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A lifelong entrepreneur, Phil Holland's businesses have included, businesses have included building "spec" houses, the manufacture of automatic doughnut machinery, designing and building apartment complexes, restaurant franchising, doughnut retailing and the development and management of shopping centers.
In 1992, Phil founded My Own Business, Inc. which fosters successful entrepreneurs worldwide by helping them avoid the common mistakes many entrepreneurs make when starting out.
Interviews with Phil Holland»See all
Cash is KING! Profit is important, but Cash is KING! Phil Holland joins Jim Blasingame to talk about why in the next 12 months, the most important operating thought in your mind is Cash is King!
What's the best way to start a small business? Phil Holland talks with Jim Blasingame about two ways to get started as a business owner, including growing into it part-time, and acquiring a franchise.
What's the best way to get your small business started? Phil says it's with a home-based business, and he and Jim talk about the elements involved in getting your home-based business started.
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China Executes 15 in 1 Day (Updated)
China’s official state media announced that 15 people were executed in the Hunan city of Changsha last Thursday, including a man convicted of detonating explosives outside a local tax office in July 2010. From The Washington Post:
Xinhua says China’s supreme court approved the death sentence of Liu and 11 others Thursday. All death sentences are sent to the supreme court for review and are usually carried out immediately if approved.
The other 11 people were convicted of crimes including murder and robbery.
China executes more people than any other country — around 4,000 people a year.
The China Daily reported that 15 people in total were executed and that two other men convicted of assisting Liu with the crime each received seven years in jail. See also additional CDT coverage of the death penalty in China, including a recent photoseries which depicts the last 12 hours in the lives of four condemned female drug dealers before their 2003 execution in Wuhan.
[Update: This post was edited to reflect the China Daily report that a total of 15 people executed, rather than the 12 reported by the Washington Post.]
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I am a big believer in holistic medicine, as well as alternative ways to be healthier. Though many vitamins sort of freak me out, the other treatments such as - Acupuncture, Massage, Aromatherapy, etc intrigue me.
About 10 years ago, I heard about coning for the first time. I remember stopping by a new spa in my hometown, and checking out their menu of options. One of the treatments, for about $60, was to have what they called "Egyptian Candle Treatment." This was waaaaaay before I had even ever met an Egyptian.
I read about how there was some wax and candles and burning involved. That you might hears some crackling and feel warmth in your ear. To be honest - it freaked me out. BUT - what I would give for one good cleaning?? Priceless.
Today, as I was busy doing what all SAHWs do (watching daytime TV) - I saw an episode on "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" about Ear Coning. They treat Bruce to one treatment. Once the procedure was finished - there was tons of "ear wax" exposed. Of course, once I saw this- I thought - HECK YEAH. I'm doing it.
Of course, being the type of person I am, I began researching Ear Coning more in depth. What I wanted to know was - what actually HAPPENS in a session. I found a great video on You Tube. Check it out:
Okay. Simple enough, and he said he felt great!
Here is a diagram of what's going on:
I wanted to know a little more about the history of coning, and how this came to be. According to Lifehealer.org - the practice is thousands of years old. Back in the day, people use cone shaped items made from pottery. The original style of coning (from the Egyptians) used hollowed reeds.
Also according to Life Healer's Journey to Wellness.. what is happening is the spiral of the cone causes the smoke to be pulled down in to the ear canal. This causes the ear canal to warm up and loosen the wax and any other material. As it heats it up, the candle causes a suction by creating a vacuum in the ear canal. Air is drawn up from the Eustachian tube into the middle ear then through the porous membrane out into the outer ear. The heat and the vacuum draw out the wax and other materials from the ear canal into the base of the candle. As it burns down you will hear a lot of cracking and hissing which is the process of removing the wax etc. The warmth feels soothing and relaxing during the process. Ear Oil placed in the ear after candling with cotton to cover will protect from further infections from bacteria, yeast's etc.
The healing properties of the Ear Candle has its foundation in two primary physical actions. Firstly, the slight under pressure (the chimney effect) inside the Ear Candle and the vibration of the rising air column serve to gently massage the ear drum and promote secretion in the frontal and paranasal sinuses. This has an immediate subjective effect of regulating and balancing ear pressure. Users often describe a soothing, light sensation in the ear and head area. Secondly, the locally applied warmth stimulates vascularization, invigorates the immune system and reinforces the flow of lymph. At the same time, important acupuncture points and reflex zones are stimulated.
The results - THIS:
That's fairly disgusting. BUT - if it is for real, how wonderful!
Then I looked for the naysayers... I found one You Tude video that did a little experiment to see if this is for real!
However, fairly new evidence from the FDA might change our minds. According to Jim Edwards on CBS's Business Network, he reports that the FDA officially came out against Ear Coning. The FDA said, " FDA has received reports of burns, perforated eardrums and blockage of the ear canal which required outpatient surgery from the use of ear candles."
Ouch. That's harsh.
According to the Mayo Clinic, coning can cause serious injury. Their rresearch shows that ear candling is ineffective at removing earwax. In fact, the technique can actually push earwax deeper into the ear canal. Ear candling can also lead to:
- Deposits of candle wax in the ear canal
- Burns to the face, hair, ear canal, eardrum and middle ear
- Perforation of the eardrum or other ear injuries
My question is this - WHY DO SOME SWEAR BY IT? I believe, if you can hear better - there has to be something to it.
Regardless, I guess it is best to err on the safe side. I suppose I will bypass this form of alternative treatment. If you have experienced this, or have thought about it - share your thoughts in the comment section.
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I’m hopeful about the potential for President Obama to be Teacher-in-Chief.
I did not vote for President Obama. I strongly dislike much of his agenda, including the expansion of abortion rights, the “creation” of jobs by government fiat, and the expansion of government to which he alluded in his Inaugural Address.
However, President Obama’s apparent popularity affords him the opportunity to be “Teacher-in-Chief.” The Presidency of the United States is a great platform from which to teach. I think it’s been squandered by presidents who think that they must do something, when it may be enough to teach something.
If President Obama uses this opportunity–the popularity he’s built–to teach correct principles, he’ll do far more good than could be done through any new government program. As long as he has listening supporters, he should teach economics, personal finance, debt-avoidance, self-reliance, service, industry, and more.
For example, I liked this from his Inaugural Address:
Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted, for those that prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor — who have carried us up the long rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward.
We don’t need a president who pretends he can give us what we need. We need a president who will inspire us to work for those things ourselves. I believe this may be within President Obama’s power. Don’t waste it, Mr. President.
(For an interesting read, see Chris Knudsen’s thoughts on President Obama.)
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It was about five years ago when the Meridian Public School District first announced plans to establish at least four small learning communities at Meridian High. Fast forward to the present, and this year the first of those communities is being launched in earnest with a strong partnership between the school district, two local hospitals and Meridian Community College.
This fall, the Meridian Public School District will be one of only two school district's in Mississippi to have a Health Small Learning Community.
'The high school will be a smaller version of a university. When you get to the high school, you'll join your school or college,' says MPSD Superintendent, Dr. Alvin Taylor.
This fall 45 students from the 9th grade at MHS are slated to enter the program.
'They will be grouped together in their academic classes, their biology, English and their math,' says Terry Moore, who is director for Ross Collins Vocational Center. 'Those students will have the same teacher each year. So, what it does is make it more personal for them.'
For students enrolled in the Health Small Learning Community at MHS, Moore says all of their 9th through 12th grade curriculum will be geared towards the healthcare field.
'If you write a paper in English, it's going to be geared toward something to do with the medical career. This will be the same with math.'
According to district officials, studies show that grouping students who have the same interest in classes together helps improve students' grades. Officials are optimistic that this strategy will also help improve the graduation rate and career opportunities for students.
'What Anderson Hospital and Rush Hospital have guaranteed us is that if students do this and they can put this on their resume' when they apply at those hospitals, it's going to make a big difference for them about whether they will be considered for those jobs or not,' says Moore.
So far, the Rankin County School District is the only other school district in Mississippi to have a Health Small Learning Community.
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Health Professions High School is one of the most unique,
innovative and challenging programs in the Sacramento area. At
HPHS students from around the region have the opportunity to
experience the MANY careers in the health care field together
with a traditional college prep curriculum. Our students will
graduate with much more than a diploma; learning how to suture,
getting CPR certified and participating in enrichment programs at
local hospitals are only the beginning! We believe that learning
should be relevant, fun and challenging. Come and see what we are
Arthur A. Benjamin, a gentle Renaissance man with wide ranging
civic, church, educational, medical, sports and artistic
interests, succeeded because he let others succeed. In a
life rich in service, integrity and pride in his culture, Mr.
Benjamin confidently led a life that spanned the United States
and took him from Harlem to Sacramento.
Mr. Benjamin studied Biochemistry and English Literature at
Hamilton College in upstate New York before a distinguished
career in the United States Air Force including recruiting and
retaining military health professionals. He later managed
the Radiology department at U.C. Davis Medical Center in
In 1983, he joined Sacramento City Unified School District and
retired in 2000 as principal of Hiram Johnson High School.
After retirement, Mr. Benjamin helped recruit support for the
districts Health Professions High School from regional hospitals
and healthcare agencies. His assistance was invaluable even
as he struggled heroically against cancer. Arthur A.
Benjamin and his wife, Beverly, enjoyed 21 years together.
This High School is named with gratitude and appreciation for Mr.
Benjamin’s contributions to district students and this school.
The SCUSD Summer of Service 1.4 is an exciting 7-week program
that gives incoming 9th grade students the privilege of helping
out their community through service learning opportunities
addressing community issues and concerns. Students will also
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Herb Scharfman (Photographer. Born, Chicago, IL, Aug. 24, 1911; died, Scottsdale, AZ, Feb. 21, 1998.) Herb Scharfman became one of the best known photographers in sports through his work in the pages of Sports Illustrated, but he actually got his start as a motorcycle messenger for the International News Services’ photo division. Scharfman joined I.N.S. in 1932 and, during the depths of the Depression, he made a gutsy gamble when he borrowed $100 to purchase a camera. It was a young man’s gamble that worked. For nearly a quarter-century, Scharfman was one of I.N.S.’ leading photographers and built a strong reputation in sports in particular. In June 1958, the I.N.S. operation was virtually discontinued as International News Service was merged into United Press to create the present United Press International. Scharfman was laid off along with most of the I.N.S. staff. Scharfman then joined the four-year-old Sports Illustrated, the publication being produced by Time Incorporated, and he quickly became one of its leading lensmen, producing numerous covers in almost all major sports. He has also had a long-term relationship with the Dodgers and remained an annual visitor to spring training camp at Vero Beach, Fla., for many years.
About This Dictionary
The Bill Shannon Biographical Dictionary of New York Sports is an open database of sports biographies maintained by Jordan Sprechman and Marty Appel. We welcome public and scholarly contributions and suggestions.
About Bill Shannon
A prolific author, wire service sports reporter, long time Major League Baseball official scorer, football statistician, sports museum founder, theatrical agency owner and public ... read more
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A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the successor to Hubble. Over budget and behind schedule, it’s in serious trouble. The House side of Congress essentially canceled it in their version of the Federal budget, but in the Senate version they put enough money in the budget to keep JWST alive. The two different budget versions will have to be reconciled before they go to Obama to sign. As I said in that article above, I wasn’t clear on where the money the Senate put in the budget was going to come from.
I’m not the only one: Frank Wolf (R-VA), who is chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee overseeing JWST’s budget (through NASA), has publicly asked the same question. As I read this, he is doubling-down on the House threat to cancel JWST:
For us to make a truly informed decision that takes into account both the value of JWST and the value of opportunities that may be precluded by the JWST replan, we must have the [budget] offset information. If such information is not provided by the time that conference negotiations begin, I will consider that to be an indication that JWST is no higher in priority than any other existing or planned NASA activity.
In other words, he wants to know what other programs will be cut to fund JWST. This information was not in the press release by the Senate when they announced they were funding the observatory, and it’s critical. Will NASA have to take this blow, or will it come from outside NASA, from other agencies or departments?
I have long supported JWST — I was marginally involved with the mission back when it was still unnamed and the instruments hadn’t even been proposed yet — but that support is contingent on the idea that it will be built with minimal impact to other important (I dare say vital) NASA missions. My fervent desire is for NASA to get enough money to fund everything they are doing and want to do; we’re talking exploration of our Universe here, something I have in one way or another dedicated my life to supporting. But that sometimes means making hard decisions, and we’re facing one right now.
Republicans hold the House majority, and they are in turn being pushed by the Tea Party, who want to cut huge amounts of government spending (well beyond what’s safe or wise, in my opinion). In that sort of environment, the odds that NASA will actually get more money seem slim. And that means JWST, which is a huge chunk of NASA’s budget, is in a very precarious position.
The House and Senate will have to hammer out their reconciliation very soon, and I’m hoping the Senate will have more details on where this money to fund JWST will come from. With other critical government expenditures facing the ax, there’s going to have to be some very serious negotiations over very serious matters. Which side of the line will JWST fall?
Image credit: NASA
Links to this Post
- UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News | SpaceWeb | October 13, 2011
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By David Dickson
Several regular volunteers at Best Friends have just been given the chance to make a big difference in the lives of some very special cats. And, they're running with it.
The cats in question have limited or no use of their back legs. Best Friends cat manager Michelle Warfle was inspired by the progress Beemer the cat made through physical therapy. Beemer was formerly featured on the Guardian Angel section of the Best Friends website. (View his story here for details.)
What's good for the goose ...
Michelle hoped these other cats might benefit from physical therapy as well, specifically with stretching and strength-training. While caregivers could indeed provide such therapy, Michelle knew it could also be hard for them to fit it in on a regular basis with their already-busy schedules.
At the same time, there were a handful of volunteers looking for additional ways to help the animals at Best Friends. As such, the new volunteer-based cat physical therapy program was born. It was a perfect fit.
The first steps
Four volunteers stepped up to the plate. They received basic training on massage and range-of-motion stretching, and have been working with several cats for three weeks now. "The volunteers have really been getting into it," says Michelle.
The initial four cats picked for physical therapy were Rio, Eliana, Hermes and Tiny Tim. In no time at all, however, Rio bowed out of the program by finding a fabulous home. (In Rio's new home, though, her person can continue the physical therapy on an even more consistent basis. Double win!)
Local volunteers Betsy Anderson, Colleen Hart, and Wendi and Ed Paschal come once a week. Accordingly, the three cats in the program receive physical therapy three times every week.
It's been a learning process for all involved. For example, Colleen had a mini breakthrough with Eliana early on that has been extremely useful to all the volunteers ever since. You see, Eliana hadn't exactly been thrilled at having her back legs handled during Colleen's first two visits.
Then Colleen changed tactics and brought Eliana on an outing first. It turned out to be a real secret weapon. "I took her outside for a walk and she was like putty in my hands," Colleen says. "I was able to massage her feet and legs for 30 minutes and she just purred." Nowadays, outdoor walks with the aid of a sling have become a regular part of their efforts with Eliana, which makes her one happy feline.
Boys will be boys
Tiny Tim presented a bit of a challenge because he's so fidgety. His nickname is "Happy Feet," on account of those back legs of his constantly zipping and bouncing around. He can't put weight on them, but he sure likes to move them around a lot. It was hard enough to give this little ball of energy a scratch behind the ears, let alone a massage.
Ed and Wendi, however, found that if one of them dangled a toy in front of Tiny Tim, the other person could work on his back legs while he was distracted. Sneaky, but effective.
Hermes is another moving target. All three cats are young (under two years old), and the boys in particular seem to want to zoom and dash around at all hours. "It keeps us on our toes," Betsy says about working with the cats. "They're fun!" With Hermes, treats, toys, and outside trips also seem to help him stay a tad more focused.
A promising start
With only a few weeks under its belt, the new physical therapy program is too new to really see any significant progress. And yet the cats already look forward to their visits. "They all enjoy the extra attention," says Wendi.
The four volunteers coordinate together, sharing tips and combining talents and insights for the benefit of the cats. "It's something that I can do that will benefit those cats, to help them get ready to be adopted," says Betsy. Adds Wendi, "It's a great opportunity. We're just so thrilled to be a part of it."
This new program certainly has room for more helping hands! If you're in a position to do some long-term volunteering at the Sanctuary and you'd like to help out in this great new program, please contact the Sanctuary volunteer department at email@example.com, or call (435) 644-2001, ext. 4219.
Photos by Molly Wald
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Would a bike-sharing system similar to the one in Paris – called Velib – work in Seattle?
Some like the idea of Seattle having a system of self-service kiosks where you could rent a bike for a short trip downtown or to connect from transit to your destination. The idea is to get more people out of cars and offer another transportation option. This week, bicyclists and others will have a chance to explore the possibility during a two-day “King County Bike Share Expo”.
Three vendors of bike-sharing technology will be on hand to show how the system works and give riders a chance to try it out, according to King County officials.
The expo starts at 10 a.m. Tuesday and lasts until 6 p.m. at the Discovery Center in South Lake Union at 101 Westlake Ave. N. On Wednesday, it moves to the Redmond Town Center at 164th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 74th Street, where it will run from noon to 8 p.m.
Big in Europe
The bike-sharing idea took off in European cities such as Paris and Copenhagen, where large bike-rental networks are available for commuters and tourists. It’s now catching on the U.S. Washington, D.C., for example, has the Smart Bike program under a public-private partnership in which riders pay online for annual subscriptions to rent bikes from stations around the central business district.
David Hiller, advocacy director for the Cascade Bicycle Club, said he often sees postcards from bicyclists about how cool the bike-sharing systems are in Paris or Montreal. “They’re super cheap and easy to use,” he said.
Plus, they’re great for connecting from transit on trips when you don’t feel like walking or “dragging your own bike all the way there.” And as a transportation option, they’re relatively cheap to build — especially when you consider how much is spent on new bridges and roads, he said.
But there are question marks. Bike-sharing systems invite problems with theft and vandalism.
And Seattle has less density than D.C., and the average bike commute from home to work here is twice as long as Copenhagen. Hiller’s said he’s not sure how that would translate.
“Whether that plays into the usefulness of the system, we’re gonna have to sit back and learn some stuff,” he said. “But we’re excited to try it and see how it works.”
Several organizations teamed up to sponsor the expo, including King County, the City of Seattle, Vulcan Real Estate, the City of Redmond, Redmond Town Center, Cascade Bicycle Club, REI, and Whole Foods. Both Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and King County Chairman Dow Constantine are expected to speak Tuesday at 11:30 a.m.
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Nov 7 2011
The Pope Occupies Wall Street [Excerpts]
On [October 24, 2011], the Vatican called for creation of a “global public authority” and a “central world bank” to regulate the world’s financial institutions. As Reuters reported, “The document from the Vatican’s Justice and Peace department should please the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ demonstrators and similar movements around the world who have protested against the economic downturn.”
The Vatican got very specific in its recommendations. It condemned the “idolatry of the market” and called for global wealth redistribution, asking nations of the world to participate in an “ethic of solidarity.” In a passage that could have been ripped from Marx, the Vatican stated, “If no solutions are found to the various problems of injustice, the negative effects that will follow on the social, political and economic level will be destined to create a climate of growing hostility and even violence, and ultimately undermine the very foundation of democratic institutions, even the ones considered most solid.”
This is wrongheaded in the extreme. By impoverishing the middle and upper class in order to press for greater “fairness,” the socialism implicitly supported by this document pushes a utopia of equality in poverty.
So why is the Vatican so gung ho for a global reserve currency? Skeptics would say that the Vatican opposes the U.S.’s control over the global economy. The Vatican under Pope Benedict XVI has routinely gone out of its way to criticize capitalism as unfair and problematic – in 2009, for example, the Pope issued an encyclical calling for a “profoundly new way” of organizing business, suggesting that a global political authority be established to push for “the common good.” This is well within the tradition of modern Popes, who have almost universally endorsed the notion of a super-national government. This is understandable given the universalist mission of the Catholic Church.
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Today we got close to finishing the rollers for the belts. The bumper mounts are complete and we found some cool resonance when you bump them together (see video below).
We also made significant progress with OpenCV, however it is quite slow compared to the previous custom code. We will find ways to optimize it for speed later once the functionality is up to par.
As we have access to a large indoor space this Friday, we are building a prototype ball launcher that closely replicates that of our actual robot to experimentally determine air resistance. While we have done the kinematics for an optimized basketball shot, after some research we found that air resistance could play a role in altering the ball’s position.
As you can see below, we created a cool animated gif image of the frame pieces to give you a glance at what our frame will look like before getting welded. Note that the set of aluminium that holds up the middle section is merely a placeholder.
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Serbia's emergency service said it was fighting to get through to the estimated 6,500 homes scattered across remote regions in the country, and has declared a state of emergency in 14 municipalities.
"We are trying everything to unblock the roads, since more snow and blizzards are expected in the coming days," said Predrag Maric, head of emergency services at the Serbian interior ministry.
In neighbouring Bosnia helicopters flew in basic supplies to cut off villages as the big freeze tightened its grip on much of Europe, bringing temperatures as low as -27.4F (-33C).
Ukraine's emergencies ministry said 63 people had now been killed, while at least 945 people suffering from hypothermia of frostbite have had to stay in hospital.
In Hungary, there were reports of villagers scavenging for coal at a disused mine in Farkaslyuk with their bare hands.
Poland's interior ministry said the number of fatalities caused by the weather had reached 27 after a further nine people were found dead.
Local authorities in central and eastern Poland also began to take the rare step of closing schools as daytime temperatures struggled to reach anything warmer than 5F (-15C). "We're expecting that over the next few days more schools will close," said Grzegorz Zurawski, spokesman for Polish education ministry. "Children are more vulnerable to the cold than adults."
In Romania the government ordered the deployment of tracked army vehicles to help rescue hundreds of people stuck in vehicles caught in drifts almost 10 feet deep in some places. The army will also try to break through to villages cut off by the bad weather, while authorities have launched an attempt to free three ships trapped by ice on a freezing River Danube. Temperatures have dropped so low that even the Black Sea at the coast has started to ice over.
Further south towns in Bulgaria recorded their lowest temperatures in a 100 years, and over 1,000 schools shut their doors.
Weather forecasters expect the severe weather to last at least until the middle of February.
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This will be about the only political piece I ever write where I try to make a case or convince a group of people to vote a certain way. And the way I'm going to do it is by being direct, blunt, honest and truthful, as well as using logic that cannot be disputed and math that is precise (though if anybody doesn't believe me, they can always look it up). I also will be translating this into multiple languages so most immigrants in the US can read this (though I apologize in advance is the Google Translate loses some of the meaning in translation).
First allow me some assumptions.
If you are an immigrant to the US then chances are you came here for a better economic living. You decided to come here, illegally or not, because it would benefit you economically. Whether you decided to be a real American and work, or simply just go on welfare and live off of other people here, it doesn't matter. Whether you even like the United States doesn't matter. The fact still remains the United States presented a better economic life than the country you came from.
Also, if you are an immigrant, chances are you vote Democrat and will vote for Barack Obama. Again, whether you're here legally or not, and whether you are allowed to vote or not, it doesn't matter. Most of you will vote for Barack Obama. The reasons are many. He promises you that you will become a citizen. He promises you more money. He promises you jobs. Whatever he promises you, in general he will give you more stuff and money than Romney will (which I agree).
But there is a problem the immigrant community faces and it's the same problem all Americans face. A problem of feasibility.
Barack Obama can promise you everything under the stars. Romney can do the same. The issue is whether or not they can deliver and make good on those promises. And what determines whether or not they can make good on those promises is whether or not the economy is strong enough, healthy enough and growing enough to generate the economic production needed to pay for everything they promised.
Understand the government can't just "print off more money." Printing off more money does nothing but create inflation because it isn't the paper money that has any value, it is the goods and services that money can buy that has value. Therefore the wealth and riches of a nation isn't how much pieces of paper money you have floating around, it's the amount of goods, services and stuff an economy produces that gives a nation its wealth, strength and standard of living. We merely use money as a means to convert our labor into a tool we can use to go and buy the stuff we need. That's all money is - it's a tool. So when you print off all this money without a corresponding increase in economic production, you get inflation, or worse, "hyper-inflation" that you see in modern day Zimbabwe.
Until recently, the United States was able to produce a lot of stuff that would give its money value. However, in the past 20 years or so, especially the last 5, we have been spending more money than the amount of stuff we're producing. Additionally, the government has been spending way more money than it has taken in, requiring it borrow money from the Chinese, Arabs and other countries. Worse still nearly 70% of the money the government does spend goes into what is called "income transfers." "Income transfers" means just that. It is transferring money from one group of people to another in the form of EBT, welfare, food stamps, medicare, medicaid and other programs that disproportionately benefit immigrants. The problem is that the government (meaning the US population) does not get anything in return for those income transfers. Normally when you give somebody money they have to produce something or provide a service. But 70% of our budget is spent without any corresponding increase in economic production, explaining in part why our economy is in such bad shape today.
Now stick with me if I haven't lost you yet with the boring economics lesson because the consequences of this economic lesson will have an effect on you.
As we spend more money relative to the amount of actual genuine economic production this will not only cause inflation, but (as noted before) require we borrow the money to make up the gap. Again, the Chinese, Arabs and other countries have lent us trillions of dollars, but inevitably they would like to be paid back. The only way we can pay them back is through economic production, not merely printing off more US dollars because that would lower the value of the dollar and our creditors would not accept that. So we need economic growth.
The problem comes in the policies Obama and the democrats have been advocating. They are usually for increasing taxes on people and corporations. They are also for spending more money on income transfers (which again does not result in economic production, just merely taking one person's money and giving it to another). None of these things create economic growth and the Chinese, Arabs and other countries know this.
The point in time will come that our creditors would like to be paid back. And if we don't pay them, they will "cut us off" and lend us no more money. Meaning, the government will have to really cut spending because it ran out of money. Meaning where does that leave you?
It is here you have to be intellectually honest with yourself because whether you collect a government check or you actually support yourself, it doesn't matter. The problems that you and I both face are a matter of sustainability. The economic growth is simply not there to keep the promises Obama has made to you as well as the promises previous politicians have made to you. And the deficit spending Obama is relying upon today is also unsustainable.
We also must be intellectually honest in another regard. If something is unsustainable, which this economy currently is, how can you advocate it? How can you vote for something that simply will not work?
If your goal is to simply take as much money from the American taxpayer as you can and leave when the government runs out of money, fine, at least you are honest in that regard. But if you plan to live here or would like to live here, whether you are an illegal immigrant or not, then you must accept this fact and vote accordingly because you are literally delusional (in psychological terms) voting otherwise.
Furthermore, chances are the countries you all came from suffered from this exact same problem. You just didn't bother to familiarize yourself with the economics and politics that caused your country's economy to be so poor. The problem is you are simply causing the same problem again because you didn't bother to learn the economic lessons from your home country. This is why you absolutely must study the budgets of the government. You must study the economics of your country. Because if you don't, then you are uninformed and vote for policies and politicians that sound good, but are not sustainable. So please let me inform you and trust me, I'm not making these figures up.
First, our debt is currently at 100% to GDP (meaning we have enough federal debt so that it is equal to 100% the amount of economic production - "GDP" - we produce every year. It is currently I believe 75% "net" federal debt to GDP, but that is another economics lesson for another time. The point is that our debt level is high and it cannot go much higher.
Second, it is going much higher. Higher and faster than ever before under Barack Obama. For every year in his presidency he has had a $1 trillion deficit, or a deficit amounting to about 8-9% GDP. This annual amount is added to our debt. We are not paying down the debt, it is increasing at a rate faster than any time in US history except during times of war (which are those spikes in the chart). It is not sustainable. It will end either by Republicans cutting the budget or the Chinese refusing to lend us any more money.
Third, our economic growth is slowing. We used to grow around 4.5% per year, now we're at about 2.25% per year. It is not enough to keep up with population growth. This is in part because more and more people are living off of the government and not working. If people had kept working and the government not spend so much money on income transfers the average person would not be making the $47,000 they do today, but rather closer to $100,000.
Again, this economy is not sustainable. It is not in your best long term interests to vote for Obama.
Now, you can dismiss me, you can dismiss my logic and you can ignore my charts. But it will be at your own peril. Whether you believe me or not, you have stepped on the Titanic. I don't care what the Democrats, the socialists or Barack Obama promises you, the economic boom days of the United States are over. The only reason the government can spend money on income transfers today is because it's borrowing it and once that dries up, the money and economic opportunities you came here for will disappear. You will face a situation similar to the one you saw back in your home country and there won't be a thing you can do about it.
My final argument though is the most compelling.
Being an immigrant, chances are you have children. The only reason the US population is growing is because immigrants are having more children than the natives. What this means is you have "skin in the game" an English phrase that means you are personally invested in this country. So if you don't want to study economics, you don't want to be educated and you are so naive you can't see a problem with a politician that promises "free everything" fine. Your children will suffer your ignorance. I'm lucky in this regard because I have no children. Matter of fact I watch with a macabre fascination with the demise and collapse of the United States. I'll be dead leaving no loved ones behind, I don't care. However, you have much more at stake in the future of this country because you have children.
So the choice is really up to you and all other immigrants in the United States. You can keep going down the road you have before. You can keep voting in politicians that promise you everything and in doing so will simply repeat the economic collapses of the countries you came from. You can remain ignorant about history and economics of not just the United States, but your home country. And you can be lazy about studying the finances of a country you are in charge of (because this is a democracy). Just be prepared to have yourself or your children pay for the consequences.
I will, again, be watching the Titanic sink with everybody on it in macabre fascination.
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Should I have a birth partner?The role of a birth partner is to give you practical and emotional support when you're in labour.
There are lots of benefits to having a birth partner, and midwives and obstetricians are encouraged to get birth partners involved in the birth (NCCWCH 2007). There's evidence that if you have continuous, one-to-one support, you may cope better with labour, and be happier with your birth experience (Hodnett et al 2011).
And if your birth partner does a good job, you may be more likely to have a straightforward birth and a slightly shorter labour (Hodnett et al 2011).
Midwives working on busy labour wards struggle to give women one-to-one support. A single midwife may be caring for several women in labour. You may have different midwives looking after you during your labour, as one shift ends and another begins. Choosing someone you know to support you can make the experience less scary, and help to boost your confidence.
What will my birth partner need to do during labour?Your birth partner can give you:
Your partner can praise, reassure or encourage you. Just holding you and keeping eye contact with you can be hugely comforting. This may reduce your anxiety levels and lessen your pain (NCCWCH 2007).
Your partner can help you with breathing, relaxation techniques and massage. This will help you to cope with the pain of labour (NCCWCH 2007).
He could put the TENS machine pads on you, or help you into comfortable positions. If warmth relaxes you, he could heat up a wheat bag, or help you to use a birth pool, bath or shower. Or you may feel hot and like to have a cool flannel on your forehead. He could also make sure that you have enough to drink, and remind you to go to the toilet regularly.
This could be explaining to you what's happening, or suggesting something you learnt at antenatal classes. Your supporter can remind you to keep moving around, or that you're nearly there!
Your partner could ask for help when you need it, or speak up for you. This may be especially helpful during strong labour, when the power of the contractions may make it hard for you to talk.
If a medical procedure is suggested, such as having your waters broken, or an episiotomy, your partner can ask for more information. This may help you to make an informed decision. He may also ask for time for you to think about what's being suggested, unless it's an emergency (Hodnett et al 2011, MIDIRS 2008, NCCWCH 2007).
You'll both need to keep an open mind, because you won't know what you want until the day. It's important that you feel comfortable about communicating with your birth partner, especially as labour may cause you to be a bit abrupt about what you need!
How can my birth partner help me if I have a caesarean?If you're having a caesarean section, your birth partner can support you in lots of ways. He can:
- Be in the operating theatre with you, and reassure you throughout. You may be feeling anxious or nervous, so having him there will be a huge source of comfort.
- Help to prepare you for a planned caesarean. Knowing what will be involved during and after a caesarean will give you both confidence.
- Speak to medical professionals on your behalf if you have an emergency caesarean. You may be very tired, especially if you've already been through hours of labour. You may also be worried about the sudden change of plan and need the emotional and practical support of someone you are close to.
Does my birth partner have to be my baby's father?Not necessarily. Though it's become almost routine for the dad to be the birth partner, this isn't the best option for everyone.
Your partner may feel uncomfortable with being a birth partner, or he may not be able to be there. Or you may have personal, cultural or religious reasons why you want someone else to be your birth partner. You could ask a friend, a relative or a paid doula to support you instead of, or as well as, your partner. There is evidence to suggest that having another woman to support you can help labour and birth to go smoothly (Hodnett et al 2011).
Your partner may be excellent at giving you physical and emotional support, but not be as confident about the advocacy part of the role, or vice versa (NCCWCH 2007). Having two people to support you in labour (MIDIRS 2008) could mean they complement each other in how they support you. They can also alternate rest breaks to make sure you always have someone with you.
If you want more than one birth partner, mention this to your midwife. Some hospitals and birth centres only let one birth partner in the birth room. Talk to your midwife well in advance to find out what the unit's policy is.
How should my birth partner prepare?Your birth partner should understand what happens in a straightforward labour, and have some idea of the interventions that may be suggested. This, and rehearsing coping strategies, can give your birth partner confidence and reduce his anxiety levels (and yours) once labour starts.
Attending antenatal classes with you is a great way to prepare. You should both talk about your hopes for the birth, and what you would or wouldn't like to happen.
If you have written a birth plan, make sure your partner reads it and knows if you feel strongly about certain things. He will also need to keep an open mind. Things can change quickly in labour, and he may have to help you to make a decision about some aspect of your care.
Your birth partner will need food and drink during your labour. A hot drinks machine will probably be provided on the labour ward, but it may be a long walk to the hospital canteen. It's best to prepare snacks to take in with you.
What if my birth partner finds it hard-going on the day?Being a birth partner isn't for the faint-hearted. Some labours can last for many hours, especially if it's your first baby. Providing emotional and physical support throughout can be exhausting, so breaks are important.
Think about how long your birth partner can physically keep going with particular massage techniques. You may need to adjust your positions so you can both be comfortable, without straining your back or other muscles. Use the rests between contractions to stretch aching muscles and change positions.
It's common for birth partners to feel anxious, even more so if the birth involves medical interventions (MIDIRS 2008). At times your birth partner may feel that he is not helping you, or that the experience is not living up to his expectations of labour (MIDIRS 2008).
Your midwife may be able to offer some help or reassurance. However, if your labour or birth doesn't go according to plan, your birth partner may be left with some difficult feelings and emotions. Talking about both your experiences afterwards with your midwife or obstetrician may help.
ReferencesHodnett ED, Gates S, Hofmeyr GJ, et al. 2011. Continuous support for women during childbirth. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2): CD003766. onlinelibrary.wiley.com [pdf file, accessed November 2012]
MIDIRS. 2008. Support in labour. MIDIRS Informed Choice - for professionals 1
NCCWCH. 2007. Intrapartum care: care of healthy women and their babies during childbirth. National Collaborating Centre for Women's and Children's Health, Clinical guideline. London: RCOG Press. www.nice.org.uk [pdf file, accessed November 2012]
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Help talk:Starting a new page
From Ancestry.com Wiki
Looking for ancestors using surnames EVITT, SLIGH,HUNTER,SMITH, SUTTON, TRAVIS, MOORE, RICE and MCMILLON. Families are in Rhea County (Dayton) Tn, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and Texas
SMITHs of Dayton Tn
I am currently seeking information on the following people:
Asbury Smith B) 1830 in GA D) Unknown he married Mary S Russell B) 1850 Georgia D) Unknown. They were married abt 1870. They had children 1 whos name was William M (Tinkerbill)Smith B 1871 in Murray Co, Ga.
Asbury Smith is believed to be 3/4 or 100% Cherokee Indian also prior to 1870 it is believed he was married to Martha???. His grandmother is believed to be Jennie Kirk.
Seeking information on Asburys parents and siblings as well as his children
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You can find an incredibly rich set of resources here that includes articles, curriculum materials, videos, Blogs from industry experts, online discussion forums, Job Postings, Training Listings, the most detailed listing of outdoor adventure providers on the Web and more! Thanks for being a part of the Outdoor Ed Community
Outdoor Ed Store
Outdoor Ed Community
The Recreation Law Center
The Outdoor Ed Community is the online Social Networking site for outdoor professionals where you can interact colleagues and peers from around the world.
Outdoor Ed offers the best source for outdoor professionals to find careers and for employers to find great staff. We also host the largest online directory of companies and schools offering outdoor and experiential education programs and degrees. You can search for specific jobs, companies or schools.
From Wilderness First Aid courses to rock climbing certifications, this is your source for finding professional training.
The Outdoor Ed Community is where you can interact with other outdoor professionals.
Due to daylight savings, I am up before I need to be and thought I would post one last time before I head out of town... I am left with several impressions from this years AORE conference.
1. The growing "green" or environmental trend. The field is increasingly paying attention to its environmental responsibilities both as educators of people in the outdoors and as examples for others to follow in terms of our ecological footprint. This, I feel, will be a growing trend as we begin to re-imagine what outdoor recreation and education will be like in the future.
2. Standards and standardization. We couldn't hide forever from the effects of No Child Left Behind and the growing influence of neo-liberalism in our schools and educational practice. Well, it is here. There was a lot of discussion and buzz at this conference about accreditation, certifications, and standardization in the field. The message was: if you don't do it, the state or federal government will. But of course, the question should not be standards vs no standards, it should be what KIND of standards. No one is really against the idea that we should have some commonly agreed upon best practices. How the field wrestles with this issue will be interesting to follow in the coming years.
