because aid packages were based on student and family income from 2007, when the economy was still upright.
“If there was an acceleration (of financial need) in 2008–09, we didn’t see it very clearly,” said Greg Stringer, a senior vice president at Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, a federally designated guarantor for student loans in Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Headquartered in Madison, Wis., the company services loans for more than 2 million borrowers and holds loan guarantees on nearly $51 billion under the Federal Family Education Loan Program, one of the major federal student loan programs.
Stringer and other sources said they are seeing more signs of financial need today. He ticked off a number of reasons—higher joblessness, tighter credit standards from banks for credit cards and home equity loans, and higher tuition and other costs—that were are all leaving their mark. “Put it all into the mix, and it seems intuitive that demand would be up.”
Lois Larson, director or financial aid at Century College, a two-year community college in White Bear Lake, Minn., said the school had as many applications for aid on file this past August as “we had all of last year for three terms—fall, spring and summer.”
Eldredge said that MUS was also seeing an increase in requests for financial aid; the number at the state’s flagship University of Montana “is up significantly,” and students were demonstrating greater need. Those local events mirror national trends: According to a September survey of 500 financial aid offices by the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, 61 percent reported that financial aid applications were up 10 percent or more.
Though financial aid takes on different forms and comes from a variety of sources, it all boils down to a fairly simple template: grants and loans. The federal government is the single largest provider of both, particularly loans. But states, institutions and private interests also provide a lot of financial aid—in fact, much more grant aid on a cumulative basis than the federal government.
But not all aid is equally palatable, Stringer pointed out. “There is a free-money flavor and a debt flavor, and one of those flavors doesn’t taste very good.”
As is always the case, there is never enough free money to go around, and rising demand for financial aid means even more competition for finite grant resources. A total of 35,000 students in Wisconsin’s 16 technical colleges received need-based grants from the Wisconsin Higher Education Grant program, but more than 15,000 got shut out when funding ran out. That’s more than double last year’s number of unserved applicants, according to Foy.
Still, students manage to find the financial resources necessary to enroll, as evidenced by enrollment growth. Eldredge, from MUS, said students are able to find aid, “but often that aid is in the form of student loans. … [That’s] the only aid that doesn’t run out.” He added that early projections showed student loan volume this year was up between 5 percent and 10 percent.
A September report by the U.S. Department of Education estimated that the total value of federal student loans grew by 13 percent last year and will do so by another 6 percent this year, to almost $92 billion. However, it offered no geographic breakdown on loan demand.
Higher enrollments are driving some of that federal loan growth. But the recession has also shut down other credit sources. For example, the recession and the concomitant slump in housing have cut deeply into home equity, which had been a small but growing source of financing for college. And the shake-up in financial markets also has banks and other for-profit lenders beating a hasty retreat from the private student loan market, which had been the fastest growing segment of student aid.
While many complain about the rising use of student loans—whatever their source—the alternative might be worse. Without debt financing, millions of students simply wouldn’t be able to afford college.
But higher costs and the growing use of debt financing have also heightened anxiety over college access for low- and modest-income households. High tuition and fees are “more and more of a challenge for those households with limited income,” said David Chicoine, president of South Dakota State University in Brookings. “If we were all rich, there’s not a problem.”
But the current focus on low-income access might not be as intuitive as you think.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the gap between students from low-income families (those in the bottom 20 percent of family income) and their higher-income peers narrowed from 1972 to 2006, but differences remain. Still, the rate at which low-income high school graduates enroll in two- or four-year colleges by the following October has risen steadily, even this decade (see Chart 3). In fact, it’s the middle- and high-income high school graduates who have seen their college matriculation rate plateau.
One likely reason for improvement among low-income students is the continued availability of aid—grants and subsidized loans—for those who can demonstrate need (see College finance 101: A history lesson for more discussion). Chicoine said that access for low-income students “might be better than those that are just above that (need) line” who must finance their college attendance via student loans. “If the student has the ability and preparation to get to college, we can put together a package” to get him or her in the doors, he said.
A potentially larger obstacle for many is not their respective wealth (or lack thereof), but their willingness to take on debt to get an education. That’s because debt is often “something (students) have worked to avoid,” said Chicoine, even if that means eschewing low-cost federal loans and ultimately “choosing not to go to school based on debt.”
That’s particularly the case for first-generation college students, who often get their views on debt from their more conservative parents. The matter is exacerbated when parents and students look at sticker prices for tuition—a price that few students pay because of widespread tuition discounting and scholarships. “What needs to be discussed is not gross cost but the net cost” after various sources of financial aid are applied, said Stringer, from Great Lakes. “A lot of people see the gross price, and they are horrified.”
Many students also drop out when they can no longer pay for college out of their own pocket. Some take a semester or two off, hoping to save up enough money to pay for a return down the road. But research shows that many never go back.
While there is some utility—even trendiness—to frugality today, an absolute stance against debt can be counterproductive for a young person. “There are levels of debt that are affordable. If you’re going to be a school teacher, there’s a (total debt) number out there” to help you figure out what program is the best fit, Stringer said.
But that view also competes with a rising din of anecdotes from students who didn’t pay much attention to debt levels and their career choices.
Whether student debt is manageable depends on a person’s income after graduation. Despite a plethora of stories about what seems to be excessive student debt, the college wage premium suggests that student loan debt generally must be manageable—if maybe unpalatable—for the majority of borrowers. Were it not, students would most certainly start making different decisions.
At the same time, surprisingly few data are available on the net financial burden of student debt. Figures for average debt are widely accessible, but that likely hides a significant amount of variation—and possibly shifting choices—among career paths.
It’s not that educational institutions are uninterested in such matters. “We definitely try to track it. We’re asking, but the other side is (students) need to respond” to income surveys they receive, said Gavin Leach, vice president of finance administration for Northern Michigan University in Marquette.
Loan defaults can offer some insight on debt management. National default rates on federal student loans, for example, are on the rise, at 6.7 percent for 2007, the most recent figures available from the U.S. Department of Education. That’s up significantly from 4.6 percent in 2005.
But it’s not all bad news. The rate among most district institutions, for example, is considerably lower (though also rising); statewide rates in the district run between a low of 2.3 percent (Montana) and a high of 3.8 percent (South Dakota). Rates nationwide were also much higher two decades ago, peaking at 22 percent in 1990. Those have come down significantly, thanks mostly to changes in federal lending programs that gave borrowers greater repayment flexibility.
Still, more financial trouble appears to be brewing. Stringer, from Great Lakes, said his organization has seen “a sharp increase in the number of delinquencies and defaults this year.” But students also have more leeway in repaying education loans compared with other consumer loans. With student loans, Stringer said, “there are lots of temporary release valves that allow loan payments to be put into suspension while things work themselves out.” A new income-based repayment option was also introduced this summer that caps loan repayments at 15 percent of discretionary income.
As students and their families scramble to finance college, institutions face their own challenges that will likely add still more pressure to higher education costs.
Higher education institutions generally have high fixed costs, thanks to a huge assortment of programs, mostly tenured faculty and expansive facilities. As a result, they depend on reliable streams of (increasing) revenue. But some of those streams might not run as fast as they have in the past. For example, though state appropriations to higher education this decade have been generally modest, even meager in some places, they will nonetheless be under constant threat for the foreseeable future in many states—including Minnesota and Wisconsin—that are staring at huge structural budget deficits.
Or consider university endowments. Many schools receive significant contributions from them, but the collapse of financial markets last year put a serious dent in many endowments. The district’s largest endowments rest at the University of Minnesota Foundation ($1.4 billion) and the University of Wisconsin Foundation ($2.3 billion). Each grew greatly in recent years, and their universities benefited richly: In 2008, foundation disbursements to the University of Minnesota were almost $100 million, a 21 percent increase over 2007. The Wisconsin Foundation did that one better, distributing $203 million to UW-Madison last year.
Whether or not universities can count on similar contributions is likely being reevaluated in light of a disastrous investment year. The UW Foundation assets dropped by 23 percent in 2008, with losses of almost $600 million. (The U of M Foundation has not reported investment results for the second half of 2008 and early 2009). Such endowment pain is widespread. UW-Superior, with about 2,300 students, reportedly awarded $100,000 less this year in endowed scholarships due to investment losses.
Institutions have also been receiving significantly more revenue from research contracts over time. That funding might hold out; even if it does, however, it’s not likely to relieve student costs because such revenue is typically dedicated to noninstructional types of expenditures, such as research staff, equipment and project administration.
With these revenue challenges, there will be growing pressure to have students fund more of their own instructional costs via tuition and fees, which means colleges and universities will also depend on strong enrollment. This isn’t a problem for the time being—in fact, many institutions are more likely overcrowded—but it might be down the road, because the pull of higher education during recession is expected to wane with economic recovery.
Colleges and universities also are watching two demographic shifts roll through high schools, particularly in slow-growth states like those in the district: First, a steady decline in the number of high school graduates; second, an ethnic shift among those who graduate.
North Dakota has already had a glimpse of the high school future: The number of high school graduates there dropped by almost 10 percent from 2004 to 2008. It’s projected to fall another 15 percent by 2016, the largest drop among district states (see Chart 4). But the trend hits high schools in every district state. That will have a trickle-up effect on all colleges and universities.
“I’ve never seen (a decline), certainly not to this degree,” said David Laird, recently retired, but at the time of the interview, president of Minnesota Private Colleges and Universities. “The decline in Minnesota is almost entirely in white, middle- and upper-class students,”—in other words, the traditional bread and butter of higher education, particularly for private colleges. Most future enrollment growth will come from ethnic populations that are traditionally underrepresented in college and culturally tend to be more debt averse than their white counterparts—a potentially serious obstacle given the role of student loans in financing college today.
Students and institutions alike are also staring wide-eyed into the worst job market for graduates in decades. Anecdotes on the matter are rife, but consider a handful of surveys by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, an industry group connecting career service professionals at nearly 2,000 colleges and universities nationwide with thousands of staffing professionals.
Last spring, a NACE survey found that two-thirds of the class of 2009 were worried about their job prospects. It turns out they had good reason: Employers expected to hire 22 percent fewer new grads than from the previous year. Last May, NACE reported that just 20 percent of grads who had applied for jobs had been hired, down from 26 percent and 49 percent the previous two years; the percentage of grads even applying for jobs has also dropped each of the past two years. Then this fall, it reported that graduates who did find jobs saw their starting wages fall by 1.2 percent over the 2008 class. Finally, 55 percent of college career centers reported budget cuts for the coming year, and only 5 percent saw increases despite a potentially huge increase in demand for their services.
In the district, it appears to be much the same. A survey released in September by the St. Cloud State University Career Center found that 16 percent of respondents planned to decrease graduate hiring, up from 7 percent a year earlier. Employment markets are not expected to rebound quickly: The Minneapolis Fed’s July forecast predicts that total nonfarm employment will decline further in 2010 in Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, while Montana and North Dakota will have below-average (but positive) job growth.
Add up all of these colliding factors—higher costs, higher debts and an unsettling employment outlook for students; higher expenditures, a shifting client base and constrained revenue streams for institutions—and you’ve got the proverbial irresistible force and immovable object. Will students become more price sensitive? Is the current anxiety on both sides short lived, a figment of the economic times?
Time will tell, but chatter over college costs is getting louder. Steven Schuetz, vice president for admission and financial aid at Ripon College, a private school in Ripon, Wis., outlined much of the problem facing higher education, especially on the upper end. “Already, we are finding that all institutions need to justify their increases, and those above inflation are harder and harder to justify to families even though the cost of doing business is going higher. At the higher end of the tuition scale, we will have to eventually ask ourselves, ‘Are we worth $50,000 a year?’”
But students are looking at different options. For example, online enrollments are growing fast. While most colleges and universities offer online courses, there appears to be significant leakage to private online colleges. In 2008, fall head count at Minnesota’s two online universities (Walden and Capella) increased by 17 percent over the previous year, to 60,000 students.
Among traditional institutions, two-year colleges have seen easily the largest enrollment surge. Some of this is likely a function of rising job dislocation and career retraining, which technical and community colleges specialize in. But even before the recession, two-year colleges were out-polling four-year institutions. In Montana, two-year colleges saw enrollment from 1998 to 2008 grow by 25 percent, compared with an increase of just 6 percent for the university system as a whole and 5 percent for the state flagships, Montana State University-Bozeman and the University of Montana-Missoula. This fall, Montana Tech reported an 11 percent increase in its head count.
Larson, from Century College in Minnesota, said the choice of a two-year college makes affordable sense in today’s economic environment. “Think about it for a second. A student loan at this time nicely covers half-time enrollment costs at a two-year college, and then the rest is sent to the student for living expenses. If you are hungry, going back to college can be a short-term fix as well as a long-term goal. I think all [higher ed institutions] will see an increase in applicants. But the increase in enrollment will pass down the food chain to lower-cost colleges, at least for now.”
“My instinct is that yes, families are becoming more cost-conscious, at least on the margins, not wholesale. It’s not dismissing the idea of college but changing what you want to do,” said Stringer, from Great Lakes. That might mean choosing an in-state public university because “they can’t send Johnny or Judy across the country to an Ivy League school anymore.”
Chicoine, from SDSU, believes schools like SDSU might be the destination of prodigal students—those who transfer from expensive out-of-state or private institutions when families can no longer rationalize the expense. Laird, from Minnesota’s private colleges, said more students were looking at premier public universities like UW-Madison as a lower-cost alternative.
Educational institutions are also taking a fresh look at how to deliver services. For example, the UW System is exploring the possibility of accelerated three-year baccalaureate degrees. In an attempt to tackle skyrocketing textbook prices, half of the system’s four-year campuses have implemented rental programs. The system has also considered additional fees for high-cost fields that also offer higher salaries, like engineering.
In the midst of budget pressures, some institutions are even looking downright businesslike. Facing state appropriation reductions, the University of Minnesota was staring at $90 million in budget reductions and reallocations this year. The Board of Regents took the unprecedented step of cutting more than 1,200 jobs—including 220 faculty positions.
Elsewhere, faculty are having to swallow hard to avoid what’s behind door number two. Earlier this year, the unions representing the MnSCU’s 32 institutions agreed to a two-year salary freeze. At the Montana University System, tuition was kept constant at all campuses for the 2007–2008 biennium. It will remain flat over the coming two years at most campuses, and will rise by 3 percent annually only at MSU-Bozeman and UM-Missoula. Eldredge called this level of tuition stability “unprecedented.”
Opinions varied as to whether actions by students and institutions are the first steps in a new direction for higher education or a necessary reaction for muddling through the recession.
“My sense is that there is going to be a softening [of price sensitivity by students] once the economy recovers,” Chicoine said. He and others pointed out that the world needs more—not less—skilled labor in the future, and that means a university classroom seat will continue to be a finite resource, particularly if state and federal funding remains scarce. Regardless, higher education needs to be seen “as an investment, and not a current expenditure … [because] there is no substitute for human capital” for long-term economic growth, Chicoine said.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that college costs can resume their ascent once the economy recovers. A few sources believed there is an as-yetunknown cost point at which the return on a college degree is no longer obvious and students will start making different choices.
“I don’t know where the [affordability] line is, but it’s out there where families will change their horizons on a more permanent basis,” said Stringer.
Ultimately, the cost of higher education will be justified—or not—based on whether it retains its historic value proposition: Go to college. Earn more. Live better.
Of course much of that value proposition depends on who’s paying, and that’s not always straightforward because research has shown that both the individual and society as a whole benefit from the human capital growth that occurs through higher education. But there is no clear line demonstrating how much each party needs to pony up for its share of the benefits.
“I don’t know if there is a theoretical balance” between the public and private share of higher education investment, said Chicoine. If that’s true—and there’s virtually no research that even takes a stab at a hypothetical equilibrium—then students and higher education systems will have to continue feeling their way along the cost ladder.
Chicoine pointed out that college students “make decisions all the time” based on their understanding of costs and benefits. Average student debt at the university rose from $14,200 at the start of the decade to $20,800 in the 2008 school year. At the same time, median wages for workers in South Dakota with four or more years of college were about 60 percent higher in 2006 than for those with a high school diploma, according to figures compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. So taking on some debt to earn a degree, Chicoine said, “is a good, rational decision. The evidence of the value proposition is pretty robust.”
Some might think that the cost issue is more pressing for private institutions with higher tuition and fee costs. But that depends on how you interpret value. Average debt is higher for graduates of these institutions. But fourand six-year graduation rates from Minnesota’s private four-year schools are significantly higher than those of public universities in the state (including the University of Minnesota), and entry into the workplace a year after graduation is also much higher. That means private college grads start earning their wage premium earlier and begin paying off their debt sooner.
But Laird, representing Minnesota’s private colleges, also acknowledged that all schools are on a slippery cost slope considering the economic conditions today, and have to be part of the solution. “Could institutions behave differently? If they had some necessity or benefit, sure,” said Laird. “These institutions are not incapable of making very dramatic changes when necessary, or when there are incentives to do so.” | <urn:uuid:b52b0036-d8b0-4e34-a963-08b2a03ec646> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.minneapolisfed.org/publications_papers/pub_display.cfm?id=4316 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968771 | 7,239 | 1.640625 | 2 |
For those playing the home version of Horse Meat Bingo, go ahead and daub the Taco Bell square.
The latest round of tests conducted by Britain's Food Standards Agency found that ground beef used at all local Taco Bell locations contained trace amounts of horse DNA.
Taco Bell released a statement saying it conducted its own testing, which confirmed the FSA's findings.
It subsequently recalled the affected stock from stores and put a stop to all purchases from the European plant that supplied the tainted meat.
The statement goes on to apologize to customers, and assure potential patrons that the company "take[s] this matter very seriously as food quality is our highest priority."
Taco Bell joins a growing number of high-profile brands that have been embroiled in the ongoing horse meat scandal.
Furniture retailer Ikea recently stopped the sale of Swedish meatballs at certain locations after horse meat was found in some of its product.
Burger King was also forced to acknowledge that some of its patties had contained horse meat after adamantly denying it for weeks.
UPDATE: Taco Bell in the US has released the following statement: "Our domestic restaurants have not been, and will not be, impacted because we do not use any meat from Europe. We stand for quality and we use 100% premium beef. Like all beef in the United States, ours is USDA inspected and then passes our own 20 quality checkpoints."
[Image by Jim Cooke, source photos via Shutterstock] | <urn:uuid:a36b297f-d185-416c-a680-b7159d767dc4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gawker.com/5987836/taco-bells-beef-had-horse-meat-in-it-too | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967241 | 298 | 1.554688 | 2 |
The new duty adds up to 58.8 per cent to wholesale prices of ceramics brought into the EU.
The “china from China” tax could add as much as 20 per cent to the price of a basic dinner plate, side plate and bowl set as importers pass on the estimated £230million-a-year rise in costs.
The Government said it was disappointed the European Commission overrode the objections of a majority of member states to impose the levy but admitted countries were powerless to stop Brussels taking such action.
Some 80 per cent of crockery imported to Europe comes from China, which has a competitive advantage from lower production costs including low wages.
The tax is the latest in a string of anti-dumping moves designed to protect European manufacturers from cheap Chinese imports ranging from shoes to candles and ironing boards.
Free trade is good for the customer. These new duties will feed through to higher prices in stores
It follows a nine-month Commission inquiry into claims by unnamed European firms that Chinese producers were selling ceramic table and ovenware into the EU at artificially low prices.
The provisional levy came into force yesterday but will be reviewed over the next six months.
The British Retail Consortium said it would hurt the high street and vowed to keep fighting the levy which it insists is not in the EU’s own economic interest.
Director general Stephen Robertson said: “Free trade is good for the customer. These new duties will feed through to higher prices in stores.
“And, because China mainly supplies the value end of the market, they will deny less well-off customers access to affordable crockery.
“The irony is that making hard-pressed customers pay more will do nothing to support European producers who don’t have the capacity to produce enough at low enough prices.
“Our members tell us that the only alternative for them, if they’re forced to look elsewhere, will be to source from other low-cost Asian countries.
“What is particularly galling is that unelected Eurocrats pressed ahead with this tax despite the majority of member states voting against.”
Matthew Sinclair, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Not only does Brussels waste our money with reckless abandon but it is also the biggest obstacle to free trade, something that benefits consumers and producers alike. There’s only one winner here and that’s the Eurocrats who love to meddle.”
EU trade spokesman John Clancy said: “EU anti-dumping policy is about defending European and British jobs. When there is proof of illegal dumping at below market price of Chinese products on the European market that clearly hurts an EU industry then it is our legal duty as the European Commission to act. In six months’ time at the latest, all EU member states, including the UK, will get their final say about these duties.”
Brussels has until May 16 to complete a consultation. Any “definitive measures” would last for five years.
A Business Department spokesman said: “The UK opposed the imposition of provisional anti-dumping measures against ceramic tableware from China.
“It is disappointing that the Commission has not responded to the views of the majority of member states who opposed the measures.”
But the British Ceramics Confederation said the new tax could help boost production and jobs in this country by bringing back manufacturing that was outsourced to China a decade ago. | <urn:uuid:9fb825b0-74f9-4489-a3f6-56b85452bdae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/358715/EU-slaps-20pc-tax-on-price-of-cheap-crockery | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961424 | 724 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Camp Helen State Park History Tour
07/07/2012 – 10:00am – 10:45am
The Department of Environmental Protection’s Camp Helen State Park invites you to their history walk at Camp Helen State Park. Come learn about the early history of the park and local area while wandering on a guided tour around Camp Helen’s restored historical buildings. The history walk takes place the first Saturday of each month.
The tour is free with paid park admission fee.
Camp Helen State Park is a Florida State Park and historic site located west of Panama City Beach, in northwestern Florida. The park is south of U.S. 98, and bounded by the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Powell (one of the largest coastal dune lakes in the state).
The address is 23937 Panama City Beach Parkway. | <urn:uuid:4a5a1439-b17e-4000-a885-d08398842019> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dolphindevelopers.com/2012/07/camp-helen-state-park-history-tour/ | 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 | 0.932122 | 167 | 1.765625 | 2 |
If an emotion or idea is thought, but never put forth by written or spoken word, does it still exist? It all falls back on the theory that it isn't who you are on the inside, but the person you appear as to others on the outside who is the real "you". It was once written that a truly evil man can do purely good deeds and practice nothing but kindness throughout his entire life and only on his deathbed say "I fooled you". Is he still an evil man? If we keep all of our stories and ideas in our minds and never express them, are they really worth anything? Can we say, "I am a very emotional person, I just never show it."? If we have a brilliant idea and yet never share it with anyone, can we still call ourselves genii? If a tree cracks in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound?
Just a thought. | <urn:uuid:69918769-0194-4d92-981d-5221292ccb5c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oasisjournals.com/2006/12/question-0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982364 | 193 | 1.710938 | 2 |
One of the things I've learned is that people don't begin to take a topic seriously on hearing one person discuss it, or two. But when they've heard it six times, suddenly it seems important. So I encourage you to share in any group at all, just so more people are exposed and think about it. It would be great if a general consciousness of climate related issues rose at Atheist Nexus. As a secular and relatively educated community, we have an opportunity to be leaders among the general public in escaping cultural forms of climate denial such as not paying attention or not speaking in public on the topic.
Welcome to this world of rationality, truth and peace, where common sense and science lead to freethinking wisdom --- as you know in becoming a non believer and freethinker like us.
We invite you to make good friends by joining the busy group "ORIGINS: Universe, Astronomy, Life, Earth, Humans, Religion, Gods, Atheism, Evolution, Darwin..." with 700 discussion topics and 3500 members. | <urn:uuid:32e0406a-0c28-4d10-8c12-31decf71e46f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.atheistnexus.org/profiles/comment/list?attachedToType=User&attachedTo=2net1ccke34nm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958438 | 211 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Joined: 24 Feb 2003
|Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 9:40 am Post subject: Erdogan sorry for 1930s killing of nearly 14,000 Kurds
|Turkish PM offers first apology for killings of nearly 14,000 Kurds in the 1930s
By Associated Press
November 23, 2011
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s prime minister has apologized for the first time for the killings of nearly 14,000 people in a bombing and strafing campaign to crush a Kurdish rebellion in the 1930s.
The apology Wednesday by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan comes at tense time for relations between Turkey and its minority Kurds. Erdogan’s government is currently fighting against autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels and despite efforts to seek peace, it says it is determined to crush the rebels if they don’t lay down arms.
The fighting that has killed tens of thousands since 1984 is the latest of several uprisings by Kurds in Turkey’s largely Kurdish southeast.
Erdogan on Wednesday offered his apology for the killings of 13,806 people in the southeastern town of Dersim — now known as Tunceli — between 1936 and 1939. The apology came after a war of words between Erdogan and the leader of the main opposition party. . . . [More]
To comment, click the "Post reply" button below.
Help us stay online! | <urn:uuid:28f19af4-ed00-4398-80f4-e2d6e2a54c41> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mideasttruth.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10803&view=previous | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955579 | 280 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Eight Is Enough
|Eight Is Enough|
|Created by||Lee Rich
|Directed by||Irving J. Moore|
|Starring||Dick Van Patten
|Theme music composer||Song: from Season 3 onwards – "Eight Is Enough" Music by Lee Holdridge
Lyrics by Molly-Ann Leikin
Fred Werner (Season 1 & 2 opening theme)
|Country of origin||United States|
|No. of seasons||5|
|No. of episodes||111|
|Executive producer(s)||Philip Capice
|Running time||50 minutes|
|Production company(s)||Lorimar Productions|
|Distributor||Warner Bros. Television|
|Original run||March 15, 1977– August 29, 1981|
|Followed by||Eight Is Enough: A Family Reunion (1987) and Eight Is Enough: A Wedding (1989)|
Eight Is Enough is an American television comedy-drama series which ran on ABC from March 15, 1977 until August 29, 1981. The show was modeled after syndicated newspaper columnist Thomas Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who wrote a book with the same name.
The show is centered around a Sacramento, California family with eight children (from oldest to youngest: David, Mary, Joanie, Susan, Nancy, Elizabeth, Tommy, and Nicholas). The father, Tom Bradford (Dick Van Patten), was a newspaper columnist for the fictional Sacramento Register. His wife Joan (Diana Hyland) took care of the children. Hyland was only in four episodes before falling ill; she was written out for the remainder of the first season and died twelve days after the first episode aired.
The second season began in the fall of 1977 with the revelation that Tom had become a widower. Tom fell in love with Sandra Sue "Abby" Abbott (Betty Buckley), a schoolteacher who came to the house to tutor Tommy who had broken his leg in a football game. They were married in one of the series' TV movie broadcasts on 9 November 1977. The role went to Buckley after being approved by network chief Brandon Tartikoff, who felt the character of the sympathetic teacher she had played in the 1976 film Carrie would also be great for the series. In another TV movie event in September 1979, David and Susan were both married in a double wedding. As the series progressed, Abby got her Ph.D. in education and started a job counseling students at the local high school, oldest sister Mary became a doctor, while second-youngest son Tommy became a singer in a rock-and-roll band.
Main cast members
- Dick Van Patten – Tom Bradford
- Diana Hyland – Joan Wells Bradford (season 1)
- Betty Buckley – Sandra Sue "Abby" Abbott Bradford (seasons 2–5)
- Grant Goodeve – David Bradford (24 years old at start of series)
- Lani O'Grady – Mary Bradford (22)
- Laurie Walters – Joanie Bradford (30)
- Susan Richardson – Susan Bradford (25); later Susan (Bradford) Stockwell
- Dianne Kay – Nancy Bradford (22)
- Connie Needham – Elizabeth Bradford (18) (originally credited as Connie Newton before she married)
- Willie Aames – Tommy Bradford (16)
- Adam Rich – Nicholas Bradford (8)
Recurring cast members
- Brian Patrick Clarke – Merle "The Pearl" Stockwell (1979–1981)
- Jennifer Darling – Donna (1977–1981)
- Janis Paige – Vivian "Auntie V" Bradford (1977–1980)
- Michael Goodrow – Ernie Fields (1979–1981)
- James Karen – Eliot Randolph
- Ralph Macchio – Jeremy Andretti (1980–1981)
- Joan Prather – Janet McArthur Bradford (1977–1981)
- Michael Thoma – Dr. Greg Maxwell (1977–1981)
- Virginia Vincent - Daisy Maxwell (1977-1981)
The show was Developed by writer William Blinn and was A Lorimar Production. It was originally distributed by Worldvision Enterprises. For the first two years the show filmed interior scenes at The Burbank Studios now known as the Warner Bros. Ranch. From the third season the show filmed interiors at MGM Studios across town in Culver City. The show's team of producers included Robert L. Jacks, Gary Adelson, Greg Strangis and Phil Fehrle. Executive Producers were Lee Rich and Philip Capice.
As a production of the Lorimar stable, who were concurrently producing CBS' The Waltons, writers were often contracted by the producers and were shared between both programs. (Waltons costar Will Geer also made an Eight is Enough guest appearance during season 2.) Regular writers included Peter Lefcourt, the writing teams of Gwen Bagni and Paul Dubov, Rod Peterson and Claire Whittaker, Bill Nuss and Dusty Kay, Nick Thiel and David Braff, J. Miyoko Hensley and Steven Hensley, Bruce Shelly, Sandra Kay Siegel, Gil Grant, Karen I. Hall and Hindi Brooks who soon became the show's long-time story editor. In-house directors included Philip Leacock, Harry Harris and Irving J. Moore. As in in-joke, the character name of one of Nicholas Bradford's best friends was Irving Julius Moore, a nod to the director of the same name whose middle name was in fact Joseph.
Reception and cancellation
The series jump-started acting careers for only a few of those playing the children. It cemented teen idol status for Grant Goodeve (David), Willie Aames (Tommy), and Ralph Macchio, who played Abby's orphaned nephew Jeremy later in the show's last season. Aames would go on to star with Scott Baio in Charles in Charge. Goodeve started a minor singing career, following his rendition of the show's theme song (see "Theme music") and initially hosted HGTV's If Walls Could Talk. Macchio would gain the most fame in feature films such as The Karate Kid and its sequels, as well as My Cousin Vinny.
After the end of the show's fifth season (and 111 hour episodes), production costs and declining ratings caused the show to be canceled, along with seven other shows that season. Variety's headline on the cancellation stated, "Eight Shows In, Eight Shows Out".
The series had two reunion movies on NBC. In An Eight Is Enough Reunion on October 18, 1987, Mary Frann replaced Betty Buckley as Abby; Buckley had been filming Frantic during its production. This was followed by An Eight Is Enough Wedding on October 22, 1989, this time with Sandy Faison as Abby. By coincidence, both movies aired opposite game two of the World Series on ABC.
Theme music
For the show's first two seasons, an upbeat instrumental piece written by Fred Werner was used as the show's opening theme. Beginning with the show's third season, this was replaced by a slowed-down vocal theme titled "Eight Is Enough", which was sung by series co-star Grant Goodeve. The song had music and lyrics by Lee Holdridge and Molly-Ann Leikin, and was first heard in a longer arrangement on the last episode of the second season titled 'Who's on First?', which was also performed by Goodeve. From season three onwards, an instrumental version of the song played over the show's closing credits.
Music score
Early episodes had instrumental music by Fred Werner and the prolific Alexander Courage, but the show's real musical stamp came from veteran composer Earle Hagen who had a knack of composing memorable cues as he had previously been the in-house composer on The Andy Griffith Show. He composed a beautiful love theme for Tom and Abby, which permeated the show in various incarnations throughout the remainder of the series. Some later episodes were scored by John Beal and Miles Goodman.
In 1980 there was a writer's strike in Hollywood, and one of the off-shoots of this industry problem was making cost cutting measures in the music department on the show. Some of the later episodes were tracked with a combination of uncredited library music and with some original music by those of the aforementioned Messrs. Hagen, Beal and Goodman.
Episode list
Season 1 (1977)
- Never Try Eating Nectarines Since Juice May Dispense (aka. Eight Is Not Enough)
Tom has to find money to pay for a lawyer when his troubled daughter is arrested
Matilda, Mary's heavily pregnant friend comes to stay at the Bradfords' and begins irritating the family.
- Pieces of Eight
Tom becomes editor of his own newspaper but struggles to handle family and work at the same time.
- Women, Ducks and the Domino Theory
Joan bonds with Tommy. Tom struggles to deal with Elizabeth's bad ways.
The Bradfords throw a party. David comes to the aid of an old lady.
David finds himself caring for the whole family when they all get sick.
- V is for Vivian
Tom's sister Vivian causes chaos amongst the Bradford children.
- Hit and Run
An estate developer threatens to send Tom to court after writing a bad story about him.
- The Gipper Caper
The Bradfords enter a football game against another family.
Season 2 (1977–1978)
- Is There a Doctor in the House?
Dr. Maxwell moves in with the Bradfords but his habits drive the family crazy.
- Trial Marriage
Sandra Abbot talks her way into the Bradford household when Tommy's football game turns nasty.
Tom is determined to spend some time with his children, driving them to desperate measures.
- Double Trouble
When Tom and Abby break up, the kids set about finding Tom a new woman.
- Mortgage Burnin' Blues
A party at the Bradfords' spirals out of control.
- Dark Horse
Tom's plans to propose are ruined by the kids.
- The Bard and the Bod
Abby's father arrives and Tom is determined to prove himself to his future father-in-law.
- Children of the Groom - Part I
The Bradford children are given the job of organizing Tom and Abby's wedding.
- Children of the Groom - Part II
The children's plans for the wedding threaten to end the wedding altogether.
- I Quit
Tom and Abby decide to take the kids on their honeymoon, a decision they will later regret.
- All's Fair in Love and War
Abby's plans for the Bradford choir are causing chaos between the kids.
- The Return of Auntie V
Vera Bradford returns and makes an announcement that will change the family forever.
- Yes Nicholas, there is a Santa Claus - Part I
Tom is determined to make the first Christmas without Joan the best yet.
- Yes Nicholas, there is a Santa Claus - Part II
The Bradfords celebrate Christmas in true style.
- A Hair of the Dog
It's Tom's birthday and the kids plan a surprise party for him.
- Author! Author!
Abby encourages Tom to leave his job and follow his dreams.
- Much Ado about Garbage
Tom finds himself under arrest. Abby struggles to hold the family together.
- Dear Ms. Dinah
Tom and Abby both find themselves working away leaving the kids in the hands of Sandra.
- Hard Hats and Hard Heads
David catches up with some old friends.
- Seven Days in February
The Bradford girls all find love much to the dismay of Tom.
- The Boyfriend
Susan's new boyfriend takes a shine to Abby.
- Great Expectations
Tom vows to help Tommy pass his exams.
- Long Night's Journey into Day
Abby falls off a ladder and uncovers some secrets from the past.
- The Lost Weekend
Tom and Abby go off to Abby's parents, leaving the kids home alone.
- Poor Little Rich Girl
David's new girlfriend turns out to be a millionaire's daughter.
- Who's on First?
Joanie is put in charge of a talent show. Viewers are introduced to David's full length version of the Season 3 theme song.
Season 3 (1978–1979)
- Who's Crazy Here?
