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People suffer from cash flow shortages everyday. There always seems to be more money going out than there is coming in. In some instances, however, funding shortages can be very urgent in nature, requiring people to secure money as quickly as possible in order to avoid the termination of essential services or from suffering other issues. Getting a payday loan is often the fastest and most convenient way to resolve funding troubles. It is always important, however, to shop around for the best payday loan offers.
While the fees for the typical payday loan are higher than most other short-term funding solutions, they are also often cheaper than the costs of having terminated services restored. This can be true for both cell phone and utility bills. Consumers can also use their payday loan monies to make payments on their car insurance or other insurance premiums. These monies are always a relief to those who stand to lose something vital over the inability to pay. More importantly, when people use these funding solutions wisely they can actually save money, stress and hassle. Finding the best short-term funding solutions is always essential for providing quick resolution to common funding issues. People who use cash advance services are able to move forward in the comfort of knowing that their urgent bills have been paid.
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'Look at them," instructs Clary Salandy, her voice growing ever more urgent. "Those boys are making hats. Those girls are making costumes. Those over there are welding structures for the costumes. They are creating things. They are not rioting. They like Nike and all that stuff but they are here working until the early hours and then they go to the shop and buy them. We have seen what some kids do. Carnival will show what our good kids do."
It will if Clary has anything to do with it. She's a veteran, colonel-in-chief of the celebrated "masquerade" band Mahogany. Its vivid designs and brightly coloured processions have been a highlight of every Notting Hill carnival that anyone can remember. That's no accident. Mahogany know what they are doing and they worry about the details. An instruction here, some encouragement there; from her shop premises on Harlesden High Street in north-west London, Clary runs a tight ship.
It is people like Clary who put the spectacle on the street and make carnival happen. It's hard work, not least because the event carries expectations commensurate with being the biggest street festival in Europe. But this year the stakes could not be higher.
The 46th Notting Hill carnival will attract a million people this weekend – more if the sun shines – and, as always, placing that many revellers in such a small space presents particular challenges. But it will also be the first big public event in London since the terrible riots that scarred the capital and other cities just three weeks ago. The first chance for the mob to run amok again, if permitted – and so inclined. For many reasons, that cannot be allowed to happen.
One is the future of carnival itself, for the event is popular but never universally so. Another is the reputation of the Metropolitan police, which met such criticism, not least from the prime minister, for the tactics deployed when the rioting spread from Tottenham and the looters appeared to have the upper hand. Another is the reputation of London, with the Olympics barely a year away. Then there is the reputation of the UK itself. No one cares to contemplate more shamefully embarrassing images of disorder making their way around the world.
So no chances are being taken. There will be a record 16,000 police officers on duty. Preliminary raids have already been carried out to identify known troublemakers and ban them from carnival. The event itself will provide between 500 and 700 stewards. This year, in an unprecedented move, everything will wind down at 7pm.
One senior officer tells me carnival is being seen as a litmus test. "There is definitely a keen perception of the risks involved," he says. "Not just at carnival but also the risk from those elements who think they might be able to fill their boots in other areas while so many officers are at carnival. We got a bloody nose in Tottenham and in other areas and we can't afford to have this at carnival. The last thing we need is more pictures that say London isn't safe."
So the runup is a nervy one. But then, has there ever been a year when malign forces have not been conspiring to derail the Notting Hill carnival? No one can remember one. Consider the money. It is expensive to stage, the direct organising costs alone being around £500,000. Add in the amounts spent by the police and other public services, particularly the council cleaners, and then consider that for much of its life there has been no easy assumption that politicians or donors or individuals or corporations would come forward in sufficient number to fund it.
Consider that, even now, the event has no primary commercial sponsor and that much of the most vital work involved in putting the show together is done by volunteers.
In recent years it has been relatively tranquil, with new faces at the top and a marked improvement in the management of the event, but money has long been a problem. In 2003 the Arts Council refused to give the organisers a proposed grant of £160,000 because of perceived irregularities in the accounting. The Greater London Authority in response decided to steer its grant for stewarding away from the organisers and to pay the companies concerned directly. Three years ago, the new team took over and discovered that the event was seriously in debt.
Consider crime. Even without the backdrop to this year's event, carnival has been forced each year to answer those who say that in terms of crime and antisocial behaviour, the annual revelry is a price not worth paying. Last year's event was relatively peaceful. But these things, critics say, are indeed relative. Crime was down by 31% compared with the previous year, and some crime is inevitable, but still there were, at one stage, bottles and missiles thrown at police and 280 arrests.
Consider the route, always a point of contention, which one might expect given that last year up to one million people crammed the narrow streets of Notting Hill. Thousands flock to west London. At the same time, scores of residents keen to avoid the noise and disruption move out.
"Notting Hill carnival is almost here," said one press release sent out on Wednesday, a catalyst, "for those toying with the idea of getting away over the August bank holiday."
Jennette Arnold, the chair of the London Assembly and a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, believes carnival has only intermittently enjoyed the sort of support it deserves. "There has been an ambivalence about it. I think it is the jewel in the crown of London's cultural life. But many throughout its history have seen it as just a black event. They have viewed it negatively, seeing only the potential for trouble."
The event has regularly faced the threat of being taken off the streets, particularly those gentrified Notting Hill streets familiar to residents such as David Cameron and Michael Gove, and being cocooned in a more manageable open space, such as Hyde Park. Had the Royal Parks been more amenable to the idea, few doubt that by now it would have been condemned to such a fate. And to those who see carnival as just another festival – a black lord mayor's show with dancers and tinsel – that approach might seem to make sense. But there is a history and a philosophy to carnival that sustains it, and frustratingly for politicians who would like to get a better handle on it, makes the event hyper-sensitive and hyper-resistant to change.
Claudia Jones, the veteran Trinidadian communist, activist and publisher exiled as a menace from America, is always known as the Mother of Carnival. The first one organised by her in 1959 was largely static, in St Pancras town hall, and was designed as both a comfort and a statement. The race riots in Notting Hill had scarred the area and shocked the nation the year before.
The first carnival as we know it in Notting Hill itself took place in 1964 when, spurred on by another pioneer, Rhaune Laslett, marchers and steel bands spilled on to the streets with their artistry. That took chutzpah, for though many embraced the idea and welcomed a dash of colour to what was then a down-at-heel district, race relations in Notting Hill were a constant difficulty. In his new re-investigation of the 1959 murder in the heart of Notting Hill of a black man, Kelso Cochrane, author Mark Olden brilliantly describes a postwar world where feral young white men, drunk on beer, high on bravado, terrified at the emergence of a community they did not recognise or understand, made a statement of their own with regular bouts of "nigger hunting".
So carnival was a pointed response to recent domestic events. But it was more than that. Trace them back – the dances, the rituals – and they transport one back to the West Indies, but don't stop there. They transport those who know back to the emancipation of forefathers from hundreds of years of slavery. The whole thing, beneath the swaying and the jollity, could not be more historically loaded.
Professor Gus John, the historian, author and government adviser says: "People must understand the origins of carnival. It is a festival created by freed slaves in the Caribbean in a period when the only opportunity they had to express themselves and their culture was at the end of the sugar cane crop. The British and French had banned the use of drums, cow horns and conch shells; not only because they were used in traditional religious practices that they wished to outlaw, but because they were also used to organise rebellions. In time, the resourceful workers started making percussion instruments with sticks and with bamboo and with metal implements." Forerunners of the steel drums. Part of the ritual, he says, was a joyful mocking. "Carnival has always been associated with self-affirmation, assertion of cultural identity and African origins and a parodying of the habits, dress, mores and lifestyle of the oppressor class. The festival has always combined music, drama, costumery and satire."
What happens, Clary tells me, while quality-checking a pointed yellow hat beautifully crafted from gold plastic and white foam, happens for a reason. "It is on the street and it stays on the street because once there were laws forbidding black people to be on the street. No more than 10 were allowed to congregate. We are not taking it to a park behind a fence. No way."
There is a bitter irony this year, he adds. Unsolicited, it falls to carnival to provide some joy to erase the rancour, to show off London's diversity, to rehabilitate the nation's reputation as a place where mass events can occur without near anarchy. And yet recently, when there was a chance to truly embrace and promote carnival as part of the Cultural Olympiad for the 2012 Olympics with a widely trailed Festival of Carnivals, the officials responsible decided at the 11th hour not to bother. "One minute the money and the will was there," Clary says. "We were all preparing to be part of it. The next it wasn't. When I think of all the good that could have been done with that money, all the young people we could have engaged, doing things, learning things, it makes me disillusioned. What we do is world class. But we don't get the respect."
There is something unsatisfactory about the establishment's relationship with carnival. It is liked – a study for the GLA in 2004 suggested it pumps £93m into the London economy. But it isn't loved in the way that Rio loves its yearly spectacle. It too suffers from crime, sometimes deaths, but these never lead to a questioning of the fundamentals. It is one of the key ways in which the Brazilian city sells itself to the world. For all its longevity, carnival has never enjoyed that status here.
As a director of the Notting Hill Carnival Trust for the past three years, it's now Chris Boothman's job to change that. It's a mammoth task, but many feel that so far it's going well. After two years of internal changes and the forging of new relationships with politicians and the commercial world, this was to be the year carnival showed a new, confident face to the world. The goal is still to make sure everything goes right this weekend. Most believe that will happen. But more than that, it can't afford to get anything wrong. Pressure aplenty but Boothman, a solicitor, once the legal head of the now defunct Commission for Racial Equality, a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority and a veteran carnivalist, has the sang-froid of a man who's coping. "There will be 4,000 extra police a day on duty in the carnival area but they won't be in the immediate area of carnival," he tells me. "The look and feel of carnival won't be much different. But they will be available if needed."
Carnival always weathers the storms, he says. "There are people who annually whip things up; a small and hardcore number of individuals who want it scrapped and talk about violence when in fact the event is getting safer every year."
He loves the traditions, but is unafraid to modernise. "The street parade will never disappear but part of the challenge is getting back to the way it used to feel. It has got so big." Thinking aloud he wonders if they might extend the six-mile route. Or extend the event itself into a season, like the Edinburgh festival.
He hopes and expects to be able to continue that work unimpeded, with the aspiration that next year's event, in Olympic year, will attract both establishment love and sponsors, creating a new normal. "The 80s riots never impacted carnival. When there was trouble, it was about issues between black youths and the police. But people rioting and looting is not something we expect to see at carnival. We have worked hard to get this far. Whatever happens, we'll be here."
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- Posted December 1, 2012 by
This iReport is part of an assignment:
Photo essays: Your stories in pictures
A life like no other
It was March 18, 1988; he was 24 years old when an accident happened while he was working on a carving machine. His hands got attached to the magnet because of his watch that led with the cutting of his left arm.
At first he didn’t accept what happened because no people with normal capabilities before can accept it easily. He was one year in despair. He hated the world but a lot of people talked to him and told him to move on and proceed with life.
After a year he thought of going back to school and to proceed with his life he focused in studying and returned to University of Perpetual Help System Laguna. He graduated BS Industrial Engineering on 1993. A year after he got married.
He believes that trials may come but we must learn to surpass it. He is now a part of an organization that helps Peoples with Disabilities. He wants to let them know that one must learn to stand and move on with the negative things that might happen in life.
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The head of a prominent Syrian opposition group says U.S. President Barack Obama should take greater action on Syria and not be worried about whether the "right decision" will hurt Obama's re-election campaign.
The plea comes after more than 200 people were reportedly massacred in the Syrian town of Tremseh -- the deadliest day in Syria's 16-month crisis -- and as activists reported the heaviest clashes yet in Damascus.
"We want for America and the Western countries to carry out their responsibilities through the (U.N.) Security Council and work to adopt a resolution under Article 7 to force this regime to stop killing Syrians," Abdulbaset Sieda, chairman of the Syrian National Council, said in an interview that aired Sunday on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS.
"With regard to America, specifically, we would like to say to President Obama that waiting for election day to make the right decision on Syria is unacceptable for the Syrians. We cannot understand that a superpower ignores the killing of tens of thousands of Syrian civilians because of an election campaign that a president may win or lose. That's why we are saying there is work that must take place at the Security Council."
The Obama administration has decried the Syrian regime and called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down. But previous attempts to pass resolutions condemning the regime at the U.N. Security Council have failed due to vetoes from Russia and China.
If continued efforts at the Security Council fail, the United States and other countries "can move outside the scope of the Security Council," Sieda said.
At least 72 people were killed Sunday in cities across the country, according to the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria (LCC).
The deaths included 11 people "martyred under torture in the regime's prisons," seven soldiers who defected, three women and six children, the group said.
There were deaths in Homs, Deir Ezzor, Aleppo, Daraa, Idlib, Hama, Swaida, Damascus suburbs, and Damascus itself, the LCC said.
Activists reported violence in various parts of the capital on Sunday.
There was shelling and clashes in the neighborhood of Tadamon in southeastern Damascus, said Abu Qais, a resident.
"Today is the first day tanks enter this part of the capital," he said, adding that he could see a "mass number" -- at least 20. Also, "hundreds of members of the security forces" were storming the neighborhood of mixed sects, he said.
The rebel Free Syrian Army took some positions in the neighborhood two weeks ago and there have been sporadic clashes, "but this is the first time the security forces are able to defeat the defenses of the FSA positions and storm the neighborhood," he said.
"We have at least 80 people injured, amassed in a small field clinic. There are probably dead people but I have no idea how many. This appears to be another Baba Amr," he said, referring to a town in which residents died under government siege earlier this year.
The opposition LCC reported that regime forces entered the neighborhood with tanks as heavy clashes were taking place.
The group reported "dead bodies on the streets as a result of the violent shelling at the neighborhood."
The Damascus International Airport highway and all of its exits were closed, the LCC said.
The towns of Aqraba and Sidi Kadad, as well as some Palestinian refugee camps, were surrounded by tanks and armored vehicles, and heavy shelling was reported, the LCC said.
The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the neighborhood was shelled with artillery fire before the tanks went in.
The observatory also reported shelling and the sounds of heavy gunfire in al-Hajar al-Aswad and al-Qurshi, two areas close to Tadamon.
Sunday's clashes included "the most intense in the capital so far" since the uprising began last year, the observatory said.
Throughout the conflict, al-Assad's regime has consistently blamed the violence on "armed terrorist groups," and reported on its security forces "martyred" in attacks.
U.N. observers returned to Tremseh on Sunday.
A patrol found more than 50 houses burned or destroyed, the U.N. Supervision Mission in Syria said in a statement.
It added gruesome detail: "Pools of blood and brain matter were observed in a number of homes."
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Are Lawmakers Wasting Your Time?
By Amy Davis
Local 2 investigates what some say is the biggest waste of state lawmakers' time and your tax dollars.
- WATCH IT:
- READ IT: Ask Amy Blog
We showed you Wednesday how your elected officials are spending weeks in Austin using state resources to congratulate friends, honor relatives and, some say, squander valuable time that could be used to take on the issues you sent them to Austin to tackle.
KPRC Local 2 investigative reporter Amy Davis is back with what some say is the simple solution.
In Austin, on the floor of the House and Senate every morning begins something like this: "Please join me this morning in recognizing Ms. Mary Alice Gonzales," state Rep. Dora Olivo said. Or, "Today I'm honored to recognize a group of fine leaders from my district," another state representative said.
It's basically one hour of lawmakers recognizing people, places, births and deaths, all before they get down to what state Sen. John Whitmire calls the real business of the people.
"Passing laws, public safety, highways, roads, public health, education, that's the public," explained Whitmire. "Ceremonies like births, marriages and winning championships are kind of personal notes."
Like when state Rep. John Zerwas wrote a resolution congratulating Ralph and Carolyn Zerwas, his parents, on their 60th wedding anniversary.
"You know, if somebody dies in a family, if somebody completes my internship program, if there's someone that I know has been a tremendous leader in the community, I do a resolution for them," state Sen. Rodney Ellis told Davis.
We met Ellis at a town hall meeting after he refused our request for an interview. The Senator wrote and passed 118 ceremonial resolutions last session, although he says he on;y introduced eight of those on the floor of the Senate.
"Thirty-eight percent of everything you did last legislature was honoring people's birthdays and anniversaries," Davis told him.
"That's not true," said Ellis. "One hundred-ninety were real resolutions."
Davis explained what the Legislative record shows.
"Well, you know what?" Ellis asked rhetorically. "Have fun and run that on the news."
After we ran Wednesday night's story on the news, Ellis had this to say:
"I can remember getting a letter and a resolution from Congresswoman Barbara Jordan when I graduated from high school. And I still have that. It meant a lot to me," Ellis said.
"We all want to honor the people in our districts. We really do," state Rep. Ellen Cohen said. "There just has to be a more expeditious and financially judicious way of doing it."
Cohen said the quickest and least expensive way to honor constituents is to print proclamations right in her district office. It takes no vote, no capitol employees to draft the resolutions -- just a nice document from her inkjet printer.
"I'd like to think they're happy if we take the time to acknowledge them by the ones we do here," Cohen said of her constituents who receive the proclamations from her district office.
State Rep. Bill Callegari came in second behind Ellis, writing 74 ceremonial resolutions last year, like the one congratulating Chick-Fil-A of Katy for being named the 2008 business of the year by the Katy Chamber of Commerce. In HR 3125, Callegari congratulates Derek Bull of Highlands Ranch, Colo., on his graduation from a Colorado high school.
"That was my grandson," Callegari explained to Davis. "I guess I did take the liberty to do that because I have other grandsons that did graduate from Texas and I thought I should do the same. So, maybe that was a little frivolous on my part."
Callegari, unlike Ellis, said he wouldn't mind drafting the congratulatory letters from his office, saving everyone's time at the capitol.
"Certainly, if the Legislature made a decision that we're not going to do this on the House floor, you know, I don't have a major problem with that," he said.
"I don't think it takes a lot of time to be honest with you," Ellis told Davis. "But, I would say for members who don't like it, don't do it."
Whitmire said that in years past senators and representatives have agreed to police themselves and not go overboard on the ceremonial resolutions. They can actually vote to change the rules of order to ban the resolutions, or just limit each representative to a handful each session.
There is also a cost involved in drafting all of the ceremonial resolutions. Legislative staff are required to research the people and places and type up the resolutions. The Legislative Budget Council said it has never calculated that cost, but admits it is paid state workers doing all of the work.
Want to see more examples of the ceremonial resolutions Davis found and see what the lawmakers had to say about them? Check out the Ask Amy blog.
If you have a news tip or question for KPRC Local 2 Investigates, drop them an e-mail or call their tipline at (713) 223-TIPS (8477).
Copyright 2011 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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For most companies and manufacturers, communication system is important because it is how they build business relationship with their clients as well as their business partners. The problem is, most of the aforementioned companies and manufacturers are not having the reliable communication systems which make their communication system is a huge mess and sometimes there are some missing information too. To avoid this kind of challenge, it is recommended that every company has reliable communication system to support their business and the only one who can provide the companies with that kind of service is the online communication system provider.
It is not difficult to get the reliable online communication system today because the development of communication technology has been more sophisticated than before. The first thing you want to do as part of building your communication system on the company is consulting on what kind of communication system that you want to have. The Inmarsat BGAN Terminal is the most common part in communication system that the online communication system provider is going to recommend you because not only it is the basic, but also the fact that the aforementioned communication terminal system is being used to other companies as well.
The very basic communication system that usually installed in companies is including the call waiting. Besides specializing in providing the basic communication system for companies and manufacturers, the online communication system provider is also offering service in wireless, media, government, and even communications. They don’t limit their clients as they are ready to serve for communication system worldwide because they know that each company or clients are having their own standard communication system. It is a challenge for the online communication system provider to set up and arrange communication system for companies, manufacturers, and other clients from different countries which probably need more than just the basic communication systems.
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Followers may remember that mother Lena, a 9-year-old maiden, registered Quarter Horse, was expecting her first foal in late March. On the morning of March 28th, Lena surprised everyone with twins. The twin birth was both a thrill and a concern for doctors who knew that their chances of survival were extremely slim. (Twin foals have about a one in 10,000 chance of surviving birth and only about a one in 15,000 chance of surviving their first two weeks of life.) The family was immediately rushed to Helen Woodward Animal Center’s Equine Hospital in hopes that all would be able to overcome the unbelievable odds. Once arriving Lena, Sunny and Angel, under the care of Dr. Rodrigo Vazquez of Equine Surgical Services along with the staff of the Helen Woodward Animal Center’s Equine Hospital technicians, monitored the twins 24 hours a day. With round-the-clock- care, the foals have thrived and grown to become a lovely and entertaining pair. Mother Lena will reunite with her foals at their Saturday celebration.
More info at: www.animalcenter.org
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Is the Road to Music Success Paved with Spam? Canada's Music Lobby Apparently Thinks So
|| Print ||
Thursday February 21, 2013
The business opposition to Canada's anti-spam
legislation has added an unlikely supporter: the Canadian Recording
Industry Association, now known as Music Canada. The organization has
launched an advocacy campaign
against the law, claiming that it "will particularly hurt indie labels,
start-ups, and bands struggling to build a base and a career." Music Canada is urging people to tweet at Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore to ask him to help bands who it says will suffer from anti-spam legislation.
Yet Music Canada's specific examples mislead its members about the impact of the legislation. The organization offers seven examples posted below in italics (my comments immediately follow):
Bands and labels will struggle to build fan bases.
This is just rhetoric. It isn't a specific
example and doesn't explain how the legislation will do this.
Social media may be hampered, and you may have to unsubscribe fanbases - because you can't confirm whether they continue to want to receive electronic updates. If you have electronic newsletters or mailing lists, you may need to remove recipients, because you no longer have consent to send them, and you're prevented from seeking consent electronically.
Social media based on consent won't be hampered
as the law permits this form of marketing with consent. It is true
that email marketing lists will shift to opt-in, but the existing
lists mentioned by Music Canada are valid for three years after
the law takes effect (meaning they will likely remain valid until
2017). Contrary to what Music Canada says, the law does not
restrict using electronic consent to update those existing lists
during that time period.
An independent label wouldn't be able to "cold call" a venue through email or other electronic communication to recommend they have a concert featuring one of their artists. Bands would face similar limitations to self promotion.
There are several exceptions that allow for
this form of marketing. Venues that place email contact
information on their websites without a notice barring unsolicited
commercial email can be sent relevant electronic communications by
labels or bands. Moreover, third party referrals of bands will
qualify for an exception, labels or bands with a prior business
relationship with a venue can use the business-to-business
exception, and labels or bands with personal relationships can use
those to send commercial emails to venues. This covers the vast
majority of these communications, but if Music Canada is saying
that spamming venues in the rare situations not covered by an
exception is a key marketing strategy, perhaps it is time for a
Your digital distribution of such things as
music, videos, and e-zines delivered by email or instant
messaging may trigger the legislation, especially if they
contain links to additional corporate information like your
website or logo.
So what? As long as you have consent, there is
no concern. In other circumstances (distribution to radio
stations, etc.), the communications are covered by exceptions.
Social media campaigns may be crippled. Express consent will be required before forwarding communications to neighbours, schoolmates, acquaintances, colleagues, and certain extended family members.
Untrue. Social media campaigns based on consent are not blocked by the law. Moreover, there is an exception for personal relationships that would likely exempt the need for express consent for neighbours, schoolmates, acquaintances, colleagues, and certain extended family members.
You may need to invest in expensive
processes to comply with the new across the board
Privacy law already requires organizations that
collect, use, and disclose personal information to maintain
processes that respect opt-out requests. Surely Music Canada is
not suggesting that its members breach current privacy laws by
failing to invest in the systems needed to properly track the
personal information they collect along with opt-out requests.
You may also need to make substantial
investments in new tracking and compliance systems or face the
threat of class action law suits from the expected CASL
litigation trolls under the new private right of action.
As noted above, compliance with current privacy law requires systems to respect opt-out requests. With respect to the threat of lawsuits, there is a certain irony that the industry that introduced lawsuits against individuals for file sharing (CRIA members first commenced such actions in 2004) and brought us the Sony Rootkit debacle is now concerned with lawsuits against its own members for failing to abide by an anti-spam and spyware law.
Thursday February 21, 2013
We want to enhance competition and investment in this country, and this is why we adopted this policy back in 2008 for the AWS spectrum. Let me say that the price went down by an average of 11% since then, and we will continue this way with the 700 megahertz spectrum. We launched consultation with the industry to make sure that we enhance competition and provide better choice and better rates for our consumers.
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Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Stanislaus County
|Children have more need of models than of critics.||Joseph Joubert|
Rev. Joe Cherry
Adult Classes and Groups
Faith in Action
FAQ for Visitors
History of UUFSC
Rev. Joe Cherry
Rev. Grace Simons
Tours of our:
Why I Joined
Comments, questions or problems? E-mail our Web Wizard:
A liberal religious voice in the Central Valley since 1953.
This page has:
We provide free child care in our Nursery (picture) for toddlers and infants during the service. Children in Kindergarten and older take part in the first part of the service, then go out to their Sunday School classes. During the "Church Year", September to June, when we have two services, we have supervised play for the children at our 9:00 service and classes for children at our 11:00 service. Most people with children come to the 11:00 service. During the summer, when we have just one service at 10:00, they are in the service for the first part, then go out to their Sunday school classes.
Curriculum for 2012 - 2013:
This church year, the children will be doing Tapestry of Life.
This is what Unitarian Universalists believe about religious education. William Ellery Channing wrote it in 1833. It rings down through the ages. Even back then our denomination didn't put much emphasis on memorizing the Bible. Like many goals, we don't always reach it. We try. Not all joggers run a marathon and not all little league pitchers go on to play in the majors. See below for an editorial opinion about goals.
The great end in religious instruction is:
[This is responsive reading 652 in our Hymnal.]
There's a young man in our little town who was born with a rare bone defect. His legs are withered and twisted. They slow him down, but he doesn't let small things stop him. For years he was on our town swim team. He entered the 50-yard freestyle race at every meet. He would roll his wheel chair to the starting block and clamber up; then, when the buzzer went off, jump in and flail away with his arms alone. He always finished last. To a man, woman and child we considered the first three words of that sentence - "he always finished" - to be 412 times more important than the word "last". No one ever had to put DNF (Did Not Finish) next to his name. They never had to mark him ATT (Afraid To Try), either. I think of him whenever someone on a committee mentions writing a mission statement.
Keep your head above water, do the best you can with what you have and never, never, never give up; there's a mission statement for you!
Channing's goals are noble. If we succeeded completely with everyone who came to our Sunday School, we'd end up with children who could discuss obtuse points with learned theologians - over Happy Meals. ("Well said, Rev. Merton. Can I have your toy?") We don't always succeed completely with our goals. We do the best we can with what we have. Our volunteer RE teachers know our children are each special. They come from different economic, religious and ethnic backgrounds. We cherish each one. We try to encourage them to think for themselves.
A list of links for kids - either things in Stanislaus County to visit in person, or web sites to visit from home.
Great Valley Museum of Natural History
Hubble Space Telescope Pictures
M A P S
Our Whole Lives (OWL) This is a human sexuality curriculum created by a joint task force of the UUA and the UCC. Our church uses it. This link is for parents.
The Tuolumne River Trust gives talks about the Tuolumne River and local habitat restoration projects going on there. Our youth have been participating. TRT has lots of family friendly activities as well.
2172 Kiernan Avenue
Modesto, California See a map
We have no mail service on Kiernan;
PO Box 1000
Salida, CA 95368
We are a liberal church and the only UU congregation in Stanislaus county. We serve Ceres, Denair, Escalon, Hickman, Hughson, Keyes, Manteca, Modesto, Oakdale, Patterson, Ripon, Riverbank, Salida, Turlock and Waterford. We welcome Agnostics, Atheists, Buddhists, Christians, Deists, Free-thinkers, Humanists, Jews, Pagans, Theists, Wiccans, and those who seek their own spiritual path. We welcome people without regard to race, physical ability, ethnicity or sexual orientation.
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January 21, 2003 3:57 PM PST
RIAA wins battle to ID Kazaa user
In what is widely viewed as a test case, U.S. District Judge John Bates said the wording of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) requires Verizon to give the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) the name of a Kazaa subscriber who allegedly has shared hundreds of music recordings. Bates said, "The court disagrees with Verizon's strained reading of the act," and ordered Verizon to comply with the DMCA request from the record labels.
The dispute is not about whether the RIAA will be able to force Verizon to reveal the identity of a suspected copyright infringer, but about what legal mechanism copyright holders may use. The RIAA would prefer to rely on the DMCA's turbocharged procedures because they are cheaper and faster than other methods, but Verizon and civil liberties groups have said the DMCA does not apply and that it does not adequately protect privacy.
Bates rejected those arguments, saying in a 37-page decision that Congress used "language that is clear" when crafting the DMCA. "Under Verizon's reading of the act, a significant amount of potential copyright infringement would be shielded from the subpoena authority of the DMCA," Bates wrote. "That would, in effect, give Internet copyright infringers shelter from the long arm of the DMCA subpoena power, and allow infringement to flourish."
This case represents the entertainment industry's latest legal assault on peer-to-peer piracy. If its invocation of the DMCA is upheld on appeal, music industry investigators would have the power to identify hundreds or thousands of music pirates at a time without filing a lawsuit first. That could presage filing lawsuits against individual copyright infringers, a legal club the RIAA has been hesitant to wield so far.
"We appreciate the court's decision, which validates our interpretation of the law," RIAA President Cary Sherman said in a statement. "The illegal distribution of music on the Internet is a serious issue for musicians, songwriters and other copyright owners, and the record companies have made great strides in addressing this problem by educating consumers and providing them with legitimate alternatives."
Verizon plans to appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, said Sarah Deutsch, the company's vice president and associate general counsel. "This is not a case in which we believe the court was right," Deutsch said. "This kind of decision could open the floodgates to copyright holders, sending numerous subpoenas to Internet providers seeking identities of subscribers."
At issue in the RIAA's request is section 512 of the DMCA, which permits a copyright owner to send a subpoena ordering a "service provider" to turn over information about a subscriber. The service provider must promptly comply with that order, and no judge's approval is required first.
When challenging the subpoena, Verizon said that section 512 does not apply to ISPs that are merely conduits for peer-to-peer users and which are not hosting potentially infringing material on their own servers. Bates rejected that argument, saying that "the court concludes that the subpoena authority of section 512 applies to all service providers within the coverage of the act, including Verizon."
A dozen consumer and privacy groups in August filed an amicus brief siding with Verizon and arguing that section 512 of the DMCA is unconstitutional. Their brief said the law violated Americans' rights to be anonymous online: "Purported copyright owners should not have the right to violate protected, anonymous speech with what amounts to a single snap of the fingers."
Megan Gray, an attorney who wrote the brief on behalf of groups including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Consumer Alert, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the National Consumers League, said Tuesday that she was not surprised by the decision. "I was disappointed that the court did not exert the time and energy to more thoroughly analyze the constitutional issues, which from our perspective were the crux of the case," Gray said.
Bates said he did not consider the First Amendment claim since Verizon had not argued that point, but predicted that even if he had, the outcome would have been the same. "Neither Verizon nor any amici has suggested that anonymously downloading more than 600 songs from the Internet without authorization is protected expression under the First Amendment," Bates wrote. "To be sure, this is not a case where Verizon's customer is anonymously using the Internet to distribute speeches of Lenin, Biblical passages, educational materials, or criticisms of the government--situations in which assertions of First Amendment rights more plausibly could be made."
"Verizon didn't bring an explicit challenge to the DMCA because we were one of the parties that negotiated it," Verizon's Deutsch said. "What we did tell the judge was that there were constitutional issues that required the court to construe the law narrowly."
In a signal that last week's ruling by the Supreme Court in a copyright-extension case will reverberate in Internet lawsuits, Bates said the Supreme Court's decision stressing "the wisdom of Congress' action" isn't within his power "to second guess."
A second pro-Verizon amicus brief filed by the U.S. Internet Industry Association, Yahoo and other groups said that the RIAA was unfairly trying to shift the burden of copyright enforcement to ISPs. "Can anyone doubt that RIAA intends this as a test case?" the brief said. "If this subpoena is enforced, others will soon follow. That will impose substantial costs both for the large ISPs, who may receive thousands of subpoenas, and for the smaller ISPs, for which the burden of even an isolated subpoena may prove overwhelming."
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) had backed the RIAA. In its own amicus brief, the group said: "Like the sound recordings implicated by the RIAA's subpoena, the motion pictures produced and distributed by MPAA members are persistently subject to theft by Internet pirates. No tools are more critical in combating this digital piracy than the protections Congress enacted in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act."
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A park ranger died during a rescue yesterday on Mt. Rainier, a 14,410-foot glacier-coated volcano in Washington State that attracts thousands of climbers each year.
Ranger Nick Hall, 34, fell from 13,700 feet off the mountain’s northeast face while helping distressed climbers get ready for a helicopter rescue yesterday afternoon, according to the National Park Service.
The climbing party of four had successfully made it to the summit of the mountain, which is considered technical but generally safe for climbers who know what they’re doing. On the way down, two of the climbers fell into a crevasse on the Emmons Glacier. A third called for help with a cell phone.
During the evacuation of the first climber just before 5 p.m., Hall slid more than 3,000 feet down the side of the mountain. Rangers reached his body several hours later. Investigations are ongoing.
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All posts from: November 2011
My favourite parts of the older James Bond films (the ones prior to the Jason Bourne-influenced re-imagining) were the bits where MI6’s resident boffin Q would demonstrate his latest invention – typically a high-tech piece of kit cunningly disguised as a harmless, everyday object, like a pen or a desk lamp.
Unilever’s R&D department takes a similar approach when it comes to inventing devices to understand consumer behaviour.
In March this year, we heard the tale of Unilever’s spy toothbrush, which used in-built accelerometers to record when and for how long people in China would clean their teeth. This week the company unveiled the “shower sensor”.
Behavioural scientist Hilde Hendrickx told the BBC how Unilever designed a piece of kit to pick up on the noise water makes when running through a pipe and to detect changes in water temperature so as to monitor people’s shower habits without the need for surveys.
As with the toothbrush experiment, Unilever was looking to get round the unreliability of self-reporting and avoid the need for in-person monitoring. “People would not take too kindly to someone standing next to them with a clipboard” while in the shower, said Hendrickx.
The company logged 2,600 showers by 100 families over a 10-day period and found that the average shower lasted eight minutes – longer than previously assumed.
Click here to read the article in full.
Police in Cleveland, in the northeast of England, are under fire from the chairman of the local Police Federation for spending over £25,000 for a year-long project measuring confidence in the force among residents.
Steve Matthews, chairman of the Cleveland branch of the Police Federation has criticised the expenditure as “unnecessary” as the force wrestles with budget cuts of £17m over the next two years.
Matthews said: “In these times of austerity, this does seem a little bit unnecessary. There are other ways of measuring police confidence without having to spend this sort of money on random calls to the public.”
The Northern Echo reports that Cleveland Police hired SPA Future Thinking to run the survey. It says there is already a callback system in police which re-contacts victims of crime or people who have called the police to find out if they were satisfied with the response they received.
The police stand by the survey, saying it has provided them with “a great deal of valuable information”. I guess the question is, how valuable? Is the information something you can put a price on? Or, as our cover story last month put it, what’s it worth?
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A little more than a year ago, the United Nations compound in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan was raided and set ablaze by riots that were a visceral, if deadly and inappropriate, response to the burning of a Koran by an American "pastor." Two UN workers were beheaded, others were shot to death. The blood spilled by the rioters is on their hands but also on the hands of the pastor, that despite almost universal and bipartisan condemnation, proceeded to burn the Holy book of Islam, the Qu'ran.
Terry Jones is at it again. At 5PM Eastern, Jones has vowed to not only burn the Qu'ran but also images of the Prophet Mohammed. Jones claims to be fighting for the freedom of Youcef Nadarkhani, a Christian pastor in Iran sentenced to death for apostasy. Nadarkhani converted to Christianity as a child and led devotional services in his home, and with fellow Christians in Iran.
Nadarkhani's desire for religious freedom is courageous. Extremists in the Iranian government may find Jones' irresponsible and incendiary act as reason enough to carry out the death sentence given to Nadarkhani by the court in Gilan, Iran. Jones' threats to the Iranian government may hasten the death rather than prevent it. He knows this and chooses to disregard it.
Freedom and equality require reciprocity through calm, deliberative actions and speech. If Jones' extremism and seeming desire for fame proceed as scheduled this evening, any blood spilled will be on his hands as much as the extremists who commit the crimes. He will be partnering with those who commit heinous attacks on innocent civilians, and is in fact, embodying the evil he pretends to fight.
There are people of good conscience in every country, in every faith. To save lives we look first to fundamental rights, respecting sovereignty and the power of diplomacy and passionate advocacy. Nadarkhani deserves to live, be released from prison, rejoin his wife and sons, and practice his faith. That is a freedom Jones' enjoys, with no consequence beyond the public scorn and shame he earns by jeopardizing a man of faith.
And of course the blood of each innocent person who dies when he incites a riot.
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Baby Steps on Retirement to Precede Overhaul
It's only fitting that the first post Baby Boom president chooses retirement reform as one his first priorities. But while President Obama focuses on the big picture of Social Security, Congress will also take a look at tweaking the battered down 401(k) system that has become the bulk of many workers' retirement plans. Declining portfolios knocked out $1 trillion of 401(k) savings between the stock market peak of October 2007 and the market meltdown in October 2008. Since 50 million Americans have such plans, where employees contribute a portion of their pretax income into market based funds, it's no wonder lawmakers are worried that many Americans won't have enough for retirement, particularly given looming woes for Social Security.
Making matters worse about two dozen large corporations have temporarily suspended 401(k) matches since June 2008, including GM, Sears, Eastman Kodak, Motorola, U.S. Steel and FedEx. Up to 10% of the country's 56,000 employer sponsored plans will follow suit. By contrast, after the downturn that followed Sept. 11th, 2001, about 5% of sponsors cut their match. Especially hard hit will be those in troubled sectors tight on cash such as media, automobiles and tourism. While such moves will only last about a year, the losses have a domino effect because they wipe out years of future compounding that the money would have created.
The alarming situation has forced lawmakers to rethink the 30-year march that has largely shifted responsibility for retirement savings from employers on workers' shoulders. Defined benefit plans such as pensions have been eclipsed by defined contribution plans such as 401(k) plans with company matches. But both approaches are suffering in the current recession and market collapse.
Strapped companies have reneged on pension obligations. And it turns out that most workers aren't so good at taking care of their 401(k) plans. They often don't understand the choices and don't really think about the investment after they make their initial decisions. So about a quarter of employees close to retirement had about 90% of their account balance in volatile equities rather than more stable bonds, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute.
This doesn't mean 401(k) plans are about to disappear. Rather, there will be continued efforts to make them more effective investment vehicles. Companies, for their part, have started tweaking the plans to help make them work better for employees. They are scrubbing the investment choices that have lower fees and better meets the needs employees at all stages of their careers. Many are moving toward target date funds, which gradually rebalance portfolios towards stable investments like bonds as workers age.
But Congress will push companies to go further. Expect rules that will try to eliminate hidden fees and make the costs of funds clear and a big push to better educate employees about investing and saving for retirement from independent advisers and experts.
Some policymakers want to go even beyond that and explore options that combine the security of pensions with the growth potential and lower employer costs of 401(k) plans. That will be a long time coming, but there are already some plans that could serve as models. Money purchase pension plans require employers to put in a fixed amount not tied to profits. Another option could be multiemployer plans like those seen among unionized industries such as construction. They offer portability for workers, while spreading out investment risks more broadly.
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The corn market had dipped early Thursday morning prior to the release of the weekly Export Sales report from the USDA. The official figure came in at 247,000 tonnes, which virtually matched the upper end of the forecast range between 150,000 and 250,000 tonnes. The CBOT market initially reacted well to the news, which was the best weekly export figure in two months. However, the result fell far short of comparable rates from years past; that may have caused the subsequent reversal. The simple fact that nearby futures had risen for nine consecutive sessions very likely played a big role in the setback as well. March corn ended the day having dipped 6 1/2 cents to $7.24 3/4, while December fell 5 3/4 cents to $5.86 1/2.
