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It didn’t take long for old rumors to resurface about President Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
When “Obamacare” was first passed the blogosphere was up-in-arms that the AHA included an additional 3.8% tax on any real estate sale, and claimed, “that’s $3,800 on a $100,000 home.”
There were email chains passed along that said that anyone who sold a home would be subject to this tax.
Which is absolutely true, except for the fact that it is complete fiction.
The rumors have long since been debunked, yet after the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Health Care Act earlier this week, I’ve heard some conservatives once again pushing this narrative.
So kids once more with feeling, “There is no real estate sales tax in Obamacare.”
Now there is an additional capital gains tax included in the Affordable Care Act, and yes it will affect a narrow field of real estate transactions.
But here is what you need to know; the majority of taxpayers will not have to pay it.
There is a new tax on investment income which will cover the income from interest, dividends, rents, as well as capital gains. It’s not a transfer tax on real estate sales.
While the sale of a home can be subject to this tax, it is only if a number of criteria are met.
If you are a married couple making less than $250,000 or an individual making less than $200,000, then you cannot be taxed.
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At last - an explanation for 'bunga bunga'
The phrase "bunga bunga" has become inextricably linked with the private life of Italy's Silvio Berlusconi, and for those who have puzzled over its origins an intriguing new explanation of its meaning has been offered.
The comical-sounding phrase made its first appearance back in October, when 17-year-old Moroccan belly dancer Karima El Mahroug - who calls herself Ruby - said she had attended "bunga bunga" parties with other women at Mr Berlusconi's villa in Milan.
Italian newspapers immediately scrambled to find out its origins.
The finger of blame was initially laid upon Mr Berlusconi's friend Col Muammar Gaddafi, with allegations of parties hosted by the Libyan leader involving "harems" of young Western women.
Then stories circulated claiming the phrase owed its origins to a bawdy joke, which Mr Berlusconi claimed was one of his favourites.
Then this week Sabina Began, German actress and friend of the Italian prime minister, told Sky Italia that she herself was bunga bunga.
"'Bunga bunga' is simply my nickname," the 36-year-old said.
It's a credible-sounding explanation: "Began" and "Bunga" are not so different, and the repetition gives it a more informal, nickname-like quality.
"Everyone thinks: 'My God! What does that mean?" she is quoted as saying. Ms Began went on to explain that it was she who had organised the parties for Mr Berlusconi.
How it has caught on
The phrase "bunga bunga", is having a global impact, says Paul JJ Payack, president of The Global Language Monitor in the US.
"One of our databases that searches the top global media found almost 800 stories spread across the world.
"Since Mr Berlusconi was reported as saying that he learned harem-style rituals frοm hіѕ friend, Col Gaddafi, the phrase has been reported in Arabic-language news stories.
"On our Chinese search engines there were over 2000 references to news stories in Chinese.
"Finally, we found thousands of references in Russian.
"Will it make the English language lexicon? It certainly seems headed that way. It needs a minimum of 25,000 references with the necessary depth and breadth. It currently has 744,000 references on Google."
The expression has quickly become part of the Italian vocabulary, says Italian journalist Annalisa Piras, even though no-one really knows what it means.
The theory that it features in Mr Berlusconi's favourite joke is a popular one, she says.
The joke isn't new - it can be found on the internet Urban Dictionary - but in Italy it has been given a political twist. It goes like this:
Two of Mr Berlusconi's political opponents are captured by an African tribe. They are asked whether they would prefer to die or undergo bunga bunga. The first one opts for bunga bunga, and is immediately subjected to a sexual assault by members of the tribe. The second one, who now grasps what "bunga bunga" means, says he would prefer to die. To which the chief of the tribe replies: "Okay, you will die - but before you will have bunga bunga."
Ms Piras says the term is now well embedded in the Italian language. "Bunga Bunga City" refers to Mr Berlusconi's world, the phrase is a popular twitter hashtag, and it even inspired a song performed on Italian television to the tune of Shakira's Waka Waka World Cup anthem.
In Italy, "bunga bunga" is pronounced: BOONG-guh BOONG-guh (-oo as in moon, -ng-g as in finger, -uh as a in ago, stressed syllables in upper case).
Source: BBC Pronunciation unit
The phrase itself is not new. One of the oldest recorded references dates back to 1910 and another African-themed joke.
The infamous Dreadnought hoax was dreamed up by aristocratic joker Horace de Vere Cole, who contacted the British Admiralty pretending to be the Emperor of Abyssinia. He informed officials that he wished to inspect the Home Fleet while on a forthcoming visit to Britain.
After enlisting some friends - artists from the Bloomsbury group, including writer Virginia Woolf - to masquerade as his entourage, he turned up at the navy's state-of-the-art ship, the Dreadnought.
Officials, taken in by the dark stage make-up, false beards and oriental regalia, treated the group to an official civic reception.
They were reported to have cried "Bunga, bunga!" while marvelling at the ship. An account of the visit plus a picture were sent to the Daily Mail newspaper - probably by Cole himself.
Virginia Woolf said later that when the real Emperor of Abyssinia arrived in London weeks later, wherever he went, ''the street boys ran after him calling out bunga, bunga!"
Musical Hall ditty from 1910
When I went on board a Dreadnought ship
I looked like a costermonger;
They said I was an Abyssinian prince
'Cos I shouted 'Bunga Bunga!'
Source: The Sultan of Zanzibar: The Bizarre World and Spectacular Hoaxes of Horace de Vere Cole, Martyn Downer
The term reappeared at the end of World War I, after HMS Dreadnought sank a German submarine. According to retired Royal Navy captain Jack Broome - in his book Make Another Signal - the congratulatory telegram read: "BUNGA BUNGA".
The Dreadnought hoax is certainly not the inspiration for the current use of the phrase - but Mr Berlusconi may intend the phrase to have African connotations, says Tony Thorne, editor of the Dictionary of Contemporary Slang.
"The sound of it is crude and infantile. It is almost like a racist Africanism - some kind of colonial imagined tribal ritual of sexual abandon," he says.
"It has a racist, imperialist quality to it - like a phoney African word, like 'wonga'.
"It's so naughty and childish, it goes very nicely with the image that I think Mr Berlusconi wants to cultivate, as comic and absurd."
Ms Piras says that usage of the phrase in Italy has brought to a new level Mr Berlusconi's image as "jester-in-chief".
"He has managed to capture in a slogan the imagination of many of his male compatriots, and the utter contempt of almost every Italian woman."
The phrase "bunga bunga" exists in other languages - in Filipino, it is slang for something "hot" or fashionable, in Indonesian it means flowers.
But, for now, it has an association with the Italian prime minister and the current political scandal - or "bunga bunga-gate", if you will.
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I am new to wireshark , recently started . I am trying to measure the bandwidth between two hosts which uses tcp connection. I want it to be displayed graphically and it should be dynamic( display contiously throught the connection).
Is there any option for this to get it done ? .
Best Regards, yash
asked 30 May '12, 04:18
You could just use the I/O Graph (statistics menu). If you put in a filter for the according tcp session in one of the filter edit boxes you can have it track just that one session, even while it is still being captured. A filter for a tcp session is usually either created by filtering on IPs and ports of both nodes, or by using the tcp stream index.
answered 30 May '12, 04:33
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Sense & Sensibility
Elinor's curiosity to see Mrs. Ferrars was satisfied. She had found in her everything that could tend to make a farther connection between the families undesirable. She had seen enough of her pride, her meanness, and her determined prejudice against herself, to comprehend all the difficulties that must have perplexed the engagement, and retarded the marriage of Edward and herself, had he been otherwise free; -- and she had seen almost enough to be thankful for her own sake, that one greater obstacle preserved her from suffering under any other of Mrs. Ferrars's creation, preserved her from all dependence upon her caprice, or any solicitude for her good opinion. Or at least, if she did not bring herself quite to rejoice in Edward's being fettered to Lucy, she determined, that had Lucy been more amiable, she ought to have rejoiced.
She wondered that Lucy's spirits could be so very much elevated by the civility of Mrs. Ferrars; that her interest and her vanity should so very much blind her, as to make the attention which seemed only paid her because she was not Elinor , appear a compliment to herself -- or to allow her to derive encouragement from a preference only given her, because her real situation was unknown. But that it was so, had not only been declared by Lucy's eyes at the time, but was declared over again the next morning more openly; for at her particular desire, Lady Middleton set her down in Berkeley Street on the chance of seeing Elinor alone, to tell her how happy she was.
The chance proved a lucky one, for a message from Mrs. Palmer soon after she arrived, carried Mrs. Jennings away.
"My dear friend," cried Lucy as soon as they were by themselves, "I come to talk to you of my happiness. Could anything be so flattering as Mrs. Ferrars's way of treating me yesterday? So exceeding affable as she was! You know how I dreaded the thoughts of seeing her; but the very moment I was introduced, there was such an affability in her behaviour as really should seem to say, she had quite took a fancy to me. Now was not it so? You saw it all; and was not you quite struck with it?"
"She was certainly very civil to you."
"Civil! -- Did you see nothing but only civility? I saw a vast deal more -- such kindness as fell to the share of nobody but me! No pride, no hauteur, and your sister just the same -- all sweetness and affability!"
Elinor wished to talk of something else, but Lucy still pressed her to own that she had reason for her happiness, and Elinor was obliged to go on.
"Undoubtedly, if they had known your engagement," said she, "nothing could be more flattering than their treatment of you; but as that was not the case -- "
"I guessed you would say so," replied Lucy quickly; "but there was no reason in the world why Mrs. Ferrars should seem to like me, if she did not -- and her liking me is everything. You shan't talk me out of my satisfaction. I am sure it will all end well, and there will be no difficulties at all, to what I used to think. Mrs. Ferrars is a charming woman, and so is your sister. They are both delightful women indeed! -- I wonder I should never hear you say how agreeable Mrs. Dashwood was!"
To this, Elinor had no answer to make, and did not attempt any.
"Are you ill, Miss Dashwood? -- you seem low -- you don't speak; -- sure you an't well."
"I never was in better health."
"I am glad of it with all my heart, but really you did not look it. I should be so sorry to have you ill, -- you, that have been the greatest comfort to me in the world! -- Heaven knows what I should have done without your friendship."
Elinor tried to make a civil answer, though doubting her own success. But it seemed to satisfy Lucy, for she directly replied:
"Indeed I am perfectly convinced of your regard for me, and next to Edward's love, it is the greatest comfort I have. Poor Edward! But now, there is one good thing -- we shall be able to meet, and meet pretty often, for Lady Middleton's delighted with Mrs. Dashwood, so we shall be a good deal in Harley Street, I dare say, and Edward spends half his time with his sister -- besides, Lady Middleton and Mrs. Ferrars will visit now; -- and Mrs. Ferrars and your sister were both so good to say more than once, they should always be glad to see me. -- They are such charming women! -- I am sure if ever you tell your sister what I think of her, you cannot speak too high."
But Elinor would not give her any encouragement to hope that she should tell her sister. Lucy continued:
"I am sure I should have seen it in a moment, if Mrs. Ferrars had took a dislike to me. If she had only made me a formal curtsey, for instance, without saying a word, and never after had took any notice of me, and never looked at me in a pleasant way -- you know what I mean, -- if I had been treated in that forbidding sort of way, I should have gave it all up in despair. I could not have stood it. For where she does dislike, I know it is most violent."
Elinor was prevented from making any reply to this civil triumph, by the door's being thrown open, the servant's announcing Mr. Ferrars, and Edward's immediately walking in.
It was a very awkward moment; and the countenance of each shewed that it was so. They all looked exceedingly foolish; and Edward seemed to have as great an inclination to walk out of the room again, as to advance farther into it. The very circumstance, in its unpleasantest form, which they would each have been most anxious to avoid, had fallen on them -- They were not only all three together, but were together without the relief of any other person. The ladies recovered themselves first. It was not Lucy's business to put herself forward, and the appearance of secrecy must still be kept up. She could therefore only look her tenderness, and after slightly addressing him, said no more.
But Elinor had more to do; and so anxious was she, for his sake and her own, to do it well, that she forced herself, after a moment's recollection, to welcome him, with a look and manner that were almost easy and almost open; and another struggle, another effort still improved them. She would not allow the presence of Lucy, nor the consciousness of some injustice towards herself, to deter her from saying that she was happy to see him, and that she had very much regretted being from home, when he called before in Berkeley Street. She would not be frightened from paying him those attentions which, as a friend and almost a relation, were his due, by the observant eyes of Lucy, though she soon perceived them to be narrowly watching her.
Her manners gave some reassurance to Edward, and he had courage enough to sit down; but his embarrassment still exceeded that of the ladies in a proportion which the case rendered reasonable, though his sex might make it rare; for his heart had not the indifference of Lucy's, nor could his conscience have quite the ease of Elinor's.
Sense & Sensibility
Lucy, with a demure and settled air, seemed determined to make no contribution to the comfort of the others, and would not say a word; and almost everything that was said, proceeded from Elinor, who was obliged to volunteer all the information about her mothers health, their coming to town, etc., which Edward ought to have inquired about, but never did.
Her exertions did not stop here; for she soon afterwards felt herself so heroically disposed as to determine, under pretence of fetching Marianne, to leave the others by themselves: and she really did it, and that in the handsomest manner, for she loitered away several minutes on the landing place, with the most high-minded fortitude, before she went to her sister. When that was once done, however, it was time for the raptures of Edward to cease; for Marianne's joy hurried her into the drawing-room immediately. Her pleasure in seeing him was like every other of her feelings, strong in itself, and strongly spoken. She met him with a hand that would be taken, and a voice that expressed the affection of a sister.
"Dear Edward!" she cried, "this is a moment of great happiness! -- This would almost make amends for everything!"
Edward tried to return her kindness as it deserved, but before such witnesses he dared not say half what he really felt. Again they all sat down, and for a moment or two all were silent; while Marianne was looking with the most speaking tenderness, sometimes at Edward and sometimes at Elinor, regretting only that their delight in each other should be checked by Lucy's unwelcome presence. Edward was the first to speak, and it was to notice Marianne's altered looks, and express his fear of her not finding London agree with her.
"Oh! don't think of me!" she replied, with spirited earnestness, though her eyes were filled with tears as she spoke, "don't think of my health. Elinor is well, you see. That must be enough for us both."
This remark was not calculated to make Edward or Elinor more easy, nor to conciliate the good will of Lucy, who looked up at Marianne with no very benignant expression.
"Do you like London?" said Edward, willing to say anything that might introduce another subject.
"Not at all. I expected much pleasure in it, but I have found none. The sight of you, Edward, is the only comfort it has afforded; and, thank Heaven! you are what you always were!"
She paused -- no one spoke.
"I think, Elinor," she presently added, "we must employ Edward to take care of us in our return to Barton. In a week or two, I suppose, we shall be going; and, I trust, Edward will not be very unwilling to accept the charge."
Poor Edward muttered something; but what it was, nobody knew, not even himself. But Marianne, who saw his agitation, and could easily trace it to whatever cause best pleased herself, was perfectly satisfied, and soon talked of something else.
"We spent such a day, Edward, in Harley Street yesterday! So dull, so wretchedly dull! But I have much to say to you on that head, which cannot be said now."
And with this admirable discretion did she defer the assurance of her finding their mutual relatives more disagreeable than ever, and of her being particularly disgusted with his mother, till they were more in private.
"But why were you not there, Edward? -- Why did you not come?
"I was engaged elsewhere."
"Engaged! But what was that, when such friends were to be met?"
"Perhaps, Miss Marianne," cried Lucy, eager to take some revenge on her, "you think young men never stand upon engagements, if they have no mind to keep them, little as well as great."
Elinor was very angry, but Marianne seemed entirely insensible of the sting; for she calmly replied,
"Not so, indeed; for, seriously speaking, I am very sure that conscience only kept Edward from Harley Street. And I really believe he has the most delicate conscience in the world; the most scrupulous in performing every engagement however minute, and however it may make against his interest or pleasure. He is the most fearful of giving pain, of wounding expectation, and the most incapable of being selfish of anybody I ever saw. Edward, it is so, and I will say it. What! are you never to hear yourself praised? Then, you must be no friend of mine; for those who will accept of my love and esteem, must submit to my open commendation."
The nature of her commendation, in the present case, however, happened to be particularly ill-suited to the feelings of two-thirds of her auditors, and was so very unexhilarating to Edward, that he very soon got up to go away.
"Going so soon!" said Marianne; "my dear Edward, this must not be."
And drawing him a little aside, she whispered her persuasion that Lucy could not stay much longer. But even this encouragement failed, for he would go; and Lucy, who would have outstaid him had his visit lasted two hours, soon afterwards went away.
"What can bring her here so often!" said Marianne, on her leaving them. "Could she not see that we wanted her gone! How teasing to Edward!"
"Why so? -- we were all his friends, and Lucy has been the longest known to him of any. It is but natural that he should like to see her as well as ourselves."
Marianne looked at her steadily, and said, "You know, Elinor, that this is a kind of talking which I cannot bear. If you only hope to have your assertion contradicted, as I must suppose to be the case, you ought to recollect that I am the last person in the world to do it. I cannot descend to be tricked out of assurances that are not really wanted."
She then left the room; and Elinor dared not follow her to say more, for bound as she was by her promise of secrecy to Lucy, she could give no information that would convince Marianne; and painful as the consequences of her still continuing in an error might be, she was obliged to submit to it. All that she could hope, was that Edward would not often expose her or himself to the distress of hearing Marianne's mistaken warmth, nor to the repetition of any other part of the pain that had attended their recent meeting -- and this she had every reason to expect.
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DJs, Space Stations and other stuff
The DJ was covered from his neck down behind a screen so that people weren't sure who was up first....
18 Jan 2001
I read this article the other night.. In the December issue of 'New Scientist' there is this article called "Hang the DJ". It's all about this machine/software developed by this guy from Hewlett Packard.
In this spare time he DJ's (of the bedroom variety) and started to think about a machine that could also do this. So blah blah blah eventually he comes up with the finished product.
They decided to test it on a dancefloor full of punters which included a panel of 10 DJ's. Some guy from MOS selected 5 tracks which he was going to mix. Then the machine 'read' these tracks, decided on the order (slower track to start with, building the tempo, etc). because it read the tracks, the machine knew how to beat mix and alter tempos so that the mix was smooth etc etc.
The DJ was covered from his neck down behind a screen so that people weren't sure who was up first. 70% of the punters guessed correctly which one was the machine, and of course, 100% of the DJ panel guessed correctly. But apparantly it was very hard. Most of the DJ's knew simply because they knew how the DJ personally mixes. Anyway, more to it than that, but it was rooly interesting. I have the article if anyone wants it.
Did anyone see the new Space Station hurtle across our skies last night? 11:06 it turned up and there I was outside with my binoculars. Holy shite, this thing MOVES! It sped across the sky in about 2 minutes, about 3/4 of the way across, it blinked out. I think that must of been when the sun could no longer reflect on it panels or something. Anyways, this thing is BIG and even through my wee binos, you could just about make out it's shape. Recommend it to anyone to watch out for it.
You can find out when here
Last night on Channel 4 there was this cool prgramme called 'DJ' and it followed a drum and bass tour with Blame, LTJ Bukem, 2 MC's (Conrad and some other guy) and DAMn it was funny! All the trouble they faced getting Bukem through customs (he had to travel seperately etc) and poor Conrad fell asleep on some plane, noone woke him up and he ended up in Orlando. Bloody funny. Look out for it as it may be a regular series.
Anyway, enough blag from me for the day....!
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You have a business idea, something your really good at and now you want to make money doing it. So you decide to get a business name and open up shop. Problem is, no one has ever heard of you and you lack credibility – the problem all entrepreneurs face. So what do you do? You go out and pay expensive PR companies to create a buzz for you in hopes of attracting new customers. All that does is get people to notice you but not necessarily buy from you. This is when you need to shift your strategy.
There is a group of entrepreneurs called “bootstrappers”, those that attempt to build a business on a shoe-string budget or less. Generally these are students just coming out of College/University with tuition debts and bills they can hardly afford to keep up with. What you and many young entrepreneurs don’t realize is that you are already professionals at your own personal style of PR using a free tool you use on a daily basis, Social Media.
You’ve been branding yourself for the past few years using Facebook by building relationships, posting your opinions, adding photos of your work and showing people what your good at. You’ve already created credibility amongst your 500 friends and that’s a good foundation to start promoting yourself with. You’ve already become the brand even before you knew it.
1. You’re an entrepreneur for a reason so be an expert at what you do.
The more you know about your industry, product and service the more prepared you are at winning customers attention. For example if you are in the Fitness industry and what to be known as a Fitness Guru, you want to establish expertise in exercising and nutrition. Don’t break-off into other areas that don’t support your end goal such as giving clothing advice, you’re just wasting your time. Being an expert in your field can get you noticed as a local professional and garner media attention which will help you attract new clients and grow your business.
2. Don’t just keep it to yourself, Blog about it.
Create a blog and start showing people why you are expert and build your credibility. When you hear about something new from a friend or want to find out more, you normally do a Google search on it. So if you have your name on a website, it gives people a chance to find out more about you and what you do. This is especially true if people want to interview you or do business with you. The more websites you have your name on (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) the better chances you have of someone finding you online.
3. Offer your advice where it counts the most.
Posting articles on Facebook is all good and fun, but doesn’t always hit your desired target market. Going back to the example of the Fitness expert, your main audience would be people who want to get healthy, get in shape, get active, etc. These people tend to search for fitness websites and healthy life style websites to learn more about their specific interests. These are the places where you should be sharing your expertise. Submit an article or a request to comment on one of the articles already written. This puts yourself in the spotlight and is a great way to be heard by thousands of people that you didn’t have access to before. Always be sure to provide a photo, bio and link to your website so they can follow-up with you.
4. Build relationships that help your brand
It never hurts making friends, but making the right kind of friends can have huge benefits. Once you know what areas affect your industry, you can connect with other entrepreneurs that will create a mutually beneficial relationship. Most would frown upon making friends with other entrepreneurs in the same industry because they believe they are in competition with each other. In reality it provides more opportunities by exposing yourself to larger audiences and feeding off eachother’s articles and posts. Networking is the fastest and best way to become known in your industry and build relationships that will have an everlasting effect on your brand. For more details on how to successfully build relationships read this article on Generate Brand Awareness Through Networking.
5. Stay Consistent
One of the worst things any entrepreneur can do is, do to many things at once. Occasionally we all stray a little and find ourselves trying to bite off more than we can chew. If you plan to blog or write articles be consistent by doing it once a day or week, whatever works best for you. Sending out whenever you feel like it makes your listeners lose interest. Routine is something that everyone has to make their life run smoother. If the daily newspaper stopped printing everyday and only did it on days it felt like it, it would lose an enormous amount of support. The more consistent you are the more you stay in the thoughts of your audience, you give them something to look forward to.
Building a brand whether it’s of yourself or your business is the most important aspect to any business – next to having a product/service that people actually need. Establishing yourself as the brand creates a more personalized relationship with your customers, which majority of consumers tend to look for when quality is of high importance. Whatever you decide to do make sure your image reflects your final goals to get the results you expect.
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If the proficiency gap between Detroit's children and the Michigan average is any indication, our children have only fallen further behind these past four years.
Liberal arguments for Emergency Managers are not based on any real principle. They're little more than concessions to present state and national political trends, where austerity rules and Wall Street always wins
Detroit has seen its better days, but the latest national trending news is the most disheartening story that anybody could tell.
Without a doubt we need the support and accountability that a State of Michigan partnership offers. We cannot address our legacy obligations alone. And, as Detroit goes, so goes Michigan.
Crime continues to be Detroit's number one issue. It is on the mind of every citizen. We will not thrive until the perception of Detroit is changed to that of a safe city through reducing the number of crime victims.
The question is whether our generation will carry the 20th century's hard-earned progress around environmental, labor and civil protections forward or betray it out of the short-sighted greed, insecurity and historical amnesia.
Detroit is known as the nation's manufacturing capital for good reason: it still has the facilities, the firms, the research institutions, the workforce, and -- of course -- the grit to justify the title. The right kind of assistance could get Motor City rolling again.
As Detroit nears the possible appointment of an emergency financial manager, it's important to note that although the current pace of change is not as rapid as necessary to extinguish this fiscal crisis, we have made progress since 2009.
I will not waver in an effort to join with my council colleagues and Mayor Bing to make the necessary bold financial reforms. If we don't move swiftly, the certainty is an emergency financial manager will take even bolder action on behalf of Detroiters.
Detroit is suffering at the hands of a group with no frame of reference on how government is supposed to operate.
Having the state live up to its legally binding obligations to the city is worth fighting for. That is especially so when the alternative amounts to a complete abandonment of every principle that has made our society worth living in.
Detroit continues to face a fiscal crisis. However, the issue to address crime in the neighborhoods is not about resources; it's about managing the resources. The crime affecting our neighborhoods is fixable.
This year in the name of financial stability, the citizens of the city of Detroit will be disenfranchised. Democracy will be sacrificed at the altar of economic efficiency.
"Taxation without representation." It's an idea our nation was founded to oppose. Yet, right here in Detroit in 2012, it's a threat that's all too real.
We need to encourage the mayor and the council to insist on their authority to make decisions. If the state is unwilling to protect the elected officials, we encourage the city to declare bankruptcy.
Even with the February 29 delivery of over 226,000 signatures to a petition to overturn Public Act 4, there has been another brave and bold attempt to overthrow the law.
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Law enforcement support for gorillas
Representatives of the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) attended the first meeting of the Technical Committee to the Agreement on the Conservation of Gorillas and their Habitats, which was held on 29 and 30 March in Kigali, Rwanda. The meeting was organized by the Secretariat of the Convention on Migratory Species.
The Technical Committee meeting brought together representatives from Angola, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda, which are nine of the 10 countries in Africa where gorillas can still be found in the wild.
Gorillas are among the world's most endangered species and are struggling to cope with loss and degradation of their habitats. They are also sought after for their meat and for trade to illegal private exotic species collections and, on occasions, zoos. The trade in live gorillas is particularly damaging to this species, as it invariably involves the killing of several members of gorilla family groups in order to capture the sought-after juveniles. Anti-poaching staff are regularly called upon to face heavily-armed criminals and over 100 park and reserve rangers have been killed in the course of their duties in recent years.
ICCWC was represented at the meeting by the Chief of Enforcement Support from the CITES Secretariat and INTERPOL's Environmental Crime Programme Manager, who had the opportunity to visit the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo immediately before the event in Rwanda. There, he was able to meet with anti-poaching and park staff, and to see gorillas in their natural habitat.
CITES and INTERPOL briefed the Technical Committee on ICCWC activities that may assist gorilla range States in responding to crimes involving these animals, such as training the Consortium will undertake in 2011 to help Customs, the police and prosecution authorities tackle cross-border smuggling of wildlife. They also explained the range of other specialized support that ICCWC members can offer. In particular, they told the government representatives of plans to conduct technical missions to gorilla range States, to assess the enforcement situation 'on-the-ground' and to develop strategies to assist field staff and other relevant agencies.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the Technical Committee called formally upon the Consortium to provide assistance to implementation of the Agreement.
Mr John Sellar, who represented the CITES Secretariat at the meeting and who chairs the ICCWC Senior Experts Group, said: "We were delighted to participate in the first-ever meeting of this Technical Committee and were very impressed by some of the work that is being conducted in gorilla range States. However, it is clear that poaching and illegal trade are very significant threats to the survival of gorillas and that such crimes are occurring in every country where they remain in the wild. This was an important opportunity for us to learn more about such threats, so that we can take these into account as the Consortium develops its work plans."
INTERPOL's representative, Mr David Higgins, added: "After visiting the Democratic Republic of the Congo and participating in the Technical Committee, it is evident that there is a great desire to apprehend the criminals that threaten the ongoing survival of gorillas. However, it appears that the presence of police, Customs and prosecutors in the national and regional efforts to combat the criminals can be enhanced, and INTERPOL, in cooperation with its ICCWC partners, stands ready to support this development”.
ICCWC, launched during the International Tiger Forum in Saint Petersburg, the Russian Federation, in November 2010, brings together the CITES Secretariat, INTERPOL, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the World Bank, and the World Customs Organization. Its aim is to support national wildlife law enforcement officers in their work to bring to justice criminal gangs which seek to rob countries of their natural resources.
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Noun. 1. Confusing or incomprehensible language or activity. 2. An obscure ritual or incantation. [Mandingo origin.]
American Heritage Dictionary
Of the English Language
Mumbo sauce? Anyone who has ever traveled east of the Anacostia River has heard the term, Mumbo Sauce. What do I mean by east of the river? I mean if you have ventured anywhere near Benning Road, Wheeler Road, Southern Avenue, or Minnesota Avenue in North/Southeast Washington, D.C. There is no way that you can go into any Korean owned and operated “Kerry-Out” [trans. Carry-Out food] in DC and not hear someone order french fries with chicken wings and Mumbo Sauce. Impossible! Some like it on the chicken and others (like me) like it on the side. I’ve always thought of Mumbo Sauce as a DC thang, but where did it really come from? Actually, Mumbo Sauce originated on Chicago's Southside in the early 1950s by a man named Argia B. Collins, who was known for his famous ribs and barbeque Mumbo Sauce. Now, somehow the name (Mumbo) made its way to the District of Columbia. Perhaps Ishmael Reed's "Jes Grew" brought it here after passing through Harold's Chicken Shack on Stony Island. Nonetheless, I love that Mumbo Sauce.
Now, another question that I’m sure comes to mind is: what in the blazes is Mumbo Sauce and what are the ingredients? Well, no one seems to know the specific ingredients of the sauces that are promoted at DC area carryouts. I know…scary! This is because every carryout makes their sauce differently. I have a favorite spot that I like to go for my chicken wings and Mumbo Sauce. It tastes so good on the chicken; It's both sweet and tangy! I believe they use a little Worcestershire sauce in their blend, and I think that I tasted some nutmeg? I don’t know, but I love it. However, I can’t eat all that fried food too often because that stuff will make you fat and eventullay kill me. So I get it here and there. This past weekend was one of those moments. So, the next time that you are in DC stop by one of our local carryouts (there’s one on every corner), and get yourself an order of chicken wings and Mumbo Sauce. Oh…and all the fries they can give you.
Peace and chicken grease~
Note: The trademark MUMBO was adopted by Argia B. Collins, Sr. for use in connection with a barbecue sauce he developed for his Chicago restaurant. Since as early as 1950, Mr. Collins and his business used this trademark, and his successor-in-interest, Select Brands, LLC, registered the trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on May 25, 1999, Registration No. 2,247,855. The MUMBO trademark has been used for sauces, and appears on labels as part of the phrase MUMBO® SAUCE. (Information provided by: Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP, Chicago, IL)
This post was inspired by the works of Ishmael Reed
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How can we encourage businesses to protect themselves from an attack that most see as unlikely and some see as non-existent?
by Chris Phillips, head of the National Counter Terrorism Security Office.
How can we get business in the UK to reduce its vulnerability to an attack from terrorists, whether they be a group linked to Al Qaeda (AQ) or a lone wolf who may even work in the community? This question is at the core of our work here at the National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO).
The UK government has published its revised National Security Strategy entitled “a strong Britain in an age of uncertainty" and within its pages are a number of interesting details that point towards an evolving future for Business Continuity.
The new strategy delivers the coalition governments view on the emerging and current threats to the UK. Closely linked to the recently announced spending review affecting the Armed Forces the national strategy document and other dimensions that are highly relevant to us all and positions the thinking on both risks and importantly responsibilities for them.
Since November 2001, the US administration has been diverting crude oil supply from the market to the strategic petroleum reserve (SPR), which now stands at a record 700m barrels – in addition to the vast reserves held by the other 25 member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) club of industrialised oil consumers. The government has offered to tap those reserves as an emergency response to the massive supply disruptions caused by Katrina. But the SPR will not be much help. Releasing SPR crude will not offset a looming shortage of natural gas and, given refining constraints, will increase product supply by only a small amount. Its effect on prices will be marginal at best.
Compliance pressures have forced large companies to put disaster recovery and business continuity plans in place, and now these companies are looking at their supply chains and have identified small and mid-sized suppliers as a source of risk, according to Simon Mingay, research vice president at analyst group Gartner.
Tighter integration of the supply chains means that companies have an increased dependency on the availability of their partners' IT systems, and so big companies are insisting that smaller suppliers get their houses in order if they want to do business.
Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response of the Health Protection Agency (HPA) The value of Simulation Exercises
From a bland, open-plan office in the Wiltshire countryside, distinguished only by a large plasma television screen and a "bat phone" prominently displayed on a table, officials gather regularly to handle the most horrific disasters. This week, their eyes were on the European early warning and response system displayed on the screen, while their ears listened out for the phone, which is linked to a protected government communications network.
The enormity of the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina on the communities of the US Gulf coast has yet to be comprehensively assessed. Already, though, the consequences for businesses around the world are beginning to become clear.
Insurance claims are expected to run to many billions of dollars, and the closure of oil refineries is causing a surge in fuel prices. Coming soon after last month’s severe floods in Switzerland and Austria, and with the Indian Ocean tsunamis fresh in the memory, Katrina has reminded us of the impact natural disasters can have on business – especially those that are unprepared.
Business must plan for the worst and hope for the best
By Jo Valentine Chief Executive London First (supported by the Continuity Forum)
The terrorist attacks of September 11th should have been a wake call for the business community in Britain and across the world. However, nearly four years on, national surveys show nearly 49% of all UK businesses lack plans to keep the wheels turning if the unthinkable happens. Astonishingly, that number has only improved by 5% since the 9/11 attacks. Where there are plans – mostly among the larger and more regulated businesses – one fifth have never been tested.
The terrorism insurance system in the United States is failing to provide businesses with adequate financial protection, leaving the nation vulnerable to economic disruption if there is a major terrorist attack, according to a RAND Corporation study issued earlier this week.