- Nine Is Too Much
- Here We Go Again
- Cinderella's Understudy
- Milk and Sympathy
- The Flunked and the Funked
- Cops and Toddlers
- The Hipbone's Connected to the Thighbone
- Fast and Loose
- War Between the Bradfords
- All The Vice President's Men
- You Won't Have Nicholas to Kick Around Anymore - Part I
- You Won't Have Nicholas to Kick Around Anymore - Part II
- Alone At Last
- The Yearning Point
- Moving Out
- Mother's Rule
- Inlaws and Outlaws
- Horror Story
- Just The Ten of Us
- Best of Friends
- The Kid Who Came to Dinner
- The Better Part of Valor
- Dads, Daughters, Different Drummers
- The Final Days
- The Graduates
- Marriage and Other Flights of Fancy - Part I
- Marriage and Other Flights of Fancy - Part II
Season 4 (1979–1980)
- Merle the Pearl
- The Cupid Crisis
- I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
- Ten Ships in the Night
- The Devil and Mr. Bradford
- The Night They Raided Bradfords
- Big Shoes, Little Feet
- Fathers and Other Strangers - Part I
- Fathers and Other Strangers - Part II
- Letter to One Bradford
- Separate Ways
- Brotherhood, Sisterhood
- Mary, He's Married
- My Son, The Prom Queen
- The Courage to Be
- Semi-Centennial Bradford
- The Commitment
- Seven More Days in February
- The Return of Joe Simons
- Bradford vs. Bradford
- Official Positions
- A Matter of Mentors
- Roll Over Bradford
- A Little Triangle
- Grad Night
Season 5 (1980–1981)
- And Baby Makes Nine - (90 minute season premiere/ also available as Part 1 and Part II)
- Welcome to Memorial Dr. Bradford
- The Maltese Airline Bag
- Darlene Dilemma
- Second Thoughts
- David's Rib
- The Way We Were
- If The Glass Slipper Fits
- The Best Little Telethon in Sacramento
- Yet Another Seven Days in February
- Idolbreaker (1)
- Idolbreaker (2)
- Starting Over
- Father Knows Best?
- TV Movie Eight Is Enough: A Family Reunion (1987)
- TV Movie An Eight Is Enough Wedding (1989)
Episodes aired on FX when the network began in 1994 but haven't been on cable since, except for a 50th Anniversary Warner Bros. marathon on TV Land in 2005. The show also aired on PAX when that network began in 1998. It currently runs on WMEU-CA a low power in Chicago, which also airs on WCIU-TV subchannel 26.3.
During its network run the show was distributed by Worldvision Enterprises (also internationally in rebroadcasts) and later by Lorimar Telepictures. All syndication rights are now held by Warner Bros. Television.
DVD releases
On April 17, 2012, Warner Home Video released the complete first season of Eight Is Enough on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. The release includes the pilot episode (featuring Mark Hamill in the role of eldest son David) and a cast reunion special. The pilot originally aired as a 90 minute special (74 mins. sans commercials), but the version on the DVD is the more common rerun version, edited for one-hour showing (49 minutes). Several of the episodes have the wrong end credits, and the Lorimar Productions logo has also been edited out of the end credits.
On November 13, 2012, Warner Bros. released Season 2, Parts one and two on DVD via their Warner Archive Collection. These are Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) releases and are available through Warner's online store and Amazon.com. Season 3, Parts One and Two were released on April 30, 2013.
|DVD Name||Ep #||Release Date|
|The Complete First Season||9||April 17, 2012|
|The Complete Second Season, Part 1||14||November 13, 2012|
|The Complete Second Season, Part 2||12||November 13, 2012|
|The Complete Third Season, Part 1||14||April 30, 2013|
|The Complete Third Season, Part 2||14||April 30, 2013|
Nielsen ratings
Eight Is Enough
In Italy, RAI public networks aired the first season of Eight Is Enough under the title Otto Bastano in 1978, the literal Italian translation of the original title. The remaining seasons were aired in the 1980s on Retequattro, a commercial network from Fininvest (now Mediaset), under the title La Famiglia Bradford. The Italian version excludes the laugh track.
In Spain, Eight Is Enough was aired also in the 1980s. RTVE (public network) aired all the seasons under the title Con Ocho Basta (the Spanish translation) in Friday's evening time.
In the Philippines, Eight Is Enough aired on GMA 7 from 1978-1981.
- "ONSTAGE & BACKSTAGE: Cable Is a Harsh Mistress, Plus Betty Buckley and Ilene Kristen"
- "Eight is Enough DVD News"
- "Eight Is Enough - Warner Archive Releases 'The Complete 2nd Season, Part 1' and 'Part 2'"
- Your Plate of Homemade Wishes Comes True: Season 3 DVDs are Out!
- TV Sorrisi e Canzoni # 33, 1978 | <urn:uuid:90aadfe3-1bb1-4aa9-8345-0abbd9d1f415> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_Is_Enough | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931905 | 3,777 | 1.78125 | 2 |
A few days ago we told you about Rocco Rossi’s Flip-Flop on bikelanes on major streets (he likes the idea now).
The Toronto Star has published a map (above) of where these physically-separate bikelanes would be.
Rossi’s proposed network includes east-west lanes on Richmond St. between Parliament and Bathurst Sts., and the existing Wellesley Ave.-Harbord St. lane separated from traffic between Parliament and Ossington Ave.
Cyclists travelling north-south would use the existing Sherbourne St. lane that would be separated from traffic between Elm Ave. and Queens Quay; or, to the west, the St. George St./Beverly St. lane extended to Queens Quay.
Rossi says building dedicated lanes in other cities has cost between $168,000 and $454,000 per kilometre.
His plan was quickly denounced as “a last-minute, half-baked idea” by Yvonne Bambrick, spokeswoman for the cyclists union.
“All he’s doing is tweaking (routes) that exist already,” and separating them from traffic, rather than proposing a true network that includes the suburbs, she said.
What do you think of Rossi’s new bikelane plan? | <urn:uuid:978802e5-fe87-40e2-b289-90b2febfc2c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bikingtoronto.com/blog/2010/09/a-map-of-rossis-separated-bikelanes/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955636 | 278 | 1.601563 | 2 |
My nine-year-old daughter brought forth the following question while we drove home from Hogwart’s Camp the other evening: why does boys call “them” “nuts”.
I had to stop from driving into a ditch because the “them” meant “nuts” and the “nuts” meant “nuts” and I was about to go some special kind of other “nuts” – something like an aneurysm – just thinking about all the potential ways I didn’t want to discuss this topic with the intelligent, funny, athletic and gorgeous nine-year-old in the backseat.
She’s still my little girl, after all (no matter how 50′s paternalistic that sounds).
And while I have no trouble imagining her as a respected lawyer or a talented heart surgeon, I have an incredibly hard time with her using the term “nuts” and then laughing like the child she still is. It just doesn’t jibe with what I know about her and what I’ve experienced about her personality over the past nine years.
(Her ENTIRE life!)
No one tells you these things when you become a parent.
“Oh, Seth, that first time your pre-teen daughter asks you about not-so-clever nicknames for boys’ genitals (nads, junk, twig & berries, balls), it’ll just be a hoot!”
They just lob sexist crap like “you’ll have to beat the boys away with a stick” or “you’ll have to lock her up” or “you’ll have to buy a shotgun“.
You get the gist.
I’m not sure the truth is any better than the trite lies. The real truth is that now I have to explain that boys use all kinds of words to describe themselves (and her). Don’t envy me.
In short: I was/am woefully underprepared for her tweenagedom and I’d like it to stop post hast, please and thank you very much.
That said, I want to inform her.
I don’t want to hide sex or sexuality from her.
I want her to be knowledgeable and comfortable and prepared in every way, shape, and form she can be.
I just didn’t realize I’d be the Urban Dictionary for genital slang to a kid who isn’t yet in double digits.
The actual definition conversation hasn’t taken place yet, but I’m actively using any forum I can think of to solicit feedback. I’d love to hear from folks about which “dirty word” or piece of filthy sex slang you learned first, whom you learned it from and when your parents had any form of “the talk” with you.
You know, for research.
I definitely dodged a bullet though, since we were pulling into the driveway when she brought up the topic (while my in-laws were visiting), so I punted saying I “didn’t want to get into it now” or some such parental excuse.
I can feel the “next time” coming soon though.
Sooner than I would have imagined or liked, but I don’t have to imagine or like her being uninformed – I can do something about that.
Which may be this: never trust your kid at a Hogwart’s Camp at a church. It’s unnatural the kinds of things (witchcraft, monotheism, “nuts”) they’ll pick up there.
Until next time, gentle reader, watch your nuts. | <urn:uuid:70b87733-da50-459d-acc6-12a13f91d4f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mostlymuppet.com/tag/raelyn/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953025 | 796 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Care Managers provide professional assistance for older adults with complex care needs and/or their families in accessing, arranging and coordinating the package of services needed to enable the older adult to remain at home. If institutional care becomes necessary, they can help locate an appropriate facility and help to get your family member the care they need.
A Care Manager may be trained in any of a number of fields related to long-term care, including but not limited to, nursing, gerontology, social work, or psychology, with a specialized focus on issues related to aging and elder care. Some provide family or individual therapy, financial management, conservatorship or guardianship assistance, and/or hands-on caregiving services.
They work to identify problems and offer solutions. They also shift part of the caregiving burden from the caregiver to the professional.
- Are your caregiving problems becoming larger and more complex than you can comfortably manage?
- Are you able to figure out what resources are available locally and access them successfully?
- Are you able to provide the desired level of supervision and attention needed to address your family member's needs?
- Are your caregiving responsibilities adversely affecting your health and emotional well-being?
A Care Manager can help.
According to the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers, a Care Manager:
- Conducts care-planning assessments to identify problems and to provide solutions.
- Screens, arranges, and monitors in-home help or other services.
- Provides short- or long-term assistance for caregivers living near or far away.
- Reviews financial, legal, or medical issues and offers referrals to geriatric specialists.
- Provides crisis intervention.
- Acts as a liaison to families at a distance, overseeing care, and quickly alerting families to problems.
- Assists with moving an older person to or from a retirement complex, assisted care home, or nursing home.
- Provides consumer education and advocacy.
- Offers counseling and support.
Care Managers are trained professionals who will provide services that you pay for. Be sure to ask appropriate questions before entering into an agreement for service. Questions could include experience, years in the business, training, certifications, etc. Also, feel free to ask for references. Treat the hiring experience just as you would hiring any other in-home professional to work with your family member.
Many Care Managers are independent contractors. That means their way of charging and what they offer is not necessarily standard. Ask questions.
Find out how often you will be billed. Some Care Managers bill weekly, some bill monthly, some bill upon completion of work. Find out if there is a charge for each service or if all services are billed at an hourly rate or by the completion of a task or job. How do they make referrals? How can you be assured of the competency of referred agencies? How will costs for referral agencies be handled? Is time an issue for you? Will you receive face-to-face time with the Manager or will most of the work be done over the phone? How long will it take to complete certain tasks? Spell everything out and don't hesitate to get clarification as you go along and as you think of more questions.
Ask about out-of-pocket expenses, which may include charges for mileage, care giving supplies, long-distance telephone calls, etc. Find out if there will be any other incidental costs. Put it in writing.
Ask about these matters at the initial conference and ask for them in writing, so there will be no surprises. If you don’t understand, ask again. If you need additional clarification, say so. It is very important that you feel comfortable regarding your financial obligations. The agreement can be a letter or a formal contract. It should spell out what services the Care Manager will perform for you, fees, expenses, expectations, time frames (if appropriate), etc.
Be sure to discuss and make sure you have all questions answered before proceeding with an agreement for services. You should expect a written agreement including fees before the commencement of services.
Please note that some states offer care management services through Older American's Act funding. Check with your Area Agency on Aging to see if this service is offered in your area. If it is, it may be available on a voluntary contribution basis. (Note: This service is not currently available)
Geriatric care managers who are members of the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers (NAPGCM) are committed to adhering to the NAPGCM Pledge of Ethics and Standards of Practice.
If you choose to hire a Care Manager who is not a member of the national association, read the ethics and standards before hiring. Make sure you feel comfortable that the person you are hiring will treat you and your family member with respect and dignity and will deal with you in an honest manner.
There are several ways to find a Care Manager.
First, check with your local Area Agency on Aging. This service may be available through the Older American's Act on a voluntary contribution basis. If it is not, try the online yellow pages or try the National Association of Geriatric Care Managers.
|Find Your Area Agency on Aging|
|Find Area Agencies on Aging in NC|
|Find a Care Manager Search (NAGCM)|
|What is the Older American's Act?|
|Online Yellow Pages| | <urn:uuid:72063ec5-3141-4159-9060-14d59685fa11> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fullcirclecare.org/needhelp/caremgr.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940434 | 1,115 | 1.78125 | 2 |
After playing college football, working as a financial aid adviser and earning a master's degree, 25-year-old Andrew Fuller is back in high school.
Fuller is a new teacher at Tri-Cities High School in East Point, Georgia. He made the move from Oregon to Georgia to join Teach for America, a non-profit organization that recruits non-traditional teachers to improve education for children in low-income communities.
Fuller's passion for education stems from his own experience growing up. He was in a special education program from kindergarten to his senior year, and he felt stigmatized and overlooked.
"I never knew why. I never knew my disability," Fuller says. "I never had an IEP, which is an individualized education program. I never had any of those things."
"Just being in the classroom and just knowing that I'd been given up on sometimes, that I'm not receiving the work, it was heartbreaking," he says.
A gifted athlete, Fuller was accepted to the University of Oregon on a football scholarship. He later transferred and finished his college career playing for the Portland State Vikings.
"At Portland State is where I began a foundation and vision, knowing football is not the only thing that I'm good at but I'm also good at being a student," Fuller says. "That's why I began to put in the work as a student, taking that football mentality of working hard every day and lifting weights to the classroom and starting to train my mind."
Having found success off the field, Fuller's goal shifted from playing in the pros to giving back to children who are like he was. He continued his education at Portland State, earning a master's degree in special education. Then he applied to Teach for America.
"I felt that I wanted to be involved in the most high-need school but also have the backing of an organization that stood for what I embodied, which was: close the educational achievement gap," he says.
Teach for America began in 1990 after founder Wendy Kopp proposed the idea in her senior thesis at Princeton University as a way to address educational inequality in the United States. The basic concept is to recruit highly successful individuals, often recent college graduates, to commit at least two years to teaching in a low-income community.
"Across the country what we are seeing in our low-income communities, unfortunately, is poverty oftentimes predicts destiny and where kids can go," says Shyam Kumar, the executive director of Teach for America in Metro Atlanta.
He adds that "attracting the most promising leaders into these classrooms is difficult."
Unlike Fuller, most participants, called corps members, did not study education. Many had never even considered education as a career before joining Teach for America.
Rather, the movement looks for "a substantial set of traits that make them do amazing things in the classrooms and take kids and put them on a path to a much higher life opportunity," Kumar says. "Some of those things are achievement ... strong track records of leadership, organizational abilities, and just this relentless drive if you hit a problem you're going to be able to overcome it."
Once accepted, corps members attend a summer training institute before the school year starts to get them ready for the classroom.
Jared Gourrier was an American Studies major at Union College in Schenectady, New York. Now he is in his second year teaching third-graders at Deerwood Academy in Atlanta, and he coaches football at Coan Middle School with two other corps members.
"For me, seeing that reality that a life can pretty much be determined by the third grade, it really made me care and understand so much more," he says.
"I have this unwavering dedication to it now."
As a first generation college graduate, Mini'imah Shaheed says she "definitely thought that college meant that you did something else beyond teaching."
"I had planned to do research and was planning to continue straight on into grad school and earn a Ph.D.," she says.
She applied to the program after a Teach for America alum visited her campus, and she was accepted into the 2001 Atlanta corps. After her stint in the program she moved into administration, and today is in her first year as founding principal at KIPP STRIVE Primary School in Atlanta.
"Ideally, none on my students ever have to experience the achievement gap, based on the work that we do every day," Shaheed says. "I'm still taking with me the mission of ensuring educational equity, but now I get to do it from the earliest grade level possible."
The Teach for America model is not without its critics. In a list attached to a letter to Congress, the National Educators Association wrote, "Teach for America does not include a sufficiently rigorous teacher preparation program, nor does it yield retention rates that warrant a federal investment in the program," two points often cited by opponents of the program.
Teach for America says that 66% of its corps members remain in the field of education after their initial commitment, but that does not always mean they stay on as teachers.
"There's the first half of the movement, which is really getting strong teachers," Kumar says. "But there's a second half, which is continue to keep many of these folks in the classrooms but then also build this leadership force to be principals and superintendents and policymakers." | <urn:uuid:930bd7a1-430b-48be-a3a5-050dff42c3fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.news8000.com/news/Unlikely-teachers-find-purpose-in-classroom/-/326/16692480/-/1evgm7z/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985758 | 1,108 | 1.773438 | 2 |
WhaWhat's Good About Denominations? Denominations. Mission. Church and Denominations
What's Good About Denominations?
by Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts
Copyright © 2006 by Mark D. Roberts
Note: You may download this resource at no cost, for personal use or for use in a Christian ministry, as long as you are not publishing it for sale. All I ask is that you give credit where credit is due. For all other uses, please contact me at firstname.lastname@example.org . Thank you.
What's Good About Denominations?
Part 1 of series: What's Good About Denominations?
Posted for Monday, July 10, 2006
If you've been following my blog recently, you know that I've been commenting on the affairs of two denominations, the Presbyterian Church USA (my denomination) and the Southern Baptist Convention. In both cases I've been talking about disagreements and conflicts within these religious bodies. The Southern Baptist debate has been about technology and mission, and blogging in particular. The PCUSA problems are far more serious, and may, as I've suggested be the beginning of the end of this denomination. How I wish we were arguing about blogging and baptisms instead of the Trinity and gay ordination!
Of course I haven't even commented recently on the most volatile of denominational squabbles, that within the Episcopal Church USA. The theological liberalism of the majority of the ECUSA bishops, and, in particular, their endorsement of active gays and lesbians, has brought the ECUSA to the point of schism. Just a couple of days ago the largest congregation in the denomination, Christ Church of Plano, Texas, announced that is was parting ways with the ECUSA over theological issues. The official church statement explained:
The mission of Christ Church is to make disciples and teach them to obey the commands of Christ. The direction of the leadership of the Episcopal Church is different and we regret their departure from biblical truth and the historic faith of the Anglican Communion.
Christ Church, Plano, Texas
As the vestry of Christ Church, we declare our intention to disassociate from ECUSA as soon as possible. We are thankful for the shepherd role of the Right Rev. James Stanton and his standing in the Anglican Communion, and we regard him as our apostolic leader.
No doubt many Episcopal churches will follow Christ Church, even as others have previously left the ECUSA.
Of course the Presbyterians and the Episcopalians aren't the only ones facing serious disagreements and potential division. Many of the mainstream denominations, including Methodists and Lutherans, seem also to be continually fighting, usually over issues rather like the ones plaguing the Episcopal and Presbyterian churches. Most denominations these days seem preoccupied about sex, in one form or another. We Presbyterians have been arguing about it for almost three decades!
For obvious reasons, it has become increasingly common for people to denounce denominations in general. They're institutional lame horses, we're told, and ought to be put out of their misery. This makes intuitive sense in a time when non-denominational (or independent) churches are flourishing and major denominations are fighting and floundering. One must surely wonder whether we'd be better off without denominations.
From another quarter comes a different critique and suggestion. Just last night a friend of mine, one who is a Presbyterian with strong leanings toward the (Eastern) Orthodox Church, wondered out loud if, rather than leaving the PCUSA and going out on our own or joining some other Presbyterian denomination, we should instead "return to the true church." By this she meant the Orthodox Church, which traces its history back to the first disciples of Jesus. Of course the Roman Catholics might not quite agree with her about which church is the true church. In recent years a number of notable evangelicals have joined the Roman Catholic Church, believing that they have finally come home denominationally. (For a fascinating and insightful look at why evangelicals become Roman Catholic, check out this piece by Scot McKnight.)
I'm not prepared to take on the "return to the true church" suggestion at this time, though I think it's one that deserves a serious response. For the record, I'm also not ready to become either Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox, though I can think of many worse options. If you've been following my recent writings, you know that I remain committed to the PCUSA, though concerned about the direction of my denomination and open to the possibility that my time as a PCUSA member may not be as long as I had hoped it would be.
One of the reasons I'm staying in the PCUSA is that I believe there are, in fact, many good things about denominations. In a time when it's so easy to point out denominational faults, I thought it might be good to reflect upon denominational benefits. So in this series I'm going to suggest a number of positive qualities about denominations. Some of these will be theological; others will be practical; most all of them will be personal in that they will reflect my convictions and experiences.
How You Can Participate in the Conversation
Of course you can just sit back and read what I'll put up over the next couple of weeks. But I'd invite you to contribute your own wisdom on this matter, if you'd like to. In your opinion, what is good about denominations?
E-mail me your answers, and I will make sure your opinions are included in this series. I can't promise to use every e-mail, of course. If I get twenty e-mails with more or less the same idea, I'll use one or two of the twenty. The best way to communicate, by the way, is in two or three succinct paragraphs, adding up to no more than 200 words. If you have multiple ideas about why denominations are good, send one per e-mail. I will assume, by the way, that I can use your name if you e-mail me. If you'd like me to use only your initials, please tell me. And if you have a website, feel free to include the URL so I can send people to your site.
What is a Denomination?
Part 2 of series: What's Good About Denominations?
Posted for Tuesday, July 11, 2006
This is the sort of question that can lead to a long, long answer. I expect there are church historians and theologians who have written whole books on this subject. If you've spent much time thinking about this question, no doubt you'll find my musings to be rather superficial. But it does seem like I should attempt to define "denomination" before trying to speak of what's good about denominations.
I quickly found three dictionary definitions online:
A large group of religious congregations united under a common faith and name and organized under a single administrative and legal hierarchy.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. At Dictionary.com.
A group of religious congregations having its own organization and a distinctive faith
WordNet ® 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University. At Dictionary.com.
Religious organization whose congregations are united in their adherence to its beliefs and practices
What's common to all of these definitions is that a denomination is a group of religious congregations that are organized together in some common institutional structure. This seems like a good start of a definition of "denomination."
A Common Set of Beliefs?
All three definitions state that the congregations in a denomination share a common set of beliefs. This is surely true in principle. In practice, however, many denominations are struggling precisely because what different congregations believe does not necessarily overlap neatly. I have found that I often feel a greater theological affinity with non-Presbyterians than with some in my own denomination. Strange as it may seem, my views of Scripture, salvation, and evangelism seem closer to those of my Southern Baptist friends than to those of some Presbyterians I know. One of the great problems plaguing most mainline denominations is precisely the lack of a common set of core beliefs.
The logo of the PCUSA
A Common History?
What many denominations seems to have, rather than a set of core beliefs, is a common history. All congregations in the PCUSA, no matter what they might believe, can trace their history back to the same root.
In this sense, a denomination is more like a family than anything else. Many families couldn't begin to forge a common life together, but they are bound together by their common roots. Family members might disagree on almost anything -- religion, politics, key values – but they are still connected through common parentage. I think of one PCUSA church not far from mine. In many, many ways we are different, including in many matters of core theology and sense of mission. But we share a common history in that we were both planted by the Presbyterian church in this region.
A Lasting Partnership?
One of the things characteristic of denominations is a lasting partnership among participating churches. Consider, for example, the situation when churches come together for a particular purpose. They may organize themselves to support an evangelistic crusade or to build a Habitat for Humanity house. Yet these organizations are not meant to be lasting. Once the mission is over, the organization dissolves.
Denominations, on the contrary, are meant to be lasting, even indefinitely. This is one reason why the division of denominations seems so painful and difficult. (I wonder if denominational charters should have built-in re-evaluation clauses, whereby all member churches could review their involvement in the denomination every decade or so. Who said denominations have to be like marriages, with new alignments like divorces?)
Common Sense of Mission?
Denominations are, or should be, at any rate, united in a common sense of mission. Missional activity is one of the main reasons for having denominations, as we'll see later in this series. But, here again, main current denominations seem to lack this aspect of denominational character. I know PCUSA churches that define mission almost entirely in terms of evangelism. And I know PCUSA churches that define mission almost entirely in terms of social justice (almost always of a liberal variety). One of the deep divisions in the PCUSA has to do with the nature of our mission.
Mutual Commitment and Accountability?
Churches can come together for a missional purpose without becoming one denomination, of course. So when a church is a part of a denomination, this implies a deeper kind of commitment and accountability. My church, as part of the PCUSA, is saying that we are committed to the overall ministry of our denomination. We are committed to uphold our denominational rules. And we are willing to be held accountable in these commitments.
Once again, one of the main reasons that the PCUSA is in such a mess is the demise of mutual commitment and accountability. Increasingly, individual churches and presbyteries (regional groups of churches) are disobeying denominational rules. They are not being held accountable for their independence. Moreover, if I understand rightly what happened at our recent General Assembly, the delegates voted to allow for a breakdown in mutual commitment and accountability. This is part of the reason I suggested that we've seen the beginning of the end of the PCUSA.
In Conclusion: What is a Denomination?
So then, what is a denomination? Well, it is surely an organization of churches that have come together for some common purpose, and who have agreed (in principle, at least) to be governed by common rules, and who intend to be committed to each other over a long period of time. I think it's essential for a healthy denomination to share core theological beliefs, a common sense of mission, and mutual accountability. It seems to me, however, that many mainstream denominations, not the least my own, have replaced these essentials with a minimal, common history. We are like a family that is bound together by common roots even though we can't live together in harmony because we have so many profound differences and disagreements.
With this rough and ready definition in mind, tomorrow I'll begin to suggest some things that are good about denominations. Part of what will be tricky, however, is deciding whether I'm talking about ideal denominations or real ones. I'll have to sort this out as I go.
Denominations Establish Hospitals and Schools
Part 3 of series: What's Good About Denominations?
Posted for Wednesday, July 12, 2006
I hadn't planned to start with this point, but then I received the latest issue of U.S. News & World Report. The cover story: "American's Best Hospitals: Exclusive Rankings of the Finest Healthcare in 16 Specialties." As I perused the list of the best hospitals in disciples such as cancer treatment and endocrinology, I kept seeing denominational labels. For example, here are some of the hospitals I picked out of the lists:
Riverside Methodist Hospital-Ohio Health, Columbus, Ohio
St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, Houston, Texas
Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, Park Ridge, Illinois
Wake Forest Univ. Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, NC
Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas
New England Baptist Hospital, Boston, Mass.
Methodist Hospital, Omaha, Nebraska
Central Baptist Hospital, Lexington, Kentucky
One hospital with a denominational name made it into the U.S. News Honor Roll, comprising the top fourteen hospitals in the country. This was New York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell.
I'm sure there are many more denominationally-related hospitals on the list. Catholic hospitals, for example, tend to be named after saints, but don't include "Catholic" in the title (St. Joseph's Hospital, for example). (Yes, I realize that Catholics don't like to be considered a denomination. But they are for the purposes of this blog series.)
Now I'm not suggesting that all hospitals with denominational markings are actually administered by or under the authority of a denomination. In some cases, I expect the connection between hospital and denomination is minimal at best. In most if not all cases, a denomination had something to do with the founding of the hospital.
I'm most familiar with Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, California, where both of my children were born. This hospital was founded over fifty years ago with considerable participation by Presbyterian Churches in Orange County. The hospital features a Pastoral Care Department directed by a Presbyterian pastor, the Rev. Dr. Donald Oliver. His staff includes a Catholic priest and Jewish volunteers.
Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach. Now that's what I call a hospital room with a view!
Denominations have also taken the lead in the founding of colleges and universities. The United Methodist Church, for example, claims among dozens of college the following prominent schools: Boston University, Duke University, Emory University, Southern Methodist University, and Syracuse University. Many universities have become independent of their founding denominations (U.S.C. from the Methodists and Occidental College from the Presbyterians). Others are denominational in name only. But, still, denominations have founded and maintained hundreds of fine colleges and universities throughout the country. I should add that denominational bodies have also taken a leading role in the establishing and maintaining of hospitals and schools throughout the world. This work continues today. For example, there is Bibanga Presbyterian Hospital in the Republic of the Congo, which was founded in 1917 and continues to receive support from the PCUSA. You can find many other hospitals like this one at the PCUSA website.
Why, you might wonder, would denominations get into the hospital- and school-founding business anyway? The answer is that these religious bodies have seen their mission broadly, not only in terms of evangelism and church-planting, but also in terms of being salt and light in the world. The founding of hospitals also reflects a commitment to be healers, not only through prayer, but also through the application of medical science. And the founding of schools often is the result of a commitment to doing justice. Educating people who might otherwise not be educated is a way of empowering them and improving both their personal condition and their societies.
Are denominations necessary for the founding of hospitals and schools. No, one can imagine other ways for Christians to be involved in these works. But, although it would be possible for groups of Christians or groups of churches to found hospitals and schools without denominational attachments, it's unlikely that this would happen very often. The financial scope of such projects and the years upon years of planning and execution required to complete them are the business of denominations, with their broad resources and long-term commitments.
Denominations Plant Churches
Part 4 of series: What's Good About Denominations?
Posted for Thursday, July 13, 2006
This may turn out to be the best thing about denominations. Throughout the centuries, denominations have planted hundreds of thousands if not millions of churches, and this work continues to this day. (As I've noted previously, I'm including as denominations both the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox churches, though they would tend to see themselves more as the one true church and less as a denomination. Yet they are organized groups of churches with a common faith and mission, not to mention a common name, which is the root meaning of "denomination.")
Now one might object that denominations aren't the only source of new churches. Indeed, in my city there are a number of independent churches that have begun in living rooms, schools, and community centers. Some of these have become quite successful in terms of longevity, size, and mission. But it seems to me that the majority of non-denominational church plants soon dry up and whither away. It's extremely hard to plant a church without the resources of a denomination. Good intentions and even a sense of calling only take one so far. (Some very large independent churches have planted new churches with success. In this case, the relationship between planting church and planted church is rather like a small denomination.)
|My own church, Irvine Presbyterian Church, is the result of denominational vision and effort. In the early 1970s there was no church in Irvine. There wasn't much of Irvine back then, either, for that matter. The Presbytery of Los Ranchos, a regional governing body of the PCUSA, sensed God's call to get a church going in Irvine. Gathering together leaders from other churches, the Presbytery oversaw the process of calling a new pastor (Ben Patterson, now at Westmont College) to plant what would become Irvine Presbyterian Church. The Presbytery also provided funding for this church "start up." Now, over thirty years later, Irvine Presbyterian Church is thriving and growing. Moreover, we're now providing financial support for other church planting efforts of Los Ranchos Presbytery. (To see what's going on in one of our church plants, in Ladera Ranch, California, check out the pastor's website.)
Irvine Presbyerian Church began in 1975, meeting in a school. In 1984 we built our first building, which was meant to be a fellowship hall, but served as a sanctuary for 12 years. I came to this church in 1991, following founding pastor Ben Patterson.
One who is disinclined to appreciate denominations might object: "Okay. But what you've described isn't really the work of a denomination so much as a local organization of churches. If the PCUSA disappeared but the churches in Los Ranchos Presbytery decided to remain together in common ministry, wouldn't the church-planting ministry continue?" Yes, perhaps, though I think some churches might be less inclined to remain committed to a local organization. At the same time, other churches might be more excited about having strong local ties without the downside of a national denomination. The current direction of the PCUSA seems to be heading towards much more local attachment and much less national connectionalism.
A critic of denominations might also want to see just how much church planting is being done by existing denominations, and how effective their efforts are. My guess is, for example, that the PCUSA (and its denominational ancestors) used to do much more church planting than we do today. Usually, healthy and focused denominations are able to plant more churches, while unhealthy and confused ones are not. In my part of the world, the denominations that are most actively engaged in church planting are some of the newest ones, like Calvary Chapel and the Vineyard. (I recognize that leaders of these organizations shun the term "denomination," but they are surely denominations by just about any objective measure. I'd argue that they are healthier and more ideal denominations than my own in many ways. Perhaps denominations are better when they are newer.)
No matter how ineffective some denominations might be at church planting, they surely deserve credit for this ministry, especially if one takes a historical perspective. Denominational church planting has done more to advance the kingdom of God in the world than anything else denominations have accomplished. If only the struggling denominations like my own would stop fighting about theology and how to fix the world, and would instead focus on planting healthy churches, maybe we'd become healthier and stronger ourselves. Then again, maybe we're like human beings, who lose the ability to be fruitful and multiply after they've been around for a few decades.
Denominations Provide Accountability for Churches and Church Leaders
Part 5 of series: What's Good About Denominations?
Posted for Friday, July 14, 2006
Several years ago my friend, I'll call him Ron, was pastoring a mid-size independent church. He had been called there by the elders of that church. He had moved his family into town, purchased a home, and had been serving as senior pastor for about three years. From Ron's point of view, the ministry was thriving, and he was doing what he had been called to do, mainly to preach and to provide pastoral care for the congregation.
One evening at the meeting of the board of elders for his church, Ron heard a startling announcement: "Ron," one of the elders said, "we're not happy with your leadership here. Yes, you're a good preacher. And, yes, you're good at caring for the people. But we need leadership. We need a visionary pastor who can move us forward."
Ron, trying not to be defensive, answered, "I'm shocked to hear this. I thought I was doing a good job as your pastor. But if there are places I need to grow, I'm glad to work on them. Tell me what you'd like me to do."
After an awkward silence, the spokesman for the elders continued, "Ron, I don't think that's the course we're going to take. We have voted to release you from your service here so you can find another call. Tonight we're giving you two weeks' notice."
"I'm being fired?" Ron said, aghast.
"Well," the elder answered, "you could call it that. We call it moving forward in God's will for our church and for your ministry."
And that was that. There was no place for Ron to turn for help, other than to the courts, which he believed, as a Christian, he shouldn't do. There was no body that could hold the elders accountable to do the right thing. Ron was gone in two weeks. The elders gave him a month of severance pay, as if that would help him make a transition to a new ministry. (It actually took him about two years to find a new church.)
This sort of thing happens often in independent churches. I know of several other stories similar to this one. Of course not all independent churches do this sort of thing. But when they do, the victims of injustice are pretty much stuck.
What happened to Ron couldn't happen legally in a Presbyterian church. Oh, I'm sure it's been tried. And I'm sure sometimes the elders have managed to get away with it. But the rules in the PCUSA are clear: the board of elders does not have the authority to fire a pastor. Even the congregation cannot fire a pastor without the support of the presbytery (local governing body). Now if the board of elders is very displeased with the pastor, this usually ends up with the pastor leaving (but not always). Yet the process is one that guards against gross injustice. It protects the pastor and the pastor's family. It protects the church from the whims of a few elders. The denomination holds the leaders of the church accountable, thus ensuring a relatively fair process of "firing," if you will.
Sometimes, of course, the elders aren't the problem . . . the pastor is. I know of a church where the pastor was causing serious damage to the congregation. His poor leadership had chased away many capable staff and lay leaders, and his terrible financial management had cost the church tons of money. Yet, for some reason, his board of elders was not willing or able to hold him accountable for his manifold misdeeds. The church was at risk of failing financially, not to mention in the ways of the kingdom of God.
A few leaders from that church, fearing what lay ahead, went to the presbytery with their concerns. The presbytery investigated, and found that the church was in crisis. After a long, involved process, the presbytery "helped the pastor see" that his resignation would be the best for all parties. And, even though they held him responsible for the dire state of the church, they also made sure he was treated graciously in his severance package.
Now this church, which was going down quickly, is on the mend. The damage from this pastor's poor leadership is still in evidence, but the ship is righted and is slowly moving forward. Were it not for denominational accountability, I'm quite sure this pastor would still be in place, and I'm quite sure the church would be far, far worse off than it is today.
I know of situations when a presbytery has, in the name of holding a pastor accountable, done unfair and unwise things to that pastor. I'm not suggesting that denominational accountability is flawless. Quite to the contrary! But I have seen many situations in which denominational connections helped churches and church leaders do the right thing.
|Some of these situations are not nearly as contentious as my first two examples. Let me offer a much happier instance of denominational accountability. Since I've been pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church, we've built a sanctuary and an administration building. In both projects, we've been held accountable by our local presbytery. In the most recent project, a leader from the presbytery actually joined our building committee. In both projects we had to submit our plans and our financial arrangements for presbytery approval. But this has not been an adversarial relationship. On the contrary, we've received lots of help from our presbytery. They've been able to gather the wisdom that comes from dozens of building projects and share that wisdom with us. So, in addition to holding us accountable, the presbytery has offered valuable guidance and insight.