Soybean sales proved very strong last week, as exemplified by the fact that the result of the latest USDA report, at 1.28 million tonnes easily topped predictions in the 750,000-950,000 tonne range. In addition, the USDA announced soon thereafter that private sellers had sold 240,000 tonnes for 2013-14 delivery to unknown destinations over the past few days. Bullish traders proved unable to sustain the immediate bullish reaction to the export news; wire service reports blamed widespread anticipation of a record Brazilian crop for the slippage. The concurrent breakdown in cattle futures probably didn’t help the soymeal market, whereas news that India is set to impose an import tariff upon crude palm oil exports seemingly supported soybean oil, since they already tax it upon import. March beans closed 6 1/4 cents lower at $14.30 1/4 per bushel, while and March meal fell $5.1 to $414.0/ton, whereas March soyoil climbed 0.18 cents to 51.49 cents/pound
Bullish wheat traders were probably disappointed by the Thursday morning USDA export data, since the latest result, at 284,900 tonnes fell well short of the forecast range (between 459,000 and 650,000 tonnes). Actually, the industry may have been pleasantly surprised by the spring wheat sales total, since the Minneapolis market held up better than did its Chicago and Kansas City counterparts. Renewed talk of drought over the Southern Plains may also have offered support, but it did not prevent a general move downward. Finally, the markets may simply have been due for a setback after four consecutive daily increases. March CBOT wheat settled 2 1/2 cents lower at $7.81 1/4, while March KCBT wheat tumbled 5 1/2 cents to $8.37/bushel and March MGE futures slipped 1 1/2 cents to $8.70.
The cattle market almost surely disappointed bullish interests early this week, with the drop in cash prices and the February futures drop below the pivotal 130-cent levels being especially discouraging. Still, Chicago prices seemed set to stabilize Thursday morning, possibly due to trader ideas that the breakdown had largely run its course. Unfortunately for those bulls, the ongoing downtrend was greatly exacerbated by news that Cargill plans to close a Texas beef processing plant due to poor margins. That implies diminished packer competition for fed cattle over the short term. Bulls might reasonably that a potential packing industry return to profitability will spur them to big more aggressively for finished cattle at that time; that probably will not happen quickly. February cattle plunged 1.65 cents to 126.60 cents/pound Thursday, while April tumbled 1.57 cents to 130.87.
Hog futures offered a significant contrast to the weakness in the cattle pit Thursday morning. And while the cash hog and wholesale pork markets have not advanced all that substantially lately, they have certainly proven firmer than their cattle/beef counterparts. Morning reports indicated considerable strength at the direct markets west of the Mississippi River, while the mid-morning USDA report implied wholesale prices were firming. Whether the market can sustain its strength in the face of dropping cattle prices is very much open to question, particularly after the Cargill announcement of a plant closing. February hogs ended the Thursday CME session having risen 0.75 cents to 85.95 cents/pound, while June futures settled unchanged at 96.65.
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|By PR Newswire||
|October 23, 2012 04:32 PM EDT||
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Oct. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Halloween has been transformed—it is no longer merely a day for candy and superstition; it is a multi-billion-dollar business, according to figures compiled by FEARnet, the cable industry's premier TV movie network, VOD channel and online portal featuring horror, suspense and thriller content. In 2011, Halloween-related spending neared 7 billion dollars; up from 3.29 billion dollars in 2005. This year, the average person will spend $72.31 on costumes, candy and decorations, and will have an estimated 15,000 pop-up Halloween stores to choose from. Costume sales, alone, for the 41,000,000 potential trick-or-treaters, are expected to rake in one billion dollars for children's costumes, 1.21 billion dollars for adult costumes and 310 million dollars for pet costumes. And the candy industry stands to make 23% of its annual candy sales during Halloween—the largest of any selling season.
It isn't surprising that these numbers are so large, when considering the number of people who celebrate Halloween each year. Of the people taking part in the holiday festivities, 43.9% plan to dress in costume; 34.4% plan to throw or attend parties; 49.5% plan to decorate their home or yard; 14.7% plan to dress pets in costumes; 73.5% plan to hand out candy; 47.8% plan to carve pumpkins; and 32.9% plan to take children trick-or-treating. 22.9% plan to visit haunted houses, heading out to one of the 300 theme parks, zoos, aquariums and other entertainment venues holding special Halloween events this season. According to the Haunted House Association, these events stand to generate between $150 million and $200 million dollars in annual revenue for their respective venues.
"People have been selling scares for a long time," said Peter Block, president and general manager of FEARnet. "That's why it surprises me that more people don't realize that this genre isn't just a Halloween business; it's a lifestyle. There's a reason adults spend so much money on costumes each year. We want to revisit what we loved as children. And it transcends cinema, with music, fashion and decor, allowing people to integrate themselves as much or as little as they want."
"This genre is a passion, and there's no on/off switch for people's passions—it doesn't just start up during October and fade away once November arrives," Block said. "There's a constant thirst for it. People love being scared, and they love being scared together—to be able to experience that feeling with others, to share that communal scream. We're seeing this addressed more and more, especially on TV, where just about every network has a genre show."
According to a new Nielsen study, there are 91 million TV viewing fans of genre programming* in the U.S. These same fans consistently keep genre movies at the top of the box office and genre programming at the top of the ratings. And these same fans have helped make the FEARnet linear channel and website the premier destinations for genre programming and content, as well as the number one genre website in time spent and uniques among competitor sites**, generating over 650 million orders since its launch.***
While many outlets only seek to tap into this market for one month each year, FEARnet celebrates Halloween 24/7, 365, bringing the world's largest library of horror, thriller and suspense movies to this generally untapped fanbase all year long. With so many fans, it is clear that this loyal audience is large enough to sustain a standalone genre channel. Furthermore, it is enough to make the channel a viable and lucrative competitor in a landscape where virtually every broadcast and cable network currently has at least one genre program airing in primetime.
Horror films are also popular draws at the box office. Whether they are low-budget indies or blockbuster studio events, they often rank at the top of the weekly domestic totals. This popularity has extended into the worldwide market, as well. On the list of the top five highest-grossing horror film franchises of all time, worldwide, "SAW" has earned $873,319,880; "The Exorcist" has earned $661,478,540; "Scream" has earned $605,365,245; "Friday the 13th" has earned $465,239,523; and "A Nightmare on Elm Street" has earned $455,293,334.
Collectively, these franchises have grossed well over three billion dollars, worldwide. Number seven on the list, the perennial favorite "Paranormal Activity" franchise, has already established itself as a heavy-hitter in the genre, amassing $362,716,975 in four years. At less than nine million dollars behind "Halloween," "Paranormal Activity" looks to overtake the iconic franchise this month when "Paranormal Activity 4" is released on October 19.
According to the marketing and media magazine, Advertising Age, in 2010, 50% of the movie ticket sales in the days leading up to a major release were bought by horror fans. This is a statistic that has held firmly over the years, as the horror, thriller and suspense genres grossed a total of $3.3 billion dollars at the box office in 2011—the same year that "Paranormal Activity 3" shattered records with the biggest opening weekend for a horror movie in 2011, and the biggest October opening ever, with $52,568,183.00. And in 2012, "The Devil Inside" received the third-best January opening in history, grossing $34.5 million in its opening weekend.
This is a powerful genre with a massive built-in following, and television is finally starting to catch on. In the upcoming 2012 television season, viewers will be treated to 12 different genre programs—"The Walking Dead," "American Horror Story," "Grimm," "Zero Hour," "The Following," "Hannibal," "Revolution," "666 Park Avenue," "Fringe," "True Blood," and "Vampire Diaries"—airing in primetime. Five of these series will be in their first season. And five of the shows listed will air on standard broadcast channels (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and CW), with only three programs airing on cable (AMC, HBO and FX).
The season 3 premiere of AMC's "The Walking Dead," on October 14, set records for the hit series, drawing 10.9 million viewers in its initial airing, including 7.3 million adults 18-49. Both results were a 50% increase over the season 2 premiere. In initial ratings, the episode rated higher than almost all other broadcast TV series, among adults, and set a record for the most-watched basic cable drama episode among total viewers. The seventh season of "Dexter," which premiered on September 30, attracted 2.4 million viewers in its initial airing at 9 p.m., and tallied 3.04 million viewers, total, for the night. The series enjoyed a 10 percent increase in ratings over the season 6 premiere in 2011, which was previously its highest-rated season premiere to date.
"Horror's standing in society has always been up and down, with many advertisers choosing to stay away from it," Block continued. "But, right now, it's something to be embraced, and advertising is beginning to reflect this, with shows like 'The Walking Dead' being used in marketing campaigns. At the end of the day, advertisers are always going to go where the eyeballs are, and FEARnet's year-round VOD numbers reflect that out collection of eyeballs is constant and sizable."
(*Source: Nielsen NPower, 9/26/11-4/1/12, Reach (30 minute qualifier), Persons 2+, genre programs on Broadcast & Cable (The River, The Walking Dead, The Fades, Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, Fringe, American Horror Story, True Blood, Teen Wolf, Grimm, Dexter), Live+SD. Combined schedule.)
(**Source: comScore, June 2012)
(***Source: Rentrak, October 2006-June 2012)
(Halloween Facts: Source – Infographic World, NY)
FEARnet is a multi-platform programming service delivering original and acquired horror, thriller and suspense content as a cable TV movie network, a video-on-demand outlet and web portal. FEARnet, a partnership among Sony Pictures Television, Lionsgate Entertainment and Comcast Corporation, features a robust lineup of popular titles from major film studios and independents, encompassing 300 plus movie titles a year, including 27 world television and 11 theatrical broadcast premieres. The Network is distributed to U.S. cable subscribers across the country on various systems and is often ranked as the number-one free VOD movie service available in more than 27 million homes. This year, the website, FEARnet.com, is ranking as one of the most popular sites in the genre category among total uniques and duration per visit. Follow FEARnet on Facebook and Twitter (@FEARnet). For more information about the company, visit www.FEARnet.com. To access photos visit FEARnetPR on flickr.
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In the Pilot's Lounge here at the virtual airport, the weather has been just plain foul. Our instrument-rated pilots have had the chance to shoot approaches pretty close to minimums. Talk has been an interesting juxtaposition of IFR procedures tied in somehow with the exploits of World War II bomber and fighter pilots who got the press and glory. It got me to thinking about the fact that weather in World War II would regularly get every bit as rotten as it does now and that the vast majority of daytime combat missions would be launched only if the weather forecast for the target area and the return was suitable for visual flight, especially as many of the fighters did not have the capability of making an instrument approach back at base. Yet, unsung and often ignored, those who were flying the transports to supply the glory boys in the fighters and bombers were routinely flying in the weather that grounded combat operations. And I thought of my good friend, Dave Hertel, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, now in his 80s, and compared his instrument operations in the 1940s to that of today, for I am afraid we have become complacent ... .
Today we rise from the earth in our machines, navigate using some of the most sophisticated technology known, and let down to a point 200 feet above the ground, when visibility is merely a half mile, spy a runway and alight upon it. Almost without exception, we then congratulate ourselves for our skill and daring without considering that the boxes on the panel will take us by the nose and lead us to the runway, and that any failure to arrive at the desired location is, in truth, probably because we err. To top it off, most of us proceed to pat ourselves on the back the moment the mains touch, because our machines have the steering gear in the front so, even on a windy day, it takes a feckless dolt to lose control once rolling along the ground.
We may have become proud and thus perhaps test the patience of the gods aeronautical. I suggest we remember those who preceded us in the skies and maybe acquire a bit of humility in the process.
Dave Hertel and his Army Air Force compatriots based in India provide sterling examples of members of our fraternity flying regularly in truly awful instrument conditions every single day while sometimes being shot at. As humble seekers of knowledge it might do us well to tread among those giants of a prior generation and listen to what sort of instrument flying they did, and learn from it.
World War II was well under way, and events and a determined enemy had conspired so successfully that the Allies fighting in China found themselves in the position of having to obtain virtually all of their supplies via airplanes if they wished to continue hostilities. Despite the remarkable advances in load-carrying ability of airplanes since the days of the Wrights, supplying a military operation via airlift had never been successful. The logistics of supplying a large group of people who both desired to eat and hurl mechanical invective at an opponent were simply staggering. Needed material was measured in thousands of tons per day in a time when few of the transports in existence could even carry ten tons of payload. The Army pilots also faced an additional, niggling variable: they would have to cart all of the needed bits and pieces over the highest mountain range in the world, itself a generator of some of the meanest weather imaginable.
In almost British understatement, the air supply line to China became known as the "Hump." Peaks forced enroute operations to take place at a very minimum of 15,500 feet above sea level. The sheer magnitude of material to be carried required that airplanes arrive at each of four Chinese airfields every few minutes, around the clock, month after month. Air Force General Tunner organized and commanded this aeronautical nightmare with such success that he would be called upon a few years later to do it all again when he set up the Berlin Airlift, a virtually identical operation that received far more publicity yet operated in less taxing circumstances.
Imagine, if you will, that you are Dave Hertel, or one of the other pilots who, as did Dave, spent most of 1945 and 1946 coaxing massive Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commandos over and between the giant rock piles of the Hump. Take a long moment to start your consideration by recognizing that the C-46 was the largest piston twin ever, bigger even than a number of four-engine airplanes, such as the B-17 Flying Fortress. Then let it sink into your aeronautical soul that you had yet to turn 21 when you ferried a brand new C-46 from the U.S. to Mohanbari, in the Brahmaputra River valley of eastern India, via the Caribbean Sea, South America, the Atlantic Ocean, with a fuel stop at Ascension Island, and thence across Africa and a big slice of Asia. Mohanbari was one of several air bases set up as cargo hubs where surface transport brought the multitude of things to be stuffed inside C-46s, C-54s (which later in civilian life became the DC-4) and bastard variants of the very fine B-24 Liberator bomber known as the C-87 and C-One-Oh-Boom (C-109 aviation fuel tanker). A bit more than 500 miles to the east, on the Yunnan Plateau of China, were the four bases to be supplied.
On this summer evening, you get the call to haul some 20 hours since your last endeavor. You mutter a bit because 16 hours is about the average interval between flights, so the weather in this monsoon season must be especially foul for things to have gotten backed up enough to give you some extra sack time. You get a weather briefing, on which you rely because it comes from reports of pilots who are right in it, and a load manifest, which you consider cheap fiction. You are probably going to be well over gross because cargo weights are estimates and, in your experience, lousy ones. In monsoon season, with its broiling heat and thunderstorms, the preferred cargo is avgas. While it can prove pyrotechnical if a Japanese fighter takes an interest in you, at least a 55-gallon drum of avgas always weighs 330 pounds, the ground crews have been given orders as to the maximum number of drums they can shove into the airplane, and most can count, so, carrying avgas, you will only be at gross weight. You learn that your cargo is not avgas so you and your copilot make some not so funny jokes about how good the loaders are at stuffing 10 pounds of, ahem, stuff, into a 5 pound bucket. As usual, you have full tanks, 1,400 gallons, because you won't be given any fuel in China and, if the weather is good enough, some of your fuel load will be considered part of what you are supplying your comrades in arms and drained while on the ground at your destination.
Tonight you are going to Kunming where there are clouds reported at 1,000 feet with about two miles visibility. That makes things marginal, for 1,000 feet just happens to be the minimum descent altitude due to the mountains near the airport. You take a moment to consider the fact that Kunming is at about 6,000 feet MSL, so even with 3 hours of fuel burned, a missed approach in the heat of a summer night means doing everything right to avoid the tall stuff, despite the initial part of the procedure being over a large lake. Here at home plate, it is raining torrents. The cloud base is high, but visibility is only about a half-mile. Technically that's less than minimums for the NDB approach, but you've heard a half dozen Commandos land just since you got the call for your trip. At the Hump, if you can't track 2.5 miles outbound from an NDB in a crosswind and find a runway during heavy rain, you need to go fly something easy, like fighters.
Once in the airplane you start engines and immediately check to see that the ADF is pointing in the correct direction, as it is your sole navigation radio. When you, the copilot and radio operator are satisfied with everything, you feel your way to the runway. Though it's not long since you were a teen-ager, you know the Commando's foibles and taxi the beast with differential power and very occasional taps on brakes you consider hopelessly inadequate. You take a moment to again curse the engineer who decided not to put a steerable tailwheel on the world's largest twin-engine airplane. Your friends flying the smaller B-17 at least have an aircraft that is easy to handle on the ground.
The Army guys in the tower confirm your route clearance and your altitude, which is dictated by your destination. There are four Chinese bases and four altitudes eastbound for C-46s, a thousand feet apart, from 15,500 through 18,500 feet. You wouldn't mind being in a C-54 because they get the next 4 altitudes with more breathing room above the boulders, and they are heavenly flying airplanes; however, you are very glad you aren't in those pig Liberator conversions that get assigned to the high 20s for cruising altitudes as they take forever to get there and fly as poorly as they look. Precisely on the appointed minute, tower clears you to roll; something you and your loaded steed proceed to do for quite some time. Eventually you wallow noisily into the air, and transition immediately to instruments while being mildly curious as to how far over gross you are tonight as you tell the co-pilot to retract the gear and set max continuous power. You are thankful that this time at least the c.g. is probably close to the published range because you are not wildly out of trim as you settle in and thunder upward through the fire-hose intensity rain.
As captain, you will do all the flying, unless the autopilot decides to crap out. If it does, you'll let the aeronautical child in the right seat fly some during cruise, but never on takeoff, approach or landing. It is Army policy that you in the left seat are the brains of this operation, will do the flying and the kid (even if he is older than you) will sit there, be quiet and do as he's told.
You point the airplane at the first NDB, Moran Beacon, and climb for all you are worth. Occupying a prominent place on the panel before you, the Bendix ADF needle will point unerringly at Moran unless there are thunderstorms in the area, such as there are tonight. As usual, they are just past the beacon, piled up along that first ridge of the Himalayas, dumping moisture and promising you blinding lightning and hard work for the first 20 or 30 minutes after you pass Moran and have no choice but to get in among them. However, that is in the future, right now you are nearing the beacon and it's time to be thinking about setting up the racetrack climb pattern you will have to use, because you don't dare proceed further until you have attained no less than 14,500 feet. Drifting away from the climb pattern is not conducive to longevity as that first ridge alone tops out at some 13,000 feet.
Passing through 14,500 feet you confirm that the ship is still climbing in a satisfactory manner even though you have already begun collecting that gift of summertime on the Hump - ice. The lapse rate means you will get ice so long as you are in the clouds and, based on your knowledge of the route, you figure you'll be in the soup another 30 minutes, so you'll get several inches of material you would much rather be putting in drinks. With the boots and everything working, you'll be okay if the downdrafts in the thunderstorms are not too persistent. You tell the radio operator to report Moran to ATC, because each NDB on the Hump is a mandatory reporting point, and to give your estimate to the next one. The thunderstorms are there, big as life, so you crank up the cockpit lights to full bright to reduce the time you can't see anything following a nearby bolt of lightning and slug it out with the hammering turbulence while confirming that the boots are keeping the ice under control. In winter ice isn't much of a problem at the altitudes at which you operate, but summer means the icing level will have moved upwards to where you are to cruise. Add the soaked-sponge moisture of monsoon season and the recipe couldn't be better for serious clear and rime ice. Tonight the boots handle the wings, but the alcohol on the windshield is worthless, as usual; it's going to be opaque until well into the descent for Kunming.
At 17,500 feet you level off and have the co-pilot set cruise power. Everyone flies the same power setting for cruise, which generates more or less the same TAS, depending on how heavy each airplane is and how badly it has been twisted and beat up. There is a C-46 ten minutes ahead of you at this altitude and another 10 minutes behind. Even with some discrepancies in cruise speed, it has proven to be adequate separation.
The next NDB is over 100 miles ahead, so you will track outbound from Moran for some time before tuning in the next and proceeding to track it inbound. You consider heading something to be held within a degree or so, as only a very few degrees of error can put you into the rocks. You have become a master of mental arithmetic when tracking to or from an NDB, while somehow accounting for the erratic needle swings due to lightning. The science of navigation sometimes becomes art, but Dave Hertel and others on the Hump can conduct this symphony as well as any instrument pilot in the world.
Past the boomers the ride smoothes out and you emerge from the side of the last cumulonimbus to look down on a solid stratus deck. In the moonlight the haunting vision of rocky peaks appear to each side of you, many going far above your altitude and you wonder if anyone will ever climb that peak well to the northwest of you called Everest, which you know is over 28,000 feet high.
Approaching Kunming you let down to 10,000 feet and report the beacon outbound to Kunming tower. You then get cleared for the approach, descending to about 9,000 feet before starting the procedure turn. You'll need to get down to 7,500 feet on the way back to the beacon, and be ready to lose the last 500 feet in the roughly 2.5 miles to the airport. You don't wonder why they didn't put the beacon on the airport; in fact, you can't imagine such a thing. You've know that you need a solid final approach fix within a few miles of the airport so that you know precisely where you are before letting down, briefly, yes, briefly, to the minimum descent altitude.
At 7,000 feet you see some lights on the ground, the ADF and directional gyro advise that you're on course, and you know the area very well, so you decide to cheat a hundred feet. You'd rather not miss the approach; there is another airplane letting down about two minutes or so behind you, and you aren't allowed another chance. If you do miss, you get to slog all the way home with the cargo still on board. Your copilot calls the runway lights and confirms that the gear and flaps are down, good lad, and you scrub off the altitude. You three-point the monster right on the numbers and feel your tension level rise because the airborne pussycat manners of the C-46 instantly turn sour once the tires start rolling. You don't relax a bit until the aircraft is into the chocks and secured.
After a visit to the latrine, some coffee and a chat with the weather folks, you head back out to the airplane. They, whoever "they" are, have defueled it to 600 gallons, total. You're not crazy about that, because you suspect fog will be a problem when you get to Mohanbari about dawn, which means holding. You should have said something when you first walked into ops but it's too late now, you are required to be in the air before an hour has passed.
The return leg is longer than the outbound leg; it's offset to the north, making a long, arc. It also has minimum altitudes that are 500 feet higher, but that is okay, as your Commando is a few tons lighter than it was an hour ago. Luckily, it's not winter when you've personally experienced more than 100 knot headwinds on the return leg and can recall once taking exactly one hour and twenty minutes to fly the 120 miles between two NDBs.
Over India, the eastern sky is getting lighter out your left window and you find that the monsoon thunderstorms have dissipated for a little while, something that gives you no joy whatsoever. You won't have to wrestle your way through them, but it means Mohanbari is probably covered in ground fog. Sure enough, your radio operator hands you a note, the base is far below minimums, so it's time to pull the power way back and mentally kick yourself for not hanging on to that extra gas. You enter a holding stack with a dozen other C-46s, orbiting and wondering when things will open up. Sunrise reveals a cloud deck barely 50 feet thick, right on the ground, as far as you can see. After about 15 minutes a C-46 with a qualified operations officer aboard arrives in the stack above you. He confers with the tower and then, exercising his prerogative, takes command of local air traffic control, something you hoped he would do.
The airborne operations officer gets the tail numbers of everyone in the stack. He tells the lowest guy to shoot the approach and level off right on top of the cloud deck. From your perch, you watch the wingtip vortices of the olive drab C-46 make a furrow across the cloud before until the pilot starts a climb back to the stack . The ops officer already has the next Commando on the approach. That ship deepens the furrow. The guys in the tower have stepped outside and confirm that they can hear the airplanes going right over the runway. Two more airplanes make the approach. You can see the furrow widen and deepen as you work your way down the stack. Number five spots the runway and lands. That's all it takes. Tower clears one of the waiting airplanes for takeoff and the ops officer runs the lot of you in just as fast as he can. The combination of landings and takeoffs keeps the air stirred up enough that the fog never closes back over the runway, and eventually burns off altogether. By that time you've parked the behemoth for which you are responsible. Before you can even get out, the fuel truck is there and the loaders have the first forklift up to the doors.
You will keep doing this, in all weather, into 1946 because the end of the war doesn't end the demand for supplies, it takes time to spool it all down. You will successfully navigate to landings in visibility as low as a half mile using only that Bendix ADF, which you trust with your life. Its loop antenna, over a foot in diameter, is in a teardrop shaped housing that looks like a cancerous growth on the airplane. There is but one ADF in the airplane. If it fails when you are in the clag, you are absolutely, totally and completely hosed. Yet, at a time when your buddy flying Curtiss P-40s is putting up with an engine that often gets only 15 hours between overhauls, and you can never count on the heater or the autopilot working on a Commando, that Bendix ADF is the essence of reliability. It is so accurate that you are comfortable holding a course line through the mountains when tracking an NDB that is 100 miles away.
You survive this adventure, unlike some of your friends. In the year 2002, you will read of the recovery, that year, of four men from the wreckage of a C-46 at the 15,650-foot level and wonder if you knew them. Later in your life you will fly using GPS for navigation and sometimes be curious just how you did what you did over the Hump and whether pilots who think of an NDB approach as an emergency procedure can ever be referred to as accomplished.
Want to read more from Rick Durden? Check out AVweb's "Pilot's Lounge" index.
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A sea-themed mosaic, created by art class students at Elkridge Landing Middle School, adds color and depth to the branch’s Route 1 façade. The students worked under the direction of Mary Deacon Opasik, an artist and designer from the Howard County Arts Council.
The mosaic project is a component of A+ Partners in Education and was developed and coordinated by Howard County Library, Howard County Government, the Howard County Public School System, and Howard County Arts Council. The project was funded through a grant from the Howard County Arts Council with matching funds from County Government. Mosaic materials include ceramics, plates, pottery, colored glass, and china donated by Elkridge Landing Middle School students and the community.
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LettersStop high-speed rail
In 2008 the people of California approved the funding of California high-speed rail. I confess that I voted for it.
In the greatest bait-and-switch in human history, the $30 billion cost has become $100 billion. The pledge to not start construction until all funding is identified has become "let's start immediately and figure out what to do when we run out of funds." The ridership estimate has been cut in half and is still too high by a factor of 10. The claim that no operating subsidy will be needed when the system is finished is a joke. This system will bankrupt the state and force cuts in education and local public transportation, which is where our transportation dollars should be going.
The No Train Please Act is a ballot initiative to end the high-speed rail project. It has been qualified to gather signatures to put the issue to the people on the November ballot.
850,000 signatures are needed. They must be collected by June 1. There are no wealthy people backing this, so there is no money for paid signature gatherers. Thus, qualifying the initiative will be a stretch.
You can download the petition from the No Train Please website.
Track college requirements
While a change to Gunn and Paly's graduation requirements necessarily takes years to implement, there is a change in information provided to Gunn and Paly students and parents that can be done quickly.
Unofficial high school transcripts could list progress toward UC and CSU requirements along with progress toward Palo Alto Unified School District graduation requirements.
Such a change could provide the necessary information to current and future students and parents about these requirements and whether they are being met. We might even find that listing progress toward UC and CSU requirements has the desired effect of increasing the percentage of students who meet them, without putting additional stress and hurdles for those who plan to attend colleges that don't have these admission requirements.
Let's provide individualized UC and CSU requirements status information to our high school students now. Information is power. Let's start there first.
Arthur M. Keller
Prop. 8: church and state
Justice has been served by the overturn of the Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage. I hope that the value of equal rights for all stands supreme.
To those who disagree, I point out that your church may not recognize gay marriage, however marriage under the eyes of the law, which carries with it many rights and privileges under the law, must be recognized.
To set the law according the standards of religion would be a clear violation of the separation of church and state — the Constitution doesn't just protect the rights we like. Liberty and justice for all. Period.
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From The Coalition Column of the November 2006 Perspectives
Archivist of the U.S. Reports on Progress of Declassification
In a meeting with representatives of the research community in September 2006, Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein reported on the progress being made in the effort to implement the National Declassification Initiative (NDI), a new set of policies, declassification practices, procedures, and the organizational structure believed to be needed to create a more reliable executive branch-wide declassification program for federal records. The archivist said, "When we last met in April, I promised that the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) would act swiftly and responsibly to begin to address the very serious challenges that we face in coordinating with other federal agencies in the realm of declassification." Weinstein stated that effort is now being implemented.
The new NARA initiative was conceived in response to an April 2006 audit report by the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) entitled "Withdrawal of Records from Public Access at the National Archives and Records Administration for Classification Purposes." Weinstein explained the objectives, milestones, and progress to date for the initiative that the archivist hopes will serve as the catalyst for declassification reform among federal agencies.
During the meeting that brought together representatives of the National Coalition for History, the American Historical Association, the National Security Archive, the Federation of American Scientists, and several other groups, Weinstein explained how the program would establish a better means for managing referrals of classified equities between executive branch agencies. In addition to the NDI, the meeting included a briefing on the National Archives program for handling the systematic declassification of presidential records called the Remote Archives Capture Project. The archivist explained that all federal agencies are being encouraged to participate in and support both of these declassification initiatives.
As envisioned, the new NDI program will: reduce redundancies in declassification review, promote accurate and consistent declassification decisions, improve equity recognition across the declassification community, develop centralized priorities and management controls around the priorities, and make the declassification process more transparent to the public. In order to realize that goal, an interagency executive steering group has been established.
Weinstein reported that the steering group met on August 28, 2006, when representatives of the 12 executive branch agencies with major declassification responsibilities discussed various strategies required to ensure the NDI’s success. The archivist stated that in subsequent meetings, the executive steering group will develop and implement detailed work plans designed to ensure that agency equities are referred and resolved to allow the maximum feasible declassification. In addition, the steering group will focus on ensuring that common referral standards are developed, redundancies are reduced, and that records are adequately reviewed for declassification so that only information that must be retained for national security purposes is withheld.
The archivist also gave the group of researchers a status report on specific audit items. Weinstein stressed that since the ISOO audit report was issued, notwithstanding the ongoing Department of Energy document review pursuant to the Kyle-Lott Amendment (in which materials relating to atomic energy and weaponry are being re-reviewed), the practice of withdrawal of documents from the open shelves has been "stopped in its tracks." Weinstein declared that "withdrawals are extremely rare" now, and in order for an agency to do so it "must demonstrate a compelling case." He stated that only seven new documents had been withdrawn in that last four months and that "all of these withdrawals have been carefully noted in the opened files so that their removal is transparent to researchers and all have been handled in accordance with the audit protocol." One of the documents (from the Truman Library) has been declassified and is now back on the shelf and agency decisions are still pending on the other items that originated from the Carter presidential library.
As a result of the findings of the ISOO audit, the archivist stated that he requested that agencies do another re-review of the documents withdrawn during the first re-review. This effort is continuing and the National Archives expects the vast majority of records withdrawn to be restored to public access over the next several months. For example, at the end of their work, the Air Force expects that 95 percent of its records under re-review will be released in full or in a redacted form. By way of another example, the CIA is re-reviewing 55 boxes of State Department records and expects to release in full 85 percent of its records; release in redacted form 10 percent; and withhold 5 percent. Additional collections will likewise be reviewed for return to the open shelves. "We regard this as encouraging news and plan to continue to hold our feet to the fire to ensure that there is no backsliding," added the archivist.
Bruce Craig is director of the National Coalition for History. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org.
Copyright © American Historical AssociationLast Updated: January 30, 2008 10:12 AM
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January 18th 2009.
Mduduzi was lying asleep in his mothers bed in their house.
He rolled over and was bitten on the arm by a spitting cobra that had entered the hut and climbed onto the bed. He rolled over when woken by the pain and was immediately bitten twice more on the other arm. His family took him to the local clinic one hour away and he was treated with aspirin and mooty, the local faith healing traditional medicine. He received no further proper treatment or painkillers for another month. Finally in desperation when the infection and necrosis got worse his mother took him to Thea Litschka who then paid for and oversaw the clinic treatment. By this time though it was too late for antivenom and the tissue damage was already done. The medics wanted to amputate the worst arm. But with daily treatment, fresh dressings and healthy meals, Thea was able to build Mduduzis strength and he is well on the road to recovery. However without plastic surgery he will be severely scarred.
If antivenom had been available then the severity of the damage caused by the bites would have been much reduced and would probably have left little or no scarring. Also Mduduzis 3 months of agonising pain and suffering could have lasted only weeks.
Please give generously to help Mduduzi
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"Empathy" Versus Law: Part III
There is a reason why the statue of Justice wears a blindfold. There are things that courts are not supposed to see or recognize when making their decisions— the race you belong to, whether you are rich or poor, and other personal things that could bias decisions by judges and juries.
It is an ideal that a society strives for, even if particular judges or juries fall short of that ideal. Now, however, President Barack Obama has repudiated that ideal itself by saying that he wants to appoint judges with "empathy" for particular groups.
This was not an isolated slip of the tongue. Barack Obama said the same thing during last year's election campaign. Moreover, it is completely consistent with his behavior and associations over a period of years— and inconsistent with fundamental principles of American government and society.
Nor is this President Obama's only attempt to remake American society. Barack Obama's vision of America is one in which a President of the United States can fire the head of General Motors, tell banks how to bank, control the medical system and take charge of all sorts of other activities for which neither he nor other politicians have any expertise or experience.
The Constitution of the United States gives no president, nor the entire federal government, the authority to do such things. But spending trillions of dollars to bail out all sorts of companies buys the power to tell them how to operate.
Appointing judges to the federal courts— including the Supreme Court— who believe in expanding the powers of the federal government to make arbitrary decisions, choosing who will be winners and losers in the economy and in the society, is perfectly consistent with a vision of the world where self-confident and self-righteous elites rule according to their own notions, instead of merely governing under the restraints of the Constitution.
If all this can be washed down with pious talk about "empathy," so much the better for those who want to remake America. Now that the Obama administration has a Congressional majority that is virtually unstoppable, and a media that is wholly uncritical, the chances of preventing the president from putting someone on the Supreme Court who shares his desire to turn America into a different country are slim or none.
The only thing on the side of those who understand this, and who oppose it, is time.
Replacing Supreme Court justices is something that can only be done one at a time and at unpredictable intervals. What this means is that Senators who do not have enough votes to stop an Obama nominee for the High Court from being confirmed nevertheless have an opportunity- and a duty— to alert the public to the dangers of what is being done.
This does not mean turning confirmation hearings into a circus or a kangaroo court with mud-slinging at judicial nominees, the way Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas were smeared. But it also does not mean taking the path of least resistance by quietly voting for people like Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Stephen Breyer, who treat the Constitution as a grant of arbitrary power to themselves, rather than a restriction of power on the government as a whole.
It is all too easy to say "a president has a right to appoint the kind of people he wants on the Supreme Court." He does. But that does not mean that those who don't have the votes to stop dangerous nominees from being confirmed are obliged to vote for them or to stand mute.
Since Justice David Souter is likely to be replaced by another liberal, it is all too easy to say that it is no big deal. But with all the indications already as to how the Obama administration is trying to remake America on many fronts, the time to begin alerting the public to the dangers is now.
Given the age and health of other Supreme Court justices, more replacements are likely during Obama's time in the White House. Time is an opportunity to mobilize public opinion and perhaps change the composition of the Senate that confirms judicial nominees.
But time by itself does nothing. It is what we do with time that matters.
To find out more about Thomas Sowell and read features by other Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com. Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305. His Web site is www.tsowell.com.
COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
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Maserati produced 32 Model 200Si cars between 1955 and 1958. For the 1955-56 season, Maserati's aging but still impressive A6GCS was updated with their 4C2F engine, which had originally been designed in 1952. An early 200S was entered in the 1955 Imola Grand Prix and driven by Franco Bordoni, but the car's performance proved that further work was needed to make it competitive. Further development and modifications brought about the 200Si, which featured a number of body changes to meet the 1957 FIA regulations.
This example, chassis number 2416, was a Maserati works car built for the 1957 season.Also photographed at :
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Iridium, NAV Canada to partner on satellite-based air traffic surveillance
Published: June 20, 2012
Iridium Communications and NAV Canada on Tuesday announced a planned joint venture to build a space-based air traffic tracking system that the companies said will cover the entire planet, including oceans and remote regions.
Financial details of the JV, called Aireon, were not revealed at a press conference in Washington DC. But Iridium and NAV Canada did outline the JV’s plans, which call for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) receivers to be built into each of the 66 satellites making up Iridium NEXT, the satellite communications company’s next generation of satellites set to be put in orbit from 2015 to 2017.
The ADS-B receivers will provide coverage to interested air navigation service providers of all of earth’s airspace, including areas not covered by the ground-based ADS-B sensors being installed across the US as part of the country’s NextGen ATC upgrade, Iridium and NAV Canada said. This would enable much more efficient aircraft spacing, more direct routing and more efficient ascent/descent procedures, they added.
“We are providing a one-stop solution … to track and monitor global air traffic,” said Don Thoma, an Iridium executive who was named Aireon president and CEO. “This is a revolutionary platform. Every air navigation services provider around the world would be able to use it without much upfront investment.”
Russ Chew, managing partner of NEXA Capital Partners and head of FAA’s Air Traffic Organization from 2003-2007, was introduced as a senior advisor to Aireon along with Norman Mineta, the former US transportation secretary. “This is a really big deal,” Chew told reporters. “This will significantly improve operational safety in regions of the world without [modern air traffic management] infrastructure … This is truly innovative and ground breaking for all of aviation.”
Chew told ATW that the Aireon satellite network would not “replace” the ground-based ADS-B receivers being installed by the US and other countries, but would “augment” the earth-bound equipment ( ATW Editors’ Blog, April 4 ). “Together they will provide a very powerful system,” he said.
It was also announced that Harris Corp. will provide 81 ADS-B 1090 Extended Squitter (ES) receiver payloads to Aireon to be hosted on the Iridium NEXT satellites. FAA and ITT Exelis will also provide support to Aireon, but FAA has not made any firm commitment to sign up for the Aireon traffic management information.
Iridium CEO Matt Desch said the Aireon ADS-B system is expected to be “fully operational in 2017 or shortly thereafter.” He added that the final details of the JV’s makeup will be “worked out in weeks not months.”
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235 F.3d 292: William A. Books and Michael Suetkamp, Plaintiffs-appellants, v. City of Elkhart, Indiana, Defendant-appellee
In the United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit - 235 F.3d 292
ARGUED MAY 12, 2000DECIDED DECEMBER 13, 2000
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, South Bend Division. No. 98 C 230--Allen Sharp, Judge.[Copyrighted Material Omitted]
Before RIPPLE, MANION and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.
RIPPLE, Circuit Judge.
On the lawn of the City of Elkhart's Municipal Building stands a monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments. William A. Books and Michael Suetkamp, residents of Elkhart, object to the display of this monument on government property. They brought this action in the district court, claiming that the display of the monument by the City of Elkhart violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The district court granted summary judgment for the City of Elkhart. For the reasons set forth in the following opinion, we reverse the judgment of the district court and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
A monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments is located on the lawn in front of the Municipal Building of the City of Elkhart ("the City" or "Elkhart"). The plaintiffs, residents of Elkhart, object to the presence of this monument in this location. We therefore must determine whether this presence of the monument violates the Establishment Clause of the Constitution of the United States, which has been made applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.1 This task requires that we examine the history of the monument's placement and maintenance as well as the physical characteristics of the monument and of the surrounding area.
In the 1940s, a juvenile court judge in Minnesota, E. J. Ruegemer, inaugurated the Youth Guidance Program. Disheartened by the growing number of youths in trouble, he sought to provide them with a common code of conduct. He believed that the Ten Commandments might provide the necessary guidance. Judge Ruegemer originally planned to post paper copies of the Ten Commandments in juvenile courts, first in Minnesota and then across the country. To help fund his idea, he contacted the Fraternal Order of Eagles ("FOE"), a service organization dedicated to promoting liberty, truth, and justice. At first, FOE rejected Judge Ruegemer's idea because it feared that the program might seem coercive or sectarian. In response to these concerns, representatives of Judaism, Protestantism, and Catholicism developed what the individuals involved believed to be a nonsectarian version of the Ten Commandments because it could not be identified with any one religious group. After reviewing this version, FOE agreed to support Judge Ruegemer's program.
Around this same time, motion picture producer Cecil B. DeMille contacted Judge Ruegemer about the program. DeMille, who was working to produce the movie "The Ten Commandments," suggested that, rather than posting mere paper copies of the Ten Commandments, the program distribute bronze plaques. Judge Ruegemer replied that granite might be a more suitable material because the original Ten Commandments were written on granite. DeMille agreed with Judge Ruegemer's suggestion, and the judge thereafter worked with two Minnesota granite companies to produce granite monuments inscribed with the Ten Commandments. Local chapters of FOE financed these granite monuments and then, throughout the 1950s, donated them to their local communities. The Elkhart chapter of FOE donated its version of the Ten Commandments monument to the City of Elkhart in 1958.
Elkhart's newspaper, The Elkhart Truth, published an article about the dedication of the Ten Commandments monument to the City of Elkhart. See R.29, Ex.A, Ceremonies Pay Tribute in Memorial Day Rite; City Given Decalogue, The Elkhart Truth, May 31, 1958, at 1. The dedication was a part of the City's Memorial Day ceremonies, and the participants in the dedication included Robert Long, city controller; Mahlon Hull, past president of the Elkhart Chapter of FOE; Dale Swihart, lodge secretary for FOE; the Reverend William Gieranowski, assistant pastor of St. Vincent's Catholic Church; the Reverend W. W. Kenhell, outgoing president of the Elkhart Ministerial Association; and Rabbi M. E. Finkelstein of Temple Israel.