3. The rise of degree programs. More and more students (it seems to me) are coming out of outdoor recreation and education degree programs. Do they have jobs waiting for them? It will be interesting to see how the rise of this field in terms of academic preparation plays out once many of these folks graduate and are looking for gainful employment.
4. Research. The field as a whole is hungry for evidence-based research that supports the philosophy of what we do. Where this research will come from and how we wrestle with the differences between advocacy based assessment and more "objective" research will also be interesting to watch in the coming years.
5. Lastly, I am left with how much fun this conference continues to be. Great people, wonderful sessions and activities, and a general vibe of informality, support, and encouragement of all. AORE broke the attendance record this year at about 540 attenders. Hope to see even more next year in San Diego.
Signing off from Asheville.
Connect & Share
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This week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded Apple another patent related to the slide-to-unlock gesture found on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. That key patent win for Apple has caused concern among officials in Taiwan, according to Focus Taiwan (via Electronista).
Taiwan Premier Wu Den-yih reportedly asked government agencies this week to assess the possible impact of Apple's patent win on local companies. One of the most noteworthy corporations based out of Taiwan is HTC, which has already seen patent litigation trouble with Apple.
Wu, speaking at a weekly cabinet meeting, is reportedly "very concerned" about the impact Apple's new patent could have on Taiwanese companies, especially those who compete with Apple to sell smartphones and tablets. He directed the country's Ministry of Economic Affairs and Industrial Research Institute to look into the matter.
As a result of his actions, those two agencies could end up collaborating with Taiwanese companies to settle potential patent infringement lawsuits with Apple, if need be. The premier reportedly said that the agencies should "do their best to help defend the legitimate rights and interest of local companies in any patent fights with Apple."
Apple's newly awarded patent has been viewed as a victory for the company, with onlookers speculating that touchscreen products running the Google Android operating system could be found in violation. Apple has been engaged with a number of Android device makers beyond HTC, including Samsung and Motorola.
In the newly released authorized biography of Steve Jobs, the late Apple co-founder lashed out against Google's Android mobile operating system, calling it a "stolen product." Jobs's ire toward Android was made clear in an "expletive-laced rant" that he made to author Walter Isaacson.
"I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong," he said. "I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this."
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Criminal Defense Investigation
A private investigator serves an important role in a criminal defense investigation.
To find witnesses and evidence that will establish reasonable doubt – that will show the jury that there is reason to believe that the defendant is not actually responsible for committing the crime.
When an attorney uses a private investigator in a criminal defense investigation, that investigator will take the time to understand the charges and the laws that relate to the crime. Once there's an understanding of the case in question, the private investigator will go over all of the materials that the defense team has received from the prosecutor.
The goal is to determine whether or not there are any inconsistencies from one witness to the next or between the conclusions drawn and the evidence.
Inconsistencies and ulterior motives that a private investigator discovers during the course of a criminal defense investigation may be able to be used as a part of the client's defense.
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Yesterday I attended the Holistic Moms Network twitter party. It was great fun; I learned a lot about a wide variety of eco-friendly ideas and shared in some great conversations.
|tree | photo: dieraecherin|
This discussion got me thinking about the holistic lifestyle many of us are trying to lead. We bring our own drink containers (stainless steel, BPA free plastic, or glass) instead of taking styrofoam or paper cups from vendors. We bring shopping bags to the grocery store instead of using paper or plastic. Many of us are looking for ways to reduce our environmental impact.
|Canteen | photo: Broken Sphere|
I felt energized by the discussions going on and came across a number of new-to-me products and companies that I wanted to share. These are products which will help me continue to reduce my environmental impact; something I consider to be an important part of the balance to a holistic life.
Another topic that came up was the idea of straws. To be honest we don't use a lot of straws in our house but when we do they are always plastic. Until now. It turns out that you can get either glass straws or stainless steel ones. The glass straws are available from a company called Strawsome. They have all different sizes, bubble tea, regular, smoothie, plus colors, plus you can get them personalized. Another option for reusable straws that I like a lot is these stainless steel straws. This is something that I could easily carry in my bag to use when I am out. One challenge that I see is what do you do with a used straw if you use it at a restaurant. But I like the concept a lot and love the thought of not wasting plastic.
As part of the eating out section of the conversation I was re-introduced to the concept of bringing your own takeout container to restaurants. There are two reasons I like this idea and why I plan to start implementing it. One is that most restaurants use styrofoam and I have a strong aversion to it. It hangs around in the landfill forever and if you put hot food into it you are then absorbing some of the plastics that are released due to the heat of the food. Bringing your own takeout containers is such an eco-friendly idea. You can reduce waste, still have your takeout (I often wind up with lunch for the next day as most restaurant portions are far too large for one person), and have containers that you feel good about using. I've decided to go through my BPA free containers and see which ones are going to be designated for takeout. And I'm going to work on the habit of bringing them with me.
Another part of the conversation was about using cloth napkins which in turn opened up a discussion about cloth sandwich bags. We do use cloth napkins in our house. Not 100% of the time, when I have a party I confess I buy paper because I just don't have that many cloth napkins. But on a daily basis it's cloth and we have a good size, mis-matched collection. When talking about the idea of reusable sandwich bags I came across only one resource for food-safe plastic fabric. If you decide to make your own reusable sandwich bags please do not use PUL or oilcloth, neither of those is acceptable for food contact. This discussion lead me to realize that I think I want to set aside some time to make a few reusable sandwich bags and while I'm at it whip up one or two sets of napkins that actually all match.
I encourage my health clients that we are working one step at a time. It's important to remember this when you are moving toward a more eco-friendly life as well. If you try to change everything at once it's too much. You are trying to remember and be consistent about too many things. You are not learning and setting those new habits. When I first started with shopping bags my success rate was about 10%. I wouldn't remember to bring them in to the store or I wouldn't have enough reusable bags. While I still forget from time to time to get them back into the car I do use them the vast majority of the time. I've also gotten very good about telling cashiers that I do not need a bag if I am only purchasing a few products and can easily carry them when I've forgotten my bags. That was my first big eco-friendly step. Little by little I added others. You can do the same. Pick one thing that is important to you. Practice and develop that habit. When you are comfortable that you are utilizing it the majority of the time, move on to another one. Slow and steady is the way to make effective, long-lasting, positive change.
What do you do in your home to be more mindful of the environment? I'd love to hear ideas and resources. Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.
*Towel Day is May 25th. It is celebrated by fans of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy written by Douglas Adams. Rule #1 is "Don't forget to bring your towel."
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We are thrilled to highlight our most recent acquisition: The Repertory newspaper. Originally published in 1803 in Newburyport, Massachusetts, as the New England Repertory, the paper moved to Boston in 1804 and changed its name to The Repertory and later to The Repertory and General Advertiser. It was published until 1820 and was an early National Era newspaper published in broadsheet format. Despite its name, this paper does not address the theater. Rather, this is a news-of-the-day publication filled with interesting reports on the news and issues of Boston and the rest of the nation.
Ken Herrara, Director of News and Information at WISN-AM radio in Milwaukee, was generous enough to donate a bound volume of the Repertory from 1809 and 1810. We are grateful to Mr. Herrara, a collector of historic newspapers, who is eager to ensure that these primary sources are in "a public place where they are accessible to all."
Page One (below the fold) of the March 14, 1809 edition of The Repertory includes a full transcription of President James Madison’s inaugural address (pictured). Paying homage to his predecessor and fellow Virginian, Thomas Jefferson, Madison also gave a nod to such enduring values in presidential speeches as peace and liberty.
These issues of The Repertory from 1809 and 1810 help fill out our holdings. The State Library of Massachusetts already owns issues of this paper from 1806, 1808, and 1817. In addition, this gift is a valuable addition to our collection of newspapers published in Boston and towns across Massachusetts that date from the 18th and 19th centuries.
-Paige Roberts, Head of Special Collections
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Choose Ohio First
Attention high school students! Ohio Northern University and the Ohio Board of Regents have partnered to deliver a terrific opportunity for Ohio students who major in education within a STEM field.
STEM Teacher Education Scholarship Program
Apply before February 1, 2013, for an opportunity to earn a multi-year, renewable scholarship of up to $6,500 annually. The awards are a combination of Choose Ohio First funding from the state of Ohio and funding from ONU. The scholarships are awarded to promising undergraduates who are interested in pursuing a major in science, technology, engineering or mathematics with the goal of becoming a teacher. As an added bonus, ONU is including up to an additional $1,000 for textbooks for Choose Ohio First Scholars for the freshman year.
This year is ONU's first year participating in the Choose Ohio First program. ONU currently has eight Choose Ohio First Scholars and hopes to include many more in coming years.
"We have very strong academic programs here at ONU. We have strong faculty and wonderful facilities," says Dr. Tena Roepke, associate professor of mathematics. "And because of these things, we’ve been granted funds from the Ohio Board of Regents through the choose Ohio First program to get interested qualified students to come to Ohio Northern to experience these programs and learn from our teachers."
“This scholarship gives
me the opportunity to
pursue my dream of
becoming a teacher.”
Middle Childhood Education
ONU is the only university in Ohio that offers education degrees in all of the STEM fields, as well as Ohio teacher licensure in all applicable STEM fields. These degrees/licensures include:
- Integrated Sciences (grades 7-12)
- Life Sciences (grades 7-12)
- Physical Sciences: Physics and Chemistry (grades 7-12)
- Physcial Sciences: Physics (grades 7-12)
- Physical Sciences: Chemistry (grades 7-12)
- Technology Education (grades 4-12)
- Integrated Mathematics (grades 7-12)
- Engineering Education (with teacher licensure in Integrated Mathematics, grades 7-12)
- Middle Childhood Education: math and science concentrations (grades 4-9)
Additionally, the T.J. Smull College of Engineering offers a major in Engineering Education, which leads to the ability to teach secondary mathematics with an engineering focus. Hear from one of our Choose Ohio First Scholars about why the Engineering Education major was right for her.
Not only is the Choose Ohio First scholarship a presigious, merit-based award, but being a Choose Ohio First scholar helps students acclimate to college by providing the with a community of peers from day one. Choose Ohio First scholars enjoy social events on campus and also engage in professional and academic development activities.
“The Choose Ohio First Scholarship is a helping me get the best education which will effect the knowledge I can pass on to my future students. It also provides a support group of people with similar goals who I can connect with,” says Callie Brown, a freshman biology major from Grove City, Ohio.
Only students who indicate an interest in following a program of study in the Center for Teacher Education with a major in biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, technology, engineering education or middle childhood education with mathematics or science concentrations will be considered for a Choose Ohio First Scholarship. Other requirements include:
- Applicants must be residents of the State of Ohio or a graduate of an Ohio high school.
- Potential recipients must have an overall cumulative high school grade point average of 3.0 or above (or the equivalent) and/or an ACT composite score of 23 or higher.
Below are the steps that must be completed to apply for a Choose Ohio First Scholarship.
- To receive full consideration, freshmen, transfer students, adult learners and veterans must apply for admission to ONU and submit all the required supporting credentials by Feb. 1, 2013.
- Incoming students must complete the FAFSA financial aid form and request the records be sent to ONU.
- To receive full consideration, COF applicants must complete the application complete with a brief (one-page) essay stating your career plans and how the COF scholarship will help you meet those goals. This must be submitted by Feb. 1, 2013.
Requirements of COF Scholars
In order to continue to receive the COF scholarship throughout the next four years (pending funding), recipients are required to:
- Maintain a College Grade Point Average of 3.0 or higher.
- Complete the necessary field experiences and internships required within their major.
- Participate in Choose Ohio First Scholars programming on campus
- Participate in program surveys, interviews or other data collection activities required by ONU and the Ohio Board of Regents
Scholarships will be awarded as funds are available. Incoming first-year students are encouraged to apply for the Choose Ohio First Scholarship ASAP with priority consideration given to applications received by Feb. 1. After this date, applications will be processed in the order they are received. Award letters from Student Financial Aid will go out in the spring
For programmatic information on ONU’s Choose Ohio First STEM education programs, click on the links above or contact Dr. Tena L. Roepke, Associate Professor of Mathematics, at email@example.com 419 772-2353.
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When two people get married, they do so thinking that they will stay toghether for a long time. But since humans are not perfect, things happen that could lead to discord and, in many times, bitter divorce. The following are cases that appear to be funny and tragic at the same time.
There is a popular anecdote among Somalis in the US about a woman, with limited English, who had tried desperately to dissolve her marriage. She went to the court and told a judge, “I want to open my husband.” The judge was perplexed and asked the lady to repeat what she had said. “Well, I want to open my husband,” she repeated. When asked why she wanted to open her husband, she replied, “because he cut off my leg.” The judge, who was already confused about “opening” the husband (how do you open a husband anyway?) became concerned about the allegations of “cutting off a leg.”’ What seemed a civil matter was beginning to morph into a criminal case. Someone did explain to the judge that the woman wanted to divorce her husband because he had caused her so much trouble. The word “Fur” in Somali means either “open” or “divorce”. Moreover, “lugooyo” literally means “to cut off a leg” but it also is an idiomatic expression for causing mischief.
Take My Wife…Please
Criminals rob banks because that is where the money is. Right? Not so to an American man in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, who apparently had a secret agenda. The man robbed a bank with BB gun, demanded money, and then asked the teller to call the authorities. Bank employees were baffled by the man’s odd behavior. He remained in the bank, instead of fleeing with the cash, and he kept inquiring about the police. “Are they coming soon?” he kept asking. He was, in essence, anxious to see the police get there and arrest him. They did. In court, the man admitted robbing the bank but said that he had an ulterior motive. He wanted to get away from his overbearing wife. The man claimed that his wife had threatened to commit suicide if he ever left her. He was looking for a place where he would have no contact with her. Well, he finally got his wish. The judge sentenced him three to six years. That guaranteed that the two would not see other for a long time. The wife, understanably, divorced him and, to his dismay, did not end her lfe. She must have thought that her husband’s story was a product of his fertile imagination. He was, indeed, a master of theatrical over-reaction.
The Tell-tale Sign of Deceit
Cheaters, by nature, are said to brag about their exploits to their friends. But a Chinese man in Chongqing was tightlipped about the fact that he had a thing for women who were not his wife. His undoing, though, was the parrot in his house.
According to Xinmin Evening News, the man’s wife came back home after a month-long journey. Immediately, she sensed something was wrong with her husband. The husband did not display the normal acts of a cheater; meticulous and new excessive personal grooming, too much time on the phone, coming home late, etc. No, he was acting normal. It was, interestingly, the family bird that piqued her curiosity. The parrot started picking up new words during her absence. It kept repeating, “I love you,” “divorce,” and “be patient.” The wife knew her parrot well-enough to suspect that her husband had a mistress and, hence, was cheating on her. She immediately filed for divorce, thinking that the bird’s revelations would be sufficient grounds for dissolving the marriage. She was disappointed when she was informed that the bird’s testiomony would be inadmissable in a court of law.
Annals of Vindictiveness
Dr. Richard Batista, a surgeon, and his wife, Dawnelle, were living a lavish life in Long Island, New York. The couple had three children but their marriage became rocky after the wife developed a kidney ailment. Their relationship, once cordial and loving, suddenly became toxic. But then something happened that changed everything. Dr. Batista decided to donate his kidney to his ailing wife. How special! Dawnelle’s father and brother had previously donated their kidneys but her body rejected their organs. Amazingly, Dr. Batista’s kidney was perfect for her and she recovered. What seemed to be the most romantic gift a husband can give to his wife turned out to be a source of tension. Something went dreadfully wrong.
About 18 to 24 months after the surgery, Downelle, according to court documents, started having an affair. Dr. Batista was devastated. How could she do that to him? Didn’t he give her part of himself. What an ingrate, Dr. Batista thought. He filed for divorce. Instead of asking for the milion-dollar home the couple shared, Dr. Batista -- are you ready for this? -- demanded his kidney back. His kidney! “I want my kidney back,” Dr. Batista declared. The case had all the ingredients of a media circus. But can a transplanted kidney be removed from a woman just because her husband had a change of heart?
After realizing that there was no chance of his wife giving his kidney back (Come on, Dr. Batista, you are a surgeon. You know better!), the good doctor, instead, asked for $1.5 million. Where did he get that figure? Well, according to the doctor’s lawyer, that’s the going-rate for a kidney in the black market. Oh, I see.
Honey, Where Are You?
An old image of the World Trade Center
All You Can Eat!
The legendary Halac Dheere, in Somali folklore, was best known for his ravenous appetite. His unconventional table manners, needless to say, would have made Emily Post, the renowned expert on etiquette, cringe with goose pumps. Halac Dheere would have had a strong following among proponents of the Atkins Diet (high protein and low carb) but he sure would have had difficulty getting along with a certain American woman.
The woman in question filed for divorce because she said her husband was eating too much. What does that have to do with their marriage? By eating too much, the woman claimed, her husband was committing a crime. Actually, the woman went even further when she said that she did not want to be an accomplice to her husband’s commission of a crime. This is what happens when you only eat all the food you can SEE! Did I say ‘see’ or ‘sea’ food’? Whatever!
I am Bored
A German woman was anything but grateful. She felt trapped in what she called “an unhappy marriage,” because her husband --get this--worked for the family, cooked, and cleaned. “I have become irrelevant,” she told the judge. “There is nothing for me to do.” Perhaps, a class on time management would have helped her.
A Poet’s Dilemma
Qamaan Bulhan was a talented Somali poet who spoke on behalf of his people against the incendiary tirade of equally-talented poet- Ali Dhuuh, in the famous Guba series. Bulhan once had a domestic issue that troubled him immensely. According to Somali artist, Mahmoud Abdullahi “Sangub”, Qamaan Bulhan one day came back from a trip to an empty house. His wife, Barni Sh. Abdille, was long gone. When Bulhan inquired about her whereabouts, he was shocked to find that she had left him for good. She voided their marriage because Bulhan was not offering daily prayers. Initially, she had consulted with clerics who belonged to Shaikh Abbayoonis lineage. These clerics told Barni that they had no good ground to nullify her marriage. Then, she went to other clerics who belonged to Reer Aw Nuuh (Abasguul) lineage, and they ruled the marriage null and void. Bulhan was informed about what had transpired during his absence, and became infuriated and distraught.
After a short period, Barni and Bulhan reconciled. One day, Bulhan came to his house and saw a group of clerics meditating. They were his guests. He asked them about their lineage. The roving clerics, who normally were a collage of various clan members, refused to identify themselves other than calling themselves “Ikhwan” (brothers). Bulhan insisted on knowing their clans but they refused to heed to his demand. He did not want to relive the nightmare of losing his wife again simply because a cleric said so. He also did not want the clerics besmirching his reputation. Bulhan recited a poem in which he chronicled his mistrust and animosity to clerics who dispensed fatwas (religious edicts) with impunity. In one line of the poem, Bulhan said, “Abbayoonis mooyee, wadaad eegataan nahaye.” (Except Abbayoonis, we are on the lookout for clerics).
A Friend’s Escape Clause
Speaking of prayers, a friend on the East Coast told me several years ago that she was getting divorced from her then-new husband. The couple had gotten married but was not yet living together. Her “blink-and-you-missed-it marriage”, as she mockingly called it, caused some tremors. “He wants me to dress modestly,” she angrily told me. Then, she went on and argued that the issue, in her humble opinion, was not about religion but, rather, about control. The husband, she believed, to put it plainly, wanted to control her and dictate to her how she looked and dressed. Then she dropped a bombshell. “This is the same man,” she said with sarcastic glee, “who wants me to dress modestly when he himself does not even offer one of the five pillars of Islam (prayers).” Ouch. That hurts!
Your Body Is Beautiful
A Somali imam from a well-known center in the Midwest was visiting Kansas when I met him over dinner in a friend’s home two years ago. I took the opportunity to ask him what kind of social problems Somalis were facing in his state. He told me about a woman who had come to see him complaining about her husband. The imam was used to hearing all kinds of stories but not the one this lady told him. She wanted to get divorced from her husband because he had the peculiar habit of shedding his clothes once he got home. Let me clarify; all his clothes. “I can’t live with a nudist,” the woman retorted.
The Imam appealed to the husband to change his odious behavior but to no avail. The husband was not interested in the type of modesty the imam was preaching. The couple, who did not have children, finally got divorced. Then, two years later, the same woman came to the imam -- this time, though, she was complaining about her new husband. Apparently, the new husband was endowed with a great body (more like Arnold Schwarzenegger, I assume) but he had an annoying habit of covering himself up with long-sleeve shirts at home. Obviously, the man was shy. Is something wrong with that? Not to his wife. “I told him to wear short-sleeve shirts or tee-shirts because he has such a beautiful body,” the woman told the imam. “But he would not listen to me.” The imam sardonically described the wife as being, well, a person of extremes! Eventually, the couple got divorced but for reasons that had nothing to do with the science of the husband’s body.
And finally, in a California court, a feeble 70-year old man was brought to court. He was charged with attempted sexual assault through the use of force, and attempted sexual conduct through use of force against his 65-year old wife. The charges prompted titters and gasps in the courtroom. The case either seemed sheer idiocy or perversion of the law. The poor elderly man appeared sick and had difficulty walking straight. Could he have inflicted sexual harm on his spouse? This must have been a mistake. Maybe the elderly man tried to hit his wife with his cane! Not so, according to the government. Someone, however, had crudely suggested to the prosecutor to amend the charges to --are you still with me? -- “assault with a DEADLY weapon.” This must be a joke? Right!
Hassan M. Abukar
We welcome the submission of all articles for possible publication on WardheerNews.com
Copyright © 2011 WardheerNews.com
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Shared Care Scotland
The Easy Evaluation Toolkit is designed to help people evaluate their short break or respite care service. Created in 2013 by Shared Care Scotland, Evaluation Support Scotland and a panel of third sector managers, the toolkit offers a framework, case studies and useable tools to help you and your service develop your evaluation process.
This study examines the experiences of older people with high support needs involved in support based on mutuality and reciprocity. It shares the benefits and outcomes achieved for individuals, families, communities and organisations funding and providing this support. The findings are relevant to the future funding and delivery of long-term care, and the transformation of local services. The report highlights how:
The overall aim of our inquiry was to examine respite provision in Clackmannanshire for carers of adults with learning disabilities living in the family home and to look at examples of good practice in other areas. For the purpose of our study we defined respite care as short-term care that helps a family take a break from the daily routine and stress. It can be provided in the family home or in a variety of out-of-home settings and involve either time apart or time together with extra support.
This pilot project was set up by Falkirk Council to determine whether the use of vouchers for short breaks could help to address the low uptake of short breaks among people with severe and enduring mental illness and their carers, and also to provide an alternative to Direct Payments. The project was developed in response to:
The Short Breaks Fund represents a substantial investment by the Scottish Government in the development of short breaks’ provision. Scottish Government, Shared Care Scotland and the National Carer Organisations group are keen to make sure that there is a legacy from this investment, not simply in the form of additional or new short break services, but through better knowledge about what works well in short break services, and about what carers and those they care for need and value.
This report evaluates the impact of funding on 58 projects and...
The Scottish Government recently released the 2012 data for the provision of respite in Local Authority areas across Scotland. The statistics are presented in "respite weeks provided or purchased by local authorities" and then further broken down into "overnight" and "daytime" respite for three age groups: 0-17, 18-64 and 65+. Much of the data is only comparable on a year-to-year basis due to methodological changes that have taken place over time. However a number of helpful comparisons are possible.
This report presents the findings of research carried out by ENABLE Scotland between April 2011 and April 2012 with the aim of improving knowledge and understanding of emergency planning for carers in Scotland, particularly within the wider context of Carer’s Assessments.
The report has two main objectives:
1. To establish the provision of support to carers with emergency planning across all local authority areas, highlighting examples of good practice and producing recommendations based on the findings.
2. To explore the role of sibling carers.
This literature review focuses on the current provision of respite care / disabled Holidays in the UK. It particularly focuses on the views of the Government and disabled advocacy groups regarding the provision and funding of respite, and the effects of the recent government spending review upon these services. Literature was also studied relating to the views of respite care held by disabled people and their carers.
This report describes the findings of research carried out between August and December 2011 into the experiences of unpaid carers in accessing and using short breaks (respite care). The study explored, from the carers’ perspective the benefits of short breaks (provided by formal services and family and friends), good practice in planning and provision, deficits and areas for improvement. Research findings are based on 1210 responses to a Scotland-wide survey distributed through carer organisations, four focus groups involving 36 carers and 13 interviews.
This is one in a series of research briefings about preventive care and support for adults.
Prevention is broadly defined to include a wide range of services that:
• promote independence
• prevent or delay the deterioration of wellbeing resulting from ageing, illness or disability
• delay the need for more costly and intensive services.
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OTTAWA, October 26, 2009 /Canada NewsWire Telbec/ - The Canadian government should make an investment in supporting volunteering throughout the country, during this time of economic distress. That is the main message of a presentation the President of Volunteer Canada, Ruth MacKenzie, will make to the House of Commons Finance Committee, in Ottawa, on Wednesday, October 28th.
"There are thousands of organizations that depend on volunteering in Canada, to do everything from providing essential community services to coaching teams," she says, "And many are struggling because they need staff and resources to recruit and train volunteers. Volunteers do not come free."
In her presentation, MacKenzie reports that the current recession has created serious difficulties for many of Volunteer Canada's member organizations. In many cases, their funding has suffered causing them to let go of staff - often staff responsible for managing volunteers.
Volunteer Canada is proposing that the Government of Canada make an annual investment of five million dollars in a Canadian Volunteer Support System. It would provide community level volunteer recruitment, training and management resources to organizations, large and small, that depend on the energy of volunteers. Volunteer Canada suggests the federal government should set a goal of increasing Canada's volunteer rate to 60 per cent, from the current 46 per cent, over four years. The proposed support system would be one important means of achieving this goal.
"Volunteering is a basic feature of citizenship in a free and democratic society," MacKenzie argues, "There is a legitimate and useful role for government in promoting and fostering volunteering, and strengthening that citizen engagement. We believe there is untapped volunteer potential in Canadian communities. We just have to find a way to link that potential to the many organizations that depend on them."
Monday, October 26, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
TORONTO, October 23, 2009 /Canada NewsWire/ - On Monday, October 26, the Honourable David C. Onley will be presented with the first poppy of the 2009 Ontario poppy campaign by Mr. Andre Paquette, 1st Vice-President of the Royal Canadian Legion, Ontario Command. This marks the start of this year's Poppy Campaign in Ontario, which aims to raise awareness of the service and sacrifice of men and women in the Canadian Armed Forces.
The poppy is a national symbol of remembrance for Canadians who have served in times of war and peace. It was adopted in 1921 by The Great War Veterans Association, the founding group of the Royal Canadian Legion. Each year, over 19 million poppies are distributed across Canada.
Friday, October 23, 2009
TORONTO, October 23 /Canada NewsWire/ - In advance of what is shaping up to be an unprecedented flu season, Ontario's doctors are encouraging employers to reconsider asking their employees for a sick note from a physician because of an absence from work. While Ontario's doctors are asking employers to trust their employees, they are stressing that employees shouldn't take advantage of this year's flu situation as an opportunity to simply take a day off.
"In order to help reduce the transmission of H1N1 and other illnesses, Ontario's doctors believe it is wise for patients to stay home when they have flu-like symptoms," said Dr. Suzanne Strasberg, President of the Ontario Medical Association (OMA). "Employers need to recognize that by requiring a sick note, they are encouraging those who are experiencing their worst symptoms and are most infectious to go out, when they should just be home in bed."
If a patient has mild flu-like symptoms and no pre-existing illnesses of concern, the most important thing that can be done to prevent others from being infected is to stay home. Going to the doctor's office just to get a note or going to work puts many others at risk.
It is anticipated that while most cases of H1N1 and seasonal influenza will be mild, those who get sick are being asked to protect others who may be more vulnerable to the virus. In addition, while many patients with H1N1 or the seasonal flu will be able to recover under their own care and without needing medical treatment, it is important that a patient see a doctor if symptoms worsen or if they have a chronic and/or pre-existing health condition, or are in a high-risk population group.
"Ontario's doctors know that there will be added pressures and increased work load this flu season but we are ready to care for and treat our patients," Dr. Strasberg said. "It's important for everyone to do as much as possible to help prevent the spread of the H1N1 flu and reduce the strain on the health care system. It's equally important that we continue to focus on patients who need care, rather than those who just need a note."
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
The International Day of Climate Action is this Saturday, October 24. It
is being marked in Toronto with a large exciting rally at Queen's Park
from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., organized by the Toronto Climate Campaign and Mardi Tindal, the United Church's new Moderator, is one of the speakers.
Toronto Climate Campaign is organizing a rally as part of a climate day of action. People across Canada and the world will be coming together as part of 350.org, building a movement to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis – the solutions that science and justice demand.
More information can be found at www.torontoclimatecampaign.org (although Mardi hasn't been added to the speakers list on that Web page).
Please pass this on to your friends and social networks and encourage those who are available to attend!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
The president of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, and his ministers yesterday held an official cabinet meeting underwater as part of an international movement organized by 350.org to bring increased global attention to climate change.
350.org is organizing a global day of action on Oct. 24 and Maldives, a country of just 350,000, has organized an amazing 14 events.... Read the full story on TreeHugger
Friday, October 16, 2009
A series of three study sessions is offered this fall to everyone in the community who would like to join us. Each session will be an introduction to one of the United Church's interfaith dialogue documents. Please plan to join us for any or all of the sessions.
The evening dates (7-8:30 p.m.) are listed here. If you are interested in attending a daytime group, please let our church office know, and we will select a time to repeat the sessions.
October 20 Bearing Faithful Witness (United Church - Jewish relations)
October 27 That We May Know Each Other (United Church Muslim relations)
November 3 Circle and Cross (United Church - Native Spirituality)
All sessions will be held at Norfolk Street United Church, 75 Norfolk Street, Guelph Ontario (519) 822-6165
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Margaret Atwood is one of the most respected authors of our time, with dozens of books of poetry and fiction to her name, among them Cat's Eye, The Handmaid's Tale, and Oryx and Crake. Her latest book, The Year of the Flood, is set in a fallen future: society has crumbled, climate change and pandemics ravage the planet, and people are forced to rediscover their relationship with the land.
Miss Atwood chats with TreeHugger about the God's Gardeners (the book's rooftop-gardening eco cult), her pantheon of ecological saints, an... Read the full story on TreeHugger
Be sure to join us at Norfolk Street United Church on November 24 at 7pm when the Bookshelf presents Margaret Atwood and the Year of the Flood. Tickets are $10 and are available at the Bookshelf
Food Banks Canada releases Sharing our Stories: Food Banks Helping
Canadians on World Food Day to tell the personal stories of Canadians in
TORONTO, Oct. 15 /Canada NewsWire/ - It is often difficult for individuals to understand the depth and breadth of the issue of hunger through hard facts alone. On October 16, World Food Day, Food Banks Canada is releasing Sharing our Stories: Food Banks Helping Canadians, providing a snapshot of the real life situations of Canadians who struggle with hunger and turn to food banks for assistance across the country.
One of the profiles is that of Monique* - a mother of four who unexpectedly lost her job during the economic recession and turned to the Mississauga Food Bank for assistance. The circumstances that brought Monique to the food bank also offered her a chance to develop a new career through an opportunity to join a subsidized job training program.
Monique's story is a frank and inspiring example of the challenges many Canadians face. It highlights the valuable services provided by food banks across the country. Food banks, work to distribute food and consumer products, and also offer employment training, language assistance and, for many, emotional support to help individuals get back on their feet.
"This past year has been an increasingly challenging time for individuals across the country and for food banks assisting them, given the current economic climate" says Katharine Schmidt, Executive Director, Food Banks Canada. "It is our hope that these stories will reveal the real people behind the statistics and will inspire individuals to give generously to support food banks in their communities."
March 2009 data on food bank usage, in comparison with March 2008, revealed that there has been a 15 to 20 per cent increase in the number of Canadians accessing food banks each month. "While food bank usage is on the rise, we are also seeing a decrease in food and fund donations to food banks in some parts of the country", notes Katharine. "If Canadians are in a position to support others, we ask that they make that commitment today".
A more comprehensive report on food bank usage will be unveiled in November with the release of HungerCount, Food Banks Canada's annual report of food bank use in Canada.
With the Thanksgiving season just behind us, Food Banks Canada would like to thank individuals and corporations who donated to food banks during this time. Every donation makes a difference in the lives of individuals and families in need.
Read more about Monique and other individuals across Canada in Sharing our Stories: Food Banks Helping Canadians, by visiting:
* Name has been changed for privacy purposes.
About Food Banks Canada
Food Banks Canada is the national charitable organization representing the food bank community across Canada. Our members and their respective agencies serve approximately 85 per cent of people accessing emergency food programs nationwide. Our mission is to meet the short term need for food and find long-term solutions to reduce hunger. Visit www.foodbankscanada.ca for more information.
About World Food Day
Launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the goal of World Food Day is to raise awareness of those living with food insecurity around the world.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
For "Raising Awareness on Climate Change" Canadian eco-hero David Suzuki might not be getting a Nobel prize like Barack Obama, but his life's work has not gone unnoticed.
The Right Livelihood Foundation, which was founded in 1980 by Swedish-German philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull to "recognize work that he felt was ignored by the Nobel Prizes," will give an honor...Read the full story on TreeHugger
Monday, October 12, 2009
40 Percent of Salvation Army Centres Report Drop in Food Donations; Demand Increases
TORONTO, Oct. 7 /Canada NewsWire/ - A troubling new report released today by The Salvation Army indicates that a majority of their food banks and feeding programs, 40 percent of those surveyed, saw a decline in donations in the last 12 months; while three-quarters of food centres indicated that they saw demand for food services increase. Additionally, a majority of respondents, 60 percent, said that their food shelves were either 'half-full' or at a 'low' or 'dangerously low' level.
During the Thanksgiving season, The Salvation Army is increasing its efforts to restock and resupply, calling on Canadians for food items and in-kind donations that will support the nation's neediest.
"Thanksgiving is one of our busiest periods for food service and distribution," said Graham Moore, Territorial Secretary for Public Relations and Development with The Salvation Army. "We remain committed to serving Canadians in need with warm meals and groceries, but we also need the public's commitment to help meet this year's heightened demand."
The report, "Restocking the Shelves," releases survey results collected from 139 different Salvation Army officers and employees across Canada. Additional data collected by The Salvation Army, demonstrates that the need has never been greater. Year-over-year data shows that The Salvation Army served approximately 25,000 more people and 65,000 additional meals in the first quarter of 2009 as compared to the first quarter of 2008. Even as some signs indicate that Canada is now emerging from a global economic recession, more people than ever are relying on social service agencies, like The Salvation Army, to meet their most basic needs.
The "Restocking the Shelves" report is the first time that The Salvation Army has released statistics and data from its national network of food centres and programs. The survey and subsequent report were conducted as a result of individual accounts that pantry levels were alarmingly low this year. A spike in demand coupled by an overall drop in supplies has led to a downward trend that has left many shelves empty this fall.
"As a national trend, it appears that our food services and programs are taking a hit from the prolonged effects of the recession," said Graham Moore. "We'll continue to do more with less, hopeful that the generosity of donors and volunteers will answer the needs of those shaken by economic hardship."
The Salvation Army is the nation's largest provider of direct non-governmental social service, serving 2.6 million meals last year alone. The public is encouraged to donate food items, make in-kind donations or volunteer their time at a The Salvation Army centre.
The detailed findings from "Restocking the Shelves" are available online at www.SalvationArmy.ca.
About The Salvation Army:
The Salvation Army is an international Christian organization that began its work in Canada in 1882 and has grown to become the largest non-governmental direct provider of social services in the country. The Salvation Army gives hope and support to vulnerable people today and everyday in 400 communities across Canada and 118 countries around the world. The Salvation Army offers practical assistance for children and families, often tending to the basic necessities of life, providing shelter for homeless people and rehabilitation for people who have lost control of their lives to an addiction. When you give to The Salvation Army, you are investing in the future of marginalized and overlooked people in your community.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
TORONTO, Oct. 10 /Canada NewsWire/ - As an organization dedicated to the health of Ontarians, the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion (OAHPP) strongly supports and promotes the practice of hand hygiene as one of the best public health precautions available for controlling the spread of respiratory infections.
An article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) published on October 1, 2009, titled "Conflict emerges over value of handwashing as a preventive flu transmission measure" provides misleading information to the public about the effectiveness of hand hygiene. The article cites a report prepared by a multidisciplinary panel for the Council of Canadian Academies. The panel was chaired by Dr. Don Low with a mandate to:
a) Review and identify the transmission of flu based on existing reviews and original literature
b) Assess the effectiveness of N95 respirators or surgical masks in the prevention of flu transmission among health-care workers
The report found that hand hygiene, which is a major mode of interrupting contact transmission, is a central component of essentially all influenza control protocols for both seasonal and pandemic disease.
There are many studies showing that handwashing is an effective means of interrupting or reducing the spread of viral respiratory infections. Dr. Vivek Goel, President and CEO of OAHPP states, "Countries around the world promote hand hygiene as a cost-effective and easy method of controlling infection that can be followed by all ages."
The expert panel did note that there were no randomized control trials that specifically addressed the ability to control the spread of influenza through hand hygiene. However, this on its own does not lead to the CMAJ's suggestion that there is no evidence for the promotion of hand hygiene as a control measure for influenza.