The sanctuary of Irvine Presbyerian Church,
built in 1996.
In closing, let me say that I'm deeply concerned about the extent to which pastors, in particular, are often accountable to no one. Clever pastors can sometimes manipulate even a denominational church system to suit their megalomania. They seem to live "above the law," as it were, in their preaching, leadership, and personal lives. Denominations don't necessarily solve this problem, as we've seen so painfully in the Roman Catholic molestation scandal. But they can provide the sort of accountability that helps pastors live and lead righteously. And they often step in when pastors, and other church leaders, wander off the path.
The most difficult situation in my ministry happened ten years ago. It concerned an associate pastor in my church. The issues were not moral or theological, but they were very difficult personnel and relationship matters. There were times during this crisis when I seriously considered leaving the ministry. What saved me, and the health of my church, was above all, God's grace. But this grace was delivered through the form of presbytery intervention. I found ample personal support and well-deserved correction for mistakes I had made. The other party was also coached by presbytery leaders, and ultimately resigned from our church staff, thank God! Sometimes I wonder if I'd still be in ministry, were it not for my connection to a denomination.
Again, I'm sure there are plenty of horror stories that illustrate the other side of my arguments, stories of governing bodies treating leaders and churches poorly. I know many of these stories, and have written extensively on one of them. I am also aware of many instances when the governing body did not hold leaders accountable. Recently, my own denomination has had a devil of a time making sure its leaders follow the rules of church government that we have agreed to obey. But I would still argue that in many, many cases, denominations provide accountability for pastors and other church leaders, thus helping churches to be healthier, fairer, and more effective in God's work.
Denominations Provide Guidance for Congregational Worship
Part 6 of series: What's Good About Denominations?
Posted for Sunday, July 16, 2006
I grew up in a Presbyterian church without having much idea of what was Presbyterian and what was not. I knew we had elders, and I knew we didn't baptize people more than once, but otherwise I was relatively unaware of what made our beliefs and our common life distinctively Presbyterian.
In college and grad school I was active in a Pentecostal church, then a Roman Catholic church, and finally a Mennonite church. I came to experience many of the differences among denominational approaches to discipleship and fellowship. I also found a profound commonality in the things that mattered most: the nature of God; the identity and mission of Jesus; the call to community and ministry; the centrality of worship in the Christian life. In light of my diverse Christian experiences during my late teens and twenties, I began to see more clearly what was distinctive about my Presbyterian upbringing.
The First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, where I grew up and where I first served as an associate pastor.
When I sensed God's call to become a Presbyterian minister, I took a course in polity (church leadership) at Fuller Theological Seminary. For the first time I actually sat down and read the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church USA: The Book of Order and The Book of Confessions. It was during this first read that I realized how profoundly Presbyterian I really was, and also how much my upbringing in church had been Presbyterian.
One of the sections of The Book of Order that I most appreciated was the "Directory for the Service of God." This title was somewhat confusing, since the subject of this section was worship. (Not long after my first reading of this Directory, the PCUSA replaced this whole section with a similar one that was more aptly named, "Directory for Worship.") When I began reading the "Directory for the Service of God" I expected to find dry rules for Presbyterian worship. What I found, instead, was a vibrant vision of worship and lots of practical wisdom based on years of corporate worship in the Reformed tradition. Sure, there were rules. But most of these seemed sensible to me, especially when they were set in a compelling theological context.
Consider, for example, the first two paragraphs of the current "Directory for Worship."
Christian worship joyfully ascribes all praise and honor, glory and power to the triune God. In worship the people of God acknowledge God present in the world and in their lives. As they respond to God’s claim and redemptive action in Jesus Christ, believers are transformed and renewed. In worship the faithful offer themselves to God and are equipped for God’s service in the world.
The Spirit of God quickens people to an awareness of God’s grace and claim upon their lives. The Spirit moves them to respond by naming and calling upon God, by remembering and proclaiming God’s acts of self-revelation in word and deed, and by committing their lives to God’s reign in the world. (W-1.1001 to 1.1002)
It's hard to imagine a more truthful and dynamic introduction to a guidebook for worship.
Most denominations provide similar guidance for congregational worship, though the content would vary according to denominational distinctives. In addition to official wisdom in documents like the Book of Order, denominations also produce a wide array of materials for worship, including hymnals, songbooks, books of common worship and prayer, and plenty of resource material. Some of this is, no doubt, not terribly helpful. For example, I've never found reason to use the worship materials produced by the PCUSA for Wills Emphasis Sunday (no joke!). But I have found rich resources in the PCUSA hymnal, in the Book of Common Worship, and in other publications in addition to the "Directory for Worship."
As you can tell, and you would no doubt be able to guess, the PCUSA worship materials tend toward the traditional. Though the "Directory for Worship" gives lots of room for contemporary expressions of worship, the PCUSA isn't exactly a leader in band-led music, for example. Other denominations, like the Vineyard, fill in this blank quite nicely.
You may be surprised how much freedom the PUCSA "Directory for Worship" gives to individual churches and their leaders. This is both good news and bad news. It's good news when the leaders have solid, biblical theology and a right understanding of worship. It's bad news when leaders have wandered off the path of orthodoxy.
There are some "must be followed" rules in the "Directory for Worship." Some might seem overly rigid to those who are not acquainted with our polity. For example, in a Presbyterian church, all celebrations of Communion must be approved by the session (board of elders; W-2.4012). This rule means that, as a pastor, I can't decide on my own when and where I want to serve Communion. (In an emergency I can make this decision and then report it to my session for their approval.) Why this limitation? It ensures that Communion is celebrated appropriately, with the proper theological understanding and suitable practices. (Individual Presbyterians are free, by the way, to celebrate Communion in private or in unofficial settings or in other churches.)
Now of course denominations aren't the only place one can find guidance for worship. There are lots of parachurch ministries committed to helping the church in its worship. But, in my experience, it has been helpful to have available the collective, biblically-based wisdom of people whose understanding of God and worship is similar to my own.
Denominations Provide a Context for Submission
Part 7 of series: What's Good About Denominations?
Posted for Friday, July 28, 2006
After a break in the action, I'm now back to blogging about denominations for a while. I'll have more to say about the reliability of the gospels later on.
When I began my series What's Good About Denominations?, I asked for input from my blog readers. I heard from many people. Some ideas were ones I had thought of on my own, others were unexpected. In the unexpected category as the notion that denominations provide a context for submission. Let me quote from the e-mails I was sent, and then add a few comments of my own.
Before I joined the PCUSA in 2002, my wife and I were members of the United Methodist Church, the second largest denomination in the country, and one that seems to be turning the tide against the force of heterodoxy. God called us there (much to our surprise) and it was the first time I had belonged to a denominational community since growing up in the Catholic Church . . . . What really frustrated me was that at the time individual churches and regions were sticking their tongues out at the Book of Order and ordaining homosexuals and blessing gay marriages. Now, I happen to be opposed to both of these actions (on scriptural grounds, and that said with a certain sadness because it has come between me and gay friends at times who were frustrated by my lack of willingness to fully embrace their “rights”). But the issue was not, in my mind, that these church did something unscriptural, it was that they essentially said “we don’t care what the community of churches says, we want to do this and we will do this.” This blatant display of disobedience, the unwillingness to live within the bounds of community (mind you, while still reaping the benefits of community such as pastoral pensions, advertising, training opportunities and the like). Submission has become a dirty word in our culture (and I say this as one who is rabidly egalitarian on gender issues), and because of this my post might sound quite old fashioned.
But it is one of the chief costs of community. Sometimes the community decides (be it forever or for a season) that some things are not acceptable. Community (and with it discipleship) calls us to either submit to that in the community, or if we believe it to be of such great moral reason, to leave the community (in sadness) and thus suffer the great costs of separation and loss of identity with that community. Denominations act as a community for churches, reminding them of the call to submit to authorities, to live and love one another, and when necessary, to pay the costs of either being part of the community or of losing that community. . . . So, denominations are a form of community that, if not essential, is very helpful in our calling to be conformed to the image of Christ.
Excerpted from a blog post by Christopher Morton, Colorado Springs, The Roving Theologian
Being connected to others through agreed upon standards/confessions/constitutions/apostolic servants helps to keep all of us centered on the faith catholic. Particularly as independent Americans, we need, above many in Jesus' global church- the grace of a place to practice submission. Denom's are great places for the imperial self, even in its communal expression, to pick up its cross and follow Jesus.
Dave Moody, Sparta, IL , blog 137
Christopher Morton is surely right: submission has become a dirty word in our culture. To claim that denominations are good because they give us a chance to practice submission sounds a little like arguing that children should be spanked in public school.
Nevertheless, submission is a biblical virtue. Before even getting to marriage, Paul says that we are to submit (or be subject) to each other out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 5:21). I don't especially like this verse. But I don't reserve the right to dismiss it as suitable only for old fashioned people. Submission is part of Christian discipleship. And, I must confess, submission to a denomination has been good for my soul.
My first experience of such submission was when I began seeking ordination as a Presbyterian minister. I had to jump through innumerable hoops: filling out forms, being examined by a psychologist, being grilled by a committee, etc. etc. This wasn't fun, and I rather resented it at first. But, by God's grace, I realized that if I submitted to the process rather than fighting it, there might be benefit, not only for my vocational future, but even for my soul. Somehow, submitting to Presbyterian Church provided an opportunity for me to learn something new about submitting to the Lord.
It's important to remember that we're talking about voluntary submission. Even God doesn't force us to our knees before Him. At any moment, I could leave the Presbyterian Church USA, thus ending any need to submit to its rules and its people. Nevertheless, by remaining in a context where I submit to others out of reverence for Christ, I'm able to grow in godliness.
I will not forget my first meeting with what was then called the Candidates' Committee of Pacific Presbytery. We met at the First Presbyterian Church of Inglewood, California. Couldn't you see this church building in almost any midwestern town in America?
So, thanks Christopher and Dave for bringing up this subject. I doubt I'd have thought of it on my own. | <urn:uuid:883ae153-6c24-4ba2-9ee9-4f3f48c5676f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.markdroberts.com/htmfiles/resources/goodaboutdenominations.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97427 | 8,420 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Scrolling is exhausting — it never ends. There is no sense of accomplishment. I once heard someone refer to infinite scrolling on websites as “a game you can never win.”
I prefer pagination for a different reason. With scrolling, I feel like I have too much control. I constantly have to “measure” how far to scroll and make the proper precise movement. My eyes have to track the content as it moves. It’s exhausting because of the concentration it requires compared with just pressing a button and having the right thing happen.
Update (2012-11-01): Lukas Mathis:
If I’m reading a novel, the experience I’m having should be the book’s story unfolding in my head, not my fingers scrolling the page every few seconds. In this case, good UX design means not interfering with the actual experience the user is having: the book’s story.
Look at iOS’s home screen. There are pages of apps. You jump between pages, you don’t scroll. Is the home screen’s pagination an artifact of paper book technology, or is it simply a better idea than having a home screen that can be scrolled? I’d argue that it’s a better idea. | <urn:uuid:07b0221b-6b87-4f61-a0dd-0ede7308612a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mjtsai.com/blog/2012/10/30/e-book-pagination/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944494 | 272 | 1.765625 | 2 |
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The M.C.C. tour to Australia in 1946-47 resembled that of 1920-21, not a Test being won by England. In both cases English cricket had not recovered from the effects of world war. M.C.C. were most reluctant to send out a team so soon after the cessation of hostilities, but so pressing was the invitation from the Australian Board of Control, backed in person by Dr. H. V. Evatt, they gave way. To my mind M.C.C. took the proper course. The presence of the English side not only revived cricket enthusiasm throughout Australia but, thanks to the great publicity given to the tour, cricket throughout the marvellous summer which followed in England received bigger public support than ever before. After all, the game is the thing, and, provided first-class players supply the enjoyment the people want, this M.C.C. tour has ensured support for many years to come. Off the field the tour was a tremendous success. The Englishmen were popular wherever they went, and so large were the crowds that flocked to the matches that the M.C.C.'s share of the profits reached £50,000.
Less than three weeks before sailing was the side completed, the last three places going to Edrich, Fishlock and James Langridge. So, on August 31, the following party left Southampton on the R.M.S. Stirling Castle for Fremantle:--
Major R. Howard (Lancashire) was manager, and W. Ferguson acted as scorer and baggage-master.
Weakness in bowling was the main cause of the team's failure, coupled with poor catching which affected the side in spasms. The inability of Hammond to make any large scores in the first four Tests in which he played and the time taken by Hutton and Compton to produce their true form in the Tests were contributory factors. That the side did not fare as badly as the men of 1920-21 and lose all five Tests was due to the fact that these matches, instead of being played to a finish, were limited to six days of five hours each, England in turn agreeing to allot five days of six hours for each of the 1948 Tests.
Before further criticism of our men I must emphasise that we found the Australians much stronger than we anticipated. By the time we arrived at Brisbane for the First Test we realised they were much better equipped in bowling. It was hoped that our batting would seal up part of the gap, but seldom did things run smoothly. Owing to the abnormal wet weather Hammond could not give all his men the match practice he desired. In Australia many games were drawn because at least seventeen were interrupted by rain. The weather turned bad at the very moment when the side was beginning to take shape. After some early disappointments in not winning any of the first-class matches at Perth and Adelaide, the team soundly beat Victoria, the Sheffield Shield champions, but little could be done in the next two games against An Australian XI at Melbourne, virtually a Test Trial for both sides, and against New South Wales at Sydney. Consequently, Hardstaff and James Langridge were repeatedly left out in order that the probable Test batsmen could get the match practice they had missed through rain. Meanwhile Fishlock was out of action having broken a bone in the hand while bowling in the nets at Adelaide. Also Gibb received more chances than Evans. Very wisely, Hammond nursed Bedser and Wright carefully in the early months of the tour, for he must have realised the serious weakness of his attack. Yet these bowlers, through sheer necessity, were called upon to do far too much work in the gruelling heat. Only those who saw them in action can be fully aware of the splendid way these two always responded to their captain. Special Army leave was given to Voce and Pollard for the tour, but neither had sufficient pace to be really troublesome in the clear Australian atmosphere. The change from English rations to the excellent Australian food, coupled with the benefit gained from a sea trip and glorious Australian sunshine, caused all the party to put on weight, and none more so than Voce and Pollard.
Naturally, people at home began to think the team were taking things too easily; that Hammond could not control his men. Let me say that no England captain could have had under him a more loyal set of men. All of them would have done anything for him. They appreciated his vast experience of Australia and did their best to order their play in the way he wished. Whereas a successful captain is rarely criticised, Hammond was not allowed to escape. His field placings did not always meet with approval, particularly with regard to Wright, whom he employed as a deep third man. In the last Test, when Yardley became captain, he moved point back to intercept cuts, and this left a spare fielder to strengthen either slips or the leg trap. When not bowling, Wright himself constantly occupied the third man position. This led to much comment, but by being out there instead of fielding close up Wright found mental relaxation between overs. Moreover, I understood that he preferred going there.
Hammond was not the same inspiring leader as at home against Australia in 1938. I believe his own batting failure upset him. In the past he had been the merciless killer of slow bowlers, but now he became their prey. Big scores at Northam and Perth suggested Hammond would again dominate the cricket, but apart from an innings of 188 in the return game with South Australia he failed to live up to his reputation. His figures in eight Test innings were: 32, 23, 1, 37, 9, 26, 18 and 22. During the fourth Test in a heat wave at Adelaide he was stricken with fibrositis and did not bat again until the team reached New Zealand.
Beyond question nothing went right for Hammond. Often when his men were battling hard and looked like establishing a promising position an umpire's decision changed the whole complexion of the game. These incidents caused some friction and certainly bitter disappointment to the England team. Let me quote Ray Robinson, the Australian critic, writing in The Cricketer: "More exasperating was the luck of umpiring. Usually debatable decisions work out fairly evenly over a Test rubber, but weight of evidence suggests that the umpires were mistaken in giving Bradman not out caught for 28 in the First Test, Edrich out leg-before-wicket for 89 in the Third Test, and Washbrook out caught behind the wicket for 39 in the Fourth Test. These decisions came at such points in England's bids to gain an advantage that they could almost be termed turning-points of the three games. Dismissal of Bradman for 159 runs fewer--and four hours earlier--would have altered the course of the First Test incalculably, and, perhaps, led to Australia having to play a second innings on the first of the sticky wickets. In the Third Test the undetected snick from Edrich's bat to his pad occurred when he and Washbrook were renewing their overnight century partnership and England had nine wickets in hand to get 211 more runs to lead in the first innings. When the opening pair led off with 100 in England's second innings of the Fourth Test and Washbrook snicked a fast ball, I believe nearby fieldsmen were impetuous in appealing as the wicket-keeper scooped up the ball, and that the hesitant umpire would have been wiser to have asked his square-leg colleague whether it carried to the gloves or was gathered on the half-volley." I agree entirely with all that Ray Robinson wrote, and I give his version because no one will accuse an Australian of possessing a disjointed view on decisions which meant so much to the victorious side as well as to the losers.
Compelled to bat twice on a treacherous wicket at Brisbane, England stood no chance in the First Test, but in the next, at Sydney, Hammond won the toss and feeble batting allowed the initiative to pass to Australia. Edrich, an exception, hit 71 and 119. Having lost the first two Tests, England gradually improved, avoiding defeat at Melbourne and Adelaide, but after a grand struggle were beaten again in the final match at Sydney.
A glance at the Test averages reveals the difference between the sides. Although Hutton came out top of the England batting, he did not enjoy good health. More than once he was laid up before tonsilitis drove him to hospital during the final Test and caused him to miss New Zealand. Instead, he flew home for an immediate throat operation. Yet there were days when Hutton batted splendidly. The best English innings of the tour was his not out 151 against Victoria at Melbourne. His first six Test innings yielded 7, 0, 39, 37, 2 and 40, but he finished with 94, 76 and 122 not out. Moreover, in the last three innings Hutton and Washbrook began with consecutive three-figure stands, and so equalled the feat of J. B. Hobbs and H. Sutcliffe in 1924-25. The Australian fast bowlers tried to unsettle Hutton by persistently bumping the ball short at him, but the Yorkshireman, by ducking, usually avoided trouble, although in the second New South Wales match he failed to hook properly and the ball cut open his chin. I felt that Hutton was subjected to this barrage because there was no fast bowler in the England side to retaliate.
Washbrook can be counted among the successes of the tour, yet he never allowed himself the freedom of stroke play he shows at home. No doubt a passive policy was ordered by his captain. In the field the Lancastrian was a joy to watch. Anyone who tried to steal a single while he was at cover ran a terrible risk. At first the position of number three appeared to be reserved for Gibb, presumably on his 1938-39 South African form, but he never approached that standard. Happily, Edrich on the eve of the First Test was promoted in the second innings against Queensland. From that day he established his position in the batting order and I think that he became the best man in the side. He silenced for all time those people who questioned his Test match temperament. Besides his grand work with the bat, Edrich was always ready to assail the opposition with his whole-hearted pace bowling, and he was one of the best fielders close to the wicket. An example of his pluck was shown on the first day of the Melbourne Test when, fielding at short leg, he received a fearful blow on the knee. He declined to leave the field until Hammond insisted, and next day, contrary to expectations, there he was opening the bowling, and he took a wicket with his first ball. Now that the tour is over it seems almost unbelievable that he was nearly left at home.
His Middlesex colleague, Denis Compton, began brilliantly in the preliminary matches, but his scores in the first three Tests were 17, 15, 5, 54, 11 and 14. After those disappointments Compton scarcely knew the word failure. For the first time in his career he hit four successive hundreds, the last two being 147 and 103 not out in the Adelaide Test. Possibly England would have fared better if Compton had pursued his natural free-hitting game. He was most happy when going down the wicket to all types of bowlers, especially the slow ones. Rarely allowed a turn with the ball, Compton headed the first-class bowling averages for the tour, thanks mainly to a masterly all-round performance on a sticky wicket in the final match at Auckland, where he made 97 not out and then took eleven wickets for 49. Success never spoiled Compton and his cheery face out there on the boundary made him very popular with the crowd.
More work fell on Yardley than was expected and, like a true Yorkshireman, he shouldered his responsibility well. Instead of going in when the total reached respectable proportions, Yardley too often was called upon to pull his side out of trouble; but he provided the biggest surprises as a bowler. After six matches, he was tried first at Melbourne when Morris had made a century, and in his first over he got the left-hander caught by the wicket-keeper. After that Yardley more that once broke up a stubborn stand as soon as given the ball. Three times in succession he dismissed Bradman, and in the Melbourne Test first innings he sent back Bradman and Johnson with following balls. Able to keep a steady length and direction with his medium-paced deliveries, Yardley moved the ball into the batsmen with a leg trap set. As a fielder he excelled in the gully, and whenever Hammond took a rest Yardley proved an efficient captain.
Often associated with Yardley in a batting crisis was Ikin, the Lancashire left-hander, and he never allowed the situation to worry him. A good cricketer, he usually found the bowlers completely on top, and he played many fighting innings. As a fielder he had no superior in the slips or at short leg. Given an opportunity at Perth to show what he could do on an Australian pitch as a right-arm leg-break bowler, Ikin failed to make any real impression, and Hammond rarely used him afterwards. Only the second-choice wicket-keeper at the beginning of the tour, Evans never looked back when picked for the second Test at Sydney. He began his Test career by allowing no byes while Australia scored 1,024 runs--659 at Sydney and 365 at Melbourne. With his place certain, Evans became more confident in batting. His best performance was at Adelaide when, in an unforgettable stand with Compton which saved the side from defeat, he batted ninety-five minutes before opening his score--a Test record.
Australian pitches do not encourage the fast-medium bowler in the way they did in the days of Maurice Tate, otherwise Alec Bedser would have fared better. Still, the tall Surrey bowler, who was accompanied throughout Australia by his inseparable twin brother, served his side splendidly. He got through twice the amount of bowling done by the Australia opening pair, Lindwall and Miller, and if only there had been a Farnes or someone of really high speed to help, his burden would have been lightened. Bradman, whom Bedser bowled for a duck in the Adelaide Test, considered he was one of the best of his type England have sent there.
Wright, like Bedser, suffered from too much bowling, but on his day he looked the true artist. He impressed the former Australian Test players by his ability to spin the ball either way while maintaining a much faster pace than other bowlers of his kind. If Hammond could have used him in shorter spells he must have been more effective. Peter Smith played in the two Tests at Sydney, the second and the fifth, but did not trouble the quick-footed Australian batsmen. Midway through the tour Smith was laid up with internal trouble and underwent a minor operation. At the same time England also lost the services of James Langridge, who, chosen among the twelve for the Third Test at Melbourne, pulled a groin muscle while at fielding practice on the eve of the match. This was most unfortunate for Langridge because at that time he had played in only three first-class matches. To make matters worse he returned to the team before he was thoroughly fit, and, though he hit a century, he only aggravated the trouble and could not play again during the tour. Hardstaff batted well in his only Test, but Fishlock never found his English form and constantly fell to the slow bowlers. England badly needed a competent left-hander of the Leyland or Paynter class; of the three available, Ikin, Langridge and Fishlock, none came up to expectations.
Whereas England brought seven players experienced in Tests against Australia, only Bradman and Hassett remained of the opposition. Yet they produced one of the best teams ever to represent them. For this happy state of affairs I am sure Australia were largely indebted to Bradman, their captain and one of their three selectors. Early in the season Bradman looked far from well, but long days in the sun soon restored him to almost his old self. At first his batting, for Bradman, was uncertain. He has set such a high standard that one could not help being surprised at seeing him in difficulties; but, as in the past, his mammoth scores put Australia on top. Even more important was the way he moulded his men together, always encouraging them on the field and telling the bowlers what they should do. As a leader he clearly outshone Hammond, but I think Bradman would admit he was more fortunate than his rival in possessing so much talent at his command. As many as seven Australians shared ten Test centuries, whereas four Englishmen shared five Test centuries. England suffered from the lack of all-rounders compared with the number at Bradman's disposal. Three of their leading bowlers, Miller, McCool and Lindwall, hit hundreds; McCool also scored 95 on his debut, and Tallon, the wicket-keeper, claimed 92 as his top score.
Before the Tests were finished the Australians were in a dilemma as to which bowlers they should leave out. They had the right men for any emergency. Lindwall, genuinely fast with a beautiful action; Miller, quite fast; Toshack, left-arm medium-pace, sending down in-swingers over the wicket to a leg trap and also able to turn the ball the other way; Tribe, left-arm slow with mixed spin; two right-arm leg-spinners in McCool and Dooland; and a delightful off-spinner in Johnson. Moreover, Bradman was never worried about having to hide someone in the field. Barnes was magnificent at short leg, McCool a sure catch at first slip--one of the best in the world--and Tallon a really brilliant wicket-keeper.
On top of all this talent, Australia produced a grand left-hand opening batsman in Morris, a man worthy to rank with the great Warren Bardsley. There was no question as to which was the better side, and, apart from Bradman, the Australians were a young team. They thoroughly deserved to retain The Ashes.
During the tour an M.C.C. team travelled for the first time by air. The first flight, at night from Adelaide to Melbourne, was due to a railway strike. When the tour finished in Australia, Gibb, Langridge, Hardstaff and Ferguson went home with the main baggage by sea, and Hutton by air, but the rest of the party flew from Sydney to Auckland and back for the brief visit to New Zealand. They travelled in four separate groups by air from Australia to England. I accompanied the side on all their flights, and while I think the long sea route is more beneficial between the cricketing seasons, I would suggest that M.C.C. think seriously about allowing the side on future tours to travel by air between the various Australian capitals. This would avoid the tedious rail journeys and ensure the players sleeping comfortably in hotels instead of on the trains.
It was a great privilege to visit Australia and see their wonderful grounds and the enthusiasm there for cricket. I would thank all those players and officials of both teams who made my travels so pleasant, and particularly would I thank Major R. Howard, the M.C.C. manager, for all the help he gave me as correspondent for the two world news agencies, Reuters and Exchange.
Official crowd figures for the Tests:--
|First Test, Brisbane||77,344||14,515|
|Second Test, Sydney||196,253||26,544|
|Third Test, Melbourne||343,675||44,063|
|Fourth Test, Adelaide||135,980||18,117|
|Fifth Test, Sydney||93,011||12,619|
Match reports for
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Available now at Cricshop | <urn:uuid:1096e36e-4a13-49b4-b1a2-4b67256102ce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/152882.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983109 | 4,159 | 1.570313 | 2 |
“IN a bygone era, universities produced students and corporations recruited them. As competition intensifies, especially for manpower, many corporates have now begun to set up institutions of their own. Though each of them treat it at arms length and attributes philanthropic motives to the initiatives, the possibilities for forward and backward linkages are exponential.
Pro-Chancellor, NIIT University
Though old world corporations like Birlas and Tatas have set up educational institutions in the past, two new initiatives stand out with respect to their yet to be realised potential for excellence.
“A campus must be built with students as the focus”, the conviction in the tone of Rajendra Pawar, founder Chairman - NIIT Ltd and Pro-Chancellor of NIIT University (NU), communicates what the university stands for. Conceptualized as a multiversity, NIIT began its operations with Engineering and has now launched an MBA programme.
The university has been built around four principles: industry-linked, technology-based, research-driven and seamlessness. The idea is to evolve into a campus which is in the forefront of knowledge creation and dissemination (which is evident by campus structuring). Publications, Placements and Patents, the three Ps that separate men from boys as far as universities are concerned might find fruition in NU provided they get the faculty mix right. |
The Bharti School for telecom is yet another initiative in the telecom engineering domain, though Bharti group has very little direct involvement in the day-to-day running of the school.Yet another initiative in the engineering domain is one by the HCL group. Shiv Nadar, the founder of the corporation, has been interested in education for quite sometime, The SSN Group of institutions set up by him has been running well regarded engineering college in Chennai for the last 15-odd years. With academic tie-up and joint programmes with the likes of Carnige Mellon University, the future looks quite bright for SSN.
The same group is now setting up a new university at Greater Noida, which also hopes to be a multidisciplinary institution, though it started off with an engineering school. We quizzed the founder Vice-Chancellor on what the institution hopes to achieve and where it is heading (See interview alongside). With the formidable networks, both formal and informal, that these corporations could tap into, the students could get not only good education but a host of opportunities to use the same as well.
INTERVIEW: Dr.Nikhil Sinha, the founder Vice Chancellor of Shiv Nadar University
“Research is our priority”
The pressure of bringing a univeristy up from ground zero, sits lightly on Sinha. The affable professor of communication in an email interview with careers360 discusses what is in store for the university in the coming years.
Q. Why did you decide to start with Engineering Studies at the University?
A. Let me begin by emphasising the fact that the Shiv Nadar University is envisioned as a multidisciplinary university having engineering, natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, education and business studies. We have started with the School of Engineering because we are very familiar with it due to our 15 years of experience of running SSN Institutes, Chennai.
Q. How do you plan to scale up the university in the coming years?
A. We are starting with 200-300 students in the foundation batch in 2011. We expect to ramp this up to 1,200-1,600 students next year with all the six areas functional. The university will have a capacity of 8,000 students with 50-60% of the students in the undergraduate programmes and the rest in PG programmes. We expect to reach full capacity in 8-10 years. SNU is going to be a research-led university with a high focus on not only faculty research and PG research but also research at the UG level.
Q. What is the ecosystem you are going to build to foster research?
A. We have the SSN Research Centre at SSN Institutes, Chennai, which is a standalone research centre doing research for over a decade in energy conservation, security and surveillance etc. The learnings from there would be brought to SNU. In addition, we have instituted a position of Dean-Research to promote research across the campus, responsible for research culture and execution.
Q. What is going to be the cost of your engineering programme?
A. The programme will cost Rs. 8 lakhs for 4 years excluding hostel and mess charges. If you consider the high quality of education that we are going to provide and the operating costs involved in the 300-acre campus, it is bound to reflect on the fees to some extent. However, we feel it is important to make SNU most affordable through financial aid and scholarships and we are going to have a merit-based, need-blind admission process. For our first class, we are giving a 100% tuition-fee waiver.
Q. What is unique about SNU?
A. First and foremost is the inter-disciplinary curriculum we are going to have. Every student will have to go through a core set of common subjects across humanities, social sciences and natural sciences even if he is enrolled for engineering. Secondly we will give students the opportunity to explore by allowing them to take varied electives and deferring the selection of majors. Thirdly we are going to have an international component to every course via partnerships with various international universities. Fourthly the focus is going to be on experiential learning through internships, externships, community service etc. | <urn:uuid:2a1a0fb0-5fa8-4df0-9a1c-b80501574b4c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://careers360.com/news/printstory.aspx?newsid=6164 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956336 | 1,148 | 1.59375 | 2 |
The Ohio senate passed a proposal on Wednesday that would limit public union employees collective bargaining power. The vote on Senate Bill 5 legislation was close passing the chamber 17 to 16. The legislation is designed to change 27 years of collective bargaining law in Ohio. The bill now goes to the state house for a vote.
Unlike quorum issues faced by the Wisconsin legislature during its debate over collective bargaining, Ohio Republicans have enough of a majority in both chambers to have their own quorum.
Labor members and supporters sat in the chamber and others watched the proceedings broadcast outside the Senate floor near the rotunda. The visiting crowds cheered repeatedly following speeches made by Democrats, determined to stop the bill from reaching Republican Governor John Kasich’s desk, as well as scoffed and heckled SB 5’s sponsor Republican Senator Shannon Jones.
Members of both parties addressed the senate. Democratic Senator Nina Turner read a speech, where she used the famous “First they came” quote by Pastor Martin Niemöller (see video below). | <urn:uuid:c72dcb54-01f2-4aac-82c9-7c532ad4cbab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2011/mar/3/ohio-senate-passes-proposal-limit-collective-barga/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958346 | 207 | 1.632813 | 2 |
reprint from the Sep/Oct 1995 Free Minds Journal
People in cults are brainwashed.
Brainwashing implies the unwilling indoctrination of alien principles or beliefs, which are enforced through overt as well as subtle control mechanisms (typical of Communist Chinese and Soviet military techniques used during WWII). Once removed from this environment, one returns to a default set of beliefs, though not completely due to confusion and disillusionment. Yet this is a form of mind control rarely used in cults today.
If I know my Bible, I can help someone out of a cult.
Since the cult problem is not generally a doctrinal problem, this approach is very limited, since one can only prove their belief wrong or non-traditional, but may not be equipped to help them discern the nature of their indoctrination and where they went astray. The Bible is rarely effective as an initial approach, due to programmed responses in the cult member. Try getting to know them and starting to dissolve the walls of communication first! Authority issues come second, then doctrine when they can reason correctly or logically.
Cults are the unpaid bills of the Church.
While many churches are negligent in providing education about cults and programs to get people involved in community activities, there are other reasons people get involved in cults. Though cults often provide the means of satisfying one's loneliness, sense of community responsibility and self-worth, they also provide a fulfillment of certain desires that the church actually should not meet, such as elitism and exclusivism, pride, power over others, and self-determination.
Cult members are generally uneducated.
This premise ignores the fact that people are selective in what area they apply good sense and critical judgment. A rocket scientist may take dangerous risks in driving home; a chemist may use harmful drugs; an honor student may associate with the wrong crowd. Similarly, cult members have suspended judgment in one area of their lives.
Cults seek the idealistic and well-educated above all, for they are looking for leaders ("assets"), not the slow to learn or handicapped ("liabilities"). Only the churches tend to seek the unwanted little people.
Once indoctrinated, however, cult members are dissuaded from any form of "secular" higher education, for fear they will become aware of their own selective indoctrination. Intelligence and leadership qualities are welcome as long as they are used for the cult's own purposes.
Certain types of people are predisposed towards cults.
While it is true that those untrained in critical judgment are more vulnerable to the reasoning of the cult ideology, that doesn't mean their needs will be fulfilled by the cult involvement; it just means that they may seem more or less convinced by the arguments. Whether or not they are motivated to actually get involved is another issue entirely. People do not get involved in cults primarily due to ideology. True idealists rarely find a cult satisfying due to its inconsistencies in thought or practice, as well as their own independent nature. They are more likely drawn to beliefs or patterns of thoughts unconnected with an organized religion. (see FACT: Anyone can be a victim.)
People don't generally get involved in cults primarily due to doctrine.
Cults usually provide some service to the individual that they desire, such as friends, community, absolutes to live by, security, enhanced self-esteem, power over one's own life and that of others, etc. Some are raised in a cult and remain in it due to family reasons, comfort and security. Others may seek an escape from an oppressive situation that renders them powerless, hence giving them power over one area of their lives and that of others. (e.g., marriage mate or child in a controlling environment.)
People in cults are cooperators in their own programming.
"Coercive persuasion" is a term that more aptly describes the cult indoctrination method. The cult offers something attractive or desirable to the individual, and the individual decides to suspend normal critical judgment in this area in order to obtain this "carrot" representing the fulfillment of their desire. Because this process involves mutual and willing cooperation, and the victim views all decisions as their own, it is a more binding form of mind control that is harder to undo. They wanted to believe it, it fulfills a "need," and it is "their decision." The only effective way to undo this form of programming is to review the indoctrination process with the individual, forcing a reexamination of the cult. Hopefully, something greater (i.e., Christ) is seen as a replacement for the cult involvement.
Anyone can be a victim.
People have been known to join the Watchtower after years of:
Additionally, scientists, doctors, movie stars and even political figures have been converted.
We are not always consistent in our treatment of others, and do not always have the energy or desire to be an "opponent," especially true when one's own sense of identity or control is wavering, such as when one:
During such times, one's critical judgment skills are often suspended, and the cult moves in.
"The most important thing is to get them out of the cult." Ask yourself why you believe this.
