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There are voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world — Ralph Waldo Emerson
How often do you allow yourself to experience real solitude? I mean time that you consciously choose to spend alone? Time that you’ve carved out purely for yourself?
Hmmm, I thought so.
For those of us rarely alone, those of us who give of ourselves to others in our work and our family lives, creating time of solitude can seem like an impossible task. If we are to do so we must do it with determination.
The summer holidays are upon us and for us working mums with 6 weeks ahead of us it becomes an incredible balancing act. The need and desire to both work and spend time with our children, the need especially as a single parent to create some time for ourselves that does not involve working.
Even those who live alone can fill their time with busyness and ignore the very real benefits of consciously being in solitude.
The importance of solitude
- We give ourselves the chance to things about our lives in greater depth – a time for contemplation and self reflection
- We notice and become aware of the world around us
- We become more creative in our thinking
- It’s an opportunity to really think about our needs
- Dare I say it…we learn to appreciate ourselves more, our resources and capabilities
- We de-stress when we choose some time in solitude – it is literally good for our health
- We reconnect with our core – who we really are
Solitude needn’t be about sitting in the lotus position and saying Om. Here are some things that I do when I choose to have reflective and nourishing time on my own.
- Keep a journal – 15 minutes a day
- Walk in my local park at a time when I’m not going to bump into people
- I wake earlier and now no longer fight it! I get up before my son needs to rise in order to sit and drink my tea in silence – meditating would be stretching the truth, I’m happy to sit and simply be still.
- Go to bed early in order to read alone
- Listen to classical music – for me it’s the Bach’s Cello Suites – instant calm
Sometimes we need to snatch these moments, even it it means locking the bathroom door for a soak in the bath or paint our toenails without interruption, or walking the dog around the block for 10 minutes. Taking 15 minutes out of your day to stop for a coffee in a cafe with a book – make sure it’s not one where you’ll bump into friends!………..does that sound self indulgent or vital for your sanity? Really ask yourself that question!
Did you read the quote at the start of this piece? Take another look. This so resonates with me. What thoughts are in your head right now as you read this? I’m curious to know.
What will it take for you to commit to creating some time of solitude for yourself this week?
Will you struggle in doing so? If so then Sarah Ban Breathnach asks us to be real and admit that we haven’t yet learned how to put ourselves on the priority list. How will you change this?
“Women need real moments of solitude and self-reflection to balance out how much of ourselves we give away.” Barbara De Angelis
Photo credit: Liquene
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How Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome Created Its World With Greenscreen
Even though we’ve only seen six short episodes of it so far, Syfy’s web series, Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome has become one of the hottest topics in geek circles of late. A prequel set during the first Human/Cylon war, Blood & Chrome centers on a brash young William Adama (played by Edward James Olmos in the Ron Moore series, played here by Luke Pasqualiano). It certainly helps that pickings are mighty slim for fans craving a hardcore space-based science fiction series, but even if it had plenty of competition, Blood and Chrome would be pretty damn awesome. One reason amongst many: the show looks just as good as the BSG series, despite being produced for a much smaller budget.
Much of that can be credited to Blood and Chrome’s extensive use of greenscreen. The folks over at io9 have posted an exclusive video (so no embed, sorry) about how the web series has used greenscreen effects to conjure up everything from a frozen, abandoned ski lodge to the bridge of a starship. The before-and-after footage is astonishing when you realize just how much of what we’re seeing on screen didn’t actually exist. You can click over to io9 to check it out.
What’s that, you say? You still haven’t watched Blood & Chrome yet? Well, down below we’ve got embeds of the first four episodes. Watch, I say. Watch!
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Summary: Where can a person go to learn how to become a better team player? Your choices are definitely limited. John C. Maxwell takes the pain out of knowing what makes a team tick. If you want to have a better team, you have to develop better players. Great team players, like great teams, are formed from the inside out. The qualities Maxwell teaches quickly take you to the heart of teamwork. Anybody can understand them and apply them -- whether at home, on the job, at church, or on the ball ...show more field. If you learn the 17 essential qualities of a team player, you can become the kind of person every team wants. If everyone on your team does it, there will be no holding you back. ...show lessEdition/Copyright: 01
More prices and sellers below.
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(CNN) -- Divisions between sexes start with pink and blue clothes for babies, move into dance classes and football practice and later into single-sex book clubs and bowling leagues.
Those divisions, for the most part, are accepted and definitely don't make headlines. That's not the case for a renowned golf course in the Deep South that's raising lots of questions about the relevance and fairness of exclusive, male-only clubs in the 21st century.
Since opening in 1933, Augusta National Golf Club has not allowed women to join, although women can play as guests of members. But conversation swirled around the men-only membership policy at the prestigious Georgia club as it prepared to open the Masters Tournament on Thursday.
IBM sponsors the tournament, and the club has always extended membership to the company's officers. But IBM's new CEO is a woman, Virginia Rometty. Critics have called on Augusta National to offer her its traditional green jacket.
When it comes to the famed club -- and the dwindling number of exclusive men-only social clubs around the country -- it's not about enjoying the company of a single gender, critics say, and it's definitely not about golf.
"It really is ultimately about power, and Augusta National is a big symbol of the last bastion of male hegemony over economic issues, the place where big business deals are done among the biggest, most influential corporations in this country," said Gloria Feldt, author of "No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power."
Men and women, boys and girls can still benefit from time apart, some critics say, but not when the separation deprives another group of influence.
Even now, gender-restricted environments start early, when children join Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts or other gender-specific activities. K-12 education has seen a boost in single-sex schools since 2006, when the Bush administration relaxed regulations on how public schools could implement it.
Single-sex programs help children explore their identities during developmentally crucial years, said Dana Edell, president of SPARK, a nationwide coalition of girls-only programs.
"Boys' and girls' experiences are different growing up. It's valuable to have spaces for both girls and boys to explore issues that are unique to their experiences," she said.
But even in those environments, the lines are becoming blurry.
Girls can participate in the Boy Scouts through its subsidiary group, Exploring, and a Girl Scout troop in Colorado allowed a 7-year-old transgender child into its ranks last year, although some later protested with cookie boycotts.
Private colleges are moving away from single-sex education as historically all-girls schools join forces with male counterparts or align themselves with bigger universities, according to Lisa Maatz, director of public policy and government relations for the American Association of University Women.
Adult civic organizations began to open their doors to women in the 1970s and 1980s after a series of lawsuits. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1987 that Rotary clubs could not exclude women.
Most of the private mahogany-paneled city clubs of New York and Washington, opened membership to women after being sued, said Martha Burk, former chair of the National Council of Women's Organizations A few men-only social clubs remain, such as New York's Racquet and Tennis Club, where a manager told CNN "we don't respond to any questions" before hanging up.
Other private golf clubs such as Preston Trail Golf Club in Dallas and Burning Tree Club in Bethesda, Maryland, don't specifically say "men-only," in their rules, but they only refer to men's clothing requirements and locker rooms.
Richard Lapchick, director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics In Sport at University of Central Florida, said men-only clubs are fading as professional sports embrace diversity, but change is slow.
"I think you're going to see less of them in the future, but unless someone puts the spotlight on a club, nobody is going change because they prefer things the way they are," he said. "For two weeks, [the media] is writing about Augusta National, but for the other 50 weeks, the club's policy continues."
Augusta's chairman dodged the prickly issue of women's membership Wednesday, saying it was a private matter.
"Well, as has been the case, whenever that question is asked, all issues of membership are now and have historically been subject to the private deliberation of members," Billy Payne said. "That statement remains accurate; it remains my statement."
Critics say Augusta and other men-only golf clubs are more than just places to tee off with the guys. They're places of business for corporate elite, where connections are made and deals are brokered.
"The no-girls-allowed rule keeps women from accessing that power where they can conduct business and rise in professional development and create their own power networks," said Veronica Arreola, assistant director of the Center for Research on Women and Gender at the University of Illinois-Chicago.
The idea of golf clubs as power hubs has become so entrenched in corporate culture that women's groups have hosted clinics to teach the game to women so they can hold their own on the green, Arreola said.
The same kinds of discussions aren't necessarily happening in women's book clubs or at the local Curves gym, the ubiquitous franchise marketed to women.
"Million-dollar deals are not going down at Curves, but they are going down at golf clubs," said Terry O'Neill, president of NOW, which has men on its board and among its membership.
"The world turns on human connections; when power brokers hang together, they do business together," Feldt said. "It really is a big barrier for women to be excluded from a place like Augusta that is so well-known for being the source of power-brokering opportunities. That's really different from sweating side-by-side on treadmills."
Activists say the Augusta National controversy shows gender discrimination is taken more lightly than racial discrimination.
"If this was the first black male CEO of IBM, and he was not allowed to join, IBM would not even be considering remaining a sponsor or having any other executives in the club," said Burk, who made Augusta's policy a national issue in 2003. "Because it's sex discrimination, they feel empowered to ignore that or treat it as a lesser evil."
Several states, including New York and California, have "public accommodation" laws that say no one can be excluded from private establishments that sell food to the public or show films, exhibitions or athletic teams -- or places whose operations affect commerce "among the several states" -- like clubs where business meetings over lunch might result in corporate mergers.
Georgia, however, is not one of those states.
"Of course everyone is entitled to a peer group that they enjoy," Burk, who is also the author of "Your Voice, Your Vote: The Savvy Woman's Guide to Power, Politics, and the Change We Need," said. "That's different from keeping out people who are qualified and ought to be included in what is essentially a business club, for reasons that have nothing to do with anything except an immutable characteristic such as race and gender."
Because of its status in the corporate world, activists are watching closely to see where the controversy ends up. The implications of Augusta opening its membership to women are far greater than if Curves or the Junior League were to suddenly start courting men, said Feldt, author of "No Excuses."
"We'll know feminism has won the day," she said, "when men are trying to beat down the doors to women-only organizations."
Emily Smith contributed to this article.
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Make Your Own Movie with Digital Video Cameras
Everyone wants to capture the special moments which they spend with their near and dear ones. With the help of the digital video cameras it is now possible to record those special moments. You can shoot videos and make your own movie with the help of these cameras. But before buying a digital video camera you must do your part of research work. This research work is important because nowadays there are plenty of models which are swarming the market. Each of them is manufactured by the top technical companies and has various in-built features. Optical zoom, video lens, LCD display, dynamic image stabilization and several other features are there which have been incorporated into the latest digital video cameras. So it is good for you if you can find out the details of all these features beforehand.
Before buying these cameras you should always check on the battery life. The batteries should have long life because when you are on trip or tour then they play a vital role. They help your camera to stay in the active mode. You should also consider the range of the optical zoom and the power of the lens. Generally the optical zoom ranges between 10X and 20X. However the choice totally depends on you. If you want to get more into the action and want closer views then it is advisable that you go for higher optical zoom and choose video lens of high power.
These cameras are very easy to use and handle. Their features are simplified so that the users don't have to face complications while using them. If you can invest a little more then you can buy the professional video cameras. The professional cameras have excellent shooting capabilities. They have advanced technical features and high shooting capabilities and with their help you can shoot videos with high picture quality.
So it's time to give wings to your imagination and start on your shooting work. To buy good quality digital video cameras you don't need to rummage around the whole city. You can check on the local stores or you can also gather information on them from the online digital camera stores. You can even buy these cameras from these online stores. So purchase your own digital video camera and zoom away into your own world with your amazing recording gadget. With their help you can now capture all those dynamic moments of your life in the most dynamic way.
About the Author
Looking for top branded Digital Cameras? Come to IDigitalCameraStore, an online digital camera store where you can find high quality Digital Video Cameras. Buy Digital Video Cameras from top selling brands with variety of features.
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Malaysia charges Filipinos with terror, waging war - report
KUALA LUMPUR |
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Authorities in Malaysia pressed charges on Wednesday against members of a group of armed men who clashed with security forces after landing in a remote coastal area and pressing a 19th century claim to the land.
Security forces are still hunting down the remnants of the group that sailed in mid-February to Sabah state on Borneo island, eventually triggering battles that left up to 71 dead. Nine of the dead were Malaysian security peronnel.
Bernama news agency said eight men, aged between 17 and 66, were chaged with terrorism and waging war against Malaysia after appearing in a heavily guarded court in the coastal town of Lahad Datu, site of most of the fighting.
The men entered no plea. They could face life imprisonment if found guilty of terrorism and the death penalty on the charge of waging war.
Neither police nor the attorney general's office could be reached for comment.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been under pressure to take a tough stand after security forces took no action against the intruders for two weeks. Najib must call a national election in weeks and his party, in power since independence from Britain in 1957, faces a tough contest.
Ties with the Philippines, periodically strained by security and migration issues, could be further soured by the case.
The group of about 200 engaged in weeks of negotiations over their claim to the region before Malaysian forces mounted an all-out assault in oil palm-fringed coastal areas.
Militants who escaped the onslaught went into hiding, surfacing occasionally for gun battles with Malaysian forces.
The Filipino group is demanding recognition and increased payment from Malaysia for their claim to Sabah, part of Borneo leased by the Sultanate of Sulu to British colonialists in the 19th century.
Members say they are a part of the Sultan of Sulu's army and offered a unilateral ceasefire rejected by Najib.
(Reporting By Siva Sithraputhran, Editing by Niluksi Koswanage and Ron Popeski)
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NEW ORLEANS — Outside the Superdome is a statue depicting one of the seminal moments in the history of the Saints and this revived city. Named “Rebirth,” the statue shows the moment the former Saints player Steve Gleason blocked a punt in the Saints’ first game back in the Superdome in 2006, the first game they played in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. That blocked punt led to the first score in the Saints’ victory over the Atlanta Falcons that night.
Five years later, Gleason became the symbol for something else entirely. He announced that he had been found to have Lou Gehrig’s disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Since then, he and several of his N.F.L.-player friends have become vocal spokesmen for those with the disease.
On Monday, they will unveil their latest and most potent effort: a stark public service announcement, pulled together in about three weeks, in which N.F.L. players and coaches — Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis and quarterback Joe Flacco; Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Coach Mike McCarthy; the Saints’ Drew Brees and Jonathan Vilma, among them — explain in excruciating detail the gradual physical failure that results from A.L.S. The spot concludes with a wheelchair-bound Gleason: “Let’s put our heads together and find a cure for A.L.S.”
The P.S.A. was the idea of Gleason and a few others, and it began about two months ago. The point of the message: “A.L.S. patients will no longer simply fade away,” said Scott Fujita, the Cleveland Browns linebacker who has been Gleason’s most prominent advocate. Just before Christmas, Fujita e-mailed a letter Gleason composed to players around the league, asking them to participate. The response was so overwhelming that, because of logistics, not all of the players could be filmed; the Giants and Broncos wanted to help, but film crews couldn’t get to them in time.
“I didn’t think we would have an actual surplus of players,” Fujita said. “So we had to scramble — how can we get film crews to get to places like Baltimore and Cleveland and Green Bay? We did it. People are kind of drawn to Steve’s story.”
The script, which speaks of the inability to hold a pencil and give a hug, to tie shoes, and then to walk, was composed by Gleason and an advertising group.
“A couple of guys got emotional during the read,” Fujita said. “That’s when it hit them, this disease is brutal.”
It is a coincidence that also in town this week will be O.J. Brigance, the former player who, like Gleason, has A.L.S. and who has become a source of inspiration for the Baltimore Ravens, for whom he is the director of player development. Fujita expects that Gleason’s presence at the Super Bowl, too, will raise awareness. And there will be more spots, Fujita said, with the hope that people will contribute to finding a cure.
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Photos and story by Andrea Adelson | LB Indy
After five days of painstaking work to create an intricate circular painting of boldly colored sand, Tibetan monks visiting Laguna Beach brushed their masterpiece into a gray green pile and threw the remainder into the sea on Sunday.
Neighborhood Congregational Church members, led by Pastor B.J. Beu, escorted two of the seven monks to Thalia Street Beach, where their crimson and saffron robes and feather-like headdresses naturally drew onlookers. Young body boarders in wet suits skipped a set or two out of curiosity to observe the unusual procession and formal dissolution of the mandala.
Earlier during a service, Dr. Lobsang Tenzin led the monks in deep-throated chanting and the playing of instruments as part of the dissolution ceremony, capstone to a week-long visit that began last Wednesday. He explained some of the symbolism within a mandala’s borders, which altogether represent enlightenment. The artwork begun last Wednesday was swept away within hours of its completion Sunday, representing the impermanence of life and artifice of possessing material things.
Though their mission touring in the U.S. embodies demonstrating spiritual values, the monks, from a monastery near Bangalore in southern India, took advantage of their physical location,too. Kayak tour guide Billy Fried took the visitors out for a paddle, which the monks seemed to relish with broad smiles. But they concluded their visit in service, preparing and serving dinner to church members on Sunday evening and for occupants of the homeless shelter on Monday.
“Thank you for blessing our community and our home,” resident Pamela Burrus told the visitors, invited into her home for their stay.
Tibetan Rituals Resolve to a State of Grace
By Rita Robinson | LB Indy
It could only be described as the rolling, guttural, primordial sounds of a human didgeridoo. Without expression, very little movement or even seemingly breathing, seven young monks in maroon dress and saffron robes stood, eyes closed, before the darkened audience, unleashing deep, tongue-rolling notes unexpected from upright beings.
If they weren’t right in front of you, it would be hard to believe where these ancient sounds were emanating from. And, like the meditative music of a skillfully hollowed tree limb, it was mesmerizing, even more so considering the sources who had honed these rare, secret tantric chanting skills for more than seven years.
The minister of Neighborhood Congregational Church, B.J. Beu, introduced the performance in Bridge Hall last Saturday night by saying he had heard that this second group of monks to visit Laguna within the past year was the more talented. At this point, the $10-donation for tonight’s event seemed well worth it.
The monks from the Gaden Jangtse monastery in southern India suddenly disassembled, taking positions on floor pillows, where ornate brass horns that resembled clarinets stood on their bells alongside hand drums, tingsha cymbals and other Tibetan Buddhist instruments.
Surprisingly, the once-serene monks started blasting screeching notes through the horns called dung-chen, some of them telescoping to lengths of six feet or more, banging drums and clanking chimes. The enthralling earthy sounds of the human instrument crumbled to the cacophony that sounded more like traffic in Mumbai, symbolically epitomizing a country of contrasts where monasteries and ashrams are scattered among abysmal poverty and crowded confusion.
The elder monk of the group, Lobsang Tenzin, a doctor of Tibetan medicine, explained Tibet’s plight, asking for compassion and loving kindness through donations to help the Tibetan people return to freedom.
My first thought was “if they weren’t monks, I’d want my money back.”
Next came the dancing rituals in ornate silk brocade costumes and deity-masks, some of ritual as old as the 7th Century, with familiar-looking, totem-pole-like markings of other indigenous Indian peoples. With simple and exaggerated back-and-forth steps, the lama dancers crudely acted out the release of anger, obstacles and attachment to emotions, graspings as Dr. Tenzin described them, to make way for a pure state of joy from living in what Buddhists consider the sacred moment.
The costumes changed and the second dance commenced, much like the first, and then the third, much like the first.
My next thought was “same dance, different costumes, same noise.” Which unleashed a state of giddiness not experienced since having to leave a Sunday church service as a pre-teen because I couldn’t “contain” myself. This time, with some years of maturity, I was able to keep it under wraps, barely. But the thoughts continued, like, “I watched something similar to this when my daughter was in pre-school. Where’s the teacher?”
Then I heard someone else laughing behind me and, like a silly kid, turned around to see. It was a monk sitting in the audience, giggly his head off. That did it for me; I laughed away and even saw a smile or two turn up on stage.
Even so, I wasn’t sure I had made the right choice for the evening’s entertainment, although, in the end, it was pleasant enough. The next morning I woke up feeling curiously refreshed, new, refreshingly happy for no apparent reason. Much like a childlike Tibetan monk, I thought. I literally jumped out of bed, which is somewhat difficult because I sleep on a futon, and was rip-raring ready for more.
So I decided to attend the Sunday morning service at the church, where the monks were in full swing, first chanting like human didgeridoos again and then the ensuing brass and banging cacophony. But this time, it sounded more harmonious, more fluid, more purposeful, and I got it. The stirring up of deeply repressed emotions, our internal devils as Buddhists calls it, were let loose through the growling chanting and the released through thunderous musical expression to settle and resolve in a state of grace, ease, lightheartedness. And lots of smiles. This is how Tibetan Buddhists put an end to suffering. It was hitting home.
Pastor Beu summed it up succinctly in this morning’s sermon. “The blessings come at the end. All you’ve got to do is show up.” I was glad I did. It had become obvious to me that these monks were spending their lifetimes releasing universal “bad karma” and mastering the human condition by uplifting spirits for the benefit of us all.
Sites That Link to this Post
- A Gift of Beauty Returns to the Sea | Buddhist Art News | October 9, 2011
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Tuesday Jul 20 2010
Do you do the 'cop drop?'
By: Josh Fernandez The Press Tribune
Drivers still talking despite cell phone laws
The California law that prohibits the use of handheld cell phones by all motorists went into effect two years ago, but statistics indicate that far too many motorists still aren’t obeying. According to a press release issued by the California Highway Patrol, there have been more than 1,200 cell phone-related collisions throughout the state this year. Those collisions resulted in 16 fatalities and more than 850 injuries – a huge number, according to Erin Komatsubara, spokeswoman for the California Highway Patrol. “That’s still quite a bit,” she said. “Even though it’s been two years now.” The law, written by Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, went into effect in late June, 2008. It prohibits the use of handheld cell phones by all motorists. In addition, it forbids anyone under the age of 18 from using any type of cell phone – handheld or hands-free – while driving. Since the law’s inception, CHP officers have issued more than 244,000 citations statewide to motorists. In his jurisdiction, 1,115 citations were issued in 2009, according to David Martinez, spokesman for the Auburn-area CHP. This year, from January through June, 527 tickets have been issued. In Roseville, officers issue 400 to 500 cell phone related tickets every month, according to the Roseville Police spokeswoman Dee Dee Gunther. “People aren’t getting the message,” she said. “Officers could write as many as they wanted to, probably. There were 519 (tickets issued) last month and 502 the month before.” Cell phone violations carry a minimum base fine of $20 for the first offense and $50 for the second. But when court costs and other fees are added to the fines, the total cost of the violation can exceed $100 for the first offense, Komatsubara said. But if you’re caught talking on a handheld cell phone in Roseville, the first offense will cost you $149 in total, Gunther said. “Legislature keeps adding more penalty assessments,” Gunther said, adding that answering a cell phone is such an ingrained habit that people may be finding it hard to stop cold turkey. A 19-year-old Roseville Galleria shopper said that when she sees an officer, she throws her phone into the passenger’s seat of her car. “I’ve totally done that where I’m talking on the phone and I see a cop … and I throw the phone before he sees me,” said the woman who did not want to give her name. “I actually just got a new phone because of that. I shouldn’t do it, though.” That technique, known sometimes as “the cop drop,” can still earn you a ticket, according to Komatsubara. While some drivers still take the risk of driving while talking on their phone, Randy Murray, 24, of Roseville, says he’s a fairly strict observer of the law. “I’ve definitely made an emergency call,” he said. “But other than that, no, I generally don’t call people.” As for the cop drop, Murray said he’s done it, but only before the hands-free cell phone law went into effect. “When it wasn’t a law it was still a weird thing,” he said. “Everybody was talking on the phone but you kind of knew you shouldn’t.” People know they shouldn’t talk on cell phones while driving because it’s clearly dangerous, CHP’s Komatsubara said. “Folks need to abide by this law a lot better,” she said. “Cell phones are the leading factor in driver crashes.” Josh Fernandez can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org.
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Student internships are ways to learn beyond the classroom. Conceptually, the undergraduate internship provides students with a scaffolded apprenticeship experience. It is intermediary between a brief service-learning activity and a pre-professional graduate school internship, allowing the situation of advanced undergraduate students in their zone of proximal development (Vygotsky, 1962) where there may be continued refinement of skills and interests, and illumination of potential career paths.
There are many areas where an undergraduate internship may be served. My main interest is in gerontology and thus I have sponsored internships in adult-day care centers, nursing homes, hospitals, rehabilitative and geriatric medicine centers, mental health services, pastoral counseling programs, and community outreach services. However, I have also facilitated internships in the areas of college counseling programs, parole and probation programs, local police departments, and human resource offices of local businesses. Each has provided the student a wide range of activities and opportunities for professional involvement and learning.
The learning goals of the internship are to assist the student in integrating theory and research learned in the classroom with the practical experiences encountered in the internship. In practice, specific goals will vary from individual to individual. Ideally, however, the internship will provide opportunity for the transfer of learning from the classroom to professional career area, as well as opportunities to enhance learning and personal growth. While the specific learning goals of an internship are student centered, they include the following required activities:
· Students are required to spend at least 100 hours over the course of a semester at the internship site
· Develop a list of readings to compliment your internship activities (the reading list usually contains 25 to 30 research or review articles, book chapters, etc.)
· Keep an activity diary
· Write a final report (see Outline for Final Report)
See also the Human Development Program's informational web-page for policy information and other requirements: Student Internship Policy
See Undergraduate Gerontology Internship for a model of developing internship learning goals, as well as examples of an internship experience and final report.
Meetings with the Professor and possibly other student interns on a bi-weekly basis.
(A) Evaluation by On-site Supervisor; (B) Participation in meetings with Professor and possibly other student interns; (C) Successful completion of reading list and incorporation of research articles in final report; (D) Successful completion of all learning activities listed in syllabus; (E) Submission of internship diary; (F) Submission of final report.
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I was Googling information for my ProGen Study Group October assignment, which is to create an educational plan for myself and came across a blog I really need to follow. It is called Midwest Genealogy. If you have done any research, or need to do research, in the Midwest, check out this blog. It is full of wonderful information.
This week Dr. Bill posted another great story about his current family history called Sentimental Sunday – Family Time in Estes Park, Colorado. He reminds us all to keep recording our current history as well as our past. This is something I try to do so my boys have their stories told as they grow.
Did you know FamilySearch has pages and pages of reference guides? These guides can be sorted by State (Place), Title, Subject, or Document Type and contain information useful if you are visiting the Family History Library or various repositories. There are even State documents that outline historical events that caused some records to be created. Through those documents you might even brush up on your history. It is an amazing resource!
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Director-General meets with Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism
During her visit to Istanbul, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova met with the Turkish Minister of Culture and Tousim Ertuğrul Günay. The Minister highlighted the cooperation between his country and UNESCO in the field of World Heritage.
The role of culture as a tool for mutual understanding amongst different cultures and peace building in the sub-region was one of the topics they discussed with particular attention, notably through the sharing of technical expertise in the preservation of cultural heritage, the transfer of know-how and cultural exchange.
The fight against illicit trafficking of cultural property and the restitution of cultural objects were identified as areas of particular interest. There is a need for enhanced cooperation in view of the important number of archaeological sites throughout the country and for the numerous excavations for which the Minister asked for national and local authorities’ special attention in ensuring the application of rigorous legislation and standards for the protection of cultural property.
The Minister welcomed the proposal by the Director-General to support regional and sub-regional capacity building in fighting illicit traffic of cultural objects in South East Europe.
Following the meeting, the Director-General met with private sector representatives and Presidents and General Directors of the Vehbi Koc, Acev, Enka and Sabanchi Foundations. They discussed social responsibility issues in the areas of education and cultural heritage preservation.
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Tue, May 01, 2012
Some News Report Indicated That Unidentified Lights May Have Been Present
Officials in Pakistan are saying that the April 20th accident involving a Bhoja Airlines Boeing 737 was caused by the airliner's fuel tanks catching fire and exploding while on approach to Islamabad Airport, but some news reports have added a layer of mystery to the accident which fatally injured all 127 people on board the airplane.
The pilot made a mayday call moments before the disaster, and reported that a fuel tank had caught fire and the plane was out of control. Authorities said the jet had been properly positioned at the beginning of the approach but then descended suddenly to 200 feet while flying at 300mph. It then descended another 50 feet before its tanks exploded. Given the violent thunderstorm raging in the vicinity, some experts have speculated that wind shear may have been a factor in the jet’s inability to hold altitude.
But the Daily Mail of India cites a Russian news report which shows footage of three mysterious lights moving in formation. That has led to speculation in the UFO community that an extraterrestrial may have been involved. The news report suggests the pilot could have been distracted by the object, and even complained to the control tower at Islamabad Airport as he made his approach.
A judicial investigation into the accident has been ordered, and the head of Bhoja Air has been restricted from leaving the country. Interior Minister Rehman Malik said, "It is being said that the aircraft was quite old, so it has been ordered to investigate thoroughly the air worthiness of the Bhoja Air aircraft. 'The causes will be investigated, whether it was any fault in the aircraft, it was lightning, the bad weather or any other factor that caused the loss of precious lives," he added. The plane's flight data recording systems, key to any investigation, have been recovered.
Could The FAA Get ANY Stranger? Worse Yet... Will They? ANN RealTime News Update, 0001ET, 05.23.13: The FAA has twice promised ANN a statement this day in order to understand some >[...]
Building A New Future For The EAA... One Issue At A Time Originally WebCast 11.14.12: With only a couple of weeks in pocket, directing the reorganization of the EAA in the wake of >[...]
Subcommittee Chair Call Mars Mission A Congressional Priority The House Science Committee Subcommittee on Space held a hearing Tuesday to examine possible options for the next step>[...]
Third Such Restructuring In 10 Years Dassault Falcon has embarked on its third parts pricing overhaul in the past 10 years, assessing the cost of over 18,500 individual items. The >[...]
Chandelle Chandelle is meant to be a forum for original essays, reviews, photographs, and artwork related, however loosely, to the less familiar aspects of the history of aviation.>[...]
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A kiss in the dark/A certain time I can call you/A letter of love/But no name did you sign/Pretending to all that we were just friends when I saw you/I didn’t know that you wanted me to be/I didn’t know that you wanted me for your, to be/Your secret love … (Luther Vandross)
There are singers/musicians in Uganda that I know are gay. I have interacted with them as gay men and women, have seen them seeking gay love, have witnessed their hopes for love, struggles and disappointments with their gay relationships and listened to their doubts about same-sex loving in a country where the entire phenomenon is all too often defined by the empty-mind din of people like Martin Ssempa, James Nsaba Buturo and Simon Lokodo.
And so it doesn’t surprise me at all when I now see those erstwhile gay men run around with girls, professing undying love for one after the other, often in their songs. There is nothing for it but to fall into line and toe the straight line if you wish to remain musically relevant in Uganda.
But is there really nothing for it?
Attitudes towards homosexuality in Uganda are indeed changing. The views of the younger generation are discernibly more sophisticated than those of their parents where homosexual loving is concerned. Since life is about the young replacing the old, it stands to reason that It should only be a matter of time before gay Ugandan musicians are pouring their hearts out a la Frank Ocean.
About a year ago, I had a discussion with one of the most successful musicians in Uganda today who is, I should guess, about 15 years younger than me. Having met in an environment where my sexuality was not a concern, I was introduced to him as ‘our gay friend.’ He didn’t miss a beat, and we went on to discuss why being gay was such a big deal in Uganda etc. His enlightenment was as refreshing as it was, in my mind, an eye-opener that the struggle for acceptance even in Uganda is heading in the right direction. This musician already knew some of the gay musicians I knew and wasn’t fazed in the least that they ‘swung on the other side’ to use Ugandan parlance.
And, of course, as Uganda’s schools seek to attain international standards, the issue of homosexuality has to be tackled in classrooms as part of the curriculum. British GCSEs and other international curricula demand that human differences be acknowledged and tolerated. This might send shivers of horror down Simon Lokodo and Martin Ssempa’s spines but there is nothing they can do about it if their government is authorizing private schools to adopt international education standards. Those come with, among very many other things, requirements that children be educated to appreciate that being gay is part and parcel of life.
So, it will be only a matter of time before we dance to thinly veiled homosexual-loving lyrics from one of our young gay singers in Uganda. The views expressed by our young people especially give me confidence that if we are alive long enough, we shall have a Frank Ocean heartfelt gay outpouring in Uganda in my lifetime.
So, I only have to pray for time since … where there is time, there is life.
- Anderson Cooper and Frank Ocean: A Tale of Two Comings Out (ideas.time.com)
- Simon Lokodo heads a quasi-Gestapo unit in Uganda (sebaspace.wordpress.com)
- Religious studies GCSEs to have questions on homosexuality, binge drinking and drugs
- R&B singer, Frank Ocean, comes out (sebaspace.wordpress.com)
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- Story Ideas
- Send Corrections
TRENTON — Students from several colleges across the Garden State gathered for the Rally for Tuition Equity at the State House as the governor was preparing to give the State of the State Address inside.
The NJ DREAM Act Coalition, New Jersey United Students, and coalition partners hoped to raise awareness and support for legislation that would allow undocumented immigrant youths who have grown up in New Jersey to pay the same tuition rates as other NJ high school graduates. The legislation, A1659/S2355, would allow students who attended a New Jersey high school for at least three years and graduated or received an equivalent degree, to qualify for in-state tuition rates at New Jersey’s public institutions of higher education, regardless of immigration status.
This bill would allow an undocumented student who is admitted to Rutgers, The state university of New Jersey, to pay $10,100 per year which is the same amount that any other NJ high school graduate pays. Currently undocumented immigrant students are required to pay $22,400 per year which is the international student tuition rate. The bill does not offer any type of federal or state financial aid, leaving the difference to be made up out-of-pocket.
The Office of Legislative Services has noted that the bill will have no financial impact on the state or taxpayers.
“It is an injustice that students who have lived in this country practically their whole life have to pay $25,000 for one year of schooling while everybody else pays $11,000,” said Carlos Rojas, coordinator of the event.
“We feel just as American as anyone else,” he said.
Andrea Leon, a Hackensack High School graduate, dreams of going to The College of New Jersey.
“I have the grades to go to TCNJ but I cannot pay the international student rate,” she said. León was brought to the U.S. from Ecuador at a very young age and says she considers America her home.
“I will probably have to go to City College of New York since their out-of-state rate is cheaper then here in New Jersey,” she said.
Many in the crowd were not undocumented students, but students who are supportive of their peers.
“We are here in unity to support those students who are undocumented, everyone should have a right to higher education in this state regardless of immigration status,” said Hamilton resident Frangy Pozo, who attends Rutgers University.
Bill A1659 in the State Assembly is sponsored by Assemblyman Gordon Johnson (D, 37); Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle (D, 37); and Annette Quijano (D,20). In the Senate, Bill S2355 is sponsored by Teresa Ruiz (D, 29) and Sandra Cunningham (D, 31).
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There is a "patrician arrogance" to James Taylor that accounts in part for his popularity while it at the same time explains the critical resistance to his work. Those who see themselves championing mass tastes can't accept the individualized point of view — the supremely autobiographical quality of his work — even while the audience they presume to speak for has made his modest output of albums among the best sellers ever released by his record company. One group loves him because of his past, another holds it against him. And while some rock critics made the monumental mistake of defending Grand Funk Railroad simply because they were popular (therefore making them a "people's band"), no one has ever made that same argument for Taylor.
James Taylor may be an all-American boy but he isn't Horatio Alger, and the lionizing of many rock stars by the rock press has as much to do with old fashioned rags-to-riches stories as does the straight culture's deification of its idols. What makes the Stones' arrogance so divine is that we all believe that long ago and far away they weren't rich and famous but poor and struggling, just like us. Taylor may never have been poor, but he sure has struggled. It's just that the type of struggle is so (superficially) different that some people can't find the resources within themselves to deal with it.
Thus, James Taylor has been the object of some of the nastiest ideological criticism yet offered in the name of rock. Some of it has been a parody of old-fashioned leftist "cult of the individual" political criticism. More often it takes the form of genre criticism not just against Taylor but against all the more idiosyncratic individualists who have emerged during the past three years, including Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Carole King. Underlying the more generalized attacks is a feeling that because these artists sacrifice the basic macho stance of the rock & roll band for a more emotionally complex — adult — attitude towards life, they exist in opposition to rock rather than as a new, evolutionary development of it. The assumption that all rock & roll ought to be boogie-nihilistic-emotionally uninhibited music obscures from view the deeper emotional and thematic content of some of the artists being attacked.