According to the newspaper, Reverend Kenhell spoke at the ceremony, imparting the message that "Americans have inherited moral power from the founding fathers of our country, . . . and if they will accept the precepts of the Ten Commandments, it will provide their redemption from today's strife and fear." Id. Father Gieranowski also spoke at the ceremony and stated that moral law does not change and that the Ten Commandments should be engraved not only in stone but in the hearts, minds, and consciences of everyone. See id. Finally, the newspaper noted, Rabbi Finkelstein explained that the dedication of the monument "should be an occasion for dedication of everyone to the high ideals inherent in the American way of life." Id.
As we have noted earlier, Elkhart's Ten Commandments monument is located on the lawn in front of the City's Municipal Building. The Municipal Building, situated on the corners of Second and High Streets in downtown Elkhart, contains the mayor's office, the City's legal and human relations departments, the city court, the prosecutor's office, and the offices of the Common Council. Above the main entrance to the Municipal Building is a bas relief of an elk's head. Directly to the left of the elk's head is the word "DEDICATVM," and on the immediate right of the elk's head is the word "JVSTITIAM."2 R.29 & 31, Ex.14-16.
The lot for the Municipal Building contains the building itself, sidewalks, and a parking area. Between the building and the sidewalks is a grass lawn that is approximately 25 feet wide. Within this lawn are three monuments. The City maintains this lawn surrounding the monuments but does not contribute any time, money, or effort to the maintenance of the monuments themselves.
On the southeast corner of the building's lot--the corner nearest the intersection--are the Revolutionary War Monument and the Freedom Monument. The Revolutionary War Monument, closest to the street, is a large stone, which bears a plaque and is surrounded by a bed of flowers. See R.29 & 31, Ex.23-24. The plaque explains that the monument was donated by the Daughters of the American Revolution in honor of the Revolutionary War soldiers buried in Elkhart County. Behind the Revolutionary War Monument is the Freedom Monument. The Freedom Monument is a brick pillar with a light on its top. A plaque on the pillar reads: "BEHOLD FRIEND, YOU ARE NOW ON HALLOWED GROUND FOR HERE BURNS FREEDOMS HOLY LIGHT." R.29 & 31, Ex.25. Collectively, the Revolutionary War Monument and the Freedom Monument are referred to as the War Memorial.
On the northeast corner of the lot is the Ten Commandments monument.3 The Ten Commandments monument is made of granite and stands six feet high and three and one-half feet wide. The largest portion of the monument is consumed by the text of the Ten Commandments. The face of the monument reads as follows
The Ten Commandments
I AM the LORD thy God.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven images.
Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.
R.29 & 31, Ex.5. This text, as stated previously, is an amalgamation of Jewish, Protestant, and Catholic versions of the Ten Commandments.
At the top of the monument, there are two small tablets that contain ancient Hebrew script. Surrounding both of these tablets is a floral design, and between the two tablets is an eye within a pyramid--an all-seeing eye.4 Immediately below the all-seeing eye is an American Eagle grasping the American flag. Below the text on the monument are two small Stars of David. In the center of the two stars is a similarly sized symbol representing Christ: two Greek letters, Chi and Rho, superimposed upon each other. At the base of the monument is a small scroll, which reads as follows
THE CITY OF ELKHART, IND.
ELKHART AERIE NO. 395
FRATERNAL ORDER OF EAGLES
Photos of the Ten Commandments monument and of the front of the Municipal Building were included in the trial record and are attached as appendices to this opinion.
Insofar as this record shows, the presence of the Ten Commandments monument on the lawn of the Elkhart Municipal Building produced no controversy until 1998. In that year, the City's mayor was informed that, unless the monument was removed, a lawsuit would be filed. After this warning was received, the Common Council of the City of Elkhart convened on May 4, 1998, and adopted a resolution "regarding the display of the Ten Commandments on public property." R.29, Ex.B. According to this resolution, the monument and the symbols on its face recognize the historical and cultural significance of the Ten Commandments. The Common Council noted in its resolution that numerous other historical and cultural plaques are inside the Municipal Building. The Common Council further emphasized that "the Ten Commandments have had a significant impact on the development of the fundamental legal principles of Western Civilization." Id. Finally, the Common Council concluded that, because the Ten Commandments monument "is a historical and cultural monument that reflects one of the earliest codes of human conduct," it was proper for the monument to remain. Id. Because the Common Council did not remove the monument, two residents of Elkhart filed this action against the City of Elkhart.
Plaintiff William Books is a resident of Elkhart County and has resided in Elkhart since the early 1980s. In Mr. Books' affidavit, he states that "[t]o the extent that I must, or wish to, go to the Municipal Building to participate as a citizen of Elkhart I must come into direct and unwelcome contact with the [Ten Commandments] monument." R.24, Attachment 1, at 2. Mr. Books explains that, in the past, he has gone to the Municipal Building to pay a traffic ticket and to attend City Council meetings when the issues discussed were ones that interested him. Also, notes Mr. Books, his deposition for this case was conducted in the City Attorney's office in the Municipal Building. As Mr. Books explains, although he could use the Municipal Building's side entrance instead of its main entrance in order to avoid the monument, he "know[s] the Ten Commandments monument is there whether [he] see[s] it or not." Id. at 3.
Mr. Books further explains that he passes the monument in his daily activities, including: riding his bicycle on a route that passes the Municipal Building; patronizing the Elkhart Public Library, which is located across the street from the Municipal Building; and visiting his landlord's office and his cousin's house, both of which are located near the Municipal Building. He states that, in order to avoid seeing the Ten Commandments monument, he "would have to assume the special burden of altering [his] daily routine so as to avoid this direct and unwelcome contact." Id. at 2.
Plaintiff Michael Suetkamp is also a resident of Elkhart County and has lived in Elkhart since the early 1990s. In his affidavit, Mr. Suetkamp states that he is an atheist and is offended deeply by the placement of the Ten Commandments monument on the property of the City of Elkhart. He states that he must come in direct and unwelcome contact with the monument to participate as a citizen of Elkhart. As he explains, he has entered the Municipal Building to pay a traffic ticket, to attend a City Council meeting, to talk to the City Council's Clerk, and to have his deposition taken by the City Attorney in this case.
Mr. Suetkamp also avers that he comes in direct and unwelcome contact with the monument in his daily activities. For example, he states that the route he takes to return home from work passes the Municipal Building and that he sometimes sees the monument when entering the Elkhart Public Library. Although he passes the monument frequently, Mr. Suetkamp admits that he does not look di rectly at it every time, but he states that "[e]ven if I don't see it, I certainly know it is there." R.24, Attachment 4, at 2.
The district court held that the placement of the Ten Commandments monument on the lawn of the Elkhart Municipal Building did not violate the Establishment Clause. When analyzing the placement of the monument under the test set out in Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971), the court examined (1) whether the City had a secular purpose in maintaining the monument, (2) whether the primary effect of the monument was to advance religion, and (3) whether the City's action fostered an excessive entanglement of government with religion. See id. at 612-13. After stating that the third prong did not apply, the court found that Elkhart had a secular purpose for the monument. According to the court, the City's purpose in accepting the monument, promoting morality in youths, is a legitimate aim of government and is a traditional part of the police powers of the state. Also, the court stated, the City's purpose in continuing to display the monument, to maintain exhibits of cultural and historical significance on City property, is also secular.
The court also discussed whether the monument had the effect of endorsing religion. It noted that this question is asked from the perspective of a reasonable observer who is charged with knowledge of the history and context of the display. The court stated that a reasonable observer looking at the monument would know that the Ten Command ments has both religious and historical significance and would acknowledge the significance of the religious symbols on the monument as signs of the major religions of this country at the time of the monument's donation. The court next pointed out that a reasonable observer would view the Ten Commandments monument as part of the City's overall collection of displays of historical and cultural significance. As the court explained, the lawn in front of the Municipal Building is small, and the City could not be expected to put all of its displays in one place. The court then held that it does not violate the Establishment Clause for the City of Elkhart to acknowledge the importance of the Ten Commandments in the legal and moral development of the nation by displaying the monument on the lawn of the Municipal Building.5
We review de novo the decision of the district court to grant summary judgment. See Wright v. Illinois Dep't of Corrections, 204 F.3d 727, 729 (7th Cir. 2000). Summary judgment is proper when the "pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23 (1986). In determining whether a genuine issue of material fact exists, we must review the record in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs and make all reasonable inferences in their favor. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255 (1986). Here, the parties do not dispute the material facts, so we shall review de novo the district court's conclusions of law. See Freedom From Religion Found., Inc. v. City of Marshfield, 203 F.3d 487, 490 (7th Cir. 2000).
Under Article III of the Constitution of the United States, a plaintiff must have standing to bring an action before a federal court. To have standing, the Supreme Court has explained, the plaintiff must allege (1) that he has suffered an injury in fact (2) that is fairly traceable to the action of the defendant and (3) that will likely be redressed with a favorable decision. See Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560-61 (1992). Here, the dispute centers on the first element whether the plaintiffs suffered an injury in fact by the City's display of the Ten Commandments on government property.
To allege adequately an injury in fact, a plaintiff must show "an invasion of a legally protected interest which is (a) concrete and particularized and (b) actual or imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical." Id. at 560 (citations and quotation marks omitted). In the context of the Establishment Clause, our cases have required that, to allege properly that a plaintiff has suffered an injury in fact from the display of a religious object, the individual may show he has undertaken a special burden or has altered his behavior to avoid the offensive object. See, e.g., Freedom From Religion Found., 203 F.3d at 489 (avoids using the park); Gonzales v. North Township, 4 F.3d 1412, 1416-17 (7th Cir. 1993) (avoids area of the park); Harris v. City of Zion, 927 F.2d 1401, 1405 (7th Cir. 1991) (alters travel routes); Doe v. Village of Crestwood, 917 F.2d 1476, 1478 (7th Cir. 1990) (will stay away from festival); American Civil Liberties Union v. City of St. Charles, 794 F.2d 265, 269 (7th Cir. 1986) (alters behavior by detouring); Doe v. Small, 726 F. Supp. 713, 718-19 (N.D. Ill. 1989), rev'd en banc on other grounds, 964 F.2d 611 (7th Cir. 1992) (avoids using park).
The district court here, however, relied on Doe v. County of Montgomery, 41 F.3d 1156 (7th Cir. 1994), to determine whether the plaintiffs had suffered an injury in fact even though they had not altered their behavior to avoid the Ten Commandments monument. In Doe, a permanent metal sign, hanging over the main entrance of the county's courthouse, read "THE WORLD NEEDS GOD." The plaintiffs were residents of the county and wished to avoid the sign; however, in order to participate as citizens of their county and to fulfill certain legal obligations, they needed to use the courthouse. They alleged that they had to come in direct and unwelcome contact with the sign when using the courthouse. In that case, we held that the plaintiffs' allegations that they must come in direct and unwelcome contact with the religious display to participate fully as citizens of their county and to fulfill their legal obligations were sufficient to show that they had suffered an injury in fact. See id. at 1159. As we stated, "direct and unwelcome exposure to a religious message cannot be distinguished from the 'injuries' of other plaintiffs who have had standing to bring claims under the Establishment Clause." Id. at 1159. We then noted that both the Supreme Court and this court have found standing for constitutional challenges to religious conduct when the plaintiffs did not assume a special burden or alter their behavior. See Lee v. Weisman, 505 U.S. 577 (1992) (student and parent objected to planned invocations and benedictions at non-mandatory graduation ceremonies); Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38 (1985) (school children and parents objected to one-minute period of silence); Stone v. Graham, 449 U.S. 39 (1980) (per curiam) (students and parents objected to posting of Ten Commandments); School Dist. of Abington Township v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203, 205, 224 n.9 (1963) (school children and parents objected to reading of Bible in school although students could chose to be absent at time or to not participate); Berger v. Rensselaer Cent. Sch. Corp., 982 F.2d 1160, 1164 n.4 (7th Cir. 1993) (parent of school children objected to distribution of Gideon Bibles in the schools); Sherman v. Community Consol. Sch. Dist. 21 of Wheeling Township, 980 F.2d 437, 441 (7th Cir. 1992) (student objected to recitation of Pledge of Allegiance).
The district court followed the holding of Doe and noted that the plaintiffs had alleged that they must come in direct and unwelcome contact with the Ten Commandments monument to participate fully as citizens of Elkhart and to fulfill their legal obligations. The court questioned whether the plaintiffs had to look at the monument to enter the Municipal Building, as the plaintiffs in Doe had to see the sign over the main entrance to enter the county courthouse, but found that the facts were sufficiently close to fit within the rule of Doe. Therefore, the plaintiffs had standing to challenge the placement of the monument in front of the Municipal Building.
The plaintiffs bear the burden of establishing that they have standing to bring this action. See Doe, 41 F.3d at 1159. To meet that burden, plaintiffs Books and Suetkamp both allege that they must come in direct and unwelcome contact with the Ten Commandments monument to participate fully as citizens of Elkhart and to fulfill certain legal duties. Moreover, they each allege specific examples in which they have entered the Municipal Building to participate as a citizen of Elkhart or to fulfill a legal obligation.
According to the City, the plaintiffs must alter their behavior to avoid the Ten Commandments monument before they can allege that they have suffered an injury in fact. In Doe, the City submits, the plaintiffs wished to avoid the religious sign above the courthouse's main entrance but could not do so if they wished to use the courthouse and to participate as citizens of the county. Here, the City argues, the plaintiffs could have entered the Municipal Building through alternative entrances, or, even if entering through the main entrance, they could have passed along the back of the Ten Commandments monument. Because of these two options, the City contends, the plaintiffs did not need to come in direct and unwelcome contact with the text on the Ten Commandments monument in order to participate as citizens of Elkhart or to fulfill their legal obligations. Thus, the City asserts, the plaintiffs have not alleged that they suffered an injury in fact by the placement of the Ten Commandments monument on the lawn of the Municipal Building.
As this court discussed in Doe, the Supreme Court has addressed the requirements for standing when a plaintiff must view a religious symbol in his daily routine or when he is forced to come in contact with religious conduct through participation in school or in government. See Doe, 41 F.3d at 1160. As we demonstrated in Doe, our holding in that case is grounded firmly in the precedent of the Supreme Court. Therefore, we must conclude that the plaintiffs have standing to challenge the placement of the Ten Commandments monument on the lawn of the Municipal Building.
We agree with the district court that there is no principled distinction between the facts of Doe and the facts presented here. In Doe, the plaintiffs were required to come in direct and unwelcome contact with the religious display in order to participate fully in government and to fulfill their legal obligations. Here, the plaintiffs must do the same. Although it is true that the plaintiffs here could have altered their path into the Municipal Building to avoid the monument, an act that would have given them standing under Seventh Circuit precedent, see, e.g., Freedom From Religion Found., 203 F.3d at 489; City of St. Charles, 794 F.2d at 269, they were not obligated to do so to suffer an injury in fact, see Doe, 41 F.3d at 1160- 61. Moreover, because the plaintiffs are aware of the words written on the front of the monument, merely walking behind it will not eradicate the injury they allegedly suffered by passing the TenCommandments monument. We therefore conclude that a plaintiff may allege an injury in fact when he is forced to view a religious object that he wishes to avoid but is unable to avoid because of his right or duty to attend the government-owned place where the object is located. See Doe, 41 F.3d at 1159-61. Therefore, the plaintiffs have alleged sufficient facts to demonstrate that they suffered an injury in fact by the placement of the Ten Commandments monument on the lawn of the Municipal Building.
Although various members of the Supreme Court of the United States have criticized it,6 the test first enunciated by the Court in Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971), remains the prevailing analytical tool for the analysis of Establishment Clause claims. As an intermediate federal appellate court, we are obliged by the doctrines of stare decisis and precedent to employ that methodology unless instructed otherwise by the Supreme Court.7 See, e.g., Freedom From Religion Found., 203 F.3d at 493 (emphasizing Lemon test in Establishment Clause analysis); Bridenbaugh v. O'Bannon, 185 F.3d 796, 797 (7th Cir. 1999) (same); Tanford v. Brand, 104 F.3d 982, 986 (7th Cir. 1997) (same); Kerr v. Farrey, 95 F.3d 472, 476- 80 (7th Cir. 1996) (same); Fleischfresser v. Directors of Sch. Dist. 200, 15 F.3d 680, 685-86 (7th Cir. 1994) (same); Sherman, 8 F.3d at 1163-64 (same). Under the approach mandated by Lemon, we must consider: (1) whether the government activity in question has a secular purpose, (2) whether the activity's primary effect advances or inhibits religion, and (3) whether the government activity fosters an excessive entanglement with religion. See Lemon, 403 U.S. at 612-13. Governmental action is violative of the constitutional prohibition against the establishment of religion if it violates any one of these three prongs. See Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U.S. 578, 583 (1987). In this case, the plaintiffs do not contend that the display of the monument involves an excessive entanglement with religion; therefore, we shall confine our discussion to the first two prongs of the analysis.
Before turning to the situation before us, we also note that, in more recent cases, the Supreme Court has, on occasion, articulated these first two prongs in terms of an "endorsement" test. See County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union, Greater Pittsburgh Chapter, 492 U.S. 573, 592 (1989) (formally accepting the endorsement test and stating that "[i]n recent years, we have paid particularly close attention to whether the challenged governmental practice either has the purpose or effect of 'endorsing' religion, a concern that has long had a place in our Establishment Clause jurisprudence"); see also Santa Fe Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Doe, 120 S. Ct. 2266, 2278 (2000) (asking whether the state endorsed religion by allowing a student to lead a prayer to open high school football games); Capitol Square Review & Advisory Bd. v. Pinette, 515 U.S. 753, 763-65 (1995) (acknowledging endorsement test but stating that it did not apply in the case at hand because the correct analysis for private religious speech in a public forum was under the Free Speech Clause). As we noted recently in Freedom From Religion Foundation, "[u]nder this test, 'the effect prong asks whether, irrespective of government's actual purpose, the practice under review in fact conveys a message of endorsement or disapproval.'" 203 F.3d at 493 (quoting Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668, 690 (1984) (O'Connor, J., concurring)).
The first part of our inquiry must be to determine whether the display of this tablet by the City of Elkhart has the primary purpose of "advancing or inhibiting religion." Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203, 222-23 (1997). As the Court has explained, "'The purpose prong of the Lemon test asks whether the government's actual purpose is to endorse or disapprove of religion.'" Aguillard, 482 U.S. at 585 (quoting Lynch, 465 U.S. at 690 (O'Connor, J., concurring)). In determining whether this particular display of the Ten Commandments can be said to have a valid secular purpose, we must evaluate the totality of the circumstances surrounding the placement and maintenance of the monument.
As a starting point, we do not think it can be said that the Ten Commandments, standing by themselves, can be stripped of their religious, indeed sacred, significance and characterized as a moral or ethical document. Indeed, the Supreme Court made this point clear in Stone v. Graham, 449 U.S. 39 (1980), when it noted that a simple reading of the Ten Commandments does not permit us to ignore that they transcend "arguably secular matters, such as honoring one's parents, killing or murder, adultery, stealing, false witness, and covetousness. Rather, the first part of the Commandments concerns the religious duties of believers: worshipping the Lord God alone, avoiding idolatry, not using the Lord's name in vain, and observing the Sabbath Day." Id. at 41-42 (citations omitted). Indeed, when one goes beyond the text itself and regards this particular display, the religious nature of the document is emphasized by the very format of the monument. Notably, the prefatory words "I am the Lord thy God" are set out in large lettering at the top of the text. R.29 & 31, Ex.5. This religious format is enhanced, not detracted from, by the etchings at the bottom of the tablet of the Stars of David and the Chi Rho symbol, a distinctive Christian symbol. It cannot be doubted, therefore, that this monument bearing the Ten Commandments possesses a religious nature.
The display of a religious symbol still may, under certain circumstances, have a secular purpose. The text of the Ten Commandments no doubt has played a role in the secular development of our society and can no doubt be presented by the government as playing such a role in our civic order. For example, on the wall of the Supreme Court there is a frieze that contains Moses holding the Ten Commandments. The frieze contains depictions of two other religious figures, Confucius and Mohammed, but it also includes Caesar Augustus, William Blackstone, Napol on Bonaparte, and John Marshall. Justice Stevens has stated that the placement of all of these historic figures together on the frieze signals a respect for great lawgivers, not great proselytizers. See County of Allegheny, 492 U.S. at 652 (Stevens, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part). This is a fitting message, he tells us, for the wall of a courtroom. See id. at 653. A display is unconstitutional, according to Justice Stevens, "only when its message, evaluated in the context in which it is presented, is nonsecular." Id. at 652. Indeed, the Court in Stone emphasized that the challenged statute that required the posting of the Ten Commandments on schoolroom walls did not present "a case in which the Ten Commandments are integrated into the school curriculum, where the Bible may constitutionally be used in an appropriate study of history, civilization, ethics, comparative religion, or the like." 449 U.S. at 42.
The Supreme Court has stressed the importance of the context of a clearly religious symbol in determining whether the purpose in displaying the symbol is religious or secular. We also have emphasized that religious symbols should not be considered in the abstract; instead, courts must ask "whether the particular display at issue, considered in its overall context, could be said to advance religion." American Jewish Congress v. City of Chicago, 827 F.2d 120, 125 (7th Cir. 1987).
Here, the record discloses no significant attempt by the City of Elkhart to present the text of the Ten Commandments in a way that might diminish its religious character.8 Indeed, the history of the City's involvement in the placement of this particular monument serves to emphasize a religious purpose in its display. As we have noted already, the original impetus behind the proliferation of the Ten Commandments monuments was Judge Ruegemer's desire to provide youths with a common code of conduct that they could use to govern their actions. In accepting the monument, the City also aimed to provide a code of conduct for the citizens of Elkhart to follow. The code chosen, however, was a religious code that focuses not only on subjects that are the legitimate concern of civil authorities, but also subjects that are beyond the ken of any government and that address directly the relationship of the individual human being and God. That the purpose was to endorse, through governmental sponsorship, a code of religious values is further established by the program of speakers at the dedication of the monument a Protestant minister, a Catholic priest, and a Jewish rabbi. When these religious leaders spoke, the first speaker urged Americans to accept the precepts of the Ten Commandments because they could provide redemption from strife and fear. The second speaker stated that the Ten Commandments should be engraved not only in stone but in the hearts, minds, and consciences of everyone. Finally, the last speaker recommended that the dedication of the monument should be an occasion for the dedication of everyone to the high ideals inherent in the American way of life. The participation of these influential members of several religious congregations makes it clear that the purpose for displaying the monument was not only to provide youths with a common code of conduct to guide their participation in the civil community but also to urge the people of Elkhart to em brace the specific religious code of conduct taught in the Ten Commandments. Thus, in applying the purpose prong of Lemon, the inherently religious nature of the Ten Commandments is strengthened by the circumstances surrounding the display of the monument. We cannot escape the conclusion that the purpose in displaying this monument was to promote religious ideals.
Moreover, nothing in the subsequent history of the monument can be said to have in any way transformed that religious purpose. The City's resolution, issued on the eve of this litigation and proclaiming a secular purpose for the monument's presence by recognizing the historical and cultural significance of the Ten Commandments, ought to be accorded no more weight than the avowed secular legislative purpose articulated by the Kentucky legislature in Stone. In Stone, the Kentucky statute required the following language at the bottom of each Ten Commandments display: "'The secular application of the Ten Commandments is clearly seen in its adoption as the fundamental legal code of Western Civilization and the Common Law of the United States.'" 449 U.S. at 41 (quoting 1978 Ky. Acts 436, sec. 1, Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. sec. 158.178 (1980)). The Supreme Court responded to this statement of purpose by stating that "such an 'avowed' secular purpose is not sufficient to avoid conflict with the First Amendment." Id.; see also Santa Fe Indep. Sch. Dist., 120 S. Ct. at 2278 (reiterating that a governmental entity's professed secular purpose for an arguably religious policy is entitled to some deference but that it is the duty of the courts to ensure that the purpose is sincere); Aguillard, 482 U.S. at 586-87 (stating that courts should normally defer to a state's articulation of a secular purpose, but the statement of such purpose must be sincere). As we noted in Gonzales, 4 F.3d at 1419, although this court "will defer to a municipality's sincere articulation of a religious symbol's secular purpose," we shall not accept a stated purpose that merely seeks to avoid a potential Establishment Clause violation. Similarly, we hold that the City of Elkhart's avowed secular purpose of recognizing the historical and cultural significance of the Ten Commandments, issued on the eve of litigation, "is not sufficient to avoid conflict with the First Amendment." Stone, 449 U.S. at 41. We therefore hold that the purpose ofdisplaying the Ten Commandments monument was not secular. The display of the monument, consequently, violates the first prong of the Lemon test and cannot survive Establishment Clause scrutiny.
Even if we were to ignore the primary purpose behind displaying the Ten Commandments monument, we would have to conclude that this particular display has the primary or principal effect of advancing religion. In County of Allegheny, the Court noted that, under this prong, courts have a special responsibility to ensure that a government-sponsored display does not have the purpose or the effect of endorsing a religion. See 492 U.S. at 592. As we noted recently in Freedom of Religion Foundation, "[u]nder this test, 'the effect prong asks whether, irrespective of government's actual purpose, the practice under review in fact conveys a message of endorsement or disapproval.'" 203 F.3d at 493 (quoting Lynch, 465 U.S. at 690 (O'Connor, J., concurring)). When employing this analytical approach, we are charged with the responsibility of assessing the totality of the circumstances surrounding the display to determine whether a reasonable person would believe that the display amounts to an endorsement of religion. See County of Allegheny, 492 U.S. at 597 (stating that "the government's use of religious symbolism is unconstitutional if it has the effect of endorsing religious beliefs, and the effect of the government's use of religious symbolism depends on its context").
In County of Allegheny, the plaintiffs challenged the recurring holiday displays of a creche placed on the Grand Staircase inside the county courthouse and of a Chanukah menorah placed outside the city-county building. The Court held that the placement of the creche violated the Establishment Clause. The creche in question was surrounded on three sides by a wooden fence. Along the fence sat poinsettias, and on each of the two ends of the fence was a small evergreen tree. A plaque was attached to the fence that announced that the display had been donated by the Holy Name Society. The creche was used as the setting for weekday Christmas caroling by local musical groups. The Court noted that the creche was capable of communicating a religious message, but then explained that "the effect of a creche display turns on its setting" because "the context of the display [could] detract[ ] from the creche's religious message." Id. at 598. In assessing the context surrounding the creche in County of Allegheny, the Court determined that nothing detracted from its religious message. The floral border drew one's attention to the display, and the fact that traditional Christmas flowers were used further contributed to the perception of the endorsement of religion by the government. The sign disclosing ownership by a Catholic organization further enhanced the perception that the government was promoting a religious message. The Court also noted that the creche was displayed on the main and most beautiful part of the building and that the building served as the seat of government. According to the Court, "[n]o viewer could reasonably think that it occupies this location without the support and approval of the government." Therefore, concluded the Court, "by permitting the 'display of the creche in this particular physical setting,' the county sends an unmistakable message that it supports and promotes the Christian praise to God that is the creche's religious message." Id. at 599-600 (quoting Lynch, 465 U.S. at 692 (O'Connor, J., concurring)). The Court therefore held that the creche display violated the Establishment Clause.
In County of Allegheny, a majority of the Court also held that the menorah placed in front of the city-county building did not violate the Establishment Clause. The menorah was placed next to a 45-foot pine tree that was decorated with lights and ornaments. At the foot of the tree rested a sign that bore the mayor's name and a text that was entitled "Salute to Liberty." The Court held that this particular display was not a violation of the Establishment Clause because its specific setting did not have the primary effect of endorsing religion. Instead, the Court stated that the combination of the now- secularized Christmas tree with a sign extolling liberty and the giant menorah tended to promote the winter-holiday season. The display, held the Court, did not violate the Establishment Clause.
In fulfilling our responsibility to apply faithfully the Establishment Clause jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of the United States, we have subjected to particularly careful scrutiny displays at the seat of government. We have taken this course because "[a]n important concern of the effects test is . . . 'whether the symbolic union of church and state effected by the challenged governmental action is sufficiently likely to be perceived by adherents of the controlling denominations as an endorsement, and by the nonadherents as a disapproval, of their individual religious choices.'" American Jewish Congress, 827 F.2d at 127 (quoting Grand Rapids Sch. Dist. v. Ball, 473 U.S. 373, 390 (1985)). In American Jewish Congress, the City of Chicago had displayed a creche during the holiday season in the lobby of the city-county building. We noted that the seat of government is "a setting where the presence of government is pervasive and inescapable." Id. at 126. We then held that the display violated the second prong of Lemon "[b]ecause City Hall is so plainly under government ownership and control, every display and activity in the building is implicitly marked with the stamp of government approval." Id. at 128. In that case, the presence of the creche in the lobby of the seat of government created "a clear and strong impression that the local government tacitly endorse[d] Christianity." Id.
We reiterated this principle in Harris v. City of Zion, 927 F.2d 1401 (7th Cir. 1991). In City of Zion, the plaintiffs challenged the seal of two cities because they contained symbols of Christianity, the Latin cross. We stated that the cities' seals containing the Latin cross presented unambiguous endorsements of religion in violation of the Establishment Clause. See id. at 1412. "Depicting these patently religious symbols on a corporate seal that is wholly owned and controlled by the City connotes the City's approval for the message conveyed." Id. at 1414. This endorsement, we held, violated the Establishment Clause. Moreover, we noted, the finding of a constitutional violation was even more compelling in this situation because the seals were "a permanent statement that [was] viewed year-round." Id. at 1412.
In assessing the situation before us, we must ask whether an objective observer familiar with the history and placement of the Ten Commandments monument would perceive it as a state endorsement of religion. See Santa Fe Indep. Sch. Dist., 120 S. Ct. at 2278. We note first that the monument is displayed at the seat of government. As we have just explained, the seat of government "is so plainly under government ownership and control" that every display on its property is marked implicitly with governmental approval. American Jewish Congress, 827 F.2d at 128. Here, in front of the building that houses the governmental departments of the City, stands a religious message. This granite monument is a permanent fixture on the grounds of the seat of government. As viewed by the passer-by or by an individual approaching the building, the monument certainly cannot be fairly characterized as a component of a comprehensive display of the cultural heritage of the people of Elkhart. Rather, it stands, as the City intended it to be when it dedicated the monument on Memorial Day in 1958, as a sole and stark reminder of the specific injunctions contained in the Commandments. Indeed, the surrounding area enhances the dignity and the primacy of the Commandments. Above the door of the Municipal Building are the Latin words "Dedicatum Justitia." Those who view the Ten Commandments are thus informed that the role of the government in that location is to do justice; the only "law" displayed for doing justice is the monument bearing the Ten Commandments. The only other display on the lawn of the Municipal Building is the War Memorial that reminds the onlooker that the space in front of the Municipal Building is "hallowed ground." R.29 & 31, Ex.25.9 The person approaching the seat of government is thus informed that, at that location, the government goes about the business of doing justice, that the only "law" displayed is the Commandments, and that these Commandments are displayed on land designated by the government as "hallowed ground."
The format of the monument itself hardly dilutes its religious message. Indeed, this monument impermissibly suggests that, in this community, there are "ins" and "outs." The monument contains the Stars of David and the symbol of Christ, representing respectively Judaism and Christianity, two of the religions no doubt particularly represented in the Elkhart community, but by no means the total of all those who depend on the City of Elkhart as their local government. The Supreme Court has cautioned that government "sponsorship of a religious message is impermissible because it sends the ancillary message to members of the audience who are nonadherents 'that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community, and the accompanying message to adherents that they are insiders, favored members of the political community.'" Santa Fe Indep. Sch. Dist., 120 S. Ct. at 2279 (quoting Lynch, 465 U.S. at 688 (O'Connor, J., concurring)).
In this regard, the placement of the American Eagle gripping the national colors at the top of the monument hardly detracts from the message of endorsement; rather, it specifically links religion, or more specifically these two religions, and civil government. See City of Zion, 927 F.2d at 1412 (holding that a Latin cross surrounded by other symbols of city life on the city's corporate seal only served to show that the city approved of certain aspects of city life, among them Christianity).
Finally, we cannot say that the monument's acknowledgment of two religious traditions, rather than one, renders the situation before us in compliance with the strictures of the Constitution. "The simultaneous endorsement of Judaism and Christianity is no less constitutionally infirm than the endorsement of Christianity alone." County of Allegheny, 492 U.S. at 615. Although Elkhart's Ten Commandments monument does not endorse Christianity only, it confines its approval to the Judeo-Christian faiths. As the Supreme Court has stated, the First Amendment is "recognized as guaranteeing religious liberty and equality to 'the infidel, the atheist, or the adherent of a non- Christian faith such as Islam or Judaism.'" Id. (quoting Wallace, 472 U.S. at 52). Accordingly, we hold that the primary effect of the Ten Commandments monument on the property of the City of Elkhart's Municipal Building is to advance or endorse religion. The display, consequently, fails the second prong of the Lemon test and violates the Establishment Clause.
This case was decided by the district court on cross-motions for summary judgment. Now that we have reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment for the defendants, the district court ought to enter summary judgment for the plaintiffs. The district court must then turn to the question of remedy. In fashioning a remedy, the district court must be guided by the basic rule that the nature of the remedy ought to be determined by the nature and the scope of the constitutional violation. See Milliken v. Bradley, 433 U.S. 267, 280 (1977). It must also proceed in a manner that respects the interests of state and local authorities to manage their own affairs in a manner consistent with the Constitution of the United States. See id. at 280-81.
In crafting equitable relief to comply with our judgment today, the district court must ensure that, although the con dition that offends the Constitution is eliminated, Elkhart retains the authority to make decisions regarding the placement of the monument. In making those decisions, Elkhart has the right and, indeed, the obligation to take into consideration the religious sensibilities of its people and to accommodate that aspect of its citizens' lives in any way that does not offend the strictures of the Establishment Clause. Cf. Zorach v. Clausen, 343 U.S. 306, 313 (1952) ("We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being. We guarantee the freedom to worship as one chooses. We make room for as wide a variety of beliefs and creeds as the spiritual needs of man deem necessary. We sponsor an attitude on the part of government that shows no partiality to any one group."). Arriving at a realistic solution that comports with the strictures of the Establishment Clause will no doubt take some time, and the district court ought to ensure that Elkhart authorities have a reasonable time to address in a responsible and appropriate manner the task of conforming to the letter and spirit of the constitutional mandate.
Cases involving religion pose difficult questions for courts. "Since undoubtedly we are a 'religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being,' deep feelings are aroused when aspects of that relationship are claimed to violate the injunction of the First Amendment that government may make 'no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.'" Schempp, 374 U.S. at 230 (Brennan, J., concurring) (citation omitted). This is especially true of cases that require enforcement of the Establishment Clause because that Clause often requires a restriction on religious activity on the part of a government entity and is therefore misperceived as restricting the ability of the community to acknowledge the religious commitment of its people. As our discussion today makes clear, the scope of our Establishment Clause jurisprudence is far more circumscribed. Rather, the Supreme Court's cases, and the decisions of our court in conformity with those precedents of the High Court, simply prevent government at any level from intruding into the religious life of our people by sponsoring or endorsing a particular perspective on religious matters. It prevents, as Justice O'Connor has pointed out, government from creating among our people "ins" and "outs" on the basis of religion. In this latter respect, it acknowledges the very unique religious nature of our people. Few of us can look too far back in our personal histories--and the Country certainly cannot ignore the circumstance of its own birth--without acknowledging that our ancestors were people who suffered significantly because of their religious belief and who were ostracized by their national communities or made to suffer poverty or even worse because of their religious beliefs. As one visitor to our shores, himself a refugee from Nazi tyranny, put it, Americans can all say, "We are bruised souls." We each carry "the wounds and sorrows of ancestors, and that memory of the sufferings caused by persecution and prejudice which they left to their progeny" is our "spiritual patrimony."10 The Establishment Clause acknowledges that "spiritual patrimony" and requires that we exercise, in our governmental manifestations of the religious nature of our people, a self- restraint that will prevent anyone from becoming in the eyes of our governmental system--an "out" on the basis of religious beliefs.
Accordingly, the judgment of the district court is reversed, and the case is remanded for proceedings in conformity with this opinion.
REVERSED and REMANDED
Both the Ten Commandments monument and the War Memorial are approxi- mately the same distance from the main entrance and from the sidewalks. The Ten Commandments monument is 46 feet from the main entrance and 10 feet from the sidewalk, and the War Memorial is 48 feet from the main entrance and 10 feet from the sidewalk. Both are partially shaded by trees.
The all-seeing eye on the monument is similar to the one depicted on the one-dollar bill.
The district court also analyzed the placement of the Ten Commandments under several other "tests." Because we believe that the Lemon test, as refined by Supreme Court precedent, stillcontrols our Establishment Clause jurisprudence, we will not discuss the other tests mentioned by the district court.
See, e.g., Santa Fe Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Doe, 120 S. Ct. 2266, 2284-85 (2000) (Rehnquist, C.J., dissenting) (stating that "Lemon has had a checkered career in the decisional law of this Court" and collecting opinions criticizing Lemon); Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free Sch. Dist., 508 U.S. 384, 398-99 (1993) (Scalia, J., concurring in judgment) (comparing Lemon to "some ghoul in a late-night horror movie that repeatedly sits up in its grave and shuffles abroad, after being repeatedly killed and buried" and then collecting opinions criticizing Lemon); County of Allegheny, 492 U.S. at 655-56 (Kennedy, J., concurring in the judgment in part and dissenting in part) (stating that, although he found the Lemon test useful in judging the constitu- tionality of holiday displays, he did "not wish to be seen as advocating, let alone adopting, that test as our primary guide in this difficult area"); Committee for Pub. Educ. & Religious Liberty v. Regan, 444 U.S. 646, 671 (1980) (Stevens, J., dissenting) (desiring to avoid "continuing with the sisyphean task of trying to patch together the 'blurred, indistinct, and variable barrier' described in Lemon" (citation omitted)).
See State Oil v. Kahn, 522 U.S. 3, 20 (1997) (stating that the "Court of Appeals was correct in applying [the doctrine of stare decisis] despite disagreement with [a prior Supreme Court opinion], for it is this Court's prerogative alone to overrule one of its precedents"); Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203, 217 (1997) (reminding appellate courts that "the views of five Justices that [a] case should be reconsidered or overruled cannot be said to have effected a change in Establishment Clause law"); see also DeWalt v. Carter, 224 F.3d 607, 617 n.5 (7th Cir. 2000).
Given the obvious religious nature of the text itself, it falls to the City of Elkhart to demonstrate that it has taken steps to "obviate its religious purpose." Gonzales v. North Township, 4 F.3d 1412, 1421 (7th Cir. 1993); see also Bridenbaugh v. O'Bannon, 185 F.3d 796, 798 (7th Cir. 1999); Metzl v. Leininger, 57 F.3d 618, 621 (7th Cir. 1995).
As stated above, the Freedom Monument reads: "BEHOLD FRIEND, YOU ARE NOW ON HALLOWED GROUND FOR HERE BURNS FREEDOMS HOLY LIGHT." R.29 & 31, Ex.25.
Jacques Maritain, Reflections on America 83-84 (1958).
[Tabular or Graphical Material Omitted][Tabular or Graphical Material Omitted][Tabular or Graphical Material Omitted]
MANION, Circuit Judge, concurring in part and dissenting in part.
The court sets out an accurate presentation of the facts at issue in this case. Suffice it to say that in a Memorial Day ceremony in 1958 the Fraternal Order of the Eagles presented to the City of Elkhart a stone monument engraved with a version of the Ten Commandments. The City placed it near the north entrance of the City Hall building where it has remained to this day. The plaintiffs claim that the location of the monument is offensive to them and an unconstitutional endorsement of religion by the City.
I agree with the court's analysis regarding the plaintiffs' standing to challenge the constitutionality of the placement of the Ten Commandments monument. And while I also agree with the court's legal summary of the Lemon test, I disagree with its application of Lemon to the facts before us. Rather, applying Lemon and its progeny should lead to the conclusion that the City of Elkhart does not violate the Establishment Clause by leaving undisturbed a monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments that was erected more than forty years ago. Moreover, even if the monument did not satisfy the Lemon test, the Supreme Court has upheld certain religious practices which have become a part of the fabric of our society. Leaving the Ten Commandments monument where it now stands comfortably falls within the historical context of this country and is thus constitutional even though it retains the unequivocal references to God. I therefore CONCUR in part and DISSENT in part.
A. Lemon Test
In Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971), the Supreme Court adopted a three-part test for analyzing Establishment Clause cases. First, the government's challenged practice must have a secular purpose. Second, the principal or primary effect must be one that neither advances nor inhibits religion. Third, the government's practice must not create an excessive entanglement of religion. As noted by the court, the third prong is not at issue. Accordingly, we focus on the first two prongs of the Lemon test.
