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LONDON — The most shocking experience imaginable in a sports venue is to witness the suffocation to death of 96 fans — men, women and children — in the stadium.
That tragedy happened at an English F.A. Cup semifinal between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, played at Hillsborough Stadium, in Sheffield, England, on April 15, 1989.
What followed was worse: the apparent institutional lies told by police officers, safety officials and others to blame the victims for their own deaths.
On Wednesday, more than 23 years after the event, the British prime minister, David Cameron, issued a government apology to the bereaved families. He said that new evidence ‘‘makes it clear that these families have suffered a double injustice.’’
‘‘The injustice of the appalling events — the failure of the state to protect their loved ones and the indefensible wait to get to the truth,’’ he said. ‘‘And the injustice of the denigration of the deceased — that they were somehow at fault for their own deaths.’’
Cameron’s unequivocal apology was the beginning of the vindication those families have been seeking ever since the Hillsborough disaster. It came during Parliamentary question time in London. An hour earlier, some of the families who had fought for the truth concerning their sons and daughters, wives and husbands, heard that 164 statements had been “significantly amended” and that in 116 of those, negative comments regarding failings by the police were removed.
The extent of the cover-up was documented by an independent panel, led by Bishop James Jones of Liverpool, that included experts in law, medicine, media and policing.
The panel examined more than 400,000 pages of accounts from 80 organizations. When their final report was opened to the families of the victims, on a rainy day in Liverpool hours before the prime minister addressed Parliament, some of the family members fainted.
One revelation in the report — more harrowing than anything since that terrible day in 1989 — suggested from postmortem reports that the hearts and lungs of 41 victims had continued to function beyond the arbitrary time that the coroner at the inquest decided they must have died.
Margaret Aspinall and Trevor Hicks, two of the parents who have tirelessly campaigned for the truth about their children’s deaths, acknowledged Wednesday that in the privacy of their own homes they would now have to confront the new suggestion that their sons, their daughters, might after all have been among the 41 whose asphyxia had possibly been reversible.
‘‘We don’t know yet which ones might have been saved,’’ said Aspinall, whose 18-year-old son James never came home from Hillsborough.
The 400 pages of the new report and the full text of the prime minister’s address make for heartbreaking reading, not simply because of the content but because of the extent of the alleged cover-up at all levels.
It was known that the stadium where the match took place did not have the required safety certificate, and would not have got it after scares a year previously. But being there that Saturday afternoon, seeing the overcrowding in the section where the incident happened, still sends a chill down the spine.
The stand was partitioned off by a steel fencing, against which some of the victims were crushed. Others were trampled underfoot as survivors tried to escape.
There was only one narrow gate, a three-foot wide opening, less than a meter, that in the panic hundreds, maybe thousands, made for.
In the aftermath of Hillsborough, British soccer stadiums removed the fences, which had been a primitive answer to crowd hooliganism (which was not in any way a cause of the 1989 disaster). But still, around the world, there are stadiums with fencing, and episodic catastrophes because the Hillsborough lessons still go unheeded.
What happens now in England is that the attorney general, effectively the leader of the law court system, has been asked by Cameron to urgently consider criminal proceedings.
Whether he does or does not judge that there is sufficient evidence to bring those proceedings, the leading counsel advising the parents makes no bones about his intention to do so on the parents’ behalf.
There has to be accountability, the lawyer says.
Trevor Hicks, who lost his two daughters, Victoria, 15, and Sarah, 19, in that crush, said Wednesday, ‘‘It has been a long journey, a long painful journey. We are still the losers, because we lost our loved ones.
‘‘But we are vindicated today, because we said all along there was a dirty tricks campaign, a conspiracy to deflect the blame onto the victims. It went right through the establishment, maybe, for all I know, to the very top.’’
He paused because at that moment the city of Liverpool called a two-minute silence at six minutes past three in the afternoon — the precise time that the referee stopped the match at Hillsborough because spectators who had scaled the fencing began dropping onto the field.
When the silence ended, Hicks concluded, ‘‘The truth is out today, but we begin looking for justice tomorrow.’’ | <urn:uuid:bd051d3f-b488-41e8-9afa-fcb452c30ed1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/hillsborough-the-truth-is-out-today-but-we-begin-looking-for-justice-tomorrow/?ref=world | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977066 | 1,087 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Most of the crew had spent the afternoon whiling away the time in St Malo in the age old custom of sailors once in port. As so often happens at times such as this, the writer of this blog was on watch when we left.
Not without the usual groans from the crew, many of whom as first time sailors rather than jack hands were regaining their land legs after a few days at sea. Leaving port at four in the afternoon, meant that my watch who had the first dog-watch, ought to have been on the bridge. But were busy with other tasks down on deck. Leaving the land meant the usual bustle, orders, counter orders and not a little confusion to yours truly. However at last the thing was done. The crew had four main roles, to put a boat ashore to untie the mooring ropes, to pull these ropes back to ship, to work to pull the gangplank (ed. I think they mean gangway) across and most importantly to shove the fenders into the sea (ed. hopefully hanging onto the other end).
This is very important, because if the ship should scrape the harbour wall, and should the French authorities decide damage had been done, the JST will be sent the bill. Bad news for us. But the fenders went over side without mishap. Dinner that night was chicken, boiled potatoes and vegetables, and the Lord Nelson set course for Cherbourg. The sea as it always has been this trip remained calm, and all that betrayed that the ship was moving at all, was a gentle rocking or sliding motion, that could be enough to send a man to sleep should he not be concentrating properly or had a harder day than he usually did. The sea hissed gently making a pleasant harmony with the deep throb of the engines. | <urn:uuid:8aaf4a9c-23c5-4ea2-8346-d060a37fa922> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jst.org.uk/news/29092009-lord-nelson.aspx?t=ship | 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 | 0.983471 | 370 | 1.789063 | 2 |
It’s Raining Tablets & Smartphones!!
Jyoti is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.
There was a time when a computing device that was slower than a calculator used be of mammoth size. Then gradually the computing device evolved. It started getting faster, meaner and smaller. This was the time when your computer could sit on a desk or on your lap. But then innovation didn't stop there. Technology evolved and today a computing device can rest on your palm or fit into your pocket and that too at half the price. These are the days of Smartphones and Tablets.
The mobile industry was revolutionized by Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone and iPad, then came Samsung with Galaxy Tab and the S-series, after that Nokia (NYSE: NOK) decided to try its luck with Lumia. Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) came with its e-reader Kindle that actually had a fiery start, and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) was not far behind with the announcement of Nexus. Then came Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) with its first ever hardware device – Surface and now to the surprise of all, comes Toys R Us with its “Tabeo.”
Toys R Us has decided to target the potentially untapped market for children. They have introduced the Tabeo with lesser specifications and priced it moderately in view of allowing kids to create the demand in front of their parents for this beautiful tablet. The tablet would not hurt the pockets of the parents too much as the with their moderate cost of $150 (One of the lowest amongst all the tablets).
What is the reason for such a herd mentality?
The explosive growth in the industry has attracted these investors either by choice or by force. Let’s take a look at the way this industry has been growing:
|Year||Android (Google)||Blackberry (RIM)||IPhone (Apple)||Palm/WebOS (Palm/HP)||Symbian (Nokia)||Windows Mobile/Phone (Microsoft)||Bada (Samsung)||Other||Total||Growth %|
* Figures in millions unit sold
**2012 - Growth figures based on Expected Growth
***Data from http://www.wikipedia.org
The reason why I say it is by force is because this growth has already resulted in a complete technology drift towards a new direction. The number of footfalls in the local markets has reduced, causing many top retailers like Wal-Mart and Target to bear massive losses. The same is the story with Toys R Us, but they acted smart by targeting an untapped sector (the Kids section).
What is next in store?
The players are continuously changing their game plans, coming with improved service to continuously attract their customers. Apple latest iPhone, known as iPhone 5 or “The New iPhone,” is said to be the best of its breed. The phone is supposed to exceed the expectations and boost the revenue of Apple. With its improved design and applications, this should be the eye-catcher.
Nokia, a market leader once upon a time, has not given up despite the tough competition. They recently announced the launch of Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820. This is by far the most improved phone of Nokia. The biggest question is, are these improvements good enough to compete with an iPhone? The real disappointment for the fans of Nokia of late has been its software. Each of these fans have one question – Why is Nokia not shifting to Android?
Nokia is using the operating system provided by Microsoft – Windows 8. Microsoft for ages has only been known for licensing its software to the hardware companies and has made a fortune by doing so. But this time to everyone’s surprise, they are coming up with their own hardware for the launch of its tablet – Surface. This is a big move because it is difficult to move from your comfort zone and enter into a completely new territory. Will they repeat the show or will it be a big boo-boo?
Amazon.com, the world’s largest online retailer, understood the need of the people and came up with a tablet, which is one of its own kinds. Kindle – an e-book reader has already been a huge hit. The reasons why it has been so successful, is because of sleek design and look along with its affordable pricing. With increase in popularity and a decent market share, they are now slowly catching up with iPhone, not in terms of sales figures, but with the features (though they still behind).
Why am I talking about the biggest search engine, Google, in this article? This is because it holds the biggest market, in the smartphone industry in terms of the software used. The android software provided by Google, has been one of the prime reasons of success for Samsung’s Galaxy (by far the biggest competitor for Apple). But this is not all, if they can make the software then why not try out the hardware? This is what has brought about the invention of “Nexus.” It is expected to be priced in the range of Kindle, with a collection of applications exceeding Kindle. Will it kill the market for Samsung and Amazon?
Is this industry reaching saturation already?
Well the figures do not show any such signs of saturation. The growth is expected to continue in 2013 with the figures reaching the mammoth number of 650 million units.
Projected worldwide sales of Internet access devices, 2010-2014 (quantities are in the millions of devices)
The smartphones are expected to be smarter, have bigger and better display, improved camera and thousands of new applications to attract more customers. The pace at which the technology is moving, what other revolutions can we expect from this industry?
Need More Analysis?
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jyotiadvisor has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple, Amazon.com, Google, and Microsoft. Motley Fool newsletter services recommend Amazon.com, Apple, Google, and Nokia. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.If you have questions about this post or the Fool’s blog network, click here for information. | <urn:uuid:bce4d700-8f01-430e-80ec-f45e81b18def> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://beta.fool.com/jyotiadvisor/2012/09/17/its-raining-tablets-smartphones/11794/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940473 | 1,429 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Portray of the Destination
Strasbourg, the capital of the Alsace region in France, is justifiably regarded as one of the most
attractive cities in Europe. Located on the Ill River on the Rhine, close to the border with
Germany, the city is a splendid fusion of Franco-German cultures and architectural styles.
Along with New York and Geneva, Strasbourg is one of the few cities in the world to house
international institutions without actually being the capital of its country. It is the seat of the
Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights and the European Parliament among other
things, and great pride has been taken in the careful design and construction of their buildings.
It goes without saying that symbolic institutions should be represented by equally symbolic
buildings, and travellers will be greatly rewarded by admiring these stunning examples of
As well as its modern beauty, Strasbourg offers every visitor a healthy slice of history,
culture and cuisine. The aptly-named Petite France district is compact yet breathtakingly
beautiful, with its winding rivers and elegant bridges, from which you can enjoy an amazing view of
the city's Gothic cathedral. After a long day sightseeing and shopping in the Grand Île, the first
city centre to be awarded World Heritage status by UNESCO, why not enjoy a refreshing beer or two
in the city's friendly Alsatian taverns. All this and more makes Strasbourg a shining example of | <urn:uuid:c9f42cff-6382-4b35-afe1-93161adbb10d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oneplanettravel.com/cms/cms/opt/www/pri/contentNavigation/destination.jsp?resource=/opt/contents/place/z_eu/c_fr/estrasburgo/destination&lang=en | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935216 | 302 | 1.828125 | 2 |
For 35 years, Allan Stichbury has designed remarkable sets and lighting effects. From New York to Bangkok and all across Canada, the theatre professor at the University of Victoria has dreamed up sensational scenes for opera and theatre.
And his wife, Joanne, has been equally creative. She has been stitching up a storm with ingenious hands and extreme tailoring talents, making costumes for Shaw and Stratford festivals, theatres coast to coast, the movie industry and for Pacific Opera Victoria.
But when it came time to renovate a recently purchased 1907 house in James Bay, the two decided the less drama the better. Their domestic scene is serene, understated, almost Scandinavian-looking with its white walls and burnished floors.
One glance around the house shows you can be true to Arts and Crafts without being locked into hand-thrown pottery or lamps that look as if they could run on gas.
The Stitchburys took time out this week from work on POV's current show - The Flying Dutchman - to show how they are taking Arts and Crafts style into the 21st century. Their design goal is brilliant simplicity, and the result is simply brilliant - unfussy minimalism, sophisticated austerity.
"We wanted an interpretation of Arts and Crafts rather than a 1907 duplication of it," explained the award-winning designer and former chairman of UVic's visual arts department. On stage, Allan never tries to imitate a precise time period or concoct a slavish reproduction: "I want to honour a time period." And his aim here was the same: to reproduce the essence of Arts and Crafts, "not what it looks like from the outside."
He explained the movement was a reaction to the industrial revolution and featured a return to hand-made furniture and traditional craftsmanship. "It was a time when everything was individual and unique."
Allan, who is no stranger to working with his hands, credits young cabinetmaker Jason Good for helping set the scene by building the kitchen cabinets and other interior elements. "He's an extraordinary craftsman." They also used Bruce Wilkin's design advice during the five months it took to renovate the 2,100-squarefoot house.
Although it was in excellent shape, some of the home's decoration was not to their taste.
"The upstairs bathroom, for instance, was an incredible example of 1980s: green and white tiles, gold fixtures, neo angle stuff, and the kitchen was a 1960s leftover.
The floor was starting to peel; cupboard doors were about to fall off."
One thing the owners loved was separate studio space in the garage - "It was of great interest" - which now also houses their Italian Vespa scooter.
For Allan and Joanna, it's all about space and how it's laid out. They like things square-on, balanced, organized. "Negative space is important too, which is why we select things very carefully," said Allan. "Rather than having tons and tons of stuff, we put out only things that carry meaning. This house is not heavily layered. We don't have 85 pictures on the wall.
We are in the realm of minimalism."
He compares it to staging a big, full show like The Flying Dutchman, where his secret is to use one or two things to represent an idea or carry a suggestion.
"If you keep space relatively calm, viewers can focus on the story. It allows the audience to imagine."
After a long day at work, he and Joanne don't want to be bombarded at home.
A "Our nature is understated, neutral, classic," said costume cutter and tailor Joanne, whose role at POV for the past 10 years has been to translate the imaginings of wardrobe designers into reality.
"I have a real sense of home, and draw a lot from my surrounding. I like it to be calm."
A modernist who is fascinated by silhouette, shape and a tailored line, she has sewn many of the home's soft furnishings, such as kitchen blinds and masses of cushions. For other windows, she has chosen fine white wool or linen to complement the cloud-white walls.
"We didn't want to over-decorate," said Joanne, who admits she does like a little spectacle when it comes to work.
That's why she enjoyed the shift from theatre to opera. "In opera we do things on a bigger scale. When you do a ball gown the train is longer, there is an extravagance. It's not as restrained as theatre, which is more controlled."
She has also enjoyed the shift from rural to urban living. The couple used to live at Prospect Lake, but Joanne wanted to be able to walk to work, and from James Bay it takes just half an hour. She also appreciates the quality of light in her new home, the flow and feeling of the house, the neighbourhood and its proximity to the water.
She also delights in her new dressing room.
"We took out an old cupboard and added a built-in bookcase by the chimney, that used to jut out into the room. It was raw brick and we painted it white." They added two tall closets and a long unit of drawers under the window. On the desk are a couple of large bowls - "She has a bowl thing," said Allan with a smile - one filled with swirls of scarves, another brimming with curtain fabric samples.
They painted all the walls, added new fixtures, took up all the carpets, which were nailed and stapled, polished the floors and added Calacatta marble to the bathrooms.
But the kitchen is where the greatest transformation occurred. It had an Arts and Crafts look so they decided to follow that spirit, but with a more open concept and custom cabinets.
During the restoration, Joanne enjoyed watching the interaction between Allan and their designer.
"We approached Bruce Wilkin because we'd seen his work and he has a really good understanding of both modern and Arts and Crafts, also a solid knowledge of structure.
"We're used to collaborating with artists and designers in theatre and opera, and we had a fabulous experience with Bruce."
Wilkin enjoyed the project too, and keyed into their style by travelling to see a play in Calgary designed by Allan. "It was spectacular and symmetrical, with a great rhythm of repetition and balance.
"They are both really creative and I don't always get to work with people like that. Allan has a real eye for space and really clear ideas. Joanne has a great eye for fabric, but they needed someone with skills on the construction side. . For instance, they wanted to take out the kitchen wall, which we did surgically, by cutting into the floor joists to create a flush beam."
He said the result is unique. "I don't think there's another kitchen quite like it in Victoria. It's very modern in its approach.
There are no upper cabinets; the whole back wall is tiled; stainless steel shelves are suspended with hidden lights inside; there is no hardware, instead all the handles are cut out. There is a great sense of craftsmanship . an Amish look."
It's perfect for the owners, who often stage gatherings of 20 to 30 for dinner, a frightening prospect for most people.
"But it's almost easier to do 20 than 10 because everyone looks after themselves," said Allan, who invented an extendable table at their previous home. The new owners who purchased their last house asked to keep the table, so Allen has to design something new before their next large shindig.
"But if he builds it, they will come," Joanne joked, adding they often host out-of-town theatre people because, "we've often been in that position before and know how it feels." | <urn:uuid:2b1e06b8-58bc-4939-8871-4faee100d8f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.househunting.ca/delta-optimist/decorating/House+Beautiful+Artistic+couple+seeks+serenity+home+front/5562770/story.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98003 | 1,626 | 1.632813 | 2 |
By Dianne E. Butts:
Grief, Guilt and Asking for Help: Lesson 2 in 10 Things I’ve Learned About Grief. Includes Post-Abortion Grief.
As I write about lessons I’ve learned about grief, you may recall lesson #1: Grief Plus Exhaustion May Increase Suicidal Thoughts where I talked about how being tired is just one symptom of grief.
Lesson #2 is to recognize additional symptoms and know when to ask for help:
Some people may temporarily experience sleeplessness, nightmares, lack of appetite or greater appetite, fear, increased anxiety, or various other difficulties. These are “normal” for people working through grief, but if they continue or become overwhelming, ask for help.
It’s hard to ask for help. I’ve also learned even when we reach out for help, the help we find isn’t always helpful. If that has been your experience, I challenge you to try again. You are too important to let a mismatched counselor stop you.
In the article, Choosing a Christian Counselor at CBN.com, David Martin states: “In order for a Christian to make a good decision about a Christian counseling professional, there are some important factors that need to be understood as well as the various options that are available to you.” (Click through to that article for more good information.)
For help, CBN.com recommends these organizations that you can call right now:
New Life Ministries: 1-800-NEW-LIFE (1-800-639-5433)
Rapha National Network: 1-800-383-HOPE (1-800-383-4673)
There are various reasons feelings of guilt may be associated with the loss of someone. For many women and men, that relates to abortion.
Post-Abortion Grief and Guilt
In a guest post at Kathi Macias’ blog, I wrote about how it’s common for people with an abortion in their past to grieve and even think about suicide. (If this applies to you, click here to read more about that.) But women (and men) the world over need to know that God loves them, that He will forgive them, and that He is right there with them no matter what they have done or what they are facing right now.
At the Abortion Recovery Help webpage, the list of Symptoms of Post Abortion Syndrome includes depression and thoughts of suicide. Whether you are a woman or a man, pro-life pregnancy centers offer free, confidential programs to help you through after-abortion struggles. Find one closest to you here: www.OptionLine.org.
Even if this common cause for grief does not apply to you, feelings about the loss of a loved one can be complicated, and counseling frequently very helpful. If you are feeling overwhelmed, do ask for help, from a friend, any of the counseling resources previously mentioned, or:
CBN’s 700 Club Prayer Counseling Center at 1-800-759-0700
This video,You Are Loved (Don’t Give Up), may help: | <urn:uuid:ce5f9126-4c5d-4895-8c64-b8417de97c0a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thinkingaboutsuicide.com/grief-and-guilt-with-suicidal-thoughts-ask-for-help-grief-lesson-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935204 | 664 | 1.664063 | 2 |
1 of 5 Americans Shun the Internet
Next time you're standing in line at the movies, look around. Chances are there's at least one person who doesn't use the Internet.
One in five American adults never log on, according to findings released Friday (April 13) by the Pew Research Center. Those most likely to fall into this group are senior citizens , adults with less than a high school education, people living with disabilities and those in households earning less than $30,000 per year. (People who chose to take the survey in Spanish were also among them.) Most of these adults have never used the Internet before, nor do they live with anyone who has. They don't use computers, smartphones or tablets, either.
While high-speed broadband access is a problem for some — an issue the Obama administration and nonprofit groups have targeted — almost half of those who don't use the Internet said it was because they don't think it is relevant. An only one in 10 said that they were interested in using the Internet or email in the future.
But it's not just retirees and the economically disadvantaged who shun the Internet. In an interview with Elle magazine, actress Winona Ryder said she doesn't go online, though she does get email on her BlackBerry. She's never read a blog.
"I feel like it's taking away that great anticipation of seeing a movie," Ryder said. "I would hate to see a picture of me and the caption reads, 'Is she worth it?' " | <urn:uuid:1e958c78-076d-444c-8581-a3a500c48210> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.technewsdaily.com/4137-1-5-americans-shun-internet.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982666 | 309 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Earl Weaver had two stints as manager of the Orioles, totaling 17 seasons. The club won the 1970 World Series title. / John Kuntz, AP
The lasting visions of Earl Weaver always will include an irate man with hat askew, kicking dirt and screaming at an umpire. But the Hall of Fame manager was more innovator than instigator.
Weaver, who won four American League pennants and a World Series during his 17 seasons as manager of the Baltimore Orioles, died early Saturday after collapsing during an Orioles-sponsored cruise. He was 82. The cause of death was not immediately revealed.
It was Weaver who pioneered the use of radar guns to measure pitchers' velocity. It was Weaver who kept a stack of index cards to keep track of pitcher vs. batter matchups, long before the computerization of the game's statistics.
And, of course, it was Weaver whose 94 ejections â?? often flamboyant and once before a game even started â?? that made him most memorable. That total is an American League record, topped in the majors only by recently retired Bobby Cox and Hall of Famer John McGraw.
"The job of arguing with the umpire belongs to the manager," Weaver once said. "It won't hurt the team if he gets thrown out of the game."
But he also said, in a 1986 interview, "On my tombstone just write, 'The sorest loser that ever lived.' "
The Orioles were holding their annual FanFest on Saturday, and a moment of silence was held as the event opened.
"Earl Weaver stands alone as the greatest manager in the history of the Baltimore Orioles and one of the greatest in the history of the game," Orioles owner Peter Angelos said in a statement released by the club. "Earl made his passion for the Orioles known both on and off the field. This is a sad day."
Said Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig: "Earl Weaver was a brilliant baseball man, a true tactician in the dugout and one of the key figures in the rich history of the Baltimore Orioles. ... Earl's managerial style proved visionary, as many people in the game adopted his strategy and techniques years later.
"Earl was well known for being one of the game's most colorful characters with a memorable wit, but he was also amongst its most loyal. On behalf of Major League Baseball, I send my deepest condolences to his wife, Marianne, their family and all Orioles fans."
Weaver, who didn't played in the major leagues, replaced Hank Bauer as Baltimore manager midway through the 1968 season. His 48-34 record the rest of that season wasn't enough to catch the Detroit Tigers in the American League race, but the Orioles' second-place finish was a message to the rest of the league. Weaver's teams won the next three pennants and the 1970 World Series.
"Bad ballplayers make good managers," Weaver said. "Not the other way around. â?¦ A manager's job is simple. For 162 games, you try not to screw up all the smart stuff your organization did last December."
Weaver joined his organization in 1957 as manager of a minor league team in Fitzgerald, Ga.
He worked his way through the Baltimore farm system and was added to the major league coaching staff in 1967.
The Orioles team he inherited was talented. It included future Hall of Famers Frank Robinson and Brooks Robinson. Another, pitcher Jim Palmer, would be promoted from the minors in 1969, the year Weaver's heavily favored team lost the World Series to the New York Mets.
He got his World Series victory a year later, winning seven of eight postseason games â?? a three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins in the AL Championship Series and a five-game World Series triumph against the Cincinnati Reds.
Weaver's relationship with his players often was as colorful as his celebrated battles with umpires.
Palmer once said, "The only thing Earl knows about a curveball is that he couldn't hit it."
But Weaver hardly was worried about his relationships.
"I don't know if I said 10 words to Frank Robinson while he played for me," Weaver said.
But those players understood Weaver was ahead of his time.
"He used to keep these little cards with what guys used to hit off certain guys," said Washington Nationals manager Davey Johnson, who was an Oriole in Weaver's first five seasons as manager. "This guy was 2-for-6. This guy was 1-for-10. I tried to explain to him, 'Earl, you know what the standard deviation curve is?' He says, 'What the hell is that.' "
But he knew how to use players, making frequent use of platoons, having a left- and a right-handed hitter share a position. He also would list as the designated hitter in his starting lineup a pitcher whom he didn't plan to use, then insert a real hitter when that spot in the batting order came up.
Weaver managed the Orioles through the 1982 season, then replaced Joe Altobelli during the 1985 season and retired for good after 1986, the only losing season of his major league career. His final record was 1,480-1,060, the .583 winning percentage ranking fifth all-time among post-1900 managers.
The Orioles retired his No. 4 in 1982 and a plaque with his name and number is on the corner of the home dugout at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Weaver was known for positioning himself at the corner of a dugout nearest the runway to the clubhouse so he could go up the tunnel and sneak a cigarette, especially in the late innings of tight games. Reliever Don Stanhouse, who for a while was Weaver's closer, was nicknamed "Fullpack" for his effect on his manager.
Weaver, who has spent most of his post-baseball life in South Florida, was in Baltimore last summer at the unveiling of a statue honoring him.
Copyright 2013 USATODAY.com
Read the original story: Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver dead at 82 | <urn:uuid:5989257d-27e6-46db-a5a8-fb3e31bb46b5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chillicothegazette.com/usatoday/article/1847255&usatref=sportsmod | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985313 | 1,267 | 1.6875 | 2 |
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The National Park Service plans to remove an inscription from the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington and replace it with a full quotation from the civil rights leader.
Critics had said the paraphrase didn't accurately reflect King's words.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced the plan Friday. The memorial's architect had hoped to simply add words, without removal, to place the phrase in context.
The inscription reads: "I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness."
The full quotation is different: "Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter." | <urn:uuid:e7864b57-e374-42b4-b1a3-2d2f0db484ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://daily-jeff.com/ap%20travel/2012/02/10/park-service-to-remove-inscription-on-mlk-memorial | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980029 | 164 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Six fallacies that stifle change — and how to overcome them., By Ann F. Lucas
Adapted from Academic Leadership: A Practical Guide to Chairing the Department
by Deryl Leaming
After decades of giving unquestioning respect, the public has become demanding, critical, and angry with higher education. Employers are dissatisfied with graduates who lack skills in oral and written communication, critical-thinking ability, and being effective team members. Moreover, after almost two decades of downsizing, and the perception that no one’s job is safe even though the organization is doing well, the public is angry at the sense of entitlement of academics who retain tenure, whether or not they are productive. This is the source of much of the external pressure for post-tenure review.
Higher education must respond to external criticism that demands change in the system, and to internal awareness of challenges arising from virtual universities and corporate classrooms. Whether that change is improving student learning, relating methodology to course objectives, curriculum renewal, or broader interventions such as outcomes assessment, service-learning, or integrating technology, chairs often feel helpless in the face of necessary innovation.
Developing faculty who will be responsive to these kinds of changes seems a formidable task to chairs. Despite the colossal need for leadership at the departmental level, and the position that the American Association for Higher Education and the Pew Rountables have taken that the department is the place where change should begin, chairs often state that there is nothing they can do to initiate change in the department. Not only do they not know how to be change agents, they do not believe that they have the power to bring about change. Fewer than one-third of 4,500 chairs in self-report data I have collected reported any degree of success in motivating difficult colleagues or poor teachers who are tenured. Chairs also report problems in getting faculty to accept a "fair share" of the work of the department, and in dealing with conflict in the department. There is a feeling of powerlessness in the face of such difficulties, primarily because faculty are tenured and thus presumably resistive to chan ge. On campus after campus, chairs have repeated to me a series of myths they believe as justification for being unable to modify the status quo.
A myth, particularly one in which there is a strong belief, is a fixed perception of a situation that in turn dictates what an individual can control and what cannot be changed. The "rules of the game" develop from such an attribution or label; for example, whether chairs will try to deal with difficult colleagues, or ignore the situation because they believe there is nothing they can do that will make a difference. Thus, chairs build high walls around themselves and around circumstances that not only control their behavior but justify how they choose to behave. Whenever individuals describe a situation as having no solution, or see it only as a dichotomy having just two opposed alternatives, it is probable that they are engaging in premature closure. In other words, they have stopped trying to generate options to the problem, and often put themselves in no-win situations.
From my observations, here are the six most frequent fixed beliefs, or myths, that are dysfunctional for the chairs who hold them, accompanied each time by my rebuttal.
"I am elected by my colleagues to serve at their pleasure for only three or four years, then I will be a faculty member again. Therefore, there is nothing I can do to deal with the problems."
The belief in an inability to do anything as chair because a person is simply a peer among equals conveys an aura of humility and democracy in action; yet it can effectively leave a department without a leader. Particularly when a chair is elected by peers for a limited term, choosing to be a team leader is a valuable choice of leadership style. As team leader, a chair can take an active role in seeking meaningful input and full participation from everyone in the department so that faculty members can plan and organize themselves to function most effectively. Being a team leader requires setting shared goals with the department and individual goals with individual faculty members so that everyone can focus on how they can achieve departmental goals while realizing their own. Goal setting with individuals and providing feedback on performance in a supportive climate are the strongest forces a chair can use for motivating faculty. When chairs are passive because they feel there is nothing they can do, departments, and often faculty, stagnate.
"It is my turn. I don’t particularly want to be chair, but we all have to take a turn."
Given academic norms that administration of any sort is a necessary evil, such statements by an incoming department chair do not usually raise concern among faculty; on the contrary, faculty often worry that people who want to be chair may be seeking power. However, when someone doesn’t want to be chair, neither the department nor its faculty will benefit by having a person in that role simply because it is his or her "turn." What is most likely is that such an individual will behave in a passive-resistive fashion and accomplish nothing for the department. Whenever he or she is chided for not taking some responsibility, the response can always be, "But I didn’t ask to be chair."
"I am simply a peer among equals. I am not a manager."
This is a good example of generating only two options. "I am either a peer or a manager. There is nothing in between." As chair, an individual is no longer just a peer among equals. Chairs have responsibilities that are different from those of faculty members. Although all chairs have to perform some management functions, they don’t have to become managers; they can become leaders.
"I have neither carrot nor stick. It is not possible either to reward or punish faculty members."
It is simplistic to think that rewards include only economic benefits, and that punishment means only the firing of a faculty member. There are many more meaningful ways to reward people; and punishment has so many negative side effects, it is rarely an alternative of choice in motivating others. When chairs are respected colleagues, they have the ability to reinforce faculty for the latter’s work. Being taken seriously by a colleague who appreciates the quality of what an individual is doing is both rewarding and motivating. Moreover, chairs usually have major input into personnel decision making, scheduling of courses, release time, and allocation of resources. Therefore, despite the fact that it is not realistic, the perception that chairs have "neither carrot nor stick" certainly contributes to their feelings of powerlessness.
"I am neither fish nor fowl. Being neither faculty member nor administrator, my role is not clear."
Granted that role conflict is stressful, a chair must be the conduit between faculty and administration, representing the needs of each to the other. This requires that a chair be an articulate spokesperson for department members to administration. It is also necessary for a chair to be a public relations person for faculty members so that their accomplishments, their impact on the discipline at the state or national level, and their outreach to the community can be appreciated by the rest of the university. In addition, however, because they represent administration to faculty, chairs must at times advance points of view that represent what is deemed to be good for the college or university over what is perceived as good for individual faculty members. For example, faculty often strongly resist a chair’s request that they teach an 8 a.m. class, a late evening course, or a course that meets three times a week. In each of these cases, faculty may feel that the chair has lost the ability to identify with colleagues and is behaving like an administrator. Chairs must handle such conflict in their roles with tact, fairness, and good humor.
Chairs do have considerable power, then, but when they believe these six myths their effectiveness is undoubtedly reduced. However, institutions also have great responsibility for enhancing competent leadership by taking the chair role more seriously. Although the 80,000 chairs in colleges and universities constitute a knowledgeable body of leadership and influence, too often they are overlooked as the valuable resource they can be. There is little evidence that sufficient care is given to selection, training, professional development, and support of chairs.
Furthermore, if chairs are to be good team leaders and effective agents of change, they need to learn how to initiate those difficult conversations in which the collective wisdom of their colleagues is gathered so that commitment is developed to confront challenges that face their departments. Chairs need to learn the skills for leading change. Chairs must learn how to confront and manage negative behaviors of faculty and staff. They need to learn more about motivating department members. Chairs must master skills in creating a supportive communication climate, managing constructive feedback, resolving conflict, and be engaged in their own ongoing leadership development. In addition, some of the mind-deadening paperwork — the primary complaint of chairs — must be handled by computer or delegated to a technical assistant or a competent secretary so that chairs have time to be leaders.
Ann F. Lucas is a professor of organization development at Fairleigh Dickinson University. She can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org.
Lucas is the author of Strengthening Departmental Leadership: A Team Building Guide for Chairs in Colleges and Universities (Jossey-Bass, 1994). Her most recent book, Leading Academic Change: Essential Roles for Chairs, will be published by Jossey-Bass in January 2000. | <urn:uuid:ee0f3956-195c-4220-bfe7-5736372f610b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stmarys-ca.edu/node/8537 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969748 | 1,931 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Cathy King, a holistic veterinarian, sometimes jokes about what she calls a “case dispensary in the sky.”
That omnipotent being that determines what sort of animals will walk into her office. And in some cases, those animals are carried. That was the case a couple years back when a woman brought in a small poodle who had blown a disc and could not walk.
“We were well beyond (a surgical) window, and that was not an option. I said, well, you leave him with me for 2 weeks. I’m going to give him acupuncture every day and we’ll see what happens,” King said. “Two weeks later, he walked out. To me, the lesson was, this is what’s possible. And then (the owner’s) biggest problem was she couldn’t keep him from dancing on his back feet.”
King is a veterinarian who specializes in natural pet care: acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, food therapy and Tui-Na (massage).
King has been a veterinarian since 1984, but shifted her practice to focus on natural health in 2000. Originally she worked house calls. But business bloomed so much that she opened her current office, Kaw Valley Natural Pet Care, 514 E. Ninth St., which has been open since 2004.
As a holistic veterinarian, King uses all the tools a veterinarian normally does — stethoscope, otoscope, ophthalmoscope — but she also uses pulse and tongue diagnostics.
When she examines an animal, she looks for imbalances.
“Your diagnosis in Chinese medicine is, what is the imbalance?” King said. “I do a lot of nutritional guidance, offering suggestions that would create balance and harmony.”
When King locates a problem, she uses a number of methods to treat it. Among them is Tui-Na, a form of massage that involves pressing the body at acupuncture points. King teaches pet owners how to do it to hasten recovery.
King also uses acupuncture. Using her hands, needles or a laser, King has helped debilitated dogs recover from paralysis.
Like Astra, a whippet, who had two neck vertebrae that looked like moth-eaten hunks on her X-ray, damage from possible trauma. Astra couldn’t walk, but after 3 months of acupuncture, she is tramping about energetically.
In recent years, King is seeing healthy pets.
“More and more I’m seeing well patients, people who want to … avoid going through the chronic illnesses that we see in our pets, just like we see in ourselves,” she said. “We’re starting to see more interest in the preventive aspect and wellness building, which is so exciting.” | <urn:uuid:11d364c6-636e-48d6-89e1-e386f29d2af0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2012/jul/23/veterinarian-takes-holistic-approach-healing-pets/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967087 | 594 | 1.671875 | 2 |
You can never be too careful. So when I leave the city on weekends I try to make sure all the windows in my apartment are shut. Soot is the most common contaminant you're protecting against. But there are others in our modern world. These include, in no particular order, fires, the fallout from a dirty-bomb attack, biological weapons and nerve gas.
I have no idea whether closing my windows alone guarantees I'll be able to return Sunday night, throw open the sash, and proceed as if nothing happened in my absence. I somehow doubt it. But taking that simple precaution is probably better than leaving the windows open, and with it my and my family's health to the machinations of angry men.
Little did I expect upstate, where I flee on weekends, in part because it offers refuge from such threats, to turn out to be even more dangerous than if I'd stayed put with all the windows open.
Fortunately, I happened to be out of the country when it happened, but on Aug. 1 TCI, a recycling company for electrical equipment about a mile from our house in Ghent, N.Y., and where hundreds of gallons of PCBs were stored (who knew?) caught fire, the subsequent explosions sending flames a thousand feet into the air, according to eyewitnesses, and with it a plume of smoke that potentially carried toxins such as PCBs and dioxin.
While my windows were closed—except for the one in the attic which never closes completely—many of my fellow Columbia County residents weren't as lucky. Indeed, part of the consternation in the wake of that night concerns the fact that those downwind of the plant weren't even alerted that a toxic cloud might be heading their direction, and that they might want to consider leaving. The reason is that Columbia County has no reverse 911 system. On the other hand, those 30 miles away in Berkshire County, Mass. —whose towns include Stockbridge and Great Barrington, and which hosts the Tanglewood Music Festival—received an alert because they had such a system in place.
At a meeting to update the community about the fire and its aftermath at the West Ghent firehouse Thursday evening, organized by Didi Barrett, our state assemblywoman, one of the law-enforcement officials confided that he'd been pricing a reverse 911 system a mere day or two before the calamity, but confessed, "We dropped the ball, plain and simple."
Ms. Barrett had gathered an impressive array of local emergency, fire and law-enforcement officials, as well as representatives from New York state's departments of Environmental Conservation, Health and Agriculture and Markets, and the federal Environmental Protection Agency. I counted thirteen people seated in front of the crowd, not including Ms. Barrett. All of them had pretty much the same message: You have nothing to worry about. They'd tested at TCI, or what was left of it, and found only very low levels of contamination.
My recollection is that that's also what the EPA said after 9/11.
The crowd of 300 people—a significant turnout in such a rural, far-flung community—was hardly reassured. Some came armed with skeptical questions from experts they had consulted on their own. And just that morning there had been a story in the Register-Star, the local newspaper, quoting Dr. David Carpenter, the director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University of Albany's School of Public Health, who questioned the innocuous results, contending the state performed the wrong kinds of tests.
The meeting's agenda called for each of the agencies to make a presentation about the events of that night, or their toxicological findings, followed by questions that audience members were asked to write on index cards and pass up to Ms. Barrett. Among the revelations: No foam to fight the flame was available in the county (apparently, pouring water on the burning chemicals only abetted the explosions, and one official told of watching a tank the size of a bus fly high into the air) and a foam truck had to be summoned from the Air National Guard base in Scotia, N.Y.
To the crowd's credit, they sat patiently through the presentations. However, there was mutiny in the air as soon as Ms. Barrett announced that TCI's representative was absent because of "a death in the family." If I were him, I probably wouldn't have shown up either. But it caused one resident, Mary Evans, to jump out of her seat, and shout, "This is an insult to our community; there is no point to this meeting," and storm out trailed by TV crews.
"We didn't have foam—shame on Columbia County," said Courtney Powell, a mother of three young children who lives a quarter-mile from TCI. "I have health problems coming out my ears I can't explain."
Sensing the anarchic mood, Ms. Barrett quickly dispensed with the index cards and people were allowed to approach a microphone, grill the officials, and demand more tests.
More inexplicable, in my opinion, than the missing TCI exec was the absence of any of the Town of Ghent's supervisors. In fact, only one of Columbia County's more than 20 supervisors was spotted in the crowd. You have to understand that a chemical fire that makes the national news, as this one did, is a big deal in Columbia County where the results of the poultry and dairy-cow judging contests at the Columbia County Fair over Labor Day weekend are headline grabbing events.
Perhaps even more disturbing than the chemical fire—best as I can deduce, the wind that night was blowing the plume away from my house—was the revelation from a law-enforcement official that the idea of evacuating residents in the vicinity of the blaze was abandoned because there was a home invasion simultaneously in progress. It was followed by a chase through the woods for the armed perps, and the possibility that innocent bystanders fleeing the fire might have been taken hostage or gotten caught in the crossfire. It was starting to sound like one of those apocalyptic Don DeLillo novels.
"Five people tied somebody inside the house," the official reported, though one of the residents apparently managed to call 911. "They tried running the deputy over. The car rolled into a swamp."
I was happy to hear that all were in custody, but the home invasion was only one of several the county has suffered lately. I'm not a gun enthusiast. Nonetheless, I can certainly appreciate the impulse, buried deep in the woods, to greet your intruders, Clint Eastwood-like, with a loaded .44 magnum pointed at their faces.
In any event, something is wrong if such violent fantasies even have the opportunity to take seed inside your head. They're not entirely surprising in the city where you can't avoid rubbing against your fellow citizens, occasionally the wrong way. But one of the reasons you depart on weekends is for the sense of freedom, and the expectation that you'll feel as safe outdoors as indoors.
After our chemical fire and pattern of home invasions, I'm not about to argue if someone tells me they don't need the headache of a country house. If nothing else, I may become more cavalier about closing my windows before I hit the West Side Highway Friday night.— firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:5e035092-d5f6-447a-b1c2-e9ee1d3ab243> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443855804577599450245386944.html?mod=topix | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975341 | 1,509 | 1.570313 | 2 |
((Personal Note from Our CEO, Shaun King :: As a father to 5 young children, the Sandy Hook School shooting has shaken me deeply. I have been a gun owner for almost 10 years and have been very silent and rather ambivalent on gun control until now. I've had a change of heart and this story reflects my desire to protect people - particularly children. I love each of you and hope that if you disagree with me on this issue that you will still support the other great stories we tell. You can always email directly @ email@example.com to express your support or concerns. --Shaun))
Last year, the NRA (National Rifle Association), spent $2.5 million lobbying Washington politicians for fewer gun restrictions throughout the United States.
It worked. Firearms, assault rifles, and weapons of war (like the Bushmaster AR-15 pictured below that was used in the Sandy Hook School shooting) can be purchased with a gallon of milk @ Wal-Mart and are easier to buy in this country than plane tickets or health insurance.