Joni Mitchell's music may lack the braggadocio of Robert Plant (thank God), but her music is infinitely more erotic. Neil Young may often sound sentimental, but then the Stones of "Salt of the Earth" were not exactly cynics. And James Taylor may have the most "unburlesque" rock act ever, but the lines "There's nothing like the sound of sweet soul music/To change a young lady's mind ..." are among the sexiest I know.
Taylor's themes are often elementary, and the most common deal with the antinomies of trust and paranoia, love and hate, peace and anger, guilt and salvation. But in his best work he particularizes those conflicts in ways that force us to finally take the songs on a broader level than he may have intended.
Mud Slide Slim, in some ways his best written but most awkwardly performed and produced album, deals for the first time in explicitly self-conscious terms. Where Sweet Baby James was great simply because it had some great songs on it, Mud Slide Slim formed a unity in much the same way that Van Morrison's Astral Weeks and Joni Mitchell's Blue do. It was his most distant and least accessible work because so much of it dealt with being distant and seeking distance. But it is in that longing for some new psychic and physical space to grow in that James Taylor, American philosopher, starts to emerge full bloom.
Mud Slide Slim takes its greatest force, as have so many American works of art, from the notion of the search; in this case, for the blue horizon that has eluded so many dreamers before him. At the age of 23, he was already thinking such thoughts as "I'm gonna cash in my hand and pick up on a piece of land/I'm gonna build myself a cabin in the woods/And it's there I'm gonna stay, until there comes a day/When this old world starts changing for the good." For Taylor, a home is a shelter and a shelter is an oasis in the middle of the intolerable corrosion of his physical and psychic environment.
Dealing in searches inevitably leads to statements about destiny and fate, and these are best articulated in the beautiful but disappointingly performed song, "Riding on a Railroad." The album ends with Taylor's best work about the search, "The Highway Song." Again, it too could have been better performed, but its opening verse is among my favorite lyrics in all of rock. Bob Dylan may have announced the apocalypse in bolder terms, more suited to an innocent era, in "The Times They Are A-Changin'." But James Taylor conjures up an infinitely sadder, more realistic picture of the future, played off against a subtler, more original melody, when he sings of his own and everyone's family, and says, "Father, let us build a boat and sail away/There's nothing for you here/And brother let us throw our lot out upon the sea/It's been done before." There is the mandatory statement of belief in the future that is part of the vision of any artistic searcher, but it is a faith based only on necessity. It is a most moving statement of the notion that in the end the only thing we can do is take a chance.
Out of the personal reflection on the closing off of options by society comes a statement about America that seems rooted in Taylor's tradition-bound past, molded by his feeling for religion and austerity, and finalized in the crucible of his private pain. He is singing about the ultimate source of American claustrophobia, the closing of the physical frontier, and with it, the spiritual frontiers that were at once the source of the country's greatness and are now the reason for its decline.
In the end, James Taylor's search inevitably leads him inward, and to the extent that One Man Parade has a theme it is that each of us must find his own happiness because there is no external force or power that can provide us with it. He has stopped questioning and started dealing with his reality. In the process, he has created an album that exudes self-acceptance, exultation, celebration, and personal triumph not unlike (in spirit) Van Morrison's Tupelo Honey or Dylan's inferior New Morning.
Taylor has never been prolific and on Mud Slide Slim he was forced to weave together a number of fragments and incomplete songs that ultimately gave the album greater force than any of its individual moments. One Man Dog follows that process to its conclusion as it sticks in the mind as a single entity, resisting initial efforts to break it down or categorize it in any particular way. In that sense it may be his best album, even though it lacks the high points of Sweet Baby James, just because it sustains the greatest degree of continuity.
By recording in his house, he seems to have gotten a freer instrumental sound than before, although Russ Kunkel's drums regrettably lack the depth of tone found on earlier recordings. As if by compensation, either Danny Kortchmar is finally coming into his own with his jazz-soul-folk-rock guitar playing or I'm just hearing him better. More importantly, Taylor turns in his best singing performance, running through the songs with fire, force, and enthusiasm, the qualities most notable by their absence on earlier recordings.
"One Man Parade" starts right in and never lets up; he sounds like he was standing while singing for the very first time. "Nobody But You," which he describes as a throwaway number, is perfect Top 40, just the right mixture of folk and soul, with a lovely repeating guitar line. "Chili Dog" is perhaps his most successful attempt at humor yet ("I ain't trying to fool youse/Don't bring on no Orange Julius") while "Fool For You" and "Woh, Don't You Know," the album's two rock & roll companion pieces, sound forced by comparison.
Danny Kortchmar's "Back on the Street Again" is lyrically out of place but is such a good song that it works its way right into the pace of things, and "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" shows James reaching for some of that jazz and pop he seems to enjoy so much.
John McLaughlin's "Someone" sounds a bit forced too, but contains a spectacular acoustic guitar solo, and "One Morning in May" is given a good if undisciplined modern interpretation, with excellent support from Linda Ronstadt.
And then we finally get down to business with the album's ten-minute song cycle that begins with the record's best single tune, "Hymn" ("As a man and a woman stand alone in the light/Give us reason to be, like the sun on the sea") and moves through "Fanfare," with its picture of industry gone mad and its conclusion that "... as far as I can see, that doesn't apply to you and me ... we are living in the deep blue sea." The title "Mescalito" seems like an anomaly in this rarefied environment, but the song quickly moves into the realm of the purely religious. And then there is his vision of two people, finally brought together, in the unforgettable line, "It looks like you and me, baby, dancing by the shining sea."
He ends by offering us his invocation, "Come on baby while the moon is high/Pick up your heels and dance ..." and then later, "Pick 'em up and put 'em back down, and around and around and around." It's all there, the earth and ocean, night and day, sun and moon, the opening eyes and the dancing feet. And it will hit you from behind because on the surface it all sounds so simple, and yet underneath the horns — so dazzlingly arranged — and the beautiful rhythm, the voice and the thoughts resonate long after the record is over. And it continues to do so every time I re
star ratingRandom Access Memories
- star ratingModern Vampires of the City
- star ratingTrouble Will Find Me
- star ratingExcuse My French
- star ratingDemi
- star ratingSports (30th Anniversary Edition)
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Rosebank is a distillery that was found in the Lowlands whisky region of Scotland, between the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. The distillery has been closed since 1993, although most of the buildings remain intact and rumours regularly circulate that the current owners, Diageo, will eventually re-open Rosebank for production. Currently, part of the distillery is a restuarant, its car park and a housing development. The stocks of Rosebank whisky are decreasing with time and with this the desirability and prices are increasing. Rosebank is well reknowned within the whisky world and has a cult following of drinkers and collectors alike.
The distillery was originally founded in 1840, although distillation was illegally taking place on the same site as far back as the 1790s. Rosebank operated the triple distillation method (where the spirit gets passed through the stills three times) that was traditionally used in the Lowlands. This is compared to double distillation that occurs in the rest of Scotland. This practice has largely died out and only Auchentoshan of the surviving Lowland distilleries produce whisky that is triple distilled. Rosebank was also affectionately known as 'The Queen of the Lowlands' within the whisky industry.
This bottling is released at 19 years of age by the Glasgow based independent bottling company Douglas Laing & Co. Independent bottlings are one of the best ways to buy Rosebank as Diageo sporadically release the whiskies themselves - usually at 12 and 25 years old. The colour is a pale lemon yellow and the nose is enticing and aromatic with a lovely mix of vanilla, sweet honey, grasses (think of dried hay) and lemons. On the palate, this is creamy and full of that vanilla and honey with a sugary burst at the very beginning (imagine icing or icing sugar). The feeling in the mouth is fresh and delicate with the herbal grassiness and zingy citrus from the nose coming through. With water (this is bottled at 50% ABV so thought I would try it), the nose and palate both become more floral (think of honeysuckle flowers) and scented like a feminine perfume. The finish is short but crisp and refreshing and leaves your mouth watering and wanting more!
This Rosebank is an excellent whisky and the best Rosebank that has been tasted to date. The age has given a great complexity and balance. It is also one of the best whiskies from an independent bottling company that has been tasted. The bottles are limited (just 444 in this batch) but are well worth searching out and buying. It should cost £80 from selected whisky retailers. Truly fantastic stuff.
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God's Word next tells us about Saul and his persecution of the church of holy-people. This is the same Saul who, back in Acts 7:58, was the young man who had been given the responsibility of taking care of the witnesses' outer-garments while Stephen was being stoned. The following events took place about 2 years after that.
Acts 9:1 and 2:
9:1But Saul, yet breathing threatening and murder into the learning-disciples of the Lord, having gone-towards the chief-priest, .2asked-for-himself letters from him into Damascus towards the synagogues so-that if-ever he may find some-people being of the way, both adult-males and women having been bound2 he may lead (them) into Jerusalem.
Saul was still concentrating on his persecution – so-much-so that he was breathing (inhaling and consequently exhaling, as though the following are what kept him physically alive)…
…into or directed-to the students of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He approached the chief/high priest in Jerusalem and petitioned letters giving him permission and authority to go into the synagogues in Damascus, not for Saul to pray to God, but in such a manner that if Saul ever found anybody being of the way (the way of the Lord Jesus Christ), he could bind (tie, fasten) both the men and women and lead (direct, conduct, convey) them with him back into Jerusalem, so as to put them in prison or whatever the religious leaders of Judaism/Israel may decide to do with them.
[Reference: Acts 8:3, 22:4.]
.3But in the journeying it came-to-pass-for him to come-near to Damascus, and suddenly a light out-from heaven lightened-as-lightning-around him, .4and having fallen on the earth he heard a sound saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" .5And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he (said), "I am the Jesus whom you persecute, .6but you must stand-up and you must go into the city and it will be uttered-forth to you the-thing which it is necessary (for) you to do."
As Saul got close to Damascus, unexpectedly absolute-light as lightning (the sudden speedy flash of shining bright light, the quick supplying of light) coming from heaven lit about him.
When he fell down on the ground he heard a sound (voice) which he could understand saying to him: Saul, Saul (repeating his name in Hebrew so there could be no doubt in Saul's mind but that this voice was addressing him!), why do you persecute me (pursue with hostility after me as though I were your enemy)?"
Then Saul wanted to know who was speaking to him and asked the speaker, being very respectful addressing the speaker as Lord (Master, the one with power over him in this situation), who he was? Saul had not 'freaked-out' when this supernatural event was happening because he already knew about God and he thought he was doing God a favor by persecuting the people in the way of the Lord!
However, the sound from heaven replied that emphatically he was Jesus whom Saul was persecuting, whom Saul was pursuing as though he was an enemy.
We should notice that Jesus was truly and really the one whom Saul was persecuting – even though Saul was physically persecuting the holy-people! All holy-people have the spirit of Christ in them, and therefore any wrong done against a holy-person is in truth done against the Lord Jesus Christ who is the head of the church, his body. Refer to Romans 12:4 and 5; First Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 1:19-23 and 3:4-6; Colossians 1:27.
The voice from heaven told Saul that he was Jesus whom he was persecuting – but contrary to persecuting him, Saul must get up off the ground and he must go into the city of Damascus, and there it would be spoken to him what he must do!
Some texts have added words in these verses, but they have been taken from the other sections of Scripture where the Apostle Paul (Saul) tells what happened.
[Reference: Acts 22:1-16, 26:1-23; I Corinthians 15:8. Note: verbs with a superscript 2 (2) immediately following them indicate the "perfect" tense - details are provided in the "Relevant Notes" link of this study.]
A printed paperback book of the complete study of Acts of the Apostles may be purchased at:
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Taking Cuttings from Tomatoes
Earlier in the Spring I was lucky to do a seed swap with Dan at his Urban Veggie Garden in Ontario, Canada. Sadly the unusual Pink Berkeley Tie Dye tomatoes did not germinate but I do have one precious tomato Dixie Golden Giant. It is good practice anyway to remove the side shoots that develop between the leaf joint and the stem. I like to refer to these shoots as 'armpits' and I remove them so that the tomato plants grow up one single stem, or cordon. It is possible to plant these side shoots to multiply your precious plants.
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Back when Mortal Kombat came out in 1992, the infamous head-rip with the spine dangling caused quite the stir for legislators across the country and they demanded a rating system for video games to inform potential buyers of its content. The Electronic Software Ratings Board, or the ESRB, has a rating system similar to that of films where they rate the games based on content and for what age they are appropriate. EC for Early Childhood, E for Everyone, T for Teen, M for Mature and AO for Adults Only are the ESRB’s ratings for some of our favorite games to have come out. But as the gaming industry goes on and societal standards change, the game’s content hasn’t. It remains a time capsule for the standards that were kept back when the game released.
In a recent Kotaku article, Stephen Totilo queried why the re-release of Halo: Combat Evolved got an M for Mature and Batman: Arkham City got a T for Teen. This wouldn’t be confusing if criminals didn’t call Catwoman a “b**ch” consistently throughout the game. Not only that but there are what the ESRB calls Alcohol references, Use of Tobacco, Suggestive Themes and Violence. The most Halo can attest to is Blood and Gore and Violence according to the official ESRB rating on the back of the box. And I can attest that the Blood and Gore in Halo is very mild in comparison to other shooters out there. Hell, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 adds Drug References and Strong Language and it gladly receives an ‘M’ as well. Microsoft was reached for comment on Halo’s re-release rating. “Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is a faithful remake of the original Halo campaign, so it was rated ‘M’ for Mature like the original classic.”
I believe that that is fine and dandy with maintaining the tradition of Halo: Combat Evolved but does the rating for Halo: Combat Evolved in 2001 accurately communicate the content for Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary in 2011 to a potential buyer? I say no; simply due to the fact that the general populace’s standards for violence in video games has changed drastically. Gears of War, released in 2006, was labeled with an M rating and it depicts graphic violence in the form of someone being maimed by a chainsaw and reduced to meaty bits, which doesn’t compare to a puddle of alien blood. So where does Halo fit on the ‘M’ rating?
When asked about Halo’s placement among the other ‘M’ rated games the ESRB had this to say: “The M rating for Halo is undoubtedly at the lower end of the Mature spectrum and the T that Batman: Arkham City received is at the upper end of Teen. It’s always at the border between two categories where there is the greatest divergence of opinion, and that is to be expected… Batman does include suggestive content and potentially offensive language, neither of which in this case warranted a Mature rating… Most of the time it’s a combination of things that are considered within the context of the whole game to make a judgment.” Personally I think that the ESRB and Microsoft should have forsaken tradition and give the re-release of Halo: Combat Evolved a new rating to not only inform the customer but give a representation that violence in games and the ratings have radically changed in the past decade.
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Matt Potter 11:59 a.m., June 19
Working in our brewery, we hear from time to time the popular refrain/war cry “Lets open a Brewery!' We've heard this courageous cry among home brewers, and would be home brewers/entrepreneurs around San Diego for the last few years or so. So what does it take to start brewing some craft beer for our friends on a commercial level? Money? Sure, but the business world is a complicated one, and some techniques should be adhered to, before we put the down payment on our lease and put the boil on.
The initial capital required to start a small brewery (around three to five Hundred thousand dollars) is just the start folks, the expenses do not stop there, and a major overlook by small business is the operating budget for the next fiscal 12 months. When we start up a new company the monthly budget is factored in, therefore eliminating all worry about our rent, additional equipment, and more importantly, our salary. Remembering capital is always around and can be had, allows us to work on our formula, and with numbers in the black, investors invariably show up for the next phase. Having this freedom will free us up to work on our product, to keep sharpening our pencil, and to stay ahead of the game.
I've said it before, “get the right help!” The first impressions of any start up are of most value, and when we are not ready for the deluge of opening night with professional bartenders and the service, we lose customers. The professional beer maker in charge of the brew house, sales reps acquiring new accounts, marketing and advertising, are just the beginning offices needed, for instance, it is not the job of an outside accountant to manage our company's best interests, this would be the CFO’s work. The formulation of a team should be worked on consistently, and in a recession it is an optimum time to do so, lots of help available, and college majors are always looking too. Make relationships for the long term, build the team, and allow them the responsibilities which come with each position, allowing us to work on our business, and not in it it.
Making money is the work of the U.S. Mint, not ours, and in the business world we do not talk about making money, we make numbers, which should work to make bigger numbers. Of course, the real reason to start business at all is to help fulfill a need with our skills, to alleviate the problems we see with our solutions. Helping someone in our immediate village first, whether it be with a quality hand crafted beer, or an apprenticeship in the office or brew house, should be our main objective when starting any enterprise.
Meanwhile back at the brewery, the latest batch of Dunkelweizen tastes wonderful, fruity banana like flavors and cloves, yummy. At the end of the day, this what it is all about, making a righteous product and always working on improving it, complacency being the bane of entrepreneurs. It is proven, opening a Brewery or any other business is copious amounts of work, but the reward pays off with accomplishment, fun is to had too. Be adequately dialed in to the local movers and shakers, and move in the correct orbits with the industry's Guru's, learn from them. When entering business on a professional level, mandatory continued education is suggested, as it will be a lifetime of on the job learning anyway. Cheers, and to our health, which ultimately is our wealth...
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"pompeii - the pomp & glory of a lost city" Pompeii by papul
Pompeii Travel Guide: 980 reviews and 2,702 photos
and so i made it to pompeii. the last i had been intrigued about pompeii was when i was 10, and in a history lesson learnt about this magnificient city that was buried by vesuvius... and in 2004 i stepped into this city, and it was an overwhelming experience. history literally turns me on... every monument i visit or a historical fort that i visit, i keep imagining the emperors or the people of that era, and the fact that amazes me is that on the very spot that i stand, many years ago emperor shah jahan must have stood looking across the yamuna river, or in this case, the people of pompeii must have ran for their lives through these very same streets... it was a conducted tour organized by carrani tours that took me from roma to pompeii...
the town square from which you can see mt. vesuvius is awe-inspiring... i just kept thinking back to the time when the people of pompeii standing at this very spot would have seen the volcano erupt, and the lava flowing down towards them... i could almost hear the screams, the shouts, the chaos... now all replaced by the silence, and the occasional clicks and whirrs of cameras, and hushed guided tour operators speaking in multi-languages... one of the most surreal experience was standing in the house of pliny the elder (whose written account led to the discovery of the buried city)... here was this guy's house who had lived, eaten, in this house... now he is just a name in history... and i was standing in his house... i had the lonely planet with me...and so while i stood in his house, i read aloud his account of the day pompeii had gotten buried... the frescoes on the walls still survive...
the streets of pompeii had these strange stepping stones... they are the world's first zebra crossing!!! the gaps were there so that carriages could cross through... and apparently these stepping stones were the exact measurement with which the metre-gauge railways begun with - the width of the track... the bodies that were displayed - now frozen in time with volcanic ash had anguish and pain written in their expressions - i was told that most of the people who were trapped were either kids or were prisoners / slaves who were left chained by the law / owners who ran away in panic forgetting to unlock them...
- Pros:a historic city frozen in time - has to be seen to be believed
- Cons:if you like seeing things in detail than this city cant be covered in one day... as each house has a story - from the brothels to the bars, from the houses to the streets... so be ready for two trips... but its worth it
the baths at pompeii are very fascinating - most of the frescoes still survive... and the decorative taps and fountain... more travel advice
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The Hoboken Historical Museum will hold another installment of its Tunnel Talks this afternoon.
John Gomez, architectural historian, will speak at 4 p.m. today at the Museum, 1301 Hudson St.
The talk, entitled "Mechanical Moderne: Architectural Innovation and Influence in the Holland Tunnel Ventilation Towers," will focus on the design and function of the towers at either end of the Holland Tunnel. According to the press release, the architect was Norwegian and brought a Scandinavian design sensibility to the project. He also went on to work on other projects for the Port Authority, including the towers for the Lincoln Tunnel.
The Tunnel Talk series is free and open to all. For a preview of Gomez's talk, visit the Museum's website to read his Jersey Journal column.
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October is Orthodox Awareness Month On College Campuses
BROOKLINE, MA -- Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) has designated October as Orthodox Awareness Month to foster an understanding of Orthodox Christianity and educate students on college campuses across North America.
Throughout the month of October, OCF chapters are encouraged to organize activities and programs at their schools, which aim to share our Holy Apostolic Faith with the campus community at large. Events include setting up informational tables and hosting speakers, as well as chapter events compiled by OCF's Student Advisory Board (SAB), which generate interest, such as "Compline & Coffee," "Pizza and Paraklesis," and many others.
"Participating in Orthodox Awareness Month can benefit a local chapter by strengthening their internal bonds and their relationship with their local parish," explains Tanya Schillawski, SAB Praxis Coordinator and student at Northeastern University. "Although the focus is on educating non-Orthodox Christians about the Orthodox Faith, it's also about ourselves learning more so that we can be witnesses of Christ and His Church to the best of our ability."
Students and OCF advisors can download the Orthodox Awareness Month Manual, which contains a step-by-step guide to tabling on campus, ideas for Orthodox 101 session topics and other possible chapter events, OCF North American Programs, and other resources. Included is also a packet entitled, "Presenting Orthodoxy," which provides helpful facts about Orthodoxy and answers to frequently asked questions. All this can be found at www.ocf.net.
For more information:
Tanya Schillawski | SAB Praxis Coordinator
Orthodox Christian Fellowship | www.ocf.net
50 Goddard Avenue, Brookline, MA 02445
Become a Fan of Orthodox Christian Fellowship on Facebook.
Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) is the official collegiate campus ministry program under the North American Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops. Our mission is to support fellowships on college campuses, whose members experience and witness to the Orthodox Christian Church through community life, prayer, service to others and study of the Faith. Our headquarters is located in Brookline, Mass. and supports more than 300 local university chapters across North America. In addition, we provide a variety of thoughtful and innovative programming, including regional training, annual conferences, and domestic and international service programs.
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By Sy Harding
It was pretty much baked in the cake that the economy is slowing so rapidly that the Federal Reserve will have to come to the rescue, possibly as soon as its FOMC meeting next week.
But not so fast.
Friday morning the Commerce Department released the nervously awaited 2nd quarter GDP report. It was expected to show that economic growth, which slowed from 3.0% in the 4th quarter to 1.9% in the 1st quarter, had slowed to 1.3% in the 2nd quarter.
But second quarter GDP slowed only to 1.5%, and the first quarter was revised up from the previously reported 1.9% to 2.0%, while the 4th quarter was revised up significantly, from the previously reported 3.0% to 4.1% growth.
At the same time, the Bureau of Economic Analysis released its annual revision of prior years of GDP growth. The revisions take place each year as later data, like corporate tax returns, becomes available. They showed that 2009, the last year of the 2008-2009 recession, was not quite as negative as previously thought. The BEA revised GDP for 2009 to minus 3.1% instead of the previously reported minus 3.5%. It also revised GDP growth in 2010 and 2011upward, indicating the recovery has been somewhat stronger than previously thought. It revised 2010 growth to +3.0% instead of the previously reported +2.4%, and 2011 to +1.8% from the previously reported +1.7%.
So although the recovery is the 2nd slowest from a recession in the post-war era, it has been somewhat stronger than previously thought, and the stumble in the first half of this year was not quite as severe as has been thought. That’s certainly good news.
But it lowers the odds that the Fed will feel the need to come to the rescue with more stimulus, the hope that has been a major driving force for the market in the face of continuing dismal economic reports, tumbling corporate earnings, and downbeat warnings from some of the world’s largest transportation and industrial companies.
Meanwhile in Europe, on Thursday the president of the European Central Bank triggered a big rally in global markets with just a few words. Taking the microphone at an investment conference he said, “Within our mandate, the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro. And believe me it will be enough.”
Global markets immediately took off in strong rallies, ignoring the addition of still more bad news in individual economic reports like home sales, business spending, and crumbling corporate earnings in Europe and the U.S.
The eurozone debt crisis has been weighing on global confidence for more than two years now. The statement immediately raised hopes that the ECB is preparing to undertake a QE2 type bond-buying program similar to that undertaken by the U.S. Fed in 2010, which served to at least temporarily re-stimulate the U.S. economy from its 2010 stumble.
But wait a minute! European officials have been making similar promises for two years.
Just three weeks ago the European Union emergency summit meeting not only promised to take significant action to control the crisis, but did so. But the confidence that created in markets was very temporary, with Greece soon back on the edge of the cliff, CitiGroup issuing a report this week saying the odds of Greece being dropped from the euro-zone have risen to 90%, and Spain’s borrowing costs rising to new record highs after only a few weeks of relief.
Cracks also quickly showed up in the promises ECB President Draghi made in his statement on Thursday.
On Friday, Germany, the largest and most influential member of the euro-zone, poured a degree of cold water on the hopes for more aggressive action by the ECB. Germany’s central bank, the Deutsche Bundesbank, again reiterated its opposition to further government bond purchases by the European Central Bank, of which it is a key member.
But Friday afternoon it was learned that ECB President Draghi will meet with Bundesbank officials next week in an effort to reach an agreement on major actions the ECB can undertake to keep Dragahi’s promise, and markets spiked up even higher.
In Europe, will the ECB really be able to deliver on its promise to do whatever it takes? It will apparently depend on Germany bending on its long-time opposition.
In the U.S., will the re-surging stock market and better than expected GDP report push off the Fed’s promise to come to the rescue “if needed”? Will markets continue to be able to keep the dismal 2nd quarter earnings reports, and continuation of disappointing 3rd quarter economic reports, pushed into the background?
After three straight days of sharp plunges, markets have now surged back for three straight days. Let’s hope their confidence is not misplaced this time.
Sy Harding is president of Asset Management Research Corp., and editor of the free market blog Street Smart Post. Follow him on twitter @streetsmartpost
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Marmor told us that in order to control the costs of medical care, you have to constrain the price of medical services, the number of those services, or a combination. As the KPCC discussion turned toward cost control, Marmor argued that improving medical quality was not a pre-condition for controlling costs. He then attacked the tax on so-called Cadillac plans, the cost containment solution of the moment. If workers want treatments not covered by their trimmed-down plans, they will have to pay on their own or go without. The expectation is that many will go without, thus reducing the number of medical services people use. It doesn’t do much for the price side of the equation.
On KPCC, Marmor pointed out that when medical personnel are paid for each activity performed, all hell breaks loose if there are no budgets to limit spending or in some way “fiscally constrain the amount [of money] available.” What is striking, Marmor said, is that there has been almost nothing said about these cost-control mechanisms. He mentioned Canada, where residents have what would be considered Cadillac plans in the U.S.—no coinsurance, deductibles, or copayments. Yet that country’s medical expenditures are thirty to fifty percent less than ours.
Leonhardt countered that the political reality meant the U.S. was not going to build a health system from scratch, so cost containment strategy centers on throwing “lots and lots of cost reduction ideas on the wall and hope that one of them sticks.” Ah! The spaghetti-on-the-wall approach. Makes perfect sense, except if premiums are unaffordable for your family.
Before more Americans are misled into thinking that affordable, quality health care is around the corner, the press needs to set the record straight and bring some new voices into the mix. Here’s one time where balance is appropriate. I’d even settle for some “he said, she said” on this one.
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Dutch thriller "APP", about a mysterious personal assistant application that takes over mobile phones, requires viewers for the first time to look at their smartphones in the cinema to view extra footage.
In the film, nefarious app "Iris"—which happens to be the name of the personal assistant found on Apple's iPhone, Siri, written backwards—takes control of the smartphone of the heroine, 21-year-old psychology student Anna.
"We wanted to make a film about mobile phones, about how the technology can turn on us," Edvard van 't Wout of production company 2CFilm told AFP at a press viewing on Wednesday.
Van 't Wout says this is the first time that such "second screen" technology has been used in a cinema.
The film begins with a parody of the typical request from cinemas and asks viewers to "kindly to turn on their mobile phones".
Similar technology has however been used in films to be viewed at home.
The idea behind "APP" is simple: viewers download application software to their smartphones or tablets and activate it in the cinema.
Film content within the app is activated at specific points in the film thanks to inaudible signals in the soundtrack.
Viewers see silent plot elements appear on their smartphones: text messages between the film's heroine and her best friend, a newspaper story about a suicide on the big screen or what the heroine herself is seeing on her phone.
The thriller, rated for 12-year-olds and over, can be watched without a second screen, but "you lose out," director Bobby Boermans told AFP.
Boermans says creating the film was a bit like "having to write two scripts."
Some shots in the film were deliberately lengthened in editing to allow viewers time to digest the small-screen information before turning back to the big screen.
The film is due out in the Netherlands on April 4 and is set to be dubbed into English for foreign release.
Explore further: Steve Jobs bio film set for April release
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The more we learn about nutrition, the more we understand the dangers of eating too much highly processed food. Think of it like going to too many loud rock concerts — over time we damage our hearing and can never regain our ability to hear certain sounds. When we eat too much highly processed food, we damage our bodies and lose the ability to correctly direct what we eat to where our bodies need it. This is particularly true for sugar. Learn more on this segment of The Dr. Oz Show.
The #1 Food You Need to Lose
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Wheels Turning Inward is a rich collection of over fifty poems, following a poet’s mythic and spiritual journey that begins and ends in Christ, but crosses easily onto the paths of many other contemplative traditions. Ultimately, this is a journey of discovering a keen sense of spiritual community through a meditative dialog with the Divine. Each poem is a reflection and a remembrance of this dialog, arising out of a conversation that is deep and true, a conversation grounded in a sacramental practice of stillness, silence, peace, and unity celebrating the holiness of all creation.
Through the poet’s voice and eyes, we catch sight of the clear longing of God for all humankind, and the true value of relationships through which we come to know and become known by this mystery. Every poem will gently guide the reader on a journey that leads to an awareness of the sacred calling out to life. Celebrating life in the first breath of an infant, in the bright smile of a little girl, and in the light of creation reflected within the innocent eyes of a small boy. It may also appear in the complex song of a mockingbird mending together the deepest sorrows of the world, or in the angels we give birth to every day.
These poems touch and awaken the compassion inherent in every human heart, and remind us that God’s presence, however, we may imagine God, may be found within our own breath. In each single breath we take. Breathe Deeply. Turn Inward.
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“No great variety of faces for you,” said Emma. “I had only my own family to study from. There is my father—another of my father—but the idea of sitting for his picture made him so nervous, that I could only take him by stealth; neither of them very like therefore. Mrs. Weston again, and again, and again, you see. Dear Mrs. Weston! always my kindest friend on every occasion. She would sit whenever I asked her. There is my sister; and really quite her own little elegant figure!—and the face not unlike. I should have made a good likeness of her, if she would have sat longer, but she was in such a hurry to have me draw her four children that she would not be quiet. Then, here come all my attempts at three of those four children;—there they are, Henry and John and Bella, from one end of the sheet to the other, and any one of them might do for any one of the rest. She was so eager to have them drawn that I could not refuse; but there is no making children of three or four years old stand still you know; nor can it be very easy to take any likeness of them, beyond the air and complexion, unless they are coarser featured than any of mama’s children ever were. Here is my sketch of the fourth, who was a baby. I took him as he was sleeping on the sofa, and it is as strong a likeness of his cockade as you would wish to see. He had nestled down his head most conveniently. That’s very like. I am rather proud of little George. The corner of the sofa is very good. Then here is my last,”—unclosing a pretty sketch of a gentleman in small size, whole-length—“my last and my best—my brother, Mr. John Knightley.—This did not want much of being finished, when I put it away in a pet, and vowed I would never take another likeness. I could not help being provoked; for after all my pains, and when I had really made a very good likeness of it—(Mrs. Weston and I were quite agreed in thinking it very like)—only too handsome—too flattering—but that was a fault on the right side—after all this, came poor dear Isabella’s cold approbation of—“Yes, it was a little like—but to be sure it did not do him justice.” We had had a great deal of trouble in persuading him to sit at all. It was made a great favour of; and altogether it was more than I could bear; and so I never would finish it, to have it apologised over as an unfavourable likeness, to every morning visitor in Brunswick Square;—and, as I said, I did then forswear ever drawing any body again. But for Harriet’s sake, or rather for my own, and as there are no husbands and wives in the case at present, I will break my resolution now.”
Mr. Elton seemed very properly struck and delighted by the idea, and was repeating, “No husbands and wives in the case at present indeed, as you observe. Exactly so. No husbands and wives,” with so interesting a consciousness, that Emma began to consider whether she had not better leave them together at once. But as she wanted to be drawing, the declaration must wait a little longer.
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Legal services outsourcing (“LSO”) is transforming the legal marketplace. The economic recession of 2007-2009 forced corporate counsel to innovate their procurement of services and reevaluate why they were procuring them. The days when corporations relied exclusively on the service of law firms are over, replaced by creative fee structures, heightened price bidding by those firms, and specialized LSO.
LSO refers to the corporate practice of establishing strategic partnerships with third-party legal service providers to work either directly with general counsel or in a tripartite relationship with both the client and its outside counsel. Already robust, the LSO market continues to evolve rapidly, driven by both market necessity and changing perceptions of the practice itself.
In order to understand more thoroughly both these changes and the legal issues they raise, I turned to Leah Cooper, Director, Legal Services Outsourcing for CPA Global, an international provider of outsourced legal services. Ms. Cooper made headlines in 2009 when, as Managing Attorney of international mining group Rio Tinto, she outsourced that company’s document review, drafting, and legal research to CPA Global. Rio Tinto quickly realized benefits – an estimated $14 million in saved legal spending within months. Such a figure requires every corporate Legal Department to consider how it manages its resources and whether LSO is a proper fit for its needs.
According to research done in conjunction with the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Awards, 43% of corporations and 72% of surveyed law firms were currently outsourcing, planned to in the future or were open to the possibility. Thirty three percent (33%) outsource litigation-related document review. A separate survey conducted by European Lawyer found that 61% rely on LSO for assistance with M&A transactions. Ms. Cooper cites the following as major sectors for the LSO market: technology; telecommunications; healthcare; pharmaceuticals; and especially financial services, where banks are cutting costs as a result of unprecedented amounts of legal work.
The figures quoted above are in large measure the result of changing perceptions of LSO. As corporations have realized quantifiable cost savings, LSO has become a best practice among corporate counsel. Only 3% of corporations and 11% of law firms identify the quality of work as their main barrier to outsourcing legal services, an extraordinary decline from the past. For law firms in particular, outdated perceptions for years remained a serious psychological—and self-serving business—barrier when it came to advising their clients whether to outsource legal services. In recent years, however, law firms have discovered that their clients have taken control of such decisions, and with great attendant cost savings and increases in efficiency.
Many law firms have also come to realize that LSO providers work synergistically with them to the benefit of the client. As Ms. Cooper told me, “the word ‘outsourcing’ is something of a misnomer. We’re not talking about lifting and shifting a department or function. It’s about working collaboratively. ‘Legal Services Integration’ is probably a more accurate description.” The key in this equation is that each spoke in the wheel—each process—be performed by the party with the greatest comparative advantage, as discussed below.
Corporate counsel are no longer merely lawyers within the organizational structure; rather, their role has long since evolved into a business one that allows—and often demands—that they contribute to corporate strategy and growth. Costs and desired efficiencies remain the primary motivators for outsourcing legal services. Yet corporate counsel must now view LSO as a strategic value proposition the benefits of which inure not only to the Legal Department, but to the company as a whole by putting the right people in the right place doing the right thing both (i) internally and (ii) with outside counsel and LSO providers. This is a simple matter of specialization. As Ms. Cooper states, associates at law firms may be able to do the low-level work typically outsourced to LSOs, “but it’s not a core function of their job – often they’re pulled in to help out, but would prefer to be working on something else. Clients recognize the value of giving these sorts of tasks to a professional who specializes in the work and whose sole role is to do the job, and do it well.”
