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Let's assume we follow Rabbi Moshe Feinstein's ruling that hearing aids are permitted on Shabbat, but microphones are not.
What about installing an audio induction loop in the synagogue? It would send out a magnetic signal that's inaudible to naked ear, but would allow hearing aids (switched to the right mode) to turn into sound?
Is anyone aware whether its permissibility has been discussed? Or if it's been installed anywhere? (It appears this technology is more popular in the U.K., if that helps) | <urn:uuid:daad753b-1348-4643-aa0b-ec0ae7b24201> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/10905/do-orthodox-synagogues-have-audio-induction-loops-can-they-use-them-on-shabbat/10934 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963173 | 111 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Revlimid is the immunomodulatory drug CC-5013, which is a thalidomide (Thalomid®) analog. Revlimid has been in the news for 3 to 4 years. It appears to have anti-myeloma activity that is similar to that of thalidomide, but with a different toxicity profile. On the one hand, Revlimid rarely causes the neuropathy that has been of such concern with chronic thalidomide use. On the other hand, it does cause reduction in blood count values, especially the white blood count and platelet levels.
In 2001 and 2002, phase I-II trials from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA, and the University of Arkansas in Little Rock, AR, indicated responses in patients refractory to (failing on) prior therapies, sometimes including thalidomide. As summarized in Table 1, 22% of patients had at least a 50% reduction in myeloma protein levels (partial response [PR]), and 31% of patients reached PR when dexamethasone was combined with the Revlimid. The various side effects are noted.
These promising results led to two large phase III double-blind trials, one in North America and the other in Europe, to compare Revlimid plus dexamethasone versus dexamethasone alone (with placebo instead of Revlimid). Results of these trials were presented earlier this year at the International Myeloma Workshop in Australia, at the ASCO meeting in Florida, and at the EHA meeting in Sweden. The data from the North American trial are summarized in Table 2.
Both the response rate of 61.2% and the length of response of 15 months were significantly larger for Revlimid plus dexamethasone versus dexamethasone alone. Side effects with DVTs (deep vein thromboses) were higher with the combination (15% versus 5%). Daily baby aspirin use is now recommended along with Revlimid.
It is these very encouraging results, combined with the almost exactly duplicated study results from Europe, which have led to the expectation of approval of Revlimid for myeloma by the FDA, in some fashion. However, there are two very important nuances concerning the antici-pated availability of Revlimid:
1. Revlimid FDA Approval Anticipated
- Data supporting the use of Revlimid in another blood cancer called MDS (Myelodysplastic Syndrome), a type of preleukemia, which sometimes has a 5q- chromo-some abnormality, were submitted to the FDA earlier this year. This submission will receive expedited review, which means that a decision will be received from the FDA within 6 months, by Fall of 2005 at the latest.
- If there is approval for Revlimid use in MDS, this means that Revlimid will become commercially available. Myeloma would then become an “off-label” indication. Revlimid most likely could be made available to myeloma patients at the discretion of the treating phy-sician. The major concern would become how exactly reimbursement is handled.
- The combination of Revlimid plus dexamethasone, the successful treatment in the trials summarized in Table 2, will most likely also be submitted to the FDA for review. At this point, the earliest that any specific approval might be received for myeloma is sometime in 2006.
2. Expanded Access Program (EAP)
In the interim, the Celgene Corporation plans to activate an Expanded Access Program (EAP) for Revlimid in mul-tiple myeloma. It is proposed that this be a multi-center, single-arm, open label trial for Revlimid plus dexametha-sone (as used in the recent trials) for previously treated myeloma patients (at least 2 prior cycles of anti-myeloma therapy). Eligible patients will have relapsed or refractory myeloma. Prior use of thalidomide is allowed. Patients will continue on therapy unless myeloma progression occurs and/or Revlimid becomes commercially available. This, therefore, cycles back to item 1 above. Thus, one way or another, it seems that the long wait for Revlimid may be nearing an end. Hopefully, very soon this drug will be in the hands of patients requiring treatment. The IMF will be tracking developments concerning activa-tion of EAP and/or commercial availability of Revlimid. For further information, please call 800-452-CURE (2873). | <urn:uuid:86f70e52-1b77-4281-8d49-d9a3addfbdd8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://myeloma.org/ArticlePage.action?tabId=13&menuId%2520=96&queryPageId=6&articleId=1616 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945164 | 959 | 1.617188 | 2 |
The 7 Most Common Lies Customers Tell, Mike Michalowicz talks about why and how our prospects, clients and customers lie to us.
It's not usually malicious, but more often due to wanting to spare feelings or not fully understanding their own needs or situation. I'm pretty sure I've been lied to by prospects, although in reality, they probably weren't lying, but their circumstances changed.
If lying sounds harsh, let's call it "bending the truth." I know I've told someone I would consider their services at a later date when I knew I wouldn't. Because it wasn't comfortable for me to flat-out say I didn't want to work with them. Even saying "I don't think we're a good fit," is often bending the truth in these kinds of situations.
So if we know that prospects and clients lie to us, and we know that we are sometimes the client or the prospect, how about this: Are you lying to your audiences? On the one hand, we agree that people often lie to soften the blow or spare feelings. But how about the flip side of that? We lie to make ourselves look better.
** Do you make up answers that sound good during Q&A because you're uncomfortable saying "I don't know?"
** Do you drop names of well-known people with whom you have only a passing relationship?
** Do you sometimes pass off your opinions as facts because you've never actually delved into the topic enough to know what's true and what's false?
** Do you fudge information about the size or success of your business because you're afraid of being found lacking?
** Do you inflate your importance in a particular industry or group in order to impress people?
Let's just get it out there: We all want to impress people.
No matter how much we say we don't care what people think, we want to be liked, we want to be chosen, we want to be hired, we want to be recommended, we want to be recognized, we want to get fans and followers, and we want to be on top of the world -- our world -- whatever that means to each of us.
There's nothing wrong with this; in fact, it means you're human. We're social animals (some might even say pack animals), are we not? The majority of us are not hermits, shunning society, but rather spend much of our time in social groups. We are part of many groups: our family group, our friends group, our religious or spiritual group, our cultural group, our work or industry group, our age and demographic group, our gender group... and so on.
The question is this: When does lying become egregious? When does lying become obvious? When does lying ruin your credibility?
If your audience can pull out their smart phones and Google what you're telling them, then you don't have much recourse. Maybe your audience doesn't realize in the moment that you're BS-ing them, but they will figure it out at some point. Someone will contradict your facts at a later date, and you will lose your status post-presentation.
There are different degrees of truth and lies, fact and myth. We don't always tell everyone everything. "White lies" are frequently required in the context of social lubrication. And we don't always show people the dark, down, and disappointing sides of ourselves. Why should we?
But we do get into the danger zone when our BS is easily verified. And these days, easily verified also means easily reported and easily spread.
If you make a mistake, that's one thing. If you are consciously lying, and there's no good reason for it except to elevate yourself, please rethink your strategy. Your BS will come back to bite you. | <urn:uuid:caccb307-2083-462f-8025-eeee6ab94890> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.speakschmeak.com/2012/07/bs-will-bite-you.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976807 | 782 | 1.5625 | 2 |
‘Aunt Mary,’ Friend to Soldiers, Dead at 58
Miriam Feiner passed away Tuesday at the age of 58. She was known to many as “Aunt Mary,” who cared for IDF soldiers stationed in the north.
For 19 years she ran the Aunt Mary diner in Metula on a voluntary basis. She became well known during the first Lebanon War for her particular care for soldiers.
She would give food and coffee to soldiers, and hot tea with lemon to those not feeling well. The diner was full at all hours of the day.
“Mary loved the IDF soldiers like her own children,” her family said.
She is survived by her three children and two grandchildren. She was buried Sunday in Metula. | <urn:uuid:cef25aaf-b7ff-4986-8a08-3431857d7aeb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/162836 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.990892 | 158 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Activists: Heavy fighting in Syria's largest city
BEIRUT (AP) -- Activists say Syrian troops and rebels are fighting some of the fiercest battles in the northern city of Aleppo.
The clashes Friday are part of a new push by the rebels to drive regime forces out of Syria's largest city and commercial capital after weeks of stalemate.
Aleppo-based activist Baraa al-Halabi says some of the heaviest battles are taking place in a predominantly Kurdish neighborhood.
The major rebel group in the city -- the Tawhid Brigade -- says on its Facebook page that its members have entered the Sheikh Maksoud neighborhood to fight pro-government Kurdish gunmen.
Meanwhile, state-run Syrian TV says government troops repulsed an attack on the neighborhood with the help of its residents.
Aleppo was once a bastion of support for President Bashar Assad. | <urn:uuid:be75ba8e-b8ba-480f-a24c-cf03abc7e4b6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012/09/28/activists-heavy-fighting-in-syrias-largest-city/57850618/1?csp=34news | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955237 | 180 | 1.765625 | 2 |
20 homes buried in Afghanistan quake
Jun 11, 2012 / 6:23 am
An Afghan provincial governor says more than 20 houses have been buried in a landslide caused by an earthquake Monday in northern Afghanistan. Scores are feared dead.
Baghlan Gov. Abdul Majid says rescuers have so far pulled out two women's bodies from the rubble. They expect that many others were buried inside their houses.
Burka district, scene of the earthquake and landslide, is a remote area about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the provincial capital.
A quake measuring a magnitude 5.4 struck the Hindu Kush region Monday morning, followed by a 5.7 quake, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It was felt as far away as the Afghan capital, where it shook buildings.
Read more World News
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- OJ Simpson set to tell his story in court
- N. Korea: American sentenced to 15 yrs.
- US general's sexual misconduct charges
- Man killed dribbling soccer ball to Brazil
- Doctor visits left Jackson 'loopy'
- Google CEO explains health issues
(Click for RSS instructions.) | <urn:uuid:0471dae3-aefc-404f-865e-6c883f78d586> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.castanet.net/news/World/76375/20-homes-buried-in-Afghanistan-quake | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943777 | 284 | 1.671875 | 2 |
How To Nail A Dictator
"In 1982, filmmaker Pamela Yates was filming in Guatemala. She documented the guerillas and sat down face to face with General Rios Montt, who was in power when 200,000 Guatemalans were systematically killed. Now a prosecutor in Spain is attempting to arrest General Rios Montt and bring him up on charges of genocide. To Pamela's surprise, her outtakes are evidence. A new documentary, 'Granito: How to Nail a Dictator,' explores this new role." | <urn:uuid:d0d2958b-31db-40cb-b9a1-2e84244e25a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nicaliving.com/node/19358 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948276 | 113 | 1.757813 | 2 |
05-14-2010, 07:20 PM
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If memory serves me, your water is quite hard, meaning the KH and GH are high. KH is what buffers pH and resists attempts to lower it. The harder the water, the less the effect of "natural" methods like peat and wood will be. I've never had to worry about this, having very soft water out of the tap, but if I did have this issue I would absolutely get a RO unit. It is far more reliable. Though initial cost is high, long-term you would need to buy a lot of peat to lower the pH significantly, and it wears out, faster the harder the water.
Now, having said that, if the angel fish are tank raised (most in stores are) they seem to manage with the pH in the 7's. And aquarists have them spawn; several memebers here have. Some fish are more adaptable than others. I'm not saying angels will live normal long lives in a tank with a pH of 7.8 or 8, but conversely I've no idea if it negatively affects them either. If you were dealing with wild-caught fish that would be a totally different matter. | <urn:uuid:003c331f-33b2-4153-9bf0-6c452baf7d35> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/freshwater-aquarium/how-get-your-ph-lower-42989/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979641 | 253 | 1.625 | 2 |
While it's easy to get caught up in brainstorming essay questions or studying for the GMAT, do not underestimate the importance of your MBA application form. Your answers will determine whether or not you will get into the business school of your choice. Here are some tips that will help you come up with answers that will make a good impression on the MBA admissions committee.
If you are applying to certain business schools, such as MIT’s Sloan School of Management, you may be required to fill out your application online. While an online application can be quicker and more convenient, you still need to be careful. Here are some tips.
While the ways in which you can submit you MBA application have changed, basic grammar rules and common sense still apply. You can now submit your application through a school's website, snail mail or online through online college application services. | <urn:uuid:b5a68e76-62cf-41b4-9523-d66b7842a02b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.topmbaconnect.com/mba-tips/mba-application-forms.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937314 | 174 | 1.65625 | 2 |
In 2008, when the auto industry began to falter, the collapse rippled across the state, eliminating most of the corporate video and commercial work off of which Ferndale resident Bradley Knopf made a living.
But the tide turned in his favor that same year when the state passed a tax-incentive package that granted film productions up to a 42 percent discount on in-state expenses.
Immediately, the incentive brought in a flood of productions, and Knopf and others like him were in high demand. After 20 years in film production, he was getting steady, well-paying work on feature films.
“The incentives kept me working,” Knopf said. He recently performed electrical work for the film Ides of March, starring George Clooney and Ryan Gosling, and has worked on such films such as Scream 4, Real Steel, Red Dawn, Transformers and Youth in Revolt.
Lately, the incentives have come under heavy scrutiny and have been threatened with elimination by Gov. Rick Snyder, who suggested in his proposed budget that production companies would share appropriated funds, capped at $25 million per year.
This change, hypothetical at the moment, has led to real consequences. Several productions that were scheduled to film in the state, such as Marvel’s The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises, have pulled out of those plans.
S3 Entertainment Group, 1100 Woodward Heights, which helped produce Gran Torino and the upcoming film Kill The Irishman, has had to lay off four people as a result, said managing partner Jeffrey Spilman.
Projects in development are in limbo because they can’t move forward until there’s certainty. “The proposed change takes Michigan from being a significant player to a small dot on the radar screen,” Spilman said.
M-1 Studios President Matthew Peach said the company faces a similar situation. M-1 is trying to grow as a postproduction house, he said, but it won’t be able to if the tax-incentive change is approved.
The incentives also generated a young talent pool. Many schools in the Metro Detroit area added film programs, making a long-term investment in the industry, he said.
“The politicians running this state are supposed to be helping these people,” Peach said. “There’s so much more going on with industry than what’s showing up on reports.”
Initial reports showed the tax incentives as ineffective as far as building the state’s economy, but a recent Ernst & Young study found that for every dollar spent by the state on film productions, there is a $6 return. “Our incentive works, period,” Spilman said.
Film productions spend money everywhere, Peach said, and in various areas, including dry cleaning, lumber and transportation. “Businesses are getting the boost they need,” he said.
The industry also supports more people than usually thought, Knopf said. “They try to paint the picture that this is just writing a check to Hollywood, and that’s just not the case,” he said.
“When people think about movies, they think about the star, but they don’t think about the people behind the scenes.
“People pay bills, taxes, mortgages with that money.”
Knopf, 49, said the commercial work he used to do hasn’t regenerated enough to support his family. He knows of people already leaving the state and either moving back to where they came from or to more viable places. He said he has begun looking for work out of state.
However, he is optimistic that compromise will be reached and that the incentives will be altered into something workable.
He and many others in the industry have participated in protests and rallies, with the goal of educating everyone—especially the Legislature—about the importance of the incentives to the community as a whole.
"They’re given pieces of paper with numbers, and then they don’t see the faces behind them,” Knopf said. | <urn:uuid:52597adb-c680-4a04-b1ca-74c1ef793abf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ferndale.patch.com/articles/uncertainty-about-film-incentives-has-already-affected-the-industry | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974218 | 861 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Annette Hacker, director,
Office: (515) 294-4777
Cathy Brown, Facilities Planning & Management, (515) 294-6001
Meetings scheduled to discuss pedestrian-motorist experiences on ISU campusAMES, Iowa -- Would life behind the wheel, or crossing the road on foot, be better if Pammel Drive were a three-lane road (two driving lanes and a turn lane in the middle)? This is an idea that might be proffered as pedestrian crosswalks at Iowa State go through modifications.
Facilities Planning and Management (FP&M) is leading efforts to enhance the pedestrian-motorist experience on campus. As part of those efforts, there will be a series of open forums for faculty, staff and students to give ideas and perspectives about their pedestrian-motorist experiences on campus (see dates at right).
There also is a Web site where members of the campus and surrounding community can go to read about potential changes and give input (www.fpm.iastate.edu/walk/).
Each open forum will start with a 10-minute presentation summarizing a recent report done by the Iowa State University Center for Transportation Research and Education (CTRE). CTRE staff studied and made recommendations for six pedestrian crossing areas on campus. This effort was Phase I of a campus-wide initiative to upgrade pedestrian crossings.
The remainder of each meeting will be devoted to open discussion among attendees who will be asked to share their ideas, concerns and suggestions about pedestrian and motorist experiences on campus. FP&M will encourage discussions about the physical aspects of an area; whether or not there should be more rules or enforcement for pedestrians and motorists; and the best way to educate the university community on their responsibilities as drivers and pedestrians.
Cathy Brown, ISU Facilities Planning and Management, says that input from the campus community will be carefully considered as planners go into a more thorough campus-wide analysis of the pedestrian experience around campus.
"I think it's important to get the community's input because we all have different experiences and observations," she said. "We want to hear from people as we work on pedestrian crosswalks so we can respond and address some of their ideas."
What's been done already
The CTRE report, which can be read at the Web site, looks at six crosswalk areas on campus: Pammel Drive at Molecular Biology Building, Pammel Drive at Insectory Building, Beach Road at Forker/Lied, Beach Road at Maple/Willow/Larch, Wallace Road at East Campus Parking Deck and Union Drive at UDCC.
It discusses the physical characteristics of pedestrian crossings, such as pavement markings, signage, lighting and overall visibility for both pedestrians and motorists.
The report makes both immediate recommendations and long-term considerations for improvements. Some immediate actions have taken place. For example, new pedestrian crossing signs have been put up and tree pruning continues as part of ongoing maintenance to enhance visibility.
Currently, FP&M staff are evaluating pavement marking alternatives. They're looking at different pavement marking products to see how they stand up to traffic, snow-plows and other wear. Crosswalk markings will be updated throughout spring and summer.
These changes, said Brown, will set a standard for consistent messages for pedestrians and motorists at crosswalks throughout campus.
Next steps will include consideration of other potential changes such as the prospect of changing Pammel Drive to a three-lane roadway or modifying crosswalks to slow traffic such as slightly raised crosswalks.
"We want to hear from people as we work on pedestrian crosswalks so we can respond and address some of their ideas."
Cathy Brown, Facilities Planning and Management | <urn:uuid:b816d3f7-843a-4095-9f1a-e305a5df268a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.public.iastate.edu/~nscentral/news/2006/mar/pedestrians.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944091 | 765 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Conference on child behavior set for Oct. 27
The Oklahoma Parents Center (OPC) is hosting a conference Saturday, Oct. 27, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Western Technologies Center in Burns Flat. The conference, titled “Building Relationships to Create Successful Change”, will feature Dr. Laura Riffel, Ph.D.
Dr. Riffel is a behaviorist, who has over 30 years of experience working with children. She has trained thousands of teachers, parents, counselors, psychologists, administrators and bus drivers how to make data based decisions as a way to change behavior. Her sessions are filled with humor and make data collection easy to understand and to use once back in the school or home setting. She has dedicated her life to making behavior change as easy as A-B-C. Dr. Riffel manages www.behaviordoctor.org, her personal site and ww.wpbis.org, the National Technical Assistance Center for Positive behavioral Interventions and Supports.
The conference will offer sessions with various other Oklahoma favorites throughout the day, including JoAnne Blades, Director of the Special Education Resolution Center and Kayla Bower.
The conference is offered through the Oklahoma Parents Center, in conjunction with the Oklahoma State Department of Education. Local organization, Oklahoma Parent Advocates for Children with Special Needs (OPAC) is also a partner in the conference.
The conference is free, but limited to the first 100 registrants. Lunch will be provided and door prizes will be given throughout the day.
To register for the conference, email your name, address, phone number, job title along with any special accommodations you might need to firstname.lastname@example.org or fax it to 405-379-2106. | <urn:uuid:061dbb4b-3959-4ac1-97c4-342ab8290bac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.altustimes.com/view/full_story_myown/20535750/article-Conference-on-child-behavior-set-for-Oct--27 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93456 | 372 | 1.8125 | 2 |
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FAREED ZAKARIA GPS
The State of U.S. Economy; Post-bin Laden Pakistan
Aired August 14, 2011 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FAREED ZAKARIA, HOST: This is GPS, THE GLOBAL PUBLIC SQUARE. Welcome to all our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Fareed Zakaria.
We have a wonderful show for you today. First up, the most important topic in the world, what is going on with the economy? Joining me are two of the most important economists in the world, Paul Krugman and Kenneth Rogoff.
Then, "What in the World?" would happen if China pulled its money out of U.S. debt? I call it mutually assured destruction. I'll explain.
Next up, Ahmed Rashid, the great journalist, will join me to talk about Pakistan post Bin Laden.
And in-depth look at what's really going on in London. What's behind this week's unrest.
But first, here's my take. Over the last week, liberal politicians and commentators in America took to the air waves and OpEd pages to criticize the debt deal that Congress reached. But their ire was directed not at the Tea Party or even the Republicans, but rather at Barack Obama, who, they concluded, had failed as a president because of his persistent tendency to compromise. This has been a running theme ever since Obama took office.
I think that liberals need to grow up. As "The New Republic's" Jonathan Chait brilliantly points out, there is a recurring liberal fantasy that if only the president of the United States would give a stirring speech, he would sweep the country along with the sheer power of his poetry and enact his agenda.
In this view, write Chait, every known impediment to the legislative process - special interest lobbying, the filibuster, macro economic conditions, not to mention certain settled beliefs of public policy - are but tiny stick huts trembling in the face of the atomic bomb of the presidential speech. This does happen if you're watching the movie "The American President," but not if you're actually watching what goes on in Washington.
The disappointment over the debt deal is just the latest episode of liberal bewilderment about Obama. "I have no idea what Barack Obama believes on virtually any issue," Drew Westen writes in "The New York Times." Confused over Obama's tendency to take balanced positions, Westen hints that his professional experience, which is as a psychologist, suggests deep traumatic causes for Obama's pathology.
Let me offer a simpler explanation. Obama is a centrist and a pragmatist who understands that in a country divided over core issues, you cannot make the best, the enemy of the good. Obama passed a large stimulus package within weeks of taking office. Liberals feel it should have been bigger. But, remember, despite a Democratic House and Senate, it just passed by one vote.
He signed into law an unprecedented expansion of regulations in the financial services industry, though it isn't one that broke up the large banks. He enacted universal health care through a complex program that was modeled after the Republican Mitt Romney's plan in Massachusetts. And he's advocated a balanced approach to deficit reduction that combines tax increases with spending cuts.
Now, maybe he just believes in all these things. Maybe he understands that with a budget deficit that is 10 percent of GDP, the second highest in the industrialized world, and a debt that will rise to almost 100 percent of GDP in a few years, we cannot cavalierly spend another few trillion hoping that it will jump start the economy.
Maybe he believes that while American banks need better regulations, America also needs a vibrant banking system and that, in a globalized economy, constraining American banks alone will only ensure that the world's largest global financial institutions will be British, German, Swiss and Chinese. He might understand that Larry Summers and Tim Geithner are smart people, who, in long careers in public service, got some things wrong, but also many things right.
Perhaps he understands that getting entitlement costs under control is, in fact, a crucial part of stabilizing our long-term fiscal situation and that you do need both tax increases and spending cuts - cuts, by the way, that are smaller than they appear because they all start from the 2010 budget, which was boosted by the stimulus.
Is all this dangerous weakness, incoherence, appeasement? Or is it just common sense?
For more on this you can read my column in this week's "Time" magazine or at Time.com. Let's get started.
ZAKARIA: Joining me now to talk about Wall Street's wild week, what it means or doesn't mean, and what may lay behind it and what lays - lies ahead of us, two of the world's top economists.
Paul Krugman won the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics, and he is a columnist for "The New York Times." Kenneth Rogoff is a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, now a professor of economics at Harvard University. Welcome to you both.
Paul, let me start with you. The one thing we saw over the week was markets up, markets down, but the one trend that seemed persistent was there is a great demand for U.S. treasuries despite the fact that the S&P downgraded it.
You've been talking a lot about this. Explain in your view what does it mean that in moments like this U.S. treasuries are still in demand and what that does is push interest rates even lower than they are.
PAUL KRUGMAN, COLUMNIST, NEW YORK TIMES: Well, what it tells you is that the investors, the market, are not at all afraid of what the - if you like, the policy elite or people like Standard & Poor's are telling them they should be afraid of.
You know, we - we've got all of Washington, all of Brussels, all of Frankfurt saying debt deficits, this is the big problem. And what we actually have in reality is markets are terrified of prolonged stagnation, maybe another recession. They still see government debt as - U.S. government debt, at any rate - as the safest thing out there, and are saying, if - if this was a reaction of the S&P downgrade, it was the market's saying, you know, we're afraid that that downgrade is going to lead to even more contractionary policy, more austerity, pushing us deeper into the hole.
So it's - it's a - you know, it's a reality test, right? So we just - just had a wake-up call that said, hey, you guys have been worrying about the entirely wrong things. The really scary thing here is the prospect of what amounts to a - a somewhat reduced version of the Great Depression in - in the Western world.
ZAKARIA: Ken Rogoff, worrying about the wrong thing?
KEN ROGOFF, FORMER CHIEF ECONOMIST, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND: Well, I think the downgrade was well justified. It's a very volatile world. And the reason there's still a demand for treasuries is they've been downgraded a little bit to AA plus. That looks pretty good compared to a lot of the other options right now.
It's a very, very difficult time for investors. There is a financial panic going on at some level. Some of it's adjusting to a lower growth expectations, maybe a third of what we're seeing. Two- thirds of it is the idea no one's home - not in Europe, not in the United States. There's no leadership. And I really think that's what's driving the panic.
ZAKARIA: But you wrote in an article of yours that you think that this is part of actually a broader phenomenon which is that people are realizing this is not a classic recession, this is not a classic cyclical downturn. This is what you call a great contraction. Explain what you mean by that.
ROGOFF: Well, recessions we have periodically since World War II, but we haven't really had a financial crisis as we're having now. And Carmen Reinhart and I think of this as a great contraction, the second one, the first being the Great Depression, where it's not just unemployment, it's not just output, but it's also credit, housing and a lot of other things which are contracting. These things last much longer because of the debt overhang that we started with. After a typical recession, you come galloping out. Six months after it ended, you're back to where you started. Another six or 12 months, you're back to trend.
If you look at a contraction, one of these post-financial crisis events, it can take up to four or five years just to get back to where you started. So people are talking about a double dip, a second recession. We never left the first one.
ZAKARIA: So, Paul Krugman, what the implication of what Ken Rogoff is saying is spending large amounts of money on stimulus programs is not going to be the answer because, until the debt overhang works its way off, you're not going to get back to trend growth. So, in that circumstance, you'll be wasting the money. Is that - is -
KRUGMAN: No, that's not at all what it implies. At least not - not - I think my analytical framework, the way I think about this, is not very different from Ken's. At least I certainly believed from day one of this slump that it was going to be something very different from one of your standard V-shaped, you know, down and up recessions, that it was going to last a long time.
One of the things we can do, at least a partial answer, is in fact to have institutions that are able to issue debt - namely the government - do so and sustain spending and, among other things, by maintaining employment, by maintaining income, you make it easier for the private sector to work down that overhang of debt.
ZAKARIA: Ken, are you in favor of a - a second or a significant additional stimulus in the way that I think Paul Krugman is?
ROGOFF: No. I - I think that's where we part ways on this. I mean, I think that creates a - a debt overhang in the terms of future taxes that is not a magic bullet because it's not a typical recession. I do think, if we used our credit to help facilitate one of these plans to bring down the mortgage debt in this targeted way, and it could involve a significant amount, that I would definitely consider. I mean, that's how - that's how I would do it.
Now, obviously, you know, things go from bad to worse, then you start taking out more and more things from the tool kit, but I would start with targeting the mortgages, then higher inflation, try to do some structural reforms and, of course, you know, if things are still going badly, I'm open to more ideas.
ZAKARIA: Paul -
KRUGMAN: Can I just break in?
ZAKARIA: Yes. Yes.
KRUGMAN: I would say things - things have already gone from bad to worse. I mean, this is a terrible, terrible situation out there. You know, we - we talk about it, we look at GDP, whatever. We have nine percent unemployment and, more to the point, we have long-term unemployment at levels not seen since the Great Depression. Just an incredible - incredibly large number of people trapped in basically permanent unemployment.
This is something that desperately needs addressing. And I would be saying we should not be trying one tool after another from the tool kit a little bit at a time. At this point, we really want to be throwing everything we can get mobilized at it.
I - I don't - I don't think fiscal stimulus is - is a magic bullet. I'm not sure that inflation is a magic bullet in the sense that it's kind of hard to get, unless you're doing a bunch of other things. So we - we should be trying all of these things.
And, you know, what - how did the Great Depression end? How did - how did that end? It ended, actually, of course, with World War II, but that - which was a massive fiscal expansion, but also involved a substantial amount of inflation, which eroded the debt. What we need - hopefully we don't need a world war to get there, but we need - we need this kind of all-out effort which we're not going to get (ph) -
ZAKARIA: We're going to have to take a break. When we come back, we'll ask what exactly should the worries about the deficit be? Is - is that something to be taken seriously at all? When we come back.
ZAKARIA: And we are back with Paul Krugman and Paul Rogoff, talking about the economy, the markets and everything else.
Paul Krugman, before we took a break, you talked about the solution to getting us out of this crisis, and you compared it to the '30s and pointed out that World War II got us out of the Depression. This was a massive stimulus, massive fiscal expansion. But aren't we in a different world?
We are, right now, the United States, at 10 percent of budget - budget deficit, 10 percent of GDP, which is the second highest in the industrial world. In two years we'll - our debt-to-GDP ratio goes to 100 percent. That strikes me as a situation which there's got to - presumably there is some upper limit. You can't just keep spending money and incur these larger and larger debt loads.
KRUGMAN: Oh, I don't get us to - I think those numbers are a bit high, about the - about the deficit, a couple - the debt levels a couple years out. It takes longer than that.
But the main thing to say is, look, think about the costs versus benefits right now. Basically, the U.S. government can borrow money and repay in constant dollars less than it borrowed. Are we really saying that there are no projects that the federal government can undertake that have an even slightly positive rate of return? Especially when you bear in mind that many of the workers and resources that you employ on those projects would be otherwise be unemployed.
The world wants to buy U.S. bonds. Let's - let's supply some more, and let's use those bonds to do something useful which might, among other things, help to get us out of this terrible, terrible slump.
ZAKARIA: Ken Rogoff?
ROGOFF: Well, I think you have to be careful about assuming that these low interest rates are going to last indefinitely. They were very low for subprime mortgage borrowers a few years ago. Interest rates can turn like the weather.
But I - I also question how much just untargeted stimulus would really work. Infrastructure spending, if well spent, that's great. I'm all for that. I'd borrow for that, assuming we're not paying Boston Big Dig kind of prices for the infrastructure.
ZAKARIA: But, even if you were, wouldn't John Maynard Keynes say that if you could employ people to dig a ditch and then fill it up again, that's fine. They're being productively employed, they pay taxes, so maybe the big - maybe Boston's Big Dig was - was just fine after all?
KRUGMAN: Think about World War II, right? That was not - that was actually negative for social product spending, and yet it brought us out. I mean, partly because you want to put these things together, if we say, look, we could use some inflation. Ken and I are both saying that, which is of course anathema to a lot of people in - in Washington, but is in fact what the basic logic says.
It's very hard to get inflation in a depressed economy. But if you have a program of government spending plus an expansionary policy by the Fed, you could get that. So if you think about using all of these things together, you could accomplish, you know, a great deal.
I mean, if we - if we discovered that, you know, space aliens were planning to attack and we needed a - a massive buildup to counter the - the space alien threat, and really inflation and budget deficits took secondary place to that, this slump would be over in 18 months. And then if we discovered, oops, we made a mistake there aren't actually any space aliens -
ROGOFF: So we need Orson Wells is what you're say?
KRUGMAN: No. That's a - that's a - there was a "Twilight Zone" episode like this, which scientists fake an alien threat in order to achieve world peace. Well, this time we don't need it - we need it in order to get some fiscal stimulus.
But, no. I mean, the point is -
ZAKARIA: But Ken - but Ken wouldn't agree with that, right? The space aliens wouldn't work -
ROGOFF: It's not so clear that -
ZAKARIA: Go ahead (ph).
ROGOFF: I think it's not so clear that Keynes was right. I mean, there have been decades and decades of debate about that, about whether digging ditches is such a good idea. And my read of the debate is when the government does really useful things and spends the money in useful ways, it's a good idea. But when it just dig ditches and fills them in, it's not productive and leaves you with debt.
I don't - I don't think that's such a no-brainer. There are people going around saying, oh, Keynes was right. Everything Keynes said was right. I think this is a different animal, with this debt overhang that you need to think about from the standard Keynesian framework.
KRUGMAN: I - I guess I just don't agree. I mean, I think the - the debt overhang - but that was an issue in the '30s, too, private sector debt overhang. We came into this with higher public debt than I would have liked, right? We're really, in some ways, paying the cost to the Bush tax cuts and the Bush unfunded wars, which leave us with a - a higher starting point of debt.
But - but, you know, the - the thing that drives me crazy about this debate, if I can say, is that we have these hypothetical risks. All those hypothetical things are leaving us doing nothing about the actual thing that's happening, which is mass unemployment, mass waste of human resources, mass waste of - of physical resources.
This is - you know, what's happening is we - we are hemorrhaging economic possibilities and also destroying a lot of lives by letting this thing drift on. And we're inventing these - you know, sometimes ghosts are real, I guess, but we're inventing these phantom threats to keep us from - from acting.
ZAKARIA: Do you - do you think that the lesson from history, Ken, in terms of these kind of great contractions - because other countries have had - we - we have not had something like this since the 1930s, but there have been other examples. It tells you that until you get these debt levels down, no matter what the government does, it's not going to get you back to robust growth?
ROGOFF: I do, because what happens as you're growing slowly, the debt problems start blowing up on you. That's happening very dramatically in Europe. They had a - a philosophy and approach of things are going to get much better. this is an ordinary but big recession. If we can just hang on, we're going to grow really fast, the debt problems will go away.
Well, guess what? They're not growing fast enough. The debt problems are - are imploding. That's slowing growth, and it's a self- feeding cycle.
KRUGMAN: I guess I'm - I'm a little puzzled here because, again, the thing that's holding us back right now in the United States, although there are - there are those peripheral European countries that are having a - a very different kind of problem, partly because they don't have their own currencies.
But, in the United States, what's holding us back is private sector debt. And, yes, we - we're not going to have a self sustaining recovery unless that private sector debt could be brought down (ph).
ZAKARIA: Just to be clear, Paul, what you mean by that is individuals have a lot of debt on their - on their balance sheets?
KRUGMAN: Yes. That's what's holding us back, and we do need to bring that down, at least bring it down relative to incomes. So what you need to do is you need to have policies to make incomes grow. You need - and that can include government spending, which is going to add to - to public debt, but it's going to reduce the burden of private debt. It can include inflationary policies, and it can include - and it include deliberate forgiveness.
The idea that - that this has all faded, that we cannot do anything to grow because we have to wait for some natural process to bring that - that debt down, that - that doesn't follow from the analysis. It's - it is the - there is a huge overhang of debt, which is the - at least as I see it, exactly the reason why we need very activist government policies.
ZAKARIA: Ken Rogoff, the last word?
ROGOFF: I do think that the debt of the government, of course it's important. The social security, concerns over future medical spending. A lot of businesses are - and - and people who could invest, could hire people are worried of where the government's going, where taxes are going, what's going to happen to their savings. So I don't think -
KRUGMAN: There's not a hint of that in the data.
ROGOFF: I don't think it's such a - well, not a hint of that? People aren't hiring, and - and there - there's a lot of surveys and -
KRUGMAN: Because they can't sell.
ROGOFF: -- and such showing people (ph).
Yes, but I mean - I mean, interest rates are always low before a crisis. You can't necessarily say that that tells you it's not going to happen.
KRUGMAN: I'm - I guess I'm still in this position of saying that - that things that we have no evidence for, that are supposed to be dangerous, are being - you're blaming it - lots of people are blaming them for something which is - looks to me like straightforward there isn't enough spending in the economy. ROGOFF: We have - we have centuries of examples.
KRUGMAN: Not - I don't read that history the same way.
ZAKARIA: All right. We're going to have to leave it at that.
Paul Krugman, Ken Rogoff we'll have you back very soon to see which way the wind is blowing one of these weeks (ph). Thank you.
We'll be right back.
ZAKARIA: Now for our "What in the World?" segment. What struck me this past week was China's reaction to our credit downgrade. Its state-run media thundered that America needed to cure its addiction to debt.
A Hong Kong newspaper widely read on the mainland ran this front page, with a banner saying "The American Dream Is Over." It went on to report that Washington owes every single Chinese citizen about 5,700 yuan, about $900. Another editorial said Washington's solution to its debt time bomb was to make the fuse just one inch longer.
That kind of commentary has hit a nerve with the Chinese people. After a drop in Shanghai's stock market, bloggers took to local social media sites. One wrote, "The U.S. suffered a downgrade. Why did we become the biggest victim?" Another said, "It was a huge mistake to buy U.S. bonds with Chinese taxpayer money. We must hold those who are involved responsible."
Here in the U.S., you hear many people worry that the Chinese government might stop buying American T-bills. I think these fears are vastly overblown. The economic situation between China and the United States is the financial version of mutually assured destruction, that Cold War doctrine of nuclear deterrence, if you destroy me, I end up destroying you.
Let me explain. Let's start with the facts.
China is indeed America's biggest foreign lender. It owns about $1.2 trillion of debt, more than Japan, the U.K. and Brazil. A little known fact is that most of America's debt - $14.3 trillion and counting - is actually owned by Americans in social security trusts, pension funds and by the Federal Reserve. But it is the marginal buyer that matters, so China is very important.
Now, imagine that China were to sell off those $1.2 trillion of U.S. Treasury bonds, or even a substantial portion of them. It's a huge hypothetical, but let's play out the disastrous chain of events that would happen if China began to divest.
It would trigger panic selling of the dollar. That would, in turn, hurt the U.S. economy, which is China's number one export market. Not a good idea if you are the Beijing government trying to keep your workers occupied in factories across China, producing goods that Americans are going to buy.
You see, China is addicted to a strategy of export-led growth, which requires that it keep its goods cheap, which means keeping its currency undervalued, which means buying U.S. dollars.
But could China slow the purchase of - of American debt, even if it doesn't stop it altogether? Yes, but, even here, it has fewer options than people think. As China's export growth continues, it will have to keep adding to its foreign reserves, which are now $3.2 trillion.
So where can it park that money? Does it want to invest in Japanese debt and make the yen a reserve currency? Anyone who understands the deep animosity between China and Japan will see that this is unlikely.
Euro denominated assets are a possibility, though there's not really something such as a European treasury bill. But, even then, do you really want to put all your eggs in the euro basket when the future of the currency itself looks shaky, much more shaky than it did six months ago? Can you be confident that the euro will be around 15 years from now?
As for British pounds, Swiss francs, you can buy those, but just not in the vast quantities that China needs given the cash it generates. And, of course, if China were to stop buying treasuries, remember the value of the Yuan would rise. Chinese exports would become more expensive. Employment in China would fall.
So, at the very moment, China's bloggers and state-run media were blasting the U.S. government. Guess what Beijing was doing? It was buying U.S. treasuries. The reality is that China is trapped in a cycle of buying our T bonds. No matter what any ratings agency says, no other bond market is as big or as safe for China.
So ignore all those theories about China doing America a huge favor. The reality is they have nowhere else to go. We're probably doing them a favor.
And by the way, in terms of who is paying whom, data from the Congressional Budget Office shows that the U.S. pays out some $74 million to China in interest payments on debt every day. That means Washington is paying Beijing $833 every second.
And we'll be right back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AHMED RASHID, AUTHOR, "DESCENT TO CHAOS": I think what we've seen in the last couple of months since the killing of Osama Bin Laden, we've seen a real meltdown.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Now time for a check of today's top stories.
Just hours after a disappointing finish in the Iowa Straw Poll, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is dropping out of the Republican presidential race. Pawlenty made the announcement this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIM PAWLENTY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm announcing this morning on your show that I'm going to be ending my campaign for president. I wish it would have been different. But, obviously, the pathway forward for me doesn't really exist. And so we're going to end the campaign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: Pawlenty poured over a millions dollars into the Straw Poll. He finished a distant third place behind Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul.
At least four people are dead and 40 others injured after scaffolding around a stage at Indiana State Fair collapsed last night. Witnesses attending a concert say a powerful gust of wind blew through just before the incident. Authorities say there may be more casualties.
And two men are charged with murder in the hit-and-run deaths of three men during riots in London last week. Witnesses say the victims were mowed down by a car while trying to protect businesses in the City of Birmingham from looters.
And those are your top stories. Now back to FAREED ZAKARIA GPS.
ZAKARIA: The United States will soon begin its drawdown from Afghanistan. And as that happens, greater and greater attention will be focused on next-door neighbor Pakistan. That is where much of what remains of al Qaeda's leadership lives. And it is, of course, a nuclear nation that is in terrible turmoil, filled with bombings, assassinations and what often seems like just chaos.
To talk about it all, I'm joined by the finest journalist writing in Pakistan today, Ahmed Rashid.
Ahmed, the latest news out of Peshawar, this female suicide bomber wearing a veil detonates herself. Even for Pakistan this is unusual.
RASHID: This is very unusual. We've had one or two female suicide bombers, but they've been Chechens or central agents. This is the first time that I know of a Pakistani woman, a young woman becoming as - and becoming a suicide bomber in the center of Peshawar. I mean, one of the largest cities in the country.
So, you know, this is very much a new development.
ZAKARIA: Do you look at what's going on right now and - and feel as though there is some kind of system in place to deal with this rising militancy? Is the army now finally mobilized? Is the political class mobilized?
RASHID: I think, Fareed, on the country I think what we've seen in the last couple of months since the killing of Osama Bin Laden, we've seen a real meltdown. The army has felt humiliated, embarrassed and demoralized to some extent. The politicians have kind of abandoned the scene and told the army, you sort it out, this is not our problem.
There's a huge rift between the government and the army and the Americans. And that is, of course, affecting economic confidence, because we have no deal with the IMF nor the World Bank or any of the usual big donors who should be giving money or pledging some kind of funding to Pakistan at this stage.
So there are a whole raft of issues that have arisen which are worrying people enormously.
ZAKARIA: Let's talk about the rift between Pakistan and the U.S. Of course, you know, some of it, the most recent bout of it stems from the Osama Bin Laden shootings. What is - what is the civilian government doing? What is the army doing?
RASHID: Well, you know, first of all, this has been building up for quite some time. But the real sort of icing on the cake has been the death of Osama Bin Laden, because that is an operation carried out I think largely without Pakistani knowledge or involvement.
And the army did feel very embarrassed and humiliated. And that, of course, has created this wave of anti-Americanism, both in the public and in the army and has forced General Kayani, the Army Chief, to also show a very hard line towards the Americans. And at the moment we have a complete breakdown.
Now, in the midst of this, President Zardari has kind of abandoned the stage. We haven't seen any leadership by Zardari. For example, since Bin Laden's death, he's not made a single statement on terrorism or anything like that.
ZAKARIA: And would it be fair to say that because of this rift in relations, the Pakistani Military is not pursuing the kind of militants, the Haqqani Faction, you know, those militants who kill Afghans and American troops and coalition troops?
RASHID: Well, it certainly is not going to pursue it right now with this complete rift between the Pak military and the American military. And - I mean, they're barely on talking terms.
ZAKARIA: How do we get out of this? How do we get back to some kind of working relationship? RASHID: Well, I think - I think the real problem - I mean, there's a huge problem here, too. And I think, you know, that problem is that there doesn't seem to be a central figure. Since the death of Richard Holbrooke, who will deal with Pakistan, you know? You've got Admiral Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, who has been very upfront in dealing with Pakistan. But, you know, you need a senior member of the White House or the State Department to be running the policy.
And, unfortunately, it appears from - from Pakistan's side that the people running the policy here at the CIA and the Military. And there's no political strategy from the American side and there's no political equivalent of Holbrooke or, you know, with the Secretary of State or the Deputy Secretary of State or somebody, you know, get involved in talking to the Pakistanis.
ZAKARIA: So while all this is going on, the militancy in Pakistan, the fundamentalism, the jihadist seem to be thriving as the suicide bombing suggests?
RASHID: Yes, absolutely. I mean, remember right off Bin Laden's death, we had this attack on the Naval Base in Karachi in which two huge aircrafts were destroyed. That, too, was extremely embarrassing and humiliating for the military.