As forecast by the Continuity Forum, pressure is mounting on Business to ensure that Business Continuity Plans are at the heart of an organisations planning.
Much of the reason is the fear from the sector that still too few organisations are developing an effective response to the risks facing Business, particularly with regard to major Terror attacks and other events, such as the Blackout in South London last winter and the Telecoms Failure in Manchester this Spring. The industry is also concerned about the effects of the recent weather events which have disrupted businesses across the UK and caused millions of pounds of damage.
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Physicians for Haiti strives towards a future where medical professionals in Haiti have access to the same resources and opportunities to continue their education as doctors in the US, and as a result are motivated and validated. We believe that this is the first step to creating a high-quality and sustainable Haitian healthcare system. Although a vast number of NGOs currently provide care in Haiti, the Haitian medical system itself is lacking. In 1998, Haiti had a physician density of 3 per 10,000 (CIA World Factbook)--a number which has likely decreased since the 2010 earthquake, which damaged all four of Haiti’s medical schools. Furthermore, qualified Haitian doctors tend to leave the country to pursue more promising educational and career opportunities--in 2000, over 81% of Haiti’s university-educated professionals had left the country (Hooper CR, Journal of Medical Ethics, 2008). The lack of qualified Haitian physicians practicing in their home country paired with the influx of foreign medical aid in the post-earthquake era has the potential to create a system of dependency. P4H strives to avoid this outcome by equipping doctors with the tools and guidance they need to become more effective practitioners in their home country. Our ultimate goal is to improve the quality of medical care in Haiti in a way that is sustainable, and that empowers Haitian physicians. We aim to create a system where American and Haitian physicians can collaborate and share tools and ideas, allowing for the highest quality of care. Ultimately, we envision a self-sustaining postgraduate Haitian medical education system that is a source of pride for Haiti, equips Haitian health care professionals to provide high quality care to all Haitians, and is built on a foundation of equity and collaboration.
Physicians for Haiti employs a multifaceted approach in its mission for a sustainable system of postgraduate medical education in Haiti. We are currently working to create a system of computer-based modules in order to easily share medical best-practices. Our focus is to develop materials that are evidence-based, appropriate for the resource-limited settings of our Haitian colleagues, pertinent to the diseases and presentations they deal with, and in the appropriate language (in this case, French). We also use technology to facilitate an online case discussion forum for Haitian physicians, which is run through an online community hosted by The Global Health Delivery Project. Additionally, P4H allows Haitian physicians opportunities to expand their knowledge by organizing conferences on a variety of scales in Haiti, as well as funding and facilitating the travel of Haitian physicians to high-yield medical conferences abroad. P4H also offers professional development and leadership training to Haitian partners, as well as the opportunity for professional mentorship. As a steadily evolving NGO, Physicians for Haiti is often engaging in new initiatives! For a complete account of our activity, please visit physiciansforhaiti.org.
Physicians for Haiti was founded after the 2010 earthquake by a group of Boston-based residents. Alarmed by the waning interest in Haiti just months after the disaster, the group rallied to organize a 6 month memorial concert at the House of Blues in Boston, raising $10,000 for the Partners in Health Mirebalais Hospital, spreading awareness, and creating lasting relationships with local Haitian organizations. In the following months, P4H’s mission evolved, focusing on medical education for Haitian physicians--an issue that resonated with the founders, and which was clearly needed after the earthquake. Since then, P4H has successfully established an active online clinical discussion forum, hosted multiple continuing medical education (CME) and nurse training conferences in Haiti, created an active mentorship network, and initiated tele-consultation services. We continue to work to provide Haitian physicians with high-quality CME tools, and are currently working to produce a compilation of online training modules, focusing on Haiti-specific health problems and tailored to a setting with limited resources. By supporting Physicians for Haiti, a donor does not merely provide one-time aid, but invests in Haiti’s medical education system. At P4H, we believe that creating this sort of sustainable change is critical for the rebuilding of Haiti, and we strive for a future of high-quality medical care, motivated and well-trained physicians, and independence from foreign aid.
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When discoursing on various labor-intensive projects and activities I often invoke the legend of Sisyphus, a mythological Greek king condemned for eternity to push an enormous boulder up a hill only to have it roll back down.
Among all the ridiculously arduous tasks – hacking away at bittersweet, constructing barriers to fend off deer, slugs and other plant predators, splitting freshly cut hickory for firewood – perhaps the most Sisyphusian is digging post holes.
Ledge, tree roots and hardpan stubbornly thwart shovel, mattock and pry bar. What's more, even the most elegant hole eventually gets filled, so the digger has nothing to show for his efforts.
For the past week or so I have been engaged in this wretched business, and I really shouldn't complain because I have only myself to blame.
It all started innocently enough on an early morning run when one of my favorite aromas wafted through the crisp, early autumn air: Concord grapes ripening along the side of the road.
How wonderful it would be to pick grapes in the backyard each fall, I thought. I already enjoy blueberries fresh from the garden in summer, along with native raspberries, which grow in nearby woods and fields.
Concord grapes also grow wild, but they have a major flaw: seeds. For me, this pretty much ruins the dining experience. The solution: grow my own seedless table grapes.
I went online to research this project, and also have been consulting with a dairy farmer on my running route who recently added a vineyard. While I haven't settled on the varieties I intend to plant in the spring, this much I do know: Unless I cover my vines with netting I might as well concede at least half the crop to voracious avian freeloaders.
I learned this lesson with blueberries, and loyal readers will recall how last spring I finally built a solid wooden frame that supports a nylon net bird barrier.
A particularly determined catbird discovered a tiny slit and periodically sneaked into the enclosure, but I couldn't begrudge him a few meals. I won't have to worry about birds getting into the grapes for a while – it takes two years for the vines to produce fruit, and by then my fortress, modeled after the blueberry frame, will be impenetrable.
It consists of 21 pressure-treated posts, each measuring 5-by-8 inches wide and 8 feet tall. I extended the lengths of each by 2 feet by screwing sections of 2-by-4s. I then buried the posts in rows 8 feet apart about 2 feet deep and filled the holes with rocks and clay.
Next, I screwed in 2x4s that will serve much like rafters to support the netting.
Finally, I will reinforce the walls with metal mesh fencing to ward off the robo-deer, and then add the bird netting. It is adjacent to an existing garden fence, so I've only had to build three additional sides. This new section measures about 25 by 30 feet.
As for the vines, I'll plant them in rows beneath strands of baling wire. But before I can put in vines I have to transplant about 150 pine and spruce seedlings now occupying that space in what has been part of my makeshift tree nursery.
I know, I know, it's a lot of work for grapes, and I'll have to live another 230 years to recover the expense, not even factoring in the labor.
But one morning in the fall of 2014 I will stroll out to the garden, pick a bunch of grapes, eat them with my yogurt, and it will all have been worth it.
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Answer to 2. The second probability would be vastly higher. To see this, let me make up some illustrative numbers. There are about four million innocent people in the area and, we'll assume, one guilty one. Let's estimate that 10 people (including the guilty one) own all the three of the items mentioned above. The first probability — that an innocent man owns all these items — would be 9/4,000,000 or less than 1 in 400,000. The second probability — that a man owning all three of these items is innocent — would be 9/10. Whatever the actual numbers, these probabilities usually differ substantially. Confusing them is dangerous (to defendants).
Answer to 3. For the World Series to last 6 or 7 games, it must last at least 5 games, at which point one team would be ahead 3 games to 2. If the team that is ahead wins the 6th game, the Series is over in 6 games. If the team that is behind wins the 6th game, the Series goes to 7 games. Since the teams are equally matched, the Series is equally likely to end in 6 or 7 games.
Answer to 4. The solution requires that we use a bit of probability theory. Doing so, we find that, on average, team A will play 2.9375 games at its home stadium and team B 2.875 games at its home stadium. Thus team A is a bit more likely to play at home.
Answer to 5. Even given the absurdly generous assumptions above, there would be 110,000 undecided voters (1 percent of 11 million). The probability of a 100 percent vote is thus equal to the probability of flipping a fair coin 110,000 times and having heads come up each and every time! The probability of this is 2 to the power of minus 110,000, or a 1 preceded by more than 30,000 0's and a decimal point. This would be the cosmic mother of all coincidences!
Answer to 6. As of this writing the Democrats hold a one vote edge in the Senate, and there are a number of races too close to call. Significant consequences will surely flow from small, but unpredictable factors so my prediction won't be ready until Wednesday, Nov. 6.
Professor of mathematics at Temple University and adjunct professor of journalism at Columbia University, John Allen Paulos is the author of several best-selling books, including Innumeracy, and the forthcoming A Mathematician Plays the Market, which will be published in the spring. His Who’s Counting? column on ABCNEWS.com appears the first weekend of every month.
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News Corporation firm NDS accused of ITV Digital hack
A News Corporation subsidiary company used a computer hacker to sabotage Sky TV's biggest rival, BBC Panorama has reported.
NDS is accused of leaking information from On Digital which could be used to create counterfeit smart cards, giving people free access to paid for TV.
The Carlton and Granada owned company folded in 2002 following rebranding which saw it renamed ITV Digital.
An NDS statement denied the claims, calling them "simply not true".
ITV Digital was first launched as On Digital and was set up as a rival to News Corporation's Sky TV in 1998.
But the widespread availability of secret codes to reproduce the cards needed to access the service meant ITV Digital's services could be accessed for free by pirates.
NDS response to BBC Panorama:
NDS is a global leader in the fight against pay-TV piracy, having repeatedly and successfully assisted law enforcement in that important effort.
Like most companies in the conditional access industry - and many law enforcement agencies - NDS uses industry contacts to track and catch both hackers and pirates. This is neither illegal nor unethical. And, to ensure that all activity remains completely within legal bounds, NDS staff and their contacts operate under a clear code of conduct for operating undercover.
These allegations were the subject of a long-running court case in the United States. This concluded with NDS being totally vindicated and its accuser having to pay almost $19m in costs.
The latest claims have been made by Lee Gibling - who set up a website in the late 90s known as The House of Ill-Compute, or Thoic.
Mr Gibling told the BBC he was paid to publish stolen information. His contact at NDS was Ray Adams, who at the time was head of UK security for the firm - which manufactures smartcards for all News Corporations' pay-TV companies across the world.
However, the company has denied Mr Gibling's claims and said Thoic was only used to gather intelligence on hackers.
"It is simply not true that NDS used the Thoic website to sabotage the commercial interests of ONDigital/ITV digital or indeed any rival," the NDS statement said.
"As part of the fight against pay-TV piracy, all companies in the conditional access industry - and many law enforcement agencies - come to posses codes that could enable hackers to access services for free.
"It is wrong to claim NDS has ever been in possession of any codes for the purpose of promoting hacking or piracy."'Killer blow'
ITV Digital's former chief technical officer, Simon Dore, told the programme that piracy was "the killer blow for the business, there is no question".
"The business had its issues aside from the piracy... but those issues I believe would have been solvable by careful and good management. The real killer, the hole beneath the water line, was the piracy. We couldn't recover from that."
The Panorama programme will be watched by an Ofcom team that is already considering whether BSkyB is a "fit and proper" owner of a broadcasting licence.
News Corp is BSkyB largest shareholder, with a 39 per cent stake, and James Murdoch - who was on the NDS board - is BSkyB's chairman.
Ofcom says it will consider "all relevant evidence", but it won't comment on specific allegations.
NDS has long denied promoting hacking or piracy. And though piracy was undoubtedly a problem for ITV Digital, few would agree that it was "the killer blow" in the fierce pay-TV battle with BSkyB.
Poor reception, delays with set-top boxes and a weaker channel line-up were more important.
It later paid too much for a package of Football League matches that few wanted to watch, which led to its closure.
Mr Gibling told Panorama that codes on the Thoic site originated from NDS.
"They delivered the actual software to be able to do this, with prior instructions that it should go to the widest possible community," he said.
Two former senior policemen ran the NDS UK security unit. Mr Adams had been head of criminal intelligence at the Metropolitan Police and Len Withall, who had been a chief inspector in the Surrey force.
Both men were secretly filmed by Panorama.
Mr Adams claimed he "would have arrested" Mr Gibling if he had known ITV Digital's code had been published on Thoic and denied having the codes himself.
But internal NDS documents, obtained by Panorama, show a hacked code was passed to Mr Withall and Mr Adams from a technology expert inside the company.'Their baby'
Mr Gibling said NDS paid for Thoic's servers and was across all of its hacking and TV piracy.
"Everything that was in the closed area of Thoic was totally accessed by any of the NDS representatives," he said.
He added that although Thoic was in his name, in reality the website belonged to NDS.
"It was NDS. It was their baby and it started to become more their baby as they fashioned it to their own design."
Once ITV Digital's codes were published on Thoic, Mr Gibling said his site was then used to defeat the electronic countermeasures that the company used to try to stop the piracy.
He added that new codes, created by ITV Digital, were sent out to other piracy websites.
"We wanted people to be able to update these cards themselves, we didn't want them buying a single card and then finding they couldn't get channels. We wanted them to stay and keep with On Digital, flogging it until it broke."
NDS's UK security unit was 50% funded by Sky. But the satellite broadcaster, chaired by James Murdoch, told the programme it had no involvement in how the unit was run and was not aware of Thoic.
Mr Murdoch was a non-executive director of NDS at the time although there is no evidence that he knew about the events reported by Panorama.'Fit and proper'
Panorama: Find out more
- Vivian White presents Panorama: Murdoch's TV Pirates
- BBC One, Monday, 26 March at 20:30 BST
Ofcom, the television regulator, is currently examining whether Mr Murdoch and News Corporation are "fit and proper" persons to be in control of BSkyB, the company that runs Sky TV. News Corporation currently owns 39% of BSkyB.
Tom Watson MP, a member of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee that has been examining the phone-hacking scandal, has called for Ofcom to examine these new allegations in their assessment.
"Clearly allegations of TV hacking are far more serious than phone hacking," he said. "It seems inconceivable that they (Ofcom) would not want to look at these new allegations. Ofcom are now applying the fit and proper person test to Rupert and James Murdoch. It also seems inconceivable to me that if these allegations are true that Rupert Murdoch and James Murdoch will pass that test."
NDS declined to be interviewed for the programme.
Panorama: Murdoch's TV Pirates, BBC One, Monday, 26 March at 20:30 BST and then available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer.
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Mines get federal approval amid stoush with NSW
The Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke says he was forced to approve three mining and gas projects earlier than he would have liked because the New South Wales Government leaked commercially sensitive information.
Mr Burke has given the green light to the Maules Creek mine and the nearby Boggabri extension in the Leard Forest, as well as the Gloucester CSG development, all in northern New South Wales.
He says the approvals are subject to further strict conditions that will be negotiated directly between his office and the company.
Mr Burke says the New South Wales Government will remain in the dark on their progress because of the leaking of a letter he wrote to Resources Minister, Chris Hartcher, before Christmas.
"New South Wales will have no notice, no access, no consultation with any of the decisions I make for these three projects," he said.
"Quite simply the NSW Government decided to strategically leak parts of where we were up to with bits of it being reported, not all of it being reported.
"Effectively we had a situation where market-sensitive information was starting to drip feed into the market.
"It's a pretty irresponsible pathway to choose and something that no state government has ever done before."
Yesterday's announcement came after the minister said last Thursday that he would defer a decision on the massive Maules Creek mine for up to three months.
Whitehaven Coal's open-cut mine will form a mega-mine complex, clearing around 5,000 hectares of the Leard State Forest, to produce 23 million tonnes of coal annually.
Tony Burke says if the conditions are not met the projects will not go ahead.
"It's the first time in any approval I have put forward an approval with so many conditions yet to be resolved and where, at the time of the approval, it is entirely unclear whether or not the project will be able to go ahead," he said.
"They have to do more work, come back to my satisfaction before we know whether or not the project will actually go ahead."
Chris Hartcher says Mr Burke has been caught out playing political games and undermining investment confidence.
Mr Hartcher says he welcomes the approvals, albeit delayed, and says the State Government supports the scientific process underpinning resource project approvals.
Environmental groups have reacted angrily to the approval of the mines, despite the conditions including the establishment of a permanent biodiversity corridor.
NSW Greens MLC Cate Faehrmann says she is appalled.
"I don't know how any environment minister in their right mind can approve the Maules Creek and Boggabri proposal and say that he's looking after the environment," she said.
Boggabri farmer and anti-project campaigner Phil Laird says the minister has merely caved in politically and sold out the environment.
"We've provided him with quite a lot of scientific evidence, which we thought would take around about three months for him to grind through and to form a proper view.
"It seems to us he's simply crumbled under the pressure from the State Government and it's very questionable to us about whether he's a proper person to administer the EPBC Act."
Carmel Flint, from the Northern Inland Council for the Environment says a legal challenge is looming.
"Certainly there are strong provisions in those laws that a mine should not be approved on the basis of false and misleading information," she said.
"So we believe there may be some avenues to pursue there."
Federal Independent MP, Rob Oakeshott, says both major parties have underestimated the level of community opposition to coal seam gas developments.
The Gloucester CSG project is in Mr Oakeshott's electorate and he says he is gutted by the decision.
"Both major parties are misreading what's happening in communities when farmers groups, the CWA, environmental groups, and people who've never protested or showed any want to do civil disobedience whatsoever are now starting to actively consider it," he said.
"If the major parties can't see this in communities right now, and the level of frustration through the roof, then they really are busted and have forgotten where their roots really are."
The Minerals Council says the projects will help underpin the long-term economic strength of the New England north-west region.
The ABC contacted Whitehaven Coal and the Maules Creek Community Council for a response.
Neither wished to give an interview until after reading Tony Burke's conditions of approval more closely.
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A federal appeals court has ruled that the U.S. government rightly designated the Ashland-based branch of a Saudi Arabia-based charity as a terrorist organization, but improperly seized the group's assets.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled Friday the Treasury Department correctly placed the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation on an official list of terrorist organizations in 2004 because the group had financed terrorist activities in Chechnya and Albania.
The department also designated an unnamed member of the group's board members as linked to terrorism.
The foundation was disbanded after the department froze its assets.
The unanimous three-judge panel found the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control violated the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable seizure by improperly using a "blocking order" to freeze the charity's assets without a warrant.
Former Ashlander Pete Seda was a member of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation. His sentencing on money-laundering and tax-cheat charges related to Al-Haramain activities is set for Sept. 27.
Seda was convicted on the federal felony charges for helping smuggle $150,000 through his Ashland-based Al-Haramain chapter to Muslims fighting the Russian Army in Chechnya in 2000, then lying on the foundation's tax returns to conceal the crime.
Seda faces as many as eight years in federal prison for his conviction.
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OLD TOWN, Maine — Ongoing problems involving a Stillwater Avenue rental residence have prompted city officials to consider adopting an ordinance aimed at disruptive properties, the city’s code enforcement officer said Friday.
At issue is a single-family house in the 700 block of Stillwater Avenue that currently is being rented by five college students, Code Enforcement Officer Dave Russell said last week, after city councilors discussed the plan during a committee meeting.
Among the problems that have been attributed to the house are large gatherings, parking problems, noise and trespassing, Russell said, adding that city police have visited the house on numerous occasions during the past two decades.
Though Old Town’s housing rental rules limit the number of unrelated renters to three per unit, the property that prompted the discussion is grandfathered, he said.
“It’s been an ongoing situation for the last 20 years,” said Russell, who has served as Old Town’s code enforcement officer since 2011. He said he recently became aware of the matter when a resident who lives near the rental house called to complain.
“I think it’s a situation where it’s been going on so long, he called me out of the blue and came to a council meeting that night,” Russell said.
If approved by city councilors, the problem property provisions would be folded into the city’s nuisance ordinance, said Russell, who is working with Erik Stumpfel, the city’s attorney, on a draft of the ordinance.
Russell said that in developing a disruptive building ordinance for Old Town, he researched similar rules put into place by Bangor, Bar Harbor and Amherst, Mass., which like Old Town is home to a college student population.
“It’s a lot like Bangor’s,” which drew heavily on an earlier ordinance adopted by the town of Orono, Russell said of the proposed Old Town version. The idea is to get landlords — especially absentee landlords — to keep unruly tenants in check by imposing an escalating series of consequences on landlords.
The first offense would lead to a meeting between the city and the property owner, who would be given a notice and a copy of the ordinance.
Subsequent offenses would result in fines that would start at $500 and would increase in $500 increments, Russell said. Upon the fifth offense, the City Council would have the option of shutting the problem building down for 60 to 180 days, he said.
“My hope is that people who have problem tenants are not ever going to let it get to that point,” he said.
During last week’s discussion of the proposed with members of the councilors’ Administrative Services Committee, Stumpfel noted that the rights of landlords also must be kept in mind.
“It’s tempting for the city to enact an order that says we can stick a label on this property and say it’s a disruptive property and that this has some negative code consequences or potential fines that are associated with it,” he said. “[But] that simply isn’t allowing for due process
“At some point — whether in advance of this designation or as part of an appeals process — you have to give that property owner a right to contest this designation,” he said. “The simplest way would be to give them the right to go to the Board of Appeals [in the event] of the code officer’s or the police chief’s designation but there has to be some process upon which they can challenge that,” he said.
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I’ve written the third post in the comint series. Database Mode is a more traditional use of comint mode to interact with an external interpreter. Part 1 described basic use of comint with a cut-down shell mode and Part 2 was about a stock price subscriber.
There is a great tip from emacs-fu on using a custom menu to store all the tips you’ve been reading on blogs like my own.
Ben Atkin mentions a couple of things of things that I really like about emacs. First of all, he talks about the ability to see different parts of the same buffer in two frames. I use this all the time when all my constants (or whatever) are at the top of the file. Admittedly, a trick I’ve linked to before with C-x C-x to return to where you were also works nicely in this case.
And the other thing was the scratch buffer. The great thing about emacs is you can easily create another buffer with
C-x b and store whatever you like in there.
There is a nice example of Kit OConnell asking the internet for help with an emacs issue. In the end it looks like it was solved in the real world by someone spotting some "smart quotes" in the .emacs. Perhaps emacs should warn about that at start-up.
There have been a few posts on whitespace recently. Matt Harrison mentions a whitespace mode that can be useful for the pythonistas that have the most trouble with inconsistent whitespace. Rémi Vanicat isn’t the first person to talk about removing trailing whitespace (I linked to an even better solution in an earlier link roundup). It is nice that emacs has such a nice way of dealing with it.
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For 90 minutes, your company goes on about how your performance isn't as good as you say, you miss work, your contribution isn't critical to the company (or any company), and you don't really have any special qualities.
You prepare a 90-minute case for why the company is lowballing you and how other companies would pay much more.
A couple of days later, the arbitrator rules. You like the money, but either work for a company that just disparaged you at length, or it walks away and you're left with nothing after a long painful process.
That's pro sports salary arbitration. An option in pro hockey and baseball, it's another example of why pro sports is a business above any romantic notions of fan favorites or franchise faces. If you ever wonder why any player would walk away from any team, or vice versa, it's because they're willing to get this cold when negotiating contracts.
If a team still owns the rights to a player, but the compensation part of a contract has expired and the sides can't agree, you go to the arbitrator. Usually this happens to "restricted free agents," or RFAs, who can leave to go to another team —
but only if their new team wants to give up draft picks.
Check out this list of what arbitrators consider, and imagine your own performance being described and debated in these terms:
• The player's "overall performance," including statistics in all previous seasons.
• Injuries, illnesses and the number of games played.
• The player's length of service with the team and in the NHL.
• The player's "overall contribution" to the team's success or failure.
• The player's "special qualities of leadership or public appeal."
• The performance and salary of any player alleged to be "comparable" to the player in the dispute.
In the NHL, the team and the player meet at a hearing, each having 90 minutes to present their cases to the arbitrator, as well as two rounds of rebuttals. Forty-eight hours after the hearing, the arbitrator releases a decision. If the award comes in under a certain amount, called the "walk-away number," the team must accept it. Otherwise, it has the option to accept the award or walk away.
Arbitration is obviously an ugly process. Both sides recognize this is unfavorable, and most avoid it. Last year, 24 players filed for salary arbitration. Twenty-two of them agreed to contracts before the arbitration hearing.
The MLB is similar, except for the determination of the award amount, and in a very interesting way. The arbitrators can only pick from either the amount submitted by the player or the team. This is how Ryan Howard was awarded a $10 million ruling in 2008, a record at the time for a player that young. The Phillies offered $7 million. Check out this analysis of why the arbitrators might have felt $7.4 million was comparable but $7 million was too low. If a team and player are far apart, one of them is going to be really surprised by what the arbitrator rules.
In the next couple of weeks, we'll see the list of players requesting arbitration. The Flyers have one RFA this year in Jakub Voracek, who after an 18-goal season at $2.25 million, could be a potential arbitration target.
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Project Noah is a tool to explore and document wildlife and a platform to harness the power of citizen scientists everywhere.
This brown spider was about 5 cm across with the legs. It didn't wait around for me to take a detailed series, only a shot of it walking away.
Unknown vine at night in the backyard.
Thanks Maria! I wish it was more cooperative but I guess I wouldn't care for someone shining a headlamp in my face either :)
Thank you Satyen! We have one recorded species in the area but it has a flat, round head with a dark pattern. It's on my list of spiders to find! Thank you for the suggestion though :)
Lovely click! Not sure if it is a Huntsman spider.
Lat: 33.14, Long: -117.05
Spotted on Jun 13, 2012 Submitted on Jun 14, 2012
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Fondation Jean-Pierre Perreault - 'Joe'
The Book of Joe
by Julia Skene-Wenzel
October 2004 -- Sadler's Wells, London
Urban alienation, its effect on the individual and the loneliness within a crowd are all central and re-occurring themes since the impact of the industrial revolution on mankind. Modernism, as well as Post-modernism, has given rise to countless depictions of its reality. Twenty-one years after its creation, the Fondation Jean-Pierre Perrault introduces ‘Joe’ to British audiences. Hailed as a ‘cult-classic’, it portrays the average ‘Joe’ within the city mass.
Thirty-two performers, dressed in brown-greyish overcoats, hats and heavy boots, move across a bare stage. Accompanied solemnly by the sound of their steps, the group slides, walks and marches to the rhythm of urban living. At times, individuals break off to confront, or to hide from the crowd, but no one can withstand its relentless pulse for long. Struggling between conformity and defiance, mundane movement patterns blend seamlessly with more stylistic phrases that allow the dancers to reach out and break the grid. However, it is the ever changing body percussion that suspends the work in a constant state of agitated tension.
Some see Jean-Pierre Perrault’s work as the portrayal of the ‘destructive forces of conformity’, while others are struck by the struggle of the human spirit to break free -- and indeed both elements are present. On the outset the group dominates the stage, but as the piece unfolds, individuals emerge – some taller, some softer, thinner or more forceful.
Through subtle differences, the Canadian choreographer plays with his audience’s perception: is it a faceless crowd, or a gathering of people? Perrault himself insists that “no matter what happens to this or that individual, a flame still flickers within them. The soul can never be extinguished.” He created "Joe" in 1984 and it became his signature piece after its premier by the newly established Fondation Jean-Pierre Perrault. His premature death in 2002 brought an early end to his remarkable career. His legacy has been described as ‘works of great poignancy, a beauty of essence, community, individual dignity, loneliness and passion’. The 2004 world tour of "Joe" marks the twentieth anniversary of the Fondation and is homage to its creator.
In London, the Sadler’s Wells audience showed a mixed reaction. While some left the auditorium at the earliest convenience, others gave the company an enthusiastic standing ovation. Two decades after its creation the work has lost some of its novelty, but it is not lacking impact, or relevance.
Read related stories in the press and see what others are saying. Click here.
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Gov. Andrew Cuomo, following a tour of the area where wildfires have scorched more than 1,000 acres, destroying homes and other structures along with fire department brush trucks, has declared a state of emergency in Suffolk County.
County Executive Steve Bellone requested the declaration this morning.
The declaration gives the county access to financial assistance from the state Office of Emergency Management. It gives the governor the authority to suspend statutes, rules and regulations that would impede response and recovery activities, as well as the ability to direct state resources, such as firefighting equipment and personnel, to local governments in need.
Cuomo made the announcement at a press conference at the corner of Wading River-Manor Road and River Road, near the area hit hardest by the firestorm.
Flanked by Bellone, as well as state, county and town officials, Cuomo said the wildfires are "contained for the time being." He cautioned that the fire can always flare up again, because it is not yet extinguished and conditions very favorable to the spread of wildfires still exist.
"This could have been much, much worse," the governor said, crediting the response of Manorville and the rest of Suffolk County's volunteer firefighters with preventing a larger tragedy.
"All of the ingredients for a real tragedy were in place. It could have gotten out of control," Cuomo said. "If you didn't have the resources or the personnel, you could have lost control, and when you lose control of a fire this big, it could be very, very bad," he said.
The governor said "a lot of things worked right here" to prevent the fire from getting out of control. "The firefighters were trained for it. The equipment was right. The coordination and the protocols were in place," the governor said.
"But it's not over until it's over, until the last ember is out and until it is, we will be on the scene," the governor said.
The cause of the fire is still unknown and remains under investigation, according to officials.
The county arson squad is investigating every possible lead, Bellone said.
Photo caption: Gov. Andrew Cuomo greets Manorville Fire Chief Elio Zapparrata before a news conference this afternoon near the hardest hit area of Manorville. (Above.)
RiverheadLOCAL photos by Peter Blasl
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For conservatives, the Benghazi scandal is a Watergate-like presidential cover-up. For liberals, it is a fabricated Republican witch-hunt — aimed squarely at Susan Rice, a candidate to succeed Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. For me, Benghazi is something else: a call to act on an enduring post-9/11 problem that both political parties ignore.
One major overlooked cause of the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans is the underfunding of civilian agencies that play a vital role in our national security. Instead of building up cadres of skilled diplomatic security guards at the State Department, we have rented security personnel from the lowest bidder, trying to acquire capacity and expertise on the cheap. Benghazi showed how vulnerable that makes us.
I’m not arguing that this use of contractors was the sole cause of the Benghazi tragedy, but I believe it was a primary one. Let me explain.
The slapdash security that resulted in the death of Ambassador Stevens, technician Sean Smith and CIA guards Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty started with a seemingly inconsequential decision by Libya’s new government. After the fall of Muammar Qaddafi, Libya’s interim government barred armed private security firms – foreign and domestic – from operating anywhere in the country.
Memories of the abuses by foreign mercenaries, acting for the brutal Qaddafi regime, prompted the decision, according to State Department officials.
Once the Libyans took away the private security guard option, it put enormous strain on a little-known State Department arm, the Diplomatic Security Service. This obscure agency has been responsible for protecting American diplomatic posts around the world since 1916.
Though embassies have contingents of Marines, consulates and other offices do not. Moreover, the main mission of Marines is to destroy documents and protect American government secrets. It is the Diplomatic Security agents who are charged with safeguarding the lives of American diplomats.
Today, roughly 900 Diplomatic Security agents guard 275 American embassies and consulates around the globe. That works out to a whopping four agents per facility.
In Iraq and Afghanistan, the State Department relied on hundreds of security contractors to guard American diplomats. At times, they even hired private security guards to protect foreign leaders.
After President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan narrowly survived a 2002 assassination attempt, the State Department hired security guards from DynCorp, a military contractor, to guard him. Their aggressiveness in and around the presidential palace, however, angered Afghan, American and European officials. As soon as Afghan guards were trained to protect Karzai, DynCorp was let go.
But the State Department’s dependence on contractors for security remained. And Benghazi epitomized this Achilles’ heel.
Unable to hire contractors, the Diplomatic Security Service rotated small numbers of agents through Benghazi to provide security, on what government officials call temporary duty assignments, or “TDY.” Eric Nordstrom, the Diplomatic Security agent who oversaw security in Libya until two months before the attack, recently told members of Congress that when he requested 12 additional agents he was told he was asking for “the sun the moon and the stars”
After his request was turned down twice, Mr. Nordstrom replied bluntly to his superiors in Washington.
“It’s not the hardships,” he testified he had said. “It’s not the gunfire. It’s not the threats. It’s dealing and fighting against the people, programs and personnel who are supposed to be supporting me. And I added it by saying, ‘For me, the Taliban is on the inside of the building.’”
Other State Department officials also say the reliance on contracting created a weakened Diplomatic Security Service. They say department officials, short on staff and eager to reduce costs, nickeled-and-dimed DS security requests.
“That is not a DS-centric issue,” said a State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “That is a Department of State issue.”
Democrats have blamed Republicans for the lack of funding. They point out that House Republicans rejected $450 million in administration requests for increased Diplomatic Security spending since 2010. They say Senate Democrats were able to restore a small part of the funding.
But these partisan charges and counter-charges ignore a basic truth. Resource shortages and a reliance on contractors caused bitter divisions between field officers in Benghazi and State Department managers in Washington.
State Department officials confirmed complaints from Lieutenant Colonel Andy Wood, the former head of a U.S. Special Forces “Site Security Team” in Tripoli, that Charlene Lamb, the Diplomatic Security Service official who oversees security in Washington, urged them to reduce the numbers of American security personnel on the ground even as security worsened across Libya. Mr. Wood and his team left the country the month before the attack.
In equivocating and evasive testimony before Congress in October, Ms. Lamb at first said she received no formal requests for additional security from Libya. She then claimed, “We had the correct number of assets in Benghazi.”
Ms. Lamb’s superior, David Kennedy, has defended her. He argued that a handful of additional Diplomatic Security guards in Benghazi – or the Special Forces team in Tripoli – would not have made a difference.
To date, no evidence has emerged that officials higher than Ms. Lamb or Mr. Kennedy were involved in the decision to reject the requests for additional security from Libya. Both are career civil servants, not Obama administration appointees.
Ms. Lamb has declined all interview requests.