Is the cult physically dangerous to the person?
Is it spiritually dangerous to the person?
Inadequate or non-existent views of Christ, salvation and grace are common in the cults. However, getting them out does not guarantee a change of belief or even a desire to be a Christian! Nor does cult involvement necessarily prevent them from finding Christ or relating to Him.
Are they wasting their life away?
Cults rob a person of their own creativity and individuality. The most common reason for anger against a cult by a former member is the "wasted years" that could have been used otherwise. Since higher education is discouraged once one joins a cult, the likelihood of obtaining a good paying job later in life is greatly diminished. Lasting friendships and important family ties have been neglected or have been destroyed over time. Good reasons to extract them soon!
Steps to Take
... attack them verbally (or physically!), creating walls to communication. They have a persecution complex inherited from the cult, believing that all non-members are agents of Satan. Don't feed the complex! Have a curious yet cautious attitude, striving to get them to see things from another perspective (not necessarily yours).
... argue the Bible (the most common mistake). Their problem is not lack of knowledge, but the inability to process it correctly! They must be taught how to process the facts consistently, and before you can teach them, you need to gain their confidence and respect. A barrier erected by your own ego (i.e., the need to be right, to prove them wrong, etc.) will almost always prevent this from ever happening, necessitating the need for outside intervention.
... educate yourself in the area of cult mind control techniques, through books and seminars. Talk to former members of any group, as cult techniques are all quite similar. Be wise before you embark on such a risky endeavor- you may only have one chance.
... enlist the help of others, either professionals in the field, or by educating friends and family members and soliciting their support. Long-time friends of the victim are the most effective.
... pray for them. Ask God that if it be their time to get out, He grant you the wisdom and circumstances to accomplish the intervention, and that if it turns out they are not yet ready, that He grant them the circumstances necessary to prepare them for disillusionment with the group and the desire for something better. Ask for patience and wisdom for yourself as well! ###
back to psychological issues | <urn:uuid:4bb9efa9-1d70-4116-910a-79b01ef7146c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.freeminds.org/psych/ins_outs.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964081 | 1,580 | 1.546875 | 2 |
May 7, 1926 – March 3, 2013
Elsie May Stryker Miller, of the Town of Tonawanda, counted among her accomplishments having laid the groundwork for establishing an Avon sales representative program at the University of Buffalo campus at a time when women had fewer work opportunities outside the home.
She died Sunday at Weinberg Campus in Getzville. She was 86.
Born Elsie May Durr in Pittsburgh, after graduating third in her high school class in 1944, she qualified for a full scholarship to Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa.
Her plans to study for a career in higher education were put on hold because of World War II, however, and after the war, she married and raised a family.
In 1955, she and her first husband, George Czapko, moved from Cleveland to Buffalo and took over the management of the oriental rug department in J. N. Adam & Co. Department Store.
When the company went out of business in 1960, she and her husband bought out the lease and took over the rug business.
At that time, she went into business selling Avon cosmetics door-to-door and by August 1960, became city sales manager.
Mrs. Miller was given the freedom to develop her sales district and, with the help of her supervisor, developed the first “Diamond Pin District” in the Buffalo area.
During her years with Avon, she was able to lay the groundwork for establishing a sales representative program on the UB campus, giving dormitory students an earning opportunity to help with their expenses.
After her retirement in the mid-1970s, she served as a volunteer on the boards of many local organizations, including the YWCA of the Tonawandas, DeGraff Hospital Auxiliary and the Kiwanis Club of the Tonawandas.
Her first husband, Czapko, died in 1990. Her second husband, Benjamin Stryker, died in 1994. Her third husband,William Miller, died in 2008.
She is survived by a daughter, Gloria Longo; a son, George J. Czapko Jr.; and a stepson, Thomas Stryker.
A service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday in Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, 96 Jewett Parkway. | <urn:uuid:68c7d385-ecdb-4601-a1d5-d8fbe1016abe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130305/CITYANDREGION01/130309545/1002 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982608 | 475 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Approximately one hour south of Agadir, Morocco, lies the Souss-Massa National Park. The park is one of the final green enclaves before reaching the Moroccan desert, and it has become an important nature reserve protecting endangered species, forming an ideal ecosystem for pink flamingos, cranes and the bald ibis.
In Sous Massa visitors can get close to endless species of wildlife, both flora and fauna. There is also an interesting swamp and some beautiful beaches in the park; the perfect places to spend a peaceful, stress-free day!
This national park in Morocco takes its name from the rivers Souss and Massa, which divide the park’s near 40 000 hectares into three spits, descending in triangular form to the foothills of the Atlas and Antiatlas mountains. The region in which the park is located is called Sus-Masa-Draa, whose capital is the famous city of Agadir, founded by the Portuguese in the year 1500.
All kinds of Moroccan landscape can be found in the park. Sandy coastlines, crop fields, sand dunes and rocky cliffs, as well as forests of the Maghreb’s typical tree – the argan – interweave the Souss-Massa landscape. The variety of the panorama, which combines areas of high humidity with other, more arid, areas where vegetation struggles to grow, forms a living portrait of deepest Morocco.
It goes without saying that a trip to the Souss-Massa National Park is essential if you are visiting this beautiful land.
“IBEROSTAR Hotels & Resorts has a 4-star hotel in Agadir: the IBEROSTAR Founty Beach, which boasts a bank of fine sand just opposite its facilities and is close to the center of Agadir, the principal tourist destination in Morocco. On the shores of the Atlantic, this hotel in Agadir offers its guests maximum comfort and relaxation. “ | <urn:uuid:7895f0b9-3107-4797-89dc-58e75bc4309d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://passportto.iberostar.com/tag/mediterranean/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931576 | 413 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Bringing hope to L.B.
(Page 2 of 3)
“It really is a resource for whatever kind of services they need,” said Sharon Player, director of public affairs at Long Beach Medical Center. “Whether it’s about insurance, whether it’s about FEMA, whether it’s about healthcare, whether it’s about mental wellness, they have a lot of information to share.”
Long Beach was seen as a prime location in need of Project Hope because the city was one of the areas hardest hit by Sandy. City officials say around 30 percent of Long Beach residents still remain displaced. In the beginning, Snipp said that volunteers went door-to-door to offer their services because the city was in such disarray. But just because it has been months since the storm, doesn’t mean that people don’t have plenty to worry about.
“I think everyone is just stressed about the future of their homes,” said Billy Kupferman, president of the Long Beach Surfer’s Association. “People want to go home and get back to normal, and they can’t yet. It’s become a common theme — where is the money going to come from and what does the future look like?”
Snipp said that talking to someone helps people deal with these stressful times. Some people are burdened by financial stress, while some now get anxious when a storm approaches, said Snipp. But regardless of the cause of the stress, retelling your story or talking about what is bothering you helps more than people realize.
“From retelling it and retelling, we hope that they become, not desensitized, but less stressed about it and not hold it in,” said Snipp.
Snipp says that Long Beach residents have been very receptive to their programs. Counselors meet people for one-on-one sessions in their home, or even at a coffee shop. They have an information table set up every day at the recreation center. And some local businesses have held stress management education sessions for their employees.
“Sandy had a tremendous effect on virtually anyone who lives in this city,” said Gordon Tepper, director of communications for the city. “I think it’s important that this service is available to residents.” | <urn:uuid:2b07290a-cf6d-4962-a548-7734a15b875e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.liherald.com/longbeach/stories/Bringing-hope-to-LB,46201?page=2&content_source= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971679 | 496 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Pet power: Northeast Ohio residents share stories of their animals' love (with video)
The relationship between humans and the animals they've come to love is a remarkable one.
Dr. Kelly Knapp, a veterinarian at Meadowlands Veterinary Center in Willoughby, sums it up this way:
"I honestly believe the human-animal bond is so special because our pets will never judge us, talk back to us, become angry with us — they are truly the only source of unconditional love present in the world."
When The News-Herald asked readers to tell us their stories about special animals in their lives, the response was overwhelming.
Merlin the iguana came into the life of Cindy Linn of Middlefield after he'd been hit by a car and was left to die by the side of a Cleveland street. A good Samaritan took the time to locate an exotic animal veterinary practice, which did emergency surgery on the animal and called Linn to see if she'd adopt him.
"I was known to them since I'd had an iguana before," she said.
Linn can't have children, so she has four birds and the now 12-pound, 41⁄2-foot-long Merlin.
In the three years she's become a pet mom to Merlin she's given him a warm and humidified room of his own, fed him greens and fruit and watched him grow. Continued...
"He'd be bigger, but his tail was partly cut off when he was hit by the car," she said.
"He potties over the bathtub drain," she said. "And sometimes he likes to sleep with me."
So he has it available for drinking or bathing, Linn keeps a cat litter box filled with water in Merlin's room. She also has installed a cat-climbing tree for the iguana's climbing pleasure.
"He loves to climb the cat tree and jump down into pillows on the floor," she said. "He does it over and over until he wears himself out and has to take a nap."
Although Merlin is usually sweet and cuddly, Linn said, his personality changes in summer when he's in season and his hormones ramp up.
She knows when it's happening because Merlin changes from his usual brown to a bright orange.
"He's stimulated by the colors of purple and pink," Linn said. "In fact he bit me, and I had to have stitches once."
She'd taken him out on a leash, and he became excited when he saw the pink flowers her neighbor had planted, she said.
"Like most males, he doesn't think straight when his hormones kick in," she said.
Merlin prefers women, she said, but sits in his apartment window and watches men as they pass by. Continued...
She helps him post to his own Merlin Linn Facebook page.
Rescued dog, rescued family
Kelly Knapp also was one of many to share a story about rescuing an animal, only to have that animal rescue its humans in a very real way.
She had finished veterinary school and was in the early days of her practice at Meadowlands when she met Skylar, a West Highland white terrier puppy that had been hit by a car.
The dog's owner could not afford the needed surgery and signed ownership of Skylar to the veterinary practice, where Knapp was alone and stymied over what to do.
She'd just moved back home with her mom and dad, busy medical professionals in Chester Township, and the entire family was upset over Knapp's grandfather, who was very ill, experiencing dementia and very likely dying.
"My family had been fish and cat owners, but we all led very busy lives so we never had a dog," Knapp said.
She'd never done the pelvic fracture repair surgery needed by the puppy, but she didn't want to leave the dog unattended. So Knapp brought Skylar home to her "no dogs allowed" household while she studied how to do it.
She implanted a permanent screw in Skylar to hold her pelvis to her sacrum, and, as the little dog recovered and underwent physical therapy, she went to work with Knapp every day. She'd become a solid part of the Knapp household, and everyone rejoiced at her post-surgical progress.
"It was a great success," she said. "She never let out one whimper through the entire process. Continued...
"Skylar's recovery became a sign of hope for my entire family at a time we needed it most."
She even took the little dog to visit her grandfather when he was under hospice care.
"When my grandfather passed away in August 2012, she was there for us," she said. "Not only did we nurse this dog back to health but she nursed our family back to health."
Vicky and Dave Ryan of Concord Township are convinced you don't always get the dog you want, but you do get the dog you need. The puppy they rescued three years ago came from a puppy mill and was very frightened and terrified of men. In addition to the love, laughter and companionship Lexi has brought to their home, Vicky believes their rescued dog saved her husband's life.
One day Dave fell on slippery steps and broke his wrist when taking the dog out for a walk.
"During pre-admission testing, doctors found a bad heart valve and told him he needed immediate surgery," Vicky wrote. "Without the fall his valve defect would have gone undetected."
Now a magnet on Vicky's car dashboard declares: "Who Rescued Who?"
Mary Lamos, 89, and Pepe, her black-hooded parakeet, have been inseparable for 26 years. More parrot than typical parakeet, Pepe does tricks for Lamos and entertains the staff and residents at The Lantern, the assisted living facility where they live in Madison Township.
"I got him at a Kmart in Florida when we lived near Weekee Wachee, an attraction with a parrot show," she recalled. "I taught him how to do somersaults and shake hands and to ride on a wagon and some wind-up toys I have,"
She doesn't know if Pepe is male or female.
"But he's never laid an egg so I call him my boy," she said.
Although Pepe doesn't talk, he perches on Mary's shoulder and the two communicate, chirping back and forth.
"He gets so close his eye is about an inch from my glasses," she said.
She said he's getting more lovable as he ages.
Mary and her husband, Ralph, a Painesville firefighter for 23 years, moved to Florida in the late 1970s. Her husband died in 1995, and she returned to the area in 2004 to be here when her eight great-grandchildren were born.
The children still are little and don't pay much attention to their great-grandmother's large green and black bird.
"Pepe doesn't take to everyone," she said. "But there's a nurse here he really likes, and he'll sit on her shoulder like he does on mine. She likes to play with him."
She thinks that play is the key to Pepe's affections.
His voice breaks as Volkswagen salesman Chris Roos talks about Pippen, his first-ever pet.
"He's not with us any more," he said.
Roos grew up in a family that never wanted a dog in the house. He moved away from home shortly after adopting Pippen, a 3-month-old Boston terrier mix.
"But my mom and dad fell in love with Pippen and wanted to take him on walks," he said.
He described Pippen as "an amazing, high-energy dog who loved to do tricks."
A few months ago, Roos took Pippen to the vet when he noticed his 2-year-old dog limping.
"It turned out he had serious cancer in his bone," Roos said.
The vet told him that they could remove the dog's shoulder and front leg to buy him time, but Roos decided instead to allow Pippen to live out what was left of his life.
A few Fridays ago, the pain medications for Pippen were no longer working, and Roos made the decision he dreaded.
"It was awful to put him down, but there really was no other choice," he said.
Despite the heartbreak, last week he adopted another Boston terrier mix, a puppy rescued by Paws of Prayers in Akron.
Reader Gail writes that her granddoggie Abbey keeps them connected with their son, who took his life seven months ago.
Abbey came to live with them four years ago when their son brought her along when he moved back in with them, returning to Ohio from Florida.
After their son's death, they assumed Abbey's care.
"She helped us deal with our loss and moving on. She is fun, energetic, silly and loving. She puts smiles on our faces and keeps us moving," Gail wrote.
"She is such a joy. She knows when we are sad, and she jumps up on our laps and licks our faces as if to say it's all OK.
"We don't know what we would do without her."
Cleft palate pup
A puppy that Carol Ivory of Painesville was advised to put down has become the "sweetest kindest dog" she's ever owned. The seven newborn yellow Labs seemed fine until day two when the Ivorys found one of them pushed off to the side, cold and barely breathing.
"He couldn't seem to suckle so we began bottle feeding him," she recalled.
Three days later, when they took the pups to the vet to have their dew claws removed, they learned the puppy had been born with a cleft palate.
"These puppies usually died from food getting into their lungs and causing infections," she was told.
Their vet advised her to put him down.
The Ivorys found a website of a breeder who had successfully raised puppies with cleft palates and gave step-by-step instructions on what to do. Their vet agreed to put the pup on antibiotics and help them do what was needed, she said.
"My husband was laid off at the time, so he was able to feed him every three hours and give him antibiotics," she wrote. "He was always talking to him, so he named the pup Jimmy."
They took the pup to the vet every other day to make sure his lungs remained clear.
"Feedings were always fun. Puppy milk ended up all over Jimmy and us. But the other dogs lent a hand by licking the milk off."
Jimmy grew very slowly, she wrote. The others dogs were double his size in no time and all of them picked on Jimmy.
"It took him twice as long to grow to normal size, but he did," she wrote. "He is still doing well and is the sweetest kindest dog I have ever owned. He looks like a little polar bear, and I thank God every day to have him in our lives."
Location, ST | website.com
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News-Herald writers, editors and photographers share the inside stories of today's headlines and what goes on behind the scenes.
As Northeast Ohio gears up for a local election, get the latest on what's happening behind the scenes.
Staff Writer Jeff Schudel brings 25 years of experience covering the Browns to his regular offerings on team performance and player moves.
Sportswriters from The News-Herald go behind the scenes of the area's high school and professional sports. | <urn:uuid:74f62d77-52a9-497b-8886-ac27925d6329> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news-herald.com/articles/2013/02/11/news/nh6523347.txt?viewmode=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989162 | 2,711 | 1.75 | 2 |
Last week the Hunter Museum unveiled a new exhibit called “Sound and Vision: Monumental Rock and Roll Photography,” which features 40 famous photos of rock ‘n’ roll royalty. The postcard I received in the mail contains a photo of the Rolling Stones likely taken during the shoot for the “Between The Buttons” album cover back in the mid-1960s, so I’m sure that’s one of the 40. Only 39 left to see.
Even though the postcard doesn’t go into detail about the remaining photos or photographers featured, I’m intrigued enough to want to pay the old Hunter a visit and see what’s what. I’m a huge fan of not only rock ‘n’ roll, but also photography, especially when the subject matter is something or someone I enjoy.
I suspect this exhibit may or may not feature some of the more memorable rock n’ roll photographs that are tattooed in my memory—Keith Richards sitting under poster that reads “Patience Please ... A Drug Free America Comes First!”, Gram Parsons in a Nudie suit standing in the desert, Pete Townshend in mid-swing of smashing a guitar as Keith Moon kicks over his drum kit, the iconic yet ironic photograph of The Pretenders neatly dressed on the cover of their second album.
It’s no light-bulb revelation that the images of rock stars captured in photographs help add a visual element to the audio art they make. Isn’t that why album covers are so iconic? Listening to “Sgt. Pepper’s” is a little more interesting when you’re staring at the album cover trying to figure out how many stars you can identify—and then wonder why they’re there. And, when you see a press photo of The Beatles heading out on the train to enlightenment with the Maharishi or whoever, their mystery becomes a little deeper than “I wanna hold your hand.”
In fact, to me, looking at photos and video of my favorite artists performing is just as much part of the audio experience as the catchy tunes. But that’s probably true for anyone who enjoys live music. Why would anyone want to stand and watch someone play an instrument if that action didn’t add a certain feel to the experience of hearing a song being played right in front of you?
When a photographer snaps a cool photo of that action, the image sometimes becomes as much a part of pop culture as the music. Regardless, band photography—whether iconic or not—has always been a tool of marketing. Back in the 1980s, I remember taking many a photo of local bands standing against brick walls to be used as 8” x 10” black-and-white glossies in hopeful press kits. Sadly, none of those acts ever made any of us famous.
I say “us” because some photographers have enough hits to be rock stars themselves. Several come to mind—Annie Lebovitz, who has photographed just about anyone you can name; Bob Gruen, who might be best known for his photos of John Lennon in his NYC T-shirt; Henry Diltz, whose photos can be found on more than 100 album covers it seems. I don’t know if the work of any of these photographers is included in the exhibit at the Hunter, but if so, they’re likely still making a buck on that fateful snap of the shutter.
I’m glad rock photographers earn a little chunk of change every time their work is (legally) used. Otherwise we probably wouldn’t have as many people out there capturing the hundreds upon hundreds of shots required to get that one jewel that may eventually become emblazoned in our minds each time we hear a certain band or song. I’m sure I’ll be singing at the top of my lungs (in my head) when I see what the Hunter has rockin’. Check it out.
Chuck Crowder is a local writer and general man about town. His opinions are just that. Take what you read with a grain of salt, but let it pepper your thoughts. | <urn:uuid:e82cfbfc-35cf-434a-a16a-8ac15be6c469> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chattanoogapulse.com/columns/life-in-the-noog/every-picture-tells-a-story/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957029 | 877 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Talking to him, it was clear that he was motivated to produce a watch of the highest quality As with any successful design, the devil is in the detail - the smallest elements of the watch have been thought out with the greatest care. The watch is based on very British elements - influenced by the design of lighthouses of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The watch is, at 44mm, slightly larger than I would normally wear, but having tried it, I would revise this view. The case is large and chunky, but so intelligently made, curved, angled and proportioned that it looked fine, even on my slim wrist. The GMT function enables you to keep time in another time zone without having to adjust the watch. There is also a power reserve indicator. The movement is a high quality Soprod Swiss automatic, beautifully finished (but the owner will never see this).
Everything about the watch and the accompanying accessories is beautifully presented. To continue the British theme, some of the straps are made from British materials - Moon Mills tweed, British Millerain waxed cotton and, to come, Ventile. All these materials I'm covering in other posts this month in the context of the best of British fabrics and fashion. (I'd love to see these produced in other sizes, 20mm and 22mm, for other watches - these are the sort of well-designed and attractive British product that deserves a wider audience).
Finally, among the accessories available is a mouthwatering (I never thought I'd use that adjective, but it's apt here) watch case that has been made in collaboration with Cherchbi. I was delighted to see that the Herdwick wool has been used in its construction. I mentioned this Cumbrian sheep in my post here. Farmers have sometimes had to throw their fleeces away due to its low value. Yet here we have a sheep that has been farmed in an area of England (which I love and visit regularly) since the Vikings lived there. So, to see a product which uses its fleece was very welcome. We should support such collaborations and wear them with pride.
So, once again, a great British-designed product made with passion and attention to detail. | <urn:uuid:e06ade99-f101-4e0b-a114-f4e8fa4feca3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.greyfoxblog.com/2012/10/schofield-wristwatches-designed-in.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979797 | 454 | 1.679688 | 2 |
LUMBERTON — Effective immediately, The Robesonian newspaper will no longer allow comments that are racial on stories that do not have a racial element that have been posted on the newspaper’s website at robesonian.com.
“This is something we have thought about for a while, but recently it’s become clear that we need to crack down,” said Donnie Douglas, the editor of the newspaper. “Unfortunately, we have a few people who comment regularly who turn everything into a racial issue. That just seems to create a feeding frenzy.”
The newspaper will allow racial comments on story that have a racial element, according to Douglas, but they must be in good taste and pertinent to the story.
“I have spoken with other editors and this problem doesn’t seem to exist elsewhere,” Douglas said. “I can only guess that it is a result of our tri-racial community and our problem with poverty, which seems to create a lot of finger-pointing.”
Douglas said that other steps are possible for people who continue to offend, including banning them from making comments.
“Obviously, that would be a last resort, but if they can’t play by the rules, that could be a course of action,” he said.
The problem has escalated in recent weeks, leading to a number of complaints to the newspaper, in phone calls, emails and through the website itself, which encourages people to report comments that are in poor taste.
“While we were moving in this direction, the complaints sped it up,” Douglas said. “I want to thank those who pushed for change.
“We understand our obligation to report the news, but we are not obligated to provide a forum for bigotry and hatred. We are a member of this community, and allowing this kind of divisiveness does not benefit anyone. It certainly doesn’t elevate the conversation.” | <urn:uuid:ebe77380-f5cf-4f93-83fa-87134180fe0c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.robesonian.com/view/full_story/20815938/article-Newspaper-cracks-down-on-racial-comments | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979812 | 410 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Back in May I published this photo and asked you to give it a caption — Photo Caption Wanted. I also included a little context from the photographer.
“Along the wall outside the Compassion project, many children watched and waited while the other children played and sang. With hundreds and thousands of children needing the hope that Compassion brings, our hearts broke to see the ones that could not be helped. Hundreds more are waiting for their chance to be sponsored, to be given hope, to be shown the love of Christ.” —
Then recently, I received the following e-mail.
“I read the blog about the children who are registered who are able to sing and enjoy meals while the unregistered ones just stare at them, wishing they were one of them. I have a hard time imagining what this is like.
“Is it like there is a ‘Century Fence,’ so to speak, that separates these two groups, where the unregistered look in and feel sad as they watch the sponsored eat hot meals and be carefree?
“Does this make them feel more unloved?
“Is it appropriate to send a picture or have one on this Web site so I can see what you are talking about? I have a hard time understanding this and maybe a picture would help.”
What are your thoughts? What do the children on the outside looking in feel? | <urn:uuid:306b53de-263b-47ba-b3e5-4f9f87922fc3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.compassion.com/from-the-outside-looking-in/quote-comment-10762/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975217 | 292 | 1.554688 | 2 |
I have heard or read something that the LDS church teaches that there will be marriage and even polygamy in the after life for people who are good Mormons. Is this available for all people are just a few? And what are the specific teachings about this?
Preparing for Exaltation Teachers Manual - Lesson 41: Eternal Marriage
If you are married in an LDS temple, for time and all eternity, and you reach the highest of the three degrees of glory after death, the celestial kingdom, and your wife and children reach the celestial kingdom, your marriage and your family is yours forever.
So no, eternal marriage and family are not for everybody.
If a man marries more than one woman while on earth, because of the first wife's death, then he will be married to both women in the celestial kingdom.
Women who make it to the celestial kingdom because of their faithfulness, and whose husbands don't make it to the celestial kingdom, because of unfaithfulness, are eligible to marry a different, faithful husband in the celestial kingdom.
Edited to add answers to the questions in Narnian's comment:
The woman would be the wife of the earliest celestially worthy husband.
No. There would be men who don't have celestial wives.
|show 5 more comments| | <urn:uuid:0c5e4557-713a-4cf0-b62a-0b41cd8c309e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/4677/what-does-the-lds-church-mormon-teach-about-marriage-and-polygamy-in-the-after/4681 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962972 | 266 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Quorum of the Twelve
During the Saturday afternoon session of October 1988 general conference, Elder Richard G. Scott was sustained an Apostle, filling a vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve. Elder Scott had been serving in the Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy at the time of his call. He has served as a General Authority of the Church since April 2, 1977.
Elder Scott was born November 7, 1928 in Pocatello, Idaho, to Kenneth Leroy and Mary Eliza Whittle Scott, as one of five sons. However, Elder Scott has lived most of his life in the Washington, D.C., area.
Elder Scott remembers an incident in his youth that reinforced the importance of staying true to his beliefs. As a teenager, he worked on an oyster boat, earning money for college. The crew was rough and suspicious of this young man who refused to join them in living it up on shore. One night, he was roughly awakened by a drunken crew member who said a man had fallen overboard. “Scotty,” as he was called then, was the only one in condition to save the man. Quick action averted a tragedy.
Elder Scott said of the lesson he learned that night, “Publicly the crew members ridiculed me, but privately they respected me for my standards.”
Elder Scott graduated in mechanical engineering from George Washington University in 1950. He later completed the equivalent of a doctorate in nuclear engineering at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. As a private consultant in mechanical and nuclear engineering, Elder Scott worked with utility and power companies as well as in the development of nuclear submarines.
As a young man, Elder Scott served a 31-month mission to Uruguay. His sweetheart, Jeanene Watkins, served a mission to the Northwestern States during that time. They were married upon his return. They are the parents of seven children, five of whom are living.
Prior to his call, Elder Scott served as a Regional Representative, as a mission president, and as a counselor in the Washington Stake presidency. As a member of the Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy, Elder Scott was executive director of the Family History Department of the Church.
Elder Scott has often spoken of his great love for the Book of Mormon. He said, “As I read, ponder, and apply the principles contained in the Book of Mormon, not only am I strengthened with an appreciation for the powerful servants of the Lord that it depicts, but a conduit of communication is opened to me personally that crystallizes truth in my own heart and mind.”
Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy
Elder J. Richard Clarke, 61, was sustained as a member of the Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy. Elder Clarke served as a counselor in the Presiding Bishopric of the Church from October 1, 1976, until he was called to the First Quorum of the Seventy on April 6, 1985.
Prior to his call to the Presiding Bishopric, Elder Clarke worked as a general manager of a major life insurance agency in Boise, Idaho. He served as a bishop, stake president, Regional Representative, mission president, and as a managing director in the Missionary Department.
A native of Rexburg, Idaho, Elder Clarke attended Ricks College and graduated from Brigham Young University. He did graduate work at Stanford University.
Elder Clarke and his wife, Barbara Jean Weed, are the parents of eight children.
First Quorum of the Seventy
The First Presidency announced the calling of four new members of the First Quorum of the Seventy, bringing to 66 the number of members of members of that quorum.
Monte J. Brough, 49, of Kaysville, Utah, was a businessman and computer expert. He was serving as a Regional Representative at the time of his call. He has also served as a bishop, mission president, and member of the Young Men General Board. He and his wife, Lanette Barker, are the parents of seven children.
Albert Choules, Jr., 62, of Phoenix, Arizona, had been a financial analyst and president of a hotel corporation. At the time of his call, he was a Regional Representative. He has also served as a stake president and mission president. He and his wife, Rosemary Phillips, had three children. His wife passed away in 1984, and he married Marilyn Jeppson in 1987.
Lloyd P. George, 68, of Orem, Utah, has worked in the ranching and mercantile businesses as well as real estate. He has served as a Regional Representative, stake president, and mission president. He and his wife, Leola Stott George, are the parents of three children.
Gerald E. Melchin, 67, of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, had retired from the auto-transport business. He was serving as a Regional Representative at the time of his call. He has also served as a bishop, stake president, and mission president. He is married to Evelyn Knowles, and they are the parents of seven children. | <urn:uuid:11c72afe-9f7d-4534-9885-5d5c1eab6c4e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lds.org/new-era/1989/01/called-to-serve-new-general-authorities?lang=eng | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987853 | 1,060 | 1.820313 | 2 |
"I've had it with you! You're hopeless, you Pharisees! Frauds! You keep meticulous account books, tithing every nickel and dime you get, but manage to find loopholes for getting around basic matters of justice and God's love. Careful bookkeeping is commendable but basics are required." Luke 11:42 (The Message).
Jesus' perspective on what is important to God is very different from ours. Every man-made religion considers what we do more important than what we are. The gods of human imagination always require rule-keeping and rituals as the way to gain the god's favour and get what we want.
Does it really matter who or what we worship as long as we worship something? It is in the basic nature of humans to worship and to pray. We are incomplete without allegiance to a higher power. To many people, sincerity is the most important ingredient in our worship. "It doesn't matter who you worship, as long as you are sincere." they say.
This is flawed thinking because every action in life has consequences. It does matter who or what we worship because we become like the thing we worship. What we embrace as the source of our life we embrace as what we value and where we end.
The tragedy about the gods of human imagination is that they inevitably reflect the worst of human nature; cruel, heartless, demanding, unpredictable and unstable. Worst of all is that they do not exist but are the deception of demons to entice us to worship Satan.
Whether people bow down to idols of wood or stone or some invisible 'god' some human being told them to worship, the outcome is the same - behaviour that says one thing but hearts that are still rotten to the core.
What is God's remedy for this terrible dead end? A heart transplant. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you..." Ezekiel 36:26,27a (NIV). Can God make good on His word? Yes! The evidence of a changed heart is a changed disposition.
Jesus' quarrel with the Pharisees was that their religion was a cover-up for greed and wickedness and the people thought they were 'holy'! They lived double lives, hypocrites playing to the crowd, but underneath they were worse than the tax-collectors, prostitutes and 'sinners' whom they despised.
Jesus was more comfortable with the outcasts because they had no reason to pretend. God cannot do anything for 'holy' people, those whose religious cloak keeps Him out. He is near to those who know they cannot pretend with Him. He can change the hearts of those who know their need but He can do nothing for those who think they are okay. No matter what the barrier is between us and the only true God, only one thing will give us access to Him - to admit that we were deceived and to believe what He says.
If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be! TRUST JESUS NOW
Read more articles by Luella Campbell or search for articles on the same topic or others. | <urn:uuid:612a78fb-987c-4d2b-bcf4-60539f12bcbd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.faithwriters.com/article-details.php?id=152771 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973255 | 668 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Making a film about the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunamis offers several challenges. Epic with ensemble cast, or verité feel with narrow focus? Computer-generated tidal wall or ingenious blend of cinematic effects and actual footage? Triumphant or tragic ending? The actual disaster that befalls the coastal resort in The Impossible comes early in the narrative and is likely to cause some audience members to involuntarily shield their eyes. The tsunami is depicted with extreme realism — the 10-minute scene took a year to create — but once the horrors that the survivors went through subsides, the how’d they do that? wonder remains.
Naomi Watts portrays a character based on Maria Belon, whose real-life story informed Sergio G. Sanchez’s screenplay. One picture-perfect sunny morning, the film’s Maria and her husband, Henry (Ewan McGregor), are within sight of each other and their three sons in the resort’s pool area. A strange sound from the ocean draws all attention, but a building blocks the tourists’ view. Trees snapping like twigs are seen first, before the water crashes over the building and engulfs everything.
Maria makes it through, though, as does son Lucas (Tom Holland), but with horrifying injuries. Once the water recedes, Maria and Lucas are among the few walking wounded, with Henry and the other two boys nowhere to be found. They have to find medical treatment for Maria, and decide to help others or help themselves, providing Lucas with a test of courage and character. Helping others becomes a wider survivors’ theme, with director Juan Antonio Bayona (The Orphanage) skirting clichés and translating Belon’s story into a compelling narrative arc with nary a special-effects seam showing. | <urn:uuid:f75eb2af-1421-4b73-b449-0464af9e178a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lasvegascitylife.com/sections/ae/film/review-realism-enhances-true-story-tsunami-flick-%e2%80%98-impossible%e2%80%99.html | 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 | 0.933904 | 362 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Whenever one compares PC and console games inevitably the subject of controls comes up, paricularly the fact that controllers simply can’t offer the same speed and precision as a mouse. This means certain PC-centric genres, like first person shooters or real time strategy games, must make compromises and concessions in order to compensate when they’re brought to consoles. The first-person shooter has made the necessary compromises, and as a result, the genre is flourishing on consoles, but unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the real-time strategy genre.
Both speed and precision are necessary for any first-person shooter to work. If headshots are instant kills, then the controls must be precise enough to actually allow the player to hit the head, and if our virtual life is on the line, we must be able to hit the target quickly before we’re killed instead. The solution for this issue of speed is rather simple: slow down the game. Halo did this quite well; Master Chief can’t run, and he even walks at a fairly slow pace. Combat is slowed as a result, giving the player extra time to consider his options. Compare an online game of Halo with the still popular PC game Counter-Strike and this difference in speed becomes obvious.
There’s also a heavy focus on cover in many console FPS games: Killzone 2, the Rainbow 6: Vegas games, any Call of Duty, and Gears of War to name a few. Not all of these games have specific cover mechanics, but they all have regenerating health, which encourages the use of cover. The use of cover itself slows down the pace of a game considerably and has the added advantage of making the player more precise as well. Enemies will also get behind cover, which means that they’re usually sitting still and all that the player has to do is train our sights on their cover and wait for them to pop out. Hitting a moving enemy in a console FPS is still far more difficult than it is on a PC, so most console FPS games are structured in a way that makes moving targets less of an issue.
But cover itself doesn’t solve the problem of precision, “auto aim” is needed as well. Auto aim helps make the player more precise by automatically moving the camera towards an enemy, giving players an easier shot. Early console FPS games had a very judicious use of auto aim. Take the classic GoldenEye for example, the use of auto aim was so blatant that your gun would actually turn to shoot at enemies even if the player was standing still. Compare that to the more advanced and elegant implementation in Modern Warfare 2, which uses what is essentially an “auto aim button”. Players hit a button to look down the sights of their gun, a button not in many PC shooters, and if they’re looking at an enemy when they hit this button, the camera snaps to that enemy giving the player a clear shot. Releasing and hitting the button again makes the camera snap to another nearby enemy, giving the player another clear shot. These compromises for speed and precision have made the first-person shooter a viable and massively popular genre for consoles, but the same can’t be said for the other PC-centric genre, the real-time strategy game.
Most RTS games on consoles try to mirror their PC counterparts exactly, and whenever they do, they inevitably fail to effectively translate the experience. Halo Wars, and Command and Conquer 3 try to replicate the genre like this. They both try to keep all the little intricacies of the genre intact, and while both are certainly playable, they’re also still plagued with problems of speed and precision. The control sticks cannot scroll across the battlefield as fast as a mouse can, and if the speed is increased to compensate, then selecting individual units becomes impossible. Command and Conquer 3 made no concessions for the console, but as a result, the controls are overly complicated, requiring players to flick though menus while fighting. Halo Wars makes resource management automatic and confines base building to pre-selected zones, but selecting small groups of units is difficult, especially if they’re off screen. In order to effectively translate the RTS experience on a console, these kinds of minor concessions aren’t enough; the genre must be radically changed.