We, the people, are determined to put our money where our mouth is by outraising the NRA with $2.6 million to advocate for sensible gun control laws and the reduction of gun violence across America.
It's time for a change. With well over 10,000 men, women, and children murdered by handguns every single year in the United States, the truth is that we should have rallied together like this before 20 beautiful six & seven year olds were gunned down with an assault rifle @ Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. However, with an average of 32 people murdered daily by guns in the United States (more than most industrialized nations have in an entire year), the daily onslaught of violence, has, perhaps, numbed our senses.
We know that we can do better and we refuse to sit idly by and wait for our political leaders to solve this problem on their own. The 2nd Amendment (Right to Bear Arms) is an essential part of the fabric of our country, but we strongly believe that it can simultaneously be preserved AND our nation made much safer.
Before we decided to plunge into this ambitious goal, the HopeMob team labored for days with how we could best honor the students, staff, families, and first responders of the Sandy Hook School. We have already successfully told two stories to support the families and first responders and our team feels like we could best honor everybody by pouring our heart, soul, and money into world-class organizations that are already on the ground fighting for a safer America.
This is not about dissing the NRA or fighting against the 2nd Amendment - this is about finding meaningful ways to save lives.
As always, every dime we raise here will go directly to this story and this story alone!
$2.6 million ÷ 5 organizations = $520,000 per organization.
We will give five $520,000 grants to the following organizations for them to forcefully advocate the sensible reduction of gun violence in America:
The Press Secretary to President Ronald Reagan, James Brady was paralyzed when shot during an assassination attempt on the president. He has since become, perhaps, the most sensible, balanced, but forceful advocate for gun control in America and The Brady Campaign is universally thought to be the leading advocay organization on this topic.
Founded by Presidential Medal of Freedom winner, Marian Wright Edelman, in 1973, The Children's Defense Fund is lauded as the premier child advocacy organization and research group in the country.
If gun violence in this nation is an epidemic, then inner city Chicago is ground zero. Corey Brooks, an award-winning grass roots activist, has created Project H.O.O.D. to stand against violence on the streets of Chicago and to empower young people to overcome the obstacles they face daily.
Founded in 1974, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence is a collection of 48 grassroots organizations that have unified to advocate for sensible gun control and advocacy.
Formed in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, this fund is managed by an amazing cross-section of Newtown residents and leaders and will be used to support families and find the best ways to honor the lives that were lost.
Q: Why give here to this story?
A: If we raise $2.6 million together, in addition to giving a huge surge to charities, it will be a STRONG public statement to our government and to the world that we are ready for change.
Q: I don’t have a debit or credit card, how can I give?
A: Choose Dwolla at checkout to give safely with your bank account.
Q: I prefer to give with Paypal, is that an option?
A: Yes. Our debit/credit card giving option is powered by Paypal, but if you want to give specifically on the Paypal site, please send your donation to the following email address: firstname.lastname@example.org and then email the receipt to the same email address so that we can add your donation to the total.
Q: I prefer to mail a check, how can I do this?
A: If you would like to mail a check or make a wire transfer for this campaign, please email the HopeMob team directly @ email@example.com for further instructions.
Q: I would like to cover this story in the press. How do I contact?
A: If you would like to cover this story in the press, please contact Danielle Gano @ firstname.lastname@example.org and she will expedite your request for interviews with our CEO, Shaun King. | <urn:uuid:c95dcf92-545b-4026-832b-42506d4b0143> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hopemob.org/s/18g-let-s-raise-2-6-million-to-advocate-sensible-gun-control-the-reduction-of-gun-violence-in-america | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959352 | 1,155 | 1.578125 | 2 |
A growing housing crisis in the Western Isles was raised with Scottish Housing Minister
Keith Brown last night.
In talks with Western Isles Council, it was stressed to Mr Brown that plans to build
around 80 new social sector houses have to be abandoned because of deep cuts in funding
from the Scottish Government.
The meeting came immediately after Mr Brown officially opened a housing scheme at
Mackenzie Park at Melbost Farm on Lewis.
Cutting the ribbon in the cluster of neat semi-detached homes, the minister flagged
up that such construction projects provided vital work for builders as well as providing
badly needed homes.
An hour later, his own comments were rammed back at him during discussions with council
chiefs in Stornoway.
A council audit shows that 108 new homes are required over the next three years.
But the slashed government subsidy, even coupled with money from the local authority,
means only an estimated 24 to 30 new houses can be afforded.
Mr Brown earlier contradicted a recent council report which highlighted: "This level
of funding may affect the requirement to meet the 2012 Homeless target."
The report also stressed: "The reduced funding will also have a negative impact on
the local building trade and wider local economy."
The council says it has been badly hit by significant changes in the Scottish Government’s
system for allocating funding.
Yesterday Mr Brown insisted: "Supply is only one side of homelessness. Hubs which
have been established preventing homelessness in the first place and that‘s showing
He pointed out the UK government had cut Scotland’s budget by a third.
He said: "Extra funding is difficult for any government especially when we’ve had
a 36% cut in our capital budget - over a third cut over three years - so it’s difficult
to find extra money in these circumstances."
Mr Brown said he was "exploring with the council other ways in which it can raise
finances. There is now real appetite within institutional investors to get involved
in social housing for the first time."
Angus Campbell, leader of Western Isles Council, said: "We have to build more houses
to allow more young people a chance to live here.
"We are pressing the case to give us more housing funding and also to recognise the
higher building costs in the islands. It takes more to build each unit here than
in the central belt of Scotland."
Funding cuts hampers plans to build 80 new island homes 18/7/12 | <urn:uuid:03a7f46d-c6d0-4f8e-a5f5-1e7edd311ecf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hebrides-news.com/western-isles-housing-crisis-18712.html | 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 | 0.958895 | 526 | 1.789063 | 2 |
WASHINGTON--President Barack Obama in his State of the Union speech Tuesday night will announce "that 34,000 U.S. troops will return home from Afghanistan by this time next year, decreasing by half the number of U.S. forces serving in Afghanistan. Further reductions will continue through the end of 2014 as Afghans take full responsibility for their security," a senior administration said Tuesday morning.
This keeps the U.S. and NATO on a timetable--much discussed at the NATO Summit in Chicago last year--to bring the Afghanistan war to an end by the close of 2014.
From the official: "Thanks to our brave men and women in uniform, our Afghan partners and ISAF partners from 49 countries, we have struck devastating blows against al Qaeda, and Afghan forces continue to grow stronger, with 352,000 now in training or on duty. Afghan forces are leading nearly 90 percent of operations across the country, and by this spring, they'll be assuming the lead across the entire country, with the United States and ISAF stepped back to a train, advise and assist role. In that capacity, we will no longer be leading combat operations, but will provide support to the Afghans as they lead operations through the crucial fighting seasons of 2013 and 2014. By the end of 2014, we will responsibly bring our war in Afghanistan to a close.
"At the NATO Summits in Lisbon and Chicago, the United States and our partners laid out a transition plan that would lead to the Afghan Government having full responsibility for security by the end of 2014. We are implementing that plan in a way that strengthens Afghan capacity and respects Afghan sovereignty, while preserving the important gains that have been made in recent years. The President made his decision based on the recommendations of the military and his National Security team, as well as consultations with President Karzai and our international coalition partners. Before making his announcement, President Obama spoke on the phone with President Karzai, Prime Minister Cameron and Chancellor Merkel to inform them of his decision."
Obama is not expected to release details tonight on the looming major issue of how many trips will remain in Afghanistan after 2014. | <urn:uuid:28450c94-c764-41af-a91a-f6dee5a34170> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2013/02/breaking_news_obama.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967761 | 427 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Earth Song, Ocean Song
Earth Song / Ocean Song is the coming-of-age voice of Mary Hopkin. Recorded as Mary turned twenty one, it is a sophisticated, elegant collection, sung most beautifully and from the heart. Not that these are love songs. Rather, they speak of reflection, of deliberation and of questions. Mary Hopkin says today: “This is what I would have written had I been writing songs at the time — well, I wish I could have.”
She adds: “I was writing down lyrics and ideas, but not actually completing anything. Due to my concert commitments, I just never found the time. It was a confidence thing, as well.” But self expression doesn’t always have to be self-written, and Mary’s choice of songs speaks so well of her intent. She says: “Other writers were saying what I was feeling.”
Mary did have confidence — in her singing — and it’s the strength and purpose in her voice that’s most telling on Earth Song / Ocean Song. The album remains important to her. “This is dear to my heart,” she says. “If I’d recorded it today I would be very proud.”
Released by Apple Records in October 1971, Earth Song / Ocean Song draws upon Mary’s love of traditional folk music both American and British. This is not a traditional record, however, but an exploration of contemporary folk, with modern string arrangements and subtle musical experiments.
The sessions for Earth Song / Ocean Song began in May 1971 at George Martin’s AIR Studios, in central London. The producer was Tony Visconti, who had produced The Iveys for Apple, but was best known at this point for his work with David Bowie and Marc Bolan’s Tyrannosaurus Rex and T. Rex.
Following on from 1969’s Post Card, Earth Song / Ocean Song is Mary’s second Apple album. She took control from the artwork onwards. She was pleased to be working with Tony Visconti; for the second time, it turned out, as they had recorded together before, although Mary didn’t realize it until their re-acquaintance.
In 1969, Tony had been put forward as a producer for Mary, and his audition was to record a version of Gallagher & Lyle’s ‘Sparrow’ in Welsh (following the earlier English version). Somehow, she wasn’t informed that it was a try-out for Tony. “I didn’t know who he was,” she recalls. “So after the session I just said goodbye. And because I didn’t mention him to Apple, they put me with Mickie Most, thinking ‘She can’t have liked Visconti’. It was two years before he came back on the scene.”
By this time, Mary had grown tired of singing the pop material for which she was famous, and she was eager for a new musical expression. “Stan, my brother-in-law and manager at the time, played me the Strawbs’ album Dragonfly,” she remembers, “and it was so understated, the production was so sparse and beautiful that I thought, that’s the guy I want as my producer.” That guy was Tony Visconti.
For his part, Tony was also delighted to be working with Mary again. “I thought her voice was that of a fairy princess,” he says today. “So unique, so special. Every time I heard her sing it made me think of Lord Of The Rings. If you could hear the characters in Tolkien’s book singing, they would sound like Mary.”
Together, Mary and Tony decided to create a different type of record. Mary remembers, “I was so keen to experiment.” Tony adds: “We didn’t make a straight up, honest, organic folk album. We wanted to use modern techniques and evocative sounds to make it a super-folk sounding album.”
For the musicians, Tony recruited Terry Weil and Clive Antree on cellos, and for the strings, the Pop Art String Quartet. On acoustic guitars he brought in Dave Cousins, the main creative force behind The Strawbs, and folk singer Ralph McTell; and on upright bass, Danny Thompson. Ralph had released three highly regarded folk albums by this point — and Mary chose songs from two of them — while Danny Thompson had earned his reputation in the folk-rock group Pentangle, while also becoming the most in-demand stand-up bassist around.
“These were my drinking buddies,” says Tony of Ralph, Dave and Danny. “I’d produce records with them and then we spend long evenings in the pub together.” Mary was delighted with her ad hoc backing band: “I had the best musicians in the world on this album,” she says. “It’s got this lovely rounded sound throughout. Tony wrote beautiful string arrangements and played recorder on some songs too.”
The relationship between singer and producer soon blossomed. “We were getting to know each other and falling in love on this album,” says Mary. “It was such a special time.” Before the record was completed, Mary and Tony were a couple, and towards the end of 1971, they were married.
Each track on Earth Song / Ocean Song was originally published by Westminster Music, which held the biggest catalogue of folk songs in the UK at that time. Westminster was part of the production group Tony worked for, and from there he sourced more than a hundred songs, mostly demos on open reel tapes, from which Mary made her selection.
The one exception was the opening track, ‘International’, which Tony interprets as “a need for countries without borders, for us to open up to other cultures”. This was recorded before the rest of the album, with classical guitars by Kevin Peek and Brian Daly. It was written by Mary’s friends Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle, then signed to Apple Publishing. “I love the message of that song,” says Mary. “It was something I wanted to pass on to people. I’ve always loved Benny and Graham’s songs, everything they’ve written.”
‘There’s Got To Be More’ is by British folk singer Harvey Andrews. “I love the gutsiness of that,” says Mary. “It’s rather profound; when we picked these songs we noticed they all seemed to have a message. This one is ‘Think deeper’. This is the underlying theme of the songs I write now.”
“This is Ralph’s magic,” Mary says of ‘Silver Birch’, by Ralph McTell. “It’s about the landscape being more important than the relationship. Waiting for someone, and she doesn’t care if he turns up or not when there’s this amazing sunset to watch. It’s a haunting melody.” Ralph plays acoustic guitar to Dave Cousins’ banjo, to which Tony added a delicate delay effect. “It really made the banjo sparkle,” he says.
Tom Paxton and David Horowitz’s ‘How Come The Sun’ is “one of the outstanding tracks for me,” says Mary. The song led to what would become Mary’s farewell concerts, after which she would retire from live performance. “Tom Paxton heard Mary’s version and was besotted,” recounts Tony. “He invited her to tour Australia and New Zealand with him. She sang ‘How Come The Sun’ every night and he’d listen in the wings.”
Both ‘Earth Song’, which closed Side One of the vinyl LP, and ‘Ocean Song’, which was the album finale, were written by American writer Liz Thorsen. “We couldn’t believe that she wasn’t as big as Joni Mitchell,” says Tony. “But she was very low profile. We never heard an album by her, just isolated tracks.” For Mary, the two Liz Thorsen songs became personal. “Tony played me her demos and I was blown away,” she says. “I very much identified with her sensitive style.”
Just as it would later fade out, Side Two of the album faded in, with ‘Martha’, another Harvey Andrews song, one that he cut himself on his Writer Of Songs LP in 1972. “That was fun to do, quite spooky,” says Mary. “I’m a great fan of discordant music. I love musical seconds, and weird sounds coming in — the chance to get something dark or creepy in there. It can change a mood completely.”
“Danny’s bass part is amazing,” adds Mary. “It continues a thread that runs through the whole album.” Says Tony: “The bass fiddle doesn’t often go up in that register, playing lead. But Danny does it so well.”
Mary: ‘Martha’ is about a sad lady spying on everyone; lonely people.” Tony: “It’s like a more cruel ‘Eleanor Rigby’. Mary had all this inside her that she wanted to get out.”
‘Streets Of London’ is the quintessential song about Britain’s capital and it remains the social anthem of the Seventies and beyond. It’s also Ralph McTell’s signature tune. “It was a joy to be in the studio singing while Ralph was playing guitar on his own songs,” admits Mary. For this track, Mary also added her own acoustic guitar accompaniment too.
“I let my music take me where my heart wants to go,” sang Mary on ‘The Wind’, by Cat Stevens, from his 1970 Tea For The Tillerman LP. “I am a great Cat Stevens fan,” she says. “And I loved Tony’s arrangement for this.” Tony: “For me as an arranger, ‘The Wind’ was a wonderful opportunity to stretch out. A lot of work went into it. We’re very proud of the results.”
‘Water, Paper And Clay’, written by Reina and Mike Sutcliffe, was the penultimate track on the LP and it became Mary’s last single for Apple Records, issued in December 1971. “I was so enchanted by that,” she says. “It has the quality of an anthem. I liked the fact that I didn’t quite understand the lyrics. I liked the mystery.” The recording was fun too: “I played the harmonium. I couldn’t play and pump the pedals at the same time, so Danny and Ralph are on their knees pumping the pedals while I played the keyboard. Then we all went off to the pub and the guys had a few beers and then we did the slightly inebriated, very loud and free backing vocals. Dave Lambert from the Strawbs joined us for that, and he was the only one who could hit the high notes.”
‘Ocean Song’, the second from Liz Thorsen, is the album’s finale. Mary sings with composure yet her vocals are heartfelt, while Tony’s subtle phased strings combine with the unbeatable bespoke trio that was Dave Cousins, Ralph McTell and Danny Thompson to create a masterpiece of contemporary music making. Tony: ‘Earth Song’ and ‘Ocean Song’ were bookends. They were so perfect. We were overwhelmed with the beauty and the expanse of those songs. They were very precious to us.” Adds Mary: “I felt as if they’d been written for me. That’s why we named the album after them. Soulful, and hiraeth as we say in Welsh, the longing. It’s what moves you, it’s like a passion. Songs like this have always appealed to me.”
As ‘Ocean Song’ and Earth Song / Ocean Song closes, Mary hums soothing ad-libs and then withdraws, bowing out with style and grace. She turns her back on her three years of fame and heads towards domesticity and a brand new family life. Mary had made the album she had always wanted to make and felt she had little left to prove. To herself or to others. This would be her last album for many years. She concludes: “I’m very black and white, and I thought I don’t want to compromise any more, as I had done in the past, and this coincided with getting married, and so I decided to stop, and more or less leave the business.”
‘Kew Gardens’ “It’s a beautiful little narrative,” says Mary of this Ralph McTell song cut during the album sessions and issued as the B-side to ‘Let My Name Be Sorrow’. “I loved recording the harmonies for this. We replicated the ones that we had heard on the demo version.”
‘When I Am Old One Day’
Also from the album sessions. Written by Harvey Andrews, and found on his Writer Of Songs LP. “I thought this was adorable,” said Mary. “The quirkiness of it, and the poignancy.”
‘Let My Name Be Sorrow’
Mary’s penultimate single for Apple Records, issued in June 1971 and written by Martine Habib & Bernard Estardy. Tony: “We were trying out this big full, orchestral sound (with Richard Hewson as arranger). But for Earth Song / Ocean Song we adopted a simpler approach.” Says Mary about her choice of ‘Let My Name Be Sorrow’: “That’s the Welsh in me. There’s something rather lovely about dark tones, and minor keys.”
- Tony Visconti
- Recorded at
- AIR / Advision
- Released (UK)
- Released (US) | <urn:uuid:9cc5df7e-b25d-470b-bd08-8773ef4b602c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://applerecords.com/albums/Earth_Song_Ocean_Song | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982999 | 3,084 | 1.75 | 2 |
The belief that when a camera takes my image it captures my soul is far from being a prerogative of indigenous peoples. Most criticism of video surveillance, user profiling, and data mining in general follows a similar pattern: the duplication of the self, the materialization of spirit, the manifestation of the soul in the image of the subject is an attack on its integrity and originality. That is what makes the society of control so scary. In an economy based on ‘imaginary property,’ the image both becomes subjected to processes of design and designs processes of subjectivization. Maybe taking an image is like falling in love, stealing the soul instead of the heart: giving what cannot be stolen to one who cannot receive the stolen good. With digital technologies supposed to produce identical copies, the deceptive and thievish nature of images has become a matter of fact. The soul resides below the noise margin ignored by the system. The soul that is stolen in the image that is taken is the difference that is repeated.
Florian Schneider is a filmmaker based in Munich. He has contributed to a wide range of projects dealing with the theoretical and practical aspects of borders, border regimes and border crossings.
PALAZZO DELLE POSTE, VIA S.S. TRINITA’ 27, I-38100 TRENTO, ITALYmore | <urn:uuid:8434e494-ee5a-4226-9845-1f77e6f8d6a7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.manifesta7.it/artists/493 | 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 | 0.940089 | 278 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Thousands gear up for a mud bath
August 26, 2010
Around 18,000 cycling fans are ready to pedal over a mountain range in eastern Norway this weekend, and hope they won’t get sick like last year. It’s time for the annual Birkebeinerrittet, a gruelling test of endurance and discomfort that surprisingly many are willing to take.
Others may feel pressured into riding Birkebeiner, maybe cause their employers have mounted huge teams and participation is expected, or maybe because their buddies are doing it. No one wants to be considered a wimp.
Last year’s race, though, resulted in an estimated 20 percent of all participants getting sick. Conditions were wet and muddy, and officials later determined that most of those who fell ill with severe stomach trouble probably had ingested mud or dirty water along the way. The Birkebeiner route runs through large open grazing areas, and mud or water from puddles can contain animal excrement.
Organizers this year are cautioning all riders to “take precautions.” The weather forecast is poor, with rainfall expected, so the route can once again be muddy and hazardous.
“There have been just as many sheep in the area as last year,” warned Tone Lien, leader of the Birkebeinerrittet. “We can’t chase away all the sheep in the mountains.” She has advised installing fenders on bikes and urges riders to spit out their first drink from a water bottle, because dirt and bacteria may have gathered on the bottle top.
Registration for the race sold out quickly despite last year’s sickness and riders like Ludvig Aasen Ouren don’t seem worried. “No, I’m not going around being worried about getting sick,” he told birkebeiner.no. “When you’re cycling out in the field you get dirty and muddy no matter what. If you get sick, you get sick.”
Riders from around the world
Saturday’s race follows a 94.6-kilometer route similar to the annual ski race of the same name, from Rena in the eastern valley of Østerdalen and west over the mountains to Lillehammer. There’s also a preliminary race on Friday, Fredagsbirken, which has attracted around 7,000 participants.
Riders are coming from every county in Norway, with the majority from Akershus (3,774) and Oslo (3,296). A total of 54 riders are traveling all the way from Finnmark in northern Norway to take part.
The race also has attracted riders from 37 countries other than Norway, from Australia (9) to China (2) and the US (34). Denmark has the most participants after Norway, with 171 registered, followed by Sweden with 149 and Great Britain with 45.
Oil company Shell has the largest group of employees in the race (262). Other companies with lots of employees taking part include Norcem, Adecco, NorgesGruppen, Nortura and Volkswagen.
Newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) reported Thursday that the race has become big business, not just for organizers but for all the sporting goods retailers who have sold equipment. With the average bike in the Birkebeinerrittet costing NOK 20,000 and many up to NOK 50,000, DN estimated that around NOK 560 million worth of bicycles and other sports gear will be rolling over the mountains. | <urn:uuid:cbb890cd-c3c4-4770-8aff-1e37e32fcbae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newsinenglish.no/2010/08/26/thousands-gear-up-for-a-mud-bath/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953279 | 745 | 1.828125 | 2 |
How to Support Local Business: Buy Sheepskin Slippers Made in the USA
Submitted by: The Sheepherder
(OPENPRESS) January 14, 2012 -- As the economy in the United States continues to rebound following the downturn of 2008, more and more customers are turning to local business for gifts and products. Supporting a small local business and products made in the USA is a small step that the average person can make to help stimulate the economy on a personal level. When you're shopping for gifts this winter season, take a moment to review the fully made in the USA sheepskin products by The Sheepherder in Alma, Colorado. For more information about the sheepskin coats and leather vests by The Sheepherder, visit the online store at www.thesheepherder.com.
The Sheepherder is a sheepskin clothing and garment store located in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Diane Blessing has been handcrafting shearling outerwear and sheepskin slippers out of her shop in, Colorado since 1989. Every Sheepherder item is handmade by Diane herself, insuring that you have a one-of-a-kind item that is made with impeccable quality and attention to detail.
All the sheepskin products by The Sheepherder are manufactured by hand, in store, from sheepskin harvested in the United States. All Sheepherder sheepskin products are 100% 'Made in the USA' from beginning to end. Starting with the sheepskin hides, the top-quality shearling comes from domestic sheep raised in the Rocky Mountain States. These sheep are raised commercially for their meat and the hides are a valuable by-product which is tanned and processed in the United States. The buttons on a Sheepherder sheepskin vest or coat are made from antlers which are shed annually by deer and elk. They are handmade and each set is truly one of a kind.
This custom, personal attention is what sets a Sheepherder garment apart from any other sheepskin apparel you may find. This is not a big-box sheepskin jacket or imitation sheepskin vest. What you receive from The Sheepherder is true, genuine sheepskin that is handcrafted to fit your specifications for color, fit and style.
One of the most popular made in the USA sheepskin products by The Sheepherder are the sheepskin slippers. Keep your toes toasty with custom sheepskin slippers from The Sheepherder, which are made of genuine shearling. These shearling slippers happen to make perfect gifts for both adults and children, and are guaranteed to bring a smile to your child's face. When you order from The Sheepherder, you know that you're getting exactly what you pay for: quality, comfort and durability in a stylish, authentic sheepskin slipper. Place your order today and get Sheepherder real shearling slippers for the whole family.
Sheepherder shearling slippers come in two styles: a traditional sheepskin slipper and a scuff, slip-on sheepskin slipper, both of which are available in men's and women's sizes. We also have a children's sheepskin slipper design, which comes in a variety of colors that are perfect for both boys and girls. Plus, our sheepskin slippers are custom-designed and hand-sewn to suit each individual wearer, based on individual size and color specifications, which means each and every product is unique and made especially for you. Our sheepskin slippers are one of our best-selling items, so don't wait to order yours!
The Sheepherder is not a factory or a chain retailer. This store is not a third-party retailer. The Sheepherder is run by an actual person in a store, creating your sheepskin vision and listening to your requests. Contact The Sheepherder any time to speak to Diane about your garment, or stop by the store to witness your sheepskin outerwear being created. Call 719-836-3383 or visit www.thesheepherder.com for more information. | <urn:uuid:44e26847-ab3b-4b56-bbbf-89e0b6cc775f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theopenpress.com/index.php?a=press&id=128269 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955273 | 837 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Markets, Festivals, & Fairs
Food Fresh from Maine Farms
In Maine as in the nation, farmers' markets are booming. Small scale farmers are benefiting from the growing interest in healthy, organic food and the increasing desire many people share to cut energy use by eating what's local and seasonal. They're also a place to find oddball or heirloom veggies and all sorts of Maine-made products not available at standard grocery stores. Producers who go on to culinary fame often start at a farmers' market, before they can afford another retail outlet. Stonewall Kitchens, for instance, began this way.View all Maine Farms, Farm Tours, Farm Stand & Farmer's Market or Agricultural Attractions.
Maine Farmer's Markets are Thriving
In Maine, the number of farmers' markets has jumped from 26 in 1990 and 54 in 2000 to at least 63 now--and that number tells only part of the success story, says Deanne Herman, marketing manager for the State Department of Agriculture and its farmers' market liaison. Not only are there more markets ``but more farmers are participating in many of them with a wider range of crops and a longer growing season, and with more attractive displays," she says. The markets have become so wide-ranging that, from June to October, patrons can do most of their food shopping here. The quality is so high that some of the state's best chefs patronize them regularly. It is Maine at its purest and freshest. For more about farmer's markets visit the State Department of Agriculture's website.
Crystal Spring Farm Farmer's Market
Some say that on a sunny day, a visit to Crystal Springs Farm farmers' market in Brunswick can seem like being at a weekly block party. Visitors to the market, held every Saturday, are often entertained by a man who plays a saw or a bagpipe. Vendors sell maple butter, alpaca yarn, heirloom tomatoes like the Black Prince and the Green Zebra, Romano beans, Pattypan squash, purple potatoes, and all sorts of herbs and flowers. There's turkey sausage and locally-raised beef, organic eggs, jams, pickles, scones, pies, goat cheese, Afghani naan and hummus, Chinese pot stickers, and much more.
Keough Family Farm
Richard Keough, of the Keough Family Farm in Hebron, sells lettuce he will pick on the spot, lopping off the tops of potted butterhead or red romaine or royal oak leaf as you watch. Breadmaker Barak Olins sells loaves he bakes in a barn in South Freeport. He made his own tools, grinds his own organic flour, and uses wood from his land to fire the brick oven.
Pick Your Own--A Maine Farm Tradition
Some farms offer opportunities to pick-your-own: blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, apples, pumpkins, flowers and some vegetables. Find participating "pick your own" farms and the produce you can pick there.
Foragers & Wild Edibles
A contingent of foragers harvests indigenous Maine specialties such as fiddlehead ferns, all sorts of seaweed, various mushrooms, herbs and more, which add a wild taste to the state's culinary offerings. The Maine Mycological Association invites newcomers to join its mushroom forays. | <urn:uuid:4b3ca595-1fb4-4f74-81a6-37b778241b75> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.visitmaine.com/restaurants/markets_festivals_fairs/?font-size=10&_print=1&slidebar=open | 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 | 0.953547 | 691 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Israeli ministerial committee: Let parents vote on nationwide textbook plan
Proposal would replace purchase of books with annual 'borrowing' fee.
The Ministerial Committee for Legislation is supporting a bill to let parents decide whether they want to implement a nationwide plan to reuse textbooks in school.
The committee announced Sunday its support for a bill requiring all schools to hold a vote among parents on a program that would supply children with required schoolbooks at the beginning of the year - and collect them again at year-end. The program would cost parents a yearly sum of NIS 280 for primary schools and NIS 320 for high schools.
According to the proposed bill, 60 percent of the parents in each school must support the plan in order for it to be implemented locally.
The plan would be administered by the Education Ministry, which has created a logistical unit to help schools implement the program, if it is approved. It has also allocated NIS 120 million for the project.
According to ministry data, parents of primary school children are required to pay a yearly sum of NIS 600-800 for schoolbooks. Parents of junior high and high school students pay between NIS 1,000 and NIS 1,200.
The high cost of schoolbooks was one of the issues addressed by the Trajtenberg Committee, which called on the government to "increase the supervision and regulation concerning schoolbook prices ... and create an enforcement unit in the Education Ministry that would supervise schoolbook prices in bookstores, while creating an effective model to price schoolbooks."
The Education Ministry has already established a program for borrowing schoolbooks, but to date it has not been particularly successful, with only 900 schools participating in the project.
Critics of the current arrangement say that schools have largely tended to ignore the program because it is too much of a hassle - the books arrive too long after the beginning of the school year and are usually worn out.
According to the Trajtenberg Committee, the schoolbook market is worth NIS 800 million a year. The Education Ministry does approve schoolbook prices, but does not effectively enforce the prices at bookstores, it says. Some 42 major publishers and 30 smaller publishing houses print 4,500 different schoolbooks approved by the ministry.
"The market is characterized by demand caused by parents who have no choice but to purchase the books required by the schools," the Trajtenberg Committee wrote, "with every household spending NIS 600-800 a year on schoolbooks."
According to ministry officials, a tender for purchasing books in a supervised manner failed because publishers had no interest in submitting offers, due to a projected decrease in profits. Following this failure, the ministry decided to expand the plan for borrowing schoolbooks. | <urn:uuid:38575c5c-36f7-43d4-9d72-85b4b6b73f00> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israeli-ministerial-committee-let-parents-vote-on-nationwide-textbook-plan-1.427191 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967541 | 554 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Construction at 'Berg
Hillel/Sociology & Anthropology (HSA)
The history of Jewish life at Muhlenberg College is rich and unique. At times when other academic institutions openly discriminated against Jewish students, Muhlenberg’s religious values fostered not only tolerance, but an embrace of all students. That history has created the unique Jewish community that exists at Muhlenberg College today.
Together with Hillel staff and student leadership, the College administration has created a vision for a renovation and expansion of the existing Hillel House that incorporates a magnificent addition, including a Shabbat Dinner Hall with seating for over 300, a dedicated sanctuary, an institutional kitchen, a student-designed lounge and additional student and staff office space.
The Sociology and Anthropology department will also experience a great deal of change as it moves to a new location. By 20ll, Sociology and Anthropology faculty and staff will be housed on the same floor. This expansion will allow Muhlenberg College to feature current faculty and student research as well as showcase the department's collection of primate and human evolution skeletal casts.
The new space also includes a smart classroom with computer and laboratory facilities as well as an updated resource room for small conferences and meetings. Members of the department looks forward to providing more opportunities for independent student research and active learning and enhancing our collaborations with different academic and student life departments across campus | <urn:uuid:6a24282c-5a6d-4caa-a2ab-117f3e6883ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.muhlenberg.edu/main/aboutus/construction/hsa/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942469 | 290 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Cynthia Lefever didn't get a chance to see her son Army Specialist Rory Dunn before he shipped out to Iraq on 24 hours’ notice in March 2004. The strapping, gregarious athlete—six feet three and broad shouldered, with mischievous brown eyes—had enlisted two years earlier, when construction jobs started drying up in the Seattle area. “I was really upset,” says Cynthia, 57. She knew the war in Afghanistan was escalating and an invasion of Iraq seemed imminent. “Naturally, as a mother, I was afraid for his safety and welfare,” she says. “But he was making an adult decision. I supported it.”
Three months after Rory’s deployment, on his 22nd birthday, Cynthia was sitting in her family room in Renton, Washington, composing an e-mail to him that included birthday greetings from his friends and relatives, when the phone rang. It was Rory’s captain, calling from Fort Drum, New York. The officer delivered his news with a shaky voice: a pair of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) had blown up Rory’s Humvee while he and his unit were on escort duty near the city of Fallujah. Shrapnel from the simultaneous blasts had pierced the unarmored vehicle. The captain offered few details about the incident, which killed Rory’s best friend and another soldier with them in the Humvee. But he did explain that Rory had suffered an open-head injury and was “critically wounded.”
Cynthia went into emergency mode. She held her emotions in check while she went looking for a pencil and paper, then returned to ask more questions: Where was he now? What exactly were his injuries? What does “critical” mean? Upstairs she could hear Rory’s stepfather, Stan Lefever, 48, arriving home from work. By the time he set down his briefcase and came downstairs, Cynthia was off the phone. She still didn’t know exactly how bad Rory’s injuries were. Crying, she turned to her husband. “Our boy,” she said. “He’s hurt.”
The next day Cynthia and Stan were on their way to a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, along with Rory’s three siblings and his biological father, Patrick Dunn, to wait for Rory to arrive from Iraq. Five days later, after doctors had stabilized Rory enough to move him, he was carried into the Landstuhl hospital on a stretcher. The only thing Cynthia recognized was the bottoms of his size-12 feet. His right eye was gone, and the left one was swollen. Sixty staples held his scalp together. A surgeon told Cynthia, who is Catholic, that Rory probably wouldn’t survive. Despite this, she refused to let a priest administer last rites. Instead, knowing the blast had rendered him nearly deaf, she bent over the bedside with her lips near his ear. “This is your mother,” she shouted. “You will not die. Don’t you dare die.”
* * *
At that moment, Cynthia became one of a growing number of parents who are, by necessity, stepping back into the role of caregiver for their children who are returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with debilitating and often long-term injuries. According to officials from three national organizations—the Wounded Warrior Project, The Military Family Network, and the Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes— an estimated 10,000 recent veterans of these conflicts now depend on their parents for their care. Working unheralded, these parents have quit jobs, shelved retirement plans, and relocated so they can be with their injured sons and daughters. Many have become warriors themselves, fighting to make sure this new wave of injured veterans gets the medical care and rehabilitation it needs. | <urn:uuid:64a28f6f-7d73-4772-a80d-5eef28ca2f7c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aarp.org/relationships/caregiving/info-05-2008/iraq-vets-when-wounded-vets-come-home.1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987267 | 828 | 1.625 | 2 |
The Young and the Restless
The unfortunate side effects of religious pressures to marry too soon
Hard-to-marry-off children have been worrying parents since Genesis, when Leah, her eyes tender from the sadness of being unwanted, took part in a hoax to trick Jacob—her younger, prettier sister’s suitor—into marrying her. There’s no indication of how old Leah was at betrothal, but the tone of the text prompts a mortifying thought: Had she lived in our time, the future matriarch of the Jewish people would likely be another tough case for the matchmakers.
Or so I surmised a few months ago after a crowded Upper West Side panel on what has come to be known as the “shidduch crisis” in Modern Orthodoxy. Over the past decade, rabbis, activists, and parents have been wringing their hands over the “ever-burgeoning number of religious singles and rising percentage of failed marriages” in the community. This event was only the most recent of many discussions devoted to the topic. Having once been both single and Modern Orthodox, I recognized many of the audience members—not exact faces, of course, but types: The knitted-browed parents, bantering anxiously among themselves; the fresh-faced Stern and Yeshiva University students who seemed too young to take the bus themselves, let alone join in holy matrimony; a handful of older singles brave enough to show their faces at such a gathering. The evening’s discussion traversed a lot of ground, but it was clear that among its primary goals was the prevention of those too-often-seen tragic situations—”marriages that end, God Forbid, in divorce,” and “people who are in their late 20s, even 30, and not married.”
The timing could not have been better, or worse: Three days earlier, I had signed divorce papers; six days later, I turned 30.
Of course, the world is filled with singles wishing to be part of doubles. Since the fate of every society turns on the success or failure of its particular set of mating rituals, each one develops its own specialized system of coupling. But what happens when those rituals erode?
This is the bind in which Modern Orthodoxy has lately found itself. Over the past decade, the movement has drifted to the right—adopting, along the way, the belief that greater stringency in Jewish law and ritual equals greater religiosity. Distinctions that might seem infinitesimal to an outsider—”she’s a Bais Yaakov girl,” “he wears a kipa sruga“—have become fundamental differences, and competitions have sprouted up over who follows which obligations most strictly. Along with new perspectives on the legality of singing in the shower and smoking cigarettes on Passover, there also has emerged a more exacting code of modesty and celibacy for singles. In response, ever younger people have begun racing to the chuppah, with many of us discussing potential mates as early as high school.
This is the system used successfully by the ultra-Orthodox, who place more emphasis on God, family, and community than on individual choices: Each person has confidence in her mate not only because he is right for her, but because he is right for everyone and everything in her life. On the other end of the spectrum, the secular world offers a method based on individualism: Release yourself from everyone else’s expectations, and date as many people as it takes to find the one. The problem is that both of these opposing philosophies are now circulating in the Modern Orthodox community, and their coexistence is causing static—mixed signals, false expectations, miscommunications. The confusion might be surmountable, but muddling through it requires two things that Orthodox Jews who’d like to remain marriageable don’t have: experience and time.
The first inkling that I did not have nearly enough time to find a mate was in my junior year of yeshiva high school. We were learning about Amuka, an area in northern Israel where the prayers of people looking for their basherts (destined partners) are, allegedly, answered, when I was seized with confusion.
“Can each person only have one bashert?” I asked.
“I think so,” said the rabbi.
“But what about a woman who remarries after her husband dies? Which one was her bashert?”
“Only God knows,” came the reply.
“What if my bashert lives in, like, Pakistan?”
“You have to just believe, Alana.”
I can’t, I thought suddenly. I don’t know enough about the world.
And with that, Amuka became my Archimedean point, the place where I stood when I inadvertently lifted my entire religious world off its axis. After this, the questions came quickly—even leading, briefly, to a period of greater observance. By the time I started my second year at Barnard, I was taking classes on other religions, had an Episcopalian best friend, and regularly attended non-Jewish campus events on Friday night, as long as I could walk to them. But as my curiosity about the larger world expanded, the atmosphere of Modern Orthodoxy contracted. I wanted to engage with the secular world—to learn about it as well as to experience it—but the same adventures that might have once been par for the Modern Orthodox course now threatened to make me an outcast.
I was too attached to religious life and thought to abandon it entirely. Instead, I made the kind of unspoken compromises with my parents (and, by extension, the community) that some people make with God: I will not go to services often, but when I do I’ll attend Orthodox synagogues; I will eat non-kosher in restaurants, but at home will abide by rules strict enough that the Rebbe could snack in my kitchen; I will avoid premarital sex, but won’t follow the laws of negiah.
This last item was, in fact, the only one for which I had an intellectual defense. I was shy and insecure about sex, and knew enough to fear its power as an obfuscating force in relationships. The more I knew, I thought, the better my chances that I wouldn’t mistake lust for love. Fooling around before marriage has, historically, not been an uncommon practice among Modern Orthodox Jews; after all, they gave the world the “tefillin date,” so named for the men who brought along their phylacteries in hopes they wouldn’t be home in time for morning prayers.
By my early 20s, the community had moved significantly to the right. People found themselves caught between rules of the old world and the kind of curiosity about sex and dating fostered in the new one. “It is bad enough to be alone, but to be not sexual is almost as bad, and the two together is terrible,” writes an anonymous Orthodox blogger. “I have had fantasies of killing myself. I have considered hiring a male prostitute and getting it over with. No, I have not tried either of those last two things, chas vishalom….To all the married people out there telling older singles that they should deny themselves, I wish I could respond ‘let he who is 34 and never been kissed cast the first stone.’”
I was 25 when I married—a bit old compared to my yeshiva classmates, but still within respectable limits. To a casual observer, Daniel might have seemed like a rebellious choice: He did not grow up Orthodox, his father is not Jewish, his last name is Scotch-Irish. But he was almost as connected to the community as I was, having just gotten out of a relationship with another Orthodox woman. He had started learning Hebrew, loved Shabbat, had relatives in Israel. And, unlike me, he had yichus, a distinguished lineage: His grandfather was a famed civil-rights lawyer and Zionist activist. He was different enough, and yet similar. After a year of dating, we wanted to move in together, but I knew this was unheard of in our circles. So I made another silent compromise: I’d marry the person of my choosing, but at an age and in a way that would be acceptable within the community.
Daniel and I married before we should have, a step that put undue pressure on a young relationship and two people still struggling to define themselves. When the marriage ruptured, so did the thin thread holding me to Orthodoxy. I became angry at the community for depriving me of my adolescence or, rather, for being too rigid to encourage it. As psychologist Naomi Mark said at the panel on the shidduch crisis that I attended, the community expects young adults to have marriage, education, and careers settled, or at least on track, by their early 20s, leaving no time to make the kind of mistakes that teach us who we are. My effort to avoid these mistakes—to experience the world but not so much that I’d be forced from the community’s safe corral—threatened to split the baby. And the baby was me.
In the end, I chose self-definition over religion. As Plato promised, the examined life is indeed fulfilling—firsthand experience of oneself trumps guesswork any day—but it’s not nearly as pretty as the brochure implies. For me, the ugliness lies not in the fact that by opening the door to all experience I’ve ushered in pain as well as joy, or because in the course of learning about myself, I’ve unearthed a few things I’d rather never have known—though both have certainly happened. What most disquiets me is the limbo. Unlike my Orthodox peers, who can be sure of the basic contours of their lives, I writhe with uncertainty: Where will I be living ten years from now? What school will my kids attend? How kosher will my kitchen be? Sometimes, the fog gets so intimidating that I start to wonder if there’s still time to go back, to abandon all this liberty and just get comfortable again. Alas, I fear all this experience has ruined me; I’ve lost too many virginities—intellectual, emotional, psychological and, well, otherwise—to mesh again with that life. Plus, as the panel proved, the community hardly needs another 30-year-old woman in need of marrying off, especially one without a younger, prettier sister to use as bait. | <urn:uuid:767bd177-7f3b-4e66-88bf-cf3220fef3c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/1488/the-young-and-the-restless | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974436 | 2,251 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Water lawns to be serviced, for a period of (15) minutes the evening before service. Remember (15) minutes is plenty. In this case less is more. An over watered lawn makes it difficult to aerate a lawn properly. If your timer is set to water in the morning, that's ok too.