Focusing on players’ respective comparative advantages allows corporations to realize significant strategic and operational benefits. According to Ms. Cooper, “in the area of document review, we have delivered savings of up to 80% for clients versus the cost of review performed by their retained counsel.” My follow-up focused on how corporations could realize the sort of short-term savings that Rio Tinto did.
Most obvious is where [corporations] are sending out work to their external counsel that simply doesn’t have to be done by the law firm. Such work includes document and contract review, litigation support and legal research, where the client is being charged around $300 an hour for a junior associate to handle the work when we can do it for significantly less and often better and more efficiently because we are doing that sort of work day in, day out. [LSO providers] are also able to help [clients] introduce processes to centralize and standardize much of the way in which their legal work is handled, enabling them to do more with less by not having to reinvent the wheel every time they do something that maybe someone around the globe has already done. With greater standardization comes greater cost savings.
She added that specialization is particularly important to achieve scale quickly when it’s needed most.
In a big litigation matter or regulatory review, the work is subject to sudden and dramatic peaks that corporate legal departments and their external counsel may not be able to handle. For a law firm, it’s often all hands on deck, with associates being pulled from one practice to another just because they need more bodies. You might end up with people from the real estate practice working on an environmental case.
Almost every law firm associate has experienced this unnecessary phenomenon. LSO providers can scale up quickly with legal professionals who are subject matters experts, as well as respond to changes in project scope on short notice.
Legal Issues Raised by LSO
LSO raises a variety of legal issues, two of which require the close attention of corporate counsel: (i) attorney-client privilege, and (ii) data security in light of both common law and (especially) statutory requirements as to how client data must be treated and its security ensured, matters complicated by industry-specific laws.
Ensuring attorney-client privilege must remain on any LSO checklist given the nature of the working relationship between the client, outside counsel, and the LSO provider. Even as a third party, the provider’s role is akin to that of any other member of the in-house team to which work might be delegated. On the law firm side, says Ms. Cooper, “the lawyer assigning the work is ultimately responsible. Liability rests with the client.” As I have argued elsewhere, one cannot overstate the importance of memorializing contractually the precise nature of such relationships, as well as the parties’ explicit understanding of where liability lies should the issue arise.
The question of data security also requires close examination given the cross-border nature of many LSO relationships. The list of countries both served by and hosting LSO providers is a long one. Ms. Cooper advises any potential outsourcer to assure itself that “the strictest levels of security” are maintained across LSO operations. LSO providers that take quality seriously should be certified by the International Organization of Standardization (“ISO”), especially for operational quality (ISO 9001) and management control of information security (ISO 27001).
A Strategic “Must”
LSO is here to stay. Case studies showing significant cost savings and increased efficiency have put LSO squarely front and center on corporate counsel’s list of strategic “musts.” Corporate counsel restrained by tight budgets and quality assurance concerns must deploy limited resources so as to maximize comparative advantage. Careful coordination with the proper LSO provider to examine closely the company’s needs and capabilities is a wise first step toward meeting that goal.
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LITURGICAL SINGING; High Standard of the Convent of the Sacred Heart--Art and Economics
By OLIN DOWNES. ();
June 14, 1931,
, Section Arts & Leisure, Page X8, Column , words
IT is heartening to realize that standards of music study are constantly improving in this country. It must be added imme diately that there is a crying need of further development in this field.
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Rules of the road: Big rigs' speed limit and lane use
09/07/2012 03:25:04 PM PDT
03/10/2013 10:32:50 AM PDT
Speed limit for 18-wheelers is 55 mph on most roads. It is 35 mph over Highway 17 for all trucks. Lane use: On a road with four or more lanes in one direction, trucks must remain in the two lanes to the right. Lane use: On a road with three or fewer lanes in one direction, trucks must remain in far right lane except to pass. Carpool lane: Two-axle delivery trucks can be driven in far left lanes and in carpool lane as long as there are two or more people inside. Three-axle trucks are never allowed in the HOV lane. Banned: No trucks allowed on Interstate 580 through Oakland and on Highway 85 from Highway 101 in South San Jose to I-280 in Cupertino.
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The head of Indonesia's Catholic church has announced that he will not participate in the election of the next pope, citing his ailing health.
Cardinal Julius Riyadi Darmaatmadja, 78, told Hidup Katolik, an Indonesian Catholic magazine, that his eyesight was failing and that he would not be able to handle reading the "texts, materials, rules, and so on" necessary for the event.
"My strength had deteriorated, my ability to read weakened. Those tasks require strength, speed and agility," he said.
"I ask forgiveness from the Catholic Church of Indonesia, that I cannot represent [the country] in this very important event."
Darmaatmadja's decision brings down to 116 the number of cardinals below the age of 80, who are qualified to vote for the successor of Pope Benedict XVI.
Benedict is scheduled to officially resign on February 28 at 19:00 GMT.
Earlier in the week, the Vatican said the pope may change rules governing the conclave that will secretly elect his successor, a decision that could fast track the meeting of cardinals in Rome.
Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said on Wednesday that Benedict was considering issuing a "Motu Proprio," a personal document, which has the force of church law, in regards to the changes.
The rule changes could mean that the conclave could start before March 15, which is currently the earliest it can begin.
The Vatican appears to be aiming to have a new pope installed before Palm Sunday on March 24, so he can preside at Holy Week services leading to Easter on March 31.
Some in the church believe that an early conclave would give an unfair advantage to cardinals already in Rome and
working in the Curia, the Vatican's central administration.
"A short period before a conclave helps the curial cardinals in Rome operating on their home turf," said Father Tom Reese, an expert at Georgetown University and author of several books on the Vatican.
"The longer the pre-conclave period, the more time non-curial cardinals have to talk to each other and to get to know each other.
"The longer the period prior to the conclave, the less dependent outside cardinals are on the curial cardinals."
During the conclave, cardinals are not allowed to communicate in any way with the outside world, nor are they allowed to listen to radio, watch television, make phone calls or use the internet.
Benedict has hand-picked more than half the men who will elect his successor. The rest were chosen by the late Pope John Paul II.
A number of cardinals have said they would be open to the possibility of a pope from the developing world.
"I can imagine taking a step towards a black pope, an African pope or a Latin American pope," Cardinal Kurt Koch, a Swiss Vatican official, told the Reuters news agency in an interview last week.
Of the 116 electors left, 61 are from Europe. Italy, the largest national group, will have 28 cardinals, up from 20 at the last conclave in 2005.
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By JOANN S. LUBLIN And SPENCER E. ANTE
There's a power struggle underway in Silicon Valley. At stake: Power itself.
Over the past two years, one of the most influential venture-capital firms has turned the usual rules of start-up investing on its head. Andreessen Horowitz is telling entrepreneurs it prefers situations where the founders have controlling stakes, reckoning that they'll be better able to resist outside distraction and focus on making great products.
The firm—which controls a $2.7 billion war chest and invested in Facebook Inc., Zynga Inc. and Groupon Inc., —has naturally won support from entrepreneurs. One of its champions includes Jason Goldberg, the co-founder and CEO of online design retailer Fab.com Inc., which raised $40 million in an investing round led by Andreessen in December.
But Andreessen's approach is also exposing a rift in Silicon Valley, where a group of young and relatively untested entrepreneurs have maintained control over their rapidly growing companies. For now, venture investors are relatively content with the arrangement, as they've made immense sums along the way. The growing worry is that the setup leaves investors little recourse if a highly empowered CEO goes off track.
Craig Walker, co-founder and CEO of Firespotter Labs, a technology incubator, said it feels unnatural to bestow so much voting power on one executive. "That's the reason you have a board," Mr. Walker explains. "We both win if we work together.''
In the early days of venture capital, when money was scarce, entrepreneurs often gave up control of their company in exchange for their first investment funds. In 1957, computer maker Digital Equipment Corp. gave up 70% of the company to American Research & Development Corp. in exchange for $70,000 in venture capital and a $30,000 loan from the early venture firm.
In the 1990s Internet boom, easy money helped founders maintain more control early in a company's evolution, but founder CEOs without voting control often got replaced by a professional manager ahead of an IPO.
This time around, technology entrepreneurs are being more assertive. Facebook went public in May with two classes of stock that give founder and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg about 57% of the voting power even though he only owns about 28% of the shares. Zynga went public last December with three classes of stock. Groupon went public in November with two classes of stock.
Google Inc. ignited the current trend by adopting a dual-class voting structure before its IPO in 2004. Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt now control nearly 66% of the voting power. Last month, the company won shareholder approval to create a third class of shares —one with no votes.
About 14% of the technology firms that have held initial public offerings between January 2011 and the end of June 2012 went public with at least two share classes—more than twice the 6.4% that did so in 1999 and 2000, according to an analysis for The Wall Street Journal by Jay R. Ritter, a finance professor at University of Florida's business school.
Mark Siegel, managing director at venture capital firm Menlo Ventures, which has managed more than $4 billion since 1976, said it's a matter of supply and demand. There is so much money chasing hot deals that founders are able to command better terms, he said.
Sometimes it makes sense to insulate entrepreneurs from pressure to make money while they build their products, Mr. Siegel said. But he said the pendulum has swung too far, making it harder to change faltering CEOs if necessary for the good of the company.
"That's why you have a board," he said. "Most people want to know management is accountable."
Venture capital is increasingly becoming a winner-take-all business, with the top 10 firms raising 69% of funds in the first half of 2012, according to Dow Jones VentureSource, which like The Wall Street Journal is owned by News Corp.
Marquee investments in companies like Facebook make a big difference when firms are out building their war chests, putting pressure on them to get in on hot deals.
When seeking new investment, founders negotiate over control and the value put on their companies. Andreessen Horowitz has muscled its way into the top ranks of VC firms since its 2009 debut in part by being generous on both fronts.
"We are encouraging all of our companies to put in place a dual-class share structure if and when they go public,'' said Marc Andreessen, a general partner at the firm, which has taken stakes in 156 tech enterprises over the past three years.
Mr. Andreessen said he used to see things different. Netscape and Opsware, which he helped found, went public with single-class share structures in 1995 and 2001, respectively. But the dramatic rise of activist hedge funds, pressure from short sellers and the risk of disruptive hostile takeovers gradually changed his mind.
"It is unsafe to go public today without a dual-class share structure,'' Mr. Andreessen said. When Andreessen Horowitz invests in a technology company run by the founder, "I feel better if another investor can't topple that person,'' said Ben Horowitz, Mr. Andreessen's co-founder.
Critics often acknowledge that view, but they also warn the setup insulates management in a way that could hurt shareholders at key moments like takeovers, when executives' interests and investors' interests may not be perfectly aligned.
"We have seen the damage that this share structure can cause over the long run,'' said Anne Sheehan, head of corporate governance for California State Teachers' Retirement System, a big public pension fund.
Succession is another area where CEOs and shareholders could find themselves on opposite sides, said Greg McAdoo of venture capital firm Sequoia Capital. "Shareholder voting power in more traditional capital structures affords shareholder considerable protection against these situations," he said. "Dual-class structures can substantially reduce (if not eliminate) these protections."
Fab's Mr. Goldberg doesn't currently have control over the company, but he's negotiating for it now. The company is out raising money again, and Mr. Goldberg said his investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, support creating a new dual-class voting structure that gives him control after the round closes as long as he stays CEO.
"We have an agreement from investors to support us on creating a dual class structure," he said.
Founders can't demand such concessions unless their companies are doing well. In just a year of operations, Fab has signed up nearly 5 million members, sold 1.8 million products as of June, and this year expects to do $140 million in sales.
Not all of Andreessen Horowitz's companies hope to create a dual class structure. Aaron Levie, co-founder and CEO of online storage provider Box Inc., said he is in favor of the idea but it isn't a priority.
Last October, Box announced it raised $81 million in venture capital from a number of firms including Andreessen Horowitz. Mr. Levie believes the jury is still out on whether dual class structures are a good idea.
While in theory founder control can add a lot of efficiency to decision making, the risk for shareholders is that the CEO then makes the wrong call.
"I don't think we've seen it enough in practice to know the real value," Mr. Levie said.
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4. Morale loss at home due to larger numbers of young females returning home dead... This may sound chauvanistic to some - and perhaps it is... but emotionally we, as a society, are more shocked by the death of a young woman than we are by the death of a young man ... Both are tragic, and both are equally painful to the family, but society as a whole is more willing to accept the loss of a male soldier than a female one... This can lead to loss of morale - or equally possible - heightened anger at the enemy - resulting in escalation...
I have to agree with these two points. When I was a Combat Engineer, there were times were I had to carry my SAW, a 30 pound rucksack of gear, a 20 pound demolision bag, and one or two 40 pound shape or cratering charges... and come out of our M113 RUNNING, at night, in the woods, for hundreds of yards at a time.It is not work for Gloria from Tiffanys Manhattan.
But, if a woman has the physical ability, I'd say let her do it. It might be trouble... maybe a LOT of trouble... at first. But, eventually things would settle down.
I can imagine an infantry company of 100 people, with 95 guys and 5 women being very tense sexually, with 90% of the guys being 18 to 24 years old. I was 23 when I went in and was the Grandpa of my basic training. Of like 100 guys, I was one of like 6 or 7 that were old enough to buy liquor. I think everyone, except young men, that young men are extremely Stupid.
I also agree that if women were lost in hand to hand fighting, or captured, the New media would crucify the military in the Court of Public Appeal.
So be it.
Let women fight.
However, the military already has different expectations for females.
The PT test requires less then half the number of push ups and sit ups for women compared to men of the same age.
Our country and its government are 2 separate entities. They are not the same thing, though the powers-that-be are thrilled when people think they are the same. Indeed, the propaganda ALWAYS blends the two and makes them indistinguishable.
Edited by DieChecker, 30 November 2012 - 06:53 AM.
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Merck halts Vioxx sales
By Rita Rubin, USA TODAY
The maker of blockbuster pain reliever Vioxx said Thursday that it is voluntarily withdrawing the drug because of new data showing it increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
This is one of the largest-ever withdrawals of a drug, says the Food and Drug Administration's Steven Galson. Drugmaker Merck (MRK) says 84 million people worldwide have taken the heavily promoted drug, available in the USA since May 1999. About 2 million Americans are on Vioxx, Galson says. "We have been concerned and aware of the potential for cardiovascular effects for the last few years," he says. "This is not a total surprise."
The news hit Merck's stock hard. It fell 27% to close at $33, wiping out $27 billion in market value.
In August, an FDA-funded analysis involving Kaiser Permanente patients found more heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths among people taking Vioxx than among those on Celebrex or on conventional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen and aspirin.
In November 2000, Merck published a study in The New England Journal of Medicine that found a higher rate of heart attacks in patients assigned to Vioxx than those assigned to naproxen (an NSAID sold as Aleve). Because of that finding, the FDA in April 2002 required a new warning on the Vioxx label.
Vioxx, Celebrex and Bextra are the three so-called COX-2 inhibitors on the U.S. market. Drugmakers say they treat arthritis pain but are less irritating to the gastrointestinal tract than traditional NSAIDs. At least two other COX-2 inhibitors — including Merck's Arcoxia, already sold in 47 other countries — are in the pipeline.
"It is important to note that the results of clinical studies with one drug in a given class are not necessarily applicable to others in a class," says Peter Kim, president of Merck Research Laboratories.
The implications of the Vioxx withdrawal for other COX-2 inhibitors aren't yet clear. Merck says the new data — from a three-year study comparing Vioxx with a placebo in 2,600 patients with colon polyps — showed a higher risk of heart attacks and stroke only after 18 months of use. None of the other COX-2 drugs have data for longer than a year, Galson says.
"It's too early for me to say right now how we're going to change our requirements for the future, but, obviously, we're going to be more interested in long-term data," he says.
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Who We Serve
The Center for Hmong Studies is here for Hmong and non-Hmong alike interested in the field of Hmong Studies.
We have served students, teachers, business people, institutions and members of the community at large in our programming and lecture series. Since January of 2006, over two thousand individuals have visited the Center for Hmong Studies. We have had the pleasure of receiving visitors from Germany, China, Japan, Australia and throughout the United States.
Reflections from individuals who have worked with the Center for Hmong Studies, attended our events or visited?
?I am very pleased to have been member of the Advisory Board and involved in many of the Center?s activities, such as public lecture and the First International Conference on Hmong Studies. For me, the Center for Hmong Studies represents the transition of the Hmong from pre-literacy to literacy. It is a center for students and scholars to do research and expand the knowledge base of the Hmong and their experience. It provides a forum for intellectual discussion and dialogue. It houses literature related to the field of Hmong studies and serves as an institute where knowledge about the Hmong can be learned, examined, explored and disseminated. The CHS is the first step toward the future and more programs. As Confucius said, ?A journey of thousand miles begins with a single step.?
Kou Yang, Ed.D.
Associate Professor of Asian American Studies
California State University, Stanislaus
?When I first learned that the Center for Hmong Studies was to be created, I was very excited because I have dreamed for a long time to see such a center established in the Twin Cities which have become a new home for tens of thousands Hmong refugees from Laos. I believe, indeed, that the Center for Hmong Studies will contribute to keep our Hmong cultural heritage alive in this land of freedom and hospitality.?
Dr. Yang Dao
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
From ?The Center for Hmong Studies: A Treasure of Resources?
Having a Center focused on academics and research on the Hmong is a great idea! It makes perfect sense to have a center based in the Twin Cities, which harbors the largest number of Hmong living in the U.S. Having such a center can only help to instill interest in both Hmong and non-Hmong students about the Hmong, The last time I attended an event there, I was excited to see so many students come out for a lecture! I'm glad that we have a place where we can study about our own culture and history!?
Lucie Passus, Communications
Saint Paul, Minnesota
?The Hmong Center is a conscientious, intentional purposeful place to memorialize our collective history as we formulate who we are in relation to each other and respective adopted countries. I have attended the community Open House, Dr. Yang Tinghsua?s lecture, Dr. Gary Yia Lee?s discussion of the contemporary Hmong identity and various other programs of the Hmong Center. It warms the heart and reassures the mind that we are making great progress as a Hmong people.?
Der Yang, Esquire
Saint Paul, Minnesota
?I went to the Professor from China?s lecture with my older sister. I didn?t think it would be interesting. I went because she wanted me to hear the first lecture of my life on Hmong people. I sat there and I saw the professor, so authentically Chinese and Hmong, and I knew how lucky I was. It is so cool that there is a place that would bring a professor all the way from China to come and speak on Hmong. It?s who I am. It is the first time I heard my people spoken of in such a way.?
Xue L. Yang, Student
?I like the idea of a place that will bring Hmong people from all around the world together to think on who we are. In the work that I do, more people usually means more work: more work means that things are getting done, or at the very least: some formal recognition of attention to the issues at hand. This is exciting. A place that will call work to be done.?
Meng Vang, Mental Health Therapist
Saint Paul, Minnesota
?This Center for Hmong Studies is only as good as we make it! What I mean is that we need to utilize it, be involved in it, and support it both financially and emotionally. We cannot and should not just raise money to erect it and fill it with books, pictures and documents to enrich our lives and the lives of others?if done right, the Center can prove to be a very important focal point for all Hmong throughout the world to connect and enrich each other?s lives. It is unlimited what we can share. We can share music, history, words of compassions and hope; we can share knowledge to help Hmong farmers in China, Laos, and Thailand to increase the yield per hectare of land they are farming. Thereby increasing the amount of food they can put on their tables and possibly surplus that can be sold in new markets to bring them some much needed cash flow. This cash flow will than provide medicine, clothing, shoes, education, and other necessities for their families. These are the tangibles that we can measure.?
General Vang Pao
Translated Speech from June 28, 2005
Statement for Concordia University?St. Paul?s Center for Hmong Studies Open House
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Many industries across the globe have been severely affected by the ongoing fallout from the global financial crisis. In some cases, entire sectors of manufacturing have seen closures and cutbacks due to falling demand for their products.
The motor industry across the world has seen fuel costs rise, which has severely affected drivers in real financial terms. This led to an initial slowdown in sales, where people were looking to keep their existing vehicle on the road for longer, whilst putting off the prospect of making new purchases. Some sectors of the automotive industry have held up well and are now leading the recovery in terms of sales. Commercial vehicles, especially modern pick-ups, have experienced a real boom in production and subsequent sales across the world.
With the launch of 'The Steed', an iconic pick-up model from Chinese manufacturers Great Wall in 2012, the company became the first from China to make a significant impact in the United Kingdom. Domestically, the specific range already had a one-third market share and more than 700,000 have been sold worldwide through outlets in over 100 countries to date.
The success of Great Wall's pick-up range is just one example of an increasing trend of motor vehicle sales overall. This trend seems to point towards an extremely promising future for the industry as activity picks up throughout 2013.
There are many logical reasons why the manufacture and sales of commercial vehicles, in particular pick-ups, should be leading the revival in industrial manufacturing and sales across the nations. Advances in both the design and construction of the vehicles must be playing a significant role. However, evolving tastes and a willingness on the part of buyers to accept new types of vehicle is also a significant factor, especially in the UK market.
The more traditional 'enclosed van' has been the vehicle of choice for numerous commercial buyers for many years in the UK and other European countries. In contrast, the pick-up style has had a wider reach as the working vehicle used by many trades and businesses in other countries. Modern pick-up models, such as Great Wall commercial vehicles, often far exceed the specifications found in other modern vans. Leather interiors with heated seats come as standard, yet they’re far above the level which most people working in the UK have come to expect from their commercial vehicles.
Additional equipment such as Bluetooth, hands-free mobile phone connectivity comes as standard in Great Wall vehicles. This is primarily because the standard of comfort and consideration to safety, given both to the driver and passenger, are central aspects of the overall design.
Performance is also one of the main reasons for the popularity in pick-up sales. It has recently become common for 4x4 trucks used in a work environment to share the same kind of advanced capabilities that SUVs and other high-end vehicles have offered for some time. So, whilst motor vehicle sales look set to continue leading the economic recovery in 2013, companies such as Great Wall are playing their part by offering state-of-the-art models at extremely competitive prices.
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Volume 3, Issue 4 (April 2006)
Fatigue Strength in Presence of Inhomogeneities: Influence of Constraint
The effect of defects on the entity of the fatigue limit is nowadays well known and is demonstrated to be equivalent to the nonpropagating condition of short cracks. The influence of constraint at the defect tip has been addressed in the present paper considering a mild steel whose mechanical behavior has been experimentally determined together with the propagation threshold values for long cracks. The activity has first dealt with the determination of the Kitagawa diagram by means of fatigue limit tests using specimens containing micro-notches with different shapes (drilled holes and narrow slits). Experimental results showed a significant influence of the defect shape on the fatigue limit and thresholds. In order to understand the reasons, defects have then been analyzed by elasto-plastic FEM analyses. Computational results have confirmed a significant difference in the global constraint factor at the crack tip between round and narrow defects.
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Former Ronald McDonald Turns Vegetarian Activist
"I want to apologize for participating in helping to brainwash North America's young people into doing something that I know now to be contrary to the purpose of life." For almost four years, starting in 1978, Geoffrey Giuliano played Ronald McDonald for McDonald's of Canada and the Marvellous Magical Burger king in the Northeastern United States. Both are performing clowns whose purpose is to enhance the image of the two largest worldwide fast-food (hamburger) restaurant franchises. He made appearances for Burger King in medieval attire, singing, dancing and doing magic tricks. As Ronald, he made commercials and personal appearances and opened new McDonald's restaurants, presenting the "Ronald McDonald Safely Show" for kids.
Ten years later, he was watching TV when he saw an anti-smoking ad starring the man who played the rough and tough, macho Marlboro Man. This actor, having sold cigarettes all his life, was diagnosed with emphysema, a severe lung disease caused primarily by cigarette smoking. The similarity in their two situations inspired Giuliano to create a non-profit show starring himself as "an antimaterial, kind of a spiritual Ronald McDonald" who would teach kids vegetarian, nonviolent values and morals while entertaining them with magic, music and fun.
Born in Rochester, New York in 1953, Giuliano did bit parts in movies and commercials as a child. He became a member of Equity and played many roles through the years - a courtier in the Elizabethan Court (at Studio Arena), Mr. Goldstone in "Gypsy" (at a dinner theater in St. Petersbury, Florida) even Buddha (in London) where he appeared in "Siddharta" with Who guitarist Peter Townsend. In 1978, he graduated from New York State University with a masters degree in acting, a wife and two kids, huge student loans to pay back, and a desperate need for a job. Despite his credentials, the only audition he could get was for the Marvellous Magical Burger King.
"It was the only opportunity that presented itself to me. My beliefs were mine. If the whole rest of the world wants to kill a cow and eat it, then let them do it as long as I don't participate. That's how I justified it."
After a successful stint as the Burger king, he was hired over 600 other clowns to represent McDonald's of Canada. He enjoyed a $50,000 yearly salary, a chauffer-driven limousine, a private chef, a penthouse office with a personal secretary. People asked for his autograph. After two years of this, he quit.
"I was doing a safety show for kids, when I found a memo that said 'The purpose of the Ronald McDonald Safely Show is to increase the awareness of McDonald's goods, services and products.' I thought to myself, 'Wait a minute pal, I thought the purpose was to help children.' That was the end of it. I let it go."
Geoffrey Giuliano loves children. He can make them smile. Ronald McDonald made regular visits to the terminally ill children at the Children's Hospital in Toronto. On one visit, a nurse said, "Oh don't go in there. He's too far gone.' And I said, 'Well, if he's so far gone and deep in a coma, what can it hurt?' So I went in and I tweaked his nose and I did a little magic trick and I whispered in his ear and I grabbed his hand, and I swear to God, he came out of his coma, and he smiled. It was unbelievable."
"I would do shows. All the shows were free. And there were kids there that never got to see any shows. They'd run up to me and they'd cry and they'd laugh...the children were wonderful. That's what kept me going. I knew the company [had ulterior motives], but I felt I was doing something good."
New Life Begins
Giuliano met his guru in 1980 at a Hare Krishna temple in Toronto, in the middle of his McDonald's career. Deeply impressed with the purity and devotion of "this little Indian sannyasin," he took initiation and was accepted as a disciple by His Divine Grace B.H. Mangalniloy Maharaj of the Sri Chaitaniya Gaudiya Math, who gave him the name Sriman Jagannatha Dasa Adikari. His wife, Vrinda Rani, also took initiation. Together, they are raising their four children as vegetarian Hindus.
Geoffrey Giuliano today is the author of several successful books about contemporary music personalities. "I live in a great big mansion that I bought with the proceeds from one of my books on George Harrison. I have a real, separate temple building which was designed and built as a temple, with installed Jagannath. Lord Chaitaniya, and Gopal Krishna deities - quite large. Also, I have beautiful Lord Ganesh camphor lamps that are about two feet high on either side of my altar. I'm very orthodox. The only books I read are religious Indian texts. I feel that more than living in my house, I'm a temple president presiding over a country ashram."
Secure in his own life, Giuliano feels the time is ripe to fulfill his guru-given mission and teach the vegetarian way of life that has given him energy, stamina and perfect health. He wants to create a new show and tour the school system, using the expensive training he received from Burger King and McDonald's to sell vegetarianism instead of meat.
"There is nothing to counteract the millions of dollars that McDonald's spends on the 'Ronald McDonald Appearance Program' - brainwashing the youth of the world to eat meat. I want [my show] to be as big-time show business as possible, for the right reasons this time. I'm willing to come right out in the open and say, 'I'm a converted white Hindu. I feel that people should be as nonviolent as possible. And I feel that eating meat is unhealthy, unnecessary and very, very wrong.' I want to purify myself and quit this world, forever. And if I can help somebody else, that's the only reason I'm doing this Ronald McDonald business."
"I very sincerely would like to apologize to all HINDUISM TODAY readers and to all of the vegetarian parents who may be having a tougher time now making their children understand the necessity and the urgency of a nonviolent, vegetarian diet because of some of my actions." He saw it as a way to take care of his family and to make children happy. "Overall, I'm sorry that I did it and now I have to make amends by speaking out against what I did."
On the other side of the dinner table: "My wish for all the meat-eaters is that they will grow to understand that they can live healthier, happier, holier lives by not participating in the senseless slaughter of innocent animals and that they're giving up a whole world of wonderful food for something which is dead and can only fill them with sorrow and disease ultimately."
Article copyright Himalayan Academy.
The comments are owned by the author. We aren't responsible for their content.
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Russia, US warn North Korea over missile launch
posted at 12:11 pm on April 10, 2012 by Ed Morrissey
North Korea plans to launch a satellite into space sometime this week … if you believe their state-run media. The DPRK’s neighbors believe that the military wants to run another test of its failure-plagued ballistic missile system, and in any case, the launch will violate a UN Security Council resolution that bars Pyongyang from any launch of its missiles. The new regime of Kim Jong-un says it will proceed nonetheless:
Isolated and impoverished North Koreasaid on Tuesday it was ready to go ahead with its proposed long-range rocket launch, an announcement that sparked immediate condemnation from South Korea and Russia and a plea from China, its main ally, for calm. …
North Korea defended the launch as a sovereign right.
“The weight of our satellite is 100 kg. If it was a weapon, a 100 kg payload wouldn’t have much of an effect… Our launching tower is built on an open site,” said Ryu Kum-chol, vice director of the space development department of the Korean Central Space Committee.
Ryu said that the rocket assembly would be complete on Tuesday.
The US has already warned North Korea over the violation of the UNSC resolution. Today, Russia added another warning:
“We consider Pyongyang’s decision to conduct a launch of a satellite an example of disregard forU.N. Security Council decisions,” state-run news agency RIA quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich as saying.
“It is necessary to seek a way out of the situation on the political-diplomatic track,” he said.
Regional powers have said that what North Korea has described as the launch of a weather satellite, months after Kim Jong-un succeeded his father as the leader of the reclusive state, is a disguised test of a long-range ballistic missile.
Russia, which shares a short border with North Korea – Moscow’s client in the Soviet era – had urged Pyongyang last month to refrain from the launch, expressing serious concern and calling for restraint from all sides.
Japan, which would be the DPRK’s prime target in hostilities, has already taken steps to demonstrate that it won’t sit passively as Pyongyang tests out weapons meant for Tokyo:
Japan on Monday completed deployment of interceptor missiles to shoot down the North Korean rocket if it violated the country’s air space, the Defense Ministry said.
Japan’s Self-Defense Force (SDF) has installed ground-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptors on Okinawa, Ishigaki and Miyako islands and in Tokyo ahead of the North’s plan to launch a rocket to put a satellite into orbit between April 12 and 16. It has also sent Aegis destroyers to the East China Sea to deal with any situation.
The launch of the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite using a long-range rocket from the country’s northwest has raised strong fears and unease in Japan and South Korea which allege that the rocket launch was aimed at testing the Communist State’s ballistic missile technology.
Well, that’s better than the US response to a previous missile test in 2009, when our best missile-defense asset sat in Pearl Harbor. We didn’t want to annoy Kim Jong-il at the time. Look how well that worked out!
Still, if Japan successfully shoots down the missile while flying over its territory, expect a great deal of … tension. Japan will have the right to respond to such a provocation, especially since the UN has already forbidden such launches, which the UN has enforced by, well, demanding that North Korea comply with its resolution, and not much else. That could provoke Pyongyang into retaliation either towards Japan or South Korea, either of which would involve the US in a shooting war with the North again — and could eventually bring China and Russia into the conflict, too. On the other hand, given the DPRK’s track record on missile launches, Japan might just wait and let the rocket fall into the ocean on its own.
I’d guess that the Kim Jong-un just wants to engage in some brinksmanship to get more concessions in negotiations, but his father was crazy enough to launch several times, with no real consequences. Until those consequences bite, don’t expect Pyongyang to do anything differently.
Breaking on Hot Air
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Utility companies from Lee, Collier and Hendry counties faced off in a contest on Thursday to see which county has the best tasting water.
The judges -- including NBC2's Kelly Creswell -- were asked to rank seven different water samples.
"Most of the waters are very good tasting and trying to tease out differences between them is really, really hard," said Sim Komisar, an environmental engineering professor at FGCU. "It's not like, you know, one water tastes terrible and another water tastes great."
Each utility company brought in a water sample. They were judged on taste, of course, but also color, clarity, and aroma.
"Ours are from deep ancient wells that are 800 to 1,000 feet deep so they're in a very pure aquifer," said Tom Milazzo, Chief Water Plant Operator, Bonita Springs Utilities.
After all of the samples were examined, sniffed, and tasted, the judges turned in their score cards. Two water samples tied and went head to head to determine a winner.
Ave Maria Utility Company took home the title. The company also won back in 2010.
"We're really excited to have the chance to go at it again this year," said Paul Cortez, Operations Manager, Ave Maria Utility Company. "It's very important in order to clean up the water and keep everybody safe."
It is every water company's job to provide the safest drinking water possible.
"You gotta pretend like you're making it for your daughter, your mom, your grandmother," said Milazzo.
Ave Maria credits its win to its infrastructure and equipment.
The winning water will now advance to another competition in Orlando to determine the best tasting water in the state.
Utility companies face off in water taste testMore>>
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3719 Central Avenue Fort Myers, FL 33901
Main Phone: (239) 939-2020 Newsroom Phone: (239) 939-6223
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The backstroke is one of the most difficult strokes in the pool because you aren’t able to see where the edge of the pool is while you are swimming. Unless you know exactly how many strokes it takes to get across the pool and count your strokes as you swim, you can easily become disoriented and run into the side of the pool or attempt your turn too early. The best way to avoid this is by using swimming pool backstroke flags to let swimmers know they are approaching the end of the pool.
Backstroke Flag Options
When you are outfitting your pool, you will find there are many options for backstroke flags. If you don’t want to spend a lot of money, your best option is the generic plastic backstroke flags that are available in 100 foot lengths. These plastic flags come in a variety of color pairings so you can pick your team’s colors or any other color that fits your pool. If you prefer something that is more customized, you can build your own backstroke flags in any length, color and design. All you need is to purchase your customized pennants with logos, letters or pictures, rope and swivel hooks.
Uses for Backstroke Flags
The backstroke flags have a primary purpose of letting swimmers know they are approaching the end of the pool so they don’t become injured and can finish the race or make a turn if necessary. The flags must be suspended from the ceiling across the end of the pool at a regulation five meters from the end of the pool. All swimmers will know that they will need to prepare for the wall when they see these flags over their heads as they swim along on their backs. This provides a visual clue so swimmers can focus on technique, rather than a fear of the end of the pool.
Buying swimming pool backstroke flags that match your swim team or the colors of the event you are hosting is important any time you will hold a backstroke race. Using these flags during practices will also help you swimmers learn what to look for. As long as you place these flags at the regulation length from the edge of the pool — five meters — your swimmers will know just what to do when they see these flags above, no matter where they are. Whether you purchase a premade string or create your own, these flags are a great addition to your pool.
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College of Community Health Sciences
- Certificate of Rural Community Health
- CCHS Courses for University of Alabama Undergraduate and Graduate Students
- Administrative Officers
The primary responsibility of the educational programs of the College of Community Health Sciences is to contribute to the improvement of health care in Alabama, emphasizing small towns and rural areas. The programs of the College are designed to increase the accessibility and availability of health care and to improve its quality.
The College of Community Health Sciences is charged with the responsibility of
- providing the last two years of clinical training for a portion of the medical students enrolled in the University of Alabama School of Medicine
- operating a family practice residency program based in Tuscaloosa
- making expertise in the medical and health sciences available to existing educational programs on campus, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels
- working with the University of Alabama School of Medicine to integrate the programs and operations of the medical program with the nonmedical aspects of health care delivery
- providing training sites and internships for students in social work, nursing, health care management, pharmacy, clinical dietetics, and health education
The College of Community Health Sciences is a community-based campus of the University of Alabama School of Medicine providing an additional site for the training of medical students during the clinical years. All medical students complete phase I of the medical training program on the Birmingham campus. Upon completion of phases II and III (the third and fourth years of clinical training) through any of the three campus systems, a student is awarded the doctor of medicine (MD) degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine.