There is a broader issue beyond the political blame game. Benghazi is a symptom of a brittle, over-stretched and under-funded State Department. Without being able to hire private contractors, the department provided too few guards and hoped a nearby CIA base or friendly Libyan militia would help them. An excellent recent report in the New York Times found that the U.S. military’s Africa Command was under-resourced as well as unable to help.
The investigation by the Senate and House intelligence committees into whether or not the Obama administration misled Americans after the attack or altered intelligence should continue. But the core issue before the attack was a lack of resources and skilled management, not shadowy conspiracies.
David Rohde is a columnist for Reuters, former reporter for The New York Times and two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize. His forthcoming book, “Beyond War: Reimagining American Influence in a New Middle East” will be published in March 2013.
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|
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When taking on the challenge of writing a blog, the decision comes up where do I put it. A few choices are; on Wordpress.com or on Blogspot.com. These are free places to create and store your blog. You can’t beat free. That is the major advantage to using these sites for a blog. One draw back to free, though, is the technical support; finding a person to talk to is not easy. If you lose where you are and how to get in, it could be hard finding your way back.
If you are the owner of a website and/or a domain name, consider putting your blog on your own website. That doesn’t mean making your blog the website; that is another topic. It means using a blog as a blog. A place to log your interests that supports your website.
The advantage here is even though you are paying for hosting and a webmaster to set up the blog, they will be a source of technical support. But even better than that, you own your own content. You are not loading it onto someone else’s site. It is your own database and it is content on your site. It is working for you on the search engines. Wordpress has a site wordpress.org where you download the software for free and then upload it to your site. You then format it to look like you want. It works the same way as the one on their free blog site.
Wordpress is created as an open source tool by its own team. Blogspot and/or Blogger are owned and created by Google. They both have RSS feeds. This makes them both searchable by the blog search within hours. We like Wordpress software for blogs not for websites; the blog has an RSS feed. Learn more about RSS feeds. Then read more about this post…
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MADISON (WKOW) -- With snowfall measured from 5" to 8.9" in the immediate Madison area, residents were busy digging out from Tuesday's storm.
City plow crews were out in full force all day on main streets, with a plan to begin plowing side streets overnight.
The constant snowfall limited what crews could do.
"We haven't put down as much salt as we might have liked because we're continuing to plow it to the side of the road before it has much chance to do its work," said streets division spokesman George Dreckman.
Already this winter, the city has used more than 12,000 tons of salt, 9,500 tons of sand, and 137,000 gallons of salt brine.
For this storm, the city estimates using 700 to 1,000 tons of salt on streets.
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 WorldNow and WKOW. All Rights Reserved.
Persons with disabilities who need assistance with issues relating to the content of this station's public inspection file should contact Program Manager Jessica Miller at 608-661-2794. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, at 888-835-5322 (TTY) or at email@example.com.
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New to Typophile? Accounts are free, and easy to set up.
Martin Majoor, 1987-1990
In 1988 Majoor started working as a graphic designer for the Vrendenburg Music Center in Utrecht, for which he designed the typeface FF Scala especially for use in its own printed matter. In 1991, FF Scala was released on FontShop International's FontFont label as its first serious text face. Later on Martin included the much-requested Bold Italic as well as the missing small cap weights. There are also two condensed weights, well-suited both as display faces and for narrow columns of text.
Martin Majoor then enhanced his elegant serif with a companion sans-serif family. Again it is the simplicity that makes FF Scala Sans so captivating, while at the same time its distinct character is immediately recognizable. The family comprises six variants including an italic small caps style, a fairly rare beast in the typographic zoo. All weights come with both old style and lining numerals.
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“Hindsight is always 20-20, but last time I checked almost every president since Teddy Roosevelt tried to do something on health care and wasn’t able to do it. It was the right thing to do, and sometimes you don’t get a second chance to do the right thing.” — Former North Carolina Rep. Bob Etheridge
“Republicans did a great job of misinforming … and scaring the American people. So did the insurance companies, and the fact is when you explain provisions of the bill, the American people support it. …I’m embarrassed for Congress that they didn’t pass health care reform long before we did. Far too many people in Congress think that they are there to get reelected and that’s unfortunate. We’re there to work for the American people, and that’s what we did. We passed a measure that allows millions of Americans to be insured. It allows people with pre-existing [conditions] to get covered.” — Former Ohio Rep. Steve Driehaus
“You have to vote with your conscience and do what’s right. In my district, I had 350,000 who had no health insurance. I came from a migrant family, and I knew the seriousness of not having insurance and people dying because they couldn’t go to the doctor. It was the right thing to do, and if I had to do it again, I would do it again. It was now or never.” — Former Texas Rep. Solomon Ortiz
That’s because they did the right thing.
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ASOLO, Italy (PRWEB) May 08, 2012
After several years of discussing how choices create one’s life and teaching these lessons in an MBA program, and other Leadership lectures and presentations, author and former project developer, Carla L Picardi has penned her new book: “The World According To YOU! – How Our Choices Create It All” (published by Balboa Press), offering people an opportunity to expand, improve and change the course of their lives.
“’The World According to YOU!’ helps us understand how every relationship, event, and drama in our lives reflects back to us who we are being,” explains Picardi. “We are essentially generating our reality, moment to moment, through our feelings of worthiness or unworthiness, and the thoughts, words and actions that arise as a result. When we are capable of seeing ourselves clearly and recognizing that our choices create our lives, we can begin to understand that we actually have a role in creating our micro and macro world after all.”
This book is for anyone who is willing to explore his or her role in the creation of everything unfolding, “…for the person who is ready to take their power back, for the person who recognizes that they are always either part of the problem or part of the solution – but never both.”
What others are saying about “The World According to YOU!”
“This genuinely useful book provides clear, simple, step-by-step information on how to create the life of your dreams…Whether you are 18 or 80, the pages you are about to read offer a brilliant formula for tapping into our highest potential. I predict this book will change many people’s lives for the better…including yours.”
Arielle Ford, author of “The Soulmate Secret” and “Wabi Sabi Love: The Ancient Art of Finding Perfect Love in Imperfect Relationships”
About the Author
Carla L. Picardi, a former Harvard University Loeb Fellow, leads people to create a vision and make that vision a reality. Picardi’s major projects include Canary Wharf and the Gherkin in London. She has been a vice president of Citibank, an adviser to the BBC and consults on architectural projects of all sizes, lectures on design, complex development projects, leadership, coaching and various other topics. Picardi teaches leadership and coaches executives and students worldwide, and presently she is coaching MBA students at CIMBA-Italy.
Balboa Press, a division Hay House, Inc. – a leading provider in publishing products that specialize in self-help and the mind, body, and spirit genres. Through an alliance with indie book publishing leader Author Solutions, Inc., authors benefit from the leadership of Hay House Publishing and the speed-to-market advantages the self-publishing model. For more information, visit balboapress.com. To start publishing your book with Balboa Press, call 877-407-4847 today. For the latest, follow @balboapress on Twitter.
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A Lot Of Chocolates was established in 2004 out of a desire to allow people the opportunity to buy the very best quality chocolates without worrying about the way it was produced or what ingredients it contained. We also look for chocolates that will fit the needs of people on restricted diets and offer a vast range of dairy free chocolates, wheat free chocolates, gluten free chocolates, soya free chocolates and vegan chocolates.
As an ethical company wherever possible we try to ensure that the chocolates we sell are either Fairtrade chocolates, organic chocolates or both. The majority of our chocolate is produced in the UK by smaller independent chocolatiers these include Moo Free Chocolates, Montezuma's chocolates and Booja Booja chocolates.
As a company we re-use packaging whenever we can as well as most of the paper, card and other waste products that are produced in the running of our business. Where possible we use biodegradable packaging to post items in. We also re-use all postal boxes and bubble wrap that are still in a re-useable state and recycle over 92% of all waste the we do have to throw away. In addition, we are also a genuine equal opportunities employer who currently employ just over 50% women.
We regularly support the great work of Friends of the Earth, a charity that is inspiring solutions to environmental problems and the Soil Association, a charity that encourages a natural way of farming and growing vegetables that works in harmony with nature.
Our products show that you do not have to compromise on quality to be ethical. In fact, our organic chocolate are superior to many. You do not have to compromise on choice either as our range of fair trade chocolates clearly demonstrates.
We will no longer be stocking any Green and Black's products. Since its take over by Cadbury's it appears in our eyes to have slowly become an unethical brand. We have also been informed after doing business with them for several years that we no longer have an account as our spend is under £50,000 a year. They no longer have interest in supporting smaller independent companies and seem to prefer the likes of Tesco's. However, we will continue to bring you delicious chocolates from more ethical companies.
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LEED® Green Associate Exam Prep Study Guide
Purchase this Book to:
• Ensure you pass the exam on your
• Learn the latest on the exam from
one of the world’s experts
• Focus on learning rather than rote
• Acquire valuable LEED tools and
techniques for the real world
• Decrease your study time by
hundreds of hours
• Study important exam topics not
covered in the USGBC LEED Green
Associate Study Guide
On Sale - Only $49
The goal of this book is twofold: to provide a concise review of the green building topics you need to know to pass the LEED® Green Associate exam, and to prepare you to excel in the field of green building design and certification. Like building plans that are described as “shovel ready” because they’ve been fully prepared and are ready to proceed at a moment’s notice, this book is designed to make you “LEED ready.”
Most people are interested in the LEED green building certification program and the green building movement because of the field’s potential to help solve some of the most difficult problems we face: the threat of climate change, the global shortage of fresh water, and the extinction of plant and animal species, to name a few. I was drawn by that same interest to write LEED® Green Associate, and inside its pages you’ll find the best techniques I’ve come across to make the challenging process of learning and applying the LEED rating systems easy and effective, while maintaining a sense of that inspiration in the green building idea that brought us here in the first place.
What is special about this book? Why should you invest your valuable time and dollars in it? Whether your focus is studying for a LEED credential, seeking LEED certification for your projects, or positioning your products and services in the thriving green marketplace, this book has several unique features to help you meet your goals. LEED® Green Associate is:
• Written in an easy-to-understand way that connects LEED to everyday life.
• Written by an architect and LEED AP with real-world experience certifying buildings under the LEED rating systems.
• Designed for learning and long-term retention rather than memorization, so exam preparation will help you build lasting expertise.
Organized for easy comprehension. Basics are presented first, and then in-depth details and exceptions are built upon that foundation.
• Packed with tips and practical learning exercises that can help you pass the exam the first time, while also building skills you can use on LEED projects in your career.
• Filled with useful information gathered from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI), and various websites. Some of this information is not included in USGBC’s study guides, but is crucial to understanding and applying LEED.
• Designed to relate green fundamentals presented in USGBC’s study guides to actual LEED credits, allowing an easier transition if you’re going on to take one of the LEED AP specialty exams or if you’re preparing to work on LEED projects.
• Designed to be a handy reference for every credit in the LEED for New Construction & Major Renovations rating system. You can use this book to prepare preliminary LEED checklists, estimate target rating levels, and determine if individual credits are viable for specific projects.
About The Author:
Brandon Sigrist is a licensed architect and LEED facilitator. He has implemented sustainability measures for dozens of buildings, achieving LEED Gold and Silver rankings for projects that sought certification. Brandon’s passion for the environment has led him to a highly successful career in green construction, where he spends most of his time working on visitor centers, park buildings, and other environmentally friendly projects.
Brandon’s experience with green design and technology covers a wide spectrum, ranging from renewable building materials to geothermal energy and effective water management. Brandon believes that LEED certification plays a key role in ensuring that green building is not just a catchphrase, but a legitimate way to help solve global problems like climate change, freshwater shortages, and the extinction of plant and animal species.
Prices are tax excluded
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All federal assistance programs are constantly under review. The statements below were accurate as of May 2011, but subsequent legislation may have altered some of the programs. Please contact the Office of Financial Aid if you have any questions.
A candidate's eligibility for the following federal aid programs is based on a formula developed by the Congress of the United States and referred to as the Federal Methodology. The College may amend FM results in the awarding of institutional funds.
Pell Grants are given to students whose federally-defined expected family contribution is less than $4,995. Grants for full-time study currently range between $602 and $5,550. Grant amounts may be adjusted annually to reflect amounts authorized and appropriated by the federal government.
The amount of an individual's award is determined by the Office of Financial Aid based on the results of a candidate's Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
In order to continue receiving awards, a student must make satisfactory academic progress and must not owe any refunds to the Federal Pell Grant or other federal student aid programs or be in default on repayment of any student loan.
Supplemental grants range between $100 and $4,000 annually and are awarded to students who demonstrate need, with preference given to recipients of Federal Pell Grants. The College's annual federal allocation of FSEOG funds is adequate to make only about 80 awards. Candidates who demonstrate need continue to be eligible for FSEOG assistance during the period required for the completion of the first undergraduate baccalaureate course of study.
All candidates who apply for assistance are considered for a Federal Perkins Loan. The number of Perkins Loans awarded annually may vary, depending upon repayments received by Hamilton from past borrowers, as well as federal appropriations. Aggregate maximum Federal Perkins Loan debt is $20,000 through completion of the baccalaureate degree, but not more than $5,550 in any one year. The current interest rate on Federal Perkins Loans is 5 percent on the unpaid balance. Repayment normally begins nine months after graduation. Deferments and loan forgiveness are possible under certain conditions, including military service and work in the Peace Corps or VISTA.
The Higher Education Amendments of 1992 extended borrowing opportunities to all families, regardless of income or need. Students are eligible to borrow through the Federal Direct Student Loan Program, and parents may borrow through the Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan Program. Interest subsidy for Federal Direct Student Loans, however, is restricted to those borrowers who demonstrate eligibility based on the Federal Methodology. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is required for any type of Federal Direct Loan (student or parent). The combined Federal Direct Student Loans, PLUS and other student aid cannot exceed the cost of attendance. Federal Direct Student Loans are available only to United States citizens or to noncitizens that have permanent resident status.
Subsidized Federal Direct Student Loans of up to $3,500 for first year, $4,500 for second year, and $5,500 for third- and fourth-year students are available for study at Hamilton through the Direct Student Loan Program. Eligible students can request an unsubsidized Federal Direct Student Loan up to $2,000. Maximum dependent undergraduate indebtedness cannot exceed $31,000. The interest rate on a Federal Direct Student Loan for the 2012-2013 academic year is 3.4 percent (subsidized) or 6.8 percent (unsubsidized). Even though the statutory maximum may be borrowed, interest subsidy is available only on that portion for which the borrower has demonstrated need. The origination fee on a Federal Direct Student Loan is 1 percent.
Federal Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students are available to creditworthy borrowers who seek assistance in meeting expected family contributions. There is no current maximum loan except that the amount borrowed cannot exceed the cost of attendance, less other financial assistance received by the student. The interest rate for a Federal PLUS is fixed at 7.9 percent. The origination fee on a Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan is 4 percent.
Financial aid plans often include a work component. Hamilton gives preference to students who have the greatest financial need and who must earn a part of their educational expenses. Wage is determined by the nature of the job and the qualifications of the applicant.
Students who are at least one-fourth Native American Indian, Eskimo or Aleut and are enrolled members of a tribe, band or group recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs may qualify for aid under this program. Application forms may be obtained from the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office.
Persons who served more than 180 days between January 31, 1955, and January 1, 1977, and continue on active duty, were honorably discharged at the end of their tours of duty, or who qualify because of service-connected disabilities are eligible for benefits. Veterans are entitled to benefits for one and one-half months of study for each month of service, up to 45 months. Educational benefits through the Montgomery GI Bill may be available to those qualified veterans who entered active duty for the first time after June 30, 1985.
Children, spouses and survivors of veterans whose deaths or permanent total disabilities were service-connected, or who are listed as missing in action, may be eligible for benefits under the same conditions as veterans.
In compliance with the New York State Education Department regulations, eligibility for the continuation of funds awarded through the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) or Children of Veterans (CV) requires the following minimal levels of academic progress:
Pursuit of the program of study toward the baccalaureate degree requires the completion of at least two courses during both the fall and spring terms of the first year, and the completion of at least three courses during the fall and spring terms of each succeeding year.
Satisfactory progress toward the completion of the degree requirements must be achieved. Satisfactory progress is not made by students who fail to pass at least half of the courses carried, who accumulate failures in a total of five courses, or who incur a third probation. Satisfactory progress includes the following minimal number of courses passed for the respective semi-annual TAP payments: first payment = 0 units, second payment = 3 units, third payment = 7 units, fourth payment = 10 units, fifth payment = 14 units, sixth payment = 17 units, seventh payment = 21 units, eighth payment = 24 units.
Failure to maintain these minimal standards of academic progress will result in the loss of funds from the TAP program. Any questions regarding this requirement should be addressed to either the registrar or the director of financial aid.
The Tuition Assistance Program is available to any New York State resident who is enrolled full time in an approved educational program in New York State. The amount of TAP is based on the amount of tuition charged and family taxable income (income after deductions). Taxable income is adjusted for additional family members enrolled in college full time, or for child support received from a non-custodial parent and any pensions the family may have.
The maximum adjusted taxable income for TAP eligibility for dependent applicants is $80,000. Awards range from $500 to $5,000 per year, depending on income and the year in which the first award was received. After a candidate has received payment for four semesters of study, his or her award is reduced by $100 for each subsequent year of study.
Undergraduate students generally will be eligible for no more than eight semesters of TAP payments, although students in certain pre-approved programs may be eligible for up to 10 semesters.
Applicants for TAP must first file a FAFSA. The United States Department of Education will forward relevant data of New York State residents to the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) for further processing. Filers who do not hear from HESC by May 1 or three weeks after filing, whichever occurs last, should call the Financial Aid Office for assistance. Application status may be viewed on-line, and detailed information about all programs administered by HESC can be obtained at http://hesc.ny.gov/index.html.
An award of $450 per year is available to children of veterans who have died, have a current disability of 40 percent or more, or had such a disability at the time of death, resulting from United States military service during specified periods. This award, available to New York State residents, is independent of family income or tuition and is made in addition to other grants or awards to which the applicant may be entitled. Additional information can be obtained at http://www.hesc.ny.gov/content.nsf/SFC/NYS_Regents_Awards_for_Children_of_Deceased_and_Disabled_Veterans.
Awards of $2,000 per year for a maximum of four years of study are available to members of Native American tribes located on reservations within New York State. Additional information can be obtained at http://www.hesc.ny.gov/content.nsf/SFC/NYS_Aid_to_Native_Americans.
Memorial Scholarships provide financial aid, equivalent to the cost of tuition and fees at the State University of New York, to dependent children and spouses of deceased firefighters, police, corrections or peace officers and emergency service workers who have died of injuries sustained in the line of duty in service to the state of New York.
Scholarships for Excellence provide up to $1,500 per year for up to five years of undergraduate study in New York State colleges.
One student from every public and non-public participating high school who applied will receive a $1,250 award for four years.
The World Trade Center Memorial Scholarship guarantees access to a college education for the families and dependents of the victims who died or were severely and permanently disabled as a result of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The amount of the award is tied to the cost of enrolling in the State University of New York.
HEOP awards are given to academically and financially disadvantaged students admitted to HEOP. Such awards are packaged with other needed assistance. Additional information can be obtained at http://hamilton.edu/opportunity/applying-to-heop.
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- What is Business Aviation?
- Flight Department Administration
- Aircraft Operations
- Professional Development
- News & Publications
- Products & Services
Idaho City Fights for New Airport to Avoid Losing Business
Feburary 21, 2012
The city of Burley, ID has been trying for decades to replace its airport, which is unable to accommodate operations from some types of business airplanes.
Meanwhile, those aircraft fly past the rapidly growing town to airports with runways longer than Burley’s two 4,000 foot strips. “Many of those business airplanes would rather land here, close to their destination, but they have to fly on by,” said Kevin Gebhart, manager of the city’s Burley J.R. Jack Simplot Airport. “We’re losing out.”
The nearest business airport is in Twin Falls, ID, which Gebhart says is about 45 minutes to an hour away by auto but has an unobstructed 8,700-foot runway.
Exacerbating the conflict between proponents of a new airport and opponents, who make their living from the land that could be used to develop a new airfield, is the success Burley officials have enjoyed in recent years attracting numerous new businesses, relocating businesses from other locales and enjoying local business expansions. City officials including city manager Mark Mitton and Mayor Terry Greenman, who understand the reasoning of the new-airport opposition, remain acutely aware that their city’s air transportation doorway is deficient.
“A new business-capable airport is vital for our continued growth and development,” said Mitton. “Our current airport was dedicated in 1930, and it’s landlocked. The runways are too short.” Airport manager Gebhart added that the Burley airport was dedicated before Douglas DC-3s were on the drawing board.
Both runways at the 4,150-foot elevation airport are barely over 4,000 feet and all four runway ends are displaced by one or more permanent obstructions, including 24-foot utility poles, street lights, railroad cars, a cheese factory and a grain elevator. But lack of available runway is the real problem, said Gebhart, especially during the summer. “The temperature can get above 100 degrees here,” he observed. “With our elevation, that really kicks the density altitude to the point where our marginal runways become completely unusable for some aircraft.”
The city continues to encourage economic diversification and has welcomed industries that include a large food-trucking company, new milk and potato dehydrator plants, an ethanol production facility and a major cheese manufacturing plant. The growth has been so robust that the U.S. Census bureau has designated the area as a Micropolitan Statistical Area, with Burley at the center.
“When businesses from outside call me and ask about relocating here or opening a new branch, their first question is, ‘how do I get there?’” said Mitton. “I tell them we’re about two hours from the Salt Lake City airport or the Boise Airport, which is o.k. if they’re just coming to visit once. But once they’ve built a facility here, they want to be able to fly in to Burley, not Salt Lake City, do their business and go home.”
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A scene from the 'Ring for Service' exhibit at Liberty Hall Museum at Kean University.
With a season premiere watched by a record 7.9 million people in the United States, the popular British television series "Downton Abbey" is inspiring an interest for all things Edwardian - and a new exhibit at the Liberty Hall Museum brings a touch of Downton to New Jersey.
From now until Aug. 24, Liberty Hall at Kean University presents "Ring for Service: The Role of Servants in a Country House," which enables fans to experience a day in the life of early-20th century servants at Liberty Hall and examines the lives of servants who worked in the Kean mansion more than a century ago.
"In 1900, the needs of the Kean family who lived at Liberty Hall were met by the simple ringing of the servant's bell," said William Schroh Jr., director of museum operations at Liberty Hall. "The bell summoned servants, who were expected to respond quickly. Who were the people who answered that call? For the first time ever, Liberty Hall will take a look at these people whose stories are very important to the history of this great home."
Throughout the museum, visitors will meet "servants" dressed in their livery and doing their work in various rooms. The butler might greet guests at the front door, or a parlor maid might serve them tea.
William Livingston, New Jersey's first governor, built Liberty Hall in 1772. New Jersey's former Gov. Tom Kean is a family descendant, Schroh noted.
From noon to 3 p.m. this Saturday, Liberty Hall will host a "Downton Abbey" New Year's brunch. Guests can dine like the Crawleys to celebrate the new year and the third season of the show. Tickets are $60 per couple and reservations are required.
The museum currently is open only for group tours (10 or more guests) and special events. Public tours resume on April 1, Schroh said.
For reservations and information, call 908-527-0400, email liberty
firstname.lastname@example.org or visit www.kean.
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T.S. Eliot called April “the cruelest month,” but what did he know? He lived in England, where it rains all the time, and everything is so old it’s easy to mix “memory and desire.”
Had he stayed in St. Louis, where he was born, he would have known the glory of a springtime sunrise and, perhaps, of Opening Day.
For St. Louis at the time was the home of the St. Louis Browns, who since have become the Baltimore Orioles. Those were and are baseball teams, for those of you who don’t follow the sport.
As one who does follow it to an admittedly obsessive degree, I believe Eliot’s take on April could have been leavened by baseball. At the least his soon-to-be Anglican faith could have appreciated its powers of renewal.
At this point in the column, I guarantee at least one reader is rolling her eyes. My friend and colleague Ruth Butler has complained often about my persistence in inserting baseball into a column about religion.
Also about the annoying habit of reporters to rhapsodize and romanticize about baseball as if it were some sacred object of veneration.
To which I always reply, Yes? And?
What’s the faith connection?
OK, true, reporters tend to go on about baseball along with being NPR junkies and trivia nerds. It’s why George Will sometimes takes a break from political polemicizing to write about fielding percentages. And I admit I have squandered vast amounts of time watching, talking and writing about baseball when I could have been re-reading Deuteronomy.
Even now, I could be writing about something more religiously significant than the return of Opening Day, which in my world meant Thursday’s Tigers vs. Yankees game. Is there any religious significance to this? Not really, unless you consider the return of baseball akin to the renewal of hope (for pennants), faith in things unseen (Verlander’s fastball) and communion with fellow believers (also called fans).
Not to confuse baseball with Easter, mind you, which I completely don’t. Nor with Passover, although Cubs fans could make a case for liberation from bondage.
But consider we are emerging like Eliot’s “lilacs out of the dead land” of a West Michigan winter. Now, I love winter. But I also love its end. Not just for the re-emergence of — what’s it called again? Oh yeah, sun! — but also spring’s renewed ease of life.
Because really, winter is so much work. Just to bundle up and chip out your car in the morning is like Shackleton braving Antarctica. Once at work, there’s nothing to do but work. Come home in the dark, hibernate, rise in the dark to chip the car out and work some more.
And, boy, do we work these days: longer, harder, for less pay and higher premiums. For others, it’s full-time work trying to find work. And then there’s Libya! No wonder I’m so cranky.
Permission to play
Spring, on the other hand, offers that most gracious of God’s gifts: play. The birds know it, the woodpecker noisily announces it. Time to fold up the laptop, go outside and play.
Remember what Mom said? “Go on, now! Get outside! Go play!”
That’s what baseball players do: play. In the ease of their throwing, running and catching, they show us how to play. Baseball gives us permission to play. Which, more and more, we seem to need.
Communion among fans
In so doing, it momentarily puts aside religious, political and ethnic differences for the love of the game. If I met George W. Bush, a former Texas Rangers managing partner, I’d ask not why he invaded Iraq but whether he thinks Sandy Koufax or Lefty Grove is the greatest southpaw of all time.
Baseball also creates communion among fans of all races and beliefs, whether the post-race riots Detroit Tigers of 1968 or the Brooklyn Dodgers of 1955. In “Praying for Gil Hodges” by Thomas Oliphant — yes, a reporter — civil rights leader Vernon Jordan recalls the impact of Dodgers star Jackie Robinson: “He made us all Dodger fans.”
In baseball, there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, Democrat nor Republican. There are only fans, clutching scorecards and rising as one to cheer the boys home.
Not a fan? Plant your lilacs, then. It’s the same thing: renewal, hope, faith in things unseen. Amen, and play ball.
E-mail Charles Honey: firstname.lastname@example.org
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Local Groups Shift to Educate Immigrants on New PA Voter ID LawBy Andy Sharpe |
The Pennsylvania Voter ID Coaliton opened its Philadelphia headquarters last Saturday at 310 W. Chelten Ave. in Germantown. (Photo by Aaron Moselle via NewsWorks)
For the past five months, Pennsylvania has been thrust into the national spotlight. While the Commonwealth is used to the glean of the limelight in advance of a presidential election, this time the attention centers around the tough new voter ID law that was signed into law by Gov. Corbett during the spring.
As of this morning, Voter ID stands, for now. “Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson issued a decision declining to block implementation of the state’s voter ID law,” reported fair elections group Committee of Seventy. The plaintiffs are expected to appeal shortly to the PA Supreme Court.
While the law remains in debate, local nonprofits are hard at work educating Greater Philadelphians about what they’ll need to vote. One demographic that is receiving special attention is immigrants. As a matter of fact, nonprofits such as the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians are working to ensure immigrants can vote on November 6th.
The Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians and other nonprofits are especially concerned about Puerto Ricans being unable to vote because they lack a proper form of ID, says Amanda Bergson-Shilcock, Director of Outreach and Program Evaluation for the Center. This is because the Puerto Rican government nullified all birth certificates in 2010 out of identify theft fear. Thus, this could complicate efforts to vote for the 120,000 Puerto Rican born residents across Pennsylvania. If any of these residents don’t have a driver’s license or non-driver’s state ID, they would also have to go to the trouble of acquiring a replacement Puerto Rican birth certificate.
Bergson-Shilcock reports that the Welcoming Center has not yet been bombarded with calls and e-mails from Puerto Rican Pennsylvanians, although the number could certainly go up as we inch closer to the presidential election day. The voter ID has become so notorious that the Puerto Rican government has taken notice. “The Puerto Rican government has just announced that all requests from Pennsylvania will be given priority,” says Bergson-Shilcock. Currently, the immigrant services nonprofit is taking about a month to assist Puerto Ricans who need a valid photo ID, although the time period is liable to change.
Outreach shifts into high gear
The Welcoming Center has joined about 145 other nonprofits, unions, institutions, and media outlets in the non-partisan Pennsylvania Voter ID Coalition, which has largely been organized by Committee of Seventy. Other members of the coalition who represent immigrants include Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), The Council of Spanish Speaking Organizations (Concilio), the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, and the Hispanic Bar Association of Pennsylvania.
The state Voter ID Coalition and Committee of Seventy have begun to shift into high gear in their campaign to raise voter awareness of the new photo ID requirement. They recently held a pep rally at Yorktown’s Bright Hope Baptist Church to urge worshippers and other attendees to let their friends, family, and neighbors know about the law. Speakers included City Commission chairwoman Stephanie Singer, state representative Cherelle Parker, and Christian, Jewish, and Muslim clergy members.
The Committee of Seventy and the coalition are doing much more than just pep rallies to get the word out. They’ve set up a hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683) that “can answer questions from anybody anywhere,” says Zack Stalberg, the president and CEO of the Committee. The hotline can even refer callers in other states that have enacted similar photo ID prerequisites to respective agencies across the country. Stalberg adds that his organization has printed material explaining the new voter regulations in Spanish, and has plans to print more material in several Asian languages.
Even for immigrants who currently possess the required photo ID, there’s always a chance they could lose it in a fire, flood, or theft. Bergson-Shilcock stresses that if immigrants were to lose their photo ID, passport, and naturalization papers, they would have to wait six months to receive replacements through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration office. Six months from today would be December, which comes after the much anticipated presidential election. The six-month time period doesn’t take language or income barriers into account.
The Welcoming Center expects three major challenges that they will have to aggressively tackle in the short window of time between now and Election Day. The weightiest challenge will be disseminating the specifics about the voter ID law to the nearly 345,000 immigrants who are eligible to vote across the Commonwealth. “Most of the general public, including immigrants, is not even aware of the law,” says Bergson-Shilcock somberly. The other two challenges are correcting misconceptions about the new law and connecting immigrants to transportation and other resources they need to obtain a photo ID.blog comments powered by Disqus
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- Do I really need this information about an individual? Do I know what I am going to use it for?
- Do the people whose information I hold know that I’ve got it, and are they likely to understand what it will be used for?
- If I’m asked to pass on personal information, would the people whose information I hold expect me to do this?
- Am I satisfied the information is being held securely, whether its on paper or on computer? And what about my website? Is it secure?
- Is access to personal information limited to those who absolutely need to know?
- Am I sure the personal information is accurate and up to date?
- Do I delete or destroy personal information as soon as I have no need for it?
- Have I trained my staff in their responsibilities under the Data Protection Act? Are they fulfilling them in practice?
- Do I need to notify the Information Commissioner? If so, is my notification up to date?
For more information and advice on good information handling go to : www.ico.gov.uk or phone 08456 306060
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Workers repairing a home damaged during the Israeli attack on Gaza "Operation Cast Lead", which occured during December 2008 and January 2009. Rebuilding work was completed through support provided by the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, Architecture for Humanity and AFSC.
With the blockade and resulting crisis in Gaza continuing with no end in sight, the American Friends Service Committee together with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee and Architecture for Humanity recently released a report urging a major home-repair initiative that will enable Palestinians in Gaza to reclaim their right to live in dignity.
AFSC is a Quaker organization devoted to service, development, and peace programs throughout the world. Our work is based on the belief in the worth of every person, and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice. Learn more
Where we work
AFSC has office around the world. To see a complete list see the Where We Work page.
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The decision to cover your wood floors is a big one. Although bare wood floors do make a space look larger, the warmth, beauty and design of an area rug can solve many decorating dilemmas. The area rug is generally used to ground the seating area in a room.
In a family room, for instance, with an open pace floor plan and high ceilings, the room may echo with noise from the television or voices. The area rug will muffle most of the sound being amplified in the room. An area rug can be seen as a piece of art, can promote conversation and can add color and style to any space. An area rug can be the most important piece in a furnished room.
The easiest way to go about decorating a room is to begin by purchasing an area rug. Once the purchase is made, the rest of the room will fall into place. Choosing paint color for the walls will be much easier.
When choosing fabrics for the furniture, pull colors from the rug design that will stand out the most. If there is a smaller or lesser amount of one color that is favored but not as visibly noticeable, choose that color to use in fabrics on the furnishings. You'll notice that this least visible accent color will now pop out of the rug achieving that WOW you've been longing for. Adding contrast against a patterned rug through solid fabrics with texture will also promote an element of design completion within the space.
There are so many rug to choose from. How will you know which one is the right application
set your mind at ease, especially when the rug you are searching for could be a large purchase. It is very important to understand what you are buying.
Hand-knotted? Hand-woven? Machine-made? Flatweave? What do all these terms mean? The manufacturing process and labor that goes into your perfect rug has a term describing the manufacturing practice used. Becoming educated on area rugs is a lesson in itself.
Valuable rug knowledge
Dining room: The rug should be 6 feet longer and 6 feet wider than the table. This allows for proper chair movement without the edges of the chairs catching on all sides.
Living room: Ground the seating area, not just the coffee table
Place furniture legs either all on the rug or all off the rug. Front legs of the sofa can butt against the edge of the rug.