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Cuomo proposes New York’s very own Green Bank
posted at 5:29 pm on January 11, 2013 by Erika Johnsen
The content of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s State of the State speech on Wednesday may have helped to stoke some speculation about his 2016 presidential ambitions, but as part of what looks like an effort to really get on the progressive bandwagon, he talked up a number of green-friendly proposals including a $1.5 billion solar program, a $1 billion Green Bank, and installing up to 3,000 electric vehicle-charging stations throughout New York:
“The economy of tomorrow is the clean tech economy,” Cuomo said in his address. “We all know it – it’s a foot race and whatever state, whatever region gets there first wins the prize and we want it to be New York.”
Cuomo’s NY-Sun program would spend $150 million annually for 10 years to spur solar installations, from residential rooftops to ground-mounted power plants, as well as efforts to reduce the bureaucratic obstacles and other costs of going solar.
His $1 billion Green Bank would leverage public funds to attract private capital to promote energy efficiency and green technologies.
“The NY Green Bank would overcome a number of obstacles and uncertainties in the clean energy sector, including unstable federal funding and policy, uncoordinated action and disparate one-time subsidies at the state level, a lack of appropriate financial instruments, and apprehension in the investor community,” according to the Cuomo proposal.
If individual states want to go ahead an institute their own versions of renewable portfolio standards or renewable tax credits or what have you, I suppose that’s their prerogative — one of the best things about federalism is that states compete for residents and dollars, and ineffective policies can be altered and eliminated much more quickly and efficiently if need be. Why it is, however, that Gov. Cuomo professes to know that the “clean tech economy” (which specifically seems to mean solar, electric vehicles, and etcetera) is most definitely the “economy of tomorrow,” when California is aptly demonstrating the race-to-the-bottom costs of so much subsidizing, is a little harder to grasp. Via RealClearEnergy:
California is headed over the “green energy cliff,” according to Keith Kohl, writing on Energy & Capital. The state is having great success in converting its electrical production away from coal and toward renewables. Its renewable component now far exceeds that of any other state. …
But what is all this doing to the price of electricity? Kohl notes that California residents already pay nearly three times the rate as many other states and that figure is headed straight up as well. All this will weigh heavily on the California economy. …
But the outcome, as shows by the graph at the right, is that electricity prices are headed straight up. This is because wind and solar are still far more expensive than fossil fuels and nuclear. These costs are often disguised in that wind and solar can be produced at zero marginal costs when the wind blows or the sun shines. But these sources must be constantly backed up by gas, coal and nuclear, which become more expensive to run when they can only sell their power intermittently.
Meanwhile, Cuomo is still showing resistance to the direction in which every available free-market sign is pointing by neglecting to offer more widespread opportunity to the natural gas industry in the state, which could bring in an influx of jobs, wealth, and relatively cleaner-burning energy. Shakin’ my head.
Breaking on Hot Air
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see all...Viewing 3 out of 4 projects
Master of Architecture graduate from Texas A&M University with a certificate in Sustainable Urbanism. Specifically interested in energy-efficient building technologies and their application at building and community scales. Research interests include phenomenology and experiential architecture and to develop architecture that responds to human senses.
Leisure activities vary from Calligraphy and Ambigram designing to travelling and exploring new places.
Immediate objective is to work with experienced professionals on projects of various scales so as to build a wide knowledge base.
Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems, Design Intern
CMPBS is well-known for its sustainability efforts over the years. Right now we are developing an open building system with multi-use components as a solution to disaster relief mitigation. The building systems transforms itself from being territorial markers initially to permanent house.
Also, tied in to a similar building system is an effort to develop affordable housing for Texas Coast. The building system works on a regular square grid giving it flexibility to expand in both directions at a community level. The multi-use components are plug and play so as to transform the building as per need. I was responsible for the design, detailing and drawings of the system. Also developed the graphic illustrations and model to demonstrate the building system.
Previously, we participated in the Living City Design Competition and developed a solution for building a city over the used surface mines in Khouribga, Morocco. The attempt was to bioremediate the scarred land and leave the historic towns preserved from new development. It introduces a new level of economic prosperity based on abundance, innovation, ecological sustainability, and social justice.
CMPBS is an institution where you not only learn to build sustainably but also to live sustainably. The knowledge gets deep rooted in your thinking ideologies forever.
KEL, Texas A&M University, Graphic Design Artist
This was a part-time undertaking along with graduate school. I was responsible for the graphics and layout designs of two books on Landscape Ecology. It exposed me to various illustration software like Indesign and Illustrator. I got the opportunity to explore graphic design from a non-architectural perspective which certainly broadened my horizons.
Cosmic Designs Pvt. Ltd., Intern Architect
This was my first experience in an architectural office and was a totally enriching experience. I worked on small projects of furniture design to large scale hospitals. My diligence was rewarded with better and greater responsibilities throughout the tenure which aided my professional development. I got the opportunity to discuss projects with clients and consultants, frequently visit sites and meet contractors and vendors for the different projects.
Texas A&M University, MArch, Architecture
Texas A&M exposed me to an international faculty and a different approach to design. My interest got more refined towards sustainable architecture an I realized that LEED accreditation was the first step towards Green Architecture. Being involved with Emerging Green Builders enabled me to participate in campus sustainability efforts.
My final study project was an attempt to develop a community space of refuge that responds to the needs of the people of a common interactive platform within walking distance. A library and museum complex that would harbinger historical, cultural and social values keeping in mind the experience of the user and his response to the space around him.
It's an ongoing process of learning, and eventually I wish to be able to create architecture that responds to human senses and evolves from that to become sustainable.
UP Technical University, BArch, Architecture
Graduated in June 2008 with Bachelor of Architecture degree (Merit Holder).
Active participant in various extracurricular activities.
Paul M. Terrill Jr. Endowed Scholarship 2009-10, 1st Place
Endowed scholarship awarded for the school year 2009-10 based on overall performance.
Incoming Student Scholarship 2008-09, 1st Place
Scholarship awarded by Texas A&M University for fresh incoming graduate students.
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What You'll Need:
1. Another car, running
2. Jumper cables
3. Safety glasses
4. Wire brush (optional for cleaning connections)
You'll need to park the running car next to the dead car in such a way that the jumper cables can reach both batteries. If you aren't sure where the batteries are under each hood, take a peek* before you park.
*Never drive with your hood raised. Not only do you have no visibility, you could damage your hood components or the hood itself.
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|Part of downtown Montreal was underwater after a water main broke on Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. SYLVAIN DENIS/QMI Agency
MONTREAL - A water main break caused massive flooding in downtown Montreal Monday, wreaking havoc with rush-hour traffic and the offices and shops along St. Catherine St.
The leak was caused by a broken pipe near the McTavish Reservoir, just south of the Royal Victoria Hospital, and brought a large section of the downtown core to a halt.
What caused the pipe to burst is not known but some downtown streets looked liked fast-flowing rivers, with debris being washed away by the 18-inch-deep water.
One YouTube video shows a student being swept down the street by the cascading water, which was turning to ice in the -9 C temperature and forcing work crews to break through the buildup over sewers and other drainage.
At least two people were taken to hospital with minor injuries from slipping on the ice.
Officials said that work was being done to replace "primary and secondary lines around the McTavish Reservoir," and crews were currently working on phase two of the project
Monday night, work crews were finally able to shut three key valves to stop the rush of water, which affected several bus routes but spared the subway system, said city spokeswoman Valérie De Gagné, who added that a section of St. Catherine St., home to many of the city's prominent department stores, was completely flooded.
Officials were hoping bus routes would be back to normal about 9:30 p.m.
McGill University took a direct hit and officials are trying to assess the damage. Night classes were cancelled and students and staff have been asked to check for updates to find out if it will be business as usual on Tuesday.
Some classes may be moved to other locations, said the university's assistant communications director Julie Fortier, adding that those affected teachers and students would be contacted by e-mail.
There has also been some problems with elevators on campus and they not may be inoperable until Tuesday, she said.
Meanwhile, Mayor Michael Applebaum assured citizens that the quality of the drinking water was not affected by the leak.
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5/18/2011 10:59 AM ET|
CEOs got a big raise; how about you?
Coming out of a bruising recession, the average CEO got a 24% pay raise. The average worker? Just 3.3%. What does the widening pay gap mean for investors?
CEOs got a whopping 24% pay hike last year as corporate profits soared with the recession's end, more than making up for two years of declining pay.
The average worker? Not so much. Those lucky enough to still have jobs saw their pay inch up a meager 3.3%, which might have been enough to cover the rising prices of gas and food.
That difference in raises for CEOs and working stiffs is the latest turn in a trend that's been nagging CEO pay critics for years. That's the ever-widening gap between those at the top and their underlings, which is creating a superelite in the U.S. -- and not helping investors or the economy.
Consider these gaps between some of the highest-paid CEOs of 2010 and workers in their industries:
- At Viacom (VIA.B, news), CEO Philippe Dauman got an impressive $84.5 million last year, or 1,990 times what the typical Viacom worker got. This assumes his workers make the $42,500 a year, on average, reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as the typical pay for employees in arts, design, entertainment, sports and media.
- Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle (ORCL, news), got similarly regal pay of $70 million last year. That was 750 times the $93,470 earned in 2010, on average, by computer software engineers, according to the BLS. Ellison, unlike a lot of CEOs, actually took a pay cut last year, but he still pulled down $1.35 million per week -- a sum it would take the typical computer software engineer more than 14 years to earn.
- John Hammergren, the CEO of drug company McKesson (MCK, news), was paid $54.4 million last year. That works out to $210,000 a day, assuming a normal workweek. That's almost three times the $74,590 that a medical scientist earns in a full year, according to the BLS. Hammergren's 2010 pay was 732 times the average pay for those workers.
Overall, CEOs at S&P 500 companies were paid $11.4 million on average last year, up from $9.2 million the year before, according to the AFL-CIO. In contrast, average workers saw their annual pay go up to $33,121, from $32,049 in 2009, according to the Institute for Policy Studies, a think tank. So the pay gap of CEOs over workers shot up 20% last year, to 344 times an average worker's pay from 287 times.
Back in the 1980s, this pay gap was just 40.
The problem with all this? It's bad for business and bad for shareholders, a lot of business experts say.
Pay gap details are due
To be fair to the CEOs I've listed, you can find many just-as-stark comparisons between CEO and average-worker paychecks at the AFL-CIO executive pay watch website. And those I named might pay their workers more than the average rate. But they aren't saying. The companies mentioned in this article declined to offer specific numbers for their workers instead of the industry average.
The Dodd-Frank financial reforms approved last year will require companies to give investors specific data on the salaries of executives versus those of typical workers. But regulations for that part of the law are just now being considered, and a lot of companies are fighting the release of these specifics.
Viacom did respond that about $54 million of the $84.5 million Dauman earned was a one-off payment linked to a long-term renewal of his employment contract. The company says that more than 80% of his pay is in long-term equity awards aligning his interests with those of shareholders, and that Viacom stock was up 33% last year compared with a 13% gain for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($INX).
How the gap is bad for business
Let's take a closer look at some of the problems this growing pay gap represents:
- One big one is that the gains in corporate profits last year that were used to justify those huge CEO pay hikes often came at the expense of workers. Profits soared in large part because of layoffs during the recession.
- Another is simply the sense of unfairness created by the widening gap in CEO pay compared with pay for regular workers. Everyone tightened belts during the recession; everyone worked harder. Why do only executives see a payoff? "People just find this outrageous and unfair, that certain people would be valued so much more than others," says Sarah Anderson of the Institute for Policy Studies.
- Perhaps more important, there's a solid argument that these kinds of huge pay gaps are bad for the economy, say Anderson and other pay critics. One of the founders of modern management science, Peter Drucker, suggested the maximum ratio between top management pay and worker pay should be no greater than about 25-to-1. Any more than that and it's "difficult to foster the kind of teamwork and trust that businesses need to succeed," says Rick Wartzman, the executive director of the Drucker Institute.
To put it another way, when the pay gap is too wide, employee morale and productivity decline, says Brandon Rees, deputy director of the AFL-CIO Office of Investment. Plus, turnover can increase, which is also bad for business. A big part of the problem is that when rank and file pay levels are too low compared with the pay at the top, workers no longer feel like stakeholders in a company. Not only do academic research and analysis by the Brookings Institution bear this out, but we can see it in the real world.
The case of Whole Foods
Though Whole Foods Market (WFM, news) has made exceptions for recently promoted executives, the grocery store chain generally limits the pay ratio between regular workers and top executives to 19. It also gives stock options to workers after three years on the job. Less than 10% of options has gone to executives.
"We have a very egalitarian culture," says Mark Ehrnstein, a Whole Foods vice president. "We believe that when companies have that huge disparity in pay, it creates corrosiveness between leadership and team members. Our focus on creating an egalitarian culture absolutely contributes to the well-being of our company."
VIDEO ON MSN MONEY
I am sorry but NOBODY deserves $84 mln. in just one year! NOBODY! How the hell do you keep workers morale when you get paid enough in one year to retire like a king?! And your workers have to toil away for 40+ years to retire like poor people if ever?!!!
84 mln. is enough for 28 people to retire with $3 mln in hand! At my current pay I need to work 1400 years to get what that jerk is getting! And my salary is above the average for the country!
I just spoke with an ex work associate the other day.....we were discussing how dysfunctional our ex company was.....she mentioned that she was promised a raise last July.....didn't happen. She ran into the CEO and had a chat with him and mentioned that she was promised a raise but didn't get one.......he said, "don't feel bad, I didn't get one either." She replied....your compensation and my compensation are worlds apart and you know I am a single parent raising two children. She resigned in January.
I'm in favor of pay-for-performance and this includes bonuses if the company is healthy and people meet or exceed their performance goals. However, the CEO and SLT bonuses are so far apart from those in the ranks below. Spread the wealth around....and don't be quick to lay "more people off" while at the same time giving yourself a big bonus Mr. CEO. Let's keep in mind, capitalism and free markets and corporations are not the problem. Greed and lust....make big bucks, spend big bucks.....equals: I need more money! Sinful nature.
havasu46: I agree tv personalities, etc. get paid too much, HOWEVER, their not sticking it to the nation @ large by raising prices or taking govnt bailouts or laying off the average joe workers. These companies lay off people in droves then pay their CEO'S billions it's disgusting.
The banks get bailed out of the mortgage mess & keep on smooth sailing yet the average joe is stuck w/bad credit for years! They're the ones that qualified people who shouldn't have been waving those big beautiful houses under their noses.
That's it. I'm disgusted enough for today.
Want to see future America? Look at Mexico where 45% are in dire poverty and escape the country looking for any job and benefits. Mexico is the dirtiest piece of garbage of a country in the Western hemisphere.
Also, look back to Appalachia and the old South to see poor people. So poor shoes were a luxury. Coal mines and cotton mills and every town was poor, including Atlanta.
Mill villages where the mill owners owned the town, the houses, and the company store...Feudalism. Everyone was poor, except one or two mill owners. Poor towns, dirt roads, poor healthcare, disease riddled, uneducated peoples. Yup, Snuffy Smith was the epitome of the South and Southern capitalism.
What I find MOST distasteful is the “Class Warfare” that the ELITE keep throwing out there. They make it seem that ALL working Americans stand around drooling over what the rich have. They SEEM to believe that EVERY American wants to take what they have or drag them down to where they are but that is NOT true.
For those of you boasting that these CEOs have in any way earned that money, you are WRONG. You are wrong unless you believe that bringing down an entire country and much of the world should be rewarded. Like MOST Americans I could care less how much money you have, I do however care when that money is made not by honest means but off the backs of the working class. When the working class is TOLD they have to make up for the loss of taxes because the ÉLITE feel above that sort of thing. I feel offended when the working class is told they MUST bail out the very companies that tank the monetary system and that is NOT class warfare, that my friends is nothing BUT common sense.
Corporate America, bad for the country and the world!!!!!
If companies have millions to give to CEOs why can't they HIRE so there is adequate staffing and good customer service? We could end the recession if people had jobs so they could spend money. This would stimulate the economy. It is just that simple.
CEOs would not starve if their compensation was halved or even quartered. People whose unemployment benefits have run out are in danger of hunger and homelessness. Nobody wants charity: people want jobs and those presently employed want to stop doing the work of 2+ people!
With all that is going on in the USA, I believe the government wants to turn us into a 3d world country. With their lack of leadership and self helping themselves to the public money there is no help for the American middle class. Will we revolt like the 3d world countries or will we take back the AMERICAN gevernment?
I would argue that big business wants us to become a 3rd world country, and they have their hands in the pockets of politicians.
Until we, the people, quit voting for Democrats AND Republicans, this viscious cycle will continue. Liberals and Conservatives, quit blaming each other because you're BOTH to blame.
The Fed is printing money like a drunken sailor to pay for BIG govt and the excesses of Wall St. The increase costs of food, energy and other essential items (inflation) is a means to finance the MACHINE. So while the oligarchs on Wall St bathe themselves with HUGE salaries and bonuses (buying the influence of your elected officials), the common man foots the bill and is happy to receive the paltry 3% pay raise... Brainwashed by the media and drugged up by the pharms, you trudge along the hamster wheel like zombies. Freedom is but an illusion as you are all slaves and don't even know it.
Poor consumers will equal many businesses closing in the future.
No Medicare or social security means savings must become paramount, not spending. No company pensions will mean more savings, not spending. Rising healthcare costs means drop that internet to buy prescription drugs and pay for that office visit .
Oil and food prices rising means housing has to be cheaper which means less profits for builders.
What the working class right does not understand is that what they do for a living will be gone as workers make less and pay more for gas and food and save for pensions and retirement.
The country will revert back to the days when a pair of shoes was your Christmas present and the internet did not exist. Think about it. All the wealth will gravitate to a handful like in Mexico and the rest of you will be running fruit stands like in Mexico.
Most all of the Millionaries in the USA are either CEO's or working in Politics. In both cases it's the rest of us peons who pay
their wages. Some people were born to live off others and these so called rich bas-ards don't care who they walk over. Most
likely they will get their rewards, as the Bible says, It will be harder for a rich man to get into heaven then for a camel to fit
through a key hole. I love America and it takes all kinds of people to make it the land we love. It's too bad some think the
world owes them a living.
Copyright © 2013 Microsoft. All rights reserved.
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Fundamental company data and historical chart data provided by Thomson Reuters (click for restrictions). Real-time quotes provided by BATS Exchange. Real-time index quotes and delayed quotes supplied by Interactive Data Real-Time Services. Fund summary, fund performance and dividend data provided by Morningstar Inc. Analyst recommendations provided by Zacks Investment Research. StockScouter data provided by Verus Analytics. IPO data provided by Hoover's Inc. Index membership data provided by SIX Financial Information.
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Well spoken, Mark.
Additionally, Sharing the problem solving with your peers (like us!) furthers the exploration and invites new opportunities for all of us.
From: Mark Alexander [mailto:firstname.lastname@example.org]
Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2003 8:33 AM
To: ArtsEdNet Talk
Subject: Re: Problems (was Plaster mask problems)
Well, well, well. This topic seems to be a sore spot with some - not the plaster masks part - but the idea that teachers need to know all there is to know about everything they present. I strongly feel it is important to stick your neck out there as often as possible, to try those problematic projects, follow those divergent thoughts, be willing to risk failure, to explore something new and interesting - because if we stay safe, we miss so many opportunities to learn and grow as teachers and as students. Especially art teachers, who of course are responsible for teaching kids art skills, but also, and most importantly, teaching and modeling an artist's 'can do' attitude. I frequently jump into projects which can and do present unexpected problems (I've got a couple going right now!!) but in the process of figuring out solutions to those problems with the students, I am modeling the kind of problem solving processes which will prove invaluab! le for them in the future. Of course it is good practice to experiment first, before presenting to the students. But even then, be prepared for and welcome problems, because art (and life) isn't about knowing the answers...it is about discovering the questions.
Patricia Knott <email@example.com> wrote:
I'm a bit perplexed .............I wonder why any teacher of any subject would attempt to present a lesson on any subject or technique that he/she has not resolved before presenting?.................Please tell me why you think you can attempt something you are not prepared for?
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Our treatment is determined immediately by our gender. If a girl falls, she’s picked up, coddled, asked if she’s okay and instructed to show mommy where it hurts so that the boo-boo can be kissed. If a boy falls, they’re told, “Boy, be quiet and get back on that bike!”
From a very young age, our boys are taught to be emotionless, to “man up” even when there is no male role model around to show them what that means.
When 66 percent of Black children are born single-parent families, you think men don’t have daddy issues too? Women can use that as an excuse for why they’re now appearing on Bad Girls Club, but society would be intolerant if a man tried to cite that as a reason for his deviant behavior.
One of the most frequent complaints women have about men is they don’t open up or communicate well about their feelings. But let’s be honest: If your man were to come to you and talk freely about his vulnerabilities–maybe even shed a tear over his frustrations–you might turn your nose up in disgust. Showing emotion is often equated with weakness, and in a society where men are supposed to be protectors, any sign of weakness earns a demerit on the manhood scale.
Ladies, you can’t have it both ways. Do you want a man who’s open and sensitive, or do you want a “masculine” partner who will wrestle a bear with his bare hands and not even mention the scratches he earned in the process? Men aren’t good with gray areas.
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If you don't mind getting a little dirty to help clean up public lands, you may want to set aside Saturday to spruce up the upper Rogue River watershed or an old ranch high in the Soda Mountain Wilderness.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Upper Rogue Watershed Association are seeking volunteers to clean along the riverbank in the river's upper watershed.
The BLM is organizing a similar cleanup event at the former Box-O Ranch in the wilderness that day.
The events, both beginning at 9 a.m., are part of the annual National Public Lands Day in which volunteers across the nation step forward to remove trash from public lands on the last Saturday of September. Since it began in 1994, it has grown into the nation's largest, single-day volunteer event for public lands.
Last year, more than 170,000 volunteers worked on 2,067 sites nationally, including along the middle section of the Rogue.
"We're doing a different stretch of the river this year," said Jeanne Klein, a spokeswoman for the BLM's Medford District. "We're hoping to get quite a turnout. All ages are welcome."
The work will include everything from weed pulling to picking up garbage, she said.
For the Upper Rogue River event, volunteers should meet that morning at the Upper Rogue Regional Park, 7660 Rogue River Drive, Shady Cove. The site is next to the Edgewater Inn.
Teams will disperse from there to access points ranging from the fish hatchery to Takelma Park at Lost Creek Lake.
Gloves, garbage bags and water will be provided. Participants should bring a snack for earlier in the day, but a free picnic lunch will be provided from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Upper Rogue Regional Park.
In addition, the natural and cultural history displays in the McGregor Park Visitor Center at Lost Creek Lake will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
Those wanting to volunteer for the Soda Mountain Wilderness event will meet at 9 a.m. at the Cascade Siskiyou Information Center adjacent to the Green Springs Inn on Highway 66. They will then carpool to the project site.
The work will include removing unneeded fences as well as cleaning up debris at the historic ranch. Biologists and resource specialists will be available to answer questions about the area and discuss the rich biodiversity there.
A sack lunch will be provided for each volunteer going into the wilderness. However, participants are asked to contact Howard Hunter at 541-601-1876 to let him know how many lunches will be needed. The Old Farm House Restaurant in Ashland is donating the lunches.
Volunteers in both events are encouraged to wear sturdy footwear and dress appropriately. They should also bring plenty of water to drink.
Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 541-776-4496 or email him at email@example.com.
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The United States is blaming sustained government brutality for the apparent emergence of an organized, armed opposition in Syria.
State Department officials say they do not condone violence by either side in the confrontation, but that armed attacks by the opposition only play into the hands of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner called incidents like Wednesday's reported attack on the intelligence base north of the Syrian capital understandable, given the unrelenting crackdown by the government.
"It’s not surprising that we are now seeing this kind of violence. We don’t condone it in any way, shape or form, but let’s be very clear that it is the brutal tactics of Assad and his regime in dealing with what began as a non-violent movement that is now taking Syria down a very dangerous path," he said. "We have spoken all along about our concerns that the brutal crackdown by the Syrian government would engender this kind of reaction."
Toner said the U.S. has few details of the attack. It has been attributed to the self-proclaimed “Free Syrian Army,” which is said to be made up of defectors from government security forces.
Although the U.S. has contacts with an array of Syrian opposition figures, he said he was unaware of any dealings with the armed group.
Syrian authorities have blamed the country’s long-running political unrest on foreign-backed militants and Toner said opposition violence like Wednesday’s reported incident "really plays into Assad’s hands."
Toner said the Obama administration still intends to send U.S. ambassador to Syria Robert Ford back to his post next week, despite a spate of attacks on foreign missions in Damascus -- especially those of member countries of the Arab League.
The Arab League this week suspended Syria for its failure to implement the regional organization’s peace plan.
Robin Wright, a veteran diplomatic reporter and senior fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace, says the Arab League’s action against Syria may be "the beginning of a turning point" for the traditionally cautious regional body.
"The Arab leaders have begun to understand that they are also being held to account, and that the streets are watching what they do," she said. " And they will be judged, at home, in terms of their own credibility and legitimacy, on what they do about Syria, particularly after the United Nations concluded that 3,500 [Syrians] have been killed and some 70,000 have been imprisoned."
U.S. ambassador Ford was recalled to Washington for consultations last month amid concern for his safety after he drew the ire of Syrian officials for meeting with opposition figures.
French envoy to Damascus Eric Chevallier, who like Ford has had a high public profile in the unrest, was recalled to Paris Wednesday amid the wave of embassy attacks.
Toner, who blamed the latest incidents on pro-government "thugs" and "rent-a-mobs," said the U.S. embassy continues to function and there has been no change in plans for Ford’s return to post.
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Disclaimer: I am not a copy-editor, nor do I make the claim that the writing on my site is evidence of my authority in said discipline.
Apple recently posted a new promotional section on their site for the iPhone. I had no intent to mention it here, as I see little benefit in commenting on marketing materials. However, when I came across this piece from Youssef Sarhan, I couldn’t resist.
Here’s his premise:
With examples, I plan to demonstrate where Apple could have improved their copywriting. Copywriting is an important but often neglected discipline.
I agree that copywriting is important and often neglected, but it’s preposterous to suggest that a company as detail-oriented as Apple isn’t thinking about the way their copy appears on marketing as high-profile as this. Simply stated, this article looks like a weak attempt to get in on the return of the “beleaguered Apple” meme.
Sarhan starts with some sentence structure suggestions straight out of elementary school:
Traditionally, beginning a sentence with ‘and’ (a conjunction) is not recommended. This is because ‘and’ is used to link or compare two points, separating them with a period can create an awkward cadence.
Or an intentionally conversational one. Apple’s cadence, as Sarhan puts it, is there to make the copy seem friendly and approachable, simple and clear in a common-usage sort of way.
And then there’s his suggested correction:
Then there’s everything you can do with it.
But that’s not the same meaning as Apple’s copy. The original refers to both the advantages of the iPhone and the implication that all other smartphones are in a class below it. Sarhan’s version leaves out the comparison, which is the clear direction (for good or for ill) Apple has elected for this campaign.
He goes on to attack Apple’s reference to its customer service awards, which I’ll agree are US-centric. Then he goes after the word plays on “great” and “powerful.” These are neither muddled nor confused as Sarhan claims. They again emphasize the simple and direct—yet still playful and relatable—personality Apple is going for. Are they some kind of achievement in literature to rival Shakespeare? No. Are they approachable and effective, I think so (as does Apple, obviously).
He closes with this:
There are a bunch of other things, but it’s late and I’m tired. Whoever wrote this copy probably shouldn’t write copy for Apple anymore. Finally, notice how there are no black iPhones featured on the entire page, they are all White. I wonder if there’s a strategic reason for that, probably not.
I wonder if he woke up and realized that the whole angle for his piece feels like it was late and he was tired? Hey, at least he used a comma and coordinating conjunction to join his independent clauses! As for the black iPhone? A bit more consideration might have led him to the conclusion that the black iPhones are the ones with complaints about the colorization process on the aluminum. A bit more consideration might also have kept him from clicking “publish” on this post.
But it didn’t.
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THE image of a blackened bus, its roof blown off, its walls and floor soiled with blood, casts every adult Israeli back a decade to 2001-3, the worst years of the Palestinians’ second intifada (uprising). Then, a sustained wave of suicide bombings plunged the country into crisis. Buses were the assailants' preferred targets.
Those memories came flooding back on July 18th when a suicide-bomber with fake American documents blew up an Israeli tour bus in the Bulgarian holiday resort of Burgas, killing at least five Israeli tourists, the driver and himself. Dozens were injured.
Bulgaria is a popular destination for Israeli youngsters and Israeli officials were already worried that it might be a terrorist target. Political and security ties between the two countries have grown closer in recent years, as Israel looks to build new alliances in the eastern Mediterranean region in the wake of its political and military rupture with its long-time ally Turkey.
Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, immediately blamed the Lebanese-based party-cum-militia Hizbullah and its Iranian backers for the attack. This was no mere surmise, said the foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, the following morning, but "completely clear beyond any doubt". Israeli intelligence, he said, in close co-operation with friendly countries like Bulgaria and major Western intelligence agencies, had been able to foil 99% of such terror attempts. Not all of the successes were made public.
This year alone, the list of those that were includes thwarted attacks in Azerbaijan, Georgia, India, Kenya, Thailand and Turkey. Last week, a plot against Israeli tourists in Cyprus was uncovered by local authorities. A Lebanese man was arrested.
Beyond concerns over future foreign travel plans, the attack in Burgas has brought home to Israelis the tense fragility of the times and region in which they live.
Just hours before the blast, a bomb attack on Syria’s national security headquarters in Damascus killed several of President Bashar Assad's closest colleagues.
The next morning, the New York Times reported that Israel and America had discussed the idea of Israeli aircraft bombing Syrian chemical weapons dumps, for fear of their falling into Hizbullah's hands in the worsening mayhem now overtaking Syria.
Speculation on the possible repercussions of such an operation immediately made the rounds, but government officials did not comment. Israel’s defence minister, Ehud Barak, said he was carefully monitoring the situation in Syria. Mr Lieberman spoke of an "explosive and complex situation in the region". Armed Alawites (members of the religious sect to which Mr Assad belongs) and their allies were no longer just fighting for Syria’s president, he said. They were fighting for their lives.
Suddenly, out of the torrid summer heat and domestic political wrangling, a sense of military tension is palpable in the air.
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Gridlock Cracks As the Senate Backs NAFTA, Brady Bill
Packwood affair still looms as lawmakers head for recess
ON Capitol Hill, there's nothing like the prospect of a little `R & R' to spur action.Skip to next paragraph
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As legislators labored through the weekend to wrap up business for the year, they came to closure on a variety of issues. Most surprising was the Senate's passage Saturday of the so-called Brady bill, which would impose a nationwide five-day waiting period on the purchase of handguns.
The Brady bill, named for former White House press secretary James Brady, who was critically wounded in the 1981 assassination attempt on President Reagan, had seemed to be stalled in its latest attempt at passage by a Republican filibuster. But in the face of public sentiment, which supports the effort to control availability of guns, enough Republicans dropped their objection to end the filibuster.
``We finally decided ... let's get the Brady bill behind us,'' Senate minority leader Robert Dole (R) of Kansas told reporters afterwards.
Though critics of the bill argue that it will do little to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, it has taken on symbolic importance since it was first introduced in the mid-1980s.
Senator Dole's remark also appeared to reflect a deeper sentiment among members of Congress - a desire to show that they can move beyond the gridlock that characterized the years of Republican White Houses and Democratic Congresses. Perhaps most important, Democratic control of the White House makes it all the harder for Republicans to completely resist the Democratic agenda.
One example is the Senate's passage last Thursday of a bill reviving the independent-counsel law. The bill - which allows investigation of public officials by independent counsels - resurrects the law that expired last December because of Republican objection to counsel Lawrence Walsh's investigation of the Iran-contra affair.
But Republicans decided that strenuous objection to a law designed to keep public officials honest was not good for public relations. After changes were made imposing cost and time limits on the work of future independent counsels, the bill passed by a vote of 76 to 21.
Congress's flurry of weekend activity also included:
* Senate passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement. It was always the House that posed problems for approval of NAFTA, and after the administration won a stronger victory there than expected on Wednesday, the Senate vote seemed anti-climactic.
The treaty, which is set to be implemented Jan. 1, needs to be signed into law by the heads of state of the three countries - the United States, Mexico, and Canada - that will form a free-trade bloc. The new Canadian prime minister has not yet put the agreement into law.
r Senate approval of a $1.1 billion extension in unemployment benefits that had expired at the end of last month. The bill had been held up by Sen. Phil Gramm (R) of Texas, who wanted the Senate to first lock in a reduction in the federal work force by 252,000 people, as proposed in the administration's National Performance Review. The Senate voted down Senator Gramm's proposal, which Democrats called grandstanding. The House is expected to approve the extension of unemployment benefits next week.
* Floor discussion in the House, for the first time, of statehood for the District of Columbia. Backers of statehood knew their bill would be voted down yesterday, but they saw the first-time floor debate as key to their effort to build nationwide support for statehood. Residents of D.C. do not have voting representation in Congress, and district leaders do not have full control of city affairs because of the district's status as a constitutionally mandated federal enclave.
* The conclusion by the Senate ethics committee that it had ``no credible evidence'' that Sen. Orrin Hatch (R) of Utah had violated any laws or broken any Senate rules in his dealings related to the fraud-ridden Bank of Credit and Commerce International. Senator Hatch had initiated the inquiry himself after reports were published about contacts between his office and representatives of the bank.
IN another ethics matter, speculation heightened over the weekend about the future of Sen. Bob Packwood (R) of Oregon, who is currently under investigation for sexual-harassment charges and possible wrongdoing related to lobbying by Mitsubishi Electric Company. On Friday, Senator Packwood's lawyer said the senator was considering resignation, though Packwood himself has maintained that he won't quit.
Last week, the Justice Department subpoenaed Packwood's diaries as part of its investigation into whether he improperly helped Mitsubishi in Congress in exchange for a job for his wife. If he had resigned before the Justice Department subpoena, he could have destroyed his diaries with impunity. Resignation would also end the Senate ethics committee inquiry on sexual harassment.
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30 Day Amendments
he 30-day amendments to the Executive Budget will:
Implement teacher evaluation system in New York City. Under the Governor’s leadership, the state passed a comprehensive teacher evaluation system for every district across New York State. Though 99 percent of districts were able to reach an agreement on a plan with their local teacher unions, submit it to the state, and have their plan approved by the State Education Department before their January deadline, New York City failed to so. As a result, it lost $240 million in state aid and is in danger of losing additional funds if an evaluation system is not in place this year.
In the event the City and its collective bargaining units fail to reach agreement on a teacher evaluation system by the end of May, an expedited arbitration process, led by the Commissioner of Education, will occur. Following hearings and a review of evidence, the Commissioner, by June 1st, will make a final, written determination on the structure of a teacher evaluation system for New York City schools. This legislation will ensure that New York City students and educators will not see another school year go by without the timely feedback, professional development, and accountability that a robust teacher evaluation plan will provide.
Simplify, Streamline and Reduce Costs of hunting, fishing licenses. New York is Open for Fishing and Hunting is a plan to streamline hunting and fishing licenses and reduce fees to support tourism opportunities and benefit sportsmen and sportswomen throughout the State. The proposal would reduce fees paid by hundreds of thousands of hunters, anglers and trappers while maintaining support for the State’s fish and wildlife programs.
Assure gas stations have back-up power capacity. Superstorm Sandy uncovered deficiencies in our fuel distribution system, including the lack of emergency power at gas stations. This amendment would require stations in strategic locations to have a transfer switch and a plan to deploy and install a generator within 24 hours of losing power during an energy emergency. The state would provide $21 million for grants to cover all or a portion of the cost of the transfer switch installation.
Replace lost Federal revenue. This amendment authorizes actions to address the loss of federal revenue as a result of modifications to the current Medicaid financing system for developmental disability services. These actions generate $500 million of savings, including $180 million from accelerating Medicaid Redesign Team initiatives and delaying investments, leveraging $200 million in current-year under spending to generate 2013-14 savings, and $120 million from a 6 percent reduction to OPWDD Medicaid rates for not-for-profit providers.
Accelerate PILOT payments for the City of Albany. The PILOT payment made to the City of Albany is scheduled to decrease in 2013-14 by $8 million under the existing statutory schedule.
Expand availability of the Stable Pension option. The stable pension contribution rate for local governments and schools, submitted as part of the Executive Budget, will provide a new tool for local governments to access the long-term savings from Tier VI and have greater predictability in their fiscal planning. Given the positive response to this proposal from sectors who asked to take advantage of the program but were not initially included, the Governor would expand eligibility to include BOCES and three local public hospitals – Nassau University Medical Center, Westchester Medical Center, and Erie County Medical Center. The county sponsors of the three hospitals included in this amendment, as well as their taxpayers, have a direct interest in financial condition of these institutions and, therefore, the stable pension option is a viable approach to meeting local fiscal demands.
Provide for Salamanca’s unpaid tribal compact payments. The City of Salamanca has not received payments from the Seneca Nation of Indians pursuant to the Tribal State Compact for over three years. These annual payments represent nearly 40 percent of the City’s budget. Accordingly, this failure has resulted in a major fiscal crisis, leaving the City at risk of being unable to pay its bills. This amendment will provide $2.5 million from the General Fund to the Tribal State Compact account, representing the amount required by Salamanca for its 2012-13 fiscal year.
Increase SUNY Stony Brook capital appropriation. The amendment adds $30 million in capital appropriations for Stony Brook University in addition to appropriations already included in the Executive Budget, so that the certain projects can continue as necessary.
Provide economic development support of the 2014 Super Bowl. New York and New Jersey will co-host Super Bowl XLVIII in February 2014. This amendment provides $5 million to support activities in New York State to promote tourism and stimulate economic development opportunities associated with this premier event. This funding would be specifically delineated in the budget proposal and subject to legislative approval.
Limit liability for NY-TEXT messages. This amendment will provide immunity from liability for mobile carriers who issue emergency messages on behalf of the State. This protection is vital to ensuring that vendors will contract with the State to provide these services in New York.
Provide retraining funds for state employees. The Executive Budget included a $5 million appropriation to be used to retrain State employees impacted by 2012-13 and 2013-14 facility closures at OMH, OPWDD, DOCCS and OCFS. Funding would be available to retrain employees for which comparable State positions could not be found nearby their current work location. This amendment reduces the radius to 25 miles, allowing the funds to be used to help a larger number of impacted employees.
Reimburse the MTA for Rockaway Bridge toll suspension. The Executive Budget compensates the MTA for the suspension of tolls on the Rockaway Bridge during Sandy. This amendment revises the amount based on the actual costs reported by the MTA of $3.9 million.
Require bidders for casinos to negotiate peace agreement. Language would be added to the current casino siting bill that would require bidders to negotiate Labor Peace Agreements (LPAs) prior to submitting their bids.
Fund a pilot program to provide counsel to indigent persons at arraignment. The Executive Budget includes a $3 million “Miscellaneous – All State Departments and Agencies” appropriation from the Indigent Legal Services Fund to be used for creation of a pilot program to provide counsel to indigent persons when being arraigned in court.
Address Federal changes to the False Claims Act. This amendment is necessary for the State to continue to receive a 10 percent share of False Claims actions that were originally authorized as a Federal incentive to states to implement their own False Claims Act statutes.
Make a technical change to the FARM Highway Use Tax bill. Under current law, fuel used in farm vehicles is exempt from the highway use tax only if those vehicles are owned and operated by the farmer. This amendment would make a largely technical change that would exempt from taxation fuel used in vehicles operated not only by a farmer, but also by someone with a close family or business relationship to the farmer.
Streamline the highway diesel motor fuel tax. Current law requires NY fuel distributors to pay fuel taxes on all fuel up front and apply for a refund when they subsequently sell the product for an exempt purpose. Under this proposal, the tax on diesel fuel would not be collected up front — but only at time of its ultimate sale if used for highway purposes. This will benefit fuel distributors, without increasing tax evasion.
Tighten Cell-Phone and Texting Laws. Current Article VII language increases the fines for violations of our cell phone and texting laws and provides for increased penalties for repeat violations within an 18-month period. This amendment increases the "look back" period from 18 months to five years to both strengthen the penalty provisions to encourage compliance and bring State provisions into line with recent federal regulations to promote highway safety.
Make a technical change to Indigent Care. This amendment is a technical change that would continue $24.5 million of existing payments to five academic medical centers. This proposal has no fiscal impact, as these payments were assumed in the Financial Plan.
Allow counties to keep audit recoveries. This amendment allows counties to retain 100 percent of audit recoveries when they audit preschool special education providers, up from the originally proposed 75 percent, to reduce waste, fraud and abuse and provide local fiscal relief.