And secondly, you know, if this whole - you know, how are we going to turn around this huge wave of anti-Westernism, anti- Americanism in an army which for the last 60 years has been totally dependent on the Americans for arms, for weapons, for aid, you know, something like $20 billion has been given in the last 10 years by the Americans, a lot of it to the military for conducting operations against the Pakistani Taliban and the - and the extremists on the border.
Now, who's going to pay for these operations? I mean, are we in a position to pay for, you know, a billion dollars operation over three months to chase Pakistani Taliban? I don't think we're in a position to pay for that kind of operation.
So that is going to mean the operations will be reduced. There will be increasing use of air power, less use of - of manpower, and the extremists are going to be taking advantage of this.
ZAKARIA: So in a strange sense, Pakistan may be getting a whole lot more unstable.
RASHID: Well, I think, you know, what is really urgently needed is for the U.S.-Pakistan relationship to return in some shape or form as quickly as possible, and cooperation between the CIA and the Military and at the political level to resume. And if - you know, at the moment right now we've got a very hostile American Congress who are very anti-Pakistan.
You know, that has to be turned around. That can only be turned around if the relationship between the Obama administration and the Pakistan government improve. ZAKARIA: Ahmed Rashid, thank you. Fascinating, somewhat depressing conversation. Thank you.
And we will be back.
ZAKARIA: Welcome back.
This past week, the world watched London burn. Rioters set fire to buildings, smashed high street shop windows and looted everything from TVs to toothpaste. How did that happen in Britain and why?
Joining me now, we have two British writers and thinkers who can help us understand. David Goodhart is the editor at large of "Prospect" magazine, which he founded. He joins us from London.
And all the way from Brasilia, we have the British writer, Theodore Dalrymple, who worked as a prison psychiatrist for many years in London and wrote about it.
David, let me start with you. There is something for most of us a kind of - a sense of cognitive dissonance. When we think of the British, we think of people queuing and afternoon tea and things like that.
And, of course, there is another side to Britain. When I was young there were the Brixton riots and all that kind of thing. But what is going on? Why is this happening in Britain right now?
DAVID GOODHART, FOUNDER & EDITOR-AT-LARGE, PROSPECT MAGAZINE: Well, it may just have been a kind of one-off moment of mayhem. It may be a lot more serious than that. We may now start to see this on a regular basis. I mean, we clearly do - we've known for a long time, we have a lot of - we have a lot of deep problems in our inner cities. The economic boom over the last 10 or 15 years has partly covered that up.
But there's a whole culture of nihilism amongst a hardcore of people in the inner city. A lot of it comes from the black, hip-hop and rap culture, which is picked up by a lot of white kids as well. This idea that you cannot make it in straight society, so violent transgression is really the only - the only thing to do.
ZAKARIA: Theodore, I saw a piece or an interview I think you did in the "Wall Street Journal," and you seem to feel that British policing or lack of policing, I suppose, is partly to blame.
THEODORE DALRYMPLE, FORMER PRISON PSYCHIATRIST: Yes. One of the things that these people will have learned is impunity. And our levels of punishment, our levels of detection are so low that actually the mystery as to why it doesn't happen more often, not why it happens at all.
I mean, the reason why people don't go burgling all the time, is I can only assume is that they can't do the arithmetic that allows them to calculate the odds of getting away with it, which are extremely high.
But if people feel they have nothing to fear and they are correct in that, almost - one can almost say the only people to fear the British Police now are the innocent, then - then this is the kind of thing that one could expect.
ZAKARIA: David, what do you - what do you think of that? Is that sort of - that Britain has gotten too soft and squishy toward criminals?
GOODHART: Well, there's something in that. Although actually crime - crime has fallen quite sharply in the last 20 years or so. I think this is - these people are the sort of bastard offspring of British liberalism in a way. We've had a political class center left and center right, which has been economically liberal and socially and culturally liberal now for the last 20 or 30 years. And I think the really interesting question is can that liberalism produce a kind of tough love.
ZAKARIA: And -- but Theodore Darlymple, you would say that the tough love should be a kind of traditional Tory police - of, you know, tough policing, correct?
DALRYMPLE: Well, I think that's one of the things that can be done. But I'm obviously one doesn't want a society in which the only reason people behave reasonably well is because a policeman will haul them off to prison the moment they do something wrong. And, in fact, that's probably not entirely practicable.
But what we must not also forget here is that the - these people grow out of a culture, and that culture is not confined to them. Every British town and city, every Friday and Saturday night is a scene of debauchery and potential violence and this is not an exaggeration. I see it in my own little town.
The only thing that the counsel can think of doing in the face of repeated vandalism by drunks at 2:00 in the morning is to extend the licensing hours to 4:00 in the morning. And if we cannot even deal with something like mass public drunkenness, which actually is very easy to deal with, if we can't deal with that, then we're not going to deal with more difficult social problems.
ZAKARIA: David, what about another cause that people look at? And I've seen some mention of a paper put out by the Center for Economic Research and Policy, which looks at austerity measures over the last 100 years and says that every time you have sharp cuts in government budgets, sharp cuts in social services, you see rioting and instability. I'm summarizing a very long paper, but that's the basic idea.
Do you think that the British budget cuts are in some way responsible for this rioting?
GOODHART: No, absolutely not. The truth is the cuts, such as they are, have not begun to bite yet. They're in their infancy. And, I mean, a lot of money has been spent on the inner city in the last 15 years. And in conditions there, both economically and in terms of education and in even a sense sort of socially and culturally are miles better than they were. And, I mean, you know, it's a great challenge. This is not - this is not a normal sort of policy issue that can be solved by policy wonks.
ZAKARIA: Theodore, finally, let me ask you, what David is suggesting is actually a remarkably conservative idea, that there are cultural roots to this - this violence. Is there a cultural solution to it then?
DALRYMPLE: Well, in the long term that's the only solution to it. So I agree with him wholeheartedly that it is a culture. But it's a culture that has actually come, I'm afraid from intellectuals.
ZAKARIA: So David, it's your fault.
GOODHEART: I don't think that's entirely true. I mean, I think, at least the sort of the black side of this - actually it's a - it has a perverted root in a genuine struggle for justice. And I think some of the - a lot of that - a lot of those struggles have been won.
But the kind of grievance has been preserved and I speak (ph) by kids who, you know, just don't know how lucky they are.
ZAKARIA: We'll have to leave it there. This is a fascinating conversation. I certainly hope it's a one-off, but we will have to see. Gentlemen, thank you very much. Very much appreciate the conversation.
DALRYMPLE: Thank you.
ZAKARIA: And we will be right back.
ZAKARIA: This week the Dalai Lama stepped down as political leader of Tibet and a new prime minister of Tibet was sworn in.
That brings us to our question from the "GPS Challenge," which is what makes the new Tibetan Prime Minister Lobsang Sangay, different from other heads of state and the rest of the world? Is it, A) He's only nine years old; B) He's blind and deaf; C) He doesn't live in the country he runs; or D) He is believed to be a human manifestation of god?
Stay tuned and we'll tell you the correct answer. Make sure you go to CNN.com/GPS for 10 more questions. While you're there, check out our website, the Global Public Square. You'll find smart interviews and takes from some of our favorite experts. You will also find all our shows on there. So if you've missed one, you can watch it. Also, follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
The events in London this week reminded me of a book that explores thuggery in Britain, and it is our "Book of the Week." It's Bill Buford's "Among the Thugs." It's a fascinating examination of the soccer hooligans that plagued the nation 15 years ago. Britain successfully got that problem under control.
Can they fix the current problem? Read this beautifully written book for some insights.
Now, for "The Last Look," this week another installment in the ongoing adventures of our favorite superhero, Vladimir Putin. While most world leaders were drowning under multiple crises this week, Prime Minister Putin was breathing freely under the sea. He went diving in the ruins of the Ancient Greek City of Phanagoria.
When? With TV cameras rolling. Oh, my goodness, what is that? Amazing. He discovered these two ancient Greek urns. And with power comes privilege, apparently he got to keep them.
The correct answer to our "GPS Challenge" question was C, the new Tibetan prime minister doesn't live in Tibet. He's in exile and indeed has never even set foot in the country he's prime minister of. His office is in Dharamsala, India. Go to our website for more.
Thanks to all of you for being part of my program this week. I will see you next week. Stay tuned for "RELIABLE SOURCES." | <urn:uuid:22126ca8-b4c9-4f6a-b42b-cfe170b0552c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1108/14/fzgps.01.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974329 | 9,740 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Gary Gygax is the father of Dungeons & Dragons, the role-playing game that set the foundation for all other RPGs to follow. Computer gaming, especially, owes a tithe to D&D. Got levels? D&D. Got classes, like Warriors, Mages, Rogues? D&D. Got spell lists? D&D. Hit points? D&D. We could be here all day. The point is, the gaming world was defined by the imagination of Gary Gygax and friends, and it’s time to celebrate his 74th birthday. Unfortunately, Gary failed his save vs. death in 2008, so we’ll leave a chair open at the table. Do you want to get into game design? Play D&D. GamesIndustry has the story. | <urn:uuid:fbf4f278-88c6-44a3-bd27-60fa44ce1cab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.voxexmachina.com/news/lets-talk-gary-gygax-and-dungeons-dragons/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+VoxExMachina+%28Vox+ex+Machina%29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945208 | 165 | 1.578125 | 2 |
The deputy representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Arafat Jamal, said the number of Syrian refugees in Jordan reached some 1000. They are now residing in the areas of "Ramtha" and "Mufraq", close to the border with Syria.
Jamal told a Jordanian newspaper on "Monday" that the flow of the Syrians to Jordan began slowly last March, pointing out that some entered the border legally while others entered the kingdom illegally.
He added that UNHCR is working in cooperation with the Jordanian government, who has opened its borders to Syria. He mentioned that the residents of "Ramtha" and "Mufraq" take care of the refugees, despite their poverty. UNHCR has been providing assistance to these families with food, blankets and other supplies.
Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that Syria "will be the next stop within the Arab Spring revolutions." He expressed hope that the road is open to a change in Syria through reforms .
Erdogan said, in a statement made before leaving New York Sunday to return to Ankara that "despite the warnings and the meetings on Syria, the peaceful people is still being killed in Syria," adding that President Bashar al-Assad "has not taken up to now the necessary steps to stop the killing. " | <urn:uuid:6d84a6c9-4e75-4359-a597-f7f889c4e986> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.albawaba.com/print/news/1000-syrian-refugees-jordan-erdogan-expects-assad-downfall-393850?quicktabs_accordion=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966556 | 259 | 1.625 | 2 |
Michel Foucault and I agreed to meet on top of the heavenly
drags from his scentless Gaulloise, Michel draws a pocketbook from underneath his coat and hands it to me. Is this what I think it is? The third volume of his renowned History of Sexuality, The Care of the Self (Le Souci de soi), was not meant to be the last: Confession of the Flesh (Les Aveux de la chair) - or the "unborn fourth" - was left incomplete, privately held in the Foucault archive up to these days. It is now also held in
Michel: The reason is quite simple, really. With The Care of the Self, I wanted to examine how the way the individual makes use of his (you'll pardon me, the texts I reference very rarely refer to female individuals) - of his body and mind starts to take up a moral stance throughout the two first centuries of our era. Artémidorus's interpretation of dreams reflects principles of an appreciation of a specific sexual conduct. As I write in the book, these principles underlie Artemidorus' analysis of sexual dreams. In this type of oneirocritica, the social position (and sometimes, the physical condition) of the dreamer in relation to that of his sexual partner matters more than the sexual act itself. It is thus possible to witness an evident correlation between sexual and social scenes. For instance, Artemidorus will only imply that it is a bad or a good omen to dream of a sexual intercourse with a person who occupies a given social status (penetration being the only conceivable sexual intercourse), without ever referring to the concept of morality. To properly answer your question, I would say that this opening chapter serves to remind the reader of the fact that sexual experience is, at the time, still very much understood in classical terms: the value of sexual acts, in many instances, is defined by the social position of those who engage in them. This first chapter hints on this idea that while the subject is still understood in terms of his place in society - as a citizen - his individuality becomes also "subject" to scrutiny. The sphere of citizenship is thus extended, and starts permeating the private sphere; an honourable citizen must have an honourable conduct when out in the city (or city-state) as well as in his dreams.
Michel: Certainly. Before beginning my analysis of these other texts, I wanted to spend some time clarifying this notion of the "culture of the self", which is also the name of my second chapter. I wanted to see how I could connect a growing sexual austerity with a more and more intensive relationship to the self. Indeed, I found out that it is not through the tightening of a legal or religious code that sexual prohibition seems to take place, but because the individual starts to see himself as subject of his actions. Through my examination of Seneca and Epictetus's texts, I got to see this culture of the self as a veritable art of self-knowledge - "art de la connaissance de soi". Each individual, according to these authors, is expected to be taking care of his self: there is no age, not a moment or a situation more appropriate than another: it must be a perpetual exercise. It is possible to point to three main components of this art of self-knowledge: (i) knowing how to live without luxury, through abstinence, (ii) regularly subject oneself to a thorough examination of one's conscience, (iii) be in constant control of oneself. Again, I want to stress that this culture of the self didn't emerge as a result of a solidification of the law or religious codes; this change concerns the way the individual comes to see himself as responsible for constituting himself as a moral subject.
Florence: You spoke about - excuse me the rephrasing - the importance of the individual to place himself as an honorable subject in the realm of the community; can we now go more in depth into the complex relationship between social position and identity - a problem that you investigate in your third chapter, "Self and Others"?
Michel: I would say that it is by observing the changes occurring on the marital and the political scenes that it is most practical to account for this relationship between self and others. For instance, the evolution of marriage from a private to a public institution has the effect of interrogating this institution as a way of life; marriage becomes more and more about a healthy relationship between partners. One also notes a drastic evolution concerning the way politics is understood: one shouldn't feel obliged to actively participate in the life of the city-state, and if one does, one should bear in mind that he has to be a moral example to others, and know when his time has come to withdraw from the public scene. In public life as well as in married life, the growing concern for one's control over one's self can also be understood as a crisis of subjectivation.
Michel: It is interesting how philosophy
and medicine elaborate very similar discourses on aphrodisia - sexual pleasures. Both agree on the fact that to take care of one's self correctly, one has to pay attention to the health of the mind and the body: the unhealthiness of the body will result in the degenerescence of the mind, and vice-versa. The aphrodisia start to be comprehended as existing only for the purpose of reproduction, possibly detrimental to one's constitution when not refrained enough. Highly specific recommandations and precepts are developed by doctors (such as Galen) and philosophers as to what a good sexual conduct should be. These recommandations and precepts can't however be assimilated to a Christian moral: they are expected to be integrated within the experience the subject makes of his self.
Michel: It means that marriage is now more
about the bond between spouses than it is about economical arrangement. As far as the husband is concerned, a principle of moderation is to be respected: reciprocity, more than control over others, becomes the new duty. The art of married life takes shape through precepts - a lot of them developed by the Stoics. This way of life starts forming as a strong model, advertised as conform to nature and socially useful - beneficial to everyone's good. It is through marriage that man finds his rational form. And it is only through marriage that one can establish a satisfying relationship to one's self - the aphrodisia of course being subject to another form of scrutiny.
Michel: I must say that love for boys, at the end of the classical age, is no longer what is used to be at the time of Socrates. Plutarch and Pseudo-Lucian provide two contrasting examples of how love for boys and for women is rationally justified. Plutarch argues that relationships with boys are disgracious because non-consensual, while they are gracious with women, because reciprocal. Pseudo-Lucian hovers towards the opposite side, positting love for boys as more civilized, more evolved, than love for women - too natural, too primary. In any case, what happens at this time is that with the strengthening of the culture of the self, which implies a strong ambivalence and even hostility towards aphrodisia taking place outside the marriage/reproduction framework, a new erotica emerges, where virginity comes across as a highly respectable virtue.
Michel: Ah, this is an interesting question. I recently had a discussion about this with Deleuze. I won't expand too much on this, but referring to his idea of detachment (décrochement) which engenders a folding, a reflection (un plissement, une réflexion), I would say that you can see my text as an edification of a facultative rule - the rule for facultatively commanding oneself, as a free man, and of course, as a free woman, or whoever you happen to be as a human being.
It seems that Michel never ceased to use his time wisely since he left us. He has plenty of it to take care of his self, plenty of friends to share his reflections with. When I asked him if he still considered himself as a human-being, he frowned and, looking at the fog down below, responded with another question:
"Do you consider yourself a human-being?"
"We're not in heaven, are we?", I said, hyper-dubitatively. Here, another question.
"Surely you don't need to ask me. Rather, ask yourself the following: why have I come up here? You could as well be talking to yourself right now."
Maybe I should have gone through the effort of climbing | <urn:uuid:310d5790-a97b-47e3-9fa3-dc7cabfb8e6b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.lib.umn.edu/puot0002/8190/book-review/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969258 | 1,803 | 1.578125 | 2 |
is a 3D fighting action game steeped in traditional Chinese history and mythology, its characters being warriors from the Three Kingdoms
era, a setting that was used by Koei before in their Romance of the Three Kingdoms series
Over 2000 years ago, Guang-Wu revived the Han Dynasty in China. Wars and chaos follow for centuries after, because of regional conflicts, rival dynasties, and bureaucratic problems. An insurgent group, the Yellow Turban Rebels, roams China killing government officials. The current Emperor Shao is protected by troops raised by the nobles of the land - but each noble has their own plan to gain power.
The characters can be chosen from four groups, each representing one of the main kingdoms - Shu, Wei, and Wu, as well as a miscellaneous-character 4th group.
The fighting is based on actual martial arts and weapons (and the tactics thereof) rather than focusing on combos, special moves, or other modern fighting-game embellishments.
- "三国無双" -- Japanese spelling
- "Sanguo Wushuang" -- Chinese title
- "Sangoku Musou" -- Japanese title
Part of the Following Groups
There are no reviews for this game.
The Press Says
Although most of the characters come from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms
series, there is the unlockable character of Oda Nobunaga, the historical namesake behind Koei's Nobunaga's Ambition
Of course, his presence here not only places him not only outside of his native country, but thirteen centuries before his time.
This entry to the MobyGames database was contributed by Robert Morgan (869)
on Apr 02, 2001. | <urn:uuid:85da93a1-e9fd-4507-932d-f9b8c282a6ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mobygames.com/game/playstation/dynasty-warriors | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938898 | 356 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Last week, I invited my opponent, Congressman Peter Roskam, to meet me for a series of town hall-style debates in the eleven weeks we have left until the election. I am very much looking forward to an exchange of views in front of the voters for one simple reason: Mr. Roskam and I disagree on how to solve most of the problems that face our country. For that reason, I believe that voters deserve to hear from both of us so that their choice for Representative is clear.
That is not to say that we don’t agree on some things. We both agree that the economy needs to be strengthened so that businesses can create more jobs. Congressman Roskam has voted for bills that he says would do this by eliminating regulations and retaining tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. He has also twice voted for the Paul Ryan budget that would cut the taxes of the wealthiest people even further and turn Medicare into a voucher program.
On the other hand, I believe that continued weakness in the economy is the result of too little demand for the products of our businesses. If more people had good jobs, more people would be able to afford to buy the things they both want and need. They’d be able to buy a new car, which would strengthen the auto industry, or purchase a new home, which would help put the housing market back on its feet. For that reason, I believe we must focus on economic growth through initiatives like investing in our infrastructure – repairing crumbling roads, bridges and schools – in order to put more people back to work and get more money circulating in the economy.
Unless Mr. Roskam and I debate, though, this and other differences in our outlooks may not become clear. Our paid advertising, frankly, will tell you one point of view, either his or mine. The voters deserve to know how we would each propose to:
- Preserve Medicare (or turn it into a voucher program)
- Protect our environment (or reduce environmental regulations)
- Reform our tax code (make it fairer? or more beneficial for the richest Americans?) and
- Determine the priorities for our nation.
I am a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) so I am trained to delve into the numbers to understand the facts and develop solutions. I hope that Congressman Roskam accepts my invitation to debate so that we can discuss the problems facing our nation and what Congress should be doing to solve them. | <urn:uuid:ff7b5749-73c5-4afa-995b-1c45fd8effdb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lakezurich.patch.com/blog_posts/why-representative-roskam-should-debate-me | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974369 | 503 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Students are free to pray in public schools -- except when they aren't. If this sounds confusing, pity school administrators charged with figuring out if and when to draw the line on student prayers.
Current controversies in two regions of the county illustrate how complicated this line-drawing has become:
School officials in Birdville School District, near Fort Worth, Texas, allow students to offer prayers before football games, claiming that since the students freely choose to do so, the prayers are not endorsed by the school. ... | <urn:uuid:b3144fb0-bc0c-49c0-b3f3-0b7da672c3ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.guampdn.com/article/20130227/OPINION02/302270301/Drawing-line-student-prayers?odyssey=mod_sectionstories | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955424 | 103 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Statement on North Korea’s Nuclear Test
October 9, 2006
Last night the government of North Korea proclaimed to the world that it had conducted a nuclear test. We're working to confirm North Korea's claim. Nonetheless, such a claim itself constitutes a threat to international peace and security. The United States condemns this provocative act. Once again North Korea has defied the will of the international community, and the international community will respond.
This was confirmed this morning in conversations I had with leaders of China, and South Korea, Russia, and Japan. We reaffirmed our commitment to a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, and all of us agreed that the proclaimed actions taken by North Korea are unacceptable and deserve an immediate response by the United Nations Security Council.
The North Korean regime remains one of the world's leading proliferator of missile technology, including transfers to Iran and Syria. The transfer of nuclear weapons or material by North Korea to states or non-state entities would be considered a grave threat to the United States, and we would hold North Korea fully accountable of the consequences of such action.
The United States remains committed to diplomacy, and we will continue to protect ourselves and our interests. I reaffirmed to our allies in the region, including South Korea and Japan, that the United States will meet the full range of our deterrent and security commitments.
Threats will not lead to a brighter future for the North Korean people, nor weaken the resolve of the United States and our allies to achieve the de-nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Today's claim by North Korea serves only to raise tensions, while depriving the North Korean people of the increased prosperity and better relations with the world offered by the implementation of the joint statement of the six-party talks. The oppressed and impoverished people of North Korea deserve that brighter future.
<< Go Back | <urn:uuid:eac44851-b528-4284-98be-f1af01a22adc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.presidentialrhetoric.com/speeches/10.09.06.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939824 | 372 | 1.703125 | 2 |
It is illegal to set off fireworks in Oak Ridge or even have them, city officials said Thursday, a week before July 4.
The Oak Ridge Police Department can arrest anyone who has fireworks or sets them off, a city press release said.
“As everyone knows, fireworks are fun to watch, but can be dangerous,” Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi said in a press release. “We do not want anyone to put themselves or others in harm’s way.”
The press release said the Police Department will increase patrol operations for the July 4 holiday weekend to watch for drunk drivers and prohibited fireworks.
“The Oak Ridge police and fire departments appreciate everyone’s cooperation in making Independence Day enjoyable and safe,” Akagi said.
He said prohibited fireworks include anything that is combustible or explodes. Smoke bombs and sparklers are okay, Akagi said.
The City of Oak Ridge will have its Independence Day Fireworks Celebration at A.K. Bissell Park at 10 p.m. July 4.
For more information about fireworks in the city, call (865) 425- 3504. | <urn:uuid:1e1473d0-c86d-4070-9065-f97292664524> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oakridgetoday.com/2012/06/28/fireworks-illegal-oak-ridge/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953168 | 237 | 1.53125 | 2 |
When you think of Rolex, no doubt you think of their unsurpassed heritage of Oyster-cased tool watches, from the Submariner to the Milgauss to the GMT Master and Explorer. But before Rolex settled on the niche that they ended up owning for the better part of 50 years, they also built a few pretty nice complicated dress watches. In particular, they built two moonphase references in the early 1950s. The better known of the two was the reference 6062, which was housed in an Oyster case. The other was the 8171 and there’s a special example featured in next week’s Sotheby’s auction.
Lot 138 of the Important Watches and Clocks auction is a Rolex ref. 8171 circa 1950 that was purchased by U.S. Navy Commander Ernest Pollitt while on shore leave in the mid-50s. The late Commander Pollitt owned and wore this watch for decades and it is in remarkably good condition for its age. It is a triple date moonphase, displaying the day and month in apertures on the dial and tracking the date via a pointer and outer ring calendar. The moonphase adds a splash of color and elegance to the otherwise stark dial.
The 8171, unlike the 6062, was a snap-back case and not an Oyster. While this would not normally be a desirable trait, as the Oyster case has proven its mettle in terms of movement protection, the snap back case is more rare and does give the owner easier access to the workmanlike Rolex “Super Balance” movement with Perpetual rotor within. The stainless steel case is 38mm in diameter, which is of downright modern proportions.
For anyone lucky enough to have $40,000-60,000 (estimated) to bid, this would be a fine historical Rollie with some unique provenance. Check out the details on Lot 138 here. | <urn:uuid:da1b7c8b-1189-4287-bad8-f37c2b16b682> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hodinkee.com/blog/2011/4/5/a-rare-rolex-moonphase-reference-8171-a-pearl-without-the-oy.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961144 | 402 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Showers, thunder to round out rainy weekend in the South, East
By Chris Cappella, USATODAY.com
Rain will splash around much of the Eastern third of the nation Sunday, rounding out a damp, dreary weekend in the mid-Atlantic and exacerbating the flooding problems in the South.
Another 1-3 inches of rain could fall on the central Appalachians and surrounding states, which includes the upper Ohio Valley as well as the Tennessee Valley where flooding that has been occurring for much of the month of May returned on Saturday. Some of Sunday's rain could also come down quick enough in the region to trigger flash floods and urban flooding.
Thunderstorms are expected to rumble all over the South again Sunday. But the threat of widespread severe weather, which occurred in the Plains Thursday and Friday, and in the South Saturday, appears to be over. Isolated thunderstorms could occasionally spit out large hail and whip up gusty winds.
Showers and thunderstorms also are expected to become widespread in Florida Sunday.
Little change in the rainy weather across the mid-Atlantic and the South is expected on Monday. That's good news for the Northeast where the sun will shine bright both Sunday and Monday amid warming temperatures and no threat of the stalled Southern storm coming north just yet.
Sunshine will also warm parts of California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington on Sunday. Offshore winds in northern California are expected to boost temperatures above normal for mid May.
Partly cloudy weather is expected across the central and southern Plains and Midwest Sunday.
The best chance of severe thunderstorms in the USA on Sunday will be in the northern Plains.
Morning thunderstorms in the Dakotas are expected to move into Minnesota while dying out.
New thunderstorms blossoming during the afternoon in eastern Wyoming and northeast Colorado are expected to intensify over Nebraska later in the day and move northeast, joining additional strong to severe thunderstorms forecast to develop across the Dakotas and Minnesota Sunday evening.
Large hail and damaging winds will be the primary severe weather threat from these storms.
Rain showers will dampen the central Rockies Sunday, while rain and mountain snow fall on the northern Rockies. | <urn:uuid:88c4900a-f86f-4e3f-83ae-92134972d967> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/weather/news/2003-05-17-sunday-weather_x.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947793 | 444 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Fidel Castro, one of the most controversial people alive, is, well still alive.
The 85-year-old former leader of Cuba has shied away from the media spotlight since he stepped down in 2006 to make way for his brother, Raul.
There have long been rumors about Castro's health, even before he reached old-age. The CIA even tried to kill him an estimated 638 times, with wacky plots like exploding mollusks and toxic cigars.
Castro has survived it all.
But then rumors surfaced once again that he was near death, or had had a stroke.
This week, pictures of him appeared on a website. The images were taken as the former leader gave an interview to a Venezuelan journalist, though it's unclear when that will air. Cuba and Venezuela have close ties, especially these days.
Castro Cuban parliament chief Ricardo Alarcon said that Castro “is well and enjoying good health." He added, "Fidel himself said it a while ago: The day he dies nobody will believe it because they have killed him so many times." | <urn:uuid:36bbd77e-c3b5-42bc-bf47-3d2537a87065> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/que-pasa/fidel-castro-still-alive | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979967 | 226 | 1.609375 | 2 |
09 December 2010
St Mungo's today warned that the worrying trend of a rise in rough sleeper numbers in London over the last year looks set to continue, and worsen, in 2011.
The homelessness agency accommodates around 1,600 residents all year round in supported housing ranging from emergency shelters and hostels to semi independent housing and high support projects across London and the south.
The charity is concerned that street numbers will swell with cuts to services that support vulnerable groups at real risk of sleeping rough. Money previously ring-fenced for homeless and vulnerable people under the Supporting People programme is now available to be spent more widely. St Mungo's fears that this will mean some councils could prioritise resources elsewhere, as they make tough spending decisions, without due consideration of the long term cost to society and people's lives.
Given that up to 70% of rough sleepers have mental health issues, any cuts that impact on the services that support the housing of people with mental health problems are of deep concern warns the charity. It is vital that services have the capacity to help people quickly, in the charity's experience, as if people end up sleeping rough for any period of time, their physical and mental health both start to deteriorate.
In the months ahead, St Mungo's among others is facing cuts in its direct services for homeless people. Its largest hostel is threatened with closure, and its homeless prevention service in London prisons is one of 28 services facing loss of funding in a raft of £3.2 million potential cuts planned by London Councils.
Charles Fraser, Chief Executive of St Mungo's, said: "Right now the trend line shows that rough sleeping numbers are rising. Great work is being done in helping people off the streets but we're deeply concerned that the picture will worsen in the year ahead.
"Central government has pledged to protect the most vulnerable and that cuts will be applied fairly but the reality is that some councils are planning cuts in funding to services for homeless people and those at real risk of sleeping rough.
"Local authorities must not be allowed to raid what was the Supporting People coffer for other priorities. There is nothing fair about cuts that hurt the most vulnerable, people with least in their lives. People who end up rough sleeping are already falling through society's safety net. We call on the Coalition Government to ensure that local authorities meet the pledges that have been made nationally, and don't allow vital services to be decimated now, only to have to re-build them, at greater cost, at a later date."
Notes to editors | <urn:uuid:ad2f7ac6-9652-4de8-8930-b998a7dee86a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mungos.org/press_office/727_homeless-people-face-cold-cuts-ahead-warns-st-mungo-s-highlighting-the-worrying-trend-of-rough-sleeping-numbers-rising | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969624 | 526 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Do you wonder if your TV provider (Cable, Satellite, Fiber-Optic) is giving you the best deal possible?
For years credit scores were the best kept secret from consumers by credit bureaus that calculated them.
Only lenders and other credit providers knew what went into a score and how much it weighed on the score’s compositions.
But thanks to pressure from consumer groups and other government agencies, over time not only the credit score number itself has been made available to consumers, but also how the score is determined.
Knowing what affects their scores and by how much, consumers will have a better means in managing their finances.
Welcome to this week’s Yakezie Carnival! It’s my absolute pleasure to be hosting. For those readers that don’t know, the Yakezie group started out as a group of personal finance bloggers who teamed up to help promote their Alexa rankings (a measure of a site’s popularity on the web). What the Yakezie has actually become is a wonderful group of fellow personal finance writers who are both engaging and intelligent. It’s been great getting to know these people and their sites and I think you should take a look to!
In a previous article I talked about small steps to eat healthier.
Well, a study is out showing a possible link between certain pesticides and ADHD. The survey studied over 1,100 children between the ages of 8 and 15. Interviews with the parents determined which children had ADHD.
The findings then found that for those kids with the most frequent pesticide found in their urine samples, 20% had ADHD as opposed to 10% in kids with no trace amounts.
So I ask you this: Is eating organic food really expensive?
I’ve been studying the martial art, Aikido, for a little over a decade now. Occasionally, after class, my Sensei will tell us “What you learned tonight is just a tiny drop in the bucket. In the grand scheme of this art tonight wasn’t much. But one day you’ll look at your bucket and see it’s filled up. What you are learning will start to accumulate and you’ll need a new, bigger bucket.” When I started taking classes I felt like I would never “get” this art. But with persistence and patience it all started to take hold. I’m no longer the green student I was on that first day over a decade ago. Now I’m a black belt. My first bucket filled up but I have a new, bigger one to fill up now.
Credit cards get a bum rap sometimes.
Yes, they can charge high interest and have exorbitant fees, but if you pay your balance every month and on time you aren’t affected. For a vast number of people, cards cards are a great tool which comes with some nice benefits.
Here are some benefits of using a credit card:
I think most people want to eat healthy.
But for many it’s too tough to start (especially eating healthy on a budget). We get into eating habits, that aren’t great, and its just too much to give them up and change our lifestyles.
So what do we do? We don’t bother; it’s too hard.
Does this help a person?
Nope. Does this sound like anything else we don’t take care of because its too hard? Yup, personal finance! So what’s the answer to eating healthy? Just like your personal finances, you can start with baby steps and move from there. Make small changes to your habits, little by little, and build up over time.
How can you teach a three year old to budget when they don’t understand money?
My husband and I paid off $70,000 in debt and have changed our beliefs from accumulating stuff to accumulating life experiences. We wanted to teach our son some of the lessons we’ve learned.
As a mom, I have been trying to figure out how to teach my son about money, and find a system to reward him that doesn’t involve sugar or toys. | <urn:uuid:1388898f-6a54-4cf2-af53-5b633de47991> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://freefrombroke.com/2010/05/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961103 | 873 | 1.757813 | 2 |
City officials gathered business leaders Thursday to answer questions about the Super Bowl's impact on businesses.
Traffic closures will prevent vehicles from parking near some stores. The city could also close down a large section of Poydras Street to vehicles on game day.
The city also addressed several traffic issues affecting residents. A new app is expected to roll out soon that would let people look up how full parking lots are on their phone.
The Downtown Development District is also working on a bike valet system for those who want to avoid driving downtown on the days surrounding the game.
A "bike sharing" system will also be available, according to DDD officials. The system will be a demonstration, and would allow people to purchase a bike from one location and then drop it off at a separate drop-off location.
The Super Bowl is expected to have a $430 million economic impact on the area.
To see a list of city information about the Super Bowl, go to: www.nola.gov/superbowl. | <urn:uuid:e040c280-22bf-4021-9f78-21bf2893e905> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wdsu.com/news/local-news/new-orleans/City-updates-businesses-on-Super-Bowl-plans/-/9853400/18171180/-/v112bgz/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969299 | 209 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Kaysen:UDC Repeal “Would Be A Step Backward”
Cheyenne Mayor Rick Kaysen says repealing the city’s controversial Unified Development Code–or UDC–would ”be a step backward” in terms of city development.
The code is currently under review by the city council, as mandated by one provision of the code when it became law last year. Kaysen says that while the council could legally repeal the UDC, it would mean the city would have to go back to the three pre-existing codes and try to make sense of them as guidelines for city development. Kaysen says one problem with that idea is that the codes sometimes contradicted each other. He says another problem is that portions of those codes were outdated, having been on the books for 30 years or more in some cases.
Kaysen also says 85% of those codes were included in the UDC, so the change has not been that dramatic. Kaysen says that while the city council could legally repeal the UDC, the chances of that actually happening are remote. | <urn:uuid:42f7dbb9-4a5d-4032-93f2-a3f905570bd6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kgab.com/kaysenudc-repeal-would-be-a-step-backward/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980021 | 227 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Cameron, Obama and Sarkozy in joint message: Gaddafi must go
DAVID Cameron, Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy have signalled their determination to fight on in Libya until Colonel Gaddafi is gone.
In a joint article, the British, American and French leaders warned it would be an "unconscionable betrayal" were Nato to cut and run with the dictator still in power.
Gaddafi must "go and go for good" before rebuilding of the country could begin, they said - dismissing calls for an immediate ceasefire.
The defiant statement came as warplanes were again heard over Tripoli, accompanied by air raid sirens and loud explosions.
However, as the military operation approaches the end of its first month there is little sign of a breakthrough on the ground, where rebels appear more than matched by the government's forces.
Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen has also had to appeal for more planes to conduct air strikes, with many member states unwilling to join the front line.
• Eyewitness: Amid the children's swings lie the graves
Although the US have officially stepped back from an active combat role, President Obama's involvement in the latest statement may quell speculation about the strength of his commitment.
In their piece - published in The Times, The Washington Post and Le Figaro - the leaders insisted: "It is unthinkable that someone who has tried to massacre his own people can play a part in their future government.
"The brave citizens of those towns that have held out against forces that have been mercilessly targeting them would face a fearful vengeance if the world accepted such an arrangement. It would be an unconscionable betrayal."
The leaders added: "So long as Gaddafi is in power, Nato and its coalition partners must maintain their operations so that civilians remain protected and the pressure on the regime builds... Britain, France and the United States will not rest until the UN Security Council resolutions have been implemented and the Libyan people can choose their own future."
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Weather for Edinburgh
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Temperature: 3 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: West
Temperature: 5 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: North west | <urn:uuid:953df8df-9d35-4ee7-b103-73b358570874> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scotsman.com/news/international/cameron-obama-and-sarkozy-in-joint-message-gaddafi-must-go-1-1587240 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960616 | 466 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Alton Fire Chief Rich Mersinger says a Bethalto man was burned on his face and heads when a cigarette he was smoking ignited his oxygen tank.
The (Alton) Telegraph reports the man, described only as in his mid-50s, was injured Wednesday.
Mersinger says the victim appeared to have suffered first- and second-degree burns.
The man was treated at the scene before being taken to an Alton hospital. His medical status is not immediately clear.
Mersinger considers the case a reminder that people should refrain from smoking when they're using oxygen or are indoors where it's in use. He says oxygen is a fire hazard. | <urn:uuid:b95ba390-e3df-4868-b7bb-8e6bd402f365> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ktrs.com/news/itemlist/tag/cigarette | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.991597 | 138 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Truck repairs debated in Portland
PORTLAND – On July 18, as a sudden and violent storm swept across portions of the town, two volunteer firefighters sat in a pickup truck.
The truck was intentionally parked in the middle of the road to bar motorists form travelling along a portion of Old Marlborough Road, which was strewn with downed trees and power lines.
Suddenly, a tree slammed down onto the truck, dragging down power lines in the process.
The firefighters remained trapped in the truck for hours. They were eventually rescued — shaken, but unharmed. But the truck sustained substantial damage – as much as $14,000 worth by one estimate.
To date, repairs to the truck have totaled nearly $10,000.
It is, town officials acknowledge, a private pickup truck. But the truck’s owner, a veteran fire officer, was using it to protect the public health and safety.
And so, who should pay for the repairs to the truck?
The answer is a major concern to the town’s fire chief, Robert A. Shea, who said the issue could cause firefighters to stop using their private vehicles in the line of duty.
That could double or even triple the department’s response time, Shea warned.
And, in turn, delays of that length could put residents and their property at increased risk, members of the Board of Selectmen acknowledge. Continued...
The issue is not unique to Portland.
During a special meeting of the Board of Selectmen last week on the issue, it was suggested the only real solution may rest in Hartford, with action by the General Assembly.
At least for now, the responsibility for repairing the damage truck rests with is the truck owner’s insurance and not the town’s insurer.
The owner uses his truck in his tree work and landscaping business, Shea told the selectmen.
If he owner wanted his truck completely restored to the condition it was in prior to the accident, it would have meant he would have lost the use of the truck for a month.
That in turn would have meant a sizable loss of income from his business, Shea said.
Ultimately, the owner’s insurance company picked up the tab for the repairs. But, Shea said, that will almost certainly mean a sharp increase in the owner’s premium.
“The firefighter is going to take a hit,” Shea said, when his premium jumps up dramatically.
“That’s my concern, and that’s the concern of my membership,” Shea told the selectmen.
Shea asked that the town’s insurer, the Connecticut Inter-local Risk Management Agency (CIRMA), pick up the cost, given that the truck was being used for official business. Continued...
But Bruce H. Clinger, CIRMA’s vice presidents for claims, said the most the agency will pay for damage to a private vehicle is $500.
It is common at fire scenes to have “big equipment around our private vehicles,” Shea said. In an emergency, when time is precious, accidents can – and do - happen.
“This is particularly a concern for our older members with families who have a lot to lose,” Shea said.
As a result, Shea said, several firefighters who in the past would have driven directly to a fire scene in their private vehicles are instead now driving to the one or the other of the three fire companies in town and taking fire apparatus to the scene.
That, Shea said, could double or even triple the response time for his department.
“At present, our response time is four minutes,” Shea said.
But if firefighters don’t go directly to a fire (or medical emergency) and instead to get fire apparatus instead, it could mean delays of 8-12 minutes, Shea warned.
Selectman Brian Flood, who is an attorney, warned CIRMA’s Clinger that a delay of that length could lead to a serious, even tragic incident which would seriously impact the town’s liability.
“I think it would be in CIRMA’s best interest to address this. If response times are going to be delayed, there are going to be losses that are ascribed to the town,” Flood said.
“You’re going to be on the hook for a lot more money if, God forbid, there are fatalities,” Flood added. Continued...
Clinger did not disagree, and said he was sympathetic both to Shea’s situation and the potential for serious injury - or worse.
But, he explained, because CIRMA cannot control either how private vehicles are driven or their repair schedules, the insurer cannot and will not assume responsibility for covering them.
He did say, however, that CIRMA is prepared to work with the town to find a solution to the problem.
Clinger, Shea, Flood and Selectman Mark J. Finkelstein agreed the real solution to the problem lies in Hartford, with the legislature.
Selectman Frederick R. Knous concurred.
“I see our most promising approaching is something being done on the legislative level,” he said.
Shea is a member of the Connecticut Fire Chiefs Association. He said he is working within that group to build support for action by the legislature to deal with a problem that he said affects all volunteer departments.
(The issue is slightly different with departments whose fire districts are separate from the town government, Shea said.)
First Selectwoman Susan S. Bransfield chairs the public safety committee for the Connecticut Council of Municipalities, the group that lobbies for cities and towns in the state.
She said she will work though the committee to raise awareness of the issue and to apply added pressure to the General Assembly.
“This is a very serious situation,” Bransfield said. “We have to protect our firefighters who, after all, are protecting us.”
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Reports from Connecticut Group Editor Matt DeRienzo.
The Connecticut State Politics blog covers all the news from the seat of Connecticut's government and the state's elected leaders with original reporting from Journal Register Connecticut staff, links to stories from other media and blogs, press releases, statements and more. | <urn:uuid:a135a05f-dedc-4915-929b-0cde56d8460d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.middletownpress.com/articles/2012/09/04/news/doc5043eda1cfb66521121713.txt | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964553 | 1,491 | 1.523438 | 2 |
The region of Blagoevgrad is located in South-Western Bulgaria and borders on Greece, Macedonia and four other districts – Smolyan, Pazardzhik, Kyustendil and Sofia. It embraces parts of the Rhodopes and the Rila Mountain with the highest summit on the Balkans – Mount Musala (2925 m). It also covers the Pirin, Ograzhden, Vlahina, and Belasitza mountains.
Two large rivers - Struma and Mesta, flow through the region forming picturesque valleys. The beautiful nature of Blagoevgrad region is considered a big resource that will have in future bigger meaning for the development of the region.
The climate in the most southern regions ranges from continental and alpine to mediterranean.
The nature resources of the region of Blagoevgrad are wood, coals, ore, mineral springs (40 percent from the general capacity of the country), building materials - granite, marble. The agricultural land is 38.8 percent and the forests - 52 percent.
The age structure in the Blagoevgrad region is younger than the average in the country. Due to the developed infrastructure and clean nature and the favorable economic development as well, it is considered one of the best areas to live in and ranked third position in the context of quality life style.
Blagoevgrad region comprises of 14 municipalities (Bansko, Blagoevgrad, Belitza, Gotze Delchev, Garmen, Kresna, Petrich, Razlog, Sandanski, Satovcha, Simitli, Strumiani, Hadzhidimovo, Yakoruda), including 280 towns with administrative center the city of Blagoevgrad.
There are two centers for higher education in the area - the ‘Neofit Rilski’ South-Western University and the American University in Bulgaria both located in Blagoevgrad.
The advanced educational network in the area is an important priority. The number of schools in the region is 182. Annually, Blagoevgrad attracts approximately 10 000 college students from the all across the country and abroad.
On the north-western slopes of Rila mountain, 35 km away from Blagoevgrad is situated the oldest Park - reserve with coniferous vegetation - Parangalitza. 16 km to the northwest is located the village of Stob, also popular for the Stob pyramids - exceptionally beautiful rock formations. In Blagoevgrad, there is a big stadium, swimming pools, a sport complex with a hostel and tennis courts.
The sport infrastructure in the region is relatively well developed. In Blagoevgrad area is located one of the best ski - resorts in Bulgaria - Bansko.