A major education program of the College entails providing the last two years of clinical training for a portion of the medical students enrolled at the University of Alabama School of Medicine. The College’s resources are used to contribute to the education of the “undifferentiated physician,” one who is competent at the basic level in all the traditional clinical disciplines and whose education is enriched by an orientation toward and skill in primary care and community medicine.
Each medical student who receives part or all of the required clinical training in Tuscaloosa is enrolled in and receives the MD degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine. Thus, clinical clerkships and electives must meet or exceed the minimum standards set by the appropriate faculty committees of the University of Alabama School of Medicine.
The College’s Family Practice Residency Program was approved in September 1973, and the first resident was accepted in January 1974. The College is committed to producing family physicians capable of providing continuing, comprehensive, family-centered care for their patients. Through the educational programs of its family practice residency, the College fosters the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to create outstanding physicians who will deliver high-quality patient care. This key mission has the resources and support of the entire College dedicated to its accomplishment.
Initiatives have been developed to further enhance opportunities for the College to fulfill its mission of increasing accessibility, availability, and quality of health care to Alabama’s citizens.
The Rural Health Scholars Program was created to give high-school students from rural backgrounds who are interested in becoming health professionals a head start in the college preparation they will need for admission to all health professional schools.
The Rural Medical Scholars Program was created to prepare 10 outstanding rural scholars each year for family medicine or primary care practice in Alabama. Scholars enroll in preparatory courses at UA and, upon completion of their studies, must meet requirements for admission to medical school. Students matriculate two years at UAB for the basic medical sciences component of their curricula and return to Tuscaloosa to CCHS for the clinical clerkship years, where they will be involved in special medical experiences that include rural preceptorships. The following certificate program is offered for Rural Medical Scholars only. For more information regarding this program, please contact Dr. James Leeper, Professor and Director of Educational Programs, Department of Community and Rural Medicine, #205-348-1355, firstname.lastname@example.org.
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No matter how many digital and social channels emerge, the telephone remains one of the most important and valuable customer service tools.
Many businesspeople view phone calls as a distraction, preferring to communicate with their customers and clients on email, instant messaging or SMS. But when it comes to providing a human touchpoint for your business, it’s hard to beat the immediacy and connection delivered by
Founder and CEO of International Customer Service Professionals (ICSP) Tricia Olsen says: “A telephone call should not be a bother, it’s an opportunity. If people are apprehensive about taking calls, it’s because they haven’t been given the skills.”
According to Olsen, the average phone call only lasts around 40 seconds.
“A telephone call indicates a sense of immediacy and urgency,” explains Olsen. “That’s very important because we are so time poor. Who would want to drive to six stores to find out if they have a certain item in stock or drive to a restaurant if they don’t know whether or not they have any tables available? If you send an email or enquire online, the customer also does not know if the person is at their desk or has received their message.”
A well-designed website supported by well-trained sales assistants can pre-empt many customer enquiries; however, customers may still need to chat to someone on the phone before they are ready to make a purchase. “The telephone is a vital channel for every business,” says Olsen. “There’s no point in having a state-of-the-art shop if you don’t back it up with state-of-the-art service.
“When hiring a customer service representative or salesperson, start by choosing someone who likes people. They need to have high emotional intelligence and remain optimistic and resilient, especially when the customer says ‘no’.
“If the interviewee doesn’t have previous customer service experience, you can use behavioural interviewing techniques to identify their attitudes and behaviours in other situations.”
Two of the most common reasons that customers call are for sales (or to clarify details that will lead to a sale) and for complaints. Here are Tricia Olsen’s tips for best practice in handling telephone enquiries.
Sales call checklist
1 Value the phone call – get excited! Be in the right frame of mind before you take the call.
2 Answer the phone with a professional, friendly greeting. Give the caller the company’s name and your name. “Thank you for calling Tim’s IT Supplies. This is Angie.”
3 Be flexible. Olsen says that businesses should be cautious about using sales scripts, as you can risk sounding robotic. If you want to use one, it should be used as a framework to ensure you don’t miss out key details like getting the customer’s contact details or order particulars, rather than recited word for word. “This product comes in black, white and green. Which colour would you like?”
4 Actively listen. Make notes and paraphrase what the customer says to demonstrate that you have heard and understood. “So, you need to arrange delivery to a different address for this order only, is that correct?”
5 Don’t assume that you know what the customer wants. Questions should make up approximately 75 per cent of your sales calls, to identify problems and offer solutions.
6 Know your product. Needing to ask someone else creates an impression that you may not be trained.
7 Use the customer’s name. This creates a greater impression of active listening, grabs the customer’s attention and brings their focus back to the call. However, don’t repeat their name too often and don’t be too familiar – ask for permission before using a first name or an abbreviation. “Do you prefer Abigail or Abby?”
8 Record all the information from the call. This is your customer intelligence – a database of notes about the customer and which products or services they are interested in. Being able to refer back to something specific from their last call demonstrates listening and care, and can really impress your customers when you understand their likes and dislikes. A database of call records also ensures that your customer intelligence isn’t lost if a customer service representative or salesperson leaves the company.
9 Deliver / follow up on the call. For example, if the customer is having difficulties completing an online sale, ask if you can talk them through it while they are on the phone. Get the caller’s name and contact details so you can send them appropriate marketing material and include a personal note, rather than a blank compliment slip. If you promise to call a customer back, make the call, even if you just need to tell them that you’re still working on their enquiry and will keep them informed. DWYPYWD – do what you promised you would do!
1 View a complaint as an opportunity. Around 70 per cent of customers who didn’t like your product or service won’t tell you so,
they simply won’t use you again. If someone has a complaint, use it
as a learning opportunity for continued improvement.
2 Be empathetic, compassionate and understanding. Use active listening to work out what the real issue is and to demonstrate that you understand and care. Walk in the customer’s shoes – what does it feel like?
3 Don’t take it personally. A customer who has a bad experience may simply want to vent. This may be triggered or exacerbated by stressful life events completely unrelated to you and your company.
4 There are no difficult customers, only difficult behaviours. This person might be someone you would really like, if you met in different circumstances. When people become angry, they are acting this way to take control of a situation and get a result.
5 Get the customer talking to the right person. If you need to escalate a complaint, make sure you direct the customer to someone who has the knowledge and authority to address their concerns.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and the interviewees, and not of Australia Post.
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|Top Central Banks Meet This Week To Gauge Need To Act To Relieve Economic Pressures|
|Tuesday, July 31, 2012 12:01|
The world is waiting to see what the European Central Bank (ECB) and the US Federal Reserve will decide this week about actions each may take—either now or in the next few weeks—to boost economic growth and shake off the weariness of the recession.
This Website Is For Financial Professionals Only
They are the world’s two most influential central banks. The markets are beginning to doubt their ability to resolve their respective economic issues sufficiently to give investors the confidence they seek.
Continued austerity demanded by the ECB and the fiscal cliff threatening to throw the US economy back into recession are causing businesses and consumers to clamp down on much needed spending.
Stimulus efforts since the financial crisis of 2008 have caused a cycle of markets surging forward after action was taken, then pulling back again as the short-term effects wore off.
The US financial system has recovered significantly since the crisis but the inability of the economy to spur job growth is keeping the economy from growing fast enough to shake off the European effect.
In Europe, the ECB is facing the same issue the Federal Reserve faced in 2008 and 2009—the undercapitalization of banks. Although there are no fears regarding the survival of the US dollar, the president of the ECB is facing the possible dissolution of the euro.
Europe has the added pressure of rebuilding the confidence of other global markets. Each time the Federal Reserve has acted, markets have been boosted. But the length of the rally grows shorter each time.
Gross domestic product in the Eurozone has not seen growth since the third quarter of last year. Europe’s unemployment rate is growing while the US economy and unemployment rate are improving, just not quickly enough for the Fed to stand still.
Increasingly, markets are looking to policy makers to address long-term structural issues in each economy. The longer these long term issues go insufficiently addressed, the weaker the effect of short term action is likely to be.
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Friends and guests at Cactus Club often ask me “what is the latest trend in the wine world these days?”
Wine is often treated like fashion: what is “in” and what is “out”. The Californian Merlot was big in the late 90’s followed by the Australian Shiraz of early 2000. Shiraz was soon forgotten as to the Pinot Noir grape and more recently to the Argentinian Malbec gained popularity. And, much like fashion, tastes also changes with seasons and people like to discover what is new and fresh.
While I was travelling to the wine regions of Argentina in late November, I was exposed on a daily basis to a grape that is relatively unknown to this side of the hemisphere the Bonarda
It is a grape originally from the Savoie region of France, where it is known under the name Corbeau or Douce Noire (which in English means “Crow” or “Sweet Black”, respectively). The Bonarda grape can also be found in the Piedmont region of Northwest Italy, under the name Dolcetto, depending on the reading material you refer tom and in California, it is also known as Charbono.
In Argentina, Bonarda is the second most planted grape in the country after Malbec. It is the everyday red wine for most Argentinian people.
The style of Bonarda wines, when grown in the Mendoza region of Argentina, can vary from being light in body, tannin and acidity to a big, fruity, dense and tannic wine with deep colour and a dry fruit flavour if coming from older vines and, or when aged in oak barrels. In most Argentine vineyards, Bonarda is a late to ripen.
The fact is, when Bonarda is treated with a bit of care in the vineyard (not too much irrigation, pruned just enough and at the right time) and harvested at a respectable yield, it provides wines with a delicious red berry flavour, low tannin, medium to full body, low acidity and with a lighter juice than Malbec.
Some winemakers are harvesting Bonarda from old vines and ageing it in oak barrels, giving the wine with much more concentrated fruit flavor, with aromas of cooked and baked fruits. The result can be a full-bodied wine with high tannin and the deep, inky colour of a Malbec. Other wineries are going in the opposite direction using Bonarda to produce fresh, juicy, lively wine, ageing them in stainless steel tanks and harvesting a little earlier in the season, much like a Gamay.
So back to the discussion of what is trendy in wine. In my personal experience, to become a successful “trendy” wine, a grape or a region must have the following characteristics:
- It must be available in large quantity;
- It must offer a wide range of pricepointsIt must pair easily with food but also be enjoyable on its own
- The name should sound attractive, or at least, easy to pronounce
So next time you are in a mood for something new, I recommend trying a bottle of Bonarda and let yourself travel from northern Italy to Argentina. It’s less than $20 a bottle and pairs well with a variety of food, from quesadillas, to grilled lamb chops. Or simply have a glass with a good friend, together you may just be starting a new “trend”.
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Dar es Salaam city’s population growth is said to be the major reason for stalling the water project being undertaken by Chinese, better known as ‘Chinese pipes,’ the House was told yesterday
The Chinese company contracted for lay the pipes by the Dar es Salaam Water Supply Corporation, Dawasco, completed the assignment early in 2010 after two years on the job.
Dawasco authorities said the present volume of water which was supplied to Dar es Salaam city residents was not adequate to cover the entire project area.
Sufficient water for both Coast and Dar es Salaam regions would be attained in 2012 after construction of five huge dams, three in Dar es Salaam and two in Coast regions, the House further heard.
Deputy minister for Water Dr Binilith Mahenge told the House yesterday that the major cause for the stalling of the project was the city’s rapid population growth.
“The purpose of this project was to expand the water pipe system of about 970kilometres, establishing 250 kiosks of water for the 8000 customers. All will be accomplished after the expansion of the Lower Ruvu water plant has been completed,said Dr Mahenge.
The deputy minister was reacting to a supplementary question by Peramiho member of Parliament Jenister Mhagama, who had wanted to know why the Chinese pipes were not working to date.
Dr Mahenge told the House that when the expansion of the Lower Ruvu water plant was completed, production of water would reach 270 million litres from the current 180 million litres.
“A contractor is already on site expanding the plant by fifty percent of its current size. That work will be complete by March next year (2013),” he said.
“But we are also expanding a large water pipe that will be carrying water from the Lower Ruvu water plant to the city. The government has already allocated 116.4billionshillings for the this project,” said the deputy minister.
Ubungo MP for Chadema , John Mnyika wanted to know the durability of the pipes after being left without water for long.
The deputy minister said there was a grand plan of improving water in the city and that would be used as a test for the pipes to check whether they area destroyed or not.
“It is only when water passes in the pipes that one can discover if the pipes are okay or they are not,” said Dr Mahenge.
In her basic question, Rita Mlaki, Special Seats – CCM, had wanted to know why Mikocheni ward, especially the TPDC and TTCL areas, have not been receiving water to date.
In response, the deputy minister said the area received water from Lower Ruvu water plant.
“Due to higher demand for water in the city compared to supply, water rationing is done in many parts of the city, including the said areas,” said the minister.
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Women Win in Venture Capital When They Don’t Sue
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is anti-woman.
That’s the position of Ellen Pao, a junior partner at the venture capital firm who filed a lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court contending “discriminatory treatment of Plaintiff and other female employees, specifically in advancement and compensation because of their gender.” Pao is also saying she was sexually harassed and that after she complained to higher- ups she suffered retaliation.
The greater question here isn’t whether certain executives at Kleiner Perkins treated Pao poorly. That’s entirely possible. This column isn’t suggesting otherwise. The question is whether such a lawsuit is pro-woman -- whether its consequences will be good for women in the specific field of venture capital on a net basis, as they say in business schools. The answer is: probably not.
You can make the case that Pao’s action may work against women who want to be entrepreneurs.
There are two kinds of companies in the U.S.: square ones and wild ones. The former have the advantage that they follow many rules; their disadvantage is that they aren’t always creative. The wild type, common in venture capital, does everything differently, starting with the open office.
Over the years, creative rebels have often behaved poorly in their creative workplaces. Do most of us approve? Hardly. Nobody likes, say, the way the great creator of Apple Inc. (AAPL), Steve Jobs, treated many colleagues.
Growth or Responsibility
But creative environments boast an advantage: They contribute more growth than the old dinosaurs. The venture capitalists give money to entrepreneurs, including women. As the cowboy firms age, they tend to develop their own culture of responsibility. It’s their returns and their optimism that lured top students such as Pao in the first place.
A brilliant electrical engineer, Pao didn’t go straight from college (Princeton, class of 1991) to a job with a Midwestern manufacturer or the U.S. Department of Labor. She aimed higher: Harvard Law School, Harvard Business School and then venturesome companies such as Microsoft (MSFT) Corp. and Kleiner Perkins. If these workplaces were wild, there was glamour in wildness.
Her action may reduce the very kind of access she enjoyed for those who followed her. Setting Kleiner Perkins aside, consider the rest of the sector. Human-resources specialists aren’t idiots. They see how much Pao, still merely alleging, is costing a firm such as Kleiner Perkins: time, image and distraction from its main work, finding value. Other businesses will work harder to avoid a litigious hire. They will scour candidates’ resumes for similarities to Pao’s. Her husband, Alphonse Fletcher Jr., had filed lawsuits. Any job candidate with a record of suing, or with a litigious spouse, will get a cooler reception. Starting last week. In other words, some highly qualified candidates will be excluded. Will HR departments admit what they are doing? Never.
Pao complains that Kleiner Perkins excluded her from top- level meetings. At venture capital firms across the U.S., executives are probably rejiggering their e-mail and chat settings to be sure that every junior partner at the Pao rank gets CC’d. But there are still some meetings, alas, to which everyone isn’t invited. Management’s main response will be to ensure that next time the junior partners don’t even know those meetings exist. That is exactly the opposite of the open office.
The same trade-off between “safe” and “creative” exists among countries. Apparently it is difficult for a nation to be both intensely fair and intensely friendly to entrepreneurs. Compare the two premier surveys on entrepreneurship and gender fairness, the World Bank’s Doing Business survey, and Unesco’s highly regarded Global Gender Gap Report.
Singapore, Hong Kong and China, New Zealand, the U.S., Denmark, Norway, the U.K., and South Korea rank at the top in the 2011 edition of the World Bank survey. Less highly ranked for “doing business,” according to the same survey, are Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Canada, Australia and Japan. Business confronts more hassles in these countries.
Yet the very same countries that rank lower on the entrepreneurship charts star when it comes to gender equality. Iceland, Finland, Sweden and Ireland are top countries in the 2011 update of Unesco’s survey. Singapore, No. 1 for business opportunity, ranks 57th of 135 countries, below Jamaica, Namibia, Russia and Honduras on the gender-gap index. The U.S. ranks fourth when it comes to doing business, but only 17th when it comes to measuring the gender gap.
In the U.S., litigation isn’t great for growth and job creation. The tort system, according to estimates by the consulting firm Towers Watson (TW), cost the country $264.6 billion in 2010. When you leave out the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, generally such tort costs are slightly down, in part because states have changed laws after recognizing the financial burden of lawsuits.
A case such as Pao’s might do more damage in the venture- capital sector than elsewhere. Such action forces the U.S. venture capitalists over a bit on the spectrum toward safety, and away from risk. It makes the old VC firms more like the public sector or traditional American corporations.
This isn’t to say that sexism or sexual harassment is acceptable, or that Pao should tolerate it, or that Kleiner Perkins shouldn’t take action against wrongdoers. It is to suggest that there is a cost to remedying the problem with showcase litigation.
Pao may think her legal action will create opportunities and top jobs for the next generation of girls. In fields such as the one she chose, there might be more jobs if there were fewer discrimination lawsuits.
(Amity Shlaes is a Bloomberg View columnist and the director of the Four Percent Growth Project at the Bush Institute. The opinions expressed are her own.)
Today’s highlights: the View editors on Spain’s banking crisis and turmoil at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Michael Kinsley on intervening in Syria; Haresh Sapra on stress-test results; Luigi Zingales on competition and inequality; Steven Greenhut on California referendums; Matthew Schoenfeld on staving off the next AIG.
To contact the writer of this article: Amity Shlaes at firstname.lastname@example.org.
To contact the editor responsible for this article: Katy Roberts at email@example.com.
Bloomberg moderates all comments. Comments that are abusive or off-topic will not be posted to the site. Excessively long comments may be moderated as well. Bloomberg cannot facilitate requests to remove comments or explain individual moderation decisions.
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Kathryn Schmidt has the answer for students wanting to break free of the rules. - 02/23/2010
Reviewer: Morna McEver Golletz, IAPQ from USA
Ever want to let loose and break the rules? Kathryn Schmidt has just the answer for you or your students who are ready to do just that. With tongue in cheek, she sets out to help you achieve great results with pattern-free, template-free and pin-free sewing. Using six fat quarters, she guides you through creating 10 abstract design wallhangings. Kathy shares her signature Stack-Slash-and-Move and Easy-Curvy Sewing technique as you work on designs titled "Disturbing the Piece" or "Probation Violation." It's clear Kathy had a great time putting together this book, and if your students want to break from tradition, this would be a fun place to start. --Morna McEver Golletz, IAPQ, Professional Quilter Online, February 23, 2010
Rule-Breaking Quilts - 02/16/2010
Reviewer: Kathy Niemann from Marietta, GA
Shake loose of the rules imposed by the "quilt police". The author gives us the opportunity to sew and enjoy the process without sweating the precise 1/4" seam allowance, the pointing points and the "matchy matchy". Yet, you can make quilts that look appealing and express yourself. You can sense the fun-loving flavor of the author by the catchy titles of the chapters, such as "Mandatory Sentence," "Probation Violation," "Disturbing the Piece," etc. I love someone with a good sense of humor. Fun times.
Rule-Breaking Quilts by Kathryn Schmidt - 02/14/2010
Reviewer: Vivian M. Benton from Pittsburgh, PA
It's rare when you pick up a quilting book and you love every single quilt. This is, however, the case with this new book by Kathryn Schmidt. The book is centered around techniques to free ourselves of the quilt police, which she humorously refers to as committing quilt crimes. She shows us how, through a series of exercises, to escape the strictly traditional path and "travel" more along our own way. Her designs are bold, innovative and liberating. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to move past the traditional "block-built" methods of designing to becoming your own designer or "criminal mastermind."
Rule-Breaking Quilts - 02/09/2010
Reviewer: Iris Frank from Santa Cruz, CA
Even if one isn't quite ready to escape from the "Quilt Police" (that inborn need to produce perfect points and aligned seams from beautifully matched fabrics), this book is difficult to put down. Author Kathryn Schmidt covers the quilting crime scene well with headings such as "rap sheet, prison walls, circuit court, major crimes, and life sentence"!! And the quilts are titled Con Game, First Offense, Disorderly Conduct, and Disturbing the Piece, to name a few. These legal infringements are all "committed" with the same basic supplies: 6 fat quarters--usually 1 focus fabric, 1 dark, 1 light and 3 medium. And then the fun begins as Schmidt leads us in our escape from the Quilt Police.
Her standard MO (modus operandi) consists of either a stack-slash-and-move technique or an easy-curvy-sewing technique for the resulting 10 quilts which are colorful and eye-catching. While this may not be everyone's cup of tea, the book is interesting enough to make one who usually obeys all the rules and regulations of the Quilt Police to think seriously, just once, about trying the "criminal element" of quilting!!
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[en] Skin lesions are common in renal transplant recipients (RTR) and the clinical distinction of malignancy versus infection may be difficult in this patient population, with the need for further histological and biological investigations. We report here on a 73-year-old male RTR who presented with Alternaria infectoria phaeohyphomycosis of 1 year's duration. Mycological cultures were negative, and the diagnosis was performed by real-time polymerase chain reaction assay and direct sequencing. The extension of the lesion under itraconazole treatment required its surgical excision. Alternaria are ubiquitous plant-inhabiting saprobes, which are increasingly associated with opportunistic phaeohyphomycosis in immunocompromised individuals.
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UK court issues Pirate Bay ban
The UK High Court has ordered a block by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) of file-sharing site The Pirate Bay.
The Swedish website hosts links to download mostly pirated music, books and video.
Sky, Everything Everywhere, TalkTalk, O2 and Virgin Media must all prevent their users from accessing the site.
In November 2011, the BPI tried to force ISPs to block the site. A judge ruled that the move would be technically impossible and instead called for voluntary blocks. He indicated that if Pirate Bay could be added to BT's 'CleanFeed' blocking software, it would suffice.
The software is widely seen as ineffective given it stands little chance of being able to stand up to the efforts of any determined downloader, especially not the brighter school kids who are probably the major users.
At the time, copyright owners appeared happy, feeling that if the idea of voluntary blocking was accepted, later action should lead to today's outright ban.
Virgin Media told the BBC it will comply with the request, but warned such measures are, in the long term, only part of the solution.
"As a responsible ISP, Virgin Media complies with court orders addressed to the company but strongly believes that changing consumer behaviour to tackle copyright infringement also needs compelling legal alternatives, such as our agreement with Spotify, to give consumers access to great content at the right price."
The Virgin Media statement underlines the fear that by siding with film and music companies, publishers could become part of the generally unsuccessful campaign against file sharing. Wise publishers should embrace rather than try to control technology.
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Globe University unveiled a new logo this week announcing the NTI School of Technology. This new part of the Globe Education Network is a result of the recent merger with Northwest Technical Institute, a small private design and drafting college located in Eagan, MN. Northwest Technical Institute was established in 1957 as a private school specializing in Engineering and Architectural Drafting and Design. NTI enrolled its first class in July of 1957 in downtown Minneapolis at the site of the current IDS tower. Throughout the years, Northwest Technical Institute continued to expand, moving to facilities in St. Louis Park, Eden Prairie and finally Eagan in 2007.
Thousands of architectural and engineering drafters have graduated from the school in the last 55 years. Many of the graduates have continued their education; some have become leaders and business owners in their respective fields.
Northwest Technical Institute has always been committed to excellence in curriculum, technology, staffing, and service to its students, graduates and industry. Curriculum has been carefully developed in cooperation with employers in the architectural and engineering industries. Northwest Technical Institute has historically had nearly 100% job placement rates and 85-90% completion rates.
Because of its rich history in design and drafting in the Twin Cities region, Globe has decided to establish the NTI School of Technology at Globe University, which offers an AAS degree in Architectural Design & Drafting, Engineering Design & Drafting and a new Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology. The NTI School of Technology is continuing the tradition of Northwest Technical Institute at the Woodbury Campus of Globe University. The students at NTI School of Technology will be using the Northwest Technical Institute curriculum and are being taught by the same instructors at the new campus. NTI School of Technology at Globe University is committed to continue the legacy of Northwest Technical Institute by producing the highest quality drafters and designers in the Twin Cities area.
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Religious leaders, in churches, synagogues and mosques, at best voice pious and empty platitudes about justice or carry out nominal acts of charity aimed at those bearing the weight of resistance in the streets.
If Hedges wants to criticize those who aren’t doing the work they should be doing, fine. But he need not disparage those who have given their careers, their freedom, and their lives for a passionate belief in justice.
Not that Chris Hedges needs the likes of me leaping to his defense, but if you read the cited article, much of the focus is on the efforts of a retired Episcopal Bishop. And his broadside is directed at “nearly all” as the original quote clipped off this sentence:
Packard’s moral and intellectual courage stands in stark contrast with the timidity of nearly all clergy and congregants in all of our major religious institutions.
And from my reading of Hedges, he is well aware of the courageous feats of Romero, Martin Luther King, and other religious leaders that have given their careers, lives and freedom for justice. But I think it is correct to cast most of the “American church leaders” in the light Hedges has cast. The churches that Martin Luther King and your former pastor led are not representative of the typical 21st century church leader — those churches are emptying and dying, whereas the megachurch model and its moralistic therapeutic deism has gripped most American Christians.
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External Verification Process
‘A system that confirms the Quality Assurance of all aspects of a programme’s preparation, resourcing, delivery, assessment, documentation and certification’.
The process is designed to be rigorous but at the same time positive and supportive, and is intended to highlight areas of good practice within a subject, sector or area of provision, as well as identify any areas of concern.
The External Verifier(s) appointed to a centre will be detailed on the Quality Plan and will be the result of discussions between the Quality Assurance Manager and the Quality Reviewer. The number and frequency of External Verification visits will be determined by:
- The number of sectors being delivered by the centre
- Outcomes of previous External Verifier reports
- National/regional priorities.
The role of the External Verifier is to:
- To ensure that Agored Cymru accredited provision is delivered in accordance with regulatory requirements
- Verify the standards of achievement of learners
- Monitor the learners experience of the programme
- Provide an ongoing source of objective and impartial advice to centres
- Support the continuous improvement of the quality and fitness for purpose of Agored Cymru accredited provision.
External Verifiers will either have expertise in a specific subject / sector area, in a particular type of provision, or both, in addition to proficiency in Agored Cymru procedures, systems, etc. All will have had experience as practitioners in fields relevant to their verification responsibilities and as a result will have experienced many similar successes and problems that are possibly encountered within the provision they are now verifying. They will have no connection with the centre of the programme being verified.
A Sector Verifier will have expertise in, and responsibility for, the external quality assurance of a specific subject area within the provision. Appointment may be in very specific sector areas such as Health and Social Care (Sector 1.3), Travel and Tourism (Sector 8.2), and Creative Art and Design (Sector 9.4) or may be in wider more generic areas such as Learning Skills, Return-to-work Skills, Communication Skills, Adult Literacy and Numeracy, ESOL, and Team Working all of which are in Sector 14 (Preparation for Life and Work)
For smaller centres one Verifier may be appointed for the entire provision. With larger centres, where it is possible, a single verifier will be appointed for all courses taking place within a specific Sector, e.g. Art, Languages or Health, or area of provision such as Family Learning.
Verification will be targeted, with successfully documented, well internally verified provision being subject to reduced external scrutiny and fewer external verification visits. While broad areas of the total provision will be externally verified this does not mean that every course or individual unit within large areas of provision, such as a ‘Return to Learn’ programme, will be externally verified each academic year. However documentation for such courses, particularly that relating to internal verification, should be available for the verifier.
In addition to providing the external quality assurance related to the particular sector, the external verifier has responsibility for confirming that the systems and processes identified by the Quality Reviewer are actually being implemented. This will include confirmation that a robust Internal Verification is in place.
Contact with the External Verifier
Agored Cymru makes every effort to allocate Verifiers to specific centres and areas of provision as early as possible. However confirmation of appointment can only be made once the Agored Cymru knows that the provision is running.
Once verifiers have been appointed to a particular centre the main contact for the organisation will be notified of the verifier contact details. Although it should be noted that it is the responsibility of the Verifier to make contact with the relevant centre to arrange the date and venue for the verification visit.
At this stage the Verifier will give an indication of what they may wish to see and who they would like to talk to during the visit. If they have given no indication then the co-ordinator should ask for clarification.
Preparation for the external verification visit
Verifiers may wish to visit different venues when a programme or course is delivered at multiple sites, although these may be visited on rotation over a period of time. If only one site is visited internal verification documentation from other sites should be available, along with samples of learners’ work if requested.
A Sector Verifier may wish to see some or all of the following:
The Programme / Course Co-ordinator
Wherever possible, or failing that another designated person with knowledge of the programme. This person will receive feedback from the Verifier.
The Subject Tutor
The Subject / Tutor File
It should be noted that choice of samples is the responsibility of the Verifier and not the tutor. Files should contain ongoing valid evidence of achievement, cross-referenced to the relevant assessment criteria, and separated from handouts and other non-evidential paperwork such as course notes. For verification close to the end of a course run there should be evidence that the files have been sampled by an Internal Verifier.
A Subject Verifier will not necessarily wish to meet the learners on each visit.
Internal Verification Documentation
This should provide evidence that, internal verification systems are implemented. Evidence would include documentation of planning to cover all tutors and all units, sampling of sufficient learners’ work, feedback to tutors, and records of what internal verification has actually taken place. Documents for recording internal verification can be found on the Agored Cymru website.
It is important that, if possible, a room is made available for the Verifier’s use during the visit. Tutor / Course files, work to be sampled, and any other documentation such as that related to internal verification, should be available in this room so that the Verifier can view them without distraction.
If a Sector Verifier is visiting a central venue but also reviewing learners’ work and documentation from outreach centres, arrangements will have to be made to collect and deliver the work and documentation into the central venue.
The co-ordinator should talk to any tutors involved to make sure that they are familiar with the verification processes and know what to expect. This is particularly important when a tutor is new to Agored Cymru accreditation and may be apprehensive about the visit. Likewise, any learners who will be involved with the visit should have the process explained to them. Please prepare learners and explain that any issues they raise should have been discussed with the tutor or course team before being raised with the Verifier.
Remember that it is not part of the Verifier’s responsibility to assess work but to confirm the decisions made by internal verifiers and assessors.
If the provision has been moderated previously make sure that you read the last Verifier’s report and are familiar with the contents, both positive and negative. Check that any action agreed by the team as a result of the last verification has been acted upon.
The reporting process
When the Verifier has completed the visit they will give feedback to the co-ordinator or designated person. This feedback is an important part of the process and should include all the main points that appear in the final report. A copy of the key issues discussed at the feedback session must be signed by the centre representative and the External Verifier and left with the centre. The External Verifier will also keep a copy.
The Verifier will complete their final report and forward it to Agored Cymru. Copies of the final report, together with a letter highlighting areas of good practice and any issues arising, are sent to the Chief Executive of the centre and, if requested, to the co-ordinator. Reports will be sent with 20 working days of the visit taking place.
If there are any issues or areas of concern a ‘Verification Response Form’ will be enclosed, which normally has to be completed and returned to Agored Cymru within four weeks. This form is used to detail the action to be taken by the centre / course team in response to the issues raised.
Service standards regarding external verification can be found here.
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London, Aug 13 - Seven days after the opening ceremony, the Russians were faced with a nightmare scenario. Three gold medals in the first week left one of the great sporting powers languishing behind the likes of Kazakhstan and North Korea in the medal table.
Embarrassingly for a country keen to hype its first Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014, the president of the Russian Olympic Committee spent his time on damage control, reminding the Russian public that they should not expect the sporting success of the Soviet Union.
Even reaching the 23 goals medals won in a disappointing performance in Beijing seemed out of reach, but a flurry of wins at the Olympic Stadium kickstarted a revival that left Russia with more medals than in 2008, although a record low fourth in the medals table.
The last gold was also the most dramatic, the men's volleyball team storming back from match point down to beat runaway favorites Brazil.
Russia's record athletics haul of eight gold medals included some memorable moments as Ivan Ukhov and Anna Chicherova won both gold medals in the high jump, while Mariya Savinova beat South Africa's Caster Semenya to take the 800 metres title.
In a development likely to please President Vladimir Putin, the world's most famous judo fan, the Russian team went from obscurity four years ago to become the most successful country, displacing even Japan.
Putin watched from the stands as Tagir Khaibulaev won Russia's third judo gold before posing for photographers with the newly crowned champion, a product of a new system that matches the wrestling talent of Russia's North Caucasus regions with top-notch international coaching talent.
There was even a triumph for one of Russia's best-loved Americans as Boston-born David Blatt led the men's basketball team to its first Olympic medal.
The thrilling 81-77 win over Argentina saw two new signings for the Minnesota Timberwolves, forward Andrei Kirilenko and guard Alexey Shved, combine for 45 points, just a month after the team had suffered the ignominy of having to qualify for the Olympics at a tournament in Venezuela, unlike most top-tier countries.
Despite the gold medal crescendo in the second week, Russians were also-rans in many finals, or failed to reach the finals at all in many sports - worrying signs for Sochi 2014.
Swimming, cycling, weightlifting and shooting, all traditionally strong areas for Russia, failed to produce a single gold medal, and the country's team as a whole boasted worryingly few breakout stars.
There was also an unpleasant reminder Russia's checkered Olympic past as Victoria Baranova, the world's No. 2-ranked track sprint cyclist, was thrown out of the Games after testing positive for a banned substance, and later admitted to buying synthetic testosterone.
Elsewhere, Russia's weightlifting squad saw an unusually large number of late withdrawals through injury or unspecified "medical reasons", although none of the athletes was ever accused of wrongdoing.
As Russia prepares to host its first Olympic Games since the collapse of the Soviet Union, London has already been an example in one respect.
London's much-praised army of 70,000 volunteer guides, stewards and greeters forms the blueprint for Sochi, where the organizers say they are inundated with applications, despite Russia having no real history of mass volunteering in modern times.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev hinted that Danny Boyle's acclaimed opening ceremony could inspire the Sochi effort.
He suggested it would have a similarly idiosyncratic national character and could feature music stars, repeating a suggestion from an Internet fan that former Eurovision Song Contest winner Dima Bilan be drafted in.
For Russia, London offers signposts for organizing the Winter Olympics and inspiring examples of how to break into new sports - Russia's well-funded short-track speed skating effort is importing foreign talent, much as the successful judo squad did.
Russia's performance in London, with so many sports failing to deliver, also shows how things can go wrong.
The fencing and shooting coaches both resigned shortly after their events finished and there may yet be more changes elsewhere, especially with an amendment to the law being debated that would allow the government to hire and fire the management of many sports federations. (IANS)
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The following comes from a DeHavilland Alert, and a public account of this will be available shortly at theyworkforyou.com. I have not corrected a couple of errors within the text; however please note the 690,000 should read as 190,000 and diary should read as dowry.
MPs debate Portable Antiquities Scheme
Wed, 5 March 2008 | Debate – Adjournment and General
Portable Antiquities Scheme
Mark Fisher (Stoke-on-Trent, Central) (Lab):
I am grateful to you, Mr. Benton, and to Mr. Speaker for allowing me to address this issue in this short debate.
Over the past 10 years, the field of antiquities in England and Wales has been transformed-there is no other word for it-by the Treasure Act 1996 and by the portable antiquities scheme. After years of campaigning and lobbying, pressure and private Member’s Bills, led by number of people, particularly Lord Poole in the other place and Sir Anthony Grant in the House-and, in a small way, myself-the Treasure Act came into force in 1997. The portable antiquities scheme was started in the same year and it effectively animated and augmented the 1996 Act, which requires a small proportion of archaeological finds that qualify as treasure to be reported and offered to museums.