Make technical changes to the proposal for DOH Public Health Program Consolidations. The Executive Budget consolidated 89 separate program appropriations into six competitive pools. These amendments would make two largely technical changes to ensure that certain costs of essential, high quality providers of HIV/AIDS services can continue to be eligible for funding within their pool, and surveillance activities such as soil, air, food and water testing can continue to be funded within the Chronic Disease Program pool.
The complete list of 30-day amendments is available at budget.ny.gov. The 2013-14 Executive Budget and Management Plan builds on two years of balanced, fiscally responsible budgeting and invests in economic development, education reform, rebuilding after Superstorm Sandy, provides support to local governments and school districts, and includes no new taxes or fees. The budget is required to be passed by April 1.
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NEW YORK—It’s a challenge to decide which is more intriguing: the nearly 50-foot-long black-and-white mural or the personal sketchbooks filled with intricate drawings. “Keith Haring: 1978-1982” is a fascinating experience presented in three main galleries. Billed as the first large-scale exhibition to explore the early years of Keith Haring‘s career, the show at the Brooklyn Museum includes 155 works on paper, and more than 150 archival objects such as exhibition flyers, rarely seen videos, journals and sketchbooks, and a series of 20 Polaroid self-portraits.
The exhibit documents the artist’s arrival in New York (from his native Western Pennsylvania), his public art on city streets and subway platforms, and his curatorial role in many group exhibitions and performances for which he often created hand-written and hand-drawn flyers that he photocopied and distributed. Viewing the extensive collection, it is hard to believe that all the work was produced in a short, five-year span, and that Haring was only 31 when he died.
The exhibit is on view at the Brooklyn Museum from March 16 to July 8, 2012.
All photos by Arts Observer
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Posts Tagged ‘Muscle Building’
Think putting yourself on a muscle building diet has to be a painful process? Whether your goal is fat loss or muscle building, getting proper nutrition is at least 80% of the game. If you don’t have that figured out, you are going to be a long time away from seeing results.
The good news is that your tastebuds don’t have to suffer if you don’t want them to. There are plenty of ways to get in your proper nutrition while keeping things interesting. If you think gaining muscle means suffering through can of tuna after can of tuna or pounding back a protein shake as fast as humanly possible, you need to think again.
Muscle building with weights is intensive training for improving your physique and growth. It is very important to have a proper régime worked out as improper training can lead to injuries. Never do more than your body can do. Challenge yourself but do not overstrain your muscles. If you are unfamiliar with training in this manner then it is very wise to work with a trainer for the first few sessions.
Trainers for muscle building with weights can be found in gyms. They can also be obtained from fitness centers and sometimes in the yellow pages. You can also find these trainers online. Before you hire one, be very careful to check their credentials carefully. Be sure that they know what they are doing and are experienced trainers.
Anyone looking to take the “natural” route to muscle building and quality weight gain is always on the lookout for anything to get a leg up on their physiques. Well, recently a study was conducted that may give some positive nods to yogurt, calcium, and vitamin D….(notice I said “may”).
Here’s the study first, then at the end of this article I’ll give you my personal thoughts on whether this will actually make a difference in building muscle mass or not: The International Society of Sports Nutrition Conference grabbed a group of 35 women, all an average age of 19. They were all considered calcium deficient because they didn’t consume a minimum of 800 mgs of per day. The study lasted 8 weeks, and they were required to weight train.
The 35 women were divided into 3 groups. The first group were given yogurt at specific times, the second group protein, and the third carbohydrates. The protein and carb groups were to continue to eat as they had before the study began, meaning that they were still going to be consuming a low or deficient amount of calcium. The yogurt group, however, ate three servings of yogurt, which contained 200 mgs of calcium and 40 units of vitamin D per serving….which equals a total of at least 600 mgs of calcium and 120 units of vitamin D per day from the yogurt alone.
As soon as they would complete their strength training workout, the protein group would drink some type of sports drink. The carb group would drink a carb-only beverage. The yogurt group would consume one of their yogurt servings. However, for all three groups the amount of calories eaten post workout was 100 calories, regardless if it was a sports drink, a carb-only drink, or a serving a yogurt. Well, after the 8 week study was completed, it was noticed that the women in the yogurt group had the biggest gains in muscle building and strength gains.
Now, my take:
First off, keep in mind that the minimum recommended daily amount of calcium is 800 mgs, according to the study. The women in the yogurt group got 600 mgs of calcium from the 3 yogurt servings per day. That’s still 200 mgs below the minimum requirement. The problem with the study lies in that we don’t know for certain how much other calcium those women consumed from the other foods that they ate during the 8 week study. We don’t know if the addition of the 600 mgs of calcium from the yogurt to what they were getting from everything else was enough to push them above the minimum requirement of 800 mgs or not.
Also, another issue I have with this study is that it doesn’t say if these women had ever weight trained before this study or not. There’s a big difference with someone training for the first time in their life and someone that is a seasoned exercise enthusiast. They’re body’s response to workout programs are going to be very different in the initial stages. Someone that has never trained is going to get an immediate and bigger boost from a workout routine than someone that has been at it for years.
In addition, although the study does conclude that the women in the yogurt group / higher calcium group did have a higher degree of muscle building and strength gain than the women in the other two groups, it doesn’t specify exactly how much. Hey, the yogurt group could have only gained half a pound more of lean muscle mass than the other groups, which would technically be considered having gained more muscle. But, when taking a look at the bigger picture, half a pound of lean muscle mass built after 8 weeks of hitting the weights isn’t anything to brag about. That’s not even really noticeable in the mirror.
So, at the end of the day, take studies like these with a grain of salt if muscle building is your goal.
I wanted to show you some muscle building weightlifting exercises that can really improve the amount of muscles that you will build. When it comes to the body, there is a lot of misinformation about properly training it. Most people don’t have the slightest clue because they’ve heard the same generic advice that probably originated from an infomercial. I’ve dedicated almost a decade to training and it has been over the recent years where I’ve actually learned what it takes to put on muscle. I’ll share a little about what I’ve learned with you.
I’m going to take the time to talk to you about muscle building weightlifting exercises that I use in my daily routine. My quest all my life has been to build big muscles, but the problem out there is all the false information out there. People really don’t know what they’re doing and when you try to mimic them, you end up getting no where. I think a lot of this is from infomercials, but in the end, it is your responsibility to figure out what is correct and apply it. I’ve been training for many years now and I’m going to teach you some of things I’ve learned over my time. You’re going to have to suck it up and accept the fact that your diet is more important than your routine. I can show you the best workout in the world, but your results will be only as good as your diet allows. I feel it is necessary for me to address this point first before you start wasting your time in the gym because that’s all you’re doing in the gym if your diet isn’t good. It’s time to get rid of all those chemical filled foods and get back to REAL FOOD. This is all natural stuff that you find at the grocery store. This will help your body build bigger muscles.
I wanted to take the time to talk to you about the best muscle building methods that you can use. It’s surprising how many people really don’t know how to build muscle. They think they do, but they do it for a few months and quit because they don’t get any results. I used to think if I lifted heavy weights, I would get big. If only it was that simple. There is a lot of misinformation out there, which I blame mainly from infomercials, but I’m here to clear some of that up. I’ve been doing the best muscle building training for almost a decade now and in that time I’ve learned a lot of good methods for achieving it. I think it’s important for me to first point out that your diet is the most important thing. You have to have this in order before you continue. It doesn’t matter how great your gym workout is, if you don’t have a good diet, than you’re just wasting your time. The best thing you can do is start eating smaller meals more often, so instead of the traditional three a day, try having six. This allows your body to have a steady intake of nutrients to repair muscle.
I’m here to talk to you about my muscle building guide and how it can help you build more muscle in less time. There is so much misinformation out there when it comes to putting on muscle. It seems like the most simplistic information because the prevailing norm, rather than the science backed methods. Training is easy, but people are doing the wrong things with their time and end up having poor results. I used to be one of those people. I’ve been training for almost 10 years now and my first few years I did the wrong things and got poor results. I eventually got fed up and did th research where I learned everything I needed to know. I’m going to share exactly what you should be doing. The muscle building guide will first focus on your diet because it is the most important part of the whole process. You can do a good job in the gym, but if you’re not supplying your body with the correct foods, no muscles will be able to grow. By simply cutting out all the processed foods you can put on much more muscle. These foods are full of chemicals that serve no point for the body and actually slow down the growth of muscles in your body. The training part is actually a lot easier that most people think. I see people that goto the gym everyday that invest over an hour in the gym. These people don’t even break a sweat. I workout for 7 minutes, but here is the key; it’s intense. I workout intensely because that stimulates muscle growth.
Quick muscle building methods are hard to find these days because there seems to be an increasing amount of misinformation available to people. Infomercials are to blame because they usually present inaccurate information in the name of marketing. You have to really have an eye for determining when you’re getting real information and being marketed too. The methods for building muscle really aren’t that hard. It just requires you to be dedicated to the process over the long term. This is the hard part for most people. If you can handle it, than please follow my advice because it will work. Quick muscle building requires a diet that is perfect. Most people think the gym is the most important, so they put all their effort into that. This will lead to slow and subpar results. Your diet is going to determine how well those muscles grow and how fast they grow. You want to have the best results, so put more effort into your diet. You can do very well with a very good diet and a poor workout because your diet is what is going to make the results grow. The training part is a lot easier, but you’re probably doing the wrong types of exercises that actually slow down your results. Stop doing all those isolated workouts that work tiny muscles. You can do all the bicep curls in the world and it won’t make your arms bigger. It’s the compound exercises that build muscle, so that means you should be doing deadlifts and squats.
If you visit a muscle building forum, you will undoubtedly see a few threads full of people arguing about the pros and cons of soy versus whey protein for muscle building purposes. So in this article, I’m going to try and sort it out once and for all. It’s a pretty simple issue really, so it won’t take long to get to the truth.
The Biological Value indicates both how digestible the protein is and how available the protein is for use by the body. Biological value began as a percentage – A whole egg rated at 100% nitrogen absorbed. According to the study conducted by a medical doctor by the name of Aaron Tabor, soy protein versus whey protein has a bigger advantage especially when it comes to your exercise.
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Rockefeller bucks coal state allies on vote
Sen. Jay Rockefeller was an exception to the roster of coal country lawmakers who lined up Wednesday morning behind a GOP push to derail an Obama administration rule targeting mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants.
The five-term West Virginia Democrat broke sharply from his congressional delegation to oppose an attempt by Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) to block a controversial EPA mercury rule — a political risk in a state that has grown increasingly isolated from President Barack Obama and his environmental policies.Continue Reading
The resolution failed on a procedural vote 46-53.
Standing at the back of the Senate chamber with a handful of his colleagues looking on, the 75-year-old Democrat delivered a lofty speech before the vote, warning that attempts to demonize air pollution rules will only hurt the coal industry as it tries to stay competitive in an increasingly challenging economic environment. Calling the Inhofe effort “foolish,” Rockefeller said the long-term health effects of the rule would be “enormous.”
“This is a critical and contentious time in the Mountain State,” Rockefeller said. “The dialogue on coal, its impacts and the federal government’s role has reached a fevered pitch. ... West Virginians understandably worry that a way of life and the dignity of a job is at stake. Change and uncertainty in the coal industry is unsettling.
“But my fear is that concerns are also being fueled by the narrow view of others with divergent motivations — one that denies the inevitability of change in the energy industry, and unfairly leaves coal miners in the dust,” Rockefeller said. “The reality is that many who run the coal industry today would rather attack false enemies and deny real problems than find solutions.”
Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), a staunch ally of the environmental community, immediately hailed the speech.
“I believe when the next historian writes a book about leadership, courage and integrity in the United States Senate, that this speech today will be featured in that book,” she said.
Rockefeller, who faces voters again in 2014, is a throwback to an earlier era in West Virginia. The state has grown increasingly conservative and has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Bill Clinton in 1996, even as the state’s Democratic Party controls all levers of government there.
Obama registers rock-bottom approval ratings there, something reflected in this week’s announcement that Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, Rep. Nick Rahall and Sen. Joe Manchin will skip the Democratic National Convention.
Rockefeller, however, plans to attend.
“I just think it is a duty for senior office holders to go,” Rockefeller said Tuesday.
He said he doesn’t think the lack of fellow West Virginians there is necessarily a statement about the EPA. “No, it’s just an unwillingness to take a position on the presidential race,” he said. “Tortured souls seeking a way out to the light.”
In the Democratic primary this year in West Virginia, Obama faced an unexpectedly stiff challenge from a convicted felon still serving time in Texas.
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Student Leads Team in Making 205 Quilts for Seniors
December 11, 2009
There is a certain level of care that goes into sewing something. Consider quilts: Meticulously weaving the thread in and out, knowing that with every stitch, a little piece of you is finding its way into the quilt. Think about your favorite quilt - the one you pull out in the winter. There is just something special about it. There is thought to it. There is probably a story to it, too. And then, there is the care that went into making it.
Patty Hasbell cares. She cares about people. An Oklahoma Baptist University senior mathematics education major from Shawnee, Okla., Hasbell expresses her care by making quilts for local senior citizens.
"I have wanted to make quilts for senior citizens since I started sewing at 9 years old," Hasbell said. "I felt it was a calling to take care of the individuals that took care of us as children and taught us the fundamentals of history and the stories of the old days."
Hasbell doesn't just make quilts for senior adults - she makes hundreds of lap quilts for senior adults. Hasbell is quick to point out, though, that the quilt-making process is a team effort.
"I have great friends and family," she said. "I also volunteer to two quilters in town, and they help me get donations to make the quilts. For this year's quilts, the materials were all donated to my cause. We completed 205. Last year I only made 68."
Hasbell's team of quilt makers includes four generations of her family: her son, Tyler, a sophomore at Shawnee High School; her mother, Patricia Welch; her grandmother, Mavis Moore; and herself. The Eagle Class at Gordon Cooper Technology Center, where Hasbell serves as math instructor, tied 101 of the 205 quilts in two hours.
Patty Hasbell (center), an Oklahoma Baptist University senior from Shawnee, Okla., distributes some of the 205 lap quilts she helped make for local senior citizens at Shawnee Care Center.
The quilts were distributed to senior citizens at both the Shawnee Care Center and the Golden Rule Home in Shawnee on Dec. 7 through Age 2 Age, an OBU ministry that meets every Monday at 6 p.m. The ministry is part of OBU's Avery T. Willis Center for Global Outreach. Through Age 2 Age, OBU students spend time with the residents of local care centers to build relationships. Every other week, the students lead worship services for the residents.
The Dec. 7 quilt distribution project included Habell's son, Tyler, and her fellow OBU students, Amanda Abernathy, a junior from Oak Ridge, Tenn.; Matt Baker, a freshman from Rowley, Okla.; Bethany Burke, a sophomore from Dallas, Ore.; Johnathan Flowers, a sophomore from Irving, Texas; Tosh Miller, a freshman from Piedmont, Okla.; and Caleb Willis, a senior from Krum, Texas. Flowers, Miller and Willis provided musical entertainment for residents during the evening.
Hasbell said making quilts for others brings her joy. She knows her calling, and she lives it.
"My most rewarding moment of all is to see the expressions on the individuals' faces when they receive them, and I know how much they enjoy them," said Hasbell.
For more information about the ministries of the Avery T. Willis Center for Global Outreach, go online to www.okbu.edu/go.
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Ballard, who is also the sponsor of the school’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter, has spearheaded the evolution of this project. Previously, as part of her child-development course, Ballard arranged opportunities for her students to interact with their special-needs peers in order that they might better understand the challenges associated with having a child with disabilities.
Many of these students and those who have taken her other five courses have also been involved in the FCA with her. Combining her classroom activity with the mission-oriented FCA, Ballard initiated the buddy program this year, and the student response has been extremely enthusiastic. In fact, three to four students, most of them from her Family and Consumer Sciences courses, volunteered for every special-needs child participating in the program.
A luncheon at the NAHS Career and Technical Center for all the partnered students and the CTC staff kicked off the program. Instructor Anita Alef’s Culinary Arts students joined the effort, decorating for the occasion and managing the potluck buffet. The student-buddies exchanged friendship bracelets and played football-themed games. The gathering was so well received that Ballard plans to have monthly luncheons throughout the school year.
“My students have learned that the more they expose themselves to different people and take the time to build relationships with them, the more ‘alike’ they are than they thought,” Ballard said. During pep rallies, the volunteer partners sit with their buddies, many of whom cannot sit with their peers in the grade-designated areas. The volunteers also visit their buddies in class to help them read, sit with them in the cafeteria and celebrate birthdays or other special occasions with small gifts or cards.
The student volunteers enrolled in one of Ballard’s classes dedicate one period a month to an activity with their buddies, such as reading, teaching and assisting in creative projects or physical-fitness activities.
The special education teacher said her students were initially apprehensive about being paired with the other students, but they now eagerly anticipate the visits from their buddies and sitting together at pep rallies and assemblies.
Ballard’s approach for the Family and Consumer Sciences program includes instilling in her students a sense of community connectedness, which she hopes will make them better citizens and leaders as well as improve family stability in our society. Ballard credits the buddy program with not only breaking down barriers to foster connections, but also with helping all of the students gain confidence
and leadership skills.
Ballard believes by developing confidence in a variety of situations, these students have a better chance of achieving career goals.
At NAHS, the collaboration between career and technical education and the FCA is going a long way toward “opening up many possibilities for all of (the students),” she said.
HEATHER WAINWRIGHT is a member of the Research and Curriculum Unit at MSU
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PUBLIC OPINION > The Zimmerman Controversy Is Going Too Far
SodaHead News 2012/04/02 21:00:00
George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin on February 26, and it took about one month for the case to reach the national spotlight. Now it's easily the most controversial item in the daily news, dividing the public at every turn. In addition to the ambiguous details surrounding the shooting, a big part of the controversy concerns its racial implications. Some suspect Zimmerman attacked Martin because of his race, and as a result the case has taken on elements reminiscent of the Rodney King case in 1991. There's even a Twitter movement called #KillZimmerman demanding street justice. We asked the public if this is getting out of hand.
No one is short on an opinion when it comes to this case, but most people can agree that the whole thing is getting just a little out of hand. One thing we noticed from both sides of the argument was a finger pointed at the media. The Top Opinion read, "Newspapers and television news don't care whether or not [Zimmerman] might be innocent or guilty so long as it drives ratings up, they'd dance for joy while America burned if they got ratings." Sadly, it's probably true. Very little has been confirmed about the case, but the media has done an excellent job at recklessly speculating.
The Dividing Line
Obviously, there was a fine political line between the left and the right; liberals tend to give Martin the benefit of the doubt, and conservatives tend to give Zimmerman the benefit of the doubt. However, a third of liberals agreed the opposition against Zimmerman is going too far. It's one thing to take Martin's side, but resorting to further violence will only aggravate tensions further.
One of the only non-political demographics that came close to justifying the level of controversy was college students. It could be that the issue is being tossed around at greater velocity in university classrooms, where debate is generally encouraged. High school students did not feel the same.
More Women Want Resolution
Beyond politics and the classroom, there was very little difference of opinion. We suspected men would be more willing to continue the controversy, and that was true, but only by a small margin. Ultimately, it doesn't matter what side of the fence you're on. Most people just want to take it down a notch.
If you'd like to vote on this question, dig deeper into the demographics, or engage in existing discussion about the topic, visit our poll about George Zimmerman. We'd love to hear from you!
News & Politics
Hot Questions on SodaHead
More Hot Questions
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Sitting on his living room couch in Beardsville, a young Mexican immigrant named Alejandro smiles wistfully as he recalls marrying his wife Maria in 2006. They met and married in Beardstown, raising two sons, Alex, 5, and Diego, 2. But Alejandro’s smile quickly turns into a pained grimace as he describes how Maria took their two sons to her native Mexico last year. Alejandro hasn’t gotten to see them since.
He is a legal immigrant, one of many working at the Cargill pig plant in Beardstown, but Maria came to the United States illegally. Current immigration law, Alejandro says, dictates that Maria had to go home before could start the process of obtaining legal status in the United States, and that means their family is torn between two worlds: one in which a father eagerly builds a better life in anticipation of his family’s return, and another in which a mother and her sons endure a jobless, violent and corrupt environment with no clear picture of when they can leave.
It’s a common story, says Shelly Heideman, executive director of Springfield’s Faith Coalition for the Common Good, and that families being split up is only one of the group’s concerns about immigration reform.
“This is really an issue that many people don’t think about, but it affects so many peoples’ very lives” Heideman says. “We need change that will keep families together and not criminalize people who just come here to make a better life.”
Heideman says the current process to become a citizen is convoluted and fraught with uncertainty. The issue affects immigrants nationwide, she says, and any changes will have a large impact on the growing populations of Latin American and African immigrants in Beardstown and Rushville. Illinois is home to an estimated 540,000 illegal immigrants, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
But change may be on the horizon. Illinois’ own Sen. Dick Durbin, the second ranking member of the U.S. Senate, has made immigration reform a cornerstone of his service platform, and is currently working on reform legislation. Durbin spokesman Joe Shoemaker says the issue is personal to Durbin because Durbin’s mother, a Lithuanian immigrant, came to America to seek a better life.
“He even has her framed naturalization certificate hanging in his office,” Shoemaker says of Durbin. “In his view of America, the contribution of immigrants is right at the front.”
Shoemaker, himself a Taylorville native with three Italian immigrant grandparents, says Durbin’s future bill would fundamentally change the immigration system in America.
“It has to start with better enforcement of border security,” Shoemaker says. “That deals with upgraded patrols, because there are a lot of patrol gaps in areas with rugged terrain, and that’s where the (smugglers) do most of their work. We need to address that.”
He says the legislation will institute tougher fines on small businesses that hire illegal workers, as well as possible criminal sanctions for larger businesses that could absorb fines and continue to break the law. Upgraded, tamper-proof Social Security cards with biometric data could also aid enforcement, though that measure is still being mulled over because of civil liberties concerns.
Shoemaker says the bill will not include amnesty for illegal immigrants, but will provide a “tough but fair path to citizenship.”
“They’ll probably have to pay a fine, and they’ll go to the back of the line,” he says. “But the important thing is getting them in the line. We have an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in this country, and it just isn’t realistic to deport 12 million people.”
Part of the pathway to citizenship is the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, or DREAM Act, which would allow permanent residency for illegal immigrant students who graduate from US high schools, have not been convicted of certain crimes, arrived in the US before age 16 and have been in the country continuously for at least five years.
Ivan, a 17-year-old Mexican immigrant in Beardstown, says some of his best friends in school, who are illegal immigrants, cannot go to college under the current law because they don’t have Social Security numbers.
“They’re really smart, and they want to go to college, but they can’t,” Ivan says. “They want to work hard and contribute to this country.”
Shoemaker says the reform push is planned for this summer, and between 30 and 40 Democratic senators are already on board, with expectations for more support once bipartisan negotiations take place. However, the pace of reforms is largely dependant on how long it takes the Senate to confirm the next U.S. Supreme Court justice, Shoemaker points out.
“I’m not sure they can handle two major issues like that at a time,” he says. “You know, you get farther into the fall in an election year and absolutely nothing happens around here.”
Contact Patrick Yeagle at firstname.lastname@example.org.
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Holy See Helps AIDS Victims for Christmas
Good Samaritan Foundation Presents '08 Campaign
| 1883 hits
VATICAN CITY, DEC. 22, 2008 (Zenit.org).- "Help us to help," urged the cardinal in charge of the Vatican's health care council, as he presented this year's Christmas campaign for AIDS victims.
Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragán said this on Vatican Radio as he introduced the Christmas '08 campaign of the Good Samaritan Foundation.
Since 1994, the foundation has helped dozens of countries, especially in Africa, to provide the medications necessary for AIDS victims.
Last year, the cardinal noted, the campaign collected €28,000 and $40,000. During 2008, the pontifical council has provided Africa with $119,000 worth of antiretroviral drugs. The Christmas campaign urges donors to offer just a few euros, and thus provide a month of medications to AIDS victims, especially children.
Funds, the cardinal said, "go immediately to Ghana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Zambia, because there we have innumerable requests for help for those sick with AIDS who are dying."
Each donation, Cardinal Lozano Barragán assured, is like the "light of a star in the tree of life."
The Vatican official noted that last year, some 33 million more people contracted AIDS, 45% of whom are youth between the ages of 15 and 24; 2 million are children.
Some 27% of health care centers that attend AIDS patients around the world are administered by the Church; 44% are run by governments, 18% by nongovernmental organizations, 11% by other religious institutions, and 8% by other groups.
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On the Net:
Good Samaritan Foundation: www.healthpastoral.org/text.php?cid=100&sec=14&docid=71〈=en
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In the home where I grew up, the daily newspaper was almost as important to our everyday lives as the Bible.
Daddy came home every night, finished his supper -- which Mama brought to him on a tray as he relaxed in his favorite recliner -- then picked up the paper and read every page. Until she died, Mama planned her day around the arrival of the newspaper. As soon it arrived, she hurried to get it, made a cup of coffee with cream and sugar then settled into her chair and savored the pages. She took hours to read every word.
Her favorite was the obituaries. Mama didn't just read the obituaries, she studied them. Often, it seemed, she memorized them.
She would say things like, "I saw where Jack Pierce has got two funerals on the same day. He's preachin' one at 11 and another at 2," or, "She must not have been saved. It said in her obituary that she was a member of the Baptist faith so she isn't no member of a church or it would have said so," or, "I didn't know that they were kin but they sure were because he was listed as a survivor in the obituary."
One Sunday afternoon, I ran by to see her and found her listlessly watching television. She threw an aggravated look at me when I walked in.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"My newspaper didn't come today." That was bad. Mama's Sunday paper was worth five hours of afternoon reading. "I'm so mad, I could spit nails."
I walked straight to the phone, called the circulation department, only to get an automated recording. "I'll go out to the store and get you one."
"No," she said, jutting her chin out. "I ain't payin' twice for it. I'll just do without."
"I'll pay for it."
"I said 'no" and I mean it. I'll just do without." Mama, just like me, could cut off her nose just as pretty as you please to spite her face.
As a child, I learned the importance of newspapers. My parents taught me that knowledge, especially in the world around us, is powerful and necessary. Their message was simple: Read the Bible, read the newspaper and you'll be well-rounded and well-informed.
Over the years, the news world has changed dramatically, thanks to the electronic worlds of 24-hour news channel, radio talk shows and, of course, the Internet. Sadly, newspapers are moving to the background of folks' lives. It's a tough time because newspapers are having to reinvent themselves and find out what readers want. Entertainment, such as this kind of column, is growing in popularity while national and world news is less important to the reader who can see it on television.
Magazine supplements, columns, television guides, horoscopes, crossword puzzles, obituaries and the comics still lure readers in. They're important and will, most likely, be what sustain newspapers so that community papers can still bring readers the local news such as the hometown 4-H member who won a state competition, the woman who celebrated her 100th birthday and the high school teams who played each other.
The other day, I ran across an enormous box of newspapers that chronicled my early career and the life of my family. There was a front page photo of the time I learned to drive a race car (not well, I might add), the photo of my niece who was crowned as a queen of something or other, my nephew (in his football uniform ) who had made a game-winning pass, and another of my sister as she was sworn in as a postmaster.
Without newspapers, we'd have no paper record of those life moments.
Without us, newspapers can't continue. Here's an idea: Buy a subscription for a teenager or college student and mail it to them. Get them used to reading a newspaper. Every day.
Ronda Rich is the best-selling author of "What Southern Women Know About Faith." Visit www.rondarich.com to sign up for her weekly newsletter.
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Re: `Kheks' for Hakka's in Malaysia
> Maybe the usage of the term `khek' which Dixie intepretated as `Rough
> Hakka' which were showered on us is a term to express our durability in
> the hostile enviroment in those time i.e. before the 1950's as a mark of
> respect for our Hakka's people .
> I believed that whatever termed that are used to call us Hakka's are
> irrevelent except that we are proud to be one in blood and soul and
> respected by the Local Population is what that matters !
Thanks for the information about 'Khek' being used in Malaysia. I never
knew about this.
However, I have never heard of Khek being used in Kuala Lumpur where there
are many Hakkas.
Correct me if I am wrong.
I remembered that I was replying to Yoon-Ngan's earlier entry about this.
I myself did not felt offended by the term.
In Singapore, the authorities had probably made some mistake many decades
The Hakkas have always been referred to as Hakkas. However, in the old
carried by Singaporeans, the dialect group was referred to as Khek (the
pronunciation used by Hokkiens
and Teochews, the top 2 major dialect groups in Singapore).
Several years ago, the dialect group column has been omitted from the new
plastic Identity Cards.
(One reason is probably to make the Chinese more united and don't let them
differentiate from each
other based on dialect groups. And this has been very successful. Most
Chinese in Singapore now
speak Mandarin besides English.)
As you may have already know, the founding prime minister in Singapore, Lee
Kuan Yew, is a Hakka,
as well as many of the ministers in Singapore, although there are only 6%
Hakkas in Singapore.
This has made many of the other Chinese dialect groups in Singapore think
highly of Hakkas in general.
As a Malaysian, you should be proud that Kuala Lumpur, the capital of
Malaysia, was founded by Yap Ah Loy,
a Hakka too.
And these are things that we Hakkas all over the world should be proud of.
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Last Christmas I was going crazy over those cool cone-shaped trees that they sell a variety of at Target, but couldn’t bring myself to spend $40 for one. So I decided not to, I'd just make them! I went a little Christmas Cone Crazy making a bunch of different varieties, as you'll soon come to see.
I started off with the materials shown below. I initially mixed glue with water and used this to harden the twine, but it wasn’t quite strong enough to keep the shape that I was looking for.
So I got some of this stuff to use instead, (I know, I know), and it works MUCH better.
I wrapped the cones in parchment paper and secured it with pins, and then wrapped the soaked twine around the cone in a crisscrossing pattern, wringing it out a little at a time as I went. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you want to make sure that your cone is structurally sound, you'll need to do lots of crisscrossing. This ensures that each piece of twine has another piece to help support it.
You'll also want to make sure that your bottom strands are straight all the way around the base, or your Christmas trees may end up with a little gangsta' lean going on.
Once I was finished with the twine, I put green raffia in the stiffener and wrapped it around the cones as well, just for a little color and a different texture.
Once all was dry (I usually left it overnight), I used a knife to separate the parchment paper from the cone, peeled the paper away from the twine and here is the end result!
The best part about making trees this way is that you can make several trees using only one foam cone as the mold. I wanted to try out a few different things, so this let me experiment on the trees without “using up” one of the foam cones, since they are kind of expensive. I have a plain pair, and this pair that has just a few tiny berries hot glued on in various spots.
Another set I spray painted white, sprayed with glitter, and then hot glued on these larger berries.
This one I actually used the little cone for (I had two, so I was willing to lose one of them). I spray painted the cone and the twine separately, hot glued the twine onto the cone, and capped it with (of course) little berries.
I even made one for some Valentines Day decor.
What do you think? Not to shabby, right? I love these. I made tons of them all December long and then gave almost all of them away as gifts. Which means I get to try out some new options this year. :)
As always, I'll be linking to these lovely parties. Have a great week!!
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: A character rips out the page with the information they need from the phone book.
- Straight: A man looks for a Mr. Connor and rips out p.65 Co-Cu.
- Exaggerated: A man looks for a Mr. Connor and rips out the entire C section.
- Downplayed: ???
- Pre-internet: Anytime the character isn't a killer robot from the future with a photographic memory.
- Post-internet: The character used a store phone after losing their Blackberry and after trying to borrow a pen and paper from the store manager, the manager acted like a real tight-ass and refused so he spitefully ripped the page out.
- A character leaves a message for another by placing it in a particular phonebook.
- Organ black market dealers who you can find in the phonebook come and steal your internal organs.
- Subverted: A character finds a piece of information in a phonebook and doesn't have any paper on them. You hear a rip. They've ripped out a blank page at the back to write on.
- Double Subverted: The "blank" page at the back is actually just a very short Z section.
- Parodied: An intrepid reporter rips out enough pages from a phonebook over the year to actually have their own phonebook. They just have to get one final page for it to be complete and go to rip it out. When they get back home, a new phonebook is in the post.
- Zig Zagged: A private detective needs some information and tries to get it from a phone book. He rips out the page and phones the number. It's the number to order a new phone book. Once it arrives he rips out the page on the back and notes down the address of somebody who isn't listed in the book.
- Averted: The private detective always keeps a camera and pen and paper on him at all times.
- Enforced: "Tonight, a Very Special Episode about the harm caused by damage to public library phone books"
- Lampshaded: "I wondered what sort of crazy world it was, where kids tore up public property. I promptly tore out the page from the public library dictionary. I needed the definitions for 'hypocrisy' and 'vandalism'."
- Invoked: A character buys an extra phone book each year so that they can rip pages out of it.
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: A character rips a page out of a book but the store keep or librarian yells at them and forces them to tape it back in.
- Discussed: "I could have ripped the page out of the book like a detective in the movies. Instead I wrote it down on a notepad like a detective who wasn't a jerk."
- Conversed: "How comes nobody says "Hey you, leave my book alone!" when people rip pages out of books in movies?"
- Deconstructed: A private detective can't find what he wants in the public library because so many people have torn out pages over the years. He goes to a bar but the barkeep says they don't bother getting any because people just tear out the pages. He finds another one at a liquor store but the store manager gets pissed at the damage to his property and calls the cops who are happy to waste his time with a trip in the paddy wagon because they are fed up with private detectives getting their noses into investigations.
- Reconstructed: The smart private detective always makes sure to rip out the information so that nobody else can get to it. You've got a whole two sides to throw them off if they try to check it out.
Back to Ripped From The Phone Book
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In Greek mythology, Narcissus was a handsome young fellow who rejected the attentions of Echo. He preferred looking at his own reflection in a pond. He admired himself so long and so intensely that he took root and became a beautiful flower, the narcissus. He was stuck, unable to move and unable to form a relationship with anyone but himself.
I am reminded of the time in San Diego I was waiting in a poplular restaurant to meet our daughter for lunch. As I waited, I watched the young professionals in their expensive shoes and clothes as they waited for tables. After a short time, I noticed that most were posing as they waited. When Christi arrived, I said "I'm so glad you married Jim and not one of these guys."
"Why? What's wrong with these guys?"
"i'm glad because these guys are so in love with themselves, they couldn't possibly love you." She looked, assessed, and agreed.
So what words describe a Narcissist? Vain, egocentric, selfish, arrogant, conceited, shameless, haughty body language, pretended self-importance, feel entitiled, use/exploit others, lack compassion or empathy, braggarts, hyper-sensitve to perceived insult---not qualitites that would make a good candidate for a relationship!
A recent news item reported that 25 percent of today's college freshman are narcissists!
While that does not surprise me, it does make me sad and concerned about the future. Narcissists do not care about others. They are Number 1. These are not people who "serve their community, their country, their kin." These are the people who expect to be served by the invisible people. They feel entitied to 'The Best' service, clothes, food, cars, etc. They judge themselves and others by brand names, price tags, appearance.
They would never do the hard and sometimes messy work of taking care of children or the elderly. They will not dirty their manicured nails building or repairing infrastructure. They will not seek employment as cooks or servers. They will not work behind the scenes to make life safe and comfortable for others. And many, many are choosing not have children as children can be messy, expensive, inconvenient, and demanding. Pregancy can change their slim shapes. Horrors. What if the baby gets all the attention?
There was a time when Pride was one of the Seven Deadly Sins, Humility was a Virtue, and modesty was admired. But that is another study in human behavior for another day.
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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There are a whole host of issues that can embroil the airport organization in a political war. Airports by their very nature are political organizations. Being politically savvy in working through issues is a must. Noise, contracting, concessions, airport expansion, and air service development are just a few of the thorny issues that can test the political skills of any airport leader. To be successful today, airport executives must be able to effectively operate within the political process.
The above mentioned skills don’t substitute for formal training and experience, but the skills highlighted here are emerging in importance for executives. Technical competencies, particularly in the financial and real estate development arena, are increasingly important. Leadership in today’s environment is about cultivating quality relationships, having a clear picture of what the future organization looks like, thinking strategically about the organization, and being politically aware.
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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The head of the Cancun climate talks fought back tears in a meeting with youth activists on Wednesday, as she frankly admitted the insufficient ambition of global leaders to protect the future. Christiana Figueres, who replaced Yvo de Boer as the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change following last year’s negotiations in Copenhagen, teared up as she considered her responsibility to her daughters and the youth of the world. She told the activists, part of Tck Tck Tck’s Adopt a Negotiator program, that the Cancun negotiations will be “insufficient” and that “nothing will be highly ambitious,” because of the economic and political constraints. But she believes that “each one of use has the moral responsibility to do the absolute best that we can.” Asked what inspires her to lead the effort despite the challenges, she choked up as she answered that it is “the next generation”:
It’s you. It’s the next generation. Look: We’re doing this but this has nothing to do with us. It’s all about you. It’s all about you. We’re the ones that have caused the problem but you’re the ones that are going to have to pay for it, right? The fact is, I’m the mother of two women about your age, and I realized many years ago that I had inherited a planet that was a diminished planet. And that if I didn’t do something about it, my daughters would grow up in a planet that had been severely diminished by what we’re doing. And I just can’t look at my daughters in the eyes and not do whatever I can.
So, it’s you. It’s about the kind of planet that you’re going to have. It’s honestly not my planet. It’s yours, okay? We borrowed it from you for a few minutes. But you will take it over very soon, because it’s yours. And you’re going to have to give it over to your children.
Honestly, there’s no perfect job here, okay? Nothing that we are going to do in Cancun is going to be perfect. Don’t expect perfection. Nothing is going to be highly ambitious. Nothing. Everything here is going to be one step, and everything is going to be insufficient. But it is the best that this group of people in these circumstances, with these political constraints, in this economic environment, can do for the time being. And as soon as this finishes we have to start pushing for the next step. And so it goes. But each one of us that is here has the moral responsibility to do the absolute best that we can at that moment under those circumstances. So what inspires me? It’s you.
“We can’t let something like Copenhagen ever happen again,” Figueres said, reflecting earlier comments that expectations for a comprehensive, total agreement is a guarantee for failure in the UNFCCC process.
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The State Department’s top official for Central Asia arrives in the region Tuesday to reassure leaders that Washington remains committed to the development and defense of Central Asia.
The three-day trip by Robert O. Blake Jr., Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, comes immediately after the visit to Washington of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. During that visit, President Barack Obama announced that American soldiers will soon play only a supporting role in defending Afghanistan from Taliban rebels. By the end of next year, most American soldiers are to leave Afghanistan.
"While we may be reducing our military presence after 2014, we will remain very much engaged economically to ensure the continued security and stability of Afghanistan and the region,” Blake told VOA in Washington before leaving for Central Asia. “Obviously, we have invested a lot of blood and treasure over the past 10 years. We have a very important investment to protect.”
Blake meets with leaders in Turkmenistan on Tuesday, then flies to Kyrgyzstan where the United States maintains the Manas air-transit center at the international airport of Bishkek, the capital.
Blake said he would discuss extending the base lease, which expires next year.
“Manas is a very important logistics operation for the United States, but also the center through which almost all our troops pass to go into Afghanistan,” he said.
About 10 minutes by helicopter from Manas, Russia maintains its own air base in Kant, Kyrgyzstan, where, last year, Moscow extended its lease for 15 years.
Last October, Russian President Vladimir Putin flew to Tajikistan, just north of Afghanistan, where Russia gained 30-year extensions on three base leases. Housing a total of 6,000 troops, the trio of bases represent Russia’s largest foreign troop deployment.
While Russia restores historic military ties with Central Asia, China's focus is economic. New pipelines now carry Central Asian oil and gas east to China while new roads carry Chinese goods west to Central Asia.
Looking ahead, Blake says there will be roles in Central Asia for China, Russia and the United States.
“Far from being a 'Great Game' in Afghanistan and in Central Asia, there is more of a great gain,” he said. “There is space for all of us to benefit, and there is space for all of us to have a role.”
After working with the region for almost four years, Blake draws this conclusion: “All the Central Asians want to see the United States play a greater role. They welcome having the United States very involved in promoting trade, in promoting stability.”
As the numbers of American troops decline in Afghanistan, Washington wants to reassure regional leaders that the United States will remain engaged in Central Asia.
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<urn:uuid:93ef6e98-28e6-40ca-bb0c-2ab8be57903d>
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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The good news is that the housing market is livelier in Sept. 2012 than the same month in the previous year, with home sales up 2 percent. The bad news for homeowners is that prices have slipped 2.9 percent.
The latest report from RE/MAX of New England analyzed five states in the region, and Connecticut and Rhode Island are the only two that saw a decline in prices. The median price in Connecticut slipped from $273,000 to $265,000.
Connecticut fared modestly with its improvement in total sales, between a 2.5 percent decline in Vermont and a 5.7 increase in Massachusetts.
Overall New England had a 5.7 percent improvement in sales.