Water for the next (2) days after service. This facilitates the introduction of nutrients into the root system, creating a healthier, greener, thicker looking lawn. | <urn:uuid:ab2e15ec-4dcc-494c-9e4c-11e373e00c25> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.arksaeration.com/beforeafter_service | 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 | 0.934896 | 100 | 1.515625 | 2 |
What’s New In The World Of Glass
Functional, versatile and beautiful, artisan glass sinks continue to be a popular design choice for many homeowners. They are a major focal point of the luxury bath, and are an important element in the overall concept of the luxury bath as an individualized personal retreat. We see an emphasis on inviting colors and design that speak of calm, healing, relaxation, and escape. Turquoise, just recently named the color of the year by the world-renowned authority on color, Pantone, evokes thoughts of water and sky and suggests escape to a tropical paradise. We offer several stunning sinks that include the use of turquoise including our Ocean Blown Glass Vessel Sink or our Aqua Iris Blown Glass Vessel Sink by artist Suzanne Guttman.
Architectural Glass Solutions
When the San Francisco Four Seasons Hotel wanted to elicit a sense of wonder and, at the same time, visceral familiarity, they employed an architectural glass sculpture to welcome their guests. The piece, called Sense of Residence, is a stunning array of innovative lighting and glass sculpting based on algorithms naturally occurring in nature. Glass Artists Gallery offers you architectural glass solutions that can become the foundation for your interior design’s lasting impression.
Glass Art Lighting
With Glass Artists Gallery lighting fashion fuses with function in our hand-blown glass chandeliers, sconces, shades, free standing lighting, pendants and outdoor lighting. Chandeliers have made a huge comeback, and not just over the dining room table-designers are even incorporating them into canopy beds. Handcrafted lighting is now recognized as key accessories, equally important to staging the tone in a room as wall art. Glass Artists Gallery is particularly careful about representing glass designers who understand how to work creatively with advanced lighting technologies while also engineering their pieces to meet UL requirements.
All About Glass Sinks
Glass sinks are the hottest trend in bathroom design today is the handmade glass sink—often referred to as a vessel sink—which has become the latest must-have for luxury homeowners. Our glass designers can even help you incorporate lighting from underneath and above to accentuate these stunning, one-of-a-kind pieces of glass art, which work equally well in traditional or contemporary settings. Vessel-mounted, fused, slumped, mosaic, under-mounted and hand-blown sinks have even influenced the faucet manufacturers’ designs because of their unprecedented popularity. When purchasing a glass sink from Glass Artists Gallery, you can be confident that your glass sink design is not a production house piece, but rather, an exclusive one-of-a-kind piece of art. | <urn:uuid:45f729b0-4e3a-4a47-9335-f5cb203ab3db> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.glassartistsgallery.com/?ItemGuid=90dc9d52-0282-4c8e-a616-0ac0b66a3a02&CategoryName=Sculpture&SubCategoryName=Cast&PageToDisplay=1&ReturnPage=gag_Category.aspx%3FCategoryName%3DSculpture%26SubCategoryName%3DCast%26PageToDisplay%3D1 | 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 | 0.944346 | 539 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Former coach of Greek National Football team, German Otto Rehhagel, is due to Athens in a good will mission. To help improve the crisis- and austerity-hit German-Greek relations, to boost tourism and to encourage Greeks.
According to tabloid BILD newspaper, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has assigned Rehhagel with the mission to improve the relations of the two countries and encourage tourism in Greece.
End of March Otto Rehhagel will travel to Athens for a three-day visit, where he is expected to meet with president Karolos Papoulias and Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.
Rehhagel confirmed the plan and told BILD:
“I was approached on this issue by our Chancellor Merkel. Also the president of German Football Association asked me to help. and I like to do it. Because I know, my name has a positive image in Greece. After all, we won the European Championship in 2004. Nobody believed we could do it but we did. Therefore I would like to encourage my Greek friends.
BTW: Otto Rehhagel had apparently an unpaid bill to Greek tax office: 40,000 euro income tax from the times he was offering his service to Greek National Football team. Last month, Proto Thema reported that the Greek Finance Ministry sent an info notice through the German authorities. and that Rehhagel immediately paid the outstanding debt. | <urn:uuid:0e9d24eb-64b1-48f7-9f86-3806441034e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2013/03/13/merkel-sends-otto-rehhagel-to-athens-to-encourage-greeks/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9593 | 287 | 1.578125 | 2 |
|397: Glastonbury Abbey, Somerset, England|
|Other reports | Comment on this report|
Mystery Worshipper: Miss Maniple.
The church: Glastonbury Abbey, Somerset, England.
Denomination: It is the ruin of a pre-Reformation abbey. I had come for an Anglican pilgrimage.
The building: Glastonbury Abbey is a roofless ruin set in acres of parkland and duckponds, under Glastonbury Tor. The eucharist was conducted from three blue-and-gold canopied podia, one housing the lectern, another the presiding bishop's throne, and the biggest, the altar, which was at the head of the nave. Chairs were provided behind the altar for the dozens of concelebrants and servers, and in the nave for various bewigged and gowned civic dignitaries and keen punctual people.
The neighbourhood: Glastonbury is a mecca for adherents to New Age lifestyles, and all the cafes sell semi-palatable twiggy infusions as well as more stimulating brews. At the other extreme, it is home to several ultra-protestant organizations. For this one day of the year it is buzzing with Anglicans who like dressing up.
The cast: Principal celebrant and preacher: the Rt Rev. David Thomas, Provincial Assistant Bishop, Church in Wales. There were six other robed bishops, including the Bishop of Bath and Wells, in whose patch we were. He and David Thomas wore their own gold brocade costumes, and the five others wore uniform white mitres with green and gold tassels dangling between their shoulder blades. There were dozens of concelebrants in uniform white chasubles with red orphreys, some looking a bit sheepish.
What was the name of the service?
The Glastonbury pilgrimage: the holy eucharist in honour of Christ the King.
How full was the building?
There were several hundred people in the nave and scattered throughout the ruins. I have seen many more people here in the past.
Did anyone welcome you personally?
There were six fierce women in a tent, charging £3 for entry. They were deep in conversation with each other. Welcoming and smiling were clearly not part of their brief. One was wearing cassock and cotta at 10.00am, though the day was warm and ceremonies were not due to begin before noon.
Was your pew comfortable?
There were none. I had my own groundsheet to sit on, the grass being damp. The more stylish pilgrims had folding garden chairs. I spotted one shooting stick, though he who was perched on it was not particularly tweedy in appearance.
How would you describe the pre-service atmosphere?
Everybody was talking, or watching the extras parading about in their most ostentatious frills.
What were the exact opening words of the service?
"Mr Mayor, Right Reverend Fathers, Fathers..."
What books did the congregation use during the service?
The £3 admission fee included a closely-typed 28-page instruction and service booklet, covering eucharist, procession, evensong and benediction.
What musical instruments were played?
Organ. The rest of the music was done via karaoke. There was a small, good adult choir sitting in front of the north transept, who had pre-recorded themselves, and who then sang along with the recording. It was quite effective, although some of the hymns were unfamiliar to most of the congregation.
Did anything distract you?
The relentless fussing of becassocked, becottaed laymen, some of whom were making repeated and urgent mutterings into electronic communications devices. Some wore medallions on ribbons, others colour-coded badges, and a very select few, dark glasses and cross-wise braid bands. Speculation was rife around me as what all this was for, and so it became doubly intrusive. Rather less disturbing was the repeated cutting out of the PA system during the prayer of consecration. The row of portaloos rather spoilt the view of the Abbot's Kitchen. Our Lady of Glastonbury was shouldered in on a litter, and from my position, looked as though she had a sack of coal over her shoulder. A closer inspection revealed that she was leaning on a small tree, probably the Glastonbury Thorn.
Was the worship stiff-upper-lip, happy clappy, or what?
Stratospherical Anglo-Catholicism. Plenty of ritual, at least 15 in the serving team. However, the servers were so well drilled that they were remarkably inconspicuous. There were a few grave and graceful girls in the team. Two thuribles puffed away, but struggled to gas even those close to as the breeze was so strong.
Exactly how long was the sermon?
On a scale of 1-10, how good was the preacher?
In a nutshell, what was the sermon about?
Christ is King, though not yet victorious. To ensure his victory, we must look for the King where we might not expect to find him, in the hungry, the poor, and the oppressed, all of whom we are by our baptism bound to serve.
Which part of the service was like being in heaven?
A man's beautiful voice from the choir intoning Psalm 93 brought complete stillness to this huge congregation, and so generated the most numinous couple of minutes of the day.
And which part was like being in... er... the other place?
The moment when the laymen realized that the Bishop of Bath & Wells had neglected to remove his mitre for the Gospel. They whispered, nudged, pointed and flapped, and then one made sure it came off. At least the Bishop was concentrating on the veneration and then reading of the Gospel.
What happened when you hung around after the service looking lost?
This was not appropriate. It was 2.00pm, tummies were rumbling and the picnics were being spread on the grass.
How would you describe the after-service coffee?
No coffee was provided and we had made our own arrangements. My hamper was well filled, the wine was chilled, the grass comfy and the company splendid.
How would you feel about making this church your regular (where 10 = ecstatic, 0 = terminal)?
This isn't a church in the usual sense. I hope to be a pilgrim at Glastonbury again in the future.
Did the service make you feel glad to be a Christian?
Oh yes! It was wonderful to see so many people, of all sorts and conditions, coming together to honour Christ the King, and to share in the eucharist. The atmosphere of celebration and enjoyment was tangible.
What one thing will you remember about all this in seven days' time?
Everyone roaring the hymns out, whether they could sing or not. It didn't matter today. | <urn:uuid:b94fc3c4-b316-4054-8bea-afe2c34988e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.shipoffools.com/mystery/2001/397Mystery.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981653 | 1,463 | 1.625 | 2 |
Bottom line: Jesus advises us to make the best of a difficult situation - like the dishonest steward did.
I would like to begin by telling you about a video that inspired thousands of people. Maybe you saw it. The video shows a young man playing a guitar for Pope John Paul II when he visited Los Angeles. This man is very different kind of guitar player. He has no arms, yet he uses his toes to make marvelous music. The young man's name is Tony Melendez. When his mom was pregnant with Tony, she took a prescription drug called thalidomide. It caused her son to be born without arms. Tony's mom was devastated, but she was not defeated. She put an enormous amount of energy into her son and he responded by developing a wonderful talent for music. Tony and his mom made the best of a very difficult situation.
Today's Gospel tells about a man who also found himself in a difficult situation. Unlike Tony, it was completely his own fault. He had been cheating, cooking the books and his supervisor decided to do an audit. Well, the books were not the only thing that was cooked. The dishonest steward was finished. But instead of attempting to flee, he acted decisively. He used his remaining opportunities to win some friends. Now, we need to understand that in Jesus' day a steward had more latitude than someone in middle management today. The steward had to show a profit, but he could also use the administration of his master's resources to procure personal benefits. For example, he could raise or lower an interest rate - as long as he brought in earnings for his master. Anyway, what is clear is that the master praises him for his adroitness. And he advises us to also use money so that the poor will welcome us into eternal life.
The dishonest steward acted boldly - and so should we. A lot of times people tell me they feel stymied and powerless - either because of something someone else has done or because they have made a mess of things. Or they simply feel that life has dealt a losing hand. When I encounter someone who is frustrated, I try to give them the advice that Mother Teresa gave her sisters when they felt down. She would tell them, "Get out with the people." I've been a priest for thirty-five years and I can guarantee you that no matter how bad you feel about your life, there is someone close-by who is worse off than you. The dishonest steward didn't curl up into a ball. He acted decisively.
The dishonest steward reminds us of something that is deep in our Catholic tradition. Back in the fourth century St. John Chrysostom said: "Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs." The Catechism of the Catholic Church quotes this statement of St. John Chrysotom in its section on "Love for the Poor." The Catechism reminds us that when we give to the poor we should not think we are doing something "noble" and "kind." The Catechism does not use the "charity" to speak about sharing with the poor. It uses the word "justice." What we have does not ultimately belong to us. We are administrators - stewards of God's gifts. Like the dishonest steward, when we give to the poor, we are assuring that someone will welcome us into eternal life.
Now, I don't recommend that you give all your money to the first guy standing at stoplight. Jesus praised the dishonest steward because of his "prudence." I know this is going to sound self-serving, but it really isn't: the most prudent thing we can do is to give the first five percent of our income to our parish. The parish, after all, provides the most basic services: the celebration of the sacraments and religious education. After you have set aside a part of your earnings for the support of your parish, the next five percent can then go to other charitable needs, like the Missions, Catholic schools, Catholic radio and pro-life organizations such as Birthright. In that way you will fulfill the Biblical norm of tithing, giving the first ten percent to the Lord. Of course, we should never think, "Well, I gave my tithe. The rest I can use as I please." No, it all belongs to God. We are stewards of his gifts.
When it comes to stewardship of God's gifts, a lot of people feel inadequate. I know how you feel because I am also inadequate. But do not let that feeling prevent you from giving all you have got. Be like Tony Melendez or like the steward in today's Gospel. Make the best of a difficult situation. Jesus assures us that if we are trustworthy with small things, he will give us greater responsibilities. He will give us what we need to be good and prudent stewards.
From Archives (25th Sunday, Year C):
Seapadre Homilies: Cycle A, Cycle B, Cycle C
Bulletin (Ominous Number of Donors, Fulcrum, John XXIII Mass at Holy Family) | <urn:uuid:67291852-2ea2-4cd7-862a-de151c173abd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://reocities.com/Heartland/2964/homily-25sunday-c.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980946 | 1,072 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Managing Risk from a Board`s Eye View
Intensified concerns about risk management, auditing and fraud detection, and corporate governance have sensitized boards and top management teams to adopt an even more active role in the oversight of business strategy and key enterprise activities. Significant regulations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and the Patriot Act have further raised the stakes.
The failure to meet the required attestations, the unintended violations of privacy and confidentiality, or the heightened vulnerabilities to identity thefts are likely to invite adverse reactions from regulators and from the stock market. As business technology becomes embedded in core organizational processes, control systems and decision support systems, it is vital that boards appreciate the material risks due to technology and understand the risk-mitigation strategy.
An enterprisewide perspective is needed to guide the use of business technology in implementing effective, economical enterprise risk management systems that facilitate both management control and performance auditability. With greater complexity in the processes and structures for managing business technology (as a result of outsourcing, offshoring, and applications and Web site hosting, for example), there is a need for more sophisticated models of enterprisewide risk assessment that factor in not just the internal risks, but also the risks inherent in sourcing and external partnering.
Boards and top management teams must provide active oversight over the impact business technology risks have on the business, and ensure the effectiveness of the governance systems in mitigating these risks. Boards must remain vigilant, always looking at both the business and technology sides of their organizations.
Dr. Leslie Willcocks, professor in technology work and globalization at the London School of Economics, observes many companies, and has a deep understanding of the risks they face and how well they manage them. According to Willcocks, one of the most common risk-related issues organizations face is strategic in nature, caused by a disconnect between technology and the business. He explains:
A frequent problem I see is that the business doesn’t understand how technology can be used. They don’t have a technology view of their business. People very often accuse IT people of not being business-focused. But I think there’s an alternative accusation: Business managers and business strategists don’t really have a technology view of their business, and yet this stuff is absolutely in the skeleton of the operation. It’s a two-way thing, and quite frequently, technology gets blamed for things that business people are not actually doing themselves.
Strategic risk refers to the vulnerabilities companies face because of poorly envisioned or executed business strategies. Within business technology management, the focus is on risks at the intersection of business technology and business strategy. Regulatory compliance refers to corporate adherence to different regulatory expectations related to financial reporting and data management. Poor regulatory compliance invites liabilities of civil or criminal punishment and shareholder lawsuits. Other forms of risk include systems and sourcing risks. Although business and technology executives are likely to manage those forms of risk, the management of strategic risk and regulatory compliance must reside at the board level.
The following strategic risks must be managed at the top:
• Business model risk refers to the robustness of the business model and how well it is being executed.
• Competitive risk pertains to the ability to sustain competitive action and retaliation.
• Investment risk relates to the ability to manage business technology spending in a business environment in which capital is scarce and technologies are volatile, expensive and not easily understood.
• Integration risk refers to the risks of inadequate integration between business technology investments and business processes.
• Misalignment risk pertains to inadequate alignment between business technology spending and business priorities.
• Governance models risk relates to the risks of inadequate participation and involvement of business and technology executives on key business technology management decisions.
The management of regulatory compliance has always been an area of board oversight. However, the strategic importance of information and the nature of current business technologies have raised the stakes regarding the privacy, security and confidentiality of information. In particular, there is heightened sensitivity to safeguarding not just sensitive corporate transaction data, but also data about customers, employees and business partners.
The pervasiveness of business technologies has made it far easier for unauthorized pilferage of such information and data. In addition, with heightened concerns about terror, regulations increasingly compel organizations to furnish more data than before. The management of compliance requires attention to the following:
• prevailing regulations;
• maintaining and protecting data about transactions, customers, employees, and business partners;
• alerting stakeholders about incidents of unauthorized access;
• providing the affected stakeholders with assistance;
• the potential for economic sanctions and the threats to business continuity due to noncompliance;
• effectiveness with regard to managing data in conformance with the regulations and stakeholder expectations; and
• the cost of responding to the compliance expectations.
Faisal Hoque is chairman and CEO of BTM Corporation. BTM innovates business models and enhances financial performance by converging business and technology with its unique products and intellectual property. © 2008 Faisal Hoque | <urn:uuid:460e4c1e-4a88-4a73-9c7d-d57773c77dfa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.baselinemag.com/print/c/a/Business-Intelligence/Managing-Risk-from-a-Boards-Eye-View/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949305 | 1,035 | 1.625 | 2 |
The City of Knowledge sees itself as a manager of knowledge and a creator of synergies among various institutions. This task has a final goal: to promote in our environment a sustainable human development model whose raw material is scientific and humanistic knowledge, as well as dialog between cultures.
The Foundation's Academic Department is the compass that guides the City of Knowledge toward that goal. The Academic Department team works on consolidating relationships between the academic and entrepreneurial sectors, so as to achieve those knowledge transfers, but also as a specific attempt at attracting and organizing training and research programs with excellence and academic innovation, ensuring their quality, promoting such bonds between organizations, and identifying opportunities for development in these areas for Panama.
There are already various high-quality research centers and academic programs in place at City of Knowledge, and there are courses, seminars, practical workshops, sabbaticals and internships. In addition, the Academic Department facilitates logistics between them and promotes a constant exchange between our visitors and affiliates, as well as with those organizations that usually collaborate with our Foundation. Besides, the Academic Department fosters and develops projects of its own, such as CIDES, aiming particularly at an interconnection of experiences and knowledge transfer.
Learning is more than a right. It is the option for those who are committed to the future. | <urn:uuid:77622393-51b0-4d68-82f0-9ed7325a5cce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ciudaddelsaber.org/foundation/academic-department | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97439 | 263 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Hillary Clinton downplays possible run for U.S. president in 2016
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who came tantalizingly close to winning the Democratic presidential nomination four years ago, played down the notion she would run again for the White House in 2016 in comments aired on Wednesday.
Clinton for the past four years has served as chief diplomat for President Barack Obama, who edged her for the party's nomination in 2008, but she is stepping down from the post. Obama was elected last month to a second four-year term as president.
Asked during an interview with ABC's Barbara Walters whether she would run for president in 2016, Clinton said: "I've said I really don't believe that that's something I will do again. I am so grateful I had the experience of doing it before."
Clinton, one of the most popular members of Obama's Cabinet and often mentioned as a potential Democratic White House hopeful in 2016, has said she will step down as secretary of state in January.
"It sounds so simple, but I've been, as you know, at the highest levels of American and now international activities for 20 years, and I just thought it was time to take a step off ... maybe do some reading and writing and speaking and teaching," Clinton told ABC.
Clinton, whose husband, Bill Clinton, was president from 1993 to 2001, was elected to the U.S. Senate from New York after her time as first lady. She mounted a vigorous effort in 2008 to become the first woman to claim either the Democratic or Republican U.S. presidential nomination, but was defeated by Obama, who became the first black president.
In the ABC interview, the 65-year-old Clinton said her age would not be a worry if she did opt to run.
"I am, thankfully, knock on wood, not only healthy, but have incredible stamina and energy," she said in excerpts of the interview published on the ABC News website. "I just want to see what else is out there. I've been doing ... this incredibly important and ... satisfying work here in Washington, as I say, for 20 years. I want to get out and spend some time looking at what else I can do to contribute."
She said in the interview that she may work in philanthropy or academia after leaving her post at the State Department.
(Reporting by Will Dunham; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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- Digg this | <urn:uuid:e230efc8-33d7-4fbb-a5a8-d7ad2f761809> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/13/us-usa-politics-clinton-idUSBRE8BC01X20121213?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FPoliticsNews+%28Reuters+Politics+News%29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986306 | 513 | 1.75 | 2 |
Tuesday 10 May 2011
Dare to Change
You have two buildings, five or more different goals, an extremely intelligent proposition, and enough brains to fill a university. What do you do? You ask Bohemia to help put you on the right track. Waag Society was first.
Waag Society develops creative technology for social innovation.
Because of their many varied projects, Waag Society has a diffuse image to the outside world. The hyperactive Waag Society is able to handle 70 projects or more a year without any problems.
Waag Society needs a unified and clear identity to be more visible and claim its central space in innovation.
Stakeholders such as project partners, governments, funders and the public.
Victor and Marco worked from the heart of the Waag Society. The first step was to conduct some extensive and in-depth sessions with key people within the Waag Society.
Then, with all employees involved, their brand essence, vision, mission and proposition were determined. Now, all Waag Society projects must comply with these appointed core values.
With the insights of Victor and Marco, they launched the so-called Big Brand Moments (BBM). Having a BBM makes it easier for a company to focus their communication. In these moments, you can talk to the press and clearly state the why and what you are working on. These projects will be put in the spotlights. In other words, these projects have the communications budget to bring them to the attention of the target group.
Strategy (vision, mission, proposition)
The BBM model is embraced by Waag Society and each year there are now more than seven projects appointed to BBM. These projects will be further supported by communications and PR. | <urn:uuid:f29202a5-7fb6-4c55-8b95-c8238d588a49> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bohemiaamsterdam.com/solutions/dare-to-change/2011/05 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933579 | 357 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Site Summary ProfileEPA ID: FLD083111005
Location: Pompano Beach, Broward County, FL
Congressional District: 15
NPL Status: Proposed: 03/19/08; Final: 9/03/08
Affected Media: Ground water
Cleanup Status: Cleanup activities are completed
Human Exposure Under Control: Yes
Groundwater Migration Under Control: No
Sitewide Ready for Anticipated Use: No
Site Reuse/Redevelopment: Site is in continued commercial use – a drop-off location for outsourced dry cleaning services is located on site
Site Manager: Barbara Alfano (firstname.lastname@example.org)
Current Site Status
The Flash Cleaners site is the location of a former dry cleaning facility that operated from 1977 to about 2001, and is now a drop-off location for dry cleaning services. EPA placed the site on the National Priorities List (NPL) in 2008 because of contaminated soil and ground water resulting from dry cleaning activities. EPA and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) have investigated site conditions and taken steps to clean up the site in order to protect people and the environment from contamination. Site contamination does not threaten people living and working near the site.
EPA is using an innovative approach to clean up the site in record time. In September 2010, EPA issued an approved cleanup plan (a Record of Decision, or ROD) to deal with site contaminants. Between April and August 2011, EPA cleaned up contaminated soil and ground water, and removed contaminated soil around the dry cleaning facility. EPA also injected organic material into contaminated ground water to speed up the natural breakdown of contaminants. Depending on results, EPA may take further action in 2014. By treating soil contamination below the former dry cleaning facility and checking ground water and surface water, EPA and FDEP continue to protect people and the environment from site contamination.
The half-acre site is located at 4131 North Federal Highway in a commercial and residential area of Pompano Beach, Florida. Ground water contamination extends into the City of Lighthouse Point, located across North Federal Highway east of the site. North Federal Highway, also known as Highway 1, separates the cities of Pompano Beach and Lighthouse Point. Stormwater drainage from the site flows to North Federal Highway storm sewers, which connect to the North Grand Canal, which connects with other canals in Lighthouse Point.
Flash Cleaners operated as a dry cleaning facility from 1977 to about 2001. The facility is a drop-off location for dry cleaning services. The site includes a rectangular building, a two-car parking lot east of the building and a driveway that connects to a back alley. The building covers about 1,790 square feet. The northwest corner of the site included a former septic tank and drain field. Most of the building’s surrounding area is paved.
During a facility inspection in 1999, FDEP staff members saw two improperly installed dry cleaning machines. Dry cleaning workers reportedly discharged wastewater to an on-site septic tank, which resulted in soil and ground water contamination.
The State of Florida referred the site to EPA after deciding it was not eligible for the state’s Drycleaning Solvent Cleanup Program. In 2008, EPA listed the site on the NPL.
Site investigations found contamination in soil and ground water from dry cleaning operations that could potentially harm people in the area. Contaminants of concern for soil include: tetrachloroethylene (also known as PCE or PERC), trichloroethylene (TCE), cis-1,2-dichloroethene (DCE) and vinyl chloride. Contaminants of concern for ground water include: PCE, TCE, cis-1,2-DCE, trans-1,2-DCE and vinyl chloride.
Site contamination does not threaten people living and working near the site or people working at the drop-off facility. Residents and businesses use the public water system for drinking water. EPA tested private irrigation wells located in the area and informed the property owners of any risks.
EPA has decided that vapor intrusion into nearby buildings is not a threat. Soil vapor can result from improper disposal of dry cleaning solvents. In January 2011, EPA sampled seven residential properties in Lighthouse Point and a condominium near the site to find any potential soil vapor impacts from ground water contaminants. While EPA found high concentrations of VOCs in soil gas samples collected on site; EPA did not detect VOCs in the soil gas samples from nearby residential properties. EPA staff members shared these results in person with residents.
Investigation and Cleanup Responsibility / Oversight
EPA, in cooperation with FDEP, leads site investigation and cleanup activities.
Site Cleanup Plan
In September 2010, EPA issued a cleanup plan (a Record of Decision, or ROD) for the site. The plan included the following activities:
- Digging up 700 cubic yards of contaminated on-site soils.
- Disposing of excavated soil in an approved off-site waste disposal landfill.
- Installing a soil vapor extraction (SVE) system to remove soil contamination beneath the Flash Cleaners building.
- Injections of organic material into ground water to speed up the natural breakdown of contaminants.
The cleanup plan also required temporary institutional controls (ICs) for ground water where contaminant levels are higher than site cleanup goals. The ICs will prevent people from coming into contact with the ground water until cleanup is complete. In addition, the cleanup plan required EPA to periodically check ground water, surface water and water located in sediment.
EPA’s Integrated Cleanup Initiative helps improve the Agency’s land cleanup programs. EPA decided that a faster cleanup was possible at the site and chose it as a 2011 Integrated Cleanup Initiative Pilot.
In 2001, the property owner pumped out and disposed of septic tank sludge off site.
EPA used an innovative approach to clean up the site in record time. EPA designed and completed the cleanup in one year.
EPA conducted soil cleanup required in the ROD between April and June 2011. Activities included digging up and disposing of contaminated soils around the Flash Cleaners building off site and installing an SVE system to remove contaminants underneath the building. The SVE system is similar to a high-powered vacuum. It continues to run on site.
EPA conducted ground water cleanup activities required in the ROD between June and August 2011. EPA installed injection wells on site, in the center of the North Federal Highway and east of the highway. EPA injected organic material into about three wells per day, Monday through Friday, to speed up the natural breakdown of ground water contaminants. EPA made approximately 80 injections.
EPA and FDEP officials formally inspected all site cleanup activities on August 23, 2011. The site’s soil cleanup system is in place and ground water injections are complete.
EPA is using federal funds to clean up the site. The site’s potentially responsible party is unable to pay for the site’s cleanup.
EPA has placed a Superfund cost recovery lien on the site property. The lien can help EPA recover some or all of its cleanup costs from the site in the future.
EPA has worked with the community and its state partner to develop a long-term cleanup plan for the site, reflecting the Agency’s commitment to safe, healthy communities and environmental protection. Community engagement and public outreach are core components of EPA program activities.
EPA has conducted a range of community involvement activities at the site to solicit community input and to make sure that the public stays informed about site activities throughout the cleanup process. Outreach activities have included public notices, interviews, information meetings on cleanup progress and activities, and door-to-door meetings with residents about site progress.
From 2008 to 2011, EPA issued six fact sheets to update the community about site investigation and cleanup activities. In August 2010, EPA hosted a public meeting to explain the proposed cleanup plan for the site. EPA also held a public comment period where the Agency accepted input on the proposed cleanup plan.
EPA will periodically check site ground water, surface water and water located in sediment.
Depending upon results, EPA may make more injections of organic material into site ground water in 2014, approximately three years after the first set of injections.
EPA continues to use the SVE system to remove contaminants underneath the Flash Cleaners building.
EPA and FDEP will continue to coordinate future efforts.
EPA keeps additional site documents and information in a site information repository at the location below. EPA also posts site documents, when available, on EPA’s CERCLIS Site Profile page. For documents not available on the website, please contact the Region 4 Freedom of Information Office.
Lighthouse Point Library
2200 Northeast 38th Street
Lighthouse Point, FL 33064 | <urn:uuid:62cdf7ae-579a-4753-a397-7a13d9d6cb2e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.epa.gov/region4/superfund/sites/npl/florida/flashclfl.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938936 | 1,826 | 1.804688 | 2 |
The marathon, in legend: 2,500 years ago a lone runner staggers into Athens, gasps out news of the Greek victory at Marathon, collapses and dies.
The marathon, in the Olympics: a handful of superhuman specimens compete in an excruciating battle of endurance.
The marathon, in San Diego: a sea of humanity — all ages and every conceivable physique — boogies for 26.2 miles, running to live music.
The San Diego Rock ’n Roll Marathon, which will have its 15th running Sunday, is more than a race. It’s a revolution, transforming what had been an event for an athletic elite into a long-distance party for the masses. While you can find some world-class runners on this course, most of the 30,000-plus participants move to a different, less-competitive, beat.
“It was the first event where you had no incentive to finish fast,” said John “The Penguin” Bingham, a veteran runner and journalist. “There were bands every mile, there were cheerleaders every mile, it was like a 26.2 mile block party. The idea that the clock was ticking was somehow not relevant at all.”
This reflects the race’s laid-back Southern California roots. But San Diego’s Competitor Group, the event’s parent company, runs dozens of Rock ’n’ Roll Marathons across the country — and, this April, held its first European races in Madrid and Edinburgh. Montreal and Lisbon will follow this September, Dublin in 2013, and Competitor is considering expanding into Asia and Latin America.
While the Rock ’n’ Roll has a few critics and endured a financial scandal in 2009, some insist it is destined to conquer the world of distance running.
“I have seen the future of our sport,” said Ryan Lamppa, media director for the nonprofit Running USA, “and this is it.”
Through most of the 20th century, marathoners were serious athletes who trained hard and expected to pound out 26.2 miles in under three hours. This rare breed focused on classic events — the Boston Marathon, say — where Porta-Potties and water stations were scarce. If they cramped or retched, hey, that’s distance running.
Really? Tim Murphy suspected the marathon could use an overhaul. Murphy was president of Elite Racing, a San Diego company that started the Carlsbad 5000 race in 1988 and the Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon in ’98.
“He had a vision,” said Bingham, the running journalist. “He thought there was a market out there for something other than running hard for hours and then puking your guts out at the finish.”
Tracy Sundlun, who was then Elite’s vice president, recalls that veteran marathoners scoffed. “They thought we were nuts,” he said.
But right out of the starting gate, this event was different. It was bigger: that inaugural race drew 20,000 entrants, then a record for a new marathon.
It was diverse: the initial field was 50 percent female.
And it dared to be fun. While some racers were intent on recording a good time, most participants were there to have a good time.
“They made the event fun and cool and hip,” said Running USA’s Lamppa. | <urn:uuid:6a85f1bf-dac0-4ab8-a51e-6c0763a0b21a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jun/02/marathoners-its-time-rock-n-roll-all-over-world/ | 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 | 0.955554 | 726 | 1.765625 | 2 |
I am very lucky; I live in Scotland, where healthcare is a fully devolved issue under the control of the Scottish parliament.
If I lived in England, though, I would be getting alarmed right now.
If you live in England (and not under a rock) you can't possibly be unaware of the Health and Social Care Bill (2011) that is working its way through parliament. Short version for foreigners: the Conservatives are unhappy to be presiding over a socialist healthcare system that works, so they've decided to break it by turning it into a single payer insurance system. Or so they say: the truth is actually rather worse.
Various medical folks have spoken out against it, including the Royal College of Surgeons, the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Nursing ... it's not a short list.
Anyway, this paper (PDF) is the lead item in the British Medical Journal today. I'm going to crib from its preamble, per Dr Ben Goldacre's blog:
"Entitlement to free health services in England will be curtailed by the Health and Social Care Bill currently before parliament. The bill sets out a new statutory framework that would abolish the duty of primary care trusts (PCTs) to secure health services for everyone living in a defined geographical area. New clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) will arrange provision of fewer government funded health services and determine the scope of these services independently of the secretary of state for health. They may delegate this decision to commercial companies. The bill also provides for health services to be arranged by local authorities, with provision for new charging powers for services currently provided free through the NHS (clauses 1, 12, 13, 17, and 49), and it will give the secretary of state an extraordinary power to exclude people from the health service. Taken together the measures would facilitate the transition from tax financed healthcare to the mixed financing model of the United States. [my emphasis] We provide an analysis of the key legal reforms that will govern policy development and implementation if the bill is enacted."
Note that the authors of this paper are a professor and a senior research fellow at one of the leading medical teaching colleges in London.
Yes, it's worse than you thought. They're not merely trying to turn the NHS into a single-payer insurance system, they're trying to turn it into a copy of the most notoriously bad private healthcare system in the world (as measured by the ratio of inputs to outcomes).
Allegations of corruption and conflict of interest surrounding the bill have not been addressed. Meanwhile, the government refuses to publish the risk register relating to the bill despite a court order to do so. Finally, if you're wondering why copying the US system at this point would be so very, very bad, read this RIGHT NOW. (TL:DR; the US insurance system is doomed, thanks to the impending arrival — within the next two years — of cheap genome sequencers. Massive insurance premium inflation will ensue. And Lansley thinks the UK should copy a system that's about to collapse ...?) | <urn:uuid:91a23137-be4c-4d6a-b1f4-65f9b462a5e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/author/charlie-stross-1/2012/03/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958137 | 625 | 1.664063 | 2 |
As our society becomes ever more utilitarian and traditions fail to be passed from one generation to the next, I tend to cling more and more to those things which give texture to daily life and which mark the days in special ways. Perhaps that is why one of my all-time favorite movies is Fiddler on the Roof. Tevye clings to tradition while his children one by one set it aside and embrace new ways. He is bewildered at it all, but in the end, he is powerless to do anything about it. I feel his angst at seeing what he holds dear put aside by the next generation. We do not know if the children put aside the religious practices of their parents or if, in their new “mixed marriages” with gentiles, communists and free thinkers, they somehow manage to practice their religious traditions. I kind of doubt it.
I feel blessed that our children like family traditions and are passing them on to their children, even though they entail planning and effort, as well as cleanup when finished. The scene in Fiddler where the family gathers around the table is for me the most poignant of the whole film. I think that is because so many of our family traditions center around sharing food, laughter and conversation around the table. Looking over thousands of family slides, pictures and movies, we have noted that they are overwhelmingly focused around the table. And many of them have not only family, but friends who have been welcomed into the family circle and who have enriched the celebrations.
When our daughter got married, she wanted a large table that would accommodate her husband’s and her own family at one time. Obviously she embraced the notion that food was to be shared with lots of people. That gives me a lot of comfort, because somehow, she “got the memo” and has made it her own.
Yesterday we celebrated the Seder. We are not Jewish, but our religious roots are certainly in Judaism, and for the last 20 or so years, we have been doing a Seder and introducing our Catholic friends to the tradition. If one listens carefully, he recognizes in the Mass many of the prayers he hears in the Seder which is not at all surprising, because Jesus was a Jew who celebrated Passover and was at such a meal on the night before He died.
I have heard more than once that it just isn’t worth all the effort it takes to do these things, but I would question what could be more important. At the end of our lives, are we going to remember the special things we did as families, or are we going to remember the countless television programs we watched or the hours we spent alone wasting time? I don’t deny the work involved–but again, it brings so much satisfaction. Everybody can work together to make these gatherings special. We bring out the china, the silver and the glasses, all which have to be hand-washed. Even the youngest children can help set the table and when everybody participates, the work is a joy. Many valuable unspoken lessons are learned in the process. When so much effort is put into the preparation, food and the table-setting, it says “this is important.”
I know our children value the tradition because two y ears ago I announced that I was retiring from doing the Seder dinners. Their response? They bought me a beautiful Seder plate, no strings attached. But what was I to do with it but host a Seder? I am glad we did and in the process, we got to know another wonderful family.
In addition, we enjoyed the extraordinary culinary talents of our guests. Who could resist a dessert like this? It was obviously lovingly made with care and attention to detail. We won’t soon forget it.
Our daughter has moved to another city and I was thrilled to hear that she took our Seder tradition with her. She introduced a whole new group of people to it, made the programs, set the table and more important, I know the tradition is safe for yet another generation!
It is a joy to see our children develop their own traditions while at the same time seeing that they value traditions from home. Those traditions give all of us a sense of who we are in ways that material things can’t. They keep us connected with one another and they all go toward creating those memories which we all cherish. The mother of my sister-in-law always says it is important to create memories because in our later years, that may be all we have. Do we want them to be richly textured and happy? If so, we have to create them while we are able and while our children’s hearts are receptive. | <urn:uuid:f668fcdb-ab67-4959-b712-e5954d6723de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blackforestmusings.wordpress.com/category/traditions/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982198 | 965 | 1.671875 | 2 |
US 6283856 B1
A method for determining the total amount bet by individual players participating in multiple spins of a roulette game at a gaming table that has a chipper machine and an intelligent table terminal. The method involves interfacing the chipper sorting machine with the table terminal, allocating a chip to a patron at the terminal, counting the number of color chips sorted by the chipper machine per color, and associating the number of color chips sorted by the machine per color with the patron. The total amount bet by that patron is then determined by mathematically linking the chip value of the color chip of the patron with the number of chips of the individual color sorted by the chipper machine in the time period in which the color chip is associated with that patron.
1. A method for determining the total amount bet by individual patrons participating in a plurality of spins of a roulette game at a gaming table fitted with a chipper machine and an intelligent table terminal, the method comprising the steps of:
interfacing the chipper sorting machine to the table terminal
allocating a patron a chip color at the table terminal
counting the number of color chips sorted by the chipper machine per color
associating the number of color chips sorted by the chipper machine per color with the patron
and determining the total amount bet by that patron by mathematically linking the chip value of the color chip of the patron with the number of chips of the individual color sorted by the chipper machine in the time period in which the color chip is associated with that patron.
2. A method in accordance with claim 1 including the step of entering the chip value at the table terminal if the color chip is not played with the default table minimum value.
3. A method in accordance with claim 1 including the step of allocating a patron not using color chips an individual value chip.
4. A method in accordance with claim 1 including the step of compensating for chips sorted but not played by reducing the number of sorted chips by a percentage.
5. A method in accordance with claim 1 including the step of storing information relating to the number of chips sorted per color and spin in a data processing system and associating time signals with any such storage information.
6. A method in accordance with claim 1 including the step of displaying the color chips on a display board indicating the value of color chips allocated to patrons on the display board.
7. A method in accordance with claim 6 including the step of offering a win calculator at the table terminal on which the number of winning chips per chance for an individual chip color or chip value are entered, and calculating the numbers of chips won and a payout based on the number of winning chips per chance, the number of chips won per chance and the chip value of the color chip using the chip value of the color chip known to the system.
8. A method in accordance with claim 7 including the step of showing some or all of the number of winning chip per chance, the number of chips won per chance, the total number of chips won, and/or the total value of chips won.
9. A method in accordance with claim 8 including the step of proposing the said payout in the form of a number of color chips and a balance in an amount of value chips, taking into account the limited number of color chips available on the table.
10. A method in accordance with claim 1 including the further step of determining the performance of the croupier from information stored in the data processing system at the start of the croupier gaming and during the croupier gaming at the table during the playing of a plurality of spins, e.g. by determining the average duration of a spin, the number of patrons, the number of color chips played or sorted.
11. A method for determining the total amount bet by individual patrons participating in a plurality of spins of a roulette game at a gaming table, in which said individual patrons play using chips having different colors, a respective color being associated with each said individual patron, there being a chipper machine for receiving chips collected by a croupier during the game of roulette and for arranging the chips according to their coloring in respective columns, from which the coupier can take stacks of a predetermined number of chips of a respective color, each chip of a particular color having an associated monetary value, the method comprising the steps of counting the total number of chips of each color passing through the chipper machine during the period each individual patron is present at said gaming table, and establishing the total monetary value of the chips of each color passing through the chipper machine.
12. A method in accordance with claim 11 and including the further step of estimating from said number of chips or from said total monetary value the total amount bet by an individual patron playing with chips of the said color.
13. A method in accordance with claim 12, wherein the step of estimating comprises the step of subtracting from the total number of chips of each color passing through the chipper machine, or from said monetary value a percentage reflecting the house rules on the breaking of stacks.
14. A method, in particular in accordance with claim 11, of determining the total win or loss by a patron participating in a game of roulette, the method comprising the steps of determining the total amount of all pay-ins made during the game by capturing at a table terminal a piece of information identifying the player, and each buy-in or drop amount irrespective of the method of payment, determining the walk amount at the end of the patron's game in the form of value chips and/or cancelled markers, and establishing the difference between the total amount of all pay-ins and the walk amount.
15. A method in accordance with claim 14, wherein pay-ins in the form of value chips are detected automatically by the change in value of a chip tray associated with the roulette table.
16. A method in accordance with claim 11 and comprising the further steps of determining when a new croupier arrives at the gaming table, summing the total amounts bet by all patrons playing at the gaming table during the period in which the new croupier is working at the gaming table with reference to the chips of all colors sorted by the chipper machine during this period, and electronically associating the sum of the total amounts bet to the croupier.
17. A method in accordance with claim 16, wherein a statistical correction is added to said sum of the total amounts bet to reflect the numbers of chips returned to the chipper machine due to the breaking of chip stacks when paying winnings to individual patrons.