The portable antiquities scheme, which is a voluntary scheme, complements the 1996 Act by encouraging anyone who finds an archaeological object to report it to a finds liaison officer at a local museum. There are 49 such finds officers throughout England and Wales, from Cornwall to Durham and from Bristol to Suffolk. The scheme is administered by the British Museum on behalf of the Museums, Libraries, and Archive Council.
The effect of the scheme has been extraordinary. In 2007, 77,500 objects were recorded on the online database that now contains, after 10 years, 320,000 objects and 160,000 images. That is the largest database of its kind in the world, and it hugely extends our understanding of our post-iron age world. I say “post-iron age” because almost all the finds have been discovered by metal detectors, so we do not discover quite as many pre-iron age objects, which are discovered by chance or other means. In such areas of archaeology, which account for a great deal of our past, the effect has been extraordinary.
The centre for the scheme in Staffordshire, in and around my constituency, is the Potteries Museum in Stoke-on-Trent in the middle of my constituency. North Staffordshire is an interesting area, archaeologically. A gentleman called Mr. Tony Rhodes, a metal detectorist, found a bronze age sword that was 2,500 years old a couple of years before the scheme came into effect, unfortunately. However, that sword sits proudly in our local museum. Recently, a unique copper alloy Roman bowl, now known as the Staffordshire moorlands pan, was discovered. The names of four of the forts on Hadrian’s wall are written on it. It is of considerable archaeological importance and was acquired jointly by the Potteries Museum in Stoke-on-Trent, Tullie House, the excellent museum in Carlisle, and the British Museum. With such finds, the scheme is redrawing the archaeological map of England and Wales. In the last three years, its data has revealed 24 new Roman settlements in Wiltshire alone, which is an increase of 15 per cent. Suddenly, the Roman-Britannic map of Wiltshire is being changed because of finds under the scheme, so hon. Members can see how important the scheme is.
If the portable antiquities scheme is such a great success, why do we need this debate and what is the problem? This year, thanks to good lobbying by my hon. Friend the Minister and the then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, now the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, there was a good comprehensive spending review settlement. Everybody who is interested in this area has probably already congratulated both my hon. Friend the Minister and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and, neatly, the subsequent Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, his successor, who was at the time Chief Secretary to the Treasury and happened to provide this good settlement. Everybody was happy and all the national museums, including the British Museum, received inflation-proof increases. The important Renaissance programme in the regions, for example, was ring-fenced and was similarly well treated, but, bafflingly, the portable antiquities scheme was not.
The portable antiquities scheme is administered by the MLA and it was not ring-fenced. The core budget of the MLA will be cut by 25 per cent. over the next three years. The implication is that the scheme will suffer in the same way. The MLA has proposed that the scheme’s budget for 2008-09 be frozen at its present level of £1.3 million.
David Taylor (North-West Leicestershire) (Lab/Co-op):
Staffordshire is interesting in this sense and so is Leicestershire, which is why I tabled written questions in November, February and March and oral questions in January. My hon. Friend mentioned the £1.3 million, but does he think that the Minister should tell the House that, even at that level, redundancies are still likely to take place, including some valuable education officers who are crucial to the success of the scheme in future? That is why I am seeing the local finds liaison officer in my constituency office on Friday. The PAS may be secure in the short term, but it is still short of funds because of its success.
My hon. Friend is right. If the budget is frozen at its present level of £1.3 million, that will in effect be a cut in real terms, because to stand still and not expand the scheme at all would require £1.49 million. If that £690,000 is not found, three posts in the PAS will be lost.
Mr. Michael Fallon (Sevenoaks) (Con):
The hon. Gentleman has eloquently described how the scheme has transformed the archaeological map of Britain, nationally. Is not the real fear that, unless the scheme is properly funded, we will end up simply with a series of regional schemes that are not properly co-ordinated?
Absolutely. The regional element is important and feeds into Renaissance in the regions. My hon. Friend the Member for North-West Leicestershire (David Taylor) will know about a wonderful museum in Leicester that is directed by a Mrs. Sarah Levitt, who, by a curious coincidence, is the sister of my hon. Friend the Member for High Peak (Tom Levitt). Mrs. Levitt does an extremely good job in a distinguished, important museum.
If the scheme’s budget is frozen at its present level, there would be a real cut. These are small sums in Government terms but big sums for the scheme. The hon. Member for Sevenoaks (Mr. Fallon) is right: a national scheme could be reduced to a local scheme. The local element is crucial in all of this, of course, but it needs context. The custodianship of the British Museum, under the directorship of Mr. Neil MacGregor, is crucial and gives credibility, stability and good international, scholarly expertise and contacts for the scheme to operate. We need both detailed local work on finds and the umbrella of the British Museum, with its scholars, to make sense of the individual finds and put them into a much wider archaeological map.
Already, even at the present time, we have too few finds liaison officers, although the scheme operates well. There is only one finds liaison officer for the whole of the north-east-from Teeside up to the Scottish border-which is an area of incredible archeological importance and includes Hadrian’s wall and many other important sites. There is just one officer for that whole area.
Mr. Edward Vaizey (Wantage) (Con) rose-
The hon. Gentleman who wishes to intervene may talk about his own area, but in Berkshire and Oxfordshire-he will correct me in a moment if I am wrong-I do not think that there is anyone in post. Again, that is a most important archaeological area.
I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this important debate. He is correct: at the moment Oxfordshire does not have a finds liaison officer because of uncertainty over the budget. Is he also aware that even when a finds liaison officer is appointed, they will not be able to cover Berkshire anymore, so that area will also be without an officer?
I did not know that. Berkshire is an extremely important area, which covers the Thames valley and a lot of settlements, so it should not have only one officer. We need to expand the scheme and it seems tragic not to do so when it is such a success. If the scheme is frozen and cut over the next year, it will be a tragedy.
Generally, there is much concern in the House about this matter. It is interesting to note that such a number of people have attended this debate as they are sometimes not very well attended occasions. That reflects the concern about this issue. Almost everybody in the Chamber has signed the early-day motion from last year, which now has almost 280 signatures. That is an extraordinarily large number of signatures for a matter of cultural significance. When the budget settlement for the scheme was mooted last year, I visited Mr. Roy Clare of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council with a number of other former arts Ministers-Lord Inglewood, Baroness Morris, Lord Howarth and the hon. Member for Salisbury (Robert Key), who sadly is not here, but who takes a great interest in these matters. In addition, we all formally and informally talked to the Minister and received a sympathetic hearing on all sides-I hope that it will also be an effective hearing.
There is concern in the House about the matter and that is reflected by what has been taking place. It is a wonderful scheme and it would be terribly sad if it was cut and held back. The scheme needs to be sustained and to do so requires very modest sums of money. It also needs to have a secure future. We need to know that there will be a three-year settlement at the very least, so that the British Museum, the MLA and everybody else can plan for the future of the scheme.
The scheme is too good to be cut, and there are solutions to hand that I shall briefly mention. The British Museum has been responsible for administering the scheme and has done so very well and therefore understands the importance of the scheme. Unlike the MLA, the British Museum has scholars rooted in the scheme and therefore it seems to be the ideal repository for it. If responsibility for the scheme could be transferred from the MLA to the British Museum-I gather from Mr. MacGregor that the British Museum is happy for that to happen-a real understanding and ownership of the scheme could develop. That would not only give the scheme security and continuity, but would send out the message to professional people and, crucially, amateurs and metal detector users around the country that the scheme is safe, is in good hands and will be secure.
I hope that the Minister will say that things will be worked out and that the British Museum will either be responsible for the scheme in future or will be more involved. I also hope that she will inform us that the funding will be secure and inflation proof, particularly over the next few years. That is crucial. After the budget settlement, I know that it might be quite difficult for the Minister to do, but these are relatively small sums and I hope, with her great skill, she will find something in a side-drawer of her Department that will enable her to make up the balance. The scheme is of real importance and is admired throughout the world. I understand that somebody from the British Museum who is involved with the scheme talked to Congress in Washington last year because there is such widespread national interest. We are pioneering the world of archaeology with the scheme as it incorporates and involves non-professionals and professional scholars in a quite remarkable way. The scheme touches the bases of scholarship and of widening access. We, in the House of Commons, cannot afford to let the scheme stall or flounder.
The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Margaret Hodge):
I warmly congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent, Central (Mark Fisher) on securing the debate. I would like to acknowledge formally his huge contribution to getting us where we are today. We have a scheme of which everybody is rightly proud. The information he has given us supports the importance of the scheme in the ecology of what we have in relation to archaeology in this country. Congratulations to my hon. Friend on that. I also acknowledge that there has been considerable concern about the funding of the scheme from a number of hon. Members who are present.
For the record, I shall say a little about the scheme itself. My hon. Friend was right to say that the scheme was first set up as a pilot-probably when he was Minister with responsibilities for these matters-to complement the treasure system put in place to administer the Treasure Act 1996. The interesting thing about the 1996 Act is that it obliges those who find objects that fall under the definition of treasure to report them to their local coroner within 14 days so that we as a society can have the security of knowing that such objects will be held.
In a way, the scheme celebrates local history. What I have seen of the scheme during my time as Minister is that it is a powerful way in which to engage local people, particularly those who use metal detectors. It allows people to understand, celebrate and commemorate local history and it is great to see that happening. People do find some absolutely wonderful things. I have seen some really exciting and interesting objects. Those who use metal detectors are a bit like fishermen fishing on the land or on dry territory. It is a very lonely experience for those who use metal detectors, but it is incredibly rewarding to uncover something that helps us to better understand our past.
My hon. Friend was right to say that the scheme has been a huge success. The way in which we have run the scheme has been a win-win for everybody. The finder and the landowner are rewarded for their efforts in bringing the treasure into the public domain and the public benefit by being able to see and learn from the important relics of their community’s past. The other joy of the scheme is that it is pretty accessible. Everyone, whether a post-graduate researcher at one of our top universities or a young person entering secondary school, can access the information provided by the scheme on the website. Some 320,000 separate objects are catalogued on the website and are accessible to us all. In 2006, which is the last year for which we have figures, 250,000 individual users accessed the data, which are incredibly important for students and currently being used for a number of PhD theses and other dissertations.
On the funding of the scheme, which is what I think hon. Members want to discuss, although we had a good settlement-I am grateful for the kind comments of my hon. Friend-it was nevertheless a tight fiscal settlement. We have tried to ensure that the money went into priorities right across the Department for Culture, Media and Sport family. My hon. Friend will know that we ring-fenced some money for the renaissance programme. That was the right thing to do. The renaissance programme has been hugely effective in improving the quality and the environment of many of our regional museums. If we consider the figures on who accesses the treasures, as a result of the renaissance programme and regional infrastructure developments, people who in the past would probably never have gone into a museum now take the first step across the threshold and enjoy the benefits that that can bring them. That was a very good way of determining how to use a budget which, although better than many other budgets, was not as much as we would have needed to carry on all the programmes and expansions of programmes that we would have liked. We took a priority decision.
The portable antiquities scheme sits as part of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council family. My hon. Friend is right to say that the MLA has had a considerable cut in its financial settlement and must look for considerable savings. Even with the best will in the world, we could not have protected entirely the portable antiquities scheme from the fiscal constraints that we all face. Getting a flat cash settlement for 2008-09, which is what it has, is not bad in relation to many other organisations that we fund, which are having to look to the future. Every organisation should constantly examine how it functions and how it can renew itself, to see whether it can eke out efficiencies. We should not protect any organisation from that endeavour.
I think that hon. Members will have considerable sympathy with what the Minister is saying, but she knows very well, being extremely experienced, that a standstill budget is much easier for a large organisation to handle than it is for a small organisation, although it is difficult for anybody. There is no leeway in something tiny such as the portable antiquities scheme. As I said in my speech, a standstill budget for that scheme, stuck at £1.3 million, will mean a cut in real terms-a cut in field officers, who are already very thin on the ground.
I hear what my hon. Friend says, but I have to say that although some of our budgets may look larger in their totality, they are, of course, distributed to many relatively small organisations. We could say the same of the renaissance programme. We could have taken a bit more money off the renaissance programme and put a bit more money into the MLA, but the impact of that on a programme that is just beginning to blossom and yield results could have been deeply damaging. We could say the same of most of the non-departmental public bodies that are responsible for distributing the resources that we give them. I am not sure that the portable antiquities scheme can be protected any more than any of our other bodies.
However, I have listened very hard, as the MLA and others have, to the representations that we have had from all hon. Members here today and others who have written to me or made representations either to me or directly to the MLA. I am pleased to say that an agreement in principle has now been reached between the British Museum and the MLA to ensure that the British Museum takes the lead and controls and runs the scheme in the future.
However-there are always provisos and these things will have to be negotiated-the British Museum and the MLA will undertake jointly a review of the way in which the portable antiquities scheme is run. That is right and proper to ensure that we maximise value for money. Then a financial negotiation will have to take place between the two organisations to determine what the diary should be after the review has taken place, so that we are clearer as to where we are.
Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham) (Con):
I applaud the Minister’s enthusiasm for the scheme, which many of us feel very strongly about. I am delighted to hear the news and we have heard that things are going on in the background, but will she clarify a couple of matters? I understand that the transfer from the MLA to the British Museum may not happen until 2009-10, rather than this year, as had been anticipated. There is also a particular problem about the scheme issuing new three-year contracts to the 39 finance liaison officers, which it needs to do from 1 April, so it needs to have the security of the next three years, if it is to be run by the British Museum. Will she address that point? Also, in terms of it being right that there should be a review, will she acknowledge that the efficiencies in the scheme, which has produced, I think, a 73 per cent. increase in the finds recorded year on year, are absolutely phenomenal? In terms of bang for the taxpayer’s buck, this is an incredibly efficient scheme.
Margaret Hodge: May I deal with the first point first? The MLA, I and others have all stated that we want to secure the future of the scheme over this three-year period. The issue in question is the level of funding that goes with that. That must be subject to the review that is taking place to see whether there is an opportunity to eke out further efficiencies or different ways of doing things. Then it has to be subject to financial negotiations between the British Museum and the MLA. The agreement is there in principle, so on the assumption that the organisation does transfer to the British Museum, the British Museum may well be able to attract other resources for this purpose, with the freedoms that it has to raise finance externally.
I cannot in this Chamber today define the precise financial parameters of the budget in year 2 and year 3, because there will be a change. Were the organisation to stay with the MLA, that would be easier. Because there will be change, it has to be subject to the detailed negotiations for which we do not have responsibility, and then to any joy that Neil MacGregor has, if and when it transfers to the British Museum, in trying to raise additional resources. The MLA has been a much maligned partner in this endeavour over time. It recognises as much as everyone else how valued and valuable the scheme is, but it, too, must face financial constraints that we have imposed on it to ensure that we get best value for money from the resources available.
I know from discussions that I have had with both parent organisations-the MLA and the British Museum-that there really is a will now to undertake the review together. It will be jointly commissioned, jointly led and jointly supervised, which is an important step forward. There is an agreement in principle for the transfer, but we have to leave it to them, subject to the review, to sort out the details of the funding.
I am grateful to the Minister for clarifying in effect that nothing is quite clear about the future of the portable antiquities scheme. People want the scheme to be transferred from 1 April. The portable antiquities scheme needs to know its budgets for the three years. Will she clarify one point? She said that renaissance funds were ring-fenced, but is it not the case that if there is some form of synergy between renaissance and the portable antiquities scheme, some renaissance funds could be used to subsidise the portable antiquities scheme?
The portable antiquities scheme is not under threat. Its future has been secured. I repeat that there is an agreement in principle for the scheme to be transferred to the British Museum. That must be subject, quite properly, to two things. The first is the review, which I think all hon. Members accept is a sensible way to go. Secondly, detailed-
Mr. Vaizey indicated dissent.
The hon. Gentleman may disagree. I think that every organisation should constantly-
Mr. Vaizey rose-
I am running out of time, but I will give way briefly.
Just to make it clear, the review is driven by the cuts; there is no other reason for the review.
No, I disagree with that. Every organisation that enjoys any benefits in the form of resources from the public purse should be consistently reviewing its processes and how it operates, and can, every year, eke out some savings. Having been involved in the running of organisations over many years, I think that that is possible. Then there will have to be detailed negotiations. The hon. Gentleman raises the issue of whether some of the renaissance moneys could be used for that. They could. We have to ensure that that does not in any way undermine the renaissance programme, and that is the responsibility of the MLA. We have to see what the review brings out and whether, when the organisation is transferred to the British Museum, that does not facilitate and open up the opportunity for attracting resources from other sources and therefore providing greater stability.
The portable antiquities scheme is very highly valued, but it has to go through a process at a difficult time, as others do-
It being Five o’clock, the motion for the Adjournment of the sitting lapsed, without Question put.
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- Shopping Bag ( 0 items )
From Barnes & Noble
To say that the odds were stacked against Baltimore Ravens tackle Michael Oher is a radical understatement: His mother was a crack addict and his biological father was murdered in prison when he was in high school. One of thirteen children, Michael bumped around from school to school, from foster home to foster home, living a deprived, sometimes homeless life in the Memphis ghetto. Many people know the skeleton of Oher's story through Michael Lewis' book The Blind Side and the Sandra Bullock film that it inspired, but this is the first time that Michael himself has told his own story in his own words. I Beat the Odds is a real-life inner city Cinderella fable that possesses a poignancy that you could not make up.
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I've read several blogs lately that show how to make these. I finally decided I wanted to give it a try. Here's what I purchased:
Twine (my husband doesn't do things half way, so I now have enough twine to get me through the next 35 years)
Plastic halloween thingies
I spent $11, but that will get me through multiple projects...and all of my twine needs for the rest of my life.
To begin, I blew up a balloon, then wrapped it with twine in crisscrossing patterns making sure not to leave any large gaps.
In a small bowl, I mixed a 4 oz bottle of cheap school glue and about 2 tablespoons of water. Using a paintbrush, I applied the glue, generously, to the entire twine covered balloon. A lot of blogs that I read had all these complicated "glues" they used. I don't have tapioca starch is my pantry, but I did happen to have several bottles of glue from all the back to school sales. I figured I'd try with the glue and water and if it worked, great! If not, then I was only out a bottle of glue, one balloon, and a very small fraction of my endless twine spool. As it turns out, one bottle of school glue works just fine. Other blogs also suggest soaking the twine in the glue before wrapping it around the balloon. If I had help, I would do it that way. However, I'm very uncoordinated and was going at this solo, so I did it my way.
The picture below shows round 2, where I experimented added food coloring to the glue, in place of spray painting it later. I'll let you know how that works out. To let it dry, I tied a piece of fishing line to the balloon and hung it by a hanger on a clothes rack outside. **This is a VERY messy project! I suggest doing all of it outside, or cover a table with newspaper or plastic. But really, do it outside!** Notice the green puddles below the balloon...the husband is going to kill me when he sees it!
In almost all of my tries, the balloon has popped itself. If it doesn't, pop the balloon and gently remove the balloon pieces from twine. The one time it didn't pop itself, I popped it with the tip of a pin and it immediately contracted from the glue with no change in the twine shape. When it has dried completely (usually overnight), paint with desired color.
When paint has dried, add embellishments to globe. I used plastic Halloween decorations I picked up at Walgreens. 100 pieces for 99 cents. Many of them were rings, which I hooked through a couple pieces of twine and they are staying in place just fine.
I opted not to permanently affix the decorations because I plan to reuse them throughout the year for various holidays. I already have some plastic pieces in mind for Christmas! I will probably make new ones at Easter and hot glue some ribbon around them to look like eggs.
As if that wasn't cute (spooky?) enough for you to run out and make your own, I also added another touch...lights!
I picked up these flameless, color changing "candles" at the dollar store too. I know the package says $5, but they were only $1!!
I guess all these crafty blogs are getting to me, because I went to the dollar store and bought things to make a wreath. This is the very first wreath I have EVER had in my house. Also my first attempt at making one. The wreath below cost $4 to make!!!! Everything came from the dollar store. I have to admit, I kind of like it. OMG~I AM MY MOTHER
I'm thinking about doing a crafty blog hop for October. Would you be interested in participating? If I do it, I'll have a crafty giveaway, with items like ribbon, glue guns, beads, etc. Thoughts?
This post was linked to some of the parties shown here.
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5 Green Products: Recycled Paper Products to Natural Paint Colors Made From Organic Plant Extracts
Posted Jan 30 2010 12:00am
Marcal Small Steps motto is “Paper from paper, not from trees”.
For over five decades, Marcal has been saving trees and reducing landfill by making its paper products from recycled paper. Marcal uses paper collected from curbs in residential neighborhoods in cities and towns across America; from the small blue baskets in office buildings, unwanted junk mail, and waste from printers; all in an effort to do something good.
Small Steps makes:
Recycled Everyday Napkins
Recycled Hypoallergenic Facial Tissues
Recycled Dinner Napkins
Would I buy these products? No, even though purchasing recycled paper products is a “small step”, removing these unnecessary products from our homes is better step for the environment. I shamefully admit to buying recycled paper towels, but I seek out unbleached ones and they last in our home a very long time (except when paper towel loving grandparents visit). We occasionally buy facial tissues too, but this is pretty rare. Cloth napkins are so much nicer than paper ones.
Editor’s note: Thanks to one of our readers who commented below, we were alerted this may be greenwashing on the part Marcal. The EPA asked the company to pay $1 billion for pollution clean up of a New Jersey river, and the company filed bankruptcy. Small Steps may be a genuine effort by the company to go green, or it may be simply greenwashing in an attempt to change the polluting image of the company. Given the company quote above that they have been saving trees for five decades, I strongly suspect greenwashing.
Whether you are a teenager or an adult like me that sometimes has blemishes, natural treatments for problem skin are the way to go. Using Tea Tree, Willow Bark, Rosewood, Lavender, and Chamomile, these products are soothing to the skin while still addressing blemishes and break outs. All of these products are made in the USA.
derma e Very Clear Problem Skin Moisturizer: “Derma e Clear Skin 3 Problem Skin Moisturizer is a daily moisturizer that provides a proper balance between moisture and oil, thus preventing clogged pores and bacterial infection while hydrating the skin.”
derma-e Skin Care Very Clear Cleansing Scrub: “Derma-E Very Clear Cleansing Scrub 4 Oz. Removing dead skin cells to unclog pores is essential for healthy, balanced and clear skin. This gentle yet effective scrub utilizes Aloe and Apricot Kernel Meal to exfoliate skin. Used once or twice a week, this formula will help draw out impurities, resolve bacteria and stimulate new cell growth for clean, clearer skin.”
derma e Very Clear Spot Blemish Treatment: “Unburden your skin of bothersome blemishes with derma ® Very Clear Spot Blemish Treatment. It uses natural extracts and oils to reduce harmful bacteria and pore-clogging oil without causing dryness, peeling, or irritation.”
derma e Very Clear Problem Skin Cleanser: “Punishing your acne-prone skin isn’t the answer. derma ® Clear Skin 1 Problem Skin Cleanser uses effective, natural antibacterial agents combined with skin-soothers to reduce excess oil and harmful bacteria without irritating your skin.”
Would I buy these products? Yes, they are priced similar to other natural beauty products ($10-$20), and although I cannot vouch for the claims, when I have a breakout, I am willing to try anything. Also, these products have low scores on the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database ranging from two to three.
My son is a little helper. From the garden to the woodshed, he’s out there with us doing all of the chores of country living. We have bought several pairs of cotton work gloves in the past, but these gloves never fit right, get lost, aren’t like Mommy and Daddy’s, don’t last, are not very protective, etc. It seems only fair to give children real tools, like leather work gloves.
Young children want to help you carry garden clippings, clear brush and weeds, and do other work in the yard. Sturdy, well–fitting leather gloves protect their hands and help them grip tools firmly.
Would I buy this product? Yes, I actually did. I bought a pair of these gloves for my five-year-old son and am very happy with their quality. Plus, they only cost about $5.00. Of course, if you are a vegan, you would want a cloth alternative.
Might as well continue the working theme! This tool bench is my son’s absolutely favorite place to hang out when playing.
Big building projects call for big workbenches and that’s the idea with My Professional Workshop. The 78-piece set includes an abundance of screws and wood pieces to construct things with the hammer, screwdriver, vice, and ruler.
We’ve reviewed several toys by HaPe in the past, and all of them have been extremely well made and of high-quality.
Would I buy this product? Yes, I actually did.This is a big ticket item (about $100), and as a parent, I have always been hesitant to shell out the big bucks not knowing if it is really a toy my child would play with or not. For my son, this toy was worth every penny. We’ve had our workbench for two years now, and the interest has not worn off. We have added other tools to it along the way, and it consistently promotes extended creative play.
Every child’s art supply comes with the assurance that it is “non-toxic”, but I have often questioned how true this statement really is; however, I don’t question the toxicity of Glob It On Paints! This may be one of the coolest products we have reviewed in a long time. Made from organic plant extracts, Glob comes in powder form that you mix with cold water to the desired consistency.
Finally, eco-friendly paints made from natural ingredients. Created with a focus on sustainability, these water-based paints and pigments are biodegradable.
GLOB™ is made from colors found in nature. Our botanically crafted products are colored by fruits, vegetables, flowers and spices.
The vibrant pigments in GLOB™ have been used by different cultures throughout the ages in artists’ paints and body products.
Using cosmetic and food grade ingredients, our products are truly non-toxic.
GLOB™ paints are unmatched in quality and environmental synergy.
The colors are truly vibrant, and the paint mixes up easily. I enjoyed painting with our Glob samples . Mixed up paint needs to be stored in the refrigerator, because they are truly all natural, but you can easily just mix up a little at a time based upon your needs.
Would I buy this product? Yes! Yes! Yes!
Disclosure: The products described above were sent to us as free samples, unless noted differently in the review. Prior assurances as to the nature of the reviews, whether positive or negative, were not given. No financial payments were accepted in exchange for the reviews. The reviews reflect our honest, authentic opinions.
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Writing by Anna Quindlen
We are people who know that we never understood what “bad day” meant until that morning that cracked our world cleanly in two, that day that made two days, September 11 and 9-11.
September 11 is my eldest child’s birthday. When he drove cross-country this spring and got pulled over for pushing the pedal on a couple of stretches of monotonous highway, two cops in two different states said more or less the same thing as they looked down at his license: aw, man, you were really born on 9-11? Maybe it was coincidence, but in both cases he got a warning instead of a ticket.
Who are we now? A people who manage to get by with the help of the everyday, the ordinary, the mundane, the old familiar life muting the terror of the new reality. The day approaching will always be bifurcated for me: part September 11, the anniversary of one of the happiest days of my life, and part 9-11, the day America’s mind reeled, its spine stiffened and its heart broke.
That is how the country is now, split in two. The American people used their own simple routines to muffle the horror they felt looking at that indelible loop of tape—the plane, the flames, the plane, the fire, the falling bodies, the falling buildings. Amid the fear and the shock there were babies to be fed, dogs to be walked, jobs to be done. After the first months almost no one bought gas masks anymore; fewer people than expected in New York City asked for the counseling that had been provided as part of the official response. Slowly the planes filled up again. A kind of self hypnosis prevailed, and these were the words used to induce the happy trance: life goes on.
Who are we now? We are better people than we were before. That’s what the optimists say, soothed by the vision of those standing in line to give blood and money and time at the outset, vowing to stop and smell the flowers as the weeks ticked by. We are people living in a world of unimaginable cruelty and savagery. So say the pessimists. The realists insist that both are right, and, as always, they are correct.
We are people whose powers of imagination have been challenged by the revelations of the careful planning, the hidden leaders, the machinations from within a country of rubble and caves and desperate want, the willingness to slam headlong into one great technological achievement while piloting another as a way of despising modernity. Why do they hate us, some asked afterward, and many Americans were outraged at the question, confusing the search for motivation with mitigation. But quietly, as routine returned, a new routine based on a new bedrock of loss of innocence and loss of life, a new question crept almost undetected into the national psyche: did we like ourselves? Had we become a people who confused prosperity with probity, whose culture had become personified by oversize sneakers and KFC? Our own individual transformations made each of us wonder what our legacy would be if we left the world on a sunny September day with a “to do” list floating down 80 stories to the street below.
So we looked at our lives a little harder, called our friends a little more often, hugged our kids a little tighter. And then we complained about the long lines at the airport and obsessed about the stock market in lieu of soul-searching. Time passed. The blade dulled. The edges softened. Except, of course, for those who lived through birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, without someone lost in the cloud of silvery dust, those families the living embodiment of what the whole nation had first felt and then learned not to feel.
We are people of two minds now, the one that looks forward and the one that unwillingly and unexpectedly flashes back. Flying over lower Manhattan, the passengers reflexively lean toward the skyline below, looking for ghost buildings. “Is everything back to normal?” someone asked me in another country not long ago, and I said yes. And no. The closest I could come to describing what I felt was to describe a bowl I had broken in two and beautifully mended. It holds everything it once did; the crack is scarcely visible. But I always know it’s there. My eye worries it without even meaning to.
On September 10 of last year my daughter and I went to the funeral of a neighbor we both loved greatly. We rushed home so I could go to the hospital, where my closest friend had just had serious surgery. Someone else took the cat to the vet after we discovered that he was poisoned and was near death. That night, as my daughter got ready for bed I said to her, without the slightest hint of hyperbole, “Don’t worry, honey. We’ll never again have a day as bad as this one.”
Who are we now? We are people who know that we never understood what “bad day” meant until that morning that cracked our world cleanly in two, that day that made two days, September 11 and 9-11. The mundane and the monstrous. “Tell me how do you live brokenhearted?” Bruce Springsteen sings on his new album about the aftermath. September 11 is my boy’s birthday; 9-11 is something else. That is the way we have to live, or we cannot really go on living at all.
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Gun Barrel Bluing-In ’72 I was running a rifling machine for the Brown Mfg. Co. They made for Ballard rifle and Southmen pistol. The Ballard was afterwards taken by the Marlin Co. Pistol barrels were blued by heat in hot sand. After polishing rifle barrels a pine plug was driven tightly in each end projecting four or five inches-all handling done by the plugs-then rolled in air slacked lime to remove all trace of oil, wiped with clean rag and brushed over with diluted nitric acid and placed in racks for about 12 hours. Then put in tank of water and boiled 15 or 20 minutes. On taking out they were covered with a fine red rust. This was rubbed off with a wire brush and showed a pale blue. This process repeated on an average of three times when the deep blue was obtained. After last wire brushing, if dark enough, the barrel was rubbed with woolen rag and oil and beeswax. The barrel must never be touched by the fingers after being limed, till the oil and beeswax polish is on, all handling done by projecting plugs. After two years in the gun shop I went into a job shop but for several years I did gun repairing and have used this process with good results if I was careful but couldn’t hurry it and come out good.
Harding, A.R.. 3001 Questions and Answers. Columbus, Oh: A.R. Harding, 1913.
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All AMC Shows
Movies on AMC
If you think The Dark Knight's "Why So Serious" campaign or Joaquin Phoenix's outlandish behavior on the Late Show with David Letterman are something new, you're sadly mistaken. Stirring up controversy and publicizing the sensational have long proven surefire ways of generating ticket sales at the box office. This first of two parts looks at the history of gimmickry up until 1960. With movies, sex, as always, sells.
The Broken Oath (1910): The Publicity Hoax
Independent Motion Picture Company founder Carl Laemmle stole Biograph Studio's then-anonymous Florence Lawrence by promising her marquee recognition. (Up till then she was simply "The Biograph Girl".) He also generated massive publicity by fueling a false story about how Lawrence had been killed in a NYC streetcar accident. Once enough sympathy had been raised, Laemmle admitted it was a "cowardly... silly lie" via an ad in Moving Picture World. Shortly thereafter at the premiere of The Broken Oath (1910), Lawrence made an appearance with leading man King Baggot at a St. Louis train station. These events mark the first major movie industry publicity stunt to receive widespread press.
Child Bride (1938): Teenage Nudity
Legendary producer/promoter Kroger Babb took his pic Child Bride on the road and made the most of its sexploitation content with taglines like "A throbbing drama of shackled youth!" and "Where Lust was called Just." Banned in many locations because of its underage nudity, the "educational" aspect of the plot about the dangers of underage marriage was designed to circumvent Production Code restrictions. The movie claimed to have a positive goal, too: "If our story will help to abolish Child Marriage -- it will have served its purpose."
Gone With the Wind (1939): The Original Star Search
American Idol circa 1939? Pretty much. A three-year nationwide star search for the actress to play Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind was orchestrated by Hollywood huckster Russell Birdwell. Open auditions and interviews were held around the country, culminating with the casting of little-known British actress Vivien Leigh. In total, over 1,400 actors tried out for the part. A second publicity stunt came with a merchandising tie-in to Scarlett's wedding dress, displayed in major department store windows.
The Outlaw (1943): Skywriting Breasts
Millionaire Howard Hughes' pet project The Outlaw (1943) scandalized with salacious marketing focused on its star's breasts: "What are the two great reasons for Jane Russell's rise to stardom?", the marketing coyly asked. Pin-up shots of big-busted Russell rolling around in the hay had the desired effect at the box office too (especially among WWII GIs). One of the movie's most vulgar stunts, again orchestrated by Birdwell, was to have skywriting planes fly over San Francisco where they spelled the film's title followed by two giant circles -- each dotted in the center.
Mom and Dad (1945): Sex (Hygiene) Appeal
Kroger Babb's low-budget Mom and Dad (1945) rates as one of the most successful sexploitation flicks of all time. Besides being socially significant as a sex-hygiene pic about the dangers of venereal disease and premarital sex, it also ended up the third highest grossing movie of the 1940s (easily recouping its $62,000 in expenses). About 300 prints road-showed for more than two decades. Screenings were divided by gender and hosted by a lecturer named Elliot Forbes -- an "eminent sexual hygiene commentator" -- and two assisting nurses. The latter promoted the movie's instructive value (it includes a birth sequence), lectured on contraception during intermission, and sold sex manuals in the theaters.
3D Films - 1952
Threatened by television, Hollywood counter-attacked with 3D. The first feature-length sound movie to use the technique was Bwana Devil (1952) which came with the tagline: "A lion in your lap! A lover in your arms!" [The first feature-length 3D film was a silent one called The Power of Love (1922).] A flood of quickly, and often, cheaply, made pics soon followed such as Robot Monster (1953); It Came From Outer Space (1953); The French Line (1953), starring busty Jane Russell (one provocative tagline touted: "It'll knock BOTH your eyes out"); House of Wax (1953), the musical Kiss Me Kate (1953); Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954); and Hitchcock's Dial M For Murder (1954). In the '80s, the technology was briefly revived with Friday the 13th Part 3 3-D (1982), Jaws 3-D (1983), and Amityville 3-D (1983). A similar explosion happened more recently with Spy Kids 3-D (2003), Chicken Little (2005), Meet the Robinsons (2007), Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008), My Bloody Valentine 3-D (2009), Monsters vs. Aliens (2009), and Up (2009).
This Is Cinerama (1952): The Big Screen
Paramount's wrap-around screen debuts! Recognized as the first mainstream, widescreen format, this breakthrough projection technique required three cameras, three projectors, four-track stereo sound, and a number of interlocking, semi-curved screens. A travelogue of the world's vacation spots, This Is Cinerama features a thrilling roller-coaster ride. No longer in use, the format found its most noteworthy contribution in the all-star western How the West Was Won (1962).
Behind the Great Wall (1959): Smell-O-Vision
Another short-lived fad from the 1950s is Charles Weiss' system of pumping "Oriental" scents into the theater through the air-conditioning system. Dubbed Aroma-Rama, this gimmick was prominently used in Carlo Lizzani's Behind the Great Wall (1959), an Italian documentary about Red China narrated by Chet Huntley. This olfactory approach to expanding the moviegoing experience actually has lesser-known precedents: In 1906, rose oil permeated Forest City, Pennsylvania's Family Theatre during a Rose Bowl game newsreel; in 1929 lilac oil was spread through the ventilation system of a Boston theater during the opening credits of the love story Lilac Time (1928); and in the 1940s, various scents were distributed during the double-bill The Sea Hawk (1940) and Boom Town (1940) in a Detroit theater.