“September’s numbers are encouraging. However, election years tend to result in lower consumer confidence,” said Dan Breault, executive vice president and regional director of RE/MAX of New England. “In New England, we’ve seen an increase in activity throughout 2012, however, prices need to increase to realize a full housing market recovery. We’ll be watching the data post election cycle, carefully.”
The upward trend in sales is consistent – but less positive - than the August home sales released by The Warren Group. Home sales jumped nearly 12 percent in August compared to the same month last year, according to that report.
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The ’90s was a time when being Black was kind of cool: There were a slew of popular Black TV shows, plenty of Black movies that hit the scene, rap even earned its spot as a respected art form, and we elected our first “Black” president with Bill Clinton! Yet with all of the good vibes that were flowing our way as a people, there was one snag that caused quite a stir. Top clothing designer like Liz Claiborne (pictured) appeared on the now-defunct Oprah Winfrey Show in 1991 and allegedly made a pearl-clutching statement about Black women that would cause the rumor and gossip mill to go in to overdrive.
On the show, Claiborne supposedly said that she did not make clothes for Black women because they simply could not wear the same sizes as White women and that she did not like the idea of making clothes for Blacks.
The conspiracy theory about Claiborne hit the Black community like wildfire, and suddenly, the clothing icon’s fashions were mince meat. Adding fuel to the alleged incendiary comments made by Claiborne was “Do the Right Thing” filmmaker Spike Lee (pictured below right). The director became a parrot of sorts and took the conspiracy theory about Claiborne to a code red level.
In an Esquire magazine interview, Lee urged the Black community to boycott Claiborne’s company in protest of her alleged inflammatory and cutting remarks that were made on Winfrey’s show. He went on to state:
“Last week, Oprah Winfrey had Liz Claiborne on the show. I guess she wears Liz Claiborne’s clothes all the time. Claiborne got on and said she didn’t make clothes for black people to wear. Oprah stopped the show and told her to get her ass off the set.
How you gonna get on Oprah’s show and say you don’t make clothes for Black women? It definitely happened. Get the tape. Every Black woman in America needs to go to her closet, throw that shit out, and never buy another stitch of clothes from Liz Claiborne.
Lee’s revolutionary stand against Claiborne was one that should have appeared in one of his movies, because the Claiborne statements that incited many in the community to rise up against her were all false!
Claiborne never appeared on Oprah’s talk show and was not even associated with her clothing company in 1991.
The designer had retired from the day-to-day activities of her company in 1989.
Even still, you can find those in our community who continue to give Claiborne’s products the side eye whenever they visit their local mall.
Urban legend indeed!
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Since the years of the sixties Unamore’s art has been exhibited throughout the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Portugal. The abstract, colourful, detailed and flat but seemingly multidimensional paintings portray the essence of people, groups of people, energy fields and their mutual interactions within process of evolution. The Christian symbols of her youth blend with other religious and spiritual traditions in an understanding of the driving forces of evolution: hope, faith and love.
Unamore was born in 1942 as Marijke van Velzen. Her mother, Secunda Langehenkel played the piano. Her father, Pieter van Velzen was an artist. She was the only child in the family. Characteristic for the atmosphere in which she grew up was the openness of her parents towards a life of freedom, accompanied by a desire for harmony and unity. The family expressed their views within the ecumenical movement. Pieter sought after a new religious language in his paintings, sculptures and stained-glass windows. Unamore spent her childhood between sound and colour, and the conversations of poets, musicians and architects.
Unamore showed to be a talented child that desired to paint. Pieter built her a place to work. In a spirit of freedom, awakened by the Cobra movement, she chose to develop her talents with guidance of her father and life itself. Fascinated by the role of Light in life, she began to feel life through colours, expressing it to paper. At the age of 21, Unamore presented her art for the first time. Since that day exhibitions followed in Amsterdam and other Dutch cities such as Almere, Haarlem, Zwolle and Hilversum. While during these years the world of art gradually shifted its focus to other media, the oil painting remained Unamore's preferred form of expression.
In the end of the seventies and first half of the eighties, Unamore's work was inspired by political issues. Her husband, at the time was an activist, who drew attention to the rights of the Palestinian people. In their house people met and discussed world issues. Unamore sought to find her own understanding of evolving events. Daily she selected one article from the newspapers and expressed the feelings this news aroused in her. During these years she painted hundreds of 'political dailies', using mixed media on paper. Influenced by the feminist discourse of these years, Unamore aimed to reconcile the 'male' facts as expressed in journalism with her 'female' emotions.
Gooijer Fine Art
In 1988 Unamore joined the International Gooijer Fine Art Gallery. She stayed for more than ten years. During these years her work was exhibited at Lineart in Gent in '88 and '89 and yearly at the Holland Art Fair in The Hague as well as the Kunstbeurs in Amsterdam. Unamore remembers the gallery of Hendrik Gooijer as a wonderful opportunity to paint in freedom and show her work to a larger audience. Political issues made place for an inward journey, searching to discover the essence of being human.
Bringing Light to canvas
Resulting from the evolution in her way of working, the colourful light, present in everything, became increasingly visible through the paintings. Unamore's sensitivity to perceive energy fields of man, cities, peoples and nations and the cosmic Light within them enhanced. During decades of practice she developed techniques to bring these energies on paper, making them visible to others.
One way of visualising energy on paper are Unamore's portraits or personal shields. This form of art contains all aspects of the traditional portrait without the outer appearance of the subject. Unamore prefers to use the term shield because of its connection the purpose of shields made within Shaman traditions. These shields have protecting and healing functions for certain aspects of the subject, which can be an individual but also a larger group or spiritual entity. The portraits speak about the beauty of the soul, the radiation of its Light. Doing so these shields provide a positive direction to the consciousness of the person portrayed. Up to this day, Unamore has painted over 250 commissioned shields.
After a cooperation of more than ten years with Gooijer Fine Art Gallery, Unamore chose a new more personal road. Feeling the major shifts on Earth and the changes which accompany them, inspired her to found the l'Ouverture d'Unamore. The l'Ouverture d'Unamore started in 2000. Since that year, Unamore invites people into her house and place of work on a monthly basis. Also in 2000 she exhibited her painting in an old church in the woods near the city of Velp.
Seven European cities
In 2000 Unamore started a series of paintings about seven cities in Europe; Mechlin, Bruxelles, Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, Fatima and Granada. The paintings portray the role of these cities and its inhabitants in their relative position. Unamore incorporate historic stories and legends as well as contemporary social and political issues in her work. The influence of the cosmos in the cities has her attention too.
The first city of her city-project was Mechlin in Belgium. In 2001,10 paintings about this city and 26 others were exhibited in a local church, the Begijnhofkerk. The next year the Koekelberg Basiliek in Brussels exhibited 80 paintings, among which 10 dedicated to the Belgian capital. 2004 was the year of an exhibition in Amsterdam, showing 38 paintings in the museum of Geelvinck Hinlopen Huis, an old merchants house on the channel. In 2008 Unamore exhibited 30 of her ‘Berlin Lieder’ in Berlin, in a church in the Charlottenburg district .
In the years 2010 and 2011 Unamore exposed around the 30 works titled ‘From heaven and Earth’ in 4 cities in Portugal (Fátima, Oerem, Entroncamento and in the famous Castle of the Convent de Christo in Tomar). Returned in Holland she exposed her work in the Rosa Spierhuis in Laren. Currently, she works at her series for Paris, which will called ‘Les couleurs de Paris.’ The seventh and last city will be Granada in Spain.
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Why Set & Save?
Just click "Add to Set & Save" when placing items in your cart.
Nature's Legacy pastas are made with pure ancient grains, grown and harvested using traditional methods. Unlike modern-day varieties of wheat which have been over-hybridized and over-processed to increase yields and reduce costs, the grains are harvested with the protective hull intact. This eliminates the need for harmful pesticides, and preserves the grains' high-quality nutrients. These legendary natural grains, revered by Europeans for thousands of years, nurture the immune system by supplying a broad spectrum of nutrients in a form our bodies recognize as pure food. Enjoy the great taste and texture of these fine pastas - truly a gift from nature.
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http://www.vitacost.com/vitaspelt-organic-spelt-angel-hair
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Audi's e-tron concept car expected to come to market in 2012
Republished from: Audi's e-tron concept car expected to come to market in 2012
At September's Frankfurt Auto Show, Audi showed the e-tron, a high-performance sports car with a purely electric drive system. This is a true four wheel drive car with four motors, one for each wheel (what Audi calls a "true quattro"). They claim 0-60 mph times of 4.8 seconds and 35-75 mph time of 4.1 seconds. Fast. The lithium-ion battery pack is a sizable 42.4 kilowatt-hours and they claim a 154 mile range. Top speed is 124 miles/hr. Audi said at the Frankfurt show that the e-tron "belongs in the major leagues of sports cars." With spec's like these this car would give serious competition to the likes of the Tesla Roadster.
As a concept car it's interesting but a car like this doesn't make a real difference unless it is in production. Indeed, this week Audi of America's President Johan de Nysschen stated the e-tron would be on sale in the U.S. in late 2012. No details on the production version or cost are known at this time.
Because the e-tron has four independent motors the designers were able to design the control system to freely distribute power to the wheels. This torque vectoring allows for dazzling dynamics and an undreamed-of level of agility and precision when cornering.
Audi recognizes that "Electric drive systems are still very much outsiders" with very few of them in existence compared to the vast numbers of petroleum fueled cars. They also point to the many advantages. Electric cars reduce dependence on petroleum for transportation. Electric cars produce zero direct pollution, which means electric cars only get cleaner over time as the power grid becomes cleaner. Electric drive systems are significantly more efficient than internal combustion drive systems. And because the full torque is immediately available in electric motors, they are able to produce phenomenal acceleration and a fun driving experience.
The concept car e-tron is more than just a car with an electric drive train. They took a holistic approach to combine several factors to make a more efficient car. They worked to reduce road resistance, increase aerodynamics, use lightweight but rigid materials for the body, all resulting in a lighter more efficient car.
The battery pack is larger than required for typical daily driving needs. However a truism dogging down excitement over electric cars is the "range anxiety" induced by people accustomed to the illusory infinite range of gas cars. The truth is gas cars also have a limited range but we have grown accustomed to the inconvenience of stopping at a gasoline station to fill the tank. One solution to electric car range anxiety is simply to install a larger battery pack. Of course this raises the price of the car and there is a tradeoff between cost and convenience that is yet to be determined by manufacturers and their customers. In the meantime we should not expect the production e-tron to have an affordable price tag.
This is a promising car for the niche of people who desire high performance sports cars. Like the Tesla Roadster it will not be sold in large enough numbers to, by itself, make a large impact in reversing negative effects of pollution from transportation. But if this car lives up to the published specs of the concept car, it will also serve to blow up the old stereotypes of electric cars. And by blowing up the electric car stereotype we should see greater acceptance of electric cars, or so goes the theory that Tesla started with several years ago.
For more info:
Audi To Build e-tron Electric Sports Car From Frankfurt Show
I just sent the following email to my partners...
"When we sell our 10,000th bike I know what I'm buying..."
This car is gorgeous. I'll start saving now! (BTW, I've no idea if I need to add an extra zero or two to the sales goal - but you get the idea!)
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"My job when I first meet you guys is to figure out if you’re too crazy, an idiot, a liar or a crook. If you’re not any of those things then we might keep talking," says Dave McClure, the founder and driving force behind 500 Startups. YouTube
“If you forget everything else that I mention, AngelList is important. If you call yourself an entrepreneur and you don’t have a profile on AngelList, I don’t care if you are raising money or not, you’re an idiot and you should do that tomorrow, or today. It’s very important for customer references, if you are trying to raise money - definitely, it offers lots and lots of visibility. It’s not just a fundraising platform. It’s also a recruiting platform.” (McClure also now takes all applications for 500 Startups through AngelList).
"My job when I first meet you guys is to figure out if you’re too crazy, an idiot, a liar or a crook. If you’re not any of those things then we might keep talking. That’s actually not really easy to figure out when we first meet. Sometimes crazy is actually good, but I am trying to get a sense of that, not just through talking to you but through the other connections and people that we may know in common.
“So a lot of VC filtering is just risk reduction through networks. A lot of people come up and start to pitch me and say, 'Why do I have to go through your network? Why don’t we just talk here?' It’s because I can’t identify in 30 seconds if you are f---ing crazy or an idiot or something else... So references, whether those are places you have worked, schools you went to, projects you have built, people that you worked with, it just gives me something to work with to do due diligence in the background.
“One of the main things we look at is projects. What have you built? Does that work? Are people using it? About 80 percent of our due diligence is based on what you have built and what market you are trying to address."
Cromwell Schubarth is the Senior Technology Reporter at the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
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I didn't know about Jack Chen aka anita999's IDA SPU module until yesterday evening.
So we were actually working on the same.. Anyway I had to finish what I started, and saw that our internal structures defer quite a bit..
If you are interested, binaries and MIT licensed sources can be found here: http://code.google.com/p/ida-spu/
This is a IDA processor module for the IBM Cell Synergistic Processor Unit (SPU) (that can be found in the PS3 for example).
Stay tuned for more PS3 Hacks and PS3 CFW news, follow us on Twitter and be sure to drop by the PS3 Hacks and PS3 Custom Firmware Forums for the latest PlayStation 3 scene updates and homebrew releases!
I did say with the idea of a network analyzer would be nice, in my post. So this is not something that the DEV is working on, to run on a PS3, more of Homebrew plug-in to use within IDA Pro to use on PS3 software, apps.
And there's me thinking some Dev has used this idea of the IDA Pro to run on a PS3, that gave use the ability to see whats going on within the software of the PS3. Or even better helping us see the hidden root-kits Sony have installed on our drives, and then look into whats stored in that root-kit.
Sony did this 5 or 6 ish years ago with root-kits on Audio Cd's, and its been going on ever since, so I know there on the PS3 somewhere. So I was hoping this would aid us in looking at the drives, file system, a little more deeper.
The network thought was just an idea, seeing the app was being written from the ground up using opensource, it would be nice if it was added.
IDA software has been around many years now, and I was only made aware of it because I stumbled upon a thread about some guy who found a SONY root-kit on his PC from an Audio CD. It was a very interesting read and how he traced all the way though to finding how it got there and from whom. I will see if I can find it, It's well worth the read.
I know this is old news now, but maybe of interest to some noobs. This is a Blog of Mark Russinovich's page, here is a thread about the sony root kit, and what he did to find it.
Sony did recall as many as they could that had the root-kit installer on DVDs Cd's and so on, but I bet there still Sony disks on any one's shelfs at home waiting to install it self again, even 5 or 6 years later on.
Here's Marks Blog: blogs.technet.com/b/markrussinovich/archive/2005/10/31/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights-management-gone-too-far.aspxto
no not running on a ps3, and it isn't a "network traffic analyzer" IDA Pro is a software suite that people use to help reverse engineering by trying to decompile compiled code into a readable format. this is a plugin module for it for the cell spus.
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Why most of us look at evidence and action arse-about
Posted by Dave Bath on 2010-02-10
A very thought provoking paper on why people do not want to, and therefore reject, overwhelming scientific concensus, has just been released on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN): "Cultural Cognition of Scientific Consensus" (2010-02-07) with the lead author from Yale Law School.
It posits and tests the idea that your worldview will make you, near-instinctively, reject evidence based on whether the actions guided that evidence would conflict with your worldview.
Putting it a bit simplistically, libertarians hate the science of climate change because it demands action involving regulation, and supranational concerted action, while lefties, viewing big business as intrinsically untrustworthy, will not credit any evidence that nuclear waste can be managed.
We are all screwed, unless there are enough people who have the intellectual discipline and inclination to make evidence-based decisions. The number of "people-of-faith" (e.g. base their lives on the idea that evidence is less important than other drivers) in the world means that evidence will hardly get a look-in, so evidence-based politics and consequence evidence-based policy will remain a pipe dream (unless we convince those with imaginary sky friends to be internally consistent and pray rather than seek medical help).
An agonizing crash of human civilization and population is inevitable unless we get rid of both theists and libertarians (hopefully by educating them properly rather than a pogrom).
Here is the abstract:
Why do members of the public disagree – sharply and persistently – about facts on which expert scientists largely agree? We designed a study to test a distinctive explanation: the cultural cognition of scientific consensus. The "cultural cognition of risk" refers to the tendency of individuals to form risk perceptions that are congenial to their values. The study presents both correlational and experimental evidence confirming that cultural cognition shapes individuals’ beliefs about the existence of scientific consensus, and the process by which they form such beliefs, relating to climate change, the disposal of nuclear wastes, and the effect of permitting concealed possession of handguns. The implications of this dynamic for science communication and public policy-making are discussed.
It’s really worth reading in full, and I wish the authors had time for a larger study (1500 test subjects), but here are a few choice snippets (not in the same order as the paper):
To start, cultural cognition influences perceptions of credibility. Individuals more readily impute knowledge and trustworthiness to information sources whom they perceive as sharing their worldviews; … individuals of opposing outlooks will end up with different impressions of what "most" credible experts believe.
Rather than looking at evidence to determine appropriate actions, prejudices about the desirability or undesirability of the actions has an improper and arse-fronted influence on whether the evidence is given proper weight.
The following is a killer quote, which I’ve broken up into point form for easier reading, removing the "generally speaking" type qualifications (because I’ve just alluded to them):
- persons who subscribe to individualistic values tend to dismiss claims of environmental risks, because acceptance of such claims implies the need to regulate markets, commerce, and other outlets for individual strivings.
- Persons with more egalitarian and communitarian values, in contrast, resent commerce and industry as forms of noxious self-seeking productive of unjust disparity, and thus readily accept that such activities are dangerous and worthy of regulation.
- persons who subscribe to hierarchical values resist claims of environmental risk, which they perceive as subversive indictments of social and governmental elites
If there is a better example of hierarchical values than the notion of an infallible pope, then I can’t think of it.
As the Liberal/National coalition is a bastard conjunction of libertarian and hierarchical authoritarian schools of thought (no wonder Tony Abbott is their leader), is it any surprise that they are even more against effective action on climate change than the ALP?
Even the ALP, while making noises about the criticality of action on climate change, are ignoring the expert opinion (from scientists to economists like Garnaut – who was appointed by them to advise!) on how significant and pressing are the changes required. In the light of this paper, does this mean that the ALP’s claims to egalitarianism are empty?
Those who want action on climate change should obviously be voting for parties with a leadership team that bases their core values on evidence from climate scientists, in other words, leadership teams that have no "people of faith", on leadership teams with good socialist credentials.
Let me go further: the best best are those parties that are most diametrically opposed to the policies of a hierarchical faith-based organization, in other words, disagree most markedly on social policy (abortion, euthanasia, school funding, school secularism, stem cell research) with the Roman Catholic Church.
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Détente and the Bunker
How to oppose a president’s disastrous foreign policy.
by Elliott Abrams
10/12/2009, Volume 015, Issue 04
The appearance in Washington last week of Iran’s foreign minister, while the blood is not yet dry from his government’s continuing suppression of student protests, is a reminder of the disastrous foreign policy path the Obama administration has chosen. Not so long ago, proponents of a stronger U.S. foreign policy faced a similar policy of weakness and accommodation. The 1970s saw some pretty dark days of “détente”–when Gerald Ford refused to see Alexander Solzhenitsyn; when the United States allowed Cuban troops to flow into Angola; and when, in the single year of 1979, Jimmy Carter watched a small band of would-be commies take Grenada, the Sandinistas take Nicaragua, and the Soviets go into Afghanistan–not to mention the shah’s fall and the Ayatollah Khomeini’s takeover of Iran.
One begins to wonder how far we will drift into a new period of generalized disaster. In Honduras, we back the Hugo Chávez acolyte and say we won’t respect November’s free elections. In Israel, we latch on to the bizarre theory that settlement growth is the key obstacle to Middle East peace and try to bludgeon a newly elected prime minister into a freeze that is politically impossible–and also useless in actually achieving a peace settlement. In Eastern Europe, we discard a missile defense agreement with Poland and the Czechs and leave them convinced we do not mean to fight off Russian hegemony in the former Soviet sphere.
Manouchehr Mottaki, foreign minister of Iran, visited Washington, as noted, after such visits had been forbidden for a
decade. High-ranking American officials have made six visits to Syria, even while the government of Iraq and our commanding general there complain of Syrian support for murderous jihadists. The highest ranking U.S. official to visit Cuba in decades recently toured Castro’s tropical paradise. The president won’t see the Dalai Lama, however, for fear of offending the Chinese.
See a pattern here? The president’s U.N. General Assembly speech tied all this together, perhaps unintentionally: Talk of allies and enemies and national interests was absent. Getting something for concessions we make is contrary to the new spirit of engagement. The president, transcending all such anachronisms, poses as the representative of . . . the world. So why would his country treat friends better than foes, and why would we bargain for reciprocal concessions? So old fashioned, so Cold War.
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Winter is a challenging season when it comes to our health. Ordering take out and watching TV can sound really attractive after a long day when it’s cold and dark outside. By the time February rolls around, a lot of us start to lose our motivation to eat healthy and stay active.
No one said keeping up healthy habits was easy, but it is worth it! Healthy eating and meal planning will help you control your blood glucose, blood pressure, cholesterol, and your weight. What’s more, making smart food choices will give you more energy and the nutrition you need to stay healthy.
To help you out, we’ve got some great ideas for simple and healthy winter cooking, plus links to some of our best winter recipes. Try some new things in the kitchen, remember all the benefits of healthy eating, and don’t forget – spring is right around the corner!
Remember that once spring hits and the weather warms up, you’ll be in the mood for refreshing produce and grilling recipes. For now, enjoy signature winter dishes like soups, stews, casseroles, and chili.
A steamy cup of soup makes a great entrée, side dish, or even an appetizer when it’s cold outside. Research has actually shown that when people eat low-calorie soups (broth-based, not cream-based) as an appetizer, they tend to eat less of their main course. So, this may be a helpful strategy for weight control.
Soups, stews, casseroles, and chili are very versatile dishes. Even if your recipe doesn’t call for it, it’s easy to add or substitute any veggie or lean meat that you have in the fridge. These types of recipes usually make a lot of servings, so they are great for gatherings with family and friends. If you’re not cooking for a crowd, you can always freeze leftovers in individual containers so you’ll have a quick, pre-portioned meal for another day. Try some of our favorite winter recipes below.
Feeling sluggish lately? Not really in the mood to cook after a long day at work? Let your crock pot do the work for you.
A crock pot (also called a slow cooker) is an electric dish that cooks food at a low, steady temperature. It usually takes about 8-12 hours to cook a meal. It allows you to do the prep ahead of time and have a meal ready when you get home. Just throw in your ingredients before you leave in the morning and turn your crock pot on. Come home later, and dinner can be ready when you walk in the door.
There are lots of healthy crock pot recipes out there for stews, roasts, chicken, chili, and more. Here are a few great recipes from our site to get you started:
Who doesn’t want a nice plate of Mom’s mac n cheese and some hearty beef stew when it’s cold outside? The problem with comfort foods like these is that they can be very high in calories, high in fat, and heavy on the carbohydrates - not exactly a good choice if you have diabetes or are trying to lose weight.
But that doesn’t mean you have to give up your favorites. Health is a hot topic right now, so a lot of chefs are out there altering comfort food recipes; trying to make them healthier without sacrificing flavor. You can find a lot of “remade” comfort food recipes right here on Recipes for Healthy Living. Here are just a few of our favorites:
Classic Mac N Cheese - A much healthier and more satisfying option than the boxed stuff.
Quick Herb-Tomato Soup - Our version of tomato soup. It goes great with any salad or sandwich!
Chicken Joes - A great recipe if you’re a sloppy Joe’s fan.
Apple Crisp – Sometimes comfort means satisfying your sweet tooth!
For a whole book of comfort food recipes, check out our Diabetes Comfort Food Cookbook by Robyn Webb.
We all know the importance of getting in our fruits and vegetables. Though the price of berries, peppers, and other summer produce goes up during the colder months, a lot of people don’t realize how many fruits and veggies are actually in season this time of year. Below is a list of winter produce to look for in the grocery store. Many times, produce that is in season is lower in price than out of season options.
Note: Seasonality can vary based on the region of the country where you live.
Check out a few of our recipes that use winter produce:
Remember that canned and frozen produce is also an option. It’s also usually cheaper than fresh. Just remember to buy it without any added sugar, salt, or sauces.
by American Diabetes Association & American Heart Association
Brought to you by two of the largest health associations in America – the recipes in this cookbook are simple, flavorful, and perfect for people with diabetes who also need to watch out for their cardiovascular health.
Tasty and elegant Valentine’s Day sample menus made up of our quick and easy recipes.Read More
A healthy meal plan that features several recipes for two to share with your special someone.See Meal Plan
Find more videos, on-the-go tips, and other articles to help with meal planning and food preparation.Browse Tips
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December 9, 2004 12:20 PM PST
I married a Java developer from outer space!
Database giant Oracle is taking a cue from Ralph Kramden and promising to send one lucky developer into space.
The company began a sweepstakes this week to find the sharpest developer working with Oracle tools. The main prize is a suborbital space flight to 62 miles above the Earth's surface via Space Adventures, the company that pioneered off-planet tourism.
Participants have to register at the Oracle Space Sweepstakes site before they can begin completing a series of quizzes designed to test knowledge of Java programming, service-oriented architecture, or SOA, and other subjects dear to Oracle. Each quiz is accompanied by tutorials and downloadable trial versions of Oracle developer tools, which you'll probably need to spend some time with to answer the questions correctly.
"We're trying to encourage developers to download the technology and look at the tools," said Rick Schultz, vice president of product marketing for application server and developer tools. "You really need to try the technology."
A new quiz will be released every three weeks until May 31, and each passing score counts as a contest entry, increasing your chances of winning.
You don't have to be a professional Oracle developer to compete, but a science background may help by the time the subject matter gets around to "Designing BPEL Processes with BPEL Process Manager."
Those who'd rather skip the quizzes and toss their name straight into the contestant pool can just send a postcard to Oracle Space Sweepstakes, P.O. Box 4021 Grand Rapids, Minn. 55730-4021.
If you do win the big prize, the contest rules note, you'll need to sign a lulu of a liability waiver and submit an affidavit from your doctor testifying that you're medically fit to fly. The exact date of the trip depends on Space Adventures' launch schedule, but it'll happen sometime in 2006. As a bonus, Schultz promised that Oracle CEO Larry Ellison will not be joining the winner.
Space Adventures made headlines three years ago when it launched businessman Dennis Tito into orbit for a fee of $20 million, making him the first space tourist. The company has since attracted a number of competitors looking to privatize space flight, most notably Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne, which earlier this year won the $10 million Ansari X Prize for successfully building and flying a reusable launch vehicle.
British entrepreneur and adventurer Richard Branson has also entered the fray with his new Virgin Galactic venture.
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In the past few years, many companies were affected by the less than ideal economic conditions, and many instances, small businesses were hit harder than most. For these companies, the ability to be nimble and quickly adapt to changing economic conditions can be the difference between failure and success. However, there's an equally important factor that affects the fate of a small business: its employees.
Certainly employees and talent are the backbone of any company, but for small businesses -- particularly those with 50 or fewer employees -- their role can be even more crucial with right balance of skills and personalities having the ability to make or break a small business. Quite simply, the best business strategy in the world doesn't mean anything without the right people to execute it. That's why, more so now than ever, it's critical to carefully consider every hire and make sure each employee fulfills the right role needed for overall success.
When it comes to staffing your small business, here are the five employee "types" every company should have:
The Mentor: Many small businesses lack the formal training-and-development programs available in larger organizations, but that doesn't mean that your junior employees shouldn't have an opportunity to learn on the job. Fortunately, there are certain people who are born to teach -- even if it's not in the traditional classroom. Having a few employees on-hand who genuinely want to share their knowledge with others can take a load off small-business owners' minds. Not only does it eliminate the extra cost of hiring outside trainers, but it also offers a layer of institutional knowledge that only people on the inside of a company possess.
These company "teachers" can extend beyond just the technical skills and share some of the things that are unique to a business -- the culture, processes and how they fit into the business strategy. This education ultimately helps groom the next generation of leaders for the company, which also carries the added benefit of supporting the development of a succession plan, something that is typically challenging for small-business owners.
The Knowledge Seeker: Not every employee is born to lead, or wants to -- and that's OK. What's more important is that there are employees on staff who have a passion for the business and a thirst for knowledge. Such employees aren't satisfied with just knowing enough to do their jobs. They want to continue learning, whether it's on the job, through extra training courses or even graduate school. This type of attitude is something that can rub off on other employees and perhaps inspire them to further their education in some way. Additionally, this employee can also keep the larger team up to speed on the latest industry trends or technical advancements, always a good thing for staying current.
The Renaissance Man (or Woman): Small-business owners often wear many hats -- from chief executive to human-resources manager, so it helps to have employees on staff that are as equally multifaceted. People who can dabble in several different areas of the company -- pinch-hitters -- can be immensely valuable. Small-business bosses can become overwhelmed at the sheer amount of work to do at various points throughout the year, with limited staff to tap into to get it all done. So, with others to juggle some of the duties, owners can focus on growth and strategy.
Related: How to Afford Your First Hire
The Morale Booster: For every small business that has managed to thrive despite the economic downturn, there are several more that have had an unbelievably hard time staying afloat. Working for a company that is going through financial hardships can have a severely negative impact on employee morale. That's why it's imperative to have some people on staff that can find the bright spots in what may seem like the most hopeless situation. It may not change the company's fortunes, but it can have a positive effect on employee psyche and culture, which has an impact on day-to-day business.
The Challenger: Having employees that support management's decisions 100 percent is never a bad thing, but it's also good to have a few people around you who will speak out and challenge the status quo -- or even a direction the company is considering. Surrounding yourself with "yes men" doesn't have any benefit for you as the owner or the business in general, simply because obviously not every idea is brilliant. Instead, what you want to cultivate is an atmosphere of healthy debate and discussion to be sure your business has strong strategies and ideas. Every now and then we all need a reality check -- and the people who are living and breathing your business on a daily basis are just the ones to give it.
Managing any size business these days isn't easy because of the financial pressures all are facing, and many would argue that small businesses have even more at stake. By ensuring that your company has these five types of employees, you can rest assured that your employee mix will be a competitive advantage that can be leveraged to achieve success.
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The 8-pin solution, which replaces the 30-pin tech for the iPhone 5 handset (available Friday), costs Apple an average of $3.50 (£2.15) per device, compared to $0.40 (£0.24) for the 30-pin connector.
That's an 775 percent increase in costs, KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said.
He also said the introduction of Lightning is the biggest increase in iPhone manufacturing costs for Apple.
The Lightning cable itself costs Apple $6.00 (£3.63) a head, Kuo revealed, which is up 233 percent from the $1.80 (£1.10) it was paying suppliers for every 30-pin cable.
The analyst said these escalating costs are a result of the newness of the Lightning technology, which makes it more difficult and expensive to manufacture at this early stage of its lifespan.
This early investment, the cost of which will fall dramatically in years to come, should mean that Apple is unlikely to be in any rush to replace it once again.
Kuo estimated that the Lightning connector will be around for at least five years and perhaps as long as a decade, which would match the lifespan of the 30-pin technology that was introduced in 2003.
Apple will also make money back from licensing the tech to accessory-makers, who're sure to be plotting a host of new speaker docks, adapters, and charging solutions as we speak.
Via Apple Insider
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Southeast Alaska News
ANCHORAGE — An orphaned polar bear cub that arrived at the Alaska Zoo two months ago will soon depart for a new adventure: meeting another young cub at the Buffalo Zoo.
Kali (KUL’-ee) made his final Alaska zoo appearance Monday. He will be flown by UPS from Anchorage to the company hub in Louisville, Ky., and then New York, with arrival in Buffalo expected Wednesday. A play date with Luna, a nearly six-month old cub born to an adult female at the zoo, could follow in about two weeks.
The first small cruise ships of the year arrived in Petersburg last week. The local visitor industry is expecting about a 15 percent increase over last year in the number of port calls to town. Viking Travel President Dave Berg helps arrange services for those ships and their passengers, as well as independent travelers who visit town on their own.
According to Berg, the outlook continues to improve for the local visitor industry which lost a lot of business with the 2010 closure of Cruise West. That company once dominated local port calls. Berg spoke with Matt Lichtenstein about the 2013 season:
For mobile-friendly audio, click here.
The herring sac roe harvest in Seymour Canal off Southern Admiralty Island closed at 4pm Saturday and just a handful of gillnetters kept fishing until the very end. According to Alaska Fish and Game biologist Scott Forbes, the total catch was an estimated 727 tons. That’s roughly 70 percent of the guideline harvest level.
Forbes says there were only eight to ten boats still fishing by the closure on Saturday.
The fishery opened Wednesday night with 56 permit holders and four buyers on the grounds. By Friday morning, they had caught around 600 tons. Boats started leaving after that as catches declined significantly and it looked like the major spawning event was done.
The fish are targeted for their roe sacs and the department tries to open herring fisheries just before the major spawn, when the females are the ripest with eggs and large schools of fish mass near the beach.
Forbes thinks the state timed the opening right and he says it went smoothly. According to preliminary reports, this year’s roe content averaged 12 to 14 percent which is good. Forbes says the participants were happy with the quality of the fish.
Biologists saw a total of 8 miles of spawn after the fishery was over according to Forbes, who says that looks good for the next generation of herring. It’s more than last year’s 6 miles of spawn but below the ten year average of 12.5 miles. About two miles of the milky-colored water was inside Seymour itself and the rest was outside in Stephens Passage to the east of the Glass Peninsula.
Overall, this years participation was about average for the past decade, but much higher than the last few years when prices were low. Last year, Gillnetters never got to fish at Seymour. They waited on the grounds for a few weeks and there were herring, but biologists said the fish never schooled up enough to allow for an opening.
This year, the fleet went on notice and headed to the grounds just a couple days before the fishery opened.
Seymour was the only herring harvest for Southeast Gillnetters this year.
Eighth-graders from Ketchikan and Prince of Wales Island will gather at Schoenbar Middle School and the UAS Tech Center all day Thursday for the fifth annual Career Fair.
The event will feature 10 stations, at which the kids can spend half an hour talking with a professional about their career. The students also can try an activity, such as mining for gold, running a TV camera or trying on a survival suit.
Some of the organizations that will offer presentations are the local police and fire departments, state troopers, Coast Guard, Vigor Industrial and the UAF Marine Advisory Program.
The event is cosponsored by the University of Alaska Southeast Ketchikan campus, Schoenbar Middle School and the Ketchikan Job Center.
Governor Sean Parnell was in Ketchikan Saturday, and came by the KRBD station for an interview. Parnell talked about what Alaska – and specifically Ketchikan – can expect from the rest of this term, and his potential second full term.
Officially, Parnell was in town to be inducted into the local Eagle Killer Whale clan, during a ceremony in the Native village of Saxman. But he made time to talk about everything from capital projects to school funding.
The governor indicated that $15 million approved by the Legislature for upgrades to the Ketchikan Medical Center would remain in the final capital budget.
“The legislature and I worked very hard on setting a spending limit, and they were aligned with me on that,” said Parnell. “It was about 1 billion dollars less than the current fiscal year we’re in. That was in large part to preserve more of our savings for the future — the oil markets are softening, it was time for us to reign in spending overall.”
“Because at this point the legislature met the spending limit I had set, really what I’m looking for is whether there are any projects that should not go forward,” Parnell said. “Certainly in Ketchikan with the hospital being a top priority I’ve been fully supportive of that issue, and don’t see that being an issue. But we’re going through a legal review of what the legislature did, and so the final decisions will be made just prior to about May 22 or so.”
State money for the Medical Center had been in question. The Legislature added it and other local projects to the capital budget after the governor proposed a budget without them. Parnell has line item veto power.
The governor also suggested that he would not support initiatives by borough governments to have the state fund more for schools. He cites the importance of local control.
“I don’t know why the people of Ketchikan would want to give up their management authority, their say, over Ketchikan schools,” Parnell said. “And when you take away that small portion of control of funding, you get what other people tell you you’re gonna have, in this case Juneau or beyond that in Washington. I really do believe the people of Ketchikan know best about what their schools should look like and how their kids should be educated.”
The issue of how schools are funded in Alaska has been a hot topic in Ketchikan this year. The potential loss of federal funds to the borough has drawn attention to how much the state gives to the school district here. Boroughs in Alaska must pay at least 20 percent of school costs, while the state foots the rest. The Borough Assembly passed a resolution earlier calling for the reduction or repeal of that mandate, which would lead the State of Alaska to pay more for schools.
Parnell also reaffirmed his commitment to not retroactively pay back federal funds for schools that the state received earlier this year. He says there is quote “no legal basis” for the federal government to ask for those funds.
The governor, whose first full term in office ends next year, also discussed what he would focus on if re-elected.
“It’s about jobs and families, it’s about creating economic opportunity, it’s about strengthening families, so Alaskans can expect that,” Parnell said.
Parnell, who recently announced his intention to run for re-election, says he is consistent both personally and politically, and that Alaskans can expect more of the same in the future.
The governor also says it is a quote “tremendous honor” to be inducted into the Eagle Killer Whale clan.
Listen to KRBD later this week for a story on Parnell’s induction ceremony into Eagle Killer Whale.
An air taxi pilot rescued the pair from a debris field estimated to be 20 feet deep. All their belongings were buried in the slide. Their dog remains missing.
Kevin Knox, 41, and his girlfriend Maggie Gallin, 28, were staying at Redoubt Lake, a popular Forest Service recreation cabin about 15 miles southeast of Sitka.
The cabin is located at the head of the valley, and is surrounded by steep mountain slopes and rocky cliffs that climb 4,000 feet above the surface of the lake.
Knox says the mountainside behind the cabin was showing signs of instability the previous evening.
“There’d been a lot of rock activity from this slide that was off back behind the cabin, all night on Saturday night. I was just kind of watching it. It was just small rocks kind of tumbling off and making a lot of racket.”
“We had just tied the boat up and Maggie was in the cabin, and it just let loose — a huge piece off of the side of the mountain. I yelled for Maggie to run, to get out of the cabin. We started running down the beach.”
Redoubt Lake is a glacier-carved fjord. It’s just a few feet above sea level. What passes for a beach there is a narrow strip of pebbles. Knox and Gallin did not have much room to make their escape as old growth timber, mud, and rock began to press down the valley.
“We were running along the lakeshore and got thrown into the water, trees kind of toppling on top of us. We both popped up three or four feet from each other. Then we got our wits about us and just tried to hunker down.”
They also spent time calling for Luna, Knox’s ten-year-old Border Collie.
“She was in between Maggie and I as we were running down the beach. I think she thought it was a little bit of a game because I was shouting, Run run!, Go! and she jumped up and nipped at my sleeve. So I know she was right there. I kept laying in bed last night thinking, How did we get through it, and she didn’t?”
The couple flew back to look for Luna on Monday morning, but there was no sign of her. Because of the instability of the slide area, the pilot chose not not to land the float plane. The slide originated 600 feet up the mountainside and is about 200 yards wide. The lake’s inlet stream — Knox says — is beginning to carve a new channel through the debris field.
Knox is grateful to Harris Air, and pilot Mark Hackett in particular, for putting his plane down and looking for them on Sunday in marginal conditions. Knox says he signalled Hackett by waving his bright yellow raincoat.
At about 10:30 p.m. Sunday, Ketchikan Troopers received a 911 call from a 35-year-old Georgia man, reporting that he and his 14-year-old son were stranded near the Harris River Drainage near Hollis on Prince of Wales Island.
The two were members of a five-person black bear hunting party, all from the Lower 48. The other three hunters had dropped them off, and then taken the skiff to the head of 12 Mile Arm to hunt, and were two hours overdue to pick up the man and his son. Weather conditions were deteriorating, and the man said nobody in the group had gear to spend the night outdoors.
Klawock Troopers went to Hollis and borrowed a boat for a hasty search. At about 12:15 a.m., the man and his son were found and picked up. Troopers continued toward the head of 12 Mile Arm, where they found the other three hunters.
Investigation shows that the outgoing tide had stranded the skiff on the beach, and by the time the tide had come up enough to refloat the vessel, it was too dark for the three hunters to navigate back.
All members of the hunting group were safely escorted to Hollis, and no injuries were reported.
Participants in Rotary’s Group Study Exchange speak on Morning Edition. The group from Brazil are in Alaska to learn and share knowledge about water research and sanitation. RotaryGSE
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game on Monday announced the lingcod sportfishing season for southern Southeast Alaska starts May 16 and lasts through November 30th.
According to Fish and Game, the bag limit for residents is one daily, two in possession, with no size limit.
Nonresidents can catch one daily, one in possession, and an annual limit of two fish.
There is a size limit for nonresidents of 30 inches or longer, but less than 45 inches; or 55 inches or longer. For the annual limit of two fish, one must be 30 to 45 inches long, and the other longer than 55 inches.