18. A method in accordance with claim 16, comprising recording the sum of the total amount bet during each working period of a particular croupier for a plurality of working periods of that croupier and forming a total sum of the amounts bet over a plurality of working periods of said croupier.
In the past, an approximate determination of the individual patrons participating in a game of roulette has been effected by the pit supervisors/floor persons. These are employees of the casino who attempt to estimate the average bet of each patron, the number of games per hour and also the time each patron plays at the table, and thus the turnover, profit or loss of the individual casino visitors, through the observation of the progress of the gaming. Disadvantages of this method are the high costs of personnel and the inaccuracy of the determination of the turnover, profit or loss of patrons, the possibility of floor persons favoring one or more patrons but paying no attention to other patrons.
It is the object of the invention to avoid the disadvantages of the known systems and to set forth a method and an apparatus with which the determination of the turnover of individual patrons is possible in a reliable manner.
It is a further object of the invention to determine the win or loss of individual patrons.
It is a further object of the invention to enable the croupier performance to be assessed.
It is a yet further object of the invention to acquire the data required for assessing the patrons turnover and the croupier performance in a relatively simple and reliable manner which does not place an extreme burden on the croupier, but rather helps the croupier with complex win calculations.
Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description.
Patron Bet and Number of Games
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of estimating the total amount bet and the number of games played by an individual patron participating in a game of roulette and playing with chips of a specific nature, for example of a specific coloring or size or shape or pattern, comprising the step of counting the number of chips of that specific nature, which pass through a chipper machine associated with the game of roulette while the patron is playing.
In a preferred method of this kind for determining the total amount bet by the individual patrons participating in a plurality of spins of a roulette game at a gaming table fitted with a chipper machine and an intelligent table terminal capable of interpreting data from the chipper machine, from an electronic chip tray and from a roulette number reader, the method comprises the steps of
interfacing the chipper machine to the table terminal
allocating a patron a chip color at the table terminal
counting the number of color chips sorted by the chipper machine per color
associating the number of color chips sorted by the chipper machine per color with the patron
and determining the total amount bet by that patron by mathematically linking the chip value of the color chip of the patron with the number of chips of the individual color sorted by the chipper machine in the time period in which the color chip is associated with that patron
The invention is based on the realization that the number of chips of any particular color sorted by the chipper machine, although not actually a precise measurement of the total amount bet by the patron using that color, is nevertheless closely related to the total amount bet and can thus be used as a reliable indication of the total amount bet. The inaccuracy results from the practice of breaking stacks of chips when paying patrons their winnings, with the non-used chips being returned to the chipper machine. Since the number of chips returned in this way is statistically related to the roulette game, as will be explained later in more detail, it is readily possible to make a statistical correction to the total number of chips of any one color passing through the chipper machine in order to arrive at a total value which is a close approximation to the total amount bet by the individual patron playing with that color of chip.
Since it is possible to assess the total amount bet by each patron playing at the gaming table in this way, it is also possible to sum the total amounts bet by all patrons playing at the gaming table during the period in which a particular croupier is working at the gaming table, and thus it is possible to assess the total turnover achieved by the croupier during each working period.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of estimating the win and loss of an individual patron during his playing period on a gaming table. The concept for the win and loss capture is to capture all value movements between the patron and the table. Every buy in (drop) with bank bills or markers at the table is entered by the croupier at the table terminal and allocated to the playing position. The same applies to a partial or total pay back of a marker by a patron. The movement of value chips can be estimated by the concept of distinguishing between “play chips” and “pay chips” at the gaming-table. At roulette tables play chips are normally color chips, value chips are used as pay chips.
Whenever value chips are used as play chips for placing bets, the croupier will not handle these chips in and out of the chip tray but rather store them in stacks of twenty like he does with color chips and will handle them the same way as color chips so that they do not hit the chip tray with every spin, i.e. do not change the value of the chips in the chip tray.
Whenever a pay (value-) chip movement is detected by the chip tray, which is equipped with a system for detecting the instantaneous value of the chips on the chip tray, and thus also the change in value of the chip tray for any pay in or pay out, the table terminal prompts a screen asking to croupier to enter the playing position to which the pay chip movement belongs. The monitoring of movements of pay chips into and out of the chip tray together with the capture of all buy ins (drops) and the repayment of markers thus allows the capture of the win/loss per patron. The win loss is the patrons net buy in (drop minus repayment of markers) plus the balance of the pay chips spent and received.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of estimating the performance of a croupier at a roulette table, comprising the steps of summing, for each period the croupier is working at the roulette table, the various figures captured during each working period.
The performance figures per virtue are combined into a croupier score with a breakdown of individual scores per segment. Data are captured from every dealer work period of in average 45 minutes a dealer works at a table between breaks.
Croupier financial result—win/loss, turnover, win percentage, drop
Croupier working speed—number of spins corrected for active player positions and chips placed by patrons
Croupier attracting patrons—number of positions active: average, increasing/decreasing during work period
Croupier encouraging play—average bet (relative to table minimum): average, increasing/decreasing during work period
In order to compensate for the influence of the time of the day the performance indicators “croupier attracting patrons” and “croupier encouraging play” are relative to all other croupiers on tables at the same time.
The financial result is derived from the total amount bet by each of the patrons participating in the game of roulette during each working period, or during a fraction of that period, wherein the individual patrons play using chips having different colors, the respective colors being associated with each said individual patron, and wherein a chipper machine is provided for receiving chips collected by a croupier during the game of roulette and for arranging the chips according to their color in respective columns, from which the croupier can take stacks of a predetermined number of chips of a respective color, each chip of a particular color having an associated monetary value, the method comprising the steps of counting the total number of chips of each color passing through the chipper machine during the period each individual patron is present at said gaming table, and establishing the total monetary value of the chips of each color passing through the chipper machine.
The above information is of great interest to a casino. For example “Frequent Player Programs” are based on the theoretical casino advantage derived from the patron's bet. Alternatively, if a patron has suffered a significant loss, then the casino is interested in retaining the patron as a customer and may choose to give him a gratuity in some form as a consolation prize.
On the hand, should a patron consistently make substantial wins at a roulette table, then there is always the suspicion that the patron is participating in an unfair practice and the casino is alerted to observe a particular patron carefully.
The casino is also interested in monitoring the performance of the croupier. For example, the number of spins of the roulette wheel per working period and/or the total numbers of chips sorted by the chipper machine during each working period of a croupier is one useful indication of a croupier's performance.
The ability to determine the amount of win or loss achieved by a croupier in each working period is of significant importance to a casino to determine if the croupier is within the statistical pay-out percentage limits over a period of time.
It is known from a statistical analysis of the game of roulette, that there is a built-in house advantage which amounts to 2.7% in the case of French roulette, or 5.4% in the case of American roulette. That is to say, the average win of the casino is 2.7% of the total turnover in the case of French roulette and 5.4% in the case of American roulette. Thus a good croupier can be expected to achieve a net profit for the casino close to 2.7% for French roulette, or close to 5.4% for American roulette. If a croupier consistently achieves a lower return for the casino then there is always the suspicion that he is either not up to the job or is involved in some unfair practice, such as paying incorrect amounts to the patrons when the patrons have won, or so-called section spinning in which the croupier is able to preferentially place the roulette ball in a certain segment of numbers and pockets and thus to benefit patrons to whose attention he has directed this possibility.
The present invention provides the key to monitoring both the total turnover of the croupier and also the win or loss of the croupier and thus, the average percentage win achieved by the croupier.
However, it is not a simple matter to determine precisely the win or loss achieved by the croupier. While this might theoretically be possible by observing every spin of the wheel correctly and by full assessment of every move on the gaming table, the complications that arise would in practice at least slow down the game to such an extent that it would be less profitable, and probably also less interesting for the players. By way of example it is usual for croupiers to work for a working period of 45 minutes and to then take a 15 minute break. Whenever a croupier goes for a break another croupier will take over the running of the table. It would be highly unlikely that the amount of money on the table, i.e. the chips held by the individual patrons, is the same when the croupier starts work as at the end of his working period. Thus, the number of chips held by the patrons represents an imponderable value which prevents an accurate assessment of the win or loss achieved by the croupier during each working period. Nevertheless, the present invention recognizes that a good approximation to the total win or loss achieved by a croupier in each working period can be achieved by forming the sum of the total pay-ins by the patrons during that working period and by the change in value of the chip tray. By observing this win or loss over a fair number of working periods, for example a month, it is possible to obtain a statistically reliable assessment of the average win or loss achieved by the croupier as will later be explained in more detail.
As mentioned above, one unfair practice sometimes encountered is for a croupier to be practicing section spinning. The present invention also makes it possible to determine whether a croupier is practicing section spinning by measuring, for a plurality of spins of a roulette wheel, one or more of the following parameters and finding out if these parameters have the normal variance of the average croupier or if this croupier is spinning the wheel and ball in an over consistent pattern:
the initial speed of the ball in the rim of the roulette wheel,
the speed of rotation of the moving roulette wheel when the ball is initially launched into it, and
the relative position of the roulette wheel to the ball and to the segment of the casing in which the ball falls and by mathematically determining whether the estimation of values of the measured parameter corresponds to an expected statistical distinction or shows that a suspicious correlation exists between these values.
Furthermore, the casino management is also able, from the statistics made available by use of the present invention, to determine whether, during a period of high correlation of the said values with one croupier, one or more patrons at the gaming table enjoys with that croupier wins which are significantly higher statistically than the casino advantage for the roulette game being played.
Accordingly, it can be seen from the foregoing that the present invention provides the casino management with a variety of tools for assessing the performance of a croupier and the progress of the game of roulette at a gaming table despite the inability to precisely measure each of the factors of interest.
Further advantages and benefits of the invention will be apparent from the further claims. Moreover, the apparatus claims describe preferred apparatus for carrying out the methods described above.
The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to a preferred embodiment and to the accompanying drawings in which are shown:
FIG. 1 a schematic plan view of a gaming table equipped for the game of roulette,
FIG. 2 a schematic diagram illustrating the interfacing of the various items of the roulette table of FIG. 1,
FIG. 3 a possible screen drawing for the selection of color chips for each of the patrons,
FIG. 4 a possible screen drawing illustrating the so-called drop amount,
FIG. 5 a possible screen drawing for the association of the chip value with the color chip,
FIG. 6 a preferred screen layout of the win calculator on the table terminal,
FIG. 7 a representation of the chip value and payout display, and
FIG. 8 a table illustrating a croupier's performance measured over a period of twenty-eight working days.
FIG. 1 shows a roulette table 10 equipped with a variety of electronic modules for the collection and assessment of data concerning the patrons and the croupier.
The roulette table 10 is equipped in the usual way with a roulette wheel generally indicated at 12, a chip sorting machine 14 for sorting color chips (and value chips with newer chipping machine versions), hereinafter referred to as a chipper machine, a chip tray 16 for storing so-called value chips, and a bet placement field 18 where patrons can place their individual bets. In this example the bet placement field is configured for American roulette in as much as it has two zeros (identified in FIG. 1 as 0 and 00, in contrast to French and English roulette which has only a single 0. The roulette wheel 12 is also configured in this case for American roulette which means that the number ring will have the numbers 0 and 00 in addition to the numbers 1 through 36 as shown.
During the game of roulette, the croupier will normally occupy the position identified by 20 and the patrons or players will be arranged around the table as indicated by the reference numerals 22.
In order to practice the present invention in all its ramifications the roulette table is equipped with further items, namely a table terminal 24, a roulette number display 26, an automatic number detection system 28, a chip value and payout display 30, a drop slot 32, and optionally player stations 34. The automatic number detection system 28 can be designed in the manner described in international patent application PCT/EP95/00933 as published in the international patent publication no. WO 95/28996.
The automatic number detection system makes it possible to detect which pocket the roulette ball has dropped into and this is displayed on the roulette number display 26. The automatic number detection system 28 also has other functions which will be explained later in further detail.
The chip tray 16 is designed in the same way as the chip tray described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,618 and is thus designed to provide an electronic output of the total value of chips stored in the chip tray and to automatically register any changes in the value of the chip tray. In addition the chip tray 16 is coupled to the chip value and payout display 30 via the table terminal 24 which will be described later in further detail with reference to FIG. 7, particularly since this is an optional unit.
The table terminal 24 is configured in the preferred embodiment as a graphical screen with touch-sensitive data entry at the screen. Such screens are known per se, for example in connection with automatic cash dispensing machines. Associated with the table terminal is a card swipe 36, which permits the croupier 20 to draw or swipe an identification card of a player through the card swipe. This enables information on the card, for example relating to the identity of the player, to be entered into the central data processing unit (computer) 64 associated with the gaming table, as will later be explained with reference to FIG. 2. Should the table be equipped with the optional player stations 34 comprising a patron card reader, a display and some optional entry buttons, then these can also be used for the player to enter a card and register himself at the table. That is to say, the player stations 34, if provided, are also coupled to the computer 64 via the table terminal 24.
Finally, FIG. 1 shows a plurality of stacks 38 of color chips arrayed in front of the croupier 20 around part of the periphery of the roulette wheel 12.
Although well known to those skilled in the art, a brief description will now be given of the usual method of playing the game of roulette, in order to facilitate an understanding of the present invention.
For the sake of simplicity, we assume the casino has just opened for play, the croupier 20 is present at his position, and various players 22 have arranged themselves around the roulette table. It is usual for each player to play the game of roulette with a different color chip uniquely associated with him, so that winning and losing bets can easily be identified.
It is also usual for a minimum bet to be associated with a roulette table, i.e. the minimum amount which can be bet, which may, for example, start with $5 or more. That is to say, the minimum value which each chip can have is, say, $5. However, certain players may wish to play with higher stakes. Provision is thus made for higher values to be associated with the color chips of those players 22 wishing to play for higher stakes. In order to make sure that all players are aware of the value of each chip on the table, a sample chip of each color is normally hung on a rack, with the monetary value of the chip being associated with a value indicator in the rack.
When the game first starts, it is first necessary for each player 22 to acquire a supply of chips for use during the progress of the game. There are several ways that this can be done. First of all, it is possible for the player to pass money to the croupier, who then places the money in the drop slot 32 and passes the corresponding number of color chips to the player. For this purpose the croupier would normally take a number of stacks from those arrayed in front of him, in each case in the color associated with the respective player. It is a convention that each of the stacks 38 contain 20 chips.
Another possibility is for the individual players 22 to approach the table with value chips, normally of higher denominations. These are chips issued by the casino, which can be used at a variety of gaming tables in the casino and are handed to the player, for example in exchange for smaller denomination value chips he has accumulated at a table. Such value chips are placed by the croupier in the chip tray. Again the player will be given color chips to the value of the value chips passed by him to the croupier, or he will be given value chips of the denomination of his choice.
Another possibility is for the player to request a so-called marker at the table. A marker is effectively a casino check for a certain sum of money. Again, the marker will be entered at the table terminal and the croupier will give the player chips to the value of the marker.
Another possibility is for the player to play with value chips. In times of heavy play, some casinos allow multiple players to use the same denominations, in which case the identification of the player by the type of value chip, is lost which can lead to disputes.
Finally, some jurisdictions such as Nevada permit players to play with normal money—money play. A patron may place a bet by placing bank bill(s). The dealer will indicate this fact to the supervisor by saying “money play”. In case the patron wins the dealer will place the win in the form of value chips and the patron will take the bills and the value chips or he will leave part of the chips at the table as the next bet, if the bet is lost the dealer will drop the money and enter the amount as “money play drop” into the table terminal and should the patron have signed onto a box already the amount will be assigned to that position.
Once all the players have acquired a supply of chips, the game may start. As is well known, the conventional roulette wheel 12 comprises an annular casing 40 containing a static, inwardly sloping rim 42, within which there is mounted a rotatable cylinder 44. This cylinder 44 has an outer ring of numbers 46 corresponding to the numbers of the bet placement area 18, and an inner ring of pockets 48, which, in the same way as the outer numbers ring, is arranged concentrically to the cylinder. Each of the individual pockets 48 is associated with one of the numbers on the numbers ring and is isolated from its neighboring pockets by vertically and radially disposed separators 50. Inside the ring of pockets 48, there is a central dome area 52.
In use, the cylinder 44 is spun in the one or other direction and then a ball is projected by the croupier to run around the rim inside the annular casing 40. The croupier will spin the ball in the opposite direction of rotation of the cylinder, The ball will gradually slow down. The centrifugal force keeping it within the rim 42 of the wheel 12 will reduce in magnitude, so that the ball gradually falls down the rim and passes over the numbers ring 46, where it may bounce off one or more of the separators 50 or off the dome before eventually landing in one of the pockets 48, which is the winning pocket, i.e. the winning number.
The players 22 are able to place their bets on the bet placement area 18 until the ball spinning in the rim 42 has slowed down so that it leaves the rim 42. For those not familiar with the game of roulette, it should be noted that it is usual for a player to use several chips, and indeed to make several bets for each spin of the roulette wheel.
If a single chip is placed on a single number, then the chance of that number becoming a winning number is 1:38. This follows from the fact that in American roulette, there are a total of 38 numbers on the number ring, namely the numbers zero and double zero and the numbers 1 to 36, and 38 pockets associated with them (one pocket for each number).
If a player places a single chip on a single number and loses, then the chip is scooped by the croupier into a chute 54 associated with the chipper machine. If, however, the number selected by the player comes up, then he is given 35 chips by the croupier in addition to recovering the one chip stake he originally played.
If the player places, say, 4 chips on the single number and the number wins, then he will be given 4×35=140, chips by the croupier.
Another possibility is for the player to place a chip so that it straddles two numbers. In this case the chance of winning is 1:17. If the player wins, on either of these numbers, he is given 17 chips by the croupier for each chip placed by him.
It is also possible for a player to place a chip so that it lies on four numbers. In this case his chance of winning is increased, but the returns if he does win are also reduced, and in fact for each chip placed in such a way he will receive eight further chips from the croupier and will also have his stake returned to him.
It is also possible for a player to place a bet on five numbers, for example on the numbers 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3. In this case his chances of winning are again increased. However, if he does win, the number of chips he receives from the croupier is reduced to six for each chip he has bet in this way.
Another possibility is for the player to place a chip on three numbers. In this case he receives 11 chips from the croupier for each chip bet. A further possibility is for him to place a bet on six numbers. In this case he receives five chips from the croupier for every one he has bet. Yet another possibility is for the player to bet on columns of twelve numbers. In this case the chance of him winning is much higher, but if he does win, his win is reduced to two chips for each chip bet in this way.
It is also possible for a bet to be placed on twelve numbers chosen other than in columns, for example on the top three by four array of the numbers 1 to 12, on the middle three by four array of the numbers 13 to 24, or on the bottom three by four array of the numbers 25 to 36. Again, the chance of winning is high, but the returns for a win are low; the croupier will only pay the player two chips for every one bet.
Another form of bet is possible referred to as a “chance simple”, and involves a bet placed on any one of the number of so-called “chances”, referred to as “rouge”, “noir”, “pair”, “impair”, “manque”, “passe”. For example “rouge” signifies that the player bets simply on the color red. In this case the chance of winning is high, but if the player wins, he only receives one chip from the croupier, in addition to the chip he originally bet.
Every bet which is not a winning bet is collected by the croupier, the color and/or value chips are placed in the entrance to the chute leading to the chipper machine 14. The chips are then sorted by the chipper machine according to their color and/or value arranged in stacks within the chipper machine, from which the croupier can take stacks of twenty chips each to replace those on the table that he has used up. At this stage it should be noted that when paying a player for a winning bet, the croupier will take a whole number of stacks present on the table, will break one of the stacks and will put the chips not owed to the player back into the chute of the chipper machine.
For example, if the player has bet two chips on a single number and won, then the croupier must pay him 70 chips of the same color. To do this, he will take four stacks of 20 chips each, totaling 80 chips, will pass three full stacks to the player and will break the fourth stack so that the player receives 10 chips. The remaining ten chips are placed in the chute associated with the chipper machine.
Further examples of this will be given later.
Having described the usual way of playing the game of roulette, a description will now be given of how the various items of equipment present at the roulette table are linked together in accordance with the present invention and what significance this has to the assessment of data.
Referring now to FIG. 2, there can be seen the same items of equipment that are shown in FIG. 1, but also the way they are interconnected electronically. The same numbers will be used in FIG. 2 to identify the same items, as are identified by them in FIG. 1.
FIG. 2 shows in addition the table communication bus 60, to which all the items of FIG. 1 having an electronic interface are connected. Thus, the interface 62 links the chipper machine 14 to the table communication bus 60. The card reader 36 is associated with the table terminal 24, which is connected to the table communication bus 60. Equally, the roulette number display 26, the electronic chip tray 16, the automatic number detection system 28, the chip value and payout display 30 and the player stations 34 are connected to the table communication bus 60 via suitable interfaces (not shown). A central data processing unit 64 is coupled to the table terminal and to the table communication bus via one or a plurality of Ethernet hubs or switches 66, which distribute the Ethernet network from the central data processing unit 64 to the table terminals 24 of a plurality of gaming tables in the casino.
FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6 show sample screens, which appear on the table terminal 24 in the preferred embodiment when this table terminal is realized, in the preferred embodiment, as a graphical screen with touch sensitive data entry.
As indicated above, when a player first comes to the table, he will give the croupier either cash or value chips or request a marker and will tell the croupier of the value with which he wishes to play. He will also give the croupier his player identification card, which the croupier will draw or swipe through the card reader 36 at the table terminal 24. This action will lead to the drawing of FIG. 3 appearing on the screen of the table terminal. The croupier will select a color chip 70, or possibly a value chip 72, if color chips are not available or if the player wishes to play with value chips. If a color chip is selected, then the table terminal will next show the screen drawing of FIG. 5, which enables the croupier to touch the screen, so that the desired value is associated with the color chip. It can be seen from FIG. 3 that the third color chip of the top row has been selected. In practice this is shown by the selected color chip lighting up brightly; in the drawing the selected color chip is indicated by representing the value of the chip as an outline rather than as a solid number. It can be seen from the drawing of FIG. 5 that color chips at this table can have the value $5, $10, $20, or $50, as indicated in field 82, with the table minimum being $5, as indicated in field 84, and with the actual chip value selected in the case under discussion being $10, as indicated in field 86. The field 88 indicates the chip color as selected on the screen of FIG. 3. Once the chip color and the chip value have been fixed, the screen drawing of FIG. 4 appears, and the croupier can type in the amount of the drop by the respective player, for example the screen has a three by three matrix of fields 90 providing for drops of 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000 or 5000 dollars, and the precise amount of the drop by the individual player can be recorded by touching the screen at the appropriate field. In the present example, the player has made a drop of $400, and this is achieved by pressing the field 200 twice, so that the drop amount of $400 appears in the field 92. Beneath the three by three matrix 90, there are two further fields, namely 94 and 96 respectively labeled “cancel” and “enter”. Once the croupier has dealt in the drop amount of 400 and it has appeared in the field 92, he can then press the “enter” area of the screen to enter this value of the drop into the computer system. Should he have made a mistake, then he can press the “cancel” area 94. This then cancels the sum appearing in the drop field 92 and enables the croupier to type in the new value as appropriate in the three by three matrix field 90.
If, during the course of a game, a player or patron wishes to buy further chips, then the croupier will either select the screen drawing of FIG. 3, which can, for example, be done by pressing the corresponding color chip field 70 or value chip field 72 relating to the specific color/value appropriate for that player. Alternatively, he can once again swipe the player's player card through the card reader, so that the screen drawing of FIG. 4 appears. He can then enter the drop amount there as previously described. It will be noted that the first time the player's card is swiped through the card reader, the screen of FIG. 3 appears. The next time the same card is swiped through the card reader, the screen of FIG. 4 will appear. This will also occur for any subsequent drops by the patron during the same gaming period, i.e. until the patron leaves the table and is signed off by the croupier.
Through these various actions, the computer system learns the identity of the player, from the player identity card, is able to associate the color and the value of the chip associated with the player by the entries made by the croupier using the screens of the FIGS. 3 and 5, and is able to record the amount of any drop by the player. It should be noted that the method of making the drop, be it by cash, money play or by marker, as selected by the fields 93, 95 or 97 is irrelevant. In each case the croupier simply enters the relevant amount using the screen drawing of FIG. 4.
In the case of value chips, it is possible for the croupier to add these directly to the chip tray. The change in value in the chip tray is then associated with the drop by the player through the time association of the input of the player's identity card and the change in value of the chip tray 16. In this case the table terminal will indicate the inventory change of the chip tray as default drop to the croupier. Otherwise the input is then made manually by the croupier as explained above.
Turning now to FIG. 7, there can be seen the details of a chip value and payout display 30. Arranged along the top of the display are sample color chips 101 in each of the different colors available at the table. Beneath each chip there is a rectangular field 102 containing a number which is the amount in dollars associated with the chip immediately above the respective field. Beneath the left-hand field 102 there are three further fields 104, 106, 108, which show the denominations of value chips that are used for betting. In the present case, only one value chip is being played and has the value of $10. The table minimum bet is shown in the field 110 and the row of fields 112, 114, 116, 118 and 120 show the payment indicators for winning combinations of a particular patron. Moreover, the black dot shown in each of the fields 112, 114, 116, 118 and 120 indicates where a chip must be placed by a patron in order to achieve a particular win. Thus, the field 112 shows the case of one chip on a single number, for which the croupier must pay the patron 35 chips. The field 114 shows a winning chip bridging two fields, for which the croupier has to pay the patron 17 chips. In similar fashion, the fields 116, 118 and 120 show other usual payouts which have to be made by the croupier.
The row of fields 122, 124, 126, 128, 130 positioned above the row of fields 112, 114, 116, 118 and 120 show the number of chips bet by the particular patron for each of the possibilities shown in the respectively associated field 112 to 120 or beneath it. The bottom row of fields 132, 134, 136, 138, 140 show the total number of chips won by the patron. Thus, the particular play shown in the diagram of FIG. 7 is a play of ten chips (box 122) on a single number (box 112) which is won, thus the croupier has to pay 10×35=350 chips (box 132) to the particular patron for this part of his total bet. In addition, the patron has placed one chip (box 124) on two numbers resulting in a win of 17 chips. The player has made no bets (boxes 126, 128) of the kinds shown in boxes 116 and 118. Accordingly, he has won no chips, as shown in boxes 136 and 138. However, the patron has bet five chips (box 130) in the manner shown in box 120, and thus wins a total of 5×5=25 chips (box 140) for this bet. The patron to whom this bet relates is the patron associated with the fourth color chip 101 from the left in FIG. 7, with a value of $10 per chip. This is emphasized on the display of FIG. 7 by a brighter lighting of the respective field 102.
Thus, the player associated with this chip has won a total of 392 chips, as indicated in the “total” box 142, and the chip display now makes a proposal to the croupier for the manner of payment of the player. In this case the suggestion is that the player should receive 192 chips (box 144) and a cash amount of $2000 (box 146), which may, of course, be paid by value chips or by the return of a marker or a reduction of the marker amount.
The reason for paying a win in this way is simply that there are only a limited number of color chips which can be accommodated conveniently on a roulette table, typically between 300 and 400 chips of each color.
It should be noted that the payment display of FIG. 7 is an optional feature which can readily be realized using the present invention, and which is intended to facilitate the work of the croupier in calculating the wins from complicated bets, such as those shown above. If the win is more straightforward, for example 1:2 or 1:1, then the croupier will invariably be able to handle such a bet without the aid of the “win computer” embodied in the chip value and payout display 30.
The values shown on the chip value and payout display 30 must, of course, first be entered at the table terminal. This will typically be done by the croupier calling up a win calculator screen on the table terminal 24 and typing in the corresponding values by touching the screen the appropriate number of times.
For this purpose it is most convenient if the table terminal has a touch-type graphic screen which can be called up by pressing the corresponding color chip field 70 or value chip field 72 relating to the specific color/vlue appropriate for that player, which will bring up a pop-down menu from which the croupier can select the win calculator and which corresponds to the layout of the chip value and payout display 30. FIG. 6 shows a preferred screen layout of the win calculator on the table terminal. The display makes it easy for the players to check that the croupier is behaving fairly and also enhances the atmosphere at the roulette table associated with a good win.
The chipper machine, which is known per se, for example from U.S. Pat. No. 4,157,139, has the function of sorting chips of a particular color into particular columns. For this it is provided with sensors for recognizing the different types of chip. The output signals from the sensors are used to steer gates, through which the chips are fed into the individual columns, usually using solenoid operated plungers to push the chips into the respective columns. Modern chipper machines are also able to sort value chips and, in order to avoid too many columns, will sort several denominations into one column but will still individually count the chips per denomination. Modern chipper machines provide a communication port via which the interface 62 can interrogate the internal meters of the chipper machine for the number of sorted chips. For older machines, the interface 62 requires tapping of the solenoids driving the plungers and a clock signal active for every chip sorted. The information is then sent to the computer system 64.
On first using the chipper machine, the sequence of the chips in the chipper machine is first specified in the programming/learn mode of the chipper machine. This normally takes place by throwing the chips into the chipper machine in the desired sequence, in which the chips are to be output in the columns of the chip sorting machine. This would normally be the same sequence as is shown in the display of FIG. 7.
The interface 62 (FIG. 2) transmits the sum of the sorted chips as n-position values in blocks of numbers in the sequence in which the chips are pushed out into the columns of the chipper machine. At the table terminal 24, the chips are also shown, in the diagram of FIG. 3, in the order in which they are fed into the chipper machine. In this way the action of the chipper machine, the display of the table terminal of FIG. 3 and the output display of FIG. 7 are coordinated with one another, i.e. the sequence of the color chips is the same in all of them.
Having described the various items of hardware and electronic equipment at the table, a description will now be given of the various assessments that can be made with this equipment.
A description will now be given of the various pieces of information which the apparatus and method of the invention can deliver.
a) Patron Win/Loss
As indicated above, roulette is played with color chips, with each patron receiving chips in his individually allotted color. Some casinos allow additionally the use of value chips, in which case only one patron per chip value is allowed in order for it to be possible to associate each value chip uniquely with an individual patron. Casinos do allow more than one patron per value chip denomination in which case patron can only be rated by the floor person by the classic manual method. It is mandatory for each table to have differently patterned color chips in order to avoid different values of the same color chip in a casino. Actually, the word “color” is misleading, since the chips usually have different surface decorations and a plurality of different colors in order to make it possible to distinguish readily between them.
Also as indicated above, when a patron arrives at a table, he buys color chips at the table minimum or higher value in exchange for cash, value chips or markers. Markers are casino cheques by which the patron can draw from his credit or cash deposit account with the casino. Markers are generally issued by pit clerks and signed by the patron.
Also as explained previously, the patron is identified by swiping his player identification card through a card reader. Then the screen display of FIG. 3 appears, which enables the croupier to associate a particular color chip or a particular value chip with that player with a minimum of effort. It should be noted here that the player need not necessarily have an identity card in which case an anonymous player identity is created and linked to the player position. Provision is made for the floor person to enter/retrieve information concerning the identity of the player at a pit terminal (not shown in the drawings) associated with the computer system 64. It should also be noted that the identity of the patron may be his full name and address, but may also simply be a piece of information uniquely identifying him, such as his position at the gaming table, or his room number if he is staying in a hotel associated with the casino.
Following the entry of the identity of the player, and the selection of a chip using the touch screen display of FIG. 3, the touch screen diagram of FIG. 5 appears. The croupier can enter the value of the chip which is associated with the player in question. In the example of FIG. 5 the table minimum is $5 per chip and the player has elected to play with the chip value of $10 per chip. After this entry, the computer knows that player X is playing with chips of a particular color and that each chip has a value of $10. After allotting the chip value of $10, the screen drawing of FIG. 4 automatically appears. The croupier can use the touch screen to enter the drop amount by the player X—in the example of FIG. 4, $400. Thus, the computer now knows the player's identity, the color of chip he is playing with, the value associated with each color chip and the amount he has initially paid in.
Once this has been completed, the croupier passes color chips of the selected color to the player X to the value of $400, i.e. 40 chips. He does this by taking two of the stacks 38 on the roulette table 10. The same procedure is followed for all other players at the table. Thereafter, the game commences. Each time the player loses, the color chips he has placed on the table are scooped into the inlet chute of the chipper machine 14 and are automatically sorted by the chipper machine 14. Each time he wins, he is given chips by the croupier.
Each patron may need to buy further chips in the course of the game if he wishes to continue playing at the table. If this occurs, the croupier either selects the screen drawing of FIG. 3, and then the chip of the patron on the screen, or he once again swipes the player's card through the card reader. In both cases the screen drawing of FIG. 4 automatically appears for him to enter the new drop amount. The total of the drop amounts made by a patron during a period at the gaming table is summed by the computer 64 and stored in a memory associated with the computer 64.
If the player wins, then his wins would normally be paid in color chips, provided sufficient color chips are still available on the table. If this is not the case, then the balance of a win can be paid to the player in value chips. When the patron wants to leave at this stage, the croupier will pay the win in value chips, should he use the win calculator or the table terminal he will set the amount of color chips on the screen FIG. 6 to zero so that the win can be paid in value chips and preferably done using the facility of the payout display of FIG. 7. The screen FIG. 6 allows the entry of play chips the patron may hand to the croupier at this time. If the croupier does not use the win calculator the change in the chip tray inventory will trigger the table terminal to present a screen asking for the player position the amount of value chips was paid to.
When the patron leaves the table, various situations are possible. The patron may have lost all his chips and is simply walking away. In this case, the croupier will log off the patron at the table terminal, or at the table terminal, if provided, thus freeing the color chip for another patron.
The patron may have had a superb win and will indicated that he wants all his win paid in value chips. In this case the number of value chips required is taken from the chip tray and passed to the player in the same manner that occurs when the player has to be paid with value chips during the course of a game, and thus this payment to the player, a win by the player, is recorded by the computer in the way described previously. If necessary, the win calculator function can be used to determine the amount to be paid in value chips. The patron may hand his remaining color chips to the croupier, in which case the croupier will enter the number of color chips at the table terminal as a “walk” amount.
The patron may just want to leave without a high win after a particular spin of the roulette wheel. In this case the croupier will enter the number of color chips received. Should the croupier, however, just take the value chips from the chip tray and hand them to the patron, the system will automatically determine a decrease of the chip tray inventory, will flip up the payout screen to enter the walk amount of value chips at the table terminal and alert the croupier by light and/or sound to enter information concerning the patron, and/or his position at the table, and/or color of color chip.
b) Total Amount Bet by a Patron
It will be appreciated that the total amount paid in by the patron is not the same thing as the total amount bet. During the play at the roulette table, the patron will sometimes lose and sometimes win. Thus, the number of chips he has purchased will pass to and fro between him and the croupier. The total amount bet by the player will increase accordingly.
In accordance with the present teaching, this total amount bet is detected by detecting the number of chips of the particular color sorted by the chipper machine.
As explained previously, when a player wins, the croupier will take a number of stacks of chips, pass the patron a certain number of whole stacks and a broken stack and will return the extra chips from the broken stack into the chipper machine. This actually means that the chipper machine sorts rather more chips than the player has actually bet.
In order to make this clearer, two different examples will now be given. These examples allow an estimation of the discrepancy or error in assuming that the total number of chips sorted by the chipper machine corresponds to the total amount bet by the player. The two examples will reflect different house rules of the casino.
Each of the two examples lists the most frequent winning combinations encountered when playing the game of roulette, which are also the most frequent combinations selected by the players.
Thus, in example 1 the player may place one chip on a single number. If this number wins, he will receive 35 chips from the croupier. This means the croupier will take two stacks of 20 chips each, thus totaling 40 chips, will break one of the stacks and will return five chips into the chipper machine. If the patron has played two chips on a single number, then his win is 70 chips. For this, the croupier will take four full stacks totaling 80 chips and will return 10 chips into the chipper machine. Similarly, if the player plays three chips on a single number and wins, then the croupier has to give him 105 chips. For this the croupier will take six chip stacks, will break one of them and return 15 chips to the chipper machine. Should the patron have played 4 chips on a single number, then his total win would be 140 chips, equal to 7 full stacks.
The other possible combinations can be understood in the same sense. Of interest for this example is the case when the player places three chips on a number and one chip on a split (which will also involve the same number). In this case the three chips on the one number means a win of 105 chips, and the one chip on the split means a win of 17 chips, and the sum total 105+17=122 chips.
It would be possible for the croupier to take seven stacks and return 18 to the chipper machine. However, in the case of example 1, the house rules of the casino tell the croupier that with a number such as this, he should only take six full stacks, totaling 120 chips, and extract two further chips from the chipper machine.
Another example, where the croupier, operating in accordance with the house rules of a particular casino, takes an extra chip from the chipper machine, is shown in the penultimate entry of example 1. Here the patron has bet two chips on a single number and three chips on a split, which will also involve the single number. For the two chips on the single number he will have won a total of 70 chips, and for the three chips on a split, he will have won 3×17=51 chips. The total of 121 chips (70+51=121) is paid to the patron by the croupier by taking six full stacks and one extra chip from the chipper machine.
Clearly, whenever the player loses, his chips are placed by the croupier in the chipper machine. Since full stacks are formed by the croupier from chips taken from the individual columns of the chipper machine, all the chips paid to the patron have been through the chipper machine and thus counted by the system.
Thus, if the wins are distributed equally, the total number of chips in the chip stacks summed over all these examples is 1580, of which 1456 have been paid to the patron, and 130 have been returned to the chipper machine. Since three extra chips were taken from the chipper machine, in fact a total of 127 were returned to the chipper machine. 127 represents 8.52% of 1580. Accordingly, for this particular casino, the total number of chips having passed through particular patrons through the chipper machine should be reduced by 8.52% to arrive at a value which, while still not 100% accurate, nevertheless represents a good estimate of the total amount bet by the patron sufficient for subsequent analysis.
In example 2, different house rules apply. In this case no extra chips are taken from the chipper machine, but rather a whole number of stacks is always broken, with chips being returned to the chipper machine. Thus, whereas for three chips placed on a number and one chip placed on a split, two extra chips were taken from the chipper machine in example 1. Example 2 provides for the croupier to take seven whole stacks and to break one stack and return 19 chips to the chipper machine rather than taking one extra chip from the chipper machine as in example 1.
The result in the present case is that a total of 1620 chips have been through the chipper machine, 1456 have been returned to the player and the number of chips counted by the chipper machine is higher by 164 than the total amount bet by the player. Thus, in this case, a correction factor of 11.26% can be considered as appropriate. Again, it must be noted that this is not an absolutely accurate calculation of a total amount bet by the patron, but is a statistically reasonable approach to assessing the total amount bet by the patron, based on an observation of a patron's playing behavior over a long period of time.
The assessment of the player's total turnover in this way is important for several reasons. First of all, the turnover is the win potential for the casino from this patron and the base for “Frequent Player Programs”, it enables the casino to see whether the patron is an important patron of the casino and whether special attention should be paid to him to encourage him to continue using the casino. Secondly, for such an important patron, it would be possible to build up a data base over a longer period of time showing whether the total amounts won or loss in relation to turnover are reasonable having regard to the house advantage or whether there is some element of the patron's play which is suspicious. Thirdly, the assessment of the total amount bet by each patron is the key to assessing the turnover of the croupier and to monitoring the performance of the croupier.
c) Total Turnover of the Croupier
As mentioned above, it is conventional for croupiers to work for periods of about 45 minutes and to then take a break. By requiring the croupier to sign on and sign off at the table, which can be done by drawing his card through the card reader, it is possible for the computer 64 to recognize which croupier is present at the table and for the play during the period in which a particular croupier is working at the table to be associated uniquely with that croupier.
It is not necessary for the croupier to both sign on and sign off. The signing on of one croupier can automatically be used to sign off the previous one. This is preferred because it reduces the burden on the croupier.
Through the signing on and off of the croupiers, the computer system is put in the position of being able to associate activities at the table with a particular croupier. This is necessary to detect the croupier's performance.
The total turnover achieved by a croupier in any one working period is simply the sum of the total amounts bet by the individual patrons during this period.
It was already explained above in detail under section b) how the turnover of individual patrons is assessed. By knowing the time at which a croupier arrives at the table and subsequently leaves it, it is possible to deduce from the data relating to the total amount bet by a patron, as stored by the central processing unit 64 and based on information from the chipper machine, the amount the particular patron bet during a particular working period of the croupier concerned. This also makes it possible to take account of people arriving at or leaving the table during such a working period. It will be appreciated that the computer 64 when recording pieces of information, such as the sorting of a number of color chips by the chipper machine 14, or a payout from the chip tray 16, will record a time against each such piece of data and that the different time entries can be used to associate the total amount bet by a patron within the working period, with the croupier controlling the gaming at the table during that working period.
d) Win or Loss of the Croupier
To determine the win and loss achieved by the croupier the financial status of the table at the beginning and the end of a working period is captured. The financial table status of a table is determined by the cash and marker drop and the chip tray inventory relative to the opening inventory when the table opened or the shift started. Non gaming influences on the chip tray such as chip fills and credits from and to the chip bank have to be accounted for by the computer system 64. Again, the signing on and off of the croupier results in time signals, which enable drops made by the individual patrons and the taking of winnings during the working period to be associated by the central processing unit 64 with a particular croupier. The win and loss determined in this way is not strictly speaking accurate because it does not take account of the influence of the different quantity of color chips which are in the patron's possession at the start and end of the play. However, if the croupier's performance is measured over a sufficient number of working periods, the influence of the color chips held by the patrons balances out over an adequately long period, so that a high level of confidence can be achieved that the assessment of the croupier's performance is correct.
This possibility of summing the total amount won or lost by a croupier over a longer period of time and simultaneously knowing the total turnover achieved by the croupier in that period of time provides a very powerful tool for analyzing the croupier's performance. As already mentioned, there is a known house advantage for the casino, so that statistically speaking over a longer period of time the casino should have made a win of 2.7% of the total turnover for French roulette, with a single zero, or 5.28% for American roulette with a double zero. Thus, a good croupier is one who achieves a high turnover and the house advantage based on that turnover.
On the other hand, when the turnover is high, but the net win by the croupier falls significantly short of the house advantage, this is suspicious and requires further investigation. It is natural, in a game of chance, for the croupier to have some days in which his net win is low, or in which he even makes a loss. However, on average he should be achieving the house advantage. Should statistical observation, however, show that the croupier's overall performance is significantly below the house advantage, and that the periods in which his performance is poorest correspond to a particular patron participating in the game of roulette and making a significant win, then this suggests that there may be some collusion between the croupier and the patron, for example that the croupier is indulging in so-called sector spinning and has given the patron the tip that he should place his bets on particular numbers in order to have an increased chance of winning.
As further confirmation of such a suspicion, it will be possible to analyze the statistical information from the detector 28 to see if this also correlates with particular wins by a particular patron.