Lifetime Achievement Award: The "King of Ballyhoo"
No list about the history of gimmickry would be complete without mention of '50s B-movie schlock-meister William Castle. You can read an homage to this horror impresario here. These are a few highlights from his oddly distinguished career.
• Macabre (1958) promised a $1,000 Lloyds of London insurance policy for anyone who died of fright during the screening.
• House on Haunted Hill (1959) flew a 12-foot long glow-in-the-dark skeleton over the audience.
• The Tingler (1959) installed small electric motors under the theater seats to shock viewers with mini-jolts whenever Vincent Price appeared.
• 13 Ghosts (1960) required audience members to don red-and-blue colored glasses to spot the ghosts on screen.
• Mr. Sardonicus (1961) allowed audience members to vote on the main character's fate: Life or death.
Check back next week for Part 2 of Tim Dirks' column devoted to the history of gimmicky in movie history.
Tim Dirks is Senior Editor and Film Historian at AMC, an educator and film buff who originally created the landmark, award-winning Filmsite.org (Greatest Films) in the mid-1990s and continues to write original reviews and features spanning all the years of cinematic history.
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Liberty, the cross-party organisation working for fundamental rights and freedoms in the UK, has warned against extending the principle of “secret justice” into ordinary civil cases against the Government.
A new Green Paper on secret evidence proposes that ministers should be able to initiate closed proceedings in civil cases where the Government claims disclosure would compromise national security, put sources at risk or undermine so-called key partnerships.
The proposal follows the Supreme Court ruling in Al Rawi and others v the Security Services in July where the Court refused to adopt a “closed material procedure”.
In that case, the Government tried to argue that the Common Law could enable the intelligence services to use secret evidence to defend claims of their complicity in torture. The Supreme Court rejected outright that attempt to instigate closed proceedings via the backdoor – but now the Government is effectively trying to amend the law and legislate for what it failed to achieve last time.
The Green Paper’s proposals would allow a Government to defend accusations of complicity in torture without revealing information which may be crucial to a fair hearing for the victim and to the public interest in media scrutiny of alleged abuses of power.
Isabella Sankey, Director of Policy for Liberty, said: “The security services seem to think that having to compensate former Guantanamo detainees for failing in their duty to them justifies closing down open civil courts into the future.
“These payouts should encourage the avoidance of complicity in torture, not blatant attempts to halt centuries of British justice."
She concluded: “Further inroads like this will make it even easier for the system to be abused – to prevent embarrassment, not protect national security.”
Liberty argues there are already several mechanisms allowing for the protection of national security – including claims for Public Interest Immunity which can ensure any material truly compromising national security does not enter the public domain. Crucially, where PII applies, neither party to a case can rely on the withheld evidence.
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1. How does Mitt get over the top?
This year the rules for the Republican nominating convention have been changed to tilt more toward awarding delegates proportionately rather than giving all the state’s delegates to whoever wins its primary, no matter how slim the margin. To be sure, some reports have overstated the change; the rules have never been completely winner-take-all across the country, and this year’s changes don’t affect every state. But the changes could be important in a year when national polls continue to point to front-runner Mitt Romney’s difficulty in attracting more than about 25% support.
Indeed, with it seeming clear that even in states like New Hampshire, Romney can’t seem to attract majority support in a multi-candidate race, I keep looking for a story that will explain how Romney will capture the majority of delegates necessary to get the nomination. Could one irony be that–despite the conventional wisdom that what is saving Romney is that opposition to him is split in a multi-candidate race–it is, in fact, the presence of multiple candidates that most threatens Romney’s ability to wrap up the nomination, because it allows voters to choose their favorite non-Romney from multiple flavors?
It seems possible that Ron Paul will keep enjoying 10%-20% support, while the Santorum/Gingrich/Perry conservative faction could keep commanding 30%-40% support, especially if more than one of them stays in the race (and on the television debate stage) through the spring, assuming they don’t run out of money altogether or can live on shoe-string budgets when the money gets low.
Is there enough new math at play here that this could produce a brokered convention, with the delegates turning to a Chris Christie, Mitch Daniels or Jeb Bush to break the deadlock? Or would Romney have to choose one of the right-wing candidates as a running mate (thereby weakening his November appeal to independents and moderates) to put himself over the top? And doesn’t this changed dynamic actually encourage likely also-rans such as Perry, Gingrich or Santorum to stay in the race, spending little money but not formally withdrawing and releasing their delegates, so they can be power-brokers or even the vice-presidential nominee? If not, why not? Could the fact that Perry’s Texas delegation represents more than 10% of the votes needed to get the nomination produce a re-run of the 1960 Democratic convention, when the Massachusetts nominee had to pick a bitter rival from Texas?
2. Comparing two manmade disasters – 26 years and continents apart:
As we approach the second anniversary of the April, 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, we’ve just passed the 27th anniversary of a much bigger manmade environmental disaster: the December 1984 gas explosion at a pesticide plant owned by Union Carbide in Bhopal, India, that is believed to have killed more than 25,000 people and injured more than a half-million. As with the BP spill, there were all kinds of allegations that safety regulations had been evaded, and plaintiffs’ lawyers from the U.S. arrived quickly to chase down prospective client-victims. (Yes, they got to Bhopal as fast they got to the Gulf.)
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We performed a site update on April 16, 2013. Please let the admin know if you User_talk:Admin#APRIL_16.2C_2013 encounter any issues. All updates have been performed.
From BR Bullpen
The Visalia entry in the Cal League was known as the Visalia Cubs from 1946-56 except for 1953, when they were the Visalia Stars. The independent team finished 67-73, fifth in the 8-team league, and drew 53,396 fans, 6th in the league. The manager was Jerry Gardner and they were outscored 848-810 despite leading the league in runs and homers (137); they finished last in average (.248) and led in batter strikeouts (1,049). Loyal Bloxam (17-9, 2.93) was the staff ace; the next lowest ERA was 4.36. 1B John J. O'Keefe (.328/~.414/.597) led the league in RBI (137) and his 33 homers were three behind leader Ray Perry.
Source: 1954 Baseball Guide
Year-by-Year Record
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Boosting alternative livelihood creation in Asia
03 May 2007 | News story
While many programmes and projects dealing with natural resource management in the South Asia region have included alternative livelihood components, these have often been poorly conceived and ineffective in their implementation. To address the lack of institutional capacity within the region to systematically approach
alternative livelihood creation in a participatory and poverty-focused way, IUCN and Integrated Marine Management Ltd (IMM) organised the first of three workshops from January 27 to February 3 in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, India.
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Most Americans perceive that the only dishes Asian restaurants make are grease bombs that come in a to-go box, and that any other Asian dish is just too adventurous to try. Well, move over fried egg rolls and chow mein: Southeast Asian dishes are healthy, delicious and more than worthy to grace your dinner table tonight.
Growing up, I didn’t eat casseroles, meatloaf, and pasta every other day. Like most other Asian children, my staples were rice and noodles. I remember waking up to the smell of Pho` and eating my soup with a side of vegetables.
Pho` is a traditional Vietnamese soup and noodle dish filled with hot meaty broth. While there’s no standard Pho` recipe, beef is typically used to flavor the broth along with spices such as star anise, cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamom and onions.
Read Full Post >
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Chicago, IL (PRWEB) October 12, 2012
Giving voice to those who need help and giving life to products that make a difference—that’s why Loyola Press provides faith formation products for individuals with special needs, products such as the award-winning Adaptive First Eucharist Preparation Kit and the new Adaptive Reconciliation Kit.
The Adaptive First Eucharist Preparation Kit began humbly: a young man named Brendan Rizzo was looking for a project to earn his Eagle Scout badge. His sister Danielle, a child with autism, was having difficulty receiving her First Communion—and Brendan sought to find a solution. With the help of his parents, Brendan organized a special-needs library at his parish for his Eagle Scout project and began developing a series of learning tools to help individuals celebrate the Sacrament of the Eucharist, tools featured in Loyola Press’s Adaptive First Eucharist Preparation Kit.
Since then, Loyola Press has been honored with a 2012 Excellence in Publishing Award from the Association of Catholic Publishers; received numerous success stories for the Adaptive First Eucharist Preparation Kit; and developed the next resource for individuals with autism and other special needs, the Adaptive Reconciliation Kit.
The Adaptive Reconciliation Kit was designed to help individuals with special needs enter fully into their faith experience, prepare for the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, and experience God’s healing through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Dione L. Grillo, Consultant for the Office of Religious Education in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has reviewed the Adaptive Reconciliation Kit and notes: “the Adaptive Reconciliation Kit takes seriously the Bishops’ mandate for ‘full, conscious, and active participation’ in the sacramental life of the Church. It takes one giant step forward as it seeks to enable and empower individuals of all abilities to know and love our God of forgiveness.”
Theresa Adams, OTR/L, pediatric occupational therapist and volunteer catechist adds: “Loyola Press has once again provided catechists and parents with valuable tools that honor the spirituality of individuals with special needs. This kit makes the abstract concepts of contrition and forgiveness clear and concrete through the physical act of exchanging a concrete object, such as a picture card or puzzle piece.”
To learn more about the Adaptive Reconciliation Kit, please visit http://www.loyolapress.com/special-needs or call 800-621-1008.
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FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ) - The Fond du Lac High School Performing Arts Center is hosting a national documentary called "Heroes Behind the Badge" Thursday night.
The film is about the bravery of law enforcement offices who have put their lives on the line, including those who died in the line of duty.
Among them is Fond du Lac police officer Craig Birkholz, who was shot and killed in March of 2011. As is his fellow officer Ryan Williams, who was wounded during that same shooting.
Tickets cost $15, with 50% of proceeds going to benefit the National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial Fund.
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The recreational use of marijuana officially became legal Monday in Colorado, a little more than a month after voters in the state passed an amendment that changed the law.
"Voters were loud and clear on Election Day," Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, said in a statement, as he signed an executive order to officially legalize the personal use and limited growing of marijuana for those 21 or older. Amendment 64, as it's called, is now a part of the state's constitution.
It is still illegal, however, to buy or sell marijuana "in any quantity" in Colorado or to consume it in public.
Hickenlooper, who opposed the amendment before Election Day, announced the start of a 24-member task force that would "begin working immediately" to help the state navigate federal laws and establish how citizens can legally purchase and sell cannabis.
Washington, the other state to legalize marijuana in November, officially made the practice legal last week. It could take a year, however, before rules are set for growing and selling pot.
Shortly after Colorado voters passed the amendment on November 6, Hickenlooper cautioned it was too soon to "break out the Cheetos," saying state authorities must work to implement the new measure and prevent individuals from being prosecuted by the federal government, which classifies marijuana as an illegal substance.
In a statement Monday, U.S. Attorney John Walsh said that the Department of Justice is "reviewing" the initiatives passed in both states and that the department's "responsibility to enforce the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged."
"Regardless of any changes in state law, including the change that will go into effect on December 10 in Colorado, growing, selling or possessing any amount of marijuana remains illegal under federal law," Walsh said.
When Hickenlooper opposed the amendment, he warned that legal marijuana use could "increase the number of children using drugs" and would "detract from efforts to make Colorado the healthiest state in the nation."
"It sends the wrong message to kids that drugs are OK," he added in a statement.
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“Three things tell a man: his eyes, his friends and his favorite quotes.”
Carol Burnett (American Actress)
Date of Birth:
April 26, 1933
Carol Creighton Burnett is an American actress, comedian, singer, dancer and writer. Burnett started her career in New York. After becoming a hit on Broadway, she debuted on television. After successful appearances on The Garry Moore Show, Carol moved to Los Angeles and began an eleven-year run on the highly acclaimed The Carol Burnett Show which was aired on CBS television from 1967 to 1978. With roots in vaudeville, The Carol Burnett Show was a variety show combining comedy sketches, song, and dance. The comedy sketches ranged from movie parodies to character pieces which featured the many talents of Burnett herself who created and played several well-known and distinctive characters.
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It is my opinion that North Hollywood High School is an exemplary school that truly prepares its students for college and further education. I am currently a sophomore in the HGM (Highly Gifted Magnet) program, and it is amazing. The teachers inspire me and encourage me to learn. When I first enrolled, I did not think I would like the school. That all changed after the first day of school. While the school is indeed in a bad position financially, all LAUSD schools are the same. Many of the students simply do not care about their grades, though they plan to go to college. Everyday, the principal or some students go on the announcements and stress how important "doing your best" is. They also give a CST vocabulary word and its definition. A majority of the teachers truly care for the students and enjoy spreading their knowledge. The school offers many AP courses and there are opportunities to join many clubs/extracurricular activities. All the administrators are extremely nice, and the safety of the school has improved tenfold since the beginning of my time there. The faculty and staff is making the most of a limited budget, and they are doing a wonderful job of it.
Let's talk about the white elephant in the room! There needs to be more Community Support, Parent Involvement - this is not a day care center to baby sit your kid for the day. Education starts at home folks- Many of these students have no self respect, NO respect for their school or each other! This type of education is learned at home! There are not enough parents that care enough to even have a PTA?? How can this be, that you either don't care about your child's education or don't have time? MAKE THE TIME! This school needs to do well, better than well- for the up coming CST Testing in May. Do your part as parents, make sure they eat a good breakfast, get them to bed early for a good nights sleep, if it does not pass this year, your going to see a BIG CHANGE that MOST of you will no like. You will be the first, to ask the Administration how did this happen? It happened,(if it does) because you let it happen. You have a great staff at this school, yes there are a few that we would be better off without, speaking of Spanish, there are other foreign language that will set your child apart, stop with the easy "A" - try something new like American Sign Language
My child attends this school. N.Hollywood High is badly in need of repair / retrofit / funding of any kind.
My daughter is entering her Jr year & overall we're pleased with the school. Like most schools in LAUSD it's overpopulated & the class size for the regular high school program is too big. The teachers are as involved as the parents meaning that if you're a parent that isn't involved the teachers are less likely to reach out. The teachers don't challenge the students as much as they should which isn't truly preparing them for college but my assumption is that with so many kids in a class on various levels it must be hard to do so. The EMA program needs to be structured more towards specific disciplines & more classes in the arts instead of 1 class per year, also foreign language should be offered as early as freshmen year for reg. students and not just HGM as well more options than Spanish.
well some of the staff members have no respect for students or parents, i have to say some of the teachers are excellent and the safety is poor
it needs to expect more out of students, and the schools that feed into it need to stress reading and respect. It is a good school, it could and should be great
Our school helps every student and the teachers always make time for every student and are dedicated to them.
Mr hatem is a good teacher the school is a good school but to many cliques
I'm currently a senior at NHHS and I must say this school is great. The teachers understand you and because of it's small learning communities you are closer to everyone. It also has a good enviroment and it may not be the cleanest but its a very good school.
I am a junior currently enrolled in nhhs. I am a part of the highly gifted magnet (hgm) and in the hgm, I can honestly say I receive all the attention and help I need. Not only are the classes small but they are also hard classes to prepare you for college. On the other hand, I have been placed in some residential classes in order to fulfill my graduation requirements. In the residential classes, I feel as if the students are not given the attention they need and it is obvious that most of the students don't care about their grades and high school career. They claim they want to go to college but don't show it in their actions. Also, the teachers are so focused on getting students to pay attention that they don't realize that the material they are teaching is not up to par.
North Hollywood Senior High has it's good qualities and bad qualities i currently attend the school and im a sophmore, my freshman year was great i learned a lot with the help of very determined teachers and this year i have all honors classes, and because of that i would like to thank them because im a student sthlete and they were understanding on the fact that i was gonna miss some class and needed my ssignments handed to me earlier, the bad qualities about n.h. is that most of the student body just doesn't seem to care about the apperance of the school it could be cleaner if people would use the trash cans wich are there for a reason but other than that its a great education program if the students put in the effort teachers give us the opportunity to learn we should take advantage of that.
I went to this graduated from this school two years ago. All throughout my four year course there all of my teachers were incredibly great. My senior year was my most enjoyed and if it wasn't for my teachers ther I wouldn't be who I am and where I am today
I am so disappointed. Too many students, too many behavior problems in the classrooms. The campus is old and dirty. Where is the basic maintenance this school desperately needs? Sure, the gifted magnet gets attention as they compete in academic decathlons and win awards--but what about the other 2000 students in the school? Where is their quality education--where are their quality teachers?
This school was horrendous. The teachers did not stick to their academic programs because they were too busy trying to get all the 'problem students' and trust me, there was quite alot, in line.
Talking of North Hollywood High School, one needs to take in count that this school has over 4,300 students. Therefore, problems often seem bigger them they really are not. (safety, discipline, attendance, etc.) I carefuly did my reserch before I registered my child in this school. In fact, I moved from another district for this school and I haven't been dissapointed yet in neither the quality of academic programs nor the level of parental involvement.
If you are not hispanic speaking, it is very difficult to become involved at this school for a parent. My husband and I, both English speaking Americans, attended a parent night. We were the only English speaking Americans. Almost the entire program was in Spanish. In regard to academics, I grade this school with a c-. Very disappointing!
Community ratings and reviews do not represent the views of GreatSchools nor does GreatSchools check their accuracy or verify the reviewers' identities. Use your discretion when evaluating these reviews.
The Community Rating is the school’s average rating from its community members (e.g., parents, students, and school staff). The highest possible rating is five stars; the lowest is one star.
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Food is essentially intimate. It literally enters us and becomes part of our bodies. Our lives depend on its presence. No wonder, then, that the act of eating or preparing food with someone can be transformative. It’s the deeply communal nature of cooking that makes Cooking with Italian Grandmothers so wonderful. On some level, it is the commonest of trivialities to say that food brings us together. But in this book the truth of that tossed-off phrase emerges radiantly. In words and gorgeous photos, Jessica Theroux shows us that the food she discovers on her journey is inseparable from the people who make it, the places where they lead their lives, and the history of both. This is food that links people to the land and to one another. You’ll emerge from the book feeling that you too have traveled those roads, stepped into those kitchens, and chatted with twelve distinct personalities. It’s a journey well worth taking.
This book is as much a travelogue as it is a cookbook, and like the best travelogues it doesn’t stop at observing a place, but enters the homes and hearts of the people who live there. The food here isn’t just something that sits, glowing, on a white tablecloth, and the origin of these recipes is much more than a pleasant, vaguely exotic backdrop. On the contrary: whether it’s a rich rabbit pasta sauce in Tuscany or creamy ricotta in Ustica, each dish is rooted in its own patch of soil and piece of human life.
As you read Theroux writing about learning to cook from the old women she meets on her travels through Italy, it’s clear that the act of cooking together has fostered a great intimacy between her and them. Theroux comes to know these women through their cooking, and in these pages, so do we. From Usha, the yoga practitioner with a hidden talent for creating decadent pastries, to Carluccia, who knows the soil on her Calabrian farm so well that she prepares beans from separate patches in ways designed to bring out the unique flavors of each, the way these women cook is imbued with their personalities, places, and life histories. Their food keeps memories, and creates them. It carries the echoes of past hardships and rejoicing, of bad times and good. Cooking it leads to revelations, as Theroux and her teachers open up to one another.
And I can’t wait to try out their recipes—I’ve got my eye on the plum-almond tart, tomato-bread soup, and pesto lasagna, for starters.
—Genevieve Aoki, Welcome intern
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Windy City gays do battle with an infamous officer.
In February 1992, The Advocate asked, “Will the Democrats Screw Us in the Upcoming Presidential Election?” Funny how, 18 years and three presidents later, we’re still asking the same essential question.
Toni Beasley wanted this job — badly. She was once a certified nursing assistant, and ostensibly she had the qualifications for the post she was seeking: a peer health educator for an outreach program in downtown Los Angeles, where she would be counseling people on HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Known by the transgender men and women in her Skid Row support group simply as Ms. Beasley, she’d lived in the neighborhood since 1998, in shelters or motels, sleeping in tents, a van, or county jail. She had struggled with drug abuse in the past, but Beasley was sober now, grateful for what she had, and sympathetic to transgender women in the area who survive on the streets, often through sex work.Getting dressed for the interview, however, Beasley had to make a choice — show up in her usual dress and a short-haired wig or wear a red button-down shirt with blue jeans, going sans wig, eye shadow, and lip gloss. “I went in as a boy,” she says. “I didn’t want to jeopardize it. I didn’t want them to look at me and think, I don’t believe you’re the best person for this position.You’ve got to get through that door first.” Beasley got the position, and then, on her first day on the job, arrived dressed as a woman. Her supervisor may have been shocked at first, but by then Beasley was already through the door and had the job, and she did it well.Not all transgender Americans find themselves in such predicaments. But even in California, 12 other states, and the District of Columbia, which have laws banning workplace discrimination based on both gender identity and sexual orientation, recent studies confirm what many experts long suspected to be true: Transgender individuals — and trans people of color in particular — face disproportionate rates of unemployment and poverty, both in comparison to the general population and in comparison to gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals.Perhaps most striking, preliminary findings of a national survey of 6,450 transgender people, released in September by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, found that 97% of respondents experienced on-the-job harassment, ranging from colleagues repeatedly using the incorrect pronoun as a means of mocking to outright physical and sexual assaults. And the abuse takes place on all rungs of the ladder — from the minimum-wage doughnut shop employee whose boss insists her appearance makes her unsuitable to work at the front counter to the legislative aide fired for transitioning. “Gender nonconformity has always been the major reason why [LGBT] people are being harassed,” says Lisa Mottet, the Task Force’s transgender civil rights project director.
The Advocate's People of the Year series continues with director Pedro Almodóvar. activist Shirley Tan, producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, Portland Mayor Sam Adams, Neil Patrick Harris and activist Cleve Jones.
One of the nation’s most respected gay newspapers celebrates four decades of looping in the Beltway.
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General Information on Immigration Forms
Using Immigration Forms
USCIS provides most forms free of charge through this website in PDF format. In order to view, print, or fill out our forms, you should use the latest version of Adobe Reader, which can be downloaded for free.
Forms Pages Contain Important Information:
To ensure that you complete your application correctly, you should carefully read any notices, warnings, or explanations on the Forms Entry Page (FEP) before you print (or download) the form itself, fill it out and send it to USCIS. The Forms Entry Page is viewed when you click on the form number on the large table on the "Forms" page. Each Forms Entry Page also has a shortcut URL. For example, Form N-400 is at www.uscis.gov/n-400, Form I-130 is at www.uscis.gov/i-130 - and so on.
Be sure to verify the filing location of the forms for the specific benefit you are seeking.
Many immigration ("I") or naturalization ("N") forms have detailed instructions about where to file and those instructions may vary with specific circumstances. Although we try to provide brief answers regarding required fees and locations to file these forms, please carefully read the information on any form's FEP and on its instructions. Failure to file forms with the correct office or with the correct fee may result in an application or petition being returned to you and additional processing delays. (Please do NOT mail your application or petition to the "HQPDI" address on any form, that address is for submitting comments on the form itself.)
In some circumstances, the forms entry page will specifically note that requirements for a specific application or petition have changed and that the form's instructions have not yet been revised. This warning will be shown in the "Special Instructions" section of the FEP. Please make sure you follow those special instructions.
Fees and Fee Waiver Information
A filing fee is required for many immigration forms. This fee must be mailed in with the completed application. Any fees charged for the particular benefit application or petition that you need to file are indicated on the Forms, Fees and Filing Locations chart.
Be sure to include your payment of all required fee(s), including any fingerprint fees, when you submit your application or petition. Make checks payable to "Department of Homeland Security." Do not submit a completed fingerprint card (FD-258) with your request. USCIS will contact you by mail to inform you of the time and place where your fingerprints will be taken.
It is USCIS policy that individuals may apply for and be granted a fee waiver for certain immigration benefits and services based on an inability to pay. Please consult http://www.uscis.gov/feewaiver for the complete list of forms and services that are eligible for a fee waiver, as well as those forms that are fee exempt.
USCIS developed the Form I-912, Request for Fee Waiver, to simplify the process for requesting a fee waiver. We will continue to consider applicant-generated fee waiver requests (for example, those not submitted on Form I-912) that comply with 8 CFR 103.7(c). Form I-912 instructions give information on the methodology that USCIS uses to make a decision on a fee waiver request, whether the request is submitted on Form I-912 or via an applicant-generated written statement requesting a fee waiver. The instructions provide applicants with guidance on properly completing Form I-912 and submitting supporting documentation. Please reference http://www.uscis.gov/forms and scroll down to Form I-912.
The review of any fee-waiver request will follow a series of steps that start with determining whether the applicant is receiving a means-tested benefit, or analyzing whether the applicant’s household income level and/or recent financial hardship makes him or her eligible for the fee waiver.
Many immigration forms require photographs to be submitted with the form. The specifications for photographs are often provided in the form instructions.
"Fillable" Immigration Forms
To further improve customer service, forms are being revised and provided in a format that allows you to fill them out on your computer, print them out, and mail it to the appropriate USCIS office in order to file for a benefit.
Downloading and Printing Immigration Forms
Some of our forms comprise rather large files. To more easily use them, we suggest you download them directly to your local computer, instead of filling them out through your web browser. Most users can do this by "right-clicking" on the link saving the form file to their computers. As noted above, you should use the latest version of Adobe Reader, which can be downloaded free.
Warning: Many non-USCIS websites offer immigration forms. Some will sell you a downloadable form for a fee. These sites are not affiliated with USCIS, and may not have the latest versions of forms. In some circumstances, use of older forms may result in your application or petition being denied or delayed. The latest version of these forms is always available at www.uscis.gov/forms.
"DS" Forms and other Non-USCIS Forms
Certain forms relating to visas, passports and travel are not available on this site. If you are looking for "DS" forms relating to visas and passports, check the Department of State website. If you are looking for information on Form I-94 or I-94W instructions, check the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website.
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One of the primary components of satire is perhaps a little bit of blasphemy, or at least a healthy degree of ridicule, directed at those things we hold sacred. Whether it’s the family, politicians, religion, culture, etc., much good satire illuminates the more farcical elements of those things that we consider so urgently serious and plays them for laughs.
Race and sexuality, as well as the intersection between the two, is one of those things that we’ve come to consider with urgent seriousness. We probably should. A history of miscegenation laws and lynching in the United States, and here in Canada the consistent targeting of Aboriginal women for rape and violence, just to name two examples, invites scholars as well as us laymen to consider the oppressive tactics used to associate race with particular characteristics and traits that have over time been employed to fuel both denigration and fantasy.
One doesn’t need to look any further than the world of pornography to see the way in which we’ve loaded certain traits onto race, creating a billion dollar industry based on fetishes stemming from race. In a sense, a significant portion of the industry is built upon stereotyping, employing it to craft fantasy and in many cases generalize and denigrate one’s sexuality and race at the same time. In a reflection on race in the porn industry, Wendi Muse writes,
For the most part, however, despite the inclusion of porn uploaded from other parts of the world, racism was rampant in terms of stereotyping and essentialization. In accounting for the hundreds of hung black stallions, bored and docile white MILFs, barely legal, small-chested Asian “girls,” and desperate, sex-hungry Latinas longing for citizenship, I couldn’t help but wonder: if we rid ourselves of race, would porn like this exist? What would we even call racism at that point?
Such are the fusions of race and sexuality that we have consumed, enjoyed, and in many cases internalized, perhaps coming to believe such things about ourselves and in a culture so drenched in these images and ideas, not necessarily limited to hardcore pornography, this becomes the lens through which we view others, reducing individuals to their assigned stereotypes. The consequences are certainly serious and a more serious dialogue concerning racial and sexual stereotypes is not at all a bad thing.
These same notions of race and sexuality are the objects of interest for Dany Laferrière’s wonderfully titled “How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired.” The novel finds its satirical prowess in taking up the question of race and sexuality and pushing it to its absurd and comical consequences.
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One of the primary tenets of the “comics as literature” argument is that comics are simply a medium of communication, and are therefore capable of telling a story or conveying information without being artificially limited to certain genres and maturity levels. An author or publisher need not assume that their audience is an adolescent male who is only interested in power fantasy and violent action. for those tuned into the medium, this couldn’t be more obvious, with books being released all the time that cover a wide range of styles, genres and moods. Even non-fiction is an option, which many people may find counter intuitive. How can you claim to be presenting a true story when you’re drawing the events? How can there be any objectivity in such a presentation? Of course, objectivity doesn’t come any easier from the viewfinder of a camera, or a writer’s pen (or word processor). And non-fiction doesn’t mean objective, impersonal, or unbiased. Are Persepolis or Maus any less true than a prose memoir?
French Canadian cartoonist Guy Delisle has been mining this territory in his output. Shenzhen and Pyongyang are autobiographical memoirs that recount his stay in the titular cities, in comics form. His third book in this vein, Burma Chronicles, is being released by Drawn & Quarterly in September.
I have to admit up front that I’ve never read Delisle’s previous books, but after my experience with Burma Chronicles, they have quickly risen to the top of my “must read” list. In Burma Chronicles, Delisle, his wife Nadege, and their young son Louis travel to Burma under the auspices of Doctors Without Borders, where they live for several months. Delisle recounts his period of adjustment to life in the dictatorial country, coping with everything from linguistic deficiency, culture shock, bureaucratic insanity, sweltering heat, and carpal tunnel. Everything from finding a house, to bribing the local officials, to searching for ink to work on his children’s book brings with it a new series of surprises, sometimes pleasant, sometimes thrilling, sometimes harrowing.
The politics of Burma are unavoidable, and color daily life for the locals and visitors alike. The house they end up staying at is within walking distance of Aung San Suu Kyi,the Nobel prize winner and political prisoner who has been kept under house arrest for over 12 years by the military junta she opposes. Between the daily sight of soldiers surrounding her house, the obvious and widespread censorship in domestic and foreign media, and the counterproductive machinations of the military bureaucracy, the atmosphere of Burma Chronicles is permeated with oppression.
Not everything is dour and cynical though.The family’s interactions with the locals run the full gamut of possibilities, from selfless generosity to annoyance and anger. Through the people they interact with, we get a vivid picture of daily life for Burmese people of all walks of life. Details like their household assistant’s Betel juice stained teeth, or the fat monk who comes by at an inappropriate time for alms, flesh out the social environment of the country.
His artwork is highly stylized, with angular, iconic figures that are nonetheless expressive. His backgrounds and scenery truly shine though, giving a real sense of locale and character to the places he’s presenting. The architectural pretensions of the nouveau riche are contrasted with the practical, rustic sprawl of the outlying areas. A handful of side trips are illustrated as wordless grids of small panels that feature surprisingly evocative drawings of the countryside and it’s ancient temples. There are beautifully detailed panels highlighting everything from the local plant life, to the evolution of a streetside folk art monument.
Burma chronicles is a quick, compelling read, that feel surprisingly deep and rewarding. The casual, personal tone is only occasionally interrupted to present essential background information on the history or culture of the region, but even that is engagingly presented. It’s ultimately a rich picture of a land that is completely foreign, both culturally and politically, through the eyes of a Western visitor. I finished it with a sense of familiarity, as if I’d been there myself, and seen it with my own eyes. It’s refreshing to see more work like this, or Persepolis, or Palestine, being released. An understanding of other cultures, especially ones that are presented antagonistically in much of our social discourse, is essential to a balanced an informed worldview. Comics are an accessible way to present that understanding to a wide audience, and thankfully, there is a small but growing number of authors willing to do that presenting.
1 comment | Categories: Artist, Reviews | Permalink
If you care at all about comics, you need to go here, now.
Ok, there’s some cool stuff at the top there….some great illustrations, some preview pages, some cartoonist-y chatter….
Oh hey! What’s this at the bottom? King City 2, Chapter 1?
For those of you not in the know, King City Vol. 1 is 2007’s breakout graphic novel by Seattle cartoonist Brandon Graham, whose previous works include the Elevator collection from Alternative Comics, and a handful of erotic comics for Amerotica. The book came seemingly out of nowhere, filling the minds of comics readers everywhere with a vision of a dirty, streetwise future in a sprawling sci-fi city populated by spies who use cats as weapons,veterans who can’t forget the zombies they fought in Korea, and addicts whose bodies slowly become the drug they consume. It’s a wildly imaginative book that packs bizarre asides and puns into a story that’s actually heartfelt and sensitive.
These first pages from King City Vol. 2 showcase the wild flights of fancy that Graham’s story often takes, highlighting the main character’s training as a cat master (a spy who uses a cat like Batman uses his utility belt and gadgets), along with plenty of eye candy (the overhead establishing shot of the King City freeways is particularly nice) and background puns (”cervix entrance”….heh).It’s definitely a book to look forward to.
And that’s where this gets bittersweet. See, King City Vol. 1 was put out by Tokyopop, and their recent shakeups have left the future of King City, like many of their other OEL manga books, in doubt and maybe in search of a new publisher. That’s if the company decides to release the rights to these books back to their creators.This aprticular book has a confirmed publisher for it’s french language edition, but the non-francophone among us will have to wait and see what happens before we get to sink our teeth into a print version.
Silver linings? With no deadline, the book is getting longer, with scenes that weren’t originally going to make the cut being reconsidered and added back in. Also, it looks like we’re going to be treated to new chapters on his Livejournal periodically, until a deal is worked out, or until it’s all online. Or, I guess, until he changes his mind. Also, Multiple Warheads, his Eisner nominated floppy-format serial that’s being published by Oni Press, is still safe and set to reappear soon, so the world won’t be deprived of his talent for too long.
No comment | Categories: Artist, Commentary, Linkdump, Publishers, Seattle | Permalink
Waking up early to drive from Seattle to Portland made us here at Successless drowsy and a bit irritable. Rolling into town around 10:30 am, we hustled to the Lloyd Center Doubletree just in time to see one of our favorite artists. Nicholas Gurewitch, creator of Perry Bible Fellowship, seemed as low energy as we were. His thoughtful, drowsy way of fielding questions from the crowd (including Scott McCloud) while noshing on a bagel made me happy that we were easing into the festival spirit with the low energy panel. That is, until he dropped some nuggets of genius onto the unsuspecting cloud.
Did you know that the secret to Gurewitch’s success is a robot manufactured with the help of an engineer? This robot does all the hard work - coming up with the art style of the strip, the biting humor, and the beautiful lettering? Yeah, neither did I.
The dial below the slot is key to balancing the distinctive comedy/tragedy tone to his comics. The phone is what he picks up to relay three key ideas he wants in his comic (like pigs, chicken, sex). To illustrate the danger in mis-calibrating this balance, he set the tragedy dial to high and out popped Watchmen.
And finally, one last piece of advice from a brilliant cartoonist:
There you have it ladies and gentlemen - the tale of worldwide success, of how to become syndicated print darling, and how to piss off Hasbro (who sent a cease and desist letter because of the likeness of the cover to Candyland) .
No comment | Categories: Artist, Convention | Permalink
Nate Powell, Sounds of Your Name
Microcosm Publishing, $18.00
My first exposure to Nate Powell was through my 2006 trek to Olympia Comics Festival, where I picked a few issues of his “Walkie Talkie” series. In true post-festival form, I was too busy coming down from the high of meeting so many cool artists and the low of having aching joints that his issues sat unread and neglected for a period of time.
Once I read my way through the stack, I came face-to-face with “Walkie Talkie.” The quality of printing was low, but the talent and writing was high. So impressed was I that I scoured high and low for more of his work. About a year ago I found a copy of Sounds of Your Name and devoured it. In fact, about every three months I find myself in that comic slump where everything feels the same, looks the same, and makes me feel the same. My antidote is reading Nate Powell’s work. And for far too long, I’ve kept this praise to myself.