Nonresidents also must record all lingcod harvested on the back of their sportfishing license, or on a nontransferable harvest record.
For more information, contact the nearest ADF&G office or visit: www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fishingSportFishingInfo.eonr
JUNEAU — An historic house in downtown Juneau that has undergone more than $500,000 in recent renovations could one day serve as a home-away-from-home for Alaska’s lieutenant governor.
Lawmakers added language to the state operating budget saying they want the Department of Natural Resources to negotiate with the governor’s office to establish the House of Wickersham State Historic Site as lodging for the lieutenant governor when he or she is in the capital city. The department manages the site.
KENAI — Harriet Moravec retired in 1985. But it didn’t last forever.
Her retirement fund shriveled up, “and then in 2008 the government had fun with what was left,” Moravec said.
So what else could she do? About nine months ago, after more than 25 years out of the workforce, the 90-year-old Kenai resident got a job.
And she’s quite happy.
“It’s great. I don’t care. I could care less. As long as I can keep my body in great shape,” she said.
ANCHORAGE — Nurses Monica Negaard and Linda Hackenbruch can be found together on Alaska Regional Hospital’s critical care unit much of the time these days, their Dansko clogs clopping on the floor in unison as they visit patients.
Normally a new nursing school graduate like Negaard wouldn’t start her career by caring for some of the hospital’s most acutely ill patients. But Negaard has been paired with Hackenbruch, who has been a nurse for 30 years and in the critical care unit for 15, as part of Alaska Regional Hospital’s first registered nurse residency.
FAIRBANKS — The long search is over. After 56 years, the grave of the late Fort Yukon Chief Esias Loola has been located in Washington state and plans are in the making to return his remains to the Yukon River village to be buried next to his wife, Katherine, and his stepson, John Stevens.
Loola was a beloved chief, well known and respected for his generosity, hard work and humanitarianism.
Loola and his wife, Katherine, took in many orphan children during their lifetime when death from flu, measles or tuberculosis, was commonplace.
A Southeast village Native corporation wants to export its cultural tourism expertise. It’s opened a consulting business to build on more than a dozen years in the business.
Huna Totem Corporation has more than 1,300 shareholders with ties to the Tlingit village of Hoonah, about 40 miles west of Juneau.
It places cultural interpreters onboard cruise ships sailing the ancestral homeland of Glacier Bay. It also presents educational programs at the national park’s lodge, the jumping-off point for many visitors.
Now, those efforts have a different name and goals.
“Alaska Native Voices is going to be an expansion of what we are currently working on,” says Mark McKernan, who heads up what Huna Totem used to call its Interpretive Services Department.
“We’re going to now provide consulting services for other cultural interests, Native groups, small communities and what have you. We’ll provide these services to them to help them answer the big questions of how do they start, where do they start and what goals should they be aiming for,” he says.
A number of other Alaska Native corporations and tribal entities use cultural tourism to make money and employ shareholders or members. (Scroll down for links to some other cultural tours.)
But McKernan says others are looking for help.
“What we have learned and what we can pass on is just as relevant in Southeast Alaska as it would be in Costa Rica or somewhere on the East Coast or the Midwest,” he says.
Alaska Native Voices began operations early this month.
McKernan says it has no formalized consulting agreements. But several groups have expressed interest and are discussing options.
Rosita Worl, president of the Juneau-based Sealaska Heritage Institute, says Hoonah Totem is well-equipped for the business.
“I think they have the experience. They’ve got the professional background and business experience in it. And I think they’ve done a great job in terms of trying to educate people about their culture and their history and meanwhile making a profit,” Worl says.
Huna Totem’s heritage guides are scheduled to be on about 200 cruise ships this year. That includes the Holland America Line, which sails large ships, and Alaskan Dream and Lindblad Expeditions, which operate much smaller vessels.
McKernan says cultural tourism programs need to tap traditional knowledge — and not just be another stop on the road.
“We do consult regularly with elders and others in the community and develop resources for these cultural guides to be able to grow and expand their knowledge base,” he says.
Huna Totem operates its own attraction, Icy Strait Point, which expects about 135,000 cruise passengers this year. Traditional culture is part of most of its excursions and programs.
McKernan says Icy Strait managers could also consult with other businesses interested in similar developments.
Learn about some other Alaska Native cultural tourism programs:
- Goldbelt Corporation, Juneau.
- Cape Fox Corporation, Saxman, near Ketchikan.
- Sitka Tribe of Alaska.
- Alaska Native Heritage Center, Anchorage.
- Chilkat Indian Village, near Haines.
- Wrangell Tours.
Do you want your local cultural tour listed here? Email the website link to firstname.lastname@example.org.
Sealaska is making more money.
Southeast Alaska’s regional Native corporation says it brought in almost $312 million during 2012.
That’s close to 20 percent more than the previous year — and the largest amount from the past five years.
The numbers are for total income, also called gross revenues.
Sealaska’s profits, or net revenue, are $11.3 million for 2012.
That’s 40 percent more than 2011. But it’s lower than the previous two years.
The numbers are in Sealaska’s 2012 annual report, which was released Friday. The Juneau-based corporation has about 21,000 shareholders. Corporate officials were not immediately available for comment.
More than half Sealaska’s 2012 gross revenues were in the service sector, including environmental contracting and security.
About a quarter came from manufacturing, mainly plastics factories in the Lower 48 and Mexico.
A little less than a fifth of the overall earnings came from natural resources, including timber and gravel operations. The rest was from investments.
The manufacturing, service and investments had higher profits than the previous year. But natural resource profits dropped. We’ll take a closer look at some of those business sectors in a future report.
Sealaska Corp. saw both its gross revenues and net income rise considerably in 2012 from the previous year, according to an annual report released to Sealaska shareholders Thursday.
According to the 2012 annual report, Sealaska’s consolidated gross revenues went from $263.7 million in 2011 to $311.6 million in 2012, while its net income almost doubled, going from $6.7 million in 2011 to $11.3 million in 2012.
The data comes from an independent audit of Sealaska’s finances conducted by KPMG LLP, a Seattle-based firm.
ANCHORAGE — Dallas Seavey knows what it’s like to mush across the wilds of Alaska. Now it remains to be seen how he survives being dropped off in the middle of that wilderness and navigates his way out without the help of a dog team.
Seavey, 26, who became the youngest Iditarod champion ever when he won the 1,000-mile sled dog race across Alaska last year, is among eight mushers or outdoor adventurers featured in the latest reality show set in Alaska.
“Ultimate Survival Alaska” premieres Sunday (10 p.m. EST) on the National Geographic Channel.
ANCHORAGE— Two names have been added to the Alaska Police Memorial: Manokotak Village public safety officer Thomas Madole and Alaska State Trooper Tage Toll.
At a ceremony at the state’s new crime lab in Anchorage on Friday, 64 names were read, joined by the ringing of a bell to mark each one, in honor of Alaska Police Memorial Day, KTUU-TV reported.
Troopers say Madole was fatally shot by Leroy B. Dick Jr. during a March 19 confrontation, when Madole responded to reports that Dick was suicidal. Dick has been charged with first-degree murder.
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Nathan Lemphers — Sept. 22, 2010
Last week we released our report, Toxic Liability, detailing how Albertans could be left on the hook for a $10- to $15-billion cleanup bill for the mess left behind from oilsands mining operations. Understandably, the report drew some attention, but what we're really hoping for is action ... and for that, we're still waiting.
Granted, we were pleased with Alberta Environment's acknowledgement of the problem.
"Do we have enough money in our current security program as a backstop? No. We know we need to have a more robust system in place," said Chris Bourdeau, spokesman for Alberta Environment.
Bourdeau's statement was encouraging, to be sure, but it's not breaking news. Alberta's Auditor General has drawn attention to the problem four times over the last 11 years. The problem is pretty simple — the government has not collected enough money from oilsands operators to cover cleanup costs.
Oilsands mine operators are required to post what amounts to a damage deposit to the government in case the operator is unable or unwilling to pay to reclaim land that's been disturbed by its mining activities, but based on our conservative estimates, what's been collected falls between $10- and $15-billion short — a liability for Alberta taxpayers.
The Government of Alberta is creating a new policy, but even Mr. Bourdeau holds out little hope it will fix the situation. He says the province wants "to ensure that industry has a system that doesn't necessarily come out and penalize [oilsands operators] quickly by increasing a fund dramatically."
It raises the question: Are oilsands operators' interests being put ahead of the collective interests of Albertans? And if so, why?
This new policy is being developed behind closed doors with industry. In researching Toxic Liability, we spoke with many groups who had been consulted regarding the new policy including Suncor, Shell, Syncrude, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), the Oilsands Developers Group, the Alberta Chamber of Resources and numerous other private sector consultants. None of these groups would comment on their involvement with the new mine liability policy.
We even wrote to Alberta Environment Minister Rob Renner, and he declined to comment on the revamped policy or to hear any of the Pembina Institute's concerns.
Stakeholders representing multiple interests should be involved in reworking the policy, such as environmental groups, taxpayers, First Nations and industry.
Industry perspectives on oilsands reclamation aren't representative of all stakeholders, as evidenced in CAPP's response to our report last week:
"As the mining progresses, they pick up a shovel full of material. And when they're finished, they put it back in the same place," said Greg Stringham, vice-president of markets and oilsands for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.
Reclaiming an oilsands mine is, however, much more complex than what CAPP suggests. What kind of feedback on reclamation security has industry been giving the government?
A flawed system that currently favours industry won't be fixed by creating a new system behind closed doors with industry. It also can't be fixed if the Government of Alberta continues to approve additional oilsands projects without having the facts about the projected liabilities before them. French energy giant, Total, currently has an application before the government for an oilsands mine that fails to mention the liabilities that will be created by their project.
It's time to take reclamation security to the next level. The system is broken — let's fix it before approving any new oilsands mines.
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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that rate courts can take into account direct license rates when determining reasonable royalties due to performing rights organizations in Broadcast Music Inc. v. DMX, Inc., Case Nos. 10-3429; 11-127 (2d Cir., June 13, 2012) (Chin, J.).
The American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) are performing rights organizations, which each represent songwriters, composers and publishers who hold copyrights in musical works. They negotiate agreements that grant licensees the right to perform their members’ copyrighted songs. DMX is a commercial music provider that provides music services locations such as restaurants and retail stores.
The United States previously brought antitrust actions against both ASCAP and BMI that resulted in consent decrees providing certain protections for prospective music licensees. Under these agreements, if a prospective licensee and ASCAP and BMI reach an impasse, either may petition the district court to set a “reasonable” licensing fee.
Such an impasse was reached separately between DMX and both ASCAP and BMI. A significant cause of this impasse was DMX’s recent practice of negotiating direct licenses with ASCAP and BMI members. DMX proposed a blanket license that incorporated its direct licensing program into its proposed fee structure and relied on its negotiated rates with direct licenses to arrive at a reasonable royalty amount. ASCAP’s first proposed a blanket license that did not take into DMX’s direct licensing program. ASCAP’s alternative proposal and BMI’s proposal both accounted to some extent for DMX’s direct licensing program, but both gave more weight to other court-mandated reasonable royalties reached with DMX’s competitors, none of which engaged in direct licensing. In both cases the district court adopted DMX’s proposals. ASCAP and BMI appealed.
On appeal, ASCAP and BMI argued that the district court erred by adopting DMX’s reliance on its direct licenses.
First, ASCAP argued that a rates structure with an adjustable carve-out for direct licenses conflicted with its consent order. The 2d Circuit disagreed, finding that although the consent order defined four specific types of licenses and did not specifically provide for an blanket license with a carve out, it also stated nothing “shall prevent ASCAP and any music user from agreeing on any other form of license.” This language permitted a blanket license subject to carve-outs to account for direct licensing.
Second, both ASCAP and BMI argued that the district court erred by using DMX’s direct licensing agreement with music publishers as a benchmark and that their licenses with DMX’s competitors were more accurate benchmarks. The appeals court rejected this contention, finding that ASCAP’s and BMI’s agreements with DMX’s competitors were not an accurate assessment of the competitive market as to DMX. Noting “that the rates set by the ASCAP and BMI rate courts were comparatively lower than those historically obtained by ASCAP and BMI is of no moment given ASCAP and BMI’s longstanding market power and the industry’s changing economic landscape,” the 2d Circuit affirmed the lower courts reliance on DMX’s direct licenses as a more reasonable benchmark of the competitive market.
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Reclaiming Our Heritage is a free living history celebration held at the National Soldiers Home Historic District on the campus of the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The multi-era encampment takes place annually on the weekend after Memorial Day. On May 30-31, 2009, the weekend will pay tribute to military medical personnel of all eras, with a special focus on modern military servicemen and women and on the mission of the VA Medical Center.
Reclaiming Our Heritage is hosted by the staff of the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center. The VA Medical Center was one of the three original branches of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers established after the Civil War. The campus also contains the VA Benefits Administration and a National Cemetery.
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Welcome back to our second session in this series! Today we are going to get started on our transformation, covering everything up until the last coat of paint (Hint: that isn't the last step for me). This step by step process is my ritual for every single thing that passes through my workshop, and as I've said there are probably many, many variations and opinions on this. But it's worked well for me for the last 3 years on hundreds of items so I think it will probably work for you.
So get your brushes out and let's get rolling!
We've covered the tools and what to look for when hunting down your next transformation and now we are going to take that old furniture and give it new life (missed last week's class? Catch up here!). For today's class I am going to take this little wood cupboard from this:
As well as cover how this:
Let's start at the very top! You've brought home your furniture, now what? The first step is to find a workspace. It can be inside your garage, out in your yard or on the drive way. The only things that are completely necessary are that it is warmer than 4 degrees C or 40 degrees F, and that you have good ventilation. The reason that the temperature matters is that paint needs to be at that temperature to cure properly. If it is too cold then it may flake, bubble, etc.
Once you've settled into a good spot here is what our steps are.
1. Check the piece over to see if any small damage needs to be repaired such as loose hinges, door catches or drawer glides. These are easy and quick problems to solve with a screw driver, fix as necessary. If your piece is in good condition the first thing I do is remove the old hardware. If you like it then store it in a bag or somewhere it will stay clean until we're done. If you don't like it then we will give ourselves a clean slate to choose new hardware by filling all old holes with wood filler/putty.
It is important to slather it on with a putty knife pretty generously. Why? depending on the temperature you apply it at and how long it takes to dry you can get a little shrinkage. Here you can see where the old holes were and that the putty has sort of bubbled out then shrunk in. If I didn't apply a lot of putty the shrinkage would have required another application otherwise the holes would still be visible.
I don't usually worry about filling holes on the inside of drawers since sanding can be awkward and dust from putty is very fine and would make a lot of clean up work inside the drawers.
Often it will take a full day for the putty to fully harden, even when the outside feels dry. So just be patient! I find that when I rush things it usually causes more work in the end so it is best to just do it right.
Once the putty is fully dry it is time to sand it down. Using our electric sander and some fine, 320 grit sand paper we will gently sand it.
You can see that we went very gently because it didn't wear down the wood all that much and our hole is nice and flush with the wood now! Don't worry about how much putty is left behind as long as it feels nice and smooth/even.
Often old hardware can leave many indentations besides just the holes so it helps to always get coverage on the areas surrounding it as well.
All the white spots were dents left behind from hardware.
Now that our holes are filled we are going to get the rest of the piece ready for paint! Using 220 grit sand paper we are going to use the electric sander to scuff up the rest of the furniture. If you are working on a piece of furniture that is unfinished already (like many pine pieces are) then you do not have to worry about this step. This is just for those items that have already had lacquer or a finished surface.
Many people spend A LOT of time stripping down the old finish and this is absolutely not necessary for painted furniture. If you are going to attempt a bleached wood finished or some other raw wood look then you will have to dedicate yourself to stripping it (which we will cover in week 4), but for simple paint finishes you are just wasting your valueble time.
We just want to create a rough surface for the primer to adhere nicely to! I always sand the entire piece, but focus specifically in making the upper surface and all edges/corners good and rough.
The reason I recommend using 220 grit instead of a lower, rougher sandpaper is that we want our final product to have a soft, smooth finish and sometimes rougher papers leave very fine but noticeable swirls after a pass with the electric sander. So it may take a little longer with the finer paper but the final product is worth it.
I would recommend spending a solid 20 to 30 minutes on this step for a piece this size and probably 30 -40 minutes for most dressers.
Give your piece a good cleaning after all that sanding. I usually take a damp cloth and do 2 wipe downs then let it dry. It is important to clean well in all the corners and along any ledges. Over time little spills that have accumulated may not be that visible but once your paint is on every so often an old soda spill may seep through and stain your beautiful finished product. So take a few extra minutes to get it squeaky clean now!
We've brought our ugly furniture home, made it even uglier over the last few steps, and now it is time to see it get pretty! Our next step is to prime it.
I am a huge fan of Kilz primer and strictly use the cans. But you can use any primer. The only requirements that I have of my primers are that they are oil based. There are a lot of good water or latex based primers out there but I like to feel confident that I am getting the best possible blockage of stains.
"What stains?" you ask? For the most part it is keeping all old stains and smells from years of use inside (a big bonus when you have an item formerly owned by smokers) but wood also has a lot of oil in it and over time it can potential stain your paint finish from the inside out. So oil based primer is just good insurance that your hard work won't be compromised later. If you are working on unfinished wood this is doubly important and in these cases I usually prefer using a shelac finish to keep the oil contained (which I did for each and every plank of our pine ceiling in the kitchen, a solid weeks worth of painting!).
Keep in mind that when you prime with white it doesn't really matter when you are also painting with white or if you are painting a color but not planning on distressing . But if you are planning on painting with another color than white and also distressing you will see the white primer as you sand down. It is just a personal preferance, but I like the white showing through.
IF YOU DON'T want white showing through your distressing then you need purchase canned primer and have it tinted the same color as your paint!
Similar to the sanding step, don't feel like you need to get 100% even coverage and a perfect finish.
I like to prime and paint the inside of cupboards as well, but usually leave the inside of drawers as is.
Our old holes turned out great! No bumps, cracks or unevenness.
Up until now we have all used the same products and followed the same process. Here is where we can take 2 different roads. I like to personally spray my furniture with a spray gun attachment for an air compressor. The only real benefit to this route is that it saves me time. Many people assume that it also gives you a much smoother finish but in reality it isn't the case and doesn't save any time in that department because we will ensure it is smooth after the paint is dry (we'll cover that in next weeks class). Obviously spraying can seem like an intimidating project if you don't have experience with it and I could easily spend a whole class just on tools and techniques for that (which I may if there seems to be demand) so we will cover this step as if we all had a brush and roller in hand.
BIG WhiteBerry misconception: Everything I paint is white or grey.
Client projects are almost always colorful! I prefer to use flat latex paint but really any type of latex paint will work nicely.
In a small tub or bowl I recommend pouring your paint then watering it down slightly in a mix of 1 part water per 6 parts paint. The end result is that it may take an extra coat of paint because your coats are thinner, but you also will not be leaving a noticeable brush strokes or roller dimples.
This is where it can be time intensive, and a lot of time is spent waiting for paint to dry but if you do multiple light/thin coats your final product will feel much more even and you will not have to worry about pesky drip marks and runs.
Final coat done! Of course this isn't where the transformation ends, but it is already looking like a new piece of furniture.
Next week we are going to cover the finishing steps, including distressing and sealing it up. If you are not planning on distressing your item there will still be lots of tips on getting that silky finish and how to seal it up with different finishes (satin, gloss, etc.)
Until next Friday!
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By Quentin Fottrell
The latest trend in gravestones is to change “here lies” to “here links.” Barcodes much like the ones being slapped on advertisements and billboards are being affixed to headstones to provide mourners ways to connect with the dead online. Forget-me-nots and pansies may wilt, but websites live forever.
After scanning or photographing the “QR” code with a cell phone, people can instantly connect with a website tribute page for a loved one, showing all their favorite music, memories, photographs and videos. Some even include playlists of the deceased’s most beloved songs on iTunes. Aaron Sorensen, a chemist and engineer from Salt Lake City, Utah, bought a barcode for his grandparent’s dual gravestone Alva and Virgie Sorensen, and for the benefit of their 21 grandchildren: “It’s a tribute to them to remember the sacrifices they made to give me a better life.”
These “living memorials” are the next step in the so-called Internet footprint that most of us will leave behind. They even made the Doonesbury cartoon strip on October 16. (It says: “Welcome to the Digital Afterlife of Daisy Doonesbury.” Wisely, Daisy has a “monitored” comments page because in life she had a lot of “frenemies.”) But people buy them when they are planning their own funeral, too. Gravestone barcodes allow people to be the editorial director of their own online obituary, long before their corpse is in the hands of a funeral director. There’s also the option to share stories from beyond the grave and provide your family’s genealogy for strangers.
The barcodes were only recently made possible with the marriage of smartphones, QR barcodes and websites. David Quiring, president of Quiring Monuments in Seattle, Wa., charges $65, but says they now come free with any monument. Hudson Gunn, president of Code_It Barcodes in Orem, Utah, is in talks with national cemeteries and war memorials. “Demand has been phenomenal,” he says. He charges $50 for a barcode, which is secured to the gravestone by adhesive, and hosts the tribute page on his own server for free. And if he closes? “Heaven forbid,” he says. “In that case we’ll give families all the information.”
Most demand is national, but companies say they’ve also sold hundreds of barcodes to Asia, Australia and Europe, too. (One man in Ireland just bought six from Gunn.) Sorensen says his grandfather Alva took part in the Normandy landings during World War II when 95% of his platoon died; his grandmother Virgie was one of the longest living patients (28 years) with a kidney transplant. They both died in their 70s in 1999. What would they think? “They were very humble,” he says, “but they were big on family and this keeps the memories of those who have been great influence in our lives alive.”
See more video on living headstones here.
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Situated in southern Italy, in the region of Campania in the Napoli province is the well-known town of Naples. With a population of 1,207,000, this bustling city is one of most popular cities in Italy. Its historical monuments date back to 3,000 years ago. The city has a wonderful bay with exquisite views of the Procida, Ischia and Capri Islands. It is not very far from the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompei. For an exciting and adventurous weekend, Naples is a great vacation getaway. The town’s churches are mainly of Rococo and Baroque architecture with a few Gothic structures that still remain. The Archbishop’s Palace, the Baroque Church of Santa Maria Donnaregina and Chiesa del Gesù Nuovo are some of Naple’s well-known religious structures. The Catacombs of San Gennaro are truly fascinating to visit. Naples has one of the finest Roman Empire museums in the entire world, the Museo Nazionale.
Naples is also the place where the first Pizza Margherita was made and the city is full of cheaps restaurant and Pizzerie where you will taste the real Pizza.
Naples hotels have all the amenities you need for a pleasant visit. The hotels in Naples are some of the best hotels in Italy. With regards to discount hotels, Naples has many to choose from. In Naples, cheap hotels are in abundance. At EasyToBook.com you can make your reservation at any time.
Please provide this reference number to our customer service center representative on request, so we can help you better
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For those who haven’t, let me tell you about his amazing story and why many Thais and foreigners from all over the world are lining up as early as 4 a.m. in front of his clinic to see this retired 92 year-old doctor.
Dr. Sommai made a name for himself for his herbal medicine which has been approved by the Thai Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat inflammation of the lymph nodes; many believe this treatment can cure their illnesses like cancer.
“Even though I retired a long time ago, I still want to treat patients. I want to help them ease the pain of cancer and give them the courage to fight their diseases and hopefully extend their life”; these are the touching words of Dr. Sommai.
Dr. Sommai recently received the National Model Citizen Award in the Social Development field which was granted by Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn.
Dr. Sommai explains, “My herbal medicine doesn’t get rid of cancer but it simply allows patients to live longer. To fully get rid of cancer is hard to say. I have had patients with severe wounds on their legs and burning mouth ulcers, I’ve treated them and it progressively got better.”
One of Dr. Sommai’s patients is Simon Adrianuss from the Netherland who lives in Banglamung. Simon is 71 years old and suffers from cancer on his right leg and also has prostate cancer. He revealed, “I was admitted to a hospital in Holland. The doctor told me that they had to cut my right leg off because of the cancer. After I found that out, my condition got worse because I was depressed. I couldn’t eat and my right leg was aching badly. Deep down I didn’t want to have my leg cut off. One day, a friend of mind told me about Dr. Sommai so I decided to travel to Thailand because I believed in him and had nothing else to loose anyway. When I met Dr. Sommai he examined and assured me that my leg didn’t need to be cut off. Dr. Sommai gave me some medicine tablets and my illness got better gradually. Overtime, the wound from the cancer on my right leg healed and I was able to use my leg again. His fee was very cheap compared to other hospitals in which I have paid thousands and thousands of baht and received no improvements.”
When we asked Dr. Sommai why he decided to focus on Thai traditional herbal medicine he said, “I was always a medical doctor. In the past, the only treatment for cancer patients was either surgery or chemotherapy. It came to my realization that after the cancer patient received surgery or chemotherapy, they tend to not live very long. When I was studying, I experimented with herbal medicine on rats and rabbits and realized that Thai medicine has many great benefits. Then I decided to study herbal medicine seriously in hopes of being able to treat cancer patients. Though at that time I was working at Siriraj Hospital (where His Majesty the King is now) so I didn’t have a lot of time to devote to it.” 1
“In 1955, I was a director at Singburi Hospital so I had more time to study herbal medicine. In 1965, I came across one patient who said he had cancer but medical evidence doesn’t show that he had it. I was very confused so I asked him and he told me that he was taking herbal medicine. When I heard that I remembered it because it was within my interest,” he continued.
“In 1992, I came across one patient who was suffering from cancer. One of the hospitals in Bangkok told him that there was no cure or no treatment that would help him anymore, and for him to come and count the days until his death at home. The symptoms of this patient were very severe. He couldn’t move his mouth and he was drooling all the time with foul odor. There was also a big lump growing inside under his chin. So then I remembered this herbal medical that was I told about before and asked the patient if he wanted to try it. When the patient agreed I contacted the patient I came across in 1965 and asked for the ingredients.”
“The owner of this herbal medicine gave me enough ingredients to make four pots in which one pot can last about 15 days. The owner taught me how to boil the medicine from scratch. Everyday I would drip this medicine into the patients’ mouth and told him not to take any other medicine. To everyone’s surprise, the patient regained movements in his mouth and stopped drooling. The lump shrank and I told him that he needed surgery to cut the rest of the lump off but the patient was Chinese and he didn’t believe in surgery and he passed away eight months after,” Dr. Sommai explains in details.
“After that case, I realize the power of this herbal medicine and asked for the owner’s permission to produce the medicine myself so I could treat patients from my own home. Mr. Chum Wongkasaemrat is the owner of this herbal medicine. He was 100 years old at the time and was in a very good health condition. He can read clearly without the use of glasses. When I went to his house, his wife told me that all he would do all day is boil medicine and that he was working on a ‘never-age’ medicine. I asked him for the ingredients for that as well,” he continued.
Mr. Chum passed away when he was 102 years old. The result of his death was from a car accident and not from any diseases or due to old age. Dr. Sommai said that if he didn’t get hit by a car he would have lived longer. As for the ‘never-age’ medicine Dr. Sommai said amusingly that he lost the ingredients when he was moving house.
After a while Dr. Sommai became better known for the herbal medicine and many patients gathered to see him.
Another one of his patients is Robert Pruce from the United States who is residing in Pattaya. Robert suffers from lung cancer and was receiving treatment from a hospital in Malaysia. He wasn’t getting better and decided to come see Dr. Sommai from a friend’s recommendation. Robert said, “After I took the medicine, overtime, I wasn’t coughing anymore and I could eat again. At the moment the cancer has shrunken. It hasn’t gone away but for it to reduce I was really happy. The cost is very cheap, only 45,000 baht per visit which is nothing compared to what I paid in Malaysia. I am very impressed.”
As for Dr. Sommai’s son, Adsawin Thongprasert, he proudly said, “My father really loves his job. On our days off we would make plans to go out but if we open the door and there is a patient then he would cancel all his plans and see the patient. He is so happy when he sees patients getting better.”
Dr. Sommai added, “There are three types of cancer; one I would compare to a burglar. This kind would attack in a surprise way; there are no symptoms and no signs. The second one is what I would refer to as ‘worse than the worst’. For this kind, no matter how hard doctors try to catch it, it would escape and seep through your bloodstream and never stop. The third kind I would compare it as dust. It spreads all over your body and no matter how hard you try to dust it off you can never fully get rid of it.”
Dr. Sommai concluded, “I will continue to treat patients until I am not capable anymore.”
Dr. Sommai’s clinic is located in Angthong province about four hours away from Pattaya. The clinic is open from 6am but the main door opens at around 5am for patients to create a profile and conduct primary examinations. Patients are advised to bring in their medical documents from the hospitals they have visited. For those who cannot travel to the clinic, Dr. Sommai can also come see the patient at their home. There is no closing time for the clinic. Dr. Sommai closes the clinic when he finishes treating the final patient in which some days could be 11pm.
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June 26, 2012
Colorado Wildfires Threaten Navigators' Camps
Well-known Glen Eyrie castle evacuated; camp horses allowed to run free.
Among the Colorado wildfires drawing national attention today, the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs poses an immediate threat to the Navigators’ Glen Eyrie Conference Center and Eagle Lake Camp properties. The blaze, which has spread over 5,000 acres in three days, was only at 5 percent containment today, reports ABC News Colorado.
Hundreds of workers are currently on the ground battling the blaze, which has burned down an Eagle Lake tent platform and come dangerously close to its barn, auto shop, and maintenance director’s home.
“They’ve been praying God would raise walls of protection around the camp,” said Melissa Anderson, a 24-year-old Glen Eyrie resident and friend of Eagle Lake’s maintenance directors. “Apparently, the fire went through the barn area and auto shop and came all the way up to their house, where the firefighters are fighting it off now. They're trying hard to save the camp and the buildings.”
Fortunately, there were no campers Saturday when the blaze broke out, as the camp is now surrounded on three sides by walls of flame. The horses on Eagle Lake property were set loose to run free for fear the flames and smoke would eventually consume them, and the fire currently looms on the lip of the canyon above the Glen Eyrie property.
Though the fire hasn’t yet reached Glen Eyrie, Anderson was evacuated with her sister and 6,000 other El Paso County citizens Saturday, shortly after the fire was first announced.
“The fire started around noon Saturday, and within 40 minutes of the initial announcement we had to leave,” Anderson said. “It was a quick turnaround. We just started throwing random things in tubs, got in my car, and left.”
High winds pose a significant challenge to the fire’s containment, but firefighters are currently on the ground at Eagle Lake and throughout El Paso County, fending off flames that threaten to consume the camp and surrounding woodlands.
“We’re staying with friends in Colorado Springs, and you can see everything –- even the water getting sprayed,” Anderson said. “You can see the flames moving across the ridge -- it’s spreading like crazy.”
Evacuated Navigators employees are currently working out of Focus on the Family’s offices, located several miles northeast of the blaze. The cause of the fire is still unknown, though some sources on the ground suspect arson (ABC News & Paul Asay, CT contributor).
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Published in Physician Business Week, January 31st, 2006
"Primary cystic neoplasms of the pancreas (serous cystic neoplasms, mucinous serous neoplasms, and intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms) are lesions of emerging importance. With the wide availability of modern imaging methods, these neoplasms are being recognized with increasing frequency," scientists in Greece reported.
"Due to the improvement of these sophisticated imaging techniques, it is often possible to differentiate preoperatively these primary pancreatic cystic neoplasms not only from other cystic pancreatic disorders (such as pancreatic...
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Learn more about a six-week, no-risk free trial of Physician Business Week
NewsRx also is available at LexisNexis, Gale, ProQuest, Factiva, Dialog, Thomson Reuters, NewsEdge, and Dow Jones.
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Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Recently, I listened to The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. on audiotape. Surprisingly, the audiotape recently won a Grammy. Not surprising because of this piece of work, but I didn't know they offered Grammys to audio tapes.
The book won the Grammy because, constantly inserted throughout it, it has audio clips of soul singing and his speeches. I couldn't believe how many speeches they have on record. They had at least partial footage of the following speeches and other recordings:
Letter from Birmingham Jail
Address to SCLC
On Rosa Parks
The Eulogy of the Child Martyrs
Freedom is Demanded by the Oppressed
On the LA Riots
On High School
Remaining Awake through a Great Revelation
On Black Power
Why Jesus Called a Man a Fool
Nobel Peace Prize Speech
Rediscovering Lost Values
I've Been to the Mountaintop
I Have a Dream
Why I Must March
The Drum Major Instinct
It was really cool to hear about Martin Luther King Jr. from his own personal accounts. I'm surprised I've never even heard that he has such a book; it's so cool that he was able to record his experiences pretty much up until his death.
I think I enjoyed hearing his speeches the most. He would rise up so much energy from the crowd. People would be responding to every line he said, and sometimes they would be cheering and hollering. To see that one man could cause so much response and so much hope is overpowering. It's a beautiful thing. He's very inspiring, and you can tell his intelligence from his writing and his speeches.
And, he was so bold even after so many threats. I knew that he was threatened, but hearing him talk about the many times that his life (and his family's) would be threatened, it's hard to bear. I am impressed that this didn't stop him on his quest. Actually, he would speak openly about it in his speeches (this probably angered his oppressors). You would think that one might avoid the topic to save oneself, but he was on a mission to make change, and he needed his followers to know that they were not going to bring him, or his mission, down.
I think it is inrcredible that he was offered the Nobel Peace Prize while he was still alive and while so much racism was prevalent in our country. What is really crazy is that, very shortly after he accepted the award, he was thrown in prison. Ironic. He's such a legend but our country throws him in prison. He got his message across and out there, but it just shows how outrageous times were in the south during his lifetime.
Additionally, I think it's honorable that Dr. King decided to dedicate his life to improving conditions in the south. After he graduated college, he was able to accept jobs in the north, where he knew his life would be easier, or in the south, where he knew his life would be harder but he could make more change. King chose the harder path to make more of a difference even though it ultimately lead to his premature death. I would definitely say that is honorable.
King writes all the way back to calling his childhood and pretty much up until the time of his death. They end the audiotape with a recording of him talking about death. He got the message across that he didn't fear death and he was ready to accept it. He had a journey on earth, and he had accomplished very much while he was still alive. He got the ball rolling, and change did happen (even though it is very far from ideal today). If anything, he helped instill hope in his people and he did cause some change in legislation.
What I didn't know and I learned is that King was fascinated and inspired by Gandhi. King took many principles of Gandhi's work and incorporated it into his own. It's pretty obvious that he took his passive resistance method, but I was fascinated to learn that. It makes so much sense!
If anyone is at all interested in King, listening to the audiotape was well worth the time. For History teachers out there, import some of his speeches. He talks about his relationship with Malcolm X, his childhood, the SCLC, and many other famous speeches noted above are quite valuable for the classroom.
So, what do you think of The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr?
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Energy Secretary Steven Chu will resign from President Barack Obama's Cabinet in coming weeks, he told Energy Department staff in a letter on Friday.
Chu, who turns 65 this month, was a leading advocate in the Obama administration for alternative energy development, making him a target of the fossil fuel industry and its conservative supporters in Congress.
He was a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1997 and headed the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and taught at the University of California before becoming energy secretary in 2009.
"I informed the president of my decision a few days after the election that Jean and I were eager to return to California," Chu said in the letter. "I would like to return to an academic life of teaching and research, but will still work to advance the missions that we have been working on together for the last four years."
He said he would stay on through an upcoming government energy research summit at the end of February, adding: "I may stay beyond that time so that I can leave the department in the hands of the new secretary."
A statement by Obama thanked Chu for his "dedicated service," saying he "brought to the Energy Department a unique understanding of both the urgent challenge presented by climate change and the tremendous opportunity that clean energy represents for our economy."
Chu "helped my administration move America towards real energy independence," Obama's statement said, citing a doubling in renewable energy use, reductions in dependence on foreign oil and progress toward creating green energy jobs.
At a White House event later Friday honoring Medal of Science winners, Obama mentioned Chu's planned departure, calling it "a loss for us."
He also praised Chu for "designing a cap to plug a hole in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico when nobody else could figure it out," referring to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010.
Critics blamed Chu for government backing of failed clean energy ventures led by the collapse of Solyndra. The solar panel maker went bankrupt in 2011 after receiving more than $500 million in federal financing under an Obama administration effort to accelerate such investments.
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Uriel Sinai / Getty Images
A section of forest burns during a wildfire, Dec. 2, 2010, in Beit Oren, Israel. A large forest fire in northern Israel has killed at least 40 people, many of whom died when an evacuation bus went up in flames.
Roy El / AFP - Getty Images
An Israeli plane drops fire retardant on the forest fire in the Carmel Forest, Dec. 2, 2010. The fire is so bad that Israel has called for international help to put out the blaze.
Avishag Shar-Yashuv / Reuters
The bodies of victims from a bus that was trapped in a forest fire that broke out in the Carmel Forest, are seen on the road near the northern Israeli city of Haifa on Thursday.
The Associated Press reports:
JERUSALEM — A bus burst into flames as it raced to an Israeli prison during a massive forest fire Thursday, killing dozens of prison guards participating in a rescue mission, officials said. It is one of Israel's worst natural disasters ever and has destroyed one of the country's few wooded areas.
Fire officials said the blaze, which torched some 1,600 acres (650 hectares), remained out of control after nightfall. A university, three prisons and a hospital were evacuated and at least one village was destroyed.
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Draft schmaft: Study says NHL teams should flip a coin instead
A new study says when it comes to choosing successful players in later rounds of the draft, NHL teams might as well flip a coin or guess.
NHL teams spend millions scouting for future star players and are often successful at identifying those who will go on to become all-stars, team captains and win Stanley Cups.
Think Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, Steven Stamkos.
Then there are late-round draft players who at first go mostly unnoticed, but surprise fans by exceeding expectations and becoming stars in their own right — even surpassing players who were chosen before them.
Think Pavel Datsyuk, Zdeno Chara, Daniel Alfredsson.
Yet even with the amount of money and effort put in to drawing up picks, when it comes to choosing successful players in later rounds of the draft, teams might as well flip a coin, says a new study.
Researchers at Simon Fraser University say no NHL team is consistently better at predicting whether draft prospects will succeed in the big leagues, and are lucky if they can identify more than two successful career players per year.
“In latter rounds of the draft, especially in rounds four to seven, there is almost no ability to pick those successful career players,” said Michael Brydon, a business professor at Simon Fraser University and co-author of Aiming for the Mean: Why Isn’t Drafting Better than Guessing?
“Some teams would be better off if they were simply assigned players at random.”
Brydon and his colleague, Peter Tingling, studied the 1995-2003 NHL entry drafts and followed the successes or failures of prospects over several years to see if some teams were better at others at picking future stars. Turns out, with the exception of first- and second-round draft picks, there’s no magic formula.
The researchers defined “successful career players” as those who have played 160 games — the number needed for players to qualify for a pension.
They found that only about 11 per cent of players drafted in rounds four to seven are successful in the NHL. That means there’s an 89 per cent chance those players won’t make it through two seasons.
“The general rule of thumb in these cases is teams simply hope they get lucky and get one of those 11 (per cent of) successful players,” said Tingling, also a business professor at Simon Fraser University.
But in the case of first-round picks — the first 30 players drafted — there is a 65 per cent chance those players will have successful careers. Among the top 10 draft picks, odds get even better, with an 85 per cent chance those players will be successful.
So it is possible to predict future star players. It’s just that no team seems to be better at it than any other.
“When you are drafting the first 10 players, the rule of thumb here is that you hope you’re not unlucky,” Tingling said. “Decision making during the draft is a fundamentally difficult task. Make no mistake, this is hard.”
While some teams have had more success than others on a year-by-year basis, the researchers said over time the differences become too small to say with certainty that one team is more skilled at drafting players than another. They also found that of the 3,447 players drafted between 1993 and 2005, only 585 achieved a 160-game career, a success rate of about 17 per cent.
The researchers say teams might improve their chances of choosing successful players later in the draft by allocating more money and time to searching for undiscovered talent, rather than the well-known “stars.” They point to Atlanta Thrashers’ Dustin Byfuglien, a top-scoring defenceman, who was drafted in the eighth round by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2003, as an example.
At the time of the draft, Byfuglien was 275 pounds, a weight that did not inspire confidence in many teams, Tingling said, even though his stats were respectable.
Then there were players like Detroit Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom, who went 53rd overall in the 1989 draft, Henrik Zetterberg, who went 210th overall in 1999, and goalie Corey Crawford, drafted 52nd overall in 2003.
Such oversights are symptoms of what Tingling says are widespread and systematic decision biases in the NHL.
“GMs laugh at us when we tell them to make sure their scouts file their draft reports before they go to the bar for a couple of drinks,” he said. “We tell them this not because the scouts are going to get drunk, but because they tend to talk to each other and before you know it, one person’s opinion becomes everyone’s.”