Except for its new tracks and hotels, the city is known as an ethnographic central city as well, it has allowed in the years its authentic appearance. Bansko offers all amenities for year-round tourism and a relaxation. | <urn:uuid:ee6aaf82-340f-4408-ab88-5a97589e9933> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bulgarianhouse.com/properties/by-region/blagoevgradbansko-76/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931636 | 612 | 1.828125 | 2 |
“Revolutions in science are preceded by revolutions in measurement.” – Benjamin de la Pena
Technology Infrastructure and Planning Session
As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve spent the last few days in Boston at the American Planning Association’s annual conference. I wanted to write one post focused on a session I attended on Monday, entitled Technology Infrastructure and Planning.
With speakers from IBM, CISCO, and the Rockefeller Foundation, I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect, given that this is a planning conference. However, as readers of this blog will know, I am very interested in the nexus of urban planning and technology, and to my pleasant surprise, this session did not disappoint. It was probably the most thought-provoking session I attended all weekend. Readers may want to refer to a previous blog post on “corporate planning” to learn about the planning-related initiatives of CISCO, IBM, and others.
Gordon Feller of CISCO emphasized that as technology progresses and infiltrates city management further and further, we will experience a profound shift in the role of planners specifically and of government in general. All of the speakers mentioned the concept of ERP – enterprise resource planning. These are technology systems currently in place and used heavily by large corporations to manage and track their operations. The speakers posited that soon we will have ERP for cities (both IBM and CISCO are currently working on it).
The implication of this is that planners will need to be extremely data savvy. In the near term, planners could have access to extremely rich and structured data in real-time – strong evidence to defend or refute particular stakeholders’ beliefs. In the long term, the possibilities are both amazing and frightening. There will be a need for stronger public-private partnerships, with private companies providing and constructing the physical infrastructure (fiber optic cables, monitoring devices, etc.) and the public sector managing the data and leveraging it for decision making in ways we have yet to imagine.
That said, several early examples already do exist. CISCO is actually constructing its own smart city in Korea – Songdo. This is similar to Masdar City, which we previously covered. Barcelona has designated a sector of the city as an innovation lab (22@Barcelona), where smart city concepts are tested in real time. In 2005, Bill Clinton challenged cities to minimize their carbon footprint by making planning an integral aspect of the solution. CISCO conducted pilots in three worldwide cities as part of its associated Connected Urban Development program: Seoul, Amsterdam, and San Francisco. Urban Ecomap was one of the products of that program. Blaise Aguera of Microsoft Bing demonstrates in this TEDx talk how his company is producing augmented reality maps, which have many applications for planning including data collection, community engagement, and visualization.
John Tolva, the speaker from IBM, took a reverse approach and highlighted examples of how technologists could learn from the experiences of planners and the built environment. He emphasized a few key learnings: throughput is not connectivity; it’s easy to confuse the use of a system with the need for a system; data alone is not sufficient for problem solving, but combined with an involved community it just may be.
Benjamin de la Pena of the Rockefeller Foundation also gave an extremely insightful presentation, closing out with some cautionary notes. I will name a few. The reliance on data and technology may undermine our own best interests – it can be systematically exclusionary as was exemplified as far back as Athens, Greece in its democratization process. Some of our most ambitious feats have also turned out to be great failures on certain dimensions – he cited our highway system as connecting our country but dividing our neighborhoods. Red lining was also data driven, hardly something to be proud of. Data literacy and transparency will be of the utmost importance: citizens must be able to trust that city managers have their best interest in mind, providing information that is not purposefully hiding misleading but rather empowering.
As a graduate student in planning, I’ll be paying heightened attention to the progress in technology infrastructure in cities and the public-private relationships that will result. It has great implications for my, and our, future.
- Rockefeller Foundation report: A Planet of Civic Laboratories
- Civic Commons
- Code for America
- UK example: WorkSnug | <urn:uuid:ea59f9cb-a1a6-4b83-9f43-9ddbf9871937> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.citymart.com/2011/04/14/on-location-apa-2011-boston/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950397 | 890 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Drunken-driving deaths fell to a record low last year, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Fatalities in crashes involving drunken drivers declined 2.5 percent to 9,878 from the previous year and are down 53 percent since first measured in 1982.
“This new data is encouraging, especially as we approach the holiday season when it is so important that we promote responsible drinking,” Beer Institute President Joe McClain said in a prepared statement. “We recognize that even with these record lows, more work remains to be done. Brewers and beer importers are committed to continuing our work with lawmakers, law enforcement, community groups and others to promote legal, responsible drinking as a means to reduce drunk driving.”
Overall, highway deaths fell to 32,367 last year — the lowest level since 1949 and a 1.9 percent decrease from the previous year, the NHTSA said. Americans drove fewer miles in 2011 than in 2010, but the nearly 2 percent drop in roadway fatalities outpaced the 1.2 percent decrease in vehicle miles traveled. Last year also saw the lowest fatality rate ever recorded, with 1.10 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, down from 1.11 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled the previous year, the NHTSA said.
“The latest numbers show how the tireless work of our safety agencies and partners, coupled with significant advances in technology and continued public education, can really make a difference on our roadways,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a prepared statement. “As we look to the future, it will be more important than ever to build on this progress by continuing to tackle head-on issues like seat belt use, drunk driving, and driver distraction.”
DUI attorney Charles M. Rowland II dedicates his practice to defending the accused drunk driver in Dayton, Springfield, Kettering, Vandalia, Xenia, Miamisburg, Huber Heights,Beavercreek, and throughout Ohio. He has the credentials and the experience to win your case and has made himself the Miami Valley’s choice for DUI defense. Contact Charles Rowland by phone at 937-318-1DUI (937-318-1384), 937-879-9542, or toll-free at 1-888-ROWLAND (888-769-5263). For after-hours help contact our 24/7 DUI HOTLINE at 937-776-2671. For information about Dayton DUI sent directly to your mobile device, text DaytonDUI (one word) to 50500. Follow DaytonDUI on Twitter @DaytonDUI or Get Twitter updates via SMS by texting DaytonDUI to 40404. DaytonDUI is also available on Facebook,www.facebook.com/daytondui and on the DaytonDUI channel on YouTube. You can also email Charles Rowland at: CharlesRowland@DaytonDUI.comor write to us at 2190 Gateway Dr., Fairborn, Ohio 45324. | <urn:uuid:5c06a383-c5d3-447b-a5d5-75c8a5160ff3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.daytondui.com/blog/2012/12/21/drunk-driving-deaths-at-record-low-by-daytondui/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931594 | 653 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Kelly's 14 Rules & Practices
1. The Skunk Works manager must be delegated practically complete control of his program in all aspects. He should report to a division president or higher.
2. Strong but small project offices must be provided both by the military and industry.
3. The number of people having any connection with the project must be restricted in an almost vicious manner. Use a small number of good people (10% to 25% compared to the so-called normal systems).
4. A very simple drawing and drawing release system with great flexibility for making changes must be provided.
5. There must be a minimum number of reports required, but important work must be recorded thoroughly.
6. There must be a monthly cost review covering not only what has been spent and committed but also projected costs to the conclusion of the program.
7. The contractor must be delegated and must assume more than normal responsibility to get good vendor bids for subcontract on the project. Commercial bid procedures are very often better than military ones.
8. The inspection system as currently used by the Skunk Works, which has been approved by both the Air Force and Navy, meets the intent of existing military requirements and should be used on new projects. Push more basic inspection responsibility back to subcontractors and vendors. Don't duplicate so much inspection.
9. The contractor must be delegated the authority to test his final product in flight. He can and must test it in the initial stages. If he doesn't, he rapidly loses his competency to design other vehicles.
10. The specifications applying to the hardware must be agreed to well in advance of contracting. The Skunk Works practice of having a specification section stating clearly which important military specification items will not knowingly be complied with and reasons therefore is highly recommended.
11. Funding a program must be timely so that the contractor doesn't have to keep running to the bank to support government projects.
12. There must be mutual trust between the military project organization and the contractor, the very close cooperation and liaison on a day-to-day basis. This cuts down misunderstanding and correspondence to an absolute minimum.
13. Access by outsiders to the project and its personnel must be strictly controlled by appropriate security measures.
14. Because only a few people will be used in engineering and most other areas, ways must be provided to reward good performance by pay not based on the number of personnel supervised. | <urn:uuid:a004112f-63e9-446b-ad31-8368c6d49a3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lockheedmartin.com/us/aeronautics/skunkworks/14rules.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958882 | 491 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Treasures that washed ashore this week;
flotsam we hope the next tide carries away:
When we heard about the shooting this week that wounded three men at a community college in Texas, the first thing we thought about was whether this was one of the schools that allows guns on campus. As it turns out, the Texas Legislature is not expected to vote on that bill until later this year.
But imagine if guns were allowed on campus. Police would respond to the report of a shooting on campus, and as they approach the area where the suspect was last seen, they see several men and women running around the area with guns drawn. How are the police supposed to know the shooter from the gun-wielding citizens?
This is another disaster waiting to happen. If teachers in elementary and secondary schools and professors and students on college campuses are allowed to carry weapons, the wrong people are going to be shot.
Audits save taxpayer money
Massachusetts saved up to $358,000 in the first fiscal quarter because of changes made in response to audits, according to State Auditor Suzanne Bump.
"It is important for the public to see that state agencies are embracing accountability and making positive changes," Bump said in an email. "This report demonstrates how our audits save taxpayer dollars, protect public assets, and improve service delivery. Together we are making government work better."
Post-audit review surveys are issued six months after the release of an audit with findings of financial or operation deficiencies. This week's report gives a progress update on 16 previously audited agencies. Among the savings reported are:
Filling gaps in senior care
We're glad to see continuing efforts by public and private entities to improve chronic care for senior citizens on Cape Cod. The latest effort is a series of forums hosted by the Barnstable County Department of Human Services.
On Feb. 8, from 9 a.m. to noon, the county will sponsor a seminar, titled "Navigating the Long-Term Care Service System for Older Adults and People with Disabilities," at the Cape Codder Resort & Spa on Route 132, Hyannis.
The forum will focus on federal, state and local policies and perspectives. The event will feature Sandra Albright, undersecretary of the state Executive Office of Elder Affairs, who will provide an overview of the long-term care service system in Massachusetts. Experts will then discuss the introduction of Senior Care Organizations to Cape Cod, Integrated Care Organizations for people with disabilities.
For more information, call Beth Albert, director of Barnstable County Human Services, at 508-375-6626 or email her at firstname.lastname@example.org
Send Cheers & Jeers nominations to
William Mills at email@example.com | <urn:uuid:4a2850d5-7692-4f88-aa7b-ca1e0fa0501d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130125/OPINION/301250331/-1/OPINION0306 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951466 | 566 | 1.75 | 2 |
There are so many dogs and cats (yes, cats) at Chris King bike components that there are signs in the factory warning of no-animal zones to keep the critters safe. Workers, some of them anyway, are dressed about as far down as you can dress and still be allowed in public. Upstairs, in the cafeteria, a full-time chef prepares healthy meals at low cost. Downstairs, in the bike room, the walls are painted with portraits of Marco Pantani and Eddy Merckyx, and in the locker room, the lockers themselves are vented with warm air, to remove the funk of Portland weather that clings to cycling clothes.
Nothing about Chris King is business as usual. Especially its successful effort to make the best available products in America in an environmentally sensitive way while treating workers right — and still making a profit.
A good example is on the factory floor, where low-VOC soybean oil is used to lube the cutting machines that reduce Ohio-milled aluminum into the first likenesses of headsets. The goal is to reduce waste, but the cutting tools used to cut down parts from ti or steel or aluminum stock have to be lubricated, and if that oil were petroleum based it would contain all sorts of toxins that would have to be managed. Respirators would need to be worn; vent systems would have to filter the nasties out of the air and do…something with them. Solvents would have to be used to strip away the grease, and then the solvents would also need to be carefully monitored. As it is the soybean oil just makes you think you’ve visited a commercial kitchen with an Asian bent. The air is faintly spicy with it.
So it’s not toxic. But it is expensive. It still needs to be recycled.
Which is why there’s an a byzantine system in place to capture every drip off every machine along with a bazillion metal shavings. The oil is put into a huge centrifuge the size of a VW Beetle that divides it from the metal. The metal is sent down a chute into a scary looking press that applies 400 tons of force in two seconds and then spits out the scrap into heavy metal cakes (think Safeway birthday cakes made of shiny metal shards). The cakes go to a recycler and the pressing process has a lovely side effect: It’s like a massive orange squeezer, spitting soybean oil out for yet more re-use.
If all this sounds tremendously complex, it is. More complex than you can imagine.
For instance, a huge vent captures residual heat from 2,000-degree kilns that are used to heat-treat parts and sends the energy back into the HVAC system. Walnut shells are used in a giant tumbler that polishes parts ceaselessly because other polishing agents are toxic and the fine dust can be dangerous to employees.
None of this just happened. King managers studied every stage of production and focused on process, reducing waste, and then reducing it again.
Following that thread, fewer chemical byproducts allows all King parts to be washed at a final stage of production in bays of standard commercial dishwashers. Managers even realized that that the plastic dishwasher trays would easily accommodate bottom brackets and so the trays are used to stack the parts, which are then transferred to reusable egg crates that prevent parts from scratching each other.
Through it all Chris King has grown. Demand is high, affording the opportunity for yet more growth. But despite success, Chris King the man, the company’s founder who started the business in California and has moved progressively northward twice, will tell you that the reason more stuff isn’t made in America is that American doesn’t make the machines that make the products any more. King’s factory needs to make its own machines and do its own tooling; many of its machines are outdated and have to be babied to keep functioning.
And although you’re always hearing how so many Americans are out of work, people who can do these jobs are hard to find, because not enough of us our taught to work with our hands in school. Manufacturing King parts is complex and most employees need to know how to do several jobs, since King responds to orders in real time, not stocking shelves with inventory for orders that might come in. You have to be able to switch jobs in a hurry, and do everything well.
These challenges, though, seem surmountable, like making bike parts in an eco-friendly manner and still turning a profit.
As I’m leaving King I learn one last very cool fringe benefit of working there: The company needs skilled labor and, despite what you might guess, being a bike nut isn’t a job requirement. But King does teach employees basic bike maintenance for free. It’s a way to connect employees with the end product, says King’s Dylan VanWeelden. “If you don’t ride, or didn’t ride before, you maybe gain a little pride in the product and learn what it’s for. You get in shape riding to work, and something clicks about what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.”
He might have added: And why they’re doing it the way they’re doing it.
Photos by Michael Frank | <urn:uuid:fdfba6ff-0f97-4ce2-8e5b-af6472f2da98> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.adventure-journal.com/2012/12/done-made-in-america-chris-king-bicycle-components/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961294 | 1,133 | 1.835938 | 2 |
TICONDEROGA - Aloha!
A group of Ticonderoga Middle School students have spent their winter break in Hawaii as part of a College For Every Student exchange program.
Rachel Bennett, Kolby Bradford, Claire Burns, Lillith Ida and Dale Quesnel made the trip along with teacher Heather York and Principal Bruce Tubbs. They are scheduled to return home Feb. 28.
"I'm looking forward to warm weather and meeting new friends," Bradford said before leaving. "It's going to be great."
Each student has a different goal for the Hawaiian adventure.
Ida hopes to learn the hula dance; Burns wants to see the tropical environment; Bennett is excited to meet her pen pal; Quesnel wants to visit Pearl Harbor.
The Hawaiian adventure has been six years in the making, Tubbs explained. That's when a group of Hawaiian educators attended a CFES conference in Bolton Landing and developed a relationship with their Ticonderoga counterparts. "We thought it would be great if our kids could communicate," Tubbs said. "So, we started a pen pal program."
Then, three years ago, students from Sanford Middle School and Castle High School in suburban Honolulu attended the annual CFES conference, making a side trip to Ticonderoga to meet their pen pals.
"That really got the ball rolling," Tubbs said.
Soon students from Ti and Hawaii were instant messaging and eventually started video conferencing. The next step became obvious; Ti students would make the trip to visit their friends in Hawaii.
But who would go? The $6,000 trip is being funded through CFES and student fundraising activities, Tubbs said. No tax money is being used. That meant only five of the 35 students in Ticonderoga's eighth grade could make the trip.
Ti school officials decided to hold an essay contest to select the lucky students.
Students were asked to explain how they would represent Ticonderoga, what they expected to gain from the trip and what they would bring back to share with classmates. Names were removed from the essays and the winners were selected by a panel not associated with the middle school. | <urn:uuid:5c1bb3db-fd9b-40ed-967b-87eeb35803c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.denpubs.com/news/2011/feb/23/ti-students-spend-break-in-hawaii/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979787 | 448 | 1.5 | 2 |
SID: I’m with Ruth Fazal here. And Jesus himself gave her a bow of a violin. And when she plays over people, they get physically healed. I mean, she can tell you stories of people with cancer that were physically healed. But the greatest healing is emotional healing. She especially has a burden for Jewish people. I have to believe it has to do with that vision you had. Tell me about it.
RUTH: Since writing the oratorio, everything, it’s constantly growing, God’s heart. I always pray for God’s heart because it expands us. It’s one evening I was in my home with a group of friends and we were just quietly waiting on God. And I’m standing at my keyboard and sort of playing, nothing in particular. And then I start to see, I see this group of people camped in the desert. And it’s nighttime. And then I hear the sound of a trumpet and it’s a distant trumpet, and it comes closer and closer, and closer. And then I look and I see that it’s the Lord Himself and He’s on this huge horse. And He comes to the camp where these people are and He’s saying, “You have to come away. You can’t stay here any longer. You have to wake up. You have to come.” But then it’s also, “Come away with me, my beloved.” It’s so tender. And they come into this realm of glory. I don’t really know how to describe it. It was like bright light, timeless. And there they are and they’re drawn into the center of this place, which is worship, because there’s worship going on and they’re drawn into it. And they’re like, “Oh, I’m so glad I came. This is what I was made for.” And it’s the Lord who was saying, “Comfort my people. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Comfort my people. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem.” And one by one, they realize that’s why God woke them up.
SID: Ruth, would you prophesy over me and play what God wants you to play on that violin now.
RUTH: Yes. I’d love to do that. You know, I feel that there’s one word and it’s the word “faithful”. And God is saying to you Sid, you have been so faithful and His heart and His tenderness of His heart towards you is huge. So I just want you to know that.
SID: You’d better watch what you say. Now she’s going to play. She’s going to get me crying.© Copyright 2011 sidroth, All rights Reserved. Written For: Sid Roth | <urn:uuid:238476e1-7d92-4fd2-bbb7-fd988477d9b1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sid-roth.org/2011/09/26/our-guest-ruth-fazal/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972761 | 628 | 1.75 | 2 |
"Every St. Patrick's Day every Irishman goes out to find another Irishman to make a speech to."
My blog debuted in July and I've been waiting all the many months since for March to arrive. Oh, wonderful March, when for one day the whole world turns green. You know what I'm talking about...St. Patrick's Day! In the US, March has also been proclaimed as Irish-American Heritage Month by US Congress. It's kind of a big deal around here!
St. Patrick's Day in the U.S.:
Did you know the Irish Society of Boston organised what was not only the first Saint Patrick's Day Parade in the colonies but the first recorded Saint Patrick's Day Parade in the world on 18 March 1737. (The first parade in Ireland did not occur until 1931 in Dublin.) New York's first Saint Patrick's Day Parade was held on 17 March 1762 by Irish soldiers in the British Army. The first celebration of Saint Patrick's Day in New York City was held at the Crown and Thistle Tavern in 1766, the parades were held as political and social statements because the Irish immigrants were being treated unfairly. (Wikipedia)
To celebrate, I'm going to post only Irish recipes for the next couple of weeks and a bit about my Irish heritage. For starters, I'm sharing with you my favorite (and easiest) Irish Soda Bread. It is devoid of raisins, seeds and embellishments because my children don't like them. I'll be sharing some other Irish soda bread recipes with you as well. There are many varieties. After all, it's really like a big scone, isn't it? This one is slightly sweet, light and addictive! Warm from the oven with butter melting into it...one of life's simple pleasures. Very easy to whip up and to give as gifts too.
Although I don't cook Irish food exclusively, I do love it and to spread some inspiration, I'd like to share a fabulous Irish cookbook with one lucky reader. Here is what Ruth Reichl, Editor In Chief, GOURMET Magazine, had to say about it (from back cover of book):
"Reading this lovely book makes me want to do two things. Get on a plane and go straight to Ireland. And run into the kitchen and start cooking. This is an inspired introduction to an overlooked cuisine."
Enter for a Chance to Win this Cookbook!
This is a lovely, hardcover, beautifully written, 383 page book ($50 value) with wonderful Irish recipes that will inspire you. I'll share a few of them here.
All you have to do for a chance to win it, is leave a comment on any of my blog posts between now and March 17, 2011. You'll receive an automatic entry for every comment. If you tweet about it, send a copy to @TheIrishMother and I'll toss in an additional entry for you!
I'll announce the winner on March 23, 2011.
Easy Irish Soda Bread
3 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg, slightly beaten
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Either grease a cookie sheet, or place a piece of parchment paper on it.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking power, baking soda and salt. Pour in melted butter, buttermilk and egg and stir together JUST until it comes together. Do not overbeat, or it will give it a tough crumb.
Turn dough onto a floured board and knead lightly, just 3 or 4 folds. Form dough into a round and place on prepared baking sheet.
In a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons melted butter and 2 tablespoons cream. Brush loaf with this mixture, sprinkle with sugar and using a sharp knife, cut and X into the top of the loaf.
Bake in a preheated oven 40 - 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean. | <urn:uuid:3ccf8d48-5478-45f5-94de-baefde462133> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theirishmother.blogspot.com/2011/02/easy-irish-soda-bread-and-irish.html?showComment=1298668609854 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964579 | 846 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Eminent UK paediatrician Roy Meadow is accused of stepping outside the boundaries of his expertise when he gave evidence during the trial of a mother accused of murdering her two sons. This week, he faces a General Medical Council hearing. Louise Marshall reports.
The UK media frenzy surrounding leading paediatrician Roy Meadow reached fever pitch this week, as the General Medical Council heard allegations that he presented “erroneous and misleading” evidence in the trial of Sally Clark, a solicitor who was convicted of murdering two of her sons but was freed by the court of appeal after serving 3 years of a life sentence.
In recent years, Meadow has faced widespread condemnation in the press after evidence he gave in several court cases on the likelihood of two or more cot deaths occurring in the same family was brought into question. However, he has also received widespread support from paediatricians. “The way we are being dealt with by the GMC causes huge difficulties for recruitment and for child protection”, says Jo Sibert, Head of the Department of Child Health at the University of Cardiff.
The GMC hearing, which is due to conclude on the July 15, has been set up to examine evidence that Meadow presented in the trial of Sally Clark in 1999. Meadow was hired by the Crown Prosecution Service, alongside a number of other experts, to give evidence in the trial in which Clark was convicted of killing 11-week-old Christopher in 1996 and eight-week old Harry in 1998. During the trial Meadow cited evidence from the Confidential Enquiry into Sudden Deaths in Infancy, which suggested the odds of single cot death in a non-smoking household was 1 in 8543. By squaring the figure, he calculated the likelihood of SIDS occurring twice in the same family was 73 million to one.
This figure has since been widely disputed by statisticians and the Royal Statistical Society, but at the time the defence team did not question Meadow's evidence. It was not until Clark's first appeal, in 2000, that the court heard evidence from two statisticians who cast doubt on the figures. However, the appeal court judges, while accepting Meadow's statistic had been inaccurate, ruled that there was still an “overwhelming” case against Clark.
Clark was eventually freed in January, 2003, on the basis of pathology tests, which had previously been undisclosed to the court. The microbiology results indicated Harry could have died from an infection. The appeal court judges also said Meadow's statistic was “grossly misleading”, criticisms that led to other mothers who had been convicted on the basis of expert testimony from Meadow to launch appeals.
In December 2003, Angela Cannings was freed after being sentenced to life in April 2002 for the murder of seven-week-old Jason in 1991 and 18-week-old Matthew in 1999. Cannings' daughter Gemma also died at 13 weeks old in 1989 but she was not charged in relation to her death. Meadow told jurors in the original trial that a third death in the family was a “very unusual, very rare” event.
Appeal court judges said Cannings' conviction was “unsafe” after clinical geneticist Michael Patton suggested there could have been a genetic reason for the deaths and medical statistics expert Robert Carpenter said Cannings' sons could have been at higher risk of SIDS than previously estimated. The court ruled that no future prosecutions should be brought where medical experts are in dispute and there is no other cogent evidence.
In April this year, Donna Anthony was freed after serving 7 years for the deaths of daughter Jordan, aged 11 months and 4-month-old Michael. In the original trial, pathologist Peter Berry and Meadow both gave the opinion that the children had been suffocated. Meadow also suggested that the chance of two cot deaths occurring in the case was one in a million. The appeal court judge said Meadow's evidence had been “significantly undermined” since her trial.
Consultant paediatrician Dominic Croft said Meadow probably “overinterpreted” the evidence but that there was other circumstantial evidence in all the cases. “The implications of the GMC case are very serious”, he says. “This is about the protection of vulnerable citizens who have no one else to speak up for them.”
“I have the highest respect for Roy Meadow who has been a good colleague to me over many years”, says Sibert. “I am sure that his pioneering work on fabricated or induced illness has saved many lives. Clearly one would need to hear the evidence but I would hope he would be found not guilty.” | <urn:uuid:c630e1cf-d6e7-47d9-b508-49153aaf5eaa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(05)66805-5/fulltext | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988436 | 957 | 1.617188 | 2 |
The State of Louisiana mandates all Parishes within the State must reassess taxable property (no less than) every four (4) years. This is an unfunded mandate, meaning, the state will not provide funds, supplies, or manpower to assist in this task. Additionally, Assessors throughout the state must adhere to state law and the guidelines and ratios set forth by the Louisiana Tax Commission (LTC). If an Assessor fails to meet these guidelines, they will be forced to reassess by the Tax Commission. These laws and guidelines are designed to keep property assessments fair and equitable, and to prevent Assessors (concerned only with re-election) from keeping assessments low and out of ratio.
The Louisiana Tax Commission sets the guidelines and ratios (assessed value: sales data) with which all Assessors must comply. With that said, our office studies sales data throughout the parish and determines which areas should be targeted for reassessment. The areas that fall out of assessment to sales ratio guidelines require the most attention to be in compliance. Once targeted areas are established, data on the property is collected and adjustments in assessed values are made. Newer subdivisions normally see less of an adjustment due to “year on roll” values being closer to current market values. Older subdivisions that saw an increase during the last reassessment normally see less of an adjustment, as well. Older subdivisions that were not targeted in the last reassessment(s) may see an adjustment. Keep in mind, that ANY subdivisions/areas (new/old/mixed) are subject to adjustment if their assessed values are out of line with current market value. Our goal for reassessment is to cover as much of the parish as possible. But with reassessment being an unfunded mandate, time/money/manpower can be an issue. We have recently acquired new technology and have positioned available staff to continue the parish wide data collection process well after the current reassessment has concluded
In order for our office to properly address your questions and concerns, you must have a basic knowledge and understanding of our office’s functions, procedures, and limitations. First off, here is the basic formula for determining property taxes:
Assessed Value (minus exemptions*) X Millage Rate = Taxes
Land and Residential Improvements (structures) are assessed at 10% of Fair Market Value (FMV)
Ex-$100,000 land and house would be assessed at $10,000.
Commercial Improvements are assessed at 15% of FMV
Ex-$25,000 lot and $75,000 improvement: $2500-Land
$11,250 ($75,000 X 15%-Improvements)
$13,750 Assessed Value
* Homestead Exemption only applies to Parish tax calculations, not City calculations. If your property is within city limits, use the above formula minus Homestead Exemption with the parish millage rate and again at full value for the city with the city millage rate (note the millage rate for the municipalities are considerably lower than the parish rates due to no homestead exemption-more tax base).
Now, the Assessor is required to discover, list, value, and present in taxroll form, all taxable property in the Parish. This includes all land, residential improvements, commercial improvements, and personal property (business assets and inventory).
THE ASSESSOR’S OFFICE IS NOT DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR TAX AMOUNT. We ONLY assess property according to Fair Market Value. The tax rate (millage) is set by the various taxing districts across the parish and then finally voted on by YOU, the citizens of Calcasieu Parish. The taxroll is created by the Assessor’s Office. This is the base that the parish taxing districts levy their rates against to create your total tax, depending on which districts your property is in. Your total tax bill is then issued and collected by the Sheriff’s Office.
-If collected sales data reflect market value higher (or lower) than assessed value, adjustments in assessed value are necessary. In most cases, we normally reassess every four (4) years. In this time, the market can fluctuate between reassessments. In other words, just because the market peaked at one point in time and dropped in another point in time doesn’t mean your assessed value followed that trend. When we reassess, your assessment reflects the market value at the time of reassessment, like a snapshot of your value.
-Your assessed value has lagged in relation to current market value and sales data. Data has been collected and your property has been brought in line with Fair Market Value to meet our required ratios.
-There was an improvement to your property (new house, storage bldg, addition, swimming pool, etc) that was added this year.
-There was an improvement added in a previous year (maybe even by a previous owner) that was overlooked (no permit, office error, etc) but has now been discovered during our data collection process and added to your assessment.
-Assessed value increase is not necessarily a 1:1 to tax dollar amount. Any time Homestead Exemption comes into play, it can throw that ratio off. For example (very basic), if the property in which you reside was assessed at $7600 (remember assessed value is 10%) and Homestead Exemption exempts the first $7500 of assessed value from parish taxation, your taxable amount is $100. Say your property was reassessed to $7700, your new taxable amount is now $200. Your taxable amount just doubled, but your assessed value did not. Now, add city taxes (if applicable) and that really throws off the value to tax dollar amount ratio. It just can’t be looked at that way.
It may be one or a combination of factors most common being:
-Your property was in a targeted area and they were not. Due to lack of time/funding/manpower we cannot physically inspect as much property in the parish as we’d like, so, we have to concentrate on the areas that are the most out of ratio and/or those we have collected data on.
-The property you are comparing with has a special level assessment freeze (65+/Veteran/Disability). Properties that qualify for these freezes are protected from reassessments (unless they improve their property by 25% or more of their assessed value).
-Property you are comparing with was completely covered under homestead exemption both before and after reassessment reflecting in no tax bill.
-An error was made on our part and property you are comparing with was somehow missed in reassessment. These missed properties can be adjusted and supplemented to the taxroll.
-The owner of the property you are comparing with simply may not know what their assessment is and if an adjustment was made or not.
-Also, they may not even know what their tax bill is. Our experience has been even though a bill is sent to the property owner, if they have a mortgage, the mortgage company pays the bill without the homeowner being aware of the tax amount (or that they pay property taxes at all).
-Have you improved your property (new house, new commercial bldg, addition, storage bldg, pool, etc)?
-If not, your property was most likely undervalued prior to the reassessment and needed adjusting. This does not necessarily mean it increased in value from one year to the next, it simply means your property may have been undervalued for several years and was just adjusted during this reassessment. What normally happens, if your improvement (house etc) is older, it has generally built value over time (in most cases) and most likely hasn’t been reassessed since the last reassessment (if not longer) and our assessed value fell far enough out of ratio that warranted reassessment.
-Is the property you are comparing in the same taxing districts? Properties with the same assessed value but in different taxing districts will have different tax amounts due.
-Your property may be in a targeted area and the property you are comparing with may not be. There may be several reasons for this case.
-Office error. We may have missed that property out of error. There are over 180,000 parcels in Calcasieu Parish. Mass appraisal techniques are based on averages and mistakes will happen.
-More than just living area square footage is examined for determining assessed value. Locational attributes (corner lot, waterfront, golf course, etc), garage size, storage bldgs, effective age remodeled), swimming pools, etc are all criteria considered for assessment value. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples.
-Do you know the exact square footage of the property you are comparing? Does the other property owner know their own exact square footage? Although most people can approximate the square footage, few know exact figures of their own property much less someone else’s. Just because your friend has 4 bedrooms and you have 3 does not make yours smaller. Looks can be deceiving.
There are some property attributes our office does not consider when valuating properties. Improvements such as: Fences, driveways/concrete slabs, above ground pools, landscaping, ceiling height, countertop/flooring material, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, deferred maintenance, etc.
Most attributes are approximated and averaged according to quality of construction and location. Also, we use OUTSIDE square footage measurements. This takes into consideration the brick ledge (if applicable) and any other wall thickness. Our footages may be different than what your house plans show depending on how the footages on the plans were figured (inside room dimensions for ex).
It is your right to inquire/question and protest your property assessment value. No one is above making mistakes and with over 180,000 parcels in Calcasieu Parish, there will be errors. We try to keep those errors to a minimum and will be more than happy to correct any mistake our office makes.
With that in mind and barring any office errors, here are several points to be aware of when questioning your assessment:
-Do you know what your house is worth? Remember, you are questioning your value not your tax amount. If your property is in a targeted area we have done research and have data to back up our valuations.
-You would need to provide us with data we may not be aware of to state your case. A certified appraisal is the most credible form of documentation that can help your case. Pictures of the interior of your house (if it’s in question) showing a state of disrepair. Please note that deferred maintenance (needed paint, old roof, appliances, etc) is NOT a reason for adjusting values lower.
-Your insurance declaration page. The insurance company usually has a good idea what the house is worth if they had to replace it. Sometimes this is a good starting point.
-If your property is an income producing property, you may provide us with an audited income and expense report.
If an agreement is not reached, you may make a formal protest and follow the procedures set forth by the Louisiana Tax Commission. | <urn:uuid:f18656d7-9840-4ec9-8dcc-574b14b75541> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.calcasieuassessor.org/fastfacts.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961375 | 2,304 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Live or Lure: The Great Fishing De-Bait
Jun 27, 2011
While you don’t have to hunt very hard to find one veteran fisherman who swears by worms or another who’ll claim spinners are the way to go, the truth is that the there really isn’t an argument. It’s never so much of an issue as to whether live or lure is better. It’s more of an issue as to what the fish are biting on, because for almost any live bait you might consider, you’ll find a whole slew of lures that match them, as well as a bewildering selection of scents to add to those lures, should you be so inclined.
That said, we’re of the opinion that for beginning anglers, live bait is a better way to go. Whether you’re trying to entice a native brown trout out of a deep hole, or snare the attention of an elusive largemouth bass, the natural motion of live worms or baitfish is an attraction that your target finds hard to resist.
On the other hand, if you have some experience at casting, lures such as plugs, jigs and spinners can allow you to cover more water more swiftly. Rattling lures, in particular, can draw fish from a wider area and the sweeps of your cast almost always include greater expanses than when fishing with live bait.
One thing can be said for lures that can’t be said for live bait, though. If you master the difficult art of fly-fishing, you’ll be able to present patterns such as small insects that simply wouldn’t ever work as live bait.
In the end, there’s no deciding this particular fishing debate. Different species, different waters and different weather all require their own unique tackle. | <urn:uuid:f32987eb-ca5c-4e47-aef8-9cd9cb7f9b04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cbmusic.crackerbarrel.com/hobbies/outdoor/live-or-lure-the-great-fishing-debait/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93296 | 388 | 1.617188 | 2 |
February 22, 2010
For hundreds of people throughout the Buffalo area, “non-healing” wounds are a serious medical problem that can cost thousands of dollars in ongoing medical care and lost productivity, along with an immeasurable amount in lost quality of life. On Wednesday, February 24, Catholic Health will open its first Advanced Wound Healing Center on the Sisters of Charity Hospital, St. Joseph Campus. A grand opening event will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. with a dedication ceremony at 4:30 p.m.
Located in the Caritas Medical Arts Building on the St. Joseph Campus, the 4,500 square-foot facility will offer the area’s most advanced care for the evaluation and treatment of non-healing wounds. Catholic Health plans to open other centers to serve patients throughout the region.
“Non-healing wounds are a growing concern, particularly in Western New York, which has a rapidly aging population and a high prevalence of diabetes and vascular disease,” said Lee C. Ruotsi, MD, FACCWS, UHM, medical director of the program and a certified wound specialist. “This is a much needed community service and we’re eager to open our St. Joseph Campus site and bring a new clinical service to Catholic Health.”
Non-healing wounds, such as pressure, diabetic and leg ulcers, can take months to heal and lead to severe pain, medical complications, extended hospital stays and even limb amputations. Catholic Health’s Wound Healing Centers will offer the most advanced treatment options, including the latest generation of single-patient hyperbaric chambers. Hyperbaric therapy allows patients to breathe 100% oxygen, improving circulation to damaged tissues, stimulating the growth of new blood vessels, and accelerating the healing process.
“Those experiencing non-healing wounds suffer greatly,” Dr. Ruotsi continued. “The care available in our wound centers is extremely effective in improving the health and quality of life for patients who have problematic or non-healing wounds. With the opening of the Advanced Wound Healing Center at St. Joseph Campus, and future expansion planned, we will have all the components to offer an outstanding program and patient experience." | <urn:uuid:776a2f41-1d03-449d-85ed-b726546208a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chsbuffalo.org/AboutUs/News/2010/SSJCWoundCenter?size= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934378 | 464 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Deborah Seracini spends two days each week making sure shelves of Coppertone Sunscreen are in order at five Walmart stores in the South Bay and a Rite-Aid in Coronado.
The $12-per-hour job probably isn’t what she envisioned nearly 20 years ago when she earned her master’s degree from the University of San Diego.
“I’m not going to feel degraded or anything like that,” Seracini, 56, said before beginning a recent shift. “I want to do something more meaningful. I want to do something that’s good for the world, for the Earth, it’s just busy work at this point, and I’m glad I have it, or I’d go stir-crazy.”
Her current job’s nothing like the one she had until last July. That’s when she was laid off as a full-time acquisitions editor for a publishing company. She’s since been looking for new full-time work but has only had a few interviews.
Seracini is symbolic of a workforce whose members have taken jobs for which they are well overqualified. That’s why the unemployment rate, near a three-year low at 9.2 in San Diego County, doesn’t tell the whole jobs story. Seracini would be counted as employed, but really, she’s underemployed.
She’s one of nearly 8.2 million Americans who were working part time in June for economic reasons, such as not being able to find full-time work. That’s nearly double the 4.33 million in that situation in October 2007, according to seasonally adjusted data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The jobs don’t usually pay all the bills, especially when trying to support a family.
“It’s kind of like, are you going to stop swimming and drown? Or are you going to try to swim? Because the alternative is you’re dead, and I’m not going to die,” said Bill Hooper, 42, a father of two who now works as a land-use consultant at a fraction of what he used to earn at San Diego National Bank.
The money Hooper does earn goes toward living expenses, not to larger purchases. That’s one reason underemployment stunts the economic recovery.
“When people lose their sort of high-paying job and they’re forced to take a lower-paying job or a part-time job, they have less money to spend,” said Alan Gin, an economist at the University of San Diego. “So if they have less money to spend, that affects retail sales, that affects economic activity, and we get slower growth in terms of gross domestic product.”
A study released by Gallup in February said California had an underemployment rate between 21 percent and 24 percent, tied with four other states for the highest in the U.S. An additional Gallup study released the same month found that one out of three workers between ages 18 and 29 are underemployed, more than double the rates for all other age groups it measured.
There are many aspects of underemployment. Here are people that exemplify a few:
The self-employed consultant
The last two years have been an adventure for Bill Hooper, his wife, and their two children, ages 11 and 8. They’ve moved from Oceanside to Idaho and are back in Oceanside. | <urn:uuid:2b6efcb4-5a79-423c-b1de-278d45b756c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jul/28/hard-reality-san-diegos-underemployed/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973739 | 761 | 1.734375 | 2 |
The Municipality of Macerata’s historical and artistic heritage has changed location and the collections underpinning the new installation were transferred to eighteenth-century Palazzo Buonaccorsi. The modified arrangement has split the body of diverse works acquired over time into groups, one for each of the three main floors. The basement area, originally the building’s stables and thus the best site for this particular collection, were defined as the site for new coach museum to be opened shortly. The vehicles, precious examples spanning the nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, are arranged in mainly chronological order to recount the evolution of this means of transport over time. The original nucleus of this collection, seven perfectly preserved sporting carriages, was donated to the city by Count Pieralberto Conti in 1962 and subsequently expanded with other important donations to increase the range and variety, from the nineteenth-century travelling berlin to gigs and horse-training coaches. All this is also accompanied by a remarkable assortment of tack (bridles, bits, saddles and horseshoes), rendering the Macerata collection excellent for its genre. The building’s piano nobile – in itself a decorative gem of the early 1700s – will be the home to the modern art collection, mainly paintings, acquired in the period 1835-1860, with the intention of using early donations to establish “a homeland gallery.” The exhibition follows the sequence of historiated rooms, ending at the so-called “galleria dell’Eneide”, a sort of “museum within a museum” as it still preserves intact the preferences of the collector Raimondo Buonaccorsi, who commissioned all these paintings on the theme of Virgil’s Aeneid. This modern art collection comprises works from the thirteenth century (a votive stone), fifteenth and nineteenth centuries. Worthy of note are a small Madonna panel by Carlo Crivelli, the original figures from the ancient civic clock tower, a copy of Caravaggio’s Flagellation, and a collection of Catenati academy armorial bearings. The layout was conceived to revive the eighteenth-century guise of the rooms, originally finished and decorated like an authentic aristocratic picture gallery. Finally, on the second floor, where restoration of mid-nineteenth-century paintings has been undertaken, there are rooms housing the contemporary art collection created thanks to several donations (including G. Baynes and V. Monti) and temporary exhibitions (organized in the old Pinacoteca Comunale from the 1950s and later also in the San Paolo church), and especially with acquisitions from several past Premio Scipione awards (1955, 1957, 1964). Following these important events, the museum came to own significant pieces by authors like Corrado Cagli, Osvaldo Licini, Luigi Spazzapan, Bruno Cassinari, Domenico Cantatore, Emilio Vedova, Umberto Peschi and others. Several rooms have been given over to display of works by the versatile artist, Ivo Pannaggi, who amongst other things is a painter, architect, photographer and graphic artist. A further section of paintings and sculptures is dedicated to Macerata’s 1930s “Secondo Futurismo” movement. The new museum design also includes the contemporary collection documentation centre with a virtual consultation feature. | <urn:uuid:9dcd96b5-e350-4450-a4ad-128af3c3cc53> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sistemamuseale-mc.it/?p=494&lang=en | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942249 | 704 | 1.609375 | 2 |
U.S. District Judge James Cacheris ruled last week that corporations have the same right as individual citizens to donate to candidates for federal office and struck down a law that banned corporate contributions to federal candidates, AP reports.
Judge Cacheris of the Eastern District of Virginia determined that the Supreme Court's decision last year in Citizens United prohibiting bans on corporate spending by independent groups extended to direct contributions to candidates' campaigns:
(F)or better or worse, Citizens United held that there is no distinction between an individual and a corporation with respect to political speech. Thus, if an individual can make direct contributions within (the law's) limits, a corporation cannot be banned from doing the same thing.
The judge therefore ruled that part of indictment against two defendants alleging that they illegally reimbursed donors in two of Hillary Clinton's campaigns was invalid. Click here to read the decision.
The ruling came after a federal judge in Minnesota upheld a state ban on corporate contributions. Some commentators predict that the decision will be overturned on appeal, asserting that Citizens United made a clear distinction between limits on corporate campaign contributions and independent expenditures.
UPDATE: Judge Cacheris appears to be reconsidering his ruling that the First Amendment prohibits laws that differentiate between individuals and corporations in campaign contributions, according to the Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire. Today, he requested briefs from both sides and has called for oral arguments on Friday. | <urn:uuid:13cbe97a-e77b-4f03-8804-fc8da5a64120> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fedsocblog.com/ee.php/blog/2011/05/P0/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952931 | 283 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Before buying anything, we all have a tendency to check the price of that particular product. Be it household items, apparels or even stocks. And to get the best deal possible we also do bargain. Don’t we? Unfortunately this tendency of checking the price (NAV) has also creped into many of you investors while investing in mutual funds. But have you thought - does that really matter while investing in mutual funds?
Checking a fund’s NAV before investing is absolutely a futile and a baseless exercise, in our opinion.
Well you may not believe it instantly; as the habit of first checking the price of a product runs in your nervous system. It always plays on your minds that lesser the NAV, the cheaper the mutual fund scheme.
Even in case when an New Fund Offer (NFO) hits the market, a large section (going by the “habit”) of you investors rush into investing in the fund without even assessing what is its mandate, where and how would it invest the corpus collected and whether does it really suits your risk profile. This is because the offer price of 10 excites you. Similarly, when an existing mutual fund scheme’s NAV is low, you all tend to again perceiving it to be a buying opportunity.
But please recognise that, the approach of investing in mutual funds by judging its price – the NAV, cannot be followed just as the same manner while investing in stocks. This is because when you invest in a mutual fund, you buy units at its NAV. Thus you buy the units at a price (i.e. NAV), the calculation of which is based on the current market price of all the assets that the mutual fund owns. In other words, the NAV represents the fund’s intrinsic worth.