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More salvo from blue to green
In the latest
salvo between Intel and AMD, Intel has disregarded AMD’s latest study that alleges Intel unfairly profited from microprocessor sales by more than $60 billion from 1996 to 2006 through anti-competitive and monopolistic practices.
The AMD study was undertaken by an expert hired by AMD’s attorneys, and bases its calculations on allegations against Intel’s business practices of illegal discounting, below-cost pricing and improper payments made to computer makers if they agreed not to use AMD products.
The AMD study is also based on an antitrust case in Japan brought by the Japanese Fair Trade Commission that claimed Intel had offered “improper” rebates to computer manufacturers; the Japanese Fair Trade Commission case was settled by Intel in 2005 for an undisclosed amount.
The AMD expert analysis study suggests that from 1996 to 2006 consumers would have saved at least $60 billion and computer manufacturers would have saved at least $20 billion had Intel not engaged in its monopolistic behavior.
Intel countered that the AMD study lacks basis in fact and is mere “wild speculation” on AMD’s part. The European Commission is expected to make its decision in the antitrust case in mid-September.
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Even fat women and ugly men can be the models in advertising. After years of sexy bodies and beautiful faces, eventually “normal” people starts starring in ads, ending the age of perfection in advertising. Business Week points out that just like it’s happening with reality Tv, advertising tries to get real, to help consumers identify with real stories and therefore perceive products as real also. Dove, Eileen Fisher and now also Nike are among the brands following this new trend. As the article points out, reality ads might not change mass perceptions of beauty, we can expect the trend to continue as they fuel sales and draw connections with people who see the ads.
On The Guardian, Tess Alps writes an excellent article on advertising in the age of terrorism. Commercial sense and sensibility investigates the relationship among advertising and tragic news, looking at the reaction in the UK media industry following the July attacks, but also taking a wider and “theoretical” perspective. Among the points touched in the article, the author wonders whether different media have different impact on audience perception of an ad placed closed to a tragic news.One of those clichéd truths is that TV is a more emotional medium and print a more rational, analytical one. This might suggest the presence of a print ad on the same page as a report of terrorist attack is going to cause less offence than a TV or radio break. I think that is so, but not just because print is usually less emotional. A still image can sometimes be even more powerful than moving film. Various papers have covered the recent discovery of photographs from Hiroshima, yet the appearance of ads on opposite pages has neither diminished the editorial nor damaged the commercial message – something to do with the reader’s voluntary selection of what to look at, I guess.
As an Italian soon relocating abroad to start a new job, I certainly enjoyed this article published on Mediaweek, presenting the the Ethnic Representation in Agencies report authored by COI senior campaign manager Mehboob Umarji. According to the study published last June, ethnic minorities account for only 8% of the media and creative agency workforce and almost half of those staff can be found in back-office functions. The research points out that the agencies which embraced diversity were also the most successful in terms of new business wins. Colin Colin Gillespie, managing director of All Response Media, shares his opinion on the issue:“From my perspective, the real key driver for getting ethnic minorities involved in more front-line roles, where they are able to have an impact on marketing strategy and creative development, is the background these people come from. The society we live in is very diverse and to be a media planner/buyer in the 21st Century, one needs to have experiences and, ideally, backgrounds which are reflective of that.”
The alternative to Google AdSense, the advertising program for (big) and small publishers is just around the corner: Yahoo! has started testing its own solution inviting 2,000 bloggers to join the program. The New York Times reports Yahoo says its new small-site service will let a Web site specify what categories of advertising it does or does not want on a given page.
Sunday Timesreports drinks companies have been ordered to hire uglier men for their advertisements in Britain, to avoid suggesting there is a link between boozing and sexual success. According to guidance issued by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) men who star in alcohol ads that target women should be “balding” and “paunchy” rather than “attractive and desirable”. All right, fine, but what about the use of sexy women? The new alcohol advertising rules have been launched in the UK at the beginning of June.
SM2 Publicidade has created a special print ad for Brazilian laundry network “5 à Sec” to be featured on Playboy 30th Anniversary edition. Copy: “The clothes that you do not see in this magazine, are currently being treated at 5 à Sec“. [ad via Voxnews]
Advertising and music: love is in the air iPods have changed the way we enjoy music and advertisers are adapting to our new habits. But will we like commercials in our playlists? Reuters has a good article on advertising meeting the music industry. Ads in podcasts are one of the attractive options but, at least for now, Apple has decided not to allow commercials on its iPod device or iTunes download services. “We don’t think it’s part of the experience we want to give” explains Greg Joswiak, vice president of iPod product marketing. Craig Davis, chief creative officer of JWT Worldwide agrees with Apple’s position:“People are using an iPod because they want to choose the music they listen to. To interrupt and intrude on that with advertising would be pretty unwelcome.”
A survey carried out by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising’s 44 Club questioned 276 people (with less than six years in the advertising business) to find out the best UK agencies. artle Bogle Hegarty and Wieden & Kennedy where named the top two creative agencies to work for, while while Garry Lace and Sir Martin Sorrell are seen as two of the industry’s role models. Mindshare and Mediacom were singled out as the best media agencies to work for. Revolution Magazine reports although most of the people is happy to work in advertising, only 36 percent of respondents expected to still be in the industry on ten years time.
T-Mobile has signed a partnership with Robbie Wiliams for an advertising campaign promoting mobile music downloads. Electronic Arts has chosen football player Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) as global brand ambassador. Vodafone has decided to stop “using” David Beckham’s image in its advertising campaigns. The marriage is over and Vodafone has no plans to replace him. Actress Brittany Murphy is the first celebrity appearing in Jordache jeans ads.
adidas advergame advergames advertainment advertising ambient marketing australia belgium best brazil coca-cola email marketing facebook fashion france germany google heineken ikea infographic italy japan marketing mobile content mobile marketing msn nike nokia online ads online advertising online campaign online competition online marketing print advertising rich media samsung sms spain sweden tvc twitter uk video of the day viral marketing volkswagen
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I must say this has just become interesting. Can i have popcorn too. But...
Alan for the most part i agree with you entirely but then I also agree that this is probably accurate too.
but it's a great way to observe craving. As I see it, the first five precepts are about morality, the rest are means of frustration so we can see where we're attached and learn to let go. Just my opinion of course.
But is it the point of the precept. I suspect not really. The reason i say that is because the buddha noticed himself that it was hard to meditate while one was half starved. Secondly, some teachers i have read say you've got to be comfortable if you want to meditate well. (not that you meditate in bed) but comfort is obviously a factor and so is health and being well rested. IN fact i read about the importance of being well rested. Only you don't need a high or low bed for that.
That must be to do with the ego. Or maybe its cultural.
Don't forget that these rules were invented in different times. A lot of modern buddhism has recognised that some adjustments for our cultural context is in order. Tonight i heard one from my own monk. He is a zen monk but has trained in all traditions. He said that its now common to teach meditation with borrowings from all traditions. I figure he takes the best of them all. or what he thinks is the best rather than sticking to the hard and fast rules of centuries ago or times when cultures were the same as centuries ago.
The fact is if you have grown up in a modern culture, following some of the rules of other cultural traditions will be pretty tricky adn you may not get as much out of the whole exercise as you could do if you were either born into an old culture or followed an adjusted method.
That said, are you a monk yourself. If not why are you trying to follow the precepts of a monk.
Another point, in a book i read recently, about this one meal a day thing that the monks were asked to do in buddhas time, they could also eat fruit at any time. I think that is because fruit could be found ripe on the trees or in the forest . I suppose the meal given in the old days in india would have consisted of rice and/or bread and some vegetables or beans/lentils. I figure the buddha thought this amount of food was enough. But today we know how much food we need for good health. For men its about 1800 calories per day minimum if you are about average height. And most men on that calorie intake will lose weight for quite a while anyway. So it might be more like 2300 to sustain a healthy weight. That's actually quite a lot of food. It is not too smart to eat it all in one sitting. And there is no reason that the monks in the buddha's day would have eaten their food in one sitting. They could have made it last longer if they were given a lot of food. The thing is to eat enough food to sustain you in whatever activities you are doing. If you are on a retreat you won't need much food. If you are walking around and teaching people you will need more. Quite a bit more.
That said, it would be interesting to try it for a while but why go overboard. Do the two meals before noon and see how you go. Do'nt try to be too active if you are doing this.
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The Daily Record Printing Works in Renfield Lane has a frontage finished with white glazed bricks with contrasting blue glazed brickwork over the sculpted sandstone ground floor. It was designed in 1901 and completed in 1904. The lane is a mere 6 metres wide. No satisfactory viewing point can be reached to get a good look at Mackintosh's design intentions. The fa'ade's originality was enhanced by the use of full height tree motifs placed between the bays. Mackintosh created these symbols by the simple use of different coloured bricks. The Daily Record vacated the building in the late 1930's. As of 2007, it is unoccupied.
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Cybersex. Solicitation of minors on the Web. Internet porn. The Internet and the immediacy that it offers for sexual gratification has shaped our society more profoundly than any other media in history. Prominent politicians, business executives and Americans have seen their careers and lives derailed due to cybersex addiction.
With personal stories from porn addicts and significant others, professionals Robert Weiss and Jennifer Schneider offer direction, understanding, and hope to anyone sturggling with the devastating effects of porn and sexual betrayal on intimacy, relationships, family, career, and self respect.
Read an excerpt of chapter one, below.
How bad is the online problem?
I have joined a porn site again and have spent the last week e-mailing women for sex. I am online twenty-four hours a day. I have not worked. I hardly sleep. I am useless.
I am concerned about my addiction to pornography. I feel it has kept me from taking the risks needed to be intimate enough to have a real relationship with someone else. I’m 32.
I have lost someone I loved very much due to my cybersex and porn addictions. Please tell me how I can get the help I need.
These problems continue to increase. A ground-breaking survey by Dr. Alvin Cooper and associates of a 9,265 Internet users found that 8.5 percent were sexually compulsive or addicted. These cybersex users spent at least eleven hours per week in online sexual pursuits. They were considered to be addictive in their cybersex use because they generally denied they had a problem; had made repeated efforts to decrease their online sexual activities; and continued going online despite poor academic or job performance, relationship difficulties, job loss, sexual harassment lawsuits, arrest, failed relationships, or other adverse consequences related to their cybersex use.
Approximately 1 percent of those identified as “cybersex addicts” in a follow-up analysis reported a lengthy history of sexual acting out (compulsive sexual activities) and sexually addictive behaviors such as anonymous sex, sex with prostitutes, and compulsive masturbation, that long preceded their discovery of sex on the Internet. This group of people was having sexual behavior problems even before the Internet came along. For them, the appearance of the Internet simply became another means of accessing a longstanding obsession.
Hank, a 46-year-old married man, began downloading and viewing pornography and erotic stories online from almost the first day he got a computer. Over time this advanced to nightly participation in sexually oriented chat rooms while masturbating to the images and explicit communication that other people would offer him online. Despite having no previous history of adultery, Hank planned and carried out two extramarital sexual encounters with long-term online sexual partners, seeking help only when his wife found out about his behavior and threatened to leave him. Hank writes of the many consequences of his cybersex involvement:
Looking back, I am amazed by the immense amount of time and energy I put into my cybersex activity. It created emotional distance, frustration, and impatience in my relationships with my wife and children and took up work time and office resources. Waiting until my wife went to sleep and then often staying up on the computer until two or three in the morning left me, more often than not, getting only three to six hours of sleep, leaving me exhausted, depressed, and physically unwell. Our marital sex life became practically existent and I watched my wife blame herself for my distancing from her. I spent money we didn’t have on pay-per-view porn sites, memberships in online sex sites and the Webcam I used to access and engage in live online sex acts. I even bought gifts for some online “girlfriends” whom I never actually met. Several times I had to cancel my credit cards when I found out that the ones I had used to pay for some of these online services had been used illegally by others. My teenage son found my porn stash one day on the computer and began “collecting” it for himself. He has caught me on more than one occasion viewing pornography. He knows it is wrong and that I am wrong to be involved in it. My son and I have kept the secret of our online porn use from his mother, my wife. I know it’s crazy, I heard that when I say it all out loud, but I have to admit that I think about getting back online all the time.
And it isn’t only men who have these problems. Rosalie is a married 35-year-old systems analyst. Having made it through a rough and impoverished childhood, which she had decided to just “put behind,” she was pleased finally to have a peaceful and stable family of her own. A mother of two children, she felt content with her life. This changed rapidly with her discovery of online sex.
One day at work, I accidentally stumbled across a porn site by hitting the wrong key when looking for a business Web site online. Curiosity is why I went back. Within a matter of days, I was visiting porn sites and sexual chat rooms on a daily basis, and within weeks, it seemed like that was all I did. It literally took control and consumed my life. I went from joining all the free stuff, to accessing anything I could to fuel my interest. I didn’t want to go home. I began to lie to my husband about having to work late just so I could continue. I lost my mind in such a short time that I could not function at work or home. It took all I could do hold up a straight face among my coworkers and family. I became very withdrawn and depressed. My mind filled with dark and hurtful images, including bestiality. I felt like such a bad person, but I didn’t know what to do. I guess that cybersex can take people down a road they never dreamed they would go. I somehow got sucked into it and it has been hell to get out.
THE LURE OF THE NET
Hank and Rosalie are examples of people who got quickly hooked on the net. What is it about computer sex that can make it so powerful and addicting? Dr. Alvin Cooper, a cybersex addiction expert, reported that the intensity and lure of the Internet are powered by “A Triple A Engine,” that is, Accessibility, Affordability, and Anonymity of the Internet.
With more and more people gaining access to the Web daily, Internet access has grown to hundreds of millions of people. Moreover, it no longer takes a genius to find your way around. Computing software, once an engineering mystery, is now user-friendly with screen icons and helpful prompts making computer use simple, even for very young children. Increasingly today, you can access the Internet in one form or another not only through the traditional stationary home and work computer, but from anywhere in the world via laptop computer, PDA, cell phone, and portable digital music/video player. Any airport waiting area, hotel, or coffee shop with a Wi-Fi hotspot offers the ability to get online and download images and information from a remote location.
In the 1970s, computers were prohibitively expensive, occupied large rooms, and were truly functional only for government and large corporate use. Today, much more powerful computers take up no more than a corner of a desk, are relatively inexpensive and cost almost nothing to use. An evening spent in a pornographic bookstore or strip club might cost hundreds of dollars, whereas an evening spent on the computer might cost 40 cents unless you are buying images or joining membership sites. Unlimited Internet has made entertainment in general, and sexual entertainment in particular, more affordable than ever before.
As long-distance medium if communication, the Internet has many possibilities that person-to-person contact does not. It allows the user to try out different roles, to assume any identity or characteristics he wishes: A 5’4 300 lbs.-man can present himself in a teen chat room as an 18-year-old high school basketball player or as a 16-year-old girl seeking a pen pal. Most people who visit chat rooms change some facts about themselves, often their age or physical appearance, and even their gender. In a yearlong (2000-2001) survey of more than 9,000 Internet users, 48 percent reported that they changed their age “occasionally” and 23 percent reported they did so “often.” Thirty-eight percent of the entire sample reported changing their race while online; 5 percent admitted to claiming occasionally to be the opposite sex, or “gender bending.” Many people use false names or “handles” to increase their anonymity.
The Internet by nature is very anonymous. Like most online users, you most likely have a perception of complete privacy in your interactions. Not having to leave home to access sexual material or contact eliminates the possibility of being observed or caught by a neighbor, friend, or coworker somewhere in the midst of a sexual interaction (adult bookstore, massage parlor, public park). Using a computer or portable device, you can access a desired Web site pretty much anywhere – from your own living room or bedroom to a moving car or elevator. People in the past who might have been too uncomfortable or embarrassed to be caught sitting in an “adult theatre” or strip club, now savor the same types of activities in the privacy of their home or – all too often – in their office at work, and increasingly in restaurants, bars, coffee houses, or just about anywhere the Internet can be accessed.
The accessibility, affordability, and anonymity of online use make it very attractive, particularly for pornography viewing and sexual intrigue. There are other features that also increase the lure of the Internet for cybersex use.
One significant way in which viewing Internet pornography differs from television, films, and magazines is that the Internet is addictive. No longer does a viewer of sexual content passively purchase a magazine or film and be stuck with what they get; he or she can now sort and reshuffle their images and experiences, changing them a the first feeling of boredom or disinterest. Not only does the online user have control over the endlessness of sexual words and images, but interactivity also means live interactions between real people in real time. With the Internet, users connect through words (chats) or images (Webcams), actually interacting with the person at the other end. These exchanges can range from simple discussions all the way to live sexual acts being directed through the keyboard while being watched and mutually experienced on screen. Thus Internet technology has the power to hold and keep one’s interest far longer than any previous medium for sexual content.
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The John Tractor and Engine Museum in Waterloo, Iowa is on track to open its doors in June 2013, according to a recent WCFCourier article showcasing vintage tractors, engines, and much more.
Currently under construction, the museum will provide a place for visitors to learn the story behind John Deere tractor engines that were developed in Waterloo. It will also feature vintage machines on display, and will give visitors a chance to read and listen to the stories of the people who made the first generation of John Deere farm equipment.
Several exhibitions are expected to be offered at the John Tractor and Engine Museum, including “John Deere into the World,” “Working the Land,” “The Making of a Tractor,” “On the Job,” “Product Spotlight,” and “Spotlight.” Each of these exhibitions aims to inform visitors of the history of Deere in an appealing way.
Project Manager Dawn Hendershot says of the new John Tractor and Engine Museum development, “We are working with our brand management, research and exhibit design and fabrication teams to develop a floor plan and an experience that will be educational, fun and engaging. Our hope is to teach visitors about the design and manufacturing of John Deere tractors and engines in Iowa’s Cedar Valley.”
This summer, residents of and visitors to Waterloo, Iowa will be given the opportunity to become further educated on John Deere products as well as the agriculture industry, which plays a large role in the community.
Image Courtesy of: http://www.heartofnorthcarolina.com/things-to-do/index.pl?id=19
MachineFinder was created in 1998. Since then we have served millions of visitors, tens of thousands of pieces of equipment and integrated with our entire dealer network.
MachineFinder, John Deere and the associated trademarks are property and available only for the specific use of Deere & Company. All Rights Reserved. 2008-2013
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That cheese grater, bookcase and those cute patterned pillows that you just picked up at IKEA surely must have made their way to the Sunrise store via a South Florida port.
Guess again. IKEA’s massive distribution center that serves its stores from North Carolina to Texas and on down the Florida peninsula is located just outside the port of Savannah. So are the 1.4 million-square-foot International Home Depot Distribution Center and the distribution hubs for a who’s who of big box stores.
Despite having 15 seaports, about 45 percent of the containerized cargo consumed in Florida arrives via ports in other states, according to a trade and logistics study commissioned by the Florida Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
When it comes to Asian imports consumed in Florida, just 38 percent entered via one of the state’s seaports. Sixty-two percent of those imports arrived in other ports: 36 percent came to Los Angeles/Long Beach and were trucked across the country or moved by rail, 13 percent came in through Savannah and 4 percent arrived in the Port of New York and New Jersey, according to the 2010 Florida Trade and Logistics Study.
All told, 11 million tons of imports used by Floridians entered the United States through other states’ ports.
And that’s a problem for PortMiami Director Bill Johnson. “We need to win back a large chunk of Asian trade for Florida,’’ he said. “For the last 10 to 15 years, Florida has been asleep.’’
Johnson, who is also chairman of the Florida Ports Council, the association for the state’s 15 deepwater seaports, said because of the competition posed by other East Coast ports, Florida ports can’t act like “little bickering children fighting over crumbs on the table.’’
The state’s ports, he said, need to present a united front to make Florida the preeminent state for international trade in the next five years.
While Florida ports compete among themselves for cargo, he said, now they have a common agenda when they go to Tallahassee and Washington.
“I’m not trying to undercut [the other Florida ports]; I’m trying to raise my bar,’’ Johnson said.
“There’s no reason Orlando shouldn’t be served by a Florida port. After the dredge, that cargo should shift back to Florida — primarily Miami,” said Kevin Lynskey, Miami’s assistant port director for business initiatives. The rest of the equation for PortMiami is to lock in South Florida cargo and pick up a small percentage of containers headed for Atlanta and other points north, he said.
“Florida faces a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fundamentally transform its economy. The shift in U.S. population growth to the south, the Panama Canal widening, the resurgence of Latin America and the Caribbean trade, and the continued revolution in logistics practices create the opportunity for Florida to become a global trade and logistics hub,’’ said the chamber study.
Among the study’s recommendations: Have at least one Florida seaport dredged to 50 feet with an on-dock or nearby rail connection by 2014.
That would be Miami, which should have its harbor deepening project completed while some ports are still studying the feasibility of dredging.
The port has already begun a project to strengthen its wharves and rebuild the seawall in anticipation of the “deep dredge.” Contracts for the dredge itself are expected to be awarded in February and the target date for completion is the summer of 2015. The main channel, which extends 2.5 miles out to the sea, will be dredged to a depth of 52 feet, and the port’s south channel, which faces Fisher Island, will be readied to a depth of 50 feet.
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Once again the media is completely ignoring the fact that an initiative it's covering was funded by left-wing financier George Soros. The Soros-funded Brennan Center for Justice released a report opposed to new laws needed to combat voter fraud. This story was in turn promoted by Soros-funded progressive news sites that brought it to the national stage.
The Brennan Center for Justice, part of New York University's Law School, reported that voting law changes "could make it significantly harder for more than five million eligible voters to cast ballots in 2012." This 64 page report went on to explain that the effects "fall most heavily on young, minority, and low-income voters, as well as on voters with disabilities" and that the "wave of changes may sharply tilt the political terrain for the 2012 election."
The price tag for the report? Soros's Open Society Foundations gave the Brennan Center for Justice $7,466,000 from 2000 to 2010. New York University also received $2,819,540 during this same time period. That's a total of $10, 285,540.
None of the five stories by The New York Times , Washington Post , Wall Street Journal , USA Today , or CBS News noted that this study was funded by Soros. However, when the Koch Brothers fund a libertarian or conservative initiative the media tend to make note of it.
Each outlet had one story on the topic, but only CBS News said the Brennan Center for Justice as a "the liberal think tank" which the other stories failed to say. The Wall Street Journal did imply it when they said the Center was "named after the liberal Supreme Court justice William Brennan." These articles did include liberal and conservative views, such as The New York Times which said "Republicans, who have passed almost all of the new election laws, say they are necessary to prevent voter fraud" and a quote from the Heritage Foundation.
The story first showed up in a preview by The New York Times on Oct. 2. The findings then made the rounds on liberal blogs and were written up by other outlets. This Soros-funded report was then promoted by the Soros-funded lefty media, which reaches more than 300 million people every month . Members of the Media Consortium , which received $425,000 from the Open Society Foundations, pushed the story when it first broke.
The Nation article was titled "GOP Voting Laws Could Swing the 2012 Election" and described "The GOP War on Voting." The Nation Institute received $77,000 from the Open Society Foundations since 2000, on top of being a member of the Media Consortium. ColorLines said the report "puts forth an ominous prediction." AlterNet linked to a Loop21 article subtitled "New voting restrictions try to ensure President Obama is a one termer."
Other members followed a similar tune. Campus Progress said "the report paints a troubling picture," while Think Progress just said there were a "slew of GOP-backed laws that restrict voting rights" These two blogs are both part of Democrat John Podesta's Center for American Progress, which took in $7.3 million from the Open Society Foundations.
As the Business & Media Institute has reported , a study by the Media Consortium detailed how progressives had created an "echo chamber" of outlets "in which a message pushes the larger public or the mainstream media to acknowledge, respond, and give airtime to progressive ideas because it is repeated many times." According to the report called "The Big Thaw," "if done well, the message within the echo chamber can become the accepted meme, impact political dynamics, shift public opinion and change public policy."
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Volume 8, Issue 3 - March 2007
The Road to “Lean”
Company Leaders Explain Why Becoming Lean is a Journey, Not a Destination.
Lean” is a popular buzz word today that describes the way a company can operate when it is optimizing its assets without significant waste. Sounds like a plan for success, right? You make the most of your resources, improve output and make more money. But, as several door, window and component manufacturers explain, the process of implementing lean manufacturing is a journey, and it means making huge changes in the way that everyone—from the chief executive officer (CEO) to the hourly worker—does their jobs.
Manufacturers who have implemented these principals in their plants describe the journey to become lean as a quest. No, it does not happen in a week, or even a month. Rather, some say you may not see any tangible results for at least six months. However, the benefits of becoming lean have outweighed the initial investments of resources, company leaders say.
Why Go Lean?
For Lauren Manufacturing in New Philadelphia, Ohio, a full service extruder and molder of organic, silicone and specialty polymer products, the decision to make the organizational transformation started at the top with the CEO, Kevin Gray. The company’s first goal was to make sure the company would have a future, says Lisa Huntsman, vice president of operations for the company.
“Lauren was losing its competitive edge and its financial health was decreasing,” she says. “Adding bodies to the company wasn’t solving the real issues that needed to be addressed … Lean was the means to improving its operational effectiveness which led to greater responsiveness to the market place finally bringing back profitable returns to the company,” Huntsman continues.
Great Lakes Window, a Toledo, Ohio-based manufacturer of vinyl replacement windows and patio doors, went through a process to achieve what it calls “operational excellence.”
“We needed to more clearly define a set of quality guidelines and practices,” the company’s president Jeff Klein explains.
Windsor Windows and Doors president John Smit made the decision to implement lean manufacturing into the plant two years ago.
“My background is not in the industry, and [Smit] recognized the fact that he wanted to start changes in a different direction by hiring me,” says Sheets, general manager.
Lauren officially started its lean journey in December 2002.
“We completely re-thought and re-organized our manufacturing processes based on their value streams,” says Huntsman. She says that the company actively looks for the removal of “eight deadly wastes,” which includes waste of defects, overproduction, waiting, not using peoples’ talents, transportation, inventory, motion and excess processing.
The ownership and leadership at MI Windows and Doors of Gratz, Pa., decided to implement the Toyota Way into its plant two years ago—coining the phrase “MI-oyota Way.”
“It’s continuous. It’s never ending, and it’s ever-changing,” says Brian Shilling, director of marketing and business development for MI Windows and Doors.
Bringing in Help
MI had two consultants come from Toyota and who went through the facilities.
Lauren also brought in help in the form of Todd Weston of Prophet One Solutions. Weston led a one-day single piece flow simulation called “Bright Ideas.” Both the hourly as well as all of the salary employees participated in the simulation.
Mike Sheets was hired by Windsor’s president to implement the new strategies of lean manufacturing.
“I had to prove that I could ‘walk the talk.’ I started teaching the management team [lean manufacturing principals], and then we got some of our management Greenbelt training.”
Six Sigma Green Belts are trained to utilize fundamental Six Sigma tools to improve processes, typically in their respective department or unit.
After a year, Sheets needed to move more into the general manager role that he was hired to do, so a third-party was sought to conduct training for employees. In recognizing how important training is, Windsor has built a new 105,000 square-foot facility for different trainings, Sheets says.
Implementing New Ways
“We broke the company into six process value streams and made them ‘mini-businesses’ within the company’s walls,” says Huntsman. Each business unit comprised of a multi-disciplined salary team including the leader, planner, customer service, quality and technical. Each of these business units had bid positions for the hourly workforce which also reported directly to the business unit leader, Huntsman explains.
In the process, Lauren went from ten inventory turns to more than 30 inventory turns, removing more than $2 million in inventory.
Windsor Windows took a different approach to lean manufacturing.
Sheets explains how they started with small projects—like value stream mapping events—where they would look at a project within an area. They would break off an area and just work on a portion.
“[The idea is] to take the current state and create a future state and implement the changes,” says Sheets. “We got people in the projects and [they would] actually complete them ... After each project, there would be a presentation and if there was savings, we’d implement the project. We looked at the money savings at each project.”
Sheets refers to the process his company has undergone as “JOE,” which refers to journey of excellence.
“We want to be fast, flexible and reliable to our customers, and easy to do business with,” says Sheets.
“We strive to build—not inspect—quality into our products,” says Jim Smercina, plant manager for Great Lakes Window, says. “We’ve adopted 5S and Six Sigma procedures, as well as robust process quality controls.”
Huntsman says that Lauren identified as much, if not more, waste in the administrative areas of the business.
“We stopped operating in a traditional ‘batch-and-queue’ structure and have worked diligently towards single piece flow throughout the organization,” she says. “This includes the paperwork side of the business as well.”
Getting hourly workers to buy into the ideas that lean manufacturing can make their lives easier is the key, says Shilling.
“They have to recognize that the work would be less movement, more products and more money in their pockets,” he says, explaining that the workers would produce more units, which would help their cause.
So, what happens when, in the process of identifying waste, a company realizes that some of the positions are unnecessary?“
As you become leaner, in some instances, we reorganized where a worker or a force wasn’t up to snuff. Our people have been empowered by this, and have taken this on as their own initiatives,” Shilling says.
Sheets agrees, and describes how Windsor uses its seasoned employees to encourage the rest of the workers.
“It’s a tool set to teach people to see efficiencies in the system,” says Sheets. “We had ‘Lean 101,’ a training program, with all our hourly employees. And in each area, we would select out a subject matter expert (SME). The expert would be someone who the other employees looked to as a leader, and that person would become our biggest representative.”
Some of the SMEs at Windsor are hourly workers, Sheets explains. “If they [SME’s] can see the benefit [of a new idea], then they buy into the program. And then they can get the others to buy into it.”
“Empowerment” is the word that Shilling uses to describe the plant workers at MI.
“Our people feel that every day they can make a difference,” he says.
Additionally, Shilling says that MI plant managers from all over the country have responded well by conversing with each other.
“They communicate to each other what works for their plant.”
“Without hesitation the hardest thing to change is that of the mind. Without buy-in and true understanding by the employees of why we need to change, the company cannot and will not succeed,” says Huntsman.
“One of the things that’s hard is breaking the old paradigms … Getting away from saying, ‘We’ve always done it that way, it can’t be too bad.’ It’s a new level of thinking. It’s open and it allows the brutal facts to come out to address the problems.”
Sheets says that when people can get past pointing fingers at each other, they can truly come together as a team.
“We had a good team from the start, but some of the members didn’t want to be part of it. Not all of the players wanted to participate, so some of them left the company because it wasn’t what they wanted to do,” Sheets adds.
Since they’ve implemented changes into the plant, Windsor Windows has seen improvements in time and complete delivery by approximately 10 percent. Labor has improved by 10 percent in standard and efficiencies and the cost of waste has been decreased by 25 percent, reports Sheets. Additionally, quality has improved by 15 to 20 percent.
“All the areas have undergone positive changes,” he adds.
MI has seen a 10 percent production output.
“It’s hard to put a real number on it, but we’ve seen increases in output, but the quality has to go hand in hand,” say Shilling. “Our safety records are better, and we put out a lot higher quality product.”
Great Lakes Window’s customers have noticed the difference also.
“At a rate of two a week, we bring our customers through the facility to experience the enhancements first hand,” Irving explains. “We are seeing a sustained decrease in customer backorders, and our on-time complete shipments have exceeded expectations.”
Having just finished its fourth year with the process, Huntsman says that Lauren is pleased with what its lean journey has accomplished so far.
“Lauren has increased its top line revenue 50 percent while increasing its operating income 100 percent,” he said.
A major part of the lean manufacturing journey for some companies is gauged by customer feedback.
“Externally, we have a Voice of the Customer initiative to gain and then organize feedback,” says Smercina. “Internally, we put in a metrics-based system, designed to track production, reworks and efficiency. Any issues that arise are addressed within 48 hours.”
None of the companies DWM spoke to said they are finished with becoming lean—at least for now.
“The journey is what makes us better,” says Sheets.
“We’ve offered our expertise to suppliers to help them understand what we’re doing and to be sure that they’re on board. It is an ever-expanding role to drive that philosophy in our partnerships,” Irving adds.
Intek Plastics Inc., a company based in Hastings, Minn. that produces jambliners and supplies product to Windsor, has been working with MI Windows and Doors to improve its on-time delivery and order quality.
“Now we are looking at nice savings that can be shared between both of us,” Sheets says.
“They’re [the suppliers] all part of the mix,” says Shilling. “They’ve all been helpful with inventory management … and helping us streamline the process,” he says, adding that some suppliers have been better than others.
On the other hand, some manufacturers such as Lauren did not get a helping hand from their suppliers.
“Unfortunately, our suppliers did not help in our deeper understanding as we began our lean transformation,” says Huntsman, who adds that Lauren found companies to benchmark against to help the learning curve. “The company is now the benchmark for our suppliers and many customers,” she adds.
Huntsman says that change must be driven from the top down.
“If the president or CEO of the company is not committed or truly understands the value of a lean enterprise then the company will never get lean off the ground.”
She suggests researching and creating a lean deployment strategy fist.
“Lean cannot be viewed as the flavor of the month or try to be implemented from the middle or the bottom up,” she says.
Sheets agrees with the importance of staying the course.
“If they [company leaders] back down the first time there’s a hiccup, it’s a set back. You have to work on continuous projects, and events have to tie you back to the costs. You should say ‘wow’ and it should tangible and identified,” Sheets says. “It takes time and sometimes it might cost you some money,” he says, referring especially to the training costs. “The results six months to a year later are more than worth it. If you stick with it, you’ll get there.”
“No one said it would be easy … if it was there would be so many more companies using lean tools,” Huntsman adds.
The Lean Toolbox
Waste elimination. Waste in a process is any activity that does not result in moving the process closer to the final output or adding value to the final output.
Visual controls are a system of signs, information displays, layouts, material storage and handling tools, color-coding and mistake proofing devices. These controls follow the saying: “a place for everything and everything in its place.” The visual control system is designed to make product flow, operations standards, schedules and problems instantly identifiable to even casual observers.