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The notion that all of us possess leadership potential may be true, but the question whether we are going to be effective leaders depend on a lot of factors. Appropriate and adequate leadership training is essential in nurturing the leadership potentials of everyone, which is why in a business setting, giving your employees the opportunity to enhance their leadership skills and capabilities help them to realize their role in the company. More importantly, leadership training and development when delivered effectively transforms your employees into productive assets.
Whether or not you are in the top level management, your mere recognition of the value of leadership development to your company and your effort to incorporate it to your business culture opens a lot of opportunities. Jeffrey Immelt, GE’s CEO and one of the big names in the business world said that leadership training and development is an important business strategy that has kept GE as one of the most successful companies in the world. He also said that investing on the leadership training of your employees is a two-way investment. Firstly, your company benefits from the newly acquired skills of your employees. Consequently, your employees grow and improve from the fresh perspectives they get on their leadership trainings.
When you cultivate your employees leadership skills, they develop their communication skills, they start to have initiatives and their morale are boosted. An enhanced communication skill, increased initiatives and boosted morale all help shape organizational behavior, and therefore, assists in directing the company into a single and unified goal. It is not just about training people to perform best at what they do. More importantly, leadership development improves the over-all quality of service you provide to your customers.
Companies that value their employees should give them space to grow. And the best way for them to achieve growth is to emerge them into activities that will realise their leadership potentials. Successful companies all over the globe got to where they are now because they recognised the potentials of their employees and allocated resources for trainings to make them the best that they can be.
Self Leadership International is a provider of leadership development and leadership training programs for companies based in Singapore and other countries in Asia. Andrew Bryant, one of their resource speakers, is a recognised authority in leadership training and development. SLI Singapore also have an impressive line up of motivational speakers or inspirational speakers to cater to your company’s needs. If you are a company committed to explore all possible means to develop your employees on all levels, then a leadership training and development can help jump start your business
Read more: http://www.articlesbase.com/leadership-articles/how-companies-benefit-from-leadership-development-3724131.html#ixzz16rBuI28L
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution
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Interesting that Obama's success in mobilising people who wouldn't normally vote - especially the younger electorate - is being written up as a new thing, or a phenomenon peculiar to the digital age. Getting non-voters to vote because they think something genuinely different is on offer reminds me of nothing so much as Hunter S Thompson's celebrated Freak Power campaign to become Mayor of Pitkin County, back in the 1970s, ultimately thwarted by a deal between the Republicans and Democrats to keep him - and his constituency - out. For me, the wisest comment on voting comes from Ford Prefect in Douglas Adams' Life, the Universe and Everything:
'"Ford Prefect, of course, had an explanation for this, as he sat with Arthur and watched the nonstop frenetic news reports on television, none of which had anything to say other than to record that the thing had done this amount of damage which was valued at that amount of billions of pounds and had killed this totally other number of people, and then say it again, because the robot was doing nothing more than standing there, swaying very slightly, and emitting short incomprehensible error messages.
"It comes from a very ancient democracy, you see..."
"You mean, it comes from a world of lizards?"
"No," said Ford, who by this time was a little more rational and coherent than he had been, having finally had the coffee forced down him, "nothing so simple. Nothing anything like so straightforward. On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."
"Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."
"I did," said Ford. "It is."
"So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?"
"It honestly doesn't occur to them," said Ford. "They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates to the government they want."
"You mean they actually vote for the lizards?"
"Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course."
"But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"
"Because if they didn't vote for a lizard," said Ford, "the wrong lizard
might get in. Got any gin?"'
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Canadian Mountain Holidays (CMH) will be the leading sustainable tourism operator in North America.
- Be responsible stewards of the environments and communities in which we live, work, and play.
- Strive to improve environmental performance in all of our operations.
- Be a leader in sustainability in our professional organizations and the broader tourism sector.
- Educate staff, guests, and suppliers about our sustainability goals and initiatives, and encourage personal action.
- Operate in a manner that is compliant with all government laws and regulations.
- Support research and education programs to improve our sustainability practices.
- Contribute to the economic and social well-being of our local communities.
- Deliver strong financial results to ensure a sustainable future for our company.
"I was concerned -- to say the least -- about the environmental impact of heli-hiking. But the firm I went with, Canadian Mountain Holidays (CMH), has an impressive record. It has received sustainable tourism awards from Parks Canada (that country's equivalent of the National Park Service), and from the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia.
Bugaboo Lodge, the one I stayed at, makes a serious attempt to be green -- down to the grass planted on its roof for insulation. Plastic waste is driven to a recycling plant hours away, and paper lunch sacks have been replaced by reusable canvas bags. The lodge recently built a composter, keeping 15 tons of garbage out of the landfill since last fall."
~ John Flinn, San Francisco Chronicle
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|World Travel: Acapulco, MX
|St. Martin An Island of Dual Identity
The winter season is a time when many of us long to retreat to the spicy warm air of the Caribbean. While destinations such as Puerto Rico and the Bahamas are popular, St. Martin continues to emerge as an attractive alternative. I had the pleasure of visiting St. Martin right before the winter rush which begins in mid-December.
While perhaps not a household name, this little island is special in that it is a little piece of Europe floating in the tropical seas. Actually you get two European countries for the price of one. St. Maarten is half Dutch territory and half French territory. The unique combination of European tradition with Caribbean culture makes for a greatly enjoyable vacation.
As one island with a dual identity, it is a common saying amongst the island residents that St. Martin has two of everything. This includes the spelling of the name.
The Dutch side spells the island “Saint Martin” while the French side uses the spelling “Sint Maarten”. While both territories belong to their separate motherland, residents and tourists are permitted to pass from side to side with no formal migration process.
The Dutch side, also known as the South side, is the larger of the territories and is also home to Princess Juliana International Airport, the main airport on the island. The Dutch side has a lot to offer young vacationers. Casino lights decorate the night sky and there is a lively night life with a broad selection of dance clubs that keep the festivities going throughout the week.
The French or what is called the North side provides a positively charming experience. While both French and English is spoken everywhere, the territory is rich in French culture. Marigot is the capital of the French side and features a market place where souvenirs, local produce and goods are sold. You are bound to run into a vendor selling coconut cookies that are mixed brown sugar.
The Courthouse, built in 1793
A plane soars over St. Maarten as it prepares to land at Princess Juliana Airport
St. Martin has a reputation for excellent cuisine and is known as the “food hot spot” of the Caribbean. Although the island is only 37 square miles large, the St. Martin hosts over 300 restaurants— that’s over 12 restaurants per square mile! The St. Bard’s crowd is known to travel in their yachts to enjoy dinner at these famous restaurants.
Small souvenir shops are located throughout the island, but the largest concentration of stores is found in Philipsburg, the capital of the Dutch side. High retail include Cartier, Tiffany’s, Ralph Lauren, and Longchamp. St. Martin has duty free status.
While St. Martin’s natural beauty can be overwhelming, the island’s overall atmosphere is complimented by the upbeat attitude of the locals. We would be wise to learn from their ever positive approach to life. This lesson is the best souvenir one can bring back and it doesn’t even take up suitcase space!
Must Do List!
Although St. Martin is small, it is ripe with things to explore and activities to enjoy. I have put together a must do list.
Visit an authentic French restaurant
Take advantage of the European culture and visit a restaurant as authentic as if you where dining on the French mainland. If you are on the Dutch side visit L’Escargot, a small restaurant owned by a French couple. The walls of the restaurant are full of trinkets and mementos from France. The restaurant also features a small stage where live performances take place each week. If you happen to be on the French side visit “La Vie en Rose” located on the ocean front promenade, this restaurant features a balcony and a serene atmosphere.
Race in the 12 Meter Regatta
Located in Bobby’s Marina, the 12 Meter Regatta is truly a once in a lifetime experience. The event begins with an animated recap of the history of the America’s Cup, an international sailing race since1851. Next, you are split into two teams, each of which is assigned to a multi-million dollar sailboat that has retired from racing in the America’s Cup. Each member of the team is assigned roles which range from less active duties such as keeping time to more involved tasks like controlling the mast. Then you are off! With the guidance of the charming crew you race the other boat around the beach! Remember, there can only be one winner!
T’Mo, local St. Martin musician. 2004 by Milton Peters
One of the 37 beaches in the island.
Check out local artists and musicians
The island culture embraces creativity and expression through the arts. There is a tremendous pride in local talent.
Visit the Boardwalk
Located along the beach in front of St. Philipsburg, the boardwalk features a bright blue ocean with cruise ships that can be seen docking in the distance. The boardwalk is lined with restaurants and bars that offer a by-the-beach eating experience. The largest shopping district on the island is just on the other side of the street.
Lay on the beach
St. Martin has 37 beaches, and they are all breath taking. I recommend allotting time to relax, lie out, and soak in the paradise-like surroundings. Many beaches have cafes and restaurants nestled nearby, while others are more secluded. If you are feeling particularly daring, check out Orient Beach, a clothing-optional shore on the French side.
Pick up some Caribbean Christmas music
Perhaps the last thing on your mind while you are in the Caribbean is a white Christmas but this unique souvenir is a way to bring back some of the islands with you. I had the pleasure of meeting T’Mo, a local artist who has released a Christmas album titled “Yuletide Jams”. In addition to island renditions of classic Christmas carols, T’Mo infuses merengue with Caribbean sound, and occasionally cheeky lyrics, to create original Christmas carols that are guaranteed to be a hit at any Christmas party back home.
Learn about the island
When you are traveling it is always advisable to make an effort to learn about the place you are visiting. Besides broadening your background, it also enriches your experience if you know a little about the place’s history and cultural values.
Try the Rum Punch! Upon the conclusion of virtually every tourist activity the island’s signature rum punch is served. It is a sign of hospitality and a celebration of the ongoing festive outlook on life.
By Simone Echeverri-Gent
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HANDLS participants are a fixed cohort of 3,720 community-dwelling African American and white adults aged 30-64. Participants were recruited from 13 pre-determined neighborhoods (groups of contiguous census tracts) comprising an area probability sample of Baltimore City. The area probability sample was designed to sample a wide range of socioeconomic and income circumstances in a 4-way factorial cross of age (seven five-year age bands between 30-64), sex, race, and socioeconomic status indexed by poverty status (below or above 125% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines). HANDLS is planned as a 20-year longitudinal study. Using our mobile research vehicles, we plan to re-visit each neighborhood for three months every three to four years.
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Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Unemployment Loans Due for States
States will begin repaying more than one billion to the federal government for loans used to pay unemployment benefits. The question is, where is the money going to come from? Some will have to increase business tax bills to cover the repayment. Interest payments must begin October 1st as the interest free loan expired in December. In February, Obama asked Congress to extend the help and delay any impending tax hikes, but Republican resistance and general criticism of the $830 billion stimulus plan muted the possibility of a continuation. The impact on some states' finances will be mild as they had time to prepare for the payments. Others must find funds to cover another bill on top of other spending demands for health and social programs. California, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, and North Carolina have to send in the biggest interest payments. There is around 37 billion in principal outstanding.
Posted by Beadie at 10:59 PM
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Greensboro, NC - When you're going out on a job interview, be sure to know what you'll be asked. In today's One Minute Career Check, Consultant Joyce Richman offers advice on what to expect before walking into your next interview.
"Among some of the greatest concerns people have when they are interview, they say, 'I don't know how to answer the interviewer's questions.' About the 99.9% of the questions you're going to be asked have to do with you. So you don't have to know obscure research. This is about you. But you do have to do the heavy lifting about your own inventory. So it's always going to have to do with what did you do best, where have you done it, where have you worked, with whom have you worked, what were your accomplishments. If you failed, how did you fail, where did you fail, when did you fail. When you achieved, where when how. Because the interviewer wants to know how you are going to make a difference for them. You need to do this homework. Instead of waiting until the very last minute or hoping you are going to be able to pull the answers out of the sky or out of your back pocket. Do your homework. Answer these questions. Know them, practice them, be ready for them, so you can't wait to interview and knock it out of the park."
WFMY News 2
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US Offers $10 Million for Capture of Head of Banned Pakistani Charity
The Obama Administration’s strategy for the war in Afghanistan centers on a policy of securing an agreement with President Hamid Karzai to keep ground troops in the nation through 2024. At the same time, officials have to keep up the public pretense of an imminent drawdown.
The excuses for the drawdown’s delay have usually been that the war is going too well or too poorly to change troop levels. The excuse now, it seems, is “anti-American” sentiment of Pakistan is making the withdrawal inconvenient.
Pakistan has been keeping the border to Afghanistan closed since November in retaliation for a random (and still inexplicable) US attack on a pair of their military bases. The Pakistani government has made reopening the border conditional on the US apologizing and also stopping the drone strikes against the tribal areas.
There was a surprising well of political support for the United States in Pakistan, and it has taken over a decade for the Bush and Obama Administrations to successfully burn through it all. Now, the US is so politically untouchable that Pakistani MPs fear nothing so much as being branded an “ally” of the US.
Though this has been a public relations nightmare for US diplomats and no small source of destabilization in Pakistan, it gives the administration a fresh new excuse for why Afghan troop levels are staying flat, even though there was no indication before the border’s closure that any US troops were going to leave the country by way of Pakistan and it seems a ridiculously unsafe route at any rate.
Of course, keeping Pakistanis so angry that they’ll hold massive anti-US rallies on a near-weekly basis takes some unkeep. To that end, the State Department today announced a $10 million bounty on Hafiz Mohammed Saeed. Saeed, a founding member of the Lashkar-e Taiba is being accused by the US of being behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Saeed is currently the head of a banned charity in Pakistan, the Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD). The group has run afoul of the Pakistani government as many other Islamist charities have, for being a successful foil to the government’s mostly inept attempts at humanitarian efforts. The JuD’s Islamist policies may make them an enemy to be targeted in the West, but the group’s history of charitable effort, particularly in helping refugees from US and Pakistani military adventures, has made them a lot of friends.
Pakistan’s government is unlikely to do much about Saeed either, having tried and failed to tie him to Mumbai and eventually being forced to abandon his house arrest over lack of evidence. The sudden US interest is likely to be one more reason Pakistani officials won’t want to touch him.
Last 5 posts by Jason Ditz
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- Four US Soldiers Killed in Attack on Afghan Base - June 18th, 2013
- DHS Wants Same Surveillance Powers as NSA - June 18th, 2013
- G8 Backs Syria Peace Talks, Doesn't Demand Regime Change - June 18th, 2013
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The Apple apple iphone has actually been actually prominent for some time. Someone could not realize why that is, till someone have an iPhone of your very own. The apple iphone is an extraordinary way for someone in order to communicate with others, but this carries out a lot even more. In this article are only a couple practices as well as techniques in order to uncover all of the magic in your new apple iphone.
Touch as well as grip any sort of one icon on your iPhone screen, as well as someone will begin in order to watch these dance. Someone can at that point shift these about, bunch these in to directories or even expunge those that someone accomplish not would like. This is a basic way in order to retain your monitors organized as well as your applications set to apply.
Simply by lagging your digit in order to the right on your apple iphone, someone will be actually gotten to a monitor where someone will have the ability to hunt your whole phone. Relying on exactly what someone style in, this will deliver up everything from information, in order to conserved notes that someone have on your apple iphone for the potential in order to hunt your whole entire device.
When in a call with someone, utilize the mute button. The mute button is found on the finest left when someone are in a call as well as will certainly stop the individual on the other finish of the line from reading your voice. If someone need in order to speak with other people while on the phone, this is a blast to utilize this operation.
Switch off push notices to manipulate your files usage and also protect your electric battery life. Pressure notices enable your phone to consistently be actually in contact with email servers as well as the online in order to be actually informed instantly when one thing occurs. De triggering this will intend that someone have to inspect your email, web sites or even other softwares for new information as well as notifies but this will certainly be actually remarkable in how this affects the functions as well as efficiency of your phone.
Do not fill an unnecessary amount of applications toward your Apple iphone. There are some effectively assumed out applications that can make your life more enjoyable as well as help someone obtain details completeded. There are likewise some applications that are a waste of virtual room as well as will simply need to be actually eliminated later.
If your apple iphone makes use of the iOS4 software, someone could find that managing much more than one app is going to dramatically weaken the phone’s efficiency. Double-tap the House button to deliver up a list of all currently working as well as discontinued applications. Tap, at that point keep everyone till each icon wiggles. Someone can at that point apply the expunge button to shut any sort of unneeded applications.
Do not overreact if your iphone gets soaked. Phones occasionally slip out of pockets as well as in to quagmires or even sinks. If this occurs to someone, do not apply a blow clothes dryer to seek to dry your phone off as very quickly because conceivable. This can require moisture farther in to the phone. As an alternative, seek leaving your phone in a sack of uncooked rice overnight.
Did someone recognize that someone can change the default icons with others that someone would favor? All someone need to do is decide on a symbol that someone do not apply remarkably commonly, at that point click on this to deliver this up. Click on “edit” as well as someone will watch your choices. Pick out a symbol someone favor as well as have this down, or even click as well as puff.
Download all of your desired sound to your phone whenever someone would like. Someone have the independence in order to pattern out sound from your desktop computer at all moments, therefore getting a variety of sound is continually an alternative with an iphone. Stay in touch with your desired bands as well as have their newest sound on your phone whenever this emerges.
If someone prefer to require a photo very quickly, twice tap on your House button. Perhaps even if the phone is secured this will deliver up a little camera icon that will enable someone in order to create the camera. Someone can at that point apply the Edition Up button on your phone or even headsets in order to tear the picture!
Only apply a micro-fiber material in order to brush the screen on your iphone. Just about anything besides this is most likely very annoying as well as can really cause harm, even though a monitor protector. Remember to continually retain a micro-fiber material on hand to ensure that someone are not lured to apply everything else to brush your phone.
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Connect to share and comment
Or is it being airbrushed? Cairo's city government is cleaning up Egypt's symbolic center of protest.
CAIRO, Egypt — Depending on who you ask, Tahrir Square is either getting a makeover or it's being airbrushed.
In less than a week, the Cairo municipality transformed the square, made famous as the center of the protests that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak.
Fresh grass and flowering shrubs now blanket the dirt-laden center divider, which had been trampled by protesters, security forces and squatters over the past year. Workers rewired lampposts and installed traffic lights.
In the most controversial move, government workers, under the auspices of riot police, whitewashed a nearby wall that had been cloaked in colorful revolutionary graffiti. The images depicted the story of those slain during the uprising and the subsequent clashes with security forces.
Young activists and artists immediately repainted the wall, on Mohamed Mahmoud street, throwing up new, angry pieces chiding the government of President Mohamed Morsi for attempting to “erase” the revolution.
More from GlobalPost: Anti-US protests: Was it all politics?
“Wipe it off and we will draw it again, you cowardly regime!” reads one fresh tag.
“It signifies, I think, a sort of inclination to erase people’s memory of what exactly happened [over the past year and a half],” said Ganzeer, a prominent Egyptian graffiti artist who goes by his street name. “And maybe rewrite it the way [the government] sees fit.”
The continued battle for Tahrir — and for public space more generally in post-uprising Egypt — highlights the larger, ongoing debates about the country’s progress.
For some, the election of Morsi, Egypt’s first democratic and civilian leader, means the revolution is over. Scattered protests and other remnants of the uprising, they say, should be halted or removed. For them, it’s time to move on.
“I don't see how cleaning and painting over obscene signs will erase history,” said Gamal Rashad, the head of the Cairo Cleanliness Authority, which is assisting in the renovations.
The CEO of Perfect Quality for Construction, the company hired by the government to re-pave Tahrir Square and some of the surrounding streets, said he was given orders to finish the job “as quickly as possible.”
Those who believe the revolution is not yet over, who continue to fight for police reform and social justice, say that erasing the graffiti is a disservice to those who died in the uprising.
More from GlobalPost: Egypt's other power struggle
For activists, their ability to take control of the square was a victory for a population long denied access to public space by a regime intent on quashing dissent.
In the 18 days of the 2011 uprising, Tahrir Square became a utopian mini-state where Egyptians from all walks of life united and were protected. And while it has since descended into a dangerous epicenter of clashes, sexual harassment and general street-level crime, its decline is seen as a reflection of Egypt’s ongoing political and socio-economic problems.
“The image [of a clean square] is deceptive, it won’t end anything politically,” said 26-year-old Mona Ibrahim, who works at a travel agency on the same street where the murals were painted.
“How am I supposed to feel happy about a few shrubs and some grass?” she said. “They aren’t solutions to our root problems.”
Harnessing the oft-defiant art form as a way to fight back against still-standing provisions limiting free speech, activists and artists have given birth to a layered and uncensored commentary on Cairo’s walls.
The graffiti portrayed everything from police violence to sectarian unity and life under military rule, after Egypt’s army seized power in the wake of Mubarak’s ouster.
More from GlobalPost: A clash of civilizations? Not so much.
“I’m the one that burned the police van,” reads one new tag on Mohamed Mahmoud.
“We are going to try the military,” says another.
Cairo residents would come by every day to observe the graffiti — sometimes portraits of friends or relatives killed in the violence, Ibrahim said.
“Everyday people came to take photos. It was real. It was sincere,” she said.
Ganzeer, who has produced some of Cairo’s most famous street illustrations, says the “organic” nature of the art form is what makes it more sincere — a raw and unregulated form of expression that defies governments in times of turmoil.
“Whatever is real will live on,” Ibrahim said. “Whatever is not, will disappear.”
Heba Habib contributed reporting from Cairo, Egypt.
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Evaluation of National Teacher Training Institute
(post-NTTI training workshop survey)
Name and address of school:
Telephone contact number:
Email address (if available):
The purpose of this survey is to gain a better understanding of how you currently use different forms of technology (e.g., computers, Internet, video, etc.) in your classroom as a teaching tool, what you perceive to be the benefits of using technology, and what you see as the barriers to using technology effectively in the classroom. This questionnaire is very similar to one you responded to several months ago before you took part in a National Teacher Training Institute workshop, but it also contains some new questions. In order to evaluate the trainings fully, we need your answers to all of the questions again. Please answer every question as honestly as you can, and thank you again for your help.
Thirteen Ed Online
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Whether or not this is your first child, becoming a new mother can be challenging. Some sadness and feelings of exclusion are natural after childbirth. This is often called the “baby blues.”
However, if those feelings are severe or prolonged, it could be a condition called postpartum depression.
Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has shown that as many as 12 percent of new mothers report being moderately depressed after they deliver their baby and 6 percent report being very depressed after delivery.
After delivery, you may experience:
- Frequent crying
- Worry, fear or nervousness
- Lack of energy
- Difficulty concentrating
- Sleeping too much or too little
- Grief or loss related to your pregnancy
Willowbrooke at Tanner can help, providing you with comprehensive behavioral and psychological care. A team of psychiatrists, nurses, social workers, therapists and more will work together to provide quality care and connect you to a large network of community-based programs to provide support.
Willowbrooke at Tanner also can help address concerns related to sibling rivalry, integrating a new member into your family and other behaviors or emotions you find troubling and would like to discuss.
A free, confidential screening can help determine if you or someone you know is experiencing postpartum depression or needs behavioral help. Willowbrooke at Tanner offers a free, confidential help line at 770.836.9551. This line is staffed 24-hours-a-day by a behavioral health clinician trained in crisis intervention.
Emergency screenings from Willowbrooke at Tanner are also available in the emergency departments at Tanner Medical Center/Carrollton, Tanner Medical Center/Villa Rica, Higgins General Hospital in Bremen and Piedmont Newnan Hospital.
If you experience thoughts of harming yourself or the baby, seek help immediately. A 24-hour help line is available from Willowbrooke at Tanner at 770.836.9551. You also can call 911 or come to the nearest hospital emergency department for help. Don’t suffer through postpartum depression alone; help is available.
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(J. Scott Applewhite, Associated…)
It was one of those positively surreal moments where, for a nanosecond, you thought it was the 1990s again.
Yes, those 1990s with the sub-4 percent unemployment rates, modest inflation, tremendous economic growth and even federal budget surpluses. Yet, there he was in a presidential press conference — good ol' Bill Clinton standing in for Barack Obama.
To quote our current president, "Let me be clear on this point..." I never voted for Bill Clinton — even when my father chided me over the fact that Clinton and my grandfather both come from Hope, Ark.
As a proud Reagan Libertarian, I could not, in good conscience, vote for someone who wanted to nationalize health care and who once passed the largest tax increase in our nation's history.
Yet, as I watched Clinton pinch-hit for Obama Friday night in defense of tax cuts and economic growth and a return to prosperity, I realized a humbling truth. That is, when taking into account his two terms in office, William Jefferson Clinton was one of the best economic presidents of the 20th — or any — century.
Let's add up his accomplishments:
From 1994 until he left office, he presided over numerous tax reforms that made the country richer from top to bottom. He cut the capital-gains tax from 28 percent to 20 percent. Not only did investment in new capital increase, but the subsequent economic growth it created led to more tax revenue, not less, for politicians to spend.
He lowered the tax on the sale of our homes to zero percent, as long as we live in them for at least two years. He ushered in the Roth IRA that allowed millions of Americans to save for retirement and avoid the false hope that Social Security would be all we would need.
On the issue of trade, he got NAFTA ratified, lifted the embargo against Vietnam and successfully traveled the world, encouraging foreign leaders to allow American money to flow into their lands in search of businesses, infrastructure and other investments. The result was expanded world trade, increased wealth in America and our trading partners, and downward pressure on consumer prices stemming from more international competition.
Then there is government spending. Yes, it is clear that government spending increased during his eight years in office. The key fact that my conservative friends do not want to acknowledge is that under his watch, government expenditures increased at a slower rate than under George H.W. Bush or George W. Bush. Under President Clinton, we even got major welfare reform that lowered the dependence of millions of Americans on their fellow man. The real era of fiscal conservatism — relatively speaking — was when Clinton held the checkbook.
It would be irresponsible of me as an economist to neglect to mention that Newt Gingrich and the Reagan Republicans who took over Congress in 1994 were instrumental in forcing Clinton to go along with more pro-growth tax and spending initiatives. It would also be worth noting that Clinton was reluctant to go along with many of the laws he eventually passed.
However, as British author Aldous Huxley wrote, "Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." The facts are clear: The last prosperous, pro-business, pro-growth decade America had came under the active policies of a Democrat, and our country is now broke largely under the watch of Republicans.
I hope that either Barack Obama continues to act like Bill Clinton or that Congress will amend the Constitution so that Clinton can run again in 2012.
Jack A. Chambless is an economics professor at Valencia Community College.
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IT'S a shame when the demands of the media overshadow those of science. The closely managed razzmatazz that accompanied the debut of Ida - the fossil "that could change everything" about our ancestry - ensured that everyone was talking about her for a day or two. But it also meant that no one was allowed to see the relevant paper until after the event, so there was little chance to seek disinterested comment on the researchers' claim (see "What you should know about chiropractic"). By the time doubts about Ida's role in our past emerged, the circus had moved on.
To continue reading this article, subscribe to receive access to all of newscientist.com, including 20 years of archive content.
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You may need to make lifestyle changes to help you manage cancer treatment and cope with issues concerning sexuality and reproduction.
Depending on the spread of your disease, you may need simple or extensive surgery, and/or one or a few cycles of radiation or chemotherapy . You may have concerns about your diet, complications and side effects, pain, fatigue, and emotional coping. Ask your doctor to give you information and help you find support and resources that will make this process easier.
In particular, chemotherapy may make it necessary to adapt your diet to maintain your nutrition. If you have particular trouble with nausea and vomiting, you may require nutritional supplementation. Also, if you develop diarrhea , you may also have to limit your diet and reduce your fiber intake to be comfortable. Making an appointment with a nutritionist to discuss some of these issues in advance can be helpful.
Many of the treatments of ovarian cancer can destroy your fertility . Ask your doctor about the effects of your specific treatment plan on fertility. If you wish to have children, talk with your doctor and your family about your options, such as adopting or harvesting and preserving your eggs before treatment. It is unclear whether it is safe to harvest eggs from a woman who has ovarian cancer. It is likely the eggs will be damaged, and the harvesting procedure could be very risky and may cause the tumor to spread to the cervix or vagina.
Your sexual function may be temporarily upset by your treatment. You may experience pain or loss of sexual function. You may be fearful or anxious about your first sexual experience after cancer treatment, which may cause you or your partner to avoid intimacy and sexual activity. Your partner may also feel anxious about initiating any activity that might be thought of as pressuring to be intimate or that might cause physical discomfort. You and your partner should discuss concerns with your doctor. Honest communication of feelings, concerns, and preferences is important. With counseling and other medical treatments, you may reduce fears, regain normal sensation, and be able to have pain-free intercourse.
Contact your doctor if:
- You have concerns about treatment options and fertility
- Sexual function continues to be a problem after treatment
- You are having difficulty coping with your treatment
- Reviewer: Igor Puzanov, MD
- Review Date: 09/2012 -
- Update Date: 00/91/2012 -
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Related story: Sunshine laws: a light on government
Only one Montgomery County municipality — Rockville — received more than 50 formal Maryland Public Information Act requests in fiscal year 2012; many received none. Local leaders credit a general openness of government for the low numbers.
But a few organizations that make multiple requests under the state law disagreed, saying it’s actually time and money that keeps them from filing more requests.
Under the Maryland Public Information Act, government records are considered public unless they fall under certain exceptions.
Montgomery County received more than 4,200 requests in fiscal year 2012, which ended June 30, 2012. Nearly 3,500 of those were inquiries about permits, such as for building, use and occupancy, and sediment control.
As part of Sunshine Week, a nationwide focus on open-government issues, The Gazette asked local governments about the number of information requests they received in fiscal 2012.
Local leaders said their practice is to provide information when someone asks for it, without requiring a formal written request.
“We’re pretty open with our operations and records, so residents usually don’t feel the need to go that far,” Laytonsville Mayor Dan Prats said.
Laytonsville received only one request in the year — from a researcher, Prats said.
Poolesville Town Manager Wade Yost said his town also is open to providing information to those who ask. The town attorney is consulted if there are any concerns that the information may be sensitive or personal, Yost said.
The towns of Poolesville, Somerset and Brookeville reported that they received no requests in fiscal 2012.
Michael Acierno, president of the Brookville Commission, said he is not aware of any public information requests coming in since he joined the commission in 2004.
“Honestly, it’s a lot easier if people just ask for what they need,” Montgomery County spokeswoman Donna Bigler said. “When they file an MPIA request, they tend to ask for more [information]. Then, it becomes more difficult.”
Bigler, whose office handles only media requests, said that often the information people are looking for is readily available, making it easier to respond to informal requests.
However, some of the people and groups making requests don’t always find government as open as the institutions claim.
“They throw roadblocks up and citizens have to persevere, and I think they are thinking most citizens will not persevere,” said Paula Bienenfeld, who is vice president of the Montgomery County Civic Federation and active with the Parents’ Coalition of Montgomery County. “They feel they are running the government and think citizens should go along with it. In the end, they hold all the cards. I think that is the governing philosophy of the county.”
Under the PIA, government bodies have up to 30 days to provide information that’s requested. If the request is denied, the applicant must be contacted immediately and given a written explanation within 10 working days.
“But they don’t always respond,” Bienenfeld said. “It’s up to the citizen to pursue it and sometimes they don’t get back or say it will cost for you to get the information.”
Bienenfeld said she files about 10 to 12 PIA requests a year.
Members of the Parents’ Coalition and the Civic Federation were some of the few repeat MPIA requesters that were not media outlets. Collectively, Parents’ Coalition members made 23 of the 79 requests sent to Montgomery County Public Schools in fiscal 2012.
Time and money keep organizations from filing more requests, Bienenfeld said.
Government bodies may charge search fees to cover the cost of gathering public information, minus the first two hours, which are free.
After that, the school system charges for staff time and printing costs, if applicable, spokesman Dana Tofig said.
Both MCPS and Montgomery County calculate the cost using the hourly salary for the staff member who filled the request. Tofig said the lowest-paid MCPS employee who has access to the information in a department is put on the job.
Government bodies may charge a “reasonable” fee for copying records. The law does not define “reasonable,” leaving it to government bodies to decide.
MCPS charges 15 cents per page, Tofig said.
Montgomery County also charges 15 cents a page for standard copies, but more for large-size plans, certified copies and microfilm and microfiche reproductions.
The Montgomery County Planning Department charges 10 cents per page and an hourly fee of $51.50 for staff time to gather information.
Tofig said the school system receives some common requests every year, such as magnet-program acceptance, high-school and middle-school fees, and salary information. Others are more specific, such as school-site selection, he said.
Tofig, the director of the office that receives requests, said he and Superintendent Joshua P. Starr respond to requests as quickly as possible, with limited staff to do so.
Of the 79 requests in 2012, the school system responded to 72 within 30 days. But Tofig argued that 77 requests were delivered “on time” — the school system requested and received extensions on two requests and had to wait for payment for three others.
Of the 4,221 requests sent to the county, 3,474 went to the Department of Permitting Services, seeking permit documents, said Reginald Jetter, chief of the department’s Division of Customer Service.
To Jetter’s knowledge, all of those requests were fulfilled within 30 days.
Stan Edwards, chief of the Division of Environmental Policy and Compliance for the county Department of Environmental Protection, said almost all of the 217 requests received by DEP were seeking information about environmental assessments. Edwards said his division generally can fulfill those requests within the 30 days.
Bienenfeld said government could reduce its burden on citizens by making information more accessible.
“In practice, the county could put the data up and that would mean the citizens don’t have to ask for the data,” she said.
Both Montgomery County and MCPS have begun publishing data online. The school system has started putting procurements and independent activity fund reports on its website. The county has launched data.montgomerycountymd.gov, where it posts sets of data, such as county salaries and food inspections.
The county site has only been active a few months, Bigler said, but just having the salary information available online has reduced the number of requests.
MCPS experienced similar results. Tofig said there are fewer requests for the types of documents now online.
Generally, the number of requests governments answered appears to be rising.
Public information requests in Rockville doubled from 30 in fiscal 2011 to 60 in fiscal 2012, according to information from city staff. About one-fifth of the 2012 requests came from the media.
In the last two budget years, the school system’s Department of Public Information and Web Services received 79 and 85 requests, respectively. That’s up from 68 in fiscal 2008 and 66 in fiscal 2009.
Tofig said he thinks the public knows it has access to school-system data.
“Given the number of requests we have, I think people are fairly aware,” he said.
However, Carol Rubin, associate general counsel for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, said the Montgomery Planning Department has received fewer requests from the public and the press the last few years.
The Montgomery County Planning Department received 11 formal requests in fiscal 2012 on project plans. White Flint redevelopment and future development on Batchellors Forest Road in Olney were among the topics requested, Rubin said.
About half of the 103 requests the media made to Montgomery County in fiscal 2012 took more than the allotted 30 days, Bigler said.
“At least half are complicated enough that we almost always know up front it will take a while,” she said. “The goal is to get the information out as quickly as we can.”
Written requests from the media tend to seek vast amounts of countywide information, housed in hard files, Bigler said.
Additionally, she said, requesters will ask for “every” document, making the request more difficult to fulfill.
“When they start including everything, you’ve got to make sure you have delved into every department and agency and make sure something was not overlooked,” Bigler said. “It is easier if you ask for what you need. It is harder if you want every document or correspondence.”
Staff writers Agnes Blum, Jen Bondeson, Sylvia Carignan, Terri Hogan, Daniel Leaderman, Peggy McEwan, Lindsay A. Powers, Kara Rose and Elizabeth Waibel contributed to this report.
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About this cartoon, Bob says...
When I read the story about the coyote in Central Park, I thought, how nice for the NYPD to chase after something other than terrorists, purse snatchers, rapists and muggers. The cops must've enjoyed it too, this springtime distraction. This recent coyote fared better than the last one caught in the park in 1999. He's serving a life sentence in the Queens Zoo. His crime? Trying to reclaim his territory. This latest coyote gets a better deal. He's being relocated to an upstate wildlife facility.
The whole thing made me think of my favorite coyote, Wile E., created along with the Roadrunner by the great animator Chuck Jones. The irony of the coyote being chased instead of the other way around appealed to me, so I made the Roadrunner represent the NYPD.
I had lunch with Chuck a few years ago at the Mark Twain House and Museum. I couldn't help but ask him what he thought of one of my favorite shows, "The Simpsons." He said he didn't care for it, but not for the reasons you might think. He said that the animators "were just illustrating the script," that you could watch a properly animated cartoon with the sound off and you could tell what the story is about.
I don't know if he's right or not because I never tested his theory, but I know this. Chuck Jones created the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote in 1949, the year I was four years old. My grandson Riley is four years old. The Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote are one of his favorite animated cartoons. Chuck Jones would love that. I like Spongebob and South Park, too, but the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote, now THAT'S art.
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Capital Factory, Jason Cohen observed that many of the startup pitches he heard shared the same mistakes. The mistakes were so common, he suggested that by avoiding even one of the mistakes, applicants really stood out from the crowd.After reviewing several hundred applications for the Austin-based incubator
As Cohen noted, it's a result of seeing so many pitches that investors can offer insights into what works and what doesn't work in a pitch. Here are a few of the most common mistakes that Cohen along with other investors list:
1. The pitch lacks clarity
You should be able to give a clear description of what your company does - what needs it meets and how it does so. This should be short and succinct - think "elevator pitch."
2. You don't talk about your team
As Chris Dixon suggests, you want to pitch yourself not your ideas. In other words, it's important to be able to describe what it is about you and your team that gives you the skills to accomplish your business's goals. Highlight what you've done in your past in order to demonstrate your abilities.
3. The pitch focuses on the technology at the expense of addressing the problem it addresses or the solution it offers
You can have developed some amazing technology, but your pitch needs to do more than tout its brilliance. You need to link that technology to a problem and explain why it's the right solution.
4. The pitch doesn't address the market
Your business should solve a problem, yes, but you also need to establish that there's a market for the solution you offer. Simply because you've built the technology doesn't mean you're automatically going to have generated customers. Who are your customers? How are you going to reach them and convince them to adopt your technology?
5. You ignore the competition
VC Santi Subotovsky points to this in his list of common pitch mistakes. He cautions entrepreneurs again "Ignoring the competition with statements such as 'nobody is doing it.'" "When entrepreneurs say they don't have any competitors," he writes, "then VCs think they haven't done enough due diligence or they have a completely revolutionary solution that is going to change the world. Most of the time, unfortunately, the first explanation is correct."
6. The pitch offers invalid competitive advantages
Jason Cohen lists this as one of the most frequent mistakes he sees. He explains that the following are not competitive advantages:
7. Your delivery is bad
Investor Greg Gretsch's list of common pitch mistakes, he admits, contains a lot of things he notices in terms of the style, not just the content, of the pitch. "But then, since the majority of the investment decision for me is based on the people, the style and delivery issues are very clear windows into the most important content of all - the entrepreneur." Gretsch points to problems like excessive name-dropping, over-complicating, and defensiveness as potential red flags.
As we wrote earlier this year, it's important to do your homework before pitching to investors, so you understand their history and their portfolio. This homework might also help you identify some of the things they want - and don't want - to see in a pitch.
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://readwrite.com/2010/07/17/avoid-these-mistakes-when-pitc
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Strength in numbers: achieving greater accuracy in MHC-I binding prediction by combining the results from multiple prediction tools
Departments of Computer Science and Mathematics & Statistics, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan, Canada
Immunome Research 2007, 3:5 doi:10.1186/1745-7580-3-5Published: 24 March 2007
Peptides derived from endogenous antigens can bind to MHC class I molecules. Those which bind with high affinity can invoke a CD8+ immune response, resulting in the destruction of infected cells. Much work in immunoinformatics has involved the algorithmic prediction of peptide binding affinity to various MHC-I alleles. A number of tools for MHC-I binding prediction have been developed, many of which are available on the web.
We hypothesize that peptides predicted by a number of tools are more likely to bind than those predicted by just one tool, and that the likelihood of a particular peptide being a binder is related to the number of tools that predict it, as well as the accuracy of those tools. To this end, we have built and tested a heuristic-based method of making MHC-binding predictions by combining the results from multiple tools. The predictive performance of each individual tool is first ascertained. These performance data are used to derive weights such that the predictions of tools with better accuracy are given greater credence. The combined tool was evaluated using ten-fold cross-validation and was found to signicantly outperform the individual tools when a high specificity threshold is used. It performs comparably well to the best-performing individual tools at lower specificity thresholds. Finally, it also outperforms the combination of the tools resulting from linear discriminant analysis.
A heuristic-based method of combining the results of the individual tools better facilitates the scanning of large proteomes for potential epitopes, yielding more actual high-affinity binders while reporting very few false positives.
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<urn:uuid:064e278c-9fa8-465d-9933-db8c20de7e65>
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://www.immunome-research.com/content/3/1/5/abstract
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en
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