However in case of the stock market investing, the stock price of a company is usually different from its intrinsic worth, or what is called the book value of the share. The stock price could be higher (premium) or lower (discount) as compared to the book value of the company. A relatively lower share price would, other things being positive, make it an attractive purchase (as the share seems undervalued).
The reason for such a ‘mis-pricing’ could be that you investors evaluate the company’s future profitability and suitably pay a higher or lower price as compared to its book value. This does not hold true for open-ended mutual funds – they always, always, trade at their book value; so you never buy them cheap or expensive in that sense.
Remember, increase or decrease in the NAV of a mutual fund scheme is a function of how well the fund manager makes his investments bets in the market as well as how long the fund has been in the industry.
The illustration present in the table below will also clearly help you establish the irrelevance of NAV while making an investment decision.
NAV: Does it matter?
NAV and Performance as on March 25, 2011.
(Source: ACE MF, PersonalFN Research)
HDFC Equity Fund with an NAV of 275.36 has topped on the 3-Yr return front, by clocking a return of 18.4% CAGR. On the other hand, Religare Mid cap fund which has the least NAV ( 13.42) has clocked a return of mere 7.6% CAGR.
So, please recognise that NAV’s are an irrelevant when selecting winning mutual funds for your portfolio. A lot of qualitative and quantitative factors have to be thoroughly analysed before zeroing down on any mutual fund scheme. As an investor, you need to consider factors such as your own risk profile, the fund house’s management style and the mutual fund’s performance.
- Risk profile
Every investor has a risk profile that dictates how much risk they can take on to achieve their investment objective. In this backdrop, you must identify mutual funds that can help you meet your investment objectives at the desired risk level. For instance, some equity funds adhere to the growth style of investment (aggressively managed funds); while others follow the value style of investment (conservatively managed funds). So, it is important for you to select a mutual fund scheme that takes on risk in line with your own risk appetite.
- Fund management style
Fund houses have varying fund management styles and processes. Some pursue the individualistic style, where the fund manager has his own style of investing, rather than the preset investment process fixed by the mutual fund house.
As opposed to this, there are mutual fund houses that pursue a team-based investment approach where the investment process and system holds influence over the individual. Your preference should be for the team-based process driven approach of investing, since it is more stable and the mutual fund (and its investors) is not over-dependent on an individual.
- Mutual fund performance
It is imperative for you to evaluate a mutual fund schemes beyond returns, by taking into account parameters such as the risk of the fund (as denoted by Standard Deviation), risk-adjusted returns (as denoted by Sharpe Ratio), portfolio concentration, experience of the fund manager and host of other research factors. The best deal for an investor will come from a mutual fund that has higher NAV appreciation and Sharpe Ratio and lower Standard Deviation.
Hopefully, now we believe that we have resolved the debate on the NAV and have given you more relevant points to inquire about before considering investing in a mutual fund. So, the next time your mutual fund distributor advances the low NAV or 10 NAV arguments, demand a detailed analysis of the mutual fund based on the parameters we have listed. Remember there’s more to selecting winning mutual funds than just the NAV. | <urn:uuid:7c2965ec-1695-404e-9359-261cf804f6af> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.personalfn.com/knowledge-center/mutual-funds/tutorials/11-03-28/does_nav_of_mutual_fund_really_matter.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957609 | 1,185 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Great column again this week by Ernie Dumas, this time on the Republican effort to gut stricter regulation of deadly mercury emissions from coal-burning power plants. The Kochs and the coal industry are more important to Republicans than birth defects and death.
Sen. John Boozman is on the side of the polluters. Sen. Mark Pryor wants to give the industry three more years to comply with emission standards, but says forthrightly that the emissions are dangerous and need to be curbed, courageous in this day and time. Dumas notes that U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin, on TV constantly about a handful of day laborer jobs at a pipe plant perhaps affected by a delay in the Keystone pipeline, is silent on the huge economic stimulus that would come from building and installing the machinery to make our air safer, not to mention the medical costs saved.
By Ernest Dumas
If the constant warfare over government regulation of business bores or confuses you, this week’s news furnishes a perfect primer. The campaign to stop the government from reducing the mercury and arsenic that coal-fired generating plants belch into the air and streams illustrates better than anything what the regulation battle is all about and what it means for the average American.
It means life and health.
Warfare may be a poor word because warfare isn’t one-sided. All the heat and inflamed rhetoric on regulation comes from one side, the Republicans, and, of course, the coal, chemical and oil industries that call the shots. Democrats typically have little to say.
It is hard to get used to because Republicans not so long ago were the party of conservation and environmentalism. The great achievements in cleaning the air and streams and saving lives belonged to a couple of Republican presidents, Richard M. Nixon and George H.W. Bush, who signed the original Clean Air Act of 1970 and the 1990 amendments that nearly everyone in the party now is trying to thwart.
Sen. James Imhofe of Oklahoma, the Republican point man on government regulation, charges that the Environmental Protection Agency and the Obama administration declared war on the coal industry and seek to shut it down. Imhofe says the EPA’s new rules requiring electric utilities, including those in Arkansas, to install technology that cleanses coal-plant emissions of mercury, arsenic and other poisons would end the coal industry in 2015, the year that plants must have installed the technology.
That is absurd on its face, but the Republicans argue that burning coal is becoming so expensive as a result of the regulation of emissions that utilities will stop burning coal and turn to clean-burning natural gas or nuclear.
A quarter-century of research has shown conclusively that the mercury from the plants every year causes thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of illnesses, mainly in children—fetal brain damage, heart disease, asthma and other lung diseases.
If you think purification mechanics are expensive for a utility, try paying for a lifetime of birth deformities.
But the government’s concern should not be for those people, the tea-party Republicans say, but for the health of the coal industry. Trust me, the coal industry is going to be okay.
The Senate will vote in a few days on Imhofe’s bill to block the EPA from controlling the poisons that the coal plants emit. His position is that this is none of the government’s business. Republicans, including our own Sen. John Boozman, will join him.
Our own Sen. Mark Pryor introduced a bill to give utilities three more years, until 2018, until they must stop poisoning people. In a remarkable bit of bravado for an Arkansas Democrat nowadays, Pryor says the mercury and other poisons are a real problem and the government should be trying to protect people’s health. But since there is so much equipment to be installed by 2015 he thinks utilities should be given a little more time because it might make the machinery cheaper.
Imhofe says Pryor simply wants to sign the coal industry’s death warrant three years later.
This is a jobs issue, by the way. Making and installing the equipment is creating thousands of jobs. You would think that Congressman Tim Griffin would be demanding that the work be done forthwith, like the oil pipeline across Nebraska’s aquifer.
About half of the 700 coal plants are affected. They include all those in Arkansas, at White Bluff, Newark and Gentry, which are among the most poisonous in the country. The Arkansas utilities say they are aware of the health problems and are happy to install the equipment. Light bills will go up a little to pay for the machinery in a few years.
In the fevered brains of tea-party zealots, the EPA is a rogue agency out to punish and destroy industry. When you hear all the alarms about government regulation, they are talking about the EPA, unless they are talking about banking regulation.
Nearly all its life, under Democratic and Republican presidents, the EPA has been a pussycat, obeisant to the big polluting industries. It was the case with acid rain, carbon dioxide, and other toxic emissions and it is the case with mercury.
Controlling sulfur and nitric oxide poisons (those are the ones that were killing forests and streams in the Appalachians and Adirondacks), mercury, arsenic and other poisonous effluents was the reason Congress passed the Clean Air Act amendments in 1990.
Despite conclusive studies and overwhelming evidence of the climate harm and a mandate from the conservative U. S. Supreme Court, the EPA still has not imposed rules to control greenhouse gases. But the EPA is finally moving on that, to right-wing wails about creeping socialism.
For its great beneficial health impact, stopping the mercury poisoning ought to be like removing the lead from gasoline. Remember when the oil industry said it would make fuel unaffordable to people. Industries always say the sky is falling.
Twenty-two years ago when the Clean Air amendments were passed, studies showed that the mercury from coal burning caused fetal injuries and sicknesses, especially in small children. The 1990 law directed the EPA to study all the effluents from smokestacks and produce rules to control them. Each time the EPA produces a scientific study the industry demands another. Under court orders to do something, the second Bush administration started a cap-and-trade program to reduce mercury but it was thrown out. It rewarded big polluters. In 2008, a federal judge gave the EPA three years to comply with the Clean Air Act and develop standards for mercury, arsenic and other pollutants.
Meantime, people died. From 1998, when the EPA delivered it first comprehensive report on the health impact of mercury and other pollutants, to 2005, when the Bush administration finally acted, mercury emissions shot up 8 percent and arsenic by 31 percent. They continue to soar, and so do deaths. Environmental and health groups, including the association of the country’s pediatricians, demanded that the EPA act.
But this is none of the public’s, or the government’s, business, is it?
Pat Robertson is just a dirty old man.
If I lived in Jason Rapert's district I would be escaping. The monkey's ability to…
Shocked I don't hear anyone bashing the parents. The same parents who bailed him out…
A&E Feature / To-Do List / In Brief / Movie Reviews / Music Reviews / Theater Reviews / A&E News / Art Notes / Graham Gordy / Books / Media / Dining Reviews / Dining Guide / What's Cookin' / Calendar / The Televisionist / Movie Listings / Gallery Listings | <urn:uuid:e9d46187-221a-469d-b876-d2aab1e84a33> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2012/06/19/the-republicans-deadly-war-on-public-health | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948318 | 1,574 | 1.820313 | 2 |
STILLWATER BOARD OF EDUCATION RECEIVES RESULTS OF SCHOOL PERFORMANCE REVIEW – MANY COMMENDATIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS - SUPPORT SERVICES NEED TO BE STRENGTHENED
Contact: Robert Buswell or Matt Hesser
June 14, 2005
|STILLWATER – The results of the school performance review were presented today at a special 4:00 P.M. meeting of Board of Education for Stillwater Public Schools. The review had been requested by the board and was completed by WCL Enterprises of Houston, TX with the Education Oversight Board's Office of Accountability serving as the contract coordinator. Stillwater's review cost just under $80,000 and the district paid twenty-five percent of that amount. If all recommendations are adopted by Stillwater there is an estimated net savings to the district of $1,409,585 over a five-year period.
"The Oklahoma School Performance Review Program has been operational for about two years," said Robert Buswell, Executive Director of the Office of Accountability. "Stillwater is the fifth district to receive a review and the second to request the procedure. Stillwater's board of education and administration were planning to develop a new strategic plan for the district and felt that having the results of a performance review in advance of that effort would be to their advantage," explained Buswell.
The review process began last November and the final report was presented tonight. The purpose of a performance review is to develop findings, commendations, and recommendations regarding (1) improving the educational environment and increasing student performance; (2) reducing or containing costs; and (3) improving the management process and streamlining operations.
"We came into the Stillwater review knowing that they were, overall, a very good district," indicated Bill Lenhart, Managing Principal of WCL Enterprises. "The district has great community support and student performance is high. The team was impressed with the district's early childhood program, professional development program, special education program, and career education program," said Lenhart. They have also done a lot with technology.
"Stillwater seems to have two primary challenges: first, they have directed so much attention toward providing superior educational opportunities to their students that they have allowed some of the support services like maintenance and transportation to fall behind. No one likes to put money into support services but it becomes a pay-me-now or pay-me-later type of situation," explained Lenhart. Second, with everyone on staff being so highly qualified for their position, sometimes professional independence takes over and individuals don't always pull as a team. Reminding staff of the chain-of-command, clarifying job roles and reporting responsibilities, and emphasizing the existence of an established and adopted program should be all that is needed," concluded Lenhart.
"I was very impressed with the team that the Office of Accountability assembled for our review," said Dr. Walter Swanson, Superintendent of Stillwater Public Schools. "The team was very professional and they conducted many interviews, focus groups, and forums. They got to know Stillwater schools pretty well in a very short period of time." Swanson continued, "I think the report is a profound document, they validated the things that we were doing well and offered recommendations for improvement in areas where we were lacking. If we can't take a little constructive criticism then we can't improve. Having professionals from outside of the district look things over was very beneficial. I think it's a great program and would suggest the process be considered by other superintendents."
"We work very hard to screen the consultants prior to signing a contract, indicated Robert Buswell. "The team that is selected must have credibility with the board, administration, and staff of the district that is being reviewed. I think this goal was accomplished in the case of Stillwater Public Schools and I appreciate and respect Stillwater's board of education for working so hard to secure top quality education for their students and for requesting the review," Buswell said.
The Office of Accountability is governed by the Education Oversight Board with Tulsa businessman Don McCorkell currently serving as chairman. Under the Oklahoma School Performance Review Program, a review covers the entire spectrum of school district operations:
- District Organization and Management
- Educational Service Delivery and Performance Measures
- Personnel Management
- Community Involvement
- Facilities and Energy Management
- Asset and Risk Management
- Budgeting and Financial Management
- Management Information Services and Educational Technology
- Purchasing and Warehouse Services
- Food Service
- Safety and Security
A district receiving a review is under no obligation to implement the recommendations found in the review and the recommendations that a district does choose to implement may be done at the district's own pace and to their own specifications. After final presentation every review is placed on-line at the Office of Accountability's web site so other districts in the state may benefit form both the commendations and the recommendations.
For more information on the Oklahoma School Performance Review Program please visit www.SchoolReportCard.org or call the Office of Accountability at 405-225-9470. | <urn:uuid:09e0fea3-cfad-43f4-a88e-fdb732441a3b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.schoolreportcard.org/news/20050614_1.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972451 | 1,037 | 1.632813 | 2 |
I have a problem where I often proof my own writing and I don't catch all the errors while I am reading through it. I often miss entire words out of sentences or find myself repeating words. I can read a document several times and I catch new errors every time. Eventually, I'll feel like I've caught everything, but I find out after I've posted or printed it that I left out some word. The whole process takes hours instead of a few minutes. This process is so frustrating that sometimes I just give up. Does anyone have this experience writing and if so, what techniques have you developed that help?
For some reason, I make fewer errors and my writing is a lot speedier if I write it out long hand first. For some reason, the word processor makes it hard to keep your train of thought going because you find yourself derailed by the formatting. I also found using NotePad to be a useful tool. Since it doesn't have formatting, it is less distracting. I also set the width of the Window to be very short. For some reason, my thoughts are less likely to get derailed and I make fewer errors.
Edit: I haven't picked an answer because all of these responses are great! I also want to keep the suggestions coming so that others will benefit. Thanks a lot. | <urn:uuid:9c1bb25f-893a-4418-bc2d-7428b20f44b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/5400/how-can-i-catch-more-errors-when-i-proofread/5410 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978495 | 267 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Some Writing Week projects can get very creative, very unique. One such project was Zachary Overhulser's photo project. It was probably one of the most creative this semester and really caught a good amount of attention.
One of the many photos from Zach's project. photo by Zachary Overhulser
When asked to describe his project, Zach said, "my project was photography and the subject was the occult as it has to deal with Patriarchical and Matriarchical structures in the human mind. It took me forty hours or more to take the pictures myself and then edit them for lighting and framing. I was very proud of the work I accomplished in the project. I felt touched. After finishing my project, I feel like I've grasped a better understanding of photo-editing and posing for pictures."
His other photos included self-portraits with photo-editing to create unique usage of color and shading. As a model he worked to capture emotions and used tape and paints to create symbols and messages. | <urn:uuid:cf98e640-b064-4deb-a087-503c8a2afaa7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.shimer.edu/shimer/2010/05/writing-week-zachary-overhulser.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982765 | 209 | 1.546875 | 2 |
The Dallas Morning News ( http://dallasne.ws/10HtJzv) reported that by midday Monday, 116,000 visitors had passed through the museum since its Dec. 1 opening. The museum also sold 12,000 memberships in December.
"We're pleased with the overwhelming response from the community," said museum CEO Nicole Small, who added that the figures were higher than expected.
While museum leaders have avoided attendance projections, some have hinted that they hope for a million visitors in the first year. Monday's numbers would put the museum on a pace to easily surpass that.
Attendance numbers could have been much higher, but a system limits the number of visitors. Noting that the number varies daily, museum officials say about 350 tickets are dispensed in time-specific half-hour blocks, officials said. When the quota is reached, potential visitors must await the next opening.
"We're trying to make sure it's a good customer experience once you do get inside. We don't want it to be simply overcrowded," Small said.
On most days around the Christmas holiday, those without tickets have been greeted with signs informing them that the entire day is sold out. So, museum leaders urge visitors to buy advance tickets.
Part of the issue may be visitors lingering longer than expected.
The museum's offerings include the chance to feel the ground shake beneath them in an earthquake simulation, program a robot to navigate a maze and even test their speed against a virtual Tyrannosaurus rex.
The museum was named for billionaire former presidential candidate Ross Perot and his wife, Margot, after their five children made a $50 million gift in honor of them.
The $185 million museum, built entirely with private donations, has five floors of public space and stands about 14 stories high.
Perot Museum of Nature and Science, http://www.perotmuseum.org
Information from: The Dallas Morning News, http://www.dallasnews.com | <urn:uuid:f937005a-0fc7-4a39-ae17-499bf68fd948> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.elpasotimes.com/texas/ci_22292804/visitors-stream-into-perot-museum-first-month | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967395 | 408 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Set in a cliff overlooking the glorious, 'heron
priested' Taf Estuary the Boathouse offers a fascinating visit including
memorabilia, interpretation, bookshop and tea-room.
Dylan and Laugharne
'And some, like myself, just came, one day, for
the day, and never left; got off the bus, and forgot to get on again'.
(Dylan Thomas on Laugharne, taken from Quite Early One Morning).
Dylan Thomas' had a long term affinity with Laugharne ever since
he visited with the poet Glyn Jones in 1934, by 1938 he lived in
"Eros" in Gosport Street, then to "Sea View"
until 1940. Dylan led a very peripatetic existence and urgently
wished to settle down, his move to the Boathouse in 1949 was made
possible by the remarkable patronage of Margaret Taylor who bought
the house for the Thomases so that Dylan could once again be in
his beloved Wales. It was the Boathouse 'sea shaken
on a breakneck of rocks' and the unique character of Laugharne itself
that combined to act as a catalyst for some of his most celebrated
works. The fictitious Llareggub of Under Milk Wood. written in Laugharne
was confirmed by his widow, Caitlin, in her autobiography, as being
based on the Township.
Thomas recollection of Christmas Day at the Boathouse
"In the grate hung huge swathes of holly, singed at the edges,
and red berries peeped from behind jugs and plates on the sideboard.."
Dylan Thomas' daughter, Aeronwy Thomas has written a recollection
of a Christmas Day at the Boathouse for use during the 50th Anniversary
celebrations of her fathers death.
READ Laugharne - Dylan Thomas last radio broadcast
Laugharne by Dylan Thomas pdf | <urn:uuid:628d9aaa-0521-419c-9efa-5c6a58dc6f71> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dylanthomasboathouse.com/english/boathouse/boat_intro.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949099 | 406 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Excellent contemporary graphic novel. The characters convincingly portrayed. Sacco has a journalist eye and a storyteller’s heart.
One might say his portrayal of the Palestine people’s plight and persecution is biased.
I have to admit I’m fed on a diet of seeing Israel as a victim. Yet by Sacco’s account, Israel the victor had carried out a campaign of suppression through curfews, creation of cheap labour pool by depressing the Palestine economy.
Sacco goes around interviewing Palestinians for their stories of how they have been treated. In a way, he’s digging for stories to sell.
Stories include accounts of the detention camps, of being jailed as a rite of passage of any Palestinian male. Of overly sugared tea. Of the hospitality of the middle-eastern culture.
Stories of how Israeli settlers (often migrants from Europe, who seem more prejudiced and violent than migrants from some other countries) form vigilante mobs and destroy their neighbour’s home. But what is unsaid is also the little petty retaliatory strikes by the Palestinians who throw stones. And the unfairness of other Palestinians who are persecuted simply because they are Palestinians.
Automatic hostile responses carried out by both sides, so much so that after a while, the endless cycle of tit-for-tat just made the question of who started what seemingly irrelevant.
The Israeli side of the story is presented by way of a conversation between Sacco and two Israelis, over coffee. It was a convincing to me the complexities of the issues involved. The realness of it. Hard to say who’s right and who’s wrong. Emotions are part of the responses to any discussion about the ongoing problems. Sacco uses that conversational piece to great effect, to say things without being academic. And finding there is no answer.
I’d think in another earlier era, this was how the Jews were persecuted. And perhaps in a later eon, the tables would have turned and the endless cycle of revenge continues, with power switching sides infinitely.
Sacco produced the graphic novel after spending two months with the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories in late 1991 and early 1992. Things certainly have changed since then. Or maybe not. I’m not certain.
What the graphic novel does capture, I believe, is the Palestinian situation at that time.
And what I appreciate is that the graphic novel doesn’t seek to politicise the events. The focus of all the anecdotes centres on the people. Ordinary people like you and I, who are drawn into the vicious cycle of hate, prejudice, violence, revenge and retaliation.
In an era before Twitter and the Iran elections, this graphic novel gave a glimpse of what life was like as a Palestinian living in the Occupied Territories. | <urn:uuid:c4fbe5e7-c2c5-485c-aef2-2bf9a2108299> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://roughnotes.wordpress.com/2009/08/04/palestine-joe-sacco/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96703 | 586 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Creative Screenwriting: Going Beyond Aristotle and the Classic Narrative Screenwriting of Mainstream Hollywood
Join us on December 6, 7:00 – 9:00 PM at the Guild HQ for this workshop. Click above to learn more.
December 6, 2010
WGAE members are invited.
7:00 – 9:00 PM
Writers Guild of America, East
7th Floor – Conference Room A
250 Hudson Street
New York City
(Between Dominick and Broome)
Discuss narrative screenwriting method and structure theory with Christina Kallas, writer-producer, president of the Federation of Screenwriters in Europe (FSE) and author of Creative Screenwriting: Understanding Emotional Structure. Dan Kleinman, associate professor of screenwriting at Columbia University and former mentor at the Sundance Screenwriters’ Lab, will lead the discussion.
With a scholar's understanding of all of the main schools of thought, and a writer's perspective on the creative process, Kallas argues for a new approach to writing for the screen by introducing a genuinely original method - improvisation for writers - enabling writers to create stories out of emotions. She discusses the history of dramatic and contemporary screenwriting by illustrating its experiments with different perspectives, chronological order and narrative concepts, for which one needs different tools than the ones used till now. Kallas will show how the Hollywood screenplay market still employs simplistic and misunderstood basic principles by Aristotle. Challenging these and offering a way to rethink narrative structure through her emotional structure theory, she provides a rare glimpse into the viewer's emotional journey and the way for the writer to provide for it. Discover how, with innovative techniques, we can explore new ground and alternative approaches to developing insightful, unique and compelling screenplays.
Christina Kallas is a filmmaker, an academic and a passionate advocate for international collaboration and better funding for the arts. Credits as a writer and/or producer include i.d., directed by Phil Davis (Parallax/ Polygram, 1994), Love Lies (First Film Award, Munich Film Festival 1997), The Commissioner, (official competition, Berlin Film Festival 1998) and Mothers, (Toronto Film Festival 2010 and Berlin Film Festival 2011, Academy-Award entry for Best Foreign Film 2011), a number of TV Movies, as well as two German drama series, Best TV Series-awarded Edel & Starck and Best TV Series/Best Comedy-awarded Danni Lowinsky. After acquiring her PhD at the Berlin University in 1992, she has been teaching screenwriting at the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin, at the International Film School in Cologne, at the Scuola Holden per le Techniche Narrative in Torino and at the Cinema Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Dan Kleinman’s original screenplays include Welcome to Oblivion; The Applicant, a short film that he wrote and directed, was named Best Narrative Short at the Melbourne Film Festival and won the Cine Golden Eagle and the Gold Medal of the Photographic Society of America. Kleinman taught for twenty years at New York University, where he helped found the Tisch School’s Dramatic Writing Program and served as associate chair of the Graduate Film Program. He has been on the Columbia faculty since 1996. He was chair of the Graduate Film Program and served twice as acting dean of the School of the Arts. He has been a mentor at the Sundance Screenwriters Lab and at MAISHA: A Filmmakers Laboratory in East Africa.
RSVP at email@example.com | <urn:uuid:ffb00d8f-379b-4202-8cc0-03ddc42b82d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wgaeast.org/index.php?id=255&no_cache=1&L=zqwgkqljg&tx_ttnews%5BpS%5D=1351154774&tx_ttnews%5Bpointer%5D=3&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=2490&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=136 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934576 | 725 | 1.539063 | 2 |
- Story Ideas
- Send Corrections
ROYAL OAK (AP) — Consumers Energy said Friday it fired some employees after investigating a gas explosion that killed a 58-year-old man in Royal Oak.
The utility wouldn’t disclose the number, but said workers were terminated “for failure to follow established policies and procedures.”
Separately, Consumers said it has resumed some projects in Michigan that involve directional boring and should have crews back to full operation by Monday.
Mary Palkovich, executive manager of gas assets, said directional boring is no more dangerous than other means of setting pipe.
“It’s only more dangerous if the excavator who’s using the tool doesn’t follow the rules,” she said.
Daniel Malczynski of Royal Oak was killed last month. Crews replacing a gas main in his neighborhood may have damaged the line. His house was destroyed and others were damaged.
“Our experts continue to be available to meet with residents and businesses in a wider area around the site, identifying any concerns and offering additional safety testing,” Consumers said.
Consumers Energy is the main subsidiary of Jackson-based CMS Energy. It provides electricity and natural gas to nearly 7 million Michigan residents. | <urn:uuid:3aed4bf7-dd84-447c-930f-e348f22faa54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailytribune.com/article/20130316/NEWS01/130319656 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963013 | 263 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Regent College cultivates intelligent, vigorous, and joyful commitment to Jesus Christ, His Church, and His world.
Our hope for students is that through their time at Regent College their lives will become more fully integrated in Christ, so that their minds are filled with the truth of Christ, their imaginations captivated by the glory of Christ, and their characters formed according to the virtues of Christ.
We understand our educational mission to be what the New Testament calls paradosis (transmission), the handing on of living faith from one generation to another. In service of the Church we engage in graduate education through a kind of higher catechism or paideia (formation) that enables Christians to live more thoughtfully in varied vocations in the church and the world. By our formal classroom interaction, and by the culture we foster more generally at Regent College, we aim to help students to see all of life—and all aspects of our own lives—as spheres of God’s creative and redemptive work. As students leave Regent College, they should be prepared to pass this vision on to another generation.
Regent College does not aim principally to prepare students for thoughtful and virtuous citizenship, or to prepare them with the necessary skills to succeed in the workplace. These aims of higher education have their place at Regent only within the larger educational aim of preparing students to engage with their culture as thoughtful and prayerful Christians, sharing in Christ’s creative and redemptive mission to the world.
Since our ideals are as high as those of the apostle Paul who aimed to “present everyone perfect in Christ,” we will never be able either to see our educational mission fully achieved, nor will we ever be able to take much credit for the lives of our graduates when they demonstrate the sorts of qualities we desire for them. Yet we will rejoice with our graduates:
- when we see that they are passionately devoted to Christ, seeking after holiness, their lives shaped at the deepest level by prayer and Scripture, sharing in the suffering of Christ in order to bring life to others.
- when we see that their domestic and intimate lives are rich with family and friendship, celebration, service, and a joyful stewardship of the gifts of creation.
- when we see them participating fully in the life of the church, leading in ministries of evangelism, discipleship, teaching, worship, and healing, and exercising their gifts to further the work of the kingdom in all its forms.
- when we see that they are able to discern their work in the world as God’s work and to grasp how their Christian faith calls them to live creatively, thoughtfully and redemptively as artists, teachers, politicians and public servants; doctors, lawyers and business executives; engineers, carpenters and social workers; pastors, missionaries, and youth workers; and in every other worthy vocation, paid and unpaid.
Regent College, as a Christian academic community, takes relationships seriously, seeking to understand and live them in light of our biblical and theological commitments. We want to embrace the vast implications of being the “new humanity in Christ,” including how we treat gender, ethnic, racial, denominational and theological differences (cf. Galatians 3:28). Regent College welcomes students as varied as the whole people of God and seeks to create an environment in which all students feel safe to engage in courteous and respectful conversation in the pursuit of truth, as we seek to be formed and reformed by the Scriptures. The College welcomes and actively pursues qualified faculty reflective of this commitment.
1. A Graduate School of Christian Studies
Regent College is graduate school of Christian studies grounded in the love of God, the grace of Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. As a community of Christian scholars, we believe that rigorous academic study is an expression of our love for God and that it is vital to the health and mission of the church. We invite students into our community in the hope that our curriculum will establish them in the evangelical tradition, that it will deepen their faith and theological understanding, that it will introduce them to the discipline of Christian scholarship, and that it will prepare them for ministry both within and outside the institutional church. As a community we aim not simply to be informed by study but also to be transformed by the Holy Spirit through study, to the end that we might become more Christ-like and therefore more fully human. By being conformed to Christ—both to his life and to his suffering—we come to know and love our creator, the Triune God. Loving God, we desire also to love our neighbour and to learn to take our responsibilities in creation seriously. We are committed to a Christian vision of the human person, and this is reflected both in our curriculum and in our life together as students, faculty, staff, and governors. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, we believe, applies to every aspect and to every arena of life.
2. What We Believe: Historical Evangelicalism
As an evangelical institution, we confess a statement of faith modeled on that of the World Evangelical Fellowship, and we seek to stand robustly in the evangelical tradition. To this end we affirm the unique authority and trustworthiness of the Holy Scriptures, the supremacy of Christ, the necessity of personal repentance and faith, and the importance of bearing witness to Christ in word and deed. At the same time, we recognize the importance of holding and defending evangelical convictions graciously and reasonably. We are indebted to many of the insights of non-Christian scholarship. And we are profoundly grateful for how much we have been, and continue to be, blessed by the entire Christian tradition-Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant, worldwide. We endeavour also to model love for the church. We emphasize the importance for the Christian life of participation in the local church, while continually framing local participation within the context of the church universal.
3. Whom We Serve: The Church, the Marketplace and the Academy
Regent College was founded for the purpose of providing graduate level theological education to lay believers. Through our core curriculum, we continue to strive to provide a fully integrated theological education to students from all backgrounds, including those arriving from careers in the church, the marketplace and the academy. The College’s original vision has subsequently expanded to include educating and training pastors and other leaders in mission organizations and parachurch ministries. We also aim to prepare students for research and study at the doctoral level. In all our educational programs we seek first to reflect Christianly on the whole of human life and only secondarily do we focus on professional training.
4. What We Look Like: People and Space
Our faculty places high value on collegiality, and we have resisted growing so large that we must divide into departments. We believe that students and staff, as well as faculty, benefit from our intentionally small size. The College is also intentionally diverse. We value the energy and insight that come from bringing together women and men of different denominational traditions, from different ethnic and national backgrounds, and with very different vocational goals in view. We view the tensions such diversity creates as healthy and positive, for they provide us with the opportunity to learn courtesy and to experience something of the breadth and depth of God’s kingdom. Our diversity also encourages us to celebrate our oneness in Christ and to seek to manifest an allegiance to Christ that transcends our membership in and loyalty to human communities. The particular place and space that the College occupies is not incidental to the College’s mission. Our relatively small, light-filled facility fosters personal interaction and face-to-face learning. And our location on the campus of a major university encourages us to work and think in the larger context of contemporary society and culture.
Regent College’s core vision is not so much something that we have determined ourselves as it is the gift of God, entrusted to us for the sake of the church and the world. By God’s grace the College has made a significant difference in the lives of a great many women and men around the world. We are amazed by this and deeply grateful for it. And we look forward to serving all those who come to us, knowing that everything we undertake depends entirely upon God’s gracious provision. "May the favour of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands." (Psalm 90: 17) . | <urn:uuid:8310cd7b-e3f7-44cf-8b80-6db0cad755be> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.regent-college.edu/about-us/mission-and-values | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959306 | 1,732 | 1.6875 | 2 |
OF THE IRON HORSE AND
for the mighty engine,
As he bounds along his track:
Hurrah, for the life that is in him,
And his breath so thick and black.
And hurrah for our fellows, who in their need
Could fashion a thing like him—
With a heart of fire, and a soul of steel,
And a Samson in every limb.
From . . . . The
shake and rush of the engine,
In the full, deep breath of his chest,
In the swift, clear clank of the gleaming crank,
In his soul that is never at rest;
In the spring and ring of the bending rail,
As he thunders and hurtles along,
A strong world's melody fashions itself,
And this smoke-demon calls it his song.
From . . . . Song of
"Speak to him-quick!" they bent and said,
"Did the distant signal stand at red?"
Broken and slow came the words with a moan,
"Stood—at—clear," and poor Jim was gone.
I turn'd my head away from the light
To hide the tears that were blinding my sight,
And pray'd from my heart, to God that Jim
Might find heaven's signals clear to him.
From . . . . Stood at
railwayman, poet and
Glasgow & South-Western Railway Manson 4-4-0 — from a slightly later era
that of Anderson's time as a surfaceman — pictured at Kirkconnel.
I left the realm of silence by the Rail.
There was no Rail whereon the steam-steed sped
With snort, and puff, and haste to turn men pale
With fear, and fill their hearts with instant dread
Of death, when I was young. But, steady tread
Of waggon-horses, stout and strong; ― the dash
Down hill and up, o' the mail, without a shred
Of fear, to coachee's chirrup ― not the lash
O' the whip;
the cheery horn; no dread of deathful
"Oh, for the dear old coach again!" I cry ―
But soon remind myself o' the pelting rain,
And that umbrella which the old man would try
To hold up still for shelter, with insane
Resolve, although it drenched our necks; the pain
Of sitting, crampt, for lack of room; the wind
That kept us in one posture, like a chain ―
It was so keen! And then I am inclined
To own 'twas well men did the steam-steed find, and
". . . . Another of these Glasgow
friends I must mention—a poet, and like Burns, a son of the soil.
His name was Alexander Anderson. When first I met him he was
in the railway service, a labourer on the permanent way, what is
called a surfaceman in Scotland, a platelayer in England and a
milesman in Ireland. Self taught, he became proficient in
French, German and Italian, and was able to enjoy in their own
language the literature of those countries. A Scottish
nobleman, impressed by his wonderful poetical talent, defrayed the
expenses of a tour which he made in Italy and an extended stay in
Rome, to the enrichment of his mind and to his great enjoyment.
On his return to Scotland he published a book of poems. In an
introduction to this book the Revd. George Gilfillan wrote, "The
volume he now presents to the world is distinguished by great
variety of subject and modes of treatment. It has a number of sweet
Scottish verses, plaintive or pawky. It has some strains of a
higher mood, reminding us of Keats in their imagination. But
the highest effort, if not also the most decided success, is his
series of sonnets, entitled, 'In
Rome.' And certainly this is a remarkable
series." A remarkable man he was indeed; simple and earnest in
manner, with a fine eye, a full dark beard and sunburnt face.
Tiring, however, of a labourer's life and of the pick and shovel, he
left the railway and became assistant librarian of Edinburgh
University, and three years afterwards Secretary to the
Philosophical Institution of Edinburgh. He afterwards became
Chief Librarian to the Edinburgh University. He died in the
summer of 1909. He stayed with me in Glasgow once for a
week-end, and on the Sunday afternoon we together visited a friend
of his who lived near, a literary man, who then was engaged in
writing a series of lives of the Poets for some publishing house.
An interesting part of our conversation was about Carlyle with whom
this friend was intimate, had in fact just returned from visiting
him at Chelsea. He told us many interesting stories of the
sage. I remember one. He was staying with the Carlyles,
when Mrs. Carlyle was alive. One evening at tea, a copper
kettle, with hot water, stood on the hob. Mrs. Carlyle made a
movement as if to rise, with her eye directed to the kettle; the
friend, divining her wish, rose and handed her the kettle. She
thanked him, and, with a pathetic and wistful gaze at Carlyle,
added, "Ay, Tam, ye never did the like o' that!"
From . . . . FIFTY
YEARS OF RAILWAY
LIFE IN ENGLAND,
SCOTLAND AND IRELAND
by Joseph Tatlow.
ALEXANDER ANDERSON, the sixth and youngest son of James Anderson, a quarrier, was born on 30th April, 1845, at Kirkconnel, Dumfries and
When Alexander was three, the household moved to Crocketford
in Kirkcudbright. He attended the local school where the teacher found him
to be of average ability. At sixteen he was back in his native
village working in a quarry; some two years later (1862), he became a
"surfaceman" (a person who maintains the railway tracks and
track bed) on the Glasgow and South-Western Railway, and
thereafter generally wrote under that pseudonym.
Spending all his leisure in self-culture, he read Shelley,
Wordsworth, and Tennyson; he also mastered sufficient German, French, and
Spanish to read the chief masterpieces in these languages, including
Racine, Molière, Heine, Göethe and
Schiller (as is evident from his references in his verse).
His poetic vein soon manifested itself, and in 1870 he began to submit
verses to the People's Friend of Dundee. His first book 'A
Song of Labour and other Poems', was published in 1873; this was followed
by the 'The Two Angels, and other poems' (1875), 'Songs of the Rail' (1878),
and 'Ballads and Sonnets' (1879). Examples of his poems were also published in the periodicals
Good Words, Chambers's Journal, Cassell's Magazine,
Fraser's Magazine and
the Contemporary Review.
In 1880 Anderson was appointed as an assistant librarian in the
University of Edinburgh; thereafter he published no further poetry
collections, although he continued (until 1905) to submit poems to
newspapers and journals. Anderson later became Secretary to the Philosophical Institution, but it seems
that this was not for him a satisfactory appointment and, in 1886, he
returned to the University eventually becoming its Chief Librarian, a
position he held until his death.
Of a simple and gentle character, Anderson made many friends,
including the Duke of Argyll, Thomas Carlyle, and Lord Houghton. At a commemorative dinner held some
years after his death, one of the speakers recalled that
Anderson's "was indeed a lovable personality—so modest, so thoroughly inspired,
one of Nature's gentlemen in whatever circles he moved; full of brightness
and humour in his best days, but always with that wonderful tenderness of
heart which touched them in his poems; anxious to inspire his
fellow-workers on the railway with the sense of the dignity of their
calling. His career was indeed a remarkable one, proving not only
his genius but also his depth of character."
WRITTEN ON THE TOP OF
WELL worth the
climbing—what a glorious sight!
An empire all beneath us. Far away,
In the bright sunshine of the summer day,
Loch Awe, one blaze of silver, lies in sight,
With all its islands narrowed from this height
To dots like shadows. Westward, we survey
Loch Etive, and still farther Oban bay,
Morven, and other hills in lonely night,
Gray with old legends, nearer streams that bound
'Mid rocks, as if strong Thor had once held high
Revel with thunder hammer far and near,
Glorious! I stand and bare my brow, and cry
In wild delight at all I see around,
"Well worth the toil to be one moment here."
Alexander Anderson died at his home in Edinburgh on 11th
July, 1909 (obituary). The following year
a portrait by C. Martin Hardie, R.S.A.,
was acquired by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery and, in 1912, in recognition of their most famous son, a
memorial was erected by public subscription
in his home town of Kirkconnel, where he lies buried in the Parish
Church—it is inscribed.
. . .
BORN 1845. DIED 1909.
"HE SLEEPS AMONG THE HILLS HE KNEW."
Much of Anderson's verse is
concerned with locomotives—which he sometimes personifies (see the
examples quoted at the head of this page)—and, related to this, the theme
of man's engineering achievement. But, in contrast, he also takes inspiration from
nature, probably gained during his youthful walks in
the hills around Kirkonnel and his work on the isolated railway track. Even
more interesting are his acutely perceptive dialect poems on child life
(e.g. 'Cuddle Doon', the first of
a cycle of four poems; 'The
Bowgie Man'; 'The Deil's in that Bit Bairn';
and 'The Paidlin' Wean'). With their
relaxed and natural charm they, at least, should ensure Surfaceman's
lasting place among Scotland's more notable bards.
THE PLEASURES THAT ARE OLDEN.
WE left the dear old
And where the moon was glancing,
We stood amid the low soft wind,
To hear the feet still dancing.
The moonlight fell upon her hair,
Made golden still more golden;
There are no pleasures half so fair
As pleasures that are olden.
For what to us were dancing feet,
And what the fiddle playing,
When all the moonlight fell so sweet
And soft the winds were straying.
I felt her hair upon my cheek
Touch like an angel's blessing;
My heart had not one wish to speak,
So sweet was the caressing.
The years they come, the years they go,
And as they still go stealing,
They take away the early glow
And all the finer feeling.
But still I feel against my cheek
That touch of hair so golden;
There are no pleasures that can speak
Like pleasures that are olden.
On his death, Anderson left many unpublished poems, a
selection of which appeared posthumously in "Later Poems"
A Song of Labour and other Poems. 8vo. Printed by the Dundee Advertiser, 1873.
Two Angels and other Poems. 8vo.
Simpkin, Marshall & Co London, 1875.
Songs of the Rail. 8vo.
Simpkin, Marshall & Co., London, 1878.
Do. (Second Edition). 1878.
Do. (Third Edition), 1881.
Ballads and Sonnets. 8vo.
MacMillan & Co., London 1879.
Later poems, edited (with a Biographical Sketch),
by Alexander Brown. 8vo., published by Fraser, Asher & Co.,
Glasgow and Dalbeattie, 1912.
"The Life-History of
Alexander Anderson ('Surfaceman')," by David Cuthbertson,
sub-librarian in the Edinburgh University Library. Printed
privately and issued to subscribers, December, 1929.
THAT WEARY GOWF.
I TRIED the gowfin'
when at Troon,
The links are bonnie there to see,
A warm September day flung doon
Its licht to gladden heart an' ee;
I had a cleek alang wi' me,
I made it wheel, I wasna slack,
Then to the caddie said, "Now tee
The ba', an' stan' a wee bit back."
A' games o' skill come never wrang
To ane wha has the nerve an' han',
Its just like croonin' a bit sang,
Or what a fule micht understan';
A' that ye need is just the plan,
An' where to fix a steady ee,
Then whirl the cleek, an' strike, an' than
Gang on to where the ba' may be.
I swung on high my shinin' cleek,
I struck, the caddie turned his back;
I thocht it better no' to speak,
Nor enter into ony crack.
But what a day to ha'e a walk,
Sae saft the turf, see green an' sweet,
An' then the sea laid oot a track
O' white waves to my very feet.
I dinna think I need to say
What mair I did in sic a case,
Some things are better hid away,
It gi'es ane better heart o' grace.
A bunker is an awfu' place,
An' tries the temper weel nae doot,
Ye dicht the sweit frae aff your face,
An' tine a' houps o' gettin' oot.
My frien' wha took me roun' the links,
An' got the cleek for me that day,
I aften wonder what he thinks
When he looks back upon my play.
I did my best to mak' my way,
But, O, my shuider-banes were sair,
In fact, it's waur than mawin' hay,
My fingers—but I'll say nae mair.
They tell this story still at Troon,
That just when nicht begins to fa',
They hear a voice, wi' eerie soun',
That cries oot, "Ha'e ye seen a ba'?"
An' then a cleek plays clink, an' a'
The san' springs up twa yairds or three—
What can that story mean ava',
And did that voice belang to me?
AN OLD-WORLD BALLAD.
WE DANCED AT NIGHT IN THE
I LIE an' look doon on
This best o' a' simmer days,
An' doon by the side o' the burnie
The lasses are bleachin' their claes.
I hear them lauchin' an' daffin',
I catch the skance o' their feet
As they rin wi' their cans for mair water
To jaw on the snaw o' the sheet.
Then ane starts liltin' an' singin',
And the sang comes up to the heicht;
It's a' aboot lads and their lasses
That coort in the lown o' the nicht;
The lads an' the lasses coortin'
Aneath the spread o' the birk,
Or castin' sheeps' een at ilk ither
As they stan' at the psalms in the kirk.
An' O, but the sang comes bonnie,
On a gliff o' the win' up the brae,
An' as sweet as the scent in the meadows
When fowk are teddin' their hay.
Then anither ane sang, but her singin'
Brocht the warm tears into my een;
For an auld-warld sorrow was sabbin'
In an' oot through the words atween.
A sang o' a deid knicht lyin'
At the back o' a rickle o' stanes;
An' you heard the deid grass rustle,
An' the sugh o' the win' through his banes.
A licht dee'd oot o' the sunshine,
A shadow fell doon on the hill;
The win' held its breath for a moment,
An' the grass beside me was still.
A' this by an unkenned singer,
An' O, but the heart was sair
For the knicht away in the muirlands,
An' the grass growin' up through his hair.
How strange that an old-world ballad,
Away far back in the years,
Should still have the same sad magic,
To touch the source of our tears.