Dr. Goel notes that OAHPP supports both the provincial and national public health campaigns aimed at flu prevention and protection.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Prolonged Use of Digital Screens Causing Havoc on Canadians Eye Health
OTTAWA, Oct. 1 /Canada NewsWire/ - Computers, cell phones and Blackberries may provide modern conveniences, however prolonged use of digital screens is affecting the eye and vision health of Canadians. The average user of these technological conveniences is not just children or young adults. A new survey conducted by Leger Marketing indicates that on average, Canadian baby boomers are spending 7 1/2 hours daily in front of potentially eye-straining devices such as, computers, televisions, cell phones or Blackberries.
And while technologies have evolved and changed the way people communicate and function in their daily lives, female baby boomers are reporting higher usage of these eye-straining devices compared to five years ago. "As a result, they are reporting more eye and vision ailments associated with high screen time than male baby boomers," says Dr. Lillian Linton, Canadian optometrist and President Elect of the Canadian Association of Optometrists.
Canadian optometrists use Computer Vision Syndrome or CVS, to describe various eye and vision symptoms associated with prolonged computer and other digital screen use. Canadian Optometrists see a range of symptoms associated with CVS including eye strain and fatigue, dry and irritated eyes, blurry vision and photophobia - an oversensitivity to light. The majority of people may not even realize they have this condition.
- Canadian optometrists are seeing a higher volume of patients
complaining of symptoms linked to computer vision syndrome compared
to five years ago.
- 40 per cent of baby boomer patients aged 45 to 54 are associating
their eye and vision complaints with prolonged screen time. This is
higher than other age groups.
Eye and vision health conditions do not always come with recognizable symptoms and can go un-detected. The Canadian Association of Optometrists encourages routine, comprehensive eye exams to help detect, minimize and treat symptoms associated with computer vision syndrome. "Be kind to your eyes and visit your optometrist regularly to minimize eye strain," says Dr. Lillian Linton, Canadian optometrist and President Elect of the Canadian Association of Optometrists. For more information on eye health guidelines and to find an optometrist in your area, visit www.opto.ca.
From July 6 to July 16, 2009, Leger Marketing conducted an online survey among 3435 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Leger Marketing panelists. The method simulates a probability sample with a maximum margin of error of +/-1.7%, 19 times out of 20 for the total sample of 3435 and +/-2.6%, 19 times out of 20 for the sample of boomers.
Friday, October 2, 2009
The United Nations has designated the first Monday in October as annual World Habitat Day. This is the day to reaffirm that decent shelter is a basic human right and a time to join together to remind governments that the lack of decent, affordable housing is unacceptable. Monday, October 5 is World Habitat Day this year and the theme is "it all starts at home." Habitat for Humanity International is campaigning for security of tenure in the world and neighbourhood revitalization in the U.S.A. Read the full story on TreeHugger
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Problems With Tithing
By Daniel Hamermesh
New York Times Freakonomics
An Los Angeles Times article reported on the difficulties of religious organizations in the recession. Contributions are down, and an unusually large number of religious-based schools have closed.
My initial thought was that those religious organizations that encourage tithing would have fewer problems; but a bit more reflection might suggest the opposite.
If every member of a religious group always tithed, the income elasticity of demand for religion would be plus-one. So while tithers donate a large share of their income, the organization’s finances will vary perfectly with the state of members’ incomes; those organizations are by no means immune to macroeconomic fluctuations. There is even some evidence (Dahl and Ransom, American Economic Review, 1999) that suggests that even in tithing religions, in bad times the likelihood of tithing decreases and the income elasticity exceeds one.
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The Horned God (RLE Feminist Theory)
Feminism and Men as Wounding and Healing
By John Rowan
Published October 11th 2012 by Routledge – 176 pages
This original and pioneering study of how men relate to feminism will appeal to all men who are concerned about their response to the women’s movement and to the women in their lives. It will also be helpful for women seeking a constructive response from men. John Rowan, drawing on his personal journey through feminism and on his considerable experience as a therapist, tackles the issues in a much deeper way than has been attempted before.
For men to discover feminism is wounding for them. It can even make them despair about being men at all. But unless they accept that wound, nothing much will change. John Rowan shows that men have to heal that wound at a conscious social-political level, changing laws, practice and daily behaviour. They have to heal it at an unconscious level, through therapy, exploring their profound feelings about their mothers, their fathers and their own internal female nature. They also have to heal the wound at a spiritual-transpersonal level, exploring the world of the Goddess and the Horned God. Only then, says, John Rowan, can they start to have any real dialogue with women, and only then can the world begin to change for both men and women.
Introduction. 1. The Wound: Patriarchy. Patriarchal Values 2. First channel of healing: men’s groups. Minzies and Frongs. Freedom 3. Second channel of healing: Unconscious raising. Models of therapy. Red therapy. The healthy male ego. Psychic celibacy 4. Penis and power: Commitments. The good penis 5. Androgyny: Yin and Yang. Masculine and feminine 6. Third channel of healing: 1: The Great Goddess 7. Third channel of healing: 2: The Horned God. Archetypes. Some implications 8. Context: Whitmont. Hillman. Bly. Stewart 9. Practice: Initiation. A ritual of wounding and healing. Despair and empowerment. Wrestling with the Horned God 10. A Way Forward: Male and female. Hieros gamos. A way forward. Bibliography. Index.
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I was talking to a couple parents of Scouts in my Troop the other night when the discussion led to when they would see the results of Scouting in their sons?
It made me think a little about just when Scouting manifests itself in our boys, or the boys that pass through our Troops.
The answer is not a simple one because it is dependant on the young man and the situations that he finds himself as he negotiates life.
I shared with the parents that Scouting did not manifest itself in me until I was in my 20′s and away from home. I realized what Scouting had taught me, skills like map and compass, first aid, and cooking. I took Scouting’s values with me when I entered the Army and developed a better understanding of loyalty and obedience. As I became an adult I understood those values and demonstrated them more frequently. I could see that between the up bringing of my family and the things I learned in Scouting, I was becoming the man that my Scoutmaster had hoped we all would become.
And now I am a Scoutmaster and I have that same hope for the boys in my Troop. I see development of skills every time we go camping. I see a strong sense of citizenship when we retire flags and participate in civic events as a troop. As these boys grow physically I see them getting stronger and in better shape. I can see how they do better each time we hike and that what was hard last year is no longer a daunting task.
So when does Scouting manifest in our boys? I don’t know.. but I do know that it does.. some day.. some time.. it will.
Have a Great Scouting Day!
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A lot of great buzz has been building around Room 237, which has shown at various festivals this year, and which has been picked up for release by IFC. Rodney Ascher’s documentary examines the phenomenon of people who have constructed mad theories “explaining” the supposed secrets coded by Stanley Kubrick into The Shining. One man is sure that the film contains a confession from Kubrick that he directed the fake Moon landing. Another believes that the whole thing is a metaphor for the plight of Native Americans.
It’s not unusual at all for a, um, “certain kind” of person to read things into movies that may or may not have any support in the text, but Kubrick’s work in particular seems to be subject to all kinds of wild interpretations. Of course, he invited this, in a way, by directing such ambiguous work with such a deliberate hand. While “people obsessed with The Shining” might not sound like the most scintillating subject, great documentaries have been made about seemingly less interesting things.
The trailer for the movie feels more like a teaser. There’s no footage, and the soundtrack has nothing but vague snippets of theories that the film explores. It’s very different for a doc, and it doesn’t really do much to get me excited for it, but it’s certainly atmospheric. Check it out below.
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Like all investments it pays to do your homework before you take the plunge into property. But even with rising interest rates, a sound strategy can pay off. The shortage of rental properties, combined with rising prices in most markets, means that if you choose the right property and make sure you keep a close eye on your investment, you could reap the rewards.
Here are some tips to help you make the most of your investment.
Take a long-term view and realise that investing in property is usually a long-term strategy
The housing market is generally a 7-10 year cycle; there are always highs, lows and steady patches. Make sure you’re comfortable with how much you’re borrowing, and you know what your financial goals are. Plan ahead – you may find a long-term tenant or you may find that your tenants come and go. Make sure your cashflow is sufficient so that you can cover the mortgage and other outgoings while the property is empty.
Positive vs. negative gearing
Keep in mind that the interest and related expenses you incur (such as repairs and maintenance) are tax deductible. Negative gearing means your loan repayments, fees and other costs exceed your rental income. This means that the net loss can be offset against other income you earn, so you will be able to reduce the amount of tax payable on your other income.
Positive gearing, on the other hand, is where the annual rental income received from the property is higher than the annual loan repayments and costs. The benefit here is that you earn extra income, but of course this is taxable. Also make sure you factor in the capital gains tax you will have to pay if you decide to sell the property. Be sure to consult your taxation advisor.
Take control of your investment by being properly informed on property values, trends and what is happening in the home loan market.
To research the areas you are interested in, read property-related articles, use reputable property research companies and the Real Estate Institute of Australia, search the Internet, plus talk to people in the know. Find out each area’s average rental yields, what services infrastructure is in place and planned, and the property price growth that has been experienced and is expected. Invest the time to fully understand the market – it could make a big difference to future investment returns.
Consider using the equity in any other property you own.
Tapping into your home equity, or equity from another property investment, is a great launching platform for buying an investment property. Say your home is valued at $400,000, you owe $150,000 on your mortgage and you want to invest 10% of the equity (or $25,000) into another property. You can do so provided that you can comfortably afford your repayments.
Think about buying with friends, family or work colleagues.
You can pool your resources with friends or family to help you get into the market. As long as together you can pay off the loan, it doesn’t matter if one party earns more, or has greater liabilities, than the other(s). The only difference is at the end of the loan term the property might not be owned in equal parts. An initial visit to a solicitor who specialises in property should result in a contract that outlines who pays what and how much of the property each applicant will own after paying off the mortgage.
Choose a loan tailored to your current needs.
There are many different home loan options to suit you. Will you go with an interest only or a principal and interest loan? Fixed or variable rate? Which features are needed? Will you provide a deposit or choose a 100% or even a 110% loan? Apply for a loan that suits your current needs and lifestyle because you can always refinance later. With new products entering the increasingly competitive mortgage market, and reputable mortgage brokers providing free Home Loan Health Checks you can always change your loan situation further down the track if it’s advantageous to do so.
Use a reputable agent
Seek advice about the type of investment property that will maximise your investment. For example, if your repayments are at an interest rate of 8% then you would need a property to secure you, as an average over the entire loan term, an annual return on investment (ROI) that is higher than the costs i.e. if net rent is 4% and the interest rate is 8% then it only needs to grow at more than 4% to be a sound investment. Reputable local real estate agents know the market better than most and are a valuable resource to use prior to purchase.
Visit a financial adviser and/or accountant
You also need to discuss your full monetary situation with someone with experience in advising on diversified investments. That’s because you need to make sure that your financial situation is improved by an investment property and that you can afford repayments without stretching the budget uncomfortably. Remember, you must make this investment work for you and your long-term strategy.
Seek out an excellent property manager
Buying an investment property is only the first step towards personal wealth creation. You can ensure long term peace of mind by taking the time to find an excellent property manager. There are many agents that advertise property management services but, as a rule, there are generally only one or two excellent property managers in every suburb. And when you are considering trusting someone with such a large asset you should accept no less than an excellent property manager.
Look for the number of "For Lease" signs and "Leased" signs displayed by agents in the same area as your rental property. Check out property websites and talk to locals - it won't talke long to discover an excellent local property manager.
Much of this article is courtesy of Mortgage Choice (mortgagechoice.com.au)
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Posted by Markitos on August 11, 2001
In Reply to: Re: 12 on the PT posted by ESC on August 10, 2001
: : : : what does 12 on the PT mean?
: : : I looked in all my references and couldn't find this expression. Could you add some context -- use it in a sentence? Do you think it might be a military term? Could it be a reading on a meter of some kind?
: : A big maybe.
: : I found one reference to your phrase, but it contained the word "shorts". "PT shorts" are a style of military-like innerware, "PT" meaning physical training.
: : The coach is talking about the number of strokes with a tawse or strap:
: : "What you got last night was for letting the team and me down. I have decided that you can have a choice. You can have twelve on your PT shorts or eight on your bare tails. What is it going to be? What ever you choose, I can promise that you will feel each stroke."
Thank you, sir, may I have another!...
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Richard Nixon’s rise in American politics was meteoric. He was first elected to US House in 1946. He was re-elected
Uncategorized | No Comments » | Tags: eisenhower, house of representatives, ike, nixon, senate, Southern California, vice president, Whittier, Yorba Linda
© 2013 Richard Nixon Southern California designed by Gentle Persuasion Design.
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The University of New Mexico will admit on a full-time basis a limited number of highly qualified applicants after completion of their junior year of high school. To be considered for early admission, the student must: 1) have achieved an exceptional record on a minimum of 15 units in a strong college preparatory program in an accredited high school; 2) have the unqualified recommendation of the principal or headmaster; and 3) have achieved a score on the ACT satisfactory to the University. In most cases a personal interview with the admissions officer is required before a decision is made. For more information contact the Admission office at UNM Albuquerque at 277-5822.
The Middle College High School (MCHS) is a New Mexico public charter middle college high school located on the University of New Mexico-Gallup campus in Calvin Hall rooms 100-102. Students from the area who are residents of New Mexico with 10 high school credits can enroll into this rigorous academic and career focused program. The MCHS has a small enrollment of only sixty students who can take part in the program. A lottery is held before each semester for enrollment. The MCHS students are enrolled both in the high school program to earn their diploma as well as with the University of New Mexico-Gallup. Students take college courses only while earning both college and high school credits. Students are also required to take part in other components of the MCHS program. These include: small group seminar, tutoring, professional mentoring, job shadowing, service learning, and work-study. (See page 15 of the catalog for more information.)
Students enrolled with the CCTE at UNM Gallup may earn up to eight credits per semester, which may apply towards a technical degree at no charge to the student. The courses are taught by CCTE faculty at a pace consistent with the learning level of high school students. The same material is covered as in the college class of the same name. College credit is earned concurrently with credit applicable towards a high school diploma. Check with your high school counselor to see if your high school participates in the CCTE program.
Students currently enrolled in high school grades 9-12 may enroll at UNM Gallup for up to 7 credit hours of vocational coursework per semester. This program is designed to provide high school students the opportunity to take coursework otherwise unavailable to them at their high school and is not intended to compete with coursework available at the student's high school. To be eligible the student must present letters from either the parent or guardian and the high school principal or counselor unconditionally recommending the specific coursework for which the student intends to enroll. Such documentation must accompany the regular UNM Gallup application. The student is not permitted to take courses on an audit basis while under the program.
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Recently, I came across an article in “The Times”, “Why non-scientists are a pain in the arts” by Ben Miller, presumably the physicist turned comedian, going back to his science roots, which explains a lot. The title of the piece derives from an art graduate who thinks the moon landings were a fake.
After berating the media for being arts dominated Miller goes on to write:
“This is how we end up in the ludicrous situation we find ourselves in with the Large Hadron Collider. Ten thousand of the world’s top scientists spend 20 years building the ultimate in particle accelerators at a cost of £4.4 billion and the only story that makes the headlines is the one about some nutter in Hawaii who thinks it’s going to cause a black hole that devours the Universe. This is somehow conflated into a story that when the machine gets switched on, scientists believe we are all toast. And when the ruddy thing was finally powered up, everyone shakes their heads in bemusement at the endless folly of scientists. Haven’t they got any common sense? Can’t they see that turning that thing on was never going to herald the Apocalypse? And E=mc2 or not, what kind of barmcake doesn’t wear socks?”
That, of course, is totally wrong. The large Hadron Collider was built by engineers. Wanting something, wishing for something, is one thing, realizing it is quite another. I doubt if scientists would know were to begin, after all, science is only a small part of engineering, less than 20%, so scientists would well short of the required knowledge, let alone expertise and judgment; besides, engineering requires art, among many others things, as well as science, when appropriate.
Miller later writes:
“The problem is, of course, that success in the arts depends on having — how can I put this charitably? — interesting opinions, whereas success in the sciences depends on one thing alone: maths.”
Mathematics, like science, is only a tool, useful at times, though not always. Besides, I would rather listen to interesting arts opinions than the overbearing arrogance that pervades much of science these days, as well as it being full of errors that many scientists and their acolytes are too blind to see.
Success depends on maths?
There was a time when bridges were safe, according to the mathematics; just one problem, at least until other problems came along, the mathematics of aerodynamics, or lack of it. So, before the aerodynamics came in, there was a large element of over design; following the Tay Bridge disaster, when it was brought down by a storm, came, on a never again, like the Tay Bridge, basis, the Forth Bridge; massively over designed but safe, still standing after 130 years and a magnificent piece of art as well.
Then there was the situation of aircraft being safe, according to the mathematics, apart from a small matter of stress fracture, as in the Comet aircraft of the 1950s.
One of the many examples on a personal experience level was during my time in the aircraft industry, specifically the early 1980s when I was responsible for the stress analysis and some of the design of the fuselage tanks and floor structure of the VC10 air-to-air refueling tankers and still in service, it seems. For peculiar reasons it was specified that the tanks had to be flat ended, despite being required to take internal and external pressure, and had to be mounted on the seat rails, rather than a special purpose raft, an extra structure. In the crash case, according to the structural analysis and the mathematics, the tanks would go through the aircraft floor. Ron Boxer, the Deputy Chief Stressman, with whom I was working, suggested recalculating assuming the floor beams nearest the tank supports deformed plastically but the tanks still went through the floor; try the next two as well, still structural failure; try the next two as well, reserve factor of 1.01. After a few seconds thought Ron decided that would do. The mathematics, combined with structural theory, took us only so far; thereafter it was down to engineering judgement based on over thirty years experience of aircraft structures.
Mathematics is useful but there is no substitute for experience and judgment, especially engineering experience and judgement in practical situations; the same applies to science.
Mathematics provided no proof in the case of the black hole scare story, connected with the Large Hadron Collider, being wrong, it was, still is, only a tool for assisting in an assessment.
Overall, Ben Miller’s writing and reasoning reads more like a script for the Armstrong and Miller Show, which I have found very occasionally amusing, never particularly funny.
Ben Miller’s piece is subtitled, “Were the moon landings faked? Yes or know, I for one would never trust the irrational opinion of a mere arts graduate.”
Well, apart from accepting that the moon landings were real, after all it was we engineers who made it possible, I for one, would never trust the often, arrogant, not always entirely rational, opinion of a mere science graduate; I know more than enough about science, as well as other matters, to be quite capable of making up my own mind.
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LOS ANGELES, September 10, 2012 – In an industry first, ultra-luxury Crystal Cruises has unveiled the world’s first self-contained, free-standing living wall at sea, created and crafted by UK-based ANS Group Europe. ANS Group Europe spent two days installing the living wall on the 922-guest Crystal Symphony as the ship sailed from Portland to Dover to complete its 11-night “British Isle Brilliance” voyage.
Crystal Symphony's New Living Wall
Designed for an al fresco area in the ship’s Deck 11 Trident Grill, the unique living wall uses a varied and diverse selection of indoor plants to display a world map. The living wall is 37.7 feet (11.5 meters) long and 7.9 feet (2.4 meters) high and will receive regular maintenance by Crystal Symphony’s onboard team of florists.
“In keeping with our ongoing focus on design, we wanted to create a focal point that was both highly contemporary and visually stunning,” says Alexandra Don, Crystal’s vice president, hotel design and services. “The end result is a living wall that brings the Trident Grill to life and serves as an eye-catching backdrop to the incomparable service and choices that always characterize a Crystal holiday.”
The Living Wall at the Trident Grill on the Crystal Symphony
Joel Nash, marketing manager for ANS Group Europe added, “This bespoke project is an exciting and exhilarating scheme. Installing living walls on a cruise ship is taking us to a completely new level and opens up all sorts of possibilities. When you think this wall will be travelling as far north as Lapland and down to Cape Horn, it takes your breath away.”
A living wall is a vertical garden that is pre-planted in panels and then attached to the wall or facade of a building. Plants stay intact in their vertical positions because their root structures are anchored in two to four inches of soil kept within the panel.
The installation of the wall on Crystal Symphony is yet another example of Crystal’s “Crystal Clean” environmental and educational efforts both onboard and on shore. A living wall acts as a bio filter, enhancing air quality by breaking down harmful airborne contaminants and transforming them into clean oxygen. By absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen, it reduces greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Crystal’s passion for taking care of guests in an inviting environment of extraordinary space, quality and choices has earned the company more “World’s Best” awards than any other cruise line, resort or hotel in history. A keen focus on design has also earned the line numerous industry design honors, including first-ever awards from Hospitality Design magazine and the Association of Retail Environments (A.R.E.) in 2012.
In the world of luxury travel, there are many things I have learned. First, my job as a travel advisor is to give advice based on my first-hand experiences so I know what works and what doesn’t. Next, that well-traveled individuals HATE, and I mean HATE, to stand in line. Most hotels and cruise lines make a conscious effort to help travelers avoid lines, however, US Customs and Immigration was different. Traditionally travelers could spend a small eternity (anywhere from 30 – 90 minutes or more) waiting on line to be welcomed home after long international flights. This was a sad fact because as advisors, we would spend hours planning the perfect trip, carefully selecting the itinerary, choosing the hotels and arranging flights on the airline with the best on-board experience. Only to have our precious travelers left holding their bags in an endless line when re-entering the US. Traditionally, this was out of our control to advisors, however, now, with the new Global Entry program, we can make those lines disappear and the trip home seamless. So, as all good travel advisors do, I took the two hour ride to JFK Airport to complete my Global Entry application, so I can test the system and make a recommendation.
The Global Entry membership allows travelers to walk past the long lines at immigrations and customs, breeze up to a kiosk, insert their passport and have their fingerprints scanned. They then bypass the immigration agent, for they have already been pre-qualified as a Global Entry traveler. For those of you who travel internationally and are unfamiliar with Global Entry, you need to pay attention because this information will change your traveling life forever.
The Global Entry membership program allows travelers to go through an application and screening process in order to bypass immigration and customs lines when you re-enter the US from abroad. The application is quite simple and only takes a few minutes online and the interview, which is scheduled in advance with the Global Entry Officer, is only about 15 minutes long. Once the interview is complete, you are photographed and fingerprinted, which allows you to use the kiosk in the airport when re-entering the US. The membership fee is $100 and lasts for 5 years AND, as if that wasn’t good enough, you are automatically qualified for TSA PreCheck clearance, which allows you to keep your shoes on and laptop in your bag at certain domestic airports when you travel domestically. Also, anyone paying with an American Express Platinum card will receive reimbursement for the charges.
There are a few qualifications for Global Entry, however, as long as you haven’t broken any laws, smuggled snails in to the country or lied on your application, you should be all set. For more information on Global Entry, you can CLICK HERE for a Global Entry brochure or go online to www.globalentry.gov
Later this year Largay Travel will host a Global Entry Day in our headquarters in Waterbury, Connecticut, where Global Entry Officers will be on site to perform interviews. If you are interested in participating, please email me at Amanda@LargayTravel.com and I will let you know the details when they are available.
So, this October when I return from hosting a Voyager Club group on the Silver Spirit, I will test the system once and for all. And maybe I won’t skip past all the weary travelers waiting in the endless line at the airport like I imagined during my long drive to JFK. Maybe, instead, I will just smile and walk on by knowing that all of MY travelerswill do the same. Safe journies my friends!
One of my favorite areas of travel is adventure and experiential travel and every year when I attend Virtuoso Travel Week at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, the VAST Globetrotting event is always a highlight. VAST, which stands for Virtuoso Active and Specialty Travel, is comprised of thirty eight companies in the Virtuoso network from all over the world and with all different specialties.
VAST Training with Cox & Kings
These companies offer clients experiences that range from skiing to heli-hiking to yoga trips and more. Although these companies are a small segment of the entire Virtuoso Portfolio, the advisors who sell them are passionate in a big way. These companies are the best-of-the-best when it comes to adventure travel and the advisors realize that knowing every detail about them is imperative to their clients satisfaction.
What makes VAST training truly special is the time and effort that each company puts into their booth so the advisors can get a true feel for what their company is all about. I mean really, how can you not fall in love with Africa when you are sitting in front of a campfire with a beautiful view of the Masi Mara with a story teller from African Travel giving you the ins and outs of safari travel. Pictured to the right is Gail Rosenberg, Ken Sause and Honey Mistry, three of Largay Travel’s best African specialists.
Maybe skiing is your thing, well Alpine Travel decided to bring the snow to Vegas to get us in the mood. They not only talked about their North America and Europe programs but gave us all a great reminder that ski vacations are not just for winter and that the South American ski season is in full swing.
Another option may be fly-fishing, nature photography and whale watching in Patagonia off a state-of-the-art expedition cruise called Nomads of the sea. This vessel not only offers guests a transport to the fly-fishing river via a helicopter that sits on the back of the ship but also offers exquisite food and wine while sailing.
Cox & Kings took a different approach and brought in a spiritual leader to walk us through meditation for a few minutes before talking travel. It set the mood for us to learn about the Khumb Mela festival that will take place next year in India. Cox & Kings trips to one of the largest human congregations on the Earth, offer travelers an experience that they will never have again in their lifetime, as it does not take place every year.
The best idea of the day had to be the Micato Safaris tent which included a seven minute back massage before moving on to our next experience. Since the Largay Travel advisors work with Micato so much to plan trips, no one felt that they had missed any training.
Our day ended and we all left revitalized, educated and ready to make our clients dreams a reality. The VAST event is only the beginning of Virtuoso Week in Vegas and is the perfect way to kick off what is sure to be an amazing adventure!
We arrived to Bermuda aboard the Enchantment of the Seas, a large Royal Caribbean ship that sails out of Baltimore, MD. We docked at King’s Wharf which overlooks the historical Royal Naval Dockyard. Boasting Bermuda’s largest museum, a marina, a shopping mall, restaurants, and an authentic British pub, Dockyard is one of Bermuda’s key attractions. We ventured to the Bermuda National Museum where the Dolphin Quest is located. The dolphins which have been trained from birth are very friendly and amusing. This is a must-do in my opinion!
Clock Tower Mall in the Navy Dockyard
Dolphins performing in Dockyard
The area where the dolphins are housed used to be the keeping where the ships would pull in to receive supplies. It is a great area for a dolphin center.
For dinner, we stopped at the Frog and Onion for some live music and English pub food. The fries, meat pie, and burgers were to die for. The Frog is also home to the Dockyard Brewing Company, Bermuda’s only brewery. Brewmaster Robert Beck offers five great brews – my favorite is the St. David’s Lager.
The Frog and Onion was one of the restaurants open on Sunday in Dockyard. Sunday is a family day for the Bermudians so most stores and commercial areas are closed.
Bermudians and tourists alike enjoy riding their scooters around the island. This cheetah print was too cool!
One evening, there was a parade in honor of the Queen’s birthday. There was a lot of culture to be experienced by the children.
The Bermuda regiment in action with their music and marches.
Gombey’s dancing in festive costumes for the Queen’s Birthday.
St. George, the lovely little seaport in the eastern end of Bermuda has been capital of Bermuda and was the seat of government until 1815. Everyone you turn, you see memories of yesteryear. St. Peter’s Church was rebuilt in stone in 1713, but the section around the pulpit dates from the 1600s.
St Peter’s Church in Bermuda is believed to be the oldest continually used Anglican church in the Western hemisphere.
You will see that like many other churches in Bermuda, St. Peter’s Church also has a separate gallery at the western side so that the blacks could attend the services. This gallery was built in the early 1700s. The entrance to this gallery was through a separate door at the north west corner of the church.
WHAT ARE YOUR VIRTUOSO TRAVEL MOMENTS? Now accepting entries for the 2012 Virtuoso Traveler Photo Contest!ENTER HERE
Round up your best photographs from your worldwide travels, and submit them today. Four lucky Virtuoso travelers will earn cash prizes and may even have their photo featured in VIRTUOSO LIFE magazine or other Virtuoso materials!
The deadline to enter is Sunday, July 1, 2012.
As some of the most well-traveled people on the planet, our clients, we invite and encourage you to submit your original travel photographs that best reflect the contest theme — Your Virtuoso Travel Moments.
Judges will be looking for images that show you, your family, and/or your friends enjoying moments captured during vacations planned by your professional travel advisor. You’ll have a chance to title each image, to indicate where and when it was taken, and to tell us a little about what made it a special Virtuoso moment for you.
Virtuoso will award cash prizes to four lucky Virtuoso Travelers — one Grand Prize ($1,000), one first prize ($500), one second prize ($300), and one third prize ($200). Additionally, entries may be featured in VIRTUOSO LIFE magazine or other Virtuoso materials.
Just imagine how great it would it be to have one of your vacation photos published in an award-winning travel magazine?! Submit your entry, and you’re one step closer to fame, fortune, and cash!
HOW TO ENTER
The contest entry form is exclusively online. To enter (and for complete image requirements, contest details, and official rules), visit the Virtuoso Traveler Photo Contest website today. Good luck!
Today we met our tour guide Omar Deras at the entrance to St. Herman’s Cave in the Blue Hole National Park. St. Herman’s Cave is of great archaeological interest. It was used by the Maya during the Classic Period up to 2,000 years ago. The ancient Maya believed that caves, particularly those with rivers flowing through and out of them, were entrances to the underworld, Xibalba. We saw remains of pottery vessels which were used for the collection of Zuh uy Ha (virgin water) from driping speleothems, actively growing stalactites. There were also charred remains of pots which were used to catch and burn blood sacrifices to the rain god Chaak during droughts. The blood was collected during bloodletting ceremonies in which priests and elders would pierce their tongues or foreskins. No evidence of human sacrifice has been found in this cave, unlike some others in Belize and Guatemala. All of the pottery pieces found in the cave have been shards, since the ancient Mayans believe that it was necessary to smash sacrificial vessels to release the spirits within. All those items are now studied by the Department of Archaeology in Belmopan. This cave system has been carved out of limestone by the Sibun River.
We hiked up the cave, looking at the various formations and artifacts, then drifted slowly down the river for about an hour. We didn’t see or hear another soul for the entire tubing trip. We then hiked back up through the river to the entrance. We completely lost track of time and space for the 2 1/2 hour expedition. It was a jolt emerging into the tropical sunlight after so long underground.
We saw a few cave-dwelling animals during the trip, such as this short-tailed bat. There were several species of bat flying throughout the cave during out trip. They roost in holes, or “pots” in the ceiling carved out by their acidic urine eroding the limestone. There was a large, active colony of cave swallows at the entrance to the cave. There were also many camel crickets as well as their main predator, scorpion spiders or whip spiders, which are actually not spiders, but arachnids closely related to scorpions, but without the stinger. They are harmless, despite their fierce appearance, and Omar even picked a large one up to demonstrate. Mary was not amused.
After the tubing trip we stopped by the inland Blue Hole for a quick swim. The Blue Hole (not to be confused with the much large and deeper oceanic Blue Hole located int the barrier reef), is a formation where the river upwells into a limestone sinkhole, then travels as a daylight river for a hundred feet or so, then dives back down into another cave system. The hole itself is about twenty five feet deep and crystal clear. Our visit coincided with a huge group of army ants, which livened things up. Despite their large numbers they were very orderly, so it wasn’t too difficult to step over their trails. John learned that they have painful stings when he decided that it would be a good idea to flick them into the Blue Hole for the waiting tilapia to snap up. They found a red-rumped tarantula with an egg sac and forced her out of her hole. She was still struggling to escape when we left. It was the only time I’ve ever felt sorry for a spider. The highlight of the stop was a large purple-crowned fairy hummingbird taking a bath in the river just below the Hole. The emerald, white and black hummingbird repeatedly hovered right at the river surface and buzzed in the water, their form of bathing. She then perched on a branch and preened herself.
Today we visited the Cayo District in the western part of Belize close to the Guatemalan border. As we drove from the coast to the west, we were marveled by the beautiful hills and mountains rich in green dense jungle. From the humblest of beginnings Chaa Creek Cottages has grown into a 365 acre private nature reserve offering a range of exciting, educational adventures, expeditions and cultural experiences. The Natural History Centre, Butterfly Farm, Conference Centre, Macal River Camp bungalows, Rainforest Medicine Trail, Organic Maya Farm, eco-friendly Hilltop Spa and swimming pool are linked by miles of beautiful jungle trails perfect for bird watching, mountain biking, horseback riding, hiking, or just strolling through a pristine rainforest. The canoes remain the most popular way to explore the river and enjoy scenic excursions into San Ignacio Town. The Chaa Creek region has been a hub of Maya civilisation for thousands of years. They are now internationally recognised for providing an authentic Maya experience, and already this year played host to leading Mayanist and author Dr Mark Van Stone as well as a team from National Geographic magazine. Throughout 2012 they will be offering unique Maya tours, presentations, events and activities, culminating in the grand Winter Solstice celebrations on December 21. They offer the Reef and Rainforest Tour where you can combine a true Caribbean getaway with a Maya experience.
Lunch was served by beautiful Mayan ladies dressed in white dresses with bright floral accents. The dishes were typical of the Latin culture.
Salbutes stuffed with pico de gallo, cabbage, and chicken.
Ceviche with plantain chips.
Chicken soup with cabbage and potatoes.
Xunantanich, located in the Cayo District is the tallest Mayan Ruin in Belize.
We made the steep, but short, climb to the top of “El Castillo.” This vantage point provides a breathtaking, 360 degree, panoramic view over the jungle canopy of the Macal, Mopan and Belize River valleys, as well as a vast area of the Guatemalan Peten District, which is only a few miles away. You will also get a close look at the restored portions of two unique stucco friezes, which appear on the east and west sides of the upper portion of the pyramid.
Located in the Cayo District in western Belize, Xunantunich is easily accessible. Most of the lodging facilities in the area offer day trips to the site, which is very popular with all tourists in the region.
Almond Beach is a beautiful property in Hopkins, a small coastal village. This area has not become overdeveloped and is quiet in the evenings. Perfect for a family getaway or couple’s honeymoon. A Garifuna population inhabits the town and these friendly people staff the resort.
These pictures give you an idea of the flora and the fauna that surrounds you.
We are staying on the top floor of this incredible villa.
These are individual cabanas located directly on the beach.
A boat dock directly in the front of the property takes you on snorkeling and fishing trips to the nearby South Water Caye and Glover’s Reef.
The view from our veranda and an iguana friend that sunbathed in front of our porch each day.
Yesterday we ate a delicious lunch at Iris’s Sunny Side Up, a small restaurant in Hopkins village. The previous owner, Iris, started the restaurant 16 years ago with no running water or electricity. She still lives upstairs but the restaurant is now owned by a South African woman. She kept Iris’ name.
Lightly fried Snapper fingers with a ginger sauce and new potatoes.
Fried plantains and black beans with Chicken curry and vegetable.
On our way to Hopkins from the airport in Belize City, we stopped at the Baboon Sanctuary in the small town of Burrel Boom. The Belizeans call the indigenous Howler Monkeys “Baboons”. There is an area of protected land where conservationists and residents cooperate to create a wonderful habitat for the Howlers. Residents allow the trees and vegetation to grow so the Howlers have plenty to eat. Our guide, Robert showed us where a family of Baboons were feeding and the mother and two babies came down from the trees to eat bananas from his palm. The mother had her hands on Mary’s head in eager anticipation of the treat. The father was very upset and howled severely until I finally told everyone to move out.
The tree cutter ants are amazing. They are much bigger than our ants in the states. They travel in large groups transporting leaves from plants in the jungle to their hill. They spit on the leaves and a fungus grows provided them a source of food. The males have huge fangs which can be used as stitches when people get a cut in the jungle. They create huge trails when they are foraging through the jungle. We tried not to step in the trails.
The cashew plant is used to make cashews like the ones we eat at home. They make wine from the fruit of the cashew tree. It is heard to be very strong in alcohol content. The picture below is a lovely cashew tree with people relaxing under it’s shade.
While we were on the tour, a local boy did some dirt bike stunts. He was so cute that I couldn’t resist taking his picture. The Belizeans are very friendly and warm people. The official language is English, but many speak Creole and Spanish.
We finally arrived at Almond Beach in Hopkins. This is a beautiful Spanish style property with clay tile roofs and mahogany interiors. Upon arrival to our room, we found these swans made of towels and fresh flowers on our bed as well as on the kid’s bunkbeds. More pics of the property to come.
On Friday, April 27th, Largay Travel will host its annual company retreat. The Sagamore Resort and Hotel will serve as the backdrop for the Largettes as they work with each other and travel suppliers to improve their already incredible skills and abilities. Suppliers attending the annual gathering include, Adventures by Disney, Crystal Cruises, Holland America, Micato, Oceania, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Silversea Cruises, Tauck World Discovery, Travel Impressions, Travelex, and Virtuoso. Over the course of the weekend the Suppliers will showcase their travel offerings, while the Largay Travel team assesses each, in order to strengthen their understanding of each supplier’s market. This way, customers will be directed to the best tour or cruise for them, based on their own travel desires. Company Vice President Amanda Kilmak is very enthusiastic and optimistic about the weekend.
“Our company retreat is a way for us to improve our business on every level. We get to work with each other and enhance our abilities as travel advisors, we get to work with our travel suppliers and see how they have changed and evolved for the future. This year we are giving the suppliers incentive to really WOW us but rating their presentations. Our ultimate goal is to find better ways to serve our clients, and what better way than to pull all the pieces together for an annual tune up.”
All in all, the annual retreat looks to be successful, enjoyable and very productive as it is every year.
When I first 1st learned that the Allure of the Seas accommodates in excess of 6000 passengers and has a crew of 2500+, I was initially tempted to QUICKLY jump ship & swim for shore. After all, I was interested in a cruise not a stampede- what I envisioned at dinner time would be the Caribbean equivalent of the running of the bulls in Pamplona. Oh how wrong I was.