This statistical assessment of a croupier's performance can, for example, take place on the following basis:
For French roulette (single zero) the mean win for a randomly placed bet of one chip is μ=0.0270 chips, with a standard deviation of σ=4.113 chips. For American roulette (double zero), it is μ=0.0528 and σ=4.068 chips.
As a rough assessment, it can be assumed that for each spin of the roulette wheel there are 60 stakes (individual bets) placed on the table, that the croupier performs 40 spins each shift and does 40 shifts a week. Based on this assumption, the following Table I reveals the number of weeks a croupier has to be observed to retrieve relevant assessment data.
Furthermore, the table shows only negative deviations from the expected win (one sided test), as a higher win than the expected win could never harm a casino.
Referring now to FIG. 7, the shaded columns in the diagram show the win a certain croupier produces for the casino. Having observed a croupier for at least 25 days, average win data is relevant. So if the win for this croupier falls under the dotted line after more than 25 days of observation, one can be sure to 90% that this croupier produces an average win which is 33% less than the average casino win.
Another factor of uncertainty in croupier rating for American Roulette is the fact that wheel checks (value chips) in player's hands cannot be registered by the electronic chip tray and thus might cause inaccuracies in chip tray measurement. Studies have shown that uncertain wheel check positions increase the observation period by only 5.5%. This corresponds to two further days maximum, if the results derived should be within a confidence level of 95%.
As further background to the present invention some statistical details will now be given with respect to the statistical background of roulette:
The means of the casino's win for the single zero and the double zero roulette and their standard deviations can approximately be calculated from the following Tables II and III:
To obtain overall estimations for the mean and the standard deviation, one would have to know the average frequencies for each bet. As a first approach, one can take the number of possibilities for each bet given in Table II and Table III, and calculate averages for mean and variance. This leads to:
As well known in statistics, the mean X of a sample of size N can be compared against the mean μ of the whole distribution by calculating
and comparing the result z, which is the normalized deviation of the sample mean X of the corresponding overall distribution mean μ, with a table of the quantiles of the Gaussian distribution. Of course, this depends on the assumption that the sample has been taken from a normally distributed entity, but from the LINDEBERG-LÉVY theorem we know that the distribution of a sample's mean is asymptotically normal, as long as both a mean and a variance exists for the distribution the sample is taken from. This means that Formula 1 can be taken as a good approximation as long as N is not too small.
From Formula 1, one can easily derive
which is an estimate for the sample size needed to detect a given deviation from the distribution's mean.
As an example for the single zero roulette, if one wants to detect a 33% deviation from the mean with a confidence coefficient of 90%, N has to be approximately 342 000. This means that the croupier has to be observed for about three and a half weeks to get the desired result.
The mean for the double zero roulette is about double the one for the double zero roulette. Therefore, the sample size necessary is much less; it has to be approximately N=88 000. Using the assumptions above, we find the time period necessary to detect the mentioned deviation to be less than one week.
Recalculating the sample sizes necessary to detect a 50% deviation at a confidence level of 95%, one obtains N=250 000, corresponding to about two and a half weeks (single zero) and N=64 000, corresponding to about five days (double zero).
As mentioned above, wheel checks (value chips held by patrons at the table) can cause problems.
The variance of the win, as shown in Tab II, Tab. III and Tab. IV, has to be increased due to the uncertainty caused by the unknown amount of wheel checks possessed by the players at the table at the time of shift change. To obtain an estimate for this influence, some assumptions must again be made, which—on an average—are fulfilled in practice:
At each time, there are five players at the table;
The croupier performs 40 spins each shift;
At each spin there are 60 stakes placed on the table;
Each stake contains 2 chips;
The amount of wheel checks lies between 0 and 100 (both included) and is evenly distributed.
In general, mean and variance of an evenly distributed, discrete random variable with consecutive integer values from the interval [a,b] can be computed as follows
In the present case (a=0, b=100) the results are μ=50 and 2σ2=850.
From the assumptions made in the section “Problem Description”, it is obvious that the distribution of the wheel checks held by all players at shift change is the sum of five independent distributions, thus having a mean of μ=5×50=250 and a variance σ2=5×850=4 250. Therefore, mean and variance for the difference between begin and end of a croupier's shift are μ=250−250=0 and σ2=4250+4250=8 500.
Following the assumptions above, a croupier has to handle 2 400 stakes with a total of 4 800 chips in one shift. The mean and standard deviation for his win can be calculated, based on the results given in Table IV. From there, μ has to be multiplied by 2 (average number of chips per stake) and by 2 400 (number of stakes), while σ2 has to multiplied by 22 and by 2 400. The results are summarized in Table V:
The above discussion shows how the variance of the croupier's win within one shift increases by approximately 5.5% for both types of roulette, due to the uncertainty caused by the wheel checks. From Formula 2, it can be seen that the sample size depends linearly on the variance of the entity the sample is taken from, and therefore increases by the same ratio.
e) Working speed of the Croupier
One factor of interest to a casino is how quickly the croupier works. The quicker he works, the more turnover is achieved within a particular period of time and the greater is the profit to the casino. One simple measure for the working speed of a croupier is to count, for example, the number of spins of the roulette wheel he achieves per hour, or an equivalent value such as the average duration of a spin of the roulette wheel 12. This information can readily be obtained by the central processing unit 64 either from the detector 28 or by analyzing the periods of activity of, for example, the chipper machine 14. The activity of the chipper machine will typically be at an increased level at the end of each spin of the roulette wheel when the croupier collects the losing bets.
Another useful measure of the croupier's performance is the total number of chips sorted by the chipper machine in a particular period. Clearly, if more players are present at the table, the duration of each spin of the roulette wheel, the collection of lost bets and the payment of winnings will take rather longer than if only one or two patrons are playing at the table.
f) Section Spinning Indication
The detector 28, which can be designed in accordance with the PCT application with the publication number WO95/28996 provides information on the speed of the ball in the upper rim of the roulette wheel, the speed and direction of the cylinder of the roulette wheel, and the relative position of the cylinder to the ball and to the segment into which the ball falls. This information may be used to detect the position of the ball in the moving roulette wheel and illuminate the display to indicate the winning number to the patrons and to collect information for statistical processing. It is stated that the latter enables the casino to check that the wheel and its croupier are operating fairly and without bias. However, no particulars of how this check is made are given.
The present teaching recognizes that the data achieved from the detector can be used to see if it is statistically significant. For example, the frequency with which a particular number occurs should be randomly distributed. Equally, a check can be made to see whether the set of parameters such as the speed of and the phase between the cylinder and the ball are randomly scattered out as with other croupiers or if the parameters indicate a rhythmic spinning by this croupier which again suggests that section spinning could be practiced.
Finally, it should be noted that not all of the electronic items recited in connection with FIG. 2 are necessary for each of the assessments mentioned above. All the comments made below assume that a central processing unit 64 or at least a computer associated with the particular gaming table or a group of gaming tables is present for data storage and analysis.
Thus, for assessing the patrons, so-called patron rating (total amount bet), it will be sufficient to provide only a chipper machine 14 with an interface 62 and a table terminal 24, into which the croupier would be expected to type in all other relevant data. However, to make the system more comfortable for the croupier to use, it is preferable to provide a chip value and payout display 30 in accordance with FIG. 7.
To determine the patron win or loss, it is necessary to have the table terminal 24 and the electronic chip tray 16 and it will help the croupier a lot to have the chip value and payout display 30.
To perform the croupier assessments, it is necessary to have the chipper machine 14 with the interface 62 and the table terminal 24. In order to determine the number of spins per unit time, it is necessary to either derive this information from the activity of the chipper machine or to provide the detector 28. To obtain information concerning the net win or loss by the croupier, it is necessary to have as a minimum the table terminal 24 and the electronic chip tray 16. In order to determine possible section spinning, the minimum requirement is the table terminal 24 and the automatic number detection system 28.
The roulette number display 30 and the automatic number detection system 28 are useful for providing customer information.
It will, of course, be appreciated that the realization of the table terminal with various graphic touch screens and the precise layouts of these touch screens and the information contained on them are matters which can be varied significantly without departing from the present teaching. The versions given here represent the best embodiment known to the inventor. | <urn:uuid:d8ea01f6-3627-401c-8fcc-679f62af5eec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.google.ca/patents/US6283856 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941068 | 16,419 | 1.515625 | 2 |
What services does the Maths Learning Centre offer?
Advice on supplementary work needed
Our staff will help you identify the gaps in your background knowledge and recommend what work you should do to fill in those gaps.
Help with difficulties in course material
The Centre's staff are available to assist you on an individual basis. Because each thing you learn in mathematics usually depends on earlier work, it is important to sort out misunderstandings as soon as they occur. You can seek help from your lecturers or come to the Centre. The latter course is advised if your difficulties are severe or relate to assumed knowledge for your course.
Supplementary tutorial classes
If a group of students can be identified who are all studying the same subject, a special class can be arranged for them. This allows for discussion among members of the group, which can help to clarify ideas and increase understanding.
Bridging courses in Mathematics and Preparation courses in Statistics are held in February each year. A charge is made for these courses.
The Centre supports University Preparation Courses in mathematics during the year organised through the Centre for Continuing Education.
How do I comment on, compliment or complain about the Mathematics Learning Centre?
You can talk or write the Head of the Mathematics Learning Centre. If this avenue has returned an unsatisfactory response, you can contact the Director of Student Services or, if appropriate, the Staff and Student Equal Opportunity Unit. | <urn:uuid:9e4022c8-da91-4974-b0cf-fa0030ae0a6a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sydney.edu.au/stuserv/maths_learning_centre/teach.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932375 | 287 | 1.71875 | 2 |
The United States continues to be the world’s largest manufacturing economy, employing nearly 17 million people – about 1 in 6 private sector jobs. However, the modern manufacturing industry is struggling to attract the highly skilled workers it needs for the tech-savvy, evolving role required in today’s manufacturing operations.
Historically, manufacturing jobs were thought of as mind-numbing, remedial tasks done in dark and dingy factories. This “old” perception of a manufacturing environment creates a barrier to attract new employees to the manufacturing environment we see today – clean and safe with employees managing advanced machinery that drives innovation and productivity. Cisco, together with key manufacturing organizations, such as The Manufacturing Institute, are working to educate a new generation of workers on the needs of today’s manufacturers and get them excited about this challenging, but very rewarding career.
Cisco solutions are at the forefront of this evolved role within manufacturing, especially as more companies demand efficiency and collaboration among their workforce. For example, manufacturers are constantly seeking new ways for their employees to become more productive, while streamlining their day-to-day tasks. To be more efficient and collaborative, employees must be connected to share ideas and insights. So you simply just connect them, right? If you consolidate the intellectual capital of all the workers into a central repository and give your employees access; then they can start sharing insight on how to do their jobs better and smarter. Simply put, it’s just adding non-networked people to the network. And Cisco is working with numerous manufacturing companies across the country to make this key transition needed to support the quality control and productivity improvements plants demand with the collaboration younger workers expect.
Are you trying to get your arms around what’s included in a well-designed EtherNet/IP industrial infrastructure? Look no further! Here’s an example of how the Internet of Everything (IoE) came alive at Automation Fair recently:
An integrated design from Cisco, Rockwell Automation, Panduit and Fluke Networks demonstrates standards-based solutions for manufacturing agility and operational excellence!
One of the largest industrial exhibitions in the world is coming up next week- SPS/IPC/Drives which will be held from November 27th-29th in Nuremberg, Germany. This year, Cisco will have a greater presence at this industrial automation and controls trade expo. One of the interesting aspects of this exhibition is it covers not just components but spans integrated automation solutions including industrial networks. With a conference sessions and topics that attract over 50,000 line of business attendees (not just from Germany but worldwide), visitors include key decision makers from both controls and production as well as IT from end-users, system integrators, and machinery manufacturers.
Cisco Machine-to-Machine and Connected Industry Solutions
I have attended this show for many years and I am amazed at the continued evolution of the various displays on systems and devices such as robotics, factory floor applications and more. In fact, one of the core themes for this year is how to leverage EtherNet/IP networks and cloud based solutions in a production environment. There is a hunger for information, best practices and real-life examples. For example, we at Cisco are constantly asked about how our solutions enable secure machine-to-machine communications.
I’m amazed at how tablet computers make things easier in our personal lives. I can quickly access technology papers for work or research restaurant options for dinner tonight. I can take an online course or collaborate with my nephew who’s studying abroad. Some people even monitor and manage their home heating, cooling and surveillance systems while they’re away. The interactivity has an amazing impact on daily life.
Now, imagine a large-scale, tablet-like system on a plant floor and the impact it can have on business.
Get ready…interactive experience portals for the plant floor are here!
Paul Taylor, Business Development Manager for Rockwell Automation Alliance “Absolutely fantastic show! There was lots of interest and activity at all of the Cisco and Rockwell demonstrations. Customers recognized that together, we evaluate plant and enterprise-wide networking needs as a whole and then design solutions based on those all-encompassing considerations. Two demo stations that were especially buzzing with activity included Rockwell’s Micro Data Center (MDC), which houses a complete data-center infrastructure in a single box and Cisco Interactive Services Engine, partnered with X2O for real-time information sharing and collaboration”. | <urn:uuid:498e3b85-b0ad-4b4d-96a8-73d86118f1c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.cisco.com/tag/manufacturing/page/4/?wpmp_switcher=desktop | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946803 | 925 | 1.695313 | 2 |
If I was told to just “do it”, that “it” would be to officially share my true feelings and emotions.
Most of the time I do not tell people what I truly feel about them. I do not like to draw attention to myself, and for the most part, I keep my true feelings hidden from the world. But, if I was to just “do it”:
I would thank all those who have helped me.
I would say “I love you” to those who I have loved – whether it was friendly and familial love, or romantic love.
I would apologize and explain myself to those who I have hurt.
I would confront those who have hurt me.
And I would not cover my eyes when I cry in front of someone, or suck in my lips when I want to laugh.
This takes a lot of courage, and I don’t know if I will ever completely achieve this. I’m not a very showy kind of person, and to let others know how I am truly feeling is a big thing to me.
However, if someone said to me “just do it”, I would try to “just do it”.
If I said to you, “just do it”, what would “it” be?
*Don’t forget to leave a link of your own answers to the daily question in the comments section below! The photo was taken from thoughtquestions.com.* | <urn:uuid:1fba12e3-409b-4b26-86f7-516b806f9fb3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://palmtreesbarefeet.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/daily-question-just-do-it/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980309 | 320 | 1.6875 | 2 |
"As he is in the light"! Can we ever attain to this? Will we ever be able to walk as clearly in the light as He is whom we call "Our Father," of whom it is written, "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (verse 5)? Certainly this is the model that is set before us, for the Savior Himself said, "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect";1 and although we may feel that we can never rival the perfection of God, yet we are to seek after it and not be satisfied until we attain to it. The youthful artist as he grasps his newly sharpened pencil can hardly hope to equal Raphael or Michelangelo; but still, if he did not have a noble ideal before his mind, he would only attain to something very mean and ordinary.
But what is meant by the expression that the Christian is to walk in light as God is in the light? We conceive it to conveylikeness but not degree. We are as truly in the light, we are as heartily in the light, we are as sincerely in the light, as honestly in the light, although we cannot be there in the same measure. I cannot dwell in the sun—it is too bright a place for my residence, but I can walk in the light of the sun; and so, though I cannot attain to that perfection of purity and truth that belongs to the Lord of hosts by nature as the infinitely good, yet I can set the Lord always before me and strive, by the help of the indwelling Spirit, to conform to His image.
The famous old commentator John Trapp says, "We may be in the light as God is in the light for quality, but not for equality." We are to have the same light and are as truly to have it and walk in it as God does, though as for equality with God in His holiness and purity, that must be left until we cross the Jordan and enter into the perfection of the Most High. Notice how the blessings of sacred fellowship and perfect cleansing are bound up with walking in the light.
Family Bible reading plan
Click here to learn more about Truth For Life
From Morning & Evening revised and edited by Alistair Begg copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org. | <urn:uuid:672e23d5-33ca-44ec-a915-d00cbcfd73c5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/truth-for-life/read/devotionals/truth-for-life-daily-with-alistair-begg/truth-for-life-aug-31-2010-11637209.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98244 | 501 | 1.507813 | 2 |
More than one million veterans are at risk of becoming homeless, while tens of thousands of former service members are already living without shelter. The statistics are alarming. The issues around veteran homelessness is startling and it is becoming increasingly important as defense spending cuts limiting vital benefits for veterans will automatically take effect in 2013. And to the rescue is none other than the self-proclaimed King of the South, T.I. On Friday, December 14, 2012 the rapper, television and movie star, T.I., will return to his Bankhead neighborhood to announce the launch of his global humanitarian campaign, ‘GIVE Like a King’ to raise awareness and encourage others to give back and get involved in worthy causes. T.I. through his G’IVE Like a King’ campaign, will kick off joint efforts to support homeless veterans and Veterans Empowerment Organization of Georgia (VEO) through fundraising, advocacy, and public service.
T.I. will be on site for a special press conference and media event to discuss how and why he plans to get more involved with homeless Veterans initiatives; and share how he intends to inspire and engage his fans. Thought leaders and community advocates will also be on hand from across the state and region.
T.I. plans to use his voice to champion well-needed causes around the globe, beginning with Veterans Empowerment Organization (VEO), which services homeless veterans. T.I. and VEO have partnered for GIVE Like a King, a public information campaign addressing the urgent need to help facilitate and provide housing and supportive services for homeless veterans. The campaign takes a cross-platform approach to distributing information, addressing issues related to homeless veterans, and increasing overall veteran awareness. Way to Give Back T.I! To learn more about the GIVE Like a King initiative or the Veterans Empowerment Organization visit www.veteransempowerment.org. | <urn:uuid:8e5f6b40-b066-49bb-b97c-f8d61223a4a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.blackcelebritygiving.com/2012/12/t-i-launches-new-giving-campaign-give-like-a-king-to-support-homeless-veterans/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949753 | 387 | 1.695313 | 2 |
R5D contextual districts, designed to encourage residential growth along major corridors in auto-dependent areas of the city, are mapped in portions of the Jamaica and Rockaway Park neighborhoods in Queens and on Williamsbridge Road in the northeast area of the Bronx.
R5D districts serve as a transition between lower-density districts and moderate-density districts by incorporating the lot area, lot width and building envelope of R5B districts with certain aspects of the Quality Housing Program available in R6 through R9 districts and R10 contextual districts) relating to interior building amenities, planting and the location of accessory parking. Lot coverage requirements are the same as for R6 contextual districts.
Characterized by moderate-density, multi- family housing, R5D districts have a maximum floor area ratio (FAR) of 2.0, a height limitation of 40 feet and a significant amount of required off-street parking, reflecting the lack of easy access to mass transit and the reliance on automobiles.
The minimum lot width for single- and two-family detached houses is 25 feet; side yards are not required for lots less than 30 feet wide. Zero lot line buildings are permitted. As in R4B and R5B districts, the front yard must be at least five feet deep and at least as deep as one adjacent front yard but no deeper than the other, although it need not exceed a depth of 20 feet.
Off-street parking, which is not permitted in front of the building, is required for 66% of all dwelling units. Curb cuts are not permitted on a wide street if the zoning lot also fronts on a narrow street. | <urn:uuid:c0ad3f6c-0610-4f3c-9cdf-3cbae2de106a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/zone/zh_r5d.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952275 | 332 | 1.59375 | 2 |
A saddle's useful life is determined in a large part by three things: first, its initial quality. Superior materials and workmanship will create a product that has a far greater chance of standing up to the test of time than inferior material and mediocre workmanship. The second factor is the use it receives. As we saw with Jenny Kimberly's saddle (mentioned here), "extreme riding" is hard on a saddle and will effect its lifespan, or at least the lifespan of its components. The third factor is the care it receives - if it's cleaned and conditioned regularly, has the flocking maintained regularly and is stored in a reasonably protected environment, its useful life will (or should) span many, many years.
But I'll repeat: even for the most pampered saddle, there will come a time when it's no longer "serviceably sound for its intended use". Sometimes it's hard to determine when the time has come to retire it ... even for a professional.
This saddle was in the shop on consignment. It's a Michael Stokes Centaur, made in the UK, a good example of a high-quality saddle that has seen good care, a long life and a lot of use (we're guessing it's at least 10 or 12 years old, if not more).
The saddle passed our usual safety check and had gone out on trial about 8 times before the right person and horse found it. But before the sale was finalized, however, the customer wanted me to check the tree. It seems there was a rather unsettling creaking noise ...
Flexing the tree did make it creak, and creak considerably. I dropped the panels and peeled back the gullet cover but didn't find any obvious cracks or loose rivets, and the lower head plate was sound. However, I did find just the slightest give somewhere when I flexed the head plate ... it creaked, but I couldn't pinpoint the cause. Any sort of give in that area indicates a major safety issue, so I was really determined to find out what was going on. I also noticed that there were two rather significant chips taken out of the tree in the cantle area (though those seemed unrelated to the problem, and I honestly don't know how they'd have gotten there):
Further staple pulling and leather peeling resulted in some pretty substantial wood chips coming out of the tree:
This sort of chipping is not normal when you're just pulling staples. It really made me wonder about the integrity of the tree (dry rot, perhaps?); you'll often get ugly holes if you're pulling escutcheon pins, but staples usually come out pretty cleanly, leaving only little holes behind. I was starting to worry about the advisibility of reconstructing the saddle even if I found no major damage ... but I still hadn't found what was causing the creaking noise, so I kept at it.
I pulled the seat foam off the pommel area and started to pry loose the webbing. The chipping increased quite dramatically in the "high staple" area (you can see a sizeable piece of wood between the legs of the staple near my thumb):
The upper head plate was intact, but when I pulled more staples and peeled back the leather from the rail just above the left stirrup bar, I found the problem:
The damage could have come from the stirrup catching on something and the horse pulling backwards / sideways, or it could have just been fatigue from constant use (remember, this is the left stirrup bar). The right rail was starting to bulge in the same area, though it hadn't actually cracked. I'm really glad the customer decided to have the noise checked. Sometimes a creak is nothing more than a loose rivet or the webbing rubbing on something ... and sometimes it's not. But without dropping the panels and exposing the tree (and sometimes, some determined digging), you can't tell for sure. Better safe than sorry. | <urn:uuid:a10caa76-03ab-45bd-bcdd-f861e64de76b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.saddlefitter.blogspot.com/2010/11/finite-life-of-saddle.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975691 | 809 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Grifman wrote:I don't believe anywhere I discussed probabilities. I merely said that there are many more factors required by life than mere liquid water. That said, the more factors something requires, the more rare it will be compared using only one of those factors.
See? You are
Grifman wrote:Actually we have no reason or evidence that there is anything more than this composition since life as we know it is all we have evidence for. I think the burden of proof is on you for this one.
Just once, would it be possible to just have a friggin' conversation around here without pretending that we are debating at the Royal Academy of Science using the Queen's Rules? Holy Underpants.
There is no burden of proof on me because I am not making a positive assertion. I'm not telling you that there are other compositions of life. I'm saying that you (or rather the side that you are representing here) hasn't met the burden of proof that this is the only possible composition of life. We don't know because we are far too ignorant as to what is going on out there in the universe. And if "all we have evidence for" is good enough, then clearly *all* solar systems have a rocky planet in the habitable zone that sustains an "advanced" civilization, since right now, 100% of solar systems that we have detailed information about have them. Right?
Grifman wrote:You're assuming your sample size (the universe) is large enough to outweigh the improbabilities. But the problem is you don't know that.
I know that in the context of the statement that I actually made (with the disclaimer that you removed). As long as the probability of hosting advanced life is greater than 1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 then advanced civilizations are abundant in the universe.
Grifman wrote:Indeed, you're merely assuming what you need to prove.
No, as I provided the necessary qualifier to my probability calculations.
You can make anything appear likely if you stack the odds in your favor
Kraken used a 1 in 2 chance to stack the odds in his favor. Presuming a probability of 1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 is not stacking the deck in my favor. A 1 in 10 sextilliion chance is several orders of magnitude more remote than other estimates I've seen (which are in the trillion scale).
Grifman wrote:Until you establish the likelihood of life developing more than once, you've only got one side of your analysis.
Again, all I said was "*IF* the chance of advanced civilization developing around a star is 1 in 10 sextillion, there are enough stars in the sample set such that there are a hella lot of advanced civilizations (according to the probabilities). And I even simplified it down for you. If you flipped a coin 200 times, you'd probably end up with a lot of heads. That's the kind of frequency we are talking about - *IF* the probability of an advanced civilization developing around a star is as remote as 1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
Grifman wrote:It is entirely possible that the likelihood of life developing more than once is so low as to outweigh the size of the universe. Maybe, maybe not. But nowhere have you attempted to quantify this probability based upon any scientific basis.
Actually, I did calculate exactly that in the other thread, in the context of my incredibly remote estimate of the probability of life. Given the number of iterations available, the probability that life would develop only once, was twice as remote as the possibility that it would develop at all (1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000). Or, to simplify it so that one could process it in a reasonable fashion, the probability that life would develop once and only once is equivalent to the probability that you would flip a coin 200 times and get only one head.
Assuming that the probability of life is as remote as 1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 of course.
I'll give you a perfect example from the links I gave above. According to scientists, not only do solar systems have a habitable zone but so do galaxies. In our own Milky Way only 10% of the stars exist in this habitable zone. So in just one fell swoop, looking at one variable
, science has knocked out 90%
of your septillion stars (assuming for the moment that this also applies to other galaxies - we can go futher into galaxy types if you want to). The universe just got a lot smaller
Uh, no, it doesn't quite work that way. Your statistics really is rusty.
You are providing the data points that go into calculating the "1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000" probability of life, not directly reducing the number of iterations. You don't get to double down and do both. You can reduce the sample set of stars to 100 sextillion, but if you do that, you have to remove that factor from the probability of life side, which increases the probability of life to 1 in one sextillion.
And thus the equation ends up with the exact same results as before. | <urn:uuid:f1e17f53-fd53-4a94-811a-e7ea0f53268b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.octopusoverlords.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1834608 | 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 | 0.965627 | 1,127 | 1.546875 | 2 |
In Your face 2 - Vista Protected Mode, IE7, IE6.x way secure than FF,Opera and Flash Player
This is the seconed episode of IN YOUR FACE this time, Donna has just posted about a little test she did with some security scanners like BigFix to discover that from over than 44,000 program inspectors discoverd 35% insecure versions.
just pointing out that the inspectors discoverd only 4.12% of IE6.x version insecure - thanks to Windows Update - and that FireFox 1.x has 35.47% insecured version installed and used everyday.
Also scanning 7 programs including IE7 on Vista Protected Mode the insecure version found = 0 which is great not only for the 0 number but also for that Vista have no security updates yet so this is raw Vista.
Other details can be found here. | <urn:uuid:cc5b9930-2fc3-4702-a6b5-6a0fde8f922c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bloggingabout.net/blogs/adelkhalil/archive/2006/12/12/In-Your-face-2-_2D00_-Vista-Protected-Mode_2C00_-IE7_2C00_-IE6.x-way-secure-than-FF_2C00_Opera-and-Flash-Player.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9333 | 176 | 1.578125 | 2 |
A report released by the non-partisan Campaign Money Watch reveals that American jobs have been outsourced in states and districts where the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is spending millions of dollars from secret corporate and possibly foreign donors to drown out the voices of the middle class. This report provides further evidence for why the special interests opposed legislation to close loopholes that facilitate shipping U.S. jobs overseas, and why we must enact the DISCLOSE Act, which the House passed in June.
More than 1.4 million jobs were outsourced due to trade policies since 1994 in the nine states in which the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent nearly $5.7 million from undisclosed corporate and possibly foreign donors on ads in Senate seats last week.
More than 184,000 jobs were lost to outsourcing in the 22 congressional districts in which the Chamber has spent $4.8 million on ads.
The U.S. Chamber supports the outsourcing of American jobs overseas. And now its undisclosed donors are spending tens of millions of dollars in support of Republicans who have voted against closing offshoring loopholes. U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donohue:
The bottom line – outsourcing has made the manufacturing process more efficient and productive…the Chamber strongly believes manufacturing and service companies alike should have the freedom and flexibility to source and trade across our country-and around the world.
The facts speak for themselves:
In June, House Democrats passed the DISCLOSE Act – legislation to require disclosure of donations in the wake of the Supreme Court decision that opened up American elections to unlimited corporate, and possibly foreign, funding – to keep the voices of the American people from being drowned out. The bill was opposed by 99% of House Republicans; it has been blocked from a vote in the Senate by Senate Republicans.
The same special interests that support outsourcing of American jobs are fighting disclosure of tens of millions of dollars in special interest money, including the potential use of foreign money in election campaigns.
Congressional Republicans who fought the DISCLOSE Act and killed it in the Senate have voted in support of outsourcing and shipping American jobs overseas.
Congressional Republicans have voted 11 times in the last four years to protect tax breaks for corporations that ship American jobs overseas, keep off-shore tax havens for corporations and the wealthiest Americans, and other similar loopholes.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the powerful special interests are spending millions of dollars in unlimited corporate, and possibly foreign, funding in support of the GOP agenda—protecting big multi-national corporations that want to ship good-paying American jobs overseas, Wall Street that wants to get its hands on Social Security, and insurance companies that want to control Medicare—instead of protecting the American middle-class.
House Democrats put the middle class first—working to cut taxes for 98% of Americans, boost small businesses, and revitalize American manufacturing with the—“Make It In America” agenda. | <urn:uuid:38315011-b8fb-4d94-a750-5d043f8d624a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thegavel.democraticleader.house.gov/?p=3047 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961133 | 594 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Outside of monasteries, do any churches which use the Greek typicon (GOA, Antiochian, etc.) , on the eves of the Great Feasts or Sundays, ever have the entire vigil (both Vespers and Matins combined)? Is this practice to be found more in the churches that follow the Slavic typicon? Are vigils simply not done at the parish level because of the time? Really curious to know.
Not that I've seen. Most Churches I've been to (GOA) do Matins immediately before the Divine Liturgy, not combined with the Vespers the night before. The rare parish that actually will do the occasional vigil does the whole thing (all-night, including Compline w/ Akathist, Paraklesis, etc.), not just Vespers + Matins. | <urn:uuid:5a0e774c-71ef-4a0f-90d0-3b069879aa3d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.orthodoxchristianity.net/forum/index.php?topic=28108.msg443346 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941837 | 172 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Relic part of healing service
This story is from BostonGlobe.com, the only place for complete digital access to the Globe.
A relic of St. Andre Bessette will be included in a healing Mass and blessing this weekend in the St. Joseph Chapel at the Holy Cross Center on Route 138. Saturday’s service will be celebrated in French and Sunday's in English. Both are from 1 to 4 p.m. St. Andre, known by Catholics as the Miracle Worker of Montreal, was canonized in 2010. More than 2 million people visit his shrine every year. According to Susan Wallace of Holy Cross Family Ministries, attendees are invited to come any time after noon each day to venerate the relic and touch the case that holds it. “St. Andre's charism is healing and it's very powerful,” Wallace said. The program is part of the 70th anniversary celebration of the founding of the family rosary by the Rev. Patrick Peyton in 1942. | <urn:uuid:89d56539-7150-455d-bce7-fa8be701b21f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2012/10/03/relic-part-healing-service/m9LQvA3QtrcdCl5ofI3oYL/story.html?camp=pm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970061 | 204 | 1.617188 | 2 |
An overhaul of the capital's drainage and sewerage system is only likely to happen in the second phase of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) as the city appears to have missed the first phase bus.
Though the state government sent the project proposal for a centralised drainage and sewerage system for Ranchi in March, the Centre has not sanctioned the project. Now state officials feel that the Centre has put the project proposal on the back-burner and no funds will be forthcoming as part of phase one.
"We had been waiting for the proposal to be approved. But the delay on the part of the Centre suggests that the proposal has been put on hold now," said an official of the state urban development department.
The city makeover scheme of the Centre started in 2005. Phase one was extended by two years and ended on March 31, 2012.
In the seven years, the state government managed to get funds for a drinking water supply project and to build shelter for the poor under Basic Services for the Urban Poor scheme. While it managed to secure Rs 288 crore for drinking water, it bagged Rs 200 crore for construction of 8,928 dwelling units.
"Money is not going to come for drainage and sewerage under the first phase," state urban development secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni said. He added that the Centre had declared that no more fresh proposals for city makeover under JNNURM were being taken up. "Whatever proposals were sent in the last days before the first phase ended therefore, will be taken up only after the second phase is announced."
The controversies surrounding the detailed project report (DPR) are being blamed for the state missing out funds for the drainage and sewerage system in the first phase.
In 2006, Singapore-based Meinhardt Pvt ltd was selected to prepare the DPR for the project through an open tender. However, the project got mired in controversy with a section of legislators alleging "foul play" in the selection process.
Subsequently in 2007, the Assembly constituted a committee, headed by former BJP MLA Sarayu Roy, to look into the matter. The panel submitted a report, confirming loopholes in the selection process. Meinhardt, in the meantime, handed over the DPR and asked Ranchi Municipal Corporation to clear its fees, which the latter could not as the controversy had not settled.
The company then sought the intervention of Jharkhand High Court. On April 25 last year, the court asked the state government to clear its dues.
While Rs 14 crore had already been given to the agency, in August last year the state released the rest of the fee amount ' Rs 11 crore. The DPR was then studied by the civic body and forwarded to the urban development department, which against asked the civic body to make a few amendments in it.
Finally, the project proposal along with the DPR for the drainage and sewerage system of the state capital was forwarded to the Centre in March end ' days before the first phase of JNNURM was to formally end.
The second phase of JNNURM is expected to roll out in the next few months. | <urn:uuid:55a96e09-209c-495e-b4a5-8e9e3ea370cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://in.news.yahoo.com/no-funds-drainage-soon-220244729.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975034 | 653 | 1.6875 | 2 |
- Special Sections
- Real Estate
When heâs not building bridges to Mammothâs Hispanic community, Police Chief Dan Watson is helping build houses for Mexicoâs impoverished.
Two weekends ago, Watson and about 40 members of the Mammoth Rotary Club were in Sierra Azul, a small Mexican village near Tecate, building a house in one day.
âThe homes built by Corazon volunteers are humble by U.S. standards,â Watson said. âThey have no plumbing or electricity, but they are a big step-up for the recipients and very much appreciated.â
Linda Wright, president of the Noon Rotary Club in Mammoth, said the Rotarians came home âwith a true sense of community.â
âThe motto of Rotary is âService Above Self,â and we came back tired,â she said. âNot only did we provide a new home to a family, we all captured the spirit of giving and returned with a stronger sense of fellowship among ourselves.â
Watson said it takes $7,800 for the materials and 30 to 50 volunteers to build a house. Corazon (in English, âHeartâ) works with nonprofit organizations, service clubs, churches and schools.
The two Mammoth Lakes Rotary Clubs raised the funds, including a nice donation from Mammoth Mountain CEO Rusty Gregory, and provided the volunteers who ranged in age from 14 to over 70.
The group traveled to El Cajon on Friday, May 18, and met at 6 a.m. on Saturday morning. The Rotarians then traveled across the border to the job site where they met the De la Rocha-Lora family, which had donated hundreds of volunteer hours in their community to get on the list for a new home.
The volunteers also found a 16-by-20 foot concrete slab and all the materials for the house.
Construction started at about 8 a.m. and was finished by 3:30 p.m. The family provided lunch for all the volunteers.
âThis was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience,â Wright said. | <urn:uuid:4103afb7-2397-4e24-996c-c76a23e5a9bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mammothtimes.com/content/watson-rotarians-build-house-one-day?quicktabs_2=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955049 | 443 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Recognizing that GDP has significant limitations, Vermont has become the first state to formally embrace a "genuine progress indicator" as a metric of well-being.
Photo Credit: Alex Wilson
The second annual Slow Living Summit was held in Brattleboro this past week. Featuring such presenters as David Orr of Oberlin College, Woody Tasch, the founder of the organization Slow Money, and Charles Eisenstein, author of Sacred Economics, along with Governor Peter Shumlin, and Senator Bernie Sanders, the conference advanced alternatives to fast food, fast money, and the fast pace of life—with an emphasis on local food, local economies, resilient communities, and sustainability.
According to the Slow Living Summit website, slow living expresses the fundamental paradigm shift that is underway in this age, recognizing the transformative change from faster and cheaper, to slower and better—where quality, community and the future matter. It’s about slowing down and becoming more mindful of our basic connection with land, place, and people, taking the long view that builds a healthy and fulfilling way of life for the generations to come. It is about common good taking precedence over private gain.
While there were many inspiring sessions at the Slow Living Summit, I’ll focus here on just one: a session addressing alternative metrics of success: genuine progress indicators. | <urn:uuid:14e779da-1181-43c7-8768-1d6f0f75739c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www2.buildinggreen.com/blogs/1791/Energy%20Solutions?page=5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935204 | 272 | 1.695313 | 2 |
FamilySearch, or what we used to know as the Family History Library, has an enormous number of resources for family historians in their library in Salt Lake City. They have travelled the world collecting original material by microfilming it, and these microfilms can be ‘borrowed’. If you have a FamilSearch Center nearby, or a society library designated for lending films, you can borrow the films and research them without having to travel to Salt Lake City. In most cases the microfilms were also donated back to the archive or repository, protecting the original records from wear and tear.
Go to FamilySearch and click on the word Catalog under the main heading.
The new catalog search looks like this:
When I’ve typed in ‘Fiji’ I get a long list of possible places. I think it’s best to just use ‘Fiji’ to start with, without getting too specific.
Birth, marriage and death records are held under Civil registration. If you click on any of these entries you will see what records they hold. For example, if I click on Land and property – indexes I can see:
If I click on the last of these I can see the individual film entries. The film numbers are what I need to order the film:
To order a film, you can click on the film number, which takes you to another page: https://familysearch.org/films/. You need to be signed in to do this; signing up is easy and free. You can order a film on short-term loan for 90 days or long-term loan for extended periods.
My most convenient library is the Society of Australian Genealogists and the website remembers that setting for me. You can change it at any time.
You can then go on to find more films, or checkout and pay by credit card or PayPal.
Once you’ve placed your order and paid for it you can track the status of your order at any time. You’ll get an email when the film has been received by your library, and you can go there and look at the film. Some libraries charge an extra fee for handling the film on top of what FamilySearch charges.
Bear in mind that the 90 days starts on the day the film is sent, not the day it arrives in your library. So get in and look at it as soon as you can. | <urn:uuid:7e76f200-e635-4114-b273-4801ecd6900d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://heritagegenealogy.com.au/fijigenealogy/tag/marriages/?wpmp_switcher=mobile | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948153 | 501 | 1.71875 | 2 |
By Charlene Aguilar, director of college counseling
As we head into the new year, I will summarize mid-season good news for the Class of 2012 and share some of the admissions trends we are seeing on the national level. I’ll close with tips and tasks for seniors and juniors including reminders about key upcoming events.
Well done, Class of 2012:
As of mid-January, seniors have submitted close to 100 percent of their college applications and about a third of them have been accepted to schools under early admissions programs, some with multiple offers. Winter break was a flurry of work for seniors and Lakeside college counselors as students wrapped up application essays and supplements to meet early January deadlines.
Now as some seniors turn their attention to scholarship applications, juniors begin their college work with us and look forward to evening forums in January and February geared especially to them. (More on those in a moment.)
Here are several of the important national admissions developments unfolding, with a look at how they may affect Lakesiders in particular. Note that parents and guardians will hear more on trends at our January 26 “Ask Admissions” forum with speaker John Mahoney, director of undergraduate admissions at Boston College (details below).
Trend: Students are submitting an increasing number of applications. The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) reports that, of the freshman class of 2010, nearly 77 percent applied to three or more schools, an increase of 16 percentage points over the last 20 years; 25 percent submitted seven or more applications. The ease of applying electronically is considered the key factor.
The result is that 73 percent of colleges reported an increase in applications for fall 2010, and about 75 percent of colleges have seen increases each year for the past decade.
NACAC calls this new reality “the applications arms race.” As students sense the unpredictability of where they will get in, they apply to more schools, which make colleges market themselves all the more widely. This larger group of applicants includes students who will have little chance of being accepted, which leads to more rejections. The result is that anxious students want to hedge bets by applying to even more colleges.
Lakeside take: Our students send an average of about eight applications. Our message to students is to make sure their college lists are carefully balanced in terms of both “fit” and quantitative factors as they apply to solid, target and stretch schools to increase the likelihood of positive outcomes. We caution against over-applying. As rewarding as it can be, the college application process is also very demanding. Each application requires research and personal reflection. What are my goals? What does the college offer that appeals to me? How will I contribute to the college community? Authentic personal and reflective narratives take time to write and colleges often require additional essays or fill-in-the-blank questions. There also may be required or recommended interviews. It is difficult to do all this well if students are applying to too many schools.
(You can read a bit more of my advice on this subject cited in College Admission here
Trend: College acceptance rates are slightly down. After remaining stable for three years, the average acceptance rate at four-year colleges and universities declined by 1 percentage point to 65.5 percent compared to fall 2007 through fall 2009 figures, NACAC reports.
The number of high school graduates in the U.S. reached a peak of 3.33 million in 2008-09 after more than a decade of steady growth. The number of graduates will continue to decline through 2014-15, and will remain below 2009 levels through at least 2020-21. Yet even as the number of high-school graduates declines, more students are seeking higher education.
And the most selective colleges remain more difficult to get into than in the past, often with single-digit acceptance rates. U.S. Department of Education data from 2001-2008 used to analyze patterns in selectivity show:
- Private institutions, on average, accepted about 2 percent fewer of their applicants each of those years. Some analysts suggest this rate impacts some applicants more than others. They suggest that the admission rate for a student without a “hook” such as being an athletic recruit, significant legacy, potential major donor, or first in the family to go to college is lower.
- At publics, the median acceptance rate declined 7 percentage points overall, or an annual decrease of about 1 percentage point.
- The most selective schools (roughly measured by where students had the highest SATs, 1260 or higher on the critical reading and math components), saw acceptance rates decline every year, with the median decline for 2001-08 of 13 percentage points. Another more sophisticated analysis for the National Bureau of Economic Research (“Playing the Admissions Game: Student Reactions to Increasing College Competition”) that charted 1986 to 2003, estimated the drop in acceptances for the most selective colleges was 25 percent but was smaller for students who tested at the highest quintile (4.8 percent drop at selective publics, 17 percent at selective privates).
Lakeside take: As we’ve experienced the past few years, we expect Lakeside students will continue to have admission success at both private and public institutions. And as we do each year, we will carefully track admission decisions. Our office will be gauging whether there’s a fundamental shift in priorities taking place at the most highly selective colleges.