An' a' this is mine as I listen,
This best o' a' simmer days;
Hearin' naething ava' but the liltin'
O' lasses thrang bleachin' their claes.
WE danced at night in
While, fifty yards away,
We could hear the rush of the engines
When the fiddle had ceased to play.
But up got the lads and lasses
With many a merry glance;
And down went they all through the mazes
Of the dear old country dance.
There were gentle whispers and touches
Love only can hear and feel;
And pressure of dainty fingers
In the changes of the reel.
But the old man sat in the arm-chair,
By the fire that was sinking fast;
In his eyes was the look of the dreamer
Who is thinking of the past.
And I sat and watched the shadows
Of the firelight sink and flee,
But my thoughts were of him and his
And what those dreams could be.
Were they thick with the well-reaped harvest
Of those long, dim eighty years?
The shadows of vanished sunbeams,
The mists of long-shed tears?
The changes all around him,
The homely customs fled;
Of his long past youth and manhood,
Of his friends with the lonely dead?
Were his thoughts of her who was with him
In the flower of her noble life,
Of her who had stood beside him
A true and a tender wife?
Did he feel once more the children
Lay their hands upon his knee?
Did he see in their eyes the promise
Of what each one would be?
Ah, vain is each idle question
That may spring from our hopes and fears;
We cannot know the thinking
Of him who is eighty years.
The old man sat in his arm-chair,
And still on his kindly face
The sinking firelight flickered,
And the thoughts I could not trace.
And still danced the lads and the lasses,
While, fifty yards away,
We could hear the roar of the engines
When the fiddle had ceased to play.
OH, Jenny, she is fair
An' Daisy fu' o' lovin' wiles;
Then Mary has a broo o' snaw,
An' lips an' cheeks just made for smiles.
I lo'e the three wi' a' my will,
For roun' my heart their spells are thrown;
But there's anither dearer still,
My bonnie Nannie Nicolson!
I like to look on Effie's face,
Where spring an' simmer wed their beams;
An' Annie sweet in stately grace,
She moves through a' my wauken dreams.
I lo'e the five, though weel I ken
That I can only wed wi' one.
O, tell me where it a' will en',
My bonnie Nannie Nicolson!
The sheep may wan'er where they like,
Or at dyke-sides lie doon an' dee;
My faithfu' collie, honest tyke,
He won'ers what's gane wrang wi' me.
I've lost mysel' amang them a',
I wish this weary life were done;
O, come to me, an' set me free,
My bonnie Nannie Nicolson! | <urn:uuid:d4d9e949-9966-41fc-b2a6-9936e8a6bacc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gerald-massey.org.uk/anderson/index.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945659 | 4,570 | 1.835938 | 2 |
St. Patrick Cemetery is located at 1251 Gorham St., in Lowell. Established in 1832, it is Lowell's first Catholic cemetery.
According to her marriage record, Rose Moran nee Kelley was born abt 1873 in England. A daughter of Patrick and Rose, she was married to Michael Morran [sic] on 11 April, 1895 in Lowell, MA, by a Jms. J. Dacey [Mass Archives - Morran Michael, Lowell, 1895, 452, 212 Marriage]. Rose and Michael had six known children, Arthur, John, Robert, Francis, Rose and Della. After her husband Michael dies in 1906 [Mass Archives - Moran Michael, Lowell, 1906, 56, 278, Death], Rose is listed in the 1907 Lowell Directory as Rose A widow of Michael 32 Cross. Rose remained in the Acre through out her life. Moving around quite a few times, in 1950 she is listed in the directory as living at 14 Dutton. However, her 1951 obituary write up her residence is noted as being at 125 Mt. Vernon Street. I can only surmise that she moved to Mt. Vernon St. to be with her son, Francis Moran, and his family at the time. Perhaps she moved in with him because she was sick, as the obituary then goes on to state that she died at the Delaney Nursing Home.
Published on Thursday, 20 Dec., 1951, page 3, her obituary reads:
MRS ROSE A. MORANAccording to cemetery records, Rose A Moran, age 72, was buried on 21, Dec., 1951 in section R, lot 16. Section R is right behind the chapel on the right, her grave was easy to find. Buried with her daughter, Rose E. Boyle nee Moran, and her daughter's husband, Francis J. 'Phinney' Boyle, as well as with her grandson, Francis J. Jr. There is a flat marker at the grave, but Rose's name does not appear on it..
Mrs. Rose Ann (Kelly) Moran, widow of Michael Moran and a well known resident of this city, making her home at 125 Mt. Vernon street, died last evening at the Delaney Nursing home after a lingering illness. She was born in England, the daughter of the late Patrick and the late Rose (Dacey) Kelly, but early in life came to this city. She was an attendant of St. Patrick's church. She is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Francis J. Boyle and Miss Frances Moran of Chicago, Ill; four sons, Arthur P. Moran of Westford, John Moran of Brooklyn N. Y., Robert M. Moran and Francis A. Moran of this city; many grandchildren, several great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.
Moran, Rose, A., 72, 12/21/51 19, 2
Boyle, Rose, E. 77, 02/27/73, 19, 2A
Boyle, Francis, J., 80, 12/11/73, 19, 1
Boyle Francis, J., 84, 10/12/05 (Francis J. Jr.), 20, 1A
After finding Rose's grave, I decided to go see if I could find her husband, Michael Moran's grave. According to the cemetery records Michael Marin [sic] was buried on 17 Dec., 1906 in yard 3, range 41, lot 38. I could not locate the grave because there's still snow in the section where I believe it to be. Michael is buried with a Mary J. McHugh, Thomas, McHugh, Thomas Carmody, Margaret Carmody, and two other Mary J. McHughs.
McHugh, Mary J., 0, 08/07/96, 18
McHugh, Thomas, 0, 04/05/98, 18
Marin, Michael, 39, 12/17/1906, 19
Carmody, Thomas, 72, 11/04/1915, 19
Carmody, Margaret, 64, 10/16/1916, 19
McHugh, Mary J., 64, 6/25/1930, 19 1A
McHugh, Mary J., 64, 01/27, 1940, 1A | <urn:uuid:bedf9b88-a155-473a-bf51-9af6c3d98884> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://callmeshell.blogspot.com/2011/03/wednesdays-walk-st-patrick-cemetery.html?showComment=1300414471790 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969642 | 887 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Nintendo loses 3DS tech infringement battle
A U.S. jury said this week that Nintendo infringed a retired Sony engineer's 3D display technology patent when it created its 3DS handheld.
Inventor Seijiro Tomita originally filed the lawsuit
on June 22, 2011 with his company Tomita Technologies, saying that the Japanese publishing giant used his glasses-free 3D tech without his proper licensing.
Tomita claimed that numerous third parties had licensed the tech, but neither the Japanese or U.S. branches of Nintendo were qualified licensees.
A federal jury in New York has now agreed with Tomita according to
Reuters, and awarded the inventor $30.2 million in compensatory damages.
Nintendo had stated that the 3DS does not use key aspects of Tomita's patent, but the jury eventually decided that Nintendo has used technology in its 3DS that Tomita developed. | <urn:uuid:153b5ca2-49a7-447f-b0ae-be22c5673216> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/188492/Nintendo_loses_3DS_tech_infringement_battle.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967278 | 184 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Online shopping 'is key for future generations'People will increasingly look to shop online in the future, with today's youngsters viewing the medium as a necessity when they grow up.
Andrew McClelland, chief of operations and policy at Interactive Media in Retail Group, has noted children of today will be digital citizens by the time they reach adulthood.
Speaking at the Technology for Marketing and Advertising Manchester event - a media and marketing exhibition held at Manchester Central - Mr McClelland explained his daughter is currently a part of the digital generation.
He stated: "When it comes to her trading with you as a brand and going out and spending money, digital is going to be the key for her."
The comments suggest online shopping is likely to be a consumer approach that continues to gather pace and will increasingly be viewed as a convenient and quick way for people to get their hands on the goods they are after.
13 June 2012, 23:30 | <urn:uuid:5a5009a6-75a6-4c9d-bf58-61efb179958b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uknetguide.co.uk/Latest-News/Online-shopping-is-key-for-future-generations-801385191.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969109 | 192 | 1.773438 | 2 |
A year and a half ago, I bought the chicks a box of Stockmar Modeling Beeswax. In my usual style, I dove right in and opened the box without any prior knowledge and found...that the wax, beautiful in color and scent, was hard as a rock. I put it in the art cabinet for over a year and thought we could use it when the chicks got older.
Then I learned in conversation with my friend that you first warm the beeswax by holding it in your hand, and it becomes pliable. Ahhhhhhh. It all suddenly made sense. It wasn't that all the people doing Waldorf beeswax crafts had superhuman strength. It was just that they softened the wax before using it.
So Ninna and I have started the most lovely of reading rituals with the beeswax clay. I promise you that if you try it, you'll love it. Here's what we've been doing:
1. Choose your book. We've been reading Little House in the Big Woods. While we did do this activity with a short book one night, it's been nice to do it with a chapter book because there is some continuity with what we make, as you'll see in a moment.
2. Choose your wax. Since our wax was still unused and still shaped in identical rectangles, Ninna has just chosen one color per evening. It's just the two of us doing this, so we've divided it in half and each taken one piece. We go with whatever strikes her fancy, but if you were following the Waldorf daily colors or had something else going on, you might have more of a purpose to which color you use.3. Read while warming your wax. Ninna and I each close our hands around the clay and hold it while I read a chapter or two of the book. As I'm reading, she'll occasionally peek at hers to see how soft it is. As it's warming, more of the amazing beeswax smell is released, and your hands also pick up the smell. It's lovely.
4. Sculpt! This is, of course, the best part. After I finish reading the chapter(s), we each mold something from our clay. We choose something that relates to what we've just read, and since Ninna is still just four years old, it's usually something straightforward rather than symbolic--a person who appears in the chapter, a central object, etc.
We've been saving them and have formed quite a collection. Here are some favorites, including Laura, Mary, a lollipop, a heart candy, a sled, a piglet, and a kitten, all of which appear in the book. Can't tell which were made by the 34 year old and which by the preschooler? Yeah, sculpting is not my forte ;).
We still have a few blocks of clay left, so we're still adding to the group we've already made. When those are gone, I plan to have us start again and re-soften the items from the collection to make something new. This will not only prevent the accumulation of too many of these; it will also help keep the focus on process and experience rather than only on finished, final products.
PS Don't forget to enter my giveaway! | <urn:uuid:a8b90e84-49fb-4e64-ac70-8e9d92d1107a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://twochicksandahen.blogspot.com/2011/01/using-beeswax-clay-to-make-reading.html?showComment=1294674610312 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977062 | 679 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Loss - A Side Effect?
People are using Mila
to get healthy. In addition, some are discovering, they're losing weight as well.
How's that for a side effect?
has high levels of fatty acids, which are high in calories, but essentially equivalent quantities of fiber, which is low in calories. It is not a dietary food, however the volumetric expansion of the seeds in the stomach can help to give a feeling of satiety or fullness, thereby making one feel less hungry.
If you're the type of person who stops eating once they're full, it's very possible to lose weight just by adding Mila
to the food you normally eat without altering it's familiar flavor. | <urn:uuid:88aad55e-535f-402e-aeb7-ca8593e61d16> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://buychiagrain.com/weight_loss.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969289 | 149 | 1.671875 | 2 |
UPDATED: Massive Blaze Hits Dow Plant; Bristol Fire Police Captain Dies
Lightning strike blamed for 3-alarm fire at Bristol Township Dow Plant.
UPDATED 1:21 P.M.
A lightning strike is to blame for a massive three-alarm blaze at the Dow Chemical facility at Route 413 and State Road in Croydon that destroyed two large tanks that held chemicals used in the manufacturing of acrylic paint products, according to local and county officials.
No first responders were injured due to the blaze. But 63-year-old Dave Wintz, a fire police captain with the Bristol Fire Company, left the fire scene after feeling ill and later died of a fatal heart attack shortly before sunrise, Deputy Chief Francis Hufnell said.
Firefighters and hazmat teams from Bucks, Montgomery and Burlington County in New Jersey responded shortly after 3:35 a.m. to the blaze and worked with Dow’s in-house emergency response fire and hazmat teams to quell the flames and contain the two chemicals that were in the tanks, a Bristol fire official said at the scene. A special firefighting foam had to be used to knockdown the fire.
The blaze was declared under control by the incident commander shortly after 7 a.m. Fire crews remained on scene coating the tanks with foam at 10:30 a.m. as hazmat crews began work on removing the remaining chemicals from the dike that surrounded the tanks, an official said.
By 11:45 a.m., the bulk of the hazmat operations had ceased and the county teams were released from the scene. The remainder of the clean up was being handled by crews from Dow Chemical, according to a news release from Bucks County.
Earlier in the day, the Bucks County Emergency Management Department and the county health department advised residents who live near the site of the fire to shelter in place due to the potential for the two chemicals -- ethyl acrylate and butyl acrylate -- to cause minor throat or eye irritation, headaches and nausea.
"I feel sick now and my father has had a headache since six this morning," borough resident Aubrey Jones said of the smell as she left her Mulberry Street home mid-morning Wednesday.
The chemical odor, which can be smelled in both Pennsylvania and across the river in New Jersey, is expected to dissipate as the day goes on and poses no serious risk to residents who can smell the odor coming from the plant, a Dow official said over the phone.
Due to the chemical odor, all schools in Bristol Borough were closed. However, the Bristol Township School District opened as usual.
The smell emanating from the fire scene began to waft into the surrounding areas shortly after the bulk of the flames had been extinguished, Bristol residents and fire officials told Patch.
Hours after the fire had been declared under control, a few firefighters sat in chairs outside the Bristol Fire Company station on Wood Street talking to passers-by who inquired about the passing of the company’s fire police captain, Dave Wintz.
"Dave was a great guy," the company’s deputy chief said as he stood in front of a plaque honoring firefighters that is affixed to the outside of the station house.
"He was around for everything; always volunteering in the borough."
Deputy Chief Hufnell said he last saw Dave, who had been volunteering with the Bristol Fire Company for about four years, as fire crews arrived at the Dow plant and learned a short time later his friend had passed away from a heart attack outside his home after he fell ill and decided to leave the scene.
Among the first to respond to the call reporting Wintz’s sudden cardiac arrest were members of the Bristol Fire Company’s quick response SUV who, according to the deputy chief, did everything they could to try to revive the former Navy firefighter, who had invested nearly 50 years of his life into fire service.
Both of Wintz's adult children are involved in the fire company, Huffnell said. He is also survived by a wife.
Wintz is the third member of the two-truck company to have lost their life in the line of duty.
A firefighter was killed while in the line of duty in 1917 and a deputy chief was killed while on a call in 1984.
Information on services for Wintz’s are expected to be announced in the coming days.
UPDATE 11:30 A.M.
Bristol Fire Company Fire Police Captain Dave Wintz, 65, died this morning after going into cardiac arrest outside his home when returning from the scene of the massive blaze at the Dow Chemical facility in Bristol, Deputy Chief Francis Hufnell said.
Wintz was one of the first fire police members on the scene shortly after the call went out at 3:30 a.m.
Shortly after arriving at the fire location, he began to fall ill. The former Navy firefighter left to return home and collapsed in front of his Bristol residence.
EMTs from the Bristol Fire Company, where Wintz was a member for several years, responded and tried to revive the 65-year-old but to no avail. He was pronounced dead at Lower Bucks Hospital before sunrise, Hufnell said.
A tank at a Dow Plant in Bristol Township was struck by lightning causing a three-alarm fire that involved several area fire companies and resulted in a fatal heart attack of a fire police officer, according to reports.
The fire started at the Dow Plant at 3100 State Road in Croydon at about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, according to Breaking News Network reports. Within hours, the fire grew to three alarms.
At about 4 a.m., heavy fire from a large fuel tank which buckled about 30 minutes later, grew the fire to two-alarms, according to reports.
At about 5 a.m., the fire reached three alarms as two-250,000 tanks, struck by lightning, were fully engulfed in flames. The tanks contained some sort of highly flammable chemical, according to reports. At this point, local fire crews on the scene were joined by Burlington County, N.J. crews and County Hazmat units, according to reports.
Shortly after 6 a.m., fire officials advised all municipalities in the area to limit occupants exposure to the outdoors until further notice, as fire crews were called for reports of chemical fumes in homes and buildings in Bristol Township and Bristol Borough, according to BNN reports.
One fire police officer, who was on the scene early this morning, suffered a heart attack when he returned home at about 7 a.m. He was transported to a local hospital where he later died, according to reports. The identity of the fallen officer was not yet available.
Bristol Township School District spokesperson Eileen Kelliher told Levittown Patch Bristol Township schools are open today.
"Classes will continue as usual despite the problems at Dow. The school district has been in regular contact with Bristol Township emergency management authorities. We have been assured that the fire from this morning's lightning strikes is under control and that the chemical odor that some have reported is not harmful. We will continue to monitor the situation and inform our families and the public if anything should change," Kelliher said.
Bristol Township Emergency Management reported at about 10:30 a.m. that the incident at Dow Chemical is under control and that any remaining odor in the area is from clean-up underway by Dow Chemical representatives. | <urn:uuid:3c35deef-8862-4b05-877e-5deabdcfadd9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bensalem.patch.com/articles/lightning-strike-blamed-for-fire-at-bristol-dow-plant | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979943 | 1,549 | 1.664063 | 2 |
New Fires Ignite in South West Montana, Prompt Evacuations
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Officials say new fires ignited in southern Montana as lightning moved through the area, including one that forced people from about 30 homes near Livingston.
The cause of the 1½-square-mile fire northeast of Livingston that began Tuesday night has not yet been officially determined but officials suspect it was caused by lightning.
The fire was mostly contained Wednesday and residents were allowed to return home.
Two new fires that started in the Bitterroot National Forest Tuesday are less than an acre, and fire crews were able to extinguish a third.
In southeastern Montana, officials reported that the 389-square-mile Ash Creek has been completely contained, though red-flag weather conditions moved into the area Wednesday. | <urn:uuid:feddee81-48bf-446d-89d0-b9fc07fbbe93> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newstalkkgvo.com/new-fires-ignite-in-south-west-montana-prompt-evacuations/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977378 | 164 | 1.734375 | 2 |
What are the benefits of prenatal yoga poses? Yoga, which means union of mind and body, makes people look within themselves and understand the body.
A pregnant woman who doesn't understand the process of labor will be tense and frightened, which in turn causes pain. The philosophy behind yoga is that by daily practice, you will become more centered and relieved from stress and be able to tone the body at the same time.
Yoga consists of different poses, called asanas, that should be held steady with controlled breathing. The breathing techniques at the heart of yoga are called pranayamas.
They are natural ways to keep your body active and flexible while minimizing the everyday pregnancy woes. It can also ensure a smooth birthing by relieving tension and by expanding the pelvis.
Posture is also improved which can ease back problems, a common pregnancy complaint. Fluid retention is decreased while blood circulation is improved.
The benefits continue throughout the postpartum period as well. Postnatal yoga, which can be started about six weeks after the birth, strengthens abdominal muscles and the pelvic floor. It kick-starts your journey back to your pre-pregnancy figure.
If you are not familiar with yoga, take a class in your area to learn the different poses. If no classes are available in your area, then there are many excellent prenatal yoga dvds available.
As with all exercise during pregnancy, do everything in moderation. Any of the yoga poses that feel uncomfortable should be omitted.
In addition, the pregnancy hormone relaxin is excreted which allows the ligaments to stretch. Care must be taken not to overstretch the ligaments while holding each of the prenatal yoga poses. No pain or nausea should be felt at any time. If this occurs, take a break and contact your care provider.
Page Last Modified by Catherine Beier, MS, CBE
Choose 7 week, 12 week, or Self- Paced online childbirth classes available wherever and whenever you need them.
Vanessa's natural birth story shows that when birth is left alone to proceed as it should, it waits for no one - not even doctors or midwives.
Create a free pregnancy ticker to post on your blog, website, Facebook profile or favorite social media... | <urn:uuid:9e5d7945-fde5-4911-8d53-b4ab7405dbb4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.givingbirthnaturally.com/prenatal-yoga-poses.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940974 | 463 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Formerly the property of Sir Elton John 1965 Jaguar XKE 4.2-Litre Series I Roadster Registration no. OKE 1 Chassis no. 1E1256 Engine no. 7E4098-9
'If Les Vingt Quatre Heures du Mans has been responsible for the new E-Type Jaguar, then that Homeric contest on the Sarthe circuit will have been abundantly justified. Here we have one of the quietest and most flexible cars on the market, capable of whispering along in top gear at 10mph or leaping into its 150mph stride on the brief depression of a pedal. A practical touring car, this, with its wide doors and capacious luggage space, yet it has a sheer beauty of line which easily beats the Italians at their own particular game.' There have been few better summaries of the E-Type's manifest virtues than the forgoing, penned by the inimitable John Bolster for Autosport shortly after the car's debut. Introduced in 3.8-litre form in 1961, the Jaguar E-Type (XKE in the USA) caused a sensation when it appeared, with instantly classic lines and 150mph top speed. While, inevitably, the car's stupendous straight-line performance and gorgeous looks grabbed the headlines, there was nevertheless a lot more to the E-Type beneath the skin. The newcomer's design owed much to that of the racing D-Type; indeed, the E-Type would be one of the last great sports cars developed directly from a successful competition ancestor. Just as in the D-Type, a monocoque tub formed the main body/chassis structure while a tubular spaceframe extended forwards to support the engine. The latter was the same 3.8-litre, triple-carburettor, 'S' unit first offered as an option on the preceding XK150. With a claimed 265 horsepower on tap, the E-Type's performance did not disappoint; firstly, because it weighed around 500lb less than the XK150 and secondly because aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer used experience gained with the D-Type to create one of the most elegant and efficient shapes ever to grace a motor car. Developed from that of the original XK120 sports car and refined in the racing D-Type, the double wishbone, independent front suspension was mounted on the forward subframe that supported the engine. At the rear the suspension broke new ground for a large-capacity sports car, being independent at a time when most of its major rivals relied on the traditional live rear axle. Dunlop disc brakes were fitted to all four wheels; those at the rear being mounted inboard alongside the differential to reduce un-sprung weight. Only in terms of its transmission did the E-Type represent no significant advance over the XK150 whose durable four-speed Moss gearbox it retained, although the latter would be replaced when the 4.2-litre engine was introduced. The 4.2-litre version of Jaguar's sensational E-Type was launched in October 1964, a more user friendly, all-synchromesh gearbox and superior Lockheed brake servo forming part of the improved specification alongside the bigger, torquier engine. Apart from '4.2' badging, the car's external appearance was unchanged, but beneath the skin there were numerous detail improvements. These mainly concerned the cooling and electrical systems, the latter gaining an alternator and adopting the industry standard negative ground, while the interior boasted a matt black dashboard and improved seating arrangements. The top speed remained unchanged at around 150mph, the main performance gain resulting from the larger engine being improved flexibility. In 1968 the E-Type underwent major revision to comply with US legislation, emerging in 'Series 2' guise minus the distinctive headlight covers that contributed much to its aerodynamic efficiency and stunning good looks. Thus of all the many E-Type variants, it is the Series 1 4.2-litre Roadster that the majority of enthusiasts consider the most desirable, combining as it does the purity of the original concept with 'fresh air' motoring, improved reliability and the larger engine's superior performance. Jaguar/Daimler Heritage Trust records show that this Jaguar E-Type was originally supplied in right-hand drive configuration and finished in Carmen Red livery complete with black interior and matching hood, its specification today. Completed on 7th May 1965, the E-Type was despatched via Henlys on the 19th of that same month to Boon & Porter Ltd. The car's first owner was Allen Hudson of Croydon, Surrey but its subsequent history is not known prior to its acquisition in 1987 by Elton John (Sir Elton John following his knighthood in 1998). According to a brass plaque under the bonnet, this E-Type was totally restored in 1979 by John Talman at Michael Cane Restorations of Mill Lane, Godalming, Surrey (later to become Mill Lane Engineering). Thirty years later the restoration has worn well, indicating that it must have been executed to a very high standard at the time. During Sir Elton's 14 years of ownership the Jaguar was maintained by Weybridge Automobiles and kept ready to drive at a moment's notice, though its actual use was quite limited. Sir Elton John and his staff referred to the E-Type as 'OK Elton' on account of its registration, which was carried throughout his ownership. The current vendor bought the E-Type when a selection of cars from Sir Elton's collection was auctioned in 2001. Since acquisition it has been regularly maintained by Jaguar main dealer Harwoods on an annual basis, its most recent service having been carried out on 30th June 2011. While in the vendor's care the E-Type has shared a dehumidified garage with several other classics, covering only 1,000 miles in the last 10 years. As well as a most desirable colour scheme, 'OKE 1' also boasts chromed wire wheels and a Trio radio/cassette, and comes complete with its jack and tool roll. Described by the private vendor as in generally good condition, this most attractive E-Type roadster is offered with Heritage Certificate, current road fund licence, MoT to October 2012 and Swansea V5 registration document. | <urn:uuid:a1e203b4-7754-4532-90a6-8a2db79eaa90> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/20140/lot/338/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95853 | 1,293 | 1.523438 | 2 |
With competition for funding at its fiercest for years, it is important that charities make their applications stand out - and not for the wrong reasons.
The Directory of Social Change estimates that ineligible applications made to the largest trusts in 2010 equated to seven years of wasted effort. This pointless exertion seems not to have lessened since then. According to the latest figures from the Big Lottery Fund, 46 per cent of applications to its
Reaching Communities programme between May and July this year were ineligible. So where are charities going wrong? We asked funders to share their thoughts on why so many applications end up in the recycling bin.
1. Applying for grants you can't possibly get
"If only they had read our eligibility criteria, they would clearly see we don't fund that" is a perennial complaint from funders. Stephen Pittam, trust secretary of the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, which largely funds work that promotes peace and social justice, says: "We get applications to repair churches in East Anglia. We don't fund in East Anglia and we don't do building work on churches."
The trust also gets a lot of applications from people who want to run welfare projects, even though it clearly states in its entry criteria that it does not fund such schemes.Comic Relief has received applications on behalf of an HIV project in Tanzania for a fund that operates only in Stoke-on-Trent. The Big Lottery Fund has received applications to fund the installation of double glazing in houses.
2. Asking for too much money. Or not enough
Receiving applications for unrealistic sums of money is another bugbear of funders. Andy Winder, grants team manager at the Henry Smith Charity, a funder that tackles social and economic disadvantage, says its average grant size is about £80,000, but that does not stop organisations asking for a lot more.
"People come and ask for £500,000," he says. But the opposite can also be also true, according to Gilly Green, head of UK grants at Comic Relief. Some applicants ask for less money than they need in the mistaken belief that this will increase their chances of success. "It's an assumption that's not correct," she says.
3. Providing too much information
The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust requests applications of no more than four pages, but has regularly received bids of more than double that length. "People often send in reams of paper," says Pittam. John Taylor, head of the west midlands region at the Big Lottery Fund, says that it often receives applications that include appendices, photographs or additional reports. The funder has to go back to the charity to get it to resend the application, which only causes delay.
4. Avoid jargon and buzz words
Charities may be tempted to throw in a few of the latest buzz words or phrases, such as 'localism' or the 'big society', in their funding applications. The hope is that this will give them an edge - but it won't. The BLF's Taylor says: "It often hides what they are trying to do." A reliance on acronyms also confuses. Taylor advises charities to apply in their own language. "Don't feel that you've got to use a language you're not used to," he says.
5. Streams of consciousness and other stylistic problems
Funders may want charities to apply in their own words, but they still need to make sure those words are readable. Trusts are regularly faced with what Winder calls a "wall of words". Funders work to deadlines and are often looking at 40 or 50 applications a week. Winder says: "Assessors are reading loads of applications and they often get confronted with something that has no paragraphs, really long sentences and very dense text. You look at it and think: 'Oh my God.'" It is a good idea to ask someone not connected with your organisation to read your grant applications before they are sent to ensure they make sense.
6. The budget doesn't add up
At the Institute of Fundraising's recent National Convention, the suggestion that funding bids often contain budgets that don't add up provoked consternation. But funders say that simple errors are surprisingly common. For example, a budget is itemised, detailing all the costs that the charity
envisages, but the final amount has been added up wrongly. This isn't always because charities can't use calculators but because costs are amended - by, for example, the chief executive - and the final amount asked for remains unaltered.
7. An invitation to talk to the funder isn't taken up
Large funders welcome phone calls to discuss potential projects. "We don't want to waste people's time," says Pittam. "It's always better to try to get a sense of whether something is going to be a possibility or not." Despite requesting a prior conversation about all applications above £120,000, Green says that Comic Relief still gets unsolicited applications for projects requesting hundreds of thousands of pounds. She says: "If we'd had a conversation, we might have said we are quite interested in your work, but we are not going to fund you at that level."
8. Forgetting to tailor the application to the funder
In the current harsh economic climate, charities are applying to ever more trusts and foundations to provide funding for their work. But in too many cases they're not tailoring the applications to the individual funder. BLF's Taylor says: "They are just using the same information, almost cutting and pasting it onto different application forms without actually looking at the questions the funder is asking.
"I can understand why that happens, but it actually means their application is less likely to be successful."
9. Assuming the funder knows all about you
You and your colleagues may know all about your charity and its aims, but don't expect the outside world to know what you do. Too many charities make the assumption that the funder is familiar with their work, or they are so engrossed in the work they do that they forgot to provide a basic explanation. Taylor says: "My sense is that people are often very passionate about their project and therefore don't describe the very basic things about who the beneficiaries are, what the project does, how they do it and what impact they have. They are so close to it that they almost take too much for granted." Green warns that assuming funders have knowledge of your work is a dangerous thing.
10. What difference will you make?
Where applications often disappoint, say funders, is in the elaboration of the change they hope to bring about. According to the BLF, the main reason applications are rejected lies in failing to show how the lives of beneficiaries will be improved. Pittam says: "So many applicants don't give an explanation about the strategy for achieving change or a clear indication of what they are trying to achieve." Funders want a cohesive story, says Green, including evidence of demand for a charity's services and the outcomes it will create. "Very often the latter parts just fall away," she says.
... but funders are not without fault
According to a book published in March, charities waste more than £100m a year on making duplicated or unnecessary reports to foundation and government funders. Caroline Fiennes, director of donor consultancy Giving Evidence and author of It Ain't What You Give, It's The Way That You Give It, says a quarter of the estimated £410m charities spend on reporting to funders is unnecessary expenditure. Sue Robinson, a trainer with the Institute of Fundraising and former fundraiser with Sense Scotland, says that EU funds and some Big Lottery Fund grant streams ask for receipts for every item. "If you're claiming for volunteer expenses, you have to show the bus ticket," she says. "It's ludicrous. If you have a large sum of money you almost have to employ someone purely to administer the budget."
Robinson argues that good funding bids from charities that have good track records are sometimes rejected because funders don't think that they have the administrative staff or software to manage the funds. She says: "They've invested their money in meeting the need they were set up to meet, but dealing with those big funders requires you to have a robust back office."
Article published in Third Sector (31 July 2012): Click Here | <urn:uuid:23c7dc4d-c14b-4184-97df-5557a5ea54bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mfip.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5600&Itemid=42 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974418 | 1,737 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Like one or two others, I have been looking to find information on how to optimise the quality of images from digital projectors. Much of the available information seems to relate more to graphics than it does photographic images. Interestingly there are International Standards relating to viewing hardcopy images, colour slides (both 35mm and sheet film), slide projector images, and monitor screen images, but not for digital projector images.
These standards were jointly developed for the photographic, printing, and other groups with similar interests like art galleries/museums. The standards give re-assurance that images will look as the originator intended where ever in the world they are viewed.
Returning to the digital projector situation, images are at the mercy of whatever projector setup is in use, so what looks good on one projector, may look bad on another, eg. a projector at another club. So maybe there is an opportunity to come up with a method of setting up a digital projector that other clubs may want to follow that achieves a more common appearance. To be taken seriously, this set up would have to based on strong technical merits, rather than some ad-hoc setup.
My initial thought is to explore methods of achieving the best visual match between a black and white image on a calibrated LCD monitor, and a digitally projected image. (Colour images would come later).
Rather than expand on this here, I would be interested to hear other members views before going further. If there is interest, I would appreciate some assistance with assessing image appearance to go along with my technical know how. | <urn:uuid:c447fe21-e828-4afc-9f79-bef39d49134d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cheshamphotoclub.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=19.0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96114 | 319 | 1.828125 | 2 |
The first official portrait of Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, has been unveiled at London's National Portrait Gallery -- but has met with a mixed reaction from art critics and the public.
Award-winning artist Paul Emsley, who spent three-and-a-half months painting the Duchess's likeness, said he had tried to portray her warmth and personality in the picture.
"The Duchess explained that she would like to be portrayed naturally -- her natural self -- as opposed to her official self," he said in a video posted on the gallery's website.
"She struck me as enormously open and generous and a very warm person, so after initially feeling it was going to be an unsmiling portrait I think it was the right choice in the end to have her smiling - that is really who she is."
Both Catherine, who is expecting her first baby, and her husband Prince William, are said to be pleased with the finished painting, with the Duchess reportedly telling Emsley at a private viewing on Friday that it is "amazing... brilliant."
However, reaction from art critics and the public has been more mixed, with many taking to social media, including Twitter, to share their thoughts, claiming the picture is unflattering and ages the Duchess beyond her years.
Writing in the UK's Guardian newspaper, Charlotte Higgins claimed the painting transformed "a pretty young woman... into something unpleasant from the 'Twilight' franchise."
In the Independent, art critic Michael Glover wrote that the portrait was "catastrophic," combining "hamsterish" cheeks and "hair whose featheriness has been borrowed from an advert for shampoo."
Emsley, who was born in Glasgow but grew up in South Africa before returning to Britain in 1996, won the prestigious BP Portrait Award in 2007. He has previously painted portraits of Nelson Mandela and author VS Naipaul.
He created the work from a series of photographs taken during two sittings, at Kensington Palace in London and at his studio in South West England, in May and June last year. | <urn:uuid:b57c6d71-b192-44e8-aea2-820618718210> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kcra.com/news/national/Duchess-of-Cambridge-s-first-official-portrait-unveiled/-/11797450/18096170/-/134tu70/-/index.html?absolute=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984199 | 421 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Veterans, scholars, celebrities, business leaders and elected officials will be at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans this weekend to commemorate the opening of the U.S. Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center, the latest installment in a $325 million expansion project.
The "Salute to Freedom" public opening on Jan. 12, will be streamed live 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. (EST) online here.
"We are the nation’s WWII museum," National WWII Museum President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Gordon H. "Nick" Mueller said. "And with the opening of the U.S. Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center, we’ll have even more to display to our community, our visitors and the world. It will be an exciting and emotional event."
The $35 million U.S. Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center, will feature a variety of artifacts that comprised the "big guns" of American military might. These include the B-17E Flying Fortress and B-25J Mitchell bomber, as well as a SBD-3 Dauntless dive-bomber, TBM Avenger torpedo bomber, P-51D Mustang fighter and Corsair F4U-4 fighter. The pavilion also will include a massive wall honoring World War II Medal of Honor recipients and an interactive submarine experience based on the final mission of the USS Tang. Exhibits will employ the newest digital technologies to ensure a thrilling journey into the heart of the American Spirit.
Funds for the expansion came from a $20 million congressional grant through the U.S. Department of Defense and a $15 million gift from The Boeing Company. The gift from Boeing, which built the B-17, represents the largest private contribution the museum has received to date. Funding for pavilion exhibits and artifact restoration has been provided by several private donors. The American Legion has supported the museum and its purpose since it was first envisioned by the late author Stephen Ambrose in the 1990s. The facility has evolved and grown through the years and is designated by Congress as America’s World War II museum.
"The swift progress that has been made on this (expansion) project is emblematic of the unity of spirit, dedication and selfless hard work that won the war on the battlefronts and on the home front seven decades ago," said Dennis Muilenburg, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. "It is great to see the vision of the museum’s founders come to life as we move quickly toward the opening of this world-class museum as a place where future visitors can gain a fuller appreciation of what so many Americans achieved in World War II and can reflect on what today’s generation of war fighters continue to do for us every day."
"Industrial leadership was essential to winning the war effort," Mueller added.
Celebrants will inaugurate the new pavilion even as another — Campaigns of Courage: European & Pacific Theaters — rises on the museum’s campus. Campaigns of Courage is scheduled to open in early 2014 and will house two gallery-filled floors that examine the Allied campaigns around the globe. The Liberation Pavilion (scheduled to open in 2016) will focus on the closing months of the war and immediate post-war years and contain an expansive special exhibits gallery. The buildings are part of the museum’s "Last Campaign" effort to raise the last $100 million needed to complete the New Orleans campus before World War II veterans are gone. Upon completion, the museum will directly sustain more than 300 jobs and generate $100 million each year in positive economic impact.
"We recently welcomed our 3 millionth visitor to the museum," Mueller said. "We’re the No. 1 destination in New Orleans for tourists according to Tripadvisor.com, and a vital engine driving the renewal of our city. So our new pavilion’s opening will also be a celebration of the museum’s unique and transformational role in the life New Orleans." | <urn:uuid:9b911d61-ff6c-4ba6-8438-480ab4be6a47> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.legion.org/news/213407/national-wwii-museum-celebrates-expansion | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940172 | 828 | 1.726563 | 2 |
BANGKOK (AP) — Leaving behind chants of ‘‘Obama, Obama’’ by adoring crowds on the streets, the president of the United States stepped into the serenity of Thailand’s most famous temple compound to marvel at its centerpiece — a gigantic, golden statue of a reclining Buddha propped up on one elbow before passing into nirvana.
The Temple of Reclining Buddha, formally known as Wat Pho, was the first stop on President Barack Obama’s Asian tour that will also take him to Myanmar and Cambodia. Obama arrived at the temple, one of Bangkok’s most famous tourist sites, straight from the airport after landing in Bangkok on Sunday. Visits to see the king and the Thai prime minister were saved for later.
Observing traditional custom, Obama took off his shoes as a saffron-robed monk led him and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton through the 18th century temple’s stoned paved compound of multi-colored spires and chapels with hundreds of gilded Buddha images.
But the main attraction is the reclining Buddha statue that at 46 meters (150 feet) long, and 15 meters (50 feet) high, stretches half the length of a football field. The statue is made of bricks and plaster and covered in gold leaf with mother-of-pearl inlay decorating the feet.
The visit was meant to give Obama a taste of Bangkok. But one thing Obama did not get to see as he sped through Bangkok was the city’s infamous traffic jams. All roads leading to Wat Pho and his other destinations were blocked and cleared of cars as part of security measures that included bomb squads and shutting the temple to the public hours in advance.
Camera-clad tourists who came to visit the temple or glimpse the American leader were initially dismayed. They were kept hundreds of meters (yards) away as his armored Cadillac pulled to a stop inside a white tent erected at the temple’s entrance, which obscured him from sight.
But those who waited an hour for his temple tour to end were elated. A smiling Obama waved from the backseat of his car, which drove slowly alongside cheering crowds as he headed to a royal audience with Thailand’s revered, ailing monarch, 84-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
‘‘Yes! I saw him! And he was waving at us!’’ said 72-year-old American tourist Elizabeth Simon visiting Thailand with her 74-year-old sister. They were at the beach in Pattaya two hours away but rushed to Bangkok just to see him. ‘‘I'm so thrilled that he won the election. When we heard he was coming, we decided to get here.’’
Parts of the temple date to Thai King Rama I in the 1700s. The king’s ashes are kept beneath the pedestal of one of the huge seated Buddha statues in the complex, which is located along the banks of the Chao Phraya river near the Grand Palace. It is in the quiet, historic old quarter of Bangkok, outside the skyscraper-and-traffic clogged downtown.
‘‘It’s meaningful that Obama came straight to Wat Pho,’’ said Pradab Supradit, a 67-year-old Thai grandmother who took a bus, a river ferry and then walked up roads closed for security hoping to glimpse the man or just see his convoy. ‘‘It will bring him blessings because temples are at the center of Thai people’s hearts.’’
‘‘I want to see him with my own eyes,’’ she said. ‘‘I like Obama because of his charisma and personality. He’s a smart guy. I love the way he talks.’’
Associated Press writers Jocelyn Gecker and Todd Pitman contributed to this report. | <urn:uuid:022089a0-f959-423c-912b-31b3650eb814> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/2012/11/18/obama-gets-taste-thailand-buddhist-temple/ilcVJAx4Ssa3ul1uV3B4yN/story.html?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981022 | 833 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Russia nears arms pact approval, warns on pullout
By Steve Gutterman
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia's parliament moved closer to approving a landmark arms reduction treaty with Washington Friday by amending domestic legislation to stress that Moscow could withdraw from the pact if it felt threatened by the West.
The amendments required for Russia to ratify the New START treaty do not change the pact itself and were introduced before the second of three ratification votes in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament.
The U.S. Senate included its own interpretations of the treaty -- the centrepiece of a "reset" that has improved long-strained relations between Moscow and Washington -- when it voted to ratify it last month.
[ For complete coverage of politics and policy, go to Yahoo! Politics ]
New START will commit each side to ceilings of 1,550 warheads on deployed strategic missiles and bombers within seven years and establish verification rules to replace those that expired in 2009 with the 1991 START I treaty.
Analysts say rejection of the treaty by Russia's parliament, dominated by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's ruling United Russia party, is out of the question. The amendments enabled Russia to underscore how it views the pact.
Duma international affairs committee chairman Konstantin Kosachyov said the amendments would "restore balance" after the U.S. Senate irked Russia with its interpretations of the treaty.
The amendments stipulate that Russia could withdraw if military deployments or even plans by the United States or NATO jeopardize its security.
They highlight lingering rifts over U.S. plans for a European anti-missile shield and Russian concerns over other weapons it fears the United States or NATO could deploy.
A missile system that weakens Russia's nuclear arsenal would "force us to use the article of the treaty that provides for the withdrawal of a state that feels violated in terms of security," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the Duma, Interfax reported.
RIGHT TO WITHDRAW
The Duma's warnings of a possible withdrawal are largely a matter of emphasis, because the treaty itself includes broad language allowing either side to pull out if it decides its "supreme interests" are threatened.
Russia stressed its right to withdraw because of concerns over the U.S. anti-missile shield in a statement it adopted when Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama signed the treaty last April.
"The Russians are using their law on ratification to reflect their concerns, and it really is an answer to some of the language in the U.S. Senate ratification resolution," said Steven Pifer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
The U.S. Senate stressed that a clause in the pact's preamble acknowledging an "interrelationship" between strategic offensive and defensive arms placed no legal constraint on U.S. missile defense plans.
The Duma ratification law says the points in the preamble are "indisputable" and must not be ignored.
"The most important thing is, the treaty is being ratified without a requirement for amendment," Pifer said.
But disputes over interpretation suggest the United States will have to work hard to keep a wary Russia satisfied, particularly if it is to secure further cuts.
In approving the treaty, the U.S. Senate ordered Obama to seek talks with Moscow within a year on cutting the former Cold War foes' arsenals of shorter-range tactical nuclear weapons, whose numbers are lopsided in Russia's favor.
Lavrov cast a shadow over those hopes by signaling for the second straight day that cuts beyond those to be made under New START cannot be expected in the near term.
Further negotiations should include a range of different weapons and "can be held after the START treaty is executed," Lavrov told lawmakers, according to Interfax.
The Duma is expected to give the treaty its final backing on January 25. Approval by the upper parliament house -- the last step before Russia and the United States exchange documents putting the pact into force -- could come this month. | <urn:uuid:64e7ec24-683b-4cef-a6c0-569d99fab324> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ibloga.blogspot.com/2011/01/yahoo-russia-nears-arms-pact-approval.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94668 | 829 | 1.664063 | 2 |
It was as a young teenager that he started writing about rock and roll music. His first zines were Tolkien related, but among them was also a mimeographed sheet called Mojo Navigator (full title, "Mojo-Navigator Rock and Roll News") started in 1966 by David Harris with Greg's help, and is said to have been an early inspiration for Rolling Stone magazine. In the 1970s he moved to Los Angeles with wife and partner Suzy Shaw and started another fanzine, called Who Put the Bomp, popularly known as simply Bomp!, or Bomp magazine. Greg's writing appeared in Bomp!, of which he was editor and publisher, as well as Creem, Phonograph Record Magazine, and occasionally, Rolling Stone. He also wrote a book about Elton John while on staff as a writer for United Artists records. Bomp featured many writers who would later become prominent, including Lester Bangs, Greil Marcus, Richard Meltzer, and Ken Barnes.