There is no denying it; it has the title of ‘World’s Largest Cruise ship’ because it is, but big in this case is not synonymous with bad or inferior. Quite the contrary, after having a look around, I was pleasantly surprised that the ship was designed & strategically divided into what can best be described as neighborhoods complete
with names such as Central Park, and the Boardwalk. Central Park was home to a number of intimate, alternative restaurants and a fabulous wine bar proudly displaying the world’s largest bottle of Cabernet!
In contrast, the Boardwalk neighborhood’s authenticity immediately reminded me of my childhood days in Coney Island. There are hot dog/ice cream stands, carnival games, popcorn/candy apples, and of course the requisite/magnificent wooden, hand carved carrousel. Does incredible begin to come to mind?
The active and adventure sports offered on-board are highlighted by a (40) foot rock climbing wall, flow rider(s) (go figure I’ve always wanted to know what it was like to surf, and now I do), a zip line -yes an actual zip line- strung 50 feet
above the deck (the 1st step is the most difficult!), and a running track that encircles the ship that helps you to keep pace with the additional calories found around every corner of the ship (kinda, but not really!).
The gym/workout facilities and spa boast abundant, state of the art pieces of equipment, instructors, and attendants. Not only can you get a personalized exercise/nutritional program,but have your teeth whitened, receive a Botox treatment and experience acupuncture as well. Lions & tigers& bears, oh my!
If nighttime action and entertainment options ‘float your boat’ (sorry it was there) then you’re in luck. AGAIN! As a matter of fact you may be exhausted just deciding between jazz/rock/disco/karaoke music. Or perhaps you want your evening’s entertainment menu to include a combination of a comedy club and a Broadway show (Chicago), or maybe an Ice Capades performance followed by an aqua theater nightcap.
The aqua show can best be described as a unique combination of Cirque de Soleil meets the cliff divers from Acapulco. The choices go on as long as the night.
After sailing for (7) days, my experience/impression is that this ship is a ‘boat load a fun’, unique, and certainly in a class by itself. This ship, like all ships, is NOT for everybody. Folks accustomed to more intimate settings, variety of ports, large cabins and surroundings will be better served elsewhere. But, singles, active couples, families (so PERFECT for multigenerational trips/reunions) should seriously consider adding the Allure to their respective bucket lists. The food, entertainment, and service all exceeded my expectations.
The net result when I think back upon this cruise-and I’ll do so very fondly-is a big ol’ Fashioned smile.
Each time I consider taking an active vacation there are some immediate questions/concerns that surface prior to taking the trip itself: have I chosen the right company, have I chosen the correct trip for me with regards to activity levels, geographic venues, style/ levels of hotels? What will my group of fellow travelers/ adventures be like? Most importantly, HOW GOOD WILL THE TOUR DIRECTORS/GUIDES BE??!!
Prior to ultimately selecting the Backroads Canadian Rockies biking trip, I spent considerable time seeking answers to all my aforementioned questions.I knew I wanted a physically challenging program that had multiple options for both longer & shorter days on the bike. I wanted (4-5) star hotel properties. I wanted nightly fine wine & dining opportunities. I wanted less travelled country roads. I wanted magnificent scenery and authentic wildlife encounters. I wanted moderate temperatures conducive to long days on the saddle. I guess you could say, like most folks, I essentially wanted it all…
Backroads and the National Parks of Canada didn’t disappoint & delivered in style.
For (6) days we were treated to a buffet and endless stream of brilliant blue skies, iridescent , jewel-like lakes, majestic, craggy-faced relentless mountain peaks. Abundant wildlife seemed to magically and strategically await us around each bend in the road (big horn sheep, elk, black bear, and yes even a mother grizzly bear…YIKES!).
The challenges of the daily distance and considerable elevation gains were a test of our collective wills, but whose attainment always offered the reward of a magnificent, scenic, visual dessert.
The guides were all incredibly energetic (they had no choice with all these ‘type A’ personalities!) knowledgeable, personable, and unilaterally available. They somehow innately understood & catered to the uniqueness of each participant and, in certain select instances, when somebody climbing a mountain pass ‘ran outta gas‘ , provided a seamless ‘lift‘ to the top where they eventually toasted & celebrated our arrival.
The hotels were all ‘best in show’ in their respective locales. The service, accommodations, & cuisine at the Post Hotel was in a category second to none and would rival ANY US/European ‘best of the best’ property.
Because of our desire to be situated in a very remote wilderness environment, everyone understood that on certain nights the level of accommodations would be adequate but NOT exceptional. On those particular nights the level of service, food, charm ,and dinner conversation offered by the inn keeper and his staff more than compensated us for the utilitarian accommodations.
What a privilege it was to bike & physically experience this hidden gem, pristine and well preserved wilderness area. The memories of this experience, like the endless rewarding scenery & wildlife of Calgary, will provide lifelong memories for all fortunate enough to have participated!
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The Great Outdoors: Exploring the Sam Ristich Trail System in North Yarmouth
From the North Yarmouth Town Office near the junction of Route 9 and Route 115 in North Yarmouth, four trails connect to provide a peaceful four-mile round-trip walk through a beautiful forest landscape.
Plan for a three-hour walk if you bring your binoculars and are intent on enjoying a wide variety of bird sightings as we did on our 6 a.m. start from the Town Office parking lot.
As we walked down the Old Railroad Bed Trail toward the turnaround point out near Route 231, we heard the piercing call of a hawk up ahead. The call got closer and closer. We suddenly looked up into a trail-side oak and saw a majestic hawk sitting on a dead branch peering down at us. It kept calling as we zeroed in on it with our binoculars.
Suddenly a flock of blue jays descended into the branches around the hawk and started an absolute racket, all the while flitting about the hawk. Bothered by all the commotion the hawk swooped off into a nearby tree, and the jays seemed happy for a few minutes. Then we heard another hawk calling from a tree 20 yards off the trail. The jays began hounding our original hawk again and it flew to yet another perch. There might have even been a third hawk. With all the hawk calls, the screaming of jays, and wings beating through the trees it was hard to keep track of the players.
We have always been used to seeing hawks at the edge of open fields or soaring over meadows looking for prey. But what a surprise to see them in a deep, dark forest. We imagined how excited Sam Ristich would have been at our discovery.
The “Mushroom Man” to many, mycologist Ristich inspired children and adults alike to discover the fascinating treasures of forest and fen over his many years of living in the Yarmouth area. Check out the Ristich website (samristich.com) for more information about this remarkable man.
The Old Railroad Bed was originally part of the Maine Central Railroad system, but in 1911 it was abandoned for today’s current route near the Royal River. A slight rise coming out of Walnut Hill village required the consumption of more coal and of course more money as the price of coal increased. The flatter route allowed more profitability.
Note the granite culverts placed along the railroad bed to direct the flow of water. This area also had a thriving granite industry for many years. You will see evidence of two small quarries on the Sam Ristich Loop Trail just south of the Old Railroad Bed Trail. The gray granite from the Yarmouth and Pownal areas was used to help build the New York State Capitol in Albany and the Pillsbury mills in Minneapolis, as well as the Cribstone Bridge to Bailey Island.
From the railroad bed you will pass by a beaver flowage filled with the sounds of bullfrogs, and a few hundred yards later reach the end of the mowed rail corridor, the turnaround point. We spent 40 minutes here munching on succulent sweet raspberries, and scanning the marshy area to the west for birds. Goldfinches were everywhere, perched on the tops of dead trees, boldly outlined against the milky early morning sky. Unlike most birds goldfinches start their families in August and September because they are seed-eaters and must wait for the seeds to finally appear in late summer to feed to their young. Tree swallows darted here and there in search of insects. Cedar waxwings, red-winged blackbirds, and a number of sparrows were also seen.
We headed back through the two white-blazed Ristich Trails, eventually walking out the Parsonage Road to sit awhile in the Veterans Memorial Park at the corner of Route 9. A granite bench provided by the Cole Land Transportation Museum was inscribed with “All Gave Some – Some Gave All.” A beautiful morning walk, warmth and sun, a breeze rustling through the trees – we felt extremely lucky.
Many large white pine tower above the open forest floor throughout the trail system. Beech trees with their smooth gray bark are in great abundance as well. Oak, birch, and hemlock round out the dominant species along the trails. Benches are placed at peaceful spots along the way for rest and reflection. To the west of the Sam Ristich Nature Trail you will note a gigantic sand pit through the trees, evidence that there was a lot of water flowing through and over this area from the melting ice 12,000 years ago.
The North Yarmouth Historical Society was of great help in preparing this article. Be sure to check out their website for history and pictures of the North Yarmouth area that will help you better appreciate all the wonderful things you will encounter on your walk. A detailed trail map and interpretive brochure can be downloaded from the town of North Yarmouth website. Click on “Park Facilities” and go to the bottom of the page. Once you walk this system of trails you will be back this fall to enjoy the foliage colors and again this winter with your snowshoes. Peace and quiet, and great beauty reside here – all seasons.
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Jon L. talked to Adam Greenfield about his new book, Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing,when he was in Austin to speak at SXSW Interactive as part of a digital convergence track Jon helped put together. Jon will also be leading a discussion with Adam in the Inkwell.vue forum on the WELL beginning Friday, April 14. — Ed.
WorldChanging: Could you say just a little bit about what led you into ubiquitous computing? I know you as a designer, so what was it that piqued your interest in ubicomp and made you so interested that you wanted to write an authoritative book on the subject?
Adam Greenfield: It was a sense that there wasn't really anything out there for people. It felt like a gathering storm, to me. This was a technology that had ambitions to interpose itself in social relations in every sphere of life, a technology that had ambitions to literally embed itself or to be embedded in the objects and surfaces of everyday life. It doesn't take a genius to see that, by definition, this is going to effect hundreds of millions of people, by an order of magnitude more than the PC.
And yet, despite this extraordinary expansion in the number of people who would be affected by this particular information technology, nobody was talking about it in anything but an academic and technical voice. Sure, there was 7-10 years worth of literature out there. There had been Pervasive conferences and ubiquitous conferences. But there was nothing yet that targeted the smart generalist or the general readership. And that struck me as profoundly wrong.
So I bootstrapped myself. Despite not having a background in it, despite not having any sort of engineering background whatever, I went to a couple of Ubicomp conferences and did a whole bunch of research.
WorldChanging: What sort of people did you find going to ubicomp conferences? What kind of people are driving development?
Adam Greenfield: Some very, very smart people, but they're systems people. They're people that are looking at the event heap, how you negotiate system resources to a whole bunch of distributed systems with heterogeneous interfaces in a given space. Brilliant work, foundational work, important stuff... but nothing from the user experience end. That whole mind-set had not yet percolated into the practice of ubicomp. So you'd see a lot of papers on prototype systems, and in some cases extremely aggressive prototype systems, in the sense that they had this sort of land grab mentality about them. Systems that were embedded in flooring, systems that were comprised of camera nets that would track you in real time as you moved through the city. Locational systems. And yet they were designed by engineers, seemingly for engineers.
I'm not blaming anybody for this. Engineers are not user experience folks. They're not trained to be. Possibly by inclination, they're not concerned so much with the user. They tend to model the needs of the people using the systems on their own reactions to technology, and that's understandable, and I don't blame anybody for that.
The trouble is, when you get systems that are designed that way, they're intolerable. If you want a technology to be present in everyday life at the widest possible scale, I can't imagine having to negotiate systems through the equivalent of a command line interface for people. The prospect was intolerable.
And I thought (hopefully I don't sound too pompous here) that it was ethically incumbent upon someone who could see this to get out there and write about it, whether or not they had a background. If they could educate themselves to a point where they more or less knew what they were talking about, and were able to fairly represent the history of this discourse, and the history of this practice, somebody had to write about it. And nobody was doing it. So I said, what the hell, I'll do it myself. (Laughs)
WorldChanging: So you're actually coming from a user experience perspective in your analysis of ubicomp?
Adam Greenfield: That's the genesis of it, yeah. That was the real emotional hook for me, just thinking about people having to configure their toilets and people having to configure their teapots to boil a kettle of tea. And just taking a direct analogy with the technical systems that are around us now - you know, dropped cellphone calls and the blue screen of death, and everything that we're familiar with from the PC and mobile infrastructure
WorldChanging: The blue toilet of death! (Laughter.)
Adam Greenfield: Can you imagine? And I think what heightened the sense of urgency was that this stuff was moving beyond prototypes in short order. It was moving toward consumer products, toward the digital home and digital convergence. The products were starting to be packaged and shipped. And still nobody was talking about the nonlinear interactions of network systems in one space all operating at once - it's as if none of the people who were designing them had, not so much thought, but felt what it would be like to sit in the middle of a room where you've got fifteen different technical interfaces around you, and you're responding to all of them at once, and they're all responding to you at once.
It really was from the more empathic end of the user experience field, not so much about usability per se, but about pleasure in use. And about sustainability and use, sort of a sustained quality of life issue. Wanting to design systems that really do enhance people's quality of life, and not just destroy it.
WorldChanging: What's the down side with ubiquitous computing? Are there things that we should be concerned about - or things that we should be advocating for, as they develop?
Adam Greenfield: Well, I certainly think so. I'll point out from the beginning that I tend to impose my own vaguely libertarian prejudices on a lot of this stuff. I think there are privacy issues, but what I say in the book is that everyware doesn't just redefine computing, it redefines surveillance, as well.
I'll give you a quick example of what I mean by that. One of my favorite examples is the BodyMedia Sensewear monitor, a sort of sexy band-aid that you slap on your arm and, triggered by body heat, it wakes up and starts taking what its producers call a physiological documentary of your body. It's a sort of constant, realtime beacon of your life signs. We're talking about, not just the obvious channels, but more channels of information flowing out from your body, from your activities. It's not just a camera and your image, it's not just a microphone and your voice. It's potentially your gait pattern, the pattern of your footfalls as you walk across the floor. I don't think most people have even wrestled yet with the implications of the idea that you could be identified with reasonable confidence by the pattern of the way that you walk. It's not quite as unique a signature as a fingerprint or, certainly, as DNA. I think there' something like an 80% confidence interval in a group of twenty that you could single somebody out just from the pattern of their walk, and that's at a prototype stage.
So it's easy for me to imagine - I've got this kind of not particularly fair, but real scenario in the book. It is not by any stretch of the imagination improbable. The scenario is that there's a bar, and the bar has load cells and sensors and processors in its flooring, and the moment you walk into the bar, it will track you and associate your identity with records that are databased externally. And then it will do a relational search, and identify you by political affinity. And then you see if you get served a beer or get punched in the nose and sent out the door, based on whether they want to serve you or not.
What is your political background, who are you? They could just associate the records about your political contributions on relational databases that are already out there in the world with the unique signature of your footfall. That sounds like a strange scenario, but it's not unrealistic. I don't know why anybody would want to design that system, but they certainly could, and they could do it with stuff that exists right now.
WorldChanging: We normally think of surveillance as a bunch of guys that are watching monitors that are linked to cameras that are placed around, but what we're really talking about here, is a bunch of sensors that are gathering data where the patterns can be analyzed, and you don't have to depend on having a human looking at a million different monitors, right?
Adam Greenfield: You sure don't. It's inferential. And to me, one of the scariest things about it is that it's sort of imperceptible, right? These are systems that are embedded, they communicate wirelessly, they're not perceptible to immediate, ordinary analysis. When you walk into a room, you might have no idea that they're operating. But they're collecting information, and inference is being made, machine inference is being applied to the fact patterns that they're gathering. And then this becomes actionable. Once that exists, then people can make determinations about their behavior based on it. And to me that's scary.
I'm real simple about it. I just don't necessarily want to live in a world like that. I want to be able, to the greatest extent possible, to enjoy relationships with other human beings where they're not preconditioned by the sum total of information that's available about me because it's flowing off my body in realtime.
WorldChanging: On the solutions side, what are the most positive results we can expect from ubicomp, based on what you've seen so far?
Adam Greenfield: I get asked some version of that question a lot, and there are certainly valid uses for it. Memory augmentation, and independent living for elderly people is one of the best scenarios I've seen, where having the armature of pervasive informatic systems does actually help people live independently, longer, with dignity, if the systems are designed correctly.
When Mark Weiser devised the idea of ubicomp way back in the late 80s or early 90s, he saw the power of applying very powerful informatics to everyday hassles like "where did I leave my keys," or "is that shirt that I wanted still on the rack at Macy's," or "what is the best commute to work," or "is there a parking space available where I'm headed." I think that's still a valid vision. I think that everyware will have some very positive consequences in people's lives in terms of reducing or even eliminating some of the hassles for thousands of years, and we just accept it as the price of existence. So I'm optimistic in that sense.
What raises red flags for me, though, is that each one of those systems and each one of those interactions will have to be designed by somebody, and knowing what I do about the technological process, and how things get sped to market, and how things get rushed, and how user experience work is so often the very first thing that's cut out of a development budget, I'm not terribly sanguine that all of those transactions are going to be designed with any kind of feel for people in them. So you can theoretically see the good things that can come out of it, and for every good that I can imagine, there are flags that come up, though one of the fundamental things that I hope people take away from the book and from my talks is that I'm not anti-ubiquitous computing, I just want it to be done right. And to be done sensitively.
There are great potentials for improved quality of life and certainly amazing business opportunities in the region where sensitive user experience development is applied to the challenge of ubiquitous systems. And that's what I'd like to see happen, and that's certainly a discussion that has yet to be started. So that's what I'm all about.
WorldChanging Interview: Adam Greenfield is a part of our month long retrospective leading up to our anniversary on Oct. 1. For the next four weeks, we'll celebrate five years of solutions-based, forward-thinking and innovative journalism by publishing the best of the Worldchanging archives.
Ya Adam Greenfield is a nice guy but I don't agree with his thoughts.Nice interview and continue the good work.
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LOVELAND, Colo. — Wildfires across the West drove hundreds of people from their homes from California to Colorado, where nuns living in a monastery and Boy Scouts at camp are among those who've fled.
Firefighters are making progress on a 92 square-mile blaze in northern Colorado despite hot, dry weather although more residents were notified to be ready to leave Tuesday. The fire west of Fort Collins is 50 percent contained after firefighters labored in temperatures in the 90s to extend lines around the blaze Monday. Expected strong winds didn't materialize but gusts of around 30 mph were forecast Tuesday along with more hot weather.
Eight more homes were found burned Monday, bringing the damage so far to at least 189 — the most in the state's history. Houses in the area already burned by the fire are still at risk because of pockets of unburned fuel.
Other wildfires were burning in warm, arid weather from Wyoming to Arizona to Southern California, where a blaze that prompted the evacuation of 150 homes was 75 percent contained Tuesday.
Firefighters were able to make progress on the 900-acre fire in eastern San Diego County after getting a break from overnight winds.
In Colorado, another fire that started Sunday in the foothills west of Colorado Springs prompted evacuations of residents, a Boy Scout camp and a recreation area near the Elevenmile Canyon Reservoir, which provides water to the Denver area. A monastery of nuns also evacuated as a precaution.
A nun who returned to feed the chickens at the remote monastery Tuesday said the fire was about two miles from the site. She said sacred items from the chapel, including a chalice, along with insurance papers and historical documents were removed Sunday as slurry bombers flew over the property.
That fire has burned nearly 2 square miles, and fire managers said it has the potential to grow much more in an area where logs are drier than pine boards from a lumber yard.
As firefighters try to get the upper hand on the blaze near Fort Collins, which has burned large swaths of private and U.S. Forest Service land since it began June 9, local authorities have dispatched roving patrols to combat looting.
Deputies arrested Michael Stillman Maher, 30, of Denver, Sunday on charges including theft and impersonating a firefighter.
Jeff Corum, whose home burned on the first day of the northern Colorado fire, described whirling, unpredictable winds that drove the blaze.
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"That's what it's been doing, back and forth," Corum said. "It's just like a washing machine, and it's just rolling up there, and that's the way the mountains are."
Corum grabbed some clothing and two weapons when he fled, but not his credit cards. He's spent a few nights in a motel, some at a Red Cross evacuation center and some in his truck.
On Monday, Rocky Mountain National Park enacted a ban on all campfires because of the threat of wildfires in Colorado. The park normally allows campfires in designated fire rings, but the ban will prohibit those, as well as charcoal grilling, for the first time since September 2010.
Authorities also are trying to enforce a ban on using private fireworks in Colorado.
In other fires:
- In Idaho, a fast-moving wildfire near Mountain Home destroyed five homes and several outbuildings Monday evening. The blaze quickly moved through the area as Southwest Idaho remained under a red flag warning Sunday and Monday because of high temperatures, low humidity and high winds — conditions conducive to explosive and destructive fires.
- In Wyoming, more experienced fire managers and crews took over the fight against a wildfire burning in a rough, mountainous area of the Medicine Bow National Forest. The fire has burned about four square miles since Sunday. About 40 residents of the area's scattered ranches and cabins have been advised to evacuate.
- In Nevada, a 10,000-acre wildfire north of Ely was 15 percent contained. Aerial mapping showed the fire was smaller than thought.
- In New Mexico, firefighters were taking advantage of favorable weather conditions to battle a wildfire that has destroyed 242 homes and businesses. More than 1,100 firefighters remained in Ruidoso as they fight to hold the Little Bear Fire that is now 60 percent contained. Another fire broke out Monday and burned three structures along a 5-mile stretch of the San Juan River in far northwestern New Mexico. The fire, burning east of Bloomfield, is 30 percent contained. The fire in the Gila Wilderness, already the largest in state history, grew another 1,000 acres to 463 square miles and is 80 percent contained.
- In Arizona, firefighters were building containment lines around a 3,700-acre blaze on the Tonto National Forest to try to protect electric transmission lines that provide power to the state's major metropolitan areas. The fire was 15 percent contained Tuesday.
- In northwest Nebraska, a fire has charred an estimated 5,000 acres in Sioux County. Fire officials said it was 50 percent to 65 percent contained Tuesday afternoon.
- In Hawaii, the upcountry Kula fire was declared 90 percent contained Tuesday morning. The wildfire burned six acres and damaged three homes.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Staging older files to the SATA partition
I am using Solaris 9 on Sun servers with Hitachi storage system (on SAN with Brocade FC switch). I would like to add a few SATA terabytes to the storage system. I'm looking to do "disk staging" so that all the files from my partition older than two weeks or bigger than 10 MB will be staged to the SATA partition. These operations must be transparent to the application. I'm using VxFS and VxVM now.
Surprisingly, this is not easy to accomplish. In order to have some files on one storage system and others on another, you either have to use two different filesystems (and volumes and volume groups) and move the files with a script or SRM package, or you have to use an HSM
(Hierarchical Storage Management) product.
One free method I've seen is to use a script to move the old files to your nearline/ATA storage and leave Unix symbolic links behind. Let's call this manual HSM. This works surprisingly well in some circumstances, especially if there are relatively few files to be managed in this way. But watch out -- each symbolic link requires an inode in the filesystem, and you can quickly run out of inodes! df_vxfs will show you how many inodes are left, and if you will have more than 8 million files, you need to use the "largefiles" option of mkfs when creating the filesystem. And look out for applications that aren't friendly to symbolic links, or none of this will work!
This was first published in August 2004
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A 1960 British Corgi paperback printing of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend. This is actually the second Corgi edition (Corgi #SS854), following the 1956 first printing (Corgi #T197, which in turn followed the 1954 US Fawcett Gold Medal original), which sported a different treatment and illustration on the cover – a head-and-shoulders illustration of the novel's protagonist, Robert Neville, the last man alive, set against a staked vampire in a barren landscape (presumably an interpretation of the book's burning vampire pit). Corgi were evidently happier with the artwork on the 1960 edition, however – which depicts Neville looming over his staked wife, Virginia – as for their next edition, in 1962 (Corgi #SS1213), they went with this:
Now, on first inspection, that appears to be the same painting as on the previous edition. Look closer, however – click on the picture to zoom in – and you can see that the artwork has either been painted over, or painted afresh. The brush marks are smoother; the areas of contrast on Virginia not so stark; and the underpainting is less visible, in particular on the hillock, where in the previous version, the pink "ground" can be clearly seen.
To be honest, I'm not sure which one I prefer; they both have their merits, as does the type treatment on both covers. Frankly, early Corgi editions of I Am Legend are so scarce – certainly moreso than Gold Medal editions, and those are pretty uncommon as it is – I may well keep them both.
One thing Matheson does in I Am Legend is strive to establish a scientific background for vampirism – and it just so happens I've recently finished reading another novel which attempts a similar thing:
Justin Cronin's splendidly sprawling epic The Twelve (Orion, 2012) – which, I think, is the best "new" book I've read this year – the sequel to this:
The Passage (Orion, 2010). Obviously there are differences between Cronin and Matheson, not least being that the former's magnum opus is by this point well over a thousand pages long and still only two-thirds done, whereas the latter's novel barely troubles 150 pages. Even so, they both offer explanations for the vampire – except that they approach their explanations from different directions. In I Am Legend, Neville tries to determine the scientific basis of each symptom of the, on the surface, seemingly supernatural disease of vampirism – living death, fear of garlic, etc. – in order to arrive at a cure. But in The Passage and The Twelve, right from the outset Cronin painstakingly establishes the scientific basis for each vampiric manifestation – from an encounter with Amazonian vampire bats and consequent US military experimentation to, in The Twelve, the appearance of "familiars" – and builds a supernatural mythology from there. Interestingly, this sense of opposites meeting in the middle extends even to the root cause: in I Am Legend it's bacteriological, while in The Passage and The Twelve it's viral.
Anyway: onwards. And next, two paperback editions of a key work of dystopian science fiction, featuring an introduction by Kingsley Amis...
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While the five departments in the Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages serve common interests in literary and cultural traditions and their languages, the DLCL's focal groups bring together faculty members and graduate students who share topics and approaches that range across languages and national literatures. These groups are designed to respond directly to the research interests of the faculty as a community, and reflect long-term commitments by the participants. They are conceived as portals that open from the Division outward to the wider community of literary and humanities scholars at Stanford. The membership may include any member of the Stanford faculty or any Ph.D. student with an interest in the topic. Most Focal Groups include participants from several humanities departments outside the DLCL.
Thus the DLCL is characterized by two axes of intellectual inquiry:
- the departmental axis, which is organized by language, nation, and culture
- the focal axis, which may be organized by genre, period, methodology, or other criteria.
The convergence of the two axes, departments and focal groups, locates faculty members and graduate students in at least two intersecting communities. The DLCL believes that this convergence gives institutional form to the intellectual conditions under which many scholars of literature and culture presently work.
Each focal group maintains a standing research workshop at which both faculty and graduate student members discuss their work. Some focal groups offer formal courses; and all groups are responsible for overseeing research-oriented activities and extracurricular events in the relevant area, including sponsoring conferences, publications, podcasts, and other activities that disseminate the outcomes of their research.
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International lenders failed for the second week to reach a deal to release emergency aid for Greece and will try again next Monday, but Germany signaled that major divisions remain.
Euro zone finance ministers, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank were unable to agree in 12 hours of overnight talks in Brussels on how to make the country's debt sustainable. They want a solution before paying the next urgently needed loan tranche to keep Greece afloat.
Several European officials played down the delay, saying the disagreements were technical and a deal would be reached when they meet again on November 26.
But German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told lawmakers at a closed-door briefing in Berlin that the lenders were split over several key issues including how to define debt sustainability and fill a hole in Greek finances.
"He sees the extension of the debt sustainability goal as one of the main bones of contention. The other is how to cover the Greek financing gap of 14 billion euros through 2014," said one lawmaker who attended Wednesday's meeting of Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right Christian Democrats in parliament.
Merkel herself told the lawmakers the gap could be plugged by lowering interest rates on loans to Greece and increasing guarantees provided to the euro zone's temporary EFSF bailout fund, in which Germany would take its share, a participant said.
She suggested a deal could be struck as early as next week but rejected the notion that big, bold actions could solve the debt crisis overnight.
"I believe there are chances, one doesn't know for sure, but there are chances to get a solution on Monday," Merkel told the Bundestag lower house of parliament during a debate.
Greece needs the next 31 billion euro aid tranche to keep servicing its debt and avoid bankruptcy. Its next major repayment is in mid-December.
Athens says it has carried out the tough reforms required in the bailout program but needs more time to reach fiscal targets agreed with its lenders because its economy has continued to shrink.
European governments want to give Greece an extra two years, until 2022, to cut its debt to a sustainable level but the IMF does not agree. The Europeans, led by Germany, are refusing to write off any loans. Both options would make it easier for Greece to meet the targets in the bailout program.
French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said agreement was close, echoing overnight comments from Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker, who said talks were stuck on technicalities.
"We are a whisker away from a deal. I am very confident we will get there on Monday," Moscovici told Europe 1 radio.
Greece is increasingly frustrated about the repeated delays in releasing the aid and says it has done what is necessary.
"Greece did what it had committed it would do. Our partners, together with the IMF, also have to do what they have taken on to do," Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said in a statement.
"Any technical difficulties in finding a technical solution do not justify any negligence or delays."
Samaras will meet Juncker in Brussels on Thursday and has cancelled a trip to Qatar next week to monitor the talks, a government spokesman said.
The prime minister is under growing pressure from his own coalition allies and the opposition after pushing through deeply unpopular austerity measures that he said were the only way to get more aid to avert bankruptcy.
"Τhe eurozone cannot use Greece as an alibi to justify its weakness in dealing effectively and definitively with the crisis," said Evangelos Venizelos, head of the co-ruling PASOK party. Opposition leader Alexis Tsipras, whose party is rising in polls, said Samaras had lost all credibility.
Investors were disappointed with the news. Greek banking stocks fell nearly 6 percent in morning trade. Most of Greece's next aid instalment has been earmarked to shore up the country's tottering banks.
The euro, European shares and the prices of higher-yielding euro zone debt lost some ground but later recovered some of the losses.
NO WRITE DOWN
A document prepared for the meeting and seen by Reuters showed that Greece's debt cannot be cut from 170 percent of GDP to 120 percent, the level deemed sustainable by the IMF, unless either euro zone member states write off a portion of their loans to Greece or the IMF extends its deadline by two years.
Germany and other EU states say writing down their loans would be illegal. The European Central Bank, a major holder of Greek bonds, has refused to take a "haircut" on its holdings.
Berlin contends a debt haircut would not tackle the roots of Greece's debt problems and would be unfair to other euro zone countries that have taken tough steps to improve their finances.
"It would cost money, it would be a fatal signal to Ireland, Portugal and possibly Spain, as they would immediately ask why they should accept difficult conditions and push through difficult measures...and it would have consequences under budget law," Norbert Barthle, budget spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats said.
Without corrective measures, the Eurogroup document said, Greek debt would be 144 percent in 2020 and 133 percent in 2022.
Juncker said after a meeting a week ago that he wanted to extend the target date to reduce Greek debt by two years to 2022, but Lagarde insists the 2020 goal should stand. She is believed to favor euro zone member states taking a writedown.
The European commissioner for economic affairs, Olli Rehn, said on Tuesday that the euro zone should be ready to do more for Greece in the coming years, an apparent nod to the idea of government-sector debt writedowns.
"It's essential now that we take a decision on a set of credible measures on debt sustainability and, at the same time, we need to be ready to take further decisions in the light of future developments," Rehn said.
Among the main measures under consideration to bring the debt burden down as rapidly as possible is a buy-back under which Greece would offer to purchase bonds from private investors at a sharp discount to their face value.
Schaeuble told the lawmakers on Wednesday that a debt buyback could be part of the solution.
Several options are under consideration including using about 10 billion euros of money lent by the EFSF to buy back bonds at between 30 and 35 cents on the euro.
There are also proposals to reduce the interest rate on loans already extended by euro zone countries to Greece, to allow a long moratorium on interest payments and lengthen the maturities on loans, all of which would cut the debt burden.
Economists Costas Meghir, Dimitri Vayanos and Nikos Vettas wrote an excellent op-ed for Bloomberg View, Greece Needs Growth, Not Austerity:
Greece’s economy and society are imploding.
Gross domestic product has declined more than 20 percent since 2008. The unemployment rate has tripled, and now stands at 25 percent, with joblessness among youth at twice that level. Crime is on the rise, as are racist incidents, and ideologies of the extreme right and left are gaining significant support.
Worse, current policies aren’t stemming the economic decline. The new three-party government elected in June has focused its energies on negotiating a new package of austerity measures to meet the conditions set by the so-called troika (the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund) for the disbursement of the next tranche of the bailout loan.
The reforms that are the only pathways to growth, such as building a well-functioning public administration and liberalizing markets, are resisted by Greek politicians and vested interests. They are also greatly underemphasized by the troika’s push for austerity.
Unless there is a change of course, Greece is headed for disaster: further declines in GDP, a possible chaotic default on its debt, extremist political parties in power, and isolation from Europe. The European Union also stands to lose because a Greek meltdown would reverse the decades-long process of integration and undermine the credibility of the single currency. And Greece’s creditors won’t get any of their money back.
To avoid such an outcome, which could occur soon, Greece’s European partners should devise a long-term strategy with two mutually reinforcing objectives: a drastic reduction of Greece’s debt and a thorough overhaul of the country’s dysfunctional economy.
Greece’s debt is projected to rise to 189 percent of GDP next year, from 129 percent in 2009. This is despite the restructuring of privately held debt and severe austerity measures that have almost wiped out the government’s primary deficit.
Most of the increase in the debt-to-GDP ratio can be attributed to the large decline in GDP. Further austerity measures, designed to generate the large primary surplus necessary to begin reducing the debt, will cause GDP to fall further, making the debt-to-GDP ratio even larger. This will make it impossible for Greece to ever repay its debt in full. Its European partners should recognize this state of affairs and write off a significant fraction of the debt. This would allow Greece to grow and repay the rest.
Writing off Greece’s debt can be done in a way that preserves, and even promotes, incentives for reform. A portion of the officially held debt -- 50 percent or more -- should be set aside to be written off gradually over the next five years or so, on the condition that Greece completes a set of institutional and market changes. The steps include making the public administration more efficient, speeding judicial proceedings, reducing corruption and liberalizing markets.
Achievement of these milestones could be monitored using existing indexes designed by institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF. Such a system would not only promote reform, but would put Greece’s debt, which cannot be repaid in full in any case, to good use.
More generally, the troika should emphasize structural changes rather than the rapid accumulation of a primary surplus. The initial emphasis on reducing the deficit was appropriate given the unsustainably large budget shortfall.
Retaining TalentI'm not in full agreement with everything expressed above but the main thrust of their argument is absolutely correct. No country can cut its way out of a debt crisis. The focus must first and foremost be on growth, not austerity.
However, continued austerity will be counterproductive because it undermines reform. For example, deep salary cuts in the public administration are causing talented personnel to leave, thus impairing an already weak system and worsening the core problem of low public-sector productivity. The agencies in charge of essential tasks such as tackling tax evasion, supervising financial markets and prosecuting white-collar criminals, are often short of funds, equipment and the ability to attract talent. The troika should ensure that those funding needs are met, regardless of the effect on the deficit.
And it is hard to imagine how the Greek politicians and vested interests who have successfully resisted reform could continue to block institutional changes that are the condition for writing off a large part of the debt and averting disaster.
An emphasis on transformation and debt reduction would be welcomed by the Greek population, whose support is necessary for these efforts to succeed. Giving voters the chance to back debt relief in exchange for reforms will dim the appeal of the extremist parties.
The only way forward is to overhaul the Greek economy. For the population, that means recognizing that resisting structural reforms would be suicidal. For its part, the troika should acknowledge that further budget cuts would be catastrophic, and could only lead to a continuing deterioration of the economy and to the severing of Greece’s links with Europe.
(Costas Meghir is a professor of economics at Yale University; Dimitri Vayanos is a professor of finance at the London School of Economics; and Nikos Vettas is a professor of economics at the Athens University of Economics and Business. The opinions expressed are their own.)
Where I disagree with these fellow economists is that they and other Greek economists (like Yanis Varoufakis) fail to acknowledge that austerity has disproportionately hurt Greece's private sector, leaving the bloated public sector largely intact. That is the ultimate Greek tragedy.
To be sure, there have been cuts in wages, pensions, increase in retirement age, and some attrition in the public sector, but nothing remotely close to the savage job losses experienced in the private sector. Economists will tell you that more job cuts in the public sector will "destroy" the Greek economy, but they fail to acknowledge that decades of rampant and unsustainable public sector growth have already destroyed the Greek economy.
A friend of mine put it succinctly:
Although I agree with the precept that austerity does not work in large doses, Greece still needs to break the financial shackles that have been created by the size of its public service. It is truly sucking the life out of the country in the form of excessive taxation.
Just a few statistics, Canada has a population of 32 million people, GDP of $1.74 trillion, and an area of 9.8 million square kilometers. The size of its civil service is approximately 1.2 million employees (Federal, Provincial, and Municipal).
Greece has a population of 11.3 million, GDP of 0.3 trillion, and an area for 0.1 million square kilometers. Greece's civil service is the same size as Canada`s (1.2 million). By every measure, Greece's civil service is approximately three times larger than it should be. So when a bunch of municipal workers in Thessaloniki attack a German diplomat, it just shows me they need a good slap in the face.
I am very impressed with (Greek Finance Minister) Stournaras. He has done a great job at repositioning Greece. This latest set of austerity measures are now viewed as the last straw (i.e. Greece has done its part and has no more to give). Any further restructuring means debt haircuts on sovereign debt.