5S is the Japanese concept for housekeeping: sort (seiri); straighten (seiton); shine (seiso); standardize (seiketsu); and sustain (shitsuke).
Six Sigma utilizes information and statistical analysis to measure and improve a company’s operational performance, practices and systems by identifying and preventing defects in manufacturing and service-related processes in order to anticipate and exceed expectations of all stakeholders to accomplish effectiveness.
Pull scheduling is the flow of resources in a production process by replacing only what has been consumed.
Value stream mapping is a paper and pencil tool that helps you to see and understand the flow of material and information as a product or service makes its way through the value stream. A value stream map takes into account not only the activity of the product, but the management and information systems that support the basic process.
Cell design is a manufacturing approach in which equipment and workstations are arranged to facilitate small-lot, continuous-flow production. In a manufacturing “cell,” all operations necessary to produce a component or subassembly are performed in close proximity, allowing for quick feedback between operators when quality problems and other issues arise. Workers in a manufacturing cell are typically cross-trained and can perform multiple tasks as needed.
Kaizen Blitz is the Japanese term for continuous improvement, taken from the words ‘Kai,’ which means continuous and ‘zen,’ meaning improvement. The Kaizen definition has been Americanized to mean “Continual Improvement.” A Kaizen Blitz is defined as a sudden overpowering effort to take something apart and put it back together in a better way. What is taken apart is usually a process, system, product or service.
Seven Types of Waste
Sarah Batcheler is an assistant editor for DWM.
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What realizes and promotes the fact that 85 cents of every dollar spent in the marketplace is spent by a woman and that big business responds faster to consumer demand than any other market force?
Just a few Q&As from the riveting interview:
In every single chapter, the very first suggestion is buy less, consume less, reduce — clearly we have to cut back on the total amount of stuff that’s being produced. But I do think that being a conscious consumer is a very powerful tool, because consumer dollars are the lifeblood of manufacturers. So we can either use them to tell manufacturers what to make or we can just continue to let manufacturers tell us what to buy.
I think that the power of green consumerism has not been harnessed by the environmental movement. You’ve got all kinds of companies wanting to be green and natural and eco-friendly, and you’ve got the environmental movement saying, “Whatever you do, don’t buy anything.” … The light bulbs are a perfect example … people have to change their light bulbs anyway, so why not buy the option that makes the most sense? If you have people sit in the dark, that’s literally a turn-off.
First of all, there’s so much cushion in people’s budget that they don’t realize. People will say to me, “I can’t buy organic; it’s too expensive,” and then I look in their refrigerator and it’s full of bottled water. They may be spending $10 to $15 a week on bottled water, but they don’t want to spend $6 for a gallon of organic milk.
What would be great is if Safeway would put an environmental spokesperson in the store. “On Saturday, as you’re coming through the store, there’s going to be these five people wearing green vests, and if you have any questions about green shopping, you can ask them.” Wouldn’t that be fabulous?
~ Unleash The Life Within ~
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Conservation in practice in Africa…where to go to meet the experts
If you fancy doing more than observing animals, and wish to find out more about the blood, sweat and tears involved in protecting African Wildlife, then we can recommend the following…
- We have adopted orphan elephants at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi. As foster parents you are allowed to visit at a stated time and day (if arranged in advance) outside public hours and interact with the elephants as they return to their pens in the evening. The keepers assigned to the elephants devote their lives to them – sleeping with them in the evening in their pens, feeding them, acting as replacement mothers. They are humble people who devote their lives to rehabilitating elephants who have broken hearts from seeing their mothers killed by poachers before their very eyes. As a visitor you get the chance to find out more about their efforts, and meet and help comfort the elephants. I spent an good 30 minutes with a young male called Pesi who wrapped his trunk around my finger like a child would grab your finger. And he did not let go. I could not stop crying, thinking how could anyone hurt such an incredible and vulnerable animal. Pesi since died of a broken heart – he’d experienced too much trauma and despite the best efforts of the keepers he died less than 12 months after our visit.
DSWT is an incredible organisation and I urge everyone to do their bit to support it. You can follow them on facebook and visit their website at http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/
I have also produced a photobook about DSWT and the elephants and 100% of all profits from the sale of the book are personally donated to DSWT. It’s called ‘Vulnerable Giants’ and is available to view online. Further informatoin is also available in my previous Tarajiblue blog post about DSWT entitled “Too many orphans”.
- The Giraffe Centre in Nairobi. Established to save the endangered Rothschild giraffe. It’s a lovely place where you can get up close and personal with the giraffes, feed them, walk with them and learn a lot about their plight.
- The Hoedsprit Endangered Species Centre in South Africa
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One of Minnesota's oldest charter schools will close at the end of the calendar year.
Unable to secure a loan to stay afloat, Skills for Tomorrow high school will end operations halfway through the school year, becoming the first charter school to fail financially this year.
Teachers and other staff members confirmed that the school's board decided to close at its Monday night meeting. On Tuesday, administrators and teachers declined to comment, saying students and parents should be notified first. Administrators began calling families after school closed Monday.
"I think it's a very tough time for charter schools because of the state financial crisis," said Eugene Piccolo, executive director of the Minnesota Association of Charter Schools. "It wouldn't be surprising to see other charters close because of this financial situation."
Many factors play into tight financing for charter schools, said Joe Nathan, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for School Change.
While the total number of students in St. Paul schools has shrunk slightly since 2002, charter school enrollment has doubled, Nathan said. More students from the city and suburbs are attending charter schools, but competition for students has intensified; the number of charter schools, too, has almost doubled since 2002. For the 2009-10 school year, there were 29 charter schools in St. Paul, according to the Minnesota Department of Education Web site.
Skills for Tomorrow was one
It originally operated out of University of St. Thomas classrooms but moved to Wheeler Street in northwest St. Paul.
Skills for Tomorrow's enrollment was as high as 120 in 2004, when it received a $17,000 Minnesota Institute of Technology grant aimed at improving students' math, reading and writing skills. According to Skills for Tomorrow's meeting minutes from January, enrollment had decreased to 63.
In 2006, Skills for Tomorrow was listed as having lagging test scores or test participation for three years. But in February, the school was honored during a ceremony at the University of Minnesota for making adequate steps in reading in accordance with No Child Left Behind standards.
According to a report at a January board meeting, the school had a $316,000 deficit, largely due to a lag in receiving state funding. But this did not "signal undue alarm," the minutes said.
June board minutes reviewed staff cuts, and one a member said they would be "very close" to their bottom line with the projected budget.
Part of the pressure facing charter schools has to do with new funding delays that resulted when Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty balanced the state budget through unallotment, Nathan said.
Pawlenty shifted the school funding timeline. Schools had been paid 90 percent of their funding for a school year upfront, with 10 percent deferred until the next fiscal year. But Pawlenty's shift delayed more money. Now 27 percent is withheld for the next year, leaving schools with 73 percent of their total funding to balance budgets.
This is proving hard for charter schools, which are having difficulty securing funding, Piccolo said.
Unlike traditional schools, which can guarantee banks that loans will be repaid and have buildings for collateral, many charter schools rent their buildings and don't have large funding reserves, Piccolo said. Because of the recession, many banks are also under pressure to tighten loan requirements, which makes it more difficult for charter schools to get the money they need.
"People are scurrying to find ways to make the gap," he said. Piccolo speculates a half-dozen more charter schools face serious funding problems.
Officials with Pawlenty's office and the state Department of Education could not be reached Tuesday evening for comment.
"I think we'll hear about charter schools closing hand over fist," said Brian Bloomfield, executive director for Nova Classical Academy, a charter school in Wayzata.
Nova, looking to bridge the funding gap, took out a private loan that kept the school afloat. But now directors have to worry about paying back the interest.
"I really don't keep thousands of dollars hanging around for use," Bloomfield said. "That's going to come from two sources: textbooks and teachers' salaries."
Although this squeeze makes it difficult for charter schools to stay open, that doesn't mean the system is failing, Nathan said.
"Overall, the charter enrollment is growing, but in this particular case, they were not enrolling enough students to stay viable," he said.
SKILLS FOR TOMORROW
The idea: Labor, college and business leaders worked with teachers to develop a "school-to-work" high school. Core elements are academics, teamwork and leadership, service learning, occupational experience and technology.
On the Web: skillsfortomorrow.org
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Agrimony Flower Essences
Agrimony Flower Essences, 20 ml (0.7 fl oz) by BACH | 741273204114
Agrimony is the remedy for people who keep their troubles hidden under a mask of pleasure and happiness. The archetypal Agrimony person would be the sad clown, suffering anguish inside by still the life and soul of the party. Their friends are often the last to know that anything is wrong in the Agrimony person's life.
Sometimes Agrimony people turn to drink or drugs to help them maintain a mask of happiness, and they tend not to like being alone since they find it harder to keep the mask up when they are forced into their own company. Instead they will seek out friends, parties and bright lights. Only at night when they are alone with their thoughts will the mental torture they have repressed so successfully come back to haunt them.
Agrimony is given to help Agrimony people to accept and come to terms with the darker side of life and their own personalities, so that they can become more rounded human beings. They will not lose their sense of humour, but they will laugh at their troubles to dispel them, rather than laughing to hide them. As a mood remedy, Agrimony helps anyone who is trying not to face a trouble and using jokes and witticisms and smiles to avoid a painful reality.
Dr Bach's description The jovial, cheerful, humorous people who love peace and are distressed by argument or quarrel, to avoid which they will agree to give up much. Though generally they have troubles and are tormented and restless and worried in mind or in body, they hide their cares behind their humour and jesting and are considered very good friends to know. They often take alcohol or drugs in excess, to stimulate themselves and help themselves bear their trials with cheerfulness. - taken from The Twelve Healers and Other Remedies
2 drops in water and sip at intervals or add to a 30ml mixing bottle containing water. Take 4 drops a minimum of 4 times a day.
Keep out of reach of children. If pregnant or breastfeeding, ask a health professional before use.
Do not use if seal is broken
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DAKOTA "JUSTICE" [Hunter Gray 3/3/02]
Note by Hunterbear:
South Dakota -- traditionally dominated by meat packing outfits in the east
and Homestake Mining in the Black Hills [though that dimension has played
out] -- continues to display one of its traditionally consistent negative
dimensions: rank, virulent and pervasive anti-Indian prejudice and
discrimination. Never forget and always remember the Wounded Knee Massacre of hundreds of unarmed Natives in 1890, and the Wounded Knee Native protests of 1973 -- and several thousand other events that attest to the ills and sins of South Dakota. And to the courage and perseverance of the Natives -- and some others of good will and decency.
Governor Bill Janklow -- who has Forever been around in one political
incarnation or another -- has sometimes been tagged the Ross Barnett [old
1960-64 arch-racist Gov of Mississippi] of the Northern Plains. I wouldn't
quarrel with that characterization -- ever. No Indian would -- and not many
labor people, either.
Tom Daschle was just one of the Dakota Democrats [South and North] who --
along with all of the Republicans -- didn't lift one finger on behalf of
Leonard Peltier's freedom. Nor did they utter a word of criticism when Bill
Clinton failed to pardon Leonard.
And North Dakota should certainly never be off the hook on any of these
issues -- or even on the outgoing edge. It has some very, very racist areas
in its own right: e.g. Devils Lake -- where we fought many Native rights
battles in the late '80s and early '90s; Leonard Peltier was "convicted" at
Fargo in that notoriously rigged trial; and no one has yet been arrested
for the September 2001 murders of the three Native men at Grand Forks where
the racial situation has been going steadily down hill. We continue to be
much involved in North Dakota Native rights and general race relations
I have a vast number of former University of North Dakota students -- Native
and non-Native -- all over the Dakotas, much of Minnesota, many in Montana
and Manitoba. I hear with regularity from a good number to this very
moment. Things are becoming tough [ and tougher ] all over that whole,
general region for everyone "of the fewest alternatives" -- a category
which is now including more and more folks. Farmers and ranchers have been
very hard hit for decades -- and for Native people it's always been
Dakota "justice" is known for its lop-sided selectivity: cruel to Natives
and Chicanos -- and other racial minorities -- and hostile to poor people
Ideological discussion and abstraction are fine in their place and
quantitative stuff certainly has its uses. But I'm one of those who looks
first at the actual and tangible "people" dimension. And in this situation,
the whole "justice" thing is once again put into its stark, dreary human
perspective -- one of obviously developing tragedy.
Jake Thompson, Sisseton-Wahpeton vice-chairman, is both a former student
[who took every UND course I offered] and a very old friend. When Jake says
something, it's solid.
"There is a double standard of justice, and it's been going on a long time,"
said Jake Thompson, vice-chairman of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe.
[From the news story.]
So here's the yet-another Dakota story:
Teen's jailing angers tribe
By LEE WILLIAMS Argus Leader
Sisseton-Wahpeton allege unfair treatment; county says charges justified
SISSETON - Adelia Godfrey spends her days alone in a dimly lit basement
cell. She is wondering whether to kill herself.
Godfrey, 17, was first arrested for misdemeanor charges nearly a month ago,
but a fight with officers at the Roberts County Jail led to two felony charges.
Now the Roberts County state's attorney wants to prosecute her as an adult.
If convicted, she could be sentenced to 30 years in prison.
"At night, I get panic attacks, and I worry I'll stop breathing," Godfrey
said Thursday before a court hearing in the case. "I get real scared and
depressed. I pray that I can go to sleep. There's no one for me to talk to. I think I'm losing my mind."
Members of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe, of which Godfrey is an
enrolled member, say her case is an example of a dual system of justice in Roberts County. The county is 68 percent white and 30 percent Native American.
Tribal members, who protested her incarceration last week, contend Native
American youth are targeted by police and want Godfrey moved to a tribal
facility instead of the adult jail.
Law enforcement officials say the girl is being held in the basement cell in
the Grant County Jail - called "the dungeon" by the sheriff who oversees
it - because there is no juvenile facility in the area that can take her.
The Roberts County state's attorney and the Sisseton chief of police say
Native Americans are treated no differently than whites. They say Godfrey "went ape" in the jail, sprayed an officer with a fire extinguisher, spit and tried to bite another officer. The charges fit the crime, authorities say.
Godfrey was one of several girls who cut themselves with broken light bulbs
while housed in a state juvenile prison in Plankinton.
Her thin arms are still covered with scars, some as thick as cigars. The
girl's family worries she may attempt suicide.
"She asked me ... if we have two lives," said Godfrey's mother, Shirley
Duggan, through tears. "I told her, 'No, honey, we only have just one. ... Please
take care of it.' "
Tribal members say Godfrey's case may be the most egregious example of a
legal system that preys upon tribal members, especially youth.
"There is a double standard of justice, and it's been going on a long time,"
said Jake Thompson, vice-chairman of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe.
Nontribal law enforcement officers scrutinize the actions of Native American
youths more than non-Indian youths, and that constitutes racial profiling,
"I've been told that by my own children, and the court stats will prove that
out," Thompson said.
Statistics are not available to show the numbers of whites and Indians
prosecuted for crimes in Roberts County or elsewhere in the state.
Gov. Bill Janklow commissioned a study of race in the justice system
following a series of complaints that culminated with a meeting of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in Rapid City in December 1999. He criticized the report developed from that session but asked a University of South Dakota political science professor to study the issue. That report is due out this summer.
Thompson used a less-scientific method. Turning to the court page of the
Feb. 26 edition of The Sisseton Courier newspaper, he pointed to the names of
several people convicted in Roberts County courts.
"Indian, Indian, Indian, Indian. They're almost all Indians," he said, his
finger dancing from name to name.
Robert's County State's Attorney Kay Nikolas said she does not file charges
against people based on their race.
"I charge people on the basis of the crimes that they committed," Nikolas
Assault on police
Shirley Duggan called the police for help with her daughter around 2 a.m. on
Adelia Godfrey had been drinking with friends and was suspected of breaking
several windows out of her own home. Her mother later learned that one of
the other youths had broken the windows.
The teen-agers scattered when they saw the police car, but officers found
them nearby and took them to the Roberts County Jail, said Doug Flannery,
Sisseton's chief of police.
"When she found out she was going to be detained, she went ape," Flannery
Godfrey ran from the booking area into a nearby office, grabbed a fire
extinguisher and leaped onto a desk, Flannery said. She threatened to
discharge the extinguisher at the officer - and then did.
"He had to go to the hospital," Flannery said. "He broke out in a rash."
The unnamed officer and a Roberts County deputy sheriff pulled Godfrey from
the desk, handcuffed her and placed her in a restraint chair, Flannery said.
While subduing the 98-pound girl, the officers were kicked, Flannery said.
"She tried to bite the deputy," he said. "And she spit."
Flannery said the two resulting aggravated assault charges, each of which
carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years, were appropriate for the
"When you kick and spit at officers, that's what you get," he said. "My
officer got assaulted, sprayed with the fire extinguisher."
Since Roberts County has no facilities for holding juvenile offenders,
Godfrey was taken to Milbank and lodged in the Grant County Jail.
The Grant County Jail is a two-level, 16-bed facility. It has eight beds on
the ground floor and eight beds in the basement. Grant County doesn't have a
separate unit for minors but keeps juveniles in the basement unit if there
are no adult inmates housed there.
When Godfrey arrived Feb. 9, the only inmates in the jail were six adult
males, housed on the ground floor. She was placed in the basement, a poorly lighted open bay, by herself.
Grant County Sheriff Michael McKernan has a name for the basement unit.
"We call it the dungeon," he said.
Godfrey's new living quarters are damp and dark and smell of mold. There are
no windows, and the two dim bulbs are never turned off. There's no natural
light source and no way to know whether it's day or night.
A camera tracks Godfrey's every move. When she showers, she crouches down
behind a waist-high concrete wall to limit what can be seen of her body on
the television monitor in the dispatch office.
There are no recreation or exercise facilities. Sheriff McKernan said either
he or his only deputy try to take prisoners outside, if time allows. But
Godfrey said her only exercise has been a walk to the squad car while she was being taken to court in Sisseton last week.
McKernan has been sheriff for 12 years. The jail, which he inherited, was
built in 1972. He's tried to commence renovations, but there's no money in the
budget, he said.
"I get the heebie-jeebies when I'm down there," Godfrey said. "It's scary.
The only time I get to talk to anybody is the lunch lady, when I get my meals,
and just for a couple minutes."
The conditions of Godfrey's confinement are worrisome to one juvenile
Marc Schindler is an attorney for the Washington, D.C.-based Youth Law
Center. His firm successfully sued the state and spawned major changes in its
juvenile corrections program after the death of Gina Score at the girls boot camp in Plankinton.
Given Godfrey's history of self-harm, Schindler had a warning for the
state's attorney and law enforcement in Sisseton.
"If the local officials are aware of these conditions and aware of her age
and background, they're putting themselves in serious liability by allowing her
to stay there," Schindler said. "They're facing major liability issues...
"She needs to be moved immediately."
Godfrey's first court appearance last Thursday morning was accompanied by a
small protest outside the courthouse and a Dakota drum group from Agency
Roberts County Sheriff Neil Long led Godfrey into the courtroom. She was
wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and leg shackles.
Thursday was juvenile court day, and the courtroom was full of children and
their families. Circuit Judge Jon Flemmer was halfway through explaining
their constitutional rights when the drum group started outside the courtroom.
Godfrey's 13-year-old sister entered the courtroom carrying one of the
protest signs and was quickly ushered out by Sheriff Long.
The hearing was brief. Godfrey was appointed an attorney and told she would
remain in the Grant County Jail until her next hearing Thursday. There is no
The state's attorney said Godfrey should remain in custody "for her own
protection and the protection of society."
Godfrey's mother told the court that her daughter was not a flight risk
because she was unemployed, had no money and all of her relatives lived in the Sisseton area. "Milbank is cruel and unusual punishment," Duggan told the court. "It doesn't make any sense to me."
Godfrey burst into tears when Flemmer ruled she would be returned to the
Grant County Jail.
In an interview after the hearing, Flemmer said he has seen no evidence of
racial profiling during his time on the bench.
"There isn't anything I've seen in Roberts County that leads me to believe
that law enforcement is out there selecting who they prosecute or arrest," he
said. "It's obvious there may be some societal problems."
Magistrate Judge Tony Portra holds court in Sisseton every Tuesday. Portra's
father is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribe in North
"I would say there's an inordinate amount of Native Americans in court
compared to the percentage of Native Americans in the community," Portra said. "I don't know why. I don't see any evidence of (racial profiling) in court, but I'm not out following the officers around."
Chief Flannery said his officers don't profile by race. "We have a policy
against it," he said.
But Godfrey said Native American youths get labeled by the town's police
and, once labeled, are subjected to harassment.
"We understand the kids that we're having a lot of trouble with, and when
they're around, we keep an eye on them," he said. "But we don't label
'Nothing else I can do'
Shirley Duggan wonders why her daughter faces years in prison when another
teen killed a youth and was charged with only driving while intoxicated. "It's a
double standard," she said.
In August 2000, Justin Redday, a tribal member, was struck and killed on a
rural road by a white teen. A grand jury indicted the driver for vehicular
homicide, but then-State's Attorney Kerry Cameron dismissed the count and
charged the driver in juvenile court with drunken driving.
Cameron lost his job as Robert's County state's attorney to Nikolas in the
November 2000 election. He is now the court-appointed defense attorney for
Roberts County, though he was not given Godfrey's case.
Della Eastman, who founded the Eastern Dakota Chapter of the American Indian Movement in Sisseton, organized protests after Redday was killed. She sat through Godfrey's hearing with Darlene Pipeboy, Godfrey's great-aunt.
"I see the court as being one-sided. There's a dual justice system here,"
Eastman said. "They try (tribal) members differently than non-Indians. I
don't agree with the court's decision."
Pipeboy, a respected elder, also is concerned about the result of the
"The racial profiling offsets the feeling the youth should have that they're
a member of the community," Pipeboy said. "They can't come and go as they
Godfrey was fatalistic about what transpired.
"I have to accept the court's decision," she said. "There's nothing else I
Rose Chase, 66, is one of several of Godfrey's surrogate grandmothers.
"All of this is repetitive," she said. "When I was young, the Indian agents
used to chase me around and bring me home. My mother, who didn't speak
English, worried about me. Eventually, they put me in Plankinton, just like Adelia (Godfrey)."
Said Pipeboy: "The Dakota word for children - wakaneja - means sacred
people. That's how we as a people feel about our youth. But this perspective is not heard in a courtroom, where Indians are looked upon as troublemakers."
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NOAA Teacher at Sea: Karen Rasmussen
Ship: R/V Tattoosh
Geographical area of the cruise: Olympic Coast NMS
Date: June 27, 2011
Cruise to: Port Angeles Harbor
Crew: Nathan Witherly, Karen Rasmussen
Time: Start 10:30 – End 12:2
The first part of mission is to conduct Multibeam mapping and to collect ground-truthings at the LaPush/Teahwhit areas of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. We will also service the OCNM buoy, Cape Alava 42 (CA42). The second week of this mission is to explore the Teahwhit Head moorings, ChaBa and sunken ships, and North and South moorings.
Science and Technology Log
We began this morning at 8:00 a.m. Tatoosh had been dry docked at the Port of Port Angeles to have the multibeam fixed. This mission was to have started last week but had to be postponed because of a small leak in the multibeam. This morning the Tatoosh was lowered into the water to take the measurements in order to check the accuracy of the multibeam. Nathan drove the boat to Hollywood Beach (Port Angeles, WA) so we could help take readings. Rick and Nancy stayed onshore and used a surveyor’s tripod with an optical level. I held the surveyor’s rod and we completed a dynamic draft measurement of the Tatoosh. Rick took 3 readings from each position the Tatoosh was in over approximately two hours. Later Nancy and I entered their data into the Hypack software program. I read the data as she typed it in. We finished and found that our computer software programs are not interfacing with each other.
The HYPAK Program Inc. is Windows-based software created for the hydrographic
and dredging industries. It includes ways to complete surveys, collect data, process it, and generate final products. It can be used on small or large vessels and is also used to collect environmental data.
HYSWEEP is a module of HYPACK and is used with multibeam and side scan sonar. It gives on-the-spot information about the ocean’s bottom condition and data quality from your multibeam devise.
- Depth – Nadir beam depth in survey units (ten units to one foot)
- Time (Event)
- Tide Corrections
- Draft Correction
- Heave (in survey units, positive upward)
- Roll – port side
- Pitch – bow up
- Easting/Northing (Like XY coordination, X= Easting, Y=Northing)
My learning curve is tremendous today and I am extremely tired. Last night I stayed at the Red Lion in Port Angeles. I was up until almost 4 a.m. Apparently, they are having teenager issues. Lots of horn blowing, yelling, and fighting all night long. I am hoping that tonight will be better.
I really enjoyed being part of the team today. Nancy, Rick, and Nathan have been wonderful with answering all of my questions. Some of the questions I’ve been asking must seem so obvious to them, but my knowledge of underwater geography is so limited. Every aspect of this day has been interesting. I am truly amazed at what these people are doing with the limited and older materials they are using.
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When a hazardous spill or an environmental accident happens, WCEC provides effective solutions and dependable remediation. Experienced in petroleum, chemical, fertilizer and hazardous materials, we coordinate and implement resources to provide a quick response to any environmental emergency 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
WCEC holds contracts with states to supply emergency services and to provide spill response to Region 5 of the EPA.
Our Chemical Assistance Team, or CAT, contract with the state of Minnesota has continued since the inception of the program in the mid-1990s. Out of the eleven CAT teams in Minnesota, WCEC is the sole private company that maintains this contract.
Our unique position of being one of a few companies nationwide employing a public sector CAT response team allows us tremendous training, resources and contacts. During a CAT response, WCEC employees have access to all state equipment, such as various precision meters, specialized trucks, boats and trailers.
Our professional staff continues to receive on-site training from top-quality facilities throughout the United States. We are OSHA HazMat certified to handle nuclear, biological and chemical agents including dirty bombs and sarin gas. We are also an OSRO classified contractor by the U.S. Coast Guard.
WCEC employees have full training and have access to all resources that are needed to respond to terrorists and agents of destruction.
We work closely with local units of government, training and assisting fire departments regarding emergency management issues. WCEC also trains government employees at the city and county level and writes and updates All-Hazard Plans at the county level.
WCEC is dedicated to providing quick, reliable service and to preserving public safety.
WCEC is an Equal Opportunity Employer
© 2013 West Central Environmental Consultants. All rights reserved.
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As we move towards the end of the year, like all news sources, we fall back on that classic space filler – the list story. So without further ado, here is the official Behind the Headlines’ Top Five of Top Fives stories of the year.
The top five ‘Good work team!’ stories of the year
We can often get bogged down in pointing out dodgy sub-group analyses, spurious extrapolations of samples sizes containing just four men and a dog and RCTs pointing out the benefits of chocolate on blood pressure that turned out to be funded by a chocolate-making conglomerate. So it's important not to lose sight of the fact that there are many hard-working researchers, producing invaluable work, framed in the best traditions of evidence-based medicine, that does make the world a better place.
Here’s our top five of the year:
These researchers were in it for the long-haul. Over 100,000 women followed over the course of 30 years showed us that there is no such thing as a healthy level of smoking, however the tobacco companies try to spin their brands.
This impressive study, involving thousands of people across Europe, provided conclusive evidence that the tanning industry (worth billions) is causing hundreds of preventable deaths every year – all in the name of vanity. Maybe something should be done?
A useful piece of research, produced by a large team of experts, which provided compelling evidence of the benefits of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in treating depression. CBT is inexpensive, has minimal side-effects, and it works. What’s not to love?
International medical collaboration at its finest. Over 50 geneticists working across the globe, coming together to produce a new “encyclopaedia” detailing how hundreds of different cancer cells respond to anti-cancer agents, with the hope it could lead to personalised cancer treatments.
Unlike some types of complementary and alternative medicine (CAMs), practitioners of evidence-based medicine are more than willing to discuss its flaws and air their dirty washing in public. This intriguing piece of research highlights PR spin, arguably distorting the evidence, which is occurring at all levels – from research teams, to university public relations departments, to mainstream journalists.
The top five ‘Don’t wait up for that call from Stockholm’ stories
All medical research is valuable. It's just that some of it is less valuable than others. And to be honest, we cannot see any of the researchers involved in the following studies picking up the Nobel Prize for Medicine anytime soon.
While this is a well-conducted study, we are unclear what pratical application the information that stressed-out men pefer the larger lady, could have.
A US study made the case that ‘gaydar’ existed. But only in the lab conditions. And for women. And it only worked 65% of the time.
A Swiss study found that people were 14% more likely to die on their birthdays. So we wouldn’t recommend booking your next birthday bash in Zurich.
Californian researchers (who else) found that people exposed to a 60-second advert, containing supposedly 'awe-inspiring' imagery, were slightly more likely to score higher on a niceness survey (but not to donate more money to charity).
Possibly we are jaded – we work in London so our access to awe-inspiring moments is limited.
The top five ‘Call that reporting?’ stories
We look at a lot of health journalism. Some of it excellent, some of it good, some of it downright terrible. Here are our top five examples of the latter:
‘Girls as young as nine are asking for vaginal cosmetic surgery on the NHS – driven by a trend in “pornstar chic”,' Metro has reported. An entirely baseless claim with no evidence to support it.
“Raise cost of parking to force motorists to walk! Nanny watchdog’s plan to get Britain fit” the Daily Mail thundered about NICE guidelines on promoting walking and cycling. Except, NICE only made a suggestion about parking charges and have no legal powers to raise the charges.
“Oral sex is good for women’s health and helps fight depression,” was the Daily Mail’s lurid headline. Except the ‘news’ is based on a 10-year-old study looking at condom use not oral sex.
Using an iPad at night 'could trigger depression', The Daily Telegraph has reported on a study that, er, did not involve iPads, or, er, humans.
"Eating egg yolks is as bad as smoking in speeding up coronary heart disease," the Daily Mail says – possibly, but you are only at any risk in the fairly unlikely event you eat more than 200 egg yolks a year.
The top five ‘science is cool’ stories
Scientists are cool and the science they practice is even cooler. Here are our five coolest stories of the year:
Skin from a can – sweet.
Exciting, proof-of-concept work that may lead to more wide-ranging treatments for vision loss.
Research suggesting humans may have a superhero-like sixth-sense for danger.
Pioneering work in robotics that may eventually transform care for amputees.
Using clever DNA detective work, an Australian researcher claimed that many Chinese medicines contained substances taken from endangered species.
And finally, five burning questions of the year
Does the G-spot exist? – (not sure)
Is 'cuddle chemical' really the new Viagra? – (without Phase 3 trials, nobody has the faintest idea)
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Weather for Bakewell
Thursday 20 June 2013
Temperature: 13 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: East
Temperature: 11 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: West
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Friday, March 8, 2013
Moratorium on Fracking
The New York State Assembly on Wednesday passed a two-year moratorium on fracking, effective until May 15, 2015. Of course, the State Senate must pass similar legislation in order for the moratorium to take effect. Nathan Mayberg has the story in today's Register-Star: "Assembly passes 2-year fracking ban." Our Assembly member, Didi Barrett, supported the ban and is quoted in the article as saying, "You can't go back once you destroy the water system."
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Appreciate the effort Katherine!Sure, it's easy to understand why it takes so long. (I've fumbled at it a bit myself.)Question: What was the tool you were using on the leading edge of the wing, in the first few seconds? It is distinctly different than the needle used for the clouds.Thanks for making the video. BTW, the first of anything is always hard. Your 100th video will be easy.
Thanks! The first tool is a Lindsay Airgraver. The second is a needle in a pin vise. Different points make different shaped dots, and even that teeny difference helps me create the different textures of the objects in a scene.
Thank you so much for sharing this video. You are such an amazing artist.
Holy MACARONI! I finally get the point of what you are doing! Make dots, ink, let dry, wipe away, re-ink, let dry, wipe away and so on until satisfied! Excellent work!-B.Mc.
Okay, another question. Are those fingerless gloves you are wearing? -BMc
Excellent! When you wipe away the excess ink, are you using water or "elbow grease" or a combination of both?
Post a Comment
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LAS VEGAS--Forget Wi-Fi war driving. Now it's war flying.
A pair of security engineers showed up at the Black Hat security conference here to show off a prototype that can eavesdrop on Wi-Fi, phone, and Bluetooth signals: a retrofitted U.S. Army target drone, bristling with electronic gear and an array of antennas.
"Nobody's really looking at this from a threat perspective," said Mike Tassey, a security consultant who works for the U.S. government intelligence community. "There's some pretty evil stuff you can do from the sky."
The term war driving, meaning … Read more
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I was enjoying some Haribo Gold-Bears last night and thinking, “man, Haribo makes by far the best gummy bears.” I even thought to myself that Haribo’s gummy is so superior to all others that it must be the pioneer in gummy candy. So I went to the source of all knowledge and found that not only were my suspicions correct, but that gummy bears have a surprisingly extensive Wikipedia page.
From the Wikipedia: Gummy bear.
According to the Wikipedia, a gummy bear is a “small, rubbery-textured confectionary” that is “roughly two centimeters long” and “shaped in the form of a bear.” The gummy bear is not to be confused with the actor Jason Davis, whose nickname is Gummi Bear, nor the Korean R&B singer Gummy nor the Australasian gummy shark, which is apparently edible but presumably tastes nothing like its sugary namesake.
The gummy bear has its roots in Bonn, Germany, where candy-man Hans Rieger founded the Haribo company and personally crafted the molds used to form bear-shaped fruit-flavored gum that ultimately begat bear-shaped fruit-flavored candy. The Wikipedia is pretty vague on how it all went down though. We know the Dancing Bear gum came out in 1922, under Rieger’s watch. Per the Wikipedia, “[t]he success of the Dancing Bear’s successor would later become Haribo’s world-famous Gold-Bears candy product in 1967.”