Sounds of Your Name collects comics dating back to 1992, but unlike some retrospective collections you would not be able to figure that out by flipping through the pages. His art has been very consistent in quality and character, without any missteps showing amateur abilities. The fluidity of his lines set a highly emotional tone to his work, with expert shading and facial expressions rounding out the character of his art. When looking at his panels, it is impossible to only see it in the black and white tones that he is actually restricted to.
But the writing - oh boy - this is the good stuff. His words carry great weight, as he uses dialogue in an economic way. There is a sad quality, colored with angst, but it’s done with such quiet tones that it is barely detectable. He makes you pay attention, and once you do the cadence of the voices mixed with the fluidity of his art create a highly dimensional world where you can get lost in, kick your feet up, and let it wash over you.
This, folks, is the stuff that I live for. And thanks to the folks at Top Shelf, I’ll get another Nate Powell fix in September with his new book “Swallow Me Whole.”
No comment | Categories: Artist, Reviews | Permalink
The previous litmus test for superhero status as a comics artist was the 24-hour comic, a grueling trial of artistic output. A 24-hour comic, for those who don’t know, is a 24 page comic, created from scratch in a single 24-hour period, usually with the aid of a large quantity of coffee, Mountain Dew, Red Bull, etc. Having tried this before, I can attest to the fact that it’s a difficult ordeal, fraught with the perils of exhaustion, delirium, and questionable artistic choices.
But look out. There’s a new challenger in town.
John Campbell (stereotypist on livejournal) is currently creating hourly comics, consisting of 2 panels drawn for every hour he is awake in the month of January. He’s done this a few times in previous years, and the results are all available on the Hourly Comics website, sorted by day. The end result is similar to American Elf or Snakepit, but at a much more granular level. Like those daily comics, some installments feature almost no notable action, while others veer into the unexpected and absurd. You develop a sense of intimacy, despite the relatively crude drawing style. Like XKCD, the subject matter transcends any limitations the art might create.
If you enjoy the hourly comics, you’ll probably also enjoy his 50 Answers project, absurdist comic strips drawn as responses to reader-submitted questions. There’s plenty of other material on his Livejournal page to indulge in as well.
No comment | Categories: Artist, Linkdump | Permalink
You may not remember, but when this blog originally launched, I began an enormous Cerebus re-read project. I ended up finishing the re-read (oh god, even the text-only portions of Latter Days, which was enough to make me want to jam a menorah through my brain), but not the chronicling. Probably for the better. There’s only so much to be said about a creator who can so willfully dismantle everything appealing about his creation just to spite his dwindling fanbase for rejecting his cloud-cuckoo-land formulation of anti-feminism. It’s a pretty singular act of creative self-immolation, and Sim’s continued defense of his “philosophy” tends to sway between denying that his arguments lead to the conclusions they plainly do (basically trying to have the cake he’s already eaten), and insisting that a feminist/leftist/homosexualist cabal is the reason his ideas aren’t more widely accepted.
So naturally, the announcement of his new comic project has caught me somewhat by surprise.
Now, after you’ve digested that link (assuming you can stomach the awful Flash site, complete with horrible typography and retina-charring pink-on-white halftone EVERYWHERE), you probably had the same impending trainwreck feeling deep in your gut that I had. Famous misogynist launches new comic book series with female lead, exploring the nuances of the world of fashion? I can’t imagine what motivated him to even start this project, let alone bring it to market.
Naturally, the thing that fascinates about Sim is that he’s a damned fine cartoonist, probably one of the best and certainly one of the more driven. His grasp of caricature, lettering, world-building, and pacing is second-to-none, and even when his writing declined into a melange of projection, ministering, and revenge fantasy, his artistic standards remained high. But he did have his longtime collaborator, Gerhard, turning out those incredible backgrounds up until the end of Cerebus, so who knows how his first solo flight in several decades will turn out. Will we get the silhouette-heavy backgrounds of High Society?
In the end though, I have to admit I’m somewhat torn on this one. It seems unfair to dismiss a new book based solely on the unfortunate ideas of its author. This could turn out to be perfectly enjoyable. I’m inclined to doubt that outcome, but I can’t quite shake the feeling that I should at least give the book a chance. Maybe I’ll see what the general comic blogging public has to say about before I venture in.
(Link via Metafilter).
No comment | Categories: Artist, News | Permalink
I was pretty excited when I discovered that Tom Kaczynski was going to be one of the new Mome contributors, back in the Spring 2007 issue. I’d picked up a few of his minicomics at APE, and was impressed by his aesthetic, from drawing style to color choices and cover design. Definitely an artist to watch, and his first couple of contributions to that anthology kept me interested. But his most recent piece, 976 sq. ft., really struck a chord with me.
His previous Mome work is steeped in modern anxiety, a theme he’s continued from his work in the free-associative minicomics Transalaska, Transsiberia, and Transatlantis. While those minis featured first person, stream of consciousness ruminations on the nature of modern society and his place in it, specifically through the lens of his upbringing in Communist Poland, his two initial Mome pieces placed those themes into loose narratives that borrow heavily from the psychological thriller genre.
976 sq. ft. is similar, examining the changing face of urban neighborhoods through the obsession of one couple. When I started reading it, I had to flip to the back of the book and check his biography, to see if he was living in Seattle, since it described so well what was happening all over town. Turns out he’s currently in Minneapolis. But his description of the condominium onslaught in a sub-neighborhood of an unnamed city could’ve easily described one of several neighborhoods here in my town. The tiny chunk of non-descript buildings that suddenly becomes a “Neighborhood,” complete with catchy marketing name and accompanying upscale junk mail, the construction site changing the visual and auditory nature of the neighborhood, the growing unease of the current residents. I felt like I was reading about Ballard, Capitol Hill, Fremont. Like the recent mourning over the death of a certain block of E. Pike here in Seattle, 976 sq. ft. uses a single piece of development to underscore the psychological impact of gentrification. It’s a palpable feeling for those of us enduring the rental market in one of the few cities where the housing boom is still going strong, rather than creating foreclosed ghost towns. It’s a great piece that’s timely, and interesting as a story in its own right.
No comment | Categories: Artist, Reviews, Seattle, Uncategorized | Permalink
Geographically speaking, we are lucky enough to live in a hotbed of HAWT COMIC ACTIVITY. Seattle is lucky enough to shove Fantagraphics, a hip library system that names Perspeolis as Book of the Year, awesome shops like Zanadu, artists from Peter Bagge to Tatiana Gill, et al. into one small area.
So when Newsarama interviewed a Successless and Seattle favorite cartoonist Ellen Forney, I squealed a bit. We’ve definitely written about our deep affections for her work, and it’s nice to see other folks taking notice as well.
Forney has had a banner year, with I Love Led Zeppelin being praised by all types of media outlets, and the New York Times taking note of her book with Sherman Alexie (another Seattle native - see how cool we are?!), things will get only better. Walking by Cornish College (where Forney teaches) everyday on my way to work serves as a reminder of the seven degrees of awesome Seattle represents.
If we were sports fans, which we are not, this would be like the Mariners going to the Super Bowl. Or is that the Seahawks going to the World Series? Or is it the Sonics going to the Olympics? (note: I’m totally kidding. I do not need to be schooled in the art of sports championships, so quiet in the peanut gallery.)
No comment | Categories: Artist, Fandom, Seattle | Permalink
Jen Wang massages my senses. Her art is powerful and her words are mighty. In real life, when I’ve encountered her at APE and Stumptown, her effervescent, sweet quality almost makes you forget how intimidating of an artist she is. And to compound her coolness, she is usually surrounded by an equally stunning group of cartoonists including Erika Moen, Vera Brogsol, and Kazu Kibuishi. Collectively, these cartoonists comprise the ‘A’ group. You know, the kids you’d like to sit with during lunch and have inside jokes with because they seem to have a knack for making everything seem fun. Beyond popularity, these folks also comprise some of the brightest talent out there.
But back to Jen. Ranging from her contributions to Flight 1 and 2 to the stunning artwork she has posted to her livejournal, there is something very moving in her artwork and ability to craft a beautiful story that makes her exciting to watch mature.
The first piece from Jen that really made me sit up and take notice was “Destiny Express” from Flight 2.
Without stating the obvious, the unique quality about her cartooning is fresh and new. From the soft watercolors in this piece to the lyrical nature of the story construction, there is a loveliness and sweetness to the story that gives away a bit of her naiveté.
Next up is her minicomic Home Portrait. Initially reflective and nostalgic, the story morphs into a moving tale of a young couple forging their own story. Delicate lines and a quiet sentimentality push this story forward.
Finally, her most recent release, a minicomic called Touchfood. Small in nature, but formidable in tone, this comic spins a tale of a man, his muse, and the eventual demise.
Her website is quite comprehensive and has all of her minicomics up in complete form, so you can get to know her work on your own terms. She also has some “Monster Sex” prints for sale. If someone out there really likes me, they can send me one. I’d be totally fine with that. Really.
No comment | Categories: Artist, Scans | Permalink
Ellen Forney, the Capitol Hill and The Stranger (Seattle’s alt-weekly) comic darling, presented her book I Love Led Zeppelin to a fully packed and enthusiastic crowd at Bailey Coy Books. Her book, put out by Seattle’s own Fantagraphic Books, is a collection of pieces she’s done from 1992 to the present, featuring collaborations and autobiographical pieces.
Other comic artists may just do a signing to celebrate and introduce their work. Some artists may book a large town hall for a Q&A and signing (a la Marjane Satrapi in her “Seattle Reads Persepolis” event at Town Hall in June). But no one that I know has ever done something like Ellen. With an admirable amount of gusto she sauntered out in a very tiny skirt with guns in holsters printed on the fabric indirectly announcing how bad ass she is and how everyone should listen up. Everything about her is accessible in her comics: her hairstyle, her love of muscle cars, her love of Led Zeppelin, and her biting sense of humor. But one thing she could never portray is how expressive and commanding she is in performance.
What Ellen did was nothing short of theatrical genius: she acted out four of her stories from her book. With animation of her work. And loud music.
The first vignette was of her piece “The Final Soundtrack”. The story is about a dramatic, glamorous death and what should be playing from the crumpled car’s stereo, from the perspective of the innocent bystander stumbling across this scene straight from film noir. Ideally, the music blaring should be something grand and dramatic, like Led Zeppelin. But as we all know, there is a small, inexcusable chance you could be listening to something sucky and secretly loved, like Sheryl Crow or Berlin. And through use of various audio tracks and animated scenes of the fiery car crash, Ellen expertly tapped into her inner actress to express the woe and embarrassment of such a tragedy.
Following her first act was her exploration of Seattle’s erotic landmarks, like the phallic Key Tower building on Cherry Street and the now retired “Magic Pussy” glowing blue flame on top of the Puget Energy Building. This slightly perverted and sweet ode to Seattle touch many fans in the audience.
Next up was her version of a date with Camille Paglia. Failing in her quest to collaborate with Ms. Paglia, her consolation prize was a date request from the woman who thinks female genitalia resembles a smelly primal swamp. The use of “Immigrant Song” every time her image was on screen was hilarious and well thought out.
Wrapping up the circus was her Margret Cho collaboration, “How to be a Fabulous Fag Hag.” Through the wiping of tears through the recounting of always having a back up ride home and occasionally hanging out with someone who wants to sleep with you, it definitely was appropriate for this audience.
Perhaps it was because I knew this was the first of many presentations, I couldn’t shake the feeling of this being a momentous moment in Ms. Forney’s career. In a field which most disregard as an irreverent art form, she is blazing a new trails by combining theater with art with writing with comedy with music. It’s certainly not something every comic artist could pull off, but using her love of performing and laughter to her advantage is nothing short of brilliant and I hope it takes her very, very far.
1 comment | Categories: Artist, Seattle | Permalink
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Dean's Discussion: John Prendergast, SIS/MA '90
When: Monday, April 1, 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Where: SIS Abramson Family Founders Room
Event Description: Join Dean James Goldgeier and John Prendergast, SIS/MA '90, for a discussion of the Enough Project and its efforts to raise awareness of conflicts in places such as Congo, Sudan, South Sudan and Somalia. The discussion will be followed by a Q&A session with the audience.
About John: John is a human rights activist and best-selling author who has worked for peace in Africa for over 25 years. He is the co-founder of the Enough Project, an initiative to end genocide and crimes against humanity affiliated with the Center for American Progress. John has worked for the Clinton White House, the State Department, two members of Congress, the National Intelligence Council, UNICEF, Human Rights Watch, the International Crisis Group, and the U.S. Institute of Peace. He has been a Big Brother for over 25 years.
John is the author or co-author of ten books. His newest book, Unlikely Brothers, is a dual memoir co-authored with his first little brother in the Big Brother program and is now available in paperback. His previous two books were co-authored with Don Cheadle:? Not On Our Watch,?a New York Times bestseller and NAACP non-fiction book of the year, and?The Enough Moment: Fighting to End Africa's Worst Human Rights Crimes.
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HAZARD — The Perry County senior center was awarded a grant this week to help with the largest expense they have throughout the year, and it will help recoup some slowdown in donations caused by the economy.
The senior center has become a regular winner of awards for being one of the best in the state and country. They offer a number of activities every day and go on regular day trips.
But employees at the center use its vehicles to drive seniors around the county to doctors’ appointments, or pick them up to bring them to the center and take them on trips. The vehicles go through more gas than any other resource, and it is the largest expense they have.
Last year, fuel costs accounted for $17,000 of the center’s total budget. This year they applied for a grant to help alleviate much of this cost.
The Steele-Reese Foundation gives money to organizations to promote education, health, social welfare, the humanities, and the environment, however, they require the money to be used for one very specific purpose, and for the senior center officials decided on gas.
According to Director Kim Boggs, this grant and funds gleaned from an upcoming charity event called Run for the Hills in Hazard will not only help out with being able to maintain the number of activities for the seniors, but maybe result in more throughout the year.
“Between this and the Run for the Hills, we are hoping to be able to add on the number of activities,” said Boggs.
Boggs said that she sees giving the seniors interesting activities to do on a regular basis as her responsibility. She doesn’t expect them to come to the center and just sit; she knows they come to the center for something new and exciting to do.
“You really have to have something exciting going on, because they are exciting people,” Boggs said. “People have the wrong perception of older people.”
She said it is the seniors’ zest for life that keeps her always pushing to do more at the center.
“I get tired and I have to remind myself that they got out of bed for this,” he added.
The grant, which will give them $15,000 with the option to apply for it again in the future, will help them continue to do more even in a down economy.
“Radio Day (the center’s annual fundraiser) this year was a little less than what it was,” Boggs explained. “So being a director I said, OK, we have to fill that gap.”
She began looking at ways to raise funds and came across this grant. Along with the grant, the senior center is also joining a number of other nonprofit organizations in the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky’s Run for the Hill Charity Challenge.
The senior center will be hosting a gospel concert in the park on September 8 to raise money for Run for the Hills. The concert will be $3 to get in, but only one dollar for seniors. They will be selling food, crafts and baked goods.
By fund raising and applying for grants, the senior center is capable of doing more than most other centers, though it does take a lot of money.
“We don’t just play cards, but if we do, cards are six bucks a pack,” said Boggs. “That is almost $100 a month on cards.”
The money that is donated or given in the form of grants to the center goes directly to the seniors since the salaries and operating costs of the center are paid by the county.
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Here in Part II, Sr Mary Farrelly and Mrs Aira Chilcott present their own ideas about science and Christianity without even mentioning this topic. Their views show that Faith is not just a 'one-stop shop' as it is sometimes presented; and neither is science. These are not necessarily the opinions of anyone associated with Well-Being Australia or 'Basil Sellers' Press Service International.
Questionnaire sent to three scientists who are Christians.
1. What are your scientific and any theological qualifications; and what job do you do now?
2. Please describe your religious affiliation, and/or attitudes to your faith, and/or some other comment about Christianity in your life.
3. Why did you decide to become a scientist? Have you had any previous jobs, in the area of science.
4. (a) If you have any conflicts between your faith and your science, how do you resolve them or deal with them OR
(b) If you see no conflicts between your faith and your science, can you please explain why not.
Sister Mary Farrelly. B.Sc (ANU), Dip Ed (SCVH), B.Theol (MCD), M.A. (Theol) ACU.
1. am a Marist Sister giving pastoral care in Central Western Queensland. (www.rok.catholic.net.au)
2. Religious Affiliation: Catholic
3. I didn’t decide. My religious superiors decided for me: a science teacher was needed and as a young ‘nun’ who had passed Leaving Certificate Chemistry (then the final high school exam in NSW), I had some background! Biology was my main focus for 25 years, and for some of time I was also co-ordinator of Religious Education at a Catholic High school developing a new programme based on the guidelines of the Sydney Diocese. Later (for 11 years) I was a Chaplain to students and staff at a University. In formal teaching of religious education and informal discussions, I often used examples from science to illustrate a point! I still do that today.
4. (b) I see no conflict between science and faith. In my understanding, the objective of both science and religion in their pure form is the pursuit of truth and so there can be no conflict. At any given point in time they may seem to be on separate paths, they may in fact be on separate paths due to human limitation and misunderstanding - Galileo and the Church; Darwin and the Church - but ultimately they will come together. Human perception and human language are limiting factors, not to mention such characteristics as impatience and pride which can set people at odds both in the cause of faith and science. I think that a kind of fear can prevent openness. What I have learnt in science – consider the cell for example - has led me to marvel all the more about the mysterious Being whom we call God!
I went through a period of months in first year University science when I didn’t know whether I could believe in God any more – the content of lectures was presented in such a way that there 'seemed' no need for God; 1965 was a time of inner turmoil! I can’t exactly say how I came to a personal, deeper faith, no longer simply an ‘inherited faith’ so to speak. Perhaps it was overcoming an unidentified fear of letting go the neatly packaged religious background with its foundations in Thomistic philosophy (with its affiliation with Aristotle) and reaching a personal understanding of theology. (If you want to review any of Mary's historical or philosophical references, an easy-to-read book is by James Hannam. 2009. “God's Philosophers.” Icon Books)
Mrs Aira Chilcott. Bsc (Hons) (ANU), M Contemp Sci (ANU),
Grad Dip Ed (CCAE), Certificate IV (Christian Ministry and Theology)
1. For the last 24 years I have taught Christian Life Studies, Maths and Biology to secondary students and lately to students in Years 11 and 12. I have also coordinated the Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards for several Canberra schools.
2. At the moment we attend an independent church called Vision Christian Fellowship. It is charismatic Christian.
My faith gives me meaning to my life and sustains me when things don't make sense. It's not just faith in a code of behaviour or list of things to do, but a relationship with the living God, who knows me, has forgiven my sin, guides my decision making, and has gifted me in unique ways. I have seen many answers to prayers and situations that are supernatural and inexplicable without the premise that there is a God who created us and loves us. My faith is a dynamic thing, constantly being challenged and growing as I encounter different ideas and people and learn more about God.
3. I have known that I wanted to be a scientist since I was about 10 years old and was fascinated by a diagram of the cross section of the structure of a plant. During my school days, I also did projects in astronomy and animal behaviour (Can dolphins talk?). I loved anything to do with science, wondering how things work.
After my BSc, I worked in research on cancer cells for about 6 years at the John Curtin School of Medical Research, ANU, before becoming a teacher.
4. Everything I discover about anything scientific only serves to reinforce for me the fact that there is God who created the universe and yet loves us and is intimately involved in each of our lives - whether we let him or not!
There is much that I don't understand about both God and science but in no way does this make me doubt God because the key is relationship - in the same way that I may not understand my husband sometimes, but I still trust him to be true to himself. What the Bible says about God's nature is, to my mind, consistent with what I have discovered for myself.
1 Corinthians 13 says it all, that knowledge and talents etc are not the most important thing in life - it is love. I interpret verse 12 "now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face" to tell us that we don't know all there is to know. Personally I am comfortable holding apparent paradoxes because I trust God.
Against the wind
Mark Tronson recognises that many Australian scientists are Christians (something that many have been misled on), and these scientists have no conflict reconciling their profession with their Faith.
Dr Mark Tronson is a Baptist minister (retired) who served as the Australian cricket team chaplain for 17 years (2000 ret) and established Life After Cricket in 2001. He was recognised by the Olympic Ministry Medal in 2009 presented by Carl Lewis Olympian of the Century. He has written 24 books, and enjoys writing. He is married to Delma, with four adult children and grand-children.
Mark Tronson's archive of articles can be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/mark-tronson.html
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Haunted Houses, Scary Charity
Haunted Houses, Scary Charity Video by nbc26.comvideo
Fox Valley-- Getting your "scare-fix" is an October tradition but there is more than meets the eyes at these "houses of horrors." What a lot of us may not realize, is nearly all of these haunted attractions are either raising money for local charities or giving back to the community in other ways.
"Green Bay Fear" is run by the Beja Shriners, who help pay hospital bills for children. "This is what we call a fraternal fundraiser. All the money stays local and it helps us pay our bills and do the things we do so that when we go out and raise money for the hospitals, that's where it goes," said Shriners president David Oshefsky. A seventeen-night fright-fest will raise more than thirty-thousand dollars. "This fundraiser is second only to our circus and has become a large part of our budget," Oshefsky added.
Matt Mars owns "Burial Chambers" in Neenah. His haunted house not only runs a canned food drive, he also pays the help. "One of the benefits is we can help to grow the employee, make them better people, make them work better." Most will leave with a reference, helping them land their next job. There are many ways these houses of the undead are looking out, for the living.
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It's all about building connections ...
Between molecules, between students and faculty, between your passion for science and the knowledge that will help you reach your goals. Check out these links that illustrate the opportunities in our department
- 2012 Senior Research Presentations
- 2012 CSB/SJU Chemistry Awards
- Our latest department newletter, the Cavendish Chronicle - Fall 2012, with information about our faculty, students, and alums
- Since 2010, the CSB/SJU Chemistry Department has received almost $1.3 million in funding from the National Science Foundation to support instrument acquistion, scholarships for underrepresented students, curriculum revision, and research!
- With the help of a $200,000 Transforming Undergraduate Education in the Sciences grant from the National Science Fondation, we are deploying a brand new and transformative chemistry curriculum with courses that intergrate the five subdiscplines of chemistry (analytical, inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry as well as biochemistry).
- Our diverse faculty mentor students in undergraduate research project in areas such as nanoparticles, medicinal chemistry, synthetic organic or inorganic chemistry, and biochemistry.
- Our chemistry department ranked 16th out of 914 liberal arts institutions for graduates who have gone on to receive their Ph.D. in chemistry.
- Peterson's Top Colleges for Science lists our science and math programs among the best in the nation.
Overview of Program
Students interested in chemistry and biochemistry will have a chance to study these fields in an integrated and modern way!
- After an introductory course in chemical structure and properties, students will take foundational level courses that will show how chemical structure can be used to explain organic, inorganic and biochemical reactions, and how these chemicals and their reactions can be quantitated and modeled mathematically.
- Students will take a series of labs, starting in their first semester of their first year, in which they learn important techinques and skills in separation, analysis, synthesis, and modeling of chemical and their reaction products.
- You will do sophisticated instrumental analysis (NMR, IR, and UV/Vis spectroscopy, and MS) and chemical separations (low pressure chromatograhy, GC, HPLC) starting in your first year.
- After foundation level courses and labs, you will take in-depth classes and a junior year integrated lab that will prepare you for senior year research.
- You can chose to specialize within chemistry by choosing from three concentrations (chemical biology, environmental chemistry, and materials/industrial chemistry) as well as becoming certified by the American Chemical Society.
These choices will prepare you for many possibilities, including graduate level study in chemistry or biochemistry, as well as advanced education and careers in any of the medical fields, secondary education, patent law, government service, and environmental science.
Stephanie Roe, a double major in Chemistry and Music composition, is well suited to the liberal arts environment of CSB/SJU. "My two majors give me a perfect balance between the analytical and the creative. My professors in both subjects have been incredibly supportive as I follow my interdisciplinary college path." Read more
Jeff Bandar (SJU 09), received a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship and a NSF Predoctoral Fellowship which he is using to pursue a Ph.D. in Chemistry at Columbia University.
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By Fred Barbash
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Speaker John Boehner's promise on Wednesday to balance the federal budget "over the next 10 years" was aimed at convincing Tea Party conservatives in Congress to hold their fire over a bill to temporarily raise the U.S. debt ceiling.
But carrying it out would require spending cuts or revenue increases far greater than anything seriously considered by Congress in recent years, including the budget passed by the Republican-controlled House last March, which envisioned shrinking deficits to $3.13 trillion over 10 years in part by a total revamp of Medicare and Medicaid, the government health insurance programs for seniors and the poor.
That budget resolution, drawn up by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, projected a balanced budget not in 10 years, but by 2040.
"It seems politically unrealistic to think you could get to a balanced budget" in a decade, said Robert Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a non-partisan organization devoted to deficit reduction.
That's particularly true, Bixby said, in view of the Republican vow to avoid further tax increases for deficit reduction.
"I don't see it," said Bixby, adding that "it'll be a very useful exercise to see how" Boehner might do it.
Boehner, speaking after the House passed a bill to allow the federal government to borrow more money until May 19, provided no details on how Republicans would keep the promise, leaving Ryan - the Republican 2012 vice presidential nominee - and his budget committee to work it out in the weeks ahead.
The federal budget was last balanced in 2001, thanks in part to a tax increase, low unemployment and a booming economy. Although taxes on the wealthiest Americans have gone up as the result of a fiscal deal reached in early January, unemployment remains stubbornly high and the U.S. economic recovery is tepid.
The government has been running annual deficits of about $1 trillion for the past four years, according to the Congressional Budget Office, so something dramatic would have to occur to wipe out those imbalances in 10 years.
The government spends about $1.2 trillion on military and domestic programs known as "discretionary" because they can be cut, and about $2.1 trillion on so-called mandatory programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, entitlements which grow automatically according to demand and provider cost.
The 2010 Simpson-Bowles Commission on Fiscal Responsibility projected annual deficits of $279 billion through the year 2020 and that after reforming the tax code and cutting the costs of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, among other things.
The last major politician to promise to deliver a balanced budget in 10 years was Republican 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
(Editing by Paul Simao)
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar didn’t mention tax and education measures on the Nov. 6 ballot at a San Diego appearance Monday but left no doubt which side deserved an assist.
“We have to pay more taxes,” he told the California STEM Learning Network Summit at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel—with STEM standing for science, technology, engineering and math.
The NBA legend and sometimes actor noted he didn’t want to get “political.” But he wasn’t shy about the question of education funding for arts vs. sciences.
Science, math and engineering should be favored, the 7-foot-2 former star center told the event, which featured the work of 40 California students and aimed to bring together business, government, education, nonprofit, and philanthropic leaders to drive education.
The former Lakers star, who turned 65 in April, will begin serving as an ambassador for the organization and told reporters it was important to give education the funding it deserves.
“Education needs to be well-rounded, but we have to pick and choose,” Abdul-Jabbar said, noting a “need” to fill science-related jobs.
Abdul-Jabbar—who also founded the Skyhook Foundation, a group that’s focused on educating students about historical figures—gave a keynote address to a group of students, professionals and local leaders.
“It’s time we get our kids to start thinking about this and do the math,” he said. “Education is the key to success in life. We’re wasting a lot of minds that could be making our communities better.”
Abdul-Jabbar toured student projects and said that while he understands athletes are often seen as role models, children need to understand that those in the science, technology, engineering and math fields could also make an impact.
He said only 1,400 jobs exist in the NFL, 470 in Major League Baseball and 450 in the NBA—but many more are available in the STEM fields.
“I just want [students] to know there are so many jobs in the science field where they could do meaningful things,” he said.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, who also attended the STEM event, said the organization is key to his Blueprint for Great Schools and praised Abdul-Jabbar’s work.
“Few things are more important to children’s educations and to California’s economy than the STEM subjects, and few people have more vision and commitment to making an impact in kids’ lives than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,” he said.
STEM CEO Chris Roe said he hoped Abdul-Jabbar’s involvement would fill the “inspiration gap” in California, a state that lags behind others in filling STEM-related jobs.
“We’re building a network of partners to talk about the problems on the table,” Roe said. “We have a mismatched education system.”
Roe said 1.4 STEM-related jobs exist for every California job-seeker, but only 21,000 Californians graduate with a bachelor’s degree in those fields.
Abdul-Jabbar said statistics show a nation that is lagging but STEM could help change those figures.
“We are competing with nations many times our size, and STEM learning represents the engines of innovation,” he said. “With these engines, we can lead the world, because knowledge is real power.”
As the new STEM ambassador, Abdul-Jabbar will begin a national tour in support of the organization and attend after-school events.
For more information, visit cslnet.org/
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Jerry Bridges was talking about preaching the gospel to yourself and being gospel-centered long before it was cool to do so. One of the great burdens of his ministry has long been to have Christians understand that “the gospel is not only the most important message in all of history; it is the only essential message in all of history. Yet we allow thousands of professing Christians to live their entire lives without clearly understanding it and experiencing the joy of living by it. … Christians are not instructed in the gospel. And because they do not fully understand the riches and glory of the gospel, they cannot preach it to themselves, not live by it in their daily lives.” In other words, we teach people just enough gospel to get saved, but then move on to other things. Bridges wants us to understand that we never move on from the gospel.
In the third chapter of The Discipline of Grace, Bridges provides a powerful, thorough review of the gospel and does this by looking at Romans 3:19-26. He offers an exposition of that passage and through it leads to this imperative: Preach the gospel to yourself. Let me provide an extended quote that gives some of the how and the why:
To preach the gospel to yourself, then, means that you continually face up to your own sinfulness and then flee to Jesus through faith in His shed blood and righteous life. It means that you appropriate, again by faith, the fact that Jesus fully satisfied the law of God, that He is your propitiation, and that God’s holy wrath is no longer directed toward you.
To preach the gospel to yourself means that you take at face value the precious words of Romans 4:7-8: “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”
It means that you believe on the testimony of God that “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). It means you believe that “Christ redeemed [you] from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for [you], for it is written ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13). It means you believe He forgave you all your sins (Colossians 2:13) and now “[presents you] holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation” (Colossians 1:22).
Turning to the Old Testament, to preach the gospel to yourself means that you appropriate by faith the words of Isaiah 53:6: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
It means that you dwell upon the promise that God has removed your transgressions from you as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12), that He has blotted out your transgressions and remembers your sin no more (Isaiah 43:25). But it means you realize that all these wonderful promises of forgiveness are based upon the atoning death of Jesus Christ.
It is the death of Christ through which He satisfied the justice of God and averted from us the wrath of God that is the basis of all God’s promises of forgiveness. We must be careful that, in preaching the gospel to ourselves, we do not preach a gospel without a cross. We must be careful that we do not rely on the so-called unconditional love of God without realizing that His love can only flow to us as a result of Christ’s atoning death.
This is the gospel Bridges wants the Christian to preach to himself day-by-day. “When you set yourself to seriously pursue holiness, you will begin to realize what an awful sinner you are. And if you are not firmly rooted in the gospel and have not learned to preach it to yourself every day, you will soon become discouraged and will slack off in your pursuit of holiness.”
To learn very practically about how Bridges preaches the gospel to himself, click here for a short quote from his book Respectable Sins.
For next Thursday please read chapter four (assuming that you are reading along with me).
The purpose of this program is to read these books together. If you have something to say, whether a comment or criticism or question, feel free to use the comment section for that purpose.
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|Otto Suchy has gone broke.|
As luster fades, silversmith faces eviction
NORWOOD - Otto Suchy has spent a lifetime rescuing treasures from ruin. The sculptor and silversmith restored a 3,000-year-old bracelet that was caked in rust and a mangled bronze candlestick that someone had run over with a car. He has lifted the tarnish from suits of armor and restored the gleam to a silver sword.
Even his beloved wife, Vicky, who died on Christmas Eve two years ago after a long illness, lived under his care longer than her doctors had predicted.
But Suchy is having trouble saving himself now.
As the economy plunged, the 73-year-old ornate metal restorer, who fled Communist Czechoslovakia in 1968, quietly went broke. He was evicted from his Norwood apartment two weeks ago; the remnants of his 47-year marriage are in storage and will be sold off in six months. Tomorrow night, the end of the month, he said, he will be kicked out of his shop of 18 years, where he has been sleeping illegally on a thin mattress on the floor.
In recent days, a small assembly of customers have been trying to help him find a new place to live.
“This is a catastrophe,’’ said Suchy, sitting at his desk wearing a stained white coat and black beret, his blue eyes reddened and bristly white beard stained yellow with cigarette smoke.
Suchy is tall and still strapping, with a firm handshake, an irrepressible wit, and an Old World charm that makes customers melt when he calls them “madam’’ in his accented English.
He was an artist when he and his wife fled Czechoslovakia in 1968 for Vienna, then for Canada, and finally, to the United States. He became a legal permanent resident here in 1982, and worked for almost five years at the Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester before moving to Brookline, then to Norwood to set up his own shop.
His tiny storefront shop, which he calls The Suchy Conservation Laboratory, on Washington Street is a portrait of clutter and grime, with faded wood paneling, a water-stained ceiling, and dust-coated jars of solutions and powders, many labeled in Czech. It is filled with the smoke of Pall Malls and Lucky Strikes.
In this workshop, he created beauty for others.
The examples are tucked in a photo album on his desk: Muskets and music boxes, candelabras and chandeliers, sconces and swords - all restored to their former glory. He transformed oil-powered lamps salvaged from a train into furnishings for a customer’s living room, and cleaned years of tarnish off vases. He also said he restored some weapons that are on display in Faneuil Hall.
He jokes that he saves lives, such as those of the young customers who showed up years ago with a broken family heirloom.
“They said, ‘Mr. Suchy, if you don’t fix it by Saturday, our mother-in-law will kill us,’ ’’ he said with a laugh.
Asked what happens to the artifacts if he makes a mistake, he looked puzzled.
“I don’t know,’’ he said. “I don’t do it wrong.’’
Sometimes he suggests to customers that restoration is too pricey, but he understands when they are willing to pay hundreds of dollars to save a family heirloom.
“I’m attached to my tools that way. My father gave them to me,’’ he said. “They mean a lot to me.’’
But as the economy soured, fewer people appeared at his door. He used to earn as much as $300 a day. This month he earned $570, far below the monthly rent of $1,000. He owed $4,000 rent on the shop alone.
He said he did not made plans to leave, because he had hoped that someone would come in with a job.
Restoring one suit of armor - a $10,000 to $12,000 job - could cover the rent he owes.
“I was hoping this will improve,’’ he said.
Suchy has no children, just a younger brother in New Jersey, but they are estranged. He has two sisters in Czechoslovakia who urged him to come home, but he said he declined.
“I’ve been here a long time. I would miss everything, even the TV, with their lousy programming,’’ he joked. “I would miss it.’’
As word has leaked out about his situation, several customers are rallying to help him. Some have brought him food. Others are helping him to apply for government-subsidized housing. They say a visit to his shop is like traveling to Old World Europe, and they would miss him if he left.
“He’s really the last of a kind,’’ said Geoffrey Stein, a Boston-based photographer who is trying to find Suchy a place to live.
Stein said he offered to pay a month’s rent so Suchy could pack, but Stein said the owner’s representative refused. Stein found out Suchy was nearly homeless when Stein’s wife called the shop on Thanksgiving to find out if they were still open. To her surprise, Suchy answered, and offered to fix what they needed that day.
Stein contacted Mark Silverman, the owner of Mark’s Moving in Norwood, and he offered to move Suchy’s belongings into storage for free.
City officials are aware of his plight, Stein said, and are trying to get him into subsidized housing.
Barry Hoffman, a longtime customer of Suchy’s, has tried to help.
“If this thing goes through, he’ll just disappear and won’t that be a tragedy?’’ he said.
Douglas David, who said he represents the trust that owns the building, declined to comment yesterday.
Suchy was matter-of-fact about his predicament.
“The people who kicked me out are not guilty, really,’’ he said. “I didn’t pay rent for four months. They were waiting, waiting. The business went down and I couldn’t afford it.’’