He has also convinced Lagarde to step-up and help him lead the rest of the EU away from the self destructive austerity bandwagon. He is working actively in the background and making real progress to restore some of the major investments that were put on hold over the last few years. These private sector investments will restore some confidence in Greece (which is now considered to be toxic by most institutional investors).My friend is right about downsizing Greece's bloated public sector, rooting out rampnant corruption and inefficiency, but he's way too cynical on growth prospects in Greece.
So, I am convinced that Greece has hit bottom (unless the government falls). Saying this, the country will just stay at the bottom of the ocean floor endlessly unless it downsizes the civil service and reduces corruption. There is no way that the country can "grow" its way out of these problems.
In my (grossly biased) opinion, Greece is an incredible country that has a lot to offer in terms of human capital, natural beauty and a relatively stable democracy. When the country finally gets on the right track, it will grow by leaps and bounds and be the place everyone wants to live and retire.
It's too bad Greece's prime minister, Antonis Samaras, postponed his trip to Qatar to meet with representatives there. According to Gulf Daily News, Samaras was supposed to meet Qatar's Amir and prime minister as well as top officials from Qatar's sovereign wealth fund to discuss investment possibilities, including equity participation in Greek state-owned companies (he should come to Canada to meet with leaders of our large pension funds).
One of those state-owned companies is OPAP, one of Europe's biggest betting firms, which brave investors are eying. But austerity measures are taking a bite out of OPAP's profits (Duh! When you don't have money to cover basic needs, you're not going to buy lottery tickets!).
A bigger tragedy in Greece is youth unemployment. There are far too many young people with advanced degrees in computer science, engineering, health sciences, finance, struggling to find work. There are even unemployed doctors (and getting into medicine in Greece is next to impossible, almost as hard as getting into Harvard Medical School).
Economists worried about talent leaving the Greek public sector make me laugh. I'm far more worried about the huge brain drain hurting the economy as their best and brightest leave in search of building a better life elsewhere, including Australia which made the wise decision to open up their immigration to Greeks when the crisis erupted (Canada and Quebec are still asleep).
Finally, take the time to read Andreas Koutras's latest comment on the endgame in Greece. I've also covered the endgame for Greece and Europe. There is simply no choice but to save Greece, write down a good chunk of its debt (with explicit conditions of downsizing public sector) and most importantly, stop the foolish austerity which has disproportionately hurt the private sector and introduce massive new investment programs to spur growth across many sectors of the ailing economy (beware of massive corruption! Would rather have the EBRD take over these investment projects).
Schnell, Frau Merkel, time is running out for you and northern Europe. You've done everything you possibly can to pander to your insolvent banks, but it's time to fess up and tell Germans that the Greek bailouts are nothing more than corporate handouts. If you don't change course, Europe will implode, threatening global peace and prosperity.
Below, a brilliant clip from Portugal dedicated to the German people. Watch it and you'll understand why Southern Europe has its fill of austerity and is rightly questioning European solidarity. Also, Andrew Palmer and Zanny Minton Bedoes of the Economist discuss how to end the agony, arguing that Greece needs another debt-reduction deal with explicit conditions to continue on the path of reform.
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Jan 14 2012
|more articles from|
UNHCR: 5,238 Syrian refugees now in Lebanon
14 January 2012
BEIRUT: Two wounded Syrians were transferred to Tripoli’s public hospital from the border by Lebanese Red Cross ambulances Friday, according to the National News Agency, as the latest figures from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees show that 200 Syrians have registered with the agency in Lebanon in the last week alone.
The two wounded Syrians, identified as Saleh A.B. and Yahya Kh.R., entered Lebanon through the northeastern borders with Syria. The United Nations estimates that over 5,000 people have been killed in Syria since the crackdown on anti-government protesters began last March.
The weekly report from the UNHCR states that, according to their estimates, over 150 wounded Syrians have been treated in various hospitals in Lebanon since the beginning of the influx.
Most of the refugees, the report states, are residing with host families in “difficult circumstances.”
A UNHCR shelter expert will arrive in north Lebanon Sunday, the report says, to “evaluate approximately five abandoned structures for their suitability as collective shelters.”
Elsewhere Friday, heavy rain forced worshippers at the Hamza Mosque in the Qibbeh neighborhood of the northern city of Tripoli to cancel their weekly demonstration in support of Syria’s uprising.
Around 150 held a sit-in in the mosque instead, including members of the Tripoli Coordination Committee.
Delivering Friday’s sermon, Sheikh Zakaria Masri lashed out at Hezbollah, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Syria’s ruling Baath Party and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Dawa Party.© Copyright The Daily Star 2012.
© Copyright Zawya. All Rights Reserved.
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When news happens, text SDE and your photos or videos to 80360. Or contact us by email and phone.
GCSE results good - but could have been even better
IT WAS good but it could have been so much better.
Those were the feelings of head teachers across the south today as the results of last year’s GCSE examinations were published.
They show students are continuing to improve across the board.
But while the achievement is being celebrated, a deep sense of injustice still hangs over the marks.
The legal challenge over how grades were distributed in last year’s English exams is still being considered by the courts but for now the schools most badly affected will have to live with a set of results that they feel do not accurately reflect the hard work put in by students and staff.
The row is over whether students who sat the English exam in June received lower grades than their peers who sat the exam in January.
Schools argue that it has meant fewer students being awarded a valuable C grade which is one of the key indicators they are judged by.
According to them the grade boundaries were changed for a C award in respect of the foundation qualification for English by between 10 and 12 per cent between the January and June exams.
It meant that Hampshire registered a negligible dip in performance with 59 per cent of students achieving the benchmark figure of five A* to C grades including maths and English, compared with 60.8 per cent last year.
That is in the face of a national increase of ???.
In Southampton where performance has gone from rock bottom to within touching distance of the national average, teachers were hoping for a “big leap” up the league tables with forecasts predicting record-breaking progress.
The city recorded a respectable 2.7 per cent increase in the benchmark figure with 54.4 per cent of students attaining five A* to C grades including maths and English.
But according to teaching leaders, that figure could have been as much as a ten per cent increase.
Head teacher of St George’s Catholic School in Swaythling, Southampton, Graham Wilson, said: “We were looking to take a major step forward this year in Southampton but this whole situation has meant we are not where we thought we would be.
“Having said that it is a testimony to the hard work of schools and teachers that we are still going in the right direction and above the national figure.
“We realised something was wrong and it was too late to do anything about it. We feel like we have been treated like balls in some sort of game.
“It was students who were right on the margins that this affected most.
Borderline C or D grades, students who may not have had many successes in life and have walked away from their GCSEs thinking perhaps they have been let down by the education system.”
“But had it not been for the boundary changes we would have been nearer 60 per cent but it is still on the right upwards trajectory.”
Ofqual, the examinations regulator, has maintained that the grading in June was correct.
The legal challenge has been lodged at the High Court and has been backed by Southampton City Council where they believe 130 youngsters were affected. Councillor Sarah Bogle, Southampton City Council’s Cabinet member for children’s services and learning, said: “It’s a real shame that the GCSE English marking fiasco has overshadowed these achievements.
This has had a real impact on the futures of dozens of Southampton pupils who didn’t get the results they were expecting or indeed deserved.
Southampton schools would have doubtless performed even better overall had this been managed fairly.
“Despite this, the council remains proud of the improvements in the educational outcomes for children and young people which have been achieved over recent years and we look forward to continuing our mission to become a learning city.
“I congratulate all the pupils who have worked so hard to achieve these results and wish them every success in what they choose to do next.”
One school to suffer the biggest impact of the boundary changes was The Mountbatten School in Romsey.
Their performance dipped from 78 per cent of pupils achieving the benchmark to 69 per cent.
The results of 40 pupils whose grades are now subject to the judicial review, had led to a 14 per cent difference in their results.
Director of English Ian Dunn said the pupils had suffered as a result of sitting the foundation exam in June and as a result they were entering more pupils in January exams as well as those in June.
“We are nervous about the grading after the experience this year. But we are continuing to do our utmost for every pupil. “The school is not just about figures, we are about making sure that every individual achieves the best they can for themselves.”
Councillor Roy Perry, Hampshire County Council’s executive lead member for children’s services said: “As an authority we have vigorously lobbied Ofqual about the English grade boundary changes and supported those of our schools who wished to register their dissatisfaction.
We await with interest the outcome of the judicial review into the matter.
“While I support the efforts of the Secretary of State for Education to make the examination system more rigorous, fair and consistent we cannot have a situation again where some pupils are disadvantaged through inconsistencies in the grading of examinations.
"I am pleased to see that, despite the issues this year with the English GCSE grade boundary changes midway through the school year which have yet to be satisfactorily resolved, H a m p s h i r e pupils’ performance at GCSE compares well with national averages, with 59 per cent achieving the gold standard of five or more GCSEs at A*-C grades including English and mathematics.
“I wish to congratulate pupils and schools on their good results which are testimony to the high quality of teaching in Hampshire schools which was also reflected in the excellent KS2 results reported earlier this month.”
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Iran’s president says his country isn’t afraid of making a nuclear weapon but doesn’t intend to do so.
Iranian state television on Thursday quoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying- “If we do want to make a bomb, we are not afraid of anybody.”
Iran has long insisted that its nuclear programmes are peaceful and meant only to generate power for a future nuclear reactor network.
But the U.N. Security Council has passed four sets of sanctions against Iran for refusing to freeze activities that could be used in a weapons programme.
The U.N. says Iran also blocked an IAEA probe into allegations of secret experiments that could reflect attempts to develop an arms programme.
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Your DD214 and Veterans' Employment Opportunities
"Service members transitioning from the military today are some of the most educated, technically savvy, professionally qualified the armed forces have ever produced," says Willie Hensley, deputy assistant secretary for human resources management and labor relations for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Soldiers receive training in areas such as engineering, health care, information technology and security.
Generally, employers will ask those claiming prior military service to provide a copy of their discharge form, DD214. While most employers are not permitted to disqualify applicants for a less than honorable discharge, the DD214 will disclose all of the veteran's military schools and training, as well awards and commendations.
Employers and others needing proof of military service are expected to accept the information shown on documents issued by the military service department at the time a service member is separated. Employers can only verify military service through a DD214. For that reason, they will generally request an “undeleted certified copy.”
Certification is accomplished by the adding of a seal by the repository where your DD214 is located and from where it was retrieved. Of course through credit verification, address verification and reference checks employers can easily determine if a falsified or forged DD214 has been tendered. But overall, the DD214 itself is the main source of military service verification.
What is the difference between the long-form ("an undeleted Report of Separation") and short-form ("a deleted Form of Separation") DD214?
There are two versions of the DD Form 214, usually referred to simply as "short" (edited or deleted) copies and "long" (unedited or undeleted) copies. The edited or "short" copy omits a great deal of information, chiefly the characterization of service and reason for discharge, thus the unedited or undeleted copy is generally desired by employers
Service members receive two copies of the DD-214 when they are discharged - a short form and a long form. The long form includes the narrative reason for discharge, the discharge characterization, the three-letter or three-number discharge code corresponding to the reason for discharge, and a reenlistment code. This information is not included on the short form. Essentially, the DD214 long form specifies the person's reason for leaving and quality of service (the "grade" of discharge). Reasons for leaving include completion of term of service; homosexuality; medical disability; hardship; and conscientious objection. When people speak of "bad" and "good" discharges they are usually referring in general terms to the grade of discharge.
Many civilian employers are aware of the long form, including discharge code designations, and may ask for a copy during the hiring process. If applying for a government position, either municipal, state or federal, veterans should expect to be asked to provide a copy of their DD-214. Many state licensing authorities, such as nursing, medicine or bar examiners, may also ask for a copy when an applicant seeks a license to practice their profession.
There are five "grades" of discharge: Honorable; General (Under Honorable Conditions); Other Than Honorable; Bad Conduct; and Dishonorable. The first three are given without a judicial process; the last two are the outcome of conviction by trial ("courts martial").
However, employers may tend to disregard the distinction between the administrative discharge and discharges resulting from courts-martial. As a consequence, any discharge except an honorable one can be the ticket to a lifetime of rejected job applications. It can be argued that this situation is not accidental: the DOD has intentionally linked discharge status to future employment as an incentive to good behavior while in the service.
Even on an Honorable discharge, a "Spin Code" (SPN - Separation Program Number) can hurt a veteran's chance of being hired by a prospective employer. These spin codes were put on DD214s from the 1940's through the early 1970's. Veterans can request a new DD 214 with the spin codes removed (see below).
SPN codes are frequently assigned on the basis of subjective judgments which are difficult for the dischargee to challenge. Until recently, the codes had different meanings in each branch of service, and they have been changed several times, leaving them prone to misinterpretation by employers not possessing the proper key. Although employers are not supposed to know what the SPN codes mean, many have found out as a result of leaks from the agencies authorized to have them.
Examples of a few spin codes:
SPN 258 - Unfitness, multiple reasons
SPN 263 – Bed-wetter
SPN 41A - Apathy, lack of interest
SPN 41E – Obesity
SPN 46C - Apathy / Obesity
SPN 463 - Paranoid personality
(see a more thorough list of spin codes, courtesy Touchstone Research, HERE.)
(Your service branch will also indicate a reenlistment code on your DD214. This information, too, can help or hurt a veteran in their job search. See a list of Military Reenlistment Codes, courtesy Touchstone Research, HERE.)
In 1974, the DOD tried to stop unfair use of SPN codes by leaving them off its forms and offering anyone discharged prior to 1974 an opportunity to get a new form DD-214 without a SPN code. This solution has several defects. For one thing, not all pre-1974 dischargees know of the reissuance program. For another, a pre-1974 DD-214 without a SPN code may raise a canny employer's suspicion that the applicant had the SPN code removed because he has something to hide.
As of 1977, nearly 20 million veterans had a coded number.
For many reasons, your DD214 will affect your post-service employment. Veterans receiving “bad” discharges may very well encounter employment problems because many employers will request to see a copy of your DD214.
Chris S. asks, "Is there a way to up date my discharge from other than honorable conditions to honorable?"
All services will have a procedure for this, and I've attached a good article on the issue.
If you require counsel, you should Google
Discharge Review Board Attorney
And you'll find some additional references.
Here's the reference, Discharge Upgrade Memo.
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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been urged to reject Arena Pharmaceuticals' experimental weight loss drug, lorcaserin, by consumer watchdog Public Citizen.
The FDA is expected to rule on the drug's approval on 27 June 2012, but Public Citizen has raised concerns over the drug's potential to increase a patient's risk of heart valve damage.
The group cited physicians present at May 2012's FDA advisory panel meeting, who raised concerns regarding evidence of increased valve disease risks in patients who participated in clinical trials of lorcaserin. Despite the concerns, the panel voted 18 to four in favour of approving the drug.
Public Citizen drew parallels between lorcaserin and fen-phen, the anti-obesity drug that was pulled from the shelves in 1997 after similar fears, whilst also questioning the drug's modest weight loss results.
Lorcaserin is one of three potential weight loss drugs currently seeking approval, with Vivus' Qnexa and Orexigen's Contrave medications, all touted as having the potential to become the first new diet pill to reach the market in over a decade.
Arena has faced a turbulent time in attempting to achieve approval for lorcaserin. The drug was first rejected in October 2010 after the FDA found potential cancer risks, although Arena resubmitted its application with more supporting data, showing that tumours found in rats given the drug would not apply to human use.
Despite disappointing falls in stock prices recently, Arena stock has risen more than 400% during 2012 in anticipation of the drug achieving approval.
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The board of directors for US-based TPC Group has approved capital for the next phase of engineering to produce on-purpose butadiene and expand production capacity to meet market demand, the company said on Monday.
This approval follows the successful completion of the project's preliminary engineering study to produce butadiene from a variety of sources.
The US shale gas revolution offers an abundance of natural gas liquids for feedstocks to produce butadiene, according to the company. It has also had an impact on by-product butadiene production, creating a shortage of butadiene to meet customer needs.
TPC Group anticipates that its engineering design optimization will be complete by the end of the third quarter of 2013.
"TPC Group is committed to maintaining its position as the leading supplier of butadiene in North America," said CEO Michael McDonnell. "As the leading independent marketer of butadiene, we are focused on meeting our customers' needs for high quality products, delivered through our extensive aggregation and logistics network.
"The commitment we make to our customers is backed by the security of having multiple production units and multiple sources of feedstock supply, including our plans to add our own on-purpose butadiene production unit targeted for startup in 2016."
TPC Group first entered the butadiene market in 1943. Utilization of TPC's OXO-DTM technology, which began in 1965, allows for a highly efficient on-purpose butadiene production process, according to the company.
TPC Group said it aims to address the structural shortage of supply due to the shift from heavier to lighter feedslates by ethylene producers. The need for a capacity expansion is driven by the growing demand for butadiene and the reduced by-product of crude butadiene available as North American ethylene producers utilize more ethane as a primary feedstock.
TPC supplies the market with butadiene from its Houston and Port Neches production facilities in Texas.
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Dan Buettner is the New York Times best-selling author of The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest (with a terrific second edition just out) and Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way.
He is one of those rare people who is simultaneously a reflective thinker and a super-charged ball of positive energy. A National Geographic Fellow, he’s thought hard about, and traveled the world to explore, questions that matter to all of us. Are there genuine secrets to living longer, healthier lives? And can we foster happiness and well-being? He’s sought to answer these questions by examining the behaviors and lifeways of people in “Blue Zones”, that is, exceptional pockets of the world where, statistically, people live the longest or report greater life satisfaction than the average.
Recently, Dan was good enough to speak with me about his work, and the lessons we can extract from it to think about what really matters in creating a good life. While the whole conversation was fascinating, I thought I’d post one of the segments that I found most compelling, where Dan talks about the choices we can make to promote well-being in our own lives, and the importance of cultivating belonging.
LMR: What do you see as the fundamental relationship between health and happiness?
DB: Happiness is worth about 8 years of additional life expectancy. There are a few behaviors that contribute to both. For example, we know that the happiest Americans are socializing six hours a day. We also know that loneliness takes years off your life. Loneliness is as bad for you as a smoking habit. So by proactively going out and surrounding yourself with healthy friends, it’s not only going to make you healthier – because health is a positive contagion – it’s also likely to make you happier.
And also physical fitness. Going out and taking a walk. It triggers endorphins. It makes you feel good. But we also know that walking is associated with anywhere from 4-6 extra years of life expectancy.
I didn’t set out to find these things, but both books were kind of worldwide meta-analyses of populations who are the paragons of happiness and longevity. So I tried to get all the data in the world and find the best. And then distill down what they do. And if you boil down longevity, and you boil down happiness, and you overlay them, you see about an 80% overlap.
LMR: Do you feel, when you see that overlap, you’re seeing something about what it means to be human?
DB: I see the overlap of what it takes to have a rich life. What it means to be human is to procreate, from a strictly evolutionary point of view.
LMR: So when I hear your stories, I wonder if they’re telling us something about the nature of our humanity. The kinds of things are so deeply or necessary to us they tell us something about our nature or being?
DB: One easy answer is socializing. We’ve succeeded as a species because somewhere along the evolutionary arc, we’ve figured out that collaborating increases our chance of survival. And, like so many things, when you satisfy that thing that increases our chances of survival, our bodies are hardwired to reward us. When you’re thirsty and we drink, it feels good. When you’re hungry and you eat, it feels good. When you’re horny and you have sex, it feels good. And these are all things that make it more likely that we’ll have kids. I think it’s this reward loop. Well, the same thing with socializing. We cooperate. When you look at the Blue Zones around the world, they typically are in pretty harsh environments. And the reason they survived is because they cooperate. You look at the Sardinian shepherds, for example. They don’t even all own their own parcel of land. But they live in tiny villages and they get together. So, when it comes to our humanity where…it’s realizing that there is a genetic satisfaction that comes from good social connections. And we should always favour that over consumption.
LMR: When you were in doing research…this is primarily directed at the longevity populations, did the people you were talking to ever have an articulation of the good life the way we would use it? Was there a sense of what life was all about that they collectively shared?
DB: Yeah, I think it’s a profound sense of belonging to where they came from. And if you look at the Sardinians, life is about my kids. I work, not to get ahead in the world, not to buy a second vacation home, not to have a nicer car. I don’t…if I have free time, it’s never at the expense of my family. And we heard this over and over. I don’t have massive data, other than…I have an N of about 50 people. And you saw the emphasis of the family among those populations.
LMR: Interesting. The sense of…going back to what you said about having a profound sense of belonging to where they came from…do you mean from within a familial lineage, or also within a cultural or even an environmental, like a connection to place?
DB: The latter. In other words, they weren’t just rebels without a cause. They’re not the type of people who bounce through life, move around. They’re planted.
LMR: I also wondered if you think that not having an icki gai [a purpose in life] can cause people pain? And I ask that because clearly having one is the presence of a positive, so is not having one just the absence of that positive, or is it the presence of a negative? Do people wind up feeling…I mean, I guess this is just going into hypothesis-land, but more lost, or feeling like there’s something absent in their life that causes them pain?
DB: Yeah, I think there’s an existential pain in that unrootedness.
LMR: And, with the work that you’re doing with the Blue Zones communities [“a systems approach that brings together the citizens, businesses and institutions of a given community to foster well-being”], are you saying that we can self-consciously create some of these things?
DB: Yes. First of all, you can choose where you move and I think that’s…people dismiss that. “Oh…I’m not going to move.” Well, the average American, and probably the average Canadian, moves ten times in a lifetime. So you can choose to live out in some culturally barren suburb, or you can find a neighborhood where neighbors know each other and there are parks and playgrounds full of people. And a place where you’re going to be nudged into social…you can walk down to a café, or a store…. That’s going to have a bigger impact on your happiness, and I argue your longevity, than just about anything else you can do. So, OK, well, what else? All right, your husband lives in a suburb and he ain’t moving. The next line of proactivity you can pursue is finding…build your own social network. You don’t have to hang out with the toxic woman who bitches about her life, or the friend that sits and watches reruns of Gossip Girls all day long and drinks Diet Coke. We can all create our own social networks and support that give energy to the positive.
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LMU-DCOM DEAN TRAVELS TO NEW ORLEANS FOR MEDICAL MISSION
April 23, 2008 - Harrogate, Tennessee, April 23, 2008 – Dr. Ray Stowers, vice president and dean of Lincoln Memorial University-DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine (LMU-DCOM), along with his wife, Peggy, traveled to the New Orleans area recently to volunteer at a community health fair for the residents of St. Bernard Parish, an area still struggling to rebuild following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
The Stowers’ went to New Orleans with a group of osteopathic physicians who serve on the Board of Trustees for the American Osteopathic Association (AOA). Dr. Stowers has been a member of the AOA Board of Trustees since 2000. The group worked in collaboration with St. Bernard Health Center and Heart to Heart International to conduct a basic health and wellness screening clinic for the residents of St. Bernard Parish. Services offered included: blood pressure, anemia, cholesterol, basic eye exams/screenings, diabetes, kidney disease, blood glucose and osteopathic manipulative therapy.
The osteopathic physicians used Heart to Heart’s Mobile Medical Unit to provide the free screenings. Heart to Heart International is a global humanitarian organization that works to improve health and to respond to the needs of disaster victims worldwide. The Mobile Medical Unit was parked at the site of temporary St. Bernard Health Center, currently located in a Wal-Mart parking lot. In addition, several of the osteopathic physicians, their spouses and AOA staff members worked with the St. Bernard Project to restore and rebuild houses in the Parish.
“It was a privilege to provide medical care to an area in such need,” Dr. Stowers said. “It was truly a rewarding experience. It is hard to understand the magnitude of destruction in the lives of the people of New Orleans without witnessing the area for yourself and hearing the victims’ stories first-hand.”
Prior to Hurricane Katrina, approximately 67,000 people called the Parish home. According to the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity, 100% of the homes and businesses in the Parish received significant structural damage during Katrina. The St. Bernard Project reports that the Parish endured standing water of anywhere from four to twenty feet for four weeks after Katrina hit. Located just southeast of New Orleans, St. Bernard Parish is adjacent to the Lower Ninth Ward. A wide variety of organizations believe that St. Bernard Parish suffered the greatest amount of damage from Hurricane Katrina.
The DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine is located on the campus of Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee. LMU-DCOM is an integral part of LMU’s values-based learning community, and is dedicated to preparing the next generation of osteopathic physicians to provide healthcare in the often underserved region of Appalachia and beyond. For more information about LMU-DCOM, call 1-800-325-0900, ext. 7082, e-mail email@example.com, or visit us online at www.lmunet.edu/dcom.
Caption 1: LMU-DCOM Vice President and Dean Dr. Ray Stowers (second row, third from right), and his wife, Peggy (front row, second from right), pose with other volunteers during a recent medical mission trip to New Orleans. (Photo courtesy the American Osteopathic Association)
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Peter Houison Craufurd, the Washer of the Sovereign’s Hands, dies at the age of 82.
It is one of the more unusual roles occupied by the Queen’s courtiers, but Washer of the Sovereign’s Hands is a post that must now be filled.
Mandrake learns that the holder of the title, Peter Houison Craufurd, died on Monday, at the age of 82. He always had a silver ewer, bowl and salver holding a linen towel on permanent standby.
“We used to have to write to Buckingham Palace to offer to wash the monarch’s hands every time they were in residence at the Palace of Holyroodhouse,” said Houison Craufurd.
“In his day, my father had to make that offer virtually every year, although it was very seldom accepted.
“More recently, we have been told by the Queen’s office that, as we have already washed her hands once, that is all she requires us to do. So now we have to wait until Prince Charles takes the throne before we do it again.”
Houison Craufurd, who was the 28th laird of Craufurdland Castle, in Ayrshire, held the title because one of his ancestors chased off a pair of murderous thugs attacking James V. In return, the king gave him a farm, on the condition that his family be ready with water and towels to wash the monarch’s hands.
“The ceremony, or the washing, requires three people. I washed George VI’s hands at Holyrood when I was eight.” He washed the Queen’s hands a year after her coronation.
It is understood that his eldest son, Alex Houison Craufurd, will inherit the title.
Houison Craufurd, who hit the headlines when he set up a business promoting environmentally friendly funerals, was buried in Craufurdland Woods, on Wednesday.
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(Photo by Chad Jones)
Conventional wisdom says that buying is preferable to renting. Instead of throwing money away on a home, you can invest in your future and have the sense of fulfillment that comes from owning a home. Turns out, conventional wisdom is wrong. Today, many long-term renters are in a much stronger financial position than many recent homebuyers, and the last thing these homeowners are feeling is contentment. But the combination of firesale prices on homes, the drop in mortgage rates, and government assistance in the form of the first time home buyer tax credit, may have you reconsidering the idea of buying your own home. Is now a good time?
Here are a few of the reasons why now is a better time to buy a home than it has been at any point in the past few years:
In the stimulus plan signed by President Obama, there is a first-time home buyer tax credit of $8,000, provided that you stay in the home for 36 months. This isn’t a tax deduction like your mortgage interest, which reduces your taxable income – a tax credit actually reduces your total income taxes owed. In addition, some states, such as California, are offering tax credits for home buyers that will further reduce your tax liability. Keep in mind that the federal program ends on December 1st of this year, and while it could easily end up being extended, it isn’t a given.
Rates last week dipped to an all-time low when the Fed announced that it would continue buying additional mortgage backed securities. Even though they ticked back up slightly in the past few days, with full income documentation and good credit, you can easily get down to 4.5% on a conventional 30 year fixed if you have 20% down, and if you want to get into an FHA loan, you can more typically get around 5.0% with a down payment of only 3.5%. Be careful when shopping for rates online, and think twice before giving out personal information. It is far better to ask friends and family for a strong personal recommendation, and use the information that you see on sites such as bankrate.com to approximate where your rate should be. Keep in mind that everyone’s scenario is different and there are a lot of new rate adjustments for conventional loans that didn’t exist in prior years, so you can easily end up paying 1 point (or percentage of the loan amount) for a loan that might cost your friend zero points for the same rate on the same day with the same lender.
Because You Don’t Absolutely Need to Buy
The best time to shop for a home is when you don’t need to. You can be as aggressive as you want to on your offer, and time is on your side because prices aren’t going to go back up overnight. If you are patient, you can find a home that you love, and just make sure that you can comfortably afford it and have a long-term plan to keep the property.
These are factors that should not be driving your motivation to purchase a home right now:
Timing the Market Bottom
The same advice that applies to the stock market applies to the housing market. Don’t try to time it. If you have played around with the stock market in the past year and tried to catch a falling knife in the hopes of maximizing your return, you can probably look at the scars on your financial statements and let it serve as a reminder not to time the bottom. The turnaround in prices is gradual, and you are not going to miss out on an instant, overnight spike in real estate prices, no matter how fast the bank-owned properties are selling locally.
The Illusion of the Discount
Perhaps a new development popped up three years ago and was so shiny and perfect that you would have taken a third job to afford it. Now, the model that you love has popped up for $400,000 and all of the recent sales were at $450,000. In a stable market, that is great, but if you live in a declining market, you have now become the new comparable sale that any listings in the development in the near future will be measured against. So, if you buy this place for $400,000, and your new neighbor decides to move, they now will likely be advised by their real estate agent to price their property at or below your price in order to sell quickly. The same holds true for purchasing bank-owned properties. Bank-owned sales may be somewhat less frequent and given slightly less weight in determining the next sales prices in your neighborhood. However, if you buy in a neighborhood with a relatively high level of short sales and foreclosures, that great deal you just got on the bank-owned property just set the bar lower for the whole neighborhood.
If you don’t know what you are doing or have enough of a cash reserve to justify the risk, this real estate market can eat you alive, especially if you are short-sighted.
Fix It and Flip It
Unless you are lightning fast, experienced at managing renovation projects and holding plenty of cash that you are comfortable risking, that late night real estate fix-and-flip infomercial that was recorded in 2003 should not be considered your ticket to financial freedom. Of course there are gurus who have been waiting for this opportunity, and you are driving around listening to Robert Kiyosaki on iTunes with your Bluetooth intact looking for the bargain of the century. Just do your research, and don’t think that any particular property is the last opportunity you will ever have to get a great deal.
Until you see your local median price leveled off or even slightly increasing for a few months consecutively, you are dependent on sweat equity, which in many cases is wiped out by a few homes in the neighborhood going into foreclosure and further reducing home prices. Again, this market has become hyperlocal, down to the subdivision. In Orange County for example, prices for stronger neighborhoods may be down only 10% in the last year while properties less than a mile away have been cut in half or more in extreme cases.
Are you really ready?
How much are you paying now for rent? You should look at a good principal and interest calculator or talk to your lender to get the whole picture, including monthly amounts for taxes, insurance, any applicable homeowners association dues, and any applicable mortgage insurance. This is important even if you plan on paying taxes and insurance on your own (rather than impounding them and making monthly payments to the lender) because you will want to make sure to budget monthly to set aside for these expenses. So, if you are paying $1,500 currently for rent, and the new home will be $2,500, put your budget to the test and see how well your finances run when you put the amount of the increased housing expense (in this case $1,000) into your savings account. Take it out right when you pay your rent, and don’t touch it. This is a great test of how much you can really comfortably afford, and of course has the nice side effect of padding your savings for a few months before you start shopping for a home.
Of course, if you have a long-term plan to be in the home, the fluctuations and potential decrease in value in the near term doesn’t need to get you down, as the only price that matters is the price you are able to sell for when you need or want to move.
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One thing that remodelers who are succeeding in a down economy have in common is they rarely talk about the economy being down. Certainly they acknowledge economic reality, but they don’t obsess about it or let it daunt them. If anything, they use it to their advantage. They fine-tune their businesses, making adjustments to their sales and marketing efforts, controlling costs and reevaluating priorities.
“I’ve never used the term down economy in almost 30 years in business,” says Bruce Pinsler, president of Galaxie Home Remodeling, Lincolnwood, Ill. “I just don’t buy into that, especially in my business. If homeowners can’t sell their homes, they have to work on them. The difference is we focus more on needs than on wants. If your roof is leaking and you can’t sell your home, you have to find a way to fix your roof. I’ve had my biggest growth spurts in what others consider down economies.”
Despite reports of an unfavorable climate for kitchen and bath remodeling, Galaxie Home Remodeling’s kitchen business was up nearly 100 percent in 2010 compared with 2009, Pinsler relates, and the company’s bathroom trade was strong, as well. Bathrooms are a necessity, Pinsler explains. “If water is getting behind the walls and you have a mold problem, the bathroom must function. A lot of times, instead of just putting a Band-Aid on it, people are going to invest in their future, knowing they’re going to be staying in the house for a long time,” he says.
Customers may have lost 40 to 60 percent of the equity in their homes, depending on the neighborhood, Pinsler acknowledges. “We’re all in the same boat when it comes to that, but for most of my customers, their home is still the single biggest investment they’ll make in their lives.”
"Branding and credibility are important, but nothing happens overnight. If you start a marketing campaign make sure you have the finances to see it through."Bruce Pinsler, president, Galaxie Home Remodeling
Pinsler notes he has aggressively marketed Galaxie Home Remodeling during the past several years, explaining the company started out as a marketing company with a lot of print advertising. That gave way to nearly 100 percent telemarketing with a dialer room and more than 30 people working six days a week. “The no-call list wiped out almost 80 percent of the phone numbers,” Pinsler says. “And of the other 20 percent, 80 percent had caller ID.”
With telemarketing no longer a viable option, Pinsler recalls he went back to what he was familiar with—print. For nearly three years Galaxie Home Remodeling has been running full- and half-page ads almost daily with the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times. More recently, he has expanded to the Daily Herald, a newspaper with circulation that covers a wide suburban-Chicago area.
Newspapers aren’t dead, Pinsler has found. “If you had asked me three years ago, I would have told you the Internet would be driving my company today. When my daughter or sons [who are in their late teens and early 20s] are running the company, that may be true,” he says.
Pinsler says he’s aware newspaper readership is dropping but contends people still trust newspapers. “Don’t get me wrong; I get nowhere near the response I got 20 years ago, but newspapers are still a vehicle for my business,” he says.
In September 2009, Pinsler started a television campaign with two local stations, WGN and WCIU. Although Chicago is a major media market that gives advertisers a great deal of exposure and credibility, Pinsler says, “It took almost a full year before the phone really started to ring from the TV ads.”
Not one to let opportunities pass him by, Pinsler is talking with Chicago radio stations to include that medium in Galaxie Home Remodeling’s growth plan
Another avenue that Pinsler has chosen to follow in sports-minded Chicago is sponsorships with the Chicago Bulls basketball team and Blackhawks hockey team. As a sponsor, Galaxie is allowed to identify itself as the “official home remodeler” of the Blackhawks and the “chosen home remodeler” of the Bulls.
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Gallaudet University, the only university in the world completely tailored to deaf students, introduced a new president Monday, and it took all of about 30 seconds for the protests to begin.
To an overflowing crowd of students, Sidekicks and Blackberrys poised to text the news, the chair of the Board of Trustees announced that Jane Fernandes, the current provost, will be Gallaudet’s ninth president, and its second deaf president, following I. King Jordan, who will retire at the end of this academic year.
Based on a student opinion poll, Fernandes had the fewest supporters of the three finalists, and has had to deal with several controversies during her time as provost that polarized the student body. Some students lamented what they called Fernandes’s general lack of warmth toward students, and others pointed to specific events that pegged her as a disciplinarian, including the expulsion of students who tore down the goalposts after the football team’s undefeated 2005 season.
Gallaudet students, many of whom are not the first in their family to attend the university, see the institution as a beacon of deaf culture, and even departing students are intensely passionate about the direction of the university.
Right after the announcement, a few students clapped, but Ryan Commerson, a Gallaudet alumnus who will return for graduate study in the fall, stood up and signed to the crowd, telling them “if you don’t agree, you don’t have to stay [in the auditorium during Fernandes’s acceptance speech],” Commerson related through a translator later in the day. Commerson was escorted off campus by security officers, and groups of several students heeded his call, trickling out of the auditorium as Fernandes spoke.
Celia May Baldwin, chair of the Board of Trustees, which made a unanimous decision to support Fernandes, noted that she had been at Gallaudet for more than a decade in various capacities. The board would have been hard-pressed, she said, to find anyone else with her depth of experience. She added that Fernandes "has proven her leadership skills time and time again, often having to make difficult decisions, and we believe that this has prepared her well."
In her acceptance speech in a campus auditorium, Fernandes said she “never dreamed of this,” and said that “I can’t promise to make perfect decisions … but I promise I will always make decisions in the best interest of the university.” She also thanked the Iowa deaf community “for teaching me sign language, and deaf culture.”
Some students had previously expressed concern that Fernandes is not a native signer. She was raised orally deaf, meaning she spoke and did not sign, and still sometimes speaks while signing. Her signing, however, while not native, is “very fluent,” according to her and to multiple translators interviewed on the campus.
While Jordan got a standing ovation -- some audible claps and yells and a room full of dancing fingers, the sign language applause -- Fernandes, who described Jordan as her “grand mentor,” said the reaction she drew was pretty much what she expected.
Fernandes, through an interpreter, said that she wants to be “the bridge builder,” and one of the first bridges she hopes to build is to the students who vehemently opposed her. “I have made some hard decisions,” she said. Some students have complained that Fernandes has been aloof, and generally inaccessible. “But provost and president are different roles,” Fernandes said. “I know I need to be more visible.”
One issue that Fernandes will have to face is the increasing number of deaf students choosing cochlear implants that allow them to hear, and then attending mainstream institutions. Gallaudet has to “broaden the net for recruiting,” said Fernandes, who said she hadn’t even heard of Gallaudet growing up. (Fernandes received her B.A. at Trinity College, in Connecticut, and got her Ph.D. in comparative literature at the University of Iowa, and did not start learning sign language, in Iowa, until she was 23.)