That strongly implies a missing link — and a successful one — between the Dancing Bear and the Gold-Bear, but the Wikipedia says nothing else about it. Was it the slow-dissolving gum product I’ve always dreamed of? Maybe, but I’ll never know. As it turns out, the era between 1922 and 1967 was pretty tumultuous in Germany, and no one thought to keep detailed history of bear-shaped candy lineage.
The gummy bear is still popular in Germany today under the name Gummibärchen, which translates to “little rubber bear.” Another German brand, Trolli, started making gummy candy in the wake of Haribo’s success and in 1981 became the first to market gummy worms. Gummy worms, everyone knows, are for cretins.
According to the Wikipedia, there are also gummy rings, frogs, snakes, hamburgers, cherries, sharks, penguins, hippos, lobsters, octopuses, apples, peaches, oranges and even Ampelmännchen. None are necessary.
One intriguing gummy innovation are giant gummy bears. The Wikipedia reports that there exist gummy bears that weigh several kilograms, which would sound pretty intriguing if I could figure out the stupid metric system.
Haribo gummy bears — which are undoubtedly the Babe Ruth of gummy bears, in that they’re both the first popular gummy bear and still to date the best gummy bear — come in five standard flavors: red is raspberry, orange is orange, yellow is lemon, pineapple is clear, and, oddly, green is strawberry. Some newer brands offer dumber flavors, like the Apricot Green Tea gummy pandas I bought at the airport gift shop not long ago for like five bucks.
Gummy bears are made from sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar, food coloring and gelatin. Because of the gelatin, they’re often not kosher or halal. Who knew? Maybe you did. Sorry. I guess I’m just drawn to pork products. Turns out Haribo does make halal Gold-Bears from bovine gelatin in its factory in Turkey, though.
Gummy bears have been linked to health problems like tooth decay and mad cow disease, but now they make gummy bears with multivitamins and cavity-fighting xylitol. The Wikipedia says gummy bears are one of the only candies to inspire a television show, and to the Wikipedia’s credit, I can’t think of any others. Gummy bears have also inspired a virtual novelty band and song and album and associated meme.
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Role of the CIO 2002By Terry Kirkpatrick | Posted 04-15-2002
Role of the CIO 2002
For years, CIOs have been told to be businesspeople as well as technologists. Our first survey on the role of the CIO finds that they no longer need reminding. Although most come from IT backgrounds, they have the mentality and often the experience of businesspeople. That's not to say that all IT executives are strategists. Strategy is critical for CIOs in large companies, but CIOs in smaller companies and IT executives below the CIO level are still primarily problem solvers. We also found a CIO skills gap: Many admit to needing improvement in the most important skills CIOs need to succeed, including business understanding, leadership ability and communications skills.
Among the survey's surprises: IT execs feel technology savvy is only a minimal requirement for the job, and recruiting and retaining IT talentuntil recently a dominant issuerarely registers as one of the top priorities. The same is true for maximizing revenues or improving customer service. In addition, being a strategic thinker is considered a critical attribute by IT execs at about 40% of large companies, but by just 21% at smaller firms.
We also found that the average IT executive has many years of experience in fields other than IT, and many have substantial international experience. And contrary to the techie stereotypes, more appear to be extroverts, not introverts. Technology still takes up more than half of their time, but not much more; IT executives devote a substantial portion of their working lives to business issues.
CIOs were once the consummate corporate insiders, focused on internal systems, internal customers and internal IT staff. But today's CIOs are out in the wider world, doing work that has more in common with a secretary of state than a systems developer. Just ask David Shea. As the CIO of Imerys SA, a global mining and manufacturing company, Shea recently spent two weeks in Frankfurt, Germany, meeting with the IT staff of a local operating unit. His job today he says, requires not only his technical expertise, but his people and leadership skills as well. "We not only encountered cultural issuesthings like language and vacation practices that differ country by countrybut we had to work with local operations that are accustomed to being autonomous," Shea says.
CIOs are being asked to confront a much wider range of issues today, many that extend past the technical and into the economic, political and even social areas of business. At times, the job can resemble that of a political office, with constituencies that are often far-flung.
The shift to a more global approach to IT management is evident, and Shea is not the only CIO whose passport is seeing action. More than half of CIOs in large companies have held international responsibilities. Jack Cooper, now a consultant, traveled abroad often as CIO at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. for seven years and prior to that at Joseph E. Seagram & Sons Inc. for six years. "There are cultural differences, country by country," he says. "And there are cultural differences in the U.S., state by state. There are cultural differences within an enterprise, from sales to manufacturing to research. A good CIO can adapt to those differences. The key is to be able to put yourself in the shoes of the other person and to look at the problem from his perspective."
With overseas units and a host of other constituencies to keep happymanagement, IT staff, customers and othersthe CIO of 2002 resembles a gladiator now vying in a much more complex political arena. In school, Gregory Coan, vice president and CIO at Textainer Equipment Management (U.S.) Ltd., majored in political science and history, and every day, he says, he uses the skills he learned in those disciplines. "The number-one skill is the ability to communicate, but also how to think critically and write well. We could stand to have fewer computer science majors and more social science majors as CIOs, because of the people skills, the ability to use rhetoric, to establish positions and sell them. Part of your job is being a salesperson. The success of any endeavor is ultimately perception. You have to win the hearts and minds of end-users and make them believe it was their idea."
Of all the attributes a CIO needs, our respondents rated leadership and communication among the most critical. "A lot of the CIOs out there are trying to improve these skills," says Anton Hios, who runs a Giga Information Group Inc. program for CIOs. Interest in this among his members has been growing steadily for several years, he says, because their nontechnical advice is increasingly sought at the executive level in such matters as how the company can be more innovative, build better strategic alliances, even make decisions about facilities. "CIOs probably deal with more people across the whole organization than other executives," he says.
Our respondents rated business understanding as the most important attribute, technical acumen the least. "We find lots of CIOs who don't come from technical backgrounds," says Ellen Kitzis, group vice president for executive programs at Gartner Inc. "They're transferred from business units where they've proved their skills as business executives. The role of communication and financial management is as important as technology management. We assume a good business leader can find the right technical talent and put it in the right place."
Given the increasing complexity of their roles, it's not surprising that six in 10 of our respondents think their jobs are more difficult than a year ago. "Yes, it's gotten harder," says Mark Endry, senior vice president and CIO at J.D. Edwards & Co. in Denver. "As companies use more technology just to run the company, technology becomes a must-have and not a nice-to-have24x7 is required, it's not an option. You could come in under budget this afternoon and something somewhere goes down tonight and erases all your brownie points. You never get a break. Cost and budget pressures are always there."
Few respondents ranked cost-cutting as a top priority. This, Coan says, may reflect the fact that CIOs see cost-containment as a given, "as the price of admissioncost control is always an issue."
"I'm surprised costs don't get more attention from the CIOs. Don't they get it?" says Dudley Cooke, CEO of Ardmore, Pa.-based consulting firm Liberty Business Strategies Ltd. Cooke is a former CIO and now heads up The Conference Board's Council of CIO Executives. "The big pressure I see today is that the CEO is concerned with costs."
Perhaps, Kitzis says, they see costs as only half the equation. "Simply being a cost reducer isn't being seen as an effective executive. You have to deliver valuefor example, introducing a new business process to support a marketing initiative, while holding costs down."
One thing that seems to have eased is the recruitment and retention problem. "Things have settled down and become a lot more reasonable," Coan says.
"Recruiting talent right now isn't a top priority," Kitzis says, "although they continue to have the problem of finding the right skills." And, she says, CIOs are increasingly looking for untraditional people, from marketing and communications, for example, who can work with the business units and market IT within the company.
Given all the issues before them, however, our respondents seem to relish their work; only a tiny percentage see themselves in a future role away from technology.
"I'll always be staying close to technology," Endry says. Shea agrees: "I'm having so much fun I don't know that I want to shake it."
They're on to something, Cooper says. The next big thing is bridging information systems across the enterprise, from supplier to customer. "This is going to take a lot of infrastructure and IT systems, but it has enormous payoffs," he says. "It's going to be big. This is a very exciting time to be a CIO."
The results are available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. To download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader plug-in, click here.
A CIO's Role
Conclusion 01: Background
The typical CIO reports to the CEO, and earned his or her most advanced college degree in business rather than computer science. Still, most CIOs are career technologists. The majority have risen through the IT ranks, have twice as many years in IT than in business roles, andespecially in large companiescame from another IT position. Given that "technology acumen" is the least important of the 13 personal attributes we ranked, it suggests that most CIOs have outgrown their technology backgrounds.
The IT execs in our survey maintain high positions on the corporate ladder. Most respondents, 64%, are the top IT executives in their companies, and 82% are in a centralized IT group. Of our CIOs (defined as the top IT executive in a company or business unit), 58% report to the CEO and another 38% report to the COO or CFO. Fifty-six percent of all respondents report on a dotted-line basis to the CEO, CFO or COO.
CIOs are more likely to have advanced degrees and business diplomas than other IT executives: Forty-nine percent of CIOs have a master's or Ph.D., compared with 40% of other IT executives, while for business degrees the figures are 49% and 32%, respectively.
IT execs have climbed the IT organization ladder: They were in IT positions immediately before their current job 75% of the time (69% for CIOs). The lion's share of their IT experience is as an IT exec (30%) or IT manager (29%).
CIOs have considerable IT experience. They have been in the IT department for a mean of 15 years16 for large companies, 14 for smaller firms. CIOs on average have 8 years of experience in fields other than the IT department; this includes CIOs whose last position was in a non-IT role.
Of the 25% of IT executives whose last job was in a non-IT position, 26% held director positions and 21% were vice presidents of a business unit or division, with only 8% holding another CXO position such as CEO or COO. As for functional area backgrounds, of those coming from non-IT positions, 20% came from finance, with operations and consulting each at 14%.
Many IT executives have international experience. A surprising 44% of IT executives have had substantial international responsibilities, with 37% having actually worked overseas.
Conclusion 02: CIO Skills
There's a gap between the skills IT execs need and those they actually have. IT execs say their jobs require business understanding, leadership ability and communications skills. Yet they rate their own skills in these areas much lower than the value they place on these abilities. And a related attribute, interpersonal skills, ranks extremely low on the lists. There is no skills gap in more traditional IT capabilities: IT execs feel they have stronger analytical skills and technical acumen than the job demands. Strategic thinking proves to be an attribute more likely found in larger company IT executives.
The most important skills are where we find the largest IT exec skills gapthe difference between how many place high importance on a particular personal quality, and how many claim to possess it. Forty-five percent rate business understanding as important, but just 32% claim to have it. With leadership ability, the figures are 45% and 37%; with communications skills, 37% and 26%.
IT execs have years of IT experience, but consider technological acumen the least critical attribute to have, at 9%. Integrity and interpersonal skills were cited as important by 10% and 11%, respectively.
Large companies have strategists, smaller ones have problem solvers as IT executives. Being a strategic thinker is a much higher requirement in a larger company, at 40% versus 21% in small firms. Smaller companies require problem solvers 31% versus 14% in larger, and analytical ability in 19% of companies, versus 9% in larger ones.
The Myers-Briggs profile of the respondents counters the traditional "tech geek" image. (The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a well-researched analytical tool for assessing personality types along several axes: Extraversion/Introversion, Sensing/Intuition, Thinking/Feeling and Judging/Perceiving.) Of the 66% of respondents who know their type, 53% report themselves to be extroverts. The most likely Myers-Briggs types for the sample are INTJ (introvert-intuition-thinking-judging) and ENTJ (extrovert-intuition-thinking-judging), together totaling 37%. These are types commonly found in people who devise strategy, establish plans and direct others.
Conclusion 03: Roles and Tasks
The priorities of a CIO are a mix of everything from high-level strategy setting to simply watching costs. But CIOs who report to the CEO differ from other IT executives in two significant ways: Their corporate role is more centered on business issues, yet they are far less likely to focus on aligning IT with the business. It may be that the reporting relationship has helped to create, or is a sign of, a better aligned IT function.
IT executives say their role has changed from last year. Sixty-seven percent say they are becoming more focused on business needs, 57% on creating strategy, and probably due to tough economic times, 66% on budgets and cost-cutting. The additional focus on business needs is especially true for CIOs who don't report to CEOs, where the 67% figure jumps to 77%.
Technology has just a slight edge over business when it comes to how IT execs spend their time. On average, they devote about 57% of their work hours on the former, and 44% on the latter.
IT execs feel strategy and alignment are their raison d'etre. Primary roles include determining technology strategy (65%), proactively aligning IT with the needs of the business (55%) and leveraging technology for business advantage (49%). Least important roles include overseeing outsourcers (2%), overseeing major technology vendors (2%) and responding to the needs of business units (18%), though it's not clear with this last if IT execs perceive such response as fighting fires or as partnering with their business constituents.
Our respondents admit, however, that their bosses want them to focus more on other nonstrategic concerns. Determining technology strategy and leveraging technology for business advantage don't rate as high but still top the list, at 56% and 42%, respectively. But operational concerns score higher: Managing costs increases 15 percentage points to 35%, and managing systems rises to 32%. For CIOs reporting to the CEO, advising top executives on using technology jumps to second place, at 46%.
Alignment plays a bigger role for CIOs who don't report to the CEO than those who do. Forty percent of CIOs reporting elsewhere say their boss expects them to proactively align IT with the business, compared with only 25% of those with a CEO as their direct supervisors. This is confirmed by the response to a separate question on current priorities, which also found that aligning IT is a top priority for 52% of CIOs who don't report to CEO, versus just 33% of those who do.
Conclusion 04: Priorities and Compensation
CIOs haven't changed their major prioritiesa mixture of high strategy and low-level supervisionsince last year. This mix of priorities seems in large part connected to how they're evaluated and paid. Compensation clearly explains why understanding and contributing to business strategy ranks as a top priority.
Top priorities for last year were a mix of the strategic and tactical, including aligning IT with the business (41%), ensuring major projects were successfully completed on time and on budget (31%), and developing strategies to leverage new technology (31%). Least important were maximizing revenue (4%) and leadership development (7%).
In another indication that business focus is related to reporting relationship, 17% of CIOs reporting to the CEO say maximizing revenue is a top priority, versus 5% for those who don't.
IT executives are primarily evaluated on their contribution to achieving business strategy (35%), operational performance (25%), and interaction with their peers and superiors (13%). Seventy-one percent say they're eligible for a performance-based bonus this year, based on company financial performance (51%), overall company performance (38%), and completing projects on time and under budget (32%).
Conclusion 05: Tenure and Direction
For CIOs, reporting to the CEO doesn't just provide prestigeit correlates with greater longevity and perhaps company loyalty. These CIOs have held their job longer but spent fewer years as CIO at other companies. CIOs typically log more than 15 years in the IT department and, despite saying the job is getting tougher, seem eager to remain CIOs.
The old myth that CIOs last just 18 months in their jobs is just thata myth. The mean tenure in their current role is 4.3 years, increasing slightly for those reporting to the CEO to 4.9 years. And the mean time spent in their current role, be it at their current company or another, is 7.1 years. Seen another way, 65% of those who report to the CEO have been in their job three years or more, but only 47% of those who don't report to the CEO can make the same claim.
CIOs reporting to the CEO have spent fewer years being a CIO at other companies than those who don't2.1 years versus 3.5 years.
Most CIOs want to stay CIOs. Staying put rates 42%, while becoming CIO at another company rated 14%. Only 6% want to start their own company, 4% want to be a CEO, and a mere 2% want to be a consultant.
Only 31% of CIOs have a written succession plan for themselves.
Sixty percent of IT executives say their job has gotten harder over the past year; the need to accomplish more at lower cost may well have contributed to that. But today's CIOs seem well prepared for the task, and aren't shying away from the burden. It seems that the old debateshould CIOs come from IT or businesshas been resolved, and the answer is "both." Most CIOs are IT veterans with at least 15 years of experience in technology and substantial experience in technology management roles. But they also have many years of experience with other fields, and 41% claim solid international experience. IT executives who wish to thrive should improve their leadership and communications capabilities, boost their knowledge of the business and pay more attention to cutting costs. IT executives would do well to look at their own skills, the requirements of their jobs, their incentives and the expectations of their bosses, and work to ensure that all of these are as much in alignment as possible.
How the survey was done: CIO Insight designed this survey in partnership with Survey.com, a San Jose, Calif.-based supplier of custom research services. CIOs, chief technology officers, and vice presidents of information technology and services gathered from a number of sources, including third-party lists and other Ziff Davis Media publications, were invited to participate in the study by e-mail. The questions were posted on a password-protected Web site, and 305 executives with these titles responded from Feb. 5 to Feb. 11, 2002.
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I’ve been working with Dr. Lisa Lenhart for about 6 years at the University of Akron. She gave me a start as a graduate assistant back in the 2004-2005 school year, as I was working on my principal’s license, and I’ve hung around ever since. Lisa has opened up a lot of doors for me, and I have the utmost respect for her as an educator, a professional and a person. She’s currently working on revising one of her textbooks, Reading and Learning to Read, and I received the following email from her about a week ago.
Would any of you be willing to ask your kids these questions and give me their quotes back? I’m working on my book revision and we’re going to put student voices in……..I won’t use their names. Any responses at all would help. Thank you so much,
How does (or did) your teacher teach you to read?
List three things you know about good readers.
What do you dislike about reading in school?
Tell me about a time someone had to read out loud and they weren’t very good…..
If you could be in charge, what would you use to teach kids to read?
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BROOKINGS, S.D. — The fishin' must be getting better in Brookings.
That could be one assumption, judging from the fact that the city's own "fish plant," Prairie AquaTech, needs more room to grow at the Brookings Research and Technology Center. Brookings City Council last week inked a new lease with the startup fish-food company, effectively doubling its space in the city-owned research center on 32nd Avenue.
The brainchild of a pair of South Dakota State University scientists, Mike Brown and Bill Gibbons, Prairie AquaTech produces aquaculture feed by converting plant-based materials such as soybeans and dried distillers' grain — an ethanol byproduct — into high-quality and highly concentrated protein. In manufacturing the product, the company uses proprietary, microbial-based processes developed by the research team.
The company's food replaces expensive fish meal in fish-farm feeding operations.
Prairie AquaTech will be one of the first tenants of the new ag technology center to be built in the Telkamp Industrial Park, but the operation needs additional room now as the company begins to ramp up for commercial production.
The extra space will be used by the researchers in the development and testing of their feed formulations.
Prairie AquaTech is currently subleasing space at the R&T Center from the SDSU Foundation, but this week the council approved an additional 1,568 square feet of space for the new company. It also OK'd a revised lease with the SDSU Foundation that will permit Prairie AquaTech to become primary lessee for half of the foundation's research center space.
The changes mean Prairie Aquatech will occupy a total of 3,142 square feet in the Swiftel-area research building.
Prairie AquaTech will pay $7.50 per square foot for its space, according to the terms in its new lease. That amounts to just under $2,000 a month, or $24,000 per year.
The agreement with the city runs on a month-to-month basis for three years; however, councilors were advised that Prairie AquaTech should be ready to move its facilities into the new ag technology center within the next 12 months.
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From Crop To Cup: A Journey Through Coffee, People & The Planet
Crop To Cup is an exploration of the role that coffee plays everyday. Few other commodities have the ripple effect that coffee does. From the moment we pay for, grind, brew, and consume coffee, we are shaping the world we live in. Crop To Cup is about illustrating those connections.
Led on this journey by Mark Pendergrast, be prepared to learn a thing or two about the most popular beverage in the world.Mark Pendergrast is the author of Uncommon Grounds, among numerous other books.
This special features interviews and guests that play a role at all levels of coffee’s supply chain. Grab a cup, and get educated on the importance of this little bean – or is it?
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It's kinda hard to tell your husband and colleagues back home that it's difficult to write while on assignment for Sport Diver when the view from your office, whilst sitting on a comfy bench on the deck of the luxury crewed yacht My Ann, looks like this image at right. And yes, expressions like whilst, mate and "isn't it lovely?" begin to creep into your everyday vocabulary when you are in the British Virgin Islands located east of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean.
Add "bloody awesome" to that list too. The BVI consist of the main islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada, and Jost Van Dyke, along with more than 50 other smaller islands and cays. About 15 of the islands are inhabited. The capital, Road Town, is on Tortola, the largest island, which is approximately 12 miles long and three miles wide. The islands have a population of about 27,800, of whom approximately 23,000 live on Tortola. The island is easy to manage, especially if you can get the hang of driving on the left, unexpected speed bumps, hairpin, steep curving coastal roads in the hilly parts, chickens and goats popping out in front of you, and everyone and his brother passing you because you are definitely driving like a tourist. We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto, that's for sure.
July is a perfect time to visit the islands as it's the slow season. It's a wee bit hot — OK, more than a wee bit during the afternoon — but the water is calm and decently clear, the dive boats are uncrowded and unhurried, and you'll find yourself all alone at any of the scores of dive sites clustered around the islands, except for perhaps the Rhone, a beauty of a wreck that's always popular. But more on that dive when we make two tanks on her later in the week.
Today, we're diving with Sail Caribbean Divers located in Hodges Creek Marina on Tortola (they also have locations on Cooper Island and Norman Island). Along with other local dive operators, Sail Caribbean Divers supports BVI ecosystems by participating annually in Reef Check. Reef Check was established in 1996 as a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of aquatic ecosystems. It is recognized as the United Nations official community based reef-monitoring program.
The Reef Check program works by volunteers laying transect lines at specific sites and surveying the indicator species on the site each year. Divers head underwater to record, among other things, invertebrates, substrate types, fish, as well as instances of reef damage or disease.The quantity, size and distribution of each indicator species are noted so that the information can be compared to previous years' records. The data not only gives a snapshot of how the reef is doing currently, but also provides a long-term overview of the site to help with future planning. For more information about this program, check out Sail Caribbean's website.
Today, we headed to Thumb Rock and Vanishing Rock, two dive sites off Cooper Island. We make the first tank on Thumb Rock aka as Red Bluff Point. The topography is a lot like many of the dive sites in the BVI, ledges and patch reefs. We circumnavigate the large boulder-like pinnacle and see tons of trumpetfish and plenty of other reef tropicals, from parrotfish to grunts and snappers. You'll want a macro lens on your camera to explore all the nooks and crannies on the pinnacle.
Vanishing Rock is where we make our second dive — the site is aptly named; in the briefing, the divemaster points out the pinnacle just barely visible above the waterline and says, "Now you see it," and when a wave washes over it, adds, "Now you don't." This shallow reef is sometimes undiveable due to current; this morning, conditions are perfect. It's packed with nesting sergeant majors, males guarding their purple patches of eggs and furiously and earnestly swimming up to your mask to keep you away.
It's after these two lovely dives that we make the transfer to The Moorings yacht My Ann. Our crew, Dusty and Andy, are wonderful and this is an expertly run operation. Wait til you see what we have for breakfast tomorrow. This afternoon, after a light lunch of meats, cheese and fruit, we set sail for Benure Bay off Norman Island. Pinch me. I honestly can't believe I'm here.
For help planning your trip and to learn more about the British Virgin Islands, go to the BVI Tourism website.
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On Thursday, February 18, Cortney Harris, Jeffrey Waldorff and Mrs. Marie Granger traveled to the state capitol in Tallahassee for CTE day on the hill.
CTE stands for Career and Technical Education. They, along with many other groups from around Florida, set up their displays, and explained their organization and plans to many observers and state legislators. As the State legislators came around, we were able to explain to them the importance of Family and Consumer Science classes and FCCLA in today’s school curriculum.
One of our National Officers for FCCLA, Jessica Hagood, also from Florida, was on hand to talk to the legislators. We also had students from Ponce De Leon High School come and help support the group. Two of our state officers, Kelsey Livesly and Kendra Bennett, were also there.
We all had a great time as we got to meet many of the State Legislators and learn about many of the other groups from around Florida.
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New Jury Plaza Helping With Turnout
November 29, 2011
by: KUHF Staff
District Clerk Chris Daniel says it's always been a struggle to get people to show up for jury duty, but the new Jury Plaza downtown has made it a bit easier. Over the past four months, the average jury turnout rate is up 5-percent. Sometimes it's a lot better than that.
"You can see it for yourself as people are filing in to the jury assembly building downtown. Whereas in some cases we would only have 600 people show up and we needed 1,000 for the day, now we're having 1,100-plus show up for those same jury calls just to give you orders of magnitude."
Photos taken June 21, 2011 by Gail Delaughter
Daniel says more jurors showing up for service means the county is saving money.
"What that helps out with is the bottom line, is saving taxpayer dollars. Because what happens is is that as we have more people show up to jury service, we're able to predict, then we can send fewer notices and as we send fewer notices, that not only saves on cost of personnel to go through the database and so forth. It also saves on paper, postage and time."
The new Jury Plaza opened in July and features free Wi-Fi service, recharging stations, a snack bar and more comfortable seating.
podcast feed: > KUHF News
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Back To Packing List
Gear Advice: First Aid Kit (Small)
A good first aid kit is essential to a pack trip, but knowing how to use it, and how to deal with medical emergencies is even more important. Make sure that someone in your group has some experience with this as getting hurt in the back country can easily turn into a major problem.
The spall or personal first aid kit may include is really for every day issues including splinters, blisters, aches & pains, burns, etc.
When on North Manitou Island, the ranger gave a good talk explaining how things you do every day at home could become life threatening on the island. He gave a story about a pickup game of baseball done using sticks and rocks. You can imagine the rest. When something like that happens miles from the road, out of cell coverage, 911 is not an option. Play it safe when on the trail.
I run the REI's "Hikers first aid kit", and have included a number of extra medications (lots of Ibuprofen), Band-Aid Blister Block Cushions, second skin, various ointments, etc.
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The National Science Foundation (NSF) issued final policies in the July 11, 1995 Federal Register that relate to award conditions and revised requirements for proposal submission in order to insure that institutions maintain written and enforced policies on investigator conflicts of interest. This policy change was effective October 1, 1995.
The policies outline the following institutional responsibilities:
- Have a written policy regarding conflicts of interest.
- Designate one or more persons to review financial disclosures and conflict of interest issues.
- Effect adequate enforcement mechanisms and responses.
- Maintain records of disclosures and conflict resolutions for three years or until the resolution of any NSF action involving those records, whichever is longer.
- Certify that identified conflicts of interest will be managed, reduced or eliminated prior to the Institution's expenditure of any funds under the award.
The Institution certifies that we have implemented and are managing a written policy on conflicts of interest consistent with the provisions of Grant Policy Manual Section 510; that, to the best of our knowledge, all financial disclosures required by the conflict of interest policy were made; and that actual or potential conflicts of interest, if any, were, or prior to funding the award, will be satisfactorily managed, reduced or eliminated prior to the expenditure of funds on this award in accordance with the Institution's conflict of interest policy, or disclosed to NSF.The following certification by all Co-Principal Investigators is required by signing the Green Sheets of submitted proposals.
I certify that I have read and understand the Institution's conflict of interest policy. To the best of my knowledge, I have made all appropriate financial disclosures and will comply with any conditions required by the Institution to manage, reduce or eliminate actual or potential conflicts of interest.
The NSF policies outline the following responsibilities for individuals who are responsible for the design, conduct, or reporting of research or educational activities funded or proposed for funding by NSF:
- They must disclose to WHOI significant financial interests that exceed $10,000 income or 5% equity, including the aggregate financial interests of spouse and children, in any entity whose financial interest would be affected by research funded by NSF. Note that a "significant financial interest" for equity is defined as being 5% or more OR any equity position whose reasonable fair market value is $10,000 or more.
- Disclosures are to be made prior to submission of the proposal to NSF. Disclosures must also be updated during the period of the award, either on an annual basis, or when new or reportable significant financial interests are obtained. Note that NSF will require institutions and investigators involved in large ongoing projects to provide the required certifications for all continuing grant applications exceeding $1,000,000 at the time of the first funding increment that occurs after October 1, 1995.
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Pensacola, FL (PRWEB) January 01, 2013
Steve Ames knows what it’s like to struggle, having grown up in abject poverty in rural Iowa, and his hard-earned lessons in building wealth from “less than nothing” may inspire readers looking for hope, resolution, and guidance in the New Year. Ames made his fortune in real estate, but he’s the antithesis of a slick, Donald Trump style mogul. In fact, he began by “buying shacks on a shoe-string,” and his new book, “Scavenge Your Way to Wealth” from Indigo River Publishing, explains exactly how he did it.
Ames is, in many ways, the embodiment of a Horatio Alger rags-to-riches success story, and he claims that readers can make that transition as well, regardless of their circumstances, “All with sweat equity in the beginning; and all with scavenged labor, scavenged purchases, and scavenged materials,” just as he did. Ames learned the art of “scavenging” at an early age, as his impoverished family often resorted to “dumpster diving” for hidden treasures. Those early experiences influenced the philosophies and strategies that would ultimately make him a wealthy man.
We live in an ever-shifting economic environment, of course, and Ames’ book promises to detail “the new rules in real estate investing” – but he’s adamant that his strategies will work in any economy. As evidence, he notes that he’s been using the same basic strategies for decades now, and that steady growth throughout various economic climates has taken him from that initial shack to ownership of hundreds of properties.
He’s ready to pass these strategies on through his book, and he says emphatically that, “You don’t have to go into a bank and ask for $20,000 or $40,000. You can literally start with pennies, and that’s one of my main messages.” For readers still scraping up pennies heading into the New Year, it may be a welcome message indeed.
For more information on “Scavenge Your Way to Wealth” visit http://www.indigoriverpublishing.com.
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The DA52 is the newest twin engine airplane from Diamond Aircraft powered by two Austro Engine 180 hp turbo-diesel engines, AE300E.
The maiden flight was performed by Christian Dries (Chairman) and Ingmar Mayerbuch (Head of Flight Test).
Our DA52 is designed to carry up to seven people. At 02:30 local time Wiener Neustadt take off was performed with a gross weight of 1,780 kg. With five knots headwind the take off roll was less than 300 m without flaps. Landing gear was retracted and initial climb rate stabilized at 1,700 fpm. The new flagship of Diamond continued its climb to 12,000 ft in less than nine minutes with 120 kts (IAS). Cruising speed was gradually increased to 190 kts (TAS) which was the limit of the authorized envelope, but we may see a lot more. No abnormalities occurred during the one hour flight test.
Christian Dries after the flight: “This is the best prototype aircraft I have ever made a maiden flight with and the performance exceeded all my expectations. I’m very proud of my team headed by Managing Director Manfred Zipper who realized this program in less than six months.”
Watch the DA52 maiden flight video.
Anita Lentsch, BA
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With more than 280 million active users, Twitter remains one of the top social networks in terms of global engagement. Twitter has become the go-to source for microblogging – short bursts of rapid fire communication that allow us to connect with friends, colleagues and others.
But Twitter remains misunderstood by many Americans despite its impressive growth; there can be a steep learning curve when someone first begins tweeting, and many people become “Twitter quitters” at some point – either leaving behind an inactive account or closing their account entirely.
Then there are those of us who spend time on Twitter every day – keeping up with industry trends, following thought leaders, or just chatting about any subject under the sun. What is it about Twitter that’s allowed it to grow into one of the leading social networks? This post will explore that question and consider Twitter’s positioning in the future of social.
Blue bird takes flight
Twitter has seen tremendous growth in its nearly seven years of existence. The San Francisco-based company was created in March 2006 by entrepreneur and developer Jack Dorsey. Its allure is simple – a broadcasting channel where you can communicate with text messages up to 140 characters known as “tweets.” Twitter also allows you to easily share media such as photos and videos. The format allows for anything from mindless chatter to political debates to discussions about the next big thing in business.
Today the blue Twitter bird logo is among the most well-known among social networks (perhaps second only to Facebook). And the network is where many of us go to discuss just about anything in real time – from the Super Bowl to the Grammys.
Twitter allows you to follow people and businesses that interest you, and you in turn can be followed by anyone with an account (under the default privacy setting). Some of us love to use Twitter to communicate, while others would rather use Twitter mainly as a listening tool. If you’re interested in monitoring a particular subject like SEO or marketing, you can create a customized Twitter list that allows you to follow up to 500 feeds that you select.
While Twitter offers some great opportunities for marketers, we need to be smart in how we use the channel for business. People who use the network regularly are able to detect blatant salesmanship from a mile away – and we don’t like it; instead, you need to be genuine and give others a reason to listen. You need to spend the time to actually set up an account that describes you as a person (if you represent a business, be upfront about your affiliation) and you need to actively engage your audience. If you’re a marketing manager, you should encourage and guide your employees in working together to help your company build an influential brand on Twitter.
No longer second, but still a force
Google+ has passed Twitter as the second-largest social network, which probably isn’t surprising given Google’s resources and its determination to beat Facebook at its own game. So where does this leave Twitter?
Twitter is still in a strong position because it often represents our second screen as we go about activities like watching television. Millions of Americans love to tweet while they’re watching sports (and numerous teams have adopted hashtags to encourage discussion) to share their observations about that missed call or incredible shot. Television programs like Survivor regularly show hashtags that encourage viewers to discuss certain aspects of an episode. In this sense, Twitter taps into our sense of community – our desire to feel connected to those who feel passionate about the same things we’re passionate about, whether that’s sports, politics, technology, or religion.
Anyone interested in politics has no doubt noticed the sea change in how social media – and Twitter in particular – has been incorporated into news reporting and the overall discussion of unfolding political trends or events. It’s become the best real-time communication tool to discuss everything from the State of the Union address to Sen. Rubio’s sip of water during his response.
So, what are your thoughts about Twitter? How do you use the network, and how do you see it fitting into the future of social?
Need help setting up your Twitter account? Download our guide to Increasing Conversions with Social Media.
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Journal entries relating to "Roswell"
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Over the past 6 weeks 5,387 people signed a petition asking for disclosure of the government’s knowledge of and communications with ETs. 12,078 signed a request that the White House formally acknowledge that extraterrestrial intelligence is engaging with the human race. Last week, the White House responded, saying that there was no evidence...