In that regard, Brutal Legend is a step in the right direction. The RTS portions of the game are played from a third-person perspective with our avatar being the commander who was once invisible. There is no base building at all. The strategy lies entirely in the units that you train, knowing when to build what kind of soldier and how to best use it. But this new approach brings with it new problems. Because of the third-person view, it’s hard to see what units are selected. The maps are small and your avatar can fly, so speed is not a problem as players can quickly survey the entire battlefield, but a lack of precision is the game’s biggest hindrance. You must be standing next to a single unit in order to select it, which means jumping into the middle of a battle if the unit is in combat, and if the desired unit is in a group, singling out the one that you want is painfully frustrating. There is a surprising depth to the strategy in Brutal Legend, but the lack of precision makes it difficult to take advantage of that depth. To date, there is only one RTS game on consoles that offers players a control interface with the same speed and precision of a mouse: EndWar.
Like Brutal Legend there’s no base building, but there’s also no resource management at least not in the traditional sense. You begin each battle with only three units, and as you take over certain building, you’re allowed to bring in more units. What sets EndWar apart is its use of voice recognition software in place of a mouse or a controller. We’re only allowed a limited number of units out a time, and to select one, we only have to say “Unit X.” We control our army though short phrases that can be issued no matter where the camera is on the map, there’s no need to scroll back and fourth from one unit to another giving orders. Selecting an individual unit is quick and easy, and we can jump around the map by saying “Camera unit X.” The voice recognition is precise and fast, solving both major issues that plague console RTS games. Removing the base and resources altogether complements this new interface as there are fewer menus to worry about, and therefore, fewer phrases to learn. The biggest complaint about EndWar is that the strategy boils down to a game of rock, paper, scissors: helicopter beats tank, tank beats APC, APC beats helicopter with a few other units thrown in for good measure. But as far as interface goes, this kind of radical approach is what the genre needs to succeed on consoles. | <urn:uuid:fdcb123e-330f-4dde-ab82-d22bb5fe1495> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.popmatters.com/pm/post/118020-transitional-period-adapting-pc-genres-to-consoles/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956549 | 1,438 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Kendall Faculty Create Sculptural Desk for UICA
As Kendall students and faculty return to classes this fall, they are undoubtably asking each other, “How was your summer? What did you do?”
Two faculty members, Sam Blanchard and Bob Marsh, both Assistant Professors at Kendall College of Art and Design, have a lot to talk about. They can share that they spent much of their summer welding 15,000 10 inch steel rods together to create a new reception desk for the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts in Grand Rapids.
Sam spoke enthusiastically about the project when he met me at the brand new high profile facility smack dab in the middle of Grand Rapids.
The project started last winter when they met with the Executive Director of UICA and the design team from Via Design to review what the desk needed “to do.”
“They wanted specific height and size. It had to function not only as the area where a guest is greeted and buys tickets and asks questions. It is also the sales desk for the retail space,” Sam explains.
“They didn’t want any thing off the shelf. It had to be creative and new and make an impact,” he continued. “and that’s not surprising given the mission and philosophy of UICA."
The end result--thousands of small steel rods welded together and powder coated white creating a bird’s nest like texture and pattern. It looks transparent, but it isn’t.
Even the shape, starkly angular, is more interesting than the usual straight line front desk.
What is most interesting to me is that they decided to use an English privet fence as an inspiration, creating the feeling one might have coming to a home. Since this building is UICA's new home, it is a lovely and fitting concept.
"We didn't want it to be intimidating. Sometimes the idea of Contemporary Art can be, so we wanted the area where visitors are welcomed to be inviting," Sam says. "We felt the hedge image worked because a hedge is often what welcomes you to a home."
The large slabs of metal used for the actual selling and functional areas are an inspiration of Bob's. He remembers throwing towels on a hedge to dry after a day of swimming as a child. Bob and Sam used large slabs of sheet steel powder coated white to create work stations, meeting the utilitarian needs.
Will this installation have any application to Kendall?
“Most certainly,” says Sam. “It is good for our students to see that the faculty are actually practicing artists. And I'm for sure going to point out that we used the simplest and most basic form of welding to connect the thousands of rods. This is a technique taught very early in our program.”
Is he happy? You bet.
“It feels really great,” says Sam. “It’s cool to know that it will be here for a long time. Lots of times our work is transient.”
The desk was underwritten by Kendall College of Art and Design and the Louis Padnos Iron and MetalCompany of Holland.
To visit the desk, go to UICA at 2 West Fulton in Grand Rapids.
To listen to the audio guide where Sam Blanchard talks about the desk, dial 616.222.1245 /stop 02
~Susan J. Smith
Bob Marsh with raw material in the mold. | <urn:uuid:10c435e9-38ca-41fc-9af5-af7cde2cfa84> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kcad.edu/blog/kendall-faculty-create-sculptural-desk-for-uica/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95677 | 721 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Yesterday we reported that Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has been asked for an opinion about whether a transgender woman can marry another woman. As it turns out, the couple has already married — on Monday in San Antonio. The El Paso Times reports:
Sabrina J. Hill and her longtime girlfriend, Therese “Tee” Bur, were legally married Monday in San Antonio after being unable to get a marriage license in El Paso.
“It’s a weight lifted,” Hill said Tuesday in a telephone interview. “Now the federal government and state government recognize our love.”
The story explains that Hill was born with both male and female organs. She was raised as a male and served in the Army, but when she was 28 a medical exam determined that she had ovaries. Hill underwent a sex-change operation in 1991, and she’s been with Bur for 17 years. They applied for a marriage license in February in El Paso, and the county attorney there requested an opinion from Abbott about whether it could be granted. So instead the couple traveled to San Antonio, where the clerk said he grants same-sex marriage licenses once or twice a year. The San Antonio clerk is relying on a Texas appeals court ruling in Littleton v. Prange, which states that one’s sex is determined by one’s birth certificate.
Hill and Bur never intended to make a social statement or seek publicity but are now receiving interview requests from as far away as England.
“It did strike me. We have been living so covertly, being careful not to express public displays of affection, and then we were standing in front of a judge saying, ‘You may now kiss your bride,’” Bur said. “A public display of affection — it is so validating.”
Watch a report from KSAT in San Antonio by going here.
Powered by Facebook Comments | <urn:uuid:a1b5b8ad-a629-458f-9919-4b889eeb640b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dallasvoice.com/udpate-texas-allows-a-gay-marriage-1015338.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974559 | 398 | 1.546875 | 2 |
This entry was posted on Saturday, August 21st, 2010 at 4:14 pm and is filed under Cycle touring. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Back in the Golden Years of motoring – the 1930s, the 40s, perhaps even into the 50s – driving was a pleasure, the road was a destination in its own right.
Motoring holidays were just as much about the car and the open road as the eventual goal.
From the 1930s on, this started to change.
Author G.K. Chesterton said the motor car “shuts in” the motorist, who sits looking “inward at his speedometer or his road book” as he speeds along roads that do not go “to places but through places.”
This desire for speed and arriving, rather than enjoying the travelling, made motoring something quite boring.
Does any family now head off on a car holiday? Going slow and arriving at a destination whenever is no longer the done thing. Now, it’s a rush along the motorway. The destination is the start of a holiday.
A cycling holiday isn’t like that. Not for me anyway, and nor for my wife and kids. It’s not about athletic prowess or speed, it’s about the road as destination. Yes, we’ll be heading to a B&B, a hotel, a Youth Hostel, a relative’s house or a campsite but getting there is a major part of the holiday. When we leave our front door and start to pedal to our destination, we’re on holiday from the very first second.
This is liberating. | <urn:uuid:82371c18-f493-4856-a1c7-58a40f61b62d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://quickrelease.tv/?p=1272 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975796 | 374 | 1.578125 | 2 |
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Message from President Jeffrey Herbst
(illustration by James Yang)
The ongoing revolution in digital and social media opens enormous possibilities for enhancing the teaching and learning that are at the heart of our university’s mission. I believe that Colgate is well positioned to take liberal arts education to new heights in this digital age.
The changes associated with the digital revolution are all around us. Today’s students “plug in” from the instant they get up until the moment they go to sleep, and they associate learning with a rich media environment. An explosion of data in many fields allows for new types of learning. Tools such as smartphones and tablets offer new ways to configure class meetings. And, social media platforms can foster many new types of connections both within and outside of the classroom. At the end of the day, however, these technologies are only means to an end; we must continue to explore how they can enhance our faculty’s ability to teach the critical-thinking, research, writing, and argumentation skills of a liberally educated citizen, and prepare our students for the global, digital 21st century.
Much is already in place. Our Collaboration for Enhanced Learning, a team of university librarians and staff from Information Technology Services, provides coordinated support to professors who wish to rethink their courses and their pedagogical approaches using current and emerging technologies. Some exciting projects have taken class assignments in new directions. Students have used Google sites to collaboratively annotate dense reading assignments and have learned the value of peer review in scholarship through editing Wikipedia entries. Others present their research findings and course assignments through multimedia or video presentations, podcasts, and websites. Professors have reported that their students take extra care with, and pride in, their presentations when they know they will be shared with a wider audience on platforms such as iTunes or YouTube.
Looking to the future, as part of our overall strategic planning process, a designated group of professors and administrators is hard at work exploring ways to broaden and deepen the use of technology that will advance our mission of providing the highest-quality undergraduate experience. In addition, in January, the full board held its meeting in Palo Alto, Calif. My senior staff, as well as several members of the faculty, joined us. This two-day immersion in the Silicon Valley gave the university’s leadership a chance to discuss both the opportunities and the challenges posed by the dramatic increase in the use of digital media worldwide.
Our keynote speaker was Shantanu Narayen, president and CEO of Adobe. A panel of prominent high-tech professionals — David Lawee from Google; Daniel Rosensweig P’15, CEO of the online textbook rental company Chegg.com; and Jeffrey Jordan of the technology investment firm Andreesen Horowitz — addressed us in a highly engaging exchange. At three concurrent site visits, we had the opportunity for in-depth discussions with
leaders at Facebook and Google as well as professors specializing in entrepreneurship at Stanford. Another panel, on “Financing the Digital Revolution,” featured Frank Yeary P’15, vice chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley, and several forward-looking alumni who are successful technology investors: trustees Brion Applegate ’76 and Bill Johnston ’73, as well as Brian Dovey ’63 and Noah Wintroub ’98.
Our guests dismissed some of the more dire predictions that “bricks and mortar” universities will go the way of record stores and many print newspapers. After all, as we are well aware, the personal relationships and interactions between professors and students are at the core of residential education. As well, the communities that students build together on campus will not be readily replaced by social media practices like chatting on Facebook.
Perhaps the most profound message derived from our sessions was that we must be flexible as an institution. We must be willing to take risks and know enough to discern which experiments have the greatest potential for success. While the Silicon Valley mantra of “move fast and break things” does not apply directly to us, we must understand the speed of change in today’s economy and that moving too slowly could be the riskiest path. Frankly, this can be a challenge for a 190-year-old institution, but it’s one that we must embrace. It will not be enough to survive. We must flourish in this, the digital age. | <urn:uuid:d2b51bc1-09c9-4d23-9a83-49be8cd4bc99> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.colgateconnect.org/s/801/scene_inside_2col.aspx?gid=1&sitebuilder=1&pgid=4299 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945826 | 962 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Bible and Theology Program
Do you have a special sense of God’s calling on your life? Do you have a passion for biblical truth? Would you like to explore Christian theology more deeply, and align your thinking and being to God’s kingdom purposes? If so, then consider majoring in Bible and Theology at Asbury University.
The major in Bible and Theology is aimed at giving you a more profound understanding of the Christian faith. You will learn how to study Scripture in-depth and to think about the theological issues in ways that are challenging and informed. Most of all, you will uncover the mystery of God’s grace and holiness, and how your life can fit into God’s saving purposes.
Whether it’s through tackling tough theological questions or learning fascinating details about the history and culture of the Bible, the major in Bible and Theology at Asbury will not only help you to become a more accomplished student of God’s Word, it will prepare you for a life of ministry.
What programs does Asbury offer in Bible and Theology?
Asbury University awards the bachelor of arts degree in Bible and Theology, providing an in-depth exploration of biblical content and theology, preparing men and women for vocational ministry, theological scholarship, and leadership in the church. You may choose one of two tracks within the major:
- The pre-seminary Bible-Theology major equips students for graduate-level theological study. You will develop the necessary skills in writing and research to succeed in seminary or graduate school, examining and discussing critical issues in current biblical and theological studies.
- The pre-ministry Bible-Theology major is designed to prepare you to enter ministry directly following undergraduate study. In addition to gaining an understanding of the Bible, you'll take courses in preaching, pastoral theology, biblical interpretation, Christian ministries and marriage and family.
- A minor is also available in Bible-Theology, that would be a good support for many majors, including Christian Ministries, Missions, Worship Arts, and Youth Ministry.
What makes the University's Bible and Theology Department stand out?
- Department faculty take a personal interest in their students
- Provides opportunities for putting what you learn in the classroom to work
- Outstanding classroom teaching faculty actively involved in ministry, research and writing
- Bible and Theology graduates well-prepared to answer the call to a wide variety of ministries
- Extracurricular activities are planned to enhance the learning experience of students:
- The Bible and Theology program offers opportunities for study abroad and cross cultural experiences. In recent years, our faculty have led study tours to Israel, Jordan, Greece, Turkey and Italy
- Some of our students have spent a semester in Israel earning course credit in biblical history and archaeology
What will I study as a Bible and Theology major?
- Courses in Scripture emphasize biblical content, contextual background, theological understanding, and exegetical skill.
- Students are provided the tools to apply biblical principles to ministry and everyday life.
- Bible and Theology majors also explore the rich historical and theological legacy of the Church and its implications for today.
What can I do with a Bible and Theology degree?
- Develop analytical, research and communication skills necessary for graduate school or ministry
- Preparation for a variety of careers: pastoral ministry, teaching, missions, counseling, and outreach ministries. Some of our graduates are chaplains in various branches of the military. Others have gone on to medical school, law school or earned Ph.D. degrees in other fields.
What are Bible and Theology professors like?
- Every full-time Bible and theology faculty member has attained a Ph.D., from universities like Brandeis, Drew, Johns Hopkins, London School of Theology, and Marquette
- Faculty have a variety of specialties in biblical and theological studies
- Departmental faculty stay current in their fields by writing and publishing full-length books, chapters in books, articles in journals and contributions to encyclopedias, commentaries, study Bibles and church-related publications
- All of our faculty members belong to national academic organizations and attend conferences, both on the national and local level.
How can I put what I'm learning in the classroom into practice on campus and in the community?
- The Bible and Theology program encourages not only intellectual growth, but also personal spiritual growth in your commitment to and relationship with Jesus Christ.
- An on-campus atmosphere that fosters spiritual growth for all majors through chapel, accountability and discipleship groups, mission trips and dorm prayer meetings.
- Opportunities to serve as small-group leader, spiritual-life coordinator, or volunteer as a big brother or big sister to a child in the local community.
- Some students student-pastor at local churches, serve as youth leaders, lead worship at their church, or volunteer at nursing homes.
Does Asbury encourage women to pursue careers in Bible and Theology?
- Asbury University has historically maintained that God calls both men and women to all varieties of pastoral ministry and church leadership.
- The Bible and Theology Department especially encourages its female students to be open to God’s calling to further theological education in preparation for leadership.
- The university sponsors a Women in Ministry and Leadership Council that provides women mentors for female students who are pursuing ministerial careers. This council also offers several scholarships for attending conferences that focus on women in ministry. | <urn:uuid:5a5a2c7d-d5ec-48aa-9a33-29145f7593e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.asbury.edu/academics/departments/christian-studies-philosophy/bible-and-theology-program | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937428 | 1,134 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Sand Hills Wind Energy Facility Albany County, Wyoming
WindEnergy, Inc. (SWE or applicant) submitted a request to the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Rawlins Field Office for a right-of-way (ROW) on BLM-administered lands (Proposed Action). SWE proposes to construct, operate, and maintain the Sand Hills Wind Energy Facility (Facility) in Albany County, Wyoming. The Facility, which would be located approximately 30 miles west of Laramie, would have an aggregate nominal nameplate generating capacity of up to 50 megawatts (MW) of electricity and would include up to 25, 2.0-MW wind turbines.This Environmental Assessment (EA) has been prepared to analyze the environmental consequences of the Proposed Action. The EA is a site-specific analysis of potential impacts that could result from the implementation of the Proposed Action. This EA is being prepared in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended (42 United States Code [USC] 4321 et seq.), and its implementing regulations found in 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 1500–1508. This EA assesses the environmental impacts of the Proposed Action, two project alternatives and a No Action alternative, and guides the decisionmaking process. The BLM is the federal lead agency responsible for conducting the environmental review under NEPA, and Western is a federal cooperating agency on the EA. | <urn:uuid:e4387b08-58d9-4652-af88-36eb85c0afb1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://energy.gov/nepa/downloads/ea-1581-draft-environmental-assessment | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939745 | 302 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Reader comments are listed below. Comments are currently closed and new comments are no longer being accepted.
I would be a bit polite in your position, as please show your motorways in ROM. to the EU. Why Mercedes has choosen Hungary recently? Much bigger country - with many Hungarian in Transilvania threated like animals - without infrastruckture.
Of course there is a huge improvement in ROM. but I absolutely agreee that the risk is even higher regarding to ROM, and do not forget that the improvement from 0 - from where ROM has achived the good numbers recently - is more visible, I mean Rom. has to improve in many things but will not have the opportunity in this recession. The other question, how is ROM. going to handle they workers going back home from abbroad.
And I can advise that dont forget Slovakia and Slovenia when you advertise yourself. The numbers can be misleading sometimes, and the current situation is more complex than you see it.
"the only statistics you can trust are those you falsified yourself" Winston Churchill
The table in the article indicates Economist Intelligence Unit as a source of the data.
I am attaching below link to the Economist Intelligence Unit data in which I can see forecast of the Polish current account in 2009 as 4,3 % of GDP. Almost half of that we can see in the article.
While writing this comment I see link to IMF's World Economic Outlook for 2009 where i can also find this data much lower then mentioned in the article.
"Domino theory" would be a nice title for a piece of writing regarding quality of the forecasts and analysies. One misleading article brings another...
Argentina is a safer place to put your money than Brazil? Really? Really? Someone should tell this to Argentineans, who are sending their money across the river to Uruguay.
Many readers requested a more exhaustive table, with more countries included. Questions were raised as to the accuracy of competing sources. Perhaps The Economist would prepare one, based on data easily available on each central bank's website? These days, few central banks lie deliberately, and they are supposed to know best how money flows in their economies.
I wonder how long it will take until it is finally publicly admitted by our political leaders, that the current financial system is well beyond repair - just like Bretton Woods and the ones before that. Having such a system, getting rid of it and installing a new one is something that happens every couple of decades. There are plenty of precedents, so work out some of the best practices, pull them through and end the farce. No system is perfect, each and every one has failed so far. You are responsible for carelessly letting companies change it by writing their own legislation and passing it through the various governments of western states for them and leaving everything else unregulated. You will be blamed for the mess. Now either fix system (every passing day is proof that this is impossible as there is much more short term debt than assets around), change the system or at the very least: Get out of the way.
I love this table. Otherwise I would not know that I should jump out of the window. Yes indeed it is difficoult to be a prophet in his own country. This fuzz about CEE is in part only justified. I perceived "The Economist" as source to show which part was it and not to join bandwagon of folks that want to build up the mommnentum.
no one else misses Hong Kong in this analysis?
A comparable table for the G20 would be most useful! To have a comparative measure of the emerging countries v the economic leaders!
Another key missing element in the analysis as regards South Africa (and in fact all the countries), is the state of the government's finances. South Africa has been reducing its deficits consistently over the past few years and recently ran a surplus. The ratio of domestic debt:GDP has also declined significantly. All this means is that the government has substantial capacity to borrow locally and purchase FX to the extent necessary to cover any shortfall. Admittedly this will put downward pressure on the Rand, but at least the country won't need a bail out from the IMF.
Look you can pick apart the numbers as much as you want.
Some emerging markets have effected real transformation, like China and to a lesser extent Brazil, and some have continued being primary goods producers while conducting a spectacular show of consumptiona and calling it transformation, like South Africa and Russia. The numbers, however selective and partially questionable, reflect the story.
Now the chips are down and fundamental progress will be measured in terms of competitive advantage. Those who spent the gains of the commodity boom years consuming imports will feel the pain.
The other point is that economies on the periphery of the financial world always suffer capital outflows in times of economic crisis. Hard luck, it happens - save instead of buying new cars and supporting luxury goods companies - you'll be better positioned for the shocks when they come.
I think one needs to be far more responsible when banding about numbers such as these especially from a reputable source such as the economist.
While it is hard to identify a catalyst it appears as though this article alone has resulted in enough market fear to unsettle the ZAR seeing it jump from 9.86 to 10.56.
Some investigation however casts doubt on some of these figures quoted.
The forecast current account deficit for SA was shown to be 10.4% while both MS and RMB have forecasted 6.5%. This is on the back of reduced dividends to foreigners. This would see SA drop some way from worst.
ST-Debt & Reserves
SA doesn't have a good FX reserve position – agreed – when compared to Russia, China, etc.
So our denominator is small.
Looking into the numerator, the short term debt reveals some grounds for revision or at least, less panic.
Looking at the SARBS quarterly update the 81% ratio appears to come from the total of all short-term debt $28bn being divided by the net foreign currency reserves of $35bn. Per the table, the banks sector makes up about $21bn of the $28bn of external S-T debt, national treasury has very little external debt. Further analyzing the the $21bn of the banks shows that about $8.9bn of this is 'debt' while $12bn is 'currency and deposits', foreigners holding currency positions or desposits with SA banks.
Deposits are callable but sticky and bear far less roll-over risk. Removing $12bn from the original $28bn see the ratio fall from 81% approx 46%.
Thanks to AM.
I still feel optimistic about the economic situation - most of the countries are in much healthier condition than in 1997/98 so I predict that this crisis won't last so long and won't be so devastating as the Asian crisis was.
I find it plain stupid (or just abusing propaganda) to compare two group of countries in which you only present the numbers for one group. Your article presumes Romania to be more risky than Hungary: you hide the numbers only to presume that, contrary to all evidence "in the field" - Romania runs on growth (you (EIU) have estimate a minus one percent growth in 2009, but most other estimations point to a positive growth; The Economist systematically underestimated Romania in the past), while Hungary is estimated to have a significant negative growth (EIU estimated minus 3 percent growth, but most others see even worse). Hungary has been forced to take an IMF loan, while Romania does not need one. It might be that you did this unintentionally, but there is one point in your text that indicates that the contrary is much more likely: you STATE that (economically, etc) Hungary is larger than Romania. You, the Economist people, are obviously too smart to really think this. Your own analyses (EIU) already show it: Romania vs. Hungary has a population of 21.5 vs. 10 million, a national GDP (2007, market exchange rate) of 166 vs. 138 billion. The GDP gap between the two countries is actually wider because the GRP growth in 2008 was 8 vs. 0 percent. To this you can add the investor’s interest as reflected in the number of new projects where Romania is the first in Central Europe; also, the bulk of investments (as total sums) has been shifting to Romania – second after Poland and double than in Hungary in absolute terms (EIU World Investment Prospects). Also, Romania become in 2008 the second economy in Central Europe after Poland – already ahead the Czeck R. (EIU The World in 2008). Sure, we live hard times, but again, look which country is virtually bankrupt, and look which one withstands the situation, and only then speak. Maybe your Hungarian lobbyists inside The Economist (which are all too ovious !!!) should read your article on 'rosy glasses' at page 78 of this week's edition of The Economist, where you point out that unrealistic attitude to the surrounding world is doomed to failure. IMF, EU and others can state that this is already happening. This comment is not against The Economist, but against those lobbyists (which I hope the The Economist will get rid of, as soon as possible).
Mind your advanced banking problem~
Eastern Europe external debt is about $1.6tril
The bailout for ONLY several(RBS,CITI.. ) financial institutions is close to $1.5tril
U.K external debt to GDP is 380%. Most advanced countries have over 100% external debt to GDP. Their foreign reserves? ....
Emerging Countires conditions are better than advanced's
Keep in mind, the present problems come from the high levered advanced countries.
risk rarely lies with countries but specific enterprises. investors rarely use commonsensical approach like "all eastern european is bad now", so it appears that Economist is serving as propaganda tool.
I find this article so wrong to the point of being comic. It does not consider the single most important issue: trust. For example, what fool besides Hugo Chavez (if he has any money) would send money to Argentina? Yet, Argentina is "safer" than Mexico, Brazil, or South Korea? How can you expect me to believe that?
It would be very interesting to have this analysis for the G-20
Can we please have a similar analysis for the G& countries : USA , Great Britain, Italy, France, Japan and Canada???
"As percentage of g.d.p." well, the u.k. government plans to spend the total g.d.p. of the country in the bail out!
Most analysts believe the figure to be double this!!!
The really dumb, stupid representatives of world capital cannot see the coming inflationary catastrophe- or can they?
They have no other way out. by reviving the corpse of capitalism, a frankenstein monster will come back and destroy them.
The international socialist revolution will spread, domino style, from one country to another in the coming period.
Although the data is for "emerging market" economies, I wonder how "established" economies would fare within this list?
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See a selection of The Economist's articles, events, topical videos and debates on Facebook. | <urn:uuid:3bb6f9f0-cf0e-4dbd-a9fc-917ce8d1ea7e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.economist.com/comment/216162 | 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 | 0.953538 | 2,368 | 1.664063 | 2 |
B.C. residents oppose pipeline, but could be swayed: poll
Published Wednesday, August 1, 2012 10:22PM EDT
Last Updated Thursday, August 2, 2012 11:01PM EDT
The proposed Northern Gateway pipeline has far more opponents than supporters in British Columbia, suggests a new poll which also found that many who oppose the project could have a change of heart in the face of environmental and economic considerations.
The Angus Reid Public Opinion poll surveyed 804 adults in British Columbia between July 30 and Aug. 1.
The survey found that the proportion of people who completely oppose the project outnumbers complete supporters by a 5-to-1 margin. But 51 per cent of respondents said their support or opposition to the project could change under specific conditions.
The online survey allowed respondents to view a map of the proposed location of the Northern Gateway pipeline, which would be built by energy giant Enbridge Inc. The pipeline would carry crude from Alberta to the B.C. coast to be shipped to Asian markets.
According to the survey, only seven per cent of respondents completely support the project, while 35 per cent completely oppose it.
Another 27 per cent said they support the pipeline, but could change their minds on environmental or economic issues. One in four respondents said they oppose the project but could also be swayed by environmental or economic considerations.
The poll comes after B.C. Premier Christy Clark outlined a list of demands she wants met in exchange for the province’s support of the $5.5 billion project. The project has long faced criticism from both aboriginal groups and environmentalists, and recent spills in Michigan and Wisconsin have raised fears that Enbridge isn’t up to the job of running a pipeline while keeping residents and the environment safe.
Clark’s demands, issued early last week, marked the government’s first major comment on the issue.
The province’s five demands included a call for world-leading practices for on-land oil spill prevention, response and recovery, respect for aboriginal treaty rights, and a fair share of the project’s fiscal and economic benefits that reflects the risk borne by the province, the environment and its residents.
When respondents who said they were either completely or partially opposed to the pipeline were asked if they would be more likely to support it if any of the five demands were met, 37 per cent said they would be more likely to support it if world-leading marine oil-spill prevention and response systems are established.
Thirty-five percent said they would be more likely to support the pipeline if on-land oil spill response is enhanced to world-leading standards, while 32 per cent said they would get behind the project if fiscal and economic benefits to the province are outlined.
When asked about the stance taken by their premier on pipeline issues, 37 per cent said they were satisfied, while 43 per cent said they were dissatisfied. About 35 per cent of those surveyed said they were satisfied with NDP Leader Adrian Dix’s stance, while 27 per cent said they were not satisfied. Dix has said his party will consider legal strategies to stop the pipeline from being built if it is approved.
The survey’s margin of error is +/- 3.5 per cent. | <urn:uuid:74bba3f7-5743-4e5f-95ee-624c3b4f4657> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/b-c-residents-oppose-pipeline-but-could-be-swayed-poll-1.901115 | 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 | 0.971547 | 663 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Cellulite is the lumpy substance commonly found on the thighs, stomach, and butt. You may have heard people say it looks like "cottage cheese." Cellulite is actually a fancy name for collections of fat that push against the connective tissue beneath a person's skin. This makes the surface of the skin pucker and look lumpy.
You can check to see if you have cellulite by pinching the skin around your upper thigh. If it looks a bit lumpy, you probably have it. If you do have cellulite, you're definitely not alone: Most girls and women — and some men — have cellulite.
Several things influence whether a person has cellulite and how much they have. Your genes, your sex, the amount of fat on your body, your age, and the thickness of your skin are all associated with the amount of cellulite you have or how visible it is.
It doesn't matter what causes cellulite,there aren't any miracle products, treatments, or medicines that can make it go away. Some "treatments" may temporarily reduce the appearance of cellulite. They won't last, though. For example, fancy salon treatments use deep massaging to puff up the skin. That can make cellulite look a little better for a while.
Liposuction (surgery to remove fat) and mesotherapy (injection of drugs into cellulite) are expensive. But they're not very effective. For example, liposuction is designed to remove deep fat. But cellulite is close to the skin.
Even top models can have cellulite, but if you have it, you probably don't like it. Almost everyone wishes that something about their body was a bit different. This is particularly true during our teens when our bodies go through all sorts of changes caused by puberty.
If you decide that you want to try to reduce the amount of cellulite you have, the best thing to do is to decrease excess body fat. If you think that you are overweight (and your doctor agrees), eat fewer calories and exercise more.
An exercise routine that combines aerobic exercise with strength training is the best weapon against cellulite. In the meantime, if you want to conceal your cellulite, try using a self-tanning product. Cellulite tends to be a little bit less noticeable on darker skin. | <urn:uuid:e43ed4c4-746d-40ff-8c63-0f9badb724cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kidshealth.org/PageManager.jsp?dn=Nemours&lic=60&cat_id=20118&article_set=21044&tracking=T_RelatedArticle | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955511 | 485 | 1.75 | 2 |
if people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that it will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.
— A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway (via stannisbaratheon)
I didn’t like the way I looked, the way I dressed and moved, what I achieved and what I felt I was worth. But there was so much energy in me, such belief that one day I’d be handsome and clever and superior and admired, such anticipation when I met new people and new situations. Is that what makes me sad? The eagerness and belief that filled me then and exacted a pledge from life that life could never fulfill? Sometimes I see the same eagerness and belief in the faces of children and teenagers and the sight brings back the same sadness I feel in remembering myself. Is this what sadness is all about? Is it what comes over us when beautiful memories shatter in hindsight because the remembered happiness fed not just on actual circumstances but on a promise that was not kept?
— Bernhard Schlink, The Reader (via cesarelucrezia) | <urn:uuid:492b0eac-eb8b-4f94-8e9e-5d284f513368> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://i-wannaa-fly.tumblr.com/page/5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933623 | 294 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Written by Richard Cravatts
Seeming to give credence to Orwell’s observation that some ideas are so stupid that only intellectuals (or at least Harvard graduates) believe them, Sara el-Yafi, a Lebanese graduate of Harvard, posted an October 28th protest on her Facebook page to the university of descriptions of various foods appearing on the menu of the Israeli Mezze Station at Harvard Business School’s dining room. Apparently, the reality that this group of ethnic foods is today normally associated with Israeli cuisine was too much for the vigilant Ms. El-Yafi, who saw a nefarious jingoism in the taxonomy of the buffet items, as opposed to an innocent marketing effort created by the outside food service that provides the food to HBS.
“That ‘Israeli Mezze Station,’” el- Yafi indignantly wrote, “is the ultimate multicultural, multireligious ‘f*** you’ in the face of ALL Arabs at once from North Africa to the Levant.” What Ms. El-Yafi apparently overlooked is the fact that Jews have had a presence in the Levant for some 4000 years, including fifteen hundred during which they prepared indigenous foods before the birth of Mohammed and Islam, and which they harvested and ate identically to their Arab neighbors. El-Yafi also conveniently ignores the fact that some 856,000 Jews were ethnically cleansed from Arab countries upon the founding of Israel, two-thirds of whom eventually settled in Israel, and brought with them their culinary traditions with to the newly-created Jewish state.
But el-Yafi’s discourse about the food buffet is obviously not about history; it is about politics, and what she frames as a discussion of yet another aspect of Israel’s existence that its ideological foes in academia and elsewhere find defective. In her mind, the mislabeled food on the Israeli mezze buffet is more evidence of Israel’s original “theft” of Arab land, the historically inaccurate view that Israel has no legitimate right to exist in the first place because it usurped the lands—and culture—of Arabs. “Israel already has a hard time keeping face in the Arab world for the way it has ‘appropriated’ its lands since 1948,” she tellingly wrote on her Facebook post, “don’t make it worse for them by having them appropriate other peoples’ foods as well.”
Here, el-Yafi reveals what the disingenuous discussion about the menu items is actually about. In a world where no sensible adult would ever protest to a university the presence of American Chop Suey on a cafeteria menu as an affront to Chinese students whose indigenous cuisine has been appropriated by a culturally imperialistic America, it is now common on campuses for anti-Israel ideologues to distort history and fact in a campaign to demonize, slander, and delegitimize Israel and to sever any historical ties it has to the Levant. Israel was not created through the “appropriation” of Arab land, as el-Yafi contends; it was granted to the Jewish people by the League of Nations and 51 member countries “as of right and not of sufferance,” and “given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country.”
El-Yafi is distorting the narrative about Jews and Israel, a trend that is common in an academia laden with pro-Palestinian sentiment. Barnard’s Nadia Abu el-Haj, for instance, wrote a book (that earned her tenure) which claimed, against all accepted evidence and history, that the Jewish link to the Levant was “invented” by devious Israeli archeologists who fashioned a historical connection of Jews only by selectively evaluating the findings of their digs.
A graduate student at the Hebrew University, Tal Nitzan, wrote a thesis with the breathtaking conclusion that the low numbers of rapes of Arab women by Israeli soldiers was not due to their restraint and humanity, but due to their inherent racism, since, in her view, they are so racist that they will not deem to even rape Arab women—who they perceive to be culturally and physically inferior to them. This morally incoherent bit of scholarship even earned her a prize from the University’s Shaine Center.
So eager are academics to devalue anything positive Israel may do in trying to elevate the Palestinian cause that they invert truth in this campaign. Sarah Schulman, a professor at the College of Staten Island of City University of New York, this year published a New York Times op-ed piece in which she assailed what she termed Israel’s “pinkwashing,” that is, that Israel uses its positive record on gay rights—something that would ordinarily endear it to liberals—as a “deliberate strategy to conceal the continuing violations of Palestinians’ human rights behind an image of modernity signified by Israeli gay life.”
It is also ironic that, when it is convenient for the cause of campus anti-Israel activists—as is not the case with the HBS episode—they are more than willing to designate certain foods as being Israeli in character and origin: witness the 2010 campaign of Princeton University’s Committee on Palestine to institute a campus-wide boycott of Sabra hummus, owed in part by an Israeli conglomerate, or a similar University of Pennsylvania boycott call this year against Trader Joe’s brand of Israeli couscous.