She said that students from schools for the deaf have “always been Gallaudet’s bread and butter,” and whether or not they get implants, Gallaudet can give them a “strong sense of deaf culture.”
Jordan is commonly viewed as an outstanding public speaker, and Fernandes said she is more of “a quiet but effective leader.” Fernandes said that her “signing is really not an issue, but that “some of the strength of debate [over the presidential search] came as a surprise to me.”
In 1988, Gallaudet gave new meaning to strong reactions to a presidential selection when demonstrations shut down the university after trustees selected a hearing person to lead the institution. Those demonstrations, part of the Deaf President Now movement, ushered in Jordan as the first deaf president of the university.
Within hours of Monday’s announcement, several hundred students clogged the main entrance to campus, signing strong opinions, mostly in opposition to the selection of Fernandes, or demanding an explanation of the selection process.
At the protest, some students used black paint to put “BPN” -- for “better president now” -- on their stomachs, while others hung a banner that read “Go Back to Iowa.”
Students stood atop walls, and sometimes on each others' shoulders, so that their signing could be seen across the crowd.
Commerson, like several other students, acknowledged that Fernandes is “very smart,” but he added that he thinks she’s “better off staying inside campus where she can contribute to academic rigor, not as [Gallaudet’s] public face.”
Ryan DiGiovanni, a spokesman for the Student Body Government, said through an interpreter -- the method of communication for nearly all the student interviews Monday -- that the government “feels students want information on how the selection process occurred.… they feel she was selected before the process began.”
Students said they were glad that all three finalists were deaf, but some said they don’t think their input was taken into consideration by the trustees.
A recent opinion poll of 188 students in the Buff and Blue, the campus newspaper, had about 14 percent of students supporting Fernandes, with the rest choosing one of the other two candidates.
Robert McConnell, chief of staff of the Student Body Government, said through an interpreter that the president of Gallaudet “has to be an ambassador for the entire deaf community.… One thing is very clear: Jane Fernandes is unacceptable.” McConnell added that Deaf President Now campaign was a “revolution,” and that this protest is different. “We want to have a voice,” he said.
Jessica Rogers, a senior, said that she isn’t confident that Fernandes will become the bridge builder. “She’s worked here for 11 years,” Rogers said. “If she hasn’t earned the trust of students yet … I don’t think anything will change.”
The anger was apparent just from the emphatic body language of some of the signing protesters, but Noah Beckman, president of the Student Body Government, offered more moderate signs.
He said that the trustees agreed to meet with representatives next Thursday. But many students in the crowd began furiously signing “Now! Now! Now!”
“Do you think everybody agrees?” Beckman asked the crowd. “Some students support her. We can’t go to the board without a united message. We need more voices.”
Students planned a meeting for Tuesday night on campus, and Beckman said student input would be solicited in the run up to a meeting with the board.
Jane Jonas, a senior, said that it helps that Jordan was a big supporter of Fernandes, but said that “it will take a long time” for her to mend prior wounds. Jonas added that she doesn’t “think students will be at peace until something is done.”
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Yesterday, I had the distinct privilege of presenting Senator Joseph Lieberman with the Department of Homeland Security’s Distinguished Service Award, in recognition of his work to strengthen our homeland and his efforts to ensure the safety and security of the American people.
The Department of Homeland Security has a vital mission: to secure the nation from the many threats we face. Our duties are wide-ranging, but our goal is clear - keeping America safe. Senator Lieberman has never lost sight of that.
As a dedicated public servant, Senator Lieberman has always been an important voice and a leading thinker on homeland security issues. Immediately after the attacks on September 11, 2001, he helped establish the 9/11 Commission. Senator Lieberman’s extensive knowledge of existing homeland security efforts and his understanding of how our country was changed on 9/11 made him integral to the creation of DHS the following year.
Thanks in great part to Senator Lieberman’s leadership and commitment to the security of our nation, DHS and the homeland security enterprise have continued to mature and strengthen over the past ten years – and will continue into the future.
I am confident that, in the years to come, Senator Lieberman will continue to contribute and serve in meaningful ways that will have a positive impact on our Nation. On behalf of the Department, I thank him for his leadership and his lifetime of service.
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a. Firmness of purpose; resolve: approached the task with determination and energy.
b. A fixed intention or resolution: returned to school with a determination to finish.
I want to share an email I got from a CB who is now a literary agent at a very prominent agency.
This was for the very first novel I ever wrote. The email is dated November of 2008.
I have some reservations about your MS and wasn't able to get past chapter 6, unfortunately. Most of it comes down to basic writing rules, flow, word choice, things that I think are more of a language fluency and language barrier issue than anything else. For me, though, the blatant technical errors here distract from the story to such a degree that I found it absolutely mortifying to stick with and, after 6 chapters, an obstacle that I refused to overcome in order to keep reading.
A prime example is the stupid question you asked me... is my novel written in omniscient? No, that is the "all seeing" person. My novel is written in close third. That kind of understanding is taught in Middle School and you should not write without that kind of knowledge.
Attached are my annotated notes for the first 80 pages or so, but I will not continue. Sorry! You seem like a very nice and ambitious person but maybe you should give writing a rest and pursue other things? I don't mean to be harsh, but you said to be honest so I'm doing what you asked.
I don't expect you to finish my MS or send notes, and I completely understand. And someone else may feel differently. Good luck with Mr. Malk, that's very exciting!
Maybe I should query this CB to show that I'm still writing? And that I've improved exponentially, too! LOL.
All jokes aside, If I'd listened to this person, I would not be writing today. Whenever someone puts you down, never listen. If in your heart you know this is meant to be, then all you have to do is keep doing what you do best and eventually your dreams will come true.
Determination conquers all doubt.
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Welcome to the Contemporary North American Indigenous Artist Blog.
I suggested to William LePore, the Chair of the Department of Art at Portland State University, that I would like to teach classes focusing on topics about Contemporary Native art. To my delight he took me seriously and gave me the amazing opportunity to teach a class called “Contemporary Native American Art” during the winter term of 2010.
I was very nervous about teaching the course. My nervousness came from wanting to give adequate represent to my fellow Contemporary Native Artists and their work, while also trying to convey some issues related to Indigenous struggles both in the past and currently. Even if the Native artists’ works that we examined had nothing to do specifically with indigenous subjects, it seemed like the course could not function without an overview of Native and First Nation’s history.
While preparing for the course I considered several approaches to take, none of which really satisfied my desire to learn about these artists in very direct ways. So, I decided to employ the Internet to allow me to build my course around student engagement with Native Artists in person.
The first day of class I presented my idea to my fourteen students. I asked them if they would be interested in helping me build a blog that would archive student conducted, e-mail based interviews with Contemporary Native Artists. The general response was excitement with a bit of nervousness. I compiled a list of over fifty Native Artists and gave short presentations on each artist showing a few of their major works. Each student than picked an artist from the list to contact for the project.
The students had over six weeks to research the artist’s work, formulate questions for the interview, respond with a second round of questions, select images, and upload the final interview to the blog. All interviews except for one were conducted through e-mail. At the end of the student’s interviews I requested that they each ask their artists two of my own questions:
• Do you think of yourself as a “Contemporary North American Indigenous Artists?” Do you think terms like that one are useful or not? Do you feel like there is a separation between contemporary indigenous artists and the rest of the art world as represented by mainstream art magazines, biennials, art fairs, etc.?
• Can you recommend another artist that we should interview for this blog in the future?
When making the blog I wanted to make sure not to exclude First Nations Artists. The course title was Contemporary Native American Art but many of the artists we researched are from Canada. So the blog title is an attempt to be as inclusive as possible: Contemporary North American Indigenous Artists, with the idea being to focus on contemporary art made by North American Indigenous artists regardless of subject matter.
It was an amazing ten-week process. The class met every Tuesday from 1-4:50pm. The students gave updates to the class about their interactions with their artists. Students would read their responses to the class and that would inspire conversations which might not ever have happened had the class been structured in a more traditional lecture format.
Throughout the process the students and I felt a range of emotions from excitement to suspense. One of the artists had a baby during the course of the interview and another artist was traveling throughout Asia. Knowing about these life events made the students feel more connected to their artists. On the final day each student gave an in depth presentation on each of their artist’s work and talked about some of the highlights during the interview process. I think the students were surprised to find that they can gain access to people they are interested in researching more easily than they thought. For the most part the experience was very positive and the students are proud to be providing the public with more information on contemporary Native Art.
I have gained great inspiration from this process and a feeling of community with the artists included in the project. I would like to thank all of my students for making this blog possible and all of the amazing, talented, and generous artists who participated with my students.
Wendy Red Star
Department of Art
Portland State University
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Dateline: New York/New Jersey
February 24, 2011
Dozens of port truck drivers were joined by community and environmental activists today for an action at Port Authority headquarters on Park Avenue.
Port truck drivers organized an action during a Port Authority board meeting to draw attention to a deeply flawed truck replacement program which, instead of reducing toxic diesel pollution, will instead force almost 700 port truckers out of work on March 1st. Rather than requiring trucking companies to invest in clean trucks and reduce diesel pollution, the Port Authority’s policy requires low-wage port truck drivers to take on huge loans in order to keep working.
Protestors chanting “Good Jobs! Clean Air!” could be heard 15 stories up in the Park Avenue board room where Port Authority commissioners were holding their monthly meeting.
While the protesters marched outside, a port truck driver and a resident from the port-adjacent Ironbound neighborhood in Newark, delivered testimony inside to the board of commissioners and demanded that the Port Authority adopt a real clean truck program, that puts the responsibility of cleaning the air on the shipping and trucking companies that profit from the system.
“It’s a shame to have these sweatshops on wheels going through our neighborhood and polluting our air,” said Brad Kerr a community activist in the Columbia Waterfront neighborhood of Brooklyn. “We’re here to support [port truck] drivers and get clean trucks!”
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I saw my first mountain lion in the wild on a recent Saturday. I was home getting the house ready for painting and the phone rang about noon. It was one of the supervising rangers. A mountain lion had been reported in a tree in one of the preserves. We quickly exchanged facts. Rangers were on the way to confirm the sighting and determine a response. I reported the gut pile I found in the creek at the same preserve the day before, probably from a mountain lion kill of a deer. I agreed to meet the rangers at the preserve in 20 minutes to evaluate the situation. An advantage of living on the Dipper Ranch, the backside of one of the open space preserves, is even during off-hours the rangers can easily reach me and I can get to most of the preserves in a short period of time.
I leaned over and turned on my dispatch radio and then flew about the house grabbing my field notebook and pack. By the time I headed out the door, I heard the call come over the radio, "Animal located in tree above trail." The rangers' voices were low and their words were clipped. I thought, "This is the real thing." We get many reports of mountain lions that turn out to be bobcats, coyotes, foxes or house cats. Even when they are correctly identified, mountain lions quickly slip away in the presence of humans like tawny ghosts. Every few months, I see evidence that mountain lions live in the Santa Cruz Mountains (deer kills, tracks, large scat with scrape marks), yet they are so secretive, I had never actually seen a mountain lion roaming these hills. My hands were shaking as I unlocked the Dipper Ranch gate and I reminded myself to slow down and drive carefully on these winding country roads with weekend cyclists and beach-bound traffic.
When I got to the parking lot, I radio-ed in for permission to enter the preserve. I passed one ranger moving people out of the preserve, and he pointed me in the right direction with a few words. I knew the trail well and had just been there the day before. I turned down the volume on my radio and strained to catch sight of the rangers while keeping my steps controlled, searching the forest up and down, and calming my breath. Through the trees, I finally spotted the reflective "Ranger" tag across someone's jacket. I cleared my throat to let them know I was there and they pointed.
Forty feet up a black oak tree, 4 large furry legs dangled to each side of a deciduous branch. Make that 3 legs and one long, fat tail. The lion was resting in speckled light with its head away from us. We could detect some slight movements of its head, but mostly, it seemed to be sleeping. We were speaking in low voices and I was fumbling between binoculars and camera. I quickly realized the nap tree was near the gut pile I had seen the day before, and it was likely the lion could see its deer carcass from its high perch. Lions usually pull the guts out of a deer and set them neatly aside before feasting on the carcass. The gut pile I had seen in a creek had probably washed down in recent rains from a deer carcass further uphill. Lions often feed on a kill, then partially bury or otherwise hide the remaining carcass for subsequent feeding over the next few days. They may stay in the area of the kill. This lion seemed to be sleeping off a meal in view of its stash, and was likely to stay in the area for a while.
We decided to continue getting all visitors out of the preserve and close it until the lion was done resting so close to a popular trail. The supervising ranger was on the radio directing other rangers to clear all trails and post warning signs. He contacted dispatch to notify adjacent park managers and communicate with the California Department of Fish and Game. Everything was going very smoothly even though we were simultaneously thrilled to see a nonthreatening mountain lion and concerned to avoid any type of human-lion conflict.
Eventually, the lion lazily raised its head and looked over its shoulder at us. It didn't seem very concerned about the small group of people way below it, watched for a few moments and then turned and rested its head pointed in the other direction. We could see its ears still on alert but the rest of the body remained relaxed. Nevertheless, we pulled out of the area to give it more room and to allow us to talk freely.
We work with the California Department of Fish and Game to keep people safe in the outdoors but also protect the wildlife. This mountain lion was not acting aggressively towards people and was exhibiting normal behavior for a large predator (eat, sleep). In this case, because the lion was likely to stay near the assumed carcass, and that happened to be close to a busy trail, it was best to get the people out of the way to avoid any conflict. As one of the state wildlife managers frequently tells me, it is easier to talk to people than to wildlife. We decided to leave the preserve closed for the rest of the day. We would check it early the next morning, and if there were any signs of the lion or the carcass near the trail, we would keep the preserve closed. We made sure that we were following the steps outlined in our animal response protocol, had informed all relevant parties, and were clear on our assignments.
Excited and relieved, I left the preserve to escort a night hike into a new preserve. That hike was about little things, frogs and newts, and it was a beautiful evening to be outside. Still, the outdoors had an edge to it after seeing a mountain lion casually occupy its territory.
The next morning, we assembled in the preserve parking lot again. A neighbor 1.5 miles away had seen a mountain lion cross through their yard near dawn. This neighbor was very familiar with wildlife and had previously seen lions, so we were confident this was an accurate report. We did not know if this was the same lion we had seen in the tree, or the other half of a pair of lions that had been irregularly reported in the general area over the past few weeks.
We checked the nap tree and the lion was gone. As a group, we slowly checked all nearby trails, peering through underbrush and looking up more frequently than we are accustomed. With no signs of the lion or a carcass, we reopened the preserve later in the morning with notices posted at all trailheads that a mountain lion had recently been observed in the preserve.
I went to the field office to document the sightings and made a round of phone calls. I was fortunate to reach the person who originally reported the lion on Saturday. He had been hiking with his 5-year old son when they looked up to see what the ravens were screaming about. Without the ravens' ruckus as they harassed and scolded the lion-in-a-tree, the hikers would have never noticed the lion. The lion was lazily waving a tail or paw towards the ravens but seemed mostly intent on napping. Although intrigued, the hiker headed back to the parking lot with his son close to him. He passed and warned another pair of visitors and then called the emergency contact number posted in the parking lot. He clearly described the sighting to the dispatcher so that the rangers readily found the same location when they arrived a short time later.
I complimented the observer as he had responsibly and safely responded to the situation and quickly reported it. We discussed his son's reaction - he was excited to report his hiking adventure to his kindergarten friends. I reviewed mountain lion safety tips with them and asked that they share these with his buddies. I also directed them to the Keep Me Wild section of Fish and Game's website that gives tips on how to interact with wildlife safely and respectfully.
While I was writing up that report, the rangers called me on the radio about a mountain lion sighting at another preserve near Horseshoe Lake and in the vicinity of the dawn report. The reporting party was in the parking lot. I asked them to wait and drove 5 minutes down the road. The reporting party described seeing a cat cross a clearing between a restored oak forest and the lake, so we took a walk in that direction. She had entered the preserve a few hours earlier to observe birds for the Audubon Great Backyard Bird Count, and had noticed the bright yellow notice at the trailhead about a recent mountain lion sighting in the area. Shortly after starting her hike, she spotted a brown, long-legged cat and in her binoculars watched it saunter towards the trees. She did not see the tail but thought it was just the angle of her view. Curious, she originally hiked in the direction of the cat, but as she got into the heavy trees, she became nervous and walked around the lake in the other direction.
Over the next hour, she recorded the birds she saw in her field notebook, but did not see any further signs of the cat. When she got back to the parking lot she saw a ranger and reported her sighting. When I arrived, I listened carefully to her description, reviewed safety precautions and thanked her. As with many reports, it was impossible to tell whether she had actually seen a mountain lion or not, but we keep records because it is often the pattern of multiple reports that best reveals behavior of these furtive animals.
As she got into her car, I remembered I had photos of the dangling lion on my camera. I showed them to her hoping to elicit a response on the lion's appearance compared to her observation. She was astonished by the size of the tail in the photograph, but seemed ready to go home after her morning adventures. After she left, I wrote up a few notes and then slowly headed out of the preserve when suddenly I saw movement at the location she originally reported the cat. I immediately stopped the car and pulled out my binoculars. No question, it was a bobcat - short 3" tail, stripes and spots on its underside and the inside of its long legs, fur flaring out in the cheek area, and the typical slow, saucy walk of a 'bob'.
Over the next few days, we continued to get reports of mountain lions. This is typical whenever we post signs regarding mountain lion sightings or when the local media covers a mountain lion story. Although some of the reports were reliable (large-sized cat tracks, certain descriptions), based on our previous experience, many others were probably cases of excited misidentification. Nevertheless, we listen carefully, ask clarifying questions and keep records. As long as the sighting is brief and the animal's behavior is nonaggressive towards humans, it's a fact of interest but does not require any action.
The presence of mountain lions in the proximity of humans tends to be controversial. I've waited over a week to write about this event to give me time to think. I was excited to see the lion myself. Everyone we talked to about the event was excited too. Probably because we had photos and had witnessed a mountain lion doing mountain lion things in its own habitat. A habitat we try to share respectfully with local critters. Most of the time we only hear the predator/human conflict stories, sometimes exaggerated. It's great to have examples of lions living their lives in ways that don't threaten or upset humans.
So I decided to share this simple story of a local lion lying about. So you can be hopeful. Also, so I can share these important tips:
- Do NOT run from a mountain lion. Running could trigger an attack response from a mountain lion. Stand tall, raise your hands above your head, throw rocks or sticks, and shout.
- In the very unlikely event you are attacked by a mountain lion, FIGHT BACK. People have survived by punching, scratching or kicking an attacking lion. My favorite story is a biologist who was writing in her field notebook when she was attacked. She stabbed the lion in the face with her wimpy pen and it left. Lions are stealth predators. They creep up on a deer, suddenly pounce on it and between the force of their leap and their accurately placed canines severing the spine, their prey usually collapses and quickly dies. They don't expect a fight and will often leave if there is any struggle.
- Mountain lion attacks on humans are rare. There have been no documented attacks of mountain lions on humans in the Santa Cruz Mountains since 1909. There have been 16 verified mountain lion attacks on humans in California since 1890, six of them fatal.
If Dr. Grace Augustine, the biologist in the movie Avatar, had been carrying a field notebook and writing implement, maybe her fate would have been different.
- California Department of Fish and Game Mountain Lion Facts
- Mountain Lion Foundation - As an advocacy group, they have opinions on hunting, regulations, etc. Nevertheless, the website has good information on mountain lion biology, and how to protect your pets and livestock when you live in mountain lion territory.
- Bay Area Puma Project - researchers tracking mountain lions in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Great photos of recently collared local mountain lions.
- How to tell mountain lions and bobcats apart
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By Oren Betzaleli, EVP, head of product and marketing, Retalix
As smartphones and tablets continue to infiltrate the market, they are increasingly changing the way people interact with each other, receive information, and expect to be served by retailers and service providers. As a result, more and more retailers are starting to offer self-service mobile applications as a popular means to manage customer interaction and relationships.
Retailer-Owned vs. Consumer-Owned Self-Service
Self-service is not a novel concept – and retail-owned self-service devices have been around long before tablets and smartphones.
The list goes on, and as time goes by, more self-service devices are introduced into the retail industry. Retailers implementing these self-service devices are driven by the desire to grant shoppers increased satisfaction by significantly speeding up both shopping and checkout cycles, and improving store employees’ efficiency by freeing them from mundane tasks. This enables retailers to demonstrate greater attentiveness towards customers where most needed.
And yet, all of the above self-service devices – each with its own capabilities and benefits – are confined to the store. The emergence of consumer-owned smartphone-based applications such as Mobile Scanning and Mobile Shopping, now blur the boundaries between what consumers can do both in and outside of the store, which opens up a whole new world of customer interaction. Once shoppers become accustomed to using the retailer-branded mobile application outside the store – to create shopping lists, review shopping history and download coupons – it strengthens brand identity and increases shoppers’ likelihood to return to the same chain for their next shopping trip.
Mobile self-service applications can be highly customizable and agile to fit each retailer’s requirement. The same consumer-owned device can be used for mobile scanning, self-checkout, mobile payments as well as viewing rich supplementary product information. This approach helps retailers cater to customers’ specific preferences, leveraging the rapid adoption of smartphones to eliminate the need to invest in costly retail-owned hardware and labor.
The Limitations of Self-Service, and How to Rise Above Them
That being said, self-service – whether on retail-owned devices, or on consumer-owned mobile devices – has its downsides and limitations. Handing over the power to the consumer to some retailers means giving up a certain element of control – which can be a scary notion. Allowing consumers to operate in-store devices themselves opens up all kinds of concerns such as theft (intentional or not) or self-scale abuse by punching in a cheaper type of fruit or vegetable at the scales.
To overcome these security issues, some retailers have implemented security scales at their self-checkout lane, to ensure the item scanned is indeed the item placed in the bag, according to pre-defined weight. In order to reduce the risk in the case of self-scanning, store representatives also pick out random shoppers at checkout for re-scanning of their shopping basket, to ensure it matches their own scanning list and invoice. Still, some retailers choose not to implement any security measure, claiming that a person who wants to conduct fraudulent activity will do so with or without a self-service machine, and that most thefts are not performed by the customers, but by employees.
So what motivates retailers to implement self-service options despite these downsides? The answer is simple: if the customer wants it, then you must provide it. Shoppers want the freedom to choose how, when and where to be served. It is part of an emerging ‘connected’ lifestyle which defines a new spectrum of consumers’ desires and preferences.
Furthermore, in a Harvard Business Review blog post, “Why Your Customers Don't Want to Talk to You”, the authors Matt Dixon and Lara Ponomareff suggest consumers do not necessarily want human interaction when performing their shopping. Reasons can vary from psychological desire to feel in control, or the enjoyment of using new gadgets and mobile applications, to the fact that consumers perceive self-service as being faster, regardless of the time it actually takes.
Retailers who wish to maintain a competitive advantage must adapt to shopper demand and adopt new applications and service options.
What Does the Future of Retailer and Consumer Owned Self Service Hold?
While we expect both retailer- and consumer-owned self-service devices to be a big part of the future store, these applications will not entirely substitute the need for human assistance and therefore, we do not anticipate traditional point-of-sale operations going away anytime soon. Interpersonal relationships are important when providing any kind of customer service. But it needs to occur when and where the customer wants it. Customers prefer whichever method of interaction that reduces their efforts and time spent – be it retailer or consumer owned self-service devices, traditional point-of-sale, or a combination of their choice.
And that is what it’s all about at the end, choice. In order to be ready for the future, retailers must provide their customers with the option to “Bring their own Point-of-Sale” embedded in their mobile device, or if they prefer – switch while in store to a traditional point-of-sale.
The notion of self-service via a consumer-owned device is gradually becoming more popular in today’s retail industry. It is a trend that is reshaping the retail landscape, and to effectively capitalize on this opportunity, retailers must offer branded mobile applications of their own that provide true value and produce an intimate, two-way shopper engagement. A new breed of shoppers is here – and they are connected, knowledgeable, and demanding. Retailers must cater to this new generation of shoppers’ wants and needs by offering a superior experience via whichever self-service modality they choose. The world is the customer’s oyster and it is a retailer’s job to make sure that both the old and new generation of shoppers have the choice to shop not only when they want, but the exact way they want to interact with the retailer at every touch point.
Oren Betzaleli is EVP, head of product and marketing at Retalix, a leading global provider of software and services serving leading retailers. He can be reached at Oren.Betzaleli@Retalix.com.
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Not just anybody can decide one day they’re going to go racing and show up at the 24 Hours of Le Mans ready to go. No, they need to have a number of things taken care of first, including a competition license and some racing experience. Yet in 1949, Brit Bob Lawrie, a complete amateur, entered the famed competition with hardly any of the prerequisites. Still, he had determination, as well as this 1949 Aston Martin DB1, built specifically for him by Aston Martin, and he not only entered the race, but finished just out of the prize money. From the seller’s description:
1949 Aston Martin DB1 Le Mans 24 hour racer, Two Litre Sports/DB1, Chassis number AMC/49/5, Engine number VB6B/50/51, Registration number UMD 123.
Having followed racing at Le Mans in the 1930s, Robert visited the circuit several times after the war and got to know the race organisers well enough to be invited to drive in the first post-war 24 Hour race due to be run in 1949. He then visited the London Motor show and persuaded Aston Martin to build him a car. His next step was to get a competition licence from the RAC, which wasn’t going to be easy as he had never raced a car before (something the Le Mans organisers were not aware of, but more of that later!) He started by showing the RAC his invitation to take part in the event, which didn’t go down well as they were not aware that any race invitations had been issued and felt it was traditionally their role to do so! However, faced with his formal invitation and his sheer determination, they relented and he walked out of the RAC with his licence in his pocket. It was only when he got to Le Mans that the organisers discovered that he had never raced a car before and, not surprisingly, were not too pleased. Anyway, he had their invitation, he had his RAC Competition Licence, he had a car and he was there so they arranged that he would do several officially observed laps of the circuit at racing speed. He apparently drove faultlessly, so they let him take part, with his friend and co-driver Dr. Richard (Dick) Parker.
In Robert Lawrie’s own words, he was not expecting to win, but he definitely wanted to finish. Aston Martin expert Neil Murray told me that his strategy was to conserve the car rather than thrash it which obviously worked well as towards the end of the race they were running in a very creditable 10th place when Dick Parker (apparently known as “Chum”) pulled in to the pits and offered the car back to Lawrie on the basis that he should take the flag. Despite it being a very gentlemanly offer Lawrie was more than a bit annoyed as they lost a place so missed out on some prize money! Still, they finished in 11th place out of the 19 cars which completed the race and the 49 which started which is really quite an achievement and a great credit to them and their car.
It can best be described as maybe not in 100 percent concours show order but as a road going car in really presentable, very smart and sound condition throughout. The high quality paintwork has a glossy finish with no obvious defects apart from the odd small scratch, the brightwork is also very good and the body is sound with no nasty rattles even when driven on uneven roads. The upholstery, interior trim and carpets are smart and the hood is fine though it does have a couple of small tears. The engine compartment and underside of the car are clean and workmanlike though have clearly not been prepared with concours events in mind as the car is in regular use. The engine starts readily, runs smoothly and pulls very well throughout its range without making any unpleasant or expensive sounding noises and it maintains good water temperature and engine oil pressure. The synchromesh gearbox is also really nice and very easy to use. There are no untoward rattles from the suspension or nasty noises from the transmission and back axle. In summary the car is great to look at, really good fun to drive and will definitely reward a press-on approach to motoring!
See more Aston Martins for sale on Hemmings.com.
And, by the way, this is no piece of furniture, as we can see from the following video of the current owner putting the DB1 through its paces:
5 Comments - Leave a Reply
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"It really affected me," says Bestor. She took part in the Maltz Museum's Stop the Hate Essay Contest, and was one of 10 finalists. She ended up winning the top scholarship of $50,000.
Andrea wrote about the bullying that a special education student at Avon Lake High School endured. Since his death, she decided to launch the "Speak No Evil" campaign at her school.
Next week, students will begin selling wristbands that say "speak no evil" and "stop the hate." The proceeds will go to bring in suicide prevention speakers for the students.
"I hope that students will become more aware of their words wearing these bracelets," says Bestor. She plans to use her scholarship money to go to Miami of Ohio and major in psychology.
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Welcome to the University of Arkansas Eleanor Mann School of Nursing. We are pleased that you have chosen to pursue nursing as a career. We try to provide a stimulating and caring learning community that supports your development as a professional nurse and compassionate individual. The faculty believes your experiences as a student nurse will be rewarding. We look forward to working with you. We are here to help you achieve your goal to become a professional nurse.
This handbook has been developed to inform you of the School of Nursing policies and to provide guidelines that are specific to nursing students. The handbook contains facts and policies concerning the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Program. It supplements the University Catalog of Studies. Please read and carefully review these materials. You should become familiar with University, College and the School of Nursing policies. Please refer to the University Catalog of Studies when you need more information than this handbook provides.
NOTE: The handbook will be updated as necessary. Students are notified of changes through announcements on the electronic message board in the Epley Center for Health Professions and by messages sent via electronic mail.
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Luis Suarez has been on a five-year mission to wean himself from email, and he's almost there. His message volume has slowed to a trickle of about a dozen messages per week. He uses Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and a variety of other social networks to share information that he wants others to see. As an IBM Corp. social computing evangelist, sharing is what he does. One of his favorite quotes is credited to iPadCTO founder Bill French: “Email is where knowledge goes to die.”
Suarez understood years ago what a lot of business professionals still don't realize: Email is holding back our businesses. Our addiction to the inbox prevents us from building the culture of collaboration that defines today's progressive companies.
Recent “research” by the McKinsey Global Institute found that the average office worker spends about 13 hours a week reading, writing and responding to emails. McKinsey estimated that more than a quarter of that time could be channeled into more productive work if communication shifted to social platforms and that the amount of time people spend searching for information could be slashed by 30% if so much of it wasn't locked up in email boxes.
Unfortunately, habits that go back a couple of decades are difficult to break. Most people over the age of 30 have grown up with the inbox as their home page. Like duct tape, email is a tool we apply to the wrong things because we know how to use it.
But email has so many shortcomings as a collaboration tool. It isn't shareable beyond the limited confines of distribution lists, which are themselves prone to errors, omissions and excesses. You can't tweet, bookmark or post an email to Facebook. You can't unsubscribe from a distribution list except by contacting the owner of the list directly. You can't Google an email message.
Don't even get me started on auto-complete.
Email is a drain on productivity and resources. People who need information can't get it if they aren't on the distribution list, while others who left the project long ago continue to receive updates because it's too bothersome to unsubscribe.
IT organizations struggle with the storage and bandwidth problems of large attachments that are distributed en masse. Version control is nonexistent and mostly handled by swapping revised files back and forth. In short, email is a terrible way to manage projects with more than about six people.
A collaborative culture assumes that information that isn't sensitive or proprietary should be available to anyone who might benefit from it. Public, private and semiprivate groups on social networks permit anyone to share, annotate and build upon the work of others. There's no risk that a misfired message will leak confidential information because access is controlled centrally. Document-sharing software ensures that everyone is always working with a single copy of the latest version of the document or project.
So why don't people use these tools more extensively? A big reason is email addiction. People join groups but continue to fall back to email as their primary communication tool “just in case.” We've all seen this behavior, and the only way to stop it is for project managers to insist that email updates to the group won't be read.
People like Luis Suarez are putting email in its place. I hope more people will learn from his example.
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PARKROYAL Parramatta is located on the river front of Parramatta river. The Parramatta River is a waterway in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, a branch of Port Jackson, along with the smaller Lane Cove and Duck Rivers.
The river begins at confluence of Toongabbie Creek and Darling Mills Creek west of Parramatta and travels in an easterly direction to a line between Greenwich Point, Greenwich, and Robinsons Point, Birchgrove. Here it flows into Port Jackson, still about 21 km from the ocean. Enjoy a ride on the Parramatta Rivercat ferry as you head into the Sydney City.
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Secret US-Israeli Nuke Transfers
Led To Fukushima Blasts
By Yoichi Shimatsu
...The explosions that rocked the Fukushima No.1 nuclear plant were more powerful than the combustion of hydrogen gas, as claimed by the Tokyo Electric Power Company. The actual cause of the blasts, according to intelligence sources in Washington, was nuclear fission of. warhead cores illegally taken from America's sole nuclear-weapons assembly facility. Evaporation in the cooling pools used for spent fuel rods led to the detonation of stored weapons-grade plutonium and uranium.
The facts about clandestine American and Israeli support for Japan's nuclear armament are being suppressed in the biggest official cover-up in recent history. The timeline of events indicates the theft from America's strategic arsenal was authorized at the highest level under a three-way deal between the Bush-Cheney team, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Elhud Olmert's government in Tel Aviv.
An Israeli Double-Cross
The nuclear shipments to Japan required a third-party cutout for plausible deniability by the White House. Israel acted less like an agent and more like a broker in demanding additional payment from Tokyo, according to intelligence sources. Adding injury to insult, the Israelis skimmed off the newer warhead cores for their own arsenal and delivered older ones. Since deteriorated cores require enrichment, the Japanese were furious and demanded a refund, which the Israelis refused. Tokyo had no recourse since by late 2008 principals Abe had resigned the previous autumn and Bush was a lame duck.
The Japanese nuclear developers, under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, had no choice but to enrich the uranium cores at Fukushima No.1, a location remote enough to evade detection by nonproliferation inspectors. Hitachi and GE had developed a laser extraction process for plutonium, which requires vast amounts of electrical power. This meant one reactor had to make unscheduled runs, as was the case when the March earthquake struck..
Hidden nuclear crisis
March 13, 2011
by Yoichi Shimatsu
The recurrent tendency to deny systemic errors - "in order to avoid public panic" - is rooted in the determination of an entrenched bureaucracy to protect itself rather than in any stated purpose of serving the nation or its people. That's the unspoken rule of thumb in most governments, and the point is that Japan is no shining exception.
So what today is being silenced on orders from the Tokyo government? The official mantra is that all five nuclear power plants in the northeast are locked down, safe and not leaking. The cloaked reality is that at least one of those - Tepco's Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant - is under an emergency alert at a level indicative of a quake-caused internal rupture. The Fukushima powerhouse is one of the world's largest with six boiling-water reactors.
Over past decades, the Japanese public has been reassured by the Tokyo Electric Power Company that its nuclear reactors are prepared for any eventuality. Yet the mystery in Fukushima is not the first unreported problem with nuclear power, only the most recent. Back in 1996 amid a reactor accident in Ibaraki province, the government never admitted that radioactive fallout had drifted over the northeastern suburbs of Tokyo. Our reporters got confirmation from monitoring stations, but the press was under a blanket order not to run any alarming news, the facts be damned. For a nation that's lived under the atomic cloud of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, total denial becomes possible now only because the finger on the button is our own.
More in the way of corroboration:
SECRET Nukes? No, Not Israel - SECRET. Not Iran... JAPAN.
*Webcam Mystery Man at Press Conference* Media banned from Fukushima plant — TEPCO: “We can not disclose the actual situation inside” (VIDEO)
Feel free to comment. Please & thank you.
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VENETA, Ore. - Tina Bryson doesn't have what some would consider a normal job.
"I feel I was gifted the ability to do this, and so it's my way of giving back," said the cosmetic tattoo artist.
Breast cancer survivors like Jackie Madden come to Bryson after losing their nipples during a mastectomy.
"It's a loss of femininity to a woman," Madden said, "and when you get it back, it makes a world of difference to you."
Madden was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006. She had a mastectomy and breast reconstruction a year later.
"They looked normal," she said, "but they had nothing on them."
That is where Bryon comes in.
"I tattoo a nipple on there," she said. "It's called repigmentation at the nipple, or areola reconstruction."
Bryson takes a washers like you would buy at the hardware store and uses them to trace a design on her clients.
"The outside would be the aerola, and the inside would be the nipple nodule depending on how they want it to be," Bryson said.
She then tattoos the faux nipple on the breast - free of charge.
"It's very natural looking," she said. "Sometimes it looks like the nipple is raised, but there's nothing there. It's just ink."
For survivors like Madden, it means getting a piece of herself back.
"It's like bam! Cancer, I finally got rid of you," she said. "I finally took back everything you took away from me."
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June 15, 2012 The pigeon paradox is that they are both reviled as urban pests and revered as a delicacy when stuffed or broiled in many nations. And the birds we eat are specially bred, not raised on garbage on the street.
June 14, 2012 The Revolutionary Road trip crew turns to The Salt for advice on whether some local Libyan honey could heal one member's upset stomach. The answer is probably not, but if it tastes good, we say, drink up.
June 13, 2012 A meal in a Tripoli restaurant prompts questions about how to cook camel and its history as a food. Camel meat has long been a staple in the Middle East, Pakistan, and North and East Africa, and it's catching on in some parts of the U.S.
June 12, 2012 Christopher Columbus and other explorers brought red peppers from the New World back to Europe, where they spread across the globe, each culture adapting a pepper paste or sauce to their taste. Harissa is North Africa's contribution.
June 6, 2012 Legmi is a traditional Tunisian drink made from date palm sap. If left to ferment, it can transform into an alcoholic beverage. But turning legmi into hooch was trickier that our correspondents imagined.
June 5, 2012 The Tunisian bric is just one of many stuffed pastries eaten daily across the former Ottoman Empire. For centuries, every new civilization, empire, religion, trade route and movement of people added its own twist and claimed a version as their own.
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How long after you download an app from the App Store — whether free or paid — do you actually use it? If you're like most iPhone/iPod touch users, the novelty of using a new app starts to wear off within days of your downloading it, according to new stats from Pinch Media.