We know already that two of the most highly selective, high profile universities, Harvard and Princeton, added an admission option called Single Choice Early Action. (Apply to us, but not to other colleges early. We will give you a decision in December, and you may apply to other colleges in their regular process. Yale and Stanford have offered this restrictive early option for many years.) With declining rates in admission, we suspect that this group of universities will focus on special institutional priorities when choosing students from the Restrictive Early Action pool—admitting those compelling candidates who also have a significant “hook.” In the words of one dean of admission, “We’ve seen a dramatic shift in our early admission pool the last five years. With a 10 percent increase in applications, wonderful students are denied.”
Trend: Colleges seek students who stand out from the crowd. NACAC reports that once again the top four most significant factors in admissions are, in order of importance: grades in college preparatory courses, strength of curriculum, standardized admission test scores, and overall high school grade point average.
- More selective colleges attributed greater importance to strength of curriculum and grades in college prep courses than did their less-selective counterparts. They also placed more emphasis on factors outside of the top four, including: the essay, teacher and counselor recommendations, extracurricular activities, work, and portfolios.
- Between 25 and 31 percent of colleges rated race/ethnicity, first-generation status, high school attended, and alumni relations as at least moderately important.
- More selective institutions attributed more influence to almost all of the “student contextual factors,” including race/ethnicity, gender, first-generation status, state or county of residence, and alumni relations.
- Larger colleges rated first-generation status and state or county of residence as having more influence, while smaller colleges rated ability to pay, alumni relations, and gender more highly.
Legacies still have an advantage,
though not as much as in the past. A June report in Economics of Education Review
by a Harvard researcher who recently examined the impact of legacy status at 30 highly selective colleges concluded that, all other things being equal, children of parents who attended a school as an undergraduate saw a 45 percentage point increase in the probability of admission. However, The New York Times
noted in reporting this news, “Over the long haul, though, legacy enrollment has declined. In 1980, 24 percent of Yale’s freshman class had a parent who had attended, but in the class of 2014, 13 percent were legacy students. At most Ivy League schools, 10 percent to 15 percent of those who end up enrolling are the children of former students. And with college enrollment at an all-time high, admittance has become tougher for everyone; acceptance rates are far lower than a generation ago. An applicant from the Harvard class of 1985 would have faced an admission rate of 16 percent, compared to 6 percent for the class of 2015.” (You can read the Times
, and another from the Chronicle of Higher Education here
While colleges are looking for students who stand out in the deluge of applications, admissions officers report that it’s a challenge to ferret out quality when they receive so many applications and when some of those students seem less authentic in interviews or essays, increasingly coached by parents or paid help. In a recent story in The New York Times, several representatives from top colleges said this made teacher and counselor recommendations more important than ever.
One admission dean mentioned the importance of “demonstrating humanity and three-dimensionality” and that “public service is a baseline; we’re trying to find people who make others around them better.” Another cited, “modesty and resourcefulness” as the qualities she most associated with an ideal candidate. A third dean closed with advice to future applicants. He observed that students advocate best for themselves when they “loosen up.” (You can read the story here.)
Lakeside take: Our students are interesting, authentic young people who communicate effectively and have tremendous talent. They possess the intellect and character to make a real impact on our world. We will continue to support each and every member of the senior class as they make their way through this college process.
And now to those tips and to-do lists for seniors and juniors.
With most college application deadline dates complete, some seniors have now turned their attention to meeting mid-February deadlines for federal and institutional aid. We want to underscore that admission and financial-aid decisions are made by separate offices at most colleges and universities, a reason we strongly encourage all Lakeside families who have a need for aid to apply for it. The “Statement of Principles of Good Practice,” adopted nationally by colleges and universities, guides their admission and financial aid practices:
“College and university members agree that they should admit candidates on the basis of academic and personal criteria, rather than financial need, as a consideration in selecting students.”
That said, the economic downturn has placed more colleges under pressure, and some colleges may offer financial aid packages that do not meet full need, a reason the Lakeside college-counseling team encourages seniors to apply to a range of colleges, including those we know have offered generous merit scholarships to our students.
Prior to the holiday break, we mailed the October 2011 PSAT Score Report to juniors. While PSAT scores, in part, serve to give some students access to scholarships through the National Merit Corporation (find FAQs about that here
), the primary purpose of the PSAT is to give students a preliminary sense of the test format prior to taking the SAT.
We will distribute copies of Lakeside’s 2012-2013 College Handbook for students and families in the Class of 2013 at the February 2 evening program. (See schedule below.) At that time we’ll also preview Lakeside’s college-counseling process so that junior families better understand our timeline for the coming months.
Our college counseling team possesses a wealth of experience. As seasoned educators invested in each of our Lakeside students, we will support and challenge students to take ownership of their college processes. Along the way, we will relay consistent and confirming messages to the Class of 2013 that echo the following statement:
The best preparation for college is to take advantage of the challenges and opportunities at Lakeside—within and beyond the classroom. Develop skills, pursue your interests, discover your passion and commit to something larger than yourself. Along the way, learn to strike a balance between all these things and explore what you hope to accomplish on your life’s journey.
College Counseling Presents...
And now, mark your calendars for the following Forums for Families.
Please note that all events will be at St. Nicholas Hall, unless otherwise stated.
January 26, 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
Keynote speaker is John Mahoney, director of undergraduate admissions at Boston College, a nationally respected expert who will discuss trends and offer insights into the selective college admission process. This forum is open to interested all parents and guardians in the Upper School.
College Kick-off Night: College Night for Junior Parents/Guardians
February 2, 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
At this evening just for parents and guardians of the Class of 2013, come meet the college-counseling team, find out specifics about the Lakeside college process, and get your questions answered.
Seattle Gap Year Fair
February 12, 1 p.m.-3:30 p.m.
Part of a national circuit of events, this fair is designed to provide students interested in taking a gap year exposure to a broad array of programs and a chance to speak with people who work in the field with reputable organizations that focus on education, service, and personal growth. This year the fair will be at The Northwest School. Find more info here
Please be sure to check the college counseling section of the website for reminders and updates: www.lakesideschool.org/collegecounseling | <urn:uuid:ee4001e9-c981-4da9-8ce5-b3d4c7d1e757> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lakesideschool.org/podium/default.aspx?t=204&id=755224 | 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 | 0.957463 | 2,798 | 1.539063 | 2 |
This is a policy which acts as safeguard for companies and their sister concern so that any careless attitude cannot bring any harm. This policy is designed such that if one needs to pay to the legal in case one looses it or if one pays for any mistake or if it has to pay for any fault. This also helps in regaining any loss or damage. This policy is open for companies like call centres or for companies who hire people which deals with finance, media, law, could also be consultants and other people who are professionals. Tata AIG General Insurance provides service and policy which is absolute elegant and has class in it where Companies such as Information Technology makes full use of it. Along with all facilities there are no flaws but there are conditions levied. To understand these exclusions we can say that no acts which not right is not accepted, similarly there cannot be claims for injury which is on body or any property which is damaged. All types of contracts are exposed and not hidden that means that the person who is insured in this is actually competing with claims which are already insured. Hence we say the word indemnity is a declaration where in case of any mistake one is absolute safe without any risk. | <urn:uuid:8ac1c3af-b6c3-45a0-8817-c2c4277261dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ekikrat.in/Professional-Indemnity-Errors-And-Omissions-Insurance-Policy-Tata-AIG-General-Insurance | 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 | 0.977021 | 240 | 1.5625 | 2 |
CHARLESTON - Local lawmakers agreed education will be one of the top issues that will be dealt with during the legislative session as Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin gave his State of the State address Wednesday evening.
The regular legislative session began Wednesday with the governor giving his State of the State address that evening.
Delegate Dan Poling, D-Wood, said the governor touched on topics that will be important for lawmakers to address in the coming session.
''He has opened up the debate we will have,'' Poling said.
Poling said the Legislature needs to be discussing issues like the education audit that was critical of the state school systems, pipeline safety after the pipeline explosion near Sissonville, ensuring the state has a well trained, drug-free workforce, and infrastructure improvements.
''We have around 2,000 to 2,500 bills introduced during a session,'' Poling said. ''Of those, only around 180-200 are actually passed.''
Delegate Tom Azinger, R-Wood, said the governor's speech was "upbeat" and touched on points he expects will be dealt with in the upcoming session.
Azinger said he appreciated the attention to education and addressing the need to do something about the state's growing drug problem. He liked that no new taxes were included in the governor's budget proposal and liked the idea of using unspent money to help balance the state budget.
Azinger believes more attention should be given to the state's vocational schools.
''Some of the best paying jobs coming to West Virginia don't require a college education, but they do require good vocational training,'' he said.
An economic survey presented to lawmakers said the state has around 60,000 unemployed people with 7,200 jobs lost in the logging, mining and construction fields.
A proposal to put more authority back into the hands of local school boards met with Azinger's approval.
''If you talk to the people in education, they will tell you that there are too many people in administration,'' he said. ''The system is too top heavy.''
Administration-level positions could be eliminated and the money used to actually educate students, Azinger said.
Azinger said the governor should have mentioned the number of regulations that have been detrimental to business development across the state. The Legislature has taken action to eliminate the state's corporate franchise tax to provide new opportunities for business development, he said.
Sen. Donna Boley, R-Pleasants, said education will be a big issue. She serves on the education committee.
The governor talked about West Virginia schools having great teachers and high ranks for funding. However, in some surveys the state ranked close to the bottom in the country in student achievement, test scores and the state's graduation rate is only 78 percent, Boley said.
Boley agreed with the growing importance of vocational education in training the state's workforce.
Boley expects bills to start being introduced today and work will begin on those.
She agrees with the governor's stand to give more authority back to principals. She thought the governor should have gone further in addressing drug testing.
The governor should get some credit in managing the state's budget where they are still cutting taxes, like the food tax, which will be eliminated this year, with no increases in taxes, Boley said.
''We do have a balanced budget, unlike the federal government,'' Boley said. | <urn:uuid:2dfe9e9a-0022-43aa-8ce7-1d5f5cb9e133> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/570789/Officials-react-to-Tomblin-speech.html?nav=5061 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966509 | 698 | 1.71875 | 2 |
It's About Time -- Real TimeThe ability to process data in real time has only been in use for six months or so, and because of the initial cost, the technology was first leveraged only by large institutions.
But today, all marketers are quickly rallying around the benefits of using real-time databases as the ultimate one-to-one marketing tool and media measurement device. As luck would have it, the price has become more affordable, too.
No longer do you have to batch transactions together and wait a period of time to impact your database. Normal time frames of congregating data are no longer acceptable. A lot can happen while you're batching transactional data. Opportunities are often lost. Real-time databases raise the standards to a level never reached before -- minute-by-minute, second-by-second, moment-by-moment.
For example, a financial services company can use a real-time solution to impact its relational database on a daily basis with the previous day's transactions. They track media results daily and adjust plans accordingly. Like the financial services company, you can immediately identify that advertisements running in the Northeast aren't pulling as well as the Southeast, for example. You can shift your media expenditures overnight and have a greater impact on ROI. In the past, you would have waited a month or so for the results and the opportunity would have been lost.
This real-time capability also can be used to access and update one record at a time, enabling retail sales environments, the Internet and call centers to access marketing information in a quick and efficient fashion. Let's say you go to the hardware store over the weekend to buy something. The cashier can ask for your name and ZIP code, and in an instant, you're added to the database. Then on Monday, they can send you a thank-you card and a special offer for your next visit. One-to-one marketing at its finest.
Because matching logic is used, the cashier only needs to input minimal information. A real-time database will find a match from the customer's name and connect the full record. It speeds the process for the retail stores and eliminates the need for customers to give out full name and address information, which can create long lines at the cashier.
Now let's shift away from the traditional shopping method to the e-commerce shopping experience. Imagine that a business customer hops on the Internet to buy something from your Web site. You can verify that the business is indeed viable and listed at the given address. You can even access credit rating codes to further qualify this company.
Access tools are an efficient way to retrieve one record at a time from real-time databases. In the telemarketing arena, for example, traditionally accessing one record at a time required a character-by-character match or the use of a unique ID number. Now access can take place with limited information. If you're buying something from a catalog, the call center will usually ask you for the number on the back of your catalog. Without it, they can't efficiently find you in the database. Now, just by asking your name and ZIP code, they can find you in the database. Not only that, they can pull up demographics to see that you're married, with children in a certain age bracket and have lived in your $150,000 home for 14 years. With the complete profile on you, the telemarketer can adjust the sales presentation, product recommendations or daily specials. They can offer specials that you will be interested in or recommend a second or third item based on your demographics.
By now, you've probably thought of ways to implement real-time database marketing into your efforts. It's a sophisticated tool being used by companies large and small to track media results and access or update their databases instantly. Aside from the data being important, you no doubt realize that time is becoming an important factor as well in keeping your database the most current and useful. And with matching logic used to access your data, exact information is no longer required to find a record. Incomplete and even incorrect data can be used to access and update information. It's a match made in heaven. Ask your list manager or broker about accessing marketing information in real-time and put time on your side.
Sheldon Zaslansky is president of Walter Karl Companies, Greenwich, CT, a division of infoUSA. | <urn:uuid:7171dce6-d836-4d2a-b540-39a2b4727ce7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dmnews.com/its-about-time----real-time/printarticle/61735/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944914 | 900 | 1.570313 | 2 |
The five-year pay freeze proposed in the House-passed budget plan drafted by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., could easily cost more than it saves, especially with high-demand jobs like those in technology, engineering and health care. It will assuredly trigger increased turnover among the best-qualified high performers who can easily move to new jobs — the people government can least afford to lose.
In 40 years of consulting, I have seen only one instance when pay was frozen for five years. That was for Bill Ford, the chairman at Ford, and he of course was able to fall back on family money. When companies freeze pay, it is usually for a year or two at most. They either recover or go out of business.
Companies would also make those decisions year to year, depending on changing circumstances.
The net savings for government will be modest. Based on current salary increases, salaries might grow 16 percent over those five years for knowledge workers in the private sector. With the freeze, the payroll savings for the average federal worker would be roughly $35,000. But the savings need to be balanced with the anticipated costs.
Total costs of turnover
The costs of employee turnover can be staggering, with estimates ranging from half of their pay at the lowest levels to five times their compensation for executives. That means the loss of an experienced, solid performer could exceed $200,000.
Those costs include the "hard" costs — the direct expenses associated with recruitment and hiring, such as background checks, relocation, training, temporary help and benefits continuation. They also include the "soft'' costs — the time spent by everyone involved in the hiring and training process along with lost productivity until a replacement is performing at the same level. It can take months before production is back to the same level.
The cost of losing a star performer in a knowledge field can be much higher. Leaders of technology companies have argued that a star performer's value is more than double that of the average employee. That is attributable to their creativity and problem-solving ability.
The costs should also include the impact on performance when employee morale deteriorates. There is no question the proposed freeze will severely damage the morale of those who continue in employment. All of the studies of employee engagement have a lesson here — when employee engagement falls, performance declines. When employees become "actively disengaged," to use the phrase from Gallup's research, they become disruptive and undermine the performance of others.
Here there is likely to be a cost that has never been studied. A five-year freeze will send a clear message to every job seeker — many will refuse to consider federal careers. Parents of new graduates will advise their children not to apply. The freeze — along with the proposed cuts in benefits — will badly damage the reputation of government as an employer.
The fallback will be increased reliance on the employees of contractors. Surveys show contractor salaries are not appreciably above market levels but added overhead costs raise their cost substantially. A prominent federal human resources executive estimates that contract personnel in professional fields cost 50 percent more than full-time employees.
The goal of high performance
There was a time when workers were viewed as easily replaced cogs in a wheel. Then, workers were managed as a cost to be minimized. Now the focus, possibly in every industry, is on creating a high-performance culture. Studies have shown that with different work management practices, employees are capable of performing at significantly higher levels.
Those higher levels of performance could generate savings far beyond the net savings from the freeze. The changes would make government a better place to work. We know how to accomplish that.
Howard Risher is a consultant and writer on federal pay and performance issues. He was the managing consultant for the studies leading to the 1990 Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act. He is the author of "Planning Wage and Salary Programs." | <urn:uuid:131c13dd-a272-430d-a288-ad1aebc52fa6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20110501/ADOP06/105010306/1037/ADOP | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972792 | 789 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Security has been beefed up at all vital installations in India and abroad — especially the Indian high commission in Islamabad — following the execution of the lone surviving 26/11 attacker, Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab on Wednesday.
In Islamabad, the Pakistani authorities tightened security at the Indian high commission following a note verbale — a semi-formal diplomatic communication — from New Delhi.
A government source said the Pakistani Taliban had openly announced it would strike Indian interests everywhere. What’s more, the operational capabilities of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which trained and sent out Kasab and nine others to Mumbai, are intact.
While the home ministry alerted all states and the BSF in border areas, the Intelligence Bureau quietly directed all its regional offices to remain on high alert even before Kasab’s execution.
In the national capital region, Delhi Police authorities have stepped up vigil at vulnerable spots. “We are focusing on hotels and embassies and the areas VIPs frequent,” a senior officer said.
Police teams are also making announcements at marketplaces, asking citizens to inform police about any suspicious object.
Meanwhile, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan said if India did not hand over Kasab's body to his family or to the Taliban, Indians would be captured and killed and their bodies would not be returned.
Earlier, Jabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, one of the handlers of Kasab, told Indian investigators that the detention of Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of the 26/11 attack, in Adiala jail of Pakistan is nothing but a sham.
Zaki's own men from LeT guard him in jail. He has access to all communication tools -- including a satellite phone - for planning and directing more strikes.
The rest of the perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks, such as Sajid Mir, have never been put on trial even for the sake of pretense. Intelligence inputs suggest Sajid Mir is still trying to recruit new cadre for another terror strike in India.
Almost nine months after the Mumbai attacks, Sajid Mir reportedly wrote an email to David Colman Headley, another 26/11 accused being tried in the US, in July, 2009 saying he had some investment (attack) plans with him.
(With inputs from PTI) | <urn:uuid:ecb3cafb-353e-4c60-b3dd-90093d5e0a35> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/India-on-high-alert-as-LeT-Taliban-vow-to-avenge-Kasab/Article1-963072.aspx | 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 | 0.955044 | 499 | 1.570313 | 2 |
The newest issue of Time Magazine contains its 2012 version of “The World’s Most Influential People” and the first list I could find gave only the names. Since I figure I’m pretty keen on news of this nature, I was amazed to find I could identify only 23 of the names who some beard-strokers in a dark office feel are the most important of us on the planet.
So I googled one or two – people I’ve never heard of. Then I searched out three or four more and suddenly I learned these are hardly the “most influential” among us but instead a bedazzling collection of the greatest heroes who walk on earth. The more I studied, the more I exalted in my search because each person has already left an indelible mark on mankind.
The list – with a brief description of each – is too long to write for one day so today let me give you the first 50 with the promise the rest will follow tomorrow in “Part Two.” I hate stories that are split but, as you’ll see, the length is prohibitive.
Here is the first half of Time Magazine’s collection and, to find out much more about this year’s group, there is a better description written by celebrity friends in this week’s issue of the magazine, which is now on sale at newsstands:
JEREMY LIN – The first Asian-American basketball player to star in the NBA. Known for his grit, his intensity and his courage.
CHRISTIAN MARCLAY – An artist whose film “The Clock” has met with widespread approval.
VIOLA DAVIS – The African-American actress who captured our hearts in the movie, “The Help.”
SALMAN KHAN – A Silicon Valley teacher whose “Khan Academy” teaching series allows children to learn at their own pace.
TIM TEBOW – An NFL football player whose values led over 20,000 to listen to him preach on Easter morning.
E.L. JAMES – The pen name of Erika Leonard, is a mother of two who dabbled in erotic writing on the Internet, and just wrote an on-line book called “Fifty Shades of Grey” that is now the No. 1 best-seller in America.
LOUIS CK – a comedian who writes, edits and produces an on-line hit called “Louie.”RIHANNA – A superstar singer from Barbados who is already an icon among the young and beautful.
MARIO RUBIO – A second-generation Cuban-America who is a compelling U.S. Senator.
ALI FERZAT – A cartoonist from Syria who was brutally attacked for his views and, although his hands were broken, continues his work.
RENE REDZEPI – A Copenhagen chef who has stirred a rebirth on Nordic cuisine.
KRISTEN WIIG – An actress who starred in her screenplay “Bridesmaids.”
ANTHONY KENNEDY – The Supreme Court Associate Justice whose swing vote decides many cases.
NOVACK DJOKOVIC -- The refreshing tennis champion from Serbia whose sense of humor is so delightful.
BEN RATTRAY – An organizer whose site, Change.org, allows stories to enjoy freedom.
JESSICA CHASTAIN -- A movie actress who received rave reviews for her role in “Wilde Salome.”
YANI TSENG – At just 23, she is the No. 1 female Golfer in the world.
RAPHAEL SAADIQ – A singer whose album, “The Way I See It,” was the hit of the year.
ELINOR OSTROM – A female economist who, at age 78, is considered a genius.
SAMIRA IBRAHIM – A 25-year-old Eygpian woman who has the courage to be a plaintiff in the world court over her country’s forced “virginity tests.”
JOSE ANDRES – A Spanish activist who is also an “advocate, promoter, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and artist.
ANN PATCHETT – A 46-year-old writer from Nashville who, with partner Karen Hayes, opened a revolutionary book store called “Parnassus Books.”
DULCE MATUZ – An immigration activist in Arizona who, at age 27, says, “We are Americans, and Americans don’t give up.”
HENRIK SCHARFE – A Denmark inventor who is using a robot, Geminoid-DK, to prove new technology is exciting.
FREEMAN HRABOWSKI – A brilliant educator who, when he was 12, was jailed in Birmingham after notorious sheriff Bull Connor spat in his face during a race riot. Today the 61-year-old is president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
MARYAM DURANI – An outspoken radio broadcaster in Kandalar providence of Afghanistan who was recently among those honored worldwide as an “International Woman of Courage.”
MANAL AL-SHARIF – A Saudi-Arabian divorced mother of two who recently defied a state law that banned women from driving automobiles.
ANJALI GOPALAN – A heroine in India who treats HIV patients and runs a home for HIV orphans.
RACHED GHANNOUCHI – A politician in Tunisian (north Africa) whose moderate views are being hailed for saving his country.
BABARA VAN DALHEN – A tenacious advocate of mental health, she has mobilized thousands of volunteers through her organization, “Give An Hour.”
RON FOUCHIER – A 45-year-old virologist, he identifies disease that could adversely affect human beings.
DONALD SADOWAY – The famed energy engineer at MIT deals heavily in “our future.”
HANS ROLING – A medical statistician who is a world leader in advancing the public understanding of science.
ASGHAR FARHADI – An Iranian filmmaker whose movie, “The Separation” won an Oscar.
SARAH BURTON – A dynamic clothing designer who thinks “about women and art and stories, weaves her tale into the future of fashion.
ANONYMOUS – A “leaderless Internet hive brain is plundering and playing in the electronic networks of an ever shifting enemies list.” I know them well.
PETE CASHMORE – A 26-year-old Scotsman who, through “mashable.com,” is an expert on the digital world.
CAMI ANDERSON – A New Jersey school superintendent hailed as a driving force in the future of public education.
ALI BABACAN & AHMET DAVUTOGLU – The Turkish prime minister and economic minister have positioned their country for the future.
AI-JEN POO – She founded the National Domestic Workers Alliance, which has given much-needed respect to maids, nannies and other household workers.
MARC ANDEERSSEN – He started the Internet first browser and, with a $2.7 billion war-chest, is a huge player on the Internet.
PREET BHARARA – A criminal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, he has a 58-0 record in insider-trading scofflaws.
ROBERT GRANT – An AIDS researcher, he has made great strides in fighting a disease that has already killed 30 million people.
ANDREW LO – An economist at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, he has used neuroscience and other avenues to better understand financial markets.
SHARMEEN OBAID-CHINOY – A Pakistani filmmaker whose movie, “Saving Face,” focused on acid violence and won an Oscar.
ALEXEI NAVALNY – A 35-year-old Russian who built a network to reveal the corruption of the Putin regime, relentlessly documenting the kleptocracy case by case, with popular outrage as the result.
RAY DALIO – A hedge-fund trader with Bridgewater, he manages $120 billion in assets.
HAMAD BIN JASSIM BIN JABER AL-THANI – Serving as Qatar’s Prime minister and foreign minister, the 52-year-old sheik is world renowned as a peace maker.
CHELSEA HANDLER – The funny lady is an up-and-comer; she already owns her own media empire.
HARVEY WEINSTEIN – An award-winning movie producer, he just added the much-needed “Bully” to his impressive list of credits.
(To Be Continued) | <urn:uuid:f3f0a48e-ffb1-420d-90dc-4c9d35f51dca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chattanoogan.com/2012/4/19/224185/Roy-Exum-I-Only-Knew-23-Part-One.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95371 | 1,860 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Pregnant? Congratulations! Pregnancy is a time when your body and you are going through many changes. On top of all this, it is also a time when you get tons of advice from all sides - relatives, friends, websites, doctors etc. etc - information bombardment for sure. You might feel overwhelmed by all this information especially if you are a first time mom-to-be.
So much going on and so much information! You might get lost and confused. Some common sense wisdom to always keep in mind. Here are 10 nuggets in a nutshell that pregnant Indian women should always remember.
Be in control of the medical-stuff
- Get a good doctor. Get leads from your friends and family. Ask prodding questions about the doctor’s caesarian track record to avoid unnecessary complications resulting from mercenary motivations. It is important that the doctor is experienced and you trust the doctor. Make sure that the doctor does not pressurize you into unnecessary tests and procedures. This is where staying well informed can help.
- When in doubt about anything, check with your doctor rather than getting swept by advice from relatives or a website.
- Keep a tab on the medical tests and put them down on your calendar.
- Listen to your doctor. Take the tests, medicines, nutritional supplements that your doctor recommends. Do not second-guess the doctor. If you are not sure of your doctor, you could look for another appropriate doctor. But make sure that it is a well thought, well researched and well discussed (discuss with your spouse) decision.
Listen to your instincts and your body
- Remember that pregnancy is not a medical condition but a natural phenomenon. Having a baby is natural and has been happening since times immemorial. Get the medical help if needed, read up and stay well informed, but after a while listen to your gut.
- Stay focused and calm and you will be better able to listen to that inner voice. Meditating can also help to tune-in with yourself and the baby inside you.
- If you have a normal pregnancy, you can pretty much continue the same kind and level of exercise, that you were doing before you got pregnant, other than lifting heavy loads.
- When in doubt, check with your doctor.
- Walking and swimming are safe exercises.
- Exercise can help you stay healthy and help alleviate pregnancy symptoms like nausea, heartburn, mood swings, constipation etc. It will also tone your muscles and help in an easier labour and delivery.
Eat healthy and listen to your body
- Of course, eat a balanced and nutritious diet. But remember that the extra energy that is required is only 300 kcal/day and any consumption above this will only add empty calories and weight to the mother. The usual Indian advice is to eat for two but we must keep in mind that it is not two grownups we have to eat for. It is for a baby that is 3 - 4 kgs in weight. So focus on nutrition, rather than the quantity of the food you eat.
- Different nutrients are more important at different times in pregnancy. In the first few months of pregnancy, the baby’s organs are being formed and it is important that you eat folic acid supplements. As the baby grows, you should focus on protein, calcium and iron to support the baby’s rapid growth.
- The best is to eat a well-balanced meal and listen to your body. The Indian ‘thali’ concept of a well-balanced nutritious meal works well in pregnancy as well.
- Make sure that you take the nutritional supplements (folic acid, iron etc.) that your doctor recommends.Do check with your doctor about these.
- More on healthy foods and meal planning
- Keep yourself mentally and physically active. As long as you have a normal pregnancy, it is important that you continue your daily life. If you are working outside the house, continue working or if you work at home, continue those chores (other than lifting very heavy objects).
- Being busy will keep you physically active. It will also keep you healthy and help in an easy delivery. And it also helps you be mentally active and keeps you happy and away from being too preoccupied by your pregnancy symptoms which will only worsen the impact.
Make sure you get sufficient rest
- You will need all the energy and fortitude during childbirth and when the baby is born. So make sure that you get enough sleep. It will also ensure that you are relaxed and will further reinforce good health in you and your baby.
- In your last couple of months, make sure that you can steal a nap in the afternoons as well. This can help in maximizing the blood flow to the baby. Even if you work, try and sneak a quick nap in the car.
NO to alcohol and smoking
- They are harmful for your baby and you. Your baby might suffer for the rest of her life or might not even survive if you overdo this.
- There is no conclusive research on what amounts are acceptable. Meanwhile, it is best to avoid alcohol and smoking while pregnant.
- The first trimester especially is a delicate phase because the baby’s organs are being formed. Stay away from strong harmful chemicals. Read what is safe and what is not.
- Remember when in doubt, check with your doctor.
Prepare for the baby
- Read up about pregnancy and childbirth and enjoy the baby shopping. But rather than being consumed by medical information and websites, or maternity and baby shopping, make sure that you are also relaxed and mentally prepared for the baby. Learn about baby care and breastfeeding so that you are prepared when the baby comes.
- Keep your spouse involved. Working as a team will make it easier for you folks to undertake the challenges of pregnancy, childbirth and life after the baby. For example, get him to read the pregnancy sections on Parentree.
- Stay informed about your labour and delivery options.
Stay in the moment and enjoy
Last but not the least enjoy this special time. Being in the moment and taking each moment as it comes, will also help you stay calm and relaxed - good for you and your baby! | <urn:uuid:41be0d86-e97b-441f-beae-defbf22acfd5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.parentree.in/Parentree-editors/journal-620/10-things-pregnant-women-should-always-keep-in-mind.html | 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 | 0.955964 | 1,274 | 1.84375 | 2 |
The Academic Senate at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) recently voted to approve a new graduate level certificate titled “Latino Health and Nutrition Studies.” The certificate program, which will be open to students pursuing master’s degrees, provides an in-depth education to prepare future health professionals to offer services for the nation’s largest minority--Latinos.
The certificate was developed thanks to continued funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) since 2007 to CSULB co-Principal Investigators Britt Rios-Ellis, director of the Center for Latino Community Health and professor of health science, and Gail Frank, director of the Dietetic Internship and professor of nutrition.
Frank and Rios-Ellis are overseeing a five-year, $3.75 million grant from the USDA focused on reducing childhood obesity. This grant enabled the development of the certificate program in the midst of the drastic reduction in public financing of higher education that has stymied development of new curriculum.
The Latino Health and Nutrition Studies certificate will consist of six, three-unit courses. Classes include “Health Equity and Disparities Research in the U.S.,” which is being offered for the first time this semester; and “Advanced Latino Nutrition, Health and Chronic Disease Prevention,” to be offered in spring 2013. “Culturally Responsive Nutrition Promotion for Latinos,” “Advanced Latino Community Health,” “Latino Health: A Focus on the Child” and an internship course are being scheduled for student enrollment. The certificate will be offered beginning next fall.
“The certificate is a unique set of courses which not only increases the versatility of faculty, but also strengthens the cultural-competence of students, which is now an employment recommendation in federally-funded health programs,” said Frank.
CSULB faculty believe this certificate is a potential model for other courses being developed in Hispanic Serving Institutions throughout the United States.
“It will help our students in diverse health and human service occupations meet the needs of California’s growing Latino population and potentially serve as a national model of culturally relevant education and disease prevention and management,” said Rios-Ellis. “Some of Southern California’s largest health care employers, such as AltaMed and Kaiser, have asked about the certificate components, timeline and when we expect to have our first student cohort graduated and ready for employment.”
Currently, Latinos comprise about 37.6 percent of California’s population (13 million), a figure projected to increase to more than 50 percent within 20 years. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city of Long Beach has a population of 462,257 people, of which 40.8 percent are Latino.
Critical health issues facing Latinos today include cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity. Childhood obesity is a significant public health epidemic in the United States, as well as globally, and leads to adverse physical, mental and emotional health effects. Among those most at risk are the nation’s children, especially minority youth. Prevalence of overweight and obesity among Hispanic males age 2 to 19 is now 39.9 percent, far surpassing the African American average of 33 percent and white average of 29.5 percent, according to data from 2010.
“Our graduates in health-related majors will acquire up-to-date knowledge and skills placing them as top candidates for leadership and managerial positions not only in California but throughout the country,” said Frank.
She also said that CSULB, being a Hispanic Serving Institution with a mission to serve the local community, is uniquely positioned to train future professionals in this area to serve both the surrounding areas as well as throughout the nation.
Hector Vasquez, a CSULB graduate student in nutritional science said, “This certificate will prepare students like myself to meet critical health challenges of our community as well as our nation.”
For more information about the certificate, contact the NCLR/CSULB Center for Latino Community Health, Evaluation and Leadership Training at 562/985-5312. Other contact information can be found on the center's website, twitter page and Facebook page. | <urn:uuid:6cb580b4-6d54-4ba4-af66-a13a5dd69792> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://urd.csulb.edu/news-events/story.cfm?storyid=1916 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950157 | 879 | 1.671875 | 2 |
A CENTURY-OLD facade tumbles, tenants are roused from their beds, and reporters arrive to chronicle yet another faltering building in the city.
Encouraged by relentlessly soggy weather, that scenario played out a dozen times in the last several months, from Madison Avenue, where a ton of bricks fell 39 stories, to Times Square, where the front of the Selwyn Theater collapsed under a cloud of dust.
For the residents of 172 Stanton Street on the Lower East Side, the trouble began just before 9 A.M. on Jan. 24, with a low rumble, followed by a loud crash. ''I heard something but didn't think much of it,'' recalled Paula Berson, 68, a book illustrator who lived on the third floor. ''I just went back to sleep. That is, until the firemen began pounding on the door.''
Assured by city officials that their evacuation would be temporary, two dozen residents, wearing housecoats and sweat pants, left behind their money, their pets and a lifetime of possessions. They trudged out into the cold drizzle that Saturday morning and gazed up at their home, a five-story tenement, its face worn but seemingly whole. But out of sight, in the rear yard, sat a mound of bricks that, inspectors later told them, had peeled away from the first and second floors after torrential rains and years of neglect.
At 11 A.M., Mayor Giuliani toured the damaged building, his head unprotected by a hard hat. Mr. Giuliani's visit gave some comfort to the tenants, several of whom remembered the fate of a nearby building, 26 East First Street, six months earlier. After discovering rotted joists, the city lost no time in demolishing that structure, leaving two dozen people homeless.
''In retrospect, we didn't really worry because it wasn't the first time our building had trouble,'' Mrs. Berson said. ''We figured they'd patch it up again and we'd be back in no time.''
By the next morning, though, their building, too, was gone. Ignoring the pleas of tenants and deeming it a danger to public safety, the city had ordered 172 Stanton Street torn down. It took 12 hours for a set of steel jaws to level the structure, which never fell on its own.
''The building was hardly in danger of collapsing,'' said John Shuttleworth, an architect and local community board member who watched from behind police barricades. ''They literally had to tear the thing apart.''
Local elected officials and community activists condemned the city's rush to demolish, saying that the same building in a different neighborhood might have fared differently. ''If it had been at Park Avenue and 72d Street, you can be sure this building wouldn't have been torn down,'' Councilwoman Kathryn E. Freed said.
City officials strongly defend the decision to raze 172 Stanton Street, saying that it was made after careful consideration. ''We only demolish buildings in extreme situations, when people's lives are in danger,'' said Ilyse Fink, a spokeswoman for the Buildings Department, which issued the demolition order. ''We don't do these kinds of things for the fun of it.''
By Sunday morning the only hint that 10 families had once lived on the narrow wedge of land were paintings and posters that clung to a wall. On the sidewalk, a waterlogged heap of shattered furniture and soiled clothing was spread out for tenants to comb. The rest ended up in dump trucks owned by a private demolition company hired by the city.
Still, some things did make it through the night. Marc Friedlander found his guitar, its neck snapped, and Amirum Ahmed recovered a mud-soaked sari. But Stanley and Ann Kleinkopf, residents since 1958, found nothing. ''We lost our wedding photos, our clothing and our beloved cat,'' Mr. Kleinkopf, 75, said, anguish scoring his face. ''I have nothing but the shirt on my back.'' | <urn:uuid:7db7b058-8956-4be5-b023-4644d1cc56e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/10/nyregion/the-angry-urban-refugees.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976052 | 826 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Created in 1985 as a memorial to the Rev. Edward M. Catich–founder of the St. Ambrose College Art Department in 1939 and world-renowned calligrapher, stone incisor and artist–this intimate gallery was re-configured in 2002 to host contemporary art exhibits featuring the work of regional and national artists as well as faculty and seniors graduating with honors. The Catich Gallery is a member of the Association of College & University Museums & Galleries (ACUMG).
There are seven exhibits each academic year at the Catich Gallery: four feature regional and nationally known artists; two highlight graduating seniors from the Fine Arts, Graphic Design and Book Arts departments; and one honors Father Catich drawing from the university's vast collection of his work.
View a listing of artists' work that was displayed at the gallery from the past two years.
The Catich Collection provides digital access to the artwork of Fr. Edward Catich, one of the world's finest calligraphers
Enjoy an inspiring range of performance and visual arts opportunities at one of the Quad Cities' finest venues. | <urn:uuid:41cff4c3-d94b-496d-b70e-fc6667edcae8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sau.edu/Catich.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950252 | 225 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Make no mistake about it--behavioral and character traits are more important than academics, as KIPP's Mike Feinberg has admitted. In this brave new world of character report cards rounded to the second decimal place, curiosity has replaced integrity, social intelligence has shoved aside fairness, grit has replaced honesty, and something called zest has been put in the place of caring. These new values to be drilled into urban children represent those of the hedge funders, vulture capitalists, and predatory philanthropists who control and get fat from the operations of these zero tolerance hellholes.
The charter chain predators are on the move in Providence, RI, where Achievement First has a plan that would drain between $6-9 million annually from the public school budget of the city. This would represent a death blow to efforts by the public schools in Providence to continue quality programs that have resulted in big improvements in recent years.
Local parent groups are appealing to Governor Chafee to intervene to stop the disastrous intrusion by the vultures who see Providence as another potential feeding site, as public institutions continue to suffer from the economic disaster brought on by the predators of Wall Street in 2008.
Go the Change.org and sign their petition. Help Providence parents save their schools from the vultures and to say NO to zero tolerance schools. | <urn:uuid:0d7d9c01-6a29-4b57-a593-a2e5cf747a90> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2012/01/vulture-philanthropy-and-vulture.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963685 | 265 | 1.773438 | 2 |
When Sophal Nam joined the Tiny Rascal Gang, he brought unspeakable shame to his family. And when he landed in jail, his parents declared, "Leave him there." He decided there was only one way he could redeem himself: by becoming a monk.
"We thought he was kidding," said his sister, Sinet Nam, 18. "I'm like, no, this can't be my brother. He'll go nuts."
Now Nam sits on the floor and chants Buddhist prayers instead of hanging out with his gang-member pals in Santa Ana, Calif.
"My thinking is not about gangs anymore," said Nam, cloaked in a saffron robe. "It's all about chanting and being a monk."
Nam, 19, is a refugee from Cambodia. He lives in Santa Ana's Minnie Street neighborhood, home to at least 3,000 Cambodian refugees, the largest concentration in Orange County.
A friend from the gang, Veasna Lach, a.k.a. Smiley, also went from Rascal to monk.
"I'm doing it to make my parents happy," said Lach, 21.
But for former gang members used to living life on their own terms, adjusting to the strict regimen of a Buddhist monk isn't easy.
They must rise at 4 a.m. every day to pray. They must memorize and practice ritual chants. They can't eat anything after noon.
They aren't allowed to dance, tell jokes or swear. They can't harm any living thing, even the smallest bug. They are forbidden to go to parties. And they can't have romantic relationships with women.
Despite the rules, Nam and Lach weathered their apprentice stage and in an initiation ceremony earlier this month, became full-fledged monks.
Lach, Nam and a third apprentice monk alternately knelt, stood and chanted for more than an hour during the ceremony at a Los Angeles temple. Then a dozen senior monks circled them, a way of saying, "You're one of us."
"I almost fainted sitting like that," Lach said afterward. "It hurt."
Nam's mother, Heng Pak Nam, said she was so thankful that her son became a monk that she planned to make a small sacrifice-by shaving her head.
Cambodian Buddhists believe that fate depends on the sacrifices they make and the good or bad deeds they commit. But bad deeds never can be erased. And for those whose sins are extreme, their only hope is to carry out good deeds that are equally extreme.
Becoming a monk scores big points on the redemption scale. Not only are monks religious, they are respected.
"It's a very gentle culture that pays very high respect to spiritual authority," said Rifka Hirsh, head of Cambodian Family Inc., a social-services center in Santa Ana.
The family also is important, she said. But if a family member is in a gang, it taints the entire family's reputation.
Lach and Nam live with six other monks in a temple-two charcoal blue, one-story apartments in Santa Ana. Several Cambodian nuns, elderly women with shaved heads, also live there.
The young monks lead a peaceful existence. They chant for an hour or so every day, read books, watch television and stroll outside to chat with neighbors. Most of the men also smoke cigarettes, which is allowed under the strict monk code.
The faithful stop by every day. They bring offerings-steamed rice, spicy soup, even pizza.
But not everyone accepts the former gang members.
"Some talk to us like we're still homeboys," Lach said. "No respect. There's always a phone call. They go, `How come you let those gangsters be monks?' "
The Santa Ana temple's senior monk-the ex-Rascals call him `The Main One'-said he was more than willing to give the former Rascals a chance.
"I want to help people quit the gang," Rev. Soyudh Jenlao said. "The past is the past."
The past is something Lach wants to forget. The other day, he told a former friend in the gang that he can't stand outside the temple and talk to him anymore.
It's just not proper.
Lach also is paying a laser surgeon $2,500 to burn off his gang tattoos.
Like most of the Cambodians in the neighborhood, Lach and his family fled Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge guerrillas took over and began killing anyone who posed a threat: government officials, soldiers, teachers, intellectuals and others.
An estimated 2 million Cambodians starved, died of disease or were executed while the communists were in power from 1975-1978.
Lach, whose brother was among those killed, said that when his family reached Minnie Street in 1984, he didn't think much about the shootings among rival gangs. He remembers thinking, "I lived through a real war. This is nothing."
At the time, the Tiny Rascal Gang had just been formed. Today, police say, it has 40 to 80 members in Orange County. Members claim 2,000 associates nationwide.
The gang is mostly Asian but ethnically mixed.
Lach wound up in jail in June 1991 after Santa Ana police arrested him on charges of assault with a firearm.
Lach told police that he pulled a .357 Magnum on a man outside a party in Santa Ana on May 18, 1991. He said the man had threatened a friend with a gun months earlier. So after Lach saw him, he confronted him and shot at him as he drove away in a truck.