In response to the Facebook complaints about the menu, an HBS spokesperson announced that the School is “deeply troubled” for having offended Arab sensibilities due to the mischaracterization of items on the Israeli Mezze buffet. But the School should not be troubled by the inadvertent, and unintentional, labeling of items on a dining room menu. The more serious issue here is whether there should have been an apology at all, whether there is, in fact, even a rational reason why anyone’s sensibilities could have been offended in the first place—and, even if they were, if there is any merit in that offense if the outrage is based on a misreading of history and fact. Perhaps the School should also be apologizing to Jewish and Israeli students, who have been accused now of usurping both the lands and culture from which the Jewish state was created in the first place.
Richard L. Cravatts, PhD, director of the Communications Management Program at Simmons College, is the author of the forthcoming book, Genocidal Liberalism: The University’s Jihad Against Israel & Jews. | <urn:uuid:6d1f7f7b-5722-4acd-93ff-c403f9fee5a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rightsidenews.com/2012111931426/editorial/rsn-pick-of-the-day/im-offended-politicizing-food-to-demonize-once-again-israel.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964284 | 1,380 | 1.726563 | 2 |
How Steady Is Your Click Track?
Metronomes or click tracks are used as a primary timing reference for most of today's music. Tests show that many metronomes are not steady - that is to say, that the time in between each beat is not consistent. A simple test setup is presented that will allow the user to check his metronome timing accuracy before he starts a music project.
Click to purchase paper or login as an AES member. If your company or school subscribes to the E-Library then switch to the institutional version. If you are not an AES member and would like to subscribe to the E-Library then Join the AES!
This paper costs $20 for non-members, $5 for AES members and is free for E-Library subscribers. | <urn:uuid:3bc8ef43-9adf-43d3-a861-9cd1605d55c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=5584 | 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 | 0.960025 | 160 | 1.765625 | 2 |
From Claws Mail FAQ
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When you could see through the realistic & frequent-sense recommendations in the write-up over, teeth whitening desire stop a hardcore course of action in any respect. Settle on the clues that happen to be good for ones needs & so as to you may be on the approach to any lighter grin in much less occasion as compared to an individual assumed. | <urn:uuid:8ad3e130-4694-4dbd-82e7-9de32e84b649> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.claws-mail.org/faq/index.php?title=S/MIME_howto&direction=next&oldid=2170 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959274 | 771 | 1.734375 | 2 |
For the past four years, members of St. Paul's United Methodist Church in La Cruces, New Mexico have been "Cooking for Christ."
Once a week, a group ranging from 7 to 16 people, gathers to make cookies, casseroles, soups and desserts for those in need. The casseroles, soups and desserts are frozen and distributed to church members who have had a death in the family, an illness or a new baby. Servings run from a single serving to enough for a whole family.
"We make anything that can be safely frozen," says Bobbie Myers, who heads up the Cooking For Christ group.
The cookies are shipped thousands of miles away to a chapel for American troops in Iraq. The soldiers have tagged the goodies "Cookies for Christ."
"It's so gratifying," says member Karen Swaney about making cookies for the troops. "We have received so many wonderful thank-you notes, pictures and even personal letters. One man is going to come and visit us when he gets home from Iraq."
The cooks are now working to make contacts in Afghanistan, so they can begin sending cookies to troops in that war-torn country.
Cooking for Christ is a self-sustained ministry, Myers notes. The cost of food does not come from the church budget, but from church members' donations.
The cooks and bakers in the group are men and women of many different ethnic backgrounds and age brackets.
Diane Rogers, who founded the group, says that was one of her main goals with Cooking for Christ.
"We wanted to get different people together to learn to work together," she says. "Our hope is that this inspires others to do something similar in their communities."
If you or a group you belong to cooks for a charitable, spiritual or other purpose, we'd love to hear from you. Submit your story | <urn:uuid:ee0f35e3-caca-4b84-80f8-c92424042b1c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tasteofhome.com/Community/Cooks-Who-Care/Featured-Stories/Good-Reasons-to-Cook/Print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974062 | 389 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Poll: Only 19% of Americans Implicitly Trust Media
We've seen it reflected in nearly every poll over the last 10 years or so and here is another one that confirms the downward spiral in trust of the media. In a press release for a Sacred Heart University poll, those respondents who said they believe all or most of what the media has to tell them fell 8% since 2003. In 2003 27.4% of the poll's respondents said that they trusted all or most of what the MSM reports. In 2007 that number plummeted to just 19.6%. 23.9% said they believe little or nothing that comes out of the MSM with 55.3% saying they believe some of what the media churns out.
Things are are increasingly looking bad for the MSM.
"The fact that an astonishing percentage of Americans see biases and partisanship in their mainstream news sources suggests an active and critical consumer of information in the U.S.," stated James Castonguay, Ph.D., associate professor and chair of SHU's Department of Media Studies & Digital Culture. "The availability of alternative viewpoints and news sources through the Internet no doubt contributes to the increased skepticism about the objectivity of profit-driven news outlets owned by large conglomerates," he continued.
Americans are increasingly assuming that the "news" isn't being "reported" but that what they are being fed is meant to influence public opinion as opposed to serving to inform it. In 2003 this poll showed that 79.3% felt the MSM was attempting to promulgate a particular point of view and in the 2007 poll that climbed to 87.6%. The poll also shows that "86.0% agreed (strongly or somewhat) that the news media attempts to influence public policies -- up from 76.7% in 2003."
The MSM faired poorly in many areas.
Americans surveyed provided poor ratings for the national news media on six different characteristics measured. The average overall positive rating across all six characteristics measured was 33.4%. The highest positive rating, 40.7%, was recorded for quality of reporting followed by accuracy of reporting at 36.9% and keeping any personal bias out of stories (33.3%).
Other low positive ratings included: fairness (31.3%), presenting an even balance of views (30.4%) and presenting negative and positive news equally (27.5%).
The Poll found many more interesting results. Many of our supposedly most trusted news sources are considered left leaning and not balanced.
- 41.9% felt the The New York Times was left leaning
- 40.3% felt that NPR was left leaning
- 11.9% felt CNN was left leaning
- 38.8% felt MSNBC had a leftward tilt
- 45.4% felt that journalists and broadcasters in general were lefties, too
As to Fox News, 48.7% felt it was right leaning, but the cable newser got the highest vote for accuracy in reporting. Fox News got 27% of the poll for accuracy, while CNN received 14.6%, NBC got 10.9%, ABC 7%, local news 6.9%, CBS News 6.8%, MSNBC 4%, PBS News 3%, and CNBC .6%.
In any case, this report is terrible news for the "news" and it pans out in their falling stock shares and in customer dissatisfaction.
(H/T NewsBuster StewartIII) | <urn:uuid:a3800dd7-714a-40c1-bdf8-24c8e8876844> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newsbusters.org/blogs/warner-todd-huston/2008/01/09/poll-only-19-americans-implicitly-trust-media | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970637 | 695 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Solazyme is expanding their renewable oil production platform globally. See where these oils will impact next and get a sneak peak into their plant in Peoria, Illinois.
Solazyme's 100% algal derived naval distillate fuel was successfully tested in a United States Navy Riverine Command Boat.
Harrison Dillon, co-founder of Solazyme, gives the talk of his life, one day before the company delivered 20,000 gallons of algae-derived SoladieselHRF-76® to the U.S. Navy.
Solazyme and Genentech are fueling the future of biotechnology by running a first-of-its-kind bus demonstration in South San Francisco.
Learn more about Solazyme's Renewable Jet Fuel Program, including fueling the first U.S. commercial flight on advanced biofuel.
Jonathan Wolfson, co-founder and CEO of Solazyme, discusses what it takes to be a 2012 World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer. | <urn:uuid:407785d2-1109-4d35-949a-42873d24a0cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://solazyme.com/videos | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940601 | 201 | 1.523438 | 2 |
VOLCANO - Are you into daffodils? Then you've got to take the drive to Volcano in the Gold Country to Daffodil Hill. Each spring Daffodil Hill explodes with more than 300,000 blooms, attracting visitors from around the world. Daffodil Hill is a 4-acre farm owned by the McLaughlin family since 1887. The farm began as a 36-acre ranch and toll road for travelers and teamsters hauling timber. In the ...
YOSEMITE VALLEY - Yosemite is a wildflower enthusiast's paradise, where blossoms are found most of the year.
Central Valley native Jeffrey Murray has spent most of his life looking through the lens of his camera, training his artistic eye to capture stunning visuals of the rustic world around him. After obtaining a degree in photography, and working as a photojournalist for two different papers in Arizona, Murray grew tired of being chained by the constraints of the workplace, and decided to forge his own path amongst the wildflowers.
Looking for an assortment of wildflowers may mean a short road trip.
During her recent commute from Stockton, Krystal Jacks recently noticed a change in the rural area east of West 11th Street not too far from South Bird Road just outside of Tracy.
Ok, Ok. So Manteca means lard in Spanish. Go ahead make fun of it. But you've got to admit there's no other city in the United States named Manteca, or elsewhere for that matter. Oakdales and Oaklands are a dime a dozen. There's multiple San Franciscos and San Joses. You'll find more than one Sacramento. There's even at least two other Ripons in the world. But a second Manteca? Who in their right mind would ...
As a modern American, it is rather difficult to imagine the sorts of things that might concern the first settlers of the Turlock area back in the distant year of 1867. It may seem as though there would be countless problems with forming a town from nothing, but two issues dominated the thoughts of those struggling to farm their land: water, and the railroad.
What's in a name? In Stanislaus County, pioneering history. Stanislaus County is a region rich with agriculture, native history, and technological progression. Its name first stemmed from the Stanislaus River, which was commemorated to honor a Native American warrior. Chief Estanislao was a member of the Laquisimas tribe, which was a division of the California Northern Yoquts, and named after St. Stanislaus, a patron saint of Poland. He attained an education at Mission San Jose ...
YOSEMITE -- More than a century after his death, the world hasn't stopped talking about Dr. Lafayette Bunnell's most important diagnosis.
What's in a name? The discovery of gold on the American River in 1848 transformed this part of California, from small settlements to thriving commercial centers for miners heading up to the Sierra foothills. In turn, San Joaquin County was changed forever. With it, came the names of the towns along with some of the waterways and railways. Stockton Capt. Charles Weber was a German immigrant who decided to try his hand at gold mining ...
SONORA - You know you're in Sonora, California, when you see "The Red Church." At least, that is true to a lot of visitors to this historic Gold Country town in the foothills. That's also the nickname that locals simply use to describe this photogenic circa-1860 house of worship for the very obvious reason, and why it's a favorite photographic subject of many a camera-toting tourist.
What's in a name? It depends who you ask. Or, realistically, where that person you're asking is really from. Entire sections of America can trace their roots back to events of historical significance – whether it was Texas winning its independence from Mexico or the original colonies holding strong against a far superior British Army. New England. It's still called that to this day and it's a nod to the revolutionary heritage and spirit that ...
RIPON – From its plush riparian jungle, warm summers and cool waters, Caswell Memorial State Park has long been a place of discovery, recreation and escape.
BOULDER CREEK - If you're looking for just a hike, stay away from the Big Basin Redwoods State Park.
In the middle of scenic agricultural lands and open spaces in the Central Valley lies the city of Escalon, home to 7,206 residents.
VALLECITO - Twisted Oak Winery opens the 2013 concert series with the Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band under the stars at the winery in Vallecito.
NAPA (AP) - Love the lush and lovely Napa Valley but hate how expensive it can be? You're not the first. In the late 19th century, writer Robert Louis Stevenson moved his honeymoon to the rustic but free setting of an abandoned mining camp when the $10-a-week going rate for Calistoga hotels proved too much for his slender purse. | <urn:uuid:c51acb8e-22c9-464f-b591-f2db77a3b311> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mantecabulletin.com/archives/section/158/?page=4&archive_page=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962449 | 1,060 | 1.765625 | 2 |
I'll get to the specifics in a bit, but it's important you understand the why of it all.
Clear and disable your Google search history.
So how do you avoid getting wrong in this minefield of competing risks and drains on your credulity? What is is the magic bullet that works for me?
Beginning with the browser most likely to satisfy me, Mozilla Firefox ( current version) will almost always be better than Chrome, if like me you enjoy fiddling with your settings and being master of your domain ( apologies to Seinfeld). Firefox allows you to tailor your browsing with a number of add ons that insure your safety and ease of use. The best are Adblock plus, it does what it says on the tin. Stopping most adds on ITV, 4oD, and forums and streaming sites that would normally get your browser to crawl to a stand still. While Adblock can seem a bit of a pain in the ass sometimes, remember when that streaming site insists you disable Adblock, it's most likely just angry you've stopped it's cookies and viruses from entering your machine. If it seems to good to be true, if you just let the ads on, it is. Better Privacy does for you what most antivirus will do only in the paid version, and that's stop the cookies that track you and your locations. If like me, you can write in a few languages, Firefox has a number of dictionaries you can install as well. Lastly and most cool, Firefox has a wide variety of skins to dress your browser in. One is in Tardis blue with stars and the other is all Newcastle United. You just try that in IE or Chrome. Now if you aren't that bothered with a lot of useful bits you can control with ease, then Chrome, aka Firefox light, is the browser for you. Still does a lot, still better than IE, but beware, the best add ons are written for the open source Firefox and will always be fixed long before Chrome notices there was ever anything wrong.
|Give us your password|
Now here comes the cool stuff.....
VPN ( virtual private network) v Proxy: That's easy, but let's see why. Proxy does what VPN does, it allows you to be in another country, even if you're in a different country. But unlike the VPN, Proxy services tend to be used by more than just revolutionaries, people just trying to watch a bit of BBC iPlayer away from home, or some CBS show they missed that month while away on business. Proxy is dangerous, if only because it's a known tool used by people who are trying to counter security measures in illegal commercial transactions. So what! you say, you just wanted to catch up on Corrie or Match of the Day? Oh and if a load of people are all on the same server at the same time, you won't be getting anywhere near the bandwidth they promised you. No big deal? try and access your paypal account or do a bank transaction, it won't work, every bell and whistle and alarm will go off, and rightly so, because criminals are doing the same as you on IP addresses that change as often as babies change nappies. Using a VPN will insure a near uniform access, secure private and reliable connection that isn't being shared by a 1000 other people, including some pretty dodgy people up to no good. This also means you can access your accounts without having to worry. In proxy, doing so resets all your cookies, and in the case of paypal, blocks your access till you reset your password. There is one other pretty compelling reason to go VPN, unlike proxy settings that are fiddly even for most nerds and need setting up on every browser and every application you use, VPN installs once, and connects to your server efficiently and quickly. My choice is VPNUK. A company that has not let us down yet. A brilliant service group that will with live help, get you set up, and if you need assistance later, sort you out promptly. VPNUK charges about the same as others for a month, but affiliated with a multiplicity of online payment systems, is dead easy to get onto at £5.99. With VPNUK you bypass the hassle of international banking and you can still catch up with telly from home, and should anything happen, the live help is there most of the day.
Radio Downloader, I can select my favourite shows, leave it running and presto, I have the broadcast for as long as I want it. Yes you're right, just how many times can you listen to Jilted John or Oh Bondage up yours? Well ... as often as I can some days, but for most people it's a wonderful way to record a unique event off the full spectrum of BBC radio. I'm particularly proud of the time I got a request read on the air, and now I can hear it again and again. Ok that's sad, but I also have the time Nicola Bryant was interviewed, that time him off the Rezillos talked about the formative years of the band or when The Happy Cats played live.
Are you on Facebook all the time, Facebook doing your head in with all the sidebars and tickers and other wee multi legged beasties they unleash on us? feedfilter from Firefox lets you customize just how much of the content you want to hide. Oh of course you can do that now without it, but only because Feedfilter came first, and it's still working beyond the call of duty hiding ads and other elements Mark Zuckerberg seems to think I need.
Now not withstanding the bollocking I gave Google before, G-mail has unleashed a cool bit of kit for the entire year of 2012.... If you live in North America ( but not Mexico) you can ring people for free from G mail. It doesn't matter if it's a mobile number or a land line, it's free. Before they wake up and realize what they've done, use it. Free phone calls anywhere in Canada or the United states from within Canada or the United States, assuming you have the people to talk to, Get in ! Pity they didn't do it for the EU and GB, but hey, if you can use, you'd be a daft cnut not to.
Crossing the WHOniverse is one stop for every era. You'll have to navigate a few places that seem to think there were ever only 6 series, silly people, but if it's online, you'll find it here.
What about that collection of region one DVDs, maybe your mate from England gifted you an entire collection of BBC DVDs, or worse that collection of lush Jackie Chan stuff that just won't play on your machine. And if you've changed your region more then the 6 times allowed, it stuck on whatever you were last watching. VLC Media player comes to the rescue, after much searching and trying , it's the only one that works for sure without spending money and as good as any as the ones that cost. Install it, it's safe, it's easy and uncomplicated. I'd pay, but frankly the firms out there offering the software demand far too much information and will mostly try to get you to buy a load of stuff you don't need along with some tricky viruses.
Clouds...... clouds are stupid, they are cumbersome and accomplish little, get a detachable data storage unit, a stick, a big external drive, it's faster and more secure.
For the nerds and anoraks who love canny open source stuff that works, Filzip for compressing files, CCleaner for cookies and other essential bits of cleaning and for the ones too skint to pay for Windows office Suite.. Open office is free to use and does the exact same thing.
Follow my advice and you'll be happy, safe and mostly trouble free. You could do this the hard way and try all sort of other things, but I hope you'll save yourself the palaver.
Last bit of advice if you're running a business, if you don't have an online presence, get one, if you have one but haven't optimized your site, do it, if you're thinking of doing it, don't let your 14 year old nephew do it. Trust a professional and pay the price, Like all things on the net that require the slightest bit of talent, people want it for free. Be it writing, music or computer services.
I would have loved to do a review of the best paypal type services, but that will be for another time. I hope this has helped. Surf safe, surf happy and be aware that sometimes you need to pay to get something in return. | <urn:uuid:a63715cd-ee84-4f02-b0e9-5b59b29ebb7e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://scurvytoon.blogspot.com/2012/02/10-things-to-make-your-computer-safer.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968153 | 1,791 | 1.507813 | 2 |
November 10, 2009
Media members crowd into the witness area of the execution chamber at the Washington State Penitentiary in November 2008 during a tour of the area in preparation for the planned but delayed execution of Darold Stenson.
Stories this photo appears in:
From: Summary of Issues in the Debate on the Death Penalty, Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, March 2009
Deterrence: The weight of evidence indicates that the death penalty does deter some murders and saves innocent lives where it is actually enforced. In that case, a vote against the death penalty is a vote to kill innocent people to save the guilty. Accord | <urn:uuid:3e545f11-3184-4a4f-9f64-fd4b9cc45f5a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://union-bulletin.com/photos/2009/nov/10/7026/ | 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 | 0.953594 | 126 | 1.710938 | 2 |
The CSU Channel Islands Nursing Program At Cottage Health System
California State University Channel Islands and Cottage Health System signed a long-term agreement, bringing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program to Santa Barbara County for the first time. The program is projected to admit nearly 220 nursing students in the next 10 years. The Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital Foundation has made a $7 million commitment to develop and sustain the program over a decade.
The program's facility, located near Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital, houses three classrooms and a seven-bed simulation lab with medication administration and documentation systems. The lab includes one high-fidelity simulator that gives output-including blood pressure and pulse rate-in response to student actions and input. A video recording system helps students to observe and critique learning sessions.
Who are the nursing students?
- They are the best and brightest-22 students were selected from 140
- They are highly motivated critical thinkers from a variety of background studies-from the sciences to the arts. For many this will be a second Bachelor's degree.
- Students are tech-savvy and well prepared for changing technology to come.
- Students were selected based on a scoring system with points for GPA in sciences, overall GPA, scores from standardized nursing preadmission profile, volunteer work, language proficiency and local residence.
- 80 percent of the students are bilingual- with most speaking English and Spanish.
- 15 percent of the students are male.
- 100 percent of students are local residents.
- Most students have jobs aside from their work as full-time students.
<< Back to Fall 2012 Cottage Magazine | <urn:uuid:1a3e2de3-82a2-46a6-b1d7-ad8ecad949d2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cottagehealthsystem.org/NewsEvents/NewsandPublications/CottageMagazine/CHSCSUCINursingProgram/tabid/1840/Default.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944931 | 333 | 1.75 | 2 |
Gave a presentation on Quantifying Uncertainty in Model Projections — the Met Office Hadley Centre approach — at a workshop on regional modelling for climate scientists from around South America.
This month I have been:
working with José Marengo and Chou Sin Chan to develop some work that will complement existing research;
learning a new programming language ( GrADS) for the analysis and visualisation of model output;
developing software for analysis of the output of CPTEC's regional model Eta, to examine important features of the atmospheric circulation over South America, and how these may change in the future. This will build upon similar work which has already been carried out as part of a doctoral research project at CPTEC, using the Met Office regional model.
As in Exeter I cycle to work. Not many people do this. It's quite hilly. Am slightly wary of snakes on the road, although yet to come across any.
CPTEC runs a weekly presentation of the weekend weather forecast, like the Met Office does. My colleagues asked if I had understood much:
"Nothing," I said.
"Ah! Don't worry," they said. "That is because the guy who gave the presentation is from the Nordeste. Funny accent up there."
I can think of a more likely reason — language difficulties have featured very strongly in my life in Brazil. I spent a week at a language school in Rio, to give myself a bit of a leg-up and can just about get by, but still a very long way from being able to have a conversation with people, or understand the majority of what is going on around me.
I find getting computer support can be a little traumatic at the best of times. With a language barrier, it is almost impossible. Were it not for the kind intervention of my office mates, I'm sure I would still be unable to log in. Meetings tend to involve a mixture of Portuguese, English, and much waving of the arms.
Portanhol is the recognised Portuguese-Spanish hybrid. I have launched 'Portingles'. The language problems I have encountered have made me realise just how much we take for granted when we communicate in our own language. To have any chance of keeping up with the conversation, I have to concentrate so hard, all of the time. My lack of Portuguese even haunts me in my dreams!
Was asked a few weeks ago by a colleague to do English conversation classes a couple of times per week. The word has spread and attendance has risen to 12 this week. I need to be more organised now, everyone wants to learn or improve their English.
The first couple of weeks involved hammering out some ideas about how the Met Office could help in quantifying uncertainties in the projections of future climates in Brazil given by CPTEC's regional model Eta. Now a key component of the project.
Lots of phone calls and emails fired across the Atlantic between me and Dr Richard Betts and Ben Booth at the Met Office, formulating a methodology based on the principle that regional patterns of climate change, for certain key variables such as temperature and precipitation, scale remarkably well with large-scale (global) warming.
English conversation classes: attendance variable, but have around 15 students spread over two classes — basic and advanced. Based one of my basic classes around the theme of food, something everyone likes to talk about!
As part of their 'must know' vocabulary, I introduced haggis and chips and deep-fried Mars bar. Well, if they will ask a Scot to teach them English. Actually turns out that a remarkably similar dish to haggis exists in Brazil, called 'buchada'. Will be sure to sample some, if I come across it.
Decided my advanced class needed to have a bit of fun with the language, so introduced them to the limerick. Of the limericks they produced, one was extremely sweet, and one was downright rude about me and, in the grand tradition of the limerick, quite unsuitable for general consumption.
The Climate Impacts Team at the Met Office had two away-days, and Richard Betts, head of the team, wanted me involved. The first day, by phone, I reported on what I had been doing at CPTEC. The second day, we decided to try using Skype internet-based video-conferencing technology to include me and another member of the team who is working in Spain. I could be heard perfectly by the others, for me, the lack of sound quality was bad. Carlo, in Spain, commented on how well he could hear birds twittering — Brazilian birds!
With the methodology for the work finalised, my final month at CPTEC involved a lot of software development and subsequent number crunching:
From the regional model data, I extracted patterns of change of key variables (including temperature and precipitation) over the 21st century, for three major hydrological basins within Brazil — the Amazon, the Paraná and the São Francisco, which supplies water to the drought-prone north east. Sent these back to Met Office for the application of the method for attaching uncertainty to the results. Instead of having a single number representing projected change in a particular region, this method will produce a range of potential outcomes, which is more representative of the uncertainties that exist, and potentially far more useful for planning purposes.
Looked at the CPTEC regional model simulation of 21st century changes in the 'South American Low-Level Jet', a feature of the atmospheric circulation that is thought to be important in producing rainfall over the La Plata basin, and in which strong expertise has been developed by our Brazilian partners at CPTEC. This jet describes strong winds that travel south along the east side of the Andes. It is thought to transport moisture from the Amazon down to the La Plata basin. This large basin encompasses much of the south of Brazil, as well as parts of Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay and is very important economically, in terms of agriculture and hydro-electric power. Therefore, it is important to examine how the models simulate this feature, and how it is projected to change in the future. It will be an extremely interesting area for future research, to look at the interactions between the jet and the Amazon rainforest, which may undergo large changes over the next decades associated with land use and climate changes.
The people who work at my guest-house don't speak English. They are very patient and we have learnt to communicate largely with actions mixed with snippets of Portuguese. Have come a long way from the day I first arrived, when I understood they were asking me if I wanted to eat. Using pidgin Spanish, I tried to explain I wasn't hungry — 20 minutes later an enormous plate of rice, beans and chicken appeared.
A favourite topic of conversation is the difference in climate between Brazil and the UK. I am met with utter disbelief when I say that winter in Cachoeira Paulista has been very much more pleasant than summer at home. Explain that 25 °C is a very warm summer's day in the UK, and would be marked by much of the population sitting around on beaches or in parks, wearing very little. When the temperature drops below 20 °C here, there is a chorus of "Tá frio, né?" ("Cold, isn't it?") and an array of hats and scarves appear on the streets.
For about six weeks, my guest-house was full of Federal Police, who were in town from all over Brazil to train the latest intake of new recruits. In spite of the sudden proliferation of guns at the breakfast table, I really enjoyed them being here. They told me about their different parts of the country — now have a long list of places that I must visit.
The police officers also invited me to their churrasco (barbecue) evening. They fired up the music and tried their best to teach me how to dance Forró, Calypso, Pagode and Funk. More difficult even than the Portuguese language. I apparently have no rhythm. One very patient guy tried to coax some Samba out of me:
"Move your feet like this, look, watch me," he said.
But even he was defeated.
"No, no, no," he ended up saying in a pained voice, shaking his head wearily.
Some things are not meant to be, but I managed to hold my own in the YMCA!
Was invited to the birthday party of a girl at work. It was a really nice evening, but it did expose a few cultural differences between Brazilians and the British. Have still not mastered the Brazilian art of being late. Instructions to arrive at 7.30 p.m. should be interpreted as: turn up any time between 8.15 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Arrived at the pizza restaurant on time, much to the surprise of the birthday girl. "Sou britânica." ("I am British."), I offered by way of explanation. When it came to ordering drinks I had a beer, but everyone else had Coca-Cola. My choice was noted and commented on: "Sou britânica..."
Two weeks holiday with sister, visiting from Scotland. Visited the Pantanal and Rio de Janeiro. We met many warm, interesting and highly entertaining people on our travels. It's so easy here to just get chatting. My Portuguese is still very basic, but enough to strike up a conversation. A little of the language really does open some doors and I feel like I am beginning to get more and more out of this fantastic country.
Notable event: the storm of 6 November. Evening storms are common at this time of year, and thought this one would be no different.
Had just got back to my guest house, feeling fortunate that the threatening, rapidly darkening skies had not rained on me on my cycle home, when lightning flashed, illuminating the landscape in eerie hues of green. Then the wind suddenly got up and the rain came battering down. Lights flickered, then all power was lost.
Could see rain coming in through the gap underneath the door, so opened it to have a look out and was met by a wall of water. Have never seen anything like it. There was nothing to do but sit in my room, wearing my head-torch, listening to the bangs and crashes of the thunder, and, ominously, things that weren't thunder.
In the morning there was a scene of destruction. Large, mature trees ripped out by the roots or snapped like twigs at the trunk; roof tiles blown off and flooding low down in the town. CPTEC was very quiet, with all of those who live in Cachoeira dealing with the damage. We learnt that winds had exceeded 125 mph, and there had been 45 mm of rain in 15 minutes — average rainfall over an entire month in Exeter is around 70 mm.
It was very localised, with towns just 20 minutes away experiencing nothing out of the ordinary. As is par for the course, I was blamed for the storm in Cachoeira by my guest house owners:
"You are a doctor of the weather! It is your fault!"
My final week was a blur of long days at CPTEC and farewell dinners and lunches. I've met some brilliant people here and made some good friends. My English students took me out for dinner. It was a bit of a case of get-your-own-back time:
"Only Portuguese is to be spoken tonight, ok? We're not in English class now!"
My return to the UK was via a circuitous route, involving a large international conferences in Manaus. From there I took a short trip into the Amazon.
On one of the tributaries of the Amazon, I saw evidence of the extreme drought in Amazônia during 2005, in the form of burnt remains of submerged trees lining the water edges. The river along which I was travelling had dried up completely during that year, leaving thousands of fish rotting on the river bed. it really was something to see the forest itself, wonderfully rich.
My final stop was in Brasilia to meet with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office customers for this project; report on progress and discuss new ideas that could form the basis of further collaborative work.
I am now back at my old desk in the Met Office, Exeter, a Brazilian flag sitting proudly on it. I am continuing with the work begun in Brazil, and in developing the next stage of the research.
Rio de Janeiro (Cidade Maravilhosa) — first time for an intensive week-long Portuguese course, so I didn't see as much as I would have liked. Did walk along the beach from Copacabana to Ipanema to Leblon, stopping on the way to watch some futvolei (cross between beach volleyball and football — very Brazilian!) and have a fresh coconut, and took the cable car up Sugarloaf Mountain at sunset. Second time with my sister, we went to a Samba club with a superb 10-piece band. The whole room was moving to the rhythm, from teenagers to old men who could barely walk, until they set foot on the dance floor.
The Pantanal — one of the world's largest freshwater wetland ecosystems and extraordinarily rich in wildlife. On holiday with my sister, we saw giant otters, giant anteaters, capybara, caiman, hyacinth macaws and armadillos. Caught piranhas for soup. The jaguar remained elusive, leaving only some prints. The Pantanal is also an important agricultural region, with cattle farming central to the economy, and cows and cowboys are equally part of the landscape. The seasonal cycle of the climate brings both inundation during the rainy season, and desiccation of the land during the dry season. The rhythm of life in the Pantanal is tuned to the rising and falling of the waters.
Am a big fan of the food and drink in Brazil:
Rice, beans, barbecued meat and salad forms the major part of my diet. Add lots of fresh fruit, juices, cake for breakfast and the ubiquitous cafezinho (espresso) and I am very happy!
The famous caipirinha cocktails live up to their reputation as being very nice and very strong. Cachaça, also known as pinga, is the alcohol.
My favourite drink is água de coco, coconut water, straight from the coconut — delicious.
A favourite fizzy drink is Guaraná, made from the berries of an Amazonian plant, which are reputed to contain five tines the amount of caffeine as a coffee bean.
Fruit of the Açai Palm. The juice is dark purple, almost black, and stains your tongue. The first time I tried it I could have sworn it had an after-taste of smoked fish, but subsequent tastings have left me unsure. It does have a very unusual flavour, but is very good. It is prepared in this part of Brazil with lots of ice, you eat it with a spoon and can sprinkle granola on top for a breakfast treat. | <urn:uuid:6fc5feea-da6c-4705-9294-ab1be253f5d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate-change/guide/science/brazil/diary | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971649 | 3,161 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Obama Stalls After Nebraska Approves Keystone XL Oil Pipeline
One day after making climate change a key issue in his inaurugal address President Obama has decided to put off on decision on the Keystone XL Pipeline until April. The issue was thrust to the front of the agenda today when the governor of Nebraska approved the pipeline. The ultimate fate of the project is in Obama's hands. The Guardian reports:
Republicans immediately pushed Obama to approve the pipeline. "There is no bureaucratic excuse, hurdle or catch President Obama can use to delay this project any further," John Boehner, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, said in a statement. "He and he alone stands in the way of tens of thousands of new jobs and energy security."
Campaigners against the pipeline said Obama should immediately shut down the project. "Approving Keystone XL would make a mockery of the commitment he made at the inauguration to take action on climate change," said 350.org, which has led opposition to the pipeline. | <urn:uuid:edcd8d47-6c82-445b-ba78-501e58f0f9f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sojo.net/blogs/2013/01/23/obama-stalls-after-nebraska-approves-keystone-xl-oil-pipeline | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964155 | 201 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Results 1 to 9 of 9
Thread: Fun fact of the day
12-01-2012, 12:47 AM #1
Fun fact of the day
A guy who teaches at National Comfort Institute was a guest speaker in my HVACIII class. He is very big on AIRFLOW. One thing I took from it was, he said a layer of film, gunk, dust or whatever, as small as 0.005" will decrease a fan motors efficiency by 9%. I thought that was pretty amazing. From now on I probably would feel guilty not completely cleaning all surfaces of motors..
12-01-2012, 12:49 AM #2
He also asked the class if return air was pulled through the return, or pushed through the return. Guess what the class said
12-05-2012, 01:34 AM #3Regular Guest
- Join Date
- Nov 2011
I would say pulled. But by tone of your thread i going guess im wrong. So please go on
12-05-2012, 07:44 AM #4
Everybody said pulled, he seemed discussted that nobody knew the displacement of air pushes through the return rather than being pulled.
12-05-2012, 08:09 AM #5Professional Member*
- Join Date
- Jan 2002
- East Grand Forks, MN
I heard it both ways.
12-05-2012, 05:30 PM #6
pushed, pulled -- one is a pedantic explanation and the other is practical and useful. It's very much like the discussion about centrifugal force. Academics will argue that there's no such thing. However, it's a useful and practical way of thinking about what happens, and it is correct in that it can predict with sufficient accuracy what's going to happen to the objects of interest. Saying the air is being pulled is also correct from a predictive power point of view, which is all that matters in practice. You're not designing turbo jet engines, for crying out loud.
02-10-2013, 09:37 AM #7
This is like the question my instructor asked our class one day,"If you open the door at your house in the summer time,does the heat come in the structure or does the cool go outside?
Most of the class said the heat comes in, a few said the cool goes out.
His answer was "Neither, the cool air is absorbing the sensible heat.
02-10-2013, 10:21 AM #8Professional Member
- Join Date
- Feb 2013
- Phoenix, AZ
I tend to enjoy the scientific (not necessarily practical) explanation, so for those that are interested, here is one way of looking at pushes vs. pulled air:
Imagine a length of ductwork open at both ends. Is there any pressure in this duct? You bet - atmospheric pressure - about 14.7 psi at sea level. Why doesn't the air move? because the pressure at both ends is the same.
Liken this situation to two people, Pete and Val pushing on a car. Pete tries to push it forward, Val tries to push it backward with equal force. Of course, the car doesnt move either.
Now I grab Val by the arm and move him off to the side, away from the front of the car. What happens? Obviously the car moves forward, because Pete is still pushing. Who is making it move? Val isn't even touching the car, he is off to the side. Pete's pushing is what is actually making the car move (although it certainly wouldn't had not Val gotten out of the way). Would we say Val is pulling? Nope, he is just not able to push, or oppose Pete, any longer.
Back at the duct, we attach a fan to one end. It removes air from the duct and air flows in the other end. As you can see, the fan's job is the same as when I moved Val aside, the fan just moves air out of that end of the duct, creating an area of lower pressure. What really makes the air flow into the other end? Pete, er, I mean atmospheric air pressure, that column of air above our heads is pushing the air in. The evacuated air molecules don't pull, they simply aren't present to oppose the flow any longer.
Does this make any difference in your day to day activities? Probably not, but it is an accurate way of describing what takes place.
02-10-2013, 06:25 PM #9 | <urn:uuid:3fc2df93-3188-412e-91f3-3a2ad01494d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread.php?1114061-air-quality-issue-high-particles-high-carbon-dioxide-high-humidity&goto=nextoldest | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961349 | 937 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Iraqi Donkey That Befriended U.S. Marines Arrives In U.S.