But he is grateful for the help of his customers, who had turned to him many times in the past.
Suchy is far more accustomed to being the one who saves the day.
“It’s a hard feeling,’’ he said. “I’ve never had it before.’’
Maria Sacchetti can be reached at email@example.com.
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It is difficult not to notice the famous Edam cheese in a supermarket. Its red-wax covering is almost as well-known as the cheese itself. And maybe, this fact is one of the additional reasons of the popularity of this, without any doubts, delicious product. Edam cheese is mild, made of raw, fresh, skimmed or pasteurized milk and aged 60 days to a year. The main attractions of the dish are its mild and very pleasant flavor, low fat content (about 28 per cent) and really wide and easy use in cooking.
The cheese is pale-yellow, has almost no smell and a slightly sweet and nutty flavor. The cheese experts would say that it resembles Gouda - and they would be right: only the texture of Edam is not so creamy. Of course, the texture and the flavor of this mild cheese depend on a period of aging. There is, for example, young Edam aged about two months. Its flavor is very soft and sweet a little. If the cheese was aged quite long its texture becomes more firm, its flavor less mild. A lot of people in the world like exactly this type of Edam - strong and robust, because such a flavor gives you a perfect experience and memorable impressions.
If you do not know exactly how to differ the types of the cheese look on the coating. The most common and often met is the red one, which means the young semisoft Dutch cheese produced for export. If the cheese is in the yellow wax coating it will be sold in the Netherlands. Edam in the black wax coating is a strong flavored cheese aged no less than 17 weeks. The product may also have different additions to make it tastier and more unusual, for example, the cheese makers may add herbs or garlic. In this case you will see the green wax coating on the product.
Of course, different types of Holland mild cheese are good with different dishes and courses, but there are some points, which are the same for all of them. Drinks, for example. Everybody will agree that dark beer is the best choice. But do not be upset if you do not drink beer for some reasons. The wine Pinot Noir is one of the wonderful additions to this snack. In case you do not drink alcohol at all you are recommended a glass of apple and blackcurrant cordial. As for fruits, they differ. Young Edam is perfect with peaches, melons, cherries and apricots. As for the aged Edam, better use it with pears and apples. Crackers or bread are also to be used as a wonderful addition to the mild cheese.
The cheese may be served as a snack, an independent dish, a breakfast course or an ingredient in cooking. You will easily find hundreds of recipes requiring Edam, and you are to try at least one of them to make your own opinion about this world-famous product. Just do not be afraid of experiments! Make soups and pizzas, fruit salads and pastas, cakes and pies, be various every day and let your mood choose a special dish for today's dinner. And your life promises to be interesting and sometimes even unexpected. Food making is but an important part of our existence. Turn it into pleasure instead of obligation cooking with mild cheese.
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ET: Quake Wars gets some ray-tracing loving
Intel converts ET: Quake Wars to ray-tracing
Let's face it, ray-tracing is the 'gear' and has the potential to put in-game physics into a whole different perspective. Upcoming cGPU products such as Intel's Larrabee and Nvidia's CUDA are geared towards the task of solving computational problems such as ray tracing and are looking very promising.
Intel research scientist, Daniel Pohl has rewritten ET: Quake Wars using ray-tracing and the results are nothing short of spectacular.
Intel demonstrated ET: Quake Wars running in basic HD (720p) resolution, which is, according to our knowledge, the first time the company was able to render the game using a standard video resolution, instead of 1024 x 1024 or 512 x 512 pixels. Seeing ETQW running in 14-29 frames per second in 1280x720 has brought up our hopes for Intel's CPU architecture, since we do not believe that CPUs would deliver a similar performance when rasterizing graphics. For the record, the demonstration ran on a 16-core (4 socket, 4 core) Tigerton system running at 2.93 GHz.
The icing on the cake was that the game was actually demonstrated running on a 64-bit Linux operating system. Intel stated that with ray-tracing, the company now supports 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Linux and Windows operating systems. We'll see what will happen with Mac OS X support, but that should be on the cards as well.
Additional images can be found here
Most Recent Comments
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A Palestinian TV network is about to launch the first Arab Sesame Street. It is an educational programme for children based on a series of puppets. It has spread across the world, and I think it is relatively culturally unspecific - although it did emerge in the US.
The programme spawned the Muppet Show, a hugely popular evening comedy show presented by the puppets, in the 1970s.
Now, Sesame Street is getting its first Arab Muppet.
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May 13, 2004
Science and God, Part Mumble Mumble Mumble
Via Metafilter (which got it via Boing Boing, which got it via Slashdot), a really fascinating interview with Brother Guy Consolmagno, Curator of Meteorites at the Vatican Observatory. Among the number of things in the interview is a view of science as it relates to religion and to the appreciation of the universe, a few which is pretty much sums my own opinion why science and religion are not inherently incompatible (I'll use bolding here rather than italics because it's a long quote):
And there's two things going on there. One is the sense that, if God made the universe, and he made it good, and he loved the universe so much that, as the Christians believe, he sent his only son, it's up to us to honor and respect and get to know the universe. I think it was Francis Bacon who said that God sets up the universe as a marvelous puzzle for us to get to know him by getting to know how he did things. By seeing how God created, we get a little sense of God's personality. And that means, among other things not going in with any preconceived notions. We can't impose our idea of how God did things. It's up to us to see how the universe actually does work.
And the other assumption you have to make is that it's worth doing. If your idea, if your religion is to meditate and rise above the physical universe, this corrupting physical universe, you might say, you're not going to be a scientist, you're not going to be interested in Mars. So it's a religious statement to say the physical universe is worth devoting my life to. Seeing how the universe works is worth spending a lifetime doing.
Interestingly (or not, depending on your point of view), this reminds me of something I wrote quite a long time ago now, with a book idea about a man who has lunch with the Devil (or more accurately, a man who claims he is the Devil -- it's not something that gets proven during the course of the book), and the Devil, who claims to be working with God, not against him, explains why humans today will come to know God differently from the way they know God thousands of years ago:
"What I tell you now would be true whether I was the Devil or not," the Devil said. "If you had lived in Job's time, you wouldn't doubt the existence of God. You'd see Him all around you. Frankly, you couldn't get rid of Him. He would be everywhere. That's because, at the time, God needed to here. Truly, physically here, to help open humanity's mind to the world outside his hut, his tribe, the next day. It was a dirty job, but someone had to do it.
"But God has had to hide Himself again... Humans are lazy. God gave you these big fat brains, and spent the time to pop their tops so you could use them as they were designed. But as long as God was obviously around, you were content to let him do the heavy lifting. Which is not what you were designed for.
"So He went away, and the history of your progression in the world is a history of your trying to locate Him again... Your test is: do you have the faith to find God again? And on God's terms? Expecting God as He appeared thousands of years ago will do you no good. You'll be like Job's friends, sticking to an old way of thinking even as the new one peers you right in the face. No, you'll have to find God again by seeking Him out in the world as it is today, using all the knowledge that you have at your disposal. It's a harder task than Job had, but you're not the same sort of people that Job was. Not anymore."
I'm willing to believe such an idea -- that God wants us to explore the universe in order to better understand Him -- has more credibility coming from a Jesuit scientist working from the Vatican than it does coming from the 25-year-old iteration of me who was trying to sell his first book.
(Incidentally, if you want to see the whole sample chapter upon which that bit was based, it's here. I think it's still interesting, although if I were writing it now I might edit it down a little -- or a lot. It's funny what a decade of writing experience will do to your perspective of your own prose.)
In any event, read the interview with Brother Guy. It's well worth your time.
Posted by john at May 13, 2004 09:07 AM
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Tia Sandoval has been bitten by the travel bug and she loves to share her affliction. Sandoval is a Student Travel Consultant with the Ag Study Abroad office.
Three College of Agriculture and Life Sciences travel courses to China, Brazil and Ecuador are just the beginning of her international experiences.
The senior in animal science and international agriculture spent last spring semester in Brazil. While there, Sandoval, from Kansas City, Mo., polished her Portuguese skills and completed an independent study on poultry nutrition at the Federal University of Viçosa in Minas Gerais. She also taught an English conversational course.
“It can be difficult to learn a language from books or teachers, so I came up with different topics each week and led them in conversations,” Sandoval says. “It was rewarding to see them progress in their English and become more conversational.”
In order to share her experiences, Sandoval has worked as a Student Travel Consultant with the Ag Study Abroad office since 2009. The student consulting program grew from suggestions by students in 2005 who wanted more interaction with students who had been abroad. Today there are five student consultants on staff.
“As a consultant, we share personal experiences from a student perspective so other students can relate to the program and find out more about studying abroad,” Sandoval says.
Briana McNeal, a junior in global resource systems and nutrition, will be studying abroad on the same semester exchange program to Brazil next year.
“It was nice to listen to Tia’s personal experiences rather than reading pamphlets from the school, because now I have a better idea of what to expect,” says McNeal.
Each semester, the consultants provide valuable feedback to the Ag Study Abroad staff on what their peers are interested in, helping the programming to be more effective. Last year, 220 students participated in Ag Study Abroad travel courses. Shelley Taylor, director of study abroad for the college, says the consultants play a critical role.
“Student travel consultants are insiders. Students consider the information more valuable coming from peers than from me,” Taylor says. “This program is so valuable in recruiting. It is a crucial link in staying relevant to our goals.”
Sandoval says she enjoys sharing what she has learned abroad.
“My experiences have taught me to be open minded,” Sandoval says. “When you’re in a new country or culture, it is important to keep an open mind, because they have different beliefs, cultural activities, food and ways of doing things. This gives me the opportunity to learn something new and also share what I know.”
Sandoval has been nominated for Agriculture Extension in Sub-Sahara Africa with the Peace Corps, where she
hopes to share her passion for agriculture in an international setting.
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Memorial stirs objection, support among parents of deceased
Quaker display recalls US troops who died in Iraq
ESCONDIDO, Calif. -- Laid out in rows stretching longer than a football field, 1,513 pairs of black military boots gave a sun-splashed park the quiet, somber mood of a cemetery.
The traveling exhibit, a reminder of the US troops who have died in Iraq, arrived on the West Coast last week as divisive as the war itself, especially for the families of the fallen men and women.
To some of the families, it is a cathartic, fitting memorial in a nation they say seems largely anesthetized to the pain of a distant war. For others, it's an outrage tormenting them in their grief.
''There's a difference between honoring our fallen and using them as pawns," said Georgette Frank, who believes the exhibit defamed the memory of her son, Marine Lance Corporal Phillip E. Frank, by linking him to an antiwar agenda he would not have supported.
The ''Eyes Wide Open" exhibit, put together by the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker service organization, began its nationwide tour in Chicago with 500 boots, then the war's death toll.
The exhibit arrived in downtown San Diego last week, but space was limited there because of what the county and organizers said was a misunderstanding over a permit. It was moved Thursday to Escondido, northeast of San Diego.
Nine families have donated their sons' military boots for the exhibit, and others have provided time and support. Most of the boots come from military surplus stores.
Cindy Sheehan calls the exhibit a wonderful memorial to her 24-year-old son, Army Specialist Casey Sheehan, who died last year in an ambush in Sadr City. She has left tissues, notes, and many tears on the boots that bear her son's name, and she plans to donate his boots later this month.
Sheehan, who lives in Vacaville, said the exhibit is also a fitting reminder in a nation that has banned media coverage of America's war dead as their remains arrive in flag-draped caskets.
''If some people look at it and they're offended by it, maybe they should be," she said. ''I'm in unbearable pain every second of every day because of only one pair of those empty boots."
About two dozen families, however, have asked that their loved ones' names be removed from the exhibit. The committee said it removes names from the boots on request, though the names are still read aloud during events.
Frank said she and her husband believe that what they call the naïve peace movement only encourages insurgents in Iraq with the message that continued violence will lead the United States to withdraw its troops. She said her son, felled by a sniper's bullet last year in Fallujah at age 20, was committed to bringing freedom and democracy to Iraq.
''How can I be against the war when this is what my son went to do?" she asked. ''And you know what? He succeeded on the Sunday when the Iraqis voted."
Christine M. Dybevik of Coos Bay, Ore., was angered that the name of her son, Marine Lance Corporal Gary Van Leuven, was used without her permission. Van Leuven, 20, was killed last year in a fierce fight in Husaba along the Syrian border.
''This road back from hell is hard enough without having to defend my son's name in a political arena," Dybevik said. ''Our sons made the ultimate sacrifice, and they did it for the American way of life and not for some political view."
Fernando Suarez del Solar of Escondido supports the exhibit and donated the boots worn by his son, Lance Corporal Jesus Suarez del Solar, 20, who was killed during the March 2003 Iraq invasion.
''We don't need more empty boots," Suarez del Solar said. ''We need the people inside the shoes home with their families in peace."
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An Interview with Rev. Wojciech Giertych, O.P., Theologian of the Papal Household
Note: Rev. Wojciech Giertych, O.P., served as the keynote speaker at Thomas Aquinas College’s 40th Anniversary Gala on September 17, 2011. During the preceding week he stayed on campus, visited several classes, delivered a lecture, and graciously sat for the following interview.
Could you say a little about your own history and that of your family?
I was born in London to Polish parents who had emigrated from Poland after the Second World War. My father had been active in Polish politics before the war. Being anti-communist and Catholic, and being a writer, he knew he would not be able to publish his books in Poland, and in the Stalinist period he probably would have been imprisoned. So they settled in England. I had a normal education in England in Catholic schools, but there was a strong Polish identity at our home. When I finished high school I decided I wanted to see the real Poland — not the somewhat romanticized Poland that my parents were telling me about. So I went to Poland, which was still suffering under the communist regime. I studied history at the University of Poznań, which was marked, as all universities were, particularly in the humanities, by Marxism. But I had my antidote coming from England and from my family.
During my university years I discovered my vocation and when I graduated, I acquired Polish citizenship and entered into the novitiate of the Polish province. I went through my philosophical and theological formation in the Dominican House of Studies in Kraków. At that time the local archbishop was Cardinal Karol Wojtyla. I was a student there when he was elected Pope. I was ordained in 1981, and over the next several years I went back and forth between Kraków, where I was involved in the formation of our Dominican students and taught moral theology, and Rome, where I earned a doctorate in moral theology at the Angelicum, and where I finally became a professor.
After the fall of communism we had some Dominican students from Ukraine, Russia, Belorussia, Latvia, and Lithuania who studied with us. We also would send some of our Polish Dominican priests to Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and the countries of the former Soviet Union. I would visit these former students of mine and so I witnessed the rebirth of Dominican life in that part of the world. Religious orders had basically been abolished in what was the Russian Empire after the insurrections in 1830 and even more so after 1863. Then, after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 all religions were brutally persecuted. But remnants of the Faith survived, and so with the collapse of communism some vocations to the Catholic priesthood and religious life were being born, although these men were extremely fragile. The Soviet Union disappeared, but the homo sovieticus with all the fears and insecurities and lack of basic Christian initiation remained, presenting a formative challenge to the Church.
“The students focus directly on the truth because it is true — whether within the realm of reason and philosophy, or within the realm of revealed truth. It is the truth that is most important for them.”
In 1994 I began teaching at the Angelicum in Rome, and in 1998 the Master of the Dominican Order appointed me to the General Council of the Order of Preachers with the title of the Socius (assistant) of the Master of the Order for Central and Eastern Europe. I would travel throughout the region maintaining the link between the newly reestablished Dominican communities and the Master of the Order. After four years I became the Socius for the Intellectual Life — a sort of “minister of education” within the Dominican Order. In these years I would see the brethren in Fribourg, Jerusalem, at the Angelicum, Santa Tomas in Manila, and I conducted canonical visitations of various Dominican provinces, including Switzerland, Slovakia, Russia, and Ukraine; and then Canada, West Africa, Jerusalem, and also the province of St. Joseph here in the United States.
I had been a member of the General Council for seven years and towards the end of my term I was hoping to go to Ukraine, when, suddenly, I received a letter from the Holy See informing me that I had been appointed as the Theologian of the Papal Household.
Can you describe your work as the Theologian of the Papal Household?
I review all the speeches that the Holy Father gives, apart from the ones that he writes himself. There is a staff of people who write the discourses for the Pope, and finally I receive the text, and make some suggestions. The discourses, of course, are written by Catholics, but the formulations have to be clear, and sometimes another term may be more appropriate. It is important that the Holy Father does not receive a text which is ambiguous. Of course the Holy Father may change the discourse, and sometimes he does this; but serving him we have to ensure that he is given a text which will not require corrections. I am not, of course, competent in all fields, but with my Thomistic formation, having access to the speculative theology of Aquinas and having taught moral theology, which has been my field, I am expected to be able to critically assess the discourses that will finally be in the hands of the Holy Father.
The Holy See for centuries has always wanted to have a Dominican in this post. This is a sign of respect for St. Thomas Aquinas and an appreciation of the clarity of his thought. It is the Holy See’s experience that it is useful to have somebody at hand who would know Aquinas well and who could help in the process of the formulation of the final text of the papal discourses.
“The dormitories are up on the hill, so the students see the church out of their windows; the church is the focus of the campus. The various buildings were built at different moments, but right from the beginning there was an idea. The church came last, but it was planned first.”
How did you learn about Thomas Aquinas College?
Way back, when I was a formator in Poland, I remember finding in an American publication an ad about Thomas Aquinas College. On various other occasions I had heard that there was this college that was traditional in teaching and spirit and devoted to St. Thomas Aquinas. At some stage, when I was already at the Vatican, Dr. Dillon came with his wife to meet me, and I learned more. Since then, I started receiving your newsletter. Out of curiosity I would always read the titles of the senior theses. And hearing about the method of teaching, the tutorial system and about the great books, I was curious. So, when I received the invitation from Dr. McLean, I was happy to come here to see how this teaching method and program function.
Now that you have seen Thomas Aquinas College, what are your impressions?
I am impressed by the extremely high standard of the interactions that I saw in the students during the seminars that I attended. I would like to incorporate what you do here into our way of studying in Poland. Seeing this school, which is not a school of theology leading to ordination, but a school which is forming people to be intelligent within the Catholic faith — and seeing its teaching method — is extremely interesting.
There is something typical of Americans, not only here; I see this in the American students in the Angelicum: You Americans are more free than people elsewhere, you are more outspoken. People are not reserved toward somebody who is higher in authority. The meal here with the two elderly professors who were the founding fathers of this college, Dr. McLean, and a few students was an occasion for me to see this. We were talking about theological subjects, and the students fully participated in the conversation. In Eastern Europe they would be timid because the professor is there. What they really think, they would not say because they would be abashed by the presence of somebody whom they respect.
But you Americans, you are direct. You drink Coca- Colas together; it is a cowboy culture! But it means that you have an openness and an intellectual liberty. Your students do not have to struggle through a sort of emotional coat of arms that has been imposed upon them, to free themselves from it and to look for truth. The students focus directly on the truth because it is true — whether within the realm of reason and philosophy, or within the realm of revealed truth. It is the truth that is most important for them.
When you attended the theology classes and you observed the students trying to understand St. Thomas, did you think they were effective?
From what I saw and heard, the quality of the debate was much higher than what I have seen among seminarians. The students really fleshed out the underlying philosophy, they understood the terms they were using, and they were trying to grasp, “What do these statements about God really mean?” They have been intellectually equipped.
If you ask a man in the street, “Please read this text,” he will not make heads or tails out of it, whereas these students have been prepared. In class it was obvious that first of all they understood the importance of the issue that was discussed. They saw that this is not something out of the blue, that it is not just a sort of jigsaw puzzle that you can play with or not, but that it concerns something real. The terminology and the concepts which they used have been grasped, and so the students were precise and very clear. They knew what they meant, and this helped them to see more of the light in the mystery … which remains a mystery. But they want to know, “What can we know of that mystery?” And certainly your students are keen. It was obvious during the seminars and discussions.
I also attended a class on Shakespeare’s Henry IV. I had not read the text, but I had read some Shakespeare in my school days more than 40 years ago. When we studied Shakespeare, we focused more on the language. But here the students were well beyond that, and so they were discussing the characters — the games that they were playing, their positions, their underlying ethos, and whether they were true to what they were saying. Basically the seminar was a training in prudence, to see how people act, how they sometimes wear masks and have hidden agendas. So the students were analyzing the characters in the play from the point of view of their moral character and what are they really after. I came out of this thinking: “These are only 20-year-olds, but this exercise will form them for real life.”
About the campus itself, do you have some thoughts?
It is clear that it was built by people of faith. There is a line from Aquinas in his treatise on the New Law that I find pertinent. He says that even the letter of the Gospel will be frustrating if the interior hidden grace of faith is missing. So even if a text of the Gospel is read, if there is a lack of faith both on the part of the reader or the listener, the text will be frustrating. The expression of what we say therefore is always to be tied with faith. And I think that this applies not only to the spoken word but also to the arts — and to architecture.
There is a difference between a functional building, which technically may be well built, and a building that has been built in such a way that it will be conducive to faith and will grow out of faith. When art serves faith, and is born of faith, it is conducive to prayer.
If you enter a church where people have prayed, which was built by people who prayed and who built it in such a way that it will help in prayer, and you come in and genuflect, being there only for two minutes, during those two minutes you pray. But if you enter a church and it looks like a railway station, even though the light may be interesting as it is coming in from the side, prayer will be more difficult. An architect who may be proficient in all his calculations, but is an atheist, may build a good hospital, or a good railway station, but not necessarily a good church.
It is not easy to build sacred art in such a way that it will be conducive to prayer. But I think you have succeeded in this here, using the Hispanic Californian style. The dormitories are up on the hill, so the students see the church out of their windows; the church is the focus of the campus. The various buildings were built at different moments, but right from the beginning there was an idea. The church came last, but it was planned first.
I have lived always in historical buildings — Dominican priories — and when you have a big community, the corridors (arcades) have to be wide. When people bypass you need the space. You need the space when you stroll around the cloister of the priory or go to church. You need architecture that leads to prayer. This sort of a sacred space is important for the psychic well-being of the religious who live in the community, where there is a mixture of private life and community life.
Here there is that mixture. You have the private rooms of the students in their dormitories, the offices and classrooms, and you have that sort of sacred space in front of the church, with the cloister on one side. Once you have built your remaining buildings and the cloister on the other side, it will be even more like the Piazzo San Pietro!
Reprinted from the Winter 2012 edition of the Thomas Aquinas College Newsletter
“We don’t come here for four years merely to learn a bunch of facts, but to learn how to think more clearly, which is an education for a lifetime.”
– Adrienne Grimm (’14)
San Dimas, Calif.
“I thank you so much for what you are doing at Thomas Aquinas College. I hope there will always be a Thomas Aquinas College. Your contributions to the Church and the world are marvelous to behold.”
– John Cardinal O’Connor (†)
Archbishop of New York
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The Great ETF Swindle
Rupert is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.
"Don’t invest in something you don’t understand".
A motto I usually stand by, as a result I will not touch ETFs or Leveraged ETFs.
Exchange traded funds, or ETFs, originated in the late 1980s and popularity grew quickly as they provided a cheaper way for investors to invest in a basket of stocks, without the high management charges of mutual funds or hedge funds. They also allow smaller investors to access larger markets which usually require large amounts of capital or specialist skills. The United States Oil Fund (NYSEMKT: USO) and the well-known SPDR Gold Shares are good examples of funds that provide access in usually inaccessible markets.
The Benefits of ETFs are numerous:
- Diversification - allows investors to hold a basket of stocks or buy into markets that are not usually accessible. Such as the iShares Dow Jones US Oil Equipment (NYSEMKT: IEZ), that invests in companies in the oil equipment industry, or SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production (NYSEMKT: XOP) which is focused on energy and production companies.
- Lower management fees.
- ETFs trade like a stock - resulting in intra-day pricing allowing for complete price transparency. Meaning it is less likely an ETF will trade at a discount or premium to the net asset value.
- Dividend reinvestment- dividends are held within the ETF and reinvested.
- Tax efficiency.
On the other hand there are also disadvantages to ETF investing.
- ETFs trade like a stock - both positive and negative, constant pricing could distort longer term investment horizons.
- Large Spread - could be a possibility for less liquid assets in developing markets.
- Costs could be higher.
- Dividend Yields - income could be non-existent or smaller than owning the individual assets. Such as the iShares High Dividend Equity Fund (NYSEMKT: HDV), which yields 3.4% but has an expenses ratio of 0.4%, reducing the yield to 3%, lower than the average of its top 5 holdings.
- Leveraged Emfs - a major negative.
Leveraged products such as the 2x ProShares Ultra S&P500 (NYSEMKT: SSO) can be incredibly good at boosting shareholder returns over the short term, but adding leverage to an ETF can be very dangerous; Leveraged ETFs can be unpredictable instruments for the individual investor.
To understand the risks of a leveraged ETF you need to understand how they work.
Life Cycle of a 2x leveraged ETF
- Like a normal ETF, the leveraged ETF starts off with a basket of cash, in this example $1000
- The leveraged ETF then buys exposure to the underlying index using derivatives (futures, options and swaps). As the ETF is leveraged 2x the value of these derivatives will total $2000, (2 x the starting capital).
- Typically the ETF will keep the majority of its assets in cash and short term securities. To cover losses.
-Now the risky part-
The Leveraged ETF must now maintain exposure of twice its asset base.
- On the first day of trading the underlying index rises 3%. This produces a $30 profit for the ETF.
- The ETF now has assets of $1030.
- To maintain 2x leverage the firm must buy more derivative contracts, to maintain its exposure to the index. In this case the ETF must increase its exposure to $2060
- This process is called rebalancing and the leveraged ETF must undertake it every day to keep a constant leverage ratio.
- Without re-balancing the ETFs leverage ratio would change every day and returns would become unpredictable.
Leveraged ETFs are designed to mirror a daily gain or loss on the underlying index. They do this well however investing for longer than the designed daily period becomes highly erratic. The constant daily re-balancing will cause returns to become unpredictable.
These tables explain everything. The non-leveraged return is 0%, the asset is the same value at the end of the week as it was at the beginning of the week. However all the other leveraged ETFs have provided negative returns. This is down to the constant re-balancing of the ETFs. The constant re-balancing causes the assets base to constantly change, constantly changing returns.
In a constant Bull market long leveraged ETFs will maintain their returns, the same as leverage short ETFs in a constant Bear market. The problems start to arise with volatility, the constant up and down movements of the volatile market constantly change the ETFs asset based resulting in unpredictable returns for an investor who has an investment horizon longer than one day.
Leveraged ETFs are great, and do their job amazingly well, but their job is only to replicate price movements over one day - any longer and they are useless.
RupertHargreav has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. The Motley Fool has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Is this post wrong? Click here. Think you can do better? Join us and write your own!
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New Bunker Hill Climbing Pass
From April 8 to June 30, for safe occupancy requirements, all visitors who climb the Bunker Hill Monument must first obtain a free climbing pass from the Bunker Hill Museum at 43 Monument Square. For groups of 10 or more, please call 617-242-5689.
Become a Junior Ranger! There are two ways to get a Junior Ranger handbook. When you come to the park, find a Boston National Historical Park Visitors Center. A park ranger, or volunteer, can give you a copy of the Junior Ranger Handbook. If you can't wait to get your hands on one, you can download a copy.
There are two Junior Ranger handbooks available. One is for the downtown portion of the Freedom Trail and the other is for the Charlestown portion. When you complete the activities in either book, bring the completed handbook to a Visitor Center, the Bunker Hill Monument, or the Bunker Hill Museum. A park ranger will present you with a Junior Ranger badge. If both handbooks are completed you
Enjoy and we hope to see you at our park!
Did You Know?
Owning a shop to sell sewing supplies was one of the few occupations available to women in 18th century Boston. Many women were widowed by the French & Indian War and supported their families by working in the sewing trades. By 1770 over 70 shop-owning women in Boston were called "She-Merchants."
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P-3C Orion Maritime Patrol Aircraft, Canada
The P-3 Orion land-based maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare aircraft is operational in the airforces of ten countries. More than 700 P-3 aircraft have been built by Lockheed Martin.
The 227 aircraft in the US Navy fleet have been reduced to 170 and will be further reduced to 130 by 2010. The P-3 will then be phased out following the introduction of the P-6 Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) from 2013.
The aircraft is also in service with Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Greece, Iran, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Portugal, South Korea, Spain and Thailand.
It carries the United States Navy designation P-3, the Canadian Forces designations CP-140 Aurora and CP-140A Arcturus, and the Spanish Air Force designation P.3.
The P-3A was first operational in the United States Navy in 1962. The P-3C first entered service in 1969 and has been continuously upgraded and updated with new avionics systems and mission equipment.
P-3C Orion upgrade programmes
In 1975 an improved navigation system, expanded computer memory, and tactical displays were provided under the Update I programme. In 1976 the Update II programme provided an infrared detection system and sonobuoy reference system and the aircraft were fitted with the Harpoon missile. The P-3C aircraft to the Upgrade III standard, delivered in 1984, were equipped with advanced anti-submarine warfare avionics including the IBM Proteus AN/UYS-1 acoustic processor.
Update IV programme improvements, mainly directed towards the provision of advanced signal processing capabilities, were implemented during the 1990s to meet the threat of new-generation fast, quiet and deep diving submarines. The aircraft are equipped with Raytheon AN/APS-137(V) multi-mission surveillance radar.
International upgrade programmes include 18 aircraft of the Royal Australian Air Force upgraded to AP-3C standard. The upgrade includes the installation of an Elta Electronics EL/M-2022(V)3 maritime surveillance radar and a FLIR Systems Star SAFIRE II thermal imager. Deliveries concluded in March 2005.
Eight aircraft upgraded for the Royal Netherlands Navy have been sold to the German Navy. The upgrade included new Electronic Support Measures (ESM), radar and acoustic sensors, new data management system and new communications suite. EADS CASA is upgrading nine aircraft of the Brazilian Air Force. This upgrade includes Thales integrated cockpit avionics and the EADS CASA FITS mission system.
New Zealand has selected L-3 Communications to upgrade six P-3K aircraft with new mission systems. The upgrade will also include new communications and navigation equipment.
Pakistan has purchased seven upgraded ex-US Navy P-3C aircraft and ordered the upgrade of two Pakistan Navy aircraft. The upgrade includes Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR/SAR), Electronic Support Measures (ESM) and communication systems. The first was delivered in January 2007.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd, based in Kobe, Japan, manufactures the P-3C aircraft in Japan under licensed agreement. Kawasaki is the prime contractor to the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) for the supply of up to 110 P-3C aircraft. Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI), based in Tokyo, manufactures the engines.
The aircraft is flown by a crew of ten on missions up to 14 hours long. The flight deck accommodates the pilot, the co-pilot and the flight engineer.
The main cabin is configured as a mission operations room for the tactical coordinator, the navigator and communications operator, two operators for the acoustic sensor suite, the electromagnetic sensors systems operator (responsible for the operation of the radar, electronic support measures, infrared detection system and magnetic anomaly detectors), the ordnance crew member and the flight technician. Circular protruding windows in the main cabin give the crew a 180° view.
Anti-submarine warfare systems
The P-3C's anti-submarine warfare systems include the AN/ARR-78(V) sonobuoy receiving system supplied by Hazeltine Corporation of New York, the AN/ARR-72 sonobuoy receiver supplied by Fighting Electronics Inc of New York for the operation and management of buoys, two AQA-7 directional acoustic frequency analysis and recording sonobuoy indicators, and a AQH-4 (V) sonar tape recorder.
The sensor suite also includes an ASQ-81 magnetic anomaly detector and an ASA-65 magnetic compensator. Sonobuoys are launched from within the main cabin and from the external hardpoints.
The airborne electronic surveillance receiver, ALQ-78(V) is carried on a pylon under the wing fairing. The system is supplied by Lockheed Martin based in New York and has also been manufactured under licence by Mitsubishi in Japan.
The ALQ-78(V) automatically operates in search mode, its target primarily being submarine radars. When a submarine radar signal is detected the system is switched to direction finding mode and the received signals are characterised.
The aircraft can carry weapons in the bomb bay and on ten underwing pylons. The bomb bay is in the underside of the fuselage forward of the wing. It is capable of carrying a 2,000lb mine such as the mk25, mk39, mk55 or mk56. Alternative ordnance includes 1,000lb mines, depth bombs, torpedoes, or nuclear depth bombs. The underwing pylons can carry 2,000lb mines, torpedoes, rockets, rocket pods and 500lb mines.
The US Navy P-3C aircraft are equipped to carry the Harpoon AGM-84 anti-ship and stand-off land attack missile. During the late 1990s the US Navy P-3C Orions armed with the Harpoon were deployed in Yugoslavia. US Navy P-3Cs are also being upgraded with the WESCAM 20 multi-sensor system, which includes thermal imager and CCD sensors.
In February 2004, the Boeing SLAM-ER standoff land attack missile completed integration on the US Navy P-3C Orion.
The aircraft is equipped with four Allison T56-A-14 turboprop engines rated at 3,661kW. Each engine drives a four-blade constant-speed propeller, type 54H60-77 supplied by Hamilton Standard. There are five fuel tanks, one in the fuselage and four integral wing tanks with a total fuel capacity of 34,800l.
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Don't discount traditional methods of networking
Face-to-face networking is still vital even in the digital age. (July 27, 2012)
Although social networking can play a large role in helping you land that perfect gig, don't forget about good, old-fashioned, face-to-face networking, which is still vital even in the digital age.
"[Between in-person networking and social media], one's not better than the other, but they're completely different mechanisms," says Grant Cardone, career expert and author of several books, including "If You're Not First, You're Last."
He says that while social media outlets are useful, often the person you're interacting with on Twitter isn't a key decision maker – and even if you do get to a hiring manager through those channels, who you are in person is what seals the deal.
"People aren't going to make a decision on a post or a tweet," he says. "I'm not hiring a post – I need to want to be around this person."
With that in mind, many of us need to brush up on the art of making a connection face-to-face. Here are some of Cardone's tips:
Own the room. Just because you went to a networking event doesn't mean you're any further ahead in your job search, unless you stood out. Cardone says making an impression is everything. "You have to find that x-factor that sets you apart," he says.
Be engaging. A firm handshake and eye contact are both critical, but the difference they make is often lost on job seekers, particularly Millennials.
Follow up. You can't just meet people once and then call upon them six months later when they might be able to influence your career. Building a relationship through email, real mail, phone calls and personal visits ensures the "door stays open," according to Cardone.
Don't take no for an answer. Keep following up. Even if you get criticized for it, that means you've grabbed the person's attention.
Change your tactic. If someone – a hiring manager, a networking contact – isn't receptive to your communication attempts, trying the same thing over and over won't work. Every time you reach out, find a new approach or a different medium, Cardone says. "The woman I'm married to didn't call me back for 13 months, and she would tell you that all the follow-ups were radically different," he says. "That's the kind of thing people need today.
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What you have there is a Duel Check with intermediate atmospheric vent. Watts makes one called a 9D.
If you are getting continuous discharge from it, it is an indication that the internal seating parts and surfaces may need to be cleaned. If its just intermittent discharge it can be caused by water pressure fluctuations. If what you have there is a Watts ¾" 9D here is Watts's repair kit part number 0886010 it includes diaphragm assembly, disc assembly, seat, seat O-ring and two union seals.
I am just wondering what State do you live in. In Illinois there is not supposed to be a shut off valve between the expansion tank and the water heater. To correctly remedy that issue, is to remove the ball valve before the tank and the one after the tee heading back to the heater and install one ball valve before the tee on the recirculation line. If you ever need to change the tank, you just shut off the supply ball valve and the recirculation ball valve to isolate the tank. Also I would of installed the tee the tank is on pointing up to make changing the tank easer.
A properly sized and approved expansion tank shall be located on the outlet side of the check valve in the water heater's cold water supply with no shut-off valve between the heater and expansion tank.
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| 0.94908
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| 1.75
| 2
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