As he fired, other gang members grabbed their guns and joined in. | <urn:uuid:2a82ad44-6d73-4e41-a35b-296a1e2d6d76> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1993-08-12/news/9308130318_1_monk-cambodian-family-chants | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985153 | 1,197 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Dear Mark: You should be a happy camper. The White House stated this week that there are no immediate plans to close Guantánamo Bay. The president promised it would be closed by January 2010. What is taking him so long? — Lost Lib in Liberal
Dear Lost: Seems like a case of campaign rhetoric meets national security reality. It was easy for candidate Obama to sit on the sidelines and take political potshots at President Bush during the 2008 presidential campaign. “Candidate” Obama all but promised that when he closed Guantanamo, the entire world would love the United States again. Now that “President” Obama has the keys to the car and has finally read the country’s owner’s manual, he’s learning that the world is full of huge potholes.
Don’t lose faith in your president’s partisan liberal credentials, because White House spokesman Robert Gibbs did manage to blame Republicans when he said, “I think part of this depends on the Republicans’ willingness to work with the administration on this.” Could it be that al-Qaida not working with the administration is the real problem?
Gibbs also brought up the tired argument that Guantanamo is a recruiting tool for al-Qaida. Memo to Mr. Gibbs: al-Qaida and other radical Islamist groups hated us before Guantánamo Bay was even a twinkle in Bush’s eye, and they will continue hating us even if Obama closes the detention camp today.
Dear Mark: Lucy (President Obama) has just pulled the football away from Charlie Brown (conservatives) again. Perhaps Obama lost the tax cuts battle, but within a week, “don’t ask, don’t tell” was passed and signed into law. The START treaty was approved by Congress and unemployment benefits were extended for another year. These are all biggies.
I have written my (non) representative and senator so often my wife is beginning to get suspicious. What can a body do other than keep writing? — Mad, Mad, Mad in Missouri
Dear Mad: Continue to apply the pressure on your own representatives, but expand your correspondence to include the politicians of other states, as well. I have never subscribed to the notion that your respective congressman and senators are the only people who represent you in Washington. A Bernie Sanders vote from Vermont impacts you every bit as much as the votes cast by your Missouri Sens. Claire McCaskill and Roy Blunt.
Consider writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper. Just be sure they are factual and not some Internet manifestation that has circled the globe more times than the space shuttle. It’s amazing what kind of debate a good letter to the editor can start.
Attend as many town hall meetings as possible, and be prepared with thoughtful and thoroughly researched questions. Most politicians are uncomfortable with constituents who research the issues. Just take a look at some of the YouTube clips from the ObamaCare deliberations. Election campaigns are another area to expend your energy, and volunteers are always needed.
Take heart, though — the stripes of the political football field will change dramatically on Jan. 3, when Republicans take control of the House. The Democrats’ majority in the Senate also is smaller, which will help prevent legislation from being rammed across the goal line, as Americans have been subjected to the past two years. Because of these changes, President Obama will now be the player who has to pay attention to who’s holding the football when he tries to kick it.
Dear Mark is a public platform for your enrichment and entertainment. E-mail your questions to email@example.com. To find out more about Mark Levy, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit www.creators.com. | <urn:uuid:de651616-08e8-44ef-9855-d9b9f9f56702> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2011/jan/04/closing-guant225namo-bay-and-political-peanuts/ | 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 | 0.963344 | 785 | 1.523438 | 2 |
20 November 2007
I'm referring to David Schütz's reflections on the latest discussions between Rome and the Eastern Churches. You can read here. What David notices particularly is the notion of regional churches. The Reformation implications of this, one would think, would be obvious. How much does this discussion differ from the Lutheran Symbol's willingness to grant a de jure humano primacy to the Bishop of Rome?
Posted by William Weedon at 9:50 PM | <urn:uuid:723cedd1-b123-4f38-8828-d413596ce47c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://weedon.blogspot.com/2007/11/worth-reading.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942462 | 95 | 1.609375 | 2 |
I think I might be getting a little bit obsessed with scurvy.
No, this isn’t a new indie rock band or the name of my new Yorkie puppy (although I think the word fits for either instance.) I’m talking about the real scurvy, the disease of the gums. If you don’t know what scurvy is, you should probably check out Wikipedia here.
Anyways, I’m reading Shogun on a friend’s recommendation. I’m finding it really good so far. The prologue explains that the men aboard the ship are all suffering from scurvy. There is even a graphic scene when Blackthorne eats the last of his rotten fruit, including maggots, to help treat the scurvy in his gums. Gross, I know, but also very fascinating.
The book made me remember something from my childhood. I remembered reading this book about the Franklin Expedition to the North Pole. The book told all about the scurvy and lead poisoning that contributed to the eventual deaths of the crew.
As a child, this scurvy business can be pretty frightening. I started eating fruits whenever I could. When you think about it, the threat of having your gums bleed and your teeth fall out probably would help get a lot of kids to eat their fruits and vegetables. I know I definitely plan to threaten my children with scurvy if they refuse to eat properly. You may think that sounds harsh, but at least it is the truth. My parents told me plenty of lies to get me to eat stuff I didn’t want when I was a child. My favorite was that if you didn’t eat the crust of your bread, you would not be able to whistle. Yep. Believed that one for a long time. Longer than I care to admit. It is amazing the kinds of things you grow up believing that seem so ridiculous as an adult. I look forward to the day when I can make up stuff that will get my kids to do what I want.
This morning I went to my dentist for my semi-annual cleaning and exam. It went well. My hygienist assured me that my gums and teeth were very healthy.
“No scurvy, right?” I asked.
“No. No scurvy,” she replied.
Lastly, I leave you with this tidbit of information: Scurvy Awareness Day is right around the corner on May 2. I hope you will find some small way to celebrate this important day. Scurvy isn’t one of those things the average person thinks about daily, but then again, maybe they should. | <urn:uuid:d4e878a0-4c99-4cf6-b456-81eaf6774635> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://annieharm.wordpress.com/2010/04/22/scurvy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969336 | 566 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Answers about Flood Insurance
I recently obtained a loan for $10,000 and made several home improvements. The lender decided to take a security interest in my home; but only as a precaution. My home is in a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). Will I be required to have flood insurance?
Yes. The Flood Disaster Protection Act (FDPA or Act) looks to the collateral securing the loan. If the lender takes a security interest in improved real estate located in an SFHA in which flood insurance is available under the Act, then flood insurance is required. The Act makes no exception for property taken as collateral by a lender out of an abundance of caution. | <urn:uuid:362bf46c-e47f-4f5e-8920-9d4b12b20c9d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://helpwithmybank.gov/get-answers/insurance/flood-insurance/faq-flood-insurance-16.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967822 | 136 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Southwestern graduate founds non-profit organization in Peru
Southwestern University graduate Ximena Querol is proof that alumni can make a difference worldwide. She co-founded a non-profit organization in Peru in 2008 that has attracted volunteers from 10 different countries.
Querol, originally from Peru, started Nexos Voluntarios (NeVo) in her home country to provide a venue for volunteers to be matched with projects of interest in Peru. Querol started the organization with her longtime friend Carolina Benavides, with a shared mission to serve and help others volunteer. She spearheaded the organization with Benavides in 2008 after working as a consultant for McKinsey & Co., a company in Peru.
“I enjoy seeing how people can make an impact just by giving their time and their care. I enjoy seeing how, little by little, we are contributing to a better country and making the lives of those in need better every day. I enjoy seeing how each one of us can add a drop of water until the glass is full,” Querol said.
Querol lived in the Austin area for six years while pursuing her higher education. She received a bachelor’s degree in business from Southwestern in 1996; and both a master of arts in Latin American studies and master of business administration degree from the University of Texas in 2001. While at Southwestern, she was involved with the International Students Club.
Both Querol and Benavides had lived in the United States and had noticed people who are willing to travel outside of the country to help others.
“Carolina and I, based on our individual experiences living in the United States, had realized that there were many caring individuals and organizations who wanted to devote part of their time to contribute to development in a meaningful manner,” Querol said.
NeVo sponsors projects in human rights, micro-business, environmental conservation, education and public health. It is supported by the Inter-American Development Bank, which seeks to promote Peruvian development through a variety of social projects. Volunteers reside in what is called the NeVo House, a rustic house in Urubamba, Peru. Some of their missions include teaching English, working on construction and participating in medical and environmental campaigns.
“We started NeVo as a platform to facilitate the participation of caring individuals and organizations in the development of Peru and developing countries as a whole,” Querol said.
Querol said her time at Southwestern helped her think about the world in a different light.
“Southwestern changed my life and my view of things,” Querol said. “The liberal arts education opened my eyes to new realities and new ways to analyze and question the status quo. As a result, I became more critical and analytical.” | <urn:uuid:321e4f2b-f433-4414-808f-4aeb9b281db5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.southwestern.edu/live/news/6526-worldwide-impact/academics/news.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974063 | 581 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Here’s a question from a reader:
Can you get a ticket for straddling a solid white line on the offramp from the freeway? Millie
The answer comes from CHP Officer Jon Sloat, who says, “By the LETTER of the law, you technically could be cited for straddling the white line on the shoulder. However, the average officer would only cite if it were a safety issue.”
Here’s another question: My commute often takes me eastbound on Old Adobe near Penngrove, and I need to turn left on Petaluma Hill Road. At rush hour, this is a very busy intersection. There is no advance green, and there is no break in cars which allow me to turn left. Even if I wait till it turns orange, there is always a stream of westbound drivers on Adobe turning right onto single lane Pet Hill Road which block me. The turn seems impossible to do legally. What should I do? Ian
The answer is, as I understand it, that if you’ve entered the intersection on a green and are waiting to turn, you can turn as soon as it’s safe even if the light turns yellow or red. But with heavy commute traffic, you might wait there for a while before you even get to the intersection. I think the best answer is to find a different route to work where you don’t have to wait.
I’ve encountered a couple of intersections in Petaluma and Santa Rosa that are congested during commute times, and I just try to avoid them during those hours. My alternate routes are a bit longer in distance but shorter in time.
Got a question? Send it to the Road Warrior via email@example.com
Follow the Road Warrior on Twitter via @PDRoadWarrior | <urn:uuid:27640d1a-ca5d-4e19-9f4f-2e7b2d911446> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://roadwarrior.blogs.pressdemocrat.com/15639/mailbag-straddling-white-line-on-offramp-penngrove-turn-dilemma/comment-page-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959749 | 386 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Speaking—as we were—of stuff that’s liminal, how about this poster? It advertises I Passed for White, a 1960 film starring Sonya Wilde and James Franciscus. I just discovered this film through a short article titled “The Tragic Mulatto Myth,” which, in turn, I discovered on the website of the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia, now open at Ferris State University and which houses what Time magazine calls “the nation’s largest public collection of artifacts spanning the segregation era and features many objects from the civil rights movement up to the present.”
Which is weird, because aren’t we living in a post-racial America?
Back to I Passed for White, which was based on a book of the same name: you can watch the entire film after the jump. | <urn:uuid:06575b77-25bd-447f-876b-630ce4791b3b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.encyclopediavirginia.org/2012/04/25/in-passing/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938204 | 177 | 1.835938 | 2 |
I swam to where the river was a sun-gold haze. I kicked and paddled in a rage. Suddenly my fingers scraped the soft waterlogged carcass of a small dog. The body was rotten, the eyes had been eaten. The moment I touched it, the body broke in two, as though the water had been its glue. A stench leaked out of the broken body, and then the pieces quickly sank. That stench stays with me. I'm twenty-four now, I live in Baden, Elsa County, Iowa, but every time I lift a glass of water to my lips, fleetingly I smell it. I know what I don't want to become.— Jasmine
Bharati Mukherjee was born on July 27, 1940, to an upper-middle class Hindu Brahmin family in Calcutta, India. The second of three daughters of Sudhir Lal, a chemist, and Bina (Banerjee) Mukherjee, she lived with 40 or 50 relatives until the age of eight. Born into an extraordinarily close-knit and intelligent family, Mukherjee and her sisters were always given ample academic opportunities, and thus have all pursued academic endeavors in their careers and have had the opportunity to receive excellent schooling. In 1947, her father was given a job in England and he brought his family to live there until 1951, which gave Mukherjee an opportunity to develop and perfect her English language skills.
Mukherjee earned a B.A. with honors from the University of Calcutta in 1959. She and her family then moved to Baroda, India, where she studied for her Master's Degree in English and Ancient Indian Culture, which she acquired in 1961. Having planned to be a writer since childhood, Mukherjee went to the University of Iowa in 1961 to attend the prestigious Writer's Workshop. She planned to study there to earn her Master's of Fine Arts, then return to India to marry a bridegroom of her father's choosing in her class and caste.
However, a lunch break on September 19, 1963, changed that plan, transferring Mukherjee into a split world, a transient with loyalties to two cultures. She impulsively married Clark Blaise, a Canadian writer, in a lawyer's office above a coffee shop after only two weeks of courtship. She received her M.F.A. that same year, then went on to earn her Ph.D. in English and comparative literature from the University of Iowa in 1969.
In 1968, Mukherjee immigrated to Canada with her husband and became a naturalized citizen in 1972. Her 14 years in Canada were some of the hardest of her life, as she found herself discriminated against and treated, as she says, as a member of the "visible minority. " She has spoken in many interviews of her difficult life in Canada, a country that she sees as hostile to its immigrants and one that opposes the concept of cultural assimilation. Although those years were challenging, Mukherjee was able to write her first two novels, The Tiger's Daughter (1971) and Wife (1975), while working up to professorial status at McGill University in Montreal. During those years she also collected many of the sentiments found in her first collection of short stories, Darkness (1985), a collection that in many sections reflects her mood of cultural separation while living in Canada.
Finally fed up with Canada, Mukherjee and her family moved to the United States in 1980, where she was sworn in as a permanent U.S. resident. Continuing to write, in 1986 she was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts grant. After holding several posts at various colleges and universities, she ultimately settled in 1989 at the University of California-Berkeley. Because of the distinctly different experiences she has had throughout life, she has been described as a writer who has lived through several phases of life. First, as a colonial, then National subject in India. She then led a life of exile as a post-colonial Indian in Canada. Finally, she shifted into a celebratory mode as an immigrant, then citizen, in the United States. She now fuses her several lives and backgrounds together with the intention of creating a "new immigrant" literature.
Known for her playful and developed language, Mukherjee rejects the concept of minimalism, which, she says, is "designed to keep anyone out with too much story to tell. "(New York Times Book Review) Rather, she considers her work a celebration of her emotions, and herself a writer of the Indian diaspora who cherishes the "melting pot" of America. Her main theme throughout her writing discusses the condition of Asian immigrants in North America, with particular attention to the changes taking place in South Asian women in a new world. While the characters in all her works are aware of the brutalities and violence that surround them and are often victimized by various forms of social oppression, she generally draws them as survivors. Mukherjee has oft been praised for her understated prose style and her ironic plot developments and witty observations. As a writer, she has a sly eye with which to view the world, and her characters share that quality. Although she is often racially categorized by her thematic focus and cultural origin, she has often said that she strongly opposes the use of hyphenation when discussing her origin, in order to "avoid otherization" and the "self-imposed marginalization that comes with hyphenation. " Rather, she prefers to refer to herself as an American of Bengali-Indian origin.
The Tiger's Daughter is a fictionalized story drawing from Mukherjee's own first years of marriage and her return home for a visit to a world unlike the one that lives in her memory. The protagonist, Tara Banerjee, returns to India after marrying an American and faces a different India than the one she remembers leaving. This first novel addresses Mukherjee's personal difficulties of being caught between two worlds, homes and cultures and is an examination of who she is and where she belongs. Similarly, Days and Nights in Calcutta, co-authored with her husband, is a shared account of the first trip the couple took to India together after being married. Each offers a different India through their separate journals, and ultimately, the two tell the tale of a relationship that faces the daily difficulties of cultural barriers that have been drawn and separate pasts that linger.
Mukherjee's second novel, Wife, is a more distant story that sees Dimple, a young, naive Indian woman, trying to reconcile the Bengali ideal of the perfect, passive wife with the demands of her new American life. As a young woman who was raised to be passive, Dimple lacks the inner strength and resources it takes to cope in New York City as the young wife in an arranged marriage. Again in this novel, Mukherjee deals with the complications that come from being thrown between two worlds and the strength and courage it takes to survive and, ultimately, live. Wife was often dismissed because its heroine fails to make the transition from one world to another, and was often judged to be "weak. " Although both of Mukherjee's first books weave complex tales, they lack the strength of storytelling that her later works are more successful at capturing.
Darkness, her first collection of short stories, focuses on natives of South Asia who crave success and stability, but are burdened by their histories and face the difficulties of prejudice and misunderstanding. This collection was a transitional work for Mukherjee, who was reflecting back on her difficult years in Canada and cherishing the opportunity to establish herself in the United States.
In 1988, Mukherjee had a major public breakthrough that lifted her into the top ranks of all writers. She was awarded the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction for The Middleman and Other Stories. In this collection, Mukherjee becomes a valuable middleman linking disparate worlds. She tells her tales from many perspectives, with a keen eye for the concept of self within a larger society. She wrote this collection in a lighter, more celebratory tone, with characters who are adventurers and explorers, rather than refugees and outcasts, and are a part of a new, changing America.
Jasmine, Mukherjee's most popularly read novel, was generally received enthusiastically, but there was some criticism that it was too short and its plot too contrived to be a really successful work of fiction. It is a novel that stems from an earlier short story from The Middleman and Other Stories and was expanded to a story of a young widow who uproots herself from her life in India and re-roots herself in search of a new life and the image of America. It is a story of dislocation and relocation as the title character continually sheds lives to move into other roles, moving further westward while constantly fleeing pieces of her past. In it, Mukherjee rejoices in the idea of assimilation and makes it clear that Jasmine needs to travel to America to make something significant of her life, because in the third world she faced only despair and loss. What Mukherjee hoped that people would read in the story is not only Jasmine's story and change, but also the story of a changing America.
While Mukherjee has been received favorably by many critics and academics, she has also faced a good deal of criticism, particularly from East Indian scholars and critics. It has been said that she often represents India in her fiction as a land without hope or a future. She has also been criticized for a tendency to overlook unavoidable barriers of caste, education, gender, race and history in her tales of survivors, particularly within Jasmine, giving her characters more opportunities than their social circumstances would realistically allow.
Mukherjee is currently a Distinguished Professor of English at the University of California-Berkeley. Her husband, with whom she shares a "literary marriage," teaches at the University of Iowa and they have two sons together, Bart Anand and Bernard Sudhir. Mukherjee has established herself as a powerful member of the American literary scene, one whose most memorable works reflect her pride in her Indian heritage, but also her celebration of embracing America. As she said in an interview in the Massachusetts Review, "the immigrants in my stories go through extreme transformations in America and at the same time they alter the country's appearance and psychological make-up. " And so we are given a writer whose voice tells the tales of her own experiences to demonstrate the changing shape of American society.
"Holders of the Word: An Interview with Bharati Mukherjee"
An excellent, complete and intelligent interview with Mukherjee; also a photo
Beatrice: Interview with the Author
A 1997 Q&A with Mukherjee about her writing and Leave It to Me.
An individual's homepage with a biography of the author with links to several other excellent sites; also has information on other Indian authors.
Report a dead link or suggest a new one by emailing firstname.lastname@example.org.
This page was researched and submitted by: Erin Soderberg on 4/9/99. | <urn:uuid:8e69b623-fe0a-477f-871a-95bd5c24d0c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://voices.cla.umn.edu/artistpages/mukherjee_bharati.php | 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 | 0.982921 | 2,281 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Barton Biggs, Morgan Stanley’s former chief global strategist and co-founder of one of the first hedge funds, has died at age 79.
He died Saturday after a short illness, a bank spokeswoman said.
In 1965, Biggs co-founded Fairfield Partners, one of the first hedge funds, according to James Gorman, chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley . Biggs founded Morgan Stanley Investment Management in 1975 and served as its chairman until 2003. He served on Morgan Stanley's board until 1996.
In January 1999, he warned that a spectacular rally in Internet stocks would "come to a very bad end." The most widely watched measure of technology stocks, the Nasdaq composite index, peaked on March 10, 2000, before losing almost 80 percent of its value over the next 2 1/2 years.
In a memo to employees Monday, Gorman said Biggs "left an indelible mark on our business, our culture and our shared notion of leadership at Morgan Stanley."
"He was known as an independent thinker, colorful writer and one of the pioneers of emerging markets investing," Gorman wrote, "and our firm benefited from his vision."
Biggs graduated from Yale University and served as an officer in the Marine Corps. He was the author of three books.
Biggs left Morgan Stanley in 2003 to found the investment advisory firm Traxis Partners.Page 1 of 2 | Next Page | <urn:uuid:61c0f774-d676-494f-9e13-530a68a538af> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://m.cnbc.com/cnews/MS/48193887/1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978997 | 290 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Congress included a one-year extension of the wind energy investment tax credit in its last-minute fiscal cliff legislation. The extension means offshore wind projects that begin construction this year will be eligible for an award equal to 30 percent of the project's cost.
That's good news for Cape May-based Fishermen's Energy, which plans to build a 25-megawatt demonstration wind farm three miles off the coast of Atlantic City. The project last month was awarded a $4 million Department of Energy grant, with the potential for more federal funding in future years.
Chris Wissemann, Fishermen's CEO, said his company plans to begin construction onshore later this year, and offshore in 2014, which would qualify it for the tax credit. But Wissemann said that can only happen if the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities moves forward with implementation of the offshore renewable energy credit program, or OREC, which was created by legislation in 2010.
"Provided that the OREC is approved on its current schedule — in the first half of the year — it would be no problem" to meet the Dec. 31 start-of-construction deadline, he said. "We're really in the advanced stages of design and negotiation. It's literally ready to go."
New Jersey's OREC program would provide production-based, ratepayer-funded payments to offshore wind companies, so no payment would change hands until the project is operational sometime next year.
Fishermen's has already applied to the program and asked for a certain payment price from the state, an amount Wissemann said is made significantly lower by the federal assistance the project is slated to receive.
"What that basically means is that New Jersey's got the ability to get basically all of the benefits of offshore wind at a significantly reduced cost," he said.
But he said the OREC portion is critical to the project's viability, as it will allow the company to close on the project financing.
However, there's no guarantee the BPU will act on schedule. In November, Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-West Deptford) accused the BPU of dragging its heels on the implementation of the program. Things also could be complicated by the nomination last month of BPU President Robert M. Hanna to serve on the state's Supreme Court, creating a potential vacancy at the top of the agency.
But Wissemann said the OREC program ought to be a priority, because the success of his project will have impacts far beyond Fishermen's. He said banks want to see the OREC mechanism operate successfully before they'll be willing to finance the much-larger and costlier wind farms that ultimately would make a major dent in the state's renewable energy goals.
"Bankers have said … they couldn't finance a billion-dollar project without this mechanism being proven," Wissemann said. "That becomes a real obstacle to building an industry in New Jersey."
Fishermen's demonstration project provides the perfect opportunity to demonstrate the OREC mechanism, he said. The project could also help make New Jersey the epicenter for wind energy in United States, a status that could potentially bring hundreds of jobs through wind energy suppliers and contractors. | <urn:uuid:8bbc6647-c8c9-4862-b523-e95b64886938> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.njbiz.com/article/20130103/NJBIZ01/130109953/0/20111031/Federal-credit-could-be-key-to-Atlantic-City-wind-farm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966451 | 654 | 1.75 | 2 |
Most billionaires buy private islands to get away from people. But Lanai is home to about 3,000 people, mostly living in Lanai City, since 98 percent of the island was privately owned by Castle and Cooke (Dole).
Plus, the island makes its living from tourism, with about 75,000 visitors a year.
That's a lot of people trooping through paradise.
Lanai was once known as the pineapple island. But the previous billionaire owner, David Murdock (who got his stake in Lanai when he rescued Castle and Cook from bankruptcy in 1985), shifted directions for Lanai. He ended the pineapple farms (less than 100 acres remain) and built two luxury resorts.
They've been a disaster, losing $20 million to $30 million a year, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser previously reported. At one point, Murdock contemplated shifting directions again and building a wind farm on Lanai to it to sell electricity to Maui. The locals hated that idea, too.
So, Ellison's island isn't private and needs $20 million to keep it afloat. At one point, critics said it was a "fantasy" to even think the property was sell-able.
Plus residents are starting to lobby Ellison for favors as if he were the king. He's not. Lanai is very much part of the United States. Reports NPR:
"Working-class residents on Lanai want stable jobs. Affordable housing. No onerous restrictions on hunting or fishing. A return to agriculture. Improved transportation to Maui, Oahu and other islands given an airport with limited flights. Even simple things like the reopening of the community pool."
Good luck with this one, Larry. The people of your not-so-private island are depending on you. | <urn:uuid:43820102-74e0-4160-afd5-b53440448c75> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businessinsider.com/larry-ellisons-decision-to-buy-a-hawaiian-island-was-a-big-mistake--heres-why-2012-6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974029 | 367 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Date March 23, 2008 at 10:00 PM
Categories Art Markets & Galleries
IAIA Museum is one of two congressionally chartered museum in the US. Located in downtown Santa Fe, the Museum houses the 7,000-piece National Collection of Contemporary Native American Art. It mounts innovative exhibitions and public programs and attracts worldwide positive attention because of its engaging programming and unique perspective.
Many don't know that IAIA Museum is a part of the Institute of American Indian Arts, a fully accredited four-year college that offers both associates (AA, AFA, and AAS) degrees as well as Baccalaureate (BFA and BA) degrees in Studio Arts, Creative Writing, Museum Studies, New Media Arts, Native American Studies and Indigenous Liberal Studies located on a scenic 140-acre campus in a flourishing suburb 11 miles south of Santa Fe.
Join the Museum today...starting at only $40, all IAIA Museum members receive these benefits
For more information or to join, upgrade or renew your membership, contact Guin White at 983-8900 ext. 122 or firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:5d9e8131-2087-49f5-bfb1-aa4639db477b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.santafe.com/article/institute-of-american-indian-arts-iaia-museum | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931203 | 232 | 1.65625 | 2 |
CSPI to Sue Cadbury Schweppes over “All Natural” 7UP
High Fructose Corn Syrup Not Remotely Natural, Says CSPI
May 11, 2006
The company that makes the “uncola” is accused of telling an untruth in a new marketing campaign that touts 7UP as “100% natural.” The nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) will sue 7UP’s manufacturer, Cadbury Schweppes, unless the company drops the claim. Although the company removed several artificial ingredients from the drink, at least one remains: high fructose corn syrup.
Sunny new television ads for 7UP show cans of the drink being picked from fruit trees, or harvested from the ground, yet there is no fruit juice in 7UP. The narrator says it “tastes better than ever because we stripped out all the artificial stuff leaving just five all natural ingredients.” Besides carbonated water and high fructose corn syrup, the other three are citric acid, unspecified “natural flavors,” and potassium citrate. Though not any better or worse nutritionally than plain table sugar, high fructose corn syrup is spawned from a complex, multistep industrial process by which starch is extracted from corn and converted with acids or enzymes into glucose and fructose.
“Pretending that soda made with high fructose corn syrup is ‘all natural,’ is just plain old deception,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “High fructose corn syrup isn’t something you could cook up from a bushel of corn in your kitchen, unless you happen to be equipped with centrifuges, hydroclones, ion-exchange columns, and buckets of enzymes.”
In a legal notice to Cadbury Schweppes executives, CSPI litigation director Steve Gardner wrote that the primary purpose of the suit would be to prohibit the company from describing any product with high fructose corn syrup as “natural,” and that CSPI would also seek restitution, corrective advertising, and attorneys’ fees. CSPI’s announcement comes a week after Cadbury, Coca-Cola, and PepsiCo agreed not to sell sugary soda in schools, thus avoiding a separate lawsuit CSPI and other parties intended to file.
The Food and Drug Administration does not have an official definition for “natural” foods. Nor does it take action to prevent food companies from calling the most obviously artificial ingredients “natural.” For example, CSPI once complained about Ben & Jerry’s “All Natural” ice creams, which variously included such obviously non-natural ingredients as hydrogenated oil, corn syrup, alkalized cocoa powder, and even “artificial flavors.” But FDA took no action other than sending CSPI a letter indicating that “natural” was “not among our current enforcement priorities.”
In March the Sugar Association, which represents cane and beet sugar producers, petitioned the FDA to define “natural.” While FDA has no definition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture allows only those meat and poultry products that have been minimally processed can be labeled as natural. CSPI wrote to the FDA in support of the Sugar Association’s petition and urged the agency to adopt a definition identical to USDA’s. That would mean that high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils, and other ingredients that are more than minimally processed couldn’t be called natural.
“If the FDA were doing its job, perhaps a lawsuit wouldn’t be necessary,” said Gardner, who will work with Massachusetts attorney Ken Quat on a Cadbury Schweppes suit. “While this particular mislabeling doesn’t present much of a health threat, consumers and honest companies shouldn’t have to put up with dishonest claims in the marketplace. Happily, though, several states have excellent consumer protection laws that can be used to stop deceptive advertising.”
CSPI said it will consider other legal action against companies that use high fructose corn syrup in their ostensibly “all natural” products. | <urn:uuid:61805d07-b59c-4c45-a299-577da561784c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cspinet.org/new/200605111.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943942 | 882 | 1.8125 | 2 |
JP Morgan is culling jobs this week as the financial crisis continues.
If you’re a small business owner in need of capital, more good news: another big bank is getting on board. JPMorgan Chase announced Tuesday that it is increasing its small business lending business by 20 percent and adding staff.
The bank said it is committing $12 billion to small businesses this year. During the first quarter Chase lent small businesses less than $20 million.
Here’s a word we haven’t heard in conjunction with small business in a while: hiring. Chase has been increasing hiring in small business due to the demand for loans. The bank plans on hiring 250 small-business bankers this year, after hiring 450 in 2010. That’s good news due to the large presence of Chase in Chicago, too.
"Small business owners are not only our neighbors but also the entrepreneurs that hire half of the employees in the United States. It's critical that we support small businesses as they continue to fuel the economic recovery across the country," Michael Cleary, JP Moran CEO of Business Banking in Retail Financial Services, said in a press release.
Larger banks have been boosting small business lending since President Obama signed a bill in September to provide $42 billion in loan incentives and tax cuts for small-businesses. Other banks ramping up small biz loans include Wells Fargo and CIT Group. | <urn:uuid:77912d3b-f2dd-4a77-b8a8-5b77631f8280> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/inc-well/20-Increase-in-Small-Biz-Loans-by-JP-Morgan--120727054.html | 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 | 0.96511 | 285 | 1.53125 | 2 |
By Christine Kearney
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, whose choice of novel rhythms, classical structures and brilliant sidemen made him a towering figure in modern jazz, has died at the age of 91, his longtime manager and producer Russell Gloyd said on Wednesday.
Brubeck died of heart failure on Wednesday morning after he fell ill on his way to a regular medical exam at Norwalk Hospital, in Norwalk, Conn., a day short of his 92nd birthday, Gloyd said.
His Dave Brubeck Quartet put out one of the best selling jazz songs of all time: "Take Five," composed by alto saxophonist Paul Desmond. Like many of the group's works, it had an unusual beat -- 5/4 time as opposed to the usual 4/4.
"We play it differently every time we play it," Brubeck told The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2005. "So I never get tired of playing it. That's the beauty of jazz."
"Take Five" was the first million-selling jazz single.
Dressed in a suit and horn-rimmed glasses and living a clean-cut lifestyle in the 1950s, Brubeck did not fit the stereotype of a hipster jazzman and his music was not nearly as brooding as that coming from East Coast be-bop players.
Despite his innovative approach, some critics interpreted Brubeck's popularity as a sign of un-coolness, but his fans were undeterred.
Brubeck was born in Concord, California, on December 6, 1920. His father was a rancher and as a teenager Brubeck was a skilled cowboy. But his mother, a music teacher who had five pianos in the house, saw that he took up piano at age 5.
At the College of the Pacific in Stockton, California, he planned to be a veterinarian, but within a year he was majoring in music and playing jazz in nightclubs.
"After my first year in veterinary pre-med I switched to the music department ... and that was at the advice of my zoology teacher," Brubeck said in a Reuters interview. "He said 'Brubeck, your mind is not here, with these frogs and formaldehyde. Your mind is across the lawn at the conservatory. Will you please go over there.'"
Brubeck later met the co-director of a weekly campus radio show, Iola Marie Whitlock, and they eventually married.
After graduation, Brubeck studied under French composer Darius Milhaud and played in a U.S. Army jazz band during World War Two.
In the late 1940s, he moved to the San Francisco Bay area, where he headed an experimental jazz octet. He formed a trio in 1950 and the following year expanded to a quartet with Desmond, who he had known since the war.
Brubeck injected classical counterpoint, atonal harmonies and modern dissonance into his music, hinting at composers such as Debussy, Bartok, Stravinsky and Bach.
The group built an enduring fan base by taking its subdued bluesy brand of classically influenced jazz to colleges.
As a leading figure in the West Coast jazz scene, which also included Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker, Brubeck was featured in a Time magazine cover story in 1954. Some critics and black musicians, who felt jazz was a central part of black culture, resented the story about the prominence of a white artist.
In the article Brubeck said Milhaud had told him "if I didn't stick to jazz, I'd be working out of my own field and not taking advantage of my American heritage."
Brubeck disbanded the quartet in 1967 after nearly 17 years to concentrate on composing. He wrote several choral works, all religiously influenced.
He later began performing jazz regularly again and appeared with his sons, Darius, a composer and pianist; Chris, who played electric bass and trombone; and drummer Danny. They were billed as Two Generations of Brubeck.
In February 1989 Brubeck, who had a history of heart problems, underwent triple-bypass surgery but kept playing. Well into his 80s, he still put on some 80 shows a year. He had a pacemaker implanted in October 2010.
Actor-director Clint Eastwood, a jazz fan, announced plans to make a documentary on Brubeck in 2007. Eastwood also was named chairman of the Brubeck Institute at the University of the Pacific, designated as the home of his papers, private recordings and other memorabilia.
Brubeck and his wife, who also was his agent and lyricist, had two other sons, Matthew, a cellist, and Michael, and a daughter, Catherine. The couple lived in Wilton, Connecticut.
(Reporting by Christine Kearney; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz) | <urn:uuid:092977dc-2d8b-47cc-a5ae-35b859bf85e2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://b93radio.com/news/articles/2012/dec/05/jazz-pianist-dave-brubeck-dead-at-91/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985648 | 1,021 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Every now and then, you get a reminder of how the imagination of the American sports media machine really is limited to the dramas of the big media markets.
We are all accustomed to hearing the sad songs of woe about the most beloved and notorious of sports also-rans: There were the Boston Red Sox, who finally shed the "Curse of the Bambino" in 2004. There were the Chicago White Sox, who won their first World Series championship in almost 90 years a season after the Red Sox pulled it off. Now there are the Chicago Cubs, closing in on a century without winning the whole deal to the weepy admiration of countless sports romantics ...
Yet I saw no national attention focused on that big theme in Buffalo over the last few weeks, where the quick and devastating departure of hockey's Buffalo Sabres prolonged a quest for a major championship that goes back forever ...
As in, never.
Think of that. Milwaukee has baseball and basketball championships. Syracuse and Rochester have NBA championships. While it's been awhile, Cleveland has football and baseball championships.
Buffalo has never - as in bottom-of-the-toes-primal-scream-never - known that feeling, which puts it alone among America's big sports cities.
To me, no sports quest comes close to being as aching or poignant as that annual dream, because it is so intensely intertwined with the fortunes of a shrinking city. Consider: Buffalo, at the time one of the booming young cities in the nation, had a baseball franchise in the young National League in the 1880s. The city lost that team, but then was supposed to have a franchise in Ban Johnson's original American League - until Johnson, at the absolute last second, dumped Buffalo and instead sent that franchise to Boston, where it started off as the Pilgrims ...
Who in 1903 became the game's first World Series champions.
Since then, Buffalo won a couple of American Football League championships, but that was before the merger with the National Football League - and no fair observer would say those teams could be considered football's world champions. So the Bills, who lost in four Super Bowls, have gone 46 years without winning the grand prize. The old Braves of the National Basketball Association quickly became one of the most exciting teams in the game in the early 1970s - and were then torn apart in a fire sale by their owners, before the team left town.
And the historically high-achieving but Stanley Cupless Sabres, who had the best record in the National Hockey League this year, were vanquished in the cup semifinals, much to the shock and grief of Western New York, where people had dared to believe this just might be the year. Indeed, there will be no relief from that pain until Anaheim and hated Ottawa, the dream-killers, finish the Stanley Cup finals.
If it were Boston, if it were Chicago, the national film crews would be there, and there would be talk on ESPN about a "curse" (I blame it on Ban Johnson, by the way) and there would be long, thoughtful takes on the link between a wounded industrial city, its psyche and its sports teams.
But this is Buffalo. And while the city cares obsessively and passionately about the Sabres and the Bills, and while it hungers for the champion it's never had in a way that may exceed any city in the nation ...
Somehow, for the media in Manhattan or Los Angeles, even that civic pain is not considered Major League.
respond here, at email@example.com or on the forum | <urn:uuid:53df268c-dabd-41f2-b44a-a391bf934ba0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.syracuse.com/kirst/index.ssf/2007/05/forget_the_cubs_blue_moon_in_b.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970629 | 732 | 1.523438 | 2 |
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Underwater mortgages and missed home- loan payments were almost unheard of when Joe Michna started listening to the troubles of residents in the northern English town of Hartlepool. Now, 26 years later, one in seven coming to him for help are worried about losing their home.
“When I first began as a volunteer, mortgage and rent arrears were comparatively rare,” said Michna, the 59-year-old manager of the Hartlepool Citizens Advice Bureau in a May 3 interview. “Now, it’s quite the opposite.”
The average price of a home in the industrial port town fell 9.4 percent to 115,809 pounds ($186,000) in the 12 months through February, according to research company Acadametrics Ltd. In London, 225 miles (362 kilometers) south of Hartlepool, the average price is 396,094 pounds after rising 1.2 percent.
Prime Minister David Cameron’s effort to slash Britain’s record budget deficit is widening a housing and wealth gap between the north of the country and the London area. The U.K. capital was the only one of 12 U.K. regions tracked where home values rose in April, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said in a May 8 home-price index that fell to a six- month low.
Cameron’s coalition of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are trying to remedy a budget shortfall by 2017 with 155 billion pounds of tax increases and spending cuts to stave off the type of fiscal crisis engulfing countries such as Spain and Greece. The economy shrank in the first quarter as construction output slumped, pushing Britain into its first double-dip recession since the 1970s.
“You cannot separate the wider economic picture from the housing market,” said Iain Wright, Hartlepool’s Labour party representative in Parliament and a member of the Housing Ministry until former Prime Minister Gordon Brown lost the 2010 election.
The number of government workers will fall by 730,000 in the six years through March 2017, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility, a government-funded economic research company. More than 70 percent of those cuts will be outside of London, according to the Centre for Cities, a non-partisan research group.
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne may need to slow the pace of his deficit squeeze to accommodate the weakness of Britain’s economy, two former Bank of England officials said yesterday. Ed Miliband, the leader of the Labour Party, is gaining ground on Cameron in British opinion polls after weeks of setbacks took their toll on the coalition government.
The northeast of England, encompassing former coal mining and shipbuilding centers such as Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland, is the region most dependent on public-sector employment. Four of the seven council areas with the biggest proportion of employment in public administration, health and education are in the northeast.
Government job cuts and a slump in manufacturing and construction are driving a decline in home values in the north, Standard & Poor’s said in a report last month. More than half of the increase in arrears in the 18 months ending in 2011 was in the north, the ratings company said.
“Unemployment is rising again and interest rates on mortgages are potentially rising too,” Andrew South of S&P’s structured-finance division, who co-authored the report, said by phone. “Arrears seem to be driven by a diverging labor market” and “we expect it to continue diverging.”
S&P defined the “North” as the East Midlands, West Midlands, Northeast, Northwest, Yorkshire and Humber in England, as well as Wales and Scotland, delineating a divide that’s defined as much by geography as culture.
While London is the financial and political capital, areas including Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds were industrial centers that saw declines after the end of World War II. Political divisions grew as unemployment increased and labor industrial relations worsened including a yearlong coal miners’ strike that began in 1984. That strike was the backdrop of the musical and movie “Billy Elliott.”
The fallout marked the premiership of Conservative Party Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, whose policies of selling state assets and reducing union power hit hardest in the north of England and Scotland.
Tony Blair, who took over as prime minister from Conservative John Major in 1997, and his successor tried to revive northern areas hurt by the decline of mining and other manufacturing industries. For every job that was created in the U.K.’s north and the Midlands, 10 private-sector jobs were created in London and southern regions between 1998 and 2008, Paul Swinney, an economist at the Centre For Cities, said by phone.
Three months after Brown replaced Blair as prime minister in 2007, Newcastle-based lender Northern Rock Plc sought emergency funding from the Bank of England, becoming the first U.K. victim of the subprime mortgage crisis. Days later, customers lined up at branches to withdraw savings in the first run on a British bank in more than a century. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling nationalized the lender in February 2008.
More people are seeking employment in London and are competing for fewer jobs and fewer homes, said Swinney. That’s pushing up home prices in the southeast and those constraints are less prominent elsewhere in the country.
“The probability of finding employment in London is so much greater,” said Swinney, who grew up in Sunderland.
“Once upon a time it was about being near ports and rail networks,” Swinney said. “Now it’s about being close to motorways and being closer to Europe, so you see a shift from the industrial towns in the north to the smaller places around London.”
Northern parts of the U.K. accounted for about 60 percent of the rise in total mortgage arrears from the second quarter of 2010 to the end of 2011, S&P said its report. About 8.5 percent of mortgage borrowers in northern regions were in negative equity, where the loan amount exceeds the property value, in the fourth quarter 2011, compared with 3.3 percent in southern areas, the ratings company said. Borrowers in the north were 30 percent more likely to be behind in mortgage payments than homeowners in the south, S&P said.
Northern Rock mortgages secured on homes in northern regions are also being repaid at a slower pace than other parts of the country. The collateral backing its Granite Master Issuer Plc´s mortgages declined 64 percent since May 2007 to 19.4 billion pounds, compared with a reduction of 60 percent on the outstanding mortgages in the Northwest, Northeast and Northern Ireland, and an 83 percent reduction of home loans in Greater London, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
With unemployment rising and home values falling, lenders are less willing to provide new credit or refinance existing loans. Last year, 141 billion pounds of mortgages were originated compared in the U.K. with 363 billion pounds in 2007, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
That’s had more of an impact on areas outside of London, according to Dipesh Mehta, a securitization analyst at Barclays Capital.