The story of Smoke is pretty sweet: In the summer of 2008, U.S. Marines found Smoke at Camp Taqaddum in Anbar province and immediately he became a favorite. Here's how the AP describes it:
The smoke-colored donkey, which once snatched and ate a cigarette from a careless Marine, soon became such a part of the unit that he received his own care packages and cards. Marines took care of him until 2009 when they left the area, but they turned Smoke over to a sheik who promised to care for him.
But one of the Marines, retired Col. John Folsom, couldn't forget Smoke.
Folsom used to walk Smoke daily and had formed a bond with the animal. It didn't seem right that Smoke was left behind, he said in a telephone interview Saturday.
So, Folsom started turning the wheels and got the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals International involved. Soon Smoke was on a cargo plane headed to United States in a journey that cost the society between $30,000 and $40,000.
This week, 37 days later, Smoke arrived in New York and sometime midweek he's expected to arrive at his new home in Omaha, Neb., where he will serve as a therapy animal for the Wounded Warrior Family Support organization.
"People just couldn't believe we were going to these great lengths to help a donkey because donkeys in that part of the world are so low down on the totem pole," the society's Terri Crisp told the AP.
"I think people did finally come to realize that this is one of these out-of the-ordinary situations. Once you met him and saw what a unique donkey he was, it was hard to say no to him," Crisp said. Copyright 2011 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. | <urn:uuid:c7ecd015-4d3a-49a7-9420-9e97421aa1eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.weku.fm/post/iraqi-donkey-befriended-us-marines-arrives-us | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980388 | 409 | 1.6875 | 2 |
This project mashes up data in ways we hadn’t thought of. The project defined counties based on their demographics and slotted them into 12 categories: “Monied ‘Burbs,” “Immigration Nation,” “Evangelical Epicenters” and so forth. (Surprised that there hasn’t been an uproar about the colloquial names of these categories..) Anyway, you can now, for example, compare the number of votes Barack Obama received, county-by-county, with the locations of the nation’s Whole Foods outlets. (Lollerskates.)
Chinni cautions that the data isn’t enough on its own: “The data is really a jumping-off point for doing the reporting.”
Now, is this a viable model? For Chinni it seems to be. But he’s the project’s sole employee, as far as we can tell, and while lean-and-mean is great, it does mean that there will be way fewer reporting jobs in the future. | <urn:uuid:2a7d2d2a-72a3-4407-8878-c80afbd070f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mediabistro.com/mediajobsdaily/at-the-j-lab-patchwork-nation_b1320 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951341 | 233 | 1.515625 | 2 |
EA brings American’s #1 bestselling educational series to the Nintendo DS™ handheld system this September, just in time for back-to-school! Brain Quest, the brand recognized by teachers, trusted by parents, and adored by kids is now interactive for today’s tech savvy kids. In partnership with the series’ publisher Workman Publishing Company, Inc., EA will release two Brain Quest games centered on the curriculum-based series: one for third and fourth graders, and another for fifth and sixth graders.
Brain Quest: Grades 5 & 6 is an Educational/General video game for Nintendo DS developed and published by Electronic Arts on September 24, 2008. It's rated Everyone by the ESRB and no users have rated it yet.
Our newest cheats for Brain Quest: Grades 5 & 6 were added October 5, 2008.
As we beta test our new user reviews feature, we're giving away a free Xbox, PlayStation, or Wii console to one lucky reviewer every month! Each accepted review is another contest entry (reviews must meet our publishing guidlines to be accepted). So write a Brain Quest: Grades 5 & 6 review today for your chance to win!
If you like Brain Quest: Grades 5 & 6 for DS, then you might also like playing: | <urn:uuid:0b9adab1-3a34-4fe1-8a48-ef1364a9e111> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cheatcodes.com/brain-quest-grades-5-amp-6-nintendo-ds/ | 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 | 0.941443 | 269 | 1.570313 | 2 |
IBM Touts 'Watson' Supercomputer for the Health-Care Industry
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- IBM(IBM) achieved a feat two years ago when the tech giant's Watson supercomputer beat two human champions in the Jeopardy TV quiz. Now keen to bring high-end computing to the corporate masses, IBM unveiled the first commercial Watson-based technologies on Friday.
The company picked the lucrative health-care sector as the launch pad for this effort, teaming up with health-insurance firm WellPoint(WLP) and New York's prestigious Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Care Center.
"We chose health care as a starting point," said Manoj Saxena, general manager of IBM's Watson Solutions, during the New York launch event. "We believe it's ready for transformation in the context of big data and analytics -- we believe that Watson will change the way that medicine is taught, practiced and paid for."
IBM has been working closely with WellPoint and Memorial Sloan Kettering to "teach" Watson how to process and analyze clinical data, specifically around cancer care. The supercomputer has already ingested more than 600,000 pieces of medical evidence, according to Big Blue, as well as 2 million pages of text from clinical oncology trials.
WellPoint has used Watson to build technology for streamlining the review processes between a patient's physicians and their health plan, which it says will speed up approvals.
"By the end of the year, 50% of our nurses will be using Watson," WellPoint Executive Vice President Lori Leer said during a presentation at IBM's New York headquarters.
The Indianapolis-based firm also worked with IBM and Memorial Sloan-Kettering on Interactive Care Insights for Oncology, a cloud-based service that can help identify individual treatment options for cancer patients, starting with lung cancer.
IBM's Saxena noted that health care is a "$2 trillion industry," highlighting the market opportunity for IBM. The Armonk, New York-based firm, which recently posted robust fourth-quarter results, expects to generate $16 billion in analytics revenue by 2015.
Big Blue also discussed the broader potential for Watson on Friday. Saxena, for example, cited six "instances" of Watson being deployed in the past 12 months. | <urn:uuid:9d0ba6d2-d5d0-4b52-80ea-fc84ec05f0cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://business-news.thestreet.com/dallas-morning-news/story/ibm-touts-watson-supercomputer-for-the-health-care-industry/11837053 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944937 | 473 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Landscape Controls and Guidelines in Marlborough
Currently there are few controls on private land related to landscape issues in Marlborough. Landscape guidelines for the Wairau Plain area were developed in 2002 in response to community concern about the rapid rate of change to the landscape through land use change from mixed cropping, grazing and horticulture, to viticulture. Many older trees and shelter belts were removed and a virtual monoculture of grapevines was established. These guidelines set out a vision for the landscape of the Wairau Plain area and provide landscape design and planting advice. They include an analysis document and practical planting guidelines. Adoption of the guidelines is entirely voluntary.
Regional Policy Statement Review - Landscape Issues
Wairau Plains Landscape Concept Guidelines 2002 Document
The Marlborough Landscape Working Group
This Council-appointed group was established in 2003 to help Council promote the Wairau Plain Landscape Concept Guidelines and to address wider landscape issues in the Marlborough region. The working group consists of members of the community and Council staff and looks at promoting positive landscape initiatives on both private and public land. The group meets approximately 10 times a year. The strategy outlines the role and functions of the group.
The focus of the group has broadened over time and it is working closely with Council on the policy review work being undertaken. An initial early submission on the Regional Policy Statement review was prepared by the group in November 2007.
Submission - Regional Policy Statement Review Landscape Policy (985 Kb)
The group is involved in working with Council on current policy development regarding landscape issues.
For more information about landscape issues contact Nicky Eade firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:8e6ca68c-35fa-45c5-8d90-5bb9b2899189> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marlborough.govt.nz/Environment/Land/Landscape-Issues/Wairau-Plains-Landscape.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939144 | 354 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Thirty-two years ago, John Lennon died. I was 2 years old when it happened, but I grew up seeing the impact that his death caused. I was raised with the ideals in the song “Imagine“. That’s how he influenced my life.
Three days before that fateful event that changed our history, Lennon gave a final interview that would be lost for many years. The reporter that gave the interview found the lost tapes a few years ago and the full interview was finally published in Rolling Stone magazine. I have this issue. It’s not often I keep a piece of paper, unless it is art or a bill, but I HAD to have this. (You can read it HERE)
A Beatle, a cosmic guru, a lover, a poet, a friend, an explorer, a father, a genius, a man….Lennon was all of these things. To me, he will always be the man who taught me how to dream of a better world; a world without religion, wars, disease….
RIP John Lennon. You are still missed. | <urn:uuid:4adff7f1-2dfe-4ade-981d-2f1f019ca60d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lezgetreal.com/2012/12/john-lennon-32-yrs-later/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974774 | 226 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Iraqi Bishop Holds Catholic Mass for U.S. Troops
By Army Spc. Darryl L. Montgomery
Special to American Forces Press Service
CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, Aug. 11, 2009 U.S. soldiers took part in a rare celebration of religious and cultural proportions here recently during a Catholic Mass performed by the acting bishop of Basra, Iraq.
Bishop Imad Al Banna raises the host in preparation for Holy Communion during a Catholic Mass for servicemembers at Contingency Operating Base Basra, Iraq, Aug. 8, 2009. Banna, a Basra native, said he celebrated the Mass in gratitude for contributions made by U.S. soldiers for peace in his country. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Darryl L. Montgomery
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.
The Aug. 8 Mass was celebrated in the historically Persian-rooted Chaldean Rite in honor of the soldiers serving here. Unlike regular services for U.S. soldiers, Bishop Imad Al Banna, a priest and native of Basra, spoke Aramaic, an ancient language spoken in Palestine in the time of Jesus, and still spoken in parts of Iraq.
Banna, who visited with Multinational Division South leaders in early July, led the Catholic service, hosting nearly 50 people in the small room. The Mass was a chance for servicemembers to have fellowship with the leader of the local church here, and for the bishop to minister to them, said Army Chaplain (Capt.)Kevin Peek, a chaplain with the 4th Infantry Division’s 8th Infantry Brigade, 2nd Battalion.
“It was a great opportunity to expose our men and women to the local Christian population of Basra province,” Peek said.
Fighting in Iraq has taken a heavy toll on the Christian population here, said Peek, an Atlanta native. Before the war began in 2003, about 1.2 million Christians were in Iraq. Six years later, that number is down to about 600,000, he said.
Extremist groups have targeted Christians throughout these years of violence, Peek said. The Christian population is trying to help make peace throughout the country by helping everyone they can, he said.
“I work for all people in Basra, not only Christians,” Banna said. “Our goal is to create a peaceful coexistence among all religions.”
Army Chaplain (Lt. Col.) John Morris, a Multinational Division South chaplain, said he commends Banna for working through the hardships his religion has faced during the years of Operation Iraqi Freedom. “He is a great example of a good shepherd,” he said.
As the service concluded, Banna told the congregation that he would help them with anything he could, just as he does for the people of Basra. For more than an hour after the liturgy, he sat with soldiers sharing food and posing for pictures.
He also said he was grateful to be with the American soldiers for the Mass and thanked them for what they are doing for his country.
“We Catholics believe that the Last Supper was the first Mass, and that every Mass that has followed is a reenactment of that first one,” said Army Sgt. Neil McCabe, a field historian for the division’s 311th Military History Detachment. “Tonight, we heard a Mass celebrated in the same language that Jesus used in that first Mass. How cool is that?”
“I will never forget this day,” said Army Sgt. 1st Class Jeff Ulmen, a mortuary affairs noncommissioned officer with the 34th Infantry Division, and a Minnesota resident. “It was an incredible experience to attend a Mass conducted by an Iraqi bishop, definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
(Army Spc. Darryl L. Montgomery serves with the Multinational Division South public affairs office) | <urn:uuid:f63ab098-2f31-47ef-bd10-421b3b726fc2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.defense.gov/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=55439 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971067 | 848 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Why Businesses Should Use Social Media For Customer Service
Within an hour, I had written a scathing personal blog post about my experience, signed up for Twitter, and sent a tweet to that CMO with a link to the blog. Much to my surprise, I had a DM from the company within minutes, and by the end of the week the store had followed up with several phone calls – and even shipped a gift card so I could buy that pair of jeans in my size online.
I was completely surprised at that level of customer service, and have since advocated that both brands leverage the power of Twitter as a platform to connect with customers – and for customers to leverage this channel to connect with brands that are ready to listen and take action in ways that most call centers don’t.
Dozens of businesses notably use Twitter well to communicate with customers, but one big brand that has done an exemplary job of using social media as a customer service channel is Zappos. The company, which was founded on a principle of providing “WOW” customer service in general, leverages almost every online platform to communicate with customers to ensure they are receiving the best level of customer service possible. | <urn:uuid:eade360e-ea48-404b-8d49-6e0e9d9388c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://politicalmedia.com/articles/why-businesses-should-use-social-media-for-customer-service | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97831 | 243 | 1.539063 | 2 |
|1.||12 Year Old|
What most 14 and 15 year olds, and some 16 year olds on MySpace are really are. You can tell a 12 year old on MySpace when you see the girl is 14, but the profile don't look like a 14 year old's profile. It usually has popular MTV like music on there, and you see lots of sevvie looking layouts such as pink and black, happy bunny, glitter graphics, pictures of the thong over bed, and so on. And not to mention god awful makeup on the myspace kid with basically god-awful skills with Photoshop.
14 year old: Oh boy, finally somebody my age to talk to on line and she looks hott.
12 year old: I am really 12.
14 year old: You're fucking too young to be on MySpace. Get your fucking ass off of myspace and get a motherfucking life... I'm reporting you to Tom you hoe!!
|2.||12 year old|
The main point of insult on the Internet. Due to the stereotypical immaturity of a 12-year-old, most trolls and idiots on the internet are commonly attacked and named 12 year olds. Most people judge someone's 12-ness on the amount of 'ZOMG's in a sentence, their amusement at an overused meme or a bad word. They are also supposedly supposed to enjoy joining in with the 'grown-up' stuff such as rickrolling, chatroulette, omegle, and vandalising wikipedia, as well as more serious things such as boasting their feigned use of cannabis or 'weed' as most call it. Fortunately, this stereotype is not always correct, as some 12-year-olds are actually relatively intelligent. But that's another story...specifically for the nerd, boff, boffin, dork and geek definitions.
Troll/Idiot: LOL THIS IS GAI ZOMG ZOMG
Uninformed individual: Freakin' 12 year olds.
|3.||12 year old|
a term for the people ruining this website, the one you are currently on.
showing immaturity and obvious ignorance, just like your average 12 year old child.
the type of person who would go to a "spencer's" gift store, look at the personal massagers/vibrators and "love toys", giggle, then run away.
for more information see ud
customer: oh my god did you see the dildos over there? hehe hehe
annoyed employee: damn 12 year old
|4.||12 year old|
1.A kid that doesn't want to be a kid. Typically in 6th or 7th grade. They are babies in real life that make themselves look stupid by trying to act mature. To remedy this, they go on myspace, youtube, urban dictionary, etc. and act like gangstas. 50%of their vocabulary used is "Your mom.", while the other 50% is trying (and failing) to insult other people. They also masturbate alot.
2.The kind of people that pollute myspace, yotube, and other 13 or older webites, thus turning them into a pile of crap filled with wannabe gangsters and tantrum-throwing babies.
12 year old: "I don't wanna be a kid mom! 7th grade sucks!"
Mom:"Watch your language young man!"
12 year old: *Runs up to his room throwing a tantrum*
Mom and Dad (simultaneously) "Heh heh heh! kids!"
12 year old: "YOUR MOM! WAAAAAAAA!" *fap fap fap*
Bill: Damn, there are too many 12 year olds on runescape!
Steve: I agree, lets go outside and play football.
|5.||12 Year Old|
A scotch whisky that has been aged in the barrel at least 12 years.
Aging of Scotch takes place in an oak cask, which is charred inside before being filled. Over the years, the whisky seeps in and out of the charcoal. This filters it, mellowing it, and gives it the caramel color (charred wood, like charred sugar, produces caramel, both being of similar chemical composition.)
Once the scotch is bottled the aging stops.
If you have a bottle of scotch which was distilled in 1944 and bottled in 1956, you have a bottle of 12 year old scotch.
When my roommate from college came to town we reminisced over a bottle of 12 year old.
|6.||12 year old|
someone who constantly uses internet abbreviations in daily conversation
12 year old: "SMH ROFL LAFBO."
Normal person: "She's such a 12 year old."
|7.||12 Year Old|
An age where kids don't want to be kids, even though pricing at movie theaters and most restaurants says that still are, and their mentality is child-like.
"I wanna seeeejqp Innn da Miggz, one TWELVE." Wiggadawgshit sticks out his chest, showing he is NOT a child. "One twelve" is the way for a 12 year old to order a child's ticket... | <urn:uuid:859325cc-c154-4adc-ba52-4ec0da63b24f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=12%20Year%20Old&defid=2763093 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947033 | 1,124 | 1.84375 | 2 |
(CNN) — Atlanta (CNN) -- A small Georgia town may soon require every household to own a firearm -- a law that, if passed, would make it the second town in the state to mandate gun ownership.
City council members in Nelson, a town of 1,300 people north of Atlanta, unanimously approved the proposal at a meeting this week. Citizens now have a chance to review the proposal before the council takes it up again in April.
"Basically this is a deterrent ordinance," Councilman Duane Cronic said at the meeting. "It's no more than putting a sign in your front yard saying that 'ADT protects this home.' Now the person that may be there (checking) your home out to cause harm to you or your family to break into your house has to decide, 'When I break that door down, what's on the other side of that door?'"
The law would give every family the right to protect themselves and their property "without worrying about prosecution for protecting themselves," Cronic told the meeting. He said the proposal was modeled on a similar law in nearby Kennesaw, Georgia, that has been on the books since 1982.
Nelson Police Chief Heath Mitchell told council members the proposal is a great idea.
"I think y'all are showing the people that you're in full support of the Constitution," Mitchell said. "And as far as the Second Amendment goes, that you stand behind it, you stand behind people's rights."
The two-paragraph proposal reads, "In order to provide for the emergency management of the city, and further in order to provide for and protect the safety, security and general welfare of the city and its inhabitants, every head of household residing in the city limits is required to maintain a firearm, together with ammunition therefore."
People with physical or mental disabilities are exempt from the law, as are "paupers," felons, and those who oppose gun ownership based on belief or religious doctrine. | <urn:uuid:331bd83b-a901-48df-bf0f-5c8e9cde760e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kdbc.com/print/node/25630 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978821 | 403 | 1.6875 | 2 |
concluded in Geneva, March 4 with participants calling for better cross-sector standards collaboration in order to facilitate the rollout of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS).
Malcolm Johnson, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Standardization Bureau: “There is a will from manufacturers to implement these technologies but thus far no real breakthrough in terms of standards needed to roll this out on a global scale. Global car manufacturers don’t want to create different versions of this technology for every different market. They don’t want regional or national standards, they want global standards and ITU and its World Standards Cooperation (WSC) partners ISO and IEC are willing and able to provide these for this global partnership.”
New services and applications may be the selling points that will win car makers an advantage in the depressed market. “Today's communication capabilities give cars the potential to foresee and avoid collisions, navigate the quickest route to their destination, make use of up-to-the-minute traffic reports, identify the nearest available parking slot, alert the emergency services, monitor air pollution, minimize carbon emissions, and provide multimedia communications,” said Johnson.
The involvement of ITU, ISO and IEC is seen as critical to ease bottlenecks resulting – in part – from poor communication between overlapping sectors; automotive, ITS players, telecoms suppliers and operators. One conclusion of an Executive Session was that competition between standards bodies was unwelcome.
A large amount of resources has been invested in research and development, but harmonization of the many standards that exist at a proprietary or regional level is missing. This lack of global standards is considered to be an impediment to a large scale deployment of ITS services and applications. While most agree that the technologies are at an advanced stage of development, participants agreed that clearer views are needed on what standardization work is being done and where; user, regulator and supplier liability and privacy concerns; business and payment models; interoperability requirements and who owns them.
This – the fifth - Fully Networked Car workshop organized by the World Standards Cooperation (WSC), a partnership between ISO, IEC and ITU, was held on 3-4 March at the Geneva International Motor Show 2010 and focused on the latest developments in ITS technology including network requirements for electric cars. It represented a unique opportunity to strengthen the dialogue between the ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) key players, in particular with the motor industry.
Held during the 2nd Press Day and the first public day of the motor show, the event – attracting over 120 participants in 2010 - represents a matchless opportunity for experts and executives from the car industry, ICT community, governments, research and development institutes, academia to share their vision and strategies.
Speakers at a special Executive Session at the Fully Networked Car event included Christoph Huss, Vice President of BMW and President of the International Federation of Automotive Engineering Societies (FISITA), who gave the keynote address; Juhani Jääskeläinen, European Commission; Raymond Resendes, Chief, Intelligent Technologies Research Division, United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; Samuel Loyson, Orange, France; David Schutt, SAE International, USA; Yasuro Nakanomori, OKI, Japan; Russ Shields, Chairman, Ygomi and Reinhard Scholl, ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau.
In his opening remarks, Rob Steele, ISO Secretary-General, on behalf of WSC, said: "There is the need for standardization of essential technologies to provide the solid base for further innovation and the economies of scale for commercialization of technologies... Most interestingly of all, is the urgent need to consider the interoperability of all of this technology not only in the car, but in the wider infrastructure that is needed to support this revolution".
Information obtained from electronic devices as part of an in-vehicle network is critical to ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems) services and applications, including emergency telecommunications. Currently, the way of extracting the vehicle information differs by manufacture, model and chassis type. Standards are being researched in the support of a Vehicle Gateway that will allow all consumer devices to work in harmony in all vehicles and with all infrastructures. Work on this in ITU is focused on a ‘Question’ within ITU-T’s Study Group 16
. Contributions from ITU’s membership are being sought on a Vehicle Gateway platform for telecommunication/ITS services/applications.
Since ITS applications will have to rely mainly on existing infrastructure, NGN (Next Generation Networks
) will play a key role for their deployment. This is currently considered in the framework of fix-mobile-convergence in ITU-T Study Group 13
, ITU-T’s lead group lead on future networks. One of the sessions of the workshop recommended that a joint ISO / ITU-T group on in-vehicle architecture and protocols take the work forward.
Participants in one technical session at the workshop concluded that quality and naturalness of all speech services need to be increased to reduce driver distraction and seamless interaction. Agreement was reached that work on a standards-based framework for dialogue between user and device is needed, with the ITU-T Focus Group on Car Communications (ITU-T FG CarCOM
) identified as the appropriate place for this work.
An electric future
Today, with the increasing deployment of electric vehicles, ICTs have a significant role to play in areas such as the careful management of battery status, warranty concerns and driver behaviour. Given the potential of these new technologies for both the automotive and the ICTs industries, it is essential for the different parties to understand the requirements for fully networked cars and agree on the solutions to be provided by the network platforms. In many cases existing telecoms infrastructure can be used.
As electric vehicles begin to find their way to our driveways and garages, knowing what is involved in charging their batteries becomes crucial. The development of smart power grids will also be vital to support the adoption of electric cars which according to some proposals can also act as storage capacity for electricity. The scale of this challenge was highlighted in one of the presentations to the workshop, citing work under way in the United States.
In the US, the electric grid is owned and operated by over 3100 utilities, using equipment and systems provided by thousands of suppliers, delivering power to hundreds of millions of users and billions of end devices. The transformation of this infrastructure into an “energy Internet” is a huge undertaking requiring an unprecedented level of cooperation and coordination across the private and public sectors as well as across industry sectors. A robust, interoperable framework of technical standards is the key to making this possible.
ITU is responding to this challenge by the formation of a new ITU-T Focus Group
that will help develop the necessary global standards to hasten this move to Smart Grids
. The newly formed group will look at the networking between use of current control, metering, charging and electricity distribution systems.
____________________________________________________________________________________1 New title for the event following agreement of Geneva Motor Show to support the event for next three years | <urn:uuid:383b05d0-d753-4c3d-aa1c-5806540ae397> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/newslog/CategoryView,category,Co-Operation.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936141 | 1,470 | 1.71875 | 2 |
What can I do with a Florida will?
A will, also called a "last will and testament," can help you protect your family and your property. You can use a will to:
- leave your property to people or organizations
- name a personal guardian to care for your minor children
- name a trusted person to manage property you leave to minor children, and
- name a personal representative, the person who makes sure that the terms of your will are carried out.
What happens if I die with out a will?
In Florida, if you die without a will, your property will be distributed according to state "intestacy" laws. Florida's intestacy law gives your property to your closest relatives, beginning with your spouse and children. If you have neither a spouse nor children, your grandchildren or your parents will get your property. This list continues with increasingly distant relatives, including siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and your spouse's relatives. If the court exhausts this list to find that you have no living relatives by blood or marriage, the state will take your property.
Do I need a lawyer to make a will in Florida?
No. You can make your own will in Florida, using Nolo's do-it-yourself will software or online will programs. However, you may want to consult a lawyer in some situations. For example, if you think that your will might be contested or if you want to disinherit your spouse, you should talk with an attorney. Nolo's will-making products tell you when it's wise to seek a lawyer's advice.
What are the requirements for signing a will in Florida?
To finalize your will in Florida:
- you must sign your will in front of two witnesses, and
- your witnesses must sign your will.
Do I need to have my will notarized?
No, in Florida, you do not need to notarize your will to make it legal.
However, Florida allows you to make your will "self-proving" and you'll need to go to a notary if you want to do that. A self-proving will speeds up probate because the court can accept the will without contacting the witnesses who signed it.
To make your will self-proving you and your witnesses will go to the notary and sign an affidavit that proves who you are and that each of you knew you were signing the will.
Should I use my will to name a personal representative?
Yes. In Florida, you can use your will to name a personal representative who will ensure that the provisions in your will are carried out after your death. Nolo's will software and online will produces a letter to your personal representative that generally explains what the job requires. If you don't name a personal representative, the probate court will appoint someone to take on the job of winding up your estate. | <urn:uuid:b2e340ee-73dd-4808-bf99-30ac4a1b11d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/florida-make-will-31865.html | 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 | 0.955546 | 603 | 1.703125 | 2 |
The letters of a senior demon to his apprentice are the subject of this popular C.S. Lewis book. Within its pages, Screwtape helps young Wormwood tempt his “patient”. Although the man becomes a Christian, the devils are still hot on his trail to deceive him with every trick they have. At first glance, Screwtape Letters does not appear to be an inspiring book; however, for decades Christians have read this classic piece of literature and found inspiration to fight against the temptations of the enemy. The tell-all fictional account reads like an insider’s guide to the underworld and how the devil seeks get believers’ eyes off the light of Christ.
~ Jennifer Jones
89 - The Path of Blessing» | <urn:uuid:beae7583-796a-4fc3-b37d-a1b6bc3f113e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Books/Top-100-Most-Inspirational-Books/Top-100-Inspirational-Books-100-81.aspx?b=1&p=12 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940719 | 152 | 1.726563 | 2 |
New Cluster Bomb Policy Aims to Reduce Collateral Damage
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, July 9, 2008 The Defense Department today announced new standards for cluster bombs to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure from the unintended consequences of unexploded munitions.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates signed the policy that aims to reduce collateral effects of cluster munitions used to pursue legitimate military objectives.
The new policy is designed to eliminate the number of bomblets dispersed by cluster bombs that don’t explode on impact, explained Air Force Lt. Col. Almarah Belk, a Pentagon spokeswoman. It sets new safety standards that, by 2018, would require 99 percent of all bomblets to explode on contact.
The military will begin reducing its inventory of cluster bombs that don’t meet that standard as soon as possible, and will stop using them altogether by 2018, the policy notes.
The new policy is designed to eliminate the chance that the bombs could remain active and pose a potential threat to civilians on the ground after the hostilities, Belk said.
A State Department white paper attributed fewer than 400 casualties to cluster bombs in 2006. Intent on reducing these numbers, the Defense Department launched a year-long review of its previous cluster munitions policy, Belk said.
The new policy strikes a critical balance between operational requirements and safety concerns, she said. “The United States believes that the new cluster munitions policy will provide better protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure following a conflict, while allowing the retention of a legitimate and useful weapon,” she said.
Belk noted that cluster bombs offer distinct advantages against a range of targets while reducing risks to U.S. forces and saving U.S. lives.
Defense Department officials view the new policy as a viable alternative to a complete ban on cluster bombs, as proposed last month by the Oslo Process in Dublin, Ireland, she said. With no alternative to cluster munitions, she said, eliminating them altogether would create a critical capability gap.
“This would make the wholesale elimination of cluster munitions unacceptable,” Belk said.
Future adversaries are likely to use civilian shields for military targets — for example, by placing a military target on the roof of an occupied building, she noted. Under circumstances like that, she said, cluster bombs would cause fewer civilian casualties and damage than other, far more destructive weapons.
The United States will use the policy in its negotiations toward an international agreement at the U.N. Convention of Conventional Weapons that began July 7. The United States hopes to see a new cluster bomb policy completed by the year’s end. | <urn:uuid:c281249c-8d5d-45b7-b8d9-ad2cee3d5466> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.defense.gov/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=50455 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945805 | 535 | 1.5 | 2 |
If you signed up for a charity ride but aren’t sure what to expect, follow these tips to help you have a successful day.
Get your bike checked ahead of time. Take your bike to a shop to have them give it a once over before you head out, especially if you’re not the most mechanically savvy rider.
Invest in bike shorts. The padded comfort of cycling shorts will make your ride a heck of a lot more comfortable. Bib shorts, those goofy overalls worn by every pro cyclist, take comfort to another level by holding the shorts and pad in place.
Go in with a food plan. Charity rides typically have food stops depending on the distances, but it’s not always a good idea to rely on what’s on the course. Bring a few snacks of your own that you know go down easy while on the bike. (On a related note, don’t use the food stops as an excuse to down an entire buffet in one sitting.)
Hydrate. It’s easy to forget to drink if you’re not thirsty or hot. But your body needs water. Bring at least two bottles of fluid.
Watch out. Riders of all levels do charity rides, so be prepared for people stopping abruptly in front of you or veering into your path. Also keep an eye out for large potholes or glass on the side of the road, and point them out to those behind you. Hold a straight line as you ride.
Try to “win.” This is a charity ride, not a race. Most people are going to head out at a leisurely pace in a big group. If you find you’re faster than a lot of your fellow riders, be patient until the groups break up and then speed ahead.
Forget the essentials. Lay everything out the night before. Basic essentials include a helmet, gloves, shoes, socks, shorts, jersey, sunglasses, water bottles, food, sunscreen.
Under (or over) dress. Follow the “dress like it’s 20 degrees warmer” rule, and utilize layers to give yourself some options. Arm and knee warmers are perfect for chilly mornings that turn into sunny afternoons. A vest is perfect for keeping your core warm. And a lightweight jacket can easily fold into your jersey pocket.
Go out too hard. Start out on the conservative side if you haven’t ridden the full distance beforehand. As the crowd thins out towards the last quarter of the ride, pick it up and finish strong.
Take photos while cycling. Yes, you should snap some shots to remember the event, but taking your eyes off the road and your hand off the handlebars could mean bad news. Pull over before getting the camera out. | <urn:uuid:c4477162-3f22-4d63-ba60-e2d30f87b2c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://triathlon.competitor.com/2013/02/training/newbie-tips-do%e2%80%99s-and-don%e2%80%99ts-of-your-first-charity-ride_27057 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935206 | 574 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Originally posted on Huffington Post on April 1, 2012.
A couple of years ago, Whole Foods Market invited my not-for-profit outfit, Blue Ocean Institute, to help them inform their customers’ selections of wild-caught seafood. Whole Foods wanted to display our seafood rankings in their stores, to show customers which seafood we’d rated green (abundant and sustainably fished), yellow (some problems), and red (major problems: depleted, and or entailing high incidental kill of other species, and/or caught with habitat-damaging methods). In some regions, Monterey Bay Aquarium also works with Whole Foods.
I thought it was pretty great that Whole Foods had opened that dialogue and, frankly, invited some criticism by being so open; a common question I got was, “Why would you work with them if they’re still going to sell “red”-rated fish?” Well, here’s why –
Starting on Earth Day (April 22), Whole Foods won’t be selling any more red-rated seafood. They’ll be the first (and so far only, but we hope that will change) national grocer to do so. Their original target date was one year from now. But they’re so committed, they got there a year early. That’s why.
We could have said no. We could have said, “We’ll work with you after you get the red out.” But the perfect is the enemy of the good. By working together, but us sensing Whole Foods’ commitment and supporting but not rushing them, and by putting the information out there and letting customers take it all in at their own pace, I think we started at good and are now seeing a change that brings a major national grocery trendsetter closer to perfection. And it was all their idea.
Whole Foods Market’s seafood guru Carrie Brownstein has for years worked on this, and we’ve enjoyed a smooth, efficient working relationship. (Blue Ocean’s liaison is Dr. Alan Duckworth: [email protected]) But much more important than what they’ve done with us, Brownstein and other Whole Foods staff have worked closely with their seafood producers to move some of them closer to sustainable methods. Those who’ve improved enough to make the cut get to stay in the fold. That’s progress.
Whole Foods also offers various seafood certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (founded in the late ’90s via partnership of World Wildlife Fund and Unilever; so beware of industry-spawned imitators), such as Alaska salmon, Pacific halibut, Pacific cod, and Nova Scotia harpoon-caught swordfish. (Fourteen years after the “Give Swordfish A Break!” campaign, those swordfish are recovering. This fall on an upcoming episode of Saving the Ocean — a new series that I host on PBS television — we’ll be showing how harpoon-wielding Nova Scotian fishermen travel more than 100 miles from land to find and catch swordfish.)
If you want to make change, “Show me how” can be a stronger, more effective approach than “Just say no.” That’s what I think. Kudos to Whole Foods Market for showing how it’s done. | <urn:uuid:a1362c1e-0b2f-4b0c-8dd9-ab3544b9b378> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://carlsafina.org/2012/04/09/whole-foods-market-bans-red-coded-seafood/ | 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 | 0.954117 | 708 | 1.742188 | 2 |
December 17, 2012.
No more hide and grovel. Repeal the second amendment.
by Mike Martin
Killings in schools by guns are so common that we practice it once a month. They call it "lock down" which means hide and grovel. Years ago it was "duck and cover" but now it is "hide and grovel." In April of this year The New Yorker published Battleground America: One Nation, Under the Gun, which led off with a description of the high school shooting on February 27, 2012, near Cleveland and noted: "I hate to say it, but we trained for exactly this type of thing, a school emergency of this type," Dan McClelland, the county sheriff, said.
The Children's Defense Fund has a publication Protect Children Not Guns in which they ask "Where is our anti-war movement here at home?" and "By any standards of human and moral decency, children in America are under assault ...." Then they talk about gun control.
I thought about gun control, read about gun control, and everyone says the second amendment is preeminent. People write about how to get around it. People write that because of the second amendment and how Heller interpreted it, we can only do this or that. I don't want to talk within the confines of that any more: repeal the second amendment. We don't need it any more, and despite Heller it was originally written only to ensure that there would be state militia at a time when there were no national standing armies. We don't need it despite the paranoid fantasies of the right wing nuts who patronize movies about fighting back against rioters or the federal government.
In an online article titled Sacrificing thousands of kids on the alter of racist rightwing fantasies David Atkins writes "It sounds too awful to contemplate, but reality is a cruel mistress. It's painfully obvious what motivates the rabidly pro-gun base: a deep-seated desire to unwind the social contract and cleanse undesirables who are allegedly stealing their tax dollars."
These are not the people who are rabid supporters of public education but as Atkins says "Unfortunately, both political parties are also motivated to hold onto the voters who carry these nightmarish visions in their heads." Indeed, other authors such as Paul Krugman note "David Atkins takes it further, saying the awful truth: the pro-gun fanatics are basically the kind of people who think that Obama is a Kenyan socialist atheistic Islamist, and the urban hordes are coming for their property any day now. People, in other words, who already vote 100 percent Republican -- and lose elections."