The company builds analytic tools designed for developers who need to monitor their App Store downloads, app usage time and other data that can be used to develop app marketing strategies. Pinch also sells ad space on free, ad-supported apps to advertisers.
Based on an analysis of 30 million downloads, only 1 percent of people who download an app are still using it after 90 days, according to a slide show presented by Pinch CEO Greg Yardley at the New York iPhone Developers Meetup on Feb. 18. The company says its stats are derived from the use of its tools in a "few hundred" apps including several that have garnered the top spots in free and paid categories.
Not surprising, paid apps get slightly more use over slightly more time. However, the decline in usage for paid apps is nearly as steep as for free apps. Entertainment apps tend to retain the attention of users the most over the long term, Yardley says.
Developers who expect to earn revenues from advertising aren't likely to do as well as devs who sell their apps, according to Yardley. A developer stands to make at least $0.70 per paid app. To equal the same revenue, a dev would need the ad space on his app to sell at a rate of $8.75 per thousand views. Ad rates, however, are typically $0.50 to $2.00 per thousand views.
Less than 5 percent of apps are suitable for advertising and no one knows which ones those are until after they launch, Yardley says. Bottom line? Sell it, he advises.
Finally, according to the company's analysis, the average price cut typically hikes demand for an app by 130 percent. The average price increase dampens demand by 25 percent. The longer an app has been on the App Store's shelves, the less impact price raises or cuts have on an app's download trend.
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Genjiro Tenmakutsukuri writes:
My goals in implementing this forums are the following:
- Bring together our online communities: Much as the new website was redesigned to consolidate the many and varied blue feather "homepages" previously on the web into one central, easy to remember, place (http://www.bluefeather.org).
- The new forum is there to do the same with our discussions; bring together the varying discussions taking place in many smaller, fractured communities. Some of these communities have fallen into disuse, or have a scope so narrow that they are unknown.? With one centrally-located, well-organized forum, broad enough to cover all topics of discussion, we have a place where we can all gather online, and get a true sense of the scope and people of our community.
- Better organized online discussions:
Email lists and free groups such as Yahoo or Google have some inherent problems that can make browsing, searching for, and participating in discussions difficult. The biggest of these is that messages are organized chronologically, with no regard to the topics of each individual message. Our forum uses phpBB a popular forum software that organizes our discussions into easy to follow topics and threads. This way, you can easily browse all the discussions going on, but also follow specific ones and be notified of replies via email. More robust search options also make it easier to see if a discussion is already underway, and join in. Image and file attachments, polls, private messaging, automatic archiving, and member profiles are just some of the many features that hosting our own forum offers. If you have used webforums before, chances are you'll be familiar with ours.
- Encourage a living online presence:
A newcomer who happens upon a sparsely populated, outdated or rarely used blue-feather discussion board may wrongly assume that the Clan is dead. With one central forum my hope is that we can gather ALL of our members to discuss clan issues as broad as our yearly encampment planning, to historical research, to arts and sciences, to new events and more! (indeed, categories for the above topics have already been established) Not only can these discussions help generate content for the webpage (event announcements, images for our upcoming new galleries, etc.) more importantly it shows prospective members (and the world at large) that we as a Clan are alive and well.
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Calls to delay single parent payment cuts
Welfare agencies say a second parliamentary report calling on the Federal Government to defer its plan to move single parents onto the dole offers a "ray of hope".
The Government wants to move 100,000 single parents off the parenting payment and onto unemployment benefits once their youngest child turns eight.
That will cost them more than $100 a fortnight, in some cases more than $200 a fortnight - saving the Commonwealth $700 million over four years.
But Parliament's new Human Rights Committee has recommended the Government defer its plan until a Senate inquiry delivers its findings.
It is the second Labor-dominated parliamentary committee to recommend against passing the legislation, which is due to come into effect next year.
The Government, however, appears unswayed and says it is determined to press ahead with its policy.
"The committee states very clearly that it is not convinced and I quote, 'by the Government's assertion that all affected individuals will maintain access to appropriate levels of social security support'," St Vincent de Paul Society's John Falzon said.
Mr Falzon views the latest report as "a little ray of hope".
"It, in many ways confirms the concerns we and many other advocates have brought to the Government and that is, you don't build people up by putting them down," he said.
"You don't help them get a job by forcing them into poverty."
The chair of the parliamentary committee, Labor MP Harry Jenkins, did not respond to AM's calls.
Greens senator Rachel Siewert is a member of the Senate inquiry, which will report in two months' time.
She says if the Government heeded the Human Rights Committee's recommendation for a delay, the legislation could not be voted on this year, meaning the new regime could not start in the New Year as planned.
"My take on it is, is that they cannot guarantee that this meets Australia's human rights obligations," Senator Siewert said.
"We shouldn't be going ahead with legislation that we can't say with a hand on our hearts, it meets our human rights obligations."
Senator Siewert says the plight of people on Newstart continues to worsen.
Earlier this year she spent a week trying to live on the dole and last weekend returned to the shop where she bought her food.
"Exactly the same basket of goods in exactly the same shop would cost now $60.37 compared to in April $52.99," Senator Siewert said.
"Now that's over $7 increase, the indexation which recipients of Newstart are going to get is a $1.45 a week."
Employment Minister Bill Shorten was not available to be interviewed.
A spokesman says the minister says he respects the committee's contribution to what is an important debate, but the Government is determined to implement its decision.
Senator Siewert says the Minister and the Government remain blind to the effects of their own legislation.
"The true story is he is trying to sell an unsellable policy and that is that Newstart is adequate and that it encourages people into work when in reality it is not adequate," she said.
"It provides another barrier and when I ask for evidence about, 'well, where is that level where you are paying someone too much and it is a disincentive to find work', no-one can tell me."
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SACRAMENTO -- The deal in Washington to avoid the "fiscal cliff" will bring a reprieve to California's slowly rebounding economy, but uncertainty remains in part because Congress delayed action on federal spending cuts.
The agreement helps California avoid sliding back into recession, H.D. Palmer, finance spokesman for Gov. Jerry Brown, said Wednesday. But economic forecasters said the two-month delay on the sequestration cuts could lead businesses to delay hiring or investments.
"To the extent that this agreement averts a national recession -- and the revenue loss associated with it -- then we will have dodged a bullet," Palmer said a day after Congress reached the deal.
One immediate benefit of the agreement is about 400,000 jobless Californians will receive extended unemployment benefits. The legislation also stops a 27 percent reduction in Medicare fees paid to doctors, and keeps in place a higher child tax credit as well as tax credits for college tuition, clean energy and small businesses.
While it raises taxes on the wealthy, the deal prevents most tax increases on the middle class. All taxpayers will be subject to an additional 2 percent Social Security payroll tax because Congress allowed that tax holiday to expire.
Individuals making $400,000 or more and couples making $450,000 or more will see an increase in their tax rate to 39.6 percent, up from 35 percent.
About 144,000 of the state's 14.6 million tax
Forecasters had predicted California would fall back into recession if all the federal tax breaks were allowed to expire and government spending was slashed.
Some observers still fear the two-month delay in negotiations about spending and the federal debt could cause businesses and investors to hold back.
"Part of the fiscal cliff was postponed for two months, so it's still there," said Jerry Nickelsburg, economics professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. projected that automatic spending cuts would have brought a loss of $22.7 billion in gross state product -- the annual measure of goods and services produced in California. It also could have meant the loss of 225,000 jobs statewide.
Kimberly Ritter-Martinez, associate economist at the organization, said the 2 percent payroll tax could still mean fewer movies and dinners out for many families, while higher taxes on the wealthy could mean they have less money to invest or spend.
The changes "seem like they're small or affecting just a small number of people, but each one of these things has an impact and it can multiply throughout the economy," Ritter-Martinez said.
State experts said it will take weeks to study the impact of the federal legislation on California's economy and state budget.
The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office warned that California also could have lost as much as $11 billion in tax revenue if the nation fell back into recession. That would wipe out the bulk of tax gains under Proposition 30, a set of temporary sales tax and income tax hikes voters approved in November.
The state relies heavily on high-income earners, who now will be hit with multiple tax increases -- at the state level under Proposition 30 and on the federal level because of the expiring Bush-era tax cuts. The analyst's office had projected a much smaller deficit of $1.9 billion for the next fiscal year on the assumption that Washington would avoid the fiscal cliff.
Additional data will be available as taxpayers make estimated payments this month and begin filing final returns or making extension payments between now and April.
"It will take months, in other words, to understand this aspect of the fiscal cliff better," said Deputy Legislative Analyst Jason Sisney.
On Wednesday, the California Employment Development Department said the state should be able to avoid an interruption to unemployment benefits if federal lawmakers don't make any significant changes.
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President Obama at the White House today, with Vice President Biden in the background.
Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Image
The president's various measures, the White House estimates, would cost about $500 million to implement. The Washington Post calls them "the most expansive gun-control policies in generations." They would be "the most sweeping changes to gun laws in nearly two decades," says the Wall Street Journal.
"Gun rights advocates," as NPR's Scott Horsley says, "have already promised stiff resistance." Even before the White House event, the National Rifle Association was calling the president an "elitist hypocrite."
While Obama promised to "put everything I've got into this," he also said that "pundits and politicians" will fight his proposals and claim he's waging an "all-out assault on liberty."
"The only way we can [get] change is if the American people demand it," he said. Americans, added Obama, need to "stand up and say 'enough.' "
The president also said that he has no wish to infringe on Americans' Second Amendment rights, but is taking "common sense measures that have the support of the majority of American people."
Vice President Biden, who joined the president at the midday event, lead the task force that developed the plan. The effort was launched in the days after the mass shooting at Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary School.
We live blogged as the announcement was made and afterward.
Update at 12:45 p.m. ET. Key Points Of The Plan:
— Obama is calling on Congress to pass legislation to "reinstate and strengthen the ban on assault weapons" that was in place from 1994 to 2004.
— He wants a law passed to prohibit the sale of ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.
— The administration says "Congress should finish the job of protecting law enforcement and the public by banning the possession of armor-piercing ammunition by, and its transfer to, anyone other than the military and law enforcement."
— The federal government is taking executive action "to provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers."
— "The Departments of Education, Justice, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security will release — by May 2013 — a set of model, high-quality emergency management plans for schools, houses of worship, and institutions of higher education, along with best practices for developing these plans and training students and staff to follow them."
— An increase in efforts to "reach 750,000 young people through programs to identify mental illness early and refer them to treatment. ... The administration is calling for a new initiative, Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resilience in Education), to provide this training and set up systems to provide these referrals."
— Obama is directing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal scientific agencies "to conduct research into the causes and prevention of gun violence." Congress has in recent years barred those agencies from using federal funds to "advocate or promote gun control." The White House argues that "research on gun violence is not advocacy; it is critical public health research."
Later today, our colleague Liz Halloran will be reporting about what's likely to happen to the president's initiative — particularly the legislation he'd like to see.
Update at 12:25 p.m. ET. White House Statements:
— Summaries of the 23 executive actions.
— A "fact sheet" on the president's plan.
— A broader look at the plan.
Update at 12:16 p.m. ET. "Let's Do The Right Thing":
Speaking of those killed in recent mass shootings and those who try to protect Americans from such harm, the president ends his remarks by saying "let's do the right thing ... for them and for this country that we love so much."
Then, he sits down to sign the 23 executive actions.
Update at 12:10 p.m. ET. American People Must Demand Change:
While he vows to "put everything I've got into this," Obama also says that "pundits and politicians" will fight his proposals and claim he's waging an "all-out assault on liberty."
"The only way we can [get] change is if the American people demand it," he says. Americans, adds Obama, need to "stand up and say 'enough.' "
Update at 12:07 p.m. ET. Universal Background Checks, Ban On Assault Weapons And 10-Round Limit On Magazines:
The president calls on Congress to pass legislation that resurrects the expired ban on sale of assault weapons, puts a 10-round limit on ammunition magazines and creates a system of "universal background checks" — closing the so-called gun show loophole. "You should at least have to show you are not a felon or somebody legally prohibited from buying" a gun, he says.
Update at 12:04 p.m. ET. The Executive Actions:
The president begins to talk of the 23 executive actions he's taking today. They include support for schools that want to hire "resource officers" and develop emergency plans. And he's telling the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study the causes of gun violence.
Update at 12:02 p.m. ET. "We Can't Put This Off Any Longer":
Saying that "every day we wait," more Americans will be killed in gun-related incidents, the president says "we can't put this off any longer."
Update at 11:54 a.m. ET. "20 Beautiful First Graders":
Biden begins with words about those killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and he thanks the family members who have come to the White House today for the announcement.
Those killed at the school were "20 beautiful first graders gunned down in a place that's supposed to be their second sanctuary," Biden says, and six adults who were trying to protect them.
The nation, he adds, has a "moral obligation" to do what can be done to prevent another such attack.
Update at 11:51 a.m. ET: The White House Event Has Begun.
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Heavy metal superstar Ozzy Osbourne, infamous for biting the head off a bat in his younger days, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday for his dark brand of showmanship.
Wearing a black suit, a large gold cross and round, blue glasses, with bright red streaks in his brown hair, Osbourne accepted the star with humility.
"To say that this is an honor is not enough," he said. "This is just so overwhelming, with all of you turning out so early in the morning to see my old butt."
The 53-year-old is enjoying renewed popularity with the MTV reality series "The Osbournes," which chronicles the singer’s home life with his wife, Sharon, and two of their children — pink-haired Kelly, 17, and spikey-haired Jack, 16.
The crowd of nearly 1,000 shrieking fans was a sea of multicolored hair, pierced faces and tattoos. Some waved wrinkled posters of the singer or scrawled his name across their foreheads in black ink.
Fittingly, his star was placed in the sidewalk in front of Hollywood Boulevard’s "Ripley’s Believe It or Not" museum of oddities.
Shock-rocker Marilyn Manson introduced the singer, saying Osbourne’s life is evidence that "eternally unhappy" people do not necessarily have to "go insane or become criminals."
"This star right here proves that it’s quite obvious that Ozzy has managed to succeed while remaining insane and strangely happy despite his various crimes against God and nature," Manson said.
Osbourne helped popularize heavy metal in the 1970s with Black Sabbath, which had hits such as "Iron Man" and "War Pigs." The band has sold nearly 25 million records in the United States.
Most contemporary hard rock acts were influenced by Osbourne’s blend of angry lyrics, on-stage stunts and disconcerting images of death and evil, which often employed quasi-Christian symbolism.
Osbourne also has had a successful solo career with hits including "Bark at the Moon," "Crazy Train" and "Shot in the Dark." His albums have sold 35 million copies worldwide.
His annual Ozzfest concert tour, started in 1996, consistently has ranked as a top draw, featuring lineups that have included him and Black Sabbath in addition to Manson, Crazy Town and Papa Roach.
Despite his wild-man reputation, the singer appears on "The Osbournes" as a loving, somewhat befuddled dad who gives his children sage advice about the dangers of sex, drugs and booze.
He speaks from experience; the Birmingham, England, musician has long battled substance abuse, and was notorious in his younger years for trashing hotel rooms, mistreating animals and languishing in drug-addled stupors.
(L-R): Aimee, Sharon, Ozzy, Kelly, Jack, & Louis.
(Louis is from Ozzy’s marriage to first wife Thelma)
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Last post on May 18, 2013 at 6:23 PM
You are in the Classic Cars
What is this discussion about?
Classic Cars, Coupe, Convertible, Truck, Sedan, Wagon
#1870 of 2059 Studebaker color, silent Bonneville video
Feb 22, 2013 (6:41 pm)
I'm loving this, as I'd not seen this film before....obviously a promotional piece for Ashland Oil and Valvoline ("Studebaker Record Test Runs, Powered by Ashland Gasoline and Protected by Valvoline"). Not-very-subtle product placement at around 1:20, 2:02, and 2:14 (although I love the Studebaker Champ with whitewalls and "Hot Rod" magazine on the door at 2:14).
That Avanti in the video, number 9, was on prominent display at the Studebaker National Museum during the International Meet last summer, still wearing its Halibrand mag wheels and looking remarkably unchanged from this video.
#1871 of 2059 Borg Warner AT used by Studebaker?
Mar 14, 2013 (1:05 pm)
What's the relationship between Studebaker and the BW automatic? Another board has a question, one poster indicating that Studebaker pretty much came up with their own AT after some discussions with BW. I though it was a BW transmission.
#1872 of 2059 Re: Borg Warner AT used by Studebaker? [texases]
Mar 14, 2013 (2:10 pm)
Although I'm mostly interested in '60's Studebakers, my understanding is that Studebaker, in conjunction with B-W, developed their "Automatic Drive" in 1950, that had a lock-up torque converter like Packard's Ultramatic of the year before. I have read in more than one place that Ford wished to buy the Studebaker "Automatic Drive" but that Studebaker wouldn't sell--a dumb idea! By '56, when Studebaker's fortunes were failing, they began to buy B-W automatics (called "Flightomatic" by Studebaker) 'off the shelf', so to speak.
When the Avanti was introduced, supposedly Studebaker worked in conjunction with B-W to come up with a 3-speed automatic that could be shifted manually through three forward speeds (quadrant PRND21). Supposedly that was an Avanti exclusive at the time of introduction--summer '62. Later, in the '63 model year, that trans was offered in Larks and Hawks too.
Hope this helps a little.
#1873 of 2059 Re: Borg Warner AT used by Studebaker? [uplanderguy]
Mar 14, 2013 (2:21 pm)
Yep, helps a lot. Thanks!
#1878 of 2059 Re: Borg Warner AT used by Studebaker? [uplanderguy]
Mar 14, 2013 (2:55 pm)
I agree with everything Uplanderguy said about the Studebaker Automatic drive that it developed with Borg Warner. My 1955 Commander has one of those and I wrote an earlier post about all the reasons I like it. Three speeds, starts in first gear, excellent gas mileage, air cooled etc.
It was too expensive for Studebaker after their sales decreased, so they switched to the Ford automatic in 1956, but then the very same transmission that Studebaker developed with Borg Warner showed up in Mercedes Benz cars until approximately 1962. It was used in Jaguars too.
#1879 of 2059 Last Studebaker built today, on 3/17/66
Mar 17, 2013 (4:03 am)
A Cruiser, here it is:
Options include white vinyl top, disc brakes, factory air, transistorized ignition, and 50/50 split front seats. It has a beautiful black brocade cloth interior with rear-seat center armrest.
Immediately given to a Stude exec in South Bend to drive (although was built in Hamilton, Ontario), in 1969 Studebaker Corp. gave the car to the city of South Bend. It had just under 20K miles when I last looked inside of it.
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Memorable indeed are the views along almost all the lakes. My favourite is Wastwater, which should not be confused with waste water. Surrounded by peaks called Great Gable, Pillar and Scafell Pike - England's highest mountain at 977 metres - it is remote and relatively inconvenient to reach and thus escapes most of those 16 million visitors. This status might not last, since it was recently voted the best view in Britain.
In tiny St Olaf's church - Britain's smallest, so they say - you can visit graves of climbers. I suppose, strictly speaking, they were fallers rather than climbers. Scarcely a year goes by without fatalities, which is not surprising when you consider that 16 million statistic.
On any fine day there's a procession of mountaineers making their way up Scafell Pike, looking for a break in the clouds that will reward them with a glimpse of the Mountains of Mourne in Northern Ireland, the Snowdonia Ranges in Wales, the hills of Galloway in the Scottish border country and, for good measure, Snaefell on the Isle of Man.
If you think views look better through an open window, there is easy access to dramatic passes between the region's valleys. Favourites include Kirkstone between Windermere and Ullswater and Wrynose, heading west from Coniston Water.
Coniston is the district's third largest lake and a pleasant spot for a cruise on the steamship Gondola, operated by the National Trust. The lake is sheltered, giving the calm surface which tempted Donald Campbell into making a fatal error when trying to break the water speed record on his speedboat Bluebird K7.
The water was just a little rougher than recommended when he reached 500km/h and from then on it was a case of "oh dear, Donald." He hit a tiny ripple and flipped over. That was in 1967; his body was fished out in 2001.
Where you have masses of visitors you generally have masses of places to eat and sleep. The Lake District is no exception, and you can pick from cheap "n" cheerful fish shops and caravan parks through to some of the finest restaurants and hotels in the UK.
Personal favourites are the Punch Bowl at Crosthwaite and the Drunken Duck near Hawkshead, both operated by the same company. Each has a high standard of hospitality and accommodation and each benefits from the excellent ales supplied by the owners' Barngates Brewery.
The heart of the Lake District has only a handful of sizeable towns - Kendal and Keswick are among the more attractive. Close by are Barrow-in-Furness, Penrith and Carlisle, while there are several large villages with ample accommodation and all the usual services.
Before you go:www.visitbritain.com/
By Paul Edwards
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Want more traffic and engagement for your content? Get all the tools you need with Shareaholic for your blog.
Your reader account is probably chock-full of feeds from some great blogs. Blogs you read to stay current on marketing tools and tricks or get smart about concepts and new developments in your industry. No doubt, reading is fundamental to professional growth, whether you’re a CEO with stripes or a damp-eared rookie.
And while the business part of your brain may be kept fat and happy, what’s going on with the other part? The part of your being that is nurtured by interests and hobbies that have nothing to do with reports, code or the AP Stylebook?
We want to help you find some balance between business and personal reads. Check out these blogs for fresh brain fuel that will still teach you a thing or two about marketing.
FOOD AND DRINK
Many readers may recognize The Pioneer Woman as a truly wonderful treat for the eyeballs. Fabulous photography and rich storytelling make this blog a favorite of many homemakers, busy mothers, and foodies more interested in the joy of sharing a meal than the science of culinary arts.
What bloggers/marketers can learn: Have a product to sell? Take note how Ree, the blog author, doesn’t bang you over the head with pitches for her cookbooks. Instead, she freely offers cooking advice that lets you know she’s the real deal. You’ll buy her book on your own accord because you want more of what she’s serving! The “soft sell” approach could be one to mimic.
Stonyfield Farms, makers of healthy organic yogurt products, features a blog for the wholesome-loving adult. Whether you’re a parent, aunt/uncle, or godparent to an inquisitive, growing youngster, you’ll probably find Stonyfield’s stories center and ground you with topics ranging from teaching kids how to be lil’ organic farmers to the best yogurt-substitution recipes.
What bloggers/marketers can learn: Stonyfield does a good job at covering a broader base of content related to their primary topic – not just “all yogurt, all the time.” Instead, they realize readers are whole people, with lives and families that run parallel to their interests in eating healthy and being earth-conscious. Folks setting a blog’s editorial strategy should take lessons: address your whole reader, not just a slice of their role or responsibility.
Another fun blog to check out is Fearless Homemaker, written by Amy Donovan. Unlike Pioneer Woman where recipes read like a daily diary, Fearless Homemaker showcases a more eclectic array of good eats and craft projects. While not truly a B2C blog in the strictest sense (sports a few sponsor-y things, though), Fearless Homemaker could be one to watch.
What bloggers/marketers can learn: A lighter, quirkier read, Fearless Homemaker is one blog people turn to when they want something new and likely untried among their circle of friends. It’s a little fun, a little flirty, and overall personable and approachable. When trying to pinpoint a voice for your blog (one used consistently in content production), be sure to tie it to your brand position. Sell handmade goods on your blog? Fun and flirty might fit you well.
Ahh, the real deal you never got in school (or from your parents) but wish you had. That’s what Peter Dunn delivers on his Pete The Planner blog. With funny yet straight-up advice about budgeting, credit, and loans, you’ll learn how to embrace being accountable for your own decisions and financial destiny. Pete doesn’t pull any punches, and while occasionally there’s some sting when his words strike too close to home (as in, you recognize yourself in the completely lame scenario he describes), there’s no time like the present to get on the right track. PS – Pete is offering a new book you just might want to buy, What Your Dad Never Taught You About Budgeting.
What bloggers/marketers can learn: I love the way Pete infuses humor with his “don’t be stupid” counseling. As an author, media personality, and consultant, Pete found a way to wrap his business objective – making people more financially responsible – with a style that compels readers to do better, to try more. Like The Pioneer Woman, Pete uses a content strategy that freely offers deep, actionable advice to anyone who cares enough to read his blog. His “moneymakers” feel secondary.
Sometimes what you need to keep moving is a kick in the rear…or two! Tone It Up is produced by fitness leaders Karena and Katrina, best pals who took their passion for health and fitness to new levels with a blog, fitness studio, instructional video series, subscription-based diet plan and exercise equipment.
What bloggers/marketers can learn: These ladies have great photography down to a science. Okay, naturally as fitness buffs they’re easy to look at. But the quality of their imagery coupled with the composition of the photos fits nicely with their position that every man and woman can achieve their fitness goals, and have fun while doing it. Marketers, think about the photography used on your site or in your collateral. Does it help tell your brand story or merely fit the hole in the template?
Some folks are religious, and others consider themselves spiritual. Whether you know your holy book by heart or simply feel a connection with a higher power and wonder about your role here on earth, Modern Reject is a blog that will get you thinking.
Author Nicole Cottrell writes on her “About” page that she doesn’t like religion, but she loves Jesus. Sound unconventional? You bet. Nicole’s posts look at parables and scripture lessons through the lens of a flawed human. She’s a modern woman who strives to build up more than she tears down.
What bloggers/marketers can learn: Nicole covers sensitive territory with grace and humility every day. She doesn’t have all the answers – nor claim to. It’s likely that your business interests cover more traditional products or services but I think it’s important to take a lesson from Nicole – invite discussion and debate, and seek opinions and points-of-view from your targets and partners. It is possible to be both an authority and approachable company.
Marie Forleo is a whirlwind, and I haven’t even had the pleasure of meeting her in person. One look at her blog and readers get pulled into a vortex of straight talk about how to achieve financial and emotional freedom. Covering lessons in business and life, Marie’s video and text posts cover real issues and offer authentic encouragement to help women entrepreneurs go make themselves happy. She offers several training programs and live events you might want to check out, too.
What bloggers/marketers can learn: I love what Marie does with video almost as much as I love the niche she’s carved for herself covering the real issues and fears that paralyze people from reaching happiness and success. Personally, it’s rare that I watch a video segment. I’d rather process words than moving pictures. But her authentic, personable style – and passion for people – shines in her videos. Take heed: if you do video, put people in front of the camera who actually like being in front of the camera. We know if you’re sweating bullets up there.
Heather Rast is Principal of Insights & Ingenuity, a brand-building Internet marketing firm. She helps clients earn brand preference through thoughtful positioning, useful content, and supportive online communities. Heather writes frequently for Social Media Explorer, MarketingProfs, and Content Marketing Institute. She’s @heatherrast on Twitter.
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GALLERY: Youngsters exhibit their talents at youth art exhibition in Sutton
Intricately painted faces, cows and dramatic scenery are all on display at a youth art exhibition.
The 13th annual Youth Art Exhibition has opened at the Europa Gallery in Sutton Central Library.
The show is open to all schools in the borough including those that cater for students with learning difficulties, physical difficulties and behavioural issues.
The wide-range of work featured in the exhibition includes photography, sculpture and ceramics.
SCOLA’s programme manager for creative studies, art, craft and design, Angela Williams, said: “SCOLA and Sutton Arts Council are keen to encourage people of all ages to enjoy the arts.
“This exhibition gives the youth of Sutton the chance to be actively involved in a public art display, where they can see their work appreciated by the local community.
“It’s also a chance for the general public to appreciate the high standard of youth art that is created on our doorstep – and to acknowledge the huge effort they have put into their work."
The artwork will be on display between Tuesday, February 5 and Thursday 14 February.
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Published on February 2nd, 2011 | by Kyith0
2 Reasons why the Pomodoro Technique doesn’t always work
I think the Pomodoro Technique suits some people. My friend Wilson recently chanced upon it and find that it really helps him to focus on small amount of work at a time.
It also allows you to know when you should have a break.
If you are on the Android Smartphone you can check out Pomodroido which enables you to practice the Pomodoro on the Android platform. Here is my review of it >>
For folks who want to learn the technique, the ebook is FREE and can be viewed here >>
However not everyone agrees with it.
Colin T. Miller, a Yahoo! employee and blogger tried it and have this to say:
Pomodoros are an all or nothing affair,” he says. “Either you work for 25 minutes straight to mark your X or you don’t complete a pomodoro. Since marking that X is the measurable sign of progress, you start to shy away from engaging in an activity if it won’t result in an X. For instance…meetings get in the way of pomodoros. Say I have a meeting set for 4:30pm. It is currently 4:10pm, meaning I only have 20 minutes between now and the meeting…In these instances I tend to not start a pomodoro because I won’t have enough time to complete it anyway
Mario Fusco argues the following:
Aren’t we really able to keep ourselves concentrated without a timer ticketing on our desk?…Have you ever seen a civil engineer using a timer to keep his concentration while working on his projects?…I think that, like any other serious professional, I can stay concentrated on what I am doing for hours…Bring back your timer to your kitchen and start working in a more professional and effective way.
To a certain extend I do agree with them. You should be able to break and monitor your time in short intervals. But we human beings sometimes suffer from short attention spans and distractions.
This technique aims to address that by using a timer. I don’t think it will always work myself.
For me, I follow David Allen’s Getting Things Done using WAToDo! Android To Do List. The key to assign specific time tags to tasks so that you can focus on short task better.
Notice the *long, *medium, *short tags. WAToDo! is flexible enough for you to specify that.
Once you assign tasks with these duration specific contexts, all you need to do is selected location and time specific context to focus on it:
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Ray Rajotte just wouldn't say `no'
By Zanne Cameron
Ray Rajotte, '71 BSc(Eng), 75 PhD, recalls attending a conference where the ballyhoo was that a cure for diabetes was imminent. That was in the '70s. "We didn't expect it to take 30 years at all," says the unprepossessing U of A professor of surgery and medicine.
Rajotte is the director of the University's now-famous Islet Transplantation Group that developed the Edmonton Protocol, a procedure that has produced insulin independence in all 14 people on whom it was tested.
Success didn't come easily, however. Rajotte and his team have been Studying islet cell transplantation and how to finesse the procedure that now seems so simple for almost 30 years. The team that he put together over the years was one of a handful who stuck with the project. Put off by failure, others dropped hy the wayside.
Rajotte's decidedly 'unswank' office in a back corner of the Dentistry/Pharmacy Centre belies the relaxed composure of the man. It is overflowing with papers, binders, journals, and more paper, all precariously underpinned by a desk, shelves, and cabinets, circa 1960. He is graduate director of the Surgical Medical Research Institute of the Department of Surgery and, on top of his own research, Rajotte guides the research of masters and PhD students fortunate enough to come under his mentorship.
Rajotte says he owes much to his own powerful mentor, the renowned Pere Athol Murray of Notre Dame College in Wilcox, Saskatchewan. "He taught all his boys to set goals way high up and to strive for those goals, to do whatever you have to do to reach those goals." That ethic is reflected in the members of the Islet Group, many of whom happen to be "Alberta boys," as Rajotte calls them. Prairie perseverance is just their way.
Rajotte slowly built the team over the years with the long view of the farmer, knowing that as a basic scientist lie would need clinical colleagues on board. And lie is quick to point out that the Group's success was a collaborative effort. "A lot of people worldwide have contributed to certain aspects of the project, and in our own centre, it has truly been a team effort," lie says. "The Uniqueness in Fdnionton is that we have no walls. We all work together to cure this disease." He does not label the Edmonton Protocol a cure. "A cure would mean that diabetes could bc prevented entirely."
Perhaps Rajotte's tenacity springs from his roots on the family tarm near Wainwright, Alberta. "As a farm boy, if problems arise you learn to just do what needs to be done. If a tractor breaks, you just fix it yourself."
Rajotte hcgan as an X-ray technician, graduating from NAITs inaugural class. When he discovered his interest in research, he went into mechanical engineering—then the closest thing to biomedical engineering at the University. Using his farmboy know how, when something necessary to his research wasn't available, he fashioned it himself. "In the '60s we had to build our own microwaves—you just didn't go out and buy a Toshiba." He augmented his engineering courses by taking all of his options in surgery and medicine, "I became a sort of self-educated biomedical engineer," he says.
A major driving force for Rajotte and his team has always been diabetic children and their parents. "You see these young children and you know that their quality of life is going to he terrible; and they ask you, `Dr. Rajotte will there ever be a cure for diabetes,' Also the motivation of people who have diabetic children is phenomenal." The Alberta Foundation for Diabetic Research was formed in 1988 by a local group who all had one thing in common, a child with diabetes. They have contributed more than $2 million to the research team.
Rajotte has had little tinic for leisure pursuits. His passions are "the curiosity of new discovery," and his family. "My dear wife would say `I wish you'd spent more time with us,"' he reluctantly admits. Still, with her strength and support, they have raised three children and made family a priority. Rajotte enjoyed rompetitive horse jumping with his children when they were young. "Rather than watching them and freezing, I decided I might as well do it too." Major holidays and Sunday dinners with family have anchored the demands of his research, much of it done in the wee hours after work and on weekends. If push came to shove, Rajotte could do without most things except for his family.
Asked about his weaknesses, Rajotte is stuck. "I must have lots," he says. Maybe I talk too much?" Eager to pitch in, voices from outside the door happily supply a few others. "Oreo's and chocolate-covered cherries," chimes in his daughter, who works in biomedical research. "Clutter," contributes his long-time assistant, Colleen Ruptash. "He can't say `no,"' says his secretary, Rosemarie Henley, who has been been with him for over a decade. "Is that a weakness?" asks Rajotte, whose inability to say "no" helped him make medical history.
Published Winter 2001.
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Elise Middle School Students Song Receives State Award
Five Elise seventh-grade students recently were awarded certificates for submitting a winning entry to the state-wide "Sing With Me I'm Bully Free" Anti-Bullying Campaign sponsored by the North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention -- Center for the Prevention of School Violence (DJJDP -- Center).
Last spring these students, as sixth graders, recorded a song during a music class field trip to Bill Tripp's recording studio in Carthage. Colton Moore, Dontre Baldwin and Brandon Dinges wrote the lyrics to a song that they titled "Bebox Rock."
The lyrics were then put to music, which included the guitar playing of Moore.
These students were joined by classmates Andrea Brower and Fatima Ferrer, who added their vocal skills to the recorded song. Next, a compact disc of the song was submitted to the "Anti-Bullying Campaign."
"Elise School and the students (as new seventh graders) were ecstatic to receive the news that their song was chosen as a winning entry," says a spokesman.
"What started out as an idea in music class next turned into a day in a recording studio, to a CD being sent to the state, to receiving a certificate for our winning entry," says Colton Moore. "The main point of our song is to tell those who bully others that they had better change their ways."
More like this story
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I didn't see the knife.
Last week, the Douglas County Sheriff's Office unveiled its video shooting simulation system, consisting of scenarios rear-projected onto three screens with real time sound and effects.
The training system will allow officers to practice their craft using real weapons, but without live ammunition.
My scenario involved an angry husband and a woman who was in fear for her life.
On my first try, she yells that he's coming. I see him coming around the corner of a building and then racing across the yard to where she is. He knocks her down and his hand goes up.
Instructor Mark Munoz ends the scenario when I don't fire the pistol in my hand. I didn't see the knife.
Unlike real life, I get a second chance and so does the woman on the ground.
This time I realize that despite the pistol in my hand I feel helpless. I tell the woman to go inside and lock the door. She doesn't. I try to get between him and her, but I can't because they're two-dimensional. While a Taser or pepper spray are also available for the simulator, all I've got in my hand is the pistol.
He's on top of her and I'm back to a single decision, shoot or don't shoot. I think I see the glint of something in his hand as he raises it, and I pull the trigger. When Munoz replays the scenario, there's the knife, but using the software scenario options, he could have just as easily removed it.
The $180,000 VirTra judgmental simulator was purchased with money raised by the Douglas County Sheriff's Advisory Council.
When first presented in March 2012, the council got to see the system with just one of the three screens set up.
The simulator uses real weapons modified with a laser and a CO2 cartridge so that officers can feel the gun kick when they pull the trigger.
The system came with a means to recharge the cartridges, so instead of spending money on ammunition they're buying tanks of carbon dioxide at a lower price.
But the real savings comes in reducing the county's liability in the case of a shooting.
Having the sight and sound is one thing, but standing in a dark room with what is essentially a 180-degree screen stretched out in front of you isn't that different from playing the Wii on a really big flatscreen.
However, the system includes an extra, designed to ramp up the stress level of officers using it to train.
Hooked to their belts is a device that the instructor can use to apply a shock to the trainee.
I got the quarter-second dose and even though I'd seen it operate and knew it was coming, I still gave a yip when Munoz hit the button.
The VirTra system arrived at the sheriff's office in the week just before Christmas, but Munoz said it's taken a while to get it set up and get all the trainers up to speed in operating it.
The simulator takes up most of the jail training room.
"It uses fully functional weapons," Munoz said, as he racked a cartridge out of a surplus shotgun. The cartridge fit in the shotgun like a shell. When the trigger's pressed the CO2 cartridge causes it to buck, and the laser shoots out of the barrel, so it would go where the shotgun shell would if it were loaded.
The pistols are set up in a similar manner, with the cartridge going where the clip normally would.
The laser is calibrated to the screen to record what happens when the trigger's pulled. The scenarios are produced using live actors and have several branches so the instructor can alter the subject's actions based on how the trainee handles the situation.
"There are so many branches that the operator can get actions like real life," he said. "It's designed to be as realistic as it can be."