During the 1970s, Greg worked for Sire Records, and was instrumental in the signing of The Flamin' Groovies, a band that he also managed for a couple of years. In 1974 Bomp! became a record label, and Greg released records by Devo, The Weirdos, Iggy Pop and worked with several artists including Stiv Bators and the Dead Boys. He signed, and distributed, power pop and new wave acts such as Shoes, The Nerves, The Plimsouls and The Romantics. Bomp! Records was a LA record store for a couple of years, as well as one of the first independent distributors in the U.S.
In the 1980s, Greg Shaw helped launch the garage revival scene with bands such as The Miracle Workers and The Pandoras. He also released music by Spacemen 3 and The Brian Jonestown Massacre in the mid to late-1990s, and appears in the Sundance award-winning documentary Dig!. In 1994, he associated with Patrick Boissel's Alive Records, a label with music by The Black Keys, Two Gallants (band), Soledad Brothers, Black Diamond Heavies, Brian Olive, Thomas Function, and many other artists.
Greg Shaw died of heart failure in Los Angeles at the age of 55.
- Bomp: Saving The World One Record At A Time (by Suzy Shaw and Mick Farren)
- Tributes to Greg Shaw by Greil Marcus, Ken Barnes, and other rock critics
- Bomp! Records website
|This biographical article related to music journalism in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.|
|This biography of an American publisher is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.| | <urn:uuid:ea46d620-2203-4423-8878-bc89490bdfc2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Shaw | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975956 | 568 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Obama returns to oil spill as BP 'top kill' effort continues
President Barack Obama announces an extension on the moratorium for deepwater oil drilling for six months from the East Room of the White House.
President Obama returns to the Gulf of Mexico today to check in on the oil spill response and track BP's progress plugging the gushing oil well with its "top kill" method. The president's visit follows his announcement of a six-month moratorium on oil exploration in parts of Alaska, Virginia and the Gulf.
In a press conference yesterday, President Obama faced the critical response to how the Administration has handled the BP oil disaster, taking responsibility and halting exploration for domestic oil. The announcement came as BP appraised the results of its top kill method to plug the Gulf oil well, a procedure that involved filling the gusher with drilling liquid, or "mud," with intent to cement the hole once the plug succeeded.
On CBS's Early Show, BP CEO Tony Hayward said the procedure still has about 60-70 percent chance of working. But speaking on ABC's Good Morning America, U.S. Admiral Than Allen said the flow of oil and gas from the broken well has stopped, and that the next 12 to 18 hours will be very critical.
Early reports yesterday from BP suggested the top kill effort was meeting with some success, but officials later announced it may be too soon to say whether or not the method is working. BP also neglected to mention the plugging procedure had suspended operation on Wednesday evening, 16 hours before the announcement was made that the operation was meeting with some success. BP did not say the suspension was a setback and acknowledged that mud was still escaping from the broken pipe.
BP adds golf ball 'junk shot' to top kill
BP will proceed with top kill for up to another 48 hours, and says. The company intends to add a "junk shot" injection of golf balls, shredded rubber and other materials to add more weight to the procedure. Other methods it might try include corralling oil for transport by pipe to a drillship at the water's surface, or replacing the broken blowout preventor on the broken well. Experts say the method has a 50-50 chance of succeedingt.
President Obama's visit will involve a first-hand look at the environmental havoc caused by the spilling oil, including oil-coated marshes, distressed sea life and soupy, oil-drenched waters. Protective booms have failed to shield wetlands and wild cane fields from the oil, which has now reached more than 100 miles of coastline. | <urn:uuid:5900416e-5ec7-4a59-9acb-bb12f42c8e61> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/bp-spill-ripples/obama-returns-oil-spill-bp-top-kill-effort-continues | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962314 | 522 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Whether you’re new to the area or you’ve lived in the same place all your life, chances are you don’t know everyone in town. If you do, well then it’s time to get out there and meet new people anyway. Meeting new people may seem fun or scary, but tech can make it easier for you to meet new people.
Meetup is an organization designed to get people together. They want to use the Internet to get people off of the Internet and meeting in person. About 9,000 Meetup groups get together each day, with a total of over 112,000 groups in 129 different countries.
Meetup can help you find people in your area who have common interests with you. Through Meetup you can find Meetup groups that meet regularly for all sorts of activities. In addition to meeting new people, you might find new favorite places. Meetups often occur at interesting local places you might not have discovered otherwise.
Here’s a video showing people’s reactions to attending their first Meetup:
The website is free to join and free of advertising, though Meetup groups may charge dues. If you want to organize meetings, you can become a paid member of Meetup for $12/month.
Ideas for Meetup Groups
Meetup groups get together with all different interests: personal, professional, political, religious, financial, and many others. Meetup allows groups based on any interest except those based on hate or crime.
You may find a group based on your stage in life – moms, dads, singles, newly divorced, working moms, etc. Or you may find a Meetup group based on activites such as hiking, biking, reading, tech, blogging, photography, fitness, cooking, adventure, movies, gaming, or volunteering.
- Singles in New York City might enjoy Silly Date, a group dedicated to getting fun-loving single people together to let loose and release their inner child.
- Theatre goers in London can get together at Up in the cheap seats – enjoying London theatre.
- Philly folks may enjoy Philadelphia Area Great Careers Group Meetups.
- Australian photographers can join Sydney Photo Fun.
- California dog lovers might enjoy the San Diego Golden Retrievers Group.
- Delaware singers should check out 30′s Plus that Like Karaoke.
- Find yourself in Japan? Don’t miss Tokyo Spontaneous Hangout Meetup Group.
- New Jersey Dancers can check out Let’s Dance Jersey.
- Texans can get together at Houston Single Professionals 30′s – 50′s.
- Sandy relief Meetups have been organized in the New York area.
You’re bound to find a Meetup group with your interest in your area. If not, you can start one!
Meetup groups often have community bulletin boards where members can post information. Members can post follow-up information after a meeting or helpful hints about a meeting location. Job listings can be posted on Meetup bulletin boards.
You can also use Meetup to network. If you’re trying to break into a new field or want to meet people in your profession, try to find a local Meetup group in your area of expertise. Often groups meet monthly so you can start to develop friendships with people in your industry outside your company. Meeting people face-to-face may open up new opportunities for your career.
Getting started with Meetup is easy. You sign up using either Facebook or your email address. You can search for Meetup groups by your geographic location. You can indicate on a sliding scale how far you’re willing to travel to join a Meetup group, from two miles to global (interplanetary Meetups don’t seem to be available yet). If you’re headed out of town on a vacation or business trip, you can look for a Meetup group at your destination.
You can also search for Meetup groups by your areas of interest or by the calendar to find Meetups occurring on a particular date.
When you find a Meetup you’d like to join, click on the link and head to the home page of the group to find out more information. Some groups require you to contact the leader to find out more about the group, others have their information available to all Meetup members.
Find out when and where the next Meetup is being held and RSVP to the event. Show up and introduce yourself. Have fun!
If you’re looking to pursue your interests, meet like-minded people, network, and/or discover new friends, check out Meetup and expand your horizons!
Have you ever been to a Meetup? What type of groups would appeal to you? Do you like the idea of meeting new people? Let us know in the Comments section below! | <urn:uuid:656ae7a1-939c-47c8-b4ee-4b2684410e98> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wonderoftech.com/meetup/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931909 | 1,008 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Review of GCSE English – documents now online
Wednesday 10 October 2012
At the beginning of September the Minister for Education, John O’Dowd, asked the Regulator to look into concerns expressed by some schools here regarding the summer 2012 GCSE English grades. He asked that CCEA report to him on any issues with the subject awards that might have impacted adversely on GCSE students here.
Having received the Regulator’s report, the Minister has announced his acceptance of all of the recommendations therein. Read the Minister’s statement.
CCEA would like to thank all of the schools and colleges who kindly provided feedback to inform our investigations. It helped greatly in gaining an appreciation of the issues surrounding GCSE English awarding and grade outcomes this summer. CCEA will be in touch with schools and colleges in the near future with further information.
You can view the letter to schools from the regulator, along with summary and full versions of the GCSE English report via the links below:
Summary GCSE English reportPDF 396KB
Full GCSE English reportPDF 526KB | <urn:uuid:dbf60309-a715-445b-84db-d646a86a3a5a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rewardinglearning.org.uk/newsroom/2012/101012.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965139 | 224 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Front Page Titles (by Subject) Roger W. Garrison, Austrian Macroeconomics: A Diagrammatical Exposition - New Directions in Austrian Economics
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Roger W. Garrison, Austrian Macroeconomics: A Diagrammatical Exposition - Louis M. Spadaro, New Directions in Austrian Economics
New Directions in Austrian Economics, ed. Louis M. Spadaro (Kansas City: Sheed Andrews and McMeel, 1978).
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Austrian Macroeconomics: A Diagrammatical Exposition
The object of this paper is the development of a diagrammatic model representing the Austrian view of macroeconomic relationships. More explicitly, the model will be designed to faithfully reflect the macroeconomic relationships found in the writings of Mises,1 Hayek,2 and Rothbard.3 At this stage in its development the model is little more than a skeletal outline. It is a framework that can facilitate a fuller discussion of the actual adjustment mechanisms—the processes by which the economy is moved toward an equilibrium position. Because of the brevity of such discussions in this paper, the model may appear to be unfaithful to the Austrian view in one respect: It focuses on aggregates rather than on processes. Hopefully, this unfaithfulness is only apparent. Although the model is constructed with aggregate quantities and deals with the relationships between these quantities, no attempt is made to “explain” one aggregate in terms of another. It is fully recognized that, ultimately, each aggregate must be explained or accounted for in terms of the individual choices and actions of market participants. It is in this sense that the model is consistent with the methodological individualism so characteristic of Austrian theory.
Graphics by Cheryl L Mallory
Before we begin the actual construction of the model, a preview of some of its primary characteristics may be in order. The purpose of the preview is twofold. Firstly, it will suggest that the model is in fact worth developing. Many of the following characteristics are desirable ones and give the Austrian model an edge over the more orthodox models. Secondly, it should help those readers uninitiated in Austrian macroeconomics to follow the development of the model more easily.
THE STRUCTURE OF PRODUCTION
One of the most distinctive features of Austrian macroeconomic theory is its use of the concept of a “structure of production.”7 This concept was formulated to give explicit recognition to the notion that capital (and the capital structure) has two dimensions. It has a value dimension which can be expressed in monetary terms, and it has a time dimension which is an expression of the time that elapses between the application of the “original means of production”8 (labor and land) and the eventual emergence of the consumption goods associated with them. The development of the notion of two-dimensional capital has its roots, of course, in the writings of Jevons.9 It can be traced from Jevons to Cassel10 and Böhm-Bawerk11 and then to Mises,12 and from Mises to Hayek,13 Rothbard,14 and other contemporary Austrian theorists. This view of capital, then, is neither new nor is it strictly Austrian, yet the notion of two-dimensional capital is by no means readily accepted by capital theorists in general.
A third though not independent dimension of capital can be envisaged which represents a composite of the two dimensions described above. Again, Jevons was the first to synthesize this third dimension. He made the distinction between the “quantity of capital” and the “length of time during which it remains invested.” He then devised the third dimension of capital by “... multiplying each portion of capital invested at any moment by the length of time for which it remains invested.”15 The compounding of interest was ignored for the sake of simplicity. The resulting composite dimension was shown to have the units of “dollar-years.” (The units are Americanized here. Jevons, of course, used “pound-years.”)16
Cassel followed thirty years later with a similar formulation: “... interest is paid in proportion to the capital lent and in proportion to the duration of the loan, i.e., in proportion to the product of value and time” (emphasis added).17 Cassel’s product and Jevons’s composite dimension measure the same thing. They are indications of the extent to which capital is “tied-up” in the production process. No claim is made here that this product can be calculated directly, but if we can conceive of interest income and of the rate of interest, then we can conceive of this composite dimension of capital—the amount of “waiting” or postponement of consumption brought about by the payment of interest.
This composite dimension will be referred to as “aggregate production time”18 or simply as “production time.” For sure, there are problems in aggregating (even conceptually) the production time associated with different pieces of capital just as there are problems with all macroeconomic aggregates. Much ambiguity will be avoided, however, by using the concept of aggregate production time rather than average production time or average period of production. These latter concepts were used by both Jevons19 and Böhm-Bawerk,20 but were rejected by Mises,21 Hayek,22 and Rothbard.23 Many of the problems of Böhm-Bawerk’s capital theory had their roots in his use of the average period of production: Because the denominator of his average was the value dimension of the structure of production (value reckoned in labor units), and because changes in the numerator of his average are typically accompanied by changes in the denominator in the same direction, the direction of change in the average period of production is generally ambiguous. Further problems derive from Böhm-Bawerk’s incautious generalizations about changes in the average period of production that were based on the analysis of an oversimplified model.
With a full awareness of the difficulties of working with aggregates in general and of working with aggregate production time in particular, the structure of production will be defined in terms of the value of the capital at each stage in the production process and the aggregate production time associated with the process. The difficulties encountered by Böhm-Bawerk will be avoided by relying on a somewhat less rigorous interpretation of “changes in aggregate production time,” but discussion of this interpretation will be deferred to a later section of the paper. The actual modeling can begin with an examination of earlier treatments of the structure of production.
The first graphical representation of the structure of production in the Austrian literature is found in Prices and Production in the form of the famous Hayekian triangles.24 Such a triangle has been reproduced in Figure 1. (The axes have been reversed for convenience of exposition.) Hayek envisaged a vertically integrated production process in which the “... original means of production are expended continuously during the whole process of production.”25 Again, “original means” refers to the non-produced (or non-reproducible) means of production, i.e., to labor and land. (In our discussion we will associate the original means with “laborers” and the produced means with “capitalists.” The terms laborers and capitalists, of course, are used in a functional sense and do not refer to particular individuals.) The production process begins at point T in Figure 1 and proceeds leftward. At the conclusion of the process consumption goods with a dollar value of OY emerge. At point T no capital exists. At point D, one of the intermediate stages of production, there exists capital with a dollar value of DD′. This capital can be viewed as simply the unfinished consumption goods that will be valued at OY when the production process is completed.
The Hayekian triangle has two mutually re-enforcing interpretations.26 On the one hand, it can depict the flow of capital in real time from its inception at point T through the numerous stages of production until it emerges as consumption goods valued at OY. This is the interpretation adopted in the preceding paragraph. On the other hand, if the production process is in equilibrium, or to be more vivid, if it is in the state referred to by Mises as the “evenly rotating economy,”27 then the triangle represents all of the various stages of production that co-exist at each and every point in time. At any given point in time, for instance, consumption goods OY will be emerging from the production process, and at the same time the unfinished goods DD′ will be in existence destined to emerge at a later date as consumption goods.
The dollar amount represented by DD′ is less than that represented by OY for two reasons. Firstly, additional quantities of the original means (i.e., labor) are yet to be applied to the unfinished product that exists at point D. Secondly, OY and DD′ represent consumption goods available at different points in time. If OY is available now, DD′ will be available for consumption only at some future date. DD′, then, is discounted with respect to OY. To separate these two influences on the value of DD′ with respect to OY, the model will be modified. Instead of conceiving, as Hayek did, of a process in which the original means of production are applied continuously, we will conceive of a production process in which the original means are applied only at the beginning of the process. The Hayekian triangle is abandoned in favor of a trapezoid. In Figure 2, the production process begins at point T with the application of labor services having a dollar value of TF. These original means grow in value as they pass through the numerous stages of production, finally emerging as consumption goods valued at OY dollars.
A second modification has been made in Figure 2. The horizontal axis now represents the aggregate production time (APT) associated with the structure of production. This allows the relaxation of the assumption that the structure is characterized by complete vertical integration. The slope of line FY, then, represents the rate of increase in value per unit of time per dollar invested at point T. That is, the slope of line FY is the (simple) rate of interest (profit) when the economy is in equilibrium.
Of course, this is a highly stylized representation of the actual structure of production. The development of the Austrian model, however, will be accompanied by discussions of the actual processes that take place in the real-world structure of production. These discussions will recognize that capital and labor services are applied in each of the stages of production. Changes in the structure, for instance, will be couched in terms of labor
and capital being moved out of the stages relatively close to the final (consumption) stage and into stages relatively remote from the consumption stage (or vice versa) in response to (intertemporal) price changes and profit opportunities. This corresponds to a lengthening (or shortening) of the structure. Changes in the shape of the stylized representation of the structure of production will be an indication of the nature of the changes in the real-world structure.
Intertemporal exchange is the exchange of present consumption goods for future consumption goods and vice versa. This type of market transaction is generally introduced by first allowing for pure consumption loans only. Investment loans are brought into view only after consumption loans have established some initial terms of trade in the intertemporal market. The Austrian model, though, will account for intertemporal exchange by initially abstracting from the pure consumption loan. This will allow us to focus on the type of intertemporal exchange that is inherent in the production process. The intertemporal market, then, can be thought of as dealing with direct purchases of investment goods as well as with loans made for the purpose of purchasing investment goods.
In the context of the present model intertemporal exchange can be accounted for in terms of the original means of production, i.e., in terms of the market for labor services. The labor services represent future consumption goods, which is to say that they can be converted into consumption goods only by allowing them to pass through the time-consuming production process. Laborers sell their services (future consumption goods) receiving in exchange dollars that can be used to purchase presently existing consumption goods. The sale of labor services, then, constitutes the demand for present goods (and the supply of future goods). Looking at the other side of the market for intertemporal exchange, the labor services are purchased by the capitalists. The capitalists exchange dollars for labor services and, ipso facto, register a demand for future goods. At the same time they constitute the supply of present goods. (Of course, this is an “excess” supply: At the end of the production process the capitalists own OY of consumption goods. They consume OY-TF and supply the remaining TF to the laborers.)
The supply and demand for present goods are represented diagrammatically in Figure 3. This market for intertemporal exchange is equilibrated by adjustments in the intertemporal price ratio—the rate of interest. The particular shape and positioning of these curves is determined by the individuals’ (laborers’ and capitalists’) relative evaluations of present as opposed to future goods, i.e., by their time preferences. The technical aspects of transforming the labor services into consumption goods, as might be represented by a technical transformation function, are kept in the background here. The Austrian model focuses not on the technical considerations per se but rather on the alternative combinations of present and future goods that individuals
perceive to be possible. Of course, when the economy is in equilibrium (the Misesian evenly rotating economy), individuals know what alternatives are possible so that the transformations that are perceived to be possible and the actual transformations are one and the same. When the economy is out of equilibrium, however, individuals will act on the basis of what they perceive the possibilities to be and not on the basis of what the possibilities actually are in some technological sense. This (fundamentally Austrian) distinction is an important one and will come into play in understanding the workings of the Austrian model under disequilibrium conditions.
Rothbard makes use of a diagram essentially identical to the one in Figure 3.28 He points out that the intersection of the two curves determines the equilibrium rate of interest and the equilibrium amount of (gross) savings. (Net savings are zero.) Given the stylized structure of production of the present model, these (gross) savings manifest themselves as payments for labor services. When the economy is in equilibrium, the rate of interest is given by OB; the total payment for labor services by OA.
It should be noted at this point that OA in Figure 3 measures the same payment that is measured by TF in Figure 2. In recognition of this connection between the market for intertemporal exchange and the structure of production, Figure 3 can be inverted, rotated, and juxtaposed with Figure 2 to yield the summary diagram shown in Figure 4. There is a second connection between the two panels of Figure 4. The rate of interest is represented by OB in the right-hand panel and by the slope of the line FY in the left-hand panel. In equilibrium, of course, these two representations must reflect the same rate of interest.
It may be helpful at this point to show the relationship between this simple Austrian model and the corresponding Keynesian model. The point of commonality is the magnitude OY which represents the equilibrium dollar value of consumption goods. In the simple Keynesian model point Y is the intersection of the consumption function and the 45° reference line. OY is the distance from that intersection to the horizontal (or vertical) axis. Figure 5 shows the two models drawn on vertical planes perpendicular to one another and intersecting along OY. (This comparison may do some violence to the Keynesian model in that all magnitudes are expressed in dollar terms rather than real terms.)
In order to deal with (net) investment an additional relationship must be introduced into the model, namely the relationship between the quantity of capital (dollar value) in the structure of production and the production time associated with it. (“Quantity of capital” here refers to all the capital in the structure of production. In Figure 2 it referred to the quantity that exists at each stage of the structure of production.) Although these two dimensions of the structure of production (quantity of capital and production time) are defined independently of one another, there is, according to Austrian theory, a relationship between them. Again, this relationship has its genesis in the writings of Jevons: “Capital simply allows us to expend labor in advance.”29More capital, Jevons went on to show, allows us to expend labor further in advance.30
The positive relationship between capital and production time has suffered several set-backs during its development. Böhm-Bawerk, for instance, couched it in terms of the “average period of production,” inadvertently causing the formulation to be ambiguous. But Mises and the contemporary Austrian theorists (e.g., Hayek and Rothbard) fully recognize the errors in Böhm-Bawerk’s formulation.31 They still accept, however, the basic notion that there is a positive relationship between the quantity of capital and the production time associated with it. Mises, for instance, argues that “... every increase in the supply of capital goods available results in a lengthening of the period of production, and of waiting time,...”32 and conversely that “... [a]n increase in the quantity of capital goods available is a necessary condition for the adoption of processes in which the period of production and therefore waiting time are longer.”33 Similar statements can be found in Rothbard’s formulation: “Any increase in capital goods can serve only to lengthen the structure, i.e., to enable the adoption of longer ... processes.”34
Hayek points out the difficulties of talking about “changes in the period of production” when the term refers to the actual aggregation of investment periods. He goes on, though, to say that
... since the use of the expression “changes in the length of the process” is a convenient way of describing the type of changes in the whole process where the changes in the investment periods are predominantly in one direction, there is probably something to be said for retaining it, provided that it is used cautiously ... 35
With this somewhat less rigorous view “changes in production time” is more of a “shorthand” for the type of changes being made to the structure of production than a change in a genuine aggregate.
The relationship between the quantity of capital and production time has been called into question in recent years by the so-called “double-switching and capital-reversing debates.”36 The possibility of capital reversing (which involves an apparent violation of the Austrian relationship) has been the source of much controversy in Cambridge capital theory. Although there is good reason to believe that the problems created by double switching and capital reversing are confined to the Cambridge paradigm itself, the Austrian model will eventually have to be defended against the Cambridge charges. But this task will not be undertaken here. Rather, our concern with the problem will end with the observation that even those who think that capital reversing is possible consider it extremely unlikely: “[Capital reversing) could happen, but it looks like being on the edge of things that could happen.”37 (!)
The positive relationship between the quantity of capital (dollar value) and production time is introduced diagrammatically in the upper panel of Figure 6. The “wavy” shape of the curve is simply a way of indicating that no claims are made about the rate of change in the slope of the curve. The only significant feature of the curve is that its slope is positive. That the curve should begin at the origin seems obvious enough: There can be no production time if there is no capital. The origin, then, may represent the hand-to-mouth existence of a Robinson Crusoe,
but for purposes of developing the Austrian model, this is a trivial aspect of the diagram.
The “initial” production time is OT as indicated in the lower panel of Figure 6. This panel, of course, is the now-familiar structure of production. (The word “initial” is used here in an arbitrary sense: It does not refer to the starting point of the production process but rather to the starting point of our analysis.) The initial dollar value of capital corresponding to production time OT is represented by OK in the upper panel.
If the origin in the upper panel is shifted from O to Ko, then the portion of the curve extending northeastward from Ko will represent the relationship between investment and changes in production time. This is the relevant portion of the curve. The term “investment” in the Austrian model is defined in a slightly unorthodox manner. It is not the rate of increase in the quantity of capital, but rather the addition of a quantity of capital measured with respect to the initial quantity Ko. It is measured in dollars rather than dollars per year.
At this stage in the construction of the model, investment can come about only at the expense of consumption. (Investment made possible by the creation of new credit will be dealt with in the following section.) The relationship between investment and consumption can be shown by inverting the northeast portion of the upper panel and lowering it until the horizontal axis is aligned with point Y of the structure of production. If an investment of K0I is made, for instance, it is made at the expense of consumption YY′. In view of the fact that investment is to be an endogenous variable in the Austrian model, it is probably preferable to state the relationship in another way. If a change in an exogenous variable brings about an investment of KoI, it, ipso facto, brings about a decrease in consumption of YY′.
The diagrammatics developed to this point are shown in Figure 7. This model allows us to determine the changes in the structure of production that are brought about by shifts in the supply and demand curves of the intertemporal market. These shifts can be thought of as resulting from changes in individuals’ relative evaluation of present as opposed to future goods, i.e.,
changes in their time preferences. A decrease in the time preferences of laborers, for example, can be represented by a shift in the demand for present goods from Dpg to D′pg, which intersects the original supply-of-present-goods curve at coordinates OA′ and OB′. (To this point the magnitude OA has been taken to represent both the amount paid for labor services and the dollar value of present goods consumed by laborers. For this equality to hold requires the tacit assumption that laborers are neither increasing nor decreasing their cash holdings. However, if the demand for present goods shifts without causing a corresponding shift in the supply of present goods (demand for future goods), then there must be a change in the cash holdings of laborers (from Walras’s Law). That is, a shift in just one of the two curves, Dpg and Spg, must correspond to a change in both time and liquidity preferences. OA, then, represents the dollar value of present goods consumed by laborers—which equals the amount paid to laborers minus the change in their cash holdings. (For our immediate purposes, though, this change in cash holdings will be kept in the background.)
The diagrammatic representation of the structure of production is uniquely determined by the shift in the demand for present goods. The amount of present goods advanced to laborers is now T′F′ (=OA′), and the new equilibrium rate of interest is OB′ (<OB), which is reflected as a less steep slope in the structure of production diagram. (The slope of F′Y′ is less than the slope of FY.) An investment of KoI′ is realized, which involves an increase in production time of TT′. In other words, the decrease in the time preferences (of laborers) has allowed resources that would otherwise have been used for current consumption to be used instead for investment purposes. The accompanying decrease in the rate of interest has made it profitable to employ these resources in more time-consuming methods of production.
In the real-world structure of production the actual process might be described as follows: Capitalists in their entrepreneurial roles sense that individuals are now willing to forgo consumption in the near future in order to achieve even greater consumption in the more distant future. This change in time preferences creates profit opportunities that cause the capitalists to bid capital and labor services away from the stages of production relatively close to the final (consumption) stage and into stages relatively remote from the consumption stage. They are also induced by the lowering of the interest rate to create additional stages that had previously been unprofitable.38
Although the dollar expenditure on consumption goods decreases from OY to OY′, consumption in real terms decreases only temporarily and then rises to a new high once the additional investment comes to fruition. It is this additional quantity of consumption goods coming into the market, of course, that allows the prices of consumption goods to be bid down to a level consistent with OY′.
The above description of changes in the structure of production brought about by a decrease in time preferences is very similar to the discussion found in Prices and Production of the change in the shape of a Hayekian triangle brought about by voluntary savings:
If we compare the two diagrams [representing the structure of production before and after the change in voluntary savings] we see at once that the nature of the change consists in a stretching [of the structure]... Its [height at the final stage], which measures the amount of money spent during the period of time on consumers’ goods,... has permanently decreased ... This means that the price of a unit of consumers’ goods, the output of which has increased as a consequence of the more capitalistic methods of production, will fall.... The amount of money spent in each of the later stages of production has also decreased, while the amount used in the earlier stages has increased, and the total spent on intermediate products has increased also because of the addition of ... new stage[s] of production.39
Although the price level and the real level of consumption are accounted for in the discussion of the workings of the Austrian model, they do not appear in the diagrammatical representation in any explicit form. Austrian macroeconomics has never been concerned directly with the general price level, but has been concerned instead with the relative price of consumption goods as opposed to investment goods—or, in terms of the present model, the relative amounts paid for consumption goods as opposed to labor services. This is a fundamental aspect of Austrian theory that sets it apart from the more orthodox macroeconomic theory. Patinkin, for instance, lumps “consumer commodities” and “investment commodities” into a single aggregate and then tells us that “... [t]he prices of these two categories are assumed to change in the same proportion.”40 By disallowing relative price changes between these two categories of commodities, Patinkin puts the structure of production in a straightjacket. This throws the entire burden of moving the economy from one equilibrium position to another on the real cash balance effect.41
A shift in the supply of present goods from Spg to Spg′′ could be the result of a decrease in the time preferences of capitalists. The effects of this shift on the structure of production can be analyzed in the same manner and with similar results. The new equilibrium (associated with Dpg′ and Spg′′) is shown with double-prime notation. The only significant difference is that the amount of present goods consumed by laborers has increased when before it decreased. But this difference was to be expected: A decrease in the time preferences of laborers means that they are willing to consume fewer present goods now in order to enjoy greater (real) consumption later; a decrease in the time preferences of capitalists means that they are willing to advance more present goods to laborers now in order to enjoy more (real) consumption later.
A change in time preferences is not the only change in tastes that can cause a shift in the supply and demand for present goods, although it seems to be the one that the Austrian theorists are most concerned with. But shifts of the curves can also result from changes in the demand for money, e.g., from increases or decreases in liquidity preferences. (Hayek was aware in his early writings of the need to incorporate the analysis of liquidity preferences into Austrian macroeconomic theory.)42 To accommodate the analysis of liquidity preferences the structure-of-production diagram must be interpreted so as to include cash balances. In other words, OY must include the quantity of cash balances “consumed.” Where a change in time preferences (laborers’ and capitalists’) will cause both curves of the intertemporal market to shift either east or west, a change in liquidity preferences (laborers’ and capitalists’) will cause both curves to shift either north or south. A neutral change in liquidity preference would be one in which both curves shifted in such a way as to leave the rate of interest unchanged. The effects of a change in liquidity preferences can be analyzed in terms of the Austrian model of Figure 7, but the details will not be described here. It can be said, however, that the results of such an analysis, whether the change in liquidity preferences is neutral or non-neutral, confront us with no surprises.
In concluding this section it may be helpful to follow up on the comparison of the Austrian model and the corresponding Keynesian model. The two models are shown in Figure 8 in the same format as was used in Figure 5. There are now two points of commonality. In addition to the common dollar value of consumption goods, the amount of (exogenous) investment in the Keynesian model corresponds in the Austrian model to the amount of (endogenous) investment brought about by a shift in the demand for present goods. Again, the problems created by expressing the Keynesian model in dollar terms rather than real terms are overlooked.
To this point it has been implicitly assumed that the economy is free from monetary disturbances. Changes in the endogenous variables were brought about only by actual changes in the preferences of laborers and capitalists, by shifts in the supply and demand for present goods reflecting changes in time (or liquidity) preferences. In this section the supply of money will be introduced as an exogenous variable in the Austrian model, and its effects on the intertemporal market and the structure of production will be analyzed. To facilitate this analysis the actual time and liquidity preferences will be assumed to remain unchanged. The supply and demand for present goods as represented in Figure 3 will be fixed in place throughout the remaining discussion.
In analyzing the effects of monetary disturbances Austrian macroeconomics is not concerned with increases in the quantity of money per se, but rather with the process by which the new money enters the economy. According to Hayek: “[E]verything depends on the point where the additional money is injected into circulation.”43 Thus, when Hayek begins his investigation of the “... effects of a change in the amount of money in circulation ...”, he immediately turns his attention to the “... case most frequently encountered in practice: the case of an increase of money in the form of credits granted to producers.”44 The primary effect of a monetary expansion in the Austrian view stems from the fact that newly created money (credit) tends to fall disproportionately into the hands of producers.
By way of contrast the analysis of a monetary expansion in orthodox macroeconomics is generally begun by assuming that the new money is injected uniformly throughout the economy. A familiar assumption, for instance, is that a helicopter dispenses the newly created money and that individuals dash out into the streets gathering up the new money in direct proportion to the amount they already had.45 In this sort of highly artificial scenario it can easily be shown that money is neutral. No real magnitudes are changed—apart from a temporary increase in cash holdings that causes all prices to be bid up. The only consequence of an increase in the monetary stock, then, is an equiproportional increase in the general price level. Consequences of a nonuniform injection of newly created money, that is, of the fact that some individuals receive a greater share of the new money than others, are categorized as “distribution effects.” These effects are considered to be of second-order (or nth order) importance and are generally assumed away in order to get at the “more fundamental” aspects of an increase in the stock of money.46
But money in the Austrian view should not be assumed to be neutral and cannot be shown to be neutral in any relevant sense. “The notion of neutral money,” according to Mises, is a contradiction in terms: “Money without a driving force of its own would not, as people assume, be a perfect money; it would not be money at all.”47 The relevant question, then, is not whether a monetary expansion is neutral or non-neutral, but rather how the non-neutrality manifests itself in a market economy. The Austrian theorists have focused their attention on this question and have been critical of other monetary theorists for ignoring it. Hayek, for instance, criticized them for focusing “... either exclusively or predominantly [on] the superficial phenomenon of changes in the value of money, while failing to pursue the far more profound and fundamental effects of the process by which money is introduced into the economic system, as distinct from its effects on prices in general.”48
A “neutral” monetary expansion is represented diagrammatically in Figure 9. The vertical axis represents the nominal magnitude of the original stock of money (Mo), i.e., the stock in existence prior to the monetary expansion. The horizontal axis represents the nominal magnitude of the expanded stock of money (Me), i.e., the stock in existence after the expansion has occurred. The 45° line, representing the equality Mo = Me, serves as a reference. A neutral expansion can be shown, then, by rotating a line clockwise from the reference line.
But if the expansion is achieved by extending newly created credit to producers, it is not a neutral expansion. In the terminology of the present model the newly created money falls disproportionately into the hands of capitalists (as opposed to laborers). This can be represented diagrammatically by showing separately the increase in the quantity of money in the hands of capitalists and the increase in the quantity of money in the hands of laborers. In Figure 10 it is assumed for the sake of simplicity that all of the newly created money takes the form of credit extended to capitalists. Initially, then, the laborers are completely unaffected by the monetary expansion. This is represented in Figure 10 by M′L, which is coincident with the 45° reference line. Capitalists, on the other hand, experience an initially amplified monetary expansion as indicated by M′c. But
as the capitalists purchase additional quantities of labor services, the new money filters through the economy such that eventually the expansion experienced by the laborers is approximately the same as the expansion experienced by the capitalists. This is indicated by the expansion line M′′c ≍ M′′L. The arrows indicate the dynamics of the expansion as it appears to the capitalists and to the laborers.
This non-neutral monetary expansion manifests itself as a temporary distortion in the intertemporal market. In terms of the Austrian model the expansion experienced by the capitalists affects the supply-of-present-goods curve, while the expansion experienced by the laborers affects the demand-for-present-goods curve. These two asymmetrical effects can be traced out by the apparatus of Figure 11. The upper panels represent the
monetary expansion of Figure 10 and the intertemporal market of Figure 3. The southeast panel is a dummy diagram that facilitates the construction of the remaining panel. The southwest panel, then, shows the effect of the monetary expansion on the supply and demand for present goods. The supply curve, reflecting the behavior of capitalists, initially rotates clockwise from S to S′, while the demand curve, reflecting the behavior of laborers, initially remains in place (D = D′). Eventually, though, as the new money becomes more evenly distributed, the supply curve retracts to S′′ and the demand curve rotates out to D′′. These final positions of the two curves correspond to the expansion line labeled M′′c ≍ M′′L in the northwest panel.
Figure 11 illustrates that the rate of interest associated with the “real” parameters remains unchanged, i.e., that the supply and demand curves in the northeast panel remain in place throughout the monetary expansion, while the apparent rate of interest—the rate determined by the southwest panel—does not. The injection of newly created money causes the apparent rate of interest to fall from i to i′ and then to rise back to a level approximating the original rate (i′′ ≍ i). This effect of an expansion on the rate of interest is, of course, neither new nor uniquely Austrian. The notion that a monetary expansion causes the interest rate in the loan market to fall temporarily below the “natural” rate is commonly associated with the writings of Wicksell.49 (It might be added here that the Austrian model does not deny the existence of the Fisher effect. An anticipated increase in the price level would cause a price premium to be built into the nominal interest rate. But the present model abstracts from this price premium just as it abstracts from the price level itself. It focuses instead on relative prices. That the Fisher effect could completely offset the other movements in the rate of interest would, of course, have to be denied.)
The intertemporal market, together with the monetary expansion mechanism, can now be reunited with the rest of the Austrian model as shown in Figure 12. All panels are numbered to facilitate the discussion. The only new one is panel VI which simply shows the monetary expansion independent of the process by which the newly created money is injected into the economy. This allows us to express the changes that occur in panels II and III in terms consistent with the original monetary stock, that is, it allows us to focus on relative rather than absolute changes.
The monetary expansion shown in Figure 12 is a neutral one—at least neutral with respect to capitalists and laborers—as indicated by the single expansion line in panel IV. As might be expected this neutral expansion has no effect on the structure of
production (panel II). Such an “expansion” could be achieved by renaming the monetary unit: From this day on “one Dollar” will be known as “ten Burns.” No real changes would result. The only consequence would be the fundamentally uninteresting one (not even shown in Figure 12) that the price level would increase tenfold. The expansion could be achieved instead by using the notorious monetary helicopter. There seems to be no reason to believe that the capitalists would gather up a disproportionate share of the new money. And so, as before, the primary consequence would be an increase in the price level reflecting the extent of the monetary expansion. Two differences, however, make this expansion a little less sterile than the previous one. Firstly, the price level increases not as a matter of definition but as the result of a market process. Prices are bid up to the new level as individuals attempt to draw down their newly acquired cash holdings.50 Secondly, distribution effects among capitalists and among laborers are not ruled out. Thus, the consumption goods are valued at OY both before and after the expansion, but they are likely to be different consumption goods and to be consumed by different individuals as a result of these distribution effects. That this is the only change in panel II rests on the heroic assumption that the real-world structure of production is in fact suitable for producing these different consumption goods.
If the increase in the stock of money is achieved by the expansion of credit, there will be a systematic distribution effect that can be accounted for in the Austrian model. The expansion will be experienced first by the capitalists and only later by the laborers. This is illustrated in Figure 13. Unlike the monetary expansion of Figure 12, credit expansion has real effects on the structure of production. Diagrammatically, this is shown by the prime and double-prime notation in panel II. As the apparent rate of interest falls from i to i′, the capitalists begin construction of a structure of production that is to have the configuration OY′F′T′. But as the newly created money becomes more evenly distributed among capitalists and laborers, the rate of interest rises to i′′ (≍i). The beginnings of the longer structure are then
liquidated or abandoned in favor of the configuration OY′′F′′T′′ which approximates the original structure. The investment (and subsequent dis-investment) represented in panel III by KoI′ is not the result of voluntary saving (and voluntary dissaving) but is the result of the monetary disturbance. This is what Mises termed malinvestment51 and what Hayek called forced savings.52
The changes in the real-world structure of production can be described in terms of the relative profitability of short-term and long-term projects. The economy is assumed to be in equilibrium prior to the monetary expansion so that all projects (short-term and long-term) are equally profitable at the margin. When the interest rate falls, due to the expansion of credit, the long-term projects, which by definition involve disproportionately high interest expenditures, appear to become more profitable. Thus, the capitalists in their entrepreneurial roles bid labor and non-specific capital away from the later stages of production and into the earlier stages and begin construction of whatever specific capital is needed to take advantage of the (apparent) profitability of these long-term projects. But in the very process of constructing the new structure of production the newly created money flows from the capitalists to the laborers, and the distribution of money comes to approximate the old, pre-expansion, distribution. The laborers, whose tastes have remained unchanged, and who now have their full share of the new money, will bid for consumption goods in an amount consistent with the old, pre-expansion, structure of production. That is, they are unwilling to forgo current consumption and to wait instead for the consumption goods associated with the new long-term projects. Their time preferences have not changed. With their bidding for consumption goods the rate of interest rises back to somewhere near its original level. The long-term projects that appeared to be profitable during the expansion are revealed to be unprofitable. The capitalists must act now to cut their losses. The minimizing of losses may require that some of the new long-term projects be completed. Others, however, will have to be liquidated. The specific capital associated with them will have to be abandoned. The laborers and non-specific capital can eventually be reabsorbed in the reconstruction of the original structure of production. But the transition back to the old structure is bound to involve abnormally high levels of unemployed labor and capital.53
The two phases of the process that are initiated by a monetary expansion (the first phase corresponding to the prime notation; the second phase to the double-prime notation) should be recognized as the expansion and contraction phases of the business cycle. The above discussion and the diagrammatics of Figure 13 are faithful to Rothbard’s capsulization of the cyclical boom and bust:
The “boom”... is actually a period of wasteful misinvestment. It is the time when errors are made, due to the bank credit’s tampering with the free market. The “crisis” arrives when the consumers come to reestablish their desired proportions. The “depression” is actually the process by which the economy adjusts to the wastes and errors of the boom, and reestablishes efficient service of consumer desires. The adjustment process consists in the ... liquidation of wasteful investments. Some of these will be abandoned altogether ...; others will be shifted to other uses....
In sum, the free market tends to satisfy voluntarily-expressed consumer desires with maximum efficiency, and this includes the public’s relative desire for present and future consumption. The inflationary boom hobbles this efficiency, and distorts the structure of production, which no longer serves consumers properly. The crisis signals the end of the inflationary distortion, and the depression is the process by which the economy returns to the efficient service of consumers.54
And finally, it should be mentioned that to the extent that the malinvestment cannot be recovered there has been a net decrease in the economy’s wealth. This can cause real changes in time and liquidity preferences (capitalists’ and laborers’) resulting in shifts in the supply and demand curves of panel I. To this extent a monetary expansion is not neutral even in the long run.
The Austrian model can be summarized in terms of the diagrammatics of Figure 13. Panels I, II, and III are the basic components of the model. Panel I describes the tastes that are relevant to the macroeconomic variables, i.e., the time and liquidity preferences of capitalists and laborers. Panel II depicts the structure of production that is consistent with the tastes described in panel I. Changes in these tastes will cause the structure of production to undergo a corresponding change subject to the relationship between capital and production time as indicated in panel III. The remaining panels deal with the monetary linkages that translate the individuals’ tastes into a corresponding structure of production. In the absence of monetary disturbances the structure of production can be expected to accurately reflect the tastes described in panel I. The presence of a monetary disturbance, however, will prevent these tastes from being accurately reflected in the structure of production. More specifically, an increase in the monetary stock by means of credit expansion will mislead the capitalists into making an (ultimately unsuccessful) attempt to lengthen the structure of production.
Further development of the Austrian model outlined in this paper could take any of several directions. The effects of various institutional rigidities could be analyzed in terms of the model, for instance, or the model could be modified to take explicit account of expectations of one sort or another. Discussion will be confined here, however, to one particular direction that appears to be potentially fruitful. At the conclusions of earlier sections of this paper the Austrian model was contrasted diagrammatically with the Keynesian model, but no such contrast has been made since the introduction of monetary considerations. The appropriate comparison, then, is one between Figure 13 and some version of the IS-LM model. A few comments are in order about how such a comparison might be made.
The key to the comparison of the two models is panel V of Figure 13. The movements of the curves in this panel are suspiciously similar to the movements of the IS and LM curves. The axes in panel V and in the IS-LM diagram measure the same or similar magnitudes, and the conceptualization of the curves in the two models bears a certain resemblance.
In both models the vertical axis measures virtually the same magnitude: IS-LM is concerned with the interest rate in the loan market, while panel V measures the apparent rate of interest, which encompasses the loan rate. Where the IS-LM diagram measures (real) total income on the horizontal axis, panel V measures (nominal) income of laborers, that is, it excludes interest income. (It is not altogether clear, though, that interest income is actually included in the IS-LM diagram in that the Keynesian full-employment income Y is the income of N workers reckoned in “wage units.”)
Further, in elementary formulations of the IS-LM model the IS curve is frequently conceptualized in a manner consistent with the conceptualization of the corresponding curve in panel V. Dernburg and McDougal, for instance, tell us that “... we may ... interpret the IS schedule as the schedule of aggregate demand for goods and services with respect to the interest rate.”55 The rate of interest referred to is clearly the rate in the loan market. It is somewhat less clear, though, whether “goods and services” refers to present (consumption) goods or to all (consumption and investment) goods. If the former interpretation is adopted, the corresponding curves in the two models are very similar indeed. If the latter interpretation is adopted, the actual meaning of the conceptualization is called into question: If the IS curve is the demand for all goods, who are the suppliers of all goods, and what are they receiving in exchange for the quantity supplied?(!) The less-elementary macroeconomics texts do not clear up the problem. They usually avoid it by abstaining from any attempt to conceptualize the IS-LM curves. They are viewed instead as simply an outgrowth of the graphics that describe the real and monetary sectors of the economy. In a prelude to his discussion of the IS-LM diagram Ackley tells us that “[w]e must now throw all these elements into a single pot, stir well, and taste the resulting stew.”56
Viewing the supply and demand curves of panel V as LM and IS, respectively, a number of familiar movements of the curves can be described. A (non-neutral) increase in liquidity preferences, for instance, can shift the LM curve up and to the left, causing the interest rate to rise; or a (non-neutral) increase in the willingness to save (decrease in time preference) can shift the IS curve down and to the left, causing the interest to fall. Changes in taste will cause real and lasting changes in the IS and LM curves, but changes in the nominal stock of money will not. A monetary expansion will shift the LM curve to the right, driving the rate of interest down, but the monetary stimulation will only have a temporary effect because the real sector will soon adjust to the larger monetary stock. The IS curve will also shift rightward, returning the rate of interest to its original level. A change in the nominal monetary stock does not cause a real and lasting change in the rate of interest.