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Last week, the Australian government announced that it has "lost" its UFO files. Thus it joins the United States, which "lost" all the files relating to the Roswell AFB dating from 1947 through 1952, and the United Kingdom, which recently announced that it has "lost" all the files relating to the Rendlesham...
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Last week the FBI released a series of memos covering UFOs and government reaction to them. Among these is one that is truly extraordinary, to the FBI Director from an agent called Guy Hottel that states unequivocally that three "flying saucers," each containing three small humanoid bodies, were recovered by the US Air Force in...
Sunday, March 6, 2011
The announcement yesterday that the British National Archives had lost all of the intelligence reports on the Rendlesham Forest UFO incident was chillingly similar to the announcement by the American General Accounting Office in 1995 that essentially all of the records from the Roswell Air Base covering the years of the Roswell Incident...
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FREE: Future of Rural Energy in Europe Initiative
CAH is the lead organisation in the south east for this three year national energy advice programme supported by Calor Gas Limited. The programme, primarily for rural communities that do not have mains gas, will provide independent information and advice about fuel choices, energy efficient technologies and carbon reduction measures, helping to reduce energy consumption and fuel costs. Increasing fuel costs and limited fuel supply options available in off mains gas areas can lead to some households experiencing difficulties paying to keep warm.
In year one, we are concentrating on three areas – off-grid villages in Test Valley, Basingstoke and Hart districts. Working with organisations, community groups and other bodies we plan to attend events and arrange activities in the villages in order to give out information, provide advice and signpost on to more specialist advisers if necessary.
We would be interested in hearing from anyone in one of the above areas who would be interested in us coming to talk to a group about the project or would like us to have a stand – for example, at an event in the village hall or at a luncheon club.
CAH is supported in this initiative by the sponsor, Calor Gas Ltd, and by National Energy Action.
If you would like more information about this project or would like to discuss us having a presence at your village event or group please email or phone:
Jo Dixon 01962 857354
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Beijing: China would support the Dalai Lama's successor as long as his selection conforms with its laws, historical rules and the will of the Tibetan people, a top leader of the ruling CPC has said.
Reacting to the Dalai Lama's comments hinting that his successor would don the role of only a religious head for Tibetans and not of a political leader, Xu Zhitao, who is with the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, said the Dalai's role as political leader ended in 1959, the year he left for India on self-exile.
Xu told state-run Global Times that the central government revoked the Dalai's role as political leader of Tibetans after the "democratic reform of Tibet" in 1959.
"It's ridiculous for the Dalai Lama to say he changed the centuries-old tradition, because the tradition was already changed in 1959," Xu said.
At the same time, he said the Chinese government "will definitely support the Dalai Lama's successor if he or she is selected according to Chinese laws and historical rules, and the Tibetan people's will."
The 77-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader said in his address to the Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi on Wednesday that till last year he held the dual position of political and spiritual head of the Tibetans before he transferred all powers to the "Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government-in- Exile".
"I am in a semi-retirement position. I changed a tradition which has been there for four centuries. What was started by the fifth Dalai Lama was ended by 14th Dalai Lama i.e. Me. I am happy and proud," he had said.
The succession for the Dalai could become a politically explosive issue as China is currently grappled with unrest in Tibet in the wake of over 50 self immolations in recent months against the Chinese rule and for the return of the Dalai Lama.
The situation in Tibet assumed significance as the CPC leadership headed by President Hu Jintao -- who critics say followed a hard-line policy towards Tibet ruling out any political concessions -- is set to change.
The Dalai in his recent comments had said that Vice President Xi Jinping, officially projected as the one to succeed Hu, could be more flexible.
The 18th Congress of the CPC, likely to be held in the coming weeks, is expected to select the new leadership but reports here say Xi is unwell, sparking speculation about his future prospects.
However, Xu has already rebuffed the Dalai's remarks that there were "encouraging signs" about China changing its attitude towards Tibet after the end of tenure of the present leadership.
On August 31, Xu said there would not be any negotiations
at least until the end of the year.
"China will continue to be flexible with Dalai Lama but it seems that no result will come out if he does not change his attitude toward some fundamental issues," he had said reacting to the Dalai Lama's comments about likely change in China's policy towards Tibet.
Chinese government continue to insist that the Dalai Lama or his "Tibet government-in-exile" cannot represent the Tibetan people, he had said.
There can only be discussions on the Dalai's return only if he "stop his separatist speeches and win the trust of the central government as well as the forgiveness of the Chinese people," Xu had said.
According to Xu, a political settlement is difficult as the Dalai Lama seeks to control everything in Tibet except foreign affairs and national defence.
The Tibetan leader also wants Tibet to be in its pre-1959 state.
Since 2002, the Chinese government has negotiated with representatives of the Dalai Lama on 10 occasions, the latest being in 2010, but no breakthroughs were reached because of "sharply divided" views, according to an earlier report by state-run Xinhua news agency.
Xiong Kunxin, a professor of ethnic studies at the Minzu University of China, told the Global Times he doubts whether the Dalai's successor can stay away from politics when he himself could not after Lobsang Sangay, a Harvard-trained legal scholar, was elected leader of the "Tibet government- in-exile" in April last year.
"His (Dalai Lama's) frequent visits to senior officials and leaders of foreign countries obviously show that he is still interfering with political affairs," Xiong said.
The Dalai's frequent visits to foreign politicians also indicate that he is not content with his "semi-retirement position" and is eager to draw others' attention to his political views, he said.
First Published: Friday, September 14, 2012, 18:28
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Book review: Programmed Visions by Wendy Hui Kyong Chun
Wendy Chun’s Programmed Visions book is the third published in a software studies book series initiated by Matthew Fuller. Software studies is a relatively young discipine in digital humanities. Yet, it’s an emerging field, gaining momentum from the overall intrusion of software in our public spaces. As Fuller observes; “few parts of human culture remain untouched by software”, as code and interfaces are extensively woven in our everyday lives. This calls for a special interdisciplinary interest in the evaluation of software, which culminated in Software Studies.
Programmed Visions is a meditation on software (in the broadest sense of the word) as a “thing”, and by “thing” the author means: “it reconceptualizes bodies, society and memory” in relation to the subject, that is, man.
Fuller, in his introduction, calls this meditation a way of thinking in “the middle of things”, between the hard and the soft, between algorithm and interface and remarkably in the middle of preceding popular readings of software. She focuses her effort primarily on the period after WOII, which coincides with the rise of neoliberalism as political framework. In software, in a bold political sidestep, she envisions the embodiment of the neoliberal ideology, as a response to and a product of that ideology.
As Chun almost apologetically introduces, software is a “notoriously difficult” concept. Indeed, as software studies tries to capture the “magical source”, it has to reach beyond the metaphors in an effort to make the invisible, visible. In the first part of the book Chun concentrates her effort on the paradox of software as being invisibly visible and visibly invisible, that is, the notion of the computer as advocate of transparency is flawed.
“Our machines increasingly write without us. (…) As our machines disappear, getting flatter and flatter, the density and opacity of their computation increases”
This renders the computer as a powerful metaphor for everything that is invisible yet generates visible effects, like genetics, ideology and culture. In this paradox lies also the powerful appeal of computing, it offers a certain empowerment to its programmers and users who are in control of something opaque they cannot fully grasp, yet the effects are visible and satisfying. This “causal pleasure”, as Chun dubs this sense of empowerment, is key to understanding the seperation between hardware and software.
As already mentioned, a good part of the book covers the origins of software as an entity on its own. It traces the roots of code as “logos” or code as law, of software as axiom. First, software is, surprisingly, gendered according to Chun. One of the hardware engineers for the ENIAC claimed that software is “the daughter of Frankenstein” (hardware being the son). The first operators (preceding programmers) that interacted directly with the computing machines were in fact women. Second, because the first complex computational machines were developed during WWII, military code and command structure had a profound impact on the instructional nature of software. As Chun exemplifies this parallel:
In the military there is supposed to be no difference between a command given and a command completed
This underlines the, so to speak, nature of code. Programming is and was a hierarchal affair. Wendy Chun’s following effort to localize software as a “thing”, in history and in common sense is a careful deconstruction of what software has become to be as a metaphor.
Computers have become metaphors for the mind, for culture, for society, for the body, affecting the ways in which we experience and conceive the “real” space.
The computer is not just a metaphor, it is a “metaphor machine”. As she argues, software is an axiom, the meaning is in itself and is not necessarily proven. What is this meaning exactly and how did it become illusionary embedded in it self? These are some of the more urging questions she is addressing. This game of metaphors is the most prominent in biology and more specifically in the field of eugenics. The belief was that DNA could be coded, which stems from the idea of eugenics. Chun’s main argument here is that it not just the cybernetic school of thought that was heavily influenced by machinery and computing, that influenced biology. The idea of the programability of life is not solely to be found in that discourse, it has much deeper roots that are largely ignored in the popular beliefs of cybernetics.
The concluding part of the book is dedicated to the “undead of information”, by which she means that information is neither alive nor dead. Also, more importantly, she argues that information is always embodied. In relation to memory, information embedded in memory makes it possible to link the past and the future. By storing data, computers make the future predictable.
Although, Chun’s position is always “in the middle”, thus not condemning nor celebrating software and computing, she also calls this into question. This memory, or hyperbolic “archive of knowledge” would also promise destruction and forgetfulness. As she put it:
Intead of being enlightened and free, we seem to be caught in a certain madness: constantly acting without knowing, moving from crisis to crisis
Chun’s work is simply stunning in its scope. At the least Programmed Visions is a comprehensive introduction in the analytic discourse of software, code and programmability. But even more so, it is a bold theoretical framework which situates itself at the intersection of various academic disciplines and opens up the study of code and software to multiple methodologies. Programmed Visions is as compelling in its detailed chronology of how software became to be as it is in lifting the lid of jar and taking a closer look at the power structures and meanings in play. Highly recommanded for anyone willing to engage in Software Studies.
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As I previously wrote, in my work on enterprise search, I have found there to be 3 Principles of Enterprise Search: Coverage, Identity and Relevance. My previous posts have discussed the principles of Coverage and Identity.
Here, I will cover the principle of Relevance.
So, in your efforts to improve search for your users, you have addressed the principle of Coverage and you have thousands of potential search candidates in your enterprise search tool. You have addressed the principle of Identity and all of those search results display well in a search results page, clearly identifying what they are so a searcher can confidently know what an item is. Now for the hardest of the three principles to address: Relevance.
The principle of Relevance is all about search results candidates showing up high in search results for appropriate search terms. Relating this back to the original driving question – “Why doesn’t X show up when I search on the search terms Y?”, the principle Relevancy addresses the situation where X is there and may even be listed as X, but it is on the second (or even farther down) page of results.
This principle is in some ways both the hardest and simplest to address. It is hard because it practically requires that you anticipate every searcher’s expectations and that you can practically read their minds (no mean feat!). It’s simple (at least given a search engine) because relevance is also a primary focus for the search engine itself – many search engines differentiate themselves from competitors based on how well the engine can estimate relevance for content objects based on a searcher’s criteria; so your search engine is likely going to help you a lot with regard to relevance.
However, there are still a lot of issues to consider and areas you need to address to help your search engine as well as your users.
- One of the first things you should consider is the set of keywords associated with your content. There are several different ways search engines will encounter keywords:
- First and foremost, the content of your search items present a set of keywords to most search engines; this is going to be the content visible in a web page or the words in the body of documents.
- The keywords accessible in the form of “keywords” <meta> tags in HTML pages, or “keywords” fields in the File Properties of documents in various formats.
- The keywords might even be terms in a database that is related in some way to the content that your search engine can use. This is very common for tightly constrained environments that integrate both a content management (or collaboration) environment with a search experience. If the tool controls both the content and the search, it can take advantage of a lot of “insight” that might not be directly available to an enterprise search solution.
- Some search engines will even use the text of links pointing to a content item as keywords describing the item. So content managers can influence can influence the relevance of content they don’t manage themselves by how they refer to it.
- Lastly, you also need to understand how your search engine will use and interpret these various sources of keywords and focus on those that provide the most impact. Some search engines might ignore the “keywords” <meta> tag for example, so you may not need to be concerned with that at all.
- Once you have a strategy for how you will present keywords to your search engine, you need to determine how best to manage the set of keywords that will be most useful to your content managers and to the users of your search tool. A principle tool for this is to have a taxonomy that helps inform your audience about preferred terms. I’ll write more about taxonomies in the future – for now, you should know that a very effective way to improve search is to simply constrain the terms used to tag content to a well-managed set.
- A taxonomy can also be used to provided guided navigation or constraint search pick lists. Instead of a simple keyword box for search, you can offer your users lists of values to select. The utility of this will depend on your users’ needs and you need to ensure you pay attention to usability.
- Related to taxonomies, you should also consider how best to manage synonyms. This will likely require some work with your taxonomy (to associate synonyms with “preferred” terms); this may require you to manage synonyms for your search engine (to define the mapping between synonyms used by the engine – hopefully, these rings are pulled from your taxonomy!); you might need to institute some means to tag your content with both the preferred terms and with synonyms (especially if you are exposing your content to search engines other than your own – i.e., your content is exposed to internet search engines).
- A third issue related to relevancy is the security of content; I relate this to relevance in the sense that if a user does not have access to a particular piece of content exposed by your search, effectively that content has zero relevance for that user. Many web tools (especially collaboration applications) provide users with very powerful management tools to control visibility of content – including even such details as differentiating even between who can know a piece of content exists and being able to download that content. However, interpreting granular searching controls on content is a very hard problem for an enterprise search tool to efficiently solve. In my experience, the most common “solution” for this type of problem is to not index such secure areas for inclusion in your enterprise search but to ensure that the tool provides a “local search’ and then ensure your enterprise search experience points users to this local search function when appropriate.
- Lastly for now, another area you should consider in terms of relevance is to monitor your search engine’s log files. Ultimately, I think this effort will transform into one of:
- Input to help you manage your taxonomy (by discovering the terms your search users are actually using and understanding how they differ from your taxonomy)
- Identification of holes in your content by understanding “not found” results (helping to identify and then solve Coverage issues)
- Identification of relevancy issues by understanding when some terms require more page scrolling than others.
To look back at the 3 Principles: 1) you need to make sure your search engine will find and index the necessary content; 2) you need to make sure your content will properly be identified in search results; and, 3) you need to ensure that your content will show as highly relevant for searches your users expect to show that content.
To address most issues, it does not require any magic or rocket science, but just an awareness of the issues and time and resources (these latter two being scarce for many!) to work on resolving them.
What have I missed? What else do others have to share?
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In 1959, Philip Whalen (shown in the photograph below, with Allen Ginsberg, at a somewhat later date) was just 35. He'd been a key figure in the Beat Scene in the Bay Area for some time, since settling there a decade earlier, following his military service in WWII, and the taking of a degree at Reed College in Oregon, where he met his friends Gary Snyder and Lew Welch. (He'd read, with Ginsberg, Lamantia, Snyder and McClure at The Six Gallery in 1955). Nevertheless, he hadn't published much by this time, partly owing to a native shyness and general modesty of disposition.
By 1959, Whalen more than deserved a book, and the fledgling printer Dave Haselwood (who would later be joined by Andrew Hoyem), who had just started his Auerhahn Press a year or so earlier, offered to publish Philip's first real book (there had only been four broadsides done previously of PW's work).
That book would become Memoirs of an Interglacial Age, a very tastefully done, unusually large format (for a poetry book--8 3/4"x11") collection of poems, 49pp, with woodblock cover illustration by Robert LaVigne. There weren't many copies printed, and it's uncommon outside the inventories of the rare book dealers these days.
Whalen's compositional style, derived in part from his exposure to the teachings and example of Lloyd Reynolds--the genius calligrapher of Reed College--an experience and influence he shared with Gary Snyder--both of whom used wet-ink pens for the rest of their lives--was to compose his poems in notebooks, by hand. Typically, his poems would be divided by lines or stars, and words of different sizes and positions would be employed. This might have become the despair of traditional printers, but Haselwood mediated the transition to distributed print fonts creatively, establishing a format which would be used throughout Whalen's career.
The small press tradition of the Bay Area in the 1960's, and after, valued the text: "The first & final consideration in printing poetry is the poetry itself,” Haselwood wrote in 1960. “If the poems are great they create their own space; the publisher is just a midwife during the final operation & if he has to do a lot of dirty work that’s the way it should be. Contrary to what a lot of people including publishers think, publishing is not a gentleman’s profession, it is the profession of a crook or a madman." Aside from the "dirty work" of somehow scrounging up enough bread to pay the press and paper costs (not to mention the rent), the "poetry itself" should dictate the terms of its realization as material text--a key priority that was understood, then, though occasionally, in our relentlessly expedient and slap-dash capitalist culture, something we tend to forget. The pleasure and delight of Whalen's early book, so lovingly produced by Auerhahn Press, was a talisman of a time and place, not forgotten by those who lived then.
Another important Bay Area pressman, Clifford Burke, who ran the Cranium Press in San Francisco beginning in the mid-1960's, the author of, among other things, Printing It: A Guide to Graphic Techniques for the Impecunious [Bookpeople: 1981], knew and treasured the Whalen book, as many of us did. A wonderful example of the synergy which takes place when art and technology (albeit a somewhat outmoded craft, surviving on proverbial shoestrings of patience and sacrifice and love) join to make the perfect object/artifact.
And Burke didn't forget. Over the years, he dreamed of producing books like those early Auerhahn editions, and the dream didn't die.
When I first heard about the Desert Rose Press edition of Whalen's new book Some of These Days , I called Burke in New Mexico--where he had moved in the early 1990's, to concentrate on the production of fine press poetry broadsides, cards and books--to inquire about availability. Burke was genial and welcoming, and explained how the publication of this new book--which was one of Whalen's last books while he was still alive (he died in 2002)--was a celebration and commemoration of the earlier Auerhahn book, which he (Burke) had always admired and regarded as a standard to aspire to.
This new book was his homage to Whalen, to the memory of the earlier book, to that time, and to the perpetuation of a living tradition, of commitment to an ideal.
One of Whalen's greatest gifts was in addressing matters of the greatest import and complexity, in the most ordinary language, and tone of voice. Was it audacity, to think that mulling over the everyday cares of a quiet life would constitute high art? If any writer could be said to have taken to heart the example of William Carlos Williams's injunctions to write in the accents of our ordinary speech, it would be Whalen. Who but he would think to publish the canonical "Self-Portrait From Another Direction," in which the most casual of meditations turns cosmic, a trip on three levels, complete with rueful anxieties and generous honesty?
One of the simplest, sweetest things about Whalen's work is its self-deprecation, as dramatized embarrassment, all flubs and snubs and pomposities showing, all the while shrewdly patient for the telling revelation, the almost missed flicker of mysterious phenomenon at the edge of consciousness.
Now that Whalen's collected poems is out, the earlier individual books may seem to have lost some of their luster. But for those of us who value the model collection, a sequence of pages, say, encapsulating a specific segment of time, 50 pages or so, these kinds of books are the very lustrum of artistic endeavor.
These two books bracket the career of an important Bay Area poet of the post-war period, both as discrete writing, and as gifts of the craft of printing. The history of such books, their making, their significance, their beauty--mustn't be forgotten. Clifford Burke's edition of Some of These Days rounds out the romance of a time, a place, and the practice of a craft, as memory, recalled, rejuvenated, reinvented, relived. Alive.
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- On Air Program Guide
- A Blue View
- Brain Talk
- Cellar Notes
- Choral Arts Classics
- The Environment in Focus
- Gil Sandler’s Baltimore Stories
- Humanities Connection
- Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast
- Midday with Dan Rodricks
- The Morning Economic Report
- Radio Kitchen
- The Signal
- Take Five
- Your Maryland
- Public Commentary
- War of 1812 Stories
Hopkins Program Reaches Out To Pregnant Refugees
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.
June 13, 2011
“So what is family planning?” [Giggles…]
It doesn’t matter who you are. Any discussion involving sex is bound to elicit a few giggles. And no wonder—these six women have never done anything like this before. They’re refugees who recently arrived in the U.S…. and they’re either pregnant or have recently given birth. The discussion is the fruits of a partnership between the International Rescue Committee, or I-R-C, in Baltimore and Johns Hopkins’ nursing school. Pregnant refugees pair up with nursing students like Ashly Higgins. Today, she’s talking to these women about birth control. But she answers all sorts of questions the women have about having a baby in America.
“One of my favorite questions from last week was around a thermometer. Their doctor in the hospital had given them a temperature, and told them the baby’s temperature was 98 degrees. They came home and baby’s temperature was 37 degrees. And not being aware that temperature could read in Fahrenheit and Celsius.”
These women are all from Burma. Frances Tinsley is the executive director of the IRC in Baltimore. She says some refugees don’t reveal they’re pregnant because they’re worried it will delay their move to the U.S.
“Those who are pregnant before they come, depending on how far along, can’t come because they can’t fly. And we’re talking half-way across the world. Some don’t say they’re pregnant, they’re afraid it will stop them from coming. So, they take it upon themselves, and as soon as they hit we found out they’re pregnant.”
These women are all legally living in the U.S. They fled political and ethnic persecution in Burma, and ended up living in camps in countries like Malaysia. That’s where 34-year-old Nang Cing had her first two kids. Cing arrived in America last November. She’s pregnant with her third child, due in July.
“I’m not sure if I’ll be having another C-section. I’ve been told that because I’ve already had two, I’ll have to have another one, but I’m not sure.”
Cing says she had C-sections with her first two babies, and has been told that she might have to have another. She also has gestational diabetes. And this is where the partnership comes in. The IRC helps Cing choose a hospital and secure a crib, while Hopkins nursing student Jamie Hatcher checks in on Cing at her apartment in Arbutus.
“How are you feeling today?”
A translator assists over Hatcher’s phone.
“I was given strips at the beginning and a prescription, but they were expensive at the pharmacy. So, I asked for cheaper strips from Wal-Mart and they don’t fit in the meter. It’s not working.”
After a bit of prodding, Nang explains she wasn’t able to test her blood the night before because she can’t get the strips to fit in the meter that will read her sugar level. Hatcher tells Cing to bring the meter and strips to her doctor’s appointment later that day so that the strips can be replaced. It’s a small bit of troubleshooting intended to help a pregnancy go that much smoother for one of the country’s newest citizens.
I'm Sarah Richards, reporting in Baltimore, for 88-1 WYPR.
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Sorry about this, I'm very new to the c++ world. In all the books I've read and even the post I've found here, setw looks easy - but it's not working for me.
I'm trying to make "Fanzone Amusement Ticket Entry" sit in the, approximate, middle of a console app. I've been successfull by using spaces after the " and before the F but I know there's gotta be a better way.Code:cout <<setw(20) <<"Fanzone Amusement Ticket Entry\n";
When I use setw like above, I don't recieve any errors but "Fanzone Amusement Ticket Entry" stays to the far left.
Does setw not work with strings? If not, what will?
Any assistance is appreciated.
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The mission of the Bridgeport Arts + Cultural Council (BACC) is “to strengthen Bridgeport’s cultural sector’s capacity with leadership, funding, and marketing to advance the City’s quality of life and prosperity.”
Founded in 2010, the BACC is the City’s cultural umbrella organization, serving Bridgeport and the surrounding communities. The BACC fosters cultural development by supporting artists and organizations and leading arts and cultural initiatives to re-image and promote Bridgeport to spark and sustain economic growth.
Bridgeport enjoys a historically active and vibrant creative community. The BACC partners with a broad array of private and municipal organizations. Collaborations signal a shared commitment to the rejuvenation of Bridgeport: arts and cultural constituents, including artists and organizations, the City of Bridgeport, the Downtown Special Services District (DSSD), the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County, and varied other groups with the like-minded goal of bettering Bridgeport through the arts.
The Mayor’s Neighborhood Arts & Heritage Grants, which the BACC administers, provide the BACC the opportunity to work with our Citywide arts and cultural constituents. The grants have enriched the quality of life in the City by providing financial support for arts and heritage projects and underserved individuals and organizations. Artists, artisans, craft makers, musicians, and organizations from Bridgeport are eligible. The Spring and Fall 2011 and 2012 grants were awarded to 24 individuals and 25 arts organizations. Recipients included Bridgeport-based Bridge Academy, Bridgeport Theatre Company, Greater Bridgeport Area Prevention Program, Slant of Light Theatre, WPKN Radio, Barnum Museum, Cardinal Shehan Center, City Lights Gallery, Connecticut Ballet, Connecticut Free Shakespeare, Jazz Guild of Fairfield County, McGivney Community Center, Over 50 Society, Velocity Inc., and the World Artist Network. Individuals received grants to support their art projects in all media, musical compositions and recordings, music and dance performances, an ArtCart to bring art to the streets, children’s projects, art therapy workshops, and heritage research and website production.
Bridgeport artists and cultural organizations are promoted through our website, highlighting Artist of the Month and programs, Facebook, email announcements and newsletters, display of posters and literature, and distribution of flyers.
The BACC champions artists and organizations with such varied programs as hosting Brown Bag Lunches, artists’ presentations, and musical performances; creating summer art-related event for Mayor’s Office of Education of Youth; and supporting projects of other organizations, including CT Free Shakespeare and the Congressional Art Competition (promoted program to after-school arts classes and schools to elicit entries by Bridgeport high school students).
The BACC hosts exhibitions at its space to feature individual Bridgeport artists and community groups; recipients of Mayor’s Neighborhood Arts & Heritage Grants; City Canvases Bridgeport artists; community groups, including Kennedy Center (rehabilitation organization for persons with disabilities), Bridgeport Police and First Responders, and Cardinal Shehan Center high school after school art class, among others.
The BACC promotes and partners with organizations for their success, including Art Trail, Arts Fest, and What’s Cooking.
The BACC organized free arts and cultural programming on the second Thursday of every month, from July-December 2012, in Downtown Bridgeport, to engage residents of Bridgeport and surrounding communities to visit and enjoy the City. The B2 events were successful in their outreach and community involvement; each month was themed and brought an array of activities and participants. The BACC worked in partnership with the City of Bridgeport, the Downtown Special Services District (DSSD) and the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County and was funded by the City and DSSD and a grant from the CT Department of Economic and Community Development. Participating organizations included the Housatonic Museum of Art, City Lights Gallery, the Bijou Theatre, CT Free Shakespeare, the Girl Scouts of America, the Discovery Museum, the Kennedy Center, the Barnum Museum, Connecticut Humane Society, Bridgeport Public Library, World Artists Network, Arena at Harbor Yard, and WPKN radio, among many others. Plans to continue B2 in 2013 are underway.
Through Operation Re-Store, community organizations were invited to decorate vacant storefront windows with materials relating to their projects. An interactive map was distributed and posted on the BACC’s website and Facebook page and on the InfoBridgeport website. The community cast votes for People’s Choice and the organization with the most creative display was awarded a donation of $250 (summer and fall 2012). Operation Re-Store will continue in 2013.
City Canvases Bridgeport brought a twelve-week, video projection program that highlighted week-long, digital shorts by twelve Connecticut artists/filmmakers. Based on the theme of Change, the short videos were looped and projected on key buildings in Downtown Bridgeport throughout summer 2012. Additionally, a public art mural was created by a team of Bridgeport artists at the Bridgeport Train Station, transforming a tunnel into an inviting experience for commuters and visitors. The BACC worked in partnership with the City of Bridgeport and the DSSD and was funded by the City and the DSSD and a grant from the CT Department of Economic and Community Development.
The BACC is continually grateful for the generous support of our donors: The Werth Family Foundation, the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, the City of Bridgeport, the Fairfield County Community Foundation, Downtown Special Services District, People’s United Bank, United Illuminating, The Ernest & Joan Trefz Foundation, Aquarion, the Kreitler Foundation, and Bridgeport Landing, among others.
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We believe in a user-centered approach to software design, and feedback from customers is integral to this. If you have any suggestionson or ideas about how Learning Score could be developed, please add them to our forums, where you can also add your own suggestions and vote on suggestions posted by other users.
What do teachers think?
The best answer to that is to ask around. Within a week of releasing Learning Score we were very excited to see some great reviews popping up in the blogosphere:
Doug Belshaw put together a great demo video in his post: http://dougbelshaw.com/blog/2010/01/19/learning-score/
‘Learning Score is a visual planning tool for educators. And. It. Rocks!’
Tony Fox, and the people at Tutor2U.net said:
‘After just 10 minutes on the trial version I was confident I could use it to plan and deliver lessons using it, in fact I think it would improve my lesson planning.’
Doug Woods spotted it before we went live, and blogged:
‘I cannot believe that I have not heard of or seen Learning Score before; I can only say that I must have had my head buried deeply in the sand. Learning Score appears to be a fantastic tool for devising lesson plans.’
Other quotes from our trials
‘It is precisely because money is tight that your software is important. For me it represents a saving in terms of the amount of time I put into writing lesson plans. As teachers we have leadership roles in other areas of school life – these roles are increasing due to staff cutbacks – and the Learning Score idea makes planning lessons much less stressful, eliminates the time required to publish the lesson plan, and produces a lesson plan that is highly helpful containing all the file names and pacing, that is usable in the classroom and transportable. Gosh, what's not to like?’
Professor Russell Long, economics teacher
Here are some links to reviews that have been written about Learning Score:
See what all the fuss is about: try it for yourself!
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By August Cole
August Cole reports on U.S. defense policy.
Anthony Zinni stepped up his call for the Obama administration to quit dillydallying and send more troops to Afghanistan to fight the insurgency.
A counterinsurgency strategy, he said, would work better over the long run than continuing narrower counterterrorism operations that target Taliban and al Qaeda leaders.
The retired Marine Corps general, who had been the top commander in the Middle East and Central Asia, said the Obama administration needs more forces in Afghanistan quickly. Zinni said his own son was among the troops waiting to be deployed, adding: “I think that we owe them a decision. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why we’re still waiting for one.”
Zinni, who spent considerable time working with the Pakistani and Indian governments while he headed Centcom during the Clinton administration, told the International Peace Operations Association’s annual conference that a counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan could better resolve the nettlesome problems with Taliban and al Qaeda fighters and drug production. The association is a trade group for battlefield contractors; Zinni is chairman of BAE Systems Inc., the U.K. defense giant’s U.S. arm.
He offered a bit less-pointed advice earlier this month on CBS’s Face the Nation.
This time, Zinni had some specific advice President Barack Obama: Americans need to hear a better explanation of why the U.S. is in Afghanistan, on the doorstep of nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India neighbors. “I think the speech that has been missing … is this talk not only to the American public but to the world about what the threats are, what the challenges are and what the concerns should be out there,” he said.
Zinni also urged the administration to get NATO allies to send more troops, and be willing to engage in combat in Afghanistan. “This cannot be America’s war,” he said.
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Despite the arrest of “interim” Prime Minister Cheikh Modibo Diarra (pictured) in the capital of Mali by rebellious troops last week, and the subsequent resignation of his interim government, a United Nations-led invasion to support the embattled Malian regime in its bid to recapture the north appears to be moving forward. While previous plans may have to be shelved in light of the recent developments, the coalition plotting and lobbying for UN military intervention remains committed to seeing it through.
Officials expect approval for the UN scheme to come soon, with the actual invasion probably coming sometime next year, possibly as late as September. However, experts and analysts have long warned that the half-baked plot to invade Mali, supposedly on behalf of an unelected regime and foreign powers, could easily spark further tragedy — not to mention the financial cost, the tragic track record of UN military plots, and the lack of constitutional authority for the Obama administration to participate.
The so-called “interim” government had ruled the southern region of Mali since April, after a rebellion in the north declared independence from the capital city of Bamako and a military coup d’état in the south unseated the previous government. That new, supposedly temporary authority has now collapsed — its leader, Prime Minister Diarra, arrested by soldiers at his home before being taken in front of TV cameras to publicly resign along with his whole government.
"Our country Mali is going through the most difficult period in its history," he said on TV. "During this time of crisis, the men and women of this country — uncertain of what is going to happen to their country — find themselves in an unfortunate situation. That's why I, Cheikh Modibo Diarra, have resigned with all my government."
The arrest and apparently forced resignation were reportedly made at the demand of a U.S. government-trained coup leader named Amadou Sanogo, who led troops against the previous government earlier this year. Sanogo, who remains a powerful figure in Mali, surrendered part of his usurped authority to the “interim” government in April amid international pressure.
Click here to read the entire article.
Photo of Cheikh Modibo Diarra: AP Images
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Babson Professor Stephen Spinelli, Case Director
Wendy Wise Widder, Case Writer
Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship
© Babson College, 2006.
Mache Seibel sat in his office thinking back on his 30-year career in medicine. An accomplished M.D., professor and editor-in-chief of a medical journal, Mache was no longer certain that he should continue with medicine—at least not in the traditional sense. Over the past year, Mache had been spending more and more time composing musical numbers designed to amuse and educate adults and children about important health issues. He was enjoying himself immensely, and was feeling increasingly comfortable in the role of educator,/musician/performer. But he wasn’t sure what direction the business should take or if he should devote himself to it full-time. He had spent over $40,000 on the venture—not counting his own time, and now he needed to answer some fundamental questions: 1. Was this a venture opportunity or merely an expensive hobby? 2. If this was a real opportunity, how can he turn his content and talent into a profitable enterprise?
Teaching Objective: To present an example of an talented, successful individual with no business experience following his passion for music and communication into the realm of new venture start ups. The main focus is on deciding whether this is a viable venture, and what strategies would give the doctor/songwriter the best shot at success.
There is a 32 minute DVD available for this case. Please place orders through ecch.
There are no teaching notes available for this case.
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Mathura-mandala Parikrama, Part 25
BY: SUN STAFF
Mathura Street Scene
Oct 05, 2011 CANADA (SUN) By Srila Narahari Chakravarti Thakur.