Atkins concludes "What this functionally means is that we as a nation are openly allowing thousands of our children to die every year so that certain segments of the population can role-play racist murder fantasies." And other writers suggest from the last election that Obama won without those people
These are the people who claim "you can have my guns when you pry them from my cold dead hands." After Sandy Hook I'm fine with that. Have it your way. But I don't really want to argue gun control with monsters. I spent 7 years as a U.S. Marine, including a year in the Vietnam War, and I'm at the point where I believe the NRA is more a threat than the NLF ever was.
I don't expect Obama, who I often refer to as Wuss In Chief, to stand up against the NRA. He'll work out some compromise at best. At this point I'm fed up with "hide and grovel" and I've got my own fantasies of going for the jugular: repeal the second amendment. But then I'm not a teacher
or administrator. My wife is an elementary school principal and it could have been her gunned down trying to save her children and her teachers.
Like Chris Clarke, whose ex-wife is a teacher, wrote on Pharyngula, "there’s not a single one of those grade school teachers I've known, my ex- emphatically included, who I could imagine doing anything but jumping between the gunman and his or her students." It's happened before and it's going to happen again. And again (rinse and repeat). And afterward, each time, as Chris Clarke pointed out: "I guarantee you this: public school grade school teachers will go right back to being the despised class."
Repeal the second amendment: no more hide and grovel. People are already saying that politically it is impossible to do anything. But as I recall, a Constitutional Amendment doesn't have to go through Congress. Repeal the second amendment. | <urn:uuid:a8309190-8f21-47fe-8393-0a25390bdc0e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://susanohanian.org/show_commentaries.php?id=1062 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974396 | 955 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Mesa's utility rates may soon increase to make up for the city's ongoing budget shortfall. The increase could potentially infuse an extra $6.2 million annually to its coffers.
The city's $62 million in cuts approved in December through June 2010 already fall $3.3 million short of projections. Thus, city officials propose to make up for that by raising water, wastewater and natural gas utility rates.
The move has been approved by the city's audit and finance committee and is now expected to be discussed by the City Council on Thursday.
If approved, the water rate increase would add an extra $2.5 million in revenue. The wastewater rate increase would bring $3 million and natural gas increases $700,000.
For Mesa homes, the water rate increase means they'd pay an additional $1.15 per month, or $13.80 annually.
The wastewater rate increase would add $1.25 to the monthly bill, or $15 per year.
Chuck Odom, Mesa's budget director, has blamed the shortfall on lower-than-expected revenues from impact fees, which are charged to developers to partly pay for infrastructure such as roads and sewer lines. These fees are then used to pay off bond debt cities incur to build that infrastructure.
With a decline in new construction, revenue coming in is insufficient to pay off bond debt and for infrastructure needs.
Odom told the council recently that despite a 50 percent shortfall on impact fee collections already taken into account in December's revised estimates, that number is down another 29 percent.
Revenue from utility service the city provides comprises Mesa's third largest revenue source, after sales tax and state-shared revenue.
City Manager Chris Brady has also said that when it comes to utility rates, the capital costs for existing and new debt would shift "to the rate payer, because the expected amount of impact fee is not coming in."
The City Council is expected to introduce an ordinance for the changed rates June 1. A public hearing is scheduled for June 22. The council is expected to adopt the changes, if any, the same day.
If approved, the changes become effective on or after July 30. | <urn:uuid:8bced86b-bb41-440e-95e7-13615d233a2a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/local/article_cce6acd3-17db-5c63-8182-ef398e9c46f2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960625 | 445 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Perhaps I should do separate posts for each of these gentlemen but what the hey, I shall just combine them. For in considering aspects of the overriding issue of climate change, there is ample room for them both.
Just a wee bit of background to set the stage. Many of us have no doubt read Orwell’s seminal work, 1984, with all its disturbing aspects of totalitarianism at full force. A world where the state’s control has reached its pinnacle. It was written way back in 1948, just 2 years before the death of its author, Eric Arthur Blair.
Next, we have the consummate huckster, Phineas T Barnum, who allegedly said,”There is a sucker born every minute.” In reality, the phrase was uttered by his competitor, Syracuse banker David Hannum. But Barnum was the founding force behind one of the world’s most famous circuses; Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus. Known for showcasing such diverse acts,as songstress Jenny Lind and height challenged Tom Thumb, he was also a prolific lecturer in his own right. One of the coolest sounding , ‘The Art of Money Getting.”
On that apropos note we connect the dots to climate change with two reports. One is from Great Britain, the other from the Netherlands. Second one goes first. our Dutch friends have plans to levy a “green” road tax by the year 2012. it would be charged by the kilometer and is aimed at reducing emissions as well as traffic congestion. Worthy objectives, of course. Check out the following quote as to how it will be implemented, if passed by the Dutch parliament. ” Each vehicle will be equipped with a GPS device (paid for by?) that tracks how many kilometeres are driven and when and where.This data will then be sent to a collection agency that will send out the bill.” So said the Dutch transportation ministry. Ownership and sales taxes will be eliminated and be replaced by the new levy. It will begin at 7 cents per mile and increase to 16 cents per mile by 2018. One additional odd feature to me is that taxis will be exempt. Worthy goal that will allow the government and a 3rd party to know how much you drive, where and when and charge you for doing so. Sounds like that sound fall a bit on the Orwellian side to me.
Now for the British. Upfront, i will surmise that this is more Barnumesque. Here foes. Lord Smith of Finsbury is the head of the Environment Agency. He is advocating that everyone in Great Britain be “given” a carbon allowance, by the government, I presume. people would be issued a unique number and would be required to provide that number when buying such things as fuel, airline tickets or electricity. Each month they would receive a statement to follow their balance. if the account reached zero, they would have to pay for more credits(Barnum) and that wold go to the government, I presume. frugal carbon users could do the opposite, sell their unused and make money. His position is that only those with extravagant lifestyles would be impacted. Ruth Lee is an economist with Arbuthnot Banking Group. She calls the plan “Orwellian” and maintains that it is all about control of the individual. Sure seems to have some control elements in it. Lord Smith plans to introduce his proposal at the Monday conference of the Environmental Agency.
- Bible study
- Christian living
- Foreign Policy
- International politics
- Legal system
- Life and Death
- Local Politics
- State Politics | <urn:uuid:6c4f469c-3f33-46a0-a130-2d76b58c359c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tarheeltalker.wordpress.com/tag/ruth-lee/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957612 | 754 | 1.515625 | 2 |
I enjoy learning about history, if I am not watching a live sports event, I am likely to be watching a documentary or some other show about the past. History in fact does repeat itself, the names may change, the circumstances slightly different but what was wrong in 1600 is still wrong today.
I am not sure if I became a Dodger fan first or a baseball fan, it was pretty close and probably the reason I became a Dodger fan was based solely on the fact was that they were the local team. But I always loved baseball, in particular the history of it.
I would read everything I could get hold of, I loved straight baseball history books, biographies, and current magazines and newspaper stories. When I bought my first Baseball Encyclopedia, it was probably the most I ever spent on a book and I loved to look at those numbers and absorb them. Baseball cards continued this fascination as well as teaching me the proper names of my favorite players.
I write this prelude to explain my fascination with the drama that is Frank McCourt vs Bud Selig. I will start off by saying that I am ready to see Frank move on, if only to see what MLB does next and who they approve to be the owner. But prior to that, I would also love to see Frank press this battle on in every venue that he can get to because I want to see the answers to some questions:
1. What is the criteria for implementing the best interest in baseball clause and why was it used in this case?
2. Does MLB have the right to insist a certain percentage of revenues be put back into the business, if so why can't there be a team owned by non-profit entity with a named representative which could ensure that all monies are spent on the team?
3. Should MLB bar individuals from owning teams so if the team itself cannot be part of a property dispute?
In the end, I doubt any of my questions will be answered.
Why I said this was a history lesson was because, I think professional sports leagues know that even though they often have some sort of protection from being sued either by contract or by an anti-trust exemption, they also know that it is not wise to leave a neutral party in charge in making a decision that can determine your business.
MLB learned this when they lost the reserve clause, the NBA when Spencer Haywood basically changed how their draft worked and the NFL is going through those pains right now.
Bud may have an airtight case but it may not be enough to stop Frank from gathering evidence like other team's financial records or producing embarrassing testimony from baseball officials.
Remember Frank is getting paid ultimately regardless if he goes to Court or not, MLB and Bud have everything to lose and nothing to gain by letting it get there.
So while my focus will always be on the play on the field, off the field action will be interesting to me too. | <urn:uuid:75655039-605e-41d9-8e01-1b37489566b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.truebluela.com/2011/4/28/2138567/mccourt-vs-selig-a-history-lesson | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979659 | 598 | 1.585938 | 2 |
why is the wash system so important on hid? i dont understand how it is more important than other lights?
Don't know if you have looked up close at a car with factory Xenon headlights but you will notice it projects the beam pattern onto the plastic cover of the headlight and the more dust/dirt that gets on there from the road the more obvious it is that you can see the pattern as it stops the projector from working as efficiently and causes other drivers to get distracted. I have noticed this driving around with the Xenon lights in and have resorted to giving them a spray of glass cleaner every other day or so. I really need to get the washers sorted soon as this is really annoying
As for the light units I really don't like halo ones :/ personal thing as I hate seeing BMW's right up your rear just generally think too many chavy corsas etc... with them on. The first ones look better imho. But everyone to their own
Edited by Lenny, 28 January 2013 - 11:34 AM.
Swearing replaced with more approiate content,please read your text prior to posting | <urn:uuid:1b1ad1e9-bd95-4720-9f5c-9f2eacfb47f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/34953-my-minor-mods-to-date/page-27 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974612 | 232 | 1.523438 | 2 |
I've seen the famous still from the early 1950s film noir THE BIG HEAT at least a hundred times or more over the years. It shows Gloria Grahame after Lee Marvin's character has scalded her face with boiling hot coffee. It's a pretty famous image and for years I was sure I had seen the movie it came from.
But watching the film last night on TCM (with the usual great introductory and closing commentary from host Robert Osborne), only one or two scenes seemed familiar. Others seemed vaguely familiar, until I realized I was thinking of another film noir flick from that period that just had a similar set up or outcome or even in some cases action and even dialogue.
THE BIG HEAT stars Glen Ford as a cop who temporarily loses his job and goes all vigilante (a trope of film noir and Westerns and other genre films during the McCarthy era as the idea of corrupt or compromised government entities needing to be straightened out by lone heroes who take the law into their own hands and carry out vengeance for the rest of us etc. became the metaphor used by both sides of that political turmoil though mostly by the right) after his wife is killed.
There's a lot of the above mentioned set pieces—the gangland moll who at heart is if not virtuous at least well intentioned (but by the movie code of that era has to die for her sins in the last reel), the overly flashy apprentice gangster who is the first prominent bad guy to get his just deserts, etc., even the "crippled" elderly woman who is the only one brave enough to rat on the bad guys, etc.—but the film is also full of original touches and performances that gave it the reputation it has as one of the classic film noirs.
And a lot of the credit for that has to go to Gloria Grahame. Her gangland boyfriend and the main evildoer played by Lee Marvin gives her a foil to play off, but it's Ford who she really works out with. It almost seems like Grahame's trying to get Ford, a relatively rigid actor whose persona was fairly consistent through most of his film work, attractive and interesting to watch, but limited, it's like she's trying to rile the actor himself and not just her character trying to get to Ford's.
In fact the sparks they created generated so much heat, so to speak, that according to host Robert Osborne, the studio cast them immediately in another film with the same director (Fritz Lang) but that one bombed and we had no more of Grahame and Ford. Though Gramahe went on to work with other stars, or had already (her bit part in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE being a perfect example of the impact she had on screen, I bet anyone who ever saw that movie can remember her being complimented on her dress as she walks down the street having prepared assiduously for the impact the dress would make and then charmingly waving off the compliment by referring to the dress, as she swirls the skirt of it around her beautiful legs, saying something like "This old thing?" or her turn as "I'm just a girl who cain't say no" in Oklahoma etc.) she never attained the level of Hollywood legend I always thought she deserved.
Her screen presence is always memorable, at least to me as a kid and an adult, because of her confidence and the light touch it gave her every line reading and every expression. She seems, for instance, in THE BIG HEAT, almost in another movie compared to Lee Marvin's bad guy heaviness. In fact, the best thing about this movie is watching Gloria Grahame. I hope her contribution to classic Hollywood films of the 1940s and '50s is never forgotten.
And just for full disclosure, I had the honor and privilege of working with her in the last movie she made, in which she had a small part and I was one of the leads (and in which John Carradine played my character's grandfather, a low budget horror film originally called PHOBIA but retitled THE NESTING). I actually got to hold her hand (and unwisely told her how much that meant to me while we were waiting for the director to yell "Action" and she was preparing which made her peeved with me but it was only my second professional movie acting job and I didn't have enough experience to respect another actor's methods etc.).
She became more notorious in some circles for being first married to Nicolas Ray the director of REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE among other films, and then after he died, marrying his son (her stepson, shades of Woody Allen or Phedre!). She died on a plane ride over the Atlantic (I don't remember if she was going or coming) not long after I held her hand on that movie set. And now she seems almost forgotten. But to me, long before I ever met her, she was always one of the most unforgettable screen presences Hollywood ever presented to a movie audience—every scene she was ever in is captivating to watch, unlike even some of the most famous Hollywood legends, which she will always be for me. | <urn:uuid:7a94129d-c623-41e9-8f8a-d06d73165c78> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lallysalley.blogspot.com/2009/08/gloria-grahame-and-big-heat.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985537 | 1,068 | 1.53125 | 2 |
A New York Times article on the effect of recent immigration rights protests cited a poll taken before the first of these rallies had occurred. This survey found that only 40 percent of respondents believed that illegal immigrants "should be granted some kind of legal status that allows them to stay here," while 53 percent said they should be "required to go home." But more recent polling -- conducted in the wake of large-scale demonstrations that began in March and amid Senate deliberations over immigration reform -- has found a far larger number of Americans in favor of so-called "comprehensive" reform.
In a May 3 article on the effect of recent immigration rights protests, New York Times reporter Sheryl Gay Stolberg cited a poll taken before the first of these rallies had occurred. This survey found that only 40 percent of respondents believed that illegal immigrants "should be granted some kind of legal status that allows them to stay here," while 53 percent said they should be "required to go home." But more recent polling -- conducted in the wake of large-scale demonstrations that began in March and amid Senate deliberations over immigration reform -- has found a far larger number of Americans in favor of so-called "comprehensive" reform.
Stolberg began her May 3 article, headlined "After Immigration Protests, Goal Remains Elusive," by asserting that "the protesters do not appear to have achieved their primary goal: changing votes in Congress. And some critics say the demonstration may have generated a backlash, hardening positions on Capitol Hill." Stolberg cited doubts "about whether the protesters can translate their passion into political results." She quoted numerous lawmakers and advocates expressing the view that the string of massive rallies -- most recently, those held on May 1 in cities nationwide -- likely had little effect on the ongoing debate over immigration reform:
"I have no effective data on this, but it has probably hardened positions and maybe done a little bit of wedging," said Gov. Jon S. Corzine of New Jersey, a Democrat and former senator who said he supported the protesters' cause. "I think that the people that were really fired up about this still are, and the position that they had to start with, they still carry."
Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, said: "The protest, I don't think, changes votes on the floor of the Senate. I think what changes votes is coming down, sitting down, talking about it, as opposed to students' staying out of school. I happen to think that students' staying out of school is counterproductive."
Stolberg went on to cite the results of a Pew Hispanic Center poll on immigration:
The public is deeply divided on illegal immigration. A survey in March by the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research group in Washington, found that 53 percent of respondents said people who were in the United States illegally should be required to go home and that 40 percent say the immigrants should be granted some kind of legal status that allows them to stay here.
"What buttons were pressed?" Roberto Suro, the director of the center, asked, wondering aloud about what Americans saw when they looked at the protesters. "Was it that there are so many people here outside of government control or was it the hard-working family types? I think that's really imponderable."
But while the Pew poll was released in late March, it was conducted earlier, from February 8 to March 7. Therefore, it offers no insight into the question posed by Stolberg's article -- whether the immigration rights protests have affected support for the various reform proposals before Congress. As the following timetable shows, the polling preceded the major demonstrations and Senate consideration of various comprehensive reform proposals:
- March 10: An estimated 100,000 protesters demonstrate in downtown Chicago.
- March 25: In Los Angeles, an estimated 500,000 protesters march to City Hall.
- March 27: The Senate Judiciary Committee approves the "Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006," which would boost the number of border patrol agents, deploy new technologies to monitor the border, and provide a path to citizenship for most of the approximately 11 million illegal immigrants currently residing in the United States.
- April 6: A bipartisan group of senators reaches an agreement on a compromise proposal that would offer the possibility of citizenship to immigrants who have been in the country illegally for more than 2 years.
- April 9: Substantial demonstrations take place in Dallas, San Diego, and Minneapolis-St. Paul.
- April 10: Large-scale protests are staged in more than 100 cities nationwide.
- May 1: Illegal immigrants across the country leave work to take part in demonstrations. Rallies in New York City and Los Angeles draw hundreds of thousands. Attendance at the protest in Chicago is estimated to exceed 700,000.
Stolberg's citation of the Pew poll leaves the false impression that, despite these developments, those who favor deporting all illegal immigrants have outnumbered those who support more comprehensive reforms. In fact, numerous polls published in April reported results that significantly differed from the Pew survey's findings. Indeed, four polls conducted by major news agencies between April 6 and 24 found that, by significant margins, most Americans favored granting illegal immigrants legal residency and the possibility of citizenship if they pass certain hurdles:
- A CBS News poll conducted April 6-9 found that 74 percent of respondents supported offering legal residency to illegal immigrants who have "paid a fine, been in the U.S. for at least five years, paid any back taxes they owe, can speak English, and have no criminal record."
- A USA Today/Gallup survey conducted April 7-9 found that only 18 percent of respondents favored sending all illegal immigrants back to their home countries. Eighty percent supported either a guest worker program or a plan that would let illegal immigrants earn citizenship if they pass a number of hurdles.
- A Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll conducted April 8-11 found that 66 percent of respondents backed a plan to let illegal immigrants who have been living and working in the United States for a number of years start a path to citizenship. Eighteen percent of respondents opposed the proposal.
- An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll conducted April 21-24 found that 35 percent of Americans favor deporting all illegal immigrants, while 61 percent support letting them stay in the United States. Further, the poll found that 68 percent of Americans support the Senate compromise proposal that would provide a path to citizenship to illegal immigrants who have been in the United States for more than two years. Twenty-eight percent of respondents opposed it. | <urn:uuid:800723fd-814f-4d17-a128-342db9b69d10> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mediamatters.org/print/research/2006/05/03/ny-times-cited-outdated-polling-data-in-downpla/135581 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967649 | 1,333 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Architects: gmp architekten
Location: Qingdao, Shandong, China
Design Team: Meinhard von Gerkan, Stephan Schütz, Nicolas Pomränke
Project Year: 2010
Project Area: 60,000 sqm
Photographs: Christian Gahl
The Grand Theater is situated on the eastern side of the city of Qingdao between a bay in the Yellow Sea and Mount Laoshan (1,130m above sea level). Because of the unique situation of the massif directly by the sea, the Laoshan ridge is often wreathed in clouds, which gives the landscape a unique, often mystical, setting.
The style of the building relates to the mentioned natural spectacle, with the massif and the lightness of the clouds reflected in the appearance of the Grand Theater. It rises from the landscape like a mountain — a cloud-like roof seems to wreathe the four buildings. The raised terraces in the surrounding park are reminiscent of a mountain plateau, and take their bearings both from the sea and the mountains.
In addition to the opera house a concert and a multifunction hall as well as a media center and a hotel are integrated into the complex.
The foyer of the opera house offers direct views of the sea. Audiences can enter the auditorium on two levels, either via the lower level, giving access to the large cloakrooms and the lower circle, or via the main foyer.
The walls and floor of the foyer are clad with local stone, which emphasizes the affinity of the building with the mountain.
The stage and backstage areas are flexibly designed so that events of different nature can be performed. | <urn:uuid:9b3f8742-b103-46b7-946a-9e53cb4b9c90> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.archdaily.com/251673/grand-theater-qingdao-gmp-architekten/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931491 | 352 | 1.570313 | 2 |
HUNGOVER… POWER MOTIVATE YOU TO THE GYM?
MIND IS EVERYTHING. Paavo Nurmi – the “Flying Finn” – the greatest distance runner of the early 20th Century. He shattered 20 world records with such ease he would carry a stopwatch during races and row with timekeepers moments after finishing. The track-pounding hard man had no trouble finding reserves of motivation, but what do you do, on that hail-lashed evening, when your muscles feel like old bits of elastic that have lost their bounce, and you’d rather be anywhere but down the old health-building, life-enhancing sweatshop?
I TELL YOURSELF ITS THE LAST TIME
When Britain’s Charlie Speeding was feeling rough and exhausted during that most unforgiving of events, the marathon, at the 1984 Olympic Games, he convinced himself that he would never need to run again, never need to feel the pain again – once he’d finished this one.-
With that thought in mind, he rallied, picked up the pace, and won a bronze medal. Adopt the same attitude when you’re flagging – whatever your chosen activity – and the proverbial weight will be lifted from your shoulders making the finish line a joy to behold. Until the next time, of course.
2 SET TARGETS Most men are achievement-oriented, and motivation can be increased massively if you set specific goals. If you know you’ve got the London Marathon next April, you’ll make that extra bit of effort to train and stay in good shape. If you need to get rid of the unwanted fat fast, you can use coconut oil diet. Check out weight loss coconut oil benefits.
Don’t just have one big target though. Think short-term, mid-term and long-term: short-term might simply be completing three runs this week regardless of pace. Mid-term might be completing a half-marathon in three months’ time, and long-term might be running the full distance in three hours next year. With this in mind, tell yourself and others that you’re going training, rather than just “to the gym” or “for a run”.
3 THROW AWAY THE MAP
The older we get it seems, the more likely we are to stay entrenched in the comfort zone, doing the same stuff in the same places, day in, day out But in fact as psychologists David Birch and Joseph Verify confirm, whatever age we are, we love to react to new stimuli. They call it the “curiosity incentive system”. It might mean attending an exercise class, having a go on the climbing wall, or playing squash rather than doing the usual routine. Whatever you do, ifs quite likely you’ll feel a bit stiff the next day, which just goes to show you’ve been stuck in a rut utilizing the same old muscle fibers, rather than giving them all a fresh airing. | <urn:uuid:ceba3b29-9cd6-4b1a-babb-d62b3cd29e81> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mayancountdowncalendar.net/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939529 | 629 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Green coffee bean is a weight management ingredient that has generated a lot of interest lately. A study published in the January 2012 in the Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity journal turned in some eye-popping results. The 16 adults who participated, all considered obese by BMI measurements, lost an average of almost 18 pounds over the course of the 12-week study, amounting to about 10% of their overall body weight and 4.4% of their overall body fat.
This and other results got the attention of that most influential of ingredient popularizers—Dr. Mehmet Oz, who featured the ingredient on his TV show in early September.
The marketplace reacted in a similar fashion as it has to other ingredients that Dr Oz has featured, like astaxanthin, raspberry keytones and Garcinia cambogia. Demand soared, and a flurry of new products featuring green coffee bean appeared on shelves and, in particular, online.
What was in the bottle?
What exactly was in those products was of interest to the Futureceuticals staff, especially when they saw the prices being quoted for some of these extracts in the marketplace.
“What we were seeing were some suspiciously low prices in green coffee extracts out there on the market,” John Hunter, general manager of FutureCeuticals, told NutraIngredients-USA.
“We know what the going rates for commodity materials. Green coffee just has an expense unto itself as a commodity. It can only go so low. When you combine that with processing, the ethanol or water extraction, you go through the algorithm and you come up with a reasonable price.
“We were seeing prices below what was reasonable,” Hunter said.
Spiked with CGA
Green coffee bean extracts are standardized to the marker chemical chlorogenic acid (CGA). As has been noted with other commodities subject to economic adulteration, shady dealers have apparently spiked their low-quality offerings with this marker chemical to enable them to clear the first bar of testing.
“The conversations that we were having with suppliers we found that it may the case of some of the cheaper materials were being adulterated by extracting chlorogenic acid from mulberry leaves or coffee bean plant leaves themselves. These are cheaper sources of CGA. This was being added back into the green coffee bean extracts to reduce the price,” said Brad Evers, director of marketing of FutureCeuticals.
FutureCeuticals, based in Momence, IL, purchased two such extracts on the open market, one of which only cost $18 per kilo. (Hunter said a more reasonable price for a quality green coffee bean extract would be in the high $60s to $80 a kilo.) Boris Nemzer, PhD, Futurecueticals’ director of research and development, subjected the two purchased green coffee bean extracts and Futureceuticals’ own extract to a battery of tests, including FTIR, UV and HPLC. He tested for chlorogenic acid levels and caffeine content.
His results showed that one of the purchased extracts consisted of 15% non green coffee bean material, and the other came in at 20%. Possible adulterants included CGA derived from the aforementioned mulberry and coffee plant leaves as well as from bamboo.
Trying to level the playing field
Hunter said the company conducted the research with the aim at providing better information to the marketplace, and to try to level the playing field between responsible suppliers and companies that are pushing adulterated product. With such a wide variance in price, the possibility certainly exists that some formulators looking to cash in on a trend are knowingly buying bad product.
Which brings up the flip side of the Dr Oz Effect. After being mentioned on the show, the demand for ingredients ramps up faster than botanical supply chains can respond. Demand for astaxanthin, for example, increased almost ten fold after its appearance on the show in 2011. This makes a wide open playing field for economic adulterers.
Hunter said confusion in the marketplace could account for the existence of some the of the adulterated product. But as for outright collusion, Hunter wasn’t willing to go there.
“There may be people out there who don’t care. I would prefer to believe that they are just out there trying to get the best price and they don’t know,” Hunter said.
“We need to assure in our industry that materials that claim to be something actually are that something. We all know that there are guys with white hats and guys with black hats in this industry.” | <urn:uuid:4783a376-c28e-48d2-ad58-49619f013b0f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mobile.nutraingredients-usa.com/Health/Weight-management/Tests-turn-up-adulterated-green-coffee-bean-extracts | 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 | 0.97179 | 950 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Photography For Kids, A Fun Guide to Digital Photography by Ebert and Abend
Do you have a kid or two that has shown an interest in your photography? Photography for kids will help you introduce them to your world in a camera. It is designed for kids from 8 to 14 years old and covers everything from the technical aspects of a digital camera to the final editing of their images, and does it in a kid friendly way. It teaches kids the history of photography, color concepts, what makes for a good image, and how to take them. This book stresses creativity and gives the kids techniques on how to turn their images into exciting images they will be showing off to all of their friends.
This hardback book is about 9 x 9 inches, with 159 pages, retails for US-$24.95 - and is published by Rocky Nook and distributed by O'Reilly Media and can be checked out at www.oreilly.com I Rate it: A+
Minnesota's North Shoe By Craig Blacklock
This recent book of the photography of Craig Blacklock covers just one subject, the north shore areas of Lake Superior, and whenever I have heard the name Lake Superior all I ever thought of was a lot of cold and a lot of water. Goes to show you just how wrong you can be! I was as wrong as I was amazed by what I learned about the incredible variety of what is found there, from coastal cliffs to incredible mountain waterfalls, from quiet harbors to fern covered forests. This area has some of the most beautiful rocky coastline I have ever seen in pictures, and I would say that this book is a "must-have" for anyone planning a photo trip to that area. Coffee table or picture book, whatever you want to call them, this is one great new photo book for any library, and it even comes with a bonus DVD movie in the back.
This hardback book is about 12 x 13 inches, with 175 images. It retails for US-$60.00 and is published by Blacklock Photography Galleries and can be ordered from: www.blacklockgallery.com. I Rate it: A+
FACEBOOK the Missing Manual
The Book That Should Have Come With The Site by E.A. Vander Veer
As soon as I received this book I went through it to learn everything I could that I could not find on the Facebook site, an d I'm glad that I did. This book fully covers just about everything you will need to use your Facebook pages and get the most out of them. I say just about everything because I don't think any book could cover it all, and I did still have a few questions after reading the book, but nothing I couldn't live without. It did cover everything that "most" people will need to know from setting up your account to how to find friend and "use" them. Some of the 14 chapters cover subjects like, participating in groups, shopping, messaging, and even finding a job. If you use Facebook but don't think that you are getting everything out of it, this book is for you.
This soft cover book is about 6 x 9 inches with 271 pages, retails for US-$19.99, and is published by O'Reilly Media. It can be checked out at www.oreilly.com. I Rate it: A
Exploring North American Landscapes
Visions & Lessons in Digital Photography by Marc Muench
The Muench name is synonymous with top quality landscape photography, and the latest 3rd generation, Marc Muench, has turned out to be no exception to that fact. Both the images in his new book and the technical information with them covers a large part of how this family of photographers has created the masterpieces they have.
Exploring North American Landscapes is a 2-part book, with the first part covering Marc's thoughts about his work, including personal stories of what it was like to grow up with two generations of master photographers, (his grandfather Josef Muench, and his father David), plus the methods he uses to create his images, and his work in progress. Part-2 covers the process of capturing and processing an image, his HDR process, color correction of his images, and how he gets the most out of Adobe Bridge and Lightroom.
In the center of the book is a gallery of images all in the Muench style and quality of excellence. Marc also covers his sports photography with mountain climbing and skiing images like you rarely see in print. One I will long remember is of a man standing on top of a mountain peak of snow looking down into a valley of clouds with even higher mountains off in the distance. Just one of many images that you have to see to believe. The technical information in the book is also top rate in the fact that it doesn't just tell you what to do, but also includes screen shots of the tools and settings used to do them.
This soft cover book is about 10 x 10 inches with 220 pages and retails for US-$39.95. It is published by RockyNook and distributed by O'Reilly Media and can be checked out at: www.oreilly.com. I Rate it: A++
Comments on NPN nature photography book reviews? Send them to the editor. NPN members may also log in and leave their comments below. | <urn:uuid:43cc968b-b86a-4fdf-8b7f-eafc1648b10e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.naturephotographers.net/articles0811/pf0811-1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973331 | 1,100 | 1.773438 | 2 |
As Interior Ministry Dallies, One Couple Prepares for a High Court Challenge
By Nathan Jeffay
As New York prepares to inaugurate same-sex marriage on July 24, two men married to each other 5,500 miles away are fighting a battle for the rights of Jewish men and women in Israel who take advantage of the new law and others like it.
Just as every Jew has the right to immigrate to Israel and receive citizenship under the Law of Return, so does his or her “spouse,” even if that spouse is not Jewish. But whether Israel would honor this for same-sex as well as heterosexual couples has never been tested.
Now, an American Jewish man has given Israel’s Interior Ministry, which is controlled by the Haredi Shas party, a July 31 deadline to give his husband citizenship. The couple’s alternative is a high court petition for citizenship, which legal experts believe will likely succeed.
This has made Joshua Goldberg furious. His local Jewish Agency office told him that his husband, Bayardo Alvarez, could have citizenship, but when the couple’s visas came through in February, Goldberg received citizenship, yet Alvarez received only temporary residency. The two married four years ago in Canada and moved to Israel from Baltimore on June 10, but the Interior Ministry has yet to respond to Alvarez’s 4-month-old appeal to change his status to citizen. “The lack of decision making at the Interior Ministry has made our absorption here very difficult, and in some ways it feels very unwelcoming,” Goldberg told the Forward.
The Interior Ministry responded in a statement to questions from the Forward, saying that the matter is still “under examination” because this is the first request of its kind. The ministry added that it regrets the “mental anguish” that the uncertainty is causing the couple.
There is no same-sex marriage in Israel, but the state does recognize, for some administrative purposes, same-sex marriages performed overseas. In 2006, Israel’s high court issued a precedent-setting ruling that five gay couples already residing in Israel but wed overseas could be registered as married couples in Israel.
The attorney who petitioned for that ruling, Dan Yakir, told the Forward that granting citizenship to the immigrant spouse of a gay person is an extension of the earlier ruling’s logic and in the spirit of other legal advances for same-sex couples. “Based on jurisprudence over the last 15 years, this would be the proper interpretation of the law,” said Yakir, who is chief legal counsel for the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
For Goldberg and Alvarez, their fight is a point of principle, but also a highly practical matter. When they arrived in June, Alvarez was ineligible for all but one of the state-funded absorption programs to which those immigrating under the Law of Return are entitled — a Jewish Agency course in Eilat that combines hotel work with Hebrew study. Goldberg and Alvarez — a 40-year-old marketing professional and a 33-year-old florist, respectively — enrolled but found that classes were currently on a break, so they left after three weeks.
If Alvarez were an immigrant coming in under the Law of Return, the couple could have benefited from subsidized housing and acculturation workshops at one of the state’s “absorption centers,” which are located across the country. Instead, since leaving Eilat, they are renting an apartment at their own expense in Tel Aviv. Alvarez is ineligible for state-funded Hebrew classes. And instead of receiving 33,110 shekels ($9,500) between them in state assistance for relocating, they receive 17,368 shekels ($5,000) as a payment to Goldberg alone.
The couple’s lawyer, Nicky Maor of the Israel Religious Action Center, the lobbying arm of the Reform movement, said that they are victims of “illegal discrimination.” She commented, “As the Law of Return uses the word ‘spouse’ as opposed to citizenship laws, which use the words ‘husband’ and ‘wife,’ here there’s not even any interpretation needed and there’s no basis for distinguishing between heterosexual and same-sex marriage.”
Legal experts believe that if the Interior Ministry does not meet the couple’s July 31 deadline and the two petition the high court, judges will be hard-pressed to reject them. Tel Aviv University law professor Aeyal Gross, an expert on constitutional law and gay and lesbian rights, said that the argument would be particularly difficult to undermine, as Israel has a history of recognizing marriages that it doesn’t allow to be performed in its jurisdiction.
There is no civil marriage in Israel. But since long before Yakir’s 2006 petition, Israelis who want a civil marriage or need one — usually immigrants from the former Soviet bloc who are not Jewish — have wed in Cyprus, had their unions registered by Israel and received the rights of any other married couple. In view of this and the 2006 ruling recognizing same-sex marriages between Israeli citizens registered outside Israel, “I don’t see any viable justification the state could come up with to discriminate here,” Gross said.
Contact Nathan Jeffay at firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:89d35820-c22a-47b0-bab2-6244fb7aad1d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://aleph.org.au/2011/07/18/israel-wrestles-with-how-or-whether-to-recognize-gay-couples-the-forward/ | 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 | 0.973263 | 1,112 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Pains In My Stomachby Anne Sommers
Q Hi! I'm going on 5 months pregnant and I was wondering if it is normal to have really bad gas pains where I feel like I have to go to the bathroom, but can't. Also, I get pains that feel like gas pains in the top part of my stomach.
A Pain is a sign that something is wrong.
Click here to Ask Anne your pregnancy questions
Anne Sommers, LM is a Licensed Midwife in Southern California and founder of Agape Perinatal Consultation & Birthing Services. Anne has attended and personally delivered hundreds of beautiful bouncing babies in some very wonderful and natural settings -- like in the water! She has appeared on various Southern California radio and cable television shows, talked to birth organizations, was editor for several child birth publications and was the owner, editor and publisher of "Mom" Magazine, a quarterly publication in circulation for over seven years. She completed Seattle Midwifery School's Challenge Process and the NARM exam (supervised by the California Medical Board) qualifying her for midwifery licensure. Anne actually made history as noted in the Orange County Register for being one of Southern California's first Licensed Midwives. She is also the mother of two children, born at home, with the attendance of midwives. The Baby Corner The Baby Corner - The Magazine for Expecting & New Parents.
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