This is not to say that the Austrian model and the IS-LM model yield the same or similar conclusions or have the same or similar implications. Quite to the contrary. Equilibrium conditions cannot be defined in terms of panel V of the Austrian model. This panel shows the movements of the apparent rate of interest and of the nominal income to laborers during the period that the economy is experiencing a monetary disturbance. Equilibrium must be defined in terms of panels I and II, i.e., in terms of the relevant tastes (time and liquidity preferences) and the structure of production corresponding to those tastes. It cannot be defined in terms of IS-LM stew. Panel V does open the door, however, to a thorough comparison of the two models and their implications.
Ackley, Gardner. Macroeconomic Theory. Toronto: The MacMillan Co., 1969.
Böhm-Bawerk, Eugen von. Capital and Interest. Translated by George D. Huncke and Hans F. Sennholz. 3 vols. South Holland, Ill.: Libertarian Press, 1959.
Cassel, Gustav. The Nature and Necessity of Interest. London: MacMillan and Co., Ltd., 1903.
Dernburg, Thomas F. and McDougal, Duncan M. Macroeconomics. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1968.
Friedman, Milton. The Optimum Quantity of Money and Other Essays. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Co., 1969.
Harcourt, G. C. and Laing, N. F., editors. Capital and Growth. Middlesex: Penguin Books Ltd., 1971.
Harcourt, G. C. Some Cambridge Controversies in the Theory of Capital. Cambridge, England: The Cambridge University Press, 1972.
Hayek, Friedrich A. von. Full Employment at Any Price? London: Institute of Economic Affairs, 1975.
Hayek, Friedrich A. von. Monetary Theory and the Trade Cycle. Translated by N. Kaldor and H. M. Croome. New York: Augustus M. Kelley, 1966. (First published in 1933.)
Hayek, Friedrich A. von. Prices and Production. New York: Augustus M. Kelley, 1967. (First published in 1935.)
Hayek, Friedrich A. von. Profits, Interest and Investment. London: George Routledge and Sons, Ltd., 1939.
Hayek, Friedrich A. von. The Price Theory of Capital. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1941.
Hayek, Friedrich A. von. “The Ricardo Effect,” Economica, IX, No. 34 (new ser.; May, 1942) 127–52 reprinted in Individualism and Economic Order. Chicago: Henry Regnery Co., 1972.
Hayek, Friedrich A. von. “Three Elucidations of the Ricardo Effect,” Journal of Political Economy, 77 (March/April, 1969): 274–85.
Hicks, John R. Capital and Time. The Clarendon Press, 1973.
Jevons, W. Stanley. The Theory of Political Economy. Edited by R. D. Collison Black. Middlesex: Penguin Books, Inc., 1970.
Mises, Ludwig von. Human Action: A Treatise on Economics, 3rd rev. ed. Chicago: Henry Regnery Co., 1966.
Mises, Ludwig von. “Money, Inflation, and the Trade Cycle: Three Theoretical Studies.” Translated by Bettina Bien Greaves, edited by Percy L. Greaves, Jr., unpublished papers, 1923, 1928, and 1931.
Mises, Ludwig von. The Theory of Money and Credit. Translated by H. E. Batson. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1953. (First published in 1911.)
O’Driscoll, Gerald P., Jr. Economics as a Coordination Problem: The Contributions of Friedrich A. Hayek. Kansas City: Sheed Andrews and McMeel, Inc., 1977.
Patinkin, Don. Money, Interest, and Prices. 2nd ed. New York: Harper and Row, Inc., 1965.
Robbins, Lionel. The Great Depression. London: The MacMillan Co., Ltd., 1934.
Rothbard, Murray N. America’s Great Depression. Los Angeles: Nash Publishing Co., 1972. (First published in 1963.)
Rothbard, Murray N. Man, Economy, and State: A Treatise on Economic Principles. 2 vols. Los Angeles: Nash Publishing Co., 1970. (First published in 1962.)
Ludwig von Mises, Human Action: A Treatise on Economics, 3rd revised ed. (Chicago: Henry Regnery Co., 1966), pp. 538–86. Also see Mises, The Theory of Money and Credit, trans. by H. E. Batson (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1953), pp. 339–66. And Mises, “Money, Inflation and the Trade Cycle: Three Theoretical Studies,” trans. by Bettina Bien Greaves, ed. by Percy T. Greaves Jr. (Unpublished papers, 1923, 1928, and 1931).
Friedrich A. von Hayek, Prices and Production (New York: Augustus M. Kelley, 1967). Also see Hayek, Monetary Theory and the Trade Cycle, trans. by N. Kaldor and H. M. Croome (New York: Augustus M. Kelley, 1966)
Murray N. Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State: A Treatise on Economics, 2 vols. (Los Angeles: Nash Publishing Co., 1970), pp. 273–501, 850–81. Also see Rothbard, America’s Great Depression (Los Angeles: Nash Publishing Co., 1972), pp. 11–38.
See, for instance, Don Patinkin, Money,Interest, and Prices, 2nd ed. (New York: Harper and Row, Inc., 1965), p. 200.
Hayek, Prices and Production, p.34.
Gerald P. O’Driscoll, Jr., Economics as a Coordination Problem: The Contributions of Friedrich A. Hayek (Kansas City: Sheed Andrews and McMeel, Inc., 1977).
Hayek, Prices and Production, p. 38.
Ibid., p. 36.
W. Stanley Jevons, The Theory of Political Economy, ed. by R. D. Collison Black (Middlesex: Penguin Books, Inc., 1970), pp. 225–53.
Gustav Cassel, The Nature and Necessity of Interest (London: Mac-Millan and Co., Ltd., 1903), pp. 96–157.
Eugen von Bohm-Bawerk, Capital and Interest, trans. by George D. Huncke and Hans F. Sennholz, 3 vols. (South Holland, Ill.: Libertarian Press, 1959), vol. 2., pp. 10–15 and passim.
Mises, Human Action, pp. 493–503 and passim.
Hayek, Prices and Production, pp. 36–68. Also, see Hayek, The Price Theory of Capital (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1941), pp. 193–201 and passim
Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, pp. 486–92 and passim.
Jevons, Theory of Political Economy, pp.229–30
Cassel, Nature and Necessity of Interest, p. 54.
Rothbard refers to this concept using the term “aggregate production structure.” Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, p. 491.
Jevons, Theory of Political Economy, p. 231.
Böhm-Bawerk, Capital and Interest, p. 312ff
Mises, Human Action, pp. 488–89.
Hayek, Pure Theory of Capital,p.140ff. Hayek rejected the notion of aggregate as well as average production time except as the term might be used in a very loose sense. See Ibid., p. 70.
Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, p. 412.
Hayek, Prices and Production, p. 39.
Ibid., p. 40.
Hayek, Pure Theory of Capital, p. 113ff.
Mises, Human Action, p. 244ff.
Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, p. 332.
Jevons, Theory of Political Economy, p. 227.
Ibid., p. 229.
See footnotes 20 through 23.
Mises, Human Action, p. 495.
Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, p. 487.
Hayek, Pure Theory of Capital, p. 70.
G. C. Harcourt and N. F. Laing, eds., Capital and Growth (Middlesex: Penguin Books Ltd., 1971), p. 211. Also see G. C. Harcourt, Some Cambridge Controversies in the Theory of Capital (Cambridge, England: The Cambridge University Press, 1972), pp. 118–76.
John R. Hicks, Capital and Time (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1973), p. 44.
Hayek, Prices and Production, pp. 49–54.
Ibid., p. 53. Also see Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, pp. 470–79 where similar diagrammatics are used to depict changes in the structure of production brought about by changes in time preferences.
Patinkin, Money, Interest, and Prices, p. 205.
Ibid., pp. 17–21 and passim.
Friedrich A. von Hayek, Profits, Interest and Investment (London: George Routledge and Sons, Ltd., 1939), p. 177.
Hayek, Prices and Production, p. 11. Hayek reaffirmed this position in his Nobel lecture. See Hayek, Full Employment at Any Price? (London: Institute for Economic Affairs, 1975), pp. 23ff. and 37.
Hayek, Prices and Production, p. 54. See also Mises, Human Action, p. 556 and Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, p. 885.
Milton Friedman, The Optimum Quantity of Money and Other Essays (Chicago: Aldine Publishing Co., 1969), p. 4ff.
Patinkin, Money, Interest, and Prices, p. 200 and passim.
Mises, Human Action, p. 418.
Hayek, Monetary Theory and the Trade Cycle, p. 46.
It should be pointed out, however, that the Wicksellian “natural” rate is the rate corresponding to a constant price level, while the Austrian “natural” rate is the rate corresponding to the absence of money creation via credit expansion. See Hayek, Monetary Theory and the Trade Cycle, pp. 109–16. Also see Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State, p. 940.
This is the market process that captures Patinkin’s attention. Patinkin, Money, Interest, and Prices, pp. 236–44.
Mises, Human Action, pp. 559–61.
Hayek, Prices and Production, pp. 18–31, and Hayek, Profits, Interest and Investment, pp. 183–97.
Hayek accounts for this unsuccessful attempt to lengthen the structure of production in terms of the Ricardo effect. See Hayek, Profits, Interest and Investment, pp. 8–15. Also see Hayek, “The Ricardo Effect,” Economica, IX, No. 34 (new ser.; May 1942): pp. 127–52 reprinted in Hayek, Individualism and Economic Order (Chicago: Henry Regnery Co., 1972) pp. 220–54, and Hayek, “Three Elucidations of the Ricardo Effect,” Journal of Political Economy, 77 (March/April 1969): pp. 274–85.
Rothbard, America’s Great Depression, p. 19. Also see Lionel Robbins, The Great Depression (London: The MacMillan Co., Ltd., 1934), pp. 30–54.
Thomas F. Dernburg and Duncan M. McDougal, Macroeconomics (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1968), p. 161.
Gardner Ackley, Macroeconomic Theory (Toronto: The Macmillan Co., 1969), p. 347. | <urn:uuid:9f98a2e8-2012-4eeb-846c-fbf5dede8841> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=106&chapter=6063&layout=html&Itemid=27 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932785 | 13,182 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Summary of Events
On Wednesday 25 February, the ABS participated in the second All-of-Government BizLinks seminar held at the State Library of WA.
Representatives from seven Government agencies delivered presentations to promote different services that their organisations offer to small businesses and to educate the audience on issues that they may encounter in the early stages of their business’s development.
The free BizLinks seminar attracted a number of small business owners and others who were considering launching their own businesses in the near future. Participants were given free information packs, as well as the opportunity to ask the presenters questions about issues raised throughout the seminar.
Climate Change in Focus
The ABS hosted the first of the combined Statistics Consultative Group meetings on Thursday 19 February. Rather than meeting separately, the former Economic and Social Statistical Consultative Groups have joined forces and will now meet to discuss broader issues that cover both areas of interest.
In the most recent meeting, group members were given presentations by guest speakers Julian Fairhall from the Office of Energy, Wenona Hadingham from the Department of Premier and Cabinet and Gemma Van Halderen, the ABS Branch Head for Environment and Agriculture. The presentations centred around the information requirements for climate change policy and the related implications for statistics.
Sea Change Regions
On 4 March, Andrew Howe from the ABS Regional Population Unit in South Australia presented at the Coast 2009 Conference held in Mandurah. Andrew’s presentation centred on the population trends in sea change regions within WA.
Andrew highlighted the population increases in sea change regions between 1996 and 2006 and then revealed the population projections of these regions up to the year 2027. An interesting statistic mentioned was the 34.8% (to 561,400) increase of people living in WA sea change areas over a ten year period to 2006. The conference addressed other major issues including climate change, the impacts of the Global Financial Crisis and the need for effective emergency management planning.
This page last updated 30 July 2009 | <urn:uuid:69942ce4-00e5-4c47-add3-c265916cea7c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/1304.5Main%20Features10Mar%202009?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=1304.5&issue=Mar%202009&num=&view= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93987 | 404 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Venetian Risi e Bisi - Rice and Peas - Easter 2011
From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I had gone to market in search of English peas and while there I happened on a display of large canned hams that I hadn't seen in years. They were a feature of holiday meals and throughout the 50's and 60's you'd be hard pressed to attend a party where they weren't served. The hams were usually topped with rings of pineapple and studded with maraschino cherries before being glazed and warmed for service. They weren't bad and they fit the lifestyles of woman trying to cast off years of rationing and cooking that kept them in the kitchen for hours at a time. The women who emerged from the war loved the simplicity of Danish modern furniture and the ease of frozen food. A company ready ham that need only to be warmed was perfect for their needs. That ubiquitous ham was part of Easter dinner in many homes across the country. Strange as it seems, while the food was simple, the holiday itself seemed more important then it does today. The Easter bunny was on a par with Santa and egg hunts replaced the magic of empty stockings miraculously filled by elves or angels. In those simpler times, Easter really did mean bonnets and parades, and to the delight of little girls, the holiday came with new outfits that included shinny Mary Janes.
It was also a more overtly religious holiday than it appears to be today. We spent a lot of time in church during Holy Week, but it wasn't as oppressive as you might think. I will forever be moved when I hear the "Exultet" and the "Alleluia" from the Easter vigil services and I'm so grateful they were part of my childhood. While Easter may have no meaning for many, it's my hope that we all believe in new beginnings and the triumph of good over evil. So, whatever your beliefs, I hope you all bask in the sun of this new day.
After that introduction, I was sorely tempted to make a canned ham and share it with you, but then I realized you'd probably stone me and I wanted no part of that. So, I'm heading back to the peas with which I began this post. “Risi e bisi” (rice and peas) is a classic Venetian dish. While many think it is a risotto, it is actually a very light soup. There should always be just enough liquid in the bowl to require a spoon for eating. It is very easy to make and you'll love it as long as you don't overcook the rice. The soup can be table ready in half an hour and it is a perfect light meal to break a fast or settle an uneasy stomach. The soup will absorb liquid as it sits, so it's best to serve it as soon as the rice is ready. If you have leftovers you will have to add stock when you reheat the soup. I think you'll really like this one. Here's the recipe.
Risi e Bisi...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Saveur
3 tablespoons butter
1 yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped
3 pounds fresh peas, shelled to yield 3 cups
Pinch of salt
1 cup Chicken Stock
1 cup arborio rice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1) Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cook for 5 minutes. Add peas and salt, and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.
2) Add chicken stock and 2 cups water, and bring to a boil. Stir in rice and parsley, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until rice is al dente and peas are very soft, about 20 minutes.
3) Adjust seasonings and serve immediately before rice absorbs liquid. Top with grated parmigiano-reggiano, if you like. Yield: 4 to 6 servings.
Cook's Note: While this dish is best made with fresh peas, 3 cups of frozen peas can be substituted.
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Vegetable and Rice Soup - Our Island Kitchen | <urn:uuid:5d3bb232-2030-42b0-918d-6e018feea778> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oneperfectbite.blogspot.com/2011/04/venetian-risi-e-bisi-rice-and-peas.html?showComment=1303676684225 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966734 | 1,005 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Getting the Life Insurance You Need
Protecting your family against the financial consequences of your death should be part of your total financial plan. The decisions you need to make are:
How much do you need?
What type should you buy?
Where should you buy it?
No one likes to think about dying and as a result, many individuals put off making these decisions. Here are some guidelines that can make the process easier.
How Much Life Insurance?
While some individuals use life insurance as part of sophisticated estate plans, for most life insurance is simply a way to make sure their spouse and children can continue to have a decent lifestyle if they die prematurely.
Single individuals, or married individuals with working spouses, may find their real need for life insurance to be low or non-existent. If no one is dependent on your income to maintain their financial independence, you should carefully consider whether spending for life insurance is the best use of your funds. It could be that your savings and investments will be sufficient.
If others are dependent on your income, life insurance should be part of your financial strategy. There are many complex ways to calculate the amount of coverage you should consider that take inflation, debts, children, retirement plans and estimated investment returns into account.
If you want that type of calculation, try some of the insurance websites. If you want a simpler approach, consider that many insurance experts say that a "primary breadwinner" should have coverage equal to six to ten times income. For example, if you have income of $75,000, you may want to have life insurance policies providing $450,000 to $750,000 of death benefits.
If you have young children, dependents with special needs, large debts or other special considerations, you may want to be on the high end of this range (or above). For example, if you expect a child to attend a private college, the annual costs could be over $40,000. To cover those expenses, you may want to increase your coverage by some multiple of the annual cost to cover four years and to take potential inflation into account.
What Type of Policy Is Best for You?
The two basic types of life insurance policies are - term and cash value whole life. Term insurance is just pure protection, payable on the death of the insured and is cheaper. Cash value whole life policies provide death protection and have a "cash build up" feature that acts somewhat like a tax-deferred savings account. Usually, whole life insurance is much more expensive. The accumulated "cash value" can also be the source of low interest loans for the policyholder. When evaluating these types of policies, be sure to consider all the costs, the amount of death benefits and ask for a history of what the level of earnings on the "cash value" the insurance company has paid previously. You may find that it makes sense to "buy term and invest the rest."
Where Can You Find Life Insurance?
The first place to begin is with your employer. Many companies offer some life insurance as part of their employee benefit program. In some cases, the companies pay the entire cost for a certain level of benefits and then offer a supplemental insurance option. You often may have the ability to buy a policy with benefits of one to three times your annual income. The rates on these types of group plans are often very attractive.
Next, determine whether you need the consultation services of an insurance agent. Many financial institutions offer insurance through their investment departments and have both term and whole life policies available.
If you are considering life insurance as part of a sophisticated estate plan, it may make sense to search out the services of a dedicated insurance agent.
In any case, be sure to ask questions and get the coverage amount you need in the type of policy you want. Investigate the insurance company. The agent should have ratings reports available on the insurance company. Many public libraries also have these ratings available.
Few people like to think about dying or the need for life insurance. Be sure your financial plan provides the protection your family needs. | <urn:uuid:5d7c0a67-f178-4f0c-8d7c-1c7f2c6d7360> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.empirebank.com/pfc/SBR_template.cfm?DocNumber=PL45_1106.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956336 | 828 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Is Putting Politics On Display Bad For Business?
Originally published on Fri September 21, 2012 12:43 pm
Every election season, political signs sprout like dandelions from lawns across America. They also pop up at more than a few businesses. For some, expressing political preferences is a calculated move to attract customers. But it can just as easily turn clients away.
Jeff Reiter, who owns the Blue Plate Lunch Counter & Soda Fountain in Portland, Ore., proudly displays a 2008 Obama campaign sign inside his restaurant and says he has "never tried to hide" his support for the president.
A few years ago, he got a nasty message from one of his customers: "You have the greatest food but you support one of the worst presidents ever," it read.
Instead of crumpling the note and tossing it in the trash, Reiter decided to display it in his front window next to the menu.
Treading into politics might sound like a recipe for disaster, but Reiter says he doesn't think he's lost many customers over it.
"We encourage political discussions," he says. "I think we should be talking about these things, and this is a good place to talk about them."
Weighing The Risks
Businesses take a big chance by outing their politics, says Costas Panagopoulos, a political science professor at New York's Fordham University.
"They need to weigh the risks against the potential benefits of making such a visible expression of their preferences," he says.
But the owner of one Georgia business says response to his political missives has been mostly supportive.
At Premier Platforms Inc., which sells, rents and services various kinds of aerial platforms and forklifts, David Cooper uses his giant highway marquee to broadcast his politics.
He's no fan of President Obama, as anyone driving along Interstate 75 near Byron, Ga., could tell: "Things could be worse. Re-elect Obama — he'll prove it," one recent message read, according to Macon newspaper The Telegraph. Cooper told the newspaper he could "count on two hands the number of complaints" he's gotten; one person threatened to picket the business, but the threat never materialized.
Not all customers make their feelings known to management, however. Some, like Jeff Candiello of Somerville, Mass., just quietly take their business elsewhere.
For Candiello, politics and business don't mix, and since his local barber plastered his shop with political signs, he has gone somewhere else for haircuts.
"In my view, it's not going to change anyone's opinion; you're just going to alienate your clientele who supports the other side," he wrote on NPR's Facebook page.
An Uphill Battle For Candidates
Fordham's Panagopoulos thinks most businesses are still cautious about jumping into the political fray. As a candidate for the Massachusetts state Senate two decades ago, he got a firsthand look at how difficult it can be to enlist the open support of local businesses.
At the time, he was just 19 and running as a Republican in a heavily Democratic district with an entrenched incumbent. He admits it was "an uphill battle" that he lost come Election Day.
"Even if the proprietors of some businesses wanted to support me, they acknowledged that some of their customers may not feel the same way," Panagopoulos says. "They understood that they risked losing business."
He remembers an incident involving an elderly couple who agreed to put up one of his signs, later to find it in their living room amid shards of broken glass from the front window.
"I'm sure that at some places around the country you will find examples of this type of reaction against businesses," Panagopoulos says. "It's not just losing business; it's running the risk of something like this happening."
'Should I Or Shouldn't I?'
Cindy Kam, a Vanderbilt University political science professor who has studied the effects of campaign signs on elections, agrees that showing support for a particular candidate can be a bad move for a business. But, she says, it can just as easily be a calculating — and good — one.
The business owner may be thinking, "If you're this kind of person, you really ought to come visit our store, because we have these kind of values," Kam says.
Candiello's barber got it wrong, she says, but Premier Platforms and Blue Plate might have struck the right chord with most of their customer base.
And these days, that question of "Should I or shouldn't I?" is somewhat easier for businesses to answer — because the electorate has become more polarized, she says.
"Now you have Democrats who sort into going to particular places, buying particular cars, belonging to particular organizations. The same on the Republican side. There isn't as much crossover as there used to be," Kam says.
"For an organic coffee shop, they probably already know who their audience is, so it may not be as risky for them to put up a sign as it would be for, say, a mom-and-pop grocery store." | <urn:uuid:6ce6c43b-1466-4d56-85e1-4c17990232db> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wcbe.org/post/putting-politics-display-bad-business | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98057 | 1,061 | 1.671875 | 2 |
God commands peace - God does not love war. God does not love bloodshed. God does not want people to die by violence. God says in the Qur’an that killing someone for no reason is like killing all of mankind (Qur’an, 5:32) and He further says the punishment for killing someone is eternal hell. The commandments of these verses are quite clear. Almighty God does not want strife and conflict in this world. God says that the essential thing is peace; He tells people to enter the abode of peace (Qur’an, 10:5). He also tells us to hold to forgiveness (Qur’an, 7:9) and to enjoin what is just, and forbid what is evil (Qur’an, 9:71); He does not tell us to kill and slaughter. That must not be forgotten.
In Conclusion - I am a devout believer who strongly believes that the message of Islam, Judaism and Christianity is the same: Peace. The vision of all the Abrahamic religions talk about the coming of a better world, without pain, hunger, hatred and war. I know that in my own religious community, there are fanatics who believe that my religion should fight against those who do not embrace it and force them till they accept. But I disagree with them. What is more I believe that I have far better proof that the radicals distort the true meaning of my religion. Therefore I say, let us unite against terrorism, radicalism and bigotry, and help each other by building bridges accross the rift that the radicals work so hard to dig.
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You must log in to post a comment. | <urn:uuid:17959d9c-182d-40b7-8123-c114f95c393f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/listen-to-me-islam-does-not-command-war-against-jews/2013/01/06/4/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952512 | 348 | 1.671875 | 2 |
The reaction was far different in Cairo, where Saturday's verdict was issued due to security concerns.
One man cried for joy, feeling that "justice has been survived" following the death of his oldest son, the married father of two children.
"I finally felt that I am in a civilized country," added a woman in Cairo's capital. "My son (did) nothing wrong. But my son's legacy will live on, because of the true justice served here."
Egypt embroiled in deadly political unrest
Saturday's Port Said violence comes on the heels of other bloodshed around the nation, which was tied more explicitly to unrest about Egypt's current leadership but nonetheless symptomatic of instability and insecurity two years after longtime President Hosni Mubarak was ousted.
More recently, protesters have focused their anger at current President Mohamed Morsy.
The former Muslim Brotherhood leader, who became Egypt's first democratically elected leader last year, has come under fire by some who compared him to Mubarak and said he amassed power for himself and his Islamist allies. He has insisted his moves were necessary to move Egypt forward in the face of pressing issues and persistent obstacles.
On Friday -- the anniversary of what some call the January 25 Revolution -- six people were killed in Suez and one in Ismailia, amid clashes involving anti-government protesters and those supportive of Morsy, as well as police. Hundreds more were injured in the unrest nationwide.
Referring to this violence and what happened Saturday in Port Said, Information Minister Salah Abdul Maqsoud read a statement on state TV saying the government was considering implementing a state of emergency in some areas.
"The (National Defense Council) denounces the acts of violence and demands all national and political forces be committed to the peaceful ways to express their opinion," Maqsoud said after a meeting led by Morsy. "(The council) calls for wider national dialogue, led by (prominent) figures, to discuss the issues of political disagreement and reach national accordance." | <urn:uuid:f4906e3d-2008-4efb-acdd-21e1cfa1b673> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kcci.com/news/national/30-Egyptians-die-after-verdict-on-soccer-riot/-/9357144/18290580/-/item/1/-/yufqqnz/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979858 | 405 | 1.507813 | 2 |
COLUMBUS, Ind. (AP) — The Justice Department says diesel engine maker Cummins Inc. has agreed to pay a $2.1 million penalty and recall 405 heavy-duty engines for alleged Clean Air Act violations.
Federal court documents filed Monday allege that Columbus, Ind.-based Cummins shipped 570,000 engines without pollution control equipment to vehicle manufacturers between 1998 and 2006.
The settlement requires Cummins to recall about 405 engines that were found to have ultimately reached customers without the correct pollution controls, and to install those controls.
Federal officials estimate those engines released nearly 200 excess tons of pollutants over their lifetimes.
Cummins spokeswoman Janet Williams says the company has improved its tracking processes to make sure the correct pollution controls are connected to its engines. | <urn:uuid:111e580d-1613-45b0-9885-1021cd6e2866> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.impomag.com/news/2010/02/cummins-settles-pollution-spat-21-million?qt-recent_content=1&qt-digital_editions=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96181 | 155 | 1.53125 | 2 |
The northeast corner of Cambodia used to be very remote and difficult to reach, with the appalling state of the only road to the province restricting regular transport links. But in just a few short years the road has improvedly significantly and with it has come an avalanche of new bus services. It’s now possible to get to Phnom Penh in just ten hours on a good day, and there is talk that the main road will be fully paved within three or four years.
For the time being, however, NH78 is still unsealed and throws the signature red dust of the region over everything that passes. The 140 kilometre stretch of dirt varies from a smooth well-graded expanse as wide as a football pitch to narrow rutted tracks joined by creaking wooden bridges that look like they won’t survive the next wet season. This is a very poor region: poverty visible from the bus ranks with some of the worst I saw in northern Laos. Tiny wooden huts built on stilts to escape the wet, sometimes with only three walls and always nearly free of any furniture. In or under these wispy structures families cooked, slept and lived, and the surrounding countryside was often sparse and devoid of useful crops or firewood. For the first time on this trip I felt a sense of desperation in the locals, and to see the weary dead-eyed look in the eyes of a fifteen year old youth was singularly depressing. I met an aid worker called Chris who is helping to establish schools in remote villages here, and he says that once you get more than ten kilometres out of Ban Lung conditions can be “medieval”.
Ban Lung is nonetheless a lively town of around 25,000 people, the provincial capital that also acts as a service centre for all the surrounding and far-flung villages. Chris says that when he first arrived three years ago there were no sealed roads here; now all the main streets are tarmac and through the town the highway is a huge dual carriageway with flowered median strip. The improved transportation has brought more tourists, and while it’s not on the mainstream backpacker circuit yet this area is attracting more and more adventurous types, especially those wanting to trek in the savannah and jungle northeast towards the Vietnamese border. Ban Lung also has some unusual quirks that I never saw in all my travels through Laos, even though Laos is nominally much poorer. For example ice is still delivered in the morning to street vendors on a small trailer hinged to the back of a motorbike, the food and drink sellers sawing the metre-long frozen rectangles to suit and placing the chunks in large plastic chests to keep their wares cool for the day. Nearly every petrol pump is simply a 44-gallon drum on its end with a hand-crank on top, feeding into a large clear glass cylinder so the purity of the fuel can be seen and quantity measured. There is always a parasol on top to prevent this improvised explosive device from going off, but punters still smoke while being refueled.
As the only service town for the whole province, the market area is packed with stalls and shops selling all manner of goods not normally available in the villages. Ban Lung is where you come when you want roofing materials, hardware, pots and pans, medicines, furniture, childrens’ toys, whitegoods, clothing, scooters, shoes and most widely available of all: mobile phones. It seems that every third store is a phone vendor, all hawking the same chinese knock-offs that have flooded markets further north. The food market features the usual plastic hessian roof hung five feet off the ground to offer some protection from the sun; it’s the perfect height for the locals, and I’ve gotten used to stooping endlessly when wandering such places. Here though the heat was particularly oppressive: around the meat section I noticed thick black tubes strung across alleys at head height, which on closer inspection were revealed to be normal thin ropes with a solid crust of well-fed flies.
There are some strange contrasts in the marketplace too: DVD shops also stock a healthy range of modern pop on cassette tape, and television stores carry ancient transistor radios alongside older-style television sets. The market and surrounding streets of shops – all with rubbish liberally strewn along the dusty red verges – are pretty much all you will find in the town; apart from street food vendors and perhaps a dozen restaurants and guesthouses there is little in the way of suburbs. Walk just two kilometres in any direction and you’re well and truly back in the bush, but it’s not all rustic. On a Sunday morning stroll I noticed two small roller rinks for kids, public volleyball courts and even a small ferris wheel on the restaurant strip beside the town’s Kansaign Lake.
The main tourist attraction near town is a volcanic crater lake called Yeak Laom, described in the guidebook as “one of the most serene and sublimely beautiful sites in all of Cambodia”. Quite a rap, and enough to make me walk the four kilometres from town to have a good look. It’s pretty and pleasant, but if this really is one of the natural highlights of Cambodia then I won’t be diverting myself greatly in the future. Vegetation reaches right to the shore and it’s only a few hundred metres across, so you can take in the whole lake in one pleasing view. You can swim in the lake, which I didn’t. You can walk around the lake, which I did. At first glance I thought the area was nearly empty of life, with almost no bird life apparent and the water eerily dark and quiet. However once I started walking the lake’s edge I began to hear the birds and crickets clearly, and moths and butterflies flitted freely about. Snakes and lizards slid noisily off the path as I walked, and I made sure I clumped along as loudly as possible so they would keep away. On the walk back I stopped for lunch at Norden House, which quite improbably is a Swedish hotel and restaurant on the road to the lake. I had to try the house special – Swedish meatballs with mashed potato – which was excellent and authentic, right down to the gravy served in a jug and dill pickles and lingonberries on the side.
I desperately wanted to do a two-day kayak tour while here, but unfortunately the guides won’t do it for just one person and noone else has been interested over the past few days. I considered doing an overnight trek but decided against it, partly for cost and partly because the shorter treks on offer didn’t really interest me that much. I’ve been quite happy to stay in Ban Lung, a decision greatly aided by yet again finding some superb accomodation. Tree Top Eco-Lodge has eleven fabulous bungalows widely spaced on the side of a valley, with rough wooden walkways through the treetops joining them all to the airy and all-wood bar-restaurant. The near-new wooden bungalows are huge with very high ceilings, fan, large balcony and hammock with views over the valley. Each also has a private cold-water bathroom attached, though it’s open to the elements enough for me to find a frog loitering in the toilet bowl last night! The cost for this extravagance: US$10 a night. It’s so pleasant that I haven’t rushed to leave Ban Lung, and it’s been easy to find other travellers to talk to because it’s popular too. Tree Top Lodge is far and away the best value accomodation option in the area, and even though it’s too new to be in most of the guidebooks a reservation is still strongly recommended. | <urn:uuid:d82b70a7-d9c8-430c-af83-4642dc6036ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://damienmaurice.com/2010/01/24/ratanakiri/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964068 | 1,635 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Born: 9 April 1926
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois
Best known as:
Founder of the Playboy empire
Hugh Hefner started his magazine Playboy in 1953. It was a mainstream lifestyle publication that celebrated sex and concupiscence at a time when most Americans didn't talk about such things in public. The first issue included a now-famous calendar photo of Marilyn Monroe and quickly sold out. Playboy, not without controversy, became a smashing success, known for its high-quality writing and in-depth celebrity interviews along with its always-popular photos of naked women. Hugh Hefner built Playboy into an empire in the 1960s and 1970s, opening nightclubs that featured scantily-clad hostesses known as "Bunnies." Hefner even launched a TV show, Playboy's Penthouse, in the early days of cable television. Hugh Hefner had a stroke in 1985 that slowed his swinging lifestyle, and in 1988 he turned over business operations to his daughter, Christie Hefner. But after nearly a decade out of the spotlight, Hef bounced back in the late 1990s as a swinging senior citizen, once again enjoying the limelight and boasting a harem of much younger girlfriends. In 2005 he began starring in the cable series The Girls Next Door, which followed the lives of Hef's three live-in "girlfriends": Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt, and Kendra Wilkinson. The three were replaced by new girlfriends in 2010, and the series ended that same year. On Christmas Day of 2010, Hugh Hefner tweeted his engagement to one of those new girlfriends, Crystal Harris, a 24-year-old who had been Playboy magazine's Miss December of 2009. Hefner and Harris broke off the engagement in June of 2011, a few days before their planned wedding, but they got together again the next year and were married at the Playboy Mansion on December 31, 2012.
Hugh Hefner earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from the University of Illinois in 1949... Hugh Hefner has been married twice before his 2012 marriage to Crystal Harris. He was married to the former Mildred Williams from 1949 until their divorce in 1959; they had two children, Christie (born 1952) and David (b. 1955). His second marriage was to Kimberly Conrad, a Playboy 'Playmate of the Year'; it lasted from 1989 until their divorce in 2010, although they were separated for the second decade of the marriage. They had two sons, Marston (b. 1990) and Cooper (b. 1991).
Copyright © 1998-2013 by Who2?, LLC. All rights reserved.
More on Hugh Hefner from Fact Monster:
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:d89cebf1-0258-43f1-84f7-1d33fc943930> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.factmonster.com/biography/var/hughhefner.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981234 | 568 | 1.515625 | 2 |
At RJMetrics, I’m lucky to work with smart people at successful companies to help them analyze mountains of complex data. What I find remarkable is how many of the same metrics are consistently relevant to companies across all sizes and industries.
Today, I will explore six such metrics that are related to customer retention and loyalty. If you’re not already tracking these metrics for your business, I suggest you start. Metrics like these should be closely watched and can help inform major decisions around marketing, customer retention, product development, and more.
Preparation: Define Users and Actions
Before we start, answer these two questions: who are your users and which of their actions matter?
The first part should be easy. Your purchasers, members, subscribers, or visitors are your company’s lifeblood. Depending on your industry, the second part could be a bit subtler. In e-commerce, the obvious “action” is a purchase. In social media, that action might be a login or user interaction. For publishers, it may be a visit or page view. As a rule of thumb, this action should be an undeniable indicator of value; users who do it more should be more valuable to your company.
With these two definitions in place, we are ready to do some analysis.
Metric One: Engaged Users
Usually, getting more users means increasing the value of your business. However, simply looking at “total users since the dawn of time” is never enough. Quality outweighs quantity when it comes to building long-term value.
As we saw in our analysis of Twitter’s Data, “total users” can be a tremendous overstatement of another metric that actually means much more: “engaged users.” This metric examines the number of distinct users who have committed an action in any given time period. This is your real customer base, and it’s directly tied to the value of your business. Appropriately, it’s also the population that savvy investors and acquirers will consider when determining a valuation.
It is also worthwhile to examine how this number has changed over time and in proportion to your total user base. What percent of your total user base (any user who has ever committed an action) came back to act again last month? Yesterday? How has that proportion changed over time? The direction of that chart can indicate how the quality of your average customer is evolving.
This chart shows active customers as a percent of the total customer base. The trend starts at 100% in the company’s first month, then rapidly stabilizes (with some seasonality)
Metric Two: Repeat vs. First-Time Actions
To build on our study of engaged users, we need to distinguish between user acquisition and user retention.
Imagine a social network in which users sign up, commit one action, and then never return. If this network was able to double the number of new signups it received each month, its “engaged users” chart would actually look quite impressive. However, a quick look at a chart of “first time actions” vs. “repeat actions” would allow us to quickly see through the façade.
If each action generates value for your company, this metric allows us to view the relative value creation from new and existing users. If this ratio is biased toward new users, you might soon hit a wall. If it’s biased toward existing customers, you may have already hit one.
Metric Three: Time Between Actions
Once we’ve identified a universe of “repeat users,” we can gain more insights into their behavior by studying how much time passes between the average user’s actions.
An e-commerce site might see an average value of 75 days. A gaming company might see an average value of 15 minutes. It can be valuable to see how this value changes over the life of your business and over the life of a given customer.
For example, looking at the “average time between first and second action” for users registered in each month of your company’s life helps you determine if you’re getting better at retaining new users. Similarly, comparing the “average time between first and second action” to the “average time between second and third action” (and so forth) can help you determine when and how to remarket to existing users.
Here, the “next purchase number” is shown on the x-axis. For many businesses, the average time between purchases drops with each subsequent purchase.
As with all of these metrics, examine how these numbers differ by customer segments (based on anything from demographic information to behavioral tendencies to acquisition channel). The results might cause you to act differently when working to attract and retain customers.
Metric Four: Repeat Action Probability
This metric is a study of the “action funnel.” For each user who acted once, how many acted a second time? A third?
I like to look at this in two ways. The first is as a count of actions by action number, illustrating the steepness of the funnel. The second is as a “probability” based on historical data, illustrating how each action impacts the likelihood of the next. (Of course, you should beware of interpreting this as an actual probability if you don’t have a lot of historical data.)
Here, “purchase number” is shown on the x-axis. For many businesses, each incremental action makes a subsequent action more likely.
Many of our customers are surprised when they see their data displayed this way. A steep drop-off from action-to-action is quite common, as is a very large increase in the repeat probability from action to action. The take-home message: loyalty snowballs quickly, but most users never start rolling at all.
Metric Five: Customer Lifetime Value
You’ve probably heard this term before, and rightfully so. Customer lifetime value is specific to each customer and it allows you to identify just how valuable different customer segments really are.
If your “action” is something binary like a login, the value this metric tracks may be a count of those actions. However, if it’s an action tied directly to a value like revenue or gross margin, such as a purchase, it is likely the sum of those action’s values.
To many, customer lifetime value is more than the amount of value generated by a customer so far. It can be expanded to include a projection of subsequent value a customer is projected to generate. Conducting this calculation can be complex, however—I’ll leave that for another post. For now, you can use “value generated so far” as a good proxy when comparing users with similar first action dates.
To examine this metric, calculate it for every customer and then segment those customers as you see fit. This can be a great jumping-off point for identifying customer segments who are performing well (so you can acquire more like them) and those who are underperforming (so you can find out why and reverse the trend).
Metric Six: Cohort Analysis
If I was stuck on a desert island and could only take one chart, it would be a cohort analysis.
The cohort analysis groups users into “cohorts” based on the time period in which they committed their first action (and/or other available attributes). Then, it charts the value of each cohort’s actions in each subsequent month of their lifetime as users.
Several cohorts are typically shown on the same chart, allowing for a layered view of how these cohorts perform in general as well as relative to one another over the lifetime of your business.
Since most businesses see a dropoff in actions after the first period and there may be huge variation in the number or value of actions from cohort to cohort, the most consumable form of a cohort analysis chart shows each data point as a percent of the first period’s value. These charts typically exclude the first month, since by definition that value is always 100% for each cohort.
A Cohort Analysis can incorporate elements of all the other metrics discussed in this post.
For a more detailed explanation, check out our Cohort Analysis website. I include it here today because it’s the one chart that incorporates the valuable information explored in each of the other five metrics.
These six metrics are at the core of some of the most powerful analyses conducted by the world’s largest and most successful businesses. Advances in technology have made them accessible to companies of all sizes, and products like RJMetrics allow businesses to monitor them with minimal effort.
While business models differ, a core objective is often the same: creating value. Tracking these metrics can empower any company to better understand their customers, generate greater value, and increase their chances of success. | <urn:uuid:c9281aaa-3856-44e6-949c-761c55c9e193> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.rjmetrics.com/six-metrics-every-business-should-track/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942983 | 1,853 | 1.578125 | 2 |
A growing cancer on American politics.
Governor Sarah Palin’s stunning early resignation elicited predictable surprise and sympathy from most of her supporters, and equally predictable surprise and sheer glee from most of her detractors. The question uppermost in the minds of political types was when, if ever, she might run for President. That question, while intriguing, is secondary. Front and center is how much the politics of familial destruction — at least, against conservative candidates — will be energized.
The references to her family, plus the ceaseless legal harassment imposing six-figure financial cost and consuming time needed for governance, suggests a chilling reality: A sustained, vituperative smear campaign directed against a candidate and family can succeed. Palin, who hunts moose at 4 a.m., can surely take hits directed against her in the normal political arena. An attack directed against an activist adult partner who is a co-player — think Hillary — is also fair game, though Hillary played the “little woman” card when it suited her during the Clinton years. But Palin’s children range in age from one to 18. Unwillingness to stand by and watch vulgar attacks directed against her teenage daughter by a famous late-night comedian and even worse, adults subjecting her children to ridicule aimed at her special needs infant, hardly shows weakness. Such attacks are a cancer growing on American politics.
Like all people, Sarah Palin has flaws. Hers are fair game for opponents and for media. Flaws of activist adult relatives — those who campaign on issues and the like — are also fair game. But teen children are never fair game. Attacking them forces candidates to weigh their professional goals against personal imperatives to protect their family from abuse. Their children are, in effect, being held hostage.
Has there ever been a campaign against children filled with such vitriol? Imagine if anyone had gone after Chelsea Clinton as a teen in the White House, for any reason whatsoever. Whoever did it would have faced a raw fury from Democrats (and even some Republicans) and the full fury of mainstream media. True, Chelsea did not give birth as a teen out of wedlock, but that would hardly have tipped the scales. She would have been defended as worthy of compassion and support. Indeed, campaigning for her mother in 2008, Chelsea, now nearly 30, was given a full pass.
A generation ago, impressionist David Frye, miming LBJ, had LBJ speak of “My two semi-beautiful daughters.” Richard Nixon’s daughters received occasional snarky remarks. Ronald Reagan’s two children by Nancy received notice, too. And George W. Bush’s twin daughters made the papers when they had a few beers.
But all of these instances involved adults. They were still unfair, as rarely did any of these children weigh into issues. But they were at least old enough to be able to handle attacks. And there was protective pressure all around not to go too far. Kennedy clan children have often been in the news, but not targeted constantly.
During the campaign both Barack Obama and Joe Biden, commendably, spoke out against targeting Palin’s family. However, since the November election attacks on Palin’s children have continued. True, Palin is a potential future presidential candidate, but never before has any candidate — let alone, any candidate’s family — attracted such bile in the months immediately after a presidential election. Bob Beckel, Mondale-Ferraro campaign manager in 1984, conceded yesterday that Sarah Palin faces a media double standard, and added that had David Letterman attacked a Democratic politician’s daughter, he’d have been taken off the air.
Palin would have done better to call upon those attacking her to end assaults on her family, and focus on her alone. She could have asked leading Democrats to follow the example set by candidates Obama and Biden, and publicly condemn attacks on her children. As to her financial burden she could have called upon the state government to fully reimburse her for the cost of defending against merit less ethics charges. Her hastily called, ill-timed, meandering announcement likely did not help her future political prospects. GOP political pro Ed Rollins’s comment that press conferences should not raise questions, but answer them, is apt. But such reservations should not deep-six the family protection issue.
The wolves whose attacks helped bring Sarah Palin’s resignation are no doubt enjoying the fruit of their labor immensely. No one else who cares for the integrity of the nation’s political process should join them.
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy? | <urn:uuid:99630111-207b-466f-8073-286ab8c49b80> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://spectator.org/archives/2009/07/07/palin-and-the-politics-of-fami | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973972 | 1,131 | 1.585938 | 2 |
A Union man is back home after a tour of duty in Afghanistan that saw him take part in an intense battle with the Taliban that not only involved fighting an enemy that could see his unit in the dark but also enduring weather conditions that at one point left him and his fellow soldiers with little or no food and water.
TJ Gault is the son of Tim Gault and Kim Austin and a 2006 graduate of Union High School. While still in school, Gault, then 17 and a junior, enlisted in the SC National Guard. Three years later in 2008, he began serving active duty in the US Army, undergoing basic training and then Advanced Individual Training for the Infantry at Ft. Benning, Ga. In June of 2008, Gault was assigned to the 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division stationed at Schofield Barracks in Honolulu, Hawaii.
“I was a Team Leader as well as my company’s Armorer,” Gault, who holds the rank of Specialist, said. “My job was to make sure all the weapons were clean, and do inventory once a month on $11.6 million worth of weapons, navigational devices, night vision goggles, and other equipment.”
In 2011, Gault and his unit, Bravo Company, was sent to a locale more far more forbidding and dangerous than Honolulu, the Sirkanay District in the Kunar Province of Afghanistan.
“I was supposed to be leaving in June, but I volunteered in March,” Gault said.
Gault’s tour of duty would last from March 2011 until Feb. 2012, and at first things were relatively quiet.
“The first couple of months we did routine patrols, we’d go out with the 101st Airborne which we were replacing,” Gault said. “We went out with them for a month to see what they were doing, to make sure that we knew the land.”
After learning the ropes, Gault’s unit took over patrolling the area and, in June 2011, on what was supposed to be a simple clearing operation, Bravo Company came up against the Taliban.
“In late June we did this mission and it was supposed to last 48 hours,” Gault said. “We got there and there were three platoons. Every platoon was supposed to clear four kulats, Afghan mud houses. Once we got there and saw the huts we were supposed to be clearing, we’d actually came upon a Taliban training camp with about 200-250 Taliban members there.”
This unexpected run-in with the enemy forced Gault and his platoon to dig in and wait and there they would remain for the next six days. In addition to having to face large numbers of enemy fighters, Gault said he and his fellow soldiers had to contend with bad weather that helped disrupt efforts to supply them.
“The water and food supply was blacked out — that was our term — from Saturday afternoon to Monday morning,” Gault said. “For those couple of days air support could not get in due to bad weather as well as too many fighters on the ground. For those two days you either didn’t have food and water or you had so little it had to be rationed.”
In the course of the fighting, one of the platoons became trapped by the Taliban, taking casualties, leading to Gault’s platoon being ordered in to get them out.
“First platoon got stuck on the mountain, they already had three KIA (Killed In Action) and 13 wounded,” Gault said. “Our battalion commander told our platoon leader that my platoon (3rd Platoon) was going in. Around 9:30 on Monday night we set out into the open mountain terrain. It wasn’t but 500 meters away from the other platoon, but we winded up taking six hours to get there due to the terrain.”
As they were making their way to their comrades, Gault said his unit got disturbing news that the enemy could see them and was deciding whether or not to attack them. What made it even more disturbing was that the enemy could see them because of a piece of equipment that enables American soldiers to see the enemy.
“About an hour into it, we picked up chatter on a Taliban radio that our interpreter got to carry,” Gault said. “You could hear that they were asking their commander if they could fire on us because they were actually following us by the green glow in the night vision goggles. Luckily, the commander decided it against it because it would give away their position.”
Even though they didn’t come under fire at that time, Gault and his fellow soldiers would soon find themselves under attack.
“Around 4 a.m. every morning is when the sun is fully up in Afghanistan,” Gault said. “It was 3:15 a.m. with 50 meters to go. Once we finally reached 1st Platoon we had enough time to put our assault packs down when the firefight began around 3:50 a.m.”
The radio that had earlier alerted them to the presence of the Taliban following them now let them know that their attackers were calling in reinforcements.
“We picked up more chatter that the Tabliban were asking for Taliban members in Nuristan, a nearby province, to come in to help attack the Americans,” Gault said. “It would take them 48 hours to get here because all of them were walking.”
Soon after, however, the tide of battle began to change in favor of the Americans, a bit of welcome news provided by the Taliban.
“Around 11 a.m. that morning we started getting the upper hand,” Gault said. “We could hear on the radio that they were running out of ammo, out of bodies, and other supplies. So on Wednesday night we made our 300-meter trek down to the LZ (Landing Zone) for exfil (exfiltration).”
Once again, however, Mother Nature through a monkey wrench into the soldiers’ plans.
“Around 10:30 that night a massive storm just let loose,” Gault said. “Our platoon leader told us that if it did not stop by 1 a.m. we would not be leaving, we would have to stay another day. We just prayed.”
Their prayers were answered.
“Around 12:45 it just stopped, it didn’t slow down or nothing, it just stopped,” Gault said. “Two Chinooks were flying in and at that point we knew we had made it. We were exfilled out and back to the FOB (Forward Operating Base).”
In addition to the casualties suffered by 1st Platoon, Gault said his platoon suffered two wounded. He said the Taliban lost approximately 160 fighters to a mixture of fire from the soldiers on the ground and the bombs that drenched their positions during the course of the fighting.
For the remainder of their tour, Gault said his unit was spared the kind of intense fighting it had endured in late June, but they still had to deal with the dangerous and occasionally lethal harassing actions of the Taliban.
“After that it was routine patrols though we still had to deal with the occasional IED (Improvised Explosive Device) and KIAs here and there,” Gault said. “During the summer you’d have the Taliban shoot their mortars and AK-47s at our FOB. They never killed anyone. They’d mostly hit the dumpsters and the walls of our buildings.”
In addition to patrolling, Gault and his unit also carried out “hearts and minds” operations designed to win over the local population. Gault said it was a humbling experience.
“When we’d go to the nearby district, we’d get out and patrol and we’d go up to the civilians there,” Gault said. “I would always carry a cargo pocket or two full of candy or food and I would pass it out to the little kids as well as some of the adults. The looks on their faces for a piece of bubble gum or a sucker was just priceless. As an American, it made me realize how much I take for granted.”
Gault and his unit returned to Honolulu in February and looking back on his time in Afghanistan, Gault admits to having mixed feelings about America’s continuing presence there.
“I guess I’m actually torn between it,” Gault said. “From one standpoint, we’re spending billions, not only for us but giving it to the Afghan people as well. But knowing that those little kids want us there made me love my job and made me want to be there.”
Much as he loved his job and his service in Afghanistan, Gault is back home in Union County having returned May 28. While he will continue his service in the military, Gault said it will be in the National Guard rather than the regular Army.
“I’m currently in the Army until the middle of July and then I’m going to switch over to the National Guard for at least one year,” Gault said. “I’ll be a Rifleman with Bravo Company, 1/118th Infantry Battalion, Gaffney. If I do make a career of the military it will be in the National Guard.”
Gault said he decided to leave the Army for the Guard in order to be with his 3-year-old daughter Kesley.
“I had to come home,” Gault said. “I want to watch my daughter grow up.” | <urn:uuid:f27e3bf3-c7a8-4423-b1ec-8b72b309d1b5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uniondailytimes.com/view/full_story/18988958/article-Home-from-Afghanistan?instance=popular | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989209 | 2,076 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Dear Carol: My sister, who I’ll call Mary, is the primary caregiver for our mother. Mom has late stage Alzheimer’s and is in a nursing home near Mary. Mary is understandably stressed by a demanding job, caring for her family and visiting our mom several times a week. I’m concerned because when Mary is around Mom in the nursing home setting, she seems rushed and her voice is sharp. Then Mom gets agitated and distressed. While I never criticize Mary’s approach, I’ve suggested that since Mom gets excellent care at the nursing home Mary should visit less often so she can have more time for herself, but she gets defensive. I visit Mom as often as I can. How can I convince Mary that if she is more rested, she and Mom are both better off? – Allison
Dear Allison: You seem to genuinely want to help your sister as well as your mom, so I’m assuming as I reply that you realize that your mom may have bad days even with exceptional care. That being said, I agree that a caregiver’s body language and tone of voice can make a big difference to our vulnerable loved ones and that your mom may be picking up on Mary’s stress. | <urn:uuid:7382b422-bfc6-4e56-bce3-00f3a4dd83f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mindingoureldersblogs.com/2013/02/serene-atmosphere-can-relax-care-receiver.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983192 | 257 | 1.546875 | 2 |
My aunt (the one who had WLS) once told me she believed I could find the cure for obesity. She meant it as high praise. She was telling me she thought I could accomplish anything, and the pinnacle in her eyes was curing obesity.
But I was beaten to the punch. One of the basic tenets of fat acceptance is that fat is not a disease. In fact, “obesity” is a misnomer because it medicalizes the state of being fat, which FA believes is a natural one. I find it an ugly sounding word. It’s even uglier if you believe fat is but one variation of body size and not something you’ve done to yourself because you’re a bad, bad girl. In fact, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word derives from the Latin obesus meaning “that has eaten itself fat.”
So I guess GlaxoSmithKline can eat FA’s dust.
These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. Side effects include believing in your own worth and a reduction in stress. | <urn:uuid:eb795fe0-ef2e-476e-9041-37c72dcd3bce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://worthyourweight.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/the-cure-for-obesity/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979345 | 230 | 1.625 | 2 |
Graph Paper Maker 1.6.1
Developer: Black Cat Systems
Requirements: Mac OS X 10.3.9. Universal.
Trial: Feature-limited (graph paper is watermarked)
When I first heard about Graph Paper Maker, I laughed. Why would anyone spend $20 on a program, plus pay for ink and paper, when she can just buy preprinted graph paper at an office-supplies store?
A few months later I got my answer. I was enrolled in a Coptic Bookbinding course, and I was making a template for a book’s leather cover. I was going to have to cut a large number of slits into the leather in very precise locations. But measuring out the location of every slit to mark on my template quickly got tedious. What I needed was graph paper with 16 squares per inch. The graph paper would do all the measuring for me; all I’d have to do is draw my lines in the right places. But where could I find 16-square graph paper?
My First Graph Paper
When you open Graph Paper Maker for the first time, you’re presented with a single window offering an overwhelming array of options. Of course, it’s great that the program is so versatile, but my first reaction to the program’s opening window screen was that it was way too advanced for me. Most of these options are for engineers and scientists, not amateur bookbinders.
It’s a little intimidating at first glance.
OK, one step at a time. Choose the paper size and orientation. I don’t want a title, so delete that. I know lines per inch, the same for X and Y. I left the weights alone and set the major spacing to 16 for a heavy line every inch. I ignored the rest and hit the Generate button.
Graph Paper Maker prompted me for a name and saved a PDF of the graph paper, which then opened automatically in Preview. But there were axes on the graph (which I didn’t want), so I closed the PDF and went back to Graph Paper Maker. I deleted all the Axis numbers and the X and Y titles and clicked Generate. Nothing happened. Graph Paper Maker was frozen. I had to force-quit.
The problem was that it didn’t like having all of those axis numbers empty. What you’re supposed to do is uncheck the “Show Axes” box. On the one hand, it’s nice that there’s a simple check box for that. On the other, it’s badly placed, so I missed it. I like that Graph Paper Maker has so many options and that they’re all in one window, but that window should be better laid out. (And, of course, the program shouldn’t freeze when something is left blank!)
Nonetheless, in the space of a few minutes I’d created the graph paper I needed. It was much easier than using a program that isn’t designed for the task (I’m a hopeless database addict; I tried using FileMaker!) and much faster than calling all my local office-supplies stores.
As I mentioned above, the graph paper Graph Paper Maker makes doesn’t open within that program. Instead, it’s saved as a PDF, so it can be reused later. That’s good, but if you want to create a second (different) sort of graph paper, you have to close the Graph Paper Maker window and reopen it (choose Graph Paper from the Window menu) or else when you click Generate for your second piece of paper, the first will be overwritten without warning.
By itself, that’s not such a big deal: you just have to remember to use a new window for a new piece of paper. (On the plus side, it makes it easy to make minor tweaks to a piece of paper you just generated.) But unfortunately, Graph Paper Maker doesn’t remember the window’s previous settings: when you open a new window, all the settings have reverted to the defaults. That makes it cumbersome, then, to create and save several similar pieces of graph paper.
Another problem with the program always reverting to its pre-set defaults is that it means I have to make some of the same changes every time I use the program. I never want axes. I always change the margins to half an inch on every side, and I change the line colors to light blue. I’ve also found that minor line weights are not uniform when printed at the default weight of 0.1. (I get alternating light and dark lines on my printer.) It looks much better if I change the weight to 0.15. Of course, different users will want different defaults than I do; a “save as default” option would be a nice improvement for a future version. (You can save a graph paper configuration for opening and editing later, but there is no way to make it the default when opening the program.)
Perhaps you noticed the Easy Graph Wizard button at the bottom left side of the window. I didn’t. Turns out it’s just as well I missed it, because it isn’t made to do what I needed. If you need to plot a range of values on a graph, though, the Wizard makes it easy to create a piece of graph paper suitable to your values.
Graph paper that you buy in a store is usually printed with light blue or green ink, rather than solid black. That’s good for a few reasons: it’s easy to see what you write over the lines, and the lines don’t (or barely) show up when you photocopy them. Graph Paper Maker allows you to choose an ink color with the standard color picker. If you want the same color (just different weights) for your major and minor lines, I suggest using something other than the color wheel. (Crayons work well for me.)
Huey Lewis said it’s hip to be square, but if you prefer triangles or hexagons or (non-square) rhombi, Graph Paper Maker offers Isometric, Hexagon, Axonometric, and Trapezoid layouts, though without title or axes. (I once needed polar graph paper for a geometry class; Graph Paper Maker can’t make that. But that’s the only kind of graph paper I can think of that isn’t supported.)
Graph Paper Maker is a versatile program that allows you to quickly and easily create any kind of graph paper you’re likely to need. Its user interface could definitely stand some improvement, but as it is there’s no denying it gets the job done. If you ever find yourself needing a kind of graph paper that’s not available at your local office-supplies shop, give this program a try. | <urn:uuid:fb5d82ae-96f2-4e4c-9ad6-d485eb6f0c8a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://atpm.com/13.11/graph-paper-maker.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941765 | 1,447 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Fearless boy, 12, saves four siblings from burning house5/16/2012
A 12-year-old Florida boy is being hailed as a hero after he rushed back inside his burning home three times to save his four younger siblings. Justin Jackson's parents were at work when a heavy storm knocked out power to the house. Justin and his brothers compensated by lighting candles. His aunt says, "'Next thing Justin knew, one of the younger boys said, 'There's a fire!'" Justin rescued his three brothers and three-year-old sister, kicking in a door to reach the little girl. Justin told his aunt, "I wasn't even scared of the fire. I was just worried about my family."
What do you have to say about Justin's act of bravery? | <urn:uuid:59642c49-758f-495d-a0db-ca66f6ef506e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://now.msn.com/fearless-boy-12-saves-four-siblings-from-burning-house | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.990179 | 159 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Two generations after Edward Dittmer's work with Joe Kittinger in setting the world record for highest skydive (102,800 feet) in 1960, another member of the family is lending a hand toward breaking that record.
Ed Coca, of La Luz, who is married to Dittmer's granddaughter Sheila, is also working with Kittinger as balloon launch director for the Red Bull Stratos project that will see Felix Baumgartner attempt to break the record with a skydive from 120,000 feet.
Baumgartner's jump was supposed to take place on Monday in Roswell, but Red Bull Stratos announced Friday that they had postponed it until Tuesday because of an expected cold front with gusty winds. The jump can only be made if winds on the ground are under 2 mph for the initial launch of the balloon that will carry Baumgartner 23 miles above southeastern New Mexico.
It is Coca's job to call for the final release that will send Baumgartner to 120,000 feet in his bid to surpass three records: highest parachute jump; longest parachute freefall; and man exceeding the speed of sound without an aircraft or space vehicle. These records, set on Aug. 16, 1960, by Kittinger as part of Project Excelsior, ensured his integral role on the Red Bull Stratos team.
As "capcom" (capsule communications), Kittinger is the only person who will be in constant radio contact with Baumgartner during the balloon ascent.
Following two unmanned tests, Red Bull Stratos has tested two flights manned by Baumgartner. The first, on March
Since retirement from the Air Force in 2005, Coca, who is on loan to the Red Bull Stratos project, has been crew chief for ATA Aerospace High-Altitude Balloon Projects at Holloman Air Force Base. ATA supports scientific projects with customers such as the U.S. Army, Navy and Los Alamos National Laboratory.
"We are the only Department of Defense group that does this," said Coca, who has worked with many balloons during his career. "This is the biggest balloon I've ever done."
At launch of Tuesday's expected flight, the balloon made of high performance polyethylene film -- likened to a 40-acre "dry cleaner bag" -- and the capsule, in which Baumgartner will ride to altitude, will stand taller than Seattle's Space Needle.
Coca supervises balloon inflation, capsule release and is responsible for the integrity of the balloon and all equipment related to the launch. He is also responsible for making critical calculations, such as the amount of helium that will be needed to get the balloon to the projected altitude.
Coca tells the driver of the crane launch vehicle whether to speed up or slow down based on the rise of the balloon. At a point it is 10 degrees off vertical, he will signal the release of the capsule. After that, mission control personnel take over.
"My favorite part of the job is seeing that balloon go up," Coca said. "When it's up and climbing, I just have to clean up and go."
Both Dittmer and Coca have worked closely with Kittinger.
"I was with Joe when he got his balloon pilot's license," said Dittmer, noting their longtime friendship.
Kittinger and Dittmer were both assigned to the space biology branch of Holloman Aeromed Lab during the training and testing of the astrochimps Ham and Enos. Prior to that, Dittmer was responsible for connecting medical devices to Kittinger that monitored physiological responses. He was also responsible for helping the pilot into -- and testing of -- the pressurized suit worn in Manhigh I, Kittinger's balloon flight from South St. Paul, Minn., on June 2, 1957.
Coca said that Kittinger is "very meticulous in crunching numbers and he double checks everything," even though Coca has run the numbers 10 times before Joe sees them. During missions, Coca has made real-time decisions based on current conditions and has found himself explaining his actions to Kittinger. Through this, Cocao said they each have developed a mutual respect for each other's expertise.
"I respect him for what he's done and been through," Coca said.
For more information about Red Bull Stratos and the countdown to launch, visit www.redbullstratos.com.
Carolyn Dittmer is an Alamogordo based freelance writer. She may be contacted at firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:11f03bf2-b143-464a-9d2f-13d53938cf1d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.alamogordonews.com/profootball/ci_21717650/la-luz-man-plays-integral-role-skydive-from | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969288 | 949 | 1.609375 | 2 |
* FOURNIER, Pierre(24th Jun. 1906 ~ 8th Jan. 1986)
[ Prince of the cello ]
* Curriculum Vitae
Pierre Fournier is a member of glorious school of French cellists in 20th century after Casals - from Paul Bazelaire and Maurice Maréchal, Fournier, Tortelier, Navara, and Gendron - and perhaps most famous in them. He is almost incarnation of 'gracefulness' used in depicting French players, called 'Prince of the cello'. What a good and enviable nickname!
He was born in
Paris as a son of army general, from a musical family(His brother
Jean is also a famous violinist, whose wife is Jeanette Doyen -
Jean Doyen's sister. He made trio team with Badura-Skoda and
Antonio Janigro and recorded many trio repertoires at Westminster
label). He learned piano, but suffered from polio and changed to
cello at nine because he had problems in pedaling from the
aftereffects of it. He was taught from 1918 by André Hekking, later
famous teacher Paul Bazelaire in Paris Conservatoire. He
graduated at the first prize in 1923, making début next year in Paris. He became solist of
Colonne Orchestra on Jan. 1927, starting concert tour in Europe.
Invited by Berlin Philharmonic in 1933 he went to Germany, which
established his international fame. Maybe he knew Furtwängler at this
time, and broadcast recording of Dvorák concerto 2nd mvt.(1942;
more or less dubious) and Schumann concerto 3rd mvt. remained.
His activity in chamber music right after début was very impressive. In 1943, he succeeded Casals in the legendary trio whose other members were Alfred Cortot and Jacques Thibaud. His affection to this genre is essential to his career. From 1941 to 1949 he taught at Paris Conservatoire, when he recorded mainly for EMI under Walter Legge's control after WWII. 'Introuvable de Fournier' by EMI(4 CD set), and Fauré's Piano quartet No.2 recording in 1940(with Marguerite Long and Thibaud) represent this years.
After quitting the teaching job, he concertrated on all of his time to concert performances. His début at USA was 1948, USSR 1961(where he carried a jury of Tchaikovsky Concour with Rostropovich), Japan, and Korea in 1978. His partner at podium were almost all of the famous conductors in 20th century, including Furtwängler, Walter, Szell, Kubelik, Karajan, Clemens Krauss, Cellibidache, Martinon, and Karl Münchinger. Other partners were Backhaus, Kempff, Gulda, Rubinstein, Schnabel, Firkusny, Lipatti, David Oistrakh, Sviatoslav Richter, Francescatti, Szerying, and Szigeti, etc. - all-star members. After late 1960s, he liked to play with his son Jean-Pierre(as Jean Fonda at records). In 1953, French government honored him by Région d'honeur. His bow was stopped on 8th Jan. 1986 by a stroke, shortly before his second visit to Korea.
His artistry was 'deriving most of gracefulness of the work he played'. His tone and musical fluence is never hard, and so fluent that I usually come to forget it is very difficult to play cello like him. But his beautiful tone does never spoil the whole musical span, which shows his supreme experience and musicality. Listening to Casals I realize his humanity and deep concentration on the essence of the works he thought to be, and to Rostropovich I am moved by his overwhelming technique, power, and vast scale. Fournier always has me consider again how beautiful the works are. Obviously, difficult to judge which of the two player is better, I think Fournier is somewhat better than Rostropovich in the recordings from baroque to classical era. The latter often shows some disaccord to his partners, but Fournier never. And his ensemble is almost such an instinct that his best realm seems to be chamber music, I think(Perhaps it is prejudice from my taste. ^^). Of course, it depends on the playing style, but isn't it minus if a cellist has problem at chamber music?
His recordings are
released much as CD, and lucky in transffering. Mainly EMI From début to mid 50s, Decca in 50s. His most important
career as recording artist is a 'title cellist' representing DG
from late 50s to late 60s, after which he recorded freely at RCA,
EMI, Erato, Philips, and Sony. My discography includes almost all
of the so-called standard cello repertoire(though he did not
record as many comtemporaries as Rostropovich). Of course DG is
the central company, but considerable amount in other companies
But, it is natural that his representative recordings be those of DG in his peak times. In that aspect, I want to recommend Haydn's D major and Boccherini's B flat major concertos(DG) above all. Being really classical and full of dignity, I have never heard better than this though text is somewhat romantic in the viewpoint of authenticism. Bach's unaccompanied cello suites(Archiv) is next. I think this is the best record by modern cello even though including Casals' legendary one. His graceful and balanced playing is perfectly matched to Bach's music. These two recordings are essential to Fournier's fans. Accompanied by Szell/BPO, Dvorák's concerto(DG) is one of the best recording of this work, especially the best in the aspect of harmony between solo and orchestra. This record is the best choice to the newly listener of this work. Other famous concertos are Lalo, Saint-Saëns No.1(DG), Bruch's 'Kol Nidrei'(DG), and the reputation of R.Strauss' 'Don Quixote' conducted by Szell(Sony) and Karajan(DG) have already been firmed.
Beethoven and Brahms' sonatas are recommendable in his chamber music recordings. Beethoven's sonatas was recorded three times, in which I want to name the ones with Gulda(studio) and Kempff(Paris live), all of DG label. Though Kempff made some mistakes, I think the later live recording is somewhat better in the aspect of equivalent fusion of two players, and cheaper(^^). In Brahms' sonatas, only the record with Backhaus(Decca) is now available, but very great and at the summit. The nexts are trio recordings with Artur Rubinstein and Henryk Szerying, including Brahms' Nos.1~3, Schumann's No.1, and Schubert's Nos. 1 &2(all RCA label). These are one of the most beautiful trio records after Oistrakh trio's EMI recording. Beethoven's complete trios with Kempff and Szerying(DG) are also good, recorded in 1969~70(Beethoven's bicentennial). Other sonatas are 'Arpeggione' with his son(DG), Bach with Ruzickova(Erato), Poulenc(EMI), and Debussy & Martinu(Sony). Small pieces(DG) is proud of his very sophisticated style and was available by double series and now by Original Masters release.
Perhaps it's nothing to be desired if a great artist is also good-natured. Fournier seemed to be so. Friedrich Gulda does not resemble Fournier in any way, but Gulda played with him in about 30 concerts and recorded Beethoven's complete sonatas. He said "He was the more seasoned, and my superior. I owe him a great deal. I learnt a huge amount from him, musically, about taking things seriously, and he guided me, kindly but also very strenuously." Of no other musician does Gulda spoke with so much respect, affection and warmth as Fournier. Later, Heinrich Schiff tried to persuade gulda to join him in a new recording of the Beethoven's sonatas, but in vain. Gulda said to him, "Don't build up your hopes. I was so spoilt by Fournier that it's out of the question for me, great as it might be."
(c) 2000~, Youngrok LEE ; Link free, but please get my approval before you reuse, copy, or quote this materials
Created ; 29th
Last update ; 4th Jun. 2007 | <urn:uuid:c737274f-1a6b-4945-9997-b0336874d407> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fischer.hosting.paran.com/music/Fournier/fournier-e.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967559 | 1,900 | 1.53125 | 2 |
IT'S ALL ABOUT IMPROVING DRIVER PERFORMANCE
When it comes to deploying monitoring technology to boost driver performance, Russ McElliott will tell you it helps to think like a baseball coach. McElliott, president of TransAm Trucking, explains that truck drivers — just like baseball players — need an ongoing series of “stats” in order to accurately map out where they are and where they want to go in terms of improving their game, which, in the case of drivers, relates to things like fuel economy and safety.
TransAm wanted to measure the day-to-day performance of its 1,400 trucks so drivers could see how they measure up. The company decided on Blue Tree Systems' mobile communication solution combined with its R:COM software package and began using it last November.
“What we do is take a driver's specific information, how they are doing in terms of fuel efficiency, engine idling, route compliance, etc., and graph their averages against the fleet's averages,” he explains. “Then we push that information out to the tractors on a real-time basis so drivers can immediately see how they are doing, both in terms of their prior performance as well as against their peers.”
Baseball statistics serve the exact same purpose, drawing from a breadth of player performance measures and playing field variables (there are more than 45 different pitching stats alone!) to gauge a player's performance and contributions to his team from year to year, frequently against a statistical performance average.
But McElliott says the issue becomes more acute in trucking because, unlike in baseball, the fleet doesn't get to physically meet with drivers every day. Drivers aren't like baseball players, gathering for batting practice or working on fielding skills under the watchful eyes of coaches and managers every day. Instead, drivers are spread out over hundreds, if not thousands, of miles delivering freight, only making contact through voice or text communications as needed.
“Our managers might only get to meet a driver once or twice a month, and that's just not enough effective time to help someone improve their performance,” McElliott says. “We needed a way to push information out to them on a daily, if not hourly, basis to show them how they're doing, to give them a tool to help them get better. It's about getting the driver's personal pride involved; just like baseball players, they want to be the best at what they do.”
Charlie Cahill, president & CEO of Blue Tree, notes that this emphasis on boosting driver performance is only going to increase, as the cost of fuel continues to climb and tighter safety regulations — such as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's new Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program — are put into place.
“Given the increasing pressures the industry is facing from rising fuel costs and ever-tightening regulations, fleets will have to rely on management systems to deliver the profit,” Cahill explains. “Only the fleets that focus their efforts on maximizing their fuel performance and managing their drivers' work-hours effectively will survive, so effective and robust technology is the only silver bullet solution to the challenges they are facing.”
“More and more businesses are re-evaluating traditional operating practices in order to maintain a competitive edge; to improve efficiencies while reducing costs,” adds Ron Katz, vice president-North American sales for Chevin Fleet Solutions. “A flexible and robust fleet management software solution will give complete visibility over a fleet, facilitating improved processes and cost control, including vehicle maintenance, repair forecasting and fuel consumption.”
Yet now, such technology is being tasked to help out with decidedly more human-focused issues as well, specifically to measure and, if needed, alter behavior behind the wheel.
“Quality fleet management solutions do more than capture and manage disparate fleet operating data,” notes Katz. “They can now be used to identify anomalies in driver/fleet performance and provide the intelligence needed for company-wide management of inspections, services, medicals, eye tests, random drug tests and advanced driving course start/refresher dates.”
Bob Prim, director of safety standards for Ryder System Inc., notes that his company's Supply Chain Solutions and Dedicated Contract Carriage business segments aim to use driver monitoring and measuring technology to improve their safety profiles.
“We primarily use the GreenRoad Safety Center, which is a product of GreenRoad Technologies, to provide driver feedback and improve safe driving behaviors,” he explains. “It's a device installed in the trucks that monitors up to 120 driving maneuvers and alerts drivers to unsafe handling such as hard braking or improper cornering.”
Prim says that an LED (light emitting diode) display in the cab allows the application to flash a green light when a maneuver is safe, a yellow light when it is unsafe, and a red light when a maneuver is deemed unsafe and/or hazardous. GreenRoad tracks the events and provides a report for each driver.
“This system has helped us significantly reduce our collision-related safety expense,” he points out. “Managers get a better picture of how a driver operates his vehicle as well as information on specific trends in hard braking, aggressive lane changes, or cornering at too high a speed.”
Prim adds that once any driver understands that his manager is unhappy with a current driving behavior and is watching him for improvement, he's going to adjust that behavior. “Once that behavior starts to change, the manager can shift his feedback to positive recognition and praise,” he notes.
Ryder is also currently piloting a new technological twist to its driver monitoring and measuring efforts: using video to give the company a view of the road conditions faced by its drivers.
“A camera on the truck is linked to an accelerometer, and if the accelerometer is triggered, the camera records events 15 seconds before and 15 seconds after it is triggered,” Prim explains. “We use this both to have a record of road conditions if a collision occurs in the front of the vehicle as well as to be able to provide preventive counseling if our drivers are engaging in unsafe behaviors.”
Thus, such in-cab video systems can validate a driver's actions and show why a defensive maneuver is needed to prevent a serious collision, he stresses.
“In the past, a single-vehicle collision was always considered questionable [with] the assumption being the driver fell asleep,” Prim explains. “With this video technology, managers can see if approaching traffic was in the driver's lane of travel and forced the driver to make an evasive maneuver.”
Helping boost safety compliance is almost a must-have in the ever-tighter regulatory net surrounding trucking these days, notes Craig Fiander, vice president-marketing for ALK Technologies. But fleets are also realizing they can gain competitive advantages with these systems.
“We talk a lot about these devices in reference to all the regulatory activity around safety going on in this industry now,” he points out. “But there are significant efficiencies to be gained from using them as well — and if you gain a fraction of a percentage more in fuel economy, you're looking at ultimately improving your profit margins.”
That's why in-cab video makers believe fuel savings are one of the big reasons for adopting such technology, notes Jason Palmer, president of SmartDrive Systems. His firm recently analyzed the fuel consumption rates of over 1,000 drivers at customer fleets across a range of trucking applications, including waste hauling, transit, public transportation, as well as food and beverage delivery.
Such real-time fuel use data, accurate to within a few hundreths of an ounce per second, was pulled directly from the vehicle's engine computer and compared to inefficient driving, unnecessary idling time, and excessive speed. SmartDrive analysts then reviewed data from different vehicle types under different loads and road conditions.
FUEL SAVINGS SIMPLIFIED
Palmer says the data collected by SmartDrive indicates just reducing and/or eliminating three “fuel-wasting” practices — engine idling; excessive speed; and aggressive maneuvering, which includes quick stops and starts, hard braking, sharp turns and curb bumps — can cut fuel consumption between 8 and 24%, depending on vehicle type and operator driving performance.
The interesting part about SmartDrive's technological package is that it can return “instant feedback” to the driver in the form of color-coded lights to let them know they're committing such maneuvers and thus wasting fuel.
“Giving the drivers direct feedback as events happen allows them to make instant adjustments, so a fleet doesn't have to wait until the end of the day to make corrections,” Palmer explains.
And that feedback can be especially critical in terms of improving a driver's safety profile, stresses Tom Flies, senior director for product management at Qualcomm Enterprise Services.
“Just one extra second of response time can prevent 90% of accidents,” he explains. “So monitoring drivers to find out which ones habitually exceed the speed limit, even if by only a little, and coaching them to adjust their operational style can be that one preventive step that stops an accident from happening.”
At the end of the day, Louis McAnally, director of professional services for PeopleNet, believes fleets really need to focus on three goals when it comes to using driver monitoring and measuring technology: better fuel management, improved route management, and burnishing the company's safety profile.
“If fleets can use this technology to accomplish those three things, then they are way ahead of the game,” McAnally says. “The key is to get the information in real time and then be able to slice and dice it as you want to provide drivers with good feedback.”
The critical thing fleets must remember, he stresses, is not to use such information to “beat drivers up” over negative metrics. “Taking that approach won't get drivers to embrace this technology one bit,” he adds.
Rather, he believes that all professional drivers want to get better at what they do; they just need a formula to help them do so. “It's all about showing them how they are performing now and then showing them ways to improve — backed by the information compiled by this technology,” McAnally explains. “You not only need to use this information in a positive manner, but also use it to highlight your best performers as examples for the rest of your drivers to follow.”
For example, he points to a common metric found throughout trucking: Speeding by just an extra 10 mph costs a typical tractor-trailer one mpg in fuel economy.
A PeopleNet customer, however, used the operational data gleaned from one driver's truck to show how he maintained 60 mph, averaged 9 mpg in fuel economy, yet still made his deliveries on time and well within the proper hours of service, all while sticking to the preset route and fuel stops.
“That changed the whole world of this company; it allowed all of its drivers to really ‘get it’ in terms of what the fleet was trying to accomplish,” McAnally says. “That changes the culture; making sure the right improvements, both in terms of cost savings and safety, become permanent fixtures for the future.”
Pinpointing fuel economy
One interesting “side effect” some fleets are experiencing with the use of telematics systems to monitor and measure driver performance is that the technology is also helping them compile far better fuel economy data than previously possible.
“Most of the data coming from today's engine ECMs [electronic control modules] contains various assumptions and doesn't recalibrate for different altitudes, fuel temperature, ambient temperature and the like,” explains Russ McElliott president of TransAm Trucking. “As a result, your actual fuel mileage can be very different from what the truck says it is.”
That's why TransAm's telematics supplier Blue Tree Systems crafted algorithms to make those adjustments to give fleets more precise fuel economy statistics that, in turn, get bundled into driver performance reports.
“With ever-increasing fuel costs shrinking margins, U.S. operators have long since understood the value of working with drivers to improve fuel usage, but they have faced many challenges in implementing such programs,” says Charlie Cahill, president & CEO of Blue Tree.
“The main problem has been the lack of trust in the data being collected from the engine ECMs. It is common knowledge that the fuel figures being reported are not accurate; therefore, accessing a driver's capability based on this data would be flawed,” he points out. “Thus, fleet operators are hesitant to challenge veteran drivers on their driving style unless they have monitoring tools in place that they can trust are accurate and robust enough to counter a challenge by the driver.”
Cahill says Blue Tree's technology not only incorporates “calibration factors,” it also tallies the amount of fuel purchased via data gleaned from electronic fuel cards, onsite pumps, or typed in manually. Those numbers then get fed into reports that are used to coach drivers on how to improve their driving style to improve their fuel performance and safety.
“Truck technology is also changing at a fast pace, so fleets need to educate their drivers on how to drive these new engines to achieve the best performance,” Cahill notes. “We also incorporate profiles as to how particular trucks should be driven in accordance with manufacturer guidelines and the customer's application.”
Overall, he says tapping into these various data streams has helped Blue Tree customers achieve fuel efficiency improvements from 5% with minimum effort to 15% or more when appropriate driver coaching programs and initiatives are put in place. | <urn:uuid:0cc42226-92ff-449e-af89-412da18b970f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fleetowner.com/fuel_economy/monitoring-measuring-0901 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959409 | 2,903 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Till this afternoon, Dinesh Dwivedi, age 50, a retired school teacher, spent large parts of his day begging in the streets of Jaipur.
He has a pension of Rs 35,000 a month, and owns a small haveli in the walled city of Jaipur and shops in this crowded market place.
But Mr Dwivedi, a double PhD in Sanskrit, was beaten often by his son, a 25-year-old with an alleged drug habit.
"I begged him again and again, with folded hands, to spare me...but he would hit me with a stone...or a stick."
Mr Dwivedi has three children. His elder daughter is married but his younger son and daughter live with him. His son, Saurabh, is unmarried and is a school dropout.
"I was not born addicted to smack," he says, sitting on the steps at his father's house. "I was tricked into addiction by people who want to grab the property that my father and I own."
But neighbours say Saurabh beats both his father and his younger sister mercilessly. He also sells anything he can lay his hands on in the house to pay for his drug habits.
Local government officials heard of Mr Dwivedi's plight through media reports today and showed up this afternoon at his house in Bhrampuri in Jaipur's old city to help. They went out looking for him with his son, and found him begging only two lanes away from his house. Mr Dwivedi, who could barely crawl on the road, was then moved to a state-run home for senior citizens.
For the past five years, however, in a busy neighbourhood, neighbours and people who lived inside Mr Dwivedi's house on rent, walked past him as he asked strangers for a few coins without intervening. | <urn:uuid:a3730311-b6e1-4fd3-8c9d-ee2941a0ef32> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/with-a-double-phd-this-man-was-begging-in-the-streets-298541?pfrom=home-trending | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.995633 | 385 | 1.53125 | 2 |
16 November 2012
The humanitarian situation remained grave during the last week. An escalation in armed conflict in Aleppo and Damascus/Rif Damascus has compounded humanitarian needs. In particular, the evolving situation in Yarmouk camp in Damascus and neighbouring areas of Zahera, Tadamon, Yalda and Hajar al-Aswad has resulted in a number of unconfirmed deaths and injuries as well as a growing sense of apprehension throughout the Palestine refugee community.
Based on field assessments in Syria, UNRWA estimates that the refugee population in need has surpassed the planning figure on which the Agency's Regional Syria Humanitarian Response Plan was based (225,000) and now stands at over 300,000 Palestine refugees in Syria, three-quarters of the population.
UNRWA has received requests for emergency cash assistance from over 59,000 households in Syria with projections that the current rate of requests will mean the Agency will receive 100,000 applications for cash assistance by the end of the year. UNRWA anticipates that its current available resources for cash assistance will be exhausted by January 2013.
Currently, 1,700 registered Palestine refugees have fled Syria for Jordan. The number of Palestine refugees from Syria that have approached UNRWA in Lebanon is estimated to be 9,666 individuals (2,248 households).
At a glance:
- Significant deterioration in the overall security situation this week, particularly in the areas of Aleppo, Rif Aleppo, and Damascus/Rif Damascus;
- There have been intensive clashes in Yarmouk camp, resulting in the reported deaths of at least 13 refugees;
- Clashes and shelling continue in Harasta, Douma, Zamalka, and Darraya. The proximity of Darraya to West Mezzah, where the UNRWA field office is situated, meant that normal working hours were temporarily disrupted.
Increased exposure to violence and displacement throughout Syria are compounding the humanitarian needs of Palestine refugees. Food remains a critical priority for all, and non-food items included in UNRWA's response plan (in particular: mattresses, blankets, quilts, and hygiene kits) are needed.
UNRWA is re-doubling preparations to support Palestine refugees during the forthcoming winter season. Conflict-affected refugees are expected to face grave challenges during the winter season in Syria, as many of them are no longer able to afford warm clothes, blankets and quilts. Anticipated areas of concern include the limited availability of fuel for heating and the plight of refugees whose homes have been damaged or destroyed.
UNRWA seeks support from donors for projects involving the procurement of items to help vulnerable refugees cope with the winter and the provision of cash allowing refugees to purchase warm clothes and household items.
There are currently 1,886 internally-displaced persons (IDPs) sheltering in six UNRWA school buildings. The displaced population residing in UNRWA school buildings is predominantly composed of women (approximately 34 per cent) and children (approximately 40 per cent).
Conflict has continued to escalate in Damascus, particularly in the area of Yarmouk, which has been severely affected by shelling in the camp and hostilities in the neighbouring areas of Zahera, Tadamon, Yalda and Hajar al-Aswad. UNRWA has received reports that at least 13 Palestine refugees have been killed in Yarmouk this week. Other areas of Damascus, such as Harasta, Douma, Zamalka, Midan, and particularly Darraya, have been inaccessible due to clashes and air strikes. As a precaution, work at the UNRWA field office in the Mezzeh area was temporarily disrupted on 12 November. In Sbeineh, a shell landed within the compound of a school. No casualties or injuries were reported and damages are being surveyed for repairs of the facilities.
UNRWA facilities are operational with the exception of Yarmouk, Seita Zeinab, Douma, and Sbeineh.
|IDPs in two UNRWA school buildings in Damascus as of 7 November 2012
The situation in Aleppo remains volatile, with increased concerns over access to Neirab and Ein el Tal camps due to checkpoints and heavy clashes in the vicinity of the camps. There are reports of the heavy presence of armed groups in the areas around Ein el Tal Camp. Clashes continue in the vicinity of the airport adjacent to Neirab Camp. Intensified conflict has also been reported in the area of Jdaydeh and north of Aleppo.
Approximately 1,210 banking cards have been distributed to vulnerable Palestine refugees in the Aleppo area with cash assistance distribution planned in the coming weeks. UNRWA facilities remain operational.
|IDPs in four UNRWA school buildings in Aleppo as of 7 November 2012
|Ein el Tal
The situation remains volatile in Dera'a, with reports of conflict close to the UNRWA health centre in the city that caused the temporary closure of the facility. The road to Damascus remains open with intermittent closures due to security operations. The Agency has distributed ATM banking cards to approximately 2,400 families who are expected to receive emergency cash assistance in the coming weeks. UNRWA schools remain temporarily closed due to high risks of exposure to violence for children.
There are reports that no casualties or injuries were caused by two shells that landed in the camp earlier this week. The camp remains calm despite the incident and shelling in the vicinity of the Citadel. Access to Hama from Homs remains restricted, with the closure of the main road forcing vehicles to access Hama via a detour through Salamiyeh. UNRWA facilities remain operational.
There are reports of increased security in the town and additional checkpoints. UNRWA facilities remain operational.
The situation remains tense, with continued clashes in the city centre and Bab Amr. A building in the camp was demolished by authorities citing the need for enhanced surveying and security of the entrance of the camp. Early this week, a large military presence and temporary closures of roads caused restricted movement from the camp and a lack of commodities in local shops as residents clamoured to stockpile food and basic household items. UNRWA cash assistance and emergency food distribution for 3,500 households in the camp is currently underway.
There are a total of 1,700 Palestine refugees from Syria who have entered Jordan, representing a slight increase over the course of this week. Of this total number, there are 179 refugees residing in Cyber City and approximately 30 refugees in Za'atari camp. It is estimated that 76 per cent of Palestine refugees from Syria in Jordan comprises women and children. Female-headed households make up a quarter of the 393 Palestine refugee households from Syria that have entered Jordan. The needs of Palestine refugees from Syria remain acute in the fields of emergency health care, food, and NFIs including winter items.
The Agency remains concerned about reported cases of refoulement of refugees attempting to cross into Jordan and continues to liaise on such cases with the relevant authorities.
Currently, there are 9,666 Palestine refugees from Syria who have entered Lebanon. UNRWA has organised child-friendly spaces and the introduction of learning materials for Palestine refugee children from Syria as part of its programme of alternative education. There are currently 655 children participating in the alternative education activities, representing approximately 60 per-cent of the 1,086 Palestine refugee students from Syria who had requested to attend UNRWA schools.
Current funding requirement
UNRWA is seeking USD 54 million through the revised Regional Syria Humanitarian Response Plan to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance to Palestine refugees in Syria and those who have fled across Syria's borders into neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan. The focus of UNRWA's response plan is Syria. UNRWA is seeking USD 44 million for the six-month period from September 2012 to February 2013 to address pressing humanitarian needs. The Agency is also requesting over USD 8 million to support Palestine refugees who have fled to Lebanon, and USD 1.5 million for those currently seeking refuge in Jordan.
So far, and since the launch of the previous regional response plan earlier this year, USD 17.567 million has been received from the United States, Italy, Sweden (Sida), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) through its Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and Emergency Response Fund (ERF), the Bizkaia regional government, the Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department of the European Commission (ECHO), Switzerland, and private donors. UNRWA is continuing negotiations with several donors for support to Palestine refugees affected by the crisis. | <urn:uuid:0c89f888-e339-4224-9760-d1a9707b2f74> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unrwa.org/etemplate.php?id=1511 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950543 | 1,758 | 1.804688 | 2 |
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