Sanatana Gosvami Receives Lord Chaitanya's Mercy in a Dream
"O Shrinivasa, by the order of Mahaprabhu, Sanatana Gosvami came here to Vrindavana to stay. When Sanatana heard that Lord Chaitanya would come, he arranged a secluded place for the Lord to stay. Understanding Sanatana Gosvami's anxiety, Gaurahari appeared to him in a dream at this place. Lord Chaitanya was sitting on a wonderful asana. Seeing the Lord, Sanatana fell at His feet. The Lord then tightly embraced Sanatana and after comforting him in every way, He disappeared. Who can understand the Lord's wonderful pastimes? By His own will He always enjoys in Vrindavana.
See here is Praskandana-kshetra. By taking bath here one is freed of his sins, and by giving up one's life here he attains Vishnuloka."
The Adi-varaha Purana says: "O Vasundhare! Please hear about another holy place. There is an auspicious abode named Praskandana-kshetra, which is the destroyer of all sins. Whoever takes bath there is delivered from all sins, and whoever leaves his body there surely attains My abode."
O Shrinivasa, due to the heat from twelve suns, the Lord's cold body became warm and began to perspire. The perspiration entered the Yamuna River and therefore this place is called Praskandana-tirtha.
The Vraja-vilasa-stava gives this description: "This great tirtha was born from the perspiration of Govinda's body due to the excess heat of the twelve suns. I offer my respectful prayers unto Praskandana-kshetra, which is filled with the fragrant water that emanated from the soft beautiful body of the Lord."
After showing this Praskandana-tirtha to Shrinivasa, Raghava Pandita continued to speak very sweetly.
Shrila Advaita Prabhu's Appearance and Activities
Shrila Advaita Prabhu, who is nondifferent from Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, stayed here in this forest for some days. He used to worship Lord Krishna under this vata tree. Who can understand His inner desire? Please listen and I will describe briefly the appearance and activities of Shrila Advaita Prabhu.
Madhavendra Puri, Ishvara Puri, Shacimata, and Jagannatha Mishra appeared along with Advaita Acarya. Shrila Advaita Prabhu is unlimitedly merciful to the living entities. The whole of Bengal was glorified by His appearance there.
In Bengal there is a village near Shrihatta named Nava-grama where Kuvera Pandita, the son of Nrisimha lived. Kuvera Pandita was exalted on the path of devotion. He knew nothing except the lotus feet of Lord Krishna. On the same standard of devotion was his chaste wife Nabhadevi, the mother of Advaita, who was worshipable by all. They settled in Shantipura near the Ganges and were always absorbed in discussing krishna-katha.
One day Shri Kuvera Pandita and his wife wanted to die after hearing Vaishnava blasphemy. Seeing their state, one fortunate soul pacified them by the desire of Lord Krishna. Even though they were still unhappy, they both fell asleep. After a short time, they both had a wonderful dream. A beautiful effulgent person, whose bodily luster defeated the beauty of a mountain of molten gold, appeared before them. This person was holding the hand of another exceedingly beautiful person and in sweet words said to Him: "You should quickly incarnate to relieve the unhappiness of the living entities who are suffering under the onslaughts of Kali-yuga. By Your loving invitation, I will be unable to remain here. I will quickly appear along with My elder brother.'
Hearing these words, the second person became very happy and at an auspicious moment He entered the womb of Nabhadevi. Seeing this, Kuvera Pandita became very blissful and, as he awoke, his heart became overwhelmed.
Kuvera Pandita, who was a learned scholar in all the shastras, considered in his mind that the Supreme Lord would appear in Kali-yuga in the form of guru. Thinking this way along with his wife, he again became overwhelmed and could not check his tears.
From that day on, Nabhadevi manifested signs of pregnancy and she therefore returned to Nava-grama. Soon the whole world became joyful as Advaita Prabhu appeared in the village of Nava-grama.
Suddenly a voice arose from Him, "Shri Krishna Chaitanya will appear in this world along with Shri Nityananda Rama. Together with Their associates, They will enjoy wonderful pastimes. They will distribute loving devotional service in each and every house, thereby destroying the unhappiness and lamentation of the living entities. The ocean of bliss arising from the sankirtana movement will overflow and inundate everyone without exception. This Kali-yuga is so glorious!'
Hearing this voice, everyone became joyful. The house of Kuvera Pandita became filled with auspiciousness. Fortunate people who witnessed Advaita Acarya grow day by day were filled with jubilation. Advaita would sometimes hide Himself, and only by the will of Shri Chaitanya was He found. Having Advaita in their village, the residents of Nava-grama floated in bliss forgetting all unhappiness and lamentation.
Although the Lord had two names—Kamalaksha and Advaita, everyone called Him Advaita. The childhood pastimes of Advaita were very wonderful, only fortunate persons were able to witness them. Who has the power to describe them? Shri Advaita Prabhu was like the pupil of everyone's eyes. They glorified Him in lying down and in their dreams. Again and again I say that all His associates were glorious as is the land of Bengal by the Lord's incarnation there.
Shri Kuvera Pandita, who was most sober and full of loving devotion told everyone, "We will move to the banks of the Ganges." Then along with his friends and other villagers, they all came to Shantipura from Nava-grama. Staying with a happy heart in Shantipura, sometimes he would go to Navadvipa to meet his friends. Kuvera Pandita carefully arranged for the Lord to study the shastras. Within a short time the Lord, the deliverer of the fallen, also became known as a pandita for His learning.
Although the mother and father of Advaita knew the truth about Him, still they forgot everything due to their parental affection. All the learned people of Shantipura were astonished seeing the activities of Advaita. Someone said, "Advaita Acarya could not be a human for, how could a human being attract the heart of everyone the way He does? Kuvera Pandita is a glorious personality because he had such a son by whom everyone is benefited."
In this way the people spoke as Advaita became the life and soul of everyone. Who can understand the desire of Advaita Prabhu, who gave His parents so much happiness in various ways?
After some time the Lord's mother and father disappeared and Advaita went to Gaya to offer shraddha. Taking the opportunity He visited all the holy places along the way. At that time He took mantra diksha from Madhavendra Puri. Who has the power to understand the activities of Advaita, who travelled always filled with ecstatic love of God?
While traveling thus, Advaita Prabhu arrived at Mathura-mandala. Seeing the beauty of Vraja, He became overwhelmed in ecstasy. After seeing all the places, He came to Vrindavana, whereupon all the Vraja-vasis carefully arranged His stay. Eating only some fruits, roots, and milk, people were astonished seeing His luster. Mad in ecstatic love, the Lord roared and cried out, "Will I see Krishna?'
In this way Advaita Acarya would feel various ecstatic moods at different times. The Lord would worship Krishna near the Yamuna. Then, knowing that the time had come for the appearance of Lord Chaitanya, He left Vrindavana and returned to Bengal. The pastimes of Advaita Acarya are like nectar, but only the fortunate can taste them.
O Shrinivasa, the tree under which Advaita Acarya used to stay became well known as Advaita-vata. Just by seeing this Advaita-vata one's sinful reactions are mitigated and the very rare gift of devotional love is obtained.
See the plants and creepers on the bank of Kalindi which are always fresh and beautiful. This is the very old tintidi tree [tamarind tree known as Amli-tala] where Radha and Krishna enjoyed Their pastimes with Their associates. Remembering His previous activities, Lord Chaitanya came here and sat in unlimited happiness."
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Volunteering is important and one of the most rewarding things a person can do. But it isn't always easy to do, as everyday life often gets in the way. Choosing a time when you are free of those distractions can be a good way to jump start your charity contribution. So skip the tourism -- take a volunteer vacation and travel with a purpose.
As with any trip, the cost of a volunteer vacation varies considerably. With volunteer vacations, there is an even wider range of costs because some opportunities can reduce expenses while others are more expensive. The basic price you should expect to pay is a minimum of about $1,000 a week with the price rising for more dangerous and remote locations. The good news is that this cost will generally cover everything, including airfare, food and lodgings. Volunteer vacations may also be tax deductible, which can help reduce the overall the cost.
Types of charities
Virtually any major type of charity has some type of volunteer vacation opportunity. Among the most common of these are ecological organizations, disaster relief and economic development. So, whether you want to help save the endangered sea turtles or teach English in one of the poorest parts of the world, you'll find many different opportunities. For those with specialized skills, these opportunities are even more varied.
All vacations are about memories more than the trip itself. Seeing the Grand Canyon or the Great Wall of China may leave you with great pictures and a story or two, but the right volunteer vacation may change your life and the life of others. So, if you want memories that will stick with you long after the trip is over, take a volunteer vacation and travel with a purpose. It will be a lot of work, but there is no better way to help you recharge your passion for life than doing something you truly care about.
Perhaps it was baby boomers lost opportunities (or those that they gained) with groups such as The Peace Corps, that provided the inspiration for today's booming volunteer vacation industry. On the other hand, perhaps the trend was motivated by frugal explorers eager for an adventure and willing to work for it.
Consider becoming an environmental conservation volunteer and make a difference in ecosystems around the world. There are environmental conservation volunteer opportunities worldwide where you can escape from your daily life and help maintain a better Earth.
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Terry Lenamon on the Death Penalty
Florida Execution of John Ferguson Stayed: ABA President Issues Statement Hours Before Stay is Granted - Did ABA Help Stop the Execution?
The Eleventh Circuit has stayed the execution of Florida Death Row inmate John Ferguson, a paranoid schizophrenic, a day after it vacated its previous stay and sent Ferguson's attorneys rushing to the U.S. Supreme Court for emergency action.
These are temporary holds while more legal arguments are made. It's still a very good possibility that Mr. Ferguson will be executed by the State of Florida despite being seriously mentally ill.
Perhaps the ABA pointing out that there are basic constitutional rights to be considered here made a difference? Here, the press statement released by American Bar Association President Laurel Bellows on the day that John Ferguson was set to die this week:
WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 23, 2012 – The American Bar Association is alarmed that Florida is poised to execute John Ferguson, a man diagnosed as severely mentally ill for more than 40 years, before the constitutionality of his execution is fully evaluated. Although a district court evidentiary hearing regarding Ferguson’s competency is scheduled for Friday, that could be too late: His execution could occur as soon as today.
A federal trial judge had stayed Ferguson’s execution and ordered the hearing to afford “full, reflective consideration” of Ferguson’s constitutional claims; however, that stay has now been lifted by the court of appeals. In the interest of justice, it is imperative that Ferguson’s execution be again stayed until there is an opportunity for the federal courts to fully review his insanity claims on the merits and thus ensure that his execution will be constitutional. To do otherwise would be to risk a terrible miscarriage of justice — one that can never be undone.
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Millikin University would like to remind high school seniors that now is the time to start the college application process. Millikin is now accepting applications for students entering college in the fall of 2010. High school seniors should submit their application online at www.millikin.edu/admission/howtoapply.
Millikin’s online application does not require a fee for submission nor a written essay. The online process includes directions on how to submit the required supporting documentation required for rendering and admission decision. Supporting documents include: high school transcripts, teacher recommendations and official ACT or SAT scores. Students are reminded to list Millikin’s ACT/SAT codes (ACT code 1080 and SAT code 1470) when taking the ACT or SAT exam.
Millikin encourages high school seniors and their families to visit the campus in order to fully experience what being a student at Millikin University is all about. Millikin offers several Campus Visit Day programs, that include a campus tour, opportunities to meet students and faculty, special academic sessions, admission and financial aid sessions, and an opportunity to experience life at Millikin.
Millikin has two Campus Visit Days scheduled for fall 2009 on October 12 and November 11. Students unable to attend a Campus Visit Day are encouraged to schedule an individual visit through the Office of Admission. Individual visits are available Monday through Saturday throughout the school year.
Millikin University is a private university that touts a diverse student population of approximately 2,300 students. Signature features of a Millikin education include an engaged, integrated, and performance-based learning environment that promotes hands-on opportunities in over 50 majors from our College of Arts & Sciences, College of Fine Arts, College of Professional Studies, and Tabor School of Business. Millikin is a residential campus, which affords its students several opportunities to be involved in fine arts, student activities, student organizations and athletics at both the intercollegiate and intramural levels.
For more information on Millikin, to register for a Campus Visit Day or to schedule your customized individual visit contact Millikin’s Office of Admission at 800.373.7733 or 217.424.6210 or by e-mail at firstname.lastname@example.org
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In the run-up to yesterday’s Senate confirmation hearings for would-be CIA director John Brennan, everyone was waiting for an epic clash over the morality of drones. Brennan, having spent the past four years as Obama’s chief counterterrorism adviser, has been at the center of the administration’s targeted killing program—which seemed to make his nomination the perfect moment for a showdown between Congress and the White House on the subject. The potential for drama was only heightened with the recent leak of a white paper outlining the Obama administration’s legal rationale for targeting American citizens.
And the hearing did get off to an unruly start. Code Pink protesters repeatedly disrupted the proceedings until they were ejected from the room. One woman held up a placard that read “drones fly, children die,” while others called Brennan an “assassin.” There were also plenty of heated exchanges between Brennan and the senators: Democrats bored into him over the drone program’s lack of transparency, and Republicans hammered him with questions about classified leaks and his alleged involvement in the Bush administration’s harsh interrogation program.
Yet despite the testy exchanges and the theatrical protests, it’s worth noting that not a single senator said he or she opposed targeted killings. It was perhaps a recognition that drones are here to stay—a permanent part of America’s hi-tech 21st-century arsenal. Indeed, instead of a dramatic moral showdown, the hearing showcased evidence that Congress and the Obama administration could be moving toward pragmatic compromises which would impose more accountability on, but not eliminate, the drone program.
These compromises came in the form of two concrete proposals. Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, revealed that the panel was reviewing proposals to establish a special court that would assess the government’s evidence against American citizens it wants to target—an idea that may give comfort to critics who say the current approach deprives Americans of their right to due process under the Fifth Amendment. Feinstein was vague about how a special court overseeing targeted killings might work. But she suggested it could be an “analogue” to the secret judicial panel that grants the government surveillance authority in counterterrorism and espionage cases.
To be sure, the prospect of federal judges second-guessing the targeting judgments of military and intelligence officials will without a doubt face stiff opposition from the Pentagon and the CIA. Still, while Brennan reacted cautiously to the idea, he also said it was “certainly worthy of discussion.”
To get a sense for why Feinstein is so eager to impose this kind of accountability, it helps to understand just how ad-hoc the administration’s current process can be.
To get a sense for why Feinstein is so eager to impose this kind of accountability, it helps to understand just how ad-hoc the administration’s current process can be. Consider the lethal targeting of Anwar al Awlaki, the American citizen and al Qaeda member who was killed in a CIA drone strike in Yemen in September 2011. Awlaki was actually placed on the kill list before the Justice Department had finished its opinion, though Obama’s lawyers had already weighed in orally. As for due process, it was far more informal than anything Feinstein envisions. One example: before State Department legal adviser Harold Koh was willing to give his blessing to the deliberate killing of an American, even one who had joined an enemy force, he wanted to scrutinize the intelligence himself. So in March 2010, he holed up in a secure room in the State Department and pored over hundreds of pages of classified reports detailing Awlaki’s alleged involvement in terror plots. Koh had set his own standard to justify the targeted killing of a U.S. citizen: he felt that Awlaki would have to be shown to be “evil,” with iron-clad intelligence to prove it. After absorbing the chilling intel, which included multiple bombing plots and elaborate plans to attack Americans with ricin and cyanide, Koh concluded that Awlaki was not just evil; he was “satanic.” (I originally wrote about this in my book Kill or Capture.)
Another proposal that came up at the hearing would impose a measure of accountability on the back end. Brennan was asked whether he favored the establishment of an independent, or at least more objective, panel that could conduct after-action inquiries in the wake of individual strikes and assess the effectiveness of the program. Absolutely, responded Brennan, who has himself championed the idea within the administration, arguing that there is an implicit conflict of interest when those who pull the trigger are then in the position of judging their own work.
For those—and there are many—who are distrustful of the government’s assertion that civilian casualties under the program have been negligible, this could be a valuable check. And it’s an idea that seems to be gaining traction outside and inside the administration. In his latest column, The New York Times’s David Brooks called for the appointment of an independent board made up of retired military and intelligence officers who could keep tabs on the effectiveness of the program. Meanwhile, two sources tell The Daily Beast that the co-chairs of the president’s Intelligence Advisory Board—David Boren (a former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee) and Chuck Hagel (Obama’s nominee for secretary of Defense)—have suggested that the National Counterterrorism Center play such a role.
President Obama tried to dispel concerns over NSA spying on 'Charlie Rose' Monday, saying 'if you are a U.S. person, the NSA cannot listen to your telephone calls, and the NSA cannot target your emails... and have not.' So what's the big deal, right? Right?
Laura Colarusso on how Edward Snowden, who wasn’t directly employed by the government, got top-secret intel.
Every week this month, the Supreme Court will hand down rulings. Josh Dzieza on what’s at stake.
Pentagon papers lawyer James Goodale has seen Holder’s actions before—in Richard Nixon.
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The 1967-1968 Year Book of Neurology, Psychiatry and Neurosurgery follows the familiar format of the Year Book series. The editor of the neurology section, Roland P. MacKay of Northwestern University, died during the year and his editorial comments were not completed. However, this task was completed by Russell N. DeJong of the University of Michigan School of Medicine.
The abstracts are generally informative and well written. Illustrations are reproduced adequately although perhaps somewhat sparsely. As with all yearbooks, criticism can be directed at the selection of papers although this is a matter of individual choice by the editors. The final product inevitably is a rather limited view of the current literature, and there can be a loss of perspective of the overall direction in a certain field. A major benefit of the year book format could be the personal touch which the section editor, through extensive use of editorial comments,
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One of the most difficult aspects of getting your car repaired can be trying to find a mechanic you can trust. A good rule of thumb is to find a garage where the mechanics are certified by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence.
|Choosing a repair shop
When you're looking for a mechanic to fix your car, why not try asking your friends and neighbors who they use and trust. Word of mouth is sometimes the best advertisement for mechanics, and many of them realize this and may treat referrals with extra care.
Be sure to ask for a written estimate before any repair work is done on your car. Mechanics generally can't know exactly how much a job will cost until they discover the extent of work needed.
Probably the most difficult thing to determine when your car needs work is who to trust to do the job. Luckily, there are two organizations that mechanics can belong to.
|Choosing a shop
Finding the right place to get your car repairs done takes a little effort. First, you need to narrow down where the problem is and then decide what kind of repair shop you need.
When obtaining an estimate for collision repair, always get a second, or perhaps even a third opinion. Be sure to get the repair estimate in writing.
In order to ensure good communication and reduce misunderstandings, there are a few things you should do before you have your car repaired. First, have the repair shop list everything they'll do and how much it will cost.
|Exhaust system repairs
An exhaust system leak will interfere with your car's performance and economy and could even expose you to the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. Many facilities offer free inspections of the exhaust system.
To find a good repair shop, ask your friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Word of mouth is a good way of getting to know who's reliable and who charges what amount.
Warranties can differ from manufacturer to manufacturer and even from brand to brand in terms of mileage and time limits. It's important to know what kinds of warranties are offered.
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Kaitlyn Landram, 17
In my opinion, you are never too old to go sled riding. One day after school a few years ago I went to my friend Steph’s house in search of the perfect place to sled ride.
In years prior my friends and I loved to go down the highest, steepest hill in Boyce Park. It was perfect, until the county decided it was a safety hazard because there was a road at the bottom. They didn’t want to take any chances that someone would slide down into the path of a car. Thus creating the need for my friends to find a new place to sled ride.
Once Steph and I were all bundled up, we made our way outdoors and began exploring the woods behind her house. Jagger bushes struck us at every step, and burrs covered our coats as we hiked through the woods. Playfully, we ran for our lives in fear anytime we heard a sound — the leaves rustling was sure to mean that a bear was coming after us, and the birds were surely calling to alert the hungry animals of our location.
After what felt like an hour of hiking we came to an opening. The trees parted and opened up to a snow-covered area that seemed to stretch about a mile in both directions. We decided to march straight across the open area because my friend was sure that the perfect hill was right in front of us.
Sure enough, after about 10 minutes of walking we had found it — the dream hill for sled ridding (since the closing of the forbidden Boyce Park hill). It was long enough that it didn’t seem like a bunny hill to a couple of 15 year olds, and steep enough that it brought on that adrenaline rush. The bottom of the hill flattened out enough that we would slow down before running into the next area of trees, so we didn’t need to worry about getting hurt. It was perfect.
Once we had sped down it a couple of times a woman appeared at the end of the hill walking her dog.
“Get out of here! I’m calling the police,” she yelled.
The hill, she said, was private property and if we didn’t leave right that instant we were in big trouble.
Neither of us was very keen on getting arrested so we ran from the scene all the way back to Steph’s house. Once we were safely inside, the disappointment set in — we could never again sled down our perfect hill. We were not harming anything, the hill was unused, out of everyone’s way, and completely safe to sled.
I find it unfair that we have been stopped on multiple occasions from sledding down hills I thought were open to the public. But I look forward to exploring some newfound land this winter in search of the next perfect hill.
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Hello &Welcome to My Easiest Way Guitar Blog!
In 2003 I wrote my first guitar book,“The Easiest Way Guitar Method.”
I wrote this book because I saw a distinct lack of instruction books to teach a beginning guitar student what chords to learn first and various ways to strum the guitar.
I set the book up with the 28 essential guitar chords beginning with the easy guitar chords first. I also explained how to play 14 guitar strumming patterns.
This book includes examples and exercises as well as 2 accompanying CDs. One audio CD with 61 tracks so you can hear how the chords and strumming should sound. The 2nd CD has 14 videos so you can see and hear each strumming pattern.
This book has not only sold to people wanting to learn to play the guitar but also numerous schools and guitar teaching studios have purchased the book to use in their curriculum.
I will be moving a lot of the content that I have posted elsewhere to this site “www.easiestwayguitar.com“.
In the mean time,I’ll be posting where and what info is presently available and other ideas and information I believe you’ll find useful.
I hope this site becomes an awesome resource for you.
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“I’m not a good liar, Uncle. I respect you, and I’m grateful for your material support — but beyond that, no affection.”
Viridiana (Silvia Pinal), a novice nun, is sent to visit her sick uncle (Fernando Rey) before taking her vows. When she rebuffs his lecherous advances, he hangs himself, and leaves his farm estate to her. Viridiana turns the farm into a haven for the homeless, but quickly finds that her good intentions are once again being abused.
Response to Peary’s Review:
The futility of noble intentions in the face of a thankless and debased humanity has never been portrayed more powerfully than in Luis Bunuel’s controversial Viridiana. Banned as “subversive” in Franco’s Spain, the film was snuck out of the country, won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, and received worldwide distribution from its Mexican producer.
As usual, Bunuel (a life-long atheist and nonconformist) holds absolutely nothing back in his indictment of Catholicism, which is portrayed as “neither moral nor Christian in attitude”. He glibly exploits sexual perversions (ranging from necrophilia to incest to rape), and infuses his film with outrageously “kooky characters” and “deadpan humor”. The satire is broadly played, and while “American conservatives [may] delight in how Bunuel depicts the poor as freeloading ingrates”, it’s clear that this film is more about the loss of Viridiana’s (and our) naive idealism than anything else.
Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
- Silvia Pinal’s sympathetic performance as the well-meaning Viridiana
- Fernando Rey, appropriately lecherous as Viridiana’s guilt-ridden uncle
- The broad array of “kooky characters” who come to live on Viridiana’s farm
- The sacrilegious “gluttonous-orgiastic” beggars’ banquet, meant to overtly mock Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper”
Yes. This once-scandalous film remains among Bunuel’s best, and is required viewing for film fanatics.
(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die)
Posted on October 2nd, 2006 by admin
Filed under: Response Reviews
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The Highway Safety Research Center (HSRC), at the University of North Carolina — Chapel Hill, is seeking proposals from up to 10 communities or neighborhoods to pilot-test a newly developed guidebook on how to improve pedestrian safety in neighborhoods. Each selected site will be provided $2,000 as well as technical assistance from pedestrian safety experts. To download the RFP, please visithttp://www.walkinginfo.org/res_guide/index.cfm.
Only government agencies and other not-for-profit organizations and neighborhood groups (such as PTAs, homeowner's associations, advocacy groups, etc.) are eligible to apply. Project funds are not payable to individuals. HSRC will conduct a pre-award conference call on Friday, May 1, 2009 at 1 PM ET to offer applicants an overview of the RFP as well as answer questions from applicants. To register for the call, please visit www.walkinginfo.org/res_guide/call.cfm.
Completed proposals are due Friday May 29, 2009 by 5 PM ET. Applicants should use the Web-based submission process available at www.walkinginfo.org/res_guide/RFP.cfm. HSRC anticipates selecting the awarded communities in mid-July 2009.
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By Ela Schwartz“It doesn’t matter whether you’re male or female—as long as you can do the job, you’re aces in my book.” – Heather Senti ’06, Lakeview Fire Department Chief
Heather Senti ’06 was apparently destined for a life as a firefighter. Both her father and grandfather were chiefs for the Lakeview Fire Department. Growing up, she and her brother hung around the firehouse and pretended to fight fires. She tells how the firefighters would “bring the [new recruits] over to me and tell them, ‘If this kid can show you up, we’ll dog you for the rest of the year.’”
Ms. Senti did more than show rookies she had the right stuff to become a firefighter. In April 2012, she was elected the new fire chief at Lakeview and made history by becoming Nassau County’s first female fire chief almost 50 years to the day after her grandfather, Frederick Senti, had been elected chief and 30 years after her father, Fred Jr., had won the honor. Her brother, Fred III, currently serves as a captain in the district, making firefighting truly a family affair.
Ms. Senti balances her responsibilities as chief while working full time as a recovery officer at the Nassau County Office of Emergency Management
While it seems that she has been on the emergency services track since she was born, Ms. Senti did take a detour during her undergraduate years at Adelphi when she majored in communications. But she says her classes served her well by honing her public speaking and communication skills so she can represent the Lakeview Fire Department to the public and the media.
The Lakeview fire district is one of the more challenging in Nassau County. “We cover one of the most dangerous portions of the Southern State Parkway, exits 17 to 19,” she says. Some of the communities served include low-income or immigrant .populations, meaning her crew must contend with language barriers in emergency situations and single family homes outfitted with makeshift apartments to accommodate multiple families. “It makes it difficult for us when there’s a wall or bolted door where a walkway should be,” she says.
While her district is diverse, so is her department, which Ms. Senti calls a “reflection of our community,” consisting of Caucasian, African American, Latino and Orthodox Jewish members. And, of course, female medics and firefighters, although she’d like to see more women in the latter role. “We’re trying to break down those barriers,” she says. “Women bring that finesse, that calming voice when chaos is occurring. But it doesn’t matter whether you’re male or female—as long as you can do the job, you’re aces in my book.”
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Recently I’ve heard from many people that they’re switching to Twitter for their source of news. Why? Because it does all the work for them. Many of the tweets that I follow normally supply a link to a blog or article worth reading. The only downside is the information overload and the excessive amount of “noise” that you need to get through to find the relevant information. Often, Google news (and web) search doesn’t cut it either. So, how do we effectively get through this noise? Here is where a service called Topsy comes in. It is a social search search engine and I think it helps a ton for finding relevant SAP news. For example:
No more need to constantly check your twitter updates, or your RSS, or your feed burner. Just search here. I’m trying to think of ways how I can use the API to provide an even more meaningful way to bring these topics to the people who care. I think there should be a one-stop shop for finding all news regarding in memory computing from SAP. More on that to come…
I just listened to Marc Bernard’s Webinar about the first looks at the architecture around SAP’s HANA. This is the first document I’ve seen that really makes sense out of HANA from a technical perspective. I’ve also worked with Marc in my time at SAP and really enjoy his ability to clearly present technical information to all sorts of audiences. You can check out the PDF and full recorded version of the webinar at the following: http://bit.ly/dU2bQY
I thought it would be worthy to address some of the key technical take aways from the Webinar:
There are two data stores in the In-Memory Computing Engine (IMCE) – row-based and column-based
Both data stores will be stored in memory (column-based will be very similar to existing BWA technology)
The way data is modeled in HANA is via the “Information Modeler”. It is only used for the column based data store
The Information Modeler is built on the Eclipse IDE. I’m going to assume it’s built using Eclipse EMF.
It supports SQL (JDBC/ODBC), MDX (ODBO), and BICS (SQL DBC)
Data comes in either via BO Data Services or Sybase Replicator
From a technical perspective I really like where the technology is going. The Information Modeler is much more intuitive than any BW interface (i.e. Data Warehousing Workbench) I’ve ever seen. The support for different front-ends opens up the possibility to use virtually anything, and more importantly build your own “Apps”. My one concern is around MDX and multi-dimensional OLAP. MDX is very sluggish and BICS was chosen to replace it in BusinessObjects Enterprise 4.0. I’ve been through the pain of seeing how MDX works when BusinessObjects was first implemented on top of SAP BW. The performance is a huge concern. I’d be very interested to see how BICS is implemented in HANA. I wonder if it creates the same type of Star Transformations that exist in the current BW system. Ya know, those basically unreadable SQL Explain statements?
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Bloggers for Birth Kits | Reducing maternal and infant mortality
I felt it was important to re-blog this post from one of my favorite mommy blogs Dear baby. Please read it and if you are inspired re-post or make a kit yourself. Thanks for taking the time to read it.
Bloggers for Birth Kits
Did you know that the maternal death rate of women in Papua New Guinea is 1 in 7? That’s a pretty shocking statistic. A mama friend of mine, Adriel, is leading the charge to collect ” clean birth kits” through an organization called Medical Ships to get life saving birth kits into the hands of women in PNG. Birth kits can play a crucial role in ensuring that every mother in the regions has access to the appropriate supplies that can keep her and her baby free of birth related infections and injuries.
So what’s in a birth kit? Really basic stuff. The sort of supplies you can pick up at any drug or home improvement store.
Things as basic as soap, gloves and a razor blade can be the difference between life and death for these women. It’s amazing that such a simple list of supplies can have a huge impact on the lives of women and families in rural Papua New Guinea.
Adriel has put out the call to women everywhere, asking for their support and aid in getting these birth kits to the women who need them most. She shares all the details on how to donate money to help them buy supplies or how to make your own kits to send over on her blog.
Our family will be contributing to this important work and I’m helping to spread the word via my blog and I hope that you will consider doing the same. Even if you are not able to contribute financially, simply reblogging this post on tumblr, tweeting or sharing a link to her blog on your facebook page or on your own blog can work wonders in helping spread the support for their mission.
As it stands today, one in seven mothers in rural Papua New Guinea will not live to know the joy of motherhood. A child will grow up without a mother… but together, we can change that. Please visit Adriel’s blog The Mommyhood Memos to learn more.
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As those associated with Catholic Workers know, their ministries are in a constant state of flux.
The nightly meal may have to be canceled for lack of donations. The morning coffee may have to be changed to tea because the beans didn't show up. Distribution of bus passes or prescription vouchers may have to stop when there's just no more money.
The basic operating motto almost seems to be: Take advantage today, everything could change tomorrow.
Yet, even knowing the precariousness of it all, there must be a certain sadness to this bit of news:
After 18 years of ministry at the Los Angeles Catholic Worker in LA's skid row, a free dental clinic there is shutting down. It's dentist, who retired 12 years ago, says he needs to take care of his wife.
An article in the LA's archdiocesan newspaper, The Tidings, describes what will be lost when this volunteer leaves his post:
"Oh, he's wonderful. The patients love him," she says. "And he's filling a real need. For many of the people who come here, it's the only dental work they get. Sometimes we have 18 patients vying for eight spots. He could probably work fulltime here and still have patients waiting for him."
Take a read for the rest. It's an incredible story.
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To the editor:
The long-term survival of humankind may very well hinge upon the efforts of free-thinking young people around the world to arrive at some rational consensus regarding the long-term goals of our species.
Humans have long sought to discover the "purpose of life." Discovering purpose usually implies seeking out the will of some transcendent force or being. The search for purpose has primarily served to create groups that hold mutually incompatible notions of ultimate purpose and, as Mark Twain once observed, "have made a graveyard of the globe in trying their honest best to smooth their brother's path to happiness and heaven."
Setting rational goals is different than discerning purpose. Setting goals requires humans to think about what kind of world they want to live in and what kind of world they want to leave to future generations. Goal setting requires weighing competing priorities and such an exercise can enable us to come to terms with our own desires and how our own ideas are similar to and different from the other human beings that share the planet.
The pervasive nature of the world wide web provides an open platform upon which such goal-setting deliberations can emerge and be sustained.
Such online deliberations have undergirded the Arab Spring uprisings and in the Occupy protests around the world.
Politicians know that the best way to control people is keep them from talking freely to one other.
Corporations promote a ceaseless barrage of good-guys vs. bad-guys hysterical utterances via their intentionally polarizing media holdings like MSNBC and FOX News.
While you're fretting about the feds taking away your gun, corporate manipulators are working to eliminate your job, your retirement, your pension and maybe even your house.
Young people are awakening to the awareness that their futures are being sold through the incessant trickery and deceptive practices of a few wealthy people willing to sacrifice the future success of the many for the sake of preserving the temporary advantage they enjoy in the status quo.
Rather than seeking to encourage the emergence of such a global conversation, these same corporate- owned and controlled media choose to ridicule and demean these bold young voices.
Meanwhile, the guardians of the status quo work tirelessly peddling their divisiveness and their hysteria, while the subservient media rake in record profits running the attack ads for the best politicians that money can buy.
WILLIAM A. KENNEDY
|
<urn:uuid:cdc6d674-e2c8-4391-b4df-660fb000d4ae>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.mininggazette.com/page/content.detail/id/526999/Futures-sold-through-trickery.html?nav=5004
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.945296
| 489
| 1.632813
| 2
|
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