“The London housing market has performed better over the last year than the rest of the U.K. and hence provides a safer option for risk averse lenders,” said Mehta.
“Mortgage lenders are starting to turn the screws on some of my residents,” said Jenny Chapman, a Labour lawmaker representing Darlington, a town near Hartlepool, where home prices fell 12.9 percent in a year, the most in England and Wales, according to Acadametrics. “The future is quite scary for them. They’ve had all the leniency that they’re going to get.”
Tighter credit is giving rise to so-called mortgage time bombs, a legacy of the easy credit of the boom years, according to the Financial Services Authority. Two of every five U.K. mortgages are interest-only, where borrowers pay no principal on the actual loan, according to FSA data. About 78 percent of the borrowers had no repayment strategy in the third quarter of 2011, with many relying on home values rising to help pay the principle or refinance, the FSA said.
FSA Director Martin Wheatley warned in March of a “ticking time bomb” of interest-only mortgages. The regulator estimates that 1.5 million such mortgages, valued at 120 billion pounds, are due for repayment between 2011 and 2020.
Hartlepool’s Wright said he’s spoken with residents who are struggling to pay their mortgage as lenders increase interest rates.
“They bought quite a big house at the height of the boom on an interest-only mortgage,” Wright said. “They can’t afford to pay their mortgage.”
The main street is peppered with vacant stores, theme bars and fast-food spots. Unemployment in Hartlepool rose to 14.2 percent in the year through September 2011, the most recent data and highest rate since the Office for National Statistics began collecting information in 2004.
Hartlepool “is a little rough around the edges,” said Susan Grecian, who owns the Skin Deep beauty parlor near the center of town and lives in nearby Sunderland. “I wouldn’t buy a home here because the prices have fallen very far.”
Around the corner from Skin Deep and a half-block from Tasty Bites II, where southern fried chicken and pizza are served until 3:00 a.m., is Michna’s red-brick advice office.
Missed rent and mortgage payments account for about 15 percent of inquiries lately and that’s likely to rise, said Michna, who lives a 25-minute drive away in Middlesbrough. “It’s very worrying,” he said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Spillane in London at email@example.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Blackman at firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:c51927ec-dd9b-4846-bfe6-28437e17b7d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-05-13/cameron-s-cuts-widening-north-south-u-dot-k-dot-wealth-rift-mortgages | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960752 | 2,158 | 1.710938 | 2 |
(John Berlau) – Over the past year, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has made pointed efforts to show Nevadans his advocacy on their behalf. In defending new federal spending that would benefit the state, a news release issued by his Senate office was entitled “No Apologies for Fighting For Nevadans.”
But a real opportunity to fight for Nevadans will soon come to Reid by way of a major threat to Nevada’s economy, contained in the “financial reform” bill that was just sent to the Senate floor. The justification of this voluminous financial regulation by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn., is to better police the banks on Wall Street. But the Silver State will get caught in its crosshairs.
Tucked into the 1,336-page “Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010,” which was sent out of committee on a party-line vote in March, are provisions that would shackle Nevada and the entrepreneurs who set up corporations in the state. A small section of the bill with the stated aim of “strengthening corporate governance” would put states like Nevada at a competitive disadvantage by federalizing state rules for incorporation.
For about 150 years, states have made laws governing a corporation’s structure and have competed on the efficiency of their incorporation processes. In the early 20th century, New Jersey led the pack. Then Delaware got the lead and remained the top incorporation state.
Starting in the ’90s, Nevada began positioning itself as the “Delaware of the West.” It is now second to Delaware in the incorporation fees it receives. Those fees have recently totaled $83 million a year.
The businesses that incorporate in Nevada range from tiny firms to publicly held companies that trade on stock exchanges and the Nasdaq Stock Market. On WhyNevada.com, the Web site created by Democratic Secretary of State Ross Miller, the state government advertises the advantages of incorporating here, including the fact that “Nevada grants directors more flexibility.”
But the Dodd bill would take much of this flexibility from states like Nevada and those public firms that incorporate there. Section 971 of the bill mandates that a public company’s directors be elected by a majority of shareholders, rather than the plurality standard that Nevada and Delaware have.
And Section 972 pushes through a scheme called “proxy access,” in which public companies would be forced to subsidize the campaigns of alternate corporate directors nominated by a little as 1 percent of the firm’s shareholders. Firms would be required to put the names of these director nominees on the official proxy ballots they mail out to shareholders.
If this federal takeover of corporate law goes into effect, there will be fewer reasons for out-of-state firms to incorporate in Nevada. Why should they, when they would still have live with the federal government’s new rigid rules regarding director elections?
But the bill wouldn’t just hurt states like Nevada and the firms that incorporate here. The bill would harm the very shareholder interests it is claiming to protect.
Buying a stock is a choice, and shareholders benefit from having a variety of corporate structures to choose from. If they wanted to, they could choose a firm that requires majority votes for a board of directors. But they might also want go with a firm that uses the plurality standard, which is younger and more entrepreneurial.
The “proxy access” provisions are especially detrimental, as they would give leverage to activist shareholders who pursue special interest political agendas at the expense of ordinary investors.
Union pension funds, for instance, could use the threat of a director nomination to get concessions from a firm such as a “card check” election that would end secret ballot in unionization votes. And the radical animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals buys stock at many firms for the sole purpose of introducing shareholder resolutions to stop animal research.
In the end, these provisions would hurt not just Nevada but the United States by imposing a one-size-fits-all mandate for director elections that would reduce options for entrepreneurs and investors. This could hurt the country’s international competitiveness.
(John Berlau is director of the Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free-market think tank based in Washington, D.C.) | <urn:uuid:6c0e3cb7-37cd-45f5-824b-65cf508acd2f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nevadanewsandviews.com/archives/4855 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965031 | 901 | 1.554688 | 2 |
- THE MAGAZINE
- FOOD MASTER
PMMI has partnered with the Manufacturing Institute and the Industrial Maintenance Training Center of Pennsylvania (IMTC) to support training that can lead to jobs in high-performance, “hybrid” production shops. The partnership will bring 10 community colleges and technical schools in Pennsylvania into alignment with the requirements of the mechatronics certificates PMMI offers online, with an end goal of replicating the partnership across the country.
More than 500 students are projected to earn PMMI Mechatronics Certificates across the IMTC consortium over the next two years. Initially, Reading Area Community College (Reading) and the Lancaster County Career and Technology Center (Lancaster) will offer certification assessments. The Community College of Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), North Montco Technical Career Center (Lansdale), Precision Manufacturing Institute (Meadville), the Central PA Institute of Science & Technology (State College) and the Lehigh Career and Technical Institute, which serves school districts in the Lehigh Valley, are also building capacity to offer the certification assessments.
PMMI’s Mechatronics Certificate program is part of the NAM-endorsed Manufacturing Skills Certification System, a series of stackable credentials to provide the skills manufacturers need for high-demand occupations. The program is the result of a partnership between PMMI, the Mid-Atlantic Mechatronics Advisory Council and several packaging and technical schools. The US Department of Labor added the skills standard on which it is based to its Competency Model Clearinghouse in 2009.
“Unemployment figures are high, yet nationally there are as many as 600,000 manufacturing jobs that can’t be filled,” says Maria Ferrante, PMMI vice president, education & workforce development. “That disconnect is, in part, a result of gaps between mechanical knowledge and computer savvy. High-paying, highly skilled jobs in the advanced manufacturing space are critical to the success of manufacturers across the country. PMMI’s Mechatronics Certificates help fill the gap, and provide another screening tool for employers.”
“New technological innovation, such as advancements in software and automation, are making a major contribution to increased growth in the manufacturing sector,” says Charles D. Yuska, PMMI president and CEO. “Not confined to production, these technologies are also resulting in a growth in workforce capabilities. What good is manufacturing technology without a skilled workforce to effectively utilize it? Today’s workers must have the operational ability to match ongoing advances.
“Why not start at school?” asks Yuska. “Collaboration with existing organizations that are equipped to educate, such as the colleges and universities, is one way to target younger, skilled labor. Providing basic manufacturing training is a vital step towards advanced training on the factory floor.” | <urn:uuid:6dc46254-186a-4b08-99d8-3a101504dfc1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.foodengineeringmag.com/articles/89819-technical-training-partnership-to-prepare-students-for-jobs?WT.rss_f=Manufacturing+News&WT.rss_a=Technical+training+partnership+to+prepare+students+for+jobs&WT.rss_ev=a | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940443 | 590 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Posted: Dec 17, 2010 3:43 PM by Rob Krieger
Updated: Dec 17, 2010 3:43 PM
BATON ROUGE- A new type of camera could soon be keeping an eye on how you drive around school buses.
The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board approved a measure to look for a company that would install specialized cameras on school buses. The cameras would snap pictures of drivers who ignore the buses stop signs while the bus is dropping off children.
School bus drivers say it's a law that's broken often.
"You come down the street and they just don't respect the stop signs at all it could be their kids crossing the street, I guess they'd just go on and hit them you know if they not paying attention," said Chiquita Taylor, a bus driver who claims people run her stop signs nearly every day.
The system is estimated to cost about $7,000 per bus and would initially be installed on about 35 buses, putting an initial start up cost at just under a quarter of a million dollars. Though, many people, including bus drivers, claim it's a price they're willing to pay.
"It's a lot of money but I think it's a good benefit of the kids and the safety and the well being of the traffic," said Rayford Conerly, who obeys traffic laws.
"We definitely do think that it's worth it, you know if it can save one life its paid for itself many times over," said School Spokesman Chris Trahan.
The fines collected will be split up between different governmental entities and the school system. The money collected by the school system will be used to defer the cost of the installation and upkeep of the cameras, according to Trahan.
A similar system is already in use in Jefferson Parish, where fines run between $300 and $400. | <urn:uuid:f314334e-466d-4ff5-aebf-7f01518ff751> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wbrz.com/news/school-bus-cameras-coming-to-baton-rouge/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977718 | 384 | 1.570313 | 2 |
1 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself:
2 I think myself happy, king Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews:
3 Especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.
4 My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews;
5 Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a a.
6 And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers:
7 Unto which promise our a, b serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope’s sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.
8 Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should a the dead?
9 I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things a to the b of Jesus of Nazareth.
10 Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the a did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to b, I gave my c against them.
11 And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto a cities.
12 Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,
13 At midday, O king, I saw in the way a a from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.
14 And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, a, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick b the pricks.
15 And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.
16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have a unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a b both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;
17 Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I a thee,
18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from a to b, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
19 Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not a unto the heavenly b:
20 But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judæa, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
21 For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to a me.
22 Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the a and Moses did say should come:
23 That Christ should a, and that he should be the first that should b from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.
24 And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee a.
25 But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.
26 For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner.
27 King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou a.
28 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou a me to be a b.
29 And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.
30 And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them:
31 And when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, This man doeth nothing worthy of a or of bonds.
32 Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto a. | <urn:uuid:f1d8888a-e33e-4b8c-aca4-2a94e3c547f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/acts/26.4-5?lang=eng | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972369 | 1,020 | 1.515625 | 2 |
1133 Oakland Street
O. Roy Keith House
Contributing, ca. 1925.
Colonial Revival style two-story building with a center hall plan. Side gable roof with boxed returns, wide overhanging eaves, and brick veneer walls. One-story hip roof wing, along with a two-story front gable wing, at the northwest corner. Covered patio with rail on the south side. The covering appears to be added in more recent years. Front entry has added cast iron posts. Windows are one-over-one, single, double, and triple. Front door is multi-panel with sidelights and transom. Garage beneath house at rear. House sits on a large corner lot. O. Roy Keith lived in this house by 1926. Keith was a real estate developer who laid out lands adjacent to his house as part of the "O. Roy Keith" portion of the Hyman Heights subdivision which was laid out in October 1925. From at least 1937 to 1949 this building was used to house the Immaculata Parochial School, run by the Sisters of Christian Education. This school was associated with the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Hendersonville. The school later moved to another location. Reverend Philip J. O'Mara was pastor during these years. Good condition.
(Sanborn maps, city directories, Henderson County plat book 2, page 8) | <urn:uuid:f35df66d-fa3b-4d93-92f2-4cd4b171fcd3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hendersonvillehpc.org/districts/hyman-heights/inventory-list/oakland-street/1133-oakland-street-o-roy-keith-house | 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 | 0.971837 | 288 | 1.640625 | 2 |
the USLA Board of Directors, in collaboration with the CSLSA, approved
a policy whereby awards may be granted to persons who participate
in heroic acts. The USLA recognition is restricted to acts which
show conclusive evidence that the person performing the act voluntarily
risked their own life to an extraordinary degree in saving, or
attempting to save, the life of another person, or voluntarily
sacrificed themselves in a heroic manner for the benefit of others.
be considered for recognition, honorable acts must be reported to
USLA within one year of the date they occurred. Usually, only
those acts performed in areas within the scope of USLA's activities
will be considered for such an award. Awards are restricted to
cases in which no primary family relationship exists.
Special Awards and Presentations include the Heroic Acts and Medal of Valor awards. The Heroic Act award is presented by the USLA to a non-lifeguard and is intended to give due recognition to those who have risked their lives to an extraordinary degree in a rescue or attempted rescue of another person (without familial relation to the rescuer). The Medal of Valor award is given to an individual lifeguard who voluntarily risked his/her life, to an extraordinary degree, in saving, or attempting to save another person, or who sacrificed oneself for the benefit of others. Also, the Distinguished Honor Roll and Life Membership awards honors those members or non-members who have achieved outstanding accomplishments or exceptional contributions to the furtherance of the goals and objectives of the CSLSA. | <urn:uuid:c8659e10-6dba-4783-89ac-a3cb13b6e339> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cslsa.org/heros.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949396 | 318 | 1.554688 | 2 |
“My father started the company in 1972, and I joined him in 1980,” said Dave Socinski, company president. “At that time, we were in Rutland - just manufacturing. In 1988, we came to [a larger facility in Castleton]. It was a huge expansion.”
The facility in Castleton includes a large block cutter, which is used to process slabs for countertops. Additionally, it utilizes coping saws, several routers and hand polishers in its main fabrication work, which includes granite, marble and other stone varieties.
In the area of slate, the company produces about four to five slate countertops a week, which are mostly sold to homeowners in the New England area. RMG Stone Products also - in partnership with a father-and-son team in Brazil - owns a Brazilian soapstone quarry and plant. The material is sold by dealers throughout the U.S. and Canada.
“It’s nice to offer slate and soapstone, because it is different,” said Socinski. Currently, the company offers two trademarked slate varieties - Woodland Jade TM and Mountain PlumTM. The bulk of the company’s slate products is sold through large distributors in the area. In addition to countertops and roofing material, the slate is used for landscape products such as pavers, stairs and flagging.
He explained that the quarries originally operated during the pre-Civil War days, and a lot of the land needed to be re-developed before they could start to extract blocks. When walking around the quarry sites with Socinski during Stone World’s visit, he pointed out remnants of old stone structures that were left from the days when the quarries were operated by Welshman and their indentured workers.
According to Socinski, there are tunnels that run underneath the ground, remnants of the activity of more than 400 workers. But to open a 21st Century quarry, much work needed to be done.
“This was all thick woods when we started,” said Socinski. “For the last year, we have been clearing trees, draining the water [in the quarry holes] and building a road. We really started from scratch. It gave us an opportunity to revitalize. We are just now starting to produce lots of slate.” He explained that it will most likely take another year for production to really take off.
Each of the two properties owned by RMG Stone Products, Inc. has several quarrying sites on them. According to Socinski, these sites were filled with water to protect the slate. Although they laid dormant for many years, they were still considered to be existing sites that are registered for slate extraction.
“For small guys like us, we are just trying to process the stone day by day,” said Turner. “We’re just getting into purple right now. The last few years, everything has been green.”
The quarrying hole that produces green slate is presently about 60 to 80 feet deep. The purple vein lays underneath the green, and runs at a 45-degree angle. In addition to the green and purple varieties, the company also produces some mottled material.
Turner explained that Vermont slate is rated “S1,” which is the highest rating given. “The stone is harder in Vermont because of its formation,” he said. “Heat and pressure created the colors.”
The company uses a variety of black powder in its quarrying process to free the stone, and extraction takes place year round. The average size of blocks being extracted is about 6 feet long x 4 feet wide x 2 feet thick. Pneumatic air hammers then break the pieces to 7 inches thick for processing, according to Turner. “Because slate has grain like wood, it comes out narrow and long,” he said. “It’s like a surgical extraction.”
At the quarry site, there are two workers for the roofing slate production, two for landscaping products and two that work in the pit. In total, RMG Stone Products has 28 employees.
Turner explained that for quite some time, consumers have been requesting slate without sawn edges. So, to meet this market demand, RMG Stone Products produces flagstone this way. The company also makes steps and wall stone.
Additionally, an outside source comes to the quarry site periodically to crush waste material, which is also used in landscaping. “It’s great as a ‘green’ product,” said Turner. “You just have to rinse it off every year, and it looks good.”
Moreover, the company also is getting ready to introduce a new slate product, which it believes will be ideal for landscaping. The material has been named “Zebra Stone,” and it is a black slate with a high quartz content. “It is a much harder stone,” said Socinski. “It actually passes road specs because there is so much flint in it.” Also, because of the unique look of the black-and-white stone, Socinski believes that it will make a nice decorative landscaping product. | <urn:uuid:33326f1e-81f3-4add-864a-159492df6fdf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stoneworld.com/articles/print/branching-out-into-slate-production | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97575 | 1,087 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Stockton appointed as new UGA biosafety officer
February 14, 2013Print
Athens, Ga. - Patrick Stockton, currently biosafety manager and biosafety officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, has been named biosafety officer and director of the Office of Biosafety at the University of Georgia.
Dr. Christopher King, assistant vice president for research, and director of research compliance, to whom Stockton will report, announced the appointment.
"Patrick Stockton brings experience with the highest level of biosafety research from a premier institution to UGA," said King. "In cooperation with the UGA Institutional Biosafety Committee, he will provide the leadership and support for this important area of research."
"We are very pleased that Patrick Stockton has accepted our offer to lead UGA's biosafety programs," said David Lee, UGA vice president for research. "UGA is dedicated to assuring a safe and productive research environment and protecting the health of the UGA and Athens community, and the environment. With UGA's recent growth in infectious disease research that addresses critical threats to health, including the development of vaccines, safety and compliance with all regulatory requirements are the highest priority."
Stockton's appointment is effective March 1. He replaces Manley Kiser, associate director for the biosafety office, who has served as interim biosafety officer and director of the biosafety office since May 2012.
As UGA's biosafety safety officer, Stockton will lead and manage a comprehensive biological safety program that ensures compliance with applicable regulations, guidelines, policies and directives, including those issued by the National Institutes of Health, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and the CDC. He will oversee development of emergency plans for handling accidental spills and personnel contamination, and investigates laboratory accidents involving biohazardous materials. His duties also include serving as a member of the Institutional Biosafety Committee, which reviews and approves research projects involving human, animal or plant pathogens, and select agents and toxins.
Stockton has served in biosafety positions at the CDC since 2005, including roles as a safety and occupational health manager in the office of safety, health and environment, and as biosafety manager and biosafety officer for its highest-level containment laboratory. In his previous position as a microbiologist at CDC, he worked with high-consequence pathogens. He received a master's degree in medical microbiology and bachelor's in microbiology from UGA, and is a registered biological safety professional, as designated by the American Biological Safety Association.
While at CDC, Stockton investigated various international infectious disease outbreaks, including Nipah virus in Malaysia and Singapore, SARS virus in China and Marburg virus in Angola.
"UGA has a proven track record of excellence and dedication to both education and research," said Stockton. "The biological research program over recent years has grown tremendously, but at the same time, the biosafety program at UGA has demonstrated commitment to providing the high standards of safety services that are required for today's pathogens. I am very excited about becoming a part of this growing effort." | <urn:uuid:1e57c1e0-d8ae-487d-a630-40babc16711f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.uga.edu/releases/article/stockton-appointed-as-new-uga-biosafety-officer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965694 | 636 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto speaks during an event an agreement with the three major political parties was signed to create two new national television channels and form a powerful independent regulatory commission along the lines of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, at the Technological Museum in Mexico City, Monday, March 11, 2013. Pena Nieto on Monday proposed a sweeping overhaul of the weak and chaotic regulations that have allowed the world's richest man and the largest Spanish-language media empire to exert near-total control of Mexico's lucrative telephone and television markets. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini)AP2013
Mexico City – Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto made moves Monday to revamp the weak regulation system that has permitted the world's richest man and its largest Spanish-language media empire to exert near-total control of Mexico's lucrative telephone and television markets.
The reforms would give the Mexican government tools to take on multibillionaire telecommunication tycoon Carlos Slim and Televisa CEO Emilio Azcarraga, independent observers said. The two rivals’ holds on their respective markets have been widely seen as emblems of regulatory dysfunction in a country aspiring to join the ranks of the world's economic superpowers.
Their companies' pervasive influence has repelled a series of attempts to break their dominance over the years. The tycoons' power could thwart fresh efforts despite Peña Nieto's push to put teeth into Mexico's deeply flawed regulatory system, experts said.
The reforms would raise or eliminate limits on foreign investment, create two new national television channels and form a new independent regulatory commission along the lines of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, with the power to unilaterally punish non-competitive practices, including withdrawing corporations' licenses. A second independent commission would be able to order firms to sell off assets in order to reduce their market dominance.
The existing commissions that oversee competition and telecommunications have no independent ability to alter permits, order divestment or issue fines. Those powers sit with a Cabinet secretary, a position that in the past frequently has been accused of bowing to telecommunications firms.
The reforms would require TV networks to provide their programming free to most cable operators, and require cable operators to carry all broadcast channels, measures seen as essential for opening television markets to competition. The changes would also block telecommunications and broadcasting companies from indefinitely freezing regulatory decisions simply by obtaining a private injunction, a peculiarity of Mexican law that has thwarted dozens of attempts to regulate media and communications firms.
It would allow foreign firms now banned from radio and broadcast TV to have as much as a 49 percent stake, and would give blanket permission for total foreign ownership of all telecommunications and satellite TV services, currently subject to a variety of limitations and permit requirements. That change could allow in powerful international players better equipped to challenge Slim and Televisa than the smaller Mexican competitors that have struggled against them.
The reform's purpose is "to accelerate competition in telecommunications and broadcasting ...freeing the potential of the sector, and doing it in the fastest time possible," Peña Nieto said before signing the proposal along with the leaders of the country's major parties.
The changes to the constitution and federal telecommunications laws must now be approved by congress and half of Mexico's 32 state legislatures.
"It seems, at the start at least, like they're taking up substantial issues in order to make structural changes in the way telecommunications and broadcasting work in this country," said Aleida Calleja, president of the Mexican Association for the Right to Information, a group that has campaigned for stricter regulation and increased diversity in the telecoms and television markets. "It seems to me like it's an extremely valuable start."
Televisa's political influence has also become one of the rallying cries of the Mexican left, which often accuses the conglomerate of trading positive coverage of politicians for favorable regulatory treatment. Pre-election protests against Peña Nieto focused on his ties to Televisa, a historic ally of his Institutional Revolutionary Party, which ruled Mexico for seven decades before losing the presidency in 2000.
Peña Nieto has spent his first 100 days reasserting the power of Mexico's once-imperial presidency, most dramatically jailing the head of the teacher's union in the midst of a fight over reforms to the country's sclerotic education system.
Backers of the new reform and some independent experts cast it as a similar blow against entrenched special interests, pledging that it would open Mexico's multi-billion dollar a year telecommunications business to true competition that would drive down some of the world's highest prices for telephone service and diversify a television market dominated by a single company.
"The rules of the game will be fairer, above all for the small and medium companies that have been tied down in their efforts to develop and expand their businesses by the monopolistic practices of Carlos Slim and the television company, particularly Televisa," said Gabriel Sosa Plata, a researcher and telecommunications expert at the Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico City.
Slim's Telmex, the privatized former national phone company, controls 80 percent of Mexican landlines and 70 percent of the mobile-phone market. Azcarraga's Televisa has 70 percent of the broadcast TV market and more than 45 percent of cable television.
Televisa said in a written statement that, "We welcome the proposed constitutional reform, which will promote competition in broadcasting and telecommunications."
Slim's America Movil also said it welcomed the proposal, describing the lifting of limits on foreign capital as a catalyst for needed telecommunications investment.
Slim's companies have maintained profit margins nearly double the average in the 34-nation Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, while Mexico has the group's lowest rate of telecommunications investment per capita and sat at or near the bottom in terms of number of fixed and mobile phone lines per capita, according to a scathing OECD report last year.
The report, much of which was fiercely disputed by Slim, found that what it called the dysfunction in telecommunications cost the Mexican economy more than $30 billion a year.
The new regulator's ability to potentially force companies to sell assets in order to reduce their market power and avoid withdrawal of their licenses is "a pretty powerful tool and certainly unlike anything Mexico's ever seen before," said Christopher King, a telecommunications analyst with investment banking firm Stifel Nicolaus.
He described the reform as "bad news" for both American Movil and Televisa, but cautioned that its true impact would only be seen if and when the reforms passes into law regulators begin to act.
"In terms of how bad the news ultimately is, the devil will be in the details," he said.
Stock in Televisa was down slightly by mid-afternoon while Slim's America Movil dropped more than 2 percent.
Based on reporting by the Associated Press. | <urn:uuid:f857fe9e-38b4-4c6d-b887-d916a6bfc896> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2013/03/12/mexican-government-moves-to-regulate-carlos-slim-media-empire/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964831 | 1,390 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Yobs bring historic Bath Mill to its knees
Emergency powers were used to demolish an historic building at the weekend after numerous thefts, arson and vandalism attacks left it in a perilous condition.
Building Control Officers from Mansfield District Council feared that the listed Bath Mill off Bath Lane, Mansfield – which dates back to the early 19th century – was close to collapse and posed a very serious risk to the general public.
After vandal attacks on the building intensified in the previous week, the structure of the building was in such a dangerous condition that the Council was left with no option but to use its powers under Section 78 of the Building Act and order immediate demolition.
The owners of the building, who have been working alongside Mansfield District Council to protect it to the best of their ability, must now pick up the costs of the demolition work.
The redundant mill was granted planning permission to be converted into apartments in 2005 but has been the subject of numerous vandalism attacks in recent years. These attacks have intensified in the last week to include:
- Theft of steel props which held up precarious building joists
- Four fires, thought to have been started by local yobs
- 90 steel window shutters ripped off within hours of being erected
- Bricks thrown at security guards, contractors and fire and rescue workers while they were on site
- Youths regularly scaling a chimney to access the building on the second and third floors
Coun Kate Allsop, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration at Mansfield District Council expressed regret at the loss of such an important historic building but backed the decision to demolish it.
She said: "It's sickening to see part of Mansfield's history reduced to rubble in this way but ultimately the Council was left with no choice but to order the demolition. There was a very real possibility that someone could be injured or even killed because the building was so close to collapse.
"I have great sympathy with the building's owners. They have worked with the Council and invested heavily in trying to protect it but their best efforts have been ruined by the actions of an idiotic but determined minority of thugs."
Coun Danny McCrossan, Portfolio Holder for Public Protection at Mansfield District Council said: "The attacks on this building and people working within it are absolutely disgraceful. We will do everything we can to help the Police in identifying and punishing those responsible for damaging this historic building to such an extent that it has now had to be demolished.
"I would urge anyone with information about those involved to contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 with information. We can't bring the building back now, but we can at least send a clear message that behaviour like this is totally unacceptable and will not go unpunished."
Bath Mill was originally a water mill, built at the turn of the 19th century for Richard Hardwick and was used for the making of cotton and lace before being converted for use as a hosiery mill in 1880. It was a Grade 2 listed building. | <urn:uuid:00471179-988e-40ad-ae54-1ec384b2d505> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mansfield-dc.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2022 | 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 | 0.979055 | 617 | 1.820313 | 2 |
The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, also known as the Super Committee, met last year but failed to agreement on a deficit-reduction package. That set the stage for deep cuts to take automatic effect in January. The Wall Street Journal reports that The White House is in "advanced internal discussions" on a package of smaller cuts. / J. Scott Applewhite/ AP
The White House is in "advanced internal discussions" on a plan to replace the deep "sequester" cuts that are set to begin next month with a smaller package of spending cuts and tax increases, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
The sequester cuts, which begin taking effect in January, would slash $100 billion from the federal budget next year and continue for eight more years, affecting numerous federal programs, including defense spending, education and state aid.
"By postponing the sequester cuts, Washington would essentially push off a number of large deficit-reduction decisions into mid-2013," the Journal reported, quoting people familiar with the talks. "This would include a long-term plan to replace the remaining sequester cuts, a plan to overhaul the tax code, and separate decisions about how to restructure Medicare and Medicaid."
The sequester cuts were locked in place in 2011 in a compromise aimed at prodding Congress to negotiate at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction measures through a now-defunct bipartisan Super Committee. The panel failed to reach an agreement by its self-imposed November deadline last year.
The report comes as Congressional leaders of both parties were scheduled to meet at the White House Friday to discuss ways to avoid the sequestrations.
Copyright 2013 USATODAY.com
Read the original story: WSJ: White House re-evaluating sequester cuts | <urn:uuid:7e4d06c8-0473-401c-b78f-8361cdcea25a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/usatoday/article/1708717?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs | 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 | 0.952929 | 362 | 1.554688 | 2 |
this essay} Occasionally, threats to my good health aside, I eat at McDonald's. Sadly, eating at McDonald's is the closest one can come to eating a direct-from-the-factory product. But occasionally, I hear the faint callings of my starving ancestors echoing up from my genome.
"We want fat. We want salt; in fact, we want 1040mg of salt in one sandwich which constitutes 43% of the daily total."
My hominid ancestors clearly scan the off-site propositions of my long-term memory for such information. That's why they are so convincing. I regularly do what they say. Prima facie
, this seems wise, since their callings are the results of about five to seven -million years of successful primate evolution
operating right up until even my own lunch time cravings. I'm conservative, you see. Therefore, tradition matters to me. And there's no more informative tradition than the tradition of bio-psychology.
Although I regularly do
what the ancestors call me to do, it is anything but clear I choose
to do what the ancestors call me to do. The prior is simply behavior, while the latter is forming an intention between options, and then actualizing one of those options uncoerced. In the latter case, I would be formulating whether to listen to the whisperings of my hominid ancestors
and select the fatty, salty delight of a supersized #2 meal; or, not to listen to them, perhaps selecting a salad instead.
I certainly was doing what I wanted to do. Thus, I was free. After all, anyone who does what he wants is uncoerced. And if one is uncoereced, then one is free.
I'm still not convinced, however. Yes, I was doing what I wanted. But maybe my wants were determined
. To be free, I would have to be able to choose against my wants. Is that even possible?
I ate the Big Mac meal (along with the supersize fries, thank you.). I was surprised that I wasn't full. The meal seemed large enough. And at 540 calories for the sandwich, plus 570 calories for the large fries, not counting the sprite and ketchup, I knew there were plenty of calories in the meal to sustain my system. Reason easily acknowledged this. Yet parts of my brain
signalled that I desired more to eat. Now I've always been a fan of the chocolate dipped ice-cream cone, and what better 330 calories could one spend then on that sugary-sweet treat. I wanted to do it, and was hardly coerced by any outside force. So I was free. It was, I assure you, quite tasty.
The problem came when I left McD's, or when I almost
left. Somewhere around 1,500 calories in a meal is far more than most people ever dream of eating in a day, much less in a meal:
Take Bangladesh [as compared to] the USA: the average food intake for a Bangladeshi is 1930 calories per day, while for an American it is 3650 calories. It has been estimated that the minimum amount of food needed for good health is 2360 calories per day. So you can see, the average person in Bangladesh has too little food while the average American eats too much
Clearly, what I had just put away was a luxury meal on the basis of calories. But as I drove my car around the backside of McD's in order to exit, passing under the gigantic golden double-arches abstract icon signalling to all
the presence of this false temple of good food, suddenly realized I wanted yet another ice cream cone. Obviously, I didn't need it. Unquestionably, I would be further compounding the nutritional errors I had just already made by even showing up to McDonald's in the first place. And yet here it was: this want
Suddenly, I found I did not want the want that I was having. I wanted a different want, I wanted a want that focused on something besides food; and, certainly on something besides a second chocolate-dipped ice cream cone. And yet here it was: this want.
Initially, I reasoned about its badness, its cumulative effect on me for which I would assuredly pay on the next day. I remembered the last time I ate too much McDonald's ice cream, how the sugar made me shake a bit, and how the the jello-horde of glucose too suddenly retreated from my metabolism and made me drop both cognitively and emotionally. I accurately self assessed that I'd regret it.
Then, I rationalized. "What the heck," I said. "It's good to be irrational once in a while!"
Now, and at some days after the event, I realized that during those moments, and under those peculiar conditions, I was no more free to say no to the whims of my hypothalamus
hunger control system than is a smoker free to quit "anytime he wants to."
But he and I both share the same curse, if only in difference of degree: neither of us can simply want what we want anytime we want to.
Juliet Gellatley "Food for a Future
" Viva.com (Accessed Nov. 5, 2007)
"McDonald's USA Nutrition Facts for Popular Menu Items
" McDonald's.com (Accessed Nov. 9, 2007)
Labels: conditioning, determinism, freewill, McDonald's, second-order desires | <urn:uuid:8dc4921e-5958-4a60-ae66-8d0d59d083ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://brintmontgomery.blogspot.com/2007_11_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975098 | 1,145 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Many British people could make enough money to treat themselves to a holiday this year by selling unwanted belongings online, according to eBay.
The auction website commissioned research which found that the average UK household contains more than £1,045 worth of unused items that could be sold and sent to new owners via eBay courier services.
Across all the homes in Britain, the value of these possessions adds up to £27 billion, according to the study.
Mobile phones, which have an average eBay selling price (AESP) of £109, are among the most common useful objects gathering dust in people's houses, along with handbags (AESP: £21) and laptops (AESP: £142).
The TNS Consumer research commissioned by the online retailer revealed that five per cent of Brits, or three million people, rarely throw things away, preferring to hoard items at home, even if they are no longer being used.
Italians were found to be the biggest hoarders in Europe, with the average household containing 84 objects that are not wanted or in use.
eBay spokesperson Laura Wilkinson said: "Just because you no longer use something, it doesn't mean it's not useful to someone, or not worth something in re-sell value.
"For example, sat-navs sell for an average of £73, games consoles for £58 and bicycles for £122.
"Selling things you no longer need helps de-clutter the home and it's never been so easy."
Ms Wilkinson went on to say that eBay sellers using parcel delivery services can download the auction website's app for free, allowing them to list items in minutes using barcode scanning technology.
The company also provided some advice for people hoping to attract buyers for their products, highlighting the importance of starting with a low asking price and choosing a title that grabs the attention of shoppers while being informative.
Author: Adrian Medland | <urn:uuid:49d1a85a-6039-4ee7-9217-60bcd0ba9a9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.myhermes1.co.uk/news/ebay-gbp-27bn-worth-of-unused-items-sitting-in-uk-homes-801397998.news | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954802 | 394 | 1.804688 | 2 |
“I’m not overweight. I’m just nine inches too short.” ~ Shelly Winters
My load is the heaviest it’s EVER been. And now it’s actually official, not that I haven’t know for a while now. I went to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website’s Adult BMI Calculator, entered my height and weight and clicked on “Calculate”. The following are my not so surprising results:
For the information you entered:
Height: 5 feet, 7 inches
Weight: 217 pounds
Your BMI is 34, indicating your weight is in the OBESE category for adults of your height. For your height, a normal weight range would be from 118 to 159 pounds. People who are overweight or obese are at higher risk for chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol.
“The way you overcome shyness is to become so wrapped up in something that you forget to be afraid”
~ Claudia Lady Bird Johnson
Shyness is described as experiencing uneasy sensations in a social activity in such a way that it could stop you from having fun or taking pleasure in a social event. Having feelings of stress and anxiety when being approached by other people, particularly in a new situation, or not being able to perform at the level you are capable of, are further descriptions of being shy. In extreme cases, it may be a reason for you to stay away from social situations all together.
Being shy can have a lot of various causes based upon each particular person or situation. It is also characterized as a fear of people or social situations. If you find yourself at a party or a social event and these feelings of fear come up, try these helpful tips to get you headed on the way to creating a new, much more self-confident you.
“The remote control changed our lives… The remote control took over the timing of the world. That’s why you have road rage. You have people who have no patience, because you got immediate gratification. You got click, click, click, click. If it doesn’t explode within three seconds, click click, click.”
~ Sid Caesar
You’re driving to work, in a bit of a hurry, when a little blue Malibu pulls out of a parking lot and cuts you off. While slamming on your brakes to avoid hitting it, you catch a glimpse of the driver, with her cell phone to her ear.
Instantly you feel that first twinge of anger, then:
- your heart starts racing
- your face feels as if it’s on fire
- you grip the steering wheel so tight that your knuckles turn white
Putting First Things First is the 3rd of 7 habits in Stephen R. Covey’s groundbreaking book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People“.
First published in 1990, it continues to be a bestseller with more than 10 million copies sold. | <urn:uuid:d8c1f547-1836-4e59-b9b8-68b5727464f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://helpyourselfdaily.com/ | 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 | 0.937977 | 626 | 1.804688 | 2 |
South African Filling Stations Running Dry as Oil-Workers Strike May Widen
South African gas stations are running dry as a strike over pay by petroleum industry workers enters its fifth day.
Cars formed long lines at gas pumps that had fuel as shortages hit more than 200 filling stations in Gauteng province, the nation’s economic hub, and at least 70 in KwaZulu- Natal, the Johannesburg-based Fuel Retailers’ Association said today.
The situation is changing “almost on an hourly basis,” Jean Dennis, spokeswoman for the South African Petroleum Industry Association, said in a joint statement with the government’s energy department. Jet fuel hasn’t been affected by the strike and commercial airlines are unaffected, she said.
The Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers’ Union and the General Industries Workers’ Union of South Africa started striking after employers responded to demands for raises of as much as 13 percent with an offer of between 4 percent and 7 percent.
Workers are pushing for wage increases that are more than double the 4.6 percent inflation rate, arguing that surging food and fuel costs are driving down living standards. Wage talks in the coal, gold and platinum industries have also stalled, and unions have warned that labor action is imminent.
Municipal workers may strike as soon as next week, the state-owned South African Broadcasting Corp. reported yesterday.
“As of yesterday the situation is really bad,” Reggie Sibiya, the association’s chief executive officer, said by phone. “This morning we’re getting e-mail reports quick and fast” of more shortages, he said.
Petroliam Nasional Bhd.’s Engen Ltd., South Africa’s largest fuel retailer, said 170 of its stations were dry as of late yesterday, while Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA)’s unit said today that at least 100 of its 230 stations in Gauteng were out of some grades of fuel.
“We have not been able to fully recover from a delivery backlog in Gauteng, since many retail sites are experiencing considerably higher sales,” Shell said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. “We are trying our level best to maintain fuel deliveries and meet the increased demand.”
The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union said yesterday that 65,000 members of its road freight division may strike in support of the petroleum industry workers.
Road freight workers will “mobilize solidarity support if called upon, including marches and pickets, with the striking members” should their wage demands go unmet, the union said in an e-mailed statement.
Open-cast mines in South Africa may run short of diesel within a few days if the strike continues, the Chamber of Mines, an industry body, said today. Open-cast mines in South Africa include most coal mines, iron ore operations and some platinum mines. Underground gold and platinum mines are more dependent on electricity.
Open-cast miners “usually keep a week’s worth of fuel in stock, so most should be able to last that long,” Dick Kruger, an assistant adviser at the Johannesburg-based chamber, said in yesterday an interview from Johannesburg. “If the strike drags on, then problems can really develop.”
The Steel and Engineering Federation of South Africa, an employer body representing companies, said yesterday it reached an agreement with workers to end an 11-day strike and work will resume July 18.
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa is consulting members and the strike is not over, spokesman Castro Ngobese said in an interview broadcast by eNews Channel today.
Workers at Pioneer Foods Ltd. (PFG)’s Sasko Grain unit began striking for more pay July 13, the Food and Agriculture Workers’ Union said in an e-mailed statement today. The employees have asked for a 9 percent salary increase, while the company is offering 7.25 percent.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:c7877f39-9217-4729-a257-e1c98932d30d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-14/gas-stations-in-south-africa-run-dry-as-salary-strike-crimps-supplies.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95919 | 875 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Panama City - A small but growing number of women nationwide are choosing to birth their babies at home with the help of a midwife. A woman living in Panama City is offering the option here in Bay County. Vanessa Grimes is a Certified Professional Midwife who cares for women before, during, and after they give birth.
Meet little Kiran. Now 11 pounds 1 ounce, she came into the world not in a hospital room, but in a warm pool of water in her parents home. After delivering two children in a hospital setting, her parents wanted Kiran's arrival to be as natural as possible. "The experience was exactly what we hoped it would be," said mother Jessica Stilla. "In hospitals today birth is a very routine event, there are protocols and procedures in place that make it a very standard event. Midwifery care is a very personalized approach to maternity care," said midwife Vanessa.
Vanessa has been caring for Jessica throughout her pregnancy and helped deliver little Kiran. "Women need to become more informed as consumers and demand evidence-based care from their providers no matter where they give birth, if it is a medicalized or more natural approach, in the hospital or at home," said Vanessa.
In addition to the traditional midwife role, Grimes also offers a unique service: placenta encapsulation. "The use of the placenta for postpartum recovery is something that is as old as time. Most mammals ingest the placenta. They ingest the placenta because it has nutritional benefits, it has hormonal benefits. Initial research has shown that ingesting the placenta helps the lactation experience, it helps to lessen postpartum bleeding, and reduces the rates of postpartum depression by reducing the stress response," explained Vanessa. She dehydrates the placenta at a low temperature, in a sterile environment, then grinds it up and encapsulates it.
Jessica says she can feel the benefits. "I think the biggest difference is just my energy level. I feel like I have the energy to get up and get going." Her husband Matthew agrees, "Her mood swings that have accompanied the last two births, the mood swings (this time) are way less extreme. She is back to normal quicker." And better able to enjoy becoming a mom for the third time.
Placenta encapsulation is currently not regulated by the FDA. Talk to your doctor if you plan to have a hospital birth but are interested in placenta encapsulation as special arrangements would need to be made. . | <urn:uuid:3a22a2ae-0bbb-4c7b-bc1c-c4029cafe284> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wjhg.com/news/headlines/Certified-Professional-Midwife-Provides-In-Home-Maternity-Care-Offers-Placenta-Encapsulation-186773121.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 | 0.97164 | 520 | 1.625 | 2 |
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