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|CentreTerm in New Orleans lets the good times roll
RELEASED: Feb. 10, 2005
DANVILLE, KYAs usual, January saw Centre College students disperse to every corner of the globe as they embarked on their three-week CentreTerm courses. From Ecuador to India, from Russia to Australia, students studied region-specific academic topics and absorbed the local color.
One group may not have traveled as far as some of the others, buthaving spent 10 days in New Orleanswas certainly a contender for having had the most fun. In the process, they learned about a city with as great a literary heritage as any in America.
For his course, "Literary New Orleans," English professor Mark Lucas and 24 Centre students traveled to the Big Easy, soaking up the distinctive ambience and making pilgrimages to literary sites, both real and imagined. Prior to leaving for New Orleans, Lucas says his students watched A Streetcar Named Desire and had to "frontload huge amounts of literature in order to be knowledgeable" about the locales they visited in the literary capital of the South.
Outside of New York, there is perhaps no more "storied" American city than New Orleans, which figured prominently in the work of many writers, including Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, John Kennedy Toole, Zora Neale Hurston, Truman Capote and Walker Percy.
Evoking the Beat style of Jack Kerouac, for whom New Orleans served as a prime destination in his classic novel On the Road, Lucas offers this catalog of Crescent City memories: "Students called on stage at Rampart Street jazz club, given mojo balls by voodooistes, sprayed by spit valves at Preservation Hall, certified as Cajun dancers on zydeco night, passing [the] bucket for Big Al the bluesman, invited to feed giraffes at Audubon Zoo, riding the Tennessee Williams streetcar, closing down Tipitina's, buying books in Faulkner's house, eating creole shrimp at Arnaud's and beignets at Café du Monde and muffelettas at Napoleon House, playing a scene from John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces in Pirates Alley, finding bones in Lafayette Cemetery, taking the river ferry to Algiers, going to Mass at St. Louis Cathedral, commandeering a hardhat from Kate Chopin's wrought-iron fence, staging an impromptu Mardi Gras masquerade, holding class in a bar, walking the ruins of Storyville, and joining the second line of a jazz funeral."
Apparently, sleep was not a big part of the agenda.
Will Rouse, a senior from Lexington, Ky., had been to New Orleans previously, but always on quick weekend trips that highlighted such tourist hotspots as Bourbon Street. He says he was happy for the chance to see the city as a whole, and "not just as this sleazy, drunken single street." Rouse says he loved the food and the music and was especially drawn to the Frenchman Street neighborhood, an area with a few small clubs where one of the Neville Brothers might sit in on an informal jam session. Rouse was grateful that Lucas had insisted on the class memorizing the streets of the French Quarter, and points out the disorienting nature of the city's layout. "Because the city curves along the river, there's really no north, south, east and westonly upriver and downriver," he says.
One student, Mary Jane Saunier, a sophomore from Winchester, Ky., had a brush with fame when she bumped into singer/actress Jessica Simpson, who was in town shooting a remake of The Dukes of Hazzard. After Saunier complimented Simpson's outfit, Simpson chatted with her about where to find the best shopping bargains on Magazine Street. "She was very sweet about it," says Saunier. Later that evening, Saunier and others from the Centre group hung out with Simpson and her entourage at the W Hotel.
Whitney Owen, a junior from Paducah, Ky., was impressed by the "atmosphere of extremes: the loud debauchery and wild antics of the tourists on Bourbon Street contrast so sharply with
the homeless begging for spare change, the wasted and unfortunate lurking in doorways." She says she reveled in this sense that "anything and everything has a place in New Orleans," adding "I left the city feeling that it had left its mark on me, that I'd absorbed some of that strange energy."
Karen Biscopink, a sophomore from Loveland, Ohio, adds that "at night, when Bourbon Street lights up, and there are parades winding down Dauphine Street for no apparent reason, and the musicians hit those first jazz chords ... something comes alive inside of you that you can't find anywhere else."
"Merely reading works by such gifted authors as Faulkner, Williams and Hurston is a luxury," says Chelsi Warner, a sophomore from Lexington, Ky., "but to be able to truly fathom the inspiration behind these works you have to visit their birthplace."
Hillary Eason, a sophomore from Johnson City, Tenn., agrees. "We walked on the same streets as the authors we read, ate the same foods they ate and woke up to the same distinctive French Quarter scent, which helped me gain a new appreciation for the way of life that could inspire such an extraordinary body of literature. And seeing that the historic places we visited were still vital parts of the community really underscored, in a way that class discussion never could, the sense of joie de vivre that was so integral to what we were studying. The class discussions were great, but it's hanging out at Tennessee Williams' old haunt that I'll never forget. Which is what, I think, the authors we studied would want."
- end -
Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/
For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.
600 W. Walnut Street
Danville, KY 40422
Public Information Coordinator: Telephone 859-238-5714
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Big Hollywood’s Veronica DiPippo takes the Hollywood left to task over their Che worship and points out how they ignore history, but she does it with a twist. She doesn’t look at the 1920′s and the 1930′s–she goes way back to 1782:
That was the year a new play by Pierre Beaumarchais really began to make ripples in pre-revolutionary France. “Le Mariage de Figaro†was a clever comedy about the continuing exploits of The Barber of Seville’s main character, Figaro. The inspiration for Mozart’s opera was, in fact, considered revolutionary, because its main character openly criticized the nobility.
So, how does Figaro of the 1700′s compare to today’s Che-worshipping Hollywood?
Instead of identifying with the character of Count Almaviva, the nobleman Figaro was railing against, the French aristocracy, in a fit of cognitive disconnect worthy of a Hollywood liberal, identified with Figaro, the Count’s lowly servant. Soon, Beaumarchais’ bon mots became all the rage among the very people they scorned and sought to undermine. Despite King Lous XVI’s ban, Figaro quickly topped the must-read list of the French elite. All those who desired a reputation as a wit, daring lover of the risqué and trend-setting raconteur simply had to have it read in their parlors by the author himself.
And that leads to…
The Internet is filled with first-hand accounts of Cuban repression and brutality. Most poignant, perhaps, for any artist enjoying the free exercise of their art in a country of unparalleled freedom, are the accounts of writers, poets, artists, and musicians who have been persecuted and imprisoned for the crime of merely expressing themselves.
The fact that any self-respecting artist would champion an oppressor of artists is disturbing to say the least. In a breathtaking act of obstinate unawareness, America’s Che-lovers have recklessly endorsed a system of government, which – were it ever allowed to flourish on these shores – would necessarily result in their own destruction.
And that’s but one reason I often say those who support the Cuban dictatorship should be forced to live there, not as one of the privileged elites but as one of the Castro regime’s victims.
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Some big insurance companies charge higher auto rates for lower-income drivers, even if the drivers have safe driving records, an analysis from the Consumer Federation of America finds.
The federation, a nonprofit comprising 250 consumer groups, has argued that insurers often give nondriving-related factors, like occupation and education, more weight than driving-related factors, and that such practices unfairly penalize lower- and moderate-income drivers. Occupation and education, the federation says, are proxies for income.
In its latest report, the federation obtained insurance quotes in 12 different cities from the public Web sites of five big auto insurers, using information for two hypothetical women. The insurers — State Farm, Allstate, Geico, Farmers and Progressive — represent more than half of the private auto insurance market, the federation said.
Both drivers shared certain characteristics: Each was 30 years old; had been a driver for 10 years; lived in a ZIP code with a median income of $50,000; owned and drove a 2002 Honda Civic; drove 7,500 miles per year; and carried the minimum auto liability insurance required by state law (minimums vary from state to state).
The first driver, however, was a single receptionist with a high school education who had a 45-day gap in her insurance coverage, but had never had an accident or moving violation. (Gaps in coverage often occur because drivers can’t afford their premiums, said Robert Hunter, the federation’s director of insurance and a former Texas state insurance commissioner.)
The second driver was a married executive with a master’s degree who owned a home, had continuous insurance coverage and one at-fault accident with $800 of damage in the last three years.
In two-thirds of the 60 quotes, the receptionist was quoted higher premiums, even though her driving record was clean. And in more than three-fifths of the cases, the premium quoted the receptionist exceeded the quote for the executive, who wasn’t as safe a driver, by at least 25 percent.
The federation argues that “largely uncontrollable” factors, like education and occupation, are often given greater weight in rate setting than actual losses.
Robert Passmore, senior director of personal lines for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, said in a telephone interview that it was reasonable to use such factors because “they are predictive of loss.” Different insurers give different weights to different factors, he said, depending on what they saw as the best way to predict a given driver’s risk.
During a conference call with reporters, Mr. Hunter and Stephen Brobeck, the federation’s executive director, were asked why the analysis didn’t include smaller automobile insurers as well. They said it was because the analysis was time consuming and because the largest companies tend to offer the lowest rates, even though the federation still considered many of them to be unreasonably high for lower-income drivers.
The federation argues that the wide disparity in rates quoted, from company to company and market to market, suggests that the auto insurance market is not truly competitive, but the insurance industry rejects that position.
“Auto insurance provides important, cost-effective financial protection to millions of Americans, and most drivers have dozens of auto insurers constantly competing for their business,” said Steven Weisbart, chief economist for the Insurance Information Institute, an industry group, in a prepared statement. “The price is risk-based and always will be.”
The federation’s analysis found that in every case, Geico and Progressive quoted the safe driver — the receptionist — a higher premium than the driver who had caused an accident. In several cases, companies refused to provide a quote to the “good” driver, but offered one to the executive.
“We work to price each driver’s policy as accurately as possible, so that every driver pays the appropriate amount based on his or her risk of having an accident,” said Jeff Sibel, a spokesman for Progressive, in an e-mail. “We use multiple rating factors, which sometimes include nondriving factors that have been proven to be predictive of a person’s likelihood of being involved in a crash.”
Geico didn’t respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
State Farm, however, charged the receptionist (the good driver) less than the bad driver in all 12 cities. In addition, in all the markets, State Farm’s quotes were either the lowest or the second lowest.
That suggests, said Mr. Hunter, that State Farm gives less weight to nondriving factors than other companies. A State Farm representative declined to comment.
Mr. Hunter said states should insist that insurance companies make the factors used in setting their rates transparent, so consumers know how their applications for coverage were being considered.
Do you think factors like education and occupation should be used to set auto insurance rates?
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The University of Toledo Medical Center in Ohio suspended two operating-room staff nurses earlier this month after one of them accidentally threw away a donated kidney, rendering it unusable.
Doctors would not say how the organ ended up in the trash along with other medical waste, but blamed the incident on "human error."
According to UTMC chancellor Dr. Jeffrey Gold, the kidney, which had been donated by a Toledo man and intended for his older sister, was recovered and a two-hour resuscitation attempt was made, but the family opted not to risk it "knowing there was a good chance for another highly compatible donor."
The ruined kidney was said to have been a "perfect match."
UTMC has since suspended its kidney transplant program and is currently conducting an internal review of the incident. Two additional agencies — the United Network for Organ Sharing and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services — may also contribute to the investigation, or else conduct and investigation of their own.
Meanwhile, the donor and his sister have been released from the hospital. It remains unclear when a second transplant attempt might take place.
[photo via Facebook]
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Remember back in the day when O Wise One told me I couldn't have goats: ) So what do he and Baby O do but go off one day buying pigs and come home with goats. It is hilarious now to see O Wise One go out across the yard with his pigs/goats trailing in his footsteps wherever he goes.
These two little bucks were on their last leg when he came across them last spring. A good several wormings and regular feed made a whole lot of difference.
He has now created two of the biggest pests to ever roam this farm. Although he stakes them out in the hay pastures and they do a great job of eating the weeds that may come up there. They even eat the poison ivy and blackberry vines. They do have to be watched very closely for these two would make a nice meal for the stray coyote or cougar that roam these woods. Last week our neighbor lost a calf to a cougar attack. They seem to be getting braver especially now that we no longer have a big dog patrolling the place . By next year our pups should be big enough to take over that job.
O Wise One says these are our practice goats. They are the goats that we are learning how to worm, hoof trim, goat nutrition and such. If we can raise these little wethers then he has committed to trying a milk goat in our future. We are way too old to wrestle with a big milk cow but I think we can handle a nanny goat. I am dreaming of fresh milk, cheese and butter and the capability of producing it ourselves. Just one more thing that we can produce ourselves and not need to buy off of this farm. These two are pretty darn tame for lawnmowers though.
Hugs from The Holler
The Canned Quilter
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PressPass: CES is traditionally more about devices than software. What is your team demonstrating this week?
Schultz: We want to show our customers that there are countless ways Office 2007 and Office Live Workspace can help them get more done. People are busy. In a 24-hour period, parents are helping kids with school projects; homeowners are balancing household budgets; consumers are managing credit card bills. Some people work full-time, and run a home-based business, and are active in their kids’ PTA — and they still make enough time to exercise. Sandra Hofferth, professor with the Department of Family Science, University of Maryland, says that even children have less free time than they did 20 years ago — down from 40 percent to 30 percent of their week.*
In that context, Office provides a lot of ways to accomplish a variety of everyday tasks more quickly. So really what we’re doing at CES this week is showing people how Microsoft Office is more than Word documents or Excel spreadsheets. It can help people collaborate, share, design, write, draw, calculate, present and organize. When you add up all those little things that Office does really well, the end result is simple — more time.
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There is a reason those extra classes are required.
Generally speaking, the lower the quality of the education, the more likely you are to be able to avoid 'extraneous' classes.
yeah i noticed that too. but i dont know of any vocational schools or any type of school that exist that just teach you programming, or if youd even get hired.
i also dont want to spend 8 fucking semesters in school again. i want to start working and making money, id like to learn something but not for 4 years because i dont want to be paying student loans off the rest of my life, and 4 years seems like a longer time than necessary to learn programming anyway. are you really using that full 4 years to learn about computers and programming? no.
i dont do well in classes i dont care about, im not good at college math classes, so if i even get into a state school, i will probably drop out. i just want to program computers, because i like it and im interested in it unlike the other subjects.
id like some school that is discrete in programming, no bs classes, and is around 2 years long or less... a lot to ask for, but hey this is america.
got any suggestions anyone?
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With circuit training you rev up your metabolism and put your body in fat blasting mode. You not only build lean muscle with this style of training, but you boost your cardio respiratory function too.
Here’s a sample of one of my personal circuit routines. It consists of five compound exercises that are performed back to back with short rest periods in between each circuit.
I suggest starting with 90 seconds of rest in between circuits for the first two to three weeks of training or when you’re able to complete four circuits with perfect form. When you’re able to go through four circuits with perfect form, reduce your rest periods to 60 seconds to continue to challenge yourself.
To prevent overtraining, take a day of rest once every three days. Your “recovery’ days are just as important as your training days; resistance training breaks your muscles down while rest periods allow for them to get stronger!
Here are the exercise variables:
- Repetitions: 10 each
- Intensity: -2 (you’ll only do 10 reps, but the exercise should be challenging enough where you feel like you could do two more—the goal is never to train at 100% intensity, but it should be challenging for you)
- Sets: start with three and build up to four
- Tempo: Moderate (count 1-2 up, 1-2 down)
- Rest: start with 1:30 and build up to 60 seconds
Give this routine a try and let me know how you like it by leaving me a comment on FriendYourBody.com.
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That is what we heard from a neurologist when our precious daughter, Adelaide, was a mere 7 hours old. Addy suffered a massive hemorrhage in her brain that caused severe damage. She was diagnosed with congenital cataracts, seizures, apnea, and microcephaly. In addition, we were told to expect developmental delays, cerebral palsy, and mental retardation.
Not content to accept the picture painted for Addy's future, Ron and I immediately began searching for ways to help our little gal. We began all the traditional therapies, such as early intervention through our school district and physical therapy, with the goal of stimulating her brain to compensate for her injuries. It seemed there had to be more options, however. We were desperate for a way to help her brain recover and repair itself. We were determined to do all we could to give her the best future possible.
Thus began our journey that brought us to the CNS Foundation
We were out in Santa Monica, California for 6 weeks undergoing hyperbaric oxygen therapy when I met Fia Richmond, founder of the CNS Foundation. Her message was exactly what we had been looking for - real hope for repairing the damage in Addy's brain! Over the past 3 years, I have volunteered for the CNS Foundation and we have watched with great interest the progress they have made towards making brain repair a reality.
Addy is now three years old, and has already exceeded the expectations that some people had for her. Addy clearly communicates her emotions, and they are appropriate for the situation. Addy doesn't hesitate to tell us what she thinks, and is very clear in her laughter, smiles, vocalizing, and crying. Addy's biggest challenges are motor skills and movement. She works so hard and makes real progress in tiny baby steps. Addy continues to make gains in her ability to sit, roll over and crawl, and loves to stand and take steps around the house. In addition, she is starting to enjoy exploring objects with her hands. We continue to be hopeful that she will one day be able to walk and use her voice to communicate with us.
Ron and I will always be deeply committed to helping Addy reach her fullest potential, whatever that may be. Throughout her life, we have been aggressive with therapy and continue to research ways to help her. So many different types of therapies exist (there is not enough time or money to try all the therapies that exist throughout the world!), but our ultimate hope for Addy requires a breakthrough in stem cell therapy. Her greatest chance to gain as much independence as possible in life lies in science's ability to heal an injured brain, rather than relying on her brain to compensate for her injury.
How you can help Addy...
During our journey with Addy over the past three years, so many people have said they want to help us but don't really know how. The greatest gift we could receive is a chance for Addy's injury to be repaired, and the CNS Foundation is dedicated to making brain repair a reality. Please consider helping Addy, and thousands of other children facing similar injuries, reach their fullest potential by making a tax deductible donation to the CNS Foundation!
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Where a nonviolent protest in the Middle East seems like a fantasy
Published: March 16, 2011
Timing is everything, and just a few months ago a story about an organized, effective nondenominational and mostly nonviolent protest in the Middle East would've seemed as much like fantasy as the latest teen vampire heavy-petting drama. Yet Budrus is the exceptionally rare documentary that peers into the deep, impermeable quagmire that plagues the region and finds glimmers of light peeking through.
Budrus is a small mostly unremarkable rural village north of Ramallah in the West Bank of the occupied Palestinian territories. In 2004, the Israeli government ordered the construction of a 470-mile-long wall that would ostensibly seal off the West Bank from Israel, and in Budrus that meant cutting off access to many of the olive groves that had sustained and enriched the village for generations.
Local activist Ayed Morrar has an old but relatively novel approach to the problem: He organizes religious leaders, political operatives and local farmers to begin nonviolent protests and block the bulldozers. The tactic eventually draws media attention, especially when the town's women get into the act, and foreign protesters start joining the cause. When the determined Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) increase their efforts with force, some of Budrus' angry young men inevitably start hurling rocks in return, and a terrible rerun of endless conflict appears to be in the works. Yet the stoic Morrar stays the course, and something wholly unexpected happens.
While there are interviews with a handful of Israeli soldiers, who express degrees of sympathy while remaining duty-bound, we never hear from their superiors, or from the civilians on the other side of the wall. Perhaps the particulars of this intractable conflict are too familiar, or irrelevant to the story at hand, but the wider perspective is slim. Director Julia Bacha's thoroughly absorbing documentary is not entirely well-rounded, and flirts with shameless boosterism, but in a place where we're indoctrinated to expect defeat and chaos, a bit of cheerleading is understandable, and a little bit of hope goes a long way.
Showing at the Landmark Main Art Theatre, 118 N. Main St., Royal Oak; 248-263-2111.
> Email Corey Hall
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Israel feels heat from European allies
Dec 3, 2012 / 6:48 am
Although Europe considers all Israeli settlement construction illegal, the summoning of ambassadors in France, Britain and Sweden to accuse Israel of undermining already troubled peace efforts was an unusually strong expression of displeasure. It came at a time when Israel was already smarting over Europe's failure to back the Jewish state in its campaign against the statehood move.
The Europeans were furious over Israel's announcement Friday that it would move ahead on plans to build 3,000 settler homes to punish the Palestinians for winning U.N. recognition of a state of Palestine in territories Israel captured in 1967.
Israel also said it would begin planning work on an especially sensitive piece of land outside Jerusalem that it has refrained from developing because of U.S. pressure. A meeting with developers and other interested parties was to take place Wednesday.
After a flurry of angry phone calls from European capitals to Israel over the weekend, France summoned the Israeli envoy to Paris late Monday morning.
France, the first major European country to announce support for the Palestinian statehood effort, also sent a letter to the Israeli government, calling the settlement decision "a considerable obstacle to the two-state solution."
Britain, which abstained in the U.N. vote, urged Israel to reverse the decision as it summoned Israeli Ambassador Daniel Taub to the Foreign Office. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt told parliament that "together with other E.U. countries we will discuss other potential steps," but he would not elaborate.
British officials said London was looking to Washington to take the lead, and that British diplomats were meeting with American counterparts on Monday.
None of the three European governments openly threatened any concrete measures to punish Israel.
"Our ambassadors were called in and the countries protested about the announcement about the intention to do further construction in settlements," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Paul Hirschson said.
Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported earlier Monday that Britain and France were considering recalling their ambassadors to Israel in a symbolic but potent expression of dissent. Hirschson said no such intention had been communicated to Israel, and French and British officials denied the report.
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In aikido class today the subject came up that edge hand cuts are based on sword techniques. This is probably a topic that was chewed to shreds years before I joined this Forum. It's just that I never saw anyone approach this particular set of moves. To my best if confused memory it went like this:
You are advancing with open hands and a right lead.
He grabs you same-side behind your right wrist.
You bring your right side back slightly to absorb his attack.
Then you step forward right raising your wrist to vertical, palm facing him.
Your pressing on his palm and wrist forces his left elbow straight up.
His balance is spoiled.
You twist your hips to the left and cut down and left with both hands (like a sword cut)
He goes flying.
I keep telling myself there is no room among all these hands for any long weapon sticking out beyond your own hands
It's definitely taken from a sword technique, maybe very stylized and such in Aikdio..but that's how i'd call it.
Practicality, I dunno decide for yourself.
If i'm understanding the technique right though..it is definitely a weapons thing, look up some Jujutsu videos or European martial arts stuff where they are actually holding swords..willing to bet if you looked hard enough you'd find it.
IMO most of AIkido is based on sword stuff, though it's been highly stylized, if you look at Daito Ryu or some old Koryu arts you can see the stuff it comes from.
Some sword stuff seems meant to happen when the people are stuck together and blades are not pointing directly out, not at blade range pointing at someone like a gaurd- maybe upwards or something?
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With constant heat and little moisture, the summer was a brutal one.
However, it wasn't just us that had to sweat through the miserable months. Lawns struggled as well, with many left discolored and patchy.
Now with Fall just beginning, it's the perfect time to take steps to repair the destruction of mother nature.
Willard Friend is trying to repair the work of Mother Nature.
"Breaking up the thatch so the grass seed can get to the dirt and take root," said Friend. "Sorry looking lawn from all the drought last year and this year,"
He's decided now is the time to plant some seed, to hopefully have a better looking lawn come next year.
"I'm not a pro on this, I'm a working amateur," Friend said.
But the experts say he's on the right track.
"Right now is the perfect time for planting cool season lawns, primarily Fescue. Turf type Fescues get established nicely right now," said Marty Johnson, owner of Johnson's Garden Center.
Johnson says that with cool air temperatures but warm ground temperature, conditions are right for planting.
"This is a great time of the year for I guess kind of our second planting season," Johnson said.
But it's not just lawns that need attention this time of the year. It's also a good time to focus on flowers.
"Of course we have our spring flowering bulbs, tulips, hyacinths and daffodils that have to go in right now or this fall to bloom next spring," Johnson said.
Winter pansies can also be planted now to bring some color to our upcoming winter.
"They love this weather that we're gonna have and the cooler temperatures," Johnson said. "They'll be blooming even with snow on them."
Mums are also good ones to plant now, and while a majority of perennials are sold in the Spring, planting in the Fall can give you a jump-start.
"That over-wintering process on perennials really gives them an extra year or so," Johnson said. "If you're thinking about planting perennials, I would sure consider that with trees and shrubs the same way," Johnson said.
Friend is hoping that his decision to plant now will pay off.
"It's cool season grass and cool seasons coming on, so hopefully the grass will take off and get roots and be looking good next year," Friend said.
Marty Johnson says that this year some people decided that rather than spend hundreds of dollars each month watering their lawns, they would let the grass die, and re-plant.
If you're planning on doing the same, he says that now is the time to consider getting the re-planting process started.
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"I became as a beast before Thee; yet I am continually with Thee" (Psalms 73:22 - 23).
If Thy desire is that I should be at rest in Thy knowledge, I shall not refuse.
If it is that I should experience temptation so as to learn humility, again I am with Thee.
Of myself, there is absolutely nothing I can do. For without Thee I would not have come into existence from non- existence; without Thee I cannot live or be saved.
Do what Thou wilt to Thy creature; for I believe that, being good, Thou bestowest blessings on me, even if I do not recognize that they are for my benefit. Nor am I worthy to know, nor do I claim to understand, so as to be at rest: this might not be to my profit.
I do not dare to ask for relief in any of my battles, even if I am weak and utterly exhausted: for I do not know what is good for me. "Thou knowest all things" (John 21:17); act according to Thy knowledge.
Only do not let me go astray, whatever happens; whether I want it or not, save me, though, again, only if it accords with Thy will.
I, then, have nothing: before Thee I am as one that is dead; I commit my soul into Thy pure hands, in this age and in the age to be. Thou art able to do all things; Thou knowest all things; Thou desirest every kind of goodness for all men and ever longest for my salvation.
This is clear from the many blessings that in Thy grace Thou hast bestowed and always bestowest on us, visible and invisible, known to us and unknown; and from that gift of Thyself to us, O Son and Logos of God, which is beyond our understanding.
Yet who am I that I should dare to speak to Thee of these things, Thou searcher of hearts?
I speak of them in order to make known to myself and to my enemies that I take refuge in Thee, the harbor of my salvation. For I know by Thy grace that "Thou art my God" (Psalms 31:14).
I do not dare to say many things, but only wish to set before Thee an intellect that is inactive, deaf and dumb.
It is not myself but Thy grace that accomplishes all things. For, knowing that I am always full of evil, I do not attribute such things to my own goodness; and because of this I fall down as a servant before Thee, for Thou hast found me worthy of repentance, and "I am Thy servant, and the son of Thy handmaid" (Psalms 116:16).
But do not allow me, my Lord Jesus Christ, my God, to do, say or think anything contrary to Thy will: the sins I have already committed are enough. But in whatever way Thou desirest have mercy on me.
I have sinned: have mercy on me as Thou knowest. I believe, Lord, that Thou hearest this my pitiable cry, "Help Thou my unbelief", (Mark 9:24) Thou who has granted me, not only to be, but also to be a Christian.
"It is a great thing," St. John of Karpathos has said, "for me to be called a monk and a Christian." As Thou has said, Lord, to one of Thy servants, "It is no light thing for you to be called by My name" (Isaiah 49:6).
This is more to me than all the kingdoms of heaven or of earth. Let me always be called by Thy most sweet name. O Master, full of compassion, I give thanks to Thee.
St. Peter of Damaskos, "How to Acquire True Faith", from G. E. H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, and Bishop Kallistos Ware, "The Philokalia: Vol. III," (London: Faber and Faber, 1984), pp. 164 - 167
We confidently recommend our web service provider, Orthodox Internet Services: excellent personal customer service, a fast and reliable server, excellent spam filtering, and an easy to use comprehensive control panel.
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Kyle Ganoe, a student at Scotland Elementary School, was named the Pennsylvania winner of Bonnie Plants' Kids Grow Green: Cashing in Cabbage program. He grew a huge cabbage and was randomly selected by George Greig, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to receive a $1,000 saving bond from Bonnie Plants. Students at several Chambersburg elementaries and Mountainview Elementary in the Tuscarora School District were among the 19,526 third-graders from Pennsylvania and 1.5 million in 48 states who participated in the program.
Waynesboro Record Herald - Waynesboro, PA
Updated Jan. 28, 2013 @ 9:16 am
» EVENTS CALENDAR
Connect with Waynesboro Record Herald - Waynesboro, PA
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6 Keys to an Innovative Organization
There are three ways to lose money: gambling, divorce and innovation!
- An anonymous CEO
In a recent survey conducted by IBM, CEO’s ranked creativity as the most crucial factor for business success. However, as illustrated in the above quote that appeared in a Fast Company article by Dean Crutchfield, not all CEO’s are in agreement.
Creativity is often wasted in organizations that lack a business model that supports innovation and business transformation. So how do you guide the organization to the right model? According to Crutchfield, there are six keys:
- Know Thyself – Understand your business and whether it is one of the 3 business types that Booz & Co says are poised for innovation.
- What Was, Was – Look at the business as if from the outside.
- Aim Past the Target – Use Phillip Kotler’s 6 Ps to examine critical areas of your business.
- Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way – Business innovation is not about isolation and competition. Rather it’s about cooperation and collaboration
- Big Results Require Big Ambitions – Jim Collins would call this a BHAG – Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal.
- Don’t Say, Do – Get something implemented “bugs and all”. Some would call this the 50% Solution. My father might call it half-assed. The point is that it is easier to steer something that is in motion than to overcome inertia.
Read this thought-provoking Fast Company article and consider where your organization has been successful and where you need to guide it for the future.
Sign Up for Action Insights
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Blogs are everywhere and governments are beginning to sit up and take notice, says technology analyst Bill Thompson.
Blogs criticising government are frowned on in Iran
You cannot move online these days without falling over a weblog or 10.
All the people who, five years ago, were proudly showing off the shiny new e-mail address on their business cards, are now polishing up their weblogs and hoping they have something interesting to say to the world.
In principle blogging promises us something close to Tim Berners-Lee's original vision of a writeable web because anyone can create their own constantly-updated site.
Linking to other sites, tracking links made to one's own entries and posting comments or opinions creates a seamless and rich web of information, accessible to all - or at least, to everyone with a net connection.
Of course, the reality is somewhat different, with the complex thread of interconnected diary entries, reviews, comments and cross-references making it incredibly difficult to get a real sense of what is happening.
But sometimes it works, and generally anything which allows more people to share their points of view, record their experiences and reach out to other people is to be welcomed.
While I have never managed to get into the habit of daily blogging myself, I can see why it appeals. And new tools for weblogging will make things easier and better.
We might eventually get tools which create usable social spaces online, along with ways of organising and structuring the vast amount of content being thrown daily onto the Web that do not rely on the search engines that dominate today's network navigation.
Even though the number of bloggers is relatively small compared to the overall net population, with perhaps a million active blogs, this is going to grow, especially if AOL delivers on its promise to offer a free blogging service to its 35 million users.
Freedom of expression
There are, of course, many different sorts of blog.
I am interested in technology and how it is developing, so I spend a lot of time looking at sites dealing with new ways of using the net, and the whole self-referential area where blogs, culture, the network and programming intersect.
Others see the tools as dull and boring, and are more concerned with using this new web-based publishing medium to make a difference in the real world.
And some of these people are now getting into trouble with their governments, especially if they live in countries which do not respect the basic right to freedom of expression.
Lui Di, a Chinese psychology student who posted regularly to bulletin boards and chat rooms, was arrested in November 2002 for criticising the government's restrictions on net use.
She is still being held.
And last month the Iranian police detained Sina Motallebi, a prominent blogger, marking a significant and worrying shift in what had previously been a tolerant approach to the large number of Iranian blogs.
Casualties of blogging
Sina is still in prison after his arrest on 20 April. The authorities have given no indication of what he is accused of or whether he will be released soon, creating an atmosphere of fear and worry among Iran's estimated 10,000 other bloggers.
His Persian website, www.rooznegar.com, has been taken offline by his family, worried that criticism of the Iranian Government posted there by supporters will harm his case.
An online petition organised by another Iranian blogger, Pedram Moallemian, has attracted over 2,000 e-signatures calling on human rights organisations to press for Sina's release.
Sina's arrest, publicised online by his wife and fellow blogger Farnaz Ghazizadeh, is just the latest of many attempts by the Iranian Government to control the media.
Press freedom campaign group Reporters Sans Frontieres describes Iran as "the biggest prison for journalists in the Middle East", with 10 journalists imprisoned at the end of 2002, and continuing closures of newspapers whose editorial views go against government policy.
Now it has become one of the first governments to take direct action against blogs.
One prominent Persian blog is run by Hossein Derskahan, an Iranian living in Toronto.
He argues that blogging is important in Iran because it provides a way for people to write freely about a wide range of topics, and to do so relatively anonymously.
Because many of the blogs are hosted outside Iran, it is difficult for the authorities to trace people, and this gives them more freedom.
Sina's blog was published under his own name and that in part made him a target.
In open societies we are used to being able to say what we feel, whether about personal matters like attitudes to sex, or more public issues like our views on the invasion of Iraq.
There are limits to free speech, but they seem far enough from our ordinary topics of conversation to be disregarded.
This is not true in closed countries like Iran, China and Saudi Arabia.
As Hossein Derskahan says, "individuality, self-expression, tolerance are new values which are quite obvious through a quick study of the content of Persian weblogs".
These values are not endorsed or promoted by the authorities, so it is not surprising that blogs are now being closed down and their authors arrested.
It will discourage others from the sort of self-expression that will, in the long term, do just as much damage to a repressive and authoritarian regime as overt political opposition.
When we campaign for net freedom we should not forget that the freedom to speak one's own truth is just as important as the freedom to read what we in the West have to say.
Being able to publish a weblog may in fact be more important than being able to read BBC News Online, although our arrogance may sometimes prevent us from seeing this.
Do blogs matter? How significant is the rise of blogs? What role do they serve? Send us your comments.
Blogging in my country has also become a cool thing to do, with more and more registering or setting up new ones sites/accounts everyday. Blogging takes a certain amount of time, creativity and most of all responsibility. Just because you have a blog doesn't mean you can say whatever you want in it. If the stuff posted on a blog does breach treason or national laws of wherever one is from, then the one who uploaded those comments should be ready to face its consequences. Most blogs out there are full of nothing but incoherent, nonsensical babblings of pre-pubescent kids. But it is their own personal space to talk about their views and ideas. You don't have to read it.
As the old saying goes: "Freedom is great but comes at a price". Information is key to educate and freedom of speech is a form of education. Pity some governments don't take heed of what is being said.
Gerald Glover, UK
It took a war to get blogs noticed. I've been blogging for nearly three years and in that time I've seen blogs come and go. In that time they've matured, there arn't so many kids going on about next to nothing anymore. There are more intelligent, more muture bloggers around now with a great deal of important things to say. We all wonder, however, if anybody in listening.
Marc, soliloquist.net, UK
I've blogged on and off for most of my sad little life. Pre-PC it was called a diary and nobody read that either. The point is if you have something interesting and worthwhile to say then a blog should only be the first stop - maybe a forum of like/unlike minded people might benefit from your musings? And of course it doesn't take a genius to work out that despotic governments will frown upon this type of activity. Same way as they stifle free speech of any kind.
When it comes to freedom of speech, the internet is of course leading the way, but blogs are only the tip of the iceberg. Netizens have been quietly talking without fear of censorship since the internet was created, by systems such as newsgroups. Blogs are merely the most accessible means. Furthermore, systems such as Publius, though less accessible, allow content to be published online with strong guarantees of anonymity and resistance to censure.
The fact that repressive governments have taken notice of the power of blogging is in itself a boost to the power of blogging. It also serves as a good indicator of the things the repressive government fears most. If they had any sense, they would ignore bloggers. But since they don't, they only serve to attract replacements.
Disclaimer: The BBC may edit your comments and cannot guarantee that all emails will be published.
Bill Thompson is a regular commentator on the BBC World Service programme Go Digital.
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Another 15 UN observers in Syria by month's end
Another 15 United Nations military observers are due to arrive in Syria by the month's end.
This will complete an advance team of 30, who are charged with monitoring the conflict-torn country's troubled ceasefire.
The UN Security Council has authorised a mission of 300 observers to monitor the ceasefire, which UN-Arab League envoy, Kofi Annan had brokered in a bid to stop the violence in Syria.
On April 14th, the UN authorised an advance team of 30 observers, 15 of whom are already on the ground and have begun work from bases in the central cities of Homs and Hama and the capital, Damascus.
But violence has continued despite their arrival.
The UN said on Monday that despite the fragile ceasefire, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has decided that the full deployment of 300 monitors can start next week.
MORE WORLD NEWS
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Date 29 mins ago, Duration 2:37, Views 0
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<urn:uuid:230d2008-7ead-4e29-919e-2a4aada4e7f2>
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://news.xin.msn.com/en/world/another-15-un-observers-in-syria-by-months-end
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s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
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en
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is asking a team led by Vice President Joe Biden to offer "concrete proposals" to curb gun violence no later than January, in the aftermath of the horrific massacre at a Connecticut elementary school.
Obama says after he receives recommendations from Biden's group, he will push legislation "without delay." The president is urging Congress to hold votes on the bill.
Obama says the issue is complex but quote, "we have a deep obligation -- all of us -- to try."
Biden, a longtime gun control advocate, will lead a team that will include members of Obama's administration and outside groups.
The move comes after Friday's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. Twenty children and six adults were killed at the school by a gunman wielding a semi-automatic rifle.
But some politicians do not agree with the president's approach. Here in Colorado, Rep. Scott Tipton (R-Colo.) believes there will be time to address the issues behind these mass shootings, but that time is not now, when "our nation is mourning the victims who were taken from us just days ago in a terrible tragedy," Tipton's spokesperson said.
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<urn:uuid:c1e25612-6be3-4cb6-a833-4f9b05401e7e>
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://www.nbc11news.com/news/nationalnews/headlines/Obama-pressing-for-policy-changes-after-shooting-184144281.html?site=full